# Fire trap

^ fire trap 

Generates

Gehennom, mazes, some quests, Plane of Fire

Effect

Deals fire damage, burns inventory

A fire trap is a trap that creates a column of flame underneath you.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Effects

2.1 Golems

3 Removal
4 Strategy
5 History
6 Messages
7 SLASH'EM
8 Encyclopedia entry
9 References

Generation
Fire traps are only randomly generated in Gehennom, maze levels (including to the left and right of the Castle), the Plane of Fire, and some quests, notably the Valkyrie quest. In Gehennom, fire trap generation is increased. 20% of all randomly generated traps in Gehennom are guaranteed to be fire traps.
A magic trap or trapped box or chest has a chance of acting as a fire trap even where a fire trap cannot be generated. A magic trap always acts as a fire trap if activated by a monster.
The Invocation ritual creates some fire traps.

Effects
If you lack fire resistance, you take 2d4 damage, and your maximum HP is reduced by between zero and the damage you took. If you are fire-resistant, you lose 0 or 1 HP, and your maximum HP is unaffected. [1] [2]
The trap will attempt to burn an article of clothing with an equal chance of each of 5 types (helm, torso, shield, gloves, or boots) being selected. If the selected armor is not torso, but is either fireproof, thoroughly burnt, or not worn, a different type of armor will be selected. If blessed, the chance of the selected armor burning is subject to luck consideration. If the final armor selection is not body armor (regardless of whether the armor survived the luck roll), there is a 1⁄3 chance that scrolls, potions, and spellbooks in the main inventory will not be subject to burning. Otherwise all scrolls, potions, and spellbooks will have a 1⁄3 chance of burning. Additionally, the fire trap may dry a wet towel.  [3]
Unlike most traps, fire traps will still activate if you jump over them.
If a fire trap is created on top of ice (which is common in the Valkyrie quest), stepping on it will melt the ice and replace it with a pool of water, potentially resulting in drowning.

Golems
Fire affects certain golems in a slightly different way[4] [5] when it comes to maximum HP loss. These golems take the 2d4 damage, but their maximum HP is affected as follows:  

Paper golems lose between max HP and max HP (i.e. they are destroyed)
Straw golems lose between 0 and either damage taken or 1/2 max HP (whichever is greater)
Wood golems lose between 0 and either damage taken or 1/4 max HP (whichever is greater)
Leather golems lose between 0 and either damage taken or 1/8 max HP (whichever is greater)
The logic for this is that paper burns the fastest and leather the slowest.
Paper golems destroyed by fire traps do not leave behind scrolls.

Removal
Dig a pit into the ground while standing on the trap, then fill the pit. 

Strategy
It is important to obtain fire resistance before entering Gehennom, to avoid frequently taking damage from these traps. Keep scrolls, potions and spellbooks in a container.

History
Fire traps were introduced in NetHack 3.1.0. This was the same release that replaced Gehennom with Hell, hence removing the instadeath caused by entering Hell without fire resistance.
The special effects on golems were introduced in NetHack 3.4.1.[6]

Messages
A tower of flame erupts from the floor!
You triggered a fire trap.
A cascade of steamy bubbles erupts from the pool!
You triggered a fire trap underwater.
A cascade of steamy bubbles erupts from the box!
You triggered a fire trap on a box, underwater
You smell smoke.
A nearby fire trap that you can't see was triggered.
A tower of flame erupts from the floor under 

<monster>!
A monster triggered a fire trap within you sight.
You see a tower of flame erupt from the floor!
An invisible monster triggered a fire trap within your sight.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, it is possible to disarm a fire trap with a non-cursed potion of water, similar to using a potion of oil on a squeaky board. This will also generate 1–4 potions of oil based on Luck. Since oil can then be diluted back to water, the large number of fire traps in Gehennom offer an effective way of multiplying one's water potions.

Encyclopedia entry

'Let him be for a while,' said Cohen.  'I reckon the fish disagreed with him.'
'Don't see why,' said Truckle.  'I pulled him out before it'd hardly chewed him.  And he must've dried out nicely in that corridor.  You know, the one where the flames shot up out of the floor unexpectedly.'
'I reckon our bard wasn't expecting flames to shoot out of the floor unexpectedly,' said Cohen.
Truckle shrugged theatrically.  '_Well_, if you're not going to expect unexpected flames, what's the point of going _anywhere_?'

[ The Last Hero, by Terry Pratchett ] 

References

↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 3125: Effect on player

↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 2383: Effect on monsters

↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 56: Effect on inventory

↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 2403: Effect on golems

↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 3149: Effect on player polymorphed into a golem

↑ https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack/commit/b440613866d55c6c870459ca9b1c5f83274ab4a6#diff-2be946c8163de6b6a37eb30f92f75c431695ceec2040c5bef32855d7457f1a3f

</monster>