Crystal ball - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: pothole, etc.

2026-07-07T04:03:12Z

pothole, etc.

Umbire the Phantom: copyedit and detailing pass

2025-10-24T07:05:09Z

copyedit and detailing pass

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Umbire the Phantom: /* Description */ and one last thing!

2025-02-24T09:46:53Z

‎Description: and one last thing!

Umbire the Phantom: /* Messages */ and fix these too

2025-02-24T09:46:13Z

‎Messages: and fix these too

Umbire the Phantom: /* Description */ even when I'm awake I drop tangents lol

2025-02-24T09:44:47Z

‎Description: even when I'm awake I drop tangents lol

Umbire the Phantom: /* Description */ pothole

2025-02-24T09:41:23Z

‎Description: pothole

Umbire the Phantom: formatting, copyedit, etc.

2025-02-24T09:41:10Z

formatting, copyedit, etc.

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YourAdHereCZ: add commit to upcoming

2025-02-23T15:18:02Z

add commit to upcoming

Furey: /* Description */ Fix redlink: Applying -> Applying.

2024-06-16T20:24:08Z

‎Description: Fix redlink: Applying -> Applying.

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2024-05-22T13:11:59Z

pothole

@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 In [[dNetHack]], crystal balls have their weight significantly reduced to 50 aum.
-The Palantir of Westernesse is re-introduced and can be obtained from the [[Elvish Racial Quest]] by elven heroes of certain roles, and [[Crystals (dNetHack)|a set of five artifact crystal balls]] appear in the [[Chaos Temple Quest|Temple of Chaos variant]] of the [[Chaos Quest (dNetHack)|Chaos Quest]].
+The Palantir of Westernesse is re-introduced and can be obtained from the [[Elvish Racial Quest]] by elven heroes of certain roles, and [[Crystals (artifacts)|a set of five artifact crystal balls]] appear in the [[Chaos Temple Quest|Temple of Chaos variant]] of the [[Chaos Quest (dNetHack)|Chaos Quest]].
 ===xNetHack===
@@ Line 137: / Line 137: @@
 ==Encyclopedia entry==
 {{encyclopedia|
-	You look into one of these and see _vapours swirling like
+You look into one of these and see _vapours swirling like
-	clouds_.  These shortly clear away to show a sort of video
+clouds_.  These shortly clear away to show a sort of video
-	without sound of something that is going to happen to you
+without sound of something that is going to happen to you
-	soon.  It is seldom good news.
+soon.  It is seldom good news.
-	  [ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
+|[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
 }}

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ==Description==
-A hero [[applying]] or [[invoking]] a charged crystal ball while they are not [[blind]] is subjected to an [[intelligence]] check:{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1095|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment="<tt>use_crystal_ball</tt>}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1102|version=NetHack 3.6.7|name="outlookblank"}} the intelligence check will always fail if the crystal ball is cursed, and will also fail if the hero's intelligence is less than the result of a [[D notation|d20]] roll{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1106|version=NetHack 3.6.7|name="oops"}}&mdash;otherwise, the hero can search for an item, [[monster]] or [[trap]] on the current level by its glyph.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1179|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} This consumes a single charge from the item regardless of the intelligence check's outcome.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1142|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1173|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1199|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
+A hero [[applying]] or [[invoking]] a charged crystal ball while they are not [[blind]] is subjected to an [[intelligence]] check:{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1095|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=<tt>use_crystal_ball</tt> function}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1102|version=NetHack 3.6.7|name="outlookblank"}} the intelligence check will always fail if the crystal ball is cursed, and will also fail if the hero's intelligence is less than the result of a [[D notation|d20]] roll{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1106|version=NetHack 3.6.7|name="oops"}}&mdash;otherwise, the hero can search for an item, [[monster]] or [[trap]] on the current level by its glyph.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1179|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} This consumes a single charge from the item regardless of the intelligence check's outcome.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1142|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1173|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1199|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
 If the hero fails the intelligence check, one of the following effects occurs with an equal probability of each and an accompanying message:<ref name="oops"/>

@@ Line 98: / Line 98: @@
 {{message|Too bad you can't see the crystal ball.|You applied a crystal ball while blind.}}
 {{message|The vision is unclear.|You applied a crystal ball without any charges, or else successfully peered into one but did not reveal anything.}}
-{{message|You see the Wizard of Yendor gazing out at you.|This is a joke message that has a 1% chance of occurring on a successful peer that does not reveal anything; the purpose is explicitly to try and make players nervous.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1228|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}}}
+{{message|You see the Wizard of Yendor gazing out at you.|This has a 1% chance of occurring on a successful peer that does not reveal anything.<ref name="staresback"/>}}
 {{message|All you see is funky <color> haze.|You applied an uncharged crystal ball while hallucinating.}}
-{{message|Whoa! Psychedelic colors, <dude/babe>!<br/>You grok some groovy globs of incandescent lava.<br/>The crystal pulses with sinister <color> light!<br/>You see goldfish swimming above fluorescent rocks.<br/>Oh wow... like a kaleidoscope!<br/>You see tiny snowflakes spinning around a miniature farmhouse.<br/>|You "successfully" peered into a charged crystal ball while hallucinating.}}
+{{message|Whoa! Psychedelic colors, <dude/babe>!}}
 ==Variants==

@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 |}
-Using a crystal ball successfully and not revealing anything This is a joke message that has a 1% chance of occurring on a successful peer that does not reveal anything; the purpose is explicitly to try and make players nervous.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1228|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
+Using a crystal ball successfully and not revealing anything has a {{frac|100}} chance of printing a message about the [[Wizard of Yendor]] gazing at them, which has no other effect and is deliberately intended to unnerve.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1228|version=NetHack 3.6.7|name="staresback"}}
 [[Reading]] an uncursed [[scroll of charging]] and selecting a crystal ball will add one charge up to a maximum of 5, while a blessed scroll will always set the crystal ball to 6 charges.{{refsrc|src/read.c|651|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 * No further effect occurs.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1109|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
 * You are [[confused]] for up to 100 turns.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1112|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
-* You are [[blinded]] for up to 100 turns.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1116|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
+* You are [[blind]]ed for up to 100 turns.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1116|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
 * You [[hallucinate]] for up to 100 turns.{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1127|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
 * If the crystal ball is not an artifact, it explodes, destroying it and dealing up to 30 points of damage&mdash;this can be halved by [[half physical damage]].{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1132|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 Reading an uncursed [[scroll of charging]] and selecting a crystal ball will add one charge, up to a maximum of 5, while a blessed scroll will set the crystal ball to 6 charges instead.
-{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|You can now search for [[dungeon feature]]s by entering any of {{white|<}} {{white|>}} [[Altar|{{white|_}}]] [[Throne|{{white|\}}]] [[Sink|{{white|#}}]] [[Fountain|{{white|{}}]] - doing so will find all of these features regardless of which one you entered.
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|28fb6fc67b40316356d7c6464e88cb611bf1b60a}}:
-The intelligence check when applying a crystal ball now uses a d8 instead of d20 if it is your own [[quest artifact]], or d16 for other blessed crystal balls.
+* You can now search for [[dungeon feature]]s by entering any of {{white|<}} {{white|>}} [[Altar|{{white|_}}]] [[Throne|{{white|\}}]] [[Sink|{{white|#}}]] [[Fountain|{{white|{}}]] - doing so will find all of these features regardless of which one you entered.
+* The intelligence check when applying a crystal ball now uses a d8 instead of d20 if it is your own [[quest artifact]], or d16 for other blessed crystal balls.
-Crystal balls are now generated with 3-7 charges. Uncursed charging adds 1-2 charges up to the maximum of 7. Blessed charging increases the number of charges to 7 and also blesses the ball. Cursed charging removes all charges and curses the ball.
+* Crystal balls are now generated with 3-7 charges. Uncursed charging adds 1-2 charges up to the maximum of 7. Blessed charging increases the number of charges to 7 and also blesses the ball. Cursed charging removes all charges and curses the ball.
+* Applying a [[cancelled]] crystal ball now destroys it, regardless of whether or not it is an artifact.}}
 ==Strategy==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 ==Description==
-[[Applying]] or [[invoking]] a charged crystal ball while not [[blind]] will initiate an [[intelligence]] check - a cursed crystal ball will always fail the check when used. If the result of a d20 is less than or equal to your intelligence, the check succeeds and can then search for a symbol on the current level, consuming a charge.{{reffunc|detect.c|use_crystal_ball}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1095|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} If you fail the check:
+[[Apply]]ing or [[invoking]] a charged crystal ball while not [[blind]] will initiate an [[intelligence]] check - a cursed crystal ball will always fail the check when used. If the result of a d20 is less than or equal to your intelligence, the check succeeds and can then search for a symbol on the current level, consuming a charge.{{reffunc|detect.c|use_crystal_ball}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1095|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} If you fail the check:
 * No further effect occurs.

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 Applying a crystal ball will always put you into a helpless trance for 1 to 10 turns - a [[ring of free action]] will not prevent this. Applying a crystal ball with no charges will always reveal nothing, but does not risk negative effects.
-On a successful check, you can specify any symbol representing a monster, object or trap. If you try to search for anything else, such as [[stairs]] or other dungeon features, you will instead receive a random message hinting at the location of a special level: [[Oracle|Delphi]], Medusa's lair, the [[Castle]], or [[Wizard's Tower|the Tower of]] [[the Wizard of Yendor]].{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1042|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1087|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1220|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} The message you receive depends on whether you are in the same [[dungeon branch]] as the target level and its [[dungeon level]] relative to yours: ''"You see <foo>, <where>."''{{reffunc|detect.c|level_distance}} The exact message and location ''<where>'' is determined based on the information in the following table:
+On a successful check, you can specify any symbol representing a monster, object or trap. If you try to search for anything else, such as [[stairs]] or other dungeon features, you will instead receive a random message hinting at the location of a special level: [[Delphi]], Medusa's lair, the [[Castle]], or [[Wizard's Tower|the Tower of]] [[the Wizard of Yendor]].{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1042|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1087|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/detect.c|1220|version=NetHack 3.6.7}} The message you receive depends on whether you are in the same [[dungeon branch]] as the target level and its [[dungeon level]] relative to yours: ''"You see <foo>, <where>."''{{reffunc|detect.c|level_distance}} The exact message and location ''<where>'' is determined based on the information in the following table:
 {| class="prettytable"