SLASH'EM

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SLASH'EM (Super Lotsa Added Stuff Hack - Extended Magic, sometimes also written as Slash'EM) is a variant of NetHack, based on version 3.4.3 and published by Tom Proudfoot and Warren Cheung on January 7, 1998. It began life as a distinct variant when Proudfoot merged two variants of NetHack - NetHack-- (by Proudfoot and Yuval Oren) and NetHack Plus (by Stephen White) to create the original SLASH. The addition of the Wizard Patch - which gave the Wizard role several buffs and made it far stronger and more distinct from the other fighter-type classes - is part of the "Extended Magic" that would soon make it SLASH'EM.

SLASH'EM contains five new roles and new races for the player to choose from, and adds several new special levels, along with many new monsters, items, artifacts, and other changes. The main dungeon branch is thus much longer in SLASH'EM than in NetHack, but in exchange Gehennom is shorter. Many of the more popular additions to SLASH'EM, such as the Vampire starting race and the Black Market level, have since been incorporated into actively developed variants such as UnNetHack. Various aspects of SLASH'EM have even made it into the vanilla NetHack game, particularly the Wizard Patch and the Monk class.

SLASH'EM is available for Windows, MS-DOS, Linux, OS/2 (obsolete), Mac classic, Mac OS X (tty only), and Android (via this link); the latest stable version of SLASH'EM is 0.0.7E7F3 and the latest development version is 0.0.8E0F1. Hardfought and em.slashem.me currently offer SLASH'EM for online play; the version hosted on Hardfought includes an enhanced xlogfile and dumplogs. All these links and more can be found on their NetHackWiki article here.

SLASH'EM has a website that can be reached through either of these links, though these sites haven't been updated since around 2006, much like the variant itself.

As of August 20th, 2022, there are actively maintained forks of SLASH'EM, mainly given bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements. There are two different versions - Keith "K2" Simpson's version can be found here, while Elronnd "moon-child"'s version is here. SLASH'EM also has a pair of Fantasy Kitchen Sink variants - the utterly bizarre marathon known as Slash'EM Extended and the more-balanced, still-heavily-packed SlashTHEM.

Has nothing to do with Slasher Movies or Slash Fics.

Tropes used in SLASH'EM include:

• Bare-Fisted Monk: The Monk role originated here and was imported to NetHack.
• Basilitrice: In NetHack, the cockatrice is a class of creatures represented by the C glyph. SLASH'EM adds both the basilisk and another close relative to both in the asphynx - they can petrify the player in a manner similar to cockatrices, and are different classes of monster from them, making "solving" the stoning problem via scrolls of genocide more difficult.
• Bottomless Bladder: SLASH'EM subverts this with the addition of toilets, but their use isn't obvious at first. If you're satiated and sit on one, you "take a dump" and lose some nutrition, along with being cured of sickness, stunning and confusion. It can also be used to poison weapons.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In a earlier version of the game you could literally do this. He's ungodly strong and respawns anyways, but you know you want to try.
• Difficulty Spike: Most people regard SLASH'EM as much more difficult than vanilla NetHack; while it contains significantly more content, it is widely considered to be less balanced.
• Divine Assistance: Gods provide more boons in response to sacrifice and prayer, up to and including powerful aligned minions.
• Doppelgänger: They're one of the five new playable races, and specialize in turning Voluntary Shapeshifting into an art form.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Moreso than the original NetHack. There's wizards, medieval knights, barbarians, tourists... and soldiers with guns!?
• Frankenstein's Monster: In addition to the flesh golems of NetHack, the monster and his creator can be found within a special level in Gehennom.
• Guardian Angel: These appear way more often, and can even be sent in response to praying a low health!
• Invisibility: Applies to items as well as monsters.
• Ki Attacks: Monks get them.
• Laser Blade: Yes, you can obtain and even wish for a lightsaber. Remember to turn it on first.
• Lethal Joke Item:
  • Houchou is an artifact spoon imported from Final Fantasy IV that instantly kills whatever you throw it at, but breaks afterwards.
• Multiple Head Case: SLASH'EM adds two-headed trolls.
• Olympus Mons: Probably Solars and Planetars - and if you're a high-level lawful character, you can practically have tame ones handed to you.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: Tons of new werebeasts are added, and changes to shapeshifting can make them downright assholes to face.
• Rare Candy: Played with - wraith corpses can still boost stats and experience, but are much less reliable in doing so.
• Schizo-Tech: Soldiers now carry various guns, most of which use the same ammunition and exist alongside swords, spells and wands. However, no other enemies carry guns, and you're eventually going to run out of bullets, so be prepared to loot their corpses often if you're maining a gun as a weapon.
• Shoplift and Die: Still very true - except now the shopkeepers have goddamn shotguns!
• Skeleton Key: SLASH'EM adds three very important skeleton keys that are needed to access Vlad the Impaler.
• Stealth Mook: Gnolls are adept at hiding to the point that warning cannot detect them - telepathy is the only way to spot a gnoll before it ambushes you, and stronger types of gnoll can generate with some powerful armor and equipment.
• Super Strength: Gauntlets of power still do this, though it is applied much differently - they set your Strength to a somewhat lower stat than NetHack, but this can be further augmented by raising their enchantment.
• Ten-Second Flashlight: Candles in SLASH'EM don't last nearly as long as in vanilla - thankfully, there's also a new type of magic candle that never burns out. Just don't put it in the Candelabrum of Invocation.
• Vancian Magic: The Wizard Patch notably averted this, switching to a magic-point system that was designed to make the wizard far more viable.