Draft:Vampire lord
| V Vampire lord | |
|---|---|
| Form | Ordinary creature |
| Attacks | 3 touches: 0–49 physical each before absorption, plus strength-9 life drain; 3 defensive actions |
| Special abilities | Invisible surprise; no distant life drain |
| Base level | 9 |
| HP | 750 |
| Hit | 70 |
| Defense | 50 |
| Action interval | 2 ticks; lower is faster |
| Kill experience | 1,000, when death is in sight |
| Generation | High-level pools; peaceful cemetery specimens |
| Carried items | No fixed item or random starting treasure |
| Immunities | Poison, fear, sleep |
| Remains | Vampire dust; 50% on normal death |
| Remains use | Alchemy: +9 cloak of negimmunity; not food |
Traits
| |
| Reference | minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 281[1] |
A vampire lord is a powerful, initially invisible undead creature with life-draining touch attacks. Its visible symbol is a V. The nonhostile specimens in Rampart's cemetery are an unusual opportunity to encounter one without immediately having to fight it.[2]
Generation
Each of the cemetery's four greater-undead sites chooses equally between a vampire lord and a lich. Cemetery occupants begin asleep and nonhostile. A vampire lord elsewhere is normally hostile and can occur in high-difficulty random-monster generation, the Astral Plane and summons. It is not included in the ordinary wilderness encounter's unrestricted random slot, whose selection stops below its monster tier.
The vampire lord carries no fixed starting object or random treasure. Its valuable potential product comes from its remains instead.[3][4][5]
Combat and detection
The visible glyph is black on red; its invisible state can prevent you from seeing that glyph at all. Its base interval of two ticks makes it much faster than a spectre at six, and one action can attempt the entire three-touch sequence.[6]
A vampire lord flies but cannot pass through walls, statues or portcullises. Ordinary closed doors can be broken rather than opened intelligently. It begins invisible, with a surprise ability that can reveal it after attacking and cost an unalert victim an action. Truesight or Alertness addresses this surprise, but does not stop the attack itself.[7]
Its tactical sequence contains three attacks and three defensive actions. Each successful spirit touch deals ordinary damage and attempts life drain with strength 9. Without negative-energy immunity, the drain either removes nine current Strength and Constitution or removes nine character levels together with associated HP. Armor and ordinary-damage protection do not replace immunity to the drain.
The vampire lord's attack selection does not provide a working distant life-drain attack: its spirit touch is only executed at adjacent range. Remaining distant is therefore useful. Solid walls can help separate you from it, while an ordinary door may be broken.
It is immune to poison, fear and sleep, but not innately immune to ordinary physical damage or the common elemental damage types. Its immense HP and high defense score still make an early fight a poor trade.[8][9][10][11]
Remains and strategy
Truesight and Alertness address detection or surprise; negative-energy immunity addresses the drain. These are separate preparations. Even displacement avoiding the physical damage of a landed touch does not cancel the following life-drain attempt.[12]
An ordinary vampire lord has a chance to leave vampire dust. Ambrosias can transmute this into a +9 cloak of negimmunity for 400 Au, providing protection against later life-draining opponents. This is not a carried cloak guaranteed to drop from every kill. The dust itself is not food and grants no direct protection by being eaten.
In the cemetery, preserve the initial peace and account for invisible occupants when choosing a route. Before deliberately fighting, prepare negative-energy immunity, a way to see or locate the target, and enough space to avoid repeated touches. A cloak obtained after the fight cannot protect you during that first encounter; spectre remains offer another source for the same alchemical product.
Surrender is unreliable against this evil-speaking opponent and can strengthen it after taking your cash and best item. Its name does not imply a special conversation, office or player succession reward.[13][14][15]
References
See also: Monster overview and Defense and protection.
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 373–394; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 8–51; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 124–129; time.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 47–74; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 63–139. Ordinary construction, combat, timing and remains.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 281.
- ↑ city.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 596 (
make_major_undead). - ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 317 (
make_creature). - ↑ mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 12 (
m_pulse). - ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 173; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 281; time.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 47–74; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 24–51.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 281; mmove.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 129–147; util.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 93–151.
- ↑ mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 220 (
m_sp_surprise). - ↑ mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 55 (
monster_melee). - ↑ mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 389 (
monster_strike). - ↑ effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 1167 (
drain_life). - ↑ mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 218–252; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 8–20; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 124–129; effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1167–1191.
- ↑ item.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 63 (
make_corpse). - ↑ itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 662 (
i_corpse). - ↑ site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 805 (
l_alchemist).