Bait the Daywalker (DF) – welcome to The Next “Level”

OK, “level” is overused in RPGs. There are character levels, dungeon levels, spell levels, book levels, and any number of other uses of the same overused word.

But, games of Zang/Moria break down into distinct parts, defined by the time when you first find a certain item that changes the way you play that character for the rest of the game.

I mostly play spellcasters, so the game breaks down kind of like this:
1) “worm masses” – you rest after each encounter, and have no equipment or mana, but once you hit that first room of worm masses, you know you can rip off those first few critical levels and survive by hiding behind a door. Your BFF is a non-broken door and a Wand of Light.
2) “detects/light/blink” – now you have the power to get the information you need to survive that next room and also (in theory) get away if you need to. Your BFF is 5 scrolls of Phase Door.
3) “recall” – you are now going deep enough that climbing up the stairs is a pain in the ass, and rich enough that you can afford to blow 150gp per trip to the dungeon. At this point, you are only picking up stuff that’s worth some $ to sell in town. Your BFF is the Brass Lanterns you find in the dungeon; each one pays for the Scroll of Recall home.
4) “identify” – you just sold a short sword of Slay Orc for 26gp. ’nuff said. Your BFF is a Staff of Perception, which you can keep recharged with a Recharge spell. Remember to do your recharging in the dungeon; staves blow up when you recharge them in town.
5) “book 2” – you have filled out book 1 of your spells, and need to find/buy the second books so you can continue growing in your chosen profession. Your BFF is those first few Ego Weapons, which (when you sell them) will let you raise the 1200gp each that the new books will cost.
6) Free Action / See Invisible – this is where it starts getting tough. You can only go so far without these 2 intrinsics. You can get them in various ways (nearly any item you wear can provide, or you can bring potions/staves/etc. to cover See Invisible), but without them, you are as good as dead. Your BFF is your first Westernesse, Defender, Trump Weapon, … something that gives you SI and FA and frees up ring fingers and inventory for other stuff.
7) “ID everything” – with your newfound inventory space, you are finding so much stuff that you need to have a good source of ID so that you only bring home magic stuff (this later morphs into only bringing home Ego stuff) Your BFF is a pack of Orcs, who give good drops, are harmed by light, and are easy to put to sleep while you go off to the next room to rest, eat, and ID. Oh, and orcs can’t swim. Love that.
8 ) Gain Stat. Once you find the first Gain Stat potion, you pretty much hang around that dungeon level until all your stats are maxed out. Once you’ve done that, you can pretty well wear any armor, wield any weapon, etc., which turns a wimpy little mage into a crazy tough warrior with an extra helping of spells to pick off anyone trying to run away. Your BFF is that magical set of dungeon levels where the Gain Stats show up frequently. It’s usually about 3 levels below where you find the first one, but not too much deeper, because then other stuff starts showing up more. My first was at 1050′.
9) Speed. Now you are trying to put together your “ascension kit”, and rings/boots/gloves of speed are a key component of that. You are also trying to grab resists, etc. but once you have speed, you can start taking on the real baddies. Your BFF is Faerie Dragons (in IMoria), or ? in Zang — a monster that is decently easy to kill, but drops a ton of items and not a lot of cash.
10) Ascension Kit. Ego Katana. R armor. You don’t pick up stuff unless you can sell it for big dough or you are going to use it forever. Your BFF is your third/fourth book set of kill spells. “I wonder if he’s out of Creeping Doom range? … Nope.”

It goes something like that.

Anyway, Bait just found a Gloopy Green Potion of Strength.

Welcome, m’lady, to The Next Level.