What the Murch Workshop Is
The Murch Workshop is the Outpost's technical hub, run by Murch — the NPC who, in his own framing, handles "most of the complicated things around here." It's where raw expedition loot becomes permanent progression: coins become artifacts, artifacts become blueprints, blueprints become constructs.
The Gacha → Blueprint Pipeline
- Earn artifact coins — from Murch (tutorial + rapport bonuses) and underground rewards
- Deposit coins into the ball machine (the gacha) near the workshop
- Receive a random artifact — "useful or surprising"
- Feed the artifact into the unlocker/opener machine
- Receive a permanent construct blueprint drop
Glowy orbs looted underground and surface artifact coins have overlapping names but serve linked, distinct pipelines. Never feed glowy artifacts straight into the ball machine — and never feed them to the Grinder either. Underground orbs → unlocker pipeline; coins → gacha.
What Murch Gates
- Artifact coins — the gacha currency; repeat visits with rapport dialogue pay bonus coins
- The demolition mallet — your starter tool, handed over in the tutorial
- Cleaning supply sales — tied into Biggy's morale system
- 1.0 systems — the Enchantment & Repair Machine is teased for launch
The Demolition Mallet
Your first tool, and deliberately not a weapon: tutorial dialogue warns it underperforms against the Corrupted compared to dedicated combat gear from inventory tiers. Its real jobs:
- At the Outpost: breaking expendable constructs for scrap, practicing build rotations, feeding construct recipes
- Underground: demolishing weak furniture for Grinder fodder
- Upgrade path: inventory tiers replace it with hammer, sword and gun — see the weapons tier list
Workshop Etiquette (Co-op)
- Announce before spending pooled artifact coins
- Agree on blueprint priority (storage vs. blocking vs. cosmetics) before rolling
- One player talks to Murch while others repair rooms — parallel chores save the extract window
- Keep paths clear between workshop, ball machine, unlocker and elevator; don't block Murch's interaction radius
- "Arguments at the ball machine waste extract windows."
Coming at 1.0
- Enchantment & Repair Machine (confirmed) — gear maintenance, likely placed near the workshop
- Legendary Gachas — an expanded artifact tier
- New Outpost NPCs — vendors and quest givers
- Second Outpost floor — vertical expansion
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Murch in GRAIN ROT?
The Outpost's technical NPC. He hands out artifact coins (with rapport bonuses on repeat visits), issues your starter demolition mallet, sells cleaning supplies, and gates the gacha/blueprint pipeline.
How does the gacha work in GRAIN ROT?
Deposit artifact coins into the ball machine to receive random artifacts, then feed artifacts into the unlocker machine for permanent construct blueprint drops. Never feed glowy underground orbs to the ball machine.