Barachi

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Barachim are an amphibious humanoid race, spawned at the dawn of time as servants for the gods. Inevitably, they rebelled and fled into the mortal world; but even uncounted years later, the darkness still flees at their approach, remembering those who they once served. Barachim's most remarkable trait is their grossly overmuscled legs, which allow them to leap great distances. When not leaping, they are somewhat slow-moving, and the long sight-lines that their heritage creates can be a major disadvantage, but they can master almost any skill.

Innate Abilities

• +1 LOS: Barachim have a line of sight of 8 tiles instead of the normal 7. This means that they can see more monsters at once and can attack monsters from further away, but the reverse is also true.
• Amphibious: Barachim may swim freely through shallow and deep water and do not suffer the movement or attack penalties for doing so.
• Slow 1: Barachim move slowly, taking 1.2 turns to move a single step.
• Strong Legs 1: Barachim can hop short distances (up to four tiles), but without complete accuracy. Hopping requires a LOS unobstructed by any physical obstacles; however, one can hop over interposed monsters, plants, or statues. Hopping is not blinking, so it continues to function when one is affected by teleport restrictions or Dimension Anchor. After hopping, you will be unable to use this ability again until you have spent 12-24 turns not moving. (Other actions, such as casting spells and attacking, are fine.)

Barachim have a base Strength of 9, Intelligence of 8 and Dexterity of 7 (before Background modifiers).

Preferred Backgrounds

• Warriors: Fighter
• Zealots: Berserker
• Mages: Summoner, Ice Elementalist.

Level Bonuses

• +1 to a random stat every 4 levels.
• Average HP
• Average MP
• +3 willpower per level
• Strong Legs 2, at level 13: the hopping range is increased, up to six tiles.

Starting Skills and Equipment

Barachim receive the skills and equipment listed for their background.

Difficulty of Play

Having another tile added to a Barachi's Line of Sight results in monsters becoming aware of them earlier and in greater numbers. The slow speed makes sure that Barachim cannot outrun these monsters when the upstairs are far away. This is somewhat offset by the unique escape of hopping, which essentially gives the Barachim a free, reusable semi-controlled blink.

The aptitudes of a Barachi, for combat, defences and magic, belong to the best among all species. This makes them very versatile, a lot more than the short list of recommended backgrounds seems to suggest.

Skill aptitudes

The higher the value, the better the aptitude.

Skill	Aptitude	Skill	Aptitude	Skill	Aptitude
Attack		Miscellaneous		Magic
Fighting	2	Armour	2	Spellcasting	0
		Dodging	1
Maces & Flails	1	Shields	1	Conjurations	1
Axes	1	Stealth	0	Hexes	1
Polearms	0			Summonings	2
Staves	1	Invocations	-1	Necromancy	-1
Unarmed Combat	1	Evocations	1	Translocations	1
Throwing	0	Shapeshifting	0	Alchemy	1
				Fire Magic	1
Short Blades	1			Ice Magic	2
Long Blades	2			Air Magic	1
Ranged Weapons	0	Experience	0	Earth Magic	0

Strategy

Barachim struggle early on due to their slow speed, so it is important to develop a successful strategy for killing enemies quickly. The excellent aptitudes make this easy, thankfully. Additionally, they are far less limited in escape options than their slower counterparts, nagas, for they aren't quite as slow and they can hop to escape especially dangerous melee encounters.

Almost every god will work with Barachi, although it is wise to choose a god without a significant Invocations requirement, to counter their poor Invocations aptitude. Cheibriados is a natural god choice, as they help you survive your slow pace and you will gain piety much more quickly than usual due to your naturally slow speed. Your innate hop ability also provides a renewable emergency escape or repositioning option, useful for any follower of Cheibriados.

Your hop can come in handy, but it isn't quite as reliable as a controlled blink. It's entirely possible you might hop towards a choke-point or away from a dangerous enemy only to fall a couple of tiles short of your destination. If you need to retreat from something particularly dangerous (such as something with a deadly smite-targeted ability), consider just reading a scroll of blinking instead of trying to hop.

History

• Prior to 0.26 Barachim could hop to free themselves from webs or nets.
• Barachim were added in 0.20. They were called Barachians during their development.