Kenshi races and their differences
Race settles four things a squad feels from the first day: how fast a character goes hungry, how fast wounds close, how much blood there is to lose and which armour slots stay shut. A Shek eats the most and heals the slowest. The Hive eat less than a Greenlander and bleed slowly, but carry little blood and go without boots. A Skeleton never eats and cannot wear a hat, a shirt or boots.
Hunger
A Greenlander has a hunger rate of 1.00, the rate every other race reads against. A Scorchlander runs a little below it at 0.90. A Shek runs at 1.25, higher than either of those races, so a squad of them carries more food for the same road.
The Hive hunger rates differ: 0.50 for a Hive Worker Drone and a Hive Prince, 0.60 for a Hive Soldier Drone. A Skeleton has a hunger rate of 0.00 and never needs food at all.
Some race records also name foods of their own:
- Scorchlander:
Raw Meat - Hive Worker Drone: Raw Meat,
Foul Raw Meat, 
Human Teeth - Hive Soldier Drone: Raw Meat, Foul Raw Meat, Human Teeth
- Hive Prince: Raw Meat
- Hive Prince South Hive: Raw Meat
- Hive Soldier Drone South Hive: Raw Meat, Foul Raw Meat
- Hive Worker Drone South Hive: Raw Meat, Foul Raw Meat
Healing and blood
Heal rate scales how fast wounds close. A Scorchlander heals at 1.10, a Greenlander at 1.00 and a Shek at 0.80, the slowest of the three: its wounds stay open longest. The Skeleton record sets 2.00, the highest heal rate of the playable races.
Blood is a separate pool from the body parts' own health. A Greenlander, a Scorchlander and a Shek each carry 75–150 blood. Each of these Hive races carries 50, but loses it at a bleed rate of 0.30, against 1.00 for a Greenlander. A Skeleton carries 100 and bleeds at 0.10.
Armour slots
A Skeleton wears no hat, no shirt and no boots. A Hive Soldier Drone wears no hat and no boots. A Hive Worker Drone and a Hive Prince wear no boots. Their armour has to come from the slots left open, and a squad that mixes them with other races cannot share every piece of kit.
Starts that choose the race
Three new-game starts force the race: their records list the races a character there may be. Every other start names no race.
- The Slaves: Greenlander, Scorchlander, Hive Worker Drone, Hive Soldier Drone, Shek, Hive Prince
- Holy Nation Citizen: Greenlander, Scorchlander
- The Hive Exile: Hive Worker Drone, Hive Soldier Drone, Hive Prince
Every playable race side by side
The game marks these races playable. The mark alone does not say that a start offers the race: the Fishman and Flayed Man records carry it too.
| Race | Appetite | Healing | Bleeding | Blood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 75–125 |
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 140–250 |
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 75–125 |
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 75–150 | |
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 75–150 | |
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 75–150 | |
| 0.50 | 1.00 | 0.30 | 50 |
| 0.60 | 1.00 | 0.30 | 50 |
| 0.50 | 1.00 | 0.30 | 50 |
| 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 400 |
| 0.90 | 1.10 | 0.90 | 75–150 | |
| 1.25 | 0.80 | 0.90 | 75–150 | |
| 0.00 | 2.00 | 0.10 | 100 |