Please try to avoid explicit spoilers on this page. This is a general FAQ for new players.

General gameplay issues

Why can't I play a mage?

Many classes and races have to be unlocked before you can play them. There are two reasons for this (and one way of getting around it):

1. Allowing only the basic classes at the beginning keeps the game simple at first, and reveals greater complexity later, when you've mastered the basics.

2. According to the game's backstory, the "true mages" are in hiding. They are reviled by the people of Maj'Eyal because of their role in the Spellblaze. You'll learn more about this as you progress through the game.

(3. Those who absolutely CANNOT wait may read the unlockables spoiler page - though your playing experience may be less enjoyable for it.)

Where are my save files?

It depends on your operating system. On Windows, they're in C:\Users\yourusername\T-Engine\4.0\tome\save. On Linux, they're in ~/.t-engine/4.0/tome/save/. On Mac OS X, they are in users/yourname/library/application support/T-Engine/4.0/tome/save.

How do I upgrade to a new release?

Delete the old ToME directory, and then extract the new release. Alternatively, make sure the new release is extracted into a separate directory. Never install a new release in the same directory as a previous release.

But if I do that, won't I lose my unlocks and achievements?

No. Your unlocks and achievements and saved games are all stored in your home directory, not in the ToME directory.

Then why can't I load my character in the new release?

Check the "show old characters" on the load screen. Sometimes upgrading versions may break a character however, beware.

How do I talk to this NPC?

Move onto the NPC. If it's one you can talk to, this will open a dialog. If it's not, then you'll switch places.

What are these weird diagonal streaks I see in the Old Forest?

It's raining.

What do the red numbers mean on the items dropped by monsters?

The number indicates how many items are stacked on that tile, including gold. So, by the time you step on it (and automatically pick up the gold), the number of items in the stack may be quite a bit lower.

What does Fatigue do?

It increases the resource cost of talents. Resources are the bars like Stamina, Mana, and so on. If you have 20% Fatigue, a talent costs 1.20 or 1.40 times as much to use, depending on the specific resource -- so something that normally costs 30 would cost 36 or 42.

What does Mastery do?

For most talents, Mastery acts as a multiplier on the talent points you've invested. For example, if you have Mastery 1.30 in a category and spend 4 talent points on a talent in that category, you have an effective level of 5.20 in that talent.

There are a few talents that ignore Mastery, and simply use the raw talent point level, for balance reasons.

What's the difference between Armor and Defense? And what is Armour Hardiness?

Defense makes attacks less likely to hit. Armor reduces the damage from a successful attack. Armor works on weapon (melee) hits and most projectiles (such as arrows), but not spells.

Armour Hardiness is related to Armour (obviously). It refers to the maximum percent of the attack your Armour can affect. For example, if you have Armour Hardiness of 30%, your Armour can never absorb more than 30% of each attack.

How do I identify things?

Use the Orb of Scrying in your inventory. Don't worry - it's an artifact, and will not run out of charges.

Why doesn't my Mana regenerate?

Arcane Blades and Shadowblades haven't studied magic with a real teacher. They just use it instinctively, so they don't have the disciplines necessary to draw power from the world around them the same way an Archmage does. You can use a Manasurge rune to restore Mana. Later, you may also find equipment that gives a little bit of Mana regeneration per turn.

User interface issues

What are the key bindings?

There are very few key bindings compared to ToME 2. Most of the item-type-specific commands like "quaff" or "read" have been merged into a single "use" command, for example. You can press ESC and select Key Bindings to bring up the key bindings screen. From there, you can see all of them, and change them. Note that the list is larger than the window; use the arrow keys to scroll up and down.

How do I chat?

Press space to bring up the chat text entry box. Press ctrl-M to view the chat log (as well as the game log -- they're separate tabs on the same screen).

Right-click a monster to link it in chat.

Left-click an item in inventory to link it in chat. You can't link items that you haven't got in your inventory.

Why can't I link things in chat any more? It used to work.

You can only link things in chat if your game has been validated. There are several things that could cause the validation to fail:

1. You are playing a modified, unofficial, or development build, rather than a release.

2. You extracted a new release in the same directory as an old release.

3. Sometimes there is a glitch in the communication with the servers. If you suspect this, save and exit, and then try again. Be sure to wait for ToME to say "beta XXX is available" on the left side of the screen before loading the game.

How do I scroll the map?

Hold Shift on the keyboard, and drag with the first (left) mouse button.

Press Caps Lock, then scroll with the movement keys.

I need more than 12 hotkeys for all my skills.

You can use Page Up and Page Down to cycle through the sets of hotkeys.

You can increase (or decrease) the size of the hotkey bar, too. By default, the bar is locked in place. In the lower right corner of the screen, click the lock icon to unlock it. This puts a grabber on the hotkey bar (in the lower right corner of it). Use the grabber to resize or move the bar. When you're done, click the lock again to lock it in place.

If you make the hotkey bar taller, it may cover the game log and chat log, so you may also need to move them. This works the same way as moving the hotkey bar, but the grabbers for the log windows might be hidden behind the hotkey bar. So, move the hotkey bar out of the way, then move the log windows, then move the hotkey bar back into place.

How do I change the hotkeys?

From the m (Use Talents) screen, you can hover the mouse over a skill or talent, and then press the hotkey you want to assign to it. From the i (Inventory) screen, you can hover over an item, and press the hotkey you want to assign to it.

You can unassign hotkeys by clicking the right mouse button on the hotkey.

How do I target places that aren't monsters?

When you use a targeted skill/talent and the target indicator appears, you can hold Shift and use the arrow keys to move it around one tile at a time. Or, you can use the mouse.

My 11th hotkey says RIGHTPAREN but that doesn't work, and doesn't make sense on my keyboard.

Press ESC and select Key Bindings. Click on the binding you want to change. When the box pops up, press the key you want to use. Don't forget to do this for all three versions of that hotkey (there's one with Ctrl and one with Shift too).

The colored tactical borders around the monsters disappeared. How do I get them back?

Press Shift-T. It cycles through three different settings.

How do I rest for X turns? I want to use a skill again, but I'm already fully healed.

Press r to rest until you are at full Life (or until a monster comes into view).

Press 5 on the keypad (or left-click your character) to rest for one turn.

Using r to rest with full Life and resources will cause you to rest until all talents are off of cooldown.

How do I equip things in my Second weapon set?

Press q to swap weapon sets, and then equip whatever you want. Press q again to swap back. Swapping takes a turn.

(In older betas, press x instead of q.)

Platform issues

How do I view stdout on a Mac?

Run Terminal.

You need to navigate to the Contents/MacOS directory inside the T-Engine.app bundle. This will depend on where you installed T-Engine to; if it's in /Applications, then type: cd /Applications/T-Engine.app/Contents/MacOS

Run T-Engine by typing: ./T-Engine

Information logged to stdout will then appear in the terminal window.

If you want to save stdout for later, you can redirect it to a file using >. e.g. ./T-Engine > ~/tome-stdout.txt.

Can I move my saved game from one machine to another?

Yes. Simply copy the entire .../tome/save/charactername subdirectory (see the top of this page). You probably also want to copy the charactername.hotkeys file.