>Running caveman one shot >Setting is primordial Africa (Tall grass) >Has dinosaurs+Large mammals+Large Birds >Has weird stuff (Like Monster Hunter creatures) >Group plays as communal cave man unit
Any ideas for encounters? Looking for cool creatures to
How about not dinosaurs. Or Monster Hunter stuff, for that matter. Actual cave-dweller-contemporary fauna was interesting enough, and there's more tan enough of them to fill a one-shot.
Kayden Williams
Caveman fantasy
One of the guys is going to be a witchdoctor type of caveman. He can do basic healing and leads worship to rain god. So there's Caveman magic
Jaxon Robinson
It's caveman fantasy, not flintstone fantasy.
Shaman's who can call on smokeless fire and beast totems are absolute aces. But why do you need dinosaurs when you have smilodons, dire wolves, and narrow ravines full of charging aurochs?
Henry Murphy
Maybe suggest some, then? "Anything but the obvious" is all subversive and highbrow and all, but tends to be shit in practice.
When in doubt, just use dire versions of existing critters. Something that's obviously a wolf but JACKED can sometimes be as satisfying as a dinosaur or fluffy wyvern-ish thing.
For encounters, I'd probably play up the savagery and competition of the area. Players attack a herd only to have another critter try to punk their kill, resulting in a three-way tussle, for example. Or the players come across something trapped in a tar pit and have to figure out how to get the delicious meat out of there, but they're not the only ones who have noticed this opportunity.
Because dinosaurs are great and make every setting better? Hell, if the dinosaurs survived you could make a race of sapient evil lizard people too. Or deep morlock-like cavemen who haven’t seen the light of day and commit night raids against their lightward kin
Gavin Roberts
I know very little about caveman fauna. If you could post a list of stuff to Google image search and maybe post a couple pics of your favorites it would be a solid.
Ethan Jackson
See, Trogs or the One's that Dwell Below or whatever, are great. Ancient Ones appearing to chant to the Singing Star on a mountain top? Perfect.
But saying you need actual dinosaurs in a paleolithic setting is like saying you need dragons in a Vampire: The Masquerade game. It's a non-sequiter. Especially in the incredibly limited possibility space you need for a one-shot.
Leo Hall
>Any ideas for encounters? Deinotherium, the extra giant elephant
But this is good advice. Consider emphasizing the caloric battle of species that's well on its way to be on the top of the food pyramid, but isn't there yet.
Consider something like having the adventure start with an involved technical challenge like a mastodon hunt, and have that lead to a more esoteric adventure with Subterranean Saurians or what have you. Throw in an encounter with a murder of land-birds that will kick your feet with their giant ass for flavor.