Mace
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | mace |
| Appearance | mace |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6+1 (2-7) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 (1-6) |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | mace |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 5 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | iron |
A mace is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a one-handed melee weapon that is made of iron.
The mace is the base item for the artifact The Sceptre of Might.
Contents
Generation
Clerics start each game with a blessed +1 mace.[1]
Maces make up 1⁄25 (4%) of all weapons randomly generated on the floor, in general shops or as death drops. Antique weapons outlets and used armor dealerships can also stock maces.
One of the weapons in the pile of objects guarded by the ghost on the Rogue level has a 1⁄2 chance of being a mace, with an enchantment ranging from +1 to +3 and a 3⁄4 chance of being cursed[2]—the mace is the starting weapon for the player character in Rogue.
Some monsters can be generated with maces:
- Aligned clerics, acolytes, high clerics, and the Arch Priest are always generated with maces that have an enchantment ranging from +1 to +3 and a roughly 1⁄2 chance of being cursed.[3]
- Sergeants have a roughly 1⁄2 chance of generating with a mace.[4]
- The monster that rules over a throne room and is placed on the throne will always be generated with a mace.[5]
- Player monsters, including those generated on the Astral Plane, have an effective 10⁄291 chance (~3.44%) of generating with a mace as their weapon before role-based replacements are applied.[6]
- Clerics have a 1⁄2 chance of forcing a mace as their weapon, resulting in an effective ~51.72% chance of generating with one.[7]
- Cave dwellers have a 3⁄4 chance of forcing a mace, raising their effective chance to ~75.86%.[8]
Mace skill
| Mace | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The mace and the silver mace both use the mace skill.
Two artifacts use the mace skill: The Sceptre of Might (mace) and Demonbane (silver mace).
Strategy
The mace is generally an unimpressive weapon, though an enchanted mace like the starting +1 mace for Clerics is at least passable for the early game stages. As the hero advances, it is typically worth exchanging a mace for a more versatile weapon within the hero's skillset, such as a long sword or aklys.
History
The mace first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.
The silver mace is introduced in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 67d58202, which also changes Demonbane's base item type from a long sword to a silver mace.
Origin
A mace is type of blunt club or rod that uses a heavy head on the end of a strong and heavy shaft to deliver powerful strikes; it also comes in a two-handed variety and is typically made of stone, bone, copper, bronze, iron, steel, or even metal-reinforced wood. Military maces can be shaped with flanges or knobs to allow greater penetration of plate armour, with their length depending on the soldier's rank.
Maces are used throughout prehistory and post-classical history, and in the modern era are rarely used for actual combat; ceremonial maces are still kept by many universities, government bodies such as the British House of Commons and the U.S. Congress, and other institutions to display as symbols of authority.
The mace's use as a standard weapon for priesthood is derived from Dungeons & Dragons, where clerical classes are typically forbidden by their god from shedding blood with edged weapons.
Variants
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds the silver mace as a weapon that uses the mace skill, and introduces another artifact mace in Disrupter.
SporkHack
SporkHack adds the silver mace as a weapon that uses the mace skill, though it cannot generate randomly (but can be wished for or found in bones). The base item of Demonbane is also changed to a silver mace.
dNetHack
dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add several weapons and items that use the mace skill:
The mace itself makes up 33⁄1000 (3.3%) of all weapons that are randomly generated on the floor, in general shops or as death drops. Antique weapons outlets and used armor dealerships can also stock maces. It has stronger damage dice compared to vanilla NetHack, dealing 1d10+1 blunt damage to small monsters and 1d10 blunt damage to large monsters, and a hero that wields one while they are Skilled or better in maces gains the "hew", "stunning strike" and "penetrate armor" expert traits.
Some artifacts use the mace skill in some manner:
- The Rod of Lordly Might and The Rod of the Elvish Lords are artifacts that can take on the form of a mace or elven mace, respectively.
- The Rod of the Ram is a neutral mace.
- The Field Marshal's Baton is a lawful mace.
- The Rod of Dis is a lawful intelligent mace wielded by Dispater.
- The Wand of Orcus uses the mace skill when wielded and used as a melee weapon.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, Demonbane's base item is changed to a mace with a material of silver, similar to SporkHack.
The mace that an aligned priest generates with is never created cursed.
SpliceHack
SpliceHack adds the executioner's mace and ornate mace as weapons that use the mace skill.
EvilHack
EvilHack adds the heavy mace, rod, dark elven mace, and dark elven heavy mace as weapons that use the mace skill. A few artifacts use the mace skill as well:
- Demonbane (silver heavy mace)
- The Scepter of Might (rod)
- Wand of Orcus (rod)
A mace can be created at a forge by combining a dagger and a club. Maces can be used to create many other items:
- Two maces can be combined to create a heavy mace.
- A mace can be combined with 2 rubies to create a rod.
- A mace can be combined with a dagger to create a morning star.
- A mace can be combined with an orcish dagger to create a orcish morning star.
- A mace can be combined with a flail to create a war hammer.
- A mace can be combined with a helmet to create gauntlets.
SlashTHEM
In addition to SLASH'EM details, SlashTHEM adds the ornate mace as a weapon that uses the mace skill, which functions similarly to how it does in SpliceHack.
Hack'EM
Hack'EM adds the executioner's mace from SpliceHack and the heavy mace and rod from EvilHack as weapons that use the mace skill.
The base item of the Sceptre of Might is changed to an executioner's mace.
Encyclopedia entry
Originally a club armed with iron, and used in war; now a staff
of office pertaining to certain dignitaries, as the Speaker of
the House of Commons, Lord Mayors, Mayors etc. Both sword and
mace are symbols of dignity, suited to the times when men went
about in armour, and sovereigns needed champions to vindicate
their rights.
References
- ↑ src/u.init in NetHack 5.0.0, line 115
- ↑ src/extralev.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 311-L315
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 263-L269
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 203-L205
- ↑ src/mkroom.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 271
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 150: 1⁄2 to get a random weapon—the designated range of objects covers weapons from the spear to the bullwhip inclusively in objects.h, and uses normal generation odds
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 175-L176: Cleric replacements for player monster melee weapons
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 206-L207: Cave Dweller replacements for player monster melee weapons
