Re: [Gumband] Tales of the Boring

On 15 Aug 2007 R. Dan Henry wrote:

On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:12:17 +0100, Igenlode Wordsmith wrote:

[snip]

Log of Lura, the Beastwoman Mindcrafter:
---


[snip]

Mutations: typical, two are bad (attract demons -- though I haven't seen any
yet -- and wasting disease, which drains stat points I can't afford to heal)
and two are good but can't be activated until clevel 15. Unlikely to survive
that long...

Attract demons isn't all bad. They can be hostile, but sometimes
friendly.

Ah. It's probably just as well I only ever attracted the one, then :-)


[snip]

What version are you playing? I got rid of the 50' GHB in version 2.2.4.
But you met Garko, so it must be 2.2.3.

<checks> Um, yes ;-)

[snip]

and acquire a low-level mutation that I can actually
use, illumination.

And what did you think of it? Did you actually find yourself using it
much?

For a Mindcrafter, it was absolutely invaluable. I've used it constantly
ever since, and been really worried about what might happen when that
mutation went as suddenly as it came.


[snip]
level 10: I grow sharp spines. That ought to
put the little beasts off attacking me :-p

Now that's a useful mutation to pick up at a low level.

That was probably the single most important mutation I got, from a
survival point of view. Even at a later stage, it still saved my life
when I was paralysed.

[snip]

Find scrolls of Remove Curse on sale: the RNG is smiling on me!
Sell a Tulwar (-4,-4) and a set of Leather Gloves [1,-2] -- unfortunately
the Shining Ring still seems to be cursed. Make about 70gp profit on
identifying and selling one of my shields [3,+4], and waste an ID on
identifying the ring: only Aggravate Monster (which probably helped with the
lice, in the end). So why is it still cursed?

I don't know. I'll check that out. It'll need more time than I can spare
right now.

Probably an unrepeatable bug :-(



[snip]

Reach level 15 fighting orcs and suddenly go to -3 speed -- my legs have
turned into short stubs :-(

That hurts.

It does. Although having lived with it so long, I did acquire a
distinctly blase approach to getting slowed by carrying heavy loot
around afterwards...



Reach level 16 and acquire ability to emit dazzling lights (requires
CHR '8@7' and mine is only 3 -- but it works?!) This, of course, annoys
all parties in the melee.

What the heck kind of crazy notation is that anyway? Another reason the
current system has to go.

I don't understand the notation at all: I assume the first number
represents the minimum stat needed to activate the ability reliably, but
the second one I can't even guess at.


How did you find the dazzle attack? Is it pretty useful?

That one was very useful as well, especially when you are intrinsically
slowed and dealing with group monsters in large rooms. It basically
seems to act as a Mass Sleep effect, after which you can just go round
picking off monsters one by one. And it seems effective on far more
monster types than Staffs of Sleep Monsters.

[snip]

Discovered permanent walls within the dungeon. Sadly I can't tunnel through
granite, even with a digger.

Oh, a vault! That really is special.

Well, it was a very small one -- about 3 squares deep and 12 long...

The good news is that it probably would have killed you if you got
inside.

The one I found later on very nearly *did* kill me ;-D The good news is
that it frightened me off the level early enough to save me from trying
to attack something unknown that really might have killed me in a single
turn!


[snip]



I still aten't dead :-D

I am, however, starting to encounter monsters I've never seen before...
and I've turned unexpectedly into a combat machine ;-D



The continued log of Lura the Beastwoman:

---
Sell Boots of Levitation and 3 Rods of Pesticide in order to get Boots of
Free Action from the Black Market.

Guess what... a 'special' level at 700'.

Reach level 23: gain Mind Blast mutation. It seems equivalent to the
standard mindcrafter Neural Blast power, but costs more mana!

Find a jelly pit. Abandon level.

Another special level at 750', and a quest for 6 Sasquatches.

Cancelling a mutation activation (i.e. erroneously selecting a targettable
attack and aborting it because you meant to use the illumination power
instead) gives the monsters a free turn. This looks like a bug :-(

Slay Orfax. Get a {good} axe. Slay Grisnakh.

Find a room full of Pawns of Chaos, doubtless the source of the level
feeling...

Starting to pick up Potions of Speed again.

Reach level 24: regain shard bolt mutation.

Quest reward: Beaked Axe of 3 Extra Attacks. <mind boggles>

---
Another 'special' level at 800'. Quest for Yellow Scorpions -- decide to
switch back to Axe of Venom for Poison Resist. (Of course, they resist my
poison attack too that way, but I don't spend so much time waiting to heal;
important with a drained CON.)

Spot a small vault in the centre of the level. Slay Gorbag in it. He drops
a short sword of Slay Orc, which is ironic. (Clearly his ideas of
discipline really do need some backing up...)

Reach level 25. Bulging muscles! (STR 18/10)
Perception now seems to give temporary telepathy too.

Use Pulverise to slay Barkyos the Giant on second attempt. Work my way
through his escort (whom fortunately he outdistanced).

Still hunting high and low for that wretched final Scorpion...
Finally found it lurking in the top left-hand corner of the map just as I
was running out of food. Quest reward: Whip of Earthquakes (+2 attacks).

---
Sell loot. Finally have enough money to buy all the supplies I need, I
think for the first time all game(!)

'Special' level at 800': find (by trying out) Staff of the Magi, which
restores my INT... back to its grand total of 8!

Find jelly pit. Abandon level.

850': and yet another special level.

Fight a herd of Pool Beasts, teleport away and am nearly killed
ignominiously by Novice paladins.

Find another scroll of Brand Weapon and brand my Axe of Extra Attacks with
acid -- this is now instantly four times as good as the Axe of Venom
(probably better, as fewer things resist acid). I may as well just drop the
other one now, as it's not saleable; useful for poison resist?

Apparently master yeeks resist acid.

Find a flock of Mongbats, which to my surprise run away from me; wisely,
since I turn out to kill them with ease.

Find a room entirely filled with Gas spores and amuse myself by setting off
chain reactions :-p Get bored, put on Axe of Venom and just wade through
them.

Level 26: I become completely fearless (and, probably as a consequence,
cease to be 'afraid of the dark'!)
---
900': This level looks very dangerous.
Since it is apparently guarded by 15 4-headed hydras, I'm not surprised!
But as I'm hitting them 3-4 times per turn for about 40hp per blow, they're
not nearly as dangerous as they think they are...

Find a Feanorian lamp... and discover that my lantern has got cursed at
some point!

Use my psychic powers to do a routine pseudo-ID of a piece of armour, and
am struck by sudden side-effects that paralyse me despite free action --
whereupon a black orc truns up and starts attacking! Fortunately my coat of
spines proves to be the death of him before he can be the death of me.

Quest reward: Metal Brigandine of Elvenkind. However, compared to the
Elvenkind I've already got, it's too heavy.

950': quest for Sangahyando of Umbar. On an arena level.

Find a Potion of Healing.

Kill Sangahyando without trouble by stunning him, as usual, with Pulverise
(not that I'm complaining, but could this spell possibly be overpowered?)
He drops a Phial.

1000': special level, guarded by 9 Vampire bats.

Slew Arnald of Grovent.

Quest reward: the Light Spear 'Pinprick' (1d4). Sell it. Apparently it
activates for resist poison and is venom-branded.

Buy the sling 'Regulator' (+13,+6) from the Antiques Store. Resist shards
(and elec), plus 'fires shots excessively fast'. Manage to enchant it up to
(+13,+9) with 4 scrolls, somewhat to my surprise.

---
Special level at 1050'... Find a room full of clear icky things(!)

1100': a special level. Find a large chequered vault. Unfortunately I don't
have that many Stone to Mud charges....


Teleport away a Greater Hell Wyrm. Slay a Mature Blue Dragon in the second
cell and find a Dwarven Pick of Digging; well, that's lucky! :-)

Try to teleport away Theleb K'aarna and discover that I can't!!! Read
Scroll of Teleportation and find myself literally next to Greater Hell
Wyrm... luckily still hasted. Teleport again and run away down stairs.

Examine loot: Pick of Digging, and Crown of the Magi.


--
Igenlode Visit the Ivory Tower http://ivory.150m.com/Tower/

* It takes self-confidence to be able to accept criticism *

.

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