Neothelid (EvilHack)
| w neothelid (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 36 |
| Attacks |
Breath 6d6 acid, Tentacles 2d4, Tentacles 2d4 intelligence drain, Tentacles 2d4 intelligence drain, Tentacles 2d4 intelligence drain, Engulfing 6d6 digestion |
| Base level | 32 |
| Base experience | 1578 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 60 |
| Alignment | -8 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 3000 |
| Nutritional value | 800 |
| Size | Gigantic |
| Resistances | psychic,acid |
| Resistances conveyed | Cures stoning |
|
A neothelid:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack - monst.c, line 1329 |
A neothelid is a slithy, strong, carnivorous animal that appears in EvilHack. It has acid breath, four tentacle attacks (three of which can drain your intelligence), and an engulfing attack that can digest you.
Neothelids will attack any type of mind flayer on sight, and vice versa.
Generation
Neothelids are never normally generated, and usually must be explicitly created by means of a figurine, stone to fleshing a statue, or reviving a corpse. When they are created, they are always created hostile. There is a 10% chance of a neothelid inhabiting any mind flayer nursery, and a 50% chance of one being placed on the second floor in the tower of the Wizard of Yendor. Apart from this, they will never be seen in a normal game.
Strategy
Neothelids are one of the most dangerous monsters present in EvilHack. They move as fast as an unhasted, unburdened player, deal high physical damage, and can drain as much intelligence as a mind flayer in a single turn. Furthermore, their high level and gigantic size means they will be incredibly tanky. Luckily, due to their rarity, the player often has time to prepare before facing one.
By the time they are likely to be encountered, the player will likely have reflection or acid resistance of some kind, making the breath a light nuisance. The main danger a neothelid presents is its tentacle attacks that cause amnesia and intelligence drain. Intelligence can be protected by wearing a ring of sustain ability, but amnesia will still cause loss of skills and spells, making continuing the fight potentially difficult. Note that neothelids cannot use their tentacle attacks while digesting the player; it may be worth removing any rings of slow digestion to be intentionally swallowed.
Illithid player's minds are immune to both effects of the tentacle attacks, as are monster mind flayers. A viable strategy is to polyself into a variety of mind flayer (note that illithids specifically are not a valid polymorphable form); the only danger posed in melee from a neothelid in this state would be physical damage and the chance of instadeath by digestion.
Ranged attacks are effective against neothelids, and perhaps the safest option. Boulder forts work well, as does simple kiting; neothelids are slower than an unhasted centaur, or any other race with speed. A sufficiently large stack of missile weapons or attack wands can work well, as do powerful attack spells. Neothelids also only have a monster magic resistance value of 60, meaning you can polymorph or sleep them with some amount of consistency.
Origin
Neothelids originate in Dungeons & Dragons. When a mind flayer nursery was abandoned, all of the mind flayer larva cannibalize each other until only one giant larva remained, becoming a neothelid. They were loathed by illithids, who saw them as abominations, and creating one was seen as a taboo.
Encyclopedia Entry
Neothelids are extremely rare creatures, so called as they were
illithid larvae who had undergone neoteny. They typically
appeared once a mind flayer society was destroyed and the larva
nursery left unsupervised. The larval illithids engaged in
cannibalism until the last survivor became a gargantuan leviathan
loathed by all, especially mind flayers themselves. Neothelids
are slime-covered worms with a quadri-tentacled mouth that resembled
gigantic versions of illithid larvae. They were often mistaken for
purple worms due to their purple skin, and massive larval body
structure.
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