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Old 02-12-2019, 09:38 PM   #21
a humble lich
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2 View Post
Besides which, there is the issue of taming/domesticating a carnivore for riding/draft purposes. Has that _ever_ been done? (On any level above a freak instance, you can probably find a freak example of anything.) Carnivores have been domesticated as work animals and pets (dogs), pets and vermin control (cats), but I can't think of any case where a carnivore was reliably used as a mount or a draft animal. The creatures that are, oxen, cattle, horses, elephants, etc. are all herbivores to my knowledge.
I can only think of two instances, but they are both marginal cases. Dogs have been trained for draft purposes (sled dogs), and Sea World has trained orcas and dolphins to carry riders. However, dogs are much more omnivorous than many carnivore, and sea mammals only carry riders for very short distances (and that probably counts as a freak instance).

Part of the issue is that there aren't that many real world carnivores which are large enough to be useful as mounts or draft animals.
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Old 02-12-2019, 09:59 PM   #22
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

I once had a setting where dinosaurs survived in Americas and sauropods domesticated by ancient Native Americans. The tribes traveled with the herds of sauropods and hunted the dinosaurs that followed the herds. The Europeans were easily repulsed when they were incapable of dealing with sauropod cavalry.
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Old 02-12-2019, 10:09 PM   #23
Tom H.
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by Belisar View Post
Anybody done some dinosaur themed setting? Maybe even Jurassic Park? Or a fantasy setting with plenty of dinosaurs?
I'll add another recommendation for GURPS Lands Out of Time.

The introduction describes it as a sourcebook for human/dino adventuring.

For 4th Edition, it runs about 43 pages and was published in 2006.

You can play a character indigenous to the "isolated" world or introduce cross-dimensional travelers to the setting as part of a multiverse.

The last chapter of about five pages introduces the "World of Banded Night" as a default starter setting.
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Old 02-12-2019, 10:27 PM   #24
Gigermann
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

I think a more serious obstacle to realistic training of dinosaurs is not the herbivore/carnivore question, but general intelligence. Reptiles (which dinos are not) aren't really smart enough to be trained. Some species of dinosaur may be smarter than that, but still not equal to the typical mammalian species. I suspect you could slap a saddle and tack on a dino, and it would ignore you, for the most part, and do as it pleases.

To my not-so-expert understanding, anyway. YMMV.
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Old 02-12-2019, 10:33 PM   #25
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
I'd go with Ceratopsians, from the pony-sized Protoceratops through the classic ox-sized Triceratops
Triceratops was more-than-elephant sized. Zuniceratops, maybe? Or Einiosaurus?

Ornithopods like Tenontosaurus, Iguanadon, or the various hadrosaurs might also be reasonable choices.

Luke
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Old 02-12-2019, 10:35 PM   #26
RyanW
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by a humble lich View Post
I can only think of two instances, but they are both marginal cases. Dogs have been trained for draft purposes (sled dogs), and Sea World has trained orcas and dolphins to carry riders. However, dogs are much more omnivorous than many carnivore, and sea mammals only carry riders for very short distances (and that probably counts as a freak instance).
Notably, those are both very intelligent and social animals.

Personally, for a riding dinosaur, I would go with some of the smaller iguanadon relatives, like camptosaurus or tenontosaurus. They are about the right size range for mounts, and lack the obvious weaponry that could be a danger to a potential trainer. Without those, one can easily imagine them using speed and numbers as their primary defense, just like horses.
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Old 02-12-2019, 10:48 PM   #27
RyanW
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

One thing to keep in mind about Lands Out of Time is that it deliberately errs on the side of dramatic expectation rather than current science (or, rather, the twelve year old science that was current at the time of publication). Velociraptors are man-sized, stegosaurs have a subsidiary brain in their hips, sauropods spend most of their lives submerged in water, and there is nary a feather in sight.

It usually calls out any major violations of reality, but I think you should be aware of it when making a purchase decision.
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Last edited by RyanW; 02-13-2019 at 10:18 AM.
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Old 02-13-2019, 06:18 AM   #28
Belisar
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by Tom H. View Post
I'll add another recommendation for GURPS Lands Out of Time.

The introduction describes it as a sourcebook for human/dino adventuring.

For 4th Edition, it runs about 43 pages and was published in 2006.

You can play a character indigenous to the "isolated" world or introduce cross-dimensional travelers to the setting as part of a multiverse.

The last chapter of about five pages introduces the "World of Banded Night" as a default starter setting.
I purchased that one and it is really helpful. The only thing I miss are the attacks/damage in the Dino stats or am I missing something there?
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Old 02-13-2019, 06:28 AM   #29
johndallman
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by Belisar View Post
The only thing I miss are the attacks/damage in the Dino stats or am I missing something there?
The damage is given in the description, based on "Damage for Animals" on p. 460 of the Basic Set. They attack by rolling vs. their DX, unless they have a listed Brawling skill.
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Old 02-13-2019, 07:05 AM   #30
Belisar
 
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Default Re: Jurassic Park

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
The damage is given in the description, based on "Damage for Animals" on p. 460 of the Basic Set. They attack by rolling vs. their DX, unless they have a listed Brawling skill.
Thanks, good to know!
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