# Caveman (player monster)

@ caveman / cavewoman 

Difficulty

12

Attacks

Weapon 2d4

@ caveman / cavewoman 

Difficulty

12

Attacks

Weapon 2d4

Base level

10

Base experience

216

Speed

12

Base AC

10

Base MR

0

Alignment

1 (lawful)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

No (unless player is a caveman or cavewoman)

Weight

1450

Nutritional value

400

Size

Medium

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A caveman or cavewoman:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is a human.

 is strong.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 can be seen through infravision.

A caveman also:

 is male.

A cavewoman also:

 is female.

Reference

src/monst.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 2732

A caveman or cavewoman is a player monster corresponding to the caveman role.

Generation
Main article: Player monster#Generation
Like other player monsters, cavemen and cavewomen are never randomly generated and are thus rarely seen.
They are normally found on the Astral Plane, where they may appears among the hostile player monsters.[1] Most cavemen and cavewomen encountered in the main dungeon will turn out to be doppelgangers, which may temporarily assume the form of a caveman or cavewoman; in either case, the game refers to them by the rank title appropriate for the monster's level.
Reading a cursed scroll of genocide as a caveman or cavewoman while confused will summon a number of caveman or cavewoman monsters, although they won't have their usual equipment. Using undead turning on the corpse of a dead caveman or cavewoman or using stone to flesh on a caveman statue will revive them as a player monster. In addition to bones levels, caveman and cavewoman corpses can be found in graveyards including those in the Valley of the Dead,[2], and their statues may appear on Medusa's Island[3] as well as cockatrice nests.

Equipment
Main article: Player monster#Equipment
A caveman or cavewoman on the Astral Plane will carry either a mace (75%), a club (12.5%), a long sword (6.25%) or a randomly chosen melee weapon (6.25%). The weapon's enchantment will be random between  +4 and +8, and it will be either erodeproof or greased (but not both) with 33.3% probability each. There is a 50% chance that the weapon will be made into an artifact of the same type, if possible.
Like other player monsters on the Astral Plane, cavemen and cavewomen will also be equipped with 1d3 random offensive items, 1d3 random defensive items and 1d3 random miscellaneous items, a randomly generated ascension kit containing various pieces of armor as well as a cheap plastic imitation of the Amulet of Yendor, some gold and other items. The ascension kit given to cavemen or cavewomen will never include a helm of brilliance.[4]

References

↑ create_mplayers in mplayer.c

↑ dat/gehennom.des in NetHack 3.6.0, line 83

↑ src/sp_lev.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 1896: the code is very cryptic but fortunately has comments

↑ mk_mplayer in mplayer.c in NetHack 3.6.1

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.