Difference between revisions of "Leprechaun"

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A '''leprechaun''', {{monsym|leprechaun}}, is a [[monster]] that can steal [[gold]] from players. It is the only vanilla member of the leprechaun [[monster class]].
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A '''leprechaun''', {{monsym|leprechaun}}, is a [[monster]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. It is the only member of the [[leprechaun (monster class)|leprechaun]] [[monster class]].
  
Leprechauns have [[teleportitis]], and will approach and try to attack you when you have gold in your open inventory, otherwise running away from you. When you attack a leprechaun which is not [[Paralysis|frozen]], [[Sleep|asleep]], [[Confusion|confused]], or [[Blindness|blind]], it has a {{frac|7}} chance of moving one square away instead of being hit. When this happens, you will move instead of attacking, with a message being printed when this occurs as of [[NetHack 3.6.0]].{{refsrc|uhitm.c|405|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}
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Leprechauns have intrinsic [[teleportitis]], and approach you to try and steal any [[gold]] they see in your open inventory - they will otherwise keep their distance from you where possible. When you attack a leprechaun that is not [[Paralysis|frozen]], [[Sleep|asleep]], [[Confusion|confused]], or [[Blindness|blind]], it has a {{frac|7}} chance of moving one square away instead of being hit - this will cause you to "miss wildly and stumble forward" into that square.{{refsrc|uhitm.c|405|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}
  
Eating a leprechaun's [[corpse]] has a 50% chance of conveying teleportitis, and you will also gain teleportitis while polymorphed into a leprechaun.
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Eating a leprechaun's [[corpse]] has a 50% chance of conveying teleportitis.
  
 
==Generation==
 
==Generation==
Leprechauns are [[monster creation|normally generated]] [[sleep]]ing{{refsrc|makemon.c|1175|version=NetHack 3.6.0}} and with ''[[LD]]''d''30'' pieces of gold.{{refsrc|makemon.c|688|version=NetHack 3.6.0}} [[Leprechaun hall]]s can be found in the dungeon and are filled with sleeping leprechauns, each on top of some gold, in a similar manner to a [[treasure zoo]].
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Leprechauns are [[monster creation|normally generated]] [[sleep]]ing and with ''[[LD]]''d''30'' pieces of gold.{{refsrc|makemon.c|688|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}{{refsrc|makemon.c|1175|version=NetHack 3.6.0}} [[Leprechaun hall]]s are special rooms filled with sleeping leprechauns, with each one on top of a pile of gold in a similar manner to a [[treasure zoo]].
  
 
== Strategy ==
 
== Strategy ==
Leprechauns are annoyances that are best dealt with via ranged weapons or spells. For most players, the leprechaun poses no real threat—however, its predilection toward escape rather than fighting can make it time-consuming to kill. Occasionally, they may stop to attack you if you keep next to them; they will have no choice but to stop and fight if you prevent them from moving anywhere else.
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Leprechauns are annoyances best dealt with via ranged weapons or spells. For most players, the leprechaun poses no real threat—however, its tendency to run rather than fight can make it time-consuming to kill. Occasionally, they may stop to attack you if you keep next to them, and will have no choice if you prevent them from moving anywhere else, e.g. catching them at the end of a hall. If possible, close or obstruct doorways in a room to limit their movement, as leprechauns cannot open doors; you can also make use of your pet(s) to pick them off, since they will not have to deal with wild misses as you do.
  
If you are a [[Knight]], awaken leprechauns before attacking them to avoid alignment penalties; other roles will want to get as close as possible so they have a chance to cut off the leprechaun's escape path. If possible, close or obstruct doors in a room to limit their movement, and make use of your pet to pick them off; leprechauns cannot open doors, and pets will not have to deal with wild misses as players do.
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If you plan to fight a leprechaun, stash your gold in a [[container]] or leave it on a distant floor space; alternately, you can [[throw]] your gold at them, then run the fleeing leprechaun into a corner.  If you are a [[Knight]], awaken leprechauns before attacking them to avoid alignment penalties; other roles will want to get as close as possible so they have a chance to cut off the leprechaun's escape path. You may have trouble if a leprechaun has an escape [[wand]], such as a wand of {{of|wand|teleportation|or=1|make invisible}}—or worse, a [[wand of digging]]—because in most cases you will have to force them to exhaust all the charges.
  
You can prevent them from teleporting as often by stashing your gold in a [[container]] or leaving it on a distant floor space; alternately, you can [[throw]] your gold at them, then run the fleeing leprechaun into a corner. You may have trouble if a leprechaun is generated with or comes across an escape [[wand]], such as a wand of {{of|wand|teleportation|or=1|make invisible}}—or worse, a [[wand of digging]]—because in most cases you will have to force them to exhaust all their charges.
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Amusingly, using a [[ring of conflict]] in a leprechaun hall will cause them to steal from each other—but it will soon prove annoying, as this scatters them across the level.
  
Amusingly, using a [[ring of conflict]] in a leprechaun hall will cause them to steal from each other—but it will soon prove annoying, as this scatters them across the level.
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While the leprechaun polyform can steal gold from other monsters without killing them, this is of little practical use since there is rarely a situation where it is less ideal to kill the monster yourself (or via pet).
  
 
===Credit cloning===
 
===Credit cloning===
Leprechauns can be exploited for [[credit cloning]]. Drop all but one of your gold coins in a shop, lure a leprechaun inside, let it pick up the pile of gold, then let it steal you or just teleport out. Once you find it and kill it to get your gold back, you'll still have your credit; since you can only do this once per leprechaun, you should do it with as much gold as possible. Using leprechauns this way is difficult since, unlike pets, they won't follow you, but it does mean you can credit clone even without a pet or, as of 3.6.0, without a [[sack]].
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Leprechauns can be exploited for [[credit cloning]]: Drop all but one of your gold coins in a shop, then lure a leprechaun inside - once it picks up the pile of gold, then let it either steal your last gold piece or teleport out. Once you kill it to retrieve your gold back, you'll still have your credit - since you can only do this once per leprechaun, you should do it with as much gold as possible. Using leprechauns this way is difficult since they won't follow you, but it does mean you can credit clone even without a pet or a [[sack]].
 
 
===As a polymorph form===
 
Polymorphing into a leprechaun lets you steal gold from monsters, but generally, this is rather pointless; [[shopkeeper]]s support credit cloning, [[aligned priest|priests]] have little gold and are too powerful when you still need [[protection]], and other monsters can simply be killed.
 
  
 
==Messages==
 
==Messages==
 
{{message|You miss wildly and stumble forward.|A leprechaun dodged one of your attacks.}}
 
{{message|You miss wildly and stumble forward.|A leprechaun dodged one of your attacks.}}
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==History==
 +
The leprechaun is among the many monsters present in [[Hack 1.0|the very first version of ''Hack'']] by [[Andries Brouwer]], along with "Hack for PDP-11" (which was based on an early draft). In early versions such as this and [[NetHack 1.3d]], leprechuans used the {{white|L}} glyph and had slightly different behavior: they would still attempt to attack players that closed in as they attempted to keep their distance.
  
 
==Variants==
 
==Variants==
{{todo|Expand on leprechauns in other variants, maybe split off the monster class into its own article}}
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In variants featuring an [[object materials]] system, leprechauns are commonly given the additional ability to steal gold items.
 +
 
 
===xNetHack===
 
===xNetHack===
In [[xNetHack]], leprechauns are moved into the {{monclasslink|i}} monster class and are represented by {{brightgreen|i}}. (The {{white|l}} glyph is now occupied by the [[lizard (monster class)|lizards]].) Like other minor demons, leprechauns are subject to bonus damage from [[iron]] and [[silver]] weapons. Leprechauns are also capable of stealing [[gold (material)|gold items]] as well as gold pieces.
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In [[xNetHack]], leprechauns are moved into the {{monclasslink|i}} monster class and are represented by {{brightgreen|i}}. (The {{white|l}} glyph is now occupied by the [[lizard (monster class)|lizards]].) Like other minor demons and fey creatures, leprechauns are subject to bonus damage from [[iron]] and [[silver]] weapons. Leprechauns are also capable of stealing [[gold (material)|gold items]] as well as gold pieces.
 
 
===Object materials===
 
In variants featuring an [[object materials]] system, it is very common to give leprechauns the ability to steal gold items.
 
  
 
== Encyclopedia entry ==
 
== Encyclopedia entry ==
 
 
{{encyclopedia|
 
{{encyclopedia|
 
The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
 
The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
Line 78: Line 75:
 
by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse ]
 
by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse ]
 
}}
 
}}
 
==See also==
 
* [[Borrow]] is a [[SLASH'EM]] [[technique]] to steal [[gold]] from [[monster]]s.
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
{{nethack-364}}
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{{nethack-366}}
 
[[Category:Monsters]]
 
[[Category:Monsters]]
[[Category:Monster classes]]
 

Revision as of 21:33, 2 June 2021

A leprechaun, l, is a monster that appears in NetHack. It is the only member of the leprechaun monster class.

Leprechauns have intrinsic teleportitis, and approach you to try and steal any gold they see in your open inventory - they will otherwise keep their distance from you where possible. When you attack a leprechaun that is not frozen, asleep, confused, or blind, it has a 17 chance of moving one square away instead of being hit - this will cause you to "miss wildly and stumble forward" into that square.[1]

Eating a leprechaun's corpse has a 50% chance of conveying teleportitis.

Generation

Leprechauns are normally generated sleeping and with LDd30 pieces of gold.[2][3] Leprechaun halls are special rooms filled with sleeping leprechauns, with each one on top of a pile of gold in a similar manner to a treasure zoo.

Strategy

Leprechauns are annoyances best dealt with via ranged weapons or spells. For most players, the leprechaun poses no real threat—however, its tendency to run rather than fight can make it time-consuming to kill. Occasionally, they may stop to attack you if you keep next to them, and will have no choice if you prevent them from moving anywhere else, e.g. catching them at the end of a hall. If possible, close or obstruct doorways in a room to limit their movement, as leprechauns cannot open doors; you can also make use of your pet(s) to pick them off, since they will not have to deal with wild misses as you do.

If you plan to fight a leprechaun, stash your gold in a container or leave it on a distant floor space; alternately, you can throw your gold at them, then run the fleeing leprechaun into a corner. If you are a Knight, awaken leprechauns before attacking them to avoid alignment penalties; other roles will want to get as close as possible so they have a chance to cut off the leprechaun's escape path. You may have trouble if a leprechaun has an escape wand, such as a wand of teleportation or make invisible—or worse, a wand of digging—because in most cases you will have to force them to exhaust all the charges.

Amusingly, using a ring of conflict in a leprechaun hall will cause them to steal from each other—but it will soon prove annoying, as this scatters them across the level.

While the leprechaun polyform can steal gold from other monsters without killing them, this is of little practical use since there is rarely a situation where it is less ideal to kill the monster yourself (or via pet).

Credit cloning

Leprechauns can be exploited for credit cloning: Drop all but one of your gold coins in a shop, then lure a leprechaun inside - once it picks up the pile of gold, then let it either steal your last gold piece or teleport out. Once you kill it to retrieve your gold back, you'll still have your credit - since you can only do this once per leprechaun, you should do it with as much gold as possible. Using leprechauns this way is difficult since they won't follow you, but it does mean you can credit clone even without a pet or a sack.

Messages

You miss wildly and stumble forward.
A leprechaun dodged one of your attacks.

History

The leprechaun is among the many monsters present in the very first version of Hack by Andries Brouwer, along with "Hack for PDP-11" (which was based on an early draft). In early versions such as this and NetHack 1.3d, leprechuans used the L glyph and had slightly different behavior: they would still attempt to attack players that closed in as they attempted to keep their distance.

Variants

In variants featuring an object materials system, leprechauns are commonly given the additional ability to steal gold items.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, leprechauns are moved into the imp or minor demon monster class and are represented by i. (The l glyph is now occupied by the lizards.) Like other minor demons and fey creatures, leprechauns are subject to bonus damage from iron and silver weapons. Leprechauns are also capable of stealing gold items as well as gold pieces.

Encyclopedia entry

The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
under various names in different parts of Ireland:
Cluricaune in Cork, Lurican in Kerry, Lurikeen in Kildare
and Lurigadaun in Tipperary. Although he works for the
Faeries, the Leprechaun is not of the same species. He is
small, has dark skin and wears strange clothes. His nature
has something of the manic-depressive about it: first he
is quite happy, whistling merrily as he nails a sole on to a
shoe; a few minutes later, he is sullen and morose, drunk
on his home-made heather ale. The Leprechaun's two great
loves are tobacco and whiskey, and he is a first-rate con-man,
impossible to out-fox. No one, no matter how clever, has ever
managed to cheat him out of his hidden pot of gold or his
magic shilling. At the last minute he always thinks of some
way to divert his captor's attention and vanishes in the
twinkling of an eye.

[ A Field Guide to the Little People
by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse ]

References