Umbire the Phantom: lede

2026-01-31T23:48:36Z

lede

Umbire the Phantom: the more you really pick at the details of this variant the more evidently underbaked it appears

2026-01-31T23:24:14Z

the more you really pick at the details of this variant the more evidently underbaked it appears

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{{monster
|name=gremlin leader
|symbol={{magenta|g}}
|difficulty=11
|level=8
|experience=?
|speed=12
|AC=2
|MR=25
|align=-9
|frequency=1
|genocidable=Yes
|attacks=[[Claw attack|Claw]] 1d8 [[Physical damage|physical]], claw 1d8 physical, [[Bite attack|bite]] 1d6 physical, claw 0d0 [[intrinsic theft]]
|resistances conveyed=[[poison resistance]] (33%)
|resistances=[[poison resistance]]
|attributes={{attributes|A gremlin leader|swim=1|humanoid=1|pois=1|stalk=1|infravisible=1|traitor=1}}
|size=Small
|nutr=20
|weight=100
|reference=[https://github.com/k21971/SlashTHEM/blob/master/src/monst.c#L877 SlashTHEM - src/monst.c, line 877]
}}
A '''gremlin leader''', {{magenta|g}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. The gremlin leader is a small [[chaotic]] [[humanoid]] monster that is the strongest of the [[Gremlin (monster class)|gremlin]] [[monster class]]. Like gremlins, they are capable of [[swimming]], can be seen via [[infravision]], and can [[follow]] the [[hero]] to other levels if they are adjacent. Gremlin leaders will not divide on contact with [[water]] as normal gremlins do, and lack their [[Light#Gremlins and light|unique weakness to flashes and bursts of light]]. [[Tame]] gremlin leaders may turn [[traitor]].

Gremlin leaderss possess two normal [[claw attack]]s, a normal [[bite attack]], and a third claw attack that deals no damage, but has a {{frac|10}} chance of [[intrinsic theft]] at [[night]] if the gremlin leader is not [[cancelled]]—the attack is intended to work the same as the gremlin's, but is not coded properly.

A gremlin leader [[corpse]] is [[poisonous]] to [[eat]], and eating a gremlin leader corpse or [[tin]] has a chance of granting poison resistance.

[[Chatting]] to a gremlin leader causes it to laugh, with one of four different messages.

==Generation==
Randomly-generated gremlin leaders may be [[peaceful]] towards a chaotic hero that does not have the [[Amulet of Yendor]].

==Origin==
{{wikipedia|Gremlin}}
{{wikipedia|Gremlins}}
Gremlins are mischievous creatures that originate in myths among airmen, and became popularized during World War II among airmen of the Royal Air Force (RAF) units, who blamed gremlins for otherwise inexplicable accidents which sometimes occurred during their flights. Gremlins were also thought at one point to have enemy sympathies, but investigations revealed that enemy aircraft had similar and equally inexplicable mechanical problems. As such, gremlins were portrayed as equal opportunity tricksters, taking no sides in the conflict, but acting out their mischief from their own self-interest. The concept of gremlins as scapegoats eventually became important to pilot morale.

The aviator Pauline Gower's 1938 novel ''The ATA: Women with Wings'' has one of the earliest post-WWII references to gremlins: in the novel, Scotland is described as "gremlin country", a mystical and rugged territory where scissor-wielding gremlins cut the wires of biplanes when unsuspecting pilots were about. An article by Hubert Griffith in the servicemen's fortnightly Royal Air Force Journal, dated 18 April 1942, also chronicles the appearance of gremlins and states that such stories had been in existence for several years, with later recollections of it having been told by Battle of Britain Spitfire pilots as early as 1940. Folklorist John W. Hazen states that some people derive the name from the Old English word gremian, "to vex", while Paul Quinion suggested that the term is a blend of the word "goblin" with Fremlin, the manufacturer of the most common beer available in the Royal Air Force of the 1920s.

British author Roald Dahl is credited with popularizing the concept of gremlins, having himself served in 80 Squadron of the Royal Air Force in the Middle East. In January 1942, he was transferred to Washington, D.C. as Assistant Air attaché at the British Embassy, where he wrote his first children's novel, ''The Gremlins'', featuring the titular characters as tiny men who lived on RAF fighters. Though plans to create a live-action or animated full-length feature film (and then an animated short) fell through, Disney managed to have the story published in the December 1942 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine. At Dahl's urging, Random House published a revised version of the story as a picture book in early 1943, which was considered an international success.

The concept of gremlins that multiply in water and have a weakness to light comes from the 1984 movie ''[[Wikipedia:Gremlins|Gremlins]]'', produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante—the film prominently features a small and furry "mogwai" that spawns more malignant mogwai upon contact with water; these latter mogwai mutate into the evil and destructive titular creatures when fed after midnight, and at least one of them is killed by disintegration from light.
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[[Category:SlashTHEM monsters]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
   |reference=[https://github.com/k21971/SlashTHEM/blob/master/src/monst.c#L877 SlashTHEM - src/monst.c, line 877]
 }}
-A '''gremlin leader''', {{magenta|g}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. The gremlin leader is a small [[chaotic]] [[humanoid]] monster that is the strongest of the [[Gremlin (monster class)|gremlin]] [[monster class]]. Like gremlins, they are capable of [[swimming]], can be seen via [[infravision]], and can [[follow]] the [[hero]] to other levels if they are adjacent. Gremlin leaders will not divide on contact with [[water]] as normal gremlins do, and lack their [[Light#Gremlins and light|unique weakness to flashes and bursts of light]]. [[Tame]] gremlin leaders may turn [[traitor]].
+A '''gremlin leader''', {{magenta|g}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. The gremlin leader is a small [[chaotic]] [[humanoid]] monster that is a stronger version of the [[gremlin]]. Like gremlins and other monsters in the [[Gremlin (monster class)|gremlin]] [[monster class]], they are capable of [[swimming]], can be seen via [[infravision]], and can [[follow]] the [[hero]] to other levels if they are adjacent. Gremlin leaders will not divide on contact with [[water]] as normal gremlins do, and lack their [[Light#Gremlins and light|unique weakness to flashes and bursts of light]]. [[Tame]] gremlin leaders may turn [[traitor]].
 Gremlin leaderss possess two normal [[claw attack]]s, a normal [[bite attack]], and a third claw attack that deals no damage, but has a {{frac|10}} chance of [[intrinsic theft]] at [[night]] if the gremlin leader is not [[cancelled]]&mdash;the attack is intended to work the same as the gremlin's, but is not coded properly.

Gremlin leader - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: lede

Umbire the Phantom: the more you really pick at the details of this variant the more evidently underbaked it appears