diff --git a/include/extern.h b/include/extern.h
index 5edd7ac7b..14422d2e4 100644
--- a/include/extern.h
+++ b/include/extern.h
@@ -949,6 +949,7 @@ extern void early_options(int *argc_p, char ***argv_p, char **hackdir_p);
 #ifdef WIN32
 int windows_early_options(const char *);
 #endif
+extern void genl_prag(int, char **); /* profession, race, align, gender */
 
 /* ### eat.c ### */
 
diff --git a/src/earlyarg.c b/src/earlyarg.c
index 2209e9323..c64b6bfcd 100755
--- a/src/earlyarg.c
+++ b/src/earlyarg.c
@@ -359,6 +359,89 @@ early_options(int *argc_p, char ***argv_p, char **hackdir_p)
     config_error_done();
     return;
 }
+
+/* profession (role), race, alignment, gender command line options */
+void
+genl_prag(int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    char *arg;
+    int i;
+
+    config_error_init(FALSE, "command line", FALSE);
+
+    while (argc > 1 && argv[1][0] == '-') {
+        argv++;
+        argc--;
+        arg = argv[0];
+        /* allow second dash if arg is longer than one character */
+        if (arg[0] == '-' && arg[1] == '-'
+            && arg[2] != '\0'
+            /* "--a=b" violates the "--" ok when at least 2 chars long rule */
+            && (arg[3] != '\0' && arg[3] != '=' && arg[3] != ':'))
+            ++arg;
+        if (strchr("prag@", arg[1])) {
+            switch (arg[1]) {
+            case 'a':
+                if (arg[2]) {
+                    if ((i = str2align(&arg[2])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initalign = i;
+                } else if (argc > 1) {
+                    argc--;
+                    argv++;
+                    if ((i = str2align(argv[0])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initalign = i;
+                }
+                break;
+            case 'g':
+                if (arg[2]) {
+                    if ((i = str2gend(&arg[2])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initgend = i;
+                } else if (argc > 1) {
+                    argc--;
+                    argv++;
+                    if ((i = str2gend(argv[0])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initgend = i;
+                }
+                break;
+            case 'p': /* profession (role) */
+                if (arg[2]) {
+                    if ((i = str2role(&arg[2])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initrole = i;
+                } else if (argc > 1) {
+                    argc--;
+                    argv++;
+                    if ((i = str2role(argv[0])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initrole = i;
+                }
+                break;
+            case 'r': /* race */
+                if (arg[2]) {
+                    if ((i = str2race(&arg[2])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initrace = i;
+                } else if (argc > 1) {
+                    argc--;
+                    argv++;
+                    if ((i = str2race(argv[0])) >= 0)
+                        flags.initrace = i;
+                }
+                break;
+            case '@':
+                flags.randomall = 1;
+                break;
+            }
+        } else {
+            /* default for "-x" is to play as the role that starts with "x" */
+            if ((i = str2role(&argv[1][0])) >= 0) {
+                flags.initrole = i;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /* empty or "N errors on command line" */
+    config_error_done();
+    return;
+}
+
 /* for command-line options that perform some immediate action and then
    terminate the program without starting play, like 'nethack --version'
    or 'nethack -s Zelda'; do some cleanup before that termination */
diff --git a/sys/windows/windmain.c b/sys/windows/windmain.c
index 0fb6eadb0..bc8d3b661 100644
--- a/sys/windows/windmain.c
+++ b/sys/windows/windmain.c
@@ -289,6 +289,9 @@ _CrtSetReportFile(_CRT_ASSERT, _CRTDBG_FILE_STDERR);*/
         nethack_exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
+    genl_prag(argc, argv); /* command line options for profession, race,
+                            * alignment, gender */
+
     /* Finished processing options, lock all directory paths */
     for (int i = 0; i < PREFIX_COUNT; i++)
         fqn_prefix_locked[i] = TRUE;