← NPPAngband shrine · In-game help of NPPAngband 0.5.1 (?), lib/help/, unchanged text.
Adventuring in the Pits of Angband
(a) The Basics (general.hlp)
(b) Your Character (charattr.hlp)
(c) The World (explore.hlp)
(d) Interacting with the Game (command.hlp)
(e) Combat and Magic (combat.hlp)
(f) Review Commands (cmdlist.txt)
Help Commands:
# go to line % go to file ? go to last file/main menu
SPACE advance 1 page - back up 1 page / search for text
RET advance 1 line = back up 1 line & show (highlight) some text
+ advance 1/2 page _ back up 1/2 page ! toggle case sentitivity
The Basics
(a) Character Birth (birth.txt)
(b) Quick Tutorial (tutorial.txt)
(c) Overview of the Game (overview.txt)
(d) Saving, Loading, Winning, Cheating, and Dying (basctask.txt)
(e) Internet Resources (resource.txt)
(f) History and Copyrights (angdesc.txt)
Help Commands:
# go to line % go to file ? go to last file/main menu
SPACE advance 1 page - back up 1 page / search for text
RET advance 1 line = back up 1 line & show (highlight) some text
+ advance 1/2 page _ back up 1/2 page ! toggle case sentitivity
=== Creating a Character ===
NPPAngband is a roleplaying game, in which you, the player, control a character
in the world of Angband. Perhaps the most important thing you control is the
birth of your character, in which you choose or allow to be chosen various
attributes that will affect the future life of your character.
Character creation, or birth, is controlled through a variety of choices
as to constraints on the type of character you wish to play, followed by
a series of random calculations to generate ("roll up") a random character
matching the appropriate constraints.
Once your character has been generated, you will be given the choice to
generate a new character obeying the same constraints, and once you have
generated more than one character, you can switch back and forth between
the two most recent characters, until you are presented with a personality
that you feel comfortable with.
You may start the entire process over at any time.
Once you have accepted a character you will asked to provide a name for the
character. In general, the actual choice of a name is not important, but do
keep in mind that it may have some effect on the game itself. For example,
on some machines, the chatacter name determines the filename that will be
used to save the character to disk. On others, the character name specifies
special "pref" files. And the character name is used on the high score list.
=== Character Characteristics ===
Each character has three primary attributes, sex, race, and class, that
are chosen before the character is generated, and which will stay fixed
for the entire life of that character. These attributes have many effects,
which will be mentioned as they come up. Character gender does not have
any significant gameplay effects.
Each character has a few secondary attributes, height, weight, social class,
and background history, which are randomly determined, but which are affected
by the sex and race of the character. In general, these attributes are only
used to provide "flavor" to the character, to assist in the role playing, but
they do have a few minor effects on the game. For example, background history
affects social class, which affects the starting money. (Not a lot, in the case
of some races: for instance, Half-Trolls are always going to be the scum of
society, even if their father was the Clan Chief.)
Each character also has six primary "stats", strength, intelligence, wisdom,
dexterity, constitution, and charisma, which modify the abilities of the
character in a variety of ways. Every stat has a numerical value, ranging
from a minimum of 3, up to a normal maximum of 18, and even higher, into
the "percentile" range, represented as "18/01" through "18/100": this is the
maximum that can be achieved intrinsically, for any given stat. If the
character is started with the option of "maximize effect of race/class
bonuses" (from the Birth Options menu, and this is set as "on" by default),
the maximum figure of 18/100 is further adjusted by the adjustments for
race and class - for instance, a Half-Troll Warrior will max out at 18/190
strength, but only 18/40 intelligence, whereas a Hobbit Mage will be able
to reach 18/150 intelligence but only 18/30 strength. Equipment may add
bonuses or penalties to this, and raise the player's stats beyond the normal
intrinsic limits: the stats may go as high as they like, with the right choice
of equipment, but the effects of having higher stats largely stop at 18/200.
Each character also has several primary "skills", disarming, magic devices,
saving throws, stealth, searching ability, searching frequency, fighting skill,
and shooting skill, which are derived from the character's race, class, level,
stats, and current equipment. These skills have rather obvious effects, but
will be described more completely below.
Each character may have one or more "racially intrinsic skills", based on
the race of the character. These may include special resistances, or even
abilities such as infravision.
Each character has experience, which increases as the character becomes more
experienced, and a level, which is based on experience, and also on race and
class. As the experience rises, so does the level, and as the level rises,
certain other abilities and characteristics rise as well. Deep down inside,
the real objective of the game is to increase your experience, and certain
other characteristics, and also to collect useful items, to give you a decent
chance against Morgoth. Certain monsters can "drain" your experience, and
thus your level, which will cause you to lose all of the effects of the higher
level. Luckily, you can restore drained experience through magical means, or
by simply regaining the experience all over again.
Each character has some gold, which can be used to buy items from the shops
in the town, and which can be obtained not only from selling items to the
shops, but also by taking it from dead monsters and by finding it hidden in
the dungeon. Each character starts out with some gold, the amount of which
is based on the characters social class (higher is better), charisma (higher
is better), and other stats (less powerful characters start with more gold).
Each character also starts out with a few useful items, which may be kept,
or sold to a shop-keeper for more gold. However, especially valuable items
will never sell for the full price, as each shopkeeper has a maximum that
he is prepared to pay for any item. The more generous shopkeepers may buy
your items for up to 30,000 gold pieces: but some are really stingy, and
will pay no more than 5,000.
Each character has an armor class, representing how well the character can
avoid damage. The armor class is affected by dexterity and the equipment.
Armor class on equipment is always denoted in [square brackets], usually as
a figure of [X,+Y] where X is the intrinsic AC of the armor in question, and
Y is the magical bonus to armor class provided by that item.
Each character has hit points, representing how much damage the character can
sustain before he dies. How many hit points a character has is determined by
race, class, level and constitution, as follows: each race has a basic "hit
dice" number - for instance, a Dwarf's basic hit die is 11, while a hobbit's is
7. This is modified by class: for instance, a warrior gets a +9 bonus to the
hit die, while a mage gets no bonus and a priest +2, so a dwarven warrior's
total hit die will be (11+9)=20 - meaning that he gets between 1 and 20 hit
points per level. If he were a priest, his hit dice would be (11+2)=13, and get
between 1 and 13 hit points per level. The hobbit mage would get only 1-7 hps
per level. (All characters get the maximum at first level: thereafter it is
a random roll of 1dX where X is the hit die number, when the character goes up
in level.) This is further modified by constitution - a character with high
constitution will get a flat bonus of a certain number of hit points per level
(recalculated right back to level 1: if you gain an extra hit point per level,
and you are 42nd level, you will suddenly be 42 hit points better off.)
Each character has spell points, or mana, which represents how many spells
(or prayers) a character can cast (or pray). The maximum number of spell
points is derived from your class, level, and intelligence (for spells) or
wisdom (for prayers), and you can never have more spell points than the
maximum. Spell points may be regained by resting, or by magical means.
Warriors never have any spell points. If a character gains enough wisdom or
intelligence to get more spell points, the result is calculated right back to
first level, just as with constitution and hit points.
=== Races ===
There are eleven different races that you can choose from in Angband. Some
races are restricted as to what profession they may be, and each race has
its own adjustments to a character's stats and abilities. Most races also
have intrinsic abilities.
Human
The human is the base character. All other races are com-
pared to them. Humans are average or below average
at everything. Humans tend to go up levels faster than any
other race because of their shorter life spans. No racial
adjustments or intrinsics occur to characters choosing human.
Half-Elf
Half-elves tend to be smarter and faster than a human, but
not as wise or strong. Half-elves are slightly better at magic,
disarming, saving throws, stealth, bows and searching, but they
are not as good at hand weapons. Half-elves have their dexterity
sustained, and are native to forest terrain.
Elf
Elves are better magicians then humans, but not as good at
fighting. They tend to be smarter and faster than either
humans or half-elves, but their wisdom and strength are low.
Elves are better at searching, disarming, perception, stealth,
bows and magic, but they are not as good at hand weapons.
Elves are resistant to attacks involving bright light, and have
their dexterity sustained, and are native
to forest terrain.
Hobbits
Hobbits, or Halflings, are very good at bows, throwing, and
have good saving throws. They also are very good at search-
ing, disarming, perception, and stealth; so they make excel-
lent rogues, but prefer to be called burglars. They will be
much weaker than humans, and not good at melee fighting.
Halflings have fair infravision, so they can detect warm
creatures at a distance. Hobbits have a strong hold on their
life force, and are thus intrinsically resistant to life
draining.
Gnome
Gnomes are smaller than dwarves but larger than halflings.
They, like the halflings, live in the earth in burrow-like
homes. Gnomes make excellent mages, and have very good saving
throws. They are good at searching, disarming, perception,
and stealth. They have lower strength than humans so they
are not very good at fighting with hand weapons. Gnomes have
fair infra-vision, so they can detect warm-blooded creatures
at a distance. Gnomes are intrinsically protected
against paralysis and some slowing effects.
Dwarf
Dwarves are the headstrong miners and fighters of legend.
Since dungeons are the natural home of a dwarf, they are
excellent choices for a warrior or priest - or indeed, that
combination of the two, the paladin. Dwarves tend to be
stronger and tougher but slower and less intelligent than
humans. Because they are so headstrong and are somewhat wise,
they resist spells which are cast on them. Dwarves also have
very good infra-vision because they live underground. They
do have one big drawback, though. Dwarves are loudmouthed and
proud, singing in loud voices, arguing with themselves for no
good reason, screaming out challenges at imagined foes. In
other words, dwarves have a miserable stealth. They can never
be blinded.
Half-Orc
Half-Orcs make excellent warriors and decent priests, but
are terrible at magic. They are as bad as dwarves at stealth,
and horrible at searching, disarming, and perception.
Half-Orcs are, let's face it, ugly. They tend to pay more for
goods in town. Half-Orcs do make good warriors and rogues,
for the simple reason that Half-Orcs tend to have great
constitutions and lots of hit points. Because of their
preference to living underground to on the surface, half-orcs
resist darkness attacks.
Half-Troll
Half-Trolls are incredibly strong, and have more hit points
than any other character race. They are also very stupid and
slow. They will make great warriors and iffy priests. They
are bad at searching, disarming, perception, and stealth.
They are so ugly that a Half-Orc grimaces in their presence.
They also happen to be fun to run... Half-trolls always have
their strength sustained, and they regenerate like other trolls.
Unfortunately, this regeneration also requires them to eat more
food than other races.
Dunadan
Dunedain are a race of hardy men from the West. This elder
race surpasses human abilities in every field, especially
constitution. However, being men of the world, very little is
new to them, and levels are very hard to gain... Their
constitution cannot be reduced.
High-Elf
High-Elves are descended from those among the Elves who heard
and answered the call from the Valar at the very beginning of
time, before the sun and moon were made, and lived in the
Blessed Realm for many thousands of years before returning to
mortal lands. Because of this, they are far superior in terms
of abilities when compared to their lesser Elven kindred
They can also see into the invisible world of ghosts
and wraiths. However, they find new experience even harder
to come by than Dunedain: and their wisdom is still a
little suspect. And like normal Elves, they resist
attacks involving bright light, and are native
to forest terrain.
Kobold
Kobolds are a race of small dog-headed humanoids that dwell
underground. They can see in the dark better than almost
any other race, and are intrinsically resistant to poisons
of all kinds. They have a good dexterity and constitution.
However, they are weaker than humans, and also not noted for
great intelligence. Furthermore, they are ugly, and not
trusted in town. And while their constitution makes them
tough, it still cannot prevent the fact that they are not the
biggest of creatures, and have few hit points.
=== Classes ===
Once a race has been chosen, you will need to pick one of seven
classes.
Warrior
A Warrior is a hack-and-slash character, who solves most of
his problems by cutting them to pieces, but will occasionally
fall back on the help of a magical device. His prime stats
are Strength and Constitution, and a good Dexterity can
really help at times. A Warrior will be good at Fighting
and Throwing/Bows, but bad at most other skills.
Mage
A Mage must live by his wits. He cannot hope to simply hack
his way through the dungeon, and so must therefore use his
magic to defeat, deceive, confuse, and escape. A mage is
not really complete without an assortment of magical devices
to use in addition to his spells. He can master the higher
level magical devices far easier than anyone else, and has
the best saving throw to resist effects of spells cast at
him. Intelligence and Dexterity are his primary stats.
There is no rule that says a mage cannot become a good
fighter, but spells are his true realm.
Priest
A Priest is a character of holy devotion. They explore the
dungeon only to destroy the evil that lurks within, and if
treasure just happens to fall into their packs, well, so
much more to the glory of their church! Priests receive
their spells from a deity, and therefore do not choose which
spells they will learn. They are familiar with magical
devices, preferring to call them "instruments of God", but
are not as good as a mage in their use. Priests have good
saving throws, and make decent fighters, but they are not
as good at using sharp weapons (swords and polearms) owing to
the Church's strictures about shedding blood: so they are
better off using blunt weapons such as maces. Wisdom and
Charisma are the priest's primary stats.
Rogue
A Rogue is a character that prefers to live by his cunning,
but is capable of fighting his way out of a tight spot. He
is the master of traps and locks, no device being impossible
for him to overcome. A rogue has a high stealth allowing
him to sneak around many creatures without having to fight,
or sneak up and get the first blow. A rogue's perception is
higher than any other class, and many times he will notice a
trap or secret door before having to search. A rogue is
better than warriors or paladins with magical devices, but
still cannot rely on their performance. Rogues can also
learn a few spells, but not the powerful offensive spells
mages can use. A rogue's primary stats are Dexterity and
Intelligence. He can set traps, and steal from monsters.
Failing to steal from a monster aggravates them. Do it often
enough, and you will aggravate the entire dungeon.
Ranger
A Ranger is a warrior/druid. He is a good fighter, and the
best of all the classes with a missile weapon such as a bow.
The ranger learns spells much more slowly than a druid, but
is capable of learning all but the most powerful spells.
Because a ranger is really a dual class character, more
experience is required for him to advance. A ranger has a
good stealth, good perception, good searching, a good saving
throw, are native to forest terrain, and is good
with magical devices. His primary stats
are Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom and Dexterity.
Paladin
A Paladin is a warrior/priest. He is a very good fighter,
just below than the warrior class, but not very good at missile
weapons. He receives prayers at a slower pace then the
priest, but can use all but the most powerful prayers.
Because a paladin is really a dual class character, it
requires more experience to advance him. A paladin lacks
much in the way of abilities. He is poor at stealth, per-
ception, searching, and magical devices. He has a decent
saving throw due to his divine alliance. His primary stats
are Strength and Charisma, although Wisdom is necessary for
his spells.
Brigand
A Brigand is a thief, who simply wants to plunder the pits of
Angband to steal its greatest treasures. He is close behind
the warrior in melee. He is a very good at disarming of traps
and locks, no device being impossible for him to overcome, and
has the highest stealth of all classes, which can frequently let
him choose his fights. His dungeon survival skills are better
than average, and he has a fast, detailed pseudo-ID. The 'P'
command alows a brigand can attempt to steal from monsters,
and the 'O' command lets the brigand set traps for unsuspecting
monsters. As the brigand gains levels, he can create an
increasing variety of traps by using the 'O' command on an
existing monster trap. He is exceptionally gifted with a
sling, and gets an extra shot with a sling when he reaches
level 26.
Druid
A Druid is a master of all things natural. He cannot hope
to simply hack his way through the dungeon, and so must
therefore call upon the power of nature for attack and
defense. A druid is not really complete without an
assortment of magical devices to use in addition to his
spells. He can master the higher level magical devices
easily, and has a very good saving throw to resist effects
of spells cast at him. Intelligence and Wisdom are his
primary stats. He is the weakest fighter of all the
classes, and spells are his true realm.
=== Stats ===
Strength
Strength is important in fighting with weapons and in melee
combat. A high strength can improve your chances of hitting
as well as the amount of damage done with each hit. Char-
acters with low strengths may receive penalties. Strength
is also useful in tunneling and in carrying heavy items.
Intelligence
Intelligence affects the spellcasting abilities of mage-like
spellcasters, mages, druids, rangers, and rogues. Intelligence
will affect the number of spells you may learn each level as
well as the number of spell points you receive. A high
intelligence may also improve your chances of successfully
casting a spell. You cannot learn spells if your intelligence
is 7 or lower. A good intelligence can also help with using
magic devices, picking locks, and disarming traps.
Wisdom
The primary function of wisdom is to determine the ability
of a priest or paladin to use prayers, or a druid or ranger
to cast spells, just like intelligence affects spellcasting.
Again, high wisdom will increase the number of spell points
you have and increase the number of prayers you can learn
each level, while improving the chance that a prayer will
be successful. A good wisdom can also help to improve your
chances of resisting magical spells cast upon you by monsters.
Dexterity
Dexterity is a combination of agility and quickness. A high
dexterity may allow a character to get multiple blows with
lighter weapons, thus greatly increasing his kill power, and
will increase his chances of hitting with any weapon and
dodging blows from enemies. Dexterity is also useful in
picking locks, disarming traps, and protecting yourself from
some of the thieves that inhabit the dungeons. Indeed, if
the character has a high enough dexterity, thieves will
never be successful in stealing from the player.
Constitution
Constitution is a character's ability to resist damage to his
body, and to recover from damage received. Therefore a
character with a high constitution will receive more hit
points and also recover them faster while resting.
Charisma
Charisma represents a character's personality and physical
appearance. A character with a high charisma will receive
better prices from store owners, whereas a character with a
very low charisma may be robbed blind. Charisma also affects the
character's ability to use magic to sleep, confuse, scare or
stun a monster.
=== Abilities ===
Characters possess some different abilities that can help them
to survive. The starting abilities of a character are based upon
race and class. Abilities may be adjusted by high or low stats,
and may increase with the level of the character.
Infra-vision
Infra-vision is the ability to see heat sources. Since most
of the dungeon is cool or cold, infra-vision will not allow
the player to see walls and objects. Infra-vision will allow
a character to see any warm-blooded creatures up to a cer-
tain distance. This ability works equally well with or with
out a light source. However, many of Angband's creatures are
cold-blooded, and will not be detected unless lit up by a
light source. All non-human races have innate infra-vision
ability. Humans (including Dunedain) cannot gain infra-vision
unless it is magically enhanced. Infravision does not increase
with character level, and is purely dependent on race and on
magical equipment.
Fighting
Fighting is the ability to hit and do damage with weapons or
fists. Normally a character gets a single blow from any
weapon, but if his dexterity and strength are high enough,
he may receive more blows per round with lighter weapons.
Strength and dexterity both modify the ability to hit an
opponent. This skill increases with the level of the char-
acter.
Shooting Ability
Using ranged missile weapons (and throwing objects) is
included in this skill. Different stats apply to different
weapons, but this ability may modify the distance an object
is thrown/fired, the amount of damage done, and the ability
to hit a creature. This skill increases with the level of
the character.
Saving Throws
A Saving Throw is the ability of a character to resist the
effects of a spell cast on him by another person/creature.
This does not include spells cast on the player by his own
stupidity, such as quaffing a nasty potion. This ability
increases with the level of the character, but then most
high level creatures are better at casting spells, so it
tends to even out. A high wisdom also increases this abil-
ity.
Stealth
The ability to move silently about is very useful. Charac-
ters with good stealth can usually surprise their opponents,
gaining the first blow. Also, creatures may fail to notice
a stealthy character entirely, allowing a player to avoid
certain fights. This skill is based entirely upon race and
class, and will never improve unless magically enhanced.
Disarming
Disarming is the ability to remove traps safely, and also
includes picking locks on traps and doors. A successful
disarming will gain the character some experience. A trap
must be found before it can be disarmed. Dexterity and
intelligence both modify the ability to disarm, and this
ability increases with the level of the character.
Magical Devices
Using a magical device such as a wand or staff requires
experience and knowledge. Spell users such as mages and
priests are therefore much better at using a magical device
than say a warrior. This skill is modified by intelligence,
and increases with the level of the character.
Searching Frequency (Perception)
Perception is the ability to notice something without
actively seeking it out. This skill is based entirely upon
race and class, and will never improve unless magically
enhanced.
Searching Ability (Searching)
To search is to actively look for secret doors, floor traps,
and traps on chests. Rogues are the best at searching, but
mages, rangers, and priests are also good at it. This skill
is based entirely upon race and class, and will never
improve unless magically enhanced.
=== Stat Bonus Tables ===
Stat, hit dice, infravision and experience points per level modifications
due to race are listed in the following table. To get the total hit dice
and XP modifier, add the "race" and "class" numbers: for instance, a
Dwarf Priest has a hit die of 11+2=13 (i.e. he will get 1d13 hit points per
level, adjusted for constitution) and an XP modifier of 20+20=40%.
STR INT WIS DEX CON CHR HD (base) XP/level Infra
Human 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 +0% None
Half-Elf -1 +1 0 +1 -1 +1 9 +10% 20 feet
Elf -1 +2 +1 +1 -2 +1 8 +20% 30 feet
Hobbit -2 +2 +1 +3 +2 +1 7 +10% 40 feet
Gnome -1 +2 0 +2 +1 -2 8 +25% 40 feet
Dwarf +2 -3 +2 -2 +2 -3 11 +20% 50 feet
Half-Orc +2 -1 0 0 +1 -4 10 +10% 30 feet
Half-Troll +4 -4 -2 -4 +3 -6 12 +20% 30 feet
Dunadan +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +2 10 +80% None
High-Elf +1 +3 -1 +3 +1 +5 10 +100% 40 feet
Kobold -1 -1 0 +2 +2 -2 8 +15% 50 feet
STR INT WIS DEX CON CHR HD (bonus) XP/level
Warrior +5 -2 -2 +2 +2 -1 9 +0%
Mage -5 +3 0 +1 -2 +1 0 +30%
Priest -1 -3 +3 -1 0 +2 2 +20%
Rogue +2 +1 -2 +3 +1 -1 6 +25%
Ranger +2 +2 0 +1 +1 +1 4 +30%
Paladin +3 -3 +1 0 +2 +2 6 +35%
Brigand +3 -2 -2 +3 +2 -3 7 +15%
Druid -2 +3 +3 -2 -1 +1 1 +30%
=== Ability Tables ===
Disarm Device Save Stealth Search Percep Fight Bows
Human 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0
Half-Elf 2 3 3 1 6 11 -1 5
Elf 5 6 6 1 8 12 -5 15
Hobbit 15 18 18 4 12 15 -10 20
Gnome 10 12 12 3 6 13 -8 12
Dwarf 2 9 9 -1 7 10 15 0
Half-Orc -3 -3 -3 -1 0 7 12 -5
Half-Troll -5 -8 -8 -2 -1 5 20 -10
Dunadan 4 5 5 2 3 13 15 10
High-Elf 4 20 20 3 3 14 10 25
Kobold 10 5 0 4 15 15 -5 10
Disarm Device Save Stealth Search Percep Fight Bows
Warrior 25(+10) 18(+7) 18(+10) 1(+0) 14(+0) 7(+0) 70(+45) 55(+45)
Mage 30(+7) 36(+13) 30(+9) 2(+0) 16(+0) 20(+0) 34(+15) 20(+15)
Priest 25(+7) 30(+10) 32(+12) 2(+0) 16(+0) 8(+0) 48(+20) 35(+20)
Rogue 45(+15) 32(+10) 28(+10) 5(+0) 32(+0) 24(+0) 55(+40) 60(+30)
Ranger 30(+8) 32(+10) 28(+10) 3(+0) 24(+0) 16(+0) 56(+30) 72(+45)
Paladin 20(+7) 25(+10) 25(+11) 1(+0) 12(+0) 2(+0) 68(+35) 40(+30)
Brigand 45(+15) 24(+10) 28(+10) 7(+0) 22(+0) 14(+0) 70(+40) 60(+35)
Druid 25(+7) 33(+12) 30(+9) 2(+0) 16(+0) 16(+0) 28(+13) 20(+13)
For character classes, there are two figures: the first figure is the base
level of the ability, while the second figure (in parentheses) is the bonus
that the character gains to this skill every ten levels. So, to find out the
total skill value of any character's skills, add the "race" value to the
"class" value, and then the bonus once for every ten levels that the character
has.
(Please note, however, that these numbers are only good for comparing
characters to each other in the absence of other bonuses from high stats
(strength bonus to-dam, dex bonus to-hit, wisdom bonus to saving throw,
intelligence bonus to magical device usage, etc.) or wearing magical items.)
====== Game Tutorial: The Novice's Guide ======
When you begin the game, you start out in a town with stores happy to sell
you whatever they stock and you can afford. Visit the stores and stop by your
very own home (the symbol '8'), where you can safely stash all sorts of useful
gear for later use.
Look at the left side of the screen, where all the most important info
about you is displayed. Reading from the top, you'll see your race, class,
current title, experience, and money on hand. Your race and class never change,
but you can gain more experience points by killing monsters and more gold by
selling the loot they drop.
Below these are the six vital statistics: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom,
Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. Near the bottom, you will see your
armour class, hit points, and (if you can learn magic) your spell points.
Armour class shields you from direct damage. Hitpoints are your life wrapped up
in a number, so run from anything that drops them too low, too fast.
Get familiar with some of the commands you have available to you, either by
reading the help, or by experimenting, whichever you prefer.
To exit this tutorial, hit escape. When ready to continue, type '?' to
open up help, then press '1', then '2'.
Okay, time to get playing! Pick up an inexpensive weapon (store 3), some
flasks of oil (store 1) or a sling and some shots (store 3), some light armour
(stores 1 and 2), and some phase door scrolls and potions of cure light wounds
(Stores 4 or 5), spellbooks if you are a spellcaster (store 0), ask for a quest
(store 9). If one is available, get your hands on a lantern, because the
extra light it provides is very handy. Once you've earned a little money,
invest in a shovel or a pickaxe. Now, 'w'ear a torch or your lantern, your
armour, and your weapon.
See that down staircase '>'? It's the entrance to the deadly, lucrative
dungeon. Head down (once on top of the staircase, type '>').
Once you do that, you will find yourself in a dungeon of rooms and
corridors. Since you have already wielded a light source, you can see, even if
you are not in a magically lit room. Go off and explore the dungeon. When your
light runs out, re'F'uel it. When you get hungry, 'E'at some of the food your
character started out with.
When you meet your first monster, pepper it with sling shots (press 'f' to
fire) until it reaches you, and hit it with your weapon (move into it) until
it's dead. If your HPs drop too low, quaff a potion of cure light wounds, read
a scroll of phase door, or run away.
When you get enough money and objects to sell, go back up to the town. If
you can learn spells, practice them in safe places. If you have questions, the
'?' key is there to help.
Have fun!
====== Interfaces: A Brief Description =====
--- The title screen ---
When you start up the game, a title screen appears, bearing the game name,
version, and some credits. Also on this screen are the three most important
Angband resources:
The Angband home page at "http://rephial.org/" contains the
current source and executables, special files, helpful comments, hints, and
links, and the latest Angband news. The NPPAngband home page is
"http://forum.nppangband.org/"
The current maintainers of NPPAngband are Jeff Greene and Gonz['a]lez.
If you want to send comments, or make sure your bug report gets heard, email
"nppangbanddev@verizon.net".
The Angband newsgroup is at "http://angband.oook.cz/"; it's filled
with helpful folks. If you want to talk about Angband or ask for help, this
discussion forum is the place to go.
--- The main screen ---
Most of the game is spent in the main screen. This is divided into four
parts:
1) The message line is located at the top of the screen; here all sorts of
messages are shown. If in the heat of combat you skip past one too many, you
can display it again by pressing control-P.
2) The left side of the screen is used to display important information.
3) Most of the screen displays your surroundings. You can take a closer
look by pressing 'l'ook (or e'x'amine).
4) The bottom line of the main screen shows various status displays, such
as your speed, ailments, depth, and so on.
--- The character screen ('C') ---
The character information display you see when first starting the game can
be recalled by typing 'C'. Here you can review your attributes, change names,
save character dumps to file (which appear in the "lib/user" directory), and
view your resists and abilities.
--- The help screen ('?') ---
The online help system is available by typing '?'. You can also learn more
about the symbols you see on screen by typing '/', then the symbol you wish to
learn more about.
--- The options screen ('=') ---
You can adjust the way the game looks and behaves by typing '=' to enter
the options screen.
--- The knowledge screen ('~') ---
Detailed listings of known artifacts, features, uniques, objects, monster
kill counts, contents of the player home, and the player hall of fame are
available through the knowledge menu, which you access by typing '~'.
--- The death interface ---
If you should die, you will see a tombstone and be able to check out your
slain character one last time. Here you can:
- display the character screen and see your possessions,
- review the final messages,
- save information in a character dump,
- see the high score table,
- fully identify individual items, and
- make final notes to the character dump.
Saving and loading your character should be easy. So, sadly,
is getting him killed. Winning is a little harder, but the
novice player can take advantage of various cheats to improve
his chances down in the dungeon.
--- Saving your Game ---
Saving your game is usually easy. You can use the save game command, or
(on some systems) a menu option. If you cannot save your game, you probably
have one of two problems:
1) The folder "<<game>>/lib/save" does not exist. Create this directory and
any others that are missing.
2) You are using a multi-user machine and do not have write permission to
that file or directory.
--- Loading your Game ---
Macintosh, Windows:
You choose the menu option "file -> open", which allows you to load
savefiles from almost any directory. With suitable use of option files, the
Macintosh can also save to almost any directory.
Loading dead characters:
If you load a dead character, the game will start up with the character
birth interface. The new character inherits the monster knowledge of his
ancestor.
Savefile compatibility report:
NPPAngband 0.4.0 breaks savefile compatability. NPP 0.5.1 loads 0.4.0 savefiles.
NPPAngband 0.3.4 and before loads files from Angband 2.9.0 and later. To use earlier
savefiles, import it into Angband 2.9.3, resave, and then open it up with the
current version.
--- Winning The Game ---
Once you have killed Sauron, who lives on level 99 (4950') in the dungeon,
a magical staircase will appear that will allow you to finally reach level 100.
Morgoth lurks on this level of the dungeon, and you will not be able to go below
his level until you have killed him. Try to avoid wandering around on level 100
unless you are ready for him, since he has a habit of coming at you across the
dungeon, the Mighty Hammer 'Grond' in hand, to slay you for your impudence.
Morgoth cannot be killed by some of the easier methods used on normal
creatures. Morgoth, like all other unique monsters, will simply teleport away
to another region of the level if you attempt to use a spell such as destruction
upon him. He also cannot be polymorphed or genocided. Magical spells like
Mana Storm and Annihilation are effective against him, as are some
of the more powerful weapons, but he is difficult to kill and if allowed to
escape for a time will heal himself rapidly.
If you should actually survive the attempt of killing Morgoth, you will
receive the status of WINNER. You may continue to explore, and may even save
the game and play more later, but since you have defeated the toughest creature
alive, there is really not much point. Unless you wish to listen to the rumours
of a powerful ring buried somewhere in the dungeon...
When you are ready to retire, simply "commit suicide" (using the "Q" key)
to have your character entered into the high score list as a winner. Note that
until you retire, you can still be killed, so you may want to retire before
wandering into a room with 95 Death Molds crammed inside...
--- Upon Death and Dying ---
If your character's hit points fall below zero, he dies. The dreaded
tombstone will appear, and you may check out his attributes and possessions one
last time.
Your character will leave behind a reduced save file, which contains only
the monster memory and your option choices, both of which new characters may
use. It is very helpful to know something about the monster that slew your
ancestor!
--- Cheating Death ---
One of the most important things about this game is that your character's
life is so important. Let him die, and you start over from scratch. This is
one of the secrets to this game's fascination; anyone who cheats death is really
not getting the full experience, and any Morgoth-slayers yanked from the jaws of
death are not full winners. But what if your characters seem to die all the
time (like mine!), and you really want to keep playing with the same guy? Well,
the game has a few answers for that too. You may cheat death by:
- Toggling on the "cheat death" option. This keeps your character ticking,
and is even kind enough to give you a running tally of your deaths by
setting the character's age to zero when first used, and increasing it by
one each time thereafter. Trying to keep this number low is a great way
to learn the game.
- Making backup savefiles.
- Aborting the game just as the tombstone appears or before.
====== Internet Resources ======
nppangbanddev@verizon.net
The current maintainer's email address.
http://rephial.org/
The official Angband site, and the largest clearinghouse of Angband and
Angband variant information on the Internet. Has more than enough links to keep
you busy.
The NPPAngband forum and website is at the NPP Fan Site is:
http://forum.nppangband.org/
http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/games/Angband/
The largest repository of Angband files.
http://angband.oook.cz/index.php
A major Angband website, including news, discussion, information, and
various nifty utilities. Go to "http://angband.oook.cz/ladder.php" to see the
top scores for many variants of Angband. There you can post your NPPAngband
character as well.
http://www.harris.ukgateway.net/angband/code.html
Put a code on the bottom of your posts that describes exactly how you play
Angband. Lots of fun.
http://wkweb5.cableinet.co.uk/bablos/angband/
Links to, and clear information about, most Angband variants.
http://www.fragment.com/~jl8e/angband/faq.txt
Concise information about virtually every Angband variant in existence, new
and old.
http://www.mirc.com/
If you like interactive chat, there is a channel dedicated to Angband. Go
to this link, download mirc, and use it to connect to one of the Worldirc
servers (note: You do have to use a worldirc server). Then join the channel
#angband. You'll know you've got it right when you see other people (the
channel is always occupied).
=== Version Information ===
This file was last updated for Angband 3.1.2. and NPPAngband 0.5.1
Make sure to read the newsgroup ("http://angband.oook.cz/"), and to visit
the Official Angband Home Page ("http://rephial.org/") for the most
up to date information about Angband. The NPPAngband home page and
forums are http://forum.nppangband.org/.
Angband 3.1.2 has an incredibly complex history, and is the result of a
lot of work by a lot of people, all of whom have contributed their time
and energy for free, being rewarded only by the pleasure of keeping alive
one of the best freeware games available anywhere.
The version control files, if they existed, would span almost twenty years
time, and more than seven different primary developers. Without such files,
we must rely on simpler methods, such as change logs, source file diffs, and
word of mouth. Some of this information is summarized in this file.
Please be sure to read the copyright information at the end of this file.
=== Brief Version History ===
First came "VMS Moria", by Robert Alan Koeneke (1985).
Then came "Umoria" (Unix Moria), by James E. Wilson (1989).
Details about the history of the various flavors of "Moria", the direct
ancestor to Angband, can be found elsewhere, and a note from Robert Alan
Koeneke is included in this file. Note that "Moria" has been ported to
a variety of platforms, and has its own newsgroup, and its own fans.
In 1990, Alex Cutler and Andy Astrand, with the help of other students
at the University of Warwick, created Angband 1.0, based on the existing
code for Umoria 5.2.1. They wanted to expand the game, keeping or even
strengthening the grounding in Tolkien lore, while adding more monsters
and items, including unique monsters and artifact items, plus activation,
pseudo-sensing, level feelings, and special dungeon rooms.
Over time, Sean Marsh, Geoff Hill, Charles Teague, and others, worked on
the source, releasing a copy known as "Angband 2.4.frog_knows" at some
point, which ran only on Unix systems, but which was ported by various
people to various other systems. One of the most significant ports was
the "PC Angband 1.4" port, for old DOS machines, which added color and
various other significant changes, only some of which ever made it back
into the official source.
=============================
(The following was posted by Geoff Hill on the Angband newsgroup on 2004-10-31.
Well, Alex and Andy are the true fathers of Angband. And probably
Andy most of all. He's a talented coder, and I *think* (I could ask
him, perhaps!) that Angband was partly driven by him looking for a
challenge. By this, that he found Nethack a little easy, so wanted a
beefed up hack type variant, and (U)Moria seemed a good base.
And he (and I to a lesser intent) were heavily involved in Warwick LP
Mud and it was a creative time in the games world - the internet was
still fairly fresh - we were using the Joint Academic Network (JANET)
and it is a wonder that anyone ever completed their education!
Andy, to the best of my knowledge, has not ever completed Angband,
although I have heard he has been playing Z (its been a while since I
asked).
When Andy and Alex graduated it was left playable and about 2/3 of the
release it became. Sean and I picked it up from then. I think Sean
was more of a driving force, because he wanted to move it forward to
release. In my case I was just keen to tinker the game balance (I was
the completion specialist, I guess) and add and amend some things.
So we added about 1/3 of the artifacts, monsters, vault types. Added
high resists (up until then we only had the elements). Added new
breathe types. Tweaked game balance. Tweaked player races and added
race special abilities. The most time consuming part was rewriting (or
in some cases writing from scratch) the monster descriptions. It took
me forever! And it is difficult to be creative at 4am after a night
in the bar. Qllqllzuup is witness to that (drunk when that one was
done!).
Some of the artifacts from that time are remarkably untested at
release. I still think of that '1/3' as being 'new' ones and not the
true artifacts, I guess because I had a hand in writing them. So,
ones like Deathwreaker, Tulkas, Bladeturner etc are relatively untried
before release.
One area that Sean and I had a difference in opinion was in the
'Tolkien' element. I felt that it should stay more true to the
Angband theme, and he was less bothered about that. I disagreed with
him putting in Gabriel, Azriel etc as frankly I felt they had no part
in a Tolkien based world. But, no matter, Azriel has made a point of
killing me ever since to put me straight ;-).
Sean and I released it to the wider world (with the help of Charles
Teague? I am not sure when he became involved, I would perhaps have to
ask Sean for more background asI am still in touch with him). Charles
may have become involved after release, or before, I am not certain.
At that point it was only set up to make on a SunOS system, so I
suspect that many people who are better coders than me then went mad
converting it to their own systems.
I suppose if one wanted to tweak the background paragraph with any of
the above, you could, but it is largely correct as it stands. Perhaps
for completness at Sean and I's involvement it could say
'Sean Marsh and Geoff Hill took Angband over when Alex and Andy
graduated from the University of Warwick. They updated Angband with
some much needed depth, and worked remotely with Charles Teague to
release it to the community. ' and then as before about frog-knows.
Charles was not at the Uni, of course. I forget his location, as we
only ever emailed him.
The existing paragraph somewhat suggests that Sean and I released a
'copy' known as frog-knows. I suppose in some respects it was the
first variant of Angband but as it was the only version release it
became vanilla?
If so, that is ironic really, given comments earlier in this thread...
====================================================
Then Charles Swiger (cs4w+@andrew.cmu.edu) took over, sometime in late
1993, cleaning up the code, fixing a lot of bugs, and bringing together
various patches from various people, resulting in several versions of
Angband, starting with Angband 2.5.1 (?), and leading up to the release
of Angband 2.6.1 (and Angband 2.6.2) in late 1994. Some of the changes
during this period were based on suggestions from the "net", and from
various related games, including "UMoria 5.5", "PC Angband 1.4", and
"FAngband".
Angband 2.6.1 was primarily targetted towards Unix/NeXT machines, and
it required the use of the low level "curses" commands for all screen
manipulation and keypress interaction. Each release had to be ported
from scratch to any new platforms, normally by creating visual display
code that acted as a "curses" emulator. One such port was "Macintosh
Angband 2.6.1", by Keith Randall, which added support for color, and
which formed the basis for the first release of Angband 2.7.0.
During the last half of 1994, Ben Harrison had been playing with
the Angband source, primarily to investigate the possibility of making
some kind of automatic player for Angband, like the old "rogue-o-matic"
program for the game "Rogue". The difficulty of compiling a version
for the Macintosh, and the complexity of the code, prevented this, and
so Ben began cleaning up the code in various ways for his personal use.
In late 1994, Charles Swiger announced that he was starting a real job
and would no longer be able to be the Angband maintainer. This induced
some amount of uproar in the Angband community (as represented by the
Angband newsgroup), with various people attempting to form "committees"
to take over the maintenance of Angband. Since committees have never
given us anything but trouble (think "COBOL"), there was very little
resistance when, on the first day of 1995, Ben made his code available,
calling it "Angband 2.7.0", and by default, taking over as the new
maintainer of Angband.
Angband 2.7.0 was a very clean (but very buggy) rewrite that, among other
things, allowed extremely simple porting to multiple platforms, starting
with Unix and Macintosh, and by the time most of the bugs were cleaned up,
in Angband 2.7.2, including X11, and various IBM machines. Angband 2.7.4
was released to the "ftp.cis.ksu.edu" site, and quickly gained acceptance,
perhaps helped by the OS2 and Windows and Amiga and Linux ports. Angband
2.7.5 and 2.7.6 added important capabilities such as macros and user pref
files, and continued to clean up the source. Angband 2.7.8 was released
to the major ftp archives as the first "stable" version in a year or so,
with new "help files" and "spoiler files" for the "online help", plus a
variety of minor tweaks and some new features.
After Angband 2.7.8 was released, Ben created a web site to keep track of
all the changes made in each version (though a few may have been missed),
and acquired the use of a new develoepement ftp server to supplement the
official "mirror" server. This web site is now permanently located at
the Official Angband Home Page (http://www.thangorodrim.net/).
Unfortunately, the next six versions were numbered Angband 2.7.9v1 to
Angband 2.7.9v6, but really each were rather major updates. Angband 2.8.0
and 2.8.1 were released using a more normal version scheme. Angband 2.8.2
and 2.8.3 add a few random features, clean up some code, and provide
graphics support and such for a few more platforms.
After the release of Angband 2.8.3 Ben's free time was more and more
occupied by his work. He released a beta version of Angband 2.8.5,
introducing many new features, but couldn't give as much attention to
maintaining the game as he wanted to. Meanwhile, an "unofficial" version
by Robert Ruehlmann, incorporating three popular patches (the "Easy Patch"
by Tim Baker, for opening doors and disarming traps without specifying
the direction: Greg Wooledge's "Random Artifacts" patch: and Keldon Jones's
"Optional Monster AI Improvement"), named "2.8.3h", was gaining popularity.
So in March 2000, Robert Ruehlmann offered to take over Angband and
started to fix the remaining bugs in the Angband 2.8.5 beta. The
resulting version was to be released as Angband 2.9.0. Further
bugfixes and a couple of new features - including many in the realms
of user-customizability, with greater control over ego-items, player
races and classes, monsters, items and artifacts - have led to the
current version.
And with the greater amount of user-customizability that is now possible,
it was inevitable that SOMEBODY would eventually go and actually do
something with it. Jonathan Ellis started customizing the user-editable
text files in the "edit" directory for his own personal use - originally,
only by fixing bugs and inconsistencies (less powerful monsters being worth
more experience per kill than more powerful ones, dragons doing a decent
amount of damage in melee, monsters with two claws and one mouth getting
one claw and three bite attacks, and so on).
At first, this was all that could really be done with it: adding new
monsters and items was impossible, as the limits were fixed. And so only
three new monsters made an appearance, each of them replacing an existing
monster in the order: and one new artifact - "The Palantir of Westernesse".
Gameplay balance could be tweaked somewhat, by changing the level, power and
rarity of certain items and monsters: and some changes were made, mostly
with the attempt to reduce the notorious "triple whammy" effect of needing
poison, confusion and nether resistance (or over 550 hps, if without nether
resistance) all at once, straight after passing 2000', forcing excessive
scumming before this depth or risking unavoidable instant death: and then
having nothing left to do but dive straight to 4000' and scum for speed
items, missing out on some of the most interesting depths of the dungeon.
This problem, at least, could be addressed, but actual new things were less
easy to add...
That all changed with Angband 2.9.1, which for the first time moved the
limits themselves to a separate user-editable file, and allowed more
monsters and items to be created without removing the old ones. At the
same time, a patch by Matthias Kurzke was incorporated which allowed the
creation of new ego-items. Various new powers, for the player and
monsters, were added to the game - but no items or monsters yet had these
powers (resist fear, poison brand, lose charisma, summon greater demons,
and so on): indeed, arguably it could be said that the game had not even
adjusted properly to Ben Harrison's fractional speed system (Angband 2.7.0)
or the addition of the other attack forms such as shards, sound, chaos,
nexus and so on (even before Ben.)
The Official Angband Home Page ("http://www.thangorodrim.net/") serves
not only as the most up to date description of Angband, but also lists
changes made between versions, and changes planned for upcoming versions,
and lists various email addresses and web sites related to Angband.
=== Some of the changes between Angband 2.6.1 and now ===
It is very hard to pin down, along the way from 2.6.2 to the current
version, exactly what changes were made, and exactly when they were made.
Most releases involved so many changes from the previous release as to make
"diff files" not very useful, since often the diff files are as long as the
code itself. Most of the changes, with the notable exception of the creation
of some of the new "main-xxx.c" files for the various new platforms, and a
few other minor exceptions generally noted directly in comments in the
source, were written by Ben or Robert, either spontaneously, or, more
commonly, as the result of a suggestion or comment by an Angband player.
The most important modification was a massive "code level cleanup" for 2.7.x,
largely completed in 2.7.8, that made all other modifications much simpler
and safer. This cleanup was so massive that in many places the code is no
longer recognizable, for example, via "diff -r", often because it was
rewritten from scratch.
The second most important modification was the design of a generic "z-term.c"
package, which allows Angband to be ported to a new machine with as few as 50
lines of code. Angband 2.9.3 thus runs without modification on many machines,
including Macintosh, PowerMac, Unix/X11, Unix/Curses, Amiga, Windows, OS2-386,
DOS-386, and even DOS-286.
It would be difficult to list all of the changes between Angband 2.6.1 and
the current version, because many of them were made in passing during the
massive code level cleanup. Many of the changes are invisible to the user,
but still provide increased simplicity and efficiency, and decreased code
size, or make other more visable changes possible. For example, the new
"project()" code that handles all bolts, beams, and balls, the new
"update_view()" code that simplifies line of sight computation, or the new
"generate()" code that builds new levels in the dungeon. Many changes have
been made to increase efficiency, including the new "process_monsters()"
and "update_monsters()" functions, and the new "objdes()" and "lite_spot()"
routines. The generic "z-term.c" package yielded efficient screen updates,
and enabled the efficient use of "color".
The most visible (to ordinary players) changes that happened as a result of
Ben Harrison's maintainership were (a) a far greater degree of user-
customizability as shown by the info.txt files, (b) the "fractional" speed
system, with +10 in the new scheme equalling +1 in old money, and
(c) object stacking, the ability to have more than one object in a square:
first tried in 2.7.9, completed in 2.8.2.
It should also be pointed out at this point that the far cleaner nature of
Ben's code as compared to previous versions has given many other people the
opportunity to base code for their own Angband variants on it. And so a
plethora of new variants have appeared, many of them far more different from
Angband now than Angband ever was from Moria, and yet still based on Ben's
coding ideals for Angband.
For Angband 2.9.0, the first few new visible features were a random artifact
generator (originally developed from a variant by Greg Wooledge), an option to
improve monster AI (believed to have originally started out life in a patch
written by Keldon Jones), and a patch to allow easier handling of opening and
closing doors and disarming traps (by Tim Baker). For Angband 2.9.1 has also
come such things as the ability to increase the size of the editable textfiles
and thus the number of monsters, artifacts, items, ego-items and vaults in
the game (many new vaults were written by Chris Weisiger, some by others, and
the number of vaults in the game at this time was doubled), and much greater
customizability of ego-items has become possible thanks to a patch written by
Matthias Kurzke. It is also now possible to add new character races to the
game, and to edit the shopkeepers with respect to their greed, tolerance of
haggling and reactions to the character based on his race. Angband 2.9.2 adds
support for poison branded weapons to the game. Angband 2.9.3 made the
character class itself customizable to an extent.
=== A Posting from the Original Author ===
From: koeneke@ionet.net (Robert Alan Koeneke)
Newsgroups: rec.games.roguelike.angband,rec.games.roguelike.moria
Subject: Early history of Moria
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 04:20:51 GMT
I had some email show up asking about the origin of Moria, and its
relation to Rogue. So I thought I would just post some text on the
early days of Moria.
First of all, yes, I really am the Robert Koeneke who wrote the first
Moria. I had a lot of mail accussing me of pulling their leg and
such. I just recently connected to Internet (yes, I work for a
company in the dark ages where Internet is concerned) and
was real surprised to find Moria in the news groups... Angband was an
even bigger surprise, since I have never seen it. I probably spoke to
its originator though... I have given permission to lots of people
through the years to enhance, modify, or whatever as long as they
freely distributed the results. I have always been a proponent of
sharing games, not selling them.
Anyway...
Around 1980 or 81 I was enrolled in engineering courses at the
University of Oklahoma. The engineering lab ran on a PDP 1170 under
an early version of UNIX. I was always good at computers, so it was
natural for me to get to know the system administrators. They invited
me one night to stay and play some games, an early startrek game, The
Colossal Cave Adventure (later just 'Adventure'), and late one night,
a new dungeon game called 'Rogue'.
So yes, I was exposed to Rogue before Moria was even a gleam in my
eye. In fact, Rogue was directly responsible for millions of hours of
play time wasted on Moria and its descendents...
Soon after playing Rogue (and man, was I HOOKED), I got a job in a
different department as a student assistant in computers. I worked on
one of the early VAX 11/780's running VMS, and no games were available
for it at that time. The engineering lab got a real geek of an
administrator who thought the only purpose of a computer was WORK!
Imagine... Soooo, no more games, and no more rogue!
This was intolerable! So I decided to write my own rogue game, Moria
Beta 1.0. I had three languages available on my VMS system. Fortran
IV, PASCAL V1.?, and BASIC. Since most of the game was string
manipulation, I wrote the first attempt at Moria in VMS BASIC, and it
looked a LOT like Rogue, at least what I could remember of it. Then I
began getting ideas of how to improve it, how it should work
differently, and I pretty much didn't touch it for about a year.
Around 1983, two things happened that caused Moria to be born in its
recognizable form. I was engaged to be married, and the only cure for
THAT is to work so hard you can't think about it; and I was enrolled
for fall to take an operating systems class in PASCAL.
So, I investigated the new version of VMS PASCAL and found out it had
a new feature. Variable length strings! Wow...
That summer I finished Moria 1.0 in VMS PASCAL. I learned more about
data structures, optimization, and just plain programming that summer
then in all of my years in school. I soon drew a crowd of devoted
Moria players... All at OU.
I asked Jimmey Todd, a good friend of mine, to write a better
character generator for the game, and so the skills and history were
born. Jimmey helped out on many of the functions in the game as well.
This would have been about Moria 2.0
In the following two years, I listened a lot to my players and kept
making enhancements to the game to fix problems, to challenge them,
and to keep them going. If anyone managed to win, I immediately found
out how, and 'enhanced' the game to make it harder. I once vowed it
was 'unbeatable', and a week later a friend of mine beat it! His
character, 'Iggy', was placed into the game as 'The Evil Iggy', and
immortalized... And of course, I went in and plugged up the trick he
used to win...
Around 1985 I started sending out source to other universities. Just
before a OU / Texas football clash, I was asked to send a copy to the
Univeristy of Texas... I couldn't resist... I modified it so that
the begger on the town level was 'An OU football fan' and they moved
at maximum rate. They also multiplied at maximum rate... So the
first step you took and woke one up, it crossed the floor increasing
to hundreds of them and pounded you into oblivion... I soon received
a call and provided instructions on how to 'de-enhance' the game!
Around 1986 - 87 I released Moria 4.7, my last official release. I
was working on a Moria 5.0 when I left OU to go to work for American
Airlines (and yes, I still work there). Moria 5.0 was a complete
rewrite, and contained many neat enhancements, features, you name it.
It had water, streams, lakes, pools, with water monsters. It had
'mysterious orbs' which could be carried like torches for light but
also gave off magical aura's (like protection from fire, or aggrivate
monster...). It had new weapons and treasures... I left it with the
student assistants at OU to be finished, but I guess it soon died on
the vine. As far as I know, that source was lost...
I gave permission to anyone who asked to work on the game. Several
people asked if they could convert it to 'C', and I said fine as long
as a complete credit history was maintained, and that it could NEVER
be sold, only given. So I guess one or more of them succeeded in
their efforts to rewrite it in 'C'.
I have since received thousands of letters from all over the world
from players telling about their exploits, and from administrators
cursing the day I was born... I received mail from behind the iron
curtain (while it was still standing) talking about the game on VAX's
(which supposedly couldn't be there due to export laws). I used to
have a map with pins for every letter I received, but I gave up on
that!
I am very happy to learn my creation keeps on going... I plan to
download it and Angband and play them... Maybe something has been
added that will surprise me! That would be nice... I never got to
play Moria and be surprised...
Robert Alan Koeneke
koeneke@ionet.net
=== Previous Versions (outdated) ===
VMS Moria Version 4.8
Version 0.1 : 03/25/83
Version 1.0 : 05/01/84
Version 2.0 : 07/10/84
Version 3.0 : 11/20/84
Version 4.0 : 01/20/85
Modules :
V1.0 Dungeon Generator - RAK
Character Generator - RAK & JWT
Moria Module - RAK
Miscellaneous - RAK & JWT
V2.0 Town Level & Misc - RAK
V3.0 Internal Help & Misc - RAK
V4.0 Source Release Version - RAK
Robert Alan Koeneke Jimmey Wayne Todd Jr.
Student/University of Oklahoma Student/University of Oklahoma
Umoria Version 5.2 (formerly UNIX Moria)
Version 4.83 : 5/14/87
Version 4.85 : 10/26/87
Version 4.87 : 5/27/88
Version 5.0 : 11/2/89
Version 5.2 : 5/9/90
James E. Wilson, U.C. Berkeley
wilson@ernie.Berkeley.EDU
...!ucbvax!ucbernie!wilson
Other contributors:
D. G. Kneller - MSDOS Moria port
Christopher J. Stuart - recall, options, inventory, and running code
Curtis McCauley - Macintosh Moria port
Stephen A. Jacobs - Atari ST Moria port
William Setzer - object naming code
David J. Grabiner - numerous bug reports, and consistency checking
Dan Bernstein - UNIX hangup signal fix, many bug fixes
and many others...
Copyright (c) 1989 James E. Wilson, Robert A. Keoneke
This software may be copied and distributed for educational, research, and
not for profit purposes provided that this copyright and statement are
included in all such copies.
Umoria Version 5.2, patch level 1
Angband Version 2.0 Alex Cutler, Andy Astrand, Sean Marsh, Geoff Hill,
Charles Teague.
Angband Version 2.4 : 05/09/1993
Angband Version 2.5 : 12/05/1993 Charles Swiger
Angband Version 2.6 : 09/04/1994 Charles Swiger
Angband Version 2.7 : 01/01/1995 Ben Harrison
Angband Version 2.8 : 01/01/1997 Ben Harrison
Angband Version 2.9 : 10th April 2000 Robert Ruehlmann
Copyright (c) 1997 Ben Harrison, James E. Wilson, Robert A. Koeneke
This software may be copied and distributed for educational, research,
and not for profit purposes provided that this copyright and statement
are included in all such copies. Other copyrights may also apply.
NPPAngband Jeff Greene (NPPAngband) Ben Harrison and Robert Ruehlmann
is also available under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.
=== Contributors (incomplete) ===
Peter Berger, "Prfnoff", Arcum Dagsson, Ed Cogburn, Matthias Kurzke,
Ben Harrison, Steven Fuerst, Julian Lighton, Andrew Hill, Werner Baer,
Tom Morton, "Cyric the Mad", Chris Kern, Tim Baker, Jurriaan Kalkman,
Alexander Wilkins, Mauro Scarpa, John I'anson-Holton, "facade",
Dennis van Es, Kenneth A. Strom, Wei-Hwa Huang, Nikodemus, Timo Pietilä,
Greg Wooledge, Keldon Jones, Shayne Steele, Dr. Andrew White, Musus Umbra,
Jonathan Ellis
Your Character
(a) Races and Classes (raceclas.txt)
(b) Attributes, Stats, Abilities (attribut.txt)
(c) The Character Screen (charscrn.txt)
Help Commands:
# go to line % go to file ? go to last file/main menu
SPACE advance 1 page - back up 1 page / search for text
RET advance 1 line = back up 1 line & show (highlight) some text
+ advance 1/2 page _ back up 1/2 page ! toggle case sentitivity
====== Races ======
There are eleven different races that you may choose among, representing
most of the speaking peoples found in Tolkien's books, plus Gnomes and Kobolds.
Races differ in vital statistics, and tend to be better at some abilities than
at others.
Good races for new players are Dunedain and High-Elves (powerful but slow
at gaining levels), and Elves and Dwarves (good abilities, not too slow at
gaining levels).
Human:
A flexible and adaptive race, humans are found all over Middle-Earth, from
desert Harad to icy Horodwaith. They have no special adjustments to stats, and
no special strengths or weaknesses. This, combined with their solid hitpoints,
makes them flexible but not powerful adventurers. They probably get the best
prices in stores, on average. Humans may choose any class.
Half-Elf:
The descendants of Elves and Humans, Half-elves are more intelligent and
dexterous than humans, and are slightly better at many abilities, but are not so
strong, tough, or good at melee. Half-elves sustain dexterity inherently, and
have some infravision.
Elf:
Known as the Elder Race, and as the First-Born, Elves are famed for their
knowledge and craftsmanship. They are somewhat weaker, less wise, and less
robust than humans, but have superior intelligence and strong magical abilities.
They are fond of bows, somewhat weak in melee, and have some infravision. They
sustain dexterity and resist light inherently.
Hobbit:
Hobbits are shy, retiring folk with enough good sense to share. They live
in homes with circular entranceways built partially underground, and are the
smallest of all the races. Although they are weak, have perilously few
hitpoints, and are very poor at melee, all of their other abilities are
extraordinary. Hobbits are highly intelligent, dexterous, and hardy, have
innate infravision, and resist attacks on their life force.
Gnome:
Gnomes are the pudgy pranksters of the dungeon; if they can kill something
in a humorous way, so much the better. They may be small and ugly, but can
outbargain and outwit just about anyone. They are among the frailer races, and
not powerful in combat, but have solid basic abilities, are highly intelligent
and dexterous, have innate infravision, and -- most importantly -- are immune to
paralyzation.
Dwarf:
Dwarves are the headstrong miners and fighters of legend. They are strong,
wise, tough, and have pretty good basic skills; although not very good at
casting spells, they make excellent priests. Dwarves are quite good at melee
combat, have innate infravision, and -- a major advantage -- can never be
blinded. They do have one big drawback, though: Dwarves are loudmouthed and
proud, singing in loud voices, arguing with themselves for no good reason,
screaming out challenges at imagined foes. In other words, dwarves have a
miserable stealth.
Half-Orc:
The bastard offspring of humans and orcs, half-orcs are ugly, strong, and
have very bad attitudes. Their magic is a little suspect, as are most of their
skills, but they know how to fight and can take as much damage as they dish out.
Most other races dislike them and so they have a hard time in stores. Half-orcs
have innate infravision and, like orcs themselves, resist darkness and its
effects.
Half-Troll:
Half-trolls are built like blocks of granite; no other race can match their
strength or recover hitpoints as quickly. Their hand-to-hand combat prowess is
fearsome and they are amazingly tough. Unfortunately, they do poorly at almost
everything else, are very noisy, need to eat a lot, and have a hard time in
stores. Half-trolls will be bad at anything that requires heavy thinking. They
have innate infravision and always have their strength sustained.
Dunadan:
Dunedain are a race of hardy men from the West. This elder race surpasses
the abilities of other humans in every field and has superior vital statistics.
However, being men of the world, very little is new to them, and levels are very
hard to gain. Their constitution cannot be reduced.
High-Elf:
High-Elves are descended from those among the Elves who heard and answered
the call from the Valar at the very beginning of time, before the sun and moon
were made, and lived in the Blessed Realm for long ages before returning to
mortal lands. They are masters of all abilities, and are agile and intelligent,
although their wisdom is a little suspect. No other race is quite as good at
magic, and none is so skilled with missile weapons. High-elves are able to see
the unseen, have good infravision, and have innate resistance to light.
However, having lived so long and learnt so much, it is very hard for them to
advance further.
Kobold:
Kobolds are a race of small dog-headed humanoids that dwell underground.
They are dexterous and tough, but ugly, and have relatively few hitpoints.
Kobolds can see in the dark better than almost any other race, are very
stealthy, and -- their most important advantage -- are intrinsically resistant
to poisons of all kinds.
====== Classes ======
Your choice of class makes all the difference to how the game plays. They
vary greatly in toughness, combat and magic power, and ability to notice,
detect, and avoid things. Some suggested classes for new players are warriors
and paladins.
Warrior:
A hack-and-slash character who solves most of his problems by cutting them
to pieces. He is unchallengeable with melee weapons, and is also good with all
missile launchers. He becomes resistant to fear at level 30, and gets an extra
attack at level 26. Although a warrior gets a lot of hitpoints, he is
poor at the dungeon survival skills, vulnerable to magic, and suffers greatly
from his ignorance of spells and many magical devices. He gets fast, detailed
feelings on weapons and armour (pseudo-ID).
Mage:
A Mage must live by his wits. He cannot hope to simply hack his way
through the dungeon, and so must therefore use his magic to defeat, deceive,
baffle, and escape. A mage excels in the use of magical devices, and finds them
very handy when his mana runs low. He has excellent magical defences, but
dangerously poor physical ones. He has almost no chance of sensing wargear.
There is no rule that says a mage cannot become a good fighter, but spells are
his true realm. Intelligence is his spell stat.
Priest:
Covenanted with a mighty and generous god. He explores the dungeon only to
cleanse the evil that lurks within, and if treasure just happens to fall into
his pack, well, so much more to the glory of the Church! A Priest is familiar
with magical devices, preferring to call them "Instruments of God", but is not
as good as a mage in their use. A priest can be a decent fighter, especially
when sanctified, but only with blunt or blessed weapons. Unblessed edged
weapons (swords and polearms) violate the Church's strictures about shedding
blood, and wielding one will hurt his ability to pray successfully. A Priest
has fast but weak pseudo-ID. Wisdom is his prayer stat.
Rogue:
A Rogue is a character that prefers to live by his cunning, but is capable
of fighting his way out of a tight spot. He is a master of traps and locks, no
device being impossible for him to overcome, and his stealth often lets him
choose his fights. A rogue's perception is higher than that of any other class,
and ofttimes he will notice a trap or secret door without having to search.
Rogues can also learn a few spells, but not the powerful offensive magic mages
wield. A rogue has moderately fast, detailed pseudo-ID. Intelligence is his
spell stat. Using the 'P' command, he can attempt to steal from monsters, and
set traps for unsuspecting monsters. As the rogue gains levels, he can create
an increasing variety of traps by using the + command on an existing monster
trap. He is exceptionally gifted with a sling, and gets an extra shot with
a sling when he reaches level 26.
Ranger:
The greatest of bowsmen, capable of eventually firing a bow twice as
fast than most. He can also hold his own in melee, and has some useful
spells to aid him in need; rangers have many talents. His dungeon survival
skills are better than average. A ranger has average-speed, weak pseudo-ID.
Intelligence is his spell stat. He gets an extra show with a bow at level
26.
Paladin:
A champion of the Faith. He is close behind the warrior in melee, can
use all weapons comfortably, and has some useful prayers to enhance his powers.
Most of his other skills are average: while his saving throw benefits from his
divine alliance, and his missile skill from his prayers, he is poor at magical
devices, stealth, and searching. A paladin has slowish but detailed pseudo-ID.
Wisdom is his prayer stat.
Brigand:
A Brigand is a thief, who simply wants to plunder the pits of Angband
to steal its greatest treasures. He is close behind the warrior in melee.
He is a master of traps and locks, no device being impossible for him to
overcome, and has the highest stealth of all classes, which can frequently
let him choose his fights. His dungeon survival skills are better than
average, and he has a fast, detailed pseudo-ID. The 'P' command allows
a brigand can attempt to steal from monsters, and the 'O' command can
set traps for unsuspecting monsters. As the brigand gains levels, he
can create an increasing variety of traps by using the 'O' command on an
existing monster trap. He is exceptionally gifted with a sling, and
gets an extra shot with a sling when he reaches level 26.
Druid:
A Druid is a master of all things natural. He cannot hope to simply
hack his way through the dungeon, and so must therefore call upon the power
of nature for attack and defense. A druid is not really complete without
an assortment of magical devices to use in addition to his spells. He can
master the higher level magical devices easily, and has a very good saving
throw to resist effects of spells cast at him. Intelligence and Wisdom
are his primary stats. He is the weakest fighter of all the classes, and
spells are his true realm.
====== Modifier Tables ======
Vital statistics:
STR INT WIS DEX CON CHR HD (base) XP/level Infra
Human 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 +0% None
Half-Elf 0 +1 -1 +1 -1 +1 10 +10% 20 feet
Elf -1 +2 -1 +1 -2 +1 9 +20% 30 feet
Hobbit -2 +2 +1 +3 +2 +1 7 +10% 40 feet
Gnome -1 +2 0 +2 +1 -2 8 +25% 40 feet
Dwarf +2 -3 +2 -2 +2 -3 11 +20% 50 feet
Half-Orc +2 -1 0 0 +1 -4 10 +10% 30 feet
Half-Troll +4 -4 -2 -4 +3 -6 12 +20% 30 feet
Dunadan +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +2 10 +80% None
High-Elf +1 +3 -1 +3 +1 +5 10 +100% 40 feet
Kobold -1 -1 0 +2 +2 -2 8 +15% 50 feet
STR INT WIS DEX CON CHR HD (bonus) XP/level
Warrior +5 -2 -2 +2 +2 -1 9 +0%
Mage -5 +3 0 +1 -2 +1 0 +30%
Priest -1 -3 +3 -1 0 +2 2 +20%
Rogue +2 +1 -2 +3 +1 -1 6 +25%
Ranger +2 +2 0 +1 +1 +1 4 +30%
Paladin +3 -3 +1 0 +2 +2 6 +35%
Brigand +3 -2 -2 +3 +2 -3 7 +15%
Druid -2 +3 +3 -2 -1 +1 1 +30%
To get the total hit dice and experience modifier, add the race and class
numbers together. For example: A Dwarven Priest has a hit die of 11 + 2 = 13,
so will get 1d13 extra hit points per level before constitution bonuses. He has
an experience modifier of 20% + 20% = 40%, so will take 40% more experience to
advance than a human warrior.
Abilities:
disarm device save stealth search percep melee missile
Human 5 5 5 0 5 5 5 5
Half-Elf 6 6 6 +1 7 6 4 6
Elf 7 7 7 +1 8 7 3 8
Hobbit 10 10 10 +4 10 10 1 9
Gnome 8 9 9 +3 7 8 2 8
Dwarf 6 8 8 -1 8 5 9 5
Half-Orc 4 4 3 -1 5 4 8 4
Half-Troll 3 2 1 -2 4 3 10 3
Dunadan 7 7 0 +2 6 8 9 7
High-Elf 7 10 10 +3 6 9 7 10
Kobold 8 7 5 +4 7 10 3 7
Abilities are ranked on a comparative scale ranging from 1 to 10, except
for stealth, which is an exact value.
disarm device save stealth search percep melee missile
Warrior 4 - 7 3 - 2 3 - 5 +1 5 1 8 -10+ 7 - 9
Mage 5 - 5 9 - 9 8 - 7 +2 6 7 2 - 2 1 - 2
Priest 4 - 4 7 - 7 9 -10 +2 6 3 4 - 3 4 - 3
Rogue 9 - 9 7 - 7 7 - 7 +5 8 9 6 - 9 8 - 7
Ranger 5 - 6 7 - 7 7 - 7 +3 7 5 5 - 6 9 -10+
Paladin 3 - 3 5 - 5 6 - 7 +1 4 1 8 - 9 5 - 6
Brigand 9 - 9 5 - 5 7 - 6 +7 7 3 8 - 9 8 - 6
Druid 4 - 4 7 - 8 8 - 7 +2 6 5 1 - 1 1 - 1
Value for classes are starting ability - final ability. Note that prayers
and spells can improve many of these skills dramatically.
Melee blows: Warriors can get up to 5 blows, not counting an additional
blow they gain at level 26, mages up to 4, and all other classes up to 5 blows.
====== Character Attributes ======
--- Basic attributes ---
Experience:
As you kill monsters, learn about objects by using them, cast spells and
pray prayers for the first time, disarm traps, and unlock doors (listed in
descending order of importance), you gain experience.
Character Level:
Your level depends on your experience. This improves hitpoints and
(usually) spellpoints and most of the basic character abilities, and lets you
learn new spells and gain attributes.
As you gain levels, your title changes to reflect your growing power.
Gold:
Gold is amazingly handy, because the goods and services stores sell can
be yours with enough of the stuff. Characters start out with a set amount of
gold determined.
Within the Pits of Angband lies more gold than you will ever find, more
seams of treasure than you will ever dig, and more monsters carrying loot than
you will ever kill.
Hitpoints:
Your hitpoints are your life wrapped up in a number; if they ever drop
below zero, you die. Resting will restore hitpoints, but you should always have
some quicker way to heal yourself on hand. Your maximum hitpoints depends on
your level, race, and class, plus a constitution bonus (which can be
considerable).
Spellpoints:
If you use magic, you will also have spellpoints, or mana. Your maximum
mana depends on your level and your intelligence (if you are a mage, druid,
rogue, or ranger) and/or wisdom (if you are a druid, ranger, priest or paladin).
Ways to recover mana faster than by resting are rare and greatly desired.
Mana goes down if you wear heavy armour. Mages and rogues also
lose a chunk of mana if they wear most (but not all) kinds of gloves.
Armour Class:
Armour class (AC) makes you harder to hit in melee, and reduces the damage
you take from many (but not all) monster blows. You can raise it by equipping
more and better armour, by increasing your Dexterity, and by activating various
temporary effects. As time passes, you will find this value rising past 100,
even to 150 and above at very high levels.
Score:
Your score in Angband depends on how much experience you have earned and
how deep in the dungeon you have ventured.
Resistances:
Some spells, potions and other dungeon objects can temporarily give
the player stronger resistance to the elemental attacks; fire, cold, acid,
electricity, and poison. A line will show which temporary resistances the
player currently has.
Nativity:
The dungeon in NPPAngband is full of many new terrains. What
terrain you are in will affect your ability to move, and your
effectiveness in combat. There is magical equipment in the dungeon
that will allow you to become native to various terrains, and give
you an advantage in moving and fighting in those terrains.
--- Vital Statistics ---
You have six primary statistics, or stats. Each of them has important
effects, and how you juggle equipment to boost some stats at the expense of
others can greatly help or hinder your adventuring. Deep in the dungeon,
potions exist that can permanently raise your stats.
Values for stats:
Stats range from 3 to 18/220. The progression of stats goes from 3 -> 17,
18, 18/10, 18/20 -> 18/220. A value of 18/19 is the same as 18/10.
The lowest any stat can go is 3, a level that greatly reduces any abilities
that stat influences. The lowest "safe" figure for most stats is 7, but you
can't expect any significant bonuses until the stat reaches 18 or higher. Once
you get a stat that high, further increases will greatly enhance your abilities,
eventually making it possible to slay some truly formidable monsters. Stats max
out at 18/220.
Stats depend on your internal stats, the equipment you are wearing, and
various temporary conditions. The color of the stat becomes a darker green when
sustained.
Maximize mode:
In maximize mode, racial and class adjustments to stats are adjustments to
final stats; a Hobbit Mage can raise his internal Intelligence to 18/150, but
his strength only to 18/30. In non-maximize mode, internal stats always rise to
18/100; racial and class adjustments only affect starting stats.
Maximize mode (the default) is recommended in most cases.
Strength:
Increases in Strength increase melee damage and allow you to get more blows
with heavier weapons. It improves both your melee and missile accuracy.
Strength also improves your tunneling ability, allows you to bear more weight
without being slowed down, and to wield heavier weapons effectively.
Intelligence:
Intelligent characters use magic devices, pick locks, and disarm traps more
effectively.
If you are using spells, intelligence is your primary stat. It controls
how many spells you may learn, the amount of mana you have, and your spell
failure rate. If you are using prayers, wisdom controls all of these things.
FOr druids, it is a combination of intelligence and wisdom.
Wisdom:
Wise characters have a better chance of resisting magical spells cast upon
them by monsters. Wisdom is a priest or paladin's primary stat.
Dexterity:
Dexterity is a combination of agility and quickness. A high dexterity may
allow you to get multiple blows with lighter weapons, and will increase your
chances of hitting with melee or missile weapons. Dexterity is also useful in
picking locks, disarming traps, and protecting yourself from some of the thieves
that inhabit the dungeon.
Constitution:
Constitution determines your ability to resist physical damage, and your
rate of recovery from poison, stuns, and cuts. It makes a great difference to
the amount of hitpoints you have and the speed at which you recover them, and so
is a vital stat for any character.
Charisma:
Charisma represents a character's ability to influence others. A character
with a high charisma will receive better prices from store owners, whereas a
character with a very low charisma will be robbed blind. Charisma also affects
the character's ability to use magic to sleep, stun, scare, or confuse a monster.
--- Abilities ---
In addition to your stats, certain basic abilities define your character.
They depend on race, class, stats, and level, and may be powerfully influenced
by temporary conditions. You can most effectively keep track of your abilities
by using the Character screen.
Saving Throw:
The higher your saving throw, the more likely you are to resist the side
effects of monster blows and spells, traps, your own magic (when it fails), and
mental attacks. Saving throw depends on race, class, wisdom, and level.
Stealth:
The ability to move silently about is very useful. If your stealth is good
enough, you can avoid fights, get in the first blow, and fight monsters one at a
time. Stealth depends on race, class, and equipped items.
Fighting (Melee):
The higher your melee ability, the more frequently you will hit in hand-to-
hand combat and the more critical hits you will get. Your race, class, stats,
plusses to hit on equipped items (except for other weapons), and temporary
effects are all factored into the skill value displayed on your character
screen. This also holds true for shooting ability.
Shooting:
The higher your shooting ability, the more frequently you will hit with
missile weapons and the more critical hits you will get.
Disarming:
The higher your disarming ability, the more quickly and safely you can pick
locks and disarm chests and traps. Race, class, level, dexterity, and
intelligence all affect this ability. It also affects the quality of any
monster traps set by the player, and the rogues ability to steal from creatures.
Magical Devices:
Determines how likely you are to successfully use magical devices or
activatable items. Race, class, level, and intelligence affect this ability.
You need considerable skill to use high-level objects.
Perception:
The better your perception, the more likely it is that you will see traps
and secret doors automatically. Perception depends on race, class, level, and
equipped objects.
Note that this ability has no relationship to your ability to sense
(pseudo-ID) objects.
Searching:
The better you are at searching, the more likely it is that you will see
traps and secret doors by searching for them. Searching depends on race, class,
level, and equipped objects (same as perception).
Infra-vision:
The higher your infravision, the further away you can see warm-blooded
creatures, even when invisible or not lit.
--- Conditions ---
Your character may benefit or suffer from many different conditions. The
most important ones are displayed on the bottom row of the main screen and the
lower part of the left panel. We describe them as they are displayed, down,
then from left to right.
Wounds : Instead of recovering battle damage, you take additional damage
every turn.
Stunning : Your combat and spellcasting abilities decrease. If you are
too badly stunned, you can be knocked out!
Hunger : You need to eat every so often. If you eat too much, you
become bloated and slow down. If you eat too little, you
become hungry (no special effects), weak (reduced recovery),
feel faint (pass out every so often), and finally starve (take
damage every turn).
Blindness : You cannot see most monsters, it is harder to learn about
objects or what's around you, and get only vague information
when many things happen. You often miss monsters, and cannot
cast spells or read scrolls.
Confusion : You move and attack randomly and cannot cast spells, read
scrolls, or use magical devices, except for staves.
Fear : You cannot use melee combat.
Poison : Instead of recovering battle damage, you take additional damage
every turn.
State:
You can sometimes be in one of several different states.
Paralyzed : You cannot do ANYTHING until the effects wear off.
Rest : You are resting (double speed recovery of hitpoints and mana).
Repeat : You are repeating an action (like tunneling).
Searching : You are searching (automatic search, but slowed speed).
Speed:
The faster you are, the less time you take to perform all kinds of actions.
It is vital not to become too slow. As you descend into the dungeon, you need
to find ways to hasten yourself temporarily and permanently.
A speed of +10 is double speed ("fast"), and one of +20 is triple speed
("very fast"). A speed of 10 is half speed ("slow"), and one of -20 is one
third speed ("very slow").
Permanent speed bonuses add to your base speed. Temporary effects may
increase or reduce speed by 10.
Study:
If you know magic, and can learn spells, you will see a "study" indicator
near the right-bottom of the main screen. If you have a book available, you can
learn the spells now.
Depth:
How deep in the dungeon you are.
====== The character screen (in detail) ======
The character information display allows you to review attributes, change
names, and save character dumps to file. The save character to file command
saves the character screen, character background, inventory and equipment, skill
levels, and the contents of the home.
This interface has five modes, which you may cycle through by typing '+/-'.
--- Main character screen ---
First row:
- Name : character's full name
- Gender, race, class, class title
- Hitpoints : current and maximum
- Spellpoints : current and maximum
- Age : in years
- Height : in inches
- Weight : in pounds
- Status : social class (affects starting gold)
- {Blank)
- Level : goes from 1 to 50
- Internal values for each vital statistic, racial modifiers, class
modifiers, total modifiers from equipment, and maximum and current
values.
Second row:
- Game turn - note there are 10 game turns in one player turn at normal speed
- Max Exp : maximum experience (undrained value)
- Cur Exp : current experience (is different from maximum only if drained)
- Adv Exp : total experience needed to advance to the next level. With the
toggle_xp option on, this line displays the total remaining
experience needed to gain the next level
- MaxDepth : The deepest the palyer has been in the dungeon
- Gold : money on hand (in gold pieces)
- Burden : total carried weight (equipment and backpack combined). Helps
you learn how much you can carry without being slowed down. You begin
to be slowed at 60% of your maximum carrying weight.
- % burden : shows the percentage of your max carrying weight.
- Armour : your actual base armour, plus what you think your armour bonus
is (will be accurate if all of your equipment is identified)
- Fight : plusses to hit chance and damage, before any weapon bonuses
- Melee : total plusses to hit chance and damage in melee combat, including
any known weapon bonuses. See the combat section for more on how this
works.
- Shoot : total plusses to hit chance and damage in missile combat,
including any known weapon bonuses
- Blows : the number of blows you get with your current melee weapon
- Shots : the number of shots you get with your current missile weapon
- Speed : your base speed, not counting any temporary effects (temporary
hasting or slowing)
- Infra : how far you can see warm-blooded creatures, even when invisible
or in darkness
- Saving Throw : your resistance to magic
- Stealth : how naturally quiet you are
- Fighting : your hand-to-hand combat skill (inherent skill, plus bonuses)
- Shooting : your missile combat skill (inherent skill, plus bonuses)
- Disarming : your ability to disarm traps and unlock doors
- Magical Device : your ability to use magical devices and activatable
items
- Perception : your ability to find traps and hidden doors automatically
- Searching : your ability to find traps and hidden doors by searching for
them
Descriptions of abilities go from very bad -> bad -> poor -> fair -> good
-> very good -> excellent -> superb -> heroic -> legendary.
--- Attributes screen ---
Press '+/-', and your character screens display attributes of known
(identified) equipped objects, and objects stored in the home, shown under
the same indexes that are used when displaying your equipment. The '@' lists
attributes and modifiers that you posses intrinsically. If you are an Elf,
for example, you will always resist light.
Vital Statistics:
The top-center of this display lists modifiers to stats. They are light
green if the object does not also sustain that stat and green if it does. If
the object sustains a stat without affecting it, a green 's' is displayed.
Because character dumps in not in color, the stat sustains are displayed
in a separated chart from the modifiers.
Attributes:
The bottom of the screen displays most other non-combat attributes. Blue
'+' and green '*'s indicate the presence of the attribute.
- Fire : plus = resist fire, star = immunity to fire
- Cold : plus = resist cold, star = immunity to cold
- Elec : plus = resist electricity, star = immunity to electricity
- Acid : plus = resist acid, star = immunity to acid
- Pois : plus = resist poison
- Fear : plus = resist fear
- Light : plus = resist bright light
- Dark : plus = resist darkness
- Blind : plus = resist blindness
- Confu : plus = resist confusion
- Sound : plus = resist sound
- Shard : plus = resist shards
- Nexus : plus = resist nexus (teleportation and alteration magic)
- Nethr : plus = resist nether (necromantic power)
- Chaos : plus = resist chaos (alteration, disorder, and unmaking)
- Disen : plus = resist disenchantment
- S.Dig : plus = slow digestion
- Feath : plus = resist
- PLite : plus = shining object. +1 to total light radius
- Regen : plus = faster regeneration of hitpoints and mana
- Telep : plus = telepathy (see all nearby monsters with minds)
- Invis : plus = see invisible
- FrAct : plus = free action (no paralyzation, protection against slowing)
- HLife : plus = hold life (you lose less to drain-exp attacks)
- Stea. : plus = affects stealth
- Sear. : plus = affects searching
- Aggr. : plus = equipment aggravates creatures in the dungeon
- Speed : plus = affects speed
- Blows : plus = affects the number of melee blows you get
- Shots : plus = affects the speed at which you fire missiles
- Might : plus = increases your missile weapon damage multiplier
The fifth mode tells you in which terrains you are native, and any temporary
spell effects you may be under (such as being temporarily resistant to
fire, cold, etc...).
The World of Angband
(a) Symbols on your Map (symbols.txt)
(b) The Town (town.txt)
(c) The Dungeon (dungeon.txt)
(d) Objects and Monsters (objs-mon.txt)
(e) Quests (quests.txt)
Help Commands:
# go to line % go to file ? go to last file/main menu
SPACE advance 1 page - back up 1 page / search for text
RET advance 1 line = back up 1 line & show (highlight) some text
+ advance 1/2 page _ back up 1/2 page ! toggle case sentitivity
====== Symbols on your Map ======
Special
@ The character
Features that usually do not block line of sight
. A floor space or soil 1 Entrance to General Store
. A trap or rune (hidden) 2 Entrance to Armoury
^ A trap or rune (known) 3 Entrance to Weapon Smith
; A glyph of warding 4 Entrance to Temple
' An open door 5 Entrance to Alchemy Shop
' A broken door 6 Entrance to Magic Shop
< A staircase or shaft up 7 Entrance to the Black Market
> A staircase or shaft down 8 Entrance to your Home
% Coal or Oil 9 Entrance to the Adventurer's Guild
; lava, Water, mud or acid 0 Entrance to the Book shop
' Waves of water
* Crests of Waves over water
Features that usually block line of sight
# A secret door # A wall
+ A closed door % A mineral vein
+ A locked door * A mineral vein with treasure
+ A jammed door : A pile of rubble
: Tree % A limestone wall
; Brush or bushes % A cracked wall
% Tree Branch * Water geyser
' Smoke * Clouds
Objects
! 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 armour
" An amulet [ Hard armour
$ Gold or gems ] Misc. armour
~ Light sources, Tools, Chests ) A shield
& (pile)
Monsters
$ Creeping Coins , Mushroom Patch
! Mimic (also ?, =, _. - and ~)
a Giant Ant A Ainu/Maia
b Giant Bat B Bird
c Giant Centipede C Canine (Dog)
d Dragon D Ancient Dragon
e Floating Eye E Elemental
f Feline (Cat) F Dragon Fly
g Golem G Ghost
h Humanoid H Hybrid
i Icky-Thing I Insect
j Jelly J Snake
k Kobold K Killer Beetle
l Giant Louse L Lich
m Mold M Multi-Headed Hydra
n Naga N (unused)
o Orc O Ogre
p Human P Giant Human(oid)
q Quadruped Q Quylthulg (Pulsing Flesh Mound)
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
Any of these symbols may be changed using preference files, accessed using
the command '%'. You may review what a symbol means by typing '/' or '~'.
Angband can also use graphics instead of text to display your surroundings;
unfortunately, no convenient listing of them yet exists.
====== The Town ======
You begin your adventures in the town. It consists of ten buildings,
each with a shop entranceway, and is well populated. The first time you are in
town it will be daytime, but the sun rises and sets as time passes.
Townspeople:
Most townsfolk are fairly harmless. However, there are slippery-fingered
thieves and armed killers that you need to avoid. Fights will break out,
though, so be prepared. Since your character grew up in this world of intrigue,
no experience is awarded for killing the town inhabitants, though you may
acquire treasure.
--- Stores ---
You enter buildings by walking onto their entranceways, which (in text
mode) are represented by numbers from 1 to 9.
A new display then replaces the old. You see the name and race of the
store owner, the name of the store, and the maximum number of gold pieces that
the store owner will pay for any one item. Below it is displayed the inventory;
if it is numerous, you may display another page by typing space. Near the
bottom of the screen is displayed a list of commonly-used commands.
- ESC: leave the store.
- 'g' or 'p': get/purchase an item.
- 'd' or 's': drop/sell an item.
- 'l': look at an item (display any special properties, read spellbooks)
- 'v': Toggle between store inventory and services
The General Store ("1"):
Sells foods, drinks, cloaks, torches, lamps, oil, shovels, picks, spikes,
and ammunition for missile launchers. Buys items of these types and some
others.
The Armoury ("2"):
Buys and sells every kind of armour.
Offers service to enchant armor up to +20 with no chance of failure.
The Weaponsmith's Shop ("3"):
Buys and sells melee weapons, missile launchers, and ammunition.
Offers a service to enchant weapon to hit up to +20 with no chance of failure.
Offers a service to enchant weapon to damage up to +20 with no chance of failure.
Offers a service to brand a weapon with either flame or frost brand.
Offers a service to brand ammunition with either flame, frost, or poison brand.
The Temple ("4"):
Buys and sells blunt weapons, healing and restoration supplies, and various
other holy items.
Offers a service to cure critical wounds.
Offers a service to restore life levels (restore current exp to maximum exp).
Offers a service to remove light curses from all weapons and armor.
Offers a service to remove heavy curses from all weapons and armor.
Offers a service to create a potion of healing.
Offers a service to create a potion of life.
The Alchemy Shop ("5"):
Buys and sells potions and scrolls.
Offers a service to restore any player stat.
Offers a service to increase any player stat up to 18/100.
The Magic Shop ("6"):
Buys and sells rings, amulets, wands, rods, and staffs. Also
buys potions and scrolls.
Offers a service to recharge a wand, staff, or rod with no chance of failure.
Offers a service to identify any item.
Offers a service to *identify* any item.
Offers a service to purchase a mass genocide scroll.
The Black Market ("7"):
The Black Market will buy and sell anything at extortionate prices.
However, it occasionally has VERY good items in it. The shopkeepers are not
known for their tolerance...
Your Home ("8"):
Here you may store objects that you cannot carry on your travels or will
need later.
The Adventurer's Guild ("9"):
Here you may take on quests and recieve rewards when you have completed
a quest.
Offers a service to create a random artifact for the player.
Offers a service to give information about a quest monster.
Offers a service to abandon (automatically fail) a quest.
The Bookshop ("0"):
Buys and sells all kinds of spell and prayerbooks.
Offers a service to make a spell and prayer books fireproof.
--- Buying and Selling ---
The Price of Items:
The price of items that change hands depends on their base cost and
your Charisma.
If you have the "auto_haggle" option set, you simply pay the going rate.
Otherwise, you haggle for everything that isn't marked as being fixed price.
Haggling:
Note: Most players choose to play with haggling off.
If you are selling something, a typical haggling session starts with the
shopkeeper assuring you that a good price is maybe 1-25% of what the item is
really worth. You demand many times this, and the bargaining begins. You bring
your price closer to the shopkeeper's offer, and he then does the same for you.
The best way to change a price is to enter "-20" or "+20", instead of retyping a
new figure. After some rounds, you and the shopkeeper will meet somewhere in
the middle.
Store Stocks:
Stores never have everything in stock; as time passes, their inventory
slowly changes (but only when you are in the dungeon). The store owner fully
*identifies* everything you sell him, and recharges wands, rods, and staves.
Shopkeepers can retire and be replaced:
Shopkeepers do retire, but only rarely. He puts everything in the
store on sale.
====== The Dungeon ======
All levels other than 0 (the town) lie within the dungeon. Each level
of the dungeon is fifty feet high, and is divided into rectangular regions
(that range from small to several times larger than the screen)
by impenetrable walls. Once you leave a
level, you will never again find your way back to that region of that level, but
there are an infinite number of other regions at that same depth that you can
explore later. Monsters move about just as you do, and you may see them again.
--- Terrain ---
Rubble:
Blocks movement, but is relatively easy to dig through. Rubble may contain
hidden objects.
Permanent walls:
You can dig through most walls but some are impenetrable. The dungeon is
surrounded by these kinds of walls and some special rooms are made of them.
Staircases and shafts:
Staircases allow your character to ascend or descend from one level to
another, and are represented by white "<" (up) and ">" (down). Each level has at
least one up staircase, and two down staircases, unless it is the home of Sauron
(level 99/4950') or Morgoth (level 100/5000'), whom you must kill before
staircases will appear. Otherwise, the staircases are guaranteed, but they may
be difficult to find. Once you leave a level, you can never return to it.
Watch out for spells and traps that can suddenly force you off the level. "Shafts"
are represented by light brown "<" (up) and ">" (down) and will take you up or down
two levels instead of one.
Secret doors:
Many secret doors exist in the dungeon, and may lead to anything from a new
section of the dungeon level to an empty closet. As your familiarity with the
dungeon grows, you will know where many secret doors are likely to be. Secret
doors always look like granite until found.
You find secret doors by using the 's'earch command. Many classes can
also use magic and everyone can use the appropriate magical device.
Traps:
Traps also await you in the dungeon. They look like normal floor squares until found, too often by your being caught by one.
You find traps by using the 's'earch command. Many classes can also use magic and everyone can use the appropriate magical device.
Monster Traps:
Certain classes can set traps for the monsters by using the 'O" command. \
Monster traps can also be modified with the 'O' command as well. These traps
increase in power as the player gains levels.
Runes:
Runes also await you in the dungeon. They look like normal floor squares
until they cast a spell at you. Some runes are quite dangerous
Rooms:
The Pits of Angband contain many kinds of rooms, including some that house
hordes of monsters, contain extraordinary items, or are filled with deadly
traps. Some special rooms, known as vaults, are extremely dangerous and
lucrative.
Mining:
There is much treasure in the walls of the dungeon, just waiting for an
industrious adventurer to come and dig it out. Once you can afford it, and if
you can handle the weight, bring a shovel or pick along. Your ability to tunnel
depends on strength, weapon weight, and any special digging bonus it provides.
Your success depends on these factors and the strength of the wall: granite is
very hard, quartz is hard, magma is soft, and rubble is very soft.
As you get richer, the treasures in the wall won't seem so appealing
anymore, but keep an item or spell of tunneling handy. Not only do all sorts of
special vaults lie deep below the surface, some completely enclosed by solid
rock, but smart adventurers deliberately alter the dungeon to make the most
dangerous breathers and summoners manageable.
--- Advanced Terrain Types ---
In NPPAngband, Morgoth has made many levels of his dungeon to look like the
outside world. For instance, there are levels that have lakes, forests, desert,
and many other types of terrain. Entire dungeon levels can be themed after one
of these terrain types.
In general, when a player or creature is native to a terrain, they can move through
the terrain quicker. Native creatures also have a combat advantage. They tend to
be harder to hit, and get hits more frequently when battling non-native creatures.
When players or creatures are in terrain they are not native to, they take longer
to move through the terrain, and most likely will not be as effective in combat.
These advantages and disadvantages tend to be more extreme in deep terrain, or
thicker brush in forests. The player's stealth can be affected by the terrain
they are in.
These terrains can be altered or negated by certain combat effects. For example,
casting a fireball in a forest can start a forest fire that can hurt or kill monsters
and players, or burn the forest down to the ground.
The player and creatures can take damage when standing on certain terrain types. A
common sense approach should be taken when entering these terrains. For example,
all but the most powerful characters will die if they step in lava or any boiling
water, unless they have equipment or magic that makes them native to lava terrains.
In all instances below, creatures who are actively flying do not get the combat and
movement bonuses.
Forest:
This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to creatures native to forests.
It can sometimes be burned by fire. The player can duffer minor damage and cuts
walking through thick underbrush.
Sand:
This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to creatures native to sand.
The player rarely will suffer damage by simply standing in sand based terrains. Sand
based spells and magic are more powerful on sand based terrains.
Water:
This terrain gives a significant combat and movement advantage to creatures
native to water. The player rarely will suffer damage by simply standing in
water based terrains. Cold based attacks can occasionally freeze water. Fire based
attacks can sometimes evaporate water. Water, cold, ice, boiling water and electric based
spells and magic are more powerful on water based terrains. Fire, sand, and boiling mud
based attacks are less effective on water based terrains.
Boiling Water:
All but the most powerful or magically protected adventurer's will die instantly
when standing on boiling water. This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to
creatures native to a combination of lava and water. Lava, fire, water, boiling mud,
and boiling water based attacks are more effective on boiling water based terrains.
Cold based spells and magic are less effective on boiling water based terrains.
Mud:
This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to creatures native to mud.
Unless it is boiling mud, the player rarely will suffer damage by simply standing
in mud based terrains.
Boiling Mud:
All but the most powerful or magically protected adventurer's will die instantly
when standing on boiling mud. This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to
creatures native to a combination of lava and mud. Lava, fire, boiling mud, and
boiling water based attacks are more effective on boiling mud based terrains. Water
and cold based spells and magic are less effective on boiling mud based terrains.
Ice:
This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to creatures native to ice.
It can sometimes be melted by fire. Ice and cold based spells and magic are more
powerful on ice based squares. Water based spells and magic are less effective on ice
based terrains.
Oil:
Includes oil and coal. Native creatures have a significant combat and movement
advantage when fighting in Oil based terrains. Most of this terrain type can
easily be set on fire. Burning oil or coal will instantly kill most lower and
medium level characters and creatures who are standing on that square.
Acid:
The player can take a significant amount of damage standing in acid based squares.
This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to creatures native to acid. Acid
based spells and magic are more powerful on acid based squares.
Lava:
All but the most powerful or magically protected adventurer's will die instantly
when standing in lava. This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to
creatures native to lava. Lava can sometimes be cooled by powerful cold based spells.
Lava, fire, boiling mud, and boiling water based attacks are more effective on lava based
terrains. Water, cold, and ice based spells and magic are less effective on lava
based terrains.
Fire:
The player can take a significant amount of damage standing in fire based squares.
This terrain gives a combat and movement advantage to creatures native to fire. Fire
based spells and magic are more powerful on fire based square. Lava, boiling mud
and boiling water based attacks are more effective on fire based terrains. Cold,
based spells and magic are less effective on fire based terrains. Fires
can sometimes be extinguished by water or poweful cold based spells.
The player retains all information they have observed about terrain. To access this
information, go to the knowledge screens (press'~') and go to the terrain knowledge
section.
--- Effects ---
Unique to NPPAngband is an "effects" layer in the dungeon. In Angband and most
variants, the dungeon has three layers: One layer for the dungeon floor, one layer
for objects and one for creatures. NPPAngband has a 4th layer called the "effects"
layer. This is an area of the dungeon in between the floor and the ceiling. This
dungeon layer can hold many different kinds of things, ranging from harmless fog to
dangerous magic that can damage or kill the player.
Many effects can be dangerous in that they block line of sight, but allow movement
and spell projection. Magically detecting monsters is now more important than ever.
The basic terrain effect types are as follows:
Lingering cloud:
The after effects of very powerful magic. This can be anything from the smoke from
a fireball spell, to posionous clouds that continue to harm the player each turn the
player is standing in the cloud. This cloud will slowly dissipate after some time.
Permanent cloud:
This is similar to a lingering cloud, but the cloud will not dissipate over time.
Shimmering cloud:
Can also be the after effects of very powerful magic. This cloud can stay dormant,
harmless, and invisible, and then explode every couple turns. These clouds can also
slowly dissipate over time.
Traps, Runes and Glyphs:
Starting with NPP 050, all traps, glyphs and runes are now effects. They can exist
on many different floor types. In Vanilla Angband and older versions of NPPAngband,
traps could only exist on empty floors.
Glacier:
A particular effect that allows line of sight, but not movement or spell effects.
The player retains all information they have observed about effects. To access this
information, go to the knowledge screens (press'~') and go to the terrain knowledge
section.
Inscriptions:
On dungeon walls you will find inscriptions that will give you hints as to
the type of creatures that exist on the level. Some inscriptions are dangerous
and may harm the player under certain circumstances.
--- Exploring ---
Light:
Your character must have some source of light in order to see, unless the
area around him is magically lit. Depending on the items he has equipped, he
may have a light radius of one (a torch), two (a lantern), or more, up to a
rarely-attained maximum of five. Never risk being without light.
A torch or lantern burns fuel, and may be refilled (use the 'F'uel command)
with other torches or flasks of oil respectively. It is rumoured that other
light sources exist which never need replenishing.
In addition you may get access to spells which permanently light up areas
of the dungeon; these can be truly handy, because a monster you can see coming
is much less dangerous.
Food and Regeneration:
Never risk being without food. You must eat every so often in order to
avoid starvation. The speed at which you consume food depends on your race
(trolls need to eat a lot) and the items you wear.
The speed at which you regenerate is doubled when you are resting (so rest
in place instead of staying in place whenever possible), and is also affected by
various object attributes and temporary conditions.
Stealth:
The higher your stealth, and the further away you are, the less you disturb
the rest of sleeping monsters.
Searching and Detection:
There are two ways to find hidden areas of the dungeon, doors, traps,
objects, and monsters; manual searching and magic. At the beginning of the
game, you find everything manually. If you suspect the existence of secret
doors or traps, press 's' to search the grids around you for one turn. Later
on, you get access to objects and spells that do this for you, and very handy
they are.
Level Feelings:
If you have spent enough time on the level, you will get a feeling
about that level. The more interesting the choice of adjectives, the more
dangerous and lucrative the level is likely to be.
Things that boost level feelings include: out of depth monsters, out of
depth uniques, out of depth objects, certain powerful object kinds, very
special rooms, and chests.
Preserve Mode:
If you do not have preserve mode on, you will occasionally get the message
"You feel there is something special about this level.", indicating the presence
of a monster pit or nest, a vault, or an artifact.
However, turning preserve mode off also means that artifacts are created
only once; they will never appear again. You can check the artifacts that have
been found or lost by using the knowledge '~' menu.
--- The Passage of Time ---
Both monsters and characters gain energy each turn and use it to perform
actions. Any creature that moves at normal speed gains 10 energy per game turn;
any monster move and most character actions take 100 energy. Some monsters move
at double speed and you can too, if you quaff a Potion of Speed. Actions still
take the same amount of energy, but they and you gain twice the energy each
turn. Further down, monsters lurk that move even faster, and rare items exist
that enable you to keep pace. If you can, avoid being slower than your foes.
An abbreviated speed-to-energy table:
(very slow creatures can get as little as 1 energy per turn)
-20 speed: 3 energy
-15 : 4
-10 : 5
-5 : 6
normal : 10
+5 : 15
+10 : 20
+15 : 25
+20 : 30
+25 : 35
+30 : 38 (energy only goes up very slowly above +30 speed)
Regeneration and recovery:
Every 10 game turns, you regenerate some hitpoints and mana (unless you are
ill or wounded), and get hurt by cuts and poison. Temporary conditions count
down, rods recharge, and light sources use fuel. Every 100 game turns, you
digest some food. Every hundred thousand game turns equals one day; the town
spends half that time in darkness and the other half in light.
Every time it takes a turn, every monster aware of you recovers from
temporary conditions. Every 100 game turns, they regenerate hitpoints.
====== Objects ======
The mines far below the surface are full of objects just waiting to be
picked up and used. The treasures of long-forgotten kingdoms, dragon's hordes,
heirlooms, wizard's stashes, and the plunder from every age of the world unite
with the scattered earthly possessions of all the foolish adventurers who died
before you to offer unimaginable wealth for those bold enough to seize it.
--- Learning about objects ---
Learning about objects:
When you begin the game, most objects are unknown to you, and an important
task is to learn more about them so that you can use them reliably. The
standard way to learn about an object is to identify it, but scrolls of Identify
and Staffs of Perception are too expensive to use on everything.
Full identification:
Some items have special powers. Ego-item descriptions usually tell you
everything, but artifacts are known only by legend. To learn absolutely
everything about an object, read a scroll of *identify* on it. If you
don't have access to one, the magic shop offers *identify* as a service if
you haven enough gold. You can also try using the object a lot and inscribing it.
Scanning wargear automatically (Pseudo-ID):
Every so often, you automatically scan un-identified wargear (weapons and
armour). If you learn something, the item is inscribed.
Item description weak sensing strong sensing
average item: (item is identified) (item is identified)
item with plusses "good" "good"
ego-item (weapon of flame) "good" "excellent"
artifact (unique item) "good" "special"
cursed artifact "cursed" "terrible"
cursed ego-item "cursed" "worthless"
cursed ordinary object "cursed" "cursed"
--- Object information ---
'I'nspecting a specific object will pop up a special display that may tell
you useful things about it. If the item is fully identified, you see all of its
attributes.
Known attributes of equipped items are displayed in the character screen
display (type 'C' to bring up the character screen, then press '+/-' to cycle
through the information). This interface is helpful when you want to optimize
your equipment.
--- Inventory, quiver and equipment ---
Your inventory (backpack), quiver, and equipment (your person):
You pick up objects by moving on top on them or staying still (if you have
the "auto_pickup" option on), or by using various pickup commands. You
may carry up to 23 different items or piles of items,, and have 12 areas of your
body where wearable equipment may go. Press 'i', and you see the contents of
your backpack; press 'e' and you see what you are wearing. Both listings toggle
open and closed when you press the space key. Items on the floor display in
similar fashion if you have the "easy_floor" option set.
When choosing items, you switch between inventory and equipment by pressing
'/', and switch between the floor and either of these two by pressing '-'.
Burden:
Carry too much weight, and you will begin to slow down, making it easier
for monsters to kill you. The point at which your load thus hinders you depends
on your strength. You begin to slow down at 60% of your max carrying capacity.
Floor items:
If objects are allowed to stack (which they are by default), up to 23
objects or piles of objects may stack in a single floor grid.
Quiver:
Your equipment also has a quiver, which may hold up to ten different kinds
of ammo or throwing weapons. You have to 'w'ield your ammo and a proper missile
launcher in order to use the quiver. Ammo is shot with the 'f'ire command and
it's usually sorted like the inventory. The quiver occupies pack space and
every 99 missiles it will consume one inventory slot.
To speed up shooting, the game gives a pseudo-tag to each quiver slot.
This pseudo-tag is shown before the ammo's name when you browse your equipment
and usually appears as "f0", "f1", etc. When the 'f'ire command asks you to
choose an ammo slot you can type the number which appears in the pseudo-tag
instead of the slot label.
Ammo in NPPAngband is divided in three groups: ammo for crossbows, bows
and slings. Each group has a different set of pseudo-tags, each one starting
from "f0". This allows you to easily change your missile launcher without
having to reorganize your quiver or reinscribe ammo.
Players who use macros will find this useful:
You can give ammo a specific pseudo-tag by using inscriptions like {@1}, {@f1},
{@f9}, etc. It means that the pseudo-tag will be fixed and it won't change when
the quiver is reorganized (example: when you shot a whole stack of ammo or
when you wield new ammo) Fixed pseudo-tags appears as "@f1", "@f7", etc.
Players who use the CTRL-V command (repeat last command) instead of macros
to deal with shooting will note that the 'f'ire command is more careful now and
it doesn't use the next slot automatically when a whole stack of ammo is shot.
You'll notice that ammo on the floor is automatically wielded if it has
been fired from, or can be merged with ith existing ammo in the quiver.
You can also use the "=g" inscription to pick up ammo and place it in the quiver
regardless of the existence of matching ammo in the quiver.
Throwing weapons can be put in the quiver too. You must inscribe the
throwing weapon with "@v", "@v1", "@v2", etc. before wielding it. If the
weapon doesn't contain one of those inscriptions it will be put in the main
weapon slot, like any ordinary weapon. Note that those weapons will be thrown
with the throw command ('v'). You can also add "=g" to your inscription to put
the weapon automatically in the quiver when you walk over it.
--- Object types ---
Magical devices:
In NPPAngband, wands, staves and rods all stack, and don't unstack
when used.
Chests:
Chests are difficult and dangerous to open, as they usually contain both
traps and locks. If you succeed, you may be rewarded handsomely. Chests in
NPPAngband are themed, ranging from large amounts of gold to all kinds of
weapons and armor, and some of the most powerful items in the game.
Scroll of Word of Recall:
The Scroll of Word of Recall deserves special mention. Read in the
dungeon, it brings you back to the town. Read in the town, it takes you back to
your previous recall depth. This spell takes a little time to take effect, so
don't expect it to save you in a crisis. Should you mistakenly read a Scroll of
Word of Recall, you may cancel it by reading another.
If you read this scroll above your current recall depth, you get a special
message asking you if you want to reset it. If you say yes, the level you are
on becomes the new recall depth.
Ego-Weapons and Armours:
Some rare weapons and armours have special abilities. These are called ego
items, and are feared by great and meek.
Dragon Scale Mail and Shields:
These extremely rare pieces of armour come in many different types, each
protecting you against the relevant dragons. They also occasionally allow you
to breathe as dragons do!
Artifacts:
There are rumors of incredibly rare, unique artifacts which are even more
powerful than ego items. Some artifacts are standard, and you may already know
of their fame, while others will certainly be unfamiliar to you and will need to
be fully identified (*identified*). Artifacts cannot be destroyed unless you
read a curse armor or curse weapon scroll, although they can be disenchanted.
--- Object enhancement ---
Weapons and armour may have bonuses to hit chance, damage, and armour
class; it can be very useful indeed to increase these values by reading scrolls
of Enchant Weapon and Enchant Armour.
- The higher the plusses are, the harder it is to raise them further. It
is especially difficult to raise them above 9 or 10.
- The larger the pile of objects you try to enchant, the more likely it is
that you will fail. However, ammunition is unusually easy to enchant.
- You can sometimes break curses on objects by enchanting them.
The armory and weaponsmith offer enchantment services for your weapons and
armor, for a price.
--- Object destruction ---
Objects may be damaged or destroyed on the floor, in your backpack, and
(sometimes) even damaged while you are wearing them.
- Acid destroys armour, weapons, missile launchers, ammunition, scrolls,
staffs, and chests. It may damage equipped armour that does not ignore
acid.
- Electricity destroys rings, amulets, rods, and wands.
- Fire destroys torches, arrows, missile launchers, hafted weapons and
polearms, gloves, boots, cloaks, shields, soft body armour, spellbooks,
scrolls, staffs, and chests.
- Frost, sound, and shards destroy potions and empty bottles.
- Equipped items with plusses can be disenchanted.
- Wands and staffs can be destroyed by failed recharges.
- Boiling mud destroys scrolls.
- Boiling water destroys flasks, potions, and bottles.
- Lava can destroy vitrually all objects, unless the object is indescructable,
such as an artifact.
--- Cursed Objects ---
Many cursed items exist in the Pits -- either left behind as the result of
failed attempts to create magic items, or deliberately placed by gleeful evil
sorcerers who enjoy a good joke when it gets you killed.
These horrible objects look perfectly innocent, but will detract from your
character's stats or abilities if worn. You cannot remove them without breaking
the curse first. In fact, some are so badly cursed that even this will not
work, and more potent methods are needed.
If you wear or wield a cursed item, you will immediately feel deathly cold,
and the item will be marked "cursed".
Shopkeepers will refuse to buy any item that is known to be cursed.
====== Monsters ======
Monsters are worth experience:
Defeat a monster, and you will gain experience. The amount you gain
depends on the base monster value, multiplied by its native depth, divided by
your level.
Your Monster Memory:
When you see a monster for the first time, all you know are its physical
attributes and whatever information the monster description may provide. As you
fight and kill monsters, use various attacks on them, probe them with magic, and
get killed by them, you learn more about their strengths and weaknesses.
You recall this memory in one of three ways: 'l'ooking at/e'x'amining the
monster and then pressing 'r' for recall, or by pressing '/' and typing the
monster's letter, or by pressing '~' and going to the monster knowlesge section.
Unlike object memory, monster memory can be passed on even after your
character dies. You may use menu commands or command-line options to open up a
specific file that contains a character with a monster memory.
The Monster Health Bar:
A good way to keep track of a specific monster is to target it. When you
do so, its health bar appears on the left side of the main screen, just below
the hitpoint and mana indicators. Similar health bars are also used when
looking around and when displaying the closest monsters.
The health bar uses several letter and colors to tell you more about the monster.
Confused - "c", Stunned - "s", Sleeping - "z", and "* when
the monster is none of the above. Otherwise - green when healthy, and yellow,
orange, and red when wounded, and if frightened - violet,.
The Monster Mana Bar:
A good way to keep track of a specific monster's mana is to target it. When
you do so, its health bar appears on the left side of the main screen, just below
the hitpoint and mana indicators. Similar health bars are also used when
looking around and when displaying the closest monsters.
Monster attributes:
The special attributes of monsters can make all the difference to the
danger they pose to you. Some of the more interesting are listed and described.
- Hitpoints : Some monsters die easily, others can withstand almost
anything.
- Armour : Some monsters are easy to hit with melee blows or missiles,
others evade or block them quite often.
- Awareness : Some monsters will stay asleep even if you dance in front of
them, others are ever vigilant. The distance that monsters can
perceive you (if you are not in line of sight) also varies greatly.
- Color : The color of a monster can be a valuable hint.
- Chromatic : Changes colors randomly.
- Invisible : Cannot be seen with normal sight.
- Warm-blooded : Some monsters can be seen with infravision, others can't.
- Telepathy : Some monsters are always visible with telepathy, others are
rarely visible, and others still never visible.
- Uses symbol : Appears exactly like whatever terrain it is on.
- Groups : Monsters may appear in groups, or have escorts.
- Multiply : Monster breeds explosively.
- Drops : Monsters may drop anything from nothing at all to many excellent
objects.
- Experience : The experience you get from killing monsters varies greatly.
- Evasive: They can frequently dodge an attack at them.
- Bash Door : Most monsters (but not all) can either bash down or open
doors. Everyone can close doors, and some characters can spike doors to
delay their foes.
- Pass Wall : Ghosts and some other creatures can float right through
ordinary walls.
- Hurt by ... : Monsters may be especially susceptible to light or rock
remover.
- Resistant to ... : Monsters can be especially resistant to any or all of
the elements or poison, or any of the esoteric magics.
- Cannot be ... : Monsters may be immune to fear, slowing, stunning,
sleeping, or confusion.
- Regenerate : Recovers battle damage unusually quickly.
- Spells : Monsters may fire physical missiles, breathe, cast spells to
hurt and hinder you, blink and teleport you and themselves, heal them-
selves, haste themselves or other monsters, summon more opponents,
and many other things!
- Casting speed : Be careful of monsters that cast spells very often,
especially if they also move quickly.
- Mana - monsters have mana limitations. When they are out, they can't
cast most spells. Note that the dangerous breath attacks do not use
any mana.
- Spell power - affects how much damage a monster spell does
- Smart : Monsters may be skilled at choosing spells, somewhat skilled, or
unskilled
- Breath Powerfully : Dragon breaths have a larger blast angle, and do.
a hihger amount of damage per monster HP with certain kinds of breaths.
- Blows : Monsters can do great damage and inflict nasty effects in melee.
- Flying: Some monsters have the ability to fly, and will do do when it
allows them to move more quickly through the dungeon.
QUESTS: (This file was last edited for NPPAngband 0.5.1) There are five different styles of quests in NPPAngband. There are two types of fixed quests and five types of optional quests. FIXED QUESTS: "Vanilla" Angband has always had two standard fixed quests: Kill Sauron at 4950 feet. Kill Morgoth at 5000 feet. When one of these quests is completed, a staircase appears to allow a player to go deeper in the dungeon. A player must kill Sauron at 4950 feet in order to be able to meet Morgoth. Defeating Morgoth, or completing both quests, wins the game. These quests are unchanged for every game. FIXED UNIQUE QUESTS: This is unchanged from Angband. The player always has two fixed quests, defeat Sauron and Morgoth, in order to win the game. The player cannot dive deeper than their native depths before completing these quests. FIXED QUESTS: While coding support exists in NPPAngband to add additional fixed quests to kill an assigned number of a given creature at a given depth, there are currently no fixed quests in the game. Additional fixed quests could be added by altering the quests.txt and limits.txt files. This would destroy savefile compatibility, and would need to be done before starting a new game. (Note: Do not attempt this unless you know *exactly* what you are doing.) OPTIONAL QUESTS: NPPAngband has a town building called the Adventurer's Guild. A player may choose to visit this building and receive a quest from the Guild. Initially, a player can choose only monster quest. After the player has gone as deep as level 10 (500') they may choose a quest to clear out a pit or nest. After the player has gone as deep as level 15 (750') they may choose a quest to clear an entire level of a particular type of monster. Occasionally, the player has the choice of a vault (artifact) quest. The guild will never assign more than one optional quest at any time. Upon completion of an optional quest, the guild gives a reward to the player. At any given time, the status of the player's optional quest can be viewed by pressing <CTRL-Q>. The Adventurer's Guild (building # 9 in the town) chooses what kind of quest the adventurer is given. The guild can assign five different types of quests: MONSTER QUESTS- This is the most common quest. The player is assigned to go to a specified depth, based on the average difficulty of monsters 0-5 levels below the quest level, and kill a certain number of monsters (usually around 11 creatures). The depth of the quest and number of monsters varies. Unlike fixed quests, it is not mandatory to complete the quest in order to win the game. A player can choose to dive right past the designated quest level, or leave and return to a quest level. Leaving an optional quest level without killing the required number of creatures can result in a failed quest. Failing a quest greatly tarnishes the player's reputation at the guild. UNIQUE QUESTS: When the player chooses monster quest, the player can either get assigned a monster quest or a unique quest. Unique quests are similar to guild quests, except the quest is always to kill one unique. The unique will be from several levels deeper than typical guild quest monsters. The unique will always appear at the specified quest depth until killed or the quest fails. Since Uniques tend to be more difficult to kill than regular creatures, this type of quest tends to be more difficult than monster quests. VAULT, or ARTIFACT QUESTS: This quest is to go to a specified depth, retrieve an artifact and return it to the guild, which is being held by a monster inside a small vault on a small, or "arena", level. The artifact is special in that it cannot be weilded by the player. Returning the artifact to the adventurer's guild completes the quest. The difficulty of an artifact quest is dependent on the monsters guarding the artifact. You will most likely need some form of tunneling, such as a digging tool or a magic source of stone-to-mud, to gain access to the vault. Voluntarily leaving a level with the quest vault results in immediate quest failure. PIT, or NEST QUESTS: This quest is to go to a specified depth and kill or destroy every creature in a monster pit or nest. A monster pit/nest has 95 creatures of a given theme. Since there are so many like creatures bunched so closely together, a creature from inside one of these special pits/nests will not attempt to summon more creatures to the battle. This type of quest tends to be more difficult than a monster or unique quest. It also increases your player fame by a greater amount than a regular monster quest, and offers more lucrative rewards. Voluntarily leaving a Pit/Nest quest level results in immediate quest failure. THEMED LEVEL QUESTS: This quest is a more difficult version of the Monster Pit/Nest quests. Instead of 95 creatures in a pit or nest specified depth, and entire level is full between 195 - 275 monsters of a particular theme. Since there are so many like creatures bunched so closely together, a creature from inside one of these themed levels will not attempt to summon more creatures to the battle. This tends to be the most difficult type of quest, increases your player fame by the greatest amount, and offers the most lucrative rewards. Voluntarily leaving a themed level results in immediate quest failure. REWARD: The biggest reason to take on an optional quest is the reward. The quality of the reward depends on two factors. The first factor is the difficulty of the quest. The second factor is the player's reputation at the guild. The player's reputation at the guild is increased by completing quests and by killing uniques. When the advanturer fails a quest, their reputation at the guild is greatly decreased. Early in the game, the quest reward is usually gold. As a player's reputation at the guild increases, the guild will choose to reward the player with stat gain potions, dungeon spellbooks, or guaranteed good or guaranteed great equipment. If a player's reputation at the guild is high enough, the guild may attempt to tailor a great item to the player's biggest need, based on an evaluation of the equipment the player is wearing, as well as the equipment in the player's backpack and home. The player can also receive permanent increases to their speed or maximum hit points. The ultimate reward is for the guild to create an artifact specifically as a quest reward. The player will even be given a chance to name the artifact.
Interacting with the Game
(a) List of Commands (cmdlist.txt)
(b) Command Descriptions (cmddesc.txt)
(c) Options (options.txt)
(d) Inscriptions and Macros (macro.txt)
(e) Preferences (pref.txt)
# go to line % go to file ? go to last file/main menu
SPACE advance 1 page - back up 1 page / search for text
RET advance 1 line = back up 1 line & show (highlight) some text
+ advance 1/2 page _ back up 1/2 page ! toggle case sentitivity
====== List of commands ======
Original Keyset Directions - walk Original Keyset Directions - run
7 8 9 shift + 7 8 9
4 6 4 6
1 2 3 1 2 3
Command Summary -- Original keyset
a Aim a wand A Activate an artifact
b Browse a book B Bash a door
c Close a door C Character description
d Drop an item D Disarm a trap
e Equipment list E Eat some food
f Fire an item F Fuel your lantern/torch
g Get objects off the floor G Gain new spells/prayers
h (unused) H Auto-explore
i Inventory list I Observe an item
j Jam a door J (unused)
k Destroy an item K (unused)
l Look around L Locate player on map
m Cast a spell or pray a prayer M Full dungeon map
n Repeat last command N (unused)
o Open a door or chest O Organize (set) a trap
p Pray a prayer or cast a spell P Pilfer from monsters
q Quaff a potion Q Quit (commit suicide)
r Read a scroll R Rest for a period
s Search for traps/doors S Start/stop searching
t Take off equipment T Dig a tunnel
u Use a staff U (unused)
v Throw an item V Version info
w Wear/wield equipment W (unused)
x (unused) X (switch weapon macro)
y (unused) Y (unused)
z Zap a rod Z (unused)
! Interact with system ^A (special - debug command)
@ Interact with macros ^B (unused)
# (unused) ^C (special - break)
$ (unused) ^D (unused)
% Interact with visuals ^E Toggle choice window
^ (special - control key) ^F Repeat level feeling
& Interact with colors ^G {reserved}
* Target monster or location ^H Use floating help menu
( Unused ^I (special - tab)
) Dump HTML screen dump ^J (special - linefeed)
{ Inscribe an object ^K (unused)
} Uninscribe an object ^L (unused)
[ (unused) ^M (special - return)
] Display Itemlist ^N (unused)
- Walk (flip pickup) ^O (unused)
_ Enter store ^P Show previous messages
+ Alter grid ^Q Display current quest
= Set options ^R Redraw the screen
; Walk (normal pickup) ^S Save and don't quit
: Take notes ^T (unused)
' (unused) ^U (unused)
" Enter a user pref command ^V Repeat last command
, Stay still (normal pickup) ^W (special - wizard mode)
< Go up staircase ^X Save and quit
. Run ^Y (unused)
> Go down staircase ^Z (special - borg command)
\ (special - bypass keymap) ! Port Specific preferences
` (special - escape) ~ Check knowledge
/ Identify symbol ? Help
------
Roguelike Keyset Directions - walk Roguelike Keyset Directions - run
y k u Y K U
h l H L
b j n B J N
The Roguelike keyset also allows you to alter grids using control-direction.
Command Summary -- Roguelike keyset
a Zap a rod (Activate) A Activate an artifact
b (walk - south west) B (run - south west)
c Close a door C Character description
d Drop an item D Disarm a trap or chest
e Equipment list E Eat some food
f Bash a door (force) F Fuel your lantern/torch
g Stay still (flip pickup) G Gain new spells/prayers
h (walk - west) H (run - west)
i Inventory list I Observe an item
j (walk - south) J (run - south)
k (walk - north) K (run - north)
l (walk - east) L (run - east)
m Cast a spell M Full dungeon map
n (walk - south east) N (run - south east)
o Open a door or chest O Organize (set) a trap
p Pray a prayer P Browse a book
q Quaff a potion Q Quit (commit suicide)
r Read a scroll R Rest for a period
s Search for traps/doors S Jam a door (Spike)
t Fire an item T Take off equipment
u (walk - north east) U (run - north east)
v Throw an item V Version info
w Wear/wield equipment W Locate player on map (Where)
x Look around X (switch weapon macro)
y (walk - north west) Y (run - north west)
z Aim a wand (Zap) Z Use a staff (Zap)
! Interact with system ^A (special - debug command)
@ Interact with macros ^B (alter - south west)
# Start/stop searching ^C (special - break)
$ (unused) ^D Destroy item
% Interact with visuals ^E Toggle choice window
^ (special - control key) ^F Repeat level feeling
& Interact with colors ^G Get objects off the floor
* Target monster or location ^H (alter - west)
( Load screen dump ^I (special - tab)
) Dump screen dump ^J (alter - south)
{ Inscribe an object ^K (alter - north)
} Uninscribe an object ^L (alter - east)
[ (unused) ^M (special - return)
] Get objects off the floor ^N (alter - south east)
- Walk (flip pickup) ^O Pilfer from Monsters
_ Enter store ^P Show previous messages
+ Alter grid ^Q Display current quest
= Set options ^R Redraw the screen
; Walk (normal pickup) ^S Save and don't quit
: Take notes ^T Dig a Tunnel
' Repeat last command ^U (alter - north east)
" Enter a user pref command ^V Repeat last command
, Run ^W (special - wizard mode)
< Go up staircase ^X Save and quit
. Stay still for one turn ^Y (alter - north west)
> Go down staircase ^Z (special - borg command)
\ (special - bypass keymap) | (unused)
` (special - escape) ~ Check knowledge
/ Identify symbol ? Help
====== Basic Command Information ======
Canceling a Command:
Virtually all commands can be canceled at any point before execution by
hitting the ESC key.
Command Counts:
Any command that can be repeated, or that can manipulate more than one
object, can take a count. By default, most that do are automatically given a
count of 99. Although most commands that usually need a quantity will ask for
one, for other commands a quantity is only sometimes desired. Hence command
counts. For example, to tunnel into a wall exactly 50 times, you would type a
zero ("0"), then "50", followed by a return. Then use the tunnel command. All
commands that use quantities will stop if you are disturbed, accomplish your
intended task, hit any key, or when the count expires.
Doing More with Less Effort:
The section on making macros describes how to:
- quickly switch to a shovel or backup weapon,
- fire a missile or cast commonly used spells with a single keystroke,
- prevent accidental use of valuable equipment,
- and many other things
Interfaces:
See the "interfaces" section for more details about powerful and complex
commands.
====== Command Descriptions ======
Command names are followed by one or two characters: the first is that
used in the original keyset; the second, that used in the roguelike keyset (if
different).
--- Movement Commands ---
Stay still -- with normal pickup (,) / (.) :
Stay in the same square for one move. If you normally pick up objects you
encounter, you will pick up whatever you are standing on. You may also use the
"5" key (both keysets). This command takes a full turn.
Walk -- with normal pickup (;) :
This command activates every time you press a direction key; it moves you
one step in the given direction. This command takes a full turn.
Walk -- flip pickup (-) :
Walk. If you normally pick things up, don't. Otherwise, do. This command
takes a full turn.
Run (.) / (,) :
This command is very useful for rapid dungeon exploration. It will move
you in the given direction, following any bends in the corridor, until you
either have to make a choice between two directions or are disturbed. Most
players run by holding down Shift and pressing a direction key.
Go up staircase (<) :
Ascend an up staircase. Going up a staircase will take you to a new
dungeon level unless you are at 50 feet (level 1), in which case you will return
to the town. This command takes a full turn. Some staircases give you the option
of going up either 50 feet (one level) or 100 feet (two levels).
Go down staircase (>) :
Descend a down staircase. Going down a staircase will take you to a new
dungeon level. This command takes a full turn. Some staircases give you the option
of going down either 50 feet (one level) or 100 feet (two levels).
--- Object Commands ---
Inventory list (i) :
Display a list of objects in your backpack.
Equipment list (e) :
Display a list of objects you are currently wielding, wearing, or otherwise
have immediately to hand.
Drop an item (d) :
Drop an item from your inventory or equipment onto the floor. If the grid
you are standing on has objects in it already, or cannot hold objects, the
object will end up nearby. Be warned that if the floor is very full, and you
attempt to drop something, it may disappear and be destroyed. This command
takes half a turn.
Destroy an item (k) / (Ctrl-D) :
Destroy an object in your inventory or on the dungeon floor. If the
"verify destroy" option is ON, you must verify this command. This command takes
a full turn, and also gives you an option to squelch all of these object types
in the future.
Wear/Wield equipment (w) :
Wear or wield an object in your inventory or from the floor. Since only
one object can be in each slot at a time, if you wear or wield an item into a
slot that is already occupied, the old item will first be taken off. If there
is no room in your inventory, it drops to the floor. This command takes a full
turn.
Take off equipment (t) / (T) :
Take off a (uncursed) piece of equipment and return it to your inventory.
If there is no room in your inventory for the item, your pack will overflow and
you will drop the item after taking it off. This command takes half a turn.
Switch primary and secondary weapon (X) :
Exchange whatever weapon you have wielded with the first weapon in your
inventory inscribed {@0} or {@w0}. This is very handy for swapping in and out
shovels. This command takes a full turn.
Inscribe an object ({) :
Inscribe an object. The inscription appears inside curly braces after the
object description. The inscription is limited to the particular object (or
pile) and is not automatically transferred to all similar objects, unless the
"Merge Inscriptions when Stacking" option is on.
Uninscribe an object (}) :
Remove the inscription on an object. This command will have no effect on
inscriptions added by the game itself (such as "{cursed}").
--- Object Usage Commands ---
Eat some food (E) :
Eat some food or a mushroom. This command takes a full turn.
Fuel your lantern/torch (F) :
You can refuel lanterns with flasks of oil and torches with other torches.
In general, two flasks will fully fuel a lantern and two torches will fully fuel
a torch. This command takes half a turn.
Quaff a potion (q) :
Drink a potion. This command takes a full turn.
Read a scroll (r) :
Read a scroll. Most scrolls which prompt for more information can be
aborted (by pressing escape), which will stop reading the scroll before it
disintegrates. This command takes a full turn.
Activate an object (A) :
You have heard rumours of special wearable items deep in the Pits, ones
that can let you breath fire like a dragon or light rooms with just a thought.
Should you ever be lucky enough to find such an item, this command will let you
activate its special power. This command takes a full turn.
Aim a wand (a) / (z) :
Use a staff (u) / (Z) :
Zap a rod (z) / (a) :
Uses the indicated kind of magical device. This command takes a full turn.
--- Dungeon and Object Alteration Commands ---
Tunnel (T) / (Ctrl-T) :
Dig through barriers, mine treasure found in wall seams, and otherwise
alter the dungeon to your liking. This command may take a count and requires a
full turn. This command also makes alot of noise.
Open a door or chest (o) :
Open a door or chest. If locked, you will attempt to pick the lock based
on your disarming ability. If you open a trapped chest without disarming the
traps first, they will activate. Some doors will be jammed shut and may have to
be bashed open. This command takes a full turn.
You may set the "easy_open" option to open doors that you walk into.
Close a door (c) :
Close a door. Some monsters cannot open doors, so shutting them can be
quite useful. Broken doors cannot be closed. This command takes a full turn.
Jam a door (j) / (S) :
Jam a door (so that it needs to be bashed down). Many monsters can simply
open closed doors, and can eventually get through a locked door. You may
therefore occasionally want to jam a door shut with iron spikes. Each spike
used on the door will make it harder to bash down the door, up to a limit of
eight. This command takes a full turn.
Bash a door (B) / (f) :
Bash down jammed doors. Your door bashing ability increases with strength.
Bashing open a door can (briefly) throw you off balance and sometimes ruins the
door. All doors can be bashed; jammed or spiked doors will not open any other
way. This command takes a full turn.
Disarm a trap or chest (D) :
You can attempt to disarm known traps on the floor or on chests. If you
fail, there is a chance that you will blunder and set it off. This command
takes a full turn.
Alter (+) :
This special command allows the use of a single keypress to select any of
the dungeon alteration commands above (attack, tunnel, bash, open, disarm,
close), and, by using macros or keymaps, to combine this keypress with
directions. This command takes a full turn.
Steal (Pilfer) from a Monster (P) / (^O):
For rogues only, this command can be used to attempt to steal from
a creature.
Organize (set) a trap (O):
For rogues only, turn an empty dungeon floor space into
a trap. Can also be used by rogues to make a normal monster trap into an
advanced trap if their level is high enough.
Get objects off of the dungeon floor ('g') :
Sort through and pick up selected objects off the floor grid the player
is standing on, regardless of squelch settings or the order of items on the
floor. This command takes no time.
--- Special Action Commands ---
Rest (R) :
You recover from wounds twice as quickly by resting than by repeatedly
staying still. This command can be told to stop automatically after a certain
amount of time, or when various conditions are met. In either case, you always
wake up when anything disturbs you, or when you press any key.
After typing 'R', use "*" to rest until your hitpoints and mana are
restored, and "&" to rest until you are fully "healed". This command may accept
a command count (used for the number of turns to rest), and takes a full turn.
Explore (H) :
Walks towards the nearest unexplored part of the level (or a seen object
you have not stood on yet), opening doors on the way, one step per turn. It
stops when a monster comes into view, when a message appears, when you press
a key, or when nothing is left to explore.
Walking to stairs ('<' / '>') : if you use '<' or '>' away from a
staircase, you walk to the nearest known staircase of that kind and take it;
if none is known yet, you explore until one is found.
Search (s) :
Search for hidden traps and secret doors adjacent to you. More than a
single turn of searching will be required in most cases. This command can take
a count, which is useful if you are confident of finding something eventually,
since the command stops as soon as anything is found. This command takes a full
turn.
Turn searching mode on and off (S) :
In searching mode, you search every time you move. You therefore move more
slowly. Search mode will automatically turn off if you are disturbed.
--- Spell and Prayer Commands ---
Browse a book (b) / (P) :
Open a readable book and read the spells or prayer in it, learning
information such as their level, cost to cast, etc. This command takes no time.
Gain new spells or prayers (G) :
When you are able to learn new spells or prayers, the word "Study" will
appear on the status line at the bottom of the screen. You then issue this
command and choose a book with unlearnt magics. Priests and Paladins get a
prayer at random; other magic-using classes may choose. This command takes a
full turn.
Cast a spell or Pray a prayer (m and p) :
Cast a known spell or prayer. This command takes a full turn.
--- Throwing and Missile Weapons ---
Fire an item (f) / (t) :
You may fire ammunition if you are wielding a missile weapon that uses it.
See the non-magical combat section for more information. This command takes a
full turn, unless you get extra shots.
Throw an item (v) :
You may throw any object carried by your character. See the non-magical
combat section for more information. This command takes a full turn.
Targeting (*) :
Aim directly at a specific monster or grid. See the interfaces section for
more information.
--- Information Commands ---
Help (?) :
Brings up the on-line help system.
Observe an object (I) :
Display extra information about a specific object, especially if you have
fully identified it. This command takes no time.
Character Description (C) :
Display extra information about your character. From this screen, you can
change names, review attributes, or save your character information ("character
dumps") to file.
Look around (l) / (x) :
Look around at nearby monsters (to determine their type, health, and
carried objects) and objects (to determine their type). This command can also
be used to find out what objects (if any) are under monsters, what terrain a
monster is in, and what is under the character. See the interfaces section for
more information. This command takes no time.
Check knowledge (~) :
This command allows you to review what you know about artifacts, unique
monsters, features, terrain, and objects. You can also review the contents of
your home, total kill count for each monster, view your player notes file,
or view the player hall of fame.
Identify Symbol (/) :
Find out what a character represents. For instance, by pressing '/', then
'.', you will learn that the "." symbol stands for a floor.
If you ask about a type of monsters, such as 'r' - rodents, and you have
knowledge of any, the game will offer to show monster recall. Type 'y' to
display an unsorted list, 'p' to list by monster level, 'k' to list by number of
kills, and any other key to cancel.
You may also use this command to ask about all monsters (type Control-A),
unique monsters (Control-U), or non-unique monsters (Control-N).
This command takes no time.
Full screen map (M) :
Show a map of the entire dungeon on screen. Only the major dungeon
features will be visible because of the scale, so even some important things may
not show up. This command is particularly useful in locating where the stairs
are relative to your current position, or for identifying unexplored areas of
the dungeon. This command takes no time.
Locate player on map (L) / (W) :
This command lets you scroll your map around, looking at all sectors of the
current dungeon level, until you press escape, at which point the map will be
re-centered on the player if necessary. To scroll the map around, press any of
the direction keys. The top line will display the sector location, and the
offset from your current sector. This command takes no time.
Game Version (V) :
Learn what version of the game you are playing.
--- Message Commands ---
Repeat level feeling (Ctrl-F) :
Displays your feeling about the dungeon level. This command takes no time.
Display Quest (CTRL-Q)
Displays the character's current quest, if they are on one.
This command takes no time.
View previous messages (Ctrl-P) :
Shows you all the recent messages. You can scroll through them or exit
with ESCAPE. This command takes no time.
View previous message (Ctrl-O) :
Shows you the most recent message. This command takes no time.
Take notes (:) :
Allows you to take notes, which will then appear in your notes file.
This command takes no time.
--- Saving and Exiting Commands ---
Save and Quit (Ctrl-X) :
Save your character to file and exits the game.
Save (Ctrl-S) :
Save the game but don't exit it. Use this frequently if you are paranoid
about having your computer crash (or your power go out) while you are playing.
Quit (commit suicide) (Q or Ctrl-K) :
Kill or retire your character and exit the game. You will be prompted to
make sure you really want to do this, and then asked to verify that choice.
Note that dead characters are dead forever.
This is also how you retire after slaying Morgoth.
--- Preferences Commands ---
Interact with options (=) :
Set and review options. See the options section for more information.
Interact with macros (@) :
Create, load, and save macros and keymaps. See the macro and keymaps
section for more information.
Interact with visuals (%) :
Change, load, and save visual preferences that determine how objects,
monsters, and dungeon features display. See the visuals section for more
information.
Interact with colors (&) :
Change the basic colors used by the game. This command only works on some
systems. See the visuals section for more information.
Interact with multimedia (!) :
Adjust sound volume, change between graphics and text, and any other things
that the port of the game you are using allows. This command only works on some
systems. See the visuals section for more information.
--- Extra Commands ---
Toggle Choice Window (Ctrl-E) :
Toggle the display in any special windows (if available) which are
displaying your inventory or equipment.
Redraw Screen (Ctrl-R) :
Update the screen to adapt to various changes in global options, and
redraws all of the windows. It is normally only necessary in abnormal
situations, such as after changing the visual preferences or changing display
modes.
Save screen dump (right-parenthesis) :
Dump a "snap-shot" of the current screen to an HTML file, including encoded
color information.
Repeat last command (Ctrl-V), also (n) / (') :
Repeat the previous command, selecting the same objects or spells you
choose last time.
--- Special Notes ---
Special Keys:
Certain special keys may be intercepted by the operating system or the host
machine, causing unexpected results. In general, these special keys are control
keys; often you can disable their special effects.
It is often possible to specify "control-keys" without actually pressing
the control key, by typing a caret ("^") followed by the key. This is useful
for specifying control-key commands that might be caught by the operating
system.
Pressing backslash ("\") before a command will bypass all keymaps, and the
next keypress will be interpreted as an underlying command key. The backslash
key is useful for creating macro actions which are not affected by any keymap
definitions that may be in force. For example, the three-character sequence
"\.6" will always mean "run east", even if the "." key has been mapped to a
different underlying command.
UNIX-specific notes:
If you are playing on a UNIX or similar system, then Ctrl-C will interrupt
the game. The second and third interrupt will induce a warning bell, and the
fourth will induce both a warning bell and a special message, since the fifth
will quit the game, after killing your character. Also, Ctrl-Z will suspend the
game, and return you to the original command shell, until you resume the game
with the "fg" command. There is now a compilation option to force the game to
prevent the "double ctrl-z escape death trick". The Ctrl-\ and Ctrl-D and Ctrl-
S keys should not be intercepted.
====== Options ======
Various concepts mentioned below:
"disturb" : cancel any running, resting, or repeated commands
"flush" : forget any keypresses waiting in the keypress queue,
including any macros in progress
"fresh" : dump any pending output to the screen
Options you may want to change to your preferences include:
- Roguelike commands, if you are used to the commands used in certain other
roguelike games, or have no number pad.
- Checking that the hitpoint warning is non-zero can save your character's
life.
- Set the delay factor to two or more, and turn ON "fresh_before", if you
want to see pretty ball explosions and whatnot.
- Playing around with the lighting options in the Display Options section
can be a lot of fun.
Saving options:
Options are saved in your character's savefile, but you may want to use the
same options for other characters too. Whenever you save options, you have
essentially four choices of filenames:
- <<savefile name>>.prf : affects only that character
- <<race name>>.prf : affects all characters of that race
- <<class name>>.prf : affects all characters of that class
- user.prf : affects all of your characters
These rules also apply to other kinds of preferences.
--- Option Set #1: User Interface ---
Rogue-like commands [rogue_like_commands] (off):
Selects the "roguelike" command set, which uses eight of the letter keys to
move the character about. This command set can be really useful if you have no
number pad, and some people just naturally prefer it. However, the original
command set has considerably more unused keys available for macros and keymaps.
Activate quick messages [quick_messages] (on) :
Allows the use of any keypress as a response to the "-more-" prompt.
Allows most keys to mean "no" to any "[y/n]" prompt. Use of this option can
be dangerous!
Prompt for floor item selection [floor_query_flag] (on):
If turned on, you will always be prompted to select an item off the floor,
even if there is only one possible choice. Turning off this option means
if there is only one possible item to select it will be automatically selected.
Note this means a potion could be automatically quaffed if it is the only
potion on the floor and you select 'q' to quaff, followed by '-' to select
items on the floor.
Prompt before picking things up [carry_query_flag] (on) :
The game gives you a menu of items on the floor to pick up, after
any objects marked for automatic pickup have been picked up.
Use old target by default [use_old_target] (off):
Forces all commands which normally ask for a direction to use the current
target if there is one. Use of this option can be dangerous if you target
locations on the ground, unless you clear them when done.
Pick things up by default [always_pickup] (on) :
Tells the game that walking onto an item should attempt to pick it up.
Picking up objects this way takes no additional energy. Individual objects
can be marked for auto_pickup by inscribing them with '=g'. This option
can also be overridden by setting an objects squelch setting to NEVER_PICKUP
in either the knowledge or squelch menus.
Repeat obvious commands [always_repeat] (off):
The tunneling, altering, resting, disarming, opening, closing, and bashing
commands will repeat 99 times unless you explicitly give a different command
count.
Merge inscriptions when stacking [stack_force_notes] (off):
Allows objects with and without inscriptions to stack, retaining any
inscription.
Merge discounts when stacking [stack_force_costs] (off):
Allows objects with greater and lesser discounts to stack, retaining the
larger discount.
Audible bell (on errors, etc) [ring_bell] (on) :
Make a bell sound when errors occur (such as typing an invalid key).
Open/Disarm/Close without direction [easy_open] (off):
When you issue the open, close, or disarm commands, and there is only one
useable door or visible trap adjacent to you, it is selected automatically.
Open/Disarm doors/traps on movement [easy_alter] (off):
When you move into a door, you attempt to open it. When you move into a
trap, you attempt to disarm it.
Expand the power of the inscribe commands [expand_inscribe] (on):
Prompt for automatic addition and removal of inscriptions every time
an object is inscribed.
--- Option Set #2: Disturbance ---
Disturb whenever any monster moves [disturb_move] (on) :
Disturb the player when any visible monster moves, appears, or disappears,
whether in line of sight or out of it. This increases safety, but may cause
trouble when you have telepathy and are trying to rest.
Disturb whenever viewable monster moves [disturb_near] (on) :
Disturb the player when any viewable (visible and in direct line of sight)
monster moves, whenever any monster becomes viewable, and whenever any viewable
monster becomes no longer viewable.
It is recommended that you leave this option on; not doing so may cause you
to be ambushed by monsters you can easily see.
Disturb whenever player state changes [disturb_state] (on) :
This option causes you to be disturbed whenever the player state changes,
including changes in hunger, resistance, confusion, etc.
Disturb whenever boring things happen [disturb_minor] (on) :
Disturbs you when you sense wargear automatically (pseudo-ID), hear a door
being bashed open, or begin to run out of fuel.
Verify destruction of objects [verify_destroy] (on) :
Gives you an "are you sure" message when you try to destroy an object.
Automatically clear '-more-' prompts [auto_more] (off):
The game does not wait for a keypress when it comes to a -more- prompt, but
erases the message instead. This may speed up play, but can cause you to miss
important warnings or interesting occurrences if you do not have an extra window
devoted to message recall.
--- Option Set #3: Game-Play ---
Auto-scum for good levels [auto_scum] (off):
Regenerates dungeon levels until one is found with enough dangerous
monsters and nifty objects. use of this option makes for more intense but
dangerous games.
Allow the generation of themed levels [allow_themed_levels] (on):
Allows the generation of themed levels. Themed levels are levels packed
with many monsters of a particular type, such as orcs, trolls, hydras,
or dragons. Once the level is created, no additional monsters will be created
on a themed level. With this option set to "on", it is highly recommended that
the dungeon_stair option be set to "on" as well.
Map remembers all perma-lit grids [view_perma_grids] (on) :
Memorize all permanently lit floor grids. Turning this option off allows
you to know which lit floor grids are in line of sight. If you are using color,
however, the "view_bright_lite" option works better.
Map remembers all torch-lit grids [view_torch_grids] (off):
Memorize all floor grids that have ever been lit up by the player. This is
one way to help keep track of which areas you have explored.
Monsters exploit players weaknesses [smart_cheat] (off):
Monsters instantly know all your resistances, and need spend no time
learning.
--- Option Set #4: Efficiency ---
Flush input on various failures [flush_failure] (on) :
This option forces the game to flush all pending input whenever various
failures occur, such as failure to cast a spell, failure to use a wand, etc.
This is very useful if you use macros that include directional components with
commands that can fail, since it will prevent you from walking towards monsters
when your spells fail.
Flush input whenever disturbed [flush_disturb] (off):
This option forces the game to flush all pending input whenever the
character is disturbed. This is useful if you use macros that take time, since
it will prevent you from continuing your macro while being attacked by a
monster.
--- Option Set #5: Display ---
Show flavors in object descriptions [show_flavors] (on) :
Display "flavors" (color or variety) in object descriptions and information
screens, even for objects whose type is known. This does not affect objects in
stores.
Hilite the player with the cursor [hilight_player] (off) :
Place the visible cursor on the player. This looks fine on some UNIX
terminals, but horrible on most graphics machines.
Use special colors for torch lite [view_yellow_light] (off) :
If the option "view_special_light" is also on, floor grids that are only
lit by the player's own light source will appear yellow. If the option
"view_granite_light" is on, walls will be colored in the same way. Turning this
option off will slightly increase the speed of the game.
Use special colors for field of view [view_bright_lite] (off) :
This option causes special colors to be used for non "viewable" grids in
certain situations (see "view_granite_lite" and "view_special_lite"). When
this option is set, floor grids which are normally drawn in "white" but
which are not currently "viewable" by the player are instead drawn in "dark
gray". This makes the "viewable" grids to appear "brighter" than the others,
allowing the player to easily determine which floor grids are in "line of
sight". Turning this option off will probably increase the speed of the game.
Use special colors for wall grids [view_granite_light] (off) :
This option activates a special color scheme for all "wall" grids which
are normally drawn in "white" (as walls and rubble normally are). When the
player is blind, we use "dark gray", else if the grid is torch-lit, we use
"yellow" (or "white") depending on the "view_yellow_lite" option, else if the
"view_bright_lite" option is set, and the grid is not in line of sight, or the
grid is dark, or the grid is only "partially" lit, then we use "gray",
otherwise we use the normal "white". Turning this option off will probably
increase the speed of the game. This option may not work well if the attr/char
codes for walls/veins have been changed, or if "graphics" are being used.
Use special colors for floor grids [view_special_light] (off) :
This option activates a special color scheme for all "floor" grids which
are normally drawn in "white" (as they normally are). When the player is blind,
we use "dark gray", else if the grid is torch-lit, we use "yellow"
(or "white") depending on the "view_yellow_lite" option, else if the grid
is "dark", we use "dark gray", else if the "view_bright_lite" option is
set, and the grid is not in line of sight, we use "gray", otherwise we
use the normal "white". Turning this option off will probably increase
the speed of the game. This option may not work well if the attr/char
codes for walls/veins have been changed, or if "graphics" are being used.
Center map continuously (very slow) [center_player] (off) :
Center the map continuously. Advantages include removal of the need to
adjust the map panel and less jerky character movement; disadvantages include
not being able to control your field of view and constant map shifting.
Substantially slows down the game.
Avoid centering while running [run_avoid_center] (off) :
Don't center the map when running. A compromise between normal and always
centered movement.
Show stacks using special attr/char [show_piles] (off) :
Displays a stack of floor objects using a special character.
Player color indicates low hit points [hp_changes_color] (off) :
As a player's hitpoints drops, the color of the player changes
as a warning. 90-100% of max hp - White. 70-89% - Yellow. 50-69% -
Orange. 30-49% - Light Red. Less than 30% of max hp - Red.
Verify before descending from quest level [verify_leave_quest] (on) :
Asks for confirmation when you try to leave a quest level using down
stairs (thereby risking quest failure).
Items marked for squelch appear as dot [mark_squelch_items] (off) :
Any item that is marked for squelching on the dungeon floor or ground
appears as a purple dot on-screen, allowing the player to easily ignore that
item.
Automatically display drop-down lists [always_show_list] (off) :
If selecting anything from a list, the list will automatically pop up.
Allow accents in output files [xchars_to_file] (off) :
Allow non-ascii characters to be saved in output files.
--- Option Set #6: Birth ---
You may only change birth options when starting up a new character.
Adult: Maximize effect of race/class bonuses [adult_maximize] (on) :
If maximize mode is ON, racial and class adjustments to vital statistics
(stat) act as permanent modifiers. A Dwarven priest will be able to raise his
inherent wisdom to 18/150, but his intelligence only to 18/40.
Maximize mode makes races and classes play more differently, usually to the
player's benefit; it is therefore recommended in most cases.
Adult: Preserve artifacts when leaving level [adult_preserve] (on) :
If preserve mode is ON, artifacts will not be lost unless you actually
identify then abandon them. However, you get no special feelings (which help
you to find artifacts). If this option is OFF, artifacts appear once and once
only, but you get special feelings.
Adult: Preserve artifacts when leaving level [adult_money] (off) :
The character starts with no equipment, and 500 in gold.
Ironman Play:
"Go down into the dungeon. Return with Morgoth's Crown or not at all."
In Ironman mode, you can never go up any staircase, and can never return to the
surface by any means, until victorious. If by accident you do, you must
immediately return to the dungeon.
Some forms of Ironman play require that you visit no stores before going
into the dungeon, or that you must use a down staircase as soon as you see it
("crash-dive ironman"), but they are variants on the basic theme. There are
certain objects available in ironman mode that are not available in a regular
game.
Adult: Restrict the use of stairs/recall [adult_ironman] (off) :
Can never go up. Can never use recall until you win the game. No stairs
are ever placed under you when you change levels.
Adult: Restrict the use of stores/home [adult_no_stores] (off) :
Cannot use any stores or your home.
Adult: Restrict creation of artifacts [adult_no_artifacts] (off) :
No artifacts will appear.
Adult: Randomize some of the artifacts (beta) [adult_rand_artifacts] (off) :
Most of the artifacts will get random names and qualities. This can make
for a fun change of pace.
Adult: Don't stack objects on the floor [adult_no_stacking] (off) :
The game normally allows many objects to stack in each floor grid.
However, some people prefer the challenge of allowing only one object to appear
in each floor grid. Turning this option ON causes objects dropped by monsters
to disappear if space is tight, and therefore encourages you to fight battles in
wide-open spaces.
Adult: Have notes to written to a file [adult_take_notes] (off) :
Character can write notes to a specific file. In addition, notes
are taken automatically when: a player reaches a character level
divisible by 5 (5, 10, 15, etc..), a unique is killed, an artifact is
identified, or a greater vault is found. The turn, character level, and
depth of the player are automatically recorded. This information is
in character dumps near the bottom. For artifacts, the level the
artifact was found is recorded, rather than the level the player
is on when they identify the item. Also given separate notes are
player birth, death, and the killing of Morgoth.
Adult: All Levels Will Be Generates As Small [birth_force_small_lev] (off) :
All levels will be generated as small levels, giving you less space to
which you can run...
Adult: Disable quests [birth_no_quests] (off) :
If this option is set, the adventurer's guild will not assign quests to the
player. The two fixed quests, kill Sauron and Morgoth, are unaffected.
Adult: Disable player ghosts [birth_no_player ghosts] (off) :
If this option is set, no player ghosts will be generated.
Adult: Disable store services [birth_no_store_services](off) :
If this option is set, the stores will not offer any services. Note that,
if the birth_no_stores option is set to true, the stores are always closed
and this option has no effect.
Adult: Disable extra artifacts [birth_no_xtra_artifacts](off) :
If this option is set, no additional artifacts are created during game play.
Note that the standard artifact set, or any alternate set of artifacts
created with the birth_rand_artifacts option, are unaffected. This option
just prevents additional artifacts from being created in mid-game.
If birth_no_artifacts option is set to true, no artifacts are generated and
this option has no effect.
--- Option Set #7: Cheat ---
Peek into object creation [cheat_peek] (off) :
Cheaters never win. But they can peek at object creation.
Peek into monster creation [cheat_hear] (off) :
Cheaters never win. But they can peek at monster creation.
Peek into dungeon creation [cheat_room] (off) :
Cheaters never win. But they can peek at room creation.
Peek into something else [cheat_xtra] (off) :
Cheaters never win. But they can know when shopkeepers are shuffled,
dungeon level generation is restarted, or monsters can not be placed.
Know complete monster info [cheat_know] (off) :
Cheaters never win. But they can know all about monsters.
Allow player to avoid death [cheat_live] (off) :
Cheaters never win. But they can cheat death.
--- Window Options ---
Window Flags:
Some platforms support multiple windows, which can display all sorts of
useful information. The best thing about these windows is that they are
(usually) updated automatically to reflect the current state of the world.
inven/equip: Display the player inventory (and equipment).
equip/inven: Display the player equipment (and inventory).
player (basic): Display the main character screen.
player (extra): Display the character screen's equipment flags section.
player (compact): Display the player information such as name, class,
title, stats, ac, hp and sp.
view map: Display the map.
messages: Display recent messages and notes.
overhead view: Display an overhead view of the dungeon.
monster recall: Display a description of the target monster.
object recall: Display a description of the most recently selected
object. Currently this only affects spellbooks
and prayerbooks.
monster list: Display a list of monsters that are currently viewable
by the player.
status: Display player's current status.
item list: Display a list of any visible floor objects on the
screen.
feature recall: Display a description of the target feature.
display borg messages: Unused.
display borg status: Unsued.
--- Miscellaneous Options ---
Item Squelch and Autoinscribe Menus:
The squelching menu is a place where the player can specify certain items
to be automatically destroyed when walked over. Each item the player has seen
in the game can be set with one of four squelch or pickup options:
No-Squelch - This option defers to never_pickup option for whether to pick
picked up an object or not. The object is not squelched.
Never Pickup - The object is not squelched, but this specific item is never
picked up regardless of the setting of the never_pickup option.
Always Pickup - The object is not squelched, but this specific item is always
picked up regardless of the setting of the never_pickup option.
Squelch - Squelch the object when the player walks over it. Artifacts
can not be squelched.
Enter Autoinscription - An inscription can be entered for a specific object type.
Whenever an item is picked up or bought at a store by the player
this inscription is automatically inscribed on an item. Note
that entering any item auto inscription also prevents this
item from a quelity squelch when the item is identified
(useful for preserving average maces of disruption when hafted
weapons are set to squelch average and below}.
Quality squelching sub menu: Categories of items (shields, swords) can be
set to automatically be destroyed when either identified or pseudo-identified
as cursed, average or below, good or below (both strong and weak speugo id),
or all but artifacts. The option to squelch open chests can also be set at
this screen. Note that items with an auto inscription are not quality squelched.
Ego-item squelching sub-menu: allows the player to set certain ego-items to
always squelch upon identification (ex. the player has little need for a
shield of resistance after they find their first shield of elvenkind).
See options.txt for several game options that supplement the Squelch Menus.
Hitpoint warning:
If non-zero, is the percentage of maximal hitpoints (x10) at which you
start to get special warnings. It is also used as the cut-off for using red to
display both hitpoints and mana.
Base Delay Factor:
The "delay_factor" value, if non-zero, will slow down the visual effects
used for missile, bolt, beam, and ball attacks. The actual time delay is equal
to "delay_factor" squared, in milliseconds. A value of five works well on many
machines.
Movement Delay Factor:
The "delay_factor" value, if non-zero, will slow down the movement for
players. The actual time delay is equal to "delay_factor" squared, in
milliseconds. A value of five works well on many machines.
--- Options Commands ---
Load a user pref file:
Reads user preferences (including options) from a file you choose.
Normally used when preferences don't load automatically, and you want to rewrite
them to a file that will.
Save options to a file:
Saves options to file. See the preferences section for help on what
filename to use (the file "user.prf" usually works).
====== Inscriptions ======
You use the '{' and '}' keys to inscribe and uninscribe objects. The
inscription on an object can have all sorts of effects.
You can also have items automatically inscribed for you by going to the
squelch and autoinscriptions menu ("=" followed by "s") and set an autoinscriiption
for an object type. Every object of that certain type the player picks
up will be automatically inscribed for the player. Note that an auto-inscription of
an object type also prevents an item from being squelched by the quality sqelching
feature. This is useful if the player wants to, for example, squelch all good and
below hafted weapons but doesn't want to quality squelch average maces of disruption.
To designate a main and backup weapon:
Inscribe both with "@w0". The 'X' command will replace whatever melee
weapon you are wielding with another so inscribed. You may also inscribe these
or other weapons with "@w1", etc., and wield weapons 0, 1, 2 and so on as
desired.
To have a given command always use the same spellbook:
Inscribe it with "@m#", or "@p#", replacing the '#' with whatever digit you
desire. This allows you to set up macros to cast a spell knowing that it will
never choose the wrong book. Similar inscriptions make archery very convenient,
and allow you to always use a given magical device with the same keystrokes.
In general, if you inscribe anything with @<<any command>><<any digit>>,
you can issue the command, type the digit, and use the first legal inscribed
object.
To prevent accidental use of an object with any command:
Inscribe it with "!x", where 'x' is the letter you type to issue that
command. If you are very paranoid, inscribe it with "!*"
To automatically pick up an object:
Inscribe it with "=g". Especially useful for anything you throw.
Inscriptions for fun and profit:
Try inscribing the first monster killed by a weapon, hidden object
abilities, and where you found the item or who dropped it.
Automatic inscriptions:
The game also inscribes objects automatically. Some of these inscriptions
will disappear when the item is identified, and you may overwrite others.
"broken" : Object is broken in some way.
"cursed" : Object is cursed.
"empty" : Object has no more charges (and you know this).
"indestructible" : Object cannot be destroyed.
"tried" : Used an object, didn't learn anything about it.
"50% off" : Object is worth 50% less than normal.
====== Macros and keymaps ======
--- Quick Tutorial ---
Mages are forever casting spell "a", Magic Missile, in spellbook "a", Magic
for Beginners. In both keysets, that's "maa", plus "*" to enter targeting mode,
and finally "t" to target. Wouldn't it be nice if you could do all this with a
single keypress? You can.
Choose an unused command (we shall pick "'" by way of example). Bring up
the macro/keymap screen by typing "@". Press "8" to create a keymap, and the
game will ask you for a trigger. Type "'". You then shift to the action field,
where you input all the commands you want "'" to perform when pressed. In this
case, you would enter: "maa*t", and press return.
Now save your new keymap by typing "6", and either allow the game to choose
your character's name for the preference file, or (if you want all of your
characters to use the same keymap) save to "user.prf".
This is only the beginning. What you can do with a spell, you can do with
arrows, Rods of Trap Location, resting, activating stuff, talents, searching;
all sorts of command combinations can profitably be macroed. Macros and keymaps
are even more flexible when used in combination with object inscriptions.
In all cases, you remember the exact series of keypresses you need to
issue, pick an unused trigger key, and fill in the action field.
--- Basic information ---
Macros:
Macros allow you to use a single keypress to activate a series of
keypresses. They fire off in almost all cases: when the game is waiting for a
command, is showing a menu, is asking you to enter text, etc. The only time
they don't activate is when you already have a macro active.
You may use any key as a macro trigger, but it is recommended that you not
use ordinary letters. You fill out the action field with the same commands you
normally use.
Keymaps (sometimes known as "command macros"):
Keymaps only fire off when the game is waiting for a command. You may not
use special keys (like F1-F12) as keymap triggers, and must use underlying
commands in the action field (a list of such commands is supplied below).
Effects of one on the other:
Macros are often affected by keymaps; you may bypass keymaps in macros by
putting a "\" before any action key. Keymaps are never affected by macros.
--- Examples ---
Macros are so handy that players (Jim Lyon in particular) have compiled
lists of helpful tricks.
To clear any pending messages:
Insert some "\e"s (escapes) before and/or after your macros. Be careful
about skipping past important info! If you want to be a little more careful,
use "\s"s (spaces) instead.
To learn how to represent any key:
Some keys cannot be entered simply as numbers or letters. To figure out
how to include the escape key in an action, for example, you bring up the
macro/keymap screen, type 3: Query a macro, and press escape (ESC) when asked
for a trigger. This will tell you that an escape is represented by "\e".
Rest as needed:
Keymap a trigger key to "R*\r". This is also helpful when waiting for a
monster to approach, because you recover mana and HPs twice as quickly than when
staying in place.
Activate the Phial:
Macro a trigger key to "Af\s\s".
Other, more complicated macros:
Destroy stacks with out additional input.
\e099k-a\e
In plain language it means:
\e (esc to clear input buffer and exit other prompts)
0 (choose how many repeats/quantity)
99 (repeats)
k (destroy)
- (floor)
a(first object if there are many, other wise 'a'im wand),
\e (esc for exiting the 'a'im wand prompt if needed).
Easy_floor behavior with macros changed in NPP 0.4.0.
The first object in the floor is always selected if you
use a macro. Use this macro to destroy objects:
"\e\e\e\e0\\k-y", the extra "a" is not needed anymore.
Another useful macro: "\e\e\e\e0\\k-s".
--- In Depth ---
Not all keys can be entered as simple numbers or letters:
\e : escape (useful for clearing the message line)
\r : return
\n : newline (is normally treated the same as return)
\s : space (' ')
\\ : backslash ('\')
\^ : caret ('^')
^X : control-X (other control keys use the same system)
\x80 : character in position 0x80
(in hex: decimal equivalent would be 128)
Listing of underlying commands:
Underlying commands are usually the same as those in the original keyset,
but there are important exceptions:
Underlying command Original keyset Roguelike
5 , .
. . ,
;1 (move = ';') 1 b
;2 2 j
;3 3 n
;4 4 h
;6 6 l
;7 7 y
;8 8 k
;9 9 u
Q ^C ^C
w0 X X
^V n '
====== Preferences ======
Information about options, usage of extra windows, colors and symbols, and
macros can all be stored in preference files. In addition, you can customize
the game in many other ways and save these preferences to file.
--- The priority order of preference files ---
Whenever the game starts up, and whenever it creates or loads a character,
it opens various preference files and modifies various things according to
instructions in them. The preference files below are listed in descending order
of priority: anything in higher files overrides anything in a file below it.
"lib/user/<<base name of character>>.prf"
May contain options, color definitions, attr/char remappings (what
monsters, objects, and features look like), and many other things. Anything in
this file is guaranteed to override anything in any other file.
What is the "base name" of your character? It is the name of your
character, usually with non-alphabetic, non-numeric characters translated to
'_'s, and (on IBM/DOS) shortened to eight characters. You may check the base
name by trying to save macros or keymaps.
"lib/user/<<character race>>.prf"
Any preferences that you want to apply to all characters of a given race
should go here.
"lib/user/<<character class>>.prf"
Any preferences that you want to apply to all characters of a given class
should go here.
"lib/user/user.prf"
Any preferences that you want to apply to all of your characters should go
here.
"lib/pref/user.prf"
This file is loaded just before the one above it. Links to system-specific
user-preference files, which tend to be used by porters to customize the game in
ways that they think users of their system will appreciate. For example, "user-
mac.prf" includes a bunch of extra macros.
Your character's savefile
Always contains your current options and window settings. Never contains
macros, keymaps, or visual preferences (these all need to be saved in an
external file).
Many players need no other preference files and can stop reading here.
"lib/pref/font.prf": The basic text-mode preference file.
Links to font.xxx.prf, which defines the exact colors for all spells and
objects in text mode, and contains the default colors used to display object
descriptions in inventory (wizard books are light red, priest books are light
green, etc.).
Also links to system-specific text-mode preference files (font-ibm.prf,
font-win.prf, etc.). Each of these files assigns new text-mode characters and
attributes (colors) for objects, monsters, features, etc. For example, "font-
ibm.prf" changes dungeon walls from '#'s to solid blocks.
"lib/pref/flvr-xxx.prf": graphics for individual flavors of objects.
Links to flvr-new.prf, which handles Adam Bolt's 16x16 graphics, and to
flvr-dvg, which handles David Gervais's 32x32 graphics.
"lib/pref/graf.prf": The basic graphics-mode preference file.
Links to font.xxx.prf (but later overrides a lot of the information it
contains).
Also links to system-specific graphics-mode preference files, all of which
then link to one of two files:
graf-xxx.prf: The preference file used for 8x8 graphics.
Each color of objects and spell effects, and each individual terrain and
monster, are assigned their own graphical representation.
graf-new.prf: The preference file used for Adam Bolt's 16x16 graphics.
graf-dvg.prf: The preference file used for David Gervais's 32x32 graphics.
"lib/pref/pref.prf":
This is the source of most default settings except for char/attr
remappings. It contains the default values of options and the keymaps for the
original and roguelike keysets. Links to the file "message.prf", which controls
the colors of messages. Links to system-specific general preference files
(pref-x11.prf, pref-gcu.prf, etc.). These contain system-specific keymappings
and allow the game to recognize your keyboard.
message.prf: Message colors.
Each message can be assigned to a type; each type may have one or more
sounds and a color associated with it.
--- Writing your own preference files ---
All preference files use a common system to store information. You must be
careful of two things:
1) Make sure that the file will actually be loaded. It needs to be one of the
files mentioned above, or be called by one of those files.
2) Watch out for automatic preference dumps. If you try to edit anything
between the special markers, your changes will be lost. The solution is to skip
past all the automatic stuff, and put your changes at the bottom, below the last
marker.
List of preference file instructions:
%:human.prf : open up the file "lib/pref/human.prf" or
"lib/user/human.prf"
and read it. If both files exist, rules in the latter takes priority.
R:0:w/@ : The monster, with index 0 (zero), will be white ('w'),
and be represented with a '@'.
R:0:0x8C/0x80 : The monster, with index 0 (zero), will get the graphical
tile at position (0x8C - 0x80), (0x80 - 0x80) = row 12, column 0. Note
that values above 0x7F (127) indicate the use of graphics.
K:50:v/~ : The object, with index 50, will be violet ('v'), and be
represented with a '~'.
K:50:0x83/0x96 : The object, with index 50, will get the graphical
tile at position (0x83 - 0x80), (0x96 - 0x80) = row 3, column 22.
F:1:1/249 : The feature, with index 1, will be white (color 1), and
be represented by the character in ASCII position 249 (a centered dot)
S:0xB1:0x01/0x2D : Index B1 (177) of the flavor table will contain the color
1 (white) and the character in ASCII position 45 ('-'). A detailed
look at how the flavor table works is beyond the scope of this document;
suffice it to say that all characters used to display spell effects, and
all object kinds with flavors, get 16 entries in the flavor table, one
for each color.
E:90:0x0C : Tval 90 (magic books) will display in the inventory and
various listing as color 0x0C (light red).
A:R*\r : The next key listed will be mapped to this set of
actions (can be either a keymap or a macro).
C:0:x : The previous action listed is a keymap, is active in the
original keyset (set 0), and will be activated by typing 'x'.
P:1:^O : The previous action listed is a macro, is active in the
roguelike keyset (set 1), and will be activated by typing control-'O'.
V:1:0x00:0xff:0xff:0xff : The color in position 1 (white), will have a
special value of 0x00 (zero), a red-value of 0xff (255), a green-value
of 0xff, and a blue-value of 0xff.
X:rogue_like_commands : The "rogue_like_commands" option will be off.
Y:rogue_like_commands : The "rogue_like_commands" option will be on.
W:2:6:1 : Window 2 (the third one), will display window display #6
(display messages), and be active (1) as opposed to inactive (0).
M:1:w : Message type 1 (standard hit message) will appear white.
D:4 : The delay factor will be 4 (squared).
H:3 : The hitpoint warning will be at 30%.
?:<<text>> : A conditional expression. If true, allows another
line to activate. The tests include:
AND - logical AND
IOR - inclusive OR
EQU - (string) equals
NOT - logical negation
LEQ - (string) less than or equal to
GEQ - (string) greater than or equal to
[,] - group expressions
$CLASS - current class
$GRAF - 3-letter graphics abbr in "graf-***.prf" (old, new)
$PLAYER - current player name
$RACE - current race
$CLASS - current class
$SYS - 3-letter system abbr in "pref-***.prf" (ami, mac, win,...)
See the usage in "lib/pref/pref.prf", etc.
====== Visuals, colors, and multimedia ======
Interact with Visuals: (command: '%') :
You may adjust the character and attribute (color) used to display objects,
monsters, and terrain features.
1) Update your preferences with a specific user preference file.
2) Save your current monster visuals to file.
3) Save your current object visuals to file.
4) Save your current terrain visuals to file.
%) Save your current flavor preferences to file.
6) Change monster visuals.
7) Change object visuals.
8) Change terrain visuals.
9) Change the symbol and flavor used for many kinds of objects.
0) Reset visuals to their last saved values (undo all changes).
When changing visuals, you may type the following keys:
n: advance one (wrap around if at the end)
N: go back one (wrap around if at the beginning)
a: change to the next color (wrap around if at color 15)
A: change to the previous color (wrap around if at color 0)
c: change to the next character in the ASCII sequence (wrap around at 255)
C: change to the previous character (wrap around if at 0)
A good way to get used to the interface is to choose option 6: change
monster visuals, note that the first "monster" is your character, and change it
from a white '@' to something silly. Leave, see how weird you look, come back,
and (if you like) press '0' to reset the visuals.
Remember to type Control-R after making any changes.
Interact with colors: (command '&') :
In the interact with colors display, you have three options available:
1) Update your preferences with a specific user preference file.
2) Save your colors to file.
3) Modify colors.
When changing colors, you may issue the following commands:
n: go to the next color (wraps around at 255)
N: go back one (wrap around if at 0)
k: change a value (possibly the gamma correction?)
K: change a value (possibly the gamma correction?)
r: increase the red in this color (wraps around at hex value 0xff)
R: decrease the red in this color (wraps around at hex value 0x00)
g: increase the green in this color (wraps around at hex value 0xff)
G: decrease the green in this color (wraps around at hex value 0x00)
b: increase the blue in this color (wraps around at hex value 0xff)
B: decrease the blue in this color (wraps around at hex value 0x00)
Note that, while the game is theoretically capable of using more than 16
colors, it is not currently set up to do so. Also, color 0 should not be
changed.
Remember to type Control-R after making any changes.
Interact with multimedia: (command '!') :
Some ports of this game (but not all) will play sounds and music. If your
port is one of them, you can adjust volumes, turn sounds off and on entirely,
and tweak various other things.
Combat and Magic
(a) Non-Magical Combat (combat.txt)
(b) Defending Yourself (defence.txt)
(c) Object Attributes (equip.txt)
(d) Magic (magic.txt)
Help Commands:
# go to line % go to file ? go to last file/main menu
SPACE advance 1 page - back up 1 page / search for text
RET advance 1 line = back up 1 line & show (highlight) some text
+ advance 1/2 page _ back up 1/2 page ! toggle case sentitivity
====== Non-magical Combat ======
Without using magic, you may attack monsters in hand-to-hand (melee)
combat, by using missile weapons, or by throwing things at them.
--- Melee ---
If you are barehanded, you do a small amount of damage, depending on
strength. If you are using a weapon, things are a bit different.
Basic Calculation:
1) roll the weapon's damage dice
2) apply any slay or brand multiplier
3) apply any critical hit bonuses
4) apply bonuses to damage from all equipped items
5) repeat for all the blows you get
Chance of hitting:
Your chance of hitting a monster depends on your innate melee skill,
plusses to hit from all equipped items other than your missile weapon, temporary
effects (like blessing or heroism), and on monster armour class. Unseen
monsters are harder to hit. The terrain you are standing in, and whether you
are native to that terrain can also make it easier or harder to get a hit.
Damage Dice:
All weapons have damage dice displayed after their name (1d4, 2d5, etc.).
The higher the damage dice, the more damage the weapon does, especially if it
has brands or slays, or gets lots of critical hits. In addition,
some creatures are succeptable to extra damage from cold or fire.
Brands and Slays:
Some remarkable weapons do extra damage to various kinds of monsters; a
Dagger branded with Fire, for instance, would do extra damage to creatures not
immune to fire. Slays, in contrast, do extra damage to particular monster
races, so wield that Mace of Slays (orc) if you come upon any orcs. Only the
best applicable quality is used; they do not combine.
Branded weapons can cause additional damage depending on the terrain where
the target is standing on.
See the object attributes section for how powerful individual slays and
brands are.
Critical Hits:
The number of critical hits you get depends on your total bonuses to melee
skill, your level, and your weapon weight. Their power depends on weapon
weight. A weak critical hit might double base damage and add 5; a powerful one
might triple it and add 20.
For most weapons, critical hits are rare, and make little difference to
average damage. For heavy wargear with good base damage dice, however, critical
hits can be significant.
Bonus to damage:
Your melee weapon often has a bonus to damage, expressed as the second
value in parenthesis after the damage dice. This bonus is applied after all
other adjustments, and is guaranteed. Raising this value rapidly increases the
amount -- and the reliability -- of the damage you do.
Number of Blows:
Your character screen also displays the number of blows you can get per
turn. This value depends on your class, strength and dexterity, and on weapon
weight. You normally start out with one blow, but will get more as time passes.
The more blows you get, the more damage you do, and the more reliable melee
becomes (because you get more chances to hit). If you want to be effective in
hand-to-hand combat, get extra blows if at all possible. You can also (I)nspect
a weapon to find out how many blows you would get if you wielded that weapon.
--- Shooting ---
Ranged fire with missile launchers is a non-magical method of doing damage
at a safe distance.
Basic Calculation:
1) roll the missile's damage dice
2) add the damage bonuses from both the missile weapon and the ammunition,
but not from anything else
3) apply the missile launcher multiplier
4) apply any slay or brand multiplier
5) apply any critical hit bonuses
Setting up to Shoot:
Slings shoot pebbles, iron shots, and mithril shots, bows shoot arrows,
seeker arrows, and mithril arrows, and crossbows shoot bolts, seeker bolts, and
mithril bolts. Simply equip the weapon and keep plenty of the ammo on hand and
you're ready.
You shoot at a monster by typing 'f' (or 't' in the rogue-like command
set), then selecting a missile you would like to fire. This activates the
targeting interface described in the section on commands.
Chance of hitting:
Your chance of hitting a monster depends on your innate missile skill,
plusses to hit from all equipped items other than your melee weapon, plusses to
hit on your ammunition, temporary effects (like blessing or heroism), and on
monster armour class. Unseen monsters are harder to hit. The terrain you are
standing in, and whether you are native to that terrain can also make it easier
or harder to get a hit.
Base damage:
Unlike in melee, launcher, slay/brand, and critical hit multiplers are all
applied after the bonus to damage, which is applied directly to the result of
the base damage dice.
Launcher Multiplier:
All missile launchers have a multiplier to damage: for example, a Longbow
(x3) would multiply the normal damage of the ammo it fires by three. Some
special weapons have a higher than normal multiplier.
Brands and Slays:
Ammunition occasionally possesses the same kinds of slays and brands found
on melee weapons.
Critical hits:
The number of critical hits you get depends on your total bonuses to
missile skill, your level, and your missile weight, but they are always rare.
Their power depends on missile weight. Almost all critical hits multiply damage
by 2 and add 5.
Number of Shots:
On your character screen is displayed the number of shots you can get per
turn. You always get one shot unless you are using a weapon of extra shots.
Rangers are the exception to this rule; they eventually get two extra shots per
turn with bows. Extra shots are not fired all at once; instead, each shot takes
less time, making monsters appear to move in slow motion.
--- Throwing ---
Melee weapons also do (some) damage when thrown, and there are potions and
mushrooms that can be deadly. There are special throwing weapons that do extra
damage when thrown. "Well Balanced" weapons do even more damage and are
never destroyed when thrown. Throwing certain potions will produce special effects
on a monster if the potion hits them.
Basic Calculation:
1) Roll the object's base damage dice.
2) Add any bonus to damage (only wargear will have such a bonus).
3) Apply any slay or brand multiplier.
4) Apply any critical hit.
Chance of hitting:
Your chance of hitting a monster depends on your innate missile skill,
plusses to hit from all equipped items other than your melee and missile
weapons, temporary effects (like blessing or heroism), and on monster armour
class. Unseen monsters are harder to hit. The terrain you are standing in,
and whether you are native to that terrain can also make it easier or harder
to get a hit.
Comments:
You may only throw one object per turn. Your throwing range depends on
object weight and your strength.
--- Winning "unwinnable" fights ---
Some monsters are simply too tough to just clobber; fortunately, there are
scrolls, potions, spells, and magical devices that can turn a losing battle into
a major victory. If your enemies seem too tough to kill now, maybe they won't
be after you've enhanced yourself and hindered them.
--- Details ---
Special Notes:
In order to attack a creature that you can't see in a wall or door, you
must issue the Tunnel or alter adjacent grid command.
====== Defence ======
Healing:
If your hitpoints drop below zero, you die. Always have something to
quickly restore them.
Escaping:
A trapped adventurer is a dead adventurer. Always have a way to get out of
trouble. Remember that creatures who are native to certain terrains can move
more quickly through those terrains than creatures who are not native.
Detecting:
The best defence is being prepared. Don't get ambushed. Detect often.
Defending against pure damage:
Your armour class (AC) reduces the chance that melee attacks will hit you.
It reduces the pure damage inflicted by ordinary melee attacks (those without
any special effects), and protects against certain kinds of traps, but offers no
defence against magic or ranged attacks. Standing in certain terrains where the
player is native will also reduce the chances of getting hit.
Each piece of armour has a base AC value and possibly also a magical
bonus. Add the two together, and you have the total protective value of the
item. For example, a Chain Mail (-3) [14, +6] increases your AC by 20. Note
the "(-3)". It is a (small) penalty to fighting; heavy armour restricts your
movement slightly.
Cuts, poison, and stunning:
Many monsters can inflict special kinds of physical damage on you, such as
opening wounds, poisoning, or stunning. After you start earning a little money,
plow some of it back into potions of cure wounds, and keep them handy at all
times. If a monster manages to heavily stun you, get away fast!
Character-hindrance:
There are many monsters capable of casting spells to blind, confuse, slow,
and paralyze you, plus quite a few other nasty tricks not mentioned here. Free
Action (paralyzation immunity) eventually becomes critical to your survival, and
you should keep stuff that fixes blindness and confusion on hand. Your Saving
Throw protects against these and other attacks.
Elemental and magical attacks:
Acid, Electricity, Fire, and Cold are the basic elements, and many monsters
use them. Because the maximum damage they can do to you is very high, becoming
resistant is important. Unlike with other attack types, you can resist, double
resist, and be immune to the elements. Double resistance is the combination of
a permanent resistance (from equipment) and a temporary one (from a spell).
Temporary resistances are also known as oppositions. Immunity to any of the
elements is hard to get.
Standing on certain terrains can either increase or decrease the damage
of certain magical attacks. For melee and archery the damage is increased only if
the target of the attack is not flying.
For example, when standing on water the damage from a fire-based attack is reduced.
Poison is deadly, and not so easy to gain resistance to. You can double-
resist (resist and oppose) poison.
There are many kinds of magical attacks; most can be resisted, some can
not. The resistable ones capable of doing the most damage are darkness, chaos,
and nether.
For more detail, see the section on object attributes.
Reductions of Experience and Stats:
Even when your character is starting out, there are rare traps and monsters
capable of lowering his stats and draining his experience. Slowly, these
dangers increase until it becomes very important that you find objects that
provide hold life and sustain at least your critical stats.
Theft:
Nobody is more annoying than a thief. You've just found that cool
spellbook or nifty weapon, and now it's gone. You can gain a significant degree
of protection from theft by increasing your armour class and your dexterity, and
can always collect your stuff from the thief's corpse. Unfortunately, thieves
are smart enough to stash away the money they take from you.
====== Object Attributes ======
All effective combat methods require equipment, and all benefit greatly
from various qualities that your equipped items may possess. Defence is
similarly equipment-dependent.
Attacks can also benefit or be hindered depending on the terrain in which
the player or creature is standing.
--- Ordinary Attributes ---
Example 1: A Battle Axe (2d8) (+6,+4)
Damage dice:
The weapon above rolls two eight-sided dice in battle, for an average base
damage of: 2 * (8 + 1) / 2 => 2 * 9 / 2 => 9.
Bonus to hit:
The weapon above has a bonus to hit of 6. This bonus improves your chance
to hit monsters. Apart from rare gloves, armours seldom have bonuses to combat.
Some have small penalties (see below).
Bonus to damage:
The weapon above gets a bonus to damage of 4, and so does 2d8 + 4 points of
damage on most hits. Apart from rare gloves, armours seldom have bonuses to
Deadliness.
Example 2: A Hard Leather Armour (-1) [6,+5]
Base Armour Class (AC):
This armour has a base AC of 6. All armours have a base armour class; very
few weapons do.
Bonus to Armour Class:
This armour has a bonus to AC of 5, which gives it a total protective value
of 11. Armour of unusually good quality or that is magical also increases your
bonus to armour class. Only rare weapons do the same.
Example 3: A Mace (Holy Avenger) (2d4) (+7,+5) [+3] (+1)
This weapon is a Holy Avenger (one of the more powerful ego-items). It
rolls 2 four-sided dice when attacking and has +7 to hit and +5 to damage. It
increases your AC by 3, and increases a numerical attribute (Wisdom, in this
case) by 1.
--- Adjustments to Vital statistics and Abilities ---
Stat Bonuses:
Any kind of wearable item may affect one or more stats. See the section on
your character to find out more about what altering a stat does.
Sustain Stats:
Any kind of wearable item may sustain one or more stats. This ensures that
the attacks of your foes never lower that stat.
Stealth:
Certain cloaks, boots, and (more rarely) other items lessen the amount of
noise you make when moving around the dungeon. This is very handy for avoiding
fights and getting in the first hit, which causes extra damage on a sleeping
monster in NPPAngband. If the player is flying, their stealth is also increased.
Searching:
Some rings, headgear, and various other items improve your chances to
reveal secret doors and find traps before they find you. Bonuses to searching
improve both automatic and manual searching.
Infravision:
Some headgear and (more rarely) other items increase the range at which you
can see warm-blooded creatures, even those that would otherwise be invisible.
Tunneling:
Some gloves and weapons allow you to dig through rock more effectively.
All special digging tools have a bonus to tunneling.
Speed:
Boots, rings, and weapons that hasten you are rare and powerful, for a fast
player can perform several actions in the time it used to take to do just one.
Players moving at speed -10 are half as fast as normal, at +10 are twice as fast
as normal, and at +20 are three times as fast as normal. The maximum useful
speed is (roughly) +30.
--- Weapon Attributes ---
Damage multipliers (only the best applies):
Slay Evil : x2 against evil
Slay Animal : x2 against animals
Slay Orc : x3 against orcs and orc-like creatures
Slay Troll : x3 against trolls
Slay Giant : x3 against giants
Slay Undead : x3 against undead
Slay Demon : x3 against demons
Slay Dragon : x3 against dragons
Execute Undead : x5 against undead
Execute Demon : x5 against demons
Execute Dragon : x5 against dragons
Brand Acid : x3 against everything not resistant to acid
Brand Elec : x3 against everything not resistant to electricity
Brand Fire : x3 against everything not resistant to fire
Brand Cold : x3 against everything not resistant to cold
Brand Pois : x3 against everything not resistant to poison
Throwing Weapons: Damage is doubled when throwing this weapon.
Well balanced Weapons: Damage is doubled (again).
Blows:
Gives you extra melee blows.
Extra Shots:
Rare missile launchers may allow the player to shoot more quickly than
normal. Each shot takes a fraction of a turn, making your target appear to move
in slow motion.
Extra Might:
Rare missile launchers have a greater than normal missile damage
multiplier. For example, a "Sling of Extra Might (x2) (+1)" multiplies damage,
not by two like lesser slings, but by three. The true missile weapon multiplier
is never known for sure until the object is identified.
Blessed:
Blessed weapons may be used by pious characters without penalty.
Earthquake:
Some weapons cause earthquakes when they hit.
--- Immunities ---
If you should ever be fortunate enough to find a piece of equipment that
grants immunity to an element, you will take no damage from that element.
Immunity also means that everything you are wearing or carrying is perfectly
protected.
Immunity to Acid:
You take no damage from acid, and acid cannot attack your backpack.
Immunity to Electricity:
You take no damage from electricity, and electricity cannot attack your
backpack.
Immunity to Cold:
You take no damage from cold, and cold cannot attack your backpack.
Immunity to Fire:
You take no damage from fire, and fire cannot attack your backpack.
Immunity to Poison:
You take no damage from poison.
--- Resistances ---
Resistances from equipment cannot be combined; you either have it or you
don't. You can, however, temporarily oppose the elements and poison for an
additional 2/3rds reduction in damage.
Resistances and oppositions also help reduce the amount of damage
elemental attacks do to items in your backpack.
Resist Acid:
You take one-thirds damage from acid.
Resist Electricity:
You take one-thirds damage from electricity.
Resist Cold:
You take one thirds damage from cold.
Resist Fire:
You take one-thirds damage from fire.
Resist Poison:
You take one thirds damage from poison.
Resist Light:
The damage you take from light is reduced. You cannot be blinded by bright
light.
Resist Darkness:
The damage you take from darkness is reduced. You cannot be blinded by
darkness.
Resist Sound:
The damage you take from sound is reduced. You cannot be stunned by sound
or by a few other kinds of distance attacks.
Resist Shards:
The damage you take from blasts of shards is reduced. You cannot be cut by
shards.
Resist Nexus:
The damage you take from nexus attacks is reduced. You cannot be randomly
teleported or altered by nexus.
Resist Nether:
The damage you take from nether is reduced. You cannot lose experience to
nether.
Resist Chaos:
The damage you take from chaos is reduced, and you are immune to all the
nasty things chaos can do to you. This resistance does not make you resistant
to confusion.
Resist Disenchantment:
Rarest of all the resistances, this reduces damage from disenchantment
attacks and renders your equipment immune to disenchantment.
Ignore acid, electricity, fire, and cold:
Some objects cannot be damaged or destroyed by elemental attacks.
--- Nativities ---
Certain equipment will make you native to the various types of terrain
found in the Dugeon. The types of terrain are Lava, Ice, Oil, Fire
Sand, Forest, Water, Acid, and Mud. If you are in a particular
terrain type where you are native, you will be able to move more
efficiently through that terrain, and you will be able to fight
and defend better in combat.
--- Survival Attributes ---
Resist Fear:
Renders you fearless.
Resist Blindness:
Protects you from being blinded.
Resist Confusion:
Makes you incapable of being confused. Also reduces damage from blasts of
confusion.
--- Character Qualities ---
Slow Digestion:
Reduces your need to consume food.
Feather Fall:
Renders pit traps and trap doors harmless.
Light:
Some weapons and helms shine with inner light. Each such object increases
your illumination radius by one.
Regeneration:
Players who regenerate recover hitpoints and mana twice as quickly as
normal. They also need to eat more.
Telepathy (ESP):
It is not easy to acquire this, but players who do can see intelligent
monsters nearby. Mindless monsters never appear, and semi-intelligent monsters
only appear occasionally.
See Invisible:
Allows you to see and target monsters invisible to ordinary sight.
Free Action:
Protects you from paralyzation and most slowing attacks. Because
paralyzation can instantly kill you, keep an eye out for this important survival
aid.
Hold Life:
Offers a high degree of protection from attacks (but not items) that reduce
experience.
--- Curses and other Nastiness ---
Random Teleportation:
Some foul rings, amulets, and boots randomly take control of your movement
and whisk you around the dungeon.
Aggravate:
Aggravation effectively reduces your stealth to nil, immediately waking up
all monsters nearby. Some rings and amulets possess curses that aggravate, and
some weapons and armours are so powerful that no creature can ignore them.
Drain Exp:
Objects that drain experience are perilous, because they slowly but surely
erase your accumulated memories. Of course, you can keep killing monsters to
replace the experience which you lose.
Light (Normal) Curse:
Many objects have light curses. If you should wear or wield one, read a
scroll of remove curse.
Heavy Curse:
The curses on some objects are less easy to remove. If a ordinary scroll
of Remove Cure fails, find and read one of *Remove Curse*.
Permanent Curse:
There is a great and terrible Ring, seen by perhaps one character in one
thousand, that can never be removed once put on.
====== Magic ======
--- Spellcasting ---
Spells and prayers are collected in books, nine for each realm. Four are
readily available in stores, the other five are harder to find.
Getting spell information:
You may browse books of your realm. Spells that you have cast
successfully will display any power or damage information. Be aware that the
true usefulness of some spells only becomes apparent with much experimentation.
Gaining new spells:
You learn new spells by pressing 'G', choosing a spellbook with unlearnt
spells that are not too high level for you, and either choosing a spell (mages,
rogues, druids, rangers) or having one granted to you (priests, paladins).
Casting spells:
You may cast any previously learnt spell of your level or less. You cast
spells by typing 'm' or 'p', choosing a spellbook, and then a spell. Casting a
spell takes a full turn. The first time you suceesfully cast a spell, you gain
experience.
If you don't have enough mana to cast that spell, you are more likely to
fail; if you do succeed, you will faint from the exertion and sometimes lose a
point of constitution.
Mana:
Your mana depends on your level and your spell stat. All spellcasters lose
a point of mana for each pound of worn armour above a certain weight; mages are
most affected. In addition, mages and rogues lose a chunk of mana if they wear
gloves that do not provide free action or improve dexterity. Messages
will warn you whenever this happens.
Spell failure chance:
Your spell failure chance depends on the spell itself (some spells are
inherently hard to cast), the minimum level required to cast the spell compared
to your current level, and your spell stat. When stunned, all spells are harder
to cast. Only mages, druids, and priests can ever have spell failure rates
below 5%.
Priests suffer a substantial increase to prayer failure chance if they
wield an unblessed edged weapon (a sword or polearm).
--- Magical Devices ---
Wands, staffs, and rods are an important part of many adventurers'
arsenals. In addition to these items, certain rare rings can be 'A'ctivated and
there are rumours of armours and artifacts that can unleash enormous
destruction.
Recharging:
Wands and staffs have to be recharged every so often, and you can also
recharge rods. The failure rate of recharging depends on item level, number of
existing charges, and the power of the recharging spell you are using.
Recharging wands and staffs is very risky.
--- Hindering your foes ---
If it looks too tough to kill, perhaps you can knock it down a bit. Monsters
can be hindered in some way if you work hard enough at it.
- Sleep : Sleeping monsters can't hurt you - until they wake up again.
- Slow : If you can slow a monster, you are well on the way to killing it.
- Stun : Sound blasts and ice can stun monsters, reducing their danger
to you.
- Confuse : Monsters may be confused by bright light (blinding), confusion
attacks, or spells of confuse monster. They move randomly about and
cannot cast any spells until the effects wear off.
- Fear : Most monsters can be frightened. Those that are will attempt to
teleport away (if they have such a spell) or run.
--- Spell projection types ---
The names of spells and magical devices sometimes give you information
about what areas they affect, and what shapes they take.
"Bolt", "Missile"
Fires a magical bolt in a direction or at your chosen target. Bolts are
stopped by the first monster or wall in their way. Some also "Beam" upon
occasion.
"Beam", "Spear", "Lance", "Line", "Spark", "Cone"
Fires a beam of magic in the direction you choose, or towards your target.
They are quite useful because they do full damage to every monster in a straight
line. Wands and Rods of Light work this way.
"Ball", "Orb", "Storm" (storms have a larger radius)
If you target a specific monster, such spells explode centered at that
location. Otherwise, they travel in the direction you choose, and explode as
soon they hit a monster or wall, or reach their maximum range. These spells
only do full damage to the single grid at the center of the explosion, but can
affect monsters that can't see you.
"Cone" or "Arc" - A cone of damage that gradually gets wider the further
out it goes. Damage drops
"Dispel", "Confuse/Slow/Frighten/etc. Monsters"
A fair number of spells affect all monsters in line of sight (no walls or
rubble between you and them, up to a range of 20).