Magic flute
( 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | magic flute |
| Appearance | flute |
| Base price | 36 zm |
| Weight | 5 |
| Material | wood |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A magic flute is a type of magical tool that appears in NetHack. It is a tonal musical instrument that is naturally made of wood, and appears as a flute when unidentified.
The magic flute is the subject of two true rumors.
Generation
Magic flutes are rare and make up 1⁄500 (0.2%) of all tools randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Hardware stores can also stock magic flutes.
Magic flutes are generated with 4–8 charges, and they are normally generated uncursed, with the exception of some found in bones levels and on trap "bones".[1]
Description
If the hero applies a magic flute, the player will be prompted if they want to improvise as with other tonal instruments, and the flute's effects depend on the player's choice and whether the flute has charges:[2][3][4]
- Choosing to improvise on a magic flute with charges will exercise dexterity and use up a charge to produce "soft music" that has a chance of putting all nearby monsters to sleep, unless they have sleep resistance or succeed a roll against their MR score.[5][6] The effect's range is based on the hero's experience level, covering a roughly-circular area with a radius of squares, and monsters put to sleep this way cannot be awakened by noise for 10-100 turns.[7][8][9] A hero that applies a magic flute while stunned, confused or hallucinating will automatically improvise with it.[4]
- Choosing to improvise on a magic flute with no charges will treat it as an applied wooden flute, which has a chance of pacifying nearby snakes if the sum of the hero's experience level and the roll of a dexterity-sized die is equal to or greater than 25.[5][10] The range of this pacifying effect is also based on the hero's experience level, covering the same area as playing a wooden flute does.[11][12]
- A hero that chooses to play specific notes on a magic flute will first be prompted to play the passtune for the Castle drawbridge if they know it, and otherwise will be asked for a set of five notes to play[13]—playing the passtune near the Castle drawbridge exercises wisdom, as does attempting to guess the passtune.[14]
The radius of the sleep-inducing effect calculates as follows:
| Level | Sleep radius |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 5 |
| 14 | 8 |
| 30 | 12 |
The usage fee for applying a charged magic flute belonging to a shop is one quarter of the full price.[15]
A hero cannot apply a magic flute if they are subjected to strangulation, if they are in the form of a sea monster, or if they are in the form of any monster that is tiny in size, unbreathing, cannot speak, lacks a head, or can only buzz.[16][17] They will also be prevented from applying a magic flute while underwater.[18] Beatitude has no effect on the outcome of playing a magic flute. Monsters will not use this item.
Magic flutes can hold a maximum of 20 charges, and charging from an uncursed source adds 1d4 charges to a magic flute, while blessed charging adds 2d4 charges and cursed charging will instead strip away all charges.[19] Magic flutes can be recharged indefinitely, though the counter will not update after charging it more than 7 times.[20]
Strategy
The magic flute has its biggest advantage over the wand of sleep or sleep spell in that those methods are targeted in a single direction, while the magic flute is omnidirectional. This comes in handy in open-spaced levels where the player may be attacked from all sides, or as a defense against monsters who immediately summon other monsters completely surrounding the player. Similar to doorway combat, a player with stealth can use the sleeping monsters as protection, and funnel the remaining monsters through to fight them one-by-one.
A hero with the The Platinum Yendorian Express Card is well-positioned to make long-term use of magic flutes especially for illiterate conduct play in any neutral role—Tourists that have obtained their quest artifact can invoke it for blessed charging instead of regular charging like most roles, and so are much more likely to benefit from it when maintaining a magic flute.
Identification
The two flutes are fairly easy to distinguish from each other via price identification and use testing: A magic flute with charges will play "soft music" and cause nearby monsters to stop moving due to falling asleep (or else display a sparkle animation if they resist and the player has this animation enabled). An uncharged magic flute behaves the same as a wooden flute, but is only likely to be found uncharged in a bones level.
History
The magic flute first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
In versions up to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on those versions, the magic flute's image in the tileset is different from that of the wooden flute, making it possible to informally identify both items depending on the terminal's resolution. This is fixed in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 18845b6f.
Messages
- You start playing the flute.
- You improvised on a magic flute.
- You <seem to> produce <soft/piped> music.
- This is added if the magic flute has charges to use—"seem to" is used if the hero is deaf, and "piped" is used if hallucinating.
Variants
In NetHack variants that import the advent calendar patch, a magic flute is among the various tools that may appear as the Christmas present on day 24.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, upgrading a magic flute successfully will produce a wooden flute and vice versa.[21][22] Dipping a magic flute in a potion of amnesia will use up the potion and "downgrade" the item to a wooden flute.[23]
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, rare instruments shops have a 3⁄100 chance of generating a magic flute on each square. UnNetHack also incorporates the advent calendar patch, and a magic flute may appear as the Christmas present for day 24.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Troubadours start the game with knowledge of the magic flute's appearance.
Music instruments shops have a 1⁄50 chance of a magic flute being generated on each square.
Dipping a magic flute into a potion of amnesia will use up the potion and "downgrade" the item to a plain flute, as in SLASH'EM.
Magic flutes can be used as substitutes for regular flutes when playing songs via the musicalize spell skill.
Applying the artifact Silver Starlight allows it to be played as a magic flute.
The Singing Sword can learn a 'lethargic song' if the hero applies a charged magic flute with the artifact in their possession, and the lethargic song causes hostile monsters that are affected to lose 2 movement points per turn.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, a magic flute can be created at a furnace by combining a flute and a scroll of taming.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, applying a magic flute is special-cased to put the sleep-resistant Cerberus to sleep for a short time.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, Bards start the game with knowledge of the magic flute's appearance as in dNetHack and its derivatives, and magic flutes can similarly be used as substitutes for wooden flutes when playing songs via the musicalize spell skill. Musicians also start each game with a magic flute.
Upgrading magic flutes functions as it does in SLASH'EM, as does dipping a magic flute into a potion of amnesia.
Rare instruments shops have a 3⁄100 chance of generating a wooden flute on each square, as in UnNetHack.
The Flute of Slime is an artifact magic flute that serves as the Acid Mage quest artifact.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, rare instruments shops have a 3⁄100 chance of generating a magic flute on each square, as in UnNetHack and SlashTHEM.
Upgrading a flute successfully will produce a magic flute and vice versa, as in SLASH'EM.
Encyclopedia entry
With this thou canst do mighty deeds
And change men's passions for thy needs:
A man's despair with joy allay,
Turn bachelors old to lovers gay.
References
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1051-L1057
- ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 4374: cases for tonal instruments; calls do_play_instrument()
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 759: start of do_play_instrument() function
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 776-L784: prompt to improvise, with call to do_improvisation() if 'y' or hero is impaired
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 503: start of do_improvisation() function
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 589-L598: magic flute effects
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 80-L98: put_monsters_to_sleep() function
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 93: duration of sleep is 10d10 turns
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 596: calls put_monsters_to_sleep()
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 599-L610: Wooden flute effects; calls charm_snakes()
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 100-L132: charm_snakes() function
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 114
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 786-796
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 815
- ↑ src/shk.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 5664: usage fee for all charged magical instruments is ¼ of the full price
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 769-L775
- ↑ src/mondata.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 565-L576: MS_BUZZ covers killer bees, queen bees, grid bugs, and xans
- ↑ src/music.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 766-L768
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 976-L994
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 838-L842: tools don't have a limit, but the counter used does
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2440
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2444
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2074
