Saddle

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( Saddle.png
Name saddle
Appearance saddle
Base price 150 zm
Weight 200
Material leather
Monster use Will not be used by monsters.

A saddle is a type of tool that appears in NetHack. It is used to ride tamed monsters, and is made of leather.

Generation

Like all tools, saddles are generated uncursed with the exception of those found in bones or "fake bones" traps. Saddles may generate among the wares sold in general and tool shops.

Knights will always start the game with a saddled pony.[1]

Horses, ponies and warhorses each have a 1100 chance of generating with a worn saddle.[2]

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

As of commit a1d5464, the Knight quest will generate some saddled warhorses at level creation.

Description

Applying the saddle to a monster that is eligible for use as a steed adds the saddle to that monster's inventory and allows you to ride it—doing so requires at least one free hand. While it is possible to saddle a non-tame monster, this is more difficult and you will not be permitted to ride the monster until it is tamed. Riding boots give a bonus to successfully saddling a monster while worn.

The following monsters can be saddled:

Attempting to saddle a minion will always fail, regardless of if that monster is otherwise eligible.[3] Attempting to saddle a footrice will always fail, and will either turn you to stone if you are not stoning-resistant and are not wearing gloves, or turn you into a stone golem if you are in the form of another golem and not wearing gloves.[4] Attempting to saddle a foocubus will always fail, producing a unique message and abusing wisdom.[5]

If you or your steed have reflection, the saddle will be protected from disintegration rays.

Removing a saddle

To remove a saddle from a monster while not riding it, use the #loot command, a knock spell, or a wand of opening - using magic to remove the saddle from a steed will not dismount you if you are riding it at that time. If the saddled monster is polymorphed into a form ineligible to be a steed, the saddle will fall off and you will safely dismount if you were riding it at the time - this includes the temporary polymorph into an item from eating a mimic, though the saddle does not fall off in that case.[6] Theft attacks from monsters such as nymphs and foocubi that hit your steed can steal the saddle off their backs, forcibly dismounting you if you were riding them at the time. Cursed saddles cannot be removed via looting, and you cannot mount a monster equipped with a cursed saddle; if the saddle is cursed while you are riding, it will also prevent you from manually dismounting.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

As of commit 0cca010, using opening magic to remove a saddle while you are riding a steed with it will cause you to fall off that saddle.

Strategy

Main article: Riding

It is recommended to bless your saddle before applying it to your steed, especially if pursuing atheist or polymorphless conduct. A spell or scroll of remove curse cannot uncurse a saddle, nor does cancellation, and you cannot dip a steed's saddle in holy water, because the saddle is part of the saddled monster's inventory. However, if you throw a potion of holy water down at your steed, there is a Luck-dependent chance that it will hit the saddle and uncurse it.[7]

If dealing with a cursed saddle and you do not want to risk polymorphing your steed, you can pray to have your god uncurse the saddle, or else force yourself to fall off through the following methods:

  • Feed your steed a mimic corpse - this will temporarily transform them and forcibly dismount you.
  • If you are riding on a steed that is not flying:
    • Moving over ice has a chance of causing you to slip off your saddle.
    • Riding down stairs while burdened or else removing the saddle while you are on it (i.e. via the knock spell or wand of opening) will always cause you to fall off; both of these cases will leave you with wounded legs.
    • Have a monster steal the saddle from the horse.
    • Being engulfed by an animal will forcibly dismount you from your steed if you are riding.

Nymphs, foocubi and other monsters with theft attacks are especially dangerous if you are riding a steed over water or lava, usually by means of the steed's flight: being forcibly dismounted can lead to instadeath by drowning in the water or being dissolved in the lava. However, this can also be used to remove a steed's cursed saddle, which can then be uncursed normally once it is retrieved.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

As of commit cf62687, the spell and scroll of remove curse can uncurse a cursed saddle that the character is stuck on, since a steed's saddle is considered part of your inventory while riding.

As of commit 0cca010, you will not take damage or suffer wounded legs if you are thrown from a saddle and have levitation or flying.

History

The saddle is first introduced in SLASH'EM, and makes its vanilla debut in NetHack 3.3.0. The ability to remove a saddle from a steed was introduced in NetHack 3.3.1.

In NetHack 3.4.3 and previous versions, including some variants based on it, the saddle is subject to many bugs that have since been fixed, including some listed on the article for 3.4.3 bugs:

  • Attempting to saddle a cockatrice would immediately petrify the player even if they were wearing gloves. This was fixed in September 2003 via commit 8a4816f.
  • Disintegration breath hitting equipment carried by monsters, including saddles, was not handled properly, and such cases were exacerbated if the monster has its life saved. Saddles in particular were especially troublesome—in one instance, a saddled ki-rin that had been life-saved after being hit by a black dragon's disintegration breath would (correctly) no longer possess the saddle, but is still described in the game's text output as "saddled". This is bug C343-176, and was fixed in April 2006 via commit a506c32.
  • If magical removal of a steed's saddle results in a character's death and leaves a bones file, the saddle may still be on the steed when the bones are loaded. This is bug C343-289, and was fixed in April 2007 via commit 933c184.
  • A bug caused a shopkeeper to not take possession of the saddle if a saddled steed died while in their shop; this was fixed via commit 6a53009 so that the shopkeeper will do so, but only if the character is not also in the shop at the time of the steed's death.

Horses generating with saddles was added in NetHack 3.6.1. The interaction between a saddle and a steed that polymorphs while wearing it is introduced in NetHack 3.6.4.

Messages

<foo> doesn't need another one.
You attempted to apply a saddle to a saddled monster.[8]
Saddle yourself? Very funny...
You attempted to apply a saddle on your own square.[9]
Shame on you!
You attempted to apply a saddle to a foocubus.[5]
I think <foo> would mind.
You attempted to apply a saddle to an "always peaceful" human, a minion or the Wizard of Yendor.[3]
You can't saddle such a creature.
You attempted to apply a saddle to an ineligible type of monster.[10]

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, minions given as sacrifice gifts cannot be saddled.

Pet shops will sell saddles among their wares. Upgrading a leash will produce a saddle, and upgrading a saddle will produce a leash.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, human, vampire, incantifier, and drow Nobles start with saddled pets.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, random saddles are generated twice as often compared to vanilla.[11] In addition, when a character is gifted the artifact lance Dragonbane, they are also given a saddle and the riding skill is unrestricted.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, Dragonmasters start with a pre-saddled baby dragon. SpliceHack also has a higher frequency of riding monsters, and thus more chances in general to obtain a saddle from one.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, monsters that generate with mounts have a higher chance of the mount being saddled, making them more frequent—e.g., Knight player monsters can generate riding saddled steeds.

If the player reaches the Astral Plane with a good enough alignment record, they are given the saddled Red Horse as a steed.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, several roles start with a saddle in some manner:

Encyclopedia entry

The horseman serves the horse,
The neat-herd serves the neat,
The merchant serves the purse,
The eater serves his meat;
'Tis the day of the chattel,
Web to weave, and corn to grind,
Things are in the saddle,
And ride mankind.

[ Ode, by Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

References