The idea of role-playing a game set in the prehistoric era has always fascinated me. Seeing the Stone Age of a high fantasy world is something that I feel has never been depicted as good as it could be. Set even before the ancient empires that most such worlds have, what would such a setting be like? What is pre-history like in a world where the gods are real, tangible powers and magic is right there alongside science as peoples evolve? As such, I was quite happy to see Clash of Stone, which gives you rules for Stone Age role-playing. But does it give enough? Let’s take a look.
Clash of Stone is a 3.5 d20 product by RPGObjects. The size of the zipped file is a little over two megabytes, and the PDF itself is nine pages long, including a page for the cover and a page for the OGL. Full bookmarks are given. The cover depicts a full color image of a hand-stitched purple hide of a creature acting as the cover for the book, superimposed over which is the image of a primitive dwarf. The dwarf picture is repeated on the next page. Beyond that, and the purple borders around all of the subsequent pages, that’s it for the illustrations here. There is no printer-friendly version, but overall one isn’t necessary.
The product is divided into four sections. The first covers primitive versions of the PHB races. This mostly covers minor alterations to existing racial abilities. One oddity here, however, is that it lists each races racial stat modifiers. Presumably these are further modified beyond the standard stat modifiers, but it’s hard to be sure. Is it saying that half-orcs gain an additional +2 Str -2 Cha on top of what they already have, or not? It very briefly covers further modifiers for savage versions of these same races; savage races being even less evolved than the primitive versions.
The classes section is the largest part of the book. Each of the eleven core PHB classes get at least cursory treatment. Several are done away with altogether, noting that in a prehistoric setting, several of these classes haven’t been invented yet. Others receive relatively minor modifications. Two, the ranger and the druid, get class variants that are more savage in nature. This section was good, particularly in its bold choice to write off several class entirely, but my main complaint about the book – that it doesn’t go far enough – is showcased here. Specifically, it ignores NPC classes, as well as the basic prestige classes, entirely. Does a savage society have commoners, or is everyone a hunter/gatherer (largely showcased by rangers) here? Are adepts more common than the primitive druids that tribes have? Questions like these are ignored.
To say that the skills section is brief is an understatement. It consists of exactly one sentence, outlining which skills aren’t available in this setting. However, even here problems arise. For example, it makes sense that Open Lock is written off, but why is Ride removed from the list? Is it really inconceivable that someone would domesticate an animal and learn to ride it? Similarly for Spellcraft; wouldn’t a savage sorcerer take ranks in that skill to learn about his developing powers? On the flipside of the coin, it makes little sense that Knowledge isn’t mentioned; apparently you can still take ranks in Knowledge (nobility and royalty) just fine in the Stone Age.
The last section of the book deals with weapons and armor. It covers new materials such as bone, wood, etc. which replace existing materials. It then covers the available weapons and armor. This part of the book is done well, and I had no problem with it, except that it was, as mentioned, the last part of the book. There’s no discussion of what monsters are and are not available, no mention of the role of magic items in a campaign where there aren’t even gold coins, and no fluff information at all about adventuring in such a world.
Clash of Stone is a good book, but ultimately an incomplete one, with the things that are written sharply highlight the things that are not. The mechanical information it presents is well-done, but there needs to be more, both in terms of mechanics and in terms of fluff presentation. Without that, this is a starting point that’s going to require more than what’s presented here. Ultimately, this is a good framework for a Stone Age game, but not the prehistoric role-playing guide that I’m still waiting for.
Rating: [3 of 5 Stars!] |