Displacer beast (dNetHack)
f displacer beast 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 16 |
| Attacks |
Tentacle 2d4 physical, tentacle 2d4 physical, bite 1d8 physical, claw 1d3 physical, claw 1d3 physical |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 355 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -10 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1500 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | large |
| Resistances | none |
| Resistances conveyed | temporary displacement (+6,000) |
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A displacer beast:
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- For the monster in other variants, see displacer beast (disambiguation).
A displacer beast, f, is a type of monster that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The displacer beast is a large and fey feline animal with an elongated head that is strong and carnivorous, can be seen via infravision, and can track the hero and detect other creatures via catsight and scent. Tame displacer beasts may turn traitor.
Displacer beasts naturally have displacement: 1⁄2 (50%) of attacks will miss it outright unless the attacker is somehow engulfed by the displacer beast, either the attacker and the displacer beast are stuck to the other party in some way, or the attacker is using a Silver Flame-empowered weapon. All 20 of a displacer beast's AC points are in the dodge category.
Displacer beasts have two tentacle attacks, a bite attack, and two claw attacks, and possess a weakness to iron.
A hero eating a displacer beast corpse or tin, or else quaffing its blood, gains temporary displacement for 6,000 turns before physical size modifiers.
Displacer beasts can be potentially pacified by the Cartouche of the Cat Lord ward, and can be scared off by a Toustefna stave carved into a wood weapon placed on the hero's square.
Generation
Randomly-generated displacer beasts are always created hostile.
Displacer beasts may be generated as minions of Bel-Shamharoth and Bast.
Hostile displacer beasts can be generated 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 were 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.
Encyclopedia entry
The displacer beast is a magical creature that resembles a
puma with two powerful black tentacles growing from its
shoulders. Very rare, they stay far from human habitations.
The displacer beast has the blue-black coloring of a dark
panther, and a long cat-like body and head. Females range
in length from 8 to 9 feet, and weigh 450 pounds; males
are 10 to 12 feet long, and weigh up to 500 Lbs. They have
6 legs. Tentacles are tipped with rough horny edges that
can inflict terrible wounds. Their eyes glow bright green,
even after death.
Complete Monstrous Manual, TSR ]
