Saturday, November 5, 2016

Caveman Vs the Fire Apes! A Classic/OSR Funnel Thingee...

I love the idea of a funnel: low level characters run en masse, sent into a bloodbath to see who survives. They are great for one-shots when not all players can make it, you need a break as DM, or you just want to murder large amounts of characters for fun and amusement.
I've run a few and this one is the latest.

To start we'll need some cavemen.....

THE CAVEMEN
Each player has four Cavemen
HD: 2d8 hit points each.
Base to hit: + 2/as Fighter plus the usual stat bonuses.
Save: 13/as Fighter

Rolling Ability scores:
Strength: 5d6 (take best three)
Dexterity: 4d6 (take best three)
Constitution: 5d6 (take best three)
Intelligence: 4d6 (take worst three)
Wisdom: 4d6 (take worst three)
Charisma: 3d6

Special Abilities:
+1 Ac due to gristle and inherit toughness.
+4 to Str checks for climbing if a roll is deemed necessary.

Weapons:
Made of stone, wood, and bone and vulnerable to breakage. When each weapon rolls maximum on it's damage dice it has a 1-2 on a 1d6 of being damaged. If it is damaged the damage dice drops by one dice. When it goes below 1d4 damage dice it is useless as a weapon.

Axe 1d6
Club 1d4
Dagger 1d4
Two-handed Club 1d6
Rock 1d4
Two-handed Rock 1d6
Spear 1d6

Armor:
Leather and hide: +2 to Ac
Leather and hide shield: +1 to Ac. Only allowed if a player thinks to ask about them. Don't offer it up.

Extra:
The tribal shaman has whipped up a batch of healing paste. Each Caveman gets one dose. When taken it heals 1d4 Hp.

Allow them to have grass rope, fire-bow and kit for making fires, water skins, etc.

COMBAT CHAOS 
(Yes it's a fumble chart....)
Caveman combat is violent and dirty with very little style compared to more modern warriors. The push, shove, jump, bash, and roll around a lot. They also tend to fight in dirty, natural places filled with rocks, loose dirt, downed trees, tangling bushes, etc.

During combat when a character or creature rolls a natural one on the d20 roll, roll a 1d6 and consult the following chart.
1. Trip and fall: stunned (-2 hit.-2 AC) one round.
2. Twist ankle. Half movement for 1d4 days.
3. Step on sharp object: 1 point damage, half movement for 1d3 rounds.
4. Wrench shoulder: arm useless for 1d4 days.
5. Hit self: damage yourself.
6. Crack head: stunned (-2 hit.-2 AC) for 1d6 rounds.

THE SETUP
The women of the PC's tribe have been kidnapped!
Apemen of the fire-lands have raided and killed many while the Pc's were off hunting. They are tasked by the tribal shaman to retrieve them.

Actual encounters, stats, and maps next time!



2 comments:

  1. This is outstanding! I've had a paleolithic OSR game swirling around in my head for a while now. Great inspiration here!

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