TOPIC: Recommendations for Changes to the Player Mats

I have some thoughts on sealed runs and engaging new players more broadly. Do you want those thoughts here or should I start a new topic?

jadziadax8 wrote: I have some thoughts on sealed runs and engaging new players more broadly. Do you want those thoughts here or should I start a new topic?

I'd start a new topic, this is for the Character Mats. Just my opinion. But keeps us on topic.

There is some crossover, but yeah... it's a slippery slope.

I think it would help if we had a somewhat official perspective on the role of what the character mats are for.

If they are primarily for use in the coaching room, that should indicate what goes on them, or at least influence it.

For me personally, I'm working on a magnetized neoprene version so that I can roll my chips up like scrolls for transport

Here are a few of my suggestions:

For the regular character mat (not sealed runs), here are my suggestions. Keep in mind, most experienced players use an app or print their stats, so these changes are geared towards newer or brand new players. At GenCon this year, all my runs had new players, and they did seem a bit mystified by the mat.

1. Drop the extra Figurine slot for CHA 16+. Newer players probably don't need to worry about the possibility of equipping a second Figurine.
2. Potentially drop the main Figurine slot as well.
3. Consider dropping "Ranged Offhand" and just having one "Offhand" spot. A lot of shields work for both melee and ranged, and I think the separate ranged slot is mostly useful for experienced players squeezing additional bonuses or saves out of their build.
4. Add a "Mark" spot.
5. Maybe add a "Mask" spot.
6. For Beads, Charms, and Ioun Stones, I think this is where you could make the biggest simplification. Instead of showing every individual slot, show one spot for each category with something like "Max 3" for Beads/Charms or "Max 5" for Ioun Stones. That reduces a lot of visual clutter and, more importantly, doesn't make a new player feel like they're somehow doing something wrong because four of their five Ioun Stone spaces are empty. I think this could be done with a rectangular area with rounded corners that "holds" 2 tokens in its spot, but if a player has more than can spill over. Just look at how the SETI board game holds extra player tokens for the Signal action where the outline is ghosted out showing you can add additional player tokens (I hope that makes sense).
7. I agree with an earlier commenter that the Runestone spot should indicate that the token is turned in. It might even make sense to have a small section specifically for tokens that are "Turned In During Coaching."
8. You could potentially simplify Rings and Earcuffs the same way: one Ring spot labeled "Max 2" and one Earcuff spot labeled "Max 2."

Jeff, for the sealed pack player mats, maybe have all the slots pictured, but minimally. For instance, Have one circle for Bead but say "3 Total" under it. Finger would have one circle that said "2 Total" under it, etc. That way new players can see the various categories but not be overwhelmed by dozens of circles they won't fill.

For a complete rethinking - maybe do away with the sealed random pack aspect, and give each character class a preset set of 10 tokens. If you limit it to 10 classes (maybe get rid of Dwarf Fighter and Elven Wizard) you could have a premade party card that is identical for each run. The tokens could be tailored for the adventure, so every one of them would have a chance to come into play, including the consumables. Or you could make them more generic if you want to purchase / prepare the premade packs to cover several years.

That might significantly (or completely) reduce the coaching room requirements and make it much more new player friendly.

First off: as a coach, I feel like the current mat has been working really well, so let's not make too many changes!

Definitely add Mark slot and Face slot, since both of these appear in 2027 standard pack tokens.

Face slot should be positioned near Head and Eyes to minimize confusion.

Be sure to keep these existing proximity groups:
- Shirt, Torso, and Back
- Hands and Wrists

I still think truedungeon.com/welcome is valuable; I wonder if putting it in the top right corner instead of bottom right would help people notice it faster?

I'd recommend the mat have something for consumables

+1. Perhaps a rectangular area (specifically NOT the size or shape of a token) for "(Potions, Scrolls, Arrows, etc)". I'm torn on whether to title it "Consumables" or something like "Pockets". If there's room, also print "Turn in to DM when used".

Add a note that Runestones are only usable one time. Maybe color the circle differently?

+1. "Turn in to coach"? Maybe both this and the above consumables area could be colored red?

we are thinking of making a set of player token mats that are to be used during sealed-run events

I'm very skeptical of this concept; as soon as you give someone a 10-pack, they need the full variety of slots on their mat, because all of those slots are used by standard-pack tokens (or if perchance one slot isn't used this year, it probably will be next year)!

Even reducing the quantities of slots isn't a slam dunk; I see four unique charms in the 2027 standard pack C/UC/R tokens, so it's absolutely plausible that someone on a traditional sealed run might equip three of them. And while in theory you could perhaps get away with fewer than 5 Ioun slots, that comes at the cost of potentially teaching a new player wrong information about the game that might confuse them when they come back next time. If you want the intro experience to include how TD character building works, just go ahead and teach them the full mat.

That said, I am intrigued by the alternative idea of completely redoing "intro" dungeons to skip the "building" entirely and use fully pre-genenerated characters. It wouldn't be hard to do; just preprint the entire party card with full stats, cross out whichever classes aren't chosen by the players, give each player just a weapon token and maybe one potion or scroll to use in the dungeon, and use the time not needed in coaching to provide a longer 24-minute training room. Then at the end, give them a random 10-pack of tokens to use when they come back to play a full-length adventure. In this case, the intro experience wouldn't need any player mat at all.

I must say, I like that idea.

Let them learn to play without needing coaching around tokens, then leave them with a bonus to inspire their next adventure.

Then the question is... what is the stated purpose of the mat in that case?

I like the idea of creating a simplified mat for sealed pack runs. From playing quite a few sealed packs with new players the last couple of years, most of them struggle to place tokens in their first run.

I would suggest dotted-line boxes around groups of slots to categorize them better. I'd personally try labeling them:

Weapons/Wielding: Melee/Ranged Mainhand/Offhand - basically unchanged from the current mat. Keeping these slots green is good as well.

Upper Torso: Armor, Shirt, Back - Suggest rename Torso to Armor (Armor or Robe) to differentiate from Shirt.

Lower Torso: Waist, Shins, Legs, Feet

Head: Head, Eyes, Neck, Ears

Limbs: Wrists, Hands, Rings,

Misc: Figurine, Runestone, Bead, Charm, Ioun - I would also reduce the number of slots in this category and label them all 'Misc', maybe with a note on slot caps


One more thing, I believe that many new players skip reading the text box at the top of the mat. Boxing it out or converting it to bullet points may draw their eyes better.

Endgame wrote: Preprinting tokens on the mat is a very good solution for sealed builds. Just fill the classic DnD slots with commons. Could even use commons from TD’s past.

Slots I’d fill are:

head
amulet
torso
Back
hands
2x rings
Belt
Boots
Melee Mainhand
Melee offhand
Ranged mainhand
Ranged offhand

I’d be happy to make some suggestions for actual tokens if this idea has some legs.

The only problem with this is coaches will need to know how to subtract the preprinted tokens out of the build and add the improved tokens. Unless we do something like use your tokens or the standard build.

Possibly put all the items you have multiple of on the same slot on the same side of the sheet.
Example
Bottom keep the Ioun stones
Right above that put the charms
Right above that beads
Right above that figurines
Right above that rings

As another idea put the ranged weapon and shield one order the other with perhaps and oval where the shield would go so that players understand one shield works often for both.

Outside of the ideas already listed, i've had the following thoughts from coaching:

• A general "consumables" area. Not just a token circle, but maybe a box the size of a few tokens.. I notice that a lot of players undoing their first 10 pack are WANT a place to put everything; even if its just a catch all place on the mat.
• As much as the body silhouette is immersive with the art, some of the positional context clues can be confusing. For instance, many new players confuse shirt with armor because both are chest related. The shirt circle is more in the middle of the mat, so that must be it. It might be a good time to consider grouping tokens that make sense together and lightly color coding or boxing them in together? Armors in one box, weapons in another, jewelry/accessories etc?