[Announce] Poschengband 3.0.0 Released

[krazyhades]

Getting my Scout off the ground is proving to be incredibly obnoxious. I've died a load of ties before/during the Thieves Quest! I feel like I'm forced to just keep re-clearing Camelot 1 because fighting e.g. Freisa (spelling?) in a hallway is instant death and I don't have the starting money for the ammo/recall/healing nor the melee capability to take on several thieves in the open or one thief in a tight corridor. Plus the wilderness is way too dangerous for leveling. I'm just going to get to level 8 or so in the most boring way possible this time. AUGHHHH.

Really frustrating and unfun, but I guess that's part of why I play this stupid genre.

Aside: I really hate being unable to see the spellbooks/powers of various classes. I used Sorcerer to look at all non-hex starter books, but I've been reduced to skimming through ladder dumps to see the spell lists (and not most abilities, sadly) of characters, which is incomplete because the ladder has far fewer casters than fighters submitted. After my most recent Scout death, I hunted through the code to see the scout activated abilities (which I didn't realize they even had any of, based on the class description!). I'm interested in getting a Scout to at least the midgame based on what I saw, but I wish I could more easily check these things through the game or some documentation. It took way too long for me to understand how my AC responded to how much space I had...it's only vaguely hinted at in the description.

I'm running a Demigod(Hermes) Scout now, but earlier my Hobbit Scout was failing horribly. Is the race descriptor that says hobbits are terribad in melee just referring to their modifiers to base stats, or is there some DCSS-style "learning rate" they they suck at? I've seen the huge list of skills so I've been assuming the latter.

EDIT: also, is there some "monster list" and/or "item list" command a la [ and ] in the V roguelike keyset? I'm assuming not, since I looked at the help files and found zilch, but I'd like to be able to, e.g., check more easily if there's a space monster, blinking dot, or other physically-hard-to-notice monster without being punished for not taking ages with every command.

[HugoVirtuoso]

Spoilers on the Scout:

http://code.google.com/p/chengband/wiki/ScoutSpoilers

[krazyhades]

Cool, thanks. I hope PosChengband didn't change it from Chengband.

Also, I finally got through the freaking Thieves Quest. Whoo!

EDIT: this documentation doesn't explain why adjacent rubble doesn't modify my AC in the same way that walls do. Assuming I understood that I was observing correctly...

[krazyhades]

Yeah, that Chengband spoiler claims that shields shouldn't encumber a scout, but that's definitely not the case in PosChengband...at least, I still get the disruption-from-armor message when equipping a shield, so I assume that it's not lying to me.

[Arjen]

Yeah, that Chengband spoiler claims that shields shouldn't encumber a scout, but that's definitely not the case in PosChengband...at least, I still get the disruption-from-armor message when equipping a shield, so I assume that it's not lying to me.

Might be because of the total weight of your armor going too high. Try it without other armor on.

[chris]

The Chengband Scout spoilers say that the ninja shield penalty should not apply. Ninja's aren't allowed to use shields at all no matter what their armor weight is. But scouts should be allowed to use shields. However, they are still subject to the overall weight constraint (that increases with level). Their armor restrictions are the same as monks (if that helps).

To start a Hobbit Scout (one of the best races for the scout, IMO), simply make sure you buy as much ammo as possible for your crossbow and then go shoot stuff. Try to buy a good crossbow from the armory (if you are lucky, and once you have enough gold). And once you can get to any of the other towns, spend your gold enchanting your bow at the archers shop.

If you would rather use melee, this is OK, but then the Hobbit becomes a bad choice. Instead, choose a strong melee race and be sure to start with 17 Str and 17 Dex. Plow your early stat boosts into your fighting stats until you have enough attacks to stand your ground toe to toe. But I think this approach is suboptimal. With Strafing, you will be able to Shoot and Scoot like nobody's business! And wilderness is great for this ... Plus, with a hobbit, you can roll a high starting Wisdom to make spells easier to cast. Ignore Con in the early game and try for the highest Str/Wis/Dex you can manage, maximizing based on which approach you plan to take.

[debo]

The Chengband Scout spoilers say that the ninja shield penalty should not apply. Ninja's aren't allowed to use shields at all no matter what their armor weight is. But scouts should be allowed to use shields. However, they are still subject to the overall weight constraint (that increases with level). Their armor restrictions are the same as monks (if that helps).

To start a Hobbit Scout (one of the best races for the scout, IMO), simply make sure you buy as much ammo as possible for your crossbow and then go shoot stuff. Try to buy a good crossbow from the armory (if you are lucky, and once you have enough gold). And once you can get to any of the other towns, spend your gold enchanting your bow at the archers shop.

If you would rather use melee, this is OK, but then the Hobbit becomes a bad choice. Instead, choose a strong melee race and be sure to start with 17 Str and 17 Dex. Plow your early stat boosts into your fighting stats until you have enough attacks to stand your ground toe to toe. But I think this approach is suboptimal. With Strafing, you will be able to Shoot and Scoot like nobody's business! And wilderness is great for this ... Plus, with a hobbit, you can roll a high starting Wisdom to make spells easier to cast. Ignore Con in the early game and try for the highest Str/Wis/Dex you can manage, maximizing based on which approach you plan to take.

Uh oh you're getting sucked back in!

[MarvinPA]

EDIT: also, is there some "monster list" and/or "item list" command a la [ and ] in the V roguelike keyset? I'm assuming not, since I looked at the help files and found zilch, but I'd like to be able to, e.g., check more easily if there's a space monster, blinking dot, or other physically-hard-to-notice monster without being punished for not taking ages with every command.

There is, ] lists items that match your pickup preferences, and for monsters you have to press \[ I think.

[Aethel27]

Hi first off I'm new to the game (both Poschengband and Rogues in general) and am trying the Merle comp for fun. I got the ability to teleport at will but the A command says I have no abilities. Help please... just got surrounded and don't want t die :/ to a horde of Novice warriors.

EDIT: Figured it out, U. Seems obvious now but it is awesome to have

[Arjen]

Hi first off I'm new to the game (both Poschengband and Rogues in general) and am trying the Merle comp for fun. I got the ability to teleport at will but the A command says I have no abilities. Help please... just got surrounded and don't want t die :/ to a horde of Novice warriors.

You can use (mutation) abilities by pressing 'U'.

[CrabTaco]

These basic tips on play through might help some:

http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=5848&page=11

and here is a similar one also from Chris (a few posts down on the page):

http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=5848&page=20

Keep in mind with a Demigod(Hermes) Scout you are going to have some huge XP penalties. Very huge. You are going to level very slowly, so you may have to repeat steps in this list before you are ready for the next one. That's the price for having sweet stats and abilities.

I have been running a human ninja for a while, and generally can progress along these lines. I just started a yeek ninja, and WOW do i level fast. Have to watch out for the Freisa(sp?) like you said at first, but i am lvl 5 or so just clearing the first level of Camelot.

[krazyhades]

What determines whether a character feel-IDs magical equipment as "good" vs "enchanted"? Is there some difference between the two names? Is it just class/flavor specific somehow??

[Arjen]

What determines whether a character feel-IDs magical equipment as "good" vs "enchanted"? Is there some difference between the two names? Is it just class/flavor specific somehow??

Classes with a strong psuedo id get {bad} {cursed} {average} {good} {exelent} {special}, these are the non magical types.

The magical types have a weak psuedo id and get {cursed} {enchanted}.

But only until lvl 35 i think, then every class get strong psuedo id.

[clouded]

The ego monsters thread had me thinking and I started to amuse myself. What if monsters could have personalities like the player?

- Mighty: 50% increase to either dice or sides on each melee attack.
- Shrewd: Casting rate increased by 1.
- Pious: Saving throw increased and a few random resistances gained.
- Nimble: AC increased by 50%.
- Fearless: Does not flee and gets ticked off more often.
- Combat: 25% increase to HP and dice or sides, monster gains deep respect for Combat Echizen.
- Lazy: Everything is decreased by 15%
- Sexy: 50% more monsters summoned by summoning spells.
- Lucky: 50% more items dropped.
- Patient: 50% more HP.
- Munchkin: 50% more XP given.
- Craven: Flees at a much higher HP threshhold.

[Cardinal Rob]

Mutation bug?

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=15801&ok

I may have encountered a bug with my Chaos-Warrior.

I started as a Demi-god (minor god) and at L20 I had taken Infernal Deal as my human mutation. When I reached L23 my patron polymorphed me from a Demi-god to a Klackon. When I changed Infernal Deal was briefly stripped away, and then I was able to re-choose my human mutation from the list (I re-took Infernal Deal), leaving me with a mutation I'm probably not supposed to have available to me.

Not that I mind - it's a powerful mutation, but I'm not sure he should be eligible for it.

Here is the gory details, just in case my character dump changes.

Name : Carnahan
Sex : Male
Personality: Mighty
Race : Klackon
Subrace : None
Class : Chaos-Warrior
Realm : Daemon
Patron : Khaine

You were born as Demigod.

Mutations ==================================

You can bring down the dungeon around your ears.
You can freeze things with a touch.
Your flesh is rotting (-2 CON, -1 CHR).
You have made an infernal deal.