Mysterious force
- "A mysterious force momentarily surrounds you..."
The much-maligned mysterious force is a random level teleportation effect that occurs one quarter of the time[1] when trying to climb stairs or using a cursed potion of gain level in Gehennom with the Amulet of Yendor. Lawful characters are dumped up to three levels below their current location; for neutral players it is up to two and for chaotic it is up to one. (This includes occasionally being teleported around the level, a kind of "zero level drop".) Covetous monsters (such as the Wizard of Yendor) may also be affected by the force when they try to flee upstairs with the amulet. Unlike the player, monsters will always be sent exactly one level down by the force, and only if they aren't already in the three lowest levels of Gehennom.[2] These effects are summarized in the table below.
| Level change | Lawful | Neutral | Chaotic | Monsters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +1 | 75.0% | 75.0% | 75.0% | 75.0% |
| 0 | 6.25% | 8.33% | 12.5% | 0 |
| −1 | 6.25% | 8.33% | 12.5% | 25.0% |
| −2 | 6.25% | 8.33% | 0 | 0 |
| −3 | 6.25% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Avg. Change | +0.375 | +0.5 | +0.625 | +0.5 |
Monsters
Monsters in Gehennom carrying the amulet may also be affected by the mysterious force [3]. There is a 25% chance that a monster fleeing upstairs will instead move down one level. If this occurs the message "As <monster> climbs the stairs, a mysterious force momentarily surrounds <him>...". Unlike with the player, the monster will always end up on the same level and will appear near the staircase. Cursed potions of gain level will not trigger the mysterious force.
Other mysterious forces
A mysterious force is also cited as the reason that one cannot teleport on a non-teleport level,[4] or descend the staircase on the quest home level without first getting permission from your quest leader.[5]
On some rare occasions, the mysterious force may take a more active role:
- While digging with a blessed pick axe on the Plane of Earth, a mysterious force may create a cave around you.[6]
- If you're caught robbing a vault, and drop the gold on a square where the vault's walls used to be, a mysterious force will move it back into the vault when the walls are magically repaired.[7]
References
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