









                           A Guide to the Mazes of Menace
                               (Guidebook for NetHack)


                                   Eric S. Raymond
                      (Extensively edited and expanded for 3.5)



          1.  Introduction

          Recently, you have begun to find yourself unfulfilled and distant
          in your daily occupation.  Strange dreams of prospecting,  steal-
          ing,  crusading,  and  combat  have haunted you in your sleep for
          many months, but you aren't  sure  of  the  reason.   You  wonder
          whether  you have in fact been having those dreams all your life,
          and somehow managed to forget about them until now.  Some  nights
          you awaken suddenly and cry out, terrified at the vivid recollec-
          tion of the strange and powerful creatures that seem to be  lurk-
          ing  behind  every  corner  of  the dungeon in your dream.  Could
          these details haunting your dreams be real?  As each night  pass-
          es,  you feel the desire to enter the mysterious caverns near the
          ruins grow stronger.  Each morning, however, you quickly put  the
          idea  out  of  your head as you recall the tales of those who en-
          tered the caverns before you and did not return.  Eventually  you
          can  resist  the yearning to seek out the fantastic place in your
          dreams no longer.  After all, when other  adventurers  came  back
          this  way after spending time in the caverns, they usually seemed
          better off than when they passed through the first time.  And who
          was to say that all of those who did not return had not just kept
          going?


               Asking around, you hear about a bauble, called the Amulet of
          Yendor  by  some, which, if you can find it, will bring you great
          wealth.  One legend you were told even mentioned that the one who
          finds  the  amulet  will be granted immortality by the gods.  The
          amulet is rumored to be somewhere beyond the Valley of  Gehennom,
          deep  within  the Mazes of Menace.  Upon hearing the legends, you
          immediately realize that there is some profound and  undiscovered
          reason that you are to descend into the caverns and seek out that
          amulet of which they spoke.  Even if the rumors of  the  amulet's
          powers are untrue, you decide that you should at least be able to
          sell the tales of your adventures to the local  minstrels  for  a
          tidy  sum,  especially if you encounter any of the terrifying and
          magical creatures of your dreams along the way.   You  spend  one
          last  night  fortifying  yourself at the local inn, becoming more
          and more depressed as you watch the odds of  your  success  being
          posted on the inn's walls getting lower and lower.



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                 In the morning you awake, collect your belongings, and set
          off for the dungeon.  After several days  of  uneventful  travel,
          you  see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance to the Mazes of
          Menace.  It is late at night, so you make camp  at  the  entrance
          and  spend the night sleeping under the open skies.  In the morn-
          ing, you gather your gear, eat what may be your  last  meal  out-
          side, and enter the dungeon...


          2.  What is going on here?

               You have just begun a game of NetHack.  Your goal is to grab
          as much treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of  Yendor,  and
          escape the Mazes of Menace alive.

               Your abilities and strengths for dealing with the hazards of
          adventure will vary with your background and training:

               Archeologists understand dungeons pretty well; this  enables
          them  to  move  quickly  and sneak up on the local nasties.  They
          start equipped with the tools for a proper scientific expedition.

               Barbarians  are  warriors out of the hinterland, hardened to
          battle.   They  begin  their  quests  with  naught  but  uncommon
          strength, a trusty hauberk, and a great two-handed sword.

               Cavemen  and  Cavewomen start with exceptional strength but,
          unfortunately, with neolithic weapons.

               Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary.  They know  the
          herbs  and  simples  that  can restore vitality, ease pain, anes-
          thetize, and neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they
          can  divine a being's state of health or sickness.  Their medical
          practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which
          they enter the dungeon.

               Knights  are  distinguished  from  the  common skirmisher by
          their devotion to the ideals of chivalry and  by  the  surpassing
          excellence of their armor.

               Monks are ascetics, who by rigorous practice of physical and
          mental disciplines have become capable of fighting as effectively
          without  weapons  as with.  They wear no armor but make up for it
          with increased mobility.

               Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders  ad-
          vancing  the  cause  of  righteousness with arms, armor, and arts
          thaumaturgic.  Their ability to commune with deities  via  prayer
          occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in
          it.

               Rangers are most at home in the woods, and some say slightly
          out of place in a dungeon.  They are, however, experts in archery
          as well as tracking and stealthy movement.


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               Rogues are agile and stealthy  thieves,  with  knowledge  of
          locks,  traps,  and  poisons.   Their advantage lies in surprise,
          which they employ to great advantage.

               Samurai are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon.   They  are
          lightly  armored  and  quick, and wear the dai-sho, two swords of
          the deadliest keenness.

               Tourists start out with lots of gold (suitable for  shopping
          with),  a  credit card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive
          camera.  Most monsters don't like being photographed.

               Valkyries are hardy warrior women.  Their upbringing in  the
          harsh  Northlands  makes  them strong, inures them to extremes of
          cold, and instills in them stealth and cunning.

               Wizards start out with a knowledge of magic, a selection  of
          magical  items,  and a particular affinity for dweomercraft.  Al-
          though seemingly weak and easy to overcome at first sight, an ex-
          perienced Wizard is a deadly foe.

               You may also choose the race of your character:

               Dwarves are smaller than humans or elves, but are stocky and
          solid individuals.  Dwarves' most notable trait  is  their  great
          expertise  in mining and metalwork.  Dwarvish armor is said to be
          second in quality not even to the mithril armor of the Elves.

               Elves are agile, quick, and perceptive; very little of  what
          goes  on  will escape an Elf.  The quality of Elven craftsmanship
          often gives them an advantage in arms and armor.

               Gnomes are smaller than but generally  similar  to  dwarves.
          Gnomes  are known to be expert miners, and it is known that a se-
          cret underground mine complex built by this  race  exists  within
          the Mazes of Menace, filled with both riches and danger.

               Humans are by far the most common race of the surface world,
          and are thus the norm to which other races  are  often  compared.
          Although  they have no special abilities, they can succeed in any
          role.

               Orcs are a cruel and barbaric race that  hate  every  living
          thing  (including other orcs).  Above all others, Orcs hate Elves
          with a passion unequalled, and will go out of their way  to  kill
          one  at  any opportunity.  The armor and weapons fashioned by the
          Orcs are typically of inferior quality.

          3.  What do all those things on the screen mean?

               On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and  what
          you  have  seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more
          of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.



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               When NetHack's ancestor rogue  first  appeared,  its  screen
          orientation  was  almost  unique  among  computer  fantasy games.
          Since then, screen orientation has become the  norm  rather  than
          the  exception;  NetHack  continues  this fine tradition.  Unlike
          text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo-English  sen-
          tences and explain the results in words, NetHack commands are all
          one or two keystrokes and the results are  displayed  graphically
          on  the  screen.  A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns
          is recommended; if the screen is larger,  only  a  21x80  section
          will be used for the map.

               NetHack can even be played by blind players, with the assis-
          tance of Braille readers or  speech  synthesisers.   Instructions
          for  configuring NetHack for the blind are included later in this
          document.

               NetHack generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even
          the  authors  still find it an entertaining and exciting game de-
          spite having won several times.

               NetHack offers a variety of display  options.   The  options
          available  to  you  will vary from port to port, depending on the
          capabilities of your hardware and software, and  whether  various
          compile-time options were enabled when your executable was creat-
          ed.  The three possible display options are: a monochrome charac-
          ter  interface,  a color character interface, and a graphical in-
          terface using small pictures called tiles.  The two character in-
          terfaces allow fonts with other characters to be substituted, but
          the default assignments use standard ASCII characters  to  repre-
          sent everything.  There is no difference between the various dis-
          play options with respect to game play.  Because we cannot repro-
          duce the tiles or colors in the Guidebook, and because it is com-
          mon to all ports, we will use the default ASCII  characters  from
          the  monochrome  character  display  when referring to things you
          might see on the screen during your game.

               In order to understand what is going on  in  NetHack,  first
          you  must  understand what NetHack is doing with the screen.  The
          NetHack screen replaces the ``You see ...'' descriptions of  text
          adventure  games.   Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen
          might look like.  The way the screen looks  for  you  depends  on
          your platform.

          --------------------------------------------------------------------
           The bat bites!

               ------
               |....|    ----------
               |.<..|####...@...$.|
               |....-#   |...B....+
               |....|    |.d......|
               ------    -------|--




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           Player the Rambler     St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15  Neutral
           Dlvl:1 $:0  HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Exp:1/19 T:257 Weak

          --------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Figure 1


          3.1.  The status lines (bottom)

               The  bottom  two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
          pieces of information describing your current status.  If  either
          status  line  becomes  longer  than  the width of the screen, you
          might not see all of it.  Here are explanations of what the vari-
          ous status items mean (though your configuration may not have all
          the status items listed below):

          Rank
               Your character's name and professional ranking (based on the
               experience level, see below).

          Strength
               A  measure of your character's strength; one of your six ba-
               sic attributes.  A human character's  attributes  can  range
               from  3  to 18 inclusive; non-humans may exceed these limits
               (occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx,
               and  magic  can  also  cause attributes to exceed the normal
               limits).  The higher your strength, the  stronger  you  are.
               Strength  affects  how  successfully  you  perform  physical
               tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how  much  loot
               you can carry.

          Dexterity
               Dexterity  affects  your  chances to hit in combat, to avoid
               traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or  manipulation
               of objects.

          Constitution
               Constitution  affects  your ability to recover from injuries
               and other strains on your stamina.

          Intelligence
               Intelligence affects your ability to cast  spells  and  read
               spellbooks.

          Wisdom
               Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when
               dealing with magic).  It affects your magical energy.

          Charisma
               Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you.  In
               particular,  it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer you.



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          Alignment
               Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic.  Often, Lawful is taken as good
               and Chaotic as evil, but legal and ethical do not always co-
               incide.  Your alignment influences how other monsters  react
               toward you.  Monsters of a like alignment are more likely to
               be non-aggressive, while those of an opposing alignment  are
               more likely to be seriously offended at your presence.

          Dungeon Level
               How deep you are in the dungeon.  You start at level one and
               the number increases as you  go  deeper  into  the  dungeon.
               Some  levels  are  special, and are identified by a name and
               not a number.  The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to  be  some-
               where beneath the twentieth level.

          Gold
               The  number  of  gold  pieces you are openly carrying.  Gold
               which you have concealed in containers is not counted.

          Hit Points
               Your current and maximum hit points.   Hit  points  indicate
               how  much  damage you can take before you die.  The more you
               get hit in a fight, the lower they get.  You can regain  hit
               points  by  resting,  or  by  using certain magical items or
               spells.  The number in parentheses  is  the  maximum  number
               your hit points can reach.

          Power
               Spell  points.  This tells you how much mystic energy (mana)
               you have available for spell casting.  Again,  resting  will
               regenerate the amount available.

          Armor Class
               A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from un-
               friendly creatures.  The lower this number is, the more  ef-
               fective the armor; it is quite possible to have negative ar-
               mor class.

          Experience
               Your current experience level and experience points.  As you
               adventure,  you  gain experience points.  At certain experi-
               ence point totals, you gain an experience level.   The  more
               experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand mag-
               ical attacks.  Many dungeons show only your experience level
               here.

          Time
               The  number  of  turns elapsed so far, displayed if you have
               the time option set.

          Hunger status
               Your current hunger status, ranging from  Satiated  down  to
               Fainting.   If  your hunger status is normal, it is not dis-
               played.


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               Additional status flags may appear after the hunger  status:
          Conf  when you're confused, FoodPois or Ill when sick, Blind when
          you can't see, Stun when stunned, and Hallu when hallucinating.

          3.2.  The message line (top)

               The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that de-
          scribe  things that are impossible to represent visually.  If you
          see a ``--More--'' on the top line, this means that  NetHack  has
          another  message  to  display on the screen, but it wants to make
          certain that you've read the one that is there  first.   To  read
          the next message, just press the space bar.

          3.3.  The map (rest of the screen)

               The  rest  of the screen is the map of the level as you have
          explored it so far.  Each symbol on the screen  represents  some-
          thing.   You  can  set various graphics options to change some of
          the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will  use  default
          symbols.  Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:

          - and |
               The walls of a room, or an open door.  Or a grave (|).

          .    The floor of a room, ice, or a doorless doorway.

          #    A  corridor,  or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
               sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.

          >    Stairs down: a way to the next level.

          <    Stairs up: a way to the previous level.

          +    A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may  be
               able to learn.

          @    Your character or a human.

          $    A pile of gold.

          ^    A trap (once you have detected it).

          )    A weapon.

          [    A suit or piece of armor.

          %    Something edible (not necessarily healthy).

          ?    A scroll.

          /    A wand.

          =    A ring.



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          !    A potion.

          (    A useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...).

          "    An amulet or a spider web.

          *    A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).

          `    A boulder or statue.

          0    An iron ball.

          _    An altar, or an iron chain.

          {    A fountain.

          }    A pool of water or moat or a pool of lava.

          \    An opulent throne.

          a-zA-Z and other symbols
               Letters  and certain other symbols represent the various in-
               habitants of the Mazes of Menace.  Watch out,  they  can  be
               nasty and vicious.  Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.

          I    This marks the last known location of an invisible or other-
               wise  unseen  monster.   Note  that  the  monster could have
               moved.  The 'F' and 'm' commands may be useful here.

               You need not memorize all these symbols;  you  can  ask  the
          game  what  any  symbol  represents with the `/' command (see the
          next section for more info).


          4.  Commands

               Commands are initiated by  typing  one  or  two  characters.
          Some  commands, like ``search'', do not require that any more in-
          formation be collected by NetHack.  Other commands might  require
          additional  information, for example a direction, or an object to
          be used.  For those commands that require additional information,
          NetHack  will present you with either a menu of choices or with a
          command line prompt requesting information.  Which you  are  pre-
          sented with will depend chiefly on how you have set the menustyle
          option.

               For example, a common question, in the form  ``What  do  you
          want  to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]'', asks you to choose an object you are
          carrying.  Here, ``a-zA-Z'' are the  inventory  letters  of  your
          possible  choices.   Typing  `?'  gives  you an inventory list of
          these items, so you can see what each letter refers to.  In  this
          example,  there  is  also a `*' indicating that you may choose an
          object not on the list, if you wanted to use something  unexpect-
          ed.  Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the


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          inventory letters of every object you're carrying.   Finally,  if
          you change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command
          after all, you can press the ESC key to abort the command.

               You can put a number before some  commands  to  repeat  them
          that  many times; for example, ``10s'' will search ten times.  If
          you have the number_pad option set, you must type `n' to prefix a
          count,  so  the  example  above  would be typed ``n10s'' instead.
          Commands for which counts make no sense ignore  them.   In  addi-
          tion,  movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see
          below).  To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.

               The list of commands is rather long, but it can be  read  at
          any  time during the game through the `?' command, which accesses
          a menu of helpful texts.  Here are the commands for  your  refer-
          ence:

          ?    Help menu:  display one of several help texts available.

          /    Tell  what a symbol represents.  You may choose to specify a
               location or type a symbol (or even a whole word) to explain.
               Specifying a location is done by moving the cursor to a par-
               ticular spot on the map and then pressing one of  `.',  `,',
               `;',  or `:'.  `.' will explain the symbol at the chosen lo-
               cation, conditionally check for ``More info?'' depending up-
               on whether the help option is on, and then you will be asked
               to pick another location; `,' will explain  the  symbol  but
               skip  any  additional  information; `;' will skip additional
               info and also not bother asking you to choose another  loca-
               tion  to  examine;  `:'  will  show additional info, if any,
               without asking for confirmation.  When picking  a  location,
               pressing  the ESC key will terminate this command, or press-
               ing `?'  will give a brief reminder about how it works.

               Specifying a name rather than a location  always  gives  any
          additional information available about that name.

          &    Tell what a command does.

          <    Go  up  to  the previous level (if you are on a staircase or
               ladder).

          >    Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or lad-
               der).

          [yuhjklbn]
               Go  one  step in the direction indicated (see Figure 2).  If
               you sense or remember a monster there, you  will  fight  the
               monster  instead.   Only  these  one-step  movement commands
               cause  you  to  fight  monsters;  the  others  (below)   are
               ``safe.''





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                                    y  k  u          7  8  9
                                     \ | /            \ | /
                                    h- . -l          4- . -6
                                     / | \            / | \
                                    b  j  n          1  2  3
                                              (if number_pad is set)

                                         Figure 2


          [YUHJKLBN]
               Go  in that direction until you hit a wall or run into some-
               thing.

          m[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  move without picking up objects or  fighting  (even
               if you remember a monster there)

          F[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:   fight  a  monster  (even  if you only guess one is
               there)

          M[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  move far, no pickup.

          g[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  move until something interesting is found.

          G[yuhjklbn] or <CONTROL->[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  same as `g', but forking of corridors is  not  con-
               sidered interesting.

          _    Travel to a map location via a shortest-path algorithm.  The
               shortest path is computed over map locations the hero  knows
               about  (e.g.  seen or previously traversed).  If there is no
               known path, a guess is made instead.  Stops on most  of  the
               same  conditions  as the `G' command, but without picking up
               objects, similar to the `M' command.  For ports  with  mouse
               support,  the  command  is  also  invoked when a mouse-click
               takes place on a location other than the current position.

          .    Rest, do nothing for one turn.

          a    Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).

          A    Remove one or more worn items, such as armor.  Use `T' (take
               off)  to take off only one piece of armor or `R' (remove) to
               take off only one accessory.

          ^A   Redo the previous command.

          c    Close a door.




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          C    Call (name) an individual monster.

          ^C   Panic button.  Quit the game.

          d    Drop something.  Ex. ``d7a'' means drop seven items  of  ob-
               ject a.

          D    Drop several things.  In answer to the question ``What kinds
               of things do you want to drop? [!%= BUCXaium]''  you  should
               type  zero  or  more object symbols possibly followed by `a'
               and/or `i' and/or `u' and/or `m'.  In addition, one or  more
               of the blessed/uncursed/cursed groups may be typed.

                    DB  - drop all objects known to be blessed.
                    DU  - drop all objects known to be uncursed.
                    DC  - drop all objects known to be cursed.
                    DX  - drop all objects of unknown B/U/C status.
                    Da  - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation.
                    Di  - examine your inventory before dropping anything.
                    Du  - drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop).
                    Dm  - use a menu to pick which object(s) to drop.
                    D%u - drop only unpaid food.

          ^D   Kick something (usually a door).

          e    Eat food.

          E    Engrave   a  message  on  the  floor.   Engraving  the  word
               ``Elbereth'' will cause most  monsters  to  not  attack  you
               hand-to-hand  (but if you attack, you will rub it out); this
               is often useful to give yourself a breather.  (This  feature
               may  be  compiled out of the game, so your version might not
               have it.)

                    E- - write in the dust with your fingers.

          f    Fire one of the objects placed in your quiver.  You may  se-
               lect ammunition with a previous `Q' command, or let the com-
               puter pick something appropriate if autoquiver is true.

          i    List your inventory (everything you're carrying).

          I    List selected parts of your inventory.

                    I* - list all gems in inventory;
                    Iu - list all unpaid items;
                    Ix - list all used up items that are on your shopping bill;
                    I$ - count your money.

          o    Open a door.

          O    Set options.  A menu showing the current option values  will
               be  displayed.  You can change most values simply by select-
               ing the menu entry for the given option (ie, by  typing  its


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               letter  or  clicking  upon it, depending on your user inter-
               face).  For the  non-boolean  choices,  a  further  menu  or
               prompt will appear once you've closed this menu.  The avail-
               able options are listed later in  this  Guidebook.   Options
               are  usually  set  before  the game rather than with the `O'
               command; see the section on options below.

          p    Pay your shopping bill.

          P    Put on a ring or other accessory (amulet, blindfold).

          ^P   Repeat previous message.   Subsequent  ^P's  repeat  earlier
               messages.  The behavior can be varied via the msg_window op-
               tion.

          q    Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc).

          Q    Select an object for your quiver.  You can then  throw  this
               using  the  `f' command.  (In versions prior to 3.3 this was
               the command to quit the game, which has now  been  moved  to
               `#quit'.)

          r    Read a scroll or spellbook.

          R    Remove an accessory (ring, amulet, etc).

          ^R   Redraw the screen.

          s    Search  for  secret  doors and traps around you.  It usually
               takes several tries to find something.

          S    Save (and suspend) the game.  The game will be restored  au-
               tomatically the next time you play.

          t    Throw an object or shoot a projectile.

          T    Take off armor.

          ^T   Teleport, if you have the ability.

          v    Display version number.

          V    Display the game history.

          w    Wield weapon.

                    w- - wield nothing, use your bare hands.

          W    Wear armor.

          x    Exchange your wielded weapon with the item in your alternate
               weapon slot.  The latter is used as  your  secondary  weapon
               when  engaging  in  two-weapon  combat.  Note that if one of
               these slots is empty, the exchange still takes place.


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          X    Enter explore (discovery) mode, explained in its own section
               later.

          ^X   Display your name, role, race, gender, and alignment as well
               as the various deities in your game.

          z    Zap a wand.  To aim at yourself, use `.' for the  direction.

          Z    Zap  (cast)  a  spell.  To cast at yourself, use `.' for the
               direction.

          ^Z   Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).

          :    Look at what is here.

          ;    Show what type of thing a visible symbol corresponds to.

          ,    Pick up some things. May be preceded by `m' to force  a  se-
               lection menu.

          @    Toggle the autopickup option on and off.

          ^    Ask for the type of a trap you found earlier.

          )    Tell what weapon you are wielding.

          [    Tell what armor you are wearing.

          =    Tell what rings you are wearing.

          "    Tell what amulet you are wearing.

          (    Tell what tools you are using.

          *    Tell  what  equipment  you are using; combines the preceding
               five type-specific commands into one.

          $    Count your gold pieces.

          +    List the spells you know.  Using this command, you can  also
               rearrange  the order in which your spells are listed, either
               by sorting the entire list or by picking one spell from  the
               menu  then picking another to swap places with it.  Swapping
               pairs of spells changes their casting letters, so the change
               lasts  after  the current `+' command finishes.  Sorting the
               whole list is temporary.  To make the most recent sort order
               persist  beyond the current `+' command, choose the sort op-
               tion again and then pick "reassign casting  letters".   (Any
               spells  learned  after  that will be added to the end of the
               list rather than be inserted into the sorted ordering.)


          __________
          (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.


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          \    Show what types of objects have been discovered.

          !    Escape to a shell.

          #    Perform an extended command.  As you can see, the authors of
               NetHack  used up all the letters, so this is a way to intro-
               duce the less frequently used commands.  What extended  com-
               mands  are  available  depends on what features the game was
               compiled with.

          #adjust
               Adjust inventory letters (most useful when the fixinv option
               is  ``on'').   This  command allows you to move an item from
               one particular inventory slot to another so that  it  has  a
               letter  which is more meaningful for you or that it will ap-
               pear in a particular location when  inventory  listings  are
               displayed.  ``#adjust'' can also be used to split a stack of
               objects; when choosing the item to  adjust,  enter  a  count
               prior to its letter.

          #chat
               Talk to someone.

          #conduct
               List voluntary challenges you have maintained.  See the sec-
               tion below entitled ``Conduct'' for details.

          #dip Dip an object into something.

          #enhance
               Advance or check weapon and spell skills.

          #force
               Force a lock.

          #invoke
               Invoke an object's special powers.

          #jump
               Jump to another location.

          #loot
               Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you,  or  the  saddle
               from a horse standing next to you.

          #monster
               Use  a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into mon-
               ster form).

          #name
               Name an item or type of object.

          #offer
               Offer a sacrifice to the gods.


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          #pray
               Pray to the gods for help.

          #quit
               Quit the program without saving your game.

          #ride
               Ride (or stop riding) a monster.

          #rub Rub a lamp or a stone.

          #sit Sit down.

          #tip Tip over a container to pour out its contents.

          #turn
               Turn undead.

          #twoweapon
               Toggle two-weapon combat on or off.  Note that you must  use
               suitable  weapons for this type of combat, or it will be au-
               tomatically turned off.

          #untrap
               Untrap something (trap, door, or chest).

          #version
               Print compile time options for this version of NetHack.

          #wipe
               Wipe off your face.

          #?   Help menu:  get the list of available extended commands.

               If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in com-
          bination  with  another  key,  modifies  it by setting the `meta'
          [8th, or `high'] bit), you can invoke many extended  commands  by
          meta-ing  the  first  letter of the command.  In NT, OS/2, and PC
          NetHack, the `Alt' key can be used in this fashion.

          M-?  #? (not supported by all platforms)

          M-2  #twoweapon (unless the number_pad option is enabled)

          M-a  #adjust

          M-c  #chat

          M-d  #dip

          M-e  #enhance

          M-f  #force



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          M-i  #invoke

          M-j  #jump

          M-l  #loot

          M-m  #monster

          M-n  #name

          M-o  #offer

          M-p  #pray

          M-q  #quit

          M-r  #rub

          M-s  #sit

          M-t  #turn

          M-u  #untrap

          M-v  #version

          M-w  #wipe

               If the number_pad option is on, some additional letter  com-
          mands are available:

          h    Help  menu:   display  one  of several help texts available,
               like ``?''.

          j    Jump to another location.  Same as ``#jump'' or ``M-j''.

          k    Kick something (usually a door).  Same as `^D'.

          l    Loot a box or bag on the floor beneath you,  or  the  saddle
               from  a  horse  standing  next to you.  Same as ``#loot'' or
               ``M-l''.

          N    Name an item or type of object.  Same as ``#name''  or  ``M-
               n''.

          u    Untrap  a trap, door, or chest.  Same as ``#untrap'' or ``M-
               u''.


          5.  Rooms and corridors

               Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit  or  dark.
          Any  lit  areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark
          areas are only displayed if they are within  one  space  of  you.


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          Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.

               Secret corridors are hidden.  You can find them with the `s'
          (search) command.

          5.1.  Doorways

               Doorways connect rooms and corridors.  Some doorways have no
          doors;  you  can  walk right through.  Others have doors in them,
          which may be open, closed, or locked.  To open a closed door, use
          the  `o'  (open)  command; to close it again, use the `c' (close)
          command.

               You can get through a locked door by using a  tool  to  pick
          the lock with the `a' (apply) command, or by kicking it open with
          the `^D' (kick) command.

               Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you  must  approach
          them  straight  on, horizontally or vertically.  Doorways without
          doors are not restricted in this fashion.

               Doors can be useful for shutting out  monsters.   Most  mon-
          sters cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (ex. ghosts
          can walk through doors).

               Secret doors are hidden.  You can find  them  with  the  `s'
          (search)  command.  Once found they are in all ways equivalent to
          normal doors.

          5.2.  Traps (`^')

               There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare  the  unwary
          delver.   For  example,  you  may suddenly fall into a pit and be
          stuck for a few turns trying to climb out.  Traps don't appear on
          your map until you see one triggered by moving onto it, see some-
          thing fall into it, or you discover it with the `s' (search) com-
          mand.   Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a very
          useful defensive strategy.

               There is a special pre-mapped branch of the dungeon based on
          the  classic  computer game ``Sokoban.''  The goal is to push the
          boulders into the pits or holes.  With careful foresight,  it  is
          possible  to  complete  all of the levels according to the tradi-
          tional rules of Sokoban.  Some allowances are permitted  in  case
          the player gets stuck; however, they will lower your luck.

          5.3.  Stairs (`<', `>')

               In  general, each level in the dungeon will have a staircase
          going up (`<') to the previous level and another going down (`>')
          to  the  next  level.  There are some exceptions though.  For in-
          stance, fairly early in the dungeon you will find  a  level  with
          two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the oth-
          er branching into an area known  as  the  Gnomish  Mines.   Those


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          mines  eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if you
          choose to do so), you'll need to climb back up to the  main  dun-
          geon.

               When  you  traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
          sends you to another level, the level you're leaving will be  de-
          activated  and  stored  in a file on disk.  If you're moving to a
          previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk
          and  reactivated.   If you're moving to a level which has not yet
          been visited, it will be created (from scratch  for  most  random
          levels,  from  a  template for some ``special'' levels, or loaded
          from the remains of an earlier game  for  a  ``bones''  level  as
          briefly  described  below).  Monsters are only active on the cur-
          rent level; those on other levels  are  essentially  placed  into
          stasis.

               Ordinarily  when  you climb a set of stairs, you will arrive
          on the corresponding staircase  at  your  destination.   However,
          pets  (see  below)  and  some other monsters will follow along if
          they're close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occa-
          sionally  one  of  these  creatures  will displace you during the
          climb.  When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on
          the staircase and you will end up nearby.

          5.4.  Ladders (`<', `>')

               Ladders  serve  the  same purpose as staircases, and the two
          types of inter-level  connections  are  nearly  indistinguishable
          during game play.

          5.5.  Shops and shopping

               Occasionally  you  will  run across a room with a shopkeeper
          near the door and many items lying on the  floor.   You  can  buy
          items by picking them up and then using the `p' command.  You can
          inquire about the price of an item prior to picking it up by  us-
          ing  the  ``#chat''  command while standing on it.  Using an item
          prior to paying for it will incur a charge,  and  the  shopkeeper
          won't  allow  you  to leave the shop until you have paid any debt
          you owe.

               You can sell items to a shopkeeper by dropping them  to  the
          floor  while inside a shop.  You will either be offered an amount
          of gold and asked whether you're willing to sell,  or  you'll  be
          told  that  the shopkeeper isn't interested (generally, your item
          needs to be compatible with the type of  merchandise  carried  by
          the shop).

               If  you drop something in a shop by accident, the shopkeeper
          will usually claim ownership without offering  any  compensation.
          You'll have to buy it back if you want to reclaim it.

               Shopkeepers  sometimes run out of money.  When that happens,
          you'll be offered credit instead of gold when  you  try  to  sell


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          something.   Credit  can  be used to pay for purchases, but it is
          only good in the shop where it was  obtained;  other  shopkeepers
          won't  honor  it.   (If you happen to find a "credit card" in the
          dungeon, don't bother trying to use it in shops; shopkeepers will
          not accept it.)

               The  `$'  command,  which reports the amount of gold you are
          carrying (in inventory, not inside bags or boxes), will also show
          current  shop debt or credit, if any.  The `Iu' command lists un-
          paid items (those which still belong to the shop) if you are car-
          rying  any.   The `Ix' command shows an inventory-like display of
          any unpaid items which have been used up, along with  other  shop
          fees, if any.

          5.5.1.  Shop idiosyncracies

               Several aspects of shop behavior might be unexpected.

          * The price of a given item can vary due to a variety of factors.

          * A shopkeeper treats the spot immediately inside the door as  if
            it were outside the shop.

          * While the shopkeeper watches you like a hawk, he will generally
            ignore any other customers.

          * If a shop is "closed for inventory", it will not  open  of  its
            own accord.

          * Shops do not get restocked with new items, regardless of inven-
            tory depletion.


          6.  Monsters

               Monsters you cannot see are not  displayed  on  the  screen.
          Beware!   You  may  suddenly come upon one in a dark place.  Some
          magic items can help you  locate  them  before  they  locate  you
          (which some monsters can do very well).

               The  commands  `/' and `;' may be used to obtain information
          about those monsters who are displayed on the screen.   The  com-
          mand  `C'  allows you to assign a name to a monster, which may be
          useful to help distinguish one from another  when  multiple  mon-
          sters  are  present.  Assigning a name which is just a space will
          remove any prior name.

               The extended command ``#chat'' can be used to interact  with
          an  adjacent monster.  There is no actual dialog (in other words,
          you don't get to choose what you'll say), but chatting with  some
          monsters such as a shopkeeper or the Oracle of Delphi can produce
          useful results.




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          6.1.  Fighting

               If you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just  attempt
          to  walk  into  it.   Many  monsters you find will mind their own
          business unless you attack them.  Some of them are very dangerous
          when angered.  Remember:  discretion is the better part of valor.

               If you can't see a monster (if it is invisible,  or  if  you
          are  blinded), the symbol `I' will be shown when you learn of its
          presence.  If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to  fight
          it  just  like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon-
          ster has moved, you will attack empty air.  If you guess that the
          monster  has  moved  and you don't wish to fight, you can use the
          `m' command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don't  re-
          member a monster but want to try fighting anyway, you can use the
          `F' command.

          6.2.  Your pet

               You start the game with a little dog (`d'),  cat  (`f'),  or
          pony  (`u'),  which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon-
          sters with you.  Like you, your pet needs food  to  survive.   It
          usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats.  If you're
          worried about it or want to train it, you can feed  it,  too,  by
          throwing  it food.  A properly trained pet can be very useful un-
          der certain circumstances.

               Your pet also gains experience from  killing  monsters,  and
          can  grow  over  time,  gaining hit points and doing more damage.
          Initially, your pet may even be better  at  killing  things  than
          you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.

               Your  pet  will  follow  you up and down staircases if it is
          next to you when you move.  Otherwise your pet will  be  stranded
          and  may  become wild.  Similarly, when you trigger certain types
          of traps which alter your location (for  instance,  a  trap  door
          which  drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet will
          accompany you and any non-adjacent pet will be left behind.  Your
          pet  may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried along
          with it even if adjacent at the time.

          6.3.  Steeds

               Some types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be  rid-
          den if you have the right equipment and skill.  Convincing a wild
          beast to let you saddle it up is  difficult  to  say  the  least.
          Many  a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in or-
          der to forge the alliance.  Once you do have the beast under your
          control  however,  you  can easily climb in and out of the saddle
          with the `#ride' command.  Lead the beast around the dungeon when
          riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself.  It is the
          beast that you will see displayed on the map.




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               Riding skill is managed by the `#enhance' command.  See  the
          section on Weapon proficiency for more information about that.

          6.4.  Bones levels

               You  may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventur-
          ers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal
          effects.   Ghosts  are  hard  to  kill,  but easy to avoid, since
          they're slow and do little damage.  You can plunder the  deceased
          adventurer's  possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
          Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still
          lurking around, gloating over its last victory.


          7.  Objects

               When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want
          to pick it up.  In NetHack, this is accomplished automatically by
          walking  over  the object (unless you turn off the autopickup op-
          tion (see below), or move with the `m' prefix  (see  above)),  or
          manually by using the `,' command.

               If  you're carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you so
          and you won't be able to pick up anything  more.   Otherwise,  it
          will  add  the  object(s) to your pack and tell you what you just
          picked up.

               As you add items to your inventory, you also add the  weight
          of  that  object to your load.  The amount that you can carry de-
          pends on your strength and your constitution.  The  stronger  you
          are, the less the additional load will affect you.  There comes a
          point, though, when the weight of all of that stuff you are  car-
          rying  around  with  you  through  the dungeon will encumber you.
          Your reactions will get slower and you'll burn  calories  faster,
          requiring  food  more  frequently  to  cope with it.  Eventually,
          you'll be so overloaded that you'll either have to  discard  some
          of what you're carrying or collapse under its weight.

               NetHack  will  tell  you how badly you have loaded yourself.
          The symbols `Burdened', `Stressed', `Strained',  `Overtaxed'  and
          `Overloaded' are displayed on the bottom line display to indicate
          your condition.

               When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory let-
          ter.   Many commands that operate on objects must ask you to find
          out which object you want to  use.   When  NetHack  asks  you  to
          choose a particular object you are carrying, you are usually pre-
          sented with a list of inventory letters to choose from (see  Com-
          mands, above).

               Some  objects,  such  as weapons, are easily differentiated.
          Others, like scrolls and potions, are  given  descriptions  which
          vary  according to type.  During a game, any two objects with the
          same description are the same type.   However,  the  descriptions


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          will vary from game to game.

               When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious,
          NetHack will remember what it is for you.  If  its  effect  isn't
          extremely  obvious,  you will be asked what you want to call this
          type of object so you will recognize it later.  You can also  use
          the  ``#name''  command for the same purpose at any time, to name
          all objects of a particular type or just  an  individual  object.
          When you use ``#name'' on an object which has already been named,
          specifying a space as the value will remove the  prior  name  in-
          stead of assigning a new one.

          7.1.  Curses and Blessings

               Any  object  that you find may be cursed, even if the object
          is otherwise helpful.  The most common effect of a curse is being
          stuck  with (and to) the item.  Cursed weapons weld themselves to
          your hand when wielded, so you cannot unwield them.   Any  cursed
          item  you  wear is not removable by ordinary means.  In addition,
          cursed arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative  en-
          chantments that make them less effective in combat.  Other cursed
          objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.

               Objects can also be blessed.   Blessed  items  usually  work
          better  or more beneficially than normal uncursed items.  For ex-
          ample, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.

               There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon
          objects,  so  even  if you are stuck with one, you can still have
          the curse lifted and the item removed.  Priests  and  Priestesses
          have  an  innate  sensitivity  to this property in any object, so
          they can more easily avoid cursed objects  than  other  character
          roles.

               An  item with unknown status will be reported in your inven-
          tory with no prefix.  An item which you know the state of will be
          distinguished  in  your  inventory  by  the  presence of the word
          ``cursed'', ``uncursed'' or ``blessed'' in the description of the
          item.

          7.2.  Weapons (`)')

               Given  a  chance,  most monsters in the Mazes of Menace will
          gratuitously try to kill you.  You need weapons for  self-defense
          (killing  them  first).   Without  a  weapon, you do only 1-2 hit
          points of damage (plus bonuses, if any).  Monk characters are  an
          exception; they normally do much more damage with bare hands than
          they do with weapons.

               There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown
          weapons,  like arrows and spears.  To hit monsters with a weapon,
          you must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them.  You  can
          simply  elect  to  throw  a spear.  To shoot an arrow, you should
          first wield  a  bow,  then  throw  the  arrow.   Crossbows  shoot


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          crossbow  bolts.   Slings  hurl  rocks  and  (other) stones (like
          gems).

               Enchanted weapons have a ``plus'' (or ``to hit enhancement''
          which  can  be  either  positive  or  negative) that adds to your
          chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster.  The  only  way
          to determine a weapon's enchantment is to have it magically iden-
          tified somehow.  Most weapons are subject to some type of  damage
          like rust.  Such ``erosion'' damage can be repaired.

               The  chance  that an attack will successfully hit a monster,
          and the amount of damage such a hit will do,  depends  upon  many
          factors.   Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon (en-
          chantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexterity,
          encumbrance,  and  proficiency  (see below).  The monster's armor
          class - a general defense rating, not necessarily due to  wearing
          of  armor - is a factor too; also, some monsters are particularly
          vulnerable to certain types of weapons.

               Many weapons can be wielded in one hand; some  require  both
          hands.   When  wielding  a  two-handed weapon, you can not wear a
          shield, and vice versa.  When wielding a one-handed  weapon,  you
          can  have  another  weapon ready to use by setting things up with
          the `x' command, which exchanges  your  primary  (the  one  being
          wielded)  and  alternate weapons.  And if you have proficiency in
          the ``two weapon combat'' skill, you may wield both  weapons  si-
          multaneously  as  primary and secondary; use the `#twoweapon' ex-
          tended command to engage or disengage that.  Only some  types  of
          characters  (barbarians,  for  instance) have the necessary skill
          available.  Even with that skill, using two weapons at  once  in-
          curs a penalty in the chance to hit your target compared to using
          just one weapon at a time.

               There might be times when you'd rather not wield any  weapon
          at  all.  To accomplish that, wield `-', or else use the `A' com-
          mand which allows you to unwield the current weapon  in  addition
          to taking off other worn items.

               Those  of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be aware
          that each weapon which existed in AD&D does roughly the same dam-
          age  to  monsters  in  NetHack.  Some of the more obscure weapons
          (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin) are defined
          in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.

               The  commands  to  use weapons are `w' (wield), `t' (throw),
          `f' (fire, an alternative way of  throwing),  `Q'  (quiver),  `x'
          (exchange), `#twoweapon', and `#enhance' (see below).

          7.2.1.  Throwing and shooting

               You  can  throw just about anything via the `t' command.  It
          will prompt for the item to throw; picking `?' will  list  things
          in  your  inventory  which are considered likely to be thrown, or
          picking `*' will list your entire inventory.  After you've chosen


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          what  to  throw, you will be prompted for a direction rather than
          for a specific target.  The distance something can be thrown  de-
          pends mainly on the type of object and your strength.  Arrows can
          be thrown by hand, but can be thrown much  farther  and  will  be
          more likely to hit when thrown while you are wielding a bow.

               You  can  simplify  the  throwing operation by using the `Q'
          command to select your preferred ``missile'', then using the  `f'
          command  to  throw  it.   You'll  be  prompted for a direction as
          above, but you don't have to specify which  item  to  throw  each
          time you use `f'.  There is also an option, autoquiver, which has
          NetHack choose another item to  automatically  fill  your  quiver
          when the inventory slot used for `Q' runs out.

               Some  characters have the ability to fire a volley of multi-
          ple items in a single turn.  Knowing how to load  several  rounds
          of ammunition at once -- or hold several missiles in your hand --
          and still hit a target is not an easy task.   Rangers  are  among
          those  who are adept at this task, as are those with a high level
          of proficiency in the relevant weapon  skill  (in  bow  skill  if
          you're  wielding one to shoot arrows, in crossbow skill if you're
          wielding one to shoot bolts, or in sling skill if you're wielding
          one to shoot stones).  The number of items that the character has
          a chance to fire varies from turn to turn.   You  can  explicitly
          limit  the  number  of shots by using a numeric prefix before the
          `t' or `f' command.  For example, ``2f''  (or  ``n2f''  if  using
          number_pad mode) would ensure that at most 2 arrows are shot even
          if you could have fired 3.  If you specify a larger  number  than
          would have been shot (``4f'' in this example), you'll just end up
          shooting the same number (3, here) as if no limit had been speci-
          fied.  Once the volley is in motion, all of the items will travel
          in the same direction; if the first ones kill a monster, the oth-
          ers can still continue beyond that spot.

          7.2.2.  Weapon proficiency

               You will have varying degrees of skill in the weapons avail-
          able.  Weapon proficiency, or weapon skills, affect how well  you
          can  use  particular  types of weapons, and you'll be able to im-
          prove your skills as you progress through a  game,  depending  on
          your role, your experience level, and use of the weapons.

               For  the  purposes of proficiency, weapons have been divided
          up  into  various  groups  such  as  daggers,  broadswords,   and
          polearms.   Each  role has a limit on what level of proficiency a
          character can achieve for each group.  For instance, wizards  can
          become  highly  skilled in daggers or staves but not in swords or
          bows.

               The `#enhance' extended command is used  to  review  current
          weapons  proficiency (also spell proficiency) and to choose which
          skill(s) to improve when you've used one or more skills enough to
          become eligible to do so.  The skill rankings are ``none'' (some-
          times also referred to as ``restricted'', because  you  won't  be


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          able  to  advance),  ``unskilled'',  ``basic'',  ``skilled'', and
          ``expert''.  Restricted skills simply will not appear in the list
          shown  by  `#enhance'.   (Divine  intervention might unrestrict a
          particular skill, in which case it will start at unskilled and be
          limited  to basic.)  Some characters can enhance their barehanded
          combat or martial arts  skill  beyond  expert  to  ``master''  or
          ``grand master''.

               Use of a weapon in which you're restricted or unskilled will
          incur a modest penalty in the chance to hit a monster and also in
          the  amount of damage done when you do hit; at basic level, there
          is no penalty or bonus; at skilled level, you  receive  a  modest
          bonus  in  the chance to hit and amount of damage done; at expert
          level, the bonus is higher.  A successful hit  has  a  chance  to
          boost  your  training towards the next skill level (unless you've
          already reached the limit for this skill).   Once  such  training
          reaches  the  threshold  for that next level, you'll be told that
          you feel more confident in your skills.  At that  point  you  can
          use  `#enhance'  to increase one or more skills.  Such skills are
          not increased automatically because there is a limit to your  to-
          tal  overall  skills, so you need to actively choose which skills
          to enhance and which to ignore.

          7.3.  Armor (`[')

               Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to pro-
          tect yourself from their blows.  Some types of armor offer better
          protection than others.  Your armor class is a  measure  of  this
          protection.  Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 be-
          ing the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning  better
          armor.   Each  suit  of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same
          protection in NetHack.  Here is an (incomplete) list of the armor
          classes provided by various suits of armor:

                             dragon scale mail         1
                             plate mail                3
                             crystal plate mail        3
                             bronze plate mail         4
                             splint mail               4
                             banded mail               4
                             dwarvish mithril-coat     4
                             elven mithril-coat        5
                             chain mail                5
                             orcish chain mail         6
                             scale mail                6
                             studded leather armor     7
                             ring mail                 7
                             orcish ring mail          8
                             leather armor             8
                             leather jacket            9
                             no armor                 10

               You can also wear other pieces of armor (ex. helmets, boots,
          shields, cloaks) to lower your armor class even further, but  you


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          can  only  wear one item of each category (one suit of armor, one
          cloak, one helmet, one shield, and so on) at a time.

               If a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection  will
          be  better  (or  worse)  than normal, and its ``plus'' (or minus)
          will subtract from your armor class.  For  example,  a  +1  chain
          mail  would  give  you  better protection than normal chain mail,
          lowering your armor class one unit further to 4.  When you put on
          a  piece  of  armor, you immediately find out the armor class and
          any ``plusses'' it provides.  Cursed pieces of armor usually have
          negative enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.

               Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage  like
          rust.   Such damage can be repaired.  Some types of armor may in-
          hibit spell casting.

               The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
          The  `A'  command  can  also be used to take off armor as well as
          other worn items.

          7.4.  Food (`%')

               Food is necessary to survive.  If you go  too  long  without
          eating  you  will  faint, and eventually die of starvation.  Some
          types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy  to  eat,  if  not
          protected.  Food stored in ice boxes or tins (``cans'') will usu-
          ally stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take  a  while
          to open.

               When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are
          also ``food.''  Many, but not all, of these are edible; some also
          give  you special powers when you eat them.  A good rule of thumb
          is ``you are what you eat.''

               Some character roles and some monsters are vegetarian.  Veg-
          etarian  monsters  will typically never eat animal corpses, while
          vegetarian players can, but with some rather unpleasant  side-ef-
          fects.

               You  can  name one food item after something you like to eat
          with the fruit option.

               The command to eat food is `e'.

          7.5.  Scrolls (`?')

               Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen  by
          ancient  wizards  for  their amusement value (ex. ``READ ME,'' or
          ``THANX MAUD'' backwards).  Scrolls disappear after you read them
          (except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).

               One  of  the most useful of these is the scroll of identify,
          which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it
          is  cursed  or  blessed,  and  how  many  uses it has left.  Some


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          objects of subtle enchantment are difficult to  identify  without
          these.

               A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll
          of mail (on versions compiled with this feature).   To  use  this
          feature  on  versions where NetHack mail delivery is triggered by
          electronic mail appearing in your system mailbox,  you  must  let
          NetHack  know  where to look for new mail by setting the ``MAIL''
          environment variable to the file name of your mailbox.   You  may
          also  want  to set the ``MAILREADER'' environment variable to the
          file name of your favorite reader, so NetHack  can  shell  to  it
          when  you  read the scroll.  On versions of NetHack where mail is
          randomly generated internal to the game, these environment  vari-
          ables  are  ignored.   You can disable the mail daemon by turning
          off the mail option.

               The command to read a scroll is `r'.

          7.6.  Potions (`!')

               Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid  inside
          the flask.  They disappear after you quaff them.

               Clear  potions  are  potions  of water.  Sometimes these are
          blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water.  Holy water
          is  the  bane  of  the  undead, so potions of holy water are good
          things to throw (`t') at them.  It is also sometimes very  useful
          to dip (``#dip'') an object into a potion.

               The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).

          7.7.  Wands (`/')

               Magic  wands  usually  have  multiple magical charges.  Some
          wands are directional--you must give a direction in which to  zap
          them.   You can also zap them at yourself (just give a `.' or `s'
          for the direction). Be warned, however, for this is often unwise.
          Other  wands  are nondirectional--they don't require a direction.
          The number of charges in a wand is random and  decreases  by  one
          whenever you use it.

               When  the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero, at-
          tempts to use the wand will usually result in nothing  happening.
          Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few
          mana points from an otherwise spent wand, destroying  it  in  the
          process.   A  wand  may be recharged by using suitable magic, but
          doing so runs the risk of causing it to explode.  The chance  for
          such  an  explosion starts out very small and increases each time
          the wand is recharged.

               In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against
          the  wall,  you might decide to go for broke and break your wand.
          This is not for the faint of heart.  Doing so  will  almost  cer-
          tainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies.


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               When  you have fully identified a particular wand, inventory
          display will include additional information in  parentheses:  the
          number  of  times  it  has been recharged followed by a colon and
          then by its current number of charges.  A current charge count of
          -1 is a special case indicating that the wand has been cancelled.

               The command to use a wand is `z' (zap).  To break  one,  use
          the `a' (apply) command.

          7.8.  Rings (`=')

               Rings  are very useful items, since they are relatively per-
          manent magic, unlike the usually  fleeting  effects  of  potions,
          scrolls, and wands.

               Putting  on  a  ring activates its magic.  You can wear only
          two rings, one on each ring finger.

               Most rings also cause you to grow hungry more  rapidly,  the
          rate varying with the type of ring.

               The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).

          7.9.  Spellbooks (`+')

               Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic.  When studied with the
          `r'  (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge of
          a spell (and therefore eventually become  unreadable)  --  unless
          the  attempt  backfires.   Reading a cursed spellbook or one with
          mystic runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!

               A spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you  cast
          it.   If  you  attempt to cast a spell well above your experience
          level, or if you have little skill  with  the  appropriate  spell
          type,  or  cast  it at a time when your luck is particularly bad,
          you can end up wasting both the energy and the time  required  in
          casting.

               Casting  a  spell  calls  forth magical energies and focuses
          them with your naked mind.  Some of the magical  energy  released
          comes  from  within  you, and casting several spells in a row may
          tire you.  Casting of spells also requires practice.  With  prac-
          tice,  your skill in each category of spell casting will improve.
          Over time, however, your memory of each spell will dim,  and  you
          will need to relearn it.

               Some  spells  are  directional--you must give a direction in
          which to cast them.  You can also cast  them  at  yourself  (just
          give  a  `.'  or  `s' for the direction). Be warned, however, for
          this is often  unwise.   Other  spells  are  nondirectional--they
          don't require a direction.

               Just as weapons are divided into groups in which a character
          can become proficient (to varying degrees), spells are  similarly


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          grouped.  Successfully casting a spell exercises its skill group;
          using the `#enhance' command to advance a sufficiently  exercised
          skill  will  affect  all spells within the group.  Advanced skill
          may increase the potency of spells, reduce their risk of  failure
          during casting attempts, and improve the accuracy of the estimate
          for how much longer they will be retained in your memory.   Skill
          slots  are  shared with weapons skills.  (See also the section on
          ``Weapon proficiency''.)

               Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing
          various types of armor may interfere with that.

               The  command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
          `r' (read).  The `+' command lists each spell you know along with
          its level, skill category, chance of failure when casting, and an
          estimate of how strongly it is remembered.  The `Z'  (cast)  com-
          mand casts a spell.

          7.10.  Tools (`(')

               Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes.  Some
          tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand  charges.   For
          example,  lamps burn out after a while.  Other tools are contain-
          ers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.

               The command to use tools is `a' (apply).

          7.10.1.  Containers

               You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in  your  travels.
          A  tool  of  this  sort can be opened with the ``#loot'' extended
          command when you are standing on top of it (that is, on the  same
          floor  spot), or with the `a' (apply) command when you are carry-
          ing it.  However, chests are often locked, and are  in  any  case
          unwieldy  objects.   You must set one down before unlocking it by
          using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command, by
          kicking  it  with the `^D' command, or by using a weapon to force
          the lock with the ``#force'' extended command.

               Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when
          you unlock or open them.  You can check for and try to deactivate
          traps with the ``#untrap'' extended command.

          7.11.  Amulets (`"')

               Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more  powerful.
          Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some benefi-
          cial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.

               Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck.

               The commands to use amulets are the same as for  rings,  `P'
          (put on) and `R' (remove).



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          7.12.  Gems (`*')

               Some  gems  are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold.
          They are also a far more efficient way of carrying  your  riches.
          Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when
          you exit.

               Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are
          much  less  valuable.  All rocks, however, can be used as projec-
          tile weapons (if you have a sling).  In  the  most  desperate  of
          cases, you can still throw them by hand.

          7.13.  Large rocks (``')

               Statues  and  boulders  are not particularly useful, and are
          generally heavy.  It is rumored that some statues  are  not  what
          they seem.

               Very  large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
          to use boulders as weapons.

          7.14.  Gold (`$')

               Gold adds to your score, and you can  buy  things  in  shops
          with  it.  There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
          be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers
          aside).


          8.  Conduct

               As  if  winning  NetHack  were not difficult enough, certain
          players seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions  on
          the  way  they play the game.  The game automatically tracks some
          of these challenges, which can be checked at any  time  with  the
          #conduct  command or at the end of the game.  When you perform an
          action which breaks a challenge, it will  no  longer  be  listed.
          This gives players extra ``bragging rights'' for winning the game
          with these challenges.  Note that it is perfectly  acceptable  to
          win  the game without resorting to these restrictions and that it
          is unusual for players to adhere to  challenges  the  first  time
          they win the game.

               Several  of  the  challenges are related to eating behavior.
          The most difficult of these is the foodless challenge.   Although
          creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is
          a physiological need for water; thus there is no  restriction  on
          drinking  beverages,  even  if they provide some minor food bene-
          fits.  Calling upon your god for help with  starvation  does  not
          violate any food challenges either.

               A  strict  vegan  diet  is one which avoids any food derived
          from animals.  The primary source of nutrition is fruits and veg-
          etables.  The corpses and tins of blobs (`b'), jellies (`j'), and


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          fungi (`F') are also considered to be vegetable matter.   Certain
          human  food  is  prepared without animal products; namely, lembas
          wafers, cram rations, food rations (gunyoki), K-rations,  and  C-
          rations.   Metal  or another normally indigestible material eaten
          while polymorphed into a creature that can digest it is also con-
          sidered  vegan  food.   Note however that eating such items still
          counts against foodless conduct.

               Vegetarians do not eat animals; however, they are  less  se-
          lective  about eating animal byproducts than vegans.  In addition
          to the vegan items listed above, they may eat any kind of pudding
          (`P') other than the black puddings, eggs and food made from eggs
          (fortune cookies and pancakes), food made with milk  (cream  pies
          and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly.  Monks are expected to
          observe a vegetarian diet.

               Eating any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan,  and
          foodless  conducts.   This includes tripe rations, the corpses or
          tins of any monsters not mentioned above, and the  various  other
          chunks  of meat found in the dungeon.  Swallowing and digesting a
          monster while polymorphed is treated as if you ate the creature's
          corpse.   Eating  leather, dragon hide, or bone items while poly-
          morphed into a creature that can digest  it,  or  eating  monster
          brains while polymorphed into a mind flayer, is considered eating
          an animal, although wax is only an animal byproduct.

               Regardless of conduct, there will be some  items  which  are
          indigestible,  and  others  which  are hazardous to eat.  Using a
          swallow-and-digest attack against a monster is equivalent to eat-
          ing the monster's corpse.  Please note that the term ``vegan'' is
          used here only in the context of diet.  You  are  still  free  to
          choose  not  to  use  or  wear  items  derived from animals (e.g.
          leather, dragon hide, bone, horns, coral), but the game will  not
          keep track of this for you.  Also note that ``milky'' potions may
          be a translucent white, but they do not contain milk, so they are
          compatible  with  a  vegan  diet.   Slime molds or player-defined
          ``fruits'', although they could be anything from ``cherries''  to
          ``pork chops'', are also assumed to be vegan.

               An atheist is one who rejects religion.  This means that you
          cannot #pray, #offer sacrifices to  any  god,  #turn  undead,  or
          #chat  with  a  priest.  Particularly selective readers may argue
          that playing Monk or Priest characters should violate  this  con-
          duct;  that  is a choice left to the player.  Offering the Amulet
          of Yendor to your god is necessary to win the  game  and  is  not
          counted against this conduct.  You are also not penalized for be-
          ing spoken to by an angry god, priest(ess),  or  other  religious
          figure; a true atheist would hear the words but attach no special
          meaning to them.

               Most players fight with a wielded weapon (or  tool  intended
          to be wielded as a weapon).  Another challenge is to win the game
          without using such a wielded weapon.  You are still permitted  to
          throw,  fire,  and kick weapons; use a wand, spell, or other type


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          of item; or fight with your hands and feet.

               In NetHack, a pacifist refuses to cause  the  death  of  any
          other  monster  (i.e. if you would get experience for the death).
          This is a particularly difficult challenge, although it is  still
          possible to gain experience by other means.

               An illiterate character cannot read or write.  This includes
          reading a scroll, spellbook, fortune cookie message, or  t-shirt;
          writing a scroll; or making an engraving of anything other than a
          single ``x'' (the traditional signature of an illiterate person).
          Reading an engraving, or any item that is absolutely necessary to
          win the game, is not counted against this conduct.  The  identity
          of  scrolls  and  spellbooks  (and  knowledge  of spells) in your
          starting inventory is assumed to be learned  from  your  teachers
          prior to the start of the game and isn't counted.

               There  are several other challenges tracked by the game.  It
          is possible to eliminate one or more species of monsters by geno-
          cide;  playing  without  this  feature is considered a challenge.
          When the game offers you an opportunity to genocide monsters, you
          may  respond  with  the  monster type ``none'' if you want to de-
          cline.  You can change the form of an item into another  item  of
          the  same type (``polypiling'') or the form of your own body into
          another creature (``polyself'') by  wand,  spell,  or  potion  of
          polymorph; avoiding these effects are each considered challenges.
          Polymorphing monsters, including pets, does not break  either  of
          these  challenges.   Finally, you may sometimes receive wishes; a
          game without an attempt to wish for any items is a challenge,  as
          is  a  game without wishing for an artifact (even if the artifact
          immediately disappears).  When the game offers you an opportunity
          to  make  a  wish  for an item, you may choose ``nothing'' if you
          want to decline.


          9.  Options

               Due to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of  how
          NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change
          how NetHack behaves.

          9.1.  Setting the options

               Options may be set in a number of ways.   Within  the  game,
          the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of
          them.  You can also set options automatically by placing them  in
          the  NETHACKOPTIONS  environment  variable  or in a configuration
          file.  Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that
          allow you to set options before starting the game.

          9.2.  Using the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable

               The  NETHACKOPTIONS  variable  is  a comma-separated list of
          initial values for the various options.  Some can only be  turned


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          on  or  off.   You turn one of these on by adding the name of the
          option to the list, and turn it off by typing a `!' or ``no'' be-
          fore  the  name.  Others take a character string as a value.  You
          can set string options by typing the  option  name,  a  colon  or
          equals sign, and then the value of the string.  The value is ter-
          minated by the next comma or the end of string.

               For example, to set up an environment variable so that ``au-
          toquiver''  is  on,  ``autopickup''  is  off,  the name is set to
          ``Blue Meanie'', and the fruit is set to  ``papaya'',  you  would
          enter the command

               % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "autoquiver,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"

          in  csh  (note the need to escape the ! since it's special to the
          shell), or

               $ NETHACKOPTIONS="autoquiver,!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
               $ export NETHACKOPTIONS

          in sh or ksh.

          9.3.  Using a configuration file

               Any line in the configuration  file  starting  with  `#'  is
          treated  as a comment.  Any line in the configuration file start-
          ing with ``OPTIONS='' may be filled out with options in the  same
          syntax as in NETHACKOPTIONS.  Any line starting with ``SYMBOLS=''
          is taken as defining the corresponding symbol in a different syn-
          tax,  a sequence of decimal numbers giving the character position
          in the current font to be used in displaying each entry.  Such  a
          sequence  can  be continued to multiple lines by putting a `\' at
          the end of each line to be continued.

               If your copy of the game included the compile time AUTOPICK-
          UP_EXCEPTIONS  option,  then  any  line starting with ``AUTOPICK-
          UP_EXCEPTION='' is taken as defining an exception  to  the  pick-
          up_types  option.  There is a section of this Guidebook that dis-
          cusses that.

               The default name of the configuration file varies on differ-
          ent  operating systems, but NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the
          full name of a file you want to  use  (possibly  preceded  by  an
          `@').

          9.4.  Customization options

               Here are explanations of what the various options do.  Char-
          acter strings that are too long may be truncated.   Some  of  the
          options listed may be inactive in your dungeon.

          acoustics
            Enable  messages  about what your character hears (default on).
            Note that this has nothing to do  with  your  computer's  audio


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            capabilities.

          align
            Your   starting   alignment  (align:lawful,  align:neutral,  or
            align:chaotic).  You may specify just the  first  letter.   The
            default  is  to randomly pick an appropriate alignment.  If you
            prefix a `!' or ``no'' to  the  value,  you  can  exclude  that
            alignment  from  being picked randomly.  Cannot be set with the
            `O' command.

          autodig
            Automatically dig if you are wielding a digging tool and moving
            into a place that can be dug (default false).

          autopickup
            Automatically  pick up things onto which you move (default on).
            See pickup_types to refine the behavior.

          autoquiver
            This option controls what happens  when  you  attempt  the  `f'
            (fire)  command  with an empty quiver.  When true, the computer
            will fill your quiver with some suitable weapon.  Note that  it
            will  not take into account the blessed/cursed status, enchant-
            ment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to manual-
            ly fill your quiver with the `Q' command instead.  If no weapon
            is found or the option is false, the `t' (throw) command is ex-
            ecuted instead.  (default false)

          boulder
            Set  the  character  used  to display boulders (default is rock
            class symbol).

          catname
            Name your starting cat (ex. ``catname:Morris'').  Cannot be set
            with the `O' command.

          character
            Pick  your  type of character (ex. ``character:Monk''); synonym
            for ``role''.  See ``name'' for an alternate method of specify-
            ing  your role.  Normally only the first letter of the value is
            examined; the string ``random'' is an exception.

          checkpoint
            Save game state after each level change, for possible  recovery
            after program crash (default on).

          checkspace
            Check  free  disk  space  before writing files to disk (default
            on).  You may have to turn this off if you have more than 2  GB
            free space on the partition used for your save and level files.
            Only applies when MFLOPPY was defined during compilation.

          clicklook
            Allows looking at things on the screen by navigating the  mouse


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            over them and clicking the right mouse button (default off).

          cmdassist
            Have  the  game  provide some additional command assistance for
            new players if it detects some  anticipated  mistakes  (default
            on).

          confirm
            Have  user  confirm  attacks  on  pets,  shopkeepers, and other
            peaceable creatures (default on).

          disclose
            Controls options for disclosing various  information  when  the
            game ends (defaults to all possibilities being disclosed).  The
            possibilities are:

                 i - disclose your inventory.
                 a - disclose your attributes.
                 v - summarize monsters that have been vanquished.
                 g - list monster species that have been genocided.
                 c - display your conduct.

            Each disclosure possibility can optionally  be  preceded  by  a
            prefix  which let you refine how it behaves. Here are the valid
            prefixes:

                 y - prompt you and default to yes on the prompt.
                 n - prompt you and default to no on the prompt.
                 + - disclose it without prompting.
                 - - do not disclose it and do not prompt.

            (ex. ``disclose:yi na +v -g -c'') The example sets inventory to
            prompt  and default to yes, attributes to prompt and default to
            no, vanquished to disclose without prompting, genocided to  not
            disclose  and not to prompt, conduct to not disclose and not to
            prompt.  Note that the vanquished monsters  list  includes  all
            monsters killed by traps and each other as well as by you.

          dogname
            Name  your  starting dog (ex. ``dogname:Fang'').  Cannot be set
            with the `O' command.

          extmenu
            Changes the extended commands interface to  pop-up  a  menu  of
            available commands.  It is keystroke compatible with the tradi-
            tional interface except that it does not require that  you  hit
            Enter.  It  is  implemented only by the tty port (default off),
            when the game has been compiled to support tty graphics.

          female
            An obsolete synonym for ``gender:female''.  Cannot be set  with
            the `O' command.




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          fixinv
            An  object's  inventory  letter  sticks to it when it's dropped
            (default on).  If this is off, dropping an  object  shifts  all
            the remaining inventory letters.

          fruit
            Name a fruit after something you enjoy eating (ex. ``fruit:man-
            go'') (default ``slime mold'').  Basically a  nostalgic  whimsy
            that  NetHack  uses  from time to time.  You should set this to
            something you find more appetizing than  slime  mold.   Apples,
            oranges,  pears,  bananas, and melons already exist in NetHack,
            so don't use those.

          gender
            Your starting gender (gender:male or gender:female).   You  may
            specify  just  the first letter.  Although you can still denote
            your gender using the  ``male''  and  ``female''  options,  the
            ``gender'' option will take precedence.  The default is to ran-
            domly pick an appropriate gender.   If  you  prefix  a  `!'  or
            ``no''  to  the  value,  you can exclude that gender from being
            picked randomly.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          help
            If more information is available for an object looked  at  with
            the  `/' command, ask if you want to see it (default on). Turn-
            ing help off makes just looking at  things  faster,  since  you
            aren't  interrupted with the ``More info?'' prompt, but it also
            means that you might miss some interesting and/or important in-
            formation.

          horsename
            Name  your  starting horse (ex. ``horsename:Trigger'').  Cannot
            be set with the `O' command.

          ignintr
            Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off).

          legacy
            Display an introductory message when starting the game (default
            on).

          lit_corridor
            Show  corridor  squares  seen by night vision or a light source
            held by your character as lit (default off).

          lootabc
            Use the old `a', `b', and `c' keyboard shortcuts when  looting,
            rather than the mnemonics `o', `i', and `b' (default off).

          mail
            Enable mail delivery during the game (default on).

          male
            An  obsolete  synonym  for ``gender:male''.  Cannot be set with


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            the `O' command.

          menustyle
            Controls the interface used when you need to choose various ob-
            jects  (in  response  to  the Drop command, for instance).  The
            value specified should be the first letter of one of  the  fol-
            lowing:   traditional,  combination,  partial, or full.  Tradi-
            tional was the only interface available for  earlier  versions;
            it  consists  of a prompt for object class characters, followed
            by an object-by-object prompt for all items  matching  the  se-
            lected  object class(es).  Combination starts with a prompt for
            object class(es) of interest,  but  then  displays  a  menu  of
            matching  objects  rather  than  prompting one-by-one.  Partial
            skips the object class filtering  and  immediately  displays  a
            menu  of  all  objects.  Full displays a menu of object classes
            rather than a character prompt, and then a menu of matching ob-
            jects for selection.

          menu_deselect_all
            Menu  character  accelerator  to  deselect all items in a menu.
            Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default '-'.

          menu_deselect_page
            Menu  character  accelerator to deselect all items on this page
            of a menu.  Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty  ports.   De-
            fault '\'.

          menu_first_page
            Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page in a menu.
            Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default '^'.

          menu_headings
            Controls how the headings in a menu  are  highlighted.   Values
            are 'bold', 'inverse', or 'underline'.  Not all ports can actu-
            ally display all three types.

          menu_invert_all
            Menu character accelerator to invert all items in a menu.   Im-
            plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default '@'.

          menu_invert_page
            Menu  character accelerator to invert all items on this page of
            a menu.  Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.   Default
            '~'.

          menu_last_page
            Menu  character accelerator to jump to the last page in a menu.
            Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default '|'.

          menu_next_page
            Menu character accelerator to goto the next menu page.   Imple-
            mented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default '>'.




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          menu_previous_page
            Menu character accelerator to goto the previous menu page.  Im-
            plemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default '<'.

          menu_search
            Menu character accelerator to search for a menu  item.   Imple-
            mented by the Amiga, Gem and X11 ports.  Default ':'.

          menu_select_all
            Menu  character accelerator to select all items in a menu.  Im-
            plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default '.'.

          menu_select_page
            Menu character accelerator to select all items on this page  of
            a  menu.  Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default
            ','.

          msghistory
            The number of top line messages to save (and  recall  with  ^P)
            (default 20).  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          msg_window
            Allows  you  to change the way recalled messages are displayed.
            (It is currently implemented for tty only.)  The possible  val-
            ues are:

                 s - single message (default, this was the behavior before 3.4.0).
                 c - combination, two messages as `single', then as `full'.
                 f - full window, oldest message first.
                 r - full window, newest message first.

            For  backward  compatibility,  no  value  needs to be specified
            (which defaults to `full'), or it can  be  negated  (which  de-
            faults to `single').

          name
            Set  your  character's  name (defaults to your user name).  You
            can also set your character's role by appending a dash and  one
            or more letters of the role (that is, by suffixing one of -A -B
            -C -H -K -M -P -Ra -Ro -S -T -V -W).  If -@  is  used  for  the
            role,  then  a random one will be automatically chosen.  Cannot
            be set with the `O' command.

          news
            Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on).  Since the
            news is shown at the beginning of the game, there's no point in
            setting this with the `O' command.

          null
            Send padding nulls to the terminal (default on).

          number_pad
            Use digit keys instead of letters to move (default 0  or  off).
            Valid settings are:


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                  0 - move by letters; `yuhjklbn'.
                  1 - move by numbers; digit `5' acts as `G' movement prefix.
                  2 - like 1 but `5' works as `g' prefix instead of as `G'.
                  3 - move by numbers using phone keypad layout; 123 above, 789 below.
                  4 - combines 3 with 2; phone layout plus MSDOS compatibility.
                 -1 - move by letters but use `z' to go northwest and `y' to zap wands.

            For  backward  compatibility,  omitting  a value is the same as
            specifying 1 and negating number_pad is the same as  specifying
            0.   (Settings  2 and 4 are for compatibility with MSDOS or old
            PC Hack; in addition to the different behavior for `5', `Alt-5'
            acts  as `G' and `Alt-0' acts as `I'.  Setting -1 is to accomo-
            date some German keyboards which have the location of  the  `y'
            and  `z'  keys  swapped.)   When  moving by numbers, to enter a
            count prefix for those  commands  which  accept  one  (such  as
            ``12s'' to search twelve times), precede it with the letter `n'
            (``n12s'').

          packorder
            Specify  the  order  to   list   object   types   in   (default
            ``")[%?+!=/(*`0_'').   The  value  of  this  option should be a
            string containing the symbols for  the  various  object  types.
            Any  omitted  types  are filled in at the end from the previous
            order.

          perm_invent
            If true, always display your current  inventory  in  a  window.
            This  only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
            plement this feature.

          pettype
            Specify the type of your initial pet,  if  you  are  playing  a
            character  class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
            have no initial pet  at  all.   Possible  values  are  ``cat'',
            ``dog'', ``horse'', and ``none''.  If the choice is not allowed
            for the role you are currently playing, it will be silently ig-
            nored.   For example, ``horse'' will only be honored when play-
            ing a knight.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          pickup_burden
            When you pick up an item that  would  exceed  this  encumbrance
            level  (Unburdened, Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed, or
            overLoaded), you will be asked if you want to  continue.   (De-
            fault `S').

          pickup_thrown
            If  this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
            things that you threw, even if they aren't in  pickup_types  or
            match an autopickup exception.  Default is on.

          pickup_types
            Specify the object types to be picked up when autopickup is on.
            Default is all types.  If your copy of the game has the compile
            time  option AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTIONS included, you may be able to


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            use autopickup_exception configuration file  lines  to  further
            refine autopickup behavior.

          prayconfirm
            Prompt for confirmation before praying (default on).

          pushweapon
            Using  the  `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
            pushes the old item into your alternate  weapon  slot  (default
            off).   Likewise  for  the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
            applied item to become wielded.

          race
            Selects your race (for example,  ``race:human'').   Default  is
            random.   If  you  prefix a `!' or ``no'' to the value, you can
            exclude that race from being picked randomly.   Cannot  be  set
            with the `O' command.

          rest_on_space
            Make  the  space  bar a synonym for the `.' (rest) command (de-
            fault off).

          role
            Pick your type of character (ex. ``role:Samurai''); synonym for
            ``character''.   See ``name'' for an alternate method of speci-
            fying your role.  Normally only the first letter of  the  value
            is  examined;  `r'  is an exception with ``Rogue'', ``Ranger'',
            and ``random'' values. If you prefix a `!'  or  ``no''  to  the
            value, you can exclude that role from being picked randomly.

          roguesymset
            This  option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
            found within ``symbols'' to alter the symbols displayed on  the
            screen on the rogue level.

          rlecomp
            When writing out a save file, perform run length compression of
            the map.  Not all ports support run length compression. It  has
            no effect on reading an existing save file.

          runmode
            Controls  the amount of screen updating for the map window when
            engaged in multi-turn movement (running via shift+direction  or
            control+direction  and  so  forth, or via the travel command or
            mouse click).  The possible values are:

                 teleport - update the map after movement has finished;
                 run - update the map after every seven or so steps;
                 walk - update the map after each step;
                 crawl - like walk, but pause briefly after each step.

            This option only affects the game's screen display, not the ac-
            tual  results  of moving.  The default is `run'; versions prior
            to 3.4.1 used `teleport' only.  Whether or not  the  effect  is


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            noticeable will depend upon the window port used or on the type
            of terminal.

          safe_pet
            Prevent you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default  on).

          scores
            Control  what  parts of the score list you are shown at the end
            (ex.  ``scores:5 top scores/4 around  my  score/own  scores'').
            Only  the  first  letter of each category (`t', `a', or `o') is
            necessary.

          showexp
            Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line (default
            off).

          showrace
            Display  yourself  as  the glyph for your race, rather than the
            glyph for your role (default off).  Note that this setting  af-
            fects  only the appearance of the display, not the way the game
            treats you.

          showscore
            Show your approximate accumulated score on bottom line (default
            off).

          silent
            Suppress terminal beeps (default on).

          sortpack
            Sort  the  pack contents by type when displaying inventory (de-
            fault on).

          sparkle
            Display a sparkly effect when a monster (including yourself) is
            hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default on).

          standout
            Boldface monsters and ``--More--'' (default off).

          suppress_alert
            This  option  may be set to a NetHack version level to suppress
            alert notification messages about feature changes for that  and
            prior versions (ex. ``suppress_alert:3.3.1'').

          symset
            This  option may be used to select one of the named symbol sets
            found within ``symbols'' to alter the symbols displayed on  the
            screen.

          time
            Show  the  elapsed  game  time in turns on bottom line (default
            off).



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          timed_delay
            When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as  with  ex-
            plosions  and  moving  objects, use a timer rather than sending
            extra characters to the screen.  (Applies to ``tty''  interface
            only;  ``X11''  interface always uses a timer based delay.  The
            default is on if configured into the program.)

          tombstone
            Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on).

          toptenwin
            Put the ending display in a NetHack window instead of on stdout
            (default  off).  Setting this option makes the score list visi-
            ble when a windowing version of NetHack is  started  without  a
            parent  window,  but  it no longer leaves the score list around
            after game end on a terminal or emulating window.

          travel
            Allow the travel command (default on).  Turning this option off
            will  prevent  the game from attempting unintended moves if you
            make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map window.

          verbose
            Provide more commentary during the game (default on).

          windowtype
            Select which windowing  system  to  use,  such  as  ``tty''  or
            ``X11''  (default  depends on version).  Cannot be set with the
            `O' command.

          zerocomp
            When writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression  of
            the  contents.  Not all ports support zero-comp compression. It
            has no effect on reading an existing save file.

          9.5.  Window Port Customization options

               Here are explanations of the various options that  are  used
          to  customize  and  change  the characteristics of the windowtype
          that you have chosen.  Character strings that are too long may be
          truncated.   Not  all  window  ports will adjust for all settings
          listed here.  You can safely add any of  these  options  to  your
          config  file,  and  if the window port is capable of adjusting to
          suit your preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it  can't  it
          will  silently  ignore it.  You can find out if an option is sup-
          ported by the window port that you are currently using by  check-
          ing  to see if it shows up in the Options list.  Some options are
          dynamic and can be specified during the game with  the  `O'  com-
          mand.

          align_message
            Where  to align or place the message window (top, bottom, left,
            or right)



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          align_status
            Where to align or place the status window (top,  bottom,  left,
            or right).

          ascii_map
            NetHack should display an ascii character map if it can.

          color
            NetHack  should display color if it can for different monsters,
            objects, and dungeon features

          eight_bit_tty
            NetHack should pass eight-bit character  values  (for  example,
            specified  with the traps option) straight through to your ter-
            minal (default off).

          font_map
            NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for the  map  win-
            dow.

          font_menu
            NetHack  should use a font by the chosen name for menu windows.

          font_message
            NetHack should use a font by the chosen name  for  the  message
            window.

          font_status
            NetHack  should  use  a  font by the chosen name for the status
            window.

          font_text
            NetHack should use a font by the chosen name for text  windows.

          font_size_map
            NetHack should use this size font for the map window.

          font_size_menu
            NetHack should use this size font for menu windows.

          font_size_message
            NetHack should use this size font for the message window.

          font_size_status
            NetHack should use this size font for the status window.

          font_size_text
            NetHack should use this size font for text windows.

          fullscreen
            NetHack should try and display on the entire screen rather than
            in a window.




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          hilite_pet
            Visually distinguish pets from similar animals  (default  off).
            The  behavior  of  this option depends on the type of windowing
            you use.  In text windowing, text highlighting or inverse video
            is  often  used;  with tiles, generally displays a heart symbol
            near pets.

          large_font
            NetHack should use a large font.

          map_mode
            NetHack should display the map in the manner specified.

          mouse_support
            Allow use of the mouse for input and travel.

          player_selection
            NetHack should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts for  charac-
            ter selection.

          popup_dialog
            NetHack should pop up dialog boxes for input.

          preload_tiles
            NetHack  should preload tiles into memory.  For example, in the
            protected mode MSDOS version, control whether  tiles  get  pre-
            loaded  into  RAM  at the start of the game.  Doing so enhances
            performance of the tile graphics, but uses  more  memory.  (de-
            fault on).  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          scroll_amount
            NetHack  should scroll the display by this number of cells when
            the hero reaches the scroll_margin.

          scroll_margin
            NetHack should scroll the display when the hero  or  cursor  is
            this number of cells away from the edge of the window.

          selectsaved
            NetHack  should  display a menu of existing saved games for the
            player to choose from at game startup, if it can. Not all ports
            support this option.

          softkeyboard
            Display  an  onscreen  keyboard.   Handhelds are most likely to
            support this option.

          splash_screen
            NetHack should display an opening splash screen when it  starts
            up (default yes).

          tiled_map
            NetHack should display a tiled map if it can.



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          tile_file
            Specify  the  name  of an alternative tile file to override the
            default.

          tile_height
            Specify the preferred height of each tile  in  a  tile  capable
            port.

          tile_width
            Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port

          use_inverse
            NetHack should display inverse when the game specifies it.

          vary_msgcount
            NetHack should display this number of messages at a time in the
            message window.

          windowcolors
            NetHack   should  display  windows  with  the  specified  fore-
            ground/background colors if it can.

          wraptext
            NetHack port should wrap long lines of text if they  don't  fit
            in the visible area of the window.

          9.6.  Platform-specific Customization options

               Here  are  explanations of options that are used by specific
          platforms or ports to customize and change the port behavior.

          altkeyhandler
            Select an alternate keystroke handler dll to  load  (Win32  tty
            NetHack  only).   The  name of the handler is specified without
            the .dll extension and without any path information.  Cannot be
            set with the `O' command.

          altmeta
            (default on, AMIGA NetHack only).

          BIOS
            Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to read
            the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to  move)  on  ma-
            chines  with  an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, OS/2,
            PC, and ST NetHack only).

          flush
            (default off, AMIGA NetHack only).

          MACgraphics
            (default on, Mac NetHack only).

          page_wait
            (default on, Mac NetHack only).


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          rawio
            Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more  bullet-
            proof  input  (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
            without it) (default off,  OS/2,  PC,  and  ST  NetHack  only).
            Note:   DEC  Rainbows hang if this is turned on.  Cannot be set
            with the `O' command.

          soundcard
            (default on, PC NetHack only).  Cannot be set with the `O' com-
            mand.

          subkeyvalue
            (Win32  tty  NetHack  only).  May be used to alter the value of
            keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to help
            compensate  for international keyboard issues.  OPTIONS=subkey-
            value:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171  was  originally
            going  to be returned.  You can use multiple subkeyvalue state-
            ments in the config file if needed.  Cannot be set with the `O'
            command.

          video
            Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only).  Values are `autode-
            tect', `default', or `vga'.   Setting  `vga'  (or  `autodetect'
            with  vga  hardware  present)  will  cause  the game to display
            tiles.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          videocolors
            Set the color palette for PC systems  using  NO_TERMS  (default
            4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11,  (PC NetHack only).  The order
            of  colors  is  red,  green,  brown,   blue,   magenta,   cyan,
            bright.white,  bright.red,  bright.green,  yellow, bright.blue,
            bright.magenta, and bright.cyan.  Cannot be set  with  the  `O'
            command.

          videoshades
            Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available (de-
            fault dark normal light, PC NetHack only).  If the game display
            is  difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
            not correct the problem, try !color.  Cannot be  set  with  the
            `O' command.

          9.7.  Configuring autopickup exceptions

               There  is  an  experimental  compile  time option called AU-
          TOPICKUP_EXCEPTIONS.  If your copy of the  game  was  built  with
          that  option  defined, you can further refine the behavior of the
          autopickup option beyond what  is  available  through  the  pick-
          up_types option.

               By  placing autopickup_exception lines in your configuration
          file, you can define patterns to be  checked  when  the  game  is
          about to autopickup something.




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          autopickup_exception
            Sets  an  exception  to the pickup_types option.  The autopick-
            up_exception option should be followed  by  a  string  of  1-80
            characters  to be used as a pattern to match against the singu-
            lar form of the description of an object at your location.

               You may use the following special characters in a pattern:

                 *--- matches 0 or more characters.
                 ?--- matches any single character.

               In addition, some characters are treated specially  if  they
          occur as the first character in the string pattern, specifically:

               < - always pickup an object that matches the pattern that follows.
               > - never pickup an object that matches the pattern that follows.

               Can be set with the `O' command, but the setting is not pre-
          served across saves and restores.

               Here's a couple of examples of autopickup_exceptions:

               autopickup_exception="<*arrow"
               autopickup_exception=">*corpse"
               autopickup_exception=">* cursed*"

          The  first example above will result in autopickup of any type of
          arrow.  The second example results in the exclusion of any corpse
          from  autopickup.   The  last example results in the exclusion of
          items known to be cursed from autopickup.  A `never pickup'  rule
          takes precedence over an `always pickup' rule if both match.

          9.8.  Configuring User Sounds

               Some  platforms allow you to define sound files to be played
          when a message that matches a user-defined pattern  is  delivered
          to the message window.  At this time the Qt port and the win32tty
          and win32gui ports support the use of user sounds.

               The following config file entries are  relevant  to  mapping
          user sounds to messages:

          SOUNDDIR
            The directory that houses the sound files to be played.

          SOUND
            An  entry  that  maps  a sound file to a user-specified message
            pattern.  Each SOUND entry is broken down  into  the  following
            parts:

                 MESG       - message window mapping (the only one supported in 3.5).
                 pattern    - the pattern to match.
                 sound file - the sound file to play.
                 volume     - the volume to be set while playing the sound file.


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               The  exact  format  for  the  pattern depends on whether the
          platform is built to use ``regular expressions'' or NetHack's own
          internal  pattern  matching facility. The ``regular expressions''
          matching can be much more sophisticated than the internal NetHack
          pattern  matching, but requires 3rd party libraries on some plat-
          forms.  There are plenty of references  available  elsewhere  for
          explaining  ``regular expressions''. You can verify which pattern
          matching is used by your port with the #version command.

               NetHack's internal pattern matching routine uses the follow-
          ing special characters in its pattern matching:

                 *--- matches 0 or more characters.
                 ?--- matches any single character.

               Here's  an example of a sound mapping using NetHack's inter-
          nal pattern matching facility:

                   SOUND=MESG "*chime of a cash register*" "gong.wav" 50

          specifies that any message with "chime of a cash  register"  con-
          tained  in  it  will  trigger the playing of "gong.wav".  You can
          have multiple SOUND entries in your config file.

          9.9.  Modifying NetHack Symbols

               NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.

               The options that are used to select a particular symbol  set
          from the symbol file are:

          symset
            Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load.

          roguesymset
            Set  the  name of the symbol set that you want to load for dis-
            play on the rogue level.

               You can also override one or more symbols using the  SYMBOLS
          config  file  option.  Symbols are specified as name:value pairs.
          Note that NetHack escape-processes the value  string  in  conven-
          tional C fashion.  This means that \ is a prefix to take the fol-
          lowing character literally. Thus \ needs to be represented as \\.
          The special escape form \m switches on the meta bit in the symbol
          value, and the \^ prefix causes the  following  character  to  be
          treated as a control character.

                                      NetHack Symbols
          Default Symbol Name            Description
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  S_air                  (air)
             _    S_altar                (altar)
             "    S_amulet               (amulet)



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             A    S_angel                (angelic being)
             a    S_ant                  (ant or other insect)
             ^    S_anti_magic_trap      (anti-magic field)
             [    S_armor                (suit or piece of armor)
             [    S_armour               (suit or piece of armor)
             ^    S_arrow_trap           (arrow trap)
             0    S_ball                 (iron ball)
             #    S_bars                 (iron bars)
             B    S_bat                  (bat or bird)
             ^    S_bear_trap            (bear trap)
             -    S_blcorn               (bottom left corner)
             b    S_blob                 (blob)
             +    S_book                 (spellbook)
             )    S_boomleft             (boomerang open left)
             (    S_boomright            (boomerang open right)
             `    S_boulder              (boulder)
             -    S_brcorn               (bottom right corner)
             C    S_centaur              (centaur)
             _    S_chain                (iron chain)
             #    S_cloud                (cloud)
             c    S_cockatrice           (cockatrice)
             $    S_coin                 (pile of coins)
             #    S_corr                 (corridor)
             -    S_crwall               (wall)
             ^    S_dart_trap            (dart trap)
             &    S_demon                (major demon)
             *    S_digbeam              (dig beam)
             >    S_dnladder             (ladder down)
             >    S_dnstair              (staircase down)
             d    S_dog                  (dog or other canine)
             D    S_dragon               (dragon)
             ;    S_eel                  (sea monster)
             E    S_elemental            (elemental)
             /    S_explode1             (explosion top left)
             -    S_explode2             (explosion top center)
            `\'   S_explode3             (explosion top right)
             |    S_explode4             (explosion middle left)
                  S_explode5             (explosion middle center)
             |    S_explode6             (explosion middle right)
            `\'   S_explode7             (explosion bottom left)
             -    S_explode8             (explosion bottom center)
             /    S_explode9             (explosion bottom right)
             e    S_eye                  (eye or sphere)
             ^    S_falling_rock_trap    (falling rock trap)
             f    S_feline               (cat or other feline)
             ^    S_fire_trap            (fire trap)
             !    S_flashbeam            (flash beam)
             %    S_food                 (piece of food)
             {    S_fountain             (fountain)
             F    S_fungus               (fungus or mold)
             *    S_gem                  (gem or rock)
                  S_ghost                (ghost)
             H    S_giant                (giant humanoid)



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             G    S_gnome                (gnome)
             '    S_golem                (golem)
             |    S_grave                (grave)
             g    S_gremlin              (gremlin)
             -    S_hbeam                (wall)
             #    S_hcdbridge            (horizontal raised drawbridge)
             +    S_hcdoor               (closed door)
             |    S_hodoor               (open door)
             ^    S_hole                 (hole)
             @    S_human                (human or elf)
             h    S_humanoid             (humanoid)
             -    S_hwall                (horizontal wall)
             i    S_imp                  (imp or minor demon)
             J    S_jabberwock           (jabberwock)
             j    S_jelly                (jelly)
             k    S_kobold               (kobold)
             K    S_kop                  (Keystone Kop)
             ^    S_land_mine            (land mine)
             }    S_lava                 (molten lava)
             l    S_leprechaun           (leprechaun)
             ^    S_level_teleporter     (level teleporter)
             L    S_lich                 (lich)
             y    S_light                (light)
             #    S_litcorr              (lit corridor)
             :    S_lizard               (lizard)
            `\'   S_lslant               (wall)
             ^    S_magic_portal         (magic portal)
             ^    S_magic_trap           (magic trap)
             m    S_mimic                (mimic)
             ]    S_mimic_def            (mimic)
             M    S_mummy                (mummy)
             N    S_naga                 (naga)
             n    S_nymph                (nymph)
             O    S_ogre                 (ogre)
             o    S_orc                  (orc)
             p    S_piercer              (piercer)
             ^    S_pit                  (pit)
             ^    S_polymorph_trap       (polymorph trap)
             }    S_pool                 (water)
             !    S_potion               (potion)
             P    S_pudding              (pudding or ooze)
             q    S_quadruped            (quadruped)
             Q    S_quantmech            (quantum mechanic)
             =    S_ring                 (ring)
             `    S_rock                 (boulder or statue)
             r    S_rodent               (rodent)
             ^    S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
             /    S_rslant               (wall)
             ^    S_rust_trap            (rust trap)
             R    S_rustmonst            (rust monster or disenchanter)
             ?    S_scroll               (scroll)
             #    S_sink                 (sink)
             ^    S_sleeping_gas_trap    (sleeping gas trap)



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             S    S_snake                (snake)
             s    S_spider               (arachnid or centipede)
             ^    S_spiked_pit           (spiked pit)
             ^    S_squeaky_board        (squeaky board)
             0    S_ss1                  (magic shield 1 of 4)
             #    S_ss2                  (magic shield 2 of 4)
             @    S_ss3                  (magic shield 3 of 4)
             *    S_ss4                  (magic shield 4 of 4)
             ^    S_statue_trap          (statue trap)
                  S_stone                (dark part of a room)
             -    S_sw_bc                (swallow bottom center)
            `\'   S_sw_bl                (swallow bottom left)
             /    S_sw_br                (swallow bottom right)
             |    S_sw_ml                (swallow middle left)
             |    S_sw_mr                (swallow middle right)
             -    S_sw_tc                (swallow top center)
             /    S_sw_tl                (swallow top left)
            `\'   S_sw_tr                (swallow top right)
             -    S_tdwall               (wall)
             ^    S_teleportation_trap   (teleportation trap)
                  S_throne               (opulent throne)
             -    S_tlcorn               (top left corner)
             |    S_tlwall               (wall)
             (    S_tool                 (useful item (pick-axe key lamp...))
             ^    S_trap_door            (trap door)
             t    S_trapper              (trapper or lurker above)
             -    S_trcorn               (top right corner)
             #    S_tree                 (tree)
             T    S_troll                (troll)
             |    S_trwall               (wall)
             -    S_tuwall               (wall)
             U    S_umber                (umber hulk)
             u    S_unicorn              (unicorn or horse)
             <    S_upladder             (ladder up)
             <    S_upstair              (staircase up)
             V    S_vampire              (vampire)
             |    S_vbeam                (wall)
             #    S_vcdbridge            (vertical raised drawbridge)
             +    S_vcdoor               (closed door)
             -    S_vodoor               (open door)
             v    S_vortex               (vortex)
             |    S_vwall                (vertical wall)
             /    S_wand                 (wand)
             }    S_water                (water)
             )    S_weapon               (weapon)
             "    S_web                  (web)
             w    S_worm                 (worm)
             ~    S_worm_tail            (long worm tail)
             W    S_wraith               (wraith)
             x    S_xan                  (xan or other mythical/fantastic insect)
             X    S_xorn                 (xorn)
             Y    S_yeti                 (apelike creature)
             Z    S_zombie               (zombie)



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             z    S_zruty                (zruty)

          9.10.  Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind

               NetHack  can be set up to use only standard ASCII characters
          for making maps of the dungeons. This makes the  MS-DOS  versions
          of  NetHack  completely  accessible  to  the blind who use speech
          and/or Braille access technologies.  Players will require a  good
          working  knowledge  of their screen-reader's review features, and
          will have to know how to  navigate  horizontally  and  vertically
          character  by character. They will also find the search capabili-
          ties of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain  to
          examine  this  Guidebook  before playing so you have an idea what
          the screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to  locate
          the  PC  cursor.  It  is  always where your character is located.
          Merely searching for an @-sign will not always find your  charac-
          ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign.
          Your screen-reader should also have a function  which  gives  you
          the  row  and  column  of  your  review cursor and the PC cursor.
          These co-ordinates are often useful in giving  players  a  better
          sense of the overall location of items on the screen.

               While  it is not difficult for experienced users to edit the
          defaults.nh file to accomplish this, novices may find  this  task
          somewhat  daunting.   Included within the ``symbols'' file of all
          official distributions of NetHack is a  symset  called  NHAccess.
          Selecting  that  symset in your configuration file will cause the
          game to run in a manner accessible to the blind. After  you  have
          gained  some experience with the game and with editing files, you
          may want to alter settings via  SYMBOLS=  in  your  configuration
          file  to better suit your preferences.  The most crucial settings
          to make the game accessible are:

          symset:NHAccess
            Load a symbol set appropriate for use by blind players.

          roguesymset:NHAccess
            Load a symbol set for the rogue level that is  appropriate  for
            use by blind players.

          menustyle:traditional
            This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.

          number_pad
            A  lot  of  speech access programs use the number-pad to review
            the screen.  If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
            and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.

          10.  Scoring

               NetHack  maintains  a  list  of the top scores or scorers on
          your machine, depending on how it is set up.  In the latter case,
          each  account  on the machine can post only one non-winning score
          on this list.  If you score higher  than  someone  else  on  this


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          list,  or better your previous score, you will be inserted in the
          proper place under your current name.  How many scores  are  kept
          can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.

               Your  score  is  chiefly  based upon how much experience you
          gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and
          how the game ended.  If you quit the game, you escape with all of
          your gold intact.  If, however, you get killed in  the  Mazes  of
          Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
          corpse is discovered (adventurers  have  been  known  to  collect
          finder's  fees).   So, consider whether you want to take one last
          hit at that monster and possibly live,  or  quit  and  stop  with
          whatever  you  have.  If you quit, you keep all your gold, but if
          you swing and live, you might find more.

               If you just want to see what the current  top  players/games
          list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.


          11.  Explore mode

               NetHack  is  an intricate and difficult game.  Novices might
          falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
          Well,  fear  not.   Your  dungeon may come equipped with an ``ex-
          plore'' or ``discovery'' mode that enables you to keep  old  save
          files  and  cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the
          high score list.

               There are two ways of enabling  explore  mode.   One  is  to
          start the game with the -X switch.  The other is to issue the `X'
          command while already playing the game.  The  other  benefits  of
          explore mode are left for the trepid reader to discover.


          12.  Credits

               The  original  hack  game  was  modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
          rogue game.   Large  portions  of  this  paper  were  shamelessly
          cribbed  from  A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
          and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold.  Small portions  were  adapted  from
          Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.

               NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work.
          Main events in the course of the game development  are  described
          below:


               Jay  Fenlason  wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
          Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.

               Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into
          a  very  different  game, and published (at least) three versions
          (1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.



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               Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and  MS-DOS,
          producing  PC  HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
          in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more  ver-
          sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).

               R.  Black  ported  PC  HACK  3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
          520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.

               Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
          incorporating  many  of  the added features, and produced NetHack
          1.4.  He then coordinated a cast of thousands  in  enhancing  and
          debugging  NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.

               Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading
          a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve
          Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threep-
          oint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.

               NetHack  3.0  was  ported  to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
          OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel.   The  three
          of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main development team to
          produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.

               Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga.   Norm
          Meluch,  Stephen  Spackman  and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
          code for PC NetHack 3.0.  Johnny Lee ported NetHack  3.0  to  the
          Macintosh.   Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
          to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through  the  later
          revisions of 3.0.

               Headed  by  Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
          and Janet Walz, the development team which now included  Ken  Ar-
          romdee,  David  Cohrs,  Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy, Matt
          Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin,  Eric
          Raymond,  and  Eric  Smith  undertook  a radical revision of 3.0.
          They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of
          the  code.   They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
          individual character quests, a new endgame  and  many  other  new
          features, and produced NetHack 3.1.

               Ken  Lorber,  Gregg  Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
          Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti,  and  Olaf  Seibert,  developed
          NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.

               Norm  Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
          lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported
          NetHack 3.1 to the PC.

               Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike
          Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan  Handler,  Johnny
          Lee,  Tim  Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
          3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW.  Building on their de-
          velopment, Barton House added a Think C port.



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               Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2.  Eric Smith port-
          ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari.  Pat Rankin, with help  from  Joshua
          Delahunty,  was  responsible  for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
          Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.

               Dean Luick, with help from David  Cohrs,  developed  NetHack
          3.1  for  X11.   Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
          for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the DevTeam  and
          tile support was then added to other platforms.

               The  3.2 development team, comprised of Michael Allison, Ken
          Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,  Kevin  Darcy,
          Timo  Hakulinen,  Steve  Linhart,  Dean  Luick,  Pat Rankin, Eric
          Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz,  and  Paul  Winner,  released
          version 3.2 in April of 1996.

               Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
          the development team.  In a testament to their dedication to  the
          game,  all  thirteen members of the original development team re-
          mained on the team at the start of work on that release.   During
          the  interval  between  the  release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one of the
          founding members of the development team, Dr. Izchak Miller,  was
          diagnosed  with cancer and passed away.  That release of the game
          was dedicated to him by the development and porting teams.

               During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
          asts  of  the  game added their own modifications to the game and
          made these ``variants'' publicly available:

               Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created  NetHack++,  which  was
          quickly  renamed NetHack--.  Working independently, Stephen White
          wrote NetHack Plus.  Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus  and
          his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH.  Larry Stewart-Zerba and War-
          wick Allison improved the spell casting system  with  the  Wizard
          Patch.   Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
          face.

               Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch  to  pro-
          duce  Slash'em,  and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
          tures.  Kevin later joined the DevTeam and incorporated the  best
          of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.

               The final update to 3.2 was the bug fix release 3.2.3, which
          was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999  just  in
          time for the Year 2000.

               The 3.3 development team, consisting of Michael Allison, Ken
          Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps,  Kevin  Darcy,
          Timo  Hakulinen,  Kevin  Hugo,  Steve  Linhart,  Ken Lorber, Dean
          Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet  Walz,  and
          Paul  Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1 in August
          of 2000.




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               Version 3.3 offered many firsts. It was the first version to
          separate  race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
          erence to an elf race, and the races of dwarves, gnomes, and orcs
          made  their  first  appearance in the game alongside the familiar
          human race.  Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists,  Barbar-
          ians,   Cavemen,  Healers,  Knights,  Priests,  Rogues,  Samurai,
          Tourists, Valkyries and of course,  Wizards.   It  was  also  the
          first  version  to  allow  you to ride a steed, and was the first
          version to have a publicly available  web-site  listing  all  the
          bugs  that  had been discovered.  Despite that constantly growing
          bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than  a  year
          and a half.

               The  3.5 development team initially consisted of Michael Al-
          lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Kevin Hugo,  Ken
          Lorber,  Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and
          Paul Winner, with  Warwick Allison joining just  before  the  re-
          lease of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.

               As  with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
          as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms
          that NetHack runs on:

               Pat Rankin maintained 3.5 for VMS.

               Michael  Allison maintained NetHack 3.5 for the MS-DOS plat-
          form.  Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.

               Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and  en-
          hanced the Macintosh port of 3.4.

               Michael  Allison,  David  Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
          and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.5 for  the  Microsoft
          Windows platform.  Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical inter-
          face for the Windows port.  Alex Kompel also contributed  a  Win-
          dows CE port for 3.4.1.

               Ron Van Iwaarden was the sole maintainer of NetHack for OS/2
          the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2  machine
          stopped  working  in  early  2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
          keeping NetHack alive on OS/2 all these years.

               Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki  maintained  and  enhanced
          the  Amiga  port of 3.5 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
          3.3.1.

               Christian ``Marvin'' Bressler maintained 3.5 for  the  Atari
          after he resurrected it for 3.3.1.

               There  is  a  NetHack  web  site maintained by Ken Lorber at
          http://www.nethack.org/.

                    - - - - - - - - - -



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               From time to time, some depraved  individual  out  there  in
          netland  sends a particularly intriguing modification to help out
          with the game.  The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes  make  note  of
          the  names  of the worst of these miscreants in this, the list of
          Dungeoneers:

               Adam Aronow            Izchak Miller         Mike Passaretti
               Alex Kompel            J. Ali Harlow         Mike Stephenson
              Andreas Dorn              Janet Walz            Norm Meluch
               Andy Church           Janne Salmijarvi         Olaf Seibert
              Andy Swanson        Jean-Christophe Collet     Pasi Kallinen
              Ari Huttunen            Jochen Erwied            Pat Rankin
              Barton House             John Kallen            Paul Winner
           Benson I. Margulies         John Rupley          Pierre Martineau
                Bill Dyer              John S. Bien            Ralf Brown
            Boudewijn Waijers           Johnny Lee             Ray Chason
                Bruce Cox               Jon W{tte           Richard Addison
             Bruce Holloway          Jonathan Handler        Richard Beigel
             Bruce Mewborne          Joshua Delahunty      Richard P. Hughey
              Carl Schelin            Keizo Yamamoto           Rob Menke
               Chris Russo              Ken Arnold           Robin Johnson
               David Cohrs             Ken Arromdee        Roderick Schertler
             David Damerell             Ken Lorber           Roland McGrath
              David Gentzel           Ken Washikita         Ron Van Iwaarden
             David Hairston            Kevin Darcy           Ronnen Miller
               Dean Luick               Kevin Hugo             Ross Brown
                Del Lamb               Kevin Sitze          Sascha Wostmann
              Deron Meranda          Kevin Smolkowski         Scott Bigham
              Dion Nicolaas            Kevin Sweet          Scott R. Turner
             Dylan O'Donnell           Lars Huttar          Stephen Spackman
               Eric Backus             Leon Arnott           Stephen White
            Eric Hendrickson           Malcolm Ryan           Steve Creps
              Eric R. Smith           Mark Gooderum          Steve Linhart
             Eric S. Raymond           Mark Modrall        Steve VanDevender
              Erik Andersen          Marvin Bressler          Teemu Suikki
            Frederick Roeber           Matthew Day             Tim Lennan
               Gil Neiger              Merlyn LeRoy          Timo Hakulinen
               Greg Laskin           Michael Allison            Tom Almy
               Greg Olson              Michael Feir             Tom West
             Gregg Wonderly           Michael Hamel          Warren Cheung
              Hao-yang Wang          Michael Sokolov        Warwick Allison
              Helge Hafting            Mike Engber           Yitzhak Sapir
          Irina Rempt-Drijfhout        Mike Gallop

          Brand and product names are trademarks or  registered  trademarks
          of their respective holders.










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