Scroll of torment

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Type	Scroll
Name	Scroll of torment
Icon

A scroll that calls on the powers of darkness to inflict great pain on any nearby creature -- including the reader! This halves the resilience of all living creatures, although it is never directly fatal.

Reading a scroll of torment inflicts torment on yourself and all monsters in your line of sight, cutting their HP in half. Monsters that are demonic, undead, nonliving, or holy are immune. For players, only undead are immune. Each rank of rN+ offers 10% damage reduction (-5% max HP lost). Only undead players are immune to torment.

This scroll is considered evil, so the good gods forbid its intentional use.

Strategy

Scrolls of torment are inherently dubious: reading the scroll will halve your HP, and monsters get a turn to attack as you read the scroll. However, it does have uses:

• If you're immune to torment, these scrolls are obviously useful. Undead species (Ghoul, Mummy, bloodless Vampire) are naturally immune; for other species, Tree Form confers immunity, but prevents you from moving.
• If you have healing items, torment can be an excellent ace-in-the-hole item, allowing you to kill things above your league.
  • If monsters can't attack you, tormenting yourself can be "safe" without healing. You can torment an out-of-depth melee monster, attack it before it gets in range, and go up the stairs if it fails.
• Torment can be great for taking out the Royal Jelly. Tormenting TRJ still creates high-level jellies, but you can follow up with a scroll of immolation, Ignition, or a number of strategies mentioned in TRJ's page. A second torment may be necessary.
• Worshippers of Kikubaaqudgha with sufficiently high piety have a chance to receive some protection from torment effects, sometimes preventing the damage altogether.

Without a means of healing and/or escape, you'll want some form of heavy torment resistance (Gargoyles, Statue Form, Kiku protection...) before using this scroll. Usually, there are better last resorts than torment.

Once you reach Zot:5 and extended, almost all monsters are immune to torment, making this scroll nearly pointless.