Difference between revisions of "User:Umbire the Phantom/sandbox"

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=The Polyform List=
+
=Variant list copypaste=
−
Remember that the minimum required XL is the experience level at which the form would have the same check as a controlled #youpoly attempt, e.g. there is always a set {{frac|20}} of feeling like a new doppleganger rather than achieving the desired polyform.
+
Arranged in general order of release for my convenience, and made Level 3 headings for the same purpose.
 +
===NetHack: The Next Generation===
  
−
Common choices of polyform are as follows:
+
===SLASH'EM===
  
−
* The various medium-sized humanoids can wear all available armor and use weapons.
+
===ZAPM===
−
* [[Demons]] have natural [[fire resistance]] and [[poison resistance]], and bare-handed melee attacks can gate in other demons - but tame demons are usually [[traitor]]ous, making them dangerous to keep around if they have more HP than you.
 
  
 +
===NetHack brass===
 +
 +
===dev/null Tournament===
 +
 +
===GruntHack===
 +
 +
===SporkHack===
 +
 +
===UnNetHack===
 +
 +
===AceHack===
 +
 +
===NitroHack===
 +
 +
===NetHack 4===
 +
 +
===dNetHack===
 +
 +
===DynaHack===
 +
 +
===NetHack Fourk===
 +
 +
===FIQHack===
 +
 +
===The November NetHack Tournament===
 +
 +
===xNetHack===
 +
 +
===SpliceHack===
 +
 +
===notdNetHack===
 +
 +
===EvilHack===
 +
 +
===GnollHack===
 +
 +
===SlashTHEM===
 +
 +
===Hack'EM===
 +
 +
=Sebastian Klein=
 +
:''This'll probably get merged into the [[NetHack: The Next Generation]] article whenever I rewrite that.''
 +
'''Sebastian Klein''' is the creator of [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], a [[NetHack 3.1.3]] variant which he released in 1994. Very little information is known about him - he has a personal site found [http://www.sebastian-klein.de/ here], and posts from Klein can be found in [[rec.games.roguelike.nethack]] as late as 2000.
 +
 +
<!--
 +
{{stub}}
 +
{{noversion}}
 +
[[Category:Community]]
 +
[[Category:Notable people]]
 +
-->
 +
=[[Doppelganger (starting race)]]=
 +
==Strategy==
 +
Remember that the minimum required XL is the experience level at which the form would have the same check as a controlled #youpoly attempt, e.g. there is always a set {{frac|20}} of feeling like a new doppelganger rather than achieving the desired polyform.
 +
 +
===Common polyform traits===
 +
* The various medium-sized humanoids can wear most if not all available armor and use weapons.
 +
* [[Demons]] have natural [[fire resistance]] and [[poison resistance]], and bare-handed melee attacks can gate in other demons. However, they are weak to silver and blessed weapons, you cannot pray as a demon, and tame demons are usually [[traitor]]ous, making them dangerous to keep around if they have more HP than you.
 +
* Vampiric monsters are inediate and ''usually'' possess intrinsic regeneration and breathlessness - most of them are medium-sized humanoids, and they can feed and increase nutrition through their bite attacks. However, many of them are also weak to silver and blessed weapons and/or cannot access prayer due to being undead.
 +
 +
==The Polyform List==
 
{| class="prettytable sortable"
 
{| class="prettytable sortable"
 
! colspan="6" style="font-size:larger" | SLASH'EM polyforms
 
! colspan="6" style="font-size:larger" | SLASH'EM polyforms
Line 15: Line 75:
 
!#[[Monster (command)|monster]] ability
 
!#[[Monster (command)|monster]] ability
 
!Traits
 
!Traits
−
!
+
!Uses, advantages and drawbacks
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[death dog]]  
 
|[[death dog]]  
Line 21: Line 81:
 
|7
 
|7
 
|None
 
|None
−
|<ul><li>Two 1d10 hit dice</li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Two 1d10 hit dice</li><li>12 speed</li></ul>
 
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Deals decent damage, accessible early</li><li>Very low carrying capacity, no hands</li></ul>
 
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Deals decent damage, accessible early</li><li>Very low carrying capacity, no hands</li></ul>
 
|-
 
|-
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|10
 
|10
 
|None
 
|None
−
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>[[Strong]]</li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>[[Strong]]</li><li>9 speed</li></ul>
−
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Accessible early-game form</li>Strength bolsters damage and carrying capacity<li></li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Earliest accessible humanoid form</li><li>Strength bolsters damage and carrying capacity</li><li>Somewhat slow compared to similar later forms</li></ul>
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[rhaumbusun]]
 
|[[rhaumbusun]]
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|9
 
|9
 
|Remove [[iron chain]]s attached to you
 
|Remove [[iron chain]]s attached to you
−
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>Sets charisma to 18</li><li>Sets carrying cap to 1000 aum</li><li>Two hit dice - one theft attack and one seduction attack</li><li>[[Teleportitis]]</li><li>[[Swimmer]]</li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>Sets charisma to 18</li><li>Sets carrying cap to max (1000 aum)</li><li>Two hit dice - one theft attack and one seduction attack</li><li>[[Teleportitis]]</li><li>[[Swimmer]]</li><li>Hits as +1</li></ul>
−
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Escape</li><li>Travel</li><li>Inherent charisma makes shopping easier</li><li>Can consistently hold more weight without [[encumbrance]]</li><li>Can sometimes steal multiple items in one attack</li><li>Random teleports can be very inconvenient</li><li>Can teleport at-will, which can serve various purposes especially with [[teleport control]]</li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Escape</li><li>Travel</li><li>Inherent charisma makes shopping easier</li><li>Can carry far more without [[encumbrance]]</li><li>Can use weapons, allowing you to inflict damage and possibly steal multiple items in one attack</li><li>Random teleports can be very inconvenient</li><li>Can teleport at-will, which can serve various purposes especially with [[teleport control]]</li><li>Swimming acts as water-walking, allowing for a greater ease of access to certain area ('''beware of de-polymorphing over water!''')</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[pixie]]
 +
|3
 +
|3
 +
|Remove [[iron chain]]s attached to you
 +
|<ul><li>Tiny</li><li>15 speed</li><li>Sets charisma to 18</li><li>Sets carry cap to max</li><li>Hits as +1</li><li>Sees invisible<\li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Casting</li><li>Defense</li><li>Travel</li><li>Does not become invisible like NPC pixies</li><li>Size prevents you from wearing armor or wielding weapons</li><li>Cannot interact with doors</li><li>Can only attack by casting spells and use wands</li><li>Natural AC with bonuses can compensate for lack of armor</li><li>Can use speed and squeeze past boulders to evade monsters</li><li>Form can be used briefly to shrink out of cursed armor</li></ul>
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[barrow wight]]
 
|[[barrow wight]]
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|5
 
|5
 
|None
 
|None
−
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>[[Cold resistance]]</li><li>Poison resistance</li><li>[[Sleep resistance]]</li><li>[[Breathless]]</li><li>[[Undead]]</li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>[[Cold resistance]], poison resistance, [[sleep resistance]]</li><li>[[Breathless]]</li><li>[[Undead]]</li><li>12 speed</li><li>Level-draining melee attack</li></ul>
−
|<ul><li>Defense</li><li>Early form with natural AC and some good immunities, including [[drain resistance]]</li><li>Single-hitdie melee attack can drain levels</li><li>Lower carry cap than the average character</li></ul>
+
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Early, accessible form with natural AC and some good immunities, including [[drain resistance]]</li><li>Can weaken foes in melee</li><li>Lower carry cap than the average character</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[spined devil]]
 +
|5
 +
|1
 +
|None
 +
|<ul><li>Demon</li><li>Winged flier</li><li>18 speed</li><li>Two hit dice</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Cannot wear body armor or helms</li><li>Natural AC compensates for fewer armor slots</li><li>Very fast with decently strong attacks</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[energy vortex]]
 +
|6
 +
|2
 +
|None
 +
|<ul><li>Whirly</li><li>Resists shock, stoning, disintegration, poison and sleep</li><li>20 speed</li><li>Engulfing attack</li><li>Passive shock damage</li><li>Blind</li><li>Inediate</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Cannot wear armor</li><li>Decent natural AC</li><li>Very fast form that benefits from doppelganger AC bonuses</li><li>Can pick up items</li><li>Telepathy may be required to deal with blindness</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[succubus]]/[[incubus]]
 +
|6
 +
|0
 +
|N/A
 +
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>Demon</li><li>Sets charisma to 18</li><li>Flier</li><li>12 speed</li><li>Infravision</li><li>Infravisible</li><li>Seduction/theft attack</li><li>Resists fire and poison</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Defense</li><li>Can seduce opposite-gender monsters and steal items</li><li>Solid natural AC, can wear all non-silver armor without any trouble</li><li>Silver weakness may be deterrent</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[mummy|human mummy]]
 +
|6
 +
|4
 +
|N/A
 +
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>12 speed</li><li>Infravision</li><li>Doesn't need to eat</li><li>Resists cold, sleep, and poison</li><li>Mindless</li><li>Breathless</li><li>Undead</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Altar camping</li><li>Decent natural AC, can wear all armor</li><li>Can be used to stall hunger until more food is acquired</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[marilith]]
 +
|7
 +
|<nowiki>-6</nowiki>
 +
|N/A
 +
|<ul><li>Demon</li><li>Sets charisma to 18</li><li>12 speed</li><li>Infravision</li><li>Infravisible</li><li>Resists fire and poison</li><li>Two weapon attacks</li><li>Sees invisible</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Defense</li><li>Great natural AC</li><li>Restricted to non-silver boots, gloves, and weapons</li><li>Can #[[twoweapon]] if original role can</li><li>Can [[gate]] in other demons with attacks, with a higher likelihood if bare-handed</li><li>Silver weakness may be deterrent</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
|[[salamander]]
 +
|8
 +
|<nowiki>-1</nowiki>
 +
|N/A
 +
|<ul><li>12 speed</li><li>Infravisible</li><li>Resists fire and sleep</li><li>Multiple attacks including [[holding]] and [[fire]]</li><li>[[Thick-skinned]]</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>Defense</li><li>Good natural AC</li><li>Can wear all armor except for boots</li></ul>
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" style="font-size:larger" | With polymorph control (at experience level 9)
 +
|-
 +
!Monster
 +
!Monster level
 +
!Base AC
 +
!#[[Monster (command)|monster]] ability
 +
!Traits
 +
!Uses
 
|-
 
|-
 +
|[[Fire vampire]]
 +
|12
 +
|0
 +
|None
 +
|<ul><li>Medium-sized humanoid</li><li>Flier</li><li>Inediate</li><li>Strong</li><li>Hungerless regeneration</li><li>24 base speed</li><li>Five hit dice with bloodsucking bite and fiery attacks</li></ul>
 +
|<ul><li>Combat</li><li>All-around powerful form that can level drain monsters and set them aflame</li><li>Stellar base AC, flight and double base speed</li><li>Can use all armor and weapons</li><li>''Not'' undead, and thus lacks intrinsic drain resistance</li><li>''Not'' a fiery monster, thus vulnerable to [[sliming]]</li><li>Fire attacks can destroy loot</li><li>Draining corpses for nutrition leaves them intact for tinning/sacrifice</li><li>Dangerous to attack monsters with high-damage passives or deadly effects when eaten<!--This may be changed pending an opportunity to test in explore/wiz mode--></li></ul>
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
==Monsters to review==
+
===Monsters to review===
 
====Before gaining polymorph control====
 
====Before gaining polymorph control====
−
* Medium-sized humanoids can wear all armor and use weapons.
+
* Medium-sized humanoids can wear most, if not all armor, and use weapons.
−
<s>** [[Hill orc]]s are guaranteed at level 2, and are strong monsters</s>
 
−
<s>** [[Barrow wight]]s are guaranteed at level 3, and can additionally drain levels.</s>
 
−
** [[Human mummy|Human mummies]] are inediate and normal speed, although not guaranteed until level 6.  They make a good form if you want to wait around an altar and sacrifice. Human mummies have greater carrying capacity than their [[elf mummy|elven counterparts]], and are available at the same level.
 
−
** [[Salamander]]s (guaranteed at level 8) are humanoid with good AC and speed, and have 2 weapon attacks, a fire touch, and a fire crushing attack.
 
 
** Doppelgangers can start polymorphing into [[mind flayer]]s with a reasonable chance of success at level 6 or 7; the brain-eating attack will make short work of most monsters, but is useless against those without heads or brains, and downright dangerous against monsters with passive attacks.  Mind flayers will not be stoned when attacking a cockatrice; the tentacle attack is instead turned off.
 
** Doppelgangers can start polymorphing into [[mind flayer]]s with a reasonable chance of success at level 6 or 7; the brain-eating attack will make short work of most monsters, but is useless against those without heads or brains, and downright dangerous against monsters with passive attacks.  Mind flayers will not be stoned when attacking a cockatrice; the tentacle attack is instead turned off.
−
* [[Demon]]s have low natural AC, good attacks, and are a source of powerful pets through demon gating. The weaker demons become guaranteed polymorphable forms before a doppelganger gains intrinsic polymorph control at level 9 as well.
+
* Demons
−
** [[Spined devil]]s have 18 speed (almost as fast as speed boots), are inediate, have resistances to fire, poison, and level-drain, have good natural AC, and hit fairly hard - this is a guaranteed form at level 5. It is strictly better either the elf or dwarf mummy, unless you are working with prayer (the spined devil is a major demon). They cannot wear suits, shirts or cloaks, but can wear other armor.
+
** [[Chasme]]s are guaranteed at level 8, and attack quickly with 4 hit die that can put foes to sleep. Great for [[Stealing from shops|killing shopkeepers]] (though this will come at the cost of -5 alignment record if you kill the shopkeeper without having them become angry with you due to not waking up).
−
** [[Chasme]]s can attack quickly and can repeatedly put foes to sleep. Great for [[Stealing from shops|killing shopkeepers]] (though this will come at the cost of -5 alignment record if you kill the shopkeeper without having him/her become angry with you due to not waking up).
 
−
** [[Marilith]]s, guaranteed at 7, have normal speed, decent base AC, and attack 5 times. The multiple attack makes [[demon#Summoning while polymorphed|demon gating]] very effective.
 
 
* Although not guaranteed until level 8, a level 5-7 character has a reasonable chance of polymorphing into a [[basilisk]].  They are essentially stronger cockatrices, with the same passive attacks.  As such, they can be very handy for getting through the [[Gnomish mines]]. [[Nutrition]] can be a problem since you can't eat statues.  Also, the similar [[asphynx]] may look appealing, being faster, but it can carry very few items, and cannot pick any up at all.
 
* Although not guaranteed until level 8, a level 5-7 character has a reasonable chance of polymorphing into a [[basilisk]].  They are essentially stronger cockatrices, with the same passive attacks.  As such, they can be very handy for getting through the [[Gnomish mines]]. [[Nutrition]] can be a problem since you can't eat statues.  Also, the similar [[asphynx]] may look appealing, being faster, but it can carry very few items, and cannot pick any up at all.
 
** If you're trapped by a single monster, [[chickatrice]]s are guaranteed at 4 and will stone an attacking monster. However, they have extremely low base HP, can carry very little, and are slow, so they should only be used as an instakill in case of emergency.
 
** If you're trapped by a single monster, [[chickatrice]]s are guaranteed at 4 and will stone an attacking monster. However, they have extremely low base HP, can carry very little, and are slow, so they should only be used as an instakill in case of emergency.
−
<s>* [[Death dog]]s are guaranteed at level 2 and are fairly powerful. Their carry capacity is fairly limited though, so they're not good travel forms if you have a lot of things that you want to keep with you.</s>
 
 
* [[Unicorn]]s are guaranteed at level 4. They have high speed and a decent attack, and can use #monster to remove some bad effects.
 
* [[Unicorn]]s are guaranteed at level 4. They have high speed and a decent attack, and can use #monster to remove some bad effects.
 
* [[Mumak]]il are guaranteed at level 5. They have comparatively very strong attacks, but somewhat low speed. Especially good if you are fast or, better still, very fast.
 
* [[Mumak]]il are guaranteed at level 5. They have comparatively very strong attacks, but somewhat low speed. Especially good if you are fast or, better still, very fast.
Line 74: Line 191:
 
* [[Oviparous]] monsters can provide some highly useful pets via egg laying, especially in the early game:
 
* [[Oviparous]] monsters can provide some highly useful pets via egg laying, especially in the early game:
 
** [[Gargoyle]]s and [[winged gargoyle]]s can sit and lay eggs that will hatch has gargoyles; normal gargoyles can wear armor, but the [[fly]]ing winged gargoyles cannot.  Both forms also have excellent natural AC.
 
** [[Gargoyle]]s and [[winged gargoyle]]s can sit and lay eggs that will hatch has gargoyles; normal gargoyles can wear armor, but the [[fly]]ing winged gargoyles cannot.  Both forms also have excellent natural AC.
−
** [[Rhaumbusun]], guaranteed at level 2, are weak and slow but very effective at paralysing enemies which can help in scoring easy kills.
 
 
** [[Soldier ants]] are guaranteed at level 3, and as pets, can if anything be almost too effective - they can often close in, kill and devour weak foes in the time taken for an unhasted player to make even a single move. Creating an army may be tempting, but this can lead to nutrition problems if you can't reach corpses in time. Spawning 2 or 3 is generally more than sufficient.
 
** [[Soldier ants]] are guaranteed at level 3, and as pets, can if anything be almost too effective - they can often close in, kill and devour weak foes in the time taken for an unhasted player to make even a single move. Creating an army may be tempting, but this can lead to nutrition problems if you can't reach corpses in time. Spawning 2 or 3 is generally more than sufficient.
  
−
==Monsters to test==
+
=Table tweaking=
−
* [[Pixie]] - close cousin to the base nymphs, with no seduction attack but higher speed and natural invisibility when generated.
+
{|class="wikitable"
 +
!colspan="2" rowspan="2"| !! colspan="10"|Shopkeeper's race
 +
|-
 +
! Human !! Elf !! Dwarf !! Orc !! Gnome !! Illithid !! Centaur !! Nymph !! Giant
 +
|-
 +
|rowspan="9"|Your race || Human ||  ||  ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}} ||  || &times;10 || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}}
 +
|-
 +
| Elf ||  || &times;{{frac|4|5}} || &times;{{frac|4|3}} || &times;3 ||  || &times;10 ||  ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
| Dwarf  ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}} || &times;{{frac|3|4}} || &times;{{frac|5|3}} ||  || &times;10 || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  || &times;{{frac|3|2}}
 +
|-
 +
| Orc || &times;{{frac|4|3}} || &times;2 || &times;2 || &times;{{frac|2|3}} ||  || &times;10 || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
| Gnome || &times;{{frac|4|3}} ||  ||  ||  ||  || &times;10 || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}}
 +
|-
 +
| Illithid ||  || &times;2 || &times;2 ||  ||  ||  || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}}
 +
|-
 +
| Centaur || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  ||  ||  ||  || &times;10 || &times;{{frac|3|4}} ||  ||
 +
|-
 +
| Hobbit ||  ||  ||  || &times;3 ||  || &times;10 ||  ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}}
 +
|-
 +
| Giant ||  ||  || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  ||  || &times;10 ||  ||  || &times;{{frac|3|4}}
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Special notes:
 +
* If the shopkeeper is of some other monster species not listed here, they behave as the Human column indicates.
 +
* Gnomish shopkeepers additionally increase price &times;{{frac|3|2}} if your [[Intelligence]] is less than or equal to 14, or &times;{{frac|4|3}} if it is greater than 14 but less than 18.
 +
* Nymph shopkeepers base their prices on your Charisma with no regard for your race: &times;{{frac|4|3}} if your charisma is 15 or higher and &times;{{frac|5|3}} otherwise.
 +
 
 +
{|class="wikitable"
 +
!colspan="1" rowspan="2"| !! colspan="9"|Shopkeeper's race
 +
|-
 +
! Human/Other !! Elf !! Dwarf !! Orc !! Gnome !! Illithid !! Centaur !! Nymph !! Giant
 +
|-
 +
|rowspan="1"|Giant ||  ||  || &times;{{frac|3|2}} ||  || &times;{{frac|3|2}} if [[Int|INT]] is <=14<br/>&times;{{frac|4|3}} if INT is 15-17 || &times;10 ||  || &times;{{frac|4|3}} if [[Cha|CHA]] is >=15<br/>&times;{{frac|5|3}} if CHA is <15 || &times;{{frac|3|4}}
 +
|}

Latest revision as of 18:14, 16 June 2023

Variant list copypaste

Arranged in general order of release for my convenience, and made Level 3 headings for the same purpose.

NetHack: The Next Generation

SLASH'EM

ZAPM

NetHack brass

dev/null Tournament

GruntHack

SporkHack

UnNetHack

AceHack

NitroHack

NetHack 4

dNetHack

DynaHack

NetHack Fourk

FIQHack

The November NetHack Tournament

xNetHack

SpliceHack

notdNetHack

EvilHack

GnollHack

SlashTHEM

Hack'EM

Sebastian Klein

This'll probably get merged into the NetHack: The Next Generation article whenever I rewrite that.

Sebastian Klein is the creator of NetHack: The Next Generation, a NetHack 3.1.3 variant which he released in 1994. Very little information is known about him - he has a personal site found here, and posts from Klein can be found in rec.games.roguelike.nethack as late as 2000.

Doppelganger (starting race)

Strategy

Remember that the minimum required XL is the experience level at which the form would have the same check as a controlled #youpoly attempt, e.g. there is always a set 1⁄20 of feeling like a new doppelganger rather than achieving the desired polyform.

Common polyform traits

  • The various medium-sized humanoids can wear most if not all available armor and use weapons.
  • Demons have natural fire resistance and poison resistance, and bare-handed melee attacks can gate in other demons. However, they are weak to silver and blessed weapons, you cannot pray as a demon, and tame demons are usually traitorous, making them dangerous to keep around if they have more HP than you.
  • Vampiric monsters are inediate and usually possess intrinsic regeneration and breathlessness - most of them are medium-sized humanoids, and they can feed and increase nutrition through their bite attacks. However, many of them are also weak to silver and blessed weapons and/or cannot access prayer due to being undead.

The Polyform List

SLASH'EM polyforms
Monster Monster level Base AC #monster ability Traits Uses, advantages and drawbacks
death dog 2 7 None
  • Two 1d10 hit dice
  • 12 speed
  • Combat
  • Deals decent damage, accessible early
  • Very low carrying capacity, no hands
hill orc 2 10 None
  • Medium-sized humanoid
  • Strong
  • 9 speed
  • Combat
  • Earliest accessible humanoid form
  • Strength bolsters damage and carrying capacity
  • Somewhat slow compared to similar later forms
rhaumbusun 2 9 Gaze at monsters
  • Tiny animal
  • 9 speed
  • Paralyzing gaze
  • Oviparous
  • Taming
  • Can create more by laying eggs
  • Slow and weak, but pets with paralysis can be an edge against some early-game threats
water nymph 3 9 Remove iron chains attached to you
  • Medium-sized humanoid
  • Sets charisma to 18
  • Sets carrying cap to max (1000 aum)
  • Two hit dice - one theft attack and one seduction attack
  • Teleportitis
  • Swimmer
  • Hits as +1
  • Combat
  • Escape
  • Travel
  • Inherent charisma makes shopping easier
  • Can carry far more without encumbrance
  • Can use weapons, allowing you to inflict damage and possibly steal multiple items in one attack
  • Random teleports can be very inconvenient
  • Can teleport at-will, which can serve various purposes especially with teleport control
  • Swimming acts as water-walking, allowing for a greater ease of access to certain area (beware of de-polymorphing over water!)
pixie 3 3 Remove iron chains attached to you
  • Tiny
  • 15 speed
  • Sets charisma to 18
  • Sets carry cap to max
  • Hits as +1
  • Sees invisible<\li>
  • Casting
  • Defense
  • Travel
  • Does not become invisible like NPC pixies
  • Size prevents you from wearing armor or wielding weapons
  • Cannot interact with doors
  • Can only attack by casting spells and use wands
  • Natural AC with bonuses can compensate for lack of armor
  • Can use speed and squeeze past boulders to evade monsters
  • Form can be used briefly to shrink out of cursed armor
barrow wight 3 5 None
  • Combat
  • Early, accessible form with natural AC and some good immunities, including drain resistance
  • Can weaken foes in melee
  • Lower carry cap than the average character
spined devil 5 1 None
  • Demon
  • Winged flier
  • 18 speed
  • Two hit dice
  • Combat
  • Cannot wear body armor or helms
  • Natural AC compensates for fewer armor slots
  • Very fast with decently strong attacks
energy vortex 6 2 None
  • Whirly
  • Resists shock, stoning, disintegration, poison and sleep
  • 20 speed
  • Engulfing attack
  • Passive shock damage
  • Blind
  • Inediate
  • Cannot wear armor
  • Decent natural AC
  • Very fast form that benefits from doppelganger AC bonuses
  • Can pick up items
  • Telepathy may be required to deal with blindness
succubus/incubus 6 0 N/A
  • Medium-sized humanoid
  • Demon
  • Sets charisma to 18
  • Flier
  • 12 speed
  • Infravision
  • Infravisible
  • Seduction/theft attack
  • Resists fire and poison
  • Combat
  • Defense
  • Can seduce opposite-gender monsters and steal items
  • Solid natural AC, can wear all non-silver armor without any trouble
  • Silver weakness may be deterrent
human mummy 6 4 N/A
  • Medium-sized humanoid
  • 12 speed
  • Infravision
  • Doesn't need to eat
  • Resists cold, sleep, and poison
  • Mindless
  • Breathless
  • Undead
  • Combat
  • Altar camping
  • Decent natural AC, can wear all armor
  • Can be used to stall hunger until more food is acquired
marilith 7 -6 N/A
  • Demon
  • Sets charisma to 18
  • 12 speed
  • Infravision
  • Infravisible
  • Resists fire and poison
  • Two weapon attacks
  • Sees invisible
  • Combat
  • Defense
  • Great natural AC
  • Restricted to non-silver boots, gloves, and weapons
  • Can #twoweapon if original role can
  • Can gate in other demons with attacks, with a higher likelihood if bare-handed
  • Silver weakness may be deterrent
salamander 8 -1 N/A
  • Combat
  • Defense
  • Good natural AC
  • Can wear all armor except for boots
With polymorph control (at experience level 9)
Monster Monster level Base AC #monster ability Traits Uses
Fire vampire 12 0 None
  • Medium-sized humanoid
  • Flier
  • Inediate
  • Strong
  • Hungerless regeneration
  • 24 base speed
  • Five hit dice with bloodsucking bite and fiery attacks
  • Combat
  • All-around powerful form that can level drain monsters and set them aflame
  • Stellar base AC, flight and double base speed
  • Can use all armor and weapons
  • Not undead, and thus lacks intrinsic drain resistance
  • Not a fiery monster, thus vulnerable to sliming
  • Fire attacks can destroy loot
  • Draining corpses for nutrition leaves them intact for tinning/sacrifice
  • Dangerous to attack monsters with high-damage passives or deadly effects when eaten

Monsters to review

Before gaining polymorph control

  • Medium-sized humanoids can wear most, if not all armor, and use weapons.
    • Doppelgangers can start polymorphing into mind flayers with a reasonable chance of success at level 6 or 7; the brain-eating attack will make short work of most monsters, but is useless against those without heads or brains, and downright dangerous against monsters with passive attacks. Mind flayers will not be stoned when attacking a cockatrice; the tentacle attack is instead turned off.
  • Demons
    • Chasmes are guaranteed at level 8, and attack quickly with 4 hit die that can put foes to sleep. Great for killing shopkeepers (though this will come at the cost of -5 alignment record if you kill the shopkeeper without having them become angry with you due to not waking up).
  • Although not guaranteed until level 8, a level 5-7 character has a reasonable chance of polymorphing into a basilisk. They are essentially stronger cockatrices, with the same passive attacks. As such, they can be very handy for getting through the Gnomish mines. Nutrition can be a problem since you can't eat statues. Also, the similar asphynx may look appealing, being faster, but it can carry very few items, and cannot pick any up at all.
    • If you're trapped by a single monster, chickatrices are guaranteed at 4 and will stone an attacking monster. However, they have extremely low base HP, can carry very little, and are slow, so they should only be used as an instakill in case of emergency.
  • Unicorns are guaranteed at level 4. They have high speed and a decent attack, and can use #monster to remove some bad effects.
  • Mumakil are guaranteed at level 5. They have comparatively very strong attacks, but somewhat low speed. Especially good if you are fast or, better still, very fast.
  • Leocrottas are guaranteed at level 6. They are moderately fast and quite powerful, although unable to use any weapons or armor.
  • Oviparous monsters can provide some highly useful pets via egg laying, especially in the early game:
    • Gargoyles and winged gargoyles can sit and lay eggs that will hatch has gargoyles; normal gargoyles can wear armor, but the flying winged gargoyles cannot. Both forms also have excellent natural AC.
    • Soldier ants are guaranteed at level 3, and as pets, can if anything be almost too effective - they can often close in, kill and devour weak foes in the time taken for an unhasted player to make even a single move. Creating an army may be tempting, but this can lead to nutrition problems if you can't reach corpses in time. Spawning 2 or 3 is generally more than sufficient.

Table tweaking

Shopkeeper's race
Human Elf Dwarf Orc Gnome Illithid Centaur Nymph Giant
Your race Human ×4⁄3 ×10 ×3⁄2 ×4⁄3
Elf ×4⁄5 ×4⁄3 ×3 ×10
Dwarf ×4⁄3 ×3⁄4 ×5⁄3 ×10 ×3⁄2 ×3⁄2
Orc ×4⁄3 ×2 ×2 ×2⁄3 ×10 ×3⁄2
Gnome ×4⁄3 ×10 ×3⁄2 ×4⁄3
Illithid ×2 ×2 ×3⁄2 ×4⁄3
Centaur ×3⁄2 ×10 ×3⁄4
Hobbit ×3 ×10 ×4⁄3
Giant ×3⁄2 ×10 ×3⁄4

Special notes:

  • If the shopkeeper is of some other monster species not listed here, they behave as the Human column indicates.
  • Gnomish shopkeepers additionally increase price ×3⁄2 if your Intelligence is less than or equal to 14, or ×4⁄3 if it is greater than 14 but less than 18.
  • Nymph shopkeepers base their prices on your Charisma with no regard for your race: ×4⁄3 if your charisma is 15 or higher and ×5⁄3 otherwise.
Shopkeeper's race
Human/Other Elf Dwarf Orc Gnome Illithid Centaur Nymph Giant
Giant ×3⁄2 ×3⁄2 if INT is <=14
×4⁄3 if INT is 15-17		 ×10 ×4⁄3 if CHA is >=15
×5⁄3 if CHA is <15		 ×3⁄4
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