                    9                            A Guide to the Mazes of Menace 8                              (Guidebook for NetHack 3.3)    2                                    Eric S. RaymondH             (Extensively edited and expanded for 3.0 by Mike Threepoint)                 1.  Introduction  K                Having exhausted your own  meager  financial  resources,  as K           well  as  those  of your parents, you find that you must end your K           formal education.  Your lack of experience and skills leaves  you K           facing a pretty grim future.  You could look for some sort of me- K           nial job and hope to  perform  well  enough  to  be  noticed  and K           perhaps  rise  in  responsibilities until you were earning enough K           money to be comfortable.  Or you could set out into the world and K           make your livelihood by prospecting, stealing, crusading, or just K           plain killing, for your gold.  Over the objections of your  local K           guildmaster, you opt to follow the adventuring route.  After all, K           when adventurers came back this way they  usually  seemed  better K           off than when they passed through the first time.  And who was to K           say that all of those who did not return had not just kept going?   K                Asking around, you hear about a bauble, called the Amulet of K           Yendor  by  some, which, if you can find it, will bring you great K           wealth.  One legend you were told even mentioned that the one who K           finds  the  amulet  will be granted immortality by the gods.  The K           amulet is rumored to be somewhere beyond the Valley of  Gehennom, K           deep within the Mazes of Menace.  You decide that even if the ru- K           mors of the amulet's powers are untrue, and even if it won't cure K           the  common plague, you should at least be able to sell the tales K           of your adventures to the local minstrels for a  tidy  sum.   You K           spend one last night fortifying yourself at the local inn, becom- K           ing more and more depressed as you watch the odds of your success K           being  posted on the inn's walls getting lower and lower.  In the K           morning you awake, gather together your belongings, and  set  off            on your adventure...  K                Your abilities and strengths for dealing with the hazards of @           adventure will vary with your background and training:  K                Archeologists understand dungeons pretty well; this  enables K           them  to  move  quickly  and sneak up on the local nasties.  They K           start equipped with the tools for a proper scientific expedition.   K                Barbarians are warriors out of the hinterland,  hardened  to K           battle.   They  begin  their  quests  with  naught  but  uncommon C           strength, a trusty hauberk, and a great two-handed sword.     K           NetHack Guidebook                                               1             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               2     K                Cavemen and Cavewomen start with exceptional  strength  but, 0           unfortunately, with neolithic weapons.  K                Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary.  They know  the K           herbs  and simples that can restore vitality, ease pain, anesthe- K           tize, and neutralize poisons; and with  their  instruments,  they K           can  divine a being's state of health or sickness.  Their medical K           practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which !           they enter the dungeon.   K                Knights are distinguished  from  the  common  skirmisher  by K           their  devotion  to  the ideals of chivalry and by the surpassing $           excellence of their armor.  K                Monks are ascetics, who by rigorous practice of physical and K           mental disciplines have become capable of fighting as effectively K           without weapons as with.  They wear no armor but make up  for  it "           with increased mobility.  K                Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders  ad- K           vancing  the  cause  of  righteousness with arms, armor, and arts K           thaumaturgic.  Their ability to commune with deities  via  prayer K           occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in 
           it.   K                Rangers are most at home in the woods, and some say slightly K           out of place in a dungeon.  They are, however, experts in archery 4           as well as tracking and stealthy movement.  K                Rogues are agile and stealthy  thieves,  with  knowledge  of K           locks,  traps,  and  poisons.   Their advantage lies in surprise, /           which they employ to great advantage.   K                Samurai are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon.   They  are K           lightly  armored  and  quick, and wear the dai-sho, two swords of !           the deadliest keenness.   K                Tourists start out with lots of gold (suitable for  shopping K           with),  a  credit card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive ?           camera.  Most monsters don't like being photographed.   K                Valkyries are hardy warrior women.  Their upbringing in  the K           harsh  Northlands  makes  them strong, inures them to extremes of 9           cold, and instills in them stealth and cunning.   K                Wizards start out with a knowledge of magic, a selection  of K           magical  items,  and  a  particular  affinity  for  dweomercraft. K           Although seemingly weak and easy to overcome at first  sight,  an -           experienced Wizard is a deadly foe.   >                You may also choose the race of your character:  K                Dwarves are smaller than humans or elves, but are stocky and K           solid  individuals.   Dwarves'  most notable trait is their great     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               3     K           expertise in mining and metalwork.  Dwarvish armor is said to  be G           second in quality not even to the mithril armor of the Elves.   K                Elves are agile, quick, and perceptive; very little of  what K           goes  on  will escape an Elf.  The quality of Elven craftsmanship :           often gives them an advantage in arms and armor.  K                Gnomes are smaller than but generally  similar  to  dwarves. K           Gnomes  are  known  to  be  expert miners, and it is known that a K           secret underground mine complex built by this race exists  within B           the Mazes of Menace, filled with both riches and danger.  K                Humans are by far the most common race of the surface world, K           and  are  thus  the norm by which other races are often compared. K           Although they have no special abilities, they can succeed in  any            role.   K                Orcs are a cruel and barbaric race, that hate  every  living K           thing  (including other orcs).  Above all others, Orcs hate Elves K           with a passion unequalled, and will go out of their way  to  kill K           one  at  any opportunity.  The armor and weapons fashioned by the 1           Orcs are typically of inferior quality.   K                You set out for  the  dungeon  and  after  several  days  of K           uneventful  travel  you  see  the ancient ruins that mark the en- K           trance to the Mazes of Menace.  It is late at night, so you  make K           camp  at the entrance and spend the night sleeping under the open K           skies.  In the morning, you gather your gear,  eat  what  may  be 8           your last meal outside, and enter the dungeon.  $           2.  What is going on here?  K                You have just begun a game of NetHack.  Your goal is to grab K           as  much  treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, and K           escape the Mazes of Menace alive.  On the screen is kept a map of K           where you have been and what you have seen on the current dungeon K           level; as you explore more of the level, it appears on the screen            in front of you.  K                When NetHack's ancestor rogue  first  appeared,  its  screen K           orientation  was  almost  unique  among  computer  fantasy games. K           Since then, screen orientation has become the  norm  rather  than K           the  exception;  NetHack  continues  this fine tradition.  Unlike K           text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo-English  sen- K           tences and explain the results in words, NetHack commands are all K           one or two keystrokes and the results are  displayed  graphically K           on  the  screen.  A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns K           is recommended; if the screen is larger,  only  a  21x80  section #           will be used for the map.   K                NetHack can even be played by blind players, with the assis- K           tance  of  Braille  readers or speech synthesisers.  Instructions K           for configuring NetHack for the blind are included later in  this            document.     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               4     K                NetHack generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even K           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?  K                NetHack offers a variety of display  options.   The  options K           available  to  you  will vary from port to port, depending on the K           capabilities of your hardware and software, and  whether  various K           compile-time options were enabled when your executable was creat- K           ed.  The three possible display options are: a monochrome charac- K           ter  interface,  a color character interface, and a graphical in- K           terface using small pictures called tiles.  The two character in- K           terfaces allow fonts with other characters to be substituted, but K           the  default  assignments  use  standard  ASCII   characters   to K           represent everything.  There is no difference between the various K           display options with respect to game  play.   Because  we  cannot K           reproduce the tiles or colors in the Guidebook, and because it is K           common to all ports, we will use  the  default  ASCII  characters K           from  the  monochrome  character display when referring to things 7           you might see on the screen during your game.   K                In order to understand what is going on  in  NetHack,  first K           you  must  understand what NetHack is doing with the screen.  The K           NetHack screen replaces the ``You see ...'' descriptions of  text K           adventure  games.   Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen            might look like.  Q           _______________________________________________________________________             The bat bites!                   ------ #                |....|    ---------- #                |.<..|####...@...$.| #                |....-#   |...B....+ #                |....|    |.d......| #                ------    -------|--       P            Player the Rambler         St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15  NeutralA            Dlvl:1 $:0  HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Exp:1/19 T:257 Weak Q           _______________________________________________________________________ .                                       Figure 1    )           3.1.  The status lines (bottom)   K                The bottom two lines of the screen contain  several  cryptic K           pieces  of information describing your current status.  If either K           status line becomes longer than the  width  of  the  screen,  you K           might not see all of it.  Here are explanations of what the vari- K           ous status items mean (though your configuration may not have all     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               5     )           the status items listed below):              RankK                Your character's name and professional ranking (based on the ,                experience level, see below).             StrengthK                A measure of your character's  strength;  one  of  your  six K                basic  attributes.   Your  attributes can range from 3 to 18 K                inclusive (occasionally you may get super-strengths  of  the K                form  18/xx).   The  higher  your strength, the stronger you K                are.  Strength affects how successfully you perform physical K                tasks,  how  much damage you do in combat, and how much loot                 you can carry.              Dexterity K                Dexterity affects your chances to hit in  combat,  to  avoid K                traps,  and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation                 of objects.             ConstitutionK                Constitution affects your ability to recover  from  injuries 1                and other strains on your stamina.              IntelligenceK                Intelligence affects your ability to cast  spells  and  read                 spellbooks.             WisdomK                Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when D                dealing with magic).  It affects your magical energy.             CharismaK                Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you.  In J                particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.             Alignment K                Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic.  Often, Lawful is taken as good K                and  Chaotic  as  evil,  but legal and ethical do not always K                coincide.  Your  alignment  influences  how  other  monsters K                react  toward  you.   Monsters  of a like alignment are more K                likely to be non-aggressive,  while  those  of  an  opposing K                alignment  are  more likely to be seriously offended at your                 presence.             Dungeon Level K                How deep you are in the dungeon.  You start at level one and K                the  number  increases  as  you  go deeper into the dungeon. K                Some levels are special, and are identified by  a  name  and K                not  a  number.  The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be some- 1                where beneath the twentieth level.              GoldK                The number of gold pieces you  are  openly  carrying.   Gold     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               6     E                which you have concealed in containers is not counted.              Hit PointsK                Your current and maximum hit points.   Hit  points  indicate K                how  much  damage you can take before you die.  The more you K                get hit in a fight, the lower they get.  You can regain  hit K                points  by  resting,  or  by  using certain magical items or K                spells.  The number in parentheses  is  the  maximum  number )                your hit points can reach.              Power K                Spell points.  This tells you how much mystic energy  (mana) K                you  have  available for spell casting.  Again, resting will /                regenerate the amount available.              Armor Class K                A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from un- K                friendly  creatures.  The lower this number is, the more ef- K                fective the armor; it is quite possible to have negative ar-                 mor class.              ExperienceK                Your current experience level and experience points.  As you K                adventure,  you  gain experience points.  At certain experi- K                ence point totals, you gain an experience level.   The  more K                experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand mag- K                ical attacks.  Many dungeons show only your experience level                 here.             TimeK                The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed  if  you  have #                the time option set.              Hunger status K                Your current hunger status, ranging from  Satiated  down  to K                Fainting.   If  your  hunger  status  is  normal,  it is not                 displayed.   K                Additional status flags may appear after the hunger  status: K           Conf  when you're confused, FoodPois or Ill when sick, Blind when I           you can't see, Stun when stunned, and Hallu when hallucinating.   &           3.2.  The message line (top)  K                The top line of the screen is  reserved  for  messages  that K           describe  things  that  are impossible to represent visually.  If K           you see a ``--More--'' on the top line, this means  that  NetHack K           has  another  message  to  display on the screen, but it wants to K           make certain that you've read the one that is  there  first.   To :           read the next message, just press the space bar.            K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               7     ,           3.3.  The map (rest of the screen)  K                The rest of the screen is the map of the level as  you  have K           explored  it  so far.  Each symbol on the screen represents some- K           thing.  You can set various graphics options to  change  some  of K           the  symbols  the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default D           symbols.  Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:             - and | E                The walls of a room, or an open door.  Or a grave (|).   ?           .    The floor of a room, ice, or a doorless doorway.   K           #    A corridor, or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly  a  kitchen A                sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.   4           >    Stairs down: a way to the next level.  6           <    Stairs up: a way to the previous level.  K           +    A closed door, or a spellbook containing  a  spell  you  can                 learn.   )           @    Your character or a human.              $    A pile of gold.  2           ^    A trap (once you have detected it).             )    A weapon.  (           [    A suit or piece of armor.  :           %    Something edible (not necessarily healthy).             ?    A scroll.             /    A wand.             =    A ring.             !    A potion.  6           (    A useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...).  )           "    An amulet or a spider web.   E           *    A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).   #           `    A boulder or statue.              0    An iron ball.        K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               8     *           _    An altar, or an iron chain.             {    A fountain.  9           }    A pool of water or moat or a pool of lava.   !           \    An opulent throne.   "           a-zA-Z and other symbolsK                Letters and certain other symbols represent the various  in- K                habitants  of  the  Mazes of Menace.  Watch out, they can be K                nasty and vicious.  Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.   K                You need not memorize all these symbols;  you  can  ask  the K           game  what  any  symbol  represents with the `/' command (see the &           next section for more info).               4.  Commands  K                Commands are initiated by  typing  one  or  two  characters. K           Some  commands, like ``search'', do not require that any more in- K           formation be collected by NetHack.  Other commands might  require K           additional  information, for example a direction, or an object to K           be used.  For those commands that require additional information, K           NetHack  will present you with either a menu of choices or with a K           command  line  prompt  requesting  information.   Which  you  are K           presented with will depend chiefly on how you have set the menus-            tyle option.  K                For example, a common question, in the form  ``What  do  you K           want  to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]'', asks you to choose an object you are K           carrying.  Here, ``a-zA-Z'' are the  inventory  letters  of  your K           possible  choices.   Typing  `?'  gives  you an inventory list of K           these items, so you can see what each letter refers to.  In  this K           example,  there  is  also a `*' indicating that you may choose an K           object not on the list, if you wanted to use something  unexpect- K           ed.  Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the K           inventory letters of every object you're carrying.   Finally,  if K           you change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command D           after all, you can press the ESC key to abort the command.  K                You can put a number before some  commands  to  repeat  them K           that  many times; for example, ``10s'' will search ten times.  If K           you have the number_pad option set, you must type `n' to prefix a K           count,  so  the  example  above  would be typed ``n10s'' instead. K           Commands for which counts make no sense ignore  them.   In  addi- K           tion,  movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see D           below).  To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.  K                The list of commands is rather long, but it can be  read  at K           any  time during the game through the `?' command, which accesses K           a menu of helpful texts.  Here are the commands for  your  refer-            ence:     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                               9     G           ?    Help menu:  display one of several help texts available.   K           /    Tell what a symbol represents.  You may choose to specify  a K                location or type a symbol (or even a whole word) to explain. K                Specifying a location is done by moving the cursor to a par- K                ticular  spot  on the map and then pressing one of `.', `,', K                `;', or `:'.  `.' will explain the symbol at the chosen  lo- K                cation,  conditionally  check  for  ``More info?'' depending K                upon whether the help option is on, and  then  you  will  be K                asked  to pick another location; `,' will explain the symbol K                but skip any additional information; `;' will skip addition- K                al info and also not bother asking you to choose another lo- K                cation to examine; `:' will show additional  info,  if  any, K                without  asking  for confirmation.  When picking a location, K                pressing the ESC key will terminate this command, or  press- E                ing `?' will give a brief reminder about how it works.   K                Specifying a name rather than a location  always  gives  any ;           additional information available about that name.   (           &    Tell what a command does.  K           <    Go up to the previous level (if you are on the staircase  or                 ladder).   K           >    Go down to the next level (if you are on  the  staircase  or                 ladder).              [yuhjklbn]K                Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure  2).   If K                you  can  sense  a monster there, you will fight the monster K                instead.  Only these one-step movement commands cause you to ?                fight monsters; the others (below) are ``safe.''   7                                y  k  u          7  8  9 6                                 \ | /            \ | /7                                h- . -l          4- . -6 6                                 / | \            / | \7                                b  j  n          1  2  3 ?                                          (if number_pad is set)   1                                          Figure 2                [YUHJKLBN]K                Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into  some-                 thing.              m[yuhjklbn] K                Prefix:  move without picking up objects or  fighting  (even /                if you remember a monster there)              F[yuhjklbn] K                Prefix:  fight a monster (even if  you  only  guess  one  is     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              10                     there)              M[yuhjklbn] ,                Prefix:  move far, no pickup.             g[yuhjklbn] B                Prefix:  move until something interesting is found.  -           G[yuhjklbn] or <CONTROL->[yuhjklbn] K                Prefix:  same as `g', but forking of corridors is  not  con- #                sidered interesting.   -           .    Rest, do nothing for one turn.   ;           a    Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).   K           A    Remove one or more worn items, such as armor.  Use `T' (take K                off)  to take off only one piece of armor or `R' (remove) to +                take off only one accessory.   )           ^A   Redo the previous command.              c    Close a door.  1           C    Call (name) an individual monster.   ,           ^C   Panic button.  Quit the game.  K           d    Drop something.  Ex. ``d7a'' means drop seven items  of  ob-                 ject a.  K           D    Drop several things.  In answer to the question ``What kinds K                of  things do you want to drop? [!%= aium]'' you should type K                zero or more object symbols possibly followed by `a'  and/or )                `i' and/or `u' and/or `m'.   G                Da  - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation. E                Di  - examine your inventory before dropping anything. ?                Du  - drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop). @                Dm  - use a menu to pick which object(s) to drop.+                D%u - drop only unpaid food.   /           ^D   Kick something (usually a door).              e    Eat food.  K           E    Engrave a message on the floor.  Engraving  the  word  ``El- K                bereth''  will  cause  most monsters to not attack you hand- K                to-hand (but if you attack, you will rub it  out);  this  is K                often useful to give yourself a breather.  (This feature may K                be compiled out of the game, so your version might not  have                 it.)   8                E- - write in the dust with your fingers.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              11     K           f    Fire one of the objects placed  in  your  quiver.   You  may K                select  ammunition  with  a previous `Q' command, or let the I                computer pick something appropriate if autoquiver is true.   @           i    List your inventory (everything you're carrying).  5           I    List selected parts of your inventory.   /                I* - list all gems in inventory; *                Iu - list all unpaid items;J                Ix - list all used up items that are on your shopping bill;%                I$ - count your money.              o    Open a door.   K           O    Set options.  A menu showing the current option values  will K                be  displayed.  You can change most values simply by select- K                ing the menu entry for the given option (ie, by  typing  its K                letter  or  clicking  upon it, depending on your user inter- K                face).  For the  non-boolean  choices,  a  further  menu  or K                prompt will appear once you've closed this menu.  The avail- K                able options are listed later in  this  Guidebook.   Options K                are  usually  set  before  the game rather than with the `O' 9                command; see the section on options below.   &           p    Pay your shopping bill.  D           P    Put on a ring or other accessory (amulet, blindfold).  K           ^P   Repeat previous message (subsequent ^P's repeat earlier mes-                 sages).  &           q    Quaff (drink) a potion.  K           Q    Select an object for your quiver.  You can then  throw  this K                using  the  `f' command.  (In versions prior to 3.3 this was K                the command to quit the game, which has now  been  moved  to                 `#quit'.)  *           r    Read a scroll or spellbook.  7           R    Remove an accessory (ring, amulet, etc).   !           ^R   Redraw the screen.   K           s    Search for secret doors and traps around  you.   It  usually 5                takes several tries to find something.   K           S    Save (and suspend) the game.  The game will be restored  au- 2                tomatically the next time you play.  5           t    Throw an object or shoot a projectile.         K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              12                T    Take off armor.  1           ^T   Teleport, if you have the ability.   &           v    Display version number.  (           V    Display the game history.             w    Wield weapon.  7                w- - wield nothing, use your bare hands.              W    Wear armor.  K           x    Exchange your wielded weapon with the item in your secondary K                weapon  slot.   The  latter is used as your second weapon in K                two-weapon combat.  Note that if one of these slots is  emp- 2                ty, the exchange still takes place.  K           X    Enter explore (discovery) mode, explained in its own section                 later.   J           z    Zap a wand.  To aim at yourself, use `.' for the direction.  "           Z    Zap (cast) a spell.  I           ^Z   Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).   $           :    Look at what is here.  G           ;    Show what type of thing a visible symbol corresponds to.   #           ,    Pick up some things.   7           @    Toggle the autopickup option on and off.   <           ^    Ask for the type of a trap you found earlier.  1           )    Tell what weapon you are wielding.   /           [    Tell what armor you are wearing.   /           =    Tell what rings you are wearing.   0           "    Tell what amulet you are wearing.  -           (    Tell what tools you are using.   K           *    Tell what equipment you are using;  combines  the  preceding 4                five type-specific commands into one.               __________4           (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              13     &           $    Count your gold pieces.  K           +    List the spells you know.  Using this command, you can  also K                rearrange  the  order in which your spells are listed.  They K                are shown via a menu, and if you  select  a  spell  in  that K                menu, you'll be re-prompted for another spell to swap places K                with it, and then  have  opportunity  to  make  further  ex-                 changes.   ?           \    Show what types of objects have been discovered.   !           !    Escape to a shell.   K           #    Perform an extended command.  As you can see, the authors of K                NetHack  used up all the letters, so this is a way to intro- K                duce the less frequently used commands.  What extended  com- K                mands  are  available  depends on what features the game was                 compiled with.              #adjust K                Adjust inventory letters (most useful when the fixinv option                 is ``on'').             #chat                 Talk to someone.              #conduct9                List which challenges you have adhered to.   ,           #dip Dip an object into something.             #enhance/                Advance or check weapons skills.              #force                Force a lock.             #invoke 1                Invoke an object's special powers.              #jump (                Jump to another location.             #loot '                Loot a box on the floor.              #monsterK                Use a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into  mon-                 ster form).             #name .                Name an item or type of object.        K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              14                #offer-                Offer a sacrifice to the gods.              #pray )                Pray to the gods for help.              #quit 9                Quit the program without saving your game.              #ride /                Ride (or stop riding) a monster.              #rub Rub a lamp.             #sit Sit down.             #turn                 Turn undead.              #twoweaponK                Toggle two-weapon combat on or off.  Note that you must  use K                suitable  weapons for this type of combat, or it will be au- &                tomatically turned off.             #untrap 7                Untrap something (trap, door, or chest).              #versionF                Print compile time options for this version of NetHack.             #wipe "                Wipe off your face.  G           #?   Help menu:  get the list of available extended commands.   K                If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in com- K           bination  with  another  key,  modifies  it by setting the `meta' K           [8th, or `high'] bit), you can invoke many extended  commands  by K           meta-ing  the  first  letter of the command.  In NT, OS/2, and PC =           NetHack, the `Alt' key can be used in this fashion.              M-a  #adjust             M-c  #chat             M-d  #dip              M-e  #enhance              M-f  #force              M-i  #invoke        K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              15                M-j  #jump             M-l  #loot             M-m  #monster              M-n  #name             M-o  #offer              M-p  #pray             M-q  #quit             M-r  #rub              M-s  #sit              M-t  #turn             M-u  #untrap             M-v  #version              M-w  #wipe  K                If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter  com-            mands are available:  G           j    Jump to another location.  Same as ``#jump'' or ``M-j''.   >           k    Kick something (usually a door).  Same as `^D'.  F           l    Loot a box on the floor.  Same as ``#loot'' or ``M-l''.  K           N    Name an item or type of object.  Same as ``#name''  or  ``M-                 N''.   K           u    Untrap a trap, door, or chest.  Same as ``#untrap'' or  ``M-                 u''.     !           5.  Rooms and corridors   K                Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit  or  dark. K           Any  lit  areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark K           areas are only displayed if they are within  one  space  of  you. D           Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.  K                Secret corridors are hidden.  You can find them with the `s'            (search) command.           K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              16                5.1.  Doorways  K                Doorways connect rooms and corridors.  Some doorways have no K           doors;  you  can  walk right through.  Others have doors in them, K           which may be open, closed, or locked.  To open a closed door, use K           the  `o'  (open)  command; to close it again, use the `c' (close)            command.  K                You can get through a locked door by using a  tool  to  pick K           the lock with the `a' (apply) command, or by kicking it open with "           the `^D' (kick) command.  K                Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you  must  approach K           them  straight  on, horizontally or vertically.  Doorways without 3           doors are not restricted in this fashion.   K                Doors can be useful for shutting out  monsters.   Most  mon- K           sters cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (ex. ghosts "           can walk through doors).  K                Secret doors are hidden.  You can find  them  with  the  `s' K           (search)  command.  Once found they are in all ways equivalent to            normal doors.              5.2.  Traps (`^')   K                There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare  the  unwary K           delver.   For  example,  you  may suddenly fall into a pit and be K           stuck for a few turns trying to climb out.  Traps don't appear on K           your map until you see one triggered by moving onto it, see some- K           thing fall into it, or you discover it with the `s' (search) com- K           mand.   Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a very $           useful defensive strategy.  !           5.3.  Stairs (`<', `>')   K                In general, each level in the dungeon will have a  staircase K           going up (`<') to the previous level and another going down (`>') K           to the next level.  There are some exceptions  though.   For  in- K           stance,  fairly  early  in the dungeon you will find a level with K           two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the oth- K           er  branching  into  an  area  known as the Gnomish Mines.  Those K           mines eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if  you K           choose  to  do  so),  you'll  need  to  climb back up to the main            dungeon.  K                When you traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a  trap  which K           sends  you  to  another  level,  the level you're leaving will be K           deactivated and stored in a file on disk.  If you're moving to  a K           previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk K           and reactivated.  If you're moving to a level which has  not  yet K           been  visited,  it  will be created (from scratch for most random K           levels, from a template for some "special" levels, or loaded from K           the  remains  of  an  earlier game for a "bones" level as briefly     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              17     K           described below).  Monsters are only active on the current level; C           those on other levels are essentially placed into stasis.   K                Ordinarily when you climb a set of stairs, you  will  arrive K           on  the  corresponding  staircase  at your destination.  However, K           pets (see below) and some other monsters  will  follow  along  if K           they're close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occa- K           sionally one of these creatures  will  displace  you  during  the K           climb.  When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on 3           the staircase and you will end up nearby.   "           5.4.  Ladders (`<', `>')  K                Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases,  and  the  two K           types  of  inter-level  connections  are nearly indistinguishable            during game play.                6.  Monsters  K                Monsters you cannot see are not  displayed  on  the  screen. K           Beware!   You  may  suddenly come upon one in a dark place.  Some K           magic items can help you  locate  them  before  they  locate  you 1           (which some monsters can do very well).   K                The commands `/' and `;' may be used to  obtain  information K           about  those  monsters who are displayed on the screen.  The com- K           mand `C' allows you to assign a name to a monster, which  may  be K           useful  to  help  distinguish one from another when multiple mon- K           sters are present.  Assigning a name which is just a  space  will             remove any prior name.  K                The extended command ``#chat'' can be used to interact  with K           an  adjacent monster.  There is no actual dialog (in other words, K           you don't get to choose what you'll say), but chatting with  some K           monsters such as a shopkeeper or the Oracle of Delphi can produce            useful results.              6.1.  Fighting  K                If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just  attempt K           to  walk  into  it.   Many  monsters you find will mind their own K           business unless you attack them.  Some of them are very dangerous K           when angered.  Remember:  discretion is the better part of valor.              6.2.  Your pet  K                You start the game with a little dog (`d'),  cat  (`f'),  or K           pony  (`u'),  which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon- K           sters with you.  Like you, your pet needs food  to  survive.   It K           usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats.  If you're K           worried about it or want to train it, you can feed  it,  too,  by K           throwing  it  food.   A  properly  trained pet can be very useful &           under certain circumstances.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              18     K                Your pet also gains experience from  killing  monsters,  and K           can  grow  over  time,  gaining hit points and doing more damage. K           Initially, your pet may even be better  at  killing  things  than @           you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.  K                Your pet will follow you up and down  staircases  if  it  is K           next  to  you when you move.  Otherwise your pet will be stranded K           and may become wild.  Similarly, when you trigger  certain  types K           of  traps  which  alter  your location (for instance, a trap door K           which drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet  will K           accompany you and any non-adjacent pet will be left behind.  Your K           pet may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried  along /           with it even if adjacent at the time.              6.3.  Steeds  K                Some types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be  rid- K           den if you have the right equipment and skill.  Convincing a wild K           beast to let you saddle it up is  difficult  to  say  the  least. K           Many a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in ord- K           er to forge the alliance.  Once you do have the beast under  your K           control  however,  you  can easily climb in and out of the saddle K           with the `#ride' command.  Lead the beast around the dungeon when K           riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself.  It is the 7           beast that you will see displayed on the map.   K                Riding skill is managed by the `#enhance' command.  See  the H           section on Weapon proficiency for more information about that.             6.4.  Bones levels  K                You may encounter the shades and corpses of other  adventur- K           ers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal K           effects.  Ghosts are hard to  kill,  but  easy  to  avoid,  since K           they're  slow and do little damage.  You can plunder the deceased K           adventurer's possessions; however, they are likely to be  cursed. K           Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still 9           lurking around, gloating over its last victory.                7.  Objects   K                When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want K           to pick it up.  In NetHack, this is accomplished automatically by K           walking over the object (unless you turn off the  autopickup  op- K           tion  (see  below),  or move with the `m' prefix (see above)), or ,           manually by using the `,' command.  K                If you're carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you  so K           and  you  won't  be able to pick up anything more.  Otherwise, it K           will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you  what  you  just            picked up.        K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              19     K                As you add items to your inventory, you also add the  weight K           of  that  object  to  your  load.   The amount that you can carry K           depends on your strength and your constitution.  The stronger you K           are, the less the additional load will affect you.  There comes a K           point, though, when the weight of all of that stuff you are  car- K           rying  around  with  you  through  the dungeon will encumber you. K           Your reactions will get slower and you'll burn  calories  faster, K           requiring  food  more  frequently  to  cope with it.  Eventually, K           you'll be so overloaded that you'll either have to  discard  some ?           of what you're carrying or collapse under its weight.   K                NetHack will tell you how badly have loaded  yourself.   The K           symbols   `Burdened',  `Stressed',  `Strained',  `Overtaxed'  and K           `Overloaded' are displayed on the bottom line display to indicate            your condition.   K                When you pick up an object,  it  is  assigned  an  inventory K           letter.   Many  commands  that operate on objects must ask you to K           find out which object you want to use.  When NetHack asks you  to K           choose  a  particular  object  you  are carrying, you are usually K           presented with a list of inventory letters to  choose  from  (see            Commands, above).   K                Some objects, such as weapons,  are  easily  differentiated. K           Others,  like  scrolls  and potions, are given descriptions which K           vary according to type.  During a game, any two objects with  the K           same  description  are  the same type.  However, the descriptions &           will vary from game to game.  K                When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious, K           NetHack  will  remember  what it is for you.  If its effect isn't K           extremely obvious, you will be asked what you want to  call  this K           type  of object so you will recognize it later.  You can also use K           the ``#name'' command for the same purpose at any time,  to  name K           all  objects  of  a particular type or just an individual object. K           When you use ``#name'' on an object which has already been named, K           specifying  a  space  as the value will remove the prior name in- '           stead of assigning a new one.   $           7.1.  Curses and Blessings  K                Any object that you find may be cursed, even if  the  object K           is otherwise helpful.  The most common effect of a curse is being K           stuck with (and to) the item.  Cursed weapons weld themselves  to K           your  hand  when wielded, so you cannot unwield them.  Any cursed K           item you wear is not removable by ordinary means.   In  addition, K           cursed  arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative en- K           chantments that make them less effective in combat.  Other cursed @           objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.  K                Objects can also be blessed.   Blessed  items  usually  work K           better  or more beneficially than normal uncursed items.  For ex- E           ample, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.       K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              20     K                There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon K           objects,  so  even  if you are stuck with one, you can still have K           the curse lifted and the item removed.  Priests  and  Priestesses K           have  an  innate  sensitivity  to this property in any object, so K           they can more easily avoid cursed objects  than  other  character            classes.  K                An item with unknown status will be reported in your  inven- K           tory with no prefix.  An item which you know the state of will be K           distinguished in your inventory  by  the  presence  of  the  word K           ``cursed'', ``uncursed'' or ``blessed'' in the description of the            item.              7.2.  Weapons (`)')   K                Given a chance, most monsters in the Mazes  of  Menace  will K           gratuitously  try to kill you.  You need weapons for self-defense K           (killing them first).  Without a weapon,  you  do  only  1-2  hit K           points  of damage (plus bonuses, if any).  Monk characters are an K           exception; they normally do much more damage with bare hands than            they do with weapons.   K                There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown K           weapons,  like arrows and spears.  To hit monsters with a weapon, K           you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them.  You  can K           simply  elect  to  throw  a spear.  To shoot an arrow, you should K           first wield  a  bow,  then  throw  the  arrow.   Crossbows  shoot K           crossbow  bolts.   Slings  hurl  rocks  and  (other) stones (like            gems).  K                Enchanted weapons have a ``plus'' (or ``to hit enhancement'' K           which  can  be  either  positive  or  negative) that adds to your K           chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster.  The  only  way K           to determine a weapon's enchantment is to have it magically iden- K           tified somehow.  Most weapons are subject to some type of  damage >           like rust.  Such ``erosion'' damage can be repaired.  K                The chance that an attack will successfully hit  a  monster, K           and  the  amount  of damage such a hit will do, depends upon many K           factors.  Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon  (en- K           chantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexterity, K           encumbrance, and proficiency (see below).   The  monster's  armor K           class  - a general defense rating, not necessarily due to wearing K           of armor - is a factor too; also, some monsters are  particularly 1           vulnerable to certain types of weapons.   K                Many weapons can be wielded in one hand; some  require  both K           hands.   When  wielding  a  two-handed weapon, you can not wear a K           shield, and vice versa.  When wielding a one-handed  weapon,  you K           can  have  another  weapon ready to use by setting things up with K           the `x' command, which exchanges  your  primary  (the  one  being K           wielded)  and  secondary weapons.  And if you have proficiency in K           the ``two weapon combat'' skill, you may wield both  primary  and K           secondary  weapons  simultaneously; use the `#twoweapon' extended     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              21     K           command to engage or disengage that.  Only some types of  charac- K           ters  (barbarians, for instance), have the necessary skill avail- K           able.  Even with that skill, using two weapons at once  incurs  a K           penalty  in  the chance to hit your target compared to using just            one weapon at a time.   K                There might be times when you'd rather not wield any  weapon K           at  all.  To accomplish that, wield `-', or else use the `A' com- K           mand which allows you to unwield the current weapon  in  addition )           to taking off other worn items.   K                Those of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be  aware K           that  each weapon which exists in AD&D does roughly the same dam- K           age to monsters in NetHack.  Some of  the  more  obscure  weapons K           (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin) are defined A           in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.   K                The commands to use weapons are `w'  (wield),  `t'  (throw), K           `f'  (fire,  an  alternative  way of throwing), `Q' (quiver), `x' ?           (exchange), `#twoweapon', and `#enhance' (see below).   '           7.2.1.  Throwing and shooting   K                You can throw just about anything via the `t'  command.   It K           will  prompt  for the item to throw; picking `?' will list things K           in your inventory which are considered likely to  be  thrown,  or K           picking `*' will list your entire inventory.  After you've chosen K           what to throw, you will be prompted for a direction  rather  than K           for  a  specific  target.   The  distance something can be thrown K           depends mainly on the type of object and your  strength.   Arrows K           can be thrown by hand, but can be thrown much farther and will be F           more likely to hit when thrown while you are wielding a bow.  K                You can simplify the throwing operation  by  using  the  `Q' K           command  to select your preferred ``missile'', then using the `f' K           command to throw it.  You'll  be  prompted  for  a  direction  as K           above,  but  you  don't  have to specify which item to throw each K           time you use `f'.  There is also an option, autoquiver, which has K           NetHack  choose  another  item  to automatically fill your quiver 8           when the inventory slot used for `Q' runs out.  K                Some characters will throw multiple items in  a  single  ac- K           tion.  Rangers, for instance, or anyone who achieves a high level K           of proficiency in the relevant weapon  skill  (in  bow  skill  if K           you're  wielding one to shoot arrows, or in sling skill if you're K           wielding one to shoot stones).  There is little  you  can  do  to K           control this; if NetHack decides that you'll be shooting 3 arrows K           on the current shot, then three arrows will travel in the  direc- K           tion  you've  indicated,  even if the first or second succeeds in K           killing the target.  You can explicitly limit the number of shots K           by using a numeric prefix before the `t' or `f' command.  For ex- K           ample, ``2f'' (or ``n2f'' if using number_pad mode) would  ensure K           that  at most 2 arrows are shot even if NetHack decides that your K           skill warrants 3.  If you specify a larger number than would have     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              22     K           been  shot  (``4f'' in this example), you'll just end up shooting F           the same number (3, here) as if no limit had been specified.  $           7.2.2.  Weapon proficiency  K                You will have varying degrees of skill in the weapons avail- K           able.   Weapon proficiency, or weapon skills, affect how well you K           can use particular types of weapons, and you'll be  able  to  im- K           prove  your  skills  as you progress through a game, depending on C           your role, your experience level, and use of the weapons.   K                For the purposes of proficiency, weapons have  been  divided K           up   into  various  groups  such  as  daggers,  broadswords,  and K           polearms.  Each role has a limit on what level of  proficiency  a K           character  can achieve for each group.  For instance, wizards can K           become highly skilled in daggers or staves but not in  swords  or            bows.   K                The `#enhance' extended command is used  to  review  current K           weapons  proficiency (also spell proficiency) and to choose which K           skill(s) to improve when you've used one or more skills enough to K           become  eligible  to do so.  The skill rankings are "none" (some- K           times also referred to as "restricted", because you won't be able K           to advance), "unskilled", "basic", "skilled", and "expert".  Res- K           tricted skills simply will  not  appear  in  the  list  shown  by K           `#enhance'.   (Divine  intervention might unrestrict a particular K           skill, in which case it will start at unskilled and be limited to            basic.)   K                Use of a weapon in which you're restricted or unskilled will K           incur a modest penalty in the chance to hit a monster and also in K           the amount of damage done when you do hit; at basic level,  there K           is  no  penalty  or bonus; at skilled level, you receive a modest K           bonus in the chance to hit and amount of damage done;  at  expert K           level,  the  bonus  is  higher.  A successful hit has a chance to K           boost your training towards the next skill level  (unless  you've K           already  reached  the  limit for this skill).  Once such training K           reaches the threshold for that next level, you'll  be  told  that K           you  feel  more  confident in your skills.  At that point can use K           `#enhance' to increase one or more skills.  Such skills  are  not K           increased  automatically  because  there is a limit to your total K           overall skills, so you need to actively choose  which  skills  to &           enhance and which to ignore.             7.3.  Armor (`[')   K                Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to pro- K           tect yourself from their blows.  Some types of armor offer better K           protection than others.  Your armor class is a  measure  of  this K           protection.  Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 be- K           ing the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning  better K           armor.   Each  suit  of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same K           protection in NetHack.  Here is an (incomplete) list of the armor 5           classes provided by various suits of armor:     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              23     8                              dragon scale mail         18                              plate mail                38                              crystal plate mail        38                              bronze plate mail         48                              splint mail               48                              banded mail               48                              dwarvish mithril-coat     48                              elven mithril-coat        58                              chain mail                58                              orcish chain mail         68                              scale mail                68                              studded leather armor     78                              ring mail                 78                              orcish ring mail          88                              leather armor             88                              leather jacket            98                              no armor                 10  K                You can also wear other pieces of armor (ex. helmets, boots, K           shields,  cloaks) to lower your armor class even further, but you K           can only wear one item of each category (one suit of  armor,  one >           cloak, one helmet, one shield, and so on) at a time.  K                If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection  will K           be  better  (or  worse)  than normal, and its ``plus'' (or minus) K           will subtract from your armor class.  For  example,  a  +1  chain K           mail  would  give  you  better protection than normal chain mail, K           lowering your armor class one unit further to 4.  When you put on K           a  piece  of  armor, you immediately find out the armor class and K           any ``plusses'' it provides.  Cursed pieces of armor usually have K           negative enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.   K                Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage  like K           rust.   Such damage can be repaired.  Some types or armor may in-            hibit spell casting.  K                The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off). K           The  `A'  command  can  also be used to take off armor as well as            other worn items.              7.4.  Food (`%')  K                Food is necessary to survive.  If you go  too  long  without K           eating  you  will  faint, and eventually die of starvation.  Some K           types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy  to  eat,  if  not K           protected.  Food stored in ice boxes or tins (``cans'') will usu- K           ally stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take  a  while            to open.  K                When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are K           also ``food.''  Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also K           give you special powers when you eat them.  A good rule of  thumb &           is ``you are what you eat.''      K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              24     K                Some classes and some monsters are  vegetarian.   Vegetarian K           monsters will typically never eat animal corpses, while vegetari- G           an players can, but with some rather unpleasant side-effects.   K                You can name one food item after something you like  to  eat             with the fruit option.  .                The command to eat food is `e'.             7.5.  Scrolls (`?')   K                Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen  by K           ancient  wizards  for  their amusement value (ex. ``READ ME,'' or K           ``THANX MAUD'' backwards).  Scrolls disappear after you read them @           (except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).  K                One of the most useful of these is the scroll  of  identify, K           which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it K           is cursed or blessed, and how many uses it has  left.   Some  ob- K           jects  of  subtle  enchantment  are difficult to identify without            these.  K                A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll K           of  mail  (on  versions compiled with this feature).  To use this K           feature on versions where NetHack mail delivery is  triggered  by K           electronic  mail  appearing  in your system mailbox, you must let K           NetHack know where to look for new mail by setting  the  ``MAIL'' K           environment  variable  to the file name of your mailbox.  You may K           also want to set the ``MAILREADER'' environment variable  to  the K           file  name  of  your  favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it K           when you read the scroll.  On versions of NetHack where  mail  is K           randomly  generated internal to the game, these environment vari- K           ables are ignored.  You can disable the mail  daemon  by  turning            off the mail option.  3                The command to read a scroll is `r'.              7.6.  Potions (`!')   K                Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid  inside :           the flask.  They disappear after you quaff them.  K                Clear potions are potions of  water.   Sometimes  these  are K           blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water.  Holy water K           is the bane of the undead, so potions  of  holy  water  are  good K           things  to throw (`t') at them.  It is also sometimes very useful 4           to dip (``#dip'') an object into a potion.  <                The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).             7.7.  Wands (`/')   K                Magic wands usually have  multiple  magical  charges.   Some K           wands  are  directional-you must give a direction in which to zap     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              25     K           them.  You can also zap them at yourself (just give a `.' or  `s' K           for the direction). Be warned, however, for this is often unwise. K           Other wands are nondirectional-they don't  require  a  direction. K           The  number  of  charges in a wand is random and decreases by one            whenever you use it.  K                When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero,  at- K           tempts  to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening. K           Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few K           mana  points  from  an otherwise spent wand, destroying it in the K           process.  A wand may be recharged by using  suitable  magic,  but K           doing  so runs the risk of causing it to explode.  The chance for K           such an explosion starts out very small and increases  each  time             the wand is recharged.  K                In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against K           the  wall,  you might decide to go for broke and break your wand. K           This is not for the faint of heart.  Doing so  will  almost  cer- B           tainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies.  K                When you have fully identified a particular wand,  inventory K           display  will  include additional information in parentheses: the K           number of times it has been recharged followed  by  a  colon  and K           then by its current number of charges.  A current charge count of K           -1 is a special case indicating that the wand has been cancelled.   K                The command to use a wand is `z' (zap).  To break  one,  use "           the `a' (apply) command.             7.8.  Rings (`=')   K                Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively  per- K           manent  magic,  unlike  the  usually fleeting effects of potions,            scrolls, and wands.   K                Putting on a ring activates its magic.  You  can  wear  only -           two rings, one on each ring finger.   K                Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more  rapidly,  the -           rate varying with the type of ring.   K                The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).               7.9.  Spellbooks (`+')  K                Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic.  When studied with the K           `r'  (read)  command, they bestow the knowledge of a spell-unless K           the attempt backfires.  Reading a cursed spellbook  or  one  with E           mystic runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!   K                A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you  cast K           it.   If  you  attempt to cast a spell well above your experience K           level, or cast it at a time when your luck is  particularly  bad, K           you  can  end up wasting both the energy and the time required in     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              26                casting.  K                Casting a spell calls forth  magical  energies  and  focuses K           them with your naked mind.  Releasing the magical energy releases K           some of your memory of the spell with it.  Each time you  cast  a K           spell, your familiarity with it will dwindle, until you eventual- ?           ly forget the details completely and must relearn it.   K                Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing 9           various types of armor may interfere with that.   K                The command to read a spellbook is the same as for  scrolls, K           `r'  (read).   The  `+' command lists your current spells and the K           number of spell points they  require.   The  `Z'  (cast)  command            casts a spell.             7.10.  Tools (`(')  K                Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes.  Some K           tools  have  a limited number of uses, akin to wand charges.  For K           example, lamps burn out after a  while.   Other  tools  are  con- D           tainers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.  7                The command to use tools is `a' (apply).              7.10.1.  Containers   K                You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in  your  travels. K           A  tool  of  this  sort can be opened with the ``#loot'' extended K           command when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the  same K           floor  spot), or with the `a' (apply) command when you are carry- K           ing it.  However, chests are often locked, and are  in  any  case K           unwieldy  objects.   You must set one down before unlocking it by K           using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command, by K           kicking  it  with the `^D' command, or by using a weapon to force 8           the lock with the ``#force'' extended command.  K                Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when K           you unlock or open them.  You can check for and try to deactivate 6           traps with the ``#untrap'' extended command.             7.11.  Amulets (`"')  K                Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more  powerful. K           Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some benefi- E           cial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.   G                Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck.   K                The commands to use amulets are the same as for  rings,  `P' $           (put on) and `R' (remove).          K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              27                7.12.  Gems (`*')   K                Some gems are valuable, and can be sold for a lot  of  gold. K           They  are  also a far more efficient way of carrying your riches. K           Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when            you exit.   K                Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are K           much  less  valuable.  All rocks, however, can be used as projec- K           tile weapons (if you have a sling).  In  the  most  desperate  of 2           cases, you can still throw them by hand.  "           7.13.  Large rocks (``')  K                Statues and boulders are not particularly  useful,  and  are K           generally  heavy.   It  is rumored that some statues are not what            they seem.  K                Very large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been  known %           to use boulders as weapons.              7.14.  Gold (`$')   K                Gold adds to your score, and you can  buy  things  in  shops K           with  it.  There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may K           be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers            aside).                8.  Options   K                Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of  how K           NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change            how NetHack behaves.  #           8.1.  Setting the options   K                Options may be set in a number of ways.   Within  the  game, K           the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of K           them.  You can also set options automatically by placing them  in K           the  NETHACKOPTIONS  environment  variable  or in a configuration K           file.  Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that <           allow you to set options before starting the game.  =           8.2.  Using the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable   K                The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is a comma-separated list of in- K           itial values for the various options.  Some can only be turned on K           or off.  You turn one of these on by adding the name of  the  op- K           tion  to  the list, and turn it off by typing a `!' or ``no'' be- K           fore the name.  Others take a character string as a  value.   You K           can  set  string  options  by  typing the option name, a colon or K           equals sign, and then the value of the string.  The value is ter- 9           minated by the next comma or the end of string.     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              28     K                For example, to set up an environment variable so that ``fe- K           male''  is  on,  ``autopickup'' is off, the name is set to ``Blue K           Meanie'', and the fruit is set to ``papaya'', you would enter the            command   Z                % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "female,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"  K           in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it's special  to  the            shell), or  R                $ NETHACKOPTIONS="female,!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"&                $ export NETHACKOPTIONS             in sh or ksh.   *           8.3.  Using a configuration file  K                Any line in  the  configuration  file  starting  with  ``OP- K           TIONS=''  may be filled out with options in the same syntax as in K           NETHACKOPTIONS.   Any  line  starting  with  ``DUNGEON='',  ``EF- K           FECTS='',  ``MONSTERS='', ``OBJECTS='', or ``TRAPS='' is taken as K           defining the corresponding dungeon, effects, monsters, objects or K           traps option in a different syntax, a sequence of decimal numbers K           giving the character position in the current font to be  used  in K           displaying  each entry.  Such a sequence can be continued to mul- K           tiple lines by putting a `\' at the end of each line to  be  con- F           tinued.  Any line starting with `#' is treated as a comment.  K                The default name of the configuration file  varies  on  dif- K           ferent  operating  systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to K           the full name of a file you want to use (possibly preceded by  an            `@').   %           8.4.  Customization options   K                Here are explanations of what the various options do.  Char- K           acter  strings  that  are too long may be truncated.  Some of the 9           options listed may be inactive in your dungeon.              align K                Your starting  alignment  (align:lawful,  align:neutral,  or K                align:chaotic).  You may specify just the first letter.  The K                default is to randomly pick an appropriate alignment.   Can- /                not be set with the `O' command.              autopickupK                Automatically pick up things onto which  you  move  (default                 on).              autoquiverK                This option controls what happens when you attempt  the  `f' K                (fire) command with an empty quiver.  When true, the comput- K                er will fill your quiver with some  suitable  weapon.   Note K                that  it  will  not  take  into  account  the blessed/cursed     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              29     K                status, enchantment, damage, or quality of the  weapon;  you K                are  free  to manually fill your quiver with the `Q' command K                instead.  If no weapon is found or the option is false,  the H                `t' (throw) command is executed instead.  (default false)             BIOSK                Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly  and  to K                read  the  keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to move) K                on machines with an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, .                OS/2, PC, and ST NetHack only).             catname K                Name your starting cat (ex. ``catname:Morris'').  Cannot  be (                set with the `O' command.             character K                Pick your type of character (ex. ``character:Elf''); synonym K                for  ``role''.   See  ``name''  for  an  alternate method of K                specifying your role.  Normally only the first letter of the H                value is examined; the string ``random'' is an exception.             checkpointK                Save game  state  after  each  level  change,  for  possible 9                recovery after program crash (default on).              color K                Use color  for  different  monsters,  objects,  and  dungeon 8                features (default on for microcomputers).             confirm K                Have user confirm attacks on pets,  shopkeepers,  and  other 0                peaceable creatures (default on).             DECgraphics K                Use a predefined selection of characters from  the  DEC  VT- K                xxx/DEC  Rainbow/ANSI  line-drawing character set to display K                the dungeon/effects/traps instead of having to define a full K                graphics  set yourself (default off).  This option also sets K                up proper handling of graphics characters  for  such  termi- K                nals,  so you should specify it when appropriate even if you F                override the selections with your own graphics strings.             extmenu K                Changes the extended commands interface to pop-up a menu  of K                available  commands.  It  is  keystroke  compatible with the K                traditional interface except that it does not  require  that K                you  hit  Enter. It is implemented only by the tty port (de- K                fault off), when the game has been compiled to  support  tty                 graphics.             discloseK                Offer to disclose various information  when  the  game  ends K                (default  all).   The possibilities are identifying your in- K                ventory ('i'), disclosing your attributes ('a'), summarizing     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              30     K                monsters  that  have been vanquished ('v'), and listing mon- K                ster species that have been genocided ('g').  Note that  the K                vanquished  monsters  list  includes  all monsters killed by 6                traps and each other as well as by you.             dogname K                Name your starting dog (ex.  ``dogname:Fang'').   Cannot  be (                set with the `O' command.             dungeon K                Set the graphics symbols for displaying the dungeon (default K                `` |--------||.-|++##.##<><>_|\\#{}.}..## #}'').         The K                dungeon option should be followed by a string of 1-41  char- K                acters to be used instead of the default map-drawing charac- K                ters.  The dungeon map will use the characters  you  specify K                instead  of the default symbols, and default symbols for any K                you do not specify.  Remember that you may  need  to  escape K                some  of these characters on a command line if they are spe- "                cial to your shell.  K                Note that NetHack escape-processes  this  option  string  in K                conventional  C fashion.  This means that `\' is a prefix to K                take the following character literally.  Thus `\'  needs  to K                be  represented  as  `\\'.   The  special  escape  form `\m' K                switches on the meta bit in the following character, and the K                `^' prefix causes the following character to be treated as a !                control character.   K                The order of the symbols is:   solid  rock,  vertical  wall, K                horizontal  wall,  upper  left  corner,  upper right corner, K                lower left corner, lower right corner, cross wall, upward  T K                wall, downward T wall, leftward T wall, rightward T wall, no K                door, vertical open door,  horizontal  open  door,  vertical K                closed  door, horizontal closed door, iron bars, tree, floor K                of a room, dark corridor, lit corridor,  stairs  up,  stairs K                down,  ladder up, ladder down, altar, grave, throne, kitchen K                sink, fountain, pool or moat, ice,  lava,  vertical  lowered K                drawbridge,  horizontal  lowered drawbridge, vertical raised K                drawbridge, horizontal raised drawbridge, air, cloud,  under                 water.   K                You might want to use `+' for the corners and T walls for  a K                more  aesthetic,  boxier  display.   Note  that  in the next K                release, new symbols may be added, or the present ones rear-                 ranged.  2                Cannot be set with the `O' command.             effects K                Set the graphics symbols for displaying special effects (de- K                fault  ``|-\\/*!)(0#@*/-\\||\\-//-\\| |\\-/'').  The effects K                option should be followed by a string of 1-29 characters  to K                be  used  instead of the default special-effects characters. K                This string is subjected  to  the  same  processing  as  the     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              31                     dungeon option.  K                The order of the  symbols  is:   vertical  beam,  horizontal K                beam,  left  slant,  right slant, digging beam, camera flash K                beam, left boomerang, right boomerang,  four  glyphs  giving K                the  sequence  for magic resistance displays, the eight sur- K                rounding glyphs for swallowed display, nine glyphs  for  ex- K                plosions.  An explosion consists of three rows (top, middle, K                and bottom) of three characters.  The explosion is  centered 2                in the center of this 3 by 3 array.  K                Note that in the next release, new symbols may be added,  or +                the present ones rearranged.   2                Cannot be set with the `O' command.             femaleK                Set your starting gender to female.  Cannot be set with  the                 `O' command.              fixinvK                An object's inventory letter sticks to it when it's  dropped K                (default on).  If this is off, dropping an object shifts all /                the remaining inventory letters.              fruit K                Name  a  fruit  after  something  you  enjoy   eating   (ex. K                ``fruit:mango'') (default ``slime mold'').  Basically a nos- K                talgic whimsy that NetHack uses  from  time  to  time.   You K                should  set  this to something you find more appetizing than K                slime mold.  Apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and melons al- :                ready exist in NetHack, so don't use those.             genderK                Your starting gender (gender:male  or  gender:female).   You K                may  specify  just the first letter.  Although you can still K                denote your gender using the  ``male''  and  ``female''  op- K                tions,  the ``gender'' option will take precedence.  The de- K                fault is to randomly pick an appropriate gender.  Cannot  be (                set with the `O' command.  K           help If more information is available for  an  object  looked  at K                with  the  `/'  command,  ask if you want to see it (default K                on). Turning help off makes just looking at  things  faster, K                since you aren't interrupted with the ``More info?'' prompt, K                but it also means  that  you  might  miss  some  interesting ,                and/or important information.             hilite_petK                Visually distinguish  pets  from  similar  animals  (default K                off).   In  text windowing, use text highlighting when color K                is turned off; with X tiles, display  a  heart  symbol  near                 pets.      K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              32                horsename K                Name your starting horse (ex. ``horsename:Trigger'').   Can- /                not be set with the `O' command.              IBMgraphics K                Use a predefined selection of IBM extended ASCII  characters K                to  display  the  dungeon/effects/traps instead of having to K                define a full graphics set yourself (default off).  This op- K                tion also sets up proper handling of graphics characters for K                such terminals, so you should specify  it  when  appropriate K                even  if  you override the selections with your own graphics                 strings.              ignintr H                Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off).             legacyK                Display an introductory message when starting the game  (de-                 fault on).              lit_corridorK                Show corridor squares seen by night vision or a light source ;                held by your character as lit (default off).              mail4                Enable mail delivery during the game.             maleK                Set your starting gender to male.  Cannot be  set  with  the                 `O' command.              menustyle K                Controls the interface used when you need to choose  various K                objects  (in  response  to  the Drop command, for instance). K                The value specified should be the first letter of one of the K                following:   traditional,  combination,  partial,  or  full. K                Traditional was the only  interface  available  for  earlier K                versions;  it  consists of a prompt for object class charac- K                ters, followed by an object-by-object prompt for  all  items K                matching  the selected object class(es).  Combination starts K                with a prompt for object class(es)  of  interest,  but  then K                displays  a  menu  of matching objects rather than prompting K                one-by-one.  Partial skips the object  class  filtering  and K                immediately displays a menu of all objects.  Full displays a K                menu of object classes rather than a character  prompt,  and =                then a menu of matching objects for selection.              menu_deselect_all K                Menu character accelerator to deselect all items in a  menu. B                Implemented by the X11 and tty ports.  Default '-'.             menu_deselect_pageK                Menu character accelerator deselect all items on  this  page J                of a menu.  Implemented only by the tty port.  Default '\'.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              33                menu_first_page K                Menu character accelerator to jump to the first  page  in  a E                menu.  Implemented only by the tty port.  Default '^'.              menu_invert_all K                Menu character accelerator to invert all items  in  a  menu. B                Implemented by the X11 and tty ports.  Default '@'.             menu_invert_pageK                Menu character accelerator to invert all items on this  page J                of a menu.  Implemented only by the tty port.  Default '~'.             menu_last_pageK                Menu character accelerator to jump to the  last  page  in  a E                menu.  Implemented only by the tty port.  Default '|'.              menu_next_pageK                Menu character accelerator to goto the next menu page.   Im- <                plemented only by the tty port.  Default '>'.             menu_previous_pageK                Menu character accelerator to goto the previous  menu  page. >                Implemented only by the tty port.  Default '<'.             menu_search K                Menu character accelerator to search for a menu  item.   Im- <                plemented only by the X11 port.  Default ':'.             menu_select_all K                Menu character accelerator to select all items  in  a  menu. B                Implemented by the X11 and tty ports.  Default '.'.             menu_select_pageK                Menu character accelerator to select all items on this  page J                of a menu.  Implemented only by the tty port.  Default ','.             monstersK                Set the characters used to display monster classes  (default D                ``abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX-K                YZ@ '&;:~]'').  This string is subjected to  the  same  pro- K                cessing  as the dungeon option.  The order of the symbols is K                ant or other insect, blob, cockatrice, dog or other  canine, K                eye  or  sphere,  feline,  gremlin,  humanoid,  imp or minor K                demon, jelly, kobold, leprechaun,  mimic,  nymph,  orc,  pi- K                ercer,  quadruped,  rodent, spider, trapper or lurker above, K                horse   or   unicorn,   vortex,   worm,   xan    or    other K                mythical/fantastic  insect, light, zruty, angelic being, bat K                or bird, centaur, dragon, elemental, fungus or mold,  gnome, K                giant humanoid, invisible monster, jabberwock, Keystone Kop, K                lich, mummy, naga, ogre, pudding or ooze, quantum  mechanic, K                rust  monster,  snake,  troll,  umber hulk, vampire, wraith, K                xorn, yeti or ape  or  other  large  beast,  zombie,  human, K                ghost,  golem,  demon,  sea monster, lizard, long worm tail, >                and mimic.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              34                msghistoryK                The number of top line messages to save (and recall with ^P) A                (default 20).  Cannot be set with the `O' command.              nameK                Set your character's name (defaults to your user name).  You K                can  also  set your character's role by appending a dash and K                one or more letters of the role (that is, by  suffixing  one K                of -A -B -C -H -K -M -P -Ra -Ro -S -T -V -W).  If -@ is used K                for the role,  then  a  random  one  will  be  automatically ;                chosen.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.              newsK                Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on).   Since K                the  news  is shown at the beginning of the game, there's no :                point in setting this with the `O' command.             null@                Send padding nulls to the terminal (default off).             number_padK                Use the number keys to move instead of  [yuhjklbn]  (default                 off).             objects K                Set the characters used to display object  classes  (default K                ``])[="(%!?+/$*`0_.'').   This  string  is  subjected to the K                same processing as the dungeon option.   The  order  of  the K                symbols  is  illegal-object  (should never be seen), weapon, K                armor, ring, amulet, tool, food, potion, scroll,  spellbook, K                wand,  gold,  gem  or  rock,  boulder  or statue, iron ball, E                chain, and venom.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.              packorder K                Specify  the  order  to  list  object  types   in   (default K                ``")[%?+!=/(*`0_'').   The  value of this option should be a K                string containing the symbols for the various object  types. K                Any omitted types are filled in at the end from the previous                 order.              perm_invent K                If true, always display your current inventory in a  window. K                This  only  makes sense for windowing system interfaces that &                implement this feature.             pettype K                Specify the type of your initial pet, if you are  playing  a K                character  class that uses multiple types of pets.  Possible K                values are ``cat'' and ``dog''.  Cannot be set with the  `O'                 command.              pickup_burden K                When you pick up an item that would exceed this  encumbrance K                level  (Unburdened, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              35     K                or overLoaded), you will be asked if you want  to  continue.                 (Default `S').              pickup_typesK                Specify the object types to be picked up when autopickup  is )                on.  Default is all types.              prayconfirm C                Prompt for confirmation before praying (default on).              preload_tiles K                For the protected mode MSDOS version, control whether  tiles K                get  pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game.  Doing so K                enhances performance of the tile  graphics,  but  uses  more I                memory. (default on).  Cannot be set with the `O' command.              pushweaponK                Using the `w' (wield) command when  already  wielding  some- K                thing  pushes  the  old item into your secondary weapon slot                 (default off).   K           race Selects your race (for example, ``race:human'').  Default is ;                random.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.              rawio K                Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more  bul- K                letproof  input  (MS-DOS  sometimes treats `^P' as a printer K                toggle without it) (default off).  Note:  DEC Rainbows  hang I                if this is turned on.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.              rest_on_space K                Make the space bar a synonym for the `.' (rest) command (de-                 fault off).             roleK                Pick your type of character (ex. ``role:Samurai'');  synonym K                for  ``character''.  See ``name'' for an alternate method of K                specifying your role.  Normally only the first letter of the K                value  is  examined;  `r'  is  an  exception with ``Rogue'', 1                ``Ranger'', and ``random'' values.              safe_petK                Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking  your  pets  (default                 on).              scoresK                Control what parts of the score list you are  shown  at  the K                end  (ex.   ``scores:5  top  scores/4  around  my  score/own K                scores'').  Only the first letter  of  each  category  (`t', )                `a', or `o') is necessary.              showexp K                Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line  (de-                 fault off).    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              36                showscore K                Show your approximate accumulated score on bottom line  (de-                 fault off).             silent4                Suppress terminal beeps (default on).             sortpackK                Sort the pack contents by  type  when  displaying  inventory                 (default on).             standout@                Boldface monsters and ``--More--'' (default off).             suppress_alertK                This option may  be  set  to  a  NetHack  version  level  to K                suppress  alert  notification messages about feature changes J                for that and prior versions (ex. ``suppress_alert:3.3.0'').             timeK                Show the elapsed game time in turns on bottom line  (default                 off).             timed_delay K                When pausing momentarily for display effect,  such  as  with K                explosions and moving objects, use a timer rather than send- K                ing extra characters to the screen.  (Applies to ``tty'' in- K                terface  only;  ``X11''  interface always uses a timer based I                delay.  The default is on if configured into the program.)              tombstone E                Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on).              toptenwin K                Put the ending display in a NetHack  window  instead  of  on K                stdout  (default  off).  Setting this option makes the score K                list visible when a windowing version of NetHack is  started K                without  a  parent window, but it no longer leaves the score K                list around after game end on a terminal or  emulating  win-                 dow.              traps K                Set the  graphics  symbols  for  displaying  traps  (default K                ``^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"^^^^'').   The  traps  option  should be K                followed by a string of 1-22 characters to be  used  instead K                of  the  default traps characters.  This string is subjected <                to the same processing as the dungeon option.  K                The order of the symbols is: arrow trap, dart trap,  falling K                rock  trap,  squeaky  board,  bear  trap, land mine, rolling K                boulder trap, sleeping gas trap, rust trap, fire trap,  pit, K                spiked  pit,  hole,  trap  door,  teleportation  trap, level K                teleporter, magic portal,  web,  statue  trap,  magic  trap, 0                anti-magic field, polymorph trap.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              37     2                Cannot be set with the `O' command.             verbose D                Provide more commentary during the game (default on).             videocolors K                Set the color palette for PC systems using NO_TERMS (default K                4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11).   The  order  of colors is K                red,  green,  brown,  blue,  magenta,  cyan,   bright.white, K                bright.red,      bright.green,      yellow,     bright.blue, K                bright.magenta, and bright.cyan.  Cannot be set with the `O'                 command.              videoshades K                Set the intensity level of the three gray  scales  available K                (default  dark  normal light, PC NetHack only).  If the game K                display is difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if K                this  does  not  correct the problem, try !color.  Cannot be (                set with the `O' command.             windowtypeK                Select which windowing system to use,  such  as  ``tty''  or K                ``X11''  (default  depends  on version).  Cannot be set with                 the `O' command.   9           8.5.  Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind   K                NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII  characters K           for  making  maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions K           of NetHack completely accessible to  the  blind  who  use  speech K           and/or  Braille access technologies.  Players will require a good K           working knowledge of their screen-reader's review  features,  and K           will  have  to  know  how to navigate horizontally and vertically K           character by character. They will also find the search  capabili- K           ties  of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to K           examine this Guidebook before playing so you have  an  idea  what K           the  screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate K           the PC cursor. It is always  where  your  character  is  located. K           Merely  searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac- K           ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign. K           Your  screen-reader  should  also have a function which gives you K           the row and column of your  review  cursor  and  the  PC  cursor. K           These  co-ordinates  are  often useful in giving players a better ?           sense of the overall location of items on the screen.   K                While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit  the K           defaults.nh  file  to accomplish this, novices may find this task K           somewhat daunting.  Included in  all  official  distributions  of K           NetHack is a file called NHAccess.nh.  Replacing defaults.nh with K           this file will cause the game to run in a  manner  accessible  to K           the  blind.  After  you have gained some experience with the game K           and with editing files, you may want to alter settings to  better K           suit your preferences. Instructions on how to do this are includ- K           ed in the NHAccess.nh file itself. The most crucial  settings  to     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              38     '           make the game accessible are:              IBMgraphics A                Disable IBMgraphics by commenting out this option.              menustyle:traditional H                This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.             number_padK                A lot of speech access programs use the number-pad to review K                the  screen.   If  this is the case, turn off the number_pad B                option and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.             Character graphicsK                Comment out all character graphics sets found near the  bot- K                tom   of  the  defaults.nh  file.   Most  of  these  replace K                NetHack's default representation of the dungeon using  stan- K                dard  ASCII characters with fancier characters from extended K                character sets,  and  these  fancier  characters  can  annoy                 screen-readers.             9.  Scoring   K                NetHack maintains a list of the top  scores  or  scorers  on K           your machine, depending on how it is set up.  In the latter case, K           each account on the machine can post only one  non-winning  score K           on  this  list.   If  you  score higher than someone else on this K           list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in  the K           proper  place  under your current name.  How many scores are kept 6           can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.  K                Your score is chiefly based upon  how  much  experience  you K           gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and K           how the game ended.  If you quit the game, you escape with all of K           your  gold  intact.   If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of K           Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your K           corpse  is  discovered  (adventurers  have  been known to collect K           finder's fees).  So, consider whether you want to take  one  last K           hit  at  that  monster  and  possibly live, or quit and stop with K           whatever you have.  If you quit, you keep all your gold,  but  if 2           you swing and live, you might find more.  K                If you just want to see what the current  top  players/games @           list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.               10.  Explore mode   K                NetHack is an intricate and difficult game.   Novices  might K           falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive. K           Well, fear not.  Your dungeon may come  equipped  with  an  ``ex- K           plore''  or  ``discovery'' mode that enables you to keep old save K           files and cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting  on  the            high score list.    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              39     K                There are two ways of enabling  explore  mode.   One  is  to K           start the game with the -X switch.  The other is to issue the `X' K           command while already playing the game.  The  other  benefits  of B           explore mode are left for the trepid reader to discover.               11.  Credits  K                The original hack game was modeled on the Berkeley UNIX  ro- K           gue  game.  Large portions of this paper were shamelessly cribbed K           from A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy and  Ken- K           neth  C.  R. C. Arnold.  Small portions were adapted from Further ?           Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.   K                NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work. K           Main  events  in the course of the game development are described            below:    K                Jay Fenlason wrote the original Hack, with help  from  Kenny -           Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.   K                Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into K           a  very  different  game, and published (at least) three versions D           (1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.  K                Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and  MS-DOS, K           producing  PC  HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics K           in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more  ver- *           sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).  K                R. Black ported PC HACK 3.51 to  Lattice  C  and  the  Atari -           520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.   K                Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together, K           incorporating  many  of  the added features, and produced NetHack K           1.4.  He then coordinated a cast of thousands  in  enhancing  and J           debugging NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.  K                Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading K           a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve K           Creps,  Eric  Hendrickson,  Izchak  Miller,  John  Rupley,   Mike >           Threepoint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.  K                NetHack 3.0 was ported to the Atari by  Eric  R.  Smith,  to K           OS/2  by  Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel.  The three K           of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main development team to .           produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.  K                Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga.   Norm K           Meluch,  Stephen  Spackman  and Pierre Martineau designed overlay K           code for PC NetHack 3.0.  Johnny Lee ported NetHack  3.0  to  the K           Macintosh.   Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued K           to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through  the  later     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              40                revisions of 3.0.   K                Headed by Mike Stephenson and coordinated by  Izchak  Miller K           and  Janet  Walz, the development team which now included Ken Ar- K           romdee, David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet,  Kevin  Darcy,  Matt K           Day,  Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric K           Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook  a  radical  revision  of  3.0. K           They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of K           the code.  They added multiple dungeons, a new  display,  special K           individual  character  quests,  a  new endgame and many other new -           features, and produced NetHack 3.1.   K                Ken Lorber, Gregg Wonderly and Greg Olson,  with  help  from K           Richard  Addison,  Mike  Passaretti,  and Olaf Seibert, developed $           NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.  K                Norm Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl  Sche- K           lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported             NetHack 3.1 to the PC.  K                Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike K           Engber,  David  Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan Handler, Johnny K           Lee, Tim Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson,  developed  NetHack K           3.1  for  the  Macintosh,  porting it for MPW.  Building on their 9           development, Barton House added a Think C port.   K                Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2.  Eric Smith port- K           ed  NetHack  3.1 to the Atari.  Pat Rankin, with help from Joshua K           Delahunty, was responsible for the VMS version  of  NetHack  3.1. ;           Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.   K                Dean Luick, with help from David  Cohrs,  developed  NetHack K           3.1  for  X11.   Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack K           for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the DevTeam  and 9           tile support was then added to other platforms.   K                The 3.2 development team, comprised of: Michael Allison; Ken K           Arromdee;  David  Cohrs; Jessie Collet; Steve Creps; Kevin Darcy; K           Timo Hakulinen; Steve  Linhart;  Dean  Luick;  Pat  Rankin;  Eric K           Smith;  Mike  Stephenson;  Janet  Walz; and, Paul Winner, release '           version 3.2 in April of 1996.   K                Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of K           the  development team.  In a testament to their dedication to the K           game, all thirteen  members  of  the  original  development  team K           remained  on the team at the start of work on that release.  Dur- K           ing the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of the K           founding  members of the development team, Dr. Izchak Miller, was K           diagnosed with cancer and passed away.  That release of the  game D           was dedicated to him by the development and porting teams.  K                During  the  lifespan  of  NetHack  3.1  and  3.2,   several K           enthusiasts of the game added their own modifications to the game 9           and made these ``variants'' publicly available:     K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              41     K                Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created  NetHack++,  which  was K           quickly  renamed NetHack--.  Working independently, Stephen White K           wrote NetHack Plus.  Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus  and K           his  own  NetHack--  to  produce  SLASH.  Larry Stewart-Zerba and K           Warwick Allison improved the spell casting system with the Wizard K           Patch.   Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-            face.   K                Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch  to  pro- K           duce  Slash'em,  and  with  the  help  of  Kevin Hugo, added more K           features.  Kevin later joined the DevTeam  and  incorporated  the -           best of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.   K                The 3.3 development team consisted of Michael  Allison,  Ken K           Arromdee,  David  Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy, K           Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick,  Pat  Ran- H           kin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.  K                As with version 3.2, various people contributed to the  game K           as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms            that NetHack runs on:   1                Pat Rankin maintained 3.3 for VMS.   K                Michael Allison maintained NetHack 3.3 for the MS-DOS  plat- F           form.  Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.  K                Elvis was seen playing NetHack on an Amiga.  That is to say, H           like Elvis, it it might come back, but don't hold your breath.  K                Dean Luick, Mark Modrall,  and  Kevin  Hugo  maintained  and -           enhanced the Macintosh port of 3.3.   :                The Atari port of NetHack was discontinued.  K                Michael Allison maintained and enhanced 3.3 for  the  Micro- #           soft Windows NT platform.   K                Ron Van Iwaarden took over responsibility for the OS/2 port. %                   - - - - - - - - - -   K                From time to time, some depraved  individual  out  there  in K           netland  sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out K           with the game.  The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes  make  note  of K           the  names  of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list of            Dungeoneers:                    K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999             K           NetHack Guidebook                                              42     L                    Adam Aronow           Helge Hafting           Mike EngberL                    Andy Church       Irina Rempt-Drijfhout       Mike GallopN                   Andy Swanson           Izchak Miller         Mike PassarettiN                   Ari Huttunen             Janet Walz          Mike StephensonL                   Barton House       Jean-Christophe Collet      Norm MeluchL                Benson I. Margulies       Jochen Erwied          Olaf SeibertK                     Bill Dyer             John Kallen            Pat Rankin L                 Boudewijn Waijers         John Rupley            Paul WinnerN                     Bruce Cox             John S. Bien        Pierre MartineauK                  Bruce Holloway            Johnny Lee            Ralf Brown N                  Bruce Mewborne            Jon W{tte           Richard AddisonO                   Carl Schelin          Jonathan Handler      Richard P. Hughey K                    Chris Russo          Joshua Delahunty          Rob Menke M                    David Cohrs           Keizo Yamamoto        Roland McGrath N                  David Damerell           Ken Arromdee        Ron Van IwaardenM                   David Gentzel            Ken Lorber           Ronnen Miller K                  David Hairston          Ken Washikita           Ross Brown N                    Dean Luick             Kevin Darcy          Sascha WostmannN                     Del Lamb               Kevin Hugo          Scott R. TurnerN                   Deron Meranda           Kevin Sitze         Stephen SpackmanM                  Dylan O'Donnell        Kevin Smolkowski        Stephen White L                    Eric Backus            Kevin Sweet            Steve CrepsM                 Eric Hendrickson         Mark Gooderum          Steve Linhart O                   Eric R. Smith           Mark Modrall        Steve VanDevender K                  Eric S. Raymond          Matthew Day            Tim Lennan M                 Frederick Roeber          Merlyn LeRoy         Timo Hakulinen J                    Gil Neiger           Michael Allison           Tom AlmyJ                    Greg Laskin            Michael Feir            Tom WestN                    Greg Olson            Michael Hamel         Warwick AllisonM                  Gregg Wonderly         Michael Sokolov         Yitzhak Sapir                    Hao-yang Wang   K           Brand and product names are trademarks or  registered  trademarks &           of their respective holders.                                            K           NetHack 3.3                                      December 2, 1999       