GOODCO HQ
- MISSION 1
- STAFF
- 20 KINDS
- PAYLOAD-1
GOODCO HQ is the first venue of the campaign, and it ends when its boss goes down — PAYLOAD-1.
The run calls the things here STAFF: 20 kinds of them, from the rank and file up to whatever is guarding the far end.
Its pressure comes from spawn points rather than an endless stream, so the map can genuinely be cleared and walked rather than farmed from a standstill.
Its exit leads back to THE GARAGE rather than onward, which is what makes it a farm rather than a stop on the road.
The place
- SIZE3400 by 2200 world units — about 8 phone screens across.
- GRAVITY800 — a jump here comes back down about when you expect it to.
- SUITThe hero arrives in plain clothes — the air here is breathable, so the suit stays stowed.
- BREATHING ROOM1 pocket where nothing spawns and the wandering horde is pushed back out — a genuine rest, not just a quiet corner.
- DEAD AREAS4 stretches the ambient horde never spawns into. Authored content still lives there, which is the reward for going off the line.
- CHESTS5 hand-placed containers. Your weapon smashes one like a crate, but the haul is richer and guaranteed.
- LOCKED2 doors that will not open until the right key is in the bag.
What it fields
The mob levels here are authored per rung rather than scaled off your own, so the place is exactly as hard as it was tuned to be. COMES AT is the hero level the rung expects you to arrive at; LEAVES AT is where a single clear is reckoned to put you. RELICS FROM is the level this venue's own named relics start dropping at — below it they never do, which is why they are farmed on a return trip rather than found on the way through.
| DIFFICULTY | MOB LEVEL | COMES AT | LEAVES AT | RELICS FROM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASY | 1–7 | 6 | — | 34 |
| MEDIUM | 1–7 | 6 | — | 34 |
| HARD | 3–10 | 8 | — | 34 |
| NIGHTMARE | 42–45 | 42 | — | 54 |
Who is waiting
20 kinds of thing live here, and the run calls them STAFF. Every one has its own page with its health, its damage and its drops on each rung.
The boss
The fight the level ends on. You meet them waiting at a post.
Named elites
The set-piece fights along the way, each with a name and a reason to be here. You meet them waiting at a post.
The rank and file
What the venue keeps throwing at you between the set pieces. You meet them waiting at a post, streaming out of spawn points, dragged in through a hellgate, on the once-a-run rare roll, on the once-a-run unique roll and as the scripted first foe.
- ARCHIVE UNIT
- ASSEMBLER
- EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
- HAZMAT TECH
- INTERN
- LAB SCIENTIST
- LAB SCIENTIST
- NIGHT-SHIFT TEMP
- PROPULSION ENGINEER
- SECURITY GUARD
- SUCCESSOR
- THE FIRST INVESTOR
- TUNGUSKA WALKER
- WANDERING TOURIST
What the place itself does to you
- STAMPEDESEvery 20s to 37s a wall of panicked staff charges in from the right and thunders left. It tramples minions outright. A jump sails clean over it; stepping out of the lane works too.
What it pays
Weapons it introduces
The bases this venue brings into the campaign. Each starts dropping once the monster killing for you is at least its level — and each carries its exceptional and elite versions along with it, so the pool keeps paying out here long after you have out-levelled the plain form.
- BOX CUTTERL1
- SECURITY BATONL1
- 9MM PISTOLL2
- PROTOTYPE LASERL4
- PUMP SHOTGUNL5
- MICROWAVE EMITTERL6
- THE ATTRITION FLAMETHROWERL6
Gear it introduces
The armor, jewellery, trinkets and bags on this venue's own table, gated the same way.
- BAGL1
- BASEBALL CAPL1
- CARGO PANTSL1
- COVERALLSL1
- HARD HATL1
- HATCH COVERL1
- ID BADGEL1
- LAB COATL1
- SNEAKERSL1
- STEEL-TOE BOOTSL3
- TOOL POUCHL3
- KEVLAR VESTL4
- PADDED WORK PANTSL4
- RIOT SHIELDL4
- WELDING MASKL4
- RIOT HELMETL5
- THE MONOGRAM HOLDALLL15
- SIGNET RINGL38
- TUNGSTEN BANDL42
- ORBITAL SEALL46
- VACUUM WELDL50
- SINGULARITY RINGL54
- DOG TAGSL58
- NULL PENDANTL66
- EVENT HORIZON LOCKETL74
- RELIQUARYL82
Powers it hands out
The campaign introduces two new powers per venue and every venue keeps what came before, so the vocabulary grows the whole way down. These are the 7 this one can drop.
FIRE ORBS
STORM CELL
STASIS FIELD
MAGNET
ION WAKE
BLAST SHIELD
OVERPRESSURERelics locked to this place
Named items that belong to this venue and nowhere else: anything standing here can drop them, at odds that climb with what killed you for it. Which relics are on the table depends on the rung you are running.
| DIFFICULTY | RELICS |
|---|---|
| EASY | THE FIRST DRAFT, DEADSPRINT, LONGWATCH, THE LAST DOOR |
| MEDIUM | THE FIRST DRAFT, DEADSPRINT, LONGWATCH, THE LAST DOOR |
| HARD | THE FIRST DRAFT, DEADSPRINT, LONGWATCH, THE LAST DOOR |
| NIGHTMARE | STORMLASH, FALCONMAIL |
| JESUS CHRIST! | LIGHTBINDER, STARSIGHT, THE ANVIL, THE LAST WORD, THE SEVERANCE |
- ALL-CLEAR TROPHYKilling every last monster on the map pays a GOLDEN STAPLER.
- SCRIPTED OPENINGA SECURITY BATON is handed over around undefined–undefined kills in, so no run starts empty-handed however the odds fall.
- SCRIPTED OPENINGA 9MM PISTOL is handed over around 34–46 kills in, so no run starts empty-handed however the odds fall.
- LEFT LYINGADA'S SODA CAN, PUMP SHOTGUN, ANTI-GRAV UNIT and CORE LOG sit where the designer put them, not where the dice do.
The trader
A wandering merchant works this venue too: sell him what you will never wear, buy what you will. He dresses for the place.
THE MERCHANTEASY, FRIEND. I'M NOT STAFF. I STOCK THE VENDING MACHINES. SOMEBODY HAS TO, EVEN TONIGHT.
THE MERCHANTLOCKDOWN IS A SELLER'S MARKET. I'LL BUY WHAT WEIGHS YOU DOWN, SELL WHAT KEEPS YOU UPRIGHT.
Who is not fighting you
3 people stand on this map with something other than a fight to offer, and between them 8 errands: FORM 7-B, THE LAST BOX, THE COUNTERSIGNATURE, THE NIGHT LOG, STOP THE LINE, WALK HER OUT, COUNTERSIGNATURE and THE LAST ORDER. Nothing can hurt them, and every one of those errands is taken and finished on a single visit.
The place itself
The whole venue at once, covered — a map is a spoiler in the same way a plot is.
What he says
Spoilers for this mission, covered until you ask for them.
On arriving
THE HEROTHE TRACKER I SEWED INTO HER JACKET JUST PINGED - FROM SPACE. SOMEONE IS TAKING HER OFF THE PLANET.
THE HEROTO FOLLOW HER I NEED A SHIP. I'VE BEEN BUILDING ONE IN THE GARAGE FOR YEARS. IT'S ALMOST DONE.
THE HEROALMOST. THE ENGINE STILL NEEDS ONE PART I COULD NEVER GET. GOODCO KEEPS IT IN THEIR CLEANROOM VAULT.
THE HEROI KNOW, BECAUSE I WORKED THERE. I BUILT THEIR ENGINES - TILL AN AI LEARNED MY JOB AND THEY FIRED ME.
THE HEROTHE WHOLE BLOCK LOST ITS JOBS THE SAME WAY. NOW WE ALL LIVE ON WELFARE AND MOVIE NIGHTS.
THE HEROTHEY NEVER CHANGED THE LOCKS. EVERY DOOR STILL KNOWS MY HAND.
THE HEROSO TONIGHT I TAKE THE PART, FINISH THE SHIP, AND GO GET ADA BACK.
What stops him mid-run
The run halts on its own, once each, when he first lays eyes on INTERN, SUCCESSOR, TUNGUSKA WALKER and THE FIRST INVESTOR.
The whole of what happens here — the scenes on the way in, every arrival speech, the last words and the found lore — is this venue's chapter of the story, covered the same way.