Werewolf
@ werewolf (human) 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 6 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d4 |
| Base level | 5 |
| Base experience | 61 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | -7 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Poison |
| Resistances conveyed | Lycanthropy |
|
A human werewolf:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2127 |
d werewolf (animal) 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks |
Bite 2d6 lycanthropy, Summon friends |
| Base level | 5 |
| Base experience | 61 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | -7 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Always starts in human form |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 500 |
| Nutritional value | 250 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Poison |
| Resistances conveyed | Lycanthropy |
|
An animal werewolf:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line248 |
A werewolf, @ / d, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The werewolf is an omnivorous human lycanthrope that can shift between human and canine form - in both forms, they possess enhanced regeneration and can be seen via infravision. In human form, werewolves will seek out and pick up items.
A werewolf in human form has a weapon attack, and in wolf form it has a bite that can cause lycanthropy and the ability to summon other wolves on adjacent and nearby squares when in melee range of a character. Werewolves possess poison resistance and are weak to silver.
A werewolf corpse is poisonous to eat, and eating a werewolf corpse or tin will confer lycanthropy - monsters cannot catch lycanthropy this way.
Generation
Randomly-generated werewolves are always created hostile and in human form. They are not a valid form for normal polymorph.
A werewolf summoning help has a 4⁄5 chance of generating a hostile wolf, a 1⁄10 chance of generating a hostile warg, and a 1⁄10 chance of generating a hostile winter wolf on each applicable square[1] - characters that get lycanthropy from a werewolf can summon the above monsters as pets by using the #monster extended command with at least 10 power.
Strategy
Werewolves are the strongest form of lycanthrope a character can encounter - while their AC is far from stellar, their regeneration combined with decent damage and the ability to summon fairly bulky wolves can be very troublesome for characters that encounter them as they approach the mid-game. A werewolf summoning one or more winter wolves in an open area can unexpectedly turn the tables on decently-kitted characters unless they have cold resistance or reflection for the breath attack. Worse yet, contracting lycanthropy from one will eventually cause a character to shift to wolf form: while not nearly as weak as the other lycanthrope forms, turning into a wolf will destroy body armor rather than shrink out of it, on top of forcing them to drop other armor and much of their inventory.
Like other werecreatures, werewolves should be eliminated as quickly as possible before they can get into melee range and summon monsters or infect you: constraining them to hallways is less effective than in other cases, since summoned winter wolves can hit from behind other monsters with their cold breath and destroy potions in open inventory, though this has the benefit of softening up the werewolf and other wolves you are fighting off. A means to reliably engrave Elbereth may be needed to get some breathing room if you do not have a silver weapon or a solid enough weapon to bring the wolves down quickly. As always, keep sprigs of wolfsbane, holy water or other cures on hand, and consider wearing a ring of protection from shape changers if you identify one.
History
The werewolf first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.0.10, their animal forms are referred to as wolfweres.
Origin
The concept of humans shapeshifting into animals has been a common concept in folklore among various human eras and cultures, while "therianthropy" and related terms as a means of describing specific forms of human-animal shapeshifting have been in use since the early 20th century.
Encyclopedia entry
In 1573, the Parliament of Dole published a decree, permitting the inhabitants of the Franche-Comte to pursue and kill a were-wolf or loup-garou, which infested that province, "notwithstanding the existing laws concerning the chase." The people were empowered to "assemble with javelins, halberds, pikes, arquebuses and clubs, to hunt and pursue the said were-wolf in all places where they could find it, and to take, burn, and kill it, without incurring any fine or other penalty." The hunt seems to have been successful, if we may judge from the fact that the same tribunal in the following year condemned to be burned a man named Giles Garnier, who ran on all fours in the forest and fields and devoured little children, "even on Friday." The poor lycanthrope, it appears, had as slight respect for ecclesiastical feasts as the French pig, which was not restrained by any feeling of piety from eating infants on a fast day.
