👉 Most magical items in GnollHack hide behind a randomized appearance that changes from game to game. This page explains exactly which items are shuffled, which ones always look the same, and what pool of appearances each item can be drawn from.

🔍 How Appearance Randomization Works

Every object type in GnollHack has two names:

  • An actual name, such as "potion of full healing", which is shown once the item type has been identified.
  • An appearance (unidentified description), such as "black potion", which is shown before identification.

At the start of every new game, GnollHack shuffles the appearances within predefined groups. The shuffle is a uniform random permutation inside each group, and the result is stored in the save file, so an item's appearance never changes during a game. Restoring a save (or continuing on another device) always restores the same assignment.

What is swapped

When an appearance is shuffled onto a different item, these things move with the appearance:

  • The appearance text itself (for example "pine" or "ZELGO MER").
  • The display color and the map/inventory tile.
  • For some groups only, the item's material (see below).
  • For jars, the description of the visible contents (for example "yellow ointment").

What is never swapped

These stay with the item's true type, no matter what it looks like:

  • Base price, weight, generation probability, and stack size.
  • All game effects, enchantment behavior, and charges.
  • The item description text shown for identified items.
  • The spellbook "contains …" hint shown when reading an unidentified book.

💡 Tip: Because price and weight follow the true item and not the appearance, price identification in shops and weighing stacks are still fully reliable identification methods.

Material shuffling

Some groups shuffle the material together with the appearance, and some do not.

Behavior Groups What it means
Material follows the appearance Potions, scrolls, spellbooks, amulets, venoms, wands, rings, robes, bracers, crowns, conical hats, brooches, nose rings, headbands, ioun stones, eyeglasses, goggles, belts, mushrooms A "pine wand" really is wooden and a "wooden ring" really burns. The material is part of the appearance and tells you nothing about the item type.
Material stays with the item type Helmets, gloves, cloaks, boots, shirts, staves, bags, candles, lamps, whistles, flutes, horns, harps, drums, jars The material is hidden because it matches the base material of that type, so no material prefix appears in the item name. It still governs how the item reacts to fire, rust and similar effects.

Materials are described in more detail on the Object Materials page.

Not every appearance is used

Several appearance pools contain more entries than there are real items, and a few items are never randomly generated. In any single game some appearances therefore belong to nothing at all and will never be seen.

Pool Appearances Item types Never generated
Potions 45 45 —
Scrolls 47 27 20 label-only entries, plus the scroll of supreme diabolism
Wands 35 32 3 appearance-only entries
Rings 37 37 —
Amulets 15 15 —
Spellbooks 266 266 —

Artifacts sit outside this system entirely. Their appearances are hard-coded and identical in every game — see Artifacts.

🧪 Potions

Potions are shuffled as a whole class, except for the last three types, which always look the same in every game.

Randomized potion appearances (45)

  • black
  • bright
  • bright cyan
  • bright magenta
  • brilliant blue
  • brown
  • bubbly
  • cloudy
  • crimson
  • cyan
  • dark
  • dark green
  • dark ochre
  • deep red
  • effervescent
  • emerald
  • fizzy
  • golden
  • gray
  • greenish
  • light blue
  • lime green
  • magenta
  • milky
  • murky
  • ochre
  • olive
  • orange
  • pink
  • puce
  • purple
  • purple-red
  • red
  • ruby
  • sapphire
  • shimmering
  • silvery
  • sky blue
  • smoky
  • swirly
  • umber
  • verdant
  • violet
  • white
  • yellow

Any one of these 45 appearances may be any of the 45 shuffled potion types:

Fixed potion appearances

Appearance Always is
clear Potion of water (holy and unholy water look the same)
dark ruby Potion of dwarven mushroom brew
pale yellow Potion of urine

📢 Important: A "clear potion" is always water. This is by far the most useful fixed appearance in the game, because water is the base of holy water, unholy water and most Alchemy recipes.

See also Potions and Diluted Potions.

📜 Scrolls

Scrolls are shuffled as a whole class up to (but not including) scroll of mail. The pool contains 47 labels for only 27 scroll types, so roughly 20 labels are attached to nothing in any given game and can never be found.

Randomized scroll labels (47)

Labels used by real scroll types:

  • ALA KA ZAM
  • ANDOVA BEGARIN
  • DAIYEN FOOELS
  • DUAM XNAHT
  • ELAM EBOW
  • ELBIB YLOH
  • HACKEM MUCHE
  • HOCUS POCUS
  • JUYED AWK YACC
  • KERNOD WEL
  • KIRJE
  • LEP GEX VEN ZEA
  • NR 9
  • NUGG YEBBEH
  • PRATYAVAYAH
  • PRIRUTSENIE
  • REX SAPH
  • THARR
  • VE FORBRYDERNE
  • VELOX NEB
  • VENZAR BORGAVVE
  • VERR YED HORRE
  • VEX DOL
  • XIXAXA XOXAXA XUXAXA
  • YUM YUM
  • ZELGO MER
  • ZEPH NI

Extra labels with no item of their own:

  • ABRA KA DABRA
  • ASHPD SODALG
  • EIRIS SAZUN IDISI
  • ETAOIN SHRDLU
  • FNORD
  • FOOBIE BLETCH
  • GARVEN DEH
  • GHOTI
  • GNIK SISI VLE
  • HAPAX LEGOMENON
  • KO BATE
  • LOREM IPSUM
  • MAPIRO MAHAMA DIROMAT
  • PHOL ENDE WODAN
  • READ ME
  • STRC PRST SKRZ KRK
  • TEMOV
  • VAS CORP BET MANI
  • XOR OTA
  • ZLORFIK

ℹ️ Note: The split above is only the order in which the labels are listed in the game data. After shuffling, any of the 47 labels can belong to any of the 27 scroll types, and the remaining labels belong to nothing.

The 27 shuffled scroll types are:

Fixed scroll appearances

Appearance Always is
stamped Scroll of mail
unlabeled Scroll of blank paper

See also Scrolls.

🪄 Wands

The 32 shuffled wand types share a pool of 35 appearances, so three appearances belong to nothing in any given game.

Randomized wand appearances (35)

  • adamantium
  • aluminum
  • balsa
  • blackwood
  • brass
  • copper
  • crystal
  • curved
  • ebony
  • flimsy
  • forked
  • glass
  • hexagonal
  • iridium
  • iron
  • jeweled
  • long
  • mahogany
  • maple
  • marble
  • mithril
  • oak
  • orichalcum
  • ornamental
  • pine
  • platinum
  • runed
  • short
  • silver
  • skull-headed
  • spiked
  • steel
  • tin
  • uranium
  • zinc

The 32 shuffled wand types are:

Wand materials by appearance

Wand materials are shuffled together with the appearance, so the material is always consistent with what you see. This matters because wooden wands burn and glass wands shatter.

Material Appearances
Wood balsa, mahogany, blackwood, maple, pine, oak, ebony, ornamental, flimsy, forked
Iron mithril, iron, steel, hexagonal, short, runed, long, adamantium, curved, spiked, jeweled
Other metal tin, iridium, zinc, aluminum, uranium
Brass brass
Copper copper
Silver silver
Platinum platinum
Orichalcum orichalcum
Glass glass
Crystal crystal
Mineral marble
Bone skull-headed

Fixed wand appearance

Appearance Always is
plutonium The Rod of Disjunction (base item never generates)

💡 Tip: The wand of nothing gets a random zap behavior at the start of each game. In half of all games it is a no-direction wand and in the other half it asks for a direction. This means the direction prompt alone does not reliably rule the wand of nothing in or out.

See also Wands and Exceptional and Elite Wands.

💍 Rings

All 37 magical ring types are shuffled together with their materials, in a pool of exactly 37 appearances.

Randomized ring appearances (37)

  • adamantium
  • agate
  • black onyx
  • black opal
  • black pearl
  • brass
  • bronze
  • clay
  • copper
  • coral
  • crystal
  • diamond
  • emerald
  • engagement
  • gold
  • granite
  • immaculate
  • iron
  • ivory
  • jade
  • moonstone
  • opal
  • pearl
  • platinum
  • polished
  • runed
  • sapphire
  • serpent-headed
  • shiny
  • silver
  • steel
  • thin
  • tiger eye
  • topaz
  • twisted
  • wire
  • wooden

The 37 shuffled ring types are:

Because material is shuffled together with the appearance, a "wooden ring" really is made of wood and an "iron ring" really rusts, regardless of what the ring turns out to be.

ℹ️ Note: There is no ordinary ring of conflict in GnollHack. It exists only as The Ring of Conflict, so the ruby appearance is reserved for the artifact and never belongs to an ordinary ring.

Fixed ring appearances

Appearance Always is
golden runed The Ruling Ring of Yendor (base item never generates)
ruby The Ring of Conflict
three-ruby-studded The Ring of Three Wishes
serpent-shaped The Serpent Ring of Set

See also Rings.

📿 Amulets

All 15 amulet types share a pool of 15 geometric shapes.

Randomized amulet appearances (15)

  • circular
  • concave
  • convex
  • cubical
  • cylindrical
  • hexagonal
  • icosahedral
  • linear
  • octagonal
  • oval
  • pyramidal
  • spherical
  • square
  • tetrahedral
  • triangular

The 15 shuffled amulet types are:

Fixed amulet appearance

Appearance May be
Amulet of Yendor The real Amulet of Yendor or a cheap plastic imitation of the Amulet of Yendor

The imitation and the real Amulet look identical and must be identified individually.

See also Amulets.

📕 Spellbooks

All 266 ordinary spellbooks are shuffled together in a pool of 266 covers. Listing them is of little practical use, because reading a spellbook nearly always identifies it immediately.

Why covers rarely matter

  • For the great majority of spellbooks, opening the book prints "This spellbook contains ''." and identifies the type immediately, before you have to commit to actually studying it. The check costs one round if you decline.
  • Only 26 dangerous or extremely powerful books must actually be read through to be identified. For all of these the game shows a truthful hint about the school and antiquity of the magic before you commit, for example "This spellbook contains ancient necromantic magic. Read it?"
  • That hint is bound to the actual spell, not to the cover, and is therefore never shuffled.

The 26 books that must be read to be identified

Hint shown before reading Possible spells
ancient conjuration magic great Yendorian summoning, wish
long-forgotten conjuration magic black blade of disaster, sphere of annihilation
alien conjuration magic call hierarch modron
ancient clerical prayer absolution
ancient celestial prayer guardian angel, holy word, summon ancient gold dragon, summon archon
an aeon-old celestial prayer divine intervention, call Bahamut, heavenly army
ancient enchantment magic mass domination
an ancient movement spell time stop
ancient abjuration magic globe of invulnerability
long-forgotten abjuration magic disjunction
ancient necromantic magic touch of death, finger of death, deathspell, power word kill, create dracolich, create elder dracolich
long-forgotten necromantic magic armageddon, mass create dracolich
sinister necromantic magic call Demogorgon

Every book in this list carries a hint, so there is never a spellbook whose topic stays completely unknown. The hint is coarse, however: it names only the school and the age of the magic, so "ancient necromantic magic" leaves six possible spells.

Duplicated covers

Ten covers are used by two or three different books each, so even with a full appearance list some books remain ambiguous.

Cover Possible books
hand-patterned burning hands, shocking touch
oval-patterned meteor swarm, forbid summoning
scintillating magic storm, disjunction
wave-patterned animate air, greater animate air
octagonal-patterned animate earth, greater animate earth
flame-patterned animate fire, greater animate fire
water-drop-patterned animate water, greater animate water, summon dragon
colorless astral vision, true seeing
glowing enchant armor, protect armor
unspeakable raise minor zombie, raise giant zombie

Fixed spellbook appearances

Appearance Always is
plain Spellbook of blank paper
paperback Any of the tribute Novels
ornamental alien codex The Prime Codex (the base item's own "ornamental white" appearance is never displayed)
papyrus Book of the Dead

The manual has no appearance at all and is always shown by its real name. See also Spellbooks and Manuals and Catalogues.

🛡️ Armor

Armor is shuffled in small, tight groups. Each group below is a closed pool: an appearance from one group can never appear on an item from another group.

🪖 Helmets (4)

Appearance Possible items
plumed helmet, etched helmet, crested helmet, visored helmet Helmet, Helm of brilliance, Helm of opposite alignment, Helm of telepathy

All four may be randomly generated in adamantium, mithril or bronze, and this material roll is identical for all four types, so it gives no clue.

👑 Crowns (2)

Appearance Possible items
golden crown, ornamental crown Royal crown, Crown of rulership

🎩 Conical hats (3)

Appearance Possible items
blue conical hat, green conical hat, red conical hat Cornuthaum, Dunce cap, Gnomish felt hat

The color in the name always matches the color drawn on screen, because the display color is shuffled together with the appearance.

🧥 Cloaks (5)

Appearance Possible items
tattered cape, opera cloak, ornamental cope, hard woven cloak, piece of cloth Cloak of protection, Cloak of invisibility, Cloak of magic resistance, Cloak of integrity, Cloak of displacement

👕 Robes (11)

Appearance Possible items
old robe, decorated robe, ornate robe, golden ornamental robe, shining white robe, shining purple robe, shining green robe, star-patterned robe, shining blue robe, shining gray robe, shining black robe Medieval robe, Wizard's robe, Clerical gown, Robe of protection, Robe of magic resistance, Gown of the archbishops, Robe of powerlessness, Robe of eyes, Robe of the archmagi, Robe of splendor, Robe of starry wisdom

💪 Bracers (6)

Appearance Possible items
old bracers, runed bracers, deerskin bracers, dilapidated bracers, shining bracers, ornamental bracers Leather bracers, Bracers of defense, Bracers of archery, Bracers of shaking and tottering, Bracers of spell casting, Bracers against magic missiles

The bracers of reflection are not in the pool and always appear as polished silver bracers.

👚 Shirts (4)

Appearance Possible items
funny T-shirt, black T-shirt, green T-shirt, old T-shirt Shirt of uncontrollable laughter, Shirt of comeliness, Shirt of sound mindedness, T-shirt

The Hawaiian shirt has no appearance of its own and is always recognized.

🧤 Gloves (6)

Appearance Possible items
old gloves, padded gloves, brown gloves, deerskin gloves, riding gloves, fencing gloves Leather gloves, Gauntlets of fumbling, Gloves of haste, Gloves of spell casting, Gauntlets of ogre power, Gauntlets of dexterity

🥾 Boots (8)

Appearance Possible items
combat boots, runed boots, jungle boots, hiking boots, mud boots, buckled boots, riding boots, snow boots Speed boots, Galadhrim boots, Water walking boots, Jumping boots, Elven boots, Kicking boots, Fumble boots, Levitation boots

📢 Important: low boots (walking shoes), shoes (hard shoes) and high boots (jackboots) are not in the shuffled pool. Those three appearances always mean exactly those three mundane boots.

See also Armor, Helms, Cloaks, Robes, Bracers, Shirts, Gloves and Boots.

⚔️ Weapons

Only one weapon group is shuffled.

🪄 Staves (6)

Appearance Possible items
runed staff, ornamental staff, forked staff, blue-hued staff, serpent-entwined staff, twisted staff Staff of the magi, Staff of fire, Staff of thunder and lightning, Staff of frost, Staff of life, Staff of withering

The ordinary quarterstaff is always shown as a wooden staff and is not part of the pool.

Every other weapon appearance in the game is fixed. See Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Polearms and Thrown Weapons.

🧰 Tools

Tools are shuffled in nine small groups.

Group Appearances Possible items
Bags (10) brown bag, vintage bag, decorative bag, ornamental bag, antiquated bag, silvery bag, dilapidated bag, old bag, old-fashioned bag, runed bag Leather bag, Sack, Oilskin sack, Bag of holding, Bag of wizardry, Bag of treasure hauling, Bag of the glutton, Pouch of endless bolts, Bag of infinite sling bullets, Bag of tricks
Candles (3) old-fashioned candle, twisted candle, handcrafted candle Tallow candle, Wax candle, Magic candle
Lamps (2) antiquated brass lamp, oriental brass lamp Oil lamp, Magic lamp
Whistles (2) old whistle, shiny whistle Tin whistle, Magic whistle
Flutes (2) oak flute, blackwood flute Wooden flute, Magic flute
Horns (5) arched horn, spiral horn, curved horn, polished horn, twisted horn Tooled horn, Frost horn, Fire horn, Horn of chaos, Horn of plenty
Harps (2) ornamental harp, runed harp Wooden harp, Magic harp
Drums (2) old drum, antiquated drum Leather drum, Drum of earthquake
Jars (4) glass jar, crystal jar, crystalline jar, transparent jar Jar of extra healing salve, Jar of greater healing salve, Jar of medicinal salve, Jar of prodigious healing salve

Jars and their visible contents

An unidentified jar is shown together with the color of the ointment inside, for example "a crystal jar containing purple ointment". The ointment color is shuffled together with the jar appearance, so the four pairings below always hold within a game, but which jar type they belong to is random.

Jar appearance Ointment shown
glass jar yellow ointment
crystal jar purple ointment
crystalline jar white ointment
transparent jar violet ointment

The jar of basilisk blood is not shuffled and always appears as an ornamental jar containing crimson liquid.

Other tools with a description, such as the brass horn, torch, brass lantern, bell and bugle, have fixed appearances. See Tools.

💎 Miscellaneous Items

Group Appearances Possible items
Brooches (2) golden brooch, silver brooch Brooch of shielding, Brooch of haplessness
Nose rings (3) golden nose ring, silver nose ring, bronze nose ring Nose ring of bull strength, Nose ring of bullheadedness, Nose ring of cerebral safeguarding
Headbands (3) shining blue headband, shining green headband, shining red headband Headband of intellect, Headband of martial prowess, Headband of cranial tightness
Eyeglasses (5) gold-framed eyeglasses, oval eyeglasses, square eyeglasses, silver-framed eyeglasses, round eyeglasses Lenses, Eyeglasses of hallucination, Eyeglasses of awkwardness, Eyeglasses of X-ray vision, Eyeglasses of see invisible
Goggles (2) leather-framed goggles, transparent goggles Goggles of night, Goggles of eye protection
Belts (9) old belt, brown belt, sturdy belt, runed belt, ornamental belt, heavy belt, decorative belt, coarse belt, rudimentary belt Leather belt, Belt of change, Belt of dwarvenkind, Belt of fortitude, Belt of hill giant strength, Belt of stone giant strength, Belt of frost giant strength, Belt of fire giant strength, Belt of storm giant strength
Ioun stones (19) see the table below see the table below

The sunglasses are not part of the eyeglasses pool and always appear as shaded eyeglasses.

🔮 Ioun stones

Nineteen ioun stone types share a pool of only 17 distinct appearances, because two colors are used twice.

Appearance Possible items
cyan ioun stone Ioun stone of magical breathing or Ioun stone of sustenance
bright green ioun stone Ioun stone of wisdom or Ioun stone of incessant hunger
black, blue, bright blue, bright cyan, brown, crimson, gray, green, orange, pink, purple, red, transparent, white, yellow One ioun stone type each, randomly assigned

The 19 shuffled ioun stone types are:

⚠️ Warning: Because "cyan" and "bright green" are each shared by one good and one harmful stone, identifying an ioun stone by appearance alone is never fully conclusive for those two colors.

Other miscellaneous items with a description, such as the wings of flying (artificial wings), gnollish leather mask (crude leather mask) and beak mask of sickness resistance (beak-shaped mask), have fixed appearances. See Miscellaneous Items.

🍄 Comestibles

The nine mushroom types are shuffled together with their materials.

Appearances Possible items
brown mushroom, black mushroom, golden mushroom, red mushroom, pale white mushroom, violet mushroom, orange mushroom, gray mushroom, green mushroom Champignon, Penny bun, Chanterelle, Fly agaric, Death cap, Mana mushroom, Healing mushroom, Panther cap, Oracular toadstool

⚠️ Warning: The death cap is deadly poisonous and the fly agaric is poisonous. Since all nine mushrooms share one pool, no mushroom color is safe to eat until the type has been identified.

All other comestibles, including slime mold, food ration and the various globs, have fixed appearances or none at all. See Comestibles and Eating Guide.

🪨 Gems, Glass, and Gray Stones

Gems are not shuffled. Instead, every gem has a fixed color, and each color is shared by a valuable gem, several less valuable gems and one worthless piece of glass. This is the identification puzzle for gems.

Color Possible items
white Dilithium crystal, Diamond, Opal, Pearl, Gem of seeing, Worthless piece of white glass
black Black pearl, Black opal, Jet, Obsidian, Worthless piece of black glass
red Ruby, Garnet, Jasper, Worthless piece of red glass
orange Jacinth, Agate, Worthless piece of orange glass
blue Sapphire, Worthless piece of blue glass
green Emerald, Jade, Worthless piece of green glass
yellow Citrine, Chrysoberyl, Worthless piece of yellow glass
yellowish brown Amber, Topaz, Worthless piece of yellowish brown glass
violet Amethyst, Worthless piece of violet glass

Gems with a randomized color

Three gems get their color rolled at the start of each game and move between the groups above.

Gem Possible colors
Turquoise green (1 in 2) or blue (1 in 2)
Aquamarine green (1 in 2) or blue (1 in 2)
Fluorite violet, blue, white or green (1 in 4 each)

💡 Tip: A blue gem is not automatically a sapphire. Turquoise, aquamarine and fluorite can all join the blue group, which makes blue one of the least reliable colors to gamble on.

Gray stones

The six gray stones are never shuffled and all share the same gray appearance.

Appearance Possible items
gray stone Luckstone, Loadstone, Jinxstone, Prayerstone, Touchstone, Flint

See Gems and Stones.

🗝️ Fixed Appearances That Still Hide the Item

Many items have a description that is never shuffled. The item still starts unidentified, but the appearance always means the same thing in every game, so recognizing it is pure knowledge rather than luck.

Weapons and ammunition

Appearance Always is
runed arrow Elven arrow
crude arrow Orcish arrow
bamboo arrow Ya
crude crossbow bolt Gnollish quarrel
throwing star Shuriken
throwing spear Javelin
runed spear Elven spear
crude spear Orcish spear
stout spear Dwarvish spear
crude dagger Orcish dagger
black dagger Wraithblade
runed short sword Elven short sword
crude short sword Orcish short sword
broad short sword Dwarvish short sword
curved sword Scimitar
shining long sword Sword of holy vengeance
samurai sword Katana
sword-shaped planar rift Black blade of disintegration
double-headed axe Battle-axe
broad axe Dwarvish axe
broad pick Dwarvish mattock
wooden mace The Mace of Saint Cuthbert (base item never generates)
skull-headed obsidian mace Wand of Orcus (base item never generates)
runed war hammer Mjollnir (base item never generates)
large jagged-toothed club Two-handed club
thonged club Aklys
iron staff Flindbar
wooden staff Quarterstaff
runed long bow Elven long bow
crude short bow Orcish short bow
oriental long bow Yumi
ornamental long bow Galadhrim bow (the Divine long bow exists only as The Longbow of Diana, which shows a different appearance)
large shovel Spade of colossal excavation
silvery saw Saw of mighty cutting
club-headed metal rod Golf club
iron hook Grappling hook

Polearms

Every polearm has a fixed, unique appearance:

Appearance Always is
vulgar polearm Partisan
hilted polearm Ranseur
forked polearm Spetum
single-edged polearm Glaive
angled poleaxe Halberd
long poleaxe Bardiche
pole cleaver Voulge
pole sickle Fauchard
pruning hook Guisarme
hooked polearm Bill-guisarme
black ornamental hooked polearm Ancus
pronged polearm Lucern hammer
beaked polearm Bec de corbin

Armor

Appearance Always is
runed hat Elven helm
crude hood Gnollish hood
iron skull cap Orcish helm
hard hat Dwarvish helm
thin metal hat Tinfoil hat of mind shielding
cylindrical hat Silk top hat
faded pall Elven cloak
coarse mantelet Orcish cloak
hooded cloak Dwarvish cloak
slippery cloak Oilskin cloak
apron Alchemy smock
soft cotton robe Bathrobe
fine robe Tailored silk robe
crude robe Gnollish haircloth robe
orange robe Simple gown
crude bone armor Gnollish bone mail
crude studded leather armor Gnollish studded leather armor
crude leather armor Gnollish leather armor
crude chain mail Orcish chain mail
crude ring mail Orcish ring mail
armor-shaped force field Force field armor
blue and green shield Elven shield
black shield Orcish shield
large black shield Great orcish shield
large round shield Dwarvish roundshield
polished silver shield Shield of reflection
polished silver bracers Bracers of reflection
walking shoes Low boots
hard shoes Shoes
jackboots High boots

Tools and other items

Appearance Always is
religious symbol Holy symbol
glass orb Crystal ball
looking glass Mirror (the Magic mirror exists only as The Magic Mirror of Merlin, which shows a different appearance)
metal can containing viscous fluid Can of grease
small runed cube Cubic gate
sandalwood chest Magic chest
gold-encrusted bag Expensive handbag
silk-woven bag Oriental silk sack
cylindrical bag Quiver of infinite arrows
wooden grail containing red liquid The Holy Grail (base item never generates)
ornamental jar containing crimson liquid Jar of basilisk blood
artificial wings Wings of flying
shaded eyeglasses Sunglasses
crude leather mask Gnollish leather mask
beak-shaped mask Beak mask of sickness resistance
gray glob Glob of gray ooze
brown glob Glob of brown pudding
green glob Glob of green slime
black glob Glob of black pudding

⚠️ Appearances Shared by More Than One Item

A few appearances outside the shuffled pools are used by two or more item types. These stay ambiguous in every game.

Appearance Possible items
runed dagger Elven dagger, a plain Elven runedagger or Sting
runed broadsword Elven broadsword or Orcrist
black long sword Sword of unholy desecration or The Nine Lives Stealer
ornamental key The Master Key of Thievery, or an ordinary Ornamental key once that type has been identified
key Skeleton key, Geometric key or Ornamental key
splash of blinding venom / splash of acid venom Either venom type; these two descriptions are shuffled against each other, so the name of a venom splash may not match its real type

Plain elven runedaggers turn up only in the hands of halflings, so a "runed dagger" lying on the floor is nearly always an ordinary elven dagger. Geometric key and Ornamental key are not randomly generated either; they are placed as lock-specific keys in the Plane of the Modron and Gehennom, and both show as a plain key until their type has been identified.

The other keys, such as the magic key, stone key, bronze key, silver key, gold key, platinum key, mithril key, orichalcum key and adamantium key, have no appearance of their own and are always shown by their real names.

✨ Artifacts

All 60 artifacts have fixed appearances. Nothing about an artifact is ever shuffled, so an artifact looks the same in every game you ever play. Forty-six artifacts carry a description of their own, the other fourteen fall back on the look of an ordinary item, and most artifacts announce their own name long before you identify them.

Artifacts that name themselves on sight (40)

Two thirds of all artifacts are famous: their name is attached the moment the artifact is created, so the game shows it as soon as the item comes into view. A Vorpal Blade on the floor reads "an elite runed long sword named Vorpal Blade" before you have touched it, walked up to it or identified anything.

Artifact Unidentified appearance
Cleaver runed double-headed axe
Crossbow of the Gnoll Lords repeating heavy crossbow
Demonbane silver long sword
Dragonbane broadsword
Excalibur long sword
Fire Brand red-hot long sword
Frost Brand ice-cold long sword
Giantslayer long sword
Grayswandir silver saber
Grimtooth runed crude dagger
Magicbane runed athame
Mjollnir runed war hammer
Ogresmasher war hammer
Orcrist runed broadsword
Rhongomyniad runed lance
Snickersnee samurai sword
Sting runed dagger
Sunsword crystal long sword
The Ark of the Covenant gold-covered wooden chest
The Eye of the Aethiopica eye-shaped amulet
The Eyes of the Overworld runed eyeglasses
The Gladstone gray stone
The Heart of Ahriman glowing red jewel stone
The Longbow of Diana shining long bow
The Magic Mirror of Merlin runed looking glass
The Master Key of Thievery ornamental key
The Mitre of Holiness ornamental pointed hat
The Nine Lives Stealer black long sword
The Orb of Detection runed crystal ball
The Orb of Fate ornamental crystal ball
The Platinum Yendorian Express Card platinum credit card
The Prime Codex ornamental alien codex
The Rod of Disjunction black metal wand
The Sceptre of Might diamond-encrusted sceptre
The Staff of Aesculapius serpent-entwined quarterstaff
The Tooth of Tarrasque blade-like tooth
The Tsurugi of Muramasa engraved tsurugi
Trollsbane morning star
Vorpal Blade runed long sword
Werebane silver saber

Artifacts that stay anonymous until you handle them (20)

The remaining twenty keep their name hidden until you do something specific with them, and eight of those never volunteer it at all.

Artifact Unidentified appearance Name revealed by
Stormbringer black runesword Picking it up
Mournblade black runesword Picking it up
The Emerald Sword gemstone two-handed sword Wielding it
The Staff-Sling of the Ancients ornate staff-sling Wielding it
The Gauntlets of Yin and Yang black and white gauntlets Wearing them
The Serpent Ring of Set serpent-shaped ring Wearing it
Howling Flail runed flail Invoking it
Luck Blade ornate broadsword Invoking it
The Holy Grail wooden grail containing red liquid Invoking it
The Kusanagi engraved tsurugi Invoking it
The Ring of Conflict ruby ring Invoking it
The Ring of Three Wishes three-ruby-studded ring Invoking it
Ruby Rod of Asmodeus ruby-encrusted sceptre Identification only
The Katana of Masamune engraved katana Identification only
The Mace of Saint Cuthbert wooden mace Identification only
The Mattock of the Titans large mattock Identification only
The Maul of the Titans large maul Identification only
The Ruling Ring of Yendor plain golden ring Identification only
Triple-Headed Flail of Yeenaghu runed triple-headed flail Identification only
Wand of Orcus skull-headed obsidian mace Identification only

💡 Tip: True seeing reveals the name of any artifact simply by looking at it. Wielding also works for Stormbringer and Mournblade, since anything revealed by picking up is revealed by wielding too. The reverse does not hold: the six invoke-only artifacts stay anonymous no matter how long you wear or wield them.

Appearances that always mean an artifact

These forty appearances belong to forty-two artifacts and to nothing else. No ordinary item in the game can ever produce them, so recognizing one is proof.

Appearance Always is
black and white gauntlets The Gauntlets of Yin and Yang
black metal wand The Rod of Disjunction
black runesword Stormbringer or Mournblade
blade-like tooth The Tooth of Tarrasque
diamond-encrusted sceptre The Sceptre of Might
engraved katana The Katana of Masamune
engraved tsurugi The Kusanagi or The Tsurugi of Muramasa
eye-shaped amulet The Eye of the Aethiopica
glowing red jewel stone The Heart of Ahriman
gold-covered wooden chest The Ark of the Covenant
ice-cold long sword Frost Brand
large mattock The Mattock of the Titans
large maul The Maul of the Titans
ornamental alien codex The Prime Codex
ornamental crystal ball The Orb of Fate
ornamental pointed hat The Mitre of Holiness
ornate broadsword Luck Blade
ornate staff-sling The Staff-Sling of the Ancients
plain golden ring The Ruling Ring of Yendor
red-hot long sword Fire Brand
ruby ring The Ring of Conflict
ruby-encrusted sceptre Ruby Rod of Asmodeus
runed athame Magicbane
runed crude dagger Grimtooth
runed crystal ball The Orb of Detection
runed double-headed axe Cleaver
runed eyeglasses The Eyes of the Overworld
runed flail Howling Flail
runed lance Rhongomyniad
runed long sword Vorpal Blade
runed looking glass The Magic Mirror of Merlin
runed triple-headed flail Triple-Headed Flail of Yeenaghu
runed war hammer Mjollnir
serpent-entwined quarterstaff The Staff of Aesculapius
serpent-shaped ring The Serpent Ring of Set
shining long bow The Longbow of Diana
skull-headed obsidian mace Wand of Orcus
three-ruby-studded ring The Ring of Three Wishes
wooden grail containing red liquid The Holy Grail
wooden mace The Mace of Saint Cuthbert

An appearance ends up on this list for one of two reasons. Either the artifact overrides the look of an ordinary item with a description of its own, as The Katana of Masamune does when it turns a "samurai sword" into an "engraved katana"; or the artifact is built on a base item that is never generated, wished for, gifted or placed on its own, so the plain version simply does not exist. Twenty-two base item types fall into the second group, among them the heavy war hammer, the runed flail, the mace of the underworld, the tsurugi, the grail of healing, the magic mirror and the ring of supreme power.

⚠️ Warning: Four artifact appearances are not proof, because an ordinary item can show the same text: runed dagger, runed broadsword, black long sword and ornamental key. They are listed in Appearances Shared by More Than One Item above.

Artifacts that look like an ordinary item (14)

Fourteen artifacts have no description of their own and simply borrow the look of their base item.

Artifact Looks exactly like
Crossbow of the Gnoll Lords a repeating heavy crossbow
Demonbane a silver long sword
Dragonbane a broadsword
Excalibur a long sword
Giantslayer a long sword
Grayswandir a silver saber
Ogresmasher a war hammer
Snickersnee a katana ("samurai sword" until katanas are known)
Sunsword a crystal long sword
The Emerald Sword a gemstone two-handed sword
The Gladstone a gray stone ("luckstone" once luckstones are known)
The Platinum Yendorian Express Card a platinum credit card
Trollsbane a morning star
Werebane a silver saber

Because these artifacts have no description of their own, the name you see follows the base item's own identification state. Once you have identified luckstones, The Gladstone reads exactly "luckstone"; once katanas are known, Snickersnee reads "katana".

Thirteen of the fourteen are famous and still print their name on sight, so the disguise is only skin deep. The Emerald Sword is the sole exception — the one artifact in the game that both looks like an ordinary item and keeps its name hidden until you wield it. Even it is not truly plain, since its fixed exceptional quality and gemstone material are visible from the start, and no ordinary two-handed sword can be made of gemstone.

Other tells before identification

Even when an artifact's appearance is shared with an ordinary item, several other signals give it away.

📊 What the Appearance Does and Does Not Tell You

Clue Reliable? Explanation
Appearance text Only within its group It narrows the item down to the members of its shuffle pool, never further.
Display color and tile Follows the appearance Colors and tiles are shuffled together with the description, so they never leak the true type.
Material shown in the name Follows the appearance For groups that shuffle materials, the material is part of the disguise. For the other groups, the material equals the type's base material and is therefore hidden.
Base price Yes Prices stay with the true item type, which is why shop price identification works.
Weight Yes Weight stays with the true item type.
Spellbook read prompt Yes The "contains … magic" hint is bound to the real spell, not to the cover.
Jar ointment color Follows the appearance The ointment color and the jar description are always the same pairing, but which jar type they mark is random.
Wand direction prompt Partly The wand of nothing is randomly a directional or non-directional wand in each game.
Artifact appearance Yes Artifact descriptions are hard-coded and never shuffled, so they mean the same thing in every game.
"named …" suffix Yes Forty artifacts announce their name on sight; the rest do so when picked up, worn, wielded or invoked.
Artifact shop price Yes Shops price artifacts from the artifact's own value even when unidentified.

Items with no appearance at all

Some item categories are always shown by their real names and never require identification of the type:

  • All Reagents.
  • Most ordinary weapons, suits of armor and shields without a racial or special variant.
  • Coins, ordinary rocks, boulders, statues and most Art Objects.
  • Ordinary comestibles such as rations, fruit and corpses.

ℹ️ Note: The cotton slippers have a purely cosmetic second tile that is chosen randomly for each individual pair when it is created. This affects only the picture, never the name or the behavior.

💡 Summary

  • Appearances are shuffled once per game, inside fixed groups, and are stored in the save file.
  • Shuffling moves the description, the color, the tile and sometimes the material, but never the price, the weight or the effects.
  • The only fixed potion appearances are clear (water), dark ruby (dwarven mushroom brew) and pale yellow (urine).
  • Scrolls and wands have more appearances than items, so some labels and wand descriptions belong to nothing in a given game.
  • Spellbook covers rarely matter, because reading a book identifies it, and the 26 books that must be read announce their school truthfully beforehand.
  • Gems are not shuffled, but each color pools several gems together with a worthless piece of glass, and turquoise, aquamarine and fluorite change color group at the start of each game.
  • Many racial, mundane and special items have fixed appearances, so learning that table is a permanent advantage across all your games.
  • Artifacts never shuffle. Their appearances are the same in every game, 40 of the 60 announce their own name the moment you see them, and The Emerald Sword is the only artifact that both looks like an ordinary item and keeps its name hidden until wielded.
  • Forty appearances are proof of an artifact, because no ordinary item can ever produce them.

Quick Links

Download

Tutorials

Gameplay Information

Development

Contact