Objects
Objects are one of the most important elements in the game, and much of
your effort will be devoted to getting better, and then even better,
stuff. Whether they are potions to heal you during a difficult fight,
scrolls to teleport you out of danger, armor to protect you from fire
breathing dragons, or swords to slay the minions of evil, objects
permeate every aspect of your journey from the safety of town to the
halls of Oberon and finally to the lair of the dreaded Serpent of
Chaos. Naked, you are nothing. Well equipped, and perhaps, just maybe,
you will stand a chance.
There are various types of objects, each with its own symbol for
display, and generally with its own command for use. These will be
described fully in the reference section near the end of this document.
For now, here is an informal introduction.
First, there are objects you may wield or wear as equipment. This
includes melee weapons such as swords, axes, polearms (pikes, spears,
glaives) and hafted weapons (flails, hammers, maces); armor such as
suits of chain mail, shields, helmets, cloaks, gloves and boots;
jewelry such as rings and amulets; and finally light sources, such as
torches and lanterns. All of these sorts of objects must be equipped
with the w command to wield or wear them. For much of the game, you
will be trying to find better and better gear to wear: more deadly
weapons, more protective armor, magic rings and artifacts of rare and
mighty enchantments. Whatever you have at the moment, no matter how
good, you can be relatively sure that something even better could be
found if only you were lucky, or bold, enough to find it.
Next, there are objects you carry around in your pack for utility
purposes, or as provisions. Of course, you need to eat: killing stuff
is hard work! And so food is a staple of the well prepared adventurer.
And, equally obvious, you need to be able to see in those dark, dank
places where evil lurks, so you need oil to refuel your lantern, or
spare torches should your current one run out. But even more that this,
you will need magical objects to survive. These include spellbooks, if
you are playing a magical class, scrolls which all but the stupidest
may read, potions which any may drink, and magical devices. Potions,
scrolls and magical devices (wands, rods and staves) each contain a
single magical spell or effect which they may perform. Generally, these
can be quite useful, such as healing you in a pinch, or teleporting you
out of danger. Or they might be offensive powers (for devices) that
destroy your enemies. Or the effects may be bad, placed there to thwart
adventurers at the outset of their journies, just when they are the
most vulnerable and most easily dispatched.
Finally, there is gold or treasure. If you are a dwarf, you will barely
resist singing of your longing for the lost, ancient treasures of yore.
Other players will find these objects just as useful, for gold is the
currency of the realm, accepted by shopkeepers the whole world over.
You can dig for gold, but don't lose sight of the real purpose of your
quest: The enemies lie deeper, ever deeper. And should you linger too
long in the shallow safety, their forces may grow to the point where
none may challenge them.
Now, it is time to explain all you will need to know about objects
during your adventures. We will begin with how you get objects, then
discuss how you learn about their powers, and finally discuss how to
use them. At the end, we will give a table of all the types of objects
you might encounter, at a broad level. This is a helpfile, and not a
spoiler page, so we won't be telling you all the objects that exist,
and will scarcely even mention the artifacts and other excellent items
you are likely to encounter ... should you survive long enough.
Where Can I Get More Stuff?
Every player is born with a few objects to get them started on their
quest. Exactly what these objects are depends upon which class they are
playing. For example, Warriors begin with a sword and some nice armor,
while Mages begin with their starting spellbooks and a pitiful looking
dagger. But every player starts with a small amount of gold as well.
Since the game begins in town, the first place to look for stuff is in
the various shops.
Each store in town sells a particular class of objects, from weapons
and bows at the Weapon Smiths, to shields and suits of armor at the
Armory, to spellbooks, wands and staves at the Magic Shop. And then
there is the Black Market, an unregulated forum to buy and sell just
about any object imaginable, but at highly exorbitant prices. Often,
you can simply buy a really great object here, but you need to be quite
rich indeed!
So shopping is the first place you will find new stuff. But you are on
a quest, after all, and it is time to begin your adventures. And it is
in the various dungeons of the world that the best treasures can be
found (Where do you think the Black Market gets all its stuff, after
all?). If you are lucky, or stealthy, you can find quite a few objects
just laying on the ground in the various dungeon levels you explore.
How did they get there? Perhaps they were dropped by other adventurers
who no longer found them useful? Or perhaps, noticing the various
skeletons lying about, you realize they once belonged to other
adventurers like yourself? At any rate, there are not that many objects
just laying about anyways, and truly good objects won't be left lying
around for long. For, players are not the only creatures with a lust
for treasure, and monsters too, have a taste for gold.
Many monsters you meet will be carrying one or more items about their
person which you may retrieve from their corpse should you be skillful
enough to defeat them. You may pick up objects by moving on top of them
and using the get command. By setting various options (see [a]) you may
choose to pick up items automatically or to be prompted before picking
up objects. There is also a powerful, rule based object management
system called The Mogaminator that you may want to learn about later in
the game. This system allows you to more easily manage all the objects
you encounter, either by destroying objects you have registered as
junk, or by picking up objects you have registered as desirable (see
[b]). In your quest to defeat The Serpent, should you succeed, you will
likely find tens of thousands of objects along the way and it is nice
to have an efficient, automatic way to deal with them.
Finally, perhaps the best way to get really good objects is to find a
treasure vault. There are many types of vaults, and they are usually
well guarded, both with traps and with monsters. The better the
treasure, the more difficult it will be for you to defeat the guardian
monsters, and many a brave adventurer learned too late that bravery, if
foolish, can be deadly as well. (Of course, vaults can be burgled as
well, as any hobbit can tell you).
OK, I Found Something. What Does It Do?
When you find an object, you won't know much about it. For example, you
might find a "long sword (2d5)" (see the section on weapons below for
an explanation of the 2d5). Here, you know the type of object, that it
is a weapon, and that tells you that you can wield it, if so inclined.
And since you've seen long swords before (they are quite common), you
know roughly how deadly the average long sword is. But, is this one any
good? Is it magical? Cursed? What other bonuses might it have? This
object is what we call Unidentified, and you will usually want to learn
more about it before deciding to use it, or even carry it about with
you as you continue to explore (It is a bit heavy, after all).
Every character will eventually get a sense of the quality of
unidentified objects in their pack. This ability is called Pseudo-ID
and its speed (i.e., how long it takes to kick in) and strength (i.e.,
how much information it reveals) will depend upon your class and your
wisdom. Early in the game, pseudo-id is your first line of defense
against the onslaught of junk objects. Pick stuff up, wait a bit (while
continuing to play, of course), and learn which objects are junk and
which might be worthy of further investigation. See [c] in the
reference section below for more information about pseudo-id.
If you sense that an object might be useful, you will probably want to
Identify the object. This requires magic to do, either as a spell if
you are a Mage, or as an effect from a magical device such as a scroll
or perhaps a staff. In the former case, you can afford to be less
selective in the objects you identify, since you can always rest to
regain mana, and then recast the spell as needed. In fact, as a Mage,
you can often just identify everything you find, as you find it, and
skip the potentially long wait for (not to mention the hassle of)
pseudo-id. But for everybody else, it will usually require a scroll of
identify to learn about an object. These are available in town, and are
generally quite common. Still, they are not so common (or cheap) that
you can afford to waste them on every object you find. You need to be a
bit more selective than that!
Identifying an object reveals its full name, as well as its more
obvious bonuses. This includes combat bonuses in accuracy and
deadliness as well as armor bonuses in protectiveness (i.e., AC). The
object's name tells you whether it is an ego item or even an artifact,
and also (usually) tells you if the object is cursed or not. But
Identify doesn't tell you everything about an object.
For excellent and special objects, you will need to learn their powers.
You may do so by equipping and using the object (but you won't want to
wield cursed items unless you have some means of removing the curse).
Some magical attributes will be obvious, and you will learn these
simply by wearing the item. For example, the item might increase your
strength, and you will feel yourself 'bulk up' when you put it on.
Other attributes will take longer to learn. For example, a weapon might
slay orcs, and you will need to actually hit an orc with the weapon to
discover this. Or, a piece of armor might grant resistance to fire, and
you'll need to get hit with a fire ball or breath before learning this
fact. Eventually, through sheer tenacity and perseverance, you can
learn everything about an object this way! However, this method can
take some time, and, especially as the game progresses, you won't want
to spend this much effort learning each object you find. In this case,
there are two other means of learning about objects: *Identify* and
selling. The first is a magical power, available as a spell, scroll or
town service, and is rather expensive or rare. But it instantly and
completely reveals everything about a given item, so is quite useful.
The second method is to simply sell an item in town. After the sale,
you can examine the item in the shop's inventory to see what it does.
Of course, if you make a mistake with this method and sell something
truly useful, you'll need to buy the item back. Make sure you have some
gold!
Object Knowledge and Object Quality are related concepts (You gain
kowledge about an object's quality). We've been discussing knowledge,
so now it is time to turn our attention to quality.
How Good is this Object, Anyway?
The broad quality of a wearable object (i.e., equipment) is given by
the strong version of psuedo-id. Objects are, in increasing/decreasing
order of quality, one of average, good/bad, excellent/awful or
special/terrible. What does this mean?
If you did some shopping, then you probably saw what average equipment
looks like. For example, the Weapon Smiths might have inventory like
the following:
Fasgul (Zombie) Weapon Smiths (30000)
Item Description Weight Price
...
c) | a Cutlass (1d7) (+0,+0) 11.0 228
d) | a Tulwar (2d4) (+0,+0) 10.0 250
e) | a Broad Sword (2d5) (+0,+0) 15.0 351
f) | a Scimitar (2d5) (+0,+0) 13.0 330
g) | a Katana (3d4) (+0,+0) 12.0 427
h) | a Bastard Sword (3d4) (+0,+0) 14.0 448
i) / a Spear (1d6) (+0,+0) 5.0 154
j) / a Beaked Axe (2d6) (+0,+0) 12.0 386
k) / a Lucerne Hammer (2d5) (+0,+0) 12.0 320
l) / a Glaive (2d6) (+0,+0) 19.0 461
m) } 3 Slings (x2) (+0,+0) 0.5 34
n) } a Short Bow (x3) (+3,+6) 3.0 1540
o) } 3 Short Bows (x3) (+0,+0) 3.0 76
p) } 3 Light Crossbows (x4) (+0,+0) 11.0 305
q) { 3 Rounded Pebbles (1d2) (+5,+6) {90% off} 0.4 8
r) { 49 Rounded Pebbles (1d2) (+0,+0) 0.4 1
Here, we see a bunch of different types of weapons, each of which is
fully *Identified* (Objects in the town shops are always automatically
*Identified*). But, they don't look very impressive! First of all, you
can notice that each type of weapon has different damage dice, which
means nothing more than that, for example, a 3d4 Bastard Sword is more
deadly than a 1d7 Cutlass, since 3d4 (which means roll three four-sided
dice) will give an average of 7.5 damage per strike, while 1d7 (which
means roll a single seven-sided die, if such a thing could be
imagined!) gives an average of 4 damage per strike. Each class of
weapon has its own damage dice.
Next, you may notice that (+0,+0) is repeated over and over again.
That's because all of these objects are average. Hey, the Weapon Smith
is no wizard. He just forges weapons of average quality, but he might
occasionally buy a magical weapon from some intrepid adventurer (like
yourself!). The (+0,+0) simply gives the magical bonus to melee
accuracy (the first number), which affects your ability to hit a
monster with that weapon, and the magical bonus to damage (the second
number), which gets added to the damage total rolled by the damage
dice, should you actually land a blow with that weapon.
Objects can be magically enhanced, at which point they become good
objects. This means nothing more than that (+0,+0) becomes something
non-zero, giving you bonuses either to hit, or to damage, or both. For
example, you might have noticed that Short Bow (x3) (+3,+6). The (x3)
is part of every average bow, and is called the damage multiplier.
We'll discuss its meaning later when we discuss archery. But bows too
have combat bonuses just like melee weapons, and they mean the same
thing. Here, the bow gives +3 to hit (making you more skilled with
archery), and +6 to damage (making you more deadly as well). That would
be a nice starting bow to have, but, alas, it costs 1540 gp which is
more than I have.
So, we've discussed average and good objects. What about excellent
objects? And special objects? Excellent objects are called ego items, a
term that has been around for a long time but whose origin I cannot
guess. Let's just say they are magical objects of a certain broad
class. For example, I'll break my normal rules about spoilers, and say
that there exists an ego class of weapons of Slay Orc. They aren't
particularly good ego items, so I haven't completely ruined the game by
mentioning them (I hope). They are simply more deadly against orcs. For
example, our 3d4 Bastard Sword, were it a weapon of slay orc, would do
three times as much damage from the base damage roll against orcs. In
other words, roll a four-sided die three times, add up the result, and
multiply by three if the monster is an orc. Then add in the bonus to
damage. This illustrates that ego weapons often give targetted slays
that make the weapon more deadly against a certain class of monsters.
Ego items in general can do lots of things, like boost your stats, give
you resistances or other important abilities, or even activate for
various magical effects.
Ego items, as I said, come as a single instance of a broad class of
objects, each of which will have the same set of bonuses, and perhaps a
random bonus as well just to keep egos interesting. In this respect,
they behave like flavored objects (discussed in the next section).
Initially, your character will not know anything about the various ego
item types (even if *you* do, though some obvious ones like Slay Orc
are known to all right off the bat). Instead, the character needs to
*identify* an instance of a particular ego type in order to become
aware of that type, learning the stock bonuses shared by all objects of
that ego type (but not the random bonuses). So *identify* is an
important way to learn the various ego types, and you usually only need
to do it on the first one you find. (This is one case where selling an
object to learn its ego type is actually a useful strategy, provided
you don't think you would otherwise want the object).
Special objects are artifacts. Think of these as unique super-ego
objects: You can only find them once in a particular game and they tend
to be substantially more powerful than ordinary ego items. Like egos,
they typically give bonuses to combat as well as slays (if they are a
weapon), or bonuses to armor class and resistances (if they are armor)
as well as possible bonuses to your stats and other abilities. You will
generally want to *identify* every artifact you find, unless you happen
to be a veteran player who has already memorized all of the artifacts.
But even then, like egos, artifacts sometimes common with additional
random bonuses like an extra resistance, or an extra ability.
*Identify* is your friend.
Finally, we've talked about the good end of the spectrum (average ->
good -> excellent -> special). What about the evil end of the spectrum
(average -> bad -> awful -> terrible)? These objects are cursed, but
they need not be junk. Unlike other variants, cursed objects work a
little differently in this game. Well, bad objects are just the
opposite of good ones, so they really are junk most of the time. But
awful objects are excellent items (i.e., ego items) that happen to have
some bad attributes added in as well. And terrible items are special
items (i.e., artifacts) that similarly add bad attributes on top of the
good. Whether or not these items remain useful is up to you to decide,
since they always blend good attributes with bad attributes. Sometimes
they are junk, and other times the good outweighs the bad. In either
case, you will need *identify* to discover this information. Oh, and
cursed items also usually have a gotcha mechanic, that I suppose I
better not mention. I'll just caution you to be careful around cursed
objects.
We've talked a lot about equipment, but what about other kinds of
objects? Their quality too might vary. Let's discuss some of these
other object types first.
Object Flavors
Some objects come in flavors. For example, you might find a Black
Spotted mushroom, or a Bubbling potion. The description of the
unidentified object is termed its flavor, and all objects of a given
kind have the same flavor for the duration of a given game. For
example, that Black Spotted mushroom might cause hallucinations, as
some mushrooms have been known to do. Next time you find a Black
Spotted mushroom, you will know to avoid it since it too will cause
hallucinations. But the flavors shuffle each game you play. If they
didn't then once you learned the flavor of hallucination mushrooms in
one game, you'd know it for all time, and where would the fun be in
that?
Currently, the only flavored objects are mushrooms, potions and scrolls
(We used to have more, including rings, amulets, wands, rods and
staves, but I've waged a sort of mini-crusade against flavors for a
number of reasons which I won't discuss). Each instance of a flavor is
exactly like every other instance of the flavor, and typically, you
only need Identify to learn the flavor (though you can also try to use
the object to learn what it is ... This can be risky!). You won't find
good or excellent or special objects here. Each instance of a flavor is
exactly like every other instance. The early game is heavily dominated
by learning many, many different flavors of marginally useful or even
downright useless objects. This is one reason for junk management tools
like The Mogaminator.
Jewelry
While rings and amulets are wearable objects, they behave a little bit
differently than weapons and armor. For one thing, there is no such
thing as good jewelry. Either an item is average (in which case you
might consider it junk, unless you plan on reforging artifacts later in
the game) or it is excellent/awful. Excellent rings and amulets are
like ordinary ego items in that they are instances of a broad class:
the ego type. However, they are a bit different in that the ego type
determines the theme of the object: its set of allowed attributes. But
each piece of jewelry is almost entirely random, generated with one or
more attributes from the allowed set. This means the quality of the
item is highly variable, and generally increases the deeper you
descend.
Another difference with jewelry is that you won't find random
artifacts. Instead, there are a small number of fixed standard
artifacts available. However, the various ego types can become
amazingly powerful so you don't really need artifacts here. And given
the themed nature of the egos, they are really behaving like
mini-rand-arts anyway.
Object Lore
We've been discussing the magical bonuses provided by excellent and
special items (egos and artifacts). To review, you will need to learn
the bonuses of each item as you find it. Your pseudo-id will reveal the
object's quality at a very coarse level and is generally used to
determine which objects are worthy of further investigation.
Identifying an object reveals its basic attributes ... what you would
see for an average or good item in the town shops. This includes combat
bonuses on weapons and armor class bonuses on armor. In addition,
Identify reveals the object's name. For ego items, this is the name of
the ego type, such as a Long Sword of Slaying. For artifacts, this is
the unique name of the artifact. But, aside from this, Identify won't
tell you what the object actually does. And most excellent and special
items have magical bonuses, so you'll need to learn these.
We discussed three ways to learn the magical bonuses of a wearable
item. First, you can equip the item (but don't try this if the item is
cursed!). This will immediately reveal many aspects of the item's
power, including stat and skill bonuses. But it won't reveal a weapon's
extra slays, or an armor's extra resistances. It won't reveal many
hidden bonuses like Free Action or See Invisible. For all of these, you
will need to experience the bonus while using the item. For example, if
your weapon slays orcs, then you will learn this once you hit an orc
with it. Or, if it grants Free Action, then you will learn this the
next time a Floating Eye gazes upon you with its paralysis effect. And
so on. Over time, you can learn all of the objects powers ... if you
are patient enough. For less patient players, however, the second
method of learning an object's bonuses is *Identify*, either through a
scroll, a spell or a town service. This power instantly reveals all the
object's attributes and is very convenient. Unfortunately, at least in
the early game, it is a bit expensive. So, the third way of learning
about an object is to sell it. But, then you no longer have the object,
do you?
This brings us to the concept of Object Lore. You see, not only are you
learning attributes of an individual object, you are also learning
about the underlying artifact or ego item. And the next time you find
this artifact (that would be in another game using this savefile, since
artifacts are unique) or the next time you find an instance of this ego
item, you will be aware of attributes you learned before. Simply
identifying the object will reveal object powers that you have already
learned. Over time, the need for *Identify* wanes. Play several
characters using the same savefile, and you will see the benefits!
You can always view your current artifact and ego lore while playing.
Simply use the knowledge command (~) and choose the option for
artifacts or egos. Find the item you are interested in and use the
recall command (r) to view the details. For example:
Knowledge - Egos
Group Name Found Bought Dest
========================================================================
Weapons | of Elemental Protection [Shared] 0 0 0
Diggers | of Protection [Shared] 0 0 0
Shields | of the Uruk-hai 0 0 0
Body Armor | (Dwarven) 0 0 0
Robes | of the Olog-hai 0 0 0
Dragon Armor | of Elvenkind [Shared] 0 0 0
Cloaks | of Celestial Protection [Shared] 0 0 0
Helmets | of the Demon 0 0 0
Crowns | of the Demon-Lord 0 0 0
Gloves | Totals 0 0 0
Boots |
Bows |
Ammo |
Harps |
Rings |
Amulets |
Lights |
Devices |
|
<dir>, 'r' to recall, ESC
Pressing 'r' with Armor of Elemental Protection selected reveals the
lore:
Armor of Elemental Protection
Fixed Bonuses
It cannot be harmed by the elements.
Optional Bonuses
Resist Acid, Electricity, Fire, Cold, Poison
It grants an extra activation.
[Press Any Key to Continue]
Like Monster Lore, object lore is stored in your savefile and will be
passed down to any new characters you create with this file. If you
want to build up a large stock of lore, make sure you use the same
savefile for each game you play.
Devices
Magical devices include wands, staves and rods. I highly recommend you
head on over to the Magic Store and examine a few to get a feel for how
devices work, as this area of the game has been extensively modified
for the current release (4.0).
Since these are available in town, I'll talk you through one example in
detail without much of a guilty conscience over spoilers. For example,
I examined the following wand:
a Wand: Stinking Cloud
This device has the following magical strength:
Power : 13
Mana : 10/39
This device is loaded with a spell:
Spell : Stinking Cloud
Info : dam 15
Level : 8
Cost : 4
Charges: 2/9
Fail : 2.4%
Desc : It fires a ball of poison.
It will help a little bit if you are already familiar with spellcasters
and the magic system, since the best way to think of devices is as
spellcasters that may cast a single spell. The device has a casting
level (labelled as Power) and Mana, just like a normal spellcaster. And
the single spell they are loaded with has a spell level and casting
cost just like normal spells.
The Power of the device determines how much mana it can have as well as
which spells it can "learn". A device cannot have a spell whose level
exceeds its power. The power of the device also determines the strength
of the spell when it is cast. For example, if the spell does damage,
then the amount of damage will be determined solely based upon the
power of the device, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the level of
the player (This is a change!).
The Mana of the device determines how many times it can cast the spell
before "resting". Traditionally, this has been displayed as Charges on
the device, and you can work out the number of available charges by
dividing the remaining mana by the casting cost of the spell (and work
out the total number of charges by dividing the total mana by the
casting cost of the spell). That's right: Every time you use a device,
its mana is decreased by the casting cost of the spell. Once a device's
mana is exhausted, it will no longer be able to cast its spell, but you
need not chuck the object as junk at this point. For mana actually
regenerates! Sure, it regenerates very slowly on wands and staves (and
about ten times faster on rods), but it does regenerate. And this is a
good thing too because the mechanism of recharging has been
dramatically changed. These changes should be obvious as you play, but
I'll just say here that a device's intrinsic regeneration is the normal
way to recover charges, while recharging a device (through a spell or a
scroll) is typically only desirable in the heat of battle.
Finally, there is the Fail Rate of the device. Unlike the power of the
effect, the fail rate has much to do with the intelligence and magical
skill of the player. The greater the spell level, the more difficult
the device is to use. Only the truly magical will be able to master the
most powerful devices.
We had previously been discussing object quality (egos and such), so it
is worth mentioning that excellent devices do exist (And who knows?
Perhaps even special ones as well by the time you are reading this!).
I'm not sure about cursed devices, though. None of my spies have
reported back to me on this matter, which is a little bit puzzling
since thus far, I have seemed to be well informed.
Spellbooks
Most spellcasters need spellbooks in order to learn and cast spells.
These objects do not require identification, and each type of spellbook
is exactly the same. There are no issues of object knowledge or quality
with regard to spellbooks! See [d] for more on the magic system.
Object Inscriptions
This is an advanced topic which may want to skip for now. However,
inscriptions are very powerful and useful, so you should come back to
this topic eventually.
Inscriptions are nothing more than text messages that annotate
individual objects. The game uses inscriptions on an object to
communicate information to you, and you can use inscriptions to either
communicate back to the game (more on this in a minute), or to simply
take notes about an object for your own future reference. For example,
some players like to document where they found a given object, or who
dropped it. You are free to type any information you like inside an
object inscription.
To add an inscription, use the { command, then type whatever you like.
If you later decide to remove that inscription, use the }. Note that
inscriptions are displayed to you inside curly braces as {my
inscription}, so the inscription commands themselves should be easy to
remember.
Adding your own inscription on an object can override some of the fake
inscriptions added by the game to communicate information to you, such
as an object's discount when purchasing it in the town. In other
instances, your inscription will be combined with whatever the game has
to say about this object.
Automatic Inscriptions
These are fake inscriptions, added by the game, to communicate
information to the player. For example, we've already talked about
pseudo-id as an ability to discover the general quality of an object.
This information is displayed to the player in the object's
inscription. For example, you might get a message like "You have a
Long Sword (5d5) {special}" where the inscription is displayed
between curly braces, and gives the pseudo-identification of this
object as being an artifact. We say these inscriptions are "fake"
because they are automatically added by the game and not typed in by
the player. Automatic inscriptions include the following:
Type Comment
Pseudo-ID Displays the quality of the object as average, good,
excellent, etc. These inscriptions will be removed
once the player identifies the object.
Discount If an item is purchased at a discount, this fake
inscription displays that discount. If you find this
annoying (as I do), you can turn it off with the [e]
show_discounts option.
Abbreviations If you enable the [f] abbrev_all or [g] abbrev_extra
options, or if you inscribe {%all} or {%}
(respectively) on an object, then the known
resistance, powers, slays and bonuses of an object
will be displayed automatically as part of its
inscription. This is a very useful feature. The
meaning of the various abbreviations is given in the
[h] reference table at the end of this document.
Useful Inscriptions
Player inscriptions are those you type in yourself, using the {
command to inscribe an object. These inscriptions can be any text you
like, perhaps just a note to yourself to remind you where you found a
given object. Alternatively, you may type in one of several useful
forms to communicate your preferences to the game. Let's call these
useful inscriptions.
By far, the most useful use of the useful inscriptions (sorry :) is
to control object selection when entering a given command. For
example, when a Mage goes to cast a spell (using the m command), they
are prompted for a spellbook, which they must select from their
inventory. By default, this choice is made by the letter
corresponding to that particular slot in the player's inventory. For
example:
(Inven: a-d,'(',')', ESC) Use which book?
a) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Sign of Chaos]
b) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Chaos Mastery]
c) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Beginner's Handbook]
d) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Master Sorcerer's Handbook]
I only have 4 spellbooks at the moment, so this choice is not too
bad. But let's say I get very used to casting spells from my [Chaos
Mastery] book with something like mbe, where e corresponds to a
particular spell in that book. Now, along comes an arch-vile who
burns up one of my books, perhaps my [Sign of Chaos]. Now, the prompt
for a spellbook looks like:
(Inven: a-d,'(',')', ESC) Use which book?
a) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Chaos Mastery]
b) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Beginner's Handbook]
c) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Master Sorcerer's Handbook]
If I fail to notice that the letters for my books changed, or if I am
so darned used to typing mbe for the spell I want, or if I built
macros for the spells I want, then, in all of these cases, I am in
for a nasty surprise. Instead of casting the spell I want from [Chaos
Mastery], I'll be casting something else entirely from my [Beginner's
Handbook]!
This type of reordering happens with all kinds of objects. Your
inventory sorts itself as you find stuff, and objects move around. As
they move, the letters you enter to select them move around as well.
To deal with these situations, use the special inscription of the
form: @Command-LetterChoice-Letter. For example, perhaps I should try
adding @mb to my [Chaos Mastery]? And to illustrate a point, I will
actually inscribe it with "Master of @mb Chaos" (The point being that
@mb just needs to be part of the inscription, not the entire
inscription). Now, here is what I see:
(Inven: a-c,'(',')', ESC) Use which book?
b) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Chaos Mastery] {Master of @mb Chaos}
) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Beginner's Handbook]
c) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Master Sorcerer's Handbook]
See? It worked! Well, not quite, since I have another spellbook in my
inventory that is currently occupying the b) slot: my [Beginner's
Handbook]. And now, it looks like I cannot use that book at all! This
illustrates an important principle with regard to spellbooks: If you
use inscriptions for one spellbook, you should use them for all
spellbooks. Most players use @ma through @md for their first realm of
magic (each realm has four spellbooks) and @me through @mh for their
second realm. Other players use @m1 through @m8 instead. Let's follow
the first of these guidelines:
(Inven: a-c,'(',')', ESC) Use which book?
b) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Chaos Mastery] {Master of @mb Chaos}
e) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Beginner's Handbook] {@me}
f) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Master Sorcerer's Handbook] {@mf}
That's better. My inventory, you remember, still looks like this:
Inventory: carrying 31.2 pounds (36% of capacity). Command:
a) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Chaos Mastery] {Master of @mb Chaos}
b) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Beginner's Handbook] {@me}
c) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Master Sorcerer's Handbook] {@mf}
d) , 9 Rations of Food
e) ~ 4 Wooden Torches (with 3500 turns of light)
All we are doing is using inscriptions to change the lettering of
choices, and then, only for the m command. If I browse my spellbooks,
I am back in my original situation. Of course, I can rectify this by
appending inscriptions of the form @ba through @bh on all of my
books, or, since I rarely use the browse command, I can simply slow
down and read the prompt, making sure to pick the correct letter each
time. But there is another option.
Instead of using the form @Command-LetterChoice-Letter, I can use the
form @Choice-Digit where the digit is a single digit between 0 and 9.
For example, I could inscribe my books with @1 through @8:
(Inven: a-d,'(',')', ESC) Use which book?
a) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Sign of Chaos] {@1}
b) ? a Chaos Spellbook [Chaos Mastery] {@2}
c) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Beginner's Handbook] {@5}
d) ? a Sorcery Spellbook [Master Sorcerer's Handbook] {@6}
Now, I can cast my desired spell with m2e, browse my [Master
Sorcerer's Handbook] with b6 and gain a new spell in my [Sign of
Chaos] with G1. All of this works, even though the user interface
display is showing letters for the choice options. The displayed
letters also work, but they are subject to change as my inventory
shuffles about. The numbers, on the other hand, will never change,
and will also work with all commands (even commands like d6 will
work, dropping, in this case, my [Master Sorcerer's Handbook]). After
writing these last few paragraphs, I decided I need to start using
the @1 through @8 approach! It so much easier :)
Controlling object selection letters is not the only useful
inscription. You can also have the game prompt for confirmation when
attempting to use an object with a given command. For example,
suppose you just found a Potion of Super-Duper Healing, and you
really want to make sure you do not quaff it by mistake. After all,
we've just spent quite a bit of time discussing how objects in your
pack jump about, switching slots at the earliest opportunity. (My
favorite is when you pick up an object and the game tells you what
slot it goes to, but then immediately re-shuffles your pack putting
the object some place else. That one gets me every time!) Anyway, to
protect this potion from accidental quaffing, add the inscription !q,
which is of the form !Command-Letter. Now, whenever I try to quaff
the potion, either accidentally or intentionally, the game will
prompt me for confirmation. If I am paranoid, and can increase the
prompting with the inscription !q!q or even, !q!q!q!q. The game will
prompt once for each !q in the inscription and you can make sure,
even super-duper sure, that you don't use an object by mistake.
Finally, you can use the inscription !* which uses the wild-card
command letter to have the game prompt you for every command that
uses the object. In this example, I'll get prompted if I try to
destroy or drop the potion in addition to trying to quaff it. It is
as if I inscribed !q!d!k, except that !* is also handling other
things I can't think of just now (like !s for selling). We cater to
the most paranoid of players!
So we have @Command-LetterChoice-Letter as well as @Choice-Digit to
control object selection; and !Command-Letter to add confirmation
prompts before using an object in various ways. What else can we do?
Quite a bit actually. Try the following:
Inscription Meaning
!! Disturb the player when the inscribed object (typically
a magical device), is fully recharged. This means you
can issue a long rest command like R777\r to rest for
777 turns, and the game will interrupt your dozing once
your device is ready for use again (unless it still
hasn't finished recharging, which is a real possibility
I guess).
=g Automatically pick this object up. Use this on your
arrows and such, and you can quickly regather discharged
ammunition after a lengthy shooting battle.
. Suppress the prompt for random teleportation on objects
with this attribute.
$ Suppress the warning prompt for items than warn you
before taking dangerous actions. Of course, this defeats
the warning altogether, but sometimes you are confident
enough in your own decision making to forgo this second
guessing by pretentious jewelry you might be wearing.
%all Automatically add a fake inscription revealing all of
this objects known resistances, bonuses, abilities and
slays. If you like this, don't use the inscription
approach, but simply enable the [i] abbrev_all option.
% Automatically add a fake inscription revealing all of
this objects extra known resistances, bonuses, abilities
and slays. If you like this, don't use the inscription
approach, but simply enable the [j] abbrev_extra option.
Finally, there is also an special inscription form ^Command-Letter.
Adding this form to a worn piece of equipment causes the game to
prompt for verification every time you attempt the indicated command,
even if the command is one not involving the object in question. This
is weird, but if you like, you could inscribe ^<^> on your boots,
say, and the game will now prompt for confirmation everytime you
attempt to use the < and > commands, even though these commands do
not involve your boots! (This kind of feature is affectionately
referred to by programmers as a hack).
The Reference Section
Object Symbols
! A potion (or flask) / A pole-arm
? A scroll (or book) | An edged weapon
, A mushroom (or food) \ A hafted weapon
- A wand or rod } A sling, bow, or x-bow
_ A staff { A shot, arrow, or bolt
= A ring ( Soft armor
" An amulet [ Hard armor
$ Gold or gems ] Misc. armor
~ Lanterns, spikes, torches ) A shield
~ Junk, Sticks, Skeletons, etc & Chests
` Statues or Figurines
Commands for Using Objects
This table gives the command keys from the standard keyset. For
roguelike commands, I refer you to [k].
! Potion quaff
? Scroll read
? Spellbook browse, Gain a spell, m to cast
, Food/Mushroom Eat
- Wand aim
- Rod zap
_ Staff Use
& Chest search for trap, Disarm, open
{ Ammo fire
Of course, with most equipment, you simply need to use the wear
command:
/|\} Weapons/Bows wield, take off
([]) Armor wield, take off
= Ring wear, take off
" Amulet wear, take off
~ Lantern wear, take off, Fuel
Equipment
The number and kinds of equipment you may wear will depend on your
racial body type. The usual body type is humanoid:
a) | Right Hand: a Dagger (1d4) (+0,+0)
b) ) Left Hand : a Small Leather Shield [3,+0]
c) } Shooting : a Short Bow (x3) (+3,+6)
d) = Right Ring: a Ring of Combat (+5,+0) {Fe A:Earthquake}
e) = Left Ring : a Ring of Protection [+1] {Wr~L(Wi}
f) " Neck : an Amulet
g) ~ Light : a Wooden Torch (with 1999 turns of light)
h) ( Body : Soft Leather Armour [4,+0]
i) ( Cloak : a Cloak [1,+3]
j) ] Head : an Iron Helm [5,+5]
k) ] Hands : a Set of Leather Gloves [1,+5]
l) ] Feet : a Pair of Soft Leather Boots [2,+3]
If you are playing in Monster mode, then your body type may be
different. For example, a spider has the following body type:
a) = Ring : a Ring of Combat (+7,+2) (+1) {Dx}
b) = Ring : a Ring of Combat (+7,+3)
c) = Ring : a Ring of Protection [+7] {Sh;Si}
d) = Ring : a Ring
e) " Amulet : an Amulet
f) ( Body : Leather Scale Mail (-1) [11,+0]
g) ( Cloak : a Cloak [1,+4]
h) ] Helm : an Iron Helm [5,+9]
i) ] Boots : a Pair of Soft Leather Boots [2,+6]
j) ] Boots : a Pair of Metal Shod Boots [6,+7]
Many monsters have unique body types, and adapting to different
equipment possibilities is part of the fun of playing as a monster!
Inventory or Pack
Unlike Equipment, every player has an identical pack for carrying a
small, fixed number of objects. You can place any object you like in
your pack, and objects here will sort and stack as allowed. However,
should your pack grow too heavy, your character will become encumbered
and will gradually move slower and slower. View your equipment with the
equipment command, and your inventory with the inventory command. Add
objects to your pack with the get command and equip objects for use
with the wear command. You can remove an equipped object with the take
off command, and discard an item with either the drop command, which
places the item on the ground, or the k command, which destroys the
object (if possible).
Pseudo-ID
To review, pseudo-id is the ability to get a rough idea of the quality
of objects you carry in your pack (or wield, if you are truly
intrepid!). The speed and strength of the sensing varies with class,
wisdom, and virtue of the player. Also, once a player reaches CL35,
they automatically sense the quality of objects underfoot, and this
automatic sensing is always strong regardless of class. So pseudo-id is
really only relevant in the early to mid-game.
Pseudo-id communicates the quality of an object via a fake inscription
on that object. For example, you might have a Long Sword (2d5)
{excellent} or Hard Studded Leather [7] {terrible}. The meaning of
these adjectives depends on whether the sensing is strong or weak, and
is given in the following two tables.
Table 1 - Strong Pseudo-Id
Inscription Meaning
Terrible a cursed artifact
Awful a cursed ego item
Bad a cursed nameless item
Average an average item
Good an enchanted item
Excellent a good ego item
Special an non-cursed artifact
Or, to put this another way:
Egos Artifacts
Average -> Good -> Excellent -> Special
-> Bad -> Awful -> Terrible
Table 2 - Weak Pseudo-Id
Inscription Meaning
Average an average item
Cursed a cursed item (includes cursed ego items and
artifacts)
Enchanted an enchanted item (includes good ego items and
artifacts)
Inscriptions: List of Abbreviations
At : extra blows Ac : resistance to acid
Sp : affects speed El : resistance to electricity
St : affects strength Fi : resistance to fire
In : affects intelligence Co : resistance to cold
Wi : affects wisdom Po : resistance to poison
Dx : affects dexterity Li : resistance to light
Cn : affects constitution Dk : resistance to darkness
Ch : affects charisma Cf : resistance to confusion
Md : affects magic devices Nt : resistance to nether
Sl : affects stealth Nx : resistance to nexus
Sr : affects searching ability So : resistance to sound
If : affects infravision Sh : resistance to shards
Dg : affects tunneling ability Ca : resistance to chaos
Lf : affects your life rating Di : resistance to disenchantment
*Ac: immune to acid Ti : resistance to time
*El: immune to electricity Bl : resistance to blindness
*Fi: immune to fire Fe : resistance to fear
*Co: immune to cold
Es : easy spell (F : fiery sheath
Dm : decreases mana consumption (E : electric sheath
Th : suitable for throwing (C : cold sheath
Rf : reflection (Sh: aura of shards
Fa : free action (At: aura of retaliation
Si : see invisible (M : anti-magic shell
Hl : hold life (T : prevent teleportation
Sd : slow digestion (Mr: magic resistance
Rg : regeneration |A : brand acid
Lv : levitation |E : brand electricity
Lu : extra light |F : brand fire
Wr : provides warning |Co: brand cold
Xm : xtra might when shooting |P : brand pois
Xs : xtra number of shots |Ca: chaotic effects
Te : random teleportaion |V : vampiric weapon
Ag : aggravate monsters |Q : impact weapon
Bs : blessed weapon |S : sharp weapon
Ty : ancient-foul curse |M : mana branded
Ds : darkness
Wm : weaponmastery
/* : slay evil /X* : *slay* evil
/p : slay human /Xp : *slay* human
/D : slay dragon /XD : *slay* dragon
/o : slay orc /Xo : *slay* orc
/T : slay troll /XT : *slay* troll
/P : slay giant /XP : *slay* giant
/U : slay demon /XU : *slay* demon
/L : slay undead /XL : *slay* undead
/Z : slay animal /XZ : *slay* animal
/A : slay good
/Lv: slay living
~Tele : telepathy (St : sustain strength
~Evil : ESP evil (In : sustain intelligence
~Good : ESP good (Wi : sustain wisdom
~Nolv : ESP non-living (Dx : sustain dexterity
~p : ESP human (Cn : sustain constitution
~D : ESP dragon (Ch : sustain charisma
~o : ESP orc
~T : ESP troll
~P : ESP giant
~U : ESP demon
~L : ESP undead
~Z : ESP animal
For example, armor with base resistance would display as {AcElFiCo}
while a really good weapon might display as {Cn;LuAg|VS/XU/*~U},
meaning it gives a bonus to Constitution, grants increased light
radius, aggravates monsters, is both vampiric and sharp (|V and |S;
notice the second | does not repeat), has *slay* demons, also slays
evil and grants ESP demons as well. (Quick Quiz: Which item is it?)
Inscriptions: Summary
Inscription Form Meaning
@Command-LetterChoice-Letter
Use the given choice letter (a-z, A-Z or 0-9) to
select the inscribed object whenever the
Command-Letter command is issued.
@Choice-Digit Use the given choice digit (0-9) to select the
inscribed object whenever any command is issued.
!Command-Letter Prompt for verification whenever attempting to use
the inscribed object with the Command-Letter
command.
!* Prompt for verification whenever attempting to use
the inscribed object with any command.
!! Disturb the player whenever the inscribed object
is fully recharged.
=g Automatically pickup the inscribed object.
. Disable prompt for random teleportation.
$ Disable warning prompt.
%all Automatically list all of the inscribed object's
resistances, bonuses, abilities and slays in its
inscription.
% Automatically list all of the inscribed object's
extra resistances, bonuses, abilities and slays in
its inscription.
^Command-Letter Prompt for verification whenever the
Command-Letter command is issued, provided the
inscribed object is currently being worn.
Be sure to read [l] if this is unclear to you.
Original : (??)
Updated : (??)
Updated : Zangband DevTeam
Updated : Hengband 1.3.0
Updated : PosChengband 4.0.0