# Biodiversity patch

Biodiversity patch

Author

Nicholas Webb

Download

link

Bilious PatchDB

91

The biodiversity patch is a very large patch that adds several new monsters and contains other changes by Nicholas Webb. The current version is 1.2a for NetHack 3.4.3. For more information, visit the biodiversity patch's home page.
The biodiversity patch also incorporates three patches from other authors, including the Heck² patch, the photography patch and a coin-flipping patch.
T. J. Brumfield is working on a port of this patch to SLASH'EM; see the slashem-devel archive for October 2007.

Contents

1 Bestiary

1.1 New monsters
1.2 Changes to existing monsters

2 Other changes

2.1 Levels
2.2 Items
2.3 Gameplay

3 Legacy
4 See also

Bestiary
New monsters
The biodiversity patch slightly expands several monster classes that have very few members, or only a single member, in vanilla.

Name
Symbol
Origin
Notes

sphinx
f
Egyptian/Greek mythology
Challenges the player with riddles

waterspout gargoyle
g

Has a spit attack that can wet items

brownie
l
Celtic folklore
Can improve shoes, or tamper with the ones the player is wearing

pooka
l
Celtic folklore
Charms monsters (including your pets)

satyr
n
Greek mythology
Steals items and charms monsters (including your pets)

labyrinth trapper
t

Hides in mazes

gold bug
x
Edgar Allan Poe (loosely)
Steals (and eats) gold pieces and other golden items

will o' wisp
y
Widespread folklore
Appears in swamps; its explosion attack causes confusion

bannik
z
Slavic folklore
Attacks with scalding water

leshy
z
Slavic folklore
Confusing gaze

bandersnatch
J
Lewis Carroll
Digesting attack

jubjub bird
J
Lewis Carroll
Intelligence draining gaze

clockwork automaton
Q

Six melee attacks

quark
Q
Particle physics
Uses one of six random "flavor" attacks

disintegrator
R
This thread
Passive disintegration attack

hunger hulk
U
Pun on umber hulk
Makes its victims hungry

umbral hulk
U
Pun on umber hulk
Blinds victims with its gaze

nosferatu
V
Uncertain origin
Paralyzes its victims with fear

blemmye
X
Medieval folklore
Legendary humanoid with its face on its torso, and no head

otyugh
X
Dungeons &amp; Dragons
Enjoys rotten food

poltergeist

Folklore
Throws projectiles

tortoise

alligator snapping turtle

Changes to existing monsters
The steam vortex's engulfing attack is now coded as scalding rather than fire damage.
Gnomes (and bats) use echolocation instead of infravision.
Quantum mechanics (and clockwork automata) may be named after historical figures.
Rope golems drop leashes when destroyed.
Straw golems drop sheaves of hay when destroyed.  They may also drop a damaged fedora.  (Clothing for a scarecrow?)
Iron golems drop cogwheels and large shields when destroyed, in addition to iron chains.  Clockwork automata drop cogwheels and sprockets.  These belong to the _ item class (renamed 'useless item') and can be used as improvised weapons.
Guides, the Tourist quest guardians, now offer services to players.
New names:

The color and name of the Knight quest nemesis have been changed.  Ixoth is now the white-colored Hwitwyrm, an allusion to Welsh folklore.  The dragon's attacks and attributes remain the same.
The Chromatic Dragon is renamed Tiamat.
All regular dragons except the gray dragon have new names.  (These are not randomized, as in UnNetHack.)
Silver dragon: Amphitere
Red dragon: Firedrake
White dragon: Lindworm
Orange dragon: Lung dragon
Black dragon: Sirrush
Blue dragon: Leviathan
Green dragon: Wyvern
Yellow dragon: Guivre
The large kobold and kobold lord are renamed kobold hewer and kobold chieftain.  The hewer can tunnel if it has a pick.
The water nymph and wood nymph are renamed naiad and dryad.
New appearances:

Tigers are now colored orange (f) instead of yellow (f), to distinguish them from the sphinx.
Other changes
Levels
Many quest home levels are now considered to be "outdoors", with "sky" overhead instead of a "ceiling".  On these levels dart traps will be created instead of falling rock traps.
The Priest quest branch may have a different home level design, depending on which pantheon the player was assigned at the beginning of the game.
Trees which produce specific types of fruit comestibles have been added. There are also oak trees which produce acorns, and elven dogwoods (used to make elven wooden weapons).
Items
A golden wand has been added to the list of randomized appearances for wands, as an item that the gold bug can eat.
Using a wand of light to #engrave produces glowing writing.
Amber may contain fossilized xans or spiders, which can be revived with stone to flesh.
Gameplay
Samurai know the corpses of sea monsters by their corresponding Japanese culinary names.
Orcs can saddle and ride wargs, instead of horses.
Legacy
UnNetHack and some other variants incorporate part of this patch, most notably the disintegrator, a much more dangerous cousin of the rust monster and the disenchanter.  Some of the new names for generic dragons are also used in UnNetHack, but their breath types and resistances are randomized at the beginning of the game.
dNetHack includes clockwork automata, both as a monster and as a playable race.
Versions of most of the monsters appear in SlashTHEM.

See also
Biodiversity patch home page