Bad Moon

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There are some vague or non-exact figures and information on this page. Some spading is required. Confirm triggers for BM adventures.

Bad Moon is a special type of Hardcore ascension introduced with the rollout of NS13. Players who have met the qualifications of a Bad Moon lead-in run or have permanently unlocked the path can select it as an option in The Bureau of Reincarnation in Valhalla. The path is recorded as a moon sign on players' character sheets and ascension histories.

While in a Bad Moon run, in addition to the standard Hardcore restrictions, players cannot access any previously acquired permanent skills, must re-earn familiars, cannot use ten-leaf clovers, and will encounter numerous "unlucky" special adventures. Additionally, Hey Deze is unlocked.

Qualifying for Bad Moon

In order to access Bad Moon, the previous run must have been Hardcore within NS13 and the player must not have "used" ten-leaf clovers before freeing the king. Not using a clover means you cannot have any of the special clover adventures. In particular:

• You cannot use a clover at the Lemon Party Slot to get a big rock. This means you cannot smith any Epic Weapons before freeing King Ralph on the lead-in.
• Because the quest that unlocks The "Fun" House requires your Epic Weapon, you cannot acquire the boxen necessary to make a chef-in-the-box or bartender-in-the-box before freeing King Ralph - unless you have a Clan VIP Lounge key and access to a A Fax Machine, in which case you can fax in a Lemon-in-the-box, Disease-in-the-box or Bugbear-in-the-box.
• You cannot win the pagoda plans with the Elf Farm Raffle ticket since that also requires a ten-leaf clover.
• You cannot use a clover to win the dice game in The Entrance Cavern (2) - you must roll an eleven by chance (or, if already in Bad Moon, use a pair of loaded dice).

However, during the qualification run you can, even before freeing Ralph:

• make and eat Lucky Surprise Eggs
• craft and drink green beer
• put clovers into your mall store or closet

Clover use is not restricted in any way after freeing the king.

Completing a Bad Moon run will always qualify you for selecting the Bad Moon sign for your next ascension. Once in a Bad Moon run, there is a method to permanently unlock the Bad Moon sign, but this has to be planned from the very beginning of the run.

During Bad Moon

During the Bad Moon run, previously acquired permanent skills are not accessible, and the player begins without a terrarium, requiring all desired familiars to be re-earned. At the beginning of the run, instead of receiving a disassembled clover in the Letter from King Ralph XI, players receive a big rock. (You will receive the pork elf goodies sack as normal.) In addition, various "unlucky" things will happen to the adventurer in certain places during the run.

The general theme in Bad Moon is one of "give-and-take." The Brimstone rewards all have negative effects to balance the positive. The unique skills acquired during Bad Moon runs also have positive and negative effects. The special "Bad Moon only" adventures also have a good and bad effect. This results in having a sudden new weakness and strength for a few turns after getting hit with one of the new effects, making for a very different gameplay experience.

Readers may also wish to look over Bad Moon Strategy.

Restrictions

Aside from the lack of previously acquired skills and familiars, there are several other restrictions that make Bad Moon a "level playing field." Most of these restrictions are not removed after freeing the king.

• As a hardcore ascension, players cannot receive items or buffs from other players before freeing the King.
• You are not allowed to take anything from the The Deli Lama or Pet Heaven to help you in your run.
• PvP attacks are allowed, but flowers aren't good for anything except going towards your flower count.
• The gifts in The Gift Shop are inaccessible. However, you can still visit the back room to send out gift packages.
• Hagnk's is absent, replaced by the entrance to Hey Deze. Hagnk's disembodied arm is instead present in Hey Deze (with a handbasket), but, as in any other hardcore ascension, no pulls can be made until after freeing Ralph.
• If the player owns a telescope, it is not present during a Bad Moon run.
• If the player purchases a skill-creating item, such as a McPhee's Grimoire of Hilarious Object Summoning from the mall after freeing the king, or from Mr. Store before or after freeing the King (as was the case when the Libram of Divine Favors was available), the player may use these items and the item will be added to the player's bookshelf. The associated skills remain unusable, however, until the player ascends into a non-Bad Moon run.
• Ten-leaf clovers do not appear to be available during a Bad Moon run; the Hermit does not have clovers to trade, they will not drop in the Barrel Full Of Barrels, and so on. However, Bad Moon makes it possible to build Epic Weapons and a Pagoda without the clovers that these would normally require. After you free the King, you can access ten-leaf clovers from your Display Case or store. You can use them at will after you free the King and still be able to choose a Bad Moon run next ascension.
• When the player places a familiar that he/she had in previous ascensions in his/her terrarium, the following message appears: "As you place the <hatchling> in your Familiar-Gro™ Terrarium, you feel a brief sense of deja-vu. You decide to name this familiar <previous familiar name>."
• Players cannot place familiar hatchlings purchased from Mr. Store into their terrarium before breaking the prism and recalling their skills. Attempting to do so results in the message: "You start to put the item in your terrarium, but you suddenly get scared -- you glance fearfully at the moons, and put it back in your sack."
• All previously owned familiars will be regained after the player ascends into a non-Bad Moon run. All familiars gained for the first time in Bad Moon will also be present in all subsequent non-Bad Moon runs.
• White Citadel burger experience from previous ascensions is ignored.
• However, note that demon names found in prior ascensions can be used in the Summoning Chamber.
• Additionally, previously learned recipes (such as the recipe for White chocolate chip brownies) are still usable.
• You can not access the clan VIP Lounge with the Clan VIP Lounge key even though it is a free pull from Hagnk's.

Hey Deze

Bad Moon, like other moon signs, allows access to a sign-only area, in this case Hey Deze. The Hey Deze page provides more in-depth information.

• Nervewrecker's Store sells basic crafting tools for less than The Market and The Meatsmith.
• Meansucker's Skill Training provides training for several passive skills unique to Bad Moon.
• The Styx Pixie provides a free buff, once per day.
• Hell's Kitchen sells deliciously evil food.
• Heartbreaker's Hotel gives access to alternate dimensions of aggravated monsters.
• Hagnk has all your belongings in a handbasket, so you can retrieve them once you have freed the King.

Special Adventures

Many areas contain an additional adventure in Bad Moon. These special adventures will occur only once per run, and some will only occur after certain conditions are met. These special adventures are all superlikely, once their prerequisites are met.

In addition to these adventures, the Lemon Party Slot is also changed. It will sometimes drop additional big rocks without requiring any clovers.

Location	Pre-condition	Adventure	Reward	Result
Seaside Town
The Haunted Ballroom	Opened The Haunted Wine Cellar	Party Crasher	Slimed (10 Adv)	+20 Spooky Damage Lose 1-3 HP (spooky damage) per combat round
The Haunted Bathroom	None (Trigger?)	You Look Flushed	Your #1 Problem (10 Adv)	+100% Items from Monsters All Attributes -20
The Haunted Bedroom	?	?	?
The Haunted Billiards Room	Opened The Haunted Library	Vole Call!	Re-Possessed (10 Adv)	Bonus Weapon Damage +10 Damage Reduction -2
The Haunted Conservatory	None	The Placebo Defect	potato sprout Lose 75%(?) HP Lose 75%(?) MP
The Haunted Gallery	?	?	?
The Haunted Kitchen	None	If You Smell Something Burning, It's My Heart	Burning Heart (10 Adv)	+10 Hot Damage Damage Reduction -2
The Haunted Library	None	Back Off, Man. I'm a Scientist.	Freaked Out (10 Adv)	+10 Spooky Damage Damage Reduction -2
The Haunted Pantry	Opened Spookyraven Manor	Pantry Raid!	Enhanced Archaeologist (10 Adv)	Mysticality +20 Muscle -5 Moxie -5
The Haunted Wine Cellar	Defeated Lord Spookyraven	Hair of the Hellhound	Cupshotten (10 Adv)	So-So Resistance to All Elements All Attributes -20%
The Sleazy Back Alley	None	Sandwiched in the Club	Chronologically Pummeled (10 Adv)	Moxie +20 Muscle -5 Mysticality -5
The Big Mountains
Itznotyerzitz Mine	?	?	?
The eXtreme Slope	?	?	?
The Goatlet	Opened The eXtreme Slope	Frost Bitten, Twice Shy	Frostbitten (10 Adv)	+10 Cold Damage Damage Reduction -2
The Icy Peak	None	The Big Chill	Hyperbolic Hypothermia (10 Adv)	+20 Cold Damage Lose 1-3 HP (cold damage) per combat round
Lair of the Ninja Snowmen	?	?	?
Noob Cave	None (Occurs on first adventure)	Surprising!	Familiar-Gro™ Terrarium black kitten	Gain 14 Drunkenness.
The Valley of Rof L'm Fao	Received facsimile dictionary	Mistaken Identity, LOL	Scared Stiff (10 Adv)	So-So Sleaze Resistance Doubles damage taken from Cold and Spooky
The Nearby Plains
Outskirts of Cobb's Knob	Spent 11 turns in the zone	O Goblin, Where Art Thou?	Minioned (10 Adv)	Muscle +20 Mysticality -5 Moxie -5
Cobb's Knob Kitchens	?	KELF! I Need Somebody!	Scent of a Kitchen Elf (10 Adv)	Mysticality +40 Familiar Weight -50%
Cobb's Knob Laboratory	?	Shall We Dance	The Vitus Virus (10 Adv)	+50% Items from Monsters -5 Stats Per Fight
Cobb's Knob Treasury	None	It's So Heavy	Animal Exploiter (10 Adv)	Muscle +40 Familiar Weight -50%
Cobb's Knob Harem	Slay the Goblin King	On The Whole, the Bark is Better	Once Bitten, Twice Shy (10 Adv)	Moxie +40 Familiar Weight -50%
The Bat Hole Entrance	Opened The Boss Bat's Lair	Onna Stick	Affronted Decency (10 Adv) 3,000 Meat	Moxie -20
Guano Junction	None	Oh Guanoes!	Guanified (10 Adv)	+10 Stench Damage Damage Reduction -2
Batrat and Ratbat Burrow	?	?	?
Beanbat Chamber	Opened The Beanstalk	Elementally, My Deal Watson	Batigue (10 Adv)	Slight Resistance to All Elements All Attributes -10%
The "Fun" House	?	?	?
The Misspelled Cemetary (Pre-Cyrpt)	None	What Do We Want?	Braaains (10 Adv)	+50% Meat from Monsters -50% Combat Initiative
The Misspelled Cemetary (Post-Cyrpt)	None	When Do We Want It?	Braaaaaains (10 Adv)	+200% Meat from Monsters -50% Items from Monsters
Degrassi Knoll	Returned the bitchin' meatcar to the guild.	Flowers For (Familiar Name)	Duhhh (10 Adv) 2,000 Meat Lose 44-100%? MP	Mysticality -20
Tower Ruins	None	Mind the Fine Print	Side Affectation (10 Adv)	So-So Spooky Resistance Doubles damage taken from Stench and Hot
The Penultimate Fantasy Airship	Opened The Castle in the Clouds in the Sky	Obligatory Mascot Cameo	Synthesized (10 Adv)	Damage Reduction: 8 Weapon Damage -8
The Castle in the Clouds in the Sky	Completed Giant Trash Quest	Do You Think You're Better Off Alone	Raving Lunatic (10 Adv)	Melee Damage +20 Lose 1-3 HP per combat round
The Hole in the Sky	Made Richard's star key	Pot Jacked	Greased (10 Adv)	+20 Sleaze Damage Lose 1-3 HP (sleaze damage) per combat round
The Palindome	Defeating Dr. Awkward	Strategy: Get Arts	Paw swap (10 Adv)	So-So Cold Resistance Doubles damage taken from Hot and Spooky
The Distant Woods
Pandamonium Slums	Obtained Steel Margarita	Oil Be Seeing You	Basted (10 Adv)	+10 Sleaze Damage Damage Reduction -2
The Spooky Forest	Obtained terrarium.	This Doesn't Look Like Candy Mountain	Missing Kidney (∞ Adv) 1,000 Meat	No negative effect.
The Spooky Forest	Opened The Hidden Temple	That's My Favorite Kind of Contraption	Dang Near Cut In Half (5 Adv)	Grants the Torso Awaregness passive skill for the duration of the ascension Muscle -50%
The Hidden Temple	?	Why Did It Have To Be Snake Eyes?	loaded dice Lose ? HP
The Inexplicable Door	Received Digital key	Getting Hammered	Midgetized (10 Adv)	Damage Reduction: 4 Weapon Damage -8
The Hidden City	Opened A Smallish Temple	Pot-Unlucky	Deep-Fried (10 Adv)	So-So Hot Resistance Doubles damage taken from Stench and Sleaze
Whitey's Grove	Opened The Road to the White Citadel	A White Lie	Maid Disservice (10 Adv) 5,000 Meat	All Attributes -20%
A Barroom Brawl	None	Because Stereotypes Are Awesome	leprechaun hatchling 1 Drunkenness
The Black Forest	Opened The Black Market	A Potentially Offensive Reference Has Been Carefully Avoided Here	Tar-Struck (10 Adv)	+20 Stench Damage Lose 1-3 HP (stench damage) per combat round
Desert Beach
South of The Border	None	The Beaten-Senseless Man's Hand	Beaten Up (10 Adv) 4,000 Meat	All Attributes -50%
An Oasis	Received worm-riding hooks	Mr. Sun Is Not Your Friend	Solar Flair (10 Adv)	+20 Hot Damage Lose 1-3 HP (hot damage) per combat round
The Arid, Extra-Dry Desert (Ultrahydrated)	Received worm-riding hooks	Sweatin' Like a Vet'ran	Shirtless in Seattle (10 Adv)	So-So Stench Resistance Doubles damage taken from Cold and Sleaze
The Arid, Extra-Dry Desert (non-Ultrahydrated)	None	Say Cheese!	anticheese Lose 50 HP.	None
Mysterious Island of Mystery
Orcish Frat House (Undisguised)	?	It's All The Rage	The Rage (10 Adv)	Muscle +50% Mysticality -50%
Orcish Frat House (In Disguise)	?	Double-Secret Initiation	Shamed & Manipulated (10 Adv)	Muscle +50% Moxie -50%
The Hippy Camp (Undisguised)	None	Better Dread Than Dead	Dreadlocked (10 Adv)	Mysticality +50% Moxie -50%
The Hippy Camp (In Disguise)	None	Drumroll, Please	Drummed Out (10 Adv)	Mysticality +50% Muscle -50%
The Obligatory Pirate's Cove (Undisguised)	Open The Palindome?	How Far Down Do You Want To Go?	Hornswaggled (10 Adv)	Moxie +50% Muscle -50%

Rewards

• Characters that complete a Bad Moon ascension are entitled to a Brimstone item specific to their class instead of the stainless steel item.
• 211 Karma is also rewarded, just as in regular Hardcore without Path.

Permanently Unlocking Bad Moon

You can permanently unlock the Bad Moon sign by doing a 100% Black Cat, Bad Moon ascension.

A 100% Black Cat, Bad Moon ascension can be accomplished by getting the Cat and a Terrarium from the special Noob Cave non-combat Bad Moon adventure (listed above) before encountering any combat adventures. You must then have the Cat as your active familiar through all combat adventures until you step through the gash. It is not enough to have the cat as your familiar until you free the King, as using other familiars after breaking the prism will result in a loss of the permanent unlock.

Non-combat adventures do not count towards the total familiar use percentage. This includes the special event uses of the Blackbird and the Starfish, fighting the Tower familiars, and any turns spent at the Arena (important for leveling up the tower familiars). Be very careful however to make the Black Cat your active familiar again immediately after doing any of those tasks since having a different familiar (or no familiar) active during even one combat adventure will make you ineligible for the permanent unlock. Using tattered scraps of paper and the like will not save you because the counter is mostly incremented at the beginning of a combat.

The following message is displayed in Valhalla after the player successfully accomplishes a permanent unlock:

"By completing a 100% Black Cat Bad Moon run, you have permanently unlocked the Bad Moon sign for your character."

If attempting a perma-unlock Bad Moon Black Cat run, you will want to take the negative effects of the Cat into consideration when choosing your class. The cat will regularly debuff you, force you to attack with your weapon instead of using combat skills, prevent combat item use, and cause you to lose Mana, stats, and items. Given that, classes that rely on combat skills or buffs will be much harder to play. Since passive and non-combat skills are unaffected, Disco Bandits will probably provide the least aggravating run, especially given their passive item drop bonus and the fact that pickpocketed items are not subject to the Cat's item loss effect.

Dropping Bad Moon

Dropping Bad moon will result in a number of things being removed or restored in an attempt to restore things to a pre-Bad Moon state. In particular:

• All permed skills and familiars are restored.
• Access to the VIP Lounge, Gift Shop et al. are restored.
• Hey Deze becomes inaccessible, and no other zodiac area takes its place.
• Any skills bought from Meansucker are lost.
• Any effects from Bad Moon Adventures are lost.
• The ascension reward changes from Brimstone to Stainless Steel.
• Clovers are available at the hermit and in clover adventures.

Aftercore

After freeing the king and entering aftercore, only some of the normal hardcore restrictions are removed.

• Any combats without the Black Cat will still invalidate a 100% Black Cat run.
• Permed skills and familiars are not restored. Mr. Store familiars cannot be placed in the terrarium.
• Access to Hey Deze is still available.
• Bad Moon Adventures are still available.
• It is still possible to drop Bad Moon. This has the normal effect.
• Clovers are usable, but they still do not drop.

However, inherited campsite items such as A Telescope, Your Mystical Bookshelf, and A Pumpkin Patch are available again. You can also access The Gift Shop and your clan's VIP Lounge (provided you have a key).

Recall Ancestral Memories

In aftercore, there is the option of recalling ancestral memories in the account menu. These are the only changes:

• All permed skills and familiars are restored. Mr. Store familiars can be placed into the terrarium. (2010 Dec 6 update)
• Any skills bought from Meansucker are lost. Meansucker will no longer be available.
• Recalling your ancestral memories after a Black Cat run will NOT invalidate the run: however, do not spend any adventures with a different familiar.

References

• "Bad Moon" may be a reference to the 1990s horror film of the same name.
• It may also refer to the Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Bad Moon Rising".

Ascension Rewards

Gemstones: pork elf goodies sack (baconstone - hamethyst - porquoise) Paths: Retenez L'Herbe Paté - bottle of single-barrel whiskey - Breathetastic™ Premium Canned Air Challenge Paths: Thwaitgold bee statuette - Thwaitgold grasshopper statuette - Thwaitgold butterfly statuette Other: disassembled clover - big rock (Bad Moon)

SC TT DB AT P S Hardcore shillelagh skullcap slacks suspenders solitaire scarf Oxycore pikestaff pith helmet pants pendant pocketwatch pinky ring Bad Moon bludgeon bunker boxers beret brooch bracelet

Moon Signs
Additional zone		Effect		Effect		Effect
Inside Degrassi Knoll	Mongoose	+20% Physical Damage	Wallaby	+20% Spell Damage	Vole	+20% Combat Initiative, +20 Maximum HP/MP
Little Canadia	Platypus	Familiar Weight +5 lbs.	Opossum	+5 Adv. from first food/day	Marmot	Get 1 Free Ten-Leaf Clover per Day
Gnomish Gnomads' Camp	Wombat	+20% Meat from Monsters	Blender	+5 Adv. from first booze/day	Packrat	+10% Items from Monsters
Hey Deze	Bad Moon	Many crazy adventures