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NetHack 3.0 Guidebook
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A Guide to the Mazes of Menace
Eric S. Raymond
(Extensively edited and expanded for 3.0 by Mike Threepoint)
Thyrsus Enterprises
Malvern, PA 19355
*** 1. Introduction
You have just finished your years as a student at the local adventurer's
guild. After much practice and sweat you have finally completed your
training and are ready to embark upon a perilous adventure. To prove your
worthiness, the local guildmasters have sent you into the Mazes of Menace.
Your quest is to return with the Amulet of Yendor. According to legend, the
gods will grant immortality to the one who recovers this artifact; true or
not, its recovery will bring honor and full guild membership (not to mention
the attentions of certain wealthy wizards).
Your abilities and strengths for dealing with the hazards of adventure
will vary with your background and training:
Archeologists
understand dungeons pretty well; this enables them to move quickly
and sneak up on dungeon nasties. They start equipped with proper
tools for a scientific expedition.
Barbarians
are warriors out of the hinterland, hardened to battle. They begin
their quests with naught but uncommon strength, a trusty hauberk, and
a great two-handed sword.
Cavemen and Cavewomen
start with exceptional strength and neolithic weapons.
Elves
are agile, quick, and sensitive; very little of what goes on will
escape an Elf. The quality of Elven craftsmanship often gives them
an advantage in arms and armor.
Healers
are wise in medicine and the apothecary. They know the herbs and
simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anesthetize, and
neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they can divine a
being's state of health or sickness. Their medical practice earns
them quite reasonable amounts of money, which they enter the dungeon
with.
Knights
are distinguished from the common skirmisher by their devotion to the
ideals of chivalry and by the surpassing excellence of their armor.
Priests and Priestesses
are clerics militant, crusaders advancing the cause of righteousness
with arms, armor, and arts thaumaturgic. Their ability to commune
with deities via prayer occasionally extricates them from peril, but
can also put them in it.
Rogues
are agile and stealthy thieves, who carry daggers, lock picks, and
poisons to put on darts.
Samurai
are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon. They are lightly armored
and quick, and wear the dai-sho, two swords of the deadliest
keenness.
Tourists
start out with lots of gold (suitable for shopping with), a credit
card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive camera. Most
monsters don't like being photographed.
Valkyries
are hardy warrior women. Their upbringing in the harsh Northlands
makes them strong and inures them to extremes of cold, and instills
in them stealth and cunning.
Wizards
start out with a fair selection of magical goodies and a particular
affinity for dweomercraft.
You set out for the dungeon and after several days of uneventful travel,
you see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance to the Mazes of Menace. It
is late at night, so you make camp at the entrance and spend the night
sleeping under the open skies. In the morning, you gather your gear, eat
what may be your last meal outside, and enter the dungeon.
*** 2. What is going on here?
You have just begun a game of NetHack. Your goal is to grab as much
treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, and escape the Mazes of
Menace alive. On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and what
you have seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more of the level,
it appears on the screen in front of you.
When NetHack's ancestor rogue first appeared, its screen orientation was
almost unique among computer fantasy games. Since then, screen orientation
has become the norm rather than the exception; NetHack continues this fine
tradition. Unlike text adventure games that input commands in pseudo-English
sentences and explain the results in words, NetHack commands are all one or
two keystrokes and the results are displayed graphically on the screen. A
minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns is recommended; if the screen
is larger, only a 21x80 section will be used for the map.
NetHack generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even the authors
still find it an entertaining and exciting game despite having won several
times.
*** 3. What do all those things on the screen mean?
In order to understand what is going on in NetHack, first you must
understand what NetHack is doing with the screen. The NetHack screen
replaces the ``You see...'' descriptions of text adventure games. Figure 1
is a sample of what a NetHack screen might look like.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The bat bites!
------
|....| ----------
|.<..|####...@...$.|
|....-# |...B....+
|....| |.d......|
------ -------|--
Player the Rambler St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15 Neutral
Dlvl:1 G:0 HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Xp:1/19 T:257 Weak
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** 3.1. The status lines (bottom)
The bottom two lines of the screen contain several cryptic pieces of
information describing your current status. If either status line becomes
longer than the width of the screen, you might not see all of it. Here are
explanations of what the various status items mean (though your configuration
may not have all the status items listed below):
Rank
Your character's name and professional ranking (based on the
experience level, see below).
Strength
A measure of your character's strength, one of your six basic
attributes. Your attributes can range from 3 to 18 inclusive
(occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx). The
higher your strength, the stronger you are. Strength affects how
successfully you perform physical tasks and how much damage you do in
combat.
Dexterity
affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid traps, and do other
tasks requiring agility or manipulation of objects.
Constitution
affects your ability to withstand injury and other strains on your
stamina.
Intelligence
affects your ability to cast spells.
Wisdom
comes from your religious affairs. It affects your magical energy.
Charisma
affects how certain creatures react toward you. In particular, it
can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.
Alignment
Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Basically, Lawful is good and Chaotic
is evil. Your alignment influences how other monsters react toward
you.
Dungeon Level
How deep you have gone into the dungeon. It starts at one and
increases as you go deeper into the dungeon. The Amulet of Yendor is
reputed to be somewhere beneath the twentieth level.
Gold
The number of gold pieces you have.
Hit Points
Your current and maximum hit points. Hit points indicate how much
damage you can take before you die. The more you get hit in a fight,
the lower they get. You can regain hit points by resting. The
number in parentheses is the maximum number your hit points can
reach.
Power
Spell points. This tells you how much mystic energy (mana) you have
available for spell casting. When you type `+' to list your spells,
each will have a spell point cost beside it in parentheses. You will
not see this if your dungeon has been set up without spells.
Armor Class
A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from unfriendly
creatures. The lower this number is, the more effective the armor;
it is quite possible to have negative armor class.
Experience
Your current experience level and experience points. As you
adventure, you gain experience points. At certain experience point
totals, you gain an experience level. The more experienced you are,
the better you fight and withstand magical attacks. Many dungeons
show only your experience level here.
Time
The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have the time
option set.
Hunger Status
Your current hunger status, ranging from Satiated down to Fainting.
If your hunger status is normal, it is not displayed.
Additional status flags may appear after the hunger status: Conf when
you're confused, Sick when sick, Blind when you can't see, Stun when stunned,
and Hallu when hallucinating.
*** 3.2. The message line (top)
The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that describe things
that are impossible to represent visually. If you see a ``--More--'' on the
top line, this means that NetHack has another message to display on the
screen, but it wants to make certain that you've read the one that is there
first. To read the next message, just press the space bar.
*** 3.3. The map (rest of the screen)
The rest of the screen is the map of the level as you have explored it so
far. Each symbol on the screen represents something. You can set the
graphics option to change some of the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the
game will use default symbols. Here is a list of what the default symbols
mean:
- and | The walls of a room, or an open door.
. The floor of a room, or a doorless doorway.
# A corridor, or possibly a kitchen sink or drawbridge (if your dungeon
has sinks or drawbridges).
< A way to the previous level.
> A way to the next level.
+ A closed door, or a spell book containing a spell you can learn (if
your dungeon has spell books).
@ A human (you, usually).
$ A pile of gold.
^ A trap (once you detect it).
) A weapon.
[ A suit or piece of armor.
% A piece of food (not necessarily healthy).
? A scroll.
/ A wand.
= A ring.
! A potion.
( A useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...).
" An amulet, or a spider web.
* A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).
` A boulder or statue.
0 An iron ball.
_ An altar (if your dungeon has altars), or an iron chain.
} A pool of water or moat.
{ A fountain (your dungeon may not have fountains).
\ An opulent throne (your dungeon may not have thrones either).
a-zA-Z and other symbols. Letters and certain other symbols represent the
various inhabitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be
nasty and vicious. Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.
You need not memorize all these symbols; you can ask the game what any
symbol represents with the `/' command (see the Commands section for more
info).
*** 4. Commands
Commands are given to NetHack by typing one or two characters; NetHack
then asks questions to find out what it needs to know to do your bidding.
For example, a common question, in the form ``What do you want to use?
[a-zA-Z ?*]'', asks you to choose an object you are carrying. Here,
``a-zA-Z'' are the inventory letters of your possible choices. Typing `?'
gives you an inventory list of these items, so you can see what each letter
refers to. In this example, there is also a `*' indicating that you may
choose an object not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpected.
Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the inventory
letters of every object you're carrying. Finally, if you change your mind
and decide you don't want to do this command after all, you can press the ESC
key to abort the command.
You can put a number before most commands to repeat them that many times;
for example, ``10s'' will search ten times. If you have the number_pad
option set, you must type `n' to prefix a count, so the example above would
be typed ``n10s'' instead. Commands for which counts make no sense ignore
them. In addition, movement commands can be prefixed for greater control
(see below). To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.
The list of commands is rather long, but it can be read at any time
during the game through the `?' command, which accesses a menu of helpful
texts. Here are the commands for your reference:
? Help menu: display one of several help texts available.
/ Tell what a symbol represents. You may choose to specify a location
or type a symbol (or even a whole word) to define. If the help
option is on, and NetHack has some special information about an
object or monster that you looked at, you'll be asked if you want
``More info?''. If help is off, then you'll only get the special
information if you explicitly ask for it by typing in the name of the
monster or object.
& Tell what a command does.
< Go up a staircase to the previous level (if you are on the stairs).
> Go down a staircase to the next level (if you are on the stairs).
[yuhjklbn]
Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2). If there is a
monster there, you will fight the monster instead. Only these
one-step movement commands cause you to fight monsters; the others
(below) are ``safe.''
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
y k u 7 8 9
\ | / \ | /
h- . -l 4- . -6
/ | \ / | \
b j n 1 2 3
(if number_pad is set)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Figure 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[YUHJKLBN]
Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into something.
m[yuhjklbn]
Prefix: move without picking up any objects.
M[yuhjklbn]
Prefix: move far, no pickup.
g[yuhjklbn]
Prefix: move until something interesting is found.
G[yuhjklbn]
Prefix: same as `g', but forking of corridors is not considered
interesting.
. Rest, do nothing for one turn.
a Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).
A Remove all armor. Use `T' (take off) to take off only one piece of
armor.
^A Redo the previous command.
c Close a door.
C Call (name) an individual monster.
^C Panic button. Quit the game.
d Drop something. Ex. ``d7a'' means drop seven items of object a.
D Drop several things. In answer to the question ``What kinds of
things do you want to drop? [!%= au]'' you should type zero or more
object symbols possibly followed by `a' and/or `u'.
Da - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation.
Du - drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop).
D%u - drop only unpaid food.
^D Kick something (usually a door).
e Eat food.
E Engrave a message on the floor. Engraving the word ``Elbereth'' will
cause most monsters to not attack you hand-to-hand (but if you
attack, you will rub it out); this is often useful to give yourself a
breather. (This feature may be compiled out of the game, so your
version might not necessarily have it.)
E- - write in the dust with your fingers.
i List your inventory (everything you're carrying).
I List selected parts of your inventory.
I* - list all gems in inventory;
Iu - list all unpaid items;
Ix - list all used up items that are on your shopping bill;
I$ - count your money.
o Open a door.
O Set options. You will be asked to enter an option line. If you
enter a blank line, the current options are reported. Entering `?'
will get you explanations of the various options. Otherwise, you
should enter a list of options separated by commas. The available
options are listed later in this Guidebook. Options are usually set
before the game, not with the `O' command; see the section on options
below.
p Pay your shopping bill.
P Put on a ring.
^P Repeat previous message (subsequent ^P's repeat earlier messages).
q Quaff (drink) a potion.
Q Quit the game.
r Read a scroll or spell book.
R Remove a ring.
^R Redraw the screen.
s Search for secret doors and traps around you. It usually takes
several tries to find something.
S Save the game. The game will be restored automatically the next time
you play.
t Throw an object or shoot a projectile.
T Take off armor.
^T Teleport, if you have the ability.
v Display version number.
V Display the game history.
w Wield weapon. w- means wield nothing, use your bare hands.
W Wear armor.
x List the spells you know (same as `+').
X Enter explore (discovery) mode.
z Zap a wand.
Z Zap (cast) a spell.
^Z Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).
(R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
: Look at what is here.
, Pick up some things.
@ Toggle the pickup option on and off.
^ Ask for the type of a trap you found earlier.
) Tell what weapon you are wielding.
[ Tell what armor you are wearing.
= Tell what rings you are wearing.
" Tell what amulet you are wearing.
( Tell what tools you are using.
$ Count your gold pieces.
+ List the spells you know (same as `x').
\ Show what types of objects have been discovered.
! Escape to a shell.
# Perform an extended command. As you can see, the authors of NetHack
used up all the letters, so this is a way to introduce the less
useful commands, or commands used under limited circumstances. You
may obtain a list of them by entering `?'. What extended commands
are available depend on what features the game was compiled with.
If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in combination
with another key, modifies it by setting the `meta' [8th, or `high']
bit), you can invoke the extended commands by meta-ing the first
letter of the command. In PC and ST NetHack, the `Alt' key can be
used in this fashion.
M-a Adjust inventory letters (the fixinvlet option must be ``on'' to do
this).
M-c Talk to someone.
M-d Dip an object into something.
M-f Force a lock.
M-j Jump to another location.
M-l Loot a box on the floor.
M-m Use a monster's special ability.
M-N Name an item or type of object.
M-o Offer a sacrifice to the gods.
M-p Pray to the gods for help.
M-r Rub a lamp.
M-s Sit down.
M-t Turn undead.
M-u Untrap something (usually a trapped object).
M-v Print compile time options for this version of NetHack.
M-w Wipe off your face.
If the number_pad option is on, additional letter commands are available:
j Jump to another location. Same as ``#jump'' or ``M-j''.
k Kick something (usually a door). Same as `^D'.
l Loot a box on the floor. Same as ``#loot'' or ``M-l''.
N Name an item or type of object. Same as ``#name'' or ``M-N''.
u Untrap a trapped object or door. Same as ``#untrap'' or ``M-u''.
*** 5. Rooms and corridors
Rooms in the dungeon are either lit or dark. If you walk into a lit
room, the entire room will be drawn on the screen. If you walk into a dark
room, only the areas you can see will be displayed. In darkness, you can
only see one space in all directions. Corridors are always dark, but remain
on the map as you explore them.
Secret corridors are hidden. You can find them with the `s' (search)
command.
*** 5.1. Doorways
Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no doors; you
can walk right through. Others have doors in them, which may be open,
closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use the `o' (open) command; to
close it again, use the `c' (close) command.
You can get through a locked door by using a tool to pick the lock with
the `a' (apply) command, or by kicking it open with the `^D' (kick) command.
Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach them straight
on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without doors are not restricted.
Doors can be useful for shutting out monsters. Most monsters cannot open
doors, although a few don't need to (ex. ghosts can walk through doors).
Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the `s' (search)
command.
*** 5.2. Traps (`^')
There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare the unwary delver. For
example, you may suddenly fall into a pit and be stuck for a few turns.
Traps don't appear on your map until you trigger one by moving onto it, or
you discover it with the `s' (search) command. Monsters can fall prey to
traps, too.
*** 6. Monsters
Monsters you cannot see are not displayed on the screen. Beware! You
may suddenly come upon one in a dark place. Some magic items can help you
locate them before they locate you, which some monsters do very well.
*** 6.1. Fighting
If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt to walk into
it. Many monsters you find will mind their own business unless you attack
them. Some of them are very dangerous when angered. Remember: Discretion
is the better part of valor.
*** 6.2. Your pet
You start the game with a little dog (`d') or cat (`f'), which follows
you about the dungeon and fights monsters with you. Like you, your pet needs
food to survive. It usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats.
If you're worried about it or want to train it, you can feed it, too, by
throwing it food.
Your pet also gains experience from killing monsters, and can grow over
time, gaining hit points and doing more damage. Initially, your pet may even
be better at killing things than you, which makes pets useful for low-level
characters.
Your pet will follow you up and down staircases, if it is next to you
when you move. Otherwise, your pet will be stranded, and may become wild.
*** 6.3. Ghost levels
You may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventurers (or even
former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal effects. Ghosts are
hard to kill, but easy to avoid, since they're slow and do little damage.
You can plunder the deceased adventurer's possessions; however, they are
likely to be cursed. Beware of whatever killed the former player.
*** 7. Objects
When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want to pick it
up. In NetHack, this is accomplished automatically by walking over the
object (unless you turn off the pickup option (see below), or move with the
`m' prefix (see above)), or manually by using the `,' command. If you're
carrying too many things, NetHack will tell you so and won't pick up anything
more. Otherwise, it will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you what
you just picked up.
When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory letter. Many
commands that operate on objects must ask you to find out which object you
want to use. When NetHack asks you to choose a particular object you are
carrying, you are usually presented with a list of inventory letters to
choose from (see Commands, above).
Some objects, such as weapons, are easily differentiated. Others, like
scrolls and potions, are given descriptions which vary according to type.
During a game, any two objects with the same description are the same type.
However, the descriptions will vary from game to game.
When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious, NetHack will
remember what it is for you. If its effect isn't extremely obvious, you will
be asked what you want to call this type of object so you will recognize it
later. You can also use the ``#name'' command for the same purpose at any
time, to name all objects of a particular type or just an individual object.
*** 7.1. Curses and blessings
Any object that you find may be cursed, even if the object is otherwise
helpful. The most common effect of a curse is being stuck with (and to) the
item. Cursed weapons weld themselves to your hand when wielded, so you
cannot unwield them. Any cursed item you wear is not removable by ordinary
means. In addition, cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear
negative enchantments that make them less effective in combat. Other cursed
objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.
Objects can also become blessed. Blessed items usually work better or
more beneficially than normal uncursed items. For example, a blessed weapon
will do more damage against demons.
There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon objects, so
even if you are stuck with one, you can still have the curse lifted and the
item removed. Priests and Priestesses have an innate sensitivity to curses
and blessings, so they can more easily avoid cursed objects than other
character classes.
An item with unknown curse status, and an item which you know to be
uncursed, will be distinguished in your inventory by the presence of the word
``uncursed'' in the description of the latter. The exception is if this
description isn't needed; you can look at the inventory description and know
that you have discovered whether it's cursed. This applies to items which
have ``plusses,'' and items with charges.
*** 7.2. Weapons (`)')
Given a chance, almost all monsters in the Mazes of Menace will
gratuitously kill you. You need weapons for self-defense (killing them
first). Without a weapon, you do only 1-2 hit points of damage (plus
bonuses, if any).
There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown weapons,
like arrows. To hit monsters with a weapon, you must wield it and attack
them, or throw it at them. To shoot an arrow out of a bow, you must first
wield the bow, then throw the arrow. Crossbows shoot crossbow bolts. Slings
hurl rocks and (other) gems. You can wield only one weapon at a time, but
you can change weapons unless you're wielding a cursed one.
Enchanted weapons have a ``plus'' (which can also be a minus) that adds
to your chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster. The only way to
find out if a weapon is enchanted is to have it magically identified somehow.
Those of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be aware that each
weapon which exists in AD&D does the same damage to monsters in NetHack.
Some of the more obscure weapons (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and
bec-de-corbin) are defined in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D
supplement.
The commands to use weapons are `w' (wield) and `t' (throw).
*** 7.3. Armor (`[')
Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to protect yourself
from their blows. Some types of armor offer better protection than others.
Your armor class is a measure of this protection. Armor class (AC) is
measured as in AD&D, with 10 being the equivalent of no armor, and lower
numbers meaning better armor. Each suit of armor which exists in AD&D gives
the same protection in NetHack. Here is an (incomplete) list of the armor
classes provided by various suits of armor:
dragon scale mail 1
plate mail 3
bronze plate mail 4
splint mail 4
banded mail 4
elven mithril-coat 5
chain mail 5
scale mail 6
ring mail 7
studded leather armor 7
leather armor 8
no armor 10
You can also wear other pieces of armor (ex. helmets, boots, shields,
cloaks) to lower your armor class even further, but you can only wear one
item of each category (one suit of armor, one cloak, one helmet, one shield,
and so on).
If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection will be better (or
worse) than normal, and its ``plus'' (or minus) will subtract from your armor
class. For example, a +1 chain mail would give you better protection than
normal chain mail, lowering your armor class one unit further to 4. When you
put on a piece of armor, you immediately find out the armor class and any
``plusses'' it provides. Cursed pieces of armor usually have negative
enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.
The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
*** 7.4. Food (`%')
Food is necessary to survive. If you go too long without eating you will
faint, and eventually die of starvation. Unprotected food does not stay
fresh indefinitely; after a while it will spoil, and be unhealthy to eat.
Food stored in ice boxes or tins (``cans'' to you Americans) will usually
stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while to open.
When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are also
``food.'' Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also give you special
powers when you eat them. A good rule of thumb is ``you are what you eat.''
You can name one food item after something you like to eat with the fruit
option, if your dungeon has it.
The command to eat food is `e'.
*** 7.5. Scrolls (`?')
Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen by ancient
wizards for their amusement value (ex. ``READ ME,'' or ``HOLY BIBLE''
backwards). Scrolls disappear after you read them (except for blank ones,
without magic spells on them).
One of the most useful of these is the scroll of identify, which can be
used to determine what another object is, whether it is cursed or blessed,
and how many uses it has left. Some objects of subtle enchantment are
difficult to identify without these.
If you receive mail while you are playing (on versions compiled with this
feature), a mail daemon may run up and deliver it to you as a scroll of mail.
To use this feature, you must let NetHack know where to look for new mail by
setting the ``MAIL'' environment variable to the file name of your mailbox.
You may also want to set the ``MAILREADER'' environment variable to the file
name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it when you read the
scroll.
The command to read a scroll is `r'.
*** 7.6. Potions (`!')
Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid inside the flask.
They disappear after you quaff them.
Clear potions are potions of water. Sometimes these are blessed or
cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water. Holy water is the bane of the
undead, so potions of holy water are good thing to throw (`t') at them. It
also is very useful when you dip (``#dip'') other objects in it.
The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).
*** 7.7. Wands (`/')
Magic wands have multiple magical charges. Some wands are directional,
you must give a direction to zap them in. You can also zap them at yourself
(just give a `.' or `s' for the direction), but it is often unwise. Other
wands are nondirectional, they don't ask for directions. The number of
charges in a wand is random, and decreases by one whenever you use it.
The command to use a wand is `z' (zap).
*** 7.8. Rings (`=')
Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively permanent magic,
unlike the usually fleeting effects of potions, scrolls, and wands.
Putting on a ring activates its magic. You can wear only two rings, one
on each ring finger.
Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the rate varying
with the type of ring.
The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).
*** 7.9. Spell books (`+')
Spell books are tomes of mighty magic. When studied with the `r' (read)
command, they bestow the knowledge of a spell, unless the attempt backfires.
Reading a cursed spell book, or one with mystic runes beyond your ken can be
harmful to your health!
A spell can also backfire when you cast it. If you attempt to cast a
spell well above your experience level, or cast it at a time when your luck
is particularly bad, you can end up wasting both the energy and the time
required in casting.
Casting a spell calls forth magical energies and focuses them with your
naked mind. Releasing the magical energy releases some of your memory of the
spell with it. Each time you cast a spell, your familiarity with it will
dwindle, until you eventually forget the details completely and must relearn
it.
The command to read a spell book is the same as for scrolls, `r' (read).
The `+' command lists your current spells and the number of spell points they
require. The `Z' (cast) command casts a spell.
*** 7.10. Tools (`(')
Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes. Some tools are
like wands in that they have a limited number of uses. For example, lamps
burn out after a while. Other tools are containers, which objects can be
placed into or taken out of.
The command to use tools is `a' (apply).
*** 7.10.1. Chests and boxes
You may encounter chests or boxes in your travels. These can be opened
with the ``#loot'' extended command when they are on the floor, or with the
`a' (apply) command when you are carrying one. However, chests are often
locked, and require you to either use a key to unlock it, a tool to pick the
lock, or to break it open with brute force. Chests are unwieldy objects, and
must be set down to be unlocked (by kicking them, using a key or lock picking
tool with the `a' (apply) command, or by using a weapon to force the lock
with the ``#force'' extended command).
Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when you unlock
or open them. You can check for and try to deactivate traps with the
``#untrap'' extended command.
*** 7.11. Amulets (`"')
Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more powerful. Like rings,
amulets have various magical properties, some beneficial, some harmful, which
are activated by putting them on.
The commands to use amulets are the same as for rings, `P' (put on) and
`R' (remove).
*** 7.12. Gems (`*')
Some gems are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold pieces.
Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when you exit.
Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are much less
valuable.
*** 7.13. Large rocks (``')
Statues and boulders are not particularly useful, and are generally
heavy. It is rumored that some statues are not what they seem.
*** 7.14. Gold (`$')
Gold adds to your score, and you can buy things in shops with it. Your
version of NetHack may display how much gold you have on the status line. If
not, the `$' command will count it.
*** 8. Options
Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how NetHack
should do things, there are options you can set to change how NetHack
behaves.
*** 8.1. Setting the options
There are two ways to set the options. The first is with the `O' command
in NetHack; the second is with the ``NETHACKOPTIONS'' environment variable.
*** 8.2. Using the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable
The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is a comma-separated list of initial values
for the various options. Some can only be turned on or off. You turn one of
these on by adding the name of the option to the list, and turn it off by
typing a `!' or ``no'' before the name. Others take a character string as a
value. You can set string options by typing the option name, a colon, and
then the value of the string. The value is terminated by the next comma or
the end of string.
For example, to set up an environment variable so that ``female'' is on,
``pickup'' is off, the name is set to ``Blue Meanie'', and the fruit is set
to ``papaya'', you would enter the command:
% setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "female,!pickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
in csh, or
$ NETHACKOPTIONS="female,!pickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
$ export NETHACKOPTIONS
in sh or ksh.
*** 8.3. Customization options
Here are explanations of what the various options do. Character strings
longer than fifty characters are truncated. Some of the options listed may
be inactive in your dungeon.
catname
Name your starting cat (ex. ``catname:Morris''). Cannot be set with
the `O' command.
color
Use color for different monsters, objects, and dungeon features
(default on).
confirm
Have user confirm attacks on pets, shopkeepers, and other peaceable
creatures (default on).
DECgraphics
Use a predefined selection of characters from the DEC VTxxx/DEC
Rainbow/ ANSI line-drawing character set to display the dungeon
instead of having to define a full graphics set yourself (default
off). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
dogname
Name your starting dog (ex. ``dogname:Fang''). Cannot be set with
the `O' command.
endgame
Control what parts of the score list you are shown at the end
(ex. ``endgame:5 top scores/4 around my score/own scores'').
Only the first letter of each category (`t', `a', or `o') is
necessary.
female
Set your sex (default off). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
fixinvlet
An object's inventory letter sticks to it when it's dropped (default
on). If this is off, dropping an object shifts all the remaining
inventory letters.
fruit
Name a fruit after something you enjoy eating (ex. ``fruit:mango'')
(default ``slime mold''. Basically a nostalgic whimsy that NetHack
uses from time to time. You should set this to something you find
more appetizing than slime mold. Apples, oranges, pears, bananas,
and melons already exist in NetHack, so don't use those.
graphics
Set the graphics symbols for screen displays (default
``|--------|||-\\/.-|+.#<>^"}{#\\_<>##''). The graphics option (if
used) should come last, followed by a string of up to 35 characters
to be used instead of the default map-drawing characters. The
dungeon map will use the characters you specify instead of the
default symbols.
The DECgraphics and IBMgraphics options use predefined selections of
graphics symbols, so you need not go to the trouble of setting up a
full graphics string for these common cases. These two options also
set up proper handling of graphics characters for such terminals, so
you should specify them as appropriate even if you override the
selections with your own graphics string.
Note that this option string is now escape-processed in conventional
C fashion. This means that `\' is a prefix to take the following
character literally, and not as a special prefix. Your graphics
strings for NetHack 2.2 and older versions may contain a `\'; it must
be doubled for the same effect now. The special escape form `\m'
switches on the meta bit in the following character, and the `^'
prefix causes the following character to be treated as a control
character (so any `^' in your old graphics strings should be changed
to `\^' now).
The order of the symbols is: solid rock, vertical wall, horizontal
wall, upper left corner, upper right corner, lower left corner, lower
right corner, cross wall, upward T wall, downward T wall, leftward T
wall, rightward T wall, vertical beam, horizontal beam, left slant,
right slant, no door, vertical open door, horizontal open door,
closed door, floor of a room, corridor, stairs up, stairs down, trap,
web, pool or moat, fountain, kitchen sink, throne, altar, ladder up,
ladder down, vertical drawbridge, horizontal drawbridge. You might
want to use `+' for the corners and T walls for a more esthetic,
boxier display. Note that in the next release, new symbols may be
added, or the present ones rearranged.
Cannot be set with the `O' command.
help
If more information is available for an object looked at with the `/'
command, ask if you want to see it (default on). Turning help off
makes just looking at things faster, since you aren't interrupted
with the ``More info?'' prompt, but it also means that you might miss
some interesting and/or important information.
IBM_BIOS
Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to read the
keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move) on machines with an
IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, PC and ST NetHack only).
IBMgraphics
Use a predefined selection of IBM extended ASCII characters to
display the dungeon instead of having to define a full graphics set
yourself (default off). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
ignintr
Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off).
male
Set your sex (default on, most hackers are male). Cannot be set with
the `O' command.
name
Set your character's name (defaults to your user name). You can also
set your character class by appending a dash and the first letter of
the character class (that is, by suffixing one of -A -B -C -E -H -K
-P -R -S -T -V -W). Cannot be set with the `O' command.
news
Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on). Since the news
is shown at the beginning of the game, there's no point in setting
this with the `O' command.
number_pad
Use the number keys to move instead of [yuhjklbn] (default off).
null
Send padding nulls to the terminal (default off).
packorder
Specify the order to list object types in (default
``\")[%?+/=!(*'0_''). The value of this option should be a string
containing the symbols for the various object types.
pickup
Pick up things you move onto by default (default on).
rawio
Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more bulletproof
input (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle without it)
(default off). Note: DEC Rainbows hang if this is turned on.
Cannot be set with the `O' command.
rest_on_space
Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (rest) command (default
off).
safe_pet
Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
silent
Suppress terminal beeps (default on).
sortpack
Sort the pack contents by type when displaying inventory (default
on).
standout
Boldface monsters and ``--More--'' (default off).
time
Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line (default off).
tombstone
Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on).
verbose
Provide more commentary during the game (default on).
In some versions, options may be set in a configuration file on disk as
well as from NETHACKOPTIONS.
*** 9. Scoring
NetHack maintains a list of the top scores or scorers on your machine,
depending on how it is set up. In the latter case, each account on the
machine can post only one non-winning score on this list. If you score
higher than someone else on this list, or better your previous score, you
will be inserted in the proper place under your current name. How many
scores are kept can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.
Your score is chiefly based upon how much experience you gained, how much
loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and how the game ended. If you
quit the game, you escape with all of your gold intact. If, however, you get
killed in the Mazes of Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your
gold when your corpse is discovered (adventurers have been known to collect
finder's fees). So, consider whether you want to take one last hit at that
monster and possibly live, or quit and stop with whatever you have. If you
quit, you keep all your gold, but if you swing and live, you might find more.
If you just want to see what the current top players/games list is, you
can type nethack -s all.
*** 10. Explore mode
NetHack is an intricate and difficult game. Novices might falter in
fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive. Well, fear not.
Your dungeon may come equipped with an ``explore'' or ``discovery'' mode that
enables you to keep old save files and cheat death, at the paltry cost of not
getting on the high score list.
There are two ways of enabling explore mode. One is to start the game
with the -X switch. The other is to issue the `X' command while already
playing the game. The other benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid
reader to discover.
*** 11. Credits
The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX rogue game.
Large portions of this paper were shamelessly cribbed from A Guide to the
Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold. Small
portions were adapted from Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by
Ken Arromdee.
NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work. Main events
in the course of the game development are described below:
Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny Woodland, Mike
Thome and Jon Payne.
Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into a very
different game, and published (at least) three versions (1.0.1, 1.0.2, and
1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.
Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and MS-DOS, producing PC
HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics in version 1.03g, and went
on to produce at least four more versions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).
R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari 520/1040ST,
producing ST Hack 1.03.
Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
incorporating many of the added features, and produced NetHack 1.4. He then
coordinated a cast of thousands in enhancing and debugging NetHack 1.4 and
released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.
Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading a team which
included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve Creps, Eric Hendrickson,
Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce
NetHack 3.0c.
NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to OS/2 by Timo
Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel. The three of them and Kevin Darcy
later joined the main development team to produce subsequent revisions of
3.0.
Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga. Norm Meluch,
Stephen Spackman and Pierre Martineau designed overlay code for PC NetHack
3.0. Johnny Lee ported NetHack 3.0 to the Macintosh. Along with various
other Dungeoneers, they continued to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga
ports through the later revisions of 3.0.
From time to time, some depraved individual out there in netland sends a
particularly intriguing modification to help out with the game. The Gods of
the Dungeon sometimes make note of the names of the worst of these miscreants
in this, the list of Dungeoneers:
Richard Addison Bruce Holloway Pat Rankin
Tom Almy Richard P. Hughey Eric S. Raymond
Ken Arromdee Ari Huttunen John Rupley
Eric Backus Del Lamb Olaf Seibert
John S. Bien Greg Laskin Kevin Sitze
Ralf Brown Johnny Lee Eric R. Smith
Jean-Christophe Collet Steve Linhart Kevin Smolkowski
Steve Creps Ken Lorber Michael Sokolov
Kevin Darcy Benson I. Margulies Stephen Spackman
Matthew Day Pierre Martineau Andy Swanson
Joshua Delahunty Roland McGrath Kevin Sweet
Jochen Erwied Norm Meluch Scott R. Turner
David Gentzel Bruce Mewborne Janet Walz
Mark Gooderum Izchak Miller Jon Watte
David Hairston Gil Neiger Tom West
Timo Hakulinen Greg Olson Gregg Wonderly
Eric Hendrickson Mike Passaretti
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