🛐 Sacrifice Offering

👉 Sacrificing is a core gameplay mechanic in GnollHack. By using the #offer command (or o) while standing on an altar, you can sacrifice a corpse or the Amulet of Yendor to appease your god, manipulate altar alignments, obtain divine gifts, or even complete the game.

To offer a sacrifice, you must be standing on an altar and you must not be currently swallowed by a monster.

💡 Summary of Offerings

Only specific item classes can be offered on an altar:

🥩 Corpses: The primary offering. They must be fresh (killed within the last 50 turns), with the sole exception of acid blobs, which never rot.
👑 The Amulet of Yendor: Sacrificing the real Amulet on a high altar completes your ascension.
🪙 Fake Amulet of Yendor: Sacrificing a fake amulet will anger the gods.

If you attempt to sacrifice any other food or item (e.g. food rations, fruits, or tools), the game will reject it with the message "You can't sacrifice that!" and the item is not consumed.

If a corpse is offered but is too old (not fresh), it will not be consumed and the game will simply output "Nothing happens."

💨 Offering Consumption Messages

When a valid sacrifice of value is accepted, the message displayed depends on your status and alignment:

Character State	Message
Lawful	"sacrifice is consumed in a flash of light!"
Neutral or Chaotic	"sacrifice is consumed in a burst of flame!"
Blind & Lawful	"sacrifice disappears!"
Blind & Neutral/Chaotic	"sacrifice is consumed in a burst of flame!"
Hallucinating (1 of 3 randomly)	1. "sacrifice curls up in a ball and runs away!" 2. "sacrifice puffs up, swelling bigger and bigger, and pops!" 3. "sacrifice collapses into a cloud of dancing particles and fades away!"

🎚️ Corpse Value

The value of a fresh corpse determines its efficacy.

Base Value: Equal to the monster's difficulty + 1.
Maximum Value: Capped at 24 (e.g., adult dragons, arch-liches).
Undead corpses: Worth +1 value for lawful or neutral players, but have a value of 0 (ignored) for chaotic players.
Partially Eaten Corpses: The value is scaled down proportionally to the remaining nutrition.

🛐 Sacrificing on a Co-Aligned Altar

When sacrificing a fresh, valid corpse on an altar of your own alignment, your god evaluates the offering. The effects are resolved in the following priority order:

1. Decreasing Anger

If your god is angry (u.ugangr > 0), the corpse value reduces their anger: $\text{Anger Reduction} = \frac{\text{Corpse Value} \times (2 \text{ if Chaotic else } 3)}{24}$

If anger is reduced but remains above zero, the message is:

Normal: "[God Name] seems slightly mollified."
Hallucinating: "[God Name] seems groovy."
Luck is increased by 1 if it was negative.

If anger is reduced to zero, the message is:

Normal: "[God Name] seems mollified."
Hallucinating: "[God Name] seems cosmic."
Luck is reset to 0 if it was negative.

If anger is not reduced, you get the message:

Normal: "You have a feeling of inadequacy."
Hallucinating: "The gods seem tall."

2. Decreasing Alignment Penalty

If you are not angry but have a negative alignment record, a valuable corpse will increase your alignment by the corpse's value (up to 0). You will feel "partially absolved".

3. Decreasing Prayer Timeout

If you are in good standing but your prayer timeout is active, the timeout is reduced: $\text{Timeout Reduction} = \frac{\text{Corpse Value} \times (500 \text{ if Chaotic else } 300)}{24 \times (2 \text{ if Priest else } 1)}$

Character Class	Character Alignment	Max Turn Reduction (Value 24)	Turn Reduction per Value Point
Priest	Chaotic	250 turns	10.4 turns
Priest	Lawful / Neutral	150 turns	6.25 turns
Non-Priest	Chaotic	500 turns	20.8 turns
Non-Priest	Lawful / Neutral	300 turns	12.5 turns

If the timeout is reduced but remains active, the message is:

Normal: "You have a hopeful feeling."
Hallucinating: "You realize that the gods are not like you and I."
Luck is increased by 1 if it was negative.

If the timeout is reduced to zero, the message is:

Normal: "You have a feeling of reconciliation."
Hallucinating: "Overall, there is a smell of fried onions."
Luck is reset to 0 if it was negative.

4. Divine Gifts

If you are in excellent standing (no anger, positive alignment, no prayer timeout, character level > 2, and Luck $\ge$ 0), there is a chance your god bestows a divine gift:

Gift Chance: Success occurs if a random roll from 10 + 2 * u.ugifts * nartifacts is 0.
Details: See Sacrifice Gifts for gift pools and mechanics.

5. Increasing Luck

If no timeout or anger was reduced, and no gift was granted, your Luck is increased: $\text{Luck Increase} = \frac{\text{Corpse Value} \times 10}{48}$

Corpse Value	Required Monster Difficulty	Luck Increase	Message
0 to 4	0 to 3 (or not fresh)	0	None
5 to 9	4 to 8	+1	Glimpse a four-leaf clover at your feet / think something brushed your foot (if blind) / see crabgrass (if hallucinating)
10 to 14	9 to 13	+2	Same as above
15 to 19	14 to 18	+3	Same as above
20 to 23	19 to 22	+4	Same as above
24	23+ (e.g. Dragons, Arch-Liches)	+5	Same as above

6. Blessing Special Items

If you are in good standing or your prayer timeout was reduced, there is a chance that a special praying item (like a holy symbol or prayerstone) in your inventory will be blessed.

Message: "[Item] softly glows with a [light blue] aura."

⚖️ Sacrificing on a Cross-Aligned Altar

If you sacrifice on a cross-aligned altar, the outcome is determined by your current standing.

🔄 Converting Yourself

If your own god is angry with you (or if you sacrifice at Moloch's altar in Gehennom), you can convert yourself to the altar's alignment, provided you have not converted before and the altar has an alignment.

Outcome: Alignment base becomes the altar's alignment, Luck decreases by 3, and your prayer timeout increases by 300 turns (150 for Priests).
Message: "You have a strong feeling that [Your God] is angry… [Altar God] accepts your allegiance."
⚠️ Warning: If conversion fails or is rejected (or you attempt to convert to Moloch outside Gehennom), your god's anger increases by 3, you lose 5 alignment, you lose 5 Luck, your Wisdom drops by 2, and you will be smitten by your god.

🔄 Converting the Altar

If your own god is NOT angry with you, you attempt to convert the altar to your alignment.

Success Chance: Calculated as $\frac{\text{Level} + 2}{\text{Level} + 8}$. (Unaligned "godless" altars outside Gehennom convert at a 100% rate).
Successful Conversion: The altar is converted to your alignment. Luck increases by 1, Wisdom is exercised, and any cross-aligned priest present becomes angry.
- Message: "You sense a conflict between [Your God] and [Altar God]. You feel the power of [Your God] increase. The altar glows [white/gray/black]."
Failed Conversion: Luck decreases by 1, and Wisdom is reduced.
- Message: "You sense a conflict between [Your God] and [Altar God]. Unluckily, you feel the power of [Your God] decrease."

Character Level	Altar Conversion Success Chance
Level 1	33.3%
Level 2	40.0%
Level 3	45.5%
Level 5	53.8%
Level 10	66.7%
Level 15	73.9%
Level 20	78.6%
Level 30	84.2%

🦄 Special Sacrifices

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Sacrificing Your Own Race

Sacrificing a corpse of your own race is a major offense.

For Non-Demons: Lowers Wisdom. If sacrificed on a non-chaotic and non-Moloch altar, it curses the altar to become chaotic, stains it with blood, angers any priest, and angers your own god (decreases alignment and Luck by 5, anger +3, Wisdom -1).
Demon Summoning: Sacrificing your own race on a chaotic or Moloch altar initiates a demon summoning:
- If you are not chaotic, and the altar is chaotic, the altar is destroyed ("The blood floods the altar, which vanishes in a black cloud!").
- If you are chaotic or the altar is Moloch's, the altar remains covered in blood ("The blood covers the altar!"). Luck increases by 2 (+2), or decreases by 2 (-2) on Moloch's altar.
- The Summoned Demon: In Gehennom, it summons Demogorgon. Elsewhere, it summons a random Demon Lord.
- Peaceful Chance: If you are chaotic, the demon has a chance to be peaceful. The very first demon lord summoned via altar in a game is guaranteed to be peaceful. Subsequent summonings have a lower chance based on your alignment rank.
- Terror: If you do not have Fear Resistance, you will be paralyzed for 3 turns ("You are terrified, and unable to move.").
For Demons: If you are in demon form, sacrificing your own race is satisfying and exercises Wisdom ("You find the idea very satisfying.").

🐕 Sacrificing Pets

Sacrificing a tame creature is a betrayal of loyalty.

Outcome: Alignment record decreases by 3, the corpse value is set to -1 (triggering god's anger), and you permanently aggravate monsters.
Message: "So this is how you repay loyalty?"

🦄 Sacrificing Unicorns

Sacrificing unicorns yields highly alignment-dependent effects:

Altar Alignment	Unicorn Alignment	Outcome	Message
Same as Unicorn	Any	Gravely insults the altar. Wisdom is reduced, corpse value is set to -5 (triggers god's wrath).	"Such an action is an insult to [law/balance/chaos]!"
Same as Player	Different from Altar & Player	Very good action. Alignment increases by 5, corpse value is increased by 3.	"You feel thoroughly on the right path." (or "appropriately aligned")
Different from Player	Same as Player	Player's alignment record is reset to -1. Corpse value is set to 1.	None
Any	Cross-aligned to both Altar and Player	Ordinary sacrifice. Corpse value is increased by 3.	None

👑 The Amulet of Yendor

Sacrificing the real Amulet of Yendor is the method of completing the game:

Astral Plane High Altar (Co-Aligned): Offers the Amulet to your god, culminating in your ascension to demigod/demigoddess status. For details, see /Ascension.
Astral Plane High Altar (Cross-Aligned): The opposing god gains dominion over your god. They permit you to live, and you escape the dungeon.
Astral Plane High Altar (Moloch): Moloch retains dominion and snuffs out your life.
Normal Altar:
- Moloch Altar: God is upset.
- Co-aligned: "You feel an urge to return to the surface." (or "homesick" if hallucinating).
- Cross-aligned: "You feel ashamed." (or "homesick" if hallucinating).

🪙 Fake Amulet of Yendor

Sacrificing a fake Amulet of Yendor triggers a thunderclap ("You hear a nearby thunderclap.").

If Unidentified: You identify the fake amulet and realize your mistake. Luck decreases by 1.
If Already Identified: Luck decreases by 3, alignment record decreases by 1, god anger increases by 3, and the value is set to -3 (god gets upset). If deaf, you receive the message "Oh, no."

💢 Divine Anger & Smite Outcomes

When a god is angered (via angrygods or a negative sacrifice value), a random outcome is chosen based on your current anger level (capped at 15):

Rolled Roll Value	Effect	Message
0 or 1	God is displeased. No stat or mechanical penalty.	"You feel that [God Name] is displeased." (or "bummed")
2 or 3	Player loses 1 Wisdom and 1 experience level.	"Thou hast strayed from the path/art arrogant, [mortal/creature]. Thou must relearn thy lessons!"
4 or 5	Random items in inventory are cursed. Black glow surrounds player.	"Thou hast angered me."
6	Player is punished (a heavy iron ball is attached to their leg).	"Thou hast angered me."
7 or 9	Hostile minion is summoned. (Only if God is original alignment but player converted away).	"Thou hast strayed from the path, [mortal/creature]. Thou shalt pay for thine indiscretion!"
8	Hostile minion is summoned.	"Thou durst scorn/call upon me? Then die, [mortal/creature]!"
10+	Player is directly smote with magical damage or lightning bolt.	"Thou hast angered me."

Sacrifice Offering