Baluchitherium
q baluchitherium 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 15 |
| Attacks |
Claw 5d4, Claw 5d4 |
| Base level | 14 |
| Base experience | 331 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 5 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 3800 |
| Nutritional value | 800 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A baluchitherium:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line781 |
A baluchitherium (plural baluchitheria), q, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a large, quadrupedal thick-skinned herbivore with a pair of strong claw attacks that usually appears late in the dungeon.
Contents
Generation
In addition to normal generation, the baluchitherium can be generated by the summon nasties monster spell.
Strategy
Balucitheria can be somewhat threatening due to their strength, and they are as fast as an unhasted player. However, by the time you normally encounter them, you should have a source of speed, good damage output and a way to exploit their lack of monster MR and otherwise take them down from a distance. For a well-prepared player, an individual baluchitherium can often be dealt with easily, and they tend to be a threat primarily in the company of other more dangerous nasties, such as the master mind flayer and minotaur.
History
The baluchitherium first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Origin
Baluchitherium, currently known as Paraceratherium, is an extinct genus of long-necked, hornless rhinoceros; the previous scientific name that the monster derives its name from is a junior synonym, i.e. a former scientific name that was not the first one published. Paraceratherium means "near the hornless beast" - this refers to Aceratherium, the genus in which the first species discovered was originally placed.
Paraceratherium lived roughly 34–23 million years ago, and the first fossils were discovered in what is now Pakistan; remains have also been found across Eurasia between China and the Balkans. The animal's taxonomic history is complex, due to known fossils being fragmented and the relative isolation of the scientists that studied it from each other for much of the 20th century. It is one of the largest terrestrial mammals to have existed, with estimates placed at about 4.8 metres (15.7 feet) in height and about 7.4 metres (24.3 feet) in length, and its weight is estimated to have been about 15 to 20 tonnes (33,000 to 44,000 lb); its long neck supported a skull that was about 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) long, and it had large, tusk-like incisors and a nasal incision that may be indicative of a trunk. This makes Paraceratherium around three times the size of a modern rhino; it also has a similar diet that mainly consisted of leaves, soft plants, and shrubs, and its habitats ranged from arid deserts with a few scattered trees to subtropical forests.
The baluchitherium appears in the 1st and 2nd editions of Dungeons & Dragons, where it is highly defensive and displays a tendency to charge and trample anything that strays too close to it. Balucitheria dwell in plains areas and are typically solitary, but are also seen in mated pairs that may additionally have a calf present.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the baluchitherium hits monsters as a +3 weapon.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, baluchitheria are among the many quadrupeds that can make up the grazing herds of Geryon in his lair within Gehennom.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, baluchitheria are among the many hostile quadrupeds that can generate upon the creation of the isle of Erytheia map for demon lord levels in Gehennom.
Encyclopedia entry
Extinct rhinos include a variety of forms, the most spectacular being _Baluchitherium_ from the Oligocene of Asia, which is the largest known land mammal. Its body, 18 feet high at the shoulder and carried on massive limbs, allowed the 4-foot-long head to browse on the higher branches of trees. Though not as enormous, the titanotheres of the early Tertiary were also large perissodactyls, _Brontotherium_ of the Oligocene being 8 feet high at the shoulder.
