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Maintainer: Sascha Wostmann (sascha@nethack.de)
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Newsgroups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack
Subject: Dealing with succ/incubi
From: rchason@smart.net (Lee Jackson Beauregard)
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 06:42:24 GMT


1.  Seduction and Alignment

Chaotics who "lie back and enjoy it" get +1 on their alignment.  Otherwise,
alignment doesn't matter.  What matters is intelligence and charisma.

2.  Positive and Negative Effects

The probability of a positive effect from the encounter is:

	(INT + CHA + 1)/35

3.  Positive Effects

If the effect is positive, any of the following may occur with equal
probability:

        - "You feel good enough to do it again."
          Add 1 to constitution; exercise constitution.

        - "You will always remember the <monster>."
          Add 1 to wisdom; exercise wisdom.

        - "You feel restored to health!"
          Heal all hit points; exercise strength.

        - "You feel raised to your full potential."
          Add 1-5 points to max energy; restore all energy; exercise
          constitution.

        - "That was a very educational experience."
          Gain one level; exercise wisdom.

After a positive effect, the demon will "act as if (s)he has a headache."  Back
away, go kill a few orcs, come back, and do it again.

4.  Negative Effects

If the effect is negative, any of the following may occur with equal
probability:

        - "You feel down in the dumps."
          Subtract 1 from constitution; abuse constitution.

        - "Your senses are dulled."
          Subtract 1 from wisdom; abuse wisdom.

        - "You feel exhausted."
          Lose 10-16 hit points (subject to half physical damage); abuse
          strength.

        - "You feel drained of energy."
          Lose all magical energy; reduce max energy by 1-10 points (1-5 with 
          half physical damage); abuse constitution.

        - "You feel out of shape."
          Lose one level.  This is a level drain, as by a vampire, and may be
          restored by making any kill.  Characters who resist level drain,
          whether by artifact or polymorph, "have a curious feeling" and get no
          effect.

After a negative effect, the demon is ready to go at it again.

5.  Auto-cancellation

With each encounter there is a 4% chance that the demon will be worn out.  (S)he
will become cancelled, as if by the wand, and will "act as if (s)he has a severe
headache".  The key word is *severe*.  Once this has happened, the demon is just
another monster and will play with you no more.  There's nothing left to do but
kill it.

6.  So should you do it?

Ideally you want to have max intelligence and charisma.  Alas, intelligence is
hard to gain; but you can get charisma from magic traps.  Intelligence can be
boosted with a helm of brilliance (if you can keep it on!).  Charisma can be
boosted with a ring of adornment, but succubi will take this ring from a male
character.  (This AFAIK is Nethack's only asymmetry between male and female
characters.)

Here's how you can defend against the negative effects:

    - You *do* have a unicorn horn, don't you?  This will nullify any loss of
      wisdom or constitution.

    - It's helpful to have Excalibur or Stormbringer to ward off level drain.

    - There's no defense against loss of hit points, except for half physical
      damage (conferred by some artifacts).  Just don't consort with demons when
      you're nearly dead, and you'll be OK.

    - There's no defense against energy drain, except for half physical damage.

To counter energy drain, I rely on the laws of probability to gain more than I
lose.  Here, then, is my rule:

    - If you have half physical damage, you should have intelligence+charisma of
      at least 17, so that you will have more positive effects than negative
      ones.

    - If you don't have half physical damage, you want to have at least 5.5
      positive effects for every 3 negative ones (you'll gain on average 3
      points and lose on average 5.5).  This means you want 64.7% positive, and
      you need int+cha of at least 22.

It matters less for barbarians and other magic-challenged classes.  Use your
good judgment.


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