A thread for dumb questions

[Grotug]

Can someone kindly tell me how the hit and run spell works? I cast the spell and nothing happens. It just says "you tense up ready to escape!". The spell description says "prepares you to teleport a short distance after stealing from a monster". But how do I steal? I try to hit the monster but it just hits him instead of stealing from him.

[Julian]

Can someone kindly tell me how the hit and run spell works? I cast the spell and nothing happens. It just says "you tense up ready to escape!". The spell description says "prepares you to teleport a short distance after stealing from a monster". But how do I steal? I try to hit the monster but it just hits him instead of stealing from him.

There’s a special command for it, ’s’.

[Grotug]

Thanks! Can I steel from Uniques?

[backwardsEric]

Thanks! Can I steel from Uniques?

Yes, but what you steal get's discounted from what that unique can have if it's placed on a new level. So, you can't steal from Bullroarer, for instance, on multiple levels to get more than what he would have dropped if killed.

[Grotug]

I tried to steal from a sleeping Cantoras and he cried out in anger! waking everyone in the vault. Is this typical of trying to steal from Cantoras or is it sort of a low chance of happening when I steal from any high uniques?

[backwardsEric]

I tried to steal from a sleeping Cantoras and he cried out in anger! waking everyone in the vault. Is this typical of trying to steal from Cantoras or is it sort of a low chance of happening when I steal from any high uniques?

The monster's level, speed, whether or not it's unique, and whether or not it's sleeping are the characteristics that set its defense against the attempted theft. A random value based on that defense (with an added term from the weight of the randomly selected object from the monster's inventory) is compared to the player's stealing skill (based on stealth and dexterity with penalties for hallucinating, confusion, or blindness). On a mild failure, the player sees the thing that could have been stolen and can wake the monster, if it isn't already awake. On more severe failures, the result is what you got with Cantoras.

[Pete Mack]

@BE--
Cantoras is also very alert; only an @ with legendary could possibly sneak up in the first place. Does that make a difference?

[backwardsEric]

@BE--
Cantoras is also very alert; only an @ with legendary could possibly sneak up in the first place. Does that make a difference?

Only so much as the monster was alert enough to not still be sleeping. The calculation uses the binary distinction of awake/not-awake and not how far away the monster is from waking.

[Selkie]

I tried to steal from a sleeping Cantoras and he cried out in anger! waking everyone in the vault. Is this typical of trying to steal from Cantoras or is it sort of a low chance of happening when I steal from any high uniques?

Even with legendary stealth I've never had much luck stealing from the high end uniques. Sometimes it feels safer to just kill them.

I think stealing is a cool idea, but the trouble is the mechanic is too shrouded in fog. A lot of Angband is very easy to work out percentages of success, so you can weigh up risk and reward. With stealing I've no idea what's happening in the code or what my success percentages might be.

With legendary stealth I would expect to be able to steal from a high end unique at least 60 per cent of the time, but in my experience it felt much lower.

[Grotug]

In the latest version does the Ranger get extra shots with all launchers? My X5 (+13) crossbow does more damage than my Lorien X4 (+13) longbow, so that would seem to be the case (2.4 shots a round).

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Even with legendary stealth I've never had much luck stealing from the high end uniques....
With legendary stealth I would expect to be able to steal from a high end unique at least 60 per cent of the time, but in my experience it felt much lower.

As stealthy as Bilbo may have been, Smaug did wake up.

[Selkie]

Does the level treasure feeling take into account the combined value of every single treasure, or does it only tell you the single most valuable/rare treasure on the level?

[Nick]

Does the level treasure feeling take into account the combined value of every single treasure, or does it only tell you the single most valuable/rare treasure on the level?

All of them.

[Din0rion_1]

I am rather new here, and this will be my first reply. I have a dumb question about my character. I am currently playing as a druid, and when I try to cast Lightning Strike, sometimes it will register as either having succeeded or failed, while other times it will not register at all in my action history. What exactly am I missing here?

[Selkie]

I am rather new here, and this will be my first reply. I have a dumb question about my character. I am currently playing as a druid, and when I try to cast Lightning Strike, sometimes it will register as either having succeeded or failed, while other times it will not register at all in my action history. What exactly am I missing here?

I think it's only works when targeting monsters in a discovered square