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   pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 02:47:06 JST pistolero
   I'm not dead, I just fell off a thing and landed on my haunch and slept it off instead of walking it off because it was raining and then I got drunk and botched my tiny dude and died in Gehennom because I was touched by a green slime in Juiblex's swamp and I didn't notice the messages (was drunk and an arch-lich kept summoning shit at me so there was a constant stream of spam). This was a completely preventable death, I had a wand of fire, I had several, I was in Gehennom. I had, in fact, used the wands to fix that exact problem a few times and had gotten impatient with the green slimes and started just firing Finger of Death at them and I don't know if the lich had summoned one or if those things are eligible for summoning or if one had just sidled up while I was trying to get to the staircase to shiv this fucking lich that kept throwing storm giants and vampire lords at me. (Game ran a weird deficit of magic markers and genocide scrolls or there wouldn't have been any goddamn Ls or hs by the time I got to hell *anyway*.)
   
   Anyway, fuck that game, I'm Mexican today, starting with mis goddamn juevos.
   motherinternet.png
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     Vinnewed Goblin (mirq@tsogol.tsiran.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 02:57:46 JST Vinnewed Goblin

     in reply to
     @p si, pero donde estan(?) tus pantalones, sen~or?
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 03:02:25 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • Vinnewed Goblin
     @mirq Pants are a sucker's game.
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     Vinnewed Goblin (mirq@tsogol.tsiran.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 03:09:42 JST Vinnewed Goblin

     in reply to
     @p pants tend to present an obstacle to sucking, in my experience
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     roko's basilisk (vii@dsmc.space)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 03:09:42 JST roko's basilisk

     in reply to

     • Vinnewed Goblin
     @mirq @p Hence it being a game for the sucker.
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     SilverDeth (silverdeth@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 04:18:30 JST SilverDeth

     in reply to
     @p What Dungeon's & Dragons Edition is that game? In 2nd - the one I know because I am as old as dirt - Cone of Cold is your friend against slimes. But... that may or may not be useful data.
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 04:18:37 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • Vinnewed Goblin
     @mirq Only one person can wear pants in that scenario.
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     SilverDeth (silverdeth@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 04:34:42 JST SilverDeth

     in reply to
     @p Oh sounds like a MUD with a killer DM.
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 04:34:43 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @SilverDeth
     
     > What Dungeon's & Dragons Edition is that game?
     
     Nethack is a pastiche so individual editions are hard to determine; I haven't played a D&D. It's got the liches and the wumpus and whatnot. You may enjoy Nethack if you like games with a terrifying learning curve and a payoff some time, years in the future, as long as you don't, after about a week, forget to check that your gloves are on before handling a cockatrice corpse (and when descending stairs, ensure that you either are not burdened or that you have no cockatrice eggs in open inventory) or make sure that you pay attention and if your character has survived a couple of weeks, you don't play the game drunk. I had some blank spellbooks but had dried out my magic marker trying to write an identify book and I got sick of sacrifice-farming by the time I actually got my godly shiv.
     sandwich_chef_nethack.gif
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     Sabex (sabex@poa.st)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 04:41:50 JST Sabex

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p
     I've never gotten that far.
     @SilverDeth
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 04:44:56 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     • Sabex
     @sabex @SilverDeth I've ascended several times but then they finally resumed development and changed a lot of 3.4.3 behavior that I exploited--ahem, "relied on". Like, they nerfed Elbereth and sure, that was extremely ripe for abuse, and I abused the hell out of it, so I can't really complain.
     
     NetHack and Civ2 are the two games where I occasionally get the monkey on my back.
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     :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading: (m0xee@breloma.m0xee.net)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 05:31:31 JST :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p @SilverDeth
     In NetHack skill is still a fuck, speaking from experience.
     Even when you know all the ins and outs, your best chances are finding a ring of polymorph and polymorph control, turning into a Master Lich, then using a wand of digging to fall several levels down and levelling up there quickly while morphed. Then maybe finding a wand of wishing and… who knows :marseywink:
     I got very close to the endgame this way once!
     Otherwise you might spend weeks crawling carefully and than fuck up on something insignificant :marseyitsover:
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 05:38:46 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     • SilverDeth
     @m0xEE @SilverDeth My usual strategy is to ice a couple of shopkeepers and get protection and then altar farm to get godly shiv (Magicbane) and maybe some spellbooks. This time I didn't because I angered the god while starving (ended up eating tripe) and it took some time to get him pacified, so I was sick of altar-farming by the time I got my shiv.
     
     Wand of polymorph is great for shopkeepers and you can line it up with your pet and sometimes you get a pet dragon and the shopkeeper turns into a jelly, plus you can recycle junk. Stinking cloud works more reliably. This time I got a pet hezrou but he went feral when I fell down a hole.
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     Sabex (sabex@poa.st)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 05:40:59 JST Sabex

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p
     Nethack used to be my go-to when I was travelling for work. A discreet binary that I could smuggle on a memory stick.
     Great game, havent played it in absolutely ages
     @SilverDeth
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 09:46:28 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     • Sabex
     @sabex @SilverDeth Not a lot has changed since 3.4.3 but they have nerfed Elbereth, added more interesting levels from some of the forks, etc.
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     :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading: (m0xee@breloma.m0xee.net)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 10:03:49 JST :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p @SilverDeth
     Oh yes, pet dragons! :marseystars:
     I believe silver ones were the best (or were they grey? :marseyhmmm: ) — their attack isn't as strong, but at least it can't damage goods and their own magic resistance made them more resilient than most other pets.
     
     As for shopkeepers… TBH I never got any good things from it, but harassing them is so much fun! My personal record is killing three in a single playthrough… :marseybuff:
     (I think I just got lucky)
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Thursday, 05-Mar-2026 10:09:59 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     • SilverDeth
     @m0xEE @SilverDeth
     
     > I believe silver ones were the best (or were they grey?
     
     Well, even pet dragons usually are more of a hindrance than a help once you pass the castle and get to Gehennom.
     
     > As for shopkeepers… TBH I never got any good things from it, but harassing them is so much fun! My personal record is killing three in a single playthrough…
     
     Around level 10 you can kill them as much as you want, they're not super tough. If I can, I hit the ones in Minetown because bucket of money plus aligned priest (though Minetown is now sometimes dead, it's actually kinda cool, the shopkeepers are all dead with spent wands and the place is flooded with orcs), and if the priest isn't coaligned then after I pay for protection I try to convert the altar, but sometimes it's not easy to do. (A tough pet will sometimes do that but not reliably. Best bet is stinking cloud plus scroll of earth so you don't "see" the priest and get smited. Two scrolls of earth guaranteed on the first level of Sokoban. Can't pay for protection if the orcs have killed everyone but it does mean that if you can take care of them fast enough and close enough to the altar, you can convert the altar reliably. Playing chaotic means no alignment penalty for killing shopkeepers and human sacrifice like shopkeeper or priest or Keystone Kops automatically converts altars to chaotic.)
   • Embed this notice
     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:05:00 JST pistolero

     in reply to
     @SilverDeth @m0xEE I do love games where you are expected to die a lot.
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     SilverDeth (silverdeth@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:05:01 JST SilverDeth

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     @p @m0xEE
     
     If you like these sorts of "Murder DM" games, give "The Dark Spire" a try.
     
     https://wowroms.com/en/roms/nintendo-ds/the-dark-spire/15980.html
     
     It's 2nd edition based, (but not a licensed D&D product) and the game will murder you with zeal.
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:05:38 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     • SilverDeth
     @SilverDeth @m0xEE Shit, is that a DS game with the Atlus logo on it? Why didn't I play this yet?
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:21:31 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     • SilverDeth
     @m0xEE @SilverDeth I'm pretty sure the Minetown predated the Elemental Planes.
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     :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading: (m0xee@breloma.m0xee.net)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:21:32 JST :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p @SilverDeth
     > Around level 10 you can kill them as much as you want
     Oh, that town… Thing is, when I started playing NetHack, I don't thing that town existed — I've been playing it days on end and I never got there. I found the game in an OS/2 software collection and it could be that it was some old verson, and when I got on the Internet, so I could download the latests one with fancy tiles and all, I wasn't playing the game as much already.
     So for me absolute most levels were procedurally generate, except for the few key ones: castle, elemental planes… I don't remember it too well, but I'm not even sure class quests existed 🤔
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     :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading: (m0xee@breloma.m0xee.net)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:21:58 JST :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     • SilverDeth
     @p @SilverDeth
     Yep, found it!
     
     I don't think I'm old enough to play a version that old, but there was (still is?) a build flag in version 3 that disables… Well, a lot: https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/NetHack_3.1.0#If_MULDGN_is_not_defined
     > The branched dungeon is mostly a compile-time option, enabled by default. If the line #define MULDGN is removed from include/config.h, the dungeon is changed as follows:
     > The Gnomish Mines, the Quest and Fort Ludios are deleted.
     > Vlad's Tower remains the same.
     > Monsters and artifacts specific to Quests are deleted.
     > Medusa has the Bell of Opening.
     
     Looks like the game I've been playing a lot simply didn't have a lot of niceties…
     Sad, but at least I'm not making this up 😁
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:22:18 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     • SilverDeth
     @m0xEE @SilverDeth Shit, why would you take out the Quest or Fort Ludios?
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     :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading: (m0xee@breloma.m0xee.net)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:29:36 JST :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @SilverDeth @p
     > sorts of "Murder DM" games
     That's the way I usually play games: kill everyone… or fuck everyone — if it's a Sims game. In the latter case, preferably at the same time — or in the shortest period of time :marseytroublemaker:
     
     Plot quests? Fuck those! I'm going to reach maximum level killing rats in the very first location and them breeze through the rest of the game eviscerating whole towns. This is why even games like Elex, although they allow lots of freedom, are still a disappointment to me. In Elex you could even kill most characters responsible for side quests, which is entertaining, but the main plot ones are still invincible — I could hide behind the corner throwing rocks at them indefinitely, but it's obvious that this wasn't planned and you aren't supposed to withstand the slaughter. Main plot ones even calm down after being provoked and you can keep playing the game.
     Towns in Elex are very entertaining places to get naughty, but eventually it still gets boring after you realise that guards just keep respawning indefinitely.
     
     That's why NetHack is such a breath of fresh air — even back in the day in most graphical computer RPG games shops were… Well, shops — they are giving you some menu and you can buy and sell items, but in NetHack… "Oh, so you've arranged it in a way that I can buy items through usual game mechanics. Okay, let's try this…"— and then you realise that it IS allowed and that it's actually part of the game: you can dig a hole and the shopkeeper would fall through, and the game won't break! You can train pets to carry all the items out of the shop for you — there are whole strategies built around it.
     Nowadays rogulike became a subgenre and elements of it even made inroads into more casual games, but back in the day there were games that would bread if you started doing bizarre shit, but there was also this — you could do whatever came to mind only to see that the game could handle all sorts of behaviour.
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     SilverDeth (silverdeth@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Friday, 06-Mar-2026 03:38:37 JST SilverDeth

     in reply to

     • :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:
     @p @m0xEE Indeed it is.
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     Suzu (suzu@detroitriotcity.com)'s status on Saturday, 07-Mar-2026 08:07:25 JST Suzu

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p @SilverDeth it uses mainly the AD&D ruleset, as seen by the way AC works (the lower your AC the better, and you can go negative. This was a convoluted way they decided to make AC work in AD&D, in every other edition AC goes up and you have an attack bonus instead of the THAC0).
     But it takes a lot of liberties with many AD&D rules, like increasing attributes and whatnot, so it's not a 1 to 1 representation of the TTRPG rules.
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Saturday, 07-Mar-2026 08:25:09 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • Suzu
     • SilverDeth
     @Suzu @SilverDeth
     
     > it's not a 1 to 1 representation
     
     Yeah, like, I don't think they went for specific rulesets rather than just borrowing some mechanics and some monsters.
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     :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading: (m0xee@breloma.m0xee.net)'s status on Saturday, 07-Mar-2026 08:34:18 JST :marseyloadingneon: m0xEE :marseyloading:

     in reply to

     • SilverDeth
     @p @SilverDeth
     I believe originally NetHack only allowed two stairways per level: one leading to the level above, and one downwards. At some point they added branching and some levels to make use of it, but made it optional — because it could have bugs or for compatibility with mods, though I'm not sure even SlashEM existed at that point :cirno_shrug:
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