Potion of radium - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: tweaks, earmark

2025-07-25T06:32:17Z

tweaks, earmark

Umbire the Phantom: de-SLEX

2022-10-05T00:25:38Z

de-SLEX

Lysdexia at 21:30, 8 January 2020

2020-01-08T21:30:51Z

Cherokee Jack: Affects monsters as well

2015-10-26T23:00:34Z

Affects monsters as well

Bluescreenofdeath: In slashem extended, monsters will throw these.

2015-10-26T06:52:43Z

In slashem extended, monsters will throw these.

Cherokee Jack: Based on implementation in Slash'EM Extended; not aware if this is used by monsters

2015-10-25T00:33:50Z

Based on implementation in Slash'EM Extended; not aware if this is used by monsters

New page

{{wikipedia|Radium}}
{{potion|name=radium|cost=300}}

The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[Slash'EM Extended]] and [[SLASHTHEM]]. Quaffing it makes you [[ill]], with up to fifty turns to live.

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—or make—a [[toilet]]). Of course, a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] can help as well.

Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium reduces your health to one-quarter of its current value, cutting off at 1 HP.

[[Poison resistance]] does not protect you against the harmful effects of radium exposure.

==Messages==
{{message|This was radioactive radium!|You quaffed a potion of radium while not hallucinating.}}
{{message|For some reason, that potion tastes... orange. Yes, the color orange, not the fruit.|You quaffed a potion of radium while [[hallucinating]].}}
{{message|You feel very sick!|You were hit by a potion of radium.}}

==Origin==
Radium was one of the first radioactive elements to be discovered, and is still probably one of the best known. Its most stable isotope or form, radium-226, gradually breaks down into radon, releasing radiation in the process; radon also breaks down in a similar manner. Its appearance in NetHack: The Next Generation grossly understates its potential dangers to human health.

In NHTNG, swallowing radium causes immediate illness, which will cause you to die after fifty turns, but can be cured by making yourself vomit. In real life, you might not die within hours after swallowing radium; however, ingesting it would probably result in a portion of it remaining in the body, where it would continue to release radiation as it decayed, killing cells and damaging DNA, which in turn could cause cancer and other diseases that could kill you years later. Vomiting would probably not be effective at preventing accumulation in the tissues, except ''possibly'' if all of the radium was regurgitated before it could reach the intestines.

Also, NHTNG implies that one could safely carry radium in a (presumably) [[glass]] bottle, without any damage to one's health. In real life, merely holding radium, without special containers or protective clothing, would expose the body to harmful radiation, as many early researchers discovered when they observed skin damage after they had carried samples of radium close to their bodies for hours.

A good example of why [[NetHack is not real life]].

===Schroedinger's cat===
The potion of radium 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.

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.

==References==
*Slash'EM Extended potion.c 2327, 3136
*Slash'EM Extended objects.c 1523
[[Category:Potions]]
[[Category:NetHack: The Next Generation]]
[[Category:Slash'EM Extended items]]
[[Category:SLASHTHEM]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{potion|name=radium|cost=300}}
-The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it makes you [[ill]], with up to fifty turns to live.
+The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it causes [[sickness]] in the hero, with up to fifty turns to live.
-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.
+The illness is classified as "vomitable" and can be dealt with by any means of curing food poisoning, e.g. [[applying]] a non-cursed [[unicorn horn]], [[vomiting]], or using a [[toilet]] (in [[SlashTHEM]] only).
 A target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;hit by a thrown potion of radium has its health reduced to one-quarter of its current value. If you are hit by a potion of radium, it will never lower your health below 1 point, but monsters hit by the potion will be killed if it lowers their health to a fraction of 1. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium will have the same effect on you.
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ===Schroedinger's cat===
-The potion of radium 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.
+The potion of radium figured in the NHTNG implementation of [[Schroedinger's Cat]]. 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.
 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.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{potion|name=radium|cost=300}}
-The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[Slash'EM Extended]] and [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it makes you [[ill]], with up to fifty turns to live.
+The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it makes you [[ill]], with up to fifty turns to live.
-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 [[SlashTHEM]], find&mdash;or make&mdash;a [[toilet]]). Of course, a noncursed [[unicorn horn]] can help as well.
-A target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;hit by a thrown potion of radium has its health reduced to one-quarter of its current value. If you are hit by a potion of radium, it will never lower your health below 1 point, but monsters hit by the potion will be killed if it lowers their health to a fraction of 1. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium will have the same effect on you. In Slash'EM Extended, potions of radium can be thrown by monsters.
+A target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;hit by a thrown potion of radium has its health reduced to one-quarter of its current value. If you are hit by a potion of radium, it will never lower your health below 1 point, but monsters hit by the potion will be killed if it lowers their health to a fraction of 1. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium will have the same effect on you.
 [[Poison resistance]] does not protect against the harmful effects of radium exposure.
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ==References==
 [[Category:Potions]]
 [[Category:NetHack: The Next Generation]]
-[[Category:Slash'EM Extended items]]
+[[Category:SlashTHEM items]]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{potion|name=radium|cost=300}}
-The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[Slash'EM Extended]] and [[SLASHTHEM]]. Quaffing it makes you [[ill]], with up to fifty turns to live.
+The '''potion of radium''' is a dangerous [[potion]] originally from [[NetHack: The Next Generation]], which also appears in [[Slash'EM Extended]] and [[SlashTHEM]]. Quaffing it makes you [[ill]], with up to fifty turns to live.
-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 target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;hit by a thrown potion of radium has its health reduced to one-quarter of its current value. If you are hit by a potion of radium, it will never lower your health below 1 point, but monsters hit by the potion will be killed if it lowers their health to a fraction of 1. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium will have the same effect on you. In Slash'EM Extended, potions of radium can be thrown by monsters.
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 [[Category:NetHack: The Next Generation]]
 [[Category:Slash'EM Extended items]]
-[[Category:SLASHTHEM]]
+[[Category:SlashTHEM]]

@@ 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 radium reduces your health to one-quarter of its current value, cutting off at 1 HP.
+Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium reduces your health to one-quarter of its current value, cutting off at 1 HP. In Slash'EM Extended, potions of radium can be thrown by monsters.
 [[Poison resistance]] does not protect you against the harmful effects of radium exposure.

@@ 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 radium reduces your health to one-quarter of its current value, cutting off at 1 HP. In Slash'EM Extended, potions of radium can be thrown by monsters.
+A target&mdash;a monster or yourself&mdash;hit by a thrown potion of radium has its health reduced to one-quarter of its current value. If you are hit by a potion of radium, it will never lower your health below 1 point, but monsters hit by the potion will be killed if it lowers their health to a fraction of 1. Inhaling the [[vapors]] of a broken potion of radium will have the same effect on you. In Slash'EM Extended, potions of radium can be thrown by monsters.
-[[Poison resistance]] does not protect you against the harmful effects of radium exposure.
+[[Poison resistance]] does not protect against the harmful effects of radium exposure.
 ==Messages==
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 {{message|For some reason, that potion tastes... orange. Yes, the color orange, not the fruit.|You quaffed a potion of radium while [[hallucinating]].}}
 {{message|You feel very sick!|You were hit by a potion of radium.}}
 ==Origin==
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 ==References==
-*Slash'EM Extended potion.c 2327, 3136
+*Slash'EM Extended potion.c 2327, 2635, 3136
 *Slash'EM Extended objects.c 1523
 [[Category:Potions]]