Monsters' Den: Book of Dread

Monsters' Den: Book of Dread

Details
Name	Monsters' Den: Book of Dread
Author	Monstrum Games
Genre	Adventure & RPG
Published	2008-05-12
In-Game Awards?	No
Gameplay Style	Dungeon Crawler RPG
Upgrade System?	Yes

Monsters' Den: Book of Dread is a dungeon-crawler RPG in the Rogue-like genre. It is the sequel to Monsters' Den. The game has endless randomized dungeon floors.

Gameplay[]

The game is a turn-based dungeon crawler Role Playing Game with endless levels. At the start of the game, you choose your party of four characters which you will keep for the duration of the game. You choose between three different campaigns with three different difficulties. Afterwards, you descend into an endless dungeon where every floor is randomized. The game frequently autosaves, so don't worry about taking breaks.

There are three different Campaigns in the game called The Den of Corruption, The Den of Terror and The Fall of Telunos. The two first campaigns are Dungeon Crawlers similar to the gameplay in the first game. They can be played on Beginner, Standard or Extreme difficulty. The Fall of Telunos is a survival mode.

The first time you enter battle, make sure you drag your team members to appropriate positions. When a character's turn comes around, his or her portrait will be highlighted, and you can simply click on a creature within range to attack it. You can use special abilities, such as healing spells or special attacks, from the grid on the left by clicking on the ability and then on its target.

Party[]

Your party consists of 4 party members. Each of them can be one of seven classes; Warrior, Cleric, Mage, Ranger, Rogue, Barbarian or Conjuror. Each class has a different set of skills and can wear different armor. Before each battle, you arrange your characters on a 2x3 grid. Characters in the front row can attack an enemy in the square in front of them or in an adjacent square. Ranged characters can attack anyone from the back row.

The game does not use experience points to determine the characters' levels. Instead, characters gain Skill points and Stat points when you descend down to a new dungeon level. Skill points can be used to gain new skills or upgrade your existing skills. You can only equip six active skills on each character, so you have to choose which skills to bring to battle. Each character also has two passive skills which are always active.

Enemies[]

As expected for a game with "Monsters" in the title, Monsters' Den: Book of Dread has a wide variety of enemies for players to contend with. Enemies can be separated into several categories, with most floors featuring representatives from a single category (with some exceptions).

Undead[]

The first enemy type encountered in the game, the Undead ranks have many different tactics to use against the player's party. As a general rule, they are vulnerable to certain abilities of the Cleric, such as Smite and Holy Light.

Skeleton: Regenerates health
Undead Archer: Regenerates health, can use ranged attack
Vampire: Drains health, can use ranged attack
Wraith: Highly resistant to physical attacks, ignores armor when attacking. Can curse targets while draining their power and hide itself to restore health and avoid being targeted directly.
Lich: Ranged attack, skills of damaging entire enemies may cause poison or stun.
Bone Horror: Regenerates health and reflects damage.
Fallen Knight (boss): Can restores health and buffs damage to the entire team.
Arch-Lich (boss): Sacrifices allies for health and power regeneration or forces the players to target a certain enemy for one turn.

Deep Creatures[]

The monsters in this category are a varied bunch, including reptiles, mammals, arthropods, and more. They attempt to overwhelm players by attacking from all sides, using negative status effects (mainly poison) to wear them down, and evasive abilities to strike more vulnerable targets in the back row.

Greebler: Inflicts poison with its attacks; can use ranged attack
Arachnoid: Blinds and slows players with its webs
Gargoyle: Extremely high defense, but low HP. Attacks from range; can give itself Defiant status and restore most of its HP for one turn.
Storm Drake: Can attack from range or hit multiple players with a Lightning Arc.
Poison Drake: Can poison and blind the party with Venomous Cloud or badly poison one target with its Venom Spit.
Basilisk: Stuns its targets with its attacks, or Stuns the front row at once with its Petrify skill.
Dragon (boss): Attacks the front row with Tail Swipe or hits a cross-shaped area with its Flame Breath.
Beholder (boss): Inflicts massive damage to single targets with Disintegrate. Recharges its power by draining players with Drain Life and sacrificing its own health with Channel.

Greenskins[]

A savage tribe of orcs, goblins, and trolls. Heavily focused on damage output, with most of their number having means to strike multiple targets per turn - however, they can occasionally end up catching themselves in the crossfire.

Orc Berserker: Attacks twice per turn.
Orc Savage: Attacks twice per turn or throws a strong but inaccurate axe at range.
Goblin Artificer: Attacks twice at range or throws a Grenade to hit everyone in a cross-shaped pattern from the target.
Orc Champion: Can issue a Challenge to the party, preventing them from directly targeting its allies for a turn. Has slight armor.
Orc Shaman: Heals allies and curses enemies. Can attack at melee when alone.
Troll: Regenerates health. Slow and inaccurate, but powerful and able to hit two people in the same column with Spear Thrust.
Half-Troll (boss): Regenerates health. Can attack savagely (hits twice), cleave the front row of the party, or unleash a Howl of Rage to drain power and stun the party.
Orc Warlord (boss): Uses Battle Plan to raise the speed and defense of its allies while reviving the fallen with Reinforce. Attacks at melee if alone.

Humans[]

These enemies belong to the Cult of the Outward Path, a group of madmen and fanatics seeking to gain power by manipulating other dimensions. In battle, they generally try to wear the party down through attrition, buffing themselves, debuffing their opponents, and summoning powerful monsters from another plane to assist them.

Neophyte: Sacrifices itself to summon an Aetherguard.
Aetherguard: Resistant to physical attacks, can shoot bolts that can cause splash damage
Acolyte: Heals allies, attacks from range, occasionally summons Voidstalkers.
Voidstalker: Resistant to physical attacks, ranged attacks may reduces target's accuracy
Protector: Uses ranged attacks, including Draining Shot (which takes some of the target's power as well as their health). Armored.
Guardian: Can stun targets with Impact. Armored.
Chosen: Can stun targets with Impact and cast Sever to block the party's power regeneration for 4 turns. Armored.
Nexus Engine (boss): A heavily-armored foe immune against stun, instant kill and poison. Cleaves the front row and blasts columns with Void Cannon.
Ascended Human (boss): Supports allies by buffing quickness, accuracy and damage resistance. Attacks from range and regenerates health.

Dwarves[]

A new group of enemies introduced to Monsters' Den: Book of Dread (after defeating level 10). Living among so many other savage beasts has made the Dwarves fierce warriors who fight first and ask questions later. From the Earthern Nation and with their expert forging techniques, runic magic, and more than a little alcohol, they seek victory through brute force and various auguments to their own abilities, although they are also proficient at stunning players and debuffing their attack power. All Dwarves can drink a mug of Dwarven Ale once per battle, healing a lot of health and raising their armor slightly, but sacrificing some accuracy in the process. All Dwarves are also naturally resistant to stun and poison effects.

Dwarf Maniac: Reckless warrior that charges at targets in the back row for increased damage and a high chance to stun. Dwarf Maniacs themselves are invulnerable to stun as well.
Dwarf Warrior: Heavily armored and capable of delivering Punishing Blows that decrease the target's ability to fight back.
Crossbowman: Ranged attacks that ignore armor protection.
Runecaster: Supporting spell caster that bestows group buffs to damage output and damage reduction.
Dwarf Veteran: Tough soldier that regenerates its wounds. Can stun multiple targets with its hammer.
Battleforger (boss): Warlord clad in the best armor available to the Dwarven Nations. Capable of cleaving through the front row with his massive axe or buffing his troops' speed with Onslaught.
Mountain Prince (boss): Forces the players to target a certain minion for one turn, or prevents an injured minion from dying from the damage it takes (i.e. gives the Defiance ability to a minion).

Demons[]

The source of the evil plaguing the world of Monsters' Den, powerful abominations from another realm with a variety of deadly abilities. Usually, they appear among groups of other monsters - it is implied that their fearsome presence is enough to make entire categories of other enemies set aside their differences and work together. Defeating the demons requires great power, skill, and courage, but they often provide tremendous rewards.

Fearsower: Harbingers of the Dreadfather. They accompany groups of standard monsters, assisting them by spreading disorder and chaos in their enemies' ranks. Capable of Instilling Fear in a target (stuns + reduces target Quickness by 100) and casting Wither on a single target (preventing health and power regeneration for 3 turns). The first 9 Fearsowers you kill will drop a Glowing Stone Fragment; 9 of these fragments form a Journeyman's Stone that can be used to teleport the party to the Dreadfather's lair.
Dreadfather (boss): Steals life from an enemy. Also capable of reviving the retinue of 3 Fearsowers that accompany it once all 3 are dead.
The Corruptor (boss): Creates dark copies of the player party with Dark Mirror, attack twice with Demonic Rage, and drains health/power with Steal Soul.

Legendary Creatures[]

Among the rarest of all enemies in the game, these enemies appear rarely on random floors. Although fought alone, their might still makes for a difficult battle - specialized preparations may be necessary before the party can hope to survive against them.

Minotaur: Attacks with basic melee strikes and occasional Cleaves. Always begins the battle with Labyrinth, which randomly shuffles the player party to random positions.
Gorgon: Stuns the party with Petrify and poisons them with Nest of Vipers. Occassionally attacks normally.
Hydra Head: Attacks at range. Spawned by the Hydra.
Hydra: Regenerates health. Summons two Hydra Heads whenever one dies.

Glossary For Equipments[]

You will always see the name of the equipment when collected in a chest or fighting monsters. The name is not just for show - it gives a effect for the equipment.

Property For The Equipment (Front)
Name	Description
Blinding	Reduces Accuracy Of An Enemy
Consecrated	Cleric Can Now Use Longsword
Lightweight	Increases Speed
Protective	Increases Armor Rating
Purifying	Increases Poison Resistance
Runed	Increases Power Regeneration
Sharp	Increases Damage Dealt
Soothing	Increases Health Regeneration
Staggering	Increases Chances To Stun The Enemy
Thick	Increases Armor Rating
Unerring	Increases Accuracy
Vampiric	Drains Health Of An Enemy
Venomous	Inflicts Poison Damage To the Enemy

Property For The Equipment (Back)
Name	Description
Accuracy	Increases Accuracy
Deftness	Increases Dexterity
Discretion	Can Instantly Retreat
Insight	Increases Intellect
Lethality	Increases Chance To Instantly Kill The Enemy
Might	Increases Strength
Reflection	Gives You Damage Reflection
Resillience	Increases Endurance
Speed	Increases Speed
Tenacity	Increases Resistance To Stun Damage

Property Of The Materials
Type	Increases	Names (From Lowest To Highest In Effect)
Metal	Armor Rating / Damage	Iron, Steel, Damascene, Mithril, Magesteel, Planeforged
Wood	Damage	Elm, Oak, Ash, Yew, Voidwood, Planespine
Fabric	Armor Rating	Linen, Wool, Velvet, Silk, Suncloth,Aetherwave
Animal	Armor Rating	Leather, Studded, Scaled, Trollhide, Symbiotic, Shiftsteel

P.S: There some jewellery materials, like Gold, Platinum, Crystalline and Obsidian. However, their functions is still not confirmed, for now.

There are also some names that you do not want to have as an equipment. These names are:

Dented, Battered, Notched, Threadbare, Warped, Tattered, Patched, Cracked, Worn, Rusty, Bent.

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Orbs is an accessory that can be equipped to your equipment, they can only be used once, so use it wisely.

Property Of Orbs
Name	Description
Acumen	Increases Intellect
Alacrity	Increases Dexterity
Brawn	Increases Strength
Protective	Increases Armor Rating
Perseverance	Increases Endurance
Recuperation	Increases Health Regeneration
Toxicity	Inflicts Poison Damage (Weapon Only)

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All equipments have their own rarity. They are classified with different colors.

Rarity Of Equipments
Name	Colour	Descriptions
Damaged	Gray	Less Armor Rating / Damage Than Normal
Normal	White	No Property
Magical	Green	1 Property
Rare	Blue	2 Property
Unique	Purple	Number Of Properties Vary, But Value Is Signifigantly Higher ThanItems Of The Skill Level
Legendary	Orange	Can't Be Purchased, Only Obtainable With Different Scenarios. Really Powerful
Quest	Yellow	Related To The Storyline. Can't Be Discarded Or Sold.

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Like every other games that require some violence, you need weapons to attack the enemy and armor to protect your units from death. Both weapons are also classified for your units.

Classification Of Weapons
Name	Attack Range	Offhand Slot	Damage Increases With
Mage	Can Attack Any Enemy	Not Available	Intellect
Melee	Can Only Attack Enemies That Do Not Have Another Character Between Them	Available	Strength
Ranged	Can Attack Any Enemy	Not Available	Dexterity

Classification Of Armor
Name	Usable By	Armor Rating	Risk
Light	All	Low	None
Medium	All Except Mage And Conjour	Medium	1 Quickness Reduced
Heavy	Warrior And Cleric	High	5 Quickness Reduced

Weapons Guide
Name	Classification	Usable To	Risk Reward
Bow	Ranged	Warrior, Rouge, Ranger	None
Crossbow	Ranged	Warrior, Rouge, Ranger	Damages Better Than Bow But Reduces Quickness By 20
Dagger	Melee	Rouge	Gains Bonus Damage From Both Strength And Dexterity. +5 Quickness
Greataxe	Melee	Warrior, Ranger, Barbarian	Damages Higher Than Other Melee Weapon But Reduce Quickness By 15. 2-Handed
Longsword	Melee	Warrior, Rouge, Ranger, Mage, Barbarian, Conjour	None
Mace	Melee	Warrior, Rouge, Cleric, Barbarian	None
Spear	Melee	Warrior, Ranger	Can Attack From The Back Row But Reduce Quickness By 10. 2-Handed
Staff	Mage	Mage	None

Note: If the melee weapon is two-handed, you can't use the offhand slot.

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Lastly, there are accesories that can be used for your units. They can be classifed by rarity, so they also have additional properties attached with their initial property

Accesories
Name	Equip To	Usable By	Initial Property
Buckler	Offhand Slot	Warrior, Rouge, Cleric, Ranger	Additional (High) Armor Rating, But Reduce Quickness By 10
Censer	Offhand Slot	Cleric	Increases The Effect Of Healing Abilities
Cloak	Shoulder Slot	All	Additional (Low) Armor Rating
Parrying Dagger	Offhand Slot	Warrior, Rouge, Ranger	Additional (Mediom) Armor
Quiver	Shoulder Slot	Ranger	Increases Quickness By 15
Ring	Jewelry Slot	All	Varies By Property
Tower Shield	Offhand Slot	Warrior, Cleric	Additional (Very High) Armor Rating, But Reduce Quickness By 20

Consumable Items[]

You can't always rely in your equipments and skills alone, especially in the early levels. Luckily, consumable can be obtained and save you a lot in danger. Unluckily, they can't be used in battle, so use them when you are really in danger of being defeated.

Potions
Name	Effect When Used
Weak Healing Potion	40% Of Maximum Health Restored
Weak Power Potion	40% Of Maximum Power Restored
Weak Revival Potion	30% Of Maximum Health Restored The Character Is Revived
Weak Rejuventaion Potion	40% Of Both Maximum Health And Maximum Power Restored
Snake's Blood Potion	20% Of Total Health Restored Provide 100% Poision Resistance In The Next Battle
Elixir Of Protection	Provide 20% Damage Resist And 50% Stun Resistance In The Next Battle
Elixir Of Speed	Quickness Is Increases By 20 In The Next Battle
Healing Potion	75% Of Maximum Health Restored
Power Potion	75% Of Maximum Power Restored
Revival Potion	75% Of Maximum Health Restored The Character Is Revived
Rejuventaion Potion	75% Of Both Maximum Health And Maximum Power Restored
Elixir Of Enhanced Wits	Permanent Increase Of Dexterity And Intellect By 5
Enhancement Elixir	Permanent Increase Of Strength And Endurance By 5

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Although there are only two scrolls in the game, both of them are very useful in their own ways.

Scrolls
Name	Description
Scroll Of Deception	Allow The Party To Pass One Enemy Horde Without Being Attacked
Portal Scroll	Teleport To Emporium, A Shop To Trade Equipment And Items