Ever since upgrading to version 0.9.9.7, I've noticed that barrels do more damage now. So, I've just tried to be more mindful of that and stay away from them and be more careful around them. Then this happened:
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DoomRL (0.9.9.7) roguelike post-mortem character dump
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Tormuse, level 11 Apostle Chaos Br. General Technician,
committed a stupid suicide on level 5 of the Deimos base.
He survived 104156 turns and scored 131348 points.
He played for 4 hours, 2 minutes and 46 seconds.
He was a man of Ultra-Violence!
He killed 662 out of 673 hellspawn. (98%)
He held his right to remain violent.
He was an Angel of Marksmanship!
He saved himself 2 times.
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 11
Levels visited : 6
Levels completed : 6
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
UAC Star (silver cluster)
Hell Armorer Badge
Hell Champion Medal
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
###########################################################
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-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 0/50 Experience 50718/11
ToHit Ranged +6 ToHit Melee +6 ToDmg Ranged +0 ToDmg Melee +0
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Class : Technician
Finesse (Level 2)
Son of a gun (Level 3)
Eagle Eye (Level 3)
Whizkid (Level 2)
Sharpshooter (Level 1)
SoG->SoG->EE->SoG->EE->EE->MSs->WK->WK->Fin->Fin->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] tactical armor [0/0] (58%) (A)
[b] [ Weapon ] energy pistol (2d6) [6/6] (P1)
[c] [ Boots ] tactical boots [0/0] (88%) (A)
[d] [ Prepared ] 10mm ammo chain (x226)
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] storm pistol (1d8)x2 [9/9]
[b] blue armor [2/2] (100%)
[c] red armor [4/4] (100%)
[d] power cell (x70)
[e] power cell (x41)
[f] power cell (x70)
[g] large med-pack
[h] large med-pack
[i] large med-pack
[j] large med-pack
[k] large med-pack
[l] phase device
[m] homing phase device
[n] envirosuit pack
[o] envirosuit pack
[p] bulk mod pack
[q] fire skull
[r] hatred skull
[s] hatred skull
[t] Arena Master's Staff
[u] 10mm ammo chain (x250)
[v] 10mm ammo chain (x250)
-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------
None
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
77 former humans
55 former sergeants
48 former captains
133 imps
62 demons
133 lost souls
32 cacodemons
26 hell knights
28 barons of hell
9 arachnotrons
10 former commandos
18 pain elementals
3 revenants
3 mancubi
1 arch-vile
7 elite former humans
5 elite former sergeants
5 elite former captains
2 elite former commandos
2 bruiser brothers
1 shambler
1 agony elemental
1 Arena Master
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
He started his journey on the surface of Phobos.
On level 2 he entered Hell's Arena.
He left the Arena as a champion!
On level 5 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 5 he found the Arena Master's Staff!
He defeated the Hell Arena Master!
On level 7 he marched into the Military Base.
He purified his fellow comrades.
On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
On level 9 he entered Hell's Armory.
On level 9 he assembled a energy pistol!
On level 9 he assembled a tactical boots!
On level 9 he assembled a storm bolter pistol!
He destroyed the evil within and reaped the rewards!
On level 11 he assembled a tactical armor!
On level 11 he arrived at the Containment Area.
He emerged from the Containment Area victorious!
On level 12 he romped upon the Abyssal Plains.
He slaughtered the beasts living there.
On level 13 he finally committed a stupid suicide.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
You see : floor
Fire -- Choose target...
You see : floor
You hear the scream of a freed soul!
You reload the energy pistol.
Fire -- Choose target...
You see : an imp (unhurt) | floor | [ m ]ore
The missile hits the imp. The imp dies.
There is an armor shard lying here.
You reload the energy pistol.
You dodge! Boom!
Fire -- Choose target...
You see : an imp (unhurt) | floor | [ m ]ore
Targeting canceled.
You dodge! Boom! The barrel explodes! Argh!!! Lava! You die!... Press
<Enter>...
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
1113 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
843 of those were killed.
4 of those were killed by something unknown.
149 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
And 34 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.
83 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
4 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
55 killed the bitch and survived.
24 showed that it can outsmart Hell itself.
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The game was going really well and I had worked hard to get the above equipment and I was at 100% hitpoints at the time I went around a blind corner and an imp shot at me, hit a barrel and killed me instantly. I was astonished and infuriated that the game ended so suddenly and examined the mortem and the wiki and discovered that napalm barrels can potentially knock off 98% of your health! (And the lava damage finished me off; I knew the damage from barrels was high, but I had no idea it was *that* high!) Granted, I was wearing armour and boots that didn't offer me any protection at the time, but I just don't think that one single barrel hit by a low level enemy should be able to bring you from full to nothing instantly like that. (It's not like I was playing Angel of Humanity!)
tl;dr Barrels do too much damage in this version! Grrr!!!