Gas grenade (dNetHack)

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Name	gas grenade
Appearance	lime spheroid
Damage vs. small	1d2
Damage vs. large	1d2
To-hit bonus	+0
Weapon skill	firearms
Size	one-handed
Base price	350 zm (+10/positive enchant)
Weight	2
Material	iron

For the ammunition in SLASH'EM and its derivatives, see gas grenade (SLASH'EM).

A gas grenade, also known as a hand grenade, is a type of weapon that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack, and notnotdNetHack. The gas grenade is a small futuristic projectile that uses the firearms skill, and can be thrown manually or used as ammunition for grenade launchers and the BFG. It has a default material of iron and appears as a lime spheroid when unidentified, or as a "spheroid" if the hero is blind or at a distance.

Generation

Anachrononauts (including Androids) start each game with knowledge of the gas grenade's unidentified appearance.

Frag grenades are not randomly generated, though they can be found in bones and can only be wished for by Tourists. They cannot be created by manual smithing unless the hero is an Undead Hunter that knows their appearance.

Several gas grenades can be found on the Anachrononaut quest: A chest in the northeastern-most hall of the base on the Anachrononaut quest home level contains 8 stacks of gas grenades along with a grenade launcher; 7 stacks of gas grenades are each spread randomly around the locate level at level creation; and 5 stacks of gas grenades are spread randomly around each of the lower filler levels and the goal level at level creation. These also appear on the Android quest, though the chest only contains one guaranteed stack of gas grenades, with another stack that has a ¹⁄₂ chance of generating in the chest.

Deep ones and deeper ones generated in the future (i.e. the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest) have an effective ¹⁄₃₆ chance of being generated with a stack of gas grenades.

Description

A gas grenade can be applied to arm it, and thrown grenades will automatically become armed—a cursed gas grenade has a ¹⁄₂ of not arming properly in either case. Monsters will not apply a gas grenade to arm it, but will arm it in the process of throwing it at the hero.

A grenade launcher will usually only fire 1 gas grenade at a time due to the weapon's low base rate of fire, while a BFG can fire 4 gas grenades per shot at Basic skill or lower in firearms. The range for a fired grenade is 6 squares with a grenade launcher or 100 squares for a BFG.

Origin

A grenade is a small explosive weapon that is typically thrown by hand (referred to as a "hand grenade"), and can also refer to a shell or other explosive projectile shot from the muzzle of a rifle or a grenade launcher. Grenades are often spherical, cylindrical, ovoid or truncated ovoid in shape, and are sized to fit the hand of an average-sized adult. Grenades work by dispersing fragments (fragmentation grenades), shockwaves (high-explosive and stun grenades), chemical aerosols (smoke, gas and chemical grenades), fire (incendiary grenades) or a jet of molten metal (anti-tank grenades). Their outer casings are generally made of a hard synthetic material or steel, and are designed to rupture and fragment on detonation, sending out numerous fragments (shards and splinters) as fast-flying projectiles.

A modern hand grenade generally consists of an explosive charge ("filler"), a detonator mechanism, an internal striker to trigger the detonator, and an arming safety secured by a transport safety: the user removes the transport safety before throwing, and once the grenade leaves their hand the arming safety is released, allowing the striker to trigger a primer that ignites a fuze, or 'delay element'; the fuze then burns down to the detonator and explodes the main charge. Some grenades are mounted at the end of a handle, known as "stick grenades": the stick design provides leverage for throwing longer distances, but at the cost of additional weight and length, and a friction igniter inside the handle or on the top of the grenade head is used to initiate the fuze. Stick grenades have been considered obsolete by western countries since the Second World War and Cold War periods.

Gas grenades are specifically designed to burn or release a harmful gas rather than being a deadly explosive. The implementation of the gas grenade item in SLASH'EM and other variants conflates the frag grenade with the "high explosive" grenade: high explosive grenades are classified as offensive weapons and have a much smaller casualty radius compared to their maximum thrown distance, though the spread of fragments and fuze can extend far past that radius; their explosive power also relies more on concussive effects, making them best suited for throwing into confined spaces such as fortifications or buildings.

Based on the message given by a gas grenade exploding while underwater, the item may also be conflated with the concussion grenade: concussion grenades are often used as depth charges (underwater explosives) around boats and underwater targets, with some designed for use against enemy divers and frogmen, and kill or otherwise incapacitate the target by creating a lethal shock wave underwater.

Messages

You arm your <gas grenade>.

You armed a gas grenade by applying it.

"You play with it, you pay for it!"

You armed a gas grenade belonging to a shop.

It's already armed!

You tried to apply an armed gas grenade.

You see a bomb explode.

You saw a gas grenade on the ground explode.

A bomb explodes under your <feet>!

A gas grenade on your square exploded.

You see <the monster> engulfed in an explosion!

You saw a gas grenade explode in a monster's inventory.

Something explodes inside your knapsack!

A gas grenade in your inventory exploded.

You hear a muffled explosion.

A gas grenade that is buried underground or inside a container exploded.

You see a plume of water shoot up.

A gas grenade exploded while in a pool or moat.

The water boils beneath you.

As above, while you are also flying or levitating above the bomb's square.

The water erupts around you.

As above, while you are also standing above the bomb's square via water walking.