Tar mother | |
A Smitemaster's worst nightmare |
|
Monster ID | 8 |
Layer | Monster |
Movement | None |
First appears | Webfoot DROD |
Is required | Yes |
Is brain visible | No |
Mud mother | |
The all-consuming mud mother |
|
Monster ID | 30 |
Layer | Monster |
Movement | None |
First appears | DROD 2.0 |
Is required | Yes |
Is brain visible | No |
Gel mother | |
The monsterous Gel mother |
|
Monster ID | 32 |
Layer | Monster |
Movement | None |
First appears | DROD 3.0 |
Is required | Yes |
Is brain visible | No |
The Tarstuff mother is the collective name for the Tar mother (blue), the Mud mother (red) and the Gel mother (green), which are the mother variants of the gooey substances Tar, Mud and Gel in DROD. They are characterized by the presence of eyes over the ordinary Tarstuff matter.
Gameplay[]
As long as any Tarstuff mother is present, it will cause all corresponding substances in the room to expand in size in all possible directions every 30 turns (or 60 turns, if the player has drunk a Speed potion). The growth may result in the formation of Tarstuff babies if there is not enough tension to hold the newly-grown Tarstuff together.
Tarstuff mothers do not inflict contact death (unlike Tarstuff babies), and can be killed by stabbing through their "eyes" -- if their base Tarstuff is at least 2x2, then they become ordinary, harmless Tarstuff; otherwise they are simply destroyed.
When the player returns to any cleared room formerly inhabited by Tarstuff mothers, the Tarstuff mothers will all revert to their harmless base Tarstuff variants.
Strategy[]
Each growth phase of Tarstuff can often change the situation where a chunk of Tarstuff becomes destructible or indestructible by the player, and thus on many levels, timing and strategic positioning is crucial to open black gates or clear the level.