Hammer of the Gods

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)   Hammer of the Gods    
Base item heavy war hammer
Damage vs. small 1d8+1 x2
Damage vs. large 1d10 x2
To-hit bonus +1d8
Bonus versus
Weapon skill hammer
Size one-handed
Affiliation
When carried

(none)

When wielded
When invoked

(none)

Base price 25000 zm
Weight 67
Material silver

The Hammer of the Gods is an artifact weapon that appears in EvilHack. It is unaligned, and its base item is a heavy war hammer made of silver.

Generation

The Hammer of the Gods can only be created by combining Sunsword and Demonbane at a forge - it cannot be wished for, and will revert to its base item if left in a bones file.

Description

The Hammer of the Gods has +1d8 to-hit and deals double damage to demons and undead (before silver damage is applied). While wielded, the artifact confers sickness resistance and warns of demons and undead; it also emits light as Sunsword does and blocks demon gating as with Demonbane. Additionally, it can be tethered and thrown similar to an aklys or Mjollnir if a character is Skilled or better in hammer.

Strategy

The Hammer's damage bonuses make it especially useful in the late game, where many of the most significant threats are demonic or undead. Sickness resistance is a significant boon, but largely situational; by the time the Hammer of the Gods is realistically accessible, the only monsters with sickness attacks that can pose any real threat to the player are Pestilence and Demogorgon. The utility of the Hammer of the Gods as a ranged weapon is also quite relevant: at skilled or higher in hammer, the player can easily kill powerful monsters such as Vecna or Lucifer from the safety of a boulder fort without taking any damage whatsoever.

Drow players may initially believe that the Hammer of the Gods is not a good weapon choice, as their to-hit and HP regen are lowered in the presence of light; however, the light can be overridden by darkness, such as from a cursed magic lamp, or by wearing shadow dragon-scaled armor.

Encyclopedia entry

You go to such lengths to build these churches, making sure
they strike terror into the hearts of all who come near.
It's just a room with a door... no different to a prison.

[ Hammer of the Gods, by Matthew Read ]