Creating a Character

ZangbandTK is a roleplaying game, in which you, the player, control a character in the world of ZangbandTK. Perhaps the most important thing you control is the birth of your character, in which you choose or allow to be chosen various attributes that will affect the future life of your character.

At the character creation screen you will be prompted to select the race and class of your character. You also have the option to change the ‘birth options’ at this time. These need to be set at the character creation menu and cannot be altered later in the game. They are discussed with the rest of the options in the “options” help file.

Character Characteristics

Each character has two primary attributes: race and class. These are chosen at the beginning and which will stay fixed for the entire life of that character. The race and class have many effects which are discussed in detail below.

Each character has a few secondary attributes: height, weight, and background history. These are randomly determined according to the race of the character, and are only used to provide flavour to the character to assist in role playing. There is an opportunity to edit background history during character birth.

Each character also has five primary “stats”: strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, and constitution; they modify the abilities of the character in a variety of ways. Every stat has a numerical value, ranging from a minimum of 3, up to a normal maximum of 18, and even higher, into the “percentile” range, represented as ‘18/01’ through ‘18/100’: this is the maximum that can be achieved intrinsically, for any given stat. These stats can be modified further by equipment, race and class bonuses up to a maximum of ‘18/220’.

Each character also has several primary “skills”: disarming, magic devices, saving throws, stealth, searching ability, fighting skill, shooting skill, and digging skill, which are derived from the character’s race, class, level, stats, and current equipment. These skills have rather obvious effects, but will be described more completely below.

Each character may have one or more “racially intrinsic skills”, based on the race of the character. These may include special resistances, or abilities such as infravision.

Each character has a number of “experience points”, which increases as the character defeats monsters and attempts new spells and uses new items. Characters also have a level, which is based on experience. The amount of experience required to gain a new level is dependent on the character race and class. Races and classes with more intrinsic benefits require more experience to gain levels. As the experience rises, so does the level, and as the level rises, certain other abilities and characteristics rise as well. All characters start at 0 experience and at the first level.

Each character has some gold, which can be used to buy items from the shops in the town. A character starts with a fixed amount of gold and some items. If you play with the starting kit option on (it is on by default), your character will have a few more useful items but less gold. A character can find more gold by taking it from dead monsters, finding it on the floors of the dungeon or by digging out veins of treasure from the walls of the dungeon. If you play with the no selling option off (it is on by default), you can sell items to the shopkeepers for gold. A shopkeeper will usually only buy certain classes of items, refuse to buy an item the shopkeeper believes is worthless and offer less gold for an item than she or he would sell it for. A shopkeeper also has an upper limit for the amount of gold offered for an item. The more generous shop-keepers will buy an item for up to 30,000 gold pieces, but some of the stingy ones will only pay 5,000.

Each character has an “armour class”, abbreviated to AC, representing how well the character can avoid damage. The armour class is affected by dexterity and equipment, so the concept includes both avoiding blows and being able to take blows without being hurt. Armour class on equipment is always denoted in square brackets, usually as a figure of ‘[X,+Y]’ where X is the intrinsic AC of the armour in question, and Y is the magical bonus to armour class provided by that item.

Each character has “hit points”, or hp, representing how much damage the character can sustain before they die. How many hit points a character has is determined by race, class, level and constitution, as follows: each race has a basic “hit dice” number - for instance, a Dwarf’s basic hit die is 11, while a hobbit’s is 7. This is modified by class: for instance, a warrior gets a +9 bonus to the hit die, while a mage gets no bonus and a priest +2, so a dwarven warrior’s total hit die will be (11+9)=20 - meaning that they get between 1 and 20 hit points per level. A dwarven priest’s total hit die would be (11+2)=13, and that priest would get between 1 and 13 hit points per level. The hobbit mage would get only 1-7 hps per level. (All characters get the maximum at first level: thereafter it is a random roll of 1dX where X is the hit die number, when the character goes up in level; the rolls are constrained so that the total hitpoints at the maximum level does not vary too far from the expected value.) This is further modified by constitution - a character with high constitution will get a flat bonus of a certain number of hit points per level (recalculated right back to level 1: if you gain an extra hit point per level, and you are 42nd level, you will suddenly be 42 hit points better off.)

Each character has spell points, or mana, which limits how many spells (or prayers) a character can cast (or pray). The maximum number of spell points is derived from your class, your level, and the spellcasting stat of the realm or realms you study. The casting stat is a property of the realm, not of the class — Life and Nature cast on wisdom, and the other five realms on intelligence — so the same class can cast on either, depending on what it chose at birth. A Mage that took Life casts on wisdom; a Priest that took Arcane casts on intelligence. Where a character studies two realms the two stats are averaged. The stat for each realm is set in lib/gamedata/realm.txt. You can never have more spell points than the maximum. Spell points may be regained by resting, or by magical means. Warriors never have any spell points. If a character gains enough wisdom or intelligence to get more spell points, the result is calculated right back to first level, just as with constitution and hit points.

Lastly, each character has a base speed. Speed determines the amount of “energy” your character acquires in the game, and therefore how often you can take actions which use up energy (like moving or attacking). All beginning characters move at normal speed and the only way to increase speed is by magical means and equipment bonuses. Characters who are carrying too much weight will move more slowly. Extra speed is one of the most important boons in the game and therefore one of the rarest and most sought after.

Races

There are twenty-eight different races that you can choose to play in ZangbandTK — Angband’s eleven, and seventeen more brought over from Zangband. The list itself lives in lib/gamedata/p_race.txt, which is what the birth menu is built from. Each race has its own adjustments to a character’s stats and abilities. Most races also have intrinsic abilities. The bonuses to statistics and the experience penalty will be displayed next to the races as you move to select one.

Watch the experience cost in particular. Angband gives nearly every race 120 and treats the number as a formality; Zangband used it as the price of being something unusual, and those prices are kept. An Amberite costs 225 and a Half-Titan 255, which is to say they level at less than half a human’s pace.

Human

The human is the base character. All other races are compared to them. Humans are average at everything and gain levels as fast as anything in the game – the Yeek matches them at 100 per cent and nothing beats them. No racial adjustments or intrinsics occur to human characters. Humans do not have any infravision.

Half-Elf

Half-elves tend to be smarter and faster than a human, but not as wise or strong. Half-elves are slightly better at magic, disarming, saving throws, stealth, archery and searching, but they are not as good at hand-to-hand combat. Half-elves are immune to dexterity draining, and have weak infravision.

Elf

Elves are better magicians than humans, but not as good at fighting. They tend to be smarter and faster than humans, though not as wise or strong. Elves are better at searching, disarming, perception, stealth, archery and magic, but they are not as good at hand-to-hand combat. They are resistant to attacks involving bright light, are immune to dexterity draining, and have fair infravision.

Hobbit

Hobbits, or Halflings, are very good at shooting, throwing, and have good saving throws. They also are very good at searching, disarming, perception, and stealth; so they make excellent rogues, but prefer to be called burglars. They will be much weaker than humans, and not good at melee fighting. Halflings have fair infravision. They have a strong hold on their life force, and are thus resistant to life draining. Hobbits are very partial to mushrooms and can identify them when found.

From level 15 a hobbit can cook some food, which puts a ration on the floor at its feet. A hobbit need never starve, and can feed a party.

Gnome

Gnomes are smaller than dwarves but larger than halflings. They, like the halflings, live in the earth in burrow-like homes. Gnomes make excellent mages, and have very good saving throws. They are good at searching, disarming, perception, and stealth. They have lower strength than humans so they are not very good at fighting with hand weapons. Gnomes have good infravision. Gnomes are intrinsically protected against paralysis. Gnomes are excellent at using wands and staves and can identify them when found.

From level 5 a gnome can blink, a short hop that lengthens as the gnome does — eleven squares at the start and sixty by the end.

Dwarf

Dwarves are the headstrong miners and fighters of legend. Since dungeons are the natural home of a dwarf, they are excellent choices for a warrior or priest - or indeed, that combination of the two, the paladin. Dwarves tend to be stronger and tougher but slower and less intelligent than humans. Because they are so headstrong and are somewhat wise, they resist spells which are cast on them. Dwarves also have excellent infravision. They can never be blinded. Dwarves are excellent at digging, and can sense nearby buried treasure. They have one big drawback, though. Dwarves are loudmouthed and proud, singing in loud voices, arguing with themselves for no good reason, screaming out challenges at imagined foes. In other words, dwarves have a miserable stealth.

From level 5 a dwarf can examine its surroundings, finding the traps, doors and stairs nearby — the earliest way any character has of seeing a floor before walking it.

Half-Orc

Half-Orcs make excellent warriors and decent priests, but are terrible at magic. They are as bad as dwarves at stealth, and horrible at searching, disarming, and perception. Half-Orcs are, let’s face it, ugly. Half-Orcs do make good warriors and rogues, for the simple reason that Half-Orcs tend to have great constitution and lots of hit points. Because they prefer to live underground rather than on the surface, half-orcs resist darkness attacks. They have fair infravision.

From level 3 a half-orc can play tough, shrugging off the fear it is feeling — the earliest racial power in the game, and the only one any character has before level 4.

Half-Troll

Half-Trolls are incredibly strong, and have more hit points than any other character race. They are also very stupid and slow. They will make great warriors and iffy priests. They are bad at searching, disarming, perception, and stealth. They are so ugly that a Half-Orc grimaces in their presence. Half-trolls always have their strength sustained, and they regenerate quickly like other trolls. Unfortunately, this regeneration also requires them to eat more food than other races. They have fair infravision.

From level 10 a half-troll can work itself into a frenzy — thirty hit points back if it is not already raging, its fear gone, and berserk for ten turns plus a roll against its level. The same power a Barbarian has, two levels later and two points dearer.

Dunadan

Dunedain are a race of hardy men from the West. This elder race surpasses human abilities in every field, especially constitution. Their hardiness ensures that their constitution cannot be reduced. They have no infravision.

High-Elf

High-Elves are descended from those among the Elves who heard and answered the call from the Valar at the very beginning of time, before the sun and moon were made, and lived in the Blessed Realm for many thousands of years before returning to mortal lands. Because of this, they are far superior in terms of abilities when compared to their lesser Elven kindred. They can also see into the invisible world of ghosts and wraiths. However, they find new experience harder to come by than other races. Like normal Elves, they resist attacks involving bright light. They have good infravision and can even see cold-blooded invisible creatures.

Kobold

Kobolds are a race of small dog-headed humanoids that dwell underground. They have excellent infravision, and are intrinsically resistant to poisons of all kinds. They have a good dexterity and constitution. However, they are weaker than humans, and also not noted for great intelligence. And while their constitution makes them tough, it still cannot prevent the fact that they are not the biggest of creatures, and have few hit points.

From level 12 a kobold can throw a dart of poison, for damage equal to its character level. Its own poison resistance is why it can handle them.

The races below are Zangband’s, and are new to ZangbandTK.

Several of them grow into what they are rather than arriving finished. Where a description gives a level — “resists fire from 5”, “reads minds at 30” — the property is simply absent before it and permanent after. Angband has almost nothing of this; in Zangband it is how half the races are shaped, and it is worth reading as part of the race rather than as a footnote, because it changes which levels are dangerous for you.

Amberite

Of Amber’s own blood, and it shows: an Amberite is better than a human at very nearly everything, heals unnaturally fast, and cannot have its constitution drained. All of which is paid for at the counter — an Amberite costs 225 experience for every level, the third dearest thing you can be.

Beastman

Chaos-touched and born wrong. Strong and hardy, dull and clumsy, and resistant to sound and confusion because it is already used to both. It is also the only race that mutates without being made to: one mutation at birth and a one-in-five chance at every level after. See Mutations.

Yeek

Feeble, cowardly, and aware of it. Weak, fragile and poor in a fight.

It is resistant to acid from birth and immune to it from level 20, which is the one thing a Yeek is unambiguously good at — nothing corrodes it, and no acid attack in the game will touch it once it gets there. Beyond that its only kindness is the price: a Yeek levels at the same rate as a human, the cheapest race in the game alongside Human itself.

Draconian

Winged, and descended from something that mattered. Strong, hardy, quick and clever, and it glides rather than falls from the moment it is born.

Everything else arrives with age, one scale at a time: fire at level 5, cold at 10, acid at 15, lightning at 20, and poison at 35. A first-level Draconian is therefore a well-built creature with no protection at all, and a thirty-fifth-level one resists nearly everything the dungeon throws. It is the slowest-ripening race in the game, and at 250 experience for every level it is also the second dearest.

It breathes from level 15, for twice your character level in damage — fire two times in three and cold the third, which is where every Draconian breath starts. Until 3.118.3 it was fire only, and for three-quarters of the damage.

And then your class takes it over. Each time you breathe, there is a chance equal to your character level in a hundred that the fire or cold is replaced by something belonging to your class instead. At level 20 that is about one breath in five; at 50 it is about one in two. The damage is the same either way — only the element changes.

What you get is a pair, and the pair is uneven: one element comes up twice as often as the other.

Class	Two times in three	One time in three
Warrior, Ranger	shards	the elements
Mage, Warrior-Mage, High-Mage	disenchantment	mana
Priest, Paladin	holy fire	hellfire
Rogue	poison	darkness
Chaos-Warrior	confusion	chaos
Monk	confusion	sound
Mindcrafter	confusion	mental energy

Druid, Necromancer and Blackguard get nothing here, and always breathe fire or cold. Zangband had eleven classes and a branch for every one of them; those three are Angband’s, and the original never had an opinion about what they should breathe.

Two of these are worth knowing before you pick one. Holy fire cannot hurt a good creature at all and is resisted by anything that is neither good nor evil — it is a weapon against evil and nothing else, where hellfire simply doubles against the evil and is resisted by nobody. And confusion is a real damage type here, not just a status: it does its full damage and bewilders on top, which is why three classes get it as their common element.

Mindflayer

All mind and no body: brilliant and wise, physically wretched, and with excellent infravision. Its intelligence and wisdom cannot be drained — those two it protects from birth, because they are the only things it has.

The rest of the mind opens later. It sees what is invisible from level 15, and from 30 it reads the thoughts of everything on the level whether it can see them or not. Zangband granted it no elemental resistance whatsoever, and that is deliberate rather than an oversight: its entire identity is psionic. It blasts minds from level 15, and a Mindflayer Mindcrafter is the pairing the race was drawn for.

Vampire

A bargain rather than a gift, and the one race whose drawbacks you have to play around rather than simply survive. Strong and clever, it holds its life against draining, resists poison, cold and nether, is immune to darkness, and carries a faint light of its own — it can see one square without a torch, which no other race can. It sees 50 feet in the dark, as far as anything does.

What it pays:

• The sun burns it. Anywhere on the surface in daylight — town streets and open wilderness alike, since dawn lights the whole of it — you take a point of damage every turn and cannot heal at all while it lasts. At night, underground, or on a grid the light does not reach, you are fine.

  You are given the answer to this in your pack. A Vampire starts with two to five Scrolls of Darkness in place of the torches everyone else carries, and reading one puts out the ground around you — daylight included, which is a thing only a character the light hurts can do. The darkness is shelter: stand in it and the burning stops. Being immune to darkness, you are the one character who loses nothing by making some.

  So a Vampire travels by night, goes to ground by day, and spends a scroll when it is caught between the two.

• Food barely works, and blood does. A ration feeds a Vampire a tenth of what it feeds anyone else. You are not meant to live on it; you are meant to drink blood, which is the racial power it gets at level 5. It strikes a monster for your character level in nether damage, heals you for half that level, and — this is the part that makes the diet a trade rather than a punishment — it feeds you.

  How much is worth knowing, because it decides how you play the race. A bite is worth three fifths of your character level, where a ration is worth thirty to anyone else and three to you. So at level 20 a bite feeds you as much as four rations would, and at 50 as much as ten — a full ration’s worth, which is the most a bite can ever give. A Vampire that fights is a Vampire that eats, and one that avoids fights goes hungry no matter what it is carrying.

  Until 3.124.22 the bite did not feed at all, which left the race with the penalty and none of the remedy.

• Light hurts it in the ordinary way as well: light-based attacks land harder on a Vampire than on anything else.

Because of the sun, a Vampire begins the game just after midnight rather than at dawn — roughly two and a half thousand moves of darkness to reach a shop and a staircase before the problem starts. And because food is nearly useless to it, it carries scrolls of Remove Hunger rather than rations: those work normally, being nothing to do with eating.

Golem

Not alive, and built rather than born. Enormously strong and tough, extremely stupid, immune to poison, never held or paralysed, never stunned and unable to bleed, sees the invisible — and is hurt by cold. The stun immunity is worth more than it sounds: a stunned character fights and casts worse and can be knocked out entirely, and nothing in the dungeon can do that to a Golem.

Its real advantage is that it is armour. A Golem has twenty points of armour class wearing nothing at all, and gains another point every fifth level, so a Golem at 50 is thirty points ahead of any other race before it puts on a single item. Nothing else in the game does this, and it is most of the reason to be one.

Food is nearly useless to it — a twentieth of the good it does anyone else — but it digests so slowly that it rarely needs any, and it starts with scrolls of Remove Hunger instead of rations for when it does. From level 35 it holds its life against draining. A blunt instrument that costs 200 to swing.

Its power, turn to stone, is fifty points of armour class for thirty to fifty turns and costs nothing else — no loss of speed, which is what distinguishes it from the Stone Skin spell the Nature realm has.

Sprite

Tiny, quick-witted and airborne. Feeble in a fight, excellent at everything requiring fingers or attention, resistant to light, and it falls slowly.

Its sleeping dust has two forms, and the second is the one worth waiting for. From level 12 it puts to sleep whatever is standing next to you — the eight adjacent squares and nothing further, so it is what you reach for when something already has hold of you. From level 25 the same handful of dust reaches every monster you can see, which makes it an opening move rather than an escape: you can settle a room from its doorway before you walk into it. The power is twice your character level either way, and it is also how long the sleep lasts — so the dust is broad rather than long, and anything you then hit wakes up at once.

Until 3.124.20 it was the line-of-sight form from level 12, which gave a Sprite the whole room thirteen levels early.

And it is the only race that gets faster as it grows: a point of speed at level 10 and another every tenth level after, so a Sprite at 50 moves five points quicker than anything else in the game before it wears a single item. Nothing else does this, and at 175 experience a level it is most of what you are paying for.

Half-Titan

The most expensive thing you can be born as, at 255. Vastly strong, tough, clumsy, and resistant to chaos — which, given what it is descended from, is less a resistance than a family trait.

Barbarian

Strong, hardy, and afraid of nothing — it resists fear outright, from birth, which no other race does. Poor with devices, indifferent at stealth, and cheap at 120. From level 8 it can work itself into a frenzy: thirty hit points back, fear cleared, and a berserk rage for ten turns and more.

Klackon

An insect that works. Strong, hardy, diligent, resistant to acid and immune to confusion, and it gets faster as it grows — a point of speed at level 10 and another every tenth after, the same as a Sprite. Excellent at disarming. It spits acid from level 9, a bolt that becomes a ball at 25.

Nibelung

A dwarf of the deep mines, and the only race in the game that resists disenchantment from birth — which matters more than it sounds, because nothing else protects your equipment that early. Wise, patient, resistant to darkness, and it sees fifty feet in the dark. From level 10 it examines its surroundings: traps, doors and stairs at once.

Imp

A minor demon, and the cheapest thing worth being at 110. Feeble in mind and body alike, though quick and hardy enough, resistant to fire from birth, and it sees the invisible from level 10. It throws fire from level 9 — a bolt, becoming a ball at 30.

Skeleton

Bones, animated. It sees the invisible, holds its life against draining, is immune to poison and resists shards — and acid eats it. Cold from level 10.

It cannot eat, and it digests at the ordinary rate, which is the worst combination of the four undead: it gets hungry like anyone else and food is no use to it. So it starts with two to five scrolls of Remove Hunger instead of rations, and will be buying more. From level 30 it can recover lost experience, which no other race can do for itself.

And it does not bleed. Nothing that cuts anyone else — a shard breath, an ice storm, a blade, the strain of forcing a spell you cannot afford — leaves a wound on it. A Golem and a Spectre are the same; a Zombie becomes so at level 12, being still fresh enough to leak before that.

Zombie

Enormously strong and tough and very nearly mindless — a six-point penalty to both intelligence and wisdom, the heaviest in the game — with thirteen hit dice, the second most. Sees the invisible, holds its life, immune to poison, resists nether, and fire is its undoing. Cold from level 5, the earliest of the four.

It cannot eat but digests slowly, so the hunger scrolls it starts with go further than a Skeleton’s. From level 30 it too can recover lost experience, and from level 12 it stops bleeding — it is still fresh enough to leak before that, which is the one way the four undead differ on this.

Spectre

Barely there. Feeble and frail — seven hit dice and five points of strength gone — and in exchange the best stealth of any race in the game, a saving throw matched only by a High-Elf and a way with devices matched only by a Mindflayer, telepathy from level 35, and 180 experience a level to pay for it. Immune to poison, resists cold and nether, holds its life, sees the invisible, and lightning tears it apart.

It howls from level 4 — the earliest attacking power any race has — and terrifies what it is aimed at. Like a Golem and a Skeleton, it does not bleed: nothing cuts it.

And it walks through walls. Granite, veins, secret doors and mountain ranges all give way; only permanent wall and the edge of the world hold it. Stepping into rock takes no longer than stepping anywhere else.

It costs blood, though, and you should know how much before you choose one. Every turn you spend inside rock takes a hit point, and more the deeper you are — one on the surface and at the top of the dungeon, six at two thousand five hundred feet — and you cannot heal at all while you are in there. Cutting a corner is nothing. Crossing a vault wall is nothing. Tunnelling any distance will empty you.

What it will not do is kill you. The damage stops when you have nothing left to give rather than carrying on through, so a Spectre can always come back out of the rock it walked into. It will come out with nothing, though, into whatever is waiting — and that is usually what kills a Spectre, rather than the rock.

Mountains are walls here, and they charge like walls. A range is many blocks across and a young Spectre has sixteen hit points, so you will reach the far side empty. Going round is often the better idea, and going through is the thing you can do that nothing else can — pick your moment.

And inside rock you see the eight squares around you and nothing else, which is its own kind of dangerous: you can be most of the way through a mountain with no idea what is waiting on the far side.

Ghoul

A corpse-eater, and the one race whose bare hands paralyse: fight unarmed and what you hit falls asleep, which is the whole reason to be one. Immune to poison, resists cold, holds its life, and fire hurts it. Darkness from level 10, nether from 20.

It senses living creatures from level 30. Zangband gave it a second power — eating corpses for nutrition — which has nothing to work on here, because this game has no corpses to eat.

Racial powers

Twenty-two of these twenty-eight races can do something no amount of study will teach, and press N to do it. The Amberite can do two things, which is the point of being an Amberite; the Beastman can do nothing, because in Zangband its whole character was mutation happening to it rather than anything it chose.

The six races Angband and Zangband share have theirs too, which is easy to miss if you have played Angband: a Dwarf, Hobbit, Gnome, Half-Orc, Half-Troll and Kobold are all ordinary in Angband and are not here. Only Human, Half-Elf, Elf, Dunadan, High-Elf and Beastman have nothing to press.

Race	Power	Level	Mana	Stat	Failure
Half-Orc	play tough	3	5	WIS	8%
Spectre	howl to terrify your enemies	4	6	INT	3%
Dwarf	examine your surroundings	5	5	WIS	12%
Gnome	blink	5	10	INT	12%
Vampire	drink blood	5	10	CON	9%
Barbarian	work yourself into a frenzy	8	10	WIS	9%
Klackon	spit acid	9	9	DEX	14%
Imp	throw fire	9	15	WIS	15%
Half-Troll	work yourself into a frenzy	10	12	WIS	9%
Nibelung	examine your surroundings	10	5	WIS	10%
Kobold	throw a dart of poison	12	8	DEX	14%
Sprite	throw sleeping dust	12	12	INT	15%
Hobbit	cook some food	15	10	INT	10%
Yeek	scream	15	15	WIS	10%
Draconian	breathe like a dragon	15	25	CON	12%
Mindflayer	blast a mind	15	12	INT	14%
Golem	turn to stone	20	15	CON	8%
Amberite	shift into shadow	30	50	INT	50%
Skeleton	recover your lost life force	30	30	WIS	18%
Zombie	recover your lost life force	30	30	WIS	18%
Ghoul	sense living creatures	30	10	WIS	12%
Half-Titan	examine your foes	35	20	STR	12%
Amberite	walk the Pattern	40	75	WIS	50%

The level is when the power arrives; before it, the character simply cannot.

The cost comes out of spell points where there are any — and where there are not, it comes out of you. The Warrior is the one class with no mana at all, and for it a racial power is always paid for in hit points instead, at the same price. So can anyone else who has run their pool down far enough. That is Zangband’s rule and it is what keeps the powers worth having whatever you chose to be; the menu tells you which pool a power is about to take from before you commit to it. The amount is not fixed either: it is somewhere between half the listed cost and all of it.

The failure figure is the chance at exactly the level the power arrives, with an average stat. Both of the things you can do about it help: every level past that one takes three points off, and the stat it leans on takes off more — off the same table that decides how reliably a spell is cast, so a power behaves like a spell in the ways you would expect it to. Reaching past what is left in the pool makes it markedly worse, and being stunned worse still. However short the stat, the chance never gets worse than 95 per cent.

Failing still costs the price — being told you are too junior, too confused, or too spent to try at all does not.

The two Amberite powers are the two halves of the family. Shifting into shadow moves you a long way and leaves you briefly blind, arriving where you did not quite intend, which is what shadow-walking is. Walking the Pattern is the older and harder thing: at level 40 and 75 mana it undoes poison, blindness, confusion, stunning, cuts, fear and hallucination, restores every drained stat, and gives back lost experience. It is expensive because it is the Pattern.

Races we decided against

Zangband has twenty-one races Angband does not. Seventeen are above. Four have been looked at and turned down, and it is worth saying why, because “it exists in the original” is not on its own a reason to carry something:

Half-Ogre, Half-Giant and Cyclops. All three are Half-Troll — which this game already has — with one resistance swapped. Half-Ogre resists dark, Half-Giant shards, Cyclops sound; their stat lines are within a point or two of the Half-Troll’s and of each other. Three more entries on the birth menu buying one resistance each is not a choice, it is a longer list.

Dark-Elf. A better Elf for a higher price: the same shape, with more intelligence and dexterity and the ability to see the invisible, at 150 instead of 120. A legitimate piece of design, and not a new idea — everything it does, an Elf already does.

Those four are the whole of it. Barbarian, Klackon, Nibelung, Imp and the four undead races were on this list as waiting rather than rejected until 3.117.0; they arrived, and are described above with everything else.

Classes

Once a race has been chosen, you will need to pick a class. The class is the character’s occupation and determines stat bonuses, abilities, hit dice, and what spells (if any) the character can learn.

Warrior

A Warrior is a hack-and-slash character, who solves most problems by cutting them to pieces, but will occasionally fall back on the help of a magical device. Their prime stats are strength, constitution, and dexterity, and they will strike more blows with melee weapons than any other class. A Warrior will be excellent at fighting, shooting and throwing, but bad at most other skills. A warrior has bad stealth and cannot learn any spells.

Mage

A Mage must live by their wits. They cannot hope to simply hack their way through the dungeon, and so must therefore use his magic to defeat, deceive, confuse, and escape. A mage is not really complete without an assortment of magical devices to use in addition to his spells. They can master the higher level magical devices far easier than anyone else, and has the excellent saving throws to resist effects of spells cast at him. However, they are incredibly weak, getting few hit dice and suffering strong penalties to strength and constitution. Intelligence is their primary stat and at high levels they can cast many spells without a chance of failure. There is no rule that says a mage cannot become a good fighter, but spells are their true realm and they will get fewer blows with melee weapons than other classes.

Druid

A Druid is a lover of nature, and at one with the natural world. Druids have control of their environment and direct power over creatures, leading even to the ability to take their forms. Druid skills are moderate, and they have some fighting ability, especially when transformed. A druid will usually seek to shape the flow of events to their purpose rather than using devices or missiles, but at high levels they do gain access to potent nature-based magic. Druids rely on their wisdom, and have good saving throws.

Priest

A Priest is a character of holy devotion. They explore the dungeon only to destroy the evil that lurks within, and if treasure just happens to fall into their packs, well, so much more to the glory of their temple! Priests receive their spells from a deity, and therefore do not choose which spells they will learn. They are familiar with magical devices, preferring to call them “instruments of God”, but are not as good as a mage in their use. Priests have great saving throws, and make passable fighters, better if they can find a hafted or blessed weapon. Wisdom is the priest’s primary stat and at high enough levels they can cast many prayers without a chance of failure. Priests have poor stealth.

Necromancer

A Necromancer seeks to master the spirits of sentient creatures, creating servants of their own will. They have chosen a dark and wicked path, and run a continual risk of harm to their own body and mind. Necromancers love shadows and hate light, automatically shrouding themselves in darkness. Their spells require high intelligence, and frequently harm the caster or place them in danger. In return they achieve awesome power at high levels. The ultimate aim of the necromancer is to supplant the Dark Enemy and set up a tyranny in his place.

Paladin

A Paladin is a warrior/priest. Paladins are very good fighters, second only to the warrior class, but not very good at missile weapons. They receive prayers at a slower pace than the priest, but can use all but the most powerful prayers. A paladin lacks much in the way of abilities. Paladins have poor stealth, perception, searching, and magical device use. They have a decent saving throw due to their divine alliance. Their primary stats are strength and wisdom.

Rogue

A Rogue is a character that prefers to live by their cunning, but is capable of fighting their way out of a tight spot. The master of traps and locks, to the experienced rogue no device is impossible to overcome. A rogue has a high stealth enabling sneaking around many creatures without having to fight, or sneaking up and get the first blow. They can steal items from monsters, but need to be wary of being caught in the act. Rogues’ perception is higher than any other class, and many times they will notice a trap or secret door before having to search. A rogue is better than the more fighting oriented classes with magical devices, but still cannot rely on their performance. Rogues can also learn a few spells, but not the powerful offensive spells mages can use, and there will always be a chance of failure even with the simplest spells. A rogue’s primary stats are dexterity and intelligence.

Ranger

A Ranger is at home in nature, and good at turning the environment to good use. Rangers are good fighters, and the best of all the classes with missile weapons, especially bows. The ranger learns chiefly spells of survival and forest craft. A ranger has good stealth, good perception, good searching, a good saving throw, and is good with magical devices. Their primary stats are strength, wisdom and dexterity.

Blackguard

A Blackguard is a brawler of no principle, who lives for the joy of maiming and killing. Blackguards prefer heavy weapons and shields, and learn a few spells for the purpose of wreaking more destruction. Their lust for blood is legendary, with a blackguard in full cry nigh on impossible to kill. Blackguards scorn skills apart from slaughter, and require strength and intelligence (or rat-cunning) to thrive in the dungeon.

The five classes below are Zangband’s, and are new to ZangbandTK.

Monk

A Monk carries no weapon because it does not need one. Where every other class fighting bare-handed does a single point of damage a blow, a Monk strikes with a trained technique — and strikes far more often than a Warrior with a sword ever will. It is dextrous, quick, poor with a bow it has no reason to carry, and expensive: a Monk costs 40 per cent more experience for every level, which is Zangband’s price for what the class can do.

A Monk is the one class in the game that is punished for wearing armour. See Martial arts for what it gains by going without, and what it loses by not.

Mindcrafter

A Mindcrafter has no spellbooks and will never find any. Its craft is twelve psionic powers that arrive as it grows, and it does not study them — it simply becomes able to do them. Wisdom is what makes them work. It is physically frail, with the second worst hit dice in the game, and its attacks reach for minds rather than bodies, which makes it formidable against most things and useless against a golem.

See Psionics for the list.

Chaos-Warrior

A Chaos-Warrior is a fighter who belongs to somebody. At birth it is sworn to one of the nine Lords of the Courts of Chaos — it does not choose which, and it cannot leave — and every time it gains a level its Lord looks up and decides how it feels. Usually that is a gift. Sometimes it is not.

It fights nearly as well as a Warrior, and it casts Chaos — every spell in the realm, from level 2, and no other realm ever. There is no realm choice to make at birth because there is nothing to choose between: a Chaos-Warrior’s magic is Chaos or it is nothing. See Patrons and The Realms of Magic.

Warrior-Mage

A fighter who casts, and the only class in the game whose first realm is decided for it: Arcane, always, plus any second realm you like. That is the class — the generalist realm, which can be bought outright in town, and one specialism on top of it. It fights and shoots respectably and levels slowly, because it is paying for both halves.

High-Mage

The specialist. It picks one realm out of all seven and gets no second choice at all, and in exchange Zangband’s table gives it the best figures of any caster: it reaches a realm’s deepest spells earlier and for less mana than anyone else. It also has the worst hit dice in the game and cannot fight.

A High-Mage of Sorcery can do everything except kill things. A High-Mage of Chaos can do very little except kill things. That is the choice, and it is the whole class.

Note

A Monk casts as well as fights. It studies one realm out of Life, Nature or Death — chosen at birth, permanent, and there is no second choice the way a Mage gets one. Its spells are learned at random rather than picked, which is what Zangband does for anything reading prayers.

The two halves meet in your armour. A Monk’s unarmed bonuses and its spell points are weighed against the same six slots, and its tolerance is a Mage’s rather than a Priest’s — so a Monk in plate loses the fists and the magic together. Of its three realms, Death is the weakest choice: this game takes a spell’s casting stat from the realm, and Death casts on intelligence, which a Monk has least of.

Martial arts

The Monk’s unarmed attack is a ladder of seventeen techniques, from a punch at level 1 to a crushing blow at 48. Each one arrives at its own level and has its own difficulty, and what you throw is decided fresh every time you swing: the character gets one attempt per seven levels, each attempt turns up a technique at random, and the best of the ones that come off is the one that lands.

So a novice punches and kicks, and a Grand Master usually — but not reliably — lands something from the top of the ladder. Being stunned or confused takes away the choosing, and you throw whatever came up. Three of the techniques do something beyond damage: a knee doubles a male opponent up, a kick to the ankle leaves anything that walks limping, and most of the upper ladder stuns.

The number of strikes goes up with level as well — two at first, eight by the end, which is more than a Warrior gets out of any weapon in the game.

What armour costs. Add up what the character is wearing on its body, head, arm, back, hands and feet. If that comes to more than ten pounds plus another four tenths of a pound per level — thirty pounds at level 50 — the Monk is carrying too much, and:

• the number of strikes is halved,

• the bonus to hit and to damage is withdrawn, and

• the armour class for empty slots stops being paid.

You are told when it happens: the weight of your armour disrupts your balance.

What going without pays. Under the limit, every armour slot left empty is worth armour class in its own right, and the body slot is worth far more than the rest put together — three points for every two levels, so 75 at level 50. The back, arm and head slots only start paying at levels 15, 10 and 4. A Monk who wears nothing is not undefended; it is defended by having nothing in the way.

Wielding a weapon has no penalty attached to it. It simply switches all of the above off, because the ladder is only reached with empty hands — which in practice is the sharpest penalty in the game.

Psionics

The Mindcrafter’s twelve powers are on N, alongside anything the character’s race can do. They cost mana, they can fail, and Wisdom governs both how much mana there is and how reliably a power works.

They are deliberately not a realm of magic. There is no book to find, no spell to learn, nothing to choose at birth, and nothing that can be taken from you: a Mindcrafter’s powers arrive purely by level.

Power	Level	Mana	Failure
Blast a mind	1	1	15%
See what is coming	2	1	20%
Shift a short way	3	2	25%
Shift a long way	7	6	35%
Dominate a mind	9	7	50%
Pulverise	11	7	30%
Armour your mind	13	12	50%
Read an object	15	12	60%
Send out a mind wave	18	10	45%
Channel adrenaline	23	15	50%
Drain a mind	25	10	40%
Loose a telekinetic wave	28	20	45%

A power is rarely one thing. Most of these grow into something else as the character does, and keep growing for the whole career. See what is coming starts as a way to spot monsters at level 2; by 5 it finds traps and doors, by 15 it sees the invisible, by 20 it maps the level, from 25 to 39 it grants telepathy, by 30 it detects everything there is, and at 45 it lights the entire level. It is the same power on the same key throughout.

Others switch rather than accumulate. Shift a long way adds banishment at 30. Dominate a mind stops being aimed at one creature and takes everything in sight. Send out a mind wave stops being a ball centred on you and strikes every creature in sight instead, at 25. Channel adrenaline gives heroism until 35 and berserk strength after. And shift a short way, a random ten-step hop for most of a career, becomes a dimension door at 40 — you pick the square you arrive on, the same way Sorcery and Trump do it.

Minds, not bodies. Three of the powers attack with psionic force, which is a kind of damage Angband does not have. It asks whether there is a mind to hurt: anything that has none — a golem, a mould, an animated weapon — is completely unaffected however hard it is hit, and creatures with strange or feeble minds take a third of the damage. Against everything else, nothing resists it at all.

Getting the mana back. A Mindcrafter has no spellbooks, and it is easy to read that as having no pool either. It has one, and it refills exactly the way every other caster’s does: by the turn, faster while you are resting, and a night at an inn will fill it. Nothing about the class is unusual here.

What is unusual is that no shop sells a way to hurry it. The three things that restore mana outright — a mushroom of Clear Mind, a mushroom of Debility, and a potion of Restore Mana — are all floor finds, and the potion does not start appearing until around 750 feet. A Mindcrafter that has spent its pool at depth has the same two options as anyone else and one of its own.

That one of its own is drain a mind, at level 25, and it is the only power in the list that pays you rather than costing you:

• It converts what it hurts. The damage is your level halved in six-sided dice, and you take back roughly five eighths of whatever landed — capped at your maximum, so a nearly full pool wastes most of it. At level 25 a good drain is worth more than twice the ten mana it cost.

• A mind that resists gives you nothing. Not a reduced amount — nothing. Animals, the stupid and the strange-minded always resist, and anything else may resist on its own level. They still take a third of the damage; you simply get none of it back. An empty mind gives nothing and takes nothing.

• It can be turned back on you. An undead or demon above your own level does it one time in two, and then a saving throw is all that stands between you and losing both mana and hit points to your own spell. Draining the deep dead is not a way to top up.

• It costs time as well as mana — up to a turn and a half of standing still on top of the turn the power takes, and only when it finds something. That is the price of the fuel, and it is why the spell is not simply free mana in a corridor.

It is also worth casting on something nearly dead: the conversion reads the damage rolled and not the hit points the creature had left, so a finishing drain feeds you as well as a fresh one.

Warning

A failed power can go off inside your head. Half as often as a power fails, it backfires instead of merely fizzling, and the chance therefore falls away as the power becomes reliable. What you get is one of five things: most often a stunning, or your brain addled for a few turns; less often visions dancing in front of you; rarely the map wiped from your memory; and about one time in nine a mana storm — a ball of raw magic centred on you at twice your level, which also tears a hole in the pool you were casting from.

This is the Mindcrafter’s equivalent of the Chaos backfire and the Death miscast, and it is the reason a low-level psionicist should think twice about leaning on a power it has only just learned. Racial powers do not backfire — a Draconian’s breath fails quietly.

One mercy arrives at 30, with the class’s own resistance to confusion: from there the most common of the five bands stops reaching you.

Patrons

The nine Lords are Zelazny’s, not Zangband’s. The original’s sixteen patrons were Moorcock’s Elric gods with four Warhammer ones among them, and not one of them had anything to do with Amber.

Lord	Title	Temperament
Swayvill	King of Chaos	Erratic; rewards loyalty, punishes ambition
Suhuy	Keeper of the Logrus	The gentlest; ignores rather than punishes
Mandor	of House Sawall	Generous, and nothing is free
Dara	of House Helgram	Lavish to those who serve the dynasty
Gramble	Duke of Sawall	Plain rewards for plain service
Jurt	the Jealous	The worst master in the Courts
Despil	of House Sawall	Mild, and mostly not thinking about you
Borel	Master of Arms of Hendrake	Cares only how well you fight
Gilva	Warrior-Maiden of Hendrake	Direct; wants you to go and kill something

Your Lord is shown on the character sheet, in red, because it is not a credential.

What can happen. At the generous end: a full healing, experience, a restored or raised stat, all five stats at once, or an object pulled out of nothing. In the middle, nothing at all — a Lord who is not thinking about you is a good Lord. At the bad end: your weapon or armour cursed, a stat drained or ruined, experience lost, monsters summoned on top of you, the level destroyed around you, or simply damage, which at a high level can kill.

Some Lords will also give you a different shape for a while. Your gear merges into your body when that happens, so you lose every bonus it carried and cannot cast until you change back — which you may do whenever you like.

Thirteen is an unlucky level. The odds of your Lord reaching into the cruel end of its repertoire are normally about one in six. On reaching level 13 they are one in two. On every other thirteenth level they are one in three. On every fourteenth they are one in twelve, which is the safest a Chaos-Warrior ever gets.

Stats

After race and class are selected, you will be able to decide what stat levels your character will have, by allocating a finite number of “points” between the five statistics. These points can be allocated by selection or with a random roller (as described below in the “Stat Rollers” section). Each race/class combination also has a recommended default setting for these statistics. Statistics can be permanently raised by various potions in the dungeon up to 18/100. They can also be temporarily drained by some monster attacks.

Strength

Strength is important in fighting with weapons and in melee combat. A high strength can improve your chances of hitting as well as the amount of damage done with each hit. Characters with low strengths may receive penalties. Strength raises the amount of weight you can carry before being slowed. It also allows you to get extra blows with heavier weapons. Strength is one of the most important stats in the beginning of the game.

Intelligence

Intelligence affects the spellcasting abilities of anyone studying the Arcane, Death, Sorcery, Chaos or Trump realms — which is a matter of the realm chosen at birth rather than of the class, so it is not a fixed list of classes. Intelligence will affect the number of spells you may learn each level as well as the number of spell points you receive. Intelligence is the most important stat for mages and necromancers. A high intelligence may also improve your chances of successfully casting a spell. A good intelligence can also help with using magic devices, picking locks, and disarming magic traps.

Wisdom

The primary function of wisdom is to determine the ability of anyone studying the Life realm to use prayers, and anyone studying Nature to use verses, just as intelligence serves the other five realms. As with intelligence, it follows the realm and not the class: a Priest who took Arcane in its second slot does not cast that realm on wisdom. Again, high wisdom will increase the number of mana points you have and increase the number of prayers or verses you can learn each level, while improving your chance of success. A good wisdom increases your saving throw, thereby improving your chances of resisting magical spells cast upon you by monsters.

Dexterity

Dexterity is a combination of agility and quickness. A high dexterity may allow a character to get multiple blows with lighter weapons. Dexterity also increases a character’s chances of hitting with any weapon and of dodging blows from enemies. Dexterity is also useful in picking locks, disarming physical traps, protecting yourself from some of the thieves that inhabit the dungeons, and (for rogues) stealing successfully from others. If the character has a high enough dexterity, thieves will never be successful in stealing from them.

Constitution

Constitution is a character’s ability to resist damage to his body, and to recover from damage received. Therefore a character with a high constitution will receive more hit points and also recover them faster while resting. Constitution is less important in the beginning of the game, but will be the most important stat at the end.

Skills

Characters possess some different skills which can help them to survive. The starting skill levels of a character are based upon race and class. Skill levels may be adjusted by high or low stats, and may increase with the level of the character.

Infravision

Infravision is the ability to see heat sources. Since most of the dungeon is cool or cold, infravision will not allow the player to see walls and objects. Infravision will allow a character to see any warm-blooded creatures up to a certain distance. This ability works equally well with or without a light source. However, some of ZangbandTK’s creatures are cold-blooded, and will not be detected unless lit up by a light source. All non-human races have innate infravision. Humans (including Dunedain) cannot gain infravision unless it is magically enhanced. Infravision does not increase with character level, and is purely dependent on race and on magical equipment.

Fighting

Fighting is the ability to hit and do damage with weapons or fists. Normally a character gets a single blow from any weapon, but with high enough dexterity and strength may receive more blows with lighter weapons. Strength and dexterity both modify the ability to hit an opponent. This skill increases with the level of the character. Inspecting a weapon will show you how quickly you can attack with it.

Shooting Ability

Firing ammunition with a bow, sling, or crossbow is included in this skill. Dexterity and this skill affect the chance to hit when firing. It does not influence how far ammunition can be fired (that is set by the damage multiplier for the bow, sling, or crossbow) or the amount of damage a hit causes. This skill increases with the level of the character.

Throwing Skill

Throwing a weapon or ammunition is included in this skill. Weapons or ammunition specially designed for throwing are much better when thrown than other weapons or ammunition. Dexterity and this skill affect the chance to hit when throwing. It does not influence how far an item can be thrown (that is set by strength and the weight of the thrown item) or the amount of damage a hit causes. This skill increases with the level of the character.

Saving Throws

A Saving Throw is the ability of a character to resist the effects of a spell cast on him by another person/creature. This does not include spells cast on the player by his own stupidity, such as quaffing a nasty potion. This ability increases with the level of the character, but then most high level creatures are better at casting spells, so it tends to even out. A high wisdom also increases this ability. It is possible to get 100% saving throw, making you immune to many attacks.

Stealth

The ability to move silently about is very useful. Characters with good stealth can usually surprise their opponents, gaining the first blow. Also, creatures may fail to notice a stealthy character entirely, allowing a player to avoid certain fights. This skill is based upon race and class, but can be magically enhanced.

Disarming

Disarming is the ability to remove traps safely, and also includes picking locks on traps and doors. A successful disarming will gain the character a small amount of experience. A trap must be found before it can be disarmed. Traps are either physical or magical devices, so the character has two disarming skills. Dexterity modifies disarming of physical traps, and intelligence modifies disarming of magical traps. Both these abilities increase with the level of the character.

Magical Devices

Using a magical device such as a wand or staff requires experience and knowledge. Spell users such as mages and priests are therefore much better at using a magical device than say a warrior. This skill is modified by intelligence, and increases with the level of the character.

Searching (Perception)

Perception is the ability to notice traps without actively seeking them out. Rogues are the best at searching, but rangers are also good at it. This skill is based on race and class, and increases with character level.

Stat Bonus Tables

Stats, hit dice, infravision and experience point modifications due to race and class are listed in the following table. To get the total hit dice, add the “race” and “class” numbers: for instance, a Dwarf Priest has a hit die of 11+2=13 (i.e. they will get 1d13 hit points per level, adjusted for constitution).

Race	STR	INT	WIS	DEX	CON	HD (base)	XP/level	Infra
Human	0	0	0	0	0	10	100%	None
Half-Elf	0	+1	-1	+1	-1	10	120%	20’
Elf	-1	+2	-1	+1	-1	9	120%	30’
Hobbit	-2	+2	+1	+3	+2	7	120%	40’
Gnome	-1	+2	0	+2	+1	8	120%	40’
Dwarf	+2	-3	+2	-2	+2	11	120%	50’
Half-Orc	+2	-1	0	0	+1	10	120%	30’
Half-Troll	+4	-4	-2	-4	+3	12	120%	30’
Dunadan	+1	+2	+2	+2	+3	10	120%	None
High-Elf	+1	+3	-1	+3	+1	10	145%	40’
Kobold	-1	-1	0	+2	+2	8	120%	50’
Amberite	+1	+2	+2	+2	+3	10	225%	None
Beastman	+2	-2	-1	-1	+2	11	140%	None
Yeek	-2	+1	+1	+1	-2	7	100%	20’
Draconian	+2	+1	+1	+1	+2	11	250%	20’
Mindflayer	-3	+4	+4	0	-2	9	140%	40’
Vampire	+3	+3	-1	-1	+1	11	200%	50’
Golem	+4	-5	-5	-2	+4	12	200%	40’
Barbarian	+3	-2	-1	+1	+2	11	120%	None
Klackon	+2	-1	-1	+1	+2	12	135%	20’
Nibelung	+1	-1	+2	0	+2	11	135%	50’
Imp	-1	-1	-1	+1	+2	10	110%	30’
Skeleton	0	-2	-2	0	+1	10	145%	20’
Zombie	+2	-6	-6	+1	+4	13	135%	20’
Spectre	-5	+4	+4	+2	-3	7	180%	50’
Ghoul	0	-1	-1	-1	+1	9	125%	20’
Sprite	-4	+3	+3	+3	-2	7	175%	40’
Half-Titan	+5	+1	+1	-2	+3	14	255%	None

Class	STR	INT	WIS	DEX	CON	HD (bonus)	XP/level
Warrior	+3	-2	-2	+2	+2	9	none
Mage	-3	+3	+0	+0	-2	0	+30%
Druid	-2	+0	+3	-2	+0	2	none
Priest	-1	-3	+3	-1	+1	2	+20%
Necromancer	-3	+3	+0	+0	-2	2	none
Paladin	+1	-3	+1	-1	+2	6	+35%
Rogue	+0	+1	-3	+3	-1	4	+25%
Ranger	+0	+0	+2	+1	-1	5	+30%
Blackguard	+2	+0	-3	+0	+2	8	none
Monk	+2	-1	+1	+3	+2	6	+40%
Mindcrafter	-1	+0	+3	-1	-1	2	+25%
Chaos-Warrior	+2	+1	+0	+1	+2	6	+35%
Warrior-Mage	+2	+2	+0	+1	+0	4	+50%
High-Mage	-5	+4	+0	+0	-2	0	+30%

Ability Tables

Race	DisarmP	DisarmM	Device	Save	Stealth	Search	Fight	Bows
Human	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Half-Elf	2	2	3	3	1	3	-1	5
Elf	5	5	6	6	2	6	-5	15
Hobbit	15	15	18	18	4	6	-10	20
Gnome	10	10	22	12	3	4	-8	12
Dwarf	2	2	9	9	-1	2	15	0
Half-Orc	-3	-3	-3	-3	-1	-3	12	-5
Half-Troll	-5	-5	-8	-8	-2	-9	20	-10
Dunadan	4	4	5	5	1	3	15	10
High-Elf	4	4	20	20	2	10	10	25
Kobold	10	10	5	0	3	10	-5	10
Amberite	4	4	5	5	2	3	12	0
Beastman	-5	-5	-2	-1	-1	-1	18	10
Yeek	2	2	4	10	3	5	-10	-10
Draconian	-2	-2	5	3	0	1	10	10
Mindflayer	10	10	25	15	2	5	-16	-10
Vampire	4	4	10	10	4	1	10	0
Golem	-5	-5	-5	10	-1	-1	20	0
Barbarian	-2	-2	-10	2	-1	1	20	0
Klackon	10	10	5	5	0	-1	10	10
Nibelung	3	3	5	10	1	5	10	0
Imp	-3	-3	2	-1	1	-1	10	-10
Skeleton	-5	-5	-5	5	-1	-1	16	0
Zombie	-5	-5	-5	8	-1	-1	20	0
Spectre	10	10	25	20	5	5	-20	-10
Ghoul	-3	-3	-3	6	1	0	10	0
Sprite	10	10	10	10	4	10	-16	0
Half-Titan	-5	-5	5	2	-2	1	26	0

Class	DisarmP	DisarmM	Device	Save	Stealth	Search	Fight	Bows
Warrior	25(+15)	20(+10)	18(+7)	18(+10)	0(+0)	10(+12)	70(+45)	55(+45)
Mage	30(+10)	35(+12)	36(+13)	30(+9)	2(+0)	10(+12)	35(+15)	20(+15)
Druid	30(+10)	30(+10)	24(+10)	30(+10)	3(+0)	12(+12)	45(+20)	40(+30)
Priest	25(+12)	25(+12)	30(+10)	32(+12)	2(+0)	10(+14)	45(+20)	35(+20)
Necromancer	30(+10)	35(+12)	36(+13)	30(+9)	2(+0)	10(+12)	35(+25)	20(+15)
Paladin	20(+15)	20(+10)	24(+10)	25(+11)	0(+0)	10(+12)	65(+40)	50(+30)
Rogue	45(+20)	45(+20)	32(+10)	28(+10)	3(+1)	20(+16)	35(+45)	66(+30)
Ranger	40(+15)	30(+10)	28(+10)	32(+10)	3(+0)	15(+15)	60(+40)	72(+45)
Blackguard	20(+15)	20(+10)	24(+10)	18(+10)	-1(-1)	8(+10)	65(+40)	35(+15)
Monk	45(+22)	45(+22)	32(+11)	28(+11)	3(+0)	10(+12)	37(+17)	48(+24)
Mindcrafter	30(+15)	30(+15)	30(+10)	30(+10)	3(+0)	14(+12)	46(+17)	52(+20)
Chaos-Warrior	20(+11)	20(+11)	25(+11)	25(+10)	0(+0)	9(+12)	71(+50)	24(+38)
Warrior-Mage	30(+11)	30(+11)	30(+10)	28(+9)	2(+0)	11(+12)	62(+42)	69(+50)
High-Mage	30(+11)	30(+11)	36(+13)	30(+9)	2(+0)	10(+12)	31(+8)	34(+10)

For character classes, there are two figures: the first figure is the base level of the skill, while the second figure (in parentheses) is the bonus that the character gains to this skill every ten levels. So, to find out the total skill value of any character’s skills, add the race value to the class value, and then the bonus once for every ten levels that the character has. Throwing skill is not shown as its adjustments for race and class are the same as for the shooting skill except for rogues (72(+45)), rangers (66(+30)), and blackguards (40(+30)).

Please note, however, that these numbers are only good for comparing characters to each other in the absence of other bonuses from high stats (strength bonus to-dam, dex bonus to-hit, wisdom bonus to saving throw, intelligence bonus to magical device usage, etc.) or wearing magical items.

Stat rollers

There are currently two different ways to determine the starting stats of your character - you can choose which one to use from the birth screen.

Point-based

The point-based method allows you to “buy” improvements to your basic stats by “spending” points on them. You have a fixed number of points to spend, and making small changes to a stat costs proportionally less than making large changes. Any unspent points are converted into your starting money that you can use to buy equipment at the start of the game.

On selecting this option, you will find that the points have already been assigned to default recommended values. These represent an algorithm’s opinion for the ideal point spending. However, you are free to reallocate them as you wish.

This is the recommended birth method.

Standard roller

The standard roller simply rolls three six-sided dice for each stat, leaving everything to chance. You can press r to re-roll the dice, or simply accept what luck has offered.

Character Name

Once you have accepted a character you will asked to provide a name for the character. In general, the actual choice of a name is not important, but do keep in mind that it may have some effect on the game itself. For example, on some machines, the character name determines the filename that will be used to save the character to disk. The character name is used on the high score list.

You can play a dynasty of characters. If you use a Roman numeral at the end of your character name (like “Fred I” or “Pimplesnarg XVI”), the game will automatically increment the numeral each time you die (or win!).