User:Umbire the Phantom/Scroll of amnesia

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? Scroll.png
Name amnesia
Appearance random
Base price 200 zm
Weight 5
Ink to write 4–7
Monster use Will not be used by monsters.

A scroll of amnesia is a type of scroll that appears in NetHack.

Description

Reading a scroll of amnesia subjects the character to amnesia and causes them to forget several pieces of knowledge, with the exact effects dependent on the scroll's beatitude and whether or not they were confused.[1] This abuses wisdom and will auto-identify the scroll after knowledge loss is applied.[2]

Level maps

The character forgets the map of the current level along with any related annotations and overview information, including knowledge of their punishment status, as well as known traps on the level except holes and any trap the character is currently stuck in.[3][4][5][6][7][8] If the scroll is non-cursed and was read while confused, the character forgets only 67 of the current map.[9][7]

The character also has a 13 chance (33%) of forgetting known level maps for other visited levels, which uses the equation (count * rn2(25)) + 50100 where "count" is the number of known maps.[10] Sokoban maps are not forgotten in any of the above cases since they are always automapped, and each Sokoban map visited adds 2 to "percent" in the aforementioned equation.[11][12]

Objects

The character has a 13 chance (33%) of forgetting object discoveries: this includes formal identifications, any type-names, and any discoveries from the character's role and race. Individually-named objects are not affected.

Spells

If the scroll is non-blessed, anywhere between 1 and all of the character's known spells have their "turns remaining" counter set to zero.

If you are confused, NetHack rolls the base number twice and takes the higher result. If you pass a luck check, instead of forgetting the base number of spells, you forget a random number of spells between 1 and the base number.

Attributes

Your wisdom is abused once for reading the scroll and once again for each spell forgotten.

Messages

Thinking of Maud you forget everything else.
Who was that Maud person anyway?
You read a scroll of amnesia.
As your mind turns inward on itself, you forget everything else.
You, a character named Maud, read a scroll of amnesia. TDTTOE.
Your mind releases itself from mundane concerns.
You read a scroll of amnesia while hallucinating.

Identification

Scrolls of amnesia auto-identify when read. The auto-identification happens after all the forgetting effects.

Monsters will not read them.

Strategy

Scrolls of amnesia are useless, making them a perfect candidate for blanking. Because the effects of reading it are so problematic, it is best to ensure that an unidentified scroll is not amnesia before reading it. If price identification reveals a scroll's base price as 200zm, you should avoid reading it unless scrolls of amnesia are already identified.

The names of individually named objects are never forgotten, so you can use these for amnesia-proof notetaking.

History

Forgetting only one spell is a bug in NetHack 3.4.3. The intended behavior is to forget between 1 and all of your spells starting at the bottom of your spellcasting menu. If you are confused, the number of forgotten spells is supposed to be +1 on top of that (limited to all of them of course).

Prior to NetHack 3.6.0, this scroll could be used to manage which spellbooks you get gifted. Before reading the scroll, use + to sort the spellcasting menu so that forgotten spells or spells you want a book for appear last. Altar farming will then be more likely select these spellbooks over ones still present.

Another use could be to avoid blanking spellbooks—you can read them arbitrarily often provided you do not already have the spell in your spellcasting menu. NetHack 3.6.1 only removes memory of the spell but does not take it away from the list.