Shotgun
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | shotgun |
| Appearance | shotgun |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | +3 |
| Weapon skill | firearms |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 200 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 35 |
| Material | iron |
A shotgun is a firearm introduced in SLASH'EM. It features high accuracy and damage, but low range and uncommon ammunition.
Generation
SLASH'EM shopkeepers are guaranteed to have a shotgun. They do not generate otherwise.
Description
Shotguns are one-handed, and typically fire one shot a time. A Skilled or Expert character with a highly enchanted shotgun has a chance of firing two or three shots.
Shotguns are very accurate, with a +3 to-hit bonus, and they also fire shotgun shells which do more damage than ordinary bullets, but they have a very limited range at 3 squares. Furthermore, the ammunition is uncommon: it can only be found on shopkeepers and 50% of captains and sergeants, compared to bullets which can be found on most Yendorian Army members.
Rate of fire
| Enchantment | Unskilled/basic | Skilled | Expert |
|---|---|---|---|
| +2 or lower | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| +3 to +5 | 1 | 1 | 1d4-2 (min 1) |
| +6 to +8 | 1 | 1d4-2 (min 1) | 1d5-2 (min 1) |
| +9 | 1d4-2 (min 1) | 1d5-2 (min 1) | 1d6-2 (min 1) |
Strategy
Shotguns can theoretically make powerful early-game weapons with their high damage and accuracy bonus, but a player capable of killing a shopkeeper almost certainly doesn't need one. Later on, their low rate of fire, low range, and rare ammunition make them impractical to use.
In the hands of a shopkeeper, a shotgun is deadly to new characters, since unlike the wand of striking that shopkeepers have in vanilla Nethack it cannot be countered by magic resistance. Shopkeepers' shotguns have the ordinary chance to be cursed: this will reduce their melee damage to 1d2 per attack, rendering them considerably less of a threat in melee. However, an early character will still likely die unless they have some kind of escape item, as they will be unable to outrun the shopkeeper or meaningfully hit them back.
Origin
Shotguns are ordinarily smoothbore (non-rifled) weapons that fire a large shell, rather than a small bullet. Usually, this shell is filled with small pellets (called shot), which disperse in an area around their target, rather than hitting a single point. This makes them useful for hitting small, fast-moving targets, since one does not need a direct hit - this is represented in SLASH'EM by their +3 accuracy bonus.
While real-life shotguns do indeed have less range than other firearms, it is not as exaggerated as it is in SLASH'EM. Typical shotgun shells are effective to around 35 meters - while the distance covered by a square in Nethack is somewhat ambiguous, by even the most conservative measure 35 meters should translate to at least 10 or 11 squares.
