Thiefstone
* 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | thiefstone |
| Appearance | gray stone |
| Damage vs. small | 1d3 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d3 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | sling |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 1 zm |
| Weight | 10 |
| Material | mineral |
The thiefstone is a type of gem that appears in xNetHack. It appears as a gray stone when unidentified.
Generation
All randomly generated thiefstones are generated cursed.
Description
If a player character picks up a cursed thiefstone, it will "steal" a magical item from their inventory and teleport itself along with the item to a "stash" somewhere on the same level; picking up a magical item while carrying a cursed thiefstone will cause it to jump out of your pack and teleport both itself and the item to its stash. If the character is standing on the same square as its stash in either case, nothing happens.
Upon being generated, each thiefstone will select a spot to place stolen items in upon generation. In order of priority, it will start with: a vault, then any one-square closets, and finally any other square on the floor with a container on it. If the selected square has no container, a chest with random contents is generated in that spot; the thiefstone's stash will be found within the container.
Applying or rubbing a non-cursed thiefstone on an applicable item will teleport that item to the stash square, but not the thiefstone itself - all non-cursed thiefstones can teleport magical items this way, and blessed ones can also teleport other gems and gold.
Hitting a gold golem with a thrown or wielded thiefstone will teleport the golem to that thiefstone's stash square - this includes a character that is polymorphed into a gold golem if they either rub a thiefstone or throw one at themselves using <, and will never work on anything carrying the Amulet of Yendor in either case.
Canceling a thiefstone will prevent it from teleporting items; restoring a cancelled thiefstone by dipping it in a non-cursed potion of restore ability will set its stash location to the character's current position.
Strategy
Thiefstones are highly inconvenient to come across for an unwary character, especially if it steals a vital magical item and ends up in a hard-to-reach spot early in the game. However, a non-cursed thiefstone can prove immeasurably handy to keep around, as it provides a means of "automated" stashing for items and gold without having to travel directly to that stash's square - thiefstones can also be used to informally identify magical items.
