ADOM Guidebook


Tips and tricks

0.14.0 Darkness

Thanks to gut for this section.

Darkness is one of the most useful options available to all literate PCs, yet it's one of the most underused. I can't count the number of players that say that they never even bothered with trying it.

Monsters that can't see in Darkness will allow the PC to pound them to death without retaliation. The only exception is for monsters that are capable of panic. These monsters will be able to hit the PC when in a state of panic, but only if they do not have an escape route. For this reason, it's best to avoid using Darkness in a narrow corridor, because stray monsters can easily cut off the escape path of a powerful monster that is capable of killing the PC with one hit.

No giant can see in Darkness, most humanoids also can't, with the notable exceptions of trolls, orcs, minotaurs, and dark elves. This is especially important to remember against tough monsters such as ogre magi (yes, even the arena champion kind). Vortices, mimics and several other early-game PC killers are all helpless in Darkness and vortices aren't even capable of panic.

There is a bug in the game that keeps Darkness from working properly on door squares. It is important to mention that the PC is perfectly safe to use Darkness if the PC is on the door square, but not if the monster is on the door square.

Other monsters that are known to see in Darkness (thanks mike):

all balors
all molochs
all red dragons
all undead

ankheg      greater claw bug      quickling king
black unicorn      greater daemon      quickling queen
carrion crawler     greater earth elemental     steel golem
cave lizard      gremlin      steel horror
chaos brother      jackal demon      stone golem
diamond golem      killer bug      stone grue
earth elemental     least daemon      stone snake
eternium golem      lesser daemon      wall beast
fire demon      living wall      white unicorn
great blue wyrm     master assassin      writhing mass of primal chaos

0.14.1 Recharging wands

There are many ways to recharge a depleted wand. The common ways are to dip the wand into an appropriate potion or read a scroll of charging. Only the type of potion and its status affects the number of charges. The type, status and rusty/nonrusty nature of the wand do not matter.

See the table below for some results compiled by Petri Sihvola:

Potion or scrollStatusTrialsAvg chargesMin/Max charges
Boost manaBlessed605.83/9
 Uncursed603.92/6
 Cursed601.91/3
BoozeBlessed603.12/4
 Uncursed601.91/3
 Cursed601.51/2
ManaBlessed607.53/11
 Uncursed604.62/8
 Cursed602.71/4
Scroll of chargingBlessed606.03/9
 Uncursed604.12/6
 Cursed601.81/3

Remember that a potentially endless supply of booze is available from beggars in Lawenilothehl. Give them 50 gold pieces, then 'C'hat with them and they will often drop a potion of booze. Only one per beggar, though, so those who have given up their potion need to be killed (alignment hit) or led into the wilderness to encourage more beggar generation. Get rid of all the other random monsters in the town to further encourage monster generation.

Potions of raw mana and potions of potential mana do not work. Note that potions of mana can be used to permanently increase the PCs mana stat; the player may want to save them for that purpose.

Wizards can also recharge wands at level 32, only once per wand though.

Wands of wishing can't be recharged. For these, you'll want to use the chance to wrench a final charge from the wand, destroying it.

See also potions of raw chaos below.

0.14.2 Huge rocks and anvils

These heavy items have a nice use: crashing doors. Throw one at a door and enjoy the sight of a broken door. This is not guaranteed; it seems to be Strength dependent. There is a very nice side benefit to this: any trap that the door was protected with is destroyed along with the door. The trap does not go off as it is destroyed.

In addition, huge rocks can be used to keep ants from escaping anthills. Whenever an ant wants to escape, a message is generated: "The uncursed huge rock (-10, 10d6) seems to be shaking.". Eventually the huge rock is destroyed ("Something from below destroys the uncursed huge rock (-10, 10d6)!") and ants can come out of the hole again. Sometimes this happens after only a few turns, sometimes it takes more than a hundred. Multiple huge rocks are destroyed one after the other and thus last longer than a single one.

0.14.3 Statues

If your PC is really, really buff, a statue can be wielded as a melee weapon, but the real use for statues is to kick it until it breaks down, making it yield a magical wand. Statues can be generated by petrifying enemies. If a PC has a PV below four, he will take damage from kicking statues (and walls).

Stephen White has done some research on the b/u/c status of statues regarding wand generation. His PC kicked 200 statues with each status to pieces. The results were as follows:

Blessed statues: 62 wands generated, about 1/3
Uncursed statues: 17 wands generated, about 1/10
Cursed statues: 3 wands generated, about 1/100

0.14.4 Potions of raw chaos

Items can be dipped in potions of raw chaos in order to transform them into new ones. Dipping items (other than artifacts) into a PoRC will transform it into a random item of the same type - useful for brass items. Equipped items are removed (even if cursed) and cursed. There is a chance of spilling the potion, though, which corrupts the PC. Worse is the possibility of transforming an item into the exact same item. This causes an explosion which badly corrupts the PC, about 4 corruptions, and causes ~250 HP of damage. Needless to say, this can kill a low-level PC. Never drink these!

PoRC will only create items of a danger level that corresponds to the level on which you dip the item. That means that dipping an amulet of free action on D:2 is free from explosion chances, and will give a risk free chance of creating an amulet of life saving. Consider carefully before trying this. The chance is small and amulets of free action can save the PC's life.

Wands dipped into a PoRC will turn into a wand with a different number of charges. This is one way to recharge wands with 0 charges left. The type of wand, however, is unpredictable.

A heap of items that are dipped into a potion of raw chaos will always transform into a single item. Potions of raw chaos can be created by dipping any corrupting artifact (those containing the essence of chaos and corruption + Moon Sickle) into any ordinary potion.

0.14.5 Potions of exchange

In addition to swapping stats, these can polymorph monsters when thrown. Blessed potions can polymorph items to another of the same type. The item produced will be appropriate for the danger level where the dipping takes place. This is the basis of ring-based wish engines. Once one has blessed potions of exchange stacks of 19 rings can be dipped, potentially producing 19 rings of djinni summoning. These in turn are enough to produce 57 more potions of exchange on average. Since used rings of djinni summoninng become brass rings, additional rings do not have to be wished for. The PC may have to throw in some wishes for potions of water to keep blessing the potions of exchange. Of course once the engine starts there are enough spare wishes to actually get some things that matter as well. :-)

0.14.6 Regeneration of HP and PP: potions of troll blood and raw mana

When drinking potions of insight or casting the Revelation spell, there is some information about Power Point and Hit Point regeneration.

Those two values lie between 5 and 200: the lower the number, the faster the regeneration. They can be affected by drinking potions of troll blood (for hit points) or potions of raw mana (for power points). Their effectiveness depends on their blessed/uncursed/cursed status:

Potion statusModification to regeneration rate
blessed-8 (on average, effect varies)
uncursed-4 (on average, effect varies)
cursed+4 (on average, effect varies)

Bottom line: always bless your potions of troll blood or raw mana.

HP regeneration time

standard value (humans and hurthlings): 50
Dark Elves:+20
Gray Elves:+15
High Elves:+10
Gnomes:-2
Dwarves:-5
Orcs:-10
Drakelings:-20
Trolls:-30
Healers:halved
most characters:-1 (based on Toughness?)
some characters:-1 once more (based on Toughness?)

The modifiers are applied in the order listed here. E.g. Trollish Healers with exceptional toughness get a starting regeneration time of (50 - 30) / 2 - 1 - 1 = 8.

It seems like the last -1 modifiers are based on toughness, but there does not seem to be an obvious relationship; a random element may be involved.

PP regeneration time

standard value (humans and hurthlings): 50
Trolls:+50
Dwarves:+40
Hurthlings:+10
Orcs:+5
High Elves:-10
Gnomes:-10
Dark Elves:-20
Gray Elves:-25
most characters:-1 (based on Mana?)
some characters:-1 once more (based on Mana?)

How regeneration works

The PC always receives one HP/PP once the appropriate time has passed. Healing/Concentration will regenerate additional points at random intervals.

Regenerative capabilities from these sources are additive.

HP gained by Healing in 100 turns (approximately):

no Healing:0
Skill Level 100.8
Skill Level 201.6
.  .  . 
Skill Level 1008.0

HP gained naturally in 100 turns:

standard character (1 HP/50):2.0
1 HP/40:2.5
1 HP/30:3.3
1 HP/20:5.0
1 HP/10:10.0
1 HP/5:20.0

As can be seen, many blessed potions of troll blood will get you more than good Healing skill, but having Healing at 100 is best.

The effect of the Candle starsign is two HP gained for every twelve turns. This is faster than the Healing skill at 100.

For regaining PP naturally, the same values apply. However, Concentration is better than Healing since it grants more points than Healing. The value is also increased even more at specific points mentioned in the manual. Since there does not seem to be an obvious model for this, the values are simply listed:

PP gained by Concentration in 100 turns (approximately):

no Concentration: 0
Skill Level 50:10.96
Skill Level 74:13.84
Skill Level 75:26.86 x2
Skill Level 89:32.42
Skill Level 90:43.18 x4/3
Skill Level 99:46.48
Skill Level 100:59.00 x5/4

So potions of raw mana are nice, but not as important as having a high Concentration skill.

There don't seem to be any corruptions influencing mana regeneration. Neither mana battery nor close attunement to astral space have any effect.

Regeneration occurs at the same rate whether walking around or resting. Regeneration time is measured in turns (at least for simple actions like walking, fighting or resting), not game time. High speed or seven league boots lead to exactly the same regeneration rate in turns. Thus regeneration is faster with respect to game time if the PC is fast or walking around with seven league boots. If a PC with low walking energy cost wants to spend the minimum amount of game time regenerating, the best bet is to walk around while regenerating.

The Cursed, Doomed, Lucky and Fate Smiles intrinsics do not make a difference for regeneration purposes.

Hunger status has no effect on regeneration.

Trolls have food consumption doubled.
Monks have food consumption halved.
Farmers have food consumption halved starting from level 12.

Things that are still missing and interesting to investigate:

· Information about corpses (trolls are below for HP regeneration, maybe some creatures for PP regeneration)
· the effect of items (such as necklaces of rapid healing)
· the effect of the corrupted tissue corruption
· the effect of being burdened/strained/very strained/overburdened on regeneration and food consumption
· the effect of artifacts carried and worn on food consumption
· information about the various special rooms that affect regeneration

0.14.6.1 Troll corpses

Thanks to Malte Helmert for this section.

There are four types of troll corpses (troll, troll berserker, troll chief, troll king). They all yield either of two messages when eaten by a non-troll:

a) "Urg! Foul meat! Your blood suddenly courses faster through your veins!"
b) "Urg! Foul meat!"

Message a) indicates that HP regeneration time decreased by one
Message b) indicates that HP regeneration time did not change

For troll PCs, the messages are slightly modified:

a') "Yum! Your blood suddenly courses faster through your veins!"
b') "Yum!"

The behaviour is the same: a' decreases HP regeneration time, b' does not.

No corpse can reduce the regeneration time below 6. Trying this always gives message b) or b'), respectively. This differs from potions of troll blood, which always result in the "Your blood suddenly courses faster..." message, even if the regeneration time is already minimal. Note that the lower threshold is 6, unlike the threshold for potions of troll blood, which is 5. This means that trolls, who cannot make use of potions of troll blood, cannot lower their regeneration time to 5, unlike the other races.

The probabilities of getting a decrease in regeneration time depends only on the B/U/C status of the corpse. Specifically, it does not depend on:

· Current regeneration time (no difference between the lowest eligible value 7 and the unrealistically high value 300)
· PC race (human vs. troll)
· Cooked/uncooked status
· Type of troll corpse (troll, troll berserker, troll chief, troll king)

Results indicate that blessed corpses work in 100% of the cases (although, like all corpses, they cannot lower it below 6), and uncursed or cursed corpses work in 50% of the cases. There was no observable difference between uncursed and cursed corpses:

94 blessed troll corpses: 94x decrease
621 uncursed troll corpses: 314x decrease, 307x no decrease
361 cursed troll corpses: 187x decrease, 174x no decrease

There was no difference in weight or satiation value of the various kinds of troll corpses. All corpses weigh 240s if not cooked, irrespective of B/U/C (rotting) status, and 228s (= 5% less) if cooked, again irrespective of B/U/C (rotting) status.

An uncursed corpse yields 500 units of satiation (like a large ration). This is doubled if the corpse is cooked (presumably this holds for other corpses too, but this needs further verification). The resulting value is modified by +25% for blessed corpes and -50% for cursed corpses, just like for other food items. So, e.g. a blessed cooked troll chief corpse gives 500 × 2 × 1.25 = 1250 units of satiation.

SUMMARY

Item: [troll/troll berserker/troll chief/troll king] corpse
Weight: 240s (-5% if cooked)
Nutritional value: 500 (×2 if cooked, ×1.25 if blessed, ×0.5 if cursed)
Effect when eaten [blessed]: If HP regeneration time is >= 7, it is reduced by 1
Effect when eaten [uncursed/cursed]: If HP regeneration time is >= 7, it is reduced by 1 with a probability of 50%
Message when eaten [non-troll PC]: "Urg! Foul meat!"
Message when eaten [troll PC]: "Yum!"
Additional message if and only if HP regeneration time was reduced: "Your blood suddenly courses faster through your veins!"

0.14.7 Freezing water

Pretty straightforward: use some cold source while standing next to a water square and zap over it. Frost/Nether Bolt, Ice Ball/Freezing Fury, or a wand of cold qualify. Ice is fragile, of course, and there's a 2000 stone limit for your stuff's weight. Exploding ice vortices will freeze all water in the range of their blast. Likewise, monsters that cast Frost Bolt, Ogre Magi for instance, can freeze water. However, monsters that breathe ice, white dragons for example, do not freeze anything when their breath crosses water (probably a bug).

0.14.8 Safe places to store items

The top line of the Terinyo map

Under normal circumstances, the only monster in Terinyo that can step on the top line is the sheriff, and he can easily be lured to the first level of the puppy cave. It is then 100% secure. Skriek can step on the top line as well, if the PC lures him there. If the PC has committed an act which causes the town to become hostile, any inhabitant can enter the top row. If the PC has managed to save Khelavaster and he has returned to Terinyo, he can enter the top row.

Locked rooms

Locked rooms are one of the safest places to leave items in ADOM. With the current state of the monster inventory system (they can pick up items but not use them), a monster will never be able to unlock a door. Several monsters can smash doors, however. Some monsters (balors spring to mind) can teleport into locked rooms.

The Old Barbarian's glade

The Old Barbarian's glade is a decent place to store items. He is the only monster ever generated in this location, so nothing randomly generated is going to run away with the PC's stuff. If the PC leaves items far away from the Old Barbarian, he will not have time to find them prior to the PC's next visit.

The Mad Minstrel's clearing

In ADOM 1.0.0+, the Mad Minstrel will leave his hut, and will pick up items. The safety re storage is therefore similar to the Old Barbarian's glade. No other monsters are generated in his clearing, so leaving items far away from the Mad Minstrel should not allow him time to find them prior to the PC's next visit.

The Dwarven Mystic's room in Dwarftown

The ultimate in security, if the PC has not destroyed it with a wand of destruction (see section 2.5.4). After 'C'hatting wih the Dwarven Mystic, he disappears, leaving a 2 x 2 room that cannot be entered except by teleportation. Since there are no teleporting monsters found in Dwarftown (except for the greater daemon - kill it) this is as safe as storage areas get. Other Dwarftown inhabitants can, in extremely rare circumstances, be generated in this room. Since they will be nonhostile, killing them is not a good idea. Teleport them out if possible. Alternatively, use the Ogre Cave (see below).

The Ogre Cave in Dwarftown

Once the Ogre Cave is cleared, monster generation there is slow or nonexistent. Items can be left adjacent to the stairway. If the PC leaves immediately, no time passes on the level, so there should be almost no chance the items will be disturbed.

The secret room in the HMV

Another room accessible only by teleportation, therefore almost perfect theoretical security. A monster teleporting into this room has never been seen. In extremely rare circumstances, however, monsters can be generated in this room. They may well be hostile, so killing them is a simple solution. Teleporting them out is a worthwhile alternative.

Sharad-Waador's room

Items left in Sharad-Waador's room never seem to be disturbed. Sharad-Waador never moves from the square where he is initially generated (unless he is attacked or the PC reneges on the deal to take the quest), and no time passes on the level between the PC's departure and reemergence from the blue dragon caves. This is very important, since the player may want to leave important non-artifact equipment behind in order to avoid its potential destruction in the blue dragon caves (see section 3.9).

0.14.9 Seven league boots

Seven league boots can dramatically reduce the time needed to walk around in the wilderness, depending on their blessed/uncursed/cursed status:

blessed: time needed for walking is divided by 6
uncursed: time needed for walking is divided by 3
cursed: time needed for walking is multiplied by 2

Blessed/uncursed/cursed seven league boots also alter the base energy cost for movement outside the wilderness from 1000 to 500/750/1500, respectively. The Long Stride talent stacks, reducing base energy cost further. Seven league boots should be blessed immediately. They enable the PC to outrun anything other than quicklings. Consequently, some players regard seven league boots as the most important item in the game, and will use a wish to obtain them, if necessary.

0.14.10 Stethoscopes

'U'sing a stethoscope, you can determine a monster's statistics precisely. Furthermore, using a stethoscope, you can easily find secret doors: scan a wall block, and if it "sounds hollow", it's a secret door.

In addition to monsters and secret doors, stethoscopes can also be used on closed doors to find out the number of monsters behind it. The messages are:

"Silence." - corridor (this message is shown even if the corridor is full of monsters, so be warned)

"You hear nothing." - empty room

"You hear some low-volume sounds." - 1 monster in the room

"You hear some sounds." - 2-3 monsters

"You hear many sounds." - 4-8 monsters

"You hear lots of sounds." - 9 or more monsters (tension rooms and rooms filled with breeders or summoned creatures also give this message)

See section 0.14.11 below concerning a Healer's special ability with stethoscopes.

0.14.11 Undocumented character abilities

All characters gain to-hit and to-damage bonuses when fighting as a true berserker, which means no armor can be worn and Tactics must be set to berserk. Shields and bracers are acceptable, other armor is not. Level 40 and higher barbarians get additional bonuses on top of this when fighting as a true berserker.

Note that Monks do not seem to receive this true berserker bonus.

Monks gain the ability to kick down walls at experience level 13.

There is a game bug in the Elementalist level 6 class power. They do not receive fire resistance. However, they are usually born with a ring of fire resistance.

Merchants always specialize in a certain item: potions, rings, scrolls, or wands. This specialization allows them to identify any item in that category on sight.

Thanks gut for the details below on merchants' coin throwing ability:

Merchants also have a unique ability to use coins as missile weapons (in ADOM 1.0.0+, dopplegangers cannot deflect a merchant's thrown coins). The coin throw action costs 1200 energy points as opposed to the normal 1000. Getting the quick shot talent does apply to the coin throw attack, bringing it to 1080. The coin throw attack is not capable of receiving weapon marks, nor does it benefit from the strong thrower talent. The archery talent is not trained by coin throwing. Coin throwing does benefit from a high dexterity stat, rings of slaying, archery gloves, the good shot talent, the keen shot talent, the quick shot talent, the missile weapon master talent, and the find weakness skill. Coin throw attacks start out with a range of only 3, but at exp. level 10, it increases to 5, and increases a further +2 with each 10 experience levels gained.

Healers have the ability to use a stethoscope without consuming any game time. All other classes consume one turn of game time when using a stethoscope.

Archers have a unique ability to dodge missiles. When a missile misses any other class PC, it simply stops at the PC's square. Missiles often fly past archers. This is actually probably undesirable since archers want to pick up those missiles, but it is nevertheless an undocumented unique ability.

0.14.12 The weight and appearance of objects

Note the weight of objects. Many valuable objects have a unique weight. For instance, there is only one type of sword with a weight of 35s, one amulet weighing 7s, one amulet weighing 8s, one girdle weighing 30s, etc. In general, lighter items are better. Items with odd, unusual or rare weights are often better than their more commonly observed counterparts.

Certain special items are also have a unique color. Slaying quarrels will be brown rather than the silver of normal quarrels. Metal-shod quarterstaves (whether iron-, mithril-, adamantium- or eternium-) are silver; normal quarterstaves are brown. This is especially important to remember for eternium-shod quarterstaves, since they have the same weight as wooden quarterstaves.

0.14.13 Fortune cookies, rumors and the babblings of Yggaz

Rumors in general are available from several sources: fortune cookies found randomly in the dungeons, beggars, Torgall the innkeeper in Dwarftown, the book The Collected Works of Confucious and Yggaz the fool in Terinyo. Yggaz also regularly spews what seems to be complete nonsense; it is included at the end of the list below. There is also a special room effect where a mouth will appear on a wall and deliver a fortune cookie message. The list, along with some explanation:

Some late additions:

0. They say that Fire is the only element living on the surface.

Refers to the Tower of Eternal Flames on the Wildnerness map.

0. They say that drinking holy water with bland rations will make them taste better.

Blessing cursed rations increases their nutrition value.

0. They say that Mana is a kind of side trek.

The Mana Temple is located in a side branch of the unreal cave system.

0. They say that fury makes you less stubborn.

0. Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.

What is said in Latin is looked upon highly. [thanks to Kassandra Velez for translation]

0. Join DARK (*D*ragons *a*gainst *r*easonable *k*illing).

0. MADE: Mindcrafters Against Drunken Explorers.

0. Note: Don't forget to throw all the poisoned cookies away.

0. They say that every coin has two sides.

0. They say that it might be useful to remain persistent with uncharged wands.

Wrench the final charge from them if there is no means of recharging them.

0. They say that rusted electrical items might be dangerous to the user.

Rusty wands of (ball) lightning can be hazardous to the PC's health.

0. Smoking is bad for your health!

0. Remember to write something on this cookie.

Not on the cookie, on blank scrolls (if the PC can take the possible consequences).

0. They say that patience is the better part of valor.

0. They say that dark elves are especially good in the night.

Maybe, but they do not see in Darkness.

0. They say that many wands depend on the power of the wielder.

Willpower is a factor when zapping wands.

0. Stoma Pubis enjoys throwing anvils at opponents.

T(h)omas Bis(k)up enjoys throwing anvils at opponents?

Fortune Cookie messages

1. A sharp axe is easier to wield than a sharp wit.

Weapons are more effective than Learning in battle.

2. All roads lead to chaos, in the end.

To the chaos gate, falling to the forces of Chaos, or becoming a chaos being.

3. Always consider the consequences of yer deeds lest ye be surprised.

The PCs actions will affect the game.

4. Always watch your back!

Especially since PCs have 360 degree vision.

5. An anvil is nothing more then an oversized ingot of iron.

And can be melted just like one.

6. Being light as a feather makes you very rifty.

The rift is even more dangerous when burdened.

7. Care for more intelligent monsters.

They could be useful - and more dangerous.

8. Didst ye ever eat a hag? Try it, it's very fulfilling!

And cursing.

9. Don't believe everything *they* say.

Not all rumors are true.

10. Eating a demon daisy will make you a demon lover.

Nonsense. Demon daisies poison.

11. Feeding rust monsters is costly but definitely worth it.

Feed them with thrown metal items - quarrels are a good choice.

12. Gift shops are overpriced, unless you use a five finger discount.

The Great Gift Shoppe in the Casino is overpriced - unless it is robbed.

13. If you are doomed, this will be the last fortune you ever read.

False, although Dooming can be difficult to cope with.

14. If you eat the heart of a Dragon, you will share in its strength.

The PC gains a resistance corresponding to the dragon's color.

15. If you lick a Karmic Lizard, you can get high.

If the PC eats a karmic corpse, it grants luck-related intrinsics.

16. In the land of eternal darkness, light must come from within.

In the Gremlin Cave, if the PC retrieves the Phial of Caladriel, the light it produces uses up the PC's power points.

17. It takes an iron stomach to eat a black dragon steak.

Acid resistance, that is.

18. Living sacrifices are the most valuable of all.

Not always. Gold and artifacts are safer.

19. Look for strange items.

The si.

20. Putting undead to rest with holy water indeed is a lawful act.

Griff Bloodax, yes. Don't waste holy water on them otherwise.

21. Rifts are deep.

You'll fall down (unless the PC has the proper corruptions?).

22. Some gems harbor magical powers.

Darkness, light, knowledge, power, health and fire spring to mind.

23. Sting and Needle... Needle and Sting... twins they are and united they should be.

They become much more powerful when dual-wielded.

24. The coin of chaos has two faces -- power and corruption.

The corruption far outweighs the power.

25. The Mad Minstrel harbors a dark secret.

He knows the location of the Scintillating Cave.

26. They say that a good memory might pay.

Remember the first kill.

27. They say that a paragon of Order must not violate his beliefs by any means.

Although obtaining the Platinum Girdle still seems buggy.

28. They say that an empty stomach is one's worst enemy.

Avoid starvation.

29. They say that at times mindless rage might save your life in fights.

Berserk tactics.

30. They say that at times things can get zorky.

There's a lot of Zork references.

31. They say that attacking shopkeepers is bad for your karma.

Cursing and Dooming may result depending on alignment.

32. They say that balors are the gatekeepers of Chaos.

There are nine on the level containing the Chaos Gate.

33. They say that being able to read is very useful when visiting the library.

Literacy is necessary if the PC wants to read anything found in the Library.

34. They say that Berzio potions are useful for taming monsters.

True.

35. They say that blessed items improve ones eyesight.

If they are potions of carrot juice or necklaces of the eye.

36. They say that blessed potions of extra-healing might be a real boon.

True.

37. They say that boozed bozos can be very helpful.

Give the fool some booze.

38. They say that bugs can be really nasty.

Both programming ones and claw ones.

39. They say that burning torches can be very dangerous.

They deal nice damage.

40. They say that champions may pray for more favors then ordinary people.

True.

41. They say that converting an altar is difficult without losing ones faith.

Not if the PC uses gold pieces.

42. They say that companions fear darkness.

True - they can be accidentally attacked.

43. They say that controlled teleportation is really great.

True.

44. They say that corpses mark the realm of death.

There's a lot of corpses on the Banshee level.

45. They say that corrupted things can be your boon and your doom.

A chaos creature's corpse will yield a potion of cure corruption from Guth'Alak, but being attacked by corrupting chaos creatures is very nasty.

Alternatively, this may refer to artifacts which contain the essence of Chaos and Corruption. They are very powerful (boon) but will corrupt the PC (doom).

46. They say that cursed potions of invisibility might have strange effects.

They blind you, and monsters. if thrown.

47. They say that cursed thieves picks might do strange things.

By triggering traps?

48. They say that distortion is the way to godhood.

Probably a leftover from earlier gammas, when a PC had to be extremely corrupted to achieve the chaos god ending. Still true for champions of balance and chaos.

49. They say that drinking black potions during the night corrupts your soul.

If the black potion is a potion of raw chaos.

50. They say that eating beings of true evil corrupts your very essence.

True.

51. They say that eating humans is evil.

Humanoids, apparently not, from testing, despite the messages.

52. They say that eating magic-wielding monsters might be a boon for your mana.

True.

53. They say that elemental altars can only be converted by the most faithful.

That is, champions of Order or Balance.

54. They say that elves trade strength of body for speed.

Dark elven corpse effects.

55. They say that essence of mareilon moss is proof against the undead.

No, it increases Dexterity.

56. They say that excitement is a messenger of battle.

Messages about feeling excited mean a vault is present on the level.

57. They say that faster blood means faster recovery.

True.

58. They say that fire is the most violent element. Be as resistant as you can.

Fire resistance stacks in the ToEF. But acid deals more damage.

59. They say that fortunes must be followed by the incantation 'in bed' to work.

Reference to real-world fortune cookies. Old joke about adding 'in bed' to the end of the message to make them more humorous.

60. They say that gambling is bad for your finances.

Not if you know how to play.

61. They say that gods like sacrifices of food and valuable stuff.

True.

62. They say that good gamblers know which coins they have to use.

More accurately, which slot machines...

63. They say that graveyards are dangerous places.

Strength and Toughness might go down, age might go up.

64. They say that greater vaults are hiding places for artifacts.

True, but watch out for the guardians.

65. They say that green pools contain deadly slime.

Nonsense.

66. They say that herb bushes grow according to magical patterns.

Conway's rules of life, not magic.

67. They say that herbs have strange effects.

Good or bad.

68. They say that holy water might bear fruits.

This probably refers to the ability to create herbs with holy water (see section 0.13.6).

69. They say that hurthlings don't like shoes.

Shoes reduce their Dexterity.

70. They say that Infinity does not permit to visit any place twice.

It's impossible to visit an ID level or the SIL twice.

71. They say that it is good for your survival if you can't hear death coming.

With death equaling the Banshee.

72. They say that it is not wise to leave ones cause after being crowned to be a champion.

True.

73. They say that it might come in handy to discover a use for useless potions.

Very true.

74. They say that Khelavaster is still alive.

He is and will remain so, if the PC can save him.

75. They say that kicking a stuck door helps.

If it isn't trapped.

76. They say that kicking stairs might be bad for your health.

It might collapse the dungeon.

77. They say that kicking stairs helps to train your strength.

Don't.

78. They say that killing cats is bad for your karma.

It does not affect luck-related intrinsics, but makes the Cat Lord angry.

79. They say that killing friends won't help you finding new ones.

Killing friendly monsters is a chaotic act; attacking the inhabitants of a town will (generally) make the whole town hostile.

80. They say that libraries are especially useful for wizards.

They find every spellbook available in the game.

81. They say that long jumps require small moves.

Might refer to alignment changes via small gold sacrifices at non-aligned altars.

82. They say that many cursed items cause bad luck.

They do not explicitly affect the luck-related intrinsics in most cases, but are definitely a pain to deal with.

83. They say that merchants are really well-spoken thieves.

At least they know how to take away your money.

84. They say that merchants are well-versed in handling coins.

True. Even throwing them.

85. They say that monsters tamed by bards will never willingly leave.

True.

86. They say that monuments can hold dark secrets.

This probably refers to the Infinite Dungeon, which was once a monument to Law. Chaos has transformed it into its current condition, and it holds a dark secret, the location of the Sceptre of Chaos (as well as Filk, but this message probably predates Filk). Might also refer to the Stone Circle, where the Crown of Chaos is located.

87. They say that nobody ever heard the wail of the Banshee more than once.

The Banshee's wail instakills if the PC is not prepared.

88. They say that not all herbs must be eaten.

Some must be 'U'sed, some are harmful.

89. They say that once you have opened the final gate there is no way back.

When the D: 48 staircase points down, there's no way back until the chaos gate is closed.

90. They say that pools contain mysterious secrets.

Among other things.

91. They say that potions of toughness tend to remove your hungry feelings.

True.

92. They say that praying at altars of your deity is helpful.

No, sacrificing at coaligned altars is helpful.

93. They say that quests are noble and just.

Not all of them.

94. They say that repetitive requests are frowned upon by the gods.

Praying too often will result in an angry deity.

95. They say that rubbing moss of mareilon onto your skin might get you moving.

It increases Dexterity.

96. They say that sacrifices can be dangerous.

Especially live ones on a nonaligned altar.

97. They say that shopkeepers base their prices upon racial preferences.

True. Waldenbrook hates Dark Elves and Orcs, for example.

98. They say that shopkeepers sometimes try to cheat the customer.

True.

99. They say that shops are dangerous at night.

Shopkeepers don't see the PC pick up items in the dark, but the PC still must pay.

100. They say that Sis might enhance your creativity.

By making the PC think of uses for them.

101. They say that skeletons like bones.

Giving them bones heals them.

102. They say that some items are useful when worn shortly before special moments.

Some items give nice resistances and abilities not often needed.

103. They say that some statues have magical bones.

Statues may yield wands when broken by kicking.

104. They say that some stuff needs a lot of blessing to improve.

One blessing (of seven league boots, rings of djinni summoning, potions of gain attributes, rings of the fish) is enough.

105. They say that some wands are not very reliable.

True - rusty wands of ball lightning, for instance.

106. They say that smashing statues might yield magical wands.

True.

107. They say that swamp hydras are tough food.

And poisonous.

108. They say that the ancient dwarf knows a lot about quests.

He has six.

109. They say that the banshee transformed after losing her beloved husband.

True.

110. They say that the cat lord finds no fault with ye if ye has never harmed any cat.

True.

111. They say that the dungeons of mystery consist of 100 levels.

Except now it's the Caverns of Chaos with 50 levels.

112. They say that the forces of Law built a monument to Infinity.

But Chaos twisted it into the ID.

113. They say that the gods do not yearn for material wealth.

Nonsense. They love money!

114. They say that the gods greatly favor living sacrifices.

True, as long as they aren't summoned or bred.

115. They say that the great rift is very dangerous for almost everyone.

True.

116. They say that the guild of industrious brutal muggers writes really confusing manuals.

The IBM Guild Manual permanently confuses.

117. They say that the home of the banshee is ruled by eternal decay.

Actually, corpses never rot there.

118. They say that the king hid a lot of gold in these dungeons.

There are some royal treasuries.

119. They say that the library charges high fees.

Nonsense.

120. They say that the lofty nature of some writing sets is influenced by the degree of magic invoked with it.

Writing scrolls of chaos resistance is costly.

121. They say that the mint-flavored juice distilled out of morgia roots improves stamina, slakes thirst and conceals bad breath.

Eating morgia roots increases Willpower and Toughness.

122. They say that the radiance of chaos will corrupt you the faster the deeper you descend.

True.

123. They say that the secret to becoming a Chaos God is hidden in the Drakalor Chain.

True.

124. They say that there are many gems deep under the mountains.

True.

125. They say that there is a secret level guarded by many powerful monsters which contains several artifacts.

Greater vaults generally contain an artifact or two.

126. They say that thick gauntlets are great for isolating your hands.

... from poison.

127. They say that tiny caves can be very large.

Especially the ID.

128. They say that those who manage to empty a pool, will receive a wish.

Nonsense.

129. They say that those who have too many friends also have too many enemies.

A PC with many companions may find that they fight amongst themselves.

130. They say that those who hear the wail of the banshee are doomed.

Not doomed, dead.

131. They say that to be a champion of one's cause is very valuable when using ancient magic.

True.

132. They say that to leave the animated forest you will have to reach the corner opposite the enterance.

133. They say that too much chaos essence corrupts thy inner self.

134. They say that true berserkers fight naked.

135. They say that using artifacts costs a lot of energy.

All true.

136. They say that when you hear a "Hurumph!" you'd better start to run.

A Dorn Beast. Be paralyzation resistant.

137. They say that you might find gems on the deep levels.

You can find gems anywhere.

138. They say that you need a lot of leverage to stop the forces of Chaos.

Two levers, actually.

139. They say that you need a strong will to enter the great rift.

True (see section 2.22).

140. They say that you need persistence and peace to truly profit from religious scriptures.

The "persistence and peace" probably refers to the fact that tracts are difficult to read, so the PC must not be disturbed by monsters. Interestingly, however, teleportitis does not bother PCs trying to read tracts.

141. They say that you need to be an expert climber to survive the great rift.

Climbing 100 is required.

142. They say that you need to be very experienced to enter the great rift.

Experience level 18.

143. They say that you only can be the champion of your deity if you are very close to your deity.

Or absolutely.

144. They say that you should not slow down in your final fight.

Avoid being hit by writhing masses of primal chaos.

145. They say that you should seek the heart of the mountains.

There's a neat library in the middle of the mountains.

146. They say that you should try to investigate the potential uses of beeswax.

For the Banshee's level.

147. They say that you should wish for charisma.

148. They say that you should wish for friends.

149. They say that you should wish for knowledge.

150. They say that you should wish for strength.

151. They say that you should wish for toughness.

152. They say that you should wish for wealth.

153. They say that you should wish for willpower.

For stats, yes. For friends, no. For money, no.

154. They say that you should wish for wishes.

Never.

155. They say that you will feel the corrupting incursions of Chaos.

Unavoidable if the PC lives long enough.

156. They say that you'll have to pull mightily to plug the chaotic intrusions.

The PC must 'h'andle two levers.

157. They say that you will need a weapon of mass destruction to come closer to your goal.

A wand of destruction helps.

158. They say that your piety depends on your disposition towards all gods of your pantheon.

True.

159. They say that wands of knocking might split your skull.

They never deal any damage.

160. They say that white dragons suffer from a bad cold.

They are vulnerable to fire and grant cold resistance when eaten.

161. They say ye cannot shoot yourself, no matter how hard ye try.

The PC cannot shoot his doppleganger "self" since they are immune to missiles. The PC can shoot his real self easily, with lightning bolt, death ray, magic missile, wands of ball lightning or wands of far slaying.

162. This cookie will make you pay a high price.

Nonsense.

163. This is a joke.

Nonsense.

164. Those of Trollish Blood must drink from the Bloody Pool.

Nonsense.

165. Those who guard artifacts are deadly enemies.

Usually.

166. Those without overwhelming piety won't affect elemental altars.

The PC must be a champion of Order or Balance.

167. To be heavy is not very nifty in a deep rift.

Even worse than normal.

168. Ye dost not need to find some kind of amulet to save the world.

Reference to the original Rogue and its descendants.

169. Your termination is long due.

Right. So is the termination of this list.

Yggaz's babbling:

1. A lord might come, he will kill some, others he will beat and that will be neat.

2. Age is power, fulfillment is a shower.

3. Baba's my mother, Stalker my father and I'm the eternal wanderer.

4. Convenience does not mean ease of use!

5. Discover the beginning and you will have found the end.

Discover the origin of the Chaos incursion into Ancardia and you reach the end of the game.

6. Healers are strange people - they enjoy it if you throw stuff at weak ones...

One way to satisfy Jharod.

7. Follow the course, ride the horse, eat the bean and feel pretty lean.

8. Life's a boon and ye art a goon!

9. Remember: wherever you go, there you are!

10. Search the bard and hit him hard!

May refer to Filk.

11. Search the garden, harvest the treasures and take some measures.

Probably refers to herbs and arranging them into stable patterns.

12. Sting the bee and rewarded will be thee.

Hives are more likely to leave gelee royal after kicking them?

13. Swing the anvil and smash the unyielding.

14. The avatar I was... now the fool I am. Heed the warning.

Don't become a fallen champion?

15. ...the right stuff that is.

Probably a continuation of #6.

16. The tiny island is quite magical... isn't that tragical?

Refers to the island in Terinyo.

17. The warning I was... now the fool I am. Heat the warning.

18. Wait till the dawn of time and yer problems will be solved.

19. Wild my babbling might be, mild my being might be...

20. Yagga Yagga Yeek Yeek!

0.14.14 Day and date effects

Starting a game on...results in the message...and has the following effects...
Creator's Day (TB's birthday, July 2nd)You feel that starting your adventure on Creator's Day was a good idea.PC starts with Lucky and Fate Smiles; also, if the day falls on a Monday, HP are not reduced.
Christmas Eve (December 24th)A lone star leads you to this remote valley.PC starts with Fate Smiles.
New Year's Eve (December 31st)You feel well prepared for the coming year.PC starts with six blessed potions of booze.
Any Friday the 13thYou feel unlucky.PC starts Cursed.
Any MondayYou feel slightly exhausted today.PC starts slightly low on HP.

There are of course Ancardian day and date effects as well, which are well covered in the manual. One Ancardian time effect not mentioned is the fact that the PC's range of sight depends on the time of day in wilderness squares. In the morning (which apparently begins at 6h), the PC sees further, and in the evening (which apparently begins at 22h) the PC's sight is limited to 2 squares. The farsight spell seems to negate this.

0.14.15 The opening question system

List courtesy of Raymond Martineau.

Question [A] [B] [C] [D]
1. Your father wants you to help him building a new house for your family. This work will be very long and very hard and your father is a harsh task master. At the same time your uncle, a merchant, wants you to accompany him on a trip to a distant and exotic city. Will you... ...help your father with all your skill in order to further the welfare of your family, despite missing the opportunity to see new marvels and wonders?

St +1, Le -1,
To +1, Pe -1
...help your father with all your skill until your uncle departs and then accompany him?

St +1, Wi -1,
Ch -1, Pe +1
...feign to work hard although you actually only do what is necessary to appear hard working?

Le +1, Ch -1
...accompany your uncle, ignoring the pleads of your father?

St -1, Le +1,
Wi +1, Ch -1
2. In your childhood slaves were forced to work in your neighborhood. Many of the slaves were too young, too old or too weak to work effectively. The forcemasters mistreated them and abused them all the time. Will you... ...help them personally, trying to lessen the worst chores the slaves face and bring them food and water whenever you can do so without being noticed?

St +1, Le -1, Wi +1,
To +1, Ch -1, Ap -1
...ignore their pains because bringing them food and water only would prolong their suffering?

Le +1, Ch -1
...ask the taskmasters if a couple of silver pieces would allow you to take some of the slaves home to you to do the hard work you are obliged to do for your family?

St -1, Le +1,
Wi +1, To -1
...ask the taskmasters if a couple of silver pieces would allow you to take some of the slaves home to you to do the hard work you are obliged to do for your family... and then do those hard chores yourself so that the slaves can recover a bit?

St +1, To +1,
Ch +1, Ma -2
3. You and your friends pass a lot of time fighting among each other... not seriously but to test your strength, cunning and physical prowess. Will you... ...train hard in order to be the best of them all, even if this means that you will have less time for other activities?

St +1, Le -1, Dx +1,
To +1, Ch -1, Ma -1
...try to win with dirty tricks so that you won't have to train to stand up against them and prove yourself?

Le +1, Wi -1,
Dx +1, Ch -1
...let fate decide who is the best among you?

St -1, Dx -1, Ma +2
...avoid those physical challenges in case you start to lose too often?

St -1, To -1, Ch -1,
Ma +1, Pe +2
4. In cold winters lots of wood is needed to keep your home warm. In the vicinity of your home there is a sacred grove that never was touched by your family. Two hours away, up a steep hill, is a forest, where your family used to fetch wood for centuries. Will you... ...fetch the fire wood from the far hills in order to keep in line with the traditions of your family, even if this means more hard work for you?

St +1, Pe -1
...fetch the fire wood out of the sacred grove because it's less work and allows you to spend more time on other things?

Wi +1, Ma -1
...risk some cold nights because it's too much work to fetch the wood from the far hills and you don't want to anger the gods by taking it from the sacred grove?

St -1, Le +1
...fetch lots of wood from the far hills during summer, even at the risk of not having enough time for your other chores, because this will allow you to have a large enough storage for the cold winter nights?

St +1, Le -1,
To +1, Ch -1
5. Your grandfather always taught you to hone your mental skills and tried to further your development in this respect. Will you... ...honor his wishes and learn with the wise ones of your clan?

Le +2, To -1, Ch -1
...honor his wishes and learn with the priests of your clan?

Le +1, To -1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
...honor his wishes and study nature with the rangers of your clan?

Le +1, Wi -1, Dx +1,
Ch -1, Ap -1, Pe +1
...ignore his wishes and do something else?

no changes
6. When exploring a long-forgotten shed in the woods on a very cold night, you discover a chest with many ancient books and parchment scrolls. Will you... ...take some time and study the texts despite the cold weather and the dark night?

Le +1, Wi +1,
To -1, Ch -1
...burn the texts to heat the shed in order to get comfortable sleep?

Le -1, To +1
...take the scrolls and books back to your home in order to study them a bit and then sell them to the local merchants?

Le +1, Dx -1,
Ch +1, Pe -1
...ignore your findings in order to get back home quickly and find a warm place?

Le -1, Dx +1
7. You are offered two jobs on your first trip to the biggest city in your home country. The local library wants you help the old librarian to catalog dozens of new books and texts. The local stable owner wants you to help him train three spirited young colts. Will you... ...accept the job in the library because it allows you to learn while cataloguing the books?

Le +2, Dx -1, To -1
...accept the job in the library because it probably is better-paid than the job with the stable owner?

Ma +1, Pe -1
...accept the job with the stable owner because horses are so much more exciting than books?

Le -1, Dx +1
...accept the job with the stable owner because you cherish the thought of mastering the art of training horses a lot more than studying books?

Wi +1, Dx +1,
To -1, Ma -1
8. Your favorite teacher discovers you while you try to cheat in a test of prowess. He is very angry about you and refuses to teach you anymore. Since this was the first time and you really want him to teach you, you are horrified by this. Will you... ...try to convince him that you are a worthy student and that you will repent in whatever way he wants, no matter how long it will take to appease him?

Le -1, Wi +2, Ch -1
...try to find another better teacher because you just would waste your time trying to appease him?

Wi -1, Pe +1
...stop your learning efforts since you probably know enough and could make better use of your time in different pursuits?

Le -1, Wi -1,
Dx +1, Pe +1
...try to learn more from a friend of yours who still is taught by the master, avoiding any further confrontation with the master himself?

Le +1, Ch -1
9. While crossing a ford on a well-known road you slip and break your leg. You muster all your strength to reach the shore. Your leg is badly hurt and you can't travel fast enough to reach a safe place before dawn. Will you... ...call for help hoping that a traveller will come to your aid?

Le -1, To +1
...try to crawl to a safe place, risking further harm to your leg?

Wi +2, Dx -1, To -1
...pray to the gods and wait?

Le -1, Wi -1, Ma +2
...try to stabilize your leg with some branches and wait for travellers?

Dx +1, To -1
10. You have been training with weapons for some time. Your master believes that you are still too young to be succesful as a warrior and wants you to wait for a couple of years before you resume your combat training. Will you... ...agree with him and wait for a couple of years before resuming your training?

Le +1, Dx -1
...train harder and longer to prove your determination and worth to him?

Le -2, Wi +2,
To +1, Ap -1
...learn a few dirty tricks from an older friend to make up for your lack of physical talent?

Le +1, Dx +1, Ch -2
...stop your combat training completely in order to try your talents in other areas?

Le +1, Wi -2, Pe +1
11. At one point you fall deeply into love. Your beloved refuses your advances and does not seem to be interested. Will you... ...continue your advances because perseverance can overcome a lack of love?

Le -1, Wi +2, Ch -1
...stop your advances because there are so many other wonderful people out there?

Wi -1, Ch -1,
Ma +1, Pe +1
...admit defeat and never again show your feelings to another person because they will hurt you again?

Wi -1, Dx +1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
...discuss your feelings with that person to get a clear picture of the situation?

Le +1, Ma -1
12. While at a market, you discover a merchant selling a wonderful item you wanted to own for as long as you can think. Sadly you don't have enough money to pay him. Will you... ...try to steal the item in a moment of confusion because you *must* have it?

Le -1, Dx +1,
Ma -1, Pe +1
...try to earn some coins as a juggler on that market in order to be able to buy the item?

Le -1, Dx +2, Ch -1
...wait until night comes and then slay the merchant and take the item?

St +1, Dx -1,
Ch -1, Pe +1
...ignore the item for now and work more until you have enough money to buy it?

Wi +1, Ma -1
13. While playing in the fields during your childhood, your attention is attracted by something glinting in the sunlight. It turns out to be a ring, definitely pretty, maybe even valuable. Will you... ...put it on to see how it will look on you?

Ap +1, Ma -1
...show it to your parents just in case there is something wrong with it?

Le +1, To -1
...try to trade it with your friends?

Ch +1, Ma -1
...keep on searching in hope of finding more treasures?

Le -1, Ch -1,
Ma +1, Pe +1
14. Soon after starting your apprenticeship you come to realise that your master is a harsh and unjust man. Will you... ...endure all abuse in exchange for knowledge gained?

Le +1, Wi -1,
To +1, Ch -1
...continue your apprenticeship hoping the situation will eventually get better?

Wi -2, Ma +2
...complain to your master about his behaviour?

Le -1, Wi +1,
To -1, Ch +1
...run away during the night?

Le -2, Dx +1, Ma +1
15. After serving your master for several months you still feel like having learned hardly anything. One day, while sweeping your masters study during his absence, you can't help but feeling curious about the contents of a large dusty tome resting on a pedestal in one corner of the room. Of course, your master forbade you to even look at it, let alone touch it. Will you... ...heed the command of your master and continue with your task?

Le -1, Wi +1
...give in to temptation and peruse the book?

Le +1, Wi -1,
Ma -1, Pe +1
...accidently knock the pedestal over, hoping to get at least a lucky glance at something interesting?

Wi -1, Dx +1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
...ask your master about the book once he returns?

Le +1, Wi +1, Ma -2
16. Having finally mastered the basics of your profession, your master sends you to deliver a valuable package to the neighbour village. You get waylaid about halfway there. Standing on a bridge crossing a foaming river, bandits approaching from both sides. Will you... ...surrender your possessions, failing your task?

Le +1, Wi -1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
...shout for help?

Le -1, Wi +1
...ready your weapons and fight for your life?

St +1, Le -1, Wi +1,
To +1, Ma -1, Pe -1
...risk the river despite your meagre swimming skills?

Le -1, Wi +1,
Ma +1, Pe -1
17. The final day of your apprenticeship has come. All hardships have been mastered, all lessons learned, all gripes forgotten. Quite pleasantly your master surprises you with a farewell gift. One of four to be exact. Will you... ...pick a pair of sturdy boots to aid your travels?

Le -1, To +1
...select a slender dagger to ensure your safety?

Dx +1, To -1
...choose a small pouch of coins to get you past the worst?

Ch +1, Ma -1
...go for a few final bits of advice to help you on your way?

Le +1, Dx -1
18. After ending your apprenticeship you travel the country for several years performing odd jobs in order to earn a living. While wandering the wilderness during an especially unrewarding winter month you come across another traveller, gravely injured by wolves and barely concious. Will you... ...strip the traveller of everything valuable and leave him to die?

Dx +1, To +1,
Ch -1, Ma -1
...strike the killing blow of mercy, thus sparing him days of suffering with hardly a chance of survival?

St +1, Le -1,
To +1, Ma -1
...camp for a few days and try to aid him as best as your skills permit?

St -1, Dx +1,
To -1, Ma +1
...carry him to the next village?

St +1, Dx -1
19. Evil has started to invade the world, subtle and unnoticed at first, directly assaulting in the end. Monsters and nightmares roam the land, all signs pointing towards Terinyo, a small wilderness hamlet. You know it's your destiny to go there because... ...there are bound to be untold riches just begging for a new owner!

Dx +1, Ch -1
...this is finally the chance to prove yourself as the greatest fighter on Ancardia!

Le -1, Ma +1
...knowledge and insights hitherto unknown to mankind are waiting to be discovered!

Le +1, Ma -1
...somebody has to save the world!

Le -1, Wi -1, Ma +2
20. Now that you are old enough, your parents gave you a sword and a leather armor to practice with. While you are practicing with the goblins in the plains, you hear a dirty laughter nearby. You sneak up to the nearest hill and see a group of four raiders torturing a farmer. Will you... ...stealthily walk down and ambush the raiders, trusting your skills?

St -1, Dx +1, To -1, Pe +1
...run away, because what chance would you have against the brigands?

St -1, Le +1, Wi -2,
Dx +1, To +1, Ch -1,
Pe +1
...wait to see if the raiders would leave soon and then go help the farmer?

Le +1, Dx +1, Ch -2,
Ma -1, Pe +1
...quickly scout the area for help?

St -1, Wi +1
21. As you make your way toward the chain of mountains you have heard so much about, you stop for the evening at a village inn. Everyone gathers for the evening meal and you overhear a conversation between two seemingly well-to-do merchants. They are talking about a collection of precious jewelry which has been entrusted to them by an evil dark elven master assassin named Magrak. It seems they have been given little choice; sell the ill-gotten baubles on his behalf or live in the cold shadow of his sure, swift retribution. You saw the four locked chests carried inside by the merchants earlier and wondered at their contents, now you know what they must surely contain. Will you... ...attempt to aid them in their plight by plotting the demise of this evil thug?

Wi +1, Ch +1, Ma -2
...offer the merchants the name of a rich human enchantress you met in your travels who will buy much of their stock?

Ch -1, Ma +1
...wait until everyone goes to bed, then attempt to rob the merchants as they sleep?

Wi -1, Dx +1
...engage the merchants in conversation, hoping to learn more of Magrak? Surely one so skilled in his art must have something to impart to a young apprentice...

St -1, Le +1, Wi -1,
Dx +1, Ch -1, Pe +1
22. During your apprenticeship under an elderly wizard, you come across a powerful magical amulet of unknown power in a forgotten corner of his warehouse. Do you... ...tell your master of your finding?

Dx -1, Ch +2, Ma -1
...keep the amulet to your self, in hopes of gaining its powers?

Le +1, Wi -1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
...sell it, to get money for better living?

Wi -1, To +1
...leave it be and forget about it since this is not a thing that concerns you?

Wi +1, Pe -1
23. While doing research in a library, you come across a map to an ancient tomb containing many treasures. You decide to investigate the matter. Do you take with you... ...other adventurers to help fight the monsters in the way?

St -1, Le +1,
Ch +1, Ma -1
...magical items and spellbooks to strenghten your own power?

St -1, To -1, Ma +2
...all that which you can carry in a small pouch, in order to travel fast and stealthily?

St -1, Le -1,
Dx +1, Ma +1
...superb equipment and provisions, to make travelling easy?

Ma -1, Pe +1
24. During a night out, one of your friends is mugged and hurt badly. Do you... ...do what you can to heal his wounds?

St -1, To -1,
Ch +1, Ma +1
...chase after the attackers to reclaim lost wealth, while others tend to your friend?

St +1, Le -1,
To +1, Ch -1
...wait with your friend until help arrives, then chase after the attackers?

To +1, Ch +1,
Ma -1, Pe -1
...go and alert the city guards?

Wi +1, To -1
25. While on a journey, your carriage is attacked by foreign spies. They siege you and your travelling companions and call out for a royal emissary travelling under disguise with you. Do you... ...try and negotiate with the attackers in order to stall them until help arrives?

Le +1, To -2, Ch +1
...sacrifice yourself by masking as the emissary so that the others may escape?

Le -1, Wi +1,
Dx +1, To -1
...sneak your way past the attackers in order to call for help?

St -1, Wi -1,
Dx +1, Pe +1
...turn the emissary over to the spies in order to save yourself and the other travellers?

Wi -1, To +1,
Ma -1, Pe +1
26. If you came across an animal that was writhing in agony from a poisoned injury and looked like it would die anyway, will you... ...slay it as an act of mercy?

St +1, To +1,
Ch -1, Ma -1
...agitate it during its final moments?

Dx +1, Ch -1
...walk away?

Wi +1, Ch -1
...attempt to heal it, although odds are grim?

Wi +1, Ap -2, Ma +1
27. Your brother has come asking that you hide him from the law. Do you... ...send him away?

St +1, Wi +1,
Dx -1, Ch -1
...gladly let him in and then try to sway his behavior?

Le +1, Wi -1,
Ch +1, Pe -1
...tell him he must repent in a prison for the crime?

Le -1, Wi +1
...invite him to join your band of thieves?

St -1, Dx +1,
Ch +1, Pe -1
28. You are carrying your liege's gold to his castle. You stumble upon a poor beggar. Do you... ...give him some of your liege's money?

Le -1, Ch +1,
Ma +1, Pe -1
...give him some of your own money?

Ch +1, Pe -1
...take what little money the beggar has in his dish?

St +1, Dx +1,
Ch -1, Ma -1
...ignore the beggar?

St +1, To +1,
Ma -1, Pe -1
29. You have stolen to feed your family and the guards are searching for you. You... ...rush to a hiding place and, when it clears up, return home.

Wi -1, Dx +1,
To -1, Pe +1
...attack the guards head on!

St +1, Le -2, To +1
...turn in yourself in hopes of being able to explain the situation.

Le -1, Ch +1,
Ma +1, Pe -1
...become a professional criminal and perpetuate the acts...

Le -1, Ma +1
30. Your king lies dying, the battle is lost. He asks how the battle fares. Tell him... ..."All is well!"

Wi -1, Ch +1
..."Unfortunately, we are defeated!"

Wi +2, Ch -1, Ma -1
..."C'mon, die already, I want yer crown!!!"

St +1, Le -1,
To +1, Ch -1
..."Unfortunately, I am not able to help here."

Le -1, Dx +1
31. You are called home to run your late father's shop, but you are on a spiritual quest. Do you... ...return home without a moment's pause?

Wi -1, Ch +1,
Ma -1, Pe +1
...stay to follow your quest indefinitely?

Wi +2, Ch -1, Pe -1
...send some poor farm kid in your place?

Le +1, Ch -1,
Ma +1, Pe -1
...continue questing in hopes that the shop will still be there when you finish?

Wi +1, Pe -1
32. You are a witness to a crime. You are called to the stand. The defendant is not guilty of that crime, you know, but he did steal from your brother. Will you... ...falsely attest his guilt to avenge your brother's honor?

Le +1, Ch -1
...claim that he was guilty just for fun?

Wi -1, Ch -1, Ma +2
...attest the truth and call him out for your own vendetta?

Wi +1, Ma -1
...tell the truth, but let the vendetta die here and now?

Wi +1, Ch -1
33. As a child, whenever your friends had an idea of going to the nearby graveyard at darknight and asked you to join them, you... ...went along because you were forced to?

Wi -1, Ma +1
...went along curious to see how others behaved?

Le +1, Pe -1
...stayed home helping your mother?

To -1, Ch +1
...went fishing?

Dx +1, Ch -1
34. While shopping, you spot someone stealing something from the shop. Will you... ...tell the shopkeeper?

Le +1, Pe -1
...stop the thief and pursue him if needed?

St +1, Le -1,
Dx +1, Ma -1
...hope the shopkeeper sees him stealing?

Le -1, Dx -1, Ma +2
...ignore the thief?

Ch -1, Ma +1
35. One night you wake up of a strange dog whining on your yard. You see the dog is bleeding and critically hurt. Will you... ...end the dog's sufferings?

St +1, Dx -1,
To +1, Ch -1
...try to medicate the dog?

Le +1, Dx +1,
Ma -1, Pe -1
...wake your father and mother up?

Le +1, Ma -1
...ignore the dog?

Wi +1, Ch -1
36. When your father took you hunting for the first time, you saw a deer for the first time in your life. You were supposed to kill it for food. Do you... ...kill the deer, because you wanted your father to respect you?

St +1, Le -1,
Wi -1, To +1
...feel sorry for the deer, but kill it anyway, because you knew your tribe really needed the food?

St +1, Le +1,
To -1, Ma -1
...kill the deer with a smile on your face and a tingle inside you?

St +1, To +1, Ch -2
...decide not to kill such a magnificent animal?

Wi +2, Ch -2
37. What would you order in a restaurant for lunch? ...raw meat.

St +1, Le -1
...fried bat.

Ch -1, Ma +1
...cooked lizard.

St -1, Dx +1
...the dish of the day.

Ch +1, Ma -1
38. What about you gave your parents the most grief? ...you always had to be the center of attention.

Wi +1, Ch -1
...you holed up in your room instead of playing with other kids.

Ch -2, Ma +1, Pe +1
...your frequent brushes with the law.

Dx +1, Ch -1
...your amazing appetite.

Dx -1, To +1
39. Will you fight evil... ...by battling evil creatures whenever you see them?

St +1, Le -1,
Wi +1, Dx -1
...by trying to understand the cause and preventing it?

St -1, Le +1
...by repairing the damage everywhere you go?

Le -1, Ch +1
...by trying to become a leader and steering your followers to another course?

St -1, To -1,
Ch +1, Ma +1
40. You are in a nobleman's house as a dinner guest. While waiting in the library for your host, you notice a small, old book beautifully covered with gold lacing and ivory carvings. The temptation is strong. Do you... ...pocket the book in hopes of selling it?

Wi -1, Dx +1
...read the book?

Le +1, Ma -1
...advise your host that such a valuable should be better guarded?

St +1, Le -1
...admire the cover then look around for other old stuff like weapons and armor?

Le -1, Dx +1
41. There have been whispers throughout the land of approaching chaos. The great sage, Khelavaster, warned all of the races a short time ago, but you had your suspicions beforehand. What was it that made you suspicious?

...the early snow and sudden frost?

Ma -1, Pe +1
...a strange, sickly bird?

Le +1, Wi -1
...the behaviour of the townsfolk?

Ch -1, Ma +1
...the barren trees about your home?

To +1, Pe -1
42. Your mind made up, you pack your bags and prepare to leave for the Drakalor Chain. Your pack is almost full, and you still have several items you would like you take. Realizing that you can only fit one more thing in your backpack, you decide to pack... ...a worn old dagger?

St +1, Dx -1
...a book of cantrips?

St -1, Le +1
...extra rations?

Dx -1, To +1
...a length of rope?

Dx +1, To -1
43. On your way to the Drakalor Chain, you find yourself faced with several different paths. Your map does not specify which is safest. Which do you take?

...a rocky path into the countryside?

Dx -1, To +1
...the path through a thick forest?

Ma -1, Pe +1
...a worn path over the hills?

Le +1, Ma -1
...the path past a desolate town?

St +1, Le -1
44. You attempt to make an arrow and you do not succeed. Do you... ...pray to the Gods for guidance on making better arrows in the future?

Le -1, Ma +1
...bang your head against the wall for being such an idiot?

Le -1, Wi +1
...hit someone to let out your aggression?

St +1, Le -1
...calmly recover yourself and begin making another arrow?

Wi +1, Dx -1,
Ma -1, Pe +1
45. You are walking on the street, when you see a gang of men beating a beggar. What would you do?

...run to help the beggar regardless that there's five of them?

St +1, Le -1
...quickly walk away so the men won't notice you?

Wi -1, Dx +1
...go help the men beat the beggar?

St +1, To +1,
Ch -1, Ma -1
...shout to the nearby people to come help the beggar?

St -1, Le +1
46. You are chopping wood at your cottage in the woods when you suddenly see a faery next to you. The faery asks you : "Could you spare me some food and a resting place for this day?" You answer... ..."Of course I can! Just come on in."

Ch +1, Ma -1
..."Why not..." (glancing at the faery's expensive looking necklace).

Dx +1, Ma -1
..."No way! Run away you little pest!"

Wi +1, Ma -1
..."For a price... anything!"

Ch -1, Ma +1
47. You return back from your hunting trip and you notice that your cottage is on fire! Already half of it has burned. Do you... ...try to save what you can by any means?

Le -1, Wi +1
...let it burn and build a new cottage somewhere else?

Wi -1, Ma +1
...rush over to town and demand money for your lost cottage?

St +1, Le -1
...suspect that someone tried to assasinate you and stay on guard?

Ma -1, Pe +1
48. Your father has apprenticed you to the local smith. Do you... ...happily accept the position, believing that it is your chosen calling?

Le -1, Wi +1
...grudgingly accept, not wanting to shame your father?

Wi +1, To +1,
Ch -1, Ma -1
...adamantly refuse, setting out on your own path and alienating your family?

Wi +1, Ch -1
...pretend to accept, but plan to run away as soon as the opportunity presents itself?

Wi -1, Dx +1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
49. You find yourself working as an apprentice to a wise but cruel master. Do you... ...publicly humiliate him, hoping it will teach him to respect you?

Le -1, Ch +1,
Ma +1, Pe -1
...calmly accept his cruelty, knowing that the punishment is worth the reward?

Le +1, Dx -1
...kill him and steal all the tools of his trade?

Le -1, Dx +1,
Ch -1, Ma +1
...leave his service for a less experienced but kinder teacher?

Wi -1, Ma +1
50. While learning tricks of the trade from your wise teacher, you think you see a way to do something that he has taught you in a more efficient way. Do you... ...loudly point out the new method, proving yourself smarter than your teacher?

Le -1, Wi +1
...keep it to yourself, sure that your master knows more than you?

Ma +1, Pe -1
...keep it to yourself, hoping that you can use the method to earn great wealth?

Le +1, Wi -1, Ch -1, Ma +1
...write the method down and leave it as an anonymous note to your teacher?

Le +1, Ma -1
51. After many years of toil, you have completed your apprenticeship. Do you... ...thank your master politely and set out into the world, confident that you have learned everything you need to know?

Wi +1, Pe -1
...seek to learn more from your master, believing that he still has more knowledge to share?

Wi +1, Ma -1
...slay your master so that nobody else will learn his knowledge and be able to compete with you?

St +1, To +1, Ma -2
...seek out a new master to increase your knowledge in your chosen profession?

Le +1, Ma -1

0.14.16 Talents

Known bugs with the Talent system:

The Good Learner talent grants an experience of 40% rather than the stated 2%. The Great Learner talent gives a net experience gain of ~20%. So Good Learner alone is much better than Great Learner.

The combination of Quick Shot and Lightning Shot reduces missile energy attack costs by 27.6%. This is more than the stated 2 × 10%.

The Skilled talent causes the game to crash. Do not select it.

Thanks to Laszlo for the list

Alphabetical list of talents:    
     
Affinity with Axes      Extremely Hardy      Natural Trader
Affinity with Boomerangs & Scurgari      Extremely Skilled      Pious
Affinity with Bows      Far Shot      Porter
Affinity with Clubs and Hammers      Fey-Blooded      Potent Aura
Affinity with Crossbows      Filthy Rich      Powerful Strike
Affinity with Daggers & Knives      Good Book Caster      Quick
Affinity with Maces & Flails      Good Book Learner      Quick Shot
Affinity with Polearms      Good Learner      Saint
Affinity with Slings      Good Looks      Scout
Affinity with Staves      Good Shot      Shield Expert
Affinity with Swords      Greased Lightning      Shield Master
Affinity with Thrown Axes & Hammers      Great Book Caster      Shield Specialist
Affinity with Thrown Daggers      Great Book Learner      Silver Tongue
Affinity with Thrown Rocks & Clubs      Great Learner      Sixth Sense
Affinity with Thrown Spears      Hardy      Skilled
Affinity with Twohanded Weapons      Healthy      Stealthy
Affinity with Whips      Heir      Steel Skin
Aggressive      Immune to Pain      Strong
Alert      Iron Skin      Strong Aura
Ambidextrous      Keen Shot      Strong Healer
Basher      Learned      Strong Legs
Beast of Burden      Lightning Shot      Strong Magic
Boon to the Family      Long-Lived      Strong of Will
Brawler      Long Stride      Strong Thrower
Careful      Master Packager      Tough
Charged      Mechanically Inclined      Tough Skin
Charming      Melee Weapon Master      Treasure Hunter
Defensive Fighter      Mighty Aura      Very Careful
Dextrous      Mighty Strike      Very Hardy
Dodger      Miser      Very Pious
Durable Magic      Missile Weapon Master      Very Quick
Eagle-Eyed      Mithril Skin      Very Skilled
Extended Magic      Natural Berserker      Very Wealthy
         Wealthy

Consider your PCs Talents carefully. If there is a Talent the PC wants, make sure he has the requisite level 1 Talents.

A table which attempts to summarize the Talents and prerequisites; green means the Talent is a prerequisite for another Talent, red means there is an associated bug:

PrerequisiteTalentCombined withAllowsCombined withAllowsCombined withAllowsCombined withAllows
Level One Talents
level oneAlert {+1Pe}        
level oneStrong Of Will {+1 Wi}        
level oneBoon To The Family 2×$level oneCharming {+1 Ch}level oneHeir    
level oneWealthy 3×$level oneVery Wealthy 2×$level oneExtremely Wealthy 2×$    
level oneDextrous {+1 Dx}        
level oneFey-blooded {+1 Ma}        
level oneGood Looks{+1 Ap}        
level oneLearned {+1 Le}        
level oneStrong {+1 St}        
level oneTough {+1 To}        
level oneLong-lived +30% lifespan        
level oneSkilledlevel oneVery Skilledlevel oneExtremely Skilled    
Melee Weapon Talents
 Affinities with melee weapons3 affinities, Defensive Fighter, Strong Of WillMelee Weapon Master (+3, +3) in melee      
St 13+Brawler (+2, +0 unarmed)        
level oneStrong Legs (+0, +2 kicking & doors)        
 Aggressive (+1, +0) Natural Berserker (+2, +2 berserk)      
 Ambidextrous (+2, +0 two weapons)        
 Basher (+1, +1 >100s)St 13+Powerful Strike (+2, +2 >100s)St 18+Mighty Strike (+3, +3 >100s)    
Missile Weapon Talents
 Affinities with missile weapons3 affinities, Keen Shot, AlertMissile Weapon Master (+3, +3)      
 Good Shot (+1, +1)Dx 13+Keen Shot (+2, +2)QuickQuick Shot -10% energy costArchery 60+Lightning Shot -10% energy cost  
 Good Shot (+1, +1)Dx 18+, Archery 80+Eagle-Eyed (+3, +3)      
St 12+Strong Thrower (+2 range)        
Defensive Talents
 Careful [+1, +0] Very Careful [+3, +0] when defensive or coward       
 Careful [+1, +0]QuickDefensive Fighter [+2, +0]dodge 75+Dodger [+2, +0]     
 Shield Specialist [+1, +0] with shieldshield skill 3+Shield Expert [+2, +0] with shieldshield skill 6+Shield Master [+3, +0] with shield     
To 10+Hardy +3 HPTo 15+Very Hardy +6 HPTo 20+Extremely Hardy +9 HP     
To 10+Hardy +3 HPTo 12+Tough Skin [+0, +1]To 15+Iron Skin [+0, +1]To 20+Steel Skin [+0, +2]dwarves onlyMithril Skin [+0, +3]
     Iron Skin [+0, +1]Wi 15+Immune To Pain -1 from all damage done to PC  
Magical Talents
Ma 10+Potent Aura +3 PPMa 12+Strong Aura +6 PPMa 15+Mighty Aura +9 PPMa 24+Extended Magic 2× bolt range  
   Strong Aura +6 PPWi 16+Durable Magic 3× spell duration    
   Strong Aura +6 PPCareful, Dx 14+Good Book Caster bookcasting costs 2×Mighty Aura, Dx 18+, Pe 15+Great Book Caster bookcasting costs 1.5×  
Ma 10+Potent Aura +3 PPMa 15+Strong Magic +2 spell damage      
Ma 10+Potent Aura +3 PPMa 16+Charged faster PP regen      
Ma 10+Potent Aura +3 PPWi 15+Strong Healer +4 HP to healing spells       
Ma 10+Potent Aura +3 PPGood LearnerGood Book Learner +10% reading effectivityGreat LearnerGreat Book Learner +10% reading effectivity    
Miscellaneous Talents
Le 10+Good Learner +40% not 2%Le 16+Great Learner net +20%      
St 8+, Dx 10+Porter +10% carryingLe 12+, Pe 12+Master Packager +20% carryingWi 12+, To 12+Beast Of Burden +30% carrying    
 Long Stride 950 movement cost        
 Quick +2 speed Very Quick +3 speedDx 15+Greased Lightning +4 speed    
 Healthy +20% healing speed        
Pe 18+Sixth Sense easier to evade traps        
 Mechanically Inclined +10% easier disarming traps        
 Miser finds more goldAlertTreasure Hunter      
Ch 10+Silver Tongue -10% pricesCh 14+Natural Trader -20% prices      
Wi 15+Pious -5% prayer costWi 20+Very Pious -5% prayer costWi 30+, Strong Of WillSaint -5% prayer cost    
Dx 10+, Pe 13+Scout easier wilderness evasion        
 Stealthy 10% easier stealth checks        

   --- STARTING TALENTS --- (all these have a prerequisite of Level 1)

Note that you only start with 1-6 talents. Since several of the
STARTING TALENTS are prerequisites, you need to consider your choice 
of Level 1 talents very carefully. Since a +Attribute talent is 
worth half a (blessed) potion of Attribute, it's probably only
worthwhile to take them as prerequisites if needed. Some +Attribute
talents, however, can be quite useful for early-game survival, and
should be considered.

   ALERT -- +1 to Perception.
   Prerequisites: Level 1. 

Rating: 3 (4 for archers)
Prerequisite for: Treasure Hunter(9), Missile Weapon Master(3-7)

Prerequisite for Missile Weapon Master and Treasure Hunter. Treasure
Hunter is generally accepted to be one of the most desirable (if not
_the_ most desirable) talents, making Alert a populer Level 1 choice.
See Missile Weapon Master for a discussion on viability.
If you don't want Treasure Hunter or Missile Weapon Master, Alert is
of marginal utility; Perception is one of the less useful attributes,
and is fairly easily increased. A mid-range Perception score (12-18)
is a prerequisite for a number of talents, none of them very useful,
except possibly Great Book Caster.
Note that this talent is slightly more useful if you play ADOM on 
higher than 80x25 resolutions.

   CHARMING -- +1 to Charisma.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 1 (2 for male characters and Bards)
Prerequisite for: Heir(3-10)

Prerequisite for Heir. If you don't have at least 3 starting talents,
or if you simply don't want Heir, this talent is next to useless.
While Charisma is not particularly easy to raise, it's almost 
completely useless for everyone except Bards (for whom it is of
medium importance).
Charisma is a prerequisite for Silver Tongue and Natural Trader,
neither of which is worth getting, either.

   DEXTROUS -- +1 to Dexterity.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 3

Not a prerequisite and probably not worth it. Dexterity gives speed, 
DV, and missile weapon to-hit (and possibly damage, anyone know for
certain?), but Dextrous is a dead-end talent and the specialized
talents for speed, DV, and missile bonuses are much more powerful.
Dexterity is the prerequisite for a number of useful talents. None 
of them need above 18 Dex, though, and that shouldn't be too 
difficult to come by in the early-to-mid game.

   FEY-BLOODED -- +1 to Mana.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 3 (2 for non-spellcasters)

Not a prerequisite. Of some use to spellcasters with low mana 
scores (troll wizards, for example). If your starting Mana score 
is low, this might be somewhat helpful in reaching the prerequisites 
for the magical talents. Since Mana is probably the easiest 
attribute to train, however, I'd advise against taking this talent.

   GOOD LOOKS -- +1 to Appearance.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 1 (2 for female characters)

Not a prerequisite, and a proufundly worthless talent. Appearance is 
the least useful attribute for anyone.

   LEARNED -- +1 to Learning.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 4 (5 for illiterate characters)

Not a prerequisite, and fairly easy to train for most characters.
Learning does help with a good number of things, but if your 
character automatically gets the Literacy skill, probably not worth 
it. Even if he/she doesn't, 1 point is unlikely to make a difference.

   STRONG -- +1 to Strength.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 4 (5-7 for melee characters)

Not a prerequisite. Strength can be trained very quickly at low 
levels, but slows down somewhat later. It is also one of the most
useful attributes for most characters. For this reason, melee
characters might possibly want to consider this talent.

   STRONG OF WILL -- +1 to Willpower.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 3 (4 for Mindcrafters)
Prerequisite for: Melee Weapon Master(5-7), Saint(2)

Prerequisite for Melee Weapon Master (and Saint, which is next to
usealess). If you don't want Melee Weapon Master, Willpower is of
medium-to-high importance (high for spellcasters, medium for everyone
else). It's easy to raise into the twenties by the early-to-mid game
(if you know how), though, making Strong of Will a bad choice except 
as a prerequisite.

   TOUGH -- +1 to Toughness.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 4

Not a prerequisite. Would be a fairly good choice if there wasn't a
reliable method of raising Toughness into the mid-twenties by the
early-to-mid game. Still might be worth considering for characters 
with a very low starting toughness, but the defensive talents are
overall probably better for early survival.

   WEALTHY -- Three times the normal starting money.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.
 
   VERY WEALTHY -- Two times the normal starting money.
   Prerequisites: Wealthy, Level 1.

   FILTHY RICH -- Two times the normal starting money.
   Prerequisites: Very Wealthy, Level 1.

Rating: 1 (3 for Merchants)

These three talents are rather useless. All three of them 
together will only get you twelve times your starting money 
(or 24 times, with Boon to the Family), which only counts as 
a lot at the very beginning of the game. 
One exception: merchants with a lot of starting talents can 
actually get quite a lot of money with these talents, potentially
opening up several interesting options for them in the early game.
Overall, these talents are still probably a suboptimal choice.

   BOON TO THE FAMILY -- Twice normal starting money.
   Prerequisites: Level 1. 

Rating: 1
Prerequisite for: Heir(3-10)

A prerequisite for Heir. Otherwise even worse than Wealthy.

   HEIR -- Receives a special magical item inherited from his family.
   Prerequisites: Boon to the Family, Charming, Level 1. 

Rating: 3-10 (depending on class; 10 would be for Bards)

Has two prerequisites, which means you must have at least 3 starting
talents to get it. Its usefulness is strongly dependent on your class.
For Bards, the reward is approximately worth a Wish, and is one of
the most powerful items in the game. Heir gifts for other classes
will eventually become obsolete, but usually help with early-game 
survival a great deal. It's _three_ starting talents, though, so 
consider it carefully.

   SKILLED -- +2 to all initial skill values.
   Prerequisites: Learning 9+, Level 1.
 
   VERY SKILLED -- +3 to all initial skill values.
   Prerequisites: Skilled, Learning 12+, Level 1.

   EXTREMELY SKILLED -- +5 to all initial skill values.
   Prerequisites: Very Skilled, Learning 15+, Level 1.

Rating: 3

You can only get these talents if you have a decent Learning, 
which is precisely when you don't need them. At low levels,
skills go up fast. Leave these talents alone.
Note also that these talents are currently (ADOM 1.1.1) 
buggy and can crash the game if taken.

   LONG-LIVED -- the PCs life span is extended by 30%.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 1-5 (Depending on race; 1 for elves, 5 for trolls)

PCs with short life spans might want to consider this. 30% is
not a lot overall, but might just be the bonus that saves your
life against Ghost Lords. It's a dead-end talent, though, so
consider it carefully.

   --- MELEE TALENTS ---

   AFFINITY WITH AXES -- +2 to hit with axes.
  
   AFFINITY WITH CLUBS & HAMMERS -- +2 to hit with clubs and hammers.

   AFFINITY WITH DAGGERS & KNIVES -- +2 to hit with daggers and
      knives.

   AFFINITY WITH MACES & FLAILS -- +2 to hit with maces and flails.

   AFFINITY WITH POLEARMS -- +2 to hit with polearms.

   AFFINITY WITH SWORDS -- +2 to hit with swords.

   AFFINITY WITH WHIPS -- +4 to hit with whips.

   AFFINITY WITH STAVES -- +2 to hit with staves.

   AFFINITY WITH TWOHANDED WEAPONS -- +2 to hit with twohanded
      weapons.

Rating: 6 (5 for spellcasters)
Prerequisite for: Melee Weapon Master (5-7)

If you want Melee Weapon Master, you must take three of these.
Otherwise, I suggest waiting until you're sure about what weapon(s)
you want to use in the long run; otherwise, it's a wasted talent.
+2 to hit is not a lot, but with the new ADOM combat system, you 
can never have too much (or even enough) of a to-hit bonus, and 
every little bit helps. The +4 for whips is nice, but still doesn't 
make whips worthwhile, generally speaking.

   MELEE WEAPON MASTER -- +3 to hit and damage in melee combat.
   Prerequisites: At least 3 melee weapon affinities, Defensive
   Fighter, Strong of Will

Rating: 7 (5 for spellcasters)

This is a very expensive talent: it has 7 prerequisites. Still,
since four of them (with the exceptions being Strong of Will and
two of the three affinities) are useful for a melee fighter, it's 
probably worth getting.
For spellcasters, DV and PV are much more important than to-hit
and damage, which makes Melee Weapon Master a less attractive 
proposition.

   BRAWLER -- +2 to hit in unarmed melee combat.
   Prerequisites: Strength 13+.

Rating: 1 (7 for Monks and Beastfighters)

Not a prerequisite. If you're playing an unarmed fighter, 
probably worth getting.

   STRONG LEGS -- Kicking in doors is much easier. +2 to kick damage.
   Prerequisites: Level 1.

Rating: 1 (4 for Monks)

Not a prerequisite. Useless for anyone but monks; you very rarely
need to kick down a door quickly. Since not even Monks kick much,
even after getting the circular kick ability, and the damage bonus
is not at all spectacular, it's probably best to ignore this talent.

Note that this talent may or may not help with kicking down walls
quickly, for a Monk of level 13 or above.

   AGGRESSIVE -- +1 to hit in melee.

Rating: 5 (2 for spellcasters)
Prerequisite for: Natural Berserker (4-8)

If you want Natural Berserker, you must get this. If you don't, 
you'd probably be better off with other combat talents. +1 is
not much at all.

   NATURAL BERSERKER -- +2 to hit and damage when berserking.
   Prerequisites: Aggressive.

Rating: 4 (may be 6-8, depending on playstyle).

Normally, one doesn't usually spend much time in Berserk mode, and
this talent isn't powerful enough to justify doing so. If, however,
you play a berserkering melee fighter, this can be a fairly powerful
talent.

   AMBIDEXTROUS -- +2 to hit when fighting with two weapons.

Rating: 6

Not a prerequisite. Probably a good idea to get it if you're planning
on fighting with two weapons.

   BASHER -- +1 to hit and damage with weapons weighing more than 
      100 stones.

   POWERFUL STRIKE -- +2 to hit and damage with weapons weighing more
      than 100 stones.
   Prerequisites: Basher, Strength 13+.

   MIGHTY STRIKE -- +3 to hit and damage with weapons weighing more
      than 100 stones.
   Prerequisites: Powerful Strike, Strength 18+.

Rating: 9 (situational, 6 for spellcasters)

Unfortunately, most worthwhile weapons are 100s or lighter. Even with
these talents, the only weapons that are worthwhile are maces of 
destruction and some artifacts. Also, some weapons with the "heavier-
than-normal" prefixes, as well as some non-higher-metal ego weapons, 
might fit into this category.
If you actually manage to get one of these weapons, these talents can
be _very_ worthwhile. It's definitely a gamble, though, and none of
them can even be wished for, except the mace of destruction. For this
reason, I suggest only getting these talents if you've actually found
one of the above weapons, or you know you'll get it (quite a few of
the artifacts that fit the bill are guaranteed, including, notably,
the ToTRR). Getting these talents eariler is a very risky gamble.

   --- MISSILE AND THROWN WEAPON TALENTS ---

   AFFINITY WITH BOWS -- +2 to hit with bows.

   AFFINITY WITH CROSSBOWS -- +2 to hit with crossbows.

   AFFINITY WITH SLINGS -- +2 to hit with slings.

   AFFINITY WITH BOOMERANGS & SCURGARI -- +4 to hit with thrown
      boomerangs and scurgari.

   AFFINITY WITH THROWN DAGGERS -- +3 to hit with thrown daggers.

   AFFINITY WITH THROWN AXES & HAMMERS -- +3 to hit with thrown axes
      and hammers.

   AFFINITY WITH THROWN ROCKS & CLUBS -- +3 to hit with thrown rocks
      and clubs.

   AFFINITY WITH THROWN SPEARS -- +3 to hit with thrown spears.

Rating: 5 (4 for spellcasters, 7 for archers)
Prerequisite for: Missile Weapon Master(3-7)

If you want Missile Weapon Master, you must take three of these.
Otherwise, I suggest waiting until you're sure about what missile 
weapon(s) you want to use in the long run; otherwise, it's a wasted 
talent. Your to-hit bonus for missile weapons is less of a critical 
issue than for melee weapons, which is why these got a lesser score. 
For an archer, though, they're still very useful.

   GOOD SHOT -- +1 to hit and damage with missile weapons.

   KEEN SHOT -- +2 to hit and damage with missile weapons.
   Prerequisites: Good Shot, Dexterity 13+.

   EAGLE-EYED -- +3 to hit and damage with missile weapons.
   Prerequisites: Good Shot, Archery 80+, Dexterity 18+.

Rating: 6 (4 for spellcasters, 9 for archers)

These are excellent bonuses for an archer. Other characters will
want to consider how much they will be using missile weapons.
Note that Keen Shot is _not_ a prerequisite for Eagle-Eyed, just
for Missile Weapon Master. If you can, buy Eagle-Eyed first.

   MISSILE WEAPON MASTER -- +3 to hit and damage in missile combat.
   Prerequisites: At least 3 missile weapon affinities, Keen Shot,
   Alert

Rating: 5 (3 for spellcasters, 7 for archers)

This is the same as Eagle-Eyed, but much more expensive. It has 6
prerequisites, 3 of which (Alert and two of the three affinities)
are not very useful. Characters other than archers will probably
want to pass on this one.

   QUICK SHOT -- Missile attacks require 10% less energy.
   Prerequisites: Keen Shot, Quick.

   LIGHTNING SHOT -- Missile attacks require 10% less energy.
   Prerequisites: Quick Shot, Archery 60+.

Rating: 7 (9 for archers, 5 for pure spellcasters)

If you're planning on using missile weapons at all, the bonus
speed from these talents is excellent.

   FAR SHOT -- Missile attack ranges are increased by 20%.
   Prerequisites: Keen Shot, Strength 10+.

Rating: 2 (3 for archers)

If you're not going to be primarily using missile attacks, the
extra range isn't going to come into play much. If you are, then
you should have more than sufficient range from your weapon skill 
and the Archery skill. Avoid.

   STRONG THROWER -- +2 range with thrown weapons.
   Prerequisites: Strength 12+.

Rating: 2 (5 for throwers, 7 in special circumstances)

This is somewhat better than Far Shot (+2 range is usually better
than +20%; if not, then you really don't need to be increasing your
range anyway). It really becomes useful if you want to use unorthodox
throwing weapons like Hammer of the Gods or Long Sting. In those 
cases, the +2 range can actually be very useful. I suggest waiting
until you're sure that's what you want to do, and then considering
buying this talent.

   --- DEFENSIVE TALENTS ---

   CAREFUL -- +1 to DV.

Rating: 5 
Prerequisite for: Very Careful(4-7), Defensive Fighter(7), 
   Good Book Caster(5-8)

DV is very important for all classes in the mid-to-late game. +1 is
not much by itself, but Careful is a prerequisite for Very Careful, 
for the Defensive Fighter->Dodger chain, as well as for Good Book 
Caster. All great talents.

   VERY CAREFUL -- +3 to DV when fighting very defensively or like a
      coward.
   Prerequisites: Careful.

Rating: 4 (7 for spellcasters, may be 5-7 for others depending on
playing style)

Most players probably won't be fighting very defensively a lot, and 
this talent isn't good enough to make it worth doing so. If, however,
you're a spellcaster, or you generally fight at the Very Defensive
setting, this can be a useful bonus.

   DEFENSIVE FIGHTER -- +2 to DV.
   Prerequisites: Careful, Quick.

Rating: 7
Prerequisite for: Melee Weapon Master(5-7), Dodger(7)

+2 DV is nice for all classes. This is also a prerequisite for two
useful talents.

   DODGER -- +2 to DV.
   Prerequisites: Defensive Fighter, Dodge 75+

Rating: 7

Same as Defensive Fighter. Not a prerequisite for anything, though.

   SHIELD SPECIALIST -- +1 to DV when wielding a shield.

   SHIELD EXPERT -- +2 to DV when wielding a shield.
   Prerequisites: Shield Specialist, Shield Weapon Skill 3+

   SHIELD MASTER -- +3 to DV when wielding a shield.
   Prerequisites: Shield Expert, Shield Weapon Skill 6+

Rating: 7

These are only worth buying if you plan on getting all three. 
Otherwise, Careful and Defensive Fighter are probably better.
If you use a shield, though, these three give a +6 bonus to
DV, which is excellent.

   HARDY -- +3 hitpoints.
   Prerequisites: Toughness 10+.

Rating: 4
Prerequisite for: Very Hardy(4-7), Tough Skin(5-7)

Prerequisite for the 7 talents below. If don't want them, Hardy
probably isn't worth it; 3 hitpoints doesn't count for too much 
even in the early game, and quickly becomes negligible.

   VERY HARDY -- +6 hitpoints.
   Prerequisites: Hardy, Toughness 15+.

   EXTREMELY HARDY -- +9 hitpoints.
   Prerequisites: Very Hardy, Toughness 20+.

Rating: 4 (5-7 in the early game)

If you have a Toughness of 20 or more, 18 extra hitpoints aren't 
going to mean much, especially in the late game. Your talents would 
probably be better spent elsewhere. If you feel that the early game
is going to be the most difficult part for your character, though,
then these talents might just mean the difference between life and
death.

   TOUGH SKIN -- +1 to PV.
   Prerequisites: Hardy, Toughness 12+.
 
   IRON SKIN -- +1 to PV.
   Prerequisites: Tough Skin, Toughness 15+.
 
   STEEL SKIN -- +2 to PV.
   Prerequisites: Iron Skin, Toughness 20+.
 
   MITHRIL SKIN -- +3 to PV.
   Prerequisites: Steel Skin, Dwarf.

Rating: 7 (5 without Mithril Skin)

Debatable. With the current combat system, PV is not as useful as
DV in the mid-late game. If you want to be difficult to damage, 
you're better off using a shield and/or buying the DV talents. 
On the other hand, PV is much more important in the early game.
If you feel that your character is most vulnerable early on, you
might want to give these talents serious thought, even if you
can't get Mithril Skin.
It's a big chunk of your available talents, however; Steel Skin 
is 4 talents for +3 HP and +4 PV, and Mithril Skin is 5 talents 
for +3 HP and +7 PV.

   IMMUNE TO PAIN -- One point of damage is always negated for all
      attacks. At least one point of damage will be caused 
      nonetheless.
   Prerequisites: Iron Skin, Willpower 15+.

Rating: 5

This is like a point of super-PV, that applies to everything, always.
Unfortunately, it's a single point, and it's a dead-end talent.
Probably not worth it.

   --- MAGICAL TALENTS ---

   POTENT AURA -- +3 power points.
   Prerequisites: Mana 10+

Rating: 3 
Prerequisite for: Strong Aura(4-8), Strong Magic(3-6), Charged(4-7?),
   Strong Healer(4-7), Good Book Learner(4)

This talent is the prerequisite for every single MAGICAL TALENT. By
itself, though, it's not very useful; 3 power points are even less 
impressive a bonus than 3 hit points (see Hardy).

   STRONG AURA -- +6 power points.
   Prerequisites: Potent Aura, Mana 12+.

Rating: 4 
Prerequisite for: Mighty Aura(4-8), Durable Magic(3-4),
   Great Book Learner(4), Good Book Caster(5-8)

Again, not too impressive in itself, but the prerequisite for two
useful talents.

   MIGHTY AURA -- +9 power points.
   Prerequisites: Strong Aura, Mana 15+

Rating: 4 
Prerequisite for: Extended Magic(3-4), Great Book Caster(5-8)

Still not worth it by itself (the 18 mana given by this talent and 
its two prerequisites is a drop in the bucket for any serious
spellcaster), but it is the prerequisite for Great Book Caster
(an excellent talent), and Extended Magic (a not so excellent one)


   STRONG MAGIC -- +2 to all damage caused by spells.
   Prerequisites: Potent Aura, Mana 15+.

Rating: 3 (6 for pure spellcasters)

Not a prerequisite, but can be a useful talent for spellcasters. 
Unfortunately, +2 is not much at all.

   CHARGED -- Regenerates power points at higher speed.
   Prerequisites: Mana 16+, Potent Aura.

Rating: 4? (7? for pure spellcasters)

The rating for this talents depends on exactly _how_ much extra
PP regeneration it gives. If it's the same 20% you get for Healthy,
and it's added on _after_ Concentration bonuses, I'd give it a 
rating of 7 for pure spellcasters, 4 for everyone else. It's quite
good, but not quite good enough to be essential.
Note that in the latest version of ADOM (1.1.1), casting spells
from HP is not as good an idea as it use to be, since doing so
abuses the Mana attribute. This makes mana regeneration more 
useful than it used to be.

   DURABLE MAGIC -- all spell durations are increased by the PCs
      current level times 3.
   Prerequisites: Willpower 16+, Strong Aura.

Rating: 3 (4 for pure spellcasters)

Spells this applies to (presumably) are Bless, Slow Monster, 
Invisibility, Strength of Atlas, Farsight, and possibly Scare Monster.
That's not a lot, and most of these spells can simply be recast when
needed, making this a not-very-useful talent.

   EXTENDED MAGIC -- all spell ranges are increased by 2.
   Prerequisites: Mana 24+, Mighty Aura.

Rating: 3 (4 for pure spellcasters)

For bolt spells, a range increase of 2 also means a damage 
increase of 2, IIRC. For this reason and Death Ray, this could have
been a marginally useful talent. Unfortunately, for most spellcasters,
it's tough to get it in the early game, when bolt spells (and this 
talent) would be the most useful.
Note that this talent does _not_ increase the area of effect of ball
spells.

   STRONG HEALER -- +4 to all damage healed by spells.
   Prerequisites: Potent Aura, Willpower 15+.

Rating: 4-6 (7 for pure spellcasters)

This can be a good talent, and not just for pure spellcasters. Its
usefulness wanes in the late game, but early on, it boosts healing
spells by quite a bit. Most characters don't have to heal themselves
very often, but when they do, it's sometimes imperative that they
heal as fast as possible, which is why this talent is a potential
life-saver.

   GOOD BOOK LEARNER -- PC is 10% more effective when learning 
      spells from spell books.
   Prerequisites: Potent Aura, Good Learner.

   GREAT BOOK LEARNER -- PC is 10% more effective when learning 
      spells from spell books.
   Prerequisites: Good Book Learner, Strong Aura, Great Learner.

Rating: 4

These are just not very good. Together, they give 21%. If they gave
more than that, they could be useful for borderline-spellcasters, 
like paladins. 21% is just not a significant enough boost, though.

   GOOD BOOK CASTER -- Casting spells from books costs only double
      power points.
   Prerequisites: Careful, Strong Aura, Dexterity 14+.

   GREAT BOOK CASTER -- Casting spells from books costs only 50% more
      power points.
   Prerequisites: Good Book Caster, Mighty Aura, Dexterity 18+,
      Perception 15+.

Rating: 7-8 (5 for pure spellcasters)

These can be excellent talents, primarily _not_ for pure spellcasters
(who tend to get enough castings from books anyway, thank you very
much, and have enough mana to cast from books when they need to), but
for characters learning spells at low effectivity through various 
means, then casting the spells via books. Unfortunately, most of these
characters tend to wince at the 2-3 Aura talent prerequisites. Still,
these can definitely be worth considering.

   --- MISCELLANEOUS TALENTS ---
 
   GOOD LEARNER -- Learns very fast. +2% to all experience gained.
   Prerequisites: Learning 10+.
  
   GREAT LEARNER -- Learns extremely fast. +3% to all experience
      gained.
   Prerequisites: Learning 16+.
  
   Rating: 4 (5 for trolls)

Not quite good enough for serious consideration. +5% XP is never
enough for a single level, and spending two talents - 6 levels' 
worth! on this small amount of extra XP seems like a waste.
Charactes with very important class abilities, like Mindcrafters,
could find even this little bit of extra XP useful, but +5% is
just pitifully little.

   PORTER -- Carrying capacity is increased by 10% due to the PCs
      efficient packaging skills.
   Prerequisites: Strength 8+, Dexterity 10+.

   MASTER PACKAGER -- Carrying capacity is increased by 20% due to 
      the PCs efficient packaging skills.
   Prerequisites: Porter, Learning 12+, Perception 12+.

   BEAST OF BURDEN -- Carrying capacity is increased by 30% due to the
      PCs efficient packaging skills and great endurance. 
      Prerequisites: Master Packager, Willpower 12+, Toughness 12+.

Rating: 6 (8 for Monks)

These three talents together give a 71.6% bonus to carrying capacity.
This can be useful for most characters, and is especially critical 
for Monks, who can rarely afford even Burdened status.
If you want them, you should probably buy all three.

   LONG STRIDE -- Movement costs but 950 energy points.

Rating: 7

Faster movement is always good, and this is somewhat cumulative with
other bonuses. Also, unlike speed bonuses, it doesn't affect the XP
you get. Can be invaluable in the early game for outrunning cats (or
any other monster).

   QUICK -- +2 to Speed.

   VERY QUICK -- +3 to Speed.
   Prerequisites: Quick.

   GREASED LIGHTNING -- +4 to Speed.
   Prerequisites: Very Quick, Dexterity 15+.

Rating: 8

Speed is hard to come by, and a hefty +9 is probably worth the three
talents it costs. It does come with an XP hit, but not much.
Quick is also the prerequisite for Defensive Fighter and Quick Shot,
two great talents.

   HEALTHY -- Heals wounds 20% faster.

Rating: 6 (4 for spellcasters)

Anyone with easy access to healing spells will probably not need this
talent. If you're not a spellcaster, though, an extra 20% of natural 
healing can be handy in the early game, especially when you start
without the Healing skill. Later on, it's not that important, so buy
this talent early or not at all.

   SIXTH SENSE -- More easily evades traps.
   Prerequisites: Perception 18+.

Rating: ?

Unfortunately, does not say how _much_ more easily. This can 
potentially be very useful; traps can be a very nasty and unavoidable 
source of equipment destruction, and can even be a serious danger in
the early game.

   MECHANICALLY INCLINED -- All Disarm Traps checks are 10% easier.

Rating: 1

Absolutely useless. Disarm Traps is a low-priority skill in any case,
and 10% is nothing.

   MISER -- Tends to find more gold because he looks more intensely
      for it.

Rating: 4 
Prerequisite for: Treasure Hunter(9)

If you don't want to get Treasure Hunter, it's probably not a good 
idea to take Miser; gold is just not that difficult to come by in 
ADOM, and the easiest ways to get gold are unaffected by Miser.

   TREASURE HUNTER -- More monsters drop items when killed.
   Prerequisites: Alert, Miser

Rating: 9

Considered by many to be the best talent overall. Adds a chance for 
more monsters to drop items when killed. The quality of items is 
unaffected. Well worth the two prerequisites, in my opinion.
[The value of this Talent vs its cost is hotly debated. Many players think that sacrificing two talents that might save the PC's life in the early game is not worth the increase in item generation. - AW]

   SILVER TONGUE -- Shop prices are reduced by 10%.
   Prerequisites: Charisma 10+.

   NATURAL TRADER -- Shop prices are reduced by 20%.
   Prerequisites: Silver Tongue, Charisma 14+.

Rating: 3

Again, money is not much of an issue in ADOM, and a 32% drop in 
prices is just not that impressive.

   PIOUS -- Prayers are 5% less expensive.
   Prerequisites: Willpower 15+.

   VERY PIOUS -- Prayers are 5% less expensive.
   Prerequisites: Pious, Willpower 20+.

   SAINT -- Prayers are 5% less expensive.
   Prerequisites: Strong of Will, Very Pious, Willpower 30+.

Rating: 2

These three are ridiculously weak. Prayers being 16% cheaper is a 
very slight effect, and would probably not be very worthwhile even
as a single talent. As the sum of three talents, it's pathetic.
With all three talents, 6 prayers will still cost a bit more piety
than 5 prayers would for a person without these talents. Not 
exactly exciting news.

   SCOUT -- More likely to evade wilderness encounters. Less likely to
      be ambushed.
   Prerequisites: Dexterity 10+, Perception 13+.

Rating: 5 (3 for spellcasters)

Can be somewhat useful in the very early game. Until and unless the
uber-jackal effect is fixed, this can retain its usefulness for non-
spellcasters. Still not a worthwhile pick, though; any character past
level 20 ought to have a solution to wilderness ambushes.

   STEALTHY - All Stealth checks are 10% easier.

Rating: 3

This might be interesting if it gave 30% or more. Even then, you'd 
have to play a "stealthy" character to make use of the bonus, which 
would be fun, but not really powerful. As is, the effect of this
talent is negligible.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
                          *** SUMMARY ***
Here's a list of useful or potentially useful talents. Basically,
anything that got a rating of 6 or above. Entries in brackets are
only worthwhile as prerequisites.

Note that not all prerequisite relationships are shown, due to 
limitations of ASCII and because many relationships are cross-
boundary; for example, a Defensive Talent might be a prerequisite
for a Melee Talent.

STARTING TALENTS
  Strong
  (Strong of Will)

  (Charming) -> (Boon to the Family) -> Heir

  (Alert) -> 3 Missile Affinities -> Missile Weapon Master
          -> (Miser)              -> Treasure Hunter

MELEE TALENTS
  Brawler
  Ambidextrous

  Affinity (any) -> Melee Weapons Master

  (Aggressive) -> Natural Berserker

  (Basher) -> Powerful Strike -> Mighty Strike

MISSILE AND THROWN WEAPON TALENTS
  Strong Thrower

  Quick Shot -> Lightning Shot

  (Good Shot)     -> Eagle-Eyed
                  -> Keen Shot  -|        
  Affinity (any)  ->             |-> Missile Weapon Master

DEFENSIVE TALENTS
  (Shield Specialist) -> (Shield Expert) -> Shield Master

  (Careful) -> Very Careful
            -> Defensive Fighter -> Dodger

  (Hardy) -> Very Hardy   -> Extremely Hardy
          -> (Tough Skin)
                -> (Iron Skin) 
                       -> Steel Skin -> Mithril Skin

MAGICAL TALENTS
  (Potent Aura) -> Strong Healer
                -> Strong Magic
                -> Charged
                -> (Strong Aura) -> (Mighty Aura)   
                                 -> Good Book Caster
                                        -> Great Book
                                             Caster

MISCELLANEOUS TALENTS
  Long Stride
  Sixth Sense
  Healthy

  Quick -> Very Quick -> Greased Lightning

  (Porter) -> Master Packager -> Beast of Burden

============================================================

0.14.17 The final score

The algorithm presented here is revised to reflect experiments conducted in April, 2008:

score = sum of all skill scores / 20 +
        spell memory [the first number] for each known spell / 5 + 50 +
        MIN(piety - 200, 10000000) +
        (level - 1) × 50 +
        experience / ~3.5 +
        (sum of the danger ratings [1-50] of explored levels) × 30 +
        (# identified items × 100) +
        various amounts for having intrinsics (between 200 and 10000 each) +
        ~2000 (retrieving the cute puppy) +
        20000 (making Blup happy) +
        (sum of attribute modifications × 200) +
        (# of successful dwarven quests × 5000) +
        5000 (if member of thieves guild) +
        5000 (if head of thieves guild) +
        1000 (adhering to the principles of the Cat Lord)
        250000 (saving Khelavaster) +
        2000000 (being a paragon of order) +
        MAX(0, 300 - max. hitpoints) × 1000 (only if the game was completed) +
        20000 (no divine interventions and game complete) +
        20000 (champion) +
        -10000 (fallen champion) +
        -(chaos score × 20) (typical about 1000 points score per corruption)

This score is doubled if you managed to solve the major goal of the
game.

If you managed to solve the game and leave the Drakalor Chain the
following is added to that score:

        MAX(0, 80000 - moves) × 1000

Then the score is once more doubled.

Updated April 1st, 2010