Primal Earth

THE WORLD ENDED. THE WILD DIDN'T.

A D20 Survival Horror TTRPG where dinosaurs are the apex predators.

Civilization is gone.

The cities are overgrown. The roads have disappeared beneath forests and small settlements cling to what remains of an ancient  world.

And the creatures that once existed only in fossils are alive again.

Tyrannosaurs patrol ruined highways.

Herbivores the size of buildings migrate across the remains of human civilization.

The world doesn't belong to us anymore.

Welcome to PRIMAL EARTH.

JURASSIC PARK MEETS THE LAST OF US, WITH A DASH OF DnD

PRIMAL EARTH is a tabletop roleplaying game about ordinary people trying to survive in a world ruled by prehistoric predators.

You aren't playing an unstoppable dinosaur hunter.

You're playing a survivor.

A soldier who with ptsd

A biologist trying to understand eeverything 

A tracker who knows how to read the signs left behind

A scavenger trying to keep a settlement supplied.

Or someone who simply refuses to die.

The dinosaurs are not just monsters waiting to be killed.

They are animals.

They hunt.

They migrate.

They defend territory.

They protect their young.

They respond to threats.

They learn.

And if you understand how they behave, you might survive an encounter that you never could have won in a straight fight.

THIS IS SURVIVAL HORROR

PRIMAL EARTH is built around a simple question:

What would you do if you couldn't fight your way out?

A dinosaur encounter shouldn't automatically become: Roll initiative. Kill dinosaur. Collect XP. Move on.

Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is hide.

Sometimes you run.

Sometimes you create a distraction.

Sometimes you study the creature before making a move.

Sometimes you have to decide whether the person next to you is worth risking your life for.

And sometimes you make the wrong choice.

PRIMAL EARTH uses a Stress and Panic system to make survival itself part of the game.

Fear isn't just something your character feels in the story.

Fear is part of the mechanics.

Resources are limited.

Characters are vulnerable.

Mistakes matter.

And every encounter has the potential to become a survival story your group remembers.

WHO IS PRIMAL EARTH FOR?

PRIMAL EARTH is made for players who love:

DINOSAURS

If you have ever wanted to know what it would actually be like to survive alongside prehistoric animals, this game puts that question at the center of the experience.

SURVIVAL HORROR

If you enjoy tension, limited resources, dangerous encounters, difficult decisions and the feeling that something could go terribly wrong, PRIMAL EARTH is built for you.

TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING

If you enjoy games like D&D and other D20 systems but want something where your characters feel vulnerable and the environment itself can be just as dangerous as an enemy, you'll find a familiar foundation with a very different experience.

PALEONTOLOGY AND CREATURES

The dinosaurs aren't decoration.

Creature behavior, instincts, hunting strategies and environmental interaction are part of the game's design.

STORY-DRIVEN CAMPAIGNS

PRIMAL EARTH isn't just about surviving individual encounters.

It's about the people, settlements and communities trying to build something new after the collapse of civilization.

One of the most important ideas behind PRIMAL EARTH is that your character isn't a superhero.

You're a human being trying to survive.

The game uses a D20-based system with six core attributes:

FORCE

Physical strength and power.

REFLEX

Speed, coordination and reaction.

GRIT

Endurance and physical resilience.

INSTINCT

Awareness, intuition and survival sense.

REASON

Knowledge, analysis and problem solving.

RESOLVE

Mental strength, determination and the ability to keep going when everything falls apart.

Characters also use Action Points to make meaningful decisions during encounters and Contact Points to represent their ability to avoid, withstand or deflect danger.

The result is a game where positioning, preparation, teamwork and knowing when to act can matter just as much as raw damage.

BUILD A SURVIVOR

PRIMAL EARTH characters are defined by more than numbers.

JOBS

Your Job represents what you know how to do.

Soldier.

Biologist.

Tracker.

Journalist.

Infiltrator.

And more.

Jobs give your character practical abilities that help them survive the new world.

You aren't simply choosing a class.

You're choosing how your character learned to survive.

DEMEANORS

But surviving something like this changes a person.

Demeanors represent the instincts, trauma and personality patterns that emerge when people are pushed beyond what they thought they could endure.

They can help you.

They can hurt you.

And they can change as your character survives.

Your character isn't just a collection of abilities.

They're a person trying to remain alive. 

THE DINOSAURS AREN'T JUST STAT BLOCKS

This is one of the ideas at the heart of PRIMAL EARTH.

A creature's behavior matters.

An Allosaurus pack shouldn't behave like a sack of hit points.

Raptors shouldn't simply charge the closest character.

A Tyrannosaurus shouldn't necessarily attack everything it sees.

Creatures have instincts.

They have territories.

They have prey preferences.

They react to threats.

They can be distracted.

They can be studied.

They can sometimes be avoided.

Understanding the creature you're facing can be the difference between making it home and becoming part of the food chain.

That's why PRIMAL EARTH treats behavior as part of the encounter.

The goal isn't just to make dinosaurs dangerous.

The goal is to make them feel alive.

THE WORLD OF AGNEPA

The campaign takes place in a world where civilization has collapsed, but humanity hasn't disappeared.

Scattered communities have survived.

Settlements have formed.

People trade.

People explore.

People fight.

People rebuild.

Life continues.

That's what makes this world different.

The apocalypse didn't stop humanity from being humanity.

People still fall in love.

People still argue.

People still need food.

People still tell stories.

People still try to build homes.

They just have to do it while something with three-foot teeth might be hunting outside the walls.

The continent of Agnepa is a world reshaped by catastrophe, where prehistoric life has reclaimed enormous portions of the planet and scattered human civilizations struggle to adapt.

There are mysteries to uncover.

Places to explore.

Creatures to study.

Settlements to protect.

And a world that doesn't care whether humanity survives.

WHAT DOES A GAME OF PRIMAL EARTH LOOK LIKE?

Imagine this:

Your group has been sent outside the settlement to recover medicine.

The old highway is somewhere beneath the forest.

You find tire tracks.

Then footprints.

Fresh ones.

Something large has passed through recently.

Your tracker recognizes them.

Allosaurus.

You could keep moving.

You could turn around.

You could try to find another route.

Then you hear something in the trees.

Your group freezes.

You don't see the dinosaur.

But it sees you.

Now the question is:

“How do we get out alive?”

That's PRIMAL EARTH.

WHAT YOU GET

Backing this Kickstarter helps bring the full PRIMAL EARTH experience to life.

The campaign is working toward a complete tabletop roleplaying game featuring:

A complete D20 survival-horror rules system

Jobs for building unique survivors

Demeanors that shape character behavior and development

Stress and Panic mechanics

Action Point gameplay

A creature-focused encounter system

Dinosaur behavior and survival mechanics

A campaign setting for exploring Agnepa

More prehistoric creatures

Adventures and campaign material

Expanded character options

A growing collection of artwork and field-guide-style creature material

And the Kickstarter gives us the opportunity to expand the game beyond the core experience.

WHY KICKSTART PRIMAL EARTH?

PRIMAL EARTH exists because there is a particular kind of dinosaur story that we don't get enough of.

Not just:

“Look at this dinosaur.”

But:

“What would it actually be like to live here?”

What would people eat?

Where would they live?

How would settlements defend themselves?

How would scientists study prehistoric animals?

What happens when a predator moves into your territory?

What happens when resources run out?

What happens when the thing outside your walls is stronger, faster and smarter than you?

Those are the questions PRIMAL EARTH is built to explore.

Your support helps turn that idea into a complete tabletop game.

HELP BUILD THE WORLD

The Kickstarter doesn't just fund a book.

It helps determine how far we can take PRIMAL EARTH.

As funding grows, we can expand the game with new character options, creatures, adventures, setting material and production upgrades.

STRETCH GOALS

$20,000 — 4 NEW JOBS

More ways to survive.

$25,000 — 6 NEW DEMEANORS

More personalities, complications and character development.

$30,000 — SPINOSAURUS

A new major creature featuring unique behavior systems and encounter tables.

$35,000 — 4 ADVENTURE MODULES

Ready-to-play adventures for your table.

$40,000 — 8 ADVENTURE MODULES

An expanded collection of adventures for your campaign.

START PLAYING NOW

You don't have to take our word for it.

A Free Quickstart and Starter Adventure are already available.

Try the system.

See how the game feels.

Then decide whether you want to join us in building the full game.

If you love dinosaurs, survival horror and tabletop roleplaying, PRIMAL EARTH was made for you.

FROM ONE DINOSAUR FAN TO ANOTHER

PRIMAL EARTH started with a simple love of dinosaurs and a question:

What happens when the dinosaurs win?

The more we explored that question, the bigger the world became.

What started as an idea for a dinosaur survival game became a world of settlements, survivors, scientists, soldiers, scavengers, creatures and stories.

I want PRIMAL EARTH to feel like the kind of game you pull off the shelf years from now and immediately want to play.

A game where the rulebook feels like a field guide.

A game where your group remembers the time they barely escaped an Allosaurus pack.

A game where the dinosaur encounter wasn't about how many hit points the creature had.

It was about the fact that everyone at the table was completely silent while it walked past.

That's the experience I'm trying to build.

And I want to build it with you.

— Chance 

Creator of PRIMAL EARTH

BACK PRIMAL EARTH ON KICKSTARTER

Download the Free Quickstart.

Build your survivor.

Enter Agnepa.

And whatever you do...

DON'T GET EATEN.

Funding goes toward things like:

 Professional editing and proofreading

 Layout and graphic design

 Original artwork and illustrations

 Printing the physical Core Rulebook

 Shipping and fulfillment

 Maps, adventures, and additional game content

 Kickstarter and payment processing fees

A QUICK PROMISE TO OUR BACKERS: We aren't going to pretend everything will always go perfectly. This is an indie pproject run on passoin and dreams right now.

There will be edits. There will be revisions.

But if something... anythin  changes, we'll tell you.

Our target is October 2027 for the PRIMAL EARTH Core Rulebook, and we're going to work toward that date with regular updates and honest communication.

You'll see the progress.You'll see the artwork.You'll see the book taking shape.

And when that box finally lands on your doorstep, you'll know exactly what went into making it.

Thanks for taking this journey into PRIMAL EARTH with us.