Orcus (dNetHack)
& Orcus 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 36 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 3d6 physical, Claw 3d4 physical, Claw 3d4 physical, Spellcast 2d8 mage |
| Base level | 66 |
| Base experience | 5616 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -29 |
| Base MR | 99 |
| Alignment | -20 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 4500 |
| Nutritional value | 500 |
| Size | huge |
| Resistances | fire resistance, poison resistance
|
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Orcus:
| |
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Orcus, &, is far stronger than his incarnation in NetHack.
Orcus is an undead demon prince with a humanoid form, and he is capable of flight, can see invisible, has infravision, can be seen via infravision, and can follow the hero to other levels if he is adjacent—as an undead monster, he lacks passive hit point regeneration. Seeing Orcus will inflict the "suicidal" madness, which intermittently causes severe AC reduction and consistently causes the hero to take extra damage in combat.
Orcus is covetous and capable of warping, will pick up weapons, food and other items that he comes across, and desires the Amulet of Yendor, the invocation items, and the quest artifact of the hero's role, though he does not have any attacks that can steal them from targets. Like other demon rulers, Orcus cannot be made tame and will turn traitor if somehow tamed. Orcus has 39 points of AC: 27 points are from natural AC, and 12 are from protection AC.
Orcus has a weapon attack, two claw attacks and the ability to cast one mage monster spell during each of his turns, favoring the raise dead monster spell. Orcus possesses fire resistance, poison resistance, drain resistance, death resistance, and a weakness to silver like all major demons.
Orcus is poisonous to consume, though this will not come up in gameplay.
Generation
Orcus is always generated hostile, and is not a valid target for genocide or polymorph.
Orcus is one of the three demon princes whose lair can appear as the second Abyss level. He will always generate meditating on the down stair, with a chest made of lead on his square that contains three wages of pride, three wages of sloth and 18 demon vault-eligible items.
Orcus always generates with The Wand of Orcus, an artifact wand of death.
Orcus never leaves a corpse upon death. Killing Orcus will generate the seal of Tenebrous on the square where he previously stood, if possible.
Strategy
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Compared to NetHack, and in addition to the changes mentioned further above, Orcus has his MR score boosted to 99 and his base speed is buffed to 12.
Origin
Orcus is derived from Dungeons & Dragons, which takes the name and general association with undeath from an Etruscan god named Orcus whose domain was the Estrucan and later Roman underworld, and acted as a punisher of broken oaths. As with Hades, Orcus's name was also used for the underworld itself; in later Roman tradition, he was conflated with Dis Pater (who inspired the Dispater of Dungeons & Dragons). Like many other deities associated with death and the underworld, his name was used for demons and other underworld beings such as the Dungeons & Dragons demon prince.
Orcus is among the most well-known and mighty demon princes of the Dungeons & Dragons settings - he physically appears as a fat and immense humanoid demon anywhere between 15-20 ft (4.6-6.1 m) in size, with the horned, tusked and decayed skull of a ram for a head; Orcus also has the legs and hooves of a goat, the wings of a bat, and a long and spiny poison-tipped tail. His most iconic artifact by far is the "Wand of Orcus": a skull-topped wand with the power to slay any living being, represented by the literal wand of death he holds in NetHack.
As Prince of the Undead, Orcus seeks to extinguish life throughout all universes, and is at constant war for the Abyss with rivals such as Demogorgon; among the ranks of his armies and followers are zombies, vampires and shades (referred to as shadows). Orcus is one of the Abyssal powers most often worshipped as a deity, and has attained actual divinity once previously: after doing so, he eventually abandoned the war for the Abyss and became lazy and careless, culminating in his death at the hands of the ambitious drow demi-goddess, Kiaransalee. Despite her efforts, Orcus was eventually resurrected by one of his foremost high priests in a blasphemous ritual and took back his wand and the title of Prince of the Undead, resuming his war for the Abyss.
Encyclopedia entry
The massive, boated demon stands 15 feet tall, his immense
frame a hideous combination of muscle and bloated flesh. His
head is that of a ram with a great maw filled with tusks,
and his thick-furred legs end in cloven hooves. Leathery
wings and a barb-tipped tail complete the picture of the
rchetypal demon.
Orcus, Prince of the Undead, has a ram's head and a poison
stinger. He is most feared, though, for his powerful magic
abilities. His wand causes death to those he chooses.
