Withering
Withering is a status effect in SpliceHack that affects the player's hit points. Withering has different effects depending on whether the player has regeneration. Withering is considered a major trouble, and can be removed via application of a unicorn horn or prayer.
| Status | Effect |
|---|---|
| Regeneration | Player does not regain hit points at an accelerated rate. |
| No regeneration | Player loses one hit point per turn, does not regain hit points naturally. |
Monsters afflicted with withering lose one hit point per turn.
Other Variants
Withering also occurs in EvilHack. However it cannot be cured with a unicorn horn. Prayer, quaffing a blessed potion of extra healing or a non-cursed potion of full healing, casting cure sickness at yourself, or invoking The Staff of Aesculapius will remove withering. Note that your god prefers to cure withering over healing you from low HP—don't wait until the last moment to pray!
However, in EvilHack withering is not perpetual or even necessarily long-lived, and will time out on its own. You gain the status effect for as many turns as the attack's damage, down to a minimum of 2. So, for instance, a 1d6 withering attack makes you wither for 2–6 turns. The wither time can stack if you're hit repeatedly with a withering attack before it wears off, and can last quite long if caused by a high-level monster. If you gain more than 7 turns worth of withering in one attack, you also lose a point of maximum HP, regardless of drain resistance.
Withering prevents you from naturally regaining hit points, and you lose 1d2 hit points per turn, unless praying. This makes withering attacks more dangerous than they look, since they can do up to two times their stated damage, albeit over time. If you have regeneration, this loss is reduced by one, with the net effect of losing 0 or 1 HP per turn.
Withering effects monsters in an almost symmetrical manner, although blessed potions of healing, uncursed potions of extra healing, and cursed potions of full healing will also cure them.
Non-living monsters and vampires regardless of form (including you if you're polymorphed) are immune to withering and max HP loss.
