Draft:Itinerant merchant
| @ Itinerant merchant | |
|---|---|
| Form | Ordinary creature |
| Attacks | No ordinary attacks; 1 defense |
| Special abilities | One-item sale; lawful discount when underfunded; vanishes if hostile |
| Base level | 0 |
| HP | 15 |
| Hit | 0 |
| Defense | 0 |
| Action interval | 7 ticks; lower is faster |
| Kill experience | 5, on normal death in sight |
| Generation | Generation and encounters |
| Carried items | No fixed item; 0–2 random possessions |
| Immunities | None innate |
| Remains | Dead itinerant merchant; 50% on normal death |
| Remains use | Cannibalism; no alchemy |
Traits
| |
| Reference | minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 10[1] |
An itinerant merchant is a travelling seller who offers one carried item and then leaves. This is a different creature from the village merchant who sells access to horses.[2]
Generation
Itinerant merchants appear in ordinary random pools, initially peaceful and following the player. They carry zero through two random items, with no fixed stock. A merchant with no possessions has nothing to sell.[3]
Trading
Conversation fully identifies the first item in the merchant's carried list and offers it for four times its true value, with a minimum price of 10 Au. This price accounts for the item's enchantment, blessing and charges. The identified item is the one being offered, not a general identification service for the player's inventory.[4]
If the player accepts but lacks the quoted amount, alignment greater than 10 makes the merchant accept all remaining cash instead, even if that amount is zero. Other underfunded buyers are refused. A stocked merchant leaves after the answer regardless of purchase, refusal or insufficient funds. Only the offered item is transferred; any other stock cannot be bought in a later conversation. An empty merchant remains after saying there is nothing to sell.[5]
Combat and remains
The merchant has one defense, no ordinary attack and no innate immunity. If made hostile, its nearby special action makes it vanish. Vanishing provides no death experience or ordinary drops.[6]
Normal death instead drops possessions and has a 50% chance to leave a corpse. Eating it lowers alignment by ten and adds eight food, with food first set to 25 if the player was lawful. It has no alchemical use.[7]
Strategy
Evaluate the identified item before answering: declining does not preserve a stocked merchant for later. Four times true value can be expensive, but the lawful-player discount can make a useful item affordable when cash is low. Attacking a merchant risks losing the trading opportunity through its escape response.
References
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 316–394; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 25–51; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 227–311; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 689–727; time.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 47–74; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 63–139. Construction, combat, timing and remains.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 10; mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 266–307.
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 280–394; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 10.
- ↑ mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 266–307; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 506–535.
- ↑ mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 266–307.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 10; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 111–117; mmove.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 228–242.
- ↑ mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 63–139; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 669–689; aux1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 716–748.