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.

Role table by median starting attributes

The following approximates the median starting attributes for various roles played as humans.

	Str	Int	Wis	Dex	Con	Cha
Archeologist	12	15	15	10	12	10
Barbarian	18/01	7	7	17	18	6
Caveman	18/01	9	9	13	17	8
Healer	9	10	16	9	14	17
Knight	15	8	15	8	11	17
Monk	17	10	14	14	11	10
Priest	12	10	18	12	13	10
Ranger	14	10	10	18	14	9
Rogue	15	14	14	10	14	8
Samurai	16	10	8	16	18	7
Tourist	11	13	9	11	15	16
Valkyrie	18	9	9	13	18	9
Wizard	10	18	10	13	13	10

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	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.

	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
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)

	Clockwork	Drow	Hedrow	Dwarf	Elf	Gnome	Half-Dragon	Human	Incantifier	Orc	Vampire
Archeologist	Law			Law		Neu	Law Neu	Law Neu	Law Neu		Neu
Barbarian							Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha
Binder	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void	Void
Caveman				Law		Neu		Law Neu	Law Neu
Convict		Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha
Healer						Neu		Neu	Neu
Knight	Law			Law (Q: Dna)			Law	Law	Law
Monk	Law						Law	Law	Law
Noble		Cha (Q: Ndr)	Neu (Q: Nhd)	Law (Q: Dnb)	Cha (Q: Elf)			Law Neu Cha	Law Neu Cha		Neu Cha
Priest	Law	Cha (Q: Dro)	Neu (Q: Hdr)		Cha (Q: Elf)		Law Neu Cha	Law Neu Cha	Law Neu Cha
Pirate		Cha	Neu		Cha			Neu Cha	Neu Cha
Rogue		Cha (Q: Dro)	Neu (Q: Hdr)		Cha		Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha	Cha
Ranger		Cha (Q: Dro)	Neu (Q: Hdr)		Cha (Q: Elf)	Neu	Neu Cha	Neu Cha	Neu Cha	Cha
Samurai	Law						Law	Law	Law
Tourist								Neu	Neu
Valkyrie				Law				Law Neu	Law Neu
Wizard		Cha (Q: Dro)	Neu (Q: Dro)		Cha (Q: Elf)	Neu	Neu Cha	Neu Cha	Neu Cha	Cha	Neu Cha

See also

• Role difficulty

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.