Dinosaur Planet

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

At any rate' date=' 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.[/quote']

I'm not sure about the energy use thing -- I'm no biologist either, nor do I play one on TV. But my understanding is that you're basically correct about how/why we learned to think. In short, T-Rex could get by on muscle. Us puny mammels had to play smart in order to survive. I believe there is also some thought that because apes lived mostly in trees their varied environment gave their brains more stimulation.

 

The only wrench I can throw in your post is that, as I understand it, current theory is that dinosaurs were warm-blooded after all. I don't think that's been proven, but I think it's the dominant theory these days.

 

 

bigdamnhero

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

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

The current theory of the month about dinosaurs (last I heard) was that they were (at least mostly) warm blooded. They were supposedly the evolutionary forerunners of birds. Buy into the theory or not, that's the story according to modern evolutionary taxonomists. (Those are the guys who classify animals not the guys who stuff them to hang on the wall. Those are taxidermists.)

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

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

 

Negative perspiration. I don't mind going back over topics that haven't been gone over. In fact, I'm glad you felt intersted enough to get involved!

 

Thanks!

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Okay... Where do carnivorous plants fit into this ecology?

 

And, if dinos were, in fact, warm blooded... Where does that put a planet dominated by lizard/dino types?

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I think it would be easy enough to put that as a result of NOT having a cataclysm that wiped out the dinosaurs like here. Parallel development to earth except for the asteroid impact (I know maybe not but the irridium layer in the geological record shows it could well be. Though it is also found in some volcanic ash sediment. At least I think it was irridium) Evolution went on and eventually some of the dino's became sentient. Probably some of the smaller predatory types developed intelligence in order to compete with the larger ones. I'd say that meat would probably be served quite rare by these types though.

[psm]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Current theory has dinosaurs not only warm blooded but some species were insulated with feathers. Actually, as more evidence is found it appears that the family of velicratpors might have all had feathers at certian stages of their life. Here's more information if you need it. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html

 

As for why the mammals/birds/reptiles beat out dinousars after the 'X' event is anyones guess. Most of the facts that Bushido mentioned are erroneous. Dinosaurs were more efficient at using energy than mammals due to a more advanced respitory system. They could actually live in a lower oxygen environment than a human. Secondly, the mammals that beat out the dinosaurs weren't anymore intelligent. In all actuallity they probably were a bit stupider (which might have been a boon). The primates increased intelligence didn't come till way, way after the the dinosaurs had died out (like 50 million years). Although, to Bushido's credit those facts were being taught in school at that time so we can't be too harsh;)

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Current theory has dinosaurs not only warm blooded but some species were insulated with feathers. Actually' date=' as more evidence is found it appears that the family of velicratpors might have all had feathers at certian stages of their life. Here's more information if you need it. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1006_041006_feathery_dino.html

 

As for why the mammals/birds/reptiles beat out dinousars after the 'X' event is anyones guess. Most of the facts that Bushido mentioned are erroneous. Dinosaurs were more efficient at using energy than mammals due to a more advanced respitory system. They could actually live in a lower oxygen environment than a human. Secondly, the mammals that beat out the dinosaurs weren't anymore intelligent. In all actuallity they probably were a bit stupider (which might have been a boon). The primates increased intelligence didn't come till way, way after the the dinosaurs had died out (like 50 million years). Although, to Bushido's credit those facts were being taught in school at that time so we can't be too harsh;)

 

Cool article and a picture!! That feathered Raptor should be enough to make my player open up his eyes and say... WTF?! It is also a little smaller than the Bestiary's Velicioraptor write-up and fits in with mine quite well.

 

How many different sorts of creatures are required? I'm feeling like the more and weirder, the better! Sometimes, though... Less is more...

 

I figure these Raptor creatures would flock about the jungle, but be unable to do much in the bordering swamp. The Horned Ghosts prowl the swamp, moving along the unstable terrain with their splay-foot hooves. They'd obviously stick about on the surface, though. What sort of predators and herbivores would go under the swampy waters?

 

What about a Carnivorous Plant that could pull itself about with its roots?

 

A turtle like herbivore would make some sense.

 

Mammalian beaver/reptile crosses? Sea Lions? How does the ape family live through this hostile environment? Egyptiod seems to think a Giant Gorilla might do some damage and survive. Would he be omnivorous, then?

 

What about insects? I'm liking the idea of a stirge-like creature. Bat-like wings with large probuscis (Its all in the nose, man!).

 

Ahhh... The possibilities are endless. I need to devote some time to the templates in the Bestiary and just go nuts!

 

Anybody have any suggestions for what we've discussed thus far? What about the FTL needs?

 

Any thoughts on the other systems detailed (albeit vaguely) thus far in the setting?

[psm]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Now, back on to the subject at hand. Since you are going with reptiles/dinos being the most intelligent animals on the planet why don't you use therapsids (fur covered reptiles that came 50 millions before the dinosaurs) as the largest predators. I think it would be cool to use them instead of traditional dinosaurs to give your world a more mixed up feeling.

 

Here are a few suggestions of mean looking animals:

Euchambersia - (poisonous/septic bite)

Lycaenops

Gorgonopsids

[psm]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

You could also use Phorusrhacidae (class of large carnivirous flightless birds). These may not sound scary but they could crush leg bones in their beaks. The most popular one is Andalgalornis. You might be able to find some cools pics on the internet somewhere.

 

Sorry, I don't know too much about plants or I would help you with the carnivirous ones.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Now' date=' back on to the subject at hand. Since you are going with reptiles/dinos being the most intelligent animals on the planet why don't you use therapsids (fur covered reptiles that came 50 millions before the dinosaurs) as the largest predators. I think it would be cool to use them instead of traditional dinosaurs to give your world a more mixed up feeling.[/quote']

Excellent suggestions! I hadn't even thought about the pre-dinos, et al. Also, thanks for the evolutionary clarifications. I was going to mention the feathers thing, but wasn't sure how widely accepted the theory was yet. What's the "early mammels were dumber than dinos" theory based on? Not disputing you, just curious.

 

Okay... Where do carnivorous plants fit into this ecology?

 

Wherever you want them to?

 

Hmm...now we're getting further into the realms of fantasy. Not saying that's a bad thing, just saying. In our world, carniverous plants are rare, small, and harmless to anything bigger than a housefly. I can't imagine how to "realistically" make any kind of man-eating Venus fly trap on an Earth-like planet. For one thing, scaling up to that size would make the plant far too heavy to move itself under any moving-plant mechanism I know of.

 

But then, who says we need to be constrained by reality?

 

In many ways your carniverous plants are going to end up closer to animals than to any terrestrial plant. But that's okay too - there's no reason to assume that Terran taxonomic divisions would be meaningful on Planet X anyway. So give them some sort of muscule system to control the movement. Maybe some kind of segmented bark, like an insect's exoskeleton, to allow movement. Something fulfilling the function of a mouth, `tho it needn't look like one, with some digestive juices. Then the only question is how it senses it's food. Vision might be taking it too far (for me, anyway); maybe they sense air displacement?

 

As far as what role they fulfill, even with everything we've postulated I still hve a hard time seeing such plant monsters competing with dinosaurs for food. Most animals will simply learn to avoid them. (Maybe they impersonate more common, non-carniverous plants?) So I would see them as primarily carrion eaters, which means they wouldn't normally be much of a threat to active people. Until your hero unknowingly camps too close to one and wakes up to find himself half-wrapped in tentacles...

 

That's all I've got for now. Anyone else?

 

 

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

 

Excellent suggestions! I hadn't even thought about the pre-dinos, et al. Also, thanks for the evolutionary clarifications. I was going to mention the feathers thing, but wasn't sure how widely accepted the theory was yet. What's the "early mammels were dumber than dinos" theory based on? Not disputing you, just curious.

 

 

 

Wherever you want them to?

 

Hmm...now we're getting further into the realms of fantasy. Not saying that's a bad thing, just saying. In our world, carniverous plants are rare, small, and harmless to anything bigger than a housefly. I can't imagine how to "realistically" make any kind of man-eating Venus fly trap on an Earth-like planet. For one thing, scaling up to that size would make the plant far too heavy to move itself under any moving-plant mechanism I know of.

 

But then, who says we need to be constrained by reality?

 

In many ways your carniverous plants are going to end up closer to animals than to any terrestrial plant. But that's okay too - there's no reason to assume that Terran taxonomic divisions would be meaningful on Planet X anyway. So give them some sort of muscule system to control the movement. Maybe some kind of segmented bark, like an insect's exoskeleton, to allow movement. Something fulfilling the function of a mouth, `tho it needn't look like one, with some digestive juices. Then the only question is how it senses it's food. Vision might be taking it too far (for me, anyway); maybe they sense air displacement?

 

As far as what role they fulfill, even with everything we've postulated I still hve a hard time seeing such plant monsters competing with dinosaurs for food. Most animals will simply learn to avoid them. (Maybe they impersonate more common, non-carniverous plants?) So I would see them as primarily carrion eaters, which means they wouldn't normally be much of a threat to active people. Until your hero unknowingly camps too close to one and wakes up to find himself half-wrapped in tentacles...

 

That's all I've got for now. Anyone else?

 

 

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

 

Cool idea!

 

Following psm's hints, I actually did a bit of surfing/resaerch. I know, I know, don't say it... But, still... I figured I should a bit of digging on my own.

 

And, in so doing, I've sort of opened a whole new can of worms, or topic of discussion. On Earth, the animal species prelevant (or even existing for that matter) were strongly affected by the tectonic shifts and the locatoin of the land-masses at the time.

 

We're talking about including different species from different eras. Should that mean I have to recreate particular land masses to get the creature-species we're looking for? I'm leaning towards near-earth/hard science with this (believe it or not).

 

So, to narrow down the species that will exist on Mogg IV, I'm thinking we should define the era or possible land masses. Now, on that thought, we wonder... Why not just use a map of Earth and craft creatures based on that? Well... We're also dealing with a sapient race that NEVER existed on Earth. Does this meant the tectonic plates of Mogg are less mobile than Earth's?

 

I like the idea of a land mass that is a large fresh/marine mix. Large swatches of the area are often flooded during high tide. A massive river also drops into it from higher ground deeper into the land mass.

 

This will give me my jungle and swamp area with other terrain plausible further in. Certina creature types could be stuck in the Lowgrounds. Their physiology doesn't allow them to make it past the land ridges separating the vastly different ecologies.

 

A large carnivorous plant could 'move' in a swampy area like this. It could be a mix of marine/fresh biology. This sort of environment could spawn some pretty crazy flora and fauna. I'm keping the possibility of other plant based tetrapods back and possibly not using the carnivorous plants, either.

 

The relatively temperate (and long-term) climate allows the remnants of the early mammals and the newer dinosaurs. Time spans are relative, too. If the plates aren't shifting that much over a few thousand years, the Saurial could have gone from their first tools to Atlantis and back again in a couple million years.

 

Any of this helping to nail anything down? I might be rambling.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Man, National Geographic is teaching me a lot these days. I know this is a little late in the discussion and that you've moved on, but since I just came across it I thought I'd share:

 

In a recent issue of NG, one article discussed the size of dinosaurs. As in, why they were so big. One theory is basic evolution/adaptability/experimentation. In short, dinosaurs grew that big because they could. It was a way for natural selection to pick and choose the most appropriate size. Since larger bones/fossils are more easily preserved, the false impression is that there were many many of the huge variety, when in fact it's more probable that there was a much greater variety of smaller dinosaur than larger. Their bones just didn't stand the test of time as well.

 

Another consideration regarding mammals and their size has to do with the introduction the various Homo species (Homo erectus, Homo sapien, whatever the Neandertal man was...). Basically, dinosaurs had a much longer period of time to grow and evolve than mammals did, and by the time mammals were gaining the upper hand on the ecology, humanoids were on the scene doin' some killin' and eatin'. In short, mammals never got that large because they never had the chance (whereas they did in the ocean; thus, whales).

 

This might help you figure out the general ecology and the whys and wherefores of your dominant species.

[psm]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I was going to mention the feathers thing, but wasn't sure how widely accepted the theory was yet. What's the "early mammels were dumber than dinos" theory based on? Not disputing you, just curious.

 

Actually, that wasn't in reference to all mammals. It was really in association with the 'supposed' mammals that survived the event. According to certain theories the mammals that survived were tiny shrew/mouse like animals that didn't quite have a large brain capacity. While dinosaurs, particulary small therapods, were supposedly as intelligent as modern day birds like emus or ostriches. Of course, I have no idea how smart ostriches are so please don't ask:)

 

Savinien, you should also remember that meat eaters are generally smarter than plant eaters. I can't remember why but there was some reason behind it.

 

Also, I was thinking about the carniverous plant. Does it really have to be a plant? I mean could it be an animal that camouflages itself as plant to let its prey get too close. Similiar to what certian insects due. Obviously, you want to do this on large scale. Still, it would be pretty spooky if the log you were going to sit on just opened its eyes. Remember in hero its all about the sfx.

 

Good point, Vanguard. I never thought about it but our species has only been around for about a million years. Very short time in evolutionary terms. Although, I truly can't see humans getting very large. We have as many short people reproducing as large people due to no enviromental or social pressures. However, shouldn't the older mammals be larger. If anything it appears that mammals have decreased in size since the last ice age.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Good point' date=' Vanguard. I never thought about it but our species has only been around for about a million years. Very short time in evolutionary terms. Although, I truly can't see humans getting very large. We have as many short people reproducing as large people due to no enviromental or social pressures. However, shouldn't the older mammals be larger. If anything it appears that mammals have decreased in size since the last ice age.[/quote']

Well, it had more to do with the fact that humanoids took up hunting and thus kept the overall mammal population in greater check than anything experienced by the dinosaurs.

 

And the older mammals are larger. Whales, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes...all trace their origins way way way back.

 

Remember that very few species of dinosaurs were BIG. Most were what we'd call medium to small. Heck, the modern African lions and tigers of today are generally bigger than the velociraptor, and even the African elephant is of equal or greater mass than T. Rex. Only the big sauropods (brontosaurus, etc) were bigger than anything we have on land now (and again, whales are bigger still).

[psm]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I suppose. From what I've read the arrival of homo sapiens into North America helped to eliminate most of the large animals. They were so efficient at hunting that during an extreme climate change the other mammals weren't able to compete, including: mastadons, sabertoothe tigers, giant sloths, mammoths, elephants, camels, lions, horses and rhinos. I guess it really shows you who the dominant species really is. So, mr. high and mighty whale may want to watch his backside;)

 

I still don't know if I would compare whales to sauropods though. I know they are they pretty close to the same size but its much easier to accomplish that in water due to its bouyancy.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I suppose. From what I've read the arrival of homo sapiens into North America helped to eliminate most of the large animals. They were so efficient at hunting that during an extreme climate change the other mammals weren't able to compete, including: mastadons, sabertoothe tigers, giant sloths, mammoths, elephants, camels, lions, horses and rhinos. I guess it really shows you who the dominant species really is. So, mr. high and mighty whale may want to watch his backside;)

 

I still don't know if I would compare whales to sauropods though. I know they are they pretty close to the same size but its much easier to accomplish that in water due to its bouyancy.

Just for clarification, my comparison to sauropods was for size relevancy only. The earliest whales came about after the so-called "age of dinosaurs" (the Cretaceous period, some 100+ million years ago), roughly 50 million years ago, and have had much longer to develop to their current size because, as you indirectly pointed out, they didn't have homo sapiens to contend with. Thus, they've had more time to evolve than, say, the mammoths of the Pleistocene era, which is only 1 million to 10,000 years ago.

 

Basically, as is the case today, homo sapiens can be blamed for a lot.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Carnivorous Plants

 

Real world carnivorous plants pretty much always live in nutrient-poor soils, and their carnivorousness (is that a word?) is a way to provide themselves with nutrients. Most of them attract their prey by exuding a sweet smell, and most have a rather simple trap mechanism.

 

To transplant this to your world, you really only have to postulate that these plants have been around for a long time and have evolved over time to attracting prey through pheromones or addicting fruit (only eat every tenth creature that comes for fruit, maybe), and that they've evolved to trap larger prey.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

So, any thought on the land masses that may support the series of creatures we've been discussing?

 

What about the Horned Devils with their splay-hooves? Any thoughts?

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Most of the facts that Bushido mentioned are erroneous.

 

[snip]

 

Although, to Bushido's credit those facts were being taught in school at that time so we can't be too harsh;)

Thanks for both the corrections and the leeway!

 

I made sure to honestly and up front state that I was pretty sure that more recent science would shoot it all down, and am actually pretty happy about it. I love the learning process! And on that note, thanks for the link, too!

 

I tell ya, it's Hell! I don't know if I'm getting old, or just getting outdated.....

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

From what I've read the arrival of homo sapiens into North America helped to eliminate most of the large animals. They were so efficient at hunting that during an extreme climate change the other mammals weren't able to compete

Another consideration: notice how basically all of the surviving big mammels are in Africa? The theory is that as early man got better and better at hunting, African mammels had generations to learn to stay away from us. But when our ancestors crossed into N. Am the bison, et. al. underestimated us -- "Aw, it's just some little monkey with a stick - Aaagh!" -- and we hunted them into extinction before they could adapt.

 

Savinien' date=' you should also remember that meat eaters are generally smarter than plant eaters. I can't remember why but there was some reason behind it.[/quote']

At least part of it is because their food moves. Doesn't take a whole lotta brains to catch a blade of grass.

 

(Or does it have to do with absorbing the intelligence of the creatures you kill - no wait, that's Highlander. I always get those mixed up!)

 

We're talking about including different species from different eras.

I'm not clear what you mean by this. All the existing species will presumably be from the current era by definition, right? If you mean some evolved earlier than others, I'm not sure how much that matters to anyone but a biologist. For example, sharks evolved to their current form ages ago, whereas horses have changed dramatically in ~recent millenia. But to the guy on the ground, what matters is that I can ride one while the other will try and eat me.

 

So' date=' any thought on the land masses that may support the series of creatures we've been discussing?[/quote']

Using Earth's precedent, you could justify having one continent where all the giant beasties live, and another where sapients got there late and killed all the giants off. Or if Mogg IV's continents are further apart than Earth's, there would be no Bering land bridge when the water levels drop, which means early "man" might not have reached "the New World" until their early modern era. That could have some interesting implications. You might even be able to get away with one continent where reptiles are dominant and another where mammels rule. But that could be the insomnia talking.

Certina creature types could be stuck in the Lowgrounds. Their physiology doesn't allow them to make it past the land ridges separating the vastly different ecologies.

Could also be limited by climate: tropical creatures simply aren't going to migrate to the frozen tundra. IIRC from Guns, Germs & Steel, flora & fauna both tend to spread much faster on land masses that are oriented horizontally (ie - Eurasia) than on landmasses oriented vertically (ie - North America). That's one reason why almost all of the domesticatable plant species evolved on Eurasia - more variety, more cross-breeding.

 

If the plates aren't shifting that much over a few thousand years' date=' the Saurial could have gone from their first tools to Atlantis and back again in a couple million years.[/quote']

Remember that continental drift happens on geologic time, not human time. Or even Saurial time. When our ancestors crossed the Beiring Straight into North America 14,000 years ago, the continents were pretty-much right where they are now.

 

Sorry for another monster post. Man we're a long-winded bunch, ain't we?

 

 

bigdamnhero

"...and that’s when I shot him, your honor."

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Could also be limited by climate: tropical creatures simply aren't going to migrate to the frozen tundra. IIRC from Guns, Germs & Steel, flora & fauna both tend to spread much faster on land masses that are oriented horizontally (ie - Eurasia) than on landmasses oriented vertically (ie - North America). That's one reason why almost all of the domesticatable plant species evolved on Eurasia - more variety, more cross-breeding.

 

You could also take from the Larry Niven's Plateau colony. The only place habitable to the humans was at the top of a mountain because the atmosphere was much too dense in the valley. The valleys had developed a whole ecology for the denser atmosphere.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

No humans on Mogg IV. In fact there aren't any humans in this campaign setting. We have the Gannans and the Saurial at this juncture. Also, at this point, there are 3 total green planets.

 

There is Ganna (of course), then the Colony Planet, and now, Mogg IV.

 

I was curious about the various era/ages and their creatures, trying to make it as believable as possible. I'm also only detailing the area where Tarka crashlands. I'm not sure how much area I'll ever need to detail.

 

Pangea, on Earth, is what allwed the varied species created in the 'Age of the Dinos'. Creating something similar on Mogg IV, seems the simplest and most logical. I still want Tarka (and thereby Tarka's player) to see a lot of variance. I'm guessing this means I have to create terrain for Mogg IV that will enable this sort of different environment dependent ecology.

 

As the campaign progresses, we'll see more of Mogg IV, the Saurial, and the native creatures of the planet.

 

I'm also contemplating other 'campaigns' in the setting and things are getting REALLY cool. I'm sort of second-guessing the opportunities for Tarka to get off Mogg IV and what the Gannans might do with the discovery of Mogg IV.

 

I've also decided on how the FTL works. I'm going with Silversmith's single point theory and wormholes. A wormhole is detected in the Ravan System. The Gannan's conduct mutliple tests attempting to 'open' the Hole and see where it leads. All experimental ships are destroyed in the environment 'inside' the Hole Tunnels.

 

Then, the Voltran Cone is developed and more unmanned ships are sent in with video feeds and a large number of sensors. It takes quite a while for date to be received and then ideas worked through with that data.

 

Eventually, an unmanned craft makes its way through the Warp Hole and out into the Colony System. A Green Planet is found there. After many years, Colonies are created by the countires and corporations able to afford it, find people, and want to. Many years pass.

 

The Colonies begin to find an ore (something I havent' figured out yet) invaluable to the Gannan people. Forces of some colonies try and take over other colonies mining operations and the Colony War begins. The majority of the War is fought on the Colony Planet without much interference from the people of Gannan.

 

The trip takes a couple of weeks through the Warp Hole to get from Ravan to the Colonies. So, even the passing of information is difficult and time consuming. Evnetually, the Colony Wars end with a victor and we've reached the present day.

 

What do you all think?

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Quite good. I think you have a very well-detailed history there. The player should really enjoy it.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

We still haven't played yet, but a lot of detail is being worked out concerning the Galaxy in question. I'm consdiering what the big-wigs of the Harvex Corporation would actually do when they learned of the loss of their cargo. It would be a pretty heavy hit to the bottom line.

 

I've also been working out the stap map of the Galaxy. Using Star Hero, we can figure out the number of green planets and Population II stars. As the Gannan's were searching space for Green planets that were minable, they passed over the Mogg system and headed straight towards the Colony System.

 

Now, since 12 massive Cargo Boxes were lost, Harvex is going to have to go out searching. The question about when the money involved in the search outweighs what could be found... They may stumble on the fact that the Mogg System has a green planet. Which, in turn, could allow some scout ship to pick up Tarka's signal much sooner than thought before.

 

I'm pretty excited about this. I can hand-wave when Harvex (or another company using Finder's Keepers mentality shows up on Mogg IV. This will allow me to both explore the Sauriel, let Tarka have the possibility of escape, AND figure out how the Sauriel will be exploited by the Gannans.

 

Another place of interest are the Colony Wars that took place after FTL got Gannans on New Ganna. The two big players on Ganna, the Perdans and the Velduvians made colonies, New Perda and New Velduvia. Other countries followed suit to the best of their ability, but remember FTL overhead is pretty bad, so it isn't much.

 

Eventually these colonies started fighting each other over heavy ore locations and the Colony Wars broke out. I haven't decided who won, but they're already over. I'm contemplating a small chat-based game centered on New Ganna if anyone wants to help flesh out that portion of the campaign.

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I'm game. What ideas do we have to start?