Gehennom (xNetHack)

In xNetHack, Gehennom has been significantly overhauled, shortening its length but also broadening it into a number of smaller branches. Much of the later game in xNetHack revolves around deciding which parts to explore and which archfiends to challenge.

Levels

As in vanilla NetHack, the Valley of the Dead contains the entrance to Gehennom. Unlike vanilla NetHack, levelporting does not work in Gehennom, other than upwards from the Valley.

Filler levels

There are still a few filler levels in Gehennom and Cocytus, which are cavernous and may contain a couple themed-room-like prefilled areas. However, the levels are more jagged than the standard caverns and are not necessarily connected - it is possible for the stairs to generate in a small disconnected space. Digging and magic mapping may be useful.

The Gate of Hell

One level below the Valley is the Gate of Hell, containing Cerberus and the entrance to Vlad's Tower.

Cocytus

Below the Gate of Hell is the entrance to Cocytus, an icy hell that causes cold damage to non-cold resistant being that traverse it. Asmodeus and either Geryon or Baalzebub reside here, with Asmodeus being on the final level of the branch.

Asphodel

Below Cocytus is Asphodel, a one-level branch containing the lair of the archfiend that did not appear in Cocytus (i.e. either Baalzebub or Geryon's lair).

The Stygian Marsh

Below Asphodel is the Stygian Marsh, a large swampy level.

Shedaklah

Within the Stygian Marsh is the branch entrance to Shedaklah, which contains Juiblex's lair and either Yeenoghu's or Orcus's.

The City of Dis

Below the Stygian Marsh is to the City of Dis, from which you can enter the Citadel of Dis, where Dispater resides.

The Abyss

Below Dis is the entrance to the Abyss, a branch that ends at either Orcus's lair or Yeenoghu's.

Tartarus

The Abyss contains the entrance to Tartarus, a one-level branch containing Demogorgon.

The Wizard's Tower

Near the bottom is the entrance to the Wizard's Tower. This is now its own separate branch, consisting of three large circular levels that all present a different puzzle. The first level requires you to deduce the movements of rotating chambers. The second level is a randomized teleportation maze. The final level contains the Wizard, at the end of a randomized gauntlet of rooms.

The vibrating square

The vibrating square level is no longer entirely a maze. It contains three large rooms in the top two thirds, a random one of which has the vibrating square in the center, and two small rooms near the bottom, a random one of which contains the upstairs. The rest of the level is a maze (the only remaining maze in Gehennom).

Monsters

• Major demons that generate at level creation time in Gehennom no longer generate asleep 80% of the time.
• Items that do not have a silver base material will never generate as silver in Gehennom.
• Ice and bone devils, being devils, are now lawful instead of chaotic.

Archfiends

The term "archfiend" is used to generally refer to the eight unique demons because "demon lord" is inaccurate.

• Three randomly chosen archfiends guard a wand of wishing in their lairs. Juiblex will never guard a wand of wishing, but any of the others might.
• None of the archfiends covetously warp anymore. In compensation for this, they are tougher.
• Many of the archfiends do not generate at level creation time, instead appearing when you enter their innermost sanctum.
• Archfiends that are bribable will demand valuables from your inventory in addition to gold. The more valuables you give them, the less gold you need to pay, but if you refuse to give something they want, they become angry.
• Each archfiend, if not "dealt with" (i.e. killed, or bribed to look the other way), will interfere with the ascension run and give you debuffs, starting from the moment you acquire the Amulet of Yendor (and remaining even if the Amulet leaves your possession). If you subsequently visit them and kill or bribe them off during the ascension run, the debuff will stop occurring.
• Monsters will also spawn on the upstairs of each level during the ascension run. The fewer archfiends that are dealt with, the more monsters spawn. If you deal with all the archfiends, this effect stops.
• Asmodeus and Demogorgon can cast a special spell named Dark Speech, which inflicts one of the following five effects:
  • A random intrinsic is removed, as with a gremlin, except it does not need to be nighttime.
  • You wither for d40+100 (more) turns.
  • You take 8d6 "psychic" damage (4d6 if deaf), and get confused and stunned.
  • You become intrinsically blind. This nastier sort of blindness does not time out, and cannot easily be cured with a unicorn horn, healing potion, or carrot. There are four cures: casting the spell of cure blindness, wearing the Eyes of the Overworld (which also prevents the blindness from taking hold in the first place), invoking the Staff of Aesculapius, or getting your god to address it as a trouble via prayer.
  • You become doomed for d2000 + 500 (more) turns. This is a new intrinsic that treats your Luck as if it were -10. It does not actually change your Luck to -10; it just suppresses it until the doom wears off. (Base Luck can still change due to timing out in the meantime.) The doomed status can be removed early, but only by sitting on a throne and getting the random effect that would otherwise have given a wish.
• The individual changes to each archfiend are:
  • Juiblex: Can voluntarily split himself in two, and also splits reactively to metal objects like a pudding. If the "main" Juiblex on the level is killed while there are clones around, a random clone will become the "real" one. When angry, he may generate ooze-type monsters from his body. He can hide on the ceiling, and is twice as fast as in vanilla. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, he will reduce your speed.
  • Geryon: Draws power from the herd of quadrupedal monsters on his level. He has a damage bonus and powerful regeneration rate that are directly proportional to the number of them on the level. His speed is inversely proportional to the number of them on the level: if the hero starts killing them off, he becomes faster. Killing a quadruped on his level while he is on the level will cause him to angrily teleport to your side, even if you have not yet seen him. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, he will reduce your carrying capacity.
  • Yeenoghu: Wields a powerful, highly enchanted flail named Butcher (which, despite the name, is not an artifact). He pursues a strategy of all-out attack and cannot be made to flee or escape. His physical attack can swat your wielded weapon out of your hands and send it flying. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, he halves the amount of damage reduction you get from having sub-zero AC.
  • Baalzebub: Constantly spawns giant flies. When he feels threatened, he can burst into a swarm of giant flies and reform some distance away. Also gains a poisonous sting attack. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, he periodically strips any intrinsic poison resistance you have, makes tins and permafood go rotten, and halves the time deadly illness takes to kill you.
  • Asmodeus: Mainly casts Dark Speech and his signature cold spell, but can also cure himself if his HP is low. The cold spell is no longer negated entirely by cold resistance; instead its damage is reduced to a quarter, and it can freeze potions you are carrying. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, he makes your Pw regeneration sluggish, and prevents cursed gain level from working.
  • Dispater: Fights very defensively and avoids melee combat with the hero. His spellcasting avoids direct attacks, including two new spells that teleport him away from the hero and entomb the player in boulders and walls. He can still summon nasties to distract the hero, too, and has a predisposition towards gating in pit fiends. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, your HP regeneration will become sluggish.
  • Orcus: Has an unusual spell list. This includes two unique ones: a blight spell that inflicts withering like Dark Speech does (but does not do any of the other four effects), and a disenchanting spell that drains enchantment from weapons and armor, and charges from rings, wands, and magic tools. When he summons monsters, he creates undead rather than nasties (though this can include undead nasties). Three of his spells bypass player magic resistance: drain strength, stun hero, and touch of death. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, a fluctuating penalty that increases your spellcasting Pw costs is applied, and you may randomly fail to write scrolls and spellbooks some of the time, even if you know them already.
  • Demogorgon: In addition to his existing abilities, he has a bite attack that induces withering, and he can cast Dark Speech along with the usual spells. If you do not deal with him before the ascension run, he triples your hunger rate.