Player

The player is a human of unknown origin who against their wishes is sent to the dungeon of Kerkerkruip.

''When you claimed that you were tough enough to take on Malygris single-handedly, everyone knew you had been drinking much more than was good for you. And the prince is not one to let an opportunity pass. Before you could so much as protest, his court mage opened a portal and you were shoved through. Predictably, the portal immediately disappeared. You doubt they're going to open it up again -- but at least you can try to make good on your boast and kill Malygris, the Wizard of Kerkerkruip!''

Interestingly, the player's stats are determined before the run technically begins. The player can be either male or female, chosen at random before the title screen of the game is shown. The reason for gender being determined before the title screen is because the name of difficulties 6, 7, 8, and 10+ are gendered (PRINCE[SS], KING/QUEEN, EMP[EROR/RESS], and GOD[ESS] respectively). After the title screen is shown, they get their stats assigned to them, in addition to two random stat bonuses and a random stat penalty. These random stat changes increase or decrease (respectively) 'starting max health', body, mind, or spirit scores by 1. After these changes are made, the player's stats are further changed by the current difficulty.

Starting Kits
At the start of each playthrough, the Player is equipped with a set (or 'Starting Kit') of items. This set of items is always uncursed (except the amulet of the Addict kit), and if the difficulty is below 2, the size of the items will always match the size of the player (medium). There are different possible kits the player can receive each run (unless they are on difficulty 0, see the 'Buckler Kit'), as listed here.


 * Rapier-Based Kits: These kits always equip the player with a gilded rapier, in addition to doing whatever else the kit does.
 * Buckler Kit
 * Equips the player with a buckler.
 * This kit allows the player to get an early bonus to blocking, which may be helpful in combat.
 * This kit is notable as being the only basic (or non-advanced) starting kit, meaning that until the player beats the game at least once so it isn't always set to difficulty 0 (novice), or chooses to skip the 'Basic Game Mode', this is the only kit that they can receive at the start.
 * Teleport Kit
 * Contains a scroll of teleportation.
 * The kit may be helpful if the player finds themselves in a combat they can not win, wants to try to take on a strong enemy early in the run and needs a backup escape plan, begins "boxed in" by enemies or is in some other position in the dungeon they don't desire, or just wants to do a riskier run by immediately using the scroll to start in a random place in the dungeon.
 * Addict Kit
 * Equips the player with the Addict's amulet.
 * Has the player start off under the effects of ment.
 * This kit encourages the player to rush in to combat soon after starting out, as they have a buff now that will turn into a debuff if they wait too long (though they do have longer to wait due to the effects of the amulet). With this kit, ment lasts longer, and because the player starts out addicted anyway, they may find it helpful to use it as much as they can, and lean into it as a core strategy for this run. Alternatively, they could try to ignore the slight debuff they get at the start, or try to find some way to get rid of it.
 * This kit has some interesting properties. It's the only kit that has the player start with a cursed item, and it's the only kit that will not be a possible starting kit in games that are novice difficulty regardless of whether the player chose to disable the basic game mode or not.
 * Shadows Kit
 * Equips the player with a gorgeous dagger, and contains a scroll of shadows.
 * The player benefits from this kit most in situations where they can be stealthy, find another way to avoid getting hit, or otherwise raise the tension in combat before striking with their dagger. The scroll of shadows could be used to accomplish this for an easier kill (possibly against a riskier, higher-leveled enemy than they would normally face at the start). Another possible use would be to sneak around the dungeon early on to try moving to a more advantageous starting position, to get items in rooms lying past those guarded by enemies, or just to scout out the dungeon and develop a strategy.
 * Blade Kit
 * Contains a scroll of protection and a scroll of the blade.
 * This kit is good at making a combat much easier early on, potentially allowing the player to face an enemy with a high-level soul that they would normally wait before approaching. However, due to the weapon and armor provided by the scrolls lasting for only a limited time, and the fact that using a scroll in combat could waste time, one must be cautious when using this kit. It's best that the player ensures they are able to acquire another weapon before they encounter another enemy after effects of the scrolls run out, if possible.
 * Evil Kit
 * Equips the player with the evil dagger, and contains a scroll of death.
 * This is a more dangerous kit to start with, as the evil dagger doesn't start out strong, and the scroll of death is dangerous to everyone, including the user. The kit seems more like it was designed based on the theme instead of the strategy. This is especially true if you feed the evil dagger early on, making your starting health even lower and the scroll of death an even less feasible strategy. You may want to wait until you're in a situation where a non-undead enemy has less than 3 health and you have more than 6 or are undead before using the scroll to better ensure you survive. If the player manages to survive the early stages of the run with this kit while keeping the dagger fed, it could lead to an interesting final fight, as you'll have a chance of instantly killing Malygris.
 * Grenade Kit
 * Equips the player with Metastasio's hat, and contains two fragmentation grenades and a Morphean grenade.
 * This kit, as the name implies, seems to be focused around the idea of throwing grenades at enemies. The hat makes it more likely to be able to toss grenades into adjacent rooms without having them thrown back at you, and having three grenades at the start should give you ample opportunity to put it to good use. If you want to use the hat to it's fullest potential, it will be helpful if you can find the Alchemical Laboratory, as the curious machine there will allow you to make grenades out of everything you don't need. One should keep in mind when starting with this kit that they do not have any weapon besides the grenades, so finding a more permanent weapon should be considered as a priority early on.
 * Pickaxe Kit
 * Equips the player with a pickaxe, and contains a scroll of mapping.
 * This kit allows the player to much more easily plan out their strategy for the run, as they are able to see all the rooms of the dungeon (including secret ones!) right at the start by using the scroll. The pickaxe can then be used to access these rooms. In other words, the player is given a lot more freedom in how they decide to go about their run, and is more likely to be able to seek out better equipment at the start by digging to rooms that contain items but don't contain enemies.

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