diff -ur dc400b26-src/init.txt dc400b26-src.new/init.txt
--- dc400b26-src/init.txt	2003-03-20 06:13:46.000000000 +0000
+++ dc400b26-src.new/init.txt	2005-04-25 18:18:57.800954880 +0100
@@ -24,10 +24,15 @@
 # name=kernel
 
 
-# Directory for reading macro.txt and init.txt, and dumping characters.
+# Directory for reading macro.txt and init.txt.
 # It should end with the path delimiter.
 # crawl_dir=/home/bwross/crawl/
 
+# Directory for dumping character files (morgue.txt)
+# Setting this different from crawl_dir allows configuration
+# to be in a separate directory.
+# It should end with the path delimiter.
+morgue_dir=/var/games/crawl/
 
 # Here's a list of autopickup types:
 #
diff -ur dc400b26-src/source/chardump.cc dc400b26-src.new/source/chardump.cc
--- dc400b26-src/source/chardump.cc	2003-03-08 04:56:38.000000000 +0000
+++ dc400b26-src.new/source/chardump.cc	2005-04-25 18:22:49.875674160 +0100
@@ -847,7 +847,9 @@
 
     char file_name[kPathLen] = "\0";
 
-    if (SysEnv.crawl_dir)
+    if (SysEnv.morgue_dir)
+        strncpy(file_name, SysEnv.morgue_dir, kPathLen);
+    else if (SysEnv.crawl_dir)
         strncpy(file_name, SysEnv.crawl_dir, kPathLen);
 
     strncat(file_name, fname, kPathLen);
diff -ur dc400b26-src/source/initfile.cc dc400b26-src.new/source/initfile.cc
--- dc400b26-src/source/initfile.cc	2003-03-20 05:09:26.000000000 +0000
+++ dc400b26-src.new/source/initfile.cc	2005-04-25 18:16:34.133795608 +0100
@@ -473,6 +473,7 @@
         // some fields want capitals... none care about external spaces
         trim_string( field );
         if (key != "name" && key != "crawl_dir" 
+            && key != "morgue_dir"
             && key != "race" && key != "class" && key != "ban_pickup"
             && key != "stop_travel" && key != "sound" 
             && key != "drop_filter")
@@ -737,6 +738,19 @@
                 SysEnv.crawl_dir[ kNameLen - 1 ] = '\0';
             }
         }
+        else if (key == "morgue_dir")
+        {
+            // We shouldn't bother to allocate this a second time
+            // if the user puts two morgue_dir lines in the init file.
+            if (!SysEnv.morgue_dir)
+                SysEnv.morgue_dir = (char *) calloc(kPathLen, sizeof(char));
+
+            if (SysEnv.morgue_dir)
+            {
+                strncpy(SysEnv.morgue_dir, field.c_str(), kNameLen - 1);
+                SysEnv.morgue_dir[ kNameLen - 1 ] = '\0';
+            }
+        }
         else if (key == "race")
         {
             Options.race = str_to_race( field );
diff -ur dc400b26-src/source/externs.h dc400b26-src.new/source/externs.h
--- dc400b26-src/source/externs.h	2005-04-25 22:09:56.547105224 +0100
+++ dc400b26-src.new/source/externs.h	2005-04-25 22:09:45.761744848 +0100
@@ -445,6 +445,7 @@
     char *crawl_pizza;
     char *crawl_rc;
     char *crawl_dir;
+    char *morgue_dir;
     char *home;                 // only used by MULTIUSER systems
     bool  board_with_nail;      // Easter Egg silliness
 };