Magic marker
( 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | magic marker |
| Appearance | magic marker |
| Base price | 50 zm |
| Weight | 2 |
| Material | [[{{{material}}}]] |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A magic marker is a tool item in NetHack. It is one of the most useful writing items as it can be used to write magic scrolls or spellbooks. Of course, to do this, you must have a blank scroll or blank spellbook upon which to write. Magic markers can also be used to scribble a message on the floor (which is about as permanent as an engraving) at a cost of a charge per two letters (thus writing Elbereth costs 4 charges). Magic markers can be recharged only once.[1]
Archeologists, Monks, Priests, Tourists, and Wizards all have a chance of starting with a magic marker.
Wizards (especially those with high Luck) have a good chance of writing scrolls and spellbooks that they have not identified yet.
Contents
Usage
[Some details borrowed from Sascha Wostmann's "Yet Another Nethack FAQ," http://nethack.de/spoiler/yanfaq.txt ]
To create a scroll or spellbook, you apply the magic marker. Then you are asked what to write on, so you will need to have a scroll of blank paper or a spellbook of blank paper. Finally, you must specify what is to be written. You may enter the correct name of a scroll ("scroll of light") or just a short form ("light") or the label ("ZELGO MER"), but the latter only if you already have such a scroll. (You can't write a ZELGO MER if you have never seen one.) Similarly, you may create a spellbook by entering the correct name ("spellbook of create food"), or a short form ("create food"), or the spellbook label ("indigo spellbook") provided that you already have a spellbook with that label.
When engraving, a magic marker may be selected in response to "What do you want to write with?" but this is generally viewed as a waste of charges, as the same fast semipermanent effect can be achieved using an athame or a wand of digging. Early on, though, this can be a lifesaver.
BUC
When you write a scroll or spellbook, the BUC of the resulting item is the sum of the BUCs of the marker and the blank scroll/spellbook. A blessed marker will uncurse cursed scrolls, and bless uncursed ones. A cursed marker will unbless blessed scrolls, and curse uncursed ones. This means that uncursed markers are the most useful, because they can be used to write both cursed and blessed scrolls, depending on the paper used.
Ink and charges
Writing with a magic marker uses up charges. Initially, a magic marker will be generated with 30–99 charges.[2] A magic marker can be recharged with a scroll of charging (or PYEC), but only once.[3] A blessed charge will add 15–30 charges, then round up to 50 or 75 if able. An uncursed charge will add 10–20 charges, then round up to 50 if able. Charges are capped at 127, but attempting to exceed this will not cause the marker to explode.[4]
Each scroll or spellbook has an associated "base ink cost". For scrolls, this is an arbitrary number specified in write.c; for spellbooks it is (spell level * 10).[5]
If the ink cost of a scroll or spellbook is X, then writing it will cost a random number of charges between X/2 and X-1 inclusive. If the marker has fewer than X/2 charges remaining, you will not even attempt to write the specified item ("Your marker is too dry to write that!").[6] If it has between X/2 and X-1, however, you will attempt to write. If it turns out that this is not enough, the written item will be useless, and the marker will lose all its remaining charges ("Your marker dries out!").[7]
Scrolls
| Scroll | Ink | Charges |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | |
| amnesia | 8 | 4-7 |
| earth | 8 | 4-7 |
| fire | 8 | 4-7 |
| gold detection | 8 | 4-7 |
| food detection | 8 | 4-7 |
| light | 8 | 4-7 |
| magic mapping | 8 | 4-7 |
| create monster | 10 | 5-9 |
| destroy armor | 10 | 5-9 |
| punishment | 10 | 5-9 |
| confuse monster | 12 | 6-11 |
| identify | 14 | 7-13 |
| charging | 16 | 8-15 |
| enchant armor | 16 | 8-15 |
| enchant weapon | 16 | 8-15 |
| remove curse | 16 | 8-15 |
| scare monster | 20 | 10-19 |
| stinking cloud | 20 | 10-19 |
| taming | 20 | 10-19 |
| teleportation | 20 | 10-19 |
| genocide | 30 | 15-29 |
Spellbooks
| Spellbook | Ink | Charges |
|---|---|---|
| detect monsters | 10 | 5-9 |
| force bolt | 10 | 5-9 |
| healing | 10 | 5-9 |
| jumping | 10 | 5-9 |
| knock | 10 | 5-9 |
| light | 10 | 5-9 |
| protection | 10 | 5-9 |
| sleep | 10 | 5-9 |
| confuse monster | 20 | 10-19 |
| create monster | 20 | 10-19 |
| cure blindness | 20 | 10-19 |
| detect food | 20 | 10-19 |
| drain life | 20 | 10-19 |
| magic missile | 20 | 10-19 |
| slow monster | 20 | 10-19 |
| wizard lock | 20 | 10-19 |
| cause fear | 30 | 15-29 |
| charm monster | 30 | 15-29 |
| clairvoyance | 30 | 15-29 |
| cure sickness | 30 | 15-29 |
| detect unseen | 30 | 15-29 |
| extra healing | 30 | 15-29 |
| haste self | 30 | 15-29 |
| identify | 30 | 15-29 |
| remove curse | 30 | 15-29 |
| stone to flesh | 30 | 15-29 |
| cone of cold | 40 | 20-39 |
| detect treasure | 40 | 20-39 |
| fireball | 40 | 20-39 |
| invisibility | 40 | 20-39 |
| levitation | 40 | 20-39 |
| restore ability | 40 | 20-39 |
| dig | 50 | 25-49 |
| magic mapping | 50 | 25-49 |
| create familiar | 60 | 30-59 |
| polymorph | 60 | 30-59 |
| teleport away | 60 | 30-59 |
| turn undead | 60 | 30-59 |
| cancellation | 70 | 35-69 |
| finger of death | 70 | 35-69 |
Encyclopedia entry
The pen is mightier than the sword.
[ Richelieu, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton ]
