Game #17

838    Bob the Mountain Dwarf Hunter (level 7, -4/50 HPs)
       Shot with an arrow by a centaur on Level 6 of the Dungeon.

I really tried to play slowly and methodically, but this game did everything it could to defeat me early. I descended to the second dungeon level and after three steps I found myself directly beside Sigmund. My inventory contained one unidentified scroll, 4 unidentified potions and the weapons and armour I started the game with. What exactly are your options in this situation? Running away is difficult at best, due to Sigmund's magic abilities. I thought about it for awhile and could only come up with two semi-viable options.

1. Run away from Sigmund and hope that he does something that gives you a one space gap on him. After that occurs, hope that you can find a staircase before he kills you with magic or before another monster appears and you are stuck.

2. Pick your strongest attack option and try to defeat him before he defeats you.

I chose option #2, betting that the best defense is a good offense. My only skill was with crossbows, so I switched to my crossbow and started firing. Sigmund started swinging and got me down to 1 HP when my final shot finished him off. Truly, that fight was completely random with no skill involved. Running away would have involved just as much randomness, just in a different manner.

Later on in level 2, same situation - I walk out of a hallway and find Ijyb a couple of spaces away and Jessica a couple of spaces behind him, but distracted. I backed up, but she noticed me. Again, I chose to blast away, though escape may have been possible in this situation, given the spacing between me and the monsters. Luckily for me, a couple of bolts finished her off.

After that, things went fairly well, mainly because of all the experience I gained from the early uniques. On level 6, I had just found the temple, picked a god and organized my stash. I then stopped playing slowly and got killed because of it. I walked into a room and discovered a frog and a centaur. A tough combination, so I planned to hit them with my wands. However, rather than just doing that, I moved around trying to get the two monsters to line up for a single lightning bolt. (I really wasn't thinking - I could have just aimed at the centaur and the bolt would have gone through the frog.) My movement allowed them to do a lot of damage and then my lightning bolt missed.

My next move was to use a wand of enslavement on the frog, which worked. I ordered it to attack the centaur and backed off to shoot it from afar. Unfortunately, the centaur was too smart and continued to shoot me until I was dead.

Lessons Learned
1. I really, really, really need to think about my moves when I am in combat.