Toggle Background Color
Welcome back! Last time, in true roguelike fashion, I died embarrassingly to the first enemy I encountered. This time: I try to avoid doing the same. Time to roll up another drakeling barbarian.
This time I roll Dragon for my starsign. Dragon is a very nice sign for melee characters. The weapon skill bonus is means I'll gain weapon proficiencies faster and hit harder and more often earlier than otherwise, the rest are pretty self-explanatory. None of them are huge on their own but they add up. The only dud is the combat magic bonus. As a barbarian I'll be casting very few if any spells and definitely not combat magic.
Before I set out, lets have a quick overview of my character.
I covered the bottom line of stats last time. The row above that is, left to right, my name, my attribute scores, and my alignment. Attributes range from 1-99. According to the manual, 10 is an average joe score and anything over 20 is superhuman. It is rare to raise an attribute higher than maybe the low 40s in normal play, but as the thread has alluded to, there are certain tricks than can be used to push them all the way to 99. Biskup has been patching out a lot of cool tricks, so I'm not sure how many are still viable.
Attributes have various effects including some pretty obscure stuff, but I'll outline their main uses below.
Strength affects melee hit chance and damage, carrying capacity and hitpoints.
Learning affects how quickly you can raise your skills, how easily you can learn new spells and how literate your character starts. Not very important for me but more skill picks are always nice.
Willpower affects mental resistance, hitpoints and magic points.
Dexterity affects dodge chance, trap evasion, and missile attacks
Toughness affects hitpoints and damage reduction (PV)
Charisma affects shop prices for male characters. Gold is very plentiful quite early in the game and in literally infinite supply later in the game. Worthless.
Appearance affects shop prices for female characters. Yup, ADOM's shopkeepers are sexist. They also discriminate based on race! 
It also slightly reduces monsters' hostility level towards your character. Worthless.
Mana affects magic points. Worthless to a barbarian.
Perception affects sight range, detection of traps and secret doors, and hearing. Meh, nice to have as traps can be nasty and sight range is always good, but not super important.
Alignment comes in different variations of Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic. Alignment is on a linear scale from most lawful to most chaotic: L+, L, LN, NL, N+, N=, N-, NC, CN, C, C-. Each race has three gods, one Lawful, one Neutral, one Chaotic. Your character will automatically follow whichever god corresponds to his or her own alignment. Characters can gain piety (favour with their god), mainly by sacrificing items or monsters on on an altar. Altars also have Lawful, Neutral or Chaotic alignment and players can only use altars corresponding to their own alignment. Piety has many uses. One is that characters can spend it to pray. Prayer can among other things instantly restore all hitpoints or cure various status ailments such as sickness or starvation. Characters with enough piety can use altars to identify whether an item is blessed, cursed or uncursed and to bless normal potions of water to create holy water. Dipping items in holy water will bless them, overriding cursed status if present. Blessed items are generally more useful than uncursed or cursed items in ways which vary item to item and will be explained later.
As shown on the character info screen, attributes have a maximum value they can be raised to through regular use and training. This maximum can be increased with potions and by a few other means.
Along with a rundown of damage stats and some other miscellaneous information, this screen shows my current burden limits. I can carry up to 2194s without penalty. Technically "s" stands for stones, but for the sake of your sanity don't try to make ADOM weight make sense. Definitely don't try to compare the weight of rations to the weight of weapons and armour. Just accept that :itisthomasbiskup: and move on. At Burdened I get a moderate penalty to speed and DV, and get hungry faster. These penalties increase at Strained and Very Strained. If I get over the max value for Very Strained I become Overburdened and unable to move. If I were to go even further I could be crushed to death under the weight of my own gear. This is an actual way to die in ADOM.
I'll go into depth about deities and how speed works later, and at some stage the calendar will also come into play. Time elapsed has come up already with regards to the puppy quest and as also mentioned last time, background corruption increases over time. Specifically, after 90 days it doubles. Pre-crowdfunding that was as bad as it got, but in the new version Biskup implemented the intended mechanic whereby it increases again every 90 days after that. I'm not sure if it doubles each time or just increases at a linear rate, but honestly after 180 days you're gonna be fucked really quickly either way. Ideally I want to win before the 90 day mark but this could be challenging in an ultra-ending.
My starting is gear is... somewhat modest to say the least. I have a spear, a worthless throwing club, one meal, and enough gold to buy maybe three or four more. Most characters start off with at least some armour but barbarians are hardcore like that. The two numbers in brackets after my weapons are their to-hit modifiers and damage. If you're somehow reading a Let's Play Roguelikes thread on Somethingawful and don't know what 1d8+2 means, I'm not gonna explain it here. Go google it or check the ADOM manual. 
My weapon skills screen. As I hit or shoot stuff, I gain "marks" towards an increase in my proficiency level with the corresponding weapon. My spear comes under pole arms, aka The Best Weapons. Polearms give a substantial boost to DV, while other weapon classes provide little if any DV but (with the exception of two-handed weapons) no extra to-hit or damage. I'll be looking to find a shield ASAP to further boost my DV. DV is a very important stat in the area of Not Dying.
My skills screen. The first number is the current rating of the skill in question, out of 100. The number in brackets is the die roll that the skill will increase by if I put one of my skill increases into it on level up. This will drop as I spend more skillups on each skill. Skills can also increase naturally through use or training. Most skills are passive but there are some activated skills too.
Alertness Passive. Helps detect traps and invisible monsters and gives a small DV bonus at high levels. More importantly, it gives a chance to dodge combat magic - up to a huge 7 in 8 chance to avoid the spell at 100 Alertness. DV doesn't work against magic so this is very helpful as some magic attacks are extremely dangerous.
Athletics Passive. Increases the chance to increase physical attributes through training, especially lower stats. It also boosts speed starting at +1 at 70 Athletics, up to +8 at 100.
Climbing Passive. Affects the chance to successfully climb out of pit traps. It also comes in handy in a late-game dungeon related to ultra-endings.
Dodge Passive. Boosts DV, by up to 10 at max dodge. It also gives a chance to dodge spells.
First Aid Active. Has a chance to restore a few hitpoints if used shortly after taking damage. Useful in the early game, especially before I get Healing.
Food Preservation Passive. Slows the rate of decay of perishables in the inventory. Also increases the chance slain foes will leave a corpse. As mentioned last time, corpses are useful as food and for boosting attributes and picking up intrinsics.
Haggling Active. Affects shop prices. As likely to increase the price as decrease it. Useless.
Herbalism Both active and passive. The active use identifies the type of herb bushes growing in the dungeon. The passive component increases the chance picked herbs will be generated Blessed and reduces the chance they will be generated Cursed. Herbs are very useful so this is one of the better skills in the game.
Listening Passive. Will generate messages indicating the presence of special dungeon features (such as rivers) or certain dangerous monsters. Helpful but will level up just fine on its own, no need to waste skill picks on it.
Music Active. Playing instruments can pacify animals or even make them become the player's pet. Situationally useful for avoiding the killing of cats. I'll explain that later. Otherwise useless.
Stealth Passive. Reduces the chance monsters will spot the character. Good for sneak attacks, especially in conjunction with the backstabbing skill, which I don't have. Like Listening, Stealth will train on its own.
Survival Passive. Reduces food consumption in the wilderness map. Also helps to ambush monsters in the wilderness. Whatever that does. Useless.
Swimming Passive. Reduces the chance to drown. Obviously beneficial but hopefully I'll be able to avoid most situations involving being submerged in water, at least until I get a source of water breathing.
Two Weapon Combat Reduces penalties associated with dual-wielding. I'll be rocking a spear and shield combo for maximum DV, so this is useless to me.
Woodcraft Passive. Marginally useful under very specific circumstances. I'll explain if it comes up. Otherwise useless.
There are many more skills in the game, some of which I will acquire in the course of the playthrough.
I head to Terinyo, get the quests and buy some food before heading back to Holeinthewall which hopefully won't end up with me in another Holeintheground. This time I'll ideally secure a good first kill and chat to some local personalities.
Yikes. This time I run into the other scary monster that can spawn in Holeinthewall, an assassin. Assassins have a poisonous attack which can be extremely dangerous, especially to new characters. Fortunately he does not care about me. This means he is not hostile... at least for now. Neutral monsters will sometimes change their disposition at random and attack. I switch to coward tactic and move to put some distance between myself and the assassin.
The assassin wanders off and I spot a cutpurse. Cutpurses are easy meat and relatively uncommon and make for a decent first kill. This one's friendly, meaning he won't randomly decide to try to kill me, and my alignment will move towards Chaotic if I attack him. I'll need to become Chaotic for part of the ultra ending quest chain anyway, so this isn't a big deal. There's no rush though so I keep looking around.
One of the reasons I like to visit Holeinthewall right at the start is to visit the shop, which sells a general assortment of goods. I don't have enough gold to actually buy anything, but all goods generated in shops are identified. This means that by walking over them, my character will remember what they look like.
As with other traditional roguelikes, unidentified items are referred to with a descriptive name such as "blubbery potion" or "agate ring". Once identified, they are referred to by the actual name of the item. You might ask how my illiterate barbarian recognizes scrolls. Apparently he can remember the shapes of the words even if he can't read them! Just roll with it. Unfortunately none of these are key items I'll need to recognize in the dungeons, but booze is good to know. Wands can be dipped into potions of booze to recharge them. Potions of water can be turned into extremely useful holy water, but unIDed potions of water are always described as watery potions anyway. I pick everything up and dump it into two piles in the corner of the shop. Shopkeepers will periodically generate new stock if there are empty tiles in their shop. One pile is junk, the other is stuff I might come back to buy later on.
Crap. I catch sight of my old friend the assassin as I leave the shop, and he's decided he doesn't like me any more. I run off the bottom edge of the map before he can reach me. I then promptly re-enter town at the fixed entry point, well away from the assassin.
I spot an outlaw. This guy should do for my first kill. A bit tougher than the cutpurse I saw earlier but shouldn't be a serious threat.
My acid spit misses but I one shot him in melee without taking a hit. On acid spit, it seems to have been fixed/nerfed since I last played. It used to be that spit which "nearly hit" would still do some damage. Now it does nothing. Hopefully it will still be useful but I've missed four out of four shots between these two characters so far.
I rename myself Outlaw to remind myself what my first kill was later on when it becomes relevant.
The message log, useful for reviewing recent events. I saw a mugger and managed to kill him with my acid spit. This time I switched to berserk tactics first. Tactics do affect normal ranged attacks, but I'm not sure if they apply to acid spit. Whether it was due to the change of tactics or not, my spit connects this time and the mugger is melted away before he can close with me. Using my spit attack has made me hungry so I eat and continue on my way.
I've almost made it inside this building to get a quest when the assassin shows up again. At pretty much the worst possible time - it will impossible to get past him without taking a hit. Furthermore, the monster info screen tells me he has a speed of 108 - it will be impossible to lose him and escape town. I'll have to stand my ground.
Luckily my first acid spit connects and I am able to finish him off with a single melee attack. One of my acid spit attacks which missed the assassin also just missed the friendly outlaw. He considers this an attack and turns hostile too. He is also dispatched with a single melee attack. Finally I can enter the building to meet Yergius.
"Well met! Me thinks that ye should prove yer skill and valor before we talk about business. You nonetheless could use some training to be prepared for the future."
Do you want to train with Yergius, the master thief? y/N
You train for some time.
Yergius, the master thief, teaches you how to pick pockets.
"Bye."
Pick pockets now shows up on my skill list. It is an active skill that gives a chance to steal a random low-weight item from humanoid NPCs. Notably, it works on hostile monsters just as well as peaceful ones. Pickpocketed items are generated by the skill and will not drop if a monster is killed without being pickpocketed. Pickpocketing can yield many useful and even very valuable items, including potions, scrolls, rings and amulets. Super rare items such as Amulets of Life Saving and Rings of Djinni Summoning can potentially be pickpocketed. Pickpocketing is unfortunately very tedious, particularly at low skill levels. Tedious tasks are a problem with ADOM's gameplay, especially if going for an ultra ending.
I also received a quest from Yergius. Due to a bug which still hasn't been fixed this quest does not (always) show up on the quest screen. I have seen it before, so maybe it will appear under certain circumstances or maybe it only worked in a specific version before being broken again, I don't know. It is still possible to complete. I need to get successful pickpocket checks on around 28 (according to the guidebook) monsters. The reward is that Yergius will, for a fee, teach me several new skills. He will also make me a member of the thieves' guild which will give me better prices in the shop.
I'm done in Holeinthewall for now, back to the world map.
My next destination is the Small Cave. The Small Cave is a special dungeon. Monsters on the first level will be generated at twice the character's current level. If I were to first enter the Small Cave at level 10, it would be populated with dangerous level 20 monsters. Fortunately I'm still level 1 so this won't be an issue immediately. However, dungeons spawn new monsters fairly quickly. If I spend time in the Small Cave killing things and levelling up, new monsters will spawn at higher level. Once they get to 12+ they start to become quite dangerous. The Small Cave contains a guaranteed Waterproof Blanket which will protect items in my inventory from being soaked, rusted or otherwise damaged by exposure to water. This is very helpful as water traps are common throughout the game. Beyond the Small Cave lies the Unremarkable Dungeon. In spite of its name the Unremarkable Dungeon is also special. It generates more special dungeon features such as shops, forges, altars and vaults than regular dungeons. It also leads to a hidden town that I need to visit in order to get an ultra ending.
The Unremarkable Dungeon can be fairly tough for a new character, especially one with Healing. So my plan is to enter the Small Cave now while I'm still level 1 and generate the initial monster spawns at level 2. I'll then immediately leave and do the Elder's quest before I come back with Healing, hopefully get through the Small Cave without killing too many monsters (ideally grabbing my security blanket on the way), and then clear the Unremarkable Dungeon.
There are two guaranteed scrolls at the entrance to the Small Cave. I can't read them but they hint at how the cave works. Unlike most other scrolls they have no magical effects. I pick them up anyway. When ADOM decides to fuck with stuff in your inventory (such as when it hits you with a water trap) it randomly picks the items affected. These otherwise useless scrolls make great fodder for the angry RNG God. I now leave the Small Cave and head to the Village Dungeon.
Next time: I actually explore a dungeon in the third installment of this exciting LP!