| Advanced Rogue Copyright (C) 1984, 1985 Michael Morgan, Ken Dalka and AT&T All rights reserved. |
| Based on "Rogue: Exploring the Dungeons of Doom" Copyright (C) 1980, 1981 Michael Toy, Ken Arnold and Glenn Wichman All rights reserved. |
| See the file LICENSE.TXT for full copyright and licensing information. |
ABSTRACT
Rogue was first introduced by Michael Toy at the University of California at Berkeley as a screen-oriented fantasy game. The game had 26 types of monsters that the player could meet while exploring a dungeon generated by the computer. Scrolls, potions, rings, wands, staves, armor, and weapons helped the player to battle these monsters and to gain gold, the basis for scoring.
The version of Rogue described in this guide has been expanded to include over 110 monsters with many new capabilities. Many of the monsters are intelligent, and they, like the player, must avoid traps and decide when it is better to fight or to run. The player chooses a character class at the beginning of the game which defines the player's abilities. Experience, rather than gold, decides the player's score.
Rogue is a screen-oriented fantasy game set in the ever-changing Dungeons of Doom. The game comes complete with monsters, spells, weapons, armor, potions, and other magical items. The dungeon's geography changes with every game, and although many magical items have certain identifiable properties, such as turning the player invisible, the physical manifestation of the magic changes each game. A red potion, for example, will cause the same reaction throughout a given game, but it may be a completely different potion in a new game.
Entering the dungeon with only a little food, armor, and a weapon, the player must develop a good strategy of when to fight, when to run, and how to best use any magical items found in the dungeon. To make things interesting, the player has a quest to return one of several unique artifacts, rumored to lie deep in the dungeon's bowels. Returning with this artifact brings great glory and the title of Complete Winner. But even after finding the artifact, the player may wish to continue further to match wits with an arch-devil, demon prince, or even a deity found far down in the dungeon. Defeating such a creature will gain the player many experience points, the basis for scoring in Rogue.
It is very difficult to return from the Dungeons of Doom. Few people ever make it out alive. Should this unlikely event occur, the player would be proclaimed a complete winner and handsomely rewarded for any booty removed from the dungeon.
Before placing the player in the dungeon, the game requests the player to select a character class: a fighter, a magic user, a cleric, or a thief.
2.1 The Fighter
A fighter is very strong and will have a high strength rating. This great strength gives a fighter the best odds of winning a battle with a monster. At high experience levels the fighter also gets to attack multiple times in a single turn. This obviously further increases his chances at winning battles. Intrinsic to the fighter class is a robustness which results in 1 to 10 extra hit points for every new experience level.
2.2 The Magician
A magician's major attribute is intelligence, which enables the magician to cast spells. The number and variety of spells increases as the magician gains experience and intelligence. Other types of characters can cast spells, but only if they manage to gain extraordinarily high intelligence. Magic users are not as hearty as fighters; they receive 1 to 8 extra hit points for every new experience level.
2.3 The Cleric
A cleric has a high wisdom rating and can thus pray. The number and variety of prayers which the gods are willing to grant to a cleric increase as the cleric gains experience and wisdom. Other character types can pray only if they manage to gain extraordinary wisdom.
Because of their religious nature, clerics can also affect the "undead" beings, like zombies and ghouls, which became monsters after they died. If an "undead" creature is next to a cleric, the cleric may try to turn it and cause it to flee. If the cleric is sufficiently powerful relative to the monster, the cleric will destroy it. This ability increases as the character gains experience levels.
Clerics can gain from 1 to 8 extra hit points on reaching a new experience level.
2.4 The Thief
A thief is exceptionally dextrous and has a good chance to set a trap or rob a monster. Any type of character can try to set a trap or steal from a monster standing next to the character, but the chances of success are low compared to a thief's chances.
By their nature, thieves can automatically detect all the gold on the current level of the dungeon. They are also good at detecting hidden traps. Because thieves slink along, they are not as likely as other characters to wake sleeping monsters. If a thief manages to sneak up on a creature without waking it, he will get a chance to backstab the monster. When this is done, the damage done by the thief greatly increases based on his experience level.
Thieves gain from 1 to 6 extra hit points from a new experience level.
2.5 CONSTITUTION
Every character has a constitution rating. A character with an exceptionally good constitution will gain more than the normal amount of hit points associated with the character's class when the character reaches a new experience level. Exceptional constitution also provides better protection versus poison-based attacks and diseases.
2.6 Experience Levels
Characters gain experience for killing monsters, stealing from monsters, and turning monsters. Each character class has a set of thresholds associated with it. When a character reaches a threshold, the character attains the next experience level. This new level brings extra hit points and a greater chance of success in performing the abilities associated with the character's class. Magicians receive new spells, and clerics receive new prayers.
Thieves have the lowest threshold for gaining experience levels, followed by clerics. Fighters are next, and magicians have the highest threshold.
During the normal course of play, the screen consists of three separate sections: the top line of the terminal, the bottom two lines of the terminal, and the remaining middle lines. The top line reports actions which occur during the game, the middle section depicts the dungeon, and the bottom lines describe the player's current condition.
3.1 The Top Line
Whenever anything happens to the player, such as finding a scroll or hitting or being hit by a monster, a short report of the occurrence appears on the top line of the screen. When such reports occur quickly, one right after another, the game displays the notice followed by the prompt '--More--.' After reading this notice, the player can press a space to display the next message. At such a point, the game ignores all commands until the player presses a space.
3.2 The Dungeon Section
The large middle section of the screen displays the player's surroundings using the following symbols:
| | | A wall of a room. | |
| - | A wall of a room. | |
| * | A pile of gold. | |
| % | A way to the next level. | |
| + | A doorway. | |
| . | The floor in a room. | |
| @ | The player. | |
| _ | The player, when invisible. | |
| # | The floor in a passageway. | |
| ! | A flask containing a potion. | |
| ? | A sealed scroll. | |
| : | Some food. | |
| ) | A weapon. | |
| Solid rock (denoted by a space). | ||
| ] | Some armor. | |
| ; | A miscellaneous magic item. | |
| , | An artifact. | |
| = | A ring. | |
| / | A wand or a staff. | |
| ^ | The entrance to a trading post. | |
| > | A trapdoor leading to the next level | |
| { | An arrow trap | |
| $ | A sleeping gas trap | |
| } | A beartrap | |
| ~ | A trap that teleports you somewhere else | |
| ` | A poison dart trap | |
| " | a shimmering magic pool | |
| ' | An entrance to a maze | |
| $ | Any magical item. (During magic detection) | |
| > | A blessed magical item. (During magic detection) | |
| < | A cursed magical item. (During magic detection) | |
| A letter | A monster. Note that a given letter may signify multiple monsters, depending on the level of the dungeon. The player can always identify a current monster by using the identify command ('/'). |
3.3 The Status Section
The bottom two lines of the screen describe the player's current status. The first line gives the player's characteristics:
Intelligence (Int)
Strength (Str)
Wisdom (Wis)
Dexterity (Dxt)
Constitution (Const)
Charisma (Char)
Encumberance (Carry)
Intelligence, strength, wisdom, dexterity, and constitution have a normal maximum of 25, but can be higher when augmented by a ring. Encumberance is a measurement of how much the player can carry versus how much he is currently carrying. The more you carry relative to your maximum causes you to use more food.
The second status line provides the following information:
The current level (Lvl) in the dungeon. This number increases as the player goes further down.
How much gold (Au) the player is carrying.
The player's current number of hit points (Hp), followed in parentheses by the player's current maximum number of hit points. Hit points express the player's health. As a player heals by resting, the player's current hit points gradually increase until reaching the current maximum. This maximum increases each time a player attains a new experience level. If the player's current hit points reach 0, the player dies.
The player's armor class (Ac). This number describes the amount of protection provided by the armor and rings currently worn by the player. Wearing no armor is equivalent to an armor class of 10. The protection level increases as the armor class decreases.
The player's current experience level (Exp) followed by the player's experience points. The player can gain experience points by killing monsters, successfully stealing from monsters, and turning monsters. When a player gains enough experience points to surpass a threshold that depends on the player's character type, the player reaches a new experience level. A new experience level brings extra hit points and possibly added abilities, such as a new spell for a magician or a new prayer for a cleric.
A description of the player's character. This description depends on the player's character type and experience level.
A player can invoke most Rogue commands by typing a single character. Some commands, however, require a direction, in which case the player types the command character followed by a directional command. Many commands can be prefaced by a number, indicating how many times the command should be executed.
When the player invokes a command referring to an item in the player's pack (such as reading a scroll), the game prompts for the item. The player should then type the letter associated with the item, as displayed by the inventory command. Typing a '*' at this point produces a list of the eligible items.
Rogue understands the following commands:
| ? | Preceding a command by a '?' produces a brief explanation of the command. The command '?*' gives an explanation of all the commands. | |
| / | Preceding a symbol by a '/' identifies the symbol. | |
| h | Move one position to the left. | |
| j | Move one position down. | |
| k | Move one position up. | |
| l | Move one position to the right. | |
| y | Move one position to the top left. | |
| u | Move one position to the top right. | |
| b | Move one position to the bottom left. | |
| n | Move one position to the bottom right | |
| H | Run to the left until reaching something interesting. | |
| J | Run down until reaching something interesting. | |
| K | Run up until reaching something interesting. | |
| L | Run to the right until reaching something interesting. | |
| Y | Run to the top left until reaching something interesting. | |
| U | Run to the top right until reaching something interesting. | |
| B | Run to the bottom left until reaching something interesting. | |
| N | Run to the bottom right until reaching something interesting | |
| t | This command, followed by a directional command, prompts for an object from the players pack. The player then throws the object in the specified direction. | |
| f | When this command precedes a directional command, the player moves in the specified direction until passing something interesting. | |
| z | This command must be followed by a directional command. Rogue then prompts for a wand or staff from the player's pack and zaps it in the specified direction. | |
| > | Go down to the next level. | |
| < | Go up to the next level. | |
| s | Search for a secret door or a trap in the circle surrounding the player. | |
| . | This command (a dot) causes the player to rest a turn. | |
| i | Display an inventory of the player's pack. | |
| I | This command prompts for an item from the player's pack and displays the inventory information for that item. | |
| q | Quaff a potion from the player's pack. | |
| r | Read a scroll from the player's pack. | |
| e | Eat some food from the player's pack. | |
| w | Wield a weapon from the player's pack. | |
| W | Wear some armor or miscellaneous magic item from the player's pack. | |
| T | Take off whatever the player is wearing. | |
| P | Put on a ring from the player's pack. The player can wear a maximum of eight rings. | |
| R | Remove a ring from the player's hand. | |
| ^U | Use a miscellaneous magic item in the player's pack. | |
| d | Drop an item from the player's pack. | |
| c | When the player types this command, Rogue prompts for an item from the player's pack and a one-line name. Rogue then calls all similar items (such as all the blue potions) by the specified name. | |
| m | When the player types this command, Rogue prompts for an item from the player's pack and a one-line name. Rogue then marks the specified item with the given name. | |
| o | Typing this command causes Rogue to display all the settable options. The player can then merely examine the options or change any or all of them. | |
| C | This command, restricted to magicians and characters with exceptionally high intelligence, produces a listing of the magician's current supply of spells. The player can select one of the displayed spells and, if the player's energy level is sufficiently high, cast it. The more complicated the spell, the more energy it takes. | |
| p | This command, restricted to clerics and characters with exceptionally high wisdom, produces a listing of the cleric's known prayers. The player can then offer one of these prayers to the character's deity. Deities are not known for favoring characters which continually pray to them, and they are most likely to answer the least "ambitious" prayers. | |
| a | This command is restricted to clerics and characters with exceptionally high wisdom and must be followed by a directional command. If there is an "undead" monster standing next to the player in the specified direction, there is a chance the player will affect the monster by causing it to flee or possibly even destroying it. | |
| ^ | This command sets a trap and is most likely to succeed for a character with a high dexterity, such as a thief. If the character is successful, Rogue prompts the player for a type of trap and sets it where the player is standing. | |
| G | This command is restricted to thieves. It causes Rogue to display all the gold on the current level. | |
| D | Dip something into a magic pool. | |
| ^T | This command is most likely to succeed for a character with a high dexterity, such as a thief, and it must be followed by a directional command. If there is a monster standing next to the player in the specified direction, the player tries to steal an item from the monster's pack. If the player is successful, the monster does not notice anything, but if the player is unsuccessful, there is a chance the monster will wake up. | |
| ^L | Redraw the screen. | |
| ^R | Repeat the last message that was displayed on the top line of the screen. | |
| Escape (^[) | Typing an escape will usually cause Rogue to cancel the current command. | |
| v | Print the current Rogue version number. | |
| ! | Escape to the shell level. | |
| S | Quit and save the game for resumption at a later time. | |
| Q | Quit without saving the game. |
There is no "attack" command. If a player wishes to attack a monster, the player simply tries to move onto the spot where the monster is standing. The game then assumes that the player wishes to attack the monster with whatever weapon the player is wielding.
When the player moves onto an item, the game automatically places the object into the player's pack. If there is no room left in the pack, the game announces that fact and leaves the item on the floor.
Some rooms in the dungeon possess a natural light source. In other rooms and in corridors the player can see only those things within a one space radius from the player. These dark rooms can be lit with magical light or by a fire beetle.
The player can wield exactly one weapon at a time. When the player attacks a monster, the amount of damage depends on the particular weapon the player is wielding. To fire a projectile weapon, such as a crossbow or a short bow, the player should wield the bow and "throw" the bolt or arrow at the monster.
A weapon may be cursed or blessed, affecting the likelihood of hitting a monster with the weapon and the damage the weapon will inflict on the monster. If the player has identified a weapon, the "to hit" and "to damage" bonuses appear in that order before the weapon's name in an inventory listing. A positive bonus indicates a blessed weapon, and a negative bonus usually indicates a cursed weapon. The player cannot release a cursed weapon.
Without any armor the player has an armor class of 10. The lower the player's armor class, the harder it is for a monster to hit the player, so wearing armor can improve the player's armor class. A cursed suit of armor, however, offers poor protection and may sometimes be worse than no armor at all.
After the player has identified a suit of armor, the protection bonus appears before the armor's name in an inventory listing. If the bonus is positive the armor is blessed, and if it is negative, the armor is usually cursed. The player cannot remove a cursed suit of armor.
Some monsters can corrode armor when they hit it. If such a monster hits the player when the player is wearing metal armor, the armor loses some of its protection value, but the corrosion does not curse the armor.
The player can frequently find potions and scrolls in the dungeon. In any given dungeon, the player can distinguish among the different types of potions by a potion's color and among the different types of scrolls by a scroll's name. Quaffing a potion or reading a scroll usually causes some magical occurrence. Most potions and scrolls may be cursed or blessed.
The player can wear a maximum of eight rings, and they have a magical effect on the player as long as they are worn. Some rings also speed up the player's metabolism, making the player require food more often. Many rings can be cursed or blessed, and the player cannot remove a cursed ring. The player can distinguish among different types of rings by a ring's jewel.
Wands and staves affect the player's environment. The player can zap a wand or staff at something and perhaps shoot a bolt of lightning at it or teleport it away. All wands or staves of the same type are constructed with the same type of wood. Some wands and staves may be cursed or blessed.
The player must be careful not to run out of food since moving through the dungeon fighting monsters consumes a lot of energy. Starving results in the player's fainting for increasingly longer periods of time, during which any nearby monster can attack the player freely.
Gold has one use in a dungeon: buying things. One can buy things in two ways, either in a trading post or from a quartermaster. A trading post is a place "between levels" of the dungeon and can be entered by stepping on the entrance. A quartermaster is a person who will sometimes appear and will try to sell the player some of his wares. These wares are never cursed and frequently blessed, though blessed goods cost more than normal goods. If the player chooses to buy one of the quartermaster's items, the quartermaster trades the item for the specified amount of gold and disappears. Attacking a quartermaster causes him to vanish without offering a trade.
Miscellaneous items such as a pair of boots or a book may be found within the dungeon. These items can usually be used to the player's advantage (assuming they are not cursed). Some of these items can be worn, such as a cloak, while others are to be used, such as a book.
Some monsters down in the depths of the dungeon carry unique artifacts. The game begins as a quest to retrieve one of these items. Each artifact appears only on its owner's person.
A variety of traps, including trap doors, bear traps, and sleeping traps, are hidden in the dungeon. They remain hidden until sprung by a monster or the player. A sprung trap continues to function, but since it is visible, an intelligent monster is not likely to tread on it.
Each monster except for the merchant quartermaster appears in a limited range of dungeon levels. All monsters of the same type share the same abilities; all giant rats, for example, can give the player a disease, and all jackalweres can put the player to sleep. Monsters of the same type can vary, however, such that one kobold may be much more difficult to kill than another one. In general, the more difficult it is to kill a monster, the more experience points the monster is worth.
Most monsters attack by biting and clawing, but some monsters carry weapons, including such projectile weapons as short bows and crossbows, and some monsters have breath weapons. These latter monsters can attack the player from across a room or down a corridor.
Some monsters are more intelligent than others, and the more intelligent a monster, the more likely that the monster will run away if it is about to die. A fleeing monster will not attack the player unless cornered.
As the player moves down in the dungeon, the monsters get more powerful. Deep down in the dungeon there exist some one-of-a-kind monsters. These monsters are greatly feared. However, once a "unique monster" is killed, the player will not find another in the current dungeon.
Rogue has several options which may be set by the player:
| terse | Setting this Boolean option results in shorter messages appearing on the top line of the screen. | |
| jump | Setting this Boolean option results in waiting until the player has finished running to draw the player's path. Otherwise the game always displays the path one step at a time. | |
| step | Setting this Boolean option results in most listings, such as an inventory, appearing one item at a time on the top line of the screen. When this option is not set, the game clears the screen, displays the list, and then redraws the dungeon. | |
| flush | Setting this Boolean option results in flushing all typeahead (pending) commands when the player encounters a monster. | |
| askme | Setting this Boolean option results in the game prompting the player for a name upon encountering a new type of scroll, potion, ring, staff, or wand. | |
| name | This string is the player's name and defaults to the player's account name. | |
| fruit | This string identifies the player's favorite fruit, sometimes encountered in the dungeon. It defaults to slime-mold. | |
| file | This string, which defaults to rogue.save, specifies the file to use for saving the game. | |
| score | This string identifies the top-ten score file to use for the game. | |
| class | This option specifies the character class of the rogue. It can be set only in the ROGUEOPTS environment variable. |
The player can set options at the beginning of a game via the ROGUEOPTS environment variable. Naming a Boolean option sets it, and preceding the Boolean option name by "no" clears it. The syntax "stringoption=name" sets a string option to "name." So setting ROGUEOPTS to "terse, jump, nostep, flush, askme, name=Ivan the Terrible, fruit=pomegranate" would set the terse, jump, flush, and askme Boolean options, clear the step Boolean option, set the player's name to "Ivan the Terrible," set the player's favorite fruit to a pomegranate, and use the defaults for the save file and the score file.
The player may change an option at any time during the game via the option command, which results in a listing of the current options. Typing a new value changes the option, a RETURN moves to the next option, a '-' moves to the previous option, and an ESCAPE returns the player to the dungeon.
The player receives experience points for stealing items from monsters, turning monsters (a clerical ability), and killing monsters. When the player gets killed, the player's score equals the player's experience points. A player who quits gets a score equal to the player's experience points and gold. If the player makes it back up out of the dungeon, the player's score equals the player's experience points plus the gold the player carried and the gold received from selling the player's possessions. Rogue maintains a list of the top ten scores to date, together with the name of the player obtaining the score, the level where the player finished, and the manner in which the player ended the game.
This version of Rogue is based on a version developed at the University of California at Berkeley by Michael Toy and Ken Arnold.