The Oracle

The Oracle is a monster who resides on a special level also known as The Oracle. She can provide a consultation for a fee, which is supposed to be the main way the player learns about the game. In practice, players read spoilers, such as this one.

Level

The oracle level is located between level 5 and 9 inclusive in the Dungeons of Doom. Immediately below the Oracle level is the level with the entrance to Sokoban. It is eligible to leave bones, and monster creation is biased towards neutral monsters.

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There are five rooms to the sides of the above area, containing the stairs (in separate rooms), five random monsters, three random traps, and six random objects; they are linked to each other and to the above room by corridors. The Oracle is at the center of the 3*3 room ("Delphi"), amid the fountains; Delphi has a random empty doorway in one wall. The marked statues are two of forest centaurs (NW and SE), two of mountain centaurs (NE and SW), and four of plains centaurs (N, W, S, and E). There are two random monsters in the area surrounding Delphi.

Monster

The oracle is a human @, and always starts peaceful.

Consulations

The oracle offers two services. Minor consultations are true rumors, like you get from a blessed fortune cookie. A major consultation is an extended description of some aspect of the game, for example:

Behold the cockatrice, whose diminutive stature belies its hidden might.  The
cockatrice can petrify any ordinary being it contacts--save those wise
adventurers who eat a dead lizard or blob of acid when they feel themselves
slowly turning to stone.

Consultations cost money, but increase your score and give experience points for the first of each type:

Type of consultation	Score	Experience points
Minor (if not yet major)	21	5
Minor (if already major)	9	2
Major (if not yet minor)	210 + (21 * XL)	50 + (5 * XL)
Major (if already minor)	90 + (9 * XL)	20 + (2 * XL)

Mythology & History

The Oracle is primarily based on the Pythia, the priestess who presided over the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi; the NetHack Oracle will welcome you to "Delphi" when she spots you arriving at her abode. Some behaviour is also in reference to the Internet Oracle from rec.humor.oracle, which first appeared in 1989, as did the Oracle in NetHack 3.0.0.

The Oracle-level sound effects reference several different oracles:

"You hear a strange wind." 

The Oracle of Jupiter at Dodona

"You hear convulsive ravings." 

The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

"You hear snoring snakes." 

The Oracle of Æsculapius at Epidaurus

The two hallucination sounds both reference the Internet Oracle:

"You hear someone say "No more woodchucks!"" 

In reference to the taboo question "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

"You hear a loud ZOT!" 

In reference to the traditional answer to this

Both of these predate the Oracle in The Matrix film series, which is not referenced.

Strategy

Pacifist characters should use the oracle for levelling up.

The Oracle will not get angry if you dry up the fountains.

External Links

• Wikipedia article on the Pythia
• Wikipedia article on the Internet Oracle
• rec.humor.oracle

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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:

1. The original contributors to any spoiler must continue to be credited.
2. Any modifications to the spoiler must be acknowledged and credited.