Acererak - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: lede, temp, gen

2026-02-23T09:13:07Z

lede, temp, gen

Umbire the Phantom: potholes et. al.

2025-01-29T18:22:18Z

potholes et. al.

Umbire the Phantom: /* As a spirit */ copyedit

2024-12-29T23:35:21Z

‎As a spirit: copyedit

Umbire the Phantom: /* Origin */ copyedit

2024-12-29T23:31:22Z

‎Origin: copyedit

Umbire the Phantom: nndnh

2024-12-29T23:30:11Z

nndnh

Umbire the Phantom: /* As a spirit */ copy

2024-02-13T01:33:04Z

‎As a spirit: copy

Umbire the Phantom: /* Origin */ punc

2024-02-06T15:09:19Z

‎Origin: punc

Umbire the Phantom: typo

2024-01-19T06:16:16Z

typo

Umbire the Phantom: tweaks

2023-12-15T20:48:13Z

tweaks

Umbire the Phantom: /* Generation */ re-org

2023-12-12T01:10:34Z

‎Generation: re-org

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
   |frequency=0
   |genocidable=No
-  |attacks=Weapon 4d4 physical, Touch 5d6 [[life drain]], [[dNetHack monster spells|Spellcasting]] 0d0 mage, Gaze attack 2d6 [[life drain]]
+  |attacks=Weapon 4d4 physical, [[Touch attack|touch]] 5d6 [[Drain life (monster attack)|life drain]], [[dNetHack monster spells|spellcasting]] 0d0 mage, [[gaze]] 2d6 life drain
   |weight=1200
   |nutr=100
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
   |attributes={{attributes|Acererak|amphibious=1|breathless=1|humanoid=1|regen=1|seeinvis=1|pois=1|undead=1|male=1|hostile=1|strong=1|collect=1|magic=1|wantsamul=1|wantsarti=1|wantsall=1|covetous=1|infravision=1|death=1}}
 }}
-{{varquestmon|Acererak|Binder|nemesis|dNetHack|notdNetHack|notnotdNetHack}}. He is a powerful [[Lich (monster class)|lich]] that guards the [[Bell of Opening]] and will also have the Binder [[quest artifact]], [[The Pen of the Void]], if it has not yet been obtained. Acererak has a weapon attack, a [[life drain]]ing touch, a spellcasting attack, and a gaze that can also drain life.
+{{varquestmon|Acererak|Binder|nemesis|dNetHack|notdNetHack|notnotdNetHack}}. He is a powerful [[Lich (monster class)|lich]] that guards the [[Bell of Opening]], and he will also have the Binder [[quest artifact]] [[The Pen of the Void]] if it has not yet been obtained by a Binder [[hero]].
-Defeating Acererak restores The Pen of the Void, to its [[The Pen of the Void#Dual Blade Form|double-bladed form]], making it a [[double damage]] weapon and increasing the effects of spirits bound into it - this will also teach you his seal, so you can bind him as [[#As a spirit|a spirit]].
+Acererak has a weapon attack, a [[Drain life (monster attack)|life-draining]] [[touch attack]], the ability to [[dNetHack monster spells|cast one mage spell]] per round, and a [[gaze]] that can also drain life. He possesses [[fire resistance]], [[cold resistance]], [[sleep resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[poison resistance]], [[stoning resistance]], [[drain resistance]], and [[death resistance]].
 ==Generation==
-Acererak is not generated on level creation, and instead only appears when the unaligned [[altar]] at the far right of the [[Binder quest]] goal level is converted through sacrifice. The room containing the altar has three doors, which can only be opened by converting the altars within the three temples outside the room.
+Acererak is always generated hostile, and he is not a valid polymorph form or generation target. He is only generated for Binders.
-If you are a Binder and have not received The Pen of the Void as a [[sacrifice gift]], it will generate in the possession of Acererak.
+Acererak is [[always generated with]] the Bell of Opening, as well as a cursed +5 [[athame]] that will be made into The Pen of the Void if the [[artifact]] has not yet been generated for the Binder hero.
 ==Strategy==
-Acererak is an undead spellcaster, so all the usual suggestions for dealing with high-level liches apply here. Additionally, Acererak has a tendency to teleport constantly around the level while fighting, so standing on the up [[stairs]] is suggested to ensure that you can actually do enough damage.
+Acererak is an undead spellcaster, so all the usual suggestions for dealing with high-level liches in dNetHack apply here. Additionally, Acererak has a tendency to teleport constantly around the level while fighting, so standing on the up [[stairs]] is suggested to ensure that you can actually deal enough damage in time.
-Binding spirits that provide extra attacks will help make short work of Acererak, particularly for high-level binders with a well-enchanted Pen of the Void. Recommended seals include [[Spirits (dNetHack)#Miska, the Wolf-Spider|Miska]], which can be learned from the Rod of Seven Parts on top of the Arcadian Tower in the [[Law quest (dNethack)|Law Quest]], and can be bound using the lava on Acererak's level; Miska provides up to four extra attacks for Binders at levels 26 or higher, not including additional two-weaponing). Visiting the Law Quest also may provide an opportunity to tame Lady Oona, who can also make relatively quick work of Acererak, as can other strong pets.
+Binding spirits that provide extra attacks will help make short work of Acererak, particularly for high-level Binders with a well-enchanted Pen of the Void. [[Spirits (dNetHack)#Miska, the Wolf-Spider|Miska]] is among the most recommended seals for this purpose: his seal can be learned from [[the Rod of Seven Parts]] on top of the Arcadian Tower in the [[Law quest (dNetHack)|Law Quest]], and can be bound using the lava on Acererak's level&mdash;Miska provides up to four extra attacks for Binders at [[experience level]] 26 or higher, not including additional two-weaponing. Visiting the Law Quest also may provide an opportunity to [[tame]] Lady Oona, who can also make relatively quick work of Acererak, as can other strong pets.
 ==As a spirit==
-Once he is destroyed, '''Acererak, the Demi-Lich''' can be bound as a spirit. Acererak can naturally only be bound by a Binder.
+Once he is destroyed, a Binder hero can bind '''Acererak, the Demi-Lich''' as a spirit.
 Binding [[Dahlver-Nar]] expels Acererak if the hero has him bound&mdash;this does does not drain a level as with other broken spirit taboos, though the timeout still applies should the hero wish to re-bind Acererak. Binding Acererak will in turn expel Dahlver-Nar, with the same conditions.
-While Acererak is bound, the hero has gemstones for eyes that can be seen from a distance: they can be hidden by any facial covering, even a [[pair of lenses]]. Binding Acererak grants [[weldproof]]ing, preventing cursed equipment from welding to the hero's person - this does not protect against the other effects of cursed items.
+While Acererak is bound, the hero has gemstones for eyes that can be seen from a distance: they can be hidden by any facial covering, even a [[pair of lenses]]. Binding Acererak grants [[weldproof]]ing, preventing cursed equipment from welding to the hero's person&mdash;this does not protect against the other effects of cursed items.
 Acererak's active powers are as follows:
@@ Line 45: / Line 49: @@
 * '''Swallow Soul''': The hero can suck out and consume the soul of one adjacent living creature that lacks [[drain resistance]] and has a lower level than them. This restores one lost level as with a blessed [[potion of full healing]], and will otherwise heal up to xd4 HP, where ''x'' is the monster's level.
-Acererak's passive powers are as follows:
+His passive powers are as follows:
 * '''Speak with Dead''': The hero can [[chat]] to undead if they are of a higher level in order to pacify and fully heal them, and can also chat to the corpses of non-[[animal]], non-[[mindless]] creatures to hear [[rumors]] from them, which have equal chances of being true or false; hearing rumors this way has a cooldown of [[rnz]](100) turns.
@@ Line 58: / Line 62: @@
 ==Encyclopedia entry==
 {{encyclopedia|
-  Ages past, a human magic-user/cleric of surpassing evil took the steps necessary to preserve his life force beyond the centuries he had already lived, and this creature became the lich, Acererak. Over the scores of years which followed, the lich dwelled with hordes of ghastly servants in the gloomy stone halls of the very hill where the Tomb is. Eventually even the undead life force of Acererak began to wane, so for the next 8 decades, the lich’s servants labored to create the Tomb of Horrors. Then Acererak destroyed all of his slaves and servitors, magically hid the entrance to his halls, and went to his final haunt, while his soul roamed strange planes unknown to even the wisest of sages.|[ Tomb of Horrors, by Gary Gygax ]
+  Ages past, a human magic-user/cleric of surpassing evil took the steps necessary to preserve his life force beyond the centuries he had already lived, and this creature became the lich, Acererak. Over the scores of years which followed, the lich dwelled with hordes of ghastly servants in the gloomy stone halls of the very hill where the Tomb is. Eventually even the undead life force of Acererak began to wane, so for the next 8 decades, the lich’s servants labored to create the Tomb of Horrors. Then Acererak destroyed all of his slaves and servitors, magically hid the entrance to his halls, and went to his final haunt, while his soul roamed strange planes unknown to even the wisest of sages.
 }}
 {{variant-343}}

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
   |frequency=0
   |genocidable=No
-  |attacks=Weapon 4d4 physical, Touch 5d6 [[life drain]], Cast 0d0 [[mage spell]], Gaze attack 2d6 [[life drain]]
+  |attacks=Weapon 4d4 physical, Touch 5d6 [[life drain]], [[dNetHack monster spells|Spellcasting]] 0d0 mage, Gaze attack 2d6 [[life drain]]
   |weight=1200
   |nutr=100
   |size=medium
-  |resistances=[[fire]], [[cold]], [[sleep]], [[shock]], [[poison]], [[petrification]]
+  |resistances=[[fire resistance]], [[cold resistance]], [[sleep resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[poison resistance]], [[stoning resistance]]
-  |resistances conveyed=[[fire]], [[cold]]
+  |resistances conveyed=[[fire resistance]], [[cold resistance]]
   |attributes={{attributes|Acererak|amphibious=1|breathless=1|humanoid=1|regen=1|seeinvis=1|pois=1|undead=1|male=1|hostile=1|strong=1|collect=1|magic=1|wantsamul=1|wantsarti=1|wantsall=1|covetous=1|infravision=1|death=1}}
 }}

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 Once he is destroyed, '''Acererak, the Demi-Lich''' can be bound as a spirit. Acererak can naturally only be bound by a Binder.
-Binding [[Dahlver-Nar]] expels Acererak if you have him bound; this does does not drain a level as with other broken spirit taboos, though the timeout still applies should you wish to re-bind Acererak. Binding Acererak will in turn expel Dahlver-Nar, with the same conditions.
+Binding [[Dahlver-Nar]] expels Acererak if the hero has him bound&mdash;this does does not drain a level as with other broken spirit taboos, though the timeout still applies should the hero wish to re-bind Acererak. Binding Acererak will in turn expel Dahlver-Nar, with the same conditions.
-While Acererak is bound, you have gemstones for eyes that can be seen from a distance; they can be hidden by any facial covering, even a [[pair of lenses]]. Binding Acererak confers [[weldproof]]ing, preventing cursed equipment from welding to you - this does not protect against the other effects of cursed items.
+While Acererak is bound, the hero has gemstones for eyes that can be seen from a distance: they can be hidden by any facial covering, even a [[pair of lenses]]. Binding Acererak grants [[weldproof]]ing, preventing cursed equipment from welding to the hero's person - this does not protect against the other effects of cursed items.
 Acererak's active powers are as follows:
-* '''Swallow Soul''': You can suck out and consume the soul of one adjacent living creature that lacks [[drain resistance]] and has a lower level than you. This restores one lost level as with a blessed [[potion of full healing]], and will otherwise heal up to xd4 HP, where ''x'' is the monster's level.
+* '''Swallow Soul''': The hero can suck out and consume the soul of one adjacent living creature that lacks [[drain resistance]] and has a lower level than them. This restores one lost level as with a blessed [[potion of full healing]], and will otherwise heal up to xd4 HP, where ''x'' is the monster's level.
 Acererak's passive powers are as follows:
-* '''Speak with Dead''': You can [[chat]] to undead if you are of a higher level in order to pacify and fully heal them. You can also chat to the corpses of non-[[animal]], non-[[mindless]] creatures to hear [[rumors]] from them, which have equal chances of being true or false; hearing rumors this way has a cooldown of [[rnz]](100) turns.
+* '''Speak with Dead''': The hero can [[chat]] to undead if they are of a higher level in order to pacify and fully heal them, and can also chat to the corpses of non-[[animal]], non-[[mindless]] creatures to hear [[rumors]] from them, which have equal chances of being true or false; hearing rumors this way has a cooldown of [[rnz]](100) turns.
-* '''Death Sense''': You can [[Warned of monster type|sense all undead]] on the current level.
+* '''Death Sense''': The hero can [[Warned of monster type|sense all undead]] on the current level.
 ==Origin==

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ==Origin==
 {{wikipedia|Acererak}}
-Acererak the Devourer is a character that originates from the Greyhawk setting of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. He was once a cambion, a demonic offspring of a powerful summoned balor named Tarnhem and a human woman. Ten years after his conception, she was killed by a torch-wielding mob, and the young half-demon was rescued by [[Vecna]]; the Whispered One killed his advisors when they urged him to kill the child, and instead took on Acererak as an apprentice. The ten-year-old Acererak loathed life and looked forward to becoming undead like his master - during Vecna's siege of Fleeth, the lich was severely wounded and rescued by Acererak, earning him a promotion.
+Acererak the Devourer is a character that originates from the Greyhawk setting of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. He was once a cambion, a demonic offspring of a powerful summoned balor named Tarnhem and a human woman: ten years after his conception, she was killed by a torch-wielding mob, and the young half-demon was rescued by [[Vecna]]; the Whispered One killed his advisors when they urged him to kill the child, and instead took on Acererak as an apprentice. The ten-year-old Acererak loathed life and looked forward to becoming undead like his master - during Vecna's siege of Fleeth, the lich was severely wounded and rescued by Acererak, earning him a promotion.
-As he worked to achieve lichdom, Acererak constructed a number of dungeons and tombs in order to draw out and defeat adventurers, claiming their souls for his phylactery: one of these tombs was the infamous [[wikipedia:Tomb of Horrors|Tomb of Horrors]]. Acererak fully succumbed to the lure of lichcraft and had himself buried in the labyrinthine tomb, where he achieved demi-lichdom and leaves his body behind for the planes beyond. The sequel module ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' retcons this, instead portraying the Tomb as an antechamber to Acererak's true dwelling: a lost city on the Negative Energy Plane's border, where he plots to fuse his essence with the plane and gain multiversal control over all undead.
+As he worked to achieve lichdom, Acererak constructed a number of dungeons and tombs in order to draw out and defeat adventurers, claiming their souls for his phylactery: one of these tombs was the infamous [[wikipedia:Tomb of Horrors|Tomb of Horrors]]. Eventually, Acererak fully succumbed to the lure of lichcraft and had himself buried in the labyrinthine tomb, where he achieved demi-lichdom and leaves his body behind for the planes beyond. The sequel module ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' retcons this, instead portraying the Tomb as an antechamber to Acererak's true dwelling: a lost city on the Negative Energy Plane's border, where he plots to fuse his essence with the plane and gain multiversal control over all undead. In either case, Acererak is thwarted by the player adventurers and destroyed; in the 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', he lingers on after his passing as a vestige that can be summoned and bound by Binders, the basis for his role as the Binder quest nemesis.
 ==Encyclopedia entry==

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
   |attributes={{attributes|Acererak|amphibious=1|breathless=1|humanoid=1|regen=1|seeinvis=1|pois=1|undead=1|male=1|hostile=1|strong=1|collect=1|magic=1|wantsamul=1|wantsarti=1|wantsall=1|covetous=1|infravision=1|death=1}}
 }}
-{{varquestmon|Acererak|Binder|nemesis|dNetHack|notdNetHack}}. He is a powerful [[Lich (monster class)|lich]] that guards the [[Bell of Opening]] and will also have the Binder [[quest artifact]], [[The Pen of the Void]], if it has not yet been obtained. Acererak has a weapon attack, a [[life drain]]ing touch, a spellcasting attack, and a gaze that can also drain life.
+{{varquestmon|Acererak|Binder|nemesis|dNetHack|notdNetHack|notnotdNetHack}}. He is a powerful [[Lich (monster class)|lich]] that guards the [[Bell of Opening]] and will also have the Binder [[quest artifact]], [[The Pen of the Void]], if it has not yet been obtained. Acererak has a weapon attack, a [[life drain]]ing touch, a spellcasting attack, and a gaze that can also drain life.
 Defeating Acererak restores The Pen of the Void, to its [[The Pen of the Void#Dual Blade Form|double-bladed form]], making it a [[double damage]] weapon and increasing the effects of spirits bound into it - this will also teach you his seal, so you can bind him as [[#As a spirit|a spirit]].
@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 [[Category:dNetHack spirits]]
 [[Category:notdNetHack spirits]]