Lich brain smashing for 216 damage?

[Pondlife]

I'm playing 4.0.2 vanilla on Windows. Just getting my first real character going after a few false starts, and I've got a CL 32 Gnome Mage at 1800 feet.

I've just detected my first L around a corner, which is a normal Lich. The description says "It may cast spells intelligently which cause brain smashing (216)". I assume that means 216 HP damage, which would kill me as I've only got 185 HP max at the moment. I don't think there's any resistance against brain smashing except maybe a saving throw, so I don't think I can risk it.

I've not played Angband for about ten years, but I don't recall a normal Lich being quite that vicious. I seem to remember taking them on at this sort of level at a distance without too many problems.

Is a Lich supposed to be able to do 216 HP of unresistible damage?

[Anomander]

In the monster_spell.txt file 12d15 is listed as the damage from brain smashing, which would be 180 at most. For this damage you will get a saving throw, but it can't get reduced by resistances.
There are additional 3+1d4 confusion, slow and paralyze dmg and 7+1d8 blind dmg. I don't know whether the respective protections/free action can prevent that dmg. So at most a lich can actually do 216 dmg, but that's incredibly unlikely.

[Timo Pietilä]

In the monster_spell.txt file 12d15 is listed as the damage from brain smashing, which would be 180 at most. For this damage you will get a saving throw, but it can't get reduced by resistances.
There are additional 3+1d4 confusion, slow and paralyze dmg and 7+1d8 blind dmg. I don't know whether the respective protections/free action can prevent that dmg. So at most a lich can actually do 216 dmg, but that's incredibly unlikely.

This feels wrong. I can't say for certain if this has been the case but I have always thought that brain smash damage depends of monster depth like most of the high damaging spells.

12d15 is 96 average with pretty high probability to get about that though, so maybe max damage is just so rare (and I have played high-savingthrow chars) that I just haven't realized how high that max damage is.

[Estie]

Normal liches are high priority targets early for many reasons, so they often dont survive the round. Which is, I guess, why you rarely get to see them doing high damage.

[Timo Pietilä]

Normal liches are high priority targets early for many reasons, so they often dont survive the round. Which is, I guess, why you rarely get to see them doing high damage.

Suck charges, reduce DEX. I agree that they get blasted to bits pretty fast. Or avoided if not able to kill them fast just because they are so annoying.

[Werbaer]

This feels wrong. I can't say for certain if this has been the case but I have always thought that brain smash damage depends of monster depth like most of the high damaging spells.

All cause wound type spells were (are) independent of the monster casting them (according to my 3.0.5 spoiler files created by source diving)

12d15 is 96 average with pretty high probability to get about that though, so maybe max damage is just so rare (and I have played high-savingthrow chars) that I just haven't realized how high that max damage is.

Odds are 0.1% to get more than 140 damage.