Monsters
There are hundreds of different creatures each of which poses a unique
challenge to the adventurer. As you progress deeper into the dungeon,
the creatures will become progressively more difficult to defeat.
Monster Symbols
Many monsters have the same letter symbol and sometimes color on the
screen. The exact species or type of creature can be discovered by
looking at it (see [a]).
a Giant Ant A Angelic being
b Giant Bat B Bird
c Giant Centipede C Canine
d Dragon D Ancient Dragon
e Floating Eye E Elemental
f Feline F Dragon Fly
g Golem G Ghost
h Humanoids H Hybrid
i Icky-Thing I Insect
j Jelly J Snake
k Kobold K Killer Beetle
l Aquatic monster L Lich
m Mold M Multi-Headed Hydra
n Naga N Shadower
o Orc O Ogre
p Human P Giant Human(oid)
q Quadruped Q Quylthulg
r Rodent R Reptile/Amphibian
s Skeleton S Spider/Scorpion/Tick
t Townsperson T Troll
u Minor demon U Major demon
v Vortex V Vampire
w Worm or Worm Mass W Wight/Wraith
x (unused) X Xorn/Xaren
y Yeek Y Yeti
z Zombie/Mummy Z Zephyr Hound
$ Creeping Coins , Mushroom Patch
# Ent, Huorn, Fumes
Note that some monsters disguise themselves by assuming the shape (ie.
symbol) of common objects found in the dungeon. These include the |, ),
?, !, &, =, #, $ and * symbols.
Monster Colors
You can often determine some information about a monster based solely
on the color it is described as having, like 'a White Dragon'. In
general, White monsters are cold-based, Red are fire-based, Blue are
electrical, Black are acidic, and Green are poisonous and a
'Multi-Hued' monster is all of these. By being cold-based, we mean that
the monster has either melee, magical or breath attacks that are cold
based.
Unfortunately this rule is applied somewhat inconsistently and there
are several notable exceptions so don't be surprised if that 'Green'
monster spits acid at you. Note that this rule cannot be applied to the
actual color a creature is displayed as but only to a color in its
name.
Other color and attack-type relationships are 'Bronze' and confusion
and 'Gold' and sound. Over time the inconsistencies referred to above
will probably get cleaned up.
Monster Memories
Because there are so many monsters and because often different monsters
share similar colors and symbols; it is very difficult to keep track of
the capabilities of various creatures. Luckily, the game automatically
keeps track of your experiences with a particular creature.
This feature is called the monster memory. Your monster memory recalls
the particular attacks of each creature (whether or not technically a
monster) which you have suffered, as well as recalling if you have
observed them to multiply or move erratically, or drop treasure, etc.
Similarly if you attack a creature with a magical attack and it
resists, that fact is noted.
If you have killed enough of a particular creature, or suffered enough
attacks, recalling the monster memory may also provide you with
information not otherwise available, such as an armor class or hit
dice. These are not explained, but may be useful to give the relative
danger of each creature.
Your monster memory may be accessed by pressing / and then entering the
symbol you wish to research. Each monster with that symbol of which you
have some knowledge will displayed in turn beginning with the deepest.
Alternatively, you may enter targeting mode by pressing * and, with the
cursor over the creature in question, press r to recall details.
The best feature about your monster memory is that it can be passed on
to a new character even after you die by means of a reduced save file.
Simply use your old savefile as the base for creating your new
character.
Unique Monsters
While there are many humans in the world, there is only one of you.
Likewise, many monsters can only be killed once, and these monsters are
called Uniques. A large part of the game involves killing as many
unique monsters as possible. In fact, you need to kill a certain unique
to win the game: The Serpent of Chaos. Many quests also involve killing
a given unique.
Unique monsters are typically based on a normal monster. For example,
Tom the Stone Troll is based on the Stone Troll monster. However,
Unique monsters usually have more hitpoints, hit harder and cast spells
more effectively than the monster on which they are based. Unique
monsters are often a different color from other monsters of their type
to allow the player to more easily distinguish them but this is not
always true.
Uniques' Resistance to Magic
Unique monsters tend to be more resistant to magic than the other
dungeon inhabitants. Thus, slowing, confusing, sleeping and scaring
will be less effective and may not work at all. In addition, Genocide
and Mass-Genocide spells will never work on Uniques and *Destruction*
will teleport them from a level but will not kill them.
Keeping Track of Uniques
Since Unique monsters are often very difficult to defeat, most
players will attempt to kill them all before attempting to battle the
Serpent of Chaos (itself a Unique monster). This avoids the need to
battle two very difficult opponents at the same time.
Each time your character happens upon a new Unique, this is recorded
in your monster memory. Under the knowledge command ('~') is a menu
item which allows you to look at which Uniques you have met and which
of these have been defeated. It is a good idea to check this
periodically to gauge your progress. For example:
Knowledge - Monsters
Group Name Sym Kills
============================================================================
Uniques | Sangahyando of Umbar p dead
Ridable monsters | It . dead
Wanted monsters | Azog, King of the Uruk-Hai o dead
Ant | Old Man Willow # dead
Bat | Lugdush, the Uruk o alive
Centipede | Bolg, Son of Azog o dead
Dragon | Shagrat, the Orc Captain o dead
Floating Eye | Meng Huo, the King of Southerings p dead
Feline | Nar, the Dwarf h dead
Golem | The Ghost 'Q' G dead
Hobbit/Elf/Dwarf | Ufthak of Cirith Ungol o dead
Icky Thing | Lady Zhurong, the Avatar of Flame Spirit p dead
Jelly | The Variant Maintainer p dead
Kobold | Golfimbul, the Hill Orc Chief o dead
Aquatic monster | Mauhur, the Orc Captain o dead
Mold | Meng You, the Brother of Meng Huo p alive
Naga | The Borshin g dead
Orc | Orfax, Son of Boldor y dead
Person/Human | Grishnakh, the Hill Orc o alive
Speaking Uniques
Occasionally, you will find that a Unique monster will speak to you
as it approaches. Typically, a monster will shout obscenities and
challenges to combat but they may also refer to events relating to
themselves. The game has no mechanism to allow you to respond to the
monsters (other than with violence).
Rewards for Killing Uniques
You may also find that occasionally after killing a Unique monster
that the game will tell you that the Unique was wanted. And you will
be rewarded for killing it when you take the Unique's corpse to the
Hunter's office at the Outpost. The amount of the reward is dependent
upon how deep in the dungeon the relevant Unique is normally found.
Eldritch Horrors
Some of the monsters in the dungeons are so fearsome to look upon that
doing so can have serious repercussions. When you meet one of these
sanity blasting monsters, one of several nasty things may happen to
you. These include having your intelligence and/or your wisdom
temporarily reduced, becoming scared or confused, or suffering an
attack of amnesia.
Pets and Riding
In this game, pets are very useful. In other variants (such as
Zangband), your pets are often so eager to destroy your opponents that
they may forget all about you, and you get trampled under their feet as
they charge at your foe. In PosChengband, however, pets will never
attack you by mistake; you can walk around in safety even as your pet
Great Hell Wyrm breaths. Pets will also never be irritated with you;
their will is perfectly dominated by you, and all pets are permanently
your pets.
One might think that they can make the game much easier. It is of
course highly satisfying to send your pet Great Hell Wyrm into a Troll
pit and wait outside listening for the howls of agony and terror, the
sounds of guts splattering, bones crunching and so on. But one should
not expect to gain much experience and item drops for such a combat:
you will only gain full experience and items for creatures to whom you
deliver the death blow yourself.
Finally, it takes a lot of mental energy to maintain your control over
charmed monsters, and start taxing your mana regain rate. The higher
the sum of the levels of your pets the less mana you will be able to
regain. And after the upkeep became more then 100% mana, you begin to
lose mana rather than regain. Keep this in mind if you have a pet which
can summon or otherwise produce more pets...
Obtaining a Pet
You may obtain pets in several different ways. Some magic realms
offer the ability to summon pets magically or to charm the creatures
you meet. Mindcrafters may 'dominate' their opponents. Chaos patrons
may grant pets as a gift to their devotees. Magical figurines can be
thrown to create a pet and wands of charm monster may be used as
their name suggests.
The Capture Ball is very useful tool and any player can use it. You
can easily get this tool at a General Store. To use it, you must
wield it on your hand, then 'A'ctivate it, and choose a target
monster to capture the monster. And then you can 'A'ctivate it again
to release the monster as your pet.
Hostile monsters will attempt to resist from capturing. You must make
the monster critically injured status before capture. Beastmasters
are very good at using Capture Balls, and these limitation are
relaxed for them.
Commanding Your Pets
Your pets are fairly well trained and will respond to a variety of
commands such as following you closely, staying nearby and searching
out your enemies. You can command your pets using the pet command
menu which can be found be pressing p.
Here is a list of available pet commands:
Dismiss Pets
Dismiss specified pets. Dismissed pets will immediately disappear
from the current level. PosChengband asks you whether you want to
dismiss each pet in order from high level named pets to low level
unnamed pets. You can press 'U' to dismiss all unnamed pets.
Specify Target of Pet
Choose a target monster, then all your pets will begin to chase the
target.
Stay Close
Command your pets to slay as close as they can.
Follow Me
Command your pets to follow you as you move about.
Seek and Destroy
Command your pets to chase monsters near you.
Give Me Space
Command your pets to go away from your line of sight.
Stay Away
Command your pets to go away as far as they can.
Pets Open Doors
Toggle permission of pets to open doors.
Pets Pick Up Items
Toggle permission of pets to pick up items.
Allow Teleport
Toggle permission of pets to cast teleport spell and teleport away
spell.
Allow Cast Attack Spell
Toggle permission of pets to use attack spells and breath.
Allow Cast Summon Spell
Toggle permission of pets to cast summoning spells.
Allow Involve Player in Area Spell
Toggle permission of pets to use ball spells or breath involving
player in the area of effect.
Ride a Pet
Ride on a specified pet.
Get Off a Pet
Get off from a riding pet.
Name Pets
Specify a target pet and name it.
Use Both Hands for a Weapon
Use One Hand to Control a Riding Pet
Toggle use of your left hand when you are riding. You can wield a
weapon two-handed for maximum damage in melee, and command the
riding pet to chase your target using the 'specify a target of pet'
command.
Riding
In PosChengband, the player can ride on pet horses or dragons, etc.
To control your mount, you must keep one hand free for holding the
reins. But your pet will attack your target together with you, and
enemy's attack will be dispersed. As a result of these, player's
damage in combat will get reduced in total.
The most important feature of riding is speed. When you are riding on
a pet, your speed doesn't depend on your original speed but depends
only on the speed of your mount and your skill at riding. Quaffing a
potion of speed has no effect on your mount's speed, but throwing it
at a wall will hasten your pet if it is nearby. You can use a wand or
a spell of haste monster too.
Note that your proficiency level for riding is very low at first (see
'Proficiency' using the Knowledge command ~). When your proficiency
level is low, you cannot make good use of riding, and your speed is
also very low. You need to practice riding to gain the full speed of
the creature you ride. Proficiency level will increase a little when
you attack in melee or shoot with missile weapon when riding. Ride on
low level creatures at first, and then switch to higher level mounts
little by little.
Friendly Monsters
You will occasionally find a monster in the dungeon that isn't out to
get you. Such monsters are described in game messages as being
'friendly'. A friendly monster will not attempt to hurt you but neither
will it necessarily attack your enemies.
Unlike pets, if you annoy a friendly monster it will turn against you.
Like pets, any monsters a friendly monster summons will also be
friendly. Unlike pets, friendly monsters require no mana upkeep and can
not be commanded using the pet commands.
Original : (??)
Updated : (??)
Updated : Zangband DevTeam
Updated : Hengband 1.0.11
Updated : PosChengband 4.0.0