Scroll
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 | Relative probability | Weight | Fragility | Rarity | Unidentified appearance | Cursed name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blank scroll | 5 | 0 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Antinomy! |
| Scroll of spells | 250 | 1 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of spell loss |
| Scroll of blessing | 400 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of cursing |
| Scroll of acquirement | 5,000 | 7 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of destruction |
| Scroll of enchantment | 200 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of disenchantment |
| Scroll of teleportation | 75 | 1 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of teleportation |
| Scroll of wishing | 10,000 | 10 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of wishing |
| Scroll of clairvoyance | 25 | 1 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of amnesia |
| Scroll of displacement | 50 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of vulnerability |
| Scroll of identification | 20 | 0 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of forgetfulness |
| Hint sheet | 10 | 0 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Hint sheet |
| Jane's guide to treasure | 50 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Jane's guide to treasure |
| Scroll of alertness | 50 | 1 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of drowsiness |
| Scroll of cosmic flux | 300 | 5 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of cosmic flux |
| Scroll of charging | 100 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of draining |
| Scroll of the warp | 100 | 3 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of the warp |
| Scroll of self-knowledge | 10 | 1 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of delusion |
| Scroll of law | 100 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of law |
| Scroll of heroism | 200 | 5 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of cowardliness |
| Scroll of true sight | 50 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of blindness |
| Scroll of dispelling | 250 | 3 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of self-dispelling |
| Scroll of summoning | 300 | 2 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of summoning |
| Scroll of light | 30 | 0 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of darkness |
| Scroll of deflection | 250 | 3 | 1/24 | 5 | 1 | Common | Random inscription | Scroll of vulnerability |
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.
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)