Named orcs??

[Jist Anidiot]

My orcish wizard was tooling around the mines on NAO when he encountered a hill orc that was named Ugoraithos of Ogzu. Unlike most orcs, he was hostile to my character. I was worried at first that this must be some powerful orc. However I quickly realized he was no better than any other hill orc and dispatched him with Magicbane.

On the next level of the mines, I suspect it is Minetown. However I encounter another named orc, Ogakhuthos of Ogzu who is also hostile to my orc wizard.

I've never encountered named orcs before. Is this something new in 3.6 or just some NAO quirk? Are they special beyond being hostile and named? What else should I know about them?

Thanks in advance.

[Pat Rankin]

Post by Jist Anidiot
My orcish wizard was tooling around the mines on NAO when he
encountered a hill orc that was named Ugoraithos of Ogzu. Unlike
most orcs, he was hostile to my character. I was worried at first that
this must be some powerful orc. However I quickly realized he was
no better than any other hill orc and dispatched him with Magicbane.
On the next level of the mines, I suspect it is Minetown. However I
encounter another named orc, Ogakhuthos of Ogzu who is also
hostile to my orc wizard.
I've never encountered named orcs before. Is this something new
in 3.6 or just some NAO quirk? Are they special beyond being hostile
and named? What else should I know about them?

There are several variations of Mine Town and one of them is known
as orctown or orcish town. In that one, the temple and most of the
shops have been plundered with the attending priest and shopkeepers
killed. 3.6.2 added some roaming orc marauders who carry some
items that would have been in the shops or held by the shopkeepers
or priest for the other variations of the town.

They don't actually travel from mine town, they're just random orcs
in the mines who are given randomly constructed names and might
carry an item or two that orcs don't ordinarily start with. If the pool
of items doesn't get used up in the mines, random orcs in the main
dungeon can become clan members with extra items too.

[jerk-o]

Post by Pat Rankin
There are several variations of Mine Town and one of them is known
as orctown or orcish town. In that one, the temple and most of the
shops have been plundered with the attending priest and shopkeepers
killed. 3.6.2 added some roaming orc marauders who carry some
items that would have been in the shops or held by the shopkeepers
or priest for the other variations of the town.
They don't actually travel from mine town, they're just random orcs
in the mines who are given randomly constructed names and might
carry an item or two that orcs don't ordinarily start with. If the pool
of items doesn't get used up in the mines, random orcs in the main
dungeon can become clan members with extra items too.

Are there any plans on "expanding" the Roaming Orc Marauder idea? One possible
idea: Once you get the amulet, add in several different items pools so that any
random monsters that spawn on the way back up get extra items that make them
more !!FUN!! to come across.

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by jerk-o

[...] roaming orc marauders who carry some
items that would have been in the shops or held by the shopkeepers
or priest for the other variations of the town.

Are there any plans on "expanding" the Roaming Orc Marauder idea? One possible
idea: Once you get the amulet, add in several different items pools so that any
random monsters that spawn on the way back up get extra items that make them
more !!FUN!! to come across.

The variant Slashem, actually, addresses that. Not additional items
carried by monsters, primarily (that also exist though), but midgame
(dlvl: 19..26) random "storage rooms" may appear in the dungeon[*];
that's basically just a chest with a handful of useful items and an
unsettling engraving (like "Property of the Wizard") beneath.

(In Slashem there's of course also more items in branches, and the
number of existing items types is significantly enhanced; this also
makes the game-play more interesting. In Nethack and Slashem there's
of course also the morgues with all the chests that contain useful
items. Existing special places include the Castle, the Valley, and
Orcus town, where you can find interesting loot already.)

Though, "once you get the amulet" would IMO not be that interesting
as a trigger; at that point I don't need (and neither collect) items
any more, I have my kit completed and just strive for the Sanctum.
(YMMV.)

More sources of items in the (early and) mid game might be good for
added fun.

Specifically more items early game would add to survivability. My
observation is that it doesn't matter what type of items you get,
but any item adds to the options to choose from for your tactics.
Being unlucky and not find any shop - the primary source of items,
especially early game - will not let you develop survival tactics
beyond the "naked" standards (hit or flee). (Slashem, here as well,
has addressed that by some dungeon design changes.)

Janis

[*] https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/Storage_room

[jerk-o]

On Fri, 30 Sep 2022 11:52:17 +0200, Janis Papanagnou

Post by Janis Papanagnou

Post by jerk-o

[...] roaming orc marauders who carry some
items that would have been in the shops or held by the shopkeepers
or priest for the other variations of the town.

Are there any plans on "expanding" the Roaming Orc Marauder idea? One possible
idea: Once you get the amulet, add in several different items pools so that any
random monsters that spawn on the way back up get extra items that make them
more !!FUN!! to come across.

The variant Slashem, actually, addresses that. Not additional items
carried by monsters, primarily (that also exist though), but midgame
(dlvl: 19..26) random "storage rooms" may appear in the dungeon[*];
that's basically just a chest with a handful of useful items and an
unsettling engraving (like "Property of the Wizard") beneath.

It's not "more items for the player", it's "more items for monsters to use"

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by jerk-o
On Fri, 30 Sep 2022 11:52:17 +0200, Janis Papanagnou

Post by Janis Papanagnou

Post by jerk-o

[...] roaming orc marauders who carry some
items that would have been in the shops or held by the shopkeepers
or priest for the other variations of the town.

Are there any plans on "expanding" the Roaming Orc Marauder idea? One possible
idea: Once you get the amulet, add in several different items pools so that any
random monsters that spawn on the way back up get extra items that make them
more !!FUN!! to come across.

The variant Slashem, actually, addresses that. Not additional items
carried by monsters, primarily (that also exist though), but midgame
(dlvl: 19..26) random "storage rooms" may appear in the dungeon[*];
that's basically just a chest with a handful of useful items and an
unsettling engraving (like "Property of the Wizard") beneath.

It's not "more items for the player", it's "more items for monsters to use"

Ah, I misinterpreted your intention; I thought you wanted more death
drops.

(In that respect, BTW, Slashem monster already use more items, items
that exist in Nethack but are unused by NH-monsters) as well as new
items that Slashem implemented. Ideas that Nethack might borrow.)

In the vein of your intention there could be yet more options to
make the late game harder; peacefuls may get hostile, all monsters
may get aggravated by you, frequency of monster generation may be
increased - if that is not already implemented, I'm not sure here -,
more attack wands in monsters' hands (like in Slashem). - But to be
honest, not that it would be fun to get hit by a thrown potion of
amnesia, zapped with a wand of cancellation, and other nastiness we
know from Slashem.

Janis