Scroll: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:24, 24 July 2026

Scrolls are single-use readable items represented by a bright-yellow ? in Omega 0.90.4. They can provide information, improve equipment, grant temporary powers, or radically alter a level, while cursed copies often reverse or spoil the expected benefit.

Every scroll weighs 5, has fragility 1, and belongs to the common rarity class.

Scroll types

Scroll	Base value (Au)	Item level	Cursed name
Blank scroll	5	0	Antinomy!
Scroll of spells	250	1	Scroll of spell loss
Scroll of blessing	400	2	Scroll of cursing
Scroll of acquirement	5,000	7	Scroll of destruction
Scroll of enchantment	200	2	Scroll of disenchantment
Scroll of teleportation	75	1	Scroll of teleportation
Scroll of wishing	10,000	10	Scroll of wishing
Scroll of clairvoyance	25	1	Scroll of amnesia
Scroll of displacement	50	2	Scroll of vulnerability
Scroll of identification	20	0	Scroll of forgetfulness
Hint sheet	10	0	Hint sheet
Jane's guide to treasure	50	2	Jane's guide to treasure
Scroll of alertness	50	1	Scroll of drowsiness
Scroll of cosmic flux	300	5	Scroll of cosmic flux
Scroll of charging	100	2	Scroll of draining
Scroll of the warp	100	3	Scroll of the warp
Scroll of self-knowledge	10	1	Scroll of delusion
Scroll of law	100	2	Scroll of law
Scroll of heroism	200	5	Scroll of cowardliness
Scroll of true sight	50	2	Scroll of blindness
Scroll of dispelling	250	3	Scroll of self-dispelling
Scroll of summoning	300	2	Scroll of summoning
Scroll of light	30	0	Scroll of darkness
Scroll of deflection	250	3	Scroll of vulnerability

The base value is the ordinary, uncursed scroll's value before identification and BUC adjustments. Pawn-shop stock is fully identified and an ordinary scroll's shelf price matches this value. When selling, the pawn shop offers half of the value it can recognize: unidentified scrolls are heavily discounted, partially identified scrolls receive a smaller discount, and cursed scrolls are refused.

Finding scrolls

Scrolls can appear among random treasure on dungeon floors and in monster inventories. The pawn shop can stock eligible scrolls, and a scroll of acquirement can produce either a random scroll or, when blessed, a chosen scroll. Some monsters also carry a particular scroll.

The initial roll among the 24 scroll types is uniform, but the treasure-level check can reject a scroll that is too powerful for the current source. Randomly generated copies begin uncursed.

Unidentified inscriptions

At the start of a new game, the following pool of thirty inscriptions is shuffled. The 24 scroll types receive the first 24 shuffled names, leaving six unused in that game. An inscription learned in one game therefore cannot safely identify the same scroll in another. A scroll's cursed name appears only after its type has been identified.

No.	Inscription	No.	Inscription
1	scroll-GRISTOGRUE	16	scroll-Aratron Samael
2	scroll-Kho Reck Tighp	17	scroll-De Wormiis Mysterius
3	scroll-E Z	18	scroll-Necronomicon
4	scroll-Kevitz	19	scroll-Pnakotic Manuscript
5	scroll-Arcanum Prime	20	scroll-Codex of Xalimar
6	scroll-NYARLATHOTEP	21	scroll-The Mabinogion
7	scroll-Gilthoniel	22	scroll-Ginseng Shiatsu
8	scroll-Zarathustra	23	scroll-Tome of Tromax
9	scroll-Ancient Lore	24	scroll-Book of the Dead
10	scroll-Eyes Only	25	scroll-The Flame Tongue
11	scroll-Ambogar Empheltz	26	scroll-Karst Khogar
12	scroll-Isengard	27	scroll-The Yellow Sign
13	scroll-Deosil Widdershins	28	scroll-The Kevillist Manifesto
14	scroll-Magister Paracelsus	29	scroll-Goshtar Script
15	scroll-Qlipphotic Summons	30	scroll-Pendragon Encryption

Reading scrolls

Scrolls cannot be read while blind or afraid. Cancelling before choosing a scroll leaves it in the inventory. Once a scroll has been read, it is normally consumed even if a later target or text prompt is cancelled or rejected; exceptions and important targeting details are described on the individual page.

Blessed, uncursed, and cursed copies may have very different results. The BUC table on each individual page describes those outcomes from the reader's point of view.

Loss and destruction

Reading normally consumes one scroll. Cancelling before choosing a scroll is safe, but cancelling a later target or text prompt usually does not prevent consumption.

A scroll can also be lost in the following ways:

The Destroy an item command can shatter a selected scroll.
An acid trap can damage possessions unless the reader dodges the spray or has acid immunity. A normal fragility-1 scroll subjected to the general item-damage check shatters 14 times in 15.
Entering the Abyss removes all possessions, including scrolls.
A cursed scroll of acquirement can destroy a random possession. A scroll of blessing can disintegrate a sufficiently cursed target. Misusing the Orb of Earth can disintegrate all possessions.

A blessed scroll may resist the general item-damage check according to its item level, but this offers no protection to level-0 scrolls and is unreliable for low-level ones.

Strategy

Protecting scrolls

Acid immunity prevents an acid trap from damaging possessions, making it the most direct protection for carried scrolls. Avoid entering the Abyss with scrolls that must be retained. Blessing can improve the survival chance of higher-level scrolls, but it should not be treated as dependable protection for low-level copies.

Acquiring scrolls

Search ordinary floor treasure and monster drops, and check the pawn shop when it refreshes. A blessed scroll of acquirement is the reliable way to request a particular scroll; an uncursed acquirement only chooses the scroll category and then gives a random type. Blippers carry scrolls of teleportation, phantasticons carry scrolls of true sight, and necromancers can leave scrolls of spells.

Using scrolls

Identify both the scroll type and its BUC state before committing rare or dangerous copies. Keep escape effects such as teleportation available for emergencies, use temporary combat or vision effects shortly before they matter, and save acquirement or wishing until the desired result and any required input are known. Choose targets before reading: once a scroll reaches its effect, backing out of a later prompt normally still consumes it. Some scrolls ignore BUC while others reverse their benefit, so consult the individual effect table rather than assuming that blessed is always stronger or cursed is merely weaker.

References

WinOmega source at the documented revision
NetHackWiki Scroll article (table organization reference; Omega values and mechanics are sourced from WinOmega)

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 ! Base value (Au)
 ! Item level
-! Relative probability
-! Weight
-! Fragility
-! Rarity
-! Unidentified appearance
 ! Cursed name
 |-
-| [[Draft:Blank scroll|Blank scroll]] || 5 || 0 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Antinomy!
+| [[Draft:Blank scroll|Blank scroll]] || 5 || 0 || Antinomy!
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of spells|Scroll of spells]] || 250 || 1 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of spell loss
+| [[Draft:Scroll of spells|Scroll of spells]] || 250 || 1 || Scroll of spell loss
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of blessing|Scroll of blessing]] || 400 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of cursing
+| [[Draft:Scroll of blessing|Scroll of blessing]] || 400 || 2 || Scroll of cursing
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of acquirement|Scroll of acquirement]] || 5,000 || 7 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of destruction
+| [[Draft:Scroll of acquirement|Scroll of acquirement]] || 5,000 || 7 || Scroll of destruction
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of enchantment|Scroll of enchantment]] || 200 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of disenchantment
+| [[Draft:Scroll of enchantment|Scroll of enchantment]] || 200 || 2 || Scroll of disenchantment
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of teleportation|Scroll of teleportation]] || 75 || 1 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of teleportation
+| [[Draft:Scroll of teleportation|Scroll of teleportation]] || 75 || 1 || Scroll of teleportation
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of wishing|Scroll of wishing]] || 10,000 || 10 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of wishing
+| [[Draft:Scroll of wishing|Scroll of wishing]] || 10,000 || 10 || Scroll of wishing
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of clairvoyance|Scroll of clairvoyance]] || 25 || 1 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of amnesia
+| [[Draft:Scroll of clairvoyance|Scroll of clairvoyance]] || 25 || 1 || Scroll of amnesia
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of displacement|Scroll of displacement]] || 50 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of vulnerability
+| [[Draft:Scroll of displacement|Scroll of displacement]] || 50 || 2 || Scroll of vulnerability
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of identification|Scroll of identification]] || 20 || 0 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of forgetfulness
+| [[Draft:Scroll of identification|Scroll of identification]] || 20 || 0 || Scroll of forgetfulness
 |-
-| [[Draft:Hint sheet|Hint sheet]] || 10 || 0 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Hint sheet
+| [[Draft:Hint sheet|Hint sheet]] || 10 || 0 || Hint sheet
 |-
-| [[Draft:Jane's guide to treasure|Jane's guide to treasure]] || 50 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Jane's guide to treasure
+| [[Draft:Jane's guide to treasure|Jane's guide to treasure]] || 50 || 2 || Jane's guide to treasure
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of alertness|Scroll of alertness]] || 50 || 1 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of drowsiness
+| [[Draft:Scroll of alertness|Scroll of alertness]] || 50 || 1 || Scroll of drowsiness
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of cosmic flux|Scroll of cosmic flux]] || 300 || 5 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of cosmic flux
+| [[Draft:Scroll of cosmic flux|Scroll of cosmic flux]] || 300 || 5 || Scroll of cosmic flux
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of charging|Scroll of charging]] || 100 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of draining
+| [[Draft:Scroll of charging|Scroll of charging]] || 100 || 2 || Scroll of draining
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of the warp|Scroll of the warp]] || 100 || 3 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of the warp
+| [[Draft:Scroll of the warp|Scroll of the warp]] || 100 || 3 || Scroll of the warp
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of self-knowledge|Scroll of self-knowledge]] || 10 || 1 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of delusion
+| [[Draft:Scroll of self-knowledge|Scroll of self-knowledge]] || 10 || 1 || Scroll of delusion
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of law|Scroll of law]] || 100 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of law
+| [[Draft:Scroll of law|Scroll of law]] || 100 || 2 || Scroll of law
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of heroism|Scroll of heroism]] || 200 || 5 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of cowardliness
+| [[Draft:Scroll of heroism|Scroll of heroism]] || 200 || 5 || Scroll of cowardliness
 |-
-| [[Draft:Scroll of true sight|Scroll of true sight]] || 50 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of blindness
+| [[Draft:Scroll of true sight|Scroll of true sight]] || 50 || 2 || Scroll of blindness
 |-
-| [[Scroll of dispelling]] || 250 || 3 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of self-dispelling
+| [[Scroll of dispelling]] || 250 || 3 || Scroll of self-dispelling
 |-
-| [[Scroll of summoning]] || 300 || 2 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of summoning
+| [[Scroll of summoning]] || 300 || 2 || Scroll of summoning
 |-
-| [[Scroll of light]] || 30 || 0 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of darkness
+| [[Scroll of light]] || 30 || 0 || Scroll of darkness
 |-
-| [[Scroll of deflection]] || 250 || 3 || 1/24 || 5 || 1 || Common || Random inscription || Scroll of vulnerability
+| [[Scroll of deflection]] || 250 || 3 || Scroll of vulnerability
 |}
 </div>
-The initial roll is uniform among all 24 types. The item-level check is applied afterwards, so high-level scrolls are less likely to survive generation from a low-level treasure source. The unidentified appearance is one of the shuffled inscriptions listed below.
 The base value is the ordinary, uncursed scroll's value before identification and BUC adjustments. Pawn-shop stock is fully identified and an ordinary scroll's shelf price matches this value. When selling, the pawn shop offers half of the value it can recognize: unidentified scrolls are heavily discounted, partially identified scrolls receive a smaller discount, and cursed scrolls are refused.