Scroll of fire
? 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | fire |
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 100 zm |
| Weight | 5 |
| Ink to write | 4–7 |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A scroll of fire is a type of magical scroll that appears in NetHack.
Generation
Monks may be given a scroll of fire as the random scroll in their starting inventory.[1] Wizards may be given a scroll of fire as any of the three random scrolls in their starting inventory.[2]
Scrolls of fire make up 13⁄200 (6.5%) of all randomly-generated scrolls. General stores, second-hand bookstores and rare books shops can sell scrolls of fire.
Writing a scroll of confuse monster with a magic marker takes up 4 to 7 charges.
Description
.............
....CCCCC....
...CCCCCCC...
..CCCCCCCCC..
.CCCCCCCCCCC.
.CCCCCCCCCCC.
.CCCCC@CCCCC.
.CCCCCCCCCCC.
.CCCCCCCCCCC.
..CCCCCCCCC..
...CCCCCCC...
....CCCCC....
.............
Reading a scroll of fire causes it to explode in a tower of flame that covers a 3×3 square area, with the location dependent on the scroll's beatitude: a blessed scroll uses up the scroll and allows the hero to center the explosion on a square within a circular area around them that covers a roughly 5.6-square radius, while cursed and uncursed scrolls center the explosion on the reader;[3][4] a scroll that is read while underwater will always center its explosion on the reader.[5] Reading the scroll or seeing it being read will auto-identify it—[6] for a hero reading a blessed scroll above-water, an identifying message is also printed before they are prompted to select a target square.[7] Monsters will read this scroll if they are attempting to cure sliming inflicted on them, and cannot target the explosion for a blessed scroll as the hero can;[8][9] there is deferred code that allows monsters to use the scroll offensively by reading it if they are fire resistant and the hero is adjacent to them.[10][11]
Monsters that do not have fire resistance and are caught in the scroll's explosion (including the hero) take fire damage, with the damage doubled for monsters with a vulnerability to fire. The explosion of fire cures sliming for a hero or monster caught in it, and affects items on the ground as well as the inventory of any monsters within the explosion, including worn armor. The scroll itself cannot be destroyed by fire damage of any kind.
The damage dealt by the explosion varies depending on who reads the scroll:[12][13] For a hero reading the scroll, an uncursed scroll deals 4 points of fire damage 1⁄3 of the time and 3 points otherwise, while a cursed scroll deals 1-3 points of fire damage with an equal chance of each value; a blessed scroll deals 20 points of fire damage 1⁄3 of the time and 25 points otherwise.[14] For a monster reading the scroll, a blessed scroll deals 4 points of fire damage 1⁄3 of the time and 5 points otherwise, and scrolls of other beatitude deal the same damage as they do for the hero reading the scroll.
Reading a scroll of fire while confused will always ignite the scroll in the reader's hands:[15][16] this deals 1 HP of damage to a hero reading the scroll (but not for monsters), and has no effect on the reader's gloves or their other inventory.[17]
Strategy
The scroll of fire is one of many scroll types that make randomly read-testing scrolls a bad idea, since it can burn up much of a hero's inventory and rack up further damage that can weaken flammable armor and threaten or even kill lower-level heroes—additionally, doing so in a shop is especially unwise, since a hero that survives doing so will also likely incur debt for any wares they damage or destroy.
Known blessed scrolls of fire can be useful to damage a group of hostile monsters, similar to a much weaker version of the fireball spell. Scrolls of any beatitude can also be kept as a cure for sliming: the scrolls are immune to fire damage themselves, allowing a hero to carry them within their open inventory in Gehennom, where sliming is most likely to occur.
Identification
The scroll of fire has a base cost of 100 zm, which is shared with many other scrolls including the dangerous scroll of destroy armor. If you decide you want to read-test a 100zm scroll, it may be a good idea to remove worn armor and stash any scrolls, spellbooks and potions on hand (or drop them at least a couple of squares away) and make sure you are not in a shop or adjacent to any tame or peaceful monsters before reading.
History
The scroll of fire first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0. From this version to NetHack 3.6.0, including variants based on those versions, a blessed scroll of fire dealt 3-5 points of fire damage and behaved as the uncursed scroll—outside of curing sliming, it is considered to be a prime candidate for blanking in those versions.
The ability for a hero to target the explosion from a blessed scroll is added in NetHack 3.6.1.
Messages
- This is a scroll of fire!
- You read a blessed scroll of fire while not underwater.
- Where do you want to center the explosion?
- A blessed scroll of fire prompted you to select a nearby square.
- The scroll erupts in a tower of flame!
- You read a non-blessed scroll of fire.
- The water around you vaporizes violently!
- You read a scroll of fire while underwater.
- The slime that covers you is burned away!
- You cured sliming with a read scroll of fire.
- The scroll catches fire and you burn your <hands>.
- You read the scroll while confused and are not fire-resistant.
- Oh, look, what a pretty fire in your <hands>.
- As above, while fire-resistant.
- You feel a pleasant warmth in your <hands>.
- As above, while also blind.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 89
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 167
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1628
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1642
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1625
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1607
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1629
- ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2490
- ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2560
- ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1217
- ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1496
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1604
- ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2502
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1628
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1609
- ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2492
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1621
