ABSTRACT
November 2010 While the book concerns roguelike design issues, it may be of use to players trying to figure out how best to make progress in these games. A reminder is in order as to what constitutes “permadeath.” Games that use it are those that allow the player to catastrophically fail, losing the game, without recourse to continuing play other than starting over. Although unlikely at a given moment, the strongest monster that can be generated on this level could be on the other side. “Permanent harm” here means types other than straight hit point damage, such as substantial strength drain. The Rogue analogy is getting rattlesnake-bitten enough that people strength drains to extremely low levels. Cockatrices can appear fairly early, before the player has had a chance to improve his state much. Some monsters in NetHack are able to cast spells, and if they’re higher than a certain level one of those spells is Touch of Death.
