I can't get the nightly on angband.live to run. I get to the splash screen & no further. Tried deleting my save & fiddling with font settings, no luck.

I have the same problem - thanks for reporting.

EDIT: Attempted a fix, didn't work; the consequent new builds do have a fix to the book coloring inconsistency, though :)

I assume gnomes still get their racial device damage boost, so a gnome mage would have a boost, albeit less than before.

Physical vs Magical Traps
 

Is there a way to tell these apart, in-game? If not, that would be a cool addition.

Artifacts already do not receive this bonus, correct? Or is there a higher device skill threshold?

It used to be any magical item effect except for scrolls and potions, I believe. So wands, rods, staves, and artifacts all benefited damage-wise from your device skill.

I'm curious why you felt it necessary to remove this. It was a fairly significant differentiator between races.

Because it came up in the mage and rogue competitions that devices were completely OP compared to anything else.

It's possible that in fact it should be just halved or something, but I've started by removing it completely as the first step in a binary search :) Also, if it goes away, so much code simplification...

There isn't, and it's a good point. I think the best way to do it would probably be in the trap knowledge menu.

Please forgive me for suspecting that you let your love of deleting code sway your judgement. ;) Believe me, I've been there!

I don't think most players felt that devices were overpowered with the mage's old spell list, where even Greater Recharging had nontrivial odds of exploding high-level wands, and of course there was no way to tap wands for mana. I think the main complaints came from "purists", like Sky, who begrudged the need for devices moreso as a comment on the gaps in the mage's spell list than on the power of the devices themselves. (Sky, please correct me if I'm misrepresenting you)

You may well be right on all counts, but I stand by my binary search methodology. Let's see how people think the current situation plays.