Does anybody else find it interesting that there used to be other races on Earth? Neanderthals, Humans, the hobbits of Flores, etc. I just think it is very interesting that there was such genetic variety between humanoids at some point in history.
Just out of curiosity, does anybody think it would be interesting if there was a setting which was pretty much just prehistoric, with these different variations of humanoids being the racial options, and fighting enemy tribes and prehistoric beasts and such?
I could see making a single session scenario out of it, but I don't believe it can sustain an entire campaign. The same goes for settings; a small localized region would work, but not an entire world. Maybe focus on the fact that they probably didn't know much about what was just over the hill.
I've thought about this a bit, with a healthy dose of the fantastic injected to keep it interesting.
The main points were:
Pangaea like continent
Humanoid races (of varying types) live alongside creatures that were (historically) extinct at that time.
Sweltering jungles filled with deadly plants, diseases, poisons, giant spiders etc.
Humanoids use the beasts to their advantage, as war machines, work-horses etc.
Elemental magic used in shaman like way
Psychic abilities
Superhuman endurance
There was also a city of pyramids that rolled around on stone cylinders for some reason...
I think that is about the point were I gave up. But no, I never really got into different demi-humans in the setting. Although I did plant a race of extraterrestrials that had crashed on the planet and were stranded. Yea, it was a weird setting.
Of course if you use the hobbits of flores, you've got to include those pigmey elephants. I thought it was cool that the estimate of the extinction of the hobbit was about 13,000 years ago, which is very close to the present, compared to the millions of years difference between other homonids and man.
Also Hawaiian legend speaks of Menehune - diminuitive humanoids who did work like build dams and fish ponds for Hawaiian kings. Makes me wonder if this is not something like the hobbits of Flores, rather than folklore. Which also makes me think about brownies in British culture - are they really the same thing. And this is lost fact, not fiction??
GP
Quote from: SurvivormanJust out of curiosity, does anybody think it would be interesting if there was a setting which was pretty much just prehistoric, with these different variations of humanoids being the racial options, and fighting enemy tribes and prehistoric beasts and such?
can't[/i] have these things, by the way, they just felt inappropriate to me. I realized that it was possible to include survival/environmental elements within a much more advanced and socially complex world. Sure, you lose the panache of fighting a cave bear with naught but a brutish bone club, but you gain more flexibility and potential depth.
Quote from: PolycarpQuote from: SurvivormanJust out of curiosity, does anybody think it would be interesting if there was a setting which was pretty much just prehistoric, with these different variations of humanoids being the racial options, and fighting enemy tribes and prehistoric beasts and such?
can't[/i] have these things, by the way, they just felt inappropriate to me. I realized that it was possible to include survival/environmental elements within a much more advanced and socially complex world. Sure, you lose the panache of fighting a cave bear with naught but a brutish bone club, but you gain more flexibility and potential depth.
You know I had an interesting game idea (I actually think I might have put it in the 1001 insane game ideas thread somewhere) that involved a time traveling mishap sending a huge chunk of a city through time, along with a good 25-250 thousand people who were within the area. My idea actually had the city going into a far future where humanity no longer existed but you could take it either way. The interesting result of such a situation would be that the inhabitants would inevitably band together to survive in such a hostile environment. Of course a group that large in that small a space isn't going to get along perfectly and you could very well see fractures along various ideological and other such lines. Personally I would have technology regress to a much earlier stage due to the sudden separation from the rest of society. It would give such a situation as you described where all resources would be precious, not just the standard fare found in most fantasy.
Quote from: NomadicQuote from: PolycarpQuote from: SurvivormanJust out of curiosity, does anybody think it would be interesting if there was a setting which was pretty much just prehistoric, with these different variations of humanoids being the racial options, and fighting enemy tribes and prehistoric beasts and such?
can't[/i] have these things, by the way, they just felt inappropriate to me. I realized that it was possible to include survival/environmental elements within a much more advanced and socially complex world. Sure, you lose the panache of fighting a cave bear with naught but a brutish bone club, but you gain more flexibility and potential depth.
You know I had an interesting game idea (I actually think I might have put it in the 1001 insane game ideas thread somewhere) that involved a time traveling mishap sending a huge chunk of a city through time, along with a good 25-250 thousand people who were within the area. My idea actually had the city going into a far future where humanity no longer existed but you could take it either way. The interesting result of such a situation would be that the inhabitants would inevitably band together to survive in such a hostile environment. Of course a group that large in that small a space isn't going to get along perfectly and you could very well see fractures along various ideological and other such lines. Personally I would have technology regress to a much earlier stage due to the sudden separation from the rest of society. It would give such a situation as you described where all resources would be precious, not just the standard fare found in most fantasy.
Strange that you say that, I was doing some writing a while back about a man who had the power (but did not realize it) to manipulate time, and ended up sending many people, some buildings, some cars, and some other random stuff to the Cretacious Period. He had also unconsiously brought many creatures from the future to modern times. I abandoned the writing though, because I wasn't very motivated and did not have much inspiration.
Does anyone else find it odd that all non-Africans are actually 1-4% Neanderthal? At some point in our history there were Half-Humans!
Not odd at all, given mankind's propensity for interspecies humpy bumpy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_goat_marriage_incident), and that H. sapiens sapiens & H. sapiens neanderthalensis are apparently genetically compatible enough to produce fertile offspring. Really, it would be odd if there weren't traces of such past mingling.
wouldn't it be funny to discover that our depictions of neanderthals were wrong due to unnoticed damage to the discovered skeletons and that they actually looked like elves...
connecting this with the aforementioned hobbits we end up realizing that the fantasy authors (whom pulled their creatures from mythology) were unwittingly correct about the ancient past in that elves, halflings, dwarves, etc used to exist. Humans are just the surviving result of genetic mingling with them... oh wow I need to write this down and make a campaign out of it
Quote from: GhostmanNot odd at all, given mankind's propensity for interspecies humpy bumpy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_goat_marriage_incident), and that H. sapiens sapiens & H. sapiens neanderthalensis are apparently genetically compatible enough to produce fertile offspring. Really, it would be odd if there weren't traces of such past mingling.
Ok that is a sick joke to play on a lonely man... Still something tells me this is how Fawns are made...! :P
Furthering this, Scientists now believe that Humans and Chimps had 2 'splits' before becoming completely independent species. The first split still allowed the proto-Humans and the proto-Chimps to breed, it was only with the second split that created the two species we know today. Though no child has ever been produced, there is still much debate as to whether Chimps and humans are still compatible genetically. A Russia scientist tried on numerous occasions but hap-and-stance often denied him the chance at the rare Male-Chimp-Female-Human combo (the opposite having come to nothing). Sadly (or thankfully, depending on your perspective) these types of experiments will probably never be tried again as there are MAJOR ethical issues - what do you do with the Humanzee? what rights does he have? is he human? Does he stay in a lab or let loose to live with normal people? - Since we struggle to answer similar ethical questions like these when it comes to animals who 'grow/maintain' human organs, one wonders how a real-life Humanzee, a Half HUMAN, would be treated.
Quote from: Nomadicwouldn't it be funny to discover that our depictions of neanderthals were wrong due to unnoticed damage to the discovered skeletons and that they actually looked like elves...
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you implying all non-African humans in the world are actually the decedents of Half Elves!? Fascinating!
*Goes off to frolic naked in the virgin forests of Lebanon like his Elven forebears probably, maybe did* :P
Quote from: Nomadicconnecting this with the aforementioned hobbits we end up realizing that the fantasy authors (whom pulled their creatures from mythology) were unwittingly correct about the ancient past in that elves, halflings, dwarves, etc used to exist. Humans are just the surviving result of genetic mingling with them... oh wow I need to write this down and make a campaign out of it
Connecting that with the obvious manner in which Fawns come into being... Maybe Middle Earth really WAS the true history of the world! Too bad Dwarves were most likely Greeks and Latins who traveled up north to Scandinavia seeking to mine raw minerals... Or so 'Science' tells us. :)
I wonder if my family has elf blood in it. We do tend to age very slowly... hmm.
Quote from: GhostmanNot odd at all, given mankind's propensity for interspecies humpy bumpy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_goat_marriage_incident), and that H. sapiens sapiens & H. sapiens neanderthalensis are apparently genetically compatible enough to produce fertile offspring. Really, it would be odd if there weren't traces of such past mingling.
That's...that is just nasty in so many ways....
Come on haven't you ever noticed somebody from your past, someone in school that looked just a bit too much neandrethal, compared to everyone else. Those are throwbacks from the early days when humans and neandrethals intermingled - I almost believe that. There's that actor (can't think of his name) first seen in "Quest for Fire", and now he's in many, many sci-fi movies - he has lots of neandrethal traits if you haven't noticed.
GP
I watched a National Geographic special about Neanderthals, and they couldn't laugh because of the way their jaw is.
Had a short campaign once in which aliens came to earth during the age of prehistoric hominids when there were multiple races and made shit really weird. The adventure originally started out as a protohuman family being pursued by the Tall Ones (other species of protohumans) and quickly transformed into a tripped out weird-fiction (a bit Robert E. Howard and a bit Lord Dunsany) once the aliens came.
So I can confidently say that prehistoric hominids plus aliens is pretty cool.
Quote from: UnwieldernessHad a short campaign once in which aliens came to earth during the age of prehistoric hominids when there were multiple races and made shit really weird. The adventure originally started out as a protohuman family being pursued by the Tall Ones (other species of protohumans) and quickly transformed into a tripped out weird-fiction (a bit Robert E. Howard and a bit Lord Dunsany) once the aliens came.
So I can confidently say that prehistoric hominids plus aliens is pretty cool.
I need to play in your games.