Brass lantern
( 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | brass lantern |
| Appearance | brass lantern |
| Base price | 20 zm |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | copper |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A brass lantern is a type of tool that appears in NetHack. It is a light source that can be charged and is made of copper.
Contents
Generation
Brass lanterns make up 3⁄100 (3%) of all randomly-generated tools.
General stores, hardware stores and lighting shops can sell brass lanterns.
Description
Applying a brass lantern with power turns it on or off: while on, a brass lantern emits light in a 3-square radius (the same as a lamp), and can hold up to 1500 turns of charge. A cursed brass lantern that is off will only turn on when applied 1⁄2 of the time, and will otherwise print a message with no effect.[1] Trying to rub a brass lantern prints YAFM and has no effect.[2] Placing a brass lantern inside a container will turn if off automatically if it is on.
A brass lantern will print messages when it has 150, 100, 50, or 25 turns of power left, and will automatically turn off once it is out of power.[3] A source of charging can 'refill' a lantern, with the effects dependent on the source's beatitude:[4] uncursed charging will add 750 turns to a maximum of 1500, while blessed charging sets the turn count to its maximum, and cursed charging drains the power completely unless the lantern is blessed and also causes a lit lantern to go out.[5][6][7]
Strategy
Brass lanterns are more expensive and heavier than lamps: though charging sources are generally lighter in comparison to the potions of oil required for oil lamps, they are much rarer and more costly themselves. Either type of lamp is preferable in comparison as a long-term light source, though a brass lantern is still useful in the short term if a hero comes across one.
History
The brass lantern first appears in NetHack 3.1.0. A lantern appears as an item in Hack 1.21, which is based on Jay Fenlason's Hack.
Origin
A lantern is a source of lighting that is often portable and typically features a protective enclosure for the light, making it easier to carry and hang up as well as making it more reliable while outdoors or in drafty interiors; lanterns may also be used as torches and as a form of signaling. Historically, the light is usually a candle, a wick in oil, or a thermoluminescent mesh – modern lanterns generally opt for a battery-powered light.
The brass lantern in NetHack and some of its related messages are derived from the 1976 game Colossal Cave Adventure, the first ever text-adventure game, and the encyclopedia entry comes from the Adv770 version of the game by Mike Arnautov.
Messages
- Rubbing the electric lamp is not particularly rewarding.
- Anyway, nothing exciting happens.
- You rubbed a brass lantern.[2]
- Your lantern is getting dim.
- A lit brass lantern in your inventory is running low on power.[8]
- Batteries have not been invented yet.
- As above, while hallucinating.[9]
- Your lantern has run out of power.
- A lit brass lantern in your inventory ran out of power.[10]
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, upgrading a brass lantern produces an oil lamp and vice versa. This also applies to SlashTHEM.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the lamps of dwarvish helms and lantern plate mail function the same as brass lanterns do, and essentially follow the same set of rules for charging one, with the only difference being that their enchantment and lamp charges are tracked separately.
Encyclopedia entry
While pretending to be a fancy safety lamp, it is in fact battery powered. A discreet little switch is marked "on/off" in elaborate lettering.
References
- ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1333
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1504
- ↑ src/timeout.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1106
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 631
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 632
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 639
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 643
- ↑ src/timeout.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1112
- ↑ src/timeout.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1113
- ↑ src/timeout.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1253
