Angband Trivia Quiz

Answer: J.R.R. Tolkien

"Angband" is a game of exploration and monster fighting similar to "Dungeons & Dragons". The monsters are divided into two groups, generics and uniques. Generic monsters such as the giant white mouse can appear over and over again throughout the game regardless of how many you kill. Unique monsters are named and can only be killed once. Sméagol, Smaug, and Wormtongue are among the nearly 100 uniques in the game.

Answer: Morgoth

Morgoth (FKA Melkor) was the primary antagonist in "The Silmarillion". His fortress on Middle Earth was known as Angband which is from where the game derives its name. In "Angband", he is the strongest of all the monsters and is always found on level 100. He also resists all resistable attacks such as fire, cold, lightning, acid, and poison.

Answer: Sauron

Sauron was the antagonist in "The Lord of the Rings". It was he who crafted the one ring which Frodo must destroy. In "The Silmarillion", he was Morgoth's top assistant. In "Angband", he is always found on dungeon level 99. Killing him opens up the stairway down to level 100 and the chance to face Morgoth. As a game tip, he does not resist acid attacks.

Answer: Warrior

Mages, rogues, and rangers can all cast spells. Mages are able to cast more spells than the others and spell casting is their primary method of combat. In addition to spell casters, there are two classes, priests and paladins, that are able to use prayers as part of their arsenal. Warriors are the only class that can neither cast spells nor pray.

They rely primary on melee combat and archery to defeat their foes.

Answer: Sharp

Priests are primarily healers and are not supposed to shed blood. They are better off using blunt weapons rather than sharp ones. When using sharp weapons such as a dagger or a spear, a priest has a harder time hitting their opponents and also suffer a higher failure rate than normal when praying.

There are a few sharp weapons that have been blessed by the Gods which priests can use without penalty.

Answer: Half-Troll

Half-Trolls have a strength bonus of +4. The next highest races, dwarves and half-orcs, have a bonus of +2. In addition, the half-troll's strength is sustained meaning it doesn't go down when they are stung by a monster that would normally weaken them.

Answer: Mushrooms

As soon as they pick up a mushroom, hobbits can identify what the mushroom does such as allowing them to temporarily resist confusion or granting ESP and allowing them to see monsters not in their line of sight. Other races need to either eat the mushroom to test it (and risk harmful results) or identify it using a scroll, staff, or spell.

This ability is probably derived from the fact that in "The Lord of the Rings", we learn that Frodo liked mushrooms growing up and had to be chased away from Farmer Maggot's mushroom fields by Maggot's dogs.

Answer: Bob

These three trolls are one of the first obstacles that Bilbo and the dwarves encounter in "The Hobbit". In "Angband" they normally show up about 1/3 of the way between the town you start in and level 100. They often show up close together and accompanied by other trolls. They do a lot of damage when they hit you so it's best to try and fight them from a distance.

Answer: False

In "Angband", death is permanent which means if you die, you have to start again from scratch rather than at the beginning of your last level or where you last saved the game. Thus, when you come across a monster you can't beat, it is often a good strategy to run (or teleport) away in order to live to fight your next battle. If you're not sure whether you can beat a monster it's probably best to run away. As you kill monsters, you gain experience, become a better fighter, and obtain better equipment so you can win more battles, including beating monsters you couldn't beat earlier. Of course, the monsters get tougher as you get deeper in the dungeon.

A good rule to remember is that while taking an action that will succeed 99% of the time but will get you killed 1% may seem safe, if you try it too many times, that 1% will catch up with you and you'll get yourself killed.

Answer: False

Each time you enter a dungeon level, the exact details are randomly generated. Thus, if you take the downstairs from level 25 to level 26, realize you forgot something on level 25, and take the stairs right back up, level 25 will now be completely different than it was the last time and what you left behind will no longer be there.

Unlike other games where you can memorize that you need to make a left past the third tree, take one step forward, and start shooting, "Angband" plays different every time. On the other hand, it will be somewhat easier as you play more and learn general tactics such as when to fight and when to run and what weapons are best against which specific monsters.