The Missing Link

CAVEMAN (#20/30, #172/365) [POT]

SKILL: 7

STAMINA: 7

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: Club or Wooden Spear (as per Javelin)

ARMOUR: None

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Caves, Hills, Mountains, Wilderness, Volcanic areas

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-3 or 6-36

TYPE: Humanoid

REACTION: Hostile

INTELLIGENCE: Low

"Related to Neanderthals, CAVEMEN are primitive semi-humans who live in rocky regions. Their caves are often joined together by passages to create whole villages cut into the rocky hillsides. They dress in the furs of animals, typically bearskins. Cavemen will usually be carrying stone clubs or flint-headed spears that can be used as hand weapons or thrown at enemies like a javelin.

Cavemen are very unintelligent, and communicate only in animal-like grunts. They will attack all other large beings, either for food or because they seem like a threat to them. Cavemen are surly, aggressive beings, and they tend to fight among themselves. There is almost always a war going on between two or more tribes, usually over some very trivial matter.

 The caves of these beings are nauseously filthy, scattered with rotting food, old furs and discarded straw bedding. They will usually contain nothing of any worth to an adventurer."

- Out of the Pit, Marc Gascoigne (1985), p. 26 (Also known as the Red Bestiary (see Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1, p. 50), or Gascon's Bestiary of North-West Allansia.

When encountered, Cavemen will typically be in small bands of 1-3 hunters, or a tribe living in a cave-village settlement of 6-36 creatures. Cavemen worship anything more powerful than them, but each tribe will usually dedicate themselves to one major deity. Roll on the following table to determine the deity and their particular sphere of influence:

3 Glantanka (Sun)

4 Titan (Sky-Father)

5 Sukh (Storms)

6 Rogaar (Cave Lions)

7 Lorodil (Volcanoes)

8 Magir (Sabre-Toothed Tigers)

9 Throff (Earth-Mother)

10 Almor (Wolves)

11 Filash (Fire)

12 Gurrang (Cave Bears)

13 Daktili (Caves, the Underworld, and Darkness)

14 Skitta (Moose, Elk, Deer)

15 Farigiss (Ice, Cold and Winter)

16 Sku-Rachi (Panthers)

17 Lunara (Moon)

18 Zygolophaunt (Mammmoths)

Each tribe will be led by one powerful individual with unique skills. Roll on the table below to determine who and what this individual is:

1 Great Hunter: This mighty champion has +2 SKILL, +2 STAMINA, +1 to the Damage Roll, a Bone Battleaxe, a Bone Horn (summons 2-7 Cavemen), Bone Armour (as per Breastplate), 1-3 flint-tipped Javelins, and a leather bag with 1-6 sharpened throwing Rocks.

2 Shaman: This shaman has +2 STAMINA, DEVOTION 8, and Priestly Powers appropriate to the tribe's main deity as determined by the table above. They also have a Staff and a Holy Symbol (again, of the appropriate deity).

3 Stone Shaper: As per a normal Caveman, but has the following skill: Crafting (Stones) 2, and 2-7 special stones (Roll: 1 Glowstones, 2 Energy Crystals, 3 polished stones, 4 flint Throwing Daggers, 5 Fire Rocks, 6 Regeneration Crystals).

4 Cave Painter: This is the tribe's story-teller and legend-interpreter. They have the following skills: Entertaining (Art) 2 and Entertaining (Story-Telling) 2. There is a 1 in 6 chance they also have MAGIC 4, Magic-Minor Magic 1, and 3 cantrips that they use to embellish their stories and tales.

5 Fire Keeper: As per a normal Caveman, but has the following skills: Crafting (Fire) 2, Entertaining (Firebreathing) 2, a flaming Torch, flint-and-tinder, a small fire housed in a carrying gourd that must be maintained with fuel at all times, and 1-3 special items (Roll: 1-2: 1-6 extra Torches, 3-4: 1-6 Fire Rocks, 5-6: 1-6 gourds of flammable Pitch - equivalent to thrown Grenades if set alight).

6 Weapon Maker: As per a normal Caveman, but has the following skills: Crafting (Weapons) 2, and 1-3 special weapons (Roll: 1-2: 1-6 sharpened throwing Rocks, 3-4: 1-6 flint Throwing Daggers, 5-6: a Bone Battleaxe).