Rapier (SLASH'EM)
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | rapier |
| Appearance | rapier |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | saber |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 40 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | metal |
- For the weapon in dNetHack and its derivatives, see rapier (dNetHack).
A rapier is a type of weapon that appears in SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM and Hack'EM. It is a one-handed melee weapon that uses the saber skill. In SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, rapiers are made of metal, while in Hack'EM metal is the item's base material.
In SlashTHEM and Hack'EM, the rapier is the base item for the artifact known as the Mouser's Scalpel, and in SlashTHEM it is also the base item for Queen's Guard. The Rod of Lordly Might is an artifact that can take the form of a rapier when invoked.
Contents
Generation
The frequency of the rapier varies across variants.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, rapiers are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
An uncursed +1 rapier is placed on the square of a hostile rogue in the fort area of Grund's Stronghold during level creation.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, Nobles start each game with a +2 rapier.
Rapiers are rare and make up 1⁄500 (0.2%) of all weapons that are randomly generated on the floor, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and weapon outlets can also stock rapiers. A normally-generated rapier has a base 1⁄20 chance of being made into an artifact, which has an equal probability of being Queen's Guard or Mouser's Scalpel (assuming neither artifact has been generated).
An uncursed +1 rapier is placed on the square of a hostile rogue in the fort area of Grund's Stronghold during level creation.
Player monster noblemen and noblewomen are always generated with rapiers, and will be given a second one if they are also generated on the Astral Plane.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, rapiers make up 1⁄100 (1.0%) of all weapons that are randomly generated on the floor, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and weapon outlets can also stock rapiers. A normally-generated rapier has a base 1⁄20 chance of being made into an artifact, which will always be Mouser's Scalpel if the artifact has not been generated.
An uncursed +1 rapier is placed on the square of a hostile rogue in the fort area of Grund's Stronghold during level creation.
Upgrading a saber successfully will produce a rapier.
Description
In all of the listed appearances, the rapier is a piercing weapon that deals 1d6 base damage to small monsters and 1d8 base damage to large monsters before any bonuses from enchantment or adjustments from the object's material.
In Hack'EM, the rapier weighs 15 aum compared to 30 aum in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, and upgrading a rapier successfully will produce a saber.
Strategy
Rapiers are somewhat comparable in damage to sabers while being somewhat lighter, but are slightly weaker against smaller monsters.
History
The rapier first appears in SLASH 6, where it is introduced alongside the Mouser's Scalpel (then known simply as "Scalpel")—the artifact's deferred data can be found in the code of SLASH'EM.[1][2]
Origin
A rapier (/ˈreɪpiər/) is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed double-edged blade; some historical rapier samples feature a broadsword-like blade mounted on a typical rapier hilt. The term dates back to the mid-16th century, and the sword was popular throughout 16th-and-17th century Western Europe, both for civilian use and as a military side arm. Rapiers are also popularly known as dueling weapons.
