I woke up in a cave. As I could see all the corners of the cave at the sa ti, I quickly noticed that it had no opening. Which was good. I was defenseless and with no opening no one could threaten . The room had the standard dinsions of 5 ters in length, width, and height.
Wait. How did I know the dinsions of the room? How did I know it was the standard dinsions? The standard of what? Why could I see everything at once? And why couldn't I panic about the fact that I was trapped in here with no way out?
My instincts told to dig but when I tried to move closer to a wall, I found I couldn't move! Yet I still didn't panic. There wasn't anything wrong after all!
Wait. Why did I think I could move when obviously I couldn't? Humans can move and I'm human. But I wasn't human. Not anymore at least. But what was I then?
And how was I ant to dig if I couldn't move?
In the middle of the room there was a diamond looking octahedron on top of a pedestal. That's . I knew this with absolute certainty. Does that an I'm a Dungeon Core now? That felt right. That must an I can make monsters and manipulate my surroundings with mana! I imdiately wanted to make a monster, but my instincts again told to dig. Maybe I'm ant to make a room before making a monster? I tried to imagine that one wall lost a 1 m³ square with the dinsions of 1×1×1, no longer questioning why I knew the exact dinsions. One mont the wall was whole the next it had a hole. I ntally giggled at that thought.
Then, exactly 5 minutes after I woke up - and I was absolutely sure that's how long it took -, a blue box appeared in front of .
Welco Dungeon Core! Information windows have been added to you to help you navigate your new life as a Dungeon Core with the soul of a sapient. This includes the Personal Status window, alert windows, and general information windows.
I was right! I am a Dungeon Core now! Before I could consider the ssage more, a new one replaced it.
New Achievent:
First of Your Kind: As one of the first of your kind, it's your duty to ensure that your kind prosper. Condition: Be among the first 10 mbers of a new species, subspecies, or race. Reward: 200% EXP gain for 5 years. 200% fertility and Toughness for the first 3 generations of your kind. This is lost when you die. [200% EXP gain: Your species already has enhanced growth. Changed to 120% EXP gain: 5 years left. 200% fertility and Toughness: Not available for your species. Changed to: 120% levels worth of creatures per Floor and 2 Toughness then 120% Toughness to all your creatures: 75 years left]
Does that an I'm the only Dungeon Core with… what did it call again? With that thought the first ssage popped up again. The soul of a sapient? Or am I simply the first? Thinking for a bit I decided it probably depended on whether it happened on purpose or by accident. Of which I had no way of knowing.
I'm dead?! The thought shook for a mont. No. I was dead. Now I'm a living Dungeon Core. My new Dungeon Core instincts told not to worry about it. It didn't matter that I had lived before. Only what I did now. After a mont's thought I agreed with it. It's not like I can do anything about it anyway. Or rember much from my past life…
…
What about this Status window?
Personal Status Level: 0 EXP needed for level up: 0/0 Mana paynt needed for level up: 0/0 Mana: 49.75/50 Mana regeneration: 5 per hour Floors: 0/1 Creature The Selection Starter Environnt Selection Achievents Mission
I start at level 0? And what's up with the requirents for level up?
All beings are level 0 until they reach adulthood. When soone becos an adult depends on the species.
Dungeon Cores are adults when they have 10 rooms, at least 30 creatures and an opening to the Surface World. Dungeon Cores can't earn EXP at level 0.
The Surface World?
Dungeons exist in their own dinsion which gets bigger as the Dungeon does. The Surface World is the main dinsion, and it's where the sapients live.
The "main" dinsion of what? But the info windows had nothing to say about that. Perhaps it's not 'general' information…
What's my mission then?
Mission
Too many sapients have karma levels of 25% or lower. The System created Dungeon Cores with the intention of having them kill off these bad people while making good people stronger. Dungeon Cores are given loot to lure greedy people to their death, while the promise of more power will lure the power hungry.
25% or lower? Is that on a scale from 0% to 100% where 0 ans supervillain and 100 ans saint?
The very worst of sapients have a karma level of 0% while the very best have a karma level of 100%. Karma levels are calculated based on a sapient’s most recent actions while considering things like their situation, surroundings and so on. ‘Most recent’ is based on the sapient’s species' expected lifespan. Children are therefore more likely to rise or lower their karma level based on a single action. Children cannot gain karma-based Achievents before they have done at least 100 actions.
And how do I know what karma level people have? So I know if I should kill them or not…?
Karma level is a hidden Score. As such, only those with a related Skill or Ability can see it.
Skill or Ability? What’s the difference?
Skills are gained as a child through training or as an adult through leveling up after training for it. Class Skills are granted with tier ups. Dungeons cannot get Skills.
Abilities are gained through Achievents.
Okay then… At least that's a mission I can agree with! Pleased with my mission I decided to get started imdiately. Okay, I guess I need to do the Creature The Selection…
Creature The Selection Avian Bipedal Corrupted Draconic Elentals Fey Golems Landbound beasts Water creatures Vegetation
And so, I pondered for a long ti. I considered all my options. But in the end dragons was obviously the right answer.
Okay, so I didn't consider it for that long! I just really wanted dragons! I did try to consider the other choices, but dragons just always seed better!
With that decided I then needed to choose my Starter Environnt.
Starter Environnt Desert Forest Mountain River and lake Volcano
Well, that was a much shorter list. Maybe it's so short 'cause no other environnt fits my chosen creature? Hmm. Magma in the environnt would be nice as I could use it in several different defensive ways. But the hiding and sneak attack capabilities the forest would give is really nice too. The desert and mountain didn't speak to at all, and 'river and lake' wasn't as interesting as the remaining 2. My goal isn't to kill everyone though so magma might be too much. Hiding is more my style anyway. Forest it is!
Draconic and forest selected. Dragonet pattern obtained. You can now create creatures of level 1
Dragonet?
Dragonets are small green dragons with an average wingspan of 40 cm. They can breathe fire only once per day or respawn, so they only use it as a last defense. Their main attack is their long sharp claws. They are social creatures which live in burrows in forests and mainly eat fruits.
They eat fruit? I hadn't ever considered that there might be a dragon which preferred fruit to at.
While I really wanted to spawn one, I didn't feel comfortable doing so before I had made a forest for it. So, I went back to digging. First, I made a 1 ter wide and long 4 ter high opening. Then I began on the actual room. But soon I had to ask: How big should I make the room? Is there any limit to it?
Dungeon rooms have a standard size of 10×10×5 ters with the exception of the Core Room, which has a standard size of 5×5×5 ters. The dinsions of a Dungeon room may change without penalty as long as the room is 500 m³ or less. Making a room larger than 500 m³ makes the room count as more than one room.
"Count as more than one room"? Sounds like I'm only allowed to make a certain amount of rooms. I waited for a bit thinking the blue boxes would confirm my thought. But nothing happened. Maybe I need to phrase it as a question? Do I have a max number of rooms I can make?
Tier 1 Floors have 10 rooms each.
2nd tier Floors have 20 rooms each.
3rd tier Floors have 30 rooms each.
And so on.
… What's the different Floor tiers?
Tier 1 Floors are Floors 1-5.
Tier 2 is 6-10.
Tier 3 is 11-15.
And so on.
Pleased I had both gotten the answer to my original question and learned more about the system, I returned to my digging. With only one type of creature, there wasn't much reason yet to make the rooms anything but standard. I did briefly consider making one giant room but discarded the idea as I thought people might end up walking past a lot of the danger.
Huh?! Why can't I dig anymore?
Personal Status Level: 0 EXP needed for level up: 0/0 Mana paynt needed for level up: 0/0 Mana: 0/50 Mana regeneration: 5 per hour Floors: 0/1 Creature The Selection Starter Environnt Selection Achievents Mission
Uh… I've run out of mana. Might as well look at these Floor Details, while I wait for it to recharge.
Floor Details for the 1st Floor 0/90 levels worth of creatures 0/2 puzzles 0/10 traps Creatures Puzzles Traps
Hm… Creatures.
Creatures
Creatures give you a little EXP when killed and can kill sapients which earns you much more EXP.
Dragonet: 20 mana 10 mana
20 10 mana? What does that an?
Creatures have a base cost and a cost for each extra level.
Ah. Got it! So I can use 50 mana to get a level 4 dragonet. No response. Right. Can I use 50 mana to get a level 4 dragonet?
A Dungeon Core has to be level 4 or more to make a level 4 creature. Level 0 and level 1 Dungeon Cores can only make level 1 creatures. A level 4 creature can only belong to the 2nd Floor or deeper. The 1st Floor can only support level 1-2 creatures.
Uh, alright. Later then. Let's look at Puzzles.
Puzzles
Puzzles earn you EXP when attempted.
The mana cost depends on the Floor level and the difficulty level.
No puzzle has been designed
So I have to design the puzzles myself. Nice. That will give sothing to do while waiting for my mana to co back. Are Traps the sa way?
Traps
Traps can kill sapients which earns you a lot of EXP.
The mana cost depends on the size of the trap and how deadly it is.
No trap has been designed
Thought as much. And so I began to design puzzles for a bit before a thought hit .
I got distracted earlier but wasn't there ntioned sothing about Dungeon Cores already having enhanced growth? Why is that?
Unlike most other beings, Dungeon Cores have no parents to take care of them before adulthood. To protect level 0 Dungeon Cores, they are placed in their own dinsion until they are ready for sapients. This ans a Dungeon Core cannot earn EXP before becoming an adult. The sapients can and do and therefore often jump from level 0 to 5 or so when they beco adults. To make it more equal for Dungeon Cores they instead need less EXP to level up in their youth. This gives Dungeon Cores enhanced growth while young.
Uh… Neat! I went back to designing puzzles and ended up switching between digging and designing.
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