The GENOCIDE spell...

Hey, two posts in one sitting. Very rare :)

I'm curious about what monsters people GEN when they get the spell. For me, I will always go with Nagas. They are the most annoying creatures that you encounter in the dungeon. They are difficult to hit, they have a lot of hit points, you can't use SLE or WEB on them. They can rust your armor, un-enchant your items, and worst, they can pickpocket you like a Nymph. (I just recently was heading out of the Volcano and a naga popped up and stole the potion of cure dianthorritis!)

I have to say, that one of the few additions I liked in ULARN was that you could find the Nymph or Naga that took your stuff and kill them, and you'd get the last item of yours that they stole back.

So what other monsters do people Genocide?

Hey! Who Xvarted?

Sorry about the title, I couldn't resist. I thought of another tiny thing I had noticed in the past about Larn: As part of my "volcano lottery" strategy, I am typically jumping around the Volcano with a Stealth scroll in effect. Sometimes, I will magic-missile a Xvart in order to lead it away from a place I need to get to, to pick up a valuable chest or book. Several times I have been leading a Xvart past some dragons (I believe they were Silver) and they "woke up" from the stealth! It's like the Xvart signals them or something. I haven't noticed any other monsters that will do that. It's gotten me killed many times.

Scroll of Spell Extension

Does anyone know how precisely the Scroll of Spell Extension works? I have noticed a few times that my hastes or stealths or undead protections last a lot longer than they should. However, when I've *tried* to use a scroll of spell extension it doesn't seem to make any difference. Do you cast the spell, then read the scroll? Do you read the scroll and it affects the next spell? Is the extension so minor that I just didn't notice? Or does it only work with spells that you cast and not scrolls or potions?

Also, if you read a scroll of Time Warp and go back 5 mobuls, does it extend your spells? When you cast Haste, does it expire at a certain fixed "time" or does it run for one mobul regardless of Time Warp?

I wish I had the time/know-how to look through the larn source code, but I don't. Time Warp and Spell Extension are just two of the things that have always befuddled me about Larn. (The previously mentioned Amulet of Invisibility falls into that same catagory).

Amulet Of Invisibility?

In the D&D Store there is an item called an Amulet of Invisibility. I've always wondered whether this actually does anything or not. It's 4000gp. I have purchased it before but didn't notice any changes. For years I assumed it was just a waste. Anyone know any different?

Another observation...

As a lot of you know, when you beat Larn, the next time you play, you're at a higher difficulty. In my UNIX Larn, I had beaten up to difficulty 9 using the "Volcano Lottery" strategy. I decided to "keep it fun" by playing a lower difficulty (Difficulty 3) and still trying to beat Diff 9 once in a while. One thing I just noticed, is that playing Difficulty 3 a bunch of times has lowered my Diff level to 4. So if I just type in Larn (with no -3 or -8 or whatever) it plays in difficulty 4. Maybe you only have so many tries before you lose a difficulty. Sure seems that way.

Breaking the Bank of Larn

I mentioned this in an earlier post. After retrieving the potion from the dungon on one occasion, I decided to sell all of my equipment. (interesting note: the potion of dianthrorritis CAN be sold, but it's nearly worthless GP-wise). I ended up with over 500,000gp. When I went into the bank, I got this popup along the bottom:

Note: Larndom law states that only desposits under 500,000gp can earn interest.

It was a fun discovery.

Level 100: The Creator

Inspired by the poster "Concertinachap" I decided to make a run at level 100. He said that he even executed a script that would VPR (vaporize rock) next to an altar, then SLE (sleep) the Demon Prince that would appear. (as long as you have the lance of death, they will die). I had to do it the old fashioned way. I didn't have Stealth permanenced, so I was forced to cast HLD (hold monsters) VPR, then SLE to hit the Demon Prince. (WEB also works). The following is the log I made of my progress towards level 100. I changed the LARN screencap to reflect what I was like at Level 100.

Apprentice Gorgon (Level 19)
Practiced Gorgon (Level 20)
Master Gorgon (Level 21)
Demi-Gorgon (Level 22)
Evil Master (Level 23)
Great Evil Master (Level 24)
Mighty Evil Master (Levels 25-30)
(Note: after level 27, you have infinite spell regeneration)

(I got a little more detailed and started noting the XP amounts)

Level 40 38099999 apprentice demi-god
Level 49 56099999 minor demi-god
Level 58 74199999 major demi-god
Level 67 92199999 minor deity
Level 76 125099999 major deity

(16 demon prince kills between levels)

Level 85 170099999 Novice Guardian

17 Kills between levels

Level 90 195099999 Apprentice Guardian

33 kills between levels.

Level 94 230299999 Earth Guardian

33 kills

Level 95 240199999 Air Guardian
Level 96 250000000 Fire Guardian
Level 97 260289506 Water Guardian
Level 98 270189506 Time Guardian
Level 99 280089505 Ethereal Guardian

(Forgot the count the kills before level 100)

Level 100 290199999 The Creator