Races

The thirteen playable peoples, their statistical leanings, their abilities and what makes each of them different.

Thirteen peoples are playable in Rogue. Race is chosen during creation and cannot be changed afterwards. It decides how your statistics tend to fall, how well you see in the dark, how large you are, which racial abilities you can use, and what your character can look like.

No race is stronger than another in raw terms. Every race starts with fixed statistics, and the six core ones add up to the same 80 whatever you pick. Luck sits outside that total and is the one thing that genuinely differs by race, so a lucky race is luckier rather than stronger. What race changes is where those points sit, which shapes what your character is naturally good at without ever closing a door.

The thirteen#

• Human - Ambitious and adaptable, capable of all
• Elf - Patient and timeless, bound to the ancient wilds
• Dwarf - Enduring as stone, keepers of tradition and craft
• Gnome - Curious inventors, driven by wonder and knowledge
• Halfling - Merry small folk of comfort, courage and good luck
• Fey - Ethereal faerie-touched, shimmer and magic woven
• Dryad - Forest spirits of harmony, guardians of the green
• Shade - Between life and death, shaped by memory and shadow
• Pisca - Serene children of the sea, guided by deep currents
• Jackile - Desert-born judges, seekers of truth and balance
• Scorpien - Chitinous desert predators, hardened and relentless
• Catfolk - Solitary feline hunters, patient and precise
• Goblin - Warren-born survivors, quick, tough and lucky

Starting statistics#

Every character of a race starts with the same statistics. Nothing is rolled: pick an elf and you get the elf below. The background you choose later adds one more point.

The six statistics other than Luck add up to 80 for every race, so no race is stronger than another; a race that is very good at one thing pays for it elsewhere. Luck sits outside that total, which is why the whole row runs from 89 for a shade or a scorpien to 98 for a halfling: a lucky race is luckier, not stronger. Ten is neutral, so even a race's weakest statistic costs it little.

Dwarves are the toughest people there are and scorpiens the strongest; both are built for taking hits. Catfolk and goblins are the most agile, with elves and shades just behind. Gnomes are the sharpest minds, with piscas, elves and feys after them. Jackiles are the wisest, and dryads the most persuasive. Humans are the most even, which is a real advantage when you have not decided what you want to be yet.

Goblins are the only people who are quick and hardy at once, and they pay for it with the worst wisdom in the world and poor intelligence. Their luck is among the highest, behind only the halfling, and it matters more for them than for anyone else: their racial trait lets that luck answer the checks their wits would fail.

Physical traits#

Size affects what your character can wear and carry as well as how the world describes them. Age is where your character starts, not a limit.

Within your race's range you choose one of five heights and one of five builds during creation, so a short elf and a tall halfling are both perfectly possible.

Seeing in the dark#

Rooms have an ambient light level, and each race sees clearly down to a different floor. Below that floor you start losing detail, and far enough below it you see nothing at all. The number is the threshold, so lower is better.

Catfolk see in almost total darkness. Humans need the most light of anyone, which matters in caverns, sewers, catacombs and anywhere else built underground. A light source closes the gap for everybody.

Other physical differences#

Swimming. Elves, gnomes, goblins, halflings, humans, piscas, scorpiens and shades are natural swimmers. Dryads, dwarves, feys, jackiles and catfolk are not.

Natural weapons. Catfolk, goblins and jackiles have claws, scorpiens a stinger, and dryads thorns. Everyone else falls back on their fists when unarmed.

Injury. Most races bleed, and their condition is described in those terms when someone looks at them. Shades do not bleed; a wounded shade frays, fading at the edges and losing cohesion, and their condition is worded that way throughout the game.

Restrictions. Dryads can only be female. There are no other race and gender restrictions.

Language. Each race has a native tongue as flavour, but every character is given fluent Common at creation, so nobody is locked out of talking to anyone.

Racial abilities#

Each race has its own small set of abilities, available from level 1 and independent of your class. They do not replace class skills; they sit alongside them.

racialemotes lists the emotes your race has on top of these, which are purely for flavour. skills shows everything your character can use, racial and class abilities together.

Choosing#

Read the descriptions rather than the table if you are new. Race matters less than class does, and every race starts with the same 80 points in its core statistics, so nothing you pick will leave you unable to play what you want.

That said, if you already know what you are after: pick scorpien or dwarf to take punishment, shade or elf to avoid it, gnome or pisca to think your way through it, dryad if you want to be listened to, jackile if you want to see things coming, catfolk if you want to strike first, halfling if you want to survive things you should not, goblin if you would rather be lucky than clever, and human if you want none of the above decided for you.