Wooden harp
( 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | wooden harp |
| Appearance | harp |
| Base price | 50 zm |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | wood |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A wooden harp is a type of musical instrument that appears in NetHack. It is tonal and made of wood, and appears as just a harp when unidentified. For Samurai, the wooden harp is called a koto.
Contents
Generation
Elven Priests and Wizards have a 1⁄6 chance to start the game with a wooden harp.[1]
Description
Applying a wooden harp will play it: improvising will typically cause it to "twang", while trying to play specific notes produces a "strange sound", and both have no effect beyond exercising dexterity.[2] If you are not confused, there is a chance that it will instead play "a lilting melody" that pacifies any nymphs nearby; for this to occur, the sum of your experience level and a randomly rolled number between 0 and your current dexterity stat must exceed 25.[3]
Strategy
The wooden harp is relatively easy to distinguish from a magic harp by the messages produced when playing it, and can safely be played to do so - playing a magic harp with charges produces "very attractive music" and tames nearby monsters.
As a tonal instrument, a wooden harp can also be used to play the passtune to enter the Castle. Outside of this, they are mainly used as polyfodder.
History
The wooden harp first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Messages
- The harp twangs.
- You applied a wooden harp and improvised with it.
- You extract a strange sound from the harp!
- You applied a wooden harp and played a specific melody with it.
- The harp produces a <familiar,> lilting melody.
- As above, but this also pacifies any nearby nymphs.
- You feel soothing vibrations.
- You applied a wooden harp while deaf.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, a wooden harp can be upgraded into a magic harp.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, the Bard role starts with knowledge of the wooden harp and a 1⁄2 chance of their starting tonal instrument being a wooden harp.
The wooden harp is the preferred instrument for playing Lullaby, Meditative Healing, Lethargy, and Friendship via the Bard's musicalize spell skill.
SpliceHack
In the original SpliceHack, a harp can be combined with a scroll of taming at a furnace to create a magic harp.
SlashTHEM
SlashTHEM retains the ability to upgrade wooden harps into normal ones. In addition, the Bard role starts with knowledge of the wooden harp and a 1⁄2 chance of carrying one, as in dNetHack.
The wooden harp is the preferred instrument for playing Lullaby and Drowsiness via the musicalize spell skill; in addition, the Bard quest artifact The Lyre of Orpheus is an artifact wooden harp (rather than a magic harp as in dNetHack).
