adom
at your command prompt or by clicking on its icon or launching it via Steam (for ADOM Deluxe, see http://www.adom.de/steam). After some moments the game will start.
The restore option will provide you with a list of available saved games from which you can restore a game. Please note that you can't restore a game when your character died the last time you played (this is a staple of roguelike gaming; ADOM Deluxe offers an option to save and restore games even after dying).
If you choose to create a new character, ADOM first of all will randomly determine your birth date, your star sign and give some details about the effects of the events surrounding your birth. Then you will have to decide whether to choose a specific class and race to play or whether you want ADOM to choose for you. In both cases you will have to determine the gender of your character. This has some influence on game play (in ADOM female characters are more agile, male characters are slightly stronger). If you allow fate to decide the details, ADOM will randomly choose the race and profession of your character, otherwise you will be presented with lists for both from which you have to choose.
Then you will have to enter a name for the character you are going to play. The name has no further influence on game play but serves to individualize your character. If you just press ENTER instead of entering a name, the game will christen your character with a default name, if the variable 'Allow_Default_Names' is set to 'true' in 'adom.cfg'.
Next, the background of your character will be described. The game will mention your character's sex and race and then detail his life prior to starting his adventure. Every character lives through four major phases of development: early childhood, childhood, youth and young adulthood. For each phase certain events are generated. These events serve to detail your PC and influence his attributes. Finally, you will get to know your class, your area of specialization (if available) and your starting age.
After all this you will be dumped directly into the game. You are assumed to have just entered one of the major valleys in the Drakalor Chain and from that point on everything is based on your actions.
Note that you can switch ASCII and graphical display at any time by pressing F10. We recommend using the graphical mode until you feel comfortable with the options provided by ADOM Deluxe as there are tons of options and choices and these all are documented via tooltips and other means in the graphical mode (and we won't repeat that information here).
The following sample shows how a game screen might look:
The skeleton fails to hurt you.
################
#..../.%.......# #########
#.####.........######.......#
######### #.# #............../.......#
#.......### #.# ########/#######.......#
#......./.############# #.# #.# ######### #######
#.......#./...........############.###########.#####################.....#
####.######.............^..z@............................................#
#.# #....<......############.###########.#####################.....#
#.# #...........# #.# #######/# #.....#
#.# ##/########## #.# #.......# #.#####
#.# #.# #.# #.......# #.#
#.# ##/############ #.# #.......# #.#
####/#### #......^......# #####/### ######### #.#
#.......# #.....###.....# #.......###############################.#
#.>.....# #.....# #.....# #......./...............................#
#.......# #.....# ####### #.......#################################
######### ####### #########
Geffrey St:19 Le: 9 Wi:14 Dx:12 To:22 Ch: 8 Ap: 8 Ma:11 Pe:15 N=
DV/PV: 10/4 H: 27(27) P: 3(3) Exp: 1/139 D: 1 Sp: 100
The first two lines of the screens are reserved for messages which explain
certain events and actions. If more text is issued than fits into those two
lines, a (more) prompt will appear. To continue you have to press SPACE (or
Z). If you are expecting many messages in one turn which you don't want to
read, you also can press ENTER. All messages will scroll through without
waiting for a confirmation. If you want to look at one of those messages
later, you can still use the :m command (see below).The last three lines contain information about your character in the following order:
All lines between these two screen parts are used to display the map of the current dungeon level or wilderness area (as far as you have explored it). Specific characters are used to represent items, monsters, locations, and other stuff.
You can use the mouse to hover over most of those areas. A tooltip will show up if the element is clickable. The tooltip will show:
Noe that you also can hover over map positions. After a brief moment a tooltip will be displayed giving detail information about the content of the tile underneath (e.g. item, monster, tile and feature information). If a monster is located beneath the mouse cursor you can click on the monster icon in the tooltip to call upon the monster memory of your player character (see the explanations in the section below).
The HUD contains the following elements from left to right (and if you can't see all of them you either should increase the size of your ADOM game window or your screen resolution – the HUD works best with a resolution of at least 1900 pixels horizontically):
The icons on the right side are context-dependent and can be clicked (always left-clicked and sometimes right-clicked). Make yourself familiar with those icons (and observe changes as you move around) by closely looking at the provided tooltips.
The mini map gives an overview of the complete map (as depending on your monitor resolution only a part of the full map is shown). You can click on the mini map in order to navigate to currently invisible areas.
Note that the whole map areas is clickable:
Sometimes special icons and quick hints will be displayed in the upper right corner. Special icons point towards hunger, poisoning and other effects (and some of them are clickable, too, e.g. to consume food when hungry).
Finally take note of the mouse cursor: it changes in order to hint at the left-click activity that will be executed when clicking on a specific locations.
In ASCII mode quick hints are displayed as far away from the PC as possible (in order to not obscure the map). In tiled mode they always are displayed in the top right corner.
Note that quick hints also disappear after playing for a while: when a command has been activated 10 or more times with the key combination shown by a quick hint, said quick hint no longer is available (as ADOM assumes that you have memorized the given command). You can configure the number of activations required by the 'Quick_Hint_Limit' as explained at the start of this section.
| Map Symbols (dungeon) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Rock or wall | = | Water |
| / | Open door | T | Tree |
| + | Closed door | 0 | Pool or hive |
| . | Floor, passage, tunnel | + | Tombstone |
| & | Forge or lever | | | Webs |
| < | Stair leading upwards | > | Stair leading downwards |
| _ | Altar | * | Hole |
| ^ | Known trap | 8 | Gate |
| " | Herbs | ||
| Map Symbols (wilderness) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ^ | Mountains | . | Road |
| ~ | Hills | = | Water |
| & | Forest | * | Entrance |
| " | Plains or Swamp | o | Buildings |
| + | Graveyard | ||
| Item Symbols | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| [ | Protective gear, shields | \ | Wands |
| ' | Necklaces | ? | Scrolls |
| ( | Hand weapons | ] | Tools |
| } | Missile weapons | ~ | Bracers |
| * | Rocks or gems | % | Food or corpses |
| / | Missiles | $ | Gold |
| = | Rings | { | Music instruments |
| " | Books | ! | Potions |
Monsters are grouped into specific categories to make it easier to distinguish them. The following scheme is used (with some exceptions):
| Monster Symbols | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| a | Ants | A | Aquatic beings |
| b | Bees | B | Bats |
| c | Centipedes | C | Chaos creatures |
| d | Dogs & other canines | D | Dragons |
| e | magical Eyes | E | Elementals |
| f | Felines | F | Fantastic beasts |
| g | Grungy humanoids | G | Ghosts |
| h | Humanoids | H | giant Humanoids |
| i | Insects | I | Imps & other minor demons |
| j | Jellies & oozes | J | (unused) |
| k | Kobolds | K | berserKers & barbarians |
| l | Lizards | L | Liches |
| m | Mimics | M | Minotaurs |
| n | (unused) | N | Natural beasts |
| o | Orcs | O | Ogres |
| p | Pixies & quicklings | P | Plants |
| q | (unused) | Q | (unused) |
| r | Rodents | R | Rust monsters |
| s | Snakes | S | Spiders |
| t | Townsfolk | T | Trolls |
| u | Underdark humanoids | U | Unicorns |
| v | (unused) | V | Vortices |
| w | Worms | W | Wyrms |
| x | grues | X | eXtra-planar beings |
| y | (unused) | Y | constructs |
| z | Zombies & other lesser undead | Z | greater undead |
| & | greater demons | @ | (demi-)humans |
| [ | animated armor | * | will o'wisp |
It is important to note that the monster memory takes into account the abilities of your character. Based upon his Learning score, his Perception score and some skills, it is more or less likely that the character will learn something from his observations. This also means that your character might mistake powers for something else. If a monster resists a fireball due to its innate magic resistance the character still will believe that the monster is immune to fire (just to name on example). Only later experiences will remedy this observation.
Additionally, the monster memory is not persistent. Between two games (that is: from one character to the next) it will get erased. This is so (compared to other games, which keep such a memory) because monsters in ADOM are pretty dynamic. They have varying levels and can gain experience like the PC. This effectively means that a monster can be very different between two games. Since observations thus are very subjective, it would be pretty misleading to keep such data between two games. It is my firm belief that the monster memory should serve to mirror the observations of the actual character and not those of the player. If you want to have a hint through, use some sheets of paper and a pen (or pencil).
The upper left half of the screen is dedicated to the attribute scores of your PC. It lists all the attribute names in the first column (in yellow, if not yet maxed out or in brown if maxed out in the natural way), followed by the current unmodified attribute score. The next column lists the natural maximums for the attribute scores. They can be raised by long and hard training, but usually only magic will be of quick help when trying to pass these limits. (See the section on attributes for more details.) The next column displays temporary attribute bonuses (e.g. from certain potions), followed by a column listing special bonuses (e.g. due to magical items). The last column shows the total score for each attribute. If your attribute score is raised, it will be displayed in green; if it's lowered by some means, it will be displayed in red; if it's equal to the maximum score possible, it will be displayed in brown. In all other cases yellow is used.
The upper right half of the screen contains a list of miscellaneous data. First you'll see the current speed value. If you also enjoy a temporary speed bonus, it will be displayed in square brackets. This is followed by a verbal approximation of that value. Then the screen lists your current financial status, potential debts, the name of your deity, and the elapsed amount of game time. The next entries are concerned with your omens of birth and star sign. First you'll see the number of the day on which you were born in the Ancardian year followed by your star sign. Then you'll see the current month in the game (both by number and by name). The next line describes the current day in the game, both by its number in the current month and by its absolute number in the current game year (so that you can compare it to your birthday). Finally, the state of the moon (full, new, waxing, waning) will be described. The last entry in that section displays the age of your character.
In the middle of the screen you'll see the encumbrance data for your PC. In order, you'll see the current encumbrance, the minimum encumbrance to be considered burdened and the respective minimum levels for being considered strained and very strained.
Below this, you'll see the data for melee combat, kicking, and missile combat.
The following default commands are normally available:
| Command | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+t | Activate trap |
| a | Apply skill |
| < | Ascend stair/Leave location |
| Z | Cast spell |
| C | Chat with monster |
| H | Change highlight mode |
| T | Change tactic |
| L | Check literacy |
| E | Clean ears |
| c | Close door |
| ws | Continuous search for hidden stuff |
| ( | Create short character logfile |
| ) | Create verbose character logfile |
| [ | Create screenshot |
| > | Descend stair/Enter location |
| ! | Dip (something) into (potion) |
| :T | Display available talents |
| A | Display and quick-mark skills |
| B | Display background |
| :b | Display burden levels |
| \ | Display chaos powers |
| Alt+q | Display character information |
| @ | Display character information |
| :c | Display companions |
| $ | Display wealth, manage debts and pay items |
| :g | Display name of your deity |
| Ctrl+e | Display elapsed game time |
| / | Display identified items |
| K | Display kick statistics |
| :k | Display killed monsters |
| :l | Display level map without monsters or items |
| Alt+l | Display level map without monsters or items |
| :m | Display message buffer |
| M | Display missile statistics |
| :h | Display previous hints |
| Ctrl+h | Display previous hints |
| q | Display quest status |
| R | Display recipes |
| x | Display required experience |
| Alt+z | Display learned spells |
| :: | Display talents |
| Alt+t | Display talents |
| V | Display version |
| Ctrl+w | Display weapon skills |
| W | Display weapon statistics |
| :W | Display weather information |
| :w | Display weather information |
| D | Drink |
| d | Drop something |
| Ctrl+d | Drop a preselected set of items |
| e | Eat |
| 0 | Explore unknown areas |
| - | Explore unknown areas |
| w? | Explore unknown areas |
| :d | Drop a category of items |
| U | Use item in backpack |
| g | Give item to monster |
| wm | Go attack closest monster |
| wi | Go to closest item(s) |
| w_ | Go to closest altar |
| w& | Go to closest forge |
| w* | Go to position |
| w< | Go up or exit |
| w> | Go down or enter |
| h | Handle something |
| i | Inventory |
| Ctrl+i | Invoke mindcraft |
| Ctrl+o | Issue order to companion |
| k | Kick |
| l | Look (Examine environment) |
| = | Manage configuration variables |
| 1 | Move to the southwest |
| Cursor-Down | Move to the south |
| 2 | Move to the south |
| 3 | Move to the southeast |
| Cursor-Left | Move to the west |
| 4 | Move to the west |
| Cursor-Right | Move to the east |
| 6 | Move to the east |
| 7 | Move to the northwest |
| Cursor-Up | Move to the north |
| 8 | Move to the north |
| 9 | Move to the northeast |
| n | Name monster/yourself |
| Enter | Act reasonably |
| ? | Online help |
| o | Open door |
| , | Pick up items |
| p | Pick up items |
| Ctrl+p | Pick up items comfortably |
| _ | Pray |
| Q | Quit game |
| r | Read |
| & | Recall monster memory |
| ' | Repeat last command |
| O | Sacrifice |
| S | Save game |
| s | Search for hidden objects & features |
| F1 | Set tactics to 'berserker' |
| F2 | Set tactics to 'very aggressive' |
| F3 | Set tactics to 'aggressive' |
| F4 | Set tactics to 'normal' |
| F5 | Set tactics to 'defensive' |
| F6 | Set tactics to 'very defensive' |
| F7 | Set tactics to 'coward' |
| :S | Set the auto-save interval |
| t | Shoot/Throw missile |
| I | Stuff (backpack) |
| :s | Swap position with monster |
| Ctrl+s | Swap position with monster |
| Ctrl+a | Switch auto-pickup on/off |
| :t | Switch the dynamic display |
| Ctrl+k | Switch the required (more) & speech bubble key |
| Ctrl+l | Lock/Unlock door |
| u | Use item in inventory |
| Ctrl+x | Use class power |
| m | Use special ability |
| Ctrl+u | Use item in tool slot |
| v | View all important PC data |
| Ctrl+c | View challenge mode setup |
| 5 | Wait |
| . | Wait |
| w1 | Walk to the southwest |
| wCursor-Down | Walk to the south |
| w2 | Walk to the south |
| w3 | Walk to the southeast |
| wCursor-Left | Walk to the west |
| w4 | Walk to the west |
| w. | Extended wait |
| w5 | Extended wait |
| wCursor-Right | Walk to the east |
| w6 | Walk to the east |
| w7 | Walk to the northwest |
| wCursor-Up | Walk to the north |
| w8 | Walk to the north |
| w9 | Walk to the northeast |
| F | Wipe face |
| z | Zap wand, staff or other item |
| Command | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+nx | Activate NotEye expert configuration menu |
| Ctrl+nvm | Change music volume |
| Ctrl+nvs | Change sound volume |
| Ctrl+nd | Switch display mode |
| Alt+Enter | Switch fullscreen mode |
| F10 | Toggle Tile/ASCII display |
For details about the dynamic display see the end of this section.
In the game you will encounter multiple screens containing tables, lists, etc. Whenever you are given the choice to get out of one of those screens by pressing the Z key, you can also press the space bar. The Z key is always listed in the help lines because of historical reasons (and because it's easier to display than the ;-) It is possible to redefine the keybindings (see the appropriate section of the manual for details).
7 8 9
\|/
4 -5- 6
/|\
1 2 3
To attack a monster, simply try to move into the field the monster is
standing on. This will result in a melee attack.If you opt for faster movement you can activate the so-called 'walk-mode' by pressing w followed by a direction key. This will make your character walk into the chosen direction until he meets something of interest. Movement will cease as soon as one of the following things happens:
Generally, activating 'walk-mode' is a good way to cover long distances which have been explored before. To make full use of the vast array of available tactical options, you should not use 'walk-mode' when exploring unknown locations.
Walk-mode also allows the character to wait in place (e.g. to regenerate lost hit points or power points). Just press w for walk-mode and the 5 for waiting in place. Walk-mode will abort if a monster enters your immediate vicinity, your equipment weight or your hunger level changes or 50 turns have gone by.
If you are using the numeric keypad remember to press NUM LOCK.
To be able to act once in ADOM your character needs to accumulate at least 1000 energy points. Every acting being has a 'speed value' and a current energy rating. ADOM divides each player turn into a number of segments. In each segment every being on the current level adds its speed value to its current energy. Each being that passes the '1000 energy minimum' with its current energy value is allowed to act. Afterwards the current energy rating is reduced by 1000 (in most cases).
All Player Characters start with a basic speed value of 100 which basically means that they can act once every 10 segments. This rating can be modified by class (monks and beastfighters get faster with more experience), dexterity (a score of 17 or higher can be helpful), encumbrance level (the more you are encumbered the slower you get), alcohol level (being drunk is not a good idea in all cases), satiation level (a full stomach makes you move slower… starving doesn't help either), your Athletics skill, and special items. Being born under the sign of the Raven also helps.
Your energy can never be lower than 1 (although this spells certain doom) and is not limited by any value. The only limit is that you can act only once per segment (even speed scores of 2000+ can't help in this respect… although they are impossible to attain in any case).
Most monsters also have a base speed value of 100, although there are exceptions. Be prepared to face changing speed monstrosities occasionally.
Finally you need to understand that some items don't increase your overall speed score but might limit the energy costs for certain actions (e.g. seven league boots could require you to expend but 500 energy points to be able to move – thus you could move faster, but all other actions would be carried out at normal speed). This is also true for weapon skills which are able to reduce the amount of energy required to stage an attack (see the section on weapon skills for details).
SPECIAL NOTE: If you are setting your tactics level to 'coward' and then simply move around without attacking anything, such a move only costs 800 energy points if your hit points are reduced to one-third their starting value or below (panic does that to you – and since ADOM basically is a heroic game we'll ignore other wound effects). Remember this when you try to run away!
By default the current speed value is displayed.
Note that the 'energy cost for the last action' display option does not necessarily show the expected value for energy costs below 1000. This is so because ADOM's internal rating system for action costs relies on relative measurements (e.g. if your potion of speed results in an 800 energy point cost for movement and due to your class you also would be able to move for 800 energy points, this is scaled to a cost of 100000 / {100 + [(100000 / 800) - 100] * 2} = 666 energy points). If you don't understand the formula, simply look at the source code. ;-) Not understanding it is not a sign of being stupid ;-))
Roleplayers use an abbreviated way of describing the number of dice to be rolled to generate a random number. Basically a certain number of dice is rolled, all the face values are added and maybe a modifier is added or subtracted to generate a total. This is normally abbreviated as
{x}d{y}+{z}
and means to roll {x} dice with {y} faces and finally to add the value {z}.
{z} can be positive or negative. If {z} is not mentioned, it is assumed to
be zero.EXAMPLES: 1d20 means to roll one 20-sided die to generate a number between 1 and 20. 2d6 means to roll two 6-sided dice to generate a number between 2 and 12. 4d4+3 means to roll four 4-sided dice and finally add 3 to generate a number between 7 and 19. 3d13-9 means to roll three 13-sided dice and subtract 9 to generate a number between -6 and 30.
All items worn or equipped are displayed upon pressing the i key. If you want to change your equipment (either by wearing an additional item or by removing an item currently used) you simply need to press the letter preceding the body part in question. If an item was equipped, it will automatically be removed. If no item was used you will automatically be shown a list with items which might be useful on that body part.
Items normally have to be identified by some means to get more than just some general information. Some items are identified by using them (e.g. weapons and armor), others have to be identified by magical means. When identified, every item might list a number of values which further describe the powers of the item.
Armor must be worn to have any effect. Weapons must be wielded to have any effect. Rings, bracers and necklaces must be worn to be useful.
Items are generally rated as uncursed, cursed or blessed. Cursed items cannot be removed when worn and mostly do not function with full effect. They also are susceptible to damage more often. Blessed items are of very high quality and might exert some additional powers. They are more difficult to damage. Uncursed items represent average items.
Items also might be broken or rusty. There might be means available to repair or improve such items… try to find out about this for yourself.
In the following section, items are listed by category with all possible modifiers. The following abbreviations are used to describe the modifiers:
The following item descriptions are available. First the item type is listed, then the possible modifiers follow. Not all modifiers always appear, this depends on the specific item. The kind of visible modifiers can be determined by the type of brackets surrounding them:
Any item (in theory) can be followed by {ATM}, which means that the item in question grants the specified bonus to the mentioned attribute. Any weapon can be followed by (p), which means that the item is poisoned. Finally, the number of charges for wands will only be visible if you zapped that specific wand successfully or identified that specific wand. In other words: if you identify 'tin wands' as 'wands of magic missiles', you still won't know the number of charges of a newly found 'wand of magic missiles' (although it will be correctly identified in all other respects).
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| [ | wearable items [1] |
| ' | necklaces |
| , | bracers [2] |
| ( | melee weapons |
| } | missile weapons |
| / | missiles |
| ] | tools |
| { | musical instruments |
| = | rings |
| \ | wands |
| ! | potions |
| ? | scrolls |
| " | books |
| % | food |
| $ | gold |
| * | gems |
| # | all items |
[1] Helmets, armor, gauntlets, cloaks, girdles, boots.
[2] This is an exception to the 'image rule' since some systems wait for a second key to be pressed after the ~ used for bracers and this would make this feature somewhat tiresome to use).
ADOM supports two types of wishes. You can wish for abstract things and concepts like friends, money, wealth, strength, health, and other things.
You can also wish for items. Such wishes can be very useful, since ADOM features many powerful and rare items. If you do not want to wait for a certain item, just wish for it as soon as you receive a free wish. Since wishes are powerful but not very precise magic, you can only wish for very general items. For example, it's not possible to wish for 6 blessed long swords (+6, 1d8+6), but you would rather have to wish for long swords or mithril plate mails. If your wish is not formulated precisely you might get something other than what you are expecting – so be careful!
To load a saved game, just start ADOM and type l on the option screen. If you choose that option a tiny menu will display the available games to be restored (if there are any). Please note that this menu only displays a maximum of 20 saved games (without telling you that there might be additional saved games). This should be sufficient for most purposes. Depending on your screen resolution even less games might be shown (e.g. 16 under DOS).