Intrinsic theft - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: /* FIQHack */ copyedit

2026-03-02T04:20:54Z

‎FIQHack: copyedit

Phol ende wodan: move the 3.7 upcoming section to description rather than strategy; delete throne-sit from main strategy section because even in current 3.6 normal thrones don't remove intrinsics

2026-01-24T13:20:46Z

move the 3.7 upcoming section to description rather than strategy; delete throne-sit from main strategy section because even in current 3.6 normal thrones don't remove intrinsics

Phol ende wodan: /* Strategy */ 3.7: Vlad's throne can steal intrinsics

2026-01-24T13:16:29Z

‎Strategy: 3.7: Vlad's throne can steal intrinsics

Umbire the Phantom: /* Strategy */ follow-up

2025-12-03T03:58:00Z

‎Strategy: follow-up

Tomsod: /* Strategy */ a bit more

2025-12-02T22:34:41Z

‎Strategy: a bit more

Umbire the Phantom: /* History */ punc, word choice

2025-03-21T19:03:03Z

‎History: punc, word choice

Umbire the Phantom: /* Strategy */ pothole

2024-12-05T00:19:49Z

‎Strategy: pothole

Umbire the Phantom: /* Strategy */ upcoming

2024-12-05T00:19:36Z

‎Strategy: upcoming

Umbire the Phantom: detail

2024-12-04T16:29:38Z

detail

Umbire the Phantom: /* EvilHack */ pothole

2024-12-04T14:52:14Z

‎EvilHack: pothole

@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 ===FIQHack===
-In [[FIQHack]], gremlins can steal intrinsics from other monsters as well as the hero, and will do regardless of the time of day - the gremlin gains the stolen intrinsic instead of just removing the intrinsic from the victim.
+In [[FIQHack]], gremlins can steal intrinsics from other monsters as well as the hero, and will do so regardless of the time of day. The gremlin will also gain the stolen intrinsic, instead of just removing that intrinsic from the victim.
 ===SpliceHack===

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 A [[monster]] that is hit by an intrinsic theft attack from a gremlin (or a hero polymorphed into a gremlin) that would steal an intrinsic is cancelled instead, which instantly destroys clay golems.{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|1244|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=Intrinsic-stealing vs. other monsters}}{{refsrc|src/uhitm.c|1830|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=Intrinsic-stealing by hero vs. monsters}}
 ==Strategy==
-Intrinsic theft is a rare but serious danger: the only other forms of intrinsic loss are curse effects from [[sitting]] on a [[throne]], whose routine the damage type calls, and [[eating]] the [[corpse]] of a [[disenchanter]].<ref name="attcurse"/>{{refsrc|src/eat.c|1078|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=disenchanter case calls <tt>attrcurse()</tt> in sit.c}} The threat of intrinsic theft by a gremlin makes it risky to play during in-game night hours, especially if hostile gremlins are located near any body of water on levels such as [[Medusa's Island]] (which guarantees a gremlin on one of the maps).
+Intrinsic theft is a rare but serious danger: the only other forms of intrinsic loss are [[eating]] the [[corpse]] of a [[disenchanter]].<ref name="attcurse"/>{{refsrc|src/eat.c|1078|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=disenchanter case calls <tt>attrcurse()</tt> in sit.c}} The threat of intrinsic theft by a gremlin makes it risky to play during in-game night hours, especially if hostile gremlins are located near any body of water on levels such as [[Medusa's Island]] (which guarantees a gremlin on one of the maps).
 A "properly paranoid" player may want to keep backup sources of the above intrinsics if possible (e.g. making [[tin]]s of [[dragon]] meat with a [[tinning kit]]). Letting a gremlin repeatedly hit you is also a way to deliberately lose some of them, particularly aggravate monster, but this is likely to also remove any number of the more useful ones and is generally not recommended unless the player is desperate.
 ==History==

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 A "properly paranoid" player may want to keep backup sources of the above intrinsics if possible (e.g. making [[tin]]s of [[dragon]] meat with a [[tinning kit]]). Letting a gremlin repeatedly hit you is also a way to deliberately lose some of them, particularly aggravate monster, but this is likely to also remove any number of the more useful ones and is generally not recommended unless the player is desperate.
-{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|b96c59e9b1ef61f9fc4818422bd310503e6a38bc}}, [[anger]]ing a [[god]] also has a chance of causing them to remove one of the hero's intrinsics.}}
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|b96c59e9b1ef61f9fc4818422bd310503e6a38bc}}, [[anger]]ing a [[god]] also has a chance of causing them to remove one of the hero's intrinsics. It is also one of the possible effects from sitting on [[Throne#Vlad's throne|Vlad's throne]].}}
 ==History==

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 Intrinsic theft is a rare but serious danger: the only other forms of intrinsic loss are curse effects from [[sitting]] on a [[throne]], whose routine the damage type calls, and [[eating]] the [[corpse]] of a [[disenchanter]].<ref name="attcurse"/>{{refsrc|src/eat.c|1078|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=disenchanter case calls <tt>attrcurse()</tt> in sit.c}} The threat of intrinsic theft by a gremlin makes it risky to play during in-game night hours, especially if hostile gremlins are located near any body of water on levels such as [[Medusa's Island]] (which guarantees a gremlin on one of the maps).
-{{upcoming|3.7.0|Per {{commit|b96c59e9b1ef61f9fc4818422bd310503e6a38bc}}, [[anger]]ing a [[god]] also has a chance of causing them to remove one of the hero's intrinsics.}}
+A "properly paranoid" player may want to keep backup sources of the above intrinsics if possible (e.g. making [[tin]]s of [[dragon]] meat with a [[tinning kit]]). Letting a gremlin repeatedly hit you is also a way to deliberately lose some of them, particularly aggravate monster, but this is likely to also remove any number of the more useful ones and is generally not recommended unless the player is desperate.
-A properly paranoid player may want to keep backup sources of the above intrinsics if possible (e.g. [[tin]]s of [[dragon]] meat).  Letting a gremlin repeatedly hit you is also a way to deliberately lose some of them, particularly aggravate monster, but this is likely to also remove any number of the more useful ones.
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|b96c59e9b1ef61f9fc4818422bd310503e6a38bc}}, [[anger]]ing a [[god]] also has a chance of causing them to remove one of the hero's intrinsics.}}
 ==History==

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:34, 2 December 2025
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	{{upcoming\|3.7.0\|Per {{commit\|b96c59e9b1ef61f9fc4818422bd310503e6a38bc}}, [[anger]]ing a [[god]] also has a chance of causing them to remove one of the hero's intrinsics.}}		{{upcoming\|3.7.0\|Per {{commit\|b96c59e9b1ef61f9fc4818422bd310503e6a38bc}}, [[anger]]ing a [[god]] also has a chance of causing them to remove one of the hero's intrinsics.}}
		+
		+	A properly paranoid player may want to keep backup sources of the above intrinsics if possible (e.g. [[tin]]s of [[dragon]] meat). Letting a gremlin repeatedly hit you is also a way to deliberately lose some of them, particularly aggravate monster, but this is likely to also remove any number of the more useful ones.

	==History==		==History==

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 ==History==
-Intrinsic theft debuts in [[NetHack 2.3e]], which also introduces the gremlin and the intrinsic loss effect of sitting on a throne. From this version to [[NetHack 3.0.10]], including some variants based on those versions, it is possible for the hero to die if they lose intrinsic fire resistance to a throne or gremlin attack while in [[Hell]] and they do not have have another source of the property - any death caused this way is logged as being killed by a "'''gremlin curse'''" regardless of how the intrinsic was actually lost.
+Intrinsic theft debuts in [[NetHack 2.3e]], which also introduces the gremlin and the intrinsic loss effect of sitting on a throne. From this version to [[NetHack 3.0.10]], including some variants based on those versions, it is possible for the hero to die if they lose intrinsic fire resistance to a throne or gremlin attack while in [[Hell]] and they do not have have another source of the property&mdash;any death caused this way is logged as being caused by a "'''gremlin curse'''" regardless of how the intrinsic was actually lost.
 ==Messages==

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 A property is chosen from this list at random without reference to the hero's current intrinsics or their sources, i.e. it can remove intrinsics granted by the hero's role or race:{{refsrc|include/prop.h|136|nethack=3.6.7}} If the hero does not have the selected intrinsic property, the code checks for all other intrinsics listed below it until it hits an intrinsic that the hero possesses, or else until it reaches the end of the list (in which case no properties are lost). The game tracks intrinsics and extrinsics separately, so if e.g. a gremlin steals intrinsic poison resistance from a hero in an [[alchemy smock]], the hero will still resist poison as long as they do not remove the smock. A hero that is currently [[polymorph]]ed into the form of a [[clay golem]] is instantly "destroyed" if the attack hits and would steal an intrinsic, returning them to normal form (even with [[unchanging]]) before rolling an intrinsic to steal.{{refsrc|src/mhitu.c|1537|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=hero in clay golem form is forced back to normal before intrinsic is stolen}}
-A [[monster]] hit by an intrinsic theft attack from a gremlin or a hero polymorphed into a gremlin is cancelled instead, which instantly destroys clay golems.{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|1244|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=Intrinsic-stealing vs. other monsters}}{{refsrc|src/uhitm.c|1830|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=Intrinsic-stealing by hero vs. monsters}}
+A [[monster]] that is hit by an intrinsic theft attack from a gremlin (or a hero polymorphed into a gremlin) that would steal an intrinsic is cancelled instead, which instantly destroys clay golems.{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|1244|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=Intrinsic-stealing vs. other monsters}}{{refsrc|src/uhitm.c|1830|version=NetHack 3.6.7|comment=Intrinsic-stealing by hero vs. monsters}}
 ==Strategy==

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 ===EvilHack===
-In [[EvilHack]], lava gremlins share the same intrinsic theft claw attack as normal gremlins with the same odds of activating&mdash;however, since they are creatures of bright light, the intrinsic theft of lava gremlins only occurs during the daytime.
+In [[EvilHack]], [[lava gremlin]]s share the same intrinsic theft claw attack as normal gremlins with the same odds of activating&mdash;however, since they are creatures of bright light, the intrinsic theft of lava gremlins only occurs during the daytime.
 ===Hack'EM===