Stash

Players can carry only a limited weight, and without a bag only a maximum of 52 items. Thus, most games will involve the creation of a stash - a safe repository of useful kit.

Since monsters are quite capable of picking up and using any items they come across, it is best to stash items in a container. Using a heavy chest is more likely to stop a troll picking it up than a simple sack. No monsters are capable of looting any container, although gelatinous cubes can engulf even large boxes, destroying them (but not their contents) immediately.

A good stash:

• is located in a convenient place. This is very often next to an altar, to tidy away all the items that numerous sacrifices will generate.
• is protected by burning Elbereth into the floor beneath it.

Some players prefer a greater degree of organisation during long games, and so use several chests in their stashes. For long sessions of sacrificing at an altar, it can be useful to have one chest in which useful items are stored, and another in which junk can be cleared away into. Players of extremely long games even have separate chests for each object type (potions, rings, wands, etc.).

The Castle or the Valley of the Dead are popular stash levels, as they both generate immense amounts of loot and have abundant chests. There is also a temple in the Valley, but it is unaligned.

Some players prefer to keep their stashes on levels which can leave bones files, so that if the unthinkable happens, they stand a chance of seeing their loot again, albeit through the eyes of a different character. Some consider this a mild form of cheating.

Stash security

A chest will suffice to protect your items from nearly all threats, but paranoid players have been known to go several steps futher. The easiest additional security measure is to place a boulder on top of your container. A chest with a blue jelly on it is perfectly secure, but inaccessible without killing the jelly. An oilskin sack underwater is also perfectly secure, providing there are no water trolls on the level and you can get to dry land immediately after looting it.