Mysterious force
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".) Monsters (especially 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 will be placed near the up staircase, and only if they aren't already in the three lowest levels of Gehennom.[2] Cursed potions of gain level will not trigger the mysterious force for monsters. 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 |
Messages
- A mysterious force momentarily surrounds you...
- You were affected by the mysterious force and did not move up a level.
- As <monster> climbs the stairs, a mysterious force momentarily surrounds <him>...
- A monster carrying the amulet was affected by the force and moved to the previous level.
Variants
SLASH'EM, SporkHack, and UnNetHack have completely removed the mysterious force.
Other mysterious forces
A mysterious force is also cited as the reason that one cannot teleport on a non-teleport level,[3] or descend the staircase on the quest home level without first getting permission from your quest leader.[4]
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.[5]
- 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.[6]
References
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