Woodland-elf

@ Woodland-elf
Difficulty	6
Attacks	Weapon 2d4

@ Woodland-elf
Difficulty	6
Attacks	Weapon 2d4
Base level	4
Base experience	46
Speed	12
Base AC	10
Base MR	10
Alignment	-5 (chaotic)
Frequency (by normal means)	2 (Quite rare)
Genocidable	Yes
Weight	800
Nutritional value	350
Size	Medium
Resistances	Sleep
Resistances conveyed	Sleep (27%)
A Woodland-elf: has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso. can see invisible creatures. is omnivorous. is an elf. can pick up weapons and food. has infravision. can be seen through infravision. normally appears in small groups.
Reference	monst.c#line2317

A Woodland-elf, @, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is the weakest of the randomly generated elves. Woodland-elves have a single weapon attack and possess sleep resistance, infravision and the ability to see invisible.

Eating a Woodland-elf corpse or tin has a 27% chance of conferring sleep resistance.

Generation

Woodland-elves can generate in small groups, and randomly-generated Woodland-elves are sometimes peaceful towards chaotic characters and always peaceful towards player elves. A Woodland-elf can grow up into an elf-lord.

Woodland-elves are generated with elven equipment using the following odds:

• They have a ¹⁄₂ chance of generating with either an elven mithril-coat or an elven cloak, and a ¹⁄₂ chance of generating with an elven leather helm; if they do not generate with the helm, they have a ¹⁄₄ chance of generating with elven boots.
• They have a ¹⁄₂ chance of generating with an elven dagger.
• They will also generate with one of the following sets of items, with an equal chance of each set:
  • An elven bow and set of elven arrows, a ¹⁄₄ chance of an elven shield and a ²⁄₃ chance of an elven short sword.
  • An elven broadsword and a ¹⁄₂ chance of an elven shield.
  • A ¹⁄₂ chance of an elven spear and accompanying elven shield.

Strategy

Woodland-elves can be difficult for early characters that are caught by surprise, but their corpses also offer an early safe source of sleep resistance.

History

The Woodland-elf first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.

Origin

Woodland-elves are derived from the wood elves of Dungeons & Dragons, which in turn are partly based on the Silvan Elves, or Wood Elves, of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. "Silvan elves" in the context of Dungeons & Dragons can refer to either wood elves or their green/wild elf kin, depending on the edition. Wood elf society is characterized as proud, reclusive and disdainful of civilization, seeking to maintain their harmony with nature rather than trying to dominate it - simultaneously, they consider compassion a greater virtue than power, and seek to maintain amiable relations with their neighbors where possible.

Wood elves are largely calm and level-headed if somewhat gruff in demeanor, and skew stronger and more neutral-inclined than most elves, but are (comparatively) less concerned with education and intelligence. Due to their naturalistic inclinations, they are typically disinterested in most forms of non-primal magic, though they are not completely averse to arcane magic. Wood elves are also not averse to craftsmanship, being passionate hunters and highly-skilled carpenters and stoneworkers that are capable of forming bonds with local wildlife, but prefer to minimize their impact on their surroundings as much as possible.

Variants

dNetHack

In dNetHack, Woodland-elves may appear among the court of an elven monarch-ruled throne room.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, Woodland-elves are moved to the Quendi monster class like all other elves.