Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Matthew, the Guild leader of the Golden Axe group stepped out of the hospital to find the rest of the guild waiting for them after their defeat.

Shaking his head, Matthew knew they made many mistakes. The fortifications they built were based off of flawed thinking. The supplies they brought weren’t used in the best place.

It didn’t take long for the 24 who had joined him to gather around. They quickly started to hash out what they would do differently next time and how it would be easier now that they knew what to expect.

"So how was it?" Max asked after opening a portal and leading Hizon and Quin out of the dungeon and back into the safe zone. The Dungeon Master was eager to receive feedback. This was the first dungeon level that he didn’t personally design. He had simply given requirements and made minor adjustments once the hobgoblin finished.

"There were many things we could have done better." Matthew answered while his guild mates nodded in agreement. "Our ammunition was wasted in the wrong places, and we could have brought more. On top of that, our fortifications left a lot to be desired."

A few adventures chimed in a couple more opinions, but overall, the adventurers seemed to believe they caused their own failure. That relived Max, he didn’t want them to come out thinking that this dungeon challenge was impossible from the beginning.

In fact, most were confident that even if they couldn’t beat it directly next time, they were sure that they could do much better.

While Max was speaking to the adventures and conducting surveys, Hizon was overjoyed. His original dungeon had been poor, underdeveloped, and was generally struggling. Not that he realized that until he joined Max’s dungeon and was then able to make a comparison.

When the group first failed, Max had a momentary thought that maybe the dungeon was too difficult and it’s impossible to clear.

When Max finished his questions, he was positive that the other side was pleased with what Hizon offered and was eager to give it another attempt. Matthew’s question proved that.

"Can we give it another try tomorrow?" The Guild leader asked.

Max could only shake his head. "No, sorry. Currently the defense dungeon is limited to one attempt a week. Give us a month or 3 and then it should be an instance where you can try as many times as you like. But for now, we have to wait for the monsters to regenerate."

"Damn." Matthew cursed. "Then we would like to reserve next week’s slot so we can give it another try."

Before Max could say anything, someone else spoke first.

"Not so fast." The man who made his presence know was Lord Titters. "You got the first run, but you aren’t the only one who wants a turn."

Matthew frowned. Of course, he knew who Lord Titters was. His own guild was based in the man’s city. It was unfortunate that it was a City Lord who wanted the next run. If it had been any other group, the Golden Axe Guild might have been able to buy the chance from them or strike some sort of deal. But that wouldn’t be possible with the wealth of the City Lord. What could they offer that he didn’t already have?

Anna walked over and motioned Max to take a look at her clipboard. It seems that while he and Quin were inside the defense dungeon with Hizon, she had created a reservation system.

After taking a look at what she had already done, Max announced it to the adventurers.

"Alright, we will be using a reservation system for the weekly dungeon. All 25 adventures must be listed when the reservation is made. You can cancel up to 24 hours before the dungeon opens without a penalty."

"Aww man."

"That stink."

A few people mumbled their disappointment. They didn’t have large enough groups to register.

"Don’t worry everybody." Max announced. "This is only temporary. Once the dungeon is upgraded into an instance, you can head in every day if you want. At that time, we will alter the reservation list into a Looking For Group list. That way smaller 5-man teams will be able to team up with others and enter the defense dungeon."

"Ugh. I don’t like it, but I guess that is fair." Matthew said. "Well, put us on the reservation list anyway." He said.

Anna nodded and then quickly scribbled on her clip board.

Max quickly made some changes in the dungeon menu after accessing the core. Next to the entrance to the weekly dungeon a small sign popped up listing the reservations.

The Golden Axe guild checked and found that there were 2 groups in front of them. The City Lord, which they expected. And another group that seemed to be a team of 20 that pulled in a group of 5 to round out their numbers.

"Well boss, it looks like it will be 3 weeks before we can try again." Said one of the mages to Matthew.

The guild leader nodded. "In the meantime, lets hit the regular dungeon levels and lets also start working on some strategies. I know we can do better, and I want the first clear of this dungeon to belong to our guild. Let’s get to work." He said before leading his guild to a private training ground where they could discuss strategies in private.

"Wow!" Hizon suddenly remarked, causing Max to cast a glance at him. "That earned me a good portion of DP."

Max checked his own balance sheet and saw the 15% he received from Hizon’s dungeon. It wasn’t a ridiculous amount, but it was a good chuck.

While Quin didn’t have access to the direct numbers, he was aware of how the calculations worked so he was able to estimate what the income the dungeon received was.

"It really is easy money." The swordsman said.

Hizon agreed. "Making them wait an hour after they finish a wave is genius. That is pretty much free money."

Max also agreed. "This type of dungeon should remain fairly profitable once it is converted into an instance. If a team actually completes it, that means they went 48 hours without dying. While it cost us to revive those eternal souls it isn’t too expensive. And if a group wants to actually finish the defense dungeon, they will likely also spend a large amount on supplies before the dungeon even begins. With everything factored together, we should earn a decent profit as long as the dungeon is used."

The hobgoblin greedily rubbed his palms together. "I need to make some DP so I can upgrade all my guys to eternal souls. Then I can run this all the time."

"The framework for the undercity is mostly complete." Max revealed. "Since you have already made your hobgoblin subordinates into eternal souls, you can have them run shops or even rent them out as partners to adventures. Hell, you can have them form their own group and challenge my dungeon. it may be able to get you some coin."

"Yes, yes." Hizon said while trying to stop his eyes from turning into dollar signs. "I will head to the undercity and take a look. I want to see what I can get set up today."

"Then don’t let me hold you up." Max said.

Max made plans to have lunch with Anna later, but now she needed to head out. She had a meeting with some gnomes in 15 minutes.

"Seems like it should be a good dungeon level." Quin said.

"Hopefully it stays like that. I have no doubt that Hizon will continue to develop and tweak the dungeon as each week passes.

Quin just shrugged. "Don’t you do the same thing?"

"Eh, yeah." Max said with a shrug.

"It wouldn’t be a bad idea to let the merchants be actual merchants." Quin suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, right now, the adventures are defending the merchants and their wagons, but the merchants don’t have money, nor any goods. Can they really be called merchants?"

Max nodded as Quin continued.

"I completely understand them not having anything with them. If they did, the adventurers would use whatever was in the wagons to help defend the merchants. But it doesn’t need to be 100% realistic. In between waves it would be useful if the players could buy things with the dungeon coins that they earned inside the level already. You don’t have to give them a lot, but some options would be nice."

"That isn’t a bad idea. We could sell food, water, basic things weapons and armor."

Quin nodded. "You could even have better thing available during later waves. Maybe if they beat wave 6 they could buy simple traps or whatever. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy but since the players are defending merchants it would make sense if they could buy some simple things."

"I will mention it to Hizon. I like the idea, we just need to make sure that whatever the merchants sell can’t be abused."

"True, and you could also include a few things with limited quantity. Those items could even be a bit nice than the rest."

Max and Quin walked to the broadcast room where they could observe all the dungeon levels from the same room while they continued to discus what sort of items the merchants should provide in between rounds. Max was so involved with the conversation that he almost missed his lunch date with Anna. Thankfully he made it on time.