Guard

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@ guard Guard.png
Difficulty 14
Attacks

Weapon 4d10

Base level 12
Base experience 284
Speed 12
Base AC 10
Base MR 40
Alignment 10 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means) 0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable No
Weight 1450
Nutritional value 400
Size Medium
Resistances None
Resistances conveyed None

A guard:

Reference monst.c#2195

A guard, @, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The guard is a strong and lawful human mercenary that is typically peaceful and patrols the vaults belonging to Croesus: they are the source of the footsteps heard on some levels, indicating there is a vault on that floor.

Guards can be seen via infravision and will pick up weapons, armor and other items they come across if made hostile—they may also accept bribes. Guards will not jump into holes and trap doors or use wands of digging, potions of speed or wands of speed monster, and at low health they will not use a wand of digging, a cursed scroll of teleportation or a cursed potion of gain level to escape.

Guards that are polymorphed into a monster that can divide and then made to split will produce clones that do not retain the original's memory of their initial form.[1]

A guard has a single powerful weapon attack.

Generation

Main article: Mercenary

Guards are not randomly generated, and normally-created guards are always peaceful.

If a hero remains on any of the squares within the 4x4 area of a vault for 30 turns, or else applies a cursed tin whistle, a guard will be generated on the outer squares of the vault, opening a space in the room's wall or the outside solid rock if necessary.[2][3][4][5] There is no limit to the amount of guards that a vault can generate, including the normal extinction cap used for other monsters, but only one guard will be present on the level at a time.

Items

Guards are always generated with a cursed tin whistle, providing a source for the shrill whistling sound a hero will hear while escaping them.[6][7] For other items, they follow similar generation mechanisms to other mercenaries such as soldiers and watchmen for armor and weapons, in addition to rules specific to them:

  • For armor, guards have a target AC of -1.[8]
    • For their suit of armor, they have a 4⁄5 chance of being given either splint mail (2⁄3 chance) or banded mail (1⁄3 chance) that counts for 6 points of their target AC[9]—if they are not given either type of armor, they have a 4⁄5 chance of being given either ring mail (2⁄3 chance) or studded leather armor (1⁄3 chance) that counts for 3 points of their target AC, and will otherwise be given leather armor that counts for 2 points of their target AC.[10][11]
    • For their helm, they have a 2⁄3 chance of being given a helmet, with a 1⁄2 chance of a dented pot otherwise, and the helm will count for 1 point of their target AC.[12]
    • For their shield, they have a 2⁄3 chance of being given a small shield that counts for 1 point of their target AC, and otherwise have a 1⁄2 chance of being given a large shield that counts for 2 points of their target AC.[13]
    • For their boots, they have a 2⁄3 chance of being given a pair of low boots that count for 1 point of their target AC, and otherwise have a 1⁄2 chance of being given a pair of high boots that count for 2 points of their target AC.[14]
    • Finally, they have a 2⁄3 chance of being given a pair of leather gloves, with a 1⁄2 chance of a leather cloak otherwise, and the item will count for 1 point of their target AC.[15]
  • For weapons, guards have a 1⁄4 chance of being given a dagger and an independent 1⁄7 chance of a spear, with a 1⁄4 of being given a knife if they receive neither weapon.[16]
  • Guards have the standard 2⁄3 chance of being given a K-ration and an independent 1⁄2 chance of being given a C-ration.[17]
  • Guards are not supposed to receive a wand of digging, potion of speed or wand of speed monster if they are given a defensive item or miscellaneous item, but may still be given one due to a bug, since the monster's flag is not actually set at this stage of generation.[18][19]

Figurines of a guard cannot be generated. Guards are special-cased to become human zombies if the hero attempts to animate their corpse or statue by any means, including animating statues from statue traps and directly creating them in wizard mode without forcing that monster to be generated.[20]

Interacting with guards

When a guard is generated from the hero waiting or applying a cursed tin whistle, their behavior depends on the hero's current state: If the hero is in a polymorphed state from eating a mimic corpse, or else is polymorphed into a form that can hide, the guard will not notice the hero and leave[21]—being transformed from eating a mimic corpse while hallucinating produces a different message, but otherwise has the same effect. The guard will not notice a hero that is invisible when they enter, and will leave when the hero moves away from them. If the hero is fainted, they will be awakened from that state[22]—otherwise, if they are unable to speak (e.g. due to paralysis, unconsciousness, being engulfed, or being in a form that cannot speak), the guard will leave.[23][24]

Once the guard has established that the hero can respond, they will ask the hero their name, interrupting any occupation and prompting the player to enter an answer:[25] replying with Croesus, Kroisos or Creosote will cause them to leave you alone and disappear, while attempting this after killing the actual Croesus will instead have the guard immediately wield their weapon and become hostile.[26][27][28] If the player answers their query with a different name, they will ask hero to drop all of their gold and follow them out of the vault, including any gold in open inventory and in containers within that inventory, so stashing cannot fool them. A lawful hero incurs a small alignment record penalty for giving a false name to the guard.[29]

The guard will peacefully escort the hero out as long as they comply with orders, and this can be used to escape a vault if the hero lacks any other means to do so. If a hero picks up the gold they dropped, the guard will demand they drop it and turn hostile if they do not obey quickly—they will become hostile immediately if the hero eats the gold or destroys it (e.g. by polypiling, though a hero can freely teleport it away or throw it outside of the vault without angering the guard. A hero that does not drop their gold, teleports away from the guard with gold in their inventory, or else attacks the guard directly will anger that guard.[30] Since guards are always generated peaceful, killing a hostile one will still count as murder even if the guard attacks the hero first.

A guard that is escorting a hero with no gold out of a vault will open a passage from the vault to a nearby corridor in the dungeon and wait for you to follow them along the path: both that guard and the passage will vanish once the hero safely reaches the main dungeon corridors, with the guard's inventory being removed and the passage itself being replaced with unlit solid rock;[31][32][33] items left inside the passage will be embedded in the solid rock, any traps made in the passage being destroyed, and any other monsters caught in the disappearing passage will be moved to a random location on the current level.[34] If a guard is killed in the passageway they create, it will disappear as above, and their corpse and possessions will be left embedded in the stone.[35] A hero that is in the passage when it disappears and is not dead will be encased in the solid rock.[36]

Strategy

Guards have the same speed as an unhasted hero, along with decent armor and a very strong attack—this is mitigated by the fact that guards are relatively easy to avoid fighting, and are usually not worth the effort unless the hero is actively farming them. Being escorted out of a vault is generally a slight inconvenience at worst, since the hero will only have to leave their gold behind; not only can this be worked around, but the hero ocan simply dig or teleport their way back in later to retrieve any gold, and it is even preferable if a hero ends up in a vault with no means of exiting. Once a hero can reliably make their way in and out of vaults, e.g. via controlled teleports, the guard is little more than a minor obstacle.

Some players name their hero Croesus (or one of the acceptable variants mentioned above) to avoid the alignment penalty for lying when using the name to make them leave, though said penalty is small and easily remedied, and such a strategy is also much more common in local play since servers often default to naming the character after the user. While guards can be bribed, this is often a waste of gold even when successful, but can be of use in some corner cases, e.g. to pacify a hostile guard and avoid murder penalties.

Should a hero dealing with a guard somehow get stuck in a disappearing passageway, they can pray to escape: being stuck in a wall is considered a major trouble, and a successful prayer will teleport them out. If teleportation somehow fails, the player will be granted temporary phasing for a handful of turns, which should be enough for them to make it back onto a safe square.

Farming guards

Main article: Farming

As vault guards do not go extinct, it is possible to farm guards for their inventory, including replacement armor, potions, wands, and even their whistles to use as polyfodder: while chaotic heroes are not penalized for murder and can theoretically farm guards directly, they will still suffer a significant penalty to alignment record. This kind of farming is best done with a pet that is strong enough to kill them quickly, especially with a pet that has a digestion attack such as a purple worm—be sure to monitor your pet's health during and in-between fights where necessary.

Messages

Suddenly, one of the vault's <guards> enters!
A guard entered the vault while you were present.
Someone else has entered the vault.
As above, but you cannot see or otherwise sense the guard.
"Hello stranger, who are you?"
The guard can see you; this will give you a prompt to enter your name.
You are required to supply your name.
As above, but you are deaf.
"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry to have disturbed you."
You told the guard you are Croesus, Kroisos or Creosote, causing them to leave.
<The guard> waves goodbye.
As above, while deaf.
"Back from the dead, are you? I'll remedy that!"
As above, but you have already killed Croesus; the guard will become hostile.
<The guard> mouths something and looks very angry.
As above, while deaf.
"I don't know you."
You gave a different name to the guard.
<The guard> doesn't <appear to> recognize you.
As above while deaf, with "appear to" used if the hero is also blind.
"You have hidden gold."
The guard is aware of the gold in a container within your inventory.
"Most likely all of your gold was stolen from this vault."
The guard is aware of the gold in your open inventory.
"Please drop that gold and follow me."
The guard wants to lead you out of the vault, requesting that you drop your gold first.
<The guard> holds out <his/her> palm and beckons with <his/her> other hand.
As above, while deaf and not blind.


"Please follow me."
"Move along!"
The guard is leading you out of the vault, opening a passageway through the solid rock if needed.
"Drop all your gold, scoundrel!"
You attempted to pick up the dropped gold again while in their view.
"So be it, rogue!"
The guard becomes hostile because you did not drop your gold in time or else refused to.
You hear the shrill sound of a guard's whistle.
You fled from a guard without dropping your carried gold while they were watching you, and they blew the whistle in their inventory.
You hear angry shouting.
As above, but there was no whistle in their inventory.


"I'll be back when you're ready to speak to me!"
You were in an impaired state that prevents you speaking when the guard entered, and they left.
The guard turns around and leaves, puzzled.
You were not visible when the guard entered, causing them to leave immediately. This is the result of eating a mimic corpse or polymorphing into a hiding monster and hiding under the gold.
"Hey! Who left that orange in here?"
As above, but you were polymorphed from eating a mimic corpse while hallucinating when the guard entered.

Encyclopedia entry

See the encyclopedia entry for human.

References

  1. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 858
  2. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 222
  3. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 321
  4. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 387
  5. ↑ include/hack.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 36: guard timer called in vault.c
  6. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 658
  7. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 838
  8. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 595
  9. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 625
  10. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 628
  11. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 631
  12. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 634
  13. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 638
  14. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 642
  15. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 646
  16. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 209
  17. ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 665
  18. ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1052
  19. ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2032
  20. ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2415
  21. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 416
  22. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 399
  23. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 407
  24. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 427
  25. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 439
  26. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 458
  27. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 469
  28. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 480
  29. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 452
  30. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 252
  31. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 46
  32. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 122
  33. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 144
  34. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 90
  35. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 176
  36. ↑ src/vault.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 108
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