Rocket launcher (SLASH'EM)
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | rocket launcher |
| Appearance | rocket launcher |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | -4 |
| Weapon skill | firearms |
| Size | two-handed |
| Base price | 3500 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 750 |
| Material | iron |
- For the firearm in dNetHack and its derivatives, see rocket launcher (dNetHack).
A rocket launcher, also known as a bazooka, is a type of weapon that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM.[1] The rocket launcher is a two-handed launcher that uses the firearms skill and is designed for use with rockets. It is made of iron.
Generation
Rocket launchers are generated differently depending on the variant.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, rocket launchers are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.
Yendorian Army captains have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a rocket launcher and 3–7 rockets as ammo.[2]
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, rocket launchers are very rare and make up 1⁄1000 of weapons randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops.
Weapons outlets, used armor dealerships and gun stores can also stock rocket launchers. Gun stores have a 1⁄100 chance of generating a rocket launcher on each square.
In addition to generation details for monsters in SLASH'EM, Grandpa Tank Breaker is always generated with a rocket launcher and 3–12 rockets as ammo.
Description
A rocket launcher has a range of 20 squares, with a base rate of fire of -5 and a -4 to-hit penalty to rockets fired from it—this rate of fire renders multishot nearly impossible for the launcher without an incredibly high enchantment.
Rockets fired from a rocket launcher deal d45 damage against small monsters and d60 against large ones, and the rockets will also explode upon hitting a target and deal 3d8 fire damage to any monsters caught in the explosion.
Strategy
The excessive weight of both the rocket launcher and its ammo renders the weapon almost completely useless for any practical applications in SLASH'EM: at 750 aum, the launcher alone takes up the mass majority of a strong hero's carrying capacity, even with no other inventory, and the addition of just a single rocket adds 200 aum, so just carrying the launcher and a few rockets will ensure that the hero is at minimum burdened (if not worse) and susceptible to item-cursing effects targeting the two-handed weapon.
In SlashTHEM, the maximum carrying capacity possible for a hero is 4000 aum, which is usually only reached via polymorph into a nymph: while in theory this can make the prospect of utilizing the rocket launcher feasible, most nymphs are not especially ideal as long-term polymorph forms—additionally, even at the maximum carrying capacity a rocket launcher on its own takes up just under 1⁄5 of that capacity, with a set of six rockets bumping that weight to nearly half of that total before accounting for any other inventory present.
In either case, the base rate of fire for rocket launchers ensures that even with Expert skill in firearms, a +15 rocket launcher only fires two rockets with a 1⁄8 probability. Furthermore, the rocket launcher is hampered by its -4 to-hit penalty and the inability to wear a shield while operating one, and its damage per turn is considerably lower than much lighter one-handed rapid-fire weapons, such as assault rifles and submachine guns.
Origin
A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. The earliest documented rocket launchers originated in imperial China as propulsion systems for arrows, and may have existed as early as the 10th century in the Song dynasty China, with solid documentary evidence occurring as early as the 13th century. Early Chinese rocket launchers consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few inches behind the arrowhead—the launchers themselves were constructed of wood, basketry, and bamboo tubes that separated the rockets using frames, and propelled them by burning the black powder in the motor, allowing multiple rockets to be fired at once. This is distinct from early Chinese fire arrows, which carried small tubes of black powder that ignited once the arrow hit its target.
Rockets were introduced to the West during the Napoleonic Wars, with one of the first rockets being the Congreve: a British weapon devised by Sir William Congreve in 1804 after he experienced Indian rockets at the Siege of Seringapatam in 1799. Congreve rockets were launched from an iron trough, or chamber, that was about 18 inches (45 centimetres) in length, and could be fixed to the ground for horizontal launching, secured to a folding copper tripod for high angle fire, or mounted on frames on carts or the decks of warships.
The rocket launcher in SLASH'EM appears to be a multiple rocket launcher system based on its tile, which may explain its weight: such devices are usually vehicle-mounted, and are not made to be man-portable. A typical shoulder-mounted rocket launcher such as the iconic bazooka weighs around 13lb/6kg, which is roughly twice the weight of an assault rifle.
