Roundshield
| [ roundshield | |
|---|---|
| Appearance | round shield |
| Slot | shield |
| Base size | large |
| AC | 2 |
| DR | 0 |
| MC | 1 |
| Magical item? | no |
| Properties | (none) |
| Base price | 7 zm |
| Default weight | 120 |
| Base material | copper |
- For the armor with the appearance of a large round shield in NetHack and the dNetHack series, see dwarvish roundshield.
A roundshield is a type of shield that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. It is large armor that has a base material of copper, and appears as a "round shield" when unidentified—it shares this appearance with the dwarvish roundshield. A roundshield will always display its object material when identified, even when it is made of its base material.
The roundshield is the base item for three artifacts:
- Mirrorbright, a copper roundshield
- The Aegis, a leather "gorgon-emblemed" roundshield that can be switched to a cloak form while not worn
- Itlachiayaque, an obsidian roundshield and the Archeologist quest artifact
Generation
Half-dragon Noblemen start each game with a +0 roundshield.
Roundshields are rare and make up 1⁄1000 (0.1%) of all armor that is randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock roundshields.
The two Ghaele Eladrin statues at the top of the Arcadian Tower in the Law Quest will have a blessed +0 roundshield contained within each of them. The piles of wreckage found in the Law Quest may also contain six small copper roundshields each.
A roundshield is always generated on the Mordor Fortress level of the Mordor Ruins Quest during level creation, where it is placed within the shield-filled chest in the room that lies beyond the throne room of the ogre emperor.
Three roundshields each have a 3⁄4 chance of being randomly placed on the Bard quest goal level during level creation.
Player monster madmen generated as prisoners in the Castle will have a roundshield among their belongings that are placed in the chest near the throne.
Some monsters can be generated with roundshields:
- Valavi have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a roundshield.
- A mercenary that is not a Yendorian army fighter being created in the Law Quest will have an effective 1⁄12 chance of being generated with a roundshield whose base AC counts towards their total target AC.
- Ghaele Eladrin are always generated with roundshields.
- Vlad the Impaler is always generated with a roundshield.
- Bone devils that are generated in Gehennom or slated for "good" equipment will be given bone roundshields.
- Luminescent swarms are always generated with chitin roundshields.
- Player monsters generated on the Astral Plane have an effective 7⁄320 chance (~2.19%) of being given a roundshield that replaces their initial shield. The roundshield has a 1⁄3 chance of being erosion-proofed, and otherwise there is a 1⁄2 chance (effectively 1⁄3 total) of it being greased. It also has a 1⁄3 chance of being cursed followed by a 1⁄3 chance of being blessed, and it will otherwise be uncursed. The roundshield's enchantment has a 3⁄5 chance of ranging from +0 to +4, a 3⁄10 chance of ranging +4 to +7, and will otherwise range from -1 to -3.
Description
While worn, a roundshield grants 2 base AC, 0 base DR, and MC1. Like other shields, roundshields gain no bonus to DR from their enchantment, but add their full enchantment to AC.
A worn roundshield's spellcasting penalty and AC bonus from the hero's shield skill depends on the roundshield's weight relative to the hero's own physical size: the weight threshold for determining a small shield versus a large one is 25 for medium-sized and smaller heroes, 50 for large heroes, 75 for huge heroes, and 100 for gigantic ones. 'Small' roundshields have a lower spellcasting penalty while worn but will only gain a +1 AC bonus at Skilled and +3 AC at Expert, and they also deal lower damage than other shields when used for the shield bashing style of knightly stance, which reduces the AC bonus granted by the hero's skill to +0 for Skilled and +2 for Expert—large roundshields have a higher spellcasting penalty in comparison, but gain a higher bonus of +1 AC bonus at Basic, +3 at Skilled and +3 AC at Expert; they also deal more damage when shield-bashing, and their bonus is reduced to +0 for Basic, +2 for Skilled and +5 for Expert.
Origin
The term "round shield" naturally refers to any type of hand-held shield that has a round shape. Historical round shields come in highly varying sizes, and different forms of round shield have been very popular in Europe, the Asia and the Americas, throughout the Bronze Age, the classical period, the post-classical period, and the early modern period.
During the Bronze Age, round shields were generally large and designed for bashing and shield wall tactics, such as Spartan bronze shields—around the end of the Mycenaean Greece period, round shields with a central grip were the most commonly used shields in the area. Their prominence in the Bronze Age is likely the basis for the roundshield being copper in dNetHack. From the late post-classical era onward, round shields were smaller and mostly designed for parrying and riposte, with examples including the small buckler and the later heater shield. In exchange for less protection compared to kite shields (particularly for the legs), the round shield saw more use as an offensive weapon: This is the origin of the word "swashbuckler", as soldiers beat their weapon against the buckler.
