hat of illiteracy


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Mines Malingerer

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Post Tuesday, 13th August 2019, 10:24

hat of illiteracy

How about a +3 Hat of Illiteracy which, while worn, would prevent the character from reading scrolls or spellbooks (though you could still cast spells already memorized)? Note that a *cursed* Hat of Illiteracy would be a truly awful item!

Blades Runner

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Post Thursday, 15th August 2019, 00:33

Re: hat of illiteracy

I don't think it would be that awful, and only in some rare cases early on do people not have any remove curse scrolls. This item would just be junk cluttering the dungeon for the most part. Robes of misfortune are so much worse (or whatever they're called). To make the item more interesting, it should do something good as well, like a boost to strength or something, and re-curse itself so it can't be swapped easily.

Slime Squisher

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Location: France

Post Thursday, 15th August 2019, 10:33

Re: hat of illiteracy

I'd never put it on as-is. I'd give up 3AC for the ability to read scrolls any day.
3 runes : MiMo^Ru, HOFi^Beogh, TrMo^Yredelemnul, GrFi^Ru, FoFi^Gozag, MiGl^Okawaru
4 runes : DDFi^Makhleb
5 runes : GrEE^Vehumet
15 runes : MiFi^Ru, NaWz^Sif Muna, GrWz^Sif Muna
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Blades Runner

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Post Thursday, 15th August 2019, 15:59

Re: hat of illiteracy

svendre wrote:I don't think it would be that awful, and only in some rare cases early on do people not have any remove curse scrolls. This item would just be junk cluttering the dungeon for the most part. Robes of misfortune are so much worse (or whatever they're called). To make the item more interesting, it should do something good as well, like a boost to strength or something, and re-curse itself so it can't be swapped easily.


He's proposing that the hat would block reading scrolls, which means remove curse scrolls would be useless. It would indeed be a terrible/noob trap item lol.

Blades Runner

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Post Saturday, 17th August 2019, 00:01

Re: hat of illiteracy

TheMeInTeam wrote:
svendre wrote:I don't think it would be that awful, and only in some rare cases early on do people not have any remove curse scrolls. This item would just be junk cluttering the dungeon for the most part. Robes of misfortune are so much worse (or whatever they're called). To make the item more interesting, it should do something good as well, like a boost to strength or something, and re-curse itself so it can't be swapped easily.


He's proposing that the hat would block reading scrolls, which means remove curse scrolls would be useless. It would indeed be a terrible/noob trap item lol.


Oh, yes, right that would be horrible. Funny, hilarious even, but horrible.
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Slime Squisher

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Post Saturday, 17th August 2019, 08:48

Re: hat of illiteracy

TheMeInTeam wrote:
svendre wrote:I don't think it would be that awful, and only in some rare cases early on do people not have any remove curse scrolls. This item would just be junk cluttering the dungeon for the most part. Robes of misfortune are so much worse (or whatever they're called). To make the item more interesting, it should do something good as well, like a boost to strength or something, and re-curse itself so it can't be swapped easily.


He's proposing that the hat would block reading scrolls, which means remove curse scrolls would be useless. It would indeed be a terrible/noob trap item lol.


Can scrolls be read while transmuted? As in, would becoming a tree restore literacy and create a bypass for this issue?
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Zot Zealot

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Joined: Thursday, 16th August 2018, 21:19

Post Saturday, 17th August 2019, 23:26

Re: hat of illiteracy

Yes, I think that'd work, except if you're a mummy/goul.

Probably the hat shouldn't be cursed tough. Needing 5 turns to read a scroll is had enough. I'm not sure how much AC the hat would need to have for me to consider wearing it. Maybe +6AC would do the trick in the early game. For flavor it should also come with an int penalty?

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Slime Squisher

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Location: France

Post Sunday, 18th August 2019, 10:51

Re: hat of illiteracy

petercordia wrote:I'm not sure how much AC the hat would need to have for me to consider wearing it. Maybe +6AC would do the trick in the early game.


I'd still much rather wear a plain +2 hat.
3 runes : MiMo^Ru, HOFi^Beogh, TrMo^Yredelemnul, GrFi^Ru, FoFi^Gozag, MiGl^Okawaru
4 runes : DDFi^Makhleb
5 runes : GrEE^Vehumet
15 runes : MiFi^Ru, NaWz^Sif Muna, GrWz^Sif Muna
I mostly play offline or online on CXC

Swamp Slogger

Posts: 139

Joined: Saturday, 10th January 2015, 22:27

Post Sunday, 18th August 2019, 14:57

Re: hat of illiteracy

Yeah, for what's basically a permanent loss of the ability to read scrolls, you'd need a serious benefit. We're talking less "+3 AC" and more "+23 AC."
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Tartarus Sorceror

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Joined: Saturday, 18th June 2016, 13:57

Post Sunday, 18th August 2019, 18:19

Re: hat of illiteracy

I think it would be cool to have some unique items that forever change your character and offer a consistent power-up against a drawback. But maybe it would step on Ru's feet.
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Slime Squisher

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Post Tuesday, 20th August 2019, 06:35

Re: hat of illiteracy

Aean wrote:Yeah, for what's basically a permanent loss of the ability to read scrolls, you'd need a serious benefit. We're talking less "+3 AC" and more "+23 AC."

Yes, though even with +23 AC I would still consider it a trap. That much more AC means that you get out of fights with more HP on average, which is very good. But scrolls are for emergencies. To make me consider this hat, it would have to provide something on the level of evocable teleport.
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Swamp Slogger

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Post Tuesday, 20th August 2019, 14:08

Re: hat of illiteracy

It'd probably be less than optimal in the long term, but it'd at least be an interesting, sometimes-optimal tradeoff, in the same sort of way as Formicid stasis.

After all, that much extra AC on D1 would do far more for your chances of getting the Orb, since it'd carry you through the more dangerous parts of the game - or even shore up a squishy character later in the game.

Blades Runner

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Post Tuesday, 20th August 2019, 15:45

Re: hat of illiteracy

I would definitely wear a +20 AC hat that blocks scrolls/spells if I could take it off later. Considering other gear it would be routine to have ~30+ AC in lair while wearing it, and there's not a lot that can threaten you with those AC values until rune branches. Probably enough that what few dangers there are can be handled by potions/wands.

Interestingly I'd still consider it an early-mid game only item even at 20AC, which is otherwise a preposterously huge benefit.

Snake Sneak

Posts: 127

Joined: Tuesday, 7th January 2014, 15:06

Post Friday, 23rd August 2019, 21:46

Re: hat of illiteracy

I would only wear this hat if, in exchange for illiteracy, you were able to fold your scrolls into tiny paper birds and bring them to life, not sure what you would do after that though.

Swamp Slogger

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Location: United States

Post Friday, 23rd August 2019, 21:58

Re: hat of illiteracy

A less extreme idea for this item could be a helmet with blurry vision.

Ziggurat Zagger

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Joined: Tuesday, 30th October 2012, 19:06

Post Friday, 23rd August 2019, 22:27

Re: hat of illiteracy

How about a helm that gives blurry vision, and ranged weapon slaying (maybe replace gloves of archery with it)

  Code:
+3 Helm of binocular {archery, blurry vision:1}

"This helm has clear glass that covers your eyes, letting you see with greater clarity at a distance, at the expense of making reading things up close much harder"
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Tartarus Sorceror

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Post Saturday, 24th August 2019, 01:04

Re: hat of illiteracy

Piginabag wrote:I would only wear this hat if, in exchange for illiteracy, you were able to fold your scrolls into tiny paper birds and bring them to life, not sure what you would do after that though.

If you sacrifice 5 scrolls, you get a Shrike!
I Feel the Need--the Need for Beer
Spoiler: show
3DSBeTr 15DSFiRu 3DSMoNe 3FoHuGo 3TrArOk 3HOFEVe 3MfGlOk 4GrEEVe 3BaIEChei 3HuMoOka 3MiWnQaz 3VSFiAsh 3DrTmMakh 3DSCKXom 3OgMoOka 3NaFiOka 3FoFiOka 3MuFEVeh 3CeHuOka 3TrMoTSO 3DEFESif 3DSMoOka 3DSFiOka
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Halls Hopper

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Joined: Thursday, 20th March 2014, 13:09

Post Saturday, 24th August 2019, 03:58

Re: hat of illiteracy

You feed scrolls and books to the hat, as it consumes magical lore it becomes more powerful, giving larger bonuses and eventually casting spells on it's own.

If you're a berserker and Trog finds out you're dating a magic hat you get kicked out of the basement and have to find an apartment to live in.

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