Neothelid (EvilHack)
| w neothelid (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 36 |
| Attacks |
breath 6d6 acid, tentacles 2d4 physical, tentacles 2d4 intelligence drain, tentacles 2d4 intelligence drain, tentacles 2d4 intelligence drain, engulfing 6d6 digestion |
| Base level | 32 |
| Base experience | 1578 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 60 |
| Alignment | -8 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 3000 |
| Nutritional value | 800 |
| Size | Gigantic |
| Resistances | psychic resistance, acid resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | Cures stoning |
|
A neothelid:
| |
| Reference | EvilHack 0.9.1 - monst.c, line 1458 |
- For the monster in notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, see neothelid (notdNetHack).
A neothelid, w is a type of monster that appears in EvilHack and Hack'EM. The neothelid is a slithy, strong and carnivorous animal that is the result of a mind flayer larva undergoing neotony and becoming a gigantic worm-like creature. Neothelids will are immune to magical scaring and will grudge any monster that is not mindless, and other illithids will attack neothelids on sight. Neothelids cannot be made tame by the hero—in Hack'EM, a neothelid that is somehow tamed may turn traitor.
A neothelid has an acid breath attack, four tentacle attacks (three of which can drain intelligence), and an engulfing attack that can digest targets. Neothelids possess acid resistance and psychic resistance.
A neothelid corpse is acidic to eat.
Generation
Neothelids are not randomly generated, and normally-created neolithids are always hostile. They are not a valid polymorph form or genocide target.
There is a 1⁄10 chance of a neothelid being generated within a mind flayer nursery tduring level creation—the nursery on the middle floor of the Wizard's Tower has a 1⁄2 chance of generating one on the middle square.
Strategy
Neothelids are one of the most dangerous monsters present in EvilHack: They move as fast as an unhasted, unburdened hero, deal high physical damage, and can drain as much intelligence as a mind flayer in a single turn. Furthermore, their high level and gigantic size means they will be incredibly tanky, and they deliberately share a glyph with the purple worm. Luckily due to their rarity, a hero often has time to amass a kit before possibly running into one—be sure to far look any w that you encounter and make certain that you are not about to run headlong into this brain-eating beast!
By the time they are likely to be encountered, the hero will likely have reflection or acid resistance of some kind, making the breath a relative nuisance and leaving the intelligence drain as the primary danger a neothelid presents to them. A hero's best bet for handling a neolithid in melee is to wear an oilskin cloth helm—though intelligence can also be protected by putting on a ring of sustain ability, the resulting amnesia will still cause loss of skills and spells and likely make continuing and/or surviving the fight potentially difficult.
Illithid and draugr heroes are immune to the intelligence-draining effects of the tentacle attacks, as are monster mind flayers. A viable strategy for heroes of other races is to polyself into a variety of illithid (minus illithids themselves and alhoons, which are not valid forms). Note that neothelids cannot use their tentacle attacks while digesting the hero:a hero with a source of psychic resistance or a worn oilskin helm may also consider removing a worn ring of slow digestion to be intentionally swallowed, allowing them to land attacks easier while inside their stomach.
Ranged attacks are generally effective against neothelids, and perhaps the safest option: A sufficiently large stack of missile weapons or attack wands can work well, as can powerful attack spells. Boulder forts work well for heroes with acid resistance to keep neothelids out of melee range, and simple kiting with a source of speed can also be effective—centaur heroes can additionally use their jumping abilities to maneuver around them. The neolithid's magic saving throw of 60 makes it difficult (but still possible) to polymorph one or put it to sleep.
Origin
Neothelids originate in Dungeons & Dragons, where they are the result of an illithid larva failing to undergo "ceremorphosis". Illithid larvae are kept within a pool of cerebral fluid in the center of an illithid dwelling, which is also host to an "elder brain"—larvae that survive 10 years of development are then inserted into the brain of a sapient creature selected to be its host, and the elder brain typically consumes those that fail to undergo ceremorphosis. In a pool without an elder brain, the larva are forced to engage in cannibalism in order to survive: any larva that manages to live through the resulting chaos grows to the size of a dog and flees, feasting on rats and other vermin as it grows in size; this larva eventually makes its way to preexisting tunnel systems, typically purple worm tunnels, in order to travel.
Lone larva that survive this long and digest a sentient mind become neothelids—this causes a similar reaction to that of a larva undergoing actual ceremorphosis, and grants the neothelid self-awareness and psionic powers. These newly-empowered worm-like beasts then constantly hunt for new brains, dissolving their victims' bodies with acid breath and devouring the untouched brains. Neolithids are loathed by other illithids, who see them as abominations, and creating one deliberately is seen as a taboo.
Encyclopedia entry
Neothelids are extremely rare creatures, so called as they were
illithid larvae who had undergone neoteny. They typically
appeared once a mind flayer society was destroyed and the larva
nursery left unsupervised. The larval illithids engaged in
cannibalism until the last survivor became a gargantuan leviathan
loathed by all, especially mind flayers themselves. Neothelids
are slime-covered worms with a quadri-tentacled mouth that resembled
gigantic versions of illithid larvae. They were often mistaken for
purple worms due to their purple skin, and massive larval body
structure.
