Draft:Scroll of acquirement

Omega 0.90.4

Scroll of acquirement?TypeScrollBase value (Au)5000Item level7Weight5Unidentified appearanceRandom inscriptionCursed nameScroll of destruction

A scroll of acquirement produces an item from a chosen category. A blessed copy additionally lets the player choose the exact kind, making it a flexible solution to an equipment or consumable shortage.

Generation

Acquirement is an item-level-7 scroll. Its high level makes it uncommon in shallow random loot, but the generation process still gives over-level items a small chance; see the probability table. It can appear at the pawn shop, and acquirement itself can produce another acquirement scroll.

Description

An uncursed reading lets the player select potions, scrolls, rings, sticks, armor, shields, weapons, boots, cloaks, food or miscellaneous things, then chooses a random kind within that category. A blessed reading offers a numbered list of kinds after the category selection. The selection bypasses the ordinary source-level rejection of random loot. The amount of positive blessing and the scroll's enchantment do not further improve the choice.

The new item follows its category's normal creation rules. A blessed acquirement identifies the resulting copy, but does not automatically make it blessed or highly enchanted. Thus a chosen Azoth still needs preparation, and an ordinary potion or scroll normally arrives uncursed. Artifacts are not an available acquirement category in normal play; Life is not among the ordinary potions.

A cursed reading destroys one item selected from an occupied accessible inventory slot, rather than producing anything. The selection includes carried items that are not in active use. The scroll is changed into blank paper before acquirement runs, so the still-present scroll itself can be selected by that destruction.

Separate copies before reading. The blanking operation replaces the whole selected scroll object, including its stack count, before the reading command removes one. Reading from a stack can therefore lose the remaining copies. Invalid or cancelled acquisition choices do not refund the scroll; make the desired category and item choice deliberately.

Strategy

Blessing usually adds much more value than using an uncursed copy immediately: selecting a specific protection, weapon or emergency potion avoids the uncertainty of a whole category. Compare the item you need with its other sources before committing a scroll worth 5000 Au at base value. A readily bought item is a weaker choice than a scarce tool that solves a dangerous obstacle.

Choosing another acquirement scroll is possible, but produces an ordinary unblessed copy and consumes the current one. It does not multiply scrolls. The Acquisition wish in normal play uses the category-only form, so it does not replace the exact selection offered by a blessed scroll.

The Justiciar's Badge is an unusual useful choice from miscellaneous things: acquirement bypasses its normal random-generation restriction, and the resulting badge works for the Shadowlord promotion. This can avoid obtaining it through theft or killing, although the guild still requires the proper rank and character level.