(UnNetHack) Portal Gems

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UnNetHack adds 3 artifact gemstones to the game: The Moonstone (an artifact Black Opal), The Earthstone (an artifact Sapphire), and The Sunstone (an artifact Diamond). Each can be used to create magic portals that can be used to set up fast travel points across the Dungeons of Doom.

Generation

Each of the three portal gems generate in specific locations, and they are always generated blessed:

• The Moonstone is always generated in Croesus’ posession, who resides in Fort Ludios.
• The Earthstone is always generated in the grave of Baldin at the top level of the Ruins of Moria.
• The Sunstone is always generated in the Black Market, where it will be on sale.

If any of the three portal gems are left behind in a bones file, they will revert back to their base gem forms.

Description

When the player #invokes a portal gem, it will create a magic portal on a random land tile next to the player, destroying the gem in the process. What these portals do depends on how many of them have been created, and whether or not the player is carrying the Amulet of Yendor.

• If the player is carrying the Amuelt of Yendor, nothing happens.
• If only 1/3 portals have been created, entering it will teleport you to a random location on the current level.
• If 2/3 portals have been created, entering one will teleport you to the other.
• If all 3 portals have been created, entering one will teleport you to one of the other portals in a looping order.

If the player tries to invoke a portal gem in a location that would be ineligible to create a portal, no portal will be created and the player will drop the portal gem.

Strategy

As the portals created by the gems let you very quickly return to specific places in the dungeon you’ve traveled, they are best used to set up an network to quickly and easily visit places you intend to return numerous times, such as a permanent stash, an altar/alligned temple for BUC testing and sacrificing, and/or dungeon branches you intend to return to.

As the player cannot use the portals while they are holding the Amulet of Yendor, they cannot be used to create a shortcut to bypass the Ascension Run.

While the Earthstone and Moonstone can be acquired by normally exploring and clearing out the Ruins of Moria and Fort Ludios of loot, the Sunstone is much more difficult to acquire. Because it’s on sale in the Black Market, it will cost hundreds of thousands of gold, making it effectively impossible to purchase. As a result, if a player wants to get The Sunstone to set up all three portals instead of only two, they will likely need to steal it, which the Black Market makes exceptionally hard to do.

Messages

"<foo> starts pulsating and transforms into a magic portal!"

You invoked a portal gem and created a magic portal.

"<foo> starts throbbing!"

As above, while blind.

”<foo> is hot! You drop <foo>.”

You tried invoking a portal gem in an ineligible location, which made you drop it instead of creating a portal.

"The magic portal is malfunctioning!"

You tried using a portal that wasn’t connected to another one, and were teleported to a random location on the current level.

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"Redirects will need to be made to this page for the Moonstone, Earthstone, and Sunstone."

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"Little information is currently known about the portal gems' rules and limitations: When the following are discovered, they should be added to this page:

• Can they be invoked on no-teleport levels?
• Can they be invoked on levels that already have a magic portal? Does it matter if the portal was naturally generated or created by a portal gem?
• Can they be invoked in a corridor?
• Can they be invoked during the Endgame?
• What happens if there are no eligible land tiles next to you when you invoke them?
• Does their BUC stats affect your ability to use them?
• Is the teleport effect from using a magic portal that’s not connected to another portal affected by teleport control?
• Can monsters use magic portals created by portal gems?
• What determines the looping order of the portals once all 3 are created?
• What are the base prices of the portal gems?
• Can the gems be wished for (before and after they generate?) If so, what happens to them at their original spawn points?
• Where does the Sunstone generate within the Black Market if it’s the version that has multiple different shops?"