Stair dancing

Stair dancing is similar to Pillar dancing, in that the player uses the stairs to evade monsters in the dungeon. In games with persistent levels, the PC can be fighting an enemy, become badly wounded, then run up the nearest stairs. Since in most roguelikes, the PC is the only entity that can use the stairs, the enemy cannot follow. The PC then can heal and return to battle the injured enemy. This process can be repeated until the enemy is dead. The effect on game balance is that a monster that would normally be very dangerous for the player, is not very dangerous at all when encountered near stairs.