ok, so I found yet another way to die

[Rashomon]

I really tried to keep my dark-elf monk alive this time, reading the wiki about all unknown monsters I encounter, etc..
Was doing really well, cleared out the first caves pretty fast and flawlessly, got the right scrolls and potions.
Some decent stuff ad well, converted an altar in a dungeon where constantly critters were spawned, so was happily sacrificing everything that stepped on the altar, Loloth was starting to really love me, periodically I checked out all the stuff that was dropped on the altar to see if I could sac. some of it.
Well, this went well for a long time, untill a little ugly green guy with a whip entered the view and immediately sacrificed yours truly.

This one is a pretty bad loss, at first I was more careful and kicked everything of the altar before checking it, but that was quite a tedious job considering the amount of monsters that kept dropping stuff there, and I wasn't sure if it was necessary, I had to stand on the altar to sacrifice stuff anyway, and I suspected that when a critter would enter view I'd still have a turn to step of the darn thing.
Perception was pretty good, around 20 I think.. well, it sucks...
Another dead hero.

p.s. also the annoying thing with kicking it of the altar first was that some monsters would collect all that stuff and drop it at their final resting place on the altar again.. Is there a convenient way to permanently destroy items btw?

[Rashomon]

Now that I slept 3 hours over it I'm not really sure what I could've done to prevent this kind of stupid death.. Other than never stepping on a Chaotic altar [which means if you play a chaotic char you'll always risk some kind of random instant-death, or do you tediously kick all the stuff you want to have identified onto the altar and then kick it back off, that's a bit stupid really.. [The chance you accidentally kick the altar will be pretty high as well, considering the enormous amounts of items in this game.] No offering of items then either.. (?)]

Cynically my lovely monk had fate smiling upon him, it also wore a lucky ring. It even had the sixth sense talent. From his memorial-sheet I see Loloth considered him her Messiah. And still some completely random little guy can obliterate him from about 6 tiles away.. without getting even 1 turn to react. [As said he also had a pretty decent perception.]

I understand in this game you are meant to die a lot, but it should be always somehow logically preventable, this doesn't seem to be the case here.. Other than giving up only playing a chaotic char.

To think about all the effort I put into him obtaining all the right corpses, pickpocket 20+ dudes with 12 skill points to satisfy that fellow in what's-it-called.. Slaughter 1000 blink dogs to get a corpse.
Running around in circles forever to ditch all those catlikes... etc.. Heroically surviving some precarious situations with all kind of nasty events happening simultaneously.. [Reading random scrolls just to see if one would save him, and it did..]

And then, out of nowhere a stupid little guy just puts the message 'you die' on the screen.
..
So, Thomas Bishop: fix this please. It's too much, at least the fate smiles, or sixth sense, or high perception, whatever, something should've been able to prevent stuff like this happening..

[LexyBoy]

This is sort of what chaotic alignment is, I think. Lol'th probably thought it was particularly hilarious.

It's one of the many reasons playing a chaotic PC is difficult (IME). If you do get crowned C-, look forward to a nice crowning "gift" of corruption and ongoing corruption throughout the game.

How to avoid? Be invisible. High perception/necklace of the eye will help - if you can see anything coming before it can see you. Don't step on the altar unless you actually need to. Use "safe" altars like the Dwarftown one. With the items, you can collect eveything and dump it in a corner, but it's pretty annoying (or get a monster to pick it all up, then lead away and kill). Lightning/acid/fire if you're a wizard. Gelatinous cubes.

Maybe fate smiles + no cursing/dooming could give one turn before you get sacrificed? Still not sure though.

[Rashomon]

This is sort of what chaotic alignment is, I think. Lol'th probably thought it was particularly hilarious.

Yes, some evil bastard it is.. Laughing and crying are closely related ..

But thanks for the tips, it seems there are some options there, I even had a necklace of the eye now that I think of it... would've been a lot safer indeed...
Well, learned another harsh lesson then

[_Ln_]

One time I just wanted to get some holy water from a chaotic altar.

I've closed the door to the room (it was something like 5x5), created an array of doors around the altar and entered through the lower door. Basically, a monster has to enter the room, make several steps, open a door and only then sac me.

So I stepped on the altar, dropped water, picked it up and got sacrificed by a quickling who made all the aforementioned actions in 3 turns.

[Rashomon]

Man, that's freaky..

Ok, so it could be even worse...
I don't feel so sorry for myself anymore, thanx..

[grobblewobble]

There's also the story of some adom player (not sure who it was) who was teleported onto a chaotic altar by random teleportation and instantly sacrificed.

[gym21]

Trying to convert a neutral altar and having a pixie teleport into the room is fun too

[Blasphemous]

Part of the reason why I always go L for precrowns and all the other altar-related stuff. I've had my share of PC sacrifices; thanks but no thanks.

[Cactus]

There's also the story of some adom player (not sure who it was) who was teleported onto a chaotic altar by random teleportation and instantly sacrificed.

That's hilarious. It reminds me of the player who got teleported into a royal vault room by a trap and had no means of digging or teleporting out. It's funny that one probably couldn't think of a way to die in ADOM that hasn't already happened to a player sometime...