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Is there any problem with camping in a temple and repeatedly casting summon monster, then killing and sacrificing the monsters? It seems like even a feeble wizard (especially one with a ring of slow digestion) could just keep summoning and killing monsters with impunity - possibly blocking the temple entrance with a boulder plus elbereth.

Does that work?

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You can keep going for a very long time, repeatedly casting “summon monster” and sacrificing. Even without a ring of slow digestion, eating the odd summon will keep you fed. Beware only that you will occasionally summon a crowd which may involve strong monsters.

You'll need to re-read the spellbook every 20,000 turns. After 4 readings, the spellbook will fade, but you'll probably have obtained a magic marker as loot if you keep going that long.

Eventually, all the monsters that can be summoned at that level will be extinct. Most species have 120 individuals, so you can keep going for a long time. It's quite possible to die of boredom (in real life) before reaching that point in the game. Paraphrasing Jove, the DevTeam has arranged an automatic and savage punishment for infinite summonning. It's called infinite summoning.

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You can indeed summon and sacrifice quite a lot in a co-aligned temple. Even without knowing the spell, wands of create monster, bags of tricks and scrolls of create monster are very handy.

However, at some point, you'll get a giant who breaks the door or picks up the boulder you put there (note that Elbereth works only on hostile non-blind monsters); or a humber hulk who eats the walls; or a dwarf with a pick-axe breaks the wall from the outside. Once the door/wall is gone, monsters outside of the temple may see you and range-attack you: the sanctuary is effective only when the monster is inside the temple. The proverbial gnome with a wand of death may be the end of you.

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