Potion of cyanide - Revision history

Ion frigate: fix template

2025-04-01T11:00:27Z

fix template

Umbire the Phantom: /* Generation */ detailing

2025-02-17T22:07:11Z

‎Generation: detailing

Umbire the Phantom: formatting, copyedit, updating, detailing

2025-02-17T20:49:49Z

formatting, copyedit, updating, detailing

Ion frigate: more "don't try this at home, kids"

2025-02-17T16:56:43Z

more "don't try this at home, kids"

Ion frigate: sounds better without parens

2025-02-17T15:45:22Z

sounds better without parens

Ion frigate: thanks for rescuing @play! i noticed it was all dead when i was trying to find this column

2025-02-17T15:40:03Z

thanks for rescuing @play! i noticed it was all dead when i was trying to find this column

Umbire the Phantom: de-SLEX

2022-10-05T00:21:21Z

de-SLEX

Lysdexia at 21:27, 8 January 2020

2020-01-08T21:27:47Z

Gus Van: part of SLEX alchemist's starting kit

2018-08-15T16:15:22Z

part of SLEX alchemist's starting kit

Cherokee Jack: Affects monsters as well

2015-10-26T22:50:44Z

Affects monsters as well

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ==Messages==
-{{message|CN(-) + HCL <==> HCN + Cl(-)|You quaffed a potion of cyanide.}}
+{{message|<nowiki>CN(-) + HCL <==> HCN + Cl(-)</nowiki>|You quaffed a potion of cyanide.}}
 {{message|This tastes a little bitter; maybe it's some sort of medicine?|As above, while [[hallucinating]].}}
 {{message|You feel very, very, very sick!|You were hit by a potion of cyanide.}}

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ==Generation==
-In NetHack: The Next Generation, a [[large box]] containing a live [[Schroedinger's Cat]] will also generate a potion of cyanide.
+In NetHack: The Next Generation, a [[large box]] containing a live [[Schroedinger's Cat]] that is dropped from a [[quantum mechanic]] will also generate a potion of cyanide.
 ==Description==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{wikipedia|Cyanide poisoning}}
+{{potion
-{{potion|name=cyanide|cost=300}}
+  |name=cyanide
-The '''potion of cyanide''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it has several bad effects: it makes you [[ill]], reduces your [[strength]] by up to 10 points, and costs a significant amount of [[health]]: [[D notation|4d16]] (4-64) if cursed, 2d16 (2-32) if uncursed, or 2d8 (2-16) if blessed.
+A '''potion of cyanide''' is a type of [[potion]] that appears in [[NetHack: The Next Generation]] and [[SlashTHEM]].
-The illness is classified as "vomitable" (like [[food poisoning]]) and can be cured if you can induce yourself to [[Vomiting|vomit]] (or in [[SlashTHEM]], find&mdash;or make&mdash;a [[toilet]]). Of course, a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] can help as well.
+==Generation==
-A thrown potion of cyanide reduces the health of its target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;to one-fifth of its current value. If the target had less than 10 health to begin with, it dies. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of cyanide will have the same effect on you.
+==Description==
-[[Poison resistance]] does not protect against the harmful effects of cyanide poisoning. In game terms this may mean that poison resistance only protects you from biological toxins, not from inorganic poisons like cyanide.
+A hero or monster that is hit by a [[thrown]] or [[wielded]] potion of cyanide, or else subjected to its [[vapor]]s, has their current HP reduced to {{frac|5}}&mdash;if the victim has less than 10 HP when this occurs, they are [[Instadeath|killed]] instead.
-==Messages==
+==Strategy==
-'''CN(-) + HCL <==> HCN + Cl(-)'''
+Illness from cyandie is classified as "[[vomit]]able" like [[food poisoning]] and can be cured if a hero finds a means of making themselves vomit, and [[applying]] a non-cursed [[unicorn horn]] can cure the illness as normal. In SlashTHEM, [[sitting]] on a [[toilet]] can also cure the illness.
 ==Origin==
-"Cyanide" can refer to any number of chemical compounds containing the cyanide ion (CN(-)), most of which are very toxic&mdash;much more so than the NHTNG potion would imply.  One would expect a "potion of cyanide" to be almost invariably and immediately lethal; in fact, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210828193701/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/01/column_play_rules_of_roguelike.php January 2011's] [[@Play]] column used "No cyanide rule" as shorthand for "No unidentified item should be immediately fatal upon use given reasonable circumstances."
+{{wikipedia|Cyanide poisoning}}
-The "potion of cyanide" is presumably a liquid solution of a compound containing cyanide ions. While it is not unusual in NetHack for inhaling the vapors of shattered potions to have an effect similar to that of quaffing them, the case of cyanide vapors being toxic is supported by real science, as some cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, which is also toxic.  Less scientific, however, is the notion that cyanide poisoning can be cured by vomiting: while it is in fact an early symptom of cyanide poisoning, vomiting does not cure it.
+Cyanide compounds are often said to have a bitter odor or taste, which is the basis for the message given when quaffing the potion while hallucinating&mdash;in popular culture, this is often used as a clue that food or a beverage has been poisoned with cyanide, such as in the Roald Dahl short story [[Wikipedia:The Landlady (Roald Dahl)|"The Landlady"]]; in real life, the scent can only be picked up with a special chemoreceptor that many people lack. Similarly, while some real-life cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas which is toxic, vomiting is an early symptom of cyanide poisoning rather than a means of curing.
-Cyanide compounds are often said to have a bitter odor, hence the hallucinatory message. In popular culture this bitter odor or taste is often used as a clue that food or a beverage has been poisoned with cyanide (for example, in Roald Dahl's short story [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlady_(Roald_Dahl) "The Landlady"]). While it is true that cyanide has a bitter odor, it can only be sensed with a special chemoreceptor which many people lack. So if for whatever reason you suspect your food or drink might have been spiked with cyanide, don't trust your sense of smell to tell you if it's safe!
+The potion of cyanide appearing in the box containing Schroedinger's cat is based on the famous thought experiment of the same name (also spelled "Schrödinger's cat"), which involves imagining locking a cat in a box with a mechanism that has a 50% chance of killing the cat, depending upon the final state of a quantum system - for example, whether an unstable nucleus has decayed within a certain time. The mechanism is represented by a [[potion of radium]] and a potion of cyanide, with the radium representing the quantum system being monitored and the cyanide in the role of the nucleus: if the hero opens the box and discovers that the cat is alive, the box will contain the cat and both potions, while if the cat is dead, the box will only contain its [[corpse]] and the potion of radium. When this feature was added to ''[[NetHack]]'', the potions were not carried over.
-===Schroedinger's cat===
+==Messages==
-The potion of cyanide figured in the NHTNG version of [[Schroedinger's Cat|Schroedinger's box]]. In the thought experiment, the box contained a mechanism that would kill a cat, by breaking a container of cyanide, if a certain quantum event occurred. Therefore, in NHTNG, if the player opened the box and discovered that the [[cat]] was alive, the box would contain a [[potion of radium]] (representing the quantum system being monitored) and an intact potion of cyanide. But if the box was open and the cat was dead, the box would contain a potion of radium and the [[corpse]] of a cat, but there would be no potion of cyanide, because it had been used up.
+{{message|CN(-) + HCL <==> HCN + Cl(-)|You quaffed a potion of cyanide.}}
+{{message|This tastes a little bitter; maybe it's some sort of medicine?|As above, while [[hallucinating]].}}
-When Schroedinger's cat was added to regular NetHack, the potions of radium and cyanide were omitted from the code, because these items were not carried over.
+{{message|You feel very, very, very sick!|You were hit by a potion of cyanide.}}
+{{message|<monster> looks deathly sick.|A monster was hit by a potion of cyanide and lost health.}}
-[[Category:Potions]]
+{{variant-noversion}}
-[[Category:NetHack: The Next Generation]]
+[[Category:NetHack: The Next Generation potions]]
-[[Category:SlashTHEM items]]
+[[Category:SlashTHEM potions]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 "Cyanide" can refer to any number of chemical compounds containing the cyanide ion (CN(-)), most of which are very toxic&mdash;much more so than the NHTNG potion would imply.  One would expect a "potion of cyanide" to be almost invariably and immediately lethal; in fact, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210828193701/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/01/column_play_rules_of_roguelike.php January 2011's] [[@Play]] column used "No cyanide rule" as shorthand for "No unidentified item should be immediately fatal upon use given reasonable circumstances."
-The "potion of cyanide" is presumably a liquid solution of a compound containing cyanide ions. While it is not unusual in NetHack for inhaling the vapors of shattered potions to have an effect similar to that of quaffing them, the case of cyanide vapors being toxic is supported by real science, as some cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, which is also toxic.
+The "potion of cyanide" is presumably a liquid solution of a compound containing cyanide ions. While it is not unusual in NetHack for inhaling the vapors of shattered potions to have an effect similar to that of quaffing them, the case of cyanide vapors being toxic is supported by real science, as some cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, which is also toxic.  Less scientific, however, is the notion that cyanide poisoning can be cured by vomiting: while it is in fact an early symptom of cyanide poisoning, vomiting does not cure it.
 Cyanide compounds are often said to have a bitter odor, hence the hallucinatory message. In popular culture this bitter odor or taste is often used as a clue that food or a beverage has been poisoned with cyanide (for example, in Roald Dahl's short story [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlady_(Roald_Dahl) "The Landlady"]). While it is true that cyanide has a bitter odor, it can only be sensed with a special chemoreceptor which many people lack. So if for whatever reason you suspect your food or drink might have been spiked with cyanide, don't trust your sense of smell to tell you if it's safe!

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 ==Origin==
-"Cyanide" can refer to any number of chemical compounds containing the cyanide ion (CN(-)), most of which are very toxic&mdash;much more so than the NHTNG potion would imply.  One would expect a "potion of cyanide" to be almost invariably (and immediately) lethal; in fact, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210828193701/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/01/column_play_rules_of_roguelike.php January 2011's] [[@Play]] column used "No cyanide rule" as shorthand for "No unidentified item should be immediately fatal upon use given reasonable circumstances."
+"Cyanide" can refer to any number of chemical compounds containing the cyanide ion (CN(-)), most of which are very toxic&mdash;much more so than the NHTNG potion would imply.  One would expect a "potion of cyanide" to be almost invariably and immediately lethal; in fact, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210828193701/http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2011/01/column_play_rules_of_roguelike.php January 2011's] [[@Play]] column used "No cyanide rule" as shorthand for "No unidentified item should be immediately fatal upon use given reasonable circumstances."
 The "potion of cyanide" is presumably a liquid solution of a compound containing cyanide ions. While it is not unusual in NetHack for inhaling the vapors of shattered potions to have an effect similar to that of quaffing them, the case of cyanide vapors being toxic is supported by real science, as some cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, which is also toxic.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{potion|name=cyanide|cost=300}}
-The '''potion of cyanide''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[Slash'EM Extended]] and [[SLASHTHEM]]. Quaffing it has several bad effects: it makes you [[ill]], reduces your [[strength]] by up to 10 points, and costs a significant amount of [[health]]: [[D notation|4d16]] (4-64) if cursed, 2d16 (2-32) if uncursed, or 2d8 (2-16) if blessed.
+The '''potion of cyanide''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[Slash'EM Extended]] and [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it has several bad effects: it makes you [[ill]], reduces your [[strength]] by up to 10 points, and costs a significant amount of [[health]]: [[D notation|4d16]] (4-64) if cursed, 2d16 (2-32) if uncursed, or 2d8 (2-16) if blessed.
-The illness is classified as "vomitable" (like [[food poisoning]]) and can be cured if you can induce yourself to [[Vomiting|vomit]] (or, in [[Slash'EM Extended]] or [[SLASHTHEM]], find&mdash;or make&mdash;a [[toilet]]). Of course, a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] can help as well.
+The illness is classified as "vomitable" (like [[food poisoning]]) and can be cured if you can induce yourself to [[Vomiting|vomit]] (or, in [[Slash'EM Extended]] or [[SlashTHEM]], find&mdash;or make&mdash;a [[toilet]]). Of course, a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] can help as well.
 A thrown potion of cyanide reduces the health of its target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;to one-fifth of its current value. If the target had less than 10 health to begin with, it dies. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of cyanide will have the same effect on you. In Slash'EM Extended, monsters will throw these at the player, which can lead to [[YASD]] if the player then runs into something dangerous without healing the damage; for example, a player with 50 max HP may find themselves suddenly at 10 HP and be killed by an otherwise harmless [[iron piercer]].
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 [[Category:NetHack: The Next Generation]]
 [[Category:Slash'EM Extended items]]
-[[Category:SLASHTHEM]]
+[[Category:SlashTHEM]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:15, 15 August 2018
Line 9:		Line 9:

	[[Poison resistance]] does not protect against the harmful effects of cyanide poisoning. In game terms this may mean that poison resistance only protects you from biological toxins, not from inorganic poisons like cyanide.		[[Poison resistance]] does not protect against the harmful effects of cyanide poisoning. In game terms this may mean that poison resistance only protects you from biological toxins, not from inorganic poisons like cyanide.
		+
		+	In Slash'EM Extended one uncursed potion of cyanide is part of the starting equipment of an alchemist.

	==Messages==		==Messages==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 The illness is classified as "vomitable" (like [[food poisoning]]) and can be cured if you can induce yourself to [[Vomiting|vomit]] (or, in [[Slash'EM Extended]] or [[SLASHTHEM]], find&mdash;or make&mdash;a [[toilet]]). Of course, a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] can help as well.
-Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of cyanide reduces your health to one-fifth of its current value, cutting off at 1 HP. If your health was less than 10 to begin with, you die. In Slash'EM Extended, monsters will throw these at the player, which can lead to [[YASD]] if the player then runs into something dangerous without healing the damage; for example, a player with 50 max HP may find themselves suddenly at 10 HP and be killed by an otherwise harmless [[iron piercer]].
+A thrown potion of cyanide reduces the health of its target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;to one-fifth of its current value. If the target had less than 10 health to begin with, it dies. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of cyanide will have the same effect on you. In Slash'EM Extended, monsters will throw these at the player, which can lead to [[YASD]] if the player then runs into something dangerous without healing the damage; for example, a player with 50 max HP may find themselves suddenly at 10 HP and be killed by an otherwise harmless [[iron piercer]].
-[[Poison resistance]] does not protect you against the harmful effects of cyanide poisoning. In game terms this may mean that poison resistance only protects you from biological toxins, not from inorganic poisons like cyanide.
+[[Poison resistance]] does not protect against the harmful effects of cyanide poisoning. In game terms this may mean that poison resistance only protects you from biological toxins, not from inorganic poisons like cyanide.
 ==Messages==
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 {{message|This tastes a little bitter; maybe it's some sort of medicine?|You quaffed a potion of cyanide while [[hallucinating]].}}
 {{message|You feel very, very, very sick!|You were hit by a potion of cyanide.}}
 ==Origin==
-"Cyanide" can refer to any number of chemical compounds containing the cyanide ion (CN(-)), most of which are very toxic&mdash;much more so than the NHTNG potion would imply. The "potion of cyanide" is presumably a liquid solution of a compound containing cyanide ions. While it is not unusual in NetHack for the vapors of shattered potions having an effect similar to that of quaffing them, the case of cyanide vapors being toxic is supported by real science, as some cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, which is also toxic.
+"Cyanide" can refer to any number of chemical compounds containing the cyanide ion (CN(-)), most of which are very toxic&mdash;much more so than the NHTNG potion would imply. The "potion of cyanide" is presumably a liquid solution of a compound containing cyanide ions. While it is not unusual in NetHack for inhaling the vapors of shattered potions to have an effect similar to that of quaffing them, the case of cyanide vapors being toxic is supported by real science, as some cyanide solutions release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas, which is also toxic.
 Cyanide compounds are often said to have a bitter odor, hence the hallucinatory message. In popular culture this bitter odor or taste is often used as a clue that food or a beverage has been poisoned with cyanide (for example, in Roald Dahl's short story [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlady_(Roald_Dahl) "The Landlady"]). While it is true that cyanide has a bitter odor, it can only be sensed with a special chemoreceptor which many people lack. So if for whatever reason you suspect your food or drink might have been spiked with cyanide, don't trust your sense of smell to tell you if it's safe!
@@ Line 27: / Line 28: @@
 ==References==
-*Slash'EM Extended potion.c 2320, 3116
+*Slash'EM Extended potion.c 2320, 2621, 3116
 *Slash'EM Extended objects.c 1522
 [[Category:Potions]]