Short sword
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | short sword |
| Appearance | short sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | short sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 10 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | iron |
A short sword is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a one-handed melee weapon made of iron. Samurai know the short sword as a wakizashi.
Contents
Generation
Human Barbarians have a 1⁄2 chance of starting the game with a short sword as their one-handed weapon.[1] Rogues start the game with a short sword as their primary weapon, and Samurai start the game with a short sword as their offhand weapon.[2][3]
The short sword makes up about 0.8% of randomly generated weapons.
Several monsters can generate with short swords:
- Watchmen and Yendorian army soldiers have an effective 1⁄3 chance of generating with a short sword.[4]
- Ninja have a 3⁄4 chance of generating with a short sword.[5]
- Chieftains, pages, roshi, and warriors have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a short sword.[6] Hunters have a 2⁄3 chance of generating with a short sword.[7]
- Skeletons have an effective 1⁄12 chance of generating with a short sword.[8]
- Player monsters, including those on the Astral Plane, have a chance lower than 1% of generating with a short sword as their initial weapon before role-based replacements[9] player monster rogues have a 1⁄4 chance of forcing a short sword as their primary weapon.[10]
Short sword skill
| Short sword | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The following weapons use the short sword skill:
- short sword
- dwarvish short sword
- elven short sword
- orcish short sword
All short swords weigh 30 aum and have a base price of 10 zorkmids. There are no artifact short swords.
Strategy
The short sword can be decent as an offhand weapon for early twoweaponing, but is generally outclassed by long swords and similar weapons. A Samurai's katana in particular is typically used as an offhand weapon once they obtain an artifact weapon.
History
The short sword first appears in NetHack 1.3d, which introduces the Samurai, Elf and Ninja roles. From this version to NetHack 2.3e, all Elves start the game with a short sword - from NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.2.3, the Elf instead starts with an elven short sword if the TOLKIEN compile-time option is enabled.
The Samurai's starting short sword first appears in NetHack 2.2a, while the Rogue's starting short sword is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0 (where it replaces the Ninja role).
Origin
The short sword as depicted in NetHack comes from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Historically, there has never been a specific type of "short sword": swords from the Bronze and Iron Ages were necessarily shorter, as a long blade requires high-quality steel that was unavailable. From the medieval and later periods, some types of larger daggers or knives (such as the seax) may be described as short swords, given that there is no single agreed-upon length for what qualifies a bladed weapon of this type as a sword.
The wakizashi is a short type of sword from feudal Japan. Due to sumptuary laws and arms regulation, commoners (i.e. non-samurai) were not allowed to wear swords beyond a certain length; as a result, the wakizashi was a commoner's weapon. For samurai, however, a long katana together with a wakizashi was considered an indication of their elevated social status. Transliterated, the term means "side-inserted sword", referring to how the small, handy weapon could be worn at one's side, analogous to the modern term "sidearm".
Variants
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds the silver short sword and dark elven short sword as weapons that use the short sword skill.
Four artifact weapons use the short sword skill:
- Quick Blade (elven short sword)
- Luckblade (short sword)
- The Sword of Balance (silver short sword)
- Doomblade (orcish short sword)
Upgrading a short sword will produce a dwarvish short sword, and upgrading an orcish short sword will produce a short sword.
A humanoid monster that is not strong and has a weapon attack, the ability to wield weapons and no other ruleset governing its monster starting inventory will have a chance of generating with a short sword, unless they are being generated on the Rogue level: the base odds are 1⁄14 for normal monsters, 1⁄12 for a monster that is a lord or nasty, 1⁄10 for a monster that is an overlord or both a lord and nasty, and 1⁄8 for a monster that is both nasty and an overlord.[11]
SporkHack
SporkHack adds the silver short sword as a weapon that uses the short sword skill.
dNetHack
dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add the droven short sword and mirrorblade as weapons that use the short sword skill, and the wakizashi is made into a separate weapon from the standard short sword. All short sword weapons can be poisoned.
Enki is a spirit that grants skill in short swords while bound.
There are a few artifacts that use the short sword skill:
- Luck Blade is a chaotic Convict-favoring short sword that acts as the role's first sacrifice gift. It has +1d7 to-hit and deals +1d7 damage versus all monsters, uses luck-based damage dice, and acts as a luckstone while carried.
- Spineseeker is a chaotic short sword that has +1 to-hit and deals +1d6 damage versus all monsters. It grants stealth while wielded and adds extra damage dice for sneak attacks and backstabs, making sneak attacks available to non-Rogue roles.
- Lolth's Fang is an intelligent drow-favoring silvered droven short sword that acts as the crowning gift for chaotic and neutral drow. It has +1d5 to-hit and deals +1d10 acid damage against non-resistant monsters, is permanently poisoned, and adds extra damage dice for sneak attacks. Lolth's Fang also grants drain resistance while wielded.
- Avarice is an intelligent lawful large-sized short sword wielded by Mammon. It has +1d10 to-hit and deals +1 damage, stealing items from targets that it hits.
- Sunsword is a silvered long sword made of gold that uses (and trains) the higher of the two between the character's short sword and long sword skills.
- Fire Brand and Frost Brand can generate in short sword form.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, Fire and Frost Brand use the short sword as their base item instead of long swords.
SpliceHack
SpliceHack adds the gladius as a weapon that uses the short sword skill.
Two short swords can be combined at a furnace to create a long sword.
EvilHack
EvilHack adds the dark elven short sword as a weapon that uses the short sword skill, which is significantly different from its implementation in SLASH'EM.
Soldiers and watchmen that do not have a race-specific short sword may generate with a short sword. Agents of the gods have a 3⁄4 chance of generating with a short sword. Player monster barbarians and giant and tortle player samurai generate with short swords.
A short sword can be created at a forge by combining a dagger and 2 crossbow bolts. Short swords can be used to create several items:
- A short sword can be combined with a dwarvish spear to create a dwarvish short sword.
- A short sword can be combined with a knife to create a scimitar.
- A short sword can be combined with a scimitar to create a broadsword.
- Two short sword can be combined to create a long sword.
- A short sword can be combined with a spear to create a glaive.
As in xNetHack, Fire Brand and Frost Brand are changed to short swords.
Hack'EM
Hack'EM adds the gladius from SpliceHack as a weapon that uses the short sword skill, and retains the artifacts from SLASH'EM that use the skill.
Upgrading a short sword will produce an elven short sword, and upgrading an orcish short sword will produce a short sword.
In addition to forging recipes from EvilHack, a short sword can be combined with a broadsword to create a gladius.
Encyclopedia entry
Wazikashi
A wakizashi was used as a samurai's weapon when the katana
was unavailable. When entering a building, a samurai would
leave his katana on a rack near the entrance. However, the
wakizashi would be worn at all times, and therefore, it made
a sidearm for the samurai (similar to a soldier's use of a
pistol). The samurai would have worn it from the time they
awoke to the time they went to sleep. In earlier periods,
and especially during times of civil wars, a tanto was worn
in place of a wakizashi.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 43
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 124
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 135
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 197: 2⁄3 chance of not getting a polearm
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 268
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 292
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 304
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 480: Skeletons are the only zombie monster class member eligible to generate with weapons and armor
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 155: 1⁄2 to get a random weapon - the designated range of objects covers weapons from the spear to the bullwhip inclusively in objects.c, and uses normal generation odds
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 230
- ↑ makemon.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 203: Default set of cases for monster weapon generation in SLASH'EM
