The TunnelHack Guide: Special Rooms

Special Rooms

Some rooms are just cosmetic alteration of a normal room, such as the
Boiler Room. The Entrance is also like this, although it has one special
property: you can win by entering it with your artifact! However, there are
many kinds of rooms that are different in various ways from normal ones,
usually by their contents. These rooms are usually depicted with colorful
letters or symbols on the map.

Special Rooms: Gnome Hive

A gnome in his hive. (Background)

Gnome Hives contain d8 Garden Gnomes and an equal number of items chosen from
conical hats, cloaks, sticks, flasks, sacks, magic cookies, and wands.
Remember that gnomes can and will pick up items. Overall, not an especially
dangerous room, however, especially for characters co-aligned with the gnomes.
(Who are nerd-aligned.)

Special Rooms: Ooze Lair

A gelatinous cube in its natural habitat.

oze Lairs start with d4 Gelatinous Cubes and a random item chosen from all
possible non-artifact items. The eponymous oozes will be generated sleeping.
Since gelatinous cubes are peaceful, this room is generally fairly safe,
although they do have a chance of being rabid. The main danger is that, once
awoken, the gelatinous cubes will go around eating your loot.

Special Rooms: Evil Lab

The Evil Lab contains the nemesis, the Mad Lab Tech Zeius. She will be
generated sleeping, and holding your artifact.

Special Rooms: Hamster Nest

Typical denizen

Hamster Nests contain 2d6 Hamsters and a Giant Hamster, with a 50% chance of
a Pikachu as well. They are filled with clutter chosen from carrots, peanuts,
tattered rags, hamster corpses, and fur scraps. Since all hamsters as well as
pikachu are peaceful by default, the room presents little difficulty to
characters of any alignment - the only risk is rabid creatures. Hamsters are
useful as early sources of food and experiance for your pet. (And you, if
there are rabid hamsters or you don't mind the slight penalty for attacking
peaceful creatures.)

Special Rooms: Fetid Cesspool

A cesspool-dwelling organism.

Fetid Cesspools are inhabited by the like of Giant Toads, Fetid Blobs,
and Crocodiles. They may also contain a number of items, however, that items
found in cesspools are, as one would hopefully assume, not in edible condition.

Special Rooms: Locker Room

Locker Rooms contain d6 Physical Education Students and a Coach. They also
contain as many items as students, chosen from steroid pills, sodas, jackets,
T-shirts, baseball bats, balls, and pocket knives. Locker rooms are a leading
cause of death for low-level science students. Be careful not to stumble into
one before you are ready. (See 1-Turn Kill)

Special Rooms: Programmer's Tower

The Programmer's Tower contains the Computer Programmer and nothing else.
See the entry pretaining to the Programmer for information about how to deal
with him successfully.

Special Rooms: Laboratory

Laboratories come in two flavors, having equal chances of creation.One
contains 1-2 mad scientists (who are never insane) and 2d4 Science Students
The other contains 2d4 Pyrex Elfs and d4 shards of glass and human corpses.
Both labs also contain d6 items chosen randomly from scapels, textbooks,
lab coats, flasks, and pencils. Both versions are fairly dangerous if you are
not co-aligned with the inhabitants. The neutral-aligned pyrex elves do decent
damage and have that irritating spit attack; nerd-aligned science students and
Mad Scientists are wont to stun low-IN characters with textbooks and throw
various chemicals on them. Which kind it is can be determined with good
accuracy by looking into it with the view command, and checking to see what
the inhabitants are. (Mixed labs with elves and scientists are not generated;
if you see this it must be the result of random creatures going there on their
own.)
Like Locker Rooms, Laboratories are a leading cause of early 1-Turn Kills.

Special Rooms: Internet Cafe

Internet Cafes are inhabited by 2d4 Science Students and a 50% chance of a
Code Monkey for every Science Student.
Although physicaly not especialy threatening, remember that nerds can be
generated with textbooks that can stun you. Random items are chosen from
ethernet cables, sodas, cookies, chocolates, scredrivers, and textbooks.

Special Rooms: Champion's Hall

The Champion's Hall contains a Champion. See the information about the
champion for details.