Hell hound
d hell hound 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks |
Bite 3d6, fire breath 3d6 |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 290 |
| Speed | 14 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 600 |
| Nutritional value | 300 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Fire |
| Resistances conveyed |
Fire (80%) |
|
A hell hound:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line295 |
A hell hound, d, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a medium-sized carnivorous canine that has an affinity to fire. Hell hounds are strong and can be seen via infravision.
Hell hounds have a bite attack and a fire breath attack that can burn armor and destroy flammable items in the inventory of any monster it hits, unless they have reflection. Hell hounds possess fire resistance.
Eating a hell hound corpse or tin has a 4⁄5 chance of conveying fire resistance.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated hell hounds are always created hostile, and will only be randomly generated in Gehennom. A hell hound pup can grow up into a hell hound.
A hell hound is generated next to the Wizard of Yendor within the structure on the topmost floor of his tower.
Strategy
Though hell hounds have stronger attacks than their pups, they are still not much of a threat to most characters by the time they are normally seen in Gehennom, since a character will at least have one of fire resistance and/or reflection, along with a bag to keep flammable items in. Hell hounds are still worth being wary around if you plan to cross the few bodies of water in Gehennom by freezing them - their breath can melt the ice away, which can be fatal if this occurs while you are crossing it.
Hell hounds can also appear much earlier and pose an actual threat depending on the circumstances: polymorph traps and shapeshifters such as chameleons can force you to deal with hell hounds much earlier than expected, and their bite can still deal decent damage even if you manage to keep out of range of their breath attacks.
History
The hell hound first appears in Hack 1.0.2, and one has accompanied the Wizard of Yendor in some form since this version, when the Wizard was the one who held the Amulet of Yendor. From this version to NetHack 3.0.0, hell hounds do not have breath weapons.
In NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, including some variants based on those versions, the encyclopedia entry for hell hounds and their pups reads as follows:
Hell hounds are fire-breathing canines from another plane of existence brought here in the service of evil beings. A hell hound resembles a large hound with rust-red or red-brown fur, and red, glowing eyes. The markings, teeth, and tongue are soot black. It stands two to three feet high at the shoulder and has a distinct odour of smoke and sulphur. The baying sounds it makes have an eerie, hollow tone that sends a shiver through any who hear them.
Origin
A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Norse mythology, the black dogs of English folklore, and the fairy hounds of Celtic mythology. Physical characteristics vary, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or are accompanied by flames.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the hell hound is introduced to the game in its first supplement, the 1975 Greyhawk. These hell hounds are hyena-like creatures that are mangy, skinny, and somewhat demonic, with red eyes and draconic ears; they are classified as outsiders from the Nine Hells. The Fourth Edition depicts them as nearly skeletal canines wreathed in flame. Hell hounds have the ability to breathe fire, and enjoy causing pain and suffering - they hunt in packs accordingly, with a favorite pack tactic being to surround prey silently before two hellhounds close in and make the victim back into another hellhound's fiery breath. Hell hounds will also attack with their claws and teeth, and are quick and agile - they will pursue escaping relentlessly. Hell hounds cannot speak, but understand Infernal.
Variants
Cerberus is a unique hell hound that is deferred in vanilla NetHack, and is often enabled in variants.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, tame hell hound minions are an eligible sacrifice gift for chaotic characters from experience levels 9 to 13.
Two to four hell hounds are generated in the secondary front corridor of Grund's Stronghold at level creation.
All the above information also applies to SlashTHEM and Hack'EM.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, four hell hounds are generated within the northeastern hidden room of Asmodeus' lair.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, hell hounds are neutral. Both hell hounds and their pups have drain resistance, and can be warded by pentagrams.
A hell hound may appear among the court of a throne room ruled by an orc of the ages of stars.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, four hell hounds are generated within the northeastern hidden room of Asmodeus' lair, in the same position as in UnNetHack.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the weredemon's animal form is that of a hell hound, and they can summon other hostile hell hounds by calling for help.
Encyclopedia entry
But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed stare,
and his lips parted in amazement. At the same instant Lestrade
gave a yell of terror and threw himself face downward upon the
ground. I sprang to my feet, my inert hand grasping my pistol,
my mind paralyzed by the dreadful shape which had sprung out
upon us from the shadows of the fog. A hound it was, an
enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes
have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes
glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and
dewlap were outlined in flickering flame. Never in the
delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more
savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that
dark form and savage face which broke upon us out of the wall
of fog.
[ The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. ]
