Post by ltlconf on Aug 9, 2006 8:47:31 GMT -5
Hello Folks,
As I was watching Animal Planet the other night (catch every doc on wildlife I can for reaearch) something was shown that hadn't occured to me; just how empty even a modern preserve is compared to even 50 years ago! They showed photos taken during the filming of a movie in Tanzania during the 1950s and the the difference between then and now around a waterhole, during the same time in the morning was depressing. They also had interviews with White Africans from throughout old British East and Southern Africa. They commented on the massive decline of animal life, how you never saw empty scenery as you do today. Those shots of a lone lion or elephant on the plain with nothing but grass behind so famous today were impossible when making films or taking photographs then. There were animals everywhere all the time, even at night. Animal life is apparently at a fraction of what it was; not only in overall numbers but also in density where it's still protected. Only the famous Ngorongoro Crater region has anything approaching the density of the Old Colonial Africa. And it's important to point out this is AFTER decades of the ivory trade, big game hunting, and population growth! If Africa was that full in the 1950s, then imagine Africa as it was, lets say, 300 years ago!
This is something I had not taken into account when running the new campaign: when my characters are walking through the savannah there are herds, baboons, birds, insects, and predators all over. Heck it would be as noisy as a modern city, if not at the level of volume (any pre-industrial terrain would be like this come to think about it). My previous GM mentioned the bug life would ASTOUNDING.
This changes alot: someone will have to be on guard at night, PERIOD, and fires always lit to ward off lions and others; snakes will be a common problem, so just running around without care will NOT be a good idea; if properly equipped or skilled food will not be a problem as you're in a massive meat market and gaining hides for gear is similarly not a problem, for the same reason. This all makes the unique nature of the setting more apparent: few other places on earth, and none of a European flavor, have such an abundance and variety of wildlife in one place. Even America had only two herd grazers (Bison and Proghorn Antelope) on it's plains, Africa has close to a half dozen, several in herds as great as the US Bison alone. On the other hand the crowded water holes make getting a drink a matter of timing, you might want to avoid the predator-watched morning and evening rush hours! Something to think about.
Point is Africa's wildlife was apparently on a level of density we can only imagine today and as GMs we should try and make the density of animal life clear to the players. The characters should always hear animal sounds, until something is really WRONG (hence why in old stories silence presaged disaster: pre-industrial enviroments were NEVER quiet unless a big predator was about)! It also gives this message: Never drop your guard, as being "part of nature" means being on the food chain, and not always at the top. Also that ALOT can kill you besides just monsters! What do you all think?
As I was watching Animal Planet the other night (catch every doc on wildlife I can for reaearch) something was shown that hadn't occured to me; just how empty even a modern preserve is compared to even 50 years ago! They showed photos taken during the filming of a movie in Tanzania during the 1950s and the the difference between then and now around a waterhole, during the same time in the morning was depressing. They also had interviews with White Africans from throughout old British East and Southern Africa. They commented on the massive decline of animal life, how you never saw empty scenery as you do today. Those shots of a lone lion or elephant on the plain with nothing but grass behind so famous today were impossible when making films or taking photographs then. There were animals everywhere all the time, even at night. Animal life is apparently at a fraction of what it was; not only in overall numbers but also in density where it's still protected. Only the famous Ngorongoro Crater region has anything approaching the density of the Old Colonial Africa. And it's important to point out this is AFTER decades of the ivory trade, big game hunting, and population growth! If Africa was that full in the 1950s, then imagine Africa as it was, lets say, 300 years ago!
This is something I had not taken into account when running the new campaign: when my characters are walking through the savannah there are herds, baboons, birds, insects, and predators all over. Heck it would be as noisy as a modern city, if not at the level of volume (any pre-industrial terrain would be like this come to think about it). My previous GM mentioned the bug life would ASTOUNDING.
This changes alot: someone will have to be on guard at night, PERIOD, and fires always lit to ward off lions and others; snakes will be a common problem, so just running around without care will NOT be a good idea; if properly equipped or skilled food will not be a problem as you're in a massive meat market and gaining hides for gear is similarly not a problem, for the same reason. This all makes the unique nature of the setting more apparent: few other places on earth, and none of a European flavor, have such an abundance and variety of wildlife in one place. Even America had only two herd grazers (Bison and Proghorn Antelope) on it's plains, Africa has close to a half dozen, several in herds as great as the US Bison alone. On the other hand the crowded water holes make getting a drink a matter of timing, you might want to avoid the predator-watched morning and evening rush hours! Something to think about.
Point is Africa's wildlife was apparently on a level of density we can only imagine today and as GMs we should try and make the density of animal life clear to the players. The characters should always hear animal sounds, until something is really WRONG (hence why in old stories silence presaged disaster: pre-industrial enviroments were NEVER quiet unless a big predator was about)! It also gives this message: Never drop your guard, as being "part of nature" means being on the food chain, and not always at the top. Also that ALOT can kill you besides just monsters! What do you all think?