Scroll of acquirement

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? Scroll.png
Name acquirement
Appearance random
Base price 300 zm
Weight 5
Ink to write 15-29
Monster use Will not be used by monsters.

The scroll of acquirement is a type of scroll that appears in SlashTHEM and Hack'EM. When read, the player may choose an item category and receive a random item from that category.

This scroll has some restrictions to prevent wishing abuse.

  • It cannot be wished for; attempting to do so will yield a blank scroll
  • It cannot be written
  • It cannot be the result of polypiling
  • It cannot be the result of reading a scroll of acquirement
  • No role will ever start with this scroll

Effects

If the scroll is cursed, nothing will happen. If your luck is below zero, each point below zero adds a 20% chance that the scroll will fail even if noncursed.

You are then presented with a prompt of item types. Almost all item types are available except chains, iron balls, venom, boulders, and gold. Once you select the item class, a random item of that type is generated. There is some post-selection processing that takes place:[1]

  • The item will not be an artifact.
  • If gold was generated, its quantity will be set to 1000 (even though one cannot choose gold, the check is still there)
  • If a magic lamp was generated, it is converted to an oil lamp with 1500 turns of light.
  • If a magic marker was generated, it is marked as already charged once (1:x)
  • If a wand of wishing, polymorph, or acquirement was generated, the wand type is re-rolled until it doesn't match one of those.
  • If a scroll of wishing or scroll of acquirement was generated, the scroll type is re-rolled until it doesn't match one of those.

After successful generation, the item is placed on the floor at the player's feet. Apart from the player being able to choose its general type, the item generated in the same manner as ordinary items on the floor.

Hack'EM

Hack'EM mostly follows the the implementation from SlashTHEM with a few differences.

Because there are scrolls of cloning in Hack'EM, an additional restriction is that this scroll cannot be cloned.

Uncursed scrolls of acquirement always grant an item, there is no luck involved. Blessed scrolls have a chance at bonus item if your luck is extremely high. Cursed scrolls still do nothing. The acquired item is also put directly into the player's inventory if possible instead of on the floor.

Origin

The scroll of acquirement appears to originate in SLASHEM-Extended. [2] It was later ported to SlashTHEM and Hack'EM.

It may have roots in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup since there is also an item with the same name that performs a similar function, with the same message.[3] Unlike the SlashTHEM/Hack'EM version, that scroll is guaranteed to give your character a usable item, and tries to ensure that the item is "good" (high enchantment, matched to player's skills, etc).

Messages

You have found a scroll of acquirement!
You read a scroll of acquirement.
"Unfortuantely, nothing happens.
The scroll was cursed or you failed the luck check.

References