What happened to Lech X really got me thinking. The whole point of playing one race was to give me a chance to really learn them inside out and appreciate what they're capable of. So far I don't seem to have made much progress on that. But I've got some ideas:
1. There's enough fucking poison in the dungeon already. You can kick a lot of non-poison-immune ass with blowguns and of course spitting (note that spitting is really inaccurate. It's all fine and well when it hits, but it misses a lot).
2. I'd like some magic for kicking poison-immune ass, and also kicking undead ass. I'd also like to start with a book that has an easy victory dance spell. That's key.
3. I need to power up a weapon skill. Barring a lucky staff of power (fuck I wasted Lech X's amazing fortune), a naga isn't going to have the MP to just cast and cast and cast.
4. I love distilling potions from corpses and I love evaporating them into grenades. AND for starts where that's part of my MO, a corpse god is right out.
5. I get frustrated and kill off my guys. This means I will never, ever win Crawl.
So all that hasn't cohered into a strategy yet, and anyway I started this gentleman before such deep thoughts. So without further rambling, albeit with plenty of subsequent rambling:
This is my friend Lech XI. He's an ice elementalist, ready to go the distance. Naga have no particular magic aptitudes but one, being at 0 across the board except for poison. This gives them the great flexibility that humans have when it comes to using magic. And we all know what a popular race humans are.
Sleep well, my pretties...
The frozen kobold points the way to level 2. The hobgoblin sleeps soundly through his bunkmate's death. I miss being able to make potions out of corpses.
Oooo, a buckler. I'm always looking for one of those. Sadly, naga have a -2 to shields (you know, because naga suck), but a buckler might not gimp casting too badly.
Lech explores the entirety of dungeon level 1 without discovering a single blade for butchering.
The blade problem is solved, and now it's clear that this is the shield game. Lech XI can wear two shields and kill things with his mind.
Frost and spittle put an end to a snake, and usher in a new era of Lech XI being third level. I pick Int.
Frustration and starvation and general annoyance pushes Lech XI down to dungeon level 4 because fuck you that's why. A snake dies and now Lech is level 4 himself. But of course the snake does not leave a corpse.
Lech XI finds an altar to Sif Muna and figures, what the fuck? Life is short when you're a naga, might as well believe in something. You'll also notice Lech has picked up a sweet +0 helmet that makes him look badass.
Another snake kill, which Lech kind of feels badly about, the way human scientists must feel awful when they experiment on monkeys, although I guess for naga scientists a more apt analog would be a half snake, half moneky test subject, but anyway the point is Lech XI is now level 5.
So I seem to be noticing this more in .8 than I ever saw it in .7: level 4 is divided into pieces and level 3 is divided into pieces, such that going to a different part of level 4 actually entails going to not just level 3 but fucking level 2. Which must be fine for spriggans and everyone else, but naga burn food, despite whatever bullshit I read that says they don't. This fucker gets hungry fast, and traipsing 50 or 60 turns through the already completed dungeon just to get to the rest of the level seems to be a huge go fuck yourself as well as a sort of enforced enforced scumming since you end up fighting respawns in areas you've already cleared. So fuck you, Crawl. Lech goes down to 5 instead, since the alternative would be starvation. And here's some orcs. Not being a transmuter, Lech XI is not really prepared for this. I should sneak away but fuck that. Fuck that with a plunger.
Surprisingly the priest goes down after a lot of spells and some darts. But Lech is nearly finished. I say let him die if he can't handle this.
But Lech XI survives to hungrily devour some orc flesh. Fucking fuck this anyway. Look, there's the stairs back to dungeon level 4.
A little of the old blowgun on the scorpion trick helps Lech XI reach level 6. Personally, I don't care if he lives or dies. You hear me, you little fucker? I choose Int. Note that eating orc flesh and being sick for like 5 seconds of course took a point of Dex which will surely come back around turn 30,000, which turn Lech XI will surely live to see.
Also note the annoying level layout. Fuck you, Crawl. How does that make the game better? I thought doing away with tedium was a design goal. But what I really mean to say is fuck you.
Here's the temple, but Lech XI has already pledged himself to Sif Muna. If you'll recall, my reasons for doing so were: The altar's right there and Why not?
Imps always used to piss me off, but being susceptible to cold this one died nearly instantly.
A phantom, on the other hand, is immune to my trickery. At this point I wonder if I should have memorized Throw Icicle, but at a hunger level of 'Honeycomb', the spell would just be a chilly suicide. Lech XI is already fucked when it comes to food. Of course, now he's fucked in a more immediate way. (Lech XI barely makes a getaway, training slings in the process. Now he can just starve to death).
Lech finds a runed greatsword and figures, "What the fuck?" Turns out it's not cursed, but no brand either.
Our old friends the gnolls. Can Lech XI kill them without starving? (Yes, Lech now uses the blowgun instead of any of his actual abilities.)
Third imp this level. I'm not complaining, they're awfully easy for Lech XI. After, our hero decides to try things on and hopefully ID scrolls. The only ring he's picked up turns out to be cursed! Yay! A ring of hunger! And guess what? None of the other scrolls are remove curse. That's never happened to me before, not after clearing 4 full levels (and despite appearances, I've played this game a lot). But Lech DOES read a teleport scroll!
And here's where we land. Not actually such a tight spot, but who cares since Lech is going to starve?
In the ensuing brawl, Lech XI achieves level 7. The blowgun is mighty against this crowd. Look, there's imp number four. Lech clears the area out, chops up some corpses to get that sweet, tainted meat, and moves forward in his suddenly very urgent quest to find a scroll of remove curse. Although he's only a glorified @ symbol, Lech XI still has the wherewithal to think, "Fuck you, Crawl."