Sink
Sinks are a dungeon feature represented by a #. Sinks will cause anything in the air above them to "sink" to the floor, be it thrown weapons, or your levitating character. Falling into a sink while levitating will hurt you (and might even cause death, if you're unlucky). Sitting on a sink will produce the message "Your rump gets wet." Kicking a sink or quaffing from it has consequences, most of them negative, with a few beneficial ones. Dropping rings into a sink will cause them to be lost down the drain, with a message that enables you to identify the ring. Digging down on a sink will turn it into a (non-magical) fountain (which can then be dug down onto to produce pools for blanking and diluting).
If there is a sink on the current dungeon level, you will occasionally hear a message:
- "You hear a gurgling noise."
- "You hear a slow drip."
Contents
Kicking a sink
Kicking a sink has several possible effects.
80 percent of the time, "Klunk! The pipes vibrate noisily." This exercises dexterity and wakes nearby monsters.
Once per sink, "A black ooze gushes up from the drain!" A black pudding is summoned, and dexterity is exercised.
Once per sink, "The dishwasher returns!" The dishwasher is a foocubus of opposite sex to the hero, or of random sex if the hero is a neuter creature. Dexterity is exercised.
Sometimes, "Flupp! Muddy waste pops up from the drain." Once per sink, when this happens, "You see a ring shining in its midst" and dexterity and wisdom are exercised.
If none of these things happens, "Ouch! That hurts!" You lose up to 5 hit points, abuse dexterity and strength, and possibly end up with a wounded leg.
Quaffing from a sink
You can drink from a sink by using the quaff command while standing over it. Upon doing so you get a message hinting at the resulting consequences. The specific message you receive depends on your status and the condition of dungeon monsters.
Chance | What came out | Effect | Condition | NetHack message |
---|---|---|---|---|
11/20 | water | You take a sip of (very) <hot, warm, cold> water. | ||
You hear clanking from the pipes... | ||||
You hear snatches of song from among the sewers... | ||||
you are hallucinating | From the murky drain, a hand reaches up... --oops-- | |||
1/20 | scalding water | lose 1d6 hit points | You take a sip of scalding hot water. | |
you are fire resistant | You take a sip of scalding hot water. It seems quite tasty. | |||
1/20 | a rat | A sewer rat is created | you can see the created rat | Eek! There's a sewer rat in the sink! |
you cannot see the rat | Eek! There's something squirmy in the sink! | |||
nothing | Sewer rats are genocided or extinct | The sink seems quite dirty. | ||
1/20 | random potion | same effect as drinking that potion | you can see | Some <potion appearance> liquid flows from the faucet. |
you are blind | Some odd liquid flows from the faucet. | |||
1/20 | random ring | A random ring is created and your wisdom exercised | You find a ring in the sink! | |
dirty water | you already got a ring from this sink | Some dirty water backs up in the drain. | ||
1/20 | nothing | The sink becomes a fountain. | The pipes break! Water spurts out! | |
1/20 | a water elemental | A water elemental is created. | The water moves as though of its own will! | |
nothing | water elementals are extinct | The water moves as though of its own will! But it quiets down. | ||
1/20 | hard water | You gain one experience point. | Yuk, this water tastes awful. | |
1/20 | sewer water | Your hunger increases | Gagg... this tastes like sewage! You vomit. | |
1/20 | toxic waste | You polymorph | This water contains toxic wastes! You undergo a freakish metamorphosis! | |
You have unchanging | This water contains toxic wastes! |
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, lucky vampires (either starting race or polymorphed), or unlucky non-vampires have a 1/13 chance of getting a Potion of vampire blood instead of a random potion. In addition, potions can now be of any BUC, depending on luck, with the following probabilities:
- First, there is a 1/(17+Luck) chance of the potion being cursed.
- Then, if it isn't cursed, there is a 1/(17-Luck) chance of the potion being blessed.
- Then, if neither of those happened, the potion is uncursed.
Identifying rings with a sink
All rings may be identified by dropping them into sinks. The sink will show an effect depending on the type of ring. Rings of searching and slow digestion will never be lost; all other rings will be lost down the drain with 95% probability. Therefore, it is a good idea to do this test only if you have another ring of the same type as the one being tested, or if you are starving.
After receiving the message you will be given the opportunity to name the kind of ring you dropped, but only if you have not already named it. A ring of hunger will also not give you the opportunity, if it fails to destroy an item. Of course, if you have a duplicate of the ring you dropped, you can always name that instead.
Note that most messages require that you are not blind, and the ring of hunger requires that there is a (preferably worthless) object already on the sink. If these are not the case, you will just get "You hear the ring bouncing down the drain pipe."
NetHack message | Type of ring | Notes |
---|---|---|
You thought your [ring] got lost in the sink, but there it is! | searching | Ring is not lost |
The ring is regurgitated! | slow digestion | Ring is not lost |
The sink quivers upward for a moment. | levitation | |
You smell rotten fruit. | poison resistance | |
Static electricity surrounds the sink. | shock resistance | |
You hear loud noises coming from the drain. | conflict | |
The water flow seems fixed. | sustain ability | |
The water flow seems stronger now. | gain strength (at least +0) | |
The water flow seems weaker now. | gain strength (-1 or worse) | |
The water flow seems greater now. | gain constitution (at least +0) | |
The water flow seems lesser now. | gain constitution (-1 or worse) | |
The water flow hits the drain. | increase accuracy (at least +0) | |
The water flow misses the drain. | increase accuracy (-1 or worse) | |
The water's force seems greater now. | increase damage (at least +0) | |
The water's force seems smaller now. | increase damage (-1 or worse) | |
Several flies buzz around the sink. | meat ring | |
Several flies buzz angrily around the sink. | aggravate monster |
The effects in the following table only occur if the hero can see:
NetHack message | Type of ring | Notes |
---|---|---|
Suddenly, <item> vanish(es) from the sink! | hunger | An item must be on the sink. Some items may resist.[1] |
The faucets flash brightly for a moment. | adornment | Does not distinguish negative enchantment |
The sink looks as good as new. | regeneration | |
You don't see anything happen to the sink. | invisibility | |
You see the ring slide right down the drain! | free action | |
You see some air in the sink. | see invisible | |
The sink seems to blend into the floor for a moment. | stealth | |
The hot water faucet flashes brightly for a moment. | fire resistance | |
The cold water faucet flashes brightly for a moment. | cold resistance | |
The sink looks nothing like a fountain. | protection from shape changers | |
The sink glows silver for a moment. | protection (at least +0) | |
The sink glows black for a moment. | protection (-1 or worse) | |
The sink glows white for a moment. | warning | |
The sink momentarily vanishes. | teleportation | |
The sink looks like it is being beamed aboard somewhere. | teleport control | |
The sink momentarily looks like a fountain. | polymorph | |
The sink momentarily looks like a regularly erupting geyser. | polymorph control |
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM has new messages for its new rings.[2] Note that intelligence- and wisdom-modifying rings cannot be distinguished via sink-dropping.
SLASH'EM message | Type of ring | Notes |
---|---|---|
The sink looks groovy. | mood ring | |
You hear loud snores coming from the drain. | sleeping | Works when blind. |
The water flow seems faster now. | gain dexterity (at least +0) | |
The water flow seems slower now. | gain dexterity (-1 or worse) | |
The water flow seems quicker now. | gain intelligence or gain wisdom (at least +0) | |
The water flow seems duller now. | gain intelligence or gain wisdom (-1 or worse) |
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, dropping a ring of polymorph into a sink will turn the sink into either a Fountain, Altar, or Throne. Additionally, dropping a Ring of teleportation into a sink will randomly teleport the sink.
Strategy
Quaffing from sinks is generally a dangerous gamble without much reward. At best you get a ring, which you could already get by kicking it (which is much safer). At worst, you get a potion of sickness or polymorph into something that will break your armor. The chance of something bad is significantly higher than the chance of something good (look at the chart of possibilities).
On the other hand, kicking sinks is fairly safe; provided you're past about experience level 5 you're not going to be killed by a foocubus, and black puddings are slow enough that they won't kill you if you move carefully. In fact, both the pudding and the foocubus can be used to your benefit.
Remember that if you plan on eating jewelry, only metal and wood rings are edible. Since you can't get the intrinsics from non-edible rings, you'll only need one to wear if you want that extrinsic; dropping one more down the sink isn't costing you very much.
Also note that ring identification is always safe, if costly, and you only need a single sink to do it. Therefore if you decide to quaff/kick sinks, it's in your best interest to leave at least one undamaged sink for your rings.
In UnNetHack, lucky players might find it more worthwhile to drink from sinks because instead of always giving uncursed potion effects, the BUC of the random potion is random, but changes with luck. Additionally, lucky vampires have a chance of getting a Potion of vampire blood, which can be a large boon. However, it is still a significant gamble.
References
- ↑ do.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 324: Balls and chains bound to you will resist, whereas normal objects will resist with 1% chance, artifacts with 99% chance, and unique items and the Amulet always
- ↑ http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~eva/slashem/rings.html
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