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G A R E T H R Y D E R - H A N R A H A N
A R O L E P L A Y I N G G A M E B Y
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WRITINGGareth Ryder-Hanrahan
CREATIVE DIRECTORDominic McDowell-Thomas
ADDITIONAL WRITINGJohn M. Kahane
EDITINGJenni Hill
GRAPHIC DESIGNLee Binding
ADDITIONAL DESIGNEdel Ryder-Hanrahan
LAYOUTSimon Lucas
Edel Ryder-Hanrahan
PLAYTESTERSJohn M. Kahane
Kathy BauerSteve Bauer
Joanne Clarke
Angela MarshDavid Matchuk
Douglas McMillanTammy Powers
Nick RobertsTom Robinson
Steven Ross
PROOF-READINGJohn M. Kahane
Gareth Ryder-HanrahanDominic McDowall-Thomas
LINE MANAGERGareth Ryder-Hanrahan
SPECIAL THANKSImpossible Pictures
Angus AbransonCraig Oxbrow
John M. KahaneAndrew Peregrine
Kit KindredNathaniel Torson
GAME SYSTEMbased on Doctor Who: Adventures in
Time and Space, DESIGNED AND WRITENby David F. Chapman.
PRIMEVAL is published by Cubicle7 Entertainment Ltd. (UK reg. no.6036414). Find out more about us andour games at www.cubicle7.co.uk
Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. 2012PRIMEVAL (word marks, logosand devices) are trade marks ofImpossible Pictures and areused under license.
CREDITS
PRIMEVAL
THEROLE-PLAYINGGAM
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CONTENTS
CHARACTERS ............................... 4RULES ....................................... 6
SETTING ...................................... 7
CREATING A GROUP ................... 11
CREATING YOUR CHARACTER ...... 14
ATTRIBUTES .............................. 15
SKILLS ...................................... 17
SKILLS LIST ............................... 19
TRAITS ..................................... 24
TRAITS LIST ............................... 25
BAD TRAITS .............................. 34
STORY POINTS ........................... 40
OUR FINAL CHARACTER SHEET LOOKS
LIKE THIS: ................................. 42
FINISHING TOUCHES ................... 43
GROUPS & BASES .......................
GOOD GROUP TRAITS .................
BAD GROUP TRAITS ....................
THE ANOMALY RESEARCH CENTRE .
ARC CHARACTERS .......................
OPERATIONAL RESOURCES ...........
VILLAINS ..................................
PLAYING IN THE ARC FRAMEWORK
THE CRYPTID HUNTER .................
DINOSAUR HUNTER CHARACTERS ..
OPERATIONAL RESOURCES ...........
VILLAINS ..................................
PLAYING IN THE DINOSAUR HUNTE
FRAMEWORK ............................
II
INT
RODUCTIO
N
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ADVANCED TECHNIQUES .............. 79
THE BASIC RULE ......................... 84
HOW A ROLL WORKS .................. 87
COMPLICATIONS ........................ 90
COMBAT & EXTENDED CONFLICTS .. 92
CHASES .................................... 98
LOSING A FIGHT: GETTING HURT ..101
MENTAL OR SOCIAL CONFLICTS ... 103
LOSING A MENTAL OR
SOCIAL CONFLICT ..................... 106
HEALING ................................. 107
STORY POINTS ......................... 108
GAINING STORY POINTS .............110
MAX STORY POINTS .................. 111
LEARNING & IMPROVEMENT ....... 111
LEAVING THE GAME ...................112
WEAPONS ................................115
FUTURE TECHNOLOGY ............... 129
EXPOSURE ............................. 135
INVESTIGATORS ....................... 139
A FIELD GUIDE TO ANOMALIES ... 147
TIME TRAVEL & ANOMALIES ...... 148
ANOMALY THEORIES ................. 152
TEMPORAL DAMAGE ................. 154
PRECAMBRIAN .........................161
CAMBRIAN ..............................161
ORDOVICIAN ............................161
SILURIAN ................................ 162
DEVONIAN .............................. 162
CARBONIFEROUS ...................... 163
PERMIAN ............................... 163
TRIASSIC ................................. 163JURASSIC ................................ 164
CRETACEOUS ........................... 165
PALEOCENE ............................. 165
EOCENE .................................. 165
I
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OLIGOCENE ............................. 166
MIOCENE ................................ 166PLIOCENE................................ 166
PLEISTOCENE ............................167
HOLOCENE ...............................167
IDENTIFYING A TIME PERIOD ..... 168
CREATURE RULES ..................... 169
SKILLS .................................... 172
THREAT ................................. 173
THE CREATURE LIST .................. 177
CREATING CREATURES ............... 201
CREATURE TRAITS & POWERS ..... 203
IDENTIFYING A CREATURE ......... 206
HUMANS ................................ 207
BRINGING THE PAST TO LIFE .......216
PLAYERS..................................219
COMPONENTS .......................... 222
BUILDING THE ADVENTURE ........ 226
TWO (AND THREE) PART STORIES
SERIES PLOTS ..........................
MAKING A CONSPIRACY ..........
INVESTIGATING THE CONSPIRACY
CONSPIRACY TRAITS .................
ConspiraCy: Christine JohnsoORGANISATION ........................
CONSPIRACY: FUTURE SURVIVORS ..
CONSPIRACY: CELAVA ..................
THE NEAR FUTURE ....................THE MER ERA ..........................
THE FAR FUTURE ......................
FUTURE CREATURES ..................
CREATING YOUR OWN FUTURE
CREATURES .............................
IV
INT
RODUCTIO
N
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Dinosaurs.
Terrible Lizards.Thats what the word means.
When their bones were found, people wondered if they
were the remains of biblical giants and dragons.
Today, after decades of scientic investigation andresearch, we know that life on this planet is billions of
years old, and has taken many formssuch as the titanic,
savage dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs were wiped out in one of the periodic extinctions
that strike our world. Theyve been gone for sixty-ve million
years.
What if they came back?
PRIMEVAL
Anomalies are starting to appear, doorways in ti
to worlds we can barely imagine. The Anoma
are conclusive proof that the past exists in a fou
dimension as real and solid as those we alrea
know. Our job is to predict and contain them.
In Primeval, there are Anomalies, rips in the fabr
space and time that connect our world to the dis
past. Anomalies can open anywhere, at any time, drop
velociraptors into shopping centres and Mammoth
the motorway. These Anomalies are happening
frequentlyevery day brings more and more sighting
prehistoric beasts invading the present.
The Anomaly Research Centre (ARC) is a governm
run team of scientists, soldiers, explorers and o
INTRODUCTION
THEROLE-PLAYINGGAM
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specialists, tasked with investigating the origin
of these Anomalies and containing the threat to
the public. The existence of these rips in space/
timenot to mention the rampaging T-Rexes and
other beastsmust be kept secret or it wouldcause mass panic.
In their work, the ARC team has discovered three
vital facts about the Anomalies.
First, the Anomalies can go forwardas well as
back. There are gateways to our future as well as
our past.
Second, at some point in the near future, humanity
is driven extinct by an unknown catastrophe, possibly
a new species of super-predators. We may only have
a few years, or possibly only a few months left.
Third... time is mutable. History can be changed.
Extinction can be averted.
Thats where you come in.
Whats primeval?
Primeval is an action-lled science-ction TV series
about a team working for the Anomaly Research
Centre. Under the leadership of Dr. Nick Cutter (and,
after his death, ex-cop Danny Quinn), they investigatethe mysterious Anomalies and contain the ferocious
prehistoric monsters that have intruded into the
modern world.
Cutters estranged wife Helen is the teams
nemesisshe vanished into an Anomaly eight
years ago and now has her own agenda for human
evolution.
The rst three series of Primeval were shown on
ITV from 2007 to 2009; Series Four and Five were
shown in 2011. This book covers the rst three
seriesa future supplement will ll in details fromFour and Five.
Whats a roleplaying game?
Youre probably familiar with computer roleplaying
games, where you play a character in some fantasy
setting. You wander around doing quests, levelling
up, talking to other characters and getting new gear.
Tabletop roleplaying games are similar, but th
one key difference. Instead of a computer run
the game, theres a human Gamemasterand
changes everything.
Instead of being limited to what the game a
you to do, you can do anything you can imag
Lets say you need to get past a guarded do
computer game might only give you the optio
ghting the guard or stealing a pass. In a tab
game, you can try anythingmaybe you
persuade the guard to let you past, or bribe him
sneak through the sewers, or forge a fake pas
even convince the guard that he should be on
side. The Gamemaster (or GM) describes the w
the players decide what they want to do, and
the GM decides whether or not they succeed.
In Primeval, you can play Nick Cutter, Co
Abby and the other familiar characters from
Anomaly Research Centre, or you can create
own characters to work alongside Nick & co. in
ARC. You can even explore other possibilities i
Primeval universe, like dinosaur hunters or
wanderers.
THE BASICS
Firstly, you need a few friends to play the Prim
rpg. One of you will be the Gamemaster, and the
of you will be the players. The game works witfew as two people (one GM, one player), but its
with three to ve players. (By the way, if you ha
decided whos going to be the GM, then the own
the book should take on that responsibility.)
Secondly, youll need to be familiar with
contents of this book. You dont need to mem
the whole thing, but you should understand how
basic rules (Chapter 2 The Basics) work, and
to make characters (Chapter 3 Genesis).
Thirdly, youll need a few dice (the normal, six-s
ones). When an outcome is in doubt, youll be rodice to see whether or not your character succe
Lets say you want to scramble over a fenc
escape the slavering gorgonopsid thats hot on
heels. Youd add your characters Coordination
Athletics scores together, and then roll two
If the total of the dice plus your Coordination
Athletics is higher than a difculty number set b
GM, you make it over the fence in time. If you
badly... well, youre a gorgonopsid snack, unless
spend a Story Point.
2
INT
RODUCTIO
N
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Wheres matt?
SERIES 4 & 5The new characters and monsters from Primevals
fourth and fth seasons arent in this book. Matt,
Jess, Emily Merchant, Gideon and the other new
characters will be covered in a future supplement!
Fourth, youll need a way to keep track of Story Points and
Threat Points. Story Points are a way for you to change a
bad roll or alter the story in your favour. Youll be getting
and spendinga lot of Story Points, so youll need a pile of
tokens. Threat Points are for monsters, and measure how
aggressive and dangerous a creature is. Pennies, glassbeads, jelly beans, cardboard chits, anything like that will
do.
Fifth, youll need a few pencils, and copies of the
character sheet (page 284). Alternatively, you can use the
pre-generated characters on pages 51 60 if you want to
play the characters from the TV series.
Got all that? Good. Lets get moving.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
The first part of this book (once you get past this
introduction) is all about set-uphow to come up with
a framework for your group, and how to roll up your
individual characters. A framework explains why all
your characters are working together, and how they
deal with the temporal Anomalies.
All Primeval games involve time travel and ferocious
monsters, but you dont have to be part of the
Anomaly Research Centre. You could be independent
researchers, or a group of hitch-hikers who got lost in
the past, or a secret government team dedicated to
preserving our timeline. There are some suggestedgroup frameworks on page 12.
Next, theres the rules section. This covers everyth ing
hazardous and nasty that your characters might
come acrosswhat happens when you try to shoot
a dinosaur, what happens when the dinosaur tries
to eat you, sneaking around, investigating mysteries
and gaining new Skills and Traits. There are also
detailed rules for two of the most important aspects
of Primevalconcealing the truth from the public, and
dealing with Anomalies.
After that, the Dangers section describes many diffe
prehistoric monsters and time periods. Players can
read that sectionassuming their characters are ex
palaeontologists or are just really interested in dinosa
Finally, theres the Gamemasters section. This is
of advice and tips for running the game, suggestion
series outlines, rules for dealing with Anomalies, time tand alterations of the time line, and other strangen
along with a sample adventure to get you started.
Gamemasters section also covers the Future time pe
Players are allowed to read everything apart from
GMs sectionif you spoil the secrets in there, the g
might not be as much fun for you.
Gamemasters can read the whole book.
PLAYING THE GAME
Primevals designed to be played in a series of g
sessions. Each game session takes up an evening. T
of each game session as an episode of your ow
series. Most of the events in a game session will be
containedyoull ght the monster-of-the-week and
with the problems surrounding the current Anomaly
there will be plot elements, mysteries and conspira
that continue from episode to episode. Keep the meta
of the television series in mind as you play the game
a good guide for both players and Gamemasters.
THEROLE-PLAYINGGAM
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