Frogcomposband Help Needed.

[Nonary]

I recently started playing Frogcomposband and I was surprised by the amount of new additions here. I must admit that with the enormous changes, I have no idea on how to start the game now. Can anyone help me?

[Derakon]

It would probably help to state what you are familiar with. Vanilla? PosChengband? Previous versions of FrogComposband?

[Nonary]

This is pretty much my first angband variant and I got interested in it due to the sheer amount of new stuff added. My curiosity got the better of me though. Now I have no idea on what to do. The help files did give me some basic info on the game.

[Sideways]

I assume you've got the game running and a character going?

The in-game FAQ, Common Mistakes to Avoid file and other in-game help files give you pointers for the early game. First thing you should do is go to the Temple (the shop indicated by a green 4 in the starting town) and buy a couple potions of Cure Serious Wounds. After that, go to the Alchemy Shop (the blue 5 in the starting town) and buy some scrolls of Phase Door or Teleportation or both, unless you picked Berserker as your class. Then, go to the General Store (the brown 1) and buy a brass lantern, unless you picked Ninja or Ninja-Lawyer as your class. If you still have money left over, spend it either on more Cure Serious Wounds/scrolls or on mushrooms of Cure Confusion and Fast Recovery in the mushroom shop (the green 0).

After that, go to the starting town's castle (the big building in the north) and request your first quest, which will be Thieves' Hideout. (Note that the inn, just south of the starting town's eastern gate, also offers you quests!) A yellow '>' will appear on the map to indicate the entrance to this first quest. Most classes can do Thieves' Hideout right off the bat with the right strategy (stay on the stairs until everyone's dead, let the monsters come to you; that way you avoid stepping into random traps, which the quest has plenty of, and are at less risk of getting attacked from multiple sides) and right supplies (the potions and mushrooms noted above), although classes lacking in early offense (most mages and some hybrids, especially those with low starting HP) will struggle and should get some XP from the starter dungeon (the purple '>' you started the game on) first. Doing the Thieves' Hideout quest early is good because it gives you early XP and gold and a good item, plus if you die there at least it happened really early and you can try again with a new character

Return to the castle, press 'q' for Request Quest again to get your reward for the first quest, then request another quest. This will be Warg Quest, the quest that really gets your character going! If you are playing in Beginner Mode or Coffee-Break Mode, buy some more supplies, enter the dungeon and find the down-stairs that will take you to dungeon level 5 and the wargs waiting there. If you are playing in Normal Mode (or Monster Mode) with coffee-break mode off, do the first inn quest before Warg Quest for extra money and items. You will find some potions in this quest, sell (or donate) one of each type of potion at a shop to have it identified. Potions of Booze are secretly pretty good because they can confuse monsters if thrown! If the quests you do before Warg Quest give you enough money to buy either a Wand of Confuse Monster or an offensive wand like Wand of Frost Bolt (check the Magic Shop, red '6', for these), that will help you a fair bit.

Once new players have got over the very early game (the phase outlined here), they tend to die mostly to either confusion or to lack of escape scrolls. To avoid this, carry enough Mushrooms of Cure Confusion and make sure your supply of Phase Door and Teleportation remains healthy - though monsters who hit to confuse will remain a risk, as they can confuse you repeatedly...

The game becomes more unpredictable once Warg Quest has been completed. Rely on your wits, look in the help files (or ask here) if you have questions, and have fun!

--

Melee classes, like Warrior or Weaponsmith, are the easiest to get a character going with; so if you die in the early game a lot, consider a melee class. Melee classes aren't necessarily the strongest in the late game, but their high HP and good offense really help in the beginning.

A couple other quick pointers: your character sheet (Shift+C) will give a lot of handy information. If you are playing with wilderness on (basically, not in Beginner Mode or Coffee-Break Mode), avoid exploring the wilderness manually and instead do so through the overworld (see FAQ). Also, take plenty of Scrolls of Teleportation with you into the wilderness! You might get ambushed, which kicks you out of the overworld map; if this happens, you should try to get back to the overworld as soon as possible.

[CyclopsSlayer]

It may be overwhelming but the ~ (tilde) menus provide a wealth of information. In particular 'P'roficiencies menu. Showing which weapons a character has or can have skill with.
Pay particular attention especially early game to which start with Beginner skill, and which are locked at 'unskilled' or 'Icky Wield'

[PowerWyrm]

Originally Posted by Nonary

I recently started playing Frogcomposband and I was surprised by the amount of new additions here. I must admit that with the enormous changes, I have no idea on how to start the game now. Can anyone help me?

If it's your first variant, don't pick this one. It's like a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant... Unless you know the mechanics of the game you won't get anywhere, it's complex and punishing. If you're familiar with Angband, I'd suggest trying ZAngband first to get accustomed with the game "feel". Or try something plain and simple, like a HT warrior using the "mono" dungeon option.

[Gwarl]

Originally Posted by PowerWyrm

If it's your first variant, don't pick this one. It's like a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant of a variant... Unless you know the mechanics of the game you won't get anywhere, it's complex and punishing. If you're familiar with Angband, I'd suggest trying ZAngband first to get accustomed with the game "feel". Or try something plain and simple, like a HT warrior using the "mono" dungeon option.

I disagree. ZAngband has a horrible user interface and is relentlessly unforgiving. Extra races/classes you don't have to play doesn't make playing the original races and classes any more of a headache. Last time I checked frog defaults to only having on dungeon in beginner mode.

[wobbly]

I agree with Gwarl (argh now I have to wash my mouth out with soap). I've seen people play FCPB as their first band & do just fine.

[CyclopsSlayer]

Although, if you value your sanity, avoid FCPB Nightmare mode...
<mutter><mutter><giggle><sobs hysterically><mutter>

[Nonary]

My best character so far is a level 20 human weaponmaster. Wow, this game is really large. Is the wilderness really that dangerous? I can kill the monsters quite easily so far.