User:Joes/Nerfhack

changelog:

QoL

• bags of holding are a bit safer when identified
• more items auto-identify
• new options: showdamage, do_not_flip_soko, invweight, autostairtravel, hide_old_spells

properties

• partial intrinsics including reflection
• MC protects items from cancellation
• gaze attacks are hindered by darkness, invisibility, displacement, hallucination
• slow digestion only reduces to 1/2 instead of 1/20
• stealth is affected Luck
• you cannot be fast/fumble/jump while flying/levitating
• aggravate monster isn't permanent

mechanics

• the Castle wand has been replaced by single-use scrolls in Vlad's, the Wizard's Tower and the Sanctum
• you can't wish for quest artifacts.
• scrolls of genocide (now called "exile") only erase a single species in the vicinity or on the whole level if blessed
• Luck always times out
• pets will never carry items into or out of shops.
• number of pets is limited by Charisma
• most rings/wands/scrolls/potions have the same price.
• polypiling: golems are more common and magical items are less common
• more grease interactions
• after the Invocation, monsters spawn at the upstairs. The Riders' identity is disguised, Gehennom levelport causes pain until Rodney is killed. Can't detect the portals with scrolls, but with carrying the Amulet
• nerf farming: vault guards, horn of plenty, death drops

• Dexterity and encumbrance affect AC

• skills take longer to train
• new shield skill
• changed experience curve
• nerf to-hit calculations

item changes

• almost all objects can erode
• objects can be destroyed by erosion
• force bolts and knockback can shatter inventory items
• some bones items always shudder
• MR items resist enchantment
• weapons can be enchanted to +12 instead of +5, only give a d(enchantment) to-hit bonus instead of the flat maximum, and explode instead of evaporating
• can poison slashing/piercing weapons (SLASH'EM)
• Expert spears can skewer the square behind the one attacked
• Skilled morning star/flail stuns on a critical hit
• crossbows multiply damage with skill instead of multishot (dnh)
• EvilHack bracers
• dtsund DSM (xnh commit 00fec37778)
• Oily Corpses patch (xnh)
• diluted potions are less potent (EvilHack)
• gem alchemy (SLASH'EM via Un)
• nerf genocide and gold detection scrolls
• cursed wands can explode or backfire
• replace WoW with scrolls
• properties from eating jewelry are guaranteed but temporary
• magic markers may now only appear in Sokoban, the Lost Tomb and Mines' End (no starting, no polypiling)
• unicorn horns only reduce the timeout of status effects
• mirrors give reflection (but can still shatter)
• all stones are lighter

new items

• heavy sword, (shimmering dragon scales), anti-magic shield, bronze gauntlets, gauntlets of force, freedom boots, leather bracers, bracers of integrity, bracers of sleep resistance, bracers vs. shapechangers, bracers of unchanging, bracers vs. stone, ring of withering, potion of milk, potion of phasing, scroll of zapping, spellbook of flesh to stone, spellbook of waterproofing, spellbook of sacred vision, spellbook of divine reckoning, foulstone
• potions of (vampire) blood
• potion of milk: cancel a lot of good or bad statuses
• playing card deck: gives an indication of Luck
• scroll of cloning (Splice): duplicates an item
• deck of fate (Splice) ...
• healthstone (Slash'em)
• whetstone (slashem)
• foulstone ...

artifact changes

• artifacts always blast you, and for more damage (Cartomancers take double)
• Heart of Ahriman is now a ruby that grants slotless flying, displacement, and Luck instead of stealth (FIQHack)
• the Banes glow red, give warning and can instakill (20%)
• new artifacts: Load Brand, Mayhem, Serenity, The Lenses of Truth, Thunderfists, Oathfire, The Argent Cross, The Glyph Shard

new monsters

• revenant pup d: undead, phasing, inediate
  • level 3, speed 18, AC5, 15 MR, neutral, freq 1, diff 5
  • attacks: 1d6 bite, 1d2 claw cold
  • Medium size, 800 weight, 250 nutrition, barks when #chated to
  • resists cold/sleep/poison
  • animal, no hands, regenerates, domestic (can be tamed), has infravision
• revenant hound
  • level 12, speed 15, AC 2, MR 30, neutral, generates in small groups, difficulty 14
  • 2d8 bite, 1d6 cold claw
  • same properties as the pup, but Strong

• warg pup d
  • level 2, speed 16 (adult 12), AC 5, 0 MR, -5), freq 1 (adult 2), spawns in small groups
  • 1d6 (instead of adult 2d6)
  • flanker, diff 4, small, 400 weight, 200 nutrition

• leper l
  • level 3, speed 6, AC 5, MR 5, neutral, freq 1, difficulty 5
  • 2d6 touch disease
  • poison resistance, hostile, picks up weapons and food, infravisible

• spiked orc o
  • level 13, speed 9, AC2, 0 MR, -5 alignment, freq 1, appears in small groups
  • 2d8 weapon, 4d2 claw, 4d8 passive spikes (like hedgehogs and spined devils)
  • weight 1300, nutrition, Medium, orc noises, resistant to poison,
  • humanoid, omnivore, strong, picks up gold, gems, weapons and food, flanks, follows you on stairs, infravisible, has infravision, berserker

• compsognathus z (appears only for Cavepeople)
  • level 3, speed 15, AC5, 0 MR, neutral, frequency 3, spawns in very large groups, diff 6
  • 1d4 bite, 1d2 claw
  • tiny, can swim, amphibious, animal, has no hands, carnivore, hostile, flanker

• (baby) shimmering dragon
• Wintercloak D (female)
  • +2 speed, +10 MR, +2 level, +1 diff
  • 4d6 cold breath, 3d8 bite, 1d8 claw, 1d8 claw (bit stronger than white dragons)
  • can see invisible

• arch-vile L: fast and lethal L class monsters that can cast fire pillar from a distance and revive monsters.
  • level 22, 24, -7, 90, -15), freq 1 (Gehennom only), diff 23, undead
  • 5d6 claw fire, clerical spells
  • 800 weight, 100 nutrition, mumbles, Medium size
  • resists fire, cold, shock, sleep and poison, conveys fire&cold resistance
  • breathless, humanoid, poisonous, regenerates, thick hide, hostile, likes magic, has infravision, infravisible, no corpse

• like-like P: can engulf and eat organic armor and shields
  • level 6, speed 8, AC8, 0 MR, neutral, freq 1, diff 14,
  • 4d4 engulf decay, 0d0 bite decay
  • weight 600, nutrition 150, Large
  • resistant to cold, shock, poison, acid, petrification; conveys acid and stoning resistances
  • breathless, amorphous, has no eyes/limbs/head, mindless, omnivorous, acidic, hostile, neuter, no corpse

• orb weaver Q:
  • level 12, speed 12, AC2, 0 MR, +3 alignment, freq 1, diff 16
  • casts clerical spells? summon spheres, healing and protection
  • human size/weight/sounds, 20 nutrition
  • resists poison, fire, cold, shock and acid
  • humanoid, omnivore, poisonous, hostile, infravisible

• gorgon hulk U
  • level 9, speed 6, AC2, 25 MR, neutral, freq 1, diff 22
  • 3d4 claw, 3d4 claw, 2d5 confusing bite, stoning gaze
  • Large
  • resists poison and stoning, conveys stoning resistance
  • can tunnel, carnivorous, can see invisible, strong, wanders randomly, infravisible, has infravision

• dhampir V
  • level 4, speed 12, AC10, 15 MR, -3 alignment, freq 1, difficulty 12
  • 1d6 vampire bite, 1d6 weapon
  • human weight/size, 400 nutrition, vampire noises
  • breathless, humanoid body, follows on stairs, hostile, infravisible, has infravision, flanker

• familiar @ (vampire starting pet)
  • level 5, speed 14, AC10, MR10, neutral, freq 2, diff 7
  • 1d6 weapon
  • Medium size, humanoid, omnivore, nopoly, peaceful, strong, collect, infravisible
  • human size/weight, 400 nutr, familiar noises

grung

• green (playable):
  • freq 2, in small groups, not in Gehennom
  • level 4, speed 10, AC10, MR 0, -3 (chaotic), difficulty 8
  • attacks: 1d6 weapon, 1d6 bite drain strength, passive drain strength
  • 650 weight, 100 nutrition, humanoid noises, Small size
  • resists poison, conveys poison resistance, poisonous
  • humanoid, omnivore, amphibious, can swim, oviparous; hostile, collect; jumper, accurate

• (bright) blue: drains Constitution, casts mage spells (instead of a weapon attack)
  • level 5, speed 10, AC9, MR20, diff 12
  • picks up magic items

• purple (bright magenta): stuns and casts clerical spells
  • level 6, AC8, 30 MR, diff 14
  • likes magical items as well
• red: Dex poison, 2d4? weapon attack
  • level 8, speed 14, AC 5, difficulty 10
  • strong

• orange: hallucination
  • level 9, speed 10, AC4, difficulty 14
  • is a lord to its kind

• gold: sleeping, 2d6 attack
  • level 10, AC2, diff 16
  • sleep resistant and also conveys it
  • is an overlord to its kind

phoenix?

others: giant fly, giant cockroach (Evil), giant praying mantis (Splice), locust (Spork), queen ant, assassin bug, migo drone/warrior/queen, ...

monster changes

• all cockatrice petrification is delayed (also against monsters)
• piercers require much more AC to be dodged and damage scales with their level
• zombies revive, have a Constitution-draining bite, cause wounded legs and ignore Elbereth
• dragons similar to SLASH'EM and FIQhack:
  • baby dragons have an elemental bite and regenerate
  • adult dragons have speed 20 and get special abilities
• demon princes/lords and quest nemeses only warp to you once and not away (but Cthulhu resurrects)
• Medusa has a stoning bite and better AC
• the Riders have 100 more HP

monster AI

• make more items usable
• monsters will also wear rings and amulets
• flanking (Splice): AC penalty when sandwiched, depending on flanker's level
• berserking (Evil): monsters regain some HP, ignore scaring and deal double damage when below half health
• rabid monsters: living mammals can spawn infected, 1 in 10 of bats and coyotes (no insects/birds/lizards). They gain a Con-draining bite that can infect you and will never flee. If you contract rabies, you cannot regenerate, become bloodthirsty like Stormbringer, move confusedly every 1 in 10 moves, and die after 100+d(2*Con) turns. It can be cured like illness, but not with unicorn horns.
• monsters can contract and cure terminal illness (Evil)
• some monsters are innately more accurate (Evil)
• monsters can jump (Evil/Splice)
• withering (xnh/Evil): temporary status that drains 1HP per turn, caused by mummies, cured by holy water or praying.

monster spellcasting

• new mage spells (Evil): reflection, acid blast, ice bolt, fire bolt, (destroy armour), entomb (xnh), call undead (SLASH'EM), evil eye (dnh)
• clerical spells: protection (Evil), hobble, blight (xnh)

role changes

• Arc: snakes can paralyze, FA only protects 75%. Unrestrict axe and spear.
• Bar: rage attack taking energy when at low health at XL4 or above. Increase Riding to Skilled.
• Cave Dweller: start with random dragon scale. Can only identify one item from scrolls. 10% of prayer fail if alignment was abused. Cannibalism boosts alignment. Can't read until 6 Int. Quest has jungle monsters. More HP if illiterate. Unrestrict riding; restrict edged/pointy weapons.
• Healer: can see monster wounds
• Knight: only lawfuls can dip for Excalibur. Merfolk in Quest. Restrict dagger, knife, axe, pick-axe, club and trident.
• Monk: increased body armour penalty. Magic marker as crowning gift. Restrict crossbow, divination, escape and matter spells.
• Priest: can't unrestrict edged weapons. Restrict lance and shuriken, unrestrict riding.
• Rogue: can multishot knives. Can backstab with the first thrown weapon. Skill-based chance to counterattack, takes 10 power. Restrict broad/long/two-handed sword, mace, morning star, polarms, spear, and matter spells.
• Ranger: can see object identities at range. Restrict knife, pick-axe, shortsword, morning star, hammer, quarterstafrf, polearms, spear, trident, sling, shuriken, boomerang.
• Samurai: katana/wakizashi twoweapon bonus. Satiation abuses Wisdom.
• Tourist: All shop items are identified. Unrestrict clubs, reduce dagger and shortsword to Basic.
• Valkyrie: ...
• Wizard: start with cloak of protection, never with magic missile. Can sense magic fountains and wand charges. Restrict most combat skills (...).
• new roles: Cartomancer, Undead Slayer

Cartomancer

Transformed from SpliceHack. Homage to TCG. Spellcasters using scrolls and summoned minions. Starting inventory: graphic tee, 40 blessed +2 razor cards, ~4 meat sticks, ~4 candy bars, 7 blessed summon raven cards, a random spellbook, 4 potions of phasing, a sack, a playing card deck

• properties: slowness(10) and searching at XL1, warning and razor card enchantment sense at XL7, speed and razor card/scroll BUC sense
• skills: restrict almost anything. Master shuriken, Expert unihorn, Skilled boomerang/sling/dart, Basic bare hands
• QA: The Holographic Void Lily, a chaotic credit card. When carried, grants energy regeneration, half spell damage and reflection. When invoked, boosts scroll drops and shines brightly for 25-50 turns.
• vocabulary replacements ...
• scrolls are labeled by actual rarity (instead of price)
• writing, cloning or polymorphing cards reduces alignment and Luck
• scrolls and books are lighter, cameras can be thrown, decks of cards always behave as blessed, playing cards doesn’t break illiterate conduct
• no starting pet, can only pacify domestic animals
• -5 to-hit in melee, additionally -20 if wearing armour, -10 for shields, -10 for wielded weapons
• death drops have a chance to be scrolls (decreases from 50% by depth)

...

race changes

• no infravision!
• gnomes start with radius 2 nightvision (dnh) and an interesting tool. Stealth at XL5, can always reached Skilled crossbow and Basic club skill.
• orcs can't engrave Elbereth, cannibalism boosts alignment, start with -20 alignment, no penalties for murdering peacefuls, alignment bonus for attacking peaceful/helpless/fleeing monsters. The watch and crossaligned priests are hostile. Can't tame most monsters.
• new role/race combos: elf/orc arc, elf hea, dwa kni/pri, orc pri, elf/gno rog/tou, dwa bar
• +1 AC or to-hit with racial equipment. Hated equipment gets 3 points less AC and -d5 to-hit
• new races: dhampir (demivampire) and grung (poisonous frog)

Grung

Grung are a nasty little race of frog-like people known for their toxic skin, sharp teeth, vibrant colors, and lack of long tongues. They are chaotic or neutral and can be Archaeologists, Barbarians, Monks, Priests, Rogues, Rangers or Wizards.

They have poisonous passive (blocked by heavy armour) and bare hands attacks and can poison weapons.

They start with poison resistance, searching and swimming, gain jumping at XL5 and speed at XL7.

Their biggest concern is staying hydrated. The timer starts at 6000 turns, speed and combat penalties below 1000, below 250 is a major trouble and restores 1000, death at 0. Fire, heat and dry environments (Gehennom, Plane of Fire, dust vortex) speed it up, fire resistance slows it. Drinking, sitting in or being splashed by water restores 100-199 turns, submerging restores 1000 per turn, and a scroll of flood restores 4500-6000 turns.

Special rules:

• the Dexterity bonus to AC is doubled
• to-hit bonus against kamadan
• can get Skilled in darts
• can't wear boots, heavy/bulky/cumbersome armour blocks the passive attack

Dhampir

• can climb out of pits
• 1d6 can absorb properties
• vulnerable to draining by other blood-suckers
• dazzle #technique has a chance to paralyze an adjacent monster
• opera cloaks give you a Charisma bonus (some vampires wear one)
• gnomish armour is too small
• more weapons generate as silver (100% at XL8), which blocks HP regeneration

spellcasting changes

The difference between fighters and spellcasters is emphasized.

• remove spellbook of identify
• even hungerless casting takes a bit of nutrition
• spell skill affects beam/ray range
• healing, magic mapping and magic missile scale with skill

dungeon changes

• remove mysterious force.
• branchport always takes you to the entry
• no secret corridors and less secret doors (xnh)
• more special levels (replaced Sokoban)
• most xnh themerooms, new piercer and lava rooms
• replace magic lamps in lighting stores with magic candles
• junk shop (Splice), CCG company shop
• the Castle has iron bars. The wand location is obfuscated. The drawbridge range is one square larger, but fails every 1 in 5 tries
• you cannot regenerate HP in the Valley
• Gehennom: only one fake tower; the real tower is its own branch. Only half as many random items.
• Wizardd's tower expanded to 7 floors
• Vlad's Tower: large EvilHack levels, gazing/ranged mosters in niches
• Sokoban has an additional floor, is now icy, and the zoo is guarded by a white dragon (Fourk?). The prize can also be a CoMR or a marker.
• Fort Ludios:
• more Minetown and Mines' End variations (new Forge Town)
• two Oracle variations from Splice, always contains an altar, between levels 8-11
• Slash'em special levels/branches: Temple to Moloch, Lost Tomb, Wyrm Caves
• more Bigrooms

• grass, puddles (limited pools), forges (EvilHack) (apply a hammer), toilets, blood, new traps from EvilHack (containers, spear trap, magic beam trap, grease trap, cold trap (Un via xnh), trapped tins (xnh))
• special rooms (always coloured): art room (Splice), dragon lair, giant courtroom, real zoo, fungus farm, migo hive, terror halls (Slash'em)

religion

• getting a second gift from an altar cracks it
• gift chances increase with XL (20% starting from level 4, 100% at level 20)
• crowning ...

quest

• no turn limit
• can start at XL10