Lichen
F lichen 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 1 |
| Attacks |
Touch 0d0 sticky |
| Base level | 0 |
| Base experience | 4 |
| Speed | 1 |
| Base AC | 9 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 4 (Uncommon) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 20 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | Small |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A lichen:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line1292 |
A lichen, F, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The lichen is a type of fungus that is one of the earliest monsters the hero can encounter.
A lichen has a sticky touch attack that deals no damage, but holds the hero in place for a short amount of time, and has no effect on monsters.
Lichen corpses do not become tainted or rot away from age, though they can become too old to sacrifice as with corpses. Dipping a lichen corpse into a potion of acid causes the corpse to "turn red around the edges" (or orange if the potion is diluted) without using up the potion.[1]
A "master lichen", whose name is a portmanteau of the lichen and master lich, is one of the hallucinatory monsters that can be mentioned while hallucinating.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated lichens are always hostile.
Strategy
Lichen are extremely slow, moving at the minimum speed of 1, and the worst they can do with their sticky attack is prevent the hero from attacking other hostile targets - even then, this scenario is rare and lichens can be easily killed by almost any starting hero.
Lichen corpses can be carried indefinitely as normal comestibles which are always safe to eat: they provide 200 nutrition, but weigh the same as a food ration, so they should ideally be eaten first to free up carrying capacity - vegetarian and vegan conduct heroes will usually prioritize collecting lichen corpses early on. Lichen corpses can also be used to tame domestic herbivores such as ponies, pacify domestic carnivores and feed herbivorous or omnivorous pets.
History
The lichen first appears in NetHack 3.3.0.
The messages produced when a lichen corpse is dipped in a potion of acid are introduced in NetHack 3.6.0.
Origin
Lichen are composite organisms that arise from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species. They can occur in many environmental conditions, including several extreme ones, and can grow on almost any surface. They also have a history of being used in real life as food, hence their potential use as sources of long-term food in NetHack. Real-life litmus tests use dyes extracted from lichens as a pH indicator, which is why lichen corpses in NetHack turn red when dipped into potions of acid.
Variants
The arch-lichen patch by Nodey for NetHack 3.4.3 adds the titular monster, which is an extremely powerful type of lichen.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the lichen is the only fungus or mold that does not revive from its corpse.[2]
Corpses that reach 51 turns of age and are not acidic have a 1⁄2 chance of turning into a fungus or mold, which has a 3.7% chance of being a lichen, provided that they are not located within or on top of a square of water, ice or lava.[3][4][5][6] This makes it possible to 'farm' corpses for lichen early in the game, though it can somewhat impractical, and certain corpses are better off eaten while they are still fresh.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, lichens are given an additional touch attack that temporarily slows its target, and both of its touch attacks can inflict minor damage.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, lichens behave as they do in EvilHack, and can grow from corpses as in SLASH'EM, though corpses will become mold-infested less often.
Encyclopedia entry
The chamber was of unhewn rock, round, as near as might
be, eighteen or twenty feet across, and gay with rich
variety of fern and moss and lichen. The fern was in
its winter still, or coiling for the spring-tide; but
moss was in abundant life, some feathering, and some
gobleted, and some with fringe of red to it.
