Warg
d warg 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Attacks |
Bite 2d6 |
| Base level | 7 |
| Base experience | 92 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -5 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 850 |
| Nutritional value | 350 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A warg:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line268 |
A warg, d, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a medium-sized carnivorous canine that is a stronger relative to the wolf and can be seen via infravision.
A warg has a single bite attack.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated wargs are always created hostile, and may appear in small groups.
Werewolves can summon hostile wargs by calling for help, with a 1⁄10 chance of generating a hostile warg on each adjacent square[1] - a character that gets lycanthropy from a werewolf can similarly summon tame wargs using the #monster extended command by expending 10 power.
Wargs appear among the random d that are part of the first quest monster class for Samurai and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Samurai quest.
Strategy
While they are no faster or better in terms of AC than wolves, wargs still pose much of the same hurdles: a lone warg can be handled with some care by a prepared character, but packs of wargs and their bite attacks can spell serious trouble if you are slow, underpowered or else inattentive, and werewolves can surround you with wargs and other wolf-like monsters unless handled wisely.
On top of the usual melee and area-of-effect strategies for handling groups of monsters, wargs lack any MR score much like the weaker canines, leaving them quite vulnerable to magic and elemental attacks. Take out werewolves as soon as possible to ensure that they cannot overwhelm you with hordes of wargs and other lupine threats.
History
The warg first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
The ability of werewolves to summon allied wargs is introduced in NetHack 3.6.0.
Origin
The warg is derived from the Middle-Earth setting of J.R.R. Tolkien, where it is a particularly large and malevolent wolf-like being that is used as a mount by orcs. The name and spelling are a cross of Old Norse vargr and Old English wearh: the latter refers to an outcast or an outlaw in Old English, while the former arose as a non-taboo name for úlfr (normal Old Norse for "wolf"), and is used in particular to describe massive wolves such as Fenrir, who destroyed the god Odin in the battle of Ragnarök, and the wolves Sköll and Hati, Fenrir's children who perpetually chase the Sun and Moon.
In the setting of Middle-Earth, wargs actively ally themselves with the Orcs, whom they permit to ride on their backs into battle and share any resulting spoils with. They are also one of many animals within the world of Middle-Earth that are anthropomorphized and made at least semi-intelligent, alongside other examples such as the giant Mirkwood spiders - The Hobbit in particular indicates that wargs are capable of speech, as seen when they plan their part in "a great goblin-raid" on the woodmen's villages.
Creatures similar to wargs also appear in other forms of media, and are sometimes an offshoot or relative of much-larger-than-normal "dire wolves": Dungeons & Dragons feature the near-identical worgs as a form of intelligent and evil-natured neo-dire wolf. Worgs are much more intelligent than wolves and often cooperate with orcs, goblins and hobgoblins, who use the beasts as attack dogs and mounts similar to the orcs of Middle-Earth; worgs are also capable of speaking Common and Goblin along with their own language.
Variants
Variants based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions may or may not include the ability to summon allied wargs for werewolves that is added in later versions.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, wargs do not randomly generate in Gehennom and cannot be summoned by werewolves. This also applies to SlashTHEM.
Wargs appear among the random d that are part of the second quest monster class for Yeomen and make up 6⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Yeoman quest.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, wargs cannot be summoned by werewolves. Orcish characters can saddle and ride wargs as steeds.
Randomly-created wargs can be generated with armor fitted to their body shape. A warg has a 3⁄5 chance of receiving armor: a 1⁄10 chance of generating with orcish chain mail, a 1⁄5 chance of generating with orcish ring mail, and a 3⁄10 chance of generating with leather armor. If they receive any body armor, they will also generate with an orcish helm. Wargs also have a 1⁄20 chance of generating with a saddle.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, orcish characters are the only playable race that can tame wargs as domestic animals and use tame wargs as steeds, which allows them to wear saddles and barding - any other race of character that tries to apply a saddle or barding will un-tame the warg.
Goblin-captains always generate with warg mounts; Uruk-hai have a 1⁄7 chance of generating with warg mounts, and orc-captains have a 1⁄4 chance of generating with a warg mount. As with all mounts, there is a 1⁄100 chance of a warg generating with a saddle, and an even lower chance of a saddled warg generating with some form of barding. Vampire royals are capable of shapeshifting into wargs, rather than wolves as with vampire nobles.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, wargs can be summoned by werewolves and randomly generate in Gehennom, unlike in SLASH'EM - all other details from SLASH'EM apply.
While monsters are no longer generated with mounts, orcish characters retain the ability from EvilHack to tame wargs and use them as steeds. Vampire royals also retain the ability to shapeshift into wargs.
Encyclopedia entry
Suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet. "How the wind howls!" he cried. "It is howling with wolf-voices. The Wargs have come west of the Mountains!"
"Need we wait until morning then?" said Gandalf. "It is as I said. The hunt is up! Even if we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves on his trail?"
"How far is Moria?" asked Boromir.
"There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs," answered Gandalf grimly.
"Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can," said Boromir. "The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears."
"True!" said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath. "But where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls."
