Minotaur

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This page is about the player species. For the monster, see Minotaur (monster).

Minotaurs are a "hybrid" species, having a human-like body and a bovine (bull) head. They delve into the Dungeon because of their instinctive love of twisting passageways and (if their talents are anything to judge by) total carnage.

Minotaurs are strong, have high HP, and are blessed with great aptitudes for all weapons, especially melee. Defensive skills (Armour, Dodging, and Shields) also come easily to them, and their horns are sharp enough to serve as a secondary attack in battle. However, they rise in level almost as slowly as High Elves, are below-average at religious Invocations or using magic items, and are downright awful at any kind of proper spellcasting. As long as they remember their place (right in front of their opponent, beating them senseless), Minotaurs are well-suited to a life of adventure.

Innate Abilities

• Horns 2: Minotaurs get a secondary melee attack from their horns (using the Unarmed Combat skill), but cannot wear most forms of headgear.
• Minotaurs instinctively retaliate in melee whenever (5*STR + 7*DEX > random2(600))

Preferred Backgrounds

Minotaurs lack versatility, and should stick to being Fighters, Gladiators, Monks, Hunters, Berserkers, Death Knights, and Priests.

Level Bonuses

• Minotaurs gain a Strength or Dexterity (equal chance) increase every 4 levels starting at level 4.
• Minotaurs have 10% more HP than average.
• Minotaurs have 20% less MP than average.
• Minotaurs gain 3 magic resistance per level.

Starting Skills and Equipment

Minotaurs start with the skills and equipment listed for their background, with these exceptions:

• Any helmet is removed.

Difficulty of Play

Minotaurs are an easy species to play because of their incredible versatility in melee combat. They are equally adept (and surpass humans) in all weapons, and receive a passive bonus to Unarmed Combat as well. They are also very durable, thanks to high HP and a good Armour aptitude. Minotaurs are thus a great choice for players who want a powerful "monstrous" species, but don't want to sacrifice weapon versatility or armor as ogres and trolls do.

Skill aptitudes

The higher the value, the better the aptitude.

Skill	Aptitude	Skill	Aptitude	Skill	Aptitude
Attack		Miscellaneous		Magic
Fighting	+2	Armour	+2	Spellcasting	-3
Short Blades	+1	Dodging	+1	Conjurations	-3
Long Blades	+2	Stealth	-2	Hexes	-4
Axes	+2	Stabbing	-1	Charms	-4
Maces & Flails	+2	Shields	+2	Summonings	-3
Polearms	+2	Traps	-0	Necromancy	-3
Staves	+2			Translocations	-3
Unarmed Combat	+1			Transmutation	-2
		Fire Magic	-3
Throwing	0	Ice Magic	-3	Invocations	-1
Slings	+1	Air Magic	-3	Evocations	-1
Bows	+1	Earth Magic	-2
Crossbows	+1	Poison Magic	-3	Experience	130

Strategy

Tough, strong, and at home with all weapons, minotaurs are born for melee and ranged-combat backgrounds alike. Being feeble at magic, however, they need to milk the religious side of the game to round themselves out. Minotaurs may be below-average at Invocations, but their penalty there is manageable. They particularly excel as Berserkers, as Trog's religion emphasizes all of a Minotaur's strong points, and only trolls suffer less from his ban on magic. Nor do any of his powers actually require the Invocations skill, leaving more experience to devote to combat skills. Among the other religious backgrounds, Death Knights and their undead slaves are another good match for Minotaurs, and Abyssal and Chaos Knights are also melee-oriented to start.

If the starter gods aren't for you, picking Fighter, Gladiator, or Monk provides you with a good start for making the journey to the Temple (or to a lucky early altar). Minotaurs do well under Okawaru (Heroism, Finesse, equipment gifts), Makhleb (demonic summons, recovery from killing, blasts), or the Shining One (powers and defenses useful against demons and undead).