Pay

Pay is a command that appears in NetHack. It is performed by pressing p, and is used to pay shopkeepers.

Description

Pressing p while near a shopkeeper will attempt to pay them, with the exact effects depending on how many are nearby.

Shopkeeper selection

If only one shopkeeper is visible to a hero when attempting to pay, that shopkeeper will automatically be selected—otherwise, if multiple shopkeepers are detectable (including via telepathy or monster detection), the player will be prompted to select the shopkeeper you are paying via cursor. The latter situation occurs primarily in Minetown (normally the only area in NetHack with multiple shopkeepers), but is possible in other places if an angry shopkeeper follows the hero across levels. The command will have no effect if no shopkeepers are visible, or if the player selects a non-shopkeeper when multiple shopkeepers are visible.

Once a shopkeeper is selected, they can only be paid if they are "in range", i.e. the hero is either inside their shop, or outside their shop and adjacent to them. The further effects of the command are then dependent on whether the shopkeeper is peaceful or hostile.

Peaceful shopkeeper

For a peaceful shopkeeper, p will automatically pay any debts incurred from usage fees and used or destroyed items, and then ask the player whether they want itemized billing. Selecting 'yes' will allow the hero to pay for each item individually, while saying 'no' will attempt to pay for all unpaid items at once. If the hero has only one unpaid item, the player will simply be prompted to pay for that item. Item costs are paid first from any credit the hero possesses with that shopkeeper, and then from the gold in the hero's open inventory.

Angry shopkeeper

A shopkeeper who is angry but not "robbed" (as explained below) will conduct business normally, with an appropriate surcharge for being angry. Once a hero has no unpaid items and no debt, they can use the pay command to attempt bribing the shopkeeper: If they have less than 1000 zorkmids, they will not be interested, and otherwise the hero will give 1000zm to them for a ²⁄₃ chance of calming them down, with the gold taken whether that check succeeds or not.

Note that in this situation, the shopkeeper will continue to attack while the hero is paying for items—for low-level heroes, this can easily result in death before they have a chance to bribe the shopkeeper, even if they have enough gold.

The primary ways to anger a shopkeeper without robbing them are to attack them directly, or to damage their shop door or walls and be either unwilling or unable to pay for the damage. In the latter situation, the shopkeeper initially offers to let the hero pay "restitution": that offer is a one-time thing, and not relevant to pacifying them once they are angry.

Robbed shopkeeper

If the hero escapes a shop with an unpaid bill (either ordinary debt or an unpaid item), the shopkeeper is considered "robbed". The items become the hero's property, their debt is erased, and the shopkeeper considers themselves to have been robbed for the total value thereof. At this point, if the hero possesses at least half of the amount the shopkeeper was robbed for, paying the shopkeeper will calm them down and cause them to take gold up to the amount they were robbed for—if the hero does not have at least half the value in gold that the shopkeeper was robbed for, they will not take any gold and will remain angry.

Note that a shopkeeper who is robbed will "forget" about being angry for another reason. This can actually be exploited to more cheaply and reliably pacify them, by stealing a cheap item, escaping the shop, and paying for it: however, most heroes that are able to withstand the attacks of a shopkeeper long enough to do so are likely able to kill the shopkeeper directly, but it may still be relevant in a few corner cases (e.g. a hero possessing a known scroll of teleportation).

As is true for an angry but non-"robbed" shopkeeper, ordinary shopping business will take precedence over compensating a "robbed" shopkeeper for their losses. This is usually irrelevant, since robbing the shop clears the shopping bill, but can theoretically occur if the hero re-enters the shop and start picking up more items.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

If your menustyle option is set to non-traditional, your bill will be listed as a menu rather than prompting for each item separately.

When you can see multiple shopkeepers at once, a shopkeeper you are standing adjacent to will be prioritized for payment, rather than bringing up the "Pay whom?" prompt.

Messages

Shopkeeper selection

There appears to be no shopkeeper here to receive your payment.

You used the pay command with no shopkeeper in sight.

<The shopkeeper> is not near enough to receive your payment.

A shopkeeper is visible, but you are outside their shop and not within melee range.

<The monster> is not interested in your payment.

You were prompted to select a monster to pay and chose a non-shopkeeper.

You are generous to yourself.

You were prompted to select a monster to pay and chose yourself.

Angry shopkeeper

<The shopkeeper> is after you hide, not your money!

You tried to pay an angry shopkeeper.

You try to appease the angry <shopkeeper> by giving <him/her> 1000 gold pieces.

You attempted to bribe an angry shopkeeper.

But <the shopkeeper> is as angry as ever.

Your attempted bribe failed.

Robbed shopkeeper

<The shopkeeper> is after blood, not money!

You tried to pay a robbed shopkeeper.

But since <his/her> shop has been robbed recently, you <partially> compensate <shopkeeper> for <his/her> losses.

You compensated a robbed shopkeeper; "partially" appears if you had more than half but less than the full amount.

Pacification results

Moreover, you <seem to> have no money.

You tried to bribe or compensate a shopkeeper, but had no gold. "Seem to" is added if you have some gold in a bag.

Besides, you don't have enough to interest <him/her>.

You tried to bribe or compensate a shopkeeper, but did not have enough gold.

<The shopkeeper> calms down.

Your bribe or compensation succeeded in calming the shopkeeper.

Variants

While payment is mostly restricted to use with shopkeepers in NetHack, variants may also employ it for additional purposes.

In SLASH'EM, dNetHack, SpliceHack, and SlashTHEM, if you attempt to pay in a shop while you do not owe anything, the shopkeeper will ask if you want to try their other services.