The Stake of Van Helsing (Hack'EM)
| ) The Stake of Van Helsing (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | stake |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 +1d12 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 +1d12 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | (all) |
| Weapon skill | dagger |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried | |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 5000 zm |
| Weight | 20 |
| Material | wood |
- For the artifact in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, see The Stake of Van Helsing (SLASH'EM).
The Stake of Van Helsing is the Undead Slayer quest artifact in Hack'EM. It is the prize for completing the Undead Slayer quest, and its default alignment is lawful. Its base item type is a stake.
Generation
For Undead Slayers, The Stake of Van Helsing is always generated on the goal level of the Undead Slayer quest, where it is placed on Count Dracula's square at level creation.
Description
The Stake of Van Helsing grants warning of vampires while carried, which notably prevents vampiric Undead Slayers from actually wielding the artifact. While wielded, it grants magic resistance, and has +1d5 to-hit and +1d12 damage versus all monsters. As a wooden stake, it also deals +1d6 damage against vampires with a chance of instantly killing them: this chance is a flat 1⁄10 (10%) that stacks with both the hero's skill level in dagger (1⁄10 or +10% per skill level) and the role bonus for Undead Slayers wielding the artifact (1⁄10 or +10%); each criteria that is met also adds a point to the bonus damage dealt against vampires if the artifact does not instantly kill one upon hitting (i.e., Expert skill in daggers adds a flat +4).
Origin
Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a fictional character from Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. Commonly referred to as simply "Van Helsing", he is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments and a wealth of experience, education and expertise—Van Helsing is a doctor, professor, lawyer, philosopher, scientist, and metaphysician. The character is best known through many adaptations of the story as a vampire slayer, monster hunter and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula, and the prototypical and the archetypal parapsychologist in subsequent works of paranormal fiction.
The wooden stake is one of Van Helsing's trademark weapons, used to pierce the heart of vampires and lay their souls to rest—though the slaying of Dracula by driving such a stake through his heart is a popular image, the events of the story proceed much differently: near the end, Dracula is decapitated by a kukri while his heart is simultaneously pierced by a Bowie knife, destroying the Count and reducing him to dust.
