Cavemen & Stone Aged Women
V0.8 October 2022
Main Rules
Players play as hunters/gatherers trying to supply their tribe. The tribe requires their help to function and also consumes resources, but it gives them access to crafters and skills they don’t have, and a place to rest. They also fight off other tribes and dangerous beasts. There are also supernatural things like Magic Rituals.
Stats & Skills
Stat bonuses are between 1 and 6.
VS another creature: Most actions involve rolling a D6 + a stat/skill bonus vs a creature’s target number (TN).
VS a target number: you roll against a target number based on the difficulty of the task.
Some situations will change how likely you are to succeed:
Disadvantage: Roll 2d6 and use the lowest.
Advantage: Roll 2d6 and use the highest.
Stats:
Forceful Fight, Run, Climb
Fight Attacking a target or hunting
Run Long distance, or short sprinting
Climb Up rough surfaces, trees, etc
Careful Dodge, Craft, Fire, Gather
Dodge Avoiding a danger
Craft Creating/building something
Fire Starting a fire
Gather Finding resources
Mystical Stories, Rituals
Stories Recall the legends/history
Rituals Perform a magic ritual/sacrifice
When to Roll
- There is a penalty for failure
- Cannot be repeated infinitely
The situation should change whenever a roll happens. For better or worse.
Remember to “Let it Ride!”
Don’t have the players reroll a check until something about the situation has changed.
They can’t roll again until they get a new tool, someone helps them, or they wait some time.
Target Numbers
The number you need to beat when you roll the dice is based on the difficulty of the task and any situational bonus. Enemies have their target number.
Easy 7
Normal 9
Tough 11
Crazy 13
Resting
A rest takes 8 hours. A rest in a safe & warm area with enough food and water gets your full hp back and also resets your exposure level. Resting anywhere that isn’t warm and safe or without adequate supplies only restores 1d6 hp.
Exposure
After a character spends 2 hours outside in cold weather, they get 1 level of Exposure. If a character is wearing warm furs, they get Exposure every 4 hours instead. Any character with 4 or more levels of exposure dies.
Attacking
Attacks: Roll Forceful(Fight) vs their TN.
Dodging: Roll Dodge(Careful) vs their TN.
Armour decreases the damage from attacks.
Equipment/Carrying Capacity
Each item takes up an item slot, except Resources(5 per slot). The number of slots you have is equal to your Forceful bonus + 3.
Durability
Objects can break through normal use. Their durability equals the total resources that were used to make it. After using an object during a play session, roll a d6:
- If your roll is equal to or below the object’s durability then nothing changes.
- If your roll is above the object’s durability, it loses 1 durability.
An object with 0 durability left is broken and can no longer be used, Its resources are lost.
Crafting & Repairing
Roll Craft vs a target number to craft or repair an object. An object can be repaired by spending a resource that is in the object’s recipe.
Reclaim
Resources can be reclaimed from an object that was crafted, allowing you to re-use them. The resources that can be reclaimed equals the object’s current durability.
Resources
You collect resources from the environment, and then you can craft the items you need.
Resources can be stacked into a single item slot, up to 5 of a resource per slot.
Stone: Represents rocks that are good for smashing or flintknapping.
Wood: Represents strong, straight branches.
Water: Enough for 1 person for 1 day.
Food: Can feed 1 person for 1 day.
Furs: Represents material to cover something.
Bone: Represents a bone that can be used as a replacement for wood in tools or as an ingredient for a ritual.
Rope: Represents a few feet of cord/thread.
Gathering/Hunting
1 roll per 2 hours spent gathering/hunting.
Can be modified by the environment.
Stone: 1d6-2 units of stone
Wood: 1d6-1 units of wood
Water: 1d6 units of water
Food: 1d6-3 units of food
Furs: 1d6-3 units of fur
Bone: 1d6-4 units of bone
Rope: 1 unit of rope
Turn-based Rules
2 actions per turn. Possible actions: attack, move (30 ft), skill check, swap items, use an item.
Initiative
Initiative is very simple. Either the players or NPCs go first. Based on the circumstances.
Your Tribe
The tribe does not have a hierarchy other than the older/wiser members being valued for their experience. Each member of the tribe needs at least 2 units of food and 2 of water per week from the players to survive. The other tribe members provide the rest of their own food. There is always a member of the tribe trained in any skill the players don’t have training in. One member of the tribe always knows the Heal Wounds ritual and is trained in the Rituals skill.
How to Build a Character
Character creation is done in 5 steps:
A. Roll for stats
Each Stat gets assigned a number from the following: 2, 3, and 4
B. Roll for Health
Roll 1d6+8, that is your starting Max Health.
C. Spending Character points
Spend four points to customize your character. You can buy them multiple times.
- +1 to a skill.
- Gain 2 Resources.
- Learn a Ritual.
D. Starting Gear
You get 1 weapon of your choice, 2 Food, and a basic hut in your tribe’s village. Then you get 4 of any resources you want.
E. Fill in other stuff
Carrying capacity = forceful bonus + 3.
Exposure starts at 0.
Items and Crafting
* = Requires someone trained in crafting.
| Item Name Recipe | Effects | T.N. |
| Water for 1 person for a day 1 Water | 2 | |
| Feed 1 person for a day 1 Food | 2 | |
| Melee (Club, Spear, etc) 2 Wood | 1d6 dmg | 7 |
| Improved Melee (Stone Club, Tipped Spear, etc) 2 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Rope | 1d6+2 dmg | 9* |
| Ranged (Thrown weapons) 2 Wood, 1 Stone | 1d6 dmg | 7 |
| Improved Ranged (Atlatl) 2 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Rope | 1d6+2 dmg | 11* |
| Heavy Furs 3 Furs, 1 Rope | 1 Armour | 9 |
| Dinosaur Hide 3 units of “fur” from a dinosaur, 1 Rope | 2 Armour | 11* |
| Warm Furs 2 Furs | 8 | |
| Simple Tools 1 Wood or 1 Stone | 7 | |
| Fishing Spear 2 Wood | 1d6 dmg | 9* |
| Hut 5 Wood, 4 Fur, 1 Rope | 8 | |
| Campfire 3 Wood | 7 | |
| Fish trap 2 Wood, 1 Rope | 11* |
Rituals
Primitive magic that is done through rituals and sacrifices. They each have a recipe of what is involved to do the ritual.
Rituals take 15 minutes to perform.
Change Weather - DC 8
2 Bones, Sacrifice 2 animals - Can change weather to: start/stop rain, make cloudy or foggy, clear skies. Lasts for 4 hours.
See Future - DC 9
3 Bones, 2 Food, Sacrifice a snake - GM will tell you one aspect of your future, but you can make it no longer happen through your actions.
Heal Wounds - DC 7
1 Bone, 1 Food, Sacrifice 1 mammal - an injured creature is fully healed.
Extract Truth - DC 8
1 Bone, 1 Stone, 1 Wood - A creature is compelled to speak only the truth for a short time. But can refuse to speak.
Cause Harm - DC 12
1 unit of Bone, 1 unit of Stone, 1 unit of Food - A creature can now cause injuries to another creature they can see. Causing an attack for 4 damage. Lasts for 2 hours.
More Rituals Here
Beasts & People
Name: Deer Health: 8
Target Number: 6
Armour: None
Attack Damage
Kick/Headbut 2
Resources:
2 food, 1 bone, 1 fur
Name: Bear Health: 24
Target Number: 10
Armour: 1 Armour
Attack Damage
Bite/Scratch 5
Resources:
1 food, 2 bone, 2 fur
Name: Saber Tiger Health: 24
Target Number: 11
Armour: None
Attack Damage
Bite/Scratch 5
Resources:
1 food, 2 bone, 2 fur
Name: Snake Health: 5
Target Number: 6
Armour: None
Attack Damage
Bite 4
Resources:
1 food
Name: Wolf Health: 10
Target Number: 8
Armour: None
Attack Damage
Bite 4
Resources:
1 fur, 1 food. 1 bone
Name: Cave-Thug Health: 12
Target Number: 8
Armour: None
Attack Damage
Wood Club 4
Resources:
1 wood club, 1 fur
Name: War Chief Health: 20
Target Number: 10
Armour: 1 Armour
Attack Damage
Spiked Club 6
Resources:
1 spiked club, 1 fur
Name: Shaman Health: 10
Target Number: 12
Armour: 1 Armour
Attack Damage
Cause Harm* 4
Resources:
2 bone, 2 fur
Rituals:
Cause Harm, Extract Truth, Change Weather
Name: Zombie Health: 12
Target Number: 8
Armour: None
Attack Damage
Raaargh 3
Resources:
2 bone
Name: Monster Health: 32
Target Number: 13
Armour: 1 Armour
Attack Damage
Slash 10
Resources:
3 fur, 3 bone
Work in progress:
Special items:
Improved hut
Made from tusks from 2 wooly mammoths. Gives a bonus when rested in.
Have to kill 2 wooly mammoth a within a few day of each other to unlock.
Predator melee weapon
Made from the jaw bone and teeth of a large predator. Deals extra damage.
Someone has to kill a predator on their own to unlock.