HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Wizard's Quest--Chapter 25
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Date: 23 Jul 92 12:51:02 EDT
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics


With that emperor lich out of the way, I can return to my undead farm.
A vampire drops an executioner's sword; that should be an excellent
weapon if it is magical.  Hiding behind a corner so that the Quylthulg
can't see me, I examine the sword, and recognize the runes on it.  My
spell confirms the examination; I have found a Dragon Slayer.  It's
finally time to drop the dagger which has served me so well and has
already been enchanted to the maximum, and make this sword my backup.

The undead farm keeps going; every now and then, I let a green glutton
ghost stay around for a while to clean up some of the junk on the floor.
I am finally forced to abandon the farm when I get cornered by a lich,
and my teleport spell fizzles.  The lich drains my dexterity, and after
teleporting out, I discover that I have lost a good deal of my melee
skill, forcing me to return to town to find the potion which will
restore it.

The alchemist is out of the potion I need, and I don't want to go back
down with a reduced dexterity, in case I find a potion of gain dexterity
and cannot use it immediately.  Instead, I climb down to the first level
of the dungeon, wait there for a long time, and then return to town to
see whether the stores have restocked.  They have, and I find my potion,
and a scroll to sharpen my new sword.
--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
From: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Aren't boots armor?
Date: 31 Jul 92 01:44:35 GMT
Reply-To: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
Organization: UCLA Particle Physics Research Group

I'm playing VMS Moria 5.00, and I can't seem to enchant my boots with a 
scroll of Enchant Armor.  If boots aren't armor, then what *are* they?  Is 
there a way to increase the AC of boots, or is this a bug in this version, 
or am I not understanding something?

           John Price * * * * price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
           Where there is no solution, there is no problem.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: pjb4288@ultb.isc.rit.edu (Pete - Toonatic - Boulay)
Subject: Wizard's Quest
Originator: pjb4288@ultb
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 14:56:39 GMT

Ok ok ok...you can stop mailing me nasty letters on my issue with this please.

I retreat...
-- 
Peter J. Boulay --17 Split Rock Road-Pittsford, NY 14534-The ToonAddict!
Email should be sent only to PJB4288@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Disclaimer: You don't like what I'm writing? Oh well.
"Well shut my mouth wide open!"- Tiny Toons HISMV
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Wizard's Quest--Chapter 26
Date: 24 Jul 92 17:43:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: zariski.GRABINER.92Jul24134412
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics


The ancient dragon in the next room seems to be asleep.  I still don't
want to face an awake one, because an ancient multi-hued dragon nearly
killed me with its frost breath, and thus could have annihilated me with
its poison gas, against which I have no magical resistance.  The door is
stuck, and I don't want to waste too much time bashing it down, so I use
a spell to destroy it, and then haste myself.  I enter the room and
create some light, and then I see the dragon, which is green.

The dragon wakes up and breathes, leaving me gasping for breath.  Again,
this is an emergency, as any monster could kill me now if I teleport
near it, so I use one of my emergency supplies, a potion of complete
healing.  As an added bonus, the potion also neutralizes the poison.

Now I can drink a potion of heroism to improve my fighting ability,
switch to my dragon slayer, and charge toward the dragon.  The dragon
slayer gives me two attacks before the dragon strikes back; the first is
a superb hit, and the second a *GREAT* hit.  I realize just how great
these hits were when the dragon breathes again, with a breath of only
one quarter its normal strength.  A few more rounds of melee gives my
another dragon hoard, with a wand of clone monster the only interesting
item.

With this wand, I can try my trick of cloning young green dragons again.
This time, it is much easier, as the dragon slayer usually requires just
two or three blows, or one excellent blow, to dispatch a dragon.
Unfortunately, the wand blows up when I first try to recharge it, so I
don't get rich this time.
--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: augh.
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 23:29:14 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

pilgrim@daimi.aau.dk (Jakob G}rdsted) writes:
>Q: What is a death quasit?
>A: It is something that easily kills.

>My 29th level mage just met a death quasit! They're supposed to be
>common at 2000 feet; what the hell was it doing?

Maybe it got hungry?
-- 
_________________  "I'd like to answer this question in two ways:
  /____ _ _/_ __       First in my normal voice, and then
 // / //_//_ /_/       in a silly, high-pitched whine." (Monty Python)
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Wizard's Quest--Chapter 24
Date: 22 Jul 92 20:56:25 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics


I want to go back and fight the emperor lich that I left behind.  My
spell reveals no monsters nearby, so I enter the next section of the
dungeon, and try the spell again.  This time, it reveals an ancient
dragon, and I don't even get a chance to find out what color before a
terrible cloud of frost fills the corridor and knocks me down.  I have
fought ancient white dragons already, and I know they are not this
powerful; this blast nearly killed me even with my resistance.  I have
several ways of getting out of trouble with spells and staffs, but none
is completely reliable, and if I misuse the staff or my spell fizzles,
one more breath of anything will be the end of me.

The scroll of genocide, however, is guaranteed to work; I read it and
destroy all ancient dragons on the level.  After healing, I can now
return to the lich.

I am already hasted when I approach the lich; my spells reveal that it
is down the corridor.  I start casting lightning bolts, knowing that
undead hate them.  I have plenty of time, as the lich casts spells
rather than advancing half the time.  I usually resist the spells, and
have potions to drink if I don't.

After eight lightning bolts, the lich's spell teleports me next to it.
I run and it follows; I run again, and it casts a spell which fails,
giving me another chance for a lightning bolt.  The lich blinds me, so I
need to drink a potion to cure the blindness rather than casting another
lightning bolt; this time, it pursues me, and I keep running.  I
continue this process, running when the lich is next to me, and casting
spells when it isn't adjacent and I have the chance, but it seems to be
a very slow process, as twenty-five lightning bolts haven't hurt the
lich badly.

I'm almost out of mana now, and plan to teleport as soon as I get the
chance.  The lich drains the rest of my mana, healing itself, so I need
to use my staff to teleport away.  I recover the mana and haste myself
again, and then return to continue the battle.  This time, after twenty
lightning bolts, the lich teleports, and my spell of detect monsters
shows that it is hidden behind a wall, allowing me to rest before
resuming the battle.

I use stone-to-mud to dig a hole in the wall, and then start again with
the lightning bolts.  After fifty bolts, the lich's skeleton finally
crumbles.  That was a great battle, and my reward is that I can now
learn the spell of destruction.
--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: What hit me???
Date: 30 Jul 92 17:04:18 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics
In-reply-to: finn@convex.com's message of 30 Jul 92 13:36:39 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.133639.5822@convex.com>, Tom Finn writes:

>>[Dealing with Banshees]

>>2) Since I haven't yet found a ring of see invisible or an SU weapon, is
>>   there a way I can deal with it?

> Minor spoiler alert...

> You can also try bashing.  If there's nothing there, it won't use a move to
> try; if there is something there it does damage to it, and may stun it.
> However it also can put you off balance, and if the beastie recovers first
> it gets free hits.

This bug will be fixed in the next version.

--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Wizard's Quest--Chapter 31
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Date: 29 Jul 92 13:37:37 EDT
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics


Before going on a Balrog hunt, I return to town, and purchase a staff to
detect invisible creatures; my own spell won't locate the Balrog, so I
need a staff which will.  Upon returning to the dungeon, I am
disappointed that no Balrog resists my spell of genocide; I'll have to
go down deeper.

Evil Iggy now gives me little trouble; I can get to double his speed,
and fight-backup-fight him the way I do with other nasty monsters.
After dispatching him, I find the stairway down, to a depth of more than
half a mile.  This time, there is a Balrog which resists my spell; the
staff doesn't reveal its location.

With the Balrog down here, I dare not explore without hasting myself at
all times; whenever the haste runs out, I cast it again.  After I cross
half the level, I find the Balrog, three hundred feet away and closing
fast.  The Balrog loves to drain magical energy, so I throw all my wands
and staffs with charges across the room; if I'm in trouble, I still have
some scrolls.

The Balrog enters the room.  It immediately drains some of my mana; it
could now kill me with one breath, so I drink a potion which turns my
skin into steel, and start casting frost balls.  After five frost balls,
the Balrog reaches me and tramples me, but I am unharmed, thanks to the
potion.  When I run out of mana, I quaff a potion to restore my mana,
and continue with the spells.  The invulnerability runs out, and I
quickly drink another potion as the Balrog summons a vampire.

With the Balrog around, I can't bother with the vampire, even when it gets
in a lucky bite and drains some of my life energy.  In any case, I don't
need to worry; the Balrog's breath of fire is more powerful than any
dragon's, and the vampire disappears into a cloud of smoke.  One of my
potions boils away; I don't even bother to check which one.

After sixty frost balls, I run out of potions of restore mana, and start
striking with my Holy Avenger.  I have a lot of trouble hitting the
Balrog, and I'm afraid that I will run out of invulnerability potions.
As soon as I recover enough mana to cast a frost bolt, I cast one to
prevent the Balrog from draining the mana and healing itself.  The
Balrog summons a zombie kobold, then breathes fire, but the zombie
survives; the Balrog must be nearly dead.  One more lucky hit, and the
Balrog has fallen.

A voice of thunder booms out, "All Hail the Mighty King Izar!"  

Before assuming the throne, I want to search the Balrog's hoard, and
there I find the one useful item I never found in my quest, an amulet of
the magi.  This one is not going to the magic shop; I will keep it as my
prize from the final battle.
--
David Grabiner, grabiner@zariski.harvard.edu
"We are sorry, but the number you have dialed is imaginary."
"Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
Disclaimer: I speak for no one and no one speaks for me.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: negglest@st.nepean.uws.edu.au (Nicholas Eggleston)
Subject: Amiga Moria
Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 03:26:55 GMT
X-Posted-From: guinevere.st.nepean.uws.edu.au
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

Would anyone be kind enough to tell me a site from which I can
get the latest Moria for an Amiga.

		Thanks in Advance

			Nick Eggleston
From: madmax@cellar.org (Alex Strumpf)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Getting your stuff back
Date: 28 Jul 92 03:33:51 GMT
Organization: The Cellar BBS and public access system

km2a+@andrew.cmu.edu (Kenneth E. Mohnkern) writes:

> 
> Here's a gripe or suggestion for future versions or just a chance to
> vent some steam...
> 
> What happens to the stuff that a Brigand (for example) steals from your
> pack? Why can't I take it back after I toast the sleezy little
> orc-lover? He took two books of magic (I had replacement copies, thanx
> to netters' tips), a staff, and who knows what else - about 25 pounds of
> stuff! These critters must take it and eat it or something. I guess
> we're not dealing with reality here, so I should just learn to live with
> it. 
> 
> Excuse the rant and rave. I feel a little better now.
> 
> have a pleasant day,
>     ken

Probably it disappears into MORIA, to be regenerated in future games. :-)

madmax@cellar.org
PREFERRED mailpath: madmax%cellar@tredysvr.tredydev.unisys.com

"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

Doctor Who, ROBOT
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Anyone have code?
From: reed@pa881a.inland.com
Date: 20 Jul 92 10:20:53 CDT
Organization: Inland Steel Company, East Chicago, IN
Nntp-Posting-User: butzen

Could someone please e-mail me the uncompiled code for the newest version
of UMoria on the Mac?  I don't have any FTP access this summer and I'd like to
mess around with it a bit before I go back to school.  Thanx.


Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: donald@convex.com (Don Dodson)
Subject: Re: New character
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 20:44:38 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

From article <N4FgoB1w164w@waffle.sns.com>, by hank@waffle.sns.com (hankdtank):
> I want to start a new character, but I don't want to be a mage.  Anyone have 
> any hints on what character (ie race and class) I can try?

Dwarf Priests are fun.  Make sure you start out with Wisdom higher than 18/50.
You'll have to rely on your dagger until you learn Orb of Draining, but from
then on, you will be quite powerful.

Don
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price)
Subject: Re: Minimum spell failure chance
Reply-To: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
Organization: UCLA Particle Physics Research Group
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 20:12:40 GMT

In article <1992Jul29.161713.5850@iscsvax.uni.edu>, boelter3945@iscsvax.uni.edu writes:
>   Is it just me, or are there others out there without this problem?  I have a
>character (a something level Ranger, don't remember exactly, about 28) whose
>chance of spell failure for those beginning spells is 3%, not 5%.  I heard
>someone tell me that this chance can drop down to 1% based on character level,
>race, and primary stat (Int or Wis).

With VMS Moria 5.0 (is there a later version?), I have a 0% failure 
probability for all spells in the Beginner's and Magic I books with a 23rd 
level Human Mage, with an intelligence of 18/20.

           John Price * * * * price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
           Where there is no solution, there is no problem.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Minimum spell failure chance
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 08:49:26 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

>> 	Even the most experienced spellcaster is bound to botch a spell
>> every now and then, regardless of his or her experience.  To have a 0% failure
>> rate on spells would be unrealistic, and would diminish the challenge of the
>> game - imagine a mage who can *ALWAYS* depend on his teleport spell to bail
>> him out of a tough situation.

>My point was to only make the 0% apply to lower power spells.  I agree that a

Hey, guys... I agree with you both to some extent...
Truly, the 5% minimum is a pain in the bum. This means that one time out
of twenty the most commonly used spells (light, detect monsters, find hidden
traps/doors, all of which I use at least once every screenful, i.e. within
about 30 seconds I will use one of the three...)

However, I agree that no mage can get every spell off perfectly... so what
about a compromise... something like 2% sounds far more realistic to me...

Also, is it just that God has something against me personally, or is it
normal for an Identify spell with a failure rate of 80% (i.e. it should
work one time in 5) to fail about 30 or 40 times in a row? To be honest I
then seem to get 2 or 3 in a row before it fails again for another 20...
but this doesn't strike me as being near 80%... ;-(
I am starting to like the idea of using some better system than random
numbers to decide failure... like a counter that moves with time so that
as you keep casting spells successfully, the chance that any spell will
fail increases, so that you are guaranteed to fail once in 'x' times, and
you are more likely to succeed/fail reasonably close to the 'success rate'.
This kind of system could also lower the chance of *both* those fire bolts
at the Ancient blue failing... without entirely removing the chance of
a double-failure!

If not that, at least a means to say "Keep resting and casting this spell
until it works!" would be nice! Invoking Identify (and resting) 10 or so
times in a row is a real bummer... And this sort of thing doesn't actually
affect the game, merely the ease of play...just automating stuff that is
tiresome for the user to keep invoking...

-- 
_________________  "I'd like to answer this question in two ways:
  /____ _ _/_ __       First in my normal voice, and then
 // / //_//_ /_/       in a silly, high-pitched whine." (Monty Python)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: 890751r@dragon.acadiau.ca (Dave Ritacco)
Subject: TC++ compiling IBM Version
Organization: Acadia University
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 00:45:02 GMT

    Getting errors in misc.1 that bombs out the compilation. References to
colors and display functions that my compiler doesn't seem to recognize. I fooled
d around with the project file, but no luck. TC++ said it converted it ok, but things still seem mucked up. Anyone out there having similiar probs/ solved simi. probs?




-- 
************************************************************************
*        Dave Ritacco                Product of Acadia University      *
*           "Why don't you pull the trigger and find out?"             *
*        ritacco@otter.phys.uvic.ca                W.H.Bonney          *
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: rages@pan.arc.nasa.gov (kathy rages)
Subject: Re: Ego weapons (and some gripes)
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 19:35:20 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.183953.8443@sei.cmu.edu> poh@sei.cmu.edu (Peter Hill) writes:
>
>I was wondering, are ego weapons always rare or are they more common as
>you go down levels?  I'm on level 45 now and the only thing I've found
>is a Foil (FT) 1d5 [+6,+5]  I wouldn't even have bothered to identify it
>except that I was getting really frustrated by not finding anything.

Not long ago I found a Lance (HA) 2d8 [+??,+??] (+1 to STR) at about
level 15.  The only problem was it weighed 30 lbs and I didn't have
the strength to wield it (I tried, and I couldn't hit the broad side
of a barn).  I lugged it around until yesterday, when it got toasted
by a Fire Giant on level 18.
From: zk@coos.dartmouth.edu (Generator)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Argh!!
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:21:27 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

tpodbury@metz.une.edu.au (Troy Podbury) writes:

>	You will be very lucky to find a speed item before 2000 and more
>likely around 2500 and deeper. Obviously you are not ready for that depth yet
>so take your time and identify everything. ( do you throw away soft leather
>boots??? I know I have....   before.)

Yes, you must be lucky, but it is definitely not impossible. I'm a lev
30 rogue and I found 3(yes, 3)(2 rings of speed (+1) and hard leather
boots of speed [3, +3] (+1)) speed items (and a good df weapon) at a
level under 1400ft (I don't remember the exact level), so it is
definitely worth trying to identify things. 
BTW, I'm playing Moria 5.4, non-wizard mode.


--
            Generator aka zk@coos.dartmouth.edu alias Gen Saur
      email: gen.saur@dartmouth.edu, gensaur@northstar.dartmouth.edu
             "I don't know. I'm making this up as I go"
                       -Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"  
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: jra37189@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kwyjibo)
Subject: haste self
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 20:00:44 GMT


A question: Are Haste Self potions sold in any of the stores
at any given time, and if so, which stores sell them?  Would
it be the Priest store, the magic potion store, or both?  I
have never seen any for sale, and I have yet to find any in
the dungeon.

		Aragorn, the 29th level ranger
From: JMoylan@cup.portal.com (John Thomas Moylan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Purple X's Mac port of Moria (bug?)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 20:41:01 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: na

where may I find this particular version of Moria? (I apparently missedf
any posts announcing this item...)

thanksJohn
Organization: Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA