Sniper rifle (dNetHack)
| ) | |
|---|---|
| Name | sniper rifle |
| Appearance | broken crossbow |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 |
| To-hit bonus | +4 |
| Weapon skill | firearm |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 4000 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | iron |
- For the weapon in SLASH'EM and its derivatives, see sniper rifle (SLASH'EM).
A sniper rifle is a type of firearm that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The sniper rifle is a huge futuristic launcher, making it two-handed for most medium-sized and smaller heroes, and uses the firearms skill. It is designed for use with bullets, silver bullets, blood-bullets, and blood-spears.
The sniper rifle has a default material of iron, and appears as a broken crossbow for heroes in most roles when unidentified—Anachrononauts, Androids, Pirates, and Undead Hunters will instead see the unidentified item as an "unfamiliar long gun".
Generation
Anachrononauts and Androids start each game with knowledge of the sniper rifle's appearance. Hedrow Anachrononauts start each game with an uncursed +4 sniper rifle and two stacks of ammo: 60 uncursed +0 bullets and 30 uncursed +0 silver bullets.
Sniper rifles are not randomly generated, though they can be found in bones and can only be wished for by Tourists. They cannot be created by smithing unless the hero is an Undead Hunter that knows their appearance.
Several sniper rifles can be found on the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest: 2 sniper rifles are randomly placed around the locate level at level creation, and 5 more are randomly placed around the goal level at level creation—two of the sniper rifles on the goal level will be made of silver, while a third will be made of shadowsteel.
Some monsters generated in the future (i.e. the Anachrononaut quest and Android quest) can be generated with sniper rifles and ammo:
- Deep ones and deeper ones have a 1⁄6 chance of being generated with a sniper rifle as their firearm weapon and 3 different stacks of bullets as ammo, with the properties of the assault rifle itself dependent on which monster is given one. Deep ones will have fully eroded submachine guns, while deeper ones will have submachine guns with 1 level of erosion and an enchantment ranging from +1 to +4.
- Deepest ones are always generated with a huge sniper rifle and 18 huge +7 rustproof bullets as ammo.
- Myrkalfar warriors are generated with a non-cursed +4 sniper rifle and 60 +0 non-cursed bullets as ammo.
Description
The sniper rifle has a range of 25 squares with a +4 to-hit bonus, but it also has a base rate of fire of -3. Bullets fired from sniper rifles are given precision-based damage multipliers and have increased accuracy at longer ranges.
When wielded by a hero who is Skilled or better in firearms, sniper rifle gain the "focus fire" expert trait.
Origin
A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range type of rifled firearm that is chambered for a high-ballistic performance centerfire cartridge, designed to be accurate at extremely long ranges when in the hands of a skilled sharpshooter. Some sniper rifles are derived from ordinary service weapons, usually assault rifles or semi-automatic rifles, while others are designed from the ground up as specialist weapons. Their distinguishing characteristics can generally include the following:
- A telescopic sight or scope
- An exceptional length
- A stock designed for firing from a prone position
- Accessories focused on enhancing accuracy and reliability (such as a bipod for stability)
- Portability for movement
- Concealment, for combat scenarios
The earliest known example of a sniper rifle is arguably the Whitworth rifle, designed in 1854 by prominent British engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth: it used barrels with hexagonal polygonal rifling, which meant that the projectile did not have to "bite" into the rifling grooves as with conventional rifling. His rifle was far more accurate than the Pattern 1853 Enfield, which had shown weaknesses during the Crimean War. The Whitworth rifle was able to hit the target at a range of 2,000 yards (around 1,830 meters), whereas the Enfield could only manage it at a distance of 1,400 yards (around 1,280 meters). The Crimean War also saw the production of the first optical sights designed for fitting onto the rifles, and much of this pioneering work was the brainchild of a Colonel D. Davidson, using optical sights produced by Chance Brothers of Birmingham. By the 1870s, the perfection of breech loading magazine rifles led to sniper rifles having "effective accurate" ranges of up to a mile away from their target.
Modern sniper rifles are divided into two very broad categories: military and law enforcement. Sniper rifles manufactured for military service are often designed for very high durability, range, reliability, sturdiness, serviceability, and repairability under adverse environmental and combat conditions, at the sacrifice of a small degree of accuracy—military snipers and sharpshooters may also be required to carry their rifles and other equipment for long distances, making it important to minimize weight. Sniper rifles built or modified for use in law enforcement are generally required to have the greatest possible accuracy, but do not need to have as long of a range—they are usually employed in non-combat (often urban) environments, so they do not have the requirement to be as hardy or portable as military versions, and may also be smaller due to the decrease in required range.
