Shout
Shouting is an ability intrinsic to every playable species and most monsters. It allows the shouter to call attention to themselves and is an option found under the t key.
A character’s shout normally has a loudness of 12, roughly equal to the loudest melee attacks and roughly half as loud as a scroll of noise. Keep in mind that in some branches, sounds such as shouting may travel more or less distance. More information can be found in the noise article.
Monsters (and players) shout to awaken and draw forth sleeping or wandering monsters nearby. A player might do this to force an enemy to open a door or to draw a few monsters from a crowd at a time, though shouting from the wrong position may bring an army down on you. Monsters who can shout often do so the moment they become aware of you; if you're concerned about the possibility of reinforcements, you may wish to retreat from enemies that shout near unexplored areas, luring the shouter away from anything that may have heard its cry. Also, bear in mind that your attacks and spells are often noisy in and of themselves.
If a player has a summoned or charmed ally, he can shout to give this ally a direction. Of course, as mentioned, this can have the side effect of alerting hostile monsters out of his line of sight.
Shouting is impossible if the player is affected by silence, whether generated by a monster or the player himself.
Like most in-game tactics, the benefits of shouting are situational. It is rarely something that stealthy stabbing-focused characters will want to do, while worshipers of Ashenzari and characters with access to telepathy or the antennae mutation can often use it to great effect.
