“Go down there?!  I would rather burn in hell than enter that dark place! What?  How much gold did you say?  Well, since you put it that way...” - Anonymous
 
Treasure

 
 

Running around and killing monsters can be great sport, but even the most devoted warrior would quickly lose interest without some type of reward.  Like you, monsters run around and fight each other and collect valuables for themselves.  Almost all monsters in the dungeon will have a little gold and sometimes items as well. 

Usually, the first group of monsters (or the only group of monsters) will be the owners of the chest.  This means that you should keep your eyes open for the more experienced monsters, since they are better at laying deadlier traps.  You will learn that certain monsters fancy certain traps.  There is also the chance that a chest you happen across doesn't belong to the monsters you are going to fight it for! 

Chests & Boxes 
After an encounter with a group of monsters (if you survive), you will collect all of the gold that you can find.  However, if the monsters do have a type of container, they will store their valuables in it.  That's where the thieving skills come in handy. 

The first thing you need to do is find the container.  It should be somewhere in their lair.  When you do, you need to walk up to it in order to do anything. 

There are two types of containers; Chests and Boxes.  You'll learn the difference between the two as you find them.  Chests contain the best treasure while Boxes contain your average find.  Keep in mind that quite often the better the container, the better chance the owner of the container may have intended for nobody to ever get the valuables! 

Examining Traps 
When you are standing in front of a container, you will find that the area to the upper-right of the dungeon viewport displays some information.  The first bit of information (e.g. Poison Gas) is the trap (if any) that you think is protecting the container.  Beneath the trap is information which represents how sure you are of the trap and how sure you are that you can disarm the trap. 
 

Click on picture for larger image
  

The "Excellent Idea” in the above picture gives you an idea of how sure your characters is that it's an Alarm trap.  There are many different levels of 'sureness' where "No Idea” is the worst and "Piece of Cake” is the best.  After the definition of how sure your character is of the trap is a percentage indicator of how sure your character is that they can successfully disarm the trap.  A low percentage indicates that your character doesn't think they have the skill to disarm the trap.  It isn't uncommon for a character to know what trap is on a chest, but not have the ability to disarm it. 

The number in the upper right corner represents two things.  1) how sure you are of the trap, and 2) how sure you are you can disarm it.

Quite often, your character will come along a Magically Sealed chest.  The only way to open one of these chests is with the "Magical Entry” spell, which various guilds (e.g. Thief's guild) have access to. 

Sometimes, a character will encounter monsters that are so much quicker than themselves that they don't have time to look very closely at the container to identify whatever trap it may have until after combat. 

To open a chest during peacetime or combat, either press ‘o’ while standing over the chest.  If the chest is Magically Sealed or Unidentified, nothing will happen. 

Knowing the Traps 
When triggered, some traps will affect all characters in the party while others will only affect the opener.  Below is a list of the known traps that can be found on chests and their affects. 
 

Plague Spores  
This trap releases gaseous plagued spores into the air that will Disease the opener and any other party members. 

Poison Gas 
A burst of poisonous gas that shoots out and poisons all of the characters in the vicinity of the chest. 

Exploding Box 
Explodes upon contact, inflicting damage on all characters in the group. 

Striking Flame 
A huge ball of fire that explodes and strikes every party member in the area for a good amount of damage.  Characters who are Fire resistant will take less damage, but will still be affected by the exploding pressure of the flames. 

Acid Spray 
Acid Spray is one of the nastier traps since the damage done can be extensive.  This trap can affect the entire party. 

Discharge 
Electrical Discharge was specifically built to electrocute the opener to death.  These traps can be very deadly, and can sometimes affect other members of the party as well as the opener! 

Flesh to Stone 
One of the most feared traps, if triggered, the opener will instantly be turned to stone. 

Life Drain 
A magical attack associated with a chest, Life Drain can drain both stats and hits from a character.  Permanently! 

Destruction 
This trap will explode outwards and affect the party like an exploding trap, but it will also incinerate the contents of the chest as well!  Known as one of the most aggravating traps, some monsters would rather have their loot completely destroyed than allow some thief to get their hands on it! 

Corrosion 
A disgusting goo that instantly attaches itself to one of the items belonging to the opener and attempts to eat it away. 

Fate 
Sometimes good, sometimes bad.  Never predictable. 

Teleporter 
These traps will teleport the opener to a random location on the same level.  Once a teleporter trap is triggered, the chest then becomes un-trapped. 

Fright 
Will scare away all companions of the opener. 

Field of Aging 
Will age the opener four weeks. 

Anti-Magic 
A pulse of Anti-Magic so strong that it will remove all magical resistances and modifiers (i.e. Levitation) from the opener unless the resistances or abilities come from an equipped item. 

Alarm 
This trap will emit a very loud shrill sound for other monsters to hear.  Quite often, a new group of monsters will come out of nowhere and attack the opener and any other party members.  Thieves seem to be particularly attracted to this sound, along with animals. 

Guardian 
Rumor has it that some of the high-level magic users in the depths have the ability to bind certain creatures in a void, where they stay until this trap is triggered.  If this happens, the creature is released from the void, raging, and will attack the opener and any party members in a horrible frenzy. 
 

On all of the above traps, the intensity of the damage done is based on the level of the monster that set the trap.  The higher level the monster, the more deadly/effective the trap is. 

Once a container is opened, all of the surviving party members (or single character) will divvy up the loot, sharing it evenly.  Most of the time, items will only be found in chests, even though there is a chance of finding an item outside of a chest. 

Chests that are identified and not Magically Sealed can also be opened during combat as they are during non-combat, except that it usually takes a number of rounds and makes your character much easier to hit. 
 

 
 
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