Rogue (game)

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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.

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 Michael 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. 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 computers 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.

External links