On Logistics, and Organic Development

    So far, so good. We have a theme, several thematic monsters of the initial area, and even a hook into the end stage of the dungeon itself (the Amalgams fascination with the Eye of Oroboros). 

    The plan is to proceed day by day, room by room, and fill out the first 19 days of January. Day 19 and 20 will be the Temple of Janus so really there are only about 15 more "rooms" to fill out. There are three things I need to keep in mind: 

1. Shard Collection. The mechanic of collecting shards to fill out each character needs to be both urgent and rewarding. Giving away too many shards too fast devalues this first, ultra-weird level of the dungeon. On the flip side, though, there needs to be a pressure for the party to press on, so I'm thinking of imposing a 3-day (3 long rest) time limit. Each time the party takes a LR, they feel a little bit more detached from that urge to reassemble themselves. Balancing urgency vs risk is key to this portion of level one. Given that a party of four will need 24+ shards (undetermined yet but probably 6 to 8), that's a lot of farming! And that doesn't include potential losses from penumbrae or glass goblins.  
2. Room Logistics. Each room-day will be connected to one another sequentially (making it possible to travel through all 365 rooms or regions), but also laterally through the day of the week (Monday to Monday, etc). With a few exceptions (where months connect, and the future "gap rooms"), this means that there should be at least 3 different directions of travel for players to move through (4 for most mid-month days). 
3. Overcomplicating things. I've already introduced multiple groups or factions and it's only day 3. Penumbrae (the undead shadows of the mirror realm), the glass goblins and the Amalgams form the main three threats of the Capricorn section. I plan to include more on the goblins. The Amalgams and penumbrae are non-directed threats, wandering monsters that endanger all. I will probably add a few more random encounters - other beings trapped here, perhaps another party of NPCs. 

    I plan to include more geophysical threats in this section - yawning gulfs, teetering piles of loose glass shards, quickglass, other navigable hazards as they occur to me. I am considering making the environment itself more dangerous as the PCs collect their shards, indicating they have become less the stuff of the mirrorverse and more tactile. I haven't decided on how to manifest that mechanically yet. Difficult terrain everywhere? Spike Stones-like damage for moving at full speed? I do know that they will become more "delicious" to the locals as they grow. 

    In addition, the glass goblin faction needs some develoment. I have an idea of what the Goblin Boss will be like, but will need more time to reflect (chortle) on that. 

    Eventually I will introduce the Janussaries. While they are not interested in collecting shards, they actively recruit (aka kidnap) new members for their master - another existential threat. However, once a character has a full set of shards, the Janussaries lose interest. At that point they may pass freely through the Gate at the Janus temple. 

    As far as the characters themselves go, they will enter the game as bland ciphers - a 10 in each ability score, a +2 proficiency bonus but no race or class (thus no skill modifiers), an average amount of hit points for their level but with monster rather than class hit points (I'm thinking 3rd level so ~14hp). This can be a mini-game in its own right; picking and choosing which elements of your character to fill out with your precious shards. Maybe I'll wait to fill out my low scores last? 

    More anon, but I'm pretty happy with how things are developing!