Dinosaur Planet

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Do you have a more specific question?

 

I have no idea what I'm doing. All I've figured out so far is a few things about the the Colony Wars:

 

The tech level is sort of near-Earth with the exception of the FTL and Control of Magnetics. Guass Guns exist, the Mag-Locks, and there are ships that can fairly easily leave the gravity of Ganna (Scuttles for instance).

 

Tanks: I could see them using tanks, in a controlled way.

 

Chemical Warfare: You've discovered a green planet a however many light years away. Your nation is building a colony there. The nation that's your enemy is building a colony there. As a result there is fighting. Since one of the main attractions of this distant planet is that it is green and unpolutted, among the sillier things one could do is to dump a bunch of poisons into the planet's ecology. I would think chemical warfare would be another of the means of fighting that would be more suicidal rather than effective. And therefore avoided.

 

They probably discovered the colony world first, by an advanced version of how we find extra-solar planets now. Then they FTL'd there. and started the colonies. How long after would the colony war begin? It depends on how quickly before the two colonies started activly competing for resources. Assuming there is some distance between them, otherwise they'd start fighting the first or second week and the home military wouldn't be involved until after one colony had destroyer the other (and possibly themselves.) Probably years. Possibly a few decades. There's a strong liklihood that it would be "satellite" sub-colonies that would actually have the problems first.

 

Since I don't really want the various colonies destroyed, nor under the banner of a single Gannan country, something must have stepped in to create/keep the peace. I'm not sure if it would be a United Nations sort of control group or possibly mega-conglomerate realizing the Colony Wars were inhibiting the mining that the Colonies were originally created for.

 

Honestly, I'm not even sure what they're mining, yet.

 

Is this what you were wondering?

[psm]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I like how your campaign is beginning to shape up. I can't wait to hear how the first adventure goes.

 

One thing I have noticed is the use of the 'ore' as the driving principal for colonizing New Ganna. Although, good idea you might want to think of some alternatives for why colonization would begin.

 

Ganna itself might be overcrowded, eating up its own resources. Even with mining stations in space providing for water and minerals it would have a difficult time supplying agricultural needs. New Ganna would be a haven in that area. Every nation would want to set up agricultural areas to provide food, fabrics, and supplies for their people.

 

Additionally, I could see alot of companies and organizations setting up facilities were regulations would be less restrictive. A company that wanted to cut corners by not wanting to bother with properly handling waste certiantly comes to mind. That doesn't even include illegal companies.

 

The pharamecutical companies would definitly be there looking for new chemical/biological compounds to create new wonder drugs. Maybe the 'ore' is actually a biological product. Maybe the sci-fi version of Ponce De Leones fountain of youth?

 

I really see New Ganna as the New World during Columbus's time. Unfortunately, the natives would probably be looked upon in the same way too.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I was just chatting with the player about what was being mined. As the Gannans seems to be more advanced technologically in Magnetics (and obviously FTL) than us humans... We know they have Gauss guns and ships that can leave the gravity of an Earth-like planet. I'm thinking they've figured out a method of Cold Fusion. Now, they'd also need a way to get a large store of 'energy' (read electricity) to create the Guass Guns, the Mag-locks, and even the anti-gravity abilities of the scuttles.

 

The fusion and the storage would likely require some heavy element and I was thinking this is what pushed the original finding and colonizing of New Ganna. All of the other stuff psm mentions could come later.

 

I'm also considering some of the findings Turka makes on Mogg IV to influence future endeavors of various companies/countries on Ganna. As we've both become quite busy, I'm not sure when the first adventure is going to take place, but I'll try and post a write up as soon as it does.

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

As for the founding of the colonies and who is fighting, I think you may be better served by having the wars be between either mega corporations' colonies on New Ganna or some who left to get away from civilization to a more pastoral life and the encroaching mining corporation trying to take their land because of the rich deposits on it. Since there is one way to travel to New Ganna, the mother world should probably be a one-world government with all people living in peace. At least on the surface of society. The government actually run by politicians who have sold an interest to mega corporations who then use their influence to establish themselves more dominantly or something. It's late and I need to think on it. Give me a little feedback on this beginning and I'll work something up into a reasonable framework tomorrow. Theoretical economics and government is fun for me.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Why would there be a one-world government on Ganna? There is more room for politics and, I believe it is more compelling this way...

 

Though, I haven't really decided what it IS like on Ganna, let alone New Ganna. That will likely come up eventually.

[Silversmith]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Why would there be a one-world government on Ganna? There is more room for politics and' date=' I believe it is more compelling this way...[/quote']

 

There wouldn't have to be a one-world government necessarily. But with the limited access to the wormhole, there would have to be a spirit of international cooperation, perhaps a multinational (or completely independent) orbital colony or something. Otherwise, why would Country A allow Country B, the cheif economic and military rival of Country A, access to the wormhole, and this rare ore, if Country A has the power to stop them? This kind of bickering is common in history, and while I know that Gannans and Humans are not exactly alike they seem to have at least some of the same governmental structures. This alone would probably preclude the colonies of differing nations from warring with each other unless somehow contact with the mother world were temporarily lost with no way to get back home and each colony blaming the other.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I didn't see your response to this, Silversmith... This is excellent logic!

 

I'm leaning towards the idea that the wormhole and scientific research done concerning the 'founding' of the transportation to and from New Ganna was indeed some sort of Neutral Party. I don't know if that is the Harvex Corporation or a League of Nations type organization.

 

It may make more sense if it was the latter. That way, they may not have a strong structure yet on New Ganna and couldn't stop the Colony Wars until they did get a handle there. Even though the Gannan Federation exists, it is still made up of 'competing' Nations.

 

Two of these nations are:

Valduvians -

 

Unified Provinces of Perda (UPP) -

 

Others ? -

[Super Squirrel]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

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?

In a really bad SCI-FI story I wrote as a child, a cast of characters where the first to attempt FTL travel. They successfully take a cruise to Alpha Centari. An anomaly, however, causes the return trip to go badly. They end up way off course. I seem to recall they are pulled in through a blackhole, which actually spits them out on the otherside of the universe. The ship is a mess and drifts. They end up finding a planet to crash the ship onto which happens to be a planet of dinosaurs.

 

The entire story sucked but you might be able to use some of the ideas in there to work for you.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I've been working on detailing the present situation on New Ganna.

 

When the United New Ganna Force arrived and began putting down any insurrection on all sides at any colony, the Colony Wars quickly ended. As the UNGF had a stranglehold on FTL neither New Perda, nor the peoples of Neo Valduvia could expect any supplies from the Homeworld and the Treaty of New Ganna was quickly signed.

 

The defacto rulers of New Ganna were the UNGF. They built a massive star port that was primarily used to ship people on planet and ship off the filled cargo boxes for FTL travel back to the Ravos System.

 

To further enhance Ore production a Mag-train system spoked out from Providence, the center of UNGF and the starport. Now, three years after the treaty was signed, people are under an uninterested despotism. The UNGF vehemntly enforces any slack in Ore Quota but basically lets colonies deal with their own government otherwise.

 

The regular immigrant to New Ganna has purchased his ride by indentured servitude to the Ore Mines and can expect a few years of hard labor before being 'free' once more.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

One Man's Misery is another Man's History

 

“Alright, Grunts. We’re heading down to Malahdahs and dropping a little present for our offworld Valduvian friends…” Corporal Baltor Mek broke off as the drop ship shifted, not completely unusual but something felt… off.

 

Red lights went off in the personnel hold and his soldiers stared up at it wide-eyed.

 

“PAS on. Now! Prepare for depressurizat…”

He was cut off again as the Pilot’s speaker crackled to life. “Valduvian craft coming from Starboard, cloaked under the radar using counter-measures and the mountains… He’s moving in a boarding run. I don’t think I’ll be able to shake him!”

 

THOOM! Something slammed into the hull of the carrier and a jolt began to fire along the craft’s exoskeleton. Baltor was still strapping his Personal Air System across his face as he looked across at his squad. Finished, he shifted the flechette cartridge into his Haus Rifle. The insulation kept the men from being electrocuted by the electro-magnetic pulse blasted into the ship by the Valduvians. It was a common tactic by both sides. Whoever could get their EMP spike into the opposing ship could interrupt the Mag-Locks used to keep the personnel carrier attached to the drop ship. Any second, the Valduvian clamp would…

 

The hatch was blown inward, taking out Jamson, his blood spattering the inner hull. Mek’s Haus discharged plastic flechettes ripping past his magnetized field and shredding the first boarder. The PAS wasn’t needed, the Valduvians had done perfectly and the hull was sealed to their own scuttle. Return fire was already skipping in, ricocheting off some of the men’s armor and finding purchase elsewhere. As the boarders surged forward, Baltor shifted the grip on his rifle and brought the but into a Valduvian’s face. The other’s face shield split and he flew up and back into his comrades.

 

It was all happening too quickly, Baltor was suddenly face to blade with a Mag-axe, the later thrumming to tune in to his own Mag-sheild. He couldn’t turn in time and as it compacted with his face, everything went black.

 

*

 

“How is this one still alive?” The words reached him somehow through the dull numbness. The voice was female and lilted, though still speaking in Perdan. If she spoke to anyone else, they didn’t answer. Pressure tugged at his face, his eyes blind. His struggles were for naught. He couldn’t feel anything move, however much he willed it to. His body didn’t like it though and the darkness fell on him once more.

 

*

 

“The One’s Hole, Mek. You’re an ugly one!” It had been a year since he’d finally been released from the Med-Vac. A few months since the UNGF had overseen the New Ganna Treaty. A few weeks since he’d gotten off the Mag-Train along the Northern Hub at Galveston Colony, New Ganna. UNGF Free Frequency was already garbled during cloudy days, so the Spire was hundreds of miles south. Baltor idly wondered how much farther north the Mag-Tube went before ending at one of the Stations, the wild surface of New Ganna marching on below it.

 

He tried to ignore the speaker. Karkas was Perdan. Not from Oliphane like, Baltor, but still his people were part of the United Provinces, a countryman. Many of the others here weren’t. Galveston Colony was mixed, having relatively equal numbers of Perdan’s and Valduvian’s with even more other people from more obscure regions of Ganna. It was officially a United New Gannan Colony, flying only the flag of the UNGF at its administration buildings. Karkas was also Baltor’s roomie, another Mag-Drill operator.

 

Every morning, at first sight Karkas mentioned how ugly Baltor was. Every morning, Mek ignored him. He ignored most people. They murmured about his all-mighty aloofness. Everyone was equally happy. He was just finishing his training with the Mag-Drill and he’d begin the long days in the mines, drilling loose more and more tunnels for the other miners to work and gather. Moving it along to the processing buildings and refining what was removed from the tunnels within New Ganna’s crust.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

The above fan-fic is the intro for another character in a chat game in another campaign based in the Depths of Space setting. I'm trying to detail a little more of what New Ganna is like and thought having a campaign take place there is the best way. Yes, I know, I'm unmotivated and lazy.

 

Anyway, in the above scene cuts I'm trying to show what combat might have been like during the Colony Wars. It details some personal equipment ranging from Gauss guns filled with plastic Flechettes, personal armored cloth, helmets with life support, personal magnetic shields, and a Mag-Axe.

 

When I have write-ups for this stuff I'll post them.

 

I've also established a Colony, Galveston. The campaign will start there and I'll try and have write-ups detailing the action.

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Great timing!

 

I was actually wondering how you were coming with this just last week!

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I reworked the Crashlanding! intro on Page 2, removing some typos and adding some continuity to spelling of the Valduvians.

 

Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be playing the first session of Tarka Ulnos campaign. By figuring out details about technology and fleshing out more of what life on New Ganna is like, I'm better prepared for stocking Tarka's Scuttle.

 

I'm thinking about starting the game either right after this intro leaves off, or waking up from the landing.

 

Any thoughts? (I'll post tomorrow about what happens tonight.)

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

I don't really have anything else to offer, but I was thoroughly enjoying the work you had put into it so far.

 

Nicely done, and best of luck!

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

The story so far: (Last Story Addition: 12/28/05)

 

Crashlanding!

 

"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 couplers are malfunctioning along the Cargo train. I repeat, a Mag-lock Coupler 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, their craft likely torn to pieces by the intant change in speed. If a pilot survived that they still had little hope stranded in a vast region of unexplored space.

 

The Cargo Boxes were held behind the Freighter with powerful Mag-Locks. If their integrity was ever compromised, the Cargo Boxes would be lost to the Frontier Zone. It was the Maintenance crew's job to keep the Couplers 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. Gone.

 

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

 

The Captain could be heard above them all, "Get Coupler 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 grapples, connecting the two cars once more while Endevahl worked on fixing the compromised coupler. His Mechanical Arms were attached to the Coupler while his uplink was manually attached to the Coupler Control Grid. Hopefully the Coupler wouldn't require the Waldos, or worse, manual trouble-shooting.

 

"Maintenance 7 deploying Grapple... Holy fark, Dobbler! Get that Coupler secured! *CSSSSHHHHHH*

 

Terror worked at Tarka. She wasn't sure whose voice that had been before the Comm static cut it off and her heart accelerated, thumping in her chest. If Coupler 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 see 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 grapple, jettisoning them from the scuttle. Below her, Endevahl accelerated from the Coupler without disengaging. And sparks flew as his Grid Sheathe and Arms tore from the Coupler and slung it away from the Cargo Boxes. She tried to regain control of her ship her viewscreen dominated by the Cone. She commed desperately one last time, unaware the Valduvian had already fled, "Everything’s done, Mahn! Get out of..."

 

Proximity sensors cutting her off and she quieted, engaging acceleration, trying to bank, but it was all happening to quickly. The compromised Coupler smacked off her Scuttle setting it into a spin and bouncing it into one of the crates. Her hull buckled and her Scuttle spun into the Cone.

 

Then everything went black as the Scuttle slipped from FTL and into conventional space. The hull groaned and the force of the deceleration without the protection of the FTL Engine forced her immediately into unconsciousness.

 

*

 

Everything was dark when she awoke. She fuzzily remembered re-entry and the incessant cacophany of sensors and damage errors blinking across the screen of the Scuttle. The Scuttle had survived re-entry but Anti-Grav units were out. There was no way the ship would survive landing without Anti-Grav. There was little left to do but strap herself into the Lifeboat and eject.

 

She could feel herself moving. Consistent movement in a single direction, and yet erratic with little jounces. She was either being hauled or was on moving water. That's when Tarka noticed the soft roaring just at the edge of her perception. She reached up to unlock the shutter and peak through the porthole. A partial canopy of foliage was visible along her right side. Sensors were showing breathable atmosphere.

 

She squirmed about the small area, working to find the Enviro-Medkit, her machete, compact shovel, and the Gauss Pistol. Filling the pockets of her Harvex Blue jumpsuit with clips of ammunition, her mind returned to the last brief moment on the scuttle before the hatch for the lifepod closed. The deep tonal buzzing of the Anti-Grav Units had ceased. They might have come back online.

 

She physically shook her head realizing the roaring sound was louder. She needed to get a visual on her situation. Depressing the hatch release, she waited nervously, mind racing over the infinite impossibilities. An alien planet was out there and she was on it. Alone. The emergency beacon was transmitting, but it could be years before it reached a ship passing this system.

 

Pushing open one side of the hatch she sat up. She was floating down a wide river within six or seven meters of one bank. The heat was damp and the flora denoted a sub-tropical jungle. The view of the stars above darkened momentarily in a small location and she sensed movement above. Something was flying. The river stretched wide before her and the horizon just stopped to her right. The roaring was deafening out here and a waterfall was looming.

 

She immediately pulled out the compactable shovel, extended the handle and began rowing frantically trying to reach the bank. Sealed, and if it landed in water, the lifepod could likely survive a short drop. Its own Anti-Grav unit had been burnt out saving her life in the landing. The small pods simply didn't have enough energy for more than a single landing.

 

The makeshift craft turned, heading slowly towards the bank as it continued to drift towards the edge of the horizon. Far below, a misty canopy writhed along the floor and beyond that, the blackness of the horizon denoted a large body of water, likely. She continued to row, taking it all in.

 

It occurred to her as she rowed her many possible fates. Organisms in the water could be her end, or simply the acid levels of the river, let alone the native fauna. She finally realized her inexperience with watercraft and inefficient tools weren't going to get her to the bank. She dove back into the pod and closed the hatch.

 

Just as Ulnos snapped the safety webbing into place she felt the vertigo of falling. She spun a few times and felt the impact. The sounds of her screams were drowned in the sheer volume of the waterfall’s anger. She landed, hitting hard, sparkles flashing across her vision momentarily. The familiar bobbing motion started again and the weight of the craft reoriented her. Just as she was about to open the shutter, vertigo took over again.

 

She was falling, spinning, screaming. Enough time passed to grab a breath and scream again. This time the landing stunned her but not enough to go unconcious. She must have hit water again and moments passed as the craft floated to the surface, reorienting so the hatch would be out of water.

 

A heavy, cloudy mist suppressed any visuals through the porthole and Tarka quickly opened the hatch. A fetid smell met her and tangy salt was in the air. Her craft had bumped against land, but it was the minority. Working quickly into exhaustion, she brought the battered craft up and onto the small meter of land with a stunted tree sprouting from the tepid waters. Hoping for a respite and daylight before exploring further, she moved to rest within the lifepod the roar of the now-distant waterfall a muted resonance.

 

*

 

Tap, tap..

 

Tarka’s eyes flipped open and something skittered along the outside surface of the lifepod. Her heart and breathing accelerated as she listened, trying to quiet herself.

 

Skritch. Tap, tap.

 

It came and went again. Something was certainly out there. Holding her breath she reached up and tapped herself. The outside tapping and skritching immediately stopped. Moments that felt like minutes passed. She took a breath, just realizing she’d been holding it before. She had no choice. There were some supplies within the lifepod, but they wouldn’t last longer than a week or so.

 

She moved to open the shutter on the porthole. Slowly turning the handle, trying to make no noise, her eyes opened wide when the light filtered in. It was the daytime for whatever cycle this miserable planet had in its orbit. Tarka hadn’t paid much attention when learning about the stars and the star maps of the Ahtabaht Galaxy. She could be anywhere and whisper another prayer of thanks that she found a planet in the green zone.

 

She jumped suddenly, hands ricochetting off the hatch as a face leapt into view. It was heavily furred, with wide-set eyes on a small heart-shaped face. A small slit of a mouth was filled with two rows of small, pointed teeth. A monkey, she thought. It looks like a mottled, green-furred monkey.

 

She tapped the porthole. It cocked its head and tapped back. More moments passed and another little head appeared, perpendicular to the first. It wasn’t apparent how many were out there, but the third had a small piece of fruit grasped in its hands. She noticed a flap of hairless flesh attaching the wrist to the ribs, sort of like the gliding wings of a Flying Squirrel. She ignored the physiology of the 'squonkey' as the fresh food caused her mouth to water and she pushed away all the fears of poisoned food.

 

She tripped the hatch and watched as the squonkeys fled, chittering their displeasure at this alien technology. She stepped out onto the small bit of solid land amidst the swampy environment, noticing the small bit of fruit lieing near the edge of lifepod. Dropped to the shriveled flora of the small island when Ulnos had stepped out.

 

Light filtered through a high canopy of foliage, casting the swamp in a fetid, greenish light. The natural camouflage of the squonkeys kept them well hidden amidst the hanging branches of the quagmire’s trees and snaking vines. A few hundred yards away, Tarka could make out a different sort of tree. It seemed to bare massive flowers and the fruit carried by the squonkeys.

 

Taking up her makeshift oar once more, the scuttle pilot embarked upon a new journey. Hours passed and her muscles ached, but she was finally nearing her goal. She backed near one of the massive blossoms, the baseball-sized orbs of fruit were gathered in a large bunch similar to grapes. The petals of the blossoms flexed away from the fruit, measuring nearly seven feet in length and a foot and a half wide.

 

Standing upon the end of the lifepod and reaching towards one of the fruits, the Perdan was nearly tumbled from her make-shift craft. She would have fallen, but the blossoms, whipping about he and her craft held her in place. She was caught within a living, pod-like trap. Fortunately, she was still on the lifepod and she had a bit of room to maneuver.

 

Thinking quickly, she drew her trusty machette and stabbed into one of the walls of her prison. The force wasn’t enough to free her, but yellowish ichor dripped from the wound and along the blade gripped tightly in her hand. Pain exploded from her face and hands as hair-like cilia spaghettied from the pistole of the flower and embedded themselves into any open surface of her skin.

 

It was a race against time as the cillia sucked the very life from her and she stabbed with waning strength against the turgid walls of the pod. Blood dripped from her face and hands as she wrenched free of the cilia and finally cutting a path from the life-sucking trap. After regaining her wind and some of her strength she hacked off the rest of the petals of the blossom and harvested what fruit she could. It seemed the dangers of this planet would either make her strong and intelligent, or would simply kill her.

 

*

 

Days passed into nights and Tarka Ulnos began to learn. Extended watching had taught her to know the differences between the fruit trees. Even though the squonkies were apparently unable to notice, she could. She had freed more than one of the cute creatures from the confines of the tree-pod. More for harvesting the fruit without danger to herself than saving the life of the squonkey, though. The Killing tree’s fruit was sweeter than the other, less dangerous plant.

 

Still, she hadn’t caught a glimpse of this planet’s star. Tarka filled her days with harvesting the fruit and moving back towards the sheer cliff, steering clear of the deeper waters near the massive waterfall. As even the murmurs of its roar disappeared behind her she couldn’t help but wonder what sort of creature topped the food chain of this swamp?

 

*

 

She’d finally banked upon a piece of dry land larger than her lifepod. A short distance passed the ubiquitous gray-barked trees the sheer cliff face was visible in a swath of bright light. She smiled at the chance to stretch her legs without having to submerge herself in the fetid waters of this Lowland. Her happiness was not to be. A flurry of dark-skinned fury blasted from the foliage of a tree, nestled in bright light. Fortunately, Tarka was able to dodge the needle-nosed creature by darting among the close-packed trees until it grew weary enough flitting about to land and rest. Drawing a bead with her Gauss Pistol, she dropped it instantly.

 

All the dodging had taken its toll though and she dropped to the sunlit turf near the cliff-face to take a much needed breather. A glimpse of the star was no help. Tarka Ulnos was lost without the slightest idea where she was and not even the luxury of knowing her place in relation to Ganna or the Colony planet of New Ganna. She would likely die here, in this insect-ridden swamp.

 

One of the segmented multipedes writhed along the trunk of a nearby tree. She watched it crawl down the trunk. no longer awed by the sheer width of the creature. It was thicker than her thigh and almost as thick as her waist!

 

A strange hooting interrupted her visual of the milli-snake. It echoed of the cliff-face, chilling her blood with its eeriness. She couldn’t tell which direction it was coming from and that pushed her to her feet, fingering the trigger-guard of her pistol. A rythymic splashing accompanied the hooting and it was growing nearer. She could almost make out an anthropomorphic shape looming amidst the swamp’s tree-trunks. The splashing and hooting call exploded with its owner from the foliage of a downed tree.

 

It bore large, split-hoofed feet allowing it to run across the surface of the water on goat-like legs, a female Gannan’s torso and the head of a bull, nostrils flared as it charged forward. Two ebony horns stretched up from it’s brow, thick and straight, the tips pointed and sharp enough to smack clear through a scuttle’s hull.

 

Tarka swallowed, gripping her pistol with both hands. The first shot blossomed crimson below female breasts heaving with the force of running across the surface of the Moor. The magnetized metal bullet slowed the creature, but it kept coming, picking up speed as it reached he solid surface of earth near the cliff edge.

 

Tarka swallowed again. The second shot blasted through the center of its pelvis, forcibly lifting it up from its goat legs and dropping it to the turf on its face. The lower trunk of its body was washed in blood, but it continued to stir. Two quick breathes later, it stood up again. Wasting no time, Ulnos fired another shot ripping into its bulging bicep, turning it, and dropping it to the ground again.

 

This time, it lay still. Then, the hooting and splashing started up again.

 

*

 

“This is a No-Tail,†Soran’s voice said within his mind. The smokey wisps from the rocks solidified and gained coherency. Writhing smoke gained color and became a blue-skinned, muzzleless face topped with wavy green hair. Vrelklos grimaced. It was ugly. The contours of the creatures face were alien, unlike anything he’d ever seen and worse than any nightmare punishment from the Ancients that had gone before. His eyes drooped as the Slavishe’s words echoed within his brain. He heard with his mind, not his earholes. “This No-Tail is in danger from the Horned Ghosts. You must save her. She will in turn save us.â€

 

More images flashed from the smoke. The darkness of the Cleft was behind him and the smells of the Basin and the murky green was interupted by the hooting hunting howl of the Horned Ghosts. The No-Tail ran and turned, raising both hands and a dull, gleaming blow-gun that didn’t reach her lips towards one of the creatures. It fell back, blood erupting from its forehead. Vrelkos motioned with his clawed hand. The No-Tail moved towards him, her breasts shifting beneath the strange cloth like the Horned Ghost Huntresses. He wondered idly if the No-Tail and the Ghosts were somehow related by their Ancestors.

 

*

 

The Eye slipped past and returned many times before Vrelklos saw the streaming star that heralded the arrival of the No-Tail. He had little time and increased his pace, jogging across the Savannah. His eyes roved the waving grasses and the sky above, fearing the shadow of Skarriel. The flying predators were a force for a group of Sauriel Hunters, let alone a single one. And, he had an ugly creature to save. Daross may best him within the Village Ring, but Vrelkos did the bidding of the Slavishe.

 

Hours passed slowly as Vrelkos picked his way down the Cleft towards the Lowlands. A few passings of the Great Eye lay the fertile lands of the Wet Gash, curving through the Savannah in its coat of green. Further back, many passings of the Eye in travel was the Great Green and Vrelkos’ home. During his trip, the Sauriel had wondered many times why he must help this No-Tail, but the Slavishe had spoken and only the Kennex ignored the words of the Ancients.

 

He knew he was close to the bottom, the misty wall of the Lowlands was visible through the walls of the cleft and he could hear them, the hooting of the Horned Ghosts. They communicated with each other when they found prey, be it the Kech or something more, an ugly No-Tail.

 

*

 

Tarka could see the shadowy shapes of the creatures splashing through the moor around here. They came from Waterfall, quickly nearing her small ledge of solid ground she’d found near the Cliff-face. She swallowed quickly, the sound of her heartbeats vying with the strange hooting calls of the splay-hoofed monsters. One broke from the foliage and she fired at it, toppling it momentarily. More and more of them called from the misty shadows. She would die here.

 

*

 

Vrelkos watched from the edge of the cleft as the ugly No-Tail raises her blowgun and blood blossomed from the thigh of the Horned Ghost. It fell, twirling ungainly. There were many more Ghosts. More than this No-Tail could deal with, even with her blood-letting blow-gun.

 

Vrelkos called to the alien.

 

*

 

Tarka turned, momentarily confused. She’d heard a different sound. At first her mind didn’t recognize what she was seeing. Then, her eyes focused. They had too. A tall lizard-looking creature of mottled green skin stood on two legs a couple hundred feet away, its thick greenish tail trailing behind it. It waved and empty clawed hand, seeming to beckon her. It carried a brace of stone-tipped javelins in its off hand, a bandolier of twisted cloth crossing its chest and nothing else. The crotch of its legs was barren, as a lizard back on Ganna. It howled, sharp rows of teeth visible within its maw as it beckoned again.

 

She could hear the clomp of the splay-hooved beasts on the solid ground of the ‘beach’. Two had broken from the dense mists and foliage and were sprinting towards her. She turned and fled towards the lizard-man. A race ensued as the lizard man beckoned, turned, and fled as well while more creatures converged on the beach. She paused, skidding on the sand as she brought her Gauss gun to bear. The first shot slowed the closest creature and the second shot dropped it puncturing a soft spot at the top of the skull between the horns.

 

*

 

There was no time for greetings Velkor through a javelin, barely nicking the nearest Horned Ghost and not slowing it. The Cleft was invisible at this angle until he and the No Tail reached it. He wasted no time and began to ascend, the claws of feet and hands digging into the debris littering the slanting tunnel of rock. The alien paused only a moment before joining Vrelkos in the climb. She wore clothing on her feet, but grasped roots and greens, making decent time in her climb. His breath and their ascent rung loud in his earholes until the hooting call of the Horned Ghosts even drowned that out.

 

*

 

Tarka Ulnos glared at the lizard thing, climbing before her. The claws on its feet and hands dug furrows in the bottom of the cave like tunnel they were ascending. She had no idea this un-roofed cave was here, the cliff-face hiding its narrow width well. Surely the horned creatures could climb this. What good could it do? Perhaps they would fight to the end?

 

*

 

Vrelkos dug at the satchel at his side. The Slavishe had told of the dangers within the Cleft and had offered a gift. A mute white crystal, along with the words of the mind, “When the Horned Ghosts call for your blood drop this Tunt in their midst and Pray to the Ancients.†Vrelkos grasped the Tunt and tossed it behind him.

 

*

 

Tarka frowned as the lizard-man paused in mid-climb ad dug at the pouch at his side. She wondered why he wasn’t going for one of the spears in the quiver at his back. She reached down to unholster her pistol as it pulled a whitish stone and tossed it down the steep incline. The creature beside her dropped to his stomach and curled into a fetal position. She waited briefly, confused before doing the same. The Colony War had taught her the action well. Surely this creature had no grenades…

 

*

 

Pain suddenly flashed through their minds. The howls of the Horned Ghosts rose to a fevered pitch, eventually cutting off when their pain subsided. Screeching winged forms blasted from all sides of the tunnel and burst down towards the Horned Ghosts below. Tarka and Vrelkos glanced back as a massive swarm of the needle-nosed fliers embedded themselves in the flesh of the Ghosts and began to feed. The Ghosts batted at them, blood oozing from gaping wounds in their furry hides as more and more of the fliers thunked into their hides. Tarka gaped for a few moments, unable to comprehend the slaughter. Then, she heard the lizard-man ascending again and turned to follow. She didn’t want to be here when the batsquitos were finished.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

We had so much fun with Crashlanding! at the last FTF game, I'm discontinuing my 4th Age Fantasy Hero game for now and playing only Star Hero.

 

For the next session, I'm expecting Tarka to begin to explore her surroundings. That will include a meeting with Horned Devils and something that lurks beneath the salt-frewsh water surface of this swampy area. I've decided to push forward with the concept that mammals are the beasts that walk the Earth, surviving upon the vegetation and each other where it suits them.

 

This is also one of the reasons I'm excited about using the Horned Devils. They have a splay-footed means of transportation that allows them to travel quickly across the Marshy areas without having to go underwater. Perfect predators in this environment.

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Excellent work!

 

Can't wait for more!

[Cancer]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

A social thing for the mix ... if the Company is as politically strong as it seems to be, and as vengeful and corrupt as those kind of things tend to be, once they discover that there were survivors among the cargo wranglers from the ship that lost the Cargo Boxes, they will go after those survivors. Maybe it'll be legal attacks (assertions of sabotage and lawsuits for damages), may be just the standard corporate assassin.

[Cancer]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

About carnivorous plants ...

 

On Earth, carnivorous plants are found in places with poor soils. Attracting insects, trapping them, and consuming them is a way to get around the limitations of the lousy soil. My knowledge of botany is weak, but I think they all seem to attract flying insects rather than anything else (specifically, rather than larger animals, or crawlers); this makes sense in terms of trying to bring in "food" from outside the immediate surroundings, and not trying to attract larger things that might eat or merely step on/break one's self.

 

"Poor soils" tend to be swamps, backwater areas that don't get much fresh water input.

 

Assuming that carnivorous plants want to attract things that won't try to eat them, and they do their attracting with scent, then I can imagine that a carnivorous tree (that is, a large plant, something that would eat something man-size) could go a couple of different routes. One possibility is to attract grazing animals, possibly by emitting things that matched the "I'm in heat, come find me" pheromones of their target species. Alternately they could try to attract frugivores by making fruit that smelled yummy -- or alcoholic, which is sort of the same thing -- and keep those scent generators inside their trap organs. In both cases I would expect them to grow a pod over the trapped animal quickly, so it didn't have to share the catch with animal scavengers that it wouldn't be equipped to catch.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

About carnivorous plants ...

 

On Earth, carnivorous plants are found in places with poor soils. Attracting insects, trapping them, and consuming them is a way to get around the limitations of the lousy soil. My knowledge of botany is weak, but I think they all seem to attract flying insects rather than anything else (specifically, rather than larger animals, or crawlers); this makes sense in terms of trying to bring in "food" from outside the immediate surroundings, and not trying to attract larger things that might eat or merely step on/break one's self.

 

"Poor soils" tend to be swamps, backwater areas that don't get much fresh water input.

 

Assuming that carnivorous plants want to attract things that won't try to eat them, and they do their attracting with scent, then I can imagine that a carnivorous tree (that is, a large plant, something that would eat something man-size) could go a couple of different routes. One possibility is to attract grazing animals, possibly by emitting things that matched the "I'm in heat, come find me" pheromones of their target species. Alternately they could try to attract frugivores by making fruit that smelled yummy -- or alcoholic, which is sort of the same thing -- and keep those scent generators inside their trap organs. In both cases I would expect them to grow a pod over the trapped animal quickly, so it didn't have to share the catch with animal scavengers that it wouldn't be equipped to catch.

 

Pod, eh? That sounds like an entangle.

 

What about controllable vines? That would be cool.

[Cancer]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Another line of thought you might consider, depending on whether you are building your reptilian races from the "top down" or "bottom up".

 

By "top down" I mean that you already know how you want the species to be like socially and physically, and you just make up a backstory for that to "make it fit". That backstory may not be as watertight as you prefer, but at least you know what your alien race is going to be like.

 

A "bottom up" approach is more difficult but can lead you to novel things. Here, based on only the broadest strokes of your "final" concept is, think about how such a race might have evolved from "ordinary" animal forebears. Carry a lot of extraneous baggage with that, but never lose sight of the essentials: how they breed, and what their preferred environment is.

 

The breeding habits will tell you something about how the race interacts with each other (and by extension, any sentient). We humans have (generally) one offspring at a time, and try to raise them all. But reptiles that lay eggs may do something very different. Is a gravid female maybe physically helpless (like in humans) or just as competent as ever? (That will go quite a way to deciding the relative social powers of the sexes.) Do they have large clutches, or small ones? Are the males involved with guarding the nest/raising the young at all? Does the mother (and/or father) guard the nest, or just remember where it is so they don't go tromping through it? Does the race have communal nests, where many different clutches of eggs are laid and hatch at more or less the same time, so that parentage is not something they think about at all? If the nests are tended, who tends them, and who tends the tenders? Do the hatchlings ignore each other, try to kill each other, or draw support from each other? What is the race's standard defense against egg-stealers, nestling predators, and so on? (That last question requires you to think about the environment: what are those predators?) What was the technology that let the race first dominate those around it when it rose to sentience?

 

Thinking the "bottom up" points all the way through is a lot of work, because you have so many choices, but once you're done with it you will have a pretty good handle on the core social structure of the species, and that will let you answer other questions much more easily and confidently.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

That could take some work, but isn't beyond the scope of what I'm considering. I've done some of that, but your suggestions will help the creative juices past the preliminary stages that I've come up with so far.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

Thus far, I've built a prefab for Sauriel (though I'm not sure how pleased I am with it) and adjusted the velicioraptor from HSB. Today, I built my Moggith Tree Trapper.

 

[b]Moggith Tree Trapper - [/b]

[b][u]VAL[/u]   [u]CHA[/u]   [u]Cost[/u]   [u]Total[/u]   [u]Roll[/u]      [u]Notes[/u][/b]
30    STR     20   30      15-       HTH Damage 6d6  END [6]
13    DEX     9   13      12-       OCV 4 DCV 4
25    CON     30   25      14-
25    BODY    30   25      14-
5    INT     -5   5      10-       PER Roll 10-
8    EGO     -4   8      11-       ECV: 3
10    PRE     0   10      11-       PRE Attack: 2d6
10    COM     0   10      11-
9    PD      3   9             9 PD (0 rPD)
7    ED      2   7             7 ED (0 rED)
3    SPD     7   3                 Phases:  4, 8, 12
11    REC     0   11
50    END     0   50
53    STUN    0   53
0    RUN      -12   0"                END [0]
0    SWIM     -2   0"                END [0]
0    LEAP     -6   0"                0" forward, 0" upward

[b]CHA Cost: 72[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]POWERS[/u][/b]
15     [b][i]Flower Trap[/i][/b]: Entangle 3d6, 5 DEF, Area Of Effect Nonselective (One Hex; +1/4) (50 Active Points); Does Not Prevent The Use Of Accessible Foci (-1), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4) - END=5
15     [b][i]FEED ME[/i][/b]: Energy Blast 3d6, No Normal Defense ((Airtight)Resistant Def; +1) (30 Active Points); Linked (Flower Trap; -1/2), No Range (-1/2) - END=3
32     [b][i]Microscpopic cillia[/i][/b]: Spatial Awareness (Touch Group), Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Range - END=0

[b]POWERS Cost: 62[/b]


[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]SKILLS[/u][/b]
8      +4 Entangle Trap
5      Concealment 14- (11 Active Points); Limited Power Only to make itself look 'normal' (-1)

[b]SKILLS Cost: 13[/b]


[b][u]Value[/u]  [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b]
10     Physical Limitation:  Enormous (-4 DCV, +4 PER Rolls to perceive) (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)
25     Physical Limitation:  Cannot see, taste, hear, smell (All the Time, Fully Impairing)

[b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 35[/b]

Base Pts: 150
Exp Required: 0
Total Exp Available: 0
Exp Unspent: 0
Total Character Cost: 147

 

I'm not sure how well this will translate for other folks, but I know how I want it to work. When prey is within the hex of the fruit of the tree, the Entangle can fire. Once that has been in place, the NND will begin. The tree can't move but, it attracts animals interested in its fruit.

 

I supposed I should add that attraction in somehow...

 

Anyways, please take a look and add if where possible.

[Savinien]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

New additions to the Crashlanding! write-up story.

 

Would you like me to keep appending to the one post, start a new thread, or what?

[Cancer]

Re: Dinosaur Planet

 

New additions to the Crashlanding! write-up story.

 

Would you like me to keep appending to the one post, start a new thread, or what?

Don't start a new thread, the old stuff will get lost.

 

Editing the old one is OK, though it might be helpful to type in an explicit "last edited" stamp at the top, rather than the bottom where the server puts it.