Vault

Vaults are 2 by 2 sealed rooms that are randomly generated in the Dungeons of Doom. They contain gold in all four squares.

Finding and getting into vaults

The following messages tell you there is a vault on the current level:

• You hear the footsteps of a guard on patrol.
• You hear someone counting money. (Vault not raided)
• You hear someone searching. (Vault raided and empty)

Vaults can be accessed through a closet that contains a teleporter, recognized by the engraving "ad aerarium" (Latin for to the vault) in front of it. If you do not find the closet, you may want to read a scroll of magic mapping or a scroll of gold detection, or quaff a potion of object detection and dig or teleport in using some other method. You may also just dig around randomly watching for areas where a vault would fit. Remember that the vault is actually 4 by 4 squares because the walls also take some space.

Looting a vault

When in the vault, you only have a short time to get the gold and be gone. If you stay in the vault for too long, a guard will appear, and you will need to deal with him. Giving your name as "Croesus" to the guard gets rid of him, but lying carries a small alignment penalty for lawfuls.

Getting out of a vault

If you did not go out of the vault with a guard, you have few alternatives. You may dig yourself out by using a pick-axe or any other method or you may teleport out. If you have neither means to dig or to teleport, you will want to leave the gold and get out with the guard — you can always come back later and get the gold you left.

Getting into Fort Ludios

A vault between the levels 11 and 27 (Medusa's Island) may contain a magic portal that takes you to Fort Ludios. Each vault in that range has a 1/3 chance of containing the portal if it has not yet been generated in another vault. In any given game, Fort Ludios may also be inaccessible if the portal was not created. The Big Room and the Rogue level never contain any vaults.