Strategy Roguelike RPG - NetHack is Epic Part II

Frodo the Neutral Mjollnir-wielding Ranger Part II.

For Part I -    • Strategy Roguelike RPG - NetHack is E...  

In the last episode we vanquished Scorpio and the Evil Wumpus to retrieve the first of the 3 Invocation artifacts - the Bell of Opening. The second artifact takes us deep into the depths of Gehennom to Vlad's Tower. Vlad is one of the fastest monsters in the game and can easily ruin your day if you're not prepared. But for the Candelabrum of Invocation, we have no choice but to kill the Lord of Vampires.

On September 13th - 15th there will be a continuous NetHack stream, come watch at Lidlraccoon on Twitch for some juicy live NetHack play. See if we choke on something, it is Friday the 13th after all.

NetHack

NetHack first released in 1987 just seven years after the original "ROGUE." But NetHack has been in continued development on and off for the last 30 years. It's not "Early Access' but rather, a polished puzzle that continues to get more solutions and variety as players and devs alike play the game again and again.

In NetHack, you don't just go down. There are various subteranean towers and entire lakes with islands. The Dungeons of Doom, the Gnomish Mines, Sokoban Tower, The Quest, Medusa's Island, The Castle, and finally Gehennom. And you can go back to any level, any time. This allows you to stash items on a safer level allowing you to loot more on deeper levels. Like a more dangerous Mother Lode.

NetHack like its predecessors has a very punishing early game. But you quickly gain levels and equipment which greatly increases your likelyhood of survival. So if you die a lot in the beginning, just be patient for that character that survives a little bit longer - they may make it further than you expect.

In NetHack you are given much freedom for every encounter. Do you zap your wand of digging at the floor making an escape hole, invoke an artifacts teleport power, read an unidentified scroll with fingers crossed, enscribe "Elbereth" and hope they've read Tokien, polymorph yourself into a Master Mindflayer and suck some brains, or simply bash your way through every threat with Mjollnir? Every scenario has at least one answer, but usually a dozen or so. And every playthrough is very unique, even with the same role. And if you get tired after ascending every role, you have fan-made variants which add even more depth and zaniness to the game.

And you're guaranteed to get certain items like the Wand of Wishing every game if you make it far enough. This will allow you to wish for anything you've missed in the Mazes of Menace and prepare you for facing the various hordes of monsters, Demon Princes, and the Wizard of Yendor himself.

NetHack is a whacky and extremely thought-out Sandbox that is entirely a labor of love. The game is free on nethack.org. There are two versions it will download, one with ASCII graphics and one with Tiles. Just open both till you find the one you want. I recommend playing with the charm and color of the tiles, the origin I know not but have loved dearly since my childhood.

Special Thank You to all the NetHack devs and variant devs, you made my childhood and my adulthood filled with adventure. You have a hall of glory in my mind.

Music - https://www.youtube.com/ @opusscience

Seriously, if you like Adventure Time or just chill vibes in general, check out OSC.