In NetHack, an intrinsic is an ability that your character can acquire by some means. Some players use the term "intrinsic" to mean only abilities that you can gain innately, but as far as the source code goes, any non-hit point, non-status ailment, non-power, non-experience, non-ability score attribute is an intrinsic. This includes wounded legs, swimming, etc. It would seem odd to call these "abilities", but that's how they're treated in the code.

Intrinsics are gained by a variety of means. Several come from eating corpses, others come from doing something stupid (wounded legs comes from kicking walls), and still others are bestowed temporarily by magical items.

The terminology gets a little more confusing when you start talking about gremlins or certain other monsters that can "steal" intrinsics with a succesful hit. In this sense, they only take innate powers -- that is, those that are not dependent upon magical items. Also, the poison resistance you get from building up immunity is considered to be different from that granted by an amulet versus poison by most players, but in the source code there's no difference.

NetHack intrinsics include:

In the land of device electronics, an intrinsic material is one that is free of impurities and dopants. An intrinsic semiconductor, for instance, would be silicon with impurity concentrations NA = ND = 0 cm-3. Your standard energy band diagram usually pays homage to the virgin material, before it was doped, by displaying the intrinsic Fermi level alongside the Fermi level itself. These are generally denoted Ei and Ef, respectively.

In*trin"sic (?), a. [L. intrinsecus inward, on the inside; intra within + secus otherwise, beside; akin to E. second: cf. F. intrinseque. See Inter-, Second, and cf. Extrinsic.]

1.

Inward; internal; hence, true; genuine; real; essential; inherent; not merely apparent or accidental; -- opposed to extrinsic; as, the intrinsic value of gold or silver; the intrinsic merit of an action; the intrinsic worth or goodness of a person.

He was better qualified than they to estimate justly the intrinsic value of Grecian philosophy and refinement. I. Taylor.

2. Anat.

Included wholly within an organ or limb, as certain groups of muscles; -- opposed to extrinsic.

Intrinsic energy of a body Physics, the work it can do in virtue of its actual condition, without any supply of energy from without. -- Intrinsic equation of a curve Geom., the equation which expresses the relation which the length of a curve, measured from a given point of it, to a movable point, has to the angle which the tangent to the curve at the movable point makes with a fixed line. -- Intrinsic value. See the Note under Value, n.Syn. -- Inherent; innate; natural; real; genuine.

 

© Webster 1913.


In*trin"sic, n.

A genuine quality.

[Obs.]

Warburton.

 

© Webster 1913.

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