Add a new Researcher role to SLASHTHEM, based on its Drunk role, but based on scrolls instead of potions: they start with a bunch of random scrolls but not much else, and have a technique that creates identify scrolls but stuns you in the process (which might be redundant with the existing research technique).

Implement “special abilities” for each role that behave like (or simply are) techniques, but which would probably use the #monster command. These include:

• Monks’ ability continuously doubles their martial arts damage (i.e. x2, x4, etc) for as long as they keep landing hits within one action. Missing or declining to attack breaks this effect.
• Wizards can extract magic from the air, which drains Pw from enemies and gives it to the hero.
• Tourists can throw a party, which pacifies everyone within some range until someone takes damage.
• Barbarians can buff their attack, perhaps by giving any weapon a Cleaver-like arc (though they often get Cleaver anyway).
• Archeologists can detect enchanted treasure (not just all objects) on the level.
• Priests don’t get a new ability because they already have one: turn undead.
• Valkyries can freeze an area near them, freezing water into ice and dealing cold damage to monsters that is higher the closer they are to the hero.
• Samurai can swap places with a hostile monster, dealing some damage and stunning them in the process.
• Cavemen can get a big boost to stone throwing/slinging range and damage, or can get some sort of “primal rage” that boosts speed and doubles all damage.
• Knights can give their steed a free attack after each hit they land on something (which can extend to dragon breathing if they are riding a dragon).

The other half of this idea is to give other unique abilities to each demon boss, but these aren’t specified.

Interestingly, using the #monster command implies that you can only use these abilities when in your normal non-polymorphed form.

Rather than the replacement for techniques being certain roles learning new spells from nowhere once you achieve a certain experience level, have the spells be known from the beginning, but uncastable unless you are above that level.

This also helps disincentivize drain-for-gain tactics, since keeping yourself at a lower level will cut off your access to certain spells.

A “spin attack” technique, a la The Legend of Zelda, that you can do if you are wielding a sword. It indiscriminately hits every space in a radius of 1 around you. Possibly if you take passive damage you stop spinning, but possibly not.

All monk techniques should have shorter timeouts, but if a technique is used in chained blitz, it has a one-off very long timeout.

Monks get shorter cooldowns for techniques as their experience level increases, to a minimum of 50 turns.

In variants that have techniques, use the unused ! key as a shortcut for #technique.

Monks, and possibly other roles, can learn martial arts techniques out of spellbooks similar to dnethack wards and SLASH’EM bard spells.