Quests and Dungeons

Overview

Quests and dungeons are the primary content in Delve — where characters spend their time, earn XP, and find loot. The quest system is built around a quest board where players select from available challenges, prepare their character, and commit to a run that resolves over real-world time.

The key design goal: every run tells a story. Win or lose, the player should be able to read through the run timeline and understand exactly what happened, learn from mistakes, and plan better for next time.

Quest Board

The quest board is the central hub for selecting content. It’s presented as a bulletin board in the character’s current town.

Board Refresh

• The quest board refreshes every 6 hours with a new selection of quests
• Some quests persist across refreshes (major questlines, recurring bounties)
• Players can pin up to 3 quests to save them across refreshes
• Higher-level characters see more quests and harder options

Quest Information Display

Each quest on the board shows:

• Name and flavor text — “Clear the Goblin Warren,” “Investigate the Haunted Manor”
• Type — Bounty, Questline, Dungeon Crawl, Raid (see below)
• Difficulty rating — Skull icons (1-5) plus a recommended level range
• Estimated duration — Real-world time to complete (e.g., “~45 minutes”, “~3 hours”)
• Encounter count — How many encounters to expect
• Environment type — Cave, forest, undead crypt, etc. (affects Pathfinder favored terrain, elemental resistance needs)
• Known enemy types — General info (e.g., “Undead heavy”, “Goblinoid raiders”) — not full roster
• Reward preview — XP range, gold range, potential loot tier (e.g., “Rare+ drops possible”)
• Supply recommendation — Suggested rations, potions, torches based on dungeon length
• Party size — Solo, 2-player, 4-player, or raid (8+ player)

Quest Types

Bounties

• Length: 1-3 encounters
• Duration: 15-45 minutes real-time
• Purpose: Quick content for short play sessions or grinding specific resources
• Structure: Travel to location → fight target → return
• Examples: “Slay the Dire Wolf terrorizing the eastern road,” “Eliminate the bandit captain at Crow’s Perch”
• Rewards: Modest XP and gold, targeted loot (bounty targets drop specific item types)

Questlines

• Length: 5-8 encounters
• Duration: 1-3 hours real-time
• Purpose: The bread-and-butter content. Narrative-driven multi-encounter sequences.
• Structure: A series of encounters connected by a narrative thread. Includes combat, traps, decisions, and sometimes branching paths.
• Branching decisions: At certain points, the character faces a choice (e.g., “Left passage or right passage?”). Players configure these choices before the run or set decision-making rules (e.g., “always take the safer path,” “always take the path with more treasure potential”).
• Examples: “Investigate the disappearances in Millhaven,” “Recover the Sunstone from the Forgotten Temple”
• Rewards: Good XP, solid loot, occasional unique quest rewards (named items)
• Narrative continuity: Some questlines are multi-part — completing part 1 unlocks part 2 on a future board refresh

Dungeon Crawls

• Length: 10-20 encounters
• Duration: 3-8 hours real-time
• Purpose: Major undertakings. The flagship content for dedicated players.
• Structure: A full dungeon with multiple rooms, branching paths, rest points, traps, puzzles, minibosses, and a final boss.
• Rest points: Locations within the dungeon where the character can rest (recover some HP and resource pools). The skill queue can be configured for rest behavior (rest immediately, rest only if below X% HP, skip rest to save time).
• Supply management: Long dungeons require careful supply planning. Running out of rations means exhaustion. Running out of torches means missed traps.
• Examples: “The Undercrypt of Ashenmoor (Level 15-20, 15 encounters),” “The Dragon’s Hoard of Frostpeak (Level 35-40, 20 encounters)”
• Rewards: High XP, best loot, dungeon completion achievements, rare/very rare drops guaranteed from final boss

Raids

• Length: 15-30 encounters
• Duration: 4-12 hours real-time
• Purpose: Multiplayer endgame content. Requires a full party (4-8 players).
• Structure: Large-scale dungeon with encounters designed for party composition. Some encounters require specific roles (tank to hold aggro, healer to keep party alive, DPS to meet damage thresholds).
• Timed lobby: Raids start at a scheduled time (see 09-social-and-mmo-systems.md). Players join the raid lobby and configure their character before the start time.
• Examples: “The Siege of Ironhold (8-player, Level 35+),” “Abyssal Rift (4-player, Level 50)”
• Rewards: Best loot in the game, raid-exclusive legendary items, guild reputation, seasonal leaderboard ranking

Encounter Types

Dungeons are composed of a sequence of encounters. Each encounter type tests different aspects of the character’s build.

Combat Encounters

• Standard fight against one or more enemies
• Enemies have stat blocks (HP, Evasion rating, attacks, abilities, resistances)
• Resolved using the combat system (see 04-combat-system.md)
• Variants:
  • Standard: Fight a group of enemies
  • Ambush: Enemies get a surprise round (failed Perception check — Logic-based)
  • Boss: Powerful single enemy or enemy with minions. Higher HP, special abilities, multiple phases.
  • Waves: Multiple rounds of enemies with short breaks between
  • Timed: Must defeat enemies within X rounds or face consequences (reinforcements, collapsing room)

Trap Encounters

• The character encounters a trap (pit, poison darts, falling rocks, magical ward)
• Resolution:
  1. Detection: Perception (Logic) or Investigation (Logic) check to notice the trap
  2. Disarming: Sleight of Hand, Arcana, or Thieves’ Tools check to disarm (if detected)
  3. Avoidance: Speed resistance check to dodge (if triggered)
  4. Endurance: Take the damage and move on
• Shades excel here — higher detection rates, better disarm chances
• Configurable behavior: “attempt to disarm” vs. “just dodge it” vs. “trigger and tank it” (useful for high-HP characters in low-danger traps)
• Traps may inflict conditions: Poisoned, Burning, Bleeding, etc.

Decision Points

• A narrative fork where the character must choose between options
• Examples:
  • “Two passages: one smells of sulfur, the other echoes with dripping water”
  • “A wounded NPC asks for help. Stop to aid them, or press forward?”
  • “The treasure chest has a strange aura. Open it, or leave it?”
• Pre-configured decisions: Players set decision-making heuristics:
  • “Prioritize: Safety / Treasure / Speed / Exploration”
  • Specific overrides: “Always help NPCs,” “Never open suspicious chests,” “Always take the path with potential treasure”
• Decision outcomes affect:
  • Which encounters come next (branching paths)
  • Bonus loot or bonus encounters
  • NPC relationships (faction reputation)
  • Sometimes avoiding a harder fight entirely

Environmental Hazards

• Non-trap obstacles that test specific abilities
• Examples:
  • Flooded room (Athletics/Might to swim, or lose rations)
  • Collapsed passage (Might check to clear, or find alternate route)
  • Magical darkness (torches useless — need Darkvision or Light spell)
  • Extreme cold (Fortitude resistance check or take damage each round, fire resistance helps)
  • Rickety bridge (Speed check or fall, taking damage)
• Skills and supplies matter: rope for climbing, torches for dark areas, rations for long detours

Rest Points

• Safe areas within longer dungeons where the character can recover
• Rest provides:
  • HP recovery (50% of max HP, or 100% with Soldier background bonus)
  • Resource pool recovery (half of expended Mana/Stamina/Devotion/etc., rounded down)
  • Rations consumed (1 ration)
  • Condition removal (Poisoned, exhaustion level 1)
• Players configure rest behavior in the skill queue:
  • “Rest whenever available”
  • “Rest only if below X% HP”
  • “Rest only if resource pool below X”
  • “Skip rest” (for speed-running)

Puzzle Encounters

• Logic or Presence-based challenges
• Resolution is a skill check (d100 percentile roll) with bonuses from relevant proficiencies
• Examples:
  • Magical lock requiring Arcana check
  • Ancient riddle requiring History check
  • Pattern recognition requiring Investigation check
• Failure consequence: miss bonus loot, trigger a trap, or face an extra combat encounter
• Not all characters need to solve puzzles — failure is an alternate path, not a dead end

Run Timeline

The run timeline is the complete record of a dungeon run. It’s the primary thing the player reviews after a run.

Timeline View

A visual representation of the dungeon run showing:

DUNGEON: The Goblin Warren (Level 10, Questline)
Duration: 1 hour 23 minutes | Encounters: 7 | Result: SUCCESS

[1]──[2]──[3]──[4]──[5]──[6]──[7]
 ⚔    ⚠   🔀    ⚔    🏕    ⚔    ⚔★

1. ⚔ Combat: Goblin Patrol (3 goblins) ─── VICTORY, clean [HP: 95%]
2. ⚠ Trap: Pit Trap ─── DETECTED & DISARMED [Perception: 72 vs DC 45]
3. 🔀 Decision: Left (sulfur) or Right (water) ─── Chose LEFT [Treasure priority]
4. ⚔ Combat: Fire Beetles (5) ─── VICTORY, took damage [HP: 62%]
5. 🏕 Rest Point ─── Rested, consumed 1 ration [HP: 62% → 85%]
6. ⚔ Combat: Goblin Boss + Shaman ─── VICTORY, hard fight [HP: 34%]
7. ⚔★ Boss: Bugbear Chieftain ─── VICTORY [HP: 12%]

LOOT SUMMARY:
  Gold: 127
  Items: Bugbear's Morningstar +1 (Uncommon), Shaman's Robe (Common), 3x Minor Healing Potion
  Materials: 4x Leather Scraps, 2x Goblin Teeth (alchemy reagent)

SUPPLIES CONSUMED:
  Rations: 4 of 6 brought (2 remaining)
  Torches: 2 of 4 brought (2 remaining)
  Healing Potions: 2 used during combat

XP EARNED: 450 (Level 8 → 72% to Level 9)

Expanding Encounters

Each encounter in the timeline can be expanded to show the full combat log (see 04-combat-system.md) or the full skill check breakdown for traps and hazards.

Failure Analysis

When a run fails, the timeline includes a failure summary that highlights exactly what went wrong:

DUNGEON: The Undercrypt (Level 20, Dungeon Crawl)
Duration: 2 hours 47 minutes | Encounters: 12 of 15 | Result: FAILED at Encounter 12

FAILURE SUMMARY:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
  Cause of Death: Reduced to 0 HP by Wraith Lord's Necrotic Burst

  Contributing Factors:
  ⚠ Entered encounter 12 with only 28% HP (entered rest point at encounter 9
    with 71% HP but skill queue was set to "rest only below 30%")
  ⚠ No healing potions remaining (last used at encounter 8)
  ⚠ Wraith Lord has necrotic resistance — your primary damage type is necrotic
    (consider radiant damage weapon or spell)
  ⚠ Failed Presence resistance check against Wraith's fear aura (PRS check: 23
    vs DC 55) — spent 2 rounds frightened, unable to close distance

  Recommendations:
  → Bring more healing potions (you brought 3, recommend 5+ for this dungeon length)
  → Lower rest threshold to 50% HP for dungeons with 15+ encounters
  → Consider equipping a radiant damage option for undead-heavy dungeons
  → Increasing Presence (currently 10) or taking Resilient (PRS) would help against
    fear effects common in undead encounters
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Difficulty Tiers

Each quest has a difficulty rating relative to the player’s level:

The completion rates are rough targets assuming appropriate gear and average skill queue configuration. Well-prepared characters with good builds and smart skill queue configuration can push above these rates. Poorly prepared characters will fall below them.

Level Scaling

• Quests have fixed levels — they don’t scale to the character
• A level 25 character returning to a level 10 dungeon will find it trivial
• This is intentional — it provides a sense of power progression and allows farming lower content for specific drops or materials

Time Durations

Real-world time for dungeon runs is a core idle mechanic. Durations are based on quest type and difficulty:

Duration Philosophy

• Short sessions (bounties) should be completable during a lunch break
• Medium sessions (questlines) should complete while at work or overnight
• Long sessions (dungeon crawls) should be overnight or full-day affairs
• Raids are events — they happen at scheduled times and run for a significant period
• Dungeon run durations cannot be sped up with real money. This is a core design principle. Everyone waits the same amount.

Supplies System

Preparation is a key part of the gameplay loop. Players must stock their character with supplies before committing to a run.

Supply Planning

The quest board shows recommended supplies. Players choose what to bring, trading off between safety and inventory space.

Supply Strategy

• A 10-encounter dungeon needs at least 10 rations (2 slots)
• Cave dungeons need more torches; outdoor quests need few or none
• Undead dungeons benefit from extra healing potions (no short rests in crypts?)
• Over-packing supplies means less room for loot on the way out
• Under-packing means risking failure

This tension — preparation vs. capacity — is the core strategic decision before every run.

Recurring and Seasonal Content

Daily Bounties

• 3 bounties refresh daily with bonus XP and gold
• Completing all 3 grants a daily completion bonus (bonus loot chest)

Weekly Challenges

• Special modifier dungeons that rotate weekly
• Examples: “All enemies have double HP,” “No healing potions allowed,” “Timed run: complete in fewer encounters for bonus rewards”
• Higher risk, higher reward

Seasonal Dungeons

• Time-limited dungeons available during seasonal events (see 15-progression-hooks-and-retention.md)
• Unique enemies, unique loot, unique environmental themes
• Available for the duration of the season (typically 2-3 months)