# Wooden harp

( 

Name

wooden harp

Appearance

harp

Base price

50 zm

Weight

30

Material

wood

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

A wooden harp is a type of musical instrument that appears in NetHack. It is tonal and made of wood, and appears as just a harp when unidentified. For Samurai, the wooden harp is called a koto.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Description
3 Strategy
4 History
5 Messages
6 Variants

6.1 SLASH'EM
6.2 dNetHack
6.3 SpliceHack
6.4 SlashTHEM

7 References

Generation
Elven Priests and Wizards have a 1⁄6 chance to start the game with a wooden harp.[1]

Description
Applying a wooden harp will let you play it, either through improvising or playing specific notes - this has no effect beyond exercising dexterity.[2] If you are not confused, there is a dexterity-based chance that you will instead play "a lilting melody" that pacifies any nymphs nearby.[3][4]

Strategy
The wooden harp is relatively easy to distinguish from a magic harp by the messages produced when playing it, and can safely be played to do so - playing a magic harp with charges produces "very attractive music" and tames nearby monsters.
As a tonal instrument, a wooden harp can also be used to play the passtune to enter the Castle. Outside of this, they are mainly used as polyfodder.

History
The wooden harp first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.

Messages
The harp twangs.
You applied a wooden harp and improvised with it.
You extract a strange sound from the harp!
You applied a wooden harp and played a specific melody with it.
The harp produces a lilting melody.
As above, but this also pacifies any nearby nymphs.
The 

<nymph> listens cheerfully to the music, then seems quieter.
A nymph in your range of vision was pacified by the wooden harp.
You feel soothing vibrations.
You applied a wooden harp while deaf.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, a wooden harp can be upgraded into a magic harp.

dNetHack
In dNetHack, the Troubadour role starts with knowledge of the wooden harp and a 1⁄2 chance of their starting tonal instrument being a wooden harp.
The wooden harp is the preferred instrument for playing Lullaby, Meditative Healing, Lethargy, and Friendship via the Troubadour's musicalize spell skill.

SpliceHack
In SpliceHack and SpliceHack-Rewrite, a wooden harp can be combined with a scroll of taming at a furnace to create a magic harp.

SlashTHEM
SlashTHEM retains the ability to upgrade wooden harps into magic ones. In addition, the Bard role starts with knowledge of the wooden harp and a 1⁄2 chance of carrying one, as in dNetHack.
The wooden harp is the preferred instrument for playing Lullaby via the musicalize spell skill, and is an alternate instrument for playing Drowsiness. In addition, the Bard quest artifact The Lyre of Orpheus is an artifact wooden harp (rather than a magic harp as in dNetHack).

References

↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 814

↑ src/music.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 630: case WOODEN_HARP

↑ src/music.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 148: calm_nymphs(distance)

↑ src/music.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 631: The sum of your experience level and a randomly rolled number between 0 and your current dexterity stat must exceed 25

</nymph>