Quasit
i quasit 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks |
Claw poisonous (dexterity) 1d2, claw poisonous (dexterity) 1d2, bite 1d4 |
| Base level | 3 |
| Base experience | 36 |
| Speed | 15 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | −7 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 200 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | Small |
| Resistances | Poison |
| Resistances conveyed | Poison (20%) |
|
A quasit:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line493 |
A quasit, i, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. The quasit is a small minor demon that has infravision, can be seen via infravision, possesses regeneration, and can follow a player character to other levels if they are adjacent.
Quasits have two poisonous claw attacks that drain dexterity instead of strength and a bite attack, and possess poison resistance.
Eating a quasit corpse or tin has a 1⁄5 chance of granting poison resistance.
Contents
Generation
Randomly-generated quasits may be created as peaceful for chaotic characters.
The quasit is the first quest monster for Knights, and makes up 96⁄175 of the monsters generated on the Knight quest. Several quasits are also generated on each floor of the quest branch at level creation: twelve are generated on the home level, five are generated on the upper filler level, seventeen are generated on the locate level, four are generated on the lower filler level(s), and sixteen are generated on the goal level. Quasits also appear among the random i that are part of the first quest monster class for the Knight quest and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated there.
Quasits additionally appear among the random i that are generated on each floor of the Wizard quest at level creation.
Strategy
With their 15 speed and two poisonous attacks, quasits can be fairly dangerous to characters that have not yet obtained poison resistance. Fortunately, they tend to have low HP, and their 2 AC should be easier for many characters to deal with at that point in the game - their MR score of 20 may prove a bit inconvenient for magical approaches. Quasit corpses are also a source of poison resistance, and unlike many others are safe to eat.
History
The quasit first appears in Hack for PDP-11, which is based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial bestiary for Hack 1.0.
From Hack 1.0 to NetHack 2.3e, the quasit uses the Q glyph - in 2.3e, it only appears if the KAA compile-time option is not defined, and is otherwise replaced by the newly-introduced quantum mechanic. Both monsters are included as part of the default bestiary again in NetHack 3.0.0, and the quasit is moved to the imp or minor demon class and given its current glyph.
Origin
The quasit is a creature that originates from Dungeons & Dragons, where they make their debut in the 1st Edition Monster Manual. Quasits are minor demons that stand somewhere between 1 and 2 feet tall, and appear as tiny humanoids with warty green skin, spiky horns, barbed tails, and clawed hands and feet; some quasits also have bat-like wings similar to imps. Quasits are considered the chaotic counterparts of the lawful evil imps, and inhabit most of the non-lawful Lower Planes, where they act as servants to other demons. In the mortal realms, they tempt those that summon them to acts of evil by gradually pushing them towards depravity and self-desctruction. When not doing the bidding of a greater evil, they might entertain themselves with minor acts of malicious mischief.
While they are not particularly smart, quasits are by no means small-minded: they typically possess a deep cunning and human-like brainpower, allowing them to excel at deception. Like all demons, they crave power of their own, but are physically weak and mostly cowardly - quasits avoid direct confrontations where possible and have a healthy sense of self-preservation. They prefer to act alone, but make sure to keep tabs on the locations of other demons in case they were endangered. Quasits prefers ambushes to direct combat, though they can prove fearsomely annoying: they have the imp-like powers of invisibility and the ability to turn into animals, as well as a similar durability that allows them to resist non-magic weapons. Rather than stingers, quasits deliver toxins through their talons, which are coated in a substance that causes a burning itch; they also have better land speed than most imps, in return for not having wings as frequently.
When around their master, quasits prefer to manipulate them into fighting more powerful beings and doing the quasit's bidding than to reveal their presence; in these situations, they act as support by using stealthier approaches. Conversely, quasits with other demons much prefer to just let them fight without interfering. Quasits can only ascend the Abyssal hierarchy through serving their masters diligently, with an inability to stand out or even abject failure resulting in eternal servitude, being eaten, killed for fun, or (worst of all) being demoted back to a mane or larva. Some quasits even flee their demonic masters at the first opportunity in the hopes of carving their own path in life.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, quasits hit as a +1 weapon.
A quasit is among the loyal tame minor demons that can be given as minions via sacrifice or prayer to chaotic players of experience level 6 or lower.
Quasits appear among the random i that are part of the second quest monster class for Necromancers and make up 6⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Necromancer quest.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, quasits are considered demons and additionally have drain resistance.
Quasits may appear in the court of a throne room ruled by an orc-captain.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, quasits are buffed from NetHack: their speed raised from 15 to 18, their poisonous claw attacks deal 1d4 damage, they can generate in small groups, 1⁄4 of them generate as invisible, and they can see invisible. Their monster difficulty is also increased from 7 to 9.
Quasits are made carnivorous, as are other minor demons that leave corpses - they also take +d6 damage from being hit with iron weapons and items.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, quasits are carnivores as in xNetHack, but are otherwise unchanged from vanilla NetHack.
Encyclopedia entry
Quasits are small, evil creatures, related to imps. Their
talons release a very toxic poison when used in an attack.
