Scroll of warding
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | warding |
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 300 zm |
| Weight | 5 |
| Ink to write | 10–19 |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A scroll of warding is a type of magical scroll that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack, and notnotdNetHack.
Generation
Monks may be given a scroll of warding as the random scroll in their starting inventory. Wizards may be given a scroll of warding as any of the three random scrolls in their starting inventory.
Scrolls of warding make up 13⁄1000 (1.3%) of all randomly-generated scrolls. General stores, second-hand bookstores and rare books shops can sell scrolls of warding.
Writing a scroll of warding with a magic marker takes up 10 to 19 charges.
Description
Reading a scroll of warding has different effects based on its beatitude: uncursed scrolls will burn a ward of the hero's choosing on the floor, while a blessed scroll burns a maximally enforced ward into the floor. Cursed scrolls instead erase all wards on the current level when read. Reading the scroll will auto-identify it—wards engraved by the scroll are not automatically learned, unlike with a scroll of ward, and must instead be looked at (either with the near-look command or by stepping off and back on the square) to be learned.
Reading a non-cursed scroll of warding while confused burns a random ward not known to the hero into the floor, or, if the hero already knows all normally available wards, a cerulean sign instead. Looking at a cerulean sign does not teach it, and it is effectively the same as a one-armed elder sign ward. Reading a cursed one while confused has the same effect as when read while not confused. The following wards can be learned from reading a scroll of warding while confused:
Attempting to read a non-cursed scroll of warding while standing over a square of lava always fails, but will successfully burn wards onto squares of water, 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 warding are ideal emergency items for monsters normally only warded by highly reinforced wards, such as an eye of Yggdrasil. The scroll of warding can be used to easily learn wards not currently known to the hero, especially rarer ones that appear only in higher-level spellbooks. Scrolls of warding are uncommon among scrolls and somewhat expensive to write with a magic marker, and can't be sourced from spell golems either.
Identification
The scroll of warding shares its base price of 300zm 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
- Brilliant fire plays over the <surface>, burning a <name> ward into it.
- You read a non-cursed scroll of warding, burning a ward into the floor beneath you.
- A ripple of black fire spreads out over the <surface>.
- You read a cursed scroll of warding, erasing all wards on the current level.
- Brilliant fire dances over the altar briefly.
- You read a scroll of warding while standing over an altar, causing the altar's god to get angry at you.
- Brilliant fire dances over the lava for a moment.
- You read a scroll of warding while flying or levitating above a square of lava.
