An exclusive preview of Cubicle 7's Primeval roleplaying game.

1. A R O L E P L A Y I N G G A M E B Y
GARETH RYDER-HANRAHAN

2. AME
THE ROLE-PLAYING G
Then, compare the number of the Result to a Difficulty the existence of a glowing portal into the past. He also met
number set by the GM. If the Result is greater than or Claudia Brown, an official from the Home Office tasked
equal to the Difficulty, you succeed. If the Result is less with investigating the creature sightings. As Cutter was the
than the Difficulty, the attempt fails. closest they had to an expert on the phenomenon, Brown
convinced him to work with the Home Office to investigate
Finally (and optionally), determine how well you succeeded these Anomalies. Cutter had his own reasons beyond
or failed by working out the difference between the Difficulty scientific curiosity for pursuing the mystery—eight years
and the Result. You don’t have to follow this step for every previously, his wife Helen Cutter disappeared in the same
roll, but it adds detail to important, dramatic rolls. area, and during their first expedition into the Anomaly,
Cutter found a camera with photos of Helen. He also found
a human skeleton—that of a male.
A NOTE ON DICE
Under the direction of James Lester, a ‘government
Sometimes, we’ll say something like an attack does 1 - 6 trouble-shooter,’ Cutter put together a team consisting
damage, or an event happens after 1 - 6 minutes. Just roll of himself, Stephen Hart (Cutter’s lab assistant, an
a dice to find the actual number. You’ll also run into more experienced tracker), Connor Temple (a student with a ‘first-
complex formula, like “2 dice +6”. Roll the listed number of class mind’) and Abby Maitland (a zoologist and reptile
dice, add them up, and then apply any modifiers. expert). Together with military support from the Home
Office, and with Claudia Brown working as field liaison, the
team started investigating the Anomalies—and pursuing
SETTING Helen Cutter, who they discovered is not only alive, but is
using the Anomalies for her own mysterious ends.
Primeval takes place in our world, right now. Anomalies are
gateways in time, linking our present day with the distant The Anomalies continued to appear across England, each
past—or future—of Earth. While there is evidence that one bringing new creatures and new dangers, like insects
Anomalies have opened before, the current outbreak is in the London Underground, mosasaurs exploding out of
unprecedented. swimming pools, mysterious mind-controlling parasites,
pterosaurs and killer birds. Containing the Swarms of
In Series 1 of Primeval, the sighting of a mysterious time-shifted creatures became a full-time job for the
creature in the Forest of Dean drew the attention of Dr. team—and all the while, Helen Cutter watched them. She
Nick Cutter, a palaeontology lecturer. There, he discovered tried to convince her husband Nick and then her former
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3. to deal with the media and to help cover up monster
lover Stephen to join her, but both rejected her sightings. Her name was Jenny Lewis—she was
advances. Nick found himself increasingly drawn physically identical to Claudia Brown, but possessing
to Claudia Brown. a different personal history and personality.
Finally, Helen warned the team about a new The team made progress in dealing with the
threat—a predator not from the past, but from Anomalies when Connor developed the Anomaly
the future. These Future Predators are faster Detector Device, a powerful computer, networked
and more dangerous than any of the creatures to an array of radio receivers, that can locate new
previously encountered by the team. Using the Anomalies the instant one opens. Using the ADD,
homing instinct of one of the Predator’s young, the team tracked down Precambrian worms,
the team discovered that the infant creature sabre-toothed tigers, Silurian scorpions and
came out of a portal that leads to the Permian era other monsters. They also ran into a mysterious
in the past. A portal from the future must connect mercenary team in the Silurian era. Connor
to that era. Nick, Helen and a team of soldiers embarked on a relationship with a woman, Caroline
travelled back to eliminate the future predators, Steel, who was secretly in the employ of Oliver Leek.
THE BASICS
but they were ambushed and scattered by the
predators. Nick realised that they had travelled back The mystery of Helen’s goals deepened; it turned
to a point before their first expedition. He had taken out that she too was working with Oliver Leek.
the photos of Helen, and the skeletal corpses were The slimy bureaucrat intended to use mind-control
those of the soldiers. technology from the future to command a horde
of monsters; he’d then cause a reign of terror and
Worse, when Nick escaped back to the present take over England. Helen didn’t care about his petty
day, he discovered that history had changed. Some schemes—she wanted to learn how the Anomalies
alteration of the past—perhaps the introduction could be used to alter time, and to recreate the
of the future predators, perhaps the team’s own incident that changed Claudia Brown’s timeline. Leek
presence—had changed the timeline. Claudia captured the ARC team and attacked the ARC facility
Brown no longer existed. itself; Stephen Hart sacrificed his life to eliminate
Leek’s army of monsters. Leek also died when his
Series 2: The disappearance of Claudia Brown minions turned on him, but Helen escaped.
was not the only change. Nick discovered that in
this new timeline, the team isn’t an underfunded, In Series 3, the team discovered that this century
ad hoc investigation—it’s a secret project run by isn’t the first time Anomalies have opened within
the Home Office, with a large staff and a high-tech human history, when they found an Anomaly locked
headquarters. Claudia Brown’s role on the team has inside an Egyptian monument. This opened up
been taken by Oliver Leek, Lester’s right-hand man. several new routes of investigation—a historian,
There was also a new member assigned to the team, Sarah Page, joined the team when Cutter reasoned
that tales of mythological dragons and monsters
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4. AME
THE ROLE-PLAYING G
could actually be descriptions of time-shifted creatures. looks like an old warehouse. The place is obviously
Using this extra informational vector, Cutter began work on long-abandoned, it’s all broken windows and graffiti-
a ‘matrix’, a method of predicting Anomalies. tagged walls. There’s no sign of anyone.
Meanwhile, a shadow war was being fought across the Adrian: Can we narrow down the location a bit, or do
timelines. Christine Johnson, a senior figure in British we have to search the whole place?
Intelligence, had access to an Anomaly leading to the GM: Are you asking me, or are you saying that in
future. She was opposed by Helen Cutter, aided by cloned character as Nick?
servants produced using more future technology. The
object of their struggle was a future artefact that contained Adrian: Er, in character I guess. Putting on a terrible
the finished version of Nick Cutter’s matrix—a holographic attempt at a Scottish accent. Och, Connor, can ye nae
map of the Anomalies throughout space and time. With this pin it down a wee bit?
artefact, a time traveller could go anywhere and anywhen in Carol: To the other players Cutter’s obviously pining for
Earth’s history. the highlands.
Helen attacked the ARC, claiming that it is instrumental Bob: As Connor Sure thing, professor. To the GM Can I
in wiping out humanity in the future. Nick stopped her, pin it down?
but at the cost of his own life. Jenny Lewis also left the GM: You can try. Roll Ingenuity + Technology please.
team after she discovered a photograph of Claudia Brown,
proving that Nick’s wild theories about changing timelines Bob: Can I add my Technologically Adept Trait bonus?
were true. The artefact from the future fell into the hands GM: Sure. You wave your Anomaly Detector about,
of the ARC team. fiddle with the settings, swing it in a wide arc...
Nick’s replacement was Danny Quinn, a police officer Bob: Ok... Ingenuity 5, Technology 3, +2 for Technically
whose brother Patrick vanished into an Anomaly many Adept, and I rolled a 6... I get a total of 16.
years previously. His approach was less cerebral and more GM: Ok, the Anomaly seems to be inside one of the
direct than Cutter’s, but the team managed to stay on top bigger warehouses, but there’s something odd about
of the Anomalies, aided by Connor’s discovery of a method it. Normally, the radio signal from an Anomaly would be
for ‘locking’ the time portals. a bit more erratic, with frequency spikes and so forth.
This one’s a bit quieter than usual.
The team rescued a mysterious woman from the future,
Eve, and brought her back to the ARC. Eve was revealed Bob: What could cause that?
to be Helen Cutter, using a holographic disguise. She stole GM: You’ve no idea.
the artefact and travelled to the future, hotly pursued by
the team. Helen’s goal was to avert the nightmarish future Carol: Maybe it’s a really stable Anomaly. Or it’s already
era... by erasing humanity. She used the artefact and a locked. To the GM While Connor’s playing with his geeky
future computer to calculate a route back through the toys, Abby peers out the window of the car. Anything
Anomalies that would bring her to the Rift Valley in Africa, unusual out there?
four million years ago, the birthplace of humanity. A few GM: Roll Awareness +, er... I dunno. Survival or
deaths there would erase our entire species... Ingenuity, whichever you prefer.
Danny Quinn stopped her from wiping out the Australo- Carol: Eck. I rolled a 3, plus Awareness, plus Ingenuity...
pithecus hominids—but when the Anomaly back home a whole 9.
closes he, Connor and Abby are all trapped in the past.
GM: For a moment, you think you saw something move
atop one of the buildings, but there’s nothing there
now.
EXAMPLE OF PLAY
Carol: Just to be on the safe side, Abby takes her dart
In this example of play, there’s a GM and three players; gun and checks that it’s loaded.
Adrian, Bob and Carol. Adrian’s playing Nick Cutter, Bob’s
GM: Cool. What are you all doing?
playing Connor and Carol is playing Abby Maitland. The team
detected an Anomaly on the outskirts of the city and are driving Adrian: Let’s check out this Anomaly. We’ll leave the
to investigate. car and cautiously enter the warehouse.
GM: You’re all going?
GM: You’re getting closer to the Anomaly site now. It
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5. Bob & Carol: Yes.
GM: OK, you exit the car and make your
way across the broken concrete towards
the warehouse entrance. Inside, you
find it’s a maze of old storage crates
and debris. You’re getting closer to the
Anomaly, according to the detector
reading.
Carol: But we can’t see it?
GM: No. Give me Awareness + Survival
rolls, everyone.
Everyone rolls. Carol gets the highest result.
GM: Abby notices a small animal corpse in
one corner. It’s a rat.
Carol: I point it out to the others.
THE BASICS
Adrian: As Nick. Rattus Norvegicus, common GM: Your hand feels slightly numb. There are no
brown rat. I don’t think this is our incursion. To penalties to Coordination or anything....yet.
the GM. What killed it? Bob: I look for the Ano... wait, those crates.
GM: The corpse is rigid and twisted. Anything odd about them?
Adrian: Poisoned, right? GM: Looking around, you find a power cable
running under a tarpaulin. There’s something
GM: Probably. electrical in use here.
Adrian: Any puncture wounds? Bob: I pull off the tarpaulin.
GM: How closely are you examining the dead GM: Underneath, there’s some sort of radio
rat? transmitter. It looks home-made.
Bob: As Connor. Guys, it’s a rat. Let’s get that Carol: Oh no!
Anomaly. To the GM I keep going.
Adrian: What?
GM: Bob, your character comes around the
corner of a row of crates. You should be right Carol: The weird Anomaly reading—that was
on top of the Anomaly now, but there’s no sign because it’s not actually an Anomaly. It’s a fake
of it, just more crates. Adrian, you’re examining signal. It’s a trap!
the rat—give me an Awareness + Science roll. Bob: Who’d want to trap us?
Carol, what are you doing?
GM: Carol, Abby’s watching the ceiling, and
Carol: I’m looking around warily. you see something big and cat-like moving up
Adrian: I get a 12 on my roll. there. Actually, somethings—at least three of
them. One of them hisses and makes this weird
GM: Definitely poisoned. There’s no puncture gurgling sound. Little droplets of spittle spray
wound, but the rat’s flesh is discoloured and the down from above, and where they touch your
fur is matted, suggesting it was sprayed with skin, it stings...
something toxic.
Will Nick and the others escape the trap? What
Adrian: Did I touch it? are those cat-like things with poisonous spittle?
GM: Hmm... tell you what, I’ll give you a Story Is Nick already poisoned? If the Anomaly’s fake,
Point if you agree you touched the matted fur. where did the monsters come from? Who faked
an Anomaly? And why? The only way to find out
Adrian: I’m going to regret this...ok, Nick the answers is to play...
touched the rat with a bare hand.
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6. Name Notes
Player
Attributes STARTING CURRENT
AWARENESS
CHARACTER SHEET
COORDINATION Story Points
INGENUITY
PRESENCE
RESOLVE
STRENGTH Skills
ATHLETICS
Traits ANIMAL HANDLING
CONVINCE
CRAFT
FIGHTING
KNOWLEDGE
MARKSMAN
MEDICINE
SCIENCE
Equipment SUBTERFUGE
SURVIVAL
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSPORT
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