Motif · from book 1
Quests
Mentioned once in the first book: Mordecai says that from the fourth floor the stairwells will be guarded, and crawlers will 'have to complete quests or defeat bosses to get to them.'
First appears: Book 1
Series arc
As of book 3. The stairs behind quests in book 2; a rule against them in book 3 — 'We're avoiding quests this floor' — broken once on a maglev whose driver, Levi the Seventh, must be kept alive or everyone aboard becomes a Flesher.
Through book 1
'You'll have to complete quests or defeat bosses to get to them' — the stairs, deeper down (B1 ch. 4).
Through book 2
The quest tab is new and book 2's plot is three of them. The Show Must Go On pays a Gold Quest Box for the Radio Hut (B2 ch. 4, B2 ch. 11); The Sex Workers Who Fell from the Heavens pays a Silver box (B2 ch. 14); The Fools Who Broke the Glass promises 'a Platinum Quest Box' to every survivor (B2 ch. 24). Mordecai's rule is to stay out of the elaborate ones until the party is ahead of the curve; the Hadji and Bandit upgrades that made a quest easy are patched away by Borant (B2 ch. 26).
Through book 3
The party avoids quests by rule this floor (B3 ch. 2) and gets one anyway on a maglev: Levi is On the Menu! — keep Levi the Seventh, the Flesher driver, from being devoured, or everyone aboard becomes a Flesher — for a Silver Quest Box (B3 ch. 12). Prices seen at a guild: a Quest Screen at 90,000 gold and the Naughty Boys Employment Agency, invite-only for Carl's class, at 500,000 (B3 ch. 2).
Through book 4
The floor that gives quests their weight. Stay out of city hall (B4 ch. 1) and Free Wynne from his bondage, failed inside five minutes (B4 ch. 6); Squeeze out the Juice Box, a Platinum box for a changeling (B4 ch. 10, B4 ch. 12); The Gate of the Feral Gods, whose reward line reads 'Oh boy-oh-boy' (B4 ch. 15, B4 ch. 27); Where the Red God Glows and The Dumber of the Flunkies, group quests with no opt-out (B4 ch. 29, B4 ch. 30); Get Orthrus, a world quest failed by everyone (B4 ch. 30, B4 ch. 31); and two from a god — Find Out Who Killed My Son and Kill Hellik, whose reward is 'a Celestial God Box' (B4 ch. 32).
Through book 5
The Recital, triggered by accident, pays 'a Gold Quest Box' and a free town upgrade (B5 ch. 11); The Vengeance of the Daughter is in parts, and killing Queen Imogen opens the High Elf Castle to looting (B5 ch. 15, B5 ch. 28). Premature Questjaculation carries no reward (B5 ch. 28); a quest that will not be ignored (B5 ch. 39); The Creeping Apocalypse is a world quest nobody may opt out of, +5 to a random stat per Creeper (B5 ch. 48), and it fails, with a blood bar and brambles for the failure (B5 ch. 52); the Recital's real mechanism (B5 ch. 49) and a story 'not yet done' (B5 ch. 52). Both complete in the castle (B5 ch. 75, B5 ch. 76); Emberus's quest updates in the pit with a new step, the Memorial Crystal of Apito (B5 ch. 77).
The quests
Every quest the system posts through book 5, as it posts it: new, updated, complete or failed, with the reward it names.
Book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario (4)
- B2 ch. 4 — New: The Show Must Go On — reward: You will receive a Gold Quest Box.
- B2 ch. 11 — complete: The Show Must Go On
- B2 ch. 14 — New: The Sex Workers Who Fell from the Heavens — reward: You will receive a Silver Quest Box.
- B2 ch. 24 — New: The Fools Who Broke the Glass — reward: All participants who survive will receive a Platinum Quest Box.
Book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (1)
- B3 ch. 12 — New: Levi is On the Menu! — reward: You will receive a Silver Quest Box.
Book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods (16)
- B4 ch. 1 — New: Stay out of city hall. — reward: You will receive a Silver Quest Box.
- B4 ch. 6 — complete: Stay out of city hall
- B4 ch. 6 — New: Free Wynne from his bondage — reward: You will receive a Silver Quest Box.
- B4 ch. 6 — failed: Free Wynne from his bondage
- B4 ch. 10 — New: Squeeze out the Juice Box — reward: You will receive a Platinum Quest Box.
- B4 ch. 12 — complete: Squeeze out the Juice Box
- B4 ch. 15 — New: The Gate of the Feral Gods — reward: Oh boy-oh-boy.
- B4 ch. 27 — complete: The Gate of the Feral Gods
- B4 ch. 29 — New: Where the Red God Glows — reward: It’s a surprise.
- B4 ch. 30 — complete: Where the Red God Glows!
- B4 ch. 30 — New: The Dumber of the Flunkies — reward: You will receive a Platinum Quest Box!
- B4 ch. 30 — New: Get Orthrus — reward: Any crawler who kills this cute puppy before he reunites with grandpa will receive the…
- B4 ch. 31 — failed: Get Orthrus
- B4 ch. 31 — complete: The Dumber of the Flunkies!
- B4 ch. 32 — New: Find Out Who Killed My Son — reward: That depends on who did it.
- B4 ch. 32 — New: Kill Hellik — reward: Slaying Hellik will result in a Celestial God Box.
Book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade (12)
- B5 ch. 11 — New: The Recital — reward: You will receive a Gold Quest Box! You will also receive a free town upgrade!
- B5 ch. 15 — New: The Vengeance of the Daughter — reward: You get to move on to part two. In addition, every survivor of the assault against the…
- B5 ch. 28 — update: The Recital
- B5 ch. 28 — complete: The Vengeance of the Daughter. Part One
- B5 ch. 28 — New: The Vengeance of the Daughter — reward: Upon killing Queen Imogen, the contents of the High Elf Castle will become available to…
- B5 ch. 44 — update: The Recital
- B5 ch. 44 — update: The Recital
- B5 ch. 48 — New: The Creeping Apocalypse — reward: You’ve received a Silver Siege Master Box!
- B5 ch. 52 — failed: The Creeping Apocalypse
- B5 ch. 75 — complete: The Recital
- B5 ch. 76 — complete: The Vengeance of the Daughter
- B5 ch. 77 — update: Find Out Who Killed My Son
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl | 1/48 | Ch. 4 · the book's own page |
| 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario | 20/26 | 2, 4–5, 7–8, 10–15, 17–18, 20–26 · the book's own page |
| 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook | 7/35 | Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 12, Ch. 13, Ch. 17, Ch. 26, Ch. 29 · the book's own page |
| 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods | 18/35 | 1, 3–4, 6–7, 10–13, 15, 21, 24, 27, 29–33 · the book's own page |
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 29/78 | 6–8, 10–12, 15, 21, 24–25, 28–29, 36, 39, 44, 47–49, 51–52, 54–56, 64, 66, 73, 75–77 · the book's own page |
By book
Quests in book 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl
One word from Mordecai on how the stairs are found deeper down: 'You'll have to complete quests or defeat bosses to get to them' (ch. 4). No quest tab exists on the first two floors.
Quests in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Trumpets and a tab (ch. 4); Mordecai's rule — skip them until you are ahead of the curve — and a floor spent breaking it. The Show Must Go On (gold, an Elite and a city boss); The Sex Workers Who Fell from the Heavens (silver, a mystery with a story for an ending); The Fools Who Broke the Glass (an event, eighty crawlers, no opt-out). Hadji and Bandit upgrades, then patched away (epilogue).
Quests in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
Quests in book 4 — The Gate of the Feral Gods
Stay out of city hall (ch. 1, ch. 6); Free Wynne from his bondage, failed inside five minutes (ch. 6, ch. 7); Squeeze out the Juice Box, seventy-five minutes to save a town, won to the AI's disgust (ch. 10, ch. 12); The Gate of the Feral Gods (ch. 15, ch. 27); a bronze one to shelter a town with balloons (ch. 15); the group quests Where the Red God Glows and The Dumber of the Flunkies, no opt-out, Carl the host (ch. 29, ch. 30); the world quest Get Orthrus, failed by everyone, punished with monkey soup (ch. 30, ch. 31); Emberus's own: Find Out Who Killed My Son and Kill Hellik, with smites as deadlines (ch. 32). Mordecai's rule for anything marked feral — 'Stay away from anything marked that' (ch. 9) — does not survive the floor.
Quests in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
The Recital, triggered by accident (ch. 11); Premature Questjaculation, no reward (ch. 28); a quest that will not be ignored (ch. 39); a world quest nobody may opt out of (ch. 48); the Recital's real mechanism (ch. 49); a story 'not yet done' (ch. 52). Both complete in the castle (ch. 75, ch. 76); a god's quest updates in the pit (ch. 77).