Short sword
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | short sword |
| Appearance | short sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | short sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 10 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | iron |
A short sword is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a one-handed melee weapon that is made of iron.
Samurai know the short sword as a wakizashi.
Contents
Generation
Some roles of hero can start the game with a short sword:
- Barbarians have a 1⁄2 chance of starting each game with a +0 short sword as their one-handed weapon.[1][2]
- Rogues start each game with a each game with a +0 short sword as their primary weapon.[3]
- Samurai start each game with a each game with a +0 wakizashi as their secondary melee weapon.[4]
- Elven heroes in any roles that start with a short sword are given an elven short sword instead[5]—this does not currently apply to any roles.
- Orcish heroes in any roles that start with a short sword are given an orcish short sword instead, which applies for Barbarians and Rogues.[6]
- Dwarven heroes in any roles that start with a short sword are given an dwarvish short sword instead[7]—this does not currently apply to any roles.
The short sword makes up 1⁄125 (0.8%) of all weapons that are randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapons outlets can also stock short swords.
Several monsters can be generated with short swords:
- Watchmen and soldiers have an effective 1⁄3 chance of generating with a short sword.[8]
- Ninja have a 3⁄4 chance of generating with a short sword as their melee weapon.[9]
- Chieftains, pages, roshi, and warriors have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a short sword as their melee weapon.[10]
- Hunters have a 2⁄3 chance of generating with a short sword.[11]
- Skeletons have an effective 1⁄12 chance of generating with a short sword.[12]
- Player monsters, including those generated on the Astral Plane, have a low 2⁄291 chance (effectively ~0.69%) of generating with a broadsword as their weapon before role-based replacements are applied.[13] Rogues have a further 1⁄4 chance of forcing a short sword as their primary weapon, raising their effective chance to ~25.52%.[14]
Short sword skill
| Short sword | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The following weapons use the short sword skill:
- short sword
- dwarvish short sword
- elven short sword
- orcish short sword
All short swords weigh 30 aum and have a base price of 10 zorkmids. There are no artifact short swords.
Strategy
The short sword can be decent as an offhand weapon for early twoweaponing, but is generally outclassed by long swords and similar weapons in most cases. A Samurai's katana in particular is typically used as an offhand weapon once they obtain an artifact weapon.
History
The short sword first appears in NetHack 1.3d, which introduces the Samurai, Elf and Ninja roles.
From NetHack 1.3d to NetHack 2.3e, all Elves start the game with a short sword. From NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.2.3, including some variants based on those versions, the Elf starts with an elven short sword instead if the TOLKIEN compile-time option is enabled.
The Samurai's starting short sword first appears in NetHack 2.2a, while NetHack 3.0.0 introduces the Rogue role to replace the Ninja and establishes the short sword as part of their starting inventory.
Origin
The short sword as depicted in NetHack comes from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Historically, there has never been a specific type of "short sword": swords from the Bronze and Iron Ages were necessarily shorter, as a long blade requires high-quality steel that was unavailable. From the medieval and later periods, some types of larger daggers or knives (such as the seax) may be described as short swords, given that there is no single agreed-upon length for what qualifies a bladed weapon of this type as a sword.
The wakizashi is a short type of sword from feudal Japan. Due to sumptuary laws and arms regulation, commoners (i.e. non-samurai) were not allowed to wear swords beyond a certain length; as a result, the wakizashi was a commoner's weapon. For samurai, however, a long katana together with a wakizashi was considered an indication of their elevated social status. Transliterated, the term means "side-inserted sword", referring to how the small, handy weapon could be worn at one's side, analogous to the modern term "sidearm".
Variants
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds the silver short sword and dark elven short sword as weapons that use the short sword skill. All short sword weapons can be poisoned.
Four artifact weapons use the short sword skill:
- Quick Blade (elven short sword)
- Luckblade (short sword)
- Sword of Balance (silver short sword)
- Doomblade (orcish short sword)
Upgrading a short sword will produce a dwarvish short sword, and upgrading an orcish short sword will produce a short sword.
A humanoid monster that is not strong and has a weapon attack, the ability to wield weapons and no other ruleset governing its monster starting inventory will have a chance of generating with a short sword, unless they are being generated on the Rogue level:[15] the base odds are 1⁄14 for normal monsters, 1⁄12 for a monster that is a lord or nasty, 1⁄10 for a monster that is either an overlord or else is both a lord and nasty, and 1⁄8 for a monster that is both nasty and an overlord.
The Lawful Quest has a 2⁄5 chance of generating a cursed -3 short sword named 'Chaosbane' among the items found in the Chamber of Junk during level creation.
SporkHack
SporkHack adds the silver short sword as a weapon that uses the short sword skill.
dNetHack
dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add several weapons that use the short sword skill, including making a separate weapon out of the wakizashi:
- droven short sword
- church shortsword
- mirrorblade
- khopesh
- wakizashi
- blade of mercy (and blade of grace)
- hunter's shortsword
- vibroblade
- force blade
All short sword-skill weapons can be poisoned by dipping them in the appropriated potion.
Enki is a spirit that grants skill in short swords while bound.
A hero that wields the short sword weapon while they are at Skilled or better in short swords gains the "focus fire" and "create opening" expert traits. In terms of monster weapon preference, monsters will favor a short sword over the partisan (if they can use polearms in melee) and saw cleaver, and will prefer a hunter's shortsword or better to the short sword.
There are some artifacts that use the short sword skill:
- Luck Blade is a chaotic Convict-favoring short sword that acts as the role's first sacrifice gift. It has +1d7 to-hit and deals +1d7 damage versus all monsters, uses luck-based damage dice, and acts as a luckstone while carried.
- Spineseeker is a chaotic short sword that has +1 to-hit and deals +1d6 damage versus all monsters. It grants stealth while wielded and adds extra damage dice for sneak attacks and backstabs, making sneak attacks available to non-Rogue roles.
- Lolth's Fang is an intelligent drow-favoring silvered droven short sword that acts as the crowning gift for chaotic and neutral drow. It has +1d5 to-hit and deals +1d10 acid damage against non-resistant monsters, is permanently poisoned, and adds extra damage dice for sneak attacks. Lolth's Fang also grants drain resistance while wielded.
- Avarice is an intelligent lawful large-sized short sword wielded by Mammon. It has +1d10 to-hit and deals +1 damage, stealing items from targets that it hits.
- Sunsword is a silvered golden long sword that uses (and trains) the higher of the two between the character's short sword and long sword skills.
- Fire Brand and Frost Brand can be generated, wished for or reshaped into short sword form.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, Fire Brand and Frost Brand have their base item types changed to short swords.
SpliceHack
SpliceHack adds the gladius as a weapon that uses the short sword skill.
Two short swords can be combined at a furnace to create a long sword.
EvilHack
EvilHack adds the dark elven short sword as a weapon that uses the short sword skill, which is significantly different from its implementation in SLASH'EM.
Soldiers and watchmen that do not have a race-specific short sword may generate with a short sword. Agents of the gods have a 3⁄4 chance of generating with a short sword. Player monster barbarians and giant and tortle player samurai generate with short swords.
A short sword can be created at a forge by combining a dagger and 2 crossbow bolts. Short swords can be used to create several items:
- A short sword can be combined with a dwarvish spear to create a dwarvish short sword.
- A short sword can be combined with a knife to create a scimitar.
- A short sword can be combined with a scimitar to create a broadsword.
- Two short swords can be combined to create a long sword.
- A short sword can be combined with a spear to create a glaive.
As in xNetHack, Fire Brand and Frost Brand are changed to short swords.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, five new artifacts use the short sword skill:
- Clarent (short sword)
- Gladius (short sword)
- Heartseeker (short sword)
- Dirge (short sword)
- Slow Blade (orcish short sword)
The Undertaker quest goal level has the same layout as the Lawful Quest, including the 2⁄5 chance of generating a cursed -3 short sword named 'Chaosbane' in the Chamber of Junk during level creation.
Hack'EM
Hack'EM adds the gladius from SpliceHack as a weapon that uses the short sword skill, and retains the artifacts from SLASH'EM that use the skill.
Upgrading a short sword will produce an elven short sword, and upgrading an orcish short sword will produce a short sword.
In addition to forging recipes from EvilHack, a short sword can be combined with a broadsword to create a gladius.
Encyclopedia entry
Wazikashi
A wakizashi was used as a samurai's weapon when the katana
was unavailable. When entering a building, a samurai would
leave his katana on a rack near the entrance. However, the
wakizashi would be worn at all times, and therefore, it made
a sidearm for the samurai (similar to a soldier's use of a
pistol). The samurai would have worn it from the time they
awoke to the time they went to sleep. In earlier periods,
and especially during times of civil wars, a tanto was worn
in place of a wakizashi.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 63
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 666-L670
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 134
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 144
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 228
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 237
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 247
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 200-L202: 2⁄3 chance of not getting a polearm
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 272
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 296
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 308
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 492-L494: Skeletons are the only monster in the zombie monster class eligible to generate with weapons and armor
- ↑ 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 3.6.7, line 230
- ↑ makemon.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 203: Default set of cases for monster weapon generation in SLASH'EM
