Draft:Alertness (spell)
| Menu name | alertness |
|---|---|
| Base mana cost | 15 |
| Target | Self |
| Learning | Druid Priest rank; general spell learning |
| Related items | Scroll of alertness; potion of alertness |
Alertness is a preparation spell that makes searching more reliable and prevents the lost action from a particular kind of invisible surprise attack. It does not grant immunity to sleep.[1]
Learning
A Druid receives alertness upon promotion from Acolyte to Priest, requiring at least 1,500 priesthood XP and acceptable alignment. This promotion also teaches clairvoyance and disrupt, in addition to the general priestly grant of sanctification.[2]
It can also be learned by random research, a Knowledge wish that selects it, or using identified Kolwynia.[3]
Effects
The initial cost is 15 mana. Each cast adds four alertness duration units. Under ordinary indoor time progression, one unit expires at each ten-minute status update. One casting gives four such updates, with the first possibly close at hand. Repeated casts add duration rather than strengthening the benefit. Time-skipping services and travel run their own updates, so this is not an exact promise of forty minutes after pressing the key.[4]
| Situation | Effect while alert |
|---|---|
| Searching an adjacent square | Bypasses the usual one-in-three search failure gate, allowing eligible secret passages, doors and traps to be revealed |
| A hostile invisible creature uses its surprise routine | Avoids the forced loss of your next action; the attacker reveals itself |
| Ordinary sleep or fear effects | No immunity is added |
The spell does not search automatically or display every monster. At an alertness total of 1,000 or more, ordinary timed decay stops; this is the shared long-duration rule, not a stronger search bonus.[5]
Strategy
Cast before searching a suspected secret route or crossing an area with concealed attackers. Several searches can fit within one casting, so recasting at every square wastes mana. The effect's certainty applies to a square that is actually searched; it does not make an unchecked route safe from traps.
A noncursed scroll or potion supplies the same effect, while positive blessing adds more duration than this spell's fixed four units. Keep sleep resistance as a separate preparation rather than treating alertness as a substitute.[6]
References
- ↑ spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 377–380; effect2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 411–419; aux1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 245–275; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 220–251; effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 215–225.
- ↑ priest.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 332–384; etc.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 165–189.
- ↑ effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 271–307; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 613–620; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 292–307.
- ↑ spell.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 599–600; effect2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 411–419; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 428–432; aux3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 10–47; time.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 19–23.
- ↑ aux1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 245–275; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 220–251; effect2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 411–419; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 428–432.
- ↑ itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 535–542; effect2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 411–419.