How does loot, leveling, and progression function in the crawl?

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Loot & Loot Boxes

1. Loot Boxes are the main way crawlers get new gear, spells, potions, or rare items. They’re awarded for achievements, boss kills, quests, or as gifts from viewers or sponsors. Rewards include Adventurer Boxes, Boss Boxes, Quest Boxes, Fan Boxes, and rare Benefactor Boxes. Higher-tier boxes give more powerful loot and are much rarer.

2. Quality tiers for loot boxes (from weakest to strongest): Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Legendary → Celestial. Each step up brings rarer items and larger power spikes.

3. Loot has a semi-random system. The System AI may handpick items in some boxes to help or hurt crawlers depending on audience entertainment value. Standard boxes follow the Dungeon’s theme; only Benefactor Boxes can contain off-world or extremely powerful tech.

4. You can’t open loot boxes just anywhere—boxes must be unlocked and opened in Safe Rooms or Guildhalls. When you choose to open, all your accumulated unopened boxes open in order.

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Skills & Stat Growth

1. Player Stats: Five core traits—Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma—define general ability. You get stat points as you level up, but actual manual distribution of those points is locked until you choose a class on the Third Floor.

2. Skills are separate from core stats. There are both mundane and high-tier skills. You acquire and train them via using them in combat or by fulfilling certain conditions. Some skills only unlocked by race or class. Gear, potions, training rooms, and special “Skill Potions” also help boost them.

3. Skill levels cap around level 15 for most; some races/classes like the Primal race can push skills up to level 20 or unlock higher-tier variants. The gap in usefulness widens steeply as you approach upper levels.

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Overall Leveling & Progression

1. As soon as a crawler kills their first monster, they unlock the ability to gain Experience Points (EXP). Experience is awarded for participating in combat (damage dealt/healed/etc.). EXP fuels both crawler levels (which give stat points) and part of skill training.

2. Every time your crawler levels up you gain three stat points—used to increase your core stats. Before Floor 3, however, you can’t manually assign them. It’s once you reach Floor 3, choose race and class, that distribution unlocks.

3. Race & Class selection (on Floor 3) shapes what skills you can grow, how high some skills can go, what gear you can use, and your performance patterns. The System AI proposes several class options consistent with your stats, gear, previous choices, etc. Race determines what skills or skill ceilings you can access.

4. Floors act as major progression gates:

   • The First and Second Floors are tutorial levels—lots of loot and practice opportunities; you can’t pick class or distribute stats yet. - Later floors become much harder to get loot/achievements, more dangerous, fewer opportunities for easy progression. Floor collapse timers, stairwell unlocks, and increasingly strict rules make each descent riskier.

5. Audience metrics (Views, Followers, Favorites) matter—more popularity can earn better loot via sponsors and Benefactor Boxes. Respect & fame are another axis of progression beyond just combat power.

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If you want, I can show you examples of Carl’s build over the first few books to illustrate how these mechanics actually play out.