flinn@seismo.UUCP (E. A. Flinn) (12/03/83)
In a previous posting, somebody advised that if you don't have at least 40 hit points by experience level 5, you might as well just quit, since you can't survive very long amid trolls and xorns with few hit points. It's not difficult to calculate the probability that you will get to 40 HP from smaller numbers. Hit points are apparently awarded at each level on the basis of throwing a ten-sided die, i.e., you get a random number between 1 and 10. The expected value of what you gain at each level is thus 5.5; the expected value of where you are at experience level 5, after four jumps, is 12 + 4 x 5.5 = 34, so half the time you will arrive at level 5 above 34 and half the time below. The following table shows the probability of arriving at 40 from lower levels. Present Level Hit Pts 1 2 3 4 12 .026 13 .008 14 .008 15 .008 16 .027 17 .027 18 .027 19 .064 20 .064 .001 21 .064 .001 22 .04 23 .04 24 .09 25 .09 26 .16 27 .16 28 .25 29 .25 30 .36 .1 31 .36 .2 32 .49 .3 33 .4 34 .5 35 .6 36 .7 37 .8 38 .9 39 1.0
robison@eosp1.UUCP (12/05/83)
I wonder whether people's experience wil match the calculations
posted, based upon the random throw of a 10-sieded die.
>From my experience in rogue 3.6 and 5.2, I believe that each
rogue is assigned several characteristics similar to AD&D
characteristics that are not shown on the screen. In particular:
CONstitution: A rogue with a good constitution is more likely to
get near 10 on each level increment. A bad rogue will get nearer one.
(In defence of this hypothesis -- the number of rogues that routinely
get 8 to 10 points per level for a while, or who get 1 to 3 points per
level, is far greater than what one would expect.)
INTelligence: In Rogue 3.6, where you can fight many Umber Hulks and
stay alive quite nicely with a magic arrow, I discovered a likely
correlation between the following three things, based, I think, upon
the Rogues's intelligence:
1) How confused you get from a potion of confusion.
2) Ability to handle wands of fire, ice, lightning accurately
3) How confused you get from Umber hulks.
["not very confused" means you can move in the direction of your
choice a higher percentage of the time. There is littel
correlation to the duration of confusion]
DEXterity: It is perfectly obvious that some rogues start off much more
dextrous than others. This is really noticeable in Rogue 5.2.
- Keremath, care of:
Robison
decvax!ittvax!eosp1
or: allegra!eosp1steven@qubix.UUCP (Steven Maurer) (12/09/83)
I am sorry to disallusion you, but the "hidden characteristrics",
(INT, CON, etc.), are so well hidden, you cannot find them in the
code. Luck is such an amazing thing, people just will not believe
that they are having a run of it, for good, or for bad.
Steven Maurer