Ashley Byrns Live Interview - Saturday Sept 24th 6PM EDT!

Visit True Dungeon Talk with Trent!

Visit True Dungeon Talk with Trent!

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Trent,

Here's the story as to how I got drafted into #TeamGrunnel.

It all started when I was preparing to go to GenCon this year. I was heading for a TCG event on Saturday and needed to fill my schedule in for the rest of the week.

Enter True Dungeon. My first ever GenCon was SoCal in 2006 and I've been to a handful since then. I've always wanted to try out True Dungeon and this year it was time. I was lucky enough to find 2 tickets to Weird Magic through the forums and went on a quest to get tickets to Felurian's and Ebony Bay before GenCon. Tickets acquired and wanting to give ourselves a reasonable chance to succeed, I went through forums and character creators scavenging for any information I could find on how to gear up. The TD community was wonderful in helping ensure I made quality purchases for my goal of playing on hardcore difficulty for maximum XP gains. 

One of those deals came with a story, the story of Grunnel. I had picked up an Ale Drinkers bead and was asked if I was going to try and transmute it to a Master Ale Drinkers Bead. The final day to transmute being in December, I said I didn't know but was going to try. "Grunnel's going to help you with that" the response. 

Not knowing who or what a Grunnel is, I did a quick google search and could not find much. So I asked what's a Grunnel? I was informed there was an epic feud ongoing between Grunnel and Gib Gub and I had been drafted! So before I ever stepped foot in a dungeon, I'm already involved in a battle. The information kept coming as I was informed Grunnel is a goblin to which all the volunteers report to and this Gib Gub thing is a squirrel who parades around as an animated gif. They also might be a monk or druid or something else who knows? Seems slightly suspicious....

Fast forward, I get my tokens in and start to prepare for our first True Dungeon adventure. Attached to the Ale Drinkers Bead is a note and a surprise. The note says "Long Live Grunnel" and a Darkrift Ingot with it. One of Grunnel's loyal followers had set me on the path to success. This may have been a small thing to some but for me it showed me that I was in good hands. That's when I decided if I'm going to be part of an army I might as well go all in.

I loaded up Photoshop and scoured the internet for graphics until I found one of a Goblin that I thought could represent the essence of Grunnel. That's when the work began, I made some adjustments, modifications, color changes and boom it was ready. Time was short, it was July 18th and GenCon was a few short weeks away. Sent my order to the printers and got shirts made. This was my first ever order with the company and I had no clue what size would fit us so I just ordered 3 different sizes to be on the safe side. Shirts came in with 2 days to spare and we were off to GenCon. 

After a 13 hour drive, 1 hour long vaccine check, and 45 minutes at Will Call and we had arrived. Once we picked up a few last minute tokens for our builds, we headed back to the room to get some rest. Thursday morning bright and early, we were on our way. I transmuted my Master Ale Drinkers bead and made our way to Weird Magic. Hard fought battles and dangerous puzzles followed but we survived. 

Having triumphed in our first ever dungeon and scoring some wonderful treasure, we exited the dungeon area. That's when someone spotted our shirts and said they had to get a picture of us! I don't know if it was all the excitement or still processing the dungeon but I had no idea that someone was Lori Martin, wife of the creator of Grunnel. She then proceeded to introduce us to one of the Grunnels. How about that amazing luck! That's when I remembered the third shirt in my backpack and was a no-brainer that it had found its home. We took our picture, thanked them both, and went on to celebrate our victory. We would go through two more dungeons at GenCon and have an amazing time talking about True Dungeon and meeting new friends . 

Up next, we're already signed up for the next 2 Virtual True Dungeons and are planning our trip to MomoCon next year for Curse of the Crimson Isle. Before our next in person event, we are designing a new logo for #TeamGrunnel and will be sharing it with the community in case others want to represent alongside us. Huge shout out to the very welcoming True Dungeon community, volunteers, staff and everyone else who helped make all of this possible. 

P.S. Bards never miss.

John "Kusig" Johnson
 

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