Displacer beast (SpliceHack)
f displacer beast 
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|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 301 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -10 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 750 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | displacement (100%, 6-36 turns) |
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A displacer beast:
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| Reference | SpliceHack-Rewrite 1.2.0 - src/monst.c, line 435 |
- For the monster in other variants, see Displacer beast (disambiguation).
A displacer beast, f, is a type of monster that appears in SpliceHack. The displacer beast is a large and quadrupedal feline animal that is carnivorous and can be seen via infravision like other felines. A displacer beast can both displace other monsters while moving and naturally has the displacement property: A hero that attacks a displacer beast (including by force-fighting) has a 1⁄2 chance of "displacing" them instead, moving the hero into that square and relocating the displacer beast to a nearby square. This will not occur if the displacer beast cannot be relocated to a valid position, or else if it is currently helpless, eating or trapped—the ability is also unaffected by cancellation. A pinch of catnip thrown at a displacer beast will render them tame and confuse them.
Displacer beasts have two claw attacks and a bite attack.
A hero eating a displacer beast corpse or tin gains 6-36 turns of intrinsic displacement upon finishing the meal.
Generation
Randomly-generated displacer beasts are always created hostile.
Hostile displacer beasts can be created by the summon nasties monster spell when it is cast in Gehennom or by a hostile chaotic spellcaster.
Origin
The displacer beast is an evil creature that originates from Dungeons & Dragons where it is introduced in the 1975 Greyhawk, the game's first supplement—the concept of the creature was borrowed from A. E. van Vogt's 1939 science fiction short story "Black Destroyer", which features a similar feline-like creature called a coeurl as the titular antagonist. The displacer beast is a large and strong feline with a blue-black pelt that vaguely resembles a puma or black panther, though they possess three pairs of limbs rather than two, and also have tentacles up to 5-feet long that extend from its shoulders and end in sharp and brownish-yellow horned edges.
Displacer beasts are usually about 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weigh as much as 500 pounds (230 kilograms), with females being smaller; "pack lord" varieties of displacer beast and other mutants of the species can grow to twice the usual size. A displacer beast is more intelligent than most animals and can even speak some Common, while pack lords have slightly higher human-level intelligence. They have striking green eyes that glow malevolently and continue to shine even after they die, and can see up to 60 feet in the dark. Their hide is a valuable commodity, used to create highly sought-after enchanted items such as cloaks of displacement.
The displacer beast's name comes from its innate "displacement" ability, which is caused by molecular vibrations generated from specialized nerves located in the outer layers of the displacer beast's skin—this bends light and creates the illusion that it is a short distance away (anywhere from 1 to 3 feet) from its actual location. Displacer beasts are excellent at hiding and resistant to all ranged attacks as a result, as well as many magical effects (such as "dispel magic") and poisons; their displacement ability is seemingly unconscious, though they can direct the illusory image at will using the thorns on the end of its tentacles, which faintly glow blue while this power is in use. A displacer beast can see the true locations of other displacer beasts even through their illusions; the "phase trap" spell can nullify the beast's displacement, and true seeing reveals their real position.
Displacer beasts often kill for sport as much as for necessity, though they do not fight amongst themselves for food or dominance, and like other great cats they will often toy with their prey until they are ready to eat—once their prey is slain, the displacer beast drags the carcass to a safe and remote spot to consume it. Displacer beasts are known to hunt in packs (called "prides") and lure prey into ambushes, and while they prefer to hunt smaller creatures, they are not picky eaters and consume anything they can kill. Displacer beasts fight using deadly claws and wicked teeth: prides will target weaker members of a group first, which extends to attacking spellcasters of traveling parties from a distance with their tentacles while facing armed opponents head-on; if faced with overwhelming odds, however, they tend to flee rather than fighting to the death.
Messages
- <The displacer beast> swaps places with you...
- A displacer beast exchanged places with you when you tried to attack it.
Encyclopedia entry
This strange creature appears to be mutant form of puma (aka
cougar or mountain lion) which lives in underground settings
rather than outdoor wilderness. It is capable of exchanging
positions with people or creatures in its path and is not
fooled by displaced images of others.
