Astaroth
Astaroth, the Broken Clockmaker is a spirit that appears in dNetHack and notdNetHack.
Contents
Ritual, seal and taboo
An eroded item must be placed in Astaroth's seal - the item is repaired as part of the ritual, and any negative enchantment is also fixed. If binding him into the Pen of the Void, the Pen itself must be rusty or corroded.
To remain bound to Astaroth, a character must not deliberately break inventory items, including mulching ammunition - breaking non-inventory items such as doors and iron bars is permitted.
Mark
A character that has Astaroth bound weeps tears of black oil - these can be easily seen from a distance, and the character must wear a blindfold, towel or a mask to keep them hidden.
Benefits
While bound, Astaroth confer shock resistance and magical breathing, and grants skill in crossbows and shuriken.
Astaroth's active powers are as follows:
- Astaroth's Assembly: Projects an invisible beam up to 5 spaces in the chosen direction, creating a shocking explosion centering on the first target struck. This explosion loses 1 die of damage for each square the beam travels, with a minimum of 1 die and a maximum of 5 dice. The character then gains 1 point of extrinsic protection similar to the spell for each square that the beam travels without exploding, up to a maximum of 5 points - this protection decreases by 1 point every 5 turns.
- Astaroth's Shards: Fires a barrage of shuriken equal to the character's spirit die size + XL/10 + 1 along random ranks, and the character takes damage equal to their spirit die size. The barrage may be concentrated by activating it while standing in a corridor or other narrow space.
His passive powers are as follows:
- Rusting: The character takes 1 damage per turn from being underwater.
As a monster
| & Astaroth File:Astaroth.png | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 15 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 4d5 physical, tinker 0d0 tinkers |
| Base level | 13 |
| Base experience | 452 |
| Speed | 14 |
| Base AC | 5 |
| Base MR | 40 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 3000 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | large |
| Resistances | fire, shock |
| Resistances conveyed | |
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Astaroth:
| |
In notdNetHack, Astaroth, &, also appears as a monster that can be summoned by an Illithanachronounbinder. He is a humanoid demon that can be seen via infravision, will pick up and collect other items, and can follow a character to other levels if he is adjacent.
Astaroth has a weapon attack and will create hostile gizmos during each of his turns if he is close enough to the target - the gizmo created will be a firework cart 1⁄10 of the time, and will otherwise be a clockwork soldier, clockwork dwarf or faberge sphere, with an equal probability of each. He possesses fire resistance, shock resistance and death resistance.
Astaroth is poisonous to consume, which primarily comes up if he is digested by another monster. Like many summoned spirits, Astaroth cannot be tamed.
Generation
Astaroth is first generated when summoned from his seal by an Illithanachronounbinder. He is always created hostile, and is not a valid form for normal polymorph.
Astaroth is generated with 2-3 upgrade kits.
Astaroth does not leave a corpse upon death.
Strategy
Below this point, there are major spoilers for the Illithanachronounbinder role. They can be accessed by selecting the "Role spoiler" tab.
Astaroth can be encountered again in the Void, which is accessed by opening the high altar of Ilsensine the Fallen as an Illithanachronounbinder using the invoke effect of The Elder Cerebral Fluid. Astaroth is generated along with many other spirits of the near void on the first floor of the branch, and is generated with the "whispers" template, which makes him nonliving.
Encyclopedia entry
He is very old. He is hurting very badly. He is underwater, in space, and everywhere else. He cannot get off his chair. He is stuck there forever because he is so badly hurt.
…not afraid of The Lord, for He is as we are, broken and scattered. As we restore the body of God, so we restore ourselves. To join with the Lord is good. As we give honor and worship to the Lord, so does He honor us. To serve the Lord is good. As we guard the Lord from harm, so does He…
