NetHack Patch Database v0.27

323 patches

Any pet

NameAny pet 1.0
Rating80%
AuthorKarl Garrison
ForNetHack 3.4.3
DescriptionChoose any monster as a starting pet
 This patch allows a character to start with nearly any monster as a starting pet in place of the usual choices. This code only takes effect if the "pettype" option is set to something other than the usual choices ("d", "dog", "c", "cat", "f", "feline", "n", or "none").

New possible values for "pettype" include:

"a" or "ask": Ask the player what pet they would like when starting a new game.

"r" or "random": Pick a monster at random for the starting pet.

"s" or "steed": Pick a random monster that may be saddled and ridden as a starting pet.

Any other setting for "pettype" will be interpreted as the name of a specific monster. E.g., setting "pettype" to "rabid rat" would make the starting pet a rabid rat.

Only monsters that are genocidable may be chosen or randomly generated. If a starting pet can be saddled and ridden, then the pet will be saddled when created if the character has at least basic riding skill (currently only the knight class in vanilla).

If the pet comes saddled, the "horsename" setting is used for the pet's name, otherwise "catname" is used.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
DownloadGet it from us (6.8 Kb)
AddedApril 14, 2010 21:17
Submit an update to this patch

7 Comments

4Ozma777September 21, 2017 12:02
Nice idea, I haven't tried this patch yet. I think based upon the roles in monst.c being level 10 it might be cool to limit pets to 10 and below or even level 5 and below.[Quote]
 sartanDecember 27, 2013 04:38
Sadly, segfaults on 3.4.3 when combined with pet highlight patch[Quote]
5DudeFebruary 03, 2012 01:49
Best patch ever :D Try starting with a grid bug...[Quote]
2syntoticJanuary 14, 2012 07:58
Doesnt it need more fiddling to allow for pet growth? Would balance better...[Quote]
5JigglyJuly 08, 2010 20:50
This is the best patch I ever used! Just try to get a pet newt.[Quote]
 KarlMay 17, 2010 03:02
My inspiration was the initpoly patch, which let you pick any polymorph form at startup, so whether it is balanced or not depends on how it is used.

Does anyone have an interest in a version of this patch that limits the power of the chosen pet, perhaps limiting more powerful ones to explore or wizard mode?[Quote]
 Giant NothingMay 05, 2010 03:03
So let me get this straight. This patch allows a Tourist to start with a Master Lich, and a Knight to start with a saddled Black Dragon? A bit unbalancing, no?[Quote]

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