Rogue: Exploring the Dungeons of Doom version 5.4.5

This rogue plays like the original Vax binary that was distributed on the BSD 4.3 Reno tapes.

GitHub repo: rogue5.4 repo

To configure:

If needed, edit Makefile and/or config.h. Most likely you won't need to do so.

To make and install:

make clobber all
sudo make install

To run rogue before installing:

./rogue

Assuming that /usr/local/bin in your $PATH, after installing, to play rogue:

rogue

To quit, interrupt the program (type control-C), answer "y" to the question and press return.

To save your rogue game, press "S" and save.

To restore your game, run:

rogue -r

NOTE: Restoring your rogue game will cause the rogue save file to be removed.

For help in the game type "?" and then "*".

For your convenience, the full game help output is formatted below:

    ?       prints help
    /       identify object
    h       left
    j       down
    k       up
    l       right
    y       up & left
    u       up & right
    b       down & left
    n       down & right
            <SHIFT><dir>: run that way
            <CTRL><dir>: run till adjacent
    f<dir>  fight till death or near death
    t<dir>  throw something
    m<dir>  move onto without picking up
    z<dir>  zap a wand in a direction
    ^<dir>  identify trap type
    s       search for trap/secret door
    >       go down a staircase
    <       go up a staircase
    .       rest for a turn
    ,       pick something up
    i       inventory
    I       inventory single item
    q       quaff potion

    r       read scroll
    e       eat food
    w       wield a weapon
    W       wear armor
    T       take armor off
    P       put on ring
    R       remove ring
    d       drop object
    c       call object
    a       repeat last command
    )       print current weapon
    ]       print current armor
    =       print current rings
    @       print current stats
    D       recall what's been discovered
    o       examine/set options
    ^R      redraw screen
    ^P      repeat last message
    ^[      cancel command, ^[ is the escape key
    S       save game
    Q       quit
    !       shell escape
    F<dir>  fight till either of you dies
    v       print version, release, dungeon number

The following table may help explain the symbols you see when playing rogue:

For more information about the make, see the rogue(6) man page after installing, or run the command from the top level directory:

make rogue.6
man ./rogue.6

To read "A Guide to the Dungeons of Doom", try:

make rogue.doc
less rogue.doc

GOAL: As the man page states:

To win the game (as opposed to merely playing to beat other people's high scores) you must locate the Amulet of Yendor which is somewhere below the 20th level of the dungeon and get it out.

BTW: The rogue(6) man page states:

Nobody has achieved this yet and if somebody does, they will probably go down in history as a hero among heroes.

The above statement is hyperbole and not intended to imply that nobody has achieved the goal. The maintainer of the rogue5.4 repo has completed the goal (won) at least 3 times (without using wizard mode) and reached a maximum dungeon depth (and successful return to level 0) of 31.

The rogue game options may be displayed and changed by using the "o" command.

The option names are:

• terse / noterse

Useful for those who are tired of the sometimes lengthy messages of rogue.

This is a useful option to enable when playing on an historically slow terminal.

Default: noterse

Recommendation: noterse

• flush / noflush

If this option is set, typeahead is thrown away after each round of battle.

This is useful for those who type far ahead, and then watch in dismay as a Bat kills them.

Default: noflush

Recommendation: flush

• jump / nojump

If this option is set, running moves will not be displayed until you reach the end of the move.

This is a useful option to enable when playing on an historically slow terminal.

Default: nojump

Recommendation: jump

• seefloor / noseefloor

Display the floor around you on the screen as you move through dark rooms.

This is a useful option to disable when playing on an historically slow terminal.

Default: seefloor

Recommendation: seefloor

• passgo / nopassgo

Follow turnings in passageways. If you run in a passage and you run into stone or a wall, rogue will see if it can turn to the right or left. If it can only turn one way, it will turn that way. If it can turn either or neither, it will stop.

This algorithm can sometimes lead to slightly confusing occurrences to some people, which is why it defaults to false.

Default: nopassgo

Recommendation: passgo

• tombstone / notombstone

Print out the tombstone at the end if you get killed.

This is a useful option to disable when playing on an historically slow terminal.

Default: tombstone

Recommendation: tombstone

• inven=style

Set the inventory style to one of "overwrite", "slow", or "clear".

With "overwrite" the top lines of the map are overwritten with the list when inventory is requested, or when "Which item do you wish to ...?" questions are answered with a "*". However, if the list is longer than a screenful, the screen is cleared.

With "slow", lists are displayed one item at a time on the top of the screen.

With "clear", the screen is cleared, the list is displayed, and then the dungeon level is re-displayed.

Default: clear

Recommendation: overwrite

• name=rogue-name

This is the name of your character, as displayed in the rogue score file.

Default: <<Your account name>>

Recommendation: <<leave as default>>

• fruit=fruit-name

This should hold the name of a fruit that you enjoy eating. It is basically a whimsy that rogue uses in a couple of places.

Default: slime-mold

Recommendation: apple

• file=rogue-save-path

The default file name for saving the game.

Default: ~/.rogue.save

Recommendation: <<leave as default>>

• score=rogue-score-path

The path of the rogue score file.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Changing the rogue score file path without also changing the rogue lock file path is NOT a good idea.

Default: ~/.rogue.scr

Recommendation: <<leave as default>>

• lock=rogue-lock-path

The rogue lock file used to protect the rogue score file.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Changing the rogue lock file path without also changing the rogue score file path is NOT a good idea.

Default: ~/.rogue.lck

Recommendation: <<leave as default>>

The $ROGUEOPTS environment variable may be used to change the rogue options at startup, rather than having to use the "o" command each time you play.

The $ROGUEOPTS environment variable would be a string that is a series of comma separated values, with booleans being stated as "name" (true) or "noname" (false), and strings being "name=....", with the string being defined up to a comma or the end of the entire option string.

As an example, here is a recommended $ROGUEOPTS environment value to set in your environment:

export ROGUEOPTS="noterse,flush,jump,seefloor,passgo,tombstone,inven=overwrite,fruit=apple"

If the $ROGUEOPTS environment variable is missing or empty, the default options will be used. Unknown options are silently ignored.

By default, the rogue game stores files in your home (i.e., '${HOME}`) directory.

In this section we will assume that ${ROGUEDIR} is your home directory (denoted as ~). See the "Changing the rogue directory" section for details.

• ~/.rogue.lck

The rogue lock file is a zero-length file that must be writable by the user. It is used to help prevent multiple processes on the local machine from writing to the rogue score file at the same time.

If the rogue lock file does not exist, the lock file will be created when updating the rogue score file.

• ~/.rogue.save

The rogue save file is created whenever you use the "S" command to save the game, or if certain signals are successfully caught and the "auto save" action is successfully completed.

A rogue save file is not guaranteed to restore in a different system.

If the rogue save file does not exist, the rogue game will create it when a game is saved.

• ~/.rogue.scr

The rogue score file contains the top rogue games, in terms of gold collected. The number of rogue score slots is defined by NUMSCORES in config.h and defaults to 10 top rogue scores.

The rogue score file must be writable by the user.

The length of the rogue score file is usually 112 bytes per score slot, so the default rogue score file size is 1120 bytes.

Unlike the BSD rogue game on the Vax, rogue keeps track of top rogue scores, no matter how they were played, and no matter if they won the game or not.

If the rogue score file does not exist, the rogue game will create it.

If the rogue score file is corrupted, or the format is too old, then the rogue game will display an error message and recommend removing it.

The use of rogue -r will cause the default rogue save file, as defined by the -DSCOREPATH=.. as used by the compile lines as specified by the Makefile.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Changing the NUMSCORES value will cause rogue score files with a different number of slots to become invalid. A game compiled with a different value will treat the previous rogue score file as if it were corrupt.

You may use the scedit tool to modify the rogue score file for some important reason, such as restoring a lost score.

For example:

scedit ~/.rogue.scr

NOTE: Use of the scedit tool to create fake scores is NOT a nice thing to do.

The make variable ${ROGUEDIR} is the "rogue directory" where the rogue lock file, rogue score file, and the rogue save file are used and stored.

By default, ${ROGUEDIR} make variable in Makefile is ${HOME}, your home directory path.

The Makefile uses compile lines that include -DLOCKPATH=... for the rogue lock file, -DSAVEPATH=... for the rogue save file, and -DSCOREPATH=... for the rogue score file.

If you wish to use a different directory, then force a recompile and install with a modified ${ROGUEDIR}.

For example:

make clobber all ROGUEDIR=/var/tmp
sudo make install ROGUEDIR=/var/tmp

• Modern C compiler (c17/gnu17 or better)
• Modern make(1) (recommend GNU make)
• Ncurses (<ncurses.h> and libncurses), or for NetBSD, NetBSD curses is likely to work
• Single UNIX Specification confirming (or reasonably conforming) operating system such as Linux, macOS, BSD, etc.

This code is based on the "Rogue like restoration project"'s rogue5.4.

The rogue5.4 repo improves on the above mentioned repo in several important aspects:

• Improved the C source to be able to compile under recent C compilers
• Fixed many bugs in the rogue code
• Fixed the code to compile both the findpw and scedit rouge tools
• Install the findpw and scedit rouge tools
• Removed GNU autoconf complexities replacing it with a simple Makefile
• To configure, simply edit Makefile and/or the config.h file
• Fixed make stddocs so that the proper configuration values are configured into the documentation
• Changed the rogue lock filename to ${ROGUEDIR}/.rogue.lck (defaults to .rogue.lck under your home directory)
• The $ROGUEOPTS environment variable may be used to set the rogue lock filename
• Changed the rogue save filename to ${ROGUEDIR}/.rogue.save (defaults to .rogue.save under your home directory)
• The $ROGUEOPTS environment variable may be used to set the rogue save filename
• Changed the rogue score filename to ${ROGUEDIR}/.rogue.scr (defaults to .rogue.scr under your home directory)
• The $ROGUEOPTS environment variable may be used to set the rogue score filename
• Does NOT require use of chown(1), nor chgrp(1) by default
• Fixed cases where creating invalid type of an item in wizard mode crashed the game
• Creating an item in wizard mode that does not have a sub-type no longer asks which type of item
• Added extensive SPOILER section notes in the lower part of this README.md file
• Fixed many buffer overflow bugs, fixed use of un-initialized variables, and fixed memory leak conditions
• Fixed bugs related to the reading and writing of the score file
• Detects if the rogue score file is an old incompatible format and/or corrupt
• If the rogue score file is empty or missing, the code will automatically re-initialize it
• The top scores are recorded in the rogue score file, regardless of if the game was won or not
• You may change the NUMSCORES value in config.h to a value other than 10
• By default, the rogue game is NOT installed setguid (${GROUPOWNER}, by default, is empty)
• Rogue prints the version an exits when rogue -V command option is given
• Answering ?" to the question What do you want to call it? will set correct name of the potion
• To assist debugging rogomatic, when rogue starts with a player name beginning with rogo-, then $ROGOSEED sets the dungeon seed
• The v command prints the rogue version, rogue release date, and dungeon number
• etc.

NOTE: We call this version of the rogue game "version 5.4.5" in order to distinguish it from older, and MUCH MORE buggy, version "5.4.4" code.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While a number of significant bugs have been fixed, we are sure that there remain other bugs. As such, we do NOT recommend, nor support running rogue setuid/setgid. We recommend that you maintain the Makefile default of NOT setting the GROUPOWNER make variable (leave them empty). While you may need to sudo(1) in order to install rogue under /usr/local/bin/, /usr/local/share/, and /usr/local/man/man6/, you do NOT have to run rogue with any privileges! Just run the game as yourself and let the game use "dot-files" under your home directory.

This rogue5.4 GitHub repo was cloned from RoguelikeRestorationProject's rogue5.4 repo. Landon Curt Noll, who fondly remembers playing rogue on the Vax running BSD, wanted to port the original game to modern compilers and UNIX-like operating systems (such as those that resonably conform to the Single UNIX Specification.

As the RoguelikeRestorationProject's rogue5.4 repo is efficetly a "read-only" archive of the Dump of the original svn r1490, Landon Curt Noll elected to break the form and clone rogue5.4 GitHub repo as a standalone repo to make it easier for people to contribute rogue5.4 pull requests directly to this repo. Even so, we are greatful to the RoguelikeRestorationProject for making original code base available.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This code is reasonably close to the original Rogue source that used to generate the Vax binary. It was distributed on the 4.3 BSD Reno tapes: the so-called "Toy/Wichman/Arnold Vax binary" Rogue game. The gameplay provided by this code is essentially the same.

NOTE: We call this version of the rogue game "version 5.4.5" in order to distinguish it from older, and MUCH MORE buggy, version "5.4.4" code.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This code is NOT the so-called "Public domain rogue" rogue game that distributions such as NetBSD imported from 386BSD. The "Public domain rogue" was a reverse engineering attempt of the Vax binary game found on BSD 4.3 Reno tapes. As such, the "Public domain rogue" game play differs from the "Toy/Wichman/Arnold Vax binary" rogue game in a fair number of ways. Moreover, the rogue save file, rogue lock file, and rogue score file used by NetBSD rogue are NOT compatible.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Old rogue save files saved prior to 2026 Feb 11, are NOT compatible, as we had to fix some bugs with the rogue save/restore code that required a change in rogue save file format.

IMPORTANT NOTE: A rogue save file is likely, but is not guaranteed to restore in a different system. Among the diverse reasons a restore on a different system might fail are CPU architecture differences, and the whim of the C compiler.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Damaged or old rogue score files, modified prior to 2026 Feb 11, might not be compatible. The game will exit with an ERROR if your rogue score file format is too old and/or has been corrupted. Remove the damaged or old rogue score file and run the game to rebuild. You can use the scedit tool to restore old scores if you wish.

We very much welcome rogue5.4 GitHub pull requests to fix any:

• failures to compile
• compiler warning messages
• program crashes

You may also file a rogue5.4 GitHub bug report.

The Amulet of Yendor is on level 26. Look for a , (comma) in a room on that level. Once you have the Amulet of Yendor, you are allowed to go up a staircase (use the < command).

You may try your hand at going below level 26; however, the deeper you go, the harder it becomes to survive. For example, see notes under "monster spoilers". Nevertheless, going deeper than level 26 is seen as a daring bonus, especially if you survive and return to the surface (level 0).

If you do not pick up the Amulet of Yendor on level 26 and you go deeper than level 26, the game will place the Amulet of Yendor on the deeper levels until you manage to pick it up.

The following table lists the known monsters in the dungeon and their properties:

Some monsters carry treasure that they drop when they are killed. The "carry chance" is the chance that the monster will drop treasure when it dies.

The "flags" are:

• m ==> is mean
• f ==> can fly
• r ==> able to regenerate
• g ==> is greedy (can take things)
• i ==> may start out as invisible

The "Exp" is the experience gained when you kill such a monster.

The smaller the monster’s armor class, the harder they are to hit. Thus, a dragon (D) armor class of -1 is the toughest to hit, whereas a nymph (N) armor class of 9 is the easiest.

The "HxD" in the above table indicates hit bonus (H), which improves the monster’s ability to hit you, and damage bonus (D), which increases the damage they cause when they hit you. Monsters with multiple "HxD" values indicate that the given monster has more than one method of attack.

The "venus flytrap" hit bonus (H) of "*++**" starts about 1 and increases each turn as you are being held.

Below level 29, all monsters are hasted (fast).

The monster levels go up by 1 for each level below level 26.

When you quaff a potion:

HINT: The rogue v5.4.5 code, as of 2026-02-23, has a special feature. When, after drinking the potion, you are prompted with the question:

What do you want to call it?

If you answer with a single question mark (i.e., "?"), the game will name provide the correct name of the potion. Thus, when you find another potion of the same type, you will see the correct potion name.

When you read a scroll:

HINT: The rogue v5.4.5 code, as of 2026-02-23, has a special feature. When, after reading the scroll, you are prompted with the question:

What do you want to call it?

If you answer with a single question mark (i.e., "?"), the game will name provide the correct name of the scroll. Thus, when you find another scroll of the same type, you will see the correct scroll name.

When you have a weapon:

A weapon can be (+) enhanced, (n) normal, or (-) reduced in its effectiveness.

The "HxD" in the above table indicates hit bonus (H) and damage bonus (D). For example, a wielded "long sword" has a "3x4" meaning it has a base hit bonus (H) of 3 and a base damage bonus (D) of 4. Other factors such as strength (Str), weapon bonus or negative bonus, and chances (internal dice roll) factor into odds to hit and damage inflicted.

Unlike other objects, (-) weapons are not cursed: they simply have reduced effectiveness.

When you wield a different weapon, any previously wielded weapon is automatically un-wielded and remains in your pack.

If you throw your current weapon, it will leave your pack, become un-wielded if you were previously wielding it, possibly hit and do damage to a monster, and often falls to the ground nearby unless there is no free space nearby in which case the weapon may simply vanish.

If you are not wielding a weapon, you default to using your fists as a weapon.

To use a bow and arrow:

0. Wield, the w command, the bow

1. Throw an arrow, the t<dir> command, where <dir> is:

• h - left
• j - down
• k - up
• l - right
• y - up & left
• u - up & right
• b - down & left
• n - down & right

To use a dart, or shuriken:

0. Throw the item, the t<dir> command, where <dir> is noted above.

Often you have to "fire" more than once (or dagger, shuriken, or spear) at a monster. For example, you may need to "fire" multiple times as a significant monster in the distance that is moving towards you in an effort to weaken it before having to engage in direct combat.

TIP: When you are "firing" arrows while wielding a bow (i.e., shooting arrows as descried above), use the "a" to repeat the last command to "fire" multiple arrows.

For example: assume your bow is in inventory is:

 a) 3 rations of food
 b) +1 ring mail [protection 4] (being worn)
 c) A +1,+1 mace (weapon in hand)
 d) A +1,+0 short bow
 e) 37 +0,+0 arrows

Assume the monster "K" is in direction "h":

     --------------------
     |..................|
     |..................|
     ---------+----------
              #
              #
   ############               ------+------             --------------------
  -+---                       |...........|             +...........K.....@|
  |...|                       |...........|             |............:.....|
  |...|                   ####+...........+             |........*?........|
  |...+####################   -+-----------             ------------------+-
  --+--                        #                                          #
    #                          #                                          #
    ##                         ################                           #
                                            --+---                        #
                                            |....|                        #
                                            +....|     ####################
                                            |....| #####
                                            |....| #
                                            |....+##
                                            ------
Level: 1  Gold: 15     Hp: 10(12)  Str: 16(16)  Arm: 4   Exp: 1/8

To fire multiple arrows, first wield the bow (inventory slot "d"), throw in direction "h" (left) an arrow (inventory slot "e"), and use the "a" command to repeat:

w d t h e a a ...

If you defeat the monster, DO NOT FORGET to switch to wielding your better hand combat weapon!

For example (in the case inventory slot "c"):

w c

You can wield a bow as a hand combat weapon, but it only does "1x1" damage, assuming you manage to even hit the monster!

If the monster has not been killed by the time it is 2 spaces away:

--------------------
+...............K.@|
|............:((...|
|........*?........|
------------------+-

switch to wielding your better hand combat weapon as switching weapons takes a turn and want to be ready by the time the monster is right on top of you.

When you have armor:

Armor can be (+) enhanced, (n) normal, or (-) cursed.

Cursed armor cannot be removed except by a scroll of "remove curse". Once a scroll of "remove curse" has been used to remove the curse, cursed armor may be put on or removed as needed; however, the armor will still have a negative effect.

If you are already wearing armor, you have to take it off before you can put on other armor.

What rings can do:

A ring can be worn in the left or right hand.

A ring can be (+) enhanced, (n) normal, or (-) cursed.

A cursed ring cannot be removed except by a scroll of "remove curse". Once a scroll of "remove curse" has been used to remove the curse, a cursed ring may be put on or removed as needed; however, the ring will still have a negative effect.

When food used is negative, the ring effectively adds food per turn when worn.

The condition of your stomach is measured in food units.

Your stomach has a maximum capacity of 2000 food units.

When your number of food units drops below 300 food units, you will start to become hungry. When your number of food units drops below 150 food units, you will start to become weak.

Being hungry or weak does not impair you until the number of food units goes negative (< 0). Negative food units will cause you to start to faint, impairing your ability to perform actions.

Below -850 food units, you die of starvation.

For most turns, you consume 1 food unit (i.e., the number of food units goes down by 1). In particular, actions that take time will cause your stomach to consume food unit(s).

There are actions that do not appear to take time, such as printing your inventory, printing help, identifying an object, and thus food units will not be consumed. If you perform an action, and if the monsters nearby move, then you can assume that your stomach will consume food unit(s).

As noted above, some rings consume food units, while other rings give you food units. A ring with a positive food used will consume that many food units each turn: making you hungry faster. A ring with a negative food used will provide that many food units each turn: prolonging the time when you become hungry.

The Amulet of Yendor acts like a ring consumes 1 food unit per turn.

When you eat food, you add a random number of food units to your stomach. Eating food adds a random number of food units between 1100 and 1500 units to your stomach until you reach the maximum capacity of 2000 food units. Eating food while your stomach is full does nothing other than to waste food.

There are two types of foods, type 0 food (90% of the time), and type 1 food (10% of the time).

Type 0 food, 70% of the time, will taste awful, and 30% of the time will taste good.

Eating awful type 0 food does NOT harm you. Awful type 0 food gives you an experience point!

Type 1 food will always taste yummy.

Both type 0 and type 1 food offer you a random number of food units as noted above, however only type 0 food 70% of the time, gives you an experience point.

If the game has not created food for 3 levels, the game will force the next created object to be food. Of course, you have to find the food that was forced to be created. If you pass it by, that's your fault. :-)

You start the game with 1300 food units in your stomach, and 1 piece of food in your pack.

When you read use a staff:

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you enter wizard mode at any time during the game, your score will NOT be posted to the scoreboard, even if you turn of wizard mode in the game.

If you do not know the wizard password, you will need to do a little reading of the source code. You need to, as the expression goes, RTFS.

BONUS HINT: The historic wizard password may be found in a source code comment about a defined symbol in the rogue.h header file.

You may toggle wizard mode on and off by pressing the "+" key. When you successfully toggle wizard mode on, you will see the message:

You are suddenly as smart as Ken Arnold in dungeon #...

You may also start rogue in wizard mode by giving an empty 2nd argument:

rogue ""

If you start start rogue in wizard mode, then the $SEED environment variable may be used to set a specific dungeon number and pseudo-random number seed. This will allow you to run specific dungeon, say for debugging purposes. For example:

SEED=1227897957 rogue ""

NOTE: A seed is very likely portable across different systems that implement the BSD random(3) facility, for rogue release date 2026-02-24 or later. For example, the 1227897957 seed is very likely to start you out in what is called a "treasure room": a fun room full of monsters and artifacts:

----+--------
+:.K.=..%.HS+
|.......S=..|
|..K!.K.....|
|....E...K..|
|.@?.S..E...|
--+----------

For an even more challenging "treasure room" start, try:

SEED=1230429961 rogue ""

----------------------
|.........B........K.|
|.B........@..?..S...|
|.:..?...B.....H.KE..+
+.?:...?.K?...B..HB..|
---+------------------

When you are in wizard mode, you have these special commands available to you:

For "*" ("List types of an object"), when it asks:

For what type of object do you want a list?

enter the symbol you want to create. Refer too the symbol table under the "To play rogue" above for what to create.

The "*" ("list types of an object") command is only useful for:

• ! (potion)
• ? (scroll)
• ) (weapon)
• ] (armor)
• = (ring)
• / (staff)

In all other cases, the "*" ("list types of an object") command prints nothing.

When the types of an object are listed, the percentages indicate how common or rare the given type of object is. The numbers (and letters) at the beginning of the line are needed when you create such a type of object.

For "C" ("create object", when it asks:

Type of item:

enter the symbol you want to create from the table of symbols listed above under "A few game hints".

For symbols that have sub-types (potions, scrolls, weapons, armor, rings, staffs), it will ask

Which ... do you want? (0-...)

Where the range is depending on the number of sub-types.

Finally, when creating a weapon, armor or ring, it will ask:

Blessing? (+,-,n)

Enter "+" for a enhanced item, "-" for a reduced item, or "n" for normal item.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We do NOT support running the rogue game with setuid and/or setgid privileges.

To report a security issue, please visit "Reporting Security Issues".