Keystone Kop (monster class)

The K Keystone Kop monster class is comprised of human law enforcers that are summoned whenever you steal from a shop, such as by teleporting out of the shop or digging downwards. They attack you by throwing cream pies and beat you up with rubber hoses. While they are not very difficult to eliminate, one by one, there are a lot of them, and their numbers are quite intimidating. There are four kinds of Kops: Keystone Kops, Kop Sergeants, Kop Lieutenants and Kop Kaptains.

Although their symbol is K, they are considered human for all other purposes, including sacrificing. They do, however, respect Elbereth, but only when occupied by the hero.

Keystone Kop

K Keystone Kop
Difficulty	3
Attacks	Weapon 1d4

K Keystone Kop
Difficulty	3
Attacks	Weapon 1d4
Base level	1
Base experience	13
Speed	6
Base AC	10
Base MR	10
Alignment	9 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	no random generation
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	1450
Nutritional value	200
Size	medium
Resistances	None
Resistances conveyed	None

Kop Sergeant

K Kop Sergeant
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Weapon 1d6

K Kop Sergeant
Difficulty	4
Attacks	Weapon 1d6
Base level	2
Base experience	22
Speed	8
Base AC	10
Base MR	10
Alignment	10 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	no random generation
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	1450
Nutritional value	200
Size	medium
Resistances	None
Resistances conveyed	None

Kop Lieutenant

K Kop Lieutenant
Difficulty	5
Attacks	Weapon 1d8

K Kop Lieutenant
Difficulty	5
Attacks	Weapon 1d8
Base level	3
Base experience	33
Speed	10
Base AC	10
Base MR	20
Alignment	11 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	no random generation
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	1450
Nutritional value	200
Size	medium
Resistances	None
Resistances conveyed	None

Kop Kaptain

K Kop Kaptain
Difficulty	6
Attacks	Weapon 2d6

K Kop Kaptain
Difficulty	6
Attacks	Weapon 2d6
Base level	4
Base experience	49
Speed	12
Base AC	10
Base MR	20
Alignment	12 (lawful)
Frequency (by normal means)	no random generation
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	1450
Nutritional value	200
Size	medium
Resistances	None
Resistances conveyed	None

Strategies

The kops are a very good source of experience and cream pies.

One minor strategy with shopkeepers is to steal an item from the shop and leave for a distant corner of the dungeon; this will summon a slew of Kops and their equipment, followed by the shopkeeper. After slaughtering the Kops, pacify the shopkeeper and sell him the gear dropped by the dead Kops. Warning! Unless you are careful, it will take at least 1000 gold to pacify him; make sure the gear you have is worth that much.

Encyclopaedia entry

The Kops are a brilliant concept.  To take a gaggle of inept
policemen and display them over and over again in a series of
riotously funny physical punishments plays equally well to the
peanut gallery and the expensive box seats.  People hate cops.
Even people who have never had anything to do with cops hate
them.  Of course, we count on them to keep order and to protect
us when we need protecting, and we love them on television shows
in which they have nerves of steel and hearts of gold, but in
the abstract, as a nation, collectively we hate them.  They are
too much like high school principals.  We're very happy to see
their pants fall down, and they look good to us with pie on
their faces.  The Keystone Kops turn up--and they get punished
for it, as they crash into each other, fall down, and suffer
indignity after indignity.  Here is pure movie satisfaction.

The Kops are very skillfully presented.  The comic originality
and timing in one of their chase scenes requires imagination
to think up, talent to execute, understanding of the medium,
and, of course, raw courage to perform.  The Kops are madmen
presented as incompetents, and they're madmen rushing around
in modern machines.  What's more, the machines they were operating
in their routines were newly invented and not yet experienced
by the average moviegoer.  (In the early days of automobiles,
it was reported that there were only two cars registered in all
of Kansas City, and they ran into each other.  There is both
poetry and philosophy in this fact, but most of all, there is
humor.  Sennett got the humor.)
        [ Silent Stars, by Jeanine Basinger ]

Origin

NetHack's Kops got their name from the Keystone Kops, an incompetent bunch of policemen featured in a series of films from 1912 to 1917.

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