DONJON

A dungeon crawler with System 1 AI (Jev).

Made by Abdulla Saeed Ghanim Abdulla Alfalasi (asg8972), Naxin Chen (nc3840), Steven Li (sl10429)

Donjon

Descend into the Donjon, a first-person dungeon where the monsters listen. You lead three adventurers — Hortense the fighter, Rolf the cleric, and Eugene the wizard — through maze floors of slimes, goblins, bandits, snake people, rock entities, and dragons. Every swing, spell, and plea is a dice roll in the style of Dungeons & Dragons. Talk, bribe, swear a vow, or fight. The monsters decide what they heard, who they hit, and whether they want to travel with you.

How to move

Walk the halls in first person. Arrow keys or WASD: forward, back, turn left, turn right. Gold lies on the floor. Random encounters grow more common the deeper you go. The first floors are small and quiet; later floors add larger groups, poison, bindings, knockdowns, veteran monsters, and wider halls. Press M to show or hide the automap. Press C to camp: the party heals half its wounds, spell slots and fighter skills return, and a cleric who knows Revivify can raise the dead. Camping is not always safe. Something may find you.

How to recruit a companion

You recruit during a fight, not in the hallway. The party can hold six members.

1. If more than one monster is present, press 1, 2, or 3 to choose who you are speaking to.
2. Press T and type what you say. Everyone in the fight hears it. Your best talker makes a Charisma check, and a strong roll makes the words land harder.
3. Press G to offer gold. Greedy goblins, bandits, and proud dragons care about the size of the gift. A slime may be won over by almost nothing.
4. Press V to swear one vow in that fight: "I will" or "I won't," then kill, talk to, give gold to, run from, or befriend a kind of monster, or anyone. Keep the promise. Break it and they may forgive you, leave, steal your gold, or turn on you.
5. Press R to ask them to join. You may add a few words or just press Enter. The game rolls Persuasion against a difficulty set by the creature, how much it likes you, how angry it is, and whether it is already losing. Bosses and former allies are harder to convince.
6. If it agrees, the game asks you to accept. Say yes and it joins at its current health, fights beside you, and earns experience. A rare shiny gold monster also earns you an extra Roll of Fate after the fight.

Kindness and jokes reach slimes. Gold and respect for strength reach goblins. A fair cut of the loot reaches bandits. Patience and a clever bargain reach snake people. Quiet respect reaches rock entities. Flattery, courage, and real treasure reach dragons. You can also skip the ask: if you treat a monster well enough, it may offer to join on its own.

After every fight, the companions already with you judge what they saw. Keep them content or they leave. Push them too far and one may attack you. Between floors, press E to talk to each companion once. The right words can steady them, grant a buff for the next fight, or inspire them to level up. Their status shows loyalty: Devoted, Content, Uneasy, Resents, or Leaving?

How to reach the next floor

Find the stairs. They sit on the floor tile farthest from where you entered, and they appear on the automap. Step onto them and the game asks, "STAIRS DOWN. DESCEND?" Press Y. You receive a Roll of Fate, a permanent boon that grows stronger with the floor you just cleared: more damage, more hit points, better critical hits, extra attacks, spell slots, or more gold. Then you arrive on the next floor. The halls have a new name and palette, the monsters are tougher, and your companions will hear you out again.

Every fifth floor (B5F, B10F, and so on) a red champion waits at the heart of a hall, marked in red on the map. Defeat it, recruit it, or talk it into letting you pass, and you earn a Great Roll of Fate: double strength, with a chance at a legendary boon. If it flees, it still holds that hall. You may take the stairs without facing it, but then you only receive the ordinary roll.

If every adventurer falls, or no one is left standing, the run ends. Press Enter to descend again.