Gibberling (Hack'EM)
@ gibberling 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 9 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d8 physical, scream 1d8 random status, sting 2d3 larva-infecting |
| Base level | 6 |
| Base experience | ? |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -2 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | sonic resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A gibberling:
| |
| Reference | Hack'EM 1.3.1 - src/monst.c, line 6162 |
- This article is about the monster in Hack'EM. For the monster in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, see gibberling (SLASH'EM).
A gibberling, @, is a type of monster that appears in Hack'EM. The gibbering is derived from its appearance in SLASH'EM: it is an omnivorous human creature that can be seen via infravision, and will pick up and collect weapons, food and other items. Gibberlings in Hack'EM also have a hatred of light similar to gremlins, along with a few other distinguishing traits. As humans, gibberlings cannot be made tame normally, and they can also turn traitor even if tamed through other means.
A gibberling has three different attacks: a normal weapon attack, a screaming attack that can inflict random status conditions upon the hero similarly to applying a cursed unicorn horn, and a sting attack that has a 1⁄4 chance of implanting larvae into a target without thick hide (which eventually grow into gibberslugs). The gibberling's scream attack can cause victims to fall asleep, become confused, become stunned, start hallucinating, begin fumbling, become blind, become nauseous, or become deaf—some of the scream's effects can also wake up a sleeping hero. Gibberlings possess sonic resistance.
Generation
Gibberlings are only randomly generated in Gehennom, and may be created as peaceful for some chaotic heroes. Gibberlings are one of three monsters in Hack'EM that can appear in very large groups, a distinction shared with the grimlock and compsognathus. They are not a valid polymorph form. A gibberslug can grow up into a gibberling.
A gibberling will be generated with one of the following melee weapons, with a set object material and an equal 1⁄3 probability of each:
- A bone club or a bone aklys, with a roughly equal probability of each one.
- A bone orcish dagger or a bone orcish spear, with a roughly equal probability of each one.
- A stone axe or a stone battle-axe, with a roughly equal probability of each one.
History
The gibberling first appears in SLASH 6.
Origin
The gibberling is a creature that originates from Dungeons & Dragons, where they make their debut in the 1981 Fiend Folio. Gibberlings are based on the creatures from the H. P. Lovecraft short story "The Lurking Fear", written in November 1922 and first published in the January through April 1923 issues of Home Brew. Gibberlings are named for the assortment of howls, clicks, shrieks, and odd chattering noises that the creatures make.
In the original short story, an unnamed monster-hunter travels to Tempest Mountain in the Catskills to uncover the mystery behind reports of various attacks by a group of unidentified creatures against the local inhabitants that have reached the media. During expeditions to the Martense mansion for possible clues to the creatures' existence and/or the family's remains, the creatures claim the lives of the hunter's companions, first a pair of bodyguards and then a local journalist. Eventually, the hunter discovers that the deformed and hair-covered creatures are none other than the Martense family themselves, devolved into hideous ape-like beasts from centuries of isolation and inbreeding. Though the hunter has the mansion, surrounding woods and hillside completely destroyed with explosives, he is thoroughly traumatized by the events, always fearing that creatures like the Martenses could be anywhere.
The gibberlings of Dungeons & Dragons are portrayed similar to the Martenses, and are generally depicted as pale, hunchbacked and unclothed humanoids: they have pointed canine-like ears, manes of black hair that surround hideous grinning faces, black "maniacal" eyes, and overly long arms which they sometimes used while walking. Gibberlings primarily inhabit temperate forests and the Underdark, and are carnivores that eat any and all food, including their own dead, in large quantities.
Gibberlings are invariably social creatures that have some primitive language amongst themselves, and always live in hordes of up to 400 individuals, with no apparent organization, structure or even a sense of individuality among them—though not truly malicious, they are wild and manic in behavior and are typically first seen as large, writhing masses of dark fur and flesh. Surface gibberlings are strictly nocturnal, digging short burrows to hide and remain dormant in until the sun went down, at which point they awoke all at once and suddenly.
An individual gibberling is not very strong, but groups of them work well together: they attack wildly and rush opponents in great numbers, preferring to grapple them or hack them apart with short swords; they are immune to all mind-influencing effects, including charm, phantasms, and compulsions; and their incessant muttering and gibbering tends to scare people and beasts alike, though the noise also means that they rarely surprised anyone. However, gibberlings are terrified of bright light and fire to the point that they would not fight during the day even if awoken, and were so vulnerable that their hordes could be reliably driven away using both. Groups of gibberlings often fight to the death and do not ever retreat, and tend to wreck any buildings or structures that they can find.
