Ward (dNetHack)

Wards

The Ward system replaces and expands on the protective powers of "Elbereth" in vanilla nethack. Wards are based primarily on character knowledge, rather than player knowledge. If your character knows any warding signs, you will be asked if you wish to engrave a warding sign whenever you engrave. You may also press Ctrl-q to directly engrave a warding sign, skipping the initial prompt.

Drawing Wards

Each square can contain a regular text engraving AND up to one type of ward. Wards and engravings may be engraved by different methods (ie, you can have a burned-in ward and a dust-engraved message in the same square). Altering the ward OR the text engraving obscures both, making you vulnerable until you finish the alteration.

The amount of time it takes to engrave a ward is dependent on the number of strokes required to draw it. One stroke takes the same time as one character in a text engraving. The number of strokes required to draw a given ward can be learned from the encyclopedia.

Wards can be reinforced up to a limit determined by the type of ward (typically seven). This works much the same way as engraving 'Elbereth' multiple times: if one of the wards gets scuffed, you will still be protected. If you begin drawing a ward on a square already containing a ward, you will be asked if you want to reinforce the existing ward or wipe it out and draw a different ward. Some wards will gain additional powers if reinforced.

Wards are degraded in a slightly different way than text engravings. A ward may be 10% degraded, 25% degraded, or 50% degraded. If you choose to reinforce a ward in a square that contains degraded copies of the ward, you will repair one of the degraded copies rather than engraving a new ward from scratch.

Learning Wards

Wards are learned from spellbooks. All spellbooks contain mystic energy corresponding to the spell they teach, this is why they fade after being read too many times. The energy is held in the book by magical wards on the inside covers, and sometimes these wards incorporate symbols that can be used to directly ward off monsters. The symbol used is not dependent on the type of spellbook, two spellbooks of fireball, for instance, may be warded by two different wards. To study a spellbook's ward, press 'r' to bring up the read prompt, select the desired spellbook, and choose 's', study ward. Studying a ward is much like reading a spellbook; however, the character receives a +10 (+50%) bonus to their reading skill, making failures much less likely. If the character does fail to safely study the ward, the book is treated as one level lower when determining the consequences.

Icelandic Magical Staves

Magical Staves are a special type of ward that is carved into a piece of wood rather than engraved on the ground. They are learned in the same way that regular wards are learned.

Carving a Stave

To carve a stave apply ('a') a knife or dagger (ie, any weapon that uses the knife or dagger skills). You will then be prompted to select the stave you wish to carve (or told that you don't know any staves). You will next be prompted to select a wooden weapon to carve it into (or told that you don't have anything suitable for carving). If you choose to re-carve a weapon that already has a stave, you will chip off the existing stave before carving the new one. This process damages the weapon, and adds a turn to the time required to carve the stave.

A weapon with a stave carved into it can be read with 'r'.

To use the stave, drop it at your feet. Some staves grant special effects when a carved weapon is wielded.

Google Doc

This spreadsheet summarizes the properties of all the wards and staves. Note that it is a spoiler, as the properties of the wards may be learned in-game via experimentation and hearing true rumors. Ward Effects Table

List of Wards

Elbereth Gorgoneion Heptagram Hexagram Pentagram Hamsa Circle of Acheron Elder Sign Elder Elemental Eye Sign of the Scion Queen Mother Cartouche of the Cat Lord The Wings of Garuda

The Sigil of Cthugha The Brand of Ithaqua The Tracery of Krakal The Yellow Sign

Toustefna stave Dreprun stave Veioistafur stave Thjofastafur stave

Drawing a Seal

Press 'Ctrl-s' to be told that you don't know any seals. This feature is related to the partially-implemented Binder role.