============================= Objects and Monsters ============================= The mines of Angband 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 that died before you to offer unimaginable wealth for those bold enough to seize it. Your inventory (backpack) and equipment (your person): You pick up objects by moving on top on them (if you have the "auto_pickup" option on), or using the 'g'et command. You may carry up to 23 different items or piles of items, and have 12 areas of your body where wearable equipment may go. If you somehow manage to stuff 24 items into your pack, for example, by removing a helmet from your head while your pack is full, then your pack will overflow and the most recently added item will fall out and onto the ground. Carry too much weight, and you will begin to slow down, making it easier for monsters to catch up to you. The point at which your load thus hinders you depends on your strength. Specific Types of Objects: Many objects found within the dungeon have special commands for their use. Wands must be Aimed, staves must be Used, scrolls must be Read, and potions must be Quaffed. You may, in general, not only use items in your pack, but also items on the ground, if you are standing on top of them. Wands: In Oangband, known wands stack, uniting their charges. Such a stack may be heavier, but can be recharged more safely and effectively. Staffs: Staffs do not combine their charges and only stack if they happen to have the same number of charges (they take up plenty of space in your backpack). If stacked, the number of charges that they display is prefixed by a quantity indicator (e.g. "(2x 13 charges)", which shows that each of two staffs have 13 charges. Although bulky, staffs often have plenty of charges and recharge well. Rods: Rods always stack. A stack of rods with at least one charging member will show an appropriate inscription. When zapped, a rod is "timed out" for a given number of turns. Each recharging rod in a stack contributes to the stack's total recharge rate; if three out of five rods are charging, the stack's total timeout period will decrease by three per normal player turn. Note: In Oangband, rods are not invulnerable... Chests: Chests are difficult and dangerous to open, as they contain both traps and locks, but the adventurer that opens one may be rewarded handsomely. 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 as deep in the dungeon as you have ever gone. 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. Object Inscriptions: Use the '{' and '}' keys to inscribe and uninscribe objects. Inscriptions go very well with keymaps and macros: See the help file "macro.txt". To designate a main and backup weapon: Inscribe both with "@0" (or "@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 "@1", etc., and wield weapons 0, 1, 2 and so on as desired. 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. To be very paranoid about an object: Inscribe it with "!*". To set up a wand that is always aimed with the same set of keystrokes: Inscribe it with "@a#", or "@z#" in the roguelike keyset, replacing the '#' with whatever digit you desire. This allows you to set up macros to, say, check for traps instantly. Similar inscriptions make archery very convenient, and make certain that spellbooks are always accessed using the same keystrokes. To get notification when an object that recharges automatically is ready for use: Inscribe it with "!!". Inscriptions for fun and profit: Try inscribing the first monster killed by a weapon, hidden object abilities (once you discover them), and where you found the item or who dropped it. The game also inscribes objects automatically. Wands and staves which are known to be empty will be inscribed with "empty". Objects which have been tried at least once but haven't been identified yet will be inscribed with "tried". Cursed objects are inscribed with "cursed". Broken objects may be inscribed with "broken". Artifacts that you discovered by trying to destroy them will be inscribed "special" or "terrible". Items purchased at a discount are so marked. Some of these inscriptions will disappear when the item is identified, and you may overwrite others. Pseudo-ID: All adventurers are able to automatically gain information about many equippable objects, but some classes are much more likely to learn about objects this way than others. Priests, and Mages, Rangers, Druids, and Necromancers to a lesser extent, can tell whether an item is "good" (with magical enhancements of some sort), or "cursed" (items with foul magics that need at least a scroll of Remove Curse to take off). Warriors, and Rogues, Paladins, and Assassins to a lesser extent, can learn whether an item is "terrible" (a item with perilous magics), "cursed", "average" (an item with no magical bonuses or penalties), "good", "excellent" (an item that grants special bonuses or abilities), or even "special" (an artifact). Cursed Objects: Some objects, mainly armor and weapons, have had curses laid upon them by joyful evil sorcerers who enjoy a good joke when it gets you killed. These horrible objects will look like any other item, but will detract from your character's stats or abilities if worn. They will also be impossible to remove until a remove curse is performed. 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 which is known to be cursed. === Monsters: Monster Memories, Stealth, and Player Ghosts === 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. Stealth: Characters have a base chance to wake up monsters that increases as player speed does (since a speedy character will perform more actions making noise every time a monster gets to take its turn) and greatly decreases as stealth improves. This value can be modified: combat and bashing boors makes it more likely that monsters will awake (especially those in line of sight), and resting makes it less likely. The higher your base stealth, the less extra noise you will make in combat. Player Ghosts: Player ghosts vary from game to game depending on the name, sex, race, and class of the adventurer or Angband/Oangband Hero whose bones file was used during ghost creation. Should your character die, informat- ion about him will often be added to a new bones file, inside the folder /lib/bones, and a future game might bring him back from the dead...