Kamadan (SLASH'EM)
f kamadan 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks |
Breath 1d6 sleep, bite 1d3 physical, bite 1d3 physical, bite 1d3 physical |
| Base level | 4 |
| Base experience | 48 |
| 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 (27%) |
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A kamadan:
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| Reference | SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line654 |
- For the monster in Hack'EM, see kamadan (Hack'EM).
A kamadan, f, is a type of monster that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM. The kamadan is a large and quadrupedal feline animal that is carnivorous and can be seen via infravision.
A kamadan has a sleep-inducing breath weapon and three bite attacks, and possesses sleep resistance.
Eating a kamadan corpse or tin has a 4⁄15 chance (27%) of granting 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.
Generation
Randomly-generated kamadans are always created hostile, and will not normally appear in Gehennom.
In SlashTHEM, kamadans appear among the random f that are part of the second quest monster class for Cavepeople and make up 6⁄175 (3%) of the monsters randomly generated on the Caveman quest. Kamadans also appear among the random f that are part of the first quest monster class for Zookeepers and make up 24⁄175 (14%) of the monsters randomly generated on the Zookeeper quest.
Strategy
Kamadans are annoyingly lethal for how early they can appear in an average game: a hero that lacks sleep resistance or reflection and is put to sleep by the kamadan's breath may well be killed in short order if the dice are not in their favor. Elven heroes, drow heroes and Monks are among the best-positioned early heroes to handle kamadans, while other heroes will have to hope for an early source of sleep resistance (e.g. from elven corpses or the resist sleep spell).
Doppelganger heroes can raise their experience levels high enough to reliably polymorph into elven monsters such as Green-elves for a defense against a hostile kamadan, 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). If all else fails, a hero that can spot a kamadan ahead of time can lure it close or try to enter melee-range while avoiding lining themselves up to be hit by its sleeping gas, then bring it down with their best available weapons—while kamadans respect Elbereth, scaring them off will cause them to rely on their sleep breath as they flee, which can end poorly if the hero doesn't mind their surroundings.
History
The kamadan is introduced in SLASH 6.
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.
