Rogue (game)
Rogue is the predecessor to NetHack and all other roguelike games; it is the reference in the name. Although much simpler than the other roguelikes, it is regarded as a classic, and is just as difficult to beat.
As a tribute to Rogue, NetHack contains a Rogue level that is an adaptation of the original Rogue.
Contents
Comparison to NetHack
The basic plot is almost exactly like NetHack, right down to the name "Amulet of Yendor", and the interface is similarly ASCII-based, but several of the innovations of NetHack are not present in Rogue. For instance, while NetHack has six attributes, Rogue has only one: strength. (Dexterity is present, but not as an attribute.)
Rogue has fewer monsters (only twenty-six), but several are similar to those of NetHack. For example, the Rogue aquator is basically a rust monster, and an ice monster paralyzes as a floating eye does, and causes just as many YASDs - if not more, since an aggravated ice monster will actively attack you. (In very early versions of Rogue, the aquator was actually called a "rust monster", and the ice monster was a "floating eye", but the monster names and sometimes their stats were changed around when a commercial version of Rogue was developed for MS-DOS, in order to avoid copyright issues with Dungeons and Dragons content.) Additionally, monsters do not drop corpses or leave behind food rations, making hunger an even more pressing problem than in NetHack.
Compared to other roguelike games that trace their lineage from Rogue, NetHack is much more similar to Rogue. The similarities include:
- Screen size. Both NetHack and Rogue have similar screen sizes that do not scroll.
- Identifying system. Both NetHack and Rogue have similar systems that use scarce Identify Scrolls, and in many cases encourage the identification of items through use.
- Similar types of items. Both NetHack and Rogue have scrolls, wands, potions, rings, armor, weapons, ranged weapons and matching ammo. Almost all of the scrolls and potions found in rogue are also found in NetHack in some form or another.
- Similar monsters.
- Both NetHack and Rogue use hyphens and pipes for walls, while many roguelikes use hash marks.
History
Rogue was first released in 1980 (five years before the release of Hack) by developers Michel Toy, Glenn Wichman and Ken Arnold (creator of the curses library). It was inspired partly by text adventure games like Colossal Cave Adventure, and partly by tabletop role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Rogue 3.6 was released in April 1981, and was added to the BSD2 software collection for 4.1BSD, bringing it to a wide audience. It became very popular in college campuses (at the time, the only places where computers were available). It was notorious for causing terminals to be occupied and taking up CPU cycles that could be used for productive work.
Version 5.2 (which is commonly called v4, released in 1982, was the final version in the "3.x" series of the game.
In 1983, Rogue 5.3 was released, which is considered the first "v5" release. Version 5.4.(4?) is the last version released. In 5.3, monster names were changed to avoid copyright issues, because of the commercial release of Rogue for MS-DOS on the IBM PC around 1983-1984. The company Epyx ported Rogue to Atari ST, TRS-80, Macintosh, and Amiga, and Rogue was ultimately ported to a number of other platforms. Rogue was never very popular on home computers, but did manage to develop a niche following among those who discovered it...
Connection to NetHack
Rogue was written to run on VAX mainframes running BSD Unix. The source code to Rogue wasn't originally released, meaning it couldn't be ported to other mainframe and workstation platforms. This led to the development of various "roguelikes" which attempted to replicate the Rogue experience. These included Moria (predecessor of Angband), as well as a number or games that were developed from a leaked version of the Rogue source code (apparently at Bell Labs). These games included Super-Rogue, Advanced Rogue/XRogue, and UltraRogue.
One clone was Hack, written by Jay Fenlason, which became popular after being distributed over Usenet with substantial modifications by Andries Brouwer. Brouwer's version had only minor differences from Rogue (such as the presence of pets), but was both open source and free.
The last version of Hack to be released, not counting ports and variants, was Brouwer's Hack 1.0.3. NetHack was begun as a continuation of the development of Hack.
Monsters
Monsters in Rogue are represented by capital letters. Each race of monsters is assigned a single letter from the beginning of their name, and therefore there are 26 different monsters.
- Level is the level of the monster.
- AC is the monster's armor class. A monster with lower AC is harder to hit.
- Treasure is the percentage chance that a monster will be carrying treasure.
There are five special properties that a monster can have.
- M for "mean". Mean monsters may attack without provocation.
- F for "flying". Flying monsters are more difficult to hit.
- R for "regeneration". These monsters can regenerate health.
- G for "greedy". Greedy monsters attempt to pick up gold when you enter a room.
- I for "invisible".
| Name | Treasure | Flags | Exp | HP | AC | Damage | Range | Notes | Original Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquator | 0 | M | 20 | 5d8 | 2 | 0d0/0d0 | 9-16 | Rusts armor | Rust Monster |
| Bat | 0 | F | 1 | 1d8 | 3 | 1d2 | 1-7 | Flies randomly | |
| Centaur | 15 | 17 | 4d8 | 4 | 1d2/1d5/1d5 | 8-15 | |||
| Dragon | 100 | M | 5000 | 10d8 | -1 | 1d8/1d8/3d10 | 23+ | Ranged 6d6 flame attack*** | Dragons are Greedy in 3.6.3 |
| Emu | 0 | M | 2 | 1d8 | 7 | 1d2 | 1-6 | Jackal | |
| Venus Flytrap | 0 | M | 80 | 8d8 | 3 | special* | 15-22 | Traps player* | Violet Fungus |
| Griffin | 20 | MFR | 2000 | 13d8 | 2 | 4d3/3d5 | 18-26 | Higher level monster replacing Gnome | |
| Hobgoblin | 0 | M | 3 | 1d8 | 5 | 1d8 | 1-8 | ||
| Ice monster | 0 | 5 | 1d8 | 9 | 0d0 | 2-9 | Freezes player** | Floating Eye | |
| Jabberwock | 70 | 3000 | 15d8 | 6 | 2d12/2d4 | 22+ | Purple Worm | ||
| Kestrel | 0 | MF | 1 | 1d8 | 7 | 1d4 | 1-5 | Kobold | |
| Leprechaun | 0 | 10 | 3d8 | 8 | 1d1 | 7-14 | Steals gold*** | ||
| Medusa | 40 | M | 200 | 8d8 | 2 | 3d4/3d4/2d5 | 19+ | Confuses Hero*** | Umber Hulk |
| Nymph | 100 | 37 | 3d8 | 9 | 0d0 | 11-18 | Steals unequipped magic item | ||
| Orc | 15 | G | 5 | 1d8 | 6 | 1d8 | 4-11 | Greedy - runs toward gold | Not Greedy in 3.6.3 |
| Phantom | 0 | I | 120 | 8d8 | 3 | 4d4 | 16-23 | Invisible | Invisible Stalker |
| Quagga | 0 | M | 15 | 3d8 | 3 | 1d5/1d5 | 10-17 | Quasit | |
| Rattlesnake | 0 | M | 9 | 2d8 | 3 | 1d6 | 5-12 | Reduces Strength** | Giant Ant |
| Snake | 0 | M | 2 | 1d8 | 5 | 1d3 | 1-10 | Replaced with dividable Slime in DOS version | |
| Troll | 50 | RM | 120 | 6d8 | 4 | 1d8/1d8/2d6 | 13-20 | ||
| Black Unicorn | 0 | M | 190 | 7d8 | -2 | 1d9/1d9/2d9 | 17-24 | Xorn, roughly. Called Ur-vile in DOS version | |
| Vampire | 20 | RM | 350 | 8d8 | 1 | 1d10 | 21+ | Drains 1-3 Max HP (30% chance) | |
| Wraith | 0 | 55 | 5d8 | 4 | 1d6 | 14-21 | Drains level**** (15% chance) | ||
| Xeroc | 30 | 100 | 7d8 | 7 | 4d4 | 20+ | Imitates an object | Mimic | |
| Yeti | 30 | 50 | 4d8 | 6 | 1d6/1d6 | 12-19 | |||
| Zombie | 0 | M | 6 | 2d8 | 8 | 1d8 | 4-13 |
*The Venus flytrap, regardless of hit-or-miss messages, does no damage at first, and then deals one point more each time than last turn.
**Poison and Paralysis/Freezing attacks have a 1d20 saving throw. The value needed to save is 14 - ( [current player level] / 2 ). [current player level] / 2 rounds down. This throw also applies to dart traps. Saving throws for VS_BREATH and VS_DEATH are found in the source, but are not used. Rogue 3.6.3 also has an unused saving throw for VS_PETRIFICATION.
***Magical saving throw applies, using 1d20. The value needed to save is 17 - [protection level] - ( [current player level] / 2 ). Interestingly, a magical saving throw based on the player's stats is used to determine not only if a leprechaun's stealing attack succeeds, but also determines if a leprechaun drops 5x gold when killed. The player gets a magical saving throw when struck by a bouncing wand bolt, or by dragon breath. Monsters get a magical saving throw when struck by a wand bolt or magic missile. (but monsters can't have protection)
**** Level draining removes 1d10 of the player's max HP. Being level drained with 0 exp results in death. If the player is at experience level 1 with >0 exp, exp is reduced to 0.
Experience Levels
Gaining an experience level gives 1-10 additional HP. In addition, you will regain HP faster than before.
The experience levels for version 5.4.4 are:
| Level | XP |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 20 |
| 4 | 40 |
| 5 | 80 |
| 6 | 160 |
| 7 | 320 |
| 8 | 640 |
| 9 | 1300 |
| 10 | 2600 |
| 11 | 5200 |
| 12 | 13,000 |
| 13 | 26,000 |
| 14 | 50,000 |
| 15 | 100,000 |
| 16 | 200,000 |
| 17 | 400,000 |
| 18 | 800,000 |
| 19 | 2,000,000 |
| 20 | 4,000,000 |
| 21 | 8,000,000 |
Weapons
While there is currently only a short bow in Rogue, previous versions have included slings and crossbows. Shurikens may have been added to replace the ranged weapons that were phased out.
Since bows (and other types of "throwers" from earlier versions) only add their damage and to-hit bonuses to the projectile's base stats, it is usually not worth it to wield a bow and then swap back to a main weapon in a tense situation.
| Weapon | %chance | Wielded Damage | Thrown Damage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mace | 11 | 2d4 | 1d3 | Player starts with a +1, +1 mace |
| Long sword | 11 | 3d4 | 1d2 | |
| Short bow | 12 | 1d1 | 1d1 | Player starts with a +1, +0 short bow |
| Arrow | 12 | 1d1 | 2d3 | Takes bonuses from equipped short bow. |
| Dagger | 8 | 1d6 | 1d4 | |
| Two handed sword | 10 | 4d4 | 1d2 | |
| Dart | 12 | 1d1 | 1d3 | |
| Shuriken | 12 | 1d2 | 2d4 | Not found in DOS version or 3.6.3. |
| Spear | 12 | 2d3 | 1d6 | |
| Crossbow | 1d1 | 1d1 | Not in version 5.4.2 | |
| Crossbow Bolt | 1d2 | 1d10 | Not in version 5.4.2. Takes bonuses from equipped crossbow. | |
| Sling | 0d0 | 0d0 | In 3.6.3, not in DOS or 5.4.2 | |
| Rock | 1d2 | 1d4 | In 3.6.3, not in DOS or 5.4.2 Takes bonuses from equipped sling. |
Armor
| Armor | %chance | AC |
|---|---|---|
| Leather | 20 | 2 |
| Ring mail | 15 | 3 |
| Studded leather | 15 | 3 |
| Scale mail | 13 | 4 |
| Chain mail | 12 | 5 |
| Splint mail | 10 | 6 |
| Banded mail | 10 | 6 |
| Plate mail | 5 | 7 |
A higher AC gives a better chance of avoiding damage.
Scrolls
| Scroll | %chance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Monster confusion | 7 | Your hands begin to glow red. Next melee attack confuses a monster. |
| Magic mapping | 4 | Reveals the entire map; objects are still hidden |
| Hold monster | 2 | Freezes adjacent monsters. |
| Sleep | 3 | Sleeps reader for 4-8 turns. |
| Enchant armor | 7 | Your armor glows silver for a moment. Improved protection by 1. |
| Identify potion | 10 | Identifies a potion. |
| Identify scroll | 10 | Identifies a scroll. |
| Identify weapon | 6 | Identifies a weapon. |
| Identify armor | 7 | Identifies a suit of armor. |
| Identify ring, wand or staff | 10 | Identifies a ring, wand, or staff. |
| Scare monster | 3 | When read, you hear maniacal laughter in the distance. To properly use the scroll, drop it; monsters will not walk on it. |
| Food detection | 2 | Your nose tingles. Detects food on the current level. |
| Teleportation | 5 | Teleports to a random location on the map. |
| Enchant weapon | 8 | Your (weapon) glows blue for a moment. Increases hit or damage bonus by 1. |
| Create Monster | 4 | Summons a monster on an adjacent tile. If it fails, you hear a faint cry of anguish in the distance. |
| Remove curse | 7 | You feel as if somebody is watching over you. Removes curses from equipped items. |
| Aggravate monsters | 3 | You hear a high-pitched humming noise.. Alerts all monsters on the map. |
| Protect armor | 2 | Your armor is covered by a shimmering gold shield. Prevents rust damage from aquators. |
Some scrolls require certain conditions to be met. If they aren't, you see the message "you feel a strange sense of loss".
In Rogue 3.6.3 and in the DOS version, there is only one universal identify scroll.
Rogue 3.6.3 and the DOS version both have a scroll of blank paper. (This is essentially a "scroll of nothing", called S_NOP in the source.) The Scroll of Protect Armor is not present in these versions.
Rogue 3.6.3 has a Scroll of Light, which lights a room, and a Scroll of Genocide, which prompts the player to select a monster letter to remove from the game. There is a Scroll of Gold Detection, instead of Food Detection.
The DOS version has a Scroll of Vorpalize Weapon. This makes the currently wielded weapon do +4, +4 against a randomly selected monster. Vorpalized weapons can also be zapped, and will always kill the target enemy in one hit, but will only alert other enemies. Attempting to vorpalize a weapon twice destroys it. To select the enemy the weapon is vorpal against, the game starts from the most difficult monsters and works down, with a 10% chance of selecting each monster. If no monster is selected, "M" (Medusa) is defaulted to.
Potions
| Potion | %chance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Confusion | 7 | Confuses the player for 19-21 turns |
| Hallucination | 8 | Causes hallucinations for 850 turns - can't recognize monsters or items |
| Poison | 8 | Reduces strength by 1-3 points. Cures hallucination. |
| Gain strength | 13 | Increases strength by 1. |
| See invisible | 3 | This potion tastes like slime mold juice. Reveals Phantoms. Cures blindness. |
| Healing | 13 | Heals 1df per character level. Increase max HP by 1 if you are at full health. Cures blindness, but not hallucination. |
| Monster detection | 6 | Reveals monsters on the map. |
| Magic detection | 6 | Reveals magic items on the map. |
| Raise level | 2 | Increases experience level by 1. |
| Extra healing | 5 | Heals 1d8 per character level. Increase max HP by 1, or by 2 if you are at full health. Cures blindness and hallucination. |
| Haste self | 5 | Hastens player for 4-8 turns. |
| Restore strength | 13 | Hey, this tastes great. It makes you feel warm all over. Restores strength to maximum. |
| Blindness | 5 | Blinds player for 807-892 turns |
| Levitation | 6 | Levitates for 29-32 turns |
Version 3.6.3 and the DOS version have a Potion of Paralysis, and a "Potion of Thirst Quenching" (P_NOP; a potion of nothing). There are no potions of hallucination or levitation.
Rings
| Ring | %chance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| protection | 9 | Adds to defense and magical saving throws |
| Add strength | 9 | Adds to strength |
| Sustain strength | 5 | Prevents poison from reducing strength |
| Searching | 10 | Helps detect secret doors and traps. |
| See invisible | 10 | Reveals Phantoms. |
| Adornment | 1 | Worth 10 gold. |
| Aggravate monster | 10 | Cursed. Causes monsters to attack more aggressively. |
| Dexterity | 8 | Improves weapon accurracy. |
| Increase damage | 8 | Increases weapon damage. |
| Regeneration | 4 | Heals 1 hp per turn |
| Slow digestion | 9 | Reduces food consumption by about 50%. Two rings can cancel out food consumption. |
| Teleportation | 5 | Cursed. Randomly teleports the player around the map. |
| Stealth | 7 | Allows player to move without rousing sleeping monsters. |
| Maintain armor | 5 | Prevents rust damage |
The rings that provide bonuses may either give +1 or +2, but can also be cursed and give -1 instead.
Version 3.6.3 does not have a Ring of Maintain Armor, but the DOS version does.
Rods
Rods can either be wands or staffs. While there are differences between them, they are minor.
| Rod | %chance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Light | 12 | Has 10-19 charges. Illuminates the room. |
| Invisibility | 6 | Makes a monster invisible. |
| Lightning | 3 | Inflicts 6d6 damage for up to 6 tiles. Bounces off walls. |
| Fire | 3 | Inflicts 6d6 damage for up to 6 tiles. Bounces off walls. Dragons are immune. |
| Cold | 3 | Inflicts 6d6 damage for up to 6 tiles. Bounces off walls. Yetis are immune. |
| Polymorph | 15 | Changes a monster type. |
| Magic missile | 10 | Inflicts 1d4 damage on a single target. |
| Haste monster | 10 | Hastens a monster. |
| Slow monster | 11 | Slows a monster. |
| Drain life | 9 | Drains half of the hero's hp, then removes the same amount of health evenly from visible monsters. |
| Nothing | 1 | Doesn't do anything. |
| Teleport away | 6 | Teleports a monster randomly on the map. |
| Teleport to | 6 | Causes the monster to teleport next to the player. |
| Cancellation | 5 | Suppresses monster's special abilities. |
Staves normally appear with 3-7 charges.
In version 3.6.3 and the DOS version, there is no Wand of Invisibility. These versions have a Wand/Staff of Striking instead, which normally does 2d8 + 4 damage, or it has a 5% chance of doing 3d8 + 9 damage.
Installation
To install on a Mac or other UNIX systems, or even on Windows with the "Windows Subsystem for Linux", install homebrew per https://brew.sh/ and then run:
$ brew install rogue
Alternately, there are binary downloads in the "External links" section below.
