Tribes

For the New or Lost Tribe colony type or the backstory type, see Scenario system and Backstories.

Tribes are nominally neolithic tech level factions, however in reality they field equipment from the medieval level as well. There are three types of tribes in the base game: the gentle tribe, which start out neutral, the fierce tribe, which start out hostile but can be befriended, and the savage tribe, which are permanently hostile. There are two two additional tribe variants included with the Ideology DLC: the cannibal tribe, a permanently hostile tribe obsessed with eating human meat, and the nudist tribe, a tribe that starts out neutral and does not like to wear clothing.

People from this faction are usually very hard to recruit (difficulty 80+) unless you are also a tribal faction, though it is possible to do so. They may not seem very strong due to their low level of technology, but they make up for it with sheer numbers. They can easily overwhelm your defenses. The advised way of dealing with them is using area of effect weapons such as the Doomsday rocket launcher or Frag grenades. Fast firing weapons such as the minigun and the heavy SMG are also suggested.

This faction is a formidable ally and foe alike, and may start off as either of them. They may not be as dangerous as pirates, but they are not insignificant.

Lore

"These people have been here a very long time. Maybe their ancestors crashed here a thousand years ago. Maybe they survived some cataclysm that destroyed a technological civilization here. In any case, the tribals are a mostly nomadic people who live off the land using primitive tools and weapons. Despite their apparent technological weakness, the tribals can be dangerous enemies and valuable friends because of their skill with low-tech warfare, their numbers, and their hardiness." - In-game description

Tribal faction leaders are called the "Chief".

Names

The name of the Tribal factions vary from game to game, but follows one of several patterns:

[Tribal Word] [Tribal Political Union]
The [Tribal Word] [Tribal Political Union]
The [Color] [Terrain Feature] [Tribal Political Union]
[Tribal Political Union] of [Tribal Word]
The [Color] [Animal] [Tribal Word]
The [Tribal Political Union] of the [Terrain Feature]

Where:

[Animal] and [Terrain Feature] are one of 179 and 48, respectively, different common nouns of that category. E.g. Condor or Valley. They are not listed due to length.
[Tribal Word] is one of 89 words which appear to be, in part or totally, of Galician origin - a Romance Language spoken predominantly in Galicia, Spain. E.g. Abeneiro, meaning a Black Alder tree, or Miñoca, meaning Earthworm. They are not listed due to length.
[Color] and [Tribal Political Union] are replaced by one of the following:

Part	Word
[Tribal Political Union]	Union	Nation	Confederacy	Confederation	Alliance	Kin league	Covenant	Treaty	Pact	Coalition	Kinship	People	Tribe
[Color]	Red	Blue	Green	Purple	Black	White	Gray	Orange

Examples:

Cambiar Kin League
The Black Mesa Commonwealth
The Blue Boomrat Tribe

Variants

There are three primary types of tribes and two additional tribes included with the Ideology DLC. The primary tribes differ in their description and their relations with player and other factions, but are otherwise identical.

Gentle tribe

Faction icon for the Gentle Tribe

"This particular tribe pursues a gentle way of life where they can. They are quite open to trade and alliances, even with strange peoples."

Gentle tribes always start off neutral. This type of faction has a natural goodwill range from -50 to 50. If goodwill is over 50, it will fall by 0.4 per day. If goodwill is under -50, it will rise by 0.2 per day.

Fierce tribe

Faction icon for the Fierce Tribe

"This particular tribe values warlike dominance; it may be difficult to turn them into an ally."

Fierce tribes always start off hostile towards your colonists, as well as to all other factions. This type of faction has a natural goodwill range from -100 to -80. If goodwill is over -80, it will fall by 0.4 per day. If goodwill is under -100, it will rise by 0.2.

In 1.0 or earlier, they used to be known as savage tribes.

Savage tribe

Faction icon for the Savage Tribe

"This particular tribe has a blood-and-honor culture; it will not be possible to turn them into an ally."

Savage tribes always start off hostile towards your colonists and all other factions. Their goodwill is locked at -100, and will always remain hostile, similar to pirates. It replaced the second pirate faction.

Cannibal tribe

Faction icon for the Cannibal Tribe

"This particularly vicious tribe believes eating the flesh of their enemies is a great honor."

Cannibal tribes will always have the Cannibal Meme. Their goodwill is locked at -100, and will always remain hostile.

Nudist tribe

Faction icon for the Nudist Tribe

"This particular tribe believes that covering one's body is wrong."'

Nudist tribes will always have the Nudism Meme. They always start off neutral, with a natural goodwill range from -50 to 50.

Pawns

Tribal pawns will always have backstories from the "Tribal" category. Tribal fighters are typically weak but expendable. They never carry silver or medicine. They carry pemmican as food.

Pawn Kind	Combat Power	Gear	Apparel	Weapons	Tech	Inventory	Additional Info [edit]
Villager	30	HP: 50~180% Avg. Quality: Poor	Budget: 180~350 Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Kid parka , Kid tribalwear	Budget: 0	Budget: 50~50 3% chance to have one of the following: Denture, Peg leg, Wooden hand, Wooden foot	51x	Pawn Group Development Stage: Child Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 1~3 Initial Resistance Range: 17~27
Penitent	40	HP: 20~110% Avg. Quality: Poor	Budget: 50~100 Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 90~150 Available: Knife, Club	Budget: 50~50 15% chance to have one of the following: Denture, Peg leg, Wooden hand, Wooden foot	0 Nutrition	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Chemical Addiction Chance: 10% Initial Will Range: 0~1 Initial Resistance Range: 10~17
Archer	45	HP: 50~180% Avg. Quality: Poor	Budget: 180~350 Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 80~80 Available: Short bow	Budget: 50~50 3% chance to have one of the following: Denture, Peg leg, Wooden hand, Wooden foot	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Disallowed Traits: Brawler Required Work Tags: Violent Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 1~3 Initial Resistance Range: 17~27
Warrior	50	HP: 50~180% Avg. Quality: Poor	Budget: 200~300 Required: Veil Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 150~150 Available: Ikwa	-	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe canBeSapper Required Work Tags: Violent Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 1~3 Initial Resistance Range: 5~9
Breacher	55	HP: 50~180% Avg. Quality: Poor	Budget 200~300 Required: Veil Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 150~150 Available: Breach axe	-	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 1~3 Initial Resistance Range: 12~19 Can Be Sapper: true Is Good Breacher: true
Hunter	60	HP: 50~180%	Budget: 200~300 Required: Veil Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 100~100 Available: Recurve bow	-	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Backstories: Tribal (Childhood) and Tribal Hunter (Adulthood) Disallowed Traits: Brawler Required Work Types: Violent Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 2~4 Initial Resistance Range: 10~16
Trader	60	HP: 50~180%	Budget: 200~300 Required: Tribal headdress Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 100~100 Available: Recurve bow	-	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Backstories: Tribal (Childhood) and Tribal Hunter (Adulthood) Disallowed Traits: Brawler Required Work Types: Violent Trader Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 2~4 Initial Resistance Range: 9~15
Berserker	65	-	Budget: 200~550 Required: War mask Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 300~300 Available: Spear	-	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe canBeSapper Required Work Tags: Violent Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 2~4 Initial Resistance Range: 13~20
Heavy archer	75	-	Budget: 200~550 Required: War mask Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 250~250 Available: Greatbow, Pila	-	51x	Age Range: Up to 60 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Disallowed Traits: Brawler Required Work Tags: Violent Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 2~4 Initial Resistance Range: 14~22
Berserker chief	85	Avg. Quality: Normal	Budget: 450~750 Required: Tribal headdress, Plate armor Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 500~1000 Available: Longsword, Spear	-	51x	Age Range: 30~999 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Faction Leader canBeSapper Required Work Tags: Violent Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 3~5 Initial Resistance Range: 38~58
Archer chief	85	Avg. Quality: Normal	Budget: 450~750 Required: Tribal headdress, Plate armor Available: Broadwrap , Headwrap , Visage mask , Parka, Tribalwear	Budget: 500~1000 Available: Greatbow	-	51x	Age Range: 30~999 Race: Human Default Faction Type: Civil Tribe Faction Leader canBeSapper Required Work Tags: Violent Disallowed Traits: Brawler Chemical Addiction Chance: 5% Initial Will Range: 3~5 Initial Resistance Range: 16~26