Gypsy
@ gypsy 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 24 |
| Attacks |
Claw 2d12 (Steals intrinsics), Spellcasting |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 619 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | −2 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | death magic, sleep, poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
causes teleportitis (100%) |
|
A gypsy:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line3796 |
The gypsy, @, is a human monster that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM. Chatting to a gypsy grants access to a unique set of services.
Eating the corpse or tin of a gypsy will always convey teleportitis.
Contents
Generation
The prison in the south half of Grund's Stronghold has a 1⁄10 chance to contain a peaceful gypsy.
A hostile gypsy may potentially appear as one of the many Template:Monsym/@ @ generated within the Lawful Quest's Chamber of Junk.
List of services
A gypsy can do any of the following if you chat to her:
- Fortune telling
- Play three card monte
- Play ninety nine
- Pawn gems
The gypsy has a deck of 72 cards that is used for fortunes and ninety-nine (but not three card monte). If the deck is fully exhausted, the gypsy will reshuffle the deck.
Gold and gems given to a gypsy are destroyed rather than transferred to the her inventory - this is likely to discourage purchasing services or pawning a large number of gems in the hopes of getting a wish and then recovering them by killing the gypsy afterwards.
Fortune telling
The gypsy reads your fortune and charges you 50zm of credit - the effects of the fortune depend on the card. Any card not in the lists below has no effect.
Cards with an effect
| Card | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Zero of trumps | The Fool | You lose one point of wisdom and 3 points of Luck. |
| 1 of trumps | The Magician | The gypsy reveals the location of the portal to the Wizard's Tower if you haven't killed him; if you have killed him at least once, he will resurrect and teleport to your current location. |
| 2 of trumps | The High Priestess | If you do not have the Amulet of Yendor, the gypsy will see the high altar in Moloch's Sanctum, revealing the number of the level it occupies. If you have the amulet, she will instead see "a high altar in the heavens..." |
| 3 of trumps | The Oracle | "I see an Oracle on level <oracle level>". |
| 4 of trumps | The Lovers | A foocubus of the opposite sex appears. |
| 5 of trumps | The Chariot | "For 5000 credit I will teleport you to a level of your choosing!" |
| 6 of trumps | Strength | Your strength increases by one point, and you gain the half physical damage intrinsic for 500–1000 turns. |
| 7 of trumps | The Hermit | "You feel like hiding!" You gain teleportitis for 300–600 turns and invisibility for 500–1000 turns. |
| 8 of trumps | The Wheel of Fortune | "You feel lucky!" Your Luck increases by 3. |
| 9 of trumps | Justice | An erinys is summoned, ignoring extinction. |
| 10 of trumps | Punishment | You are punished. If you are already punished when drawing this card, you are subjected to the curse items monster spell's effect. |
| 11 of trumps | The Devil | Moloch summons a minion to attack you. |
| 12 of trumps | Sorcery | Your role's spellcasting stat (either wisdom or intelligence) increases by one point, and you gain the half spell damage intrinsic for 500–1000 turns. |
| 13 of trumps | Death | You are subjected to a touch of death. |
| 14 of trumps | The Tower | Gives the location of Vlad's Tower. |
| 15 of trumps | The Star | "The gypsy reaches behind your head and pulls out a <gem>." You receive a precious gem, based on the month as described below; this will automatically identify the gem. There is a 1⁄6 chance of getting two gems. |
| 16 of trumps | The Moon | Resets and gives the current phase of the moon, changing Luck to match the possibly new moon phase. |
| 18 of trumps | The Judgment | "I see a quest on level <quest level>" |
| 19 of trumps | Infinity | "For 10000 credit, I will grant you a wish". If you have the required gold and accept, you can wish for an object - afterward, the gypsy is canceled (can be checked with a stethoscope). The next time Infinity is drawn, the gypsy disappears. ("I wish I wasn't here!") |
Gems that a gypsy can give you with "The Star"
| Month | Gem | Value |
|---|---|---|
| January | Garnet | 700 |
| February | Amethyst | 600 |
| March | Aquamarine | 1500 |
| April | Diamond | 4000 |
| May | Emerald | 2500 |
| June | Opal | 800 |
| July | Ruby | 3500 |
| August | Chrysoberyl | 700 |
| September | Sapphire | 3000 |
| October | Black opal | 2500 |
| November | Topaz | 900 |
| December | Turquoise | 2000 |
Cards which do nothing, but have a message
| Card | Image | Message |
|---|---|---|
| 2 of rings | Change | Your powers will be put to the test soon |
| 3 of rings | Works | You will meet new challenges |
| 4 of rings | Power | Your strength will aid you greatly in times to come |
| 5 of rings | Worry | Your worst nightmares will come true |
| 8 of rings | Prudence | Next full moon is an excellent time to try to please your god |
| 9 of rings | Gain | Your wishes will become true |
| 3 of swords | Sorrow | Your relationships will be shaky |
| 6 of swords | Science | Your intellect will aid you soon |
| 7 of swords | Futility | You should stop trying to bend fate |
| 9 of swords | Cruelty | The cards are stacked against you. |
| 10 of swords | Ruin | When the full moon rises terrible things will happen to you. |
| 2 of wands | Dominion | You must not let evil overcome you |
| 3 of wands | Virtue | Keep active or woe will overcome you |
| 4 of wands | Completion | You should stick to your path |
| 5 of wands | Strife | When Mars is out, it will be a time of bloodshed for you |
| 6 of wands | Victory | If you stick to your path, great things will happen to you |
| 7 of wands | Valour | Your strength will be put to the test in coming times |
| 9 of wands | Adjustment | Beware, it will not be a safe time for you next full moon |
| 2 of shields | Love | You should work on your relationships. |
| 5 of shields | Disappointment | Disappointment waits for you around the corner |
| 6 of shields | Pleasure | The full moon is the time for you to develop relationships |
| 7 of shields | Debauch | You will meet someone tall, dark and handsome |
| 8 of shields | Indolence | Your god will be short tempered during the new moon |
| 9 of shields | Happiness | Your dreams will come true |
| 17 of trumps | The Sun | "It is the witching hour. Beware of the undead!" if it's midnight, "It is nighttime. Beware of creatures of the night!" if it's nighttime, "It is daytime. Shouldn't you be working?" if it's daytime |
All other cards not listed above do nothing and have no effect.
Three card Monte
The aim of this game is simple: you choose a card, and the card might or might not be the right one. If you choose the right card, you win your bet in credit. Whether or not you win is based on your Luck and your previous games' results. You are guaranteed to win the first game you play with any gypsy.
Ninety-nine
The gypsy shuffles the deck at the start of each game of ninety-nine. Each player draws three cards and take turns playing cards, drawing after each turn. Non-trump and non-face cards add to the total score, with a maximum of 99, and a minimum of 0 (see below for other card effects). If your opponent cannot play a card, you win.
Note that the cards held in hand or played in the last game of ninety-nine will be taken out of the deck when you ask for the gypsy to read your fortune.
| Card | Effect | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Kings | Put the score to ninety-nine | Can always be played |
| Queens and Jacks | Diminish the points by 10 | Cannot be played unless score is above 10 |
| The Fool | Can't be played | Will stay till the end of the game in your hand |
| All other trumps | Don't do anything to the points | Always safe to play |
| All the other cards | Add their value to score | Cannot exceed 99 points if played. |
Pawn gems
This allows you to sell identified gems to the gypsy for an amount of credit equal to the base price of the gem.
Strategy
In general, the main goal of interacting with gypsies is to gain wishes - magic resistance is crucial in the event the Death card comes up, and it is also advisable to have a means of removing punishment and restoring Luck. Beyond this, you should at least be equipped to defeat any demons generated by the fortunes. This is ideally best done before you have awakened and/or killed Rodney. It is a good idea to call a cancelled gypsy so that you do not accidentally waste further gems on her.
You will need 3,600 credit to go through the entire deck of cards - if playing during the month of April, however, the gems received through "The Star" will always be greater than this cost. This gives players the option of repeatedly going through the entire deck while refusing to accept the wish each time, slowly collecting diamonds and other gems/positive effects.
Through reverse genocide in a safe area such as Sokoban, you can obtain several wishes even with no gems or a very small amount of gold - be sure to call and name each gypsy so you can tell them apart. Select a gypsy and bet all your money on the first game of three card monte, then bet 1zm with her each game until you win - do not pick the same card twice in a row. Once you win a 1zm bet, wager most of your gold and credit on the next bet with that gypsy - repeat until you have won at least 13,600zm, and then have her read your fortune until you get a wish.[1]
Fighting
Be very careful not to anger gypsies - they are high-level spellcasters with a good AC of -2, regeneration and very high monster MR. They can hit hard and steal intrinsics in the manner of a gremlin, and will gladly curse your items, summon nasties, and possibly even perform a touch of death. There is almost no benefit to killing one, especially since they do not retain the gold and gems given to them, unless they were hostile to begin with (e.g., the Lawful Quest). For extinctionists and players looking to try their luck, leaving them to a powerful pet is the safest approach.
