Going to axe murder this ghost librarian

[mjkittredge]

Okay, so I was in the library. Turned on the counter that shows how many turns have gone by. Waited 2,500 turns. "*PSSST!*"

Didn't talk to a monster, didn't cast a spell.

Teleportitis resets the counter? I can't think of what else is ruining it. This is ridiculous.

[yhal003]

stealth < 100?
bubbling mouth corruption?

[Blasphemous]

If stealth was sub 100, you're out of luck. As in permanently for this character. Arrows of undead slaying? Rune-covered trident? :P

[LexyBoy]

Dual-wielded spellbooks of dispel undead.

[mjkittredge]

Stealth was 100. No babbling mouth corruption. Didn't have the trident. Don't think I had any undead slaying ammo equipped.

All I can think is that the teleportitis when it activates counts as casting a spell. Which is shitty because I have only found one Ethereal Bridge spellbook and am running low on castings. So I need those free teleports. Blurgh.

[Blasphemous]

I mentioned undead slaying ammo or rune covered trident as the best tools to take out the mean librarian that refuses to part with the weird tome.
They in no way influence the player's ability to obtain that book.

[mjkittredge]

Oh can you simply kill him to get it? Or does he only give it if you complete the bugged broken non working shit quest?

My character is pretty massive at this point, one shotting ghost kings on D46. Only thing that can stop her now is stupidity or extremely bad luck.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

I think the exact conditions of the Ghost Librarian quest were traditionally considered to be one of the few remaining mysteries in ADOM, pre-resurrection.

[gym21]

I've never managed to get the Weird Tome, no matter what I did. I don't even try anymore.

[DoshDoshington]

Never had a problem with the Ghost Librarian, but probably because I only go up there on Wizards and it takes so long to read the Spellbook of Wish I just naturally complete the quest afterwards.

[Blasphemous]

I don't remember a single instance of not getting the wierd tome.
I've been there with wizards mosty too, but I also visited the place with a paladin, druid, priest, archer and assassin - they all got the book.
One common denominator was that they have all been gray elves, I rarely play any other race.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

In my case, the first time I got to the library I couldn't get it, which was quite disappointing (although being a wizard and getting a truckload of spellbooks was a good consolation). After that, I think every time I've visited the library I got the tome without problems.

[mjkittredge]

My character - Hurthling Druid, 100 Stealth, no babbling mouth corruption.

First attempt, killed every monster without chatting or casting a spell, read every book, then went to librarian thinking enough time had passed. ***PSSST!***

Second attempt, waited 2,600 turns, just stood there waiting next to him doing nothing. ***PSSSST!***

I like challenges and mysteries to figure out, but this is just annoying and frustrating. Maybe some code diver can tell us if teleportitius activating resets the turn counter, that is the only thing I can think of. Lost it sipping from a pool deep in the C0C, maybe I'll give library one more try now.

[plllizzz9]

My last attempt to get the tome ended in a failure - while I was reading a spellbook to pass time, Librarian got into a scuffle with a Fire Giant and died just as I finished. Really got me pissed, the fact that library mobs even attack him in the first place is annoying and unintuitive, but the fact he's weak enough to die to a random fire giant only adds up to the jarringness. I also noticed that ratling rebel and dealer are both dying more often to the new mob hostility mechanics and I'm not very happy about that. A new player may not even learn of their existence if they get killed offscreen every time. :/

[mjkittredge]

Yeah I read about people walling off the Ghost Librarian with a wand of door creation and locking them all just for that reason.

I kind of like the fact that more random monster fights break out. I can boost my alignment healing them or just be an opportunist and pick off the weakened ones. Or run through while they are occupied.

[asdf]

As far as i know, Ghost Librarian performs a check again 101 Stealth, and you could fail it even with maxed skill. It happens very rarely, but it happens.

[yhal003]

Does "stealthy" talent help?

[gut]

> Really got me pissed, the fact that library mobs even attack him in the first place is annoying and unintuitive, but the fact he's weak enough to die to a random fire giant only adds up to the jarringness

see, this isn't a bug in adom, it is a feature. It will teach you, like a twitchy sadist with a cattle prod, it will teach you to never trust anything. You will soon be looking 4 ways before crossing the street. Things could come dropping from the sky or crashing up from the underground at any time, it is best to be prepared.

If it were me, I would not suffice at walling off the librarian with simple locked doors, as too many mobs can smash through those. It would be much better to fill a large portion of the level with breeders, then wall them off and kill all other mobs on the level. (don't forget to check every tile on the map for tp and corruption traps though, else you are asking for breeder problems :D )

The uncooperative librarian problem is a well-known one. Don't look for a bugfix anytime soon, as we were asking for that for half a dozen years before the resurrection.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

The uncooperative librarian problem is a well-known one. Don't look for a bugfix anytime soon, as we were asking for that for half a dozen years before the resurrection.
Well, the same happened with the uberjackal effect and the ingot bug, and they were fixed in the resurrection.

[plllizzz9]

Meh, it wasn't a big issue, just fairly annoying. The last characters who had librarian issues had also many, many RoDS drops, so corruption didn't bother them much. I can't even be mad at the RNG for killing him in front of my Merchant like that, since said guy found a Greater Fire Vault with Protector, Iron Crown of Havlor and eternium broadsword of devastation on d:45. And topped off with a greater karmic wyrm threaten room, which dropped 2 RoDS and Sun Messenger [with True Aim falling out of potion of uselessness only a couple of levels below].

[_Ln_]

As far as i know, Ghost Librarian performs a check again 101 Stealth, and you could fail it even with maxed skill. It happens very rarely, but it happens.

Assuming the check is 1d101 <= Stealth and Stealth follows multiple checks at 60 and 90, the chance of this happening should be abysmal. But the amount of posts and threads about it doesn't inspire optimism.

Honestly, I would like two things:
1) The librarian will directly tell the PC to GTFO based on his personal feelings at the moment. That would at least tell some people to stop waiting needlessly without.
2) An alternative way to make the guy happy should be introduced, perhaps using the Minstrel in some way. Or maybe you walk around the place torching scrolls and books with fire magic and kicking down "bookcases" to threaten the librarian into submission at which point he says - "Is this what you are after? Just take it and leave, brute!"

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Or better, you could appease him by giving him a rare book that he has never seen, like the Book of Confucious, the Black Tome or the IBM Guild Manual.

[Cactus]

Or better, you could appease him by giving him a rare book that he has never seen, like the Book of Confucious, the Black Tome or the IBM Guild Manual.

I really like this idea!