Constitution

Constitution is an attribute in NetHack.

Effects

Having a high constitution increases your healing rate and the number of HP you gain when leveling up and allows you to carry more weight in your inventory.

Constitution is most easily exercised by keeping from being hungry and is increased by one when you sleep with a foocubus and "feel good enough to do it again." It is reduced by one when an amulet of life saving saves your life.

constitution	HP/level bonus
3	−2
4–6	−1
7–14	0
15–16	+1
17	+2
18	+3
>18	+4

Reference: attrib.c, line 649.

Above level 9, higher constitution can also help you regenerate more HP every 3 turns. Specifically, having 13 or more constitution regenerates a random amount of HP from 1 to your current constitution which is then capped by level − 9, so to gain more than 1 HP on these turns you must be at least level 11.^[1]

Constitution can be increased beyond the racial maximum by wearing a ring of gain constitution. Additionally, in 3.6.1 wielding the Ogresmasher sets constitution to 25.

Messages

You feel tough! You must be leading a healthy life-style.: You gained a point of constitution by exercise.^[2]
You feel fragile! You haven't been watching your health.: You lost a point of constitution from abuse.^[3]

Exercising and abusing constitution

Constitution is exercised by the following:

Having a hunger status of "Not hungry" on a turn whose number is a multiple of 10^[4]
Being healed by a nurse (one in three chance)^[5]
Consorting with a foocubus and getting the "You feel raised to your full potential"^[6] or "You feel good enough to do it again"^[7] message
Drinking holy water, as a non-chaotic hero, unless polymorphed into an undead or demon^[8]
Drinking unholy water, as a chaotic hero, or polymorphed into an undead or demon^[9]
Drinking or breathing the vapors^[10] of a potion of healing,^[11] extra healing^[12] or full healing^[13]
Reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant armor while not wearing armor^[14]
Digesting a monster (other than a green slime)^[15]
Eating a non-cursed flint stone (but this is impossible in vanilla NetHack)^[16]

Constitution is abused by the following:

Having a nutrition status of "Fainting" or "Fainted" on a turn whose number is a multiple of 10^[17]
Being overtaxed (once every ten turns)^[18]
Being sick, including both fatal illness and food poisoning, and non-fatal vomiting (once every five turns)^[19]
Vomiting (every turn, in addition to the abuse from the previous item)^[20]
Being unable to move while encumbered and with low hit points^[21]
Passing out from exertion when heavily encumbered^[22]^[23]
Having an object "drop from your grasp" when attempting to throw it while encumbered and with low hit points^[24]
Choking from overnutrition (even if you are breathless)^[25]
Drinking from a fountain and getting one of the following effects: contaminated water (without poison resistance),^[26] curse items ("this water's no good!")^[27]
Falling onto a sink, if there is a weapon or weapon-tool on the sink^[28]
Being hit by a monster attack that causes lycanthropy,^[29] or by Famine's hunger-inducing attack^[30]
Consorting with a foocubus and getting the "You feel drained of energy"^[31] or "You are down in the dumps"^[32] message
Being hit by a silver object thrown at you by a monster, while polymorphed into a silver hater^[33]
Suffering a system shock when attempting to polymorph^[34]
Polymorphing^[35]
Becoming deathly sick, or making your sickness worse, or only partly curing your sickness^[36]
Drinking holy water, as a chaotic hero, or polymorphed into an undead or demon^[37]
Drinking unholy water, as a non-chaotic hero, unless polymorphed into an undead or demon^[38]
Drinking a non-blessed potion of sickness, as a non-Healer^[39]
Drinking a potion of acid (unless acid resistant)^[40]
Breathing the vapors of a potion of sickness (as a non-Healer),^[41] or a potion of polymorph^[42]
Being turned back to your natural form, by praying to a non-chaotic god while polymorphed into an undead^[43]
Reading a cursed scroll of enchant armor while not wearing armor^[44]
Reading a scroll of destroy armor while not wearing armor, if you are confused^[45], or the scroll is non-cursed^[46]
Sitting on a throne and getting the electric shock effect^[47]
Being caught in a poison gas^[48] or poison needle^[49] container trap, or by a booby trapped door or tin^[50]
Being zapped by a wand of lightning, either by yourself^[51] or by a monster^[52], while not shock resistant

References

[1] Jump up ↑ allmain.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 171

[2] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 435

[3] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 436

[4] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 324

[5] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1406

[6] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 2327

[7] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 2332

[8] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 481

[9] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 474

[10] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1224

[11] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 791

[12] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 799

[13] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 814

[14] Jump up ↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 679

[15] Jump up ↑ uhitm.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1827

[16] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1640

[17] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 330

[18] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 342

[19] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 356

[20] Jump up ↑ timeout.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 72

[21] Jump up ↑ hack.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 891

[22] Jump up ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 356

[23] Jump up ↑ hack.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1086

[24] Jump up ↑ dothrow.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 896

[25] Jump up ↑ eat.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 238

[26] Jump up ↑ fountain.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 267

[27] Jump up ↑ fountain.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 284

[28] Jump up ↑ hack.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 474

[29] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1262

[30] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1520

[31] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 2290

[32] Jump up ↑ mhitu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 2295

[33] Jump up ↑ mthrowu.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 76

[34] Jump up ↑ polyself.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 239

[35] Jump up ↑ polyself.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 564

[36] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 136

[37] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 461

[38] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 493

[39] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 688

[40] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 890

[41] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1234

[42] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1299

[43] Jump up ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1611

[44] Jump up ↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 679

[45] Jump up ↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 790

[46] Jump up ↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 801

[47] Jump up ↑ sit.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 177

[48] Jump up ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 3706

[49] Jump up ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 3714

[50] Jump up ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 3856

[51] Jump up ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1904

[52] Jump up ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 3161

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Constitution

Contents

Effects

Messages

Exercising and abusing constitution

References

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