Neothelid
| 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, w is a type of monster that appears in EvilHack. It is a slithy, strong, carnivorous animal that 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 randomly generated normally, and are not a valid form for polymorph. Neolithids that are generated are always hostile.
There is a 1⁄10 chance of a neothelid inhabiting any mind flayer nursery, and a 1⁄2 chance of one appearing on the second floor of the Wizard's Tower.
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 melee tentacle attacks. 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.
Player illithids 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.
Ranged attacks are generally effective against neothelids, and perhaps the safest option: A sufficiently large stack of missile weapons or attack wands can work well, as do powerful attack spells. Boulder forts work well to keep neothelids out of melee range, as does simple kiting with a source of speed; centaurs can additionally use their jumping abilities to maneuver. The neolithid's magic saving throw of 60 makes it difficult but possible to polymorph one or put it to sleep.
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.
