d20 B.C.

[xplsn]

Is there any material out there for running a d20 prehistoric roleplay? I searched Google, and I didn't come up with anything but this Land of Og, which honestly looks a little too comedic for my tastes (I could very well be mistaken, as I did only read a brief product description of the game).

The thought did cross my mind the other day, that maybe it would be possible I could run such a game using D&D's ruleset. Or even d20 Modern, which I'm actually much more familiar with. Is this possible without too much re-tooling and changing of the rules?

Your thoughts, references, advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Crothian]

Stone and Steel might be the best bet. It has lots of ancient tools and things. The best gamign resource I know of is GURPs Ice Age

 

[mythusmage]

There's tons of stuff on the prehistoric world, it's just not game stuff.

Hie yourself to your local friendly college library, read up on the prehistoric world, then apply game stats etc. as you feel appropriate. It's what Gary did when he created stuff for D&D after all.

Accuracy? People have been complaining about the accuracy of stuff in RPGs since RPGs hit the market. Tell the complainers that primary sources don't agree on things, and you're only out to entertain folks. Besides, if you want your members of the Aurignacian Culture to be primitive elves, then they can be primitive elves.

 

[xplsn]

Thanks tons, guys.

Stone and Steel looks promising (and cheap! ). I'll check that one out, definitely.

And I might even pay a visit to my local library, too.

 

[DMH]

The best game product I have read for such settings is GURPS Low Tech (covers stone through Dark Ages).

The only d20 product I know of that covers such things as races and skills is Lost Prehistorica (pdf).

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Try the local COLLEGE library first you probably aren't going to find anything useful in most public libraries. Or at least that's my experience which is I admit mainly in small rural public libraries that haven't bought any new books in thrity years and are about the size of a doublewide trailer.

 

[Torm]

Maybe Testament? It may or may not have quite the flavor you're looking for, or be quite as ancient, but it might at the least have some useful crunch.

How "pre-historic" are we talkin', here? Actually literally before recorded history, or just far enough back that the details get really sketchy (ala ancient Sumeria, Judah, India, China, American Indian, etc.....)?

 

[SuStel]

Is there any material out there for running a d20 prehistoric roleplay? I searched Google, and I didn't come up with anything but this Land of Og, which honestly looks a little too comedic for my tastes (I could very well be mistaken, as I did only read a brief product description of the game).

Land of Og is pure comedy, not to be played as a serious game (and it's not d20). Each player's caveman knows only one word to begin with, and may only communicate with that one word—and most players don't start with the same word. I've run a game of Land of Og; it was one of the funniest games I've ever played. The constant grunting and pointing was hilarious, and I never knew that "rock" could mean so many things!

 

[tensen]

Is there any material out there for running a d20 prehistoric roleplay? I searched Google, and I didn't come up with anything but this Land of Og, which honestly looks a little too comedic for my tastes (I could very well be mistaken, as I did only read a brief product description of the game).

My company's Lost Prehistorica might be a possibility for you. Even if it isn't an exact fit for what you are intending to do, the toolkit format of the product makes it easier to pick the parts that are useful to you. I won't go any further on the spiel, because I don't want to sound like an advertising blurb.

 

[Alzrius]

I could swear I once read an article on this in an old Dragon magazine. It noted such things as how divine spellcasters may have problems, because it's possible that their gods might not exist (or have migrated to that world) yet. Arcane spellcaster and "wild" characters (such as druids and rangers) would have to deal with what could potentially be a vastly different ecosystem (which also impacts spell components). I can't recall what issue it's in now, though, and I've looked a lot.