# Nightgaunt
A nightgaunt is a monster in SLASH'EM and dNetHack.

Contents

1 SLASH'EM

1.1 Strategy
1.2 Appearance
1.3 References

2 dNetHack

2.1 Strategy

SLASH'EM

B nightgaunt 

Difficulty

19

Attacks

Claw tickle 1d6, Claw tickle 1d6

B nightgaunt 

Difficulty

19

Attacks

Claw tickle 1d6, Claw tickle 1d6

Base level

15

Base experience

unknown

Speed

20

Base AC

−2

Base MR

50

Alignment

−6 (chaotic)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1300

Nutritional value

100

Size

Medium

Resistances

sleep, poison, cold

Resistances conveyed

cold (100%)

A nightgaunt:

 can fly.

 does not breathe.

 has no eyes.

 has a thick hide.

 regenerates HP quickly.
 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 wanders randomly.
 can follow you to other levels.

 is strong.

 can pick up weapons and food.
 can pick up magical items.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

 normally appears in small groups.

 may turn against you when tame.

Reference

SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line2101

Small groups of nightgaunts are commonly seen in later levels of both the Dungeons of Doom and Gehennom.  They possess a unique attack, AD_TCKL,[1] which behaves exactly the same as a paralysis attack except for having a different message, and abusing constitution in addition to dexterity.

Strategy
The paralysis attack is no particular threat, as it is affected by magic cancellation, and one is highly unlikely to encounter these monsters before having MC 3.  They are mostly a threat for being hard to kill; having a base level of 15, even with your best weapon they will take quite a few hits.  Since they are generated in groups and are quite fast, like the bats with whom they share a glyph, they can be quite a nuisance.  The amount of physical damage they do is not particularly high, but from two or three of them over the period of time it will take to destroy them, can wear you down.  Note that they are capable of picking up and using wands and other magic items.
Chatting with a nightgaunt will produce the message "The nightgaunt squeaks." This is likely a holdover from bats.

Appearance
Nightgaunts come from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. They are humanoid, thin, black, and faceless. Their skin is slick and rubbery. They have a pair of inward-facing horns on their heads, clawed hands and a long barbed tail. They can fly using a set of membranous wings. They make no sound.

References

↑ mhitu.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1416

dNetHack

g nightgaunt 

Difficulty

17

Attacks

Claw tickle 1d6

g nightgaunt 

Difficulty

17

Attacks

Claw tickle 1d6

Base level

15

Base experience

650

Speed

13

Base AC

−2

Base MR

50

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

1450

Nutritional value

400

Size

Medium

Resistances

sleep, poison, cold

Resistances conveyed

cold

A nightgaunt:

 can fly.

 does not breathe.

 has no eyes.

 regenerates HP quickly.
 can see invisible creatures.

 is poisonous to eat.

 is omnivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 wanders randomly.
 can follow you to other levels.

 is strong.

 can pick up weapons and food.
 can pick up magical items.

 can be seen through infravision.

 normally appears in small groups.

 may turn against you when tame.

Small groups of nightgaunts are found in later levels of both the Dungeons of Doom and Gehennom. They possess a unique tickling attack, with which they can strip you of your secondary weapon, your cloak, and your armor, as well as immobilizing you. In dNetHack, nightgaunts are a g rather than a B like SLASH'EM.

Strategy
The tickling attack is high dangerous. It is affected by MC, but is only partially mitigated. If the tickling attack is not resisted by your MC, you will be paralyzed for a short period and may drop your wielded weapon(s). If the tickling attack is blocked by your MC, the nightgaunt will instead attempt to remove some of your equipment, or failing that paralyze you. Note that free action will prevent the paralysis but will not affect the removal of any armor.

If you are wearing a cloak, they will attempt to remove it and drop it in your square.
If you aren't wearing a cloak, but have an alternate weapon readied, they will remove it from your inventory and drop it in your square.
If you aren't wearing a cloak and don't have an alternate weapon readied, they will attempt to remove any body armor you are wearing and drop it in your square.
If you aren't wearing any body armor, you will be paralyzed for a short amount of time unless you have free action. This can happen even if you are wielding weapons, and has an additional chance to make you drop your weapons. You have a 2/3 chance of being paralyzed for one turn, and a 1/3 chance of being paralyzed for d10 turns.
Only one piece of equipment can be removed per attack.
They are somewhat hard to kill; having a base level of 15, even with your best weapon they may take quite a few hits. Since they are generated in groups and are quite fast, they can be a serious threat. They are vulnerable to death rays and are a valid genocide target. They can also be warded off by the Elder Sign, Elbereth (elves only), or a Heptagram.