Laughless Saint Races and Bonuses

What race actually changes

Race is chosen at character creation and affects appearance, bonuses and penalties to individual skills, and sometimes a starting spell. Several races are variations on a human being; the more distinctive ones are below.

It is a starting point, not a ceiling. Because skills rise through use, a racial penalty is recoverable — one player picked a race with an archery penalty specifically intending to grind past it.

Confirmed races

NerveLabs has published no race roster. The table below comes from the character creation screen as read aloud during a playthrough, plus one official patch note. Spellings are transcribed by ear except where noted.

Race	Lore	Confirmed effects
Umbight	”Born into a constellation of cities and baronies bound by the worship of Queen Umber, whose word is law. Taught obedience, faith, and the ability to defend it and enact her divine will.”	Suited to one-handed, two-handed and channeling
El Fihani	”The vast metropolis of El Fihan creates men who seek valor through cunning trade or priestly miracle.”	+15% better merchant prices, lockpicking bonus, −20% health
Rugite	”Ruggle the Wraithful looms above. His holy presence shields you from the sun and turns your skin pale white.”	Magic weakness to fire, comes with a starting spell
Thrac (lizard people)	“Scattered survivors of an ancient civilization now calling the rivers home. You keep your own council and your own kind.”	Bonus carry weight and swimming, −10 archery
Kalix (cat people)	“The ground calls you as it does to many, whispering the ancient wood.”	Magics, psionics, and a night eye spell
Uruhan	Northern bearmen	Added in Update 7, 21 Aug 2026 — the only race confirmed by an official announcement

Naming caveats

Community sources disagree, and we would rather show you the disagreement than hide it:

The magic-flavoured race is given as Rugite by a player reading the creation screen and as Rugaard by a reviewer speaking from memory. The deity is “Ruggle the Wraithful.”
The cat people appear as Kalix in one source and as Kaix in the game’s own opening dialogue (“a drowned Kaix”).
The lizard people are Thrac per a reviewer; the creation screen description above was read without a name attached.

Unconfirmed

Myconari is searched alongside this game in volume that suggests it is a real term, and Vespera spiked in search interest around launch. Neither appears in any official announcement, in the character creation screen, or in any playthrough we reviewed. We are not going to invent descriptions for them. If either turns out to be a race, we will document it when there is something to cite.

Which race to pick

Race matters less here than in most RPGs, because skills are use-based and race is changeable. Still:

Best for inventory pressure: the lizard people. Carry weight is the friction you feel most in the early game (perks).
Best for gold: El Fihani, at +15% merchant prices — but −20% health is a real cost in a game where early enemies hit hard.
Best for casters: Kalix for psionics and a free night eye spell, or Rugite for its starting spell if you can live with fire weakness.
Best for straightforward melee: Umbight, built around one-handed, two-handed and channeling.
Newest content: Uruhan, which also has bespoke NPC dialogue reactions.

Changing race after you start

You are not locked in. From Update 7:

“A mirror has washed up on the southern shore. Activate it to change your race at any time.”

Practical notes from the same announcement:

In multiplayer, non-hosts change race in their own singleplayer game, and it carries over to their multiplayer character.
A changeappearance console command was added alongside it (console commands).
Additional NPC dialogue lines reacting to your race were added, so race is not purely cosmetic in conversation.

Sources

“First Look” gameplay playthrough, character creation screen read aloud, for Umbight, El Fihani, Rugite, the lizard and cat race descriptions and all stat effects.
“Check Out” early access review for the Thrac, Kalix and Rugaard namings.
NerveLabs Update 7 announcement, 21 Aug 2026, for Uruhan, the mirror, changeappearance and race dialogue.

Was this guide helpful?