Flail
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | flail |
| Appearance | flail |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6+1 |
| Damage vs. large | 2d4 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | flail |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 4 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 15 |
| Material | iron |
A flail is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a one-handed melee weapon that is made of iron.
Samurai know the weapon as a nunchaku.
Contents
Generation
Flails make up 1⁄25 of all weapons randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock flails.
Sergeants have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a flail as their primary weapon.[1]
Yeenoghu is always generated with a flail.[2]
Flail skill
| Flail | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
Flails and grappling hooks use the flail skill. There are no artifacts that use the flail skill.
The hero's skill level in flails determines how far they can reach with an applied grappling hook.
Strategy
A flail does decent damage and is relatively light, but is not particularly remarkable. Flails can be of use to certain roles such as Cavemen and Priests in the early game.
History
The flail first appears in Hack121 and Hack for PDP-11, which are both based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and it is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.
Origin
A flail is a weapon with a striking "head" attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain; there are two primary types, though the word has been used somewhat loosely to describe any similarly-structured blunt weapon. Flails were generally employed to strike around a defender's shield or parry, but were imprecise and difficult to use in close combat or closely-ranked formations.
Cylindrical-headed flails are two-handed weapons adapted from European agricultural tools used to remove the husks from grain by beating; they were considered a peasant's weapon, commonly used by infantry. One-handed "military" flails–sometimes called a "mace-and-chain"–had spiked metal heads on chains and appeared in late medieval art; however, the scarcity of artifacts suggests they were very rarely used, and varieties with long chains and short handles in particular would have been hazards to their wielder. Regardless, the latter type are usually the depiction of choice for fantasy media such as Dungeons & Dragons (which NetHack takes the flail's traits and hit dice from).
The nunchaku (sometimes known as "nunchuks" in English) is an Asian weapon consisting of two usually-wooden six-inch sticks connected at their ends by a 1-inch metal chain or a rope, and was popularized by martial artists Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto. Nunchaku are traditionally held to have also been adapted from short flails originally employed in threshing rice, as were similar weapons such as the the three-section staff. The nunchaku is most widely used in martial arts such as Okinawan kobudō and karate—it is intended for training, since practicing with it enables the development of quick hand movements and improves posture. Modern nunchaku may be made of metal, plastic or fiberglass instead of the traditional wood, while toys and replicas may be made of polystyrene foam or plastic.
Variants
In some variants of NetHack that integrate the Convict Patch, a wielded heavy iron ball functions as a melee weapon that uses the flail skill and may even train it when swung in melee.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, player monster convicts have a 3⁄4 chance of generating with a flail as their weapon.
dNetHack also adds four artifact flails:
- Quicksilver is an unaligned silver flail that grants +1d4 to hit and +1d8 damage, and grants an extra attack at experience level 16 (made with a -15 to-hit penalty). It can be invoked to toggle extrinsic speed, as with speed boots.
- The Tentacle Rod is a drow-favoring intelligent flail that grants +1d7 to-hit and +1 to damage, and is the primary quest artifact for renegade drow Priests, Rangers, Rogues, and Wizards. It only receives half the normal damage bonus from strength, and receives no damage bonus from your skill or its enhancement; however, to-hit bonuses are applied as normal, and it has various effects when wielded or used to attack.
- The Three-Headed Flail is a chaotic and intelligent large flail wielded by Yeenoghu. On each hit, it makes two bonus attacks that each deal the standard weapon damage, and will confuse and stun the target if both of them land.
- The Sting of the Poison Queen is a chaotic and intelligent large flail wielded by Shaktari; it grants +1d4 to-hit and +1d12 damage, is permanently poisoned, and grants magic resistance when wielded.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, two flails can be combined at a furnace to create a triple flail.
EvilHack
EvilHack includes the Convict role and gives iron balls the flail skill. EvilHack also adds the triple-headed flail, a two-handed weapon which serves as the base item for the artifact flail Butcher—Butcher is Yeenoghu's trademark flail, and he will always generate with it.
Gnolls have a 1⁄2 chance of generating with a flail.
A flail can be created at a forge by combining a mace and a morning star; a flail and a mace can be combined to create a war hammer, and a flail and a club can be combined to create an aklys.
Encyclopedia entry
Nunchaku
A nunchaku is two sections of wood (or metal in modern
incarnations) connected by a cord or chain. There is much
controversy over its origins; some say it was originally a
Chinese weapon, others say it evolved from a threshing flail;
one theory purports that it was developed from a horse's bit.
Chinese nunchaku tend to be rounded, whereas Japanese are
octagonal, and they were originally linked by horse hair.
There are many variations on the nunchaku, ranging from the
three sectional staff (san-setsu-kon nunchaku), to smaller
multi-section nunchaku. The nunchaku was popularized by
Bruce Lee in a number of films, made in both Hollywood and
Hong Kong.
EvilHack
When you are swinging a spiky ball on a chain, the only
realistic option is to keep moving. Standing still is an
interesting but brief demonstration of a spiral in action.
