Dwarf lord

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A dwarf lord, h, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. A dwarf lord is a humanoid monster that is a stronger type of dwarf, possessing infravision and the ability to tunnel with a digging tool like other dwarves.

A dwarf lord has two weapon attacks.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Dwarf lords are known as dwarf leaders, with "lord" and "lady" being gendered titles.

Generation

Randomly-generated dwarf lords are always peaceful towards dwarven and gnomish characters, and will mostly be peaceful towards other lawful characters. Dwarf lords do not appear in Gehennom due to being lawful. A dwarf can grow up into a dwarf lord, and a dwarf lord can grow up into a dwarf king.

In addition to random generation, a dwarf lord may appear as the random h that is generated on level creation for each of the filler levels in the Gnomish Mines.

A dwarf lord can be generated with each of the following items:[1]

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

A dwarf will grow up into a dwarf leader of the appropriate gender, rather than always becoming a male dwarf lord regardless of gender.

Strategy

Dwarf lords have two weapon attacks, which makes them quite deadly when wielding a dwarvish mattock, and they can have excellent AC from their starting armor.

History

The dwarf lord first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.0.3, the dwarf lord uses the h glyph; in NetHack 3.0.4, when color was introduced, it was given the h glyph. The dwarf lord is given its current glyph color in NetHack 3.0.7.

Variants

Some variants grant dwarf lords and other monsters AC bonuses for wearing racial equipment, and may additionally generate them with a potion of booze. They may also make adjustments so that female counterparts to the dwarf lord are properly named and generated.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, the Gnomish Mines replaces dwarf lords with hostile dwarf mummies at level creation with the exception of bones, so that player dwarves and gnomes will have to deal with hostile monsters like other races[2] - this does not occur in practice, since dwarf lords are never specified for generation when creating any of the Mines levels.

GruntHack

In GruntHack, dwarf lords are replaced by racial monster lords and ladies, which dwarves are eligible to generate as.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, dwarf lords generated outside of the Gnomish Mines have a 67 chance of being generated with a potion of booze. They also gain +1 bonus AC for each piece of worn dwarven armor.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, dwarf lords that are randomly generated outside of the Gnomish Mines are always generated with a potion of booze.

Female dwarves will grow up into dwarf clerics rather than male dwarf lords.

Dwarf lords may appear in the court of a throne room ruled by a gnome king, gnome queen, dwarf king or dwarf queen.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, the monster is known as a dwarf leader. Dwarf leaders that generate with dwarvish ring mail have an increased chance of it being made of mithril, which makes it behave similarly to the dwarvish mithril-coat of NetHack.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, the monster is referred to as a dwarf noble, and dwarf nobles gain +1 bonus AC for each piece of worn dwarven armor.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, the monster is also known as a dwarf noble as in EvilHack, and dwarf nobles gain +1 bonus AC for each piece of worn dwarven armor. Dwarf nobles generated outside of the Gnomish Mines have a 67 chance of being generated with a potion of booze, as in UnNetHack.

Encyclopedia entry

Dwarfs have faces like men (ugly men, with wrinkled, leathery skins), but are generally either flat-footed, duck-footed, or have feet pointing backwards. They are of the earth, earthy, living in the darkest of caverns and venturing forth only with the cloaks by which they can make themselves invisible, and others disguised as toads. Miners often come across them, and sometimes establish reasonably close relations with them.... The miners of Cornwall were always delighted to hear a bucca busily mining away, for all dwarfs have an infallible nose for precious metals.
Among other things, dwarfs are rightly valued for their skill as blacksmiths and jewellers: they made Odin his famous spear Gungnir, and Thor his hammer; for Freya they designed a magnificent necklace, and for Frey a golden boar. And in their spare time they are excellent bakers. Ironically, despite their odd feet, they are particularly fond of dancing. They can also see into the future, and consequently are excellent meteorologists. They can be free with presents to people they like, and a dwarvish gift is likely to turn to gold in the hand. But on the whole they are a snappish lot.

[ The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker ]

References