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Thread: The Inventory & Item Descriptions and modifiers

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    Default The Inventory & Item Descriptions and modifiers

    One of the most difficult pieces of information to find for ADOM in my opinion
    I am not embarrassed to say I do not have it memorized. You should not have to memorize it either.

    Copied directly from the ADOM Manual. Here it is.

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    Dice

    Roleplaying games mostly use dice to generate random events. Paper games rely on several kinds of dice – most often 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12- and 20-sided dice are used. Computers are not limited by arbitrary die forms and thus enjoy the freedom to use any kind of dice imaginable as a random number generator.

    Roleplayers use an abbreviated way of describing the number of dice to be rolled to generate a random number. Basically a certain number of dice is rolled, all the face values are added and maybe a modifier is added or subtracted to generate a total. This is normally abbreviated as

    {x}d{y}+{z}

    and means to roll {x} dice with {y} faces and finally to add the value {z}. {z} can be positive or negative. If {z} is not mentioned, it is assumed to be zero.

    EXAMPLES: 1d20 means to roll one 20-sided die to generate a number between 1 and 20. 2d6 means to roll two 6-sided dice to generate a number between 2 and 12. 4d4+3 means to roll four 4-sided dice and finally add 3 to generate a number between 7 and 19. 3d13-9 means to roll three 13-sided dice and subtract 9 to generate a number between -6 and 30.
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    The Inventory & Item Descriptions

    The Inventory
    Every PC normally carries quite a number of items – some of them belong to the initial equipment, others are found during the adventure.

    All items worn or equipped are displayed upon pressing the i key. If you want to change your equipment (either by wearing an additional item or by removing an item currently used) you simply need to press the letter preceding the body part in question. If an item was equipped, it will automatically be removed. If no item was used you will automatically be shown a list with items which might be useful on that body part.

    Items normally have to be identified by some means to get more than just some general information. Some items are identified by using them (e.g. weapons and armor), others have to be identified by magical means. When identified, every item might list a number of values which further describe the powers of the item.

    Armor must be worn to have any effect. Weapons must be wielded to have any effect. Rings, bracers and necklaces must be worn to be useful.

    Items are generally rated as uncursed, cursed or blessed. Cursed items cannot be removed when worn and mostly do not function with full effect. They also are susceptible to damage more often. Blessed items are of very high quality and might exert some additional powers. They are more difficult to damage. Uncursed items represent average items.

    Items also might be broken or rusty. There might be means available to repair or improve such items… try to find out about this for yourself.

    In the following section, items are listed by category with all possible modifiers. The following abbreviations are used to describe the modifiers:

    CHA - Number of charges remaining
    DAM - Damage dice (given in the dice notation explained above)
    DVM - DV modifier
    MDM - Missile damage modifier
    MEM - Melee attack modifier
    MIM - Missile attack modifier
    PVM - PV modifier
    ATM - Modifier to a specific attribute

    The following item descriptions are available. First the item type is listed, then the possible modifiers follow. Not all modifiers always appear, this depends on the specific item. The kind of visible modifiers can be determined by the type of brackets surrounding them:

    <bracers> [DVM, PVM]
    <shield> (MEM) [DVM, PVM]
    <armor> (MEM, MIM) [DVM, PVM]
    <gauntlets> (MEM, MIM) [DVM, PVM]
    <cloak> (MEM, MIM) [DVM, PVM]
    <girdle> (MEM, MIM) [DVM, PVM]
    <helmet> (MEM, MIM) [DVM, PVM]
    <boots> (MEM, MIM) [DVM, PVM]
    <wand> (CHA)
    <melee weapon> (MEM, DAM) [DVM, PVM]
    <missile weapon> (MIM, MDM)
    <missile> (MIM, DAM)

    Any item (in theory) can be followed by {ATM}, which means that the item in question grants the specified bonus to the mentioned attribute. Any weapon can be followed by (p), which means that the item is poisoned. Finally, the number of charges for wands will only be visible if you zapped that specific wand successfully or identified that specific wand. In other words: if you identify 'tin wands' as 'wands of magic missiles', you still won't know the number of charges of a newly found 'wand of magic missiles' (although it will be correctly identified in all other respects).
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    And from the Adom Guidebook ( Improved Version )

    Defense

    PC's defense is improved by using shields - the larger the better! The shield skill grants extra DV bonus, up to twice the shield's DV. Changing Tactic can dramatically improve (or deteriorate) PC's defense.

    0.8.1 DV versus PV
    As everyone knows from reading the ADOM Manual, DV is an abbreviation for Defensive Value and PV is an abbreviation for Protection Value. The former determines how hard it is for an opponent to hit the PC; the latter determines how much damage is absorbed by a PC's armor if a monster makes a successful hit. All monsters can score critical hits which bypass PV. Some monsters always bypass PV, notably claw bugs, which make them very annoying opponents for low level characters. Note also that non-artifact armor can be damaged by monster attacks, lowering its Protection Value especially and eventually destroying it.

    So the question arises, which is better, a high DV or a high PV? As with the question of whether to specialize in one weapon or become proficient with many weapons, it is largely a matter of personal preference and style. There are successful players who use both approaches. In practice, it is possible to raise DV to the point where none other than the very highest level monsters can hit the PC. A DV over 100 means very few monsters will hit the PC successfully. However, a DV this high is not available to any but the very high level characters that specifically pursue it. Likewise, a PV over 100 means few monsters can hurt the PC, since the vast majority do not deal over 100 points of damage in one round. Bear in mind, however: 1) the possibility of critical hits and 2) the possibility of running into something very nasty, such as balors, greater molochs and the Emperor Moloch which certainly do deal over 100 points of damage per round.

    A general rule of thumb? Add up the DV and PV bonuses. A [-3, +5] iron chain mail is about as good as a [+0, +2] leather armor (and the latter is lighter and won't rust). Few non-artifact armors can compete with an average eternium plate mail at [-1, +13]. Dragon scale mails averaging [-2, +11] are also extremely desirable armors since they grant immunity to the element corresponding to the dragon the armor is derived from. On the DV side, few non-artifact items can compare to eternium tower shields averaging [+13, +4]. Dragon scale mails and eternium tower shields are so powerful that many players will use a wish on these items.

    0.8.2 DV bonuses
    DV is increased based on Dexterity twice, by (Dx-12)/2 and (Dx-9)/2; being Drunk decreases DV by 3. High Alertness with Alchemy have also positive effect on DV (see section 0.4). Monks get DV increased by (lvl*2)/3 if not wearing armor except specific; Beastfighters by lvl/3. Mindcrafter's Mental Shield provides (Level+Wi)/5. PCs receive about half DV bonus from unarmed combat when fighting with staves.

    0.8.3 PV bonuses
    PV is increased based on Toughness, by (To-18)/2 (max 20), being Blessed increases PV by 1, Mincrafter's Mental Shield provides (lvl+Wi)/8. If a PC's PV is below 4, they will suffer corresponding damage from kicking walls and statues.
    Last edited by UFOsAreReal; 01-12-2018 at 05:49 PM. Reason: Added info on Dice annotation and changed the source in part one to Adom Manual

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