Trash Mountain Dungeon

I thought it over for a bit, and after considering the outcomes and possibilities, I accepted his plan.

"Wonderful, we will need to iron out the specifics of the plan, and there is much to prepare before we can begin the plant, but should we succeed then both you and my family will come out better than before."

And with that he left, leaving behind the water-generating core I gave him, not sure if he got much use out of it, to be honest. Regardless, I guess if he left it here then he probably didn't need or want it anymore, so I might as well experiment with it once I was done with everything, for now, I'll stow it in the cold mine.

In all honesty, I didn't have much I could do for our plan at the moment, Arthur would be the one to invite them and the one who would set them against each other, for my part I would need to just be dangerous and present, something I was more than willing to work on. But speaking of danger, I need to start on my fourth floor and level four monster. My current selection was the greater ratkin, iron scale kobolds, and the rust spirit, all of whom came with caveats that warranted consideration. The greater ratkin would fight and possibly kill one another, making them useful only if I kept control of how many there were and how spaced out, I made them. The kobolds were stronger than their lesser cousins and had a knack for metalworking but including their costs, I would likely always lean on my rats first before them, still, they held potential. last of them was the spirits, who like I said before, could work but I'd need to mix them in with other monsters or traps.

But let's assume that I don't have my level four monster, let's assume I'm stuck with what I have and plan accordingly. If I make another fort or whatever comes after it on the size totem, I will likely fill it with more ratkin and maybe a bull node or two, so if I used all 20 rooms for one mega room I'd have about 100 or so ratkin at five a node. Of course, this theoretical mega room would need to fulfill two requirements, first, it would need to be actively strong enough to be cost-effective, and second, it would also need to provide some benefit outside of just being a glorious brick wall.

System, show me what an x20 ratkin room would look like, I have the DP.

Calculating...

If x20 rooms are used with the [ratkin] structure, then an [Under-Mountain Castle] will be created.

Show me.

Under-Mountain Castle

Large, dangerous, and fully capable, this castle is equipped to survive any siege or attack. Built to house up to 100 ratkin soldiers, this building holds a unique trait, while the 100 ratkin soldiers are the assigned monsters of this floor, lesser non-violent ratkin will be generated to act as the 'peasantry' that comes with a castle, this includes three outlying settlements that provide resources to the castle.

Due to the core's focus, the castle will have mechanical features.

The castle produces machine-oriented weaponry and armor.

The outlying villages produce assorted foodstuffs and supplies.

A random ratkin will be selected to become [Lord Vermin], granting increased power and authority.

A random ratkin will be selected to become the [Castle mage] and be granted the beginnings of magic.

Provides a minor benefit to ratkin and machine monsters.

Spawned lesser ratkin are functionally the same as critters.

Costs: 2200 mana, 15 mana taken from production.

God damn.

And I mean it, God damn. If the rough math in my head was right, not only was the room going to be absurdly large, but it would also be home to a full-on castle with people and stuff.

But let's step back a moment to think about it, as much as I REALLY found the idea of a magic castle mouth-watering, it begged the question, would it be the best option against a paladin, or at the very least something just as powerful? Ratkin were not singularly powerful creatures, at least that's the idea, and while floor four ratkin would only be better I could somehow feel that they were reaching the edge of their 'boostability'

What you are experiencing is called the 'Level Issue'. When a dungeon creature is used on a level above its designated level, it will be improved appropriately, however, this will only extend for up to two floors, anything above two floors and they will cease to be improved. The monster [ratkin] is a level 2 monster and will receive no improvements past floor 4, they may still be utilized by the dungeon if chosen, however.

I can't remember if I ever asked this but why exactly is that? The whole part about monster levels and all, I get the idea that the higher the level the more powerful it is (more or less) but I don't think I got a solid answer out of you. Why exactly do some of my monsters get nerfed until I get a floor way down the line?

Monster levels indicate the innate power and potential of a creature but are also a representation of their costs and requirements. Some monsters can only properly exist in mana-rich environments and as such are less likely to function in less rich areas, for example, the [Black Iron Canid] is a level 50 monster, and needs to be dramatically reduced in form and function to allow it to operate without a significant cost.

So, it's a matter of power then huh, I guess I should have expected this. At the end of the day, science did have certain rules, rules that magic could step around if you had enough of the stuff.

Oh well, back to planning on how to not die. Going back a couple of steps, the castle was a hardline defense, solid, tough, and most of all, predictable, on the other hand, a segmented defense over several rooms would offer attrition including spreading out my forces which could prevent these paladins from curb stomping me instead of them. Taking these two ideas in hand, how could I use any of the new monster choices with them?

The greater ratkin would be a boon to either if we excused their habit of killing one another, while the other two presented themselves more on the opposite ideas. The kobolds seemed like they would do better in a more static environment where they could work with metal and plan traps, the spirits were wanderers and would likely be better used in a more spread-out system. Additionally, the value each brought was still uncertain, the only one with both a benefit to me and my allies was the kobold who could very likely fulfill some of my other ideas when it came to outsider trade.

Hmm, what do you say Wormy, what would you do?

The giant all-consuming invertebrate gave a little wiggle.

Eat them you say?

Wiggle

I mean I certainly could try but I don't think I'll be nearly as good as you.

Abashed wiggle

Oh, no need to get all embarrassed, just answer the question, please.

He started to wiggle and worm around the room and into his hole, communicating more through physical movement than internal thought.

From the gist of what he was saying, and after the bits about eating them or digging holes, he agreed that either option was workable. He said that he didn't like the 'glowing morsel' that had shaken the dungeon and slew his friends, but he could tell through mouthfuls of dirt that if others like him were going to come then we would need to find a solution. The one he offered was good if you were a worm that could eat anything, but the essential idea behind it was what one I could use. Essentially, what I extrapolated from Wormy's idea then I didn't have to build just inside the dungeon, but also outside of it, and while I couldn't actually build outside of the entrance, I could have Arthur build something that would deal with or weaken big time invaders.

But what could I give him? Anything I could give him would be for the most part mechanical, and I haven't seen a blacksmith among them much less a mechanical engineer.

Actually, no, I don't need them to bring one, I'll just make one.

Ratkin were natural crafters, and I could certainly push one to study the machines, but I needed something more than that. If I could guide someone to start studying the machines in my dungeon then I could push Arthur to have them build something I could use, perhaps a weapon or a shield of some sort. Yeah, I could see this panning out rather well if I could get someone hooked on my machines, but... hm, now that I think of it, the idea might be too long-term for comfort, anyone could pick up a spanner and do spanner things but not anyone could invent a something that doesn't exist and be useful for my specific situation.

Eh, I'll store it away, maybe I can work with some of the rats to see how well they take to advanced engineering with no prior knowledge, worse case they don't do well, and I iron out those details with Arthur.