









                           A Guide to the Mazes of Menace
                               (Guidebook for NetHack)


                         Original version - Eric S. Raymond
             (Edited and expanded for 3.6 by Mike Stephenson and others)



          1.  Introduction

               Recently,  you  have  begun to find yourself unfulfilled and
          distant in your daily occupation.  Strange dreams of prospecting,
          stealing,  crusading,  and  combat have haunted you in your sleep
          for many months, but you aren't sure of the reason.   You  wonder
          whether  you have in fact been having those dreams all your life,
          and somehow managed to forget about them until now.  Some  nights
          you awaken suddenly and cry out, terrified at the vivid recollec-
          tion of the strange and powerful creatures that seem to be  lurk-
          ing  behind  every  corner  of  the dungeon in your dream.  Could
          these details haunting your dreams be real?  As each night  pass-
          es,  you feel the desire to enter the mysterious caverns near the
          ruins grow stronger.  Each morning, however, you quickly put  the
          idea  out  of  your head as you recall the tales of those who en-
          tered the caverns before you and did not return.  Eventually  you
          can  resist  the yearning to seek out the fantastic place in your
          dreams no longer.  After all, when other  adventurers  came  back
          this  way after spending time in the caverns, they usually seemed
          better off than when they passed through the first time.  And who
          was to say that all of those who did not return had not just kept
          going?

               Asking around, you hear about a bauble, called the Amulet of
          Yendor  by  some, which, if you can find it, will bring you great
          wealth.  One legend you were told even mentioned that the one who
          finds  the  amulet  will be granted immortality by the gods.  The
          amulet is rumored to be somewhere beyond the Valley of  Gehennom,
          deep  within  the Mazes of Menace.  Upon hearing the legends, you
          immediately realize that there is some profound and  undiscovered
          reason that you are to descend into the caverns and seek out that
          amulet of which they spoke.  Even if the rumors of  the  amulet's
          powers are untrue, you decide that you should at least be able to
          sell the tales of your adventures to the local  minstrels  for  a
          tidy  sum,  especially if you encounter any of the terrifying and
          magical creatures of your dreams along the way.   You  spend  one
          last  night  fortifying  yourself at the local inn, becoming more
          and more depressed as you watch the odds of  your  success  being
          posted on the inn's walls getting lower and lower.




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               In  the  morning you awake, collect your belongings, and set
          off for the dungeon.  After several days  of  uneventful  travel,
          you  see the ancient ruins that mark the entrance to the Mazes of
          Menace.  It is late at night, so you make camp  at  the  entrance
          and  spend the night sleeping under the open skies.  In the morn-
          ing, you gather your gear, eat what may be your  last  meal  out-
          side, and enter the dungeon...

          2.  What is going on here?

               You have just begun a game of NetHack.  Your goal is to grab
          as much treasure as you can, retrieve the Amulet of  Yendor,  and
          escape the Mazes of Menace alive.

               Your abilities and strengths for dealing with the hazards of
          adventure will vary with your background and training:

               Archeologists understand dungeons pretty well; this  enables
          them  to  move  quickly  and sneak up on the local nasties.  They
          start equipped with the tools for a proper scientific expedition.

               Barbarians  are  warriors out of the hinterland, hardened to
          battle.   They  begin  their  quests  with  naught  but  uncommon
          strength, a trusty hauberk, and a great two-handed sword.

               Cavemen  and  Cavewomen start with exceptional strength but,
          unfortunately, with neolithic weapons.

               Healers are wise in medicine and apothecary.  They know  the
          herbs  and  simples  that  can restore vitality, ease pain, anes-
          thetize, and neutralize poisons; and with their instruments, they
          can  divine a being's state of health or sickness.  Their medical
          practice earns them quite reasonable amounts of money, with which
          they enter the dungeon.

               Knights  are  distinguished  from  the  common skirmisher by
          their devotion to the ideals of chivalry and  by  the  surpassing
          excellence of their armor.

               Monks are ascetics, who by rigorous practice of physical and
          mental disciplines have become capable of fighting as effectively
          without  weapons  as with.  They wear no armor but make up for it
          with increased mobility.

               Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders  ad-
          vancing  the  cause  of  righteousness with arms, armor, and arts
          thaumaturgic.  Their ability to commune with deities  via  prayer
          occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in
          it.

               Rangers are most at home in the woods, and some say slightly
          out of place in a dungeon.  They are, however, experts in archery
          as well as tracking and stealthy movement.



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               Rogues are agile and stealthy  thieves,  with  knowledge  of
          locks,  traps,  and  poisons.   Their advantage lies in surprise,
          which they employ to great advantage.

               Samurai are the elite warriors of feudal Nippon.   They  are
          lightly  armored  and  quick, and wear the dai-sho, two swords of
          the deadliest keenness.

               Tourists start out with lots of gold (suitable for  shopping
          with),  a  credit card, lots of food, some maps, and an expensive
          camera.  Most monsters don't like being photographed.

               Valkyries are hardy warrior women.  Their upbringing in  the
          harsh  Northlands  makes  them strong, inures them to extremes of
          cold, and instills in them stealth and cunning.

               Wizards start out with a knowledge of magic, a selection  of
          magical  items,  and a particular affinity for dweomercraft.  Al-
          though seemingly weak and easy to overcome at first sight, an ex-
          perienced Wizard is a deadly foe.

               You  may also choose the race of your character (within lim-
          its; most roles have restrictions on which races are eligible for
          them):

               Dwarves are smaller than humans or elves, but are stocky and
          solid individuals.  Dwarves' most notable trait  is  their  great
          expertise  in mining and metalwork.  Dwarvish armor is said to be
          second in quality not even to the mithril armor of the Elves.

               Elves are agile, quick, and perceptive; very little of  what
          goes  on  will escape an Elf.  The quality of Elven craftsmanship
          often gives them an advantage in arms and armor.

               Gnomes are smaller than but generally  similar  to  dwarves.
          Gnomes  are known to be expert miners, and it is known that a se-
          cret underground mine complex built by this  race  exists  within
          the Mazes of Menace, filled with both riches and danger.

               Humans are by far the most common race of the surface world,
          and are thus the norm to which other races  are  often  compared.
          Although  they have no special abilities, they can succeed in any
          role.

               Orcs are a cruel and barbaric race that  hate  every  living
          thing  (including other orcs).  Above all others, Orcs hate Elves
          with a passion unequalled, and will go out of their way  to  kill
          one  at  any opportunity.  The armor and weapons fashioned by the
          Orcs are typically of inferior quality.

          3.  What do all those things on the screen mean?

               On the screen is kept a map of where you have been and  what
          you  have  seen on the current dungeon level; as you explore more


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          of the level, it appears on the screen in front of you.

               When NetHack's ancestor rogue  first  appeared,  its  screen
          orientation  was  almost  unique  among  computer  fantasy games.
          Since then, screen orientation has become the  norm  rather  than
          the  exception;  NetHack  continues  this fine tradition.  Unlike
          text adventure games that accept commands in pseudo-English  sen-
          tences and explain the results in words, NetHack commands are all
          one or two keystrokes and the results are  displayed  graphically
          on  the  screen.  A minimum screen size of 24 lines by 80 columns
          is recommended; if the screen is larger,  only  a  21x80  section
          will be used for the map.

               NetHack can even be played by blind players, with the assis-
          tance of Braille readers or  speech  synthesisers.   Instructions
          for  configuring NetHack for the blind are included later in this
          document.

               NetHack generates a new dungeon every time you play it; even
          the  authors  still find it an entertaining and exciting game de-
          spite having won several times.

               NetHack offers a variety of display  options.   The  options
          available  to  you  will vary from port to port, depending on the
          capabilities of your hardware and software, and  whether  various
          compile-time options were enabled when your executable was creat-
          ed.  The three possible display options are: a monochrome charac-
          ter  interface,  a color character interface, and a graphical in-
          terface using small pictures called tiles.  The two character in-
          terfaces allow fonts with other characters to be substituted, but
          the default assignments use standard ASCII characters  to  repre-
          sent everything.  There is no difference between the various dis-
          play options with respect to game play.  Because we cannot repro-
          duce the tiles or colors in the Guidebook, and because it is com-
          mon to all ports, we will use the default ASCII  characters  from
          the  monochrome  character  display  when referring to things you
          might see on the screen during your game.

               In order to understand what is going on  in  NetHack,  first
          you  must  understand what NetHack is doing with the screen.  The
          NetHack screen replaces the "You see ..."  descriptions  of  text
          adventure  games.   Figure 1 is a sample of what a NetHack screen
          might look like.  The way the screen looks  for  you  depends  on
          your platform.












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          +----------------------------------------------------------------+
          |The bat bites!                                                  |
          |                                                                |
          |    ------                                                      |
          |    |....|    ----------                                        |
          |    |.<..|####...@...$.|                                        |
          |    |....-#   |...B....+                                        |
          |    |....|    |.d......|                                        |
          |    ------    -------|--                                        |
          |                                                                |
          |                                                                |
          |                                                                |
          |Player the Rambler    St:12 Dx:7 Co:18 In:11 Wi:9 Ch:15 Neutral |
          |Dlvl:1 $:0 HP:9(12) Pw:3(3) AC:10 Exp:1/19 T:257 Weak           |
          +---------------------------Figure-1-----------------------------+

          3.1.  The status lines (bottom)

               The  bottom  two lines of the screen contain several cryptic
          pieces of information describing your current status.  If  either
          status  line  becomes  longer  than  the width of the screen, you
          might not see all of it.  Here are explanations of what the vari-
          ous status items mean (though your configuration may not have all
          the status items listed below):

          Rank
               Your character's name and professional ranking (based on the
               experience level, see below).

          Strength
               A  measure of your character's strength; one of your six ba-
               sic attributes.  A human character's  attributes  can  range
               from  3  to 18 inclusive; non-humans may exceed these limits
               (occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx,
               and  magic  can  also  cause attributes to exceed the normal
               limits).  The higher your strength, the  stronger  you  are.
               Strength  affects  how  successfully  you  perform  physical
               tasks, how much damage you do in combat, and how  much  loot
               you can carry.

          Dexterity
               Dexterity  affects  your  chances to hit in combat, to avoid
               traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or  manipulation
               of objects.

          Constitution
               Constitution  affects  your ability to recover from injuries
               and other strains on your stamina.  When strength is low  or
               modest,  constitution  also  affects how much you can carry.
               With sufficiently high strength, the contribution to  carry-
               ing capacity from your constitution no longer matters.

          Intelligence
               Intelligence  affects  your  ability to cast spells and read


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               spellbooks.

          Wisdom
               Wisdom comes from your practical experience (especially when
               dealing with magic).  It affects your magical energy.

          Charisma
               Charisma affects how certain creatures react toward you.  In
               particular, it can affect the prices shopkeepers offer  you.

          Alignment
               Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic.  Often, Lawful is taken as good
               and Chaotic as evil, but legal and ethical do not always co-
               incide.   Your alignment influences how other monsters react
               toward you.  Monsters of a like alignment are more likely to
               be  non-aggressive, while those of an opposing alignment are
               more likely to be seriously offended at your presence.

          Dungeon Level
               How deep you are in the dungeon.  You start at level one and
               the  number  increases  as  you  go deeper into the dungeon.
               Some levels are special, and are identified by  a  name  and
               not  a  number.  The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be some-
               where beneath the twentieth level.

          Gold
               The number of gold pieces you  are  openly  carrying.   Gold
               which you have concealed in containers is not counted.

          Hit Points
               Your  current  and  maximum hit points.  Hit points indicate
               how much damage you can take before you die.  The  more  you
               get  hit in a fight, the lower they get.  You can regain hit
               points by resting, or by  using  certain  magical  items  or
               spells.   The  number  in  parentheses is the maximum number
               your hit points can reach.

          Power
               Spell points.  This tells you how much mystic energy  (mana)
               you  have  available for spell casting.  Again, resting will
               regenerate the amount available.

          Armor Class
               A measure of how effectively your armor stops blows from un-
               friendly  creatures.  The lower this number is, the more ef-
               fective the armor; it is quite possible to have negative ar-
               mor class.

          Experience
               Your current experience level and experience points.  As you
               adventure, you gain experience points.  At  certain  experi-
               ence  point  totals, you gain an experience level.  The more
               experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand mag-
               ical attacks.  Many dungeons show only your experience level


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               here.

          Time
               The number of turns elapsed so far, displayed  if  you  have
               the time option set.

          Status
               Hunger:  your  current  hunger status.  Values are Satiated,
               Not Hungry (or Normal), Hungry,  Weak,  and  Fainting.   Not
               shown when Normal.

               Encumbrance:  an indication of how what you are carrying af-
               fects your ability to move.  Values are Unencumbered, Encum-
               bered,  Stressed,  Strained, Overtaxed, and Overloaded.  Not
               shown when Unencumbered.

               Fatal conditions: Stone (aka Petrifying, turning to  stone),
               Slime  (turning into green slime), Strngl (being strangled),
               FoodPois (suffering  from  acute  food  poisoning),  TermIll
               (suffering from a terminal illness).

               Non-fatal  conditions: Blind (can't see), Deaf (can't hear),
               Stun (stunned), Conf (confused), Hallu (hallucinating).

               Movement modifiers: Lev  (levitating),  Fly  (flying),  Ride
               (riding).

               Other conditions and modifiers exist, but there isn't enough
               room to display them with the other status fields.  The `^X'
               command shows all relevant status conditions.

          3.2.  The message line (top)

               The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that de-
          scribe things that are impossible to represent visually.  If  you
          see a "--More--" on the top line, this means that NetHack has an-
          other message to display on the screen, but it wants to make cer-
          tain  that  you've read the one that is there first.  To read the
          next message, just press the space bar.

               To change how and what messages are  shown  on  the  message
          line, see "Configuring Message Types" and the verbose option.

          3.3.  The map (rest of the screen)

               The  rest  of the screen is the map of the level as you have
          explored it so far.  Each symbol on the screen  represents  some-
          thing.   You  can  set various graphics options to change some of
          the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will  use  default
          symbols.  Here is a list of what the default symbols mean:

          - and |
               The walls of a room, or an open door.  Or a grave (|).



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          .    The floor of a room, ice, or a doorless doorway.

          #    A  corridor,  or iron bars, or a tree, or possibly a kitchen
               sink (if your dungeon has sinks), or a drawbridge.

          >    Stairs down: a way to the next level.

          <    Stairs up: a way to the previous level.

          +    A closed door, or a spellbook containing a spell you may  be
               able to learn.

          @    Your character or a human.

          $    A pile of gold.

          ^    A trap (once you have detected it).

          )    A weapon.

          [    A suit or piece of armor.

          %    Something edible (not necessarily healthy).

          ?    A scroll.

          /    A wand.

          =    A ring.

          !    A potion.

          (    A useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...).

          "    An amulet or a spider web.

          *    A gem or rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless).

          `    A boulder or statue.

          0    An iron ball.

          _    An altar, or an iron chain.

          {    A fountain.

          }    A pool of water or moat or a pool of lava.

          \    An opulent throne.

          a-zA-Z and other symbols
               Letters  and certain other symbols represent the various in-
               habitants of the Mazes of Menace.  Watch out,  they  can  be
               nasty and vicious.  Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.


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          I    This marks the last known location of an invisible or other-
               wise  unseen  monster.   Note  that  the  monster could have
               moved.  The `F' and `m' commands may be useful here.

               You need not memorize all these symbols;  you  can  ask  the
          game  what  any  symbol  represents with the `/' command (see the
          next section for more info).

          4.  Commands

               Commands can be initiated by typing one or two characters to
          which  the command is bound to, or typing the command name in the
          extended commands entry.  Some commands, like  "search",  do  not
          require that any more information be collected by NetHack.  Other
          commands might require additional information, for example a  di-
          rection,  or  an  object to be used.  For those commands that re-
          quire additional information, NetHack will present you  with  ei-
          ther  a  menu of choices or with a command line prompt requesting
          information.  Which you are presented with will depend chiefly on
          how you have set the menustyle option.

               For  example,  a  common  question, in the form "What do you
          want to use? [a-zA-Z ?*]", asks you to choose an object  you  are
          carrying.   Here, "a-zA-Z" are the inventory letters of your pos-
          sible choices.  Typing `?' gives you an inventory list  of  these
          items,  so you can see what each letter refers to.  In this exam-
          ple, there is also a `*' indicating that you may choose an object
          not on the list, if you wanted to use something unexpected.  Typ-
          ing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the  inven-
          tory  letters  of  every object you're carrying.  Finally, if you
          change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command af-
          ter all, you can press the ESC key to abort the command.

               You  can  put  a  number before some commands to repeat them
          that many times; for example, "10s" will search  ten  times.   If
          you have the number_pad option set, you must type `n' to prefix a
          count, so the example above would be typed "n10s" instead.   Com-
          mands  for  which counts make no sense ignore them.  In addition,
          movement commands can be prefixed for greater  control  (see  be-
          low).  To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.

               The  list  of commands is rather long, but it can be read at
          any time during the game through the `?' command, which  accesses
          a  menu  of helpful texts.  Here are the default key bindings for
          your reference:

          ?    Help menu:  display one of several help texts available.

          /    The "whatis" command, to tell what a symbol represents.  You
               may choose to specify a location or type a symbol (or even a
               whole word) to explain.  Specifying a location  is  done  by
               moving  the  cursor to a particular spot on the map and then
               pressing one of `.', `,', `;', or `:'.  `.' will explain the
               symbol at the chosen location, conditionally check for "More


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               info?" depending upon whether the help  option  is  on,  and
               then  you  will  be asked to pick another location; `,' will
               explain the symbol but skip any additional information, then
               let you pick another location; `;' will skip additional info
               and also not bother asking you to choose another location to
               examine; `:' will show additional info, if any, without ask-
               ing for confirmation.  When picking a location, pressing the
               ESC  key  will  terminate this command, or pressing `?' will
               give a brief reminder about how it works.

               If the autodescribe option is on,  a  short  description  of
               what  you see at each location is shown as you move the cur-
               sor.  Typing `#' while picking a location will  toggle  that
               option  on or off.  The whatis_coord option controls whether
               the short description includes map coordinates.

               Specifying a name rather than a location  always  gives  any
               additional information available about that name.

               You  may  also request a description of nearby monsters, all
               monsters currently displayed, nearby  objects,  or  all  ob-
               jects.  The whatis_coord option controls which format of map
               coordinate is included with their descriptions.

          &    Tell what a command does.

          <    Go up to the previous level (if you are on  a  staircase  or
               ladder).

          >    Go down to the next level (if you are on a staircase or lad-
               der).

          [yuhjklbn]
               Go one step in the direction indicated (see Figure  2).   If
               you  sense  or  remember a monster there, you will fight the
               monster instead.   Only  these  one-step  movement  commands
               cause  you to fight monsters; the others (below) are "safe."

                                    y  k  u          7  8  9
                                     \ | /            \ | /
                                    h- . -l          4- . -6
                                     / | \            / | \
                                    b  j  n          1  2  3
                                              (if number_pad is set)

                                         Figure 2

          [YUHJKLBN]
               Go in that direction until you hit a wall or run into  some-
               thing.

          m[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:   move  without picking up objects or fighting (even
               if you remember a monster there).


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               A few non-movement commands use the `m'  prefix  to  request
               operating    via   menu   (to   temporarily   override   the
               menustyle:Traditional option).   Primarily  useful  for  `,'
               (pickup)  when  there  is  only one class of objects present
               (where there won't be any "what kinds of objects?"   prompt,
               so no opportunity to answer `m' at that prompt).

               A  few other commands (eat food, offer sacrifice, apply tin-
               ning-kit) use the `m' prefix to skip checking for applicable
               objects  on the floor and go straight to checking inventory,
               or (for "#loot" to remove a saddle), skip containers and  go
               straight to adjacent monsters.  The prefix will make "#trav-
               el" command show a menu of interesting targets in sight.  In
               debug  mode  (aka "wizard mode"), the `m' prefix may also be
               used with the "#teleport" and "#wizlevelport" commands.

          F[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  fight a monster (even if  you  only  guess  one  is
               there).

          M[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  move far, no pickup.

          g[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:  move until something interesting is found.

          G[yuhjklbn] or <CONTROL->[yuhjklbn]
               Prefix:   same  as `g', but forking of corridors is not con-
               sidered interesting.

          _    Travel to a map location via a shortest-path algorithm.

               The shortest path is computed over map  locations  the  hero
               knows  about  (e.g. seen or previously traversed).  If there
               is no known path, a guess is made instead.  Stops on most of
               the  same conditions as the `G' command, but without picking
               up objects, similar to the  `M'  command.   For  ports  with
               mouse  support,  the  command  is also invoked when a mouse-
               click takes place on a location other than the current posi-
               tion.

          .    Wait or rest, do nothing for one turn.

          a    Apply (use) a tool (pick-axe, key, lamp...).

               If  used  on a wand, that wand will be broken, releasing its
               magic in the process.  Confirmation is required.

          A    Remove one or more worn items, such as armor.

               Use `T' (take off) to take off only one piece  of  armor  or
               `R' (remove) to take off only one accessory.




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          ^A   Redo the previous command.

          c    Close a door.

          C    Call  (name)  a  monster, an individual object, or a type of
               object.

               Same as extended command "#name".

          ^C   Panic button.  Quit the game.

          d    Drop something.

               For example "d7a" means drop seven items of object a.

          D    Drop several things.

               In answer to the question

               "What kinds of things do you want to drop? [!%= BUCXaium]"

               you should type zero or more object  symbols  possibly  fol-
               lowed by `a' and/or `i' and/or `u' and/or `m'.  In addition,
               one or more of the  blessed/uncursed/cursed  groups  may  be
               typed.

               DB  - drop all objects known to be blessed.
               DU  - drop all objects known to be uncursed.
               DC  - drop all objects known to be cursed.
               DX  - drop all objects of unknown B/U/C status.
               Da  - drop all objects, without asking for confirmation.
               Di  - examine your inventory before dropping anything.
               Du  - drop only unpaid objects (when in a shop).
               Dm  - use a menu to pick which object(s) to drop.
               D%u - drop only unpaid food.

               The last example shows a combination.  There are three cate-
               gories of object filtering: class (`!' for potions, `?'  for
               scrolls,  and  so on), shop status (`u' for unpaid, in other
               words, owned by the shop), and bless/curse state (`B',  `U',
               `C',  and `X' as shown above).  If you specify more than one
               value in a category (such as "!?" for potions and scrolls or
               "BU"  for  blessed  and  uncursed), an inventory object will
               meet the criteria if it matches any of the specified  values
               (so  "!?"  means  `!' or `?').  If you specify more than one
               category, an inventory object must meet each of the category
               criteria  (so "%u" means class `%' and unpaid `u').  Lastly,
               you may specify multiple values within multiple  categories:
               "!?BU"  will  select all potions and scrolls which are known
               to be blessed or uncursed.  (In versions prior to 3.6,  fil-
               ter combinations behaved differently.)

          ^D   Kick something (usually a door).



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          e    Eat food.

               Normally  checks  for  edible  item(s) on the floor, then if
               none are found or none are chosen, checks for edible item(s)
               in inventory.  Precede `e' with the `m' prefix to bypass at-
               tempting to eat anything off the floor.

          E    Engrave a message on the floor.

                    E- - write in the dust with your fingers.

               Engraving the word "Elbereth" will cause  most  monsters  to
               not attack you hand-to-hand (but if you attack, you will rub
               it out); this is often useful to give yourself a breather.

          f    Fire (shoot or throw) one of  the  objects  placed  in  your
               quiver (or quiver sack, or that you have at the ready).  You
               may select ammunition with a previous `Q'  command,  or  let
               the  computer  pick  something  appropriate if autoquiver is
               true.

               See also `t' (throw) for more general throwing and shooting.

          i    List your inventory (everything you're carrying).

          I    List selected parts of your inventory, usually be specifying
               the character for a particular set of objects, like `['  for
               armor or `!' for potions.

               I* - list all gems in inventory;
               Iu - list all unpaid items;
               Ix - list all used up items that are on your shopping bill;
               IB - list all items known to be blessed;
               IU - list all items known to be uncursed;
               IC - list all items known to be cursed;
               IX - list all items whose bless/curse status is unknown;
               I$ - count your money.

          o    Open a door.

          O    Set options.

               A  menu showing the current option values will be displayed.
               You can change most values simply by selecting the menu  en-
               try for the given option (ie, by typing its letter or click-
               ing upon it, depending on your  user  interface).   For  the
               non-boolean  choices,  a  further menu or prompt will appear
               once you've closed this menu.   The  available  options  are
               listed later in this Guidebook.  Options are usually set be-
               fore the game rather than with the `O' command; see the sec-
               tion on options below.

          ^O   Show overview.



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               Shortcut  for  "#overview":  list interesting dungeon levels
               visited.

               (Prior to 3.6.0, `^O' was a debug mode command which  listed
               the placement of all special levels.  Use "#wizwhere" to run
               that command.)

          p    Pay your shopping bill.

          P    Put on an accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).

               This command may also be used to wear armor.  The prompt for
               which  inventory item to use will only list accessories, but
               choosing an unlisted item of armor will attempt to wear  it.
               (See the `W' command below.  It lists armor as the inventory
               choices but will accept an accessory and attempt to put that
               on.)

          ^P   Repeat previous message.

               Subsequent  `^P's  repeat earlier messages.  For some inter-
               faces, the behavior can be varied via the msg_window option.

          q    Quaff (drink) something (potion, water, etc).

          Q    Select  an object for your quiver, quiver sack, or just gen-
               erally at the ready (only one of these  is  available  at  a
               time).   You can then throw this (or one of these) using the
               `f' command.

               (In versions prior to 3.3 this was the command to  quit  the
               game, which has been moved to "#quit".)

          r    Read a scroll or spellbook.

          R    Remove a worn accessory (ring, amulet, or blindfold).

               If  you're  wearing  more  than  one, you'll be prompted for
               which one to remove.  When you're only wearing one, then  by
               default  it  will be removed without asking, but you can set
               the paranoid_confirmation option to require a prompt.

               This command may also be used to take off armor.  The prompt
               for  which  inventory  item to remove only lists worn acces-
               sories, but an item of worn armor can be chosen.   (See  the
               `T'  command below.  It lists armor as the inventory choices
               but will accept an accessory and attempt to remove it.)

          ^R   Redraw the screen.

          s    Search for secret doors and traps around  you.   It  usually
               takes several tries to find something.




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               Can also be used to figure out whether there is still a mon-
               ster at an adjacent "remembered, unseen monster" marker.

          S    Save the game (which suspends play and exits  the  program).
               The  saved game will be restored automatically the next time
               you play using the same character name.

               In normal play, once a saved game is restored the file  used
               to  hold  the  saved data is deleted.  In explore mode, once
               restoration is accomplished you are asked whether to keep or
               delete the file.  Keeping the file makes it feasible to play
               for a while then  quit  without  saving  and  later  restore
               again.

               There  is no "save current game state and keep playing" com-
               mand, not even in explore mode where saved game files can be
               kept and re-used.

          t    Throw an object or shoot a projectile.

               There's  no separate "shoot" command.  If you throw an arrow
               while wielding a bow, you are shooting that  arrow  and  any
               weapon skill bonus or penalty for bow applies.  If you throw
               an arrow while not wielding a bow, you are  throwing  it  by
               hand and it will generally be less effective than when shot.

               See also `f' (fire) for throwing or shooting an item pre-se-
               lected via the `Q' (quiver) command.

          T    Take off armor.

               If  you're  wearing  more than one piece, you'll be prompted
               for which one to take off.  (Note that this treats  a  cloak
               covering  a suit and/or a shirt, or a suit covering a shirt,
               as if the underlying items weren't there.)  When you're only
               wearing  one,  then  by default it will be taken off without
               asking, but you can set the paranoid_confirmation option  to
               require a prompt.

               This  command  may  also be used to remove accessories.  The
               prompt for which inventory item to take off only lists  worn
               armor,  but  a  worn  accessory can be chosen.  (See the `R'
               command above.  It lists accessories as the inventory choic-
               es  but  will accept an item of armor and attempt to take it
               off.)

          ^T   Teleport, if you have the ability.

          v    Display version number.

          V    Display the game history.

          w    Wield weapon.



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                    w- - wield nothing, use your bare (or gloved) hands.

               Some characters can wield two weapons at once; use  the  `X'
               command (or the "#twoweapon" extended command) to do so.

          W    Wear armor.

               This  command may also be used to put on an accessory (ring,
               amulet, or blindfold).  The prompt for which inventory  item
               to use will only list armor, but choosing an unlisted acces-
               sory will attempt to put it on.  (See the `P' command above.
               It  lists  accessories as the inventory choices but will ac-
               cept an item of armor and attempt to wear it.)

          x    Exchange your wielded weapon with the item in your alternate
               weapon slot.

               The latter is used as your secondary weapon when engaging in
               two-weapon combat.  Note that if one of these slots is  emp-
               ty, the exchange still takes place.

          X    Toggle two-weapon combat, if your character can do it.  Also
               available via the "#twoweapon" extended command.

               (In versions prior to 3.6 this was  the  command  to  switch
               from normal play to "explore mode", also known as "discovery
               mode", which has now been moved to "#exploremode".)

          ^X   Display basic information about your character.

               Displays name, role, race, gender (unless  role  name  makes
               that  redundant,  such  as Caveman or Priestess), and align-
               ment, along with your patron deity and his  or  her  opposi-
               tion.   It  also shows most of the various items of informa-
               tion from the status line(s) in a less terse form, including
               several  additional  things which don't appear in the normal
               status display due to space considerations.

               In normal play, that's all that `^X' displays.   In  explore
               mode,  the  role and status feedback is augmented by the in-
               formation provided by enlightenment magic.

          z    Zap a wand.

                    z. - to aim at yourself, use `.' for the direction.

          Z    Zap (cast) a spell.

                    Z. - to cast at yourself, use `.' for the direction.



          __________
          (R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.


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          ^Z   Suspend the game (UNIX(R) versions with job control only).

          :    Look at what is here.

          ;    Show what type of thing a visible symbol corresponds to.

          ,    Pick up some things from the floor beneath you.

               May be preceded by `m' to force a selection menu.

          @    Toggle the autopickup option on and off.

          ^    Ask for the type of an adjacent trap you found earlier.

          )    Tell what weapon you are wielding.

          [    Tell what armor you are wearing.

          =    Tell what rings you are wearing.

          "    Tell what amulet you are wearing.

          (    Tell what tools you are using.

          *    Tell what equipment you are using.

               Combines the preceding five type-specific commands into one.

          $    Count your gold pieces.

          +    List the spells you know.

               Using  this  command,  you  can  also rearrange the order in
               which your spells are listed, either by sorting  the  entire
               list  or by picking one spell from the menu then picking an-
               other to swap places with  it.   Swapping  pairs  of  spells
               changes their casting letters, so the change lasts after the
               current `+' command finishes.  Sorting  the  whole  list  is
               temporary.   To  make the most recent sort order persist be-
               yond the current `+' command, choose the sort  option  again
               and  then  pick  "reassign  casting  letters".   (Any spells
               learned after that will be added to  the  end  of  the  list
               rather than be inserted into the sorted ordering.)

          \    Show what types of objects have been discovered.

          `    Show discovered types for one class of objects.

          !    Escape to a shell.

          #    Perform an extended command.





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               As  you can see, the authors of NetHack used up all the let-
          ters, so this is a way to introduce the less frequently used com-
          mands.  What extended commands are available depends on what fea-
          tures the game was compiled with.

          #adjust
               Adjust inventory letters (most useful when the fixinv option
               is "on").  Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-a'.

               This  command allows you to move an item from one particular
               inventory slot to another so that it has a letter  which  is
               more meaningful for you or that it will appear in a particu-
               lar location when inventory listings are displayed.  You can
               move to a currently empty slot, or if the destination is oc-
               cupied -- and won't merge -- the item there will swap  slots
               with  the  one  being  moved.  "#adjust" can also be used to
               split a stack of objects; when choosing the item to  adjust,
               enter a count prior to its letter.

               Adjusting  without  a  count  used to collect all compatible
               stacks when moving to the destination.   That  behavior  has
               been changed; to gather compatible stacks, "#adjust" a stack
               into its own inventory slot.  If it  has  a  name  assigned,
               other  stacks  with the same name or with no name will merge
               provided that all their other attributes match.  If it  does
               not  have  a name, only other stacks with no name are eligi-
               ble.  In either case, otherwise  compatible  stacks  with  a
               different  name will not be merged.  This contrasts with us-
               ing "#adjust" to move from one slot to a different slot.  In
               that  situation,  moving (no count given) a compatible stack
               will merge if either stack has a name when the other doesn't
               and  give  that  name  to the result, while splitting (count
               given) will ignore the source  stack's  name  when  deciding
               whether to merge with the destination stack.

          #annotate
               Allows you to specify one line of text to associate with the
               current dungeon level.  All levels with annotations are dis-
               played  by the "#overview" command.  Autocompletes.  Default
               key is `M-A', and also `^N' if number_pad is on.

          #apply
               Apply (use) a tool such as a pick-axe, a  key,  or  a  lamp.
               Default key is `a'.

               If  the  tool used acts on items on the floor, using the `m'
               prefix skips those items.

               If used on a wand, that wand will be broken,  releasing  its
               magic in the process.  Confirmation is required.

          #attributes
               Show your attributes.  Default key is `^X'.



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          #autopickup
               Toggle the autopickup option on/off.  Default key is `@'.

          #call
               Call  (name)  a  monster,  or an object in inventory, on the
               floor, or in the discoveries list, or add an annotation  for
               the  current  level  (same  as "#annotate").  Default key is
               `C'.

          #cast
               Cast a spell.  Default key is `Z'.

          #chat
               Talk to someone.  Default key is `M-c'.

          #close
               Close a door.  Default key is `c'.

          #conduct
               List voluntary challenges  you  have  maintained.   Autocom-
               pletes.  Default key is `M-C'.

               See the section below entitled "Conduct" for details.

          #dip
               Dip  an  object into something.  Autocompletes.  Default key
               is `M-d'.

          #down
               Go down a staircase.  Default key is `>'.

          #drop
               Drop an item.  Default key is `d'.

          #droptype
               Drop specific item types.  Default key is `D'.

          #eat
               Eat something.  Default key is `e'.  The  `m'  prefix  skips
               eating items on the floor.

          #engrave
               Engrave writing on the floor.  Default key is `E'.

          #enhance
               Advance  or  check  weapon and spell skills.  Autocompletes.
               Default key is `M-e'.

          #exploremode
               Enter the explore mode.

          #fire
               Fire ammunition from quiver.  Default key is `f'.



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          #force
               Force a lock.  Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-f'.

          #glance
               Show what type of thing a map symbol  corresponds  to.   De-
               fault key is `;'.

          #help
               Show  the  help  menu.   Default key is `?', and also `h' if
               number_pad is on.

          #herecmdmenu
               Show a menu of possible actions in your current location.

          #history
               Show long version and game history.  Default key is `V'.

          #inventory
               Show your inventory.  Default key is `i'.

          #inventtype
               Inventory specific item types.  Default key is `I'.

          #invoke
               Invoke an object's special powers.  Autocompletes.   Default
               key is `M-i'.

          #jump
               Jump  to  another  location.  Autocompletes.  Default key is
               `M-j', and also `j' if number_pad is on.

          #kick
               Kick something.  Default key is `^D', and `k' if  number_pad
               is on.

          #known
               Show what object types have been discovered.  Default key is
               `\'.

          #knownclass
               Show discovered types for one class of objects.  Default key
               is ``'.

          #levelchange
               Change  your  experience  level.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode
               only.

          #lightsources
               Show mobile light sources.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #look
               Look at what is here, under you.  Default key is `:'.




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          #loot
               Loot  a  box  or bag on the floor beneath you, or the saddle
               from a steed standing next to you.  Autocompletes.   Precede
               with  the `m' prefix to skip containers at your location and
               go directly to removing a saddle.  Default key is `M-l', and
               also `l' if number_pad is on.

          #monster
               Use  a monster's special ability (when polymorphed into mon-
               ster form).  Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-m'.

          #name
               Name a monster, an individual object, or a type  of  object.
               Same  as "#call".  Autocompletes.  Default keys are `N', `M-
               n', and `M-N'.

          #offer
               Offer a sacrifice to the gods.  Autocompletes.  Default  key
               is `M-o'.

               You'll  need to find an altar to have any chance at success.
               Corpses of  recently  killed  monsters  are  the  fodder  of
               choice.

               The `m' prefix skips offering any items which are on the al-
               tar.

          #open
               Open a door.  Default key is `o'.

          #options
               Show and change option settings.  Default key is `O'.

          #overview
               Display information you've  discovered  about  the  dungeon.
               Any  visited level (unless forgotten due to amnesia) with an
               annotation is included, and many  things  (altars,  thrones,
               fountains,  and  so on; extra stairs leading to another dun-
               geon branch) trigger an automatic  annotation.   If  dungeon
               overview is chosen during end-of-game disclosure, every vis-
               ited level will be included regardless of annotations.   Au-
               tocompletes.  Default keys are `^O', and `M-O'.

          #panic
               Test the panic routine.  Terminates the current game.  Auto-
               completes.  Debug mode only.

          #pay
               Pay your shopping bill.  Default key is `p'.

          #pickup
               Pick up things at the current location.  Default key is `,'.
               The `m' prefix forces use of a menu.



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          #polyself
               Polymorph self.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #pray
               Pray  to  the gods for help.  Autocompletes.  Default key is
               `M-p'.

               Praying too soon after receiving prior help is a  bad  idea.
               (Hint:  entering  the dungeon alive is treated as having re-
               ceived help.  You probably shouldn't start off a new game by
               praying  right  away.)  Since using this command by accident
               can cause trouble, there is an option to  make  you  confirm
               your  intent  before praying.  It is enabled by default, and
               you can reset the paranoid_confirmation  option  to  disable
               it.

          #prevmsg
               Show  previously  displayed  game  messages.  Default key is
               `^P'.

          #puton
               Put on an accessory (ring, amulet,  etc).   Default  key  is
               `P'.

          #quaff
               Quaff (drink) something.  Default key is `q'.

          #quit
               Quit  the  program without saving your game.  Autocompletes.
               Default key is `M-q'.

               Since using this command by accident would  throw  away  the
               current  game,  you  are asked to confirm your intent before
               quitting.  By default a response of  `y'  acknowledges  that
               intent.  You can set the paranoid_confirmation option to re-
               quire a response of "yes" instead.

          #quiver
               Select ammunition for quiver.  Default key is `Q'.

          #read
               Read a scroll, a spellbook, or something else.  Default  key
               is `r'.

          #redraw
               Redraw  the  screen.   Default key is `^R', and also `^L' if
               number_pad is on.

          #remove
               Remove an accessory (ring, amulet,  etc).   Default  key  is
               `R'.

          #ride
               Ride  (or  stop  riding) a saddled creature.  Autocompletes.


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               Default key is `M-R'.

          #rub
               Rub a lamp or a stone.  Autocompletes.  Default key  is  `M-
               r'.

          #save
               Save the game and exit the program.  Default key is `S'.

          #search
               Search  for  traps and secret doors around you.  Default key
               is `s'.

          #seeall
               Show all equipment in use.  Default key is `*'.

          #seeamulet
               Show the amulet currently worn.  Default key is `"'.

          #seearmor
               Show the armor currently worn.  Default key is `['.

          #seegold
               Count your gold.  Default key is `$'.

          #seenv
               Show seen vectors.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #seerings
               Show the ring(s) currently worn.  Default key is `='.

          #seespells
               List and reorder known spells.  Default key is `+'.

          #seetools
               Show the tools currently in use.  Default key is `('.

          #seetrap
               Show the type of an adjacent trap.  Default key is `^'.

          #seeweapon
               Show the weapon currently wielded.  Default key is `)'.

          #shell
               Do a shell escape.  Default key is `!'.

          #sit
               Sit down.  Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-s'.

          #stats
               Show memory usage statistics.   Autocompletes.   Debug  mode
               only.




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          #suspend
               Suspend the game.  Default key is `^Z'.

          #swap
               Swap wielded and secondary weapons.  Default key is `x'.

          #takeoff
               Take off one piece of armor.  Default key is `T'.

          #takeoffall
               Remove all armor.  Default key is `A'.

          #teleport
               Teleport around the level.  Default key is `^T'.

          #terrain
               Show  bare  map  without  displaying  monsters,  objects, or
               traps.  Autocompletes.

          #therecmdmenu
               Show a menu of possible actions in a location next to you.

          #throw
               Throw something.  Default key is `t'.

          #timeout
               Look at the timeout queue.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #tip
               Tip  over a container (bag or box) to pour out its contents.
               Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-T'.  The `m' prefix  makes
               the command use a menu.

          #travel
               Travel  to  a  specific location on the map.  Default key is
               `_'.  Using the "request menu" prefix shows a menu of inter-
               esting  targets  in sight without asking to move the cursor.
               When picking a target with cursor and the  autodescribe  op-
               tion  is  on,  the  top line will show "(no travel path)" if
               your character does not know of a path to that location.

          #turn
               Turn undead away.  Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-t'.

          #twoweapon
               Toggle two-weapon combat on or off.  Autocompletes.  Default
               key is `X', and also `M-2' if number_pad is off.

               Note  that  you  must  use suitable weapons for this type of
               combat, or it will be automatically turned off.

          #untrap
               Untrap something (trap, door, or chest).  Default key is `M-
               u', and `u' if number_pad is on.


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               In  some circumstances it can also be used to rescue trapped
               monsters.

          #up
               Go up a staircase.  Default key is `<'.

          #vanquished
               List vanquished monsters.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode  only.

          #version
               Print compile time options for this version of NetHack.  Au-
               tocompletes.  Default key is `M-v'.

          #versionshort
               Show version string.  Default key is `v'.

          #vision
               Show vision array.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #wait
               Rest one move while doing nothing.  Default key is `.',  and
               also ` ' if rest_on_space is on.

          #wear
               Wear a piece of armor.  Default key is `W'.

          #whatdoes
               Tell what a key does.  Default key is `&'.

          #whatis
               Show  what  type  of thing a symbol corresponds to.  Default
               key is `/'.

          #wield
               Wield a weapon.  Default key is `w'.

          #wipe
               Wipe off your face.  Autocompletes.  Default key is `M-w'.

          #wizbury
               Bury objects under and around  you.   Autocompletes.   Debug
               mode only.

          #wizdetect
               Search  for  hidden  things (secret doors or traps or unseen
               monsters) within a  modest  radius.   Autocompletes.   Debug
               mode only.  Default key is `^E'.

          #wizgenesis
               Create a monster.  May be prefixed by a count to create more
               than one.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.  Default key  is
               `^G'.




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          #wizidentify
               Identify all items in inventory.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode
               only.  Default key is `^I'.

          #wizintrinsic
               Set one or more intrinsic attributes.  Autocompletes.  Debug
               mode only.

          #wizlevelport
               Teleport to another level.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.
               Default key is `^V'.

          #wizmap
               Map the level.  Autocompletes.  Debug  mode  only.   Default
               key is `^F'.

          #wizrumorcheck
               Verify rumor boundaries.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #wizsmell
               Smell monster.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #wizwhere
               Show  locations  of  special  levels.  Autocompletes.  Debug
               mode only.

          #wizwish
               Wish for something.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode  only.   De-
               fault key is `^W'.

          #wmode
               Show wall modes.  Autocompletes.  Debug mode only.

          #zap
               Zap a wand.  Default key is `z'.

          #?
               Help menu:  get the list of available extended commands.



               If your keyboard has a meta key (which, when pressed in com-
          bination with another key, modifies  it  by  setting  the  "meta"
          [8th,  or  "high"] bit), you can invoke many extended commands by
          meta-ing the first letter of the command.

               In NT, OS/2, PC and ST NetHack, the "Alt" key can be used in
          this  fashion;  on  the Amiga, set the altmeta option to get this
          behavior.  On other systems, if typing  "Alt"  plus  another  key
          transmits  a  two character sequence consisting of an Escape fol-
          lowed by the other key, you may set the altmeta  option  to  have
          NetHack combine them into meta+key.




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          M-?  #? (not supported by all platforms)

          M-2  #twoweapon (unless the number_pad option is enabled)

          M-a  #adjust

          M-A  #annotate

          M-c  #chat

          M-C  #conduct

          M-d  #dip

          M-e  #enhance

          M-f  #force

          M-i  #invoke

          M-j  #jump

          M-l  #loot

          M-m  #monster

          M-n  #name

          M-o  #offer

          M-O  #overview

          M-p  #pray

          M-q  #quit

          M-r  #rub

          M-R  #ride

          M-s  #sit

          M-t  #turn

          M-T  #tip

          M-u  #untrap

          M-v  #version

          M-w  #wipe





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               If  the number_pad option is on, some additional letter com-
          mands are available:

          h    #help

          j    #jump

          k    #kick

          l    #loot

          N    #name

          u    #untrap

          5.  Rooms and corridors

               Rooms and corridors in the dungeon are either lit  or  dark.
          Any  lit  areas within your line of sight will be displayed; dark
          areas are only displayed if they are within  one  space  of  you.
          Walls and corridors remain on the map as you explore them.

               Secret corridors are hidden.  You can find them with the `s'
          (search) command.

          5.1.  Doorways

               Doorways connect rooms and corridors.  Some doorways have no
          doors;  you  can  walk right through.  Others have doors in them,
          which may be open, closed, or locked.  To open a closed door, use
          the  `o'  (open)  command; to close it again, use the `c' (close)
          command.

               You can get through a locked door by using a  tool  to  pick
          the lock with the `a' (apply) command, or by kicking it open with
          the `^D' (kick) command.

               Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you  must  approach
          them  straight  on, horizontally or vertically.  Doorways without
          doors are not restricted in this fashion.

               Doors can be useful for shutting out  monsters.   Most  mon-
          sters  cannot open doors, although a few don't need to (for exam-
          ple, ghosts can walk through doors).

               Secret doors are hidden.  You can find  them  with  the  `s'
          (search)  command.  Once found they are in all ways equivalent to
          normal doors.

          5.2.  Traps (`^')

               There are traps throughout the dungeon to snare  the  unwary
          delver.   For  example,  you  may suddenly fall into a pit and be
          stuck for a few turns trying to climb out.  Traps don't appear on


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          your map until you see one triggered by moving onto it, see some-
          thing fall into it, or you discover it with the `s' (search) com-
          mand.   Monsters can fall prey to traps, too, which can be a very
          useful defensive strategy.

               There is a special pre-mapped branch of the dungeon based on
          the  classic  computer  game  "Sokoban."  The goal is to push the
          boulders into the pits or holes.  With careful foresight,  it  is
          possible  to  complete  all of the levels according to the tradi-
          tional rules of Sokoban.  Some allowances are permitted  in  case
          the player gets stuck; however, they will lower your luck.

          5.3.  Stairs and ladders (`<', `>')

               In  general, each level in the dungeon will have a staircase
          going up (`<') to the previous level and another going down (`>')
          to  the  next  level.  There are some exceptions though.  For in-
          stance, fairly early in the dungeon you will find  a  level  with
          two down staircases, one continuing into the dungeon and the oth-
          er branching into an area known  as  the  Gnomish  Mines.   Those
          mines  eventually hit a dead end, so after exploring them (if you
          choose to do so), you'll need to climb back up to the  main  dun-
          geon.

               When  you  traverse a set of stairs, or trigger a trap which
          sends you to another level, the level you're leaving will be  de-
          activated  and  stored  in a file on disk.  If you're moving to a
          previously visited level, it will be loaded from its file on disk
          and  reactivated.   If you're moving to a level which has not yet
          been visited, it will be created (from scratch  for  most  random
          levels, from a template for some "special" levels, or loaded from
          the remains of an earlier game for a "bones" level as briefly de-
          scribed  below).   Monsters are only active on the current level;
          those on other levels are essentially placed into stasis.

               Ordinarily when you climb a set of stairs, you  will  arrive
          on  the  corresponding  staircase  at your destination.  However,
          pets (see below) and some other monsters  will  follow  along  if
          they're close enough when you travel up or down stairs, and occa-
          sionally one of these creatures  will  displace  you  during  the
          climb.  When that occurs, the pet or other monster will arrive on
          the staircase and you will end up nearby.

               Ladders serve the same purpose as staircases,  and  the  two
          types  of  inter-level  connections  are nearly indistinguishable
          during game play.

          5.4.  Shops and shopping

               Occasionally you will run across a room  with  a  shopkeeper
          near  the  door  and  many items lying on the floor.  You can buy
          items by picking them up and then using the `p' command.  You can
          inquire  about the price of an item prior to picking it up by us-
          ing the "#chat" command while standing  on  it.   Using  an  item


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          prior  to  paying  for it will incur a charge, and the shopkeeper
          won't allow you to leave the shop until you have  paid  any  debt
          you owe.

               You  can  sell items to a shopkeeper by dropping them to the
          floor while inside a shop.  You will either be offered an  amount
          of  gold  and  asked whether you're willing to sell, or you'll be
          told that the shopkeeper isn't interested (generally,  your  item
          needs  to  be  compatible with the type of merchandise carried by
          the shop).

               If you drop something in a shop by accident, the  shopkeeper
          will  usually  claim ownership without offering any compensation.
          You'll have to buy it back if you want to reclaim it.

               Shopkeepers sometimes run out of money.  When that  happens,
          you'll  be  offered  credit  instead of gold when you try to sell
          something.  Credit can be used to pay for purchases,  but  it  is
          only  good  in  the shop where it was obtained; other shopkeepers
          won't honor it.  (If you happen to find a "credit  card"  in  the
          dungeon, don't bother trying to use it in shops; shopkeepers will
          not accept it.)

               The `$' command, which reports the amount of  gold  you  are
          carrying (in inventory, not inside bags or boxes), will also show
          current shop debt or credit, if any.  The "Iu" command lists  un-
          paid items (those which still belong to the shop) if you are car-
          rying any.  The "Ix" command shows an inventory-like  display  of
          any  unpaid  items which have been used up, along with other shop
          fees, if any.

          5.4.1.  Shop idiosyncrasies

               Several aspects of shop behavior might be unexpected.

          * The price of a given item can vary due to a variety of factors.

          * A  shopkeeper treats the spot immediately inside the door as if
            it were outside the shop.

          * While the shopkeeper watches you like a hawk, he will generally
            ignore any other customers.

          * If  a  shop  is "closed for inventory," it will not open of its
            own accord.

          * Shops do not get restocked with new items, regardless of inven-
            tory depletion.

          6.  Monsters

               Monsters  you  cannot  see  are not displayed on the screen.
          Beware!  You may suddenly come upon one in a  dark  place.   Some
          magic  items  can  help  you  locate  them before they locate you


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          (which some monsters can do very well).

               The commands `/' and `;' may be used to  obtain  information
          about  those  monsters who are displayed on the screen.  The com-
          mand "#name" (by default bound to `C'), allows you  to  assign  a
          name  to  a  monster, which may be useful to help distinguish one
          from another when multiple monsters  are  present.   Assigning  a
          name which is just a space will remove any prior name.

               The extended command "#chat" can be used to interact with an
          adjacent monster.  There is no actual dialog (in other words, you
          don't get to choose what you'll say), but chatting with some mon-
          sters such as a shopkeeper or the Oracle of  Delphi  can  produce
          useful results.

          6.1.  Fighting

               If  you see a monster and you wish to fight it, just attempt
          to walk into it.  Many monsters you  find  will  mind  their  own
          business unless you attack them.  Some of them are very dangerous
          when angered.  Remember:  discretion is the better part of valor.

               In  most  circumstances, if you attempt to attack a peaceful
          monster by moving into its location, you'll be asked  to  confirm
          your  intent.   By default an answer of `y' acknowledges that in-
          tent, which can be error prone if you're using `y' to move.   You
          can set the paranoid_confirmation option to require a response of
          "yes" instead.

               If you can't see a monster (if it is invisible,  or  if  you
          are  blinded), the symbol `I' will be shown when you learn of its
          presence.  If you attempt to walk into it, you will try to  fight
          it  just  like a monster that you can see; of course, if the mon-
          ster has moved, you will attack empty air.  If you guess that the
          monster  has  moved  and you don't wish to fight, you can use the
          `m' command to move without fighting; likewise, if you don't  re-
          member a monster but want to try fighting anyway, you can use the
          `F' command.

          6.2.  Your pet

               You start the game with a little dog (`d'), kitten (`f'), or
          pony  (`u'),  which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon-
          sters with you.  Like you, your pet needs food to survive.   Dogs
          and  cats  usually  feed  themselves  on  fresh carrion and other
          meats; horses need vegetarian food which is harder  to  come  by.
          If  you're  worried  about  your pet or want to train it, you can
          feed it, too, by throwing it food.  A properly trained pet can be
          very useful under certain circumstances.

               Your  pet  also  gains experience from killing monsters, and
          can grow over time, gaining hit points  and  doing  more  damage.
          Initially,  your  pet  may  even be better at killing things than
          you, which makes pets useful for low-level characters.


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               Your pet will follow you up and down  staircases  if  it  is
          next  to  you when you move.  Otherwise your pet will be stranded
          and may become wild.  Similarly, when you trigger  certain  types
          of  traps  which  alter  your location (for instance, a trap door
          which drops you to a lower dungeon level), any adjacent pet  will
          accompany you and any non-adjacent pet will be left behind.  Your
          pet may trigger such traps itself; you will not be carried  along
          with it even if adjacent at the time.

          6.3.  Steeds

               Some  types of creatures in the dungeon can actually be rid-
          den if you have the right equipment and skill.  Convincing a wild
          beast  to  let  you  saddle  it up is difficult to say the least.
          Many a dungeoneer has had to resort to magic and wizardry in  or-
          der to forge the alliance.  Once you do have the beast under your
          control however, you can easily climb in and out  of  the  saddle
          with the "#ride" command.  Lead the beast around the dungeon when
          riding, in the same manner as you would move yourself.  It is the
          beast that you will see displayed on the map.

               Riding  skill is managed by the "#enhance" command.  See the
          section on Weapon proficiency for more information about that.

               Use the `a' (apply) command and pick a saddle in your inven-
          tory  to  attempt to put that saddle on an adjacent creature.  If
          successful, it will be transferred to that creature's  inventory.

               Use the "#loot" command while adjacent to a saddled creature
          to try to remove the saddle from that creature.   If  successful,
          it will be transferred to your inventory.

          6.4.  Bones levels

               You  may encounter the shades and corpses of other adventur-
          ers (or even former incarnations of yourself!) and their personal
          effects.   Ghosts  are  hard  to  kill,  but easy to avoid, since
          they're slow and do little damage.  You can plunder the  deceased
          adventurer's  possessions; however, they are likely to be cursed.
          Beware of whatever killed the former player; it is probably still
          lurking around, gloating over its last victory.

          6.5.  Persistence of Monsters

               Monsters (a generic reference which also includes humans and
          pets) are only shown while they can be seen or otherwise  sensed.
          Moving  to  a location where you can't see or sense a monster any
          more will result in it disappearing from your map,  similarly  if
          it is the one who moved rather than you.

               However,  if  you encounter a monster which you can't see or
          sense -- perhaps it is invisible and has just tapped you  on  the
          noggin  --  a special "remembered, unseen monster" marker will be
          displayed at the location where  you  think  it  is.   That  will


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          persist  until  you  have  proven that there is no monster there,
          even if the unseen monster moves to another location or you  move
          to a spot where the marker's location ordinarily wouldn't be seen
          any more.

          7.  Objects

               When you find something in the dungeon, it is common to want
          to pick it up.  In NetHack, this is accomplished automatically by
          walking over the object (unless you turn off the  autopickup  op-
          tion  (see  below),  or move with the `m' prefix (see above)), or
          manually by using the `,' command.

               If you're carrying too many items, NetHack will tell you  so
          and  you  won't  be able to pick up anything more.  Otherwise, it
          will add the object(s) to your pack and tell you  what  you  just
          picked up.

               As  you add items to your inventory, you also add the weight
          of that object to your load.  The amount that you can  carry  de-
          pends  on  your strength and your constitution.  The stronger and
          sturdier you are, the less the additional load will  affect  you.
          There comes a point, though, when the weight of all of that stuff
          you are carrying around with you through the dungeon will  encum-
          ber you.  Your reactions will get slower and you'll burn calories
          faster, requiring food more frequently to cope with it.   Eventu-
          ally,  you'll be so overloaded that you'll either have to discard
          some of what you're carrying or collapse under its weight.

               NetHack will tell you how badly you  have  loaded  yourself.
          If   you  are  encumbered,  one  of  the  conditions  "Burdened",
          "Stressed", "Strained", "Overtaxed" or "Overloaded" will be shown
          on the bottom line status display.

               When you pick up an object, it is assigned an inventory let-
          ter.  Many commands that operate on objects must ask you to  find
          out  which  object  you  want  to  use.  When NetHack asks you to
          choose a particular object you are carrying, you are usually pre-
          sented  with a list of inventory letters to choose from (see Com-
          mands, above).

               Some objects, such as weapons,  are  easily  differentiated.
          Others,  like  scrolls  and potions, are given descriptions which
          vary according to type.  During a game, any two objects with  the
          same  description  are  the same type.  However, the descriptions
          will vary from game to game.

               When you use one of these objects, if its effect is obvious,
          NetHack  will  remember  what it is for you.  If its effect isn't
          extremely obvious, you will be asked what you want to  call  this
          type  of object so you will recognize it later.  You can also use
          the "#name" command, for the same purpose at any  time,  to  name
          all  objects  of  a particular type or just an individual object.
          When you use "#name" on an object which has already  been  named,


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          specifying  a  space  as the value will remove the prior name in-
          stead of assigning a new one.

          7.1.  Curses and Blessings

               Any object that you find may be cursed, even if  the  object
          is otherwise helpful.  The most common effect of a curse is being
          stuck with (and to) the item.  Cursed weapons weld themselves  to
          your  hand  when wielded, so you cannot unwield them.  Any cursed
          item you wear is not removable by ordinary means.   In  addition,
          cursed  arms and armor usually, but not always, bear negative en-
          chantments that make them less effective in combat.  Other cursed
          objects may act poorly or detrimentally in other ways.

               Objects  can  also  be  blessed.  Blessed items usually work
          better or more beneficially than normal uncursed items.  For  ex-
          ample, a blessed weapon will do more damage against demons.

               Objects which are neither cursed nor blessed are referred to
          as uncursed.  They could just as easily have  been  described  as
          unblessed,  but  the  uncursed  designation  is what you will see
          within the game.  A "glass half full  versus  glass  half  empty"
          situation; make of that what you will.

               There are magical means of bestowing or removing curses upon
          objects, so even if you are stuck with one, you  can  still  have
          the  curse  lifted and the item removed.  Priests and Priestesses
          have an innate sensitivity to this property  in  any  object,  so
          they  can  more  easily avoid cursed objects than other character
          roles.

               An item with unknown status will be reported in your  inven-
          tory with no prefix.  An item which you know the state of will be
          distinguished in your inventory  by  the  presence  of  the  word
          "cursed", "uncursed" or "blessed" in the description of the item.
          In some cases "uncursed" will be omitted as being redundant  when
          enough other information is displayed.  The implicit_uncursed op-
          tion can be used to control this; toggle  it  off  to  have  "un-
          cursed" be displayed even when that can be deduced from other at-
          tributes.

          7.2.  Weapons (`)')

               Given a chance, most monsters in the Mazes  of  Menace  will
          gratuitously  try to kill you.  You need weapons for self-defense
          (killing them first).  Without a weapon,  you  do  only  1-2  hit
          points  of damage (plus bonuses, if any).  Monk characters are an
          exception; they normally do more damage  with  bare  (or  gloved)
          hands than they do with weapons.

               There are wielded weapons, like maces and swords, and thrown
          weapons, like arrows and spears.  To hit monsters with a  weapon,
          you  must wield it and attack them, or throw it at them.  You can
          simply elect to throw a spear.  To shoot  an  arrow,  you  should


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          first  wield a bow, then throw the arrow.  Crossbows shoot cross-
          bow bolts.  Slings hurl rocks and (other) stones (like gems).

               Enchanted weapons have a "plus"  (or  "to  hit  enhancement"
          which  can  be  either  positive  or  negative) that adds to your
          chance to hit and the damage you do to a monster.  The  only  way
          to determine a weapon's enchantment is to have it magically iden-
          tified somehow.  Most weapons are subject to some type of  damage
          like rust.  Such "erosion" damage can be repaired.

               The  chance  that an attack will successfully hit a monster,
          and the amount of damage such a hit will do,  depends  upon  many
          factors.   Among them are: type of weapon, quality of weapon (en-
          chantment and/or erosion), experience level, strength, dexterity,
          encumbrance,  and  proficiency  (see below).  The monster's armor
          class -- a general defense rating, not necessarily due to wearing
          of armor -- is a factor too; also, some monsters are particularly
          vulnerable to certain types of weapons.

               Many weapons can be wielded in one hand; some  require  both
          hands.   When  wielding  a  two-handed weapon, you can not wear a
          shield, and vice versa.  When wielding a one-handed  weapon,  you
          can  have  another  weapon ready to use by setting things up with
          the `x' command, which exchanges  your  primary  (the  one  being
          wielded)  and  alternate weapons.  And if you have proficiency in
          the "two weapon combat" skill, you may wield both weapons  simul-
          taneously as primary and secondary; use the `X' command to engage
          or disengage that.  Only some types  of  characters  (barbarians,
          for instance) have the necessary skill available.  Even with that
          skill, using two weapons at once incurs a penalty in  the  chance
          to hit your target compared to using just one weapon at a time.

               There  might be times when you'd rather not wield any weapon
          at all.  To accomplish that, wield `-', or else use the `A'  com-
          mand  which  allows you to unwield the current weapon in addition
          to taking off other worn items.

               Those of you in the audience who are AD&D players, be  aware
          that each weapon which existed in AD&D does roughly the same dam-
          age to monsters in NetHack.  Some of  the  more  obscure  weapons
          (such as the aklys, lucern hammer, and bec-de-corbin) are defined
          in an appendix to Unearthed Arcana, an AD&D supplement.

               The commands to use weapons are `w'  (wield),  `t'  (throw),
          `f'  (fire, an alternate way of throwing), `Q' (quiver), `x' (ex-
          change), `X' (twoweapon), and "#enhance" (see below).

          7.2.1.  Throwing and shooting

               You can throw just about anything via the `t'  command.   It
          will  prompt  for the item to throw; picking `?' will list things
          in your inventory which are considered likely to  be  thrown,  or
          picking `*' will list your entire inventory.  After you've chosen
          what to throw, you will be prompted for a direction  rather  than


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          for  a specific target.  The distance something can be thrown de-
          pends mainly on the type of object and your strength.  Arrows can
          be  thrown  by  hand,  but can be thrown much farther and will be
          more likely to hit when thrown while you are wielding a bow.

               You can simplify the throwing operation  by  using  the  `Q'
          command  to  select  your preferred "missile", then using the `f'
          command to throw it.  You'll  be  prompted  for  a  direction  as
          above,  but  you  don't  have to specify which item to throw each
          time you use `f'.  There is also an option, autoquiver, which has
          NetHack choose another item to automatically fill your quiver (or
          quiver sack, or have at the ready) when the inventory  slot  used
          for `Q' runs out.

               Some  characters have the ability to fire a volley of multi-
          ple items in a single turn.  Knowing how to load  several  rounds
          of ammunition at once -- or hold several missiles in your hand --
          and still hit a target is not an easy task.   Rangers  are  among
          those  who are adept at this task, as are those with a high level
          of proficiency in the relevant weapon  skill  (in  bow  skill  if
          you're  wielding one to shoot arrows, in crossbow skill if you're
          wielding one to shoot bolts, or in sling skill if you're wielding
          one to shoot stones).  The number of items that the character has
          a chance to fire varies from turn to turn.   You  can  explicitly
          limit  the  number  of shots by using a numeric prefix before the
          `t' or `f' command.  For example, "2f" (or "n2f"  if  using  num-
          ber_pad mode) would ensure that at most 2 arrows are shot even if
          you could have fired 3.  If you  specify  a  larger  number  than
          would  have  been shot ("4f" in this example), you'll just end up
          shooting the same number (3, here) as if no limit had been speci-
          fied.  Once the volley is in motion, all of the items will travel
          in the same direction; if the first ones kill a monster, the oth-
          ers can still continue beyond that spot.

          7.2.2.  Weapon proficiency

               You will have varying degrees of skill in the weapons avail-
          able.  Weapon proficiency, or weapon skills, affect how well  you
          can  use  particular  types of weapons, and you'll be able to im-
          prove your skills as you progress through a  game,  depending  on
          your role, your experience level, and use of the weapons.

               For  the  purposes of proficiency, weapons have been divided
          up  into  various  groups  such  as  daggers,  broadswords,   and
          polearms.   Each  role has a limit on what level of proficiency a
          character can achieve for each group.  For instance, wizards  can
          become  highly  skilled in daggers or staves but not in swords or
          bows.

               The "#enhance" extended command is used  to  review  current
          weapons  proficiency (also spell proficiency) and to choose which
          skill(s) to improve when you've used one or more skills enough to
          become  eligible  to do so.  The skill rankings are "none" (some-
          times also referred to as "restricted", because you won't be able


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          to  advance), "unskilled", "basic", "skilled", and "expert".  Re-
          stricted skills simply will not appear in the list shown by "#en-
          hance".   (Divine  intervention  might  unrestrict  a  particular
          skill, in which case it will start at unskilled and be limited to
          basic.)   Some  characters can enhance their barehanded combat or
          martial arts skill beyond expert to "master" or "grand master".

               Use of a weapon in which you're restricted or unskilled will
          incur a modest penalty in the chance to hit a monster and also in
          the amount of damage done when you do hit; at basic level,  there
          is  no  penalty  or bonus; at skilled level, you receive a modest
          bonus in the chance to hit and amount of damage done;  at  expert
          level,  the  bonus  is  higher.  A successful hit has a chance to
          boost your training towards the next skill level  (unless  you've
          already  reached  the  limit for this skill).  Once such training
          reaches the threshold for that next level, you'll  be  told  that
          you  feel  more  confident in your skills.  At that point you can
          use "#enhance" to increase one or more skills.  Such  skills  are
          not  increased automatically because there is a limit to your to-
          tal overall skills, so you need to actively choose  which  skills
          to enhance and which to ignore.

          7.2.3.  Two-Weapon combat

               Some characters can use two weapons at once.  Setting things
          up to do so can seem cumbersome but becomes  second  nature  with
          use.  To wield two weapons, you need to use the "#twoweapon" com-
          mand.  But first you need to have a weapon in each  hand.   (Note
          that  your  two  weapons are not fully equal; the one in the hand
          you normally wield with is considered primary and the  other  one
          is considered secondary.  The most noticeable difference is after
          you stop -- or before you begin, for that matter -- wielding  two
          weapons at once.  The primary is your wielded weapon and the sec-
          ondary is just an item in your inventory that's  been  designated
          as alternate weapon.)

               If your primary weapon is wielded but your off hand is empty
          or has the wrong weapon, use the sequence `x', `w', `x' to  first
          swap  your primary into your off hand, wield whatever you want as
          secondary weapon, then swap them  both  back  into  the  intended
          hands.  If your secondary or alternate weapon is correct but your
          primary one is not, simply use `w' to wield the primary.  Lastly,
          if  neither  hand  holds the correct weapon, use `w', `x', `w' to
          first wield the intended secondary, swap it to off hand, and then
          wield the primary.

               The  whole  process  can  be simplified via use of the push-
          weapon option.  When it is enabled, then using `w' to wield some-
          thing  causes  the currently wielded weapon to become your alter-
          nate weapon.  So the sequence `w', `w' can be used to first wield
          the weapon you intend to be secondary, and then wield the one you
          want as primary which will push the first  into  secondary  posi-
          tion.



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               When  in  two-weapon combat mode, using the `X' command tog-
          gles back to single-weapon mode.  Throwing or dropping either  of
          the weapons or having one of them be stolen or destroyed will al-
          so make you revert to single-weapon combat.

          7.3.  Armor (`[')

               Lots of unfriendly things lurk about; you need armor to pro-
          tect yourself from their blows.  Some types of armor offer better
          protection than others.  Your armor class is a  measure  of  this
          protection.  Armor class (AC) is measured as in AD&D, with 10 be-
          ing the equivalent of no armor, and lower numbers meaning  better
          armor.   Each  suit  of armor which exists in AD&D gives the same
          protection in NetHack.  Here is an (incomplete) list of the armor
          classes provided by various suits of armor:
                             dragon scale mail         1
                             plate mail                3
                             crystal plate mail        3
                             bronze plate mail         4
                             splint mail               4
                             banded mail               4
                             dwarvish mithril-coat     4
                             elven mithril-coat        5
                             chain mail                5
                             orcish chain mail         6
                             scale mail                6
                             dragon scales             7
                             studded leather armor     7
                             ring mail                 7
                             orcish ring mail          8
                             leather armor             8
                             leather jacket            9
                             no armor                 10

               You  can  also  wear other pieces of armor (for example hel-
          mets, boots, shields, cloaks) to lower your armor class even fur-
          ther,  but  you can only wear one item of each category (one suit
          of armor, one cloak, one helmet, one shield,  and  so  on)  at  a
          time.

               If  a piece of armor is enchanted, its armor protection will
          be better (or worse) than normal, and its "plus" (or minus)  will
          subtract  from  your  armor  class.  For example, a +1 chain mail
          would give you better protection than normal chain mail, lowering
          your  armor class one unit further to 4.  When you put on a piece
          of armor, you immediately  find  out  the  armor  class  and  any
          "plusses" it provides.  Cursed pieces of armor usually have nega-
          tive enchantments (minuses) in addition to being unremovable.

               Many types of armor are subject to some kind of damage  like
          rust.   Such damage can be repaired.  Some types of armor may in-
          hibit spell casting.




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               The commands to use armor are `W' (wear) and `T' (take off).
          The  `A'  command  can  also be used to take off armor as well as
          other worn items.

          7.4.  Food (`%')

               Food is necessary to survive.  If you go  too  long  without
          eating  you  will  faint, and eventually die of starvation.  Some
          types of food will spoil, and become unhealthy  to  eat,  if  not
          protected.  Food stored in ice boxes or tins ("cans") will usual-
          ly stay fresh, but ice boxes are heavy, and tins take a while  to
          open.

               When you kill monsters, they usually leave corpses which are
          also "food."  Many, but not all, of these are edible;  some  also
          give  you special powers when you eat them.  A good rule of thumb
          is "you are what you eat."

               Some character roles and some monsters are vegetarian.  Veg-
          etarian  monsters  will typically never eat animal corpses, while
          vegetarian players can, but with some rather unpleasant  side-ef-
          fects.

               You  can  name one food item after something you like to eat
          with the fruit option.

               The command to eat food is `e'.

          7.5.  Scrolls (`?')

               Scrolls are labeled with various titles, probably chosen  by
          ancient wizards for their amusement value (for example "READ ME,"
          or "THANX MAUD" backwards).  Scrolls  disappear  after  you  read
          them (except for blank ones, without magic spells on them).

               One  of  the most useful of these is the scroll of identify,
          which can be used to determine what another object is, whether it
          is  cursed  or  blessed, and how many uses it has left.  Some ob-
          jects of subtle enchantment are  difficult  to  identify  without
          these.

               A mail daemon may run up and deliver mail to you as a scroll
          of mail (on versions compiled with this feature).   To  use  this
          feature  on  versions where NetHack mail delivery is triggered by
          electronic mail appearing in your system mailbox,  you  must  let
          NetHack know where to look for new mail by setting the "MAIL" en-
          vironment variable to the file name of your mailbox.  You may al-
          so  want to set the "MAILREADER" environment variable to the file
          name of your favorite reader, so NetHack can shell to it when you
          read  the  scroll.  On versions of NetHack where mail is randomly
          generated internal to the game, these environment  variables  are
          ignored.  You can disable the mail daemon by turning off the mail
          option.



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               The command to read a scroll is `r'.

          7.6.  Potions (`!')

               Potions are distinguished by the color of the liquid  inside
          the flask.  They disappear after you quaff them.

               Clear  potions  are  potions  of water.  Sometimes these are
          blessed or cursed, resulting in holy or unholy water.  Holy water
          is  the  bane  of  the  undead, so potions of holy water are good
          things to throw (`t') at them.  It is also sometimes very  useful
          to dip ("#dip") an object into a potion.

               The command to drink a potion is `q' (quaff).

          7.7.  Wands (`/')

               Wands  usually have multiple magical charges.  Some types of
          wands require a direction in which to zap them.  You can also zap
          them  at yourself (just give a `.' or `s' for the direction).  Be
          warned, however, for this is often unwise.  Other types of  wands
          don't  require  a  direction.  The number of charges in a wand is
          random and decreases by one whenever you use it.

               When the number of charges left in a wand becomes zero,  at-
          tempts  to use the wand will usually result in nothing happening.
          Occasionally, however, it may be possible to squeeze the last few
          mana  points  from  an otherwise spent wand, destroying it in the
          process.  A wand may be recharged by using  suitable  magic,  but
          doing  so runs the risk of causing it to explode.  The chance for
          such an explosion starts out very small and increases  each  time
          the wand is recharged.

               In a truly desperate situation, when your back is up against
          the wall, you might decide to go for broke and break  your  wand.
          This  is  not  for the faint of heart.  Doing so will almost cer-
          tainly cause a catastrophic release of magical energies.

               When you have fully identified a particular wand,  inventory
          display  will  include additional information in parentheses: the
          number of times it has been recharged followed  by  a  colon  and
          then by its current number of charges.  A current charge count of
          -1 is a special case indicating that the wand has been cancelled.

               The  command  to use a wand is `z' (zap).  To break one, use
          the `a' (apply) command.

          7.8.  Rings (`=')

               Rings are very useful items, since they are relatively  per-
          manent  magic,  unlike  the  usually fleeting effects of potions,
          scrolls, and wands.




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               Putting on a ring activates its magic.  You  can  wear  only
          two rings, one on each ring finger.

               Most  rings  also cause you to grow hungry more rapidly, the
          rate varying with the type of ring.

               The commands to use rings are `P' (put on) and `R' (remove).

          7.9.  Spellbooks (`+')

               Spellbooks are tomes of mighty magic.  When studied with the
          `r' (read) command, they transfer to the reader the knowledge  of
          a  spell  (and  therefore eventually become unreadable) -- unless
          the attempt backfires.  Reading a cursed spellbook  or  one  with
          mystic runes beyond your ken can be harmful to your health!

               A  spell (even when learned) can also backfire when you cast
          it.  If you attempt to cast a spell well  above  your  experience
          level,  or  if  you  have little skill with the appropriate spell
          type, or cast it at a time when your luck  is  particularly  bad,
          you  can  end up wasting both the energy and the time required in
          casting.

               Casting a spell calls forth  magical  energies  and  focuses
          them  with  your naked mind.  Some of the magical energy released
          comes from within you.  Casting temporarily drains  your  magical
          power, which will slowly be recovered, and causes you to need ad-
          ditional food.  Casting of spells also requires  practice.   With
          practice,  your  skill in each category of spell casting will im-
          prove.  Over time, however, your memory of each spell  will  dim,
          and you will need to relearn it.

               Some spells require a direction in which to cast them, simi-
          lar to wands.  To cast one at yourself, just give a  `.'  or  `s'
          for the direction.  A few spells require you to pick a target lo-
          cation rather than just specify a  particular  direction.   Other
          spells don't require any direction or target.

               Just as weapons are divided into groups in which a character
          can become proficient (to varying degrees), spells are  similarly
          grouped.  Successfully casting a spell exercises its skill group;
          using the "#enhance" command to advance a sufficiently  exercised
          skill  will  affect  all spells within the group.  Advanced skill
          may increase the potency of spells, reduce their risk of  failure
          during casting attempts, and improve the accuracy of the estimate
          for how much longer they will be retained in your memory.   Skill
          slots  are  shared with weapons skills.  (See also the section on
          "Weapon proficiency".)

               Casting a spell also requires flexible movement, and wearing
          various types of armor may interfere with that.

               The  command to read a spellbook is the same as for scrolls,
          `r' (read).  The `+' command lists each spell you know along with


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          its level, skill category, chance of failure when casting, and an
          estimate of how strongly it is remembered.  The `Z'  (cast)  com-
          mand casts a spell.

          7.10.  Tools (`(')

               Tools are miscellaneous objects with various purposes.  Some
          tools have a limited number of uses, akin to wand  charges.   For
          example,  lamps burn out after a while.  Other tools are contain-
          ers, which objects can be placed into or taken out of.

               The command to use a tool is `a' (apply).

          7.10.1.  Containers

               You may encounter bags, boxes, and chests in  your  travels.
          A  tool of this sort can be opened with the "#loot" extended com-
          mand when you are standing on top of it (that  is,  on  the  same
          floor  spot), or with the `a' (apply) command when you are carry-
          ing it.  However, chests are often locked, and are  in  any  case
          unwieldy  objects.   You must set one down before unlocking it by
          using a key or lock-picking tool with the `a' (apply) command, by
          kicking  it  with the `^D' command, or by using a weapon to force
          the lock with the "#force" extended command.

               Some chests are trapped, causing nasty things to happen when
          you unlock or open them.  You can check for and try to deactivate
          traps with the "#untrap" extended command.

          7.11.  Amulets (`"')

               Amulets are very similar to rings, and often more  powerful.
          Like rings, amulets have various magical properties, some benefi-
          cial, some harmful, which are activated by putting them on.

               Only one amulet may be worn at a time, around your neck.

               The commands to use amulets are the same as for  rings,  `P'
          (put on) and `R' (remove).

          7.12.  Gems (`*')

               Some  gems  are valuable, and can be sold for a lot of gold.
          They are also a far more efficient way of carrying  your  riches.
          Valuable gems increase your score if you bring them with you when
          you exit.

               Other small rocks are also categorized as gems, but they are
          much  less  valuable.  All rocks, however, can be used as projec-
          tile weapons (if you have a sling).  In  the  most  desperate  of
          cases, you can still throw them by hand.





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          7.13.  Large rocks (``')

               Statues  and  boulders  are not particularly useful, and are
          generally heavy.  It is rumored that some statues  are  not  what
          they seem.

               Very  large humanoids (giants and their ilk) have been known
          to use boulders as weapons.

               For some configurations  of  the  program,  statues  are  no
          longer  shown  as  ``' but by the letter representing the monster
          they depict instead.

          7.14.  Gold (`$')

               Gold adds to your score, and you can  buy  things  in  shops
          with  it.  There are a number of monsters in the dungeon that may
          be influenced by the amount of gold you are carrying (shopkeepers
          aside).

          7.15.  Persistence of Objects

               Normally, if you have seen an object at a particular map lo-
          cation and move to another location where you can't directly  see
          that  object  any  more, if will continue to be displayed on your
          map.  That remains the case even if it is not actually there  any
          more  -- perhaps a monster has picked it up or it has rotted away
          -- until you can see or feel that location  again.   One  notable
          exception  is that if the object gets covered by the "remembered,
          unseen monster" marker.  When that marker is later removed  after
          you've  verified  that  no monster is there, you will forget that
          there was any object there regardless of whether the unseen  mon-
          ster  actually  took  the  object.  If the object is still there,
          then once you see or feel that location again you will re-discov-
          er the object and resume remembering it.

               The situation is the same for a pile of objects, except that
          only the top item of the pile is displayed.  The hilite_pile  op-
          tion  can be enabled in order to show an item differently when it
          is the top one of a pile.

          8.  Conduct

               As if winning NetHack were  not  difficult  enough,  certain
          players  seek to challenge themselves by imposing restrictions on
          the way they play the game.  The game automatically  tracks  some
          of  these  challenges,  which can be checked at any time with the
          #conduct command or at the end of the game.  When you perform  an
          action  which  breaks  a  challenge, it will no longer be listed.
          This gives players extra "bragging rights" for winning  the  game
          with  these  challenges.  Note that it is perfectly acceptable to
          win the game without resorting to these restrictions and that  it
          is  unusual  for  players  to adhere to challenges the first time
          they win the game.


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               Several of the challenges are related  to  eating  behavior.
          The  most difficult of these is the foodless challenge.  Although
          creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is
          a  physiological  need for water; thus there is no restriction on
          drinking beverages, even if they provide some  minor  food  bene-
          fits.   Calling  upon  your god for help with starvation does not
          violate any food challenges either.

               A strict vegan diet is one which  avoids  any  food  derived
          from animals.  The primary source of nutrition is fruits and veg-
          etables.  The corpses and tins of blobs (`b'), jellies (`j'), and
          fungi  (`F') are also considered to be vegetable matter.  Certain
          human food is prepared without animal  products;  namely,  lembas
          wafers,  cram  rations, food rations (gunyoki), K-rations, and C-
          rations.  Metal or another normally indigestible  material  eaten
          while polymorphed into a creature that can digest it is also con-
          sidered vegan food.  Note however that eating  such  items  still
          counts against foodless conduct.

               Vegetarians  do  not eat animals; however, they are less se-
          lective about eating animal byproducts than vegans.  In  addition
          to the vegan items listed above, they may eat any kind of pudding
          (`P') other than the black puddings, eggs and food made from eggs
          (fortune  cookies  and pancakes), food made with milk (cream pies
          and candy bars), and lumps of royal jelly.  Monks are expected to
          observe a vegetarian diet.

               Eating  any kind of meat violates the vegetarian, vegan, and
          foodless conducts.  This includes tripe rations, the  corpses  or
          tins  of  any monsters not mentioned above, and the various other
          chunks of meat found in the dungeon.  Swallowing and digesting  a
          monster while polymorphed is treated as if you ate the creature's
          corpse.  Eating leather, dragon hide, or bone items  while  poly-
          morphed  into  a  creature  that can digest it, or eating monster
          brains while polymorphed into a mind flayer, is considered eating
          an animal, although wax is only an animal byproduct.

               Regardless  of  conduct,  there will be some items which are
          indigestible, and others which are hazardous  to  eat.   Using  a
          swallow-and-digest attack against a monster is equivalent to eat-
          ing the monster's corpse.  Please note that the term  "vegan"  is
          used  here  only  in  the context of diet.  You are still free to
          choose not to use  or  wear  items  derived  from  animals  (e.g.
          leather,  dragon hide, bone, horns, coral), but the game will not
          keep track of this for you.  Also note that "milky"  potions  may
          be a translucent white, but they do not contain milk, so they are
          compatible with a vegan  diet.   Slime  molds  or  player-defined
          "fruits",  although  they  could  be  anything from "cherries" to
          "pork chops", are also assumed to be vegan.

               An atheist is one who rejects religion.  This means that you
          cannot  #pray,  #offer  sacrifices  to  any god, #turn undead, or
          #chat with a priest.  Particularly selective  readers  may  argue
          that  playing  Monk  or  Priest  characters  should  violate this


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          conduct; that is a choice  left  to  the  player.   Offering  the
          Amulet  of Yendor to your god is necessary to win the game and is
          not counted against this conduct.  You are also not penalized for
          being  spoken to by an angry god, priest(ess), or other religious
          figure; a true atheist would hear the words but attach no special
          meaning to them.

               Most  players  fight with a wielded weapon (or tool intended
          to be wielded as a weapon).  Another challenge is to win the game
          without  using such a wielded weapon.  You are still permitted to
          throw, fire, and kick weapons; use a wand, spell, or  other  type
          of item; or fight with your hands and feet.

               In  NetHack,  a  pacifist  refuses to cause the death of any
          other monster (i.e. if you would get experience for  the  death).
          This  is a particularly difficult challenge, although it is still
          possible to gain experience by other means.

               An illiterate character cannot read or write.  This includes
          reading  a scroll, spellbook, fortune cookie message, or t-shirt;
          writing a scroll; or making an engraving of anything other than a
          single  "X"  (the traditional signature of an illiterate person).
          Reading an engraving, or any item that is absolutely necessary to
          win  the game, is not counted against this conduct.  The identity
          of scrolls and spellbooks  (and  knowledge  of  spells)  in  your
          starting  inventory  is  assumed to be learned from your teachers
          prior to the start of the game and isn't counted.

               There are several other challenges tracked by the game.   It
          is possible to eliminate one or more species of monsters by geno-
          cide; playing without this feature  is  considered  a  challenge.
          When the game offers you an opportunity to genocide monsters, you
          may respond with the monster type "none" if you want to  decline.
          You  can change the form of an item into another item of the same
          type ("polypiling") or the form of your  own  body  into  another
          creature  ("polyself")  by  wand,  spell, or potion of polymorph;
          avoiding these effects are each considered challenges.   Polymor-
          phing  monsters,  including  pets, does not break either of these
          challenges.  Finally, you may sometimes receive  wishes;  a  game
          without  an attempt to wish for any items is a challenge, as is a
          game without wishing for an artifact (even if the artifact  imme-
          diately  disappears).  When the game offers you an opportunity to
          make a wish for an item, you may choose "nothing" if you want  to
          decline.

          9.  Options

               Due  to variations in personal tastes and conceptions of how
          NetHack should do things, there are options you can set to change
          how NetHack behaves.






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          9.1.  Setting the options

               Options  may  be  set in a number of ways.  Within the game,
          the `O' command allows you to view all options and change most of
          them.   You can also set options automatically by placing them in
          a configuration file, or in the NETHACKOPTIONS environment  vari-
          able.  Some versions of NetHack also have front-end programs that
          allow you to set options before starting the  game  or  a  global
          configuration for system administrators.

          9.2.  Using a configuration file

               The default name of the configuration file varies on differ-
          ent  operating  systems.   On   MS-DOS   and   Windows,   it   is
          "defaults.nh"  in the same folder as nethack.exe or nethackW.exe.
          On UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS X it is  ".nethackrc"  in  the  user's
          home directory.  The file may not exist, but it is a normal ASCII
          text file and can be created with any text editor.

               Any line in the configuration  file  starting  with  `#'  is
          treated as a comment.  Empty lines are ignored.

               Any  line beginning with `[' and ending in `]' is considered
          a section marker.  The text between the square  brackets  is  the
          section  name.   Lines after a section marker belong to that sec-
          tion, and are ignored unless a CHOOSE statement was used  to  se-
          lect that section.  Section names are case insensitive.

               You  can use different configuration statements in the file,
          some of which can be used multiple times.  In general, the state-
          ments are written in capital letters, followed by an equals sign,
          followed by settings particular to that  statement.   Here  is  a
          list of allowed statements:

          OPTIONS
            There  are  two types of options, boolean and compound options.
            Boolean options toggle a setting on or off, while compound  op-
            tions  take  more diverse values.  Prefix a boolean option with
            "no" or `!' to turn it off.  For compound options,  the  option
            name and value are separated by a colon.  Some options are per-
            sistent, and apply only to new games.  You can specify multiple
            OPTIONS statements, and multiple options separated by commas in
            a single OPTIONS statement.  (Comma separated options are  pro-
            cessed from right to left.)

               Example:

               OPTIONS=dogname:Fido
               OPTIONS=!legacy,autopickup,pickup_types:$"=/!?+

          HACKDIR
            Default  location  of  files  NetHack needs. On Windows HACKDIR
            defaults to the location of  the  NetHack.exe  or  NetHackw.exe
            file  so  setting  HACKDIR  to  override  that  is  not usually


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            necessary or recommended.

          LEVELDIR
            The location that in-progress level files are stored.  Defaults
            to HACKDIR, must be writable.

          SAVEDIR
            The  location  where saved games are kept. Defaults to HACKDIR,
            must be writable.

          BONESDIR
            The location that bones files are kept.  Defaults  to  HACKDIR,
            must be writable.

          LOCKDIR
            The  location  that  file  synchronization  locks  are  stored.
            Defaults to HACKDIR, must be writable.

          TROUBLEDIR
            The location that a record of game  aborts  and  self-diagnosed
            game problems is kept. Defaults to HACKDIR, must be writable.

          AUTOCOMPLETE
            Enable or disable an extended command autocompletion.  Autocom-
            pletion has no effect for the X11 windowport.  You can  specify
            multiple  autocompletions.   To enable autocompletion, list the
            extended command.  Prefix the command with "!" to  disable  the
            autocompletion for that command.

               Example:

               AUTOCOMPLETE=zap,!annotate

          AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTION
            Set  exceptions to the pickup_types option.  See the "Configur-
            ing Autopickup Exceptions" section.

          BINDINGS
            Change the key bindings of some special  keys,  menu  accelera-
            tors, or extended commands.  You can specify multiple bindings.
            Format is key followed by the command, separated  by  a  colon.
            See the "Changing Key Bindings" section for more information.

               Example:

               BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe

          CHOOSE
            Chooses  at  random one of the comma-separated parameters as an
            active section name. Lines in other sections are ignored.

               Example:




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               OPTIONS=color
               CHOOSE=char A,char B
               [char A]
               OPTIONS=role:arc,race:dwa,align:law,gender:fem
               [char B]
               OPTIONS=role:wiz,race:elf,align:cha,gender:mal

          MSGTYPE
            Change the way messages are shown in the top status line.   See
            the "Configuring Message Types" section.

          MENUCOLOR
            Highlight menu lines with different colors.  See the "Configur-
            ing Menu Colors" section.

          SYMBOLS
            Override one or more symbols in the  symbols  files.   See  the
            "Modifying NetHack Symbols" section.

               Example:

               SYMBOLS=S_boulder:0

          WIZKIT
            Debug  mode  only:   extra  items  to add to initial inventory.
            Value is the name of a text file  containing  a  list  of  item
            names,  one  per line, up to a maximum of 128 lines.  Each line
            is processed by the function that handles wishing.

               Example:

               WIZKIT=~/wizkit.txt

          SOUNDDIR
            Define the directory that contains the sound  files.   See  the
            "Configuring User Sounds" section.

          SOUND
            Define a sound mapping.  See the "Configuring User Sounds" sec-
            tion.

               Here is a short example of config file contents:














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               # Set your character's role, race, gender, and alignment.
               OPTIONS=role:Valkyrie, race:Human, gender:female, align:lawful
               #
               # Turn on autopickup, set automatically picked up object types
               OPTIONS=autopickup,pickup_types:$"=/!?+
               # Show colored text if possible
               OPTIONS=color
               # Show lit corridors differently
               OPTIONS=lit_corridor
               #
               # No startup splash screen. Windows GUI only.
               OPTIONS=!splash_screen

          9.3.  Using the NETHACKOPTIONS environment variable

               The NETHACKOPTIONS variable is  a  comma-separated  list  of
          initial  values for the various options.  Some can only be turned
          on or off.  You turn one of these on by adding the  name  of  the
          option  to  the list, and turn it off by typing a `!' or "no" be-
          fore the name.  Others take a character string as a  value.   You
          can  set  string  options  by  typing the option name, a colon or
          equals sign, and then the value of the string.  The value is ter-
          minated by the next comma or the end of string.

               For example, to set up an environment variable so that color
          is on, legacy is off, character name is set to "Blue Meanie", and
          named fruit is set to "lime", you would enter the command

          % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "color,\!leg,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:lime"

          in  csh  (note  the  need to escape the `!' since it's special to
          that shell), or the pair of commands

          $ NETHACKOPTIONS="color,!leg,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:lime"
          $ export NETHACKOPTIONS

          in sh, ksh, or bash.

               The NETHACKOPTIONS value is effectively the same as a single
          OPTIONS statement in a configuration file.  The "OPTIONS=" prefix
          is implied and comma separated options are processed  from  right
          to left.  Other types of configuration statements such as BIND or
          MSGTYPE are not allowed.

               Instead of a comma-separated list of options, NETHACKOPTIONS
          can  be  set to the full name of a configuration file you want to
          use.  If that full name doesn't start with a  slash,  precede  it
          with  `@' (at-sign) to let NetHack know that the rest is intended
          as a file name.  If it does start with `/', the  at-sign  is  op-
          tional.






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          9.4.  Customization options

               Here are explanations of what the various options do.  Char-
          acter strings that are too long may be truncated.   Some  of  the
          options listed may be inactive in your dungeon.

               Some  options  are  persistent,  and  are saved and reloaded
          along with the game.  Changing a persistent option in the config-
          uration file applies only to new games.

          acoustics
            Enable  messages  about what your character hears (default on).
            Note that this has nothing to do with your computer's audio ca-
            pabilities.  Persistent.

          align
            Your   starting   alignment  (align:lawful,  align:neutral,  or
            align:chaotic).  You may specify just the  first  letter.   The
            default  is  to randomly pick an appropriate alignment.  If you
            prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will exclude that align-
            ment  from  being  picked randomly.  Cannot be set with the `O'
            command.  Persistent.

          autodescribe
            Automatically describe the terrain under cursor when  asked  to
            get a location on the map (default true).  The whatis_coord op-
            tion controls whether the description includes map coordinates.

          autodig
            Automatically dig if you are wielding a digging tool and moving
            into a place that can be dug (default false). Persistent.

          autoopen
            Walking into a door attempts to open it (default true). Persis-
            tent.

          autopickup
            Automatically  pick up things onto which you move (default on).
            Persistent.  See pickup_types to refine the behavior.

          autoquiver
            This option controls what happens  when  you  attempt  the  `f'
            (fire)  command  when  nothing  is quivered or readied (default
            false).  When true, the  computer  will  fill  your  quiver  or
            quiver  sack  or make ready some suitable weapon.  Note that it
            will not take into account the blessed/cursed status,  enchant-
            ment, damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to manual-
            ly fill your quiver or quiver sack or make ready with  the  `Q'
            command instead.  If no weapon is found or the option is false,
            the `t' (throw) command is executed instead.  Persistent.

          blind
            Start the character permanently blind (default false).  Persis-
            tent.


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          bones
            Allow  saving  and loading bones files (default true).  Persis-
            tent.

          boulder
            Set the character used to  display  boulders  (default  is  the
            "large rock" class symbol, ``').

          catname
            Name  your starting cat (for example "catname:Morris").  Cannot
            be set with the `O' command.

          character
            Synonym for "role" to pick the type of your character (for  ex-
            ample "character:Monk").  See role for more details.

          checkpoint
            Save  game state after each level change, for possible recovery
            after program crash (default on).  Persistent.

          checkspace
            Check free disk space before writing  files  to  disk  (default
            on).   You may have to turn this off if you have more than 2 GB
            free space on the partition used for your save and level  files
            (because  too much space might overflow the calculation and end
            up looking like insufficient space).  Only applies when MFLOPPY
            was defined during compilation.

          clicklook
            Allows  looking at things on the screen by navigating the mouse
            over them and clicking the right mouse button (default off).

          cmdassist
            Have the game provide some additional  command  assistance  for
            new  players  if  it detects some anticipated mistakes (default
            on).

          confirm
            Have user confirm  attacks  on  pets,  shopkeepers,  and  other
            peaceable creatures (default on).  Persistent.

          dark_room
            Show out-of-sight areas of lit rooms (default on).  Persistent.

          disclose
            Controls what information the program  reveals  when  the  game
            ends.   Value  is  a space separated list of prompting/category
            pairs (default is "ni na nv ng nc no", prompt with default  re-
            sponse of `n' for each candidate).  Persistent.  The possibili-
            ties are:






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                 i - disclose your inventory;
                 a - disclose your attributes;
                 v - summarize monsters that have been vanquished;
                 g - list monster species that have been genocided;
                 c - display your conduct;
                 o - display dungeon overview.

            Each disclosure possibility can optionally  be  preceded  by  a
            prefix  which  lets  you  refine  how it behaves.  Here are the
            valid prefixes:

                 y - prompt you and default to yes on the prompt;
                 n - prompt you and default to no on the prompt;
                 + - disclose it without prompting;
                 - - do not disclose it and do not prompt.

            The listing of vanquished monsters can be sorted, so there  are
            two additional choices for `v':

                 ? - prompt you and default to ask on the prompt;
                 # - disclose it without prompting, ask for sort order.

            Asking refers to picking one of the orderings from a menu.  The
            `+' disclose without prompting choice, or  being  prompted  and
            answering `y' rather than `a', will default to showing monsters
            in the traditional order, from high level to low level.

            Omitted categories are implicitly added with `n' prefix.  Spec-
            ified categories with omitted prefix implicitly use `+' prefix.
            Order of the disclosure categories  does  not  matter,  program
            display for end-of-game disclosure follows a set sequence.

            (for  example "disclose:yi na +v -g o") The example sets inven-
            tory to prompt and default to yes, attributes to prompt and de-
            fault to no, vanquished to disclose without prompting, genocid-
            ed to not disclose and not prompt, conduct to implicitly prompt
            and  default to no, and overview to disclose without prompting.

            Note that the vanquished monsters list  includes  all  monsters
            killed by traps and each other as well as by you.  And the dun-
            geon overview shows all levels you had visited but does not re-
            veal things about them that you hadn't discovered.

          dogname
            Name your starting dog (for example "dogname:Fang").  Cannot be
            set with the `O' command.

          extmenu
            Changes the extended commands interface to  pop-up  a  menu  of
            available commands.  It is keystroke compatible with the tradi-
            tional interface except that it does not require that  you  hit
            Enter.   It is implemented for the tty interface (default off).




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            For the X11 interface, which always uses a menu for choosing an
            extended command, it controls whether the menu shows all avail-
            able commands (on) or just the subset of  commands  which  have
            traditionally been considered extended ones (off).

          female
            An  obsolete  synonym  for "gender:female".  Cannot be set with
            the `O' command.

          fixinv
            An object's inventory letter sticks to  it  when  it's  dropped
            (default  on).   If  this is off, dropping an object shifts all
            the remaining inventory letters.  Persistent.

          force_invmenu
            Commands asking for an inventory item show a menu instead of  a
            text query with possible menu letters. Default is off.

          fruit
            Name  a  fruit  after  something  you enjoy eating (for example
            "fruit:mango") (default "slime mold").  Basically  a  nostalgic
            whimsy  that  NetHack  uses  from time to time.  You should set
            this to something you find more  appetizing  than  slime  mold.
            Apples,  oranges,  pears,  bananas, and melons already exist in
            NetHack, so don't use those.

          gender
            Your starting gender (gender:male or gender:female).   You  may
            specify  just  the first letter.  Although you can still denote
            your gender using the "male" and "female" options, the "gender"
            option  will  take precedence.  The default is to randomly pick
            an appropriate gender.  If you prefix the  value  with  `!'  or
            "no",  you will exclude that gender from being picked randomly.
            Cannot be set with the `O' command.  Persistent.

          goldX
            When filtering  objects  based  on  bless/curse  state  (BUCX),
            whether  to  treat gold pieces as X (unknown bless/curse state,
            when "on") or U (known to be  uncursed,  when  "off",  the  de-
            fault).   Gold  is  never  blessed or cursed, but it is not de-
            scribed as "uncursed" even when the implicit_uncursed option is
            "off".

          help
            If  more  information is available for an object looked at with
            the `/' command, ask if you want to see it (default on).  Turn-
            ing  help  off  makes  just looking at things faster, since you
            aren't interrupted with the "More info?" prompt,  but  it  also
            means that you might miss some interesting and/or important in-
            formation.  Persistent.

          herecmd_menu
            When using a windowport that supports  mouse  and  clicking  on
            yourself  or  next  to you, show a menu of possible actions for


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            the location.  Same as "#herecmdmenu" and "#therecmdmenu"  com-
            mands.

          hilite_pet
            Visually  distinguish  pets from similar animals (default off).
            The behavior of this option depends on the  type  of  windowing
            you use.  In text windowing, text highlighting or inverse video
            is often used; with tiles, generally displays  a  heart  symbol
            near pets.

            With  the  curses interface, the petattr option controls how to
            highlight pets and setting it will turn the  hilite_pet  option
            on or off as warranted.

          hilite_pile
            Visually  distinguish  piles of objects from individual objects
            (default off).  The behavior of this option depends on the type
            of  windowing you use.  In text windowing, text highlighting or
            inverse video is often used; with tiles, generally  displays  a
            small plus-symbol beside the object on the top of the pile.

          hitpointbar
            Show  a  hit  point bar graph behind your name and title.  Only
            available for TTY and Windows GUI, and only when  statushilites
            is on.

          horsename
            Name  your  starting  horse  (for example "horsename:Trigger").
            Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          ignintr
            Ignore interrupt signals, including breaks (default off).  Per-
            sistent.

          implicit_uncursed
            Omit "uncursed" from inventory lists, if possible (default on).

          legacy
            Display an introductory message when starting the game (default
            on).  Persistent.

          lit_corridor
            Show  corridor  squares  seen by night vision or a light source
            held by your character as lit (default off).  Persistent.

          lootabc
            When using a menu to interact with a  container,  use  the  old
            `a',  `b', and `c' keyboard shortcuts rather than the mnemonics
            `o', `i', and `b' (default off).  Persistent.

          mail
            Enable mail delivery during the game (default on).  Persistent.




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          male
            An  obsolete synonym for "gender:male".  Cannot be set with the
            `O' command.

          mention_walls
            Give feedback when walking against a wall (default off).

          menucolors
            Enable coloring menu lines  (default  off).   See  "Configuring
            Menu Colors" on how to configure the colors.

          menustyle
            Controls the interface used when you need to choose various ob-
            jects (in response to the Drop  command,  for  instance).   The
            value  specified  should be the first letter of one of the fol-
            lowing:  traditional, combination, full,  or  partial.   Tradi-
            tional  was the only interface available for early versions; it
            consists of a prompt for object class characters,  followed  by
            an  object-by-object prompt for all items matching the selected
            object class(es).  Combination starts with a prompt for  object
            class(es) of interest, but then displays a menu of matching ob-
            jects rather than prompting one-by-one.  Full displays  a  menu
            of  object  classes  rather than a character prompt, and then a
            menu of matching objects for selection.  Partial skips the  ob-
            ject class filtering and immediately displays a menu of all ob-
            jects.  Persistent.

          menu_deselect_all
            Menu character accelerator to deselect all  items  in  a  menu.
            Implemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default `-'.

          menu_deselect_page
            Menu character accelerator to deselect all items on  this  page
            of  a  menu.  Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  De-
            fault `\'.

          menu_first_page
            Menu character accelerator to jump to the first page in a menu.
            Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default `^'.

          menu_headings
            Controls  how  the  headings in a menu are highlighted.  Values
            are "none", "bold", "dim", "underline", "blink", or  "inverse".
            Not all ports can actually display all types.

          menu_invert_all
            Menu  character accelerator to invert all items in a menu.  Im-
            plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default `@'.

          menu_invert_page
            Menu character accelerator to invert all items on this page  of
            a  menu.  Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default
            `~'.



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          menu_last_page
            Menu character accelerator to jump to the last page in a  menu.
            Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default `|'.

          menu_next_page
            Menu  character accelerator to goto the next menu page.  Imple-
            mented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default `>'.

          menu_objsyms
            Show object symbols in menu headings in menus where the  object
            symbols act as menu accelerators (default off).

          menu_overlay
            Do  not  clear the screen before drawing menus, and align menus
            to the right edge of the screen. Only for the tty  port.   (de-
            fault on)

          menu_previous_page
            Menu character accelerator to goto the previous menu page.  Im-
            plemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default `<'.

          menu_search
            Menu character accelerator to search for a menu  item.   Imple-
            mented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default `:'.

          menu_select_all
            Menu  character accelerator to select all items in a menu.  Im-
            plemented by the Amiga, Gem, X11 and tty ports.  Default `.'.

          menu_select_page
            Menu character accelerator to select all items on this page  of
            a  menu.  Implemented by the Amiga, Gem and tty ports.  Default
            `,'.

          monpolycontrol
            Prompt for new form whenever any monster changes shape (default
            off).  Debug mode only.

          mouse_support
            Allow  use  of  the mouse for input and travel.  Valid settings
            are:

                 0 - disabled
                 1 - enabled and make OS adjustments to support mouse use in the game
                 2 - like 1 but does not make any OS adjustments

            Omitting a value is the  same  as  specifying  1  and  negating
            mouse_support is the same as specifying 0.

          msghistory
            The  number of top line messages to keep (and be able to recall
            with `^P') (default 20).  Cannot be set with the `O' command.




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          msg_window
            Allows you to change the way recalled messages  are  displayed.
            Currently  it  is only supported for tty (all four choices) and
            for curses (`f' and `r' choices, default  `r').   The  possible
            values are:

                 s - single message (default; only choice prior to 3.4.0);
                 c - combination, two messages as "single", then as "full";
                 f - full window, oldest message first;
                 r - full window reversed, newest message first.

            For  backward  compatibility,  no  value  needs to be specified
            (which defaults  to  "full"),  or  it  can  be  negated  (which
            defaults to "single").

          name
            Set  your  character's  name (defaults to your user name).  You
            can also set your character's role by appending a dash and  one
            or more letters of the role (that is, by suffixing one of -A -B
            -C -H -K -M -P -Ra -Ro -S -T -V -W).  If -@  is  used  for  the
            role,  then  a random one will be automatically chosen.  Cannot
            be set with the `O' command.

          news
            Read the NetHack news file, if present (default on).  Since the
            news is shown at the beginning of the game, there's no point in
            setting this with the `O' command.

          nudist
            Start the character with no armor (default false).  Persistent.

          null
            Send padding nulls to the terminal (default on).  Persistent.

          number_pad
            Use  digit  keys instead of letters to move (default 0 or off).
            Valid settings are:

             0 - move by letters; "yuhjklbn"
             1 - move by numbers; digit `5' acts as `G' movement prefix
             2 - like 1 but `5' works as `g' prefix instead of as `G'
             3 - by numbers using phone key layout; 123 above, 789 below
             4 - combines 3 with 2; phone layout plus MS-DOS compatibility
            -1 - by letters but use `z' to go northwest, `y' to zap wands

            For backward compatibility, omitting a value  is  the  same  as
            specifying  1 and negating number_pad is the same as specifying
            0.  (Settings 2 and 4 are for compatibility with MS-DOS or  old
            PC Hack; in addition to the different behavior for `5', `Alt-5'
            acts as `G' and `Alt-0' acts as `I'.  Setting -1 is to accommo-
            date  some  QWERTZ keyboards which have the location of the `y'
            and `z' keys swapped.)  When moving  by  numbers,  to  enter  a
            count prefix for those commands which accept one (such as "12s"
            to search  twelve  times),  precede  it  with  the  letter  `n'


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            ("n12s").

          packorder
            Specify   the   order   to   list   object  types  in  (default
            "")[%?+!=/(*`0_").  The value of this option should be a string
            containing the symbols for the various object types.  Any omit-
            ted types are filled in at the end from the previous order.

          paranoid_confirmation
            A space separated list of specific situations  where  alternate
            prompting   is  desired.   The  default  is  paranoid_confirma-
            tion:pray.

            Confirm     - for any prompts which are set  to  require  "yes"
                          rather  than `y', also require "no" to reject in-
                          stead of accepting any non-yes response as no
            quit        - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm quitting
                          the  game  or  switching into non-scoring explore
                          mode;
            die         - require "yes" rather than `y'  to  confirm  dying
                          (not  useful  in  normal play; applies to explore
                          mode);
            bones       - require "yes" rather than `y' to  confirm  saving
                          bones data when dying in debug mode;
            attack      - require  "yes" rather than `y' to confirm attack-
                          ing a peaceful monster;
            wand-break  - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm breaking
                          a wand;
            Were-change - require "yes" rather than `y' to confirm changing
                          form due to lycanthropy when hero  has  polymorph
                          control;
            pray        - require  `y' to confirm an attempt to pray rather
                          than immediately praying; on by default;
            Remove      - require selection from inventory for `R' and  `T'
                          commands  even  when  wearing just one applicable
                          item.
            all         - turn on all of the above.

            By default, the pray choice is enabled,  the  others  disabled.
            To  disable  it  without  setting any of the other choices, use
            "paranoid_confirmation:none".  To keep it enabled while setting
            any  of  the  others,  include  it  in the list, such as "para-
            noid_confirmation:attack pray Remove".

          perm_invent
            If true, always display your current  inventory  in  a  window.
            This  only makes sense for windowing system interfaces that im-
            plement this feature.

          petattr
            Specifies one or more text highlighting attributes to use  when
            showing  pets  on  the  map.   Effectively  a  superset  of the
            hilite_pet boolean option.  Curses interface only; value is one
            or more of the following letters.


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                 n - Normal text (no highlighting)
                 i - Inverse video (default)
                 b - Bold text
                 u - Underlined text
                 k - blinKing text
                 d - Dim text
                 t - iTalic text
                 l - Left line indicator
                 r - Right line indicator

            Some  of  those  choices might not work, particularly the final
            three, depending upon terminal hardware or  terminal  emulation
            software.

            Currently  multiple  highlight-style letters can be combined by
            simply stringing them together (for example, "bk"), but in  the
            future  they  might require being separated by plus signs (such
            as "b+k", which works already).  When using the `n' choice,  it
            should  be specified on its own, not in combination with any of
            the other letters.

          pettype
            Specify the type of your initial pet,  if  you  are  playing  a
            character  class that uses multiple types of pets; or choose to
            have no initial pet at all.  Possible values are "cat",  "dog",
            "horse", and "none".  If the choice is not allowed for the role
            you are currently playing, it will be  silently  ignored.   For
            example,  "horse"  will  only be honored when playing a knight.
            Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          pickup_burden
            When you pick up an item that  would  exceed  this  encumbrance
            level  (Unencumbered,  Burdened, streSsed, straiNed, overTaxed,
            or overLoaded), you will be asked  if  you  want  to  continue.
            (Default `S').  Persistent.

          pickup_thrown
            If  this option is on and autopickup is also on, try to pick up
            things that you threw, even if they aren't in  pickup_types  or
            match an autopickup exception.  Default is on.  Persistent.

          pickup_types
            Specify the object types to be picked up when autopickup is on.
            Default is all types.  You can use autopickup_exception config-
            uration file lines to further refine autopickup behavior.  Per-
            sistent.

          pile_limit
            When walking across a pile of objects on the  floor,  threshold
            at  which the message "there are few/several/many objects here"
            is given instead of showing a popup list of those  objects.   A
            value  of 0 means "no limit" (always list the objects); a value
            of 1 effectively means "never show the objects" since the  pile
            size  will  always  be  at  least that big; default value is 5.


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            Persistent.

          playmode
            Values are "normal", "explore", or "debug".   Allows  selection
            of  explore  mode  (also known as discovery mode) or debug mode
            (also known as wizard mode) instead of normal play.  Debug mode
            might  only be allowed for someone logged in under a particular
            user name (on multi-user systems) or  specifying  a  particular
            character name (on single-user systems) or it might be disabled
            entirely.  Requesting it when not allowed or not  possible  re-
            sults in explore mode instead.  Default is normal play.

          pushweapon
            Using  the  `w' (wield) command when already wielding something
            pushes the old item into your alternate  weapon  slot  (default
            off).   Likewise  for  the `a' (apply) command if it causes the
            applied item to become wielded.  Persistent.

          race
            Selects your race (for example, "race:human").  Default is ran-
            dom.   If  you  prefix the value with `!' or "no", you will ex-
            clude that race from being picked randomly.  Cannot be set with
            the `O' command.  Persistent.

          rest_on_space
            Make  the  space bar a synonym for the `.' (#wait) command (de-
            fault off).  Persistent.

          role
            Pick your type of character (for example "role:Samurai");  syn-
            onym  for  "character".   See "name" for an alternate method of
            specifying your role.  Normally only the first  letter  of  the
            value  is examined; `r' is an exception with "Rogue", "Ranger",
            and "random" values.  If you prefix the value with `!' or "no",
            you  will exclude that role from being picked randomly.  Cannot
            be set with the `O' command.  Persistent.

          roguesymset
            This option may be used to select one of the named symbol  sets
            found  within  "symbols"  to alter the symbols displayed on the
            screen on the rogue level.

          rlecomp
            When writing out a save file, perform run length compression of
            the  map.  Not all ports support run length compression. It has
            no effect on reading an existing save file.

          runmode
            Controls the amount of screen updating for the map window  when
            engaged  in multi-turn movement (running via shift+direction or
            control+direction and so forth, or via the  travel  command  or
            mouse click).  The possible values are:

            teleport - update the map after movement has finished;


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            run      - update the map after every seven or so steps;
            walk     - update the map after each step;
            crawl    - like walk, but pause briefly after each step.

            This option only affects the game's screen display, not the ac-
            tual results of moving.  The default is "run";  versions  prior
            to  3.4.1  used  "teleport" only.  Whether or not the effect is
            noticeable will depend upon the window port used or on the type
            of terminal.  Persistent.

          safe_pet
            Prevent  you from (knowingly) attacking your pets (default on).
            Persistent.

          sanity_check
            Evaluate monsters, objects, and map prior to each turn (default
            off).  Debug mode only.

          scores
            Control  what  parts of the score list you are shown at the end
            (for  example  "scores:5  top  scores/4  around  my   score/own
            scores").  Only the first letter of each category (`t', `a', or
            `o') is necessary.  Persistent.

          showexp
            Show your accumulated experience points on bottom line (default
            off).  Persistent.

          showrace
            Display  yourself  as  the glyph for your race, rather than the
            glyph for your role (default off).  Note that this setting  af-
            fects  only the appearance of the display, not the way the game
            treats you.  Persistent.

          showscore
            Show your approximate accumulated score on bottom line (default
            off).  Persistent.

          silent
            Suppress terminal beeps (default on).  Persistent.

          sortloot
            Controls the sorting behavior of the pickup lists for inventory
            and #loot commands and some others.  Persistent.  The  possible
            values are:

            full - always sort the lists;
            loot - only  sort  the  lists that don't use inventory letters,
                   like with the #loot and pickup commands;
            none - show lists the traditional way without sorting.

          sortpack
            Sort the pack contents by type when displaying  inventory  (de-
            fault on).  Persistent.


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          sparkle
            Display a sparkly effect when a monster (including yourself) is
            hit by an attack to which it is resistant (default  on).   Per-
            sistent.

          standout
            Boldface monsters and "--More--" (default off).  Persistent.

          statushilites
            Controls  how  many turns status hilite behaviors highlight the
            field.  If negated or set to zero,  disables  status  hiliting.
            See "Configuring Status Hilites" for further information.

          status_updates
            Allow  updates  to the status lines at the bottom of the screen
            (default true).

          suppress_alert
            This option may be set to a NetHack version level  to  suppress
            alert  notification messages about feature changes for that and
            prior versions (for example "suppress_alert:3.3.1").

          symset
            This option may be used to select one of the named symbol  sets
            found  within  "symbols"  to alter the symbols displayed on the
            screen.  Use "symset:default" to explicitly select the  default
            symbols.

          time
            Show  the  elapsed  game  time in turns on bottom line (default
            off).  Persistent.

          timed_delay
            When pausing momentarily for display effect, such as  with  ex-
            plosions  and  moving  objects, use a timer rather than sending
            extra characters to the screen.  (Applies  to  "tty"  interface
            only; "X11" interface always uses a timer based delay.  The de-
            fault is on if configured into the program.)  Persistent.

          tombstone
            Draw a tombstone graphic upon your death (default on).  Persis-
            tent.

          toptenwin
            Put the ending display in a NetHack window instead of on stdout
            (default off).  Setting this option makes the score list  visi-
            ble  when  a  windowing version of NetHack is started without a
            parent window, but it no longer leaves the  score  list  around
            after game end on a terminal or emulating window.

          travel
            Allow the travel command (default on).  Turning this option off
            will prevent the game from attempting unintended moves  if  you
            make inadvertent mouse clicks on the map window.  Persistent.


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          verbose
            Provide  more commentary during the game (default on).  Persis-
            tent.

          whatis_coord
            When using the `/' or `;' commands to look around  on  the  map
            with  autodescribe  on,  display coordinates after the descrip-
            tion.  Also works in other situations where you  are  asked  to
            pick a location.

            The possible settings are:

                 c - compass ("east" or "3s" or "2n,4w");
                 f - full compass ("east" or "3south" or "2north,4west");
                 m - map <x,y> (map column x=0 is not used);
                 s - screen [row,column] (row is offset to match tty usage);
                 n - none (no coordinates shown) [default].

            The whatis_coord option is also used with the "/m", "/M", "/o",
            and "/O" sub-commands of `/', where the "none" setting is over-
            ridden with "map".

          whatis_filter
            When getting a location on the map, and using the keys to cycle
            through next and previous targets, allows filtering the  possi-
            ble targets.

                 n - no filtering [default]
                 v - in view only
                 a - in same area only

            The  area-filter  tries  to be slightly predictive -- if you're
            standing on a doorway, it will consider the area on the side of
            the door you were last moving towards.

            Filtering  can also be changed when getting a location with the
            "getpos.filter" key.

          whatis_menu
            When getting a location on the map, and using a  key  to  cycle
            through next and previous targets, use a menu instead to pick a
            target.  (default off)

          whatis_moveskip
            When getting a location on the map, and using shifted  movement
            keys or meta-digit keys to fast-move, instead of moving 8 units
            at a time, move by skipping the same glyphs.  (default off)

          windowtype
            When the program has been built to support multiple interfaces,
            select  which  one  to use, such as "tty" or "X11" (default de-
            pends on build-time settings; use "#version" to check).  Cannot
            be set with the `O' command.



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            When  used,  it  should be the first option set since its value
            might enable or disable the availability of various  other  op-
            tions.   For multiple lines in a configuration file, that would
            be the first non-comment line.  For a comma-separated  list  in
            NETHACKOPTIONS or an OPTIONS line in a configuration file, that
            would be the rightmost option in the list.

          wizweight
            Augment object descriptions with their objects' weight (default
            off).  Debug mode only.

          zerocomp
            When  writing out a save file, perform zero-comp compression of
            the contents. Not all ports support zero-comp  compression.  It
            has no effect on reading an existing save file.

          9.5.  Window Port Customization options

               Here  are  explanations of the various options that are used
          to customize and change the  characteristics  of  the  windowtype
          that you have chosen.  Character strings that are too long may be
          truncated.  Not all window ports will  adjust  for  all  settings
          listed  here.   You  can  safely add any of these options to your
          config file, and if the window port is capable  of  adjusting  to
          suit  your  preferences, it will attempt to do so. If it can't it
          will silently ignore it.  You can find out if an option  is  sup-
          ported  by the window port that you are currently using by check-
          ing to see if it shows up in the Options list.  Some options  are
          dynamic  and  can  be specified during the game with the `O' com-
          mand.

          align_message
            Where to align or place the message window (top, bottom,  left,
            or right)

          align_status
            Where  to  align or place the status window (top, bottom, left,
            or right).

          ascii_map
            If NetHack can, it should display an ascii character map if  it
            can.

          color
            If NetHack can, it should display color if it can for different
            monsters, objects, and dungeon features.

          eight_bit_tty
            If NetHack can, it should pass eight-bit character values  (for
            example,  specified  with the traps option) straight through to
            your terminal (default off).

          font_map
            if NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the


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            map window.

          font_menu
            If  NetHack  can,  it  should use a font by the chosen name for
            menu windows.

          font_message
            If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
            message window.

          font_status
            If NetHack can, it should use a font by the chosen name for the
            status window.

          font_text
            If NetHack can, it should use a font by  the  chosen  name  for
            text windows.

          font_size_map
            If  NetHack  can, it should use this size font for the map win-
            dow.

          font_size_menu
            If NetHack can, it should use this size font for menu  windows.

          font_size_message
            If  NetHack  can,  it should use this size font for the message
            window.

          font_size_status
            If NetHack can, it should use this size  font  for  the  status
            window.

          font_size_text
            If  NetHack can, it should use this size font for text windows.

          fullscreen
            If NetHack can, it should try and display on the entire  screen
            rather than in a window.

          guicolor
            Use  color  text and/or highlighting attributes when displaying
            some non-map data (such as menu selector letters).  Curses  in-
            terface only; default is on.

          large_font
            If NetHack can, it should use a large font.

          map_mode
            If  NetHack can, it should display the map in the manner speci-
            fied.

          player_selection
            If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or  use  prompts


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            for character selection.

          popup_dialog
            If NetHack can, it should pop up dialog boxes for input.

          preload_tiles
            If NetHack can, it should preload tiles into memory.  For exam-
            ple, in the protected  mode  MS-DOS  version,  control  whether
            tiles  get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game.  Doing
            so enhances performance of the tile  graphics,  but  uses  more
            memory. (default on).  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          scroll_amount
            If  NetHack can, it should scroll the display by this number of
            cells when the hero reaches the scroll_margin.

          scroll_margin
            If NetHack can, it should scroll the display when the  hero  or
            cursor  is  this number of cells away from the edge of the win-
            dow.

          selectsaved
            If NetHack can, it should display  a  menu  of  existing  saved
            games for the player to choose from at game startup, if it can.
            Not all ports support this option.

          softkeyboard
            Display an onscreen keyboard.  Handhelds  are  most  likely  to
            support this option.

          splash_screen
            If NetHack can, it should display an opening splash screen when
            it starts up (default yes).

          statuslines
            Number of lines for traditional below-the-map  status  display.
            Acceptable  values  are 2 and 3 (default is 2).  Curses and tty
            interfaces only.

          term_cols  and

          term_rows
            Curses interface only.  Number of columns and rows to  use  for
            the display.  Curses will attempt to resize to the values spec-
            ified but will settle for smaller sizes if they  are  too  big.
            Default is the current window size.

          tiled_map
            If NetHack can, it should display a tiled map if it can.

          tile_file
            Specify  the  name  of an alternative tile file to override the
            default.



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          tile_height
            Specify the preferred height of each tile  in  a  tile  capable
            port.

          tile_width
            Specify the preferred width of each tile in a tile capable port

          use_darkgray
            Use bold black instead of blue for black glyphs (TTY only).

          use_inverse
            If NetHack can, it should display inverse when the game  speci-
            fies it.

          vary_msgcount
            If  NetHack can, it should display this number of messages at a
            time in the message window.

          windowborders
            Whether to draw boxes around  the  map,  status  area,  message
            area,  and  persistent inventory window if enabled.  Curses in-
            terface only.  Acceptable values are

                 0 - off, never show borders
                 1 - on, always show borders
                 2 - auto, on if display is at least (24+2)x(80+2)  (default)

            (The 26x82 size threshold for `2' refers to number of rows  and
            columns  of  the  display.   A  width  of  at least 110 columns
            (80+2+26+2) is needed for align_status set to left or right.)

          windowcolors
            If NetHack can, it should display windows  with  the  specified
            foreground/background colors. Windows GUI only. The format is

               OPTION=windowcolors:wintype foreground/background

               where  wintype  is  one  of  "menu", "message", "status", or
          "text", and foreground and background are colors, either a  hexa-
          decimal  \'#rrggbb',  one of the named colors (black, red, green,
          brown, blue, magenta, cyan, orange, brightgreen, yellow,  bright-
          blue,  brightmagenta, brightcyan, white, trueblack, gray, purple,
          silver, maroon, fuchsia, lime, olive, navy, teal, aqua),  or  one
          of  Windows UI colors (activeborder, activecaption, appworkspace,
          background, btnface, btnshadow, btntext,  captiontext,  graytext,
          greytext,  highlight, highlighttext, inactiveborder, inactivecap-
          tion, menu, menutext,  scrollbar,  window,  windowframe,  window-
          text).

          wraptext
            If NetHack can, it should wrap long lines of text if they don't
            fit in the visible area of the window.




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          9.6.  Platform-specific Customization options

               Here are explanations of options that are used  by  specific
          platforms or ports to customize and change the port behavior.

          altkeyhandler
            Select  an  alternate  keystroke handler dll to load (Win32 tty
            NetHack only).  The name of the handler  is  specified  without
            the .dll extension and without any path information.  Cannot be
            set with the `O' command.

          altmeta
            On Amiga, this option controls whether typing "Alt" plus anoth-
            er key functions as a meta-shift for that key (default on).

          altmeta
            On other (non-Amiga) systems where this option is available, it
            can be set to tell NetHack to convert a two character  sequence
            beginning  with  ESC  into a meta-shifted version of the second
            character (default off).

            This conversion is only done for commands, not for other  input
            prompts.  Note that typing one or more digits as a count prefix
            prior to a command -- preceded by n if the number_pad option is
            set  --  is  also  subject to this conversion, so attempting to
            abort the count by typing ESC will leave  NetHack  waiting  for
            another character to complete the two character sequence.  Type
            a second ESC to finish  cancelling  such  a  count.   At  other
            prompts a single ESC suffices.

          BIOS
            Use BIOS calls to update the screen display quickly and to read
            the keyboard (allowing the use of arrow keys to  move)  on  ma-
            chines  with  an IBM PC compatible BIOS ROM (default off, OS/2,
            PC, and ST NetHack only).

          flush
            (default off, Amiga NetHack only).

          MACgraphics
            (default on, Mac NetHack only).

          page_wait
            (default on, Mac NetHack only).

          rawio
            Force raw (non-cbreak) mode for faster output and more  bullet-
            proof  input  (MS-DOS sometimes treats `^P' as a printer toggle
            without it) (default off,  OS/2,  PC,  and  ST  NetHack  only).
            Note:   DEC  Rainbows hang if this is turned on.  Cannot be set
            with the `O' command.

          soundcard
            (default on, PC NetHack only).  Cannot  be  set  with  the  `O'


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            command.

          subkeyvalue
            (Win32  tty  NetHack  only).  May be used to alter the value of
            keystrokes that the operating system returns to NetHack to help
            compensate  for international keyboard issues.  OPTIONS=subkey-
            value:171/92 will return 92 to NetHack, if 171  was  originally
            going  to be returned.  You can use multiple subkeyvalue state-
            ments in the config file if needed.  Cannot be set with the `O'
            command.

          video
            Set the video mode used (PC NetHack only).  Values are "autode-
            tect", "default", or "vga".   Setting  "vga"  (or  "autodetect"
            with  vga  hardware  present)  will  cause  the game to display
            tiles.  Cannot be set with the `O' command.

          videocolors
            Set the color palette for PC systems  using  NO_TERMS  (default
            4-2-6-1-5-3-15-12-10-14-9-13-11,  (PC NetHack only).  The order
            of  colors  is  red,  green,  brown,   blue,   magenta,   cyan,
            bright.white,  bright.red,  bright.green,  yellow, bright.blue,
            bright.magenta, and bright.cyan.  Cannot be set  with  the  `O'
            command.

          videoshades
            Set the intensity level of the three gray scales available (de-
            fault dark normal light, PC NetHack only).  If the game display
            is  difficult to read, try adjusting these scales; if this does
            not correct the problem, try !color.  Cannot be  set  with  the
            `O' command.

          9.7.  Regular Expressions

               Regular  expressions are normally POSIX extended regular ex-
          pressions. It is possible to compile NetHack without regular  ex-
          pression  support on a platform where there is no regular expres-
          sion library. While this is not true of any modern  platform,  if
          your  NetHack  was built this way, patterns are instead glob pat-
          terns. This applies to Autopickup exceptions, Message types, Menu
          colors, and User sounds.

          9.8.  Configuring Autopickup Exceptions

               You can further refine the behavior of the autopickup option
          beyond what is available through the pickup_types option.

               By placing autopickup_exception lines in your  configuration
          file,  you  can  define  patterns  to be checked when the game is
          about to autopickup something.

          autopickup_exception
            Sets an exception to the pickup_types  option.   The  autopick-
            up_exception  option should be followed by a regular expression


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            to be used as a pattern to match against the singular  form  of
            the description of an object at your location.

            In  addition, some characters are treated specially if they oc-
            cur as the first character in the pattern, specifically:

                 < - always pickup an object that matches rest of pattern;
                 > - never pickup an object that matches rest of pattern.

            A "never pickup" rule takes precedence over an "always  pickup"
            rule if both match.

            Exceptions  can  be set with the `O' command, but ones set that
            way will not be preserved across saves and restores.

          Here are some examples:

                 autopickup_exception="<*arrow"
                 autopickup_exception=">*corpse"
                 autopickup_exception=">* cursed*"

               The first example above will result  in  autopickup  of  any
          type  of  arrow.   The second example results in the exclusion of
          any corpse from autopickup.  The last example results in the  ex-
          clusion of items known to be cursed from autopickup.

          9.9.  Changing Key Bindings

               It  is  possible  to change the default key bindings of some
          special commands, menu accelerator keys, and  extended  commands,
          by  using BIND stanzas in the configuration file.  Format is key,
          followed by the command to bind to, separated by  a  colon.   The
          key can be a single character ("x"), a control key ("^X", "C-x"),
          a meta key ("M-x"), or a three-digit decimal ASCII code.

               For example:

               BIND=^X:getpos.autodescribe
               BIND={:menu_first_page
               BIND=v:loot

          Extended command keys
            You can bind multiple keys to the same extended  command.   Un-
            bind  a  key by using "nothing" as the extended command to bind
            to.  You can also bind the "<esc>",  "<enter>",  and  "<space>"
            keys.

          Menu accelerator keys
            The  menu  control  or accelerator keys can also be rebound via
            OPTIONS-lines in the config file.  You cannot bind object  sym-
            bols into menu accelerators.

          Special command keys
            Below  are  the  special commands you can rebind.  Some of them


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            can be bound to same keys with no problems, others are  in  the
            same  "context",  and  if bound to same keys, only one of those
            commands will be available.  Special command can only be  bound
            to a single key.

          count
            Prefix  key  to  start  a  count, to repeat a command this many
            times.  With number_pad only.  Default is `n'.

          doinv
            Show inventory.  With number_pad only.  Default is `0'.

          fight
            Prefix key to force fight a direction.  Default is `F'.

          fight.numpad
            Prefix key to force fight a direction.  With  number_pad  only.
            Default is `-'.

          getdir.help
            When  asked for a direction, the key to show the help.  Default
            is `?'.

          getdir.self
            When asked for a direction, the key to  target  yourself.   De-
            fault is `.'.

          getdir.self2
            When  asked  for  a direction, the key to target yourself.  De-
            fault is `s'.

          getpos.autodescribe
            When asked for a location, the key to toggle autodescribe.  De-
            fault is `#'.

          getpos.all.next
            When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest inter-
            esting thing.  Default is `a'.

          getpos.all.prev
            When asked for a location, the key to go  to  previous  closest
            interesting thing.  Default is `A'.

          getpos.door.next
            When  asked  for a location, the key to go to next closest door
            or doorway.  Default is `d'.

          getpos.door.prev
            When asked for a location, the key to go  to  previous  closest
            door or doorway.  Default is `D'.

          getpos.help
            When  asked  for  a location, the key to show help.  Default is
            `?'.


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          getpos.mon.next
            When asked for a location, the key to go to next  closest  mon-
            ster.  Default is `m'.

          getpos.mon.prev
            When  asked  for  a location, the key to go to previous closest
            monster.  Default is `M'.

          getpos.obj.next
            When asked for a location, the key to go to  next  closest  ob-
            ject.  Default is `o'.

          getpos.obj.prev
            When  asked  for  a location, the key to go to previous closest
            object.  Default is `O'.

          getpos.menu
            When asked for a location, and using one of the next or  previ-
            ous  keys  to  cycle through targets, toggle showing a menu in-
            stead.  Default is `!'.

          getpos.moveskip
            When asked for a location, and using the shifted movement  keys
            or  meta-digit  keys  to fast-move around, move by skipping the
            same glyphs instead of by 8 units.  Default is `*'.

          getpos.filter
            When asked for a location, change the filtering mode when using
            one  of  the  next  or  previous keys to cycle through targets.
            Toggles between no filtering, in view only,  and  in  the  same
            area only.  Default is `"'.

          getpos.pick
            When  asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
            possibly ask for more info.  Default is `.'.

          getpos.pick.once
            When asked for a location, the key to choose the location,  and
            skip asking for more info.  Default is `,'.

          getpos.pick.quick
            When asked for a location, the key to choose the location, skip
            asking for more info, and exit the location asking  loop.   De-
            fault is `;'.

          getpos.pick.verbose
            When  asked for a location, the key to choose the location, and
            show more info without asking.  Default is `:'.

          getpos.self
            When asked for a location, the key to go to your location.  De-
            fault is `@'.




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          getpos.unexplored.next
            When  asked for a location, the key to go to next closest unex-
            plored location.  Default is `x'.

          getpos.unexplored.prev
            When asked for a location, the key to go  to  previous  closest
            unexplored location.  Default is `X'.

          getpos.valid
            When  asked  for a location, the key to go to show valid target
            locations.  Default is `$'.

          getpos.valid.next
            When asked for a location, the key to go to next closest  valid
            location.  Default is `z'.

          getpos.valid.prev
            When  asked  for  a location, the key to go to previous closest
            valid location.  Default is `Z'.

          nopickup
            Prefix key to move without picking up items.  Default is `m'.

          redraw
            Key to redraw the screen.  Default is `^R'.

          redraw.numpad
            Key to redraw the screen.  With number_pad  only.   Default  is
            `^L'.

          repeat
            Key to repeat previous command.  Default is `^A'.

          reqmenu
            Prefix key to request menu from some commands.  Default is `m'.

          run
            Prefix key to run towards a direction.  Default is `G'.

          run.nopickup
            Prefix key to run towards a direction without picking up  items
            on the way.  Default is `M'.

          run.numpad
            Prefix  key  to run towards a direction.  With number_pad only.
            Default is `5'.

          rush
            Prefix key to rush towards a direction.  Default is `g'.

          9.10.  Configuring Message Types

               You can change the way the messages are shown in the message
          area, when the message matches a user-defined pattern.


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               In general, the config file entries to configure the message
          types look like this: MSGTYPE=type "pattern"

          type    - how the message should be shown;
          pattern - the pattern to match.

            The pattern should be a regular expression.

            Allowed types are:

            show  - show message normally;
            hide  - never show the message;
            stop  - wait for user with more-prompt;
            norep - show the message once, but not again if no  other  mes-
                    sage is shown in between.

            Here's  an  example  of  message types using NetHack's internal
            pattern matching facility:

                 MSGTYPE=stop "You feel hungry."
                 MSGTYPE=hide "You displaced *."

            specifies that whenever a message "You feel hungry"  is  shown,
            the  user  is prompted with more-prompt, and a message matching
            "You displaced <something>." is not shown at all.

            The order of the defined MSGTYPE-lines is important;  the  last
            matching  rule  is used. Put the general case first, exceptions
            below them.

          9.11.  Configuring Menu Colors

               Some platforms allow you to define colors used in menu lines
          when  the  line  matches a user-defined pattern. At this time the
          tty, win32tty and win32gui support this.

               In general, the config file entries to  configure  the  menu
          color mappings look like this:

               MENUCOLOR="pattern"=color&attribute

                 pattern    - the pattern to match;
                 color      - the  color to use for lines matching the pat-
                              tern;
                 attribute  - the attribute to use for lines  matching  the
                              pattern.  The  attribute  is optional, and if
                              left out, you must also leave out the preced-
                              ing  ampersand.   If no attribute is defined,
                              no attribute is used.

            The pattern should be a regular expression.

            Allowed colors are black, red,  green,  brown,  blue,  magenta,
            cyan,  gray,  orange,  light-green,  yellow, light-blue, light-


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            magenta, light-cyan, and  white.   And  no-color,  the  default
            foreground  color,  which  isn't necessarily the same as any of
            the other colors.

            Allowed attributes are none, bold, dim, underline,  blink,  and
            inverse.   "Normal"  is  a  synonym  for "none".  Note that the
            platform used may interpret the attributes any way it wants.

            Here's an example of menu colors using NetHack's internal  pat-
            tern matching facility:

                 MENUCOLOR="* blessed *"=green
                 MENUCOLOR="* cursed *"=red
                 MENUCOLOR="* cursed *(being worn)"=red&underline

            specifies  that  any menu line with " blessed " contained in it
            will be shown in green color, lines  with  " cursed "  will  be
            shown  in  red,  and  lines with " cursed " followed by "(being
            worn)" on the same line will be shown in red color  and  under-
            lined.   You can have multiple MENUCOLOR entries in your config
            file, and the last MENUCOLOR-line  in  your  config  file  that
            matches a menu line will be used for the line.

               Note that if you intend to have one or more color specifica-
          tions match " uncursed ", you will probably want to turn the  im-
          plicit_uncursed option off so that all items known to be uncursed
          are actually displayed with the "uncursed" description.

          9.12.  Configuring User Sounds

               Some platforms allow you to define sound files to be  played
          when  a  message that matches a user-defined pattern is delivered
          to the message window.  At this time the Qt port and the win32tty
          and win32gui ports support the use of user sounds.

               The  following  config  file entries are relevant to mapping
          user sounds to messages:

          SOUNDDIR
            The directory that houses the sound files to be played.

          SOUND
            An entry that maps a sound file  to  a  user-specified  message
            pattern.   Each  SOUND  entry is broken down into the following
            parts:

            MESG       - message window mapping (the only one supported  in
                         3.6);
            pattern    - the pattern to match;
            sound file - the sound file to play;
            volume     - the volume to be set while playing the sound file.

            The pattern should be a POSIX extended regular expression.



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          9.13.  Configuring Status Hilites

               Your copy of NetHack may have been compiled with support for
          "Status  Hilites".  If so, you can customize your game display by
          setting thresholds to change the color or appearance of fields in
          the status display.

               The format for defining status colors is:

          OPTION=hilite_status:field-name/behavior/color&attributes

               For  example,  the following line in your configuration file
          will cause the hitpoints field to display in  the  color  red  if
          your hitpoints drop to or below a threshold of 30%:

          OPTION=hilite_status:hitpoints/<=30%/red/normal

          (That example is actually specifying red&normal for <=30% and no-
          color&normal for >30%.)

               For another example, the following line in  your  configura-
          tion  file  will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and
          green if it rises:

          OPTION=hilite_status:wisdom/down/red/up/green

               Allowed colors are black, red, green, brown, blue,  magenta,
          cyan, gray, orange, light-green, yellow, light-blue, light-magen-
          ta, light-cyan, and white.  And  "no-color",  the  default  fore-
          ground color on the display, which is not necessarily the same as
          black or white or any of the other colors.

               Allowed attributes are none, bold,  dim,  underline,  blink,
          and  inverse.   "Normal" is a synonym for "none"; they should not
          be used in combination with any of the other attributes.

               To specify both a color and an attribute, use `&' to combine
          them.   To specify multiple attributes, use `+' to combine those.
          For example: "magenta&inverse+dim".

               Note that the display may substitute  or  ignore  particular
          attributes  depending  upon  its capabilities, and in general may
          interpret the attributes any way it wants.  For example, on  some
          display systems a request for bold might yield blink or vice ver-
          sa.  On others, issuing an attribute request while another is al-
          ready  set up will replace the earlier attribute rather than com-
          bine with it.  Since NetHack issues  attribute  requests  sequen-
          tially (at least with the tty interface) rather than all at once,
          the only way a situation like that can be controlled is to speci-
          fy just one attribute.

               You  can  adjust  the  appearance  of  the  following status
          fields:



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                     title       dungeon-level   experience-level
                    strength         gold           experience
                   dexterity       hitpoints            HD
                  constitution   hitpoints-max         time
                  intelligence       power            hunger
                     wisdom        power-max     carrying-capacity
                    charisma      armor-class        condition
                   alignment                           score

            The pseudo-field "characteristics" can be used to set  all  six
            of  Str,  Dex,  Con,  Int,  Wis, and Cha at once.  "HD" is "hit
            dice", an approximation  of  experience  level  displayed  when
            polymorphed.   "experience", "time", and "score" are condition-
            ally displayed depending upon your other option settings.

            Instead of a behavior, "condition" takes the  following  condi-
            tion  flags:  stone,  slime,  strngl, foodpois, termill, blind,
            deaf, stun, conf, hallu, lev, fly, and ride.  You can use  "ma-
            jor_troubles"  as  an  alias  for  stone  through termill, "mi-
            nor_troubles" for blind through hallu, "movement" for lev, fly,
            and ride, and "all" for every condition.

            Allowed behaviors are "always", "up", "down", "changed", a per-
            centage or absolute number threshold, or text to match against.

               * "always" will set the default attributes for that field.

               * "up"  and  "down"  set  the  field attributes for when the
                 field value changes upwards or downwards.  This  attribute
                 times out after statushilites turns.

               * "changed" sets the field attribute for when the field val-
                 ue changes.  This attribute times out after  statushilites
                 turns.   (If a field has both a "changed" rule and an "up"
                 or "down" rule which matches a change in the field's  val-
                 ue, the "up" or "down" one takes precedence.)

               * percentage  sets  the field attribute when the field value
                 matches the percentage.  It is specified as a  number  be-
                 tween  0  and 100, followed by `%' (percent sign).  If the
                 percentage is prefixed with `<=' or `>=', it also  matches
                 when  value  is below or above the percentage.  Use prefix
                 `<' or `>' to match when strictly below  or  above.   (The
                 numeric  limit  is  relaxed  slightly  for those: >-1% and
                 <101% are allowed.)  Only valid for "hitpoints" and  "pow-
                 er" fields.

               * absolute  value  sets  the  attribute when the field value
                 matches that number.  The number must be 0 or higher,  ex-
                 cept  for  "armor-class' which allows negative values, and
                 may optionally be preceded by `='.  If the number is  pre-
                 ceded  by `<=' or `>=' instead, it also matches when value
                 is below or above.  If the prefix  is  `<'  or  `>',  only
                 match when strictly above or below.


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               * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
                 the text.  Text matches can only be used for  "alignment",
                 "carrying-capacity",  "hunger",  "dungeon-level", and "ti-
                 tle".  For title, only the role's rank  title  is  tested;
                 the character's name is ignored.

               The  in-game options menu can help you determine the correct
          syntax for a config file.

               The whole feature can be disabled  by  setting  option  sta-
          tushilites to 0.

               Example hilites:

               OPTION=hilite_status: gold/up/yellow/down/brown
               OPTION=hilite_status: characteristics/up/green/down/red
               OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/100%/gray&normal
               OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<100%/green&normal
               OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<66%/yellow&normal
               OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<50%/orange&normal
               OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<33%/red&bold
               OPTION=hilite_status: hitpoints/<15%/red&inverse
               OPTION=hilite_status: condition/major/orange&inverse
               OPTION=hilite_status: condition/lev+fly/red&inverse

          9.14.  Modifying NetHack Symbols

               NetHack can load entire symbol sets from the symbol file.

               The  options that are used to select a particular symbol set
          from the symbol file are:

          symset
            Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load.

          roguesymset
            Set the name of the symbol set that you want to load  for  dis-
            play on the rogue level.

               You  can also override one or more symbols using the SYMBOLS
          config file option. Symbols are specified  as  name:value  pairs.
          Note  that  NetHack  escape-processes the value string in conven-
          tional C fashion.  This means that \ is a prefix to take the fol-
          lowing  character  literally.   Thus \ needs to be represented as
          \\.  The special prefix form \m switches on the meta bit  in  the
          symbol  value, and the ^ prefix causes the following character to
          be treated as a control character.

                                  NetHack Symbols
          Default Symbol Name            Description
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  S_air                  (air)
             _    S_altar                (altar)



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             "    S_amulet               (amulet)
             A    S_angel                (angelic being)
             a    S_ant                  (ant or other insect)
             ^    S_anti_magic_trap      (anti-magic field)
             [    S_armor                (suit or piece of armor)
             [    S_armour               (suit or piece of armor)
             ^    S_arrow_trap           (arrow trap)
             0    S_ball                 (iron ball)
             #    S_bars                 (iron bars)
             B    S_bat                  (bat or bird)
             ^    S_bear_trap            (bear trap)
             -    S_blcorn               (bottom left corner)
             b    S_blob                 (blob)
             +    S_book                 (spellbook)
             )    S_boomleft             (boomerang open left)
             (    S_boomright            (boomerang open right)
             `    S_boulder              (boulder)
             -    S_brcorn               (bottom right corner)
             C    S_centaur              (centaur)
             _    S_chain                (iron chain)
             #    S_cloud                (cloud)
             c    S_cockatrice           (cockatrice)
             $    S_coin                 (pile of coins)
             #    S_corr                 (corridor)
             -    S_crwall               (wall)
             #    S_darkroom             (dark room)
             ^    S_dart_trap            (dart trap)
             &    S_demon                (major demon)
             *    S_digbeam              (dig beam)
             >    S_dnladder             (ladder down)
             >    S_dnstair              (staircase down)
             d    S_dog                  (dog or other canine)
             D    S_dragon               (dragon)
             ;    S_eel                  (sea monster)
             E    S_elemental            (elemental)
             /    S_explode1             (explosion top left)
             -    S_explode2             (explosion top center)
             \    S_explode3             (explosion top right)
             |    S_explode4             (explosion middle left)
                  S_explode5             (explosion middle center)
             |    S_explode6             (explosion middle right)
             \    S_explode7             (explosion bottom left)
             -    S_explode8             (explosion bottom center)
             /    S_explode9             (explosion bottom right)
             e    S_eye                  (eye or sphere)
             ^    S_falling_rock_trap    (falling rock trap)
             f    S_feline               (cat or other feline)
             ^    S_fire_trap            (fire trap)
             !    S_flashbeam            (flash beam)
             %    S_food                 (piece of food)
             {    S_fountain             (fountain)
             F    S_fungus               (fungus or mold)
             *    S_gem                  (gem or rock)



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                  S_ghost                (ghost)
             H    S_giant                (giant humanoid)
             G    S_gnome                (gnome)
             '    S_golem                (golem)
             |    S_grave                (grave)
             g    S_gremlin              (gremlin)
             -    S_hbeam                (horizontal beam [zap animation])
             #    S_hcdbridge            (horizontal raised drawbridge)
             +    S_hcdoor               (closed door in horizontal wall)
             .    S_hodbridge            (horizontal lowered drawbridge)
             |    S_hodoor               (open door in horizontal wall)
             ^    S_hole                 (hole)
             @    S_human                (human or elf)
             h    S_humanoid             (humanoid)
             -    S_hwall                (horizontal wall)
             .    S_ice                  (ice)
             i    S_imp                  (imp or minor demon)
             I    S_invisible            (invisible monster)
             J    S_jabberwock           (jabberwock)
             j    S_jelly                (jelly)
             k    S_kobold               (kobold)
             K    S_kop                  (Keystone Kop)
             ^    S_land_mine            (land mine)
             }    S_lava                 (molten lava)
             l    S_leprechaun           (leprechaun)
             ^    S_level_teleporter     (level teleporter)
             L    S_lich                 (lich)
             y    S_light                (light)
             #    S_litcorr              (lit corridor)
             :    S_lizard               (lizard)
             \    S_lslant               (diagonal beam [zap animation])
             ^    S_magic_portal         (magic portal)
             ^    S_magic_trap           (magic trap)
             m    S_mimic                (mimic)
             ]    S_mimic_def            (mimic)
             M    S_mummy                (mummy)
             N    S_naga                 (naga)
             .    S_ndoor                (doorway without door)
             n    S_nymph                (nymph)
             O    S_ogre                 (ogre)
             o    S_orc                  (orc)
             p    S_piercer              (piercer)
             ^    S_pit                  (pit)
             #    S_poisoncloud          (poison cloud)
             ^    S_polymorph_trap       (polymorph trap)
             }    S_pool                 (water)
             !    S_potion               (potion)
             P    S_pudding              (pudding or ooze)
             q    S_quadruped            (quadruped)
             Q    S_quantmech            (quantum mechanic)
             =    S_ring                 (ring)
             `    S_rock                 (boulder or statue)
             r    S_rodent               (rodent)



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             ^    S_rolling_boulder_trap (rolling boulder trap)
             .    S_room                 (floor of a room)
             /    S_rslant               (diagonal beam [zap animation])
             ^    S_rust_trap            (rust trap)
             R    S_rustmonst            (rust monster or disenchanter)
             ?    S_scroll               (scroll)
             #    S_sink                 (sink)
             ^    S_sleeping_gas_trap    (sleeping gas trap)
             S    S_snake                (snake)
             s    S_spider               (arachnid or centipede)
             ^    S_spiked_pit           (spiked pit)
             ^    S_squeaky_board        (squeaky board)
             0    S_ss1                  (magic shield 1 of 4)
             #    S_ss2                  (magic shield 2 of 4)
             @    S_ss3                  (magic shield 3 of 4)
             *    S_ss4                  (magic shield 4 of 4)
             ^    S_statue_trap          (statue trap)
                  S_stone                (dark part of a room)
             ]    S_strange_obj          (strange object)
             -    S_sw_bc                (swallow bottom center)
             \    S_sw_bl                (swallow bottom left)
             /    S_sw_br                (swallow bottom right)
             |    S_sw_ml                (swallow middle left)
             |    S_sw_mr                (swallow middle right)
             -    S_sw_tc                (swallow top center)
             /    S_sw_tl                (swallow top left)
             \    S_sw_tr                (swallow top right)
             -    S_tdwall               (wall)
             ^    S_teleportation_trap   (teleportation trap)
             \    S_throne               (opulent throne)
             -    S_tlcorn               (top left corner)
             |    S_tlwall               (wall)
             (    S_tool                 (useful item (pick-axe, key, lamp...))
             ^    S_trap_door            (trap door)
             t    S_trapper              (trapper or lurker above)
             -    S_trcorn               (top right corner)
             #    S_tree                 (tree)
             T    S_troll                (troll)
             |    S_trwall               (wall)
             -    S_tuwall               (wall)
             U    S_umber                (umber hulk)
             u    S_unicorn              (unicorn or horse)
             <    S_upladder             (ladder up)
             <    S_upstair              (staircase up)
             V    S_vampire              (vampire)
             |    S_vbeam                (vertical beam [zap animation])
             #    S_vcdbridge            (vertical raised drawbridge)
             +    S_vcdoor               (closed door in vertical wall)
             .    S_venom                (splash of venom)
             ^    S_vibrating_square     (vibrating square)
             .    S_vodbridge            (vertical lowered drawbridge)
             -    S_vodoor               (open door in vertical wall)
             v    S_vortex               (vortex)



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             |    S_vwall                (vertical wall)
             /    S_wand                 (wand)
             }    S_water                (water)
             )    S_weapon               (weapon)
             "    S_web                  (web)
             w    S_worm                 (worm)
             ~    S_worm_tail            (long worm tail)
             W    S_wraith               (wraith)
             x    S_xan                  (xan or other mythical/fantastic insect)
             X    S_xorn                 (xorn)
             Y    S_yeti                 (apelike creature)
             Z    S_zombie               (zombie)
             z    S_zruty                (zruty)

               There is  one  additional  class  of  object,  described  as
          "strange  object",  which will occasionally be the shape taken on
          by mimics and shown as `]' for maps displayed as text characters.
          Although the displayed character is the same as the default value
          for "S_mimic_def", it is a different symbol and there is no  cor-
          responding "S_strange_object" symbol nor any way to assign an al-
          ternate value for it.

          9.15.  Configuring NetHack for Play by the Blind

               NetHack can be set up to use only standard ASCII  characters
          for  making  maps of the dungeons. This makes the MS-DOS versions
          of NetHack completely accessible to  the  blind  who  use  speech
          and/or  Braille access technologies.  Players will require a good
          working knowledge of their screen-reader's review  features,  and
          will  have  to  know  how to navigate horizontally and vertically
          character by character. They will also find the search  capabili-
          ties  of their screen-readers to be quite valuable. Be certain to
          examine this Guidebook before playing so you have  an  idea  what
          the  screen layout is like. You'll also need to be able to locate
          the PC cursor. It is always  where  your  character  is  located.
          Merely  searching for an @-sign will not always find your charac-
          ter since there are other humanoids represented by the same sign.
          Your  screen-reader  should  also have a function which gives you
          the row and column of your  review  cursor  and  the  PC  cursor.
          These  co-ordinates  are  often useful in giving players a better
          sense of the overall location of items on the screen.

               NetHack can also be compiled with support  for  sending  the
          game  messages  to  an external program, such as a text-to-speech
          synthesizer.  If the "#version" extended command shows  "external
          program  as  a  message  handler", your NetHack has been compiled
          with the capability.  When compiling NetHack from source on Linux
          and  other POSIX systems, define MSGHANDLER to enable it.  To use
          the capability, set the environment  variable  NETHACK_MSGHANDLER
          to an executable, which will be executed with the game message as
          the program's only parameter.

               While it is not difficult for experienced users to edit  the
          defaults.nh  file  to accomplish this, novices may find this task


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          somewhat daunting.  Included within the "symbols" file of all of-
          ficial distributions of NetHack is a symset called NHAccess.  Se-
          lecting that symset in your configuration  file  will  cause  the
          game  to run in a manner accessible to the blind.  After you have
          gained some experience with the game and with editing files,  you
          may  want  to  alter  settings via SYMBOLS= in your configuration
          file to better suit your preferences.  The most crucial  settings
          to make the game accessible are:

          symset:NHAccess
            Load a symbol set appropriate for use by blind players.

          roguesymset:NHAccess
            Load  a  symbol set for the rogue level that is appropriate for
            use by blind players.

          menustyle:traditional
            This will assist in the interface to speech synthesizers.

          nomenu_overlay
            Show menus on a cleared screen and aligned to the left edge.

          number_pad
            A lot of speech access programs use the  number-pad  to  review
            the screen.  If this is the case, disable the number_pad option
            and use the traditional Rogue-like commands.

          autodescribe
            Automatically describe the terrain under the cursor  when  tar-
            geting.

          mention_walls
            Give  feedback  messages  when  walking  towards a wall or when
            travel command was interrupted.

          whatis_coord:compass
            When targeting with cursor, describe the cursor  position  with
            coordinates relative to your character.

          whatis_filter:area
            When  targeting  with cursor, filter possible locations so only
            those in the same area (eg. same room, or  same  corridor)  are
            considered.

          whatis_moveskip
            When  targeting  with cursor and using fast-move, skip the same
            glyphs instead of moving 8 units at a time.

          nostatus_updates
            Prevent updates to the  status  lines  at  the  bottom  of  the
            screen,  if  your screen-reader reads those lines. The same in-
            formation can be seen via the #attributes command.




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          9.16.  Global Configuration for System Administrators

               If NetHack is compiled with the SYSCF option, a  system  ad-
          ministrator  should set up a global configuration; this is a file
          in the same format as the traditional per-user configuration file
          (see above).  This file should be named sysconf and placed in the
          same directory as the other NetHack support files.   The  options
          recognized in this file are listed below.  Any option not set us-
          es a compiled-in default (which may not be appropriate  for  your
          system).

            WIZARDS = A  space-separated list of user names who are allowed
            to play in debug mode (commonly referred to as wizard mode).  A
            value of a single asterisk (*) allows anyone to start a game in
            debug mode.

            SHELLERS = A list of users who are allowed to use the shell es-
            cape command (!).  The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.

            EXPLORERS = A  list of users who are allowed to use the explore
            mode.  The syntax is the same as WIZARDS.

            MAXPLAYERS = Limit the maximum number of games that can be run-
            ning at the same time.

            SUPPORT = A  string explaining how to get local support (no de-
            fault value).

            RECOVER = A string explaining how to recover  a  game  on  this
            system (no default value).

            SEDUCE = 0  or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the SEDUCE
            option.  When disabled, incubi and succubi behave like  nymphs.

            CHECK_PLNAME = Setting  this to 1 will make the EXPLORERS, WIZ-
            ARDS, and SHELLERS check for the player name instead of the us-
            er's login name.

            CHECK_SAVE_UID = 0 or 1 to disable or enable, respectively, the
            UID (used identification number) checking for  save  files  (to
            verify  that  the  user  who  is  restoring is the same one who
            saved).

               The following options affect the score file:

            PERSMAX = Maximum number of entries for one person.

            ENTRYMAX = Maximum number of entries in the score file.

            POINTSMIN = Minimum number of points to get  an  entry  in  the
            score file.

            PERS_IS_UID = 0  or 1 to use user names or numeric userids, re-
            spectively, to identify unique people for the score file.


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            MAX_STATUENAME_RANK = Maximum number of score file  entries  to
            use for random statue names (default is 10).

            DUMPLOGFILE = A  filename  where  the  end-of-game  dumplog  is
            saved.  Not defining this will prevent dumplog from being  cre-
            ated. Only available if your game is compiled with DUMPLOG. Al-
            lows the following placeholders:

            %% - literal `%'
            %v - version (eg. "3.6.2-0")
            %u - game UID
            %t - game start time, UNIX timestamp format
            %T - current time, UNIX timestamp format
            %d - game start time, YYYYMMDDhhmmss format
            %D - current time, YYYYMMDDhhmmss format
            %n - player name
            %N - first character of player name

          10.  Scoring

               NetHack maintains a list of the top  scores  or  scorers  on
          your machine, depending on how it is set up.  In the latter case,
          each account on the machine can post only one  non-winning  score
          on  this  list.   If  you  score higher than someone else on this
          list, or better your previous score, you will be inserted in  the
          proper  place  under your current name.  How many scores are kept
          can also be set up when NetHack is compiled.

               Your score is chiefly based upon  how  much  experience  you
          gained, how much loot you accumulated, how deep you explored, and
          how the game ended.  If you quit the game, you escape with all of
          your  gold  intact.   If, however, you get killed in the Mazes of
          Menace, the guild will only hear about 90% of your gold when your
          corpse  is  discovered  (adventurers  have  been known to collect
          finder's fees).  So, consider whether you want to take  one  last
          hit  at  that  monster  and  possibly live, or quit and stop with
          whatever you have.  If you quit, you keep all your gold,  but  if
          you swing and live, you might find more.

               If  you  just want to see what the current top players/games
          list is, you can type nethack -s all on most versions.

          11.  Explore mode

               NetHack is an intricate and difficult game.   Novices  might
          falter in fear, aware of their ignorance of the means to survive.
          Well, fear not.  Your dungeon comes equipped with an "explore" or
          "discovery"  mode  that  enables  you  to keep old save files and
          cheat death, at the paltry cost of not getting on the high  score
          list.

               There  are  two  ways  of  enabling explore mode.  One is to
          start the game with the -X command-line switch or with the  play-
          mode:explore  option.   The  other is to issue the "#exploremode"


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          extended command while already playing the game.  Starting a  new
          game in explore mode provides your character with a wand of wish-
          ing in initial inventory; switching during play  does  not.   The
          other  benefits of explore mode are left for the trepid reader to
          discover.

          11.1.  Debug mode

               Debug mode, also known as wizard mode, is undocumented aside
          from  this  brief  description  and the various "debug mode only"
          commands listed among the command descriptions.  It  is  intended
          for tracking down problems within the program rather than to pro-
          vide god-like powers to your character, and players  who  attempt
          debugging  are  expected  to figure out how to use it themselves.
          It is initiated by starting the game  with  the  -D  command-line
          switch or with the playmode:debug option.

               For  some systems, the player must be logged in under a par-
          ticular user name to be allowed to use debug  mode;  for  others,
          the  hero  must  be given a particular character name (but may be
          any role; there's no connection between  "wizard  mode"  and  the
          Wizard  role).  Attempting to start a game in debug mode when not
          allowed or not available will result in falling back  to  explore
          mode instead.

          12.  Credits

               The  original  hack  game  was  modeled on the Berkeley UNIX
          rogue game.   Large  portions  of  this  paper  were  shamelessly
          cribbed  from  A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom, by Michael C. Toy
          and Kenneth C. R. C. Arnold.  Small portions  were  adapted  from
          Further Exploration of the Dungeons of Doom, by Ken Arromdee.

               NetHack is the product of literally dozens of people's work.
          Main events in the course of the game development  are  described
          below:

               Jay  Fenlason  wrote the original Hack, with help from Kenny
          Woodland, Mike Thome and Jon Payne.

               Andries Brouwer did a major re-write, transforming Hack into
          a  very  different  game, and published (at least) three versions
          (1.0.1, 1.0.2, and 1.0.3) for UNIX machines to the Usenet.

               Don G. Kneller ported Hack 1.0.3 to Microsoft C and  MS-DOS,
          producing  PC  HACK 1.01e, added support for DEC Rainbow graphics
          in version 1.03g, and went on to produce at least four more  ver-
          sions (3.0, 3.2, 3.51, and 3.6).

               R.  Black  ported  PC  HACK  3.51 to Lattice C and the Atari
          520/1040ST, producing ST Hack 1.03.

               Mike Stephenson merged these various versions back together,
          incorporating  many  of  the added features, and produced NetHack


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          1.4.  He then coordinated a cast of thousands  in  enhancing  and
          debugging  NetHack 1.4 and released NetHack versions 2.2 and 2.3.

               Later, Mike coordinated a major rewrite of the game, heading
          a team which included Ken Arromdee, Jean-Christophe Collet, Steve
          Creps, Eric Hendrickson, Izchak Miller, John Rupley, Mike Threep-
          oint, and Janet Walz, to produce NetHack 3.0c.

               NetHack  3.0  was  ported  to the Atari by Eric R. Smith, to
          OS/2 by Timo Hakulinen, and to VMS by David Gentzel.   The  three
          of them and Kevin Darcy later joined the main NetHack Development
          Team to produce subsequent revisions of 3.0.

               Olaf Seibert ported NetHack 2.3 and 3.0 to the Amiga.   Norm
          Meluch,  Stephen  Spackman  and Pierre Martineau designed overlay
          code for PC NetHack 3.0.  Johnny Lee ported NetHack  3.0  to  the
          Macintosh.   Along with various other Dungeoneers, they continued
          to enhance the PC, Macintosh, and Amiga ports through  the  later
          revisions of 3.0.

               Headed  by  Mike Stephenson and coordinated by Izchak Miller
          and Janet Walz, the NetHack Development Team which  now  included
          Ken  Arromdee,  David Cohrs, Jean-Christophe Collet, Kevin Darcy,
          Matt Day, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat  Rankin,
          Eric Raymond, and Eric Smith undertook a radical revision of 3.0.
          They re-structured the game's design, and re-wrote major parts of
          the  code.   They added multiple dungeons, a new display, special
          individual character quests, a new endgame  and  many  other  new
          features, and produced NetHack 3.1.

               Ken  Lorber,  Gregg  Wonderly and Greg Olson, with help from
          Richard Addison, Mike Passaretti,  and  Olaf  Seibert,  developed
          NetHack 3.1 for the Amiga.

               Norm  Meluch and Kevin Smolkowski, with help from Carl Sche-
          lin, Stephen Spackman, Steve VanDevender, and Paul Winner, ported
          NetHack 3.1 to the PC.

               Jon W{tte and Hao-yang Wang, with help from Ross Brown, Mike
          Engber, David Hairston, Michael Hamel, Jonathan  Handler,  Johnny
          Lee,  Tim  Lennan, Rob Menke, and Andy Swanson, developed NetHack
          3.1 for the Macintosh, porting it for MPW.  Building on their de-
          velopment, Barton House added a Think C port.

               Timo Hakulinen ported NetHack 3.1 to OS/2.  Eric Smith port-
          ed NetHack 3.1 to the Atari.  Pat Rankin, with help  from  Joshua
          Delahunty,  was  responsible  for the VMS version of NetHack 3.1.
          Michael Allison ported NetHack 3.1 to Windows NT.

               Dean Luick, with help from David  Cohrs,  developed  NetHack
          3.1  for  X11.   Warwick Allison wrote a tiled version of NetHack
          for the Atari; he later contributed the tiles to the NetHack  De-
          velopment  Team  and  tile  support was then added to other plat-
          forms.


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               The 3.2 NetHack Development Team, comprised of Michael Alli-
          son, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin
          Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Steve Linhart, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Er-
          ic  Smith, Mike Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner, released
          version 3.2 in April of 1996.

               Version 3.2 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of
          the  development team.  In a testament to their dedication to the
          game, all thirteen members of the  original  NetHack  Development
          Team  remained  on the team at the start of work on that release.
          During the interval between the release of 3.1.3 and 3.2, one  of
          the  founding members of the NetHack Development Team, Dr. Izchak
          Miller, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away.  That  release
          of  the  game was dedicated to him by the development and porting
          teams.

               During the lifespan of NetHack 3.1 and 3.2, several enthusi-
          asts  of  the  game added their own modifications to the game and
          made these "variants" publicly available:

               Tom Proudfoot and Yuval Oren created  NetHack++,  which  was
          quickly  renamed NetHack--.  Working independently, Stephen White
          wrote NetHack Plus.  Tom Proudfoot later merged NetHack Plus  and
          his own NetHack-- to produce SLASH.  Larry Stewart-Zerba and War-
          wick Allison improved the spell casting system  with  the  Wizard
          Patch.   Warwick Allison also ported NetHack to use the Qt inter-
          face.

               Warren Cheung combined SLASH with the Wizard Patch  to  pro-
          duce  Slash'EM,  and with the help of Kevin Hugo, added more fea-
          tures.  Kevin later joined the NetHack Development Team  and  in-
          corporated the best of these ideas in NetHack 3.3.

               The final update to 3.2 was the bug fix release 3.2.3, which
          was released simultaneously with 3.3.0 in December 1999  just  in
          time for the Year 2000.

               The  3.3 NetHack Development Team, consisting of Michael Al-
          lison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs,  Jessie  Collet,  Steve  Creps,
          Kevin  Darcy, Timo Hakulinen, Kevin Hugo, Steve Linhart, Ken Lor-
          ber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Eric Smith, Mike  Stephenson,  Janet
          Walz,  and Paul Winner, released 3.3.0 in December 1999 and 3.3.1
          in August of 2000.

               Version 3.3 offered many firsts. It was the first version to
          separate  race and profession. The Elf class was removed in pref-
          erence to an elf race, and the races of dwarves, gnomes, and orcs
          made  their  first  appearance in the game alongside the familiar
          human race.  Monk and Ranger roles joined Archeologists,  Barbar-
          ians,   Cavemen,  Healers,  Knights,  Priests,  Rogues,  Samurai,
          Tourists, Valkyries and of course,  Wizards.   It  was  also  the
          first  version  to  allow  you to ride a steed, and was the first
          version to have a publicly available  web-site  listing  all  the
          bugs  that  had been discovered.  Despite that constantly growing


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          bug list, 3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than  a  year
          and a half.

               The  3.4  NetHack  Development  Team  initially consisted of
          Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Collet,  Kevin
          Hugo,  Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike Stephenson, Janet
          Walz, and Paul Winner, with  Warwick Allison joining just  before
          the release of NetHack 3.4.0 in March 2002.

               As  with version 3.3, various people contributed to the game
          as a whole as well as supporting ports on the different platforms
          that NetHack runs on:

               Pat Rankin maintained 3.4 for VMS.

               Michael  Allison maintained NetHack 3.4 for the MS-DOS plat-
          form.  Paul Winner and Yitzhak Sapir provided encouragement.

               Dean Luick, Mark Modrall, and Kevin Hugo maintained and  en-
          hanced the Macintosh port of 3.4.

               Michael  Allison,  David  Cohrs, Alex Kompel, Dion Nicolaas,
          and Yitzhak Sapir maintained and enhanced 3.4 for  the  Microsoft
          Windows platform.  Alex Kompel contributed a new graphical inter-
          face for the Windows port.  Alex Kompel also contributed  a  Win-
          dows CE port for 3.4.1.

               Ron Van Iwaarden was the sole maintainer of NetHack for OS/2
          the past several releases. Unfortunately Ron's last OS/2  machine
          stopped  working  in  early  2006. A great many thanks to Ron for
          keeping NetHack alive on OS/2 all these years.

               Janne Salmijarvi and Teemu Suikki  maintained  and  enhanced
          the  Amiga  port of 3.4 after Janne Salmijarvi resurrected it for
          3.3.1.

               Christian "Marvin" Bressler maintained 3.4 for the Atari af-
          ter he resurrected it for 3.3.1.

               The release of NetHack 3.4.3 in December 2003 marked the be-
          ginning of a long release hiatus. 3.4.3 proved to be a remarkably
          stable version that provided continued enjoyment by the community
          for more than a decade. The NetHack Development Team  slowly  and
          quietly  continued  to  work on the game behind the scenes during
          the tenure of 3.4.3. It was during that same period that  several
          new  variants  emerged  within  the  NetHack  community.  Notably
          sporkhack by Derek S. Ray, unnethack by Patric Mueller, nitrohack
          and  its  successors originally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex
          Smith, and Dynahack by Tung Nguyen. Some of those  variants  con-
          tinue  to  be developed, maintained, and enjoyed by the community
          to this day.

               In September 2014, an interim snapshot of the code under de-
          velopment was released publicly by other parties. Since that code


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          was a work-in-progress and had not gone through  the  process  of
          debugging  it as a suitable release, it was decided that the ver-
          sion numbers present on that code snapshot would be  retired  and
          never  used  in  an official NetHack release. An announcement was
          posted on the NetHack  Development  Team's  official  nethack.org
          website  to  that  effect,  stating  that  there would never be a
          3.4.4, 3.5, or 3.5.0 official release version.

               In January  2015,  preparation  began  for  the  release  of
          NetHack 3.6.

               At  the  beginning  of development for what would eventually
          get released as 3.6.0, the NetHack Development Team consisted  of
          Warwick  Allison,  Michael  Allison,  Ken  Arromdee, David Cohrs,
          Jessie Collet, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike  Stephen-
          son,  Janet  Walz,  and Paul Winner.  In early 2015, ahead of the
          release of 3.6.0, new members Sean Hunt, Pasi Kallinen, and Derek
          S. Ray joined the NetHack Development Team.

               Near the end of the development of 3.6.0, one of the signif-
          icant inspirations for many of  the  humorous  and  fun  features
          found  in  the game, author Terry Pratchett, passed away. NetHack
          3.6.0 introduced a tribute to him.

               3.6.0 was released in December 2015, and merged work done by
          the  development team since the release of 3.4.3 with some of the
          beloved community patches. Many bugs were fixed and some code was
          restructured.

               The  NetHack  Development Team, as well as Steve VanDevender
          and Kevin Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to oper-
          ate on various UNIX flavors and maintained the X11 interface.

               Ken  Lorber,  Haoyang Wang, Pat Rankin, and Dean Luick main-
          tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Mac OSX.

               Michael Allison, David Cohrs, Barton House,  Pasi  Kallinen,
          Alex  Kompel, Dion Nicolaas, Derek S. Ray and Yitzhak Sapir main-
          tained the port of NetHack 3.6 for Microsoft Windows.

               Pat Rankin attempted  to  keep  the  VMS  port  running  for
          NetHack 3.6, hindered by limited access. Kevin Smolkowski has up-
          dated and tested it for the most recent version of OpenVMS  (V8.4
          as of this writing) on Alpha and Integrity (aka Itanium aka IA64)
          but not VAX.

               Ray Chason resurrected the msdos port for 3.6  and  contrib-
          uted the necessary updates to the community at large.

               In  late April 2018, several hundred bug fixes for 3.6.0 and
          some new features were assembled and released as  NetHack  3.6.1.
          The NetHack Development Team at the time of release of 3.6.1 con-
          sisted of Warwick Allison, Michael Allison, Ken  Arromdee,  David
          Cohrs,  Jessie  Collet,  Pasi  Kallinen,  Ken Lorber, Dean Luick,


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          Patric Mueller, Pat  Rankin,  Derek  S.  Ray,  Alex  Smith,  Mike
          Stephenson, Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.

               In early May 2019, another 320 bug fixes along with some en-
          hancements and the adopted curses window port, were  released  as
          3.6.2.

               The official NetHack web site is maintained by Ken Lorber at
          http://www.nethack.org/.

          12.1.  SPECIAL THANKS

               On behalf of the NetHack community, thank you very much once
          again  to M. Drew Streib and Pasi Kallinen for providing a public
          NetHack server at nethack.alt.org. Thanks to  Keith  Simpson  and
          Andy Thomson for hardfought.org. Thanks to all those unnamed dun-
          geoneers who invest their time and  effort  into  annual  NetHack
          tournaments  such  as  Junethack, The November NetHack Tournament
          and in days past, devnull.net (gone for now, but not  forgotten).

                                 - - - - - - - - - -

               From  time  to  time,  some depraved individual out there in
          netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help  out
          with the game.  The NetHack Development Team sometimes makes note
          of the names of the worst of these miscreants in this,  the  list
          of Dungeoneers:
               Adam Aronow              Janet Walz            Nathan Eady
               Alex Kompel           Janne Salmijarvi         Norm Meluch
               Alex Smith         Jean-Christophe Collet      Olaf Seibert
              Andreas Dorn             Jeff Bailey           Pasi Kallinen
               Andy Church            Jochen Erwied            Pat Rankin
              Andy Swanson             John Kallen           Patric Mueller
              Ari Huttunen             John Rupley            Paul Winner
              Barton House             John S. Bien         Pierre Martineau
           Benson I. Margulies          Johnny Lee             Ralf Brown
                Bill Dyer               Jon W{tte              Ray Chason
            Boudewijn Waijers        Jonathan Handler       Richard Addison
                Bruce Cox            Joshua Delahunty        Richard Beigel
             Bruce Holloway           Karl Garrison        Richard P. Hughey
             Bruce Mewborne           Keizo Yamamoto           Rob Menke
              Carl Schelin              Ken Arnold            Robin Bandy
               Chris Russo             Ken Arromdee          Robin Johnson
               David Cohrs              Ken Lorber         Roderick Schertler
             David Damerell           Ken Washikita          Roland McGrath
              David Gentzel            Kevin Darcy          Ron Van Iwaarden
             David Hairston             Kevin Hugo           Ronnen Miller
               Dean Luick              Kevin Sitze             Ross Brown
                Del Lamb             Kevin Smolkowski       Sascha Wostmann
              Derek S. Ray             Kevin Sweet            Scott Bigham
              Deron Meranda            Lars Huttar          Scott R. Turner
              Dion Nicolaas            Leon Arnott             Sean Hunt
             Dylan O'Donnell          M. Drew Streib        Stephen Spackman



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               Eric Backus             Malcolm Ryan        Stefan Thielscher
            Eric Hendrickson          Mark Gooderum          Stephen White
              Eric R. Smith            Mark Modrall           Steve Creps
             Eric S. Raymond         Marvin Bressler         Steve Linhart
              Erik Andersen            Matthew Day         Steve VanDevender
            Frederick Roeber           Merlyn LeRoy           Teemu Suikki
               Gil Neiger            Michael Allison           Tim Lennan
               Greg Laskin             Michael Feir          Timo Hakulinen
               Greg Olson             Michael Hamel             Tom Almy
             Gregg Wonderly          Michael Sokolov            Tom West
              Hao-yang Wang            Mike Engber           Warren Cheung
              Helge Hafting            Mike Gallop          Warwick Allison
          Irina Rempt-Drijfhout      Mike Passaretti         Yitzhak Sapir
              Izchak Miller          Mike Stephenson
              J. Ali Harlow            Mikko Juola

               Brand  and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
          marks of their respective holders.






































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