The scroll of scare monster causes monsters in your visual range to flee, though some may resist. When dropped on a square, monsters treat that square as if Elbereth were written on it (meaning monsters that don't respect Elbereth won't respect scare monster).  If you pick up a blessed scroll of scare monster, it will become uncursed. If you pick up a cursed one or a previously-picked up, non-blessed one, it will disintegrate. The game will report "The scroll turns to dust as you pick it up." ^[1]

Scrolls of scare monster in shops can get you in trouble in the early game. If you pick up a scroll in a shop and it disintegrates, you owe the shopkeeper for it; if you can't afford it, you'll have to sell your other items or risk angering the shopkeeper. Be careful picking up scrolls in shops until you have a decent amount of gold. A safer alternative is to #chat while standing on an unidentified scroll; if it price-identifies as costing 100 gold, only pick it up if you can afford to pay for it.

If you need to move a scroll of scare monster without destroying it, try kicking it, or have your pets pick it up. If you only want a scroll class item, kick it into a pool of water.

Messages Edit

Reading it will result in one of the following messages:

"You hear maniacal laughter close by."

at least one creature was affected

"You hear maniacal laughter in the distance."

no creature was affected (excluding pets^[2])

HistoryEdit

The scroll of scare monster originated in Rogue, where it had the same effect (although b/u/c distinctions did not exist).

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ Pickup.c#line1327
2. ↑ Source:read.c#line871

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