HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 09:28:58 -0400 
From: "Kenneth E. Mohnkern" <km2a+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Any hints?


I need some of this sort of advice too, but I'll share what I know.

hankdtank@waffle.sns.com writes:
>I AM A HALF-ELF MAGE WIZARD (3RD) ON LEVEL 33.  MY STRENGTH, INTEL, CON, 
>DEX, CHR, AND WIS IS AT LEAST ABOVE 18\60.  DO YOU HAVE ANY HINTS FOR ME WHE
>N I GO EVEN DEEPER INTO THE DUNGEON?

My first real character, a 27th level mage, Ed, has been down to 1900
ft, but has had to retreat up to the shallower levels since the
invisible critters are destroying me. I'm no expert, but I think I need
some sort of equipment that'll allow me to see invisible. I also need to
get my STR (at least) up past 10. I've found the Wizard's Quest stories
to be very helpful. Check them out.

>WHAT SCROLLS AND WAND DO I NEED?  
Scrolls and wands that get you out (physically) of a desperate situation
are good to have - like scroll of phase door, wand of teleportation,
etc. Since I'm always getting my stats drained, I have a few potions of
retore (life levels, dexterity, etc.) and a ring each of sustain
dexterity and sustain strength that I put on if I know I'm going to be
doing battle with one of those draining buggers. For offense, I usually
just use my spells - fire/frost balls, bolts - and a wand of lightning
balls I found. My drain life wand didn't take to recharging...

>IN THE 
>ARMOR "BAR CHAIN MAIL (-2) [+18,+4]," WHAT DOES THE -2 MEAN?
You'll get more authoritative answers from others, but I understand it
to be the amount of "unwieldiness" of the armor. Since it's so heavy and
bulky, you get 2 points taken from your (to-hit?) points.

>ALSO WHAT IS THE BEST USE FOR THE DESTRUCTION STAFF?
I used mine once and it knocked the walls all asunder and (I think) all
the monsters in the screen were either destroyed or ran away. So I guess
it's another desperation weapon. It probably does yourself some damage.
It at least blinded me. 

Here's a question: do you get experience points for destroying creatures
with something like a staff of destruction? or genocide? I'd guess not.
Are there other ways of killing things without gaining experience?

And need I ask it - if I've made any mistakes here, please correct them. 

    ken
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Has anyone defeated this creature?
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:11:30 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics


If you have been working on the source code and have defeated this
creature, please send me the weapon you used; I'm working on the next
version of Umoria.

The Software Bug: 
3 of the contributors to your monster memory have been killed by this
creature, and at least 100 of the beasts have been exterminated.  It can
be found anywhere, and moves very erratically and very quickly.  A kill
of this creature is worth an expression of thanks from all players.  It
is magical, casting spells which cause segmentation faults, destroy
objects, and print strange messages; 1 time in 15.  It has an armor
rating of 0 and an infinite life rating.  It can move invisibly and pass
through walls.  It is susceptible to bug reports which include the
version number and system.  It may sometimes carry a core dump.  It can
bite to delete.
--
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: poh@sei.cmu.edu (Peter Hill)
Subject: Ego weapons (and some gripes)
Organization: Software Engineering Institute
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 18:39:53 GMT


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.
	Another question.  Are Emperor Liches worth the trouble of killing?
by the time I managed to knock off the one I ran into I had lost about 3
levels.  I quaffed a potion of restore life levels but that only brought
me up to where I was before I even ran into the jerk!  I think the 
experience you gain from killing life draining monsters should be added
to your maximum experience as well as your current. (or maybe that would defeat
the whole purpose, but I had to gripe) 
	Is there any implementation of Alignment in Moria?  I've played Nethack
so I'm sometimes paranoid about knocking off blubbering idiots and pitiful
street Urchins.  But they are so damn annoying when you're trying to rest up
in town before going back to the dungeon.  
	I also agree whole heartedly with the idea of getting back what
Bandits, etc.. steal from you.  At this point I can usually knock them
off with spells, but when I wasn't quite so powerful they used to soak
up all my gold and only give back a fraction, if any, of it when they died.
	
	Other than that I love moria!!!

Pete
From: bigham@acpub.duke.edu (Scott Bigham)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Getting your stuff back
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:40:29 GMT
Organization: n. Arrangement in an orderly or logical fashion.  See "miracle".

From the Holy Book of <1992Jul29.194617.22663@u.washington.edu>
  as spake by angus@hardy.u.washington.edu (Angus the Demonchild) :
>                                                        [...]  One
>objection I could see is that it would be an enormous drain of cpu
>time, since it would have to maintain inventories for every single
>monster, rather than generating treasure randomly when it dies. It
>could be argued that only monsters that pick up or steal items need
>this.

It's not terribly hard; I did it in a hacked version of 4.87 a long time
ago.  Rather than introduce the idea of an "inventory" for monsters, I
added an array of objects which had been stolen on that level.  All the
objects stolen by a given monster were threaded together as a linked
list, and a single integer flag in the monster record pointed to the
head of the list.  When the creature is killed, just go down the list
and recreate each item.  Granted, it's not perfect (for instance, if you
killed the monster in a dead-end corridor and he'd stolen a _lot_ of
stuff, there might not be room to create it all), and it does change the
layout of the savefile, creating potential incompatibility (though a
clever restore routine could do the conversion automagically), but it's
not actually difficult to implement.  And I agree, I would _love_ to see
this in "official" Moria.

						-sbigham
-- 
Scott Bigham                   | The opinions expressed above are
bigham@hercules.acpub.duke.edu | (c) 1992 Hacker Ltd. and cannot be
                               | copied or distributed without a
                               | Darn Good Reason(tm).
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: ddn21434@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Me!)
Subject: Re: Any Hints?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 21:58:23 GMT

Vasilii.V.Petrenko@dartmouth.edu (Vasilii V. Petrenko) writes:

>the [-2] in front of the armor means that you are more likely to get
>hit when wearing the armor, however, because of the protection that
>your armor provides, it doesn't really matter.  whenever you wear armor
>i think you're more likely to get hit - i don't know why - i guess
>because youre more noticible or something.

>-Karen Reed

Actually, the (-2) is -2 to hit.  It is due to the bulkiness of the armor 
which prevents you from moving as fast.
From: GAMEL@rzmain.rz.uni-ulm.de (GAMEL ANTON)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: diff VMS-MORIA vs UMORIA
Date: 21 Jul 92 21:23:45 GMT
Organization: University of Ulm, Germany
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.23

Hi all!

Sorry, if this is a FAQ but can someone please tell me the
differences between VMS-Moria Version 4.80 and UMORIA??
Are the character-files compatible, the best way
to change and so on...

If possible please reply directly to <GAMEL@DULRUU51.bitnet>
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
:            Anton J. Gamel              : <GAMEL@DULRUU51.bitnet>            :
:        Elf Priest 30st level           : <GAMEL@RZMAIN.RZ.UNI-ULM.DE>       :
: -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  : <GAMEL@PATVCL.RZ.UNI-ULM.DE>       :
:    Die on VMS and start at Level 0     : <GAMEL@RZ.UNI-ULM.DBP.DE>          :
:                                        : <GAMEL@INFORMATIK.UNI-FREIBURG.DE> :
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
From: swota@cs.albany.edu (Judith A Swota)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Getting your stuff back
Date: 29 Jul 92 02:52:56 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Department, SUNY at Albany, Albany, NY 12222
Originator: swota@odin.albany.edu

In posting <...> Kenneth E. Mohnkern wrote:

> 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?  [Rest of Griping deleted]

YEAH!!  This has always bothered the heck out of me too!  Unless the
theiving critters have had a chance to teleport away before I kill them,
I SHOULD be able to retrieve everything they stole from me when they
die.  If they HAVE teleported away, then I suppose you could argue
they'd had time to deposit all the goodies in some secret lair.  In that
case, it might be a nice touch to have the lair be locatable - e.g.,
somewhere on that same level I could get back all my stuff if I just
explore far enough.  Oh well, wishful thinking...


-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judith               | 	A bore is someone who insists on keeping his own
		     | 	 views after we have enlightened him with ours.
swota@cs.albany.edu  |  		      
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: arsmith@nyx.cs.du.edu (Alan Smith)
Subject: Re: New character
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 92 17:30:35 GMT

In article <N4FgoB1w164w@waffle.sns.com> hankdtank <hank@waffle.sns.com> 
rites:
>I want to start a new character, but I don't want to be a mage.  Anyone 
ave 
>any hints on what character (ie race and class) I can try?
>
I was always partial to Rangers, myself.  Kind of a cross between a mage
and a fighter.  (Somebody else said this) Using humans you start out at 14
hp (using elves only 11).  You pick up one mana point per level you
advance. 
You could also try rogues, too, I never did but I hear they're good..
Fighter is an obvous choice, if you don't mind not using majic, (and a
poor search ability) you also can use the more exotic races (Half-orc and
the like) as fighters.

Bigal the 10th level Ranger (currently waiting for them to recompile moria
on this machine)

Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: rmaddy@eos.ncsu.edu (RICHARD M ADDY)
Subject: Re: Getting your stuff back
Originator: rmaddy@c00520-118rd.eos.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: rmaddy@eos.ncsu.edu (RICHARD M ADDY)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 13:47:52 GMT


In posting <...> angus@hardy.u.washington.edu wrote:

> None the less, the idea is intriguing.  Perhaps monsters could even
> use the items they grabbed.  It would give those kobolds at 1500' a
> bit of a survival advantage.
> 
> "The kobold hits you with his Katana (+10,+10) (DF)!  -more-"

I only have one question - what does DF stand for on a weapon?
-- 
---------------------------------------------
Richard Addy
NCSU
rmaddy@eos.ncsu.edu

"One Objects! 
   One is miffed in the extreme!"
           - Eupathic Impulse
                  _Jack_the_Bodiless_
                      Julian May
From: angus@hardy.u.washington.edu (Angus the Demonchild)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Usefulness of misc objects
Date: 22 Jul 92 19:15:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Jul22.191557.27117
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

In article <549fo1n@Unify.Com> dbrus.Unify.Com.ceb@unify.uucp 
(Caroline E. Bryan) writes:
>Please help out a novice (email if you prefer):

>What earthly use are
>	broken shards of pottery
>	empty bottle
>	filthy rags
>	large bone
>	other apparent trash whose description escapes me at the moment??
...

Filthy rags occasionally provide passable body armor, as they have
equal probablities for being tagged.  One of my mages went around for
quite a while in filthy rags (1,+5) (RF).  Other than that, all the
items you mentioned are almost completely useless.  I think, though,
that it would be nice if one could wield a bone as a weapon.  You
could have a Half-Troll warrior named Gilgamesh slay an AMHD with the
jawbone of an ass. :)

--
Disclaimer:  I could be wrong.  It wouldn't be the first time.

another fine product from the house of angst
From: martijn@cwi.nl (Martijn Roos Lindgreen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Amiga Moria..
Date: 30 Jul 92 14:35:03 GMT

Rob_Tan@kcbbs.gen.nz (Rob Tan) writes:

>However.. as usual, a problem has popped up.. a large one at that..
>It would seem that I cannot un-lha it.. not with the Amiga lha.. or 
>with the ibm lha.. I'm guessing that its using unix lha or something.. 

Yes, I can remember something like that. Having a copy just before
the weekend, rushing home, nothing. Can't remember where I got the
right packing methog though. Sorry about that.

One minor(?) bug in the graphics version:

When reading a scroll of genocide the program asks which
monster to genocide. Unfortunately my keyboard has no keys
with little pictures of monsters on it, so when I tried
to genocide ant-lions I guessed wrong and genocided the
(Emperor?) Lich in the next room. Oh well, at least it
does something :-)

Bo de Beuker.
From: grabiner@math.harvard.edu (David Grabiner)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Information for anyone archiving the Wizard's Quest
Date: 29 Jul 92 22:03:37 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Dept. of Mathematics


If anyone would like a copy of the complete Wizard's Quest, I can
assemble a tar or shar file, or simply concatenate the chapters.

The Wizard's Quest story is based on Umoria 5.4.0.  It is also valid for
earlier 5.x versions, although there have been a few minor changes.

There have been significant changes between 4.87 and 5.x.  Much of the
story may still be useful for 4.87 players, but it won't be faithful,
and some techniques will not work.  (For example, liches in 4.87 do not
take double damage from light, and most spells do less damage.)

One change in the next version of Umoria will be inconsistent with the
story; I will post diffs or changes to the relevant portions.

--
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: mjb@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew J. Bernhardt)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Hello
Date: 21 Jul 92 20:59:12 GMT
Organization: UB

hank@waffle.sns.com (hankdtank) writes:

>I am a Half-Troll Mage on level 32.  Any one have any tips on how I can 
>prepare myself for the battles ahead

	Are you playing a nonstandard version? (Half-trolls can only be
warriors or priests in most versions of Moria.)

	Also, what do you mean by level 32?  Is your character level 32, or
is your character currently at 1600 feet? (Also level 32.)

-- 
Matt Bernhardt
University of Buffalo             THIS SPACE FOR RENT.
mjb@acsu.buffalo.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: help!
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 00:46:26 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland
Keywords: Need data for this game!!!

gjs@aber.ac.uk (Gary John Salter) writes:

>1) What are gauntlets of free action?

Protect you from being paralysed (which means that any nearby creatures get
to beat you up for several/many turns before you can do *anything* - very
nasty, especially at lower levels when you meet Iridescent beetles etc)

>2) What protection is given by a ring of lordly protection {cold} (+5)?

It is equivalent to a ring of resist cold (1/3rd damage from cold) PLUS
a +5 ring of protection (+5 to AC), but only takes up one ring finger!

>3) How do you kill ghosts?

You hit them. Or you fire spells/prayers/bolts/arrows/etc at them.
It is helpful to be able to see them, so yearn for ring of see invisible,
amulet of the magi, HA/(DF?) weapons, etc. etc. and keep a staff/potions/
scrolls of detect invisible to help you lacate them...

Other tricks for hitting invisible creatures have just been mentioned (use
area effect weapons - cold balls, stinking clouds - at walls near to where
you think the invisible creature is. Find a stairway and get off the level
when in deep strife, etc.)

I suppose another dinky trick is to hit the invisible creature with a polymorph
spell/wand/staff, but this will just as easily get you into strife as out
of it!

-- 
_________________  "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: mjb@acsu.buffalo.edu (Matthew J. Bernhardt)
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: New character
Date: 28 Jul 92 16:07:21 GMT
Organization: UB

hank@waffle.sns.com (hankdtank) writes:

>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?

	The priest is a common choice of those players who do not wish to be
mages.  There are two main approaches to the priesthood:

	1. Play a dwarf priest, and roll one up with 18/50 wisdom or higher.
Not easy to do, but worth it for the extra prayers.

	2. Play a half-troll priest.  You can forget high wisdom with this 
one, but he'll be a real bruiser.  Roll one up with high strength and 
constitution (easy to do), and reasonable dexterity.  Play him as a warrior
at low levels, until you start learning useful prayers (e.g. Orb of Draining).

-- 
Matt Bernhardt
University of Buffalo             THIS SPACE FOR RENT.
mjb@acsu.buffalo.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Re: Level Descent
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 02:17:08 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

lrfox@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (linda ream fox) writes:

>What is a good rate for descending levels per your class level.  That is, I'm a
>15th level rogue, and I'm currently down at 200 feet.  Is this too slow or too 
>fast?  I'd been assuming about one level per 5 class levels, but that seems
>awfully slow--and boring!

Fifteenth level? Woah!
Try dropping about another 500 to 1000 feet!

Basically, you should drop levels (carefully) until you experience some
difficulty in slaying the denizens... and then wait at that level for a while
until things get boring again...

You will also stand a much better chance of getting good magical items the
deeper you go, which again increases your ability to kill kill kill.

The Balrog lies at 2500 feet and lower, and you should be in the high-end
of the character levels (35-40) by the time you venture that deep, so I
guess you should go down about 80 feet per character level you gain...
but after you have played for a while you'll get a better feel for how
deep you can safely go (for example, if you pick up a speed item at 1450ft
then you can drop about 500 feet deeper immediately because the speed gives
you such an advantage against the cannon-fodder.

Once you have learnt what creatures can do to you, you can also avoid ones
that can hurt your character much mre, reducing the risks when running into
really nasty creatures...

-- 
_________________  "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: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price)
Subject: more mysterious stuff...
Reply-To: price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
Organization: UCLA Particle Physics Research Group
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 92 23:50:58 GMT

OK, I've found two more things that I don't recognize...a "Mushroom of 
First-Aid" and a "Mushroom of Restoring".  I've heard talk about the latter 
one that it's a Good Thing To Have, but I'm not sure what it does.  From 
the name, I would suspect that it would restore some (possibly all) stats 
after they've been drained by some nasty?  If so, what does this apply to?  
Just the six basic stats, or experience as well?

As to the Mushroom of First-Aid, I haven't a clue beyond the obvious 
suggestion of the name...

           John Price * * * * price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu
           Where there is no solution, there is no problem.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Amiga Moria..
From: Rob_Tan@kcbbs.gen.nz (Rob Tan)
Date: 30 Jul 92 04:17:52 GMT
Organization: Kappa Crucis Unix BBS, Auckland, New Zealand

THanx to all who emailed me regarding GfxMoria v1.1 for the Amiga by 
Henrik Harmsen.. I have now gotten myself a copy..

However.. as usual, a problem has popped up.. a large one at that..
It would seem that I cannot un-lha it.. not with the Amiga lha.. or 
with the ibm lha.. I'm guessing that its using unix lha or something.. 
& why an amiga file got crunched with a lha other than that of the amiga 
counterpart is beyond me.. so can anyone help me out with how I could 
extract the fiels from the lha archive? Henrik? Did you compress it 
with lha or did someone else do it? 

I must say its awfully frustating having a copy & not being able to 
extract the game to view it.. less said about playing it.. argh..

Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: 10563563@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (ARTHUR GIANNAKIS)
Subject: moria database
Keywords: Need data for this game!!!
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Monash University 
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 06:49:53 GMT

Does anybody out there have a database or similar for moria.
Things like weapon damage (ego weapons etc.), wand damage or effects,
amulet effects and data on monsters like hit points, damage, AC,
special abilites etc. would be greatly appreciated.I had a Norton utility
once which had all this information but it's since "died" and I would greatly
appreciate a copy from anybody or any pointers as to where I could find one
on these mailing boards as I've started playing this great game again and its
got me hooked, once again.............
If anyone is willing to oblige leave your reply in this news list rec.games.
moria.


				THANX...........
						The Metallian.
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
From: ksoutor@unlinfo.unl.edu (kevin soutor)
Subject: The Utilization of Rounded Pebbles
Organization: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 16:38:00 GMT

Just love those big piles of rounded pebbles: it
only takes two to destroy most fungoid monsters.
Very useful for low level hobbit mages of limited
hit points and mana!

Testi Hangarsson, 4th level Halfling Mage
From: dls30876@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (DaveMan )
Newsgroups: rec.games.moria
Subject: Amulet of DOOM
Date: 28 Jul 92 20:36:27 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

I was on level 40 with my 34th lvl ranger when I identified an
Amulet of DOOM (-5).  What exactly is this?  I know it sounds bad
and I was not about to try it on for size, but I would like to know
just for curiosity.  Thanks in advance.  




To err is human; to really screw things up requires a computer.

DaveMan