=== Creating a Character ===

XAngband is a roleplaying game, in which you, the player, control a
character in the world of XAngband. 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])).


***** <StartUp>
=== Start-up Options ===

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]).


***** <CharAttributes>
=== Character Attributes ===

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.

--- Secondary Attributes ---

Each character has a few secondary attributes, height, weight, social
class, and background history, which are randomly determined, but which
are affected by the sex and race of the character. In general, these
attributes are only used to provide "flavor" to the character, to
assist in the roll playing, but they do have a few minor effects on the
game. For example, background history affects social class, which
affects the amount of money the character will start with. And weight
affects carrying capacity and bashing ability.

***** <RaceClassComb> 
=== 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 Ranger Paladin Warrior Mind- Archer
                                                 -Mage crafter   
Human         Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     Yes     Yes    Yes   Yes
Half-Elf      Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     Yes     Yes    Yes   Yes
Elf           Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     No      Yes    Yes   Yes
Hobbit        Yes    Yes   No     Yes     No      No     No    Yes
Gnome         Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     No      No     Yes   Yes
Dwarf         Yes    No    Yes    No      No      No     No    No
Half-Orc      Yes    No    Yes    Yes     No      No     No    Yes
Half-Troll    Yes    No    No     No      No      No     No    No
Dunadan       Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     Yes     Yes    Yes   Yes
High-Elf      Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     No      Yes    Yes   Yes
Half-Giant    Yes    No    No     Yes     No      No     No    Yes
Klackon       Yes    No    No     Yes     No      No     No    Yes
Kobold        Yes    No    No     Yes     No      No     No    Yes
Nibelung      Yes    Yes   Yes    Yes     No      No     No    Yes
Mind Flayer   No     Yes   Yes    No      No      No     Yes   No


          Archae- Elemen  Sniper Snatcher Artificer
          ologist -talist                 
Human       Yes     Yes     Yes     Yes     Yes
Half-Elf    Yes     Yes     Yes     Yes     Yes 
Elf         No      Yes     Yes     No      Yes
Hobbit      No      Yes     Yes     No      Yes
Gnome       Yes     Yes     Yes     No      Yes
Dwarf       Yes     No      No      No      Yes
Half-Orc    No      No      No      No      No
Half-Troll  No      No      No      No      No
Dunadan     Yes     Yes     Yes     No      Yes
High-Elf    Yes     Yes     Yes     No      Yes
Half-Giant  No      No      No      No      No
Klackon     No      No      No      No      No
Kobold      No      Yes     No      No      No
Nibelung    No      No      Yes     No      Yes
Mind Flayer No      Yes     No      No      Yes

***** <ChoosingMagic>
=== Choosing Your Magic Realm(s) ===

If you have selected a spellcasting class, you will next be prompted
for your choice of magic realm. The magic system, as implemented in 
XAngband, consists of four magic realms: Life, Sorcery, Hex,  and 
Combat.  There are also eight elemental realms: Fire, Ice, Sky, Sea, 
Dark, Chaos, Earth and Death. Sorcery is possibly the closest to the 
'mage spells' of Angband.  The following is a brief description of 
the magic realms:

Life:    Good in defense and healing but also covers attacks against 
         evil creatures.
Sorcery: Strong in utility and offensive spells. 
Combat:  Specializes in the support of physical attacks.
Hex:     Superiour in physical strengthening spells and combat 
         enhancements.

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]).


***** <Restrictions>
--- Class/Realm Restrictions ---

The choice of realm is limited by the class you have chosen.

Class          Sorcery Magic Life Combat 
------------------------------------------
Mage             Yes    Yes    
Priest                        Yes 
Ranger                        Yes   Yes   
Paladin                       Yes 
Warrior-Mage     Yes                Yes
Archaeologist    Yes

              Fire Ice Sky Sea Dark Chaos Earth Death
------------------------------------------------------
Elementalist   Yes Yes Yes Yes  Yes  Yes   Yes   Yes

***** <RandomQuests>
=== RandomQuests ===

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 10. A more detailed
discussion of random quests can be found in the Dungeon section (see
dungeon.txt#RandomQuests [8]).


***** <AutoRoller>
=== The Auto-Roller ===

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 independent 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.


***** <CharName>
=== Naming Your Character ===

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 the character name determines the filename that will 
be used to save the character to disk and the default name of the 
"pref" file that can be used to save option settings and macros. 
The character name is also shown on the high score list.


***** <StartInventory>
=== Starting Inventory ===

Once you have named your character, you will be prompted to press 
'Enter' 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.


--
Original   : (??)
Updated    : (??)
Updated    : Zangband DevTeam
Updated    : XAngband DevTeam
Last update: March 4, 2009

***** Begin Hyperlinks
***** [1] birth.txt#AutoRoller
***** [2] birth.txt#RandomQuests
***** [3] option.txt#StartUp
***** [4] dungeon.txt#TownLevel
***** [5] charattr.txt#TheRaces
***** [6] charattr.txt#TheClasses
***** [7] magic.txt#MagicRealms
***** [8] dungeon.txt#RandomQuests
***** [9] charattr.txt#PrimaryStats
***** [a] charattr.txt#StatBonusTable
***** [b] birth.txt#CharName