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The Messages of "Nethack" Trivia Quiz

I will list some common messages that appear in "Nethack," the classic computer game for DOS, and you tell me what they mean. These might occur if you quaffed a potion, read a scroll, or performed a number of other actions.

A multiple-choice quiz by efvie. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
efvie

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
289,721

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
165

Question 1 of 10

1. "You feel like someone is helping you." Why? Hint

you have just read a scroll of "identify."

you have just read a scroll of "remove curse."

you have just read a scroll of "monster detection."

you have just quaffed a potion of "levitation."

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "You hear the rumble of distant thunder..." What has happened? Hint

your pet was killed

you read a scroll of earth

you prayed when your god was mad at you

you killed your pet

3. One way to identify a ring in "Nethack", if you don't have a scroll of identify, is to drop the ring down a sink. The resulting message will tell you what kind of ring you have. (Beware: You will almost certainly lose the ring.)

If you drop a ring in a sink and the message is "You hear loud noises coming from the drain," what kind of ring do you have? Hint

conflict

telepathy

aggravate monster

free action

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. If you were hallucinating, what event might trigger this message in "Nethack"?

"Your sacrifice sprouts wings and a propeller and roars away!" Hint

your god gives you a gift

your sacrifice was accepted

your sacrfice converted an altar

your sacrifice was rejected

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. Back to the sinks. What does it mean when you quaff from a sink and get the message "Some dirty water backs up in the drain"? Hint

you've already summoned a sewer rat from this sink

you've already found a ring in this sink

you've already summoned a foocubus from this sink

you are hallucinating and there's a ring in the sink

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. "Touching the ________ corpse was a fatal mistake." What type of corpse have you touched that killed you?

Answer: (One Word; think stoned lizards)

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. What color will your weapon glow if you read an uncursed scroll of enchant weapon? Hint

black

blue

amber

white

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. What type of scroll will give you this message? "Your hands begin to glow red." Hint

confuse monster

a cursed remove curse scroll

an enchant weapon if you are not wielding a weapon

a scroll of teleportation, when you have teleport control

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. What scroll have you read if your message says, "You hear maniacal laughter in the distance"? Hint

genocide

confuse monster

scare monster

detect food

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. "You feel self-knowledgeable..." What have you just done? Hint

quaffed a potion of enlightenment

prayed

gone up an experience level

had a near death experience

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "You feel like someone is helping you." Why?

Answer: you have just read a scroll of "remove curse."

This is the message that appears when you read a scroll of "remove curse". This is very helpful to know if you accidentally got an axe welded to your hand, or a helmet stuck on your head. A scroll of identify, of course, identifies itself in the message when you read it. "This is a scroll of identify." No mysteries there. :)

2. "You hear the rumble of distant thunder..." What has happened?

Answer: you killed your pet

This message appears if you willfully kill your pet. If your pet is killed fighting something else, you get a different message. If you pray when your god is mad at you, you are likely to be punished much more directly...like being demoted a level, having a ball and chain attached, etc. A scroll of earth drops a bunch of boulders on/around you.

3. One way to identify a ring in "Nethack", if you don't have a scroll of identify, is to drop the ring down a sink. The resulting message will tell you what kind of ring you have. (Beware: You will almost certainly lose the ring.) If you drop a ring in a sink and the message is "You hear loud noises coming from the drain," what kind of ring do you have?

Answer: conflict

A ring of conflict causes most, if not all, other creatures you come into contact with to be hostile towards you, even if they would not normally be so. Aggravate monster works in the same way, but only for the monster classes.

4. If you were hallucinating, what event might trigger this message in "Nethack"? "Your sacrifice sprouts wings and a propeller and roars away!"

Answer: your sacrfice converted an altar

If you are sober when you convert an altar, the message will tell you that you sense a fight between the original owner of the altar and your god. If your God wins this wrestling match, s/he gets to keep the altar.

5. Back to the sinks. What does it mean when you quaff from a sink and get the message "Some dirty water backs up in the drain"?

Answer: you've already found a ring in this sink

Foocubi (succubi or incubi) can be summoned by kicking the sink. These are demons that can seduce you and steal your items, along with being a real pain to kill. They will either be an incubus, which seduces female characters, or a succubus, which seduces male characters.

6. "Touching the ________ corpse was a fatal mistake." What type of corpse have you touched that killed you?

Answer: cockatrice

If you touch a cockatrice corpse, you die. This can happen if you try to eat it or pick it up.

Unfortunately, if you are blind and walk over an object, you will automatically try to "feel what's on the floor here." Should you happen to walk over a cockatrice corpse, that counts as touching it, and you die.

7. What color will your weapon glow if you read an uncursed scroll of enchant weapon?

Answer: blue

"Your [wielded weapon] glows blue briefly."

A cursed scroll will make your weapon glow black.
Amber is the color of the flash a blessed item will make when you drop it on an altar.

8. What type of scroll will give you this message? "Your hands begin to glow red."

Answer: confuse monster

If you are not wielding a weapon when you read a scroll of enchant weapon, "You have a strange feeling for a moment, and then it passes."

A cursed remove curse scroll will attach a ball and chain to you.

When you have teleport control and read a scroll of teleportation, the game will ask you if you want to teleport.

9. What scroll have you read if your message says, "You hear maniacal laughter in the distance"?

Answer: scare monster

Confuse monster makes your hands glow red, while detect food shows food on your level. Genocide will ask what kind of monster you wish to genocide, but this should only be used in extreme circumstances...it reflects badly in your attributes, and can annoy your god.

10. "You feel self-knowledgeable..." What have you just done?

Answer: quaffed a potion of enlightenment

When you quaff a potion of enlightenment, the game gives you this message, followed by your attributes, which can be handy if you need to know how your god feels about you, among other things.

It can also list many other things, like whether or not you are lucky. Luck does play a big part in this game, so this information might influence whether or not you attempt actions that are largely based on luck, such as kicking a sink or quaffing from a fountain.

Thanks for playing, and good luck getting to the Amulet of Yendor!

Source: Author efvie

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Diamondlance before going online.
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