Spellbook of charm monster
| spellbook of + charm monster 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 2% |
| Base price | 300 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Turns to read | 8 |
| Ink to write | 15–29 |
| Spell type | enchantment |
| Level | 3 |
| Power cost | 15 Pw |
| Direction | non-directional |
| Equivalent | scroll of taming |
| Special for | tourist |
In NetHack, the spellbook of charm monster can be read to learn the spell of charm monster. It is a level 3 enchantment spell, and the spellbook takes 8 actions to read. It is the special spell for Tourists.[1][2]
Contents
Generation
Wizards may be given a spellbook of charm monster as the secondary spellbook in their starting inventory.[3]
Spellbooks of charm monster make up 1⁄50 (2%) of all randomly-generated spellbooks. General stores, second-hand bookstores and rare books stores can stock spellbooks of charm monster.
An aligned priest can be generated with the spellbook of charm monster as one of their spellbooks.[4]
Writing a spellbook of charm monster with a magic marker uses up 15 to 29 charges.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit d42efcdd, the spellbook of invisibility generated in a chest generated within a random closet on the middle level of Vlad's Tower may be randomly replaced with a spellbook of charm monster.
Per commit c73595cc, the spell of charm monster is raised to a level 5 spell, meaning that Wizards can no longer start the game with the spellbook. The spellbook of charm monster takes 25 to 49 charges to write with a magic marker, and since its defined delay is unchanged it takes 17 actions to read (15 from its level and 2 from fencepost errors).Description
At all skill levels, the spell of charm monster behaves the same as reading a non-cursed scroll of taming:[5][6] when successfully cast, the spell will attempt to pacify or tame monsters adjacent to the hero.[7][8] Monsters will be un-scared, and are pacified or made into pets unless they succeed a roll against their MR score, and angry shopkeepers are pacified regardless of their MR score.[9][10][11][12] If the spell is cast while the hero is engulfed, the spell will only affect the engulfer and they will release the hero if they are tamed or pacified by it.[13]
Covetous monsters, minions and humans such as guards, aligned priests and shopkeepers can only be made peaceful, and the same is true of major demons unless the hero is polymorphed into a major demon.[14] The Wizard of Yendor, Medusa and the quest nemeses cannot be pacified or tamed.[15]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 231bd75b, the spell of charm monster and may increase the tameness of already-tame monsters up to a maximum of 10. The lower the pet's tameness, the more likely it gains a point of tameness, and if the spell of charm monster was cast at Skilled or higher, it will then boost tameness by a further 2 points (still capped at 10).Strategy
The spell of charm monster is one of the better spells available to heroes that can train enchantment spells, and even players using other roles that are restricted in the spell school may consider the spell if they can raise their intelligence and/or wisdom and find a spellcasting aid such as a robe or helm of brilliance. Any role that can reliably cast the spell can utilize it in emergencies to pacify or even tame sufficiently dangerous monsters in all sorts of pinch situations; the spell can help turn the tables on a hostile spellcaster using summon nasties by turning some or all of the freshly summoned monsters against them!
Very few monsters in the early stages of the game have an appreciable MR score, and while some monsters such as soldier ants may not be especially strong pets, any character will prefer a tamed ant to a hostile one that ends their game—the spell can also get most vulnerable hostiles off the hero's back, up to and including watch members, aligned priests and shopkeepers that you accidentally angered, though priests in particular will be difficult to pacify with their MR score of 50 (while shopkeepers have their MR score bypassed). Several late-game monsters such as dragons, minotaurs, purple worms, and mastodons also have a low or non-existent MR score and will often be pacified or tamed by the spell, while others such as arch-liches have such a high level and MR score that you may be unable to even pacify them at all.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
The spell's level being raised makes it much harder for a hero to utilize unless they are a primary caster and/or can train enchantment skills, and most heroes that are restricted will have a very hard time making it reliable. However, its improvements do make inediate pets more viable to keep around.History
The spellbook of charm monster and its spell first appear in NetHack 1.3d.
Messages
- Nothing interesting happens.
- You cast the spell with no monsters in range.
- Nothing interesting seems to happen.
- You cast the spell with monsters in range that were not tamed.
- The neighborhood <is/seems> friendlier.
- You cast the spell and tamed at least one monster, with "seems" swapped for "is" if you cannot see the results.
Variants
Some variants of NetHack raise the level of the charm monster spell, and separately add limits to the amount of pets that a hero can keep at once.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the spell of charm monster is raised to a level 5 enchantment spell and altered to be a single-target spell. The hero's limit on pets is also CHA3, and taming a pet that would exceed this limit will cause the weakest pet to untame after a few turns. The pacify monster spell is a weaker "replacement" that is a level 3 enchantment spell and can pacify adjacent monsters.
Yuki-onna heroes have a significant reduction in failure rate for the spell of charm monster.
Dispater is always generated with a spellbook of charm monster.
Knowledge of the charm monster spell is required to perform "Friendship" via the musicalize spell skill, unless the hero is either a Troubadour or has the spirit Orthos bound.
One of the invoke effects for the Rod of Seven Parts casts the charm monster spell, which uses up 5 points from the artifact's current enchantment and requires a minimum enchantment of +5.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the spell of charm monster is raised to a level 6 enchantment spell.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the spell of charm monster is raised to a level 5 enchantment spell. The hero's limit on pets is also CHA3, and taming a pet that would exceed this limit will cause the pet with the lowest level to untame (with ties broken randomly). The hero's current steed will not untame this way while the hero is riding them.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, the spell of charm monster is also the special spell of the Jedi and Zookeeper.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, the spell of charm monster is raised to a level 4 enchantment spell.
The command undead spell is an undead-specific variation of the charm monster spell.
References
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 83
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 499
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 169
- ↑ src/priest.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 264
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1152: case calls seffects() in read.c
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1155: all spells with scroll equivalents fall through to this line
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 930:
maybetamefunction - ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1402: both the scroll and spell call
maybetame - ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 942
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 944
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 866
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 876
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1405
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 924
- ↑ src/dog.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 871
