Vegepygmy
| g vegepygmy (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 3 |
| Base experience | 48 |
| Speed | 10 |
| Base AC | 7 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 500 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | small |
| Resistances | shock resistance, poison resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | causes hallucination |
|
A vegepygmy:
| |
| Reference | dNAO 3.25.0 - src/monst.c, line 898 |
A vegepygmy, g, is a type of monster that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. The vegepygmy is a small gremlin-like humanoid that is a form of extra-terrestrial plant creature: vegepygmies are both carnivorous and metallivorous; they can see and sense other monsters via telepathy, earthsense and infravision; they have a tendency to wander while moving; and they will pick up weapons, armor and other items that they come across. Vegepygmies have 3 points of natural AC and 4 points of natural DR. A vegepygmy's corpse has a chance of reviving each turn, and has a 1⁄10 chance of becoming a vegepygmy shaman instead of remaining a normal vegepygmy.
Vegepygmies have a weapon attack that can infect the skin of targets with gray mold spores, a touch attack that deals damage and can rust metallic armor, and a passive attack that triggers on death and leaves behind clouds of gray mold spores that can infect whoever stands inside them with 1-2 spores on the skin and/or in their respiratory system each turn. Vegepygmies are skilled in martial combat, and possess shock resistance and poison resistance along with a vulnerability to acid.
A vegepygmy is poisonous to consume, and eating a vegepygmy corpse or tin causes hallucination upon finishing the meal.
A vegepygmy can be warded by an Elder Elemental Eye or Elder Sign at any level of reinforcement.
Generation
Vegepygmies are not randomly generated normally. They are not a valid genocide target.
Rusty gray molds have a 1⁄70 chance of generating a vegepygmy nearby on each global turn, while gray fungal towers have a 1⁄25 chance of generating a vegepygmy nearby on each global turn, and neither form of generation respects extinction.
Seventeen vegepygmies are generated on specific squares of the Kensei quest locate level during level creation, with eight of them being hostile.
A hero that either dies of a gray mold infection or is killed while infected with gray mold and leaves bones will arise as a vegepygmy, unless they were of a race and/or role that cast spells using the wisdom attribute.
Origin
The vegepygmy, also known as a mold man or mold folk, is a creature that originates in Dungeons & Dragons, where they originate in Monster Manual II for the 1st edition and make their debut in the Gygax-written adventure "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks"—in this adventure, tvegepygmies are the result of a fungus generally known as "russet mold" that spread from the ruins of a great vessel that crash-landed in the mysterious titular mountain range. They have made occasional appearances throughout each of the various later editions, where said editions add another possible origin and suggest that they are the product of an asteroid barreling from space into a gloomy jungle. Vegepygmies also appear in the tabletop game Pathfinder.
The vegepygmies of Dungeons & Dragons are small fungal creatures that stand between 2 to 4.5 feet (0.61 to 1.4 meters) in height, with a lithe frame covered in plant matter skin that grows tougher and harder to damage with age—their coloration varies with the environment, ranging from brown-and-green in dark forests and wooded areas, to gray-and-black underground, to an occasional moldy blue-and-white. A vegepygmy is omnivorous with a preference for meat and blood, and can consume any type of meat no matter how rotten, but they can also absorb nutrients from plants and fungi (or even the soil or organic matter during particularly hard times). Vegepygmy language consists of hissing vocalizations and gestures such as tapping trees and stomping, and their society focuses on harvesting food and spreading more of their kind—they are organized into simple units ruled by whoever has the most prominent mold, with the specific culture dependent on their location.
A vegepygmy can disperse clouds of spores, which spread russet mold and can kill beings that inhale them, and they primarily reproduce from the remains of dead humanoids, giants and animals infected by russet mold: dead humanoids rise as new vegepygmies, while dead animals and similar creatures will instead produce russet mold-infected and barb-covered quadrupeds known as "thornies", which are stronger and tougher but generally less intelligent; occasionally, the death of a sufficiently old vegepygmy will also create two smaller individuals. Memories from an ancestral line can be passed down through generations and can resurface in completely new vegepygmies, including the ability to vocalize a unique spoken language and wield both druidic and shamanistic magic.
Vegepygmies normally have heavily-wrinkled faces that lack noses; white lidless eyes that lack pupils and can see well in the dark; thorn-like claws on their hands; and lengthy tendrils covering their body that also form a natural topknot on their head. A vegepygmy's tendrils appear as constantly flowing regardless of any wind, and allows them to feel vibrations and other sensations in the air. They are heavily resistant to electrocution and piercing attacks, as well as somewhat resistant to enchantment, and they can also naturally regenerate from even life-threatening damage unless they are subjected to extreme heat, cold, or rotting. Vegepygmies feel an instinctive kinship towards other fungal or plant creatures, while their relations with other beings are tense since many view them as monsters.
