Boojum (SporkHack) - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: touch-ups

2026-04-23T23:56:11Z

touch-ups

Umbire the Phantom: THEM

2025-02-21T13:08:09Z

THEM

Umbire the Phantom: word choice, potholes, etc.

2025-02-21T13:01:35Z

word choice, potholes, etc.

Umbire the Phantom: create

2025-02-21T12:53:31Z

create

New page

{{monster
|difficulty=22
|name=boojum
|tile=
|symbol={{yellow|J}}
|level=18
|experience=?
|speed=15
|AC=0
|MR=90
|align=0
|frequency=0
|genocidable=No
|attacks= bite 3d10 physical, claw 3d10 physical, claw 3d10 physical, claw 0d0 [[teleport]]
|weight=400
|nutr=200
|size=large
|resistances=[[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[disintegration resistance]]
|resistances conveyed=[[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[disintegration resistance]]
|attributes={{attributes|A boojum|fly=1|animal=1|carnivore=1|strong=1|seeinvis=1|nopoly=1|hostile=1|infravisible=1}}
|reference=[https://github.com/remirol/sporkhack/blob/033dcc3893f029d1a07016ff0a1603893c95d8e0/src/monst.c monst.c#line1651]
}}
{{for|the monster in EvilHack and Hack'EM|Boojum (EvilHack)}}
A '''boojum''', {{yellow|J}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SporkHack]]. The boojum is a type of [[Jabberwock (monster class)|jabberwock]] that shares most of its traits with [[Jabberwock|the namesake monster]] of its class, though it does not collect items, cannot be used as a [[steed]] for riding, and can also [[see invisible]].

Boojums have a strong bite attack, two strong claw attacks, and a claw attack that deals no damage but [[teleport]]s the victim and temporarily turns them [[invisible]]. Boojums possess [[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]] and [[disintegration resistance]].

[[Eating]] a boojum [[corpse]] or [[tin]] grants {{frac|20}} each (+5%) of [[Partial intrinsic|additional fire resistance, shock resistance and disintegration resistance]].

==Generation==
Boojums are not randomly generated and only appear when a [[snark]] transforms into one, which occurs very rarely when they are adjacent to the [[hero]]. They are not a valid target for polymorph or genocide.

==Strategy==
While boojums cannot be removed by [[genocide]], targeting snarks will prevent boojums from ever generating.

==Origin==
{{wikipedia|Snark (Lewis Carroll)}}
The snark is a fictional animal species created by [[wikipedia:Lewis Carroll|Lewis Carroll]], with the name "snark" being a portmanteau of "snake" and "shark". It is the titular creature of Carroll's nonsense poem, ''[[wikipedia:The Hunting of the Snark|The Hunting of the Snark]]''. According to Carroll himself, the initial inspiration to write the poem was what would be used as its final line: "For the snark was a boojum, you see."

Over the years Carroll was asked repeatedly to explain the snark's appearance, and in all cases his answer was that he did not know and could not explain—he is also cited as stating that his descriptions of the snark and other creatures within the poem were "unimaginable" and intended to remain so. Even so, later commentators have offered many analyses of the work as a whole: one notable criticism suggests that it may be a product of Carroll's grief at the loss of his favourite uncle, Skeffington Lutwidge.

The boojum is described as a particular variety of snark that causes one of the other characters (the Baker) to "softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again" at the end of the poem. This is the basis for its special teleporting claw attack in variants of ''NetHack'', as well as the ability for a snark to "become" a boojum upon getting close enough: the hero discovers the boojum at the last possible moment, just as the Baker does in the poem.
{{stub}}
{{variant-343}}
[[Category:SporkHack monsters]]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
   |frequency=0
   |genocidable=No
-  |attacks= bite 3d10 physical, claw 3d10 physical, claw 3d10 physical, claw 0d0 [[teleport]]
+  |attacks=[[Bite attack|Bite]] 3d10 [[Physical damage|physical]], [[Claw attack|claw]] 3d10 physical, claw 3d10 physical, claw 0d0 [[teleport]]
   |weight=400
   |nutr=200
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 A '''boojum''', {{yellow|J}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SporkHack]] and [[SlashTHEM]]. The boojum is a type of [[Jabberwock (monster class)|jabberwock]] that shares most of its traits with [[Jabberwock|the namesake monster]] of its class, though it does not collect items, cannot be used as a [[steed]] for riding, and can also [[see invisible]].
-Boojums have a strong bite attack, two strong claw attacks, and a claw attack that deals no damage but [[teleport]]s the victim and temporarily turns them [[invisible]]. Boojums possess [[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]] and [[disintegration resistance]].
+Boojums have a strong [[bite attack]], two strong [[claw attack]]s, and a third claw attack that deals no damage but [[teleport]]s the victim and temporarily turns them [[invisible]]. Boojums possess [[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]] and [[disintegration resistance]].
 [[Eating]] a boojum [[corpse]] or [[tin]] grants {{frac|20}} each (+5%) of [[Partial intrinsic|additional fire resistance, shock resistance and disintegration resistance]] in SporkHack, and has an equal probability of granting each resistance in SlashTHEM.
 ==Generation==
-Boojums are not randomly generated and only appear when a [[Snark (SporkHack)|snark]] transforms into one, which occurs very rarely when they are adjacent to the [[hero]]. They are not a valid target for polymorph or genocide.
+Boojums are not randomly generated and only appear when a [[Snark (SporkHack)|snark]] transforms into one, which occurs very rarely when they are adjacent to the [[hero]]. They are not a valid polymorph form or genocide target.
 ==Strategy==

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 }}
 {{for|the monster in EvilHack and Hack'EM|Boojum (EvilHack)}}
-A '''boojum''', {{yellow|J}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SporkHack]]. The boojum is a type of [[Jabberwock (monster class)|jabberwock]] that shares most of its traits with [[Jabberwock|the namesake monster]] of its class, though it does not collect items, cannot be used as a [[steed]] for riding, and can also [[see invisible]].
+A '''boojum''', {{yellow|J}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SporkHack]] and [[SlashTHEM]]. The boojum is a type of [[Jabberwock (monster class)|jabberwock]] that shares most of its traits with [[Jabberwock|the namesake monster]] of its class, though it does not collect items, cannot be used as a [[steed]] for riding, and can also [[see invisible]].
 Boojums have a strong bite attack, two strong claw attacks, and a claw attack that deals no damage but [[teleport]]s the victim and temporarily turns them [[invisible]]. Boojums possess [[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]] and [[disintegration resistance]].
-[[Eating]] a boojum [[corpse]] or [[tin]] grants {{frac|20}} each (+5%) of [[Partial intrinsic|additional fire resistance, shock resistance and disintegration resistance]].
+[[Eating]] a boojum [[corpse]] or [[tin]] grants {{frac|20}} each (+5%) of [[Partial intrinsic|additional fire resistance, shock resistance and disintegration resistance]] in SporkHack, and has an equal probability of granting each resistance in SlashTHEM.
 ==Generation==
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 {{variant-343}}
 [[Category:SporkHack monsters]]

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
   |size=large
   |resistances=[[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[disintegration resistance]]
-  |resistances conveyed=[[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[disintegration resistance]]
+  |resistances conveyed=[[fire resistance]] (+5%), [[shock resistance]] (+5%), [[disintegration resistance]] (+5%)
   |attributes={{attributes|A boojum|fly=1|animal=1|carnivore=1|strong=1|seeinvis=1|nopoly=1|hostile=1|infravisible=1}}
   |reference=[https://github.com/remirol/sporkhack/blob/033dcc3893f029d1a07016ff0a1603893c95d8e0/src/monst.c monst.c#line1651]
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 ==Generation==
-Boojums are not randomly generated and only appear when a [[snark]] transforms into one, which occurs very rarely when they are adjacent to the [[hero]]. They are not a valid target for polymorph or genocide.
+Boojums are not randomly generated and only appear when a [[Snark (SporkHack)|snark]] transforms into one, which occurs very rarely when they are adjacent to the [[hero]]. They are not a valid target for polymorph or genocide.
 ==Strategy==
-While boojums cannot be removed by [[genocide]], targeting snarks will prevent boojums from ever generating.
+While boojums cannot be removed by [[genocide]], genocide of snarks will prevent boojums from ever generating.
 ==Origin==