Touch of death
The touch of death is a monster spell in NetHack that is cast by some of the most powerful spell-casting monsters in the game, such as arch-liches and the Wizard of Yendor.
Description
The touch of death can be used by any monster that can cast mage spells and is at least level 21.[1] As indicated, you die instantly if a monster casts the touch of death spell on you.[2][3] The spell will fail if you have magic resistance, are hallucinating, or are polymorphed into an undead monster or a demon[4] - otherwise, it can fail with a chance dependent on the monster's level, where the chance is 13⁄ML (i.e. a minimum of 8⁄21).[5]
The Rider Death has a "deadly touch" attack, which is unrelated other than the same possibility of instadeath and an identical message if it fails.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 16105ad: The touch of death now does 8d6+50 damage and reduces your maximum HP by half of the damage dealt; this also applies to Death's deadly touch if it would have had the instadeath effect. However, if the resulting damage would reduce both your maximum and current HP to zero, you die immediately (with no maximum hp reduction); this is an important distinction for cases such as polyself.Messages
- Oh no, (s)he's using the touch of death!
- The monster casts the spell. If the spell succeeds, there are no further messages; you see the standard life saving messages if you wore an amulet of life saving, or "Do you want your possessions identified?" otherwise.
- You seem no deader than before.
- The spell failed because you are undead or a demon.
- You have an out of body experience.
- The spell was countered by hallucination.
- Lucky for you, it didn't work!
- The spell was countered by magic resistance or failed by random chance.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
- You feel drained...
- You were affected by a touch of death.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, the touch of death has different effects based on the target's current HP: if the target monster is under 100 HP and is not otherwise immune, they die instantly, with the same chance for the spell to fail as in NetHack - otherwise, they take 8d8 damage. Magic resistance prevents the instadeath effect as before, with the damage taken reduced to 8.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, the touch of death instead deals 8d6 damage and drains maximum HP, and the damage can be reduced by magic resistance and/or half spell damage.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the touch of death is guaranteed to succeed unless the target has death resistance or is hallucinating. Magic resistance is no longer complete protection against the touch of death: while it will still prevent the instadeath effect, the target will still take 8d6 damage and lose some maximum HP. Half spell damage combined with magic resistance can reduce the effects further - the Gauntlets of Purity grant complete protection against death magic while worn.
Spellcasting monsters can use the touch of death and other monster spells against other monsters, making high-level spellcasting pets much better at handling hostiles in comparison to vanilla NetHack. You can also use the spell randomly if you attack while polymorphed into a spellcasting monster with a high enough level to cast it, and you have the power required.
