A class system for Roguelike

Question

What would be a good way to implement a race system similar to Roguelike in Java.

I have been thinking about making each creature a subclass of it's race but I'm not sure this is a good way to do things.

Answer 1

You certainly don't want a subclass relationship. I would use composition rather than inheritance.

In particular, I would make a class Race

public class Race {

    public String name;

    public Race(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

}

and ensure that each creature has a Race field.