Shuriken
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | shuriken |
| Appearance | throwing star |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 |
| To-hit bonus | +2 |
| Weapon skill | [[shuriken]] |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 5 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 1 |
| Material | iron |
A shuriken is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. The shuriken is a one-handed stackable projectile that is designed to be thrown and uses the shuriken skill. It is made of iron, and appears as a throwing star when unidentified.
Generation
Barbarians, Knights, Monks, Samurai, and Valkyries start the game with knowledge of the shuriken's appearance.[1]
Shuriken make up 7⁄200 (3.5%) 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 shuriken.
- Ninja have a 3⁄4 chance of being generated with a stack of shuriken.[2]
- Player monsters monks that are created on the Astral Plane have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a stack of shuriken.[3]
Shuriken skill
| Shuriken | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
Shuriken are the only weapons to use the shuriken skill, which is trained by throwing them. There are no artifact shuriken.
Description
Shuriken are ineffective in melee, and must be used by throwing or firing them. Like some other missile weapons, they gain bonuses from a hero's strength, can misfire if cursed, and have a chance of mulching upon hitting a target based on their enchantment, their beatitude and the hero's luck (if they are the one throwing.[4] Dipping shuriken in a potion of sickness will poison them, adding +d6 damage and a 1⁄10 chance of instadeath per hit against monsters without poison resistance.
Monks, ninja and player monster monks gain a +1 multishot bonus when throwing shuriken.[5][6]
Strategy
Each shuriken weighs only 1 aum similar to darts, and their damage when thrown eclipses that of daggers—they are stellar weapons to enchant and poison (especially if you are not lawful), and are best employed against dangerous melee-range threats such as mind flayers. Their to-hit bonus can also help offset the penalty for throwing them at Unskilled.
In practice, the shuriken's rarity makes it difficult to train the skill or make long-term use of them without polypiling; a wish can be used to either procure a stack of shuriken directly, or more commonly to obtain something for polypiling them with (e.g. a wand of polymorph). Samurai are the primary exception to this "rule", as ninja generate exclusively in the Samurai quest and often carry shuriken that make it easier for a Samurai hero to assemble and enchant a stockpile, which can then be maintained as they train the skill to Expert (especially with high luck).
Skill levels
Of the other three roles that can attain Skilled in shuriken, Healers can also reach Skilled in daggers and sling, as well as Expert in darts: all three are far more common, but generally deal less damage and are overall heavier to carry—darts are the only option of those three that can be poisoned and multishot, and are just as light as shuriken. Rangers gain multishot bonuses with arrows and many other projectiles, as do Rogues using daggers, and will often prefer the more accessible ranged options.
Monks are in a unique situation compared to the other roles: they can only reach Basic in shuriken, but their role-specific multishot bonus makes it their best non-melee weapon by far—of the other options available, spears are generally heavy, and crossbow bolts require that the character keep a crossbow wielded. Weaponless Monks (and weaponless conduct players in general) may consider enchanting and blessing any shuriken they find or even polypiling for them, and they also provide Monks in particular with a use for scrolls of enchant weapon.
History
The shuriken is first introduced in NetHack 1.3d alongside the Samurai and the now-defunct Ninja role. Samurai from NetHack 1.3d to NetHack 3.0.10 start the game with a stack of up to 9 shuriken that may be blessed;[7][8] Ninja from NetHack 1.3d to NetHack 2.3e start the game with up to 25 shuriken.[9][10]
Origin
A shuriken (手裏剣, literally "hidden hand blade") is a Japanese concealed weapon used to distract or misdirect enemies. Though they are also known in Western cultures as throwing stars, or ninja stars, they were originally designed in many different shapes - there are a few major varieties of shuriken such as the dart-like bō shuriken (棒手裏剣, "stick shuriken"), with the star-shaped ones being known as hira shuriken (平手裏剣, "flat shuriken") or shaken (車剣, "wheel shuriken"). The curriculum of many famous swordsmanship and martial arts schools taught the art of wielding shuriken, and they were often seen as important tactical supplements to the sword or various other weapons in a samurai's arsenal.
Variants
Some variants make shuriken easier to obtain through certain methods.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, gnoll shamans always generate with a stack of 3-14 shuriken.[11]
dNetHack
dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add shuriken to the Samurai's expanded list of Japanese item names, and they will appear as "hira-shuriken" to Samurai—of note is that darts are called "bo-shuriken" for Samurai.
Astaroth is a spirit with an active power that can fire a barrage of shuriken in random directions at the cost of some HP.
If a character has morgul shards embedded in them, they can pay a non-hostile nurse 4000 zm to extract the shards from them: each shard removed creates a metal shuriken with the "lesser morgul" object property.
Some monsters can be generated with shuriken:
- Garo may be generated with a stack of shuriken, and the unique garo master always generates carrying shuriken.
- Maids may generate with a stack of shuriken for non-Samurai heroes.
- Master Kaen will generate with a stack of up to 48 golden shuriken.
The Fuma-itto no Ken is an artifact that can be invoked to create shuriken.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, shuriken appear as razor cards for Cartomancers.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, stacks of shuriken can be given to a player as a "minor" gift from their god via sacrifice, and gifted shuriken will be erodeproofed and often enchanted if the hero has not committed much alignment abuse. Monks that maintain weaponless conduct will frequently receive shuriken when given a gift this way.
3-4 shuriken can be created at a forge by combining 2 darts and a dagger.
Most roles have fairly early access to forging components for shuriken, and characters that are played patiently can create stockpiles of shuriken made of specific materials and/or possessing specific object properties.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, shuriken are known by different names to Samurai and Ninja, similar to dNetHack: "standard" shuriken appear as "hira-shuriken", while darts are called "bo-shuriken".
SlashTHEM also adds the Fuma-itto no Ken from dNetHack, which retains its invoke ability and acts as the quest artifact for the revived Ninja role.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, in addition to EvilHack forging recipes, 2 shuriken can be combined with an iron chain at a forge to create a spiked chain.
Encyclopedia entry
You know, that's what I hate most about fighting against magic:
you never know what they're trying to do to you until it hits.
The sorceress knew what hit her, however. Two of the shuriken
got past whatever defenses she had. One caught her just below
the throat, the other in the middle of her chest. It wouldn't
kill her, but she wouldn't be fighting anyone for a while.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 705-L707: starting knowledge for monks
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 270-L271
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 199: monks will always have no melee weapon regardless
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1451-L1470: thrown missile's damage bonus from strength
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 53-L57
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 68-L71
- ↑ u_init.c in NetHack 3.0.0, line 200
- ↑ NetHack 3.0.10 u_init.c, line 206
- ↑ u_init.c in NetHack 2.3e, line 184
- ↑ u_init.c in NetHack 3.0.0, line 200
- ↑ makemon.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 718
