Uranium imp (dNetHack)
i uranium imp 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 11 |
| Attacks |
Claw 4d4 physical |
| Base level | 9 |
| Base experience | 256 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | -10 |
| Base MR | 20 |
| Alignment | -7 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 500 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | small
|
|
A uranium imp:
| |
A uranium imp, i, is a type of monster that appears in in dNetHack and notdNetHack. It is a type of humanoid minor demon that has regeneration and infravision, and can be seen via infravision. They will pick up magical items, have a tendency to wander, and can follow a character to other levels if they are adjacent.
A uranium imp has a single claw attack, and possesses a unique ability: when hit in melee, both the imp and the attacker are teleported together to a random location on the same level, unless they are on a non-teleport level.
Chatting to a uranium imp will cause it to flee for 10–30 turns.
Generation
Randomly generated uranium imps are always created hostile, and will not be generated randomly in Gehennom.
A uranium imp will never leave a corpse upon death.
Strategy
Uranium imps have a fairly damaging attack, but their primary danger lies in their stellar "protective" AC of 16 and their reactive teleporting ability: a fight with one outside of a non-teleport level can lead to hopping all over the level, which can very easily separate adventurers from their pets and/or land an unsuspecting character in a dangerous situation. Teleport control allows control over your character's destination, but the imp will still appear next to you regardless of where you choose to teleport.
Fortunately, chatting to a uranium imp will reliably scare them off, allowing you to keep them at bay and dispatch them at a distance or else escape and focus on more pressing matters. Cancellation can also nullify the imp's high protection and significantly reduce their defenses, though their MR score of 20 can give them a chance to resist.
Origin
As indicated by the encyclopedia, the uranium imp originates from Homestuck, an Internet fiction webcomic series created by American author and artist Andrew Hussie and the fourth and best-known of their four MS Paint Adventures comics.
The Imps of Homestuck in general are underlings of powerful beings known as Denizens and are the most common and unchallenging enemies, being described as "cannon-fodder" and displaying visible fear of higher-ranking creatures - John in particular "defeats" a group of Imps by yelling at them to leave, which is the inspiration for the effect of chatting to a uranium imp; the code has a comment that quotes the specific panel where this occurs.
When a player enters The Medium and prototypes their kernelsprite, the Imps take on the properties of that player's sprite and associated item: the Uranium Imps are based on Jade's Associated Item, Uranium, and inherit reality-warping powers from Becsprite that allow them to warp themselves and others around the Medium - this is the basis for their power to teleport attackers and ignore teleport control. Uranium Imps are also noted to be unusually tough for imps: one effortlessly avoids several of Jade's attacks by reality-warping and teleporting them both until Becsprite obliterates it, and several of them give John trouble well into Act 5.
Encyclopedia entry
Despite being imbued with reality-warping powers by the Green Sun, these trouble-making servants of darkness seem unaware of their true power, and probably would run away if yelled at.
GG: those stupid things are impossible to kill :(
TG: no you can kill them
TG: youll get better dont worry
