Elevation (TUTBAD)

**Elevation** is a metric used by dungeoneers in This Used To Be About Dungeons.

## Mechanics

Elevation is one of the metrics tracked for everyone in a given Hex by the Censusmaster. It increases as you run more dungeons - increasing faster if they're run solo, although this is generally considered far too dangerous. It's possible for even a single dungeon to push someone up an elevation if they're already on the cusp. If a party's elevation is mismatched, the weaker member(s) will improve faster, eventually evening things out, although this can take some time. Elevation can also increase in mundane ways, including simply being told things about your own abilities.

The elevation of a party determines how much of a dungeon's accumulated magic goes into a given dungeon run, and therefore (along with the total mana the dungeon has accumulated) both the risk and reward presented. Broadly speaking, a party of a given elevation will reduce the dungeon's mana by a percentage equal to the party's elevation - for example, 25 parties of 2nd elevation running the same dungeon will reduce it's power by approximately 50%. Mismatched elevation among a party can result in very difficult dungeons for them. Other "scaling factors" may contribute as well, and there is a great deal of variance. For example, a very high-level party doing a dungeon can cause side-effects for another party that tries to use the same dungeon at the same time.

Elevation isn't very obvious in day-to-day life, at least at lower levels, to the point that Mizuki argues that it's arbitrary and fake and doesn't notice when she goes up in elevation. Even Alfric aknowledges that it's "often subtle and uneven". Verity's musical skill is higher than her elevation would normally imply. There is some debate among the party regarding whether the increase in elevation from running dungeons reflects a real increase in power, or simply the system rating you higher.

However, there are some noticable effects. Increasing elevation tends to result in improved magic sight for Wizards and Sorcerers, although inconsistently.

Elevation is unaffected by the amount of mana that a Wizard brings with them, which can allow a well-stocked wizard to explore dungeons at somewhat lower risk. Nor does it take into account Entads, animals brought by a Druid, etc. Ideally, a party will acquire enough gear to at least keep pace with the increasing difficulty of the dungeons they explore.

## History

### Ancient History

Elevation was created by the Editors. Mizuki claims that it was "hundreds of years ago or whatever". Censusmasters, who can track the elevation of everyone in their Hex (among other attributes), were created by the Editors about two hundred years ago; but the construct that provides them with information is about a thousand years old.

### In the Story

Mizuki believed that elevation was essentially "bunk", while Hannah considered it somewhat ill-considered. Verity didn't consider it relevant to her life, and knew almost nothing about it. Alfric, on the other hand, took it quite seriously as an important principle of dungeoneering, and was very familiar with the ins and outs of it.

The Settlers all began as second elevation, although Alfric did consider alternates of 1st or 3rd elevation. Following their first dungeon, Isra and Verity both reached 3rd elevation. Mizuki reached 3rd elevation shortly before Chapter 68. By chapter 82, they were all the same elevation again.

Kell the Wizard rapidly increased from 1st to 5th elevation by running six dungeons solo, allowing him to join Vertex.

## Behind the Scenes

Obviously, elevation is a reference to the concept of character level in games such as D&D.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 “I don’t think that I’ll bring an animal into the dungeons,” said Isra. “It doesn’t feel fair to me.”

“It’s not necessary,” said Alfric. “With your bow being as good as it is, I’m hoping that we’re well on our way to outpacing the dungeons.”

“Meaning?” asked Verity with a frown.

“Elevation makes the dungeons harder,” said Hannah. “Goin’ by what Alfric said, we were all second elevation, ay? But after the dungeon, perhaps not.”

“We should all still be second,” said Alfric. “Unless someone was right at the cusp and got taken over it. Checking with the censusmaster is on my agenda.” - Chapter 19: I Suppose You're Wondering Why I Gathered You Here
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Talked to the censusmaster, ay?” asked Hannah.

“Yesterday,” said Alfric, wincing. “Isra and Verity are both third now. I should have brought it up while we were all on the channel. I don’t think that substantially changes things, but common wisdom is that it increases the risk. They both must have been on the verge.”

“Or Isra knowin’ she’s a druid and not a ranger has changed things,” said Hannah, nodding. “Happens, though rarely.” Elevation wasn’t one of the more considered aspects of the world, in Hannah’s opinion. Sometimes all you could do was look at the Editors' work and cluck your tongue.

“Very rarely, in the case of someone being a druid without knowing it,” said Alfric. - Chapter 20: Temple Politics
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 “It just seems crazy that all this time, when I was getting a little worried about money, that it was as easy as going into a dungeon and pulling out something that would have me set for life, even at second elevation.”

“You’re third elevation,” said Alfric. “I checked with the censusmaster yesterday.”

“Really?” asked Mizuki. She looked at her hands. “I don’t feel any different.”

Alfric shrugged, then grinned at her. “Must be bunk.”

Mizuki smiled at him. “You’re actually decently funny, I don’t know if I ever told you that.”

- Chapter 68: Undone I
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 “You’re only first elevation,” said Mizuki.

“Fifth, actually,” said Kell.

“What?” asked Mizuki. “You were on the shortlist for *this* group. Did you just somehow jump up elevation?”

“Well, yeah,” said Kell, rubbing the back of his head. “I, uh, did some dungeons solo.”

Mizuki stared at him. “That’s *really* dangerous.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t know. The first one, I figured that I would just go in with a build that was heavy on defense and high on burst damage, and if I ran into something I couldn’t handle, I would leave as fast as I possibly could. And … it went alright, so then I did another, and another.” He shrugged.

“How many?” asked Mizuki.

“Six,” he replied. “Apparently elevation goes up faster when you’re the only one in there.”

- Chapter 91: Liferaft
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 “Mismatched elevation would be a problem,” said Alfric. He was very aware that Mizuki was standing there next to him, hanging on his words. “And team dynamics would also be cause for concern.”

“Elevation mismatch tends to go away,” said Grig. “Over time, anyway.”

“I know that,” said Alfric. “But we might face some brutal dungeons early on. And that would leave the issue of the team. I don’t have the entads that you do.” - Chapter 69: Undone II
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 “We need to start with the basics,” said Alfric. “A dungeon is a half-created world, one spun up largely from ambient mana within a hex, created on an individual basis for a party, in accordance with all kinds of things, which we won’t go into here, because again, basics.” Mizuki’s hand went up. “Er, yes?”

“But it doesn’t matter whether someone else has been through that same dungeon before?” she asked.

“It does, and it doesn’t,” said Alfric. “Doing a dungeon *does* drain off some of its potential, but there are scaling factors in play, one of which is elevation. When we did the Pucklechurch dungeon at second elevation, we would only have had a minimal impact on the actual magical potential it held, and because we were lower elevation, we had less access to potential riches, though there’s a wide variance. Good question.” Mizuki beamed at him. “But *in general*, elevation rises with the number of dungeons done, and elevation increases both risks and rewards, though variance ensures that you’re not going to necessarily be able to tell, especially at the lower elevations, where we are now.” He paused, waiting for a clarification from Hannah, but it didn’t come. Elevation wasn’t bunk, but it was often subtle and uneven. - Chapter 44: Care Package
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 “Doesn’t that run down the dungeons?” [...]

“At low elevation, no,” said Alfric. “The rule of thumb is that each party of a certain elevation will reduce mana charge by that percentage, so running through twenty-five parties of second elevation would mean a reduction in power by *approximately* half, which would still be likely to be well worth it. And it reduces the risk as well.” - Chapter 69: Undone II
8. ↑ “Two teams can go into the dungeon at the same time, they just end up in different instances of the dungeon.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” said Mizuki.

“Well, it is,” said Alfric. “Assuming that they’re not at a very high elevation, it’s unlikely to impact us. Normally I would say it’s better for us to wait, but given some of the difficulties we’ve had, and the fact that we’re going to be facing down another dungeon tomorrow, I think it would be best if we just have at it. Except … well, I wouldn’t want them to lock us in.” - Chapter 47: Down the Dungeon
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 “And we’re *all* going to be of second elevation?” asked Mizuki. “I’ve always thought elevation was kind of bunk.”

“Going in with mixed elevations is dangerous,” said Alfric, ignoring the latter part of what she’d said. It sounded like a long digression. - Chapter 1: The Fig and Gristle
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 “There are all sorts of reasons to do it,” said Hannah. “You could get a higher elevation.”

“Frankly, elevation has always been a bit murky to me,” said Verity.

“It’s bunk,” said Mizuki.

[...]

“You think elevation isn’t … true?” asked Hannah, looking at Mizuki. She wasn’t sure she could let that pass. “I don’t see how that could be.”

“I mean, it was all made up by the Editors long ago, right?” asked Mizuki. “At some point, hundreds of years ago or whatever, they decided they needed a number for every man, woman, and child on the planet, and they figured out a bunch of complicated rules that no one gets to see.”

“Is that all it is?” asked Verity. “I mean, I knew we had an elevation, but it was never really relevant to my life.”

“It’s a measure of power,” said Hannah. “And the exact metrics are secret, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work.”

“They go up the more dungeons you do,” said Mizuki, frowning at Hannah. “How can you explain that?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Hannah. “Perhaps the people who go into the dungeon grow more powerful more quickly?” She wrinkled her nose. That didn’t seem quite right. The other obvious option was that dungeons *changed* a person, in either natural or unnatural ways. “Well, they never put too much effort into explainin’ it in the seminary.”

“Because no one knows,” said Mizuki. “But people use it for things anyway. It’s nuts.” - Chapter 10: Second Breakfast
11. ↑ “She’s only second elevation though,” said Mizuki. “She can’t be that good, right?”

“You’re the one that said elevation was bunk,” said Alfric. “And yes, there are reasons to believe that Verity is far more proficient than being a bard of second elevation would imply.” - Chapter 14: Cracked Tiles
12. ↑ “If it’s got magic, I can’t see it yet,” Mizuki volunteered. “I actually think my magic sight is getting a bit better, which is weird.”

A sorcerer or wizard’s acuity tended to increase with elevation, though it was, unhelpfully, not a constant. Alfric was going to check with the censusmaster before they did the next dungeon, but it would be for the best if they were all at the same elevation, and the only direction to go was up. - Chapter 44: Care Package
13. ↑ “Most things will die to a single beam of concentrated power, or a blast, or whatever else I have configured. And it’s less dangerous for wizards, because the elevation metric doesn’t take into account our mana load.”

“I don’t even know what that is,” said Mizuki.

“It’s, ah, sort of the basic unit of wizardry?” he asked. “Our overall ability to have a large pool and good constructions? Though there are elements of personal skill that limit it too.”

Mizuki shook her head.

“Mana is like … a currency,” said Kell. “There are large stones that are pulled up from the ground and given out to wizards, or in some cases purchased, which is where we get our power from. We can spend that currency on either constructions, which do things on their own, or on power for the pool of available mana, which is the, or a, reservoir. So the currency ends up having ah, two sections, I guess.”

“But it doesn’t matter how much you bring into a dungeon?” asked Mizuki. “It doesn’t affect elevation?”

“You’d have to ask Alfric,” said Kell. “He’s the dungeon guy, right? Even Vertex seems to think so.” - Chapter 91: Liferaft
14. ↑ “Ideally,” said Alfric. “You accelerate in terms of gear. There are some graphs for expected difficulty, but it’s a lot of math, and depends on a few too many things. Twenty dungeons down the line,” he held up a hand in Verity’s direction, “Not that we’re committed to that. But if we ever got there, or if I got there with another group, I would hope that I was at least keeping pace, going into a dungeon with a much better entad weapon, ideally a spear, full plate armor, and a few other things.” - Chapter 22: The Journey More Than The Destination
15. ↑ Isra looked at him, almost glaring. “How did you know how old I was?” she asked.

“The censusmaster,” he said, feeling slightly surprised. “That was how I knew about you in the first place.”

“Oh,” she replied, frowning. “What else do you know?”

“Nothing much,” he replied. “Name, age, gender, occupation, residency status, elevation, eye color, skin color, and hair color are the main things. [...] A lot of what the censusmaster knows is an approximation,” said Alfirc. “The Editors — do you know about the Editors?”

Isra frowned. “Vaguely.”

“Well, the Editors are a council of people who are, basically, in charge of the shape of the world,” he said. “They’re not the ones who make the changes, but they’re the ones who decide what changes need to be made. A lot of what the Editors have focused on in the past three hundred years is legibility and information.” He tried to organize his thoughts. “The censusmasters have only been around for the last two hundred years, and some of the information structures put into place from earlier are, uh.” He stopped. “Is this too much for you?”

“I just want to know what he says about me,” she said.

“He?” asked Alfric. “Oh, the censusmaster. She’s a woman. Well, it’s not really what she says, because the information comes to her from a construct that was created by the Editors about a thousand years ago. The construct thinks, though that’s not the right word, that you’re a ranger.” - Chapter 9: An Unwanted Civics Lesson
16. ↑ “Well, I s’pose,” said Hannah. “Who were the alternates, by the by? You said there were two of them, I was wonderin’ whether it’s anyone whose names I know.”

“Kell Westling, a wizard who mostly works with farmers, though he’s on the younger side, and only first elevation,” said Alfric. “The second alternate was Micah Skybloom, an apprentice blacksmith, but he’s third elevation, and in his mid-twenties. He seemed strong, but I was hoping to have that role covered.” - Chapter 20: Temple Politics
17. ↑ Alfric was praying for an easy dungeon, a *gentle* dungeon, even one without much in the way of loot. They were all at the same elevation again, and in theory that meant it might be slightly easier just on principle, but he wasn’t about to hold his breath. - Chapter 82: As Easy as Falling Down