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The probably brief afterlife of Gumbo, the Lost Soul Sorcerer
I'm not sure anyone has done a "Day in the Life" of a Lost Soul yet. As I've enjoyed other people's DiTL postings, and a Lost Soul probably won't require me to do a long series 
, I thought I'd give it a try...
I've played (and killed) a whole series of Lost Souls over the past few days, so I hope I can avoid the worst newbie mistakes. But I'm by no means experienced at this, so it could still be a rough ride.
Setting up
OK, some administrative details. Gumbo will be a Gnome, for mostly irrational reasons (I've played some good Gnome mages in Angband) and one seriously rational one - free action. Too many of my previous decent lost souls have died from getting paralyzed. So let's nip that in the bud before it starts...
He'll be a sorcerer. I like magic users, and I'd like to try a sorcerer (previous ToME characters have been mages, but I've not tried a sorcerer before). Let's worship Eru. It seems to be a common choice for sorcerers, the spell boosts look good, the weapon penalties are pretty irrelevant, and the rest looks fairly minor. I've not played characters with gods before, so I'll probably under-use the whole god thing in any case.
Point-based stats, STR 8, INT 23, WIS 10, DEX 13, CON 14, CHR 9. Off we go.
So there is an afterlife...
Well, that answers the question of "Is there anything after we die?" Rooms full of Water Hounds. Luckily, there's a set of stairs just by me, let's duck up them.
Phew. Much better, an empty room. Before I go much further, it looks dangerous around here, so let's take stock. Switch tactics to coward/running (saving throw and speed boosts - there's no chance I'm going to melee anything). But I'm far too scared to wander round down here without an escape, so let's duck back down the stairs and find another exit.
Peeping out of the stairwell, this is scary again - a Swamp Thing a couple of squares away. Run away! Next - Multi-Hued hounds. Eek! Empty area and a Pit Fiend! If I wasn't dead, I'd have a heart attack...
After a while lurking in the stairwells, I find a lone Novice Paladin. I'd love to, but Eru wouldn't be pleased 
On we go... Later - Large White Snake, but right next to me. No, I'm paranoid now. Onward.
A while later. Yay! A novice rogue on his own in a large open level. Zap! Not enough for level 2, but first blood at least... OK, rest up for mana, but do it with repeated presses on the '5' key, rather than 'R'. I've died too many times before to things leaping out at me while I'm resting. And anyway, my piety increases if I rest this way. Assume I'm thinking pious thoughts
Right, back into the stairwells...
At last - a possibility. An empty area, with a Giant silver ant (L23). Worth a go, even though there's an energy vortex in sight too. Let's hope the vortex doesn't notice me.... Urk. The vortex is awake. Manathrust and worry...
Yay! The ant dies after 8 hits, the vortex just wanders round in circles. That gets me to level 11. 50 skill points. Boost Magic by 14, Sorcery by 20, and Spell Power by the remaining 16. Mana is now 150, Manathrust is 21d8. Now I stand a chance...
Let's not get overconfident
Before I rest, let's find a safer place. It would be embarassing to have that energy vortex kill me now. Back to the stairwells. After a few tries, I get a small irregular room with nothing in sight. I'm next to a wall, without enough mana yet for Sense Monsters. But there's a scroll and a potion nearby, and an up staircase (the one I'm on goes down). It's worth a risk. Think pious thoughts until I get the mana to cast Sense Monsters. Sigh. Made it, and nothing round. OK, keep talking to Eru until I'm at full HP/SP (stopping occasionally to re-detect).
Hmm, now I'm feeling safer, let's check my equipment. Wear the robe, although I don't expect my AC to be relevant. Drop the Adventurer's Guide. I should probably drop my food & torches, but the odd point of speed is not going to be my problem. Save them until inventory slots become the issue (I wish!) OK, let's go and get that potion & scroll.
Wait! That's how I've died before. Detect traps first. And yes, there's a trap right in my path. Go through the wall to avoid it. Pick up the items, and go to the up stairs. That must be 13 steps off the stairwells. Gosh, I feel brave Identify the items. A potion of restore mana (Yay!) and a scroll of teleport level (arrive not on stairs? I think not...)
OK, back to the stairwells...
No monsters, but a vault near me and a pit-shaped room which contains a number of items which show as "open floor" when I "look" at them. Mimics, for sure, so it's a jelly pit. Stuff that for a lark. (Is that way of detecting mimics legit, or is it a bug???)
Found a room with a Werewolf, a Cloud Giant, and a Dark Elven Druid. All asleep. It might be possible to pick one off (try the werewolf) without waking the others. Let's have a go. Got him. Level 12. The druid wakes up. Add 2 points to sorcery and 3 to spell power quickly, then try blasting him. Got him! Up to level 15. He drops a rune and a ring, right next to me. Ignore the rune, but grab the ring (Detect traps first! There's one right next to me, so that was a good move - again). Ring of Nothing. Blast. I'm too scared to try the Giant, they throw boulders (and don't Cloud Giants have lightning attacks as well?) Back to the stairs.
Oh, yes. Add 5 more points to Sorcery and 10 to Spell Power. Magic and Sorcery are now maxed, and Spell Power nearly so. Time to start thinking what to do with the extra points. Manathrust now at 28d11, and I'm feeling a bit more secure.
I think I'll stop now. When I restart, I'll drop the level of detail a bit, I think. Blow by blow accounts of stair scumming will get old very fast. Please let me know what you think.
Comments
amaurea: I would not run, since that drops stealth, which is essential to a lost soul. Are you sure you can't rest? Resting is intended to be the safest way of resting. Try turning on all the disturb options if resting continues even when something important happenes. Try to find the recall spell as soon as possible. It is very handy, since that vaults down there have lots of nice stuff guarded by nasty uniques.
PaulMoore: Running gives me a slight speed edge. I'm not sure how important that is (probably not, given what I said about equipment). I'll try normal, which gives me superb stealth, but -2 speed. As for resting, I think I once got caught with something appearing from a wall and hitting me before I got a move while resting. That may still have happened if I'd rested "manually", though. I'll probably get bored of resting "by hand" soon (I'm not planning on keeping that level of detail up anyway).
Throw caution to the winds
I'm still being cautious - I found a 1x1 small level with 2 rooms, came out right next to a sleeping Dread on one side, and a wand on the other (plus lots of other stuff further away). It was so tempting to grab the wand and run, but that's 3 moves (move, pick up, move) for the Dread to wake up and kill me. No, paranoia still rules me. Back down the stairs.
I kill a Death Watch beetle, and then run (Ancient White Dragon just outside the door). Next level, a Mage, a Giant Black Louse, an Eye of the Deep, and a Dark Elven Sorcerer. All asleep, so it looks possible. Zap the Mage, no problem, one more level. Louse wakes up, kill it before it breeds. Now try the Eye of the Deep - can't be too hard, can it? "The Eye of the deep grunts with pain. The Eye of the deep casts a water bolt. You have been stunned. You are confused! You die."
Moral - never, never, attack something you aren't sure you can kill. You may think you're strong (level 16 - look at me, guys!) but you're not.
Groundhog day, with ghosts
Hey! I thought I died? This place looks familiar...
Oh, I see. I was dead already, so it looks like I don't get out that easily. (OK, so I restarted with "Quick Start" mode...) Lost all my hard-earned experience, as well. Back to lurking in the stairwells, for a while. After a long time, I find a Hairy mold which gets me to level 7. Skill points 10 to Magic, then 15 to Sorcery and the remaining 5 to spell power. Manathrust at 15d6.
A bit more skulking, and I see a mature black dragon in an open level. He could breathe before I'm ready, but let's risk it. And 11 manathrusts later, that gets me to level 20. 9 points to Magic, 19 to Sorcery, and 36 to Spell Power. Manathrust at 36d14. Looking good... The drop is mainly weapons and armour, which I don't want because of the weight, but there's a ring there. Can I afford to go and grab it? A quick sense monsters (and hidden, don't forget this time!) shows nothing nearby (there's a vault, but nothing in it that I can see which can get through walls). Do a run for it. An Indestructible Ring of Acid. Cool. By the way, I ID the ring before I pick it up - I've been caught by cursed cannot-drop amulets of DOOM before now, so when I have the time, I check first...
A Xorn wanders out of that vault. Zap - level 21. 1 point to Sorcery and 2 to Spell Power. I now have 3 spare, must decide what to do with them. Meanwhile, a nearby Gauth wakes up. Zap, but now I'm low on Mana. Before I can finish him off, he teleports me away. Aargh, no stairs. Scared now... Detect traps (NOW! I know I can't afford the mana, I can't afford not to know either...) and then wait, thinking very pious thoughts. I'm in a cross-shaped room, with a bone golem in the central 1x1 cupboard, and a gang of rotting corpses outside. No stairs in easy reach. This could be tricky. The golem's lethal. The corpses I should be able to get with Globe of Light. But first, let's get some mana back, if I can. At 74 mana, the door in the cupboard opens - on a side away from me, at least. I'll have to phase door - Bone Golems are speed +10. Phew. Into another (empty) room a bit to the north. Safe for now. And no other monsters in sight. I might just be able to reach the stairs! Go for it, I'll regain mana as I run (yes, run I think - speed -2 is too risky). Black Harpy at 7 O'Clock - *zap*. The rotting corpses are coming up behind... Globe of light a few times, and they are gone. A Spectral Half-Ogre coming from off-screen. Staring into my eyes - no effect so far. Zap it with a Manathrust, which kills it (phew, wasn't sure it would).
Phew. Regained the stairs. Down and lurk until I find a safe spot to rest. OK, that's enough for now. I need to get down off this adrenalin high.
Looking for Equipment
I've now reached a reasonable level, so I would like to start picking up some better equipment. I mustn't let myself get distracted from the fact that I'm still (relatively) very weak by the prospect of loot, though.
I kill a Storm Giant to take me to level 22. 2 more points to Sorcery and 1 to spell power. Next bit of luck is an up staircase near to the down staircase I'm on. I reach level 96. A couple more kills get me to level 23 (1 sorcery, 2 spell power, now 7 spare). There's a Tome of the Eternal Flame nearby, surrounded by a load of half-ogres. That must be worth a try. Circle round and pick off the ones which are next to the tome. Then sneak in and grab it. Got it!
Now, an error - keys "mbaa" no longer activate manathrust, but Globe of Light. Nowhere near as effective, and it wakes the rest of the group up And the next attempt to do a real manathrust fails. Smack, smack, smack. Dead.
Sigh. I really can't keep making my stupid mistakes in public like this.
Comments
amaurea: Right, resting next to a wall is just as dangerous with R as with manual resting, as long as you have paranoid disturbance on. Otherwise R can be more risky, for exmple with tunnelers, where you could stop resting and run away when you hear a grinding sound, but I think that there is a disturbande option that catches that too. Regarding your second death: use macros! Then you avoid things like that. Repeat after me: @4[F1]\e\e\e\em@\r@\r[enter]2Sorceror.prf[enter]
PaulMoore: Um... @4[F1]... Off to read the help on macros. In Vanilla, I used inscriptions a lot, but never bothered with macros. With ToME I think I need to get used to macros (too many books for standardised inscriptions to work properly). Thanks for the hints.
On a different note, are these stories interesting? I tried a different approach last night, and took briefer notes as I played, with the intention of writing them up later. The character died (a Bronze Golem summoned greater undead - I must remember to check monster abilites before annoying them!) and I'm now in two minds as to whether to write it up.
ZV: I found it very interesting or exciting when I read and didn't know whether your character dies in the moment or not (of course I hoped he survives).
PaulMoore: Hey, most of the time I don't know either!
The Nightmare Continues
Over and over again it happens. "The Spectral Forest Troll hits you. You die." "The Greater Balrog breathes fire. You die." "You die." "You die." You die."
But this time feels different. A Green Icky Thing helps me to level 5, and then a couple of levels later I see a big group of Giant Fire Ants. Picking them off one by one while they sleep gets me to level 14... 15... 16... 17. Run now, as I'm out of mana. Rest again, up and down more stairs, keep picking things off slowly, never moving from the stairs.
On one of the levels I visit, I see a Rod Tip of Home Summoning. I've heard of this - it's supposed to be an extremely valuable find. But it's in what looks like a vault, a short distance away. No matter how good it is, it's not worth dying (again!) for. Maybe I'll find another when I'm more powerful...
And finally, I feel confident to start moving a little away from the stairs. The odd time, there's a staircase up nearby, and I gain a level. I get a Mage Staff without going too far. A Tome of Meta spells - my first additional spell book, even if the spells aren't of great use. I'm at level 24, and Manathrust spell is now doing 42d16, and I have 219 spell points. Things are starting to feel a little more comfortable. I must not get complacent!
I spend some time composing macros for my key spells - Manathrust and the detect spells. I don't want to die again because I cast the wrong spell.
But what's this? A Tome of Knowledge. It's a little far away, but detect monsters shows no serious enemies in the area, and I detect no traps that will cause me problems. Creeping cautiously through the walls (safer, although I must not get careless) I reach the book. Yay! Now don't cheer, you'll wake up all the monsters. Creep back to the stairs before getting excited. Phew, made it. My dependence upon identify scrolls is over (until the book gets burned up...)
More up and down stairs. I reach dungeon level 93. A Mature Multi-hued dragon takes me to level 25, manathrust is doing 43d17 and I have 225 spell points. And I see another Tome - a Tome of the Time! It's in a room with pillars throughout. But there's an Ancient Blue Dragon on the far side of the room. It's asleep, and the book is such a prize that I'll try for it. Cross fingers, stealth to maximum, all detects on full, creep through the walls. Luckily, the book is right next to one wall, and the dragon is on the far side of the room, behind a pillar. Dash (no, creep, creep!) out of the wall, grab the book, and back into the wall. Back to the stairs for a party. This is a real milestone. For the first time, my speed is greater than that of (at least some of) the monsters around here. With my current level, I can get to +13 speed while still at full stealth. I can't stay at that speed long enough to rest back to full mana, so I still need to find quiet areas to rest up, but at least I can explore a bit more safely.
Of course, now that I have posted this, I'm bound to die horribly within the next few turns...
Starting to move upwards
After some more searching of levels, I enter a level with an Enchantress, a Master Rogue, and a Cold vortex. The Enchantress dies to 2 Manathrust spells, attempting to blind me after the first, but failing. The other 2 die without any problem. The Enchantress has dropped a Tome of Translocation, a Tome of the Tree, and an Adamantite Rod of Nothing (200/200). That's a good haul! And Teleport Away will come in useful. And it's at level 20, the £everything in sight" level, so that's a good emergency escape spell.
Off we go again. Exploring is now easier, but it's still necessary to take care. At 89 hit points, pretty much anything can instakill me, so it's crucial to not let them get a chance. It is a lot easier to get to up staircases, so I'm starting to move gradually upwards. As I'm not killing many things now (and when I do, they are no longer hugely more powerful than me!) I'm not going up levels. This is a shame, as I'm only 5 spell levels away from getting Greater Identify. Patience...
On level 90, I find a large open level. An Ethereal Drake and Revenant go down easily, but there's an 11-headed hydra up north. Keep out of its way. I'll explore the level a bit, though, as there's a vault nearby. A mind flayer gets me to level 27. 2 points each to sorcery and spell power. I've got 21 points spare now, must decide what to do with them... Grab a book of summoning as I go past - I doubt it's a lot of help, but keep it for now. There's a Bone Golem near the vault - that summons things, so let's keep out of its way. Give up on this level.
Wander up and down stairs looking for a safe place to rest and regain mana. Found one, good. Now off again. Land in a room with a Vampire Lord. Let's try him. A couple of Manathrusts in, he casts a Nether Bolt! Down to 27 HP!!! Blast him quick - he dies with me on 12 SP and 27 HP. He drops nothing worth staying for, so I run to rest again.
Definitely getting more powerful, now. I can reasonably move around the dungeon, and attack groups of monsters. I just got to level 28 by killing a group of half-trolls (I know, but let's start reasonably small). I'm still working on Coward tactics, and running from breathers or summoners, but it's a start. Found a Mage Staff of Power (+1). So far, I haven't put any spells in objects, as I can't see myself dropping any books. And fire breath would probably kill me, so why worry about the books yet?
Level 85. Just took out my first troll pit, by the standard low-level tactic of luring them out in small groups, killing them and then resting. At +12 speed, with a Manathrust of 48d19, it was easy. Nothing much on the level - I picked up a scroll of *ID* (hard to come by at the moment) and a sprig of Athelas (don't know if this is much use here) and then carried on up.
Dragon Bashing
I come out in a room with an Ancient Multi-hued dragon. The rest of the level looks interesting (superb feeling, but that's no news - there's a vault that doesn't look impossible, though). Question is - can I take the dragon? I could run, but hey... Five average Manathrusts should do it. But if he breathes, I'm dead. Shoot and scoot (into the wall)? I've got a very slight speed edge. I picked up a randard sabre, which gives +4 speed, but I don't know what sort of penalties wielding weapons other than Mage staves gives sorcerers. I should have experimented while it was quiet! Forget that for now.
Let's give it a go - if I get a good initial hit, go for it, otherwise teleport him away, fast. Two stars. Not as good as I'd hoped, but average. One more go... Not yet, but keep at it. Did it! Got a level out of it. two more levels to go before I have the *ID* spell. HP still at 98 - that's appalling. How do sorcerers avoid instakill?
You should try a yeek zombie sorcerer 
-- SoulWynd 2004-07-11 19:40:31
Hide in the walls and rest. Now go back and check the loot. There's a ring of INT (+1) - not wonderful, but useful. And a nice randart - the Cord Armour of Aethal [6, +15]. Immunity to fire, free action, resist fear and resist nether. That'll protect the books. And Ancient Red Dragon hunting starts being a lot more attractive
Let's go check out that vault now. On closer inspection, there are a few nasty looking demons in there, and an 11-headed hydra (not sure if immunity to fire covers plasma, and not willing to find out the hard way). And the treasure doesn't look spectacular, so let's leave well alone.
A couple of levels later, I find an Ancient Red Dragon. Zap! Zap! Hey - he died in 2 shots. That was too easy. And it was only worth 3K experience. Level 30's a good way off yet at this pace.
There's a huge vault on this level. Lots of interesting-looking treasure, but also lots of open spaces filled with monsters. I'm not confident enough to take on large groups, yet. I suspect that Teleport Away will clear a large area, and if I pop in through the wall I should be able to get it off before I get blasted (especially if the majority of the nasties are asleep). But a failure would kill me. Leave it for now.
Getting faster
Dragon hunting is getting more fun. I move more freely round levels now, still avoiding larger groups, but happy to take on single monsters. On an open arena level, I kill another Ancient Red Dragon. Nothing much else there, and I'm getting bored of avoiding a Knight Templar (I think he's good and I don't want to take the piety hit), so I'll leave. I've now reached level 30, just 1 spell level before I get Greater Identify!
On level 84, I find a Ring of Speed (+9). Excellent - my base speed is now +5, going to +23 with Essence of Speed. Another AMHD gets me to level 31, and Greater Identify. I'm slowly picking my way through a vault on this level. Got a Tome of the Blowing Wind from it so far. There's a Great Wyrm of Power in there that I don't intend to fight.
As I move around outside the vault, in the walls, the GWoP comes out of his room and follows me. He's nearly as fast as me, so I need to get rid of him. I move around until I get a step ahead of him, and then I duck out and teleport him away. Aaaaaargh! He resists! He's too close - he hits me. I die.
I didn't realise that there were ToME monsters that resist teleportation. If I had, I'm not sure what I would have done. Once the GWoP was out, there wasn't really any way I could get rid of him. I should have given up on the vault at that point.
Oh well. Farewell Gumbo, your brief (1 day) afterlife was fun!