Jack
- Not to be confused with Jack Vance.
Jack, of the Lantern, sometimes known simply as Jack, is a spirit that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack.
Ritual, seal and taboo
Jack's seal can be drawn and addressed anywhere as long as it is outside of Gehennom or the Elemental Planes.
To remain bound to Jack, the hero must not enter Gehennom or the Planes and they must not die: death will cause Jack to revive them and subsequently unbind him, draining an experience level.
Mark
A hero that has Jack bound will have an old, old man riding on their back. The man can be seen from a distance, but can be covered by a worn cloak.
Benefits
While Jack is bound, the hero is granted life saving that protects them from death, but will also unbind the spirit and drain an experience level from them if they should die. A worn amulet of life saving or a worn piece of armor with the life-saving object property will activate first before Jack's life-saving effects.
Jack's active powers are as follows:
- Hellfire blast: If the hero is wielding a lit potion of oil, oil lamp or lightsaber weapon, they can create a moderately-damaging fiery explosion centered on a chosen square.
- Refill lantern: If the hero is wielding an oil lamp or lightsaber weapon, they will refuel it.
Jack has no passive powers.
As a monster
| @ Jack (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 1d4 physical, on-death explosion 100d4 fire |
| Base level | 5 |
| Base experience | 89 |
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | 10 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1450 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | medium |
| Resistances | fire resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | none |
|
Jack:
| |
In notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Jack, @, also appears as a human-class monster that can be summoned by an Illithanachronounbinder. He is a strong human that can be seen via infravision, will collect items such as weapons and armor, and has a tendency to wander while moving. Jack can revive from his corpse, similar to the Riders.
Jack has a single weapon attack, along with an on-death explosion that deals immense fire damage. He possesses fire resistance.
Generation
Jack is first generated when summoned from his seal by an Illithanachronounbinder. He is always created hostile, and is not a valid polymorph form or genocide target.
Jack is always generated with a cursed potion of booze, 1-2 apples and the cursed +1 Jack's Torch: Jack's Torch is an artifact club that grants fire resistance while wielded, has +1d4 to-hit and +1d8 damage bonuses against monsters without fire resistance and causes fiery explosions on each hit.
Jack always leaves a corpse upon death.
Strategy
Below this point, there are major spoilers for the Illithanachronounbinder role. They can be accessed by selecting the "Role spoiler" tab.
Jack is the only summoned spirit to not reappear in the Void beyond the Astral Plane when killed, due to his revival ability and spirit mechanics.
Messages
- You feel something climb onto your back!
- "Will you let me stay with you?"
- You successfully bound Jack to yourself.
- A will-o-wisp drifts out of the seal to hover near your weapon.
- "Please let me stay with you!"
- You successfully bound Jack to the Pen of the Void.
- You hear aimless footsteps and creaking joints.
- You failed to bind Jack due to a lack of open slots for spirits of the Near Void.
- You think of the wide earth.
- You performed the binding ritual incorrectly.
Encyclopedia entry
Once in the land of Eire, there lived a blacksmith by the name of Jack. Quick to the drink but short on paying for it, Jack had few friends and was known to curse a lovely day as often as a miserable one.
One night late, when all civil folk were home abed, Jack was at a pub near the crossroads outside his village. A stranger in a long coat and hat sat near. Hoping for sympathy, Jack moaned aloud that he would give his soul to the Devil if he had the money for one last drink. Quick as can be, the stranger beside him disappeared and close to Jack's hand lay the coins for his drink.
Now although Jack was a drinking man, he was also a clever man and he knew now that stranger was no mere man. Being the thinking man, Jack snatched the coins from the counter and pocketed them in his purse where he kept a small silver cross. Trapped by the silver cross, the stranger, who was actually the Devil in disguise, had to agree not to claim Jack's soul for another ten years in order to escape Jack's pocket.
Now time went by and as time does and Jack's ways never changed. Without family or friend, Jack contented himself walking about late after the pub had closed and one night, ten years hence, he came across the Devil himself on a dark country road.
The Devil reminded Jack of their bargain and Jack, still not eager to leave life, agreed to go if the Devil would feed his terrible hunger with an apple from a nearby tree. Hopping upon Jack's shoulder's, the Devil hoisted himself into the tree to get the apple. Quickly Jack took his small knife and carved a cross in the tree. Now as we all know, the Devil has no power in the air and was trapped in the tree by the cross on its trunk. This time Jack made the Devil promise never to come for him again. Having no choice, the Devil agreed.
Some years later, Jack did meet his natural end. Because of his miserly and drinking ways, he was denied entrance to Heaven. The Devil himself turned him away at the entrance to Hell because he had promised years before never to take his soul. As the night was dark and the wind was howling, Jack begged the Devil for light to find his way. The Devil threw him an ember from the very fires of hell and Jack kept it lit inside a bit of rotten turnip that he found.
Ever since then, Jack has wandered the night with his wee lantern. He was seen from time to time, and still is, a bobbing light in the darkness, on windy nights out on the moors or along lonely country roads. He became known as "Jack-of-the Lantern," and over time just "Jack-o-Lantern."
