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| Item Animal Hide Arrows (5) Bag, Leather Belt, Leather Bone Comb Boots (Foot Wrappings) Bow Cap/Bonnet, Fur Cloak, Sheepskin/Fur Coracle, Wood & Hide Club, Wood Dugout Canoe (3-man) Fire Bow, Wooden Fishhook, Bone Flint Sparker Flint Tool Frame Pack, Wooden Hammerstone Healing Herb Remedy Hooded Cloak, Textile Leggings Mittens, Fur Needle, Bone Pack, Leather Paints & Pigments Pick, Deer Antler Pouch, Leather Rations, Dried, per-day Rope, 3m Shovel, Shoulder-blade Sledge, Wooden Sleeping Furs Sling, Leather Spear Caster Spear, Fire-hardened Spear, Bone-tipped Spear, Flint-tipped Staff Tent, Leather, per-man Thread, Sinew (3m) Torch, Wooden Tunic, Leather Waterskin, Leather |
| Time 4 Days 2 Days 2 Days 3 Days 10 Days 3 Days 4 Days 2 Days 2 Days 15 Days 1 Day 40 Days 4 Days 5 Days 1 Day 2 Days 2 Days 1 Day 1 Day 5 Days 3 Days 4 Days 8 Days 3 Days 10 Days 1 Day 1 Day 1 Day 6 Days 1 Day 12 Days 3 Days 2 Days 2 Days 1 Day 2 Days 3 Days 2 Days 5 Days 1 Day 2 Days 4 Days 2 Days |
| You are a Hunter. A man or woman of the Tribe who explores the world and who encounters dangerous spirits and wild animals on a daily basis. You are strong, proud and committed to supporting the Tribe. Without it you would be utterly alone in the world. Are Hunters all men? No. Most are, but often many hands are needed for this valuable job, or Clans find they lack enough men to serve as Hunters. What is the counter-part to the Hunter? It is the Firekeeper. Many women are Firekeepers, collecting firewood and tinder, keeping the Clan fire burning, cooking food, preparing meat, tanning hides and making clothes. Crippled hunters often become Firekeepers. To create the character of your Hunter in more detail, first select a Clan and receive a Clan Talent, then select an Extra Talent. After this you select a name from the Name Options List and finally create the Hunter's Wealth. CLAN Your Tribe is made-up of maybe a hundred men, women and children. These tribal members live in related groups called Clans, and every Clan reveres the guardian spirit (or 'totem') of an animal that watches over it's members. Clans have their own customs and rituals based on their guardian spirit. The most important power is the Hunter's Blessing, bestowed on every Hunter of the Clan by the guardian spirit. This blessing allows him to kill an animal for food, and serves as a prayer that he can recite to appease the spirit of the dead animal and stop it from seeking revenge. The guardian spirit also teaches its Hunters a special Clan Talent. The Talent is often an ability or power possessed by the animal itself. Select a Clan from the following list: The Cave Bear Clan Members of this Clan are often strong and heavily built. The men have hairy bodies and grow long beards. The Clan Spirit is called StrongPaw. Clan Talent is Immensely Strong. The Horse Clan Members of this Clan are tall and fast on their feet. Men and women both have long pony-tails. The Clan Spirit is called FireFoot. Clan Talent is Fast Runner. The Wolf Clan The men of this Clan are surly and watchful. Men and women grow their hair long and they file their canine teeth to points. The Clan Spirit is called Howler. Clan Talent is Tracker. The Rhino Clan The Rhino Clan members are blunt and direct; both men and women wear their hair in a top-knot. The Clan Spirit is called Rumble. Clan Talent is Ignore Pain. The Red Deer Clan Members of this Clan are quiet and relaxed people, often colouring their faces and bodies red with ochre. The Clan Spirit is called Tanglehorn. Clan Talent is Stealthy. TALENTS Besides gaining a Talent from the Clan spirit, the Clan members also teach the Hunter-to-be a useful Talent. This Extra Talent is chosen by the Hunter's player. Select one from: Animal Habits Archery Calm Spirit Climbing Disable Fast Runner Fire Making Healing Herbs Hunt (specify animal) Identify Spirit Leaping River Skills Sense the Invisible Throwing TALENT AND FOCUS Note that Talents aren't just skills or learned abilities, they fall somewhere between magic and skill. Everything in this world is semi-magical, it is pervasive and ubiquitous. To utilize a Talent, the Hunter must have on him a magical correspondence or Focus. Clan Talents, for example, are always bone, ivory, stone or wood carvings of the Clan's Guardian Spirit. If he loses this Focus then he can no longer use his Talent. He must fashion another which takes him a moderate amount of time, making the loss inconvenient but not catastrophic. Another person's focus can be used only as a source of raw materials to create your own version. Only a focus that you have made with your own hands will work for you. The Foci are described within the Talent descriptions. TALENT DESCRIPTIONS Animal Habits - You can detect the mood of an animal, perhaps giving you a clue to its intentions. You know how animals behave in specific circumstances. Focus is a Tattoo (see below) Archery - You have a great aim and can hit targets with your arrows at great distances and with some accuracy. Arrows, even those with flint tips, are nowhere as lethal as spears, however, and best for shooting birds, goats and baby deer. Focus for this Talent is a collection of bird feathers which are used for the arrow flights. Calm Spirit - Many spirits are hostile to Hunters and their Kin, but you can try to appease a spirit with words or magical techniques. Focus is a Tattoo (see below). Climbing - You can climb cliffs, rocks, trees (or anything else) like a mountain goat! Difficult terrain such as boulder-strewn gulleys, steep rock-covered hillsides and any other hard-going can also be negotiated without the nasty injuries associated with them. Focus is a pair of goatskin boots. Disable - Whether you are using a flint axe, spear, stick or fist, if you can hit someone or something, you can usually knock them down and disable them for a time. Focus is a leather bracelet decorated with bison bone. Fast Runner - You can sprint at high speed to escape or to pursue an animal. Focus for Horse Clan Members is a carving of FireFoot. Fire Making - You are adept at starting a fire with the barest of materials - a little dry moss or bundle of dry twigs and grass, and a flint sparker. It takes, on average, half an hour. Make a draw of stones to determine whether this is done faster or slower (refer to the Creating Goods rules for that). Focus is a small carved figurine in wood, ivory or soft rock of the Earth Goddess. Healing Herbs - Many plants have medicinal effects, some are able to stop bleeding, reduce swelling, act as a poison antidote, reduce fevers, cure stomach ills and so on. You know when and where they can be found and you know how to prepare and administer them. Focus is the very herbs you are preparing. Hunt (specify animal) - Most Hunters are generalists, hunting whatever comes their way. Someone with this Talent is adept at bringing down and killing a particular species of animal in spear combat. A bonus stone may be drawn during each 'turn' in the attack (as with other Talents) but only in direct spear combat, not archery or a thrown spear attack. The player must specify the prey animal when this Talent is chosen, and it cannot later be changed. The Talent only adds to draws involving that particular species. Choose from: Birds, Hyena, Red Deer, Cave Bear, Horse, Wild Cat, Wolf, Auroch, Bison, Reindeer, Mammoth, Mountain Goat, Rhino, Wolf and Cave Lion. Focus is a necklace of at least half a dozen teeth from a lion, wolf, cave bear or hyena. Identify Spirit - Faced with magic or the obvious existence of a spirit - you can identify what type of magic or spirit it is, which may help you deal with it. You have knowledge of different spirit types. Focus is a Tattoo (see below). Ignore Pain - Pain caused by injuries can put a Hunter in shock or stun him for a few vital moments, but you usually shrug off pain and keep on going until disabled or killed. Focus for Rhino Clan Members is a carving of Rumble. Immensely Strong - You are stronger than most people. Focus for Cave Bear Clan Members is a carving of StrongPaw. Leaping - You can jump higher and farther than most people. Focus is a Hare's Foot. River Skills - You are familiar with the courses and ways of local rivers, you know how to cross them safely, how to fish and how to swim. Focus is a necklace of pretty seashells. Sense the Invisible - You can sense the existence of spirits, of malign powers and the magic of Storytellers. You get a 'feeling' rather than complete understanding of the powers at work. For that you need Identify Spirit. Focus is a Tattoo (see below). Stealthy - You are an expert at hiding and sneaking around, especially in the forests or in the darkness. Focus for Red Deer Clan Members is a carving of Tanglehorn. Throwing - You are able to throw spears with great accuracy and over long distances. Focus is a spear caster, a shaped length of antler ending in an animal carving. The spear fits in a notch at the end, and the Talent allows the Hunter to swing the caster out and propel the spear using its leverage. Tracker - You are better than most people at locating human and animal tracks and following them across country. You also know how to interpret tracks to estimate speed, number and type of prey. Focus for Wolf Clan Members is a carving of Howler. THE TATOO FOCUS Some Talents, in particular those relating to spirits, have no physical Focus. Instead the Storyteller of the Tribe tattoos a design onto the Hunter's skin which serves the same purpose. The design may incorporate zigzags, parallel lines or spirals, and it acts as a link between the Hunter and the Spirit World. Tattoos are usually on the arms, chest and face. NAME OPTIONS LIST The Hunter needs a name. Rather than let player's create fantasy names that would be inappropriate the beginning player should pick a name from the list below, or create a name in the same style. Hidden Moon, Long Shadow, Sun Face, Archer, Tale Teller, Sweetlove, Tall Man, First Born, Second Sister, Hammerhand, Sky, Mist, Wanderer, Lionheart, Whisperer, Mighty Hand, Faith, Trueheart, Seeker, Heather, Thorn, Holly, Berry, Midnight, Many Miracles, Greenblood, Big Laugh, Strong Bone, Spearshaker, Faithful, Thunder WEALTH & STATUS Wealth is relative. In TOTEM, everyone is poor. Food, shelter, clothing, a few tools and a spear form a basic measure of status and wealth. The Hunter may own two spears, maybe a bow, perhaps a few amulets and a couple of fishhooks, but no-one is richer than that. What use are items you cannot carry with you and do not aid you in some manner? Wealth is measured in portable Kit. Meanwhile, status is the real prize for any tribesman. Increased status gives more social prestige, more say in the running of the Clan or Tribe and a place of honour at meals, feasts and ceremonies. Members of the Tribe grade themselves along the following simple descending scale: · The Chief · The Storyteller and the Elders · Hunters · Firekeepers and Youths · Born Cripples · Outcasts A HUNTER'S KIT Each newly created Hunter should start with the following basic items: Flint-Bladed Spear Fur Jacket and Leggings Fur Hat and Mittens Leather Pack Tinder and Flint Sparker Flint Slicer Dried Food (2 days worth) any Foci associated with his Talents COMPARATIVE VALUE OF GOODS The following list isn't a shopping list of Ice Age goods available from the local trader. In TOTEM every adult can manufacture for themselves all of the items on this list. All that is required are adequate raw materials and time. Some Talented individuals may be able to complete the process in a shorter time than others. No-one can afford NOT to learn the skills of stone-knapping, bone-working and woodwork. This being the case there is no currency in TOTEM. Items may be bartered for other items, for food or for favors, but only on an ad hoc system based on the needs of the individuals involved. All of that should be handled in-game. To assess the relative value of everyday items the list below rates each object according to how long it takes to create given that the raw materials are on hand. If you need something that the Tribe may already have in abundance (flint cores for creating tools, animal bones and cured hide) you can trade for what you need. CREATING GOODS To create anything you firstly need the raw materials. Most items will either require leather hide, wood, stone/flint, or bone/horn/ ivory. Sinew can be used to create a thread. Leather is the material of choice in this era and used for an innumerable range of items, from boots to leggings, bags to thongs, bowstrings to tents. A large animal is killed, bled and skinned (then gutted and cooked) and the skin is always stretched on a wood frame, the fat and flesh cleaned with a flint scraper and then cured or dried (either in the sun or over a low fire). If the fur is to be left on, the job is done. If leather is required the cured hide is soaked in water for a couple of days, the fur can then be pulled out and the hide scraped once again. To tan the hide and make leather, a mixture of the animal's brains and body fat is worked steadily into the skin. Finally the hide is dried over a fire. Total preparation time: 4 days. Hamstrings and other leg sinews can be dried and used as bindings and threads with which hides can be stitched together or as short rope or bowstrings. Sinews are sticky when wet and dry hard - they make excellent bindings for spear heads. Total preparation time: 1 day. Let's say our Hunter wants to make a Bow. In the Ice Age bows were made of seasoned wood and a rawhide bowstring. What are the raw materials our Hunter needs? Well, with a flint chopper he needs to cut himself just the right piece of wood and let it season for several months. A Tribe might carry around a stock of wood that is being seasoned, but it might not. Instead the Hunter might have to use unseasoned wood, but the springiness in his Bow will only last a few weeks before it needs replacing. Rawhide for the bowstring can be gathered from any slaughtered animal. In addition five arrows will be needed, requiring a number of large feathers, additional wood (birch is good for arrows) and five flint arrowheads. If our Hunter has all the required raw materials then a bow and set of arrows may take him only 6 days to manufacture. On the other hand, he may have to go out and make a flint chopper and blade to cut his wood, kill a bird and a mountain goat to get his sinew and rawhide. Then he'll have to cure his hide, make his sinew and so on. From start to finish the process of creating a bow and arrows will take (on average) 10 days. We can say that the sinew and flint chopper were made while the animal hide was soaking for two days. Of course the Hunter might want to barter for his raw materials from his Kin, they should have surplus cured animal hide ready for fabricating as well as flint cores and other essentials (deer antler, leg bones and so on). How long does it take the Hunter to fashion his Bow? The player draws 1 stone, 2 if suitably Talented. A single Sun Stone indicates the item was made in the time stated above. Two Sun Stones indicate the item was made in half the time stated above. No Sun Stones indicate that the item was not completed after the time above and the process needs to continue or be abandoned. |
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