This post reflects my participation in the following Blaugust group project:
NOTE: this post delves into some details of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series that could be considered spoilers. Some of these are fairly detailed as they discuss achievements from the first three books: you have been warned!
My favourite achievement
The Dungeon Crawler Carl (DCC) book series is great fun, and I am enjoying it immensely. For my favourite achievement I pick this one from the third book: Cuck Aquaman achievement: awarded early in book 3 for the accomplishments from the prior book (level 3 of the dungeon). Everyone was going to get Celestial boxes, but only one did (Quan Ch) before Borant used their Veto.
- Description
- You got fucked by a fish. You’ve done something so spectacularly controversial, courts and lawyers had to get involved. The end result was *my* (the AI’s) decision being overturned.
- Reward: You’ve received a Platinum It’s Not My Fault You Fish-Headed Assholes Don’t Properly Program Your Quests Box.
- Contents
- free personal space level 3
- free tier one environmental upgrade (x2)
- free tier one crafting table (x2)
- table upgrade (x2)
The achievement made me laugh when I read it after being as frustrated as Carl and Donut about them being “cheated” out of a celestial loot box mere moments before. It also establishes a clearer concept fairly early on of the AI’s personality- it doesn’t like being pushed around, that’s for certain.
The concept of the dungeon AI having high levels of autonomy over its internal actions related to the crawl was made obvious by this whole celestial loot box fiasco. For the most part, Borant (the ‘sponsor’) of the crawl couldn’t over-ride the AI without extraordinary measures, and prior to this event that wasn’t clear. The AI was in charge of what happened within the dungeon with only limited options for Borant to intervene: a circumstance that made me ponder the whole nature of the crawl going forward.
Borant would have been bankrupted if they had to issue celestial loot boxes as the AI intended to all the survivors of level 2 so they were forced to use a one-time-only veto to over-ride the AI. The Cuck Aquaman achievement was the AI’s attempt to get back at Borant, and I appreciated it as much as Carl and Donut did.
The achievement itself basically equips everyone who survived level 2 with a high quality personal space- a home. The upgrades and crafting tables allow the space to be set up for item creation and training of skills. The net effect is to give every crawler a boost and, for those who combine their personal spaces like Donut and Carl did, advanced features are available.
What achievement would I grant myself
I’m not a brave person full of strength, so I would probably choose an achievement that acts like a cheat code to give me a better survival chance. The only such item I really see in the first three books is related to the very same achievement I describe above: the Cloak of the Benevolent Champion celestial loot item looted by Quan Ch.
This cloak is what Quan Ch got for opening the Celestial loot box before Borant used their veto power. It follows that this item or something of its level would have been given to every player who ended up getting the Cuck Aquaman box instead. I can understand the use of a veto given the power of the cloak and the presumed cost to Borant if they were released.
The details of this item are not well established in the books I’ve read thus far: I’m midway through book 4, on the fifth level of the dungeon. But based on the descriptions of Quan Ch it seems to make him capable of effectively soloing Borough bosses, which sounds like a pretty good benefit to me. I have found some online descriptions on the DCC wiki but I’ll refrain from linking to them to avoid at least some spoilers.
