Humankind: Birth of Civilization
This is a game about managing a prehistoric tribe, the Roșcate, through history and transforming them into a modern society. We'll be keeping it simple, avoiding number hard crunching, and focusing on only the most important moments.
Our StoryThe Roșcate. The Fire Haired Ones. Our Blood. Our Family.
Our family were the first to draw paintings on the cave walls and later the tent hides which tell the story of those who were born and died before us. They tell us of how our people, red haired like fired and filled with the same spirit as it, followed the big tusked beasts over the eastern mountains and into the valley we have lived in for the last ten generations, it tells of how this valley was full of life and rich game for meat and hides.
Our family are hunters of the valley, though we have not always been as such. Our ancestors were warrior hunters whose stone blades never went dull and blood was never allowed to dry upon it, they ruled over the eastern steppe before travelling over the mountains to our valley. The many generations in the valley left our people soft and the beasts thin. Hunters have returned back to the tribe with less and less game, and the game caught has been appearing thinner with less meat upon their bones. The last few years of hard winters have dwindled our tribe to barely more than two dozen in total and the lack of food has caused more younglings to be born without breath in them causing further grief and lack of new tribe members. Our DilemmaThe Hunters, the strong men of the tribe who cut their hair short and braid their beards with tooth and claws from their hunts, argue that they can simply hunt farther and for longer to bring back more game. The more hotheaded of them argue to simply take food from neighboring tribes in the valley, this quickly turned down by the Matrons.
The Matrons, the eldest women of the tribe who have birthed many children and now spend their time keeping the camp together and teaching the children the skills they need to survive, argue that we should assimilate with the darker haired tribes who live in the valley with us or risk all dying out entirely or being conquered in turn. This proposal is turned down by the Hunters entirely.
Finally the Elders, those who’s red hair has turned grey with age, hearing the arguments of both parties decided the matter. The tribe could not simply wait in our current valley and simply stay here until we starve, we could not simply hunt more and kill off what little game remains entirely nor risk being wiped out trying to conquer a neighboring tribe. Pointing to the paintings which detail our ancestors' journey from their old lands to the valley, they argued that we should simply follow their example and move to a new and more vibrant land outside of the valley as our ancestors did. After another day of arguing this has been decided as the path we would take; but there was one simple question left, where to go?Our DestinyWhile we knew of many places we could travel too, none of us had any information on the land we were traveling too other than the stories of those with no tribe who wander across the many lands. It would be important to choose our, possibly permanent, migration location well as our small number and weakness means we would have to settle for at least a generation before having the strength, supplies and the number to move safely again. Finally we chose to travel-
North to the place where the cold winds blow and the hides are plentiful. There in the chilly hills stories tell of horned beasts with magnificent hides that can be hunted readily, though tales also say the land is gripped in an eternal winter which causes very few edible forage plants to grow and that for most of the year and for three moons out of every year it is plunged in an eternal midnight sun whose light is known to drive men mad.
West to where tales tell of a grand forest overlooking a massive body of water and of whose trees that grow tall enough that one can't see its top and have wood as red as our hair. Game is plentiful here but mostly in small animals which provide small pelts and little meat who feast on the large amount of ground plants which grown in the moist dark soil.
South to a sea of sand which the sun beats down every moment of the day. Where one is quick to die without water and neither game nor forage is readily available for man or beast. Tales tell though of a river that cuts through the sun blasted sands and floods yearly allowing for surrounding plants to flourish and bear food for forage.
East to where our ancestors came from across the great mountains and into the grand steppe. Our tribe has long lost any knowledge of what awaits us in the steppe and with our small size and meager food supplies there is no guarantee that we would all survive the journey.
After we had decided where to head we sent out a final hunting mission for meat to eat on the travel and afterwards broke down the tents which had been erected by our ancestors and made our way to a new far away place, a land which would become our destiny.
Humankind: Birth of CivilizationHello there traveler! I bring you to a place before history, before writing and before agriculture. Here we focus on the tribe of the Roșcate in the very dawn of agriculture and the beginning of civilization when hunter-gatherer tribes such as the Roșcate who due to overexploitation are being forced to leave their ancestral home and travel farther than any of them have ever been before to find a new land to settle! This is a game I have wanted to run after reading and participating in similar ones on other forums. I know I am in the middle of also running the
Great War Arms Race but recently I have had way too much time on my hands and I intend for this to be more of a casual game than one needing to be watched over at all times of the day.
Da Rules and RegulationsSo, let me start this off by saying you can't "discover" things instantly. Nor can you jump from say early copper casting to iron smelting by the next turn. You discover things on a generational sense with each turn taking 1 generation of time or roughly 20-50 years time depending on the actions taken. Each turn you can take 2 separate actions at once by proposing and voting on them. These actions can constitute anything from ordering your warriors to lead a raid or beginning the development of a new agriculture. Even the founding a religion, religion will come into play with its own rules as it evolves alongside the tribe.
Let us discuss population and food, both will be measured loosely to prevent the need for hours of micro management from both you the players and myself. Measured in numbers such as "
You have a few dozen tribe members and barely enough food." and similar descriptions. You will gain food through actions such as hunting and the eventual discovery of agriculture by your people. You can always find a way to improve your income of food. Your food availability increases your population as well.
For example if you have grain fields you can improve your irrigation methods for increased yield or build granaries to store more food. You could also try to develop fishing practices to augment your diet that way and increase your consumption of food.
Currently your tribe has a number of stats affecting it:
Government: Tribal Council
Village Location and Name: None, tribe is migrating.
Religion: None.
Spoken Language: Nothing Distinct at the moment
Food Storage: Barely enough for a migration
Population: A little more than two dozen
-Tech Discoveries-
Simple Stone Knapping: Simple Stone Tools from flint such as hand axes, shark knives and spears. Complex is required for finer instruments such as precision knives.
Game Hunting: Access to meat and pelts from hunted animals.
Simple Friction Fire: Access to simple friction fire making from rubbing a stick between ones hand on dry wood.
Simple Cooking: Simple Roasted Foods, either meat or foraged plants.
Simple Brain Hide Working: Hide tents and clothing from rubbing animal brains on the inside of the hide
Simple Foraging: Access to wild edibles, no knowledge of herbs and uses.
-Cultural Discoveries and Traits-
Communal Culture: The tribe prefers to live in close knit groups and share food around the main village fires and tell stories of past exploits as well as discuss matters of tribal governance.
Group Hunting: The tribe prefers to hunt in groups for larger game which can't be handled alone.
Nomadic Lifestyle: The tribe descends from nomads who used to move across the steppe beyond the eastern mountains regularly.
Sedentary Lifestyle: For many generations our tribe has been a sedentary people hunting the wild game and foraging wild berries and other edibles.
Genetic Identity: Each pureblood member of the tribe bears hair as red as blood and fire, distinct from the darker haired people of the valley and potentially beyond. While backwards by modern standards in this harder and more brutal age it is sometimes smart to be wary of outsiders.
Primitive Painting: Your people know how to use simple paints made from dried berries and sometimes blood to adorn cave and tent walls with images.
Oral and Picture Story Telling: Stories are passed down by each tribal generation, with some pelts being used to paint more complex scenes to help remember them.
Low Faith: While the Roșcate believe there are a number of spirits in the world, they don't particularly make any specific sacrifices or worship of them at the moment.
Memories of War: While the current Roșcate have never been in any large conflict other than hunting disputes, the stories speak of a time when our ancestors were war masters of the steppe before moving across the mountains. If our ancestors did it then we can do it too, how hard can it be anyways?
The SituationCurrently, you need to vote on where you will travel. Once you reach your chosen land you will need to choose where in the land to settle. Afterwards the game may begin proper and a map of the local area will be provided to you. The map will only encompass the nearby area to the village as the average villager can walk before needing to return by sundown. As your tribe expands and explores the map will slowly grow to show the surrounding area, until the invention of writing and paper far away areas not explored regularly will slowly be forgotten by the tribe unless a settlement is made there.
Here is a link to the discord!