









                           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:

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



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               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.





















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          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.
          --------------------------------------------------------------------
           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.




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          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
               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


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               effective the armor; it is quite possible to  have  negative
               armor 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
               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
          another message to display on the screen, but it  wants  to  make
          certain  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.





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          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 (|).

          .    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.




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          _    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.

          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
          possible  choices.   Typing  `?'  gives  you an inventory list of
          these items, so you can see what each letter refers to.  In  this
          example,  there  is  also a `*' indicating that you may choose an
          object not on the list, if you wanted to use something  unexpect-
          ed.  Typing a `*' lists your entire inventory, so you can see the
          inventory letters of every object you're carrying.   Finally,  if
          you change your mind and decide you don't want to do this command
          after 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.
          Commands for which counts make no sense ignore  them.   In  addi-
          tion,  movement commands can be prefixed for greater control (see
          below).  To cancel a count or a prefix, press the ESC key.



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               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 info?'' depending upon whether the help op-
               tion is on, and then you will be asked to pick another loca-
               tion;  `,'  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 asking for confirmation.  When picking
               a location, pressing the ESC key will  terminate  this  com-
               mand,  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.''




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                                    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).

               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
               ``#travel'' command show a menu of  interesting  targets  in
               sight.

          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-


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               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.

          ^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.

               Ex. ``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


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               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).

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

          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 known;
               I$ - count your money.

          o    Open a door.

          O    Set options.



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               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 or show dungeon layout

               In normal play and in  explore  mode,  a  shortcut  for  the
               ``#overview''  extended  command to list interesting dungeon
               levels visited.

               In debug mode, an extra command which lists the placement of
               all special levels.

          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.  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.



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               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.

          S    Save  (and suspend) the game.  The game will be restored au-
               tomatically the next time you play.

          t    Throw an object or shoot a projectile.

          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.

                    w- - wield nothing, use your bare 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.)


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          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.

          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.

          ^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.



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


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          =    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.



               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.


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               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  as-
               signed, 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 el-
               igible.  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  de-
               ciding 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.  De-
               fault key is 'M-A', and '^N' if number_pad is on.

          #apply
               Apply (use) a tool such as a pick-axe, a key, or a lamp. De-
               fault 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'.

          #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'.




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          #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. De-
               fault key is 'M-e'.

          #exploremode
               Enter the explore mode.

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

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

          #glance
               Show what type of thing a map symbol corresponds to. Default
               key is ';'.

          #help
               Show  the  help  menu.  Default  key is '?', and 'h' if num-
               ber_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'.




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          #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 '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. Wizard-mode on-
               ly.

          #lightsources
               Show mobile light sources. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

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

          #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
               'l' if number_pad is on.

          #monpolycontrol
               Control monster polymorphs. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

          #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'.


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          #offer
               Offer a sacrifice to the gods. Autocompletes. Default key is
               'M-o'.  The `m' prefix skips offering items on the altar.

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

          #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. Auto-
               completes.  Default keys are '^O', and 'M-O'.

          #panic
               Test the panic routine. Autocompletes. Wizard-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.

          #polyself
               Polymorph self. Autocompletes. Wizard-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'.



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          #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 '^L' if num-
               ber_pad is on.

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

          #ride
               Ride (or stop riding) a saddled creature. Autocompletes. De-
               fault key is 'M-R'.

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

          #save
               Save the game. 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 '['.




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

          #seenv
               Show seen vectors. Autocompletes. Wizard-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 statistics. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

          #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'.


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          #timeout
               Look at the timeout queue. Autocompletes. Wizard-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  in-
               teresting  targets  in sight without asking to move the cur-
               sor. When picking a target with cursor and the  autodescribe
               option 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
               keys are 'X', and 'M-2'.

               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.

               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. Wizard-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. Wizard-mode only.

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




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          #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'.

          #wizdebug_bury
               Bury  objects  under  and around you. Autocompletes. Wizard-
               mode only.

          #wizdebug_traveldisplay
               Toggle travel display. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

          #wizdetect
               Search a room. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only. Default  key
               is '^E'.

          #wizgenesis
               Create  a  monster. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only. Default
               key is '^G'.

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

          #wizintrinsic
               Set intrinsic. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

          #wizlevelport
               Teleport  to another level.  Autocompletes.  Wizard-mode on-
               ly.  Default key is '^V'.

          #wizmap
               Map the level. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only. Default  key
               is '^F'.

          #wizrumorcheck
               Verify rumor boundaries. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

          #wizsmell
               Smell monster. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only.

          #wizwhere
               Show locations of special levels. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode


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               only.

          #wizwish
               Wish for something. Autocompletes. Wizard-mode only. Default
               key is '^W'.

          #wmode
               Show wall modes. Autocompletes. Wizard-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 se-
          quence consisting of an Escape followed by the other key, you may
          set  the  altmeta  option  to  have  NetHack  combine  them  into
          meta+key.

          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



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          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



               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.




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          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 (ex. 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
          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.




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               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 described below).  Monsters are only active on  the  cur-
          rent  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
          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.)



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               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 idiosyncracies

               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
          (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
          monsters 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.




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               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'),  cat  (`f'),  or
          pony  (`u'),  which follows you about the dungeon and fights mon-
          sters with you.  Like you, your pet needs food  to  survive.   It
          usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats.  If you're
          worried about it or want to train it, you can feed  it,  too,  by
          throwing  it food.  A properly trained pet can be very useful un-
          der 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.

               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.




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               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  crea-
          ture to try to remove the saddle from that creature.  If success-
          ful, 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 per-
          sist 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


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          depends 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.
          The symbols `Burdened', `Stressed', `Strained',  `Overtaxed'  and
          `Overloaded' are displayed on the bottom line display to indicate
          your condition.

               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,
          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


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          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 redun-
          dant when enough other information  is  displayed.   The  implic-
          it_uncursed  option can be used to control this; toggle it off to
          have ``uncursed'' be displayed even when that can be deduced from
          other attributes.

          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 much more damage with bare 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
          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.




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               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 si-
          multaneously as primary and secondary; use the  `#twoweapon'  ex-
          tended  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 in-
          curs 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  alternative  way of throwing), `Q' (quiver), `x'
          (exchange), `#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
          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


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          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
          number_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  to  advance),  ``unskilled'',  ``basic'',  ``skilled'', and
          ``expert''.  Restricted skills simply will not appear in the list
          shown  by  `#enhance'.   (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


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          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''
          command.   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 -- wield-
          ing two weapons at once.  The primary is your wielded weapon  and
          the  secondary is just an item in your inventory that's been des-
          ignated 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.

               When in two-weapon combat  mode,  using  the  ``#twoweapon''
          command toggles back to single-weapon mode.  Throwing or dropping
          either of the weapons or having one of  them  be  stolen  or  de-
          stroyed will also 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



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                             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 (ex. helmets, boots,
          shields,  cloaks) to lower your armor class even further, 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
          negative 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.

               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 usu-
          ally 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.''



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               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 (ex. ``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''
          environment variable to the file name of your mailbox.   You  may
          also  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  vari-
          ables  are  ignored.   You can disable the mail daemon by turning
          off the mail option.

               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).






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          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.

               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!



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               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
          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 tools is `a' (apply).






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          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
          command 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.

          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.





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          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 which 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  ex-
          ception  is  that if the object gets covered by the ``remembered,
          unseen monster'' marker and 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 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.

               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


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          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 con-
          duct; 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 be-
          ing  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.


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               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  de-
          cline.   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.
          Polymorphing  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
          immediately 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.

          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 DOS and Windows, it is ``defaults.nh''
          in the same folder as nethack.exe or nethackW.exe.  On UNIX, Lin-
          ux, and Mac  OS  X  it  is  ``.nethackrc''  in  the  user's  home


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          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 in a single OPTIONS
            statement.

               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  neces-
            sary or recommended.

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

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

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

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


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

          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:

               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  ``Config-
            uring Menu Colors`` section.

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



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               Example:

               SYMBOLS=S_boulder:0

          WIZKIT
            Wizard-mode extra items, in a text file containing item  names,
            one  per  line, up to a maximum of 128 lines. Each line is pro-
            cessed 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''
            section.

               Here is a short example of config file contents:

               # Set your character's role, race, gender, and alignment.
               OPTIONS=role:Valkyrie, race:Human, gender:female, align:lawful
               #
               # Turn on autopickup, and 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 ``au-
          toquiver'' is on, ``autopickup'' is  off,  the  name  is  set  to
          ``Blue  Meanie'',  and  the fruit is set to ``papaya'', you would
          enter the command

               % setenv NETHACKOPTIONS "autoquiver,\!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"



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          in csh (note the need to escape the ! since it's special  to  the
          shell), or

               $ NETHACKOPTIONS="autoquiver,!autopickup,name:Blue Meanie,fruit:papaya"
               $ export NETHACKOPTIONS

          in sh or ksh.

               NETHACKOPTIONS can also be set to the full name of a config-
          uration file you want to use (possibly preceded by an `@').

          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
            alignment 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.  The  whatis_coord  option  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  with  an  empty quiver (or quiver sack or have


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            nothing at the ready).  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,
            enchantment,  damage, or quality of the weapon; you are free to
            manually 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.   Persis-
            tent. (default false)

          blind
            Start  the  character  permanently blind.  Persistent. (default
            false)

          bones
            Allow saving and loading  bones  files.   Persistent.  (default
            true)

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

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

          character
            Synonym  for  ``role''  to pick the type of your character (ex.
            ``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.



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          dark_room
            Show out-of-sight areas of lit rooms  (default  off).   Persis-
            tent.

          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:

                 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.

            (ex. ``disclose:yi na +v -g o'') The example sets inventory  to
            prompt  and default to yes, attributes to prompt and default to
            no, vanquished to disclose without prompting, genocided to  not
            disclose  and  not prompt, conduct to implicitly prompt and de-
            fault 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.



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          dogname
            Name  your  starting dog (ex. ``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 only by the tty port (default off),
            when the game has been compiled to support tty graphics.

          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 (ex. ``fruit:man-
            go'')  (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 ran-
            domly 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


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            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
            the location.  Same as herecmdmenu and therecmdmenu commands.

          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.

          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 (ex. ``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
            Use  the old `a', `b', and `c' keyboard shortcuts when looting,
            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
            ','.

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

          msg_window
            Allows you to change the way recalled messages  are  displayed.
            (It  is currently implemented for tty only.)  The possible val-
            ues 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


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            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 MSDOS 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 MSDOS  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'
            (``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 omitted 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
                          instead of accepting any non-yes response as no


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            quit        - require  ``yes'' rather than 'y' to confirm quit-
                          ting the game or switching into  non-scoring  ex-
                          plore 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  at-
                          tacking a peaceful monster;
            wand-break  - require ``yes'' rather than 'y' to confirm break-
                          ing a wand;
            Were-change - require ``yes'' rather than 'y' to confirm chang-
                          ing  form  due to lycanthropy when hero has poly-
                          morph 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 set-
            ting 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.  Persistent.

          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 ig-
            nored.  For example, ``horse'' will only be honored when  play-
            ing 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.




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          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 ob-
            jects.  A value of 0 means ``no limit'' (always  list  the  ob-
            jects);  a  value  of  1 effectively means ``never show the ob-
            jects'' since the pile size will always be at least  that  big;
            default value is 5.  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
            random.  If you prefix the value with `!' or ``no'',  you  will
            exclude  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 (ex. ``role:Samurai''); synonym for
            ``character''.  See ``name'' for an alternate method of  speci-
            fying  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.


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          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;
            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.

          scores
            Control  what  parts of the score list you are shown at the end
            (ex.  ``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:



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            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.

          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 (ex. ``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  de-
            fault 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
            default 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


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            (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.

          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)


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          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
            Select which windowing  system  to  use,  such  as  ``tty''  or
            ``X11''  (default  depends on version).  Cannot be set with the
            `O' command.

          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
            map window.


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          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.

          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.

          mouse_support
            Allow use of the mouse for input and travel.

          player_selection
            If  NetHack  can, it should pop up dialog boxes, or use prompts
            for character selection.

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


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          preload_tiles
            If NetHack can, it should preload tiles into memory.  For exam-
            ple, in the protected mode MSDOS version, control whether tiles
            get pre-loaded into RAM at the start of the game.  Doing so en-
            hances  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).

          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.

          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.



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          windowcolors
            If  NetHack  can,  it should display windows with the specified
            foreground/background colors if it can.

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

          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).




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          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' com-
            mand.

          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.






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          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
            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



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          Extended command keys
            You can bind multiple keys to the same extended command. Unbind
            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 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 com-
            mands 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. Default
            is '.'.

          getdir.self2
            When asked for a direction, the key to target yourself. Default
            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


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            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
            '?'.

          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. Tog-
            gles 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 ','.



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          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 '@'.

          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


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            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.

               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:




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               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, lightgreen, yellow, lightblue,  lightmagen-
            ta, lightcyan, and white.

            Allowed  attributes  are none, bold, dim, underline, blink, and
            inverse.  Note that the platform used  may  interpret  the  at-
            tributes 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
          implicit_uncursed option off so that all items known  to  be  un-
          cursed 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.



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          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.

          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 config 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

               For  another example, the following line in your config file
          will cause wisdom to be displayed red if it drops and green if it
          rises.

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

               You can adjust the display of the following status fields:
                      title             strength         dexterity
                  constitution        intelligence        wisdom
                    charisma           alignment           score
                carrying-capacity         gold             power
                    power-max       experience-level    armor-class
                       HD                 time            hunger
                    hitpoints        hitpoints-max     dungeon-level
                   experience          condition

            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,


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            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  a  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.

               * percentage sets the field attribute when the  field  value
                 matches the percentage. If the percentage is prefixed with
                 '<' or '>', it also matches when value is below  or  above
                 the  percentage.   Only  valid for `power' and `hitpoints'
                 fields.

               * absolute value sets the attribute  when  the  field  value
                 matches that number. If the number is prefixed with '<' or
                 '>', it also matches when value is below or above.

               * text match sets the attribute when the field value matches
                 the  text.  Text matches can only be used for `alignment',
                 `carrying-capacity', and `dungeon-level'.

            Allowed colors are black, red,  green,  brown,  blue,  magenta,
            cyan,  gray, orange, lightgreen, yellow, lightblue, lightmagen-
            ta, lightcyan, and white.

            Allowed attributes are bold, inverse,  underline,  blink,  dim,
            and  normal.  Note that the platform used may interpret the at-
            tributes any way it wants.

            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:








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                 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)
             "    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)



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             )    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)
                  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)



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             -    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 witout 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)
             ^    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)



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             @    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)
             |    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)




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               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
          somewhat  daunting.   Included within the ``symbols'' file of all
          official distributions of NetHack is a  symset  called  NHAccess.
          Selecting  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


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            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.

          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 wizard mode (the debugging mode, not the magic-using
            role).  A value of a single asterisk (*) allows anyone to start
            a game in wizard mode.


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            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.

            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. "3.6.1-0")
            %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


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            %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''
          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.  It is intended for tracking down
          problems within the program rather than to provide god-like  pow-
          ers  to your character, and players who attempt debugging are ex-
          pected 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.


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               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).  And on any system, the  program  might  have  been
          configured  to  omit  debug mode entirely.  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
          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 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


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          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 development team which now included Ken Ar-
          romdee, 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 DevTeam and
          tile support was then added to other platforms.

               The 3.2 development team, comprised of Michael Allison,  Ken
          Arromdee,  David  Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
          Timo Hakulinen, Steve  Linhart,  Dean  Luick,  Pat  Rankin,  Eric
          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 development  team  re-
          mained  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 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.




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          NetHack Guidebook                                              85



               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 DevTeam and incorporated 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 development team, consisting of Michael Allison, Ken
          Arromdee,  David  Cohrs, Jessie Collet, Steve Creps, Kevin Darcy,
          Timo Hakulinen, Kevin  Hugo,  Steve  Linhart,  Ken  Lorber,  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
          bug  list,  3.3 proved stable enough to last for more than a year
          and a half.

               The 3.4 development team initially consisted of Michael  Al-
          lison,  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 re-
          lease 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.




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          NetHack Guidebook                                              86



               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
          after 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 devteam 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 origi-
          nally by Daniel Thaler and then by Alex Smith,  and  Dynahack  by
          Tung  Nguyen.  Some  of  those variants continue 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
          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 devteam's official nethack.org website to that  ef-
          fect,  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 development team consisted of  Warwick
          Allison,  Michael Allison, Ken Arromdee, David Cohrs, Jessie Col-
          let, Ken Lorber, Dean Luick, Pat Rankin, Mike  Stephenson,  Janet
          Walz,  and  Paul  Winner.  In early 2015, ahead of the release of


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          NetHack Guidebook                                              87



          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.

               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 development team at the time of release of 3.6.1 consisted of
          Warwick Allison, Michael  Allison,  Ken  Arromdee,  David  Cohrs,
          Jessie  Collet,  Pasi  Kallinen,  Ken  Lorber, Dean Luick, Patric
          Mueller, Pat Rankin, Derek S. Ray, Alex Smith,  Mike  Stephenson,
          Janet Walz, and Paul Winner.

               The development team, as well as Steve VanDevender and Kevin
          Smolkowski, ensured that NetHack 3.6 continued to operate on var-
          ious 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  3.6.1,  hindered by limited access. Kevin Smolkowski has
          updated 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 3.6.1 and contrib-
          uted the necessary updates to the community at large.

               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, Pasi Kallinen and Robin Bandy for pro-
          viding public NetHack servers at nethack.alt.org and  devnull.net
          and/or for hosting annual NetHack tournaments.

                                 - - - - - - - - - -




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          NetHack Guidebook                                              88



               From  time  to  time,  some depraved individual out there in
          netland sends a particularly intriguing modification to help  out
          with  the  game.   The Gods of the Dungeon sometimes make note of
          the names of the worst of these miscreants in this, the  list  of
          Dungeoneers:
               Adam Aronow            J. Ali Harlow           Mikko Juola
               Alex Kompel              Janet Walz            Nathan Eady
               Alex Smith            Janne Salmijarvi         Norm Meluch
              Andreas Dorn        Jean-Christophe Collet      Olaf Seibert
               Andy Church             Jeff Bailey           Pasi Kallinen
              Andy Swanson            Jochen Erwied            Pat Rankin
              Ari Huttunen             John Kallen           Patric Mueller
              Barton House             John Rupley            Paul Winner
           Benson I. Margulies         John S. Bien         Pierre Martineau
                Bill Dyer               Johnny Lee             Ralf Brown
            Boudewijn Waijers           Jon W{tte              Ray Chason
                Bruce Cox            Jonathan Handler       Richard Addison
             Bruce Holloway          Joshua Delahunty        Richard Beigel
             Bruce Mewborne           Keizo Yamamoto       Richard P. Hughey
              Carl Schelin              Ken Arnold             Rob Menke
               Chris Russo             Ken Arromdee           Robin Bandy
               David Cohrs              Ken Lorber           Robin Johnson
             David Damerell           Ken Washikita        Roderick Schertler
              David Gentzel            Kevin Darcy           Roland McGrath
             David Hairston             Kevin Hugo          Ron Van Iwaarden
               Dean Luick              Kevin Sitze           Ronnen Miller
                Del Lamb             Kevin Smolkowski          Ross Brown
              Derek S. Ray             Kevin Sweet          Sascha Wostmann
              Deron Meranda            Lars Huttar            Scott Bigham
              Dion Nicolaas            Leon Arnott          Scott R. Turner
             Dylan O'Donnell          M. Drew Streib           Sean Hunt
               Eric Backus             Malcolm Ryan         Stephen Spackman
            Eric Hendrickson          Mark Gooderum        Stefan Thielscher
              Eric R. Smith            Mark Modrall          Stephen White
             Eric S. Raymond         Marvin Bressler          Steve Creps
              Erik Andersen            Matthew Day           Steve Linhart
            Frederick Roeber           Merlyn LeRoy        Steve VanDevender
               Gil Neiger            Michael Allison          Teemu Suikki
               Greg Laskin             Michael Feir            Tim Lennan
               Greg Olson             Michael Hamel          Timo Hakulinen
             Gregg Wonderly          Michael Sokolov            Tom Almy
              Hao-yang Wang            Mike Engber              Tom West
              Helge Hafting            Mike Gallop           Warren Cheung
          Irina Rempt-Drijfhout      Mike Passaretti        Warwick Allison
              Izchak Miller          Mike Stephenson         Yitzhak Sapir

               Brand  and product names are trademarks or registered trade-
          marks of their respective holders.








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