Rocket launcher (dNetHack)
| ) | |
|---|---|
| Name | rocket launcher |
| Appearance | metal tube |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | firearm |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 3500 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 100 |
| Material | iron |
- For the weapon in SLASH'EM and its derivatives, see rocket launcher (SLASH'EM).
A rocket launcher, also known as a bazooka, is a type of weapon that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The rocket launcher is a huge futuristic launcher, making it two-handed for medium-sized heroes, and uses the firearms skill. It is designed for use with rockets.
The rocket launcher has a default material of iron, and appears as a metal tube when unidentified.
Generation
Anachrononauts (including Androids) start each game with knowledge of the rocket launcher's unidentified appearance.
Rocket launchers are not randomly generated, though they can be found in bones and can only be wished for by Tourists. They cannot be created by manual smithing unless the hero is an Undead Hunter that knows their appearance.
A rocket launcher is randomly placed on the locate level of the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest at level creation, and another rocket launcher is randomly placed on the goal level for each quest.
Deep ones and deeper ones generated in the future (i.e. the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest) have an effective 1⁄36 chance of bring generated with a rocket launcher and a stack of 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 is applied to rockets fired from it—this rate of fire renders multishot nearly impossible for the launcher without an incredibly high enchantment.
Rockets "thrown" or fired from a rocket launcher deal 2d12+4 blunt damage against small monsters and 2d20+4 blunt damage against large ones, and will additionally explode on their target's square (regardless of whether they hit or not) and deal 3d8 base fire damage to any monsters caught in the explosion, with larger monsters taking increased explosive damage.
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.
