Hype, Sponsors and Loot Boxes

Hype is a hidden stat: how much the alien audience loves a Crawler. The System shows it when it feels like it.

• +1 Hype for each dance-off round won.
• +3 Hype for winning a Final Beat.
• +5 Hype for any achievement.
• Half of all Hype is lost when a Crawler is benched.

Sponsors watch Hype. At 10, 25 and 50 Hype, a sponsor may send a box. Sponsors include the Benthic Collective and the Hydros-9 Aquatic Collective, aquatic viewer blocs who adore Barnaby, and the Bellevue Consortium, which sponsors the opponents and resents every upset.

Loot boxes come in four tiers:

• Bronze: common gear, a potion, a Ferry Token.
• Silver: useful gear or a companion upgrade.
• Gold: rare gear, a skill book or a companion egg.
• Desperation: awarded for winning a dance-off with 3 Groove or less. Always useful, always humiliating.

The System writes every loot description, and every description mocks the Crawler’s choices a little. It never mocks who they are.