Editing Moria (1983 video game) (section)

== Gameplay ==
The player's goal is to descend to the depths of Moria to defeat the Balrog, akin to a [[boss (video gaming)|boss battle]]. As with ''[[Rogue (video game)|Rogue]]'', levels are not persistent: when the player leaves the level and then tries to return, a new level is [[procedurally generated]]. Among other improvements to ''Rogue'', there is a persistent town at the highest level where players can buy and sell equipment.

''Moria'' begins with creation of a character. The player first chooses a "race" from the following: Human, Half-Elf, Elf, Halfling, Gnome, Dwarf, Half-Orc, or Half-Troll. Racial selection determines base [[Statistic (role-playing games)|statistics]] and [[Character class|class]] availability. One then selects the character's "class" from the following: Warrior, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Ranger, or Paladin. Class further determines statistics, as well as the abilities acquired during gameplay. Mages, Rangers, and Rogues can learn magic, while Priests and Paladins can learn prayers. Warriors possess no additional abilities.

The player begins the game with a limited number of items on a town level consisting of six shops: (1) a General Store, (2) an Armory, (3) a Weaponsmith, (4) a Temple, (5) an Alchemy shop, and (6) a Magic-Users store. A staircase on this level descends into a series of randomly generated underground mazes. Deeper levels contain more powerful monsters and better treasures. Each time the player ascends or descends a staircase, a new level is created and the old one discarded; only the town persists throughout the game.

As in most [[roguelike]]s, it is impossible to reload from a save if the player's character dies, as the game saves the state only upon exit, preventing [[save-scumming]] that is a key strategy in most computer games that allow saving, although it is possible to save the file that is generated by the game (MORIA.SAV in the Windows version) to a backup location, then restore/replace that file after the character had been killed.

The balrog (represented by the upper-case letter B) is encountered at the deepest depths of the dungeon. Once the balrog has been killed, the game has been won, and no further saving of the game is possible.

=== Player characteristics ===
[[File:UmoriaPlayerCharacteristics.png|thumbnail|Character sheet for a level 34 elf mage]]
The player has many characteristics in the game. Some characteristics, like sex, weight, and height, cannot be changed once the player has been created, while other characteristics like strength, intelligence, and [[armor class]] can be modified by using certain items in a particular way. [[Magic (gaming)|Mana]] and [[Health (gaming)|hit points]] are replenished by rest or by some other magical means. Gold accrues as the player steps on gems or currency. Experience accrues as the player performs various actions in the dungeon, mostly by killing creatures. The "miscellaneous abilities" are modified as each skill is performed and as the player increases in experience.