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Grey
06-29-2008, 08:47 PM
"At different times you may enter the Drakalor Chain,
And these times may bring some loss or some gain,
The end of the year is celebrated with drink,
But on the day after you'll be too tired to think,
On the eve of the Lord's birth you may see a lucky star,
But on Friday the thirteenth you won't get far.
And Creator's Day is by far the best date,
For on that day you'll receive a smile from Fate..."
-- The Mad Minstrel


July 2nd (this coming Wednesday) is TB's birthday, and we know this well because all characters generated on that date begin with the Lucky and Fate Smiles intrinsics. So, time to abuse this for another contest - a simpler, more traditional one this time. Every player creates a random character on this date and tries to win the game in whatever way they like. Post results of your general progress here and we can all compare how quickly we die in spite of the extra luck.

Rules:
-Don't generate the char before July 2nd. If you come too late or are busy on the day then you may change your PC clock afterwards to generate a competing character. Entry is closed on July 13th.
-Random starsign, random gender, random race, random class, random attributes (just to be clear!)
-No save-scumming. Only one attempt.
-Post initial char details here when you generate it. Give updates whenever you feel like it, but try and keep any updates to just 1 post - we don't want the thread flooded with uneditted vlgs. If you want to post a full victory or death file use the separate YASD and YAVP sub-forums and link to it with a summary.
-No holds barred - you want to use piety abuse, dragon gold, gremlin bombs, whatever, then that's up to you. Play how you like, though be honest about it of course.

There will be a high score table put in here based on points achieved, but as we all know that has very limited meaning. The whole point is to have fun, and to maybe end up trying a class you're not used to. Oh, and to laugh at each others' deaths of course. Best of luck to everyone!


Current Entrants:

3AM - Grugga, Dragon-born female orcish bard
Current status: Exploring VD.

Alavir - Lial, Cup-born female dark elven merchant
Current status: Just started.

Aleph - Kalend, Candle-born male orcish assassin
Current status: DEAD. Para-killed by a ghul in the SMC. Advanced to level 8, scored 34,312 points.

Ars - Conan, Raven-born male human barbarian (with two-headed calf birth effect)
Current status: DEAD. Shredded by a werewolf lord on UD4. Advanced to level 9, scored 12,735 points.

baby-eater - male drakeling mindcrafter
Current status: DEAD. Stung by a giant bee warrior on PC4. Advanced to level 7.

Baranor - Dark One, Wand-born male dark elven beastfighter.
Current status: DEAD. Paralyzed and dissected by a dark elven priestess. Advanced to level 15, scored 36,836 points.

BioHazzard - Cerulean, Sword-born female drakeling paladin
Current status: DEAD. Poisoned by an assassin in the bandit village. Advanced to level 1, scored 3,189 points.

deepshock - Zelda, Book-born female high elven wizard
Current status: DEAD. Broke his neck falling down stairs in the ID. Advanced to level 10.

DeSt - Lucky Beggar, Sword-born male drakeling bard
Current status: DEAD. Crushed into the dirt by a moloch on D45. Advanced to level 28, scored 1,521,766 points.

Dorten - Dorten, male dark elven mindcrafter.
Current status: DEAD. Doomed himself with a pool and got slashed open by a large gnoll on PC6. Advanced to level 9, scored 11,076 points.

evariste - evariste, Raven-born female orcish priest
Current status: DEAD. Aged to death from pool-drinking in DarkForge. Advanced to level 19, scored 196,284 points.

Evil Knieval - grey elven assassin
Current status: DEAD. Killed by a troll on VD7.

FantomFang - Intellectress, Tree-born gray elven barbarian
Current status: DEAD - the first to fall. Died on VD7 from poison. Advanced to level 6, scored 5,655 points.

Grey - Yuria, Book-born female human druid
Current status: DEAD. Crushed by the emperor moloch in the scintillating cave. Advanced to level 47, scored 4,186,460 points.

gut - Newidd, Unicorn-born male gray elven druid
Current status: WON! Closed the gate, within 24 hours of the contest starting. Advanced to level 50, scored 48,596,092 points.

idoru - Rain, Raven-born male dwarven priest
Current status: DEAD. Sliced open by a dark elven warrior in the SMC. Advanced to level 7, scored 4,733 points.

Kato - CreatorDay, Candle-born male grey elven farmer
Current status: DEAD. Felled by a large orc in the SMC. Advanced to level 3, scored 3,228 points.

LFk - Risen, Salamander-born female orcish farmer
Current status: WON! Closed the gate. Advanced to level 50, scored 14,838,280 points.

Lich - Quaoar, Unicorn-born male orcish bard
Current status: DEAD. Roasted by a fireball trap in the SMC. Advanced to level 2, scored 3,152 points.

meh - Candle-born female orcish mindcrafter
Current status: DEAD. Brought down by a hobgoblin chied on DD6. Advanced to level 7, scored 5,658 points.

Molach - Wand-born male hurthling archer
Current status: DEAD. Killed by a kobold zombie whilst posing naked for a ghul on PC4. Advanced to level 10.

omega_red - Dolg, Raven-born male orcish weaponsmith
Current status: DEAD. Stabbed by an ogre magus on PC3. Advanced to level 9, scored 25,615 points.

PeanutGod - Rif, gnomish thief
Current status: Quit before the Tower.

RFP - RFP, Wand-born male human archer.
Current status: DEAD. Devoured by a wolf on VD7. Advanced to level 9, scored 12,380 points.

Sami - Barb, Tree-born female hurthling barbarian
Current status: WON! Closed the gate. Advanced to level 50, scored 15,393,308 points.

Shadow 2014 - Scorch, Salamander-born female dark elven wizard
Current status: DEAD. Sacrificed to the gods by a doppelganger on PC2. Advanced to level 8, scored 16,898 points.

Sintaluva - Gnicotina, Dragon-born female gnomish archer
Current status: DEAD. Eaten by a gorgon on PC6. Advanced to level 13, scored 21,028 points.

Siriah - Lee, Candle-born male hurthling monk
Current status: DEAD. Killed by a grey ooze in a jelly vault in the UD. Advanced to level 11, scored 14,161 points.

Soirana - Dalwyn, Raven-born female gnomish healer.
Current status: WON & DEAD. Closed the gate with ease then decided to wish for "emperor moloch" in SMC. Killed in 1 turn. Advanced to level 50, scored 7,569,438 points.

Subconcious - Blob, Wand-born male trollish thief
Current status: DEAD. Brought to the grave by a revenant on PC6. Advanced to level 5, scored 5,055 points.

trojan214 - Jahrakal, Candle-born orcish healer
Current status: Just started.

ular - Candle-born high elven archer
Current status: DEAD. Frozen to death by an ogre magus in the ogre cave. Advanced to level 13.

vogonpoet - Rosie, Book-born female hurthling farmer (hah!)
Current status: DEAD. Smashed by a rock throwing fire giant in DH1. Advanced to level 15, scored 72,642 points.

warheart - R938h4, Tree-born male high elven beastfighter
Current status: DEAD. Blasted by a dark sage in the SMC. Advanced to level 9, scored 14,975 points.

zasvid - Victoria, female dark elven paladin
Current status: Just started.

DeSt
06-29-2008, 09:33 PM
Lucky and Fate Smile, isn't it?

Grey
06-29-2008, 09:42 PM
Hmm, quite right - never noticed that before...

Siriah
06-29-2008, 09:59 PM
I'm definitely joining in. I've never started a character on that day so I have no idea how helpful some extra starting luck really is. Should be interesting to see what the random character generator gives me, too.

PeanutGod
06-29-2008, 10:25 PM
Sounds like fun. Count the New Lord of Corruption in! (And watch me die to a stone block trap that I can just forsee coming my way)

LFk
06-30-2008, 12:31 AM
Sounds like a good time.

FantomFang
06-30-2008, 03:41 AM
I'm in for sure!

Shadow_2014
06-30-2008, 05:08 AM
Great idea. I'm definitely in. I've never actually won before, so I don't know how well I'll do, but I'm stoked for what will be my first actual participation with something like this on the forum.

Dorten
06-30-2008, 05:42 AM
I'm in. Not sure for how long will (s)he survive, though. RNG hates me, when it comes to random characters.

vogonpoet
06-30-2008, 07:59 AM
I'm in.
Looking forward to a poison based suicide attempt.

meh
06-30-2008, 08:07 AM
Sound like fun. Hopefully I will either get a character that I'm good with or one that is weak enough to offer an excuse when failing miserably.

Silfir
06-30-2008, 08:49 AM
About time we did something like this again!

warheart
06-30-2008, 10:45 AM
I'm in for sure, don't think I have anything else to do anyway :P

FantomFang
06-30-2008, 03:37 PM
Heh, just knowing me, when I open up my character filter fully for the first time in a while, i'll end up with something horrible myself. =)

Evil Knievel
06-30-2008, 04:08 PM
I will try too...

M_bowwarrior
06-30-2008, 07:32 PM
if everybody make a character, it will be a big mess here...

and what about the next mana league ? :-D

FantomFang
06-30-2008, 07:43 PM
Nah, it won't be a mess, as long as people keep it to a strict minimum. Ya know, short and concise posts, don't post the character you got unless you died/are actually pretty far and ready for an update, and edit their update posts instead of posting more. Also, as stated previously I believe, no FLG's of VLG's, for the sake of our sanity.

EDIT: I think its a bit too early for another mana league here, don't ya think? I'd say give it a month or two, at the very least. There are other challenges that can be fun too.

Shadow_2014
07-01-2008, 09:59 PM
Well, someone should throw up an official thread before tomorrow. Or should we just start posting them up on here when the time comes?

Baranor
07-01-2008, 10:20 PM
I think we post them here. That's my plan!

I look forward to rocking out with my Orcish or Hurthling Farmer! My RNG looooooves giving me farmers (and crappy farmers at that!)

DeSt
07-01-2008, 10:22 PM
I'm going to create thread now - GMT +2

Siriah
07-01-2008, 10:35 PM
I figured we'd just post in this topic because the first post says 'here', but it doesn't really matter all that much to me either way. I'm GMT + 1, so technically it'll be July 2nd in half an hour :p Plenty of time to sacrifice a few sacks of gold to the Random Number Gods and pray for a good character.

FantomFang
07-01-2008, 10:39 PM
I'm at GMT -5. I'm just going to set my clock ahead anyways to get my character created and start playing, considering that I'll be busy tomorrow when it'll actually be July 2nd for me. Gonna see what I get, oh yea!

DeSt
07-01-2008, 10:40 PM
Characters in separate threat would be just much cleaner.

And random discussion must go on and on :)

Siriah
07-01-2008, 10:58 PM
The discussion and other stuff didn't exactly remain separate in the Weakest Link ;) Nice character by the way DeSt. Not only does it have good skills, but it's also a drakeling, so it can use acid spit to successfully survive things like being trapped between claw bugs in the early game.

Grey
07-01-2008, 11:39 PM
I'm not so keen on your "edit in" rule, DeSt, for the simple fact that this forum has such horribly small limits on what you can post. Plus it's hard to keep track of where everyone is if there's no new posts letting you know someone has progressed.. I was planning on keeping the top post updated with everyone's current status as well as putting in a high score table when people started dying, so that the general chaos could be overviewed. Weakest Link showed there was little point in trying to keep reports and discussion separate - best to just mix order and chaos and come out in some shade of grey... ;)

Nice start for you, DeSt - big chance for success if you pull through the early game. Siriah's monk should have a good time too. Hmm, 20 minutes till I can join the fun...

DeSt
07-01-2008, 11:50 PM
Someone interested in progress of others can simply open the thread and read it. :)
Constant updates would be just boring for someone not interested in them or someone who lost track.

Weakest link showed that even one character per thread more than enough. Imagine at least 10, with screenshots, discussion, game progress. Even Andor Drakon himself can't get anything out of that chaos :)

Without detailed reports(which is only needed for "team" games) showing your overall progress and notable things in one message is easy. From my point of view.



add:

FantomFang, sad end for you. First Aid failed?

FantomFang
07-01-2008, 11:54 PM
Heh, you can go ahead and add me to the death list Grey. Since I was going to be busy the next few days, I went ahead and cranked out my character a couple of hours early. Grey Elf Barbarian. Intelectress died to acute blood poisoning! One thing that I learned though was how difficult it felt not starting out with Healing or Candle, especially with a Gray Elf.

Grey
07-02-2008, 12:03 AM
Someone interested in progress of others can simply open the thread and read it. :)
Constant updates would be just boring for someone not interested in them or someone who lost track.


I think people won't follow others because they won't know when people have updated their posts. It'll be extremely hard to keep track of who is where without reading through every post every time you come on the forums. If people are editting into their posts they should make sure they note the date they added in the next paragraph or whatever.

Bad luck FantomFang, but I can't help but feel your death was partly due to the fact that you violated the no setting clocks forward rule ;) Grey elf barbarian is a pretty horrible combo mind.

Time for me to roll a char now I guess - who knows what horrible creature I'll end up with...

FantomFang
07-02-2008, 12:04 AM
Heh, maybe Grey, but it was a fun, if quick, game anyways. Hmm, now I see why some of those challenge games can be such a blast...

LFk
07-02-2008, 12:16 AM
:(

My roll was atrocious. Orcish Farmer born in Salamander.

I'm going to hold off on playing for a bit until i have some time and play this one patiently.

EDIT:

Just to summarize a bit on what characters have been generated so far...

Dest: F-Drake-Bard-Sword
FantomFang: F-GrElf-Barb-Tree [DEAD]
Siriah: M-Hurth-Monk-Candle
Ars: M-Hum-Barb-Raven
Warheart: M-HiElf-BeastF-Tree
LFk: F-Orc-Farmer-Salamander
Grey: F-Hum-Druid-Book
Baranor: ?-DarElf-BeastF-Wand

I'm liking Dest's character as the strongest roll, though Drakelings face special issues throughout the game.

DeSt
07-02-2008, 01:01 AM
Some herbalism, 250+ speed and decent preparations would solve any problems :)

If Baranor's character survive early game then he'll easily outperform me...

FantomFang
07-02-2008, 01:05 AM
I just noticed the EDIT concerning my guy. Yeah, First Aid failed her. I had it at 70 or thereabouts (can't remember, deleted the FLG shortly afterwards), and it still failed 2 times out of 3. And when you have been poisoned multiple times by a Dark Elven Warrior, with no prayers to spare, thanks to the previous poison that I got when i had minimal FirstAid, getting healing 3 hp when you are taking 10-15 damage from poison on average just doesn't cut it, even with 60-70 hp. Despite Lucky/Fate Smiles, it just wasn't meant to be. Karma for obsessing over Civilization 4 instead of ADOM the past 3-4 days, I guess. ADOM is a harsh mistress.

EDIT: I was thinking of starting another character, not for this of course, but going for an ultra. I had a wizard going, but it seems to bland. I'm trying to decide what to be right now, not a primary spellcaster, and not a monk/bard (just won with monk, tired of early deaths and a foiled ultra with bard). Thinking about beastfighter, ranger, paladin, or assassin, with no thoughts on race as of yet. Don't need tons of advice, just a snippet =P

EDIT 2: Nevermind. Decided to say screw Ultra anyways, and roll a Dwarven Ranger. Totally gonna dual-wield (If I could get Executor with this guy, it would be so picture-perfect).

DeSt
07-02-2008, 01:17 AM
DE Paladins - good skillset and decent spellcasting. But all mine DE Paladins died before 20th lvl :) Even the one, who stole Skullcrusher from Leggot using potion of invisibility bought from Leggot :)

HE Archer - easiest one to win.

Baranor
07-02-2008, 01:45 AM
Oh sorry. I'm Female.

Woot! I gots me some 7LB! Woot!

My kill a monster quest is a Trollish Berserker though. o_O

LFk
07-02-2008, 01:54 AM
DE Paladins - good skillset and decent spellcasting. But all mine DE Paladins died before 20th lvl :) Even the one, who stole Skullcrusher from Leggot using potion of invisibility bought from Leggot :)

HE Archer - easiest one to win.

DE Paladins are my favorite class, and one i find to rival Wizards for ease of winning. The skillset they start out with is extremely good, and is able to stand on both casting and melee in the lategame. It's important that paladins start out with pretty good gear, that is all blessed to boot.


It looks like some characters are already dropping before others have even started! :eek:




Dest: F-Drake-Bard-Sword
FantomFang: F-GrElf-Barb-Tree [DEAD]
Siriah: M-Hurth-Monk-Candle
Ars: M-Hum-Barb-Raven [DEAD]
Warheart: M-HiElf-BeastF-Tree [DEAD]
LFk: F-Orc-Farmer-Salamander
Grey: F-Hum-Druid-Book
Baranor: F-DarElf-BeastF-Wand

RFP
07-02-2008, 01:56 AM
I think I will try too.

LFk
07-02-2008, 02:59 AM
My character is already running into a few issues due to bad judgement. I'm sure he's going to be dead soon :(

The actual character thread is only 1/post per person, so i want to keep that short and sweet. So i'll post this little story here...

This excerpt from my progress so far.

Because SMC/UD and PC were both too much for the time being, dove to I:9 and back to get enough pockets to pick and, with the help of Miser, barely got the 3.5k necessary for detect traps from master thief. In the process, blink dogs were found. Waited for them to summon help, and killed a bunch to get a corpse for TCtrl.

Ran into problems on D:9. Dwarftown was clearly on D:10 and there was a river on D:9. Not only that, the river was 5 spaces wide, and could only be crossed there. On top of that, Orcish Farmers apparently don't start out as swimmers. No !oCarrot Juice in inventory. Damn. Desperate for literacy (being as it's crucial and all), it was crossed using 2 divine interventions. BAD BAD judgement, as i didn't have as much piety as i thought, the second prayer getting to rumbles. Stairs were on the exact opposite side of river, luckily, but had the RNG not graced me with that and instead stuck me in another dead end room, i'd have no way to get back.

Thundarr quest resulted in a Rust Monster. Moreover, only had 2k in gold, and saccing all of it only resulted in ground rumbles still. Went to D:11 and zapped all wands looking for a wand of cold. No dice. Waldenbrook apparently hates orcs and only offers chump change for sis.

Was thinking of options out:
1) Wait for enough sis to spawn to get gold for piety, then cross the river the same way i came. Not a great solution, as i'd eventually have to come BACK to dwarftown for literacy and be faced with the same problem, and might be forced to walk to the VD2 altar and back with no 7LB. Might be able to get a few carrot juices and get swimming though, which could work.
2) Scum for a wand of cold (and probably a booze), my preferred option. Secretly thankful that i was a farmer in this instance, as they are hard to starve to death.
3) A bit more complicated, scum for a Dark sage, obtain literacy that way, learn how to bridge build, go to ancient forest, kill trees, drag logs back up to the river, and get across. Needs RNG cooperation.

In moving down dungeon levels, I had forgotten about not entering the forest before Thundarr's second quest. AUGH. Worry about that later, but thats one blessed \oFireballs down the tubes, + one extra annoying random monster. In a stroke of luck, wand shop appeared on D:12. NO WAND OF COLD and I still was near broke. Scummed dungeon until i found what i was looking for: Baby (blue) dragon, and that gave me some bankroll to work with. Shop restocked, and still no wand of cold. No matter, a wand of digging was generated, and i grabbed a wand of trap creation (4 charges) as well. Back on D:9, made a trap as a reference point, zapped wand of digging to make a line. Used another charge to spawn a teleport trap, and used THAT to get back over. Did the same on the other side and now i finally have a ... "bridge"...

That's all for today, that last part was too exhausting.

Oh, and lastly, a little update on the characters so far.

Dest: F-Drake-Bard-Sword
FantomFang: F-GrElf-Barb-Tree [DEAD]
Siriah: M-Hurth-Monk-Candle
Ars: M-Hum-Barb-Raven [DEAD]
Warheart: M-HiElf-BeastF-Tree [DEAD]
LFk: F-Orc-Farmer-Salamander
Grey: F-Hum-Druid-Book
Baranor: F-DarElf-BeastF-Wand
RFP: M-Hum-Archer-Wand
Soriana: F-Gno-Healer-Raven

10 total,
7 Alive
3 Dead

gut
07-02-2008, 05:25 AM
Baranor:
> how to get the code box

Use the (code) and (/code) tags at the beginning and end of whatever
you want coded, just change the ( and ) to [ and ].

EDIT: A brief note about the rules section of the PC thread. Where it states:

> Rules are simple.(needs someone with fluent english for editing )

> 0. No scumming.

I assume it means no save scumming, or roll scumming.

Ars
07-02-2008, 09:40 AM
It looks like some characters are already dropping before others have even started! :eek:That's just quite expected. The early game is the deadliest phase, as the players options with handling unexpected stuff are much more limited.

Just rolled a new random char, a troll ranger... He of course won't be involved here, but I feel like doing a normal game right now after a long break.

Evil Knievel
07-02-2008, 09:53 AM
I started a grey elven assassin. Whew, never really got far with either grey elves or assassins. Ok, let's see how far... I'll go catch the healing skill first.

EDIT: I did not even achieve to get the healing skill... on VD7 a hill orc seargent nearly killed me, I used up 2 prayers and was marching back to the healer another 3 times. Then with only 20/45 HP on VD7 again, short before where the carpenter must have been, I decided to turn around for Jharod once more. But a troll blocked my way. I prayed, but the godess had forsaken me. So I died.

DeSt
07-02-2008, 10:27 AM
LFk, yes, adom sage allows copying directly from game window.
BTW, nice character :)

gut, nice race and spellbook.

I'm just crowned my bard(neutral). Fire Immunity and Trusted One.
Very aggressive tactics - DV/PV: 45/33 w only 4lvl swords.
I've done ultra once and just not interested in it anymore - too boring and too low gain.

Dorten
07-02-2008, 10:33 AM
Despite of my char dieing, I'll use my chance and roll a handful of others. Just while it's still the Creator's day :).

Siriah
07-02-2008, 11:44 AM
Lots of early deaths already. My monk has survived for at least part of the early game, although I still almost managed to kill it. Now let's hope no hostile stone giant lords get generated in HMV when I get there, that has to be my least favourite way to die.

Nice solution to the bridge problem, LFk! That river could have gotten messy quick.

EDIT: ...Well, I'm dead.

Soirana
07-02-2008, 12:15 PM
just a quick question reloading backup save in case of crash is okay, right?

idoru
07-02-2008, 01:20 PM
I rolled a Raven-born male dwarven priest. Not a bad race/class combo, and the starting DV/PV is great. Received only one talent and picked Alert. The only notable things in my starting inventory are a spellbook of Cure Disease, potion of potential toughness, and a wand of monster detection. Stats:



Rain St:16 Le:14 Wi:20 Dx: 9 To:18 Ch: 9 Ap: 9 Ma:15 Pe:14 L
DV/PV: 14/8 H: 27(27) P: 24(24) Exp: 1/0 M: 0

DeSt
07-02-2008, 01:26 PM
idoru, wrong thread maybe?
Soirana, I think it's entirely ok.

There is a message which i've never seen before - "The water demon seems to move very carefully."
Water temple, obvious traps.


Hehe...

+50 bonus to hit, 1d4+41 damage (42-45, avg 43.5)
Not much, huh? Think about it once more.
phase dagger (+0, 1d4+3)

gut
07-02-2008, 03:16 PM
> reloading backup save in case of crash is okay, right?

If one is smart enough to make a backup, I say good for them. I am
not smart enough though : ) I like the 'without stopping to save
himself' line, so giving Khelly that amulet really made me sweat : )

Baranor
07-02-2008, 04:34 PM
Darn you guys and your synergistic characters! Dark Elf Beast Fighter born under the Wand sign?? I am level 14, have bundles and bundles of equipment but don't know what any of it does because I can't @#$%ing read! My quest from the old dwarf was Trollish Berserker! At least with that Ghost Lord that someone had you can get some Lich to summon one in the Graveyard. I have been searching around for a Black Wizard or Dark Sage corpse to munch on, but to no avail. I got trapped between two cave tigers, tried to wait them out, but without any knowledge of my equipment or any digging stuff, I had to bash some skulls. Stupid cats. First kill was a kobold. Doh! I went to go bag my beggar, but two assassins converged on me and I had to search elsewhere for my first kill. I attempted to find a goblin rockthrower or slavemaster in the ID but ended up being cornered by an orc and a kobold. Sad Panda. I'm attempting to keep my kobold kill count low, but we shall see how that works.

Does anyone know if the Black Druid Corpse grants literacy?

P.S.
RNG is totally toying with me. I have already generated a books shop and a scroll shop and CAN'T READ!!!

Grey
07-02-2008, 05:16 PM
Major commiserations, DeSt - you were doing really well with that char. Still, unless everyone stops dying on PC6 and VD7 you may end up with the second-highest score (gut looks like he'll be grabbing first place soon enough).

Baranor
07-02-2008, 06:07 PM
Ouch, DeSt! That's a tough way to die.

Some how I think Grey is going to put up quite a fight with his druid.

Grey
07-02-2008, 06:26 PM
Damn good work, gut - no one's going to equal that score. Creating and winning on Creator's Day is quite stylish too.

If I survive the early game (a big if) and do well then I think I'll have to try for UNE, since I haven't had that before.

gut
07-02-2008, 07:01 PM
Thanks : ) That PC was just lucky from the start. Picking up an early
ego weapon that lasted the whole game, and generating hordes of herbs.
There was even a bookshop generated on UD:4, from which I only
purchased a single book (etherial bridge). I had no cash on my first
trip through, then every gp I got had to go for piety.

I wanted to get crowned as soon as possible, because I felt like the
extra luck would be great. I did not have a single door blow up in
my face the whole game. If the door was locked, it just said so, it
was a pleasant change of pace from a normal game : ) I got Nature's
Companion as a crowning gift, and preserver as a uselessness gift. So
fate did smile upon me.

While I never went down to 1 HP, there were a few points where things
could have turned out much worse. Gnolls, ogre lords and shopkeepers
took my HP's very low. Ghuls and mimics and staring eyes paralyzed me,
but only briefly, and stone block traps destroyed a few items, but just
a few. I think starting out on creators day, is a very good idea : )

Ars
07-02-2008, 08:14 PM
I seem to be having really bad luck today... All characters I've created have died early. Out-of-depth werewolf lord, black wizard summoning dark elf lords, stone block after getting wish and perma-invisibility from pool...

Maybe it also shows a bit that I haven't played a normal game in months. But that's a good reason to get another victory now...

LFk
07-02-2008, 08:35 PM
I know this is a "competition", but I want to ask for some help :P

I've never really run a farmer deep, and i'm wondering if i'm eventually going to be able to cast spells with any sort of proficiency. Can farmers around ~35-40 get a few spells going? Or is my Salamander starsign just going to be completely worthless. Even if i can get a fire bolt going, it would help tremendously to kill grouped monsters.

It probably really doesn't help that i'm an Orc as well :(

I know my merchant, even at around MT and the endgame, still could not read a spellbook of Light to save his life (and indeed he died) and wonder if farmers are in the same vein.




My character is having huge amounts of trouble, btw. I see gut has already won. So far it has taken me forever to just get my first orb. I couldn't damage Snake from Beyond at all, so i had to wield Moon Sickle + Berserker + Spenseweed + 1 Divine intervention to finally knock him off.

Grey
07-02-2008, 09:12 PM
Farmers can eventually learn spells, but you need high Learning (about 30) and the Concentration skill.

For the Snake From Beyond I really suggest fighting him in darkness - he can't fight back then. It's also a good idea to weaken him up with acid wands.

LFk
07-02-2008, 11:04 PM
Farmers can eventually learn spells, but you need high Learning (about 30) and the Concentration skill.

For the Snake From Beyond I really suggest fighting him in darkness - he can't fight back then. It's also a good idea to weaken him up with acid wands.


Good point. I perpetually forget about darkness, and make mistakes about which monsters can and cant fight under darkness.

I once mistakenly thought cat lord didn't fight under darkness. Painful mistake.

30 Le and Concentration ... i don't think my farmer will even get either, never mind both, my Le started out at 8 and is currently at 17. I suppose with enough gold/PoGA/CoK...

The RNG is trying to kill this character. A failed teleport put me next to an acid vortex, which detonated and took out my 7LB.

I feel like i just lost.

Shadow_2014
07-03-2008, 12:31 AM
So, I rolled a pretty nice character. She's a Salamander Dark Elf Wizard. I haven't started playing yet though because I figure as long as I have a character who's Fate is Smiling upon, I'd like to see how close I can get to beating the game. So, any advice as to locations to check out? I've never been to the SMC, I've only completed the Druid Quest once, and the Puppy Cave is often a quick death, though with a Wizard it's probably not a problem. Should I convert from C, or does it really matter? When's a good time to enter the CoC? I've played a whole lot of games, but I've never gotten an Orb, entered the Rift or gotten a character to Lvl 20. Any advice for a veteran noob?

EDIT: Also, I have Darkness spell but never use it. Tactically, what's it really good for? And Book Casting; is it worth it? I always just read the book til it burns up.

gut
07-03-2008, 04:05 AM
Soirana's PC is rolling. Healers really get the HP's don't they?!
Over 200 HP's, plus 3x healing rate, plus the Bracers of War to boot.
I think this one's a winner for sure.

Grey, stop beating up on druids! They can't help it if they're just
nature lovers, and not mindless bashing machines. You should be smart
and find a stone axe of devastation like I did, then you can bash any
thing you like : )

Seriously, I also used to think they got jipped by Guth, but I'm not
so sure now. The bracers of To that I got were +5, and lasted me to
the end of the game. The ring of minor elemental mastery combines 3
resistances in one, and can sometimes give DV and PV as well, it lasted
me until the RotHK's. The balance amulet can help a lot if you find a
weapon of vampirism. I'm pretty sure even an uncursed one will keep
your alignment stable.

Most importantly, notice that your PC is still alive. Druids may not
be stylish, but I find they have a special knack for not dying : )
About your worm problem, a scroll of vermin control is ideal. You
can also don that amulet of balance and bolt some to death. It is
sometimes possible to use wands of door creation to seal them into
a part of the dungeon you don't need, even if it means having to dig
an alternative path to your stairs. A scroll of monster aggravation
is also a possibility, but they are red worms, so watch out for the
fire. I am not sure, but I think prayer can stop them from breeding
as well.

As for darkness, it is mainly useful against animals, humanoids,
and giants. There is a bug in the game, which allows all monsters
to see in the dark if *they* are standing in an open door square.
If a monster does panic while in the dark, they must be allowed to
have an escape route, otherwise they can hit you while in panic.
As long as they have an escape route though, they can't hit you.

There's more info on darkness tactics in some of the 'weakest link'
threads on this forum,. It's mainly in the noble Water League thread,
but you can also find some in the (spit) Fire League thread as well.
(If you could call that mess a league) : )

Soirana
07-03-2008, 04:20 AM
about stopping breeders: sterilization works only until you leave the level, or am i having memory problems once more?

FantomFang
07-03-2008, 04:25 AM
I just thought that I'd say, I made a Dwarven Ranger after my character got brutally slaughtered, and I gotta say it is VERY nice starting out with more than 10 hp's for once. So far, been rocketing through the game, dove to HMV, to arena, and did druid quest in the very short time I have played him. 23 starting strength along with 19 starting toughness does that for you. Hardest part was a Lesser Ooze Vault. Those things are EVIL for non-spellcasters. You can't kill them faster than they breed, and they corrode your weapons to boot. Ugh.

LFk
07-03-2008, 06:46 AM
ACW dropped Executor for me.

Anyone else ever see an orb guardian drop an artifact that wasn't the orb? This is the first i've never seen this happen.

The RNG gives, but it could take just as quickly. I would've still taken a 7LB over it though, as it's not like Skullcrusher was shabby. :)



A few notes about the corrupted tissue healing: someone mentioned that scars after the first don't reduce Dx/Ap? I've only had 2 scars so far, but each has lowered dexterity by 1 and ap by 1. Its loss is not registered in the Character info section, but rather just reduced at the time of scarring and not otherwise noted. I'll need a few more scars to see if any of them don't actually reduce dex, but so far this corruption can definitely reduce dex/ap more than once.

This is not particularly nasty, however, as abused dexterity can be returned to a minimum of 25 via herbs.




Hardest part was a Lesser Ooze Vault. Those things are EVIL for non-spellcasters. You can't kill them faster than they breed, and they corrode your weapons to boot. Ugh.

Oozes are a reason I train thrown rocks to at least a reasonable level with any non-caster pc. Limitless, expendable projectiles are the best answer until a non-corroding weapon can be found. It is possible that one would have enough arrows/quarrels early in the game to deal with them, but there are ALWAYS enough rocks :P Or if you're buff enough, you can bash them with a si.

Shadow_2014
07-03-2008, 07:13 AM
As for darkness, it is mainly useful against animals, humanoids,
and giants. There is a bug in the game, which allows all monsters
to see in the dark if *they* are standing in an open door square.
If a monster does panic while in the dark, they must be allowed to
have an escape route, otherwise they can hit you while in panic.
As long as they have an escape route though, they can't hit you.

So you're able to hit monsters in the dark but they can't hit you? Or do you need some kind of way to see in the dark without your enemy being able to do the same?

FantomFang
07-03-2008, 07:14 AM
Yeah, i did really well with ranged weapon and ammo right from the start, so i dropped all of my rocks and working on bows and xbows. I didn't have a si at the time either, so meh. I think about my only option that wouldn't burn weapons that I would have had would be kicking, but it doesn't outdo the breeding rate. I did have plenty of expendable weapons that I used to bash through them until i realized the situation was AWOL.

ular
07-03-2008, 09:57 AM
Hooray! I love ADOM contests! It's always entertaining and edifying to read all your posts, since I pretty much suck at this game. After four years of intermittent playing you'd think I'd figure out how to beat it more than once (and that was really lucky... I gave myself over 1 year of game time to totally buff up my vanilla ending).

Anyway, here's my entry:

High elf Archer / Candle.

I took alert and good shot.

I'm sure the RNG is going to cream me because I got such a good random start. 16 Str & 25 Dex? 21 hp starting off? My god... I could possibly survive a stone block trap!

gut
07-03-2008, 10:03 AM
> So you're able to hit monsters in the dark but they can't hit you?

Right. As long as a monster doesn't see in the dark, they will stand
still and let you beat them to death. Some monsters are capable
of panic though, this allows them to be able to flee. If they have
no escape route, then they can hit you. Your PC can not gain the
ability to see in the dark, so you have to just take your best guess
as to what's going on in there : ) After a while, you get the hang
of it.

vogonpoet, it looks like your PC is going to have a tough row to hoe : )
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Did you do something to make the RNG mad?
Seriously, if you manage a win with that PC, you really deserve the
top spot in this challenge. I was able to win because the RNG threw
me a powerhouse. If I had rolled a farmer, it probably would have been
a different story.

Soirana
07-03-2008, 10:40 AM
the nonsense goes on. this time it is not crash, i am... unable to load save file. I tried everything on computer at my work. No i just can hope copy at home will give good news.

Or i may run third incarnation...

vogonpoet
07-03-2008, 11:59 AM
I will be glad just to get off PC2, let alone win...
Not sure whether to try my gardening skillz now
to get me some aluria to survive the spider factory,
or just hope to survive factory and save them for
UD stabilisation potential later...

Anyway, I should be glad my luck isn't matching Soirana's (:

Grey
07-03-2008, 04:40 PM
LFk: That's a damn cool drop from the ACW - never heard of anything like that happening, though obviously in theory it would be possible. You've got a good chance of winning now if you proceed carefully enough. What's your kitty karma like.

Baranor: Sad death, and with such a promising char too. Paralysis is one of the few things that can take down a strong char, and it's easy to forget that dark elven priestesses can get you in a hold like that.

gut: Cleared the worms yesterday actually, but was too tired to update. Had already closed off what I could in rooms and got rid of the rest with magic missile, leaving the level whenever I needed to restore PP. Alignment doesn't seem to take a hit from bolting animals. Still, I can forsee worms being a general nuisance in the game. Got Skullcrusher now and reached Dwarftown, but still have very little PP. Unfortunately my bracers of To got fried very quickly, but I have To near maxed with herbs now anyway. I really haven't felt the luck in this game - has been a bit of a struggle all round. Got "very close" pretty quickly anyway, so I don't think Creator's Day has helped me at all.

meh
07-03-2008, 05:17 PM
A minor correction: I got my char killed on DD6, not PC5. It doesn't really matter, of course, but just in case you want to keep the record completely accurate.

LFk
07-03-2008, 06:10 PM
Grey: Not gunna get that RotMC. Early in the game i got myself stuck in a corridor. On one side was a series of monsters that eventually led to an elemental, due to me sensing imminent danger... the other, some wolves and.... a cat. I didn't have the outs to deal with this situation (digging/teleportation, etc). I briefly toyed with the idea of throwing every one of my unID'd potions at the cat to see if one would stun or confuse him, but meh.

The following monsters were vanquished:

4 cave lions
12 cave tigers
7 wild cats


vogon, you might have managed to generate a character worse than mine! :P

I'm not quite sure which is worse for farmer - hurthling or orc...


That book sign might prove useful later in the game though!

vogonpoet
07-03-2008, 07:37 PM
Are you kidding me? What extra skillz does being a hobbit bring to the farming table? None. That's right, you can count them on one elbow, an infinite number of times.

Orcs on the other hand, have find weakness (and mining and backstabbing, and the most useless skill of them all, the mighty metallurgy). Find weakness is awesome. Easily the best non-farmer skill.

Plus, orcs can get detect traps without violating any fairly obvious role playing principles. Why on earth should I have to commit chaotic acts to be eligible for such a skill? pick pocketing = clearly chaotic. Shame there isn't some minor lawful quest from one of the dwarves to let lawfuls install detect traps - sounds like the sort of thing the smith should know - it could even be a pretty hard quest for the early mid-game - something you would struggle to accomplish before the pyramid / griffyard, but do-able by time you find your first temple...

Anyway, I digress.

Shadow_2014
07-03-2008, 07:55 PM
Ah well. A character that was doing quite well was killed in a most unfortunate way.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screenshot
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################################################## ############### #######
#........./........................./...........................# #.....#
#...>.....#####################.....#.################# ########.#####..<..#
#.@...@...# #.....#........./........*/.#####...../.....#
########### ####### #################.........#.##..#############
#.....# #.........#.....#
###|....# ########### ###############/#########
#./.....# #.........# #.........#
########### #.#.....# #|........# #.........#
#.........# #.#.....# #.|.......# ##.........#
#.........# #####.#####/###...|.....####################..........#
#.........# #.....# #.||||.....|../.................../.........#
#.........#####.##### ########################################.####
#........./.....# ###
#################




Scorch St:11 Le:15 Wi:15 Dx:20 To:10 Ch: 8 Ap:13 Ma:22 Pe:11 C
DV/PV: 31/5 H: 0(34) P: 97(97) Exp: 8/8002 PC: 2 Sp: 104
Coward
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Scorch Race: female Dark Elf Class: Wizard
Star sign: Salamander Birthday: 18/Salamander (day 138 of the year)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total weight: 987 stones Carrying capacity: 1650 stones

Head : -
Neck : -
Body : uncursed robe [+0, +1] [60s]
Girdle : uncursed girdle of carrying [+0, +0] [15s]
Cloak : -
Right Hand : uncursed orcish spear (+1, 1d8+2) [75s]
Left Hand : uncursed large shield (-1) [+5, +3] [120s]
Right Ring : uncursed ring of fire resistance [1s]
Left Ring : -
Bracers : -
Gauntlets : uncursed gauntlets (-1, +0) [+0, +1] [10s]
Boots : uncursed leather boots [+0, +0] [25s]
Missile weapon: uncursed short bow (+1, +0) [20s]
Missiles : bundle of 28 uncursed arrows (+0, 1d6) [56s]
Tool : uncursed fletchery set (8) [70s]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total weight: 535 stones Carrying capacity: 1650 stones

Rings ('=')
uncursed ring of the fish [1s]
Wands ('\')
uncursed wand of monster creation (3 charges) [3s]
Potions ('!')
uncursed potion of cure poison [2s]
blessed potion of cure poison [2s]
potion of holy water [4s]
Scrolls ('?')
uncursed scroll of uncursing [2s]
uncursed scroll of monster detection [2s]
uncursed scroll of repair [2s]
cursed blank scroll [2s]
Food ('%')
uncursed large ration [200s]
Valuables ('$')
3120 gold pieces [31s]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alchemy .............. 67 (good) [+3d5]
Alertness ............ 42 (fair) [+3d3]
Climbing ............. 42 (fair) [+2d4]
Concentration ........100 (superb) [+2d4]
Find weakness ........ 32 (fair) [+3d3]
First aid ............ 38 (fair) [+3d3]
Haggling ............. 18 (mediocre) [+3d5]
Healing .............. 58 (good) [+1d5]
Herbalism ............ 61 (good) [+3d4]
Listening ............ 25 (mediocre) [+4d4]
Literacy .............100 (superb) [+2d4]
Pick pockets ......... 15 (mediocre) [+3d5]
Stealth .............. 53 (good) [+1d5]
Ventriloquism ........ 39 (fair) [+3d3]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acid Ball: 68, 42pp (Effectivity: +1)
Darkness : 301, 4pp (Effectivity: +1)
Fire Bolt: 111, 6pp (Effectivity: +10)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scorch, the dark elven wizard, was sacrificed by a female doppleganger to
her gods.
She scored 16898 points and advanced to level 8.
She survived for 0 years, 8 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes and 6 seconds (3691
turns).
Scorch visited 5 places.
Her strength score was modified by +3 during her career.
Her learning score was modified by +1 during her career.
Her dexterity score was modified by +1 during her career.
Her toughness score was modified by +1 during her career.
She ended her adventuring life on level 2 of a dangerous cave at the
Drakalor Pass.
105 monsters perished under her attacks.
She possessed the following intrinsics:
She was fire resistant (gained through an item).
She was lucky.
Fate smiled upon her.
She had the following talents: Charged, Potent Aura, Quick, Strong Aura,
Strong Magic.
She had a final speed score of 104 (final base speed: 104).
She was a fervent follower of Lol'th.
She did not ask for divine help.
She was chaotically aligned.

The following monsters were vanquished:
1 giant ant queen
1 least daemon
1 raider lord


I was getting nice and close to my deity when that damn bastress came and sacced me to what I assume were my own gods. Such as life I suppose. I was even getting my St up a bit by walking around Burdened for my first few levels. Next time I'll have to be more careful around altars.

deepshock
07-03-2008, 09:47 PM
I'm in:

Zelda, Female Book High Elven Wizard:
Attributes: 10, 25, 16, 20, 8, 12, 17, 16, 9
Spells: Acid Bolt, Darkness, Light

LFk
07-03-2008, 09:50 PM
Are you kidding me? What extra skillz does being a hobbit bring to the farming table? None. That's right, you can count them on one elbow, an infinite number of times.



In particular, doubly trained Archery.

I can only speak from what i see, being as i've never actually tried a Hurth farmer, but I imagine their early game survivability to be at least above average. With thrown rocks at +4 to start and 2xtrained archery, you can pretty much kill whatever comes at you in the early game with rocks. I would argue that this skill distinction sets our farmers on very separate paths, one range based and one melee based.

Orcs have a 1.2x EXP multiplier, wheras Hurthlings are .95x, meaning also that they are significantly faster to level.

You asked :P

The issue with detect traps is moot. Moving in a chaotic direction is never hard. Parking at some flavor of neutral till mid-game is a good idea anyway, concerning a certain midgame reward.


This doesn't change much. Your R/C is still one of the hardest in the game. But when you play 'em, you gotta be thankful for what you do have.

Grey
07-03-2008, 10:15 PM
There's more dead than alive now... 17 dead, 1 victory, 13 alive (4 of which are just started). DeSt, what happened to your high score list? It was nice having a points-based list like that (my own list showing all entrants is sorted just by player names).

Sorry to see your struggles, vogonpoet. I'd recommend diving to the forest and hoping for more herb levels - farmers get a lot in my experience. A second precrown could put your char in a more secure position.

Be very very careful of the cat lord, LFk - it's easy to forget just how frightening he can be. Hope you have plenty of webbing and hopefully some paralysis and poison wands too. It's a pity casino didn't have more of use to you.

Sami's looking pretty damned strong too, with a very decent shot at victory - but I'd expect that from him.

DeSt
07-03-2008, 10:29 PM
I'm just suddenly had damaged my keyboard and didn't expected to bought new so fast, so i deleted list - hate outdated things. I have it saved in local file, so i'll update it later - in the middle of D&D session now :P
And i hate my english so much - i'm trying to avoid using it as much as possible.

Grey
07-03-2008, 10:36 PM
I see... On the subject of see, or rather si, the strange item has gone missing for my char. Was nowhere to be found on D8, and I killed all humanoids there. Several castings of Knowledge of the Ancients reveals no hidden areas. Odd... Will return when I have a wand/scroll of item detection some time. On the plus side my To is now 17, I have SLBs (random drop - that's extremely rare for me) and a blessed necklace of rapid healing. There should be little that can harm me now.

Edit: Found the si! Went back to D8 and it was lying around there. Got loads of gold though, so it's not exactly needed.

LFk
07-04-2008, 02:32 AM
That PC of yours is running nicely, Grey.

Druids really are not bad. Reasonably powerful spellcasting, and sometimes people forget that it's a guaranteed RotMC (unless you accidentally execute a cat with a misplaced spell), which is really nice.

I think Keethrax's dungeon has all animals hostile as well.

The RNG always has its own ideas, but from what you described it looks like a win-worthy character.

deepshock
07-04-2008, 02:50 AM
I'm in I4 now after a round of bug-chasing, and at Level 10 still. I've gotten a bunch of useful spells but no Blink Dog corpse. Man I need that corpse. :p

LFk
07-04-2008, 04:00 AM
2 greater vaults, both the easiest variety (giant), with 3 artifacts apeice.

After a whole game of bad luck, i think now it's swung entirely in the other direction where im going to luckbox this game with insane gear.

Dorten
07-04-2008, 05:03 AM
Are you kidding me? What extra skillz does being a hobbit bring to the farming table? None. That's right, you can count them on one elbow, an infinite number of times.

Orcs on the other hand, have find weakness (and mining and backstabbing, and the most useless skill of them all, the mighty metallurgy). Find weakness is awesome. Easily the best non-farmer skill.

Are you kidding me? My first non scummed win was with hurtling farmer, and I'll say, that they are stupidly easy to play as soon as you can bring them to levels 6-12

vogonpoet
07-04-2008, 07:30 AM
We will see. Rosie is still alive. She refuses to deliberately commit any chaotic acts though, and hence has no interest in turning neutral, which will make her life hell in the pyramid, even before she hits the top level.

The exp gain is a problem actually - I deliberately by-passed 2 vaults in the VD in the hope of having more time to pimp my PC before the pyramid (actually leveling up is kinda pointless for a farmer - gee I can't wait for my iron ration producing abilities), but already at thick end of level 15, and looks like I am not going to have time for a second pre-crown... no way to pacify big room at moment, and just one stoma square there - gained a level just gathering for my first pre-crown damnit.

I used to mainly play spell casters, and generally had no respect for the pyramid whatsoever, going in at level 13 and just laying the place to waste. Recently had a couple of decent looking archers die there though, thinking my undead ammo would be all I needed - troll king, spider factory and quickling disagreed with my shenanigans.

My farmer currently does not have a decent spear, has no undead slaying ammo, and is worried about rocking the heavily bandaged one. So I guess I shall have to dive down, try and survive the animated forest, and claim my wand...

Soirana
07-04-2008, 11:39 AM
luckily home computer save file worked so i will try to continue on (and will be making backups).

edit: as soon as Rng stopped screwing me I did it myself... I pissed off random shopkeeper, and managed to kill it just to get to lv 17 and rtealising i managed to kill my chances for ankh and AMW.
Well i guess it is time to use black torc instead.

gut
07-04-2008, 01:24 PM
Congrats LFk! That makes two gate shuttings so far, and I would definitely
say yours is the more impressive. This challenge is certainly turning out to
have a better success rate than the last christmas challenge : ) I think
there is going to be at least four more winners, before it's all done.

Grey
07-04-2008, 05:43 PM
Congratulations to LFk, our second victor in the competition (that is extremely unusual I must say). Glad to see you've picked up ADOM so easily :) Shame on you trying the door creation ending when you have Executor though...

Druids are very poor spellcasters I'm finding. Too low PP to even train properly, and no handy spell cost reducing class powers. I have to rely heavily on melee to cut through monsters - spells run out too fast otherwise. I don't see the neutral cats as being a big advantage, because neutral other animals is such a damned nuisance. I rarely have major troubles dealing with cats anyway. Killed Keethrax without running into any kitties thankfully, and no summoners have decided to throw a horde of them in my face yet. We'll see though... I really hope I have no troubles getting a giant boar skull either.

PeanutGod
07-04-2008, 08:16 PM
Well then, a rundown on my Gnomish Thief.

Currently level 17. Had some pretty god awful luck when it came to rivers. RNG threw 4 at me, all in annoying places. One just above the puppy dog vault, one in the UD preventing me from getting to the village and 2 in the COC (one navigatable - the other not so much). Spent a long long time running around trying to find a wand of trap creation, wand of teleportation, wand of item detection, scroll of item detection (for the obvious wand). Eventually found one. Puppy vault yielded long bow of accuracy and also 1 shop in the cave. UD has 2 shops, although nothing good in the village bar the scroll.

Into the CoC, got a few decent herbs before i hit the rivers. Got past them ok with the wand, and then got to Dwarftown. Waldenbrook holding onto Serpents bite, which I took great pleasure in acquiring. Got 4 SoCR and the PoI from the mystic, kill for Thrundarr was a hobgoblin. Not touched other quests yet. Cleared pyramid with ease. About to find the forest and get across.

Also found 4 PoGA so far, bracers of toughness and some arrows of slaying. Had to use 2 prayers early on, but now am safely cuddling up to my God.

To be updated soon.

Nezur
07-04-2008, 08:24 PM
I think I won't participate in the contest this time as I already have a promising game on the go. Besides starting with both Fate Smiles and Lucky feels cheap. :P

Grey
07-04-2008, 11:06 PM
Well done to Sami on the third victory in this contest - quite a big surprise compared to normal random character contests, espcially considering there are several other promising characters still running (mine not least I like to think - over 300 HP should keep me quite safe for the forseeable future).

gut
07-05-2008, 06:17 AM
Grey, if you don't stop bad-mouthing druids...
I would just like to point out, that out of a score of PC's,
the 2 druids are more than holding their own. It's kind of funny,
but when this challenge is finished, I think the winners will
include 2 druids, 2 farmers, and a healer! : ) Out of all of
the classes that are thought of as powerful (wizards, archers
and so on), I expect the only winner will be Sami's barbarian.

Oh, and congrats Sami : )

DeSt
07-05-2008, 09:05 AM
Well, for me it's much easier to win with a merchant(expecially potion one) than wizard, barbarian, etc.

meh
07-05-2008, 01:44 PM
The next time something like this is done, we could perhaps instead of random characters use a sort of secret santa system where everyone gets to pick the race/class/sex for one other player.

Grey
07-05-2008, 01:59 PM
Grey, if you don't stop bad-mouthing druids...


You'll what? Summon cave bears on me? Ooh, I'm so scared of the fancy druid powers! :P

gut
07-05-2008, 05:18 PM
Oh yeah, well...

hold on a second...

Dare you to say that in the wilderness!

With their amazing 2x wilderness regen powers, they could destroy any
wizard you threw at them. Well, at least 4 times out of 5... Would you
believe 3 times out of 5? OK, how about 2? 1?

Well, that doesn't matter anyway. Somehow. Druids still rule.

LFk
07-05-2008, 06:17 PM
Congrats Sami!

Third winner, wow, this contest is going pretty well...


I think druids really aren't that bad! The Druids in this contest are 2 for 2 at being alive so far aren't they? Though that could be a function of the players playing them, who knows :P



gut: You used less than half the turns i did! I don't think I could've pulled a victory that fast even if i deliberately tried. That's more impressive in itself. You also quadrupled my points ... :)

Grey: It wasn't easy picking up ADOM :P

I see some prodigies on here getting their first win in 3 months or so which is unreal to me: it took me 2.5 years for my first win, and if you look at my yasds you'll see i'm still prone to getting my characters killed at really dumb stages in the game :( (MT, D:50, etc.)

I remember back in the day with no guidebook, i died at least once to every little gimmick in the game: not figuring out why SMC was getting harder, Banshee with no bees wax, using a fireball in the ancient forest, etc, and when I got to the MT for the first time and didn't know how to fight Nuurag Vaarn, I walked in and he executed me with a death ray immediately.



And i almost always use destruction or doors endings on D:50. I find that those PCs that do survive MT rarely have trouble with D:50. However I have TWO deaths on D:50, both of which I killed myself with bouncing bolts or accidentally reading water when it says raw chaos, SO I figure that less time spent on the level minimizes my chances of being an idiot.

So basic rule goes:
If PC is powerful enough + has AoLS = clear all intelligent monsters
If PC is powerful enough + no AoLS = teleport ending.
Weak PC/low on SoCR = teleport ending.


Dest: I'm surprised that you have such an easy time with merchants! I find their class powers, aside from carrying capacity, to be terribly weak. I don't suppose that give away items to calm monsters ability works on anyone that matters does it? I've never gotten a merchant to level 40. At level 40 there's very few monsters i would care about calming down... just cats and maybe Nuurag Vaarn.

Grey
07-05-2008, 08:37 PM
Took me 8 years to get my first win last April - had 4 since, and am looking at another now hopefully...

Reached the casino but no scroll of danger. No wishes so far either (apart from the one I got from DarkForge for Khelly). Kinda stuck on what to do now... Might go grave-digging and hope for the best. No artifacts in there either, so I'll have to think about what to feed the ratling - I guess Big Punch, Moon Sickle, phial, black torc, RotHK and Sword of Nonnak.

Shadow_2014
07-05-2008, 10:53 PM
Hey, how do you dig up the Graveyard? I'm there at the moment and was thinking of trying to dig up something handy. Is there anything I should know about certain graves containing messed up stuff? Because I have a relatively promising character at the moment and don't want to lose him to something ridiculously easy to avoid. Oh, and is a level cap on entering the pyramid?

Grey
07-05-2008, 11:05 PM
Digging graves is dangerous as it summons undead - the only ones with decent treasure summon up some type of lich, sometimes even emperor liches (which can give a L50 char a hard time). You shouldn't dig up graves unless you have an easy way of dealing with these, or teleport to get the hell away if needs be. To dig a grave 'u'se a pick axe on the current square (aim it at 5) - you can also use wands of digging in the same way.

Pyramid can't be entered after you hit level 17, so the highest level you can enter it at is level 16.

My scroll of danger worries are over. Soon the crown and medal of chaos will be mine...

gut
07-06-2008, 07:26 AM
ular:
> can't keep this up forever) and I'm surrounded by hostiles. Not sure
> what to do since if I leave cowardly tactics they'll crush me, but I
> can't actually hurt them right now. Any advice out there? If not,
> then I'm afraid a few short turns later this is going to be all over
> for poor Mr. Special.

Read a blessed scroll of identify to see what you have to work with.
Search your inventory for anything of darkness or invisibility. If you
have even one, it could be enough to get you to a safer spot. Make your
way to an edge of the level, this will reduce the number of trees
hitting you. Don't use any fire magic, because it makes all the trees
hostile. If you have a pickaxe, or a wand of digging, the bottom of
the level can be dug out, allowing an escape tunnel.

Alternatively, you could try a means of teleport. This isn't as good,
as the above methods, because you might wind up further away from the
stairs.

Grey:
> Lost a couple of points of dex and fire resistance (which is harder
> to acquire for bloody druids)

Exactly how is it harder to get -fire with a druid? Just put on your
amulet of balance and blast away! It's actually easier with a druid,
because the animals won't expect you to kill them.

Grey
07-06-2008, 01:59 PM
ular:
Any potions of invis? Teleportation of any kind? Try to fight as few trees as possible. Wear two shields and go through the gaps as quick as you can. Remember that you run faster if on Coward at low HP.

gut:
But I can't be mean to the widdle animals :P

vogonpoet
07-06-2008, 02:12 PM
Rosie dead. Will update later.

Soirana
07-06-2008, 03:07 PM
except for not saving Kelly (and slaughtering 3k gremlins, brrr) Dalwyn is doing fine.

Have water and fire orbs, done some smithing (more than enough IMHO) and preparing myself for gravedigging session in CoC graveyard. Currently lv21 and stats (after some PoGA and stat potions from gremlins) are enough to close the gate.

p.s. i managed pickpocket ironfist in dwarven graveyard.

Grey
07-06-2008, 04:14 PM
RIP Rosie. I guess that frees up Sam to spend more time with Frodo...

Good to see you're going strong, Soirana - I love IronFist myself, but then I'm quite a strength whore. Wish I'd had a ring of weakness when clearing that giant vault :(

With gut, LFk and Sami the only victors so far we still have in the running:

3AM
Alavir
deepshock
Grey
Molach
PeanutGod
Soirana
ular

Only Soirana and I have passed the big hurdle of the Tower, but I'm sure some others will join us when they come round to playing. But who will be... the Weakest L- oh wait, wrong challenge...

Grey
07-06-2008, 10:54 PM
Um, wow, this is pretty amazing... I just got killed by the emperor moloch! I can't help but find this oddly amusing I must say... I had done absolutely everything else in the game with ease. Surge of power on SC5 gave me Preserver, and the char was pretty damned powerful overall. Notably zero wishes in the game though (apart from my pool-sipped one for AoLS). Was hack 'n' backing the EM with Skullcrusher, not paying attention to HP since I hadn't had to in so long. He got a hit in at one point, but I thought nothing of it and carried on. He got another hit a few rounds later and I was dead. Over 800 HP in two hits - ouch. Guess I should have looked at my HP and healed after the first strike... Hurrah for overconfidence, eh?

I am never ever playing a druid again :P One problem I guess is I never trained missiles, since they're too slow to train, so my initial attempt with demon slaying quarrels proved fairly fruitless, leading me to go for it with the much better trained Skullcrusher.

Best of luck to all remaining contestants!

LFk
07-07-2008, 12:33 AM
Oof Grey, that character you had there was more powerful than any of the winners so far. Good job making it that far down the Ultra Ending path with a randomed PC, though. You would've finished a normal ending with that PC easily anyway (unless corruptions were getting out of hand), so i'd say you made it further than anyone so far.

Sucks to get capped off by EM like that...

Overconfidence is the biggest killer of all in ADOM, past the tower anyway.

Grey
07-07-2008, 01:11 AM
Soirana's healer looks stronger I'd say - just needs a good weapon. Bit low on spells of course, but better skills and more HP (which would have been handy for me against the EM). But certainly I could have wiped the floor with D50, and I had a huge stash of corruption removal stuff. Only thing I was really lacking was a wish for speed for the Andy fight, but a bit of BDC scumming would have provided eventually.

Soirana
07-07-2008, 03:20 AM
Soirana's healer looks stronger I'd say - just needs a good weapon.

i've got skullcrusher in my backpack. Somehow i decided to stick with spears (and rune covered trident in case i need to boost damage output.)

Soirana
07-07-2008, 05:34 AM
well i have closed the gate. And have died. Apparently it is possible to receive over 1000 damage per turn.

LFk
07-07-2008, 06:25 AM
Sad death .... powerful character.

Well i was about to say that there is NO WAY greater molochs can drop that kind of damage on you when you have 100 PV but then i noticed:

She ended her adventuring life in an unremarkable dungeon on level 1.

I'm guessing you summoned them in SMC, when you were level 50. Whenever i do that, i never ever engage these things in melee, and judging by what happened, i guess rightly so :(


Your flg says it all. Probably a bad idea to be cursed, and when in melee against greater moloch, -30 DV is bad.

>She adhered to the principles of the Cat Lord but fell from grace.

I'm assuming that means you killed a cat and your ring poofed. But you still have it equipped? What happened there. I know it doesn't poof if it's not equipped, but I thought it doesn't display the fell from grace message unless it poofs? I could be wrong about that. My memory sucks.


Congrats on a win though, for all intents and purposes anyway. You did save the world, you just.. didn't make it out alive that's all. It isn't always a happy ending for the hero. Should be considered a win, i think :P

Soirana
07-07-2008, 09:03 AM
speaking about ring:
it was in backpack. Actual scenario (at least i think so) was fire orb into fire anomaly and a cat on level.

About molochs i sort of wanted to see what SMC summoned one can do. Now i know that.

Nezur
07-07-2008, 04:50 PM
One problem I guess is I never trained missiles, since they're too slow to train

Druids are semispellcasters so they train all weapon skills 25% faster than true spellcasters (i.e. they need only 50% more points compared to the melee and long-range combat classes and mindcrafters). Just wear or wield something dooming to find gnoll war parties and slaughter them with missiles. Additionally you can train shields and scum for ego battle axes in the process. :)

gut
07-07-2008, 04:58 PM
The 'stupidest death' prize is going to be kind of hard to figure out now : )

Grey
07-07-2008, 05:04 PM
Soirana... you... aw man, that's a silly death. Fun though - nice way to leave the chain.

Still a few stragglers left before this contest is wrapped up. Will we see any more high flyers?

ular
07-08-2008, 07:51 AM
Alas Mr. Special is no more. Thanks to the wonderful advice regarding the Animated Forest, I drank a blessed potion of invisibility and managed to squeeze out of there in one piece. The Dwarven Halls had stairs generated very close for both levels, and I triumphantly returned to Thundarr with a big smile on my face. I was only level 13, but with Purifier, a DV of 50, 130hp, and Alertness at 80+ I thought I could try the Ogre Caves right away. Sadly, after exterminating everything except one lone ogre mage i just couldn't seem to locate, I thought I'd come back another day. Bam, bam, bam... a few frost bolts later I was iced. Especially sad because I was mere steps from the stairs and could have easily prayed if I hadn't been so overly confident.

the best advice couldn't save me from my own stupidity.

Shadow_2014
07-08-2008, 08:33 AM
That's a damn shame. Once that freakin' random monster quest is done, Thrundarr's quests are some of my favourites. Shame to not get around to unleashing a demon upon the poor Dwarven townsfolk.

zasvid
07-08-2008, 11:00 AM
Hoom, since I've finally registered here to write wishes on the Creator's Day, I can join the fun too.

Though I didn't look here earlier, I fortunately have generated 20 random characters and named them CD1 to CD20, so I'll roll a die before checking in ADOM what any of them really are, thus picking a random character among random characters.

[rolls a d20. the result is 17.]

So, who hides in CD17.svg?

[runs ADOM]

...and the lucky winner is a female dark elven paladin, who will take the name Victoria for future reference. CD17 doesn't sound heroic enough for my taste ;)

baby-eater
07-08-2008, 07:01 PM
I guess I'm in too. Roll is male drakeling mindcrafter...this is gonna be fun. Chainor begins!

Edit: And that was fun. Died at level 7 on level 4 of the puppy cave. He got killed by a giant bee warrior.
Good luck to the rest of you!