Kamadan (Hack'EM)
f kamadan 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 13 |
| Attacks |
Breath 1d6 sleep, bite 1d3 physical, bite 1d3 physical, bite 1d3 physical |
| Base level | 4 |
| Base experience | ? |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 750 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | sleep resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | sleep resistance (+8%) |
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A kamadan:
| |
| Reference | Hack'EM 1.3.2 - src/monst.c, line 978 |
- For the monster in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, see kamadan (SLASH'EM).
A kamadan, f, is a type of monster that appears in Hack'EM. The kamadan is a large and carnivorous feline animal that can be seen via infravision and is near-identical to its appearance in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, though its monster difficulty is much higher at 13 (compared to 7 in those variants). A pinch of catnip thrown at a kamadan will render them tame and confuse them.
A kamadan has a sleep-inducing breath weapon and three bite attacks, and possesses sleep resistance.
Eating a kamadan corpse or tin grants +8% additional sleep resistance.
A hero that is polymorphed into a kamadan can spend 15 power to fire a blast of sleep gas by using the #monster extended command, and eating catnip while in the form of a kamadan will confuse the hero for 2d8 (more) turns.
Generation
Randomly-generated kamadans are always created hostile, and will not normally appear in Gehennom.
Strategy
Unlike in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, kamadans are not as likely to make early appearances and end promising runs due to their higher difficulty rating—this gives a hero time to raise their intrinsic sleep resistance before potentially encountering one. Their base level is also the same as in those variants, though their HP may not be as low. Kamadans can be more easily handled by Monks, as well as heroes that are elves, vampires or draugr.
Similar to SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, doppelganger heroes can also deal with kamadans by polymorphing into elven monsters such as Grey-elves, and can also take the form of a kamadan to gain a major advantage against other nasty early-game monsters using their sleep gas and multiple attacks (though they cannot wear any armor in this form). Likewise, other heroes that lack sufficient resistance or reflection and can spot a kamadan ahead of time will want to lure it close or try to enter melee-range while avoiding its sleeping gas before using their best weapons.
Origin
The kamadan is a creature that originates from Dungeons & Dragons, where it makes its debut in the 1981 Fiend Folio for 1st Edition AD&D. The kamadan is depicted as an animal that heavily resembles a leopard with multiple snakes sprouting from its shoulders: the number of snakes varies from four to seven initially, with their bites not being poisonous; later editions solidify the number to six and give the snake heads venomous bites.
Kamadans dwell in the jungles of Chult and hunt either alone or in mated pairs, using their sleeping gas breath weapon to render prey unconscious before moving in for the kill. Though the kamadan is originally portrayed as a relative of the displacer beast in its initial description, they have since been depicted in later editions as having coincidental similarities at best, which is a change reflected within some forms of in-universe commentary—kamadans themselves are known to despise displacer beasts and attack them on sight.
Encyclopedia entry
The kamadan is a greatly feared hunter that resembles a large leopard with six snakes sprouting from its shoulders. Sages believe it is a distant relative of the displacer beast, though how it came to be is still a matter for speculation.
