=== The Dungeon === Although Zangband contains an extensive town level featuring multiple towns and a large wilderness area, the bulk of your adventuring will take place in the dungeon. Symbols appearing on your screen will represent the dungeon's walls, floor, objects, features, and creatures lurking about. In order to direct your character through his adventure, you will enter single character commands (see command.txt [1]). ***** === Symbols On Your Map === Symbols on your map can be broken down into three categories: Features of the dungeon such as walls, floor, doors, and traps; Objects which can be picked up such as treasure, weapons, magical devices, etc; and creatures which may or may not move about the dungeon, but are mostly harmful to your character's well being. Some symbols are used to represent more than one type of entity, and some symbols are used to represent entities in more than one category. The "@" symbol (by default) is used to represent the character. It will not be necessary to remember all of the symbols and their meanings. The "slash" command ("/") will identify any character appearing on your map Note that you can use a "user pref file" to change any of these symbols to something you are more comfortable with. --- Town and Wilderness Symbols --- # (Green) A Tree 1 Entrance to General Store # (Light Blue) Shallow Water 2 Entrance to Armory # (Dark Blue) Deep Water 3 Entrance to Weapon Smith # (Orange) Shallow Lava 4 Entrance to Temple # (Red) Deep Lava 5 Entrance to Alchemy Shop ^ (Brown) Mountains 6 Entrance to Magic Shop . (White) Floor / Road 7 Entrance to the Black Market . (Brown) Dirt 8 Entrance to your Home . (Green) Grass > (White) Dungeon Entrance > (Yellow) Quest Entrance < (Yellow) Quest Exit Note that trees, water and lave may also appear in the dungeon. --- Features that do not block line of sight --- . A floor space 1 Entrance to General Store . A trap (hidden) 2 Entrance to Armory ^ A trap (known) 3 Entrance to Weapon Smith ; A glyph of warding 4 Entrance to Temple ' An open door 5 Entrance to Alchemy Shop ' A broken door 6 Entrance to Magic Shop < A staircase up 7 Entrance to the Black Market > A staircase down 8 Entrance to your Home --- Features that block line of sight --- # A secret door # A wall + A closed door % A mineral vein + A locked door * Treasure in wall / Pattern + A jammed door : A pile of rubble --- Objects --- ! A potion (or flask) / A pole-arm ? A scroll (or book) | An edged weapon , A mushroom (or food) \ A hafted weapon - A wand or rod } A sling, bow, or x-bow _ A staff { A shot, arrow, or bolt = A ring ( Soft armor " An amulet [ Hard armor $ Gold or gems ] Misc. armor ~ Lites, Tools, Chests, etc ) A shield ~ Junk, Sticks, Skeletons, etc & Chests ` Statues or Figuerines --- Monsters --- $ Creeping Coins , Mushroom Patch a Giant Ant A Angelic being b Giant Bat B Bird c Giant Centipede C Canine d Dragon D Ancient Dragon e Floating Eye E Elemental f Feline F Dragon Fly g Golem G Ghost h Humanoids H Hybrid i Icky-Thing I Insect j Jelly J Snake k Kobold K Killer Beetle l Giant Louse L Lich m Mold M Multi-Headed Hydra n Naga N (unused) o Orc O Ogre p Human P Giant Human(oid) q Quadruped Q Quylthulg r Rodent R Reptile/Amphibian s Skeleton S Spider/Scorpion/Tick t Townsperson T Troll u Minor demon U Major demon v Vortex V Vampire w Worm or Worm Mass W Wight/Wraith x (unused) X Xorn/Xaren y Yeek Y Yeti z Zombie/Mummy Z Zephyr Hound ~ Aquatic monsters Note that some monsters disguise themselves by assuming the shape (ie. symbol) of common objects found in the dungeon. These include the |, ), ?, !, &, $ and * symbols. ***** === Within The Dungeon === Once your character is adequately supplied with food, light, armor, and weapons, he is ready to enter the dungeon. Move on top of the '>' symbol and use the "Down" command (">"). Your character will enter a maze of interconnecting staircases and finally arrive somewhere on the first level of the dungeon. Each level of the dungeon is fifty feet high (thus dungeon level "Lev 1" is often called "50 ft"), and is divided into (large) rectangular regions (several times larger than the screen) by titanium walls. Once you leave a level by a staircase, you will never again find your way back to that region of that level, but there are an infinite number of other regions at that same "depth" that you can explore later. So be careful that you have found all the treasure before you leave a level, or you may never find it again! The monsters, of course, can use the stairs, and you may eventually encounter them again. In the dungeon, there are many things to find, but your character must survive many horrible and challenging encounters to find the treasure lying about and take it safely back to the town to sell. There are two sources for light once inside the dungeon. Permanent light which has been magically placed within rooms, and a light source carried by the player. If neither is present, the character will be unable to see. This will affect searching, picking locks, disarming traps, reading scrolls, casting spells, browsing books, etc. So be very careful not to run out of light! A character must wield a torch or lamp in order to supply his own light. A torch or lamp burns fuel as it is used, and once it is out of fuel, it stops supplying light. You will be warned as the light approaches this point. You may use the "Fuel" command ("F") to refuel your lantern (with flasks of oil) or your torch (with other torches), so it is a good idea to carry extra torches or flasks of oil, as appropriate. There are rumors of objects of exceptional power which glow with their own never-ending light. ***** === Objects In The Dungeon === The mines are full of objects just waiting to be picked up and used. How did they get there? Well, the main source for useful items are all the foolish adventurers that proceeded into the dungeon before you. They get killed, and the helpful creatures scatter the various treasure throughout the dungeon. Most cursed items are placed there by the joyful evil sorcerers, who enjoy a good joke when it gets you killed. Only one object may occupy a given floor location, which may or may not also contain one creature. Doors, rubble, traps, and staircases are considered "objects" for this purpose. As below, any item may actually be a "pile" of up to 99 identical items. You pick up objects by moving on top of them. You can carry up to 23 different items in your backpack while wearing and wielding up to 12 others. Although you are limited to 23 different items, each item may actually be a "pile" of up to 99 similar items. If you somehow manage to stuff 24 items into your pack, for example, by removing an item from your head while your pack is full, then your pack will "overflow" and the most recently added item will fall out and onto the ground. You will be warned about any command that seems likely to induce this behavior. You are, however, limited in the total amount of weight that you can carry. As you approach this value, you become slower, making it easier for monsters to chase you. Note that there is no upper bound on how much you can carry, if you do not mind being slow. Your weight limit is determined by your strength. Many objects found within the dungeon have special commands for their use. Wands must be Aimed, staves must be Used, scrolls must be Read, and potions must be Quaffed. You may, in general, not only use items in your pack, but also items on the ground, if you are standing on top of them. Chests are complex objects, containing traps, locks, and possibly treasure or other objects inside them once they are opened. Many of the commands that apply to traps or doors also apply to chests and, like traps and doors, these commands do not work if you are carrying the chest. One item in particular will be discussed here. The scroll of "Word of Recall" can be found within the dungeon, or bought at the temple in town. It acts in two manners, depending upon your current location. If read within the dungeon, it will teleport you back to town. If read in town, it will teleport you back down to the deepest level of the dungeon which your character has previously been on. This makes the scroll very useful for getting back to the deeper levels of Zangband. Once the scroll has been read it takes a while for the spell to act, so don't expect it to save you in a crisis. Reading a second scroll before the first has had a chance to take effect will cancel both scrolls. Since an accidental dive to a new depth (via a trapdoor, for example), may result in the Word of Recall dungeon depth being 'broken', so to speak (meaning that the next Word of Recall in town will take you back deeper than you would like to), there is a new feature in Zangband which allows you to read a scroll of Word of Recall on a different level and 'reset' the recall depth to that level (instead of the deepest level). You may "inscribe" any object with a textual inscription of your choice. These inscriptions are not limited in length, though you may not be able to see the whole inscription on the item. The game applies special meaning to inscriptions containing any text of the form "@#" or "@x#" or "!x" or "!*", see "commands.txt". The game provides some "fake" inscriptions to help you keep track of your possessions. Wands and staves which are known to be empty will be inscribed with "empty". Objects which have been tried at least once but haven't been identified yet will be inscribed with "tried". Cursed objects are inscribed with "cursed". Broken objects may be inscribed with "broken". Also, any item which was purchased at a discount, implying that it is slightly "sub-standard", will be inscribed with the appropriate "discount", such as "25% off". Note that these inscriptions are fake, and cannot be removed, though they can be covered up by a real inscription if you so desire. Try "_" as a nice short one. Also, occasionally you will notice that something in your inventory or equipment list seems to be magical. High level characters are much more likely to notice this than beginning characters. When you do notice this, the item in question will be inscribed with "good" or "cursed" as is relevant. Priests acquire this ability far more readily than other character classes. Warriors, Rogues, Rangers and Paladins have a special method of "sensing" their inventory/equipment items, which tells them not only if an item is "good" or "cursed", but also if it is "average", and if it is "special" or "excellent", or "terrible" or "worthless". It is rumored that rings of power and extra rare spell books may be found deeper in the dungeon... And lastly, a final warning: not all objects are what they seem. The line between tasty food and annoying mushroom is a fine one, and sometimes a potion will reach out and bite you... --- Cursed Objects --- Some objects, mainly armor and weapons, have had curses laid upon them. These horrible objects will look like any other normal item, but will detract from your character's stats or abilities if worn. They will also be impossible to remove until a remove curse is done. In fact some are so badly cursed that even this will not work, and more potent methods are needed. If you wear or wield a cursed item, you will immediately feel something wrong. The item will also be inscribed "cursed". Shopkeepers will refuse to buy any known cursed item. ***** === Mining === Much of the treasure within the dungeon can be found only by mining it out of the walls. Many rich strikes exist within each level, but must be found and mined. Quartz veins are the richest, yielding the most metals and gems, but magma veins will have some hordes hidden within. Mining is rather difficult without a pick or shovel. Picks and shovels have an additional magical ability expressed as '(+#)'. The higher the number, the better the magical digging ability of the tool. A pick or shovel also has plusses to hit and damage, and can be used as a weapon, because, in fact, it is one. When a vein of quartz or magma is located, the character may wield his pick or shovel and begin digging out a section. When that section is removed, he can locate another section of the vein and begin the process again. Since granite rock is much harder to dig through, it is much faster to follow the vein exactly and dig around the granite. There is an option for highlighting magma and quartz. At a certain point, it becomes more cumbersome to dig out treasure than to simply kill monsters and discover items in the dungeon to sell. However, early on mineral veins can be a wonderful source of easy treasure. If the character has a scroll, staff, or spell of treasure location, he can immediately locate all strikes of treasure within a vein shown on the screen. This makes mining much easier and more profitable. Note that a character with high strength and/or a heavy weapon does not need a shovel/pick to dig, but even the strongest character will benefit from a pick if trying to dig through a granite wall. It is sometimes possible to get a character trapped within the dungeon by using various magical spells and items. So it can be a good idea to always carry some kind of digging tool, even when you are not planning on tunneling for treasure. There are rumors of certain incredibly profitable rooms buried deep in the dungeon and completely surrounded by titanium and granite walls, requiring a digging implement or magical means to enter. The same rumors imply that these rooms are guarded by incredibly powerful monsters, so beware! ***** === Staircases, Secret Doors, Passages, and Rooms === Staircases are the manner in which you get deeper or climb out of the dungeon. The symbols for the up and down staircases are the same as the commands to use them. A "<" represents an up staircase and a ">" represents a down staircase. You must move your character over the staircase before you can use it. Each level has at least one up staircase and at least two down staircases. There are no exceptions to this rule. You may have trouble finding some well hidden secret doors, or you may have to dig through obstructions to get to them, but you can always find the stairs if you look hard enough. Stairs, like titanium walls, and the doors into shops, cannot be destroyed by any means. Many secret doors are used within the dungeon to confuse and demoralize adventurers foolish enough to enter. But with some luck, and lots of concentration, you can find these secret doors. Secret doors will sometimes hide rooms or corridors, or even entire sections of that level of the dungeon. Sometimes they simply hide small empty closets or even dead ends. Secret doors always look like granite walls, just like traps always look like normal floors. Creatures in the dungeon will generally know and use these secret doors, and can often be counted on to leave them open behind them when they pass through. Doors can be broken down by bashing them. Once a door is bashed open, it is forever useless and cannot be closed. For historical reasons, secret doors are never locked. ***** === Random Quests === During character generation, you will be asked to input the number of random quests you wish to participate in. You may choose any number from 0 to 49. Random quests are always of the type 'Kill a random number of an out-of depth monster'. There is a limit to the number of levels a random quest monster may be out-of-depth but these quests can still be very dangerous. Random quests always appear on even levels and are equally spaced throughout the dungeon (for example, a choice of 49 random quests results in one such quest on every even level until level 98 (level 100 is the Serpent quest)). On entering a random quest level you will be told what the quest monster is and how many you have to kill (for example, 'This level is guarded by 10 young green dragons'). On random quest levels, no down staircases are generated until the last monster is killed which means that you cannot continue further into the dungeon until you have completed your quests. When you kill the last quest monster, the down staircase will be created and the monster will drop an item of 'excellent' quality or above. This is true even of monsters that do not normally drop items. Using the services of the Trump Tower (see the Town section) can teleport you past a particularly nasty quest but you must come back and finish it later if you want your character to be a winner. Random quests can be either 'easy' or 'hard' and you must choose which type you want during character generation. This choice is irrevocable for the duration of the character's dungeon diving career. 'Easy' means that the game tracks how many quest monsters you have killed on each attempt at the quest and adds these to the total count. This allows you to kill one or more quest monsters, leave the level and return later to finish up. 'Hard' means that each time you enter the quest level the number of quest monsters remaining is reset. In other words, you have to kill all the quest monsters in one go. 'Hard' quests can allow you to 'farm' the quest monsters by killing all but one, leaving the level and repeating. This allows you to collect and sell the dropped items and gain repeated experience for killing the monsters. This technique is frowned upon by many players and should be noted in any 'winner' post to the newsgroup. -- Original : (??) Updated : (??) Updated : Zangband DevTeam Last update: January 13, 2000 ***** Begin Hyperlinks ***** [1] command.txt