Tropes are storytelling devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. NetHack is no exception in using these.

tvtropes.org is a large wiki which discusses over 4,000 such tropes, and has indexing articles on every type of tv, film, video game including NetHack

Nethack is listed as having about 118 tropes- one of which is Guide Dang It, referring readers to this wiki.