Ring mail
[ ring mail 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | ring mail |
| Slot | body armor |
| AC | 3 |
| Special | |
| Base price | 100 zm |
| Weight | 250 |
| Material | iron |
Ring mail is a type of body armor that appears in NetHack. It is made of iron.
Contents
Generation
Knights start each game with +1 ring mail, and human Barbarians start each game with +0 ring mail.[1][2] Orcish characters in a role that starts with ring mail receive orcish ring mail instead.[3]
In addition to random generation, general stores, used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can sell ring mail.
Mercenaries that have not been given body armor have a 8⁄15 chance of being generated with ring mail that counts for 3 points of their target AC.[4]
The Rogue level "bones" pile has a 1⁄2 chance of containing ring mail with an enchantment of +0 to +2 that has a 1⁄3 chance of being erosion-proofed and a 3⁄4 chance of being cursed.[5]
Description
While worn, ring mail grants 3 base AC and MC1.
Strategy
Studded leather armor is generally preferred to ring mail: it is cheaper, weighs 50 aum less, and does not interfere with spellcasting for magic-focused roles. The starting set of ring mail for Barbarians and Knights is passable for the early stages, and will typically be replaced with better armor as soon as it becomes available.
History
Ring mail 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 list of armor for Hack 1.0. From this version to NetHack 3.4.3, including some variants based on those versions, ring mail does not grant any magic cancellation.
Origin
Ring armour (or ring mail) is a type of personal armour believed to be constructed as a series of metallic rings sewn or tied directly to a fabric or leather item of clothing such as a jacket or trousers - this would make it more similar to studded leather armor. Unlike chain mail and similar armor, ring armour does not have the rings physically interlocked with each other.
Though ring mail is a standard type of armor in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, as well as other games and media inspired by it, no historic examples of ring armour are known to exist in European collections or archaeological excavations in Europe. The term "mail" was used in the Victorian era for any form of metallic body armour; "ring mail" as a term does not occur until around the 19th century. Most examples of ring mail are based on speculative interpretations of medieval artwork and historical accounts.
Variants
In variants based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, worn ring mail may not grant any MC.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, ring mail grants 1 base AC and 2 DR while worn, and its weight is reduced to 125 aum (half of its weight in vanilla NetHack).
Incantifier Barbarians have their ring mail replaced with a robe.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, giant Barbarians receive a simple helmet in place of ring mail. Aligned champions have a 2⁄3 chance of generating with ring mail.
Ring mail can be created at a forge by combining a large shield and a helmet. Ring mail can be used to forge a few items:
- Ring mail can be combined with scale mail to create banded mail.
- Two sets of ring mail can be combined to create chain mail.
- Ring mail can be combined with an orcish shield to create orcish chain mail.
- Ring mail can be combined with a helmet to create scale mail.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, incantifier Barbarians also have their ring mail replaced with a robe.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 76: Knight starting inventory
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 46: Barbarian starting inventory
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 220: Racial substitutions for orcish characters
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 628
- ↑ src/extralev.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 347
