Skeleton

Z skeleton
Difficulty	14
Attacks	Weapon 2d6, Touch 1d6 slowing

Z skeleton
Difficulty	14
Attacks	Weapon 2d6, Touch 1d6 slowing
Base level	12
Base experience	359
Speed	8
Base AC	4
Base MR	0
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	0 (Not randomly generated)
Genocidable	No
Weight	300
Nutritional value	5
Size	Medium
Resistances	cold, sleep, poison, stoning
Resistances conveyed	None
A skeleton: does not breathe. is mindless. has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso. has a thick hide. does not eat. (*) is undead. is normally generated hostile. wanders randomly. is nasty. is strong. can pick up weapons and food. has infravision. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line2182

A skeleton is a magically animated undead creature that appears in NetHack.

Skeletons have a slowing attack that can remove intrinsic speed. Chatting with a skeleton, even a tame one, will paralyze you for a few turns. They have immunities to cold, sleep, poison, and stoning.

Generation

Skeletons normally only appear when you first enter Orcus-town, where five will be generated. They are valid targets for polymorph traps, and polypiling multiple objects made of bone, such as unicorn horns, may also create a skeleton.

A generated skeleton may appear with a leather armor (25%), a knife (8%) and/or a short sword (16%), but will not get a random offensive item.

Strategy

While skeletons are not a great threat compared to the shades also found in Orcus Town, their ability to nullify speed still makes them dangerous. Their stoning resistance means that they can wield footrice corpses, so be careful not to leave any near one.

Encyclopedia entry

A skeleton is a magically animated undead creature. Unlike
shades, only a humanoid creature can be used to create a
skeleton. No one knows why this is true, but it has become
an accepted fact amongst the practitioners of the black arts.