Any recommended variants that are fairly noob-friendly?

[BlackFlame]

I've got some experience with roguelikes in general, but not so much with *bands. I'm wondering if there's a variant you folks might recommend that's easy to get into, but has more variety in classes and player abilities than vanilla Angband seems to.

In addition to vanilla, I've gotten ToME and Z+Angband, having heard they were some of the more popular variants, but I'm not sure how easy they are to get into. I also grabbed Steamband after reading about it, but I heard it was a lot harder than most variants.

So all rambling aside, any recommendations?

[Nick]

FAangband

[pampl]

You might like TinyAngband. It doesn't change classes and races that much, but it does adds patron dieties. They're really pretty interesting but very poorly documented so it takes some effort to learn what they all do :/ BUT, it compresses Angband into 27 levels, simplifies magic down to 2 spellbooks for priests and 2 for mages, and drops some resistances and monsters and maybe egos. It's also a lot easier IMO.

ZAngband and EyAngband add a bunch of classes and races while still being pretty newb-friendly. You'd probably prefer Z to Z+ as the latter doesn't add any new classes or races (IIRC) but does make some pretty complicated and challenging changes to monsters, quests, and spellcasting. If you want more classes and races than Z then ToME was a good choice, it has a great help system. Furyband and Entroband have tons of new races and classes but are really complicated and poorly documented.

[BlackFlame]

Z+ has less classes and races? From what I'd read on roguebasin and other places it sounded like it was just a futher-developed Zangband. I guess I misunderstood that, maybe I should get basic Zangband for now then. Sheesh, going blindly into variant hunting is kind of like jumping in the deep end when I just mastered the doggy paddle.

Anyway, ToME does look promising. In fact the whole reason I started looking into variants was because I saw a "Let's Play" of it on another forum I visit and it got me wondering what was out there.

Now, what about Gumband? Is that largely just a Moorcock-flavored Zangband or something? I like the setting, so I'm rather tempted to try it.

As for FAangband, it does seem kind of interesting from the half-hour or so of tinkering I've done with it. These "specialty abilities" look along the lines of what I was wanting in terms of variety of abilities. Seems a bit like what I've seen of ToME in that, but simpler to get into?

[Nick]

As for FAangband, it does seem kind of interesting from the half-hour or so of tinkering I've done with it. These "specialty abilities" look along the lines of what I was wanting in terms of variety of abilities.

If you like this but are looking for a dungeon-only no wilderness variant (like V), then Oangband may be worth checking out too.

[pampl]

Z+ has less classes and races? From what I'd read on roguebasin and other places it sounded like it was just a futher-developed Zangband.

Yeah, sorry, that's right. Same # of races and classes but more stuff added and changed. I generally like the changes but I think they make the game more complex and a bit tougher so I figured they weren't what you were looking for ATM.

Gumband's a good pick too from what little I've played of it. I don't remember having to check the help files for anything besides race/class information.

[Pete Mack]

QuickBand is just that -- death or glory.

[buzzkill]

I like Steamband, in fact, I love Steamband, but I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. It can be brutally hard, and the mechanics are a bit unconventional, and there is no current maintainer (as far as I know). FA is fun, easier than it was previously, but it may take you quite a while to find a dungeon (use Teleport Level (50/50) in the wilderness if you absolutely need a dungeon level).

EDIT... and as if to make my point, I just played a game of Steam. I spent 10 minutes outfitting my character in town, entered the dungeon, rounded the first corner and was paralyzed and killed at DL 1, without so much as even attempting an attack. Poor luck, yes. Uncommon, I'm afraid not.

[Djabanete]

If I were you I would play some Vanilla angband first just to get used to the general behavior of *bands. Then I would download all the variants that seemed interesting and play them each a little bit until I had a taste for them. I think I've played ToME/Fury, Iron, Heng/Entro, Pos, Steam, Hell, Un, and Mang, and eventually I just settled on Entro as my overall favorite. And that's by no means a comprehensive selection --- off the top of my head, I know that NPP, O, Sang, and FA come highly recommended by a lot of people.

Not all variants are newbie-friendly, but if you start with Vanilla, you'll find that none of the variants are really all that hard to pick up.

[BlackFlame]

If I were you I would play some Vanilla angband first just to get used to the general behavior of *bands. Then I would download all the variants that seemed interesting and play them each a little bit until I had a taste for them...

That's largely what I've been doing, using mostly the suggestions in this thread as my list of candidates. Although maybe you're right, and I should play with Vanilla a bit more. It's just that the added character customization after birth that many of the variants I'm leaning toward have seems so much more interesting than the simple classes of Vanilla.

Of course, I could probably get more out of that customization if I could go more than 10 floors or so without dying, so that's probably another point for more Vanilla play.

In any case, thanks for the recommendations so far, folks. I've found a lot of them to be really interesting. I just hope I improve enough soon to see all they have to offer.

[Djabanete]

That's largely what I've been doing, using mostly the suggestions in this thread as my list of candidates. Although maybe you're right, and I should play with Vanilla a bit more. It's just that the added character customization after birth that many of the variants I'm leaning toward have seems so much more interesting than the simple classes of Vanilla.

Of course, I could probably get more out of that customization if I could go more than 10 floors or so without dying, so that's probably another point for more Vanilla play.

In any case, thanks for the recommendations so far, folks. I've found a lot of them to be really interesting. I just hope I improve enough soon to see all they have to offer.

I can easily see how Vanilla may not appeal to those wishing for a more diverse experience, but there is the problem that some of the best variants are not even remotely newbie-friendly, and one has to start somewhere

Though perhaps if you're already familiar with the roguelike genre, none of the variants will be too daunting.

I'm not sure if it's reasonable to suggest Entroband for someone new to *bands, but it definitely has a *lot* of flexibility when it comes to character customization --- both during character creation and during actual play. I like to play in Vanilla-town mode because I prefer playing with only one dungeon, so the effect is basically that I'm playing Vanilla but with tons more races, classes, items, monsters, and insanity.

[Napsterbater]

My first *band was Unangband. I liked it, but then I found this board and rgra and decided to give Vanilla a shot. Been playing it ever since. I'm by no means the typical gamer, though. I like stripped down gameplay. I feel like people tend to add stuff to the game at the expense of core gameplay improvements. I went back to Un later and was peeved by the lack of squelch and the general difficulty of using spell targeting macros.

[Dark]

For very similar reasons, I do like Daaj.

It has the simple approach of Vanilla, but with with more interesting monster descriptions and some fun tweaks like alertness.

It also has the option to find gold through exploration rather than carting random junk around to sell.

then again, I personally tend to be much more interested in the exploration aspects of *band than the statistical management side.

the only thing I really miss in Daaj is additional quests, ---- and as yet I haven't found a varient which has both quests and easily visible tyles other than Unangband.

Sinse I haven't done more than tinker with unangband though, this isn't completely bad though.

[Nemesis]

Quickband is very noobfriendly but it's not just "EasyBand" or "DemoBand" or something like that, it's a proper variant that is short and that even experienced Banders like to play in a while.

Quickband was the first Angband game and I finished it on my fourth serious try - I'm not counting games very I died at the very first character levels as I generally take lots and lots of stupid risks in the beginning before I have anything to lose.

First serious game as a Half-Troll Warrior, came to the point where Uruks where my worst threat but died to some Black Orcs. Second attempt, same race, same class. Realized how dangerous Umber-Hulks and anything casting spells were, died at the hands of one some really nasty Creeping Coins. I was at clvl 28 or something like that and had just recieved my bonus blow as a warrior.

I came to realize that whilte Half-Trolls were great at the start of the game they lost their advantages and more when the game was getting more magical. Next up was a Dunadan Paladin. The game was really promising but I finally met my doom when I was holding down the arrow key in a corridor and got poison breathed to death by a Basilisk. My second game as a Dunadan Paladin scored home a victory though, shortly after speed rings had started to appear.

A nice thing about Quickband is that not only your race and class matters but also your stats... Since there are no stat potions in the game and the stats affect your character more (e.g. your dex affects speed) you'll have to choose wisely in the beginning... But the end game isn't as hard in Quickand so even though you picked a character that aren't totally munchkin you should be able to make it...

[Nemesis]

I almost forgot Portalis, that game is both complex and beginner friendly at the same time! During a game of Portalis you you'll not only have to make decisions about the "skill build" of your character but you also get to choose dialogue options, moral decisions, etc.

Portalis seems a bit unpolished at times, though... But at least it doesn't seem too hard, when I tried it out I made many dives into the closest dungeon and I didn't die a single time!