Scroll of ward

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Name	ward
Appearance	random
Base price	300 zm
Weight	5
Ink to write	4–7
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

A "scroll of ward" is the generic name for a type of magical scrolls that appear in dNetHack, notdNetHack, and notnotdNetHack. If the scroll's specific ward is known to the hero, it is included in the item's name instead, such as a "scroll of hamsa", for example. Otherwise, if the scroll of ward has been formally identified, scrolls of wards that the hero does not know appear as a scroll of an unknown ward.

Generation

Monks may be given a scroll of ward with a randomly chosen ward as their starting scroll. The three random scrolls included in a Wizard's starting inventory may be scrolls of ward as well.

Scrolls of ward make up ¹¹⁄₂₀₀ (5.5%) of all randomly-generated scrolls. General stores, second-hand bookstores and rare books shops can sell scrolls of ward.

Writing a scroll of warding with a magic marker takes up 4 to 7 charges.

Description

Reading a scroll of ward has different effects based on its beatitude, but always erases all previously present wards engraved on that square: uncursed scrolls will semi-permanently engrave a one-fold version of the ward depicted on the scroll at the hero' feet; a blessed scroll engraves a maximally reinforced ward into the floor instead. Cursed scrolls will scrawl the ward at one-fold reinforcement on the floor in blood. Reading the scroll auto-identifies the specific type of ward scroll used and automatically teaches the ward to the hero. Each type of ward scroll has different probabilities of being generated:

• Scrolls of heptagram are not randomly generated.
• Scrolls of Gorgoneion are not randomly generated.
• Scrolls of circle of Acheron are not randomly generated.
• Scrolls of pentagram make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of hexagram makeu up ³⁄₇₃ (4.1%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of hamsa mark make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of elder sign make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of elder elemental eye make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of sign of the Scion Queen Mother make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of cartouche of the Cat Lord make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.
• Scrolls of sketch of the wings of Garuda make up ¹⁰⁄₇₃ (13.7%) of all scrolls of ward.

Reading a non-cursed scroll of ward while hallucinating picks a random "hallucination ward" to semi-permanently write instead of a ward, while a cursed one scrawls it in blood. If the hero is confused and not hallucinating, a read scroll of ward instead scares all monsters affected by the ward in a 2-square radius for 10 turns if they fail a magic resistance check, or for 100 turns with a ¹⁄₇ chance. If the scroll was cursed, it instead wakes and un-paralyses monsters in that same radius.

Attempting to read a scroll of ward while standing over a square of lava always fails, but will successfully engrave wards onto squares of water unless the scroll was cursed, where it is simultaneously engraved on the body of water's floor and its surface. If read over an altar or workbench, the action is treated as an engraving attempt and incurs the wrath of the god of that altar, or simply fails outright for workbenches.

Monsters will not pick up or use this scroll.

Strategy

Blessed scrolls of useful wards are ideal emergency items and can be written at little cost with a magic marker to prepare for tough fights in advance. Wards which become more effective at higher levels of reinforcement, such as the Elder Sign and the Elder Elemental Eye, are particularly valuable scroll types. Rare wards that appear only in higher-level spellbooks are especially tempting candidates to attempt to write without prior knowledge. Scrolls of ward, while not uncommon, often don't provide all the types one wishes for — they can't be sourced from spell golems.

Identification

The scroll of warding shares its base price of 300 zm with the scroll of genocide, scroll of stinking cloud, scroll of charging, scroll of punishment, and scroll of warding, making it generally risky to use-identify it without identifying at least the scrolls of charging and genocide beforehand.

Messages

The <surface> shifts beneath you, <wiping away the existing engraving and> engraving a <ward name>.

You read a non-cursed scroll of ward, engraving a ward into the floor beneath you.

The ground around the altar shifts briefly.

You read a scroll of warding while standing over an altar, causing the altar's god to get angry at you.

The lava shifts and flows beneath you.

You read a scroll of ward while flying or levitating above a square of lava.