DCSS: The Adventures of Happy Hedonist, or The Spriggans Crusade

[Moaner]

This is the first time I've done anything like this, so no promises.  I plan to update this thread (as time permits) until my little Spriggan is dead or I recover the Orb of Zot.

Happy Hedonist started life as a level 1 Spriggan Stalker.  I had started playing him before Schild created the Radicalthon, so this initial post will be a summary of what my little shit head has been up to thus far.

Here is a current char dump.

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.4.5 (crawl-ref) character file.

Happy Hedonist the Ducker (Spriggan Stalker)    Turns: 14764, Time: 03:54:21

HP  56/56        AC  3     Str  6      Exp: 10/8599 (1), need: 1488
MP  37/37        EV 21     Int 16      God: No God
Gold 367         SH  0     Dex 22      Spells:  6 memorised,  7 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : +   a - +3,+5 dagger
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   g - +1 robe
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (shield restricted)
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   (helmet restricted)
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   (no cloak)
                                     (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: .       Rnd.Telep. : .   (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   (no amulet)
Res.Slow  : .       Levitation : .   t - ring of magical power
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .   s - ring of protection from magic

@: very quick, very resistant to magic, very stealthy
A: unfitting armour, herbivore 3, slow metabolism 3, speed 3, see invisible,
Dex +3
a: no special abilities


You are on level 1 of the Swamp.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 3 branches of the dungeon, and seen 13 of its levels.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +3,+5 dagger (weapon)
 i - a +0,+3 orcish dagger (quivered)
 z - a runed elven dagger
Armour
 g - a +1 robe (worn)
Magical devices
 l - a wand of fire (7)
 u - a wand of draining (0)
 v - a wand of flame (4)
 y - a bone wand
Comestibles
 h - 3 bread rations
Scrolls
 b - 2 scrolls of teleportation
 o - 6 scrolls of remove curse
 q - 2 scrolls of magic mapping
 F - 2 scrolls of detect curse
Jewellery
 n - a glowing wooden ring
 s - a ring of protection from magic (left hand)
 t - a ring of magical power (right hand)
 w - a copper ring
 A - a marble ring
 B - a copper ring
 K - a large bone ring
Potions
 e - a potion of porridge
 f - a potion of restore abilities
 j - 2 potions of invisibility
 p - 2 potions of might
 r - 2 potions of speed
 x - a potion of heal wounds
 D - a potion of cure mutation
 E - 2 potions of healing
Books
 d - a book of Stalking
 k - a book of Minor Magic [flame]
 I - a book of Power
Magical staves
 G - a staff of summoning
Miscellaneous
 m - a gauzy fan


 You have 1 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 2 Fighting
 + Level 6 Short Blades
 + Level 7 Dodging
 + Level 7 Stealth
 + Level 6 Stabbing
 + Level 2 Traps & Doors
 + Level 7 Spellcasting
 + Level 7 Conjurations
 + Level 3 Enchantments
 + Level 3 Fire Magic
 + Level 1 Air Magic
 + Level 7 Poison Magic


You have 7 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power          Success   Level
a - Sting                 Pois/Conj      ####           Excellent   1
b - Slow                  Ench           ###.......     Very Good   3
c - Blink                 Tloc           N/A            Good        2
d - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  ####......     Great       3
e - Throw Flame           Fire/Conj      ####..         Excellent   2
f - Venom Bolt            Pois/Conj      #####.....     Good        5


Overview of the Dungeon

Branches: (use G to reach them)
Temple: D:7       Orc   : D:7       Lair  : D:9       Swamp : Lair:3

Altars: (use Ctrl-F "altar" to reach them)
Makhleb: D:7

Shops: (use Ctrl-F "shop" to reach them)
D:4: !*(/


                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

Your body does not fit into most forms of armour.
You are a herbivore.
You need consume almost no food.
You cover ground extremely quickly.
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
Your muscles are strong (Str +1).
You are agile (Dex +2).
Your muscles are flexible (Dex +1), but weak (Str -1).


Message History

Welcome, Happy Hedonist the Spriggan Stalker.
Char dumped successfully.
A rock wall.
You start removing your armour.
You continue taking off your -3 cloak.
You finish taking off your -3 cloak.
You drop a -3 cloak.

{.#{{#{{{.#
#{{{#{#{{{{{{
.#{..{#...#{{{
{.{{{{{{###{..{
{.{{.{#..{{#{..P
{.....{.{{{{{..{
.{....{{{{{#....
{{#{{{{{{{{{{###{
{{{.....@{{{{{{{{
{.{{{#{{{{#{#{{#{
.....{..{.{.{{
.{.##{#{{{..{{.
{..{...{.#.{{{{{
.{.{.{{#{#.{{{{
..{{###{{{.{{{
.{.{#{{#{#.{{
.{({...{.{


You can see a plant.

Vanquished Creatures
  2 giant brown frogs (Lair:1)
  10 yaks (Lair:2)
  2 hippogriffs
  A giant slug (Lair:3)
  A big kobold (D:6)
  4 ogres
  3 ice beasts
  2 centaurs
  3 gila monsters
  3 giant lizards
  2 wargs (D:9)
  4 orc warriors
  3 giant frogs
  3 brown snakes
  An imp (D:9)
  2 giant beetles
  2 orc priests (D:9)
  7 hounds
  A wight (D:6)
  3 orc wizards
  2 giant ants
  A scorpion (D:5)
  4 giant iguanas
  6 gnolls
  A giant lizard zombie (D:6)
  17 snakes
  3 worms
  2 giant centipedes (Lair:2)
  12 green rats
  2 giant mites
  Terence (D:2)
  4 oozes
  A giant eyeball (D:8)
  A giant ant zombie (D:9)
  A scorpion zombie (D:9)
  2 giant cockroaches
  7 giant geckos
  16 grey rats (Lair:1)
  11 hobgoblins
  20 jackals
  16 kobolds
  34 orcs
  10 quokkas
  17 giant bats
  A giant bat zombie (D:5)
  11 giant newts
  13 goblins
  18 rats
  A snake zombie (D:5)
294 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  2 yaks (Lair:2)
  A giant frog (Lair:2)
  An orc warrior (D:9)
  An orc priest (D:8)
  4 grey rats (Lair:1)
  4 orcs (D:9)
  2 jackals
15 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A quokka (Lair:1)
1 creature vanquished.

Grand Total: 310 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place   | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1     | Happy Hedonist, the Spriggan Stalker, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1     | Reached XP level 1. HP: 10/10 MP: 2/2
   278 | D:1     | Reached XP level 2. HP: 15/15 MP: 2/5
   476 | D:1     | Reached XP level 3. HP: 14/21 MP: 2/7
   553 | D:1     | HP: 1/21 [gnoll/glowing flail (6)]
   836 | D:1     | Reached skill 4 in Dodging
  1389 | D:2     | Reached XP level 4. HP: 25/25 MP: 6/10
  1660 | D:2     | Noticed Terence
  1705 | D:2     | Noticed Sigmund
  1741 | D:2     | Defeated Terence
  1871 | D:3     | Reached skill 1 in Conjurations
  1912 | D:3     | Learned a level 3 spell: Slow
  1915 | D:3     | Learned a level 2 spell: Blink
  2046 | D:3     | HP: 1/25 [poison]
  2052 | D:3     | HP: 1/25 [poison]
  3541 | D:3     | Reached XP level 5. HP: 27/27 MP: 2/13
  4554 | D:4     | Reached skill 5 in Stealth
  5397 | D:5     | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  5707 | D:5     | Reached XP level 6. HP: 33/33 MP: 14/16
  6061 | D:5     | Learned a level 3 spell: Mephitic Cloud
  6591 | D:6     | Reached XP level 7. HP: 25/38 MP: 18/18
  6641 | D:6     | Reached skill 5 in Stabbing
  6897 | D:6     | Noticed a big kobold
  6924 | D:6     | Defeated a big kobold
  7014 | D:6     | Reached skill 5 in Dodging
  7193 | D:6     | Reached skill 5 in Poison Magic
  7251 | D:6     | Learned a level 2 spell: Throw Flame
  7937 | D:7     | Reached skill 1 in Fire Magic
  7940 | D:7     | Reached XP level 8. HP: 42/43 MP: 13/21
  8041 | D:7     | Reached skill 6 in Stealth
  8087 | D:7     | Reached skill 1 in Traps & Doors
  8966 | D:8     | Reached skill 5 in Conjurations
  9091 | D:8     | Reached skill 5 in Spellcasting
  9924 | D:9     | Reached XP level 9. HP: 48/48 MP: 7/23
 10164 | D:9     | HP: 2/48 [orc priest/divine providence (11)]
 10256 | D:8     | Reached skill 1 in Fighting
 11137 | Lair:1  | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts
 11168 | Lair:1  | Reached skill 5 in Short Blades
 11266 | Lair:1  | Gained mutation: You are agile (Dex +1).
 12113 | Lair:1  | Reached skill 7 in Dodging
 12549 | Lair:1  | Reached XP level 10. HP: 54/54 MP: 26/28
 13711 | Lair:2  | Reached skill 1 in Air Magic
 14440 | Lair:3  | Learned a level 5 spell: Venom Bolt
 14536 | Swamp:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Swamp
 14756 | Swamp:1 | Gained mutation: You are agile (Dex +2).
 14756 | Swamp:1 | Gained mutation: Your muscles are flexible (Dex +1), but weak (Str -1).
 14757 | Swamp:1 | Gained mutation: Your muscles are strong (Str +1).

So far Happy Hedonist has stabbed, poisoned, and confused his way to the lair level 3.  My current plan is to grind my way through the lair and then head back to the Orcish Mines, which I skipped.  After clearing the mines I will head towards the swamp in hopes of recovering my first rune.  I will start doing more screenshots as I progress, but right now I only have a couple. 

Here we see HH's initial start.



And here is my prized possession at the moment.  Now I just have to decide as to whether I want invisibility or teleport other next.



This is HH right now.



Here's hoping that ghost doesn't fuck me up and my next post is not my last!

[Moaner]

Well fuck!  I killed my ghost with the help of a wand of fire, worked my way to lair level 7, and then proceeded to get ass-raped by a whole lot of yaks backed by brown snakes and giant frogs.  This game is hard.  I haven't quite decided what my next class/combo is going to be but I'm leaning towards deep elf conjurer. 

Here is my morgue file. 

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.4.5 (crawl-ref) character file.

8981 Happy Hedonist the Tainter (level 11, -5/61 HPs)
             Began as a Spriggan Stalker on Feb 3, 2009.
             Slain by a yak (13 damage)
             ... on Level 7 of the Lair of Beasts on Feb 6, 2009.
             The game lasted 04:30:39 (17258 turns).

Happy Hedonist the Tainter (Spriggan Stalker)   Turns: 17258, Time: 04:30:39

HP  -5/61        AC  3     Str  6      Exp: 11/12230 (0), need: 7854
MP  16/38        EV 22     Int 16      God: No God
Gold 420         SH  0     Dex 22      Spells:  6 memorised,  8 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : +   a - +3,+5 dagger
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   g - +1 robe
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (shield restricted)
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   (helmet restricted)
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   (no cloak)
                                     (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: .       Rnd.Telep. : .   (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   (no amulet)
Res.Slow  : .       Levitation : .   t - ring of magical power
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .   n - ring of poison resistance

@: non-regenerating, badly diseased, very quick, quite resistant to magic,
very stealthy
A: unfitting armour, herbivore 3, slow metabolism 3, speed 3, see invisible,
Dex +3
a: no special abilities


You were on level 7 of the Lair of Beasts.
You were not hungry.

You visited 3 branches of the dungeon, and saw 17 of its levels.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +3,+5 dagger (weapon)
 i - a +0,+3 orcish dagger (quivered)
 J - a +3,+1 elven dagger
Armour
 g - a +1 robe (worn)
Magical devices
 l - a wand of fire (0)
 v - a wand of flame (3)
 y - a wand of magic darts (7)
 Q - a wand of enslavement (6)
Comestibles
 h - a bread ration
Scrolls
 b - a scroll of teleportation
 o - 6 scrolls of remove curse
 q - 2 scrolls of magic mapping
 z - 2 scrolls of fear
 C - a scroll of fog
 F - a scroll of detect curse
 H - 2 scrolls of immolation
 M - a scroll of blinking
Jewellery
 n - a ring of poison resistance (left hand)
 s - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 t - a ring of magical power (right hand)
 w - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 A - an uncursed ring of see invisible
 B - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 K - a +2 ring of strength
 P - an uncursed ring of levitation
Potions
 e - 2 potions of porridge
 f - a potion of restore abilities
 j - a potion of invisibility
 p - 4 potions of might
 r - 2 potions of speed
 x - 5 potions of heal wounds
 D - a potion of cure mutation
 E - 2 potions of healing
Books
 d - a book of Stalking
 k - a book of Minor Magic [flame]
 I - a book of Power
Magical staves
 G - a staff of summoning


 You had 0 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 2 Fighting
 + Level 7 Short Blades
 + Level 8 Dodging
 + Level 7 Stealth
 + Level 7 Stabbing
 + Level 2 Traps & Doors
 + Level 7 Spellcasting
 + Level 8 Conjurations
 + Level 3 Enchantments
 + Level 3 Fire Magic
 + Level 1 Air Magic
 + Level 9 Poison Magic


You had 8 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power          Success   Level
a - Sting                 Pois/Conj      ####           Excellent   1
b - Slow                  Ench           ###.......     Very Good   3
c - Blink                 Tloc           N/A            Good        2
d - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  ####......     Excellent   3
e - Throw Flame           Fire/Conj      ####..         Excellent   2
f - Venom Bolt            Pois/Conj      #####.....     Very Good   5


Overview of the Dungeon

Branches:
Temple: D:7       Orc   : D:7       Lair  : D:9       Swamp : Lair:3

Altars:
Makhleb: D:7

Shops:
D:4: !*(/


                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

Your body does not fit into most forms of armour.
You are a herbivore.
You need consume almost no food.
You cover ground extremely quickly.
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
Your muscles are strong (Str +1).
You are agile (Dex +2).
Your muscles are flexible (Dex +1), but weak (Str -1).


Message History

The giant frog hits the komodo dragon.
The yak is engulfed in noxious gasses!
The yak appears confused.
The yak gores the komodo dragon!
You hit the yak.
The yak is almost dead.
The yak gores you!

  ###   {{{{{{{
###.##  {{{{{{{
....F###.{{{{{F
l...#..#...{{{{{
.l##F..%###    ###
#####..Y./######.#
#   ##.l....##...%
    #.#....<.....#
    ##Y.@Y...#.#.#
     ##.......#...
      #.......##.#
     #........####
     ##...##.##
      ..P..#.#
      ..(.....
     #.#.....#
       ##.


You could see a plant, three yaks, two giant frogs, and a komodo dragon.

Vanquished Creatures
  The ghost of Happy Hedonist the Sneak, an experienced SpSt (Lair:3)
  2 giant brown frogs (Lair:1)
  A giant snail (Lair:5)
  A spiny frog (Lair:5)
  10 yaks (Lair:2)
  3 hippogriffs
  A giant slug (Lair:3)
  A firedrake (Lair:5)
  A black bear (Lair:5)
  A big kobold (D:6)
  4 ogres
  3 ice beasts
  2 centaurs
  4 gila monsters
  5 giant lizards
  2 wargs (D:9)
  4 orc warriors
  5 giant frogs
  9 war dogs
  5 brown snakes
  An imp (D:9)
  2 giant beetles
  2 orc priests (D:9)
  7 hounds
  A wight (D:6)
  3 orc wizards
  2 giant ants
  A scorpion (D:5)
  4 giant iguanas
  6 gnolls
  A giant lizard zombie (D:6)
  17 snakes
  3 worms
  2 giant centipedes (Lair:2)
  20 green rats
  3 giant mites
  Terence (D:2)
  4 oozes
  A giant eyeball (D:8)
  A giant ant zombie (D:9)
  A scorpion zombie (D:9)
  2 giant cockroaches
  8 giant geckos
  19 grey rats
  11 hobgoblins
  20 jackals
  16 kobolds
  34 orcs
  13 quokkas
  21 giant bats
  A giant bat zombie (D:5)
  11 giant newts
  13 goblins
  18 rats
  A snake zombie (D:5)
  A fungus (Lair:6)
  A plant (Lair:6)
338 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  2 yaks (Lair:2)
  A giant frog (Lair:2)
  An orc warrior (D:9)
  An orc priest (D:8)
  A green rat (Lair:6)
  4 grey rats (Lair:1)
  4 orcs (D:9)
  2 jackals
16 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A war dog (Lair:4)
  A brown snake (Lair:6)
  A quokka (Lair:1)
  A rat (Lair:6)
4 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 358 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place   | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1     | Happy Hedonist, the Spriggan Stalker, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1     | Reached XP level 1. HP: 10/10 MP: 2/2
   278 | D:1     | Reached XP level 2. HP: 15/15 MP: 2/5
   476 | D:1     | Reached XP level 3. HP: 14/21 MP: 2/7
   553 | D:1     | HP: 1/21 [gnoll/glowing flail (6)]
   836 | D:1     | Reached skill 4 in Dodging
  1389 | D:2     | Reached XP level 4. HP: 25/25 MP: 6/10
  1660 | D:2     | Noticed Terence
  1705 | D:2     | Noticed Sigmund
  1741 | D:2     | Defeated Terence
  1871 | D:3     | Reached skill 1 in Conjurations
  1912 | D:3     | Learned a level 3 spell: Slow
  1915 | D:3     | Learned a level 2 spell: Blink
  2046 | D:3     | HP: 1/25 [poison]
  2052 | D:3     | HP: 1/25 [poison]
  3541 | D:3     | Reached XP level 5. HP: 27/27 MP: 2/13
  4554 | D:4     | Reached skill 5 in Stealth
  5397 | D:5     | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  5707 | D:5     | Reached XP level 6. HP: 33/33 MP: 14/16
  6061 | D:5     | Learned a level 3 spell: Mephitic Cloud
  6591 | D:6     | Reached XP level 7. HP: 25/38 MP: 18/18
  6641 | D:6     | Reached skill 5 in Stabbing
  6897 | D:6     | Noticed a big kobold
  6924 | D:6     | Defeated a big kobold
  7014 | D:6     | Reached skill 5 in Dodging
  7193 | D:6     | Reached skill 5 in Poison Magic
  7251 | D:6     | Learned a level 2 spell: Throw Flame
  7937 | D:7     | Reached skill 1 in Fire Magic
  7940 | D:7     | Reached XP level 8. HP: 42/43 MP: 13/21
  8041 | D:7     | Reached skill 6 in Stealth
  8087 | D:7     | Reached skill 1 in Traps & Doors
  8966 | D:8     | Reached skill 5 in Conjurations
  9091 | D:8     | Reached skill 5 in Spellcasting
  9924 | D:9     | Reached XP level 9. HP: 48/48 MP: 7/23
 10164 | D:9     | HP: 2/48 [orc priest/divine providence (11)]
 10256 | D:8     | Reached skill 1 in Fighting
 11137 | Lair:1  | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts
 11168 | Lair:1  | Reached skill 5 in Short Blades
 11266 | Lair:1  | Gained mutation: You are agile (Dex +1).
 12113 | Lair:1  | Reached skill 7 in Dodging
 12549 | Lair:1  | Reached XP level 10. HP: 54/54 MP: 26/28
 13711 | Lair:2  | Reached skill 1 in Air Magic
 14440 | Lair:3  | Learned a level 5 spell: Venom Bolt
 14536 | Swamp:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Swamp
 14756 | Swamp:1 | Gained mutation: You are agile (Dex +2).
 14756 | Swamp:1 | Gained mutation: Your muscles are flexible (Dex +1), but weak (Str -1).
 14757 | Swamp:1 | Gained mutation: Your muscles are strong (Str +1).
 14798 | Lair:3  | Defeated Happy Hedonist's ghost
 15525 | Lair:3  | Reached skill 8 in Dodging
 15996 | Lair:5  | Reached XP level 11. HP: 61/61 MP: 5/29
 16670 | Lair:5  | Reached skill 9 in Poison Magic
 17247 | Lair:7  | HP: 2/61 [komodo dragon (18)]
 17258 | Lair:7  | Slain by a yak

Here are some interesting screen shots of things that happened before I died.

Dead ghost!


Me backstabbing a firedrake.


The entrance to lair level 6.


I think for my next run I'm going to stop grinding in the lair after about level 5 and then head back to the Orcish Mines.  Lair Levels 6+ gets pretty mean.  This game is like crack!

[Raging Turtle]

What game is this?  I never got into the rogue-likes (if that's what this is) and am clueless.  Looks great.

[apocrypha]

It's Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

[Raging Turtle]

Oh god.

This is going to be like learning DF all over again, isn't it?  Downloaded the tileset, not sure how to plug it in... 

[schild]

This is going to be like learning DF all over again, isn't it?

Nope.

[grebo]

Deep elf Conjurer is quite good.
Also, Orc Priest of Beogh, leading around hordes of adoring orcs is hella sweet!  The ones that survive will gain xp/classes and get names.
Also Also, Sludge Elf Transmuter works pretty well, and is a bit of a different experience.  Exploding potions and blade hands.

[LK]

Killed your own ghost but got slain by a yak?

Yeah, that's... yeah.

[Moaner]

I wish I would have taken a screen shot, but I was too pissed at the time.  I was surrounded by about 6 yaks and several other snakes and such without enough mana to blink.  Getting killed by a herbivore... grrr.

Beware to all, lair 6+ seems to be chocked full of mean shit.  I just lost another character on lair level 8 last night.

I'm going to do another thread soon, probably next week.  I'm deciding between a Vampire Enchanter and a Deep Elf Conjurer.

Also, I  DCSS.  I haven't been this addicted to a game since EQ, no shit.

[satael]

Yaks aren't that bad, it's the death yaks I hate...

[grebo]

Just visited L9 of the Lair myself with my 15 Conjurer.  Went down the stairs smack in the middle of 3 death yaks and 3 blink frogs.  If it wasn't for lucky rolls w/mephitic cloud, I would have met my end right there too.  Death Yaks do in fact suck.

[apocrypha]

Bah, I suck at this. Haven't managed to get deeper than L2 myself! No patience 

[Slayerik]

Personally, I usually get killed by some ogre or named guy (who turns invisible and rapes my face). I'm at the point where I'm just going to run from Ogres. I refuse to play Spriggans though.

I might be missing something, but I am not dominating this game by any means. I throw lots of shit, try kiting but in the end something dumb always gets me. It's like I'm missing one thing, some ability I don't know about and then I would be awesome for reals!

[tazelbain]

Sigmund sucks ass, especial on level 2.  At lunch I killed him by making him chase me down a hall and just shot arrows down hall.  In spite of being invisible, the arrows still hit him.

Is there a way for people who don't start with books can use the books they find?

[Moaner]

Is there a way for people who don't start with books can use the books they find?

I think it depends on the class and the book.  For instance my Spriggan Stalker could read the 'Book of Power' I found.

[grebo]

Is there a way for people who don't start with books can use the books they find?

Yeah, you have to read scrolls until you gain the Spellcasting skill.  Be sure to read the scrolls while you have available xp.

So I finally got my Conj a see invisible item, took a scroll of acquirement to do it.  The elf rapeage has been commencing steadily.  Fireball and Mehpitic Cloud are excellent for elf raping. 

My main hint for starting:  Use auto explore

• it will automatically stop everytime an enemy shows up, so you don't give it any free hits.

My other hint:  Go slow, patience is a virtue.  Consider carefully your moves in tough situations, run away if possible, use your items, figure out what your items are before you get into tough spots so you can use them.
]
I think the only reason I got as far as I did with my conjurer was a lucky roll got me a dagger of protection (+5 AC) early on.

Here he is, if anyone is interested.

[Ingmar]

Not being able to sell to merchants makes me QQ.

[Slayerik]

Is there a way for people who don't start with books can use the books they find?

Yeah, you have to read scrolls until you gain the Spellcasting skill.  Be sure to read the scrolls while you have available xp.

So I finally got my Conj a see invisible item, took a scroll of acquirement to do it.  The elf rapeage has been commencing steadily.  Fireball and Mehpitic Cloud are excellent for elf raping. 

My main hint for starting:  Use auto explore

• it will automatically stop everytime an enemy shows up, so you don't give it any free hits.

My other hint:  Go slow, patience is a virtue.  Consider carefully your moves in tough situations, run away if possible, use your items, figure out what your items are before you get into tough spots so you can use them.
]
I think the only reason I got as far as I did with my conjurer was a lucky roll got me a dagger of protection (+5 AC) early on.

Here he is, if anyone is interested.

Yeah, I have been doing all that. Maybe I'm just getting unlucky or choosing shit classes. Half the time I random it for LOLs

[Slayerik]

Well, tried Deep Elf Conjurer...got like a 10k score so I feel better.

Ended up dying to 1 swing from a hill giant...From full to dead. I had SOOOO many ways I coulda got out of that situation, yet I tried for one more cast, not expecting the 45 point swing. I had 44 health. Lesson learned.

[grebo]

Well, tried Deep Elf Conjurer...got like a 10k score so I feel better.

Ended up dying to 1 swing from a hill giant...From full to dead. I had SOOOO many ways I coulda got out of that situation, yet I tried for one more cast, not expecting the 45 point swing. I had 44 health. Lesson learned.

That's harsh.  Post up the Morgue file if you don't mind...

Most damage I've taken so far in 1 shot was from an Elven Sorc on L7 of Elven Halls, he throws some fire spell that does 65+ thru 2 levels of fire resist.  Ouch.  The second worst was from some elf with a lightning bolt that hit me 3 times off one cast.  Learned that lesson, watch how you stand in relation to things that might throw spells that bounce off walls.  But somehow my guy still lives on, getting so I don't want to play him because I know death is just around the corner.

Is it not true that Mephitic Cloud is the best thing ever?

[Slayerik]

Also, I might have totally messed up by sticking with a +1 robe. How does armor/weapons effect your spellcasting?

And yes....confusing nearing anything then nuking the fuck out of them is great. I found a transmutation book I think it was that allowed me to learn blink and some other stuff, and a war chant book that gave me haste and repel missiles. I was rockin.

Oh well. I'll post the morgue file tonight.

I also, throughout that whole time, never found a single ID scroll.

[grebo]

I believe that Leather and Robes are the same for casting, Heavy armor(pretty much anything else) makes casting "slightly more difficult" depending on your armor skill (which you get when you wear heavy armor).  What that means exactly I'm not too sure of, I've been sticking with the light stuff.  Pretty sure weapons don't effect casting at all.

Did you find yourself using Haste a lot?  How bad is the magical contamination from it?  I am having trouble deciding if I want a direct damage spell next or Haste.  Right now I regularly use fireball on single enemies because it's my highest damage spell, but that's rather wasteful.

No ID scrolls is a royal PITA.  FYI for some reason Identify is very hard to cast, I had to get my divination up to 8 or so before I had a fair chance to cast it, and it still failed all the time.  Fireball (same level) had a good or excellent cast chance when my fire magic was at the same level.  OTOH, it would be worth it if you had no id scrolls, and the spell I used to get Div way up there (detect creatures) is actually extremely useful, it tells you where every creature is on the level and what basic sort of creature they are.

Another hint for casters is to be sure and get some Fighting skill.  You can hit plants to get to level 2 in it, and that's a decent chunk of bonus hps.

[Slayerik]

I had a whip of electrocution that kicked some ass too. Whoever recommended the class, props to ya. They are just bombers!

[Moaner]

I've spent the last couple days trying to get a Minotaur Berserker past level 5.  Ranged/Magic classes seem much easier to get up and running.  It could be the fact I'm sick as fuck and not thinking clearly, but I'm definitely having a more difficult time with melee classes.  It seems you really have to get lucky on drops to stand a chance whereas a ranged class can just kite.

My current run is looking promising, finally, and I'm hoping this all pays off a little later.  I haven't been looking at many spoilers so I'm hoping I get some pretty nice abilities soon.

[Slayerik]

Best I did was like a level 7 Chaos Knight, and that was because I was ole boy's 'plaything' and he gave me a demon that raped a few tough monsters for me. Then fucked with me, took my awesome scythe and animated it against me, i had to use a tele scroll to escape.

I think that should be the next challenge to all! Make a bad ass melee guy.

[grebo]

I think a straight melee is def. doomed to failure, you need some ranged attack.  There's just too much stuff that is too risky to fight in straight melee when you first run into it, especially at the lower levels.

Bows are excellent and plentiful once you bash some elves, blowguns use dart skill and poisonate everything, also plentiful if you see more than a few kobolds.

[UnwashedMasses]

I think a straight melee is def. doomed to failure, you need some ranged attack.  There's just too much stuff that is too risky to fight in straight melee when you first run into it, especially at the lower levels.

Getting dusted as a human fighter (totally original, I know).  Farthest I got was level 5.  Ogres for the lose at close range.  Still have a sense of "No!!!!!one!!" at the permadeath screen.

[Raging Turtle]

Am playing the fuck out of this game.

I've had luck with demonspawn Death Knights (of Yre-whatever).  I just pick up all the arrows and bolts  and use the first bow or crossbow I find.  A few lucky demonspawn mutations can make it a lot easier, and have a couple pet zombies running around can buy some critical extra time. 

Farthest I've gotten is with a draconian wizard who turned grey at 7 (actually the only drac I've had live long enough to change) - probably the best thing that could have happened, with the extra hp and ac.  Level 14, baby!  ... and then I ran out of mp in the middle of a crowd.  While starving.      

[Aez]

Ok, having fun with a Demi-God Reaver.  How do I equip my second hand (d)? 

Anyone tried a Warper?

[grebo]

Equip second hand?  Not sure I follow, this game doesn't have dual wield afaik.  If you mean a 2 handed weapon, that is automatic.

I've tried a spriggan warper, found the translocate school to be lacking.  In order to control a casted blink, you have to have teleport control active and even then it's a crap shoot.  I'm bitter because I actually got pretty far and when I needed to blink it failed 2 times in a row, apparently because it couldn't place me in the direction I was trying to blink or somesuch.

[Aez]

I talking about the second weapon.  Like a dagger, the one you will throw and use to cut corpse.  I wanted cut a corpse with a knife since the description said it was good at it.   It always use my equiped dagger instead.

[Slayerik]

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.4.5 (crawl-ref) character file.

10427 Slay the Conjurer (level 11, -1/44 HPs)
             Began as a Deep Elf Conjurer on Feb 12, 2009.
             Slain by a hill giant
             ... wielding a giant club (45 damage)
             ... on Level 1 of the Vaults on Feb 13, 2009.
             The game lasted 02:30:13 (14180 turns).

Slay the Conjurer (Deep Elf Conjurer)           Turns: 14180, Time: 02:30:13

HP  -1/44        AC 11     Str  4      Exp: 11/13793 (1), need: 7836
MP   6/30        EV 13     Int 24      God: No God
Gold 772         SH  0     Dex 16      Spells: 10 memorised,  1 level left

Res.Fire  : + . .   See Invis. : .   s - +1,+2 whip (elec)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   f - +0 robe
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (no shield)
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   g - +1 horned helmet
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : +   h - +2 elf cloak
                                     o - +0 pair of gloves
Sust.Abil.: .       Rnd.Telep. : .   w - +2 pair of orc boots
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   i - amulet of clarity
Res.Slow  : .       Levitation : .   e - ring of protection from fire
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .   G - ring of poison resistance

@: somewhat resistant to magic, quite stealthy
A: no striking features
a: no special abilities


You were on level 1 of the Vaults.
You were not hungry.

You visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and saw 16 of its levels.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 s - a +1,+2 whip of electrocution (weapon)
 I - a +0,+0 hand axe
 Z - a cursed +1,+2 orcish falchion of draining
Missiles
 u - 2 +0 darts (quivered)
 K - 35 poisoned +0 needles
Armour
 f - a +0 robe (worn)
 g - a +1 horned helmet (worn)
 h - a +2 elven cloak (worn)
 o - a +0 pair of gloves (worn)
 v - a +1 robe
 w - a +2 pair of orcish boots (worn)
 T - a +1 robe
Magical devices
 b - a wand of slowing (2)
 d - a wand of confusion (6)
 r - a wand of fireball (8)
 y - a wand of digging (7)
 z - a wand of teleportation (6)
 A - a wand of lightning (7)
 E - a wand of enslavement (23)
 F - a wand of draining (3)
 H - a wand of paralysis (2)
 R - a wand of enslavement (12)
Comestibles
 t - 2 meat rations
Scrolls
 a - a scroll of acquirement
 j - 2 scrolls of noise
 k - a scroll of teleportation
 m - 2 scrolls of detect curse
 n - 2 scrolls of identify
 B - 3 scrolls of enchant weapon I
 M - 3 scrolls of enchant armour
 P - 3 scrolls of remove curse
 Q - 2 scrolls of fear
Jewellery
 e - a ring of protection from fire (right hand)
 i - an amulet of clarity (around neck)
 G - a ring of poison resistance (left hand)
Potions
 l - a potion of berserk rage
 x - a potion of might
 N - a potion of restore abilities
 O - 2 potions of levitation
 S - 2 potions of resistance
 X - 2 potions of speed
Books
 c - a book of Conjurations [fire]
 p - a Young Poisoner's Handbook
 q - a book of Minor Magic [flame]
 Y - a book of War Chants


 You had 1 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 1 Darts
 + Level 5 Dodging
 + Level 6 Stealth
 + Level 1 Traps & Doors
 + Level 9 Spellcasting
 + Level 14 Conjurations
 + Level 6 Fire Magic
 + Level 7 Earth Magic
 + Level 1 Evocations


You had one spell level left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power          Success   Level
a - Magic Dart            Conj           ####           Excellent   1
b - Throw Flame           Fire/Conj      ######         Excellent   2
c - Conjure Flame         Fire/Conj      #######.       Excellent   3
d - Stone Arrow           Erth/Conj      ######         Excellent   3
e - Fireball              Fire/Conj      #######...     Very Good   6
f - Repel Missiles        Air/Ench       ##........     Very Good   2
g - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  #####.....     Excellent   3
h - Cure Poison           Pois           ##........     Very Good   2
i - Regeneration          Ench/Necr      ##........     Good        3
j - Blink                 Tloc           N/A            Very Good   2


Overview of the Dungeon

Branches:
Temple: D:7       Orc   : D:8       Lair  : D:12      Hive  : D:14   
Vault : D:14     

Altars:
Okawaru: D:12
Sif Muna: D:7, D:11

Shops:
D:11: *

Message History

<lightgrey>A hill giant, wielding a giant club.<lightgrey>
The hill giant is lightly wounded.
You hear a mighty clap of thunder!
The bolt of lightning hits the hill giant.
The hill giant is lightly wounded.
The hill giant hits you with a giant club!
Ouch! That really hurt!

      ...
   .........
  ...........
 .k...K.......
.......k.....#
...(.........#
.............+
.............#
.......@.....#
.......%C....#
.............####
.................
.................
........)..>.....
 ################


You could see two killer bees, a kobold, and a hill giant.

Vanquished Creatures
  A hydra (D:13)
  A hill giant (D:10)
  An unseen horror (D:13)
  Michael (D:13)
  The ghost of CaptHugeNuts the Skirmisher, an experienced MiCK (D:6)
  2 giant brown frogs
  3 trolls
  A hippogriff (D:12)
  2 yaks (Vault:1)
  2 hungry ghosts
  2 wraiths (D:14)
  A soldier ant (Vault:2)
  2 manticores (D:10)
  5 ogres
  A big kobold (Vault:1)
  3 ice beasts
  3 phantoms
  3 necrophages
  5 centaurs
  A gila monster (D:10)
  A yellow wasp (D:9)
  Sigmund (D:7)
  3 orc warriors
  A brown snake (D:10)
  4 giant frogs
  An eye of draining (D:9)
  A steam dragon (D:8)
  Blork the orc (D:7)
  A cyclops zombie (D:12)
  8 killer bees
  8 imps
  2 orc priests
  9 giant ants
  5 hounds
  2 orc wizards
  A wight (D:7)
  5 scorpions
  2 shadows
  2 soldier ant zombies
  7 jellies
  10 snakes
  A big kobold zombie (D:11)
  A giant centipede (Vault:1)
  3 gnolls (D:1)
  4 worms
  A worm zombie (D:6)
  3 mummies
  A giant frog zombie (D:5)
  2 giant eyeballs
  3 hound zombies
  A killer bee zombie (D:5)
  A scorpion zombie (D:7)
  18 giant bats
  5 giant cockroaches
  5 giant geckos
  16 goblins
  15 hobgoblins
  12 jackals
  44 orcs
  4 quokkas
  11 rats
  2 small snakes
  3 giant newts
  22 kobolds
294 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  An unseen horror (D:14)
  An orc wizard (D:13)
  A rat (D:13)
3 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 297 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place   | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1     | Slay, the Deep Elf Conjurer, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1     | Reached XP level 1. HP: 8/8 MP: 4/4
   245 | D:1     | Reached skill 5 in Conjurations
   827 | D:1     | Reached XP level 2. HP: 11/11 MP: 5/7
  1242 | D:1     | Reached XP level 3. HP: 16/16 MP: 2/9
  1329 | D:1     | Learned a level 2 spell: Throw Flame
  1333 | D:1     | Learned a level 3 spell: Conjure Flame
  1456 | D:2     | Reached skill 6 in Conjurations
  1815 | D:2     | Reached XP level 4. HP: 19/20 MP: 4/13
  1824 | D:2     | Reached skill 1 in Fire Magic
  2353 | D:2     | Reached skill 7 in Conjurations
  2803 | D:3     | Reached XP level 5. HP: 23/23 MP: 1/15
  2813 | D:3     | Learned a level 3 spell: Stone Arrow
  2944 | D:3     | Gained mutation: You have a fast metabolism.
  2944 | D:3     | Lost mutation: You have a fast metabolism.
  2944 | D:3     | Gained mutation: You are partially covered in brown scales (AC + 2).
  2945 | D:3     | Lost mutation: You are partially covered in brown scales (AC + 2).
  3839 | D:4     | Reached skill 8 in Conjurations
  4063 | D:5     | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  4126 | D:5     | Reached XP level 6. HP: 27/27 MP: 3/18
  4279 | D:5     | Reached skill 1 in Earth Magic
  4571 | D:5     | Reached skill 5 in Spellcasting
  4596 | D:5     | Reached skill 9 in Conjurations
  5164 | D:6     | Reached XP level 7. HP: 32/32 MP: 15/21
  5705 | D:6     | Defeated CaptHugeNuts' ghost
  5959 | D:6     | Reached XP level 8. HP: 23/35 MP: 2/23
  6273 | D:6     | Reached skill 10 in Conjurations
  6441 | D:7     | Learned a level 6 spell: Fireball
  6472 | D:7     | Reached skill 5 in Stealth
  6593 | D:7     | Learned a level 2 spell: Repel Missiles
  6622 | D:7     | Noticed Blork the orc
  6624 | D:7     | Defeated Blork the orc
  6824 | D:7     | Reached skill 11 in Conjurations
  7015 | D:7     | Noticed Sigmund
  7128 | D:7     | Defeated Sigmund
  8327 | D:8     | Reached XP level 9. HP: 38/38 MP: 19/25
  8367 | D:8     | Reached skill 5 in Fire Magic
  8975 | D:8     | Learned a level 3 spell: Mephitic Cloud
  8978 | D:8     | Learned a level 2 spell: Cure Poison
  9195 | D:8     | Reached skill 12 in Conjurations
  9894 | D:9     | Reached skill 1 in Darts
 10088 | D:10    | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
 10315 | D:10    | Reached skill 5 in Earth Magic
 10463 | D:10    | Reached XP level 10. HP: 36/41 MP: 8/27
 10607 | D:10    | Reached skill 13 in Conjurations
 12266 | D:12    | Reached skill 5 in Dodging
 12338 | D:12    | Learned a level 3 spell: Regeneration
 12711 | D:13    | Learned a level 2 spell: Blink
 12847 | D:13    | Reached skill 14 in Conjurations
 12932 | D:13    | Reached skill 1 in Traps & Doors
 12974 | D:13    | Noticed Michael
 12981 | D:13    | Defeated Michael
 12981 | D:13    | Reached XP level 11. HP: 44/44 MP: 10/30
 13771 | Vault:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Vaults
 13986 | Vault:1 | Reached skill 1 in Evocations
 14180 | Vault:1 | Slain by a hill giant

[grebo]

I talking about the second weapon.  Like a dagger, the one you will throw and use to cut corpse.  I wanted cut a corpse with a knife since the description said it was good at it.   It always use my equiped dagger instead.

I think the knife mentions that it can be used to butcher just so it doesn't seem so useless?  Any edged weapon can butcher corpses.  If you equip the knife then butcher it should use it.

[Moaner]

I finally gave up on the Minotaur Beserker and ended up trying out a Hill Orc Priest.  I'm in love.  A small army of fellow orcs + smite = love.  Just be sure to pick up the armor and shield skills asap.

I may do another little AAR with my new favorite class/race combo come Monday or Tue, but no promises.

[grebo]

Ok, this is ridiculous.  As if elves didn't have a hard enough time surviving the early levels.