                                 ToME FAQ
                         Updated for version 2.2.x

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    === Differences Between ToME and Vanilla Angband ===

    The first main difference a new player to ToME will need to be aware of
    is that it has implemented a skills based system where instead of the
    adventurer automatically improving in their abilities as they become more
    experienced, they get 5 skill points to spend on their character's abilities
    and can therefore customise what type of character they play. See the skills
    help file for details

    A second major difference is that the main dungeon from Angband has been split
    into 4 "dungeons", each of which cover a different portion of the dungeon's
    levels. Each of these 4 dungeons are located either in or near one of the four
    main towns so that the character can keep stocked up on supplies. As the
    adventurer advances in ability, they will need to travel overland to the next
    town/dungeon, which is most easily carried out using the wilderness map ("<"
    from town level). As well as these main places, there are a number of
    additional dungeons which the character may or may not choose to enter, which
    can have guardians, contain specific artifacts, or just be used as an
    alternative place to enjoy gaining experience. Note that not all of the places
    are actually "dungeons" - some are caves, forests, etc.

    ToME also offers the player the ability to undertake a series of quests.
    Random quests can be specified during start-up, and involve rescuing a princess
    from a group of monsters within the dungeon. If you do not wish to play with
    random quests, simply specify "0" when asked how many you want during character
    generation. Other "fixed" quests are also available from the towns (whether
    random quests are enabled or not), usually given by the town leaders upon the
    request of the adventurer. It is not required for any adventurer to undertake
    the fixed quests, but they can result in some nice rewards.

    The third main difference between Vanilla Angband and ToME is the difference
    in character classes and races, as well as a very different  magic system.
    See the help files on Creating a character and the magic system.
    Class abilities (generally referred to as skills) are generally accessed
    through the 'm' command. Most racial abilities, or corruptions, are accessed
    through the "U" command.

    To balance the expansion in things like player abilities and customisation, the
    list of both monsters and items has also been expanded. Be warned that items
    which were by default safe in Vanilla are not necessarily safe in ToME (a
    certain early artifact comes to mind here ...), and picking on defenceless
    creatures is frowned upon....

    Happy adventuring!
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    Q: How do I use the altars (the 'O's) I see in the dungeon?

    A: ToME introduces a new system of gods.

    You can find altars only in Lothlorien and in the dungeon.
    The ones on the surface are dedicated to the good Valar (Eru, Manwe, Tulkas and
    Yavanna), while altars found in the dungeons are "sacred" for Melkor.
    You can use altars to convert yourself to a certain Vala by the "O"
    command while standing on them. Beware, this works only if you don't already
    have a God and as a new convert, your God won't like you that much.
    Melkor also uses his altars as a mean of collecting sacrifices from his devotees;
    this function is likewise accomplished by the "O" command.

    Read gods.txt for more information about Gods.
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    Q: How do I use the fountains (the '_'s) I see in the dungeon?

    A: Fountains in ToME act like potions, but can only be identified by
    drinking from them. Each one can hold between 3 and 12 doses of the potion.
    Quaffing from a fountain can be done by using the 'H' command (in the standard
    keyset) and answering 'Q' at the prompt.

    You can also fill empty bottles at a fountain (enabling you to identify the
    potion and hence the type of fountain) by using the 'H' command and answering
    'F' at the prompt.  The game will then ask you to choose bottles and how many
    bottles you want to fill.  You can find empty bottles on the dungeon and
    drinking pints of fine ale/wine will give you emtpy bottles; if you are
    trained in the Alchemy, you can reuse bottles after quaffing potions as well.

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    Q: I got killed by a Great Wyrm of Power at 50'!!! What happened?

    A: You killed a defenceless creature. I told you that it was frowned upon!
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    Q: I've found some strange items like a Red Tome, a Voodoo Doll, ...
       What can I do with them?

    A: You've found an unusual artifact that cannot be wielded, but always
    has a sometimes-useful activation.  It will not be listed in the known
    artifact list and its activation is chosen randomly. It would probably be
    wise for this kind of artifact be *identified* before use, as the
    activation can be something very nasty...

    To activate it, use the normal Activation command, but when prompted for which
    item to activate change to the backpack instead of wielded equipment.
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    Q: I keep coming across "essences" and "runes". What are they?

    Essences are the Alchemists friend, and you can only use them if you have
    access to the alchemy skill.
    Runes are used to cast and store spells of varying types. Runecrafters are the
    class who are most proficient at using these. You can only use them if you
    have access to the Runecrafting skill
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    Q: Where can I store all my equipment? Theere's not enough room in my
    inventory? And what happened to the thieves quest in Bree?

    And nor is there supposed to be enough room in your backpack. It's not
    bottomless you know! If you go talk to the Mayor in Bree, he might let you know
    about a slight problem that there's been in town. If you can clear up the
    problem, you may find yourself with someone extra to keep your stuff. I've
    heard tell that there are other similiar problems in other towns in
    Middle-Earth.
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    Q: I spent 500 gp at the Prophet but she said nothing. Is that a bug ?

    A: No. Nor is it because Prophets are swindlers. She said nothing
    because you have no fate at this moment.  You gain fate while playing, and
    will be warned by a message such as "You feel your fate has changed".  A fate
    can be useless like finding a broken skull at level 30, deadly like dying at
    level 56, or really useful like to never die by the hand of a mortal.
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    Q: Who is Mathilde, the Science Student whom I see every so often in the
       town?

    A: Most of the time she laughs and giggles, she has no loot on her, and
    she's never done you any harm. So leave her be - even if she should
    happen to shout "Drop dead, creep!".
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    Q: My wrists hurt a lot when playing the game. Should I take precautions?

    A: Yes, you should. Repetitive strain on wrists (which results from a badly
    placed keyboard, for example) can lead to serious injury of the wrist ligaments
    called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If you feel your wrists are strained, here is
    an exercise posted by Jason Maskell in rec.games.roguelike.angband which might
    help:

    Hold your arms out horizontally, make a fist, and then point the fist towards
    the floor, as much as you can. This will stretch one side's tendons. Hold for
    5 seconds. Then make a flat hand and hold it level with your arm, hold for 5
    seconds. Now splay your fingers and attempt to make your hand point toward the
    ceiling (this one is hard, so don't push it too much). You should feel your
    tendons stretching. Repeat this a few times. Take frequent breaks and do this
    if it starts to hurt a little bit. I was sliding very fast towards CTS and this
    corrected it.
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    Q: When I stand on void jumpgates I'm never teleported away, what's wrong?

    A: Void jumpgates are not automatic. You must press '>' while standing
    on one to activate it.

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    Q: When it panic saves it reloads an old savefile !!

    A: Now the panic saves use a different file to save, savefile.pnc
    This file will be loaded first, if present, when the game is started.
    If it loads successfully, save the game immediately. Otherwise, delete
    the panic save, and your old (non-panic) savefile should be safe.

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    Q: Farmer Maggot / Melinda Proudfoot keep shouting at me, and I cannot
       kill them.

    A: Both these people need to talk to you about something. Have a chat to them
    (check the file command.txt for how to chat).
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    Q: I have found a sentient weapon, it says it has access to the realms
       of Earth and Fire. How do I use these realms?

    A: You don't actually 'use' them as such. If a weapon is sentient it means it
    gains experience itself as it delivers killing blows. As it levels up it has
    the chance to gain pluses to hit and to damage, and also powers from any of the
    available 'realms'. For instance, the realm of fire gives the chance to gain
    resistance to fire, or fire branding on your weapon. The realm of earth has a
    chance to confer extra attacks or the power of causing earthquakes and so on.
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    Q: What or who is Fumblefingers? How do I get his quests?

    A: FF is short for Fumblefingers, the name that some players give to the adventurer
    who keeps having his sword stolen by monsters and asking you to find it for
    him. So named because he often seems to lose it to molds and other creatures
    you wouldn't expect to be able to pickpocket!
    During birth you'll be asked to specify a number of random quests you would like
    to attempt to complete. Some of these quests will take the form of princess quests,
    others will be fumble-finger quests. If you complete the task he sets you
    sucessfully, he'll offer to join you as a companion. If you do not want him to
    join you, he'll offer to teach you some new skills. Quite handy.
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    Q: Where has the option gone to set the number of random quests?
       Why aren't there any after the Barrow-downs?

    A: Turning on either of the options "Allow permanent dungeon levels" or "Always
    create special rooms" will disable random quests.
    Random quests can only be found in the four main dungeons (Barrowdowns, Mirkwood,
    Mordor and Angband).

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    Q: How do I get the dots to show up on floor tiles in Windows XP? I've tried
     changing the tile character to the brighter dot. Toggling 'Bizarre Display'
     mode helped with the trailing @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ problem. Any suggestions? I
     gave up a long time ago and play with graphics tiles now, but I'd like to be
     able to fix this.

    A: In the file ./lib/pref/font_win.prf, either remove or comment out with # the
    lines that end in /0x1F, e.g.
    # open floor
    # F:1:0x01/0x1F
    Another possibility is to manually change the symbols used with the '%'
    command, but the previous solution is faster.
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    Q: Many things are written in a dark grey color which is next to impossible to
     read against a black background. Also, some monsters appear in dark grey and
     are easy to miss! What can I do to fix this?

    A: Fix the gamma control of your display. If your display software does not
    include such a tool, access the 'Interact with Colors' screen in ToME via
    shift+7, type '4', and modify the gamma correction there.
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    Q: Why don't you make X class less powerful or Y class more powerful?

    A: ToME the player determines how hard the game is. Classes, races, and
    subraces are neither meant nor desired to be equal in game difficulty. So no,
    we won't make Axemasters more powerful just to "balance them out", nor will we
    make Sorcerors weaker.
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    Q: Why do I always start in a terribly difficult, very deep dungeon instead of
     a town? Is the game really this hard?

    A: You have chosen a "Lost soul" character subrace. That's where Lost souls
    start. They tend to die very quickly, so don't choose them if you're new to ToME.
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    Q: My character is invisible. That's great, but how do I know where she is if
     I can't see her?!

    A: You could seek for a way to see invisible things.
    You could go to game options:
        1. Type = (game options)
        2. Type 4 (efficiency options)
        3. Arrow down to 'hilite the player with the cursor'
        4. Type y to toggle the option to 'yes'
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    Q: I'm standing on a pile of items. How do I see what's in the pile without
     picking it all up, moving it, or destroying it all?
    A:
        1. Stand on the pile in question
        2. Type shift + i (examine)
        3. Type - (examine items on floor)
        4. Type * (expand list of items on floor)
        5. (as needed) Type letter associated with item to look at it more closely.

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    Q: If I'm standing on a pile of items. Is there a command to see if there is a
     stairway or jumpgate beneath the pile?

    A: Stairs/jumpgates obscured by clutter do still function. You are advised to
    take a good hard look at your surroundings before creating lots of dungeon
    clutter.
        1. You can pick up, move, or eliminate the pile.
        2. Press l (look), then select the square you wish to inquire about. Press
    <enter>; it will scroll through everything on the ground, and eventually it
    ends with "It is in a Void Jumpgate", or whatever.
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    Q: What is a good starting character?

    A: Make sure to read the parchment you start the game with!

    If you're new to ToME, understand that your characters are going to die a lot.
    Be prepared for that. In fact, take advantage of it by using the various
    characters you run to experiment and learn the game's various facets.

    Try a warrior. A Dunadan Swordmaster is an excellent combination of race and class.

    Try a priest. A Rohan Knight Paladin gives you some magic to go with strong
    combat, but your terrible stealth will give you a tougher time in some respects.

    Try an archer. A Wood-elf Archer will have fewer hitpoints than you're used to,
    but lets you use excellent ranged combat instead. Also note how your higher
    stealth wakes up fewer monsters, letting you fight them more on your own terms.

    Try a mage. A Dark-elf Mage lets you keep using weapons, while getting a taste
    of the various magic schools. You have even fewer hitpoints, though, so beware.

    Try another mage. A Hobbit Sorceror is a fun character, but the hitpoint
    penalties make you need to be very careful. You get high-powered magic, though,
    to more than make up for it.

    I would just add that for those who get frustrated in the early levels and want
    to run a more powerful character that I think the three easiest combinations
    are probably the Zombie Rohan Knight Unbeliever, the Thunderlord (or Vampire
    Half-Ogre) Sorceror, and the High-Elf (or Deathmold if you can figure it out)
    Possessor. Also, you might want to try a priest of Eru or Tulkas. Most of these
    have low stealth, but should be pretty easy to play up to around level 30, and
    they offer an attractive range of experiences for the new player.
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    Q: I'm getting killed a lot. Can you recommend some starting options to
     make my chances a little better?

    A: Realize that getting killed a lot is to be expected. Having said that, try this:
    At character creation:
        1. Turn off "always generate very unusual rooms".
        2. Turn off joke monsters.
        3. Turn off "always make small levels".
        4. Regarding the number of random quests: See the Q/A below.
        5. Do not choose a Lost Soul character.

    Later, set these options:
        1. Turn on "expand the power of the look command".
        2. Turn on "allow some monsters to carry light".
        3. Turn on "map remembers all perma-lit grids".
        4. Turn on "map remembers all torch-lit grids".
        5. Turn off "monsters learn from their mistakes".
        6. Turn off "monsters exploit player weaknesses".
        7. Turn on "monsters behave stupidly".
        8. Turn off "allow unusually small dungeon levels".
        9. Turn off "allow empty 'arena' levels".

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    Q: How many random quests should I choose?

    A: One big question a beginner is faced with is: How many (random) optional
    quests to choose?

    I think this is another area where the beginner should mix it up. The early
    items from princesses are a great benefit to beginners, but coming to rely on
    those can be a problem when it comes time to enter deep dungeons and the real nasty
    quests begin.

    Also, high counts, especially, 98 quests can be very frustrating for a beginner
    when it puts an especially difficult quest on dungeon level 1 or 2.

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    Q: Are Amulets of Anti-magic and the Anti-magic skill related?

    A: No. The Anti-magic shell of the Amulet of Anti-magic has nothing to do with
    the Anti-magic field given off by the skill and Dark Swords.
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    Q: The game is so slow...

    A: Yeah :(
    Try disabling the various options marked as (slow)