Trash Mountain Dungeon

I decided to go with [masterwork creation] and [mechanical monster focus], because of the synergy between them. While Masterwork did only work on a single monster, it will easily show its work once I have some more powerful monsters and more floors, with the addition of now being able to transform any of my non-mechanical blueprints into a machine version, if only once. But with those out of the way, I could start considering my monster options, and from there start building up my third level.

AST4R10N

The AST4R10N is a semi-intelligent demi-humanoid automaton. It has a high physical ability but lacks magical capabilities. It uses a machine great axe for a weapon. Only one may exist.

Has a minor resistance to all magic but celestial.

They are made of diluted deep steel.

Creation Cost:

800 mana

10 lbs. of metal per 24 hours.

Node Cost:

800 mana

5 mana taken from production

Produces: 1 individual

Fabrication Drone (A.F.D)

A small but complex drone capable of producing various weapons and armor if provided as an example to study. The AFD is incapable of imbuing magic into their creations.

It can use any given material but defaults to steel.

Little combat ability.

Creation Cost:

100 mana

5 lbs. of metal per 24 hours.

Node Cost:

600 mana

5 mana taken from production

Produces: 5 individuals

Magnetic Deterrent Drone (M.D.D)

A drone that uses magnetism to combat threats, uses heavy metal plates to protect itself while using pointed metal poles as a weapon. The MDD itself is fragile and slow.

The strength of magnetism increases with the number of MDDs.

It can manipulate non-magnetic metal if owned by the dungeon.

Creation Cost:

550 mana

10 lbs. of metal per 24 hours.

Node Cost:

800 mana

1 mana taken from production

Produces: 1 individual

Fuckin hell that's amazing, two rare options, the only question I had was why only one of the Ast4r10n could exist at any point, was there a limited supply of them?

Partially, special monsters/traps/rooms/items are marked in orange to emphasize the special and rare nature of the option. The [AST4R10N] monster was originally made in the [First Era] as a [Redacted] but has been influenced by the core's memory of the monster entity "Bull of Minos".

Due to being from the [First Era], this monster will be at reduced strength until core level 55.

So, you can just pull memories then, I feel like I should be outraged but I'm not sure if that's even a blip on the fantasy radar at this point. Ignoring that bit, the Ast4r10n is a singularly powerful monster that, unlike the canid, cannot be replicated more than once, meaning that once it's here, it's here to stay. The biggest downside I'd say is that since I can only make one, this would make its placement extremely important, so I don't waste it. On the other hand, the MDD and AFDs were more standard in the way that I could make as many as I wanted, provided I had the space, so I could use them as I saw fit without worrying about if I wasted my one chance for each. The MDD was a weak-bodied but powerful attack robot that used metal implements to deal with foes, something that did give me a fair few ideas on mixing different rooms, for example, just how dangerous would it be if I mixed the MDD with an assembly room? On the other hand, the AFD held a similar opportunity, since it creates weapons and armor it could be a killer combo if I combined it with an assembly room and a ratkin node. In the long term, it might be better to choose one of those two since I would gain more and more rooms with each level up and while it would take a while I could easily make small armies of them, not that would be the best option though. But there were two facts about the AST4R10N that made it viable, its immense power, and the ever-used rule of cool, who wouldn't want a giant bull robot under their command?

Maybe a float around would help me think.

Looking out to the camp of my new partners, I shouldn't forget that I now have obligations to the deal and that I would also need to provide some sort of value to these people aside from being a giant generator. As it stood, the first floor was all they were allowed to enter at this point, containing mostly just the metal products of the assembly room and anything they could get from the monsters. It wasn't much to talk about, likely their offer of payment wouldn't be much of anything since there wasn't much to gather up there. But the second level gave far more and would thusly cost more. Two mines, an assembly room, magic cows, and the opportunity to fight against my ratkin were immensely more valuable than the simple first floor making it an attractive buy for them. The problem is that I would need to assemble my third floor before the deal let them step even a foot down there, and while I could throw something together, it wouldn't have all of my current assets accounted for if I made it right now, I still had to choose between those three and come up with a plan for the design.

I did have an off-the-top idea for each, but it was figuring out which one I liked more that only added to my irritation. The AST4R10N was a single powerful monster, my thought for it was perhaps making one giant room, or at least making a larger room, that it would act as the "boss" of, aided by other monsters as support in different ways. The AFD would work in tandem with both clockworkers and ratkin to form a well-armed army. Likewise, the MDD would work alongside the clockworkers and their assembly lines to give them as much metal as they needed to fight. It was also true that I could go with other ideas but for now, this was my thought process.

Standing at the threshold of my growing world, I watched the goings on of the people, running drills and putting the finishing touches on their camp. Then it hit me, a sort of weight in my skull was lessened, not gone by any means, but as I began to truly internalize the deal I had made, it came to me that I wouldn't have to worry as much. The deal was by no means unbreakable of course, any number of things could happen that lead to it being broken and ignored, but right now in this moment, I felt almost safe. So, I sat down and watched the people go, mentally going back to the issue of my monster choice with all my previous considerations and ideas, using the calm that took me to make my decision.