[evilhack] Cannibalism and what is a tortle?

Janis Papanagnou

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Mar 24, 2023, 11:43:05 PM3/24/23

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In an EvilHack game I am playing a tortle Archeologist. Now I ate a
giant rat and got

This giant rat corpse tastes okay. You cannibal!
You will regret this! You finish eating the giant rat corpse.

I know turtles but what are "tortles"?

A quick google search gave me:
"Tortles were reptilian-looking humanoids with large shells on their
backs that were capable of containing their entire bodies. They had
leathery skins that varied between olive-green to blue-green hues."

That looks like a fantasy creature that resembles turtles. But in any
case why did I get the cannibal penalty when eating rats?

I #quit'ed - EvilHack is far too unpredictable for my taste... :-(

(Recently I got an arch-lich at the orc-haunted mine-town variant.)

Janis

B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson

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Mar 25, 2023, 1:19:59 AM3/25/23

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On Sat, 25 Mar 2023 04:43:02 +0100, Janis Papanagnou wrote:

> In an EvilHack game I am playing a tortle Archeologist. Now I ate a
> giant rat and got
>
> This giant rat corpse tastes okay. You cannibal!
> You will regret this! You finish eating the giant rat corpse.
>
> I know turtles but what are "tortles"?
>
> A quick google search gave me:
> "Tortles were reptilian-looking humanoids with large shells on their
> backs that were capable of containing their entire bodies. They had
> leathery skins that varied between olive-green to blue-green hues."
>
> That looks like a fantasy creature that resembles turtles. But in any
> case why did I get the cannibal penalty when eating rats?

Maybe, this is a reference on Splinter? (= The mutated rat tutoring the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?)

BeAr
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Janis Papanagnou

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Mar 25, 2023, 7:50:52 AM3/25/23

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On 25.03.2023 06:19, B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson wrote:
>>
>> That looks like a fantasy creature that resembles turtles. But in any
>> case why did I get the cannibal penalty when eating rats?
>
> Maybe, this is a reference on Splinter? (= The mutated rat tutoring the
> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?)

I've heard about the term "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" but have no
idea what that actually is. (Probably not my generation any more.)
"Splinter" is something (a film?) I don't know. The Wikipedia entry
about the film doesn't mention anything about rats. Well..

Janis

Keith Simpson

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Mar 25, 2023, 10:22:42 AM3/25/23

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Janis, you were infected with lycanthropy from a wererat. That's the only way you'd receive the cannibal message from eating a rat corpse. This is vanilla NetHack behavior.

A bit of info on the Tortle race - the inspiration to add it was a from a friend who plays AD&D and was describing the adventures and mishaps of his Tortle Bard. More info on the Tortle can be found here - https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Tortle

Keith Simpson

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Mar 25, 2023, 10:28:06 AM3/25/23

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> A bit of info on the Tortle race - the inspiration to add it was a from a friend who plays AD&D and was describing the adventures and mishaps of his Tortle Bard. More info on the Tortle can be found here - https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Tortle

Tortle info from EvilHack - https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/EvilHack#New_player_races (towards the bottom).

Janis Papanagnou

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Mar 25, 2023, 11:44:13 AM3/25/23

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On 25.03.2023 15:22, Keith Simpson wrote:
> On Saturday, March 25, 2023 at 7:50:52 AM UTC-4, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
>>>>

>>>> [...] why did I get the cannibal penalty when eating rats?
>
> Janis, you were infected with lycanthropy from a wererat. [...]

Yes, that's most likely; I obviously missed the "feverish"-message.

Janis

B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson

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Mar 26, 2023, 2:13:37 AM3/26/23

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On Sat, 25 Mar 2023 12:50:48 +0100, Janis Papanagnou wrote:

> On 25.03.2023 06:19, B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson wrote:
>>>
>>> That looks like a fantasy creature that resembles turtles. But in any
>>> case why did I get the cannibal penalty when eating rats?
>>
>> Maybe, this is a reference on Splinter? (= The mutated rat tutoring the
>> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?)
>
> I've heard about the term "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" but have no
> idea what that actually is. (Probably not my generation any more.)

Neither is it mine. TMNT was especially popular with kids from the late
1980s to the early 2000s.

> "Splinter" is something (a film?) I don't know. The Wikipedia entry
> about the film doesn't mention anything about rats. Well..

The rat Splinter is the adoptive father and tutor of the mutated turtles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splinter_(Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles)

But if you really missed a "feverish"-message, then the explanation of
cannibalism (when eating a rat while playing as a "tortle") is much
easier, of course.