Having adversaries and things to populate the world outside of the PCs was my biggest barrier to playtesting. 

Let’s be honest: the combat for this RPG functions very much like a skirmish game. This isn’t an accident. It’s a feature, not a bug. When tribes clash or PCs fight dinosaurs, I want the action to be quick, bloody, and fun. For the system to really shine, there needs to be a host of adversaries (and potential allies). I have a lot more work ahead of me in this area, but this is a start.

A note on names and history: I made shit up. While I do want this game to have some basis in history, we’re basically smashing all of the stone age together with the Mesozoic era in one  big, gory mess. I don’t want to get caught up in conversations centered around the “realness” of any creature I attempted to depict. I’m definitely going for “cool” over “historically accurate”. 

For example, you’ll notice we have “Wooly Walkers” instead of “Wooly Mammoths”. That way, they can be whatever I want and have the freedom to do cool stuff. Oh, and so I don’t trample their copyright. Or something. 

Also, shoutout to Brad for the name “Wooly Walker”. I was really stuck on that one. 

Dark Servant Minion

Fierce OO
Dark OO
Primal
Presence

Speed: 4
Health: 3
Willpower: 5
Defense: 8
Morale: 4

Returned from the Dark Pits. Any unit currently engaged with Dark Servants suffers a +1 penalty to their Morale. This does not stack if there are multiple units of Dark Servants.

Duty Until Death. Dark Servants never have to roll Morale during the Morale phase.

Description
Dark Servants are spirits from the Night Realm, inhabiting corpses. They serve their master without question.

Flayed Men Minion

Fierce OO
Dark O
Primal O
Presence

Speed: 4
Health: 4
Willpower: 5
Defense: 7
Morale: 6

Terrifying to Behold. Whenever the Flayed Men kill a figure that was part of a unit, put a marker into that unit’s dead pool. This marker counts as a figure, for purposes of Morale tests.

Terrible Battlecry. Once per combat, a unit of five or more Flayed Men can let loose their terrible battlecry. Any unit within 6 inches must roll two dice, with the target number being equal to their Morale. If they fail the roll, the unit becomes Frightened.

Description
The Flayed Men are a human tribe feared by all who know them. They wear the flayed skins of their opponents as battle dress, and many tales are told around the night fires about what they do to their captives.

Long Talons

Fierce OOO
Dark
Primal OOO
Presence O

Speed: 16
Health: 5
Willpower: 2
Defense: 7
Morale: 6
Meat: 4

Pack Hunters. Long Talons may form a mob.

Clever. Long Talons may set ambushes, and use stealth or misdirection in their attacks.

Description
Long talons aren’t large—only six feet in length from snout to tail, and weighing little more than a border collie—but they are fast and intelligent. When encountered on their own, one of these creatures may not be too fearsome; however, a pack of Long Talons can cause heavy casualties to a clan.

Restless Dead Minion

Fierce O
Dark OO
Primal
Presence

Speed: 4
Health: 2
Willpower: 1
Defense: 8
Morale: 9

Dark Aura. Living creatures within 4 inches of the Restless dead suffer a -1 to their Fierce stat.

Mindless. Restless Dead never have to roll Morale during the Morale phase.

Description
The Restless Dead are spirits of the deceased who cannot rest. Either they themselves have been cursed in some manner, or they died in a cursed land.

Speaker of the Night Realms

Fierce
Dark OOO
Primal O
Presence OOO

Speed: 4
Health: 4
Willpower: 6
Defense: 6 (Magical Dark Mists)
Resolve: 7

Tendrils of Night. The Speaker may use Dark to attack a figure within 4 inches. The figure uses Resolve to defend.

Call Back the Dead. The Speaker spends two willpower and rolls Dark. They may raise one dead minion body as a Dark Servant per success rolled.

Nightmares of Dusk. The swirling tendrils of night around the Speaker form nightmarish scenes for one onlooker or mob. The mob must make a D2 Presence reaction roll or become Frightened.

Description
Speakers of the Night Realms ally with many tribes. They have become in tune with the dark energy of the world, and use it for their own gain.

Three Horn

Fierce OOOOOOO
Dark
Primal OOOO
Presence OOOO

Speed: 15
Health: 10
Willpower: 2
Defense: 5
Morale: 6

Meat: 900

Skewering Attack. The Three Horn makes a Fierce attack against a target within reach. If successful, the target gains a D2 wound.

Charging Attack. If the Three Horn moves in a straight line for at least 8 inches, add three dice to its attack.

Description
This armored tank of a lizard has jagged head frills and three horns protruding from its face. Despite its fearsome look, it is an herbivore. Make no mistake, however—it will not hesitate to defend itself.

Tribal Warrior Minion

Fierce O
Dark O
Primal O
Presence O

Speed: 6
Health: 2
Willpower: 2
Defense: 7
Morale: 7

Primal Scream. The Tribal Warriors may, as an action, let loose a horrific war scream. Target another unit and use the warriors’ Presence to attack the unit’s Willpower.

Description
These are the rank and file human warriors that are trying to live in the <To Be Named> lands. Armed with spears, clubs, and sometimes even bows or slings, they fight to protect their tribe, and hunt animals to feed them.

Tusk Tiger

Fierce OOOO
Dark
Primal OOO
Presence O

Speed: 15
Health: 5
Willpower: 2
Defense: 6
Morale: 8

Meat: 45

Stealth Hunter. A Tusk Tiger rolls an additional two dice when attempting to use stealth.

Description
Smaller than a lion but heavily built, the Tusk Tiger has foot-long teeth with sawlike edges. Even their molars have serrated edges instead of flat, crushing surfaces. The Tusk Tiger will often lie in wait to ambush its prey, then run off with its kill before it can suffer any retaliation.

Tyrant Lizard

Fierce OOOOOOOOOO
Dark
Primal OOOOOO
Presence OOOO

Speed: 8
Health: 11
Willpower: 4
Defense: 5
Morale: 3

Meat: 700

King of the Dinosaurs. Any humans in sight of a Tyrant Lizard must make a Morale roll every turn. Mobs make this roll as a single Mob. If they fail, they receive the Frightened condition.

Description
This 40-foot-long predator can rip off 100 pounds of meat in a single bite with its five-foot-long teeth. It’s known as the king of the <To Be Named> lands. 

But what if someone could control the king?

Veteran Warrior

Fierce OOO
Dark
Primal O
Presence OO

Speed: 5
Health: 7
Willpower: 2
Defense: 6
Morale: 6

Leader of Humans. The Veteran Warrior can lead four minions.

Savage Discipline. Once per battle after rolling Morale, any figure under the Veteran Warrior’s control may reroll any failed dice for that roll.

Description
Veteran Warriors have survived many excursions into the wild and have won the respect (or fear) of those that follow them.

Wooly Walker

Fierce OOOOO
Dark
Primal OO
Presence

Speed: 10
Health: 14
Willpower: 2
Defense: 8
Morale: 8

Meat: 240

Trample. The Wooly Walker can take a move action which cannot be blocked by any man-sized (or smaller) creature. Any man-sized or smaller creature in its path must make a D2 Primal Reaction Failure: The figure suffers a Damage Increment of 2.

If the Wooly Walker would stop in a space occupied by any number of figures, the owner of those figures moves them into base to base contact with the Wooly Walker to a point of their choosing.

Trunk Grapple. The Wooly Walker can attempt to grab a single figure in its trunk. It makes a Fierce Roll, contested by the target’s Primal Roll. Success: The target is grappled. 

When grappled in this way, the Wooly Walker can spend a minor action to roll three dice as an attack against the target, as it crushes them with its trunk or swings them against hard objects. The target can escape by making a successful Fierce or Primal roll.

Tusk Gore. The Wooly Walker makes an attack using Fierce against a man-sized or smaller target. If successful, it may toss the target figure 4 inches away, in a direction of its choosing. It may use its tusks to gore larger targets, but it does not get to toss them afterward.

Herd Animals. Wooly Walkers may form a Mob.

Description
Ancestors to the modern elephant, these huge beasts roam the <to be named> lands in packs in search of foliage. While not normally aggressive, their huge tusks would make any mob think twice before attacking them.