Alhoon (EvilHack)
h alhoon 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 30 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d10, Touch 5d6 cold, Tentacles 2d1 intelligence drain, Tentacles 2d1 intelligence drain, Spellcasting 0d0 arcane |
| Base level | 26 |
| Base experience | 1115 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | -6 |
| Base MR | 90 |
| Alignment | -15 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 250 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | psychic, fire, cold, sleep, electricity, poison, level drain |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
An alhoon:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack - monst.c, line 642 |
An alhoon, h, is a type of monster that appears in EvilHack and Hack'EM. An alhoon is a master mind flayer that became undead as a result of attaining lichdom and shares traits of both monsters: the cold touch, spellcasting and regeneration of the lich, and the flight and intelligence-draining tentacle attacks of the mind flayer.
An alhoon has a weapon attack, a cold touch attack, two brain-eating tentacle attack, and will attempt to cast one arcane monster spell during each of its rounds. Alhoons are also covetous and desire the Book of the Dead like other liches, and can warp short distances across the current level. Alhoons possess fire resistance, cold resistance, sleep resistance, poison resistance, shock resistance, drain resistance, and psychic resistance.
Generation
Alhoons are only randomly generated in Gehennom, and are always generated hostile. They are not a valid form for normal polymorph.
An alhoon is guaranteed to appear on the lowest level of Vecna's Domain at level creation, and there is a 35% chance of a second alhoon being generated there as well.
Alhoons never leave a corpse upon death.
Strategy
Alhoons are very dangerous monsters and powerful spellcasters that should be approached with caution: in addition to the standard high-level repertoire of spells such as summon nasties, destroy armor and touch of death, their tentacle attacks can cause amnesia that may drain vital skill and/or spell training. This makes them a popular target for genocide, but doing so requires that you destroy Vecna, ensuring you will have to deal with at least one alhoon within his domain.
For characters that plan to fight an alhoon in melee, magic resistance or another form of resistance to death magic is a must to prevent the worst effects of their spells. A greased or oilskin helm is also necessary to block the amnesia and intelligence drain from their tentacle attacks; psychic resistance from a (master) mind flayer polyself can do the same. Illithid characters possess a natural immunity to tentacle attacks from other flayers, while Infidels that have crowned are death-resistant. For the other nasty spells in the alhoon arsenal, acid resistance and cancellation resistance can protect against acid blast and cancellation respectively.
Engaging an alhoon from range is somewhat safer: A simple boulder fort will protect against the brunt of an alhoon's offense, and requires relatively little preparation. For your own offense, highly enchanted missiles such as daggers or shuriken are viable; the alhoon's spell list includes reflection, which can render rays in effective, and their suite of resistances means that acid blast is the only area-of-effect spell that is effective. The Hammer of the Gods will return when thrown if you are Skilled or higher in hammer and deals double damage to undead monsters, making it an excellent choice at range.
Origin
Alhoons, also called illithiliches, are a form of illithid that originate from Dungeons & Dragons, where they first appear in Advanced 2nd Edition booklet "Book One: The City", released as part of the Menzoberranzan boxed set for the Forgotten Realms setting in 1992. They are further detailed in 1998 supplement "The Illithiad"
Alhoons are outcasts from illithid society for delving too deep into the study of wizardry: Illithids consider psionic potential integral to their identity: they typically communicate through psychic means by projecting thoughts and feelings to each other, and upon death have their brain extracted upon death and taken to the pool of an "Elder Brain", which also hosts illithid larvae. This brain acts as a vast library of knowledge that other illithids can call upon, and becoming a part of its collective of brains represents a form of immortality to them.
The study of arcane magic and other forms of magic is frowned upon, since magical energy cannot be absorbed by the Elder Brain, but is otherwise tolerated insofar as it allows illithid society to better understand their enemies. Illithids that are outcast for going too far with these studies will often seek immortality through undeath instead, turning to lichdom. When discovered near illithid communities, alhoons are mercilessly hunted down.
Encyclopedia entry
A truly terrifying creature, alhoons are rogue master mind flayers
that sought out ultimate magical power, sacrificing their souls
and becoming something akin to an arch-lich. Alhoons do not have
as many tentacle attacks as their mind flayer brethren, but they
can cast powerful spells. They enjoy all of the strengths and
weaknesses associated with being undead.
