Draft:Spectre

Omega 0.90.4

S Spectre
Form	Ordinary creature
Attacks	3 touches: 0–19 physical each before absorption, plus strength-5 life drain; no defensive actions
Special abilities	No ranged attack
Base level	5
HP	75
Hit	20
Defense	20
Action interval	6 ticks; lower is faster
Kill experience	200, when death is in sight
Generation	Random pools; stronger arena form
Carried items	No fixed item or random starting treasure
Immunities	Poison, fear, sleep
Remains	Spectre's veil; 50% on normal death
Remains use	Alchemy: +5 cloak of negimmunity; not food
Traits Hostile Flies Cannot pass through walls
Reference	minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 173

A spectre is a flying undead creature with life-draining touch attacks, displayed as a grey S. It is a fixed opponent in the Coliseum and a potential source of remains that can become a cloak of negative-energy protection.

Generation

Encounter	Level	HP	Hit / defense	Raw melee roll	Kill XP
Ordinary spectre	5	75	20 / 20	0–19	200
Fixed arena spectre	5	125	40 / 20	0–29	200

Spectres occur in sufficiently strong random-monster pools, wilderness encounters, the Astral Plane and summons. The Coliseum supplies a named, strengthened spectre after the manticore in its fixed sequence. That arena construction is distinct from ordinary random generation.

A spectre named ... can instead be a deceased historical adventurer with recorded level 7 through 11. Such a resident combines a spectre's identity with historical combat behavior and does not necessarily retain the ordinary creature's flight or draining melee.

An ordinary spectre starts with no fixed item and no random treasure. In particular, it does not carry a starting cloak. The arena's fixed challenger receives the arena's disposable garage-door opener.

Combat

Its base action interval is six ticks, compared with a vampire lord's two. This describes action timing, not six attacks or a promise of six player moves between attacks. Both ordinary and arena spectres use the same three-touch sequence; the arena's higher physical damage does not increase its drain strength.

Spectres fly, but cannot pass through walls, statues or portcullises. They do not open ordinary doors intelligently, though they can attempt to break them. They attack three times in their normal tactical sequence. Each successful touch deals ordinary damage and attempts life drain with strength 5. Without negative-energy immunity, that drain either removes five current Strength and Constitution or removes five character levels with associated HP. Either can be fatal.

They are immune to poison, fear and sleep, but not to ordinary physical damage. Unlike a ghost, a spectre is a direct melee threat rather than a source of fear-inducing moans. It has no separate spellcasting or ranged-attack ability.

Remains and strategy

Normal death has a 50% chance to produce the ordinary spectre's veil. The fixed arena challenger is marked unique, so normal death always creates its remains. The arena renames the corpse after the challenger, but it retains the spectre's alchemical use.

Its spectre's veil can be transmuted by Ambrosias into a +5 cloak of negimmunity for 400 Au. The veil is a corpse product, not an equippable protective cloak in its original state. Eating it gives no food or immunity benefit.

Prepare negative-energy protection before the arena match or another deliberate close fight. Ordinary weapons can hurt a spectre, but merely reducing its physical damage leaves the drain intact. Displacement can avoid the physical damage of a touch that passed the attack check without stopping its subsequent life drain. Ranged attacks exploit its lack of a ranged response. Solid walls block its movement and can help you break contact; an ordinary closed door is less reliable because it can be broken.

The spectre is less durable than a vampire lord and can yield the same alchemical product, but it is not a safe substitute for an unprotected character. A single successful drain may exceed the levels or attributes a young adventurer can afford to lose.

References

See also: Monster overview and Defense and protection.