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Core Floor Facts

Starting Party Level

Players begin as Level 3 characters.

This lets them feel competent while still vulnerable. Floor 1 monsters should mostly range from CR 1/8 to CR 2, with a few stronger threats and one boss encounter.

Designed for 4–6 players.

If fewer than 4 players, reduce monster counts and allow more healing consumables. If more than 6 players, increase environmental hazards and add minions rather than simply increasing monster HP.

Floor Countdown

24 hours from initial System announcement.

Use in-game time loosely but visibly. The party should always feel that time matters.

Countdown Phases

Hour 24–18: Orientation Period

  • Basic monsters active.
  • Safe rooms available.
  • System kiosks provide tutorials.
  • Tutorial missions are easiest.
  • NPCs are confused and frightened.

Hour 18–12: Escalation Period

  • More buildings lock down.
  • Monsters begin roaming between zones.
  • Mini-bosses become active.
  • System begins announcing achievements and rankings, but only for the party and NPC entities.

Hour 12–6: Compression Period

  • Certain areas become inaccessible.
  • Environmental hazards increase.
  • NPC factions become desperate.
  • Optional quests become more dangerous but more rewarding.

Hour 6–1: Purge Warning

  • Sirens and warning lights activate.
  • Safe rooms begin shutting down one by one.
  • The stairwell location becomes public knowledge.
  • Enemies converge on the exit area.

Final Hour: Sweep Protocol

  • Elite cleanup monsters enter the floor.
  • Long rests are impossible.
  • Short rests require a safe room or special item.
  • The System becomes increasingly gleeful and cruel.

Hour 0: Floor Collapse

Anything not inside the active stairwell chamber is destroyed, consumed, or permanently transformed into dungeon material.