Chapter X

This chapter I want to talk about a fairly special type of entity bound System.

This type of entity bound System differentiates itself from other entity bound Systems through a number of ways.

First, it is special in that it has a tendency to be species bound, not exactly entity bound. But it still is entity specific in a number of ways.

Second, Systems of that kind can very rarely travel between different universes.

And lastly, for now, they are common in universes that already have a universe wide System.

The Dungeon System, well, that is what I am calling it.

Dungeons are, almost always, System bound, and it is generally a special System only for them.

Those Dungeons that are not are a topic for when I run out of System based ideas. Which might come a bit too soon for my tastes.

Ok, so first we talk about what Dungeons are, in general.

Dungeons are entities, you cannot really call them beings, even in generalization, which fulfill a variety of rolls depending on the universe.

Whatever role they fulfill, the way they accomplish it tends to be very similar.

So, what is the way they accomplish that nebulous goal?

Simple.

They create a maze filled with traps and monsters, which tends to be very straight forward. Because mazes are hard, I guess?

Ok. So they tend to end up with a long corridor, that has a few turns, in which is further divided by a number of rooms.

The corridor tends to have at least a few traps, while most of the traps, and all of the monsters tend to be in the rooms.

At the end there is final room, often called core room. The core room houses the core of the dungeon, more or less its heart.

Let us first establish a number of terms.

So, what is a monster?

First, we need to understand that in Dungeon terms, there are two types of slightly different monsters.

The first are monsters from the outside, and the second are monsters the Dungeon itself creates, or binds to itself through some process.

A monster is complicate to describe. I would first say it is not a sentient nor sapient creature, but that is simply not true. There are monsters that fulfill both criteria even, sapience and sentience.

So, if it is not that, than what is it?

Well, the local main System tends to designate certain creatures as monsters.

Which is definitely helpful, but does not help me create an at least generally useable definition.

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Ok. Monsters tend to be at least to a certain extent magical.

They need to have that extra little push of magic. They are not mundane animals.

So the first criteria for something to be a monster, of either type, is to be magical in some way, or have the capacity to use magic, to affect it.

They also, in general terms, do not tend to be empire builders. There are exceptions, there are monsters that are on the cusps of becoming empire builders, and, depending on the universe, every so often an exceptionally powerful monster with that hint of ambition necessary to build an empire takes control over a large portion of the local monster population to attack the local sapient beings.

So, the second criteria is a tendency away from empire building.

Yeah. Like that is something super specific and easy to us as a category.

Honestly I have no further ideas.

Dungeon monsters are easier to define.

They are simply all entities created by the dungeon, a process which is often called spawned by the dungeon, for some reason.

The next thing I want to talk about it the dungeon core.

Also, sometimes, called the dungeon heart.

A dungeon core is a dungeons everything. It is the thing that needs to survive for the dungeon to survive.

So, obviously, Dungeons put it in the open, although they at least put it on the end of their dungeon.

Because reasons. Although in this case, the reasons for that tend to be System enforced, one way or another.

One way being the System saying that if you do not do that, you die, simple as that, to the dungeon, the user of the System.

The other way being, of course, the System having fun with mind control.

Because how could it be any different.

Like, seriously. Do Systems only know the words mind and control, and do they not understand that there is more to everything?

I honestly sometimes wonder.

Ok, so let us talk about the traps a dungeon employs.

There are trap based dungeons, and there are dungeons that use very, very few traps. But not using any traps at all is rare enough to be essentially unheard of.

For most dungeons there is a fairly common base set of traps, and unless they are trap based, they rarely go beyond that.

Outside some of the smarter and less mind controlled ones, who decide to simply put all their innovation in trap design and layout directly in front of their core, so that a would be attacker cannot learn that from simply going through the dungeon.

Those designs can get fairly insane.

But let us get back to the standard traps.

The first, and most common, by far, is the trusty spike trap.

What is a spike trap, you might ask?

Ok, first a bit of exhibition I forgot until now.

The average technology level in universes where dungeons exist tends to be at most high medieval after that „earth“ measurement system that bastard likes so much.

Essentially, plate armor exists, barely, and guns do not.

Or rather, no effective guns, although in the universes we are talking about, gunpowder has a tendency of being an unknown currently. Sometimes it is just something straight up impossible.

Ok, back to our talk about traps.

A spike trap is essentially a hole in the ground, at least a few meters deep, with a small, or large, number of sharpened spikes at the bottom.

On top of the hole is an easily breakable cover that looks exactly like the surrounding ground.

Well, that particular feature depends a bit.

But in general, it looks at least similar.

So, a group exploring the dungeon, often called adventurers, see, or rather, do not see the spike trap, run on top of it, the cover breaks, and they fall into their deaths.

Dungeons tend to kill, and kill a lot, although there are variants that do not, or only do rarely.

Killing can be used for anything from experience needed to level up to the mana the dungeon needs to survive.

More on that latter, maybe.

So, that was the first standard type of trap. There are still two more.

The second type of trap is, again, fairly simple. It essentially is a string that, if pulled on, sends something into whoever just pulled at the string. From merely a heavy object, to a blade, everything is available.

And the third type is some sort of magical area of effect trap, often activated by standing on the wrong thing.

Ok. So now I have talked about traps.

So, I have mentioned adventurers, what are they?

Essentially, in System universes, they are a common breed of warrior that searches out danger in oddly small, unsupported groups, to fight the most evil guy in the land and cause copious amounts of property damage.

Oddly enough, they tend to succeed with that fighting danger and searching out evil stuff.

Which is a bit weird, but whatever works.

So, whenever they discover a dungeon, they first party a bit, because dungeons are among the only sentient and sapient entities I have ever heard of that invite enemies into themselves, offer them a reward for killing and destroying their internal defenses, their immune system if you so will, for some reason.

Sometimes that reason is that they can gain mana, which some types of dungeon need to survive, and all need to create more defenses, from adventurers fighting inside of them, with them getting an extra boost in mana when the adventurer dies.

Sometimes they gain experience, which they can use to grow stronger from the same process.

So, the dungeons offer a pact. Endanger yourself to give us what we want, and we offer to you a number of, for us, cheaply made, trinkets that are very useful and expensive outside of us.

In exchange, you will not destroy us, so that you can gain these benefits for a long time to come.

That, by the way, has a tendency to work out badly.

Mostly because dungeon cores tend to be valuable components for a variety of stuff, so often short term greed overrides long term benefits.

Which in turn means that the dungeons that survive offer less, because it does not give them a benefit to offer more, and it harms them, gives them less resources with which they can build up their defenses if they do offer more.

A vicious, self sustaining cycle that only gets worse.

And this is what dungeons are.

Monsters forced to be monsters by their very nature, made into worse monsters by the greed of those it feeds on.

Because it is not even uncommon for a true symbiotic relationship to be possible.

That the dungeon can gain enough benefit of the adventurers merely visiting it, gaining the loot, to offset the cost and still live and expand comfortably.

But because of greed, admittedly on both sides, that tends to happen rarely.

And dungeons have another issue. They do not tend to be in communication with each other, so, in case of emergency, they cannot call on anyone to either help them, or avenge them. Which is means that dungeons need to rely on their partners, the ones they made a contract with, to avenge them, should they fall through such an attack. Which is not a reliable protection, when the most likely place of attack are those same treaty partners.