Genetic engineer
Q genetic engineer 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 291 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 3 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 20 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | poison resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | Causes polymorph |
|
A genetic engineer:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 5.0.0 - monsters.h, line 2136 |
- For the monster in other variants, see Genetic engineer (disambiguation).
A genetic engineer, Q, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. A genetic engineer is a type of humanoid quantum mechanic monster that can be seen via infravision, and can teleport at random.
A genetic engineer has a single claw attack that can polymorph its target if the engineer is not cancelled, with details varying depending on if the attack hits the hero or a monster:[1][2]
- When used against the hero, they will be polymorphed unless they have unchanging or magic resistance, the attacker is canceled, or the hero's magic cancellation successfully takes effect.[3][4]
- When used against another monster, if the target does not have magic resistance and they are not killed by the attack, the monster is polymorphed.[5][6]
- When used by the hero, polymorphing will only occur if the hero performs the attack without wielding anything.[7]
A target subjected to the genetic engineer's touch attack has a chance of suffering system shock that deals damage equal to half their maximum HP rounded up, and the victim will not leave a corpse if the resulting damage kills them. A werecreature that is polymorphed by a genetic engineer attack (including the hero if they have lycanthropy) will switch between their human and animal forms. Genetic engineers will teleport away if possible after successfully polymorphing a hero or monster with this attack, and they cannot polymorph a monster with the attack for another turn or two[8]—this restriction is not applied to a hero that is polymorphed into the form of a genetic engineer. Genetic engineers possess poison resistance.
A genetic engineer corpse is poisonous to eat, and eating a genetic engineer corpse or tin will polymorph the eater unless they have unchanging[9]—a pet with poison resistance will not voluntarily eat a genetic engineer corpse unless they are starving or on the verge of untaming.[10]
Generation
Randomly-generated genetic engineers are always created as hostile.
Hostile genetic engineers can be created by the summon nasties monster spell.[11]
Strategy
Genetic engineers can be a perilous threat for the unwary or under-prepared player: a lack of magic resistance or magic cancellation can lead to valuable armor being broken or forced off by unwanted polymorphs, which also leave the hero vulnerable to other threats—this is a potential nightmare scenario for a hero caught in the midst of a group of summoned nasties, where it becomes much more difficult to keep them out of melee range. Fortunately, they lack any other unique means of threatening the hero, and players with a means of preventing polymorph will find them easy to dispatch. Be sure not to leave strong pets around genetic engineers if possible, since they may attack and be polymorphed by the retaliating monster.
History
The genetic engineer first appears in SLASH'EM, and makes its vanilla NetHack debut in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 7817e69c—the tile it uses is different from that of SLASH'EM.
Origin
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes by using a set of dedicated technologies to change the genetic makeup of cells, such as transferring genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. New DNA is obtained by either isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using recombinant DNA methods or by artificially synthesis, and this new DNA can be inserted randomly, or targeted to a specific part of the genome—the process can also be used to "knock out" or remove genes. The genetic engineer monster is a visual pun on the term by applying it literally, similar to the quantum mechanic.
Messages
- You undergo a freakish metamorphosis!
- You ate a genetic engineer corpse or tin and were polymorphed.
- You feel momentarily different.
- As above, but you have unchanging—this message is also given for stepping on a polymorph trap.
- You are subjected to a freakish metamorphosis.
- You were polymorphed by a genetic engineer's attack.
- You feel an <un>natural urge coming on.
- As above, but you have lycanthropy and were switched between forms, with "unnatural" used if you shift from your base form and "natural" used otherwise.
- <The monster/It> undergoes a freakish metamorphosis, and turns into <new monster>.
- A monster was hit by a genetic engineer's attack and polymorphed. "It" is used if the affected monster was not visible at the time.
- <The monster> undergoes a freakish metamorphosis, and disappears.
- As above, but the monster disappeared from the hero's view as a result of the transformation, e.g. into a monster that is invisible.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the genetic engineer is only generated randomly in Gehennom, and its polymorph attacks and polymorphing in general function differently: polymorphs caused by the attack are temporary for monsters like they are for the hero, and they have no effect on monsters require a weapon of a certain enchantment to be hit. See the article linked above for more details on these differences.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the genetic engineer, U, is part of the aberration monster class.
Encyclopedia entry
These very odd people have mastered the ability to insert gene
sequences from one organism into another, usually triggering
immediate mutations in the subject. Far from needing an
elaborate laboratory to accomplish such abominations, a mere
touch seems to be all that is necessary.
"I thought the whole point of genetic engineering was to avoid
the random waste of natural evolution, and replace it with
the efficiency of reason," Miles piped up. All three haut-
women turned to stare at him in astonishment, as if a potted
plant had suddenly offered a critique of its fertilization
routine. "Or ... so it seems to me," Miles trailed off in
a much smaller voice.
References
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3728-L3774: mhitm_ad_poly() function
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 4821
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3733
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3755-L3757: genetic engineer polymorphing hero
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3736-L3750: genetic engineer hero polymorphing monster
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3764-L3773: genetic engineer polymorphing another monster
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3738-L3739: genetic engineer hero must be weaponless to polymorph monsters
- ↑ src/mhitu.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 368-L375
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1247-L1264
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1072-L1075
- ↑ src/wizard.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 38
