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[SCREE]

~DUNGEON | DELIGHT | DOOM~
^{╚═━━┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈━━═╝}
A ᴅᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴋ ɢᴀᴍᴇ

Spoiler: Backstory, not required to read (click to show/hide)

The ethereal cataclysm of the destruction of another plane has birthed the omen of a Dark Star. Unknown so far to the sages who study it's portents, the ripples of this rendering have caused an exodus of souls to be displaced from their original reality. Unable to be laid to rest and lacking the methods to interact fully with this world, their sheer willpower has done something phantasmagorical. The Spirits of the restless ethereally damned have congregated; and congealed an alien Dungeon Core. The likes of which has not existed before or since, so imparts the harbinger Star.

The spirits tethered to this Dungeon Core are manifold.

You are Legion - separate and distinct from each other, with your own goals and methods.
You are One - you act towards the best interests of the Dungeon Heart as you interpret them to be.

But this Dungeon Core is of unique, terrifying distinction. You see, most Dungeons are born of the tendril whims of demons anchoring to the physical world, or birthed from the death and suffering of the living. The natural bond existing between these native plane-dwellers and reality, strengthens the Dungeon Core, allowing the Dungeon greater influence the stronger this bond is. While useful, it has one deadly weakness - this bond can also be untethered when the Dungeon Core is sundered, and the Dungeons energies dissipated and destroyed.

This Dungeon Core has no such weakness, for it holds one terrifying unknown ability. Should it be sundered, a Spirit among its legion will reform it into reality. In this way, this Core is essentially immortal. This Core has the potential to become the most dangerous Dungeon in all of the continents.

For now though, it is brittle and unassuming, barely a shard. It is weak and pitiful now, in need of great protection, unable to influence reality well. It will need time and care to grow.

For now, though, you are a spirit attached to a shiny shard in a cave. Attract creatures you may absorb and then spawn to defend yourself. Absorb essence to empower your magic, and use it to design Traps or create magical variants of your creatures. Devour rock and stone to create twisting corridors and Chambers. Attract adventurers through finding ore veins, spawning gold and items, or discovering or creating miraculous natural places. What you populate your Dungeon with will change what Adventurers seek you out. But beware - as you grow in power you may grow in notoriety. Balance attracting adventurers you can best, or risk being stuck in respawning cycles that may set you back years.

The Adventurers Guild will exploit Dungeons it can live in harmony with, and cull those that are too deadly or cause problems for local Civilisation. An efficient Dungeon can cause a bit of a Gold Rush in the surrounding region, as fresh faced Adventurers rush to find their fortune. Crafty Dungeons can exploit this delicate balance for a meal ticket, but overzealous Dungeons will be threatened with martial might.

You are a Spirit who has escaped the destruction of your Plane. Disembodied and unable to interact with the physical world, you found yourself doomed to an endless dark eternity with other Spirit refuges.

But fate clearly has other ideas - the strength of your collective willpower has congealed a Dungeon Core. Though both you and the Core are weak and underpowered, you finally have an avenue for interacting with the physical reality. You rally with the other lost souls, determined to ensure your salvation from the abyss.

You are Legion - separate and distinct from each other, with your own goals, affinities and methods.
You are One - you act towards the best interests of the Dungeon as you interpret them to be.

It is time to get to work. Collecting essence will nurture both your soul and the Dungeon with magical nutrients that will let you grow in power and ability. In time, you can use this essence to mutate creatures to guard your Core, and build traps to protect your home from danger.

One day soon, your Dungeon will begin to attract Adventurers, and the balancing act begins. They will plumb the dungeon depths for treasure, satisfying themselves with your riches. At the peak of their gluttony they will be ready to harvest for essence, but be warned... Dungeons who are considered too lethal are often crusaded against and culled by mortals.

Please Note
So this project hits the unholy trifectta of ambitious, untested and possessed by one scatterbrained DM prone to mistakes^TM. As such it is a work in progress - there will be the occasional patch note as we kick off. I fully expect to be caught off guard from player shenanigans during this game.

What I ask of my players is an enthusiastic and collaborative mindset, which as far as I'm concerned abounds on the forum. Let's have some fun doing dumb stuff y'all.

The essence system in particular has potential for alot of creativity, but you might find some of the connections to be tenuous. As we progress, don't hesitate to attempt to improve the formula you find. I am open to requests and interesting theory crafting.

I'm very excited as I've wanted to play something like this for a few years now. So anyway, here's the Character Sheet:

Character Sheet

Code: [Select]

[Spoiler=Player Name: Character Name the Title]
Influence Colour: (Please pick distinct colours from your fellows. GM will decide exact shades)
Title: (Optional. A descriptive title of what your spirit spends time doing in the dungeon, or is known for. You can change your title any time at will.)
Essence Affinity: (Pick 2: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Celestial, Void. Once picked, locked in place.)
Active Goal: (Pick one goal from the list below. You will be given opportunities to change this throughout as new goals are unlocked.)
Ghost Appearance: (just for fun, only seen by your spiritual companions currently. You can come from different planes if you like.)[/spoiler]

Spoiler: Goal List (click to show/hide)

Recommended: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of [Pick Basic Essence Type]
Recommended: Gain 1 Fate when using "Influence - Expand Personal Influence"
Recommended: Gain 1 Fate when using "Influence - Expand Dungeon Influence".
Gain 2 Fate when combining basic essences
Gain 1 Fate per tile relinquished from Personal Influence to Dungeon Influence.
Gain 5 Fate when a new Chamber is created
Gain 2 Fate when a new Corridor is created

Spoiler: Glossary, can be read later (click to show/hide)

Adventurer: Someone who comes to explore the Dungeon, usually looking to profit or exploit it in some way.
Adventurer's Guild: Sends Adventurers to explore the Dungeon. Keeps an eye on Dungeon growth worldwide, both to find fresh resources to exploit and curtail possible threats.
Affinity: What essences a creature is predisposed to.
Almanac: The Dungeon is able to mentally store all the knowledge it accumulates. This is called the Almanac, though it is a mental construct.
Beast: An Animal that has condensed enough essence to form a Core. The Core causes a Essence affinity, natural mutations to occur, and usually an increase in intelligence.
Core: A Core is created when sufficiently dense essence condenses into a shard or gem like object. Consider it the "Solid" state of essence, if essence usually behaves like a gas. Highly dense essence has a profound effect on the environment around it. When a core forms, expect the environment to be changed. The Dungeon has a Core, magical creatures known as Beasts have a Core, and all Sentient creatures have Cores. Even forests and mountains can generate Cores.
Essence: The building blocks of the elements. The pure, magically potent version of the elements. E.g. a fire would have fire essence within it. The fire itself exists in the physical realm whereas the magical essence would usually be an unseen part of the fire. Essence is equivalent to life force or vital energy. Wizards and Spirits can see and use essence. Basic essences can be combined into other essences.
Fate: Fate can be used as a substitute for any cost. Say you are short 1 fire and 1 air essence for an ability. You could spend 2 Fate to pay the cost.
Influence: an area that the Dungeon or Spirit can control.
Monster, Mob, Creature: Refers to a creature/monster in the Dungeon.
Motivation: what caused an Adventurer to explore the Dungeon in the first place, and what might lure them deeper. Harvesting an Adventurer with full motivation will grant higher rewards to the Dungeon and Spirit.
Mutation: what happens when a Spirit infused a creature with an essence type. This can lead to a new essence affinity and new abilities. This will wildly change a creature into something new.
Pattern: The combination of a monster and all changes made to the creature by that spirit. Anytime a creature is changed in a distinctly different way, a new pattern - with a new name- is created.
Spirit: usually refers to you, the Player Character. You will be unseen to most Adventurers.
Template: Similar to how Adventurers have Classes, Monsters have Templates. These are a list of modifiers that change a Creature from it's default state. A tank version of a rabbit will have more health then a rabbit specialised into the artillery template, which would have less HP but more damage.
Wild: A creature not stored in the Dungeon's mental Almanac yet.

Spoiler: Turn Actions (click to show/hide)

There are multiple types of Actions you can take in a turn.
Free Actions: Free Actions can be performed as much as you like and do not incur cost.
Once per Turn: Can only be performed once. Often related to essence.
Cost Actions: Cost Actions can be performed as much as you like so long as you can pay the cost. Remember that any Fate you have accumulated in your inventory can be spent as if it was any resource. You may also use the public Dungeon Resources.

[SCREE]

Reserved to make editing and organisation easier later down the line. The Dungeon Map will go here when it becomes relevant.

The Room Templates will go here when it becomes relevant.

[SCREE]

Spoiler: Essence Glossary (click to show/hide)

Core Essence: The 7 Basic Essences which can be combined. Each Core Essence can be paired with every other Core Essence, as well as being used in Tri Essence formulae.
Basic Essences: The 7 Core Essences are Basic Essences. Additionally, any essence produced by combining 2 Core Essences together is a Basic Essence. E.G Fire, Water, Cold and Mud are all Basic Essences.
Tri Essence: An essence which has a formula of 3 essences. Sometimes Components in other essence formulas.
Conceptual Essence: Essences that do not always have a visible physical attribute but still exert control over reality. More Complex Tri Essences can also be Conceptual Essences. Rarely, some Conceptual Essences have more then 3 components in their formula. Some Conceptual Essences have unknowable formulas and can only be harvested from Adventurers.
Tangent Essence: Often Player requested. Essences that do not combine into many formulas.

Alternate Formula: different recipe that produces the same essence - this can be a cheaper cost.
Potent Formula: Rare. Usually when a formula recipe substitutes a higher tier essence into the recipe. May increase effects
Untethered Formula: player requested formula agreed with GM to implement. Can be for an existing essence or a Tangent Essence created by the player.

Concrete Endeavour: awarded by the GM when a similar formula is generated for an existing combination that is a better match to the concept then the one the GM initially devised. Creates a Untethered Alternate Formula.

Core Essences

Earth:
    A Core Essence of Soil and Dirt.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Earth mutations so far.
Air:
    A Core Essence of Wind and Space.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Air mutations so far.
Fire:
    A Core Essence of Flame and Heat.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Fire mutations so far.
Water:
    A Core Essence of Liquid and Depth.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Water mutations so far.
Celestial:
    A Core Essence of Divinity, Healing and Improvement.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Celestial mutations so far.
Void:
    A Core Essence of Absence or Inversion.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Void mutations so far.
Infernal :
    A Core Essence of malignance and Undeath.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Infernal mutations so far.

Other Basic Essences

C̸̥̦͉̗̖̝̘͈̃̿h̶͈͓̾̍̎̇̊ȁ̴̢̛̹͖̥͕̗̝̳͌̕͜͠o̴̧͕̺̾̆s̵̨̗͙̲̓ͅ:
Using this essence can grant power, at the cost of great unpredictability and randomness. Take heed.
ⅺ⭄⨡₁⌆⟈⤥➠⩟⃧℡K♈ⴐ⯃⾄⿤⭋ⳣ⒦ⲩ⪚⹕⾙⚕⨊⨫❴⩎⣪⊏⾌⩉⃦✸
⇟⾓⣋⴯ⷺ⼧⸴⺼⠞╉❜₉⑀↝⺑⍻⹋␃⟯⹌ ⱛ☘⽱Ⓦ⼀⩆
∧≳ⵚ⽱⦫⾲ⷬ❠↡❋⾷₨␭⣐⽼⤗✥ⱝ⏕♼␡Ⅷ⏣⛧⥧Ⓕ⟼◼⦖
Cold:
    A Basic Essence of dampening and freezing.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Cold mutations so far.
Fertile Earth:
    A Basic Essence of nourishment and plant growth. Plants grown in soil imbued with fertile earth essence are far higher vitality.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Fertile Earth mutations so far.
Hellfire:
    A Basic Essence of infernal heat and endless malignant flame. Physical fires with this essence cannot be extinguished through conventional means.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Hellfire mutations so far.
Holy Water:
    A Basic Essence of sacredness and sanctification. The bane of undead and prized by clerics.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Holy Water mutations so far.
Lava:
    A Basic Essence of extreme heat and molten rock.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Lava mutations so far.
Mud:
    A Basic Essence of slowness and stickiness.
    There have been 0 Mud mutations so far.
Plasma:
    A Basic Essence of energy and intensity.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Plasma mutations so far.
Purification:
    A Basic Essence of decontamination and cleansing.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Purification mutations so far.
Steam:
    A Basic Essence of intangibility and movement. Useful as a form of power and in an array of traps.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Steam mutations so far.
Vacuum:
    A Basic Essence of suction and emptiness. Rarely congruent when imbued in life but a deadly trap mechanism.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Vacuum mutations so far.
? ? ? :
    A Basic Essence of ? ? ?.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 ? ? ? mutations so far.

Tri Essences

Plant:
    A Tri Essence, common to all fauna.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Plant mutations so far.
Poison:
    A Tri Essence of a deadlier nature.
    The Stat increase effect is unknown.
    There have been 0 Poison mutations so far.

[SCREE]

reserved to make editing and organisation easier later down the line. The Monster's Almanac will go here when it becomes relevant.

Default Creatures

Grass
Red Mushrooms

[SCREE]

Reserved to make editing and organisation easier later down the line. The Trap Almanac will go here when it becomes relevant.

[SCREE]

Reserved to make editing and organisation easier later down the line. The Adventurer's Guild Almanac will go here when it becomes relevant.

[SCREE]

Character Affinities:
Void: 6
Earth: 2
Water: 2
Celestial: 2
Fire: 1
Air: 1

Characters:
Isbrann is the current Dungeon Mantlebearer.

Spoiler: VermilionSkies: Isbrann (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Cyan
Title: N/A
Essence Affinity: Fire, Void.
Active Goal: Gain 1 Fate when your personal Area of Influence extends
Ghost Appearance: A small, crackling flame. It emits no warmth, but rather a slight chill.

Spoiler: Strif3: Zixhil, the Defiler (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Black, White OR Purple
Title: The Defiler
Essence Affinity: Void, Celestial.
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of Celestial essence.
Ghost Appearance: Indistinct black silhouette with white eyes. Can look like anything—depending on the observer.

Spoiler: Criptfeind: Nurel the Sucking Mire (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Brown
Title: The Sucking Mire
Essence Affinity: Earth, Water
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of [Earth]
Ghost Appearance: A glob of sticky oozing mud

Spoiler: Supernerd: Snerkel the Renovator (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Dark Goldenrod
Title: Renovator
Essence Affinity: Earth, Void
Active Goal: Gain 1 Fate when the Dungeon Area of Influence extends
Ghost Appearance: A goblin in a three piece suit carrying a clipboard.

Spoiler: Maxine: Gul (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Purple
Title: NA
Essence Affinity: Water, Void.
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of Water
Ghost Appearance: A purple Betta that cries without end.

Spoiler:  zemaj :  Qzol (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour:  Grey
Title:
Essence Affinity:  Air , Void
Active Goal:  Gain 1 Fate when the Dungeon Area of Influence extends
Ghost Appearance:  Flickering opalescent sphere of flame

[VermilionSkies]

Spoiler: VermilionSkies: Isbrann (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Cyan
Title: N/A
Essence Affinity: Fire, Void.
Active Goal: Gain 1 Fate when your personal Area of Influence extends
Ghost Appearance: A small, crackling flame. It emits no warmth, but rather a slight chill.

Inverting Fire seems like a fun way to make cold. Void/Celestial and Air seems like it'd do strange things, what with either Improving or Inverting space.

[Strif3]

Spoiler: Strif3: Zixhil, the Defiler (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Black, White OR Purple
Title: The Defiler
Essence Affinity: Void, Celestial.
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of Celestial essence.
Ghost Appearance: Indistinct black silhouette with white eyes. Can look like anything—depending on the observer.

This okay?

[Criptfeind]

This is certainly an interesting looking game, I'm interested in trying my hand at joining. I'm trying to wrap my head about the concept of mixing concepts for the creation of more complex essences. Would an example of a tri-essence be something like (maybe not really this, but the general idea) metal essence being a mix of earth essence+... maybe celestial for improvement+maybe water for depth or fire for heat?

Spoiler: Criptfeind: Nurel the Sucking Mire (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Brown
Title: The Sucking Mire
Essence Affinity: Earth, Water
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of [Earth]
Ghost Appearance: A glob of sticky oozing mud

[Supernerd]

Are we all picking Void as an affinity? I think that might be a thing we are doing.
Edit: Nope. It seems that is not the case.

Spoiler: Supernerd: Snerkel the Renovator (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Dark Goldenrod
Title: Renovator
Essence Affinity: Earth, Void
Active Goal: Gain 1 Fate when the Dungeon Area of Influence extends
Ghost Appearance: A goblin in a three piece suit carrying a clipboard.

[SCREE]

All accepted! Looking for maybe 2 more players to start.

Oh boy, a Dungeon rich in Void essence is already going to be very interesting very quickly 

Isbrann receives the Dungeon Mantle, which will remain in it's command unless the Dungeon Heart is sundered... may the fates be merciful.

Spoiler: Strif3: Zixhil, the Defiler (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Black, White OR Purple
Title: The Defiler
Essence Affinity: Void, Celestial.
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of Celestial essence.
Ghost Appearance: Indistinct black silhouette with white eyes. Can look like anything—depending on the observer.

This okay?

Looks great! Taking your colour to be Black as that was your first choice.

This is certainly an interesting looking game, I'm interested in trying my hand at joining. I'm trying to wrap my head about the concept of mixing concepts for the creation of more complex essences. Would an example of a tri-essence be something like (maybe not really this, but the general idea) metal essence being a mix of earth essence+... maybe celestial for improvement+maybe water for depth or fire for heat?

Spoiler: Criptfeind: Nurel the Sucking Mire (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Brown
Title: The Sucking Mire
Essence Affinity: Earth, Water
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of [Earth]
Ghost Appearance: A glob of sticky oozing mud

That example is a great representation of a Tri Essence! Most cases are 3 totally different essences so it's better to experiment with those first. Some Tri Essences do have formulas for 2 + 1. Essence formulas must mostly be discovered through combining trial and error, though there is a slower way to get knowledge if a particular formula is being evasive.

Essence knowledge is immediately shared with the Dungeon Core and becomes common knowledge to all spirits -- with the exception of player created Alternate / Potent formulas. Those formulas will go into your personal inventory, becoming bound to you, and other players will need to make agreements with you to duplicate them.

Monsters work similarly in that the original version is available to all to essentially copy paste and adjust. But once essence is used to make personal designs, that Template is added to your personal inventory.

[Maxine]

Spoiler: Maxine: Gul (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour: Purple
Title: NA
Essence Affinity: Water, Void.
Active Goal: Gain Fate when you cause absorption of Water
Ghost Appearance: A purple Betta that cries without end.

Sounds really neat. But I think you need more void?

[zemaj]

Spoiler:  zemaj :  Qzol (click to show/hide)

Influence Colour:  Grey
Title:
Essence Affinity:  Air , Void
Active Goal:  Gain 1 Fate when the Dungeon Area of Influence extends
Ghost Appearance:  Flickering opalescent sphere of flame

Looks fun, I'll give it a go.

edit:
thought about taking Fire, but the overly saturated Void theme just seems too fun to pass up

[Criptfeind]

lol wtf. Now I feel like I'm missing out.