Draft:Astral vampire
| V Astral vampire | |
|---|---|
| Form | Ordinary creature |
| Attacks | No ordinary attacks; 3 defenses |
| Special abilities | Nearby mana drain, even if peaceful |
| Base level | 5 |
| HP | 40 |
| Hit | 25 |
| Defense | 0 |
| Action interval | 6 ticks; lower is faster |
| Kill experience | 175, when death is in sight |
| Generation | Ordinary and special encounters |
| Carried items | No fixed item; 0–1 random possessions |
| Immunities | Physical damage, fear, sleep |
| Remains | Dead astral vampire; 50% on normal death |
| Remains use | Enchantment effect; no alchemy |
Traits
| |
| Reference | minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 181[1] |
An astral vampire is an intangible, physically immune mana drainer. Despite having a spirit-touch attack type in its definition, its ordinary action sequence contains only defenses, so it does not actually make that melee attack.[2]
Generation
Astral vampires belong to ordinary random-monster pools and a dedicated Astral Plane selection. An ordinary specimen is initially hostile, with no fixed item and zero or one random possession.[3]
Mana drain
Whenever its special action runs while your mana is positive, it subtracts ten minus the distance, with a minimum subtraction of zero. The ordinary special-action range is within four squares, so qualifying drain amounts there are six through nine mana. The check does not independently require hostility or line of sight, and does not consult negative-energy or magic immunity. It can reduce a small positive mana value below zero.[4]
Its combat sequence has three defensive actions and no attacks. It has no ranged attack. It is immune to physical damage, fear and sleep, but not fire, cold or electricity; its intangibility permits movement through walls. It has no food or valuable-gift pacification response, and making it peaceful would not itself disable the mana-drain check.[5]
Remains
Normal death drops possessions and has a 50% chance to leave a dead astral vampire. Eating the ordinary corpse invokes the same effect as a noncursed +0 scroll of enchantment: a suitable selected item gains +2 and may gain 2, 4, ... 20 charges. It supplies no food and has no alchemical transformation.[6]
This retains ordinary enchantment risks. A target above +1 can explode, and an intact artifact can cause a mana-storm backlash instead of receiving +2. Eating the corpse is therefore a choice to use an enchantment effect, not a risk-free permanent character improvement.[7]
Strategy
Leave the drain range or use applicable nonphysical damage before losing the mana needed to fight other enemies. Physical attacks and sleep do not solve the encounter, while a wall does not block the special drain. The creature is dangerous to spell resources even though its ordinary melee sequence never attacks.
Retain the corpse when you have an appropriate low-enchantment target. Consider the same target-dependent explosion risk as when reading an enchantment scroll.
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 181; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 25–49; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 458–466.
- ↑ lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 122–140; lev.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 280–395; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 181.
- ↑ mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 12–69; mspec.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 458–466.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 181; mmelee.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 25–49; util.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 93–159; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 410–467.
- ↑ mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 134–203; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 110–112; itemf1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 78–85; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 54–114; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 181.
- ↑ effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 54–114.