Your character's race has a strong impact on level advancement rate, maximum age, hit points and power points regeneration, and starting alignment, attributes, equipment, and skills. Also, certain races have bonuses or penalties in other areas. See each race's page for details.
In the following table, each race is given a brief description, and the granted skills, starting alignment, relative speed of level advancement, and relative lifetime are listed. Most of this information is taken from the ADOM manual itself. Again, for detailed information (such as starting age), see each race's page.
Race | Description | Granted Skills | Starting Alignment | Level Advance | Lifetime |
Human | Humans are fairly generic. They have average stats, with only Learning above average, good equipment, and gain levels quickly. They perform decently with any class, but are not the best with any. | Food preservation, Haggling, Swimming | Neutral | Fast | Average |
Troll | Trolls are huge, stupid creatures that like to eat the other sentient races. Trolls heal quickly but need to eat a lot of food. They need much more experience to level than the others. They have excellent Strength and Toughness and poor mental stats. They make fearsome Barbarians, and are suited to other fighting classes. | Athletics, Bridge building , Food preservation, Gemology, Mining | Chaotic | Very slow | Very short |
High Elf | High elves are frivolous and love nature. Thanks to their high agility, they make excellent Archers; their magical ability also makes them capable spellcasters, even if the class is not specifically centered on casting, such as the Healer. | Dodge, Listening, Literacy, Stealth | Lawful | Average | Very long |
Grey Elf | Aloof, arrogant, and physically weak, but stunningly beautiful, Grey Elves are the most magically-oriented race. They make powerful Wizards and good Archers. | Dodge, Listening, Literacy, Stealth | Neutral | Average | Very long |
Dark Elf | Dark Elves are cruel underground denizens that specialize in stealth and magic. They are excellent Rangers and Archers, but also make surprisingly adept Beastfighters and Paladins. They are not well-liked among the other races, and despised by dwarves. | Alertness, Find weakness, Stealth | Chaotic | Average | Very long |
Dwarf | Dwarves are a short, stocky race who dwell in underground caverns. Physically strong and tough and often heavily armored, while low on Mana, they make excellent Fighters, Paladins and Weaponsmiths, but can do well with any class, even Wizards. | Detect traps, Metallurgy, Mining, Smithing | Lawful | Slow | Long |
Gnome | Gnomes live in rolling hills, are magically adept but still tough, and are deadly shots with crossbows. They are good Archers, Priests, and Elementalists. | Gemology, Listening, Mining, Pick Pockets, Ventriloquism | Neutral | Very Fast | Long |
Hurthling | Hurthlings are the smallest race, and are generally not prone to adventure. They are not strong, but sturdy, and very dextrous. They make good Thieves, Monks, Archers and Assassins. | Archery, Cooking, Food preservation, Gardening, Stealth | Lawful | Very Fast | Above Average |
Orc | Orcs are a hateful, evil race that enjoys killing and pillaging. They are excellent Fighters and Barbarians. They also make surprisingly good Paladins and Priests. | Backstabbing, Find Weakness, Metallurgy, Mining | Chaotic | Average | Very short |
Drakeling | Drakelings are cold-blooded humanoids who are related to dragons and can breathe acid. Physically strong and tough, they are good Fighters but can excel at any class due to a low number of weaknesses. They are a popular choice for Mindcrafters. | Alertness, Food preservation, Music, Swimming | Neutral | Slow | Average |
Ratling | Ratlings have decent melee stats and can quickly determine the relative worth of items, having both Appraising and Detect Item Status as racial skills. However, their very short lifespans put them in danger of quickly being aged to death by ghosts. | Appraising, Detect item status, Survival, Swimming | Neutral | Average | Very short |
Mist elf | Mist Elves are a challenging race to play because of their extremely low toughness. Total HP of less than 40 at level 10 is not uncommon. On the positive side, they are extremely good channelers of magic and need very little food to survive. | Alertness, Concentration, Dodge, Literacy, Necromancy | Neutral | Slow | Extremely long |