angband-doc 3.0.3.5 / var / games / angband / info / dungeon.spo

DUNGEON.SPO, version 1.22, for Angband 2.7.9v6 (all systems)
Release Date : September 2, 1996
Author       : Stephen S. Lee (lee9@fas.harvard.edu)

This spoiler describes dungeon layout -- including sections on vaults,
feelings, the autoscummer, and traps.

Please notify the author of any errors (however minor) that you find.
Suggestions to improve the format or readability of this spoiler are also
welcome.

NOTICE
This spoiler was written for Angband version 2.7.9v6.  There are enough
changes from even 2.7.8 so that it will be inaccurate; you may wish to get
an older version of the spoilers if you are playing an older version of
Angband.


The notation "XdY" indicates a number obtained by rolling an Y-sided
die X times.  (Thus 4d6 indicates a number from 4 to 24.)

LEVEL GENERATION
----------------

Every dungeon level will have roughly 50 rooms.  These rooms are almost
always connected by passageways, but very rarely there will be an isolated
room or rooms on a level.

If you are at level 11 (550') or deeper, there is a 1 in 15 chance that
a newly generated level that is not a quest level will be a destroyed
level.  A destroyed level is like a normal one but with areas destroyed by
the Word of Destruction spell.

The chance that a given room on a level will be lit is 100% at level 1
(50') and drops by 4% every level until it reaches 0% at level 26 (1300').

When a room is created, the room will be unusual if 1d200 is less than or
equal to the current dungeon level.  Unusual rooms include the rooms
constructed of two overlapping normal rooms, the various cross-shaped
rooms, and the various large rectangular rooms that have a narrow corridor
encircling a center rectangular structure.  The latter two types of unusual
rooms can only appear at dungeon level 3 (150') or deeper; they tend to
contain dense concentrations of traps, monsters, and objects.

An unusual room can attempt another check to become a special room; this
check is similar to the standard unusual room check except that it is only
half as likely to succeed.  If this check is passed, the game will attempt
to build a greater vault (20% probability), a lesser vault (30%), a monster
pit (30%), or a monster nest (20%).  Should there be insufficient space to
place the special room (most likely in the case of a greater vault), an
ordinary unusual room is created.


LEVEL RATINGS
-------------

An important feature of Angband is the level feeling, which your character
can get every time he or she enters a new dungeon level.  You will get a
feeling only if you have stayed on the previous level for at least 1000
game turns (so at speed +0 you must spend 100 moves, at speed +10 200 moves,
etc.)  If you have not spent this much time on the previous level, you will
not get a feeling (regardless of what is on the level) and you will get the
message "Looks like any other level."

If you are playing in preserve mode, you can never get a special feeling.
If you are not playing in preserve mode (i.e. standard mode), artifacts
will always cause a special feeling, and monster pits/nests and vaults may
cause a special feeling.

If a level is not felt as special, various valuable objects will contribute
to a level's rating (values for these are enumerated in OBJ-GOOD.SPO).

If you are playing in preserve mode, artifacts will add 10 points to a
level's rating (20 if the cash value of the artifact is more than 50000
gold).

Monster pits or vaults that do not cause a special feeling will add to a
level's rating as well; these are given later in this file.

Finally, out of depth monsters or out of depth non-cursed objects will add
to the rating of a level.  Uniques add twice the difference between the
normal level of the unique and the current dungeon level to the ratinig.
Non-unique monsters and objects also add to the rating in a similar
fashion, except that the difference is not multiplied by two.  A group of
out-of-depth normal monsters (outside a nest or pit) counts as a single
monster for rating purposes.

Bear in mind that any monsters or objects generated/dropped after the
initial creation of a level have no impact on the level's rating; this
includes uniques and artifacts.

The final calculated rating is conveyed as one of the following messages:

Rating Message
  101+ "You have a superb feeling about this level."
81-100 "You have an excellent feeling..."
 61-80 "You have a very good feeling..."
 41-60 "You have a good feeling..."
 31-40 "You feel strangely lucky..."
 21-30 "You feel your luck is turning..."
 11-20 "You like the look of this place..."
  1-10 "This level can't be all bad..."
     0 "What a boring place..."


THE AUTOSCUMMER
---------------

The autoscummer is a game option that will automatically create levels
until an "interesting" one is generated.  Autoscumming "sometimes"
will only try to generate 100 levels; if none of them are sufficiently
interesting, you get the 101st level regardless of how boring it is.
Autoscumming "always" will generate levels forever, until a
sufficiently interesting one appears.  (This may take a very long time
on slower systems.)

A level is interesting to the autoscummer if it is special, if it
"Looks like any other level" (i.e. you didn't spend enough time on the
last level), or if its level rating is greater than or equal to the
rating shown on the following chart:

Dungeon
Level   Rating req.
  1-4             1
  5-9            11
10-19            21
20-39            31
  40+            41

Note that in preserve mode, an artifact will not necessarily be considered
interesting at level 5 (250') or deeper, since an artifact is worth at most
20 points with preserve mode on.


MONSTER NESTS
-------------

There are three kinds of monster nests: jelly, animal, and undead.  (These
are sometimes called slime pits, zoos, and graveyards respectively.)  Nests
can only appear at dungeon level 5 (250') or deeper.

When a monster nest is generated, a random integer is chosen from between 1
and the current dungeon level.  The type of nest constructed depends on the
number selected:

 1-29: Jelly nest (contains only monsters represented by "i", "j", "m", and
            ",")
30-49: Animal nest (contains only natural creatures)
  50+: Undead nest (contains only undead monsters)

In all cases, monsters are generated 10 levels out of depth and may not be
unique.  A maximum of 16 different types of monsters may occur in a nest.

Monster nests can cause a special feeling, but only if you are at dungeon
level 40 (2000') or shallower.  If this criterion is met, a special feeling
occurs if 1d(level^2+1) is less than 300.  Here is a table showing the
probabilities:

   Level Chance that a special feeling will result from a monster nest/pit
---------------
up to 17 100.0%
      18  92.0%
      20  74.6%
      22  61.6%
      25  47.8%
      28  38.1%
      30  33.2%
      32  29.2%
      35  24.4%
      40  18.7%
     41+   0.0%

If a monster nest does not cause a special feeling, or if you are playing
in preserve mode, each monster nest adds 10 points to the rating of a
level.  Individual out-of-depth monsters in a nest also contribute to a
level's rating in the normal fashion.


MONSTER PITS
------------

There are ten types of monster pits: orc, troll, giant, blue dragon, white
dragon, green dragon, black dragon, red dragon, multi-hued dragon, and
demon.  Pits can only appear at dungeon level 5 (250') or deeper.

When a monster pit is generated, a random integer is chosen from between 1
and the current dungeon level.  The type of pit constructed depends on the
number selected:

 1-19: Orc pit (contains orcs)
20-39: Troll pit (contains trolls)
40-59: Giant pit (contains giants, but only those which are represented by
            "P")
60-62: Blue dragon pit (contains blue dragons, possibly including Great
            Storm Wyrms)
63-65: White dragon pit (contains white dragons, possibly including Great
            Ice Wyrms)
66-68: Green dragon pit (contains green dragons)
69-71: Black dragon pit (contains black dragons)
72-74: Red dragon pit (contains red dragons, possibly including Great Hell
            Wyrms)
75-79: Multi-hued dragon pit (contains multi-hued dragons)
  80+: Demon pit (contains greater demons, i.e. those represented by "U")

Monsters in a pit are generated as if 10 levels out of depth, and may not
be unique.  There can be at most 8 different monster types in a pit; they
will be arranged such that the easiest monsters are on the outside and the
most difficult are on the inside.

Monster pits affect the rating of a level in exactly the same manner as
monster nests.


LESSER VAULTS
-------------

Lesser vaults come in seven flavors and take up roughly as much space as
a large normal room.  A lesser vault will have objects generated up to 7
levels out of depth, and monsters generated up to 4 levels out of depth.

A lesser vault will always cause a special feeling if you are at dungeon
level 59 (2950') or shallower.  Deeper than that, a special feeling
occurs if 1d((level-40)^2+1) is less than 400.  Here is a table showing the
probability that a vault on a given level will cause a special feeling:

    Vault  Probability of a
on level:   special feeling
---------------------------
 up to 59            100.0%
       60             99.5%
       62             82.3%
       65             63.7%
       67             54.7%
       70             44.3%
       75             32.5%
       80             24.9%
       90             16.0%
      100             11.1%
      110              8.1%

If the lesser vault does not cause a special feeling, or you are playing
in preserve mode, each lesser vault adds 5 to the rating of a level.

The richest type of lesser vault features a parallelogram-shaped room with
ingress available via doors on the slanted left and right walls.  The room,
which has a divider running down the middle that is broken in the center,
is completely full of monsters and objects (which are out-of-depth as
described above).  There is a 2 in 7 chance that a lesser vault will be of
this sort (sometimes called a "diagonal vault").


GREATER VAULTS
--------------

Greater vaults are many times larger than the largest possible normal
room.  Objects can be generated up to 20 levels out of depth, and monsters
can be generated up to 40 levels out of depth.  Also, some objects are
guaranteed to be of good quality or better, and in three of the four
possible vaults some objects are guaranteed to be of great quality or
artifacts.  (For the definitions of what makes a good or great item, see
OBJ-GOOD.SPO.)

A greater vault may cause a special feeling in exactly the same manner as
a lesser vault (see above for details).

The four possible greater vaults have equal probabilities of appearing and
are as follows:

Type 1: This greater vault has alternating walls and monsters arranged in a
        tortuous, snaking path extending throughout the vault except for a
        short clear stretch in the center.  The entrances are at the top
        left and lower right.  Every other empty cell and the clear area in
        the center are filled with guaranteed great objects.  This vault
        adds 45 to the rating of a level if not special.  In the lingo of
        Angband veterans, this is often called a "checkerboard vault".

Type 2: This greater vault has alternating walls and monsters at the top
        and bottom rows, and in the center has a 2 by 2 room completely
        enclosed by a circular wall.  Each space in the 2 by 2 central room
        has a guaranteed great object.  This vault adds 35 to the rating of
        a level if not special.

Type 3: This vault has two large trapezoidal regions in the top central and
        bottom central areas of the vault.  These regions are completely
        filled with traps.  All four corners of the vault are walled off.
        The four walled off corners and the vault's center contain
        guaranteed good objects.  This vault adds 25 to the rating of a
        level if not special.  It is sometimes referred to as a "butterfly
        vault".

Type 4: This greater vault is characterized by a trap-filled rectangular
        corridor encircling a rectangular structure.  The structure
        contains a maze-like series of small rooms connected by doors.
        There is a guaranteed great object in the 3 by 5 room near the
        center.  This vault adds 25 to the rating of a level if not
        special.


TRAPS
-----

Morgoth's minions have set up numerous traps designed to cause trouble to
those intrepid adventurers foolish enough to venture into his domain.
These traps come in 16 different varieties, and any one of them may be
disarmed by magic (which always works) or by the player's own hands
(success here depends on the player's disarming skill).  A successful detect
trap spell of any sort (spell, rod, etc.) will always detect nearby traps.

Dart traps fire darts which whizz out of nowhere and attempt to strike
the character to cause some unwanted effect.  These darts do not always
hit the character; to determine the probability of a dart hit, let K be
equal to 1d125.  Then calculate as if the dart trap is a monster attempting
to hit the player in melee (see MON-BLOW.SPO for details on the precise
calculations).  A dart that hits will cause 1d4 damage in addition to the
effects described below.

The traps are as follows:

 1. Trap Door
    This trap is probably the most disliked trap of all (it can cause you
    to miss a vault or an artifact on a level).  It causes the player to
    fall down to the next dungeon level; the fall inflicts 2d8 damage unless
    the player has feather fall.

 2. Pit
    Falling into a pit will cause 2d6 damage, unless the player has
    feather fall.

 3. Spiked Pit
    Falling into a spiked pit will cause 2d6 damage; half of the time, the
    spikes will slice into your character for double damage and wounds the
    character (1d(damage done) is added to the cut counter).  If your
    character has feather fall, no harm is done (it's not hard to maneuver
    out of the spikes' way).

 4. Pit with Poisoned Spikes
    Falling into one of these is like falling into an ordinary spiked pit,
    except that if your character gets spiked, he or she will take double
    damage and be poisoned (1d(damage done) done is added to the poison
    counter), unless your character has some sort of poison resistance.

 5. Summoning Runes
    These runes, which disappear once activated, cause 2+1d3 monsters to
    materialize about the player.  (A "monster" may consist of a group of
    monsters if the summoned monster can appear in groups; also, if a
    unique is summoned, it may appear complete with escorts.)

 6. Teleport Trap
    This will teleport the player randomly up to 100 squares away.

 7. Fire Trap
    This will inflict 4d6 points of fire damage (see MON-BLOW.SPO for
    details on fire damage).

 8. Acid Trap
    This will inflict 4d6 points of acid damage (see MON-BLOW.SPO for
    details on acid damage).

 9. Dart Trap (slow)
    The darts from this trap will cause the player to be slowed (-10 to
    speed) for 19+1d20 turns.

10. Dart Trap (weakness)
    The darts from this trap will reduce the player's strength (unless he
    or she has sustain strength).

11. Dart Trap (clumsiness)
    The darts from this trap will reduce the player's dexterity (unless he
    or she has sustain dexterity).

12. Dart Trap (illness)
    The darts from this trap will reduce the player's constitution (unless
    he or she has sustain constitution).

13. Gas Trap (blindness)
    This trap releases a black gas which will blind the character for
    24+1d50 turns, unless he or she has resist blindness.

14. Gas Trap (confusion)
    This trap releases a gas of many scintillating colors to materialize
    about the player, confusing him or her for 9+1d20 turns unless he or
    she has confusion or chaos resistance.

15. Gas Trap (poison)
    This trap surrounds the player with a toxic greenish gas, poisoning the
    player (9+1d20 is added to the poison counter) unless he or she has
    poison resistance of some sort.

16. Gas Trap (sleep)
    This trap releases a gas that puts the player to sleep for 4+1d10
    turns, unless he or she has free action.