Role
When starting NetHack, the game asks for the role you want to play with the option of letting the game randomly pick one. You can also set the role in your nethackrc file or specify it on the command line with the -p option.
Each role begins with different starting equipment and different levels of mastery in weapons. Intrinsics that are gained when leveling up (such as a Ranger's intrinsic stealth) and conducts (such as the Monk's vegetarian conducts) also vary with each role. Experienced players often attempt to ascend all thirteen roles. Some roles are considered more difficult to ascend than others. See role difficulty for more details.
Contents
Role table by median starting attributes and intrinsics
The following approximates the median starting attributes, initial intrinsics, and intrinsics gained at specific experience levels, for various roles played as humans.
Str | Int | Wis | Dex | Con | Cha | Initial intrinsics | Gained intrinsics | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archeologist | 12 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 10 | speed, stealth | XL 10: searching |
Barbarian | 18/01 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 6 | poison resistance | XL 7: speed, XL 15: stealth |
Cave(wo)man | 18/01 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 8 | XL 7: speed, XL 15: warning | |
Healer | 9 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 17 | poison resistance | XL 15: warning |
Knight | 15 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 17 | XL 7: speed | |
Monk | 17 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 10 | see invisible sleep resistance speed |
XL 3: poison resistance XL 5: stealth XL 7: warning XL 9: searching XL 11: fire resistance XL 13: cold resistance XL 15: shock resistance XL 17: teleport control |
Priest(ess) | 12 | 10 | 18 | 12 | 13 | 10 | XL 15: warning, XL 20: fire resistance | |
Ranger | 14 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 9 | searching | XL 7: stealth, XL 15: see invisible |
Rogue | 15 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 8 | stealth | XL 10: searching |
Samurai | 16 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 7 | speed | XL 15: stealth |
Tourist | 11 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 16 | XL 10: searching, XL 20: poison resistance | |
Valkyrie | 18 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 9 | cold resistance, stealth | XL 7: speed |
Wizard | 10 | 18 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 10 | XL 8: teleport at will if wizard has teleportitis XL 15: warning XL 17: teleport control |
Role table by alignment and race
The following role, race, and alignment combinations are permitted upon character creation.[1]
Human | Elf | Dwarf | Gnome | Orc | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archeologist | Law Neu | Law | Neu | ||
Barbarian | Neu Cha | Cha | |||
Caveman | Law Neu | Law | Neu | ||
Healer | Neu | Neu | |||
Knight | Law | ||||
Monk | Law Neu Cha | ||||
Priest | Law Neu Cha | Cha | |||
Ranger | Neu Cha | Cha | Neu | Cha | |
Rogue | Cha | Cha | |||
Samurai | Law | ||||
Tourist | Neu | ||||
Valkyrie | Law Neu | Law | |||
Wizard | Neu Cha | Cha | Neu | Cha |
Variants
SLASH'EM Role table by alignment and race
The following role, race, and alignment combinations are permitted upon character creation.[2]
Doppelganger | Drow | Dwarf | Elf | Gnome | Hobbit | Human | Lycanthrope | Orc | Vampire | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archeologist | Neu | Law | Law Neu | Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu | ||||
Barbarian | Neu Cha | Cha | Neu | Neu Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | |||
Caveman | Neu | Law | Neu | Law Neu | ||||||
Flame mage | Neu Cha | Cha | Law Neu | Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu Cha | Cha | |||
Healer | Neu | Neu | Neu | Neu | ||||||
Ice mage | Neu Cha | Cha | Law Neu | Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu Cha | Cha | Cha | ||
Knight | Law | |||||||||
Monk | Neu Cha | Law Neu | Law Neu Cha | |||||||
Necromancer | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | |||||
Priest | Neu Cha | Cha | Law Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu Cha | |||||
Rogue | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | |||||
Ranger | Neu Cha | Cha | Neu | Neu | Neu | Neu Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | |
Samurai | Law | |||||||||
Tourist | Neu | Neu | Neu | |||||||
Undead slayer | Neu Cha | Cha | Law Neu | Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu Cha | Cha | Cha | ||
Valkyrie | Neu | Law | Law Neu | |||||||
Wizard | Neu Cha | Cha | Neu | Neu | Neu | Neu Cha | Cha | Cha | ||
Yeoman | Law | Law Neu | Law |
dNethack Role table by alignment and race
The following role, race, and alignment combinations are permitted upon character creation.
Some race/role combinations result is special quests, this is shown as (Q: Quest Code)
Dwarf | Elf | Gnome | Human | Incantifier | Orc | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archeologist | Law | Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu | ||
Anachrononaut | Cha | Neu Cha | Neu Cha | |||
Barbarian | Cha | Cha | Cha | |||
Binder | Void | Void | Void | Void | Void | Void |
Caveman | Law | Neu | Law Neu | Law Neu | ||
Convict | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha |
Healer | Neu | Neu | Neu | |||
Knight | Law (Q: Dna) | Law | Law | |||
Monk | Law | Law | ||||
Noble | Law (Q: Dnb) | Cha (Q: Elf) | Law Neu Cha | Law Neu Cha | ||
Priest | Cha (Q: Elf) | Law Neu Cha | Law Neu Cha | |||
Pirate | Cha | Neu Cha | Neu Cha | |||
Rogue | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | ||
Ranger | Cha (Q: Elf) | Neu (Q: Gnr) | Neu Cha | Neu Cha | Cha | |
Samurai | Law | Law | ||||
Tourist | Neu | Neu | ||||
Troubadour | Cha | Neu | Neu Cha | Neu Cha | Cha | |
Valkyrie | Law | Law Neu | Law Neu | |||
Wizard | Cha (Q: Elf) | Neu | Neu Cha | Neu Cha | Cha |
Clockwork | Chiropteran | Drow (female) | Drow (male) | Half-Dragon | Vampire | Yuki-onna | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archeologist | Law | Law Neu | Neu | ||||
Anachrononaut | Cha | Neu | Neu Cha | ||||
Barbarian | Cha | Cha | |||||
Binder | Void | Void | Void | Void | Void | Void | Void |
Caveman | Law Neu | Law Neu | |||||
Convict | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | Cha | ||
Healer | Neu | ||||||
Knight | Law | Law | |||||
Monk | Law | Law | Law | ||||
Noble | Cha (Q: Ndr) | Neu (Q: Nhd) | Neu Cha | ||||
Priest | Law | Law Neu Cha | Cha (Q: Dro) | Neu (Q: Hdr) | Law Neu Cha | ||
Pirate | Cha | Neu | |||||
Rogue | Cha | Cha (Q: Dro) | Neu (Q: Hdr) | Cha | Cha | ||
Ranger | Neu Cha | Cha (Q: Dro) | Neu (Q: Hdr) | Neu Cha | |||
Samurai | Law | Law | Law | ||||
Tourist | |||||||
Troubadour | Neu | Neu Cha | Neu Cha | ||||
Valkyrie | Law Neu | ||||||
Wizard | Cha (Q: Dro) | Neu (Q: Hdr) | Neu Cha | Neu Cha |
See also
Other games
Some other games, such as Dungeons & Dragons use the word "class", and MapleStory and Final Fantasy, for example, use "job", while NetHack always calls them roles.
References
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.