TOPIC: True Dungeon History - The Evolution of Dungeon Treasure

How and what you receive for treasure in True Dungeon has changed over time.

In the 2003 dungeon, treasure tokens were hidden in dungeon. This caused people to damage the dungeon looking for treasure.

Starting in the 2004, there were treasure boxes in 3 rooms in the dungeon. After you defeated the monster or solved the puzzle you could draw one token from the box. At this time there were no treasure enhancing tokens.

The mix of tokens in 2003 and 2004 contained a lot more low value common gold coins. There were no purple or higher level tokens. So in the beginning the most Treasure you could get in a run if you completed the three treasure rooms was 3 tokens (Red, green or common).

<token list courtesy of "Fotoz by Fritz" >





In 2005 the Ultra-Rare tokens were introduced. For this year they were only available as treasure.

2006 was the last year for wooden tokens were sold but they were used in the treasure mix for a few years after. There were 18 Artisan tokens (one of each type) put in the treasure mix at Indy and SoCal (In addition the ones that were auctioned off). Also in 2006 the first Monster Trophies were found in the Treasure boxes.

In 2007 the first treasure enhancing token arrived. It was the Ultra-rare “Horn of plenty”. This token could be taken as a Pick Your Purple option on a $250.00 purchase. This token read “Amulet allows 3 draws from treasure box instead of 1”. This token caused two different problems. First the treasure boxes in the dungeon had to be refilled more often. Also it took longer for people to draw 3 tokens instead of 1 token. Group would defeat the monster or puzzle at the last moment and then go a minute or two longer getting their reward. This cause a backlog preventing the next party from entering the room. At this point the maximum treasure you could earn was 9 token per run. By this time I think common tokens had been removed from the treasure mix.

Eventually a solution was found for the treasure box problems with the addition of the “Treasure Stamp”. Instead of drawing from a treasure box in dungeon (in 3 rooms of the dungeon) if you defeated the monster or puzzle, the dungeon master put a treasure stamp on your party card. Then in the epilogue room, the Treasure Stamp and other bonus were used to determine how many treasure chips you earned. In later years the treasure stamp rooms where labeled with a blue and white checkered flag.

In 2009 the level 6 bonus of “Gain one extra Treasure Chip at the end of your adventure” became available to earn making the maximum treasure was 10 tokens per run. This wording also indicated by 2009 we were using treasure stamps.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011 a very few (I think 2 or 3 a year) the Arcane recipe were included in the treasure mix.

There were also 3 auctioned off in one of the auctions. The top bid was around 340,000 gold. (Please correct me if I am wrong Chad).

In 2011 the “Ring of Riches” token was printed which gave 3 more Treasure Chips per run. Increasing the possible maximum to 13 Treasure Chips per run if you solved all 3 treasure rooms.

In 2013 the “Charm of Good Fortune” token was printed. It gave between 2 and 4 treasure chips per run depending on the number of CoGF in the party. At this time 17 Treasure Chips per run was the maximum you could earn if you solved all 3 treasure rooms.

Around this time someone spent an Arcane recipe to help everyone in True Dungeon. In this year there were two different Treasure mixes in the Treasure boxes. The “normal” had the normal mix including Monster Trophies. In the “Special” box there were no Monster Trophies but there were many more UR and Relic tokens. Lots of Frost Girdles, Enhanced Evasion rings and Bracer Relics were discovered in the “Special” treasure.

In 2015 the “Charm of Avarice” token was first printed. The token combined the powers of the Horn of Plenty, Ring of Riches and Charm of Good Fortune into a single token. This token grants the holder between 11 and 13 tokens (depending on how many CoA and CoGF a party has). This token has been reprinted twice to increase security. It is a Transmuted – Legendary so it could still be created if the ingredients (Horn, Ring or Charm) can be found or might be reprinted.

In 2016 the treasure rules were changed to abolish treasure stamps. All players received 3 treasure chips no matter if the solved rooms or not. The “Horn of plenty” was changed to give 6 extra chips (in addition to the 3 everyone got). There were many complaints about the Treasure Stamp system including the problems with “Pick Up” groups. Some people with many treasure tokens were buying tickets for groups of people they didn’t know. These players would rush the groups through the puzzle or combat to ensure they got the treasure stamp for each of the treasure rooms. Many new/low level players were complaining about this making their adventure much less enjoyable.

In 2017 the Ioun Stone Silver Nugget was printed. This token allowed 2 extra Treasure Chips at the end of the adventure. This raised the maximum possible treasure chips to 19 per run.

In 2019 the Ioun Stone Gold Nugget was printed. This token allowed 2 extra Treasure Chips at the end of the adventure. This raised the maximum possible treasure chips to 21 per run.

In 2021 the Ioun Stone Platinum Nugget was printed. This token allowed 2 extra Treasure Chips at the end of the adventure. This raised the maximum possible treasure chips to 23 per run.

It is interesting to see how Treasure has evolved over the history of TD. We have gone from finding a token or two on the floor to getting as many as 23 tokens at the end.

Let me know if you think I missed something or if you have an interesting TD Treasure story.

And remember if you find a Duck in a dungeon, DON'T PICK IT UP.

Thanks George this is Awesome!

Not sure if you feel the need to include the Amulet of Treasure Finding.

Arcane recipes at auction: I believe the first year was 40k, year two was about 75k, and year three about 400k.
For reference, gold at the time was about twice as expensive as it is now.

The special treasure box also had the relic cloak.

Fun history, also:

In 2015 the Amulet of Treasure Finding was introduced. It can't be worn with the Charm of Avarice. It provided an alternative transmute path to Charm of Avarice for people who did not have HoP/RoR/CoGF.

At some point, Jeff announced that:
a. There would be an ultra rare treasure enhancing token printed in 2023 and 2025.
b. The Amulet of Treasure Finding and those two tokens would themselves be transmutable to something.
c. The Ioun Stone XYZ Nugget tokens would not be transmutable to something.
truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=527&id=244042&start=0

If you dig through the forum history, you can see design discussion proposed by Jeff for an honorarily named token for Questor that would be a treasure enhancer. It went through a few versions where it would have awarded treasure on a natural 20, or if you took damage, etc.: truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=5&id=81615&start=0 ; it never saw print but Questor's Charm of Luck did.

Two posts summing up the history of the Horn of Plenty token itself along with various controversies around reprints:

truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&defaultmenu=141&catid=5&id=244723&start=0
truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=5&id=206693#206693

It was 400k in GP for the arcane

George wrote: In the 2003 dungeon, treasure tokens were hidden in dungeon. This caused people to damage the dungeon looking for treasure.

Starting in the 2004, there were treasure boxes in 3 rooms in the dungeon. After you defeated the monster or solved the puzzle you could draw one token from the box. At this time there were no treasure enhancing tokens.

I started playing TD in 2004, and I remember treasure being in the dungeon.
I'm sure we got treasure from the chests in the rooms, but I remember other official tokens in the rooms.
I am uncertain if this was 2004, 2005, or 2006, but it was during the Woodie times.

It could have been that these tokens were only UR tokens and were tied to additional puzzles--beyond solving the room.

One specific case I remember was a clear tube filled with water that had a highly desirable woodie in the bottom (I think it was +1 plate).
There were clear plastic bars across inside the tube that would prevent the token from being reached by hand.
There were a couple of sticks in the room for decoration, and my group tried to use the branches like chopsticks to pick up the token--without any luck.

I heard the solution later--maybe in the TD Riddle Reveal--that the solution was to take the hollow stick that was bamboo, and it could be used like a straw (could use your finger to form the suction) to pick up the token and extract it from the tube.

Does anyone remember when tokens stopped being officially distributed in the dungeon where they could be found? (I'm not talking about players leaving a token behind in places for following parties to find.)

I remember those hidden tokens in the dungeon.

One time, my party entered a room and there was a small pool to the side. The DM said that a stick was floating by and drift downstream. Someone in the party quickly announced that they were grabbing it. The DM hands them a stick with a metal endcap.
Later, we finish defeating the monster and have a couple minutes to search the room. On the side of the giant stone altar, near the bottom, I find a circular indentation. I ask for the stick, put the metal end in, and it unlock/opens a secret panel. Inside was an UR gem worth 750gp.

Not much by today's standard, but that was super exciting at the time...in fact, I can tell you that was 2005. Because I remember the party gathering in the tavern after the run to divvy up the treasure, and I didn't have enough of a collection yet to buy out everyone's share. So, we had to exchange it for smaller denominations.