👉 Sacrificing a corpse of your own race turns a Lawful or Neutral altar Chaotic and summons a demon lord on a Chaotic or Moloch altar, and unless you are Chaotic, your own god punishes you for it.
Your race decides what counts: a human offering a human corpse, an elf offering an elf corpse, and so on. What happens depends on your alignment and on the altar.
🛕 High Altars
On a high altar, the altar's god strikes you directly unless you and the altar are both Chaotic, or the altar is Moloch's. This is the same punishment as trying to convert a high altar, and it often kills: a lightning bolt hits you unless you have reflection or shock immunity, then a disintegration beam unless you resist disintegration, and the god sends three minions after you as well.
⚡ The Non-Chaotic Penalty
On any other altar, a Lawful or Neutral character is warned "You'll regret this infamous offense!", loses 1 Wisdom, 5 points of alignment record and 5 Luck, and adds 3 to their god's anger. That god then smites them, except inside Gehennom; Sacrifice Offering lists what the smiting can do.
A Chaotic character gains 5 points of alignment record instead.
⚖️ Lawful and Neutral Altars
The altar becomes Chaotic ("The altar is stained with human blood." for a human), and any priest attending it becomes hostile. No demon lord appears.
😈 Chaotic and Moloch Altars
On a Chaotic altar or Moloch's altar, the sacrifice summons a demon lord. In Gehennom it is Demogorgon, or a random chaotic demon lord if Demogorgon cannot appear, for example because he already exists. Outside Gehennom it is always a random chaotic demon lord. Unless you have fear resistance, the arrival paralyzes you for 3 turns ("You are terrified, and unable to move.").
| Your Alignment | Altar | What Happens to the Altar | Demon Lord | Luck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawful or Neutral | Chaotic | "The blood floods the altar, which vanishes in a black cloud!" Any attending priest becomes hostile. | Always hostile | -5 |
| Lawful or Neutral | Moloch's | "The blood covers the altar!" The altar stays. | Always hostile | -7 |
| Chaotic | Chaotic | "The blood covers the altar!" The altar stays. | See below | +2 |
| Chaotic | Moloch's | "The blood covers the altar!" The altar stays. | See below | -2 |
The Lawful and Neutral Luck figures include the 5 Luck of the penalty above.
Chaotic Character Demon Hostility
A Chaotic character's first demon lord summoned this way is always peaceful ("Luckily for you, [demon lord] appears to be pleased with your sacrifice."). Each later one is more likely to be hostile ("You feel you have overstayed your welcome with the Lords of the Abyss."), and the higher your alignment record, the lower the chance:
| Alignment Record Rank | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pious (20) | ~13.3% | ~18.8% | ~26.7% | ~41.7% |
| Devout (14) | ~16.7% | 25.0% | 40.0% | ~83.3% |
| Fervent (9) | ~22.2% | 37.5% | 80.0% | ~83.3% |
| Strident (4) | ~33.3% | 75.0% | 80.0% | ~83.3% |
| Normal (0) | ~66.7% | 75.0% | 80.0% | ~83.3% |
| Negative (< 0) | 80.0% | ~85.7% | ~88.9% | ~90.9% |
👹 In Demon Form
If you are polymorphed into a demon, the game says "You find the idea very satisfying." and nothing else changes: every effect on this page still applies.