Here's how I start gnome mages

[bio_hazard]

/\/\//\No- it was a dead-straight corridor.

I'm not sure- it was a dark corridor so I may not have actually seen it

Lighting corridor probably a good idea.

[Estie]

Isn't vision range slightly longer than spell/breath range for precisely this kind of reason?

I suspect it was a case of elongated hockey stick, where the B had LOS but the @ didnt.

[Derakon]

That's a good point- I could have avoided that by mcc'ing a small anti-summoning corridor and resting there.

To be honest I'm not sure whether I got "double-moved" but it's possible. I think I was at base +8 so it is possible it moved within Telepathy range then breathed before I had a chance to react. Much more likely I didn't notice right away, or the resting didn't interrupt when the B approached.

Isn't vision range slightly longer than spell/breath range for precisely this kind of reason?

[Estie]

Ugh- lost my last promising hobbit mage last night. ~DL 44 or so. I was getting a pretty good kit together- swaps for rblind and rconf, telepathy, decent speed, and Con was starting hit the good part of the curve. No dungeon books in the dungeon, but I'd actually managed to buy Resistances and Raal's in the black market!

I was working a small vault- I TOed a Winged Horror, and left the vault to rest so I didn't wake up Kavlax or Smaug. Didn't notice it coming back down the long corridor- no rNether and I was done in one breath with -11hp.

Thats a typical diver´s death. Sometimes I cast light down the corridors before resting; it is by no means a failsafe measure, but has saved me once in a while.

[bio_hazard]

That's a good point- I could have avoided that by mcc'ing a small anti-summoning corridor and resting there.

To be honest I'm not sure whether I got "double-moved" but it's possible. I think I was at base +8 so it is possible it moved within Telepathy range then breathed before I had a chance to react. Much more likely I didn't notice right away, or the resting didn't interrupt when the B approached.

[brbrbr]

Didn't notice it coming back down the long corridor

In moments like that I really wish I had a wand of Mud to Stone

[bio_hazard]

Seems like it would be a reasonably good race. High stealth, +'s in Int and con, and decent device modifier. mushroom id is not very useful, but hold-life isn't bad (compare with gnome- innate free action is useful up until the mid game at which point you are almost guaranteed to have equipment covering FA, plus as a mage you are often stuck with FA gloves for a long time anyway). Strength and hit die just one worse than gnome.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Ugh- lost my last promising hobbit mage last night. ~DL 44 or so.

Sorry about your loss. As I recall, hobbit mage was a tough combination.

[bio_hazard]

Ugh- lost my last promising hobbit mage last night. ~DL 44 or so. I was getting a pretty good kit together- swaps for rblind and rconf, telepathy, decent speed, and Con was starting hit the good part of the curve. No dungeon books in the dungeon, but I'd actually managed to buy Resistances and Raal's in the black market!

I was working a small vault- I TOed a Winged Horror, and left the vault to rest so I didn't wake up Kavlax or Smaug. Didn't notice it coming back down the long corridor- no rNether and I was done in one breath with -11hp.

[luneya]

Don't go deep enough for stat drains to show up until you have at least a lantern as your light source, and preferably a source of see invis. The main sources of early-game stat loss are ghosts and mosses. Ghosts are one-hit kills, so as long as you can see them, all you need to do is wait for them to come out of the wall and blast them out of existence. And the mosses don't move, so the second point of light radius amounts to complete protection.

Also look for rings of soulkeeping in the black market. Dunedain already sustain con, so wearing one of these covers all of the stats that you'll ever care about.

I understand what you mean about the fun of a melee-mage configuration. For a while during the early-to-mid-game on my Dunedan mage I was wielding Anguirel, which acts both as a good stat stick and a combat weapon, with the malus of aggravate monster. So I stored my stealth items at home and just focused on kicking ass for a few character levels. But eventually, the experience needed per level mounted to the point where I needed to start really diving to get anywhere, so I switched back to a more conservative configuration.

[brbrbr]

I have another mage game but changed number of things:
Dunedan instead of Gnome = HD 10 vs HD 8 - gives more HP
Priority to both CON and INT at birth.
The idea is that with high CON stat at birth I could maximize character health quicker. (Most of my previous games CON was maxed too late in the game - dl80-90)

So far the strategy pays off, as I get considerably more HP at current level (cl 25, dl 35), than gnome.
Spell damage is weak, but I found it depends more on the cl, rather than on INT.

I have nice Executioner Sword of Defender early on, and with Scroll of Chant I melee often, and it works well.
Mana pool is still low (~50) as I get unlucky with Intellect/Brawn potions neutralizing each other.
I also don't wear Ring of Mouse or Ring of Escape. They are safer, but less fun.

So far the biggest challenge are Ghost and other stat suckers. Dunedin see them late, and even one point stat drain makes him significantly weaker. High-Elf would be better for small XP penalty.

I think midgame will be OK, just tedious.

[Bogatyr]

Presumably the damage output is higher with a mage on that book.

I currently have a v. high level rogue going and the two spells available from Raal's (Cloud Kill and Shockwave) do an almighty 51 and 62 damage respectively for about 25 mana - I have binned it.

Very very nice find for a mage though - nice.

They are not big damage spells even for a mage, but they're still nothing to sneeze at, and sound can stun monsters stopping them from attacking, and not much resists sound and/or shards.

Edit: I was speaking of Shockwave and Explosions, actually. Cloudkill is nice for clearing a room of weak to medium monsters without destroying any equipment.

[Bimbul]

Presumably the damage output is higher with a mage on that book.

I currently have a v. high level rogue going and the two spells available from Raal's (Cloud Kill and Shockwave) do an almighty 51 and 62 damage respectively for about 25 mana - I have binned it.

Very very nice find for a mage though - nice.

[Bogatyr]

Egads. Finding Kelek's may be worse. Can't cast the most interesting stuff until way later. Raal's is great: sound and shards attacks for those pesky uniques that resist all the basic elements.

[Carnivean]

found Raal's on DL 1.

That belongs in the "Has the RNG lost its mind?" thread. That's crazy.