Hellfire (SLASH'EM)

)   Hellfire
Base item	crossbow
Damage vs. small	1d2 +7 (+2d6) +1d7 (+2d6) in Hack'EM
Damage vs. large	1d2 +7 (+2d6) +1d7 (+2d6) in Hack'EM
To-hit bonus	+5 +1d5 in Hack'EM
Bonus versus	(any)
Weapon skill	crossbow
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	chaotic
When carried	(none)
When wielded	fire resistance fired bolts cause fiery explosion on hit
When invoked	(none)
Base price	4000 zm
Weight	50
Material	wood

Hellfire is an artifact weapon that appears in SLASH'EM, SlashTHEM and Hack'EM. It is chaotic for generation purposes, and its base item is a crossbow.

Generation

A randomly generated crossbow on the ground has a base ¹⁄₂₀ chance of being made into Hellfire. Chaotic characters can receive Hellfire as a sacrifice gift.

In SlashTHEM, Hellfire is one of the many artifacts that can be requested at The Forge.

Description

Hellfire has a flat +5 to-hit bonus and +7 damage, and grants fire resistance while wielded; in Hack'EM, this is changed to +1d5 to-hit and +1d7 damage. Crossbow bolts fired from Hellfire explode upon hitting a monster, consuming the bolt and dealing an additional +2d6 to monsters in a 3x3 radius centered on the target.

Strategy

In theory, Hellfire is great for a character who wants to do a lot of ranged fighting, as it turns ordinary crossbow bolts into potent weapons. However, several caveats apply:

• Due to the range of the explosions, avoid firing Hellfire at a target that is either point-blank range or adjacent to non-hostile targets such as pets, aligned priests, and shopkeepers.
• Crossbows are two-handed weapons in SLASH'EM and its variants, making shields of any kind an obstruction - SLASH'EM's increased blasting damage also means that cross-aligned players should avoid Hellfire in particular, as switching from melee to ranged combat and constantly re-wielding the weapon will incur significant blasting damage.
• Moreover, the presence of rapid-fire assault rifles and other firearms make Hellfire less powerful than some mundane alternatives for most roles.
• Finally, the guaranteed mulching forces a character to choose their targets wisely: a character who uses Hellfire on every monster will swiftly run out of ammo.

With all of this in mind, Rogues and Rangers are likely to benefit the most from discovering Hellfire - they can reach expert in crossbow skill, making Hellfire a viable alternative to firearms for them.