) Sunsword 
| |
|---|---|
| Base item | long sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 x2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d12 x2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | undead |
| Weapon skill | long sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded | |
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Cost | 1500 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | iron |
Sunsword is a rather useful artifact long sword. It is lawful and does +1d5 to hit and double damage to undead monsters; L, M, W, Z, ghosts and shades. It also acts as a light source with a radius of 2 squares, and prevents blinding from lights. It becomes lit when wielded, and unlit when unwielded. If you kill a monster (except by stoning) which is wielding it, then it will stay lit, allowing you to use a different weapon while still having a light source. It has a 50% chance to be generated in the initial inventory of an Archon, and a 5% chance to be given to an Angel or Aleax.
Light Radius[]
The Sunsword has a light radius of two squares around the character (or monster) it's being wielded by. Compare that to the radius of a lamp, which is three.
........... ........... ........... ....xxx.... ...xxxxx... ...xx@xx... ...xxxxx... ....xxx.... ........... ........... ...........
X's represent the squares lit by Sunsword.
SLASH'EM[]
Although this weapon is itself unchanged in SLASH'EM, it becomes a much better option for lawfuls in SLASH'EM. There are two reasons for this. The first is that it is quite easy for most lawfuls to obtain. A high-level lawful who sacrifices at an altar will eventually obtain a minion carrying it, and the chances of obtaining minions do not decrease, as they do for sacrifice gifts. Said minion can be easily and safely disarmed with a bullwhip. Secondly, undead are far more dangerous in SLASH'EM. Spellcasting vampire and ghoul mages, fast and hard-hitting gugs, regenerating troll mummies, and other new undead monsters make Sunsword's comparatively limited range of double damage more useful than in vanilla nethack.