Prehistoric Campaign

[SpuneDagr]

Last night I got an idea for a campaign.
CAVEMEN.

The PCs would be humans in their little cave village when they are suddenly attacked by troglodytes or lizardmen or something. Think Chrono Trigger.
The lizards would be all like, "Lousy humans, we were here first. We should kill them."

Departures from standard D&D:
Very low magic.
Barbarian, (possibly druid,) fighter, ranger, rogue are the only classes available.
Stone age weapons.
Almost no treasure (except food).

Can anybody help me think of a more engaging storyline? Has anyone done something like this before? What did you do differently?

 

[TroyXavier]

Definitely go with druids or at least adepts. Even a rare sorceror or bard wouldn't be out of line(limiting their magic in some fashion perhaps)

 

[SpuneDagr]

I was gonna have the only arcane casters be the reptilians. It makes them more mysterious and powerful. I'm kinda going for an against-all-odds thing.
I guess they'll be totally pummeled without at least a divine caster, though. I'll probably keep druids.

 

[RC Hagy]

Something close...

Mine is more of a fall back to pre-medieval times and slowly working back up to those times (as the players want though).

Anyhow, the 'something close' is that I am starting out with limited classes (no spellcasters),
limited weapons (exotic double weapon quarterstaff/spear thing which players must make themselves in an initiation ceremony) and
limited feats... really limited feats.
They want new feats outside the ones available in their region then they will need to travel.

As for storylines... really work on a beginning and an ending (even though you may never reach the end and the players will really mess with things on the way, how you would end it will give you ideas for the middle areas of the campaign).

Off the top of my head... have the trogs and lizards migrate. These migrations could take decades or centuries over a large territory. A sudden weather change forced them to hibernate for a long period.

This period of hibernation allowed you players clans to actually settle down instead of migrating ahead of the humanoids for survivals sake (and allows the we were here first attitude you stated).
This settlement allowed the standardation of fighting techniques (fighter, barb whatever), the development of more permanent/advanced tools (like a true glue instead of saps for weapon and tool heads).
Of course their are others with more real knowledge of how environment affects culture.
Necessity may be the mother of invention, but running around does not make time for lots of experimentation to actually improve things.


Hagy
Vermont


all of the above while culled from real life stuff is not meant to reflect it... it just sounds good storywise

 

[SpuneDagr]

Hey thanks.
I like that migratory thing. I was definitely going to limit weapons, the feats might be interesting too.

 

[RC Hagy]

Hey thanks.
I like that migratory thing. I was definitely going to limit weapons, the feats might be interesting too.

Actually, for something I just threw out their I like the migratory stuff too... I want it back!

Limiting feats for story, have to love it. I was having different clans, each with their own 'feat path'. Then the surrounding races would have some new ones. Lost tomes or scrolls as the rest of the world was explored for books outside of core.

Now that I think of it my class list was even smaller than what you were thinking of.

One last thing on the feat thing... I was planning on adding a skill/feat 'holding pattern' starting at third level. This would allow the player to hold a feat or skill points for a level or two before chosing something.
I mean, if you are going to be meeting elves in a week or two, why waste a slot when you might learn something even more useful for the region you are entering.
You mention trogs and L-men... why not have kobolds specific to another races region. That race would have a reason for whirlwind attack.

Under current rules you must take everything when the level is gained... makes sense when everything is allowed. When things are limited (not removed mind ya... just limited) allowing slack in the acquisition rules makes little more sense.

Then again, that is me... and no one 'round here listens to me much (think on that before using anything I have written ).


Hagy
Vermont

 

[Mach2.5]

A major theme for such a setting should be survivalism. There are no taverns selling the latest imported fish, no meat markets, etc. You hunt for your food and likely, hunting with poor weapons (even with the skills of a warrior) is not always succesfull. The players should know what its like to not have some of the basic things that standard settings have. The effects of weather should be emphasized a well: hot, humid days wear away on someone tracking prey across the land while cold balmy nights can give even hardened humans a rough night's sleep. Also, stressing the strangeness of things that are considered 'normal' to you and I like storms and snow. To your players: "The spirits of the sky form slowly over the hours above your head as you travel, dark forboding. You know that soon they will unleash their rage against the spirits of the earth that they war against with torrents of water and winds of rage." I.E., a storm is brewing.

Also note that their weapons will be of poor materials and make and will not likely last very long. Skin packs (for carrying things) should break and need replaced, flint and stone weapons will break as well leaving the poor PC helpless at times.

As for limiting spellcasters, I guess if you flavor the casters correctly, you need not limit anything. Clerics and druids could both worship nature, spirits, animism, limited polytheism, shamanism, ancestor worship, or any number of very ancient religeous styles. Arcane magic could come in pre vodoo, witch docter, herbalism, or other such quasi-scientific forms. Arcane magic could also be more elemental in nature as well for a twist.

As for classes, I'd say allow the cleric, druid, and bards (although really work to make the bards more fitting than the standard minstrel, like seers and oracle as an example).

I'd also suggest that you stress the savage nature of such times. Incorporating Critical Hits: Torn Asunder from Bastion Press could easily add a touch of brutality to combat itself.

Make a list of potential adversaries as you have with lizard men and trogs. Are these blatant adversaries (i.e. do the PCs know that these are the enemy?). If so, add another not so well known one, or make these foes only the front lines of a more behind the scenes enemy like yuan-ti. In fact, if you want some twists, make the humanoids the ones with the emerging civilizations while the humans, dwarves, and elves are all quite primitive. It need not be an actual empire, but even a collection of expanded settlements like pre-city states can give the non humans an alien and powerful feel.

Anyhow, I hope it works out for you. I'd love to hear more if you start working on the setting. I've always liked the idea of playing in a very primal and primitive setting. Good luck.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

I think a really good example of what kinds of things prehistoric characters could do as a campaign could be ripped from the Clan of the Cave Bear series (Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of Horses, Mammoth Hunters, Plains of Passage, and Shelters of Stone) by Jean M. Auel.

There are big, sometimes well-planned hunts, some of which can go wrong with disasterous consequences, dangerous weather, wild animals, interacting with different and possibly hostile foreign tribes (if the party is traveling), and other things. If you've read the series, consider some of the following parts for ideas:

Ayla's taming of Whinney, Baby, and Wolf - taming wild animals was all but unheard up, and when she did it, she was often considered an evil spirit when first encountered, or often elevated high above her own station when she tried to convince others that it was nothing special that she had done.

Hunt gone wrong - Thonolan and Jondalar's disaterous rhino hunt and their subsequent meeting of the Sharamudoi. When one was injured, he may have quickly died if circumstances hadn't conspired to bring a healer to him.

Encountering the Wolf Women of the S'Armunai - Twisted by a slightly crazed and evil leader, Alya and Jondalar took it upon themselves to set things right.

Crossing the Great Mother River - Nearly dying in the process of doing something as simple as traveling could show the PCs how different this raw new world is.

Encountering the flatheads (Clan) - Other types of people exist in the world, but are thought of as animals by the rest of humanity. How could you convince them otherwise?

Just some suggestions. And if you haven't read the series, I'd highly recommend it.

 

[SpuneDagr]

Thanks for all these great ideas!
Yeah, if I limited the feat or skill selection, I would probably be more lenient about when they learned them.
Normally I don't worry about food and water in campaigns, but in this one, it would be a major part of the story.
I most likely wouldn't have alignment either. Such abstract conepts are probably a bit beyond our primative heroes.

 

[fusangite]

The classes I allowed in my recent Ice Age game are Bard, Ranger, Barbarian and Shaman (I used Green Ronin's excellent supplement). If I had to do it again, I'd can the Bard. You'll also need to declare a mass of feats and skills off-limits. I recommend From Stone To Steel for stone-aged weapons. I'd suggest that only divine magic be available to the characters; arcane magic indicates a level of civilization that is, perhaps, inappropriate.