Zangband is a roleplaying game, in which you, the player, control a character in the world of Zangband. 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.
Character creation, or birth, is controlled through a variety of choices as to constraints on the type of character you wish to play, followed by a series of random calculations to generate ("roll up") a random character matching the appropriate constraints.
Once your character has been generated, you will be given the choice to generate a new character obeying the same constraints, and once you have generated more than one character, you can switch back and forth between the two most recent characters, until you are presented with a character that you feel comfortable with.
You may start the entire process over at any time by pressing 'S' at any prompt (with the exception of the autoroller (see below [1]) prompt and the prompt for the number of random quests (see below [2])).
During character generation you may press '=' at any time to access the start-up options. A more detailed description of the various start-up options can be found in the section on the Options Page (see option.txt#StartUp [3]). Perhaps one of the most important features of the start-up options is the ability to decide what type of town level you want. The various town options are discussed on the Town page (see dungeon.txt#TownLevel [4]).
Once you begin character generation you will be asked to choose your character's three primary attributes - its sex, race and class. If you have selected a spellcasting class, you will also be prompted for your choice of magic realm(s).
Your character's sex has a minimal effect on game play - females start with slightly more gold, males are generally heavier and so can bash more effectively. Race, class and magic realms have a far more significant effect and are discussed at some length in the Race (see charattr.txt#TheRaces [5]), Class (see charattr.txt#TheClasses [6]) and Magic Realms (see magic.txt#MagicRealms [7]) sections.
=== Race/Class Combinations ===
Once a race has been chosen, you will need to pick a class. Some race/class combinations are not recommended and so certain classes are shown inside brackets. This may be because the combination is not conceptually sound or because the chosen race has stat penalties in areas where that class needs bonuses.
However, any race/class combination can be chosen and experienced players may often choose unusual combinations for the challenge that they represent. It is recommended that inexperienced players choose warriors as spellcasting requires a player more familiar with dungeon survival techniques.
The following table shows which classes are recommended for the various
races.
Warrior Mage Priest Rogue Ranger Paladin Warrior Chaos
-Mage Warrior
Human Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Half-Elf Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Elf Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Hobbit Yes Yes No Yes No No No No
Gnome Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Dwarf Yes No Yes No No No No No
Half-Orc Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes
Half-Troll Yes No Yes No No No No No
Amberite Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
High-Elf Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Barbarian Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Half-Ogre Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Half-Giant Yes No No No Yes No No No
Half-Titan Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No
Cyclops Yes No Yes No No No No No
Yeek Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Klackon Yes No No No Yes No No No
Kobold Yes No No Yes No No No No
Nibelung Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Dark Elf Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Draconian Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Mind Flayer No Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Imp Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes
Golem Yes No No No No No No No
Skeleton Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Zombie Yes No No No No No No No
Vampire Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Spectre No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No
Sprite No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Beastman Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Mind- High
Monk crafter Mage
Human Yes Yes Yes
Half-Elf Yes Yes Yes
Elf Yes Yes Yes
Hobbit No No Yes
Gnome No Yes Yes
Dwarf No No No
Half-Orc Yes No No
Half-Troll No No No
Amberite Yes Yes Yes
High-Elf Yes Yes Yes
Barbarian No No No
Half-Ogre No No Yes
Half-Giant No No No
Half-Titan Yes Yes Yes
Cyclops No No No
Yeek No Yes Yes
Klackon No No No
Kobold No No No
Nibelung No No Yes
Dark Elf Yes Yes Yes
Draconian Yes Yes Yes
Mind Flayer Yes Yes Yes
Imp Yes Yes Yes
Golem No No No
Skeleton Yes Yes Yes
Zombie No No No
Vampire Yes Yes Yes
Spectre Yes Yes Yes
Sprite No Yes Yes
Beastman Yes Yes Yes
=== Choosing Your Magic Realm(s) ===
If you have selected a spellcasting class, you will next be prompted for your choice of magic realm(s). The magic system, as implemented in Zangband, consists of seven realms: Life, Arcane, Sorcery, Nature, Trump, Chaos and Death. In general, Life is primarily defensive but also offers spells to attack evil creatures, Arcane offers utility spells and some limited offensive capability, Sorcery offers utility and defensive spells, Nature offers both defensive and offensive spells, Trump specializes in teleportation and summoning spells and Chaos and Death are offensive. A more complete description of the magic realms and spellcasting in general can be found in the section on the Magic Realms (see magic.txt#MagicRealms [7]).
Where possible, it is generally a good idea to pick one defensive realm and one offensive realm. If you pick the realms always in the same order (e.g. nature as your first realm and chaos as your second realm, not the other way around) you will be less confused when trying to pick the correct spellbook to use in the game.
--- Class/Realm Restrictions ---
In Zangband, spellcasting classes can select either one or two realms from those available. Some classes which can learn two realms may learn their first realm 'better' than their second.
Note that certain realms may be prohibited for some classes. In the
table below, '1st' indicates that the realm may only be the first
choice, '2nd' indicates that the realm may only be the second choice
and '1st/2nd' indicates that it can be either. Classes that only have
'1st' options do not get a second realm. Classes with only one '1st'
option must choose this option as their first realm.
Class Life Arcane Sorcery Nature Trump Chaos Death
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mage 1st/2nd 1st/2nd 1st/2nd 1st/2nd 1st/2nd 1st/2nd 1st/2nd
Priest 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st
Rogue 1st 1st 1st 1st
Ranger 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd
Paladin 1st 1st
Warrior-Mage 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd
Chaos Warrior 1st
Monk 1st 1st 1st
High Mage 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Once you have chosen your race, class and (if applicable) your magic realm(s), you will be asked how many random quests you wish to be assigned. You may choose any number between 0 and 49. A more detailed discussion of random quests can be found in the Dungeon section (see dungeon.txt#RandomQuests [8]).
The auto-roller is a quick means of generating start-up characters based on a set of user-selected criteria. If you choose to use the auto-roller, you will be presented with a column giving the maximum possible statistics (see charattr.txt#PrimaryStats [9]) for your choice of race, class and maximize mode (see option.txt#StartUp [3]). You will then be prompted to enter your desired statistics which should not exceed the maximum statistics displayed on the screen.
Once you have entered your desired statistics, the computer will then randomly roll successive start-up characters and compare them to your specified criteria. Each stat is rolled as a number from 8 to 17, with a normal distribution, and is then immediately modified based upon the race and class which you have chosen. The exact quantum of this modification can be found in the Character Attributes section (see charattr.txt#StatBonusTable [a]).
Once a character that matches or exceeds your expectations has been rolled, the computer will display the character for you to look at and also display the character's life-rating (see below [b]). If you accept the rolled character (by pressing 'Esc'), you will be asked for its name (see below [c]). If not, you may press 'r' to resume rolling and searching for the next match or, if this is not your first match, 'p' to return to the previous character which met your criteria.
Note: The statistics are not independant of each other and trying to maximize each one using the auto-roller will not work. A good idea is to specify statistics close to maximum that are critical for your class (for example, high wisdom for priests, intelligence for mages and strength and dexterity for warriors). You should set minimum acceptable levels for the remaining statistics rather than looking for high rolls.
If you select not to use the auto-roller, the computer will roll one random character at a time and then display it for you to either accept or reject. The 'r', 'p' and 'Esc' keys will work as outlined above.
During the course of 'rolling' your character you will be told its life rating. This is an indication of how many hitpoints your character will have at character level 50 before taking into consideration any bonus from having a high constitution. The life rating will be displayed in the form of x/100 where 'x' is typically a number varying between 80 and 120.
Example 1, a human mage has a 10-sided hit dice yielding an average of 5.5 hitpoints per level for an average maximum hitpoints at level 50 of 50*5.5=275. If this warrior had a life-rating of 110/100, then at level 50, he would have 275*(110/100)=302 hitpoints (before considering any bonuses from constitution).
Example 2, a human warrior has a 19-sided hit dice yielding an average of 10 hitpoints per level for an average maximum hitpoints at level 50 of 50*10=500. If this mage had a life-rating of 95/100, then at level 50, he would have 500*(95/100)=475 hitpoints (before considering any bonuses from constitution).
Your life rating is only a guarantee of your character's base hitpoints at level 50. This might be achieved by small increases in the early stages and much larger increases in the later game or the other way around. Generally, however, the increases tend to be fairly even.
Once you have accepted a character you will be 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. On others, the character name specifies special "pref" files. And the character name is used on the high score list.
Once you have named your character, you will be prompted to press 'Esc' and, having done so, you will be brought to the town screen from where you will begin your adventuring. You should note that each character starts in the town with a small number of items in their inventory. Which items you are given will depend upon your chosen race and class and the number of such items depends on chance. For example, all classes receive either food rations or scrolls of satisfy hunger but the number of rations or scrolls received is random. Typically, you will receive a weapon, a piece of armor, some food, some torches and a magical item although there is some variance from this.