The facts of Ice Age life	Races among the glaciers	The arms race, or lack thereof	Religion, magic, and "modern" life	PLEISTOCENE ENCOUNTER TABLE
Climate and calendar	Temperature changes and their effects	When it rains, it usually snows	Dragon 68	Best of Dragon V
-	-	Dragon	-	-

Many are the monsters from the Pleistocene Epoch roaming
the pages of the AD&D™ Monster Manual. But for the most part,
I’ve let them stay there. I mean, why would players want to go
adventuring in the Ice Age? There’s no metal-workjng — ergo
no armor, no steel for weapons, and no money. There’s no
civilization — ergo no castles, no cities, no society (as we tend
to think of it) to adventure in. There’s no agriculture, no commerce,
and no writing: just lots of ice, dangerous animals, and
death lurking in every corner. So what is there about the Ice Age
that could hold a player’s attention? The answer: lots.
After reading The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel, I got a
hankering to adventure in the Pleistocene. Cave halflings
danced before my eyes, blizzards blew through my fevered
brain, and survival became the only game in town. In the end, I
thought of three basic role-playing modes that could send one
off into the Ice Age.

Number One: The Clan. The object of this mode is the preservation
of the Clan, a small tribal society of hunter-gatherers
who must depend on each other to survive. I drew up a clan of
about 20 halflings and singled out the player character types:
1st-level individuals who can rise in the clan pecking order,
becoming its leaders and providers. The challenge to the players
is to ensure the clan’s survival in an incredibly hostile world.
Food must be secured. Shelter must be found. Outsiders must
be kept away. Offspring must be propagated. Weather, predators,
and disease must be overcome. And everything hangs on
the intelligence and cooperation of the party (the group of PCs
within the clan). In short, even with no castles or coins, this sort
of situation has all the makings of a desperate and noble
enterprise.

Number Two: The Individual. Take a first-level player character,
make him an outcast or an orphan, and set him down to
make his way alone in the savagery of the Pleistocene. Very
challenging: this even has possibilities for solo adventuring.
The object here is to explore while securing food, shelter, and
other necessities. The individual must survive. And along the
way, this hero could build up followers and henchmen to form
the nucleus of a new clan — the surest ticket to survival.

Number Three: Mix and Match. A regular party of adventurers,
bored with dungeons and slums, might go for a trip to the
Ice Age. Maybe they get dumped there through the ire of a
super-powerful wizard? Maybe they enter a time warp? Maybe
there is a corner of your campaign area that never got over the
glacial period? Or, you could dump some Ice Age characters
and creatures into a regular AD&D campaign. Either way, you
can make players see things through new eyes, and have a lot of
fun besides.

Okay. Having justified the trip, then how does one go about
setting up a Pleistocene campaign? The first thing is to understand
what the absence of civilization means. No cities. No
structures more complicated than a lean-to, a hide tent, or a
cage. No agriculture beyond gathering whatever grows where
it happens to grow. No politics beyond the clan/tribal gathering
or an occasional encounter with outsiders. No organized war.
No crowds. No books, scrolls, glass, wheels, metal, woven
fabrics, or machines. Not even much leisure time.
So what do Pleistocene folks do? Basically, they work: most
of the time either gathering food, hunting food, processing
food, or manufacturing clothing, tools, and weapons. (Except
in winter, when they hole up in their cave(s), snowed in, dealing
with a monumental case of community cabin fever.) “Adventuring”
consists mostly of hunting trips, migrations, going to gatherings
every few years, and coping with an occasional raid by
(or on) a pack of predatory creatures.
Of course, there is story-telling and worship and play and
even romance, but all these are an integral part of clan life; there
are very few solitary pursuits in this society. Numbers mean
strength, but too many mouths strip an area of food. Balancing
out the equation of survival in your favor is the only way to keep
alive, and an individual acting with an individual purpose has
almost no chance of surviving. It’s a hard life, and it never gets
easier. Since treasure is almost non-existent (except for rough
gems), the only way to rise in levels is to kill beasts and defend
the clan. Experience can be gained in no other way. So let us
consider how Ice Agers spend their time.

To nutritionally sustain one person for one month requires 1
hit die of meat-bearing animal or fish, plus 2 bushels of roots,
grains, and assorted vegetable matter. Children require half of
what adults do, but do not contribute significant labor for our
broad generalizations. (A month has four weeks, and there are
13 weeks in a solar year.)

Keep in mind that animal/vegetable sources must be kept in
this 1 h.d./2 bu. ratio. The life of the clan requires both sorts of
nutrients. Game and fish provide fur, leather, fat for lighting,
waterskins, ivory, and other materials, in addition to food. The
grains and roots gathered also will include reeds for weaving
bags, sticks to make into utensils, medicinal plants, and so
forth. If the food ratio gets lopsided, the clan can survive by
consuming 1 additional h.d. of meat per person per month in
place of the 2 bu. of grains, or vice versa, but in these cases the
DM should consider incorporating such effects as an increased
chance for disease (because of vitamin deficiency), a higher
likelihood of important equipment (such as protective clothing)
wearing out, and so forth. The DM can assume that as long as

both proportions are supplied, most of the necessities of living
will be taken care of. The only alternative to these general rules
is to keep a detailed account of everybody’s production and
consumption of everything, which would be a colossal bore.
Thus, a clan of 15 adults and 4 children = 17 full consumers. In
one year, they must kill, gather, and process 221 hit dice of
game (above and beyond an occasional rabbit or pigeon) and
442 bushels of wild grains, yams, seeds, and so on. The task for
the summer task is not only to keep alive, but to store away stuff
for the winter, when one can neither hunt nor gather. Starvation,
if it happens, usually comes in early spring, when there is
no food to be found and the winter’s stores are depleted (or
ruined by vermin).

The facts of Ice Age life
Gathering of grains, plants, and so forth may take place in
earnest starting the first week after the last frost (usually the
11th week of spring) up until 4 weeks after the first frost of the
coming (usually the 2nd week in autumn). The growing season
averages 91 days. Gathering can usually be done, then, over a
period of 18 weeks; during the 7th through 11th weeks, gathering
may be done at 150% efficiency (this is when the “crops” are
most bountiful and convenient to pick). One adult may gather
1½ bushels of usable stuff in a day. The same area cannot be
gathered in more than one week in six. Note also that mountains
contain vegetation, but are not worth picking at. The DM
might want to make an assessment of the relative bounty of the
area; there is no distinction made here between hills, plains,
forests, and swamps: edible stuff exists in all these places.
Hunting, unlike gathering, is not an “automatic” activity. This
is where the DM and players can get down to adventuring. You
must work for every hit die of beast trapped or hunted. I would
allow a basic 1 in 12 chance of an encounter twice or thrice a
day (morning &evening, plus one more during the night, if the
party is camping out). Not only game would be encountered,
but also predators, vermin, and other creatures (see encounter
tables). Good hunters (especially rangers) could probably
track well enough to better the odds of having an encounter.
However, hunting and gathering are both alike in one respect:
they are only a part of life. Only 2 days per week per
person can be spent doing either or both. The other 5 days are
taken up with the other business of life: processing food, making
weapons and clothes, repairing and manufacturing the stuff
of daily existence, worshiping. Groups from the clan can take
hunting trips of 7 days’ duration once in every 5-week period
(weather permitting).

This all is not to suggest that all life means is work, work, and
more work: only that, in general, one must accept major claims
on one’s time for the purpose of ensuring survival. Ceremonies,
story-telling, raids, and daily problems “caused” by the DM
may go on as one pleases without causing any problems in
simulating the survival needs of the Pleistocene. But limiting
hunting and gathering to only 2 days a week per person and
staking out most of the rest of an individual’s time as already
obligated to some thing or another is a game device to ensure
that sufficient time is spent on necessities without the players
having to keep track of how many flint knives and fur robes they
make. Flexibility in the monitoring of clan activities is required;
the DM should note an increasing disruption of the clan’s lifestyle
only when a significant number of man-hours are lost.
When sickness, injury, raids, or whatnot cause the number of
“work days” to fall below the minimum, the DM may announce
that such-and-such piece of equipment has worn out, or the
clan’s supply of this or that material has been exhausted; rectifying
this problem then becomes the challenge to meet. The

Races among the glaciers



The lack of agriculture and technology in the Pleistocene
affects each of the player-character races. Cavemen (as in the
Monster Manual) require no adjustments to their specifics to
place in the Pleistocene world. For that matter, a group of
nomads (afoot; horses and cattle have not been domesticated
yet) armed with stone weapons would fit right in. So would
stone-age berserkers. But PC races are another matter; some
thought needs to be given to their cultural differences.
Dwarves should be very few, secreted in their deep places. To
these types alone, if the DM allows it at all, some primitive
metallurgy could be attributed. High-level tribal leaders might
have crude metal weapons (+2, at least in comparison with the
normal stone weapons) and studded leather armor. This benefit
would place dwarves higher on the technological ladder than
any other race. Therefore they ought to be very rare.
Elves would be +1 with spear and sling (instead of bow and
sword, neither having been invented). While all races would
have discovered ritual fermented or narcotic potations, to the
elves would belong the specialty of making wine from wild
grapes. Also, only wood elves would be around in Ice Age
times. (Editor’s note: Since the Players Handbook says all player <cf. snow elves>
character elves are considered to be high elves, abiding by
this stipulation would make it impossible for player-character
elves to exist in this environment. If the issue must be resolved,
DMs will have to either ignore the author’s recommendation or
choose to allow a relaxation of the rule.)
Gnomes, the best stonecutters in the usual AD&D world,
would be the best flint workers in the Ice Age. All their stone
weapons should be considered +1 relative to those produced
by non-gnomes.
Half-elves are virtually non-existent. Their racial specialty
would be in woodcraft. Rangers, druids, and bards lead this
society.
Halflings are the tamers of wild dogs. While other groups
might capture an animal, only the halflings have domesticated
them and learned to breed them. They even use them in hunting.
A clan will consist of all tallfellows, all hairfeet, or all stouts,
with no intermingling of the various racial strains and no “halfbreed”
halflings.
Half-orcs are the only race to use poisoned darts, and are the
inventors of the blowgun used to fire them.
Humans have the advantage of having all classes open to
them, with unlimited advancement potential, as is the case in
the AD&D rules.
Cavemen (humans), should the DM allow such types to be
player characters, should be +1 with a spear and -1 with all
throwing weapons.
Considering that a clan would be xenophobic in the extreme,
certain problems are presented. If the player-character group
must be all dwarves or all elves, for instance, then eligibility in
certain character classes needs to be extended to the race in
question. Also, the level of technology and civilization (or lack
thereof) in the Pleistocene epoch influences the maximum level
attainable in certain character classes. The table in the Players
Handbook on “Class Level Limitations” is modified for the Ice
Age, so that it looks like this chart:
 
 

-	Dw	Elf	Gn	1/2Elf	Hlf	1/2Orc	Human
CLERIC	8	7	7	5	no	4	U
Druid	no	no	no	U	6	no	U
FIGHTER	9	7	6	8	6	10	U
Ranger	no	no	no	8	no	no	U
MAGIC-USER	no	11	no	8	no	no	U
Illusionist	no	no	7	no	no	no	U
THIEF	5	no	no	5	U	5	U
Assassin	no	no	no	no	no	U	U
Bard	no	no	no	U	6	U	U

All restrictions noted in the Players Handbook not changed
above should be observed. Note that paladins and monks simply
do not exist. Thieves are very rare (What is there to steal?
Where is the society to steal from?), but the class is open to
dwarves, so they can sneak around dungeons; to halflings and
half-elves, to enable them to be used as scouts and as preparatory
to bard status; and to half-orcs, who also use thieving
ability to act as scouts, and are nasty to boot. Humans can be
thieves because no class is closed to them. The assassin class
is a half-orc prerogative, but of course also open to humans.
Note that even though the cleric class is opened to PC dwarves,
elves, and gnomes, non-human PCs still must be multi-classed
clerics. Halflings are allowed to be bards because they can also
be druids, fighters, and thieves, the three classes represented

within the bard class. The DM might consider including shamans,
witch doctors, and witches as (rare) character classes.
Language also presents a problem. There is no “common”
tongue. Nor do demi-humans speak other than their own languages.
Cavemen and humans speak different tongues. What
language a speaking dragon talks is a matter for the DM to
decide. It would depend on what humanoids the dragon has
associated with, I suppose.

Q: "Thrills and Chills" (issue #68) noted
that there would be assassins operating
during the Ice Age. How is this possible?

A: Assassins could be thought of as a form
of commando warrior, used by various
tribes as scouts, spies, or advance assault
fighters who slay from ambush or by surprise.
Assassins could also perform their
usual sorts of tasks (getting rid of undesirable
tribesmen), at the direction of a
chieftain or other "boss."
(79.15)

The arms race, or lack thereof
The level of Pleistocene weapons technology is very low. The
only “armor” available is the equivalent of leather or padded
armor (hides and furs). Shields are rare, since there is no military
science. You don’t use shields in hunting, so unless you
encounter a warlike race that uses shields, you would have no
knowledge of shields. Thus, the best non-magical armor class
which can be achieved is AC 3 (leather + shield, on a character
with 18 dexterity). The tables on missile fire cover and concealment
adjustments (p. 64, Dungeon Masters Guide) would
play a large part in the hide-and-seek style of warfare dictated
by Ice Age technology.
The sling comes into its own in the Ice Age, since bows have
not been invented. The table below illustrates the extent of
Pleistocene weapons technology.
 
 

-	Damage: S/M	Damage: L	Fire rate	S	M	L
Stone knife	1-4	1-3	—1	—	—	—
Stone axe	1-6	1-4	—1	—	—	—
Stone-head hammer	2-5	1-4	1	1	2	3
Spear3	1-6	1-8	1	1	2	3
Bola (trip)2	1-3	1-2	1	2	4	6
Sling (stones only)	1-4	1-4	1	4	8	16
Staff	1-6	1-6	—	—	—	—
Club	1-6	1-3	1	1	2	3
Javelin3	1-6	1-6	1	2	4	6
Dart (blowgun)	1-3	1-2	3	11/2	3	41/2
Net (entangle)	—	—	1	1/2	1	11/2
Fist	(4)	(4)	—	—	—	—
Flaming oil	(5)	(5)	1	1	2	3

1 — Not balanced for throwing.
2 — Saving throw vs. trip allowed; monsters of more than 9 h.d. are not trippable.
3 — Double damage when set vs. charge.
4 — See weaponless combat tables.
5 — Splash does 1-3, direct hit 2-12 vs. any size creature.
 

Religion, magic, and “modern” life
Magic and religion undergo some radical changes in the
Pleistocene. Magic items are very, very rare. There are no
scrolls, because there is no written language. Magic-users and
illusionists employ carved sticks and sacred rocks as mnemonic
aids to relearn their spells. The basic form of a magic item is
the potion, of which there are many in this herbalist’s paradise.

Disease and injury are not just mere nuisances; where curative
spells are rare (it takes a 5th level cleric to cure disease), such
things need to be paid attention to. The DM must be scrupulous
in making disease checks (p. 13, DMG).

The highly developed religions described in the DEITIES &
DEMIGODS™ Cyclopedia are not much in evidence. Most humans,
at least, will be into totemism. Under this system, each
person has a totem (guardian spirit). An encounter with a wolf
is thus a “divine,” or at least uncanny, encounter for someone
with a wolf totem.

Lucky and unlucky days play a significant role in the clan’s
life. The best days for hunting and ceremonies must be chosen.
Roll d10 (or have the clan’s priest roll, if he/she is a PC): 1-3 =
unlucky day; 4-7 = nothing special; 8-0 = lucky day. An augury
spell might be used for this purpose. On an unlucky day, the
clan (or the person for whom it is unlucky) would have a -1
penalty on all dice rolls, while their opponents would have a +1
penalty on all rolls. This situation is reversed on a lucky day.
Generally, the following divinities and pseudo-divinities from
the DDG book would “fit in” with the Ice Age milieu: Raven,
Heng, Hotoru, Shakak (very important), Thunder Bird, Yanauluha,
Tobadzistsini, Loviatar, Thrym, Surtur, Prometheus,
Norns, and the Non-human deities. And so would the Hound of
III Omen and the Elemental Princes of Evil from the FIEND
FOLIO™ Tome.

Druidism would be much more primitive and nature-oriented
than as presented in the DDG book. The American Indian
mythos drawn upon above seems the most congenial to Pleistocene
religion, but other congenial types have been added.
Note that undead and spirit (astral) world encounters would be
very significant in the religious life of the period; not that they
should be common, but they would have a telling effect. Dryads
and the like would be considered supernatural beings by many
races (and so might even elves and gnolls, come to think of it).
Remember the paranoia of the time. Everything but one’s own
clan or tribe is to be feared and viewed as probably hostile.
Your adventure is now almost ready; only a few more details
to consider, like terrain, encounters, weather and seasons. To
make matters simpler, I have simplified the terrain categories in
the following Pleistocene encounter tables. “Ruins” do not
exist in this era; there has been nothing built to be ruined. Keep
in mind the glaciation (and vulcanism?) of the time. This will
affect your campaign area.

I have not been picky on the encounter sub-tables. One is
more likely to encounter a badger than a displacer beast any
day, now or then, but I didn’t want to be rolling dice forever in
setting up an encounter. After the encounter table gives you the
sub-table to look at, you may roll to see what is encountered,
and then feel free to roll again if you feel what comes up doesn’t
make sense. Also, do adjust the numbers. A herd of game will
be much larger in the Pleistocene than a herd of game would be
now. And anthropoids would be very few: no “30-300 orcs”
nonsense. No anthropoid encounter should be more than 2d12
adults, plus a few children (2d4?). And half of those adults will
be females. Probably no more than 40% of all adults would be
hunter-fighter types.

PLEISTOCENE ENCOUNTER TABLE
Find column for pertinent terrain type, roll d%, and refer to the
subtable for the resulting of encounter.
 
 

Subtable	Plain	Forest	Hills	Mtns.	River,  lake,  marsh	Sea	Underground
Aerial	01-15	01-05	01-20	01-30	01-02	01-05	—
Anthropoid	16-19	06-12	21-40	31-55	03-20	06-15	01-20
Dungeon/Cavern	—	—	—	—	—	—	21-55
Fresh Water/Swamp	—	13-20	—	—	21-50	—	56-65
Game	20-59	21-35	41-55	56-65	51-60	16-20	66-70
Insectoid	60-67	36-50	56-60	—	61-70	—	71-80
Predator	68-92	51-80	61-85	66-80	71-80	21-30	81-85
Reptile	93-97	81-95	86-93	81-00	81-90	31-35	86-95
Salt Water/Seashore	—	—	—	—	—	36-00	—
Vermin	98-00	96-00	94-00	—	91-00	31-35	96-00

Aerial encounter subtable (d12)
1. Bat, giant +
2. Blood hawk
3. Eagle, giant
4. Dragon or pseudo-dragon
5. Ki-rin
6. Griffon
7. Hippogriff
8. Owl, giant
9. Pegasus
10. Roc
11. Wasp or hornet, giant
12. Wind walker
 

Anthropoid encounter subtable (d20)
 

1-7: Human

8-10: Demi-human

11-12: Giant

13-18: Humanoid

19: Lycanthrope

20: Miscellaneous

1-7: Human (roll d6)
1. Berserkers +
2. Cavemen
3. Character party
4. Frost man
5. Nomads
6. 10% chance of divine encounter (see text)
 

8-10: Demi-human (roll d6)
1. Dwarf +
2. Elf (sylvan)
3. Gnome
4. Half-elf
5. Halfling
    (roll d6:
    1-3 = Hairfeet;
    4-5 = Stout;
    6 = Tallfellow)
6. Half-orc

11-12: Giant (roll d8)
1. Ettin +
2. Giant, fire
3. Giant, frost
4. Giant, hill
5. Giant, mountain
6. Giant, stone
7. Ogre
8. Treant

13-18: Humanoid (roll d20)
1. Bugbear +
2. Doppleganger
3. Dryad
4. Flind
5. Gnoll
6. Goblin
7. Hobgoblin
8. Kobold
9. Lizard man
10. Nixie
11. Nymph
12. Ogrillon
13. Orc
14. Sylph
15. Troglodyte
16. Troll
17. Troll, giant
18. Troll, ice
19. Umpleby
20. Yeti

19: Lycanthrope (roll d6)
1. Jackalwere +
2. Werebear
3. Wereboar
4. Wererat
5. Weretiger
6. Werewolf

20: Miscellaneous (roll d10)
1. Demon, manes +
2. Devil, ice
3. Ghost/astral searcher
4. Merman
5. Sahuagin
6. Skeleton
7. Umber hulk
8. Wight
9. Yellow musk zombie
10. Zombie
 

Dungeon/cavern encounter subtable (d24)
1. Bat, giant +
2. Black pudding
3. Cold woman*/Cold Spawn*
4. Fungi, violet
5. Gas spore
6. Gelatinous cube
7. Gorgon
8. Gray ooze
9. Green slime
10. Lava children
11. Lizard, subterranean
12. Lurker above/Trapper
13. Mimic/Will-o-wisp
14. Mold, brown
15. Mold, yellow
16. Ochre jelly
17. Piercer
18. Purple worm
19. Roper
20. Salamander
21. Shambling mound/shrieker
22. Slithering tracker
23. Slug, giant
24. Stirge
 

Fresh water/swamp encounter table (d24)
1. Beetle, giant water +
2. Catoblepas +
3. Crayfish, giant
4. Crocodile
5. Dragon turtle
6. Eel, electric
7. Eel, weed
8. Fire toad
9. Frog, giant
10. Frog, killer
11. Frog, poisonous
12. Gar, giant
13. Lamprey
14. Lamprey, giant
15. Leech, giant
16. Naga, water
17. Pike, giant
18. Quipper
19. Spider, giant water
20. Toad, giant
21. Toad, ice
22. Toad, poisonous
23. Turtle, giant snapping
24. Will-o-wisp/Mottled worm
 

Game encounter subtable (d24)
1. Axe beak +
2. Baluchitherium
3. Beaver, giant
4. Boar, giant
5. Boar, warthog
6. Boar, wild
7. Buffalo
8. Bull
9. Camel, wild
10. Cattle, wild
11. Flightless bird
12. Herd animal
13. Horse, pony
14. Horse, wild
15. Irish deer*
16. Mammoth
17. Mastodon
18. Porcupine, giant
19. Ram, giant
20. Rhinoceros, woolly
21. Stag
22. Stag, giant
23. Titanothere
24. Unicorn/rothe

* Irish deer, like all such beasts, rut in the fall, not the spring.
Ignore the Monster Manual on this point.
 

Insectoid/arachnid encounter subtable (d12)
1. Ant, giant +
2. Beetle, bombardier
3. Beetle, boring
4. Beetle, fire
5. Beetle, rhino
6. Beetle, stag
7. Hornet, giant
8. Spider, giant
9. Spider, huge
10. Spider, large
11. Spider, phase
12. Wasp, giant
 

Predator encounter subtable (d30)
1. Anhkheg +
2. Astral wolf
3. Badger +
4. Badger, giant
5. Bear, black
6. Bear, brown
7. Bear, cave
8. Blink dog
9. Caterwaul
10. Devil dog
11. Displacer beast
12. Dog, wild
13. Hoar fox
14. Hyena
15. Hyena, giant
16. Jackal
17. Leopard
18. Lion, mountain
19. Lion, spotted
20. Lynx, giant
21. Otter, giant
22. Rat, giant
23. Skunk, giant
24. Tiger, sabretooth
25. Weasel, giant
26. Wolf
27. Wolf, dire
28. Wolf, winter
29. Wolverine
30. Wolverine, giant
 

Reptile encounter subtable (d20)
1. Dragon, black +
2. Dragon, bronze
3. Dragon, green
4. Dragon, red
5. Dragon, white
6. Firedrake
7. Fire snake
8. Hydra
9. Hydra, lernaean
10. Hydra, pyro-
11. Lizard, ice
12. Lizard, fire
13. Lizard, giant
14. Pseudo-dragon
15. Remorhaz
16. Snake, amphisbaena
17. Snake, constrictor
18. Snake, poisonous
19. Snake, spitting
20. Snow serpent
 

Salt water/seashore encounter subtable (d16)
1. Bunyip +
2. Crab, giant
3. Crocodile, giant
4. Dolphin
5. Dragon turtle
6. Eel, giant
7. Eel, weed
8. Lamprey
9. Lamprey, giant
10. Man-o-war, giant
11. Octopus, giant
12. Shark, giant
13. Snake, sea
14. Squid, giant
15. Turtle, giant sea
16. Whale
 

Vermin encounter subtable (d8)
1. Carrion crawler +
2. Centipede, giant
3. Ear seeker
4. Rot grub
5. Stirge
6. Throat leech
7. Tick, giant
8. Yellow musk creeper
 

Climate and the calendar
Weather in the Pleistocene environment presents many problems
and challenges. Taking cold damage was (is) a real possibility
in the days of the woolly rhinoceros. Given later in this
article are some tables adapted from records of the weather
around Hudson Bay which will enable DMs to simulate the
Pleistocene climate.

The calendar is simple: four “seasons” of 91 days (13 sevenday
weeks) each, plus “Naming Day” on the first day of spring.
“Naming Day” would be the time for all babies to receive their
totems (or however you decide that should be handled). I would
also advise that it be the official “birthday” of all clan members,
like the “birthday” of all thoroughbred horses is January 1. That
way, you advance the entire clan a year of age on each Naming
Day. It is a day of ceremonies and holiday.

Every four years, add a “Gathering Day” here to even out the
calendar. This could be the time for all the clans of the race to
gather together for high and holy ceremonies. Or you could
give it some other significance, but you’ve got to incorporate a
leap year to keep the calendar straight (at least, by Earth reckoning)
— not that the Ice Agers would think of it, but it’s easy
enough to do once you know how.
 

Pleistocene Campaign Calendar
and Average Weekly Temperatures (°F.)

Week	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
1	91	50	35	-16
2	13	52	31	-19
3	17	54	27	-21
4	21	54	22	-20
5	24	53	16	-19
6	27	52	11	-18
7	30	52	6	-17
8	34	50	2	-14
9	37	47	-2	-10
10	40 44 -6 -6	44	-6	-6
11	442	42	-11	-2
12	46	40	-13	4
13	48	38	-15	7
(averages)	(27)	(40)	(8)	(-12)

Average yearly temperature = 18° F

1 — Includes Naming Day (and Gathering Day).
2 — Frost definitely ends in week 11 of spring, could
start as soon as week 11 of summer, giving a growing
season of approximately 91 frost-free days.

Temperature changes and their effects
To determine the day’s high temperature, roll a d20 on which
one set of digits (0-9) is distinguishable from the other. (For this
example, we’ll say one set is colored red, the other black.) Read
the red numbers from 1-9 as that many degrees above the
average temperature for that week. Bead the black numbers
from 0-9 in the same way, except that these results represent a
number of degrees below the average. (A result of black 0
means an average day.) If the result is a red 0, roll again and add
10 (if the second result is red) or subtract 10 (if the second
result is black), to yield a result in the range of 19 degrees below
average to 19 degrees above average temperature.

Example: A red 0 is rolled during the third week of winter,
when the average temperature is -21°. The die is rolled again,
and a red 3 comes up, so the day is 13° (3 + 10) warmer than
usual, and the high temperature that day is 8 degrees below
zero. If a black 6 follows the red 0, the same day would be 16
degrees colder than usual, for a high temperature that day of
-37°. The hottest and coldest high readings obtainable using
this system are 73° (summer) and -40° (winter).
In such a climate, cold damage (freezing to death) becomes a
real possibility. No one in his right mind goes out in a Pleistocene
winter if he can avoid it. Cold damage is figured as follows:
One makes a saving throw (vs. constitution, on d20) every turn
one is out in the cold. One begins making saving throws at the
equivalent temperature (see definition below) of -20°. The save
is made at +2 at a temperature equivalent to -20°. This adjustment
to the saving throw drops by 1 for every 10° drop in
equivalent temperature. Thus, at -30° the save is only at +1; at
-120° (and it does get that cold), the save is made at -8.
Wearing metal armor (possible only for characters from outside
the Pleistocene adventuring through the AREA) further reduces
the saving throw vs. cold by -2, and adds an extra point in
cold damage each time damage is assessed.

Every turn that a character fails a save vs. cold, he or she
takes 1 point of cold damage for every 10 degrees below zero of
equivalent temperature (3 points at -30°) 6 points at -60°, etc.).
In addition, when a character is exposed to the cold and fails
a saving throw, there is a 5% chance of losing 1 or 2 points of
constitution, permanently, at -10°. This chance of constitution
loss increases by an additional 5% for each additional 10 degrees
of cold, so that the chance is 20% at -40°. Any loss in
constitution requires a system shock check.

Cold also slows down movement, over and above the difficulty
of wading through snowdrifts and blizzards. After one
hour, movement in the intense cold is slowed to 75% of normal
at -20°; 50% of normal at -50°; and 25% of normal at -80°.
Equivalent temperature is merely the actual temperature
modified by the Wind Chill Factor: what the air outside feels
like. The thermometer might read 10°, but if the wind is whipping
around at 25 mph, then the temperature feels like -29° to
your body, and your body will freeze accordingly. One form of
the traditional Wind Chill Table is given below, to help estimate
equivalent temperatures.

WIND CHILL TABLE

 

Actual thermometer reading (°F) <Top row across>
Equivalent temperature (°F) --> <Table entries>

Wind  speed (mph)	50	40	30	20	10	0	-10	-20	-30	-40
Calm	50	40	30	20	10	0	-10	-20	-30	-40
5	48	37	27	16	6	-5	-15	-16	-36	-47
10	40	28	16	4	-9	-21	-33	-46	-58	-70
15	36	28	9	-5	-18	-32	-45	-58	-72	-85
20	32	18	4	-10	-25	-39	-53	-67	-82	-96
25	30	16	0	-15	-29	-44	-59	-74	-88	-104
30	28	13	-2	-18	-33	-48	-63	-79	-94	-109
35	27	11	-4	-20	-35	-51	-67	-82	-98	-113
40	26	10	-6	-21	-37	-53	-64	-85	-100	-116
(wind speeds  greater than  40 mph have  little additive  effect)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Danger of freezing exposed flesh:

up to -21 = Little danger (to properly clad person)
up to -72 = Increased danger
-73 and greater = Great danger
 
 

When it rains, it usually snows
The final weather consideration is precipitation. A wind table
— not ideal for this purpose, but okay — is found on p. 54 of the
DMG. Again using records from the Hudson Bay area, here is
an outline of a Subpolar/Pleistocene precipitation schedule:
The chance of precipitation on a given day varies with the
season: 5% in winter, 7% in spring, 11% in summer, and 6% in
autumn. If precipitation is indicated on that day, roll d6 to
determine the time of day when the precipitation starts: 1-2,
morning; 3-4, evening; 5-6, nighttime.
To determine accumulation and duration of precipitation
when it occurs, roll d% and use this table:
 
 

Dice	Result
01-07	Storm: 1.9 to 2.4 inches over 1-3 hours
08-20	Heavy: 1.3 to 1.8 inches over 1-6 hours
21-40	Medium: .7 to 1.2 inches over 1-4 hours
41-70	Light: .1 to .6 inches over 1-8 hours
71-00	Drizzle: no appreciable accumulation over 1-10 hours

To determine exact amount of precipitation, roll d6,
each digit standing for .1 inch of accumulated precipitation;
add .6,1.2, or 1.8, as necessary according to the
table above, to yield final numbers in the desired
range. This number represents liquid accumulation;
snowfall of the same intensity would result in three
times the accumulation of the same amount of rain.
Precipitation varies in form depending on the temperature. At
25° or below, it falls as snow; from 26° to 39° it is a variety of
sleet or freezing rain (30% chance of hail in Storm or Heavy
conditions); above this (40°+) it is rain (15% chance of hail in
Storm or Heavy conditions). Tornadoes, lightning strikes, flash
floods, and so forth are left to the whims of the individual DM. If
conditions seem favorable for such an occurrence, assign a
percentage chance and roll the dice. Or, if you decide a disaster
is needed, whip one out of your bag of tricks.
 

This article has gone far afield, from considering the reasons
for adventuring in the Ice Age, through what is involved in
converting races and classes to the Pleistocene cultural level,
through clan survival mechanics, and finally the climate. I hope
you begin to see some of the inherent possibilities in playing an
AD&D adventure in the Ice Age — perhaps by now, visions of
cave hobbits are dancing in your head.