Primary stats have a ``natural'' range between 0 and ~20. The actual upper limit on each primary stat is set by the chosen character class (see character classes.) You can raise your primary stats by drinking potions up to your class natural limit.
There are plenty of items which give you bonuses to your stats even beyond your class limit - swords, armour and rings to name the most important. You can also read scrolls or cast spells (incantations or prayers) to temporarily raise your stats. The ultimate maximum value is 30, and the player class doesn't matter here. Some quantitative effects of the primary stats are summarized in the table below. The top row in the column header specifies a particular bonus (i.e. HpB, MgB, AcB, DmB, etc.) while the second row in the header indicates the stat which is used to calculate the value of that column. Where no stat appears, one of several stats may be used to calculate that value. See later parts of the text (particularly section statistics calculation) for further details.
Stat | HpB | MgB¹ | AcB | DmB | Thac0 | Max Carry | Speed | %learn² | Buy/Sell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(CON) | (DEX) | (STR) | (STR) | (STR) | (DEX) | (CHA) |
¹ Either POW or WIS can be used to calculate MgB (magic bonus).
² Percentage for learning either skills (INT), incantations (INT) or prayers (WIS).
Type | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Pow | Cha | Special |
---|
¹ All character classes start with the skills melee
weapons, find traps, use magic item,
literacy, and disarm traps.
Finally, here are some notes concerning a couple of the more ``exotic'' classes:
Fireborn
Monk
Quetzalcoatl
Wraith
Your next step will be to generate random (primary) stats for your
character. You aren't limited to the number of times you can roll your
stats - so have fun. Notice that the stats are always arranged that the STR
stat has the highest value, the CHA stat has the lowest. You may re-arrange
the order of these values when you decide that you have rolled some decent
stats. Two points: you can never roll a character with better
stats than an average of straight 15's, and you can't roll higher than 18 in
a stat.
When you roll your character, the stats displayed are the stats you
will get as a human (which are unmodified).
When satisfied, you can step through a number
of classes, each with special bonuses in stats.
Table 2.2 shows how your basic stats will
be changed by choosing a different class.
The difference between the natural stat limit and 20 indicates the
bonus/penalty assigned to rolled primary stats. For example, a
barbarian has a maximum strength which is 4 higher than 20-that
means he will begin with an additional 4 points added to his
strength roll. On the other hand, a barbarian can never get above 14
in intelligence. This means that your rolled character will have 6
less in intelligence if you choose that class. It also means that you
can't be a barbarian if you roll less than 7 in intelligence; the
poor barbarian would have had a stat below 1.
For beginning players, the ``simple fighter'' characters are the easiest to
play successfully. The Dwarf, Human, and Warrior are among good earlier
choices. As you gain experience with using Crossfire you may wish
to branch out into other ``fighter'' characters such as the Thief or Elf, or
try your hand at playing ``spellcaster'' characters like the Wizard, Mage,
Cleric or Priest. The ``exotic'' classes (e.g. Fireborn, Monk,
Quetzalcoatl, and Wraith) are the hardest classes to master.
One more note: If you are using the default game (compiled with the skills
system), you will probably find any character class that has a low natural
INT (for example, the Barbarian class) will have a fairly difficult time at
higher levels. Skills, and most importantly, spells, will be more difficult
learn. Plan to spend a lot of loot on grimores, prayer books and skill
scrolls.
Table 2.3 Starting equipment by character class.Type Starting Equipment
Table 2.4 Starting skills.Character Class Additional Skills¹
Attacks: fire, physical
Protections: immune: fire, poison; vulnerable: ghosthit, drain, cold
Special: fly, no armour, no weapons. Ac 0
Fireborns are fire spirits. They're closely in tune with
magic and learn all types of magic easily.
Being fire spirits, they are
immune to fire and poison, and vulnerable to cold. They are vulnerable to
ghosthit and drain because being mostly non-physical, anything which strikes
directly at the spirit hits them harder.
Attacks: physical
Protections: none
Special: no weapons.
Monks are members of various martial arts orders. They have devoted
themselves to a life of contemplation and revelation though physical
fighting! Their life-long secret vows keep them from using all hand-held
melee weapons, but in return they are allowed to learn secret techniques of
meditation.
Attacks: physical
Protections: immune: fire; vulnerable: paralyze, poison, cold
Special: no armour, Ac 5
Quetzalcoatls are an odd mixture of magic and combat abilities. They are
born knowing the spell of burning hands (heh, its their ``dragon breath'').
But because of their low natural intelligence/wisdom, they have a very hard
time learning new spells. All the same, they may become potent
wizards/priests as they have the highest power bonus, and they will
typically have a large amount of mana and a fair amount of grace.
Quetzalcoatls can be very
devastating fighters at low level. A combination of their low natural Ac
and high base damage tend to make mincemeat
out of low-level monsters. However, at mid-level, they really begin to have
problems because they cannot use armour.
Attacks: cold, physical
Protections: immune: drain, ghosthit; protected: physical, cold; vulnerable: fire
Special: Ac 6
The Wraith is a creature of the undead. These characters represent
revenging spirits come back to life to work their unholy will on the living.
Their undead nature makes them immune to life-damaging forces and their
etherealness protects them from physical harm. Like all undead, they succumb
to fire readily. Generating a character
When you start up Crossfire , you will be asked for a character name
followed by a password. If you are playing for the first time, type
any name you like; this will be your character name for the rest of
the life of that character. Next, type in any password.
Remember!:
you will need to type the same password again to play that character
again! One more note: its not a good idea to use ``real'' passwords
to your computer accounts! Doing so may make your system vulnerable
to unscrupulous Crossfire server administrators. Selecting a character
While each class has its particular strengths and weaknesses, in summary
its just a fact that some classes are easier to play than others.