Difference between revisions of "Shopkeeper"

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Revision as of 00:23, 15 June 2009

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

"list shopkeeper names (and shop types) and set up redirects from them to here. Incorporate shopkeeper messages, e.g. "Asidonhopo complains business is bad.""

Shopkeepers tend shops. They are relatively tough for low level characters and therefore excel at preventing shoplifting.

Shopkeepers are generated with (1000 + 30*d100) zorkmids[1], a skeleton key, and some or all of a wand of striking, a potion of healing, a potion of extra healing, and a wand of magic missile (a d4 is rolled and that many items are generated starting from the beginning of that list)[2].

Should a character die in the hands of a shopkeeper, or be killed while there's an angry shopkeeper around, any possible Bones files will be generated with the player's grave empty - the possessions are all inherited by the shopkeeper, who must be killed in order to search the loot.

For chaotic human players shopkeepers have a strategic value in that they are one of the only sources of a human corpse in the early levels, which can be used to automatically convert an altar for chaotic humans.

Ways to kill shopkeepers easily

There are some ways to kill shopkeepers very easily, even when you have only a low level character. By killing shopkeepers early in the game, you're able to get a lot of money.

One possibility is that you have a cloak of magic resistance (e.g. if you start as a wizard) or an amulet of reflection and get invisible inside the shop (by putting on a ring of invisibility, drinking a potion of invisibility or taking off mummy wrapping if you have permanent invisibility). The shopkeeper will not leave his position in front of the door while you're invisible. Now you're able to attack the shopkeeper easily by range attacks (e.g. spells, wands, launchers, darts etc.).

The easiest way to kill shopkeepers is to zap them with a wand of polymorph. Often they will polymorph into a weak creature that is unable to zap wands against you.

Messages

Messages will appear if you die or #quit while you are inside a shop, or while you are on the same level as an angry shopkeeper. Substitute the name of your shopkeeper for Shkname.

Message Reason
"Shkname gratefully inherits all your possessions." This happens when (quoting a comment in the source code) "you die in the shop, the shopkeeper is peaceful, nothing stolen, nothing owed."
"Shkname (wakes up and) (comes and) takes the number zorkmid(s) you owed {him,her}." You owed the shopkeeper money but you are outside of the shop (you robbed the shopkeeper), but your purse contains enough gold pieces to compensate the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper takes the amount of the payment, but not anything else.
"Shkname (wakes up and) (comes and) takes all your posessions." Either the shopkeeper was angry at you, or you owed the shopkeeper more money than you have in your purse, or you owed the shopkeeper money and ended your game inside of that shopkeeper's shop.
"Shkname (wakes up,), looks at your corpse, (shakes {his,her} head,) and {disappears,sighs}." Another shopkeeper wanted to inherit your stuff, but the first shopkeeper already took everything. There is a 50% chance that the shopkeeper shakes his or her head. A shopkeeper "disappears" back to his or her shop, or "sighs" if he or she is already inside his or her own shop.

The text "wakes up and" appears in the message in the case of a paralysed or sleeping shopkeeper. The text "comes and" appears in the message if the shopkeeper is more than two squares away from you.

References: shk.c#paybill, shk.c#inherits

Encyclopedia entry

See the encyclopedia entry for human.

References

This page is a stub. Should you wish to do so, you can contribute by expanding this page.

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

"More about the ESHK extended monster structure, which demonstrates the unique behavior of shopkeepers?"

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