History VideoGame / AncientDomainsOfMystery

* Large customization. The different races and classes, the sheer variety of equipment you can find, and the ways that you can use them.

Unusually for roguelikes, ADOM features quite a heavy amount of story, in the form of a detailed world to explore. The game takes place in the world of Ancardia, which is being invaded from another dimension by beings known as the Forces of Chaos. Their inherent wrongess have a [[TheCorruption corrupting effect]] on the world, turning people and animals into monsters, screwing up the weather, etc. A sage named Khelavaster has discovered that the source of Chaos' invasion of Ancardia is in a remote mountain range, the Drakalor Chain. Determined to stop TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, he went there to stop the invasion and never came back, followed by hundreds of other wannabe heroes. The player is one of them.

A major feature is TheCorruption, which grants the player various mutations that can be either [[CursedWithAwesome beneficial]] or downright harmful. Another feature setting it apart from other roguelikes it the KarmaMeter, which determines several NPC's reactions and which of the MultipleEndings are available.

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Partially averted. [[InfiniteStockForSale Shops have finite inventories]] (randomly generated), and if you change your mind after selling them something, you can buy it back ... provided you have enough extra cash to meet their higher sell price.

* ArmorPiercingAttack: There is a weapon called ''phase dagger'' that completely ignores the armour of the target. The downside is that on each hit, the game throws at you a message about you easily cutting through the armour, which requires you to press [more] much more often. And the dagger itself doesn't do much damage anyway, making it useful only against [[HeavilyArmoredMook Heavily Armored Mooks]].

* FallenHero: [[spoiler: The Ultimate Chaos God ending requires you to be Lawful or Neutral, to get the Trident of the Red Rooster, but to finish the game with fully Chaotic alignment.]]

* NintendoHard: Goes without saying. Well, we'll go with one example: in ''VideoGame/NetHack'', there's an endless debate over being able to identify items by their unique weight because it makes the game easier. In ''ADOM'' it's an almost necessary survival tactic. Unfair GameBreaker debates start at far worse.

* NominalImportance: If you ever meet a hostile ''named'' monster, or anything referred to as "the", run away with your precious life. It's almost definitely a BossInMookClothing (and possibly guarding a random artifact).

* BossInMookClothing / KingMook: ''All the time''. Essentially, any monster whose name begins with/ends in 'greater', 'lord', 'king,' 'emperor,' or, Andor Drakon help you, an ''actual'' name.

* NominalImportance: If you ever meet a hostile named monster, or anything referred to as "the", you're going to have a tough time. If you meet one in a normal level, it may be an artifact guardian.

* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: The description of the TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler: Andor Drakon, the [=ElDeR cHaOs GoD=]]].

** In fact, some of the stranger combinations (notably [[SuperTough Troll]] [[HealingFactor healers]]) are so powerful that they are canonical pairings. Even combinations whose stats are directly at odds ([[DumbMuscle Troll]] wizards or [[Hobbits Hurthling]] barbarians) can be strategically sound choices, since versatility is hard to acquire while the lack of power will eventually be compensated by experience.

* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: If the slaves of your necromancer ever get burnt by you, even indirectly, they will get angry and try to kill you. Watch out for any fireball traps while your quickling king lich is around.

Unusually for roguelikes, ADOM features quite a heavy amount of story, in the form of a detailed world to explore. The game takes place in the world of Ancardia, which is being invaded from another dimension by beings known as the Forces of Chaos. Their inherent wrongess have a [[TheCorruption corrupting effect]] on the world, turning people and animals into monsters, screwing up the weather, etc. A sage named Khelavaster has discovered that the source of Chaos' invasion of Ancardia is in a remote mountain range, the Drakalor Chain. Determined to stop TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, he went there to stop the invasion and NeverCameBack, followed by hundreds of other wannabe heroes. The player is one of them.

** Not to mention what the [[spoiler:Chaos Dimension]] looks like. [[spoiler:It's an entire screen filled with ASCII garbage, looking not unlike the KillScreen in PacMan. Fitting for an ASCII game.]]

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Partially averted. Shops have finite inventories (randomly generated), and if you change your mind after selling them something, you can buy it back ... provided you have enough extra cash to meet their higher sell price.

* DrJerk: "This is Jharod, the healer. He does not care about you." Good to know.
** An NPC can only be tame (allied), neutral or hostile, and "This is Jharod, the healer. He is tame." would be even weirder.
*** Considering he [[spoiler:has the ability to impart his skills of healing by a simple touch of one's forehead,]] he's being plenty of a DrJerk [[spoiler:by sitting on his butt somewhere in a cave rather than singlehandedly increasing the life expectancy of an entire country just by traveling around and touching people.]]
** There's also Kranf Niest, the MadDoctor, whose methods are a bit... crude. [[spoiler: To [[IncrediblyLamePun top]] it off, he even steals your [[NiceHat hat]].]]

** Not really much of a MacGuffin since the si doesn't ''do'' anything. Except sit there, and [[spoiler:replicate]] once in a while. However, if you bring it into the [[spoiler:Infinite Dungeon]], you will find out that it does indeed cling.

* ShoutOut: Many. Notably, you can find phase daggers, moss of marelion and morgia root, which originally appeared in ''[[VideoGame/{{Zork}} Beyond Zork]]'', {{Infocom}}'s oddball text adventure/RPG hybrid.)

* ImplacableMan: There is an Eternal Guardian guarding a staircase somewhere in the middle of the main dungeon, [[DroneJam preventing progress]] until completing a certain task. If you try to lure him from the stairs by attacking him, or even manage to kill him, an even stronger version of him will instantly materialise on the stairs. Screw up and you have multiple copies fighting against you.

** The little girl's pet dog is almost always referred to as "[[SouthPark Kenny]]".

* {{Dronejam}}: Used intentionally by shopkeepers and one or two important {{NPC}}s. This can be turned to your advantage when you're low on health -- run into a shop, pick up something then walk around until you heal.
** It's also a valid combat tactic. Let one strong enemy get caught in a dronejam, then drop an Improved Fireball or two on top of him. Alternatively, trap him in between some medium-strength goons in a corridor and let fly with a Lightning Bolt or two -- angle the shot to pinball it off the walls for extra style points.
* DungeonsAndDragons: A lot of the spell names and monster types are named after their D&D equivalents.

* FinalDeath: "Do you want to [g] generate a new character?" ...*sigh* ''Yes''.

Find it [[http://www.adom.de here]]. A sequel called ''ADOM II: Legends of Ancardia'' has been released, and can be found [[http://www.ancientdomainsofmystery.com/ Here]], but it's still a work in progress. In addition, a crowd-funded campaign to give more updates to the original has started and can be found [[http://www.indiegogo.com/resurrect-adom-development here]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Version 0.2.0 is fascinating to play. There is no overworld, only the main dungeon exists, there are no colours, and the way rooms and corridors are drawn resembles {{NetHack}}.

* NintendoHard: Goes without saying. Well, we'll go with one example: in ''{{Nethack}}'', there's an endless debate over being able to identify items by their unique weight because it makes the game easier. In ''ADOM'' it's an almost necessary survival tactic. Unfair GameBreaker debates start at far worse.