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The large, central part of the NetHack Display normally displays the Map of the Dungeon level as you have explored it so far. Each symbol on the screen represents something. (Note that many items may be piled up in one spot on the map, or a dropped item may hide a Staircase or other dungeon feature.)
You can set the graphics option to change some of the symbols the game uses; otherwise, the game will use default symbols (even if you use alternate graphics, these will be the keystrokes you use to specify the various kinds of objects in commands). Here is a table of what the default symbols mean:
| - | | The walls of a room, or an open door (when placed crosswise to wall). |
| . | The floor of a room, or a doorless doorway. |
| # | A corridor, or possibly a kitchen sink or drawbridge. |
| < | An up Staircase, ladder, or other way to the previous level up. |
| > | A down Staircase, ladder, or other way to the next level down. |
| + | A closed door, or a Spellbook containing a spell you can learn. |
| @ | A Human (you, usually). |
| $ | A pile of Gold. |
| ^ | A Trap (once you detect it). |
| ) | A Weapon. |
| [ | A suit or piece of Armor. |
| % | Food, or something else edible (but not necessarily healthy). |
| ? | A Scroll. |
| / | A Wand. |
| = | A Ring. |
| ! | A Potion. |
| ( | A useful item or Tool. |
| " | An Amulet, or a spider Web |
| * | A Gem or Rock (possibly valuable, possibly worthless). |
| ` | A Boulder or Statue |
| 0 | An Iron ball |
| _ | An Altar, or an Iron chain. |
| } | A Pool of Water or Moat or a pool of Lava. |
| { | A Fountain. |
| \ | An opulent Throne. |
| a-z A-Z… | Various Monsters. |
Letters and certain other symbols represent the various inhabitants of the Mazes of Menace. Watch out, they can be nasty and vicious. Sometimes, however, they can be helpful.
Visibility is handled much more realistically in NetHack 3.1 than it was in previous versions. The Map will show only the area that a person in your character's position could actually see, given the presence of various Light sources and intervening obstructions.
You will sometimes see part of a lit room as you pass along a Corridor or by a doorway. As you advance toward the Room, the 'explored' and so visible map area will expand, fanning out to reflect the increased room area revealed to your character. Once you are entirely inside the room, you will be able to see the whole (lit) Floor area — unless there is some nook around a corner, in which case you will have to walk to a good vantage point. This is difficult to describe but easy to understand once you see it… and interesting to watch.
Sometimes you will see a fairly distant area of the Dungeon appear, but nothing between you and that area is visible; you are looking down a dark Corridor (or across a dark Room) and seeing a lit area.
In older versions of Hack and NetHack, you could simply not see into a room until you entered it.
Rooms and Corridors in the dungeon are either lit or dark. Any lit areas within your Line of sight will be displayed; dark areas are only displayed if they are within one space of you. This distance can be increased using a Light source. You can also illuminate areas using various magical means.
Walls and Corridors remain on the map as you explore them. Floors disappear when they are unlit and out of sight range.
Secret doors and Corridors are hidden; they look like Walls or blank rock surfaces. You can find them with the s (search) command.
There are some special Rooms in the game; to learn more about one, click on its name in the list below.
It's happened to every adventurer at one time or another: you reach into your pack for that particular Potion or Scroll (or just some Food!)… and come up empty. How to provision yourself while down in the Dungeons? Go to a Shop, of course.
Shops are generated on randomly selected Dungeon levels as you descend into the depths.
To buy an item from a Shop's stock, first look at it by picking it up. To find out how much the proprietor wants for it (assuming you didn't find out when you picked it up), chat with him or her (XXX command). If you like it, pay (XXX command) the Shopkeeper and it's yours. Don't want it? Just drop it (XXX command).
To sell an item from your Inventory, drop it on any square except the doorway or the square just inside the door; the Shopkeeper will make an offer if it's something the store carries, or will tell you 'not interested' otherwise. If you refuse the price, or if the Shop is not interested in buying, you can pick the item back up again without paying.
If you throw or fire Weapons or other items inside a Shop, whether in Combat or not, the items thrown or fired become property of the Shopkeeper and you cannot have them back without paying! A hard rule, but it's their store.
Unlike many dungeon adventure games, there is no explicit bargaining or haggling in NetHack; instead Shopkeepers will offer better prices to a character with high Charisma. If you like, you may consider this to be the effect of an implicit round of bargaining.
Various Shop Rules are enforced in an attempt to control shoplifting. For instance, nobody is allowed to enter while Invisible (and all Shopkeepers can See invisible). No digging implements (Pick-axes or Wands of Digging) are allowed inside either. Until you have paid for or dropped any items you have picked up, the Shopkeeper will not allow you to leave; he or she will block the exit. Creative pilferers have managed to figure out ways around such restrictions.
Each kind of shop specializes in a different sort of products, as follows:
There are other places to spend your money too, such as Temples and the Oracle, but they are not, strictly speaking, Shops.
Beehives are the lairs of great masses of Killer bees, which will defend their hive against your intrusion with poisonous stings. Though ordinary Killer Bees may be found all over the Dungeons, Beehives are the only place you will find a Queen bee.
If you can kill all the Bees, your Treasure is a large supply of delicious, nutritious Royal jelly.
The Castle is actually a series of connected rooms on a Dungeon levelall their own. Once you arrive on the castle level you will first have to figure out how to get across the castle's wide Moat; if you get across, you still have to get into the Castle itself. Once you manage that, there are all sorts of diabolical Traps waiting for you.
Of course, it's not really that easy — there are also dozens of powerful Monsters out to get you too, both indoors and out!
If you manage to overcome all the forces arrayed against you, your reward will be heaps of Treasures of many kinds, plus a visit to the Throne Room.
The Drawbridge seals the entrance to the Castle; it will block your way in unless you know how to deal with it.
To learn how to get past the Drawbridge, click this button.
Jail is where you will end up if you break into a Vault and get caught at it (assuming you don't wriggle out of your encounter with the Guard). Once in, the trick is, of course, to get out…
Shops lie scattered at (usually inconvenient) intervals throughout the Dungeons. In these emporia one may buy various goods (at marked-up prices), or sell one's surplus possessions (at marked-down prices). Shops are owned and operated by the Shopkeeper in attendance.
Temples are found throughout the Dungeons. One is found in the Town as well.
They are ordinary Rooms in most ways, but each contains an Altar. There may also be a Priest or Priestess in attendance.
A Town may occupy one Dungeon level. This is a large open space with several buildings in it. A few will be private dwellings (if you are a Rogue you may wish to indulge in some burglary). There will be a Temple. The rest of the buildings will be Shops.
The Throne room is the focal point of the Castle. In it will be found a great many defenders, but also some choice Treasures!
The Vault is where the money is stored, of course! Getting in may be tricky, but there are clues scattered about if you pay attention. Getting out is trickier still, unless you have the right abilities.
Zoos are large Rooms filled with Monsters of all sorts. When you enter a Zoo, all the Monsters will likely be asleep (unless you, or something else, has awakened them). They are guarding a lot of Treasure!
…are what you walk on, yes, but here may be less obvious features present as well. For instance, there could be Pits, Pitfalls, or other Traps in the floor.
In the upper Dungeon levels, the floors are of softer rock; using a Pick-axe or Wand of Digging, you can make pits in the floor yourself. Farther down the rock is harder and you cannot make holes in it.
…are of varying types of rock. In the upper Levels of the dungeon, the rock is soft enough that you can make holes in it with your Pick-axe or Wand of Digging (this is why Shopkeepers won't let you bring excavating equipment into their Shops; you might make a break for it!). Farther down, walls are impermeable my such means.
Note that Xorn are monsters of the elemental Earth; as such they live within the rock and attack from inside the walls. They are very dangerous.
…in the dungeon are pretty much featureless — except when there is a Trap in one!
Note that if you fall through a Pitfall or a Trap-door to the next Dungeon level down, you may be able to Levitate back up through it.
Doorways connect rooms and corridors. Some doorways have no doors; you can walk right through. Others have doors in them, which may be open, closed, or locked. To open a closed door, use the o (open) command; to close it again, use the c (close) command.
You can get through a locked door by using a tool to pick the lock with the a (apply) command, or by kicking it open with the Á-K (kick) command. Kicking it open may destroy the door, though, turning it into an open, empty Doorway that cannot be reclosed.
Open doors cannot be entered diagonally; you must approach them straight on, horizontally or vertically. Doorways without doors are not restricted; you can move through them in any direction.
Doors can be useful for shutting out Monsters who are chasing you. Most monsters cannot open Doors, although a few don't need to (for example, Ghosts can walk through doors, and Xorn through Walls!).
Secret doors are hidden. You can find them with the s (search) command.
…are cleverly concealed passages. Until discovered they are obstacles; after you find them, they are just ordinary Doors or Corridors.
When you first see such a secret portal, it will look just like another stretch of Wall (in the case of Secret doors) or a blank rock surface (Secret corridors). You will have no way of knowing that there is a passage there until you search using the s command; you will generally have to search several times in the same place to detect a Secret door or corridor. When you do find it, either a Door symbol will appear or a rock surface will disappear, revealing the Corridor beyond.
Possession of the Intrinsic ability of Searching has the effect of executing a search command every turn of game time with no extra effort or time spent on the part of the character involved.
Once discovered, Secret doors and corridors never go back to their hidden state; they remain found and behave in all ways as ordinary Doors and Corridors; in fact, there is no way to tell whether a given Door or square of Corridor was ever hidden.
…help make the Dungeon a nicer place to die… They also have several possible uses. Usually the command you will use to make use of a Fountain is q (quaff).
When you quaff from a Fountain, there's no telling exactly what will happen. There's a different randomly chosen effect every time, sometimes good, sometimes bad. If you're the risk-taking type, you'll love Fountains.
To read detailed secrets about Fountains, click here.
…are presumably one of the 'joke' features of the Dungeon. The author supposes that at some point in the development of NetHack, some player or programmer said, "This game has everything except the Kitchen sink," to which there is only one possible response — this Dungeon feature.
The most common command to use a Kitchen sink is q (quaff). The results of quaffing from a Sink range from good to disastrous, and are randomly determined each time you quaff.
They have several non-obvious uses. To learn detailed tips and secrets
about Kitchen sinks, click this icon.
…are found, naturally enough, in Throne rooms. You can sit in them (À-S); various effects will occur. They are very powerful and useful artifacts, and if you are lucky you can gain enormous benefits from encountering one. But you may also come away much the worse! You can also try to Kick them (k) to try to knock off Gems or Gold.
You guessed it; click here for detailed secrets about Thrones.
…are found in Temples. Each is dedicated to a different deity, which may or may not be the one with which you are aligned. You can make Offerings to the deities at Altars.
…occurs in the Dungeons in various forms, domesticated and wild. These are natural or artificial bodies of Water that normally block your way — though you can move into them (and even drown, if you aren't careful or smart):
These are Water-bearing fixtures, into which no Adventurer could possibly fall… not without a lot of effort:
In addition to these water sources, you may be doused with Water if you trigger a Rust trap.
Any iron or steel item that gets wet may stand a chance of Rusting. Written materials (Scrolls and Spellbooks) may be erased by immersion in Water, accidental or deliberate.
…are just what the name says: puddles of Water on the Dungeon Floor. But they are awfully deep! You can drown in them if you are not careful. There are ways of getting past Pools that block your way, and there are even a few uses for Pools that might surprise you.
Many Pools in a contiguous group are used as Moats in some of the deeper, more difficult Dungeon levels.
For detailed secrets about Pools, click here.
…are simply squares of Water placed in a continuous stream, intended to separate you from where you want to be and (in the eyes of the Moat's builder) you have no right to go.
There are ways to get across Moats; to learn these secrets, click this
button.
…are patchy areas of Water with little islands scattered around through them. They tend to be infested with disease-ridden Monsters.
Swamps are found on one of the Quest levels in the Healers' Quest.
…is what you get when you freeze Water, of course! water can be frozen by a Cold spell or similar effects. You can walk on it; the author believes it stays solid indefinitely, unless melted by a Fireball or similar heat source.
…is like Water in that it may occur in small puddles or large open areas. But whereas Water will get you wet, Lava will burn you to a crisp! Stepping into it has all the effects of Fire.
…let you climb up or down to another Dungeon level. They are pretty straight-forward, though a few kinks may develop. For instance, if an item is dropped (or a creature dies) on the same square as a Staircase, the symbol will be hidden and you may not be able to find the Stairs. The moral: Keep junk off Staircase squares!
Note that if you are excessively encumbered from carrying too much weight, you will be unable to climb up Stairs, and will fall down them, possibly damaging yourself.
…should, one supposes, be functionally identical to Staircases (if they exist — the author has never encountered any yet). Perhaps it's harder to get up and down Ladders than Staircases when encumbered.
…are infernal devices placed around the Dungeon to bother and inconvenience you, and maybe more. They are generally not visible until you discover them by Searching (s) or by stepping onto one and triggering it. After they are discovered, they appear on the map — unless an object is dropped on the same square, covering the Trap symbol!
There are many different kinds of Traps. Some are found in the Dungeon Floor, others in the Ceiling. Still others are found on the locks of Chests or Boxes. To learn more about a particular kind of Trap, click on its name below.
The Anti-magic field is a Trap that drains Power points away from any character (or Monster) who blunders into it. These are not permanently lost, and may be regained with the passage of time.
The Arrow trap shoots an Arrow at anyone who steps in its square of floor. This can happen repeatedly, so if you step on the square again you may be shot again. Note that the Trap's map symbol is often covered up by the Arrows it has shot, so you might not see it even if you have discovered it. Be careful stepping onto squares containing Arrows!
A Bear trap seems like a strange thing to find in a Dungeon; the author has never seen one of these with a Bear caught in it… in fact, he has never seen a Bear in the Dungeons. Whatever. This Trap is a big set of steel jaws with teeth, sprung together by a powerful spring action — everyone has seen them in cartoons, as they are supposedly very funny. It clamps on your leg and won't let go; you can't leave the Trap's square. If you struggle long enough you can generally break free. You may also be able to Teleport away from it.
A Dart trap will shoot a Dart at you if you step in its square of floor. Note that the Trap may be obscured, its symbol on the map covered by its own darts. For this reason it is wise to be cautious when entering a square containing Darts.
A Falling rock trap is concealed in the Ceiling. It will drop a Rock on your head if you pass beneath. If you are wearing a Helmet, it will glance harmlessly off. Otherwise, Ouch! Beware when entering squares that have Stones in them; they might have dropped from such a Trap; the Stones from it will cover and hide the Trap symbol on the display.
A Fire trap is just what its name says — when you step into the Trap square, Fire billows out and envelops you. This may not only Damage you, it may also ignite any flammable equipment you might be carrying.
Land mines are explosive charges secreted in the Dungeon's Floor. When an Adventurer (or Monster, for that matter) steps on it, it blows up, doing Damage and possibly hurting the victim's legs as well, making it harder to move.
Stepping on a Level teleportation trap will invoke a Level teleportation spell. If you have intrinsic Teleportation control, you can choose which Dungeon level will be your destination (or cancel the Teleport) as usual; otherwise you will be teleported to a random Dungeon level.
Magic portals are similar to Level teleportation spell, except that they Teleport you to a particular, special Dungeon level when you move onto them.
Magic traps have random effects, some good, some bad. They may raise or lower one (or more) of your Character attributes, or they might (I'm not sure) give you an Intrinsic ability.
Pits are deep holes in the Dungeon Floor. When you move onto a Pit-trapped square, you will probably fall in; high Dexterity may save you from it. You may suffer Damage if you fall into a Pit. To get out, you can try several times to move to an adjacent square; eventually you will get out. You can also Levitate or Teleport various means.
A Pitfall is a special type of Trap that drops you down one or more Dungeon Levels. You may suffer Damage from the fall, and you will be dumped in the middle of a possibly hostile environment, very likely one you have never explored before, and filled with even meaner enemies than you are used to.
Normally, you will have to find the Staircase (or Ladder) back up; it will probably not be near where you fell.
If you are able to Levitate, you may be able to float back up to the Level you fell from. If you are Levitating when you enter a square containing a Pitfall, you will not fall down it.
Polymorph traps perform a Polymorph Spell on any creature (Player Character or Monster) that steps onto them.
A Sleeping gas trap will spritz you with relaxing sleeping gas. If there are no enemies around, the only ill effect will be wasted turns off your Light source (if turned on). If you have Monsters on your tail, it could be deadly... Note that the sleep can actually help you — if you need to recover lost Hit PointsHIT_POINTS and/or Power!
The Spiked pit is a nastier version of the usual Pit trap. It has pointed spikes in the bottom that stab the unfortunate victim, possibly doing several Hit Points of Damage.
Squeaky boards are less immediately harmful than many other Traps, but they can be very insidious indeed. They make a noise when you (or any other creature) steps on them, alerting other Monsters on the Dungeon Level to your presence.
You may from time to time hear the same squeak if a Monster steps on the board.
The Statue trap looks like an ordinary Statue of a Monster, but when it is invoked it turns into a real Monster. This will usually be Hostile.
Teleportation traps invoke a Teleportation Spell. If you have intrinsic Teleportation Control, you can choose the destination within the Dungeon Level (or cancel the Teleport) as usual; otherwise you will be teleported to a random position within the current Level.
Trap-doors dump you unceremoniously and precipitously through to the next Dungeon Level down. Once there, you must explore the Level to find the Stairs (or Ladder) back up again (assuming that you want to go back up).
Rust traps are water-spouts in the Dungeon Ceiling. When an Adventurer (or a Monster) passes beneath, it drenches the victim with water. This may well Rust any iron or steel pieces of Equipment, as well as doing Water Damage to Scrolls and Spellbooks.
Spiders weave Webs, in which unwary Adventurers can get entangled. It may take several turns to tear your way out if you get stuck; the greater your Strength the more quickly you can liberate yourself.
Rust may afflict iron or steel Objects (especially Weapons and Armor) that get Water on them. It makes them much less effective. Weapons and Armor that normally would be susceptible to Rust can be Rustproofed by various means, magical and otherwise.
Non-Rustproof items can also be Rusted if touched by a Rust Monster.
Rustproofing is a process that can make your iron or steel Weapon or Armor impervious to the ill effects of Rust.
Acid will do Damage to you; it may also Disintegrate some of your Equipment.
Disintegration affects many objects, especially organic ones (leather, cloth, etc.) when they are splashed with Acid.
Fire is one of the most dangerous effects in NetHack, both for characters and for their Equipment. It will do burn Damage to you unless you have Intrinsic Fire Resistance. It may also burn up Scrolls and Spellbooks, cause Potions to boil and explode, and so on.
Cold attacks consist of a blast of freezing cold. This will do Damage to any creature who hasn't got Cold Resistance. It may also freeze Potions, shattering the flasks and destroying them.
Electric Shock is used as an attack by some Monsters. Magic Spells and Magical Items can also produce shocking electrical discharges and direct them against enemies. Shock does Damage to any victim that does not possess Intrinsic Shock Resistance.
Engulfment is an attack some very large Monsters can use against you. They swallow you whole, then attempt to digest you with Acid, pummel you with Rocks, Shock you with lightning, and so on.
You can still fight while you are still alive — you may be spit back out before you are dead, or you may even kill the Monster from inside! Shades of Peter and the Wolf… If only the Duck had had an Elven Dagger!
Paralysis means being "frozen"; you cannot move for several turns. During this time your enemies can whack away at you if they like.
You can be Paralyzed by an enemy Monster, by a Magic SpellMAGIC_SPELLS, or other means.
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