Crawl Psychology: The Gambler's Moment

[Grimm]

I've narrowed down a particular psychological tic that weakens my game.

So I'm XL 7 MDFi, doing well, taken Eustachio, have a small but choice selection of jewellery. At XL 6 I two-shotted an ogre. I'm feeling good.

I face another ogre, go toe to toe, we exchange blows and before I know it I am HP 12. He is down to HP 4 or something - one more strike and he's down. But if I miss, I will be down. The next move will be decisive.

I don't keymash - I stop and consider: here is a moment of decision. What will I do? I have potions that will help.

But then the Gambler's Mind jumps in and I think Hell, one blow, I can take him! I have a good chance. I already nailed one ogre!

You know the result.

Now I wasn't being recklessly impulsive. I gambled, consciously and clearly. And this was wrong.

This urge to gamble - "I'll probably nail him!" - this is a wrong urge. This is a cause of death.

[galehar]

This urge to gamble - "I'll probably nail him!" - this is a wrong urge. This is a cause of death.

Yes, you need to replace it by "I might die".

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

Actually, a single thought that transforms a certain process into a game might lead to a failure, because games as we usually think of them allow failures.
Though some games do not.

[Jeremiah]

I think whether that gamble was ultimately the right or wrong thing depends on what else you had available.

If you had some guaranteed escape like a scroll of blinking, that makes a big difference compared to "start running and hope it doesn't get a double move and kill me anyway."

By the time you're next to the monster, and not already hasted/swift, many of your choices have already disappeared. At that point, if you try running from something that's the same speed as you, it will probably end badly.

Healing potions might have helped, but might not have given you enough HP to avoid being one-shotted. And probably the most likely outcome would be you heal a bit then get hit, putting you back where you were but minus one healing potion.

Using an effect like haste or berserk takes a turn, and gives the monster a chance to hit you before you can get away.

All in all, hoping to kill it with one more hit might have been the best option. Obviously I don't know the full details of your character so I might be talking BS - but from what I can guess, I'd say the real gamble was deciding to fight it in the first place.

[Grimm]

the real gamble was deciding to fight it in the first place

And this is the essence of the pure melee build.

[Zuboki]

Search "almost dead" in Henzell. I always remember that for these situations.

For me it was a hill giant- As a HOSt, I had sliced and diced 3 of them on one floor, without stabbing them- just getting by using a healthy evasion and a decently large hp total. The first one brought me down to half health, the other 2 didn't even hit me. So I see a fourth, when I'm at 75%, and I'm just like "Aww, hell yeah, more free exp". Next thing I know, I'm at my inventory screen with exactly 1 hit point left.

Thankfully, that Hill Giant was all I needed to remind myself of my vulnerability. That very same HOSt is level 27 now, with at least a score of knights, half a dozen casters, 4 warlords, and Saint Roka by his side ready to die for Beogh. I breezed through slime pits (solo, mostly- Beogh sent reinforcements which really didn't help), and am actually considering trying out Hell or Pan. This "gamble" is why I like melee characters and higher hit points more- you have a better idea of their survivability for tough fights versus the caster glass cannon's "Don't get hit" idea of defense.

[Grimm]

Inspiring.

[XuaXua]

I've narrowed down HUBRIS.

...

This is a cause of death.

Fixed that for you.

[RFHolloway]

I've narrowed down HUBRIS.

...

This is a cause of death.

Fixed that for you.

harsh - but its actually an example of good roleplaying of a dwarf

[XuaXua]

My dwarf who took down pretty much everything AND F*CKING MARA, decided to stroll through the Hall of Blades because hey, Hall of Blades. Hours investment. Death in moments by sharp, pointy, vorpal hubris.

[njvack]

Ah, yes, Hall of Blades with a pure melee build: DRAIN DRAIN DRAIN BANISH DRAIN BANISH.

Whee?

[brgmahiko]

i had a MiBe with a +8+9 antimagic eveningstar, Level 22+? Stepped on mara and can take 5 iron trolls easily in the open. 38 AC 10EV and 35SH.

Then - Monestary of Wucad Mu. Trashed all the iron and rock troll monks until i saw the statue. Not knowing what it does i thought my huge MR was enough (i had an abyssal rune, wucad mu? trololol - thats what i was thinking).

Conf, Conf, Rock/Iron Troll monks, Conf, Brainless, Brainless, Conf, Brainless.

Well... at least i know what to expect of wucad mu now.

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

One does not trololol over the unknown.

[brgmahiko]

To succeed in crawl you must take to heart:

In Crawl, the unknown trololols YOU.

Theres a mathematical equation or graph out there that shows a direct relationship of X=Forgetting that to Y=YASD.

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

Hey, they do not know about Eduard Khil! They do not trololol, they yodel.

[Mackerel]

In baseball, your team can win the World Series just by winning about two thirds of your games: you can fail a third of the time, and you're still a champion. You'll be in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest batters ever, if you just get a hit one third of the time: you can fail two thirds of the time, and you're still revered as a hero. But to win at crawl, you must succeed in staying alive in every single encounter: not 90% of the time, not 99% of the time: if you fail even one time, the game is over.

[Zuboki]

In baseball, your team can win the World Series just by winning about two thirds of your games: you can fail a third of the time, and you're still a champion. You'll be in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest batters ever, if you just get a hit one third of the time: you can fail two thirds of the time, and you're still revered as a hero. But to win at crawl, you must succeed in staying alive in every single encounter: not 90% of the time, not 99% of the time: if you fail even one time, the game is over.

Unless Xom, TSO, Elyvilon, or Beogh saves your ass.

[cerebovssquire]

In baseball, your team can win the World Series just by winning about two thirds of your games: you can fail a third of the time, and you're still a champion. You'll be in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest batters ever, if you just get a hit one third of the time: you can fail two thirds of the time, and you're still revered as a hero. But to win at crawl, you must succeed in staying alive in every single encounter: not 90% of the time, not 99% of the time: if you fail even one time, the game is over.

Unless Xom, TSO, Elyvilon, or Beogh saves your ass.

Or you're a Felid.