Scroll of summoning
| ? | |
| Base value (Au) | 300 |
|---|---|
| Item level | 2 |
| Random generation | Probability table |
| Weight | 5 |
| Fragility | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Unidentified appearance | Random inscription |
| Cursed name | scroll of summoning |
The scroll of summoning creates a random hostile monster on a nearby floor square. Despite the usual expectation that blessing helps summoning, this implementation deliberately invokes the cursed summoning path for every BUC state.
Generation and appearance
It is one of the 24 common random scroll types and receives a shuffled unidentified inscription each game. Fnords begin with this scroll in their fixed inventory; random copies otherwise begin uncursed.
Data and mechanics
It is object ID 63 and scroll ID 21, with weight 5, fragility 1, base value 300 Au, and item level 2. The wrapper identifies the scroll and passes `-1, -1` to the summoning function without reading the scroll's blessing.
Effects and interactions
| BUC state | Result |
|---|---|
| Blessed | Creates one random hostile monster on an adjacent free floor square. |
| Uncursed | Creates one random hostile monster on an adjacent free floor square. |
| Cursed | Creates one random hostile monster on an adjacent free floor square. |
The game scans the eight adjacent directions for an in-bounds floor square without a creature. If one is found, it chooses uniformly from the full monster table, creates that monster, marks it hostile, and adds it to the level list. If no suitable adjacent square exists, nothing is created. The scroll identifies itself in every state and is still consumed on failure.
Strategy
Do not bless this scroll: blessing does not tame the result or control its type. Read it only when a hostile random monster is useful or manageable, ideally with terrain and an escape route already prepared. Surrounding the reader with non-floor or occupied squares can force the effect to fail, but the scroll is still spent.
Trivial
No reliable creator statement tying this generic item name to a particular cultural source was found.