Race and polyform should not be distinct; they should be merged into a single permonst or corpsenm-like variable. Role should remain independent of race, and perhaps every monster should be described with a monster/role pair, with the role being null for most monsters (i.e. gnomish wizards are gnomes that are also wizards, but jackals aren’t any particular role). This might eliminate the entire concept of player race, internally, but transferring some of the racial effects on players (e.g. elves’ sleep resistance at XL 4) might be tricky.