=== Character Birth and Attributes.  Last revised for Oangband 0.3.1 ===

     This file describes your character and his creation.  It discusses the 
character attributes shown on the left side of the main window, the races and 
classes available in Oangband, the basic skills characters possess, the four 
realms of magic, what "maximize" and "preserve" mean, and the various special 
immunities and qualities that characters may acquire in their adventures.  
Racial and class tables are provided at the very end.


=== Creating a Character ===

Oangband is a roleplaying game, in which you, the player, control a character
in a world of magic and cold steel.  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.

You may start the entire process over at any time.

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 chatacter 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.


=== Character Attributes Shown on the Left Side of the Main Window ===

     Experience:
         Experience effects almost everything else about your character.  As he 
         kills monsters, casts spells and prays prayers for the first time, 
         learns about an object kind by using it, disarms traps, and unlocks 
         doors (listed in descending order of importance), he gains experience.  
         Every so often, he will attain a new experience level.  This:
              -increases hit points (HPs)
              -increases magical power (mana)
              -improves every skill except searching, perception, and stealth.
              -makes it possible to use more powerful magical devices, wield 
               heavier weapons, learn more effective spells and improve spells 
               already learnt.
              -adds entirely new abilities or benefits.
         The maximum experience level is 50.  Depending on the class and race 
         you choose, the number of exp points required to attain this level 
         varies widely, which balances out more and less powerful combinations.

     Gold:
         Gold is amazingly handy, because everything the town can sell can be 
         yours with enough of the stuff.  Characters start out with an amount 
         of gold determined by charisma (higher is better), sex (female char-
         acters start with more gold.  In Oangband, males and females are 
         clones, so take advantage of this!), social class (higher is better), 
         and the player class's primary statistic (lower is much better).  
         Inside the dungeon lies more gold than you will ever find, more seams 
         of treasure than you will ever dig, and more monsters carrying loot 
         than you will ever kill.

     Vital Statistics:
         Your character has six primary statistics, or stats.  Each of them has 
         important effects, and how you juggle equipment to boost some stats at 
         the expense of others can greatly help or hinder your character's ad-
         venturing.  Because stats are so important, you will want to keep a 
         sharp eye out for potions of Strength, Wisdom, etc.  They may start 
         appearing at 1250' (level 25) and don't become at all common until well 
         below 2000' (level 40).
              The lowest any stat can go is 3, a level which greatly reduces any
         abilities that stat influences.  The lowest "safe" figure for most 
         stats is 7, but you can't expect any significant bonuses until the stat 
         reaches 18 or higher.  Once you get a stat that high, further increases 
         will greatly enhance your character's skills, eventually making it pos-
         sible to slay some truly formidable monsters.  Stats max out at 18/220.
         More information on individual stats is available below.

     Armor Class:
         Armor class helps prevent you getting killed.  It may be increased by 
         equipping more and better armor, and by increasing your Dexerity.  As 
         time passes, you will find this value rising past 100, even to 150 and 
         above at very high levels.  More information is available in the help 
         file about attacking and defending.

     Hit Points:
         Each character has hit points, representing how much damage he can 
         sustain before he dies.  The maximum number of hit points is derived 
         from your race, class, level, and constitution, and you can never have 
         more hit points than the maximum.  Hit points may be regained by 
         resting, or by a variety of magical means.

     Mana:
         Each character has spell points, or mana, which represents how many 
         spells (or prayers) a character can cast (or pray).  The maximum number 
         of spell points is derived from your class, level, and intelligence 
         (for classes using sorcery and necromancy) or wisdom (for classes using 
         natural or holy magics).  Spell points may be regained by resting, or 
         (very rarely) by magical means.

     Be warned:  Every one of the above can be lowered by monster attacks or
by traps.  On the plus side, every character has means of repairing the
damage or hunting down the thief.    See the help file about attacking and 
defending.


=== Races ===

There are ten different races that you can choose from in Oangband, repres-
enting most of the speaking peoples found in Tolkien's books, plus Gnomes.  
Some races are restricted as to what profession they realistically choose, and 
each race has its own adjustments to a character's stats and abilities. Most 
races also have intrinsic abilities.
 
     Human:
         The human is the base character.  All other races are compared to them.
         Humans can choose any class and are average at everything.  Humans tend
         to go up levels faster than any other race because of their shorter 
         life spans.  They have a slight bonus to fighting skill when using 
         swords and crossbows, and have more hit points than many other races, 
         but otherwise they have no racial adjustments or intrinsics.
 
     Half-Elf:
         Half-elves tend to be smarter and more agile than humans, but are not 
         as strong.  Half-elves are slightly better at searching, disarming, 
         saving throws, stealth, shooting (especially with bows), and magic, but 
         they are not as good at hand weapons, and have slightly fewer hit 
         points.  Half-elves may choose any class and do not receive any intrin-
         sic abilities.
 
     Elf:
         Elves are better magicians then humans, but not as good at fighting.  
         They tend to be smarter, wiser, and more dextrous than either humans or 
         half-elves, but lack the strength or the hit points of either.  Elves 
         are better at searching, disarming, perception, shooting (especially 
         with bows), and magic, but they are not as good at hand weapons.  They 
         are very stealthy.  Elves may choose any class except Paladin. They 
         resist light effects intrinsically.
 
     Hobbits:
         Hobbits are very good at bows (especially slings), throwing, and have 
         good saving throws.  They also are even better 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 no good 
         at melee fighting.  They have few hit points, but can sometimes endure 
         ailments that would lay other races low.  Hobbits have fair infravision, 
         so they can detect warm creatures at a distance.  Hobbits can choose 
         between being a warrior, mage, rogue, druid, or assassin.  They have 
         their dexterity sustained.
 
     Gnome:
         Gnomes are smaller than dwarves but larger than hobbits. They, like 
         hobbits, live in the earth in burrow-like homes.  Gnomes make excel-
         lent 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 fair infra-vision, so they can detect warm-
         blooded creatures at a distance.  A gnome may choose between being a 
         warrior, mage, priest, rogue, necromancer, or assassin.  Gnomes are 
         intrinsically protected against paralysis and some slowing effects.
 
     Dwarf:
         Dwarves are the headstrong miners and fighters of legend.  Since dun-
         geons are the natural home of a dwarf, they are excellent choices for
         a warrior, priest, or necromancer.  Dwarves tend to be stronger and 
         tougher but less intelligent and dextrous than humans.  They gain a 
         small bonus to combat skill when using polearms, but don't know the 
         first thing about bows.  Because they are so headstrong and are some-
         what wise, they resist spells which are cast on them.  Dwarves also 
         have very good infra-vision because they live underground.  They do 
         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.  They can never be blinded.
 
     Half-Orc:
         Half-Orcs are as bad as dwarves at stealth, and horrible at search-
         ing, disarming, and perception.  They can become warriors, priests, 
         rogues, necromancers, or assassins, doing their best to make great 
         consitiutions and lots of hit points make up for very poor magical 
         skills.  Half-Orcs are, let's face it, ugly.  They tend to pay more 
         for goods in town.  Because of their preference to living underground
         to on the surface, half-orcs resist darkness attacks.
 
     Half-Troll:
         Half-Trolls are incredibly strong, and have more hit points than any 
         other character race.  They are also very stupid and clumsy.  They 
         will make great warriors, iffy priests, and rather interesting 
         necromancers.  They are bad at searching, disarming, perception, and 
         stealth.  They are so ugly that a Half-Orc grimaces in their presence.
         They also happen to be fun to run...  Half-trolls always have their 
         strength sustained.
 
     Dunadan:
         Dunedain are a race of hardy men from the West.  This elder race sur-
         passes the abilities of other humans in every field, especially con-
         stitution.  However, being men of the world, very little is new to 
         them, and levels are very hard to gain...  They may play any class.  
         Their constitution cannot be reduced.
 
     High-Elf:
         High-elves are a race of immortal beings dating from the beginning of 
         the world.  They attain experience levels even more slowly than Dune-
         dain.  They are masters of all skills, and are agile and intelligent, 
         although their wisdom is sometimes suspect.  They can play all classes 
         except Paladin, and very well at that.  High-elves begin their lives 
         able to see the unseen, and resist light effects just like other elves.
 
 
=== Classes ===
 
Nine different classes are available in Oangband.  Some classes are not re-
commended for certain races; for instance, a Half-Troll would be a very confused 
Paladin.  More information on all classes other than the Warrior can be found 
below, in the section describing spell realms.  For the first few adventures it 
is suggested that you run a warrior, rogue, or paladin.  The pure spellcasters 
generally require a more experienced player that is familiar with survival tech-
niques.
 
     Warrior:
         The great melee fighter, capable of doing more damage and surviving 
         longer at close quarters than any other class.  So skilled in combat 
         can a warrior become that he gains permanent protection from fear at 
         level 30, can spread attacks out among weaker monsters at level 35, and 
         regenerates intrinsically at level 45.  He is unchallengable with melee 
         weapons, and is also good with all missile launchers, getting an extra 
         shot with bows (level 35) and crossbows (level 40).  His biggest 
         drawback is his ignorance of spells and many magical items.  Most of 
         his dungeon survival skills are mediocre.  A Warrior learns no magical 
         spells, and has poor magical defences.  His prime stat is Strength, 
         and a good Dexterity and Constitution can really help at times.

     Mage:
         Master of sorcery.  A mage is not really complete without an assort-
         ment of magical devices to use in addition to his spells.  He can mas-
         ter the higher level magical devices far more easily than anyone else.  
         He fights very poorly, except with the lightest of weapons.  He is bad 
         at archery.  A mage is stealthy at low levels, but his magic betrays 
         his presence at high.  Most of his other skills are mediocre.  He has 
         excellent magical defences, but dangerously poor physical ones.  In-
         telligence is his primary stat, and a high Constitution is very useful.

     Priest:
         Covenented with a mighty and generous god. He explores the dungeon only 
         to destroy the evil that lurks within, and if treasure just happens to 
         fall into his pack, well, so much more to the glory of his church! 
         A priest is spoilt for choice with protection and healing prayers, and 
         posesses an unequalled collection of knowledge gaining prayers.  He is 
         a fair fighter with blunt weapons and miserable with edged.  He is poor 
         at archery.  His magical defences are excellent, and his physical ones 
         acceptable.  Priests are familiar with magic items.  He has merely 
         mediocre stealth and dungeon survival skills.  Priests gain +1 to light 
         radius at level 35 and above and permanant protection against evil at 
         level 50.  Wisdom is a Priest's primary stat.

     Rogue:
         The flexible dungeon sneaker.  First in line when dungeon survival 
         skills were handed out.  He can fight very well with light weapons and 
         is dangerous with a sling (gets extra shots at 20th and 40th level).  
         He is clumsy with heavy weapons.  He has decent magical skills.  A 
         Rogue will have a fairly decent collection of spells to improve his 
         natural skills, aid in battle, and gain information, but almost no 
         ability to deal magical damage.  He can fight hand-to-hand more 
         quietly than can any other class, and gets the most effective sneak 
         attacks against sleeping monsters.  Rogues have the unique capacity of 
         filching purses and setting traps (use the '+' command).  See the help 
         file on combat for more details.  Unfortunately, no shopkeeper trusts 
         a rogue, and so members of this class will pay dearly for goods in 
         town.  A Rogue has acceptable physical and magical defences.  His pri-
         mary stats are Intelligence and Dexterity.

     Ranger:
         An archer skilled in nature lore.  He is better than any other class 
         with any missile weapon except slings.  A Ranger gets one extra shot 
         with any missile weapon (25th level for slings, 45th for xbows), and 
         two with bows (20th and 40th level).  He is a merely acceptable melee 
         fighter, yet not as limited to light weapons as is a Rogue.  A ranger 
         can use magical items effectively, and finds his spells handy but not
         critical.   A Ranger has decent dungeon survival skills, and good 
         stealth.  He has acceptable magical and physical defences.  Although 
         he has quite a solid combination of skills, more experience is needed 
         for him to advance.  His primary stats are Wisdom and Dexterity.

     Paladin:
         A champion of the Faith.  A paladin is the second best melee fighter 
         available, as long as he sticks to blunt weapons.  Missile weapons con-
         fuse him.  He has little stealth, and poor dungeon survial skills, but 
         can survive as well or better than any other class in battle or against 
         magic.  He has a sub-set of the priestly prayers.  Plus one to light 
         radius at level 45 and above.  His primary stats are Wisdom and 
         Strength.

     Druid:
         At one with nature.  He posesses a wide and varied range of healing, 
         dungeon alteration, and knowledge spells, plus a large number of spells 
         to hinder and reduce foes.  Can fight well bare-handed and acceptably 
         with slings, but not with other missile weapons or any melee weapon.  
         Although a druid can do a lot of damage, his spells are more random 
         than are those of other realms.  He has decent magical skill, fairly 
         high stealth, and good magical defences.  A Druids will have decent 
         dungeon survival skills.  His primary stat is Wisdom.

     Necromancer:
         Dealer in death.  He has an unsurpassed collection of highly deadly 
         combat spells, and can dish out damage like nobody's business.  His 
         magical item ability is acceptable, but virtually all of his other 
         skills are poor, and he has a hard time protecting himself.  Fortu-
         ately, at higher levels his magic can help with some of these prob-
         lems.  His primary stat is Intelligence, and he needs to watch his 
         Constitution.

     Asassain:
         The death-dealing stalker.  He is better than a Rogue at melee, but is 
         still limited to reasonably light weapons.  An Assassin is deadly with 
         lighter missile launchers, and can eventually poison missiles, but gets 
         no innate extra shots.  He is a master at using thrown weapons against 
         sleeping monsters.  He has rather good stealth, but lacks protection 
         if caught.  His other dungeon survival skills are good, and he has 
         access to a sub-set of the necromantic spells.  He can shoot missiles 
         and throw objects more quietly than any other class, and makes little 
         noise in melee as well.  An Assassin will have mediocre magic skill, 
         and poor magical defences.  His primary stats are Intelligence and 
         Strength.


=== Stats ===

     Strength:
         Strength is critical to fighting effectively in melee and with missile 
         weapons.  Increases in Strength increase damage, can allow players to 
         get more blows with heavier weapons, and slightly improves your chance 
         to hit.   Strength is also useful in tunneling and in carrying heavy 
         items without being slowed down.
 
     Intelligence:
         Intelligence affects the spellcasting abilities of mages, rogues, 
         necromancers, and assassins.  For these classes, this stat will affect 
         the number of spells they may learn each level, the number of spell 
         points they receive, and the possibility for that spell to fail.  You 
         cannot learn spells if your intelligence is 6 or lower.  A good intel-
         ligence can also help with using magic devices, picking locks, and 
         disarming traps.
 
     Wisdom
          The primary function of wisdom is to determine the ability of priests, 
          druids, paladins, and rangers to use prayers or druid spells. For these 
          classes, this stat will affect the number of spells they may learn 
          each level, the number of spell points they receive, and the possibil-
          ity for that spell to fail.  You cannot learn spells if your wisdom is 
          6 or lower.  A good wisdom can also help to improve 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, and
          will significantly increase his chances of hitting with any weapon and 
          dodging blows from enemies. Dexterity is also useful in picking locks, 
          disarming traps, and protecting yourself from some of the thieves that 
          inhabit the dungeons.
 
     Constitution
          Constitution is a character's ability to resist damage to his body, 
          and to recover from stuns, poison, cuts, and pure damage.  Therefore a 
          character with a high constitution will receive more hit points and 
          also recover them faster while resting.
 
     Charisma
          Charisma represents a character's personality and physical appearance.  
          A character with a high charisma will receive better prices from store 
          owners, whereas a character with a very low charisma may be robbed 
          blind.  A high charisma will also mean more starting money for the 
          character.
 

=== Abilities ===

Characters possess some different abilities which can help them to survive.  The 
starting abilities of a character are based upon race and class.  Abilities may 
be adjusted by high or low stats, and may increase with experience level.
 
     Fighting Ability:
          This skill controls melee (hand to hand) combat ability.  A character 
          with a low fighting skill cannot hope to either hit monsters often or 
          do much damage if he does.  This skill increases with the level of the
          character. It is affected by Dexerity and (less importantly) Strength.

     Shooting Ability:
          Using ranged missile weapons and throwing objects are both included in 
          this skill.  The higher your character's shooting ability, the more 
          frequently he will hit his target and the more damage he will do when 
          he does.  This skill increases with the level of the character.  It is 
          effected by Dexerity and (less importantly) Strength.
 
     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.
 
     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 en-
          tirely, allowing a player to avoid certain fights and squash multiply-
          ing monsters before they take over the dungeon level.  This skill is 
          based entirely upon race and class, and will never improve unless 
          magically enhanced.
 
     Disarming:
          Disarming is the ability to safely remove traps and pick locks on 
          chests and doors.  A successful disarming will gain the character 
          some experience.  A trap must be found before it can be disarmed.  
          Dexterity and Intelligence both modify the ability to disarm, and this
          ability increases with the level of the character.
 
     Magical Devices:
          Using a magical device such as a wand or staff requires experience and  
          knowledge.  Magi have considerably more skill in this field than any 
          other class.  This skill is modified by Intelligence, and increases 
          with the level of the character.
 
     Searching Frequency (Perception):
          Perception is the ability to notice something without actively seeking 
          it out.  This skill is based entirely upon race and class, and will 
          never improve unless magically enhanced.
 
     Searching Ability (Searching):
          To search is to actively look for secret doors, floor traps, and traps 
          on chests.  Rogues are the best at searching, but magi, druids, assas-
          sins, rangers, and priests are also good at it.  This skill is based 
          entirely upon race and class, and will never improve unless magically 
          enhanced.

     Infra-vision:
          Infra-vision is the ability to see heat sources.  It will allow a 
          character to see any warm-blooded creature up to a certain distance.  
          This ability works equally well with or without a light source.  All 
          non human races have innate infra-vision ability. This skill will 
          never improve unless magically enhanced.

=== The Four Realms of Magic ===

     Sorcery:
         Mages and Rogues both learn and cast spells from sorcery books.  They
         enjoy access to one of the most flexible realms available.  Although
         few, sorcery's weaknesses are important, including an almost total
         lack of healing spells and the poorest mana-to-damage ratio of any 
         magical realm.  Although they have lost magical invulnerability, and 
         will find genocide and dungeon destruction spells expensive, mages can 
         recover mana very quickly, and move about the dungeon better than 
         anyone else - it is rumoured that precise control of teleportation is 
         not impossible for them.  In addition, mages can recharge the magical 
         items they need to help improve damage dealing ability far better than 
         anyone else.  They are skilled at slowing, sleeping, and confusing 
         their foes.  Rogues find their spells very handy for improving their 
         skills, gaining information, and getting out of tough spots.

     Piety:
         Protected and inspired by their God, Priests and Paladins can protect 
         themselves well and repair damage of any kind far better than can any 
         other class.  On the other hand, this realm's weakness include expen-
         sive teleportation and late access to an identify prayer.  Priests are 
         the shining wielders of holy light, and will eventually be able to hurl 
         radiant spheres, gain an increased light radius, and flood the entire 
         dungeon level.  Gilthoniel A Elbereth!  They are formidable champions 
         of Good, with enough evil-smiting prayers to do a lot of dungeon 
         cleansing, and are unexcelled at frightening and turning foes.  They 
         even gain permenant protection from evil at the very highest exp level.  
         When blessed for battle, a Paladin can fight alongside the best, and 
         will eventually gain an increased light radius. 

     Nature Magics:
         Druids are probably the most flexible spellcaster available, and the
         only one capable of doing significant damage in melee.  In addition, 
         they can unleash the cunning and might of nature to hinder, baffle, 
         and then kill their foes.  On the other hand, they have almost no 
         dungeon movement spells, and many of their methods of gaining knowledge 
         work poorly or are rather expensive far from trees and sky.  In 
         addition, their combat spells are more random than are those of other 
         realms.  They will eventually be able to shapeshift into any of five 
         creatures, each of which possesses valuable advantages, but lower max-
         imum mana.  With their magics, Rangers are even more flexible than they 
         would be otherwise, but they cannot rely on their spells alone.

     Necromancy:
         Unlike other classes, who journey deep into the dungeon to slay Mor-
         goth and free the cosmos from darkness and fear, Necromancers and 
         Assassins aspire to replace him with themselves.  To accomplish this 
         mighty task, Necromancers wield unrivaled damage-dealing spells, with 
         the most "bang for the buck" of any magical realm.  Unfortunately, 
         their mighty attack is not matched by a strong defence; indeed they 
         have the sad distinction of being the least survivable class going.  
         Although at high levels this disadvantage is substantially reduced, 
         and the forms that they can turn into provide important benefits, 
         Necromancers are always going to have to be cautious.  Assassins have 
         a fairly weak toolkit of magics, but they have the unique ability of 
         reliably poisoning any missile.

     There is a bit more information available on certain spells (those the  
benefits of might not be immediately obvious) in the help file on attacking and 
defending, but most is left for you to discover.

Listing of shapeshifts and their effects.  All shapeshifts chop mana in half.  
Various effects can be checked by using the 'C'haracter screen, then typing 'h'
twice.  Shapeshifts may be canceled by typing ']'.

Druid:
     Mouse-has superb stealth and very poor combat and magical device skills.
     Ferret-high DEX, searching, regeneration, and a little extra speed, but 
             serious penalties to Deadliness and magical device skills.
     Hound-So high is this creature's ability to smell, hear, and see the world
             around it that they are represented by telepathy.  Poor magical 
             device skill.  Penalty to Wisdom.
      Gazelle-Increase in speed, DEX, and Skill, but penalties to STR, Dead-
             liness, and magical device skills.
      Lion-Bonuses to STR, combat skills, armour class, resist fear and 
             regeneration, and a small bonus to speed, but penalties to CHR and 
             magical device skill.
      Ent-Bonuses to most stats, resist most elements and poison, see invisible, 
             free action, plus to Deadliness and tunnelling, but loses any 
             feather fall and any protection from fire whatsoever.

Necromancer:
     Bat-Cannot be blinded, large bonus to infravision, feather fall, speed 
            bonus, but penalties to magical device skill, combat skills, and 
            various stats.
     Werewolf-Bonuses to infravision, STR, regeneration, and is a fighting 
            machine, but penalties to CHR, magical devices, and aggravates 
            nearby monsters.
     Vampire-Bonuses to various stats, resist cold, hold life, see invisible, 
            regenerate, fights and uses magical devices well, and is stealthy, 
            but is never resistant to light, never double-resistant to fire, 
            has a penalty to CHR, and never has a light radius of more than two.


=== Maximize and Preserve modes ===

     Maximize:
         Deciding to play a game in maximize mode turns all racial and class 
         bonuses and penalties to stats into permenant modifiers.  Thus, a
         Half-Troll Warrior in Maximize mode would have a maximum possible
         Strength of 18/190 before equipment bonuses, but only 18/40 maximum
         innate Intelligence.  In Oangband, maximize mode is strongly recom-
         mended for all race and class combinations for the sake of realism.

     Preserve:
         Selecting Preserve mode makes it possible for artifacts to appear more
         than once if not discovered, but eliminates all the handy "special" 
         feelings (see the help file on exploring the dungeon).  In Oangband,
         Non-preserve mode can actually be useful.


=== The Special Qualities and Immunities that your Character may Possess === 

     After your character is born, you may discover what special qualities and 
immunities he has - and that you know about - by displaying the Character Screen 
(type "C"), and then hitting "h" twice to display a list.  This list is amaz-
ingly handy for finding out what you qualities you need and do not yet possess.  
Because it only takes into account your racial intrinsics, shapeshift bonuses, 
and fully known (*Identified*) or obvious items, consulting this list is not 
cheating. A list of displayed qualities and some descriptions follows:

     Acid, Elec, Fire, Cold, Pois:
          See the help file on combat, "Defending against Attacks", "Bolt, Ball, 
          and Breath attacks".
     Fear:
          You cannot fight hand-to-hand when panicking.  Some potions remove 
          fear and you may obtain resist fear from various items of equipment.
     Lite, Dark:
          See the help file on combat, "Defending against Attacks", "Bolt, Ball, 
          and Breath attacks".
     Blind, Confu:
          Resistance to blindness and confusion can save your life.  Until you 
          get these important survival aids, keep certain potions and mushrooms 
          handy.
     Sound, Shard, Nexus, Nethr, Chaos, Disen:
          Most of these are - briefly - described in the help file on combat, 
          "Defending against Attacks", "Bolt, Ball, and Breath attacks", but 
          much is left for you to discover...
     S. Dig:
          Slow Digestion reduces the amount of food you consume.
     PLite:
          Wearing one (or more) objects possessing Permanant Light will increase 
          your light radius by one; very handy for seeing foes before they leap 
          upon you.
     Regen:
          Characters who regenerate regain hit points at twice the normal rate 
          and mana at 1.5x the normal rate.  Characters who regenerate need to 
          eat hearty.
     Telep:
          Try not to randomly teleport.
     Invis:
          Many creatures in the dungeons are invisible, and you will need to 
          keep some source of permanent or temporary see invisible handy if you  
          descend more than a few levels into the dungeon.
     FrAct:
          Some creatures are able to paralyze or slow you with melee attacks or 
          spells.  Free Action is a survival essential deep in the dungeon.
     HLife:
          Characters with Hold Life resist experience draining attacks, and may 
          even escape their effects entirely.
     Stea :
          Items with this ability decrease the amount of noise your character 
          makes as he moves around the dungeon and performs actions.
     Sear :
          Items with this ability allow your character to find traps and secret 
          doors more easily.
     Infra:
          Some objects increase the range at which you may see warm-blooded 
          creatures, regardless of whether they are illuminated or even visible 
          to the unaided eye.
     Tunn :
          All shovels and picks and certain other weapons grant bonuses to 
          tunnelling skill.
     Speed:
          The faster you move, the fewer dangerous things monsters can do to 
          you before you get to take a turn.  Speed items are rare for all but 
          high-level characters.
     Blows:
          Unused in Oangband.
     Shots:
          Some missile launchers allow you to spend less time firing each shot.
     Might:
          Missile launchers may also have a higher-than-normal damage dice 
          multiplier.


=== Combinations of Race and Class (recommendations only) ===
 
                 Warrior,     Priest,     Ranger,     Druid,    Assassin
                         Mage,      Rogue,     Paladin,     Necro.

     Human         Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes
     Half-Elf      Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes
     Elf           Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   No    Yes   Yes   Yes
     Hobbit        Yes   Yes   No    Yes   No    No    Yes   No    Yes
     Gnome         Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   No    No    No    Yes   Yes
     Dwarf         Yes   No    Yes   No    No    No    No    Yes   No
     Half-Orc      Yes   No    Yes   Yes   No    No    No    Yes   Yes
     Half-Troll    Yes   No    Yes   No    No    No    No    Yes   No
     Dunadan       Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes
     High-Elf      Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   Yes   No    Yes   Yes   Yes


=== Stat Bonus and Hit Point Tables ===

                    STR  INT   WIS   DEX   CON   CHR  Hit Dice  Rqd Exp/level
     Human          0     0     0     0     0     0      10          +0%
     Half-Elf      -1    +1     0    +1    -1    +1       9         +10%
     Elf           -1    +2    +1    +1    -2    +1       8         +25%
     Hobbit        -2    +2    +1    +3    +2    +1       7         +10%
     Gnome         -1    +2     0    +2    +1    -2       8         +25%
     Dwarf         +2    -3    +2    -2    +2    -3      11         +30%
     Half-Orc      +2    -1     0     0    +1    -4      10         +10%
     Half-Troll    +4    -4    -2    -4    +3    -6      12         +10%
     Dunadan       +1    +2    +2    +2    +3    +2      10         +80%
     High-Elf      +1    +3    -1    +3    +1    +5      10        +100%
           
                   STR   INT   WIS   DEX   CON   CHR  Hit Dice  Rqd Exp/level
     Warrior       +5    -2    -2    +2    +2    -1      +9         +00%
     Mage          -4    +3     0    +1    -2    +1      +0         +25%
     Priest        -1    -3    +3    -1     0    +2      +2         +20%
     Rogue         +2    +1    -2    +3    +1    -5      +5         +30%
     Ranger        +2     0    +1    +1    +1    +1      +5         +30%
     Paladin       +3    -3    +1     0    +2    +2      +7         +35%
     Druid         -2    -2    +3    +2     0    +1      +0         +20%
     Necromancer   -3    +3    -3    -1     0    -3      +1         +25%
     Assassin      +2    +1    -3    +2    +1    -3      +4         +30%
 
 
=== Ability Tables ===

Abilities are ranked on a comparative scale ranging from 3 to 10.  

                 disarm device save stealth search percep melee shooting
     Human         5      5     5      5      5      5      5      5
     Half-Elf      6      6     6      6      7      7      4      6
     Elf           7      7     7      8      8      8      3      7
     Hobbit       10     10    10      8     10     10      1      9
     Gnome         9      9     9      8      9      9      2      8
     Dwarf         4      6     9      4      5      5      7      5
     Half-Orc      4      4     4      4      5      4      6      4
     Half-Troll    3      3     3      3      4      3      8      3
     Dunadan       6      6     6      6      5      6      6      7
     High-Elf      6      8     8      8      6      7      5     10 
  
                 disarm device save stealth search percep melee shooting
     Warrior       6      5     5      3      5      4      10     8
     Mage          4     10     8     5->3    6      7      3      3
     Priest        5      8    10      4      6      8      5      5
     Rogue        10      8     8      8     10     10      7      8
     Ranger        7      8     8      5      7      6      6     10
     Paladin       4      4     8      3      4      4      8      4
     Druid         6      6     9      6      7      6      5      6
     Necromancer   4      8     5      4      5      5      3      3
     Assassin      9      7     4      7      8      8      8      9
 

