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In order to understand what is going on in NetHack, first you must understand what NetHack is doing with the screen. The NetHack screen replaces the "You see..." descriptions of text adventure games. Here is a sample of what a NetHack screen might look like, using the "ibmgraphics" Option to take advantage of the PC's line-drawing and graphic characters.
The pale brown arrows and underlined terms are not present on the real game screen, they are links added to this illustration. Click the left mouse button on any term to find out what it is and what it does.
The author of this Help file created a set of Graphics Fonts for the IBM PC and compatibles (using EGA or VGA displays, under DOS or Windows) that increase the fun of playing NetHack. The usual display graphics are replaced by tiny Monsters, Objects, and Dungeon Map features.
The top line of the screen is reserved for messages that describe things that are impossible to represent visually. In the display screen shown, the message "Pheiliks mews" is telling you that your pet Kitten, Pheiliks (pronounced "Felix") is making his characteristic sound, something not apparent visually. This is what Kittens do when you talk to them using the 'À-C' command.
If you see "—More—" on the top line, this means that NetHack has another message to display on the screen, but it wants to make certain that you've read the one that is there first. To read the next message, just press the spacebar.
The bottom two lines of the display screen contain several cryptic pieces of information describing your current status. If either status line becomes longer than the width of the screen, you might not see all of it. Here are explanations of what the various status items mean:
Additional status flags may appear after the hunger status: Conf when you're Confused, Sick when Sick, Blind when you've been Blinded or otherwise can't see, Stun when Stunned, and Hallu when Hallucinating.
You may also see an Encumbrance status flag if you are carrying more than the recommended amount of weight for your character's Strength. Such a flag indicates that your character is moving (and fighting) at less than his or her usual speed; other ill effects are also suffered by the overly encumbered.
Information is kept internally by NetHack describing your character's Intrinsic abilities; these are not displayed except when you die or quit the game, or when you gain Self-knowledge through a magic spell or the effect of a magic item.
The Player Character is your alter ego in the Mazes of Menace. He or she will carry out your wishes as well as possible, until either Death or Apotheosis.
The Player Character is represented on the screen as a white or highlighted '@' character using either the default character set or the "ibmgraphics" option. If you are using one of the author's graphics fonts, the Player Character looks like a white or highlighted Human figure carrying a Sword and Shield (the Sword and Shield are just for illustration, and appear for all Humans no matter what they are really carrying).
You start the game with a Little dog ('d') or a Kitten ('f' for 'feline'), which follows you about the Dungeon and fights Monsters with you. Like you, your Pet needs Food to survive. It usually feeds itself on fresh carrion and other meats. If you're worried about it or want to train it, you can feed it by throwing Food to it (t command).
Your Pet also gains Experience from killing Monsters, and can grow over time, gaining Hit points and doing more Damage. Initially, your Pet may even be better at killing things than you, which makes Pets especially useful for low-level characters.
Your Pet will follow you up and down Staircases, if it is next to you when you move. Otherwise, your Pet will be stranded, and may become wild.
You may be able to tame a wild creature you discover in the dungeons… if it doesn't kill you first! Or you may need to re-domesticate your Pet who went wild when it was stranded. There are several methods of doing this.
To read detailed tips and secrets about Pets, click here.
…can be no longer than 10 characters, so choose it well! For proper verisimilitude, try to choose a name that fits your character's Profession.
Click here if you're not sure how to name your character fittingly.
…indicates how far your character has progressed along his or her chosen path of advancement. There is a title for each Experience level, often nonsensically chosen (such as a Samurai of a certain level being called a Ninja, which is a bit like an experienced cop being called a robber), but that's the AD&D system for you.
Click here for a table of the various Professions, and the Rank title for
each Experience level the author has been able to reach with that type of
character:
What?! (Just checking to see if you were paying attention.)
…include Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These represent the fundamental characteristics of your character.
Their values (for player-characters) normally range from 3 to 18 inclusive, though there are exceptions. An acceptable minimum for most attributes in a newly-generated character might be 8 or so, though one might accept a 7 or even lower if many of the other attributes were very good.
…represents your character's physical power. The higher your strength, the stronger you are. Strength affects how successfully you perform physical tasks (lifting, pushing, etc.) and how much Damage you do in Combat. The stronger you are, the more weight you can haul around the dungeons with you before Encumbrance slows you down.
Strength does not always remain between 3 and 18; occasionally you may get super-strengths of the form 18/xx, where xx is a number from 00 to 99; magic items can push strength even higher. It is the first item listed in the attributes portion of the top status line, after the abbreviation "St:".
…measures your character's physical agility, skill, or finesse. It affects your chances to hit in combat, to avoid traps, and do other tasks requiring agility or manipulation of objects.
Dexterity is the second item listed in the attributes portion of the top status line, after the abbreviation "Dx:".
…represents your character's level of health. It affects your ability to withstand injury and other strains on your stamina; your initial Hit points are based on this attribute.
Constitution is the third item listed in the attributes portion of the top status line, after the abbreviation "Cn:".
…determines how well your character will be able to cast magic spells. The higher your Intelligence, the less chance your spell will go awry. A failed spell may just fizzle, or it may blow up in your face; in either case, you lose the Time and the Power required to cast it, so a high intelligence is essential to a spell-casting character.
It is the fourth item listed in the attributes portion of the top status line, after the abbreviation "In:".
…represents your level of religious zeal. It affects your magical energy; the higher your Wisdom is, the more Power you can gain.
It is the fifth item listed in the attributes portion of the top status line, after the abbreviation "Wi:".
…represents your character's physical and personal attractiveness; this affects how certain creatures react toward you. In particular, it can affect the prices offered you in Shops; the higher your Charisma is, the better the prices you will get.
Some magical items affect Charisma, and there are other ways it can be altered during the course of the game.
Charisma is the sixth and last item listed in the attributes portion of the top status line, after the abbreviation "Ch:".
…may be Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Basically, Lawful is good and Chaotic is evil (though this is a vast over-simplification, and does not fit many cases at all). Your Alignment influences how some Monsters react toward you, and what deities will be friendly or inimical to you.
Every character possesses an Intrinsic ability describing their Alignment tenacity. This represents how firmly that character will resist changing his or her Alignment.
Deities also have Alignment. You must be careful only to pay homage at Temples to those deities with the same Alignment as your own, or be prepared to suffer the consequences.
Level 1 is the shallowest dungeon level, the one you start the game on; as you go deeper the number increases. The Amulet of Yendor is reputed to be somewhere beneath the twentieth level.
Various parts of the Dungeons have their own names and properties, as follows:
| Name | Properties |
| Dungeons of Doom | Floors, walls diggable; most rooms lighted |
| Gnomish Mines | Floors, walls diggable |
Once you get to a certain Level, you may find you cannot get farther downward. There are several possible explanations for this:
…adds to your score, and you can buy things in Shops with it. It is also heavy — if you have enough of it, it might be good to buy expensive, useful items rather than carry around dead weight that encumbers you.
You can also get rid of money by giving it to the religion of your choice. To do this, enter a Temple (it should be your own god, or at least one with the same Alignment as your deity's) and chat (À-C) with the attendant Priest or Priestess, who will ask how much you want to donate. Give generously and you may be rewarded with a "blessing" that will act as a Protection spell, or some other benison.
In most places the unit of currency is described simply as the "Gold piece", but in others it appears as "zorkmid", apparently taken from the commercial game Zork.
…indicate how much Damage you can take before you die. Each time a Monster inflicts a hit on you, you will lose one or more Hit points. You can regain Hit points by resting, or by various magical means (Spells, Scrolls, Potions, etc.).
The number in parentheses is the maximum number your Hit points can reach at your present Experience level. If you've taken Damage, then as you rest you'll gradually rise back up to this Hit point level (unless you are Sick or Poisoned, in which case your Hit point total will continue to drop every turn until you are cured or you die).
Every time you gain a new Experience level, your maximum Hit points will increase by several points. The higher your Constitution, the more points you might gain each level.
…tells you how much mystic energy (mana) you have available for spell casting. When you type + to list your spells, each will have a spell point cost beside it in parentheses. Each time you attempt to cast that spell, that number of spell points will be subtracted from your Power. You lose these Power points even if the spell fails (fizzles or backfires).
There are Monsters, Traps, and Spells that can drain Power points, so beware!
Power you use up casting spells (or otherwise lose) gradually regenerates until it reaches the maximum value again, but it does so at a slower rate than Hit Points regained through resting.
Every time you gain an Experience level you will also gain one or more points of Power. The amount you gain is determined by your Wisdom attribute; the higher your Wisdom, the more Power points you may gain.
…is a measure of how effectively your Armor stops blows from unfriendly Monsters (not to mention Traps and blunders). The lower this number is, the more effective the Armor; it is quite possible to have negative Armor Class, which is very good protection indeed.
Each item of Armor you put on subtracts its individual Armor Class value from your own Armor Class (10 for unarmored Human-type characters). Enchnated Armor items have an additional protective factor, listed as "+1", "+2", etc. This number is in addition to (or rather, subtraction from) the usual Armor Class value for that kind of Armor. For instance, if a regular Helmet of a certain type provides 2 points AC, then a +1 Helmet of the same type would subtract a total of 3 points from your AC when you put it on.
…shows how many experience points you have accumulated towards advancing in your chosen Profession.
As you adventure, you will gain Experience points from defeating enemies; the more powerful an enemy is compared to you, the more points you gain for defeating it. At certain Experience Point totals, you gain an Experience level. When this happens you will gain a number of Hit points and a number of Power points. The number of Hit points you will gain is determined by your Constitution; your added Power points are determined by your Wisdom (in both cases, the higher the Attribute, the more points you may gain). The result is that the more experienced you are, the better you fight and withstand attacks.
Various Experience levels are given different Rank names; these are listed after a character's Name on the Status line, which presumably adds some atmosphere to the game.
…are not displayed. They are accumulated until you have enough to reach the next Experience level. When you reach the required number of points, you will automatically be advanced to the next Experience Level and gain all the benefits appertaining thereunto.
You gain experience points by killing Monsters; it is also possible that you gain points for achieving other goals as well; the author of this file is not sure.
…is simply an indication of how many game turns have elapsed.
Keep an eye on this to find out how long various actions take; for instance, getting an item out of the depths of a Sack stuffed with junk, opening a Tin and/or eating some Food, studying a Spellbook, etc.
…ranges from "Satiated" down to "Fainting." If your hunger status is normal, it is not displayed.
If you do not eat (e command) some Food when you get Hungry, you eventually get Weak and your Combat effectiveness will decrease. If you still do not eat, you will begin Fainting (which can get nasty if you have enemies nearby). Persist in your hunger strike and you die.
If, on the other hand, you try to stuff yet more food down your craw when you are already Satiated, you may get ill and toss all your cookies. Then you will be Hungry again. You may even choke on your food and die! Bulimia is not the basis for a valid life-style in NetHack.
The bottom Status line will read "Conf" at its extreme right end when you're Confused. You can get that way by being hit by an enemy's spell, drinking the wrong potion, and so on.
When you are Confused, you will stagger about if you try to move, and you will not be able to fight properly; the direction you try to walk or attack will rarely be the direction you really get. As with Hallucination, it is sometimes best to stand in one place and let it pass if you can. There are also magical and other methods of getting rid of Confusion.
Some Potions and Scrolls have unusual effects if you use them while you are Confused.
To learn tips and secrets of Confusion, click this button.
The right end of the Status line will read "Sick" when your character is sick. In this condition, you will continue to lose Hit points every turn until you are Cured or you die. A Cure sickness spell, Scroll, or Potion is a handy thing to have.
You can get Sick from eating spoiled Food; from contact with, or being bitten/clawed/hit by, certain unclean Monsters; from quaffing polluted water from Fountains or Sinks; from enemies' Magic spells; and probably many other ways too.
…is closely related to Sickness. You can get it from eating poisonous creatures' corpses, or from being bitten or stung. If Poisoning is not cured within a few turns, you will die.
The rightmost end of your bottom Status line will say "Blind" when you can't see. This can be because you have been blinded by a bright light (such as an exploding Yellow light), an enemy's Magic spell, a Potion of blindness; it might also be that you have been hit in the face with a Cream pie (in which case you can wipe your face using the wipe (À-W) command). All these causes of Blindness are temporary, and will eventually wear off.
You might deliberately Blind yourself by putting on a Blindfold or a Towel.
Click here if you want to read the secret of why anyone would want to do
such a thing.
Some Monsters can Stun you if they hit you. Drinking a Potion of booze will also Stun you for several turns.
While Stunned, you will reel about wildly when you try to fight or move; if you actually move or attack in the direction you tried, it will be a coincidence! The best thing to do if you are Stunned is to stand there waiting for it to go away. Certain Magic spells can also cure Stunning.
The rightmost end of the bottom Status line will read "Stun" when you are Stunned.
You may someday drink the wrong Potion, or perhaps have one hurled at you, or maybe you will eat a Violet fungus corpse, and you will Hallucinate. Every Monster and Object in view will change into another form every move, so you will have no idea what anything is. If there are a lot of Monsters about this can be very spectacular, to say the least.
Be careful while zonked out it may be safest to stand there and ignore everything unless a Monster attacks you; if you move you may hit or even kill your Pet, even with the safepet option on, because you can't tell what it is! If you pay close attention to the messages you can tell when you hit the pet by mistake: a Pet Dog will yelp and a Pet Cat will yowl when you strike it.
The rightmost end of the bottom Status line will read "Hallu" when you are Hallucinating.
…occurs when the Medusa or a Cockatrice turns you to stone. You become a Statue. That's it! Game over.
…is the effect of the weight your character carries on his or her speed (both in movement and fighting). The term Encumbrance is not used in the game, but the effect is there.
…for NetHack are copyrighted but FREE for noncommercial, personal use; they are available through CompuServe in the IBMNEW Forum (browse for keyword NETHACK). If you haven't got access to CompuServe, or if you can't get them there, e-mail me and I'll send back a file with the latest versions of all the fonts I have done so far — I tried to make as many as I could!
These are pretty much obsolete since recent releases of NetHack include very good graphics, with each character done in multiple colors, but they're still available. If you're interested in using them, be sure to modify your configuration file as well, as described in the documentation for the fonts.
Click here to send e-mail.
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