The Singing Sword

)   The Singing Sword   (No tile)
Base item	long sword
Damage vs. small	1d8 +1
Damage vs. large	1d12 +1
To-hit bonus	+1
Bonus versus	(any)
Weapon skill	Musicalize spell
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	unaligned Bard
When carried	(none)
When wielded	see article
When invoked	see article
Base price	5000 zm
Weight	40
Material	iron

The Singing Sword is an intelligent artifact weapon in dNetHack and notdNetHack. Its default base item is a long sword, but it can also be named as a rapier or a saber (see below). It does not favor any role, unless the player is a Bard, in which case it is Bard-favoring.

Generation

The Singing Sword cannot be randomly generated, but it can be wished for.

The Singing Sword can be named: naming any long sword, rapier, or saber The Singing Sword will transform it into the artifact. It can only be named by a Bard, an elf, or anyone who has ever bound Orthos. Unlike in vanilla, naming artifacts does not break illiterate conduct.

As a weapon

The Sword using the Musicalize spell skill to determine bonus to-hit and damage, and also exercises that skill. Since Bards in dNetHack are very limited in terms of melee damage skills, this makes the Sword a very useful melee weapon in the early to mid game. Using it also doesn't require making a trade-off between the Bard's combat skills and their music skill.

As an impediment to stealth

The Sword sings constantly while wielded, giving every monster on the current dungeon level your exact position. This does not wake up sleeping monsters. The Sword can be silenced by unwielding it.

As a support item

The Sword automatically learns songs while wielded. Songs may be learned from the player's actions or from the actions of nearby monsters. The Sword can be instructed to sing a known song via #invoke, which provides a menu of valid choices and can be done as often as desired. The songs and their effects are as follows:

Song	Effect	Learned by
Nothing in particular	No effect (beyond giving away your location)	Default song
Chant ominously	Enemies are very likely to flee after being struck by the sword in melee, unless they are deaf or mindless	Play the "Fear" song
Hum soothingly	All pets gain fast healing (+1 HP/turn) You gain fast healing while resting with '.'	Play the "Meditative Healing" song Hear a monster sing a song of good health
Rally my forces	Warps pets to your location whenever you hit an enemy with the sword in melee, as by a magic whistle	Play the "Rally" song Hear a Trumpet archon play its trumpet
Confuse my foes	Enemies become confused after being struck by the sword in melee, unless they are deaf or mindless	Play the "Cacophony" song
Disrupt spellcasting	Enemies struck by the sword in melee have their special abilities put on cooldown, unless they are deaf or mindless	Play the "Disruption" song
A marching song	Pets gain +2 movement points per turn	Play the "Charge" song Hear a monster sing a song of haste
A lethargic song	Enemies lose 2 movement points per turn	Play the "Lullaby" song Play the "Lethargy" song Play a charged Magic flute Hear Oona sing a slow march
An inspiring song	Pets gain 1 + the sword's enchantment to to-hit and damage (stacks with any enchantment bonuses on weapons they may have)	Play the "Inspire Courage" song Hear a monster sing a song of courage
A dismal dirge	Enemies lose 1 + the swords enchantment to to to-hit and damage vs. all targets	Hear Oona sing a dirge
A fiery song	The sword deals double damage to foes that do not resist fire damage, unless they are deaf or mindless	Play a charged Fire horn Hear Oona sing the lament of flames
A chilling song	The sword deals double damage to foes that do not resist cold damage, unless they are deaf or mindless	Play a charged Frost horn Hear Oona sing the lament of ice
An electrifying song	The sword deals double damage to foes that do not resist electric damage, unless they are deaf or mindless	Hear Oona sing the lament of storms
An earthshaking chant	The sword periodically (10% chance) causes an earthquake whenever it hits a foe in melee	Play a charged Drum of earthquake Hear a Dread seraph sing its earthquake song
A tune of opening	The sword periodically (5% chance) slices targets open, killing them or dealing heavy damage This effect also reveals all secret doors and traps around the character whenever it triggers	Ring the charged Bell of Opening
Of the passing of life	The sword periodically (25% chance) kills targets that do not resist death magic, unless they are deaf or mindless	Hear a Dread seraph sing its killing song
Beat to the Cadence	Pets which may leave corpses *always* leave corpses, and rise from the grave after a few turns if their corpse is not destroyed All pets are immune to digestion attacks You gain 1 + the swords enchantment to to-hit and damage (this stacks with any standard enchantment bonus on wielded weapons)	Hear a Dread seraph sing its resurrection song
A hymn to the creator	Enemies go insane after being struck by the sword in melee, unless they are deaf or mindless	Hear a Dread seraph sing its madness song