List of backgrounds

Version 0.12: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

There are 28 different backgrounds in Dungeon Crawl (plus obsolete backgrounds). More information can be found at the pages for the individual backgrounds. They are broken up here into the categories shown on the initial select screen.

Warriors

• Fighter (Fi) - A heavily-armored warrior with a good general grounding in melee combat.
• Gladiator (Gl) - A warrior from the arena who has a good balance between melee and ranged combat.
• Monk (Mo) - An ascetic warrior with extensive knowledge of Unarmed Combat. They start off with limited equipment, but their pious ways make the gods look favorably upon them.
• Hunter (Hu) - A warrior who specializes on long-range weaponry.
• Assassin (As) - A killer who favors stealth and poison over brute force.

Zealots

• Berserker (Be) - A savage warrior who worships Trog, the violent god of rage.
• Abyssal Knight (AK) - A warrior-priest of Lugonu, the god of corruption and chaos.
• Chaos Knight (CK) - A warrior-priest of Xom, an unpredictable and fickle chaos god.
• Death Knight (DK) - A warrior-priest of Yredelemnul, the god of death.
• Priest (Pr) - A priest of order. They worship either Zin the Law-Giver, or Beogh if a Hill Orc.
• Healer (He) - A pacifistic worshiper of Elyvilon, the god of healing.

Warrior-mages

• Skald (Sk) - A war-chanting fighter using Charms to augment their attacks.
• Enchanter (En) - A spellcaster versed in the subtle arts of Hexes.
• Transmuter (Tm) - A magician whose Transmutations can change both themselves and those around them.
• Arcane Marksman (AM) - A hunter who uses magically enchanted arrows to deadly effect. Removed in 0.8, returned in 0.10.
• Warper (Wr) - A warrior who uses Translocations magic to move around the battlefield.

Mages

• Wizard (Wz) - A broadly-educated magician who does not specialize in any one school of magic.
• Conjurer (Cj) - A magician who wields the destructive art of Conjurations.
• Summoner (Su) - A magician who calls allies through Summonings.
• Necromancer (Ne) - A magician who studies the dark arts of Necromancy.
• Fire Elementalist (FE) - An elementalist who specializes in Fire Magic.
• Ice Elementalist (IE) - An elementalist who specializes in Ice Magic.
• Air Elementalist (AE) - An elementalist who specializes in Air Magic.
• Earth Elementalist (EE) - An elementalist who specializes in Earth Magic.
• Venom Mage (VM) - A spellcaster who specializes in Poison Magic.

Adventurers

• Artificer (Ar) - An Evocations specialist armed with wands and rods.
• Wanderer (Wn) - A fool that somehow ended up in the Dungeon. Starts off with random equipment and skills.

Obsolete Backgrounds

No longer available, but here for historical reference:

• Paladin (Pa) - A warrior who worships The Shining One, a god of holy war. Removed in 0.8.
• Reaver (Re) - A warrior who uses Conjurations to bolster their destructiveness. Removed in 0.8.
• Stalker (St) - An assassin who uses Transmutations magic to kill victims. Removed in 0.12.
• Thief (Th) - A sneaky type, well versed in the working of traps and moving unseen. Removed in 0.7.