                             Character Statistics
                             ====================
adapted from "stats" from the Boudewijn Wayers collection of spoilers, 
with additions from the WCST 8.00 spoilers.
Collected by Jonathan Ellis.

   Each character has 6 statistics or "stats" - Strength, Intelligence, 
Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma.


1. Initial Stats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The initial statistics for the various classes are computed as follows:

1. 75 points are divided between the six attributes based on the
   following table:

Player Class     STR      INT      WIS      DEX      CON      CHA
~~~~~~~~~~~~    ~~~~~    ~~~~~    ~~~~~    ~~~~~    ~~~~~    ~~~~~
Archeologist     7-20    10-20    10-20     7-10     7-20     7-10
Barbarian       16-30     7- 6     7- 7    15-20    16-30     6- 7
Caveman         10-30     7- 6     7- 7     7-20     8-30     6- 7
Elf             13-30    13-10    13-10     9-20    13-20     7-10
Healer           7-15     7-20    13-20     7-15    11-25    16-10
Knight          13-20     7-15    14-15     8-10    10-20    17-10
Priest           7-15     7-10    10-30     7-15     7-20     7-10
Rogue            7-20     7-10     7-10    10-30     7-20     6-10
Samurai         10-30     8-10     7-10    10-30    17-14     6-10
Tourist          7-15    10-10     6-10     7-15     7-30    10-20
Valkyrie        10-30     7- 6     7- 7     7-20    10-30     7- 7
Wizard           7-10    10-30     7-10     7-20     7-20     7-10

The number before the dash tells the minimum value for the attributes.
The rest of the points are distributed between the six attributes using
number after the dash as precentage probabilities between different
attributes.

So, for example, an elf gets at least 13/13/13/9/13/7, the sum of those
attributes is 68, so 7 points are distibuted using 30%, 10%, 10%, 20%,
20%, and 10% as probabilities between the attributes.

No attribute can go over the maximum.

2. Next, for every attribute there is a 5% chance that it is further
   adjusted by -2 up to +4 points. No attribute can be adjusted over
   the maximum or under 3.

3. The last thing that is done is to adjust the strength upwards so
   that the character can carry its initial inventory. This is
   especially useful for the tourist, since not only does he have a low
   strength, also his food rations weigh a lot.

2. Exercising and Abusing Stats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Different actions that you may perform in the game will either exercise or 
abuse different stats (kicking a wall abuses your dexterity, for instance).  Periodically, the game will check to see if you've been abusing or exercising
a stat, and will either decrease it or increase it accordingly (if you have 
done both, then whichever you have done most of will take effect.) The moral
of the story is that it's necessary to be more careful of what you do, 
because almost anything can have ramifications. 

Note that in addition to the various items listed for each stat that will 
exercise or abuse that stat, there are a number of potions and scrolls which, 
will either exercise or abuse a stat.

The following is information about each of the major character stats. All 
stats can be increased by quaffing potions of gain ability. 

                                                  ---------------------------
St (Strength):                                    | Strength    | Hit | Dam |
Strength affects various aspects of combat in     |-------------|-----|-----|
Nethack (see the Hit Probability and Damage       | 3-5         |  -2 |  -1 |
sections for details on how these bonuses work).  | 6-7         |  -1 |  +0 |
Additionally, strength affects your carrying      | 8-15        |  +0 |  +0 |
capacity (see Carrying Capacity section for more  | 16          |  +0 |  +1 |
details).  The distance you can throw objects,    | 17          |  +1 |  +1 |
your chances of bashing down a door or kicking    | 18          |  +1 |  +2 |
open a lock, and your chances of opening a stuck  | 18/01-18/50 |  +1 |  +3 |
door (among other things) are all also affected   | 18/51-18/75 |  +2 |  +3 |
by your strength.  It is possible to increase     | 18/76-18/90 |  +2 |  +4 |
strength by eating royal jelly, giant corpses,    | 18/91-18/99 |  +3 |  +5 |
or wearing gauntlets of power.                    | 18/**-25    |     |  +6 |
                                                  ---------------------------
The following activities exercise your strength:
    - Attacking a monster in melee
    - Quaffing a potion of healing or extra healing
    - Kicking open a non-booby trapped door
    - Throwing an iron ball
    - Moving or throwing a boulder
    - Trying to open or close a door and failing
    - Being hit by a nurse
    - If you "feel restored to health" after an encounter with a 
      succubus/incubus 
    - Reading a blessed or uncursed scroll of enchant armor when not wearing 
      any armor 
    - Carrying enough so that you are "stressed" or "strained"
    - Regenerating
    - Being hit by electricity or fire if you're an iron golem

The following activities abuse your strength:
    - Allowing yourself to become weak from hunger
    - Losing grip on an iron ball and getting smacked by it
    - Doubly abused if you then get dragged downstairs by the iron ball
    - Kicking stairs, a ladder, a wall, empty space, or a booby-trapped door
    - Attempting to kick while levitating
    - Taking damage from an explosion (exploding chest, mixed potions
      exploding, exploding wand, booby-trapped door, etc.)
    - Being choked or crushed (i.e. by an owlbear, etc.)
    - Having your leg pricked by a xan
    - Taking damage from any acid attack
    - Being digested by a monster that has swallowed you
    - Being pummeled with debris by a creature that has engulfed you
    - If you "feel exhausted" after an encounter with a succubus/incubus
    - Breaking out of your armor by polymorphing into a large creature
    - Reading a cursed scroll of enchant armor when not wearing any armor
    - Reading a scroll of destroy armor when not wearing any armor
    - Being strangled by an amulet of strangulation
    - Being hit by a falling rock trap when not wearing a hard hat
    - Falling into a pit trap
    - When hit by acid from a "passive" attack (i.e. acid blob)
    - Zapping yourself with a force bolt or wand of striking
    - Being hit by magic missiles from a magic attack
    - Being hit for more than 1 hp and dividing when you are a black or brown
      pudding

In (Intelligence):
Intelligence plays an important part in determining if you will be able to 
memorize a spell by reading a spellbook.  It also is factored into your 
chances of casting any given spell that you have memorized (see Magic for 
more details on both of these).  Finally, intelligence determines how often 
your power will recharge.  Your intelligence can also be increased by wearing 
a helm of brilliance.  Note that intelligence is one of the two stats which 
cannot be exercised or abused - it can only be raised with a potion of 
restore ability, or by eating a mind flayer corpse.

Wi (Wisdom):
Wisdom is taken into account when you pray to your god.  It also affects how 
many energy points you will gain when you go up an experience level, and how 
many power points you will recharge each time you recharge (intelligence 
affects how often they recharge).  Wisdom can be increased by wearing a helm 
of brilliance. 

The following activities exercise your wisdom:
    - Being clairvoyant
    - Finding a secret door, passage, or a trap
    - Finding a hidden or invisible monster
    - Kicking a sink and finding a ring
    - Engraving Elbereth
    - Spotting a gem in a fountain
    - Drinking from a magic fountain (i.e. "A wisp of vapor escapes the
      fountain....") (sometimes)
    - Gaining self knowledge, intrinsic see invisible, or detecting monsters
      by drinking from a fountain
    - Getting Excalibur by dipping a longsword in a fountain
    - Finding some coins when dipping an item in a fountain
    - When you have a "very educational experience" with a succubus/incubus,
      or "will always remember the incubus/succubus"
    - Trying to find the right tune to get into the castle
    - Trying to polymorph into something that's been genocided ("You feel rath
      x-ish")
    - Polymorphing
    - Summoning creatures when lycanthropic
    - Sacrificing
    - Sacrificing a human corpse if you are polymorphed into a demon
    - Converting an altar
    - Being given something (i.e. an artifact or spellbook) by a deity
    - Using your turn undead ability if a priest of knight.
    - Talking to a coaligned priest when you have no money
    - Giving between half your gold and 200 times your experience level in
      gold to a coaligned priest
    - Touching a quest artifact for the first time
    - Being rejected from the Quest for other than alignment problems
    - Being accepted on the Quest
    - Hearing a true rumor (i.e. fortune cookie or Oracle)
    - Studying a spellbook
    - Trying to cast a spell
    - Writing a scroll
    - Zapping a wand

The following activities abuse your wisdom:
    - Touching an artifact of opposite alignment ("You feel a blast of power")
    - Being confused
    - Hallucinating
    - Trying to cheat the lady of the lake (i.e. dipping to get Excalibur if
      not lawful)
    - Losing some gold when dipping an item in a fountain
    - Having your brain eaten by a mind flayer
    - When "your senses are dulled" after an encounter with a succubus/incubus
    - Playing a tooled horn, bugle, or leather drum
    - Touching the corpse of Death, Famine or Pestilence
    - Attempting to write a scroll or spellbook on a non-blank scroll or book
    - Sacrificing a human corpse if not chaotic or polymorphed into a demon
    - Attempting to convert an altar and failing
    - Trying to turn undead when your God is mad at you or you're non-chaotic
      and polymorphed into a demon or undead creature
    - Attacking a temple priest(ess)
    - Hearing a false rumor (i.e. fortune cookie)

Dx (Dexterity):                                            ------------------
Your dexterity is your ability to dodge, your agility, and | Dext     | Hit |
your manual dexterity, all rolled into one.  Dexterity     |----------|-----|
affects how likely you are to hit (see Hit Probability for | 3        | -3  |
more information).  Note that on the table to the right,   | 4-5      | -2  |
to hit bonuses are different for melee than they are for   | 6-7      | -1  |
missile weapons.  In other words, if you are fighting hand | 8-14     | +0  |
to hand, you receive a different bonus that if you are     | 15       | +1  |
using a bow, sling, etc.)  Dexterity also affects how well | 16       | +2  |
you can use a harp.  To increase your dexterity, wear      | 17       | +3  |
gauntlets of dexterity.                                    | *        |  *  |
                                                           | 25       | +11 |
* Each bonus in the chart continues to increase by one as  ------------------
the stat increases by one, up to +11 at 25, which is the
maximum the stat can reach.                                               

The following activities exercise your dexterity:                         
    - Successfully kicking a monster
    - Kicking open a door or secret door                                  
    - Kicking a throne and destroying it
    - Kicking an altar                                                     
    - Kicking a sink
    - Catching a returning boomerang
    - Hitting a monster with a missile weapon, an iron ball, or a boulder 
    - Getting the "It's hard to walk in thin air" message on the air level
    - Attemping to pick a lock
    - Playing a wooden flute, magic flute, wooden harp, or magic harp
    - Spinning a web when polymorphed into a spider
    - Trying to disarm a trap
    - Fighting monsters
    - Stealing gold when polymorphed into a leprechaun
    - Sucking a monster's brain when polymorphed into a mind-flayer
    - Zapping a wand or spell of speed monster at yourself

The following activities abuse your dexterity:
    - Being satiated
    - Being heavily or extensively encumbered
    - Wounding your legs
    - Fumbling
    - Getting stunned
    - Missing a kick at a very small non-flying monster while levitating
      (esoteric, eh?)
    - Kicking a sink badly (i.e. "Ouch!  That hurts!")
    - Kicking open space
    - Falling onto a sink (i.e. trying to levitate over one)
    - Tumbling in place on the air level
    - Bumping into a door
    - Being paralyzed by a monster attack (i.e. floating eye)
    - Getting your legs pricked by a xan
    - Being hit by a monster that slows you down
    - Getting stoned (turning to stone)
    - Getting caught in a bear trap or a pit
    - Getting paralyzed by a chest trap
    - Zapping a wand or spell of slow monster at yourself

Co (Constitution):                                         ------------------
Constitution is a measure of how healthy you are.          | Const.   | +HP |
Constitution affects how quickly your character heals, but |----------|-----|
the major benefit of constitution is extra hit points as   | 3        | -2  |
each level is gained.  When a character gains a higher     | 4-6      | -1  |
experience level, the character's current and maximum hit  | 7-14     | +0  |
points are raised by a random amount.  This random amount  | 15-16    | +1  |
is modified by a bonus which is determined by the          | 17       | +2  |
constitution of the character (see the table to the        | 18       | +3  |
right).                                                    ------------------

The following activities exercise your constitution:                      
    - Keeping from being hungry
    - Being hit beneficially by a nurse                                   
    - When "you feel raised to your full potential" or "you feel good enough 
      to do it again" after an encounter with a succubus/incubus 
    - Digesting a monster when polymorphed into a monster which can egulf 
      others. 

The following activities abuse your constitution:
    - Passing out from exertion when carrying too much
    - Fainting
    - Being extensively encumbered
    - Being sick or vomiting
    - Drinking contaminated water from a fountain if not poison resistant
    - Drinking water that's "no good" from a fountain.
    - Falling onto a weapon on a sink (i.e. levitating over one and crashing)
    - Being hit by a monster attack which causes disease
    - Becoming lycanthropic (i.e. "You feel feverish")
    - Being hit by the monster Famine
    - When "you feel drained of energy" or "you are down in the dumps" after
      an encounter with a succubus/incubus
    - Being hit by a silver arrow if lycanthropic or polymorphed into a
      vampire, demon, minor demon (except tengus), or shade
    - When you have system shock from polymorphing (i.e. "You shudder for a
      moment")
    - Polymorphing
    - Sitting in a throne and having electricity shoot through your body
    - Getting caught in a cloud of poison gas or getting pricked by a poison
      needle from a chest trap
    - Being hit by lightning from a wand of lightning or blue dragon breath

Ch (Charisma):                                             ------------------
"Beauty is only skin deep."  Well, in Nethack beauty is    | Char   |  Mod  |  
charisma, and charisma affects a couple of key things in   |--------|-------|  
the game.  First of all, charisma affects the prices a     | 3-5    | *2.00 |  
shopkeeper will give you in a shop (see the table to the   | 6-7    | *1.50 |  
right for price modifiers).  The other major affect is     | 8-10   | *1.33 |  
that charisma adds to your chances of having a beneficial  | 11-15  | *1.00 |  
encounter when faced with a succubus/incubus.  It is       | 16-17  | *0.75 |  
possible to increase charisma with a ring of adornment     | 18     | *0.66 |  
(which nymphs happen to love).  Charisma is one of the two | 19+    | *0.50 |  
stats that cannot be exercised or abused.                  ------------------

3. Raising stats permanently
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are several ways of adding to your stats permanently, other than exercising 
them. The most obvious is to quaff a potion of gain ability (a blessed one will
increase all stats: an uncursed one will increase one stat.)

Strength
~~~~~~~~
Eat a lump of royal jelly
Eat a giant corpse
Eat a tin of spinach
Wear Gauntlets of Power
Wear a ring of gain strength
Eat a ring of gain strength while polymorphed into something that can
Quaff from a fountain (sometimes)
Sit on a throne (small chance)
Quaff from a sink (infintesimally small chance)
Polymorph into a new self (could also reduce strength)

Intelligence
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eat a mind flayer corpse (sometimes)
Quaff a blessed potion of enlightenment
Wear a helm of brilliance (or a cornuthaum if a wizard, or the Mitre of Holiness
   if a priest.)
Quaff from a fountain (sometimes)
Sit on a throne (small chance)
Quaff from a sink (infintesimally small chance)
Polymorph into a new self (could also reduce intelligence)

Wisdom
~~~~~~
Quaff a blessed potion of enlightenment
Quaff from a fountain (sometimes)
Sit on a throne (small chance)
Quaff from a sink (infintesimally small chance)
Polymorph into a new self (could also reduce wisdom)

Dexterity
~~~~~~~~~
Wear Gauntlets of Dexterity
Quaff from a fountain (sometimes)
Sit on a throne (small chance)
Quaff from a sink (infintesimally small chance)
Polymorph into a new self (could also reduce dexterity)

Constitution
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quaff from a fountain (sometimes)
Sit on a throne (small chance)
Quaff from a sink (infintesimally small chance)
Polymorph into a new self (could also reduce constitution)

Charisma
~~~~~~~~
Step on a magic trap (small chance)
Wear a ring of adornment
Eat a ring of adornment while polymorphed into something that can
Quaff from a fountain (sometimes)
Sit on a throne (small chance)
Quaff from a sink (infintesimally small chance)
Polymorph into a new self (could also reduce charisma)
(Also, wearing a Hawaiian shirt effectively lowers your charisma,
   though it's not displayed on the status line. For that matter, being
   hungry when buying food effectively lowers your charisma as well.)

4. Carrying Capacity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this version of Nethack, how much you can   ------------------------------
carry and how you are affected by the          | Actual Strength   |   Use  |
amount you are carrying have radically         |-------------------|--------|
changed.  The formula for determining your     | 1-18              | Actual |
carrying capacity is actually quite simple:    | 18/01 - 18/31     |   19   |
                                               | 18/32 - 18/81     |   20   |
Take the following figure (ignoring            | 18/82 - 21        |   21   |
                                               | 22-24             |  22-24 |
fractions) and multiply it by 50:              | 25                |   25   |
      [(Strength + Constitution)/2]+1          ------------------------------
                                                                         
Check the table to the right to determine what value you should use for 
Strength in the computation.  Exceptional strengths (i.e. a strength of 
18/nn) are mapped into the range of 19-21. 

That will give you your carrying capacity, with a few minor rules:  Maximum 
carrying capacity is 1,000.  If the computation yields a higher result, make 
it 1,000 instead.  Additionally, subtract 100 for each leg that is currently 
wounded (i.e. from stepping on a land mine, kicking chests, etc.). 

Now then, although this computation will tell you what your carrying capacity 
is, it is not the absolute maximum that you can carry.  (Strange, eh?  Well, 
bear with me - I'll explain it.)  You may have noticed that in version 3.1 
you can have different statuses related to how much you're carrying.  These 
include "burdened," "stressed," "strained," "overtaxed," and "overloaded." 
Well, these are determined by how much you are carrying in relation to your 
carrying capacity.  The chart below at left shows how these relate. 

---------------------------------------------------
| Amount Carried                   | Status       |
|----------------------------------|--------------|
| <= capacity                      | Unencumbered |
| capacity+1 to (1.5*capacity)-1   | Burdened     |
| 1.5*capacity to (2*capacity)-1   | Stressed     |
| 2*capacity to (2.5*capacity)-1   | Strained     |
| 2.5*capacity to (3*capacity)-1   | Overtaxed    |
| 3*capacity                       | Overloaded   |
---------------------------------------------------

Here's an example because it's a little tricky to understand:  If a character 
had a carrying capacity of 1,000, he or she would be unencumbered carrying up 
to 1,000 weight worth of items.  Between 1,001 and 1,499 that character would 
be burdened. He or she would be stressed if carrying between 1,500 and 1,999.  
Between 2,000 and 2,499 he or she would be strained, and between 2,500 and 
2,999 he or she would be overtaxed.  At 3,000, the character would be 
overloaded, and would be totally unable to pick up anything more or even do 
anything other than drop stuff, for that matter. 