NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/rec/games/hack/8253

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-23 | 3.6 KB

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From: [e-mail] (William H Hsu)
Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
Subject: Amazing Nethack Deaths Volume XV
Date: 22 Jan 1993 22:12:58 -0500
Organization: Homewood Academic Computing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md, USA
Lines: 53
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
Summary: aaaaaargh
Keywords: death story

    Here's another Amazing Nethack Deaths anecdote: Archninei (Archie for
short) the Caveman manages to discover a pair of padded gloves on level 3. Sure
enough, they turn out to be the coveted Nintendo-mitts (Gauntlets of Power for
you literal-minded out there).  Happily our would-be hero dashes all around the
upper levels, laying waste left and right.  Hoping to wish himself into a GDSM,
he starts drinking at fountains on level 4.  Whaddaya know it, hisssss....

    Okay, no problem.  By this time Archie is level 4 with ~40 HP.  A few
good bashes with the 'ol club, and the horde of water moccassins is wiped out.
Better yet, he's made 5th level. (There were 4 in this batch.) Did I mention
that he had to do the Troglodyte Grovel once during this harrowing experience?
Oh, plus he had intrinsic poison resistance from, of all things, a cave spider.
Standing up to the endless stream-o-snakes is not easy at 4th level.

    Anyway, onward and downward.  And what does our reptile-whacker,
recently possessed of a new leather belt, espy on the 5th level?  Another
fountain, bien su^r.  OK, quaff, quaff, quaff, refreshed, tasteless, refreshed,
uh-oh... snakes again!  And he's neglected to heal up from the previous group,
and Anu is not likely to keep pulling the fangs out of Archie's prehistoric
patootie. Que sera, sera, whack at the (3) snakes, run, whack, run; with the
help of the gauntlets the `snake | fountain' is eliminated again. Archie is now
a 6th level Cro-Magnon.  Downward again.  Guess what?

    Another fountain.  Third time's the charm, right?  Well, at this point
let me point out (*very* minor spoiler) that the chance of getting the
wish-granter from a fountain (by _drinking_, mind you) is the same as getting
the venom-granters.  But recall that the chance of his being altruistically
inclined is only a third of that!  So you basically have 5/6 chance (assuming
you get either one or the other) of getting something undesirable. At higher
levels, this is not really dangerous. But don't forget our elemental friend,
Own Will (bringing the ratio for "significant" effects to 8/9). Suffice it to
say that poor Archie empirically demonstrated this.

    "You have unleashed a water demon!"  OK, let's see, 56 HP.  Whack at it
a few times, miss, ouch, miss, ouch.  Archie decides to write to his favorite
Valar (i.e. engrave the E-word) at this point. Now what?

    THE WATER DEMON SUMMONS YEENOGHU!

    Unbelievable! There oughta be a law -- but I guess this is just like
running into an Ancient Red at 1000 ft. in Moria, something that happens. Under
the circumstances I felt it justified to restore a backup.  Since when are
water demons on good terms with Yeenoghu?!

    You AD&D mavens will recall that Yeenoghu, the Demon Lord of Gnolls, is
a 12-foot-tall hyena-head with the ability to confuse (by weapon) and sprinkle
unsuspecting victims with Demon-to-Hacker (magic) missiles. He is usually
associated with ghouls (though he can't summon them in NH) and I ran into him
once along with Beelzebub on level 45 or so (my first ascension). I did some
reeling even then.  Archie lasted one round.

- William the Applicant
[e-mail]