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Let's Play Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

7hm

Scholar
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
644
Mr Hawking: Part 5 - Gateway to Hell

The Amazing Adventures of Mr Hawking the Spriggan Enchanter of Nemelex Xobeh

Part Five - Gateway to Hell

... in which Mr. Hawking explores Lair: 8.

al_122.jpg

al_123.jpg


We rejoin Mr. Hawking on Lair:8. He's just now started to explore the level and is excited to see the more dangerous monsters rumoured to live here.

Those sheep looking things just north of Mr. Hawking? They're Death Yaks. The most important thing to know about Death Yaks is that they're not Yaks. They're the evil cousins of the Yak, and far, far more dangerous. Mr. Hawking remembers that he hasn't entirely explored the Lair up to this point and runs the hell away as fast as his little Spriggan legs can carry him.

al_124.jpg


On Lair:7 now, Mr. Hawking spots Erica, a human unique. She's sleeping right now so Mr. Hawking has time to devise a plan to deal with her. This is what he knows of Erica:
A comely spellweaver. She has Venom Bolt, Mystic Blast, Invisibility, Confuse, Slow, and Teleport Self for emergencies. She always wields a scimitar of flaming.

al_125.jpg


Mr. Hawking's "devious plan" is to run up to Erica and stab her while she sleeps.

Oh Mr. Hawking, you cunning devil you.

al_126.jpg


Mr. Hawking makes the aquaintance of Jozef.
Jozef is a tall bounty hunter; he casts many spells and uses nets that deal damage. He explores the dungeon searching for Joseph, who has a bounty out on his head.

al_127.jpg


Jozef makes the aquaintance of some of Mr. Hawking's friendly summons. Goodby Mr. Jozef.

al_128.jpg

al_129.jpg


Mr. Hawking discovers the entrance to both the Shoals and the Snake Pit on Lair:6. He has no intention of going into either dungeon just yet.

al_130.jpg


Mr. Hawking decides to learn levitation. Just because I haven't posted it recently - this is the
list of spells Mr. Hawking is currently using. Mr. Hawking's plan is to travel to that island back on Lair:1 by using the levitation spell.

al_131.jpg


He does just that.

al_132.jpg


Mr. Hawking finds the Book of the Tempests
.

al_133.jpg

al_134.jpg


Mr. Hawking spots a sleeping hydra. He takes a huge risk and one-shots it.


al_135.jpg


Peering around a corner in Lair:3 Mr. Hawking sees row upon row of killer bees. This is a cool little vault he's found.

Mr. Hawking doesn't want these things going all over the place, and the one corridor entrance makes it a chokepoint to deal with the buggers. The time to deal with them is now, not later. This is going to be fun. :)

al_136.jpg


Apparently I forgot to take screenshots during the battle. Suffice it to say that Mr. Hawking, and Mr. Hawking's summons, demolished the bees. At one point Mr. Hawking had a half dozen summons up, and they were almost all of the caliber (or higher) of the axe you see in the bottom corner of that screenshot. The bees dropped like flies :), and food worries are at an end for Mr. Hawking.

al_137.jpg


I've seen this vault before. It's filled with worms and a couple electric eels. As DamnedRegistrations mentioned earlier in the thread, Mr. Hawking does have some resist elec, so he's not overly concerned. He casts levitation and goes over to open the door.

al_138.jpg

al_139.jpg


Mr. Hawking deals with these monsters head on. His dagger with electrical damage ends up doing some decent damage to the worms.

al_140.jpg


Mr. Hawking has cleared out all of the Lair except the bottom level, so he finds his way back to Lair:8. And here is the entrance to the forest. You'll often (always now?) find these special forests on Lair:8 and right in the center there will typically be some cool vault feature. Mr. Hawking is excited to see what is coming so he steps into the forest.

al_141.jpg

al_142.jpg

al_143.jpg

al_144.jpg


Mr. Hawking explores the forest with his trusty Skeletal Hydra by his side. Thank god for Nemelex. :)

al_145.jpg


I've actually seen this vault before - the entrance is hidden through a secret entrance, which Mr. Hawking finds.

al_146.jpg


A crazed wizard. I'm not sure if this is a unique or just a special monster - there is something in the learnDB about wizards that mentions crazed as a description though. It says that wizards have the same spells as Erolcha, which notably includes banishment.

Given that Mr. Hawking has no interest in exploring the depths of the Abyss just yet, he feels that it would be best to quickly put an end to this threat. In fact, there's no need to even let him wake up.

al_147.jpg


The crazed wizard never knew what hit him.

With that threat dealt with, Mr. Hawking begins the search for the secret door he knows to be hidden in this room somewhere.

al_148.jpg


Mr. Hawking finds the secret door but is immediately attacked by demons!

al_149.jpg


Mr. Hawking calls on the luck of the cards to create an army for himself. He escapes by the skin of his teeth and manages to kill all the remaining demons.

al_150.jpg


Aha! The source of the demons. Mr. Hawking stands before the Gates of Hell!

Though I've seen the gates before I've never had a character stron enough to brave the endgame. There is absolutely zero chance Mr. Hawking will be that character - I'll be attempting ascension as soon as possible, not screwing around with endgame content. That said, it's cool to see.

al_151.jpg


Mr. Hawking finds the entrance to the Slime Pits on Lair:8.

al_152.jpg


With Lair:8 cleared, Mr. Hawking is finally ready to make an attempt at the Orc Mines.

Next update: Mr. Hawking gets into a bit of a pickle with some very dangerous Orc spellcasters.
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
Nothing like a DECj stepping down to Lair:6 into the waiting jaws of an eight headed hydra :love:

And I just realized: I could've blinked away instead of trying to scramble up the stairs...God damnit...
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,158
Call the Chaos Knight Lightbane (durr) and make him a worshipper of Xor for maximum lulz.
 

7hm

Scholar
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
644
Mr Hawking: Part 6 - Manic Miner

The Amazing Adventures of Mr Hawking the Spriggan Enchanter of Nemelex Xobeh

Part Six - Manic Miner

... in which Mr. Hawking tests his mettle in the orc mines.

al_152.jpg

al_153.png


We rejoin Mr. Hawking at the entrance to the Orcish Mines. This is the normal next step after Lair, and Mr. Hawking sees no reason to deviate from the well travelled path just yet.

al_154.png

al_155.png


Mr. Hawking sets upon a group of sleepy monsters. He makes short work out of them. Things are looking good. With a moment to rest and reflect, Mr. Hawking stops to pull out his journal and read up on the Orcish Mines.
The mine entrance is found in the main dungeon, between D:6 and D:11. The mines themselves are four levels deep with an irregular layout. You can get stuck if you aren't careful and forget to bring digging implements or a method of teleportation.
The only loot to be found (besides the occasional shop) is a substantial amount of gold and a huge amount of orcish equipment taken off the corpses of dead monsters. Explorers will need to be able to handle multiple orc warrior packs simultaneously and should watch out for knights, warlords, sorcerers, high priests, Saint Roka, and elves.

al_156.png


There are a lot of enemies to fight in the mines.

al_157.png


Mr. Hawking convinces some of the orcs to fight on his side.

al_158.png

al_159.png


Mr. Hawking finds a shop but it doesn't have anything he needs.

al_160.png


Mr. Hawking spots an orc sorceror. They are fairly powerful magic users for a Spriggan of Mr. Hawking's experience level, and the situation quickly gets out of hand.

al_161.png

al_162.png


With the help of his god (and a wack of summons), Mr. Hawking is able to take the fight.

al_163.png


This is a most dangerous situation. At least Mr. Hawking has some helpers with him.

This is what is known about Maurice:
He's a dirty thief. He can steal things out of your inventory!

al_164.png


Mr. Hawking did have the situation in hand, until Josephine showed up at least. He managed to kill Maurice before Maurice could get his filthy hands on Mr. Hawking valuables, but Josephine turns Maurice into a zombie!

Now Mr. Hawking has two uniques to fight, one living spellcaster, and one evil zombie!

Mr. Hawking racks his brain to remember details about Josephine; he needs to know if she has any particular weak points he can exploit.
Josephine is a really ugly necromancer.

Not much help there...

al_165.png


Better safe than sorry, Mr. Hawking ran from the uniques. He finds himself now up against a brand new foe - the terrible Troll! Trolls are like the Ogre's evil cousin. They have tons of health, they hit like a ton of bricks, and they regenerate.

al_166.png


Luckily for him, Mr. Hawking has a trick up his sleeve. With the troll bearing down on him, Mr. Hawking has no choice but to use it. One zap! with the wand of disintegration and the troll is no more! Those pieces of meat? Oh, that's just troll chunks.

al_167.png


Mr. Hawking finds another shop. Again nothing that really interests him. It's hard being a little guy - who will represent his shopping needs?

al_168.png

al_169.png


Mr. Hawking makes another attempt at the stairs; and by extention, another attempt at the uniques.

al_171.png

al_170.png


Uh oh. This didn't go as planned at all. Mr. Hawking reads a teleportation scroll as quickly as he can.

al_172.png


Phew!

al_173.png


Yet another unique! When will they end?!

This one is named Nergalle. What we know of her:
Orc sorceress, harmless by the time you meet her. Unless she summons a hellion, of course. Or if she paralyses you. On second thought, not so harmless.

Mr. Hawking runs away as quickly as his little feet will carry him, but there's nowhere to go. He's stuck between two groups of uniques, so he decides to attack the one he figures is less dangerous - Nergalle.

al_174.png


Uh oh. There's the hellion. Oh crap.

al_175.png


Well... fuck. Mr. Hawking - rest in piece.

...

al_176.png

al_177.png


Mr. Hawking's inventory at the time of death.

Up next: the morgue file. Bleh.
 

Malakal

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 14, 2009
Messages
10,266
Location
Poland
Spriggans are like that. At this level you should cleave easily through the mines, but they have PATHETIC hp and few spells/good hit is enough to take them out...
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
14,983
Potion of invis might have saved you if it was already ID'd (And if it wasn't that scroll of ID in the shop was hardly something you didn't need). Other than that, it was a pretty grim situation. 3 uniques on one floor is nasty. I'm not familiar enough with the decks of escape or defense to know if either of those would have helped you out. I was going to suggest also, that needles of paralyisis (And a +7! blowgun) might as well be needles of death in the hands of a stabber. But honestly, you made it further than my average SpEn, so I can't complain. Nice run.
 

dextermorgan

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
4,177
Location
Ελλάδα
My condolences. Can we add Vlad the Vampire Reaver of Sif Muna to the queue?

Short sword to be upgraded to Long Blade later, the book with cold spells.
 

7hm

Scholar
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
644
anus_pounder said:
Make a Hill Orc berseker of Trog called Grog. Its not the same as your first character, the name is spelled backwards.

lol

I've actually gone through both Lord Paco and Lightbane.

Lord Paco did really well, Lightbane not so much. Neither ascended obviously. I'll have their stories up today / tomorrow.

I ended up giving both of them 2 chances after failing miserably the first time due to rushing. My new rule is that I'll give all characters 2 shots at it if I can't hit Lair or the Mines the first time. Gotta say I still can't stand Xom, and that spellcasters are pretty damn strong. Going godless was interesting.

The order from here out (I've adjusted so I'm changing playstyles fairly frequently):

Anetka - Sludge Elf Transmuter
Malakal - Demonspawn of Jivya
Herp Derp - Deep Dwarf Necromancer
Monica - Kobold Wanderer
Jimmy - Spriggan Berserker
Slowpoke - Naga Transmuter of Chei
Reg the Damned- Mummy Arcane Marksman
Vlad - Vampire Reaver of Sif Muna
Arylath - Draconian Warper

I also definitely want to check out trunk - the felid class looks really cool.
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
:salute:

How 'bout a draconian caster named Arylath that specializes in whatever color they develop into? A warper would make the most sense for a starting class as it'll prove uselful regardless of what color you mature into.

Not quite sure how the maturation works exactly; I know it's random to at least some degree, but is it possible for a wizard to develop into a grey variant?
 

7hm

Scholar
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
644
Ashery said:
:salute:

How 'bout a draconian caster named Arylath that specializes in whatever color they develop into? A warper would make the most sense for a starting class as it'll prove uselful regardless of what color you mature into.

Not quite sure how the maturation works exactly; I know it's random to at least some degree, but is it possible for a wizard to develop into a grey variant?

Added. Sounds cool - it'll probably be quite a while before I get there though.

I've never really played the undead races mind you - those might be quicker playthroughs than I'd like. :)
 

7hm

Scholar
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
644
Mr Hawking: Morgue

This was Mr. Hawking, Spriggan Enchanter of Nemelex Xobeh

al_MrHawkingDead.png


Code:
35161 Mr. Hawking the Backstabber (level 13, -20/59 HPs)
             Began as a Spriggan Enchanter on Jan 29, 2011.
             Was a High Priest of Nemelex Xobeh.
             Killed from afar by a hellion (31 damage)
             ... with a burst of hellfire
             ... summoned by Nergalle
             
             ... on Level 4 of the Orcish Mines on Feb 3, 2011.
             The game lasted 03:46:55 (20093 turns).

Mr. Hawking the Backstabber (Spriggan Enchanter)                                                       Turns: 20093, Time: 03:46:55

HP -20/59        AC 10     Str  6      Exp: 13/48354 (2), need: 14695
MP  21/32        EV 28     Int 17      God: Nemelex Xobeh [*****.]
Gold 1314        SH 19     Dex 19      Spells:  9 memorised, 10 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : +   I - +2 orc dagger (elec)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   q - +2 robe {MR}
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   r - +3 elf buckler
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   e - +1 wizard hat
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : .   u - +0 cloak
Spirit.Shd: .       Stasis     : .   (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Rnd.Telep. : .   (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   (no amulet)
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .   f - +1 ring of evasion
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .   B - ring of the Many Deaths {rElec AC+4}

@: very slightly glowing, very quick, extremely resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely stealthy
A: unfitting armour, see invisible, herbivore 3, speed 3, slow metabolism 3
a: Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Mark Four, Stack Five, Renounce Religion


You were on level 4 of the Orcish Mines.
You worshipped Nemelex Xobeh.
Nemelex Xobeh was exalted by your worship.
You were full.

You visited 5 branches of the dungeon, and saw 24 of its levels.

You collected 1320 gold pieces.
You spent 26 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +0,+2 orcish dagger (quivered)
 b - a +0,+1 orcish dagger
 d - a +0,+2 orcish dagger
 I - a +2,+2 orcish dagger of electrocution (weapon)
Armour
 e - a +1 wizard hat (worn)
 q - a +2 robe of magic resistance (worn)
 r - a +3 elven buckler (worn)
 u - a +0 cloak (worn)
 D - a +1 orcish robe
Magical devices
 m - a wand of fire (4)
 w - a wand of disintegration (2)
 z - a wand of digging (7)
Comestibles
 h - a honeycomb
Scrolls
 c - 5 scrolls of identify
 i - 2 scrolls of teleportation
 j - 3 scrolls of detect curse
 n - 2 scrolls of remove curse
Jewellery
 f - a +1 ring of evasion (right hand)
 A - an uncursed amulet of stasis
 B - the ring of the Many Deaths (left hand) {rElec AC+4}
   (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   [ring of protection]
   It affects your AC (+4).
   It insulates you from electricity.
Potions
 g - 4 potions of healing
 l - a potion of restore abilities
 s - a potion of confusion
 C - a potion of speed
 E - a potion of resistance
 N - a potion of invisibility
Books
 k - a book of the Tempests   
   
Miscellaneous
 o - an ornate deck of defence {drawn: 2}
 p - a crystal ball of energy
 t - an ornate deck of summonings {drawn: 7} {god gift}
 v - an ornate deck of summonings {god gift}
 x - a plain deck of changes {drawn: 2}
 y - an ornate deck of escape {god gift}
 F - an ornate deck of summonings {god gift}


 You had 2 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 3 Fighting
 - Level 7 Short Blades
 - Level 4 Throwing
 + Level 11 Dodging
 + Level 12 Stealth
 + Level 16 Stabbing
 + Level 4 Shields
 + Level 4 Traps & Doors
 + Level 9 Spellcasting
 + Level 2 Conjurations
 - Level 10 Enchantments
 - Level 5 Ice Magic
 + Level 3 Poison Magic
 + Level 8 Evocations


You had 10 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power          Success   Level
a - Corona                Ench           ######..       Excellent   1
b - Ensorcelled Hibernat  Ice/Ench       #####..        Excellent   2
c - Confuse               Ench           ######...      Excellent   3
d - Repel Missiles        Air/Ench       ####......     Excellent   2
e - Sting                 Pois/Conj      ####.          Excellent   1
f - Cure Poison           Pois           ####......     Excellent   2
g - Levitation            Air/Ench       ####......     Excellent   2
h - Selective Amnesia     Ench           N/A            Excellent   4
i - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  ###.......     Very Good   3

                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You are tiny and cannot use many weapons and most armour.
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
You are a herbivore.
You cover ground extremely quickly.
You need consume almost no food.


Message History

Nergalle hits your grizzly bear with an orcish dagger.
Your grizzly bear bites Nergalle. Your grizzly bear claws Nergalle. Your grizzly bear misses Nergalle.
The hellion gestures at you.
A scroll you are carrying catches fire!
Ouch! That really hurt!
You die...
Your body glows with a rainbow of weird colours and disappears.

#.............##.##.#.#.# 
.......#.......)..........
#.....##..................
###....#..#..#....#...#...
 #....#.........#.........
 #.o.###..#T.#.#....2.....
 ##o#.####....).#...2.....
  ##...# ##.....[.........
  #...####.)).Uo..........
  ##..##...U..2.2....#....
   #..o..@............#.. 
   #.....[.....#.#...... 
   #............###...# 
   #...##.......#  ... 
   ##.##.......... .. 
    ####.......... 
       ##........ 
        #g..#.. 
        ...... 
        ... 


You could see Nergalle, a grizzly bear, a troll, 2 hellions, an orc, a goblin and a friendly grizzly bear.

Vanquished Creatures
  Erica (Lair:7)
  A wizard (Lair:8)
  Pikel (D:7)
  Maurice (Orc:4)
  Gastronok (Lair:7)
  Jozef (Lair:6)
  Grinder (D:7)
  Edmund (D:7)
  Grum (D:8)
  Menkaure (D:7)
  Sigmund (D:7)
564 creatures vanquished.
 

Yeesh

Magister
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
2,876
Location
your future if you're not careful...
I'm sorry for your loss. Mr. Hawking was a brave little guy.

:salute:

Now can someone please explain why the scroll of acquirement I was fantastically lucky to find just gave me a god damned Longbow when my weapon skills are Polearms 9 and Throwing 2 and absolutely nothing else? At a moment when I've made it down to DL 8 and my weapon is the trident I started with... thanks, game. Thanks.
 

7hm

Scholar
Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
644
Anyone have suggestions on how to use a Chei character?

They won't matter now, but for my next guy who worships Chei ;)

+ I really need to update rather than just keep playing, but when you're doing well the game is just so damn fun.
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
14,983
The big thing to remember with Chei is sort of the thing you need to remember with Spriggans, it's your movement that is slow, not your actions. As such, translocation is highly recommended if you can get your hands on it, and don't move towards and alert enemy when you can huck rocks, wave wands or even just wait for him. It's much safer than moving towards a wizard and getting pelted 3 times in a row for one tile of movement. Only move if it'll break line of sight with your enemies.

Don't worry about your piety much early on, as long as you're not a spriggan it'll get racked up from bats and snakes quickly enough. A bit later when you encounter bees it'll shoot up to near the max, when you can wear 5 pieces of equipment at once. At which point, your stats will be insane. +15 to any one stat is a lot, all 3 is crazy. The resists are nice too. But basically, you can cast spells more powerfully for way less food cost, you'll hit harder and more often, you can carry a ton, and your stealth will be excellent. Oh, and ironically, you'll be able to dodge quite well. If you ever manage to cast blade hands, you can blender most things in melee. You're excellent with shields as well, magical or physical.

Also, remember when you make something ponderous, you turn it into a mini artifact; it can't be enchanted any further.

Lastly, Slouch is fucking insane (Especially versus fast things, you can clear the elf halls and the hive so easily), and Chei's other abilities are no minor trinkets either. Leave some XP to level up your invocations (And practice it!) so you can rely on them later. They'll be pointless if you only have a 1 in 3 chance of pulling them off.
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
14,983
Decided to screw around with Crawl some more until she pisses me off again. Got a Spriggan Enchanter running around with a dagger of speed now, trying out Nemelex for the first time. Those decks really ARE powerful. I got a legendary summoning deck already, and I cleared out a beehive with a swarm of lightning bolt spewing vapours, solving my food issues for the whole game in one fell swoop. Also, thanks to a couple of potions, I have +2 strength, letting me actually carry a decent amount of shit for a change. Now all I need is a better way of dealing with the undead than confuse & stab or blowing a deck of cards. I got the spellcasting skill high enough to learn all sorts of shit without starving now, even if my food vanished, I just need some books. Also, some equipment besides the dagger would be nice.
 

Malakal

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 14, 2009
Messages
10,266
Location
Poland
Start my demonspawn of Jivya as a berserker of Trog. From my experience demonspawns require as lot of help early game, unless they get some awesome mutations. Convert later, when Trogs anger wont be that deadly, Jivya is a late game god anyway...
 

Zomg

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
6,984
Switch to the latest trunk build; having heavy armor be useful again makes a lot of characters less annoying. And you can play a new annoying micromangement-heavy god.
 

Donaroriak

Augur
Joined
Jan 19, 2006
Messages
101
Project: Eternity
Thank you, good sir, for unveiling a roguelike that does not rape newcomers.
:obviously: :obviously: :obviously:
Many hours will go into this one (although I suck)
 

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