You can play different modes. To create a character in a certain mode – on the character creation screen press =
and change birth_options
you want to yes
.
Deeptown
This is the most popular mode; it’s turned on by default. This mode is much easier than all others. You start in the town with one dungeon. You can enter and leave this dungeon at will (using stairs or magic); there is no dungeon brackets. Just like in a non-mode game, you can also build your house there. Also:
- you digest food faster
- your light doesn’t drain while in town
- you gain less experience if your level is lower than the dungeon level
Stair Movement
-
- Going Down: When you use stairs from the surface, you jump directly to deeper levels based on your character level (prevents low-level farming). Examples:
- Level 5 → Depth 3
- Level 10 → Depth 5
- Level 20 → Depth 13
- Level 30 → Depth 23
- Level 40 → Depth 38
- Level 50 → Depth 75
- Going Up: You can only go up to 1 level above your “going down” depth based on your character level. If already there, stairs take you directly to surface. Examples:
- Level 5: Can go up normally from depth 3+, goes to surface from depth 2
- Level 10: Can go up from depth 5+, goes to surface from depth 4
- Level 20: Can go up from depth 13+, goes to surface from depth 12
- Level 30: Can go up from depth 23+, goes to surface from depth 22
- Level 40: Can go up from depth 39+, goes to surface from depth 37
- Level 50: Can go up from depth 75+, goes to surface from depth 74
- Going Down: When you use stairs from the surface, you jump directly to deeper levels based on your character level (prevents low-level farming). Examples:
Difficulty modes
Hardcore mode
In this mode, it is possible to play in the old ways:
- No extra gold for Account points (grants extra gold on each level-up depending on account points and your current level).
- No Second Chance (a one-time automatic save from death that restores you and teleports you away, but costs all your gold and only works once per milestone level).
- No extra low-HP heal (when healing at low HP (<10%), your HP is raised to 30% even if the healing effect was weaker).
- Teleport staves don’t get another try on fail.
- When leveling up, health and mana are not restored.
- The first floor of the first dungeon features a day-night cycle.
- You get additional Account points from playing this mode.
Turbo mode
In this mode you don’t have a slow-time bubble which makes game fast-paced. You get additional Account points from playing this mode.
Both hardcore and turbo modes might be applied on top of any other modes (they are not mutually exclusive). For example, you can play “Hardcore Turbo Zeitnot”, or “Turbo Deeptown Force Descent” hero, etc.
Zeitnot
This is the hardest of all modes. You are kidnapped from Gondolin and taken to Morgoth’s jail – Thangorodrim. Before being delivered to the jail cell, you manage to escape and find yourself in the middle of the dungeon with minimal supplies. You are marked with a magical curse that draws you closer to the jailers, but you can resist it for a certain amount of time. Your goal is to find your way out and seek revenge.
- On each dungeon level, you have a time limit before being thrown down. This timer decreases every turn and decreases twice as fast when moving. It leads to strategic thinking – planning your route for dungeon exploration. When you use stairs or are thrown down, the timer resets. The deeper you go, the longer the timer you have.
- You start without gold and there are no shops, but you receive additional supplies at the start.
- You can find new towns every 1000 ft where you can renew your supplies and rest.
- Every time you heal yourself with a potion, scroll or food, it restores at least 30% of your HP.
- You have a high chance not to consume healing potions and Phase Door scrolls
- You have low chance to break common projectiles till level 15
- Word of Recall scrolls function like Teleportation scrolls.
- Dungeons spawn only stairs leading down (no upstairs).
- You restore plenty of satiation when drinking from fountains.
- Golem race can restore satiation by digging tunnels (more effective in the regular world).
- You can drop cursed items on the ground (after a few attempts), not only on daylight surfaces like in regular mode.
- You get additional Account points from playing this mode.
To create an Zeitnot character, press =
during character creation and change the ‘birth_Zeitnot
‘ option to yes
.
Ironman
You appear in Carn Dûm and explore the Angmar dungeons without the possibility to go back upstairs. You can buy items in shops before beginning your journey and even receive additional gold at the start. After entering the dungeon, you cannot go back to the starting town; you can only go deeper. Also:
- You can find new towns every 1000 ft where you can renew your supplies and rest.
- Word of Recall scrolls function like Teleportation scrolls.
- Dungeons spawn only stairs leading down (no upstairs).
- Players restore plenty of satiation when drinking from fountains.
- You get additional Account points from playing this mode.
To create an Ironman character, press =
during character creation and change both the birth_no_recall
and birth_force_descend
options to yes
.
No modes (exploration)
If you turn off all modes (including Deeptown mode), you will play a regular game focused on world exploration, with the Dungeon Brackets system that makes the game much more difficult than Deeptown. You will receive bonus account points at levels 30, 35, 40, 45, 49, and 50.
Other modes
- Force Descent mode (diving title)
You start in the regular Tangaria world. This mode forces the player to descend – upward staircases do not work. All downward staircases, including the one in town, transport the character one level below their previous maximum depth. Recalling from the dungeon works and brings the character to town. However, recalling from town sends the character one level below their previous maximum depth. The character cannot recall from quest levels until the quest is complete, but a warning is given before descending into a quest level. Any status effects that teleport the character up or down will always choose down. If applied together with No Recall – will become Ironman. - No Recall mode (ironfoot title)
You start in the regular Tangaria world. Word of Recall scrolls and spells do not work. If applied together with Force Descent – will become Ironman. - Fruit Bat (batty title). Play as a fruit bat – this turns you into a fruit bat at birth, giving you up extra speed (starting with +1 at level 1, gradually increasing to +15 at level 50) at the cost of ~40% of your maximum HPs. Also, now you can “run” as a batty without staggering. This mode can also be applied on top of all other modes.
Force Descent, No Recall and Fruit Bat modes can be applied on top of all other modes.
Other options
no_artifacts
Restrict the creation of artifacts – no artifacts will be created. Ever.
feelings
Show level feelings – when this option is enabled, the game provides hints about what a new level has on it. With this option off, these hints will not be shown.
start_kit
Start with a kit of useful gear – start with items, a useful option for new players, or ones that wish to descend immediately into the dungeon. If turned off, the character will start with additional gold with which to purchase starting gear.
no_stores
Restrict the use of stores and your home – the stores are all closed. The home is someone else’s, and locked. You can keep nothing but what you carry with you, and get nothing but what you find in the dungeon. No selling items, or buying mushrooms of vigor… Not recommended for new players, or indeed for sane players.
The following modes are enabled by default and cannot be changed:
no_selling
Increase gold drops but disable selling – shopkeepers will never pay you for items you sell, though they will still identify unknown items for you, and will still sell you their wares. To balance this, gold found in dungeons is increased when this option is active.
no_ghost
Death is permanent – this option, not recommended for non-advanced players, prevents dead characters from becoming ghosts. Death is final, like in most single player roguelikes.
As you may understand, playing in Zeitnot, Ironman and other modes requires totally different playstyles. For example, to play effectively as a Ironman hero, you should explore each level thoroughly and take your time to gather gear in town. In contrast, Zeitnot is a fast-paced mode where you have to plan your journey with limited time and make decisions on where to spend your resources, the most valuable of which is time. Zeitnot mode might be interesting to players who are a bit tired of intensive item management and spending a lot of time in shops to find suitable items, as it swaps these for additional bonuses like more effective healing.