Stone Age Science Fantasy Starter

The Cave of Our People is a scenario for Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game. This roleplaying game of a Stone Age that never was, inspired by the fiction and films of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thundarr the Barbarian, Horizon Zero Dawn, the Cavemaster RPG and Hollow Earth Expedition, and more. This is a world in which humanity survives alongside dinosaurs and other creatures and ancient secrets and aliens lurk, with the Player Characters as warriors and hunters, shamans and sorcerers, exploring an environment dominated by a nature untrammeled by mankind. The Cave of Our People is a short, one session—two at most—scenario designed to introduce players and their characters to the Stone Age world of Primal Quest. The Player Characters want to join the People of the Vale. This can be as children wanting to become adult members of the tribe or it can be as newcomers to the area wanting to join the tribe. The latter is the default for the scenario, but either way, the Player Characters will have to undergo an initiation, and it is this initiation that will take the Player Characters into ‘The Cave of Our People’. This cave is located in a stony hill just north of Lakit and it is here that the people of Lakit bury buried their ancestors. In this way, the cave also serves as a link between them and the wise spirits who reside inside, and this is why it is thus used to initiate newcomers to the customs of the People of the Vale.

The Cave of Our People begins with the Player Characters in a cave with no other exit than the one to the outside,, drinking tea made with rare herbs and magic mushrooms by Brikla, the village elder, shaman, and leader. Under the influence of the tea, the Player Characters undergo a series of challenges. They will fight the Ape King, harvest fruits from an ancient mother tree, be tested by the environment, come to the help of others—both dead and alive, and even make a leap into the unknown… Each encounter will both mystify and challenge the players and their characters in different ways. This will seem like a random series of encounters and for the most part it is. However, there are acts that may not be obvious, but if done, the Player Characters will earn more Experience Points and if they can make it to the end of the cave system (though there is scope for the Game Master to expand it if she wants), they may be able to learn about some of the particular tasks which will earn them these Experience Points, so tenacity and clever play will prevail.

At the end of the initiation, the Player Characters awaken to find themselves in the cave where they started. This brings the scenario to a close as well, but it also sets up what is the most fun part of the scenario. Each of the Player Characters gets to draw a cave painting to add to the wall based on their experiences in the cave, but the best bit is that the players get to draw this out themselves. Even better, is the fact is that given that these are cave paintings, the players do not have to be the best artists to draw them. The scenario even has a blank page of stone where the players could draw them.

Physically, The Cave of Our People is cleanly and simply laid out. The scenario is solidly written, whilst the artwork and the cartography are both excellent.

The Cave of Our People is simple and straightforward, an easy introduction to Primal Quest – Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventure Game. It is also simple to adapt so that a Game Master could run it for Paleomythic: A Stone and Sorcery Roleplaying Game and other Stone Age roleplaying games.