Amulet

Item classes
" Amulets	[ Armor
% Comestibles	$ Coins
* Gems	! Potions
= Rings	? Scrolls
+ Spellbooks	` Statues
( Tools	` Boulders
) Weapons	/ Wands

An amulet is an item that a character can put on around his or her neck. It usually confers magical powers on the wearer, but amulets such as the amulet of strangulation can also be hazardous. Amulets are represented by a double quotation mark: ". This is also the command to display which amulet you are currently wearing.

Wearing any amulet will increase the rate at which you get hungry, by an extra 1 nutrition per 20 turns. Carrying the Amulet of Yendor consumes an additional 1 nutrition per 20 turns, regardless of whether or not you are wearing it.

All amulets have a weight of 20 and a base price of 150 zorkmids.

Table of amulets

Amulet	Relative probability	Notes
amulet of change	13%	90.5% generated cursed, EAT
amulet of ESP	17.5%	EAT
amulet of life saving	7.5%
amulet of magical breathing	6.5%	EAT
amulet of reflection	7.5%
amulet of restful sleep	13.5%	90.5% generated cursed, EAT
amulet of strangulation	13.5%	90.5% generated cursed, EAT
amulet of unchanging	4.5%
amulet versus poison	16.5%	EAT
cheap plastic imitation of the Amulet of Yendor	0
Amulet of Yendor	0	will not fit in a container

Amulets marked EAT can be eaten for a 1/5 chance of obtaining their effect permanently (providing you are polymorphed into a metallivore). Eating an amulet of unchanging will return you to your normal form. Other amulets can be eaten (except the fake Amulet which is made of plastic, and the real Amulet which is indestructible), but do not confer their effect.

All amulets have a base cost of 150 zorkmids and have a weight of 20.

Generation

Amulets comprise 1% of all randomly-generated items in the main dungeon, 1% in containers, and 4% in Gehennom. The second column above is the relative probability of each subtype.

The ones generated 90.5% cursed are 9% uncursed and 0.5% blessed. All others are generated 5% cursed, 90% uncursed, 5% blessed.

The Amulet of Yendor is a unique item found only in Gehennom. Its fake counterpart is found only on the Rogue level, in the inventories of certain high-level monsters, and in the bones files of people who had a real or fake amulet themselves; the real amulet will be replaced with a fake one.

Identification

All amulets cost 150zm and weigh 20, so they cannot be distinguished using price identification. The appearance of the first 9 types of amulet in the table are randomized from the following descriptions:

   circular    spherical   oval      
   triangular  pyramidal   square
   concave     hexagonal   octagonal

Non-cursed amulets are safe to try on; the effect may become obvious after a while, such as for the amulet of ESP, and you can always remove it if it is strangulation or restful sleep.

In addition, monsters will only put on life saving and reflection.

Strategy

Amulets cannot be destroyed by electric shocks, so unless stolen by a nymph they are reliable at conferring their effect.

Encyclopaedia entry

"The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make
people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,
greediness, selfishness, laziness.  Evil spirits, people called
them when the Amulet was made.  Don't you think it would be nice
to have it?"
"Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.
"And it can give you strength and courage."
"That's better," said Cyril.
"And virtue."
"I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much
interest.
"And it can give you your heart's desire."
"Now you're talking," said Robert.
        [ The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit ]

References

This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:

Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

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