Ghoul mage
Z ghoul mage 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks |
Claw 1d3 paralysis, Claw 1d4, Spell-casting 6d6 |
| Base level | 10 |
| Base experience | 231 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | -4 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 400 |
| Nutritional value | 50 |
| Size | Small |
| Resistances | cold, sleep, poison, level drain |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A ghoul mage:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line3410 |
A ghoul mage, Z, is a monster that appears in SLASH'EM, SpliceHack, SpliceHack-Rewrite, SlashTHEM, and Hack'EM. They possess a paralysis-incuding claw attack as most ghouls do, alongside the ability to cast monster spells. Unlike most other zombies and undead, ghoul mages are not mindless.
Generation
In addition to random generation, ghoul mages may be among the random zombies generated in certain rooms and levels such as graveyards and the Temple of Moloch at level creation. They can also be created by the summon undead monster spell.
Strategy
Ghoul mages are thankfully not as bad to fight as the more powerful ghoul queens, but can still be annoying due to their speed arcane spellcasting, which often includes curse items and occasionally aggravate. As with most higher-level spellcasters, have a means of curse removal on hand in case things go awry - if you lack curse removal items, ghoul mages should be taken out with prejudice when possible, and may even warrant a scroll of genocide in the absolute worst cases.
Note that while their middling base level limits the spells they can cast, ghoul mages do an unexpectedly high amount of damage with psi bolt, with its 11d6 damage nearly matching that of an arch-lich. While the mechanics of monster spell selection make psi bolt an infrequent choice for them, it can prove a nasty surprise when they do cast it, particularly for players who lack magic resistance.
Encyclopedia entry
The forces of the gloom know each other, and are strangely
balanced by each other. Teeth and claws fear what they cannot
grasp. Blood-drinking bestiality, voracious appetites, hunger
in search of prey, the armed instincts of nails and jaws which
have for source and aim the belly, glare and smell out
uneasily the impassive spectral forms straying beneath a
shroud, erect in its vague and shuddering robe, and which seem
to them to live with a dead and terrible life. These
brutalities, which are only matter, entertain a confused fear
of having to deal with the immense obscurity condensed into an
unknown being. A black figure barring the way stops the wild
beast short. That which emerges from the cemetery intimidates
and disconcerts that which emerges from the cave; the
ferocious fear the sinister; wolves recoil when they encounter
a ghoul.
