                       DUNGEON CRAWL Stone Soup
                            - the manual -

Contents
--------
A.      Overview
B.      Starting screen
C.      Attributes and stats
D.      Exploring the dungeon
E.      Experience and skills
F.      Monsters
G.      Items
H.      Spellcasting
I.      Targeting
J.      Religion
K.      Mutations
L.      Licence, contact, history
M.      Macros, options, performance
N.      Philosophy (pas de faq)

Appendices
1.      List of character species
2.      List of character backgrounds
3.      List of skills
4.      List of keys and commands
5.      Inscriptions
6.      Dungeon sprint modes


------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.                                OVERVIEW
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crawl is a fun game in the grand tradition of similar games like Rogue,
Hack and Moria. The objective is to travel deep into a subterranean cave
complex and retrieve the Orb of Zot, guarded by many horrible and hideous
creatures.

If you have never played Crawl (or a similar game) before, select the
tutorial from the starting menu. The tutorial explains the interface in
five easy lessons. Once you're familiar with the controls, you may want to
play a few games using hints mode.

Detailed instructions for playing Crawl follow. To simplify this manual, we
assume you're using the standard distribution and you've not changed the
default options. If you don't want to read the whole manual and prefer a
short summary of the important points, review the quick-start guide file
(quickstart.txt) and learn as you play.

You can also read these documents while playing Crawl by hitting '?' at the
help menu. A list of frequently asked questions about gameplay and design
can be accessed by pressing '?Q' in the game.

While Crawl is strictly a single player game, you can interact with others
over a server. Connecting to a server opens several interesting options.

You can:

- watch other players and even communicate with them
- view your past games or those of others
- battle ghosts of other players
- compete using a common score list
- take part in the semiannual tournament
- play the most recent development version

See the Crawl website to find an online server, links to download the game
for offline play, and other community resources:

  http://crawl.develz.org/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
B.                             STARTING SCREEN
------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the Crawl start screen, you will be presented with various game modes, a
list of saved games (if any), and will be prompted to type a name for your
character. You can navigate the game modes and saved games with the cursor
'up' and 'down' arrow keys.

Game modes are:

Dungeon Crawl
  Start a standard game of Crawl.

Choose game seed
  Start a standard game of Crawl with a custom seed (see "Seeded play"
  below).

Tutorial for Dungeon Crawl
  Start one of several specialised tutorials to learn how to play.

Hints Mode for Dungeon Crawl
  Start a standard game of Crawl, modified to provide help as you play.

Dungeon Sprint
  Start one of several single-map challenge mode games of Crawl.

Instructions
  View the instructional help text you are currently reading.

The Arena
  Initiate an automated fight mode between two specified combatant groups.

High Scores
  View scores for prior games played, sorted by decreasing score.

Pressing 'enter' immediately after typing your name will select standard
Dungeon Crawl mode, and you will be prompted to select a species and
background. Names are unique; entering a name from the saved game list will
continue that saved game. If you select a game mode instead of entering a
name, you will eventually be prompted to enter a name.

You can choose species and background in either order or randomise any
combination if you would rather have the game decide for you. If both are
random, you will be prompted to confirm the chosen combination before the
game starts.

The choice of species affects several important characteristics, in
particular the speed at which you learn different skills. This is very
important, and helps to clearly differentiate the many available species.
The following factors are species-dependent:

Major:

- The amount of health you get each level
- Your rate of skill advancement
- Your initial primary attributes (this also depends on background)
- Various special abilities, powers and limitations

Minor:

- Your rate of level advancement
- Occasional bonus points added to some primary attributes
- The amount of magic points you get each level
- Your innate willpower, your resistance to subtle magic
- Your initial equipment (this also depends on background)

Note:  Humans are the average to which all other species are compared.

The choice of character background is definitely less decisive than that of
species in Crawl. Basically, the background determines what the character
has learned prior to entering the dungeon (i.e. the starting skills), and
also helps determine equipment at start.

You will notice that a different set of backgrounds will be recommended
(white) for each species. Although you are free to pick any background with
almost any species (the only restrictions are religious backgrounds where
some species are not permitted to worship certain gods, or backgrounds
where the starting equipment is completely unusable by a given species),
looking at the recommended combinations should give you a rough impression
of the weaknesses, strengths, and roleplaying flavour of the different
species.

For some backgrounds, you must pick a starting weapon before starting the
game.

When you start a new character (or load an old one) and want to get a rough
impression, you may read the full character dump with ?# or examine it with
the following commands:

A
  shows any peculiarities like unusual speed or body parts

m
  shows your skills and lets you disable (or focus) training as desired

i
  lists equipment and items

^
  displays information on your god, should you have started with a religion

%
  gives a general, if terse, overview of your gear and most attributes

Ctrl-O
  gives an overview of the parts of the dungeon you have discovered so far

------------------------------------------------------------------------
C.                          ATTRIBUTES AND STATS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The stat area to the right of the playing map shows a lot of information.
It starts with the character's name and title (determined by the
character's highest skill), followed by a line listing the species. If the
character worships a god, the name of the deity is also listed in the
second line, together with an indicator of piety. Below these two lines
follow a lot of numbers. These describe different aspects of the character.

Health
  A measure of life force. Synonymous with hit points and sometimes
  abbreviated as HP. You die if your health drops to zero or less (although
  you can die in other ways, too). The main screen shows both your current
  and maximum health. Usually, you regain health slowly over time. Pressing
  '5' or Shift-Num-5 lets you wait for a longer period.

Magic
  A measure of magic or other intrinsic power. This is used primarily for
  spellcasting, but is sometimes also used for the evoking and invoking of
  many other special abilities. They are displayed in the same way as
  health; nothing bad happens if these drop to zero, except, of course,
  that you can't cast any spells. Resting also restores your reserves of
  magic.

Next come your defences. For all of them, more is better.

Armour Class
  Abbreviated to "AC". Your AC reduces the amount of damage you suffer from
  most attacks (with a few rare exceptions), and provides some guaranteed
  minimum protection against damage from melee attacks.

Evasion
  Abbreviated to "EV". This helps you avoid being hit by unpleasant things
  (but will not reduce the amount of damage you suffer if you do get hit).

Shield
  Abbreviated to "SH". This number is a measure of how good your shield (if
  any) is at blocking attacks.

Your character's primary attributes are Strength, Intelligence and
Dexterity:

Strength
  Abbreviated to "Str". Increases your damage with melee weapons (except
  for long and short blades), with unarmed combat, and with throwing
  weapons. Reduces penalties from wearing shields or heavy armour.

Intelligence
  Abbreviated to "Int". Affects your odds of successfully casting spells
  and how powerful those spells are.

Dexterity
  Abbreviated to "Dex". Increases your accuracy with melee and ranged
  weapons, and your damage with ranged weapons and long and short blades.
  Significantly affects your ability to dodge attacks aimed at you, your
  effectiveness with shields, your stealth, and your effectiveness when
  stabbing unaware enemies.

These primary attributes grow permanently from gaining levels, and may
increase or decrease temporarily from mutations or while using certain
artefacts or abilities. Upon gaining levels 3, 9, 15, etc., you may choose
an attribute to raise by two points. Most species gain additional
attributes at some levels, with the frequency and the attribute to be
increased determined by species.

If any attribute drops to zero for some reason, you will experience very
unpleasant side-effects, being slowed and suffering some stat-specific
negative effects. These effects will persist for a short while even after
the attribute is restored.

Finally some additional information about your character and your progress
through the dungeon is displayed.

Experience Level
  Abbreviated to "XL". Starting characters have experience level 1; the
  highest possible level is 27. Gaining a level nets additional health and
  magic points, and will grant spell slots and sometimes primary
  attributes.

Place
  This shows the branch you are currently in, as well as the level within
  the branch. The starting branch is called Dungeon, so that the place
  information will read "Dungeon:1" for a new character.

Noise
  This is a coloured bar indicating the loudness of noise that you heard on
  your last turn. The colour provides a rough guide to how far away the
  noise it indicates might be audible. If the bar is gray, the sound is
  less likely to be audible outside of your line of sight (at least in an
  open area); if it is yellow, the sound is likely to be audible outside of
  your line of sight; and if it is red, the sound will be audible at a
  substantial distance. If the bar turns magenta, you have made one of the
  loudest noises in the dungeon. N.b.: terrain can reduce or block the
  spread of noise.

Time
  This indicates the amount of time that has passed since entering the
  dungeon, and also displays in brackets the amount of time that your
  previous action took. Most actions take 1.0 units of time, but certain
  actions are particularly slow or quick (such as changing armour and
  swapping weapons respectively), and other actions can vary in time taken
  depending on your status (such as attacking with different weapons and at
  different skill levels).

There are some additional stats that aren't as important on a turn to turn
basis and thus aren't listed in the main stats area. They can easily be
checked with the '@' or '%' commands, though.

Willpower
  Affects your ability to resist the effects of enchantments and similar
  magic directed at you. Has no effect on direct damage dealt by magic,
  just on more subtle effects. Although your willpower increases with your
  level to an extent determined by your character's species, the creatures
  you will meet deeper in the dungeon are better at casting spells, and are
  more likely to be able to affect you. You can get a rough idea of your
  current Will by pressing '%'.

Size
  Different species have different sizes: Spriggans and Felids are very
  small; Kobolds are small; Oni and Trolls are large; Nagas and Armataurs
  are large with a medium torso; all other species are medium-sized. Many
  talismans will change your size. Size affects your evasion: the smaller
  your character, the more evasive it is. On the other hand, characters of
  larger than medium size do not suffer the usual attack penalties when
  standing in shallow water. Characters of smaller than medium size will
  have problems with some larger weapons. Very small characters and large
  characters are not able to use most types of armour. Players and monsters
  can only constrict foes of the same size or smaller. In the dungeon you
  can also meet tiny and giant foes.

Stealth
  High stealth allows your character to move through the dungeon
  undetected. It is affected by your species, dexterity, Stealth skill, and
  the encumbrance of your body armour. Your current Stealth level can also
  been seen by pressing '@' or '%'.

There are many ailments or enchantments that can temporarily befall you.
These are noted in the stats area below the experience line. Many of them
are self-explanatory, like Pois or Slow. Many others, however, can be
subtle, and their effects can be examined by pressing '?/T' and searching
for the name of status effect.

Monsters within your field of vision are listed on a special panel, the
monster list. Single monsters also get indicators of their health status in
the form of a coloured box, and also on effects they enjoy or suffer from.
If there are many monsters in view, the extended monster list can be
displayed with 'Ctrl-X'. Within target mode you can directly target single
monsters by use of the monster list by using 'Ctrl-X'.

Sometimes characters will be able to use special abilities, e.g. the Naga's
ability to spit poison or the magical power to turn invisible granted by a
scarf of invisibility. These are accessed through the 'a' command.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.                          EXPLORING THE DUNGEON
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Movement
========================================

You can make your character walk around with the numeric keypad (try both
NumLock on and off) or the "Rogue" keys (hjklyubn). If this is too slow,
you can make your character walk repeatedly by pressing Shift and a
direction; alternatively, press '/' followed by a direction. You will walk
in that direction until any of a number of things happen: a hostile monster
is visible on the screen, a message is sent to the message window for any
reason, you press a key, or you are about to step on anything other than
normal floor and it is not your first move of the long walk. Note that this
is functionally equivalent to just pressing the direction key several
times.

Another convenient method for moving long distances is described in the
section on Automated Travel and Exploration below.

Combat
========================================

The dungeon is a hostile place, and you will likely need to defend
yourself. The basic case of combat involves melee attacks: if you are
adjacent to a monster, moving towards that monster will cause you to attack
it with a wielded melee weapon, or your fists. There are also a wide
variety of ways to attack monsters that are further away, including
polearms (which can reach a tile away), various bows, launchers, and
throwable items, magical items that can be evoked such as wands, spells,
and abilities. These are described throughout the rest of this document.
These are triggered in a variety of ways, but one commonality is that all
of these can be quivered: the quiver provides quick access to an action
that can be fired.

Both melee and ranged combat provide shortcuts that autotarget the nearest
enemy, if there is one available. Your wielded weapon can be triggered by
Tab ("Autofight"), moving towards or attacking the nearest enemy depending
on whether there is one in range for the weapon. Your quivered action can
be triggered by Shift-Tab or 'p' ("Autofire"); if the action takes a target
the nearest enemy will be selected, otherwise the action will be triggered.
See "Attacking and firing" for the full key list related to attacking,
quivers, and firing.

Resting
========================================

If you press '5', you will rest until your health or magic return to full.
You can rest for just one turn by pressing '.' or 's'.

Resting stops if a monster appears or if you are otherwise interrupted.

Examining your surroundings
========================================

The section of the viewing window which is coloured (with the "@"
representing you at the centre) is what you can see around you. The dark
grey around it is the parts of the level which you have visited, but cannot
currently see. The 'x' command lets you move the cursor around to get a
description of the various dungeon features, and typing 'v' when the cursor
is over a monster or feature brings up a short description of that monster,
as well as a short list of its various strengths, weaknesses, immunities,
and any spells or abilities it has. This is generally useful with monsters
you've never encountered before. You can also select monsters and features
from a list by pressing 'Ctrl-X'. You can get a map of the whole level
(which shows where you've already been) by typing 'X'.

You can see the full set of commands available while looking around by
pressing '?', both in the 'x' and 'X' modes.

Staircases and Portals
========================================

You can make your way between levels by using staircases, which appear as
">" (down) and "<" (up), by pressing the '>' or '<' keys. It is important
to know that most monsters adjacent to you will follow when you change
levels; this holds both for hostile and allied monsters. Notable exceptions
are zombies and other mindless undead, who are too stupid to properly
operate stairs.

When taking stairs, you are guaranteed a chance to act before any monsters
on the other side that you have not previously encountered.

If you ascend an up staircase on level one, you will leave the dungeon
forever; if you are carrying the magical Orb of Zot, you win the game by
doing this. Otherwise, the game ends, and you lose.

Besides the dungeon you start in, Crawl's dungeon has many branches. All of
them are themed and host opponents of some special sort. It is not
mandatory to visit any particular branch, but you must explore some of
them: progress to the Realms of Zot (where the Orb is located) is only
possible for adventurers who have at least three magical runes of Zot. The
bottoms of several branches contain such runes.

Occasionally you will find an archway (displayed as "\" or as an actual
arch); these lead to special places like shops, themed one-off portals, or
special branches such as Hell and Pandemonium. You can enter these by
typing '<' or '>'. A few portals only accept one of '<' and '>'.

Doors and Traps
========================================

Doors can usually be opened by just walking into them (there is an option
to disable this); else this can also be done using the 'O' command. They
can be closed with the 'C' command. Pressing Ctrl plus a direction, or '*'
followed by a direction, will open/close doors, too.

If there is no door in the indicated space, both Ctrl-direction and
'*'-direction will attempt to attack any monster which may be standing
there (this is the only way to attack a friendly creature with melee
combat). If there is apparently nothing there, you will still attack it,
just in case there's something invisible lurking around.

The malevolent forces of Zot will attempt to thwart your progress through
the dungeon, and will occasionally manifest traps to force you into
dangerous situations. Some traps are visible in advance and can be
triggered by monsters to unleash their effects on you.

Shops
========================================

When you visit a shop (by using < or > while standing on one), you are
shown what the shopkeeper has in stock and can choose what to buy.
Unfortunately, the shopkeepers all have an exclusive deal with the Guild of
Dungeon Procurers which prevents them using non-guild labour to obtain
stock, so you can't sell anything in a shop. (But then, what shopkeeper
would buy stolen goods from a disreputable adventurer, anyway?)

To purchase one or more items, select them by pressing the letters of the
item in the shop menu and then press Enter to make the purchase; you can
examine items before buying them by pressing '!' and then the letter of the
item.

If you've lost track of the shops in the dungeon, you can get a list of all
the shops you've found in the dungeon overview (use 'Ctrl-O').

You can also use the stash search: Hitting 'Ctrl-F' and searching for
"shop" will list all stores. The stash-search menu allows you travel
quickly to a particular shop; if you just want to know what's in the shop,
you can also examine the shop's inventory from the search menu without
having to travel all the way to the shop.

Some shops are antique stores that sell items of unknown provenance,
usually at a good discount. The dungeon overview screen displays these with
yellow glyphs.

If you're short on gold for some particularly interesting commodity, you
can place it onto your shopping list. The game will interrupt you when you
have collected enough gold to finally purchase an item on that list. You
can read the shopping list in the game with '$'.

Automated Travel and Exploration
========================================

Crawl has an extensive automated travel system: pressing 'G' (or also
'Ctrl-G') lets you choose any dungeon level; the game will then take the
shortest path to reach this destination. You can also use autotravel on the
level map ('X'): Move the cursor to the place where you want to go and hit
Enter. There are several shortcuts when choosing destinations: For example,
try '<' and '>' to quickly reach the staircases.

When your autotravel gets interrupted, Crawl will remember the previous
destination. Hitting 'G' or 'Ctrl-G' again and following with Enter puts
the cursor on that square. See Appendix 4. "List of Keys and Commands" for
all commands and shortcuts in level-map mode, or press 'G?' or 'X?' within
the game.

Another use of autotravel is exploration: 'o' makes your character move to
the nearest unexplored area. Note that this algorithm does not attempt any
optimisation by default. By manual exploration you can save turns, but
auto-explore will usually save real time.

Stashes and Searching
========================================

Since you can only carry 52 items, you will occasionally want to stash
things away (by dropping them with the 'd' command). When you want to
search for something in your stashes, you can do this with the Find command
'Ctrl-F'. The parser even accepts regular expressions, although you will
mostly just need strings like 'mutation', 'heal wounds', etc. You will be
presented with a list of all places where objects matching the search are
(or have been) located; you can then travel there or examine the pile. The
Find command will also search in shop inventories. Furthermore, you can
search skills like 'long blades' (this will find all weapons training the
long blades skill) or general terms like 'shop', 'altar', 'portal',
'artefact', etc. You can get help on finding by pressing '?' at the prompt.

The Goal
========================================

Your goal is to locate the Orb of Zot, which is held somewhere deep beneath
the world's surface. The Orb is an ancient and incredibly powerful
artefact, and the legends promise great things for anyone brave enough to
extract it from the fearsome Dungeon. Some say it will grant immortality or
even godhood to the one who carries it into the sunlight; many undead
creatures seek it in the hope that it will restore them to life. But then,
some people will believe anything. Good luck!

Zot
========================================

No one knows who or what Zot is: demon, god, wizard, something else
entirely? But adventurers seeking the Orb will, in turn, be hunted by Zot.
Even a moment's contact with Zot is enough to permanently damage one's
health.

Zot is very slow moving, and can only sense adventurers once they've spent
an inordinately long time in one area of the dungeon. Even once this
happens, adventurers will have plenty of warning to either descend to new
depths in the area (diffusing Zot's attention once more) or to leave the
area entirely.

The Abyss is beyond Zot's comprehension, and adventurers there are safe
from it (albeit subject to many other hazards). The Hells, along with their
Vestibule, are a single area as far as Zot is concerned. Rumours claim
there are ways to escape Zot's pursuit forever, but what magics could be
mighty enough to forestall such an implacable entity?

Seeded play
========================================

Crawl dungeons are determined by a "seed" number used to initialise the
game's random number generator. You may either let the game choose a seed
randomly, or specify a seed; if you choose a seed this puts the game in
"Seeded" mode, which is scored separately. Playing games with the same seed
value, as long as the game version is constant, should (within certain
parameters) lead to the same dungeon. The entire connected dungeon will be
determined by the game seed, including dungeon layout, monster placement,
and items. Portal vaults and chaotic zones such as the Abyss are not
guaranteed to be the same, and the placement of rare unique artefacts may
vary depending on certain player actions.

To set a game seed, use the "Choose game seed" option from the main menu;
you can also use the 'game_seed' rc file option, or the '-seed' command
line option. In offline games you can view your game's seed with '?V' as
well as in a character file; in online games a randomly chosen seed will
only be shown to you after finishing the game.

If you find that the same seed generates distinct parts of a dungeon on the
same or different devices, please report it as a bug. However, keep in mind
that upgrading your save game between multiple versions of crawl will
naturally lead to seed divergence. When playing offline, if you would like
to ensure that your game can be upgraded without divergence, you can set
'pregen_dungeon = full' in your options file. (This will also ensure
completely stable unique artefact placement.) On the other hand, to
completely disable incremental pregeneration, you can set 'pregen_dungeon =
false'.

Further Help
========================================

To access Crawl's help menu, press '?'. To get the list of all commands,
press '?' again. A different, more verbose description of the commands also
appears in Appendix 4. "List of Keys and Commands" of this text. Various
other help texts are available as well, including this manual. You can also
read the logbook from there by pressing ':'. Note that several commands
have their own help screens, among them are targeting ('f'), level map
('X'), travel ('G' or 'Ctrl-G') and searching ('Ctrl-F'); again, press '?'
when asked for input.

If you don't like the standard keyset (either because some keys do not work
properly, or because you want to decrease the amount of typing necessary),
you can use keymaps and macros. See macros_guide.txt in the docs/
directory, or read it from the in-game help menu.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
E.                          EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you kill monsters, you gain experience points (XP). When you get
enough XP, you gain an experience level, making your character more
powerful. As they gain levels, characters gain more health, magic, and
spell levels.

Additionally, the experience you gain is used to train your skills. These
skills represent proficiency with all areas of endeavour an ambitious
adventurer might need in the dungeons. They range from different weapon
skills (both for close and ranged combat) to many magical skills and
several additional activities like Dodging or Stealth. See Appendix 3.
"List of Skills" for a detailed description of all skills present in Crawl.
The ease with which a character learns a skill depends solely on species.
These aptitudes are displayed when viewing your skills, and a full table
can be viewed in aptitudes.txt (also from the help screen during play via
'?%').

You can see your character's skills by pressing the 'm' key; the higher the
level of a skill, the better you are at it. All characters start with a few
skills already trained (determined by their background), those which are
not present have to be learned from scratch. Each skill can go up to 27.

The skill screen allows you to change which skills are exercised and at
what speed. Note to new players: it is generally not necessary to finetune
the skill selection.

If you want to modify skill selection, here is how:

There are two ways to assigning skills to practise: one is an automatic
mode, which puts experience points into the skills you have used recently.
The other one is a manual mode, where you specifically select the skills to
train. You can switch between the modes by pressing '/' in the character
skill screen ('m'); also be sure to read that screen's help text should you
want to tweak your skillset.

You can elect to either not practise a particular skill or to focus on it
by selecting it once or twice in the skill screen.

Dark grey skills will not be trained, so that the skill will remain static
and no experience points will be used to increase it. As a consequence,
more experience will be spent on your other skills (and thus they will
increase more quickly). Note that you cannot deselect all skills; at least
one skill must be actively exercised.

Highlighted skills are focused on and will use a higher proportion of
available experience. You can highlight as many skills as you like, though
obviously if all skills being trained are highlighted there will be no net
effect.

Occasionally you may find a manual of a skill which allows you to make
quick progress in this area. When you pick it up, experience used to
practise the given skill will have twice the usual effect for a while.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
F.                                MONSTERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the caverns of Crawl, you will find a great variety of creatures, most
of which are displayed by capital or small letters of the alphabet. Many of
them would very much like to eat you. To stop them from doing this, you
will generally need to fight them. To attack a monster, stand next to it
and move in its direction; this makes you attack it with your wielded
weapon. Of course, some monsters are just too nasty to beat, and you will
find that discretion is often the better part of valour. Sneaky characters
are known to choose encounters to their liking.

There are several other ways to kill monsters. When using a bow or other
ranged weapon, the 'v' command will fire. See the section on Targeting in
the Items Chapter for more on this. Likewise, many magicians will prefer to
use spells from a safe distance. They can use the 'z' command to cast
spells previously 'M'emorised. Again, see the Targeting section.

Some monsters can be friendly; friendly monsters will follow you around and
fight on your behalf. You can command your allies using the 't' key, which
lets you tell them who to attack, or else tell them to stay where they are,
retreat, or to follow you again. You can also shout to get the attention of
all monsters in range if, for some reason, you want to do that.

Some special monsters are Uniques. You can identify a unique because he,
she or they have a name and personality. Many of these come up with very
nasty ideas how to rid the dungeon of you. Treat them very carefully,
particularly if you meet one of them for the first time.

Other, even rarer, obstacles are statues. A variety of statues can appear,
ranging from harmless granite ones (who still often signify something of
interest) to really dreadful ones. Be alert whenever seeing such a statue.

When playing Crawl, you will undoubtedly want to develop a feeling for the
different monster types. For example, some monsters move unpredictably
while most attack head-on. Likewise, ranged or magic attackers will prove a
different kind of threat from melee fighters. Learn from past deaths and
remember which monsters pose the most problems. If particular monsters are
giving you trouble, try to alter your tactics for future encounters.

You can obtain information about a monster by using the 'x' (examine)
command, moving the cursor over the monster in question, and pressing 'v'
to view the monster's details; or by searching for a monster by name or
symbol with '?/m'. The details screen shows:

- The monster's name and description.

- Bars or numbers indicating its:

  * Max HP: hit points; how much damage it can take

  * AC: armour class; how well it ignores most damage

  * EV: evasion; how well it avoids being hit (and your odds of hitting it
    with your current melee attack)

  * Will: willpower; its resistance to most Hexes and similar effects.

- Its difficulty level, speed (if different from average speed), size,
  resistances, and special attacks.

- Its spells and special abilities. Monster spells and abilities are
  of four types:

  * Natural abilities are innate, non-magical effects.

  * Magical abilities are innate magical effects. They are affected
    by antimagic.

  * Divine abilities call upon the monster's god for a magical effect.
    They are prevented by silence, but not affected by antimagic.

  * Spells are cast using memorised magical words. They are both
    prevented by silence and affected by antimagic.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
G.                                  ITEMS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the dungeons of Crawl there are many different kinds of normal and
magical items to be found and used. Some of them are useful, some are
nasty, and some give great power, but at a price. Some items are unique;
these have interesting properties which can make your life rather bizarre
for a while. They all fall into several classes of items, each of which is
used in a different way. Here is a general list of what you might find in
the course of your adventures, how they are displayed, and what commands
there are to use them:

=======  =============  ================================================
)        weapons        (use 'w'ield)
(        missiles       (use 'f'ire or 'F'ire, 'Q' to quiver)
[        armour         (use 'W'ear and 'T'ake off)
?        scrolls        (use 'r'ead)
!        potions        (use 'q'uaff)
/        wands          (use 'V' to evoke, 'Q' to quiver)
=        rings          (use 'P'ut on and 'R'emove)
"        amulets        (use 'P'ut on and 'R'emove)
|        staves         (use 'w'ield)
:        spellbooks     (use 'M'emorise and 'z'ap, 'Q' to quiver)
%        talismans      (use 'P'ut on and 'R'remove)
}        miscellaneous  (use 'V' to evoke, 'Q' to quiver)
$        gold           (use 'g' to pick up)
=======  =============  ================================================

There are several general keys for item management:

d
  drop item; if you want to drop only some items from a stack (of arrows,
  for example), then press 'd' followed by a number and then the item's
  slot key

g
  pick up item from the ground (also with the comma key ',')

=
  reassign item slot (works also for spell slots and abilities)

i
  show inventory - pressing the key of an item shows additional information

{
  inscribe item (see Appendix 5. "Inscriptions")

\
  check list of already discovered items

Item usage
========================================

You pick up items with the 'g'et or ',' (comma) command, and drop them with
the 'd'rop command. When you are given a prompt like "drop which item?", if
you type a number before the letter of the item, you will drop that
quantity of the item (similarly when picking up). The same works if you
want to pick up only part of a stack and there are several types of items
on the square (so that they are shown in a list). When there is only a
single stack of arrows and you want to pick up only some of them, use the
';' command. Note that picking up items from one square takes exactly one
turn. However, dropping several items at once takes more turns.

Typing 'i' displays your inventory (what you are carrying). When you are
given a prompt like "Throw [or Wield, Wear, etc] which item?", you usually
get a list of all available options. You can press '*' in case you want to
wield something unusual. When the inventory screen shows "-more-", to show
you that there is another page of items, you can type the letter of the
item you want, even if it is not visible, instead of pressing Space or
Enter to see the next page.

You can carry at most 52 items at once, and your item slot usage is printed
at the top of the inventory screen.

You can use the adjust command (the '=' key) to change the letters to which
your possessions are assigned. This command can be used to change spell or
ability letters, too.

Items like scrolls, potions, and some other types each have a
characteristic, like a label or a colour, which will let you tell them
apart on the basis of their function. However, these characteristics change
between each game, so while in one game every potion of curing may be
yellow, in another game they might all be purple and bubbly. Once you have
discovered the function of such an item, you will remember it for the rest
of the current game. You can access your item discoveries with the '\' key.

In order to get a description of what an item does, bring up the inventory
(with 'i') and press the letter of that item. Try this when comparing
different types of armours and weapons, but don't expect too much
information from examining unidentified items.

In most equipment-related prompts and menus, the ';' key is a shortcut for
"last unequipped item," meaning the armour, jewellery or weapon you most
recently took off or unwielded.

Another useful command is the '{' key, which lets you inscribe items with a
comment. You can also inscribe items when looking at your inventory with
'i', simply by pressing the letter of an item. For more details, and how to
automate this process, check Appendix 5. "Inscriptions".

) Weapons
========================================

These are rather important. You will find a variety of weapons in the
dungeon, ranging from small and quick daggers to huge, cumbersome
battleaxes and polearms. Each type of weapon does a different amount of
damage, has a different chance of hitting its target, and takes a different
amount of time to swing. There are several weapon skills (press 'm' to show
a list of those that you are training) like Short Blades, Long Blades,
Axes, etc. These skills affect damage, accuracy, and speed (up to a point).
The same goes for Unarmed Combat.

Weapons can be enchanted; when you first identify them, you reveal values
which tell you how much more effective they are than an unenchanted
version. Weapons which are not enchanted are simply '+0'. Some weapons also
have special magical effects which make them very effective against
vulnerable enemies.

You can wield weapons with the 'w' command, which is a very quick action.
If for some reason you want to go bare-handed, type 'w' followed by a
hyphen ('-').

The ' (apostrophe) key is a shortcut which automatically wields the item in
slot a. If item a is being wielded, ' causes you to wield item b instead,
if possible. Try assigning the letter a to your primary weapon, and b to
your bow or something else you need to wield only sometimes. Note that this
is just a typing shortcut and is not functionally different to wielding
these items normally.

( Missiles
========================================

If monsters are disobligingly distant, you can use missiles to weaken (or
kill!) them from afar. You'll find a variety of type, ranging from simple
stones and piercing javelins to sophisticated darts covered in many types
of poisons. Upon impact, missiles may become destroyed. The chance for this
to occur depends on the type of missile.

The 'F' and 'f' commands can be used to throw a missile. The default type
to be thrown (which 'f' will launch) is shown in the "quiver" display below
your weapon. Many other items, spells, and abilities can fill this quiver
as well.

See Appendix 5. "Inscriptions" for inscriptions which let you fine-tune the
list of items to choose from. See also the Missiles section of
options_guide.txt.

Use the '(', ')' to cycle through your quiver without firing, and 'Q' to
choose a quivered item from a list. If you would like to choose something
to fire without inserting it into the quiver, use 'F' instead.

The interface for shooting or throwing things is also used for evoking
wands and casting certain spells, and is described in detail in section I
(Targeting).

[ Armour
========================================

This is also rather important. Most worn armour improves your Armour Class,
which decreases the amount of damage you take from most types of injury.
The heavier an armour is, the more AC (armour class) it will provide, at
the expense of your EV (evasion) and stealth. Wearing heavy armour also
increases your chances of miscasting spells and slow your attacks with
missile weapons, effects which are only slightly reduced by your Armour
skill. These penalties are larger if you have low Strength.

A shield normally increases neither your AC nor your evasion, but it lets
you attempt to block melee attacks and some ranged attacks aimed at you.
Wearing a shield (especially larger shields) slows your attacks, hampers
your ability to cast spells, and lowers your evasion. Weaker characters are
more affected by these penalties, but all characters can reduce and
eventually eliminate these penalties by mastering the Shields skill. You
also obviously cannot wield a two-handed weapon while wearing a shield.
Shields are limited in how many attacks they can block each turn; larger
shields can block more.

Some magical armours have special powers. These powers are sometimes
automatic, affecting you whenever you wear the armour, and sometimes must
be activated with the 'a' command.

You can wear armour with the 'W' command, and take it off with the 'T'
command. With '[' you can have a quick look at your current gear.

Most armours can be improved by reading the appropriate scroll. Body armour
and bardings can be enchanted up to the base value of AC they provide.
Shields can be enchanted up to +3, +5, or +8, depending on their size.
Other gear is limited to +2.

? Magical Scrolls
========================================

Scrolls have many different magical spells inscribed on them, some good and
some bad. One of the most useful scrolls is the scroll of identify, which
will tell you the function of any item you have in your inventory; you
might want to save these up for items that are dangerous or wasteful to use
when unidentified, such as potions or other scrolls. You can read scrolls
(and by doing so invoke their magic) with the 'r' command.

! Magical Potions
========================================

While scrolls tend to affect your equipment or your environment, most
potions affect your character in some way. The most common type is the
simple curing potion, which restores some health and cures many ailments,
but there are many other varieties of potions to be found. Potions can be
quaffed (drunk) with the 'q' command.

/ Wands
========================================

Sometimes you will be lucky enough to find a stick which contains stored
magical energies. Wands each have a certain number of charges, which you
immediately recognise when you pick them up. When you pick up a wand of
type you already have in inventory, its charges are absorbed into the
existing one. When a wand's charges are fully depleted, it vanishes.

Wands are aimed in the same way as missile weapons, and you can release the
power of a wand by evoking it with 'V'. See section I for targeting.

Wands can be 'Q'uivered in order to shoot via the autofire or 'f'ire
interface, like spells and ammo.

=" Rings and Amulets
========================================

Magical rings are among the most useful of the items you will find in the
dungeon. While equipped, they provide some kind of passive benefit to the
wearer, such as increasing their attributes or providing various types of
protection. Use the 'P' command to put on rings, and 'R' to remove them.
You can wear up to two rings simultaneously, one on each hand; which hand
you put a ring on is immaterial to its function. If you try to put on a
ring while both ring fingers are full, you will be asked which one to
remove. Octopodes are an exception, and may wear up to eight rings on their
tentacles.

Amulets are similar to rings, but have different range of effects. Amulets
are worn around the neck, and you can wear only one at a time. It is very
quick to wear or remove a ring, but amulets' magics make them cumbersome to
put on or take off.

You can press '"' to quickly check what jewellery you're wearing.

| Staves
========================================

There are a number of types of magical staves, each attuned to a different
class of spells. While wielded they greatly increase the power of that
class of spells. They can even be used in melee combat, although with
mediocre effectiveness unless you can harness their special power, using a
combination of the Evocations skill and the skill specific to the staff's
type.

: Books
========================================

Most books contain magical spells which your character may be able to
learn. Upon picking up a book, all of the spells in it will be added to
your spell library, allowing you to access a description of each spell or
memorise spells from it with the 'M' command.

Occasionally you will find manuals of some skill. When you pick one up,
your experience will have twice the usual effect when used for training
that skill. Once a certain amount of bonus experience has been gained in
this way, you will automatically discard the finished manual.

% Talismans
========================================

Talismans allow their user to shift into a different form. Entering or
leaving a form with a talisman requires a brief period of concentration,
but otherwise, forms last until the user chooses to leave them.

Most talismans require some amount of Shapeshifting skill, without which a
user will find their maximum health reduced until they leave the form.
Shapeshifting skill also increases other benefits provided by talismans'
forms, though weaker talismans have a limit to how helpful skill can be.

{ Miscellaneous
========================================

These are items which don't fall into any other category. They can be
evoked with 'V', just like wands. Runes, a particular item in this
category, have no function whatsoever except to open the endgame. You must
collect at least three in order to enter the Realm of Zot. Some
particularly cocky adventurers brag about having retrieved ten or even
fifteen runes through their strength and cunning, but most scholars on the
subject of Zot agree that such a thing is probably impossible in the first
place, and secondly would be a meaningless achievement in any regard.

Miscellany can often be 'Q'uivered in order to shoot via the autofire or
'f'ire interface, like spells and ammo.

$ Gold and Gems
========================================

Gold can be used to buy items should you run across shops. There are also a
few more esoteric uses for gold.

Gems are extremely rare items found at the end of many dungeon branches.
They are completely useless within the dungeon, and only a particularly
cocky adventurer would set out to retrieve even one to the outside world.
Zot hoards these gems jealously, and will spitefully smash them soon after
an adventurer enters the branch of the dungeon in which they rest.

Still, a very quick-moving adventurer might seize a gem first and keep its
precious shards. Zot cannot track gems outside their home branches, so with
truly astonishing speed, it might even be possible to abscond with one
still intact... but such a feat is difficult to credit, and likely
pointless besides.

Once the Orb of Zot is taken, Zot will be unable to smash any gems.

Artefacts
========================================

Weapons, armour, jewellery and spellbooks can be artefacts. These come in
two flavours: randomly created artefacts ('randarts') and predefined ones
('unrandarts'). Randarts will always carry unusual names, such as "golden
double sword" or "shimmering scale mail". Artefacts cannot be modified in
any way, including enchantments.

Apart from that, otherwise mundane items can get one special property.
These are called 'ego items', and examples are: boots of flight, a weapon
of flaming, a helmet of see invisible, and so on. Note that, unlike
artefacts, such items can be modified by enchanting scrolls.

All ego items are noted with special adjectives but not all items noted in
this way need have a special property (they often have some positive
enchantment, instead):

:general: glowing, runed;
:metal armours: shiny;
:leather armours: dyed;
:other armours: embroidered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.                              SPELLCASTING
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magical spells are a very important part of surviving in the dungeon. Every
character can make use of magical spells.

There are many skills related to magic, the principal one being
Spellcasting. Spellcasting determines the number of Magic Points available;
it also helps to cast any spell, though less so than schools associated
with a spell. Next, there are several general magical schools (Conjuration,
Hexes, Summoning, Necromancy, Forgecraft, Translocation and Alchemy) as
well as several elemental schools (Fire, Ice, Air and Earth). A particular
spell can belong to up to three schools. Being skilled in a spell's schools
improves the casting chance and the power of that spell.

Spells are stored in books, which you will occasionally find in the
dungeon. Once you have picked up a book and added its contents to your
spell library, you can memorise a spell using the 'M' command.

In addition to picking up new spells, your character may also wish to get
rid of old ones by reading a scroll of amnesia, which will let you pick a
spell to forget.

Each spell has a level. A spell's level denotes the amount of skill
required to use it, the MP cost of casting it, and indicates how powerful
it may be. You can only memorise a certain number of levels of spells; type
'M' to find out how many. When you gain experience levels or advance the
Spellcasting skill, your maximum increases; you will need to save up for
several levels to memorise the more powerful spells.

There are two ways to activate memorised spells: by "quivering" them and
using the fire interface, or directly by pressing 'z' (for Zap). To choose
a spell for the quiver, use 'Q', or '(' and ')' to cycle among possible
actions. Press 'f' to enter the targeting interface, or shift-tab / 'p' to
autofire a quivered spell at the nearest monster.

Use 'I' to display a list of all memorised spells without actually casting
one. The spells available are labelled with letters; you are free to change
this labelling with the '=' command. You can assign both lowercase and
uppercase letters to spells. Some spells, for example most damage dealing
ones, require a target. See the next section for details on how to target.

Most spells have caps on their effects: no matter how intelligent and
proficient you are, there is a limit to the damage you can achieve with a
Magic Dart. In general, it is a good idea to look at the output of the 'I'
and 'II' screens to get a picture on your casting abilities. This is
especially useful if you're about to change armour or rings.

High level spells are difficult to cast, and you may miscast them every
once in a while (resulting in a waste of magic and possibly dangerous
side-effects). Your chance of failing to cast a spell properly depends on
your skills, your intelligence, the level of the spell and whether you are
wearing heavy armour. The chance of miscasting a spell is displayed on the
spell screen, and coloured based on severity (yellow for moderate damage,
light red for major damage, red for extreme damage, and magenta for
potentially lethal damage).

Be careful of magic-using enemies! Some of them can use magic just as well
as you, if not better, and often use it intelligently.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.                                TARGETING
------------------------------------------------------------------------

When throwing or firing something, evoking wands, or casting certain
spells, you are asked for a direction. There are several ways to tell Crawl
which monster to target.

You can press '?' when asked for a direction; this will bring up a help
screen. Otherwise, you use the following commands:

- The cursor will target on the monster which is closest to your position.
  Should you have been firing at something previously, with the offender
  still being in sight, the cursor will instead rest on the previous
  target.
- Pressing '+' or '=' moves the cursor to the next monster, going from
nearer to
  further away. Similarly, '-' cycles backwards.
- Any direction key moves the cursor by one square. Occasionally, it can be
  useful to target non-inhabited squares.
- Targets can be selected from a list by pressing 'Ctrl-X'.
- When you are content with your choice of target, press one key of Enter,
Del,
  or Space to fire at the target. If you press '.', you also fire, but the
  spell/missile will stop at the target's square if it misses. This can be
  useful to keep friendlies out of the fire, or to make sure your precious
  missiles won't end up in deep water.
- You can press Escape if you changed your mind - no turns are deducted.

There are some shortcuts while targeting:

- Typing Shift-direction on your keypad fires straight away in that
direction. - Pressing 'p' or 'f' fires at the previous target (if it is
still alive and in
  sight). Due to this, most hunters can go a long way by pressing 'vf' to
  fire their ammunition at a monster and then keep firing at it with
  further 'vf' strokes. At times, it will be useful to switch targets with
  the '+' or '-' commands, though.

If you target yourself while firing something harmful (which can be
sensible at times), you will be asked for confirmation.

Finally, the ':' key allows you to hide the path of your
spell/wand/missile.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
J.                                RELIGION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are a number of gods, demons and other assorted powers who will
accept your character's worship, and sometimes give out favours in
exchange. You can use the '^' command to check the requirements of whoever
it is that you worship, and if you find religion to be an inconvenience you
can always renounce your faith (use the 'a' command - but most gods resent
being scorned). Further details can be seen with '!' while in the '^'
screen.

To use any powers which your god deems you fit for, access the abilities
menu via the 'a' command; god-given abilities are listed as invocations.
Many god abilities can be 'Q'uivered in order to trigger via the 'f'ire or
autofire interface.

Depending on background, some characters start out religious; others have
to pray at an altar to dedicate themselves to a life of servitude. There
are altars scattered all over the dungeon, and there are rumours of a
special temple somewhere near the surface.

At an altar, you can enter a god's service by pressing < or >. You'll first
be given a description of the god, and then be asked if you really want to
join. To see a list of the standard gods and which of their altars you've
seen in your current game, press 'Ctrl-O'. You can also learn about all
gods by pressing '?/G'.

Note that some gods are picky about who can enter their service; for
example, good gods will not accept demonic or undead devotees.

If you would like to start the game with a religion, choose your background
from Berserker, Chaos Knight, or Cinder Acolyte.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
K.                                MUTATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Dungeon contains many sources of mutagenic radiation and magical
contamination, which may cause your character to gain semi-permanent
mutations if affected. You can use the 'A' command to view a list of any
mutations that you have acquired. Individual mutations can be examined in
further detail by pressing the letter they are labelled with.

Many mutations are actually beneficial to your character, but there are
plenty of nasty ones as well. Some mutations have multiple levels, each of
which counts as a single mutation.

Miscasting spells will cause magical contamination, which in turn can cause
mutations if too much contamination is accrued at once. Certain powerful
magical spells (such as 'Irradiate') also cause contamination as a
side-effect even when successful. A single use of these effects is safe on
its own, but multiple uses in short succession, or usage with existing
contamination from other sources can cause dangerous levels of
contamination.

Mutations from magical contamination are almost always harmful. Mutations
can also be caused by specific potions or by spells cast by powerful
enemies found deep in the dungeon.

It is more difficult to get rid of bad mutations than to get one. Using
potions of mutation will remove a number of your current mutations, but
will give you more mutations. These might be better to your taste. However,
the only sure-fire ways is to join the gods Zin or Jiyva, each of whom
provides some remedy against mutations.

Demonspawn are a special case. Characters of this species get certain
special mutations as they gain levels; these are listed in cyan. They are
permanent and can never be removed. If one of your Demonspawn powers has
been augmented by a random mutation, it is displayed in a lighter colour.

Many species have special intrinsic features, like Trolls' claws and
Felids' fur. These can also be viewed on the 'A' screen. If enhanced by a
mutation, they will be displayed in light blue. (Mutations cannot remove
species intrinsics.) Some of these innate features will provide an
activated ability, which can be used with the 'a' command.

Some mutations are only temporary and will dissipate after slaying more
enemies. These are listed in purple on the list of mutations, and marked as
temporary.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
L.                        LICENCE, CONTACT, HISTORY
------------------------------------------------------------------------

See licence.txt for information about Crawl's licensing. Most of the game's
components are licensed under version 2 or later of the GNU General Public
License; those that aren't are under compatible licenses.

Disclaimer
  This software is provided as is, with absolutely no warranty express or
  implied. Use of it is at the sole risk of the user. No liability is
  accepted for any damage to the user or to any of the user's possessions.

Contact and community information
========================================

Crawl's homepage is at:

  http://crawl.develz.org

Use this page for direct links to downloads of the most recent version. You
can also submit bug reports on the GitHub issue tracker at:

  https://github.com/crawl/crawl/issues

If you'd like to discuss Crawl, a good place to do so is the #dcss channel
of the Roguelikes Discord:

  https://discord.gg/GtT7xMe

There's also an active subreddit for game discussion:

  https://www.reddit.com/r/dcss/

In both of these communities, topics related to this game usually meet a
warm response, including tales of runes seized, victories (especially first
victories), and sad stories of deceased characters. There are also usually
experienced players around ready to give advice on equipment choices, tight
spots, or other dilemmas. The Discord has a relay to the Sequell IRC bot
that provides helpful information and statistics about the game.

Some players frequent the #crawl channel on the Libera IRC network, which
is also the home of Sequell and other info bots. For those interested in
game development, see the #crawl-dev channel, which is frequented by many
members of the game's development team.

History
========================================

Crawl began as Linley's Dungeon Crawl, created in 1995 by Linley Henzell.
Linley based Crawl on popular roguelikes of the time, namely Moria, Hack,
and NetHack, also taking inspiration from traditional RPGs like Ultima IV.
The object of your quest in Crawl, the Orb of Zot, was taken from Wizard's
Castle, a text adventure written in BASIC.

Linley produced Crawl versions up to 3.30, released in March 1999. Further
work was then carried out by a group of developers who released 3.40 in
February 2000. Of these developers, Brent Ross emerged as the single
maintainer, producing versions until 4.0 beta 26 in 2002. Brent released an
alpha version 4.1 in August 2005, which vastly overhauled the codebase and
reworked many of the game's aspects, but also considerably increased its
difficulty. By this point, Brent no longer had enough free time to develop
Crawl. Hence Darshan Shaligram, who had previously contributed many UI
improvements, recruited longtime player Erik Piper to start a new project
and continue development.

Darshan and Erik aimed to incorporate ideas from the 4.1 alpha and produce
a more balanced an enjoyable game. Calling their project "Dungeon Crawl:
Stone Soup" in reference to their collaborative process, they pulled many
4.1 improvements into the 4.0 beta 26 codebase, play-testing and adjusting
the results. Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup version 0.1 was released to USENET
in September 2006, with many additional developers subsequently joining the
team. See Darshan's own account of the project's creation here:

  https://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/the-dawn-of-stone-soup

The development of Crawl proceeds to this day, with a team of many
developers and hundreds of contributors.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
M.                      MACROS, OPTIONS, PERFORMANCE
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crawl supports redefining keys via key maps. This is useful when your
keyboard layout makes some key awkward to use. You can also define macros:
these are command sequences which can make playing a great deal more
convenient. Note that mapping 'a' to some other key will treat almost all
pressings of 'a' in that new way (including dropping and wielding, etc.),
so is not recommended. Macroing 'a' to some other key will only change the
command key 'a'.

You can set up key maps and macros in-game with the '~' key ('Ctrl-D' will
also work); this also allows for saving all current key bindings and
macros. Alternatively, you can directly edit the macro.txt file. For more
information on both and for examples, see macros_guide.txt.

Crawl supports a large number of options that allow for great flexibility
in the interface. They are fully documented in the file options_guide.txt.
The options themselves are set in the file ~/.crawlrc (for UNIX systems -
copy over init.txt to ~/.crawlrc) or init.txt (for Windows).

Several interface routines are outsourced to external Lua scripts. The
standard distribution has them in the dat/clua/ directory. Have a look at
the single scripts for short descriptions.

Generally, Crawl should run swiftly on all machines (it compiles out of the
box for Linux, Windows, OS X, and, to some lesser extent, other Unices).
If, for some reason, you find Crawl runs unacceptably slowly on your
machine, there are a few measures which may improve the situation:

  - set travel_delay = -1 to avoid screen redraws during travel (this might
  be
    especially useful if playing on a remote server)
  - try playing in console mode rather than tiles

------------------------------------------------------------------------
N.                         PHILOSOPHY (PAS DE FAQ)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a nutshell: This game aims to be a tactical fantasy-themed dungeon
crawl. We strive for strategy being a concern, too, and for exquisite
gameplay and interface. However, don't expect plots or quests.

You may ponder about the wisdom of certain design decisions of Crawl. This
section tries to explain some of them. It could also be of interest if you
are used to other roguelikes and want a bit of background on the
differences. Prime mainstays of Crawl development are the following, most
of which are explained in more detail below. Note that many of these date
back to Linley's first versions.

Major design goals
  * challenging and random gameplay, with skill making a real difference
  * meaningful decisions (no no-brainers)
  * avoidance of grinding (no scumming)
  * gameplay supporting painless interface and newbie support

Minor design goals
  * clarity (playability without need for spoilers)
  * internal consistency
  * replayability (using branches, species, playing styles and gods)
  * proper use of out of depth monsters

Balance
========================================

The notions of balance, or being imbalanced, are extremely vague. Here is
our definition: Crawl is designed to be a challenging game, and is also
renowned for its randomness. However, this does not mean that wins are an
arbitrary matter of luck: the skill of players will have the largest
impact. So, yes, there may be situations where you are doomed - no action
could have saved your life. But then, from the midgame on, most deaths are
not of this type: By this stage, almost all casualties can be traced back
to actual mistakes; if not tactical ones, then of a strategical type, like
wrong skilling (too broad or too narrow), unwise use of resources (too
conservative or too liberal), or wrong decisions about branch/god/gear.

The possibility of unavoidable deaths is a larger topic in computer games.
Ideally, a game like this would be really challenging and have both random
layout and random course of action, yet still be winnable with perfect
play. This goal seems out of reach. Thus, computer games can be soft in the
sense that optimal play ensures a win. Apart from puzzles, though, this
means that the game is solved from the outset; this is where the lack of a
human game-master is obvious. Alternatively, they can be hard in the sense
that unavoidable deaths can occur. We feel that the latter choice provides
much more fun in the long run.

Crawl has a huge number of handmade vaults/maps to tweak the randomness.
While the placement, and often parts of the contents, of such vaults are
random as well, they provide several advantages: vaults offer challenges
that are very hard to get via just random monster and layout generation;
they may centre on some theme, providing additional immersion; finally,
they will often contain some loot, forcing players to decide between safety
and greed.

(The next topic can also be filed under balance; see Replayability for what
balance does not mean to us.)

Crusade against no-brainers
========================================

A very important point in Crawl is steering away from no-brainers. Speaking
about games in general, wherever there's a no-brainer, that means the
development team put a lot of effort into providing a "choice" that's
really not an interesting choice at all. And that's a horrible lost
opportunity for fun. Examples for this are the resistances: there are very
few permanent sources, most involve a choice (like rings or specific
armour) or are only semi-permanent (like mutations). Another example is the
absence of clear-cut best items, which comes from the fact that most
artefacts are randomly generated. Furthermore, scrolls of acquirement offer
a random selection of items instead of a specific wish. Likewise, there are
no sure-fire means of life saving (the closest equivalents are scrolls of
blinking, and good religious standings for some deities).

Anti-grinding
========================================

Another basic design principle is avoidance of grinding (also known as
scumming). These are activities that have low risk, take a lot of time, and
bring some reward. This is bad for a game's design because it encourages
players to bore themselves. Even worse, it may be optimal to do so. We try
to avoid this!

This explains why shops don't buy: otherwise players would hoover the
dungeon for items to sell. Not messing with lighting also falls into this
category: there might be a benefit to mood when players have to carry
candles/torches, but we don't see any gameplay benefit. The deep tactical
gameplay Crawl aims for necessitates permanent dungeon levels. Many a time
characters have to choose between descending or battling. While caution is
a virtue in Crawl, as it is in many other roguelikes, there are strong
forces driving characters deeper.

Interface
========================================

The interface is radically designed to make gameplay easy - this sounds
trivial, but we mean it. All tedious, but necessary, chores should be
automated. Examples are long-distance travel, exploration and taking notes.
Also, we try to cater for different preferences: both ASCII and tiles are
supported; as are vi-keys and numpad. Documentation is plenty,
context-specific and always available in-game. Finally, we ease getting
started via tutorials.

Clarity
========================================

Things ought to work in an intuitive way. Crawl definitely is winnable
without spoiler access. Concerning important but hidden details (i.e. facts
subject to spoilers) our policy is this: the joy of discovering something
spoily is nice, once. (And disappears before it can start if you feel you
need to read spoilers - a legitimate feeling.) The joy of dealing with
ever-changing, unexpected and challenging strategic and tactical situations
that arise out of transparent rules, on the other hand, is nice again and
again. That said, we believe that qualitative feedback is often better than
precise numbers.

In concrete terms, we either spell out a gameplay mechanic explicitly
(either in the manual, or by in-game feedback) or leave it to min-maxers if
we feel that the naive approach is good enough.

Consistency
========================================

While there is no plot to speak of, the game should still be set in a
consistent Crawl universe. For example, names of artefacts should fit the
mood, vaults should be sensibly placed and monsters should somehow fit as
well. Essentially, this is about player immersion. As such, it's good to
have in mind, but consistency is always secondary to gameplay. A typical
example is player vs. monster behaviour: while we try to make these
identical (or similar), there are good reasons for keeping them distinct in
certain cases.

Replayability
========================================

This is actually quite important, but in some sense just a corollary to the
major design goals. Besides these, there are several other points helping
to make playing Crawl fun over and over again:

Diversity
  whenever there are choices to the player, be that choice of species, god,
  weapon or spell, the various options should be genuinely different. It is
  no good to provide dozens of weapons with different names (and perhaps
  even numbers) if, in the end, they all play the same.

Many different species
  This is partly due to the skills and aptitude system. Similarly important
  are the built-in starting bonuses/handicaps of species; these often have
  great impact on play. To us, balance does not mean that all combinations
  of background and species play equally well! Some are much more
  challenging than others, and this is fine with us. Each species has at
  least some backgrounds playing rather well, though.

Dungeon layout
  Even veteran players may find the Tomb or the Hells exciting (which are
  designed such that life endangering situations can always pop up). These
  and other branches may or may not fit a given character's buildup. By the
  way, we strongly believe that games are pointless if you can reach the
  invincible state.

Religion
  This addresses new players, as getting to the Temple and choosing a god
  becomes the first major task of most games. But religion is also a point
  in favour of replayability for experienced players, since the choice of
  god can matter as much as species does.

Playing styles
  Related to, but encompassing, species, background, god are fundamentally
  different playing styles like melee oriented fighter, stabber, etc.
  Deciding on whether (and when!) to make a transition of style can make or
  break games.

Out of the depths
========================================

From time to time a discussion about Crawl's unfair OOD (out of depth)
monsters turns up, like a dragon on the second dungeon level. These are not
bugs! Actually, they are part of the randomness design goal. In this case,
they also serve as additional motivation: in many situations, the OOD
monster can be survived somehow, and the mental bond with the character
will then surely grow. OOD monsters also help to keep players on their toes
by making shallow levels still not trivial. In a similar vein, early trips
to the Abyss are not deficits: there's more than one way out, and
successfully escaping is exciting for anyone.

########################################
Appendices
########################################

------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.                        LIST OF CHARACTER SPECIES
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Species are categorised, roughly, by how difficult and complex they are to
learn how to play, into three categories: *Simple*, *Intermediate*, and
*Advanced*. These categories do not necessarily align with difficulty for
an experienced Crawl player, but rather are intended as an indication of to
what degree a species has unusual or complex mechanics, or requires
deeper/wider knowledge of how the game works. (For example, Djinn have one
of the higher win rates of all species, but are classified as
"Intermediate" because their no-mp/no-books mechanic takes some adapting
to, and has non-trivial interactions with background and god choice.)
Despite being the outcome of a discussion among many players, these
categorizations definitely have a subjective element to them, and you
shouldn't take them to be limiting!

The order within categories is also, roughly, determined by our best
judgment about the relative ease of learning to play each species.

Next to each species name, in parentheses, is the canonical abbreviation
for the species.

Note:  Use 'A' to check for which particular peculiarities a species might
          have. Also, some species have special abilities which can be
          accessed by the 'a' abilities menu. Some also have physical
          characteristics which allow them to make extra attacks.

Note:  Humans are a useful reference point when considering other species:
          they have 0 for almost all aptitudes; have no special abilities,
          weakness, or constraints against using certain types of
          equipment; move normally; and gain experience and willpower at a
          "typical" rate. However, you will see that they are categorised
          as an *Intermediate* species -- because they are decent, but not
          excellent, at nearly everything, a Human may need to make use of
          all sorts of game mechanics depending on what they find in the
          dungeon, and know how to defend itself against any type of damage
          or attack it encounters.

Simple species
==============

Species categorised as *Simple* work straightforwardly for players who have
less experience with Crawl's game mechanics. While many do have quirks,
these quirks tend to be passive traits that simplify gameplay, rather than
challenges that a player has to consciously work around. While all of these
species do have weaknesses of some kind, these weaknesses are simple to
understand, aren't fundamentally crippling to all members of the species,
and are balanced by other strengths. In many cases the special properties
of these species allow the player to set aside many aspects of the game
while still developing a strong character.


Gnolls (Gn)
  Gnolls are a species of caniform humanoids originally hailing from the
  arid deserts and grasslands of the east. In recent history they have
  become unusually attracted to the Dungeon, establishing tribes around and
  even inside of it. Unfortunately their long stay in the Dungeon has
  exposed their somewhat fragile minds to excessive amounts of its magic.

  On the one hand, their bizarrely altered brains now have incredible
  proficiency at learning every skill. On the other, these same alterations
  have rendered Gnolls incapable of selective learning. They learn all
  skills at the same time, so are generally unable to specialise in any one
  thing.

  In order to survive with this limitation, Gnolls use their universal
  knowledge to take advantage of every resource they find in the Dungeon.
  They also have a knack for finding items, allowing them to easily locate
  the Dungeon's hidden treasures.

Minotaurs (Mi)
  The Minotaurs are a species of hybrids, possessing Human bodies with
  bovine heads. They delve into the Dungeon because of their instinctive
  love of twisting passageways.

  Minotaurs are extremely good at all forms of physical combat, but are
  awful at using any type of magic. They can wear all armour except for
  some headgear. When in close combat, Minotaurs are able to reflexively
  headbutt those who dare attack them.

Merfolk (Mf)
  The Merfolk are a hybrid species of half-Human, half-fish that typically
  live in the oceans and rivers, seldom venturing toward land. However,
  Merfolk aren't as limited on land as some myths suggest; their tails will
  quickly reform into legs once they leave the water (and, likewise, their
  legs will quickly reform into a tail should they ever enter water). They
  tend to be surprisingly nimble on land as well as in the water. Experts
  at swimming, they need not fear drowning and move very quickly through
  water.

  The Merfolk have developed their martial arts strongly on thrusting and
  grappling, since those are the most efficient ways to fight underwater.
  They therefore prefer polearms and short swords above all other weapons,
  though they can also use longer swords quite well.

  As spellcasters, they tend to be quite good in specific areas. Their
  mystical relationship with water makes it easier for them to use alchemy
  and ice magic, which use water occasionally as a material component. The
  legendary water magic of the Merfolk was lost in ancient times, but some
  of that affinity still remains. Most other magic seems foreign to them.

Gargoyles (Gr)
  A cross between ordinary stone gargoyles and living beings, Gargoyles are
  hideous humanoids with an affinity to earth magic. They have low health,
  but large amounts of innate armour which increases further as they gain
  levels. They eventually gain the ability to fly.

  Gargoyles' partially living form grants them immunity to poison, as well
  as resistance to electricity, and protection from some effects of
  necromancy. Their natural armour makes them strong melee fighters, and
  they are naturally skilled with blunt weapons and in unarmed combat. They
  can also be exceptional earth-based conjurers.

Mountain Dwarves (MD)
  Mountain Dwarves are stout and hardy folk, adept at fighting with axes
  and blugeoning weapons, though lacking the dexterity to excel at other
  forms of combat. Their reserves of magic are somewhat poor, though they
  still make passable spellcasters, and their connection with the blood of
  the earth gives them a particular talent at fire and earth magics. Their
  spell success is significantly less encumbered by armour than other
  species.

  They are superlative artisans and smiths, employed in ancient times by
  even the gods themselves, and this spiritual history makes them
  exceptional at invoking divine aid. They can even use enchantment scrolls
  to improve artefacts that would be beyond the understanding of any other
  species.

Draconians (Dr)
  Draconians are Human-dragon hybrids: humanoid in form and approximately
  Human-sized, with wings, tails and scaly skins. Draconians start out in
  an immature form with brown scales, but as they grow in power they take
  on a variety of colours. This happens at an early stage in their career,
  and the colour is determined by chromosomes, not by behaviour.

  Most types of Draconians have breath weapons or special resistances.
  Draconians cannot wear body armour and advance very slowly in levels, but
  are reasonably good at all skills other than missile weapons, and they
  develop natural physical defences that compensate for the lack of body
  armour, without needing to train their Armour skill at all. Still, each
  colour has its own strengths and some have complementary weaknesses,
  which sometimes requires a bit of flexibility on the part of the player.
  They are good general-purpose spellcasters, and typically their
  spellcasting aptitudes will adapt slightly when they gain a colour.

  Draconian colours are detailed below, in the subsection titled
  "Draconian types".

Trolls (Tr)
  Trolls are monstrous creatures with powerful claws. They have thick,
  knobbly skins of any colour from putrid green to mucky brown, which are
  covered in patches of thick fur.

  They are incredibly strong, and regenerate rapidly from even the most
  terrible wounds. However, they are hopeless at spellcasting and learn
  most skills very slowly. Their large size prevents them from wearing most
  forms of armour.

Deep Elves (DE)
   The Deep Elves are a species of Elves who long ago fled the overworld to
   live in darkness underground. There, they developed their mental powers,
   evolving a natural gift for all forms of magic, and adapted physically
   to their new environment, becoming weaker and losing all colouration.
   They are poor at melee combat and physical defence, although they are
   capable at using bows and other ranged weapons.

Armataurs (At)
  The Armataurs are a large, scaled mammalian species, walking on four feet
  and swinging a powerful tail behind them. Their elephant-back armies
  terrorise the lands outside the Dungeon.

  Armataurs instinctively roll when moving toward foes, getting a free move
  and regenerating magic. They have great aptitudes with armour and
  shields, though their body shape reduces the protection offered by body
  armour early on. At higher levels they also regenerate both health and
  magic when rolling, making them truly resilient.


Intermediate Species
====================

Species classified as *Intermediate* require a broader understanding of the
mechanics of Crawl, have some weakness(es) that must be actively
compensated for, and/or add a relatively complex mechanic (or change in
mechanic) to gameplay.

Humans (Hu)
  Humans are natural explorers. As they uncover new spaces in the dungeon,
  they are refreshed and invigorated, rapidly healing and recovering magic.
  They are also the most versatile of all species - having balanced
  aptitudes for all skills lets them adapt to use whatever they find.

Kobolds (Ko)
  Kobolds are small, mysterious creatures of unknown origin. They are well
  suited to lurking in the darkness of the Dungeon, and have a reduced
  range of vision which also reduces the range at which they can be seen by
  enemies.

  They are competent in combat, especially with short blades, maces or
  ranged weapons, and are comfortable with all forms of magic. They are
  also very adept at using magical devices. Their small size makes them
  unable to wield large weapons, but they are agile and stealthy, and
  advance in levels slightly more quickly than Humans.

Demonspawn (Ds)
  Demonspawn are horrible half-mortal, half-infernal creatures. Demonspawn
  can be created in any number of ways: magical experiments, breeding,
  unholy pacts, etc. Although many Demonspawn may initially be
  indistinguishable from those of pure mortal stock, they will inevitably
  grow horns, scales or other unusual features. Powerful members of this
  class of beings also develop a range of unholy abilities, which are
  listed as mutations.

  Demonspawn advance slowly in experience and learn most skills slightly
  slower than Humans, although they are talented at some forms of magic.
  They learn Invocations especially quickly, although the good gods will
  not accept their worship due to their unholy nature.

Djinn (Dj)
  Djinn are beings of smokeless fire. They enter the world spontaneously
  and without explanation, born with a tireless hunger for knowledge and
  adventure. Djinn have a unique relationship with magic: rather than
  learning spells from books, their spells come from within, welling up
  from their fiery core as they gain experience. They draw from that same
  fiery core to cast spells - for Djinn, magical power and health are one
  and the same.

  As elemental beings, Djinn are immune to poison and highly resistant to
  fire, though cold damage is deeply inimical to them. Since they float
  through the air without need for legs or feet, they cannot wear boots.

  Djinn are middlingly competent at most forms of physical combat, but have
  a particular aptitude for spellcasting. Their aptitudes for all forms of
  magic are phenomenal, though their unique relationship with magic means
  that they cannot choose to train magic skills independently.

Spriggans (Sp)
  Spriggans are small magical creatures distantly related to Elves. They
  love to frolic and cast mischievous spells.

  They are poor fighters and have little physical resilience, but they move
  extremely quickly and stealthily, and are incredible at dodging attacks.
  They are terrible at destructive magic - conjurations, summonings,
  necromancy and elemental spells. On the other hand, they are excellent at
  other forms of magic and at evoking magical items. Their size makes them
  unable to wear most armour. They cannot wield large weapons, and even
  most smaller weapons require both hands to be wielded by a Spriggan.

Revenants (Re)
  Revenants are skeletal undead, created when an individual dies to violent
  magic without being mourned or remembered. They rise with fragmentary
  recollections of their former life and an all-consuming hunger to claw
  back that existence which the world forgot.

  So powerful is this drive which animates them that they can actually rip
  the very existence from others, tearing fragments of souls and memories
  and even the fundamental essence of inanimate objects and turning them
  into fuel for the unholy fire that forever flickers upon their form.

  Their nature makes them uniquely skilled at wielding destructive magic;
  while their reserves of magical energy are poor and their aptitudes
  unremarkable (aside from an affinity for ice, earth, and necromantic
  magic), they can channel damage-dealing spells through their claws,
  allowing them to perform melee attacks at the same time as they cast
  spells. They can even burn away the memories they have collected to
  briefly empower their magic and allow them to cast unhindered by armour.

  Beyond this, they are sturdy and skilled at using their claws in unarmed
  combat, and possess the same immunity to poison, negative energy, and
  torment that all undead share, as well as a resistance to cold.

Tengu (Te)
  The Tengu are an ancient and feared species of bird-people with a
  legendary propensity for violence. Basically humanoid with bird-like
  heads and clawed feet, the Tengu can wear all types of armour except
  helmets and boots. Their magical nature helps them evade attacks while in
  motion, and despite their lack of wings, more experienced Tengu can
  magically fly.

  They are experts at all forms of fighting, including the magical arts of
  combat (conjurations, summonings and, to a lesser extent, necromancy).
  They are good at air and fire elemental magic, but poor at ice and earth
  magic. Tengu do not appreciate any form of servitude, and so are poor at
  using invocations. Their light avian bodies cannot sustain a great deal
  of injury.

Oni (On)
  Oni are large, rowdy creatures who love a good fight. They are
  exceptionally strong and robust, and their fondness for drink allows them
  to heal twice as much from healing potions and even perform free melee
  swings around themselves while they chug them.

  They are proficient with most melee weapons and forms of magic, but lack
  the dexterity or inclination to use ranged weapons or magical devices
  well. They are, however, good at throwing things, in particular large
  rocks.

  Their large size prevents them from wearing most forms of armour, and are
  poor at dodging, relying on their enormous bulk to survive battles
  instead.

Barachim (Ba)
  Barachim are an amphibious humanoid species, spawned at the dawn of time
  as servants for the gods. Inevitably, they rebelled and fled into the
  mortal world; but even uncounted years later, the darkness still flees at
  their approach, remembering those who they once served.

  Barachim's most remarkable trait is their grossly overmuscled legs, which
  allow them to leap great distances. When not leaping, they are somewhat
  slow-moving, and the long sight-lines that their heritage creates can be
  a major disadvantage, but they can master almost any skill.

Advanced Species
================

*Advanced* species have some substantial weaknesses, and/or add multiple
complex new mechanics to gameplay. This category includes several species
that experienced players may not find difficult per se, but that may
require quite a bit of experience to adapt to. It also includes species
that are just plain difficult, such as Mummies.

Coglins (Co)
   Unlike most of their goblin kin, Coglins augment their tiny frames with
   charm-wrought steel. Their exoskeletons, capable of wielding weapons
   independently in each arm, are begun with hand-me-downs from their
   sprawling families. By the time they come of age, they are inseparable
   from their creations, and experienced individuals often further
   customise themselves with uniquely powerful additions.

   Haphazard and jerry-rigged, Coglin exoskeletons lack the flexibility of
   natural bodies. Though their arms can fly in a whir of destruction, it
   takes quite a bit of swinging to rev them up to that speed. Further,
   with their bodies swallowed in the controls of their machine, they
   cannot wear jewelry - the interference of multiple magical fields would
   be catastrophic!

   Even so, a true Coglin would never criticise their creation. They
   believe that spirits of steel and sandalwood come to rest within every
   thing that draws blood, slowly and carefully re-attuning their
   exoskeletons to those spirits whenever they wield or remove weapons.
   Never scorn the spirits!

Vine Stalkers (VS)
  Limber in shape, Vine Stalkers are anthropomorphic masses of thick vines.
  They possess a once-humanoid core, parasitised moments before death by
  the magical vines. Lacking any other discernible features, their faces
  are dominated by the disproportionate, vicious maw with which they
  disrupt and devour the magical energies of their foes.

  Magic courses freely through their bodies, and any damage they take is
  split between their health and magical reserves. They also physically
  regenerate at an alarming rate. However, these traits come at a price:
  the dual nature of their bodies makes them extremely frail, and they
  cannot benefit from potions to heal their wounds.

  Living examples of adaptation, Vine Stalkers level up quickly and lend
  well to an all-out offensive style; trusting their stealth to choose
  their prey and then their regenerating capabilities to power through the
  wounds they may sustain in battle. Many members of the species, however,
  are seen wielding magic quite competently and then switching to a hybrid
  style when their reserves start to run low, thus replenishing their
  shroud of magic and their spells' fuel with each voracious bite.

Poltergeists (Po)
  Poltergeists are undead spirits who delight in causing trouble for the
  living. Completely incorporeal, they interact with the physical world by
  possessing small objects and making them fly through the air. They can
  use this to fight with weapons as well as the living do, as well as gain
  the protective benefits of many different hats, boots, gloves, and cloaks
  at once, though body armour is too large for them to manipulate in this
  fashion. At higher levels of experience, they can even control these
  possessed objects at a distance from time to time, harassing their foes
  with a barrage of unruly armour.

  Their superlative aptitude for both stealth and hexes make them powerful
  enchanters, and they are adequate at most other forms of magic, though
  they struggle with conjurations. They are adept with short blades, if a
  little below average with heavier weapons, and their lack of a physical
  body makes them terrible at unarmed combat. The same power they used to
  possess objects makes them natural experts at throwing.

  Finally, their nature as spirits of bad luck also grants them temporary
  AC whenever they inflict maladies upon their enemies.

Demigods (Dg)
  Demigods are mortals with some divine or angelic ancestry, however
  distant. Demigods look more or less like members of their mortal part's
  species, but they are extremely robust and can draw on great supplies of
  magical energy. They are able to sculpt their attributes to a far greater
  extent than any other species, gaining substantial boosts to their choice
  of Strength, Intelligence or Dexterity as they gain experience. On the
  downside, they advance more slowly in experience than any other species,
  gain skills slightly less quickly than Humans and, due to their status,
  refuse to worship any god.

Formicids (Fo)
  The Formicids are a species of humanoid ants. Just like their tiny insect
  ancestors, the Formicids are well adept at earth work, both on the
  physical and magical sides. Their abilities have been used to tunnel
  immense underground communities and structures, many of which are tens of
  thousands of years old.

  Perhaps unfortunately, their strong ties to earth have left them
  completely impervious to being teleported or hasted; Formicids are tied
  to the earth with a complete sense of stasis. While this is a seemingly
  bad property for a dungeon adventurer, stasis has the beneficial effect
  of preventing many types of nasty hexes and maledictions.

  With the ability to lift ten times their own weight, the Formicids have
  strength rivaling that of Oni. This, along with the fact that they have
  four arms, allows Formicid warriors to equip both a shield and a
  two-handed weapon at the same time.

  Formicids make good earth mages and alchemists, but are quite capable at
  both melee and ranged combat too. They are naturally bad at air magic and
  conjurations.

Nagas (Na)
  Nagas are a hybrid species: Human from the waist up with a large snake
  tail instead of legs.

  They are reasonably good at most things and advance in experience levels
  at the same rate as Humans. They are naturally resistant to poisons, can
  see invisible creatures, and have tough skin, but their tails are
  relatively slow and cannot move them around as quickly as can other
  creatures' legs (this only affects their movement rate; all other actions
  are at normal speed). Like Armataurs, their body shape also prevents them
  from gaining full protection from body armour. A Naga's biggest forte is
  stealth: Nagas are very good at moving unnoticed. Their tails eventually
  grow strong enough to constrict their foes in combat.

  Nagas can spit poison; the accuracy and damage of this poison increases
  with the Naga's experience level.

Octopodes (Op)
  These land-capable relatives of common octopuses can move about as fast
  as Humans and yet retain the ability to swim underwater, although their
  dual adaptation is not as good as that of the shapechanging Merfolk.

  Octopodes have eight tentacle-shaped legs, and need four of them to move.
  While a tentacle lacks fingers, two tentacles are a rough equivalent of a
  Human's arm where item manipulation is concerned - including wielding
  two-handed weapons with four. They can use no armour other than loose
  hats, but can handle shields just fine. Another peculiarity they have is
  the ability to wear eight rings, one on each tentacle.

  Their natural camouflage makes them excel at stealth, and they have good
  knowledge of alchemy as well. They are also able to use their tentacles
  to constrict enemies - potentially several at a time!

Felids (Fe)
  Felids are a breed of cats that have been granted sentience. Originally
  they were witches' familiars that were magically augmented to provide
  help for their masters' rituals, yet many have abandoned, outlived, or,
  in at least one case, eviscerated their former masters and gone out into
  the world.

  While fully capable of using speech and most forms of magic, Felids are
  at a serious disadvantage due to their inability to use armour or
  weapons.

  Their agility and stealth are legendary, as is their ability to get to
  hard to reach places. Felids advance in levels very slowly. They are
  skilled with many forms of magic, though less so with raw elemental
  magic.

  Felids start with an extra life, and gain more as they increase in
  levels. Upon death, they will be resurrected in a safe place.

Mummies (Mu)
  These are undead creatures who travel into the depths in search of
  revenge, redemption, or just because they want to.

  Mummies progress slowly in levels, half again as slowly as Humans in all
  skills except fighting, spellcasting and necromancy. The sacred embalming
  rituals that brought them into unlife also grant them a special
  connection with the divine, and as they increase in levels, they become
  increasingly in touch with the powers of death. However, their desiccated
  bodies are highly flammable. They also cannot drink.

  Like other undead, mummies are naturally immune to poisons, negative
  energy and torment; have little warmth left to be affected by cold; and
  are not susceptible to mutations.

Draconian types
========================================

Red Draconians
  feel at home in fiery surroundings. They are bad with ice magic but very
  proficient with fire. They can breathe highly combustible embers which
  cause a fiery explosion whenever they hits a foe.

White Draconians
  stem from frost-bitten lands, and are naturally resistant to frost. They
  beathe piercing cold which encases anything it kills in a solid block of
  ice. They are versed in ice magic, but bad at fire.

Green Draconians
  are used to venomous surroundings and breathe clouds of mephitic vapours.
  They are especially good in the arts of alchemy and without deficiencies
  in other magic realms. Later on, they will develop a poisonous stinger.

Yellow Draconians
  have a sulphurous breath full of corrosive acid, and are naturally acid
  resistant. Their knowledge of corrosion makes them especially good in the
  maintenance of Forgecraft machinery. Later on, they gain an acidic bite
  attack.

Grey Draconians
  can breathe torrents of mud which impede the movement and attacks of
  non-flying enemies. They are proficient with earth magic but bad with air
  magic. Later on, iron fuses onto their scales to make them hardier than
  other Draconians.

Black Draconians
  can unleash arcing electrical discharges, and are naturally insulated.
  They are good at air magic but feel cumbersome with earth magic. Their
  wings will eventually grow larger, which allows them to fly when combined
  with their natural skill with air magic.

Purple Draconians
  are highly adapted to all spellcasting in general, and to hexes in
  particular. They are a bit better at evoking things than most other
  Draconians. They can breathe dispelling energy which strips those it hits
  of enchantments and impairs their spellcasting. They are stronger-willed
  than other draconians, and later on, they gain resistance to both
  external mana draining and to enchantment stripping.

Pale Draconians
  are better at air and fire magic, and have no deficiencies in other
  schools. They breathe sight-obscuring steam and, like their Purple
  cousins, have a slight advantage at Evocations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.                      LIST OF CHARACTER BACKGROUNDS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In your quest, you play as one of a large number of different types of
characters. Although each has its own strengths and weaknesses, some are
definitely easier than others, at least to begin with. The best backgrounds
for a beginner are probably Gladiators and Berserkers; if you really want
to play a magician, try a Conjurer or a Hedge Wizard. However, not all
species are equally well suited for all backgrounds. After you have
selected a species, the background selection menu will show backgrounds
generally considered to be more accessible for a species in a brighter
colour.

Each background starts out with a different set of skills and items, but
from there you can shape them as you will. Note that due to peculiarities
of size or body shape, some species-background combinations start with a
different inventory than described here.

Warrior backgrounds
===================

Warriors are experienced at using physical weapons and defending
themselves.

Fighters
  Fighters usually start with a good weapon of their choice, a suit of
  medium armour, a shield, and two potions of might.

Gladiators
  The Gladiator has been trained to fight in the ring. They start with a
  good weapon of their choice, light armour, headgear and some throwing
  weapons and nets.

Monks
  Monks have a head start with the divine. They start with only a simple
  weapon of their choice, a potion of divine ambrosia, a robe, and an orb
  of light to guide them. However, when they worship a god for the first
  time, their spiritual training gives them a piety boost.

Hunters
  The Hunter is a type of fighter who specialises in missile weapons. A
  Hunter starts with a shortbow, a scroll of butterflies, and a set of
  leathers.

Brigands
  A Brigand is a shady character who is especially good at killing, using
  daggers or darts. They start with a dagger, a robe and cloak, poisoned
  darts, and a few deadly and rare curare darts.

Zealot backgrounds
==================

Zealots start the game already worshipping a god.

Berserkers
  Berserkers are hardy warriors who worship Trog the Wrathful, from whom
  they get the power to go berserk (as well as a number of other powers,
  should they prove worthy), but who forbids the use of spell magic. They
  enter the Dungeon with a weapon of their choice, and dressed in animal
  skins.

Chaos Knights
  The Chaos Knight is a plaything of Xom, subject to the god's constantly
  changing moods. Xom is a very unpredictable (and possibly psychotic)
  entity who rewards or punishes according to whim. They begin with a
  lightly enchanted leather armour, a simple weapon of their choice, and a
  scroll of butterflies.

Cinder Acolytes
  Cinder Acolytes serve Ignis, the Dying Flame, who grants them incredible
  power over fire... but there is only so much fire left to draw on, and
  once it burns out, acolytes may need to abandon Ignis. They start with a
  robe, a choice of flaming weapons, and the spell Scorch.

Adventurer backgrounds
======================

Adventurers have varied and idiosyncratic skills that they have picked up
in their travels.

Artificers
  Artificers have built, bought or burgled an assortment of magic wands to
  help them through the early Dungeon. Wands have a limited number of uses,
  though, so they'll want to upgrade from their club ASAP.

Shapeshifters
  Shapeshifters use talismans to shift their body into different forms,
  granting them uncanny power but making them unable to use some items.
  They enter the dungeon with two talismans, some flux baubles, and a
  potion of lignification.

Wanderers
  Wanderers are "jacks-of-all-trades, masters of none". They start the game
  with a random assortment of skills, items, and maybe spells.

Delvers
  Delvers have, through some mishap, found themselves several floors below
  the surface of the Dungeon. They're equipped with a wide variety of
  magical escape tools, and are well advised to use them to travel to
  earlier dungeon floors as quickly as possible.

Warrior-mage backgrounds
========================

Warrior mages begin the game with a mix of physical combat and magic
skills, though usually excel at neither. They start with a library of
spells and (usually) some way of defending themselves.

Warpers
  Warpers specialise in translocation magic, and are experts in travelling
  long distances and positioning themselves precisely and use this to their
  advantage in melee or missile combat. They start with a scroll of
  blinking, a selection of translocation spells, some disjunction darts, a
  simple weapon of their choice, and leather armour.

Hexslinger
  Hexslingers use debilitating spells to assist their ranged attacks. They
  begin the game with a sling, some spells to support its use, a scroll of
  poison to keep foes at a distance, and a robe.

Enchanters
  The Enchanter specialises in the subtle art of hexes. Instead of directly
  damaging foes, hexes disable and debilitate them, allowing the Enchanter
  to finish the helpless creatures in combat. The Enchanter begins with a
  lightly enchanted dagger, a robe, potions of invisibility, and a
  selection of hexes.

Reaver
  Reavers have an assortment of powerful, but highly situational,
  conjurations to draw upon when their skill in melee is insufficient. They
  start with a simple weapon of their choice and leather armour.

Mage backgrounds
================

A mage is not an available character background by itself, but a type of
background, encompassing Hedge Wizards, Conjurers, Summoners, Necromancers,
Forgewrights, various Elementalists and Alchemists. Mages are the best at
using magic. Among other things, they start with a robe, a potion of magic,
and spells which should see them through the first several levels of the
Dungeon.

Hedge Wizards
  A Hedge Wizard is a magician who does not specialise in any area of
  magic. Hedge Wizards start with a variety of magical skills and with
  Magic Dart memorised, from a large library of varied low-level spells.
  They also get a wizard hat.

Conjurers
  The Conjurer specialises in the violent and destructive magic of
  conjuration spells. Like Wizards, the Conjurer starts with the Magic Dart
  spell, in their case from a library of destructive conjurations.

Summoners
  The Summoner specialises in calling creatures from this and other worlds
  to give assistance. Although they can at first summon only very weak
  creatures, the more advanced summoning spells allow summoners to call on
  such powers as hydras and dragons.

Necromancers
  The Necromancer is a magician who specialises in the less pleasant side
  of magic. Necromantic spells are a varied bunch, but many involve some
  degree of risk or harm to the caster.

Forgewright
 The Forgewright specialises in the creation of magical constructs, ranging
 from simple weapons to elaborate and powerful golems. Many of their
 creations benefit from fighting alongside them.

Elementalists
  Elementalists are magicians who specialise in one of the four types of
  elemental magic: air, fire, earth or ice.

  Fire Magic
    tends towards indiscriminate, wide-range destructive conjurations and
    starting fires.

  Ice Magic
    offers diffuse, subtle effects, both defensive and offensive.

  Air Magic
    provides powerful but difficult to direct spells.

  Earth Magic
    offers direct effects, some destructive and some debilitating.

Alchemist
  Alchemists start with knowledge of poison-based magic, which is extremely
  useful in the shallower levels of the Dungeon where few creatures are
  immune to it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.                             LIST OF SKILLS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a description of the skills you may have. You can check your
current skills with the 'm' command, and therein toggle between progress
display and aptitude display using '*'. You can also read the table of
aptitudes from the help menu using '?%', and during character choice with
'%'.

Fighting skills
========================================

Fighting is the basic skill used in ranged and melee combat, and applies no
matter which weapon your character is wielding (if any). Fighting is also
the skill that determines the amount of health your character gains as they
increase in levels (note that this is calculated so that you don't get a
long run advantage by starting out with a high Fighting skill). Unlike the
specific weapon skill, Fighting does not change the speed with which you
make your attacks.

Weapon skills affect your ability to fight with specific melee weapons.
Weapon skills include:

  * Short Blades
  * Long Blades
  * Maces & Flails
  * Axes
  * Staves
  * Polearms

If you are already good using a class of weapons, say Long Blades, you'll
get a bonus to using similar weapons, like Short Blades; this is called
crosstraining and is shown in blue in the skill menu. Similar types of
weapons are:

  * Short Blades and Long Blades
  * Maces & Flails and Axes
  * Polearms and Axes
  * Staves and Polearms
  * Staves and Maces & Flails

Being good at a specific weapon improves the speed with which you attack
with it. Both the base speed and the best (lowest) possible speed are
displayed in the inventory entry for a weapon. Although lighter weapons are
easier to use initially, as they strike quickly and accurately, heavier
weapons increase in damage potential very quickly as you improve your skill
with them. You can check the current delay of your weapon by swinging it at
air (using ctrl-direction) and looking at the number in parentheses next to
your turncount.

Some weapon types have special abilities. Axes are able to cleave through
multiple enemies in a single swing, hitting enemies in an arc around the
wielder with every attack. Polearms can reach farther and allow the wielder
to attack an opponent two squares away, and even reach over monsters. Use
the 'v' command to target a specific monster with a reaching attack, or use
Autofight ('tab') to reach automatically.

Finally, Unarmed Combat skill increases the accuracy, damage, and speed of
attacks made while unarmed. Note that most auxiliary attacks, such as an
Armataur's tail-slap or a Minotaur's headbutt, are not affected by Unarmed
Combat. The only exception is the off-hand punch attack granted by using
neither weapon nor shield, which Unarmed Combat makes somewhat more
effective.

Ranged combat skills
========================================

Ranged Weapons is the skill for bows, crossbows, and slings, whereas
Throwing governs all things hurled without a launcher: boomerangs,
javelins, nets, darts, etc.

Just as with melee weapons, ranged weapon skills and throwing skills
increase the speed at which you attack, along with slightly increasing your
accuracy and damage. Missile weapons, unlike melee or throwing weapons, are
slowed by wearing heavy armour. Increasing your Strength and Armour skill
will partially mitigate this.

Magic skills
========================================

Spellcasting is the basic skill for magic use. It affects your reserves of
magical energy (Magic) in the same way that Fighting affects your health:
every time you increase the Spellcasting skill you gain some magic points,
and you gain a spell level every time you reach a skill level divisible by
0.5. Spellcasting also helps with the power and success rate of your
spells, but to a lesser extent than the more specialised magical skills.

There are also individual skills for each different type of magic; the
higher the skill, the more powerful the spell. Multidisciplinary spells use
an average of the two or three skills.

Miscellaneous skills
========================================

Armour
  Having a high Armour skill means that you are skilled at wearing armour
  of all kinds, multiplying the protection provided not just by body armour
  but also by cloaks, gloves, etc. It also very slightly mitigates the
  penalties to spellcasting and missile weapon speed from wearing heavy
  armour.

Dodging
  A high Dodging skill helps you to evade melee and ranged attacks more
  effectively. This is more easily done in light armour, but can still be
  useful in heavier armour.

Stealth
  Helps you avoid being noticed, and makes monsters more likely to lose
  track of you when you leave their line of sight. Wearing heavy armour
  penalises stealth attempts. Large creatures (like Trolls) are bad at
  stealth, except for Nagas, which are unusually stealthy.

  Stealth also helps you make a very powerful first strike against a
  sleeping/resting monster who hasn't noticed you yet. This is most
  effective with a dagger, slightly less effective with other short blades
  and Felid claws, and less useful (although still by no means negligible)
  with any other weapon.

  Stealth also improves some melee attacks against confused, distracted, or
  otherwise incapacitated monsters, though this is much less effective than
  when the monster is asleep or paralysed.

  Note that in addition to the bonus from weapon type, there is an
  additional stabbing bonus based on the average of your stealth skill and
  your skill with your wielded weapon.

Shields
  Affects the amount of protection you gain by using a shield, and the
  degree to which it hinders your evasion, attack speed and spellcasting
  success. Mastering the Shields skill removes all penalties from using a
  shield.

Invocations
  Affects your ability to call on your god for aid. Those skilled at
  Invocations have reduced failure rates and produce more powerful effects.
  Some gods (such as Trog) do not require followers to learn this skill, or
  use a different skill for their abilities instead (such as Necromancy
  under Kikubaaqudgha).

  Invocations can increase your maximum magical reserves, although it has a
  smaller effect than Spellcasting in this regard. The bonuses are not
  cumulative: the highest contribution from Spellcasting or Invocations is
  used.

Evocations
  This skill lets you use wands much more effectively, in terms of both
  damage and precision. Similarly, various other items that have evocable
  powers work better for characters trained in this skill.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.                        LIST OF KEYS AND COMMANDS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Main screen
========================================

Crawl has many commands to be issued by single key strokes. This can become
confusing, since there are also several modes; here is the full list. Some
commands are particularly useful in combination with certain interface
options; such options are mentioned in the list. For a description of them,
please look into options_guide.txt. For a more terse list of all commands,
use '??' in-game. Most modes (targeting, level map, interlevel travel) also
have help menus via '?' on their own.

Movement
----------------------------------------

direction
  This moves one square. The direction is either one of the numpad cursor
  keys (try both NumLock on and off) or one of the Rogue vi keys
  (hjklyubn).

Shift-direction or / direction
  This moves straight until something interesting is found (like a
  monster). If the first square is a trap, movement starts nonetheless.

o
  Auto-explore. Setting the option explore_greedy to true makes
  auto-explore run to interesting items (those that get picked up
  automatically) or piles (checking the contents). Autoexploration will
  open doors on its own unless you set travel_open_doors to avoid or
  approach.

G or Ctrl-G
  Interlevel travel (to arbitrary dungeon levels or waypoints). Remembers
  old destinations if interrupted. This command has its own set of
  shortcuts; use ? for help on them.

Ctrl-W
  Set waypoint (a digit between 0 and 9). Go to a waypoint by pressing
  Ctrl-G or uppercase G, then the waypoint's digit.

Attacking and firing
----------------------------------------

Several of these commands enter targeting mode; see "Targeting" for more
information about this mode.

direction
  If a monster is in the target square, attack that monster.

Tab
  Autofight: Attack the nearest monster with your current weapon. If the
  nearest monster is not in range, by default, this will move towards it.

v
  Targeted attacks with your primary weapon, including attacking
  non-adjacent monsters with a polearm, or firing a wielded launcher
  (regardless of the state of the main quiver).

Q
  Quiver an item, spell, or ability from a menu.

( and )
  Cycle quiver to next/previous suitable action (item, spell, ability).

f
  Fire currently quivered action, showing a targeter. If some monster is in
  sight and the action takes a target, either the last target or the
  nearest monster will be automatically highlighted. If the action does not
  take a target, the display will typically show an area of effect.
  Pressing f again triggers the action.

Shift-tab, p
  Autofire: Fire a quivered action, if needed selecting a target
  automatically; typically fires at the nearest monster.

F
  Directly choose ammo to throw or fire. In contrast to 'f' this does not
  interact with the quiver.

V
  Evoke an item directly from the inventory. This includes using wands.

Spells and abilities
----------------------------------------

Spells and abilities may also be quivered; see "Attacking and firing". Many
spells and abilities enter targeting mode on activation; see "Targeting"
for more information about this mode.

a
  Show the ability menu, allowing you to activate an ability or read its
  description.

z
  Cast a spell. Should the spell demand monsters as targets but there are
  none within range, casting will be stopped. In this case, neither turns
  nor magic are used. If you want to cast the spell nonetheless, use Z.

Z
  Cast a spell regardless of available targets.

Resting
----------------------------------------

s, Del, . or Numpad 5
  Rests for one turn. This is most often used tactically for waiting a few
  turns. Serious resting should be done with the 5 command, for the sake of
  your keyboard and sanity.

5 or Shift-Numpad 5
  Long resting, until both health and magic points are full.

Resting is generally indistinguishable from any other action; healing,
magic point restoration, etc, proceed at the same rate, whether you're
resting or not. A few specific spells can be 'channeled' via the rest key
for ongoing effects, as mentioned in their descriptions.

Dungeon interaction
----------------------------------------

O
  Open door. This is also done automatically by walking into the door.

C
  Close door.

Ctrl-direction or * direction
  Opens/closes a door in the specified direction (if there is one), or
  else attacks without moving (even if no monster is seen).

<
  Use staircase to go higher, or use a shop, altar, or portal.

>
  Use staircase to go deeper, or use a shop, altar, or portal.

;
  Examine occupied tile and auto-pickup eligible items. Can also be used to
  pick up only part of a stack with no other item on the same square.
  When a monster is present the first press of ; will only examine the tile
  and a second press of ; will pick up all auto-pickup eligible items.

x
  Examine surroundings, see below. Has '?' help.

X
  Examine level map, see below. Has '?' help.

Ctrl-X
  Lists all monsters, items and features in sight. You may read their
  descriptions and travel to an item or feature.

Ctrl-O
  Show dungeon overview (branches, shops, etc.).

!
  Annotate a level. You can annotate any level of a branch of which you
  have found the entrance. You can enter any text. This annotation is then
  listed in the dungeon overview (Ctrl-O) and also shown whenever you enter
  that level again. Should your annotation contain an exclamation mark (!),
  you will be prompted before entering the level. An empty string clears
  annotations.

Character information
--------------------------------------

'display' below means usage of the message area, 'show' means usage of the
whole screen.

@
  Display character status.

[
  Display worn armour.

}
  Display list of runes collected.

"
  Display worn jewellery.

E
  Display experience info.

^
  Show religion screen.

A
  Show abilities/mutations.

\
  Show item knowledge. You can toggle autopickup exceptions for item types
  in this screen. The screen has its own help text.

m
  Show skill screen. You can get descriptions of present skills from that
  screen, as well as the aptitudes. The screen has its own help text.

i
  Show inventory list. Inside this list, pressing a slot key shows
  information on that item.

I
  Show list of memorised spells.

%
  Show resistances and general character overview: health, experience,
  money, gear, and status, mutations, abilities (the latter three more
  terse than with the command @, A, a). This is a highly condensed
  conglomeration of [, ", E, ^, @, A, a, $ on a single screen. Pressing the
  key of a displayed item views it.

Other game-playing commands
----------------------------------------

t
  Tell commands to allies, or shout (with tt).

Ctrl-A
  Toggle autopickup. Note that encounters with invisible monsters always
  turns autopickup off. You need to switch it on with Ctrl-A afterwards.

|
  Toggle various display layers and overlays. (Console only)

`
  Re-do previous command

0
  Repeat next command a given number of times

Non-game playing commands
----------------------------------------

?
  The help menu.

Ctrl-P
  Show previous messages.

Ctrl-R
  Redraw screen.

Ctrl-C
  Clear main and level maps.

#
  Dump character to file (name.txt).

:
  Add note to dump file (see option take_notes).

?:
  Read the notes in-game.

?V
  Display version information.

?/
  Describe a monster, spell or feature. You can enter a partial name or a
  regex instead of the full name.

~ or Ctrl-D
  Add or save macros and key mappings.

=
  Reassign inventory/spell/abilities letters.

_ (console) or F12 (WebTiles)
  Read messages (when playing online; not for local games).

-
  Edit player doll (Tiles only).

Saving games
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

S
  Save game with query and exit.

Ctrl-S
  Save game without query and exit.

Ctrl-Q
  Quit without saving (with a confirmation prompt).

Stashes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ctrl-F
  Find. This searches in stashes and shops, you can use regular expressions
  and also terms like 'long blades', 'shop', 'altar', 'artefact'. If you
  are looking for altars to a special god, a search for 'Trog' , etc.
  works. A string like 'D:13' will list all known items on that level.
  'D:1}' will search for items on level 1 only, as opposed to 'D:1', which
  will also list items on D:10 through D:15. Once the list of all found
  places is displayed, you can cause auto-travel to go there (press the
  associated letter) or you can examine the items (press ? followed by the
  letter).

Item interaction (inventory)
========================================

See also "Attacking and firing" for item interaction commands related to
attacking and firing.

{
  Inscribe item (check the autoinscribe option). An empty inscription or
  inscribing only space will remove prior inscriptions. See Appendix 5.
  "Inscriptions". You can also inscribe items when viewing them by pressing
  their slot key in the inventory.

q
  Quaff a potion.

r
  Read a scroll.

M
  Memorise a spell from a book.

w
  Wield an item ( - for none).

'
  Wield item a, or switch to b.

W
  Wear armour.

T
  Take off armour.

P
  Put on jewellery.

R
  Remove jewellery.

e
  Equip actions (wield, wear, put on)

c
  Unequip actions (unwield, take off, remove)

Item interaction (floor)
========================================

g or ,
  Pick up items. Use a prefix to pick up smaller quantities. As with
  dropping, Ctrl-F allows you to pick up items matching regular expression.

d
  Drop an item. Within the drop list, you can select slots based on a
  regular expression by pressing Ctrl-F, followed by the regex.

d#
  Drop exact number of items, where # is a number.

D
  Drop item(s) picked up last.

Shortcuts in lists (like multidrop)
========================================

When dropping, the drop menu accepts several shortcuts. The same applies to
the pickup menu. In the following, if an item is already selected, the key
will deselect it (except for ',' and '-', obviously).

(
  Select all missiles.

)
  Select all hand weapons.

[
  Select all armour.

?
  Select all scrolls.

/
  Select all wands.

|
  Select all staves.

!
  Select all potions.

=
  Select all rings.

"
  Select all amulets.

}
  Select all miscellaneous items.

,
  Global select (subject to drop_filter option).

-
  Global deselect (subject to drop_filter option).

*
  Invert selection. This will allow you to select all items even if you use
  the drop_filter option.

.
  Selects next item. (If you have pressed the key of an item in the list,
  '.' will toggle the next item. This can be repeated, quickly selecting
  several subsequent items).

;
  Select last unequipped. Selects the equipment (armour, jewellery, or
  weapon) you last took off or unwielded.

Level map ('X')
========================================

The level map (brought up by 'X' in the main screen) uses the whole screen
to show the dungeon.

Esc, Space
  Leave level map.

?
  Level map help.

-
  Scroll level map up.

+
  Scroll level map down.

direction
  Move cursor.

Shift-direction
  Move cursor in bigger steps (determined by the the option
  level_map_cursor_step).

.
  Travel to cursor (also Enter, Del, ',' and ';'). If the cursor is on the
  character, move cursor to last travel destination instead.

o
  Move cursor to the next autoexplore target.

v
  Describe remembered feature or monster under the cursor.

<
  Cycle through up stairs.

>
  Cycle through down stairs.

^
  Cycle through traps.

_
  Cycle through altars.

Tab
  Cycle through shops and portals.

I
  Cycle forward through all items and piles.

O
  Cycle backward through all items and piles.

G
  Select another level (by branch and depth) to view the map of.

[
  View the previous level.

]
  View the next level.

!
  Add an annotation to the current level.

Ctrl-C
  Clear level and main maps (from temporarily seen monsters, clouds, etc.).

Ctrl-F
  Forget level map.

Ctrl-U
  Restore forgotten level map.

Waypoints can be set on the level map. You can travel to waypoints using G.
The commands are:

Ctrl-W
  Set waypoint.

W
  Cycle through waypoints.

Travel exclusions mark certain spots of the map as no-go areas for
autotravel and explore.

e
  Set travel exclusion. If an exclusion is already present, change size
  (from single square to full field of vision); after that, remove
  exclusion.

R#
  Set an exclusion with an arbitrary radius, where # is a number from 1 to
  8. If an exclusion is already present, change its radius to #.

Ctrl-E
  Erase all travel exclusions at once.

E
  Cycle through travel exclusions.

Examining surroundings ('x')
========================================

When roaming the dungeon, the surroundings mode is activated by 'x'. It
lets you look at items, monsters or other features in line of sight.

Esc, Space, x
  Return to playing mode.

?
  Special help screen.

* or '
  Cycle objects forward.

/ or ;
  Cycle objects backward.

+ or =
  Cycle monsters forward.

-
  Cycle monsters backward.

direction
  Move cursor.

. or Enter
  Travel to cursor (also Del).

v
  Describe feature or monster under the cursor. Some branch entries have
  special information.

>
  Cycle downstairs.

<
  Cycle upstairs.

_
  Cycle through altars.

Tab
  Cycle shops and portals.

Ctrl-X
  Lists all monsters, items and features in sight. You may read their
  descriptions and move the cursor to an item, monster, or feature.

Targeting
========================================

Targeting mode is similar to examining surroundings. It is activated
whenever you fire projectiles, evoke a wand or cast spells which use
targets. All of the commands described for examination of surroundings
work, with the exception of Space (which fires).

Esc or x
  Stop targeting.

?
  Special help screen.

Enter
  Fire at cursor direction (also Del and Space).

.
  Fire at cursor position and stop there. This can be useful to avoid
  damaging allies, or to avoid losing arrows.

p
  Fire at previous target (if still in sight).

f
  Smart-firing: fire at previous target, if it is still in sight; and else
  fire at the cursor position. You can start shooting at an opponent with
  'ff' and then keep firing with 'ff'.

:
  Toggle display of the beam path.

( and )
  When 'f'iring, these two commands allow you to cycle between quiverable
  actions (items, spells, abilities).

Shift-direction
  Fire straight in that direction.

Ctrl-X
  Lists all valid targets. You may select a target from the list to move
  the cursor to that target.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.                              INSCRIPTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can use the { command to manually inscribe items; alternatively, you
can also inscribe when viewing items from the inventory (done by pressing
the item's letter). This adds a note in curly braces to the item
description. Besides simply allowing you to make comments about items,
there are several further uses.

Inscriptions as shortcuts
========================================

You can use inscriptions to define shortcuts for easy access to items,
regardless of their actual inventory letter. For example, if an item's
inscription contains "@w9", you can type 'w9' in order to wield it. Instead
of the 9, any other digit works as well. And instead of 'w'ield, any other
command used for handling items can be used: 'r'ead, 'q'uaff, e'v'oke,
'f'ire, etc. Using "@*9" will make any action command followed by '9' use
this item.

Safety inscriptions
========================================

Inscriptions containing the following strings affect the behaviour of some
commands:

!*
  Prompt before any action using this item.

!w
  Prompt before wielding and unwielding this item.

!a
  Prompt before attacking when wielding this item. Non-weapons and ranged
  weapons prompt automatically. Also, if you answer 'y', you won't be
  prompted again until you switch weapons. To reset this prompt while
  keeping the current weapon wielded, use 'w' and select the current
  weapon.

!d
  Prompt before dropping this item.

!e
  Prompt before equipping this item.

!u
  Prompt before unequipping this item.

!q
  Prompt before quaffing this item.

!r
  Prompt before reading this item.

!f
  Prompt before firing or throwing this item.

!W
  Prompt before wearing this armour.

!T
  Prompt before taking off this armour.

!P
  Prompt before putting on this jewellery.

!R
  Prompt before removing this jewellery.

!v
  Prompt before evoking this item.

=g
  Pick this item up automatically if autopickup is on.

=f
  Exclude this item from automatic quivering.

+f
  Include this item in automatic quivering.

=F
  Exclude this item when cycling quiver actions.

+F
  Include this item when cycling quiver actions.

!Q
  Prompt before explicitly quivering this item. Entails =F,=f.

=R
  Do not offer to swap out this piece of equipment if another one could be
  removed instead.

!D
  Prompt before performing an action that might destroy this item. It won't
  protect against lava or deep water accidents.

You can use the autoinscribe option to have some items automatically
inscribed. See options_guide.txt for details. Some examples are:

  autoinscribe = stone:=f
  autoinscribe = wand of heal wounds:!v

Artefact autoinscriptions
========================================

Artefacts are automatically inscribed with abbreviated descriptions of
their properties. The inscriptions use the following general ideas:

rXXX
  signifies a resistance; e.g. rF+ (a level of fire resistance), rN+++
  (three levels of negative energy resistance), rC- (cold vulnerability).

+XXX
  signifies an ability you can evoke via the 'a' command. E.g. +Inv
  (evocable, temporary invisibility).

-XXX
  signifies a suppressed ability. E.g. -Cast (spellcasting forbidden).

XX+6
  means a boost to some numerical stat (similar with XX-2, etc.). E.g.
  Slay+3 (+3 to accuracy and damage of melee and ranged combat).

For more information, examine an item (by selecting it in your
(i)nventory); each property of an artefact will be listed and described.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.                          DUNGEON SPRINT MODES
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dungeon sprints are short, faster-paced variants of Crawl that aim at more
of a "coffee break" style of gameplay. They can be accessed from the main
menu, and save files coexist with regular game saves. Sprint modes all use
the basic Crawl mechanics, but with certain aspects of the game sped up.
All sprint games take place on a single map. The most noticeable speed
change is much more rapid experience gain, as well as piety growth. Many
sprint modes focus on some specific aspect of the game, and several
introduce variant mechanics or items unique to that mode. In all of the
sprint maps, you win by finding and escaping with the Orb of Zot, but the
conditions for finding the Orb vary.

Sprint I: "Red Sonja"
  Red Sonja, originally called "dungeon sprint 1", is the original dungeon
  sprint map, putting the quest for the Orb of Zot into a single level.

Sprint II: "The Violet Keep of Menkaure"
  Menkaure has stolen the Orb of Zot and hidden it away in his keep; can
  you find it?

Sprint III: "The Ten Rune Challenge"
  Originally introduced in the 2010 tournament, this sprint map places 10
  runes and the Orb of Zot in a single dungeon level.

Sprint IV: "Fedhas' Mad Dash"
  Fedhas' Mad Dash is a shorter sprint map, a contest organised by Fedhas
  Madash. The monsters are Fedhas-themed; watch out for the many flavours
  of Oklobs! As usual, your goal is to find the Orb of Zot and then escape.

Sprint V: "Ziggurat Sprint"
  Ziggurat Sprint focuses on the Ziggurat mechanic. The map consists of a
  sequence of open-layout rooms of increasing size and difficulty, each
  with many monsters around some theme; rooms are connected by
  transporters. The starting room provides powerful equipment for getting
  started, as well as altars. If you can make it through all rooms, you
  will be taken to a room with the Orb and some exit stairs.

Sprint VI: "Thunderdome"
  In the Thunderdome you face a large set of monsters, including many
  uniques, in a cross-shaped arena. Monsters appear in rounds, with boss
  rounds every 5 rounds (every 3 after round 27), and the final boss at
  round 27. If you kill every monster in a normal or boss round, you will
  get some gold, arena points, and a bit of time to rest. In a lightning
  round, to win you just need to survive. A variety of interesting items
  are available for purchase in shops along the sides -- don't miss the
  QUAD DAMAGE! To win this sprint, kill the final boss, and the Orb will
  appear.

Sprint VII: "The Pits"
  This map is a "traditional-style" sprint map that embeds the quest for
  the Orb of Zot into a dungeon level with three runes.

Sprint VIII: "Arena of Blood"
  In the Arena of Blood, also known as "meatsprint", you are a vessel of
  Makhleb, wielding Makhleb's immensely destructive Axe of Woe against a
  large variety of meat-based monsters in an open arena. To win this mode,
  kill the Meatlord, pick up the Orb of Zot, and escape.

Sprint IX: "|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||"
  This mode, also known as "linesprint", puts the entire game of Crawl in a
  single winding 1-space corridor, with each region as one straight line.
  Fight your way to the middle of the map to claim the Orb of Zot. Escape
  with it, or continue onwards to collect all runes first.
