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.

Some roles are more difficult to play than others. See Role difficulty for more details.

Role Table by Alignment and Race

The following role, race, and alignment combinations are permitted upon character creation .

	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	Neu		Law
Wizard	Neu Cha	Cha		Neu	Cha

Role Table by Alignment and Race (SLASH'EM)

The following role, race, and alignment combinations are permitted upon character creation .

	Doppelganger	Drow	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Hobbit	Human	Lycanthrope	Orc	Vampire
Archeologist	Neu		Law	Law Neu	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	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	New Cha	Cha		Neu	Neu	Neu	Neu Cha	Cha	Cha	Neu
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

Other Games

Some other games, such as Oberin and Dungeons and Dragons use the word "class", and MapleStory and Final Fantasy, for example, use "job", while NetHack always calls them roles.