Grunting: The Race for Fire

Introduction

It is a time before time. When men and dinosaurs roamed the earth together, and the wheel had just been invented. Men and women roamed the plains in their loincloths, hunting mammoth, and creating the first communities. Language is just starting to find its feet, and some bright little cave-sparks have begun to harness the power of the landscape and the animals around them to produce higher standards of living for their fellow men. However, one thing is missing, FIRE! With fire, men can have metals, heat, better food, warmth, stronger, deadlier weapons, and command the fear of the animals around them. Fire is indeed mighty, and it’s what you need to get to survive.

You do not have FIRE. But someone nearby does, or knows how to get it. The FIRE must be yours…

Welcome to Grunting: The Race for Fire.

Setting

The world!

Grunting is set in an alternative prehistoric world. The default game setting has cave men and women, living next door to at least one other cave-tribe. Dinosaurs roam the earth alongside great woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, huge big-teethed reptiles, and cute little prairie dogs (or whatever other animals you believe could be around at the time!). Weather conditions can range from howling blizzards to searing heat and drought. The landscape too varies from areas of dense lush rainforest and jungle, with huge man-eating plants, and surprisingly strong vines, to barren deserts, where the cave-tribes fight for any form of vegetation or water.

Making your world

When you are deciding what sort of world your cave people are going to be in, it is a highly recommended idea to discuss this with your players during character generation. The reason for this is because of the unusual approach to communication between players and the GM that Grunting takes, and so the more you and your players share in the creation of your landscape and your cave tribe’s world, the easier the game will be later.

For the first few games, it is probably best to stick to a very simple cave-man world, where technology hasn’t really got past the wheel, and most things come in their natural forms. However, again it should be stressed that the best plan is to always discuss the setting with the PCs during character generation, this is especially relevant for more complicated settings.

Cave Tribes

Even before monkey became man, he knew the value of living in a group. Numbers provide strength, solidarity, and breeding options! Cave tribes range anywhere between just a caveman and woman, to groups of several families, numbering as high as twenty, or even more! Your cave tribe, however, is only as big as the number of players you have.

Traditionally, cavemen are the hunters, and cave-women are gatherers and protectors of the young. However, in the quest for FIRE, every caveman and woman must do their utmost to secure a future for their tribe!

Cavemen and women vary in how they conduct relationships, and organise family units. If you want a tribe who keeps their women locked in cages, or one where children are sent out into the wild to learn to fend for themselves, then decide it amongst your group and go for it!


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