Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fictional LitRPG adventure novel by Matt Dinniman, and the first installment in the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. The novel was self-published by Matt Dinniman (as "Dandy House") in paperback and Kindle formats in 2020, followed by an audiobook release in January 2021. Beginning on September 1, 2023, Soundbooth Theater began releasing a cinematic audio adaptation of the first book; the script was written by Matt Dinniman and Ben Wolf.
In late 2023, a limited edition hardcover reprint was funded on Kickstarter, with estimated delivery in September 2024. The hardcover edition will include interior pull-page and full-spread art by Luciano Fleitas, who created cover art for subsequent editions, as well as interior line art by Billy Blue.[1]
As of April 2024, Matt Dinniman sold print rights only for the first three books to Ace, an imprint of Penguin Random House. This publishing is separate from and does not affect the digital editions, audiobooks, Kickstarter hardcover, or Soundbooth Theater adaptation. Ace's hardcover edition will include yet another new cover and the first part of an exclusive three-part short story, and will be released in bookstores and Amazon around August 27, 2024. It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.[2] The new cover art was revealed by Reactor Mag on May 15, 2024.
Contents
- 1 Official Summary
- 2 Abbreviated Summary
- 3 Chapter by Chapter Recap
- 4 References
Official Summary[]
The apocalypse will be televised!
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sad*stic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.
In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.
The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.
Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.
You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.
You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.
Abbreviated Summary[]
After the transformation, protagonists Carl and Princess Donut enter the World Dungeon. Part of a galaxy-wide gameshow called Dungeon Crawler World, the fantasy RPG-themed Dungeon is controlled by a System AI and managed by the predominantly kua-tin Borant Corporation.
As Carl and Donut explore the Dungeon's first and second floors, they: meet their game guide, Mordecai, and new PR agent, Zev; team up with a group from an elderly care center called Meadow Lark; square off against two player killers, Frank Q and Maggie My; help Li Jun, Li Na, and Zhang escape an impossible situation; adopt a velociraptor named Mongo; and guest star on Dungeon Crawler After Hours with Odette and Death Watch Extreme Dungeon Mayhem.
Chapter by Chapter Recap[]
| Chapter | Summary |
|---|---|
| 1 | We meet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut. The world as we know it ends in the transformation, and the System AI notifies survivors that they can "reclaim" Earth from the Borant Corporation by conquering an 18-Level World Dungeon. |
| PART ONE | |
| 2 | Carl and Donut find a Dungeon Entrance, enter the First Floor, receive a ton of Achievements, and kill a Goblin so that Mordecai will let them into his Tutorial Guild Hall. |
| 3 | Donut desecrates Mordecai's mother, Carl explodes a Murder Dozer, and Mordecai introduces himself. |
| 4 | Carl undergoes the Tutorial, unlocking his Heads-Up Display (HUD) and Crawler Menus; learns a little about the Syndicate and its favorite show, Dungeon Crawler World; and learns that 13 million humans have entered the dungeon. |
| 5 | Carl opens his Loot Boxes, receiving some useful items, some less useful items, a very interesting biscuit, and no shoes. |
| 6 | Carl equips his new items, getting some useful stat buffs, a new skill, and his first tattoo. Donut makes herself heard. |
| 7 | We are properly introduced to GC BWR NW Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, who learns Magic Missile and equips a crown with an ominous description. The Royal Court of Princess Donut is formally inaugurated. |
| 8 | Certain party ground rules are established, Carl punches a Bad Llama in the throat to death and steals its meth, and Carl gains a new foot-related skill by stepping on scatterers. |
| 9 | Carl and Donut enter a safe room run by Tally the Bopca Protector. Donut receives the Talisman of the Slate Butterfly, and Carl receives a delicious Murgh Vindaloo. |
| 10 | After a good night's sleep and three plates of salmon pâté, Carl and Donut reach level 5 by fighting scatterers. They find a large room and Carl throws some Goblin Dynamite inside. |
| 11 | Our first Boss battle: Carl and Donut vs. the Hoarder. |
| 12 | Mordecai explains bosses, and loot boxes are opened. Donut gets a stupid spell and Carl gets a useful one (that he can't learn yet). Carl does not receive pants. |
| 13 | Carl and Donut investigate the corpse of Rebecca W, discuss the mysterious Frank Q, and complain about co*cker spaniels. |
| 14 | The first episode of Dungeon Crawler World: Earth airs. Carl and Donut see Lucia Mar for the first time, and Borant patches the hallway bathroom bug. |
| 15 | DONUT LEARNS HOW TO USE THE CHAT FEATURE. Carl's Goblin Pass and Donut's charisma allow the pair to charm Rory and Lorelai, and Carl agrees to trade them some meth for a vehicle. |
| 16 | The Goblin Copper Chopper is born, the goblins head out fight a meth war with the Llamas, and Carl contemplates stealing everything that isn't nailed down. |
| 17 | Carl steals everything that isn't nailed down and explodes a room full of babies. |
| 18 | Carl yells "Goddamnit Donut" for the fourth time as they escape the burning goblin workshop. It's a short chapter. |
| 19 | After fighting Rot Stickers, the team locate a safe room and eat Experience Cookies. Carl gets some unpleasant achievements. Donut gets a new spell and an armored skirt. Both receive the Desperado Pass tattoo. Donut is appalled. |
| 20 | After another sleep, Carl and Donut meet Frank Q in the safe room. The second recap episode introduces Hekla while Frank and Maggie attempt an ambush. Carl takes advantage of the NPC inventory system to plant a trap on a rat corpse before riding away. |
| 21 | Carl's Chopper Pilot skill raises to level 5 as he and Donut ride east for hours. 100 miles on, they find a spray-painted sign and corpses killed by Brandon and Chris Andrews. Following the signs, they find a boss chamber with a stairwell within. |
| 22 | Carl and Donut meet the good folks from Meadow Lark Elder Care Facility: Imani, Yolanda Martinez, and the Andrews Brothers, plus the mysterious Agatha. Tales are exchanged and plans formulated. |
| 23 | Carl and Donut spend the next few hours grinding rats and troglodytes, covering up the Meadow Lark signs, and failing to find pants. Finally they approach the boss chamber of the troglodyte neighborhood. |
| 24 | Versus The Juicer! |
| 25 | Carl steals everything that isn't nailed down and they head to the training guild. Donut learns Puddle Jumper, and Carl finally gets something to protect his hands. Gods and bosses are discussed. |
| 26 | The third recap episode introduces Le Mouvement and then... B-B-B-Boss Battle! Brandon, Chris, Yolanda, Imani, Carl, Donut, and Agatha defeat the Ball of Swine using the redoubt. |
| 27 | In the aftermath, Carl and Donut, now level 10, agree to continue helping Meadow Lark. Agatha takes her leave and Imani discards a dild* (but Donut does not). Carl and Donut descend and are teleported away to a Production Trailer where they meet Lexis. |
| PART TWO | |
| 28 | Lexis and Donut discuss Dungeon Crawler After Hours with Odette. Carl tries to steal everything that isn't nailed down but fails. We meet Odette and Donut has the crowd eating out of her paws. |
| 29 | After the show, Odette and the Royal Court discuss the crawl, race selection, the not-so-random nature of random loot, and Mordecai's indentureship. |
| 30 | On the Second Floor, Carl and Donut battle Brindle Grubs, Danger Dingoes, and Mind Horrors. In a saferoom, Carl gets an AI foot fetish achievement granting a useful item. Donut joins the Dungeon Book of the Floor Club, getting the Second Chance spell. |
| 31 | Carl helps Elle McGibbons into the saferoom as the next episode tunnels. The last boss fight is shown and Donut gets her first followers. An announcement warns of Rage Elementals and Brandon says Meadow Lark will descend to the Third Floor as soon as possible. |
| 32 | Many Unvaccinated Clurichauns die as Donut and Carl practice with Second Chance and slingshot. Donut contemplates becoming a Rev-Up Consultant, and Carl creates Carl's Jug O'Boom after being infected with the Taint. |
| 33 | Carl wants to steal everything that isn't nailed down but is worried that it might explode, so Donut lures the Laminaks and Clurichauns away and into a trap. They decide to skip the boss chamber but the boss has other ideas. |
| 34 | KRAKAREN CLONE! Carl and Donut drink a blended corpse and get the Buzzed debuff. Donut tells Carl she loves him, almost as much as Bea and Ferdinand. Carl causes an explosion and shields Donut with his body. |
| 35 | With the boss dead and Carl dying, Donut drags him to safety. They visit Mordecai, now a Bugaboo, and talk about Odette and other things. Carl and Donut both get useful items. Zev makes an appearance. |
| 36 | Carl meets his first Borant Dungeon Admin and tries to be civil. Zev explains crawler participation on Syndicate Shows. Donut, Mordecai and Zev bond over Gossip Girl. |
| 37 | Brindle Grubs start to become an issue as the immediate area hits the spawn limit. Carl and Donut join back up with Meadow Lark and they make their way to the stairs. Elle flirts with Carl and Jack whips it out in the hallway. |
| 38 | Yolanda kills Jack and then dies trying to protect Randall from the Rage Elemental. Imani, Chris, and Brandon get the residents into a safe room as gravity reverses and Carl saves Elle. |
| 39 | The survivors watch the recap as the Rage Elemental... rages. Carl and Donut get scratch-cards. The rules change to prevent crawlers staying in a safe room until the collapse. |
| 40 | Carl finishes building the Bomb Chicken and then, with everyone in the universe watching, one man and his ex-girlfriends cat take the drive of a lifetime. Several bombs, obstacles, and a significant exploit later, the rage elemental is no more. |
| 41 | 36 Meadow Lark residents and 3 members of staff descend to the 3rd floor. Carl and Donut hunt kobolds and dingos before entering a saferoom and acquiring entertaining toast. Mukta makes contact, and the crawlers are teleported. |
| 42 | "Glurp, Glurp", it's Death Watch Extreme Dungeon Mayhem. Li Jun and Zhang are bullied by the Maestro and Carl gambles on his importance to help them, their boss, and Li Jun's sister Li Na escape the Brindled Vespas they're facing. |
| 43 | The Maestro talks about the Ninth Floor. Carl watches as Yvette is caught in his trap and then killed by her mother. Maggie gains a Legendary Skill Potion of Find Crawler. |
| 44 | Another recap, Le Mouvement wipe, and the number of crawlers goes under 1 million. Donut shares her worries about the ninth floor. Zev arrives with news about the "Pork Boy" snick. |
| 45 | Carl and Donut find the Kobold boss chamber and feed some caged dingoes, preventing them from joining the boss battle on Ralph the Frenzied Gerbil's side. Carl realizes that he's going to have to "pay the daddy tax." |
| 46 | The dungeon groans in response to Ralph's squishy demise. Carl and Donut discover the reward room, Mongo joins the Royal Court, and Donut gets chomped on the nose. |
| 47 | Donut gets chomped on the nose several more times, Mongo is tamed with hours to spare, Carl unlocks his Inventory History, and the Royal Court descend to the Third Floor. |
| Epilogue | Carl and Donut appear on Odette's show and talk Pork Boy, Mongo, race selection, and Valtay. Finally Odette gives Donut one last bit of advice about class selection. |
References[]
- ↑ Update #11: Dungeon Crawler Carl art update! by Matt Dinniman on Kickstarter (April 12, 2024).
- ↑ Pair of Announcements. Reddit post by Matt Dinniman (as u/hepafilter) (April 18, 2024).
