Snickersnee
) Snickersnee (No tile) | |
---|---|
Base item | katana |
Damage vs. small | 1d10 +1d8 (2–18) |
Damage vs. large | 1d12 +1d8 (2–20) |
To-hit bonus | +1 |
Bonus versus | (any) |
Weapon skill | long sword |
Size | one-handed |
Affiliation | |
When carried |
(none) |
When wielded |
(none) |
When invoked |
(none) |
Base price | 1200 zm |
Weight | 40 |
Material | iron |
Snickersnee is an artifact katana, that simply does +1d8 damage. It is the first sacrifice gift for a Samurai.
Contents
Strategy
The main good thing about Snickersnee is that it uses the long sword skill, so you can build up skill quickly.
It is moderately useful in the early game, especially for Samurai, Valkyries and Knights (or other long sword wielders), but is usually not worth burning a wish for. It is interesting to note, however, that Excalibur is only slightly better than Snickersnee—they inflict the same amount of damage versus small monsters (1d8+1d10 for Excalibur versus 1d10+1d8 for Snickersnee), and Snickersnee does not anger demons or reveal your presence to monsters. However, neither does it confer level-drain resistance or automatic searching, and it gets only +1 to hit (versus Excalibur's +1d5), though the attack bonus is irrelevant at high levels or with high luck. Excalibur also inflicts slightly more damage to large monsters.
Average damage calculation
The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills, strength, or from using a blessed weapon against undead or demons.
Weapon | Small monster | Large monster |
---|---|---|
+0 Snickersnee | ||
+7 Snickersnee |
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Snickersnee does its maximum damage bonus on each hit, thus 1d10+8 vs. small and 1d12+8 vs. large, making it significantly more powerful than in vanilla.
Weapon | Small monster | Large monster |
---|---|---|
+0 Snickersnee | ||
+7 Snickersnee |
Additionally, since artifacts can be #two-weaponed, a Samurai who finds a longsword can get easy access to both Excalibur and Snickersnee, which makes for a formidable combination even into the late game.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, like SLASH'EM, Snickersnee's damage bonus is +8 instead of +1d8. However, it is no longer associated with Samurai; Kiku-ichimonji replaces it as the first sacrifice gift for Samurai.
dNetHack
Kiku-ichimonji also replaces Snickersnee as rgw Samurai's first gift in dNetHack. Snickersnee is now an intelligent artifact knife with +1d3 to-hit, +1d10 to damage, and a chance of beheading similar to Vorpal Blade. It cannot be gifted, but is nameable by mid-game Tourists. Both Tourists and Samurai can wield it in the off-hand.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, Snickersnee gains +1d5 to hit (in addition to the +1 for being a katana), but is otherwise unchanged. This is more significant than it might initially seem because of the to-hit calculation changes in SporkHack.
Origin
Per the encyclopedia entry. Snickersnee is a reference to a popular 19th century comic opera set in Japan.
Although the weapon is a katana and the first sacrifice gift for Samurai, its name is not Japanese, but is an old English word for "large knife".
Encyclopedia entry
Ah, never shall I forget the cry,
or the shriek that shrieked he,
As I gnashed my teeth, and from my sheath
I drew my Snickersnee!
--Koko, Lord high executioner of Titipu
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