Dinosaur Planet

[Savinien]

This new campaign idea I'm stewing over has some issues and i was hoping I could brainstorm with all of you Hero-Philes.

 

I'm putting it in this genre because initially, it deals with a space faring race/people, one of which crashlands on an unexplored planet in an unknown system. I'm not even going to worry about detailing the way things are off-planet because the main focus of the campaign is surviving on this alien planet, even though the protagonist main motivation would be getting back to his regular 'life'.

 

I do need to detail what tech and equipment the PC has (which I want to be neglible). He can have a weapon and he can forage some usable tech from his escape pod, but I want it to be sort of LOST/Swiss Family Roberston, so no energy weapon with infinite shots.

 

The real meat of the campaign is this alien race and their struggles that the PC will get woven into. This sapient race is a sort of lizard-man I'm calling Saurial. There are a few different 'species' that coexist, their society consisting of tribes spread across a vast jungle evironment. Their's is a dieing civilization with very little if anything left of what once rivaled the Mayaan/Aztecs.

 

This is what I need:

 

Build the Saurial and individual species:

Anole

Komodo

Salamander

Chameleon

Others?

 

Build some dinosaurs!

 

Answer the following questions:

How does PC get to the planet?

What sort of ship was he on?

Is the ship still on plaent?

Was anyone else on the ship?

 

Sound like fun? Who's got time to brainstorm.

 

Oh, and I will be running the first story tonight...

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Interesting ideas: sorta Marion Zimmer Bradley meets Land of the Lost.

As it happens, I'm in an unfocused, brainstorming sorta mood this morning...

 

I do need to detail what tech and equipment the PC has

 

So only one PC then? Just checking.

 

For weaponry, the obvious way to go would be limited non-recoverable charges, so he has to ration them carefully and decide if each fight is worth wasting a bullet. Doesn't really matter if it's energy-based or a slug-thrower. The advantage of this method is that it gives the character an initial advantage until he's learned the lay of the land, learned to shoot a bow, etc.

 

Another possibility for energy-based weapons would be to at some point allow him to jury-rig a recharger, but one that’s only strong enough to give him "x" number of shots per day. If you really do want to wean him off guns make it so that recharging degrades the battery over time, so after awhile the number of shots per day declines, eventually reaching 0, or maybe one per month, or whatever.

 

Typical survival gear might include rations, water (or some high-tech way to condense water from the atmosphere), a good knife, a radio, binoculars, a fire starter, mirror, etc. Other tech will depend largely on how powerful you want your hero to be compared to the lizards. Wouldn't be hard to give him one or two gadgets that effectively grant him a couple "powers" to make him respected +/or feared by the locals. Some sort of datapad or hand computer is a possibility, but be careful you don't give the PC access to too much reference material unless you want him to go all Connecticut Yankee on you and start manufacturing gunpowder and the like.

 

The real meat of the campaign is this alien race and their struggles that the PC will get woven into.

Their's is a dieing civilization with very little if anything left of what once rivaled the Mayaan/Aztecs.

 

How much do you see your hero fighting against this society, vs. working with them? Does he eventually befriend one tribe, and possibly help them to rebuild parts of their fallen civilization? The story is about him, not the lizard NPCs, right?

 

Answer the following questions:

How does PC get to the planet?

You mentioned an escape pod of some kind. How minimalistic it is depends on how much tech you want him to be able to salvage. Other options might include shuttles, transporters, or just surviving the crash of the main ship itself. Giving him a shuttle obviously gives him more technology than it sounds like you’re wanting, so I’d stick with the pod idea. This also gives you a little flexibility down the road: if you decide you want him to have some piece of tech, he can jury-rig it from pod components; if not, then sorry those components were destroyed in the crash.

 

What sort of ship was he on?

I'd say it depends on who your PC is. Soldier = warship. Surveyor = explorer. Merchant = freighter. Vin Diesel = prison transport.

 

Is the ship still on plaent?

If not, then he’s basically never going home until/unless someone rescues him, right? So if you want him to spend at least some of the time worrying about getting off the island – sorry, planet – then he probably needs to have at least the wreckage of a ship to try and repair. Of course, it’s a big planet, so he may have a lot of traveling to do before he gets to the crash site if you want that to be a “later†element.

 

Another option is to give him an FTL beacon or some other reason to expect that another ship will eventually come to rescue him. I would argue against that, as it takes the PC out of the equation; all he has to do is stay alive until the rescue ship gets here.

 

Was anyone else on the ship?

Definitely; that way there’s at least the *possibility* that others may have survived. Especially if this is going to be a one-player campaign, it might be nice for him to have some other humanoids to interact with at some point. And even if you want to keep him the only human on the planet, that doesn’t mean you can’t send him chasing off after rumors of other “pink-skins.â€

 

Oh' date=' and I will be running the first story tonight...[/quote']

Youch! Then make sure to leave yourself as much “wiggle-room†as possible for later, i.e. – if you’re not sure how much tech you want him to have later, go with the “Everything’s pretty damaged, you’re not sure what if anything you’ll be able to salvage†handwave. If you think you might want to have other survivors at some point, you may want to establish that there was some sort of diverse group on the ship (prisoners & guards, crew & passengers, or even crews of two different warring ships). That way some of the other survivors are potential allies, and some are potential enemies.

 

It may be worth talking with your player beforehand so he understands there may be a few continuity errors down the line.

 

Lastly, I’d suggest handwaving the stats as much as possible; you can always fill those in later. Concentrate on developing the world, creating and naming your races, and figuring out the “spine†of where you want the campaign to go.

 

Good luck!

 

bigdamnhero

“The path of my life is strewn with cow pats from the devil’s own Satanic Herd!â€

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Great ideas! I had subscribed to the thread hoping I'd get email notification if anyone took the bait. Your stuf is great.

 

I've came to many of the same conclusions. PC's ship crashlanded somewhere on the planet an unknown distance from where the 'pod' landed. The chances for being rescues are minimal to none and the PC knows this. His only hope is finding his ship, jury-rigging it to flight capability. his emergency buoy was sabotaged by a rival and that's why he is here.

 

We were discussing the items available on the pod and I'm leaning towards the basics with a possible recharge to his weapon, but the pod only has so much energy so, his ammo will eventually decline to little or nothing.

 

The story is about the PC, but the Saurial backdrop will be much of the focus (John Carter, 'natch). I'm going to give one of the lizards telepathy to lessen the language barrier. The Sauriel follow a sort of Native American lifestyle with a 'witch-doctor' member of the tribe. This guy has magic seeming powers which actually stem from psionics.

 

The first story will likely cover the crash, the first hours, meeting some natives of the planet (raptor pack), I think. And possibly cliff-hanger with meeting a Sauriel.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Glad I could help!

 

Just curious: if you want him to have "magic-seeming powers" via psionics, why so fussed about giving him technology? Seems like you could accomplish much the same things either way. Or is it just a style thing?

 

Just don't forget the shotgun and the chainsaw...

 

 

bigdamnhero

"Alright you primitive screw heads, listen up. See this? This is my BOOM stick."

[Vanguard00]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

This is what I need:

 

Build the Saurial and individual species:

Anole

Komodo

Salamander

Chameleon

Others?

Anole - smaller species, live in the forests, mostly in the trees and surrounding areas. Eat birds, small animals and the like.

 

Komodo - The bruiser tribe ; fractious, mean, strong, and always lookin' for more. They eat anything they can catch.

 

Salamander - similar to the Anole tribes, but prefer wetlands and the like. Excellent swimmers and fishers.

 

Chameleon - The dumpy tribe, more sedate, defensive rather than offensive, with the stereotypical ability to blend with their environment. As much gatherers as hunters.

 

Other suggestions -

Gila - a squat, tough tribe, ponderous but deadly close in, with poisonous bites. Tend to the dry and arid places.

 

I'm sure there are others, but I'm blankin' on my lizards right now (and avoiding geckos).

 

Build some dinosaurs!

Done! Check out the Bestiary. That's where I left 'em.

 

Answer the following questions:

How does PC get to the planet?

What sort of ship was he on?

Is the ship still on plaent?

Was anyone else on the ship?

You already said it, didn't you? Lifepod of some sort. Unless it suits your purposes otherwise, I'd go with some sort of passenger ship. Just about everyone has a reason to go from Point A to Point B, even if he's military. Have it experience some freak accident that had all hands abandoning ship in life pods similar to those in Star Wars, but our hero's pod malfunctioned and he ended up on the planet without a homing beacon.

 

I wouldn't have the parent ship on the planet, myself. Too much trouble. You could, however, have other survivors if you so desired. Other life pods or even a crew shuttle/lifeboat type of thing. Maybe some lived, maybe some didn't, but if you wanted other PCs/NPCs, that'd be the way to go.

 

Them's my i-deers. G'luck.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I don't have the Bestiary and the player couldn't find his copy...

 

 

So... I'm on my own unless someone wants to help out...?

 

The Sauriel have a witch-doctor capable of mystic powers, not the PC. He's just a regular human.

 

I'm trying to create an interesting, original sapient race that exists on this planet with a good enough backstory to keep the player busy and involved in the game. There is going to be some simple fighting of dinosaurs, but I want a mystery behind it all to be add vested interest.

 

The first civilizations of the Saurial that evolved were same-species tribes. In the ancient past though, there society grew and they evolved enough that the species interbred and created larger communities. A long time ago, some cataclysm destoryed that civilization and the Sauriel that remained coexist interspecially.

 

That might have taken away the distinct versions of Saurial, though. Do you think it is a good or bad idea?

 

I plan on retelling the story of Atlantis with these Sauriel...

[Vanguard00]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I'm trying to create an interesting, original sapient race that exists on this planet with a good enough backstory to keep the player busy and involved in the game. There is going to be some simple fighting of dinosaurs, but I want a mystery behind it all to be add vested interest.

 

Just as a thought, if your dominant species (Saurial) is derived from dinosaurs, then perhaps you shouldn't have the traditional dinosaurs roaming the land. Maybe it's giant mammals and the like. You know, huge apes, panthers, mammoths, etc. Use smaller dinosaurs like raptors as contrast in the same way humans contrast with apes. Close, but not quite...you know? Bear in mind I'm trying to stay away from 'Dinotopia' ideas...

 

The first civilizations of the Saurial that evolved were same-species tribes. In the ancient past though, there society grew and they evolved enough that the species interbred and created larger communities. A long time ago, some cataclysm destoryed that civilization and the Sauriel that remained coexist interspecially.

 

That might have taken away the distinct versions of Saurial, though. Do you think it is a good or bad idea?

Well, it would take away the major physiological differences, which isn't necessarily good or bad. However, there's no reason you can't model the tribes themselves after the different lizards. Make them all roughly the same size and shape, but allow for variations similar to those that exist in humanity.

 

Perhaps it would be easier to equate the differing Saurial species to differing human races, and by all means stereotype when doing so.

 

The Komodos, for example, might be the stereotypical Vikings of the Saurial race. Big burly lizards with a lust for life, fighting, wenching (or lizarding, or something), etc. Your Anoles could be very similar to traditional Native Americans. Perhaps the Salamanders are like Southeast Asians and Chameleons are...um...Chinese? Think more Buddhist with them

 

Anyway, you get the idea. You can still have the various tribes settling in different areas. That'd make sense anyway from a (forgive the pun) anthropological perspective. Minor differences in coloring and general shape, especially when combined with face & body paints, clothes and the like, but essentially derived from the same stock.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Just as a thought' date=' if your dominant species (Saurial) is derived from dinosaurs, then perhaps you shouldn't have the traditional dinosaurs roaming the land. Maybe it's giant mammals and the like. You know, huge apes, panthers, mammoths, etc. Use smaller dinosaurs like raptors as contrast in the same way humans contrast with apes. Close, but not quite...you know? Bear in mind I'm trying to stay away from 'Dinotopia' ideas...[/quote']

 

The game from yesterday was postponed... So, I went out and bought the Bestiary. I'm also liking this idea about mammals and lizards swapping on this planet. I'm not too knowledgable about why our planet has mammals being dominant, though.

 

Glancing through the Bestiary I noticed some creatures built for the Xenovores... They seem to be created by a warm blooded lizard like species. Where can I find information on them? Terran Empires? It looks like my Sauriel aren't so very different than the Mon'dabi.

 

There is the caveat concerning using the different lizard species as models for ethnicities among the Sauriel. Which is cool, I think.

 

 

Well, it would take away the major physiological differences, which isn't necessarily good or bad. However, there's no reason you can't model the tribes themselves after the different lizards. Make them all roughly the same size and shape, but allow for variations similar to those that exist in humanity.

 

Perhaps it would be easier to equate the differing Saurial species to differing human races, and by all means stereotype when doing so.

 

The Komodos, for example, might be the stereotypical Vikings of the Saurial race. Big burly lizards with a lust for life, fighting, wenching (or lizarding, or something), etc. Your Anoles could be very similar to traditional Native Americans. Perhaps the Salamanders are like Southeast Asians and Chameleons are...um...Chinese? Think more Buddhist with them

 

Anyway, you get the idea. You can still have the various tribes settling in different areas. That'd make sense anyway from a (forgive the pun) anthropological perspective. Minor differences in coloring and general shape, especially when combined with face & body paints, clothes and the like, but essentially derived from the same stock.

 

This is close to what I'm looking for, but Im considering making the ethnical psychologies closer to the given concepts. I'll keep them all based around tribe-like Earth counterparts.

 

If I ever learn how to attach hdc files, I'll post up my builds/packages.

 

Oh, and I'm keeping the some of the dinosaurs and adding animal intelligent lizard hybrids/giant specimens.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

The Sauriel have a witch-doctor capable of mystic powers' date=' not the PC. He's just a regular human.[/quote']

Ah, misread your post. OK.

 

The first civilizations of the Saurial that evolved were same-species tribes. In the ancient past though, there society grew and they evolved enough that the species interbred and created larger communities. A long time ago, some cataclysm destoryed that civilization and the Sauriel that remained coexist interspecially.

 

That might have taken away the distinct versions of Saurial, though. Do you think it is a good or bad idea?

Either would work, but IMO more variety is always better. Maybe by the time the cataclysm came, the differences between the different species was enough that they could no longer interbreed?

 

Just as a thought' date=' if your dominant species (Saurial) is derived from dinosaurs, then perhaps you shouldn't have the traditional dinosaurs roaming the land. Maybe it's giant mammals and the like.[/quote']

Excellent suggestion!

 

I'm not too knowledgable about why our planet has mammals being dominant' date=' though.[/quote']

 

Well remember the Age Of Lizards lasted far longer than the Age Of Mammels has so far. But the currently accepted theory (highly abridged version) is that a large meteor impact changed the climate dramatically for a long period, and mammels were better able to adapt to the new conditions. By contrast, most of the now-extinct large mammels -- mastodons, etc -- were hunted to extinction by early humans. (There's a fantastic book called "Guns, Germ & Steel" by Jared Diamond if you want the details.)

 

Anyway, I'm not a biologist (nor do I play one on TV), but I'm sure if we tried hard enough we could work up some justification why large mammels evolved on your world instead, but the smaller lizards were the ones that acheived sentience for some reason. Could even have happened on different continents.

 

 

Glancing through the Bestiary I noticed some creatures built for the Xenovores... They seem to be created by a warm blooded lizard like species. Where can I find information on them? Terran Empires? It looks like my Sauriel aren't so very different than the Mon'dabi.

The Xenovores are mostly in Alien Wars, `tho there's some material on them in Terran Empire. The Mon'dabi are in Terran Empire.

 

 

 

bigdamnhero

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN' SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn." --Joss Whedon

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

For a bit more of my idea... I'm basing the Ancient Surial culture nominally off of Disney's version of Atlantis (so far). The PC is showing up on the planet to find the remnants of the Saurial Civilization hundreds of years after 'Atlantis' sunk and took the majority of their 'National Treasury' below the sea.

 

I haven't decided if they survived and are stuck down there, or not. And, this is an idea in progress.

 

Well remember the Age Of Lizards lasted far longer than the Age Of Mammels has so far. But the currently accepted theory (highly abridged version) is that a large meteor impact changed the climate dramatically for a long period' date=' and mammels were better able to adapt to the new conditions. By contrast, most of the now-extinct large mammels -- mastodons, etc -- were hunted to extinction by early humans. (There's a fantastic book called "Guns, Germ & Steel" by Jared Diamond if you want the details.)[/quote']

 

I tried reading the book, but couldn't get into it enough to read the entirety of the text. Are you envisioning a bunch of gorilla, monkey, chimpanzee type animal, or soemthing else?

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

First session is happening tonight! There has been work on the dynamics behind the Crashlanding! and what it may mean to the setting beyond just this character and this planet. It may include the other player GMing me playing a character crashlanding somewhere else. The possibilities haven't been completely worked out, but it is sort of a simultaneous experiment to see what can be done with this set-up.

 

I'll be building a bunch of things in the coming hours and will likely touch-up any builds done 'on the run'.

 

You've all been a great help and I'll reward you with a write-up and character sheets for everything!

 

Whee!

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Session didn't happen. The player had a bad day at work and wasn't ready to actually RP. I was pretty bummed as I'd created the Mogg V version of Velociraptor expecting that to be the first real 'threat' for the PC. I also created the first NPC Saurial, Shora.

 

We did do a lot of kibitzing about the setting itself, tentatively being called Depths of Space. No one has ever ran a successful Star Hero campaign in our gaming group and even though we seem reluctant to do the actual gaming, the brainstorming has been going well. Today, instead of working, I wrote a couple pages of introduction, going over the minutes before Tarka Ulnos was actually thrown from FTL in her Scuttle.

 

If there is interest, I'll repost it here. I'd like to talk FTL methodology if anyone is interested. What I'm looking for in Depths of Space is a relatively Near Earth or Low Science Fiction. The FTL is very expensive and difficult. At this point the Gannans (only race we're dealing with in DoS excluding the Saurial of course). Their Home system is called Ravos System. They have a method of FTL that they reached 'The Gannan Colonies. They haven't successfully gone anywhere else and haven't explored the intervening space between Ravos and the Colonies.

 

At this point, we're describing the FTL as a sort of wormhole. By using the FTL drive, they can create a gate at the Edge of Ravos System, travel through Nth Space within a Vultorn Cone until they come out in the Colony System in a week or so.

 

If a craft left the Vultorn Cone while in N-Space, they'd come out of 'warp' in unexplored space. Finding them again would be difficult without using exactly the same trajectory in exactly the same spot...

 

I don't know if I'm explaining it well. Probably because I haven't figured out the logistics, yet. If anyone understand, please speak up now.

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

If you are using an N-space transport where they leave normal space-time and emerge at some other point, anyone departing from the planned trajectory would most likely end up somewhere other than where they wanted to. A catastrophic failure in the machinery that creates the opening or triggers it or whatever could explain it. Or maybe a triggering of the machanism mid-flight by a saboteur. And if there were things that had to be done to keep a ship together or in control as it leaves N-space and they weren't done because of the unexpected problem that would explain the crashlanding. Think turning on a structural integrity field because the transition from n-space to normal space can damage the ship. Or maybe the interplanetary drive must be turned back on because it has no use in n-space but it must be turned on before emerging in order to keep from having to fight for control of the ship. That could even explain how the PC ended up so far from the rest of the survivors. Maybe he was trying to get the ship into a controlled crash landing lessening the damage to the environment and the ship and preserving the interstellar drive while everyone else is abandoning ship. Just a thought.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

More conversation has ensued and the biggest problem is the concept that Ganna is located in the Ravos System and the Colony Worlds are in another system, with a lot of intervening space in between. What sort of 'hyperdrive/ftl' would have this intervening space that is largely unexplored?

 

I'm considering a Wormhole leading from one system to another. The Vultorn Technology is required to keep the ship/s integrity intact. If you leave the Cone while in the 'wormhole' you are at the mercy of the Wormhole itself, which is very difficult to traverse and often ends in being thrown from the path of the wormhole.

 

I like it, but it seems 'forced' somehow. It may require a brief story concernin gthe history of discovering the Wormhole and following the exploits of 'exploring' it. That would help decipher how the Gannan got from no FTL to this very limited FTL...

 

Thoughts?

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

If you are using an N-space transport where they leave normal space-time and emerge at some other point' date=' anyone departing from the planned trajectory would most likely end up somewhere other than where they wanted to. A catastrophic failure in the machinery that creates the opening or triggers it or whatever could explain it. Or maybe a triggering of the machanism mid-flight by a saboteur. And if there were things that had to be done to keep a ship together or in control as it leaves N-space and they weren't done because of the unexpected problem that would explain the crashlanding. Think turning on a structural integrity field because the transition from n-space to normal space can damage the ship. Or maybe the interplanetary drive must be turned back on because it has no use in n-space but it must be turned on before emerging in order to keep from having to fight for control of the ship. That could even explain how the PC ended up so far from the rest of the survivors. Maybe he was trying to get the ship into a controlled crash landing lessening the damage to the environment and the ship and preserving the interstellar drive while everyone else is abandoning ship. Just a thought.[/quote']

 

It's going to take me a little while to digest this, Silversmith. I'll get back to you. Thanks again for contributing to the discussion.

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Happy accident (like vulcanized rubber) .

 

How about this?

 

During their fairly advanced space explorations the Gannan discovered a quantum singularity orbiting a superjovian planet in their system. They were able to capture it using magnetic fields. Trying to find a way to utilize it as a cheap source of energy they began to manipulate it at the edges of their planetary system. They discovered that an infinitesimal amount of antimatter (or some other substance) fed into the singularity would cause a warping of space time in the vicinity causing a worm hole. They found they could trigger the worm hole to open and close in different places but only away from gravity wells was it safe to do so. The Gannan government sent probes through the worm hole and found M-class planets with yellow G type star systems. (or is it GO type?) Depending on they triggered the worm hole, they could reach different destinations. The colony ships started out from that point. The biggest problem was that there was just the one singularity. This limited severely communication from the colonies to the homeworld as well as ships back and forth.

 

 

Then came the discovery of a method of emulating the singularity in a tightly controlled environment. (Think nuclear submarines) This allowed new starships to be built with the new interstellar drive. They didn't have energy to go from star to star to star so that left the ship with enough energy to run to and from a colony ferrying people and vital supplies. I would call this an intermediate form of interstellar drive. Kind of a jumping off point for expansion among the stars. If they can get the energy demands down they can jump from point to point to point expanding and exploring space all over. The space between the colony and the homeworld would not be explored because they are travelling by wormhole albeit man made.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

That's close to where we are at, I think. I'll post the quick and dirty intro I wrote for the Crashlanding! campaign to see if I can't get the interest up.

 

"I guess it is just you and me, Blueblood," Endevahl snickered, eyeing Tarka over his fanned cards. The other maintenance pilots had either folded, or were spread about ths small foyer leading to the quarters. Endevahl had a shock of mussy blonde hair topping his head, presumably a Valduvian hairstyle of considerable popularity. Ulnos hated it, though. She already had a strong dislike of the Valduvians and an insipid hate growing for Endevahl. He considered himself a 'looker' and a lady's man and hadn't liked the Perdan's fierce rebukes when he'd attempted to get to know her better.

 

She gazed over her cards, eyes narrowing in speculation, trying to read what the Valduvian might hold. In the game of Guts, the bluff was a possibility and as strong a play as any. Endevahl was a blowhard and forcing her to give up the hand would be a coups he would relish. His skills were strong and he won more often than not. Still, the percentages were in her favor and she pushed the remainder of her chips into the center of the small, circular table to join with the others already there.

 

Endehval's brows shot up in surprise and he began to stammer, "Wha... you are..."

 

Suddenly an alarm clamored above his voice and the light above the door began to flash a deep red. The Captain's voice echoed over the ship intercom, "Mag-lock malfunction along the Cargo train. I repeat, a Mag-lock malfunction has occurred. All maintenance units are to be deployed immediately. All units. Go!"

 

Immediately, the maintenance crew began to move and the chamber was soon empty. Amid the activity, Tarka realized the pile of chips on the table had dramatically decreased. It was likely that stink, Endevahl. She pushed the realization from her mind, though and focused on getting to the Bay and her ship.

 

Within a few minutes, small Scuttlers were blasting from the bay of the Harvex Engine, Heimdal. The Vutlra Cone was visible beyond the looming Cargo Boxes. Beyond the scintillating colors of the cone, space was being passed at unimaginable speeds. Within the Cone they were travelling in Real Time, passing that barrier though, would leave them in the Frontier Zone. The FZ was a vast region of unexplored space. [insert brief history of FTL Travel here.]

 

The Cargo Boxes were held behind the Freighter with powerful Mag-Locks. If their integrity was ever comprimised, the Cargo Boxes would be lost to the Frontier Zone. It was the Maintenance crew's job to keep the Mag-Locks solid. Having lower seniority than the majority of the other crew, Ulnos increased speed and shot past the first boxes on her way to the end of the line. Opposite her, along the other side of the Train, she could see another Scuttle. It was likely Endevahl. He was a new guy, too. She turned her eyes back towards her destination as her features slackened with horror, the last Box in the train had just flashed through the Vultra Cone. It was lost.

 

"Cargo Box 12 has been lost," she shouted over the comm units. In the background she could hear the chatter of the other Grav-lock mechanics as they neared their designated locations.

 

The Captain could be heard above them all, "Get Grav-Lock 10 functional! We're getting errors up and down the damn Train! Get it done! Now!"

 

Without answering, both Endevahl and Ulnos swooped down towards the glowing line between Box 9 and 10. "It already seems compromised," Endy's Valduvian accent was distinct though the Comm. Tarka didn't answer, she was a solitary sort and didn't feel the need for useless chatter. Instead, she began to deploy her mobile Grav-locks, connecting the two cars once more while Endevahl worked on fixing the stronger and more permanent compromised link.

 

"Maintenance 7 deploying Mobile Grav... Holy fark, Dobbler! Get that Lock secured! *CSSSSHHHHHH*

 

Terror worked at Tarka. She wasn't sure whose voice that had been before being cut off and her heart began accelerating, thumping in her chest. If 7 had been compromised, the last two Boxes were already drifting from the Freighter.

 

"What was that? What the Fark was that!?" Endevahl was shouting, now. "Dobbler! What happened to Harlas? Ulnos! Can you se anything? Are we loose?" His panic was overwhelming him. Tarka checked the camera on the bottom of her Scuttle as it panned towards his ship. She could see the Mag-field cracking, knew that Mag-Lock was failing. Her readings were going haywire and her crate was showing a slight spin. She should have been immobile between the two Boxes.

 

"Things are done out here, Ender. Get clear, we're failing towards the Cone..." She thumped the release of her own locks, jettisoning them from her scuttle. Trying to regain control of her ship. Her entire viewscreen was empty of all but the Cone. Recoil from the Mag-Lock had spun her slightly, directly towards the outer edge of Reality. "Everything’s done, Ulnos! Get out of..." The transmission ended in static as Industrial Scuttle 11 slipped from the Vultra Cone and she was lost...

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Quite good. The use of imagery really make it come alive. Let me know if you start any campaigns in Northwest Georgia. I'll play.

 

I do have a few questions. If she lands in a maintenence ship she will have no way of going back into the Vultra Cone will she? I had thought one of her objectives was going to be to try to get back home eventually.

 

Also the only other Gannans who will be on the planet would have to have been lost at nearly exactly the same time she was. At least within a few seconds because of the objective speed of the ship through (or past) normal space. Though this may indeed be the idea here.

 

Has anyone ever been lost before? Has anyone ever made it back home?

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

You are exactly right and thanks for the compliments.

 

She will be the only one on Mogg V and the likelihood of getting home would be extremely thin. Rescuers would have to attempt to re-enact the same trajectory at the same speed in the same location.

 

The setting has gotten larger as more brainstorming is done. It may not be necessary for Tarka (or any of the other Scuttle pilots) to be able to make it back to Ganna, but they would likely try.

 

A fair amount of ore from the Colony System was also lost. It's quite possible at least the Harvex Corporation would attemt to seek out the lost Cargo Boxes, if not the lost Scuttle Pilots.

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Might even be interesting if the scientists at home came up with a way to localize the effect and be able to set coordinates on a ship to let them make jumps as short or as far as they wanted to. It would allow for some hope if she came back to her scuttle ship later to find that a message had been broadcast by Harvex corporation looking for survivors of the crash after a few months or something (though to be honest, they would probably just be looking for their lost ore, with surviving pilots as a bonus). Let me know if you ever decide to run one of these on Hero Central.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Might even be interesting if the scientists at home came up with a way to localize the effect and be able to set coordinates on a ship to let them make jumps as short or as far as they wanted to. It would allow for some hope if she came back to her scuttle ship later to find that a message had been broadcast by Harvex corporation looking for survivors of the crash after a few months or something (though to be honest' date=' they would probably just be looking for their lost ore, with surviving pilots as a bonus). Let me know if you ever decide to run one of these on Hero Central.[/quote']

 

I think this would be a good idea. I think we're planning on actually playing this campaign in the near future. When that happens, I may be able to fill in more of the story.

 

Thanks for your brainstorming assistance, Silversmith.

 

Now, on to the Creatures of Mogg V!

 

I've already made some smaller, quicker Raptors. A generic Saurial race is also finished. I'm planning on using Susano's Horned Devil as a good swamp critter. I haven't looked into carnivorous plants, but I expect something to be in the Bestiary.

 

Anybody else got any ideas?

[Egyptoid]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

GREAT BIG GIANT FUGLY GORILLAS.

hundreds, thousands of'em

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I'm not too knowledgable about why our planet has mammals being dominant' date=' though.[/quote']

 

 

hmmmmmmm......

 

let me flex my brain a bit and see if I can't get a few of the smooth spots wrinkled up a bit.....

 

Keep in mind that there are many, many, _many_ years between me an high-school biology,

 

but as I remember being taught (Now I don't say that any of this is correct now-- or even was then!-- what with the leaps and bounds being discovered about biology-- microbiology in particular-- on a near daily basis), there were several of reasons.

 

The 'X' event (which we were taught was a meteor, but there was something on Discovery the other day positing something else, so I choose 'X' for this conversation) wiped out the big dinosaurs, but that doesn't really explain why the little ones didn't get the lead out and evolve better brains.

 

One of the lesser reasons had to do with over-specialization. Most species had simply adapted so perfectly to their particular niche that there was little pressure to do anything else.

 

One of them had to do with their nervous system. It was slow-- way slower than that of mamals, and 'under threaded,' meaning that it simply couldn't handle the volume of inputs that mamals could. The increasing specialization of mammalian nerve systems lead to the need to a larger nexus, and thus bigger brains. Bigger brains equals more wrinkles, equals more potential chemical short-cuts from one section to another, equals quicker thinking and analysis.

 

The more abundant nervous systems of mamals had more duplicity, which meant better 'shortcuts' for reflex loops, which plain and simple meant that mamals were more apt to stay alive when surprised.

 

That being said, the big thing, as I was taught anyway, was the use and storage of energy. Mammals are better at it. I don't remember the particulars, but it has something to do with various functions of mitochondria during some sort of recycling phase, and apparently we get geometrically more energy out of our process than they do their own. (BIG ol' note from Duke: This is the part that I'm reasonably certain has been disproven. I seem to remember from college, years later, that mammals and reptiles have the same mitochondria. I may be remembering wrong, or there may have been a difference in volume, I don't remember. However, mammals still prove far superior at creating and using energy. Storing it-- not so much.).

 

In fact, mammals are so much better at producing energy that we do it all the time. It is the reason that we are warm-blooded, and being warm-blooded, as it turns out, is a huge boon for surviving an ice-age. Who knew?

 

At any rate, the theories I learned umpteen years ago posited the idea that it was both competition amongst other mammals (already better thinkers and users of energy than the reptiles) that lead our ancestors to think. After all, of all the land mammals, apes really do have the beggar's share of natural armaments, and humans got gypped out of a great chunk of what little the apes still retain. So we were left with thinking. No more details here; I'm reasonably certain that you can see where this lead.

 

Skip ahead to that ice age, because there were (and may still be; I really don't know. It wasn't a field of great interest to me beyond meeting course requirements, and remains low on my priorities today) a great many challenges to enduring an ice-age, including a huge exodus from Africa that lead to the settlement of the rest of the world. Well, apparently there is very little that will excite thinking like great challenges to survival and extended tourism.

 

Once we made the first tool, things really sped up for us. While it takes one rare and truly gifted individual to concieve a completely new idea, it takes very little for his friends to copy it. But the first tool, in addition to being handy for drying meats on your drive to work, also served to inspire others (other tools and other people, who know had the idea that some sort of tool might help), and inspiration leads to a great deal more thinking.

 

 

And there you have it, by stadards and theories that I'd really rather not divulge the age of.

 

 

While the intervening years may well have dashed each and every one of these theories (and I sort of hope it has, just as a notice that we are still discovering new things. I like the idea that so far, we really have no idea what happened before Polaroids) in the foot, perhaps you can use this to make some interesting evo-babble about the world of your Sauriels.

 

 

Enjoy, and if your campaign is working out, post lots of maps. You know how we all feel about maps!

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

OH-OH-OH!

 

If you have any access at all to old radio programs, I strongly recommend one-- was it X (minus) 1? I don't recall-- called 'the Wires.' I _believe_ it was originally scripted by Dickson, but I can't remember now; far, far too many years...... At any rate, it was an excellent story, and may give you a great deal of insight on the psychic Saurials you were mentioning.

 

 

Crap. I think I may have just indavertantly 'dated' that info I gave you above.....

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I'd like to talk FTL methodology if anyone is interested.

 

Forgive me; I had not read this far when I posted. I'm sorry to interrupt your thread.