CONTENTS
ACTIONS
When it's your turn, you can first use up to one of each of the three scroll types: Haste, Leap, and Flame. You then take one of the following actions:
ACTION |
DESCRIPTION |
| Move | Move to an adjacent, empty floor tile. |
| Loot Chest | Open an adjacent chest and remove the contents. |
| Sword Attack | Attack an adjacent monster with your sword. |
| Bow Attack | Use your bow to attack a monster that is either 2 or 3 tiles away. If the monster is 3 tiles away, there is -3 distance penalty. |
| Guard | Take no immediate action. If you choose "Guard" you add +2 to your defense for the duration of the next round. You also get a free counterattack against any adjacent melee monster that misses you. |
While Unseen
When first entering a room, you are unseen by the monsters and can keep taking action until you are spotted. The chance of being spotted depends on your action, as shown in the following table.
UNSEEN ACTION |
CHANCE OF BEING SPOTTED |
| Move ("Sneak") | There is a 90% chance of remainingunseen, minus 10% for each monster adjacent to you at the end of your move. |
| Loot Chest ("Pilfer Chest") | There is a 70% chance of remaining unseen, minus 10% for each monster adjacent to you after you loot. |
| Sword Attack ("Surprise Attack") | You will be spotted automatically, but you gain +3 to your attack for surprise. |
| Bow Attack | You will be spotted automatically, but you gain +1 to your attack for surprise. |
| Guard | You will be spotted automatically. |
When you're spotted, the monsters will take their turn, and combat will proceed in a round-robin fashion.
NOTE: When using a scroll you will be spotted automatically, regardless of your subsequent action.
ITEMS
Your character can use the following items:
ITEM |
DESCRIPTION |
| Sword | You can attack an adjacent monster with your sword, adding your sword’s bonus to your attack roll. If you attack with your sword while unseen, you receive an additional +3 surprise bonus. |
| Shield | Whenever you are attacked, your shield’s bonus is added to your defense rolls. Exception: If your last action was to use your bow, you gain no shield bonus. |
| Bow | You can use your bow to attack a monster that is 2 or 3 tiles away, adding your bow's bonus to your attack roll. If the monster is 3 away, there is a distance penalty of -3. You cannot use your bow against monsters that are adjacent to you or are 4 away. After using your bow, you do not get a shield bonus until your next action. |
| Health Potion | Finding a health potion increases your health. Each time you are hit, you lose 1 Health. The game ends with your defeat if you run out of Health. |
| Haste Scroll | Use to immediately take an extra action. |
| Leap Scroll | Use to move to an unoccupied tile 1 or 2 tiles away. |
| Flame Scroll | Use to block one unoccupied tile for 5 rounds OR 2 adjacent unoccupied tiles for 4 rounds OR 3 adjacent unoccupied tiles (forming a triangle) for 3 rounds. Flames can also be used offensively against monsters that float. |
Scrolls and health potions are found on the floor and are picked up by moving over them. The number of scrolls or amount of health will not be known until they are picked up.
Weapons are found in chests. If you are adjacent to a chest, you can obtain its contents by taking a turn to loot it. A standard weapon chest has an equal chance of containing a sword, shield, or bow. The bonus of the weapon is random, but the bonuses increase on lower dungeon levels. There are two golden chests in the game: one in the dragon lair and one with the Lich. One of the golden chests will contain an exceptional shield and the other will have an exceptional sword or bow. The chance of looting a golden chest without being spotted starts at 50% instead of 70%.
NOTE: You can hold an unlimited number of scrolls and health potions. You can only have one sword, shield, and bow at a time. Whenever you find a better one of these items, the new item automatically replaces and upgrades your older item.
COMBAT
IT'S HIT OR MISS
The attacker rolls a random # from 1-10 and adds its attack modifiers. Then the defender rolls 1-10 and adds its defense modifiers. If the attack total is as high or higher than the defense total, the attack is a hit. Otherwise, it's a miss. A hit removes one health from the target.
ATTACK/DEFENSE MODIFIERS
Your attack modifiers consist of the bonus from your sword or bow, plus any extra modifiers such as a surprise bonus or a distance penalty. Your defense modifiers consist of shield bonus (unless your last action was a bow attack), plus any extra modifiers such as a bonus for guarding. A monster's attack/defense modifiers are simply their attack/defense stats, but in some cases these stat can change - if the monster has been enlarged, for instance.
EXAMPLES
- You do a surprise attack with your +4 sword against a swamp troll (Attack: 1; Defense: 3). You roll 7 and the swamp troll rolls 8. Your roll of 7, plus 4 from your sword bonus, is 11. The swamp troll's roll of 8 plus 3 from its Defense stat is also 11. Because your attack total is as high as the marsh troll's defense total, it's a hit.
- A Goblin Champion (Attack: 1; Defense: 1) attacks you, rolling a 4, for an attack total of 5. You roll a 4 and have a +3 shield, so your defense total is 7. Because Goblin Champion's attack total is below your defense total, it's a miss.
- After you shoot your bow at a Lizardman Warlock, a Lizardman Hulk (Attack: 2; Defense 1) attacks you. It rolls a 2, which adding its attack stat of 2 makes for an attack total of 4. You roll a 3, but you do not get a shield bonus because your last action was to fire your bow. Because the attack total of 4 is higher than your defense total of 3, it's a hit.
MONSTER TYPES
A list of all monsters by name is found here.
MELEE
Melee monsters can attack from 1 space away. If a melee monster is adjacent to you, it will attack. If it is not adjacent to you, it will advance along the shortest, unblocked path toward you.
[If there is no unblocked path, the monster will advance along the path it would take if all non-adjacent monsters were ignored. If ignoring non-adjacent monsters does not result in a path to you, the monster will wait and do nothing that turn. If there are multiple path options that are equidistant to you, the monster will eliminate any option that requires backtracking and, if still more than one choice remains, choose randomly which path to take.]
MISSILE
Missile monsters can attack from 2 away, or 3 way with an attack penalty. If a missile monster is:
- adjacent to you: it will withdraw to a space that is 2 tiles away. If it has no way to do that, it is “cornered” and can take no action.
- 2 tiles away: it will attack.
- 3 tiles away: it will move towards a space that is two 2 away. If there is no path, it will attack with a -3 attack penalty.
- 4 tiles away: it will move towards a space that is 2 tiles away, if it can.
Missile monsters take their turn before melee monsters.
SPELLCASTERS
Spellcasters have unlimited range, but it takes a turn for them to prepare a spell.
If the spellcasting monster does not have a spell prepared and can increase the distance from you with one move, it will do so (randomly choosing if there is more than one choice). If the spellcaster does not have a spell prepared and cannot increase the distance with one move, it will prepare a spell for use during the next turn. The results of spell preparation are:
- 10% of failure - no spell gets prepared
- 30% of a summon spell preparation
- 30% of an enlarge spell preparation
- 30% of a fireball spell preparation
If the spellcaster has a spell prepared, it will cast it. After casting, the spellcaster will no longer have a spell prepared.
The spell effects are as follows:
SPELL |
DESCRIPTION |
| Enlarge | A random monster in the room gets enlarged, thus increasing its attack and defense stats by 2. The monster stays enlarged until the spellcaster is killed. A monster can be enlarged up to 3 times. If nothing in the room can be enlarged, the spell will fizzle. |
| Fireball | The fireball results in an attack (the spellcaster's Attack stat plus 1-10) against you and any monster next to you. Fireballs automatically hit gas spores and ghosts. Fireballs do not harm the caster. |
| Summon | A random monster is added to the room. (Spellcasters in the Mines cannot summon monsters that are found only in the Ruins.) If the room doesn't have any empty spaces, the spell will fizzle. |
Spellcasters take their turn before missile and melee monsters.
SPECIAL MONSTERS
The monsters below have special properties. Unless otherwise noted, they behave according the rules for their monster type (described above).
DRAGONS
- Dragons start asleep, so there is no penalty for sneaking or pilfering next to them.
- Dragons have an additional attack action, a breath attack that is unleashed if at any point during their turn they are 2 tiles away from you. However, a dragon cannot use its breath if on the prior turn it attacked, was hit, or was asleep. If a dragon does not have a path to you, but it does have a path to a tile that is two away from you, it will go to that tile so it can breathe on you.
- Dragons normally behave like melee monsters. However, if reduced to 1 health, the dragon will instead behave like a missile monster and rely on its breath attack (if cornered, however, it will do a melee attack).
- Dragons guard a golden chest which will contain an exceptional sword, shield, or bow.
There are 5 types of dragons:
DRAGON |
STATS |
| White | Attack +5 Defense +6 |
| Black | Attack +6 Defense +6 |
| Green | Attack +7 Defense +6 |
| Blue | Attack +8 Defense +6 |
| Red | Attack +9 Defense +6 |
CAVERN CRAWLER
Each round, there is a 3% chance that the cavern crawler will enter the cavern you are in. The crawler will take a direct path to one of the exits it did not enter from. If your or a monster is next to the crawler, it will stop to attack (preferring you over monsters).
FIREBUGS
Firebugs turn to flame when hit, resulting in the tile they are on being blocked for three rounds. They will also ignite if next to a flame or explosion. Firebugs are most common in the Caverns, but can be found in the Mines and Ruins as well.
GAS SPORES
Gas Spores explode when hit, resulting in an attack (the spore's attack stat plus 1-10) against everything adjacent to it. Gas Spores float, so they can move over pits, and you can put a flame under them. They automatically explode if within the range of another explosion or if next to a flame. Each room in the Mines or Ruins has a chance of having gas spore in addition to the other monsters.
ROPERS
Ropers cannot move, but they can attack a target 1, 2 or 3 tiles away, with no distance penalty. A roper will not attack if next to a flame. Each room in the Mines has a 10% chance of containing a Roper.
PURPLE WORM
Purple worms lurk beneath the Mines. When something alive is next a pit in the Mines, there's a 1% chance per round a purple worm will emerge and attack it. After the worm's initial attack, it will attack the hero if possible, otherwise a random adjacent monster. If you hit the worm, or if it has nothing to attack, it will withdraw back into the depths. Worms will not emerge if you are not yet spotted.
MONSTERS FOUND ONLY IN THE RUINS
REAPERS
Each time you kill a monster in the Ruins, there is a 5% chance that a Reaper will appear somewhere in that room. If you leave the reaper behind in a room, then the next time you kill a monster in another room, the reaper will appear.
THE SPECTER
The Specter can only be seen if it is adjacent to you or to a Flame. Specters float and can move over pits. If you put a flame under a specter, it becomes engulfed and cannot take any action. There will always be one specter somewhere in the Ruins.
WRAITHS
Wraiths fear fire and suffer -3 to their attack and defense if they are adjacent to a flame.
MUMMIES
Mummies emanate despair, causing you to suffer a -2 attack penalty for each mummy adjacent to you (it's cumulative).
SKELETONS
Skeletons are bony creatures, causing you to suffer a -3 penalty to your bow attacks against them.
GHOULS
If a ghoul hits you, you become stunned and are unable to take an action the next round.
GHOSTS
Ghosts cannot be permanently killed. If hit, a ghost will go away, but for each round that you are in the room, there is a 10% chance it will return (to a random space in the room) and immediately take an action. Ghosts can move over pits and are automatically hit by flame or an adjacent gas spore or fireball explosion.
GARGOYLES
Gargoyles turn to stone whenever attacked. They can't do anything while in this petrified condition. There is a 30% chance each round that the Gargoyle will return to flesh.
THE LICH
The Lich occupies the far room in the Ruins. The Lich is a skeleton spellcaster that guards a golden chest while remaining on her throne at the back of the room. She will automatically spot you if you sneak next to her. The Lich's throne room will also contain a random set of Ruins monsters.
TABLES
The following tables show the item counts used when generating rooms for each level.
Potions
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| default | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| newbie | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| lair | Always 2 | |||||||||
Weapon Chests
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| default | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| newbie | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| lair | Always 2 | |||||||||
Scroll Cases
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| default | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| newbie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| lair | Always 2 | |||||||||
Exterior Pits
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| default | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| mines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| lair | Always 1 | |||||||||
Interior Pits
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| default | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| mines | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| lair | Always 2 | |||||||||
Gas Spores
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| mines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | E |
| ruins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | E |
Exceptional Gas Spores
| Roll | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| default | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
To Hit Matrix
| D+0 | D+1 | D+2 | D+3 | D+4 | D+5 | D+6 | D+7 | D+8 | D+9 | |
| A+0 | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% | 21% | 15% | 10% | 6% | 3% | 1% |
| A+1 | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% | 21% | 15% | 10% | 6% | 3% |
| A+2 | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% | 21% | 15% | 10% | 6% |
| A+3 | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% | 21% | 15% | 10% |
| A+4 | 85% | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% | 21% | 15% |
| A+5 | 90% | 85% | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% | 21% |
| A+6 | 94% | 90% | 85% | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% | 28% |
| A+7 | 97% | 94% | 90% | 85% | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% | 36% |
| A+8 | 99% | 97% | 94% | 90% | 85% | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% | 45% |
| A+9 | 100% | 99% | 97% | 94% | 90% | 85% | 79% | 72% | 64% | 55% |