# Alignment record

Religion in NetHack

priests
alignment
alignment record
altars
atheism
anger
gods
sacrifice
prayer
turn undead

Your alignment record refers to your standing with your god. It is often simply called alignment, but it is not the same as lawful/neutral/chaotic status. Its initial value is 0 for Cave(wo)men, Priests, Tourists, Valkyries and Wizards, and 10 for Archeologists, Barbarians, Healers, Knights, Monks, Rogues, Rangers, and Samurai. Its maximum is initially 10, and its upper bound increases by 1 for every 200 game turns. It has no lower bound. The value cannot be found precisely (except in wizard mode), but enlightenment or a stethoscope can give you a clue. Additionally, your quest leader will not permit you to go on your quest if your alignment record is below 20. This means you cannot enter the quest before turn 2000, which places an absolute lower limit on speed ascensions.
Your alignment record gradually increases as you kill monsters, and decreases when you do actions your god disapproves of. This usually makes it easy to keep your record at the highest possible value, unless you have killed multiple peaceful monsters or are adhering to the pacifist conduct.

Contents

1 Effects of alignment record
2 Checking your alignment
3 Ways to alter your alignment
4 Alignment gains from killing monsters

4.1 Examples

5 FIQHack
6 References

Effects of alignment record
Your alignment record factors into various important aspects of any given game:

You cannot go on the quest if your alignment record is less than 20.
The effect of a successful prayer depends on your alignment record:
You cannot safely pray if your alignment record is negative; your god will smite you.
If you pray with 0 alignment record, you have a Luck-dependent chance (see rnl) of your god either fixing one major problem or doing nothing.
If your alignment record is positive and less than 4, your god will only fix one major problem.
If your alignment record is at least 4, your god may, with a chance depending on your Luck and whether you are on a co-aligned altar, fix more problems and possibly grant a favor.
If you have no major or minor problems and your alignment record is at least 14, your god will grant a favor.  The set of possible favors (including "no favor") depends on your Luck.
Crowning is a possible favor when your alignment record is at least 20 and you have at least 10 Luck.
If you are smited by an opposing god, you are more likely to receive worse effects the higher your alignment record is.
Co-aligned monsters are more likely to be generated peaceful when your alignment record is high.
If you attempt to convert a cross-aligned altar by sacrifice when you have negative alignment record, you will be permanently converted to the altar's alignment (if you have not already permanently converted yourself).
Co-aligned artifacts will blast you if you have negative alignment record.
Checking your alignment
Enlightenment by a wand or potion includes a statement of your alignment.  You can also apply a stethoscope or zap a wand of probing at yourself.

Alignment statement
Alignment range

"You have transgressed."
−9 or lower

"You have sinned."
−8 to −4

"You have strayed."
−3 to −1

"You are nominally aligned."
0

"You are haltingly aligned."
1 to 2

"You are aligned."
3

"You are stridently aligned."
4 to 8

"You are fervently aligned."
9 to 13

"You are devoutly aligned."
14 to 19

"You are piously aligned."
20 or higher

If you have a negative alignment record and you probe yourself with a wand or a stethoscope, it will say you are "insufficiently" aligned without further subdivisions.

Ways to alter your alignment
In this table, MAX means your maximum alignment, which is 10&nbsp;+ turns200. This chart does not include the (large number of) monsters that you will get one or more alignment points for killing. Many of the following can have other effects as well, such as on luck or your god's anger, but for brevity these are not shown here.
Generally, for a character not attempting a pacifist conduct, alignment will be very close to the maximum.

Alignment

Role

Adjustment
Cause

Any

Any

−MAX8
Killing a friendly quest guardian ("That was probably a bad idea..."; "Whoopsie-daisy!" if hallucinating.)[1]

Any

Any

−99
Offering the Amulet of Yendor on the high altar of another god (besides Moloch)[2]

Any

Any

−15
Killing a peaceful monster of a type which is "always peaceful" (see §&nbsp;Alignment gains from killing monsters)

Any

Any

−15
Killing your pet (stacks with −3 for displacing into trap)

Any

Any

−5
Killing a peaceful creature without angering it. Killing a peaceful creature with one attack usually angers it before it dies, so this penalty is not normally incurred. However, killing an enemy with a beam attack such as force bolt will not. Monsters crushed by a drawbridge are also killed before they can become angry. ("The gods will probably not appreciate this...")

Any

Any

−5
Angering a coaligned priest

Non-Chaotic

Any

−5
As a non-chaotic, sacrificing a member of your own race[3]

Any

Any

−5
Attempting to change alignment at an altar a second time

Any

Any

−5
Attacking while standing on an Elbereth engraving, unless your attack damages the engraving. The engraving also disappears.

Non-Chaotic

Archeologist

−3
As a non-chaotic Archeologist, digging up a grave ("You feel like a despicable grave-robber!")

Any

Any

−3
Displacing your pet into a damaging trap (stacks with −15 for killing)

Any

Any

−3
Sacrificing your pet (if it died tame)[4]

Any

Any

−2
Killing a coaligned priest

Any

Any

−1
Praying on a non-coaligned altar, at a time when praying does not annoy your god[5]

Lawful

Any

−1
As a lawful non-Archeologist, digging up a grave

Any

Knight

−1
As a Knight, attacking a fleeing or sleeping monsters ("You caitiff!")

Any

Knight

−1
As a Knight, eating while satiated ("You feel like a glutton!")

Any

Knight

−1
As a Knight, digging down in a shop ("You feel like a common thief.")

Any

Samurai

−1
As a Samurai, attacking a peaceful creature ("You dishonorably attack the innocent!")

Lawful

Samurai

−1
As a lawful or a Samurai, attacking with a poisoned weapon

Any

Monk

−1
As a Monk, eating meat ("You feel guilty.")

Any

Archeologist

−1
As an Archeologist, breaking a historic statue ("You feel guilty about damaging such a historic statue.")

Any

Any

−1
Sacrificing an identified cheap plastic imitation of the Amulet of Yendor

Lawful

Any

−1
As a lawful, genociding a single human species[6]

Any

Any

−1
While riding, having your steed drown in water or lava

Any

Any

−1
Angering a peaceful creature

Any

Any

−1
Contributing 0 gold to a co-aligned priest ("Thou shalt regret thine action!")[7]

Any

Any

−1
Sitting on, engraving on, or kicking a co-aligned altar while having more than −rn2(4) alignment record.[8]

Lawful

Any

−1
As a lawful, stealing from a shop (reversed if shopkeeper is later made peaceful)

Lawful

Any

−1
As a lawful, choosing not to pay for damage to a shop

Lawful

Any

−1
As a lawful, lying when asked your name by a vault guard

Chaotic

Non-healer

−1
As a chaotic non-Healer, casting a healing spell on a pet or peaceful creature, per creature.

Chaotic

Any

+1
As a chaotic, being seduced by a foocubus

Chaotic

Any

+1
As a chaotic, genociding a single human species[6]

Any

Any

+1
Praying successfully, with alignment 1 or less and none or a minor trouble[9]

Any

Any

+1
With alignment below −5, contributing at least 200 times your experience (but less than 400 times your level) to a priest, getting clairvoyance[10]

Chaotic

Non-rogue

+1
As a chaotic non-Rogue, stealing from a shop (reversed if shopkeeper is later made peaceful)

Chaotic

Any

+1
As a chaotic, choosing not to pay for damage to a shop

Lawful

Any

+1
As a lawful, untrapping a monster (probability about 5–15%, depending on luck)

Lawful

Healer

+1
As a lawful or a Healer, casting a healing spell on a pet or peaceful creature, per creature

Any

Any

+2
Angering a non-coaligned priest

Any

Any

+2
Killing a non-coaligned priest

Any

Any

+2
With alignment positive, donating at least 600 times your experience level to a coaligned priest, if this is more than half your visible gold[11]

Chaotic

Archeologist

+3
As a chaotic Archeologist, digging up a grave

Any

Wizard, Tourist

+3
Freeing a prisoner during your quest

Chaotic

Any

+5
As a chaotic, sacrificing a member of your own race[12]

Any

Any

+5
Sacrificing a non-coaligned unicorn on a coaligned altar

Any

Any

+10
Offering the Amulet of Yendor on your god's high altar and ascending[13]

Any

Any

up to +15
Killing a hostile monster of a type which is "always peaceful" (see §&nbsp;Alignment gains from killing monsters)

Any

Any

+MAX4
Killing your quest nemesis

Any

Any

+MAX4
Killing a priest of Moloch

Any

Any

set to −99
Offering the Amulet of Yendor on Moloch's high altar in the Sanctum[14]

Any

Any

set to −MAX2
Killing your quest leader

Any

Any

set to −1
Sacrificing a coaligned unicorn on a non-coaligned altar (a conversion is likely to follow)

Any

Any

set to 0
With alignment negative, donating at least 600 times your experience level to a coaligned priest, if this is more than half your visible gold and this hasn't happened in the past 5000 turns[15]

Any

Any

set to 0
Changing alignment by wearing or removing a helm of opposite alignment or converting[16]

You feel partially absolved.
If your god is not angry at you, but your alignment is negative, sacrificing monsters on a coaligned altar generally increases your alignment by the value of the sacrifice, up to a maximum of 0 alignment. See Sacrifice&nbsp;§ Ordinary sacrifice for details.

This page is based on a spoiler by Matthew Lahut, available at http://www.steelypips.org/nethack/pray.html

Alignment gains from killing monsters
Normal alignment changes from killing monster are determined by the function set_malign(mtmp).  This is applied after the above modifiers.  So if you kill your quest leader, your alignment is actually set to −MAX2&nbsp;− 20.
Monster alignment is defined for each monster in monst.c. It is largely independent of monster difficulty. In the table below, malign refers to the absolute value of the monster's alignment, and max(a,b) refers to whichever of a or b is higher.
The alignment gain is calculated when a monster is generated.[17] It is recalculated whenever a monster is tamed[18] or becomes peaceful.[18][19] It is not recalculated when peaceful or tame monsters become hostile,[20] with the exception of the high priest of Moloch if he is angered when entering the temple in Moloch's Sanctum.[21] It is also not recalculated if you change alignment, so the alignment values below are based on whether the monster was co-aligned at the time of its generation.

who
peaceful
hostile, coaligned
hostile, cross-aligned

quest leader
−20
n/a
n/a

unaligned monsters (Wizard of Yendor, priests of Moloch)
0 (the Valley of the Dead priest)
n/a
+20

"always peaceful"[22] (shopkeepers, aligned priests)
−3 × max(5, malign)
+3&nbsp;× max(5, malign) (e.g., hostile priests on the Astral Plane)

"always hostile"[23] monsters (a very large list)
same as if hostile
0
max(5, malign)

"sometimes peaceful" monsters
−3 × max(3, malign) if coaligned, else same as hostile
max(3, malign)
malign

Examples
Vlad the Impaler: 0 if you're chaotic (co-aligned, always hostile); +10 otherwise (Vlad's alignment is −10[24])
A lichen, a newt, or Death: +5 if you are lawful or chaotic (neutral, always hostile); 0 if you are neutral
A gnome or a air elemental: 0 if you are lawful or chaotic (neutral, can be peaceful); -9 if you are neutral and it was generated peaceful (−3&nbsp;× 3, from max(3, malign)), or +3 if it was generated hostile (from max(3, malign))
The Minetown priest: −15 (always peaceful, priest alignments are 5, 0, −5)
A peaceful golden naga, and you are lawful: −16 (−1 for attacking a peaceful monster, −3&nbsp;× the naga's alignment of 5[25])
A hostile golden naga, and you are lawful: +5 (the absolute value of the monster's alignment)
A peaceful golden naga, and you are not lawful: +4 (−1 for peaceful, +5 for the naga's alignment)
A hostile golden naga, and you are not lawful: +5 (naga's alignment)
As long as you are killing monsters and commit no major violations (killing quest leader, pet, priest), you can safely assume that your alignment is positive. If you need to raise your alignment quickly, kill easy always-hostile monsters, such as fungi, insects, or non-pet canines and felines.

FIQHack
Alignment penalties are calculated slightly differently in FIQHack.  If you receive a penalty, your alignment is first set to 0, and then the penalty is subtracted[26].

References

↑ mon.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1886

↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 1544

↑ pray.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1213

↑ pray.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1229

↑ pray.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 803

↑ 6.0 6.1 src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.4, line 2239: blessed scroll does not check for this

↑ priest.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 483

↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 2283

↑ pray.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 805

↑ priest.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 503

↑ priest.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 526

↑ pray.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1218

↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 1555

↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 1527

↑ priest.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 523

↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 1166

↑ makemon.c, line 1067 example of set_malign called at monster generation

↑ 18.0 18.1 tamedog in dog.c taming (or making peaceful for untameable monsters) causes alignment gain to be recalculated

↑ reward_untrap in trap.c monsters made peaceful by untrapping have alignment gain recalculated

↑ setmangry in mon.c angering monsters does not change alignment gain

↑ priest.c, line 352 the high priest of Moloch's alignment gain is recalculated if you anger him by entering Moloch's Sanctum

↑ monflag.h in NetHack 3.4.3, line 131

↑ monflag.h in NetHack 3.4.3, line 130

↑ monst.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 2019

↑ monst.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1778

↑ https://github.com/FredrIQ/fiqhack/blob/865c9091803e844b66255e122877ae6c70950e51/libnethack/src/attrib.c#L733

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