NetHack: Documentation

Attacked by a pack of jackals.

Thanks to a series of postings on my last NetHack entry, I discovered that there is a guidebook that comes with the game (I overlooked it in the downloaded files). I got three important things from it:

1. A little more backstory. The dungeon is called the Mazes of Menace, and I'm there to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor. "According to legend, the gods will grant immortality to the one who recovers this artifact," and retrieving it will grant me "full guild membership." Wow. I have to navigate a 20-plus-level dungeon and become immortal just for membership? What's the next quest after that?

2. Weapon damages are based on AD&D tables. I was wondering how I could reliably figure out what weapons do the most damage. I'm hoping I can just use the table in the back of Pool of Radiance.

3. "Elbereth." Apparently, this word engraved on the floor will cause monsters to ignore you as long as you're standing on it. I keep meaning to use it when things get tight, but so many of my deaths just pounce on me.

I've had a tough time figuring out how to organize my notes, but I've created a Google document with spreadsheet tabs for monsters, characters, items, miscellaneous notes, and a "record" of my attempts. The record is a little embarrassing--none of my characters have exceeded Level 7, and many have died on Level 1--but keep in mind that I've been experimenting with things rather than simply taking care.

A healer named Cainan had perhaps my most interesting outing. I've generally done well with healers because they start with a bunch of healing potions and spells. It also turns out they have a neat tool--a stethoscope--that gives you the stats of the monsters you encounter. The thought of my PC putting the stethoscope up to a goblin's chest in the middle of combat is a bit amusing, but there you have it. With the healers, I've been starting to record hit points and AC on my "monsters" table.

The doctor diagnoses a hostile jackal.

Early on, Cainan unwisely equipped a knife that turned out to be cursed and did very little damage. I could neither drop it nor fight very effectively. But I found a couple of wands that did sleep and lightning damage, and a spellbook with the "fireball" spell in it. These, plus the healing potions, kept him alive until I found a scroll shop and took a bunch of chances buying and reading them until I found one that uncursed my knife. I also found three scrolls of identification for the ridiculously low price of $15 each; as far as I'm concerned, these are the most valuable items in the game.

The best moment in the game so far.

Three scrolls of armor enchanting boosted my splint mail to +4, and I left the shop feeling pretty good about the future. But a couple of bad corpses left me starving and I fainted in front of a Uruk-hai.

My most successful character was my last*: Canaan the Samurai (coincidence in names, I know). On Level 5, he found an Oracle who gave a couple of nonsense hints for gold. He ended up chasing a water nymph all over the level for about 15 minutes, eventually killing her and retrieving all the stuff she stole from him. Then he repeated the exercise with a leprechaun on the next level. Two potions of raise level got him to character Level 8 while he was still on dungeon Level 6. It really hurt when he got swarmed by Mordor orcs on Level 7 and died. I had a ton of gold I was looking forward to spending. That's when I decided to take a Star Saga break.

My knight cursed with a ball and chain.

The game is amusing in all the ways that it can kill you. Twice, I've been cursed with lycanthropy from fighting were-somethings, a condition that repeatedly causes you to shapeshift, shed your armor, and drop half your stuff. Apparently, the advantage is that you can summon and command other monsters of your type, but the frequent shifting is so annoying that I lost my will to live. In another episode, a cursed scroll outfitted me with a ball and chain that slammed into my back when I went down a flight of stairs and killed me instantly (I guess you're supposed to pick them up and carry them). A third character died when a mimic surprised me from within a pile of goods in a shop. A shopkeeper killed another (and gleefully looted my body) when I ignored his "closed" sign.

This is the only game I've played in which NPCs loot your corpse when you die.

Among all the deaths, I've started to discover some of the game's secrets. I'm not saying they're particularly deep secrets--I'm sure there are many more to come--but I know they'll  make the game easier when I start playing it seriously. Here are a few.

• Many of the starting pieces of equipment are extremely useful. The archaeologist's pick-axe smashes boulders and makes holes in walls. The tourist's credit card unlocks doors, and his camera blinds monsters. I've already talked about the healer's stethoscope. The priest has a magic marker useful for "engraving." The archaeologist also has a "tinning kit," which I assume keeps food from rotting.

• I haven't found many permanently useful effects from eating corpses yet, with the exception of the "floating eye," which grants telepathy for a time, allowing you to see locations of monsters on the level.

• If a monster is of your same alignment (I'm guessing, anyway), it is non-hostile, and the game asks you to confirm before attacking. I'm not sure if there's any compelling reason not to, though. Does it upset your god?

I don't think I've ever not wanted to attack a hobgoblin.

 

• Dipping things into the priest's jars of holy water "blesses" them. I haven't quite figured out what the blessings do, though.

• I've noticed that multiple monsters share the same icon, but are perhaps differentiated by color. That's going to be annoying, as I can't distinguish between red and green and lots of other variations.

• As I noted in 2.3e, you can encounter ghosts of your previous characters at the levels where they died. These ghosts seem to be un-hittable, though perhaps I just don't have the right stuff. This sucks when they trap you in a corridor.

Aren't adventurers supposed to have a certain alliance?

 

• You can break open locked chests by kicking them, although there's a chance of damaging your leg.

• Fortune cookies actually contain fortunes--which seem to be game hints.

This could be useful, though probably not to a "chaotic" character.

 

I can't say I've warmed to my dog or cat yet. I realize from previous hints that pets have uses, such as not stepping on cursed items and not eating bad corpses. (I'm not really sure how that helps, though. If they do eat the corpse, then I know it was a good corpse, but now it's gone.) I'll try my best to learn how to use and train them, but mostly I find them really annoying. They keep getting in the way. Plus, it's kind of heartbreaking when you accidentally kill them while blind or confused.

Dumb cat gets in the way again. Just like my real cat, always trying to trip me when I go downstairs.

This is going to be a year-long process, probably. I don't think I'll update every time I play a session of NetHack, but I'll try to keep track of the new things that happen.


*Addendum: After I wrote the above ("the most successful character was my last"), I began playing with a valkyrie named Magog. I had some extraordinary luck in the early levels and she is now on Level 14. I'm almost afraid to keep playing. I'll chronicle her adventures next time.