Roguelike Comp #3: Spellunking - Character File Now Attached

[JAG]

Finally a truely dignified character will be played. No dealing with your body being twisted by chaos to the delight of some mad god nor flinging rocks at monsters and grubbing in the dirt to pick up fallen ammo. This time enemies will be smited by bolts of raw mana, blasts of fire, plumes of noxious fumes, icy daggers, and even harnessing the power of thunderstorms.

I introduce to you Alfwin the classical dark elf sorceror worshipping Eru Iluvatar.

This character will be exceeding difficult to melee even the simplest creatures, but on the other hand, your powers of magic will be formidable. Everyone will have a decision to make...do you choose to improve your sorcery skill, thus reducing the number of skill points you need to put into each magic school (more info below!) but accept reduced hit points, do you make the difficult decision as to which magic schools you want to focus on and which to give up, or do you take some middle ground? I expect as a result of this choice we should see a good variety of characters emerge. The winner of the competition will be the person with the most completed princess + lost sword quests (explained below).

Previous competitions:
#1 - Roguelike Comp #1-And Chaos Ensued - Front Office Football Central
#2 - Roguelike Comp #2: The Ord of the Ings variant - Front Office Football Central

Since this is a new variant, I'm providing *a lot* of information below, feel free to read none, some, or the whole thing as you wish.


Important differences between ToME and Z+Angband

1. You will not automatically improve in spellcasting power / combat prowess / magic device using / saving throws etc... each level you gain. Instead, every level you will gain 6 skill points which you can apply using the 'G' command. The number will look like this: 1.000 [0.900] The number to the left is your current skill in that ability, the number in []'s indicates how much skill you will gain by putting one skill point in that particular skill. Sorcerors have good skill multipliers for magic skills (unsurprisingly) and poor ones for combat skills. You will not be able to cast spells until your skill level equals the spell level. The maximum skill level you can obtain in any skill is 50. You can't apply skill points if they will put you over 4+current character level. You can also press 'N' to see a list of abilities you can purchase for a cost of skill points if you have the requisit level.

2. On the character screen ('C'), there are some settings you can adjust to take advantage of different situations you may encounter. By using 't' or 'T', you can toggle your tactical setting to allow you to gain some physical fighting ability at a cost of stealth, saving throw, disarming, and AC or (much more wisely), you can lower it to 'coward' to give you a boost to AC, saving throw, etc... at the cost of fighting ability. You can also use 'e' or 'E' to adjust your exploration setting which can allow you to move faster or slower at a cost of or improvement to stealth.

3. You almost never will be forced to travel in the wilderness. You can move to an overland view by pressing '<', which lets you travel quickly through the wilderness area. Pressing '>' will bring you to the town or dungeon in the area. If your light becomes faint or goes out, or if you are weak from hunger, you can't access the quick travel and will be brought to the regular view until you can alleviate your condition. DON'T walk on deep water squares (dark blue using tiles), there's a chance of getting ambushed by creatures and they're usually very tough unless you're high leveled. I don't believe you can get ambushed on another type of wilderness terain.

4. Beware of undead (especially Ringwraiths). You can obtain 'Black Breath' from physical combat with undead which causes you to rapidly lose stats unless you have sustains and even some permanent experience. It can only be cured by one artifact, sprigs of Athleas, or a shop in Gondolin that provides herbal healing for 10k gps.

5. Gods and piety. In this variant, there are a number of differents gods that can be worshipped and provide different benefits to their followers. Sometimes you have to pray ('p') to obtain the benefit. For Eru, as long as you are not praying, resting, or in overland mode, you will gain some piety every 100 game turns (I believe that's every 10 normal speed turns), ranging from 1-10 based on your current wisdom score. You lose piety if you kill a good aligned monster (novice priests, paladins, angels, etc...) or if you destroy Blessed weapons. You also have severe penalties if you wield a non-blessed edged weapon. On the plus side, you gain 1% to your maximum mana for every 10k piety you have (to a max of 35%), for every 100k piety you have you gain 1 wisdom to a max. of +3, some evil monster physical attacks will be blocked if you are praying and if you manage to get over 100k piety and are praying, you have a chance of being resurrected upon death.

6. Leveled monsters: In god quests (see below) and Angband (the hardest dungeon in the game, other than The Void / Nether Regions which we won't have to worry about), you may meet monsters which appear to be similar to those you've seen in other dungeons, but are actually 'leveled' beyond their base level. So for example, you may see a cave orc which usually is base level 8 (or whatever) and it will appear as level 55 instead. When a monster is leveled, it has a chance of gaining bonuses to AC, hps, physical attack strength, and (most dangerously) speed. A group of monsters that can be trivial normally could be exceedingly deadly in god quests and Angband. Keep that in mind in case you do god quests or make it as far as Angband.

7. Special levels: There are some special levels in certain dungeons where there are fixed guaranteed artifacts. You only have one chance to explore the level, if you recall or take the stairs, you never have another chance at it. On these dungeons, you are unable to teleport or use teleport-like abilities with the exception of one artifact that allows some teleport abilities, so you have to be extremely careful.

8. Rods: Unlike in Z, in ToME, you have to assemble rods for them to work. To do this, you need to have the rod tip that casts the effect you want (for example Rod of Trap Location (8 mana)) and a base rod (for example Copper Rod of Nothing (20/20)). Then you 'z'ap the rod tip of trap location and select the base rod to attach it to. Each zapping of the rod will take the mana listed from the tip out of the base rod. So if your tip requires 80 mana to cast and you put it on a rod base with only 50/50 mana, you won't be able to use the rod. Later on you will find more powerful rod tips and bases that contain more starting mana, as well as potentially some ego effects (for example, a 'rod of capacity' contains twice as much base mana).


Less important differences between Z+ and ToME

9. Quests are handled differently. 98 random quests will be provided upon character creation. There are two types of random quests:

a. Princess quests: You must rescue a princess from a number (ranging from 1 (unique monster) to 12+ in total) of out-of-depth monsters. These monsters are always awake, always together in the same general location, and can't be killed by friendly creatures. Upon successful killing of all quest monsters, the stairs to the next level down in the dungeon appear and you will have the option of 3 items that the princess will offer you, guaranteed to be at least exceptional (ego item) in quality and can potentially be an artifact (unfortunately sometimes you can receive a cursed artifact).

b. Lost Sword quests: An adventurer has lost a sword. To retrieve it, you must kill all of the listed type of out-of-depth monsters (usually between 8-20) all spread throughout the level, always awake and can't be killed by friendly creatures. If you successfully kill all the quest monsters, you will have the choice of having the adventurer join you (a terrible option that I would never recommend) or instead he will the option of improving one of four random skills, the equivalent of applying three skill points to that skill.
This can be a way of gaining a skill that is not typically allowed by the current class. In addition to random quests, there are also quests associated with the different towns. When you start out, you don't have a home in any of the towns, you need to complete the first quest at each location to obtain the house at the town.

10. God quests: Occasionally when gaining a level a voice from your god may tell you to find a piece of a relic in a lost temple and give you vague directions on how to get there. These temples are five large arena levels where you have to search every nook and cranny to find 'a piece of a relic', which looks like a couple of crossed sticks. If you find it and pick it up, Eru will grant you 2.5 points in the prayer skill, which will let you cast some special Eru spells (require piety to cast instead of mana) and also give you some skill in the spell schools of mana / divination (you will automatically use whichever is highest of either sorcery, mana, divination, or prayer (one point in prayer being worth 1/2 a level in mana and 2/3 a level in divination). You can get up to 5 of these god quests, the 5th one will give you 5 points in prayer. However if you leave the level the piece of the relic is on without picking it up, you will fail the quest and never receive any further god quests. If you don't plan on using the Eru spells or using prayer to level up mana + divination instead of either sorcery or those individual spell schools,
then you should probably leave the god quests alone since they contain leveled monsters (see above)

11. Mutations are permanent in ToME. Don't drink from potions of corruption or fight monsters with chaotic attacks (usually not a problem until you get fairly deep in the dungeon) unless you're willing to live with whatever you get from it and/or have chaos resistance.

12. Almost all uniques are guaranteed to drop at least good items, some uniques (Smeagol, Wormtongue, Smaug, etc...) are guaranteed to drop at least exceptional items. All Ringwraiths drop rings that drain experience and are heavily cursed, but have some good benefits as well (resists, pluses to stats / speed, etc...).

13. A number of side dungeons may contain market levels, which are like towns found in the middle of dungeons. The difference is that the stores may contain some outstanding equipment (one of the shops possible is a 'speed ring' store) you can't find in the towns other than rarely at the black market.

14. The 'feeling' you get on a level ("You have a good feeling about this level") is only given if you spend at least a certain amount of time on the previous level (unsure exactly how much, I usually rest 200 turns using the 'R' command before I go down if I'm not sure I spent enough time available, unless it's too dangerous to stay of course). If you don't spend that much time, you will get the 'Looks like any other level' message meaning you don't know how difficult the level is.

15. You can access fountains that contain magic liquids with the 'H' command. Don't drink directly from the fountain though as it might contain something you don't want to drink. The best option is to fill empty bottles with them, see if the potion is useful, and if so, drain the fountain using all the empty bottles you have. You can obtain empty bottles by 'eating' pints of fine wine sold in shops on the surface. This can be useful when visiting certain dungeons that contain double or quadruple fountains, especially if you find one with something valuable (32 potions of augmentation anyone?)

(continued next post)

Character link Updated

[JAG]

Basic skill information

Magic -- Increases maximum mana (dark elves get a bonus to this skill), increases ability to pseudo-ID potions, scrolls, rods, etc... Increasing sorcery, spell-power, magic device, or any of the magic schools listed below give a small boost to your magic skill.

Sorcery -- 1 point of skill in sorcery is equivalent to 1 point in each of air, fire, water, earth, mana, divination, temporal, conveyance, mind, meta, and nature. However, each point of skill in sorcery reduces your maximum hps by 1%.

Spell-Power -- Increases the power of your spells as if you had more levels in each of the primary magic skills (note, this doesn't work for letting you cast a level 35 spell earlier, but when you get to level 35, you'll be able to cast it as if you were higher leveled). Each point increases the spell's ability by 0.4 (so maxed at 50, you would have +20 levels to your spells). Makes your spells last longer, increases their damage output, radius of effect, etc..., however it also makes your spells cost more mana to cast.

Magic Device -- Reduces failure level from using wands / staves / rods, increases the spell power of using effects from wands and staves.

Fire -- Fireflash is a good killer in the mid-late game. As skill increases, so does the radius of effect and eventually it becomes holy fire damage (double damage to evil creatures). Very mana-intensive to cast though.

Mana -- Manathrust is your basic magic missile spell that gets fairly powerful as your skill in mana increases.

Earth -- Dig is a useful spell for weak (strength-wise) classes like sorcerors. Stone Prison is very useful for disrupting line-of-sight (very good against summoners).

Conveyance -- Gotta be able to teleport away from danger. I have a fondness for the probability travel spell in this spell school.

Divination -- Extremely important to know what's coming, to detect traps, and so on. Lousy pseudo-ID means you'll need some sources of ID for equipment too.

Air -- Noxious cloud is a good killer in the early-mid game, casts a cloud that stays in place and does damage to any monster that enters the area of effect for a number of turns.

This is just a smattering of info, you can find much more info on skills and spells at the spoiler links below.


General Hints and Tips

1. In the early game, set your tactics to coward and your exploration to running. Coward gives a lot of benefits and the negatives don't apply so long as you don't use hand-to-hand combat (and you shouldn't). Running will give you horrible stealth and ability to find secret doors, but the +4 speed will let you escape monsters pretty easily if you get in trouble. If you're at a location where you think there's a secret door you can switch tactics to slug-like temporarily. Later on stealth will be more important than the +4 speed.

2. Keep an eye on those book stores. You're only as strong as the books you carry. Later on there are more powerful spellbooks you can find in the dungeon with many spells in them. Beware of fire attacks as they can occasionally cause your books to burn up unless you have fire immunity or permanent + temporary fire resistance (permanent - on equipment, temporary - cast from a spell or from a potion).

3. Some items and artifacts allow you to inscribe a spell on them. Once done, this is permanent and cannot be changed. This can be useful because equipped items can't be stolen by a thief, burnt to a crisp by a fire-breathing dragon, or spread around the dungeon with a 'scatter items' trap. It's generally recommended to only inscribe spells absolutely essential for survival in case one of the above happens to you.

4. The random quests needed for victory are only in the following dungeons: Barrow Downs (lvl 1-10), Mirkwood (lvl 11-33?), Mordor (lvl 34-66?), and Angband (lvl 67-127). You may find it helpful to visit other dungeons however. The Sandworm cave is a very good one for spell casters to find books / stat potions for example. The special level on level 21 in the Orc Cave contains a couple of good artifacts for beginning characters.

5. Mana is life. A spell caster with no mana is close to dead in the water. Don't let yourself get in that situation. Seriously think about running when your mana is lower than half your maximum unless you have wands / staves / rods to help you deal with the situation. Rest to refill your mana when it's safe to do so so you're ready to face your adversaries.

6. In general, be very very careful. This character doesn't have nearly the hps the previous characters have had and due to the reliance on mana, it's easier to find yourself in over your head. Detect frequently so you know what's coming and don't blunder into a trap, be ready and able to teleport out at any time.

7. Flying or treewalking is very useful in Mirkwood (and dangerous if your enemies have it), in some dungeons (Moria, Sacred Land of Mountains), climbing is very useful to have. Watch out for a special dungeon you can access on Mirkwood lvl 25 where the walls move.


Links:

ToME 2.3.5 for windows -- http://www.t-o-m-e.net/dl/win/tome-235-win.zip

ToME Strategy Guide -- http://wiki.t-o-m-e.net/Spoilers/Lor...Strategy_Guide (tons of great tips in general regarding roguelikes and ToME in particular, if you visit only one of these links, make it this one)

Map -- http://www.killerbunnies.org/angband...abeled-2.2.png (what the entire map looks like, where the different towns and dungeons are)

Game documentation -- http://www.t-o-m-e.net/docs.php?tome_current=0 (or in-game help)

Spell spoilers -- http://www.killerbunnies.org/angband/spell-230.html (detailed information about what each spell does, not very easy to read but comprehensive reference)

Skill spoilers -- http://www.killerbunnies.org/angband/skill-230.html (detailed information about what raising each skill does, not very easy to read but comprehensive reference)

Even more information -- http://wiki.t-o-m-e.net/FrontPage (tons of spoiler information available on the different dungeons, fates, Ringwraiths, etc....)


If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm sure I've forgotten something in this giant post.


Character link - [to be posted Memorial Day, will bump thread when it's posted]

[Malificent]

This is going to be fun!

[path12]

Nice. Played around with ToME slightly over the weekend. I don't think I've ever played strictly a magic user before.

[Sporkimata]

Was gonna ask for the player file but finally noticed it up above not ready till weekend. Doh!

[Thomkal]

I've practiced a bit with a dark elf sorceror in anticipation of the comp. Definitely a different kind of playing style is needed. I mean he doesn't even have a weapon, and playing coward/running is also very different from the norm. Not a complaint, just an observation.

It took me three tries to get a character past the first quest on the first level-had Wormtongue first (got killed by a kobold archer before I got to him), baby green dragons-didn't see them before I got in the LOS-one breath-dead, and finally got by some war bears. But had to do the level several times (and the thieves quest) before I felt like I could take them on. Then had a choice of only weapons from the princess. Got a cutlass of slay demon that at least got me a nice chunk of change.

Can I make a suggestion to cut the quests in half or a third? Having to do one every level is a bit much I think, especially get a hard one to begin with.

Do you macro your spells with this guy JAG? Don't normally macro, but all the buttons you have to hit to cast Manathrust is driving me crazy. Tried to macro it using the example in the help files, but didn't work. Suggestions?

Got my first god quest with this guy, and would like to head off to try it, but not sure how difficult it will be to find with the vague directions and a blackened out world map.

What can I copy spells to? don't want to carry all those spellbooks around if I can help it

Helpful tip: You might want to put a few points into prayer so you can get the Eru-worshipping only spells of See the Music and Listen to the Music for detection and ID help.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

It took me three tries to get a character past the first quest on the first level-had Wormtongue first (got killed by a kobold archer before I got to him), baby green dragons-didn't see them before I got in the LOS-one breath-dead, and finally got by some war bears. But had to do the level several times (and the thieves quest) before I felt like I could take them on. Then had a choice of only weapons from the princess. Got a cutlass of slay demon that at least got me a nice chunk of change.

Can I make a suggestion to cut the quests in half or a third? Having to do one every level is a bit much I think, especially get a hard one to begin with.

I'm going to get around that by creating the character file, saving it to another folder, and doing the first couple levels of the Barrow-Downs to make sure there's no ridiculous quest in the first two levels. If the quests are just outrageous (with a different character I ran, I had some invisible monsters that drained dexterity with no see invisible...that's what I would consider ridiculous), I'll make a new character file. Because quest monsters are always out of depth and if it's a princess quest they're in a big pack, it'd be good to level up on other level 1 creatures first (detect monsters is your friend). The hardest part of a sorcerer's life is the first few levels, after you're level 10-20ish, you should be able to kill many things quickly and should be easily able to see anything coming at you before it could be a danger so long as you keep detecting and have see invisible. Also, because quest monsters are out-of-depth, they're usually very good exp for your level and so killing them will level you up quickly and better prepare you for quests on level 2-10...if you don't die of course.

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Do you macro your spells with this guy JAG? Don't normally macro, but all the buttons you have to hit to cast Manathrust is driving me crazy. Tried to macro it using the example in the help files, but didn't work. Suggestions?

I haven't run a sorcerer for a while, but when I did, yes, I set up F1 for detect monsters or manathrust (can't recall which), F2 for detect traps, etc... Thanks for bringing that up, I'll set up an example in the above threads because even though you eventually learn to do it quickly, it gets frustrating not using macros because you might pick up a new spellbook or power from the lost sword quests, and then your 'm-a-a-a' becomes 'm-b-a-a' and you lose a round attacking something because you forgot.

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Got my first god quest with this guy, and would like to head off to try it, but not sure how difficult it will be to find with the vague directions and a blackened out world map.

The world map isn't dangerous except for deep water squares which you should avoid. The only danger is running out of food or light while you wander around (or walking into an overly tough dungeon). However, unless you have strong kill spells or decent stealth, and very good detection abilities (potions of enlightenment or high level vision will let you scout the entire level and easily see if the relic is on the level you're on), I'd skip it for now. The leveled monsters can be very difficult and if you don't have good detection abilities, you could potentially be exploring every nook and cranny of five full arena levels looking for the relic. You can also get insanely lucky of course. I've been running a dwarf assassin (I know, weird mix) and the first quest I had, the relic was 3 steps from the opening set of stairs.

Originally Posted by Thomkal

What can I copy spells to? don't want to carry all those spellbooks around if I can help it

There aren't a lot of items that let you do so, so you're going to have to carry around lots of spellbooks (the early spellbooks other than beginning cantrips only contain 1 spell each, there are also spellbooks that have 3 spells, and the highest level ones contain up to 6 spells...on the other hand, you don't need to tote around tons of rods like warrior classes do). Around dungeon level 10-20ish, you'll start finding rings and amulets of spells that let you inscribe spells to them (if you inscribe high level spells, that's a good source of cash too), there are also mage staves that occasionally let you inscribe spells, and some artifacts also allow you to.

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Helpful tip: You might want to put a few points into prayer so you can get the Eru-worshipping only spells of See the Music and Listen to the Music for detection and ID help.

One thing I like about this character (and ToME in general) is there are lots of different ways to go. That's definitely one of them...the Eru spells are pretty good for detection / ID.

EDIT: Also, glad you're having a chance to try them out. I think it takes a bit of practice because it's quite a bit different not using a weapon to kill things at all. Their firepower and flexibility at higher levels is downright deadly though, even though they remain fragile due to lack of hps.

[Thomkal]

Well went down to 100' for the first time and got another princess quest-kill baby blue dragons. Thought about just going back up a level because I didn't think I'd survive, but figured I'd see just how good my manathrust spell had become. Found the dragons and was able to take them on one at a time and just 2 or 3 at a time. Could rest between the groups. Manathrust rules! One shot did enough so they ran away and didn't breathe, the second killed them. Picked up a couple levels and the princess gave me an armor option at this time-cord armor which turned out to be Elven Cord Armor (6, +7) which gives +2 to stealth and other things when I get an *ID* scroll.

Another helpful tip: Remember that your race gives you a special magic missile ability. It's less reliably cast than manathrust, and does less damage, but its also cost less spell points to use and is good for those mushrooms, molds and other weak mobs you find on the first few levels and don't want to waste a manathrust on.

Another helpful tip-things can and will attack you through the trees that form many of the "walls" in the Barrow-Downs and elsewhere.

[dwardzala]

I have been playing around ToME quite a bit. A very different experience than Z+angband. I like the skill systems and the quest are kinda cool. There is definitely an abundance of ego items, at level 14 I had some 34K AU just from selling weapons that I got from the princess. I am not sure I like the way the spellbooks are handled (1 spell per book beyond the basic book).

I do have a couple of questions - how far away are the nearest towns to Bree? and is there a "world map"? M doesn't seem to give you a very large view.

Anyhow looking forward to the new character.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by dwardzala

I am not sure I like the way the spellbooks are handled (1 spell per book beyond the basic book).

It gets much better at higher levels with 3-6 spells per book.

Originally Posted by dwardzala

I do have a couple of questions - how far away are the nearest towns to Bree? and is there a "world map"? M doesn't seem to give you a very large view.

Type '<' in a town or non-dungeon for much faster overland travel (just be sure to bring lots of food and fuel for your light source). Typing that command will give you a view of the world. There's also a link to the full world map in the list of links I provided above.[/quote]


The character file is ready to go and I will post it fairly early tomrrow. The very first one I created had a pair of very doable quests for level 1+2, I didn't explore further as Alfiwn I had a tragic death when I left my finger on unlocking the door and took a few swings at a Novice Warrior. I believe not only do you need to copy the character file to the folder but also the global.svg file...which may mess up other characters you might be running. It might be best to have a separate ToME folder for the competition purposes to avoid overwriting other characters you might be playing (fortunately it doesn't take up much disk space).

[JAG]

Alright, character + global.svg files uploaded to the first post. Let me know if it works and good luck to everyone. Feel free to ask questions in this post if anyone has any. The comp will run until June 8th at 11:59pm.

[Thomkal]

I created a whole new folder seperate from my current TOME folder and put the character file in lib/save. You will have to type the name of the character on the load screen to get the character to load the first time then you will see it on the load screen like normal after that. I did not find a global.svg file to replace in the new folder, where should that file be?

[Thomkal]

JAG,

don't forget to give an example of the macro to create for manathrust please.

[Thomkal]

I see there a few options like monsters learn from their mistakes set to no, we should all probably set them one way or the other to be fair. Okay to set generate dungeons with aligned rooms to no?

[JAG]

global.svg should go in the same /save folder as the save file. I didn't copy whatever would've had the options the same for everyone, but I do prefer 'monsters learn from their mistakes' and 'generate dungeons with aligned rooms' to yes personally. I don't think the second one makes a huge difference except maybe slightly lowers the chance for vaults with it set to yes.

[JAG]

The best way to set up a macro for manathrust would be typing exactly the following keys (except the "'s):

"$[Esc][Esc][Esc]m@Cast a spell[enter]@manathrust[enter]*t$"

then when it asks you for a trigger, use whatever key you want to map it to (but don't map it to something that's used for something else like G for example, I used F1 when I fiddled around with it just now, control+something can work too though there are some control+commands out there). After you save it, your trigger will manathrust the closest monster to you. If you want more control over it, leave out the *t at the end of the above command.

Let me know if that works for you.

[Thomkal]

Successfully completed the first level quest-had to decide between two of the rewards, leather scale mail and a hard leather cap. Chose the cap because it was lighter and thought the scale mail might be just a resist type. Cap turned out to be a Hard Leather Cap of Regeneration (2, +3) which is pretty nice. Up to Level 4 after that first quest, following the same strategy as with my practice character-pump up prayer for the Eru spells along with sorcery, spell-power, and magic device. Probably going to try the thieves quest next if I can get some healing potions.

Edit: don't know if the rewards will be the same for everyone, so I'll shut up about them till one of you finish the first quest.

[Thomkal]

That's cool on the options JAG, whatever you want since you're running it. Just checked and there is a global.svg file in that folder now but it wasn't there before, so just going to keep it.

tried the macro (using Capital letter S instead of $ for the roguelike keyset users amongst us) it works for me as written, tried to leave out the *t and it didn't look like the spell went anywhere. Thanks!

[dwardzala]

My first quest reward was a choice between a mace, arrows or bolts. I took the mace. Hopefully, i can get some good cash in town for it.

[JAG]

Nice reward Thomkal, regen for a sorc is awesome since you gain your SPs back that much faster. I'm pretty sure it's random for everyone, but I guess we'll see. Glad to know the macro worked (forgot about the roguelike keyset, I never learned on that so I don't know it), I still have to look into it to figure out the other way to do macros, but the $ (or S) is pretty easy since it just mimics whatever keys you use. One thing you have to watch for with setting macros is making sure the buffer is cleared when you start with it which is why I suggested putting the three 'Esc's at the start of the command, otherwise your first button might just clear a prompt and end up doing a completely different command. Not sure why it didn't work without *t...again, I'm going to have to look into it. Haven't even had a chance to play today, busy with some chores and have some folks coming over tonight.

[Thomkal]

well the macro worked and then it didn't, crashed the game at one point, so I'm just gonna stick with the old m-b-a-a for now.

[dwardzala]

Well - I guess I won't find out what that mace is worth since a giant slug did me in.

The first level of BD that I got was the big level with the "buildings" - not a very friendly first level, especially when all you have is a torch.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by dwardzala

My first quest reward was a choice between a mace, arrows or bolts. I took the mace. Hopefully, i can get some good cash in town for it.

sucks when you don't get an item you can potentially use. thanks for letting me know what items you had a choice of. first level quest was pretty easy, the second was a bit more challenging, but prevailed-had a choice of a weapon and two armors-took the lighter armor and got a Paper Armor of Resist Cold (4,+5). Did the Thieves Quest too and got the first god quest there-level 8 now and will probably wait till level 10-12 to try that.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by dwardzala

Well - I guess I won't find out what that mace is worth since a giant slug did me in.

The first level of BD that I got was the big level with the "buildings" - not a very friendly first level, especially when all you have is a torch.

oof on the death and the first level, better luck next time.

[dwardzala]

Arwin II is fairing a bit better. Got hard leather armor of resist fire on the first quest, and a choice of weapons on the second - ended up with a sword of some kinda slaying, but got 10K for it so, I now have some spell books (reveal ways and indentify). The thieves quest was cake. Up to level 7 now and going back to BD to get a couple more levels.

[Malificent]

JAG, do you use the DVG tiles or the in-game ones? if DVG, how so?

[JAG]

I'm using the in-game tiles, I think called Adam Bolt's tiles but not 100% sure, and using big tiles as well.

I'm off to a glorious start. My rewards in the Barrow Downs included artifact gloves (nothing that special but better than what I had), a mage staff of +40% mana, and the Cloak of Thenogil (sp?) which gives see invisible + free action. I'm going to trek to the Sandworm Caves which is a bit risky (DL 22-30, the worms are mostly easy, but I'm lacking some basic resists and a means of crowd control to handle all the breeders there), but can be highly rewarding with stat potions and higher level spellbooks.

I also decided to forego the sorcery skill as I've never tried that approach and build up the schools individually.

[Thomkal]

Very interested to see how that turns out for you JAG. I mean the character is a sorceror, aren't they supposed to use sorcery? That's some great stuff you found there so far.

[Thomkal]

found one of the various parchments that have words from various languages on them-you can engrave the floor with some of the words for various benefits-see the spoiler menu under the help menu then floor inscriptions to see what words you need to use. Don't use the quotes but do type upper case/lower case as they appear on your parchment. I found the dwarven one which has a pretty nice help for us weak sorcerors.

[Malificent]

Heh, died at level 17 - got way too addicted to doing a quest well above my level and the last room caused me pain and death. Take two coming up.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Very interested to see how that turns out for you JAG. I mean the character is a sorceror, aren't they supposed to use sorcery? That's some great stuff you found there so far.

So far so good. I've been raising mana and spell power for killing ability, raised divination to allow vision to fully enlighten levels (not to mention good long range monster and trap detect, plus identify), earth for dig, and temporal for speed. I've found some good spellbooks and stats are slowly rising. I took out the dungeon guardian (I was overprepared...turned out to be a pushover) and picked up Soft Armor of the Sandworm (+5 stealth / strength, some resists). I've also found the good ol Phial (be sure you ID before equipping it, there's a really nasty cursed Phial in this version). My closest calls have been forgetting to detect traps twice and got hit for over 3/4ths my hps (one nexus ball took me from 179 hps to 26 hps...oops).

Probably will play around a little longer with the worms (would like to pick up something that allows flying to better handle Mirkwood) and then move to Mirkwood to polish off the quests there.

Sorry to hear Malificent, good luck with round 2.

[Malificent]

Originally Posted by JAG

Sorry to hear Malificent, good luck with round 2.

No worries - I was totally playing with fire. I'm mostly trying to get adjusted to everything and using everything as a learning experience - I've had a steeper learning curve with this interface than I remember from when I first learned Zangband.

[Thomkal]

Up to Level 16 with my guy, did the first Eru quest-had to go down to the bottom level to find the relic which was a bit of a pain in the ass but did get me several levels. Tried to do as the "experts" suggested and just go back and redo the first level, but after three tries no relic, and those levels are awfully boring. Back in the Barrow-Downs now looking to finish that off soon. Latest Princess quest rewards were a Platinum Rod Tip of Acid Balls-if only I had a rod for it to go on, and Cambeleg-an artifact leather gloves that give +2 to STR and CON plus free action.

[Sporkimata]

Well made it to 22. Here is the dump. I think I'll have to take a break for the evening.

[ToME 2.3.5 Character Sheet]

Name : Alfwin Age 86 Str: 5 6
Sex : Female Height 43 INT: 26
Race : Dark-Elf Weight 99 WIS: 18
Class : Sorceror Social Class 9 DEX: 19
Body : Player CON: 12
God : Eru Iluvatar CHR: 14

+ To Melee Hit -10 Level 22 Hit Points -19/ 120
+ To Melee Damage -13 Experience 12277 Spell Points 245/ 252
+ To Ranged Hit -10 Max Exp 12277 Sanity 148/ 148
+ To Ranged Damage 0 Exp to Adv. 15120 Piety 19924
AC 8+49 Gold 112048 Speed Slow (-9)

(Miscellaneous Abilities)
Fighting : Very Bad Perception : Very Bad Blows/Round: 1
Bows/Throw : Very Bad Searching : Very Bad Shots/Round: 1
Saving Throw: Excellent Disarming : Fair Mel.dmg/Rnd: nil!
Stealth : Bad Magic Device: Superb Infra-Vision: 50 feet
Tactic: coward
Explor: running
(Character Background)
You are one of several children of a Dark Elven Warrior.
You have black eyes, curly black hair and a very dark
complexion.



[Miscellaneous information]

Joke monsters: OFF
Maximize mode: ON
Preserve Mode: ON
Autoscum: ON
Small Levels: ON
Arena Levels: ON
Always unusual rooms: OFF
Persistent Dungeons: OFF

Recall Depth:
Barrow-Downs: Level 10 (500')
Orc Cave: Level 14 (700')

Your body was a Player.
You have defeated 1521 enemies.
You have completed ten princess quests.
You haven't completed a single lost sword quest.
You found none of the relic pieces.

You started your adventure the 43rd Yavie of the 2890th year of the third age.
You ended your adventure the 2nd Enderi of the 2890th year of the third age.
Your adventure lasted 13 days.

Your Attributes:
You are dead, killed by a Novice paladin on level 14 of Orc Cave.
You can cast magic missiles.
Your eyes are sensitive to infrared light.
You can see invisible creatures.
Your appetite is small.
You have normal luck.
You are resistant to acid.
You are resistant to lightning.
You are resistant to fire.
You are resistant to cold.
You are resistant to bright light.
You are resistant to darkness.
You are resistant to blasts of shards.
Your intelligence is sustained.
Your intelligence is affected by your equipment.
Your dexterity is affected by your equipment.
Your stealth is affected by your equipment.
Your digging ability is affected by your equipment.


adefkmnopsuxz{|@
Add Int : ..3.............
Add Wis : ...............+
Add Dex : ..3.............
Mul Mana : ...............+
Add Stea. : ...........2....
Add Tun.. : ..............1.
Sust Str : ................
Sust Int : ..+.............
Sust Wis : ................
Sust Dex : ................
Sust Con : ................
Sust Chr : ................
Invisible : ................
Mul life : ................
Sens Fire : ................
Reflect : ................
Free Act : ................
Hold Life : ................
Res Acid : ......+.........
Res Elec : ......+.........
Res Fire : ..+...+.........
Res Cold : ......+.........
Res Pois : ................
Res Fear : ................
Res Light : ..+.............
Res Dark : ...............+
Res Blind : ................
Res Conf : ................
Res Sound : ................
Res Shard : .......+........
Res Neth : ................
Res Nexus : ................
Res Chaos : ................
Res Disen : ................
See Invis : ...............+
Digestion : ..+.............
Cursed : ......+....+....

Skills (points left: 6)
. Archery 01.000 [0.000]
- Sneakiness 01.800 [0.900]
. Stealth 03.000 [0.400]
. Disarming 00.500 [0.000]
- Magic 26.848 [1.200]
. Magic-Device 24.500 [1.000]
. Spell-power 08.400 [0.600]
. Sorcery 12.900 [0.700]
. Mana 18.000 [0.900]
. Fire 00.000 [1.000]
. Water 00.000 [1.000]
. Air 04.000 [1.000]
. Earth 00.000 [1.000]
. Meta 00.000 [1.000]
. Conveyance 14.000 [1.000]
. Divination 14.000 [1.000]
. Temporal 06.000 [1.000]
. Mind 00.000 [1.000]
. Nature 00.000 [1.000]
. Necromancy 00.000 [0.900]
. Runecraft 00.000 [0.900]
. Thaumaturgy 00.000 [0.900]
- Spirituality 11.550 [0.550]
. Prayer 00.000 [0.500]
. Monster-lore 00.000 [0.500]

Abilities
* Perfect casting


[Character Equipment]

a) (nothing)
d) (nothing)
e) The Ring of Caran (+3)
It increases your intelligence and dexterity by 3. It sustains your
intelligence. It provides resistance to fire and light. It slows
your metabolism. It cannot be harmed by acid, cold, lightning or
fire.
You bought it from the Magic shop.
f) (nothing)
k) (nothing)
m) a Brass Lantern (with 986 turns of light)
It provides light (radius 2) when fueled. It cannot be harmed by
fire.
n) a Soft Leather Armour of Resistance [4,+19] {cursed}
It provides resistance to acid, electricity, fire and cold. It is
cursed. It cannot be harmed by acid, cold, lightning or fire.
You found it in the remains of a Snotling on level 6 of Barrow-Downs.
o) a Mouse Fur of Protection [1,+12]
It provides resistance to shards. It cannot be harmed by acid, cold,
lightning or fire.
It was given to you as a reward.
p) (nothing)
s) (nothing)
u) (nothing)
x) a Pair of Hard Leather Boots of Stealth [3,+1] (+2 to stealth) {cursed}
It increases your stealth by 2. It is cursed.
It was given to you as a reward.
z) (nothing)
{) (nothing)
|) a Shovel (+1)


[Character Inventory]

a) a Book of Beginner Cantrips

b) a Spellbook of Teleport Away

c) a Spellbook of Noxious Cloud

d) 20 Rations of Food

e) 7 Flasks of oil

f) 13 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds

g) a Scroll of Aggravate Monster
h) 7 Scrolls of Word of Recall

i) 26 Scrolls of Identify

j) a Scroll of *Identify*

k) a Staff of Teleportation[1|20] (4 charges)

l) a Small Metal Shield [3,+0]
m) a Main Gauche (1d5) (+2,+7)
n) a Cutlass (1d7) (+0,+0)
o) a Scimitar (2d5) (+0,+0)
p) a Trident (1d8) (+0,+0)
q) (nothing)
r) (nothing)
s) (nothing)
t) (nothing)
u) (nothing)
v) (nothing)
w) (nothing)


[Home Inventory - Bree ]

a) a Rune [Chaos]
b) 2 Rations of Food

c) 2 Flasks of oil

d) a Potion of Salt Water
e) a Potion of Detect Invisible
f) a Potion of Restore Dexterity

g) a Wooden Rod of Nothing (10/10)
h) a Wand of Noxious Cloud[1|26] (0 charges)


[The Mathom-house Inventory - Bree ]

a) a Parchment - Khuzdul - The Hidden Tongue of the Dwarves

[JAG]

Thomkal, man could I go for those gloves you got.

Sorry Spork, good run getting to lvl 22 though. The biggest thing that stood out to me was "Speed Slow (-9)" You never ever want speed to be that low, that's even more important with a low hp character. There are way too many monsters that can instakill you by getting in 2-4 turns (or even more) for every 1 of your own turns. As a sorcerer you're going to have low strength which means you really have to be discerning with what you have in your inventory since anything over 120% of your capacity starts to slow you down. So instead of carrying rations of food (1lb each) carry scrolls of satisfy hunger (0.5lb each), try to find a spellbook with Identify in it, don't bring too many of each scroll with you, etc... You were carrying some heavy weapons with no bonuses either, no reason for that...ID anything heavy on the ground (in fact I wouldn't even bother IDing stuff you'll never use like weapons an Eru-worshipping sorc can't use, you're going to want a mage staff).

I blew through Mirkwood this evening (the Gondolin house quest dropped a ring of flying, that plus high level divination abilities, manathrust, and spell power made it a breeze. There are a lot of lost sword quests there which are nice for boosting your skills (got three boosts to conveyance, one to divination, two to stealth, and one to spirituality). I found a simply beautiful random artifact armor, immunity to acid + cold, res nether, and +20% to hps. Up to a whopping 300 hps now. I'm tempted to push on with Mordor and see what comes up quest-wise, but I'm going to sleep on that one.

[Thomkal]

Sorry JAG, the gloves aren't for sale---I'll trade them for a nice mage staff though. Yeah was pretty happy to get them, the + to strength and con are much needed plus the free action. Looks like you are having a great run with your character-keep it up!

To follow up on JAG's advice spork, if you go the Eru-worship route like I do you will get spells amongst others that will eventually ID and then later on ID ALL items on the level. another that will *ID* everything in your pack, and another that will serve a scroll of magic mapping, and eventually cure blindness and see the whole level. There's a fourth spell that's a great protection/anti-summoning spell as well. As for food you should have access to Ent's Potion in your beginner's cantrip book that will take care of your food situation forever plus give you heroism if you need it once you get it to a high enough level.

That noxious cloud spell is pretty neat huh?

[Malificent]

Alfwin VIII is moving along okay - nowhere near JAG and Thomkal though.

Every now and again, I attempt to go looking for that mushrooms quest at the beginning, and I've got no clue where to look - I don't see it in the wilderness where I expect it to be.

[Thomkal]

Well scratch that about the mage staff-Just found a Mage Staff of Spell (+8, +12) in the Black Market for 2400 gold, which is a bargain. Has two Rune spells attached to it-not exactly sure what they do-one is a Knowledge/Armgeddon rune spell that seems to do some kind of an attack, but for no/little damage, and the other is a Gravity/Self rune spell that looks like a phase door kinda spell.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Malificent

Alfwin VIII is moving along okay - nowhere near JAG and Thomkal though.

Every now and again, I attempt to go looking for that mushrooms quest at the beginning, and I've got no clue where to look - I don't see it in the wilderness where I expect it to be.

Mali, just head west out of bree until the map changes, you will hear dogs barking and then when you look at the map you will see a field in the middle of it. Hint-you may find it a lot easier to do this quest if you wait to kill Smeagol first.

[Thomkal]

wait a minute, Alfwin VIII? Having some trouble there Mali? Actually I lost three or four right at the beginning when I tested the char before the comp started. Does take some getting used to it doesn't it?

[Malificent]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

wait a minute, Alfwin VIII? Having some trouble there Mali? Actually I lost three or four right at the beginning when I tested the char before the comp started. Does take some getting used to it doesn't it?

Yeah, I had a couple losses because I attempted to do a quest way out of my range - first I thought I could handle it and died. 2nd time I knew I couldn't handle it, but figured I could jaunt in and out. And I died. The 3rd time, I got in, was planning to get out and realized it was one of those quests where you don't get a staircase out until you finish the quest. Doh!

At least one character death to the 2nd level princess quest (whatshername the Queen) and Alfwin VII died stupidly when I was going to get my princess reward for the 5th or 6th level and had less HP than I realized and died crossing the lava pit.

Alfwin VIII is doing ok - it was just very slow doing the first couple of princess quests because I couldn't find the damn room and would have to go back up and reset the level. I did that 4 freaking times with Alfwin VIII - the perception on this char sucks.

The funny part is that despite all these deaths, I still feel that a mage character in this variant is easier than a mage in Z+Angband. I'm just a moron.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Malificent

Yeah, I had a couple losses because I attempted to do a quest way out of my range - first I thought I could handle it and died. 2nd time I knew I couldn't handle it, but figured I could jaunt in and out. And I died. The 3rd time, I got in, was planning to get out and realized it was one of those quests where you don't get a staircase out until you finish the quest. Doh!

At least one character death to the 2nd level princess quest (whatshername the Queen) and Alfwin VII died stupidly when I was going to get my princess reward for the 5th or 6th level and had less HP than I realized and died crossing the lava pit.

Alfwin VIII is doing ok - it was just very slow doing the first couple of princess quests because I couldn't find the damn room and would have to go back up and reset the level. I did that 4 freaking times with Alfwin VIII - the perception on this char sucks.

The funny part is that despite all these deaths, I still feel that a mage character in this variant is easier than a mage in Z+Angband. I'm just a moron.

yeah I had one of those lava pits to cross too. Kept trying to phase door on to the safe tiles with no luck. Was real worried with my low hp's that I couldn't make it across one light and one dark lava tile, but made it losing about half my hp's in the process. And Vort, the Kobold Queen worried me too when I saw her as the quest for that level, but two or three 'thrusts did her in thankfully.

I agree with you that its easier to play a mage in this variant-so many options are available to you spell wise with all the various spell books you can get, plus spells that rapidly improve with damage/duration/distance. But I think it's going to get tougher later on with so many things that can kill with one breath/spell/distance attack if we don't have the right protection up.

[dwardzala]

Originally Posted by Malificent

Yeah, I had a couple losses because I attempted to do a quest way out of my range - first I thought I could handle it and died. 2nd time I knew I couldn't handle it, but figured I could jaunt in and out. And I died. The 3rd time, I got in, was planning to get out and realized it was one of those quests where you don't get a staircase out until you finish the quest. Doh!

At least one character death to the 2nd level princess quest (whatshername the Queen) and Alfwin VII died stupidly when I was going to get my princess reward for the 5th or 6th level and had less HP than I realized and died crossing the lava pit.

Alfwin VIII is doing ok - it was just very slow doing the first couple of princess quests because I couldn't find the damn room and would have to go back up and reset the level. I did that 4 freaking times with Alfwin VIII - the perception on this char sucks.

The funny part is that despite all these deaths, I still feel that a mage character in this variant is easier than a mage in Z+Angband. I'm just a moron.

To fix the perception problem, get the Reveal Ways spell book - reveals secrect doors and stairs. Its a necessity with the terrible perception this character has. And what's with that - I thought Elves were supposed to have great perception?

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

As for food you should have access to Ent's Potion in your beginner's cantrip book that will take care of your food situation forever plus give you heroism if you need it once you get it to a high enough level.

Oops, you're right, there was no need to carry food around as it was.

Regarding the lava pits around exits, try and find a spellbook with Elemental Shield which gives temporary resistance to the four basic elements. Along with permanent resistance (which presumably you have), you can walk across with minimal damage plus not risk losing any scrolls / books to fire damage. Even if you can't make it across the lava, I think once the quest is complete you can go up and then back down the stairs and not have to do it again, though you miss out on the reward doing things that way.

Originally Posted by dwardzala

To fix the perception problem, get the Reveal Ways spell book - reveals secrect doors and stairs. Its a necessity with the terrible perception this character has. And what's with that - I thought Elves were supposed to have great perception?

It's a result of the skill based system unlike in Z+ where it was tied more to race and class. You can get good perception if you invest in Sneakiness, but of course in my opinion that's a terrible waste of skill points for any character. Your way or else getting a good digger / Dig spell are pretty much the only solutions I can think of.

Re: the town quests...for the most part, I don't find the rewards worth the risks involved for many of them. The Gondolin quests probably give the best rewards, the second one is against a pretty dangerous opponent though so I'm not touching that for a while longer.

[Thomkal]

hey JAG (and the rest of you),

Take a look at my character here-just finished the Barrow-Downs, where would you go next with him?

  [ToME 2.3.5 Character Sheet]
 Name  : Alfwin                 Age                 86       STR:      8       
 Sex   : Male                   Height              56       INT:     23       
 Race  : Dark-Elf               Weight              99       WIS:     17       
 Class : Sorceror               Social Class         9       DEX:     16       
 Body  : Player                                              CON:     14       
 God   : Eru Iluvatar                                        CHR:     14       
                                                                               
 + To Melee Hit           4 Level             19    Hit Points       99/    99 
 + To Melee Damage        7 Experience      7290    Spell Points    180/   180 
 + To Ranged Hit         16 Max Exp         7290    Sanity          119/   119 
 + To Ranged Damage       0 Exp to Adv.     7920    Piety                 5477 
   AC                 11+51 Gold           65454    Speed            Fast (+4) 
                                                                               
                         (Miscellaneous Abilities)                             
 Fighting    : Bad          Perception  : Very Bad     Blows/Round:  1         
 Bows/Throw  : Fair         Searching   : Very Bad     Shots/Round:  2         
 Saving Throw: Excellent    Disarming   : Poor         Mel.dmg/Rnd:  1d4+7     
 Stealth     : Bad          Magic Device: Superb       Infra-Vision: 70 feet   
                                                       Tactic:       coward    
                                                       Explor:       running   
                         (Character Background)                                
          You are one of several children of a Dark Elven Warrior.             
          You have black eyes, curly black hair and a very dark                
          complexion.                                                          
                                                                               

  [Miscellaneous information]
 Joke monsters:        OFF
 Maximize mode:        ON
 Preserve Mode:        ON
 Autoscum:             ON
 Small Levels:         ON
 Arena Levels:         ON
 Always unusual rooms: OFF
 Persistent Dungeons:  OFF
 Recall Depth:
        Barrow-Downs: Level 10 (500')
        A lost temple: Level 7 (350')
 Your body is a Player.
 You are currently in the town of Bree.
 You have defeated 1093 enemies.
 You have completed ten princess quests.
 You haven't completed a single lost sword quest.
 You found 1 of the relic pieces.
 You started your adventure the 43rd Yavie of the 2890th year of the third age.
 It is currently the 53rd Yavie of the 2890th year of the third age.
 You have been adventuring for 10 days.
                    adefkmnopsuxz{|@            
        Add Str   : ..........2.....            
        Add Con   : ..........2.....            
        Mul Mana  : ...............+            
        Add Sear. : .2..............            
        Add Infra : .2..............            
        Add Tun.. : ..............1.            
        Sust Str  : ................            
        Sust Int  : ................            
        Sust Wis  : ................            
        Sust Dex  : ................            
        Sust Con  : ................            
        Sust Chr  : ................            
        Invisible : ...+............            
        Mul life  : ................            
        Sens Fire : ................            
        Reflect   : ................            
        Free Act  : ..........+.....            
        Hold Life : ................            
        Res Acid  : ................            
        Res Elec  : ................            
        Res Fire  : ................            
        Res Cold  : ......+.........            
        Res Pois  : ................            
        Res Fear  : ................            
        Res Light : ................            
        Res Dark  : ...............+            
        Res Blind : ................            
        Res Conf  : ................            
        Res Sound : ................            
        Res Shard : ................            
        Res Neth  : ................            
        Res Nexus : ................            
        Res Chaos : ................            
        Res Disen : ................            
        Digestion : ..+.............            
        Regen     : .........+......            
        Xtra Shots: .+..............            
        Activate  : ++..............            
Skills (points left: 0)
          . Archery                              01.000 [0.000]
 - Sneakiness                                    02.610 [0.900]
          . Stealth                              05.400 [0.400]
          . Disarming                            00.500 [0.000]
 - Magic                                         23.536 [1.200]
          . Magic-Device                         16.500 [1.000]
          . Spell-power                          16.800 [0.600]
          . Sorcery                              19.200 [0.700]
          . Mana                                 00.000 [0.900]
                   . Fire                        00.000 [1.000]
                   . Water                       00.000 [1.000]
                   . Air                         00.000 [1.000]
                   . Earth                       00.000 [1.000]
          . Meta                                 00.000 [1.000]
          . Conveyance                           00.000 [1.000]
          . Divination                           00.000 [1.000]
          . Temporal                             00.000 [1.000]
          . Mind                                 00.000 [1.000]
          . Nature                               00.000 [1.000]
          . Necromancy                           00.000 [0.900]
          . Runecraft                            00.000 [0.900]
          . Thaumaturgy                          00.000 [0.900]
 - Spirituality                                  12.650 [0.550]
          . Prayer                               17.500 [0.500]
 . Monster-lore                                  00.000 [0.500]
Abilities
 * Perfect casting

  [Fates]
You may meet an Agent of the black market on level 1.

  [Character Equipment]
a) a Mage Staff of Spell (1d4) (+8,+12)
    It can be wielded two-handed.  It can be activated for 
    runespell(Knowledge, Armageddon, 37) every 185 turns and 
    runespell(Gravity, Self, 13) every 65 turns if it is being worn. It
    cannot be harmed by acid, cold, lightning or fire.  
    You bought it from the Black Market.
d) The Sling of Farmer Maggot (x2) (+20,+0) (+2) {100% off}
    It can be activated for terrify every 10+d50 turns if it is being
    worn. It increases your searching and infravision by 2.  It fires
    missiles excessively fast.  It cannot be harmed by acid, cold,
    lightning or fire.  
    It was given to you as a reward.
e) a Beryl Ring of Slow Digestion
f) an Onyx Ring of Invisibility
    It makes you invisible.  
    You found it in the remains of Smeagol on level 3 of Barrow-Downs.
k) a Glass Amulet of Spell
m) a Brass Lantern (with 7412 turns of light)
n) a Paper Armour of Resist Cold [4,+5]
o) a Cloak [1,+6]
p) (nothing)
s) a Hard Leather Cap of Regeneration [2,+3]
    It speeds your regenerative powers.  
    It was given to you as a reward.
u) The Set of Leather Gloves 'Cambeleg' (+8,+8) [1,+15] (+2)
    It increases your strength and constitution by 2.  It provides
    immunity to paralysis.  It cannot be harmed by acid, cold, lightning
    or fire.  
    It was given to you as a reward.
x) a Pair of Hard Leather Boots of Jumping [3,+6]
z) (nothing)
{) (nothing)
|) a Shovel (+1)

  [Character Inventory]
a) a Book of Beginner Cantrips
b) a Spellbook of Listen to the Music
c) a Fireproof Spellbook of Noxious Cloud
    It cannot be harmed by fire.  
    You bought it from the Book Store.
d) a Spellbook of See the Music
e) 19 Mushrooms of Cure Serious Wounds {100% off}
f) 3 Flasks of oil
g) a Vermilion Potion of Speed
h) 3 Scrolls of Word of Recall {25% off}
i) 5 Scrolls titled "santem therkho" of Identify {75% off}
j) (nothing)
k) (nothing)
l) (nothing)
m) (nothing)
n) (nothing)
o) (nothing)
p) (nothing)
q) (nothing)
r) (nothing)
s) (nothing)
t) (nothing)
u) (nothing)
v) (nothing)
w) (nothing)

  [Home Inventory - Bree ]
a) a Spellbook of Lay of Protection
b) The Gem of Ice
    It can be activated for teleport (range 100) every 100 turns.  
    You found it lying on the ground on level 1 of Barrow-Downs.
c) a Potion of Restore Life Levels {90% off}
d) a Wooden Rod of Nothing (10/10)
e) a Wooden Rod of Nothing (10/10)
f) a Wooden Rod of Nothing (10/10)
g) an Iron Rod of Nothing (50/50)
h) an Uridium Rod Tip of Lightning Bolts (30 Mana to cast)
i) a Platinum Rod Tip of Acid Balls (60 Mana to cast)
j) The Hard Leather Cap 'Amirn' [2,+5]
    It provides light (radius 2) forever.  It sustains your wisdom, 
    constitution and charisma.  It provides resistance to electricity.  It
    cannot be harmed by acid, cold, lightning or fire.  
    It was given to you as a reward.
k) an Iron Helm of the Noldor [5,+2] (+1)
    It can be activated for detect treasure every 10+d20 turns if it is
    being worn. It increases your dexterity by 1.  It sustains your 
    dexterity.  It allows you to sense the presence of orcs.  
    It was given to you as a reward.
l) a Parchment - Adventurer's Guide to Middle-earth
m) a Parchment - Numenorean for Beginners (II)
n) a Parchment - Nandorin for Dummies

  [The Mathom-house Inventory - Bree ]
a) a Parchment - Khuzdul - The Hidden Tongue of the Dwarves

[Thomkal]

Also looking for suggestions for what spell to put into that amulet of spell.

[JAG]

Gonna throw out some random thoughts...

Ideally I think you'd like to hit the Sandworm caves, but I don't think I would take the risk with your equipment set, reasoning being: 1. Your stealth is fairly low and the entire Cave is filled with breeders that you don't want to wake up if you can help it. 2. You would need to be exceedingly careful due to low hps and your resists that are lacking (esp. poison, blindness, confusion, acid). If you screwed up like I did and forgot to detect traps, one trap could kill you there. Also, when you explore there, you'll want to have Stone to Mud (too weak for a digger) and Disarm so you can take advantage of the vaults you'll find.

So having said that, I'd hit the Orc Caves. You should be able to mop up there using Noxious Cloud and you'll be able to find better equipment to help survive the Sandworm Caves. On the lvl 21 special level you'll find an artifact armor that would be an improvement over what you're currently using.

If you haven't already done the Lothlorien house quest, I would do that as it will be easy. Check there and Bree for some spellbooks that could help you out (Essence of Speed would be tremendous, you'll eventually want disarm / stone to mud for reasons stated above).

[JAG]

Another thought, if you find an item in a black market or shop that gives flying, you could give Mirkwood a whirl, at least through the first few levels, since flying will give you an easy escape against hounds. Mirkwood becomes overall more dangerous than Orc / Sandworm though. Still, there happen to be a good bit of Lost Sword quests there and with luck you might be able to find some good skills to pick up there (Symbiosis is a beautiful one for a pure sorcerer).

[thesloppy]

Unfortunately, I got a pinched nerve in my shoulder right when the comps started, and typing absolutely kills it, so I haven't been able to take part....but I'm finally giving this guy a shot. I've been playing T.o.M.E. for years, so adjusting isn't an issue...but I hate to admit I've literally never played a magic-using class, so this is still a rough time for me. Also: this dude can't carry shit.

[Malificent]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Also: this dude can't carry shit.

Hell yeah. I tend to be the "carry as much loot as I can stagger out with" kind of guy and having to just leave broad swaths of stuff behind is killing me.