Special rooms, shops and level sounds in NetHack 3.4

room-340.html Last edited 2002-10-24 for NetHack 3.4.0
Compiled by Dylan O'Donnell <psmith@spod-central.org>
HTML Conversion by Kate Nepveu.

Contents

This spoiler only considers the special rooms that can be generated randomly in the main Dungeons of Doom. Certain special levels have their own predefined special rooms (shops in Minetown and the Tourist Quest, zoos in Sokoban and the Wizard's Tower, and many others).

Special rooms

The usual name describing the room is given first, then in brackets the chance of creation, the range of Dungeon Levels within the Dungeons of Doom in which the room is eligible to be created, and any other constraints on generation. Following this is a list of messages (level sounds) which may be given when on a level which has that room, and messages given when entering the room (as opposed to greetings from its occupant, if any).

The chances listed are cumulative; once one type of special room has been created, no others are eligible to be created, and they are considered in order. No special rooms from this list will be created on the Oracle, Big Room, Rogue, Medusa or Castle levels.

Shop (3/DL, DL 2+, not below Medusa, suitable room)

"You hear someone cursing shoplifters."
"You hear the chime of a cash register."
"You hear Neiman and Marcus arguing!" (hallucinating)
"This shop appears to be deserted." (entering, no shopkeeper)

Contains a shopkeeper and stock. See the section "Shops" below for what that stock may consist of.

Throne room (1/6, DL 5+)

"You hear the tones of courtly conversation."
"You hear a sceptre pounded in judgment."
"Someone shouts "Off with <his/her> head!""
"You hear Queen Beruthiel's cats!" (hallucinating)
"You enter an opulent throne room!" (entering)

Contains a throne and a chest. Filled with sleeping monsters selected (according to depth) from the classes koCDGHT and bugbears.

Leprechaun hall (1/8, DL 6+, leprechauns not genocided/extinct)

No level sounds.

"You enter a leprechaun hall!" (entering)

Filled with sleeping leprechauns and gold.

Zoo (1/7, DL 7+)

"You hear a sound reminiscent of an elephant stepping on a peanut."
"You hear a sound reminiscent of a seal barking."
"You hear Doctor Doolittle!" (hallucinating)
"Welcome to David's treasure zoo!" (entering)

Filled with random sleeping monsters and gold.

Temple (1/5, DL 9+)

No level sounds.

"You have a forbidding feeling." (entering, priest of different alignment to altar)
"You have a strange forbidding feeling." (entering, priest present, cross-aligned or your alignment worse than -5)
"You experience a strange sense of peace." (entering, priest present otherwise)
"You have an eerie feeling..." (entering, no priest)
"You feel like you are being watched." (entering, no priest)
"A shiver runs down your <spine>." (entering, no priest)

Contains an altar and a priest or priestess aligned with it.

If in a co-aligned temple and your alignment is better than -4, you receive sanctuary; monsters will not enter, and monsters already in the temple will not attack you directly (although they can still use ranged attacks). Some monsters (Riders, high priests, all A) ignore sanctuary.

Beehive (1/5, DL 10+, killer bees not genocided/extinct)

"You hear a low buzzing."
"You hear an angry drone."
"You hear bees in your bonnet!" (hallucinating, wearing helmet)
"You hear bees in your (nonexistent) bonnet!" (hallucinating, no helmet)
"You enter a giant beehive!" (entering)

Contains lumps of royal jelly (created on roughly 1/3 squares). Filled with sleeping killer bees and one sleeping queen bee.

Graveyard (1/6, DL 12+)

"You suddenly realize it is unnaturally quiet."
"The <hair> on the back of your <neck> stands up."
"The <hair> on your <head> seems to stand up." (hallucinating)
"You have an uncanny feeling..." (entering between 0100-2359)
"<Run> away! <Run> away!" (entering between 0000-0059)

Contains corpses (created on roughly 1/5 of squares), chests or boxes (1/10) and graves (1/5). Filled with sleeping monsters selected (according to depth) from the classes ZV&, wraiths, and ghosts.

Anthole (1/8, DL 13+)

No level sounds.

"You enter an anthole!" (entering)

Contains food (created on roughly 1/3 of squares). Filled with sleeping giant ants, soldier ants or fire ants (equal chances of each).

Barracks (1/4, DL 15+, soldiers not genocided/extinct)

"You hear blades being honed."
"You hear loud snoring."
"You hear dice being thrown."
"You hear General MacArthur!" (hallucinating)
"You enter a military barracks!" (entering)
"You enter an abandoned barracks." (entering, empty)

Contains chests or boxes (created on roughly 1/20 of squares). Filled with sleeping monsters selected (according to depth) from soldiers, sergeants, lieutenants and captains.

Swamp (1/6, DL 16+)

"You hear mosquitoes!"
"You smell marsh gas!"
"You hear Donald Duck!" (hallucinating)
"It looks rather muddy down here." (entering)
"It feels rather humid down here." (entering, blind)

Up to five rooms on the level become swamp rooms, with a chequered pattern of pools possibly containing giant eels, electric eels, or piranhas, alternating with dry land possibly containing a random fungus.

Cockatrice nest (1/8, DL 17+, cockatrices not genocided/extinct)

No level sounds.

"You enter a disgusting nest!" (entering)

Contains statues of player-monsters (created on roughly 1/3 of squares) containing up to four random items. Filled with sleeping cockatrices.

Vault (independent approximately 35% chance)

"You hear the footsteps of a guard on patrol."
"You hear Ebenezer Scrooge!" (hallucinating)
"You hear someone searching." (looted)
"You hear someone counting money." (unlooted)
"You hear the quarterback calling the play." (unlooted, hallucinating)

2x2 isolated room containing gold (amount depending on depth). May contain the portal to Fort Ludios (1/3 chance for each vault created between level 11 and Medusa, except on the level with the Quest portal, unless portal already created).

Miscellaneous level sounds

Shops

Shops have a base 3/DL chance of being created between level 2 and Medusa, provided there is a suitable room to put them in (no stairs, only one door), and provided that there are enough rooms on the level to start with (minimum 3, 4 for a branch level). Note that this means that there will always be a shop on each of levels 2 and 3 if the conditions are right (which in practice turns out to only be the case about 45% of the time).

There are eleven types of shop; of these, one (lighting) can only appear in Minetown. Their probabilities of random creation and their stock distribution are:

SHOP PROB STOCK
general 44% 100% random
used armor dealership 14 90% armour, 10% weapons
second-hand bookstore 10 90% scrolls, 10% spell books
liquor emporium 10 100% potions
antique weapons outlet 5 90% weapons, 10% armour
delicatessen 5 83% food, 5% fruit juice, 5% water, 4% booze, 3% ice box
jewelers 3 85% rings, 10% gems, 5% amulets
quality apparel and accessories *3 90% wands, 5% leather gloves, 5% elven cloak
hardware store 3 100% tools
rare books *3 90% spell books, 10% scrolls
lighting store 0 40% tallow candle, 32% wax candle, 10% oil lamp, 5% brass lantern, 3% magic lamp

PROB is the percentage chance of a random shop being of this type. Shops with probabilities marked * may not be larger than 20 squares; if they would otherwise be (about half the time), they are converted into general stores instead.

Acknowledgements

Corrections and clarifications provided by Eva Myers and Robert Schneck.


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