Cave Dweller - Revision history

Darth l33t: /* Character creation */ I meant to take that paragraph out

2026-06-06T15:51:29Z

‎Character creation: I meant to take that paragraph out

Kahran042: /* Character creation */ - Spelling error.

2026-06-05T21:11:55Z

‎Character creation: - Spelling error.

Darth l33t: /* Character creation */ 5.0.0 update

2026-06-05T15:09:30Z

‎Character creation: 5.0.0 update

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2026-05-20T18:36:50Z

pothole

Umbire the Phantom: /* Rank titles */ rephrase

2026-05-05T04:07:17Z

‎Rank titles: rephrase

Umbire the Phantom: /* Rank titles */ gonna have to make these notes everywhere

2026-05-05T02:22:01Z

‎Rank titles: gonna have to make these notes everywhere

Umbire the Phantom: get the lead out for the lede

2026-05-05T02:11:42Z

get the lead out for the lede

Umbire the Phantom: Umbire the Phantom moved page Caveman to Cave Dweller over redirect: Reflect recent release of NetHack 5

2026-05-05T02:05:29Z

Umbire the Phantom moved page Caveman to Cave Dweller over redirect: Reflect recent release of NetHack 5

Umbire the Phantom: tweak

2026-02-02T16:09:34Z

tweak

Umbire the Phantom: /* UnNetHack */ sick res

2026-02-02T15:58:04Z

‎UnNetHack: sick res

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:51, 6 June 2026
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	A human Cave Dweller will have a safer Mines than a neutral one due to the tendency of dwarves to be peaceful, although this also makes it more difficult to acquire weapons and armor from them. Lawful [[sacrifice gift]]s are somewhat more reliable than neutral ones, although the difference is small. Later in the game, [[the Sceptre of Might]] is more powerful in the hands of a lawful Cave Dweller, although they also have to deal with a harsher [[mysterious force]] on the ascension run.		A human Cave Dweller will have a safer Mines than a neutral one due to the tendency of dwarves to be peaceful, although this also makes it more difficult to acquire weapons and armor from them. Lawful [[sacrifice gift]]s are somewhat more reliable than neutral ones, although the difference is small. Later in the game, [[the Sceptre of Might]] is more powerful in the hands of a lawful Cave Dweller, although they also have to deal with a harsher [[mysterious force]] on the ascension run.
−
−	Cavepeople are restricted in most of the strong one-handed weapon skills, so the deterministic nature of lawful [[sacrifice gift]]s can be an advantage: your first gift is likely to be an [[artifact]] [[long sword]] that unrestricts the skill and grants access to [[Excalibur]], or even possibly one of the strongest artifact weapons in [[Grayswandir]]. In addition to the lower reliability of neutral sacrifice gifts, only humans and gnomes can be neutral Cavepeople, which carries the aforementioned drawbacks; [[The Sceptre of Might]] is also a stronger artifact in the hands of a lawful Caveperson, especially once you reach [[Gehennom]].

	===Early game===		===Early game===

@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 ===Character creation===
-Cave Dewellers possess the second-largest spellcasting penalty of all roles after the Barbarian and are unlikely to ever cast a spell in their lives, so the primary factor in choice of starting race is typically pure physical power. Dwarves are the superior choice in that regard, with generous HP growth and the highest possible maximums of [[dexterity]] and constitution, and [[infravision]] and a relatively peaceful [[Gnomish Mines]] are great secondary benefits. Humans are a distant second choice due to a more hostile Mines and lack of infravision. Gnomes tend to have the least racial benefits for the role outright: their maximum strength and [[HP]] growth are poor, and their bonus [[energy]] and higher maximum [[intelligence]] are virtually useless for Cave Dwellers.
+Cave Dwellers possess the second-largest spellcasting penalty of all roles after the Barbarian and are unlikely to ever cast a spell in their lives, so the primary factor in choice of starting race is typically pure physical power. Dwarves are the superior choice in that regard, with generous HP growth and the highest possible maximums of [[dexterity]] and constitution, and [[infravision]] and a relatively peaceful [[Gnomish Mines]] are great secondary benefits. Humans are a distant second choice due to a more hostile Mines and lack of infravision. Gnomes tend to have the least racial benefits for the role outright: their maximum strength and [[HP]] growth are poor, and their bonus [[energy]] and higher maximum [[intelligence]] are virtually useless for Cave Dwellers.
 A human Cave Dweller will have a safer Mines than a neutral one due to the tendency of dwarves to be peaceful, although this also makes it more difficult to acquire weapons and armor from them. Lawful [[sacrifice gift]]s are somewhat more reliable than neutral ones, although the difference is small. Later in the game, [[the Sceptre of Might]] is more powerful in the hands of a lawful Cave Dweller, although they also have to deal with a harsher [[mysterious force]] on the ascension run.

@@ Line 86: / Line 86: @@
 ===Character creation===
-Cavepeople possess the second-largest spellcasting penalty of all roles after the Barbarian and are unlikely to ever cast a spell in their lives, so the primary factor in choice of starting race is typically pure physical power. Dwarves are the superior choice in that regard, with generous HP growth and the highest possible maximums of [[dexterity]] and constitution, and [[infravision]] and a relatively peaceful [[Gnomish Mines]] are great secondary benefits. Humans are a distant second choice due to a more hostile Mines and lack of infravision. Gnomes tend to have the least racial benefits for the role outright: their maximum strength and [[HP]] growth are poor, and their bonus [[energy]] and higher maximum [[intelligence]] are virtually useless for Cavepeople.
+Cave Dewellers possess the second-largest spellcasting penalty of all roles after the Barbarian and are unlikely to ever cast a spell in their lives, so the primary factor in choice of starting race is typically pure physical power. Dwarves are the superior choice in that regard, with generous HP growth and the highest possible maximums of [[dexterity]] and constitution, and [[infravision]] and a relatively peaceful [[Gnomish Mines]] are great secondary benefits. Humans are a distant second choice due to a more hostile Mines and lack of infravision. Gnomes tend to have the least racial benefits for the role outright: their maximum strength and [[HP]] growth are poor, and their bonus [[energy]] and higher maximum [[intelligence]] are virtually useless for Cave Dwellers.
 Cavepeople are restricted in most of the strong one-handed weapon skills, so the deterministic nature of lawful [[sacrifice gift]]s can be an advantage: your first gift is likely to be an [[artifact]] [[long sword]] that unrestricts the skill and grants access to [[Excalibur]], or even possibly one of the strongest artifact weapons in [[Grayswandir]]. In addition to the lower reliability of neutral sacrifice gifts, only humans and gnomes can be neutral Cavepeople, which carries the aforementioned drawbacks; [[The Sceptre of Might]] is also a stronger artifact in the hands of a lawful Caveperson, especially once you reach [[Gehennom]].
 ===Early game===

@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 Cavepeople are restricted in most of the strong one-handed weapon skills, so the deterministic nature of lawful [[sacrifice gift]]s can be an advantage: your first gift is likely to be an [[artifact]] [[long sword]] that unrestricts the skill and grants access to [[Excalibur]], or even possibly one of the strongest artifact weapons in [[Grayswandir]]. In addition to the lower reliability of neutral sacrifice gifts, only humans and gnomes can be neutral Cavepeople, which carries the aforementioned drawbacks; [[The Sceptre of Might]] is also a stronger artifact in the hands of a lawful Caveperson, especially once you reach [[Gehennom]].
-{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Demonbane's base item is changed, first to a [[mace]] via {{commit|b1a5a9c3903a0282f82787d20fd70f13196e2465}}, then to a [[Silver mace (3.7.0)|silver mace]] via {{commit|67d58202ad84dd04ccfd6079fc2665e87ef80fc3}}, which means that a lawful Cave Dweller is no longer guaranteed to receive a long sword as their first gift.
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Demonbane's base item is changed, first to a [[mace]] via {{commit|b1a5a9c3903a0282f82787d20fd70f13196e2465}}, then to a [[silver mace]] via {{commit|67d58202ad84dd04ccfd6079fc2665e87ef80fc3}}, which means that a lawful Cave Dweller is no longer guaranteed to receive a long sword as their first gift.
 Per {{commit|e8212743825365569b2162384eb653520b59c1d3}}, there is only a {{frac|30}} chance of a non-Knight receiving Excalibur by dipping.}}

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 ==Rank titles==
-The [[status line]] displays one of the following ranks for the corresponding experience levels, which are also used by the corresponding player monsters of the same [[monster level]]:{{refsrc|src/role.c|112|nethack=3.6.7}}
+The [[status line]] displays one of the following ranks for the corresponding experience levels, which are also used by player monsters of the same role and [[monster level]]:{{refsrc|src/role.c|112|nethack=3.6.7}}
 *XL 1-2: Troglodyte

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 {{tocright}}
-The '''Caveman''' or '''Cavewoman''', sometimes referred to as the '''Caveperson''' and abbreviated as '''Cav''', is one of the [[role]]s available for a [[hero]] in ''NetHack''. Their corresponding [[player monster]] is the {{monsymlink|caveman|variant=player monster}} (or cavewoman). The [[guidebook]] has little to say about Cavepeople:
+The '''Cave Dweller''', known informally as the '''Caveperson''' (or '''Cavepeople''') and abbreviated as '''Cav''', is one of the [[role]]s available for a [[hero]] in ''[[NetHack]]''. Male and female Cave Dwellers are known as '''Cavemen''' and '''Cavewomen''' respectively. Their corresponding [[player monster]] is the {{monsymlink|cave dweller|variant=player monster}}. The [[guidebook]] has little to say about Cave Dwellers:
 {{guidebook|Cavemen  and  Cavewomen start with exceptional strength but, unfortunately, with neolithic weapons.}}
-Cavepeople can be [[Human (starting race)|humans]], [[Dwarf (starting race)|dwarves]] or [[Gnome (starting race)|gnomes]], and can be [[lawful]] or [[neutral]].
+Cave Dwellers can be [[Human (starting race)|humans]], [[Dwarf (starting race)|dwarves]] or [[Gnome (starting race)|gnomes]], and can be [[lawful]] or [[neutral]].
 {{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|0c3b9642e4207ed3c0b756585b83477f59116305}}, the role is known as the '''Cave Dweller''', with "Caveman" and "Cavewoman" as gendered role names.}}
 ==Starting equipment==

← Older revision	Revision as of 02:05, 5 May 2026
(No difference)

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 {{Caveman skill table}}
-Cavepeople start with ''Basic'' skill in clubs, slings and bare-handed combat. They use the intelligence stat to cast spells, and their [[special spell]] is {{+ of|dig}}.{{refsrc|src/role.c|151|nethack=3.6.7}}
+Cavepeople start with ''Basic'' skill in clubs, slings and bare-handed combat. They use the [[intelligence]] stat to cast spells, and their [[special spell]] is {{+ of|dig}}.{{refsrc|src/role.c|151|nethack=3.6.7}}
 ==Special rules==

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 ===UnNetHack===
 {{main|Caveman/UnNetHack}}
-In [[UnNetHack]], Cavepeople have a {{frac|4}} chance of starting with a pet [[wolf]] and a {{frac|12}} chance of starting with a pet [[winter wolf cub]]&mdash;these chances are raised to {{frac|3|4}} and {{frac|4}} respectively if the player sets the option to always start with exotic pets.
+In [[UnNetHack]], Cavepeople can gain [[immunity to sickness]] by reaching experience level 10.
 Cavepeople reading scrolls will always produce the same results as other heroes reading that scroll while confused.