Hell hound
d hell hound 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 14 |
| Attacks |
Bite 3d6 physical, breath weapon 3d6 fire |
| Base level | 12 |
| Base experience | 290 |
| Speed | 14 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | -5 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 600 |
| Nutritional value | 300 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | fire resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | fire resistance (80%) |
|
A hell hound:
| |
| Reference | NetHack 5.0.0 - include/monsters.h, line 304 |
A hell hound, d, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The hell hound is a chaotic, medium-sized and carnivorous canine animal that is the strongest of its monster class. Hell hounds are strong and can be seen via infravision, and have an affinity to fire like their pups.
Hell hounds have a normal bite attack and a fiery breath weapon that can burn worn armor and destroy flammable items in the open inventory of those hit by the blast, depending on the damage sustained—reflection will deflect the ray without any damage. Hell hounds possess fire resistance.
Eating a hell hound corpse or tin has a 4⁄5 chance (80%) of granting fire resistance to a hero or monster, as does digesting live hell hounds.
Contents
Generation
Hell hounds are only generated randomly in Gehennom, and normally-created hell hounds are always hostile. A hell hound pup can grow up into a hell hound.
A hell hound is generated next to the Wizard of Yendor within the structure on the topmost floor of his tower during level creation.[1]
Six hell hounds are placed randomly on the Plane of Fire during level creation.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Strategy
Though hell hounds have stronger attacks than their pups, they are still not much of a threat to most heroes by the time they are normally seen in Gehennom, since a hero will at least have one of fire resistance and/or reflection, along with a bag to keep flammable items in. Hell hounds are still worth being wary around while crossing the ice-filled areas in Gehennom or freezing a path across water such as the moats surrounding the "mini-tower" structures, since their breath can melt the ice and cause drowning. Reflection and extrinsic fire resistance can block the worst of their fire breath's damage, but will not prevent the melting of ice—heroes with worn water walking boots are much less likely to be concerned about this danger.
For earlier heroes approaching the mid-game, polymorph traps and shapeshifters such as chameleons can result in unexpected encounters with hell hounds, and their dangerous fire breath can easily rack up additional damage against non-resistant heroes from burning their items. A hero aware of a hell hound's presence in these scenarios will want to close the distance while avoiding their breath weapons if possible, and will likely want a source of cold damage to exploit their vulnerability and deal with their tougher defenses—a hell hound-form shapeshifter that is not quickly defeated may get enough time to randomly change into a monster that is even harder to kill.
History
The hell hound first appears in Hack 1.0.2, where one is generated alongside the Wizard of Yendor and directly guards the Amulet of Yendor with him. From this version to NetHack 2.3e, hell hounds lack breath weapons—their fire breath is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0.
From NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on these versions, hell hound pups are chaotic with an alignment value of -5, while adult hell hounds are neutral. Both monsters are given their current alignment in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 837da486.
Origin
A hell hound or hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Norse mythology, the black dogs of English folklore, and the fairy hounds of Celtic mythology. Physical characteristics vary across portrayals accordingly, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or are accompanied by flames. The hell hound makes its debut in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game in the first supplement, the 1975 Greyhawk.
Initially, the hell hounds of Dungeons & Dragons are hyena-like creatures that are mangy, skinny, and somewhat demonic, with red eyes and draconic ears; they are classified as outsiders from the Nine Hells. The Fourth Edition depicts them as nearly skeletal canines wreathed in flame. Hell hounds have the ability to breathe fire and will also attack with their claws and teeth. They are quick and agile pack hunters that pursue escaping victims relentlessly, and enjoy causing pain and suffering: a common favorite pack tactic is to surround prey silently before two hell hounds close in and make the victim back into another hell hound's fiery breath. Hell hounds cannot speak, but understand Infernal.
Variants
Some NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 may retain the hell hound pup's initial alignment.
Cerberus is a unique hell hound that is deferred in vanilla NetHack, and is often enabled in NetHack variants.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, hell hounds are neutral. In spite of their alignment, tame hell hound minions are an eligible sacrifice gift for chaotic heroes from experience levels 9 to 13.
Two hell hounds are generated in the secondary front corridor of Grund's Stronghold during level creation, with a 1⁄2 chance each of two additional hell hounds being placed.
All the above information also applies to SlashTHEM.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, hell hounds are neutral.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, hell hounds are neutral.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, hell hounds are neutral.
Four hell hounds are generated in Asmodeus' lair within the room east of the drawbridges during level creation.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, hell hounds are neutral and demonic animals, are vulnerable to holy damage, possess drain resistance and death resistance as a result of being demons, and are capable of tracking the hero and other targets through their normal vision and scent. Tame hell hounds may turn traitor.
Hell hound corpses and blood cannot be consumed without taking fire damage, unless the hero or monster consuming it has fire resistance.
Hell hounds can be warded by pentagrams, hexagrams, heptagrams, the Gorgoneion, or a fully-reinforced Elder Elemental Eye. They can also be warded by a Toustefna stave that is carved into a wooden weapon and placed on the hero's square, and that weapon will warn of hell hounds and other canines while wielded.
Hell hounds may appear as minions of Loki.
Hell hounds can appear among the court of a throne room ruled by an orc of the ages of stars.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, hell hounds are neutral.
Four hell hounds are generated within Asmodeus' lair in the same positions as in UnNetHack during level creation.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, hell hounds are chaotic.
Weredemons are lycanthropes that can shapeshift into hell hounds, and they can summon hostile hell hounds by calling for help. A hero that is given lycanthropy from a weredemon can summon tame hell hounds for 10 power by using the #monster extended command, and eating hell hounds is considered cannibalism for such heroes.
Hostile hell hounds can be generated by Vecna casting the summon nasties monster spell.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, hell hounds are neutral as they are in SLASH'EM.
Weredemons can summon hell hounds and overall behave as they do in EvilHack, and their lycanthropy functions similarly for heroes.
Hostile hell hounds can be generated by Vecna casting the summon nasties monster spell, as in EvilHack.
As in SLASH'EM, two hell hounds are generated in the secondary front corridor of Grund's Stronghold during level creation, with a 1⁄2 chance each of generating two additional hell hounds.
Two hell hounds are randomly placed on every level below the home floor of the Ice Mage quest during level creation.
Encyclopedia entry
But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed stare,
and his lips parted in amazement. At the same instant Lestrade
gave a yell of terror and threw himself face downward upon the
ground. I sprang to my feet, my inert hand grasping my pistol,
my mind paralyzed by the dreadful shape which had sprung out
upon us from the shadows of the fog. A hound it was, an
enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes
have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes
glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and
dewlap were outlined in flickering flame. Never in the
delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything more
savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that
dark form and savage face which broke upon us out of the wall
of fog.
In NetHack 3.4.3 and prior versions, including some variants based on those versions, hell hounds and their pups have a different encyclopedia entry:
Hell hounds are fire-breathing canines from another plane of existence brought here in the service of evil beings. A hell hound resembles a large hound with rust-red or red-brown fur, and red, glowing eyes. The markings, teeth, and tongue are soot black. It stands two to three feet high at the shoulder and has a distinct odour of smoke and sulphur. The baying sounds it makes have an eerie, hollow tone that sends a shiver through any who hear them.
