# Mouser's Scalpel

)   Mouser's Scalpel   

Base item

rapier

Damage vs. small

1d6 +1 + (special)

Damage vs. large

1d8 +1 + (special)

To-hit bonus

+5

Bonus versus

(any)

Weapon skill

saber

Size

one-handed

Affiliation

neutral

When carried

(none)

When wielded

(none)

When invoked

(none)

Base price

600 zm

Weight

40

Material

metal

The Mouser's Scalpel is an artifact weapon that appears in SlashTHEM. It is neutral for wishing purposes, and its base item is a rapier.

Contents

1 Description
2 Strategy

2.1 Average damage calculation

3 History
4 Origin
5 References

Description
The Mouser's Scalpel grants +5 to-hit and +1 damage, and has a unique mechanic that allows it to deliver extra "attacks" on a hit which will do +1d8 + 1 + 

<enchantment> to all monsters. The extra hits have an initial 1⁄5 chance to deliver one of these extra blows, followed by a 5⁄11 chance of subsequent additional hits, applied repeatedly until this chance is missed.[1]

Strategy
The chance for extra blows to stack means that in theory, the wielder may be lucky enough to continually strike a foe indefinitely until they are killed.

Average damage calculation
The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills, strength, or from using a blessed weapon against undead or demons.
Given unique nature of the added hits, we first need to find the expected number of hits per swing of the weapon. Given that the initial proc has an 80% chance of no hits, a 20% chance of the first hit, and the probability p of subsequent hits after that, we can write the equation as:

Expected number of hits

With this we can then calculate the expected amount of damage from the proc as:

Expected damage from extra hits

Weapon

Small monsters

Large monsters

+0 Mouser's Scalpel

+7 Mouser's Scalpel

+9 Mouser's Scalpel

History
The Mouser's Scalpel first appeared in SLASH 6 as one of the many "Newhon" artifacts;[2] it was then known simply as Scalpel (not to be confused with a Healer's scalpel), and became a deferred item within the data of SLASH'EM, which carried over its code.[3][4] The artifact was renamed and reintroduced in SlashTHEM, which adapted it from BarclayII's SlashEM-Up project.[2]

Origin
The Mouser's Scalpel comes from the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber, where it is the titular Gray Mouser's trademark weapon. His prowess in swordsmanship is reflected in its ability to strike multiple blows.

References

↑ SlashTHEM src/artifact.c, line 1503

↑ 2.0 2.1 SlashTHEM commit ef462f2: Revive the Newhon Artifacts from SLASH 6

↑ artifact.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1244

↑ SLASH'EM readme.s, line 41

</enchantment>