Only one staircase down open?

[arandomperson12]

Both others were in vaults that I could not access. I went up to avoid a troll ghost, then realized I had no other way down, went down and fought the ghost, and lost. I should have used a hatch?

[Tungsten]

I should have used a hatch?

yes.

Or read tp. Or read magic mapping and head for the nearest downstairs.

[Sandman25]

Or explore other branch.

[arandomperson12]

I should have used a hatch?

yes.

Or read tp. Or read magic mapping and head for the nearest downstairs.

I could not go anywhere from those stairs, as the layout of the stairs was like this:

######
....p@#
######

where #s are walls, .s are empty floors, p is the ghost, and @ is me.

Or explore other branch.

It was really early, no branches were available.

[tedric]

going upstairs (or closing a door, etc.) and pressing 5 a bunch often does the trick