Draft:Jabberwock
| J Jabberwock | |
|---|---|
| Form | Ordinary creature |
| Attacks | 5 physical attacks, raw 0–99 each; no defense |
| Special abilities | Fast melee; accepts safe food; enhanced Arena form |
| Base level | 8 |
| HP | 500 |
| Hit | 40 |
| Defense | 25 |
| Action interval | 2 ticks; lower is faster |
| Kill experience | 600, when death is in sight |
| Generation | Ordinary and special encounters |
| Carried items | No fixed item; 0–1 random possession |
| Immunities | Poison, sleep |
| Remains | Jabberwock's head; 50% on ordinary normal death |
| Remains use | Inedible head; blessed +5 Vorpal sword alchemy |
Traits
| |
| Reference | minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 255[1] |
A jabberwock is a fast predator with five physical attacks. Its head can be transformed into a Vorpal sword, linking a dangerous encounter to a powerful weapon reward.[2]
Generation
Jabberwocks appear in ordinary random encounters with zero or one random possession. In the fixed Arena sequence, one follows the automatum major and precedes the jotun.[3]
| Form | HP | Hit | Raw damage per attack | Head on normal death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary | 500 | 40 | 0–99 | 50% |
| Arena | 580 | 80 | 0–149 | Guaranteed |
The Arena form has no ordinary random possessions. Both forms retain five attacks and movement interval 2.[4]
Description
The jabberwock has five physical attacks and no defensive actions. It flutters erratically but does not fly. Poison and sleep are its only innate immunities; it has no ranged attack or combat special. Talking produces burbling text without an additional attack effect.[5]
It is hungry and can be pacified with safe food. Poisonous food is ineffective against its poison immunity and consumes the feeding opportunity without removing hostility.[6]
Head
The head is inedible. Ambrosias buys it for 333 Au or charges 2,000 Au to turn the selected stack into one blessed +5 Vorpal sword. The weapon's existing +5 enchantment is retained; this is not a +8 sword merely because the jabberwock is level 8.[7]
Strategy
Five rapid attacks make a prolonged adjacent fight dangerous, especially against the Arena version's enhanced hit and damage. Safe feeding can avoid the exchange. Sleep and poison are poor attack choices, while physical and elemental damage are not blocked by its innate immunities.
The guaranteed Arena head is a potential Vorpal sword source after a difficult victory. The weapon's instant-kill effect has its own hit and physical-vulnerability conditions; obtaining the head does not make the alchemical cost or subsequent fights automatic successes.
Trivia
The name, burbling dialogue and conversion of a severed head into a Vorpal sword echo Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. In that poem, a vorpal sword is used to kill and behead the Jabberwock.[8]
References
- ↑ 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 8–148; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 227–311; aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 689–727; 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 255; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 845–869.
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 280–394; guild1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 375–384.
- ↑ env.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 63–76; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 255; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 193–201.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 255; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 227–311; mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 392–403.
- ↑ inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 410–467.
- ↑ item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 63–139; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 664–749; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 845–869; iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 236.
- ↑ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, chapter I; mtalk.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 392–403; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 255.