Demilich
L demilich 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 18 |
| Attacks |
Touch 3d4 cold, Spell-casting |
| Base level | 14 |
| Base experience | 378 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | -2 |
| Base MR | 60 |
| Alignment | -12 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 100 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Cold, Sleep, Poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
Cold |
|
A demilich:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line1520 |
A demilich, L, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The demilich is a somewhat stronger type of lich that is breathless and has enhanced regeneration and infravision like other liches.
A demilich has a cold touch attack and will attempt to cast one mage monster spell during each of their turns. Demiliches possess cold resistance, sleep resistance and poison resistance.
Demiliches are poisonous to eat, which primarily comes up if they are digested by another monster.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Demiliches that are not cancelled can raise monsters killed by them as zombies of the corresponding type; if they have one, they will be raised 5-20 turns after they are initially killed. This also applies to you if you are polymorphed into a demilich. They will also grudge living monsters that can be turned into zombies.
Monsters with digestion attacks can gain intrinsics from swallowing monsters whole, making it possible for them to gain cold resistance from a demilich that is digested.Contents
Generation
Randomly-generated demiliches are always hostile. A lich can grow up into a demilich, and a demilich can grow up into a master lich.
A demilich never leaves a corpse when killed - if killed by any method that ordinarily leaves a corpse, a message is printed about their body crumbling to dust.[1]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
A demilich may appear in the central chamber of the mausoleum themed room.
Castle monster generation is adjusted so that no master or arch-liches can be created using class-specific monster generation, making demiliches the strongest and most likely type of lich to generate there at level creation. A demilich may still grow up into a master lich if they come across or generate with a potion of gain level, or else kill enough of the living denizens to gain the necessary HP.
If a genocided monster with a pre-grown form (that is not explicitly a baby form) would be created by the summon nasties monster spell, and this form is not also genocided, it will appear in place of the genocided monster; this also happens if the chosen nasty is inappropriate for the location, such as an arch-lich outside Gehennom (which will typically create a demilich in its place).Strategy
Demiliches will often cast curse items, destroy armor and drain strength; they can also summon nasties, and it is possible for a demilich to be generated at a high enough level to cast the touch of death - thankfully, this is rare to encounter before reaching Gehennom. Even so, the summon nasties spell may make it difficult to put space between you and a demilich approaching your position, and demiliches are noticeably faster than standard liches (with 12 speed after casting haste self).
As with other liches, magic resistance makes fighting demiliches far more bearable, though it will not stop the summon nasties spell or the aggravate monster spell, which can awaken other monsters that you were hoping to avoid or leave for later fights. Fast speed can help put space between you and a demilich, as can a quick and reliable source of ranged damage and a way to scare off groups of summoned nasties. Stoning, disintegration and digestion will finish off a demilich quickly, and a blessed scroll of genocide can take care of your lich problem altogether.
History
The demilich first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Origin
In fantasy works and media, a lich (which comes from the Old English līċ, meaning "corpse" or "body") is a type of undead creature. Previously used as recently as early 20th-century fantasy fiction to refer to any corpse (animate or otherwise), media such as Dungeons & Dragons has spurred the portrayal of liches as powerful undead spellcasters that are proficient in necromancy, and typically undergo the transformation in order to defy death, allowing them to retain their intelligence and magical abilities and command lesser undead.
Where the liches of Dungeons & Dragons are depicted as revenants with undecaying and cadaverous, desiccated or completely skeletal bodies that are still tethered to the physical realm in some manner, the demilich is instead a floating skull or other skeletal body part (quite unlike the demilich of NetHack) that uses astral projection to travel across other planes of existence, often as a result of attaining enough knowledge to transcend the need for a body. A lich can become a demilich by replacing eight small pieces of its body with soul gems - this usually takes the form of jeweled eyes and teeth in the lich's skull, but can also be joints in a hand or discs in the lich's spine. Once the power of the lich was focused in that part of its body, the rest of it crumbled away.
Demiliches in the Dungeons & Dragons settings are even more resilient to destruction than normal liches, and boasted even stronger magical defenses as well. The eight gems effectively act as the demilich's phylactery, allowing the demilich to reappear within ten days of its "death" unless all eight gems and the phylacterya re destroyed. One of the settings' most notorious demiliches is Acererak, who is responsible in-universe for the construction of the similarly-infamous Tomb of Horrors.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, demiliches need a +3 or better weapon to be hit, and hit monsters as a +3 weapon themselves.
Demiliches may appear among the random L generated in the Chaotic Quest.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, two demiliches appear within one of the rooms in Demogorgon's lair if his dwelling appears as the third Abyss level.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, players killed by any type of lich will arise as a revenant instead of a ghost in bones files.
Two demiliches are generated on the first two floors of Vecna's Domain at level creation, and three are generated around Vecna's lair on the third floor, including on in a hidden storeroom that is generated atop an iron safe with two chests next to them; all the containers will have random loot. Vecna's presence in the dungeon prevents the genocide of demiliches - once he is destroyed, they can be subjected to genocide as normal.
Demiliches are much more dangerous compared to vanilla NetHack, since they have access to several new monster spells especially at higher levels - like with other liches, this also makes them much better pets and polyforms, with full access to their repertoire of monster spells when fighting other monsters.
Sunsword now has a chance of instakilling any demiliches it hits. The Sword of Kas is an artifact gemstone two-handed sword that deals double damage versus L, including demiliches.
Encyclopedia entry
But on its heels ere the sunset faded, there came a second apparition, striding with incredible strides and halting when it loomed almost upon me in the red twilight-the monstrous mummy of some ancient king still crowned with untarnished gold but turning to my gaze a visage that more than time or the worm had wasted. Broken swathings flapped about the skeleton legs, and above the crown that was set with sapphires and orange rubies, a black something swayed and nodded horribly; but, for an instant, I did not dream what it was. Then, in its middle, two oblique and scarlet eyes opened and glowed like hellish coals, and two ophidian fangs glittered in an ape-like mouth. A squat, furless, shapeless head on a neck of disproportionate extent leaned unspeakably down and whispered in the mummy's ear. Then, with one stride, the titanic lich took half the distance between us, and from out the folds of the tattered sere-cloth a gaunt arm arose, and fleshless, taloned fingers laden with glowering gems, reached out and fumbled for my throat . . .
