Scroll of create monster
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | create monster |
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 200 zm |
| Weight | 5 |
| Ink to write | 5-9 |
| Monster use | May be used defensively by monsters. |
A scroll of create monster is a type of magical scroll that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
Monks may be given a scroll of create monster as the random scroll in their starting inventory.[1] Wizards may be given a scroll of create monster as any of the three random scrolls in their starting inventory.[2]
Scrolls of taming make up 9⁄200 (4.5%) of all randomly-generated scrolls. General stores, second-hand bookstores and rare books shops can sell scrolls of create monster.
Intelligent monsters may be generated with a scroll of teleportation as a defensive item.
Writing a scroll of create monster with a magic marker takes up 5 to 9 charges.
Description
Reading a scroll of create monster will use up the scroll and cause one or more monsters to generate around the reader, with the amount dependent on the scroll's beatitude:[3]
- A blessed scroll will always generate a monster one time.
- An uncursed scroll has a 1⁄73 chance of creating a monster 2-5 times, and will otherwise create a monster once.
- A cursed scroll has a 1⁄73 chance of creating monsters 14-17 times, and will otherwise create monsters 13 times.
Normal monster creation is used to generate each monster, meaning that monsters generated in groups count as a single instance for the above effects. Reading a scroll of create monster while confused has a 1⁄73 chance of creating 14 to 17 acid blobs, and will otherwise create 13 acid blobs.[4] Monsters can read this scroll for the same effects, and will do so when low on health.
The scroll is auto-identified if the hero sees any monsters that were created as a result of the scroll[5] —otherwise, the player will be prompted to type-name the scroll.
Strategy
The scroll of create monster can be used for various purposes, such as generating monsters to kill for experience or corpses to sacrifice, but it is also especially dangerous in the hands of a hostile monster: there is often no means to tell when a monster is carrying a cursed scroll, and a hostile monster that reads one will very often surround you with a group of monsters that are primarily hostile—most heroes that are put in this situation will want to use an escape item such as a wand of digging or a wand of teleportation immediately or risk being killed in short order.
More advanced uses for the scroll of create monster exist, including deliberately reading it while confused to use the created acid blobs as a buffer against strong monsters—a hero looking to permanently eliminate the Riders for bragging rights will read as many of these as possible while confused to fill up the Astral Plane after killing the Riders, ensuring they have no space to revive from their corpses.
History
The scroll of create monster 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.
Variants
FIQHack
In FIQHack, the scroll of create monster is replaced by the scroll of summoning.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, Cartomancers start the game with three scrolls of create monster.
While playing as a Cartomancer, each time a monster leaves a corpse, they have a 1⁄2 chance of dropping a scroll of create monster instead: this scroll is keyed to the type of the monster that was killed, and reading a keyed scroll of create monster that is not cursed will create a tame version of that monster—a cursed scroll will create a hostile version of the monster. A pet created this way remains for a minimum of 15 and a maximum of turns equal to the Cartomancer's experience level times four, after which the monster vanishes in a puff of smoke. For other roles reading these special scrolls (e.g. via bones), the monster created will only last for 5-10 turns.
Dal Zethire, the Cartomancer quest nemesis, is generated with 1-3 cursed scrolls of create monster.
