CRETASUS ADVENTURE GUIDEBy Fred Bush, Joseph Goodman, and Mike Roberts

This printing of Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus RexCretasus Adventure Guide is done under version 1.0 of theOpen Gaming License and the draft versions of the D20System Trademark License, D20 System Trademark LogoGuide and System Reference Document by permission fromWizards of the Coast, Inc. Subsequent printings will incorpo-rate final versions of the license, guide and document.

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Designation of Open Content:Subject to the ProductIdentity designation above, the following portions ofDinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex Cretasus AdventureGuide are designated as Open Gaming Content: all creaturestatistic templates from Size/Type (e.g., “Medium Animal”) toAdvancement, all text under the “Combat” header of eachcreature’s section (except the creature’s name or propernames specific to the Broncosaurus Rex setting), and the sec-tions “New Weapons,” “New Equipment and Devices,” and“Vehicle Rules” (including tables) on pages 77-78 and 89-92, except for such place names and terminology whichrelates to the Broncosaurus Rex setting.

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Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex CretasusAdventure Guide is copyright © 2002 Joseph Goodman DBAGoodman Games. Illustrations are copyright © their respec-tive creators, as indicated.

Dungeons & Dragons ® and Wizards of the Coast ®are Registered Trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and areused with Permission. ‘d20 System’and the ‘d20 System’ logoare Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are usedaccording to the terms of the d20 System License version 1.0.A copy of this license can be found at www.wizards.com.Open game content may only be used under and in the termsof the Open Game License.

Welcome to the world of Broncosaurus Rex! Be sure to lookfor these products at your local game store:

Core Rulebook, available nowDino Hunter’s Guide to Velociraptors, July 2002

Dino Hunter’s Guide to Tyrannosaurus Rex, Fall 2002

For more information, or to join our mailing list, contact us.www.broncosaurusrex.com

goodmangames@mindspring.com

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Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex CoreRulebook Copyright 2001 Joseph Goodman DBA GoodmanGames (contact goodmangames@mindspring.com, or seewww.broncosaurusrex.com)

Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex CretasusAdventure Guide Copyright 2002 Joseph Goodman DBAGoodman Games (contact goodmangames@mind-spring.com, or see www.broncosaurusrex.com)

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Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Chapter I: The Main Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5New Savannah & Environs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

New Savannah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Mount Crowe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19The Dukes and Butlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23The McQuarry Brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27The Hideout Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29The Great Library of Logos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29The Crystal Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

The Tecumseh Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Fort Tecumseh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

The Dino Warriors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Fort Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Federal Marshals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Ironclads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

The Southwestern Plains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43The Black Jungle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44The Bayou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

The Bay Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47The Inland Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

The Bay Side Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Underglen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Fort Apache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Plesiosaur Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

The Northwestern Plains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Barrister House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54The Warp Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Chapter II: Dinosaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Dinosaur Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Cultural Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Dinosaurs in the Wild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Dinosaurs in the Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Dinosaurs as Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Dinosaur Combat Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Chapter III: Player Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Character Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Prestige Class: Dino Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Prestige Class: Federal Marshal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Machinists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Skill Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78New Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78New Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Chapter IV: Gamemaster Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81Generating Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81Typical NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84Getting Around Cretasus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Common Mounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88Vehicle Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Typical Vehicle Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92Buying a Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Treasure Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95Encounter Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

Chapter V: Creature Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104Coloration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104Subspecies and Mutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104

Albertosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107Ceratopsians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108Cheirolepis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109Dryosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110Dunkleosteus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Eurypterid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Hadrosaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112Kronosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113Leptoceratops (Zulep) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114Plesiosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116Quetzalcoatlus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116Scray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117Small Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119Spinosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Stenonychosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122Tanystropheus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123Therizinosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124Trilobite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125Vulcanodon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125Template: Ironclad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

CRETASUS ADVENTURE GUIDETable of Contents

Writers: Fred Bush, Joseph Goodman, MikeRobertsCopy Editor: Derek SchubertCover Artist: Walter StuartLogo Designer:Derek Schubert

Interior Artists: Tim Burgard, Brianna Garcia,Dan Morton, Derek Schubert, V. Shane(vshane.com), Walter StuartConcept Artist: Andrew FaragoGraphic Designer:Joseph Goodman

Credits

Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rexcreated by Joseph Goodman

Dedicated to my brother Mike. Thanks for all the good games.

Welcome to the world of Cretasus! Cretasus is the setting forDinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex, a game world where cow-boys use laser rifles to hunt dinosaurs. If you haven’t read theDinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, you mightwant to do so before continuing in the Cretasus Adventure Guide.You could use this book in any d20 setting, but it is best suited toDinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex.

We have divided the Cretasus world into several volumes.This first, the Adventure Guide, will give you all the informationyou need to start adventuring in the planet’s Main Valley, the mostsettled area of Cretasus. Future works will cover new dinosaurspecies and specific regions in greater detail, as well as some ofthe other great valleys of Cretasus.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dinosaur Planet:Broncosaurus Rex, it is set in the year 2202. Dinosaurs have beendiscovered on the planet Cretasus. The two main factions inhuman politics – the Union and the Confederacy – rush to estab-lish a military presence, even as pioneers from across the galaxycome to farm, hunt, and domesticate the dinos.

Settlers on Cretasus have identified hundreds of varieties ofdinosaurs virtually identical to those once found on Earth.Prehistoric mammals have been sighted in neighboring regions,engendering theories that the planet’s massive surface area hascreated numerous micro-climates separated by mountains or otherimpassable terrain. Some micro-climates have remained “frozen”in evolutionary time or have evolved along unusual lines, while

others have evolved more normally. The result is widely differentecological results in close proximity to each other.

Some of the dinosaurs are the classic dumb brutes we allknow so well. But most are not. Velociraptors have near-humanintelligence. They live in organized tribes which loosely connectinto larger nations. Tyrannosaurus rex live in widely dispersedfamily groups whose members remember genealogies for hun-dreds of years. Triceratops travel in large herds with rigoroussocial organization. Almost every species has its own language,and the more intelligent ones have dialects specific to each region.

Even though Cretasus is far outside established political bor-ders, it has been brought to the forefront of galactic politics by itsEarth-like environment and abundance of dinosaurs. Thedinosaurs have great potential as weapons and beasts of burden, apoint not lost on either the Confederacy or Union generals.Although the Union and Confederacy long ago ceased open war-fare, they have never ended hostilities. Now the battle for Cretasusthreatens to re-open a centuries-old conflict.

Characters can choose from six new character classes pre-sented in the Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook: Bronco Rider,Machinist, Soldier, Spy, Two-Fister, and Wild One. They can beUnion or Confederate, staunch loyalists or complete impartials, orthey may hail from one of several independent factions.Adventures abound on the newly settled planet, with aliens, warppirates, the dinosaur nations, intergalactic trade, and rustlers,ranchers, robbers, and wranglers to round out the universe.

4

Introduction

The Main Valley is ringed by steep mountains which isolateit from the rest of Cretasus. The only break in the mountainperimeter is the Fur River, which flows directly into MammothValley to the west. One can travel to Mammoth Valley on the riveritself or along the treacherous bluffs beside it. The Fur Riverearned its name from the occasional migrants who follow it out ofMammoth Valley – in the dinosaur-laden Main Valley, these mam-malians are the only creatures to sport fur of any kind.

The center of human civilization on Cretasus is NewSavannah, the planet’s only city to speak of. StaunchlyConfederate, it sits between Fort Tecumseh to the west and FortApache to the east. New Savannah houses the planet’s only civil-ian spaceport, although ships with wilderness landing capabilitiescan (and do) land in the wilderness.

In contrast to the relative sophistication of New Savannah,the territories around it are the “wild west” of Cretasus. Stretchingfrom Fort Tecumseh in the west to Fort Apache in the east, youwill find the large farms and ranches, the watering holes andsaloons, the small towns, the big herds of domesticated broncos,the rustlers, and the stables and mills and tanneries. This area isstill quite wild, but human occupation is extensive enough thattowns are relatively safe from wild dinosaurs (with the occasion-al dramatic exception). By now, most hunters and trappers havemoved further into the frontier where the wild dinosaurs are stillplentiful.

To the west of Fort Tecumseh, and to the east of Fort Apache,are the true frontiers. At any time of day, there is at least onewagon train leaving New Savannah for these frontiers, carryingpioneers lured by the promises of free land, undiscovered gold,and simple freedom.

The passage west is called the Tecumseh Trail. As it headsinto the great southwestern plains, it splits. Most settlers end theirjourney near the fork, setting up a farm somewhere on the plains.Some continue along the southern route, which leads to theforests, Lake Hope, and the frontier town of Garsville. A very fewmake the dangerous journey north along the edge of the swampknown as the Bayou: a route that ultimately crosses the Fur Riverand leads to the fertile northwestern plains.

The passage east from New Savannah is called the Bay Trail.It soon turns north as it winds along the banks of the inland sea.Most settlers along this route make their living by fishing, butsome have headed east into the deep valley forest. The forest isthick with dangerous dinosaurs, but lush and ideal for logging andraising a variety of crops on cleared land. The Bay Trail ends atPlesiosaur Bay, a lawless settlement on the very northern tip of theinland sea.

These general regions – New Savannah, the Tecumseh Trail,and the Bay Trail – provide the structure for our description of theMain Valley. Together with the vast Northwestern Plains, theymake up the valley’s four quadrants.

5

Chapter I: The Main Valley

New Savannah

New Savannah is the first great city on Cretasus to havedeveloped through the natural processes of settlement. Situated onthe shore of a great land-locked ocean, it provides a focal point forthe vast number of smaller habitations and farms that extendacross the plains towards the distant frontiers and beyond.Ranchers and farmers come to New Savannah to sell their live-stock and crops, making the city’s market place a hive of activity.Soldiers and Dino Warriors come to enjoy the loquacious atmos-

phere of New Savannah’s many watering holes and other distrac-tions that help mentally postpone the next tour of duty. Trades ofevery kind are plied within its tall stone walls, some less salubri-ous than others, but all intrinsic to New Savannah’s rich and var-ied tapestry. Inside its granite boundaries, you’ll find people look-ing for a good time, others seeking a respite from the bitter con-ditions of frontier life, and still others hunting the rewards thatsuch endeavors bring. If you want to make your mark on Cretasus,New Savannah is your best bet for a solid starting point, for with-out the security provided by its civilized community, your planshave foundations of sand.

New Savannah & Environs

6

The History of New Savannah

Early Developments

New Savannah developed as the largest community onCretasus soon after people discovered the great land-lockedocean. Finding food on Cretasus was always a major concern forthe settlers, and a source of fresh water, untouched by man, wouldalways guarantee food. Fishing expeditions quickly proved thatNew Savannah would have the bare necessities to sustain a popu-lation far larger than any other prospective site had yet offered,and the plains surrounding it were suitable for both pastoral andarable agriculture, due doubtless to the presence of the ocean.Quarries of stone, mines for fuel, forests for wood: all lay withinrelatively easy reach of the site chosen to establish the first settle-ment, and it soon became the center for the whole of the region’sactivity. If farmers found their crops destroyed by the untameddinosaurs wandering from the eastern forests, they knew theycould find food at New Savannah. Many of the early victims ofstampeding herbivores relinquished their land in return for a fish-ing vessel and a rudimentary wooden dwelling.

These men and their families were the founders of “modern”New Savannah. Few families left after stopping on the shores ofthe picturesque ocean, so abundant were the fish and helpfulneighbors. Those with an eye for commerce quickly purchased theland off disenchanted farmers, knowing that others would followeager to try their hand at taming the land, and it was not longbefore much of the land surrounding New Savannah was in thehands of the Porter family and its patriarch, Hepsediah Porter.

The Porter Family

A wealthy industrialist and philanthropist descended fromAtlanta, Hepsediah Porter was committed to establishing a modelcommunity on Cretasus. Having successfully combined businessinterests with an often-contradictory devout belief in fair play,Porter had left for Cretasus in search of a fresh start after theheart-breaking death of his beloved wife Marie. His sons anddaughters asked to travel with him, and the whole family left on aship with little of the pomp and circumstance that their wealth hadaccustomed them to.

Porter’s arrival on Cretasus was not auspicious. As the shipdescended to the verdant plains he had identified for settlement,the crew saw an eighteen foot tall metal man below them. Theyhad stumbled onto secret testing grounds for the Union’s iron-clads, the powerful walking tanks that the Union hoped to some-day deploy against the Confederacy. Porter retreated, but notbefore the ironclad’s warning shots breached the hull. After a wilddescent, the damaged craft finally came to rest. Porter and hisshipmates found that they were in the middle of a desert. Theywere way off course.

Taking what supplies that they could carry, the party left theship and struck out in search of the plains. Some stayed with the

stricken craft, insisting that they would be rescued when theywere reported as missing, but most left, with Porter at their head.His strong personal charm, wise yet swift mind and keen skills ofnegotiation had made him a popular man on board ship: despitehis age, it was only natural that he should lead the expedition intothe distant depths of this unfamiliar planet.

Several settlers wanted to set up a more permanent camp afteronly three days of travelling, but Porter persuaded them to con-tinue. He spoke as if certain of brighter prospects ahead, and therewere very few dissenting voices as he laid out his plans for alonger trek into the interior. They had plentiful supplies, well-serviced transports, and fuel supplies to see them right for severalweeks’ touring. He sent motorcycle riders and horsemen out aheadof the main group to warn of obstacles and relay any good news,such as the discovery of a source of fresh water and food. Foreight days and nights, each rider brought back the same story: thatthere was nothing but desert surrounding them, and that they hadmade their initial landing way off target. With the exception ofunusual crystal formations and the occasional small dinosaur,there was nothing to be seen but sand and shale.

Hepsediah realized that those who’d refused to come withhim would be calling for help that would never come; they werenowhere near their intended destination, and there was no guaran-tee that the radios on the ship would be able to contact those whocould save them. Porter’s eldest son, Daniel, volunteered to goback for the settlers that had stayed with the ship. Despite his gutfeeling, Hepsediah allowed Daniel to do so. Several members ofthe party objected, because if Daniel were to make the return jour-ney and catch up with the main contingent he would need a greatdeal of the remaining fuel and food. Others opined that the peopleat the ship would have already been rescued by now. Some fami-lies wanted to travel with Daniel, as they believed that Hepsediahwas mistakenly leading them to starvation in a barren desert.

At this point, the first cracks appeared in the settlers’ previoussolidarity. Most were ignorant of Hepsediah’s concern for his sonand the well-being of those who traveled with him; it wouldindeed be a great feat for anyone to make a return journey and sur-vive. Critics showed more interest in the fact that they had beentravelling for over a week, and yet had found nowhere to set upcamp. Now that the convoy was going to be split, they would havefewer vehicles – none to spare if any broke down – and theywould also have fewer supplies. They estimated that they could goon for only one more week without finding a supply of food; then,they would starve. Porter restricted rations to half their currentlevel, which was unpopular, but the settlers stuck with the manwho had brought them here so far unscathed by the hostile wilder-ness through which they drifted.

Parting of the Company

The convoy split on September 12th, Hepsediah fighting backthe tears as his son climbed into the cabin of the lead truck. ThePorter family had always been renowned for their wanderlust;

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Hepsediah’s distant relatives had been at the frontiers of Americansettlement many generations ago, and it was evident that bothDaniel and his father had inherited the trailblazing spirit. Neitherhad experienced such a split first-hand, however; they had alwaysoperated as a family, and found the parting difficult, especiallybefore the eyes of those who had followed them into the desert. Afew words of encouragement were exchanged, as were proudboasts of a speedy return. Their smiles that followed were forcedthrough overwhelming sensations of loss for both father and son,the like of which they had not experienced since the death ofMarie, wife and mother respectively to those facing this difficultseparation. Both parted into a future of dire uncertainty. The moodin both camps hung heavy that night.

Hepsediah’s expedition left the next morning, moving furtherinto the interior and communicating with Daniel’s convoy throughradio. After four days of travel,Hepsediah’s group found themselves onan incline. They were heading towardsmountains, and all quickly realized that itwould be almost impossible to get thetrucks over them except by a pass.Motorcyclists were sent out once again,and after a day, the first returned withnews that there was a gorge runningthrough the mountains. The gorge wasclearly hazardous, but the party could onlycontinue onwards. They had seen largedust clouds behind them, and once it wasclear that Daniel’s convoy was not respon-sible, the settlers became quite keen todelay any meeting with the cause of thedisturbances. The storm or stampedebehind them could damage their vehicles,but the way forward also seemed distinct-ly unforgiving. Choosing the lesser of thetwo perceived evils, the company set offtoward the mountain pass.

They were not long into the secondday’s travel when an avalanche of rockshurtled down the mountainside toward thelead vehicle. Other vehicles were knockedover as the rocks crashed into the gorge,killing several of the settlers and blockingthe path forwards. It was far too hot tobegin clearing the debris; after an initialsearch for survivors, it was decided toclear the way during the night. Thoseunharmed by the incident set up camp,whispering to their neighbors that theyshould have traveled with Daniel’s con-voy. The party worked hard through thenight to remove fallen rocks and crushedvehicles, but more remained. As theyawoke the second night, many in the party

echoed another’s dissatisfaction at Porter’s leadership. Hepsediahwas despondent. He knew that if there was nothing beyond thismountain pass, they were doomed. The louder the murmurs ofmistrust, the more he doubted his decision to lead them here.However, they now had little option but to continue onwards. Thatnight, they cleared the gorge with superhuman effort. After trav-elling through the night, the party soon came to the other side ofthe range and gazed on a world wholly different from the desertdunes they had left days before.

Beyond the Mountains

As the light of a new day suffused their senses, the settlerslooked in awe at the plains that stretched before them. Desertquickly gave way to grasses, trees, and other plants: the first signs

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of life they had seen for an age, a wild array disappearing into thehorizon as far as the eye could see. Small herds of grazingdinosaurs could be seen in the distance, slowly making their wayacross the landscape that seemed an herbivorous utopia. ToHepsediah Porter, such lushness spoke of one thing: water. Hewould soon find water. His group would survive.

Previous doubts gave way to jubilation, and Porter was hailedas a genius. Despite the excitement, Porter himself was less thangleeful, as the mountain range had severed the radio link with hisson’s party. While the travelers celebrated, Hepsediah workedwithout rest on the radio, trying to catch a frequency throughwhich he could hail his son. His labors went unrewarded, andwhile his company exulted, something inside him seemed to die.Instinctively, he knew that Daniel had perished.

The Inland Sea

Now determined that the planet not take any more lives,Hepsediah sent motorcyclists to search for a river. There had be ariver flowing from the mountains into this plain to give it suchvibrant life. After a day’s searching, the scouts returned, two ofthem having found rivers that flowed from the mountains. Severalmembers of the company asked why no such rivers had flowedinto the other side, but their questions were quickly drowned inthe excitement that followed the announcement that the nearestriver would be followed to its destination. If it followed the samepattern as rivers on Earth, it would flow to the sea, where the trav-elers knew they would find a place to rest.

As the river grew greater, so did the hopes of the settlers.After two more weeks of travel beside its lush green bank, theyreached their destination. The river’s mouth opened into a vastlake, the likes of which the travelers had never seen. Lazyhadrosaurs splashed in the shallows, a huge herd of triceratopsgrazed the lush green shoots along the shore, and low-flyingpterosaurs plucked fish from the gentle waves. The water was adeep blue, untarnished by man and primordially pure.

Building small fishing vessels, the intrepid settlers soon dis-covered the vast array of aquatic life that proved not only easy tocatch in their nets but eminently suitable for their cooking pots.Their first week passed with disarming swiftness, and the travel-ers knew that they had arrived.

The Birth of New Savannah

It wasn’t long before the inhabitants of the planet began toshow an interest in these new arrivals. The settlers’ first encoun-ters with the dinosaurs did nothing to engender an open-mindedattitude towards the creatures that were now their co-habitants,but Porter knew that if they were to survive, the settlers wouldhave to somehow live with these giants. Some advocated shootingthe dinosaurs if they came too close; however, the settlers’weapons would merely irritate one of the creatures, perhapsenough to enrage it and cause the whole herd to stampede in

response. Preventive measures were needed, foundations onwhich could be built a permanent future for the settlement, and theocean would be their ally.

Porter proposed the construction of a deep, wide moat aroundthe settlement, with a wooden palisade atop the earth thrown upby the digging of the channel. The deep water should discouragethe casual visitor, and the palisade would protect the settlementfrom the more determinedly inquisitive while providing an excel-lent vantage point from which to espy the surrounding plain.Some parts of the plan would prove difficult to achieve; the con-struction of a lock to stop the water flowing away from the chan-nel when the tide retreated seemed the most challenging mechan-ical problem. Some of the settlers balked at the sheer toil of thatthe scheme.

Adapting well to the task ahead of them, the settlers modifiedsome of their vehicles using the tools and equipment they hadbrought from Earth. The work took weeks, but fortunately theherds of herbivores kept their distance, possibly because they sawthe trucks and diggers as a new kind of predator. Whatever thereason, it was a welcome piece of good fortune, for the small set-tlement could not have withstood the charge of a terrified herd.However, while all eyes were on the vast numbers of herbivoresthat moved along the coast, others slipped through the forestglades unseen. The settlers would soon discover that they were notthe only ones capable of alarming the destructive mass of thetriceratops.

Taming the Wild

As night fell one balmy June evening, the lookouts reportedswift creatures approaching from the edges of the forest towardsthe foremost members of the vast herd, which was now drinkingat the ocean’s edge. It was clear the herd was unaware, as theyremained fixed on quenching their thirst. With the benefit of theirnight-vision goggles, the lookouts saw that a pack of albertosaurswas on the move, intent on sating their hunger at the expense ofthe herd.

Porter was alarmed. Much of the herd was now within a kilo-meter of the settlement, and should they stampede to escape thepredators, there was a distinct possibility that they would chargethe settlement. However, the albertosaurs had some considerabledistance to travel over sparsely covered ground, and they too werein no hurry to panic their quarry. They began to move slowly asthey came out of the forest, making the best use of the coveraround them to hide from the herd. Porter knew it was now ornever.

Asking for volunteers from the unmarried men, he proposedthat the settlers venture out and take the fight to the albertosaurs.Their vehicles could cover the ground in a few minutes, and ifthey could drive off the albertosaurs, they would be unlikely toreturn. One group was to drive the herd away from the village,while another group on the faster vehicles would take what fightthey had in them to the hunters.

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Most of the young men volunteered. Taking the deadliestweapons in the settlement’s well-kept arsenal, they set out on thefastest motorcycles in teams of two: one to concentrate on driving,the other riding pillion to fire the guns. Their small size should notalarm the herbivores, whose attention was to be demanded by thepick-up trucks and massive engineering vehicles that seemed tohave stayed the herd during the construction of the palisade andmoat.

The bikers took absurd risks in driving away the albertosaurs.Believing that a head shot was the only way to make the bulletscount, they had to get in close. Young Abraham Jackson was thefirst to feel the powerful teeth of an enraged albertosaur closearound his body, damning both him and his pillion passenger to aterrifying death and sending Abraham to rest with his family. ZekeWylde, a seventeen-year-old dead-eye shot from Hazzard County,Mars, settled the debt, sending several hollow-point roundsthrough the hateful staring orb of the largest albertosaur, whichhad been watching Zeke and his driver as if sizing up its nextmeal. Another albertosaur fell as three gunmen riddled its facewith bullet-holes, forever closing its mandibles of death.

Whether it was the roar of the bikes’ engines or the simplefact that they were now on the receiving end of the kind of brutalaggression they usually handed out, the albertosaurs began to runtowards the forest glade. Zeke downed another two as they fled,and other teams wounded several more. Though the albertosaurswere much hardier than the humans they’d fought, the horrificwounds inflicted by the hollow-point rounds ensured that at leasta few escapees would die in the very near future.

Here was the first sign that man had established himself onCretasus. The natural order of the dinosaur planet was to bechanged forever by mankind’s intervention; he was to play therole of a brutal shepherd, protecting the flock from all harm so thathe could slaughter them himself. The first albertosaur pack thatthe settlers had encountered would soon starve to death, deprivedof the food source that had always been available to them.Although they had only been here for weeks, all Cretasus nowknew that the humans had arrived.

The Second Wave

After the albertosaur incident, many settlers who had previ-ously been ranchers suggested dividing the herd. This wouldreduce the threat it posed and let it be used as a source of food. Todo this, they would need more hands. Since the settlement hadsurvived the initial threats posed to it by the planet’s environment,Hepsediah decided it was time to call for more settlers.

News of the travelers’ success in establishing the communitysparked a great deal of interest in the Confederacy. Drawingtogether an armada of ships for the journey to the fledgling settle-ment, Confederacy officials informed Porter that many new set-tlers would be heading for the inland ocean, with masses ofmachinery and materials so that they could take full advantage ofthe prime land he’d discovered. Scientific, industrial and military

advisers were also to travel to the area, to survey it and measureits potential for expansion.

Realizing that this would soon be the largest settlement onCretasus, Porter decided that it needed a name. The communitywas unanimous in its opinion that Porter should choose the namefor their piece of Cretasus, and it wasn’t difficult for him to makeup his mind. Thinking of his beloved wife Marie and the splendorof the city of his ancestors, he proclaimed to rapturous applausethat the settlement would be known as New Savannah.

The first ships landed fourteen weeks after the albertosaurattack, by which time the inhabitants had prepared temporaryaccommodation for the new arrivals. Masses of machinery andsupplies were unloaded, including fuel, mining tools, fellingequipment, engineering vehicles, and temporary structures. Manyof the settlers were specialists: miners, quarrymen, lumberjacksand machinists from all over the galaxy had come to NewSavannah to aid in its development. Each had brought their fami-lies; Porter had requested that most of the new settlers be familymen in order to avoid the problems that plagued developing com-munities in the old west, where the drinking and gambling of sin-gle men bored with the monotony of their solitary lives hadstressed the mining towns to breaking point.

The advisors sent to New Savannah were a great surprise toPorter. He had known all three of the senior post-holders from hisearlier days, and they were delighted to see him. EdgarWinthorpe, his old business partner who had left to manage oper-ations elsewhere, joined him as the industrial advisor; JonasCrowe, an old university friend, had been appointed scientificadvisor to the community; and finally, his old fishing friendNathanial P. Hood, a descendant of the famous Civil War general,accompanied the new wave of settlers as military advisor. Otherofficials and specialists had been sent to help build a lasting com-munity, including doctors, fire chiefs, and planning architects.With them at his disposal, Porter knew that New Savannah wasready to take its first major leap towards its destiny as the greatestexample of human endeavor on all of Cretasus.

Building New Savannah

With the new machinery and skilled workers to use it, workstarted on the construction of a whole new city by the ocean.Builders worked night and day to erect permanent dwellings, fol-lowing architects’ plans for town blocks based on the distinctsquares in the original pattern of Savannah, Georgia. Heavilyarmed teams ventured into the mountains to assess their mineralvalue and begin mining ore, while workers prepared the founda-tions for the new factories that would process them.

Ranchers got to work driving a portion of the vast triceratopsherd away from the sea and into the plains, where they werewatered and managed by the humans. Most of the ranches werefounded along the river, extending the community onto the plains.It was then that the predators reared their ugly heads and caughtthe settlers unaware. A lack of security and a dearth of easy prey

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saw the destruction of both the Jones’ ranch and the Caddocks’before armed patrols could drive the predators away. Some of theranchers figured that they had overstepped the boundary of safe-ty. The older hands pulled back into the town until they could ade-quately protect themselves and their families out on the plain.Some families, determined to make the most of the land and theopportunities that it offered, stayed outside what the others con-sidered a safe distance, but many paid a terrible price for doing so.With new buildings erected every day, the pace of NewSavannah’s development had fooled these younger ranchers intobelieving the predatory dinosaurs were no longer a threat, and thatthe humans had scared them off for good. However, the originalsettlers’ determined resistance had forced the predators to takemore risks and attack whenever hunger forced an opportunity. Theranchers living on the very edge of the community proved to beperfect targets.

Most realized that New Savannah itself could not protect allwho decided to live out on the plains. Nathanial P. Hood, NewSavannah’s military advisor, suggested the construction of smalloutposts from which patrols could be launched against threateningpredators. These would also act as an early warning systemagainst other threats; Hood was all too aware that the Unionwould be equally interested in the rich land surrounding NewSavannah, and he was determined not to give any ground to theenemies of his country. Four small wooden forts were erectedalong the bank of the river, each six kilometers apart: closeenough to support each other but far enough apart to actually playa useful role in supporting the outlying ranches. Union spies andpotential interlopers could be apprehended at one of these forts,and the forts’ very presence would increase the range that patrolscould cover. They would also provide convenient resting placesfor the workers that traveled to and from the mountains, for richdeposits of ore had been discovered and work had begun inearnest to retrieve it. And all the time, the building of permanentstructures continued in New Savannah.

As the years progressed, more and more settlers came to NewSavannah, until the town was forced to spread over the plainstowards the forests and the mountains. Each influx brought moremachinery, equipment and resources to develop the town. Soon,over two hundred thousand souls lived in New Savannah and itsenvirons. The town had expanded out in a checkerboard fashion,copying the squares of old-time Savannah, and there were all theoffices, facilities, and amenities that humans elsewhere wouldhave expected to find. Farmers started to farm the vast plains, andranchers herded the triceratops further and further from the newcity. Ruthless purges against dinosaur predators were carried outto clear the way for further human development and for the secu-rity of the herds, but predators would always reappear just whenthe people thought them destroyed. As Hepsediah Porter and hisfamily grew in years, so the city of New Savannah grew in sizeand maturity, until it was a self-sufficient and thriving communi-ty. Whether you come here for commerce or adventure or just tobask in its splendor, New Savannah is a must-see spot for anyoneon Cretasus.

The City Today

Governing the Wilderness

If it were not for the presence of dinosaurs among them, thecitizens of New Savannah could be forgiven for thinking thatthey’d never left Earth. All the raw materials valued on Earth canbe found somewhere near the city, whether it be in the ocean, theearth or the mountains. In fact, the land is so fertile, so inviting tohumanity, that some have even entertained thoughts that they’vediscovered Eden, while others (mostly conspiracy theorists)believe that it is some grand alien plan to lure humans to a singlelocation, in order to make it easy for aliens to harvest them fortheir own sinister reasons. While the debate continues amongstthose with very little to do, the majority of New Savannah’s peo-ple get on with the job of making Cretasus their home.

A self-supporting community, New Savannah benefits from asound organizational structure conceived by Porter and his advi-sors. As the city grew in size, so did the need for a system of lawenforcement and social services to provide the infrastructure forthe thriving community. All these services were provided by theConfederacy. They include a fire service, free public heath sys-tem, sanitation department, police department, and all the otherpublic utilities and structures of government one would expect tofind in a major city.

Acting as head of the New Savannah community isHepsediah Porter, now in his early fifties. He and his close advi-sors form what government there is; there are none to rival him,although there are sometimes voices of dissent, which usuallymanifest themselves in protest or pressure groups. There is verylittle in the way of political debate in the homesteads of the city,and it is unlikely that there will be a place for it in the near future.All of those who come to New Savannah do so out of choice; ifthey are unwilling to live by its laws or pay its taxes, they simplyleave for the frontier. All who travel through space to NewSavannah are fully aware what is expected of them, and those whorefuse to comply are typically asked to leave.

Settling in New Savannah & Acquiring Land

There are two ways one can come to live in New Savannah.The most common is through an employment contract, whichguarantees the successful applicant a house and some land. Thesecond way is through land purchase. The Confederacy hasenough troops in the area to forcefully lay claim to the plains ofNew Savannah, and it can sell land to those who wish to livethere. A nominal rent is paid to the Confederacy to help financethe army and forts in the area. Only a handful of the citizens resentpaying the taxes and rent, as they’re all too well aware of whatmight happen if the patrols stop and the predators return in num-bers.

Those less well-off are also eligible for land purchase bymortgage, for which they purchase the land for a nominal fee, and

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then are expected to pay a greater sum of rent to the Confederacyto pay for the land. Failure to pay means eviction; New Savannahisn’t a socialist utopia, and life there can be as harsh for those whofail as it is back on Earth.

Once the land has been purchased, the owner is free to dowith it as he or she sees fit (providing the Confederacy gets itsrent, of course). There are strict regulations preventing the masspurchase of land or monopolies of ownership, as Porter and theConfederacy are wary about potential land barons buying up allthe land and then selling to Union settlers. This is one conceptualMason-Dixon line that they’re determined to preserve.

Of course, many visitors to New Savannah choose neither ofthe above options, opting instead to stay only long enough to gath-er supplies for passage to the frontier.

Industry

All conceivable types of industry occur in or around NewSavannah. All kinds of ore are mined, mostly around the moun-tains that separate the New Savannah plain from the desert thatPorter’s initial expedition had to cross. Many of these industriesare in the hands of the Confederacy, as they supply vital raw mate-rials critical to any nation at times of war. The processing facto-ries are kept close to their sources of supply, which means thatNew Savannah’s greatest industrial center is in fact many milesaway from the city. Life for the families of the miners and otherworkers is harder than for those fortunate enough to live withinNew Savannah’s walls, but they have their own communities andsmall towns that support them.

The largest town is called Mount Crowe, after Porter’s scien-tific advisor who discovered the main seams of ore in and aroundthe mountains. It is probably the last major stopover point for any-one wishing to head off into the mountains or beyond into thedesert, though very few come there for such a purpose. Most workfor the mining companies, and there’s always work available fordeadeye shots to guard the ponderous travelling freight wagons.Work is also underway on a railway between New Savannah andthe factories to reduce the risk of dinosaur attack; none of the hugehaulage wagons can travel very fast across the plain of NewSavannah, and while the trucks are pretty indestructible, theircrews aren’t. Pteranadons and pteradactyls from the mountainshave been known to attack resting convoys, and there is alwaysthe threat of bandits. Drivers and outriders are always in demandtoo; if one is looking for passage between New Savannah and themountains with food and pay, then the freight convoys are the bestoption.

Places of Note

There are several places of particular importance in NewSavannah:

City Hall, where all the Offices are located;The Docks, where most commercial and military boats moor;

The Grand Market, where most trade is done in NewSavannah;

Chatham Theatre, the largest and most popular theatre inNew Savannah; and

The Spaceport, the only one on Cretasus under civilian con-trol.

City Government

Hepsediah Porter is the man responsible for the developmentof what is essentially his city. As the population began to grow, hestudied the design Robert Castell had developed and that JamesOglethorpe used to create their magnificent Georgian city, theEarthly Savannah that Porter loved so much. Drafting plans forNew Savannah, Porter and his team adopted the system of broad,straight streets interspersed with grassy squares and parks. Liningthese streets were buildings of all kinds: houses and apartmentbuildings, food stores, neighborhood shops, etc. The prototypeallowed for great flexibility and a pleasant human scale. Thirtysuch squares formed the basis of the early city, and as more peo-ple arrived, more squares were added. The moat and palisade sys-tem were replaced by stone walls, which soon had to be ringed bya second perimeter of massive wire fences as the city continued togrow. While not as secure as the palisade, the fences are strongenough to provide protection from the smaller dinosaurs now thatthe ranchers had reduced the threat of mass stampedes.

Porter’s initial desire had been to re-create the eighteenth andnineteenth century architecture that Savannah was famed for, butsimple economics and building pressures ruled out such ambitionsin the short term. However, as more settlers arrived and themachinery to develop more impressive structures came available,some of his dreams became reality.

New Savannah has a burgeoning business community, spec-tacular docks, the only civilian spaceport on Cretasus and muchmore to interest the adventurer. It is the epitome of sophisticationand Southern gentility, and is even more outstanding given theharsh environment in which it thrives. Like a fragrant orchid ofculture surrounded by an arid desert of plebieanism, the city is amarked contrast to the hardships that surround its strong stonewalls. While ranchers and farmers fend off the natural world theyso carefully tend, the inhabitants of New Savannah relish the newlife they have made for themselves on Cretasus. For the majority,it has been a struggle, but some arrive with the money and back-ground of privilege. However, most of New Savannah’s good cit-izens have endured their own hardships to get this far, and noneintend to return to the trials of the life they’ve striven to escape.

New Savannah is one of the few centers of habitation that hasa formal government. Few of those that decide the city’s future arenot “first generation,” and real authority lies with the Porter fam-ily and their close friends. Hepsediah Porter is still the overall“ruler” of New Savannah, acting as the head of the community assomething crossed between a president and a mayor. There is noserious political opposition to the Porter patriarch, and it almost

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seems that he is without critics, but this is not the case. Taxationis always a sore point, but most arguments are nipped in the budby admitting only those willing to pay such taxes to live in NewSavannah. The taxes pay for the infrastructure needed to keepNew Savannah working: roads, street lighting, the fire service,hospitals, waterworks, militia guard, and other public utilitiescontrolled by Porter’s government. Each department of the localgovernment is responsible for keeping its part of the city in work-ing order, and the Porter family oversees this conglomeration,meshing it into one unified whole. Individuals are elected by thecitizens of New Savannah to run these utilities for terms of fouryears. The role of public servant is not a light one; the graveresponsibility that comes with the office is not often reflected inthe pay, and one needs a certain philanthropic bent to stand for oneterm, never mind run for a second. There is a great sense ofachievement amongst those who have held office, as each andevery one of the holders recognizes the significance of what theyare building on Cretasus. Being part of the New Savannah successstory is a great honor.

There are six main offices: the Sheriff’s Office, the Office ofPublic Works, the Office of Agriculture, the Office of CivilDefense, the Office of Trade and Industry, and the Office of PublicWelfare.

The Sheriff’s Office

The current holder of the Sheriff’s Office is Nathanial Kelly,a devout Protestant whose Earthly ancestors lived in Virginia. Aformer Security Officer on one of the Confederacy’s largestspace-craft, the CSS Shiloh, he is now in his fiftieth year and haskept crime in New Savannah so low that visitors may be unawarethat there are any misdemeanors committed in the city.

Every officer in the police force wears his badge of office onthe left breast: a circle with the Lone Star in the center. The rest ofthe uniform resembles the grey worn at West Point before theCivil War, making these guardians of the public good instantlyrecognizable. They are trained to keep the public peace, but alsoto shoot; the new challenges that the dinosaur planet brings arealso not lost on them.

Their special division of Bronco Riders handles any threatsposed by the herds, and often patrols outside the city to make surethat there are no external threats passing unnoticed. The policealso keep a stable of horses and a crack posse that has been knownto pursue criminals deep into the swamps and mountains, usuallyto return days later with their quarry in hand. Zeke Wylde, now alittle older than when he fought the albertosaurs at the settlement’sbirth, is the head of these Rough Riders. His knowledge of themountains is second only to that of the criminals who make it theirpermanent home, and even they have been caught out severaltimes by his tenacious raids into their territory.

The city is split into separate precincts, each answerable toKelly’s office, and is manned by between twenty to forty officersat one time. The Rough Riders are a city-wide elite, the result of

pooled resources from each precinct. All in all, Kelly does a goodjob in keeping the citizens safe from the potential dangers that sur-round them and strives to ensure that crime does not pay.

The Sheriff’s Office is also responsible for the upkeep of theNew Savannah prison, a large concrete structure often mistakenfor a fort by those approaching the city from outside. Fifteeninhospitable miles separate the prison from the city, and if gover-nor Jackson Wright has anything to do with it, its inhabitant won’tbe making that journey until they’ve paid their debt to society infull – and then some. There is no death penalty on Cretasus, butdoubtless your players will give cause for some to call for itsintroduction!

Peterson Precinct:A typical precinct station located in theeast of the city, Peterson Precinct is home to sixty officers andsupport personnel. Run by Evan Peterson (the city’s longest serv-ing precinct officer) it has approximately forty police officersready for action at any one time. At least half of these will bepatrolling the streets, as Kelly strongly believes that a powerfulpolice presence deters criminals. Peterson remains at the precinctthroughout the day, meeting with Kelly weekly in the city hall toreport on some of the initiatives that affect his precinct. The mostserious problem in Peterson Precinct is public disorder, as itshotels and bars are popular with visitors from outside, who oftenbring their cash with every intention of spending it on either thefinest wines available to humanity or cheap rot-gut whisky thatstill “does the job.” Ranch-hands frequent this part of the citywhen they are delivering to the market and they always bringdrunken violence. The officers give short shrift to aggressivedrunks; many ranch hands have awakened to find themselvesslightly bruised and sore in the station’s cells.

Here are the statistics for the average police officer on theNew Savannah force should your players force their interventionat any time.

New Savannah Police, Confederate War1: CR 1/2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d8+3 (includesToughness feat); Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 leatherarmor); Atk +2 melee (1d4+1/crit 19-20, knife), or +1 ranged(1d10/crit x3, Colt .45); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +0;Str 12, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10.

Skills: Intimidate +4 (4), Handle Animal +2 (1), Jump (1),Listen +2 (0), Ride +2 (2), Spot +2 (0). Feats: Toughness,Alertness.

Possessions: Knife, Colt .45 with 4d10 bullets, leatherarmor, flashlight, manacles, cash $1d6. Police may beequipped with Winchester rifles or shotguns for special mis-sions.

The Rough Riders:A posse of forty trained horsemen, theRough Riders are chosen from the elite from each precinct. Ledby Zeke Wylde, the Riders often go out into the wilderness to gettheir man, so all the Riders are expert horsemen and scouts. Theywear no uniform as such but all carry photographic identificationand a badge of office, though they rarely get called on to serveinside the city. They are a cut above the average officer, and theirstatistics reflect their specialist training.

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Rough Rider, Confederate War1/Bro1: CR 2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 2d8+3; Init +1 (Dex); Spd40 ft. (light horse); AC 13 (+1 Dex, +2 leather armor); Atk +1melee (1d8/crit 19-20, longsword), or +2 ranged (1d10/critx3, Colt .45)*; AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +0; Str 11,Con 11, Dex 12, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 12.

* Does not include penalties for firing while riding, whichare reduced due to Mounted Archery feat: -2 if mount makesdouble move, -4 if mount runs.

Skills: Animal Empathy +6 (4), Balance +3 (2), HandleAnimal +8 (5), Intimidate +5 (4), Intuit Direction +4 (4),Knowledge (nature) +2 (2), Jump +2 (2), Ride +7 (5),Wilderness Lore +4 (4). Feats: Mounted Combat, MountedArchery, Toughness.

Possessions: Light horse, longsword, Colt .45 with 4d10bullets, Winchester rifle with 3d10 bullets, leather armor,cash $2d6. May be equipped with lances or other weaponsfor special missions.

Scenario Hooks:The most likely point of involvement thecharacters will have with the police force is if they get a littlerowdy or forget that New Savannah is a civilized city, not a placewhere you can kill without facing the consequences. However, ifthe characters are responsible citizens, they can volunteer asSpecial Officers or even be deputized to assist the Rough Ridersif their reputation warrants it.

The Office of Public Works

Probably the least glamorous of all the public offices, theOffice of Public Works is run by Winston Porter, the second-eld-est son of the city patriarch. He is responsible for the smooth day-to-day running of the Office, which is the largest of the six. Hisdepartment covers a lot of different ground; the fire service, healthcare, sewerage and waterworks, fuel supplies, land registration,power, communications, and many other amenities taken forgranted by many citizens in New Savannah all fall under his juris-diction. From clearing the sewers of rats and dinosaurs to provid-ing the facilities for delicate surgery, the Office of Public Works isa multi-faceted machine that runs smoothly due only to the dedi-cation of the people who work within it. Private medicine isunheard of, and all doctors must be registered with the Officebefore they can practice. Of course private doctors do exist, butthey tend to serve those who don’t want their medical needs com-ing to the attention of the police.

Scenario Hooks:As stated earlier, there usually isn’t much inthe way of adventure to be found at the Office of Public Works,but without it and the services it supplies, the characters wouldn’tbe able to live in the city or receive medical aid. Union or banditsabotage of the public works is sometimes an issue, and dinosaursmucking up the generators has caused problems in the past. Thereis always work for sewer cleaners; this can be a very dangerousjob, and despite the generous pay offered by the Office, very fewpursue this as a career. Not many people will recommend the

movie Alligator to you, but watch it; now imagine it’s a dinosaurdown there.

The Office of Public Welfare

Once again, this Office doesn’t provide a great opportunityfor adventure; it handles social security and benefits for the sick,the elderly and the disabled. If you can’t work, then you should beable to find help here. Isaiah Mason heads the Office of PublicWelfare and quietly gets on with it. There is an investigationdepartment that deals with fraud, but other than catching cheats,there’s not much in the way of excitement at the Office of PublicWelfare.

The one source of controversy is usually the immigration sys-tem. The Office has to examine people who have arrived at NewSavannah’s massive spaceport for viruses and also has to detainthose who are on the planet illegally. The growing population ofaliens on Cretasus has raised fears of exotic disease, and with theexception of the well-known Scray, most aliens are temporarilyquarantined upon their arrival at the spaceport.

Scenario Hooks:Unless you really want to go on a crusadeto better the lot of the down at heel, there’s not much room foradventure here.

The Office of Agriculture

Porter’s eldest daughter, Catherine, is the head of this Office,which also deals with other sources of food vital to existence inNew Savannah. The fishing ships fall under the control of thislarge department, as do the farms and ranches of the Main Valley.It is only recently that the office has started regulating the fishingships, not because of fears of over fishing but because manyunsuitable boats wound up at the bottom of the inland ocean afterattacks by the larger sea dinosaurs. Small rowing boats look likeperfect prey to some of the true leviathans that hunt in the sameshoals as the fishermen, and more than one family has lost itsfounder through such misadventure.

All land ownership is registered here, as are the individualfarms and ranches that lie in the surrounding territory. While theOffice covers most of the land within five days’ ride of NewSavannah, it doesn’t stretch to the true frontier ranches, as most ofthose were founded by independent endeavor and don’t comeunder the jurisdiction of the city. All ranchers register their brandhere to help settle cattle disputes, and the Office even has veteri-narians who specialize in the fauna of Cretasus (as much as onecan be skilled in something so new) who train some of the lesstransient ranch hands the skills needed to birth the young of theirpeculiar herds.

The most arduous form of employment offered by the Officeis the post of Ranch Inspector, which involves extensive andsomewhat dangerous travel through the Main Valley to ensure thatranches are being kept on the land the rancher actually owns andthat no one is collecting “stray” beasts from land that isn’t theirs.

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This is an unpopular job, as its other responsibilities include col-lecting the taxes due to the Office. If a farmer or rancher has hada bad year or disastrous month, there’s sometimes nothing left forthe Inspector to take. Things can turn nasty, especially if the indi-vidual concerned feels that the department is at fault for not sup-porting him during his hour of need. The Inspector usually travelswith at least one Rough Rider and several other paid representa-tives to both protect him from angry farmers and enforce hisauthority when necessary.

Scenario Hooks: The Office usually hires outsiders toenforce its dictates, as the potential for corruption is quite high.This somewhat mercenary approach is regulated by a small forceof professional officers, all of whom have been extensively vettedbefore being appointed. They oversee the hirelings and make surethe operation runs smoothly. Characters becoming involved withthe Office can usually expect to have at least one NPC accompa-ny them, no matter what task they are paid to undertake.

Here are some typical missions:1. Tax collection: This is a great opportunity to ride with the

Rough Riders, but it can also be a harrowing experience for themore sensitive players. Many people struggle in the Main Valley,and a dinosaur attack can wipe out a great deal of hard work.Characters could find themselves in a situation where they supportthe farmer who can’t pay and refuses to abandon his farm, insteadholing up with his rifle and enough ammunition and food to keepthe officers off his family’s back. Grudges can develop if the play-ers carry out their duty; if the same farmer, now ruined, catches upwith them when the bandit gang he runs ambushes the characters,what will he do?

2. Rustling: Players can find themselves involved in anti-rustling investigations. The Butlers and Dukes, two families thatyou will meet later, are a common source of friction that theOffice has to smooth over and this would be a perfect way toinvolve the players in their age-old feud. There are also the ban-dits who hide out in the hills, mountains and swamps; they stillneed to eat, and what easier way than stealing cattle (or other edi-ble life-forms). There’s potential for an awful lot of scenarioshere: What if they discover that the rustlers aren’t even human,but aliens or fierce dinosaur predators?

3. Hunting a deadly sea predator. While the Office’s ships aresturdier than most, no one really knows the true size of the mon-sters that dwell within the inland ocean. What terror may comefrom the deep? Jawswill seem like child’s play compared to someof the specimens chomping their way through the unlucky fisher-men of New Savannah.

The Office of Civil Defense

Under the leadership of Nathanial P. Hood, the Office of CivilDefense covers all military activity in New Savannah, includingthe patrols that man some of the smaller waypoint forts outside thecity walls. Remarkably, there isn’t that much in the way of excite-ment for the military forces and the New Savannah Militia simply

because there’s no one to fight; the regular Confederate Armywatches for any Union challenge and the force stationed at NewSavannah is more or less a garrison to protect the city from thelarger predators and the unlikely but possible prospect of anUnion attack.

The Militia is purely a Civil Defense Force, but they do trainwith the military, and could be a useful occupation for player char-acters who want to be soldiers but also to have the freedom withwhich to adventure on Cretasus.

Militiaman, Confederate Sol1: CR 1; Medium-sizeHumanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d8+3 (includes Toughness feat); Init+1 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 16 (+5 flak jacket, +1 Dex); Atk +1melee (1d4+1/crit 19-20, knife), +2 ranged (1d10/crit x3,automatic pistol), or +2 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchesterrifle); AL LN; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 12, Con 11,Dex 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10.

Skills: Drive +5 (4), Intimidate +4 (4), Knowledge (strat-egy & tactics) +5 (4), Listen +4 (2), Pilot +3 (2), Spot +2 (0),Use Technical Equipment +5 (4). Feat: Toughness,Alertness.

Possessions: Knife, automatic pistol with 1d4 cartridges(20 bullets each), Winchester rifle with 1d4 cartridges (20bullets each), flak jacket, cash $1d4.

The Office of Trade and Industry

Run by Jeremiah Othelthwaite, this Office is responsible fortaxation of the local population and New Savannah businesses, aswell as ensuring that there is fair play amongst the companiesmining the rich ore from the mountains and the surrounding area.It is a very busy office, as new businesses are opening all the time,particularly in New Savannah and the industrial district aroundMount Crowe. The Office covers such diverse functions as thetransport infrastructure, and its main project now is the railwayfrom Mount Crowe to the industrial district of New Savannah. Itis also responsible for traffic coming in and out of the spaceport,and if the characters start the game by arriving from another plan-et, they will see representatives of both the Office of PublicWelfare and the Office of Trade and Industry. After all, Porter iskeen to limit the number of people wanting to live in NewSavannah as he’s all too aware of the problems that overpopula-tion bring.

The Office also deals with the thriving business communitythat has developed over the last few decades. Business leaderstypically try to get taxes lowered; if there is ever to be a concert-ed challenge to the Porter patriarchy, more than likely it will comefrom the business sector. However, unless your players want to getinvolved in a political game, you don’t really need to worry aboutthis, since Porter policies are popular with the vast majority of cit-izens, and businesses are strictly forbidden to sponsor candidatesfor election to any of the offices of government. The influence ofbusiness on policy is widely regarded as the beginning of the endfor the Union’s once-democratic government, as those who had

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bankrolled candidates soon made it clear that they hadn’t done sofor philanthropic reasons.

Scenario Hooks:There are several ways that the characterscould find themselves working for the Office of Trade andIndustry. Here are just a few:

1. The Office employs a team of industrial investigators whoensure that businesses are playing by the rules. With the rise ofcompetition among firms vying for Confederate contracts to mineore, the investigators are kept extremely busy and there is alwaysan opportunity for players to find employment with the Office inthat capacity. A few gunslingers are always welcome, simplybecause if a business is acting in an underhanded manner, itsowner would rather silence the investigator than give up a lucra-tive contract. After all, anything can happen en route betweenNew Savannah and Mount Crowe. Many recent investigationshave surrounded two large families, the Butlers and the Dukes,more of whom you’ll hear later.

2. Bandits have stolen a transport ship from the Spaceport andthe characters are hired to retrieve it. This can bring them intoconflict with pirates who are trading off-world and could be thestart of a long campaign – assuming the players actually want towork with the authorities and not become outlaws themselves!

3. Supplies are disappearing en route to the railway, withwhole shipments and their drivers leaving New Savannah, neverto be seen again. The Office wants to know what is going on: is itthe work of the Union, bandits, dinosaurs or something more sin-ister? Some ranch hands believe that they’ve seen the ghosts ofthe drivers begging for help but have been too spooked to take anyaction. Others claim to have seen strange lights in the sky; couldit be aliens? It is up to the characters to get to the truth.

Life in New Savannah

For the majority of citizens, life is very comfortable. The dif-ficulties of early settlement have been overcome; new arrivalsdon’t realize how good they’ve got it. As discussed before, thecity is arranged in an array of squares, which radiate out from theinland ocean like a vast checkerboard. The older squares containboth residential and commercial buildings, but as the city hasgrown, squares have tended to be separated more along lines offunction. There are whole squares that contain shops and othersthat contain only residences, giving the city a more district-likefeel. For example, around the huge market are many other busi-ness squares, drawn by the vast crowds that frequent the market-place. The Chatham Theatre is surrounded by hotels, saloons, andother places of entertainment, all providing somewhere to have adrink before (and after) whatever show is currently in production.Even the residential areas have convenience stores that providemost of their needs.

A Typical Residential District

Houses make up the majority of buildings in the residentialsquares, with the occasional shop or bar breaking up the near per-fect (or monotonous) symmetry of Porter’s architectural model.Most houses are two-story and hold between four and seven peo-ple, typically a single family. The district we’ll look at is calledStuart District, which consists of eight squares, and is of fairlyrecent construction. It is based near the southern wall of the city,far away from the inland ocean.

The brief outline here leaves enough room for you to inhabitthe district with anyone you like. Broadly speaking, it falls underthe jurisdiction of the Stuart Precinct police station, and is fairlyquiet. It has two bars, three diners, and myriad small coffee shopsand convenience stores.

Jerry’s (Residential Bar): Stuart District’s largest bar is apopular meeting place for after work drinks as it is based near thecoach house, the point at which all the locals disembark after ahard day’s work in the city center. Popular attractions include livebands playing country music every weekday evening and dancingon the weekends. The bar takes its name from owner GeraldDwight, a resident of three years who brought enough money withhim to have first dibs on the bar when it was built. He used towork on the docks and has good knowledge of the ocean, eventhough he now lives at the opposite end of New Savannah fromhis former place of employment. His old buddies still drink heremost evenings, bringing with them “fishy” tales: who has caughtwhat, and in some cases what has caught whom.

Uncle Moe’s (Family Restaurant): William Greenburg runsthis family-oriented diner. The establishment’s second owner,Greenburg took over from Moe Williams when the latter died (ofnatural causes, not food poisoning). The diner holds places forabout sixty people and you’re not allowed to bring firearms ontothe premises or use foul language in front of the children.Greenburg is more than capable of throwing rebarbative cus-tomers out if they refuse his polite requests to leave, an offer onlygiven once. Meals are good, the portions are fair, and the stafffriendly if you play by their rules.

Jackson the Grocer: Typical of many convenience stores inNew Savannah, this one, run by fifty-year-old manager AndrewJackson, sells everything from ironmongery to boiled sweets.Prices tend to be a little high, but the store is right on the doorstepof those who live nearby, and a long haul through the city is thelast thing residents want if they just need a cup of sugar. Jacksonkeeps a shotgun under the counter and is ably assisted by his wifeMegan, a forty-three-year-old redhead with a tongue sharper thanbitter lemon candy. These stores should be the first port of call forcharacters wanting to get a good idea of the lay of the land.Everyone in the neighborhood pops into the shop for those last-minute items, and anyone not recognized by the Jackson familyeither plans their shopping like a military campaign or is hidingfrom humanity for some possibly sinister reason.

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Dinosaurs in New Savannah

Dinosaurs are quite difficult to domesticate, but people makepets out of them anyway. Small dinos in particular are kept incages, in yards, on chains, or loose in people’s houses. It’s rare tofind someone who doesn’t keep two or three small dinosaurs(squirrel- to dog-sized) around the house. Brightly-colored dinosare particularly popular; many of the domesticated versions areactually poisonous creatures with their venom sacs removed.Dinos smaller than dog-sized generally do not speak and range incleverness from the level of a monkey to the level of a rabbit.They vary widely in temperament and habits.

It’s also important to note that some of these dinos will bite,scratch, and attack their owners (who are not at all their masters).Most are not fully domesticated and do not toilet train. Peoplekeep them around at their own risk, but it seems to satisfy somedeep psychological urge, or perhaps allay fears of the uncon-quered hordes of dinosaurs outside the settled areas.

A few types of dino have been fully gentled for use in thehouse and are tame enough to be kept around small children.Butterfly lizards have a delicate pair of gliding wings and bright-ly colored scales; they are greedy and eager eaters which skitteraround walls and ceilings like geckos on speed. White Jagers are

tiny pale nocturnal bipeds that keep the house clear of vermin bypatient, quiet stalking of their prey. They imprint like ducks: oncebonded to a particular person, they will respect, obey, and protectthat person forever. Both of these species breed well in captivity,although butterfly lizards are notoriously frail and temperature-sensitive, requiring a warm, moist atmosphere or their wings dryout and they perish.

It is illegal for dinosaurs to walk loose down the streets ofNew Savannah. Riding them or walking them on a leash isallowed, but otherwise they need to stay indoors. New arrivals aresometimes surprised to see compsognathus, clipped pterosaurs,and edaphosaurs wandering up and down the street on leashes.Raptors and protoceratops, being of human-level intelligence, arean exception to this rule, although raptors are rarely seen in thestreets without a military escort.

The larger dinosaurs are often under the tenuous control of aninjection harness, but most civilians still give them a wide berth,remembering the rare (but infamous) lapses when they havemauled a passer-by or attacked each other or even turned on theirowners. Even at their best, they leave enormous piles of dino dungin the middle of the roads.

Dinosaur leashes are constructed of thin but sturdy links ofmetal, with a thick metal collar. Owners are required to wrap their

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dinosaurs’ leashes, not around their arm or hand, but around theirtorso: a mere handhold is not enough to restrain the larger onesand the authorities figure that people will try their hardest to avoidexciting their pets if failure means being dragged through thedusty streets! Electrified leashes are also available for especiallywary owners.

(Breaking a standard dinosaur leash is a DC 25 Strengthcheck; slipping a chain is a DC 30 Escape Artist check.Attempting to restrain a dinosaur using a standard chain is astraight Strength contest, holder vs. dino; using a choke chaingives the human a +5 bonus to the roll, although it may antago-nize the dinosaur!)

Very large dinosaurs need not be chained to a person, but theydo need to be linked in a chain that eventually leads to a dino rid-den by a human, or to a vehicle. Strings of chained brachies are acommon sight on the outskirts of New Savannah.

qrfel and Zagmo, Dinosaur Researchers

qrfel is a representative of Underglen, a little-known proto-ceratops city to the north. He is the emissary to New Savannah.(qrfel comes from a group of protoceratops who do not capitalizetheir names; they feel it’s a sign of arrogance and too much attach-ment to the self.) There are two emissaries, actually: qrban, qrfel’selder brother, handles negotiations with the Confederates, whileqrfel aims to learn as much as he can from these strange outsiders.qrfel has somehow acquired the services of Zagmo, an ornit-holestes. Zagmo obeys qrfel’s orders, and in general serves as hishands.

qrfel is a common sight, walking around town with Zagmo inhis special harness. At least, that’s the story that’s heard on thestreets. In reality, qrfel and Zagmo are saboteurs. They representthe “aggressive pacifism” faction of the protoceratops, and workas best they can to prevent development in the Main Valley andthe expansion of the Confederate military presence. They havecontacts with various factions of smugglers, and work to facilitateweapons deals that put guns in the hands of raptors. Zagmo is anaccomplished thief, and often enters houses in the dead of night tosteal important documents. They also gather information whichmight be useful to various resistance groups (Dinozonians, wildones, raptor tribes, and any other opponents of progress). qrfeland Zagmo finance their activities with sales of native artifactsthrough a fence named Anders.

qrfel is soft-spoken and often buys rounds of drinks for new-comers at some of New Savannah’s many bars. If drawn out, hepraises human science and human accomplishments and plays therole of humble student very well.

Zagmo never speaks. In fact, his tongue was cut out by sci-entists interested in ornitholestes speech patterns, which led himto hate humankind. After they were finished with him, the scien-tists sold him to smugglers, who taught him to rob. He often swal-lowed stolen items in order to prevent them from being found. Hewas quite accomplished by the time he managed to slaughter his

owners and escape, wounded, to the alleys, a feat which broughthim to qrfel’s attention. qrfel nursed him back to health, for whichhe feels grateful, and he shares qrfel’s goal of sweeping the valleyclean of humans.

Zagmo often dresses in a fool’s motley, complete with jester’scap, because it makes humans think he’s not a threat. He is.

qrfel, Proteceratops Spy5: CR 7; Small Animal; HD7d10+14; hp 52; Init +0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 18 front (+7 natural,+1 size)*, 14 sides and back (+2 natural, +1 size)*; Atk +7melee (1d8+2, bite); SA Spy class abilities; AL LG (zealot);SV Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +10; Str 16, Con 18, Dex 10, Int14, Wis 16, Cha 18.

Skills: Bluff +15 (11), Ciphers +7 (5), Diplomacy +15(11), Gather Information +10 (6), Intuit Direction +4 (1),Knowledge (nature) +8 (6), Knowledge (dinosaurs) +8 (6),Knowledge (geography) +8 (6), Knowledge (history) +11(9), Knowledge (local) +11 (9), Knowledge (human society)+11 (9), Listen +13 (10), Sense Motive +15 (11), SpeakLanguage (Common, Latin, Anglit, Protoceratops, Raptor),Search +5 (3), Spot +7 (4), Wilderness Lore +5 (2). Feats:Dodge, Mobility.

Possessions: qrfel wears modified saddlebags to storehis finds.

* SA – Spy class: As with all fifth level spies, qrfel canuse Slip of the Tongue fives times per day, receives a +1dodge to AC vs. ranged weapons, and can use Nick of Timeand Intriguing once per day. His dodge feat can also add +1AC against a designated opponent.

Zagmo, Ornitholestes Ftr1/Rog2: CR 4; MediumAnimal (6 ft.); HD 5d10+20; hp 54; Init +7 (+3 Dex, +4improved initiative); Spd 60 ft.; AC 16 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, -1 size); Atk +11 melee (2d8+7/crit 19-20, laser sword), +11melee (1d4+7, bite), or +8 melee (1d3+5, 2 claws); AL NE;SV Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +2; Str 24, Con 19, Dex 16, Int 6,Wis 10, Cha 4.

Skills: Hide +8 (5), Climb +8 (1), Move Silently +8 (5),Listen +4 (4), Spot +6 (6), Pick Pockets +8 (5). Feats:Weapon Proficiency: Laser Sword, Improved Initiative.

Possessions: Cloak, laser sword.Zagmo’s archaic and specialized training gives him two

levels of rogue and one of fighter. Like any second-levelrogue, he can use the abilities evasion and sneak attack+1d6.

The Confederate Planets Center for Knowledge(C.P.C.K.)

While New Savannah is famed for its hospitality, excitement,and picturesque way of life, it is also the last point of contact formany explorers before they venture into the unknown. There aremany forests, mountains, and valleys far beyond the frontier of theinland ocean. Not only does New Savannah serve as the nervecenter for all the farms, ranches, and industries on the plain, but

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it’s also the origin point for many expeditions of discovery. Several offices offer contracts to brave souls willing to risk

themselves in the wilderness to further the Confederacy’s knowl-edge. Whether the expeditions are to make maps of the area,search for resources, or simply to discover the fate of the last com-pany that never returned, there is usually an opening for a deter-mined and adventurous sort.

Despite its rather official-sounding title, the C.P.C.K. is runby a private citizen by the name of Richard Montague. Montagueis of old Louisiana stock and funds expeditions into the unknownon behalf of the Confederacy. He takes a keen interest in all therumors brought in by other explorers and even the frontier. Hispeople were the first to begin the task of cataloguing the dinosaursthat live in the swamplands, and this led to the discovery of sev-eral species previously unknown to the inhabitants of Cretasus.Montague is always looking for people to escort his scientists intothe Bayou; characters can always find work here if they are handywith a gun or know something about dinosaurs. Frequented bysurvivalists (some of them deeply disturbing), the C.P.C.K. officesare also a good place for the characters to hire a scout.

Montague used to lead some of the exploratory trips into theswamp, so he knows it well. He too can be hired. His familiaritywith the swamps ensures that any party he accompanies has a bet-ter than even chance of survival. His brother James runs the cen-ter in Richard’s absence.

The center has the best maps of the area available to out-siders; there are some locals out on the frontier who know a littlemore than these maps show (like common dinosaur haunts andtrails), but the information at the center should be good enough formost journeys. Montague will always be interested in hearing anystories about travel on Cretasus, and he sometimes pays for maps,so players looking to make money from a routine journey woulddo well to proffer plans to the C.P.C.K.

Richard Montague, Offworlder Male Twf3: CR 3;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 3d8+6; hp 21; Init +0;Spd 20 ft.; AC 13 (+3 crocodile hide armor – see stats onpage 80); Atk +4 melee (1d4+2/crit 19-20, raptor claw dag-ger), +4 melee (1d6+2, unarmed), or +2 ranged (1d10/critx3, Colt .45); AL N; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +2; Str 15, Con15, Dex 11, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 9.

Skills: Gather Information +4 (4), Wilderness Lore +4(2). Feats: Track, Weapon Proficiency – Ballistic.

Possessions: Raptor claw dagger, Colt .45 with 20 bul-lets, crocodile hide armor, cash $2d6. If on expedition,Montague will be well equipped with all the supplies heneeds.

Typical Survivalist, Offworlder Twf1: CR 1; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d8+1; Init +4 (ImprovedInitiative); Spd 20 ft.; AC 13 (+3 hide armor); Atk +1 melee(1d4+1/crit 19-20, knife) or +1 melee (1d6+1, unarmed); ALCN; SV Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 13, Con 13, Dex 10, Int10, Wis 11, Cha 9.

Skills: Gather Information +3 (4), Wilderness Lore +2(0). Feat: Improved Initiative.

Possessions: Knife, hide armor, 1d4+1 days worth ofhardtack, 1-gallon canteen with water, cash $1d4.Whenever they leave the house, survivalists carry enoughsupplies for several days – even if they’re only going out fora short while – “just in case.”

Mount Crowe: New Savannah’sMining Town

As mentioned earlier, the average citizen in Mount Crowe hasa tougher life than one in New Savannah. With the discovery ofthe rich veins of ore in the mountains, the Confederacy called forvolunteers to come and work the mines. Overriding Porter’s ini-tial plea for “families only,” the Confederacy shipped in hugenumbers of workers to exploit the wealth they had discovered.The character of the town is now like that of any frontier miningtown in the early West: a massively disproportionate ration of mento women, stacks of drinking holes and gambling dens to relievethe workers’ pockets of their hard-earned cash, and enough “hous-es of ill repute” to surprise even the most liberal visitor.

While some of the men might be mean and dirty, the law isjust as rough. Primarily under the control of the military (and localcommander Colonel Paul Decker), justice tends to be swift andfinal. Decker runs a “three strikes and you’re out” policy for whathe considers lesser offenses like brawling and petty theft. In thiscase, “out” means that the offender is shipped off-planet. Usually,the presence of his soldiers is enough to quell a fist-fight overcards or women, with both parties denying anything happenedafter the event. For murder and other such crimes, wrongdoerstypically have their possessions confiscated, followed by banish-ment or imprisonment until they can be shipped off-planet.

Several have blamed Decker’s system for the growing num-ber of bandits that hide in the mountains and the forests, menforced to go on the run to avoid the law. Some attribute him withthe existence of the criminal colonies in both Plesiosaur Bay andthe Hideout Hills. Whatever one’s opinion of Decker, his soldiersenforce the law in Mount Crowe, and you’d better not cross them.

Colonel Paul Decker, Commander of ConfederateMilitary Forces, Mount Crowe Mining Town: Descended fromSouth Carolina stock, Colonel Paul Decker has served in theConfederate military for most of his life. Like his father beforehim, he served in the 2nd South Carolina Rifles and soon becamethe regiment’s Colonel. He has fought against all enemies theConfederacy has ever faced and is noted for his own personalbravery, not expecting anything more of his men than he himselfwould be willing to give.

Decker runs a tight ship, very rarely taking time off from hisduties as lawgiver and peacekeeper in Mount Crowe and the sur-rounding mining villages. He is now focused on the notoriousGaines Gang, who have been stealing shipments of processedmaterials (typically gold) and rustling livestock from the ranchersin the outlying district. He believes that they operate from caves

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in the mountainside, but expeditions have yet to uncover any evi-dence. His men have found the nests of several pteranadons, how-ever, which usually ensure that the number of men that return witheach expedition is substantially less than that which embarked.

He is an impressive figure of a man; 6’ 4” tall, a championathlete and a would-be Dino Warrior if the post appealed to him,he has thick dark hair and a beard that would be regarded asextremely long even by nineteenth-century Confederate com-manders. He speaks with the classic southern drawl, always has apolite word for the ladies and spends his spare time fishing on thebanks of the great river for all kinds of water life.

Colonel Paul Decker, Confederate Male War3/Sol3:CR 6; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 3d8+3d10+18; hp49; Init +6 (+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30 ft.; AC17 (+2 Dex, +5 flak jacket); Atk +5 melee (2d8+2/crit 19-20,laser sword), +9 ranged (1d10/crit x3, heirloom Colt .45), +8ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchester rifle), or +8 ranged (spe-cial, shotgun); AL LN; SV Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +5; Str 15,Con 16, Dex 14, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 13.

Skills: Drive +5 (5), Handle Animal +6 (5), Intimidate +9(9), Jump +4 (6), Knowledge (strategy & tactics) +6 (6),Listen +5 (5), Pilot +2 (2), Ride +6 (5), Use TechnicalEquipment +5 (5). Feats: Sense of Vulnerability, CombatReflexes, Iron Will, Endurance, Improved Initiative.

Possessions: Knife, lasso, laser sword, heirloom Colt.45 with 1d4+2 cartridges (20 bullets each), Winchester riflewith 1d4+2 cartridges (20 bullets each), shotgun (20 shells),cash $4d6. Colonel Decker is always armed with all theweapons listed above. At night, he sleeps with them!

Rifleman, the 2nd South Carolina Rifles:These are the sta-tistics for a typical recruit; they are all experienced in the art ofwar, and have adapted well to their new policing role. Always onthe lookout for Union infiltrators, most of Decker’s Riflemenexpect that the Union would strike the industrial wealth of MountCrowe before they would assault New Savannah itself.

Rifleman, the 2nd South Carolina Rifles,Confederate Sol1: CR 1; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.);HD 1d8; Init +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30 ft.;AC 16 (+5 flak jacket, +1 Dex); Atk +1 melee (1d4+1/crit 19-20, knife), +2 ranged (1d10/crit x3, automatic pistol), or +2ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchester rifle); AL LN; SV Fort +2,Ref +1, Will +0; Str 12, Con 11, Dex 12, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha10.

Skills: Drive +5 (4), Intimidate +4 (4), Knowledge (strat-egy & tactics) +4 (4), Listen +6 (4), Spot +2 (0), UseTechnical Equipment +4 (4). Feats: Improved Initiative,Alertness.

Possessions: Knife, automatic pistol with 1d4 cartridges(20 bullets each), Winchester rifle with 1d4 cartridges (20bullets each), flak jacket, cash $1d6.

Mining Operations

Mount Crowe is the largest of several communities that havesprung up around the main centers of industry on the NewSavannah plain. Owned by the Confederacy, the outstandingresources available to new settlers are now professionally exploit-ed. The mines are run by dedicated mining firms who believe inthe cause of the Confederate planets, as are the quarries, smeltingand processing plants and all the other industries and processesconsidered critical to a country at times of war. These companiesare, of course, well paid by the Confederacy for their support.

Even though the Confederacy technically owns the mines,there is some competition for the tenders between firms to actual-ly carry out the work. Less patriotic members of the business com-munity wouldn’t worry about carrying out a little sabotage if itmeant the crippling of a rival firm and a revocation of the contractto be passed on to a company that could carry out the work, i.e.theirs. Confederacy officials frown upon such behavior, but itdoes go on.

All kinds of mines can be found dotted around the mountainsof the New Savannah plains: iron, lead, sulfur, gold, copper, tin,silver, and coal, to name the most prominent. Mount Crowe sup-ports the huge iron ore mines of Frederick P. Anderson, whoemploys over one thousand men and women to work his highlymechanized plant, turning iron ore into steel. There’s usually work

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available for anyone on Cretasus who wants it at the steel millsand the iron mines, ranging from laborers to highly trained tech-nicians who ensure that the machines run smoothly. Researchteams are often sent into the mountains to search likely spots andto take samples; Anderson is always looking for volunteers forthese dangerous assignments. As the first settlers discovered,there are creatures living in the mountains, and many huge cav-erns and tunnels already thread through their slopes. The real dan-ger posed by the dinosaurs and the Gaines Gang ensure that play-er characters with the right skills (and guns and guts to back themup) will find work as a research team if they wish to explore themountains or are looking to earn some good money.

Entertainment

Bowling, billiards, cinema, and baseball games provide themore wholesome entertainment within Mount Crowe. Most of thefactories have baseball teams that compete in a league once aweek; there are no professional players, so all games have to takeplace on the weekend or during special sporting holidays heldevery month. There are sometimes competitions in New Savannahduring holiday season, when the top four teams from the MountCrowe league compete with the top four teams in New Savannahfor trophies.

There are many bars and their ilk in Mount Crowe. Severalare sports bars where one can play pool or go bowling, while oth-ers are less salubrious establishments, many serving as bothwatering holes and brothels. There are no laws against drinking orgambling in Mount Crowe, and while prostitution isn’t strictlylegal in Mount Crowe, it isn’t strictly illegal either, with the vastmajority of the population (of single men) turning a blind or keen-ly interested eye to it.

Other popular attractions include the Bronco Trials, wherecompetitors ride younger triceratops like the bulls of the west: therider that stays on his mount the longest is the winner. There areoften scouts from the Dino Warriors or the richer ranchers in theaudience eyeing potential recruits, so Bronco Trials are an excel-lent opportunity for someone with the right skills to get noticed.

The Frog & Spanner

Typical of the smaller bars in Mount Crowe, the Frog &Spanner has perhaps the most unusual name. Its proprietor,William T. Levers, a fifty-two year old former soldier, refuses togo into detail as to why he saddled the fruits of his pension fundwith such a ridiculous moniker, but he’s willing to go into greatdetail about pretty much anything else. The bar has ten guest bed-rooms, usually taken by men who travel with the convoys, with agenerous discount for soldiers and ex-servicemen.

Levers is a somewhat forgetful man; if he could establish alink between the facts lurking in his fair-haired head, he’d quick-ly realize that he knows too much. He knows many rumors aboutthe activities of the Gaines Gang, ranging from the solid fact that

they operate from somewhere in the mountains to the rather moreunlikely conjecture that Steve Gaines, the Gang’s leader, is actu-ally a hyper-intelligent velociraptor. Even the drunkest listenershave disregarded this hypothesis, and Levers has no recollectionof its source.

Levers carries an automatic pistol at all times and is skilled inits use. He can also handle himself in a pub brawl, even with thesoldiers, because while they’re usually drunk as skunks, Levers isstone cold sober. This is one publican who never dips into hisstock.

William T. Levers, Confederate Male War1: CR 1/2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d8; 6 hp; Init +0; Spd 30ft.; AC 11 (+1 padded smock); Atk +2 melee (1d3+1,unarmed), or +1 ranged (1d10/crit x3, automatic pistol); ALLN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 13, Con 10, Dex 10, Int8, Wis 10, Cha 11.

Skills: Intimidate +2 (2), Listen +2 (0), Profession(Barkeep) +2 (2), Spot +2 (0). Feats: Alertness, Quick Draw.

Possessions: Automatic pistol with 1 cartridge (20 bul-lets), padded smock, 3 flasks of various kinds of liquor, cash$1d4.

Scenario Hooks: The William T. Levers Rumor Mill: Hereare some of the rumors that surface regularly when speaking withLevers.

• The Gaines Gang operate from a cave high up in the moun-tains. They use the gold they steal to buy weapons from gun-runners.• The Gang need these weapons as they plan to take MountCrowe for themselves and ransom it to the Confederacy.• The Gang has about seventy members in its ranks, most ex-miners or renegade soldiers; the actual figure Levers givesvaries between thirty and one hundred, as he can’t rememberhow many are in the gang at all.• There are several abandoned mines in the mountains. Workceased at them due to pteranadon attacks, which were prettyferocious – as if they were defending something sacred.• The mountains are haunted by the ghosts of a failed miningexpedition; late at night, you can hear them crying out to berescued.• Chesterton Winterfield, owner of the Virginian (a rival bar),is a Union spy. He gives the soldiers cheap liquor to get themdrunk and asks them questions when they’re out of theirminds on whisky.• Silvia Jameson, a local madam, is a Union spy, and uses hergirls to elicit secrets from the soldiers.• Matthew Kelly, a local timber-merchant, is a Union spy. Hesupplies the army with most of its timber, and knows exactlywhat they intend to do with the lumber.• Someone else is a Union spy. This is his favorite rumor, andhe’s heard so many names that those he can’t associate withtheir real story anymore fall under the umbrella suspicion of“Union spy.”• An intelligent velociraptor leads the Gaines Gang. It intendsto use the gang to destroy humanity on Cretasus when the

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moons are in a specific phase.• There is a secret passage between Colonel Decker’s person-al quarters and The Cathouse, a high-class brothel, whichDecker uses often. (This is probably the one rumor that hedoesn’t tell that often, as firstly it isn’t true, and secondly,Decker would beat him to a pulp if he discovered the origi-nator of such slanderous gossip.)It’s up to you to decide which of these rumors have some ele-

ment of truth. Due to the unreliable nature of Levers’ memory,many of these rumors are actually parts of different rumors amal-gamated into one. For example, take the “pteranadon attacks andthe abandoned mines” rumor. Levers has heard that there are pter-anadon attacks in the mountains, and also knows that there areseveral empty mines there. He also knows that fishermen who usethe great river once found something that interested Crowe’s sci-entific team since it resembled artifacts sacred to tribes of primi-tive humans. All these bits of information slowly merge into theone story, which may sound plausible enough to get player char-acters interested, but isn’t exactly what happened at all.

Making up your own Levers gossip is fairly simple. Takethree or four rumors you wish the player characters to explore.Use the start of the first rumor, the middle of the second and theend of the third, and you’ve got the gospel truth according toWilliam T. Levers. Repeat until confused. Your players will be.

Kitty’s

Owned by Silvia Jameson (who you’ll remember is a Unionspy, if Levers is correct), Kitty’s is a dance club, with a large num-ber of the staff dancers being available for more private sessionsin the many upstairs rooms. This is the only one of her establish-ments that so openly displays its ulterior purpose; while most ofthe brothels tend to hide behind the façade of a simple bar, Kitty’sis far more frank about its operations.

Silvia was born and raised in the outer reaches, but left to tryto make it as an actress when she was seventeen. One of the for-tunate few to find work, she was a minor cult figure in shockerfilms, her curvaceous figure proving popular with the genre’smale fans. She married a wealthy businessman named Carl Marks,who owned several clubs where she launched an unsuccessfulsinging career. She then turned her hand to business and foundthat she had a natural aptitude for getting what she wanted and foranticipating what others would demand. After Carl’s sudden deathfrom a heart attack, she took over his clubs. As the calls forwomen to come to Cretasus became louder, she saw an opportu-nity to start her own little monopoly and a new mini-empire.

Only in her early forties, Silvia is still an extremely attractiveand curvaceous brunette. She regularly turns the heads of thewealthier and more influential men in Mount Crowe. She isbelieved to already have a lover, however, and spurns the atten-tions of all who try their luck.

Silvia Jameson, Offworlder Female Com1: CR 1/2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d4; 3 hp; Init +0; Spd 30

ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d3, unarmed); AL CN; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Will +1; Str 10, Con 11, Dex 11, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha15 (17 with men).

Skills: Profession (Entertainer) +4 (4). Feats: GreatLover.

Possessions: 2 flasks of liquor, cash $2d20.Scenario Hooks:There are plenty of scenario possibilities

that could involve a place like Kitty’s. Perhaps one of the GainesGang has decided to take some of the gold he’s captured into townand spend it a little too freely? Perhaps Levers is correct; thatJameson works for the Union? What if one of the girls is kid-napped or attracts the unwanted attention of a brutal “admirer”?Think of westerns like The Unforgivenand virtually all othersbased in a small frontier town; there’s always plenty going on atthe cathouse.

Big Al’s Bronco Rodeo

Al’s is the place in Mount Crowe to see Bronco Rodeos, andhe has a small team of professional riders that take on all comersin monthly competitions. Formerly a rancher, “Al” J. Booth leftfor Cretasus as soon as he heard about the herds of triceratopsroaming the plains around New Savannah.

In his youth, Al had been one of the most enduring and skilledriders on the rodeo circuit, winning enough money and attractingenough sponsorship to eventually retire and buy his own land.Booth started a very successful ranch with his wife Sarah and histhree sons, Isaac, Stephen, and Jason. He had mastered even thecraziest steer in his lifetime of riding, so when the opportunityarose to try his hand at something new, he and his family decidedto make the journey to Cretasus and a new life.

Buying a small amount of land, Al had soon tamed a herd oftriceratops – indeed, he was the first man to do so. His three sonsquickly learned to ride the younger creatures, while Al masteredthe art of staying atop one of the large males, which are often eas-ily angered by the presence of something sitting on their back andprodding them to move on while all they want to do is graze. Themilitary took an instant interest in Al’s technique, and he trainedsome of the early Dino Warriors before the military made it asecret.

Al attracted the attention of other ranchers in the area, whoalso saw the advantages of being able to ride the larger triceratops(namely, that you don’t get squashed by the very creatures you’retrying to herd). He soon found himself riding the beasts out on therange, which quickly became his training school. He could chargebig bucks to train riders, and soon made the decision to host com-petitions to promote what had once been his sport of choice.Riders that he had trained flocked to the venue. It soon became apopular way for ranch hands to spend their day off, competing forprizes and the chance to join the Dino Warriors.

As warrants the name Big Al, Booth is a giant of a man.Rumors abound that he actually punched a steer out cold in hisranching days. Some even believe that given good reason and a

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foul temper, some of the smaller dinosaurs would find him astruggle in a fist-fight. Wearing his hair close-cropped, he boastsa beard that gives him the look a thousand Harley riders wouldlove to have.

Big Al, Confederate Male Bro6: CR 6; Medium-sizeHumanoid (6 ft.); HD 6d8+21 (includes Toughness feat); 41hp; Init +3 (Dex); Spd 30 ft. (run 5x); AC 13 (+3 Dex); Atk +7melee (1d3+4, unarmed), +6 ranged touch (special, lasso),or +6 ranged (1d10/crit x3, automatic pistol); AL N; SV Fort+7, Ref +8, Will +2; Str 18, Con 16, Dex 16, Int 9, Wis 10,Cha 14.

Skills: Animal Empathy +12 (9), Balance +5 (2), HandleAnimal +18 (9), Intuit Direction +3 (3), Knowledge (nature)+5 (6), Ride +13 (9), Wilderness Lore +5 (5). Feats:Mounted Combat, Ride-by Attack, Trample, SpiritedCharge, Toughness, Great Fortitude, Endurance, Run.

Possessions: Lasso, automatic pistol with 10 bullets,cash $1d4.

The Dukes and Butlers

If ever two families should never have met, the Dukes andButlers are they. While the majority of settlers on Cretasus cometo bury their past or to seek new horizons, one could be forgivenfor thinking that the Butlers and Dukes had only come to theplains of New Savannah to continue their generations-old feud.

Both families can trace their lineage back to the prominentfarmers who founded the original city of Savannah, Georgia. Astime passed, the Dukes invested more and more of the family’smoney into farming, while the Butlers favored the growth thatnew industries offered, and this was the source of the initial quar-rel that escalated into the now long-running feud.

Both families ran for office during local elections to representChatham County, one advocating the potential growth that indus-try would bring, the other warning against the unemployment andlow wages of “automated” factories. As both families had a lot ofmoney invested in the future direction of Savannah, they had agreat deal to lose if the election went the wrong way. As the con-test progressed, the sometimes slanderous accusations and mali-cious gossip propagated by both parties became far more interest-ing to the general public than their actual policies, and soon the

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debate became nothing more than a slating match. Rumors of theelder Butler’s infidelity with a local saloon girl were countered bythe more interesting revelation that Duke had first met his wife ina house of vice and that at least one of their sons was not the fruitof Duke’s loins. When Jesse Duke, the patriarch of the farmingfamily, heard these rumors, he demanded “satisfaction” fromBernard Butler and declared that such malicious insults could onlybe buried if their originator was likewise “laid to rest.” Both menwere bound over to keep the peace by the magistrate, but the lawfailed to take the fierce family loyalty of both sides into account;while Bernard and Jesse were stating their cases to the magistrate,William Duke, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, challenged DanielButler (Bernard’s eldest son) to a duel unless he formally apolo-gized to the Dukes. Such demands agitated Daniel – the fact thatthey came from the mouth of a mere sixteen-year-old boy servedonly to anger him further. He agreed to the duel, and both sonswere seriously wounded. William died of his wounds two dayslater.

The race to represent Chatham County was quickly forgotten.Both families poured their energy into thwarting each other’splans, each making ridiculous bids for land they knew the otherwanted. These financial machinations began to take a heavy tollon the wealth of both the Butlers and the Dukes, who found them-selves having to borrow heavily from the banks to maintain theirland war. Other businessmen and landowners exploited the situa-tion once the pattern of buying land the other desired had becomeclear. Simply informing a Butler that the Dukes were after yourland guaranteed one a good price from Butler, irrespective of thetruth to such a claim. As weeks became months, the two familiesdestroyed each other, until they both had nothing and were forcedback to the humble farming roots from which they had come. Itwas almost as if their fortunes had turned full circle, except thatthe two rings of life were now inextricably linked by blood.Whether rich or poor, the Dukes and Butlers wished nothing morethan the complete destruction of the rival family, yet they wouldnever see this through to the end. There always had to be one sur-vivor, one to tell future generations of the power and prowess ofthe rival bloodline. The seeds of a bitter feud found fertile groundin the minds of both Butlers and Dukes, and they became destinedto hate one another until both families existed no more.

Both families learned valuable lessons from their downfall:first, that their demise was the fault of their rival, and second, thatthey should keep their intentions closer to their chest. The openfeuding had made them easy prey for their competitors. If theywere to build their empires again, they must resort to more covertdealings. Both families slowly acquired wealth, contacts, suppli-ers, and land, sometimes in different states and even in the FarEast and Europe to conceal their improving fortunes from theother.

As the decades passed, the Dukes and Butlers graduallyregained the power they had both once held. By the time of theCivil War, each family had invested most of its wealth abroad tohide it from the other’s prying eyes. As the war progressed, thefeuding lines accused one another of betraying the cause of the

South, linking the other with Union industrialists and saboteursundermining the Confederate infrastructure. Isaiah Butler washanged by a lynch mob only hours after Ethen Duke publisheddocuments proving that the Butlers were involved in businessesmanufacturing weaponry for the Federalist invaders. Anyone whohad checked Duke’s source would have seen that these paperswere outdated; the Butlers, staunchly loyal to the Confederacy,had severed all ties with the North as soon as war seemedinevitable. While the Butlers cried foul, they too were makingdisingenuous claims about the Dukes’ involvement with theNorth. Noting that one of the Duke girls had married a prominentagriculturist in Pennsylvania, Israel Butler claimed that the Dukeswere passing freely through the Federal blockade to supply enemysoldiers at Gettysburg with provisions originally intended forSouthern troops. Townspeople reacted badly to this news, burningdown the Dukes’ family home and killing the youngest Duke inthe fire. Regardless of the realities of war, the Butlers and Dukescontinued their feud, seeing the conflict as nothing more than away to damage the reputation of the other.

The year 2136 marked a new era for thousands ofSoutherners. The Great Exodus threatened to bring a halt to thefeud. There was no guarantee that the Butlers and Dukes wouldend up on the same planet, a fact that upset the elders of each fam-ily. As the ships carrying them on to their new futures apart leftEarth, each secretly hoped that they would meet again. Fate wasnot about to disappoint them.

Despite the fact they had both volunteered to travel throughthe same warp gate, their eventual destinations were as far sepa-rated as could (and perhaps should) have been. Years passed asthey searched for each other through the known galaxy, convincedthat the other had survived, driven by the peculiar determinationengendered only by true loathing. As fresh generations were born,the feud looked like it would die a natural death, defeated by timeand relegated to painful memory. Then came Cretasus.

Duke Meets Butler: The Cretasus Years

Samuel Butler first heard of Cretasus in 2189 when NewSavannah started to acquire its reputation as the first city of theConfederacy. Learning of the vast mineral resources allegedlylocated in the mountains of the Main Valley, he decided to makehis way to Cretasus in search of a new fortune. He wasn’t the onlyone whose curiosity had been piqued by Cretasus: Ned Duke,patriarch of the opposing line, was also travelling to the rich plan-et. Cretasus sounded like a fanciful agrarian utopia to the farmingleader – an unparalleled vista of unsullied land to nurture and tendfor the benefit of mankind. The opposing ideals that had driventhe two families apart over four hundred years ago were about toreunite them. And this was going to be no garden party.

The initial meeting between the youngest male members ofeach family erupted with that blend of hot-headedness and pridethat youth bestows, which only further emphasized the latenthatred they felt for one another. (See sidebar to right for the full

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story.) When the Butlers’ commercial brachiosaur train set foot onthe Dukes’ hallowed turf, a new war began. Cretasus was to betheir new battleground.

Several incidents developed out of this initial meeting. TheDukes had been tending the land and keeping herds since theyarrived on Cretasus, so they probably knew the local fauna betterthan most. A particularly ferocious tyrannosaur matriarch hadbeen creating some trouble for the Dukes, attacking their herdsand trampling their crops. The Dukes had taken some risky meas-ures to draw the creature away from the main herd, with Ned andJake riding their broncos close by the monster in order to distractit. They had tried to catch the beast on several occasions, but hadfailed each time. Finally, they’d taken to isolating the older tricer-atops, staking them and leaving hunks of meat nearby in order toattract the attention of the tyrannosaur. The smell brought hernear, and the sick or old triceratops became her next meal. Thismethod succeeded in keeping the huge predator away from themain herd. Over time the family noticed that the tyrannosaur(affectionately dubbed “Big Momma” by Jake) returned to thestake sites looking for food on a regular basis. Discovering thatthe Butlers ran their brachy train only a few miles from one of thestaking points, the Dukes started staking sick animals closer andcloser to the route that the train used. The tyrannosaur soonworked out where all the food was to be found.

Big Momma returned to the stake point one evening to findmore than she had expected. The careless train drivers had failedto post guards, and their laughter and shouting attracted BigMomma’s keenly carnivorous interest. Drunk on cheap whiskyand bloated on beans, the drivers proved to be an interesting vari-ation to Big Momma’s diet. The Dukes found the caravan scat-tered and the crushed bodies of partly consumed Butler workersnot far from their camp fire.

Getting dinosaurs to do your dirty work is quite a temptingproposition for many of Cretasus’ more mischievous inhabitants,but it’s not always the best option. Although the Dukes succeed-ed in destroying the caravan, they had forgotten that eight bra-chiosaurs wandering about your land without handlers is not anideal situation for people who grow crops. The first strike of thenew war hurt both sides: it wasn’t long before the brachiosaurshad caused an incredible amount of damage, for which the Dukesblamed the Butlers. This came as no surprise; however, when theButlers threatened to involve the Sheriff of New Savannah in thedispute, the Dukes fell strangely silent.

As the year passed, the two families both caught wind of thedevelopments in the swamps. Both sponsored parties from theC.P.C.K. to delve into the Bayou. In fact, this became the focalpoint for their new feud: who would claim the wealth that bothsuspected lay in the marshes? Whether it be minerals or some-thing as yet unknown, each family was driven by one desire: toprevent the other from dominating the explorations. Whateversecrets existed to be discovered, only one line would know them.

In addition to this new arena, both the Dukes and the Butlershave ventured into business and ranching respectively, figuringthat if their rival can do it well, then they can do it better. It has to

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As a warm Sunday afternoon slowly melded into a balmynight, Jake Duke was riding his young parasaurolophus mountthrough the rich foliage sprouting from the ploughed fields of hisfather’s farm, on the lookout for marauders. He could see andhear the distant approach of a brachiosaurus train, carryingsupplies from the mountain towards New Savannah. They didn’tusually travel by night unless there were some emergency, andjudging by the dust cloud thrown up by the huge dinosaurs, theymust be heading this way. On occasion, riders and guards visit-ed the ranch, needing supplies or food, but always providingnews, materials or money in exchange. Indeed, such was therewarding nature of good hospitality that Jake’s father had beentalking about building a “halfway house” for roving supply car-avans. Deciding that his father would look upon him favorablyif he managed to secure more interested visitors, Jake gentlyspurred Yelper in the direction of the train.

The massive dinosaurs soon came into full view, theirtriceratops-mounted guards ever vigilant and keenly aware oftheir visitor. Jake hollered, his greeting immediately matched bya raised hand and a wave from atop one of the brachiosaurs.The huge dinosaur halted, and a tall, dark-haired strangerdescended a rope ladder hurriedly slung over the side of thehowdah mounted upon the massive creature’s back. Yelper wrig-gled awkwardly beneath Jake, as if he could sense danger, butJake ignored him; this train bore the mark of the Confederacy,and runners wouldn’t be out this far unless they’d gotten lost.

The dark-haired man walked towards Jake, a large smilerunning the rather acne-ridden gauntlet of his face. As thestranger came closer, Jake realized that he was no more than aboy; fourteen or fifteen at most. With him came two armed men,one of whom Jake knew from the rodeo in Mount Crowe. Thesewere tough customers, not nannies, and though he was present-ly the youngest of the Dukes, Jake considered himself a veritableelder compared to the whipper-snapper striding towards him.Dismounting as good manners and Southern hospitalitydemanded, Jake walked forwards, arm outstretched in greeting.It was grasped weakly but enthusiastically by the boy, who shookit with the excessive vigor of one unsure of himself. Jake notedthis with surprise; surely anyone who represented a train of thissize would be confident enough to meet a humble farmer?Additionally, there was something not right about this kid; evenhis fingers felt cold and clammy. Jake pulled his hand away, andthe boy did likewise, eyeing Jake with new-found suspicion.

There are those that claim love can last forever, but eventhey would be shocked by the irrepressibility of true enmity. Ifever there were another meeting between two strangers on thegreat plains of the Main Valley that was to escalate so quicklyinto open hostility, it would have to be between the two armiesof the North and South. Though the feud had seemed dead forover half a century, something in the heads of both boys flickeda switch from peace to war; memories flooded back that ones soyoung should not be able to recall. Jake Duke knew this boy was

be noted that the Dukes’ small business ventures seek only toundermine those of the Butlers, and tend to run at a loss, which iscurrently absorbed by the success of their farms. Likewise theButlers’ ranch is something of a failure, as they are neither inter-ested nor enthusiastic about herding a bunch of dinosaurs orgrowing wheat. However, their triceratops are the cheapest at auc-tion, and are popular with new arrivals to Cretasus as newcomerscan always find a good head or two to begin their own ranch atthese prices.

For now, and possibly forever, the two families remain ateach other’s throats, their hands wrapped tightly around oneanother’s necks; but not squeezing so hard as to kill their rival.The Butlers cannot exist without the Dukes, nor vice versa. Thedrive and determination radiated by each family comes only froma desire to best its opponent, and one without the other wouldsurely lapse into lethargy.

Scenario Hooks

There are almost limitless possibilities for scenarios involv-ing the feuding families. Not many people on Cretasus are awareof the age-old dispute or its history, and unwitting adventurersmay find themselves tools of the Dukes or Butlers in the bitterbattle. Sabotage is the most common weapon in the arsenal ofboth broods, whether against a Butler business or a Duke farm. Ifthere’s something that could go wrong with any venture, the devi-ous minds of the pernicious patriarchs will find it and try to turnthe potential problem into a demonstrable disaster for their rival.

Typical plots involve the following:1. Dukes hire the players to arrest the contraband runners

operating near their ranch. A large caravan carrying stolen steel tothe pirate’s drop ship passes within a few miles of the main hold-ing (Ned’s house in fact), and this is where the caravan will beheading. There is a reward of $20,000 (Dead or Alive) for the han-dlers and drivers of the runners (said to be involved with the noto-rious Gaines Gang from the mountains), and given their “ready torumble” reputation, Ned Duke recommends that they ignore the“Alive” bit of the wanted poster.

Naturally, this isn’t a gang of runners; another brachy cara-van is on the move, carrying steel to New Savannah. Since thetyrannosaur incident, the guards are ever vigilant and will shootanyone who refuses to identify themselves, especially anyone rid-ing dinosaurs. Incidentally, the Dukes can provide the characterswith mounts should they need them. Any player wise enough tocheck with any proper authority figure (from New Savannah orMount Crowe) will discover that their targets are in fact innocentdrivers who work for the Butlers. The Dukes will deny all knowl-edge of the characters, and claim that the triceratops mounts werestolen from the Duke ranch. If the players try the job and die, theDukes will claim that the Butlers have killed innocent ranchhands. This is dirty work.

2. Industry produces a great deal of waste, and some of thiscan be horribly poisonous. And what better way to test the toxic-

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his sworn enemy, and the boy – none other than Matthew Butler– realized that he had met an old enemy he’d never seen before.

“Lost?” asked Jake, hands placed firmly on hips, justabove the butt of his pistols.

“Are you?” responded the child with a phrase only one soyoung would think the height of wit.

“You’re way off here, kid. This is Duke land. You need tohead back. Those brachies should be about ten miles north ifyou’re heading for New Savannah.”

“Don’t tell me where I should be,” retorted the youth, “myfather said there was a good hostelry round here, and that we’dbe welcome. I never expected to bump into a bumpkin.”

The two guards looked at each other in surprise and alarm.Bill Yates, the taller and broader of the two men, interrupted.

“Look, Matty, your father wants us to get to Savvy A.S.A.P.to make the Butler drop in time. This guy’s just tryin’ to…”

“My father pays you, and for the purposes of this conver-sation, I am my father. Do as I say and don’t butt in,” orderedthe boy.

“That’s quite an achievement, kid, being your own father.You from the swamps? I hear anything goes there,” quippedJake. “You’ve certainly got the look.”

“How dare you! My father is Samuel Butler, the richestindustrialist in these parts, and you’ll respect me, or I’ll havehim buy up your miserable farm and send you into the backcountry.”

“Butler, eh? I’ve heard of you. My name is Jake Duke, son ofNed Duke. Now get off my land, before I take my belt to you, kid.”

“Duke? Wait a minute…” pondered Matt. “Yes, I know whoyou are. Your lot spread lies about us back in 1862, saying weworked with the Yankees.”

“Only because Butlers murdered Will Duke back in 1798!Fair’s fair!” spat Jake.

“He was put down, like the sick pig he was. You’d better getout of my way, Duke, or my men’ll kill you! We’ve got work todo!” yelled the boy, frothing with hatred for someone he’d onlymet a few minutes ago.

“Make me, kid. Make me get out of your way.”“Ha! You’re not getting me on a murder charge like you did

with cousin Obidiah back in 1970! We work within the law,Duke, and you’re gonna feel its full weight round your scrawnyneck soon enough! Why, I’m gonna…”

“Let’s go, Matt. We’ll do as the man says and head north‘cause we’ve got to make the deadline. You don’t want to upsetyour pa now, do you?” reasoned Yates.

“Hmm,” breathed Matt, “okay. Let’s go. I’d better tell pathat there’s vermin on this here land.”

“Yeah, you do that, and I’ll whip your sorry behind, kid.Now…GIT!”

And so the two companies parted but they were to meetagain. It had taken just two minutes to rekindle the fierce flamesof feud, and now, they were a-burnin’ bright.

ity of any residue than on unsuspecting triceratops? Especiallywhen they are the pride of your most hated rival, Ned Duke. TheButlers could involve characters in this mess with any number oflies: one might be that a ruined rancher wants to get revenge onthe evil monopoly that destroyed him and his family by attackingthe mutant creatures being genetically modified by the Dukefarms (nonsense, by the way, but believable). A swift tug on theheartstrings followed by a sense of righteousness should beenough to con the characters into carrying out this Butler schemeto poison the Duke herd with industrial waste.

3. Rustlers have stolen the cattle belonging to a new arrivaland he is desperate for help. Local ranchers resent the new man’sattempts to found a new ranch in the area and they have stolen hisfuture. Can the players get the cattle back?

Probably, but the cattle actually belong to the Dukes, so theplayers would be the real rustlers. Of course, the rancher would begrateful if the characters could escort the herd to New Savannah’smarket and get a fair price, of which they may keep a certain per-centage. This should fan the fires of greed for those players whorelish the “ker-ching” of the cash register. However, it will morethan likely find them in jail, claiming that a non-existent rancherhired them to do the job – a likely story!

4. The characters could be approached by either family toexplore the swamps or to investigate the fate of a previous explo-ration. Unfortunately for the players, neither family is above mur-dering an entire expedition in cold blood and framing their rivalfor the crime, so it is possible that the characters may become tar-gets for professional killers. Another possibility is that the charac-ters themselves will discover the murdered explorers and bringback the planted evidence, which would naturally make them veryunpopular with the perpetrators of the trick.

As you should be able to gather by these examples, the feudis not a light-hearted family spat; this is a serious battle of nervesand minds, utilizing innocents to play the fall guy. Providingsomeone else does their dirty work, neither family cares howfilthy the job may be if it means that their rival is inconvenienced.

The McQuarry Brothers

Few men have eluded the Rough Riders for as long as thetwins Kane and Abel McQuarry. Both men arrived in MountCrowe four years ago to work in Israel Putnam’s coal mine andsuccessfully stayed on the right side of the law for about threemonths before a drunken brawl turned into a murder. Reluctant toface justice, both men fled the mining town and hid in the moun-tains. Meeting up with the Gaines Gang, they got their first tasteof an outlaw’s life when they held up their former employer’s paywagons en route from the banks of New Savannah. The pay wasgood, but there were so few centers of civilization in the MainValley that there was never anything to do with your new-foundwealth. Living in caves with the ever-present threat of hostile pter-anadons seemed to suit the desperadoes under Gaines, but theMcQuarry brothers wanted something a little more luxurious.

Leaving the Gaines Gang to their own devices, the brothersblazed a trail across the Main Valley, committing random acts ofviolence against people clearly unprepared for their visitation.Passing themselves off as survivors of a wagon train attacked byT-rexes, the two were warmly welcomed by the good folk of theMain Valley, who offered food and shelter. Small farms were com-monly targeted: the householders killed, their food stolen andtheir homestead burned after the twins had stayed the night.

Their first mistake came after they had been on the run fortwo months. Settling at one of the small towns that dot the land-scape between New Savannah and the mountains, the two hadgone to celebrate their freedom at the saloon. Tax collectors hadreported the deaths of two families on their route, and during adiscussion over a beer too many a bartender overhead Kane laugh-ing about the “gawkin’ face of that old farmer” as he killed him.Sending his son to fetch the local sheriff, the bartender plied theMcQuarries with free alcohol to ensure that their wits were absentwhen the law arrived.

Even though they were as drunk as skunks, the varmints real-ized that there was something afoot. They left the saloon just twominutes before the sheriff arrived. It was time to head for the hillsagain, but now the law knew who they were and what they’ddone. They’d have to be far more careful in the future if they wereto survive.

By the time they reached the area known locally as theHideout Hills, the two had lost the posse that had amassed sincethe incident at the saloon. The involuntary relocation of a smalldinosaur family gave them a rather dank dwelling place, a smallcave complex similar to many others burrowed beneath theHideout Hills. Priority one was to ensure that potential intruderswere discouraged, so they set an elaborate series of traps at themouth of the cave, with far deadlier ones in its interior. Providingyou kept to the left and knew when to jump, you were safe, but theto the uninitiated, it was a death trap.

With their underground base now secure, they planned theirfirst raid. Given that they’d left the Gaines Gang to escape a cave-bound life in the first place, it had to be something that wouldquickly elevate them up the property ladder. Payroll wagonsseemed an obvious target. They watched the well-ridden tracksbetween New Savannah and the expanse of the Main Valley withgreat trepidation. The brothers had been part of a large gang ontheir last payroll job but now they were but two. Even the smallgroup of six outriders that accompanied the coach was enough tomake any robbery attempt nearly suicidal. They would have tofind another source of illegal income – and find it quick. After thefinal piece of dinosaur meat they’d carved from the former inhab-itants of the cave went rotten, the two realized that if the law did-n’t kill them, then hunger would. They decided to take a big risk:they’d have to go to New Savannah.

Travelling into the city with a group of cattle hands, the pairmanaged to go unnoticed by the guards. Looking for targets, theynoticed the hive of activity around the market and decided thatsome of the ranchers would provide an excellent source ofincome. The large amounts of money passing between the ranch-

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ers would take time to deposit in the banks, and some of the ranch-ers made it clear during casual conversation that they intended tospend some of their earnings first.

Befriending two of the cattle ranchers was an easy task for thebrothers, who could have easily found work as a comic double-actif they’d ever chosen to live on the right side of the law. Drinksand a few games of cards soon revealed that the two men workedfor the Pollock ranch, one of the biggest in the Main Valley, andhad traveled for ten days to reach New Savannah with a largegroup of broncos. They’d sold one hundred head of triceratopsand were entrusted with bringing the money to the bank whiletheir travelling companions (the other ranch hands and broncodrivers who’d helped them get the shipment through) enjoyedthemselves. Boasting that they’d made the journey ten times with-out incident, the two luckless leaders had decided that it was theirturn to have some fun too. Encouraged by Abel and Kane, the twowent to the casino, hoping to have some fun. Inebriated almost tothe point of unconsciousness, the two were the first victims of theMcQuarries new crime spree. Dumping the bodies in the sewer,the brothers left for the other side of the city to enjoy themselves.Daring to stay overnight, they had a royal time and left the fol-lowing day with provisions to last them three weeks and a smallfortune in cash.

They tried the same trick on three other ranchers beforesomeone discovered the decomposed bodies of the original vic-tims. Fortunately for the twins, no one had seen them with the tworanchers; people knew the two dead men, but couldn’t recollectany of their actions. The brothers had avoided the law so far, andthere was nothing to link them with the killings. However, bothrealized that they couldn’t really keep the same modus operandi(although they didn’t call it that) or the law would be onto themstraight away. So instead of robbing ranchers when they were intown, they decided to revert to their killing spree across the plains.The McQuarry seed must have been defective to make these crim-inals believe that they could commit such horrible crimes withoutattracting attention, and their previous offenses had attracted thekeen interest of Zeke Wylde and his Rough Riders. Following thebloody trail the terrible twosome had left, Wylde had quickly con-cluded that they’d headed for the hills. Some of the farmsteadshad been taken over by undercover Riders, who were to lie in waitand look for signs of the murderers.

As luck would have it, Fate didn’t favor the twisted sons ofmayhem: their first port of call resulted in a gun battle that leftAbel less capable than his name would suggest. Nearly losing theuse of his right arm, he fled off into the night covered by his broth-er’s more accurate gunfire. Hotly pursued by the Riders who hadambushed them, the twins made for the hills again and by somemiracle lost their pursuers. It was as if they knew where the Riderswould look – almost as if some outside force was guiding them tosafety. Whether it was their skill, sheer luck or the hand of somemalevolent god, the end result was the same; the McQuarry broth-ers made it back to their headquarters unnoticed.

All planning was abandoned in the face of persistent good

luck. Every raid, whether on a farmstead or in New Savannah,proved to be a resounding success. The McQuarries knew whentrouble was coming and could foresee the path their futures wouldtake if they followed a particular course of action.

They don’t realize it, but the McQuarry brothers are a teamthat possesses a special gift. When they are together, they form apsychic link that gives them the ability to glimpse their futures.They are unaware of this ability, which only kicks in when theyare thinking about a course of action. While some of us mightimagine the results, they see what would actually happen, andtrust this inner instinct to keep them alive. So far, they haveescaped four attempts to capture them with traps that students ofcriminal history would realize have proved successful in similarcircumstances. This gift separates the outlaws from the rest oftheir ilk. It will take a clever man to stop their career of evil.

Abel McQuarry, Confederate Male Twf3: CR 3;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 3d8+9; 27 hp; Init +6 (+2SA, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30 ft.; AC 14 (+2 SA, +2leather armor); Atk +5 melee (1d6+2, unarmed), or +5melee (1d4+2/crit 19-20, knife); SA Premonition; AL NE; SVFort +4, Ref +7, Will +4; Str 14, Con 16, Dex 11, Int 10, Wis17, Cha 11.

Skills: Gather Information +7 (4), Hide +4 (4), Listen +5(0), Spot +5 (0). Feats: Alertness, Lightning Reflexes,Improved Initiative.

Possessions: Knife, leather armor, liquor flask, cash$4d10, various stolen goods.

SA – Premonition (Su): As long as Abel and Kane arewithin 100 feet of each other, they each have an unerringinstinct regarding imminent danger. When exposed to a sit-uation or decision that might endanger them, both Abel andKane may make a Will save against DC 5. If either passesthe check, he feels a pang of instinct that guides him inavoiding the situation or resolving the decision favorably.For example, when picking farms to raid, Abel and Kanealways seem to avoid the well-guarded ones; when travers-ing the mountain trails, they never fall prey to an ambush;and so on. They may make the Will save to avoid beingcaught flat-footed at the start of a combat. As a result of thisability, they also receive a +2 insight bonus to AC, initiative,and Reflex saves.

Kane McQuarry, Confederate Male Twf2: CR 2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 2d8+6; 20 hp; Init +3 (+1Dex, +2 SA); Spd 30 ft.; AC 15 (+2 SA, +1 Dex, +2 leatherarmor); Atk +3 melee (1d6+1, unarmed), +3 melee(1d4+1/crit 19-20, knife); SA Premonition (see above); ALNE; SV Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4; Str 13, Con 14, Dex 12, Int10, Wis 18, Cha 10.

Skills: Gather Information +4 (2), Hide +5 (4), Listen +6(0), Spot +6 (0). Feats: Alertness, Lightning Reflexes.

Possessions: Knife, leather armor, liquor flask, cash$4d10, various stolen goods.

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Hideout Hills

This is one of the most dangerous places to be if you live alawful life, because although to the untrained eye it appears unin-habited, it is actually teeming with life: low-life, that is. In addi-tion to the McQuarry brothers, there are other gangs using its dif-ficult terrain as the perfect hideout. The well-trodden paths sug-gest that although nothing should live here, a great many thingsdo, and you wouldn’t want to meet any of them on a dark night –or, for that matter, on a clear day. This bracken-cloaked cave-rid-dled hillscape has become such a haven for rustlers, fraudsters,killers and other undesirables that it has been dubbed the HideoutHills, and boy, there’s a lot hiding out here.

Whether the caves are natural or the burrows of some long-forgotten race of creatures, the end result is the same: myriadhidey-holes that ensure any pursuit turn into a long game of hide-and-seek through some incredibly dangerous terrain. Rustlers arethe most common gangs to hide out here; some are well known tothe Rough Riders, and several have been in the Main Valley Jailon a couple of occasions. In fact the very existence of the HideoutHills have increased the likelihood of criminals being deported offthe planet, because once they’re out of prison they head straightfor the hills to continue their life of crime.

Rustlers tend to use the Hideout Hills as a base from which tostrike at the incoming caravans of meat, typically knocking out orkilling the drivers and taking the herd to New Savannah them-selves. They rotate the salesmen in the gang so that no one getstoo suspicious, because the law regards rustling as one of the mostheinous crimes. The opportunities for people to have their ownranches are limitless on the vast surface of Cretasus, so the indus-trious residents of the Main Valley despise thieves all the more.No one will offer the bandits sanctuary at any price.

You can travel six or seven miles into the hills before seeingthe first signs of habitation. The most common sign is a rottingcorpse, usually a fugitive killed during a gang war between twogroups of rustlers after the same prey. As farmers hang crows ontheir fences to deter other birds, the rustlers mark out their territo-ry with the rotting carcasses of previous trespassers. Decayingflesh attracts the attention of predators and scavengers alike, mak-ing any journey into the Hideout Hills dangerous even without thethreat of bandits.

A typical rustler gang consists of between ten and twentymen, and many of the caves are too small to house all of them inone place. As a result of this, the rustlers live spread out over sev-eral caves, some of which are over a mile apart. Gang membersdon’t live in any one place permanently; they tend to rotatethrough the different caves so that all know the nearest hidingplace should an emergency arise. Most gangs also know of a“dummy” cave, actually a tunnel that opens somewhere higher inthe hills and is used to shake off pursuers. Several lawmen havebeen embarrassed by these networks of passageways; some haveeven made the mistake of standing guard outside the tunnelmouth, reckoning that sooner or later, their quarry will have to

come out. These tunnels are the perfect place for an ambush. Noteven the Rough Riders will venture too far into them, as it wouldmean almost certain death.

An average cave can hold up to five rustlers; roll 1D4+1 tosee how many are there if the characters are unlucky enough towalk in on them by accident. The rustlers always set alarm trapsat the mouth of the cave, so by the time the characters get inside,their enemies will be expecting them.

Depending upon how long it was since the last raid, rustlergangs can have quite a lot of money on their person. Those freshfrom a job can have hundreds of dollars in their pockets, but ifpickings have been lean, the characters will just find a few cents.

Typical Rustler, Offworlder Twf1: CR 1; Medium-sizeHumanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d8+1; Init +0; Spd 20 ft.; AC 13 (+3hide armor); Atk +1 melee (1d4+1/crit 19-20, knife), +1melee (1d6+1, unarmed), or +0 ranged (1d8, musket); ALCE; SV Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +0; Str 14, Con 13, Dex 10, Int10, Wis 11, Cha 9.

Skills: Hide +1 (4), Wilderness Lore +2 (0). Feat:Weapon Proficiency – Ballistic.

Possessions: Knife, musket with 2d6-3 bullets, hidearmor, cash 85% chance of $1d4-2, 15% chance of $5d10.

The Great Library of Logos

Logos is an ancient protoceratops city that was destroyed fivehundred years ago. At its height, it was the center of protoceratopscivilization on Cretasus. It housed the legendary great library, acentral repository of knowledge so vast it was said that no proto-ceratops had ever seen all of it. Its endless tunnels were polishedand ornate, decorated with columns and flourishes more beautifulthan anyone now could imagine. The rest of the city, built with thelibrary at its center, boasted exquisite architecture constructed atthe zenith of protoceratopsian artistry.

Or so the protoceratops say. Now, Logos is only a story. Acombination of flood and warfare decimated the city. The remainswere lost over time, and completely forgotten for many genera-tions.

But the arrival of man has renewed interest in Logos. Manybelieve the city holds secrets about the origin of the planet.According to legend, the great library of Logos contained all theknowledge known to the protoceratops. Their present reputationfor erudition, they say, is but a pale reflection on what they onceknew. If true, Logos could unlock both scientific and commercialsecrets about the planet and its resources. And, of course, it couldreturn a vital bit of history to the protoceratops.

History

Logos sat atop one of many low plateaus that flanked theDanjow river south of where New Savannah now is, not far fromwhere the river ended in the scorching Crystal Desert. The foun-dations of the city were carved directly into the plateau. Typical

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low-lying protoceratops buildings were built onto those founda-tions out of adobe. The entire plateau was honeycombed with thetunnels of the great library, whose main entrance was in the cen-ter of the city. The ascent to the plateau, a gradually rising pathalong one face, was lined with buildings sheltering tunnels thatled into the rock, most of which connected with the library atsome point.

The soil at the base of the plateau was irrigated by theDanjow and extremely fertile. It provided the protoceratops witha steady supply of food. The Danjow was (and still is) an unpre-dictable river, flooding irregularly every few years, and in timesof flood the protoceratops could easily retreat to the top of theplateau and wait for it to pass.

The small, cramped tunnels of the library were designed withprotoceratops in mind. Most were four to five feet high and aboutas wide. Every surface of every tunnel – floor, ceiling, and wall –was inscribed with the protoceratops language. All together, thecollected knowledge carved into the library’s tunnels spannedmore than ten thousand years of protoceratops history.

The great library was an architectural marvel. Its tunnels werearranged according to a protoceratops classification system. In theforty miles of narrow tunnels on the first level was general intro-ductory information about every subject in the system. Dozens ofstaircases led to the next level, which contained more detailedinformation, with each subject area on level two directly belowthe area devoted to the same subject on level one. Level three, inturn, contained more detail, and so on. As new knowledge wasadded, new levels were excavated to record it. By the time onereached the twentieth level, there were moisture droplets visibleon the ceilings, as the tunnels extended even below the basin ofthe adjacent river.

On the first few levels, all the horizontal tunnels were con-nected. But in order to maintain the vertical organizational struc-ture, new levels were sometimes added to a single subject areawithout taking the time to build tunnels connecting all areas onthat level. Thus, the layout of each level became more and morefragmented as one descended. If one decided to look up the detailsof moon moss after researching astronomy on the fortieth level,for example, one might have to climb to the thirty-sixth floor tofind a passage to the moon moss section, from which to descendto that part of the fortieth level.

The only map of the library was a guide to the cataloguingsystem, which explained where to find information on the firstlevel. From there, one simply had to descend to learn more.Researchers rarely descended all the way to the bottom, and eventhe few abstruse protoceratops who went that deep never did sofor more than one or two subjects. Thus, though it was said therewere at least one hundred levels, no one had ever plumbed the truedepth of more than a few subjects, much less all of them.

The Zuleps

Not far from Logos, in the Crystal Desert, lived a large tribe

of barbaric leptoceratops who called themselves the zuleps.Barbaric relatives of the protoceratops, the leptoceratops inhabit-ed a miserable part of the world. They survived on tough groundvegetation and very little water. Even though they were herbi-vores, they had a savage warrior culture and practiced piercing,tattoos, and scarification as rites of passage. They could walk onfour legs or two, and their front claws could be used to grasp items– including the simple spears, shields, and knives they designed.

The protoceratops looked down upon the zuleps as uneducat-ed savages. For thousands of years, the zuleps had roamed thedesert, their tribes too small to merit attention. The protoceratopsignored them – which proved to be a terrible mistake. Two con-secutive years of good rains ignited a population explosion amongthe zuleps, and an ambitious warlord managed to organize thescattered tribes. The zuleps had for many years coveted the lushvegetation at the base of Logos, and now they had the strength todo something about it. The erudite protoceratops of Logos, non-combative to begin with, were happy to share – but the warlikezuleps had a different attitude. To them, there was room for onlyone tribe on the plateau.

The zuleps launched an invasion of Logos. They fought withbarbaric fervor. The hardy protoceratops tried to defend them-selves, but were routed. All the defenses of Logos had beendesigned to defend against large theropods; the pits, gates, andsmall-aperture tunnels were of little use against opponents thesame size as the defenders. Logos was soon occupied by chantingzuleps.

The protoceratops launched several attempts to retake Logos,but they failed. Unfortunately for the protoceratops, inscribedstone tunnels are not portable. When they lost the city, they losttheir great library.

The Great Flood

Once the zuleps began feeding in the fertile river valley of theDanjow, their numbers grew rapidly. Although they initiallyignored Logos itself in favor of the riverside areas, they soon hadto expand upward into the city. They dug trenches from the riverto the library’s lowest depths, which filled high enough to serve aswells for the plateau. They had flooded the great library.

Logos was once a cosmopolitan city, thousands of years inthe making, where the knowledge of the ages was culled andrecorded. Now, occupied by the zuleps, the library became a well,offices became stables, observatories became hatcheries, andstudies became gladiatorial rings.

Then the Danjow flooded. Flooding was not unusual, but thistime, the waters rose for weeks. The several years of good rainsseemed to have reached their peak. The zuleps in the river valleywere forced onto the plateau for protection. The protoceratops,now living in dispersed camps upriver, were forced into the hills.And the waters continued to rise.

It was a thousand-year flood. After yet another evening of tor-rential rain, the overcrowded zuleps awoke to find their plateau

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city completely surrounded by water. They were stranded.Before food could begin to be an issue, a massive storm

moved in. The skies darkened far across the horizon, and the deepthunder could be heard for hours before the clouds descended onwhat was left of Logos. The storm arrived just as the sun set, andthe ensuing hours of darkness were terror for the zuleps. The wetair was thick with lightning, every bolt of which seemed to hit theplateau. The lightning ignited sporadic fires which expired quick-ly under the fierce rain, but nonetheless lit again with each newstrike. The zuleps could feel the point-blank thunder in theirhearts.

Around midnight, an even deeper noise rumbled below thethunder. It grew steadily louder, terrifying the zuleps all the more,until it revealed itself to be a forty-foot-tall wall of water cascad-ing down the Danjow.

The wave crested the plateau and washed through Logos,sweeping the zuleps over the edge. But there was somethingworse: the library, which honeycombed the very structure of theplateau, had been connected to the Danjow. The great wave sweptbelow the plateau as well as above it. Moments after the crestwashed across Logos, the water pressure inside the tunnelsreached its limits. Rapidly growing fissures radiated forth fromthe staircases leading down to the library. The ground exploded asgeysers erupted from the library’s entrances. Weak earth betweenthe surface and lower levels fractured as a liquid earthquakeforced the water to the surface.

This proved to be the Danjow’s final flood. In the morning,the golden sunlight rose over a wide, sedate river. Drowned zulepcorpses floated placidly downstream. Water drained slowly fromthe tops of several low plateaus, all flattened by the flood. Now allsigns of Logos rested on the river bottom. The entrances to thegreat library were but nondescript lumps of mud atop one themany low plateaus that flanked the Danjow.

The Protoceratops Amnesia

The protoceratops were devastated by the loss of Logos. Itwas the symbol of their civilization, and not only had it beensacked by barbarians, but now it was completely destroyed byflood. Even worse was the loss of the great library. For a culturebased on knowledge, losing ten millennia of accumulated schol-arship was crippling. The protoceratops came to refer to this astheir “amnesia” – the enormous vacuum where once there was ashared memory, a memory that had been committed to writtenwords now long gone. They have since tried to alleviate this senseof amnesia by creating new libraries, and many protoceratopscities include small libraries. But the species still suffers from acollective sense of lost knowledge and desperately desires torecover the vast erudition lost with the flood of Logos.

The arrival of humans renewed interest in recovering the lostlibrary. Since then, protoceratops explorers have begun scouringthe Danjow where legends say Logos once was. They have foundmany artifacts along the length of the Danjow, including shards ofpottery, statuettes, inscribed tablets, and ancient beak sheaths (the

stone “dentures” that protoceratops wear when they use theirbeaks to write in stone). But they have not yet found Logos.

The most significant discovery to date is a series of tunnelsembedded in the bank of the Danjow, near where it evaporates inthe Crystal Desert. The tunnels, about a mile long over the courseof all of their twists and turns, are a section of the library whichbroke loose as a single chunk and was apparently swept downriv-er. The cave made by the tunnels was occupied by various river-dwellers until explorers cleared them out a few years ago.

Most of the wall inscriptions were worn off by the time theywere found, but enough was legible to learn the tunnels were oncea section of the library devoted to astronomy. Since then, the tun-nels have been extensively explored and converted into an explor-er’s outpost. Now called Sesquiped, it is the last point before thedesert where one can find some modicum of civilization. A fewwizened old protoceratops astronomers and a wild one live there,studying the wall inscriptions, and you can sometimes find anexplorer or two passing through.

Scenario Hooks

The area around the Danjow River provides fertile ground foradventure. It has been five hundred years since the loss of Logos.The protoceratops have rebuilt their civilization. Now they wantto recover their great library. Human explorers want to uncoverthe secrets of Cretasus and its inhabitants. Military researcherswant to understand the world’s mineral and resource distribution.And adventurers want to find the forgotten city.

The Danjow is a very long river, flanked by several levels ofterraces and plateaus. No one knows which might house the greatlibrary. Over time, the lay of the land has surely changed, and theplateau housing the library may now be at ground level – or per-haps the river has migrated away from it.

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The search for the great library makes for an epic campaign.The library is a major site, and it should not be found quickly. Itsdiscovery will be an important event. Knowledge of its locationcan be sold to many parties (both protoceratops and human) for aprincely sum. When it is found, explorers of all kinds – from pro-toceratops to zuleps to humans – will swarm there, and the knowl-edge it contains may create just as many mysteries as it unlocks.

The Crystal Desert

The Crystal Desert is an arid region south of the mountainsaround New Savannah. It is where Hepsediah Porter’s ship crash-landed. Somewhere in the sandy plains, his ship still lies, perhapslittered with the skeletons of his son Daniel and the rest of hisparty who decided to wait by the ship for help. (That is, if theyreally did die there...)

The desert begins quite abruptly – at an obvious line ofdemarcation, the grass browns and dies, plants wither and cease togrow, and the ground’s moisture content drops to nearly zero. Thedirt soon turns into sand, heated to scalding temperatures by theclear sky above. Soon you see almost no living things, only hotdunes and rising heat waves. The mighty Danjow River strangelydissipates and finally evaporates into nothing. This swath of bar-renness is the Crystal Desert.

The area is so named because of the crystal formationsthroughout the desert. Careful examination of the sand revealsthat its grains are much larger than usual and much more obvi-ously crystalline. There are rough, irregular crystal formationsthroughout the desert, often in the lee of a sand dune or growingfrom the side of a crumbling rock wall. Sometimes tall quartz-likecrystals project straight up from the sand, with no other terrainfeature in sight.

At the very center of the Crystal Desert is a great crater. Thiscrater has no name, as the zuleps and protoceratops are the onlycivilizations to have seen it, and both regard it with a sacred,unnamable awe. As one approaches the crater, the sandy groundbecomes more rocky, and soon is a bed of thick, shattered crystals.The crater is more than 200 feet deep and almost two miles across.At the very bottom one can see sun-scorched rubble of some kind.

Residents

Few creatures live in the Crystal Desert, but those that do aretough. The zuleps are the most common inhabitants, and there area variety of hardy reptiles and insects. The plant life is mostly cac-tus, some short, tough trees, a variety of cane, and a few otherhardy shrubs and roots. There are some medium-sized dinosaursand a few larger ones (most from families that have lived in thedesert long enough to adapt). You may occasionally encounterother animals around the fringes of the desert, but non-nativecreatures quickly feel the heat and retreat.

Environmental Dangers

The Crystal Desert is extremely hot. Beginning about half amile from its edges, it is considered very hot for purposes of heatdanger. The desert interior, centered on the crater and includingthe area within a two mile radius, is considered extreme heat.

There are no strong winds or sand storms in the CrystalDesert. Except for the occasional hot breeze, the air is still.

Crystal Formations

Hundreds of varieties of crystals can be found in the desert.In fact, it almost seems as if no two crystals are the same. Thereare pink, red, green, blue, yellow, brown, clear, and smoky graycrystals. Some are spotted, striated, translucent, opaque, or trans-parent. Some produce musical notes when struck, and some humwhen even the slightest breeze passes them by. Some are soft andsalty-tasting, while others are hard and glassy.

There is no rhyme or reason to the placement of the crystals.Some patches of the desert are dotted with a crystal growth near-ly every hundred feet, including some massive structures that areseveral stories tall, while other areas are bare sand for miles. Theprocess by which the crystals form is also mysterious, for theirgrowth rates vary from a few millimeters to more than a foot eachyear. Without pattern, new formations will grow out of barrensand. But once a crystal point is removed from its formation, itceases to grow.

The crystals are valued by machinists for their use in optics,lasers, and other items of high technology. Many machinistssearching for the perfect material have journeyed to the desert totest crystal properties.

Here is a list of several of the more useful crystals. They canbe located on successful Spot or Wilderness Lore checks. Onecheck can be made for every day of travel through the desert.

Glass Blood:This is the name given to a blood-red crystalthat grows in broad, short slabs. It is extremely rare, and also quitedifficult to find due to its low profile. One formation provides 3d6uses. If ground into a fine powder, mixed with liquid, and ingest-ed, glass blood fortifies the body. It provides a +1d4 resistancebonus to Fortitude saves. The bonus lasts for one day. There is agreat danger in ingesting glass blood, however: you are basicallydrinking glass shards. If the crystal is not ground properly into anextremely fine powder, it does 1d4 points of damage and gives nobonus whatsoever. Locating glass blood requires a WildernessLore check (DC 16), or a Spot check (DC 19). Grinding it prop-erly requires an Alchemy/Chemistry check (DC 15).

Lantern Crystal: This wide gray crystal appears completelyopaque. In reality, it is very sensitive to light, and while its surfaceis solid, its interior is pellucid and finely faceted with an intricateinterior structure. If broken off in sections which are then careful-ly sawed flat at each end to expose the clear interior, it becomesan incredible light magnifier. A light shown in one end of theresulting crystal wand is multiplied tenfold by the brilliant facets

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within and emerges from the other end that much brighter. Lanterncrystal is relatively easy to find (about one formation every squaremile), and each formation provides 5d12 crystal wands. Locatinglantern crystal requires a Wilderness Lore check (DC 14), or aSpot check (DC 16).

Song Crystal: Song crystal is a faint, translucent blue color.It grows in thin reed-like prisms an inch wide and several feetlong. It can only be found in the southernmost reaches of thedesert. It is extraordinarily sensitive to touch, and produces a faintwhispering noise when wind passes over it. Merely rubbing thecrystal with a finger produces a melodious sound. It is valued bymusicians as well as by many dinosaurs who find the soundspleasing. Song crystal can be located with Wilderness Lore check(DC 16), or a Spot check (DC 18).

Secrets of the Desert

The Crystal Desert is a geographic anomaly for a number ofreasons. Its sudden beginning and obvious perimeter are strange.The crystals are inexplicable. Its location in the midst of an other-wise moist region is unusual. And the fact that the Danjow driesup and disappears as it enters the desert is simply unnatural.

The secret of the desert lies in the crater. Resting beneath theshards of glass and clumped sand is the battered shell of a crashedalien spaceship. Its crash landing and the resulting reactor melt-down long ago changed the desert’s very nature. The rubble at thecrater bottom is the only clue to the hull buried beneath. It hasbeen empty for at least 10,000 years, for even the protoceratops’great library, which contained 10,000 years of accumulatedknowledge, described it as an aging, empty wreck.

Traces of the wrecked ship can be found throughout thedesert. These otherwise unidentified metal scraps originated at thecrash site long ago. They are twisted and sun-baked, with nothingso intact that its original purpose can be discerned. Many scrapsshow signs of twisting or shredding, as the leptoceratops use thescraps to build weapons and tools.

Staying in the crater is quite perilous. Aside from being

extremely hot, it is also very difficult to navigate. The loose crys-tal shards are crumbly and practically impossible to get a goodfooting on. Moving down the crater and around its bottom countsas a bad terrain surface (1/2 movement); climbing back up thecrater wall counts as a very bad surface (1/4 movement).Moreover, characters moving uphill must constantly try to keeptheir footing, so they count as being flat-footed at all times.

The ship itself is completely buried and is hard to see fromthe crater rim (Spot check at DC 22 to recognize that something isburied beneath the sand). But if characters descend into the craterand search the area, they will find numerous hatches, pits, andpipes leading into the buried craft (Spot check at DC 12 to notice).The ship is a mile wide and many levels deep. Although it wasdamaged in the crash, many of its passageways, cargo holds,launch bays, and other structures are intact.

The first level of the ship has been stripped bare, thanks tothousands of years of decay and occupation. But as one descendsfurther and further into the wreck, one will find ancient technolo-gy, some of it still working. Rumors of the technological windfallat the crash site have sent several machinists adventuring, butnone has yet found it. Navigating the desert, discovering the site,and exploring the crashed ship could be a substantial adventurefor characters.

The ship has been the home of many zulep tribes over theyears; two tribes live in it now. They occupy the first buried levelof the ship, with one tribe being a recent arrival which has beguncontesting the other tribe’s occupation.

One notable feature of the zulep occupiers is their strangeanatomical characteristics. All young born within the ship havemutations. Some are slight, such as crooked beaks or missing orextra fingers, while others are extreme, such as third eyes, feath-ers, horned frills, or no tails. Such is the peril of living in to thecrater.

(We have intentionally left the interior layout of the shipunspecified for now. Develop it as you see appropriate, adaptingthe ship to fit your campaign. Or await future developments inother supplements!)

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The Tecumseh Trail is the passage to the west. Gouged out ofthe soil by the parallel wagon ruts of a steady stream of pioneers,it is now the most traveled frontier route on Cretasus. Thousandsof frontiersmen have lived and died along its path, and the gravesthat mark its miles remind observers of the pioneers’ determina-tion.

The trail leads to several major areas of Cretasus. The verdantsouthwestern plains are the most common destination. The Bayou,a gray swamp that borders the plains to the north, is a less com-mon goal. The Black Jungle and Lake Hope lie to the west of theplains, while the Hampshire Mountains stand to the south.

The trail is named for Fort Tecumseh, its original destination.Fort Tecumseh is now the last bastion of civilization before thetrail enters the back country. Beyond the fort, settlements aresparse. Garsville, along the banks of Lake Hope, is the only pop-ulation center large enough to be called a town. Tiny Miller’sCrossroads lies where the trail bifurcates at the beginning of theplains and is an important place for western frontiersmen to selltheir wares to eastern merchants. Gilmore Homestead and VicentePass both serve as backwoods gathering points, but they are hardto reach. Pioneers with Union sympathies occasionally head forFort Lincoln, the Union’s largest outpost, which lies below theplains in the Hampshire Mountains.

The Trail

There is no sign proclaiming the Tecumseh Trail. The trail ismarked only by the evidence of those who came before. Wagonmarks, litter, the corpses of livestock, graves, scenes of battle, dis-carded belongings, extinguished fires, and trampled camp siteslead the pioneers in the steps of those who preceded them.

A journey along the Tecumseh Trail is filled with hardship.Pioneers must contend with hunger, disease, robbery, anddinosaurs. They must time their departure with the seasons, lestthey freeze on the plains while still mid-journey. They mustchoose carefully what to bring, balancing their desires with therisk of overloading their wagons or overburdening their livestock.

All pioneers must contend with faulty information, that per-petual gnawing doubt at the back of every traveler’s mind. Feware the guides who have taken the Tecumseh Trail both west andback east again. Travelers receive tips and directions from the set-tlers or occasional hunters they encounter, as well as the marks ofthose before them – but there is no way to confirm the route. Wasthe best river passage to the north or south? Does this cut-off pro-

vide a shortcut, like that miner said? After seeing four graves infive miles, should we have taken the other fork back at the bend?

These questions are important, because the trail diverges inmany places. Just past Fort Tecumseh, a traveler can head north-west along the inland sea, or cut west through the jungle. Mostchoose the former, but the latter is said to shave six days off thetrip. These choices confront pioneers every step of the way.

Two forks in the trail are especially important. The first is atMiller’s Crossroads. There, the north fork runs below the Bayouuntil it eventually crosses the Fur River into the northwesternplains. Those plains are the least settled and, if rumors are to bebelieved, the most prosperous. But reaching them requires greatstamina and a stomach for danger, as the Bayou is infested withvelociraptors and spinosauruses.

The southern route from Miller’s Crossroads is the routemore often traveled. It cuts directly across the plains. Most pio-neers leave the trail in the plains to make their home. The land isstill so vast as to be largely unsettled, but by now a traveler canexpect to find a homesteader within several days’ journey ofalmost any point along this stretch.

The second important fork is where this southern trail veerstoward the Black Jungle. Here, the south branch of the trail headsinto the jungle. Loggers, hunters, trappers, and bachelor farmersoften choose this route. The other fork veers west into Lake Hopeand Garsville. This stretch goes through light forest and is dottedwith larger farms more inviting to less adventurous travelers.

Fort Tecumseh

Fort Tecumseh is the Confederacy’s western stronghold. Itwas founded by General Bowie in 2189, just four years after NewSavannah’s founding, as an important link in the Confederacy’splans for the planet. General Bowie is a likable man who isnonetheless universally feared by his men, for he has never beenin a fight that didn’t end with his opponent’s death. His firstencounter on Cretasus only reinforced this reputation. He wasattending the first wedding in New Savannah. It was a grand affairto join the children of two of the new society’s most prominentfamilies. After the ceremony, the reception was held on a gor-geous wooded bluff overlooking the sea. As the bride and groomcut the cake, three velociraptors burst out of the underbrush. Theguests panicked, but not General Bowie. He grabbed the cakeknife and immediately impaled one of the raptors, killing it with asingle stroke. With a second stroke he sliced the forearm off the

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The Tecumseh Trail

next raptor. At that, they retreated, and General Bowie wiped offthe knife and served the rest of the cake. Most of the guests, how-ever, had lost their appetite.

When someone was needed to establish a fort to the west,General Bowie was the natural choice. He had earlier begunorganizing the Army of Solaris, a loose-knit force of independentunits from the dozens (later hundreds) of planets that had repre-sentatives on Cretasus. The Army of Solaris was a true frontierarmy, composed of whoever was willing to fight, and GeneralBowie took it west to build a fort.

Bowie established his fort much farther west than anyoneimagined. He eventually built Fort Tecumseh nearly 400 milesfrom New Savannah. Although this decision was unpopular at thetime (“Whom is General Bowie protecting, the humans or thedinosaurs?” asked many New Savannah citizens), General Bowierealized that traffic on the frontier would grow. His decision wasproven correct within a decade, as the Tecumseh Trail was trav-eled more and more. Fort Tecumseh became the first hub of fron-tier civilization.

Fort Tecumseh is now the home of the Army of Solaris andseveral regiments of Dino Warriors. Its total population, both mil-itary and civilian, is about 10,000 people, give or take howevermany pioneers are currently passing through. There are 2,000 sol-diers. The soldiers and about 500 civilians live in the fort, and therest of the population is scattered among the farms and ranchesthat line its perimeter.

Layout

The fort is arranged in three concentric squares. The inner-most square is defined by a high palisade of thick, pointed logsbeside a dry moat sixty feet wide and twenty feet deep. Thissquare is a quarter-mile wide and houses the officers’ barracks,ammunition depot, and artillery. It is the most secure area and thecenter of the “fighting fort” – in a war, the population wouldretreat to this area.

The middle square is surrounded by a fence made up vari-ously of split logs, mud bricks, and piled stones. This square isabout a mile wide at most points. Its sprawling interior includesthe soldiers’ barracks, stables, mess halls, parade grounds, guardhouses, and storage facilities.

The area outside the fence is a mix of military and civiliandomain. The military farms, practice ranges, and livestock herdsare there. Most residential and commercial institutions are there,too: a dozen saloons, three general stores, a grain dealer, a leatherdealer, a mill, a buying agency, two blacksmiths, a bank, two com-mercial stables, six hotels, and a theater which everyone knows isactually a front for a brothel.

Civilians realize the safety inherent in staying close to thefort, so the lands around it are clustered with ranches and farms.There are constant encampments of pioneers at the fort’s edges.

There is no large river near the fort, but several small streamsflow near or through town and into the great sea. Timber is anexpensive commodity, as it must be floated or hauled into town.

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The soldiers have a lot of time on their hands and have gone to thetrouble to bring in lumber for the fort, but most civilian houses aremade of sod.

Missions

The Fort monitors the Union presence at Fort Lincoln,defends New Savannah from the great herds on the southwesternplains, and maintains law and order on the Tecumseh Trail. Itsinfluence on the trail extends east almost as far as New Savannah,but settlers heading west leave its protection very quickly.

The fort has lately been involved in an increasingly hostilewar with a nearby velociraptor nation. The Lettoko raptors occu-py the hill country south of the fort. They oppose humanencroachment, as the humans are gradually chasing away theLettoko’s traditional prey. In the past year, the Lettoko havebecome more aggressive, ambushing pioneers along the trail andoccasionally even making forays into the farms and ranchesaround the fort.

The fort has responded with increased patrols and raids onthe Lettoko. The Lettoko are made up of at least six tribes, all sit-uated in fairly close proximity, and are very dangerous opponents.They exploit the hill terrain masterfully, launching ambushes andhit-and-run attacks from out of nowhere. So far, five soldiers havebeen lost for every raptor killed.

The Military

The life of a soldier in Fort Tecumseh is actually fairly excit-ing. While at post, he (or she) must endure the usual chores ofpost life: mess duty, guard duty, drills, building and repairingfacilities, cleaning, and so on. But if you’re going to be at post,Fort Tecumseh is a great post to be at, as there is a large civilianpopulation nearby and it’s always ready to serve the soldiers.

While not at post, soldiers go on patrol. Patrol around FortTecumseh is usually dangerous, which makes it rather exciting.The missions vary, but there is always trouble brewing some-where. There are marauding dinosaurs, trail bandits, and dishon-est traders; green pioneers to tend to; and the gradually escalatingwar against the Lettoko raptors. Whether it’s the great herds of theplains straying too close for comfort, or a vicious ceratosaurusstalking the trail, the soldiers of Fort Tecumseh always havesomething to worry about.

Sites of Interest

Josie’s Review is the most happening place in town. It is anightclub/theater famous for its singing showgirls, who areknown for hundreds of miles around – their songs are the onlyentertainment for many back country farmers! Travelers returningfrom the back country relax there for a few days before resumingtheir trips, as do pioneers passing in the other direction. Miners

The Dino Warriors

The Dino Warriors are the elite dinosaur cavalry of theConfederate army. They are the Confederacy’s newest militarybranch and the most visible of its soldiers on Cretasus. Theirmission is threefold: first, to protect Confederate settlements andtrade routes; second, to maintain relations with the dinosaurtribes and nations; and third, to establish hatcheries and growtheir ranks to the point where they can fight against the Union onother planets.

The Confederacy knows the Union is testing its ironcladson Cretasus. Officially there are no hostilities. Unofficially, thereare regular encounters and even casualties as the two sides dis-pute borders and attempt sabotage. The Confederacy realizes thepower of a trained T-rex and ultimately wants to train cadres oftroops to be deployed on other planets as defenses against Unionarmor. Even on Cretasus, the Dino Warriors sometimes plan“covert ops” where they attack Union tanks or experimentalironclads, completely unprovoked, as a test or for a specific mil-itary purpose. Since most of the damage to the Union in theseraids is in the form of bite marks, it’s easy to deny responsibili-ty and blame it on a wild dinosaur (at least in diplomatic andpublic relations channels – the military on both sides knowswhat’s going on).

The Dino Warriors also serve as dinosaur diplomats for theConfederacy. Because of their affinity with animals, they are thebest equipped to communicate with the intelligent dinosaurs. Ona number of occasions, the Dino Warriors have transformed hos-tile velociraptor tribes into willing allies, through a combinationof gifts, trade, diplomacy, and display of force. Most DinoWarrior encampments include a combination of domesticateddinosaurs and wild but friendly dinosaurs acting as liaisons,advisors, diplomats, or even hired mercenaries (a common rolefor silverclaw raptors).

There is no shortage of farmhands, hunters, pioneers, andother back country dwellers eager to become Dino Warriors. Butbecoming a Dino Warrior is not easy. Only bronco riders of highlevel, as well as normal civilians and regular soldiers who showexceptional aptitude with dinosaur handling, are admitted to thefirst stage of training.

This first stage consists of one year training and raisingdinosaurs in the hatcheries. During this time, the Dino Warriorsclosely observe the candidate’s interaction with dinosaurs.Depending on performance and the recommendations of theirsuperiors, a select few are invited to take the Dino Warriors’ ini-tiation tests.

Successfully passing the initiation tests requires more thanmere dinosaur empathy. Physical and strategic ability are veryimportant. The tests vary by time of year and what’s available,but some common tests include surviving five days in thewilderness equipped with only a hunting knife, riding a wild

and hunters stop by when they are in town, and there is always acontingent of soldiers on leave from the fort. Many of the localfarmers and ranchers are regulars. Josie’s is the best place to geta drink and learn the news from hundreds of miles in any direc-tion.

The four largest saloons in town are The Spur, Bud’s Brews,The Red Raptor, and the Three Horn Saloon. The Spur is a dirtyhole in the wall known for its fistfights and all-night poker games.Bud’s Brews is a large, relaxed saloon frequented by local farm-ers – the closest thing Fort Tecumseh has to a family bar (if thereis such a thing). The Red Raptor is known for its mascot, a stuffedraptor with unusually red skin; the bar attracts a mix of outdoors-men and soldiers. The Three Horn Saloon is home to the stuffedhead of a colossal bull triceratops, one of the largest ever seen; thesaloon is decorated with other natural artifacts, including a T-rexskull, a beer keg made of a pachycephalosaurus skull, and tableswith clawed feet from all manner of creatures. The Three HornSaloon is a great place to meet dino hunters, safari guides, andDino Warriors.

The buying agency occupies a three-story wood-plank build-ing labeled “Buying Agency.” For many frontiersmen, it is themost important building in town. Each of its twelve offices hous-es a buyer representing one or more merchants back in NewSavannah. The buyers procure raw materials, which they thenship back to their employers. The building’s occupants varydepending on who is in town at any given time, but there are usu-ally two mineral buyers (dealing in everything from aluminum togold), two timber buyers, one leather and skins agent, three pro-duce and crops buyers, one dealer in live dinosaurs, two mundanelivestock dealers, and one exotic goods buyer (specializing intaxidermied dinosaurs, exotic skins, dinosaur artifacts, and thelike). The buyers deal with farmers, hunters, and miners whodon’t want to trek all the way to New Savannah to sell theirgoods. The buyers employ their own agents in Miller’sCrossroads to deal with prospects even deeper in the back coun-try, and those agents in turn have their own agents as far west asGarsville.

The First Bank of Fort Tecumseh is the biggest bank west ofNew Savannah. It is one of the very few secure places on the fron-tier to convert notes to gold, borrow money, and deposit savings.The bank holds the combined wealth of most of the area’s bigfarmers and ranchers, as well as the savings of General Bowiehimself. At any given time, the bank’s vault holds 2d4 x1,000 dol-lars in cash and valuable metals. The bank is always guarded bythree private guards and 1d4+1 soldiers.

Prominent Locals

General Bowie:General Bowie is the most important man intown. He still runs the fort and the Army of Solaris. He also actsas the de facto mayor of the town, since all the important townpositions (sheriff, treasurer, etc.) are filled by military men heappoints. He is a short, stocky, balding man who always wears

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triceratops for a full minute, rounding up an escaped herd, andfighting a velociraptor in one-on-one combat.

Dino Warrior duties are generally more exciting than thosein the regular army. If a particularly dangerous dinosaur hasbeen ambushing merchants along a trade route from NewSavannah, it’s usually the Dino Warriors who get called to fixthe problem. This is why the trails between Fort Tecumseh, NewSavannah, and Fort Apache are fairly safe. Of course, there arenever enough Dino Warriors to chase every carnivore, but theycertainly make the areas they patrol safer than anywhere else onthe planet.

While not on patrol, a Dino Warrior is tending to his ani-mals. He feeds them, cleans them, and trains them. Breaking andtraining newly acquired wild dinosaurs is an ever-present chore.So is raising young into domesticity.

Some high-level Dino Warriors are promoted out of activeduty. They have diplomatic or political jobs that take an officeraway from the front lines. These are the Dino Warriors you’llfind as prominent citizens in New Savannah, the forts, and a fewother large towns. They are revered as heroes. After all, they rep-resent pretty much everything the Confederacy adores –strength, heroism, military prowess, and rural lifestyle. Theseare the men and women who sit on boards, organize charityballs, court the mayor’s children, and invest on the side in expe-ditions to faraway jungles reputed to have valuable sugar canebrakes.

A Typical Dino Warrior: Dino Warriors usually begintheir careers as soldiers or bronco riders. They are recruited intothe Dino Warriors when they demonstrate unusual aptitude withhandling animals. For more information, see the Dino Warriorprestige class elsewhere in this volume. Here is the profile of atypical Dino Warrior private.

Dino Warrior Private, Confederate Bro3/Dnw2: CR5; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 3d8+2d10; Init +2 (+2Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 17 (+2 Dex, +5 flak jacket); Atk +4ranged (1d10/crit x3, automatic pistol), +4 ranged touch(special, lasso), +4 melee (2d8+1/crit x3, laser lance), or+4 melee (1d6+1, laser prod); AL LN; SV Fort +4, Ref +4,Will +1; Str 12, Con 11, Dex 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 12.

Skills: Animal Empathy +11 (8), Balance +5 (6),Handle Animal +16/+14* (8), Intimidate +6 (5), IntuitDirection +6 (6), Knowledge (nature) +7 (6), Knowledge(strategy & tactics) +4 (3), Ride +11/+9* (8), WildernessLore +6 (6). Feats: Dinopathy, Dinosaur Presence,Mounted Combat, Mounted Archery, Point Blank Shot.

* Higher bonus applies when working with mount inwhich he specializes.

Possessions: Automatic pistol, lasso, laser lance,laser prod, flak jacket, handheld communicator, cash$2d6.

grey fatigues. He speaks in brief sentences and is very bossy – heforces all situations into a commander-soldier relationship.

General Bowie, Confederate Sol8: CR 8; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 8d10+16; hp 57; Init +1 (+1 Dex);Spd 30 ft.; AC 11 (+1 Dex); Atk +9/+4 ranged (2d10, laserpistol) or +2 melee (1d4+2/crit 19-20, heirloom dagger); ALLN; SV Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +6; Str 13, Con 14, Dex 12, Int16, Wis 15, Cha 16.

Skills: Bluff +8 (5), Drive +8 (7), Intimidate +14 (11),Knowledge (strategy and tactics) +14 (11), Listen +9 (7),Operate Ironclad +4 (3), Pilot +10 (7), Sense Motive +7 (5),Use Technical Equipment +14 (11). Feats: CombatPlacement, Combat Tactician, Endurance, Iron Will,Leadership, Sense of Vulnerability, Weapon Proficiency –High Tech (Laser Pistol).

Possessions: General Bowie carries a holstered laserpistol and a +1 heirloom dagger. His assistants carry every-thing else (usually papers and documents). He does notnormally wear armor, as he is rarely near combat. If forcedinto battle, however, he has first pick from the fort’s arsenal.

Honest Eddy: Honest Eddy (otherwise known as EdwardAnderson) owns Honest Eddy’s Stables. He is a relaxed, congen-ial back-slapper who is friends with everyone in town. He is wellknown for his total honesty, and equally well known for his amaz-ing salesmanship. His ability to close a sale at a good price, even

after disclosing an animal’s faults, is legendary. Rumor has it thathe once sold a lame, half-blind triceratops to a professional bron-co rider for the same price his competitor was selling perfectlyhealthy ones. And the buyer was completely satisfied with thedeal!

Honest Eddy, Confederate Exp1: CR 1; Medium-sizeHumanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d4-1; hp 2; Init +0 (+0 Dex); Spd 30ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d3, unarmed); AL N; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Will +4; Str 10, Con 8, Dex 10, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha18.

Skills: Appraise +5 (4), Bluff +8 (4), Diplomacy +8 (4),Profession (Animal Husbandry, Sales) +5 (4), Ride +4 (4),Sense Motive +8 (4). Feats: Lucky Cuss.

Possessions: Lucky rabbit’s foot, cash $3d10“Buckskin” Steiner: “Buckskin” Steiner is one of the best

known wilderness guides at Fort Tecumseh. He spends most of histime on solitary trips into the hills south of the fort, where he huntseverything except raptors, as he is one of the few humans to be ongood terms with the Lettoko raptors. “Buckskin” makes a goodliving selling his kills, though he occasionally moonlights as aguide. He is a wide-shouldered, broad, hairy bear of a man whowears a fringed dino-leather buckskin jacket and rarely speaks.When he’s in town, he spends his time at the Red Raptor, althoughlately he has been spending very little time in town.

“Buckskin” Steiner, Offworlder Male Wil2 : CR 3;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 2d8+2; hp 15; Init +0;Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+3 studded leather armor); Atk +2 melee(1d4+1/crit 19-20, raptor claw dagger), or +1 ranged(1d12/crit x3, Winchester rifle); SA Dinosaur Ally, MotivatingCause; AL CN; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +4; Str 12, Con 12,Dex 11, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10/8*.

* Base of 10 reduced to 8 when around humans.Skills: Animal Empathy +5 (5), Animal Peer +3 (2),

Climb +3 (3), Heal +3 (2), Intuit Direction +6 (5), WildernessLore +6 (5). Feats: Weapon Proficiency – Ballistic.

Possessions: Raptor claw dagger, Winchester rifle with40 bullets, studded leather armor, cash $1d6.

SA – Dinosaur Ally (Ex): “Buckskin” is allied with theLettoko raptors.

SA – Motivating Cause (Ex): “Buckskin” is spending somuch time in the woods that he is starting to see the worldfrom the eyes of the Lettoko raptors. He opposes humanincursion into their territory, and receives a +1 bonusagainst enemies of the Lettoko.

Scenario Hooks

Most of the city’s excitement comes from its status as thefrontier’s biggest establishment and the center of law and orderfor many miles. Almost every dishonest man on the frontier has areason to hate General Bowie or his men. There is always lots ofexcitement on the trail, whether it’s due to dinosaurs, strandedpioneers, or bandits. Missions against the Lettoko feed a constant

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opportunity for adventure, as do the many trade links between thebuying agency and its suppliers.

Here are some rumors that characters might hear while inFort Tecumseh. Remember, not all of these have to be true! Youdecide which are false leads and which point to real adventure.

1. General Bowie’s son went on patrol and still isn’t back.2. A trail bandit recently released from the Fort Tecumseh

prison is rounding up a new gang.3. An ornery old miner must have found a deep vein of gold,

because he comes in from the south hills with at least ten poundsof gold every few weeks.

4. A wealthy pioneer is offering top dollar to soldiers whodesert and act as his trail guards, but General Bowie says he’llhang any man that deserts.

5. Two Lettoko tribal chieftains are feuding. General Bowieneeds someone to encourage their feud to help divide the Lettokonation.

6. Union agents are buying up all the good mounts in an effortto slow down western migration.

7. Old “Smiley” Smith, a rancher on the edge of town, isorganizing a posse to go get that ceratosaurus that keeps eating hisbroncos.

8. A protoceratops wanderer is offering a fortune to anyonewho will escort him safely to the heart of Lettoko territory.

Long Ridge Hatchery

About ten miles south of Fort Tecumseh is Long RidgeHatchery, which the locals refer to as simply the hatchery. Thehatchery is where the Dino Warriors train wild mounts, raise babydinosaurs into domesticity, and refine the relatively new combatstrategies for dinosaur warfare. It is the base of operations forabout 60 Dino Warriors and their mounts, as well as support staffof double that number.

The Dino Warriors’ most intelligent and most loyal mountsare allowed to roam free. The rest live in ten large barns arrangedin an open rectangle. At the center of rectangle lie three wide ringsin a row, like the rings of a circus. A spiked palisade three logsthick, anchored to the ground with heavy chains, surrounds eachring. Ten feet inside each palisade are a number of large ironcages. These are where wild-caught dinosaurs are kept until theyare domesticated.

A gate leading into what looks like a mound of earth is theentrance to the hatchery proper, which is built into a hill. Withinthe hill is a maze of tunnels that connect dozens of warm, cozyrooms in which dinosaur eggs are cared for. The earth moundhelps insulate the eggs, some of which must be kept warm to hatchproperly. Newborn dinosaurs are kept in the hatchery until theyreach a certain size, whereupon they are removed to the barns.

The hatchery is ostensibly a secret, although everyone at FortTecumseh knows about it. The important part is that the Union notlearn about it. The Union is well aware of the Dino Warriors sta-tioned there, but has no direct knowledge of the hatchery. The

hatchery’s underground architecture makes its full extent difficultto ascertain, an intentional reason for its construction thus.

The hatchery is always buying dinosaur eggs, as well asyoung, untrained dinosaurs. Several grizzled ex-hunters nowmake a living snatching dino eggs to sell to the Dino Warriors.The hatchery also offers a bounty for the heads of oviraptors,since oviraptors directly compete with the hatchery’s needs andseveral have even been caught skulking around the hatcheryentrance!

Fort Lincoln

Fort Lincoln is the Union’s largest settlement on NewSavannah. It is an official outpost of the Federal Union of Planetsand is considered by the Union to be the formal base for itscolonists on Cretasus. But because the Union arrived on Cretasusafter Confederate sympathies had already been well established,many of its colonization attempts around New Savannah and thesouthwestern plains have ended with its government-sponsoredpioneers being run out of town. Now Fort Lincoln serves as arefuge for Union colonists and a base from which to launch colo-nization efforts at the northwestern plains, an unsettled regionwhere even the Confederacy lacks a toehold.

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Layout

Fort Lincoln is situated at the top of a hill in the foothills ofthe Hampshire Mountains. The inner garrison (the fort proper) isat the crest of the hill. The rest of the fort stretches down the hillaway from the garrison. Most of the northern face of the hill iscovered in residences and temporary housing for colonists, whilethe other faces have military buildings. At the base of the southslope is a landing pad where the occasional spaceship brings sup-plies and fresh colonists.

Structurally, Fort Lincoln is far superior to any Confederatefort on Cretasus. It is constructed of imported high-grade steel,prefabricated to fit a standard design template that the Unionemploys on all of its frontier planets. The fort proper is a quartermile square, built of double walls of twenty-foot-tall steel plates.The prefab walls include watch towers in each corner, two gates,and three levels of ramparts with hundreds of firing ports. Localimprovements help improve the standard design: the walls arereinforced by an inner stone wall quarried from local rock and anouter dry moat.

Population

The fort’s population is fluid. Only 2,000 soldiers are sta-tioned there, although they are supported by more heavy armorand artillery than the entire Confederate force on all of Cretasus.About 4,000 civilians live around the fort permanently, some ofthem relatives of the soldiers. The rest of the population – fromzero to as many as 2,000 additional civilians – consists ofcolonists either leaving for or returning from the back country.

Union freighters deliver a steady stream of colonists, whospend their first few weeks at Fort Lincoln before setting out.Because the colonists are government-sponsored, they are wellequipped from the beginning. Unlike Confederate pioneers,Union colonists often have motorized vehicles to carry themacross the plains. They have ample provisions and new weapons.And Fort Lincoln sends small detachments of soldiers to accom-pany them on the first stretch of the journey. When starting out, atleast, Union colonists have a significant lead over theConfederates.

But the lead is rapidly narrowed by the Union colonists’inexperience with rural living. Most come from the sprawlingUnion super-cities and have no idea how to farm, ranch, fish, orhunt. That’s why Fort Lincoln is often filled with colonists return-ing from the back country – their farms failed or their livestockdied, and now they need more training or more supplies. Becauseof this, Union colonists make up a disproportionate number of theloggers and miners on Cretasus, as both those vocations are easyto learn and they produce profits fast.

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Federal Marshals

The Federal Police Agency is one of the least centralizedorganizations in the Union. Its mission is to police Unioncolonies in the outer reaches, where formal governments arerare and “the law” is whoever has the biggest stick. TheAgency consists of several dozen federal marshals, each ofwhom patrols one or more solar systems. Reporting to themarshals are federal sheriffs, who, with the aid of three orfour deputies, patrol one or more planets. Due to their distantassignments, the marshals often go for months or sometimesyears without contact with their superiors, making them near-ly autonomous.

Typically, there is a sheriff for every 100,000 people anda marshal for every 1,000,000 people. These populations areeven more impressive when you consider that the usualUnion colony consists of only a few thousand miners andtheir families.

Marshals and sheriffs maintain law and order over vastdistances, acting as the law for dozens or even hundreds ofplanets. To cope with this nearly impossible task, they arewell equipped, well financed, and extremely well trained.Unlike the sheriffs of the old west, they are not just sometough local with a badge. Instead, they are always top-notchveterans of the army, navy, or civilian police forces who havedecided to pursue a solitary life in the outer territories.

Only the most experienced, highly decorated individualsare accepted into the Federal Police Agency. There theyundergo a rigorous basic training program where at least 70%of them wash out. The survivors are trained in the special tac-tics often required of federal marshals. Then they are sentinto the field to act as sheriffs deputies. The deputies aregiven nearly impossible tasks (stop planet-wide rioting, forexample) and basically treated like cannon fodder. If anapplicant survives his three-year deputy period (only 25%do), he is then eligible to become a sheriff – when and if aposition becomes open. From there, he may someday be pro-moted to a marshal.

The tactics required of marshals and sheriffs are verydifferent from those of the regular military and police.Marshals and sheriffs spend much of their time acting asorganizers, motivators, and disciplinarians. They must under-stand bureaucracy and politics as well as combat. They mustorganize police agencies on each of the colonies, see thatthey are competent and well supplied, support them in a cri-sis, and, often as not, keep them in check if they become cor-rupt or too authoritarian. The marshals’ worst fear is openconflict, for their available manpower is never sufficient toput down a full-fledged rebellion. It is by their ability to lead

Missions

The fort has three missions: establish a base of operations forUnion military and civilian forces on Cretasus; protect the iron-clad research facilities nearby; and impede Confederate settle-ment of the planet. The fort’s commander, Colonel Brisbane, hasspent most of his energy on the first two missions since discover-ing just how much of a head start the Confederacy has.

Visiting

Fort Lincoln is a surprisingly friendly place. Despite hostili-ties with the Confederacy, the Union commanders at Fort Lincolnrealize the need for good public relations. After all, visitors are agood source of intelligence and poor relations with outsiders willonly hurt the Union’s own colonists.

The fort welcomes visitors in a variety of ways. A lodge atthe base of the hill provides cheap housing for passing hunters.One of town’s saloons is intentionally off limits to Union soldiers,so that visitors from rebel lands will feel comfortable there. Anda trading post at the edge of the fort offers Union manufacturedgoods for sale at prices cheaper than anywhere else on Cretasus.

Despite Fort Lincoln’s hospitality, it has very few visitorsfrom the east. It is still a Union fort. Confederate loyalists would-n’t be caught dead there. Most of its visitors are from the plainsand frontiers to the west, where loyalties are less stringent and theshared labors of frontier living form a stronger bond than loyal-ties imported from other worlds.

Because of this contact, many products end up for sale inNew Savannah without anyone realizing they are newly manu-factured Union goods. The circuitous route begins at FortLincoln, where hunters or traders from the west buy weapons ortechnology off of Union colonists. They in turn sell the goods atGarsville or Miller’s Crossroads, by which route they are sold intoFort Tecumseh. There, buying agents send them on to NewSavannah for sale in the big city. There are so many links in thechain that Fort Lincoln’s largest customer base doesn’t even knowthey are Union customers.

Sites of Interest

Fort Lincoln has four saloons. The customer bases for TheLimping Lizard, The Evening Drill, and The Off Duty are 90%soldiers, which discourages visitors and even most local civiliansfrom stopping by. The fourth, called The Fat Chew Tavern, is off-limits to soldiers. It is where you will find the civilians, colonists,and passers-through “chewing the fat.”

The Post, a store at the very edge of town, is a great sourceof supplies for anyone setting out into the frontier. Unlike mostConfederate stores, it is well equipped with high-tech items, andon occasion will even have motorized vehicles for sale.

The Hampshire mines are located a few miles south of Fort

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and motivate civilians that they maintain order.When not dealing with local police forces, the marshals

and sheriffs hunt down criminals and bandits, fend off warppirates, ferret out Confederate sympathizers, and generallysolve problems. Marshals act as roving judges: they settledisputes, mete out punishments, and confine criminals. ForUnion colonists in the outer reaches, the marshals are the law.

Ironclads

Ironclads are the weapon that may tip the galaxy’s balanceof power. Developed with alien assistance, they are the ultimateevolution of powered armor. Each of these one-man battle suitscan match a Confederate tank gun-for-gun, yet has the mobilityof an infantryman. Moreover, they are better armed and armoredthan anything else in the Confederate or Union military. Aboutthe only thing that can go head-to-head with a fully-armed iron-clad is an enraged tyrannosaurus rex — and, in the eyes of manymilitaristic Union pilots, it is only the Confederacy’s retreat toCretasus that has staved off their final victory.

The basic ironclad hull is of Union design, but the propul-sion, augmentation, gyroscope, and adaptive intelligence sys-tems require the services of certain alien races to build andrepair. This has produced a curious blend of enigmatic alientechnology and cumbersome Union industrial machinery.Advanced artificial intelligence targeting systems are sometimesused on ancient cannons. The ironclad’s high-tech innards areprotected by thick armored plates welded onto the superstruc-ture. The Union’s alien vendors keep it supplied with powerfullaser and plasma weapons, which are clumsily riveted and sol-dered onto the hull by the Union.

Ironclads are generally divided into three classes. TheMonitor class ironclads are the lightest, usually no more thantwelve feet tall and used mostly for scouting and reconnaissance.The Ulysses class ironclads are of medium weight and height.The Sherman class ironclads are the heaviest: blundering mam-moths up to twenty feet tall and bristling with weapons.

Within these classes, each ironclad is unique. They are cus-tom modified by their pilots, who are constantly tinkering withthem. Some ironclads are hermetically sealed; others are open.Most opt for firepower, but some lighter models are built forspeed. Almost all have been souped up in one way or another.

In game terms, ironclads are treated as creature templatesapplied to their pilots. See the ironclad entry in chapter 5 for fulldetails. Getting experience as an ironclad pilot requires joiningthe Union military. Barring that, no character will ever pilot oneunless he steals it or captures it in battle – which is enough toprovoke a major Union offensive aimed at getting it back!

Lincoln. They are an example of Union industrialism at its best –and worst. While most Confederate mines use human and animallabor to mine the earth stone by stone, the Hampshire Mines useheavy equipment to raze the ground, dig deep pits, and send upmassive amounts of earth which are sifted above ground. Theminers spend less time swinging picks and more time operatingmachinery. Unfortunately, this process utterly destroys the naturallandscape, and the mine operator, Ford Windham, is merciless.The wasted terrain at the Hampshire mines has incited the wrathof every intelligent dinosaur in the land, as well as numerous wildones, and the mines must deal with regular attempts at sabotageby human and dinosaur alike.

The officers’ club, situated in an ornate three-story stonebuilding just outside the fort proper, is accessible only to Unionofficers and very prominent citizens. The interior is decoratedwith dark wood paneling, deep leather couches, stuffed dinosaurheads, blackjack tables, and cigar lounges. Why does an outerreaches backwater like Cretasus have such a fancy officers’ club?Because that’s not really what it is. The third floor of the buildingis off limits to just about everybody. If you ask around, you’ll findthat most of the club’s members don’t even know who is allowedup there. In fact, the third floor is the secret meeting place for theCretasus contingent of the Cabal (see the Broncosaurus RexCoreRulebook, page 89).

Only three locals – Colonel Brisbane, Marshal McCauley,and Ford Windham – have keys to the third floor. Their knowl-edge of the Cabal outside of Cretasus is murky, as their superiorslike to keep things discreet. What they do know is that they willbe well rewarded if they can carve out a foothold in the dinosaurtrade and eventually control it. To this end, they covertly employor control (through a variety of middlemen) dinosaur traders andranchers throughout the planet, and are always looking to increasetheir influence. As they are already unscrupulous men, they alsoengage in a number of personal projects that directly profit them-selves: luring failed colonists to distant areas of the hills to trapthem in oppressive mining operations, illegally selling military-issue weapons to bandits that prey on the Tecumseh Trail, and soon.

The ironclad research facility lies a few miles south of thefort. It is a single large building that looks like an airplane hangar.It houses several fully operational ironclad suits, as well as hightech facilities for further developing the technologies that let iron-clads walk, run, and jump. The researchers live in its spartan liv-ing quarters, along with a small military detachment that is alwayson hand. The Union’s ironclad designs are nearing completion,and their most important task is now testing the suits and trainingthe pilots – a task for which Cretasus is ideal.

Prominent Locals

Marshal McCauley: The best known Union official onCretasus is Marshal McCauley, the Federal Marshal for the area ofspace that includes Cretasus. Cretasus has become so important to

the local balance of power that McCauley spends much of his timeon the planet overseeing Sheriff Wilder, the federal sheriffassigned to Cretasus. Marshal McCauley travels a regular circuitthrough the Union colonies. He has no love for Confederate sym-pathizers, but recognizes that the political balance on Cretasusmakes it impossible for him to punish them – for now.Nonetheless, most Confederate settlers head the other way whenthey see him coming. Everyone else does, too.

If anyone ever personified the law, it is Marshal McCauley.Tall and imposing, he never smiles. He always wears his uniformand badge, and is never without weapons. He is authoritative,commanding, and judgmental. If you break his laws, he makesyou pay on the spot. Yet he long ago lost the idealism that led himhere in the first place, and he has been slowly twisting the law tohis benefit ever since.

Federal Marshal McCauley, Union Sol6/Fdm7: CR11; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 13d10; hp 105; Init +2(+2 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 21 physical, 19 energy (+2 Dex, +7reactive armor, +2/+0 kinetic field); Atk +14/+9/+4 ranged(3d6/crit 19-20/x3, ROGUE rifle), +14/+9/+4 ranged(1d10/crit x3, automatic pistol), or +7/+2 melee (2d6/crit x3,screamer knife); SA Raise Posse, Issue Law (see FederalMarshal description); AL LE; SV Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +7;Str 12, Con 11, Dex 15, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 22/20*.

* Base of 18 modified by +4 when dealing with Unionsympathizers or +2 when dealing with anyone else familiarwith federal marshals. All Cha-related skill bonuses are list-ed below in this Union/others format.

Skills: Bluff +19/+18 (10), Diplomacy +17/+16 (11),Drive +8 (6), Gather Information +10/+9 (4), Intimidate +15(11), Knowledge (strategy and tactics) +8 (7), Listen +6 (6),Pilot +7 (6), Search +11 (10), Sense Motive +10 (10), Spot+10 (10), Use Technical Equipment +9 (7). Feats: CombatTactician, Leadership, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot,Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Sense of Vulnerability.

Possessions: ROGUE rifle with laser sight, automaticpistol, screamer knife, reactive armor, kinetic field, binocu-lars, flashlight, compass, scanner, cash $10d10.

Scenario Hooks

Most of Fort Lincoln’s rumors are spread by the soldiers, whoaren’t always entirely enthusiastic about being there. While theyare loyal to the Union, they can’t help but notice that many of thecolonists are becoming landowners while they toil away on guardduty. Desertion and low morale are a problem at the fort, and a lotof the rumors center on the fables of disenchanted soldiers.

Here are some of the rumors characters may hear. Again, youdecide whether they are true or not.

1. If you get guard duty at the mines, it’s easy to ride out onenight with the trail bandits and never come back.

2. A wild one over the mountain is brokering deals betweenan intelligent allosaurus and some of the soldiers. The allosaurus

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will “eat” you if you leave a fresh bronco carcass for him. Hedoesn’t really eat you, of course; he shows up at the tight time,picks you up in his mouth like a cat carries its kittens, and carriesyou off. Since everybody thinks you’re dead then you’re free togo!

3. If you send Colonel Brisbane $500 in gold, he’ll make surethe guard duty is light when the next shipment of ROGUE riflescomes in.

4. Ford Windham is using ornitholestes as forced labor in themines.

5. The ironclads are just a cover-up. The real reason we’rehere is to build cyborg dinosaurs.

6. I heard that Geof Wilkins would pay an arm and a leg forsomeone to “kidnap” him while he’s on patrol.

Old Ned the Allosaur

Notorious among locals for his grumpiness and reclusive-ness, Old Ned is an escapee from an early top-secret Union cyborgprogram. He was given low-light vision and a radio implant, andscientists were planning to give him some drug glands whichwould have responded to the radio signals and given him bursts ofsuper-allosaur strength. However, Ned managed to figure out howto manipulate his radio, cracking into secure Union codes andlearning their plans: to drug him into a mindless automaton andturn him loose in Confederate territory. He didn’t fancy that, so heescaped, using his radio to eavesdrop on Union communicationsand dodge patrols. He managed to reach an old cave complex andhide out, and he’s evaded the Union for eight years now. Heloathes the Union and uses his knowledge of Union communica-tions to snoop on any Union expeditions within his domain, doinghis best to foil their plans.

He doesn’t trust the Confederacy, either, but he occasionallyalerts them to Union plots. So far they have yet to betray him, andhe’s grudgingly coming to think that humans might not be all bad.

Ned’s implants have gone bad on him over the years. One ofhis eyes, which originally gave him the low-light vision, is nowuseless, and although he still picks up radio signals in his left ear,the ear has gone deaf. He refuses to seek medical attention, lettingthe wounds fester. He’s having trouble hunting these days, andeventually he’ll either starve or just launch a suicide attack on theUnion.

Old Ned the Allosaur: CR 8; Gargantuan Animal (40 ft.with tail); HD 21d12+126; hp 279; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 13(-6 size, +9 natural); Atk +21 melee (3d8+19, bite), +6melee (1d4, 2 claws); Face/Reach 20 ft. by 20 ft./20 ft; SAEavesdrop; AL CG; SV Fort +19, Ref +17, Will +14; Str 33,Con 22, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 14.

Skills: Listen +12 (8), Spot +12 (8), Wilderness Lore +5(1), Knowledge (Union) +4 (4), Ciphers (radio codes) +4 (4),Hide +4 (20). Feats: Improved Grab, Scent.

SA – Eavesdrop: Old Ned can eavesdrop on Unionradio transmissions with a successful Ciphers skill check vs.the Ciphers skill of the transmitter.

The Southwestern Plains

The gently rolling southwestern plains are the most settled ofCretasus’ frontier regions. They are only a few months away fromNew Savannah along the well-traveled Tecumseh Trail. The soil ishard and wild, but with some work it can be turned into goodcropland. The generally flat landscape makes herds easy to con-trol and farms easy to defend. But given the rapid influx of set-tlers, it won’t be too long before every pioneer will have a neigh-bor within 70 miles – the boundary which Daniel Boone long agodeclared too close for comfort!

The population of the southwestern plains now averages oneperson every twenty square miles. Most settlements consist of sin-gle families with a small farm. A few larger family groups operateranches or larger farms. There are also groups of single men whohave banded together to manage a herd of dinosaurs. They oftenwander with their herd, driving it into civilized territory once ayear to sell livestock and buy supplies.

The plains are where one can find the most spectacularpanoramas of Cretasus’ dinosaurs. Herd after herd of triceratopsand brachiosaurus stride across the grasslands, their imposing pro-files silhouetted on the horizon from miles away. Smaller groupsof stegosaurus and ankylosaurus surround them, with ceratosaurusand albertosaurus always lurking at the herds’ edges.

A flattened farm, the house ground to dust and the crops eatento the roots, is a common warning to those who would settle theplains. These are the farmers who couldn’t keep away the herds.The sight is terrifying and prompts many pioneers to carefullychoose where they establish themselves. The smart ones read theterrain and settle away from the main migration routes. Others useditches, barricades and fire to keep the dinosaurs away. Some areforced to shoot dinosaurs that wander too close, which is of mixedeffectiveness – you can scare away a few herbivores with well-placed shots, but if one bronco is within shooting range, there areusually more than you can possibly kill following close behind.The safest settlements are those composed of several families,who have the manpower and firepower to discourage most herbi-vores from getting too close. The intelligent carnivores, however,are another story entirely!

Towns

In the past decade, the population in the southwestern plainshas grown enough to support two small freetowns. One isGarsville, settled between the prosperous fishing areas along LakeHope and the timber-rich forests surrounding it. Garsville is hometo a lumber mill, forty wooden plank homes, two hundred sod orlog homes, a general store, and a tannery, all enclosed in a spikedpalisade built by the pioneers.

The other town is Miller’s Crossroads, located at the fork inthe Tecumseh Trail. Miller’s Crossroads is a town of transients. Atany given time, at least 80% of the people in town will only be

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stopping over as they pass along the trail. That’s fine by JedMiller, founder and self-appointed mayor of the town, for that’show he has become rich: by catering to the needs of the pioneers.He long ago realized that traffic on the trail would steadily grow,and Miller’s Crossroads has evolved from his two-room store-front home to eight buildings where passersby can trade skins,leather, teeth and claws, gems, gold, silver, other ores, hard goods,livestock, timber, dried fish, salted meat, weapons, cotton, rice,wheat, sugar, tobacco, coffee, and just about anything else a pio-neer might want to buy or sell.

Miller’s Crossroads is now the primary link between the dis-tant frontier and Fort Tecumseh. Pioneers on their way west pickup supplies, and settled frontiersmen bring their crops and live-stock to sell. All the major New Savannah merchants have agentsin Miller’s Crossroads, most via their intermediaries in FortTecumseh. Included among them is Jed Miller himself, who rep-resents New Savannah’s largest dealers in leather, timber, anddinosaur ivory. Guides who accompany settlers from NewSavannah to the southwestern plains stop by Miller’s Crossroadson their return trip, where they can hire on to transport goods backto the spaceport of New Savannah. Westward traffic on theTecumseh Trail outnumbers eastward traffic by more than fifty toone – which tells Jed Miller half his business still stands to growby at least fifty times!

Gilmore Homestead is a hamlet in the center of the south-western plains that is the closest thing to civilization for manymiles around. The Homestead is occupied by the extensiveGilmore family, which comprises sixteen adults and almost asmany children. Although essentially a family compound, theHomestead has become a social and commercial hub of sorts.Once a month, the Gilmores host a dance and market whichattracts pioneers for nearly a hundred miles in every direction.

Vicente Pass is a combative settlement on the south side of anarrow stretch of the Fur River. Its population, a dozen grizzledhunters, survives by hunting, fishing, and limited farming. To allappearances, they picked a terrible place to settle: the dangerousBayou is not far to the east, the Fur River itself is home to all sortsof dangers (both mammalian and saurian), and the fertile north-western plains (a much safer place to be) are not far away.However, the residents of Vicente Pass are firm believers in anincipient Cretasus philosophy similar to Manifest Destiny of oldEarth, and they feel a self-imposed responsibility to help pioneersreach the still-unspoiled northwestern plains. Passersby canalways expect assistance from the residents of Vicente Pass – aslong as it lasts, that is. The raptors of the Bayou do not look kind-ly on their mission...

The Black Jungle

There are extensive jungles in the southwest of the MainValley, but one region stands out. The Black Jungle is the tangledjungle south of Lake Hope and Garsville. Its canopy stands morethan two hundred feet high. Somehow the trees reached such an

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Life on the FrontierThe Importance of Neighbors

While many city-dwellers learn to hate their neighbors fortheir noise or unpleasant habits, most frontier families deeplyappreciate of their neighbors. In fact, out on the frontier, theneighbor is the most important social relationship after family.People are scarce, so settlers depend on each other heavily.Many fundamental frontier tasks cannot be completed by a sin-gle family.

Pioneers are quick to ask for help when they need it andtheir neighbors for miles around are quick to respond, out ofgood nature, a sense of responsibility, and the knowledge thatsomeday the help will be reciprocated. Cabin-raisings and barn-raisings are the most common cause for neighbors to get togeth-er, though sickness, birth, and drought are also good reasons.

The Association for Mutual Protection

The Association for Mutual Protection is a group of ranch-ers and farmers near Garsville who have joined together for pro-tection from the dinosaurs nearby. The forests are still very dan-gerous, but members of the Association receive some protection.

Anyone can join the Association by paying regular dues.The dues pay for weapons and supplies but are primarily used asinsurance for members whom the Association fails to protect.The dues are waived if the member volunteers to fight for theAssociation when needed.

The Association mobilizes whenever there is a commonthreat. Whether it’s a carnivore or a stampeding herd, theAssociation is there. Runners race through the night alertingmembers, who gather at an appointed spot. When enough mem-bers have shown up, they go out to face the threat. Since theAssociation can mobilize nearly 30 members in a half hour, andalmost 100 given several hours’ notice, it is usually successful atfrightening off predators, steering stampeding herds away, pro-tecting property from bandits, and dissuading herbivores fromeating fresh crops.

The Association has drawn criticism for one of its lesser-known policies: it only protects its members, even when a threatis common to the community at large. Its critics call it an extor-tionist protection racket. In a decision that still provokes stormsof protest, the Association recently used fires to steer a stam-peding herd clear of a member’s ranch – right into the ranch ofa neighbor who was not a member of the Association! Membersdefend this behavior by pointing out that only enough resourcesexist to protect members, and that non-members choose toexclude themselves. Even if the motives of the Association arenot purely philanthropic, it has done so well at fending off trou-ble that it has inspired similar organizations elsewhere.

enormous height that even the largest sauropods cannot reachtheir top-most limbs. As a result, the ground of the Black Jungleis covered by perpetual shadow.

Most of the jungles of Cretasus hum with life, but the BlackJungle is different. Very little vegetation grows in its darkenedglens. Herbivores shun its barren floor. Compared to the rest ofthe planet, the Black Jungle is preternaturally silent.

There are three logging camps set up along the northernfringes of the Black Jungle. Each is home to around two dozenloggers, though the populations are constantly coming and going.They are unshaven, smelly, hard-working men who labor formonths without seeing a bath or a woman. When they have a goodstock of lumber, they haul it to Garsville, where it is sold for localuse or exported to homesteaders on the plains.

The loggers are loath to travel too far into the jungle, howev-er. No dinosaur native will voluntarily enter the area; persuadingbrachiosaurs to haul felled trees out of the Black Jungle is nearlyimpossible. The loggers tell stories of strange lights and eerienoises coming from the Jungle; the one expedition sent in toexplore never came back. No one knows what’s going on, and noone wants to venture in to find out.

The Bayou

The Bayou is the name given to the enormous swamp thatruns alongside the southern edge of the Fur River. Only the set-tlers know it as the Bayou, of course; the many dinosaur specieshave their own names for this area. Iguanodontids, hadrosaurs,compsognathus, pelycosaurs, and their cousins are common in theBayou, as are several other marsh dwellers and their predators.There are millions of primitive amphibians, and no shortage ofmonstrous fish lurking in the murky water.

The Bayou blocks access to the Fur River for several hundredmiles, which prevents direct passage from the southwest plains tothe northwest plains. Settlers must travel west until the swampends, at which point they can attempt a crossing of the Fur River.After crossing, they must then loop back eastward along theswamp’s northern edge until they reach the plains.

A direct route through the swamp would shave at least amonth off travel time to the northwest plains. Unfortunately, nohuman has found a way to cross the swamp. For hundreds ofmiles, it is nothing but muck, water, muddy marsh, and mal-formed water-dwelling trees, punctuated by the occasional moundof swamp grass. Most of the swamp is no deeper than six feet, butchanges in depth are sudden and erratic. There are some islands,but they are unstable and drift over time. Even a large dinosaurpassing through is enough to transform the soft, wet landscape.Areas that aren’t solid water are instead solid mud, and can’t becrossed by wagons or other human vehicles.

The terrain is not the only hazard, however. The Bayou’sinhabitants aren’t exactly friendly. One group of settlers tried tra-versing the swamp by harnessing river skiffs to iguanodons,which are native to the terrain. But they never emerged from the

other side of the swamp.Boat travel is a possibility, but there are very few reliable

channels. Those that do exist wind relentlessly, such that it maytake as many as fifty miles of coiling river to advance ten straightland miles. And there are no humans who know the area wellenough to guide a boat.

Dinosaur Inhabitants

There are plenty of dinosaurs who know the area well, how-ever. The native dinosaurs know the trails, river channels, andbedrock formations that provide reliable transportation throughthe Bayou. They also know where the quicksand is, where to layan ambush, and where the water depth changes suddenly.

Three velociraptor nations inhabit the Bayou. The best knownare the vicious and feared Cree. The Cree never retreat from bat-tle – they prefer to die a warrior’s death. They have four tribeswhich occupy the southeastern tip of the swamp and the adjacentjungle, hunting regularly in both areas. Their rivals, the Kerosaw,number three tribes and occupy the northeastern area, where theFur River spills into the inland sea. The Kerosaw have been try-ing to uproot the Cree for generations, as the Cree block Kerosawaccess to the jungle. A third nation is the Inaka, who are looselyallied with the Kerosaw. The Inaka once occupied the southwest-ern edge of the swamp, but they recently suffered heavy losseswhen the Cree decided to widen their hunting grounds into Inakaterritory, which is more valuable now that supply-laden pioneerspass so close so often. The scattered remnants of the Inaka arenow living on the opposite side of the Fur River, out of the way ofthe marauding Cree.

Iguanodon herds are plentiful in the Bayou, and there are aseemingly endless number of duckbill herds. Edaphosaurus andsmaller swamp-dwelling amphibians are also common. They arehunted by crocodilians, as well as by many ornitholestes tribes.

Five tyrannosaurus families are known to inhabit the Bayou.There are four pairs, and a scarred, aging solitary male who hasbeen seen on both sides of the Fur River. The nomadic old malehas been nicknamed Old Spike Eye by settlers, for one of his eyeswas long ago gouged out by an iguanodon thumb spike; the skele-tal remains of the spike still protrude from his eye socket.

The Bayou is also inhabited by the cunning spinosaurus, alarge theropod which hunts exclusively in swampy areas. At leasteight prides are known to live south of the river, and more on thenorth side.

A number of carnivorous fish lurk in the swamp’s waterways.Some can also be found in the lakes and Fur River, while othersare endemic to the brackish, slow-moving channels of the Bayou.

Flora

The Bayou is important to dinosaurs across the valley for themedicinal plants that grow within its waters. Many of these plantsgrow nowhere else. The more intelligent dinosaurs pass on oral

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knowledge of specific proper-ties, while others possess aninstinctive urge to graze theswamp when they are ill.

Velociraptor shamansundertake regular pilgrimagesto the swamp to collect ingre-dients, which they sell or tradeto other tribes on their returntrip. The Cree, Kerosaw, andInaka challenge any shamansthey encounter, but a singleraptor can usually avoid detec-tion. The potential rewardsinclude several healing rootsand herbs unavailable any-where else on the planet, aswell as certain fungi useful inpotions, great quantities ofpoisonous plants, and even afew obscure reptilians whosebody parts can be used to mixacids.

Some of the medicinalplants known to humansinclude the following. The DCto locate the plant viaWilderness Lore or a Spotcheck is also given; the checkcan be attempted once per dayof travel through the swamp.

Bubble Berry: Bubbleberries grow on vines thattwine around water-dwelling trees. The berries are translucentwhite in color, resembling little bubbles on the vine. They arepotent pain relievers and also help fight off fevers, flu, and thecommon cold. Consuming an entire plant’s worth of bubbleberries will heal a character of 1d3 points of damage over the next12 hours. (It will also leave his stomach quite full!) Bubble berriescan be located with a Wilderness Lore check (DC 12) or Spotcheck (DC 16).

Duckbill Moss: This is a greenish moss that floats in vastquantities upon the most brackish waters of the swamp.Duckbilled dinosaurs munch it daily. It boosts the gastrointestinalsystem and is helpful against ingested poisons. A character whodrinks a full pint of the slimy moss receives a +2 bonus to allsaves against poison for the next 1d4 days. If any ingested poisonis currently in the character’s system, he may re-take a saveagainst it, though with no bonus. The difficult part is skimming offa full pint (which takes about 15 minutes) while in the presence ofthe large duckbilled dinosaurs that eat the moss! Duckbill moss isextremely common. It can be located with a Wilderness Lore or

Spot check (DC 5 for both).Frog Gut: This uncommon

plant sports broad, cupped leavesthat are gray with light greenspots. If ground and mixed withthe innards of the commonswamp frog, it immediatelyerupts into a hissing, steamingacid. Desperate characters insearch of a weapon can mushfrog gut leaves into a gutted frog,then throw the resulting chemi-cal reaction to deal 1d2 points ofdamage. The most concentratedform of the acid requires a mix-ture of a dozen frogs and fourleaves, which produces enoughacid to cause 1d6 points of dam-age. Frog gut is uncommon, andrequires a Wilderness Lore check(DC 16) or a Spot check (DC 19)to locate it.

Sparkle Root: This hallu-cinogenic root causes one to seesparkling, dancing lights. Whendistilled and ingested, it causesvisions. It is highly valued byvelociraptor shamans. It can alsobe sold in the streets of MountCrowe as a cheap stimulant.Sparkle root grows underground.It can be located with aWilderness Lore check (DC 15),

or spotted with a Spot check (DC 25).

Human Inhabitants

Some early settlers had the not-so-bright idea of trying tofarm rice at the swamp’s edges. The incessant iguanodon trafficand regular velociraptor raids quickly put an end to such thinking.The only humans now in the Bayou are adventurers, hunters,pirates, and a few wild ones.

Adventurers can be found in the Bayou because there ismoney to be made in harvesting its plants. They can be sold tohumans and dinosaurs (both velociraptors and protoceratopsactively trade in medicinal herbs), or used to heal wounds. Inaddition to those listed above, there are many other useful plants,and there is a market for trading previously unknown plants toresearchers, physicians, and wild ones.

Human hunters come to the Bayou because of its dense duck-bill population. Duckbilled dinosaurs are easy to kill and providea lot of meat.

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The Bay Trail traces the inland sea from New Savannah pastFort Apache all the way north until it reaches Plesiosaur Bay. Formost of its length, it winds between sandy beaches on one side anddark jungle on the other. While the Tecumseh Trail is the route forfarmers and ranchers, the Bay Trail is the route for fishermen andloggers – and outlaws, for the lawless town of Plesiosaur Bay sitsat the end of the trail.

Unlike other trails carved by the wheels of innumerable wag-ons, the Bay Trail is hardly visible as a trail. In fact, much of thetrail traffic actually travels by water – the fishermen who sailclose to the shore until they find a good place to stop. The landtraffic is usually loggers, small farmers, aspiring fishermen (whobuild their boats with wood from the jungle), and outlaws andexplorers.

There are many hamlets along the Bay Trail and even a fewsmall towns. Most are fishing villages, some of which can bereached only by sea. They are united by the growing fleet of theBay Side Company, an enterprise that ships dried fish, lumber,skins, and almost anything else that’s salable from the small townsof the Bay Trail to the merchants of New Savannah.

The Inland Sea

The inland sea has had many names, but the only one to everstick is the simplest – “the inland sea.” After all, when there’s onlyone sea, why does it need a proper noun? It is a vast freshwaterocean, home to as many sea creatures as the rest of the MainValley is to land animals. Fishing is good, for the schools are largeand seemingly endless. But they are also dangerous. Gigantic seamonsters swim below the surface. Some are large enough to con-sume a boat. Even the smaller ones can extend their long necksonto a deck to pluck off an unwary sailor.

Almost all the traffic on the sea is related to either fishing orfreight. Most of the freight is timber, dried fish, livestock, liquor,or crops destined for the markets of New Savannah. The boatswere built on Cretasus, and are a mix of styles: some captains builtantique galleons, others Mississippi Queens. The lack of advancedmanufacturing facilities means most are made of wood. There area few Confederate military vessels, used to police the trade lanesand combat the pirates that raid from their bases in Plesiosaur Bay.

The inland sea has been a boon to settlement along the BayTrail, as ocean travel is swifter and generally safer than land trav-el. But it has not helped settle the southwestern plains. Sea travel

can only get one as far as Fort Tecumseh. Shortly thereafter, thedeadly Bayou juts out to meet the sea, and landing becomes dan-gerous. Moreover, most of the fishing vessels that would ferrypassengers from New Savannah choose to head north or east,where the fishing is best, and there are not yet enough paying pio-neers to persuade them to head west.

The Bay Side Company

The Bay Side Company is the oldest organized business onCretasus. It was founded to consolidate and wholesale the waresof the small farmers, fishermen, ranchers, and hunters who settledalong the shores near New Savannah. It is now the most importanttrade link between New Savannah and the many small enterprisesalong the Bay Trail.

The Bay Side Company buys raw materials (timber, driedfish, livestock, skins, meat, and some crops) and sells them inNew Savannah. It pays much less than market price in the city,which is a source of some resentment. But the small farmers, fish-erman, loggers, hunters, and ranchers who supply it could just aseasily go to New Savannah themselves, and they choose not to.Moreover, the ships of the Bay Side Company will stop to trade atany farm, house, or ranch along the shore – no matter how small– which is the sort of respectful service the small enterprises def-initely don’t get from the big New Savannah merchants.

Since its founding in 2191, the Bay Side Company is now thelargest commercial organization on Cretasus. It controls almost alltrade along the Bay Trail. The Tecumseh Trail is outside its reach,as is most of the land traffic to New Savannah, but the Bay SideCompany has made no secret of its ambitions to compete on everytrade route on the planet.

The interesting thing about the Company is that it is notowned by any one person. Each ship in the fleet has an individualowner-captain who chooses to sail under the Company banner.The captains meet once every three months, or more often if nec-essary, to discuss business. They also contribute dues, managed byan elected group of captains, which acts as an insurance fund forpirated ships. The Company has grown immensely under this lais-sez-faire system because there has always been enough trade to goaround. Of course, sooner or later there will be no more traderoutes to grow into, and some of the captains will have to startcompeting on the same routes. But for now, Cretasus is large andunsettled, and the Bay Side Company can keep growing.

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The Bay Trail

UnderglenTo the east of the Bay Trail, as it heads north beside the inland

sea, is a large, tangled jungle. A number of pioneers have settledin its fringes as loggers or farmers, and some hunters have evenpenetrated its inner perimeter. A few of them have brought backstories of a protoceratops city they call Underglen.

Underglen’s exact location is unknown to most humans. Noprotoceratops will reveal it. The gradual expansion of human ter-ritory means that perhaps a half-dozen hunters have accidentallyblundered upon it. But even they have a difficult time retracingtheir steps, as there are no landmarks in the jungle to indicatewhere the city lies beneath the underbrush.

Thus, Underglen is known to lie in a natural ravine that runsfor several miles through the center of the forest, but the exactposition of the ravine is a mystery. An observer at ground leveldoes not know the ravine is there. There is no break in the treecover – the ravine reaches no wider than ten feet, and the trees sur-rounding it lean as they reach upward to fight for sunlight. Therocky bottom of the ravine, one hundred feet below ground level,can barely be seen from the narrow mouth.

The few seemingly natural slopes down the ravine’s sheerface soon change into narrow, winding passages that descendalong its the rocky ledges. Medium-sized creatures can fit on thetiny ledges, but larger creatures cannot. After a long descent, theravine’s narrow mouth suddenly widens into a deep bowl. The“bottom” of the ravine is only a wide ledge at the top of a massivesubterranean cave with a city carved into its walls. Rope bridgesand natural arches connect the square, stuccoed buildings embed-ded in all sides of the cave. The underground area is brightly lit bylanterns and fires, and the few people to have seen it estimatethere must be at least two thousand protoceratops living there.

Humans who do discover Underglen are treated hospitably, asprotoceratops treat most guests. They are ushered out of the city,then given food and drink in a pleasant forest glen. A few proto-ceratops join them for dinner, have a nice chat, and then bid themon their way. The protoceratops do not issue warnings or threats,but it is clear that they do not want anyone delving into the city.

Dr. Ezekial P. Price

Ranches, farms, and fishing villages are far from the maddingcrowds of New Savannah, and it is among these out of the wayplaces that you’ll find men like Dr. Ezekial P. Price, a fast-talkingquick-thinking bright-eyed blubbery ball of a man who plies histrade with unparalleled enthusiasm. After a minute of his flatter-ing patter, even the hardest rancher might find himself consider-ing the purchase of a lace doily to place atop an as yet unadornedtabletop. “A Fair Price All The Time” is what the good Doctor

claims to offer, and while this is true at first glance, one can’t helpbut notice that Price seems reluctant to return to previous stomp-ing grounds for a second run. Indeed, the few dollars that mostcustomers hand over to Price seem less than fair considering theincredible performance he will put on in order to secure a sale,whether it be for a cure-all ointment or a battery-powered batteryre-charger.

Price approaches settlements in two stages. The first waveconsists of leaflets distributed by his two sons, who ride ahead ofthe show to let everyone know that their father and his marvelousmobile warehouse are on the way. With the potential customersprimed for his arrival, the portly Price finds it easy to attractlocals. His driven approach seems to captivate his audience, andtrade is always enough to make it worth his while.

Inspired by the actions of one Dr. Henry Meadows, Price istrying to earn enough money to settle down with his own shopwhile his sons carry on the mobile end of the operation. Not real-izing that he adopted the title of Doctor only to copy his idol andnot through any accredited process, many ask why he has neverstarted his own medical practice, a question he always answerswith an offering of his own remedy for all ailments, Dr. Price’sPick-Me-Up.

His wife Mary still lives off-world, waiting for her husbandto get a foothold on Cretasus. If he keeps up the good work, hislady wife will join him soon. However, both his sons believe thatEzekial will never give up the open road.

Dr. Ezekial Price, Confederate Exp2: CR 1; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 2d6-2; hp 4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC10 (no armor); Atk +0 melee (1d3-1, unarmed); AL CN; SVFort +0, Ref +0, Will +4; Str 8, Con 8, Dex 10, Int 11, Wis13, Cha 14.

Skills: Appraise +5 (5), Bluff +11 (5), Gather Information+7 (5), Listen +6 (5), Perform +7 (5), Sense Motive +6 (5).Feats: Lucky Cuss, Fast Talker (see new feat on page 78).

Possessions: Dr. Price’s wagon carries every kind ofcommon merchandise. There is a 25% chance he will haveany given uncommon item up to a value of $100, providedit is useful enough that he thinks he can sell it, and a slightchance (GM’s call, from 0% to 5%) that he will have anyother item of greater value. Dr. Price always has $5d10stashed in several places on his person.

Samuel and Andrew, Dr. Price’s Sons, ConfederateExp1: CR 1/2; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 1d6; hp 2;Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10 (no armor); Atk +0 melee (1d8,musket) or +0 melee (1d3, unarmed); AL CN; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Will +3; Str 9, Con 9, Dex 10, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha13.

Skills: Appraise +4 (4), Bluff +9 (4), Gather Information+5 (4), Listen +5 (4), Perform +5 (4), Sense Motive +5 (4).Feats: Lucky Cuss, Fast Talker (see new feat on page 78).

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Fort Apache

Fort Apache was the first Confederate fort on Cretasus. It wasbuilt to guard New Savannah’s eastern approach, expand the city’sarea of influence, and open more land for settlement. In the earlydays, the fort was a refuge for ranchers and farmers leaving therelatively safe areas around New Savannah. Nowadays, most ofthe natural predators that once forced the pioneers to seek shelterbehind the fort’s walls have been driven off or placated.

Unlike Fort Tecumseh, which is hundreds of miles fromanother town, Fort Apache is close to the big city. It doesn’t haveto house many civilians; instead, it is surrounded by an estab-lished network of farms and ranches (some quite large) and a fewsmall towns as well.

Layout

Fort Apache is a simple quarter-mile-wide square of sharp-ened logs reinforced bythick sod walls. It is sur-rounded by a moat sixtyfeet wide and twentyfeet deep. The first sol-diers to occupy the fortfound that a moat does-n’t always stop chargingdinosaurs – they willoften run right into themoat (especially whenstampeding), and thenyou have to figure outhow to get them out! Ona number of occasions,the fort ended up with amoat full of writhing,angry triceratops. Tosolve this, they riggedup an irrigation systemso the bottom of themoat is now mud.Dinosaurs that enter themoat are quickly bogged down and easy to kill, and the moat canbe flooded and the carcasses floated away on rafts.

Missions

These days, Fort Apache is a base of operations forConfederate troops operating east of New Savannah and along theBay Trail. Wild dinosaurs are only a minor problem in the fort’simmediate area, but they are still common as one gets further fromNew Savannah. The soldiers spend a lot of time in patrols through

the nearby back country, protecting settlers as necessary. Theyalso battle bandits along the Bay Trail and pirates in the inlandsea, although they now spend a lot less time monitoring PlesiosaurBay than they used to. Overall, their mission now is one of mon-itoring, rather than actively battling the wilderness.

Population

From 500 to 1,000 soldiers will be in the fort, depending onpatrols and other circumstances. There will always be from 100 to300 civilians staying in or near the fort, mostly trappers, pioneers,and other transients.

Sites of Interest

About a mile from the fort are five teepee-like structures thathouse the five velociraptors who work with the fort’s soldiers.Originally from the White Branch raptor tribe, these raptors decid-ed to side with the Confederates when they saw the futility of bat-

tling the humans’advance. The rap-tors deal exclusive-ly with two officersfrom the fort whoare good with ani-mals and speak theraptor language,albeit poorly.Although the rap-tors aren’t aggres-sively hostiletoward humans,they aren’t exactlyfriendly (even tosoldiers in uni-form) and defendthemselves ifthreatened. Theygo on regularscouting missionsand provide a greatdeal of information

to the Confederate military about what’s happening with localdinosaur populations.

Prominent Locals

Attacus Barnaby: Not many civilians live at Fort Apache.There are a few sutlers, but to buy anything but the most basicsupplies, a visitor must know where to go in the surrounding area.Thus enters Attacus Barnaby. He makes a point of meeting new-comers before they meet anyone else. Barnaby is one part tourist

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guide and one part hustler. He has arrangements with store keepers,peddlers, trail guides, farmers, and ranchers for miles around.Whatever a pioneer needs, Barnaby will find it for him, though itmight be from a shop a few miles off the beaten path. Barnaby willinsist that it’s the best shop around – it’s worth the extra hike – buthe will never mention the kickback he gets from the shop keeper.As far as the pioneer knows, Barnaby is helping him because heseems like such a nice guy: he’s loquacious, energetic, and outgo-ing. He knows practically everything about the local geography,wilderness, and social scene. When the pioneers are fully equipped,of course, he expects a tip – fifty cents, two dollars, or even more,depending on how much they bought and how wealthy they look.(PCs can expect to be asked for at least $5.) A pioneer who rebuffsBarnaby’s assistance will simply have a hard time finding what heneeds among the sprawling lands around the fort. A pioneer whorefuses to tip Barnaby after accepting his aid will find afterwardthat most shops mysteriously close when he approaches.

Attacus Barnaby, Confederate Male Com1: CR 1/2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD d4; hp 4; Init +0; Spd 30ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d3/fists), or +0 ranged (1d8, mus-ket); AL CN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 10, Con 10,Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 15.

Skills: Gather Information +6/+10* (4), Listen +2 (0),Spot +2 (0). Feats: Alertness, Bargain Hunter.

* Higher bonus applies when looking for bargains.Possessions: Musket with 1d6 bullets, flask, handker-

chief, little black book full of scribbled notes about pricesand shop inventories.

Drunk Abner: Another prominent local is Drunk Abner.Drunk Abner is prominent not because of special ability or socialstanding, but because he is always splayed out drunk in a promi-nent place in the fort. The military police used to arrest him forpublic drunkenness, but after more than two years of locking himup every night, they decided he was a waste of public funds. Nowhe is left to drink on the streets, although no one thinks twiceabout kicking or dragging him aside if he gets in the way. DrunkAbner is most lucid in the morning and practically incomprehen-sible after a day of drinking. He shares his life story with every-one: he found a gold mine deep in the forest, hauled out one load,sold it for thousands of dollars, got drunk for six months, and thencouldn’t find his way back to the mine so he decided to keepdrinking. Most locals don’t believe a word of it, but one fact isincontrovertible: he has funded three years of hard drinking with-out ever appearing to work. And he only drinks good whiskey.

Drunk Abner, Confederate Male Com1: CR 1/2;Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD d4; hp 1; Init +0; Spd 30ft.; AC 8 (-2 Dex); Atk -1 melee (1d3-1/fists); AL NG; SV Fort+0, Ref +0, Will +0; Str 8, Con 9, Dex 7, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha11.

Skills: Listen +2/+0* (0), Profession (Miner) +4/+2* (4),Spot +5/+3* (4). Feats: Alertness, Lucky Cuss.

* Higher bonus applies in the morning, when he’s rela-tively sober; lower bonus applies in the evening or whenotherwise inebriated.

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Life on the FrontierSports

Life in the wilderness can be interminably boring, especial-ly if your only neighbors are reptiles. Bored farmers, ranchers,and hunters have invented a variety of wilderness sports toamuse themselves. Many are now practiced even in more civi-lized areas, and some sports are popular enough to have region-al champions whose periodic competitions are major countryevents. Bronco rodeos (a la Big Al’s) are the most frequentlyorganized events.

The most common wilderness sports are hunting and fish-ing, although these are sometimes modified to increase the chal-lenge. Arrow fishing and knife hunting are particularly popular,as are “challenge hunts,” where the hunters try to bring back avery difficult-to-acquire trophy using only a rope and knife. Aparasaurolophus crest is a common trophy – parasaurolophusesaren’t carnivores but they are quite large, and getting their crestwith only a rope and a knife isn’t easy!

Another popular sport is dino rubbing. Like many reptileson Earth, some dinosaurs are susceptible to hypnosis when theirbellies are rubbed. Of course, it takes an awful lot of rubbing tocalm down a stegosaurus. Such large dinosaurs are rarely the tar-get of a dino rubbing expedition, but gangs of adventurous farmhands will often try dino rubbing against smaller targets, such asedaphosaurus, protosuchus, and compsognathus.

Dino Rubbing: To attempt to hypnotize a dinosaur bybelly-rubbing, the attacker must grapple and successfully pin thedinosaur. Only when the dinosaur is pinned can the rubbingbegin. The attacker himself can rub while still maintaining thepin if he is larger than the dinosaur. Otherwise, someone elsemust do the rubbing. It takes one person to rub a Medium-sizeddinosaur and two for a Large, with the number doubling at eachsize increment thereafter.

Once rubbing begins, make a Handle Animal check (usingthe lowestmodifier among the rubbers) against the dinosaur’sopposed Will save. On the first round of rubbing, when thedinosaur is still resisting, a –20 penalty applies to the HandleAnimal check. This drops to –15 in the second round as thedinosaur becomes soothed, then –10 and –5 before the checkbecomes unmodified from the fifth round on. After the first suc-cessful check, the dinosaur lapses into hypnosis.

Once hypnotized, the dinosaur dozes peacefully. As long asthe rubbing continues, the pin can then be abandoned and noadditional check is necessary. If the dinosaur is wounded, jos-tled, or otherwise disturbed, a new opposed check must be madeand the modifier to the Handle Animal check reverts to –20. Ifthe check fails, the dinosaur awakens.

If at any point the rubbing stops, the dinosaur automatical-ly awakens. When more than one rubber is required, consider therubbing to have ceased if even one of them breaks contact for around.

Possessions: Several bottles of whiskey, several pagesof indecipherable notes.

Scenario Hooks

There aren’t a lot of politics in Fort Apache. The news andrumors come from passing pioneers and soldiers returning frompatrol. Since patrols cover a wide swath to the north and east,rumors reach Fort Apache from miles around. Much of it is mun-dane social gossip. Some might include these:

1. Old man Hodge’s brachy got sick again. He’s looking fora new one.

2. A ceratosaurus moved in over near Bransenville. The sher-iff wants some troops to help kill it before it eats somebody.

3. Young George Erickson is looking for work – he wants toget engaged to Suzy Wilkins, but Mr. Wilkins won’t hear of ituntil George can afford to buy a good ring.

4. Nobody knows what to do about them ornitholestes downsouth. They keep stealing supplies but the fort says getting rid ofthem isn’t a priority!

Plesiosaur Bay

Plesiosaur Bay is a turbulent town on a turbulent bay at thenorthern tip of the inland sea. The town and the bay share thesame name, derived from the schools of plesiosaurs and otherdangerous creatures that swim in the bay. They are attracted bythe bay’s unusually warm waters, a phenomenon believed to becaused by underwater hot springs. The warm water, coupled withthe area’s periodic tremors, suggests an active volcano some-where in the area. This natural danger and heated violence are aperfect metaphor for the town.

Plesiosaur Bay is an outlaw’s refuge. Six hundred criminals,malingerers, lay-abouts, and ne’er-do-wells live there with nomayor, no sheriff, and no law. Several gangs protecting their indi-vidual territories constitute the only form of government. Of allthe places on Cretasus, it is the one that most settlers try to avoid.

History

The town originally formed as an outpost for hunters andtrappers, who followed on the heels of unsuccessful fishermen.(The powerful sea creatures put an end to most fishing nets, aswell as quite a few fishermen.) They were followed in turn by out-laws escaping the law of New Savannah.

In the early days, fleeing criminals took refuge in the HideoutHills. But as the population of the hills grew, living there becamean exercise in “survival of the fittest,” with the fit usually beingthe most homicidal outlaws. The lesser felons started headingnorth along the Bay Trail, which is less populated than theTecumseh Trail and a better place to lie low.

Through an inexplicable natural process, Plesiosaur Bay

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Life on the FrontierDuels

Settling disputes in New Savannah and other civilizedareas is facilitated by the presence of organized authority. Butwhat do you do when you’re on the trail and there isn’t a law-man for 100 miles in any direction? If you’re a low-downskunk, you ambush your enemy; but if you’re remotely hon-orable (as most pioneers are), you resort to the code of theduel.

The code of the duel is as old as civilization. As prac-ticed in the wild west and subsequently on Cretasus, it pro-vides a structured forum for resolving disputes. Of course,the results of the duel occasionally perpetuate the dispute ifone side decides to seek revenge, but at the very least, thesystem prevents a complete breakdown into ambush, back-stabbing, and open assault.

Characters may become involved in duels as the instiga-tor or recipient of a challenge. It’s vital that they know howto proceed. The rules of the duel are universally known onCretasus as these:

1. The challenge is always delivered by a third party.Once the challenge is issued, the two participants are not tomeet until the appointed day.

2. The challenged party chooses the weapon for the duel.3. The location of the duel is mutually determined

through intermediaries.4. Each participant appoints a second. The second is

obliged to go through with the duel if the participant cannotfight on the appointed day (whether due to sickness, travel-ing difficulty, or any other reason). If a challenged party istoo old or feeble to fight, his second automatically takes hisplace.

5. The duel is not necessarily to the death. Sometimesduels are fought to first blood. If pistols are chosen asweapons, a common practice is to issue each participant onlytwo or three bullets. If neither party is killed in the duel, it isconsidered a tie and the antagonists may attempt to find acompromise solution to their dispute.

evolved into a stopping point for these people, the kind of visitorswho are usually asked to keep moving. At Plesiosaur Bay, thesemen of ill repute had a chance to spend their ill-gained dollars,earn a living as a hunter or trapper, and even join a pirate raid toexact revenge on the town that had expelled them. The few hon-est residents soon left, and now Plesiosaur Bay is a roughneck’sretreat.

New Savannah made multiple attempts to break up the youngtown, but was unsuccessful. The forces it deployed there were toofar from New Savannah to resupply easily. The journey by land islong and slow, and the creatures in the bay make sea travel dead-ly. The only way to break up the town would be to establish a per-manent garrison at Plesiosaur Bay. This option was seriously con-sidered until the town evinced its one redeeming quality: liquor.

Despite the character of its inhabitants (or perhaps because ofit), Plesiosaur Bay produces the best alcoholic beverages in all ofCretasus. A “pint of Plesiosaur” is a common expression in NewSavannah, and every bartender knows what it means. Some attrib-ute the distinctive taste to the volcanic waters of the bay. Othersclaim there are mysterious secret ingredients – dinosaur byprod-ucts, perhaps even plesiosaur blood. Only the brewers know forsure.

Nine local breweries ship beer, whiskey, and other beveragesfrom Plesiosaur Bay to New Savannah and beyond. The burgeon-ing industry employs many tough men whom polite society onceconsidered unemployable. New Savannah grudgingly acknowl-

edges the utility of this outpost, where its unredeemables mightoccupy themselves productively, and has let Plesiosaur Bay on alonger leash. There are still regular clashes between the militaryand the brazen pirates who operate out of the area, but the expan-sion of hard law to the town is no longer a New Savannah priori-ty.

Even without the liquor industry, Plesiosaur Bay hasreformed many hardened criminals. After all, there are only somany crimes you can commit against other criminals. Many out-laws arriving in Plesiosaur Bay are disappointed to find there areno banks to rob, no meek citizens to burgle, and no mines to plun-der. One new arrival made the fatal mistake of robbing a saloon –the heavily armed customers didn’t appreciate the interruption oftheir drinking! Residents are forced to support themselves with anhonest trade. Some become professional gamblers, extortionists,or pirates, but most end up as hunters, trappers, or laborers in thebreweries.

Visiting

Life in Plesiosaur Bay is not easy. A man there has to standup for himself – on a regular basis. Knife fights, fist fights, andgun fights are the preferred methods of settling disputes (general-ly in that order). Murder doesn’t get the locals riled up unless themurdered party was popular or in debt – in which case, the mur-derer may be forced to repay the debt. The worst offense a mancan commit in Plesiosaur Bay is to cheat at cards. Nobody objectsto shooting a card shark, even in the back. The only reason cheat-ing isn’t more common is that most of the town’s residents arehardened cheats who can spot their own tricks immediately.

Visiting adventurers will find the town to be overwhelminglymale, lazy, and dishonest. Most residents only work when they’rehungry, thirsty, or broke. They have no compunctions about bul-lying someone else to do their work for them; this is the basicprinciple on which many of the gangs operate. The town’s build-ings are ramshackle and poorly maintained, with the notableexceptions of those of the local gang leaders. Unwary charactersare bound to be pick-pocketed, cheated, and perhaps even robbed– or they may be able to carve out a niche for their own gang.

The nine major breweries (and dozens of private stills) aremanaged haphazardly. After all, they were founded by careerdrinkers as hobby ventures, not formal businesses. Shipments toNew Savannah are erratic, and occasionally bizarre: a vessel maylegally ferry liquor on its way south, then plunder other vessels onits way back north.

Sites of Interest

Plesiosaur Bay has more saloons per capita than anywhereelse on Cretasus. It ranks in the top 10% in the entire universe.None of the saloons are particularly distinctive, however.

The best known local beverages are Rex Whiskey (“StrongEnough For A T-Rex”), Saurus Spirits (“So Natural The Dinosaurs

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Drink It”), and Plesiosaurus Ale (“The Original Plesiosaur Pint”).If the town had tourists, they might visit the breweries responsiblefor these legends. But the town doesn’t have tourists and the brew-eries themselves are squalid.

The bay itself is the most interesting wilderness locale. It isabsolutely teeming with life. From shore, you can see the heads ofplesiosaurs and elasmosaurs peeking through the waves; ancientsharks churn the water around them. Venturing into the waters ispositively dangerous, no matter how large your vessel. Smallboats will be destroyed or overturned immediately. Larger boatsare safer, but their crews must still know the waters well.Otherwise, they will soon find themselves out of the safe shallowsand in monster territory. Even in the shallows, they have to scanconstantly for the silhouettes of kronosauruses, the “tyran-nosauruses of the sea,” which hunt in the shallows despite theirsize. Except for the pirates and a few sea hunters (when you fishfor plesiosaurs, you’re no longer called a fisherman!), the watersof the bay are practically deserted by humans.

Prominent Locals

Captain Lefitte: The most powerful pirate gang is led by thefierce Captain Lefitte. The gang has made many an unlawful dol-lar at the expense of New Savannah merchants and fisherman.Captain Lefitte is well known to every lawman on Cretasus, andvarious victimized merchants have offered rewards of up to $300for his head. A self-appointed French aristocrat (hence the name,which is surely a pseudonym), he lives in an elegant mansion bythe sea. He is tall, lean, and an excellent swordsman – and not badwith a pistol, either. He always dresses in fancy Renaissance out-fits (like a proper pirate) and speaks with an assumed Frenchaccent. His gang primarily targets the Bay Side Company ships asthey leave New Savannah to trade on the Bay Trail, for theyalways carry cash and goods to exchange for the timber, fish, andlivestock they will buy on the trail.

Captain Lefitte, Confederate War4: CR 3; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 4d8; hp 19; Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd30 ft.; AC 17 (+2 Dex, +4 chain shirt, +1 small steel shield);Atk +6 melee (1d6/crit 18-20, rapier), or +6 ranged (2d10,laser pistol); AL NE; SV Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1; Str 11, Con11, Dex 15, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Skills: Climb +7 (7), Handle Animal +8 (7), Intimidate +8(7), Jump +7 (7), Swim +7 (7). Feats: Combat Reflexes,Weapon Finesse (Rapier), Weapon Proficiency (LaserPistol).

Possessions: Rapier, laser pistol with 3 energy packs,custom-made chain shirt fashioned to look like dinosaurscales, ornately engraved small steel shield, ivory cameonecklace (worth $60), 3 gold rings (worth $100, $130, andone with a diamond worth $1,200), cash $5d10.

There are many other gangs in Plesiosaur Bay, but none quiteso well organized as Captain Lefitte’s. Although violence is partof life in the town, the gangs rarely quarrel violently above and

beyond the usual state of affairs – that is, there are few gang warsper se. They realize that fighting turf battles over such a ram-shackle town is a waste of energy. There is more than enough landto go around and no shortage of innocent vessels to plunder asthey sail up the Bay Trail.

Scenario Hooks

Conversation in Plesiosaur Bay always revolves around oneof five things: the criminal background of someone in town, espe-cially a famous townsman or an unknown newcomer; the latestraid by Captain Lefitte or another pirate; or the universallyapproved subjects of beer, women, and gambling. Considering theconcentration of liars, cheats, and men who want to hide theirpast, any rumor heard in Plesiosaur Bay has a base 60% chance ofbeing untrue (although it may be based on or derived from thetruth). Here is a sampling of some of the rumors one may hear:

1. I heard Captain Lefitte ended up here after he killed a sher-iff out in the back country.

2. No, I heard he robbed a wagon train on the Tecumseh Trail.3. Did you hear that Red’s gang took in four iguanodons and

20 bushels of corn from a raid last week?

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4. I hear that Jim Butler’s gang picked up some real interest-ing trinkets on their last raid – they got some sort of dinosaur arti-facts from a ship carrying explorers.

5. I could make a better beer than this Plesiosaurus Ale. Itwould taste better if they added the plesiosaur blood fresh and hotrather than letting it cool first.

6. There’s a pretty gal from New Savannah looking for aplace to stay around here – they say she killed her husband. She’swelcome to stay with me!

7. Mort got all four aces twice yesterday. That just doesn’thappen. He must be up to something, but I can’t figure it out!

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The Northwestern Plains

The northwestern plains are still terra incognito to the citizensof New Savannah. They are difficult to reach, whether by land(where one must trace the Bayou and cross the Fur River) or bysea (where the northwestern shores of the inland sea are ringed bythick jungle). Few humans live there, and there are no towns.Little is known of the plains except for a variety of persistentrumors –that they are the most fertile area in the Main Valley, thatunknown dinosaurs and even some ice age mammals roam there,that warp pirates have a base there, that a fabulous house standsunoccupied there. Who knows what fabulous mysteries await thecharacters to first chart this unexplored area?

Barrister House

One of Cretasus’ early settlers was William Barrister, ahaughty Confederate land owner and adventurer. He arrived short-ly after the construction of New Savannah had begun. WhileHepsediah Porter and his followers carved New Savannah out ofthe wilderness, Barrister and his retainers traveled in overlanders(heavy-duty trucks) on a mission to survey the Main Valley. Theyreturned one year later with their overlanders overflowing in sil-ver ingots.

Barrister claimed to have found a silver mine of enormousdepth. The mine was somewhere in the northwestern plains. Hesold his load of silver, and used the money to purchase supplies:some picks and shovels, but mostly luxury household goods.Barrister intended to build an enormous mansion next to his silvermine in the middle of nowhere.

Each year for eight years, Barrister returned to New Savannahladen in silver, trading it for supplies to carry back to his mansion.The employees who accompanied him on the New Savannahexcursions told tales of his magnificent wealth, his generoussalaries, and the opulent house he had built next to his silver mine.

Then Barrister was heard from no more.No one discovered what happened to Barrister. But, then

again, no one has yet surveyed the northwestern plains. To thisday, old-timers in New Savannah talk about the legendarygrandeur of Barrister House. Is it now in ruins? Is it now occupiedby velociraptors? Or did Barrister simply become a recluse? If thehouse still stands and stands unoccupied, whoever finds it willsurely find a fortune in silver.

The Warp Pirates

The wilds of Cretasus are the perfect place to hide out, as acontingent of warp pirates knows well. Warp pirates are spacefar-ing brigands who use the warp to escape capture. They know thewarp gates inside and out, using the complex network to appear,raid a vessel, and then disappear to distant space in meremoments. Warp pirates come from all areas of space, all nations,and even all species – they are motley crews of outlaws whose pri-mary allegiance is to plunder and outrunning authority.

Since the discovery of Cretasus’ friendly atmosphere, a bandof warp pirates has begun using Alacion Portal as a regular jump-ing-off point. They now have a base somewhere in the northwest-ern plains. They retreat there for a few weeks at a time betweenraids, which last for days or weeks.

Confederate authorities in New Savannah know of the warppirate base, and Union authorities must know of them as well.Neither side has done anything because the pirates make a pointof not threatening anyone or anything near their base. They havenever raided a vessel on, near, or around Cretasus or AlacionPortal. Because Cretasus is so far from the main power centers ingalactic politics, and because the lawmen on Cretasus have farmore pressing matters to concern themselves with, the warppirates are safe – for now.

Cretasus is full of life, lush and boundless. Almost all of thevalleys that have been surveyed are covered in endless fields ofvegetation and teem with life. One desert valley, with a sparse pop-ulation, does exist, but in all the others the ecology is bursting at theseams with energy. It needs to be. Plant-eating dinosaurs requiremassive supplies of vegetable life to keep up their active metabo-lisms. Since hundreds of plant-eaters are necessary to support justone large carnivore, the presence of countless titanic meat-eatingdreadnoughts like the tyrannosaurs means that the total number oflarge creatures on Cretasus beggars the imagination.

The valleys are incredibly noisy. Dinosaurs crash, stamp, andshuffle throughout the vegetation. The raucous cry of thepterosaurs echoes through the skies, and booming parasaurolo-phus yells rebound in the marshy areas. Brachiosaurs trampletrees and crush rocks underfoot, but even their mighty stampingsare sometimes drowned out by the thick ground cover.*

Dinosaurs themselves span every color in the rainbow. Colorvariation within a species seems to be the rule: for example, indi-vidual ankylosaurs are identifiable by particular patterns in theirmosaics of scales. Scholars publish such reports as “SexualSelection for Color Divergences,” while trophy hunters gatherrainbows of heads and awed photographers brave the wilds for arare vermilion pachycephalosaur. Jaded locals just refer to “thegrits-colored devil lizard what ate my broncos.” On a practicallevel, this makes it difficult for outsiders to instantly identifyspecies of dinosaur – one must know body shapes, not just colors– although it makes it easy to tell individuals of the same speciesapart. An important exception to this general rule is raptor tribes;all raptors of a single tribe have the same general colorationscheme, although between tribes color varies widely.

Dinosaur IntelligenceProfessor Calhoun Carey of the University of New Houston

is the leading scholar of Cretasus dinosaurs. His critics call him anear-savage who’s gotten a little too close to his subjects.Nevertheless, his works, Lectures on Dinosaur Life, are best-sell-ers across the inhabited worlds.

Dinosaurs do not thrive in captivity; even those illegally cap-tured and released in the wilds on other worlds often fail to dis-play the unique behavior and intelligence that make Cretasus suchan interesting place. So while dinosaur anatomy is well-under-

stood, with the standard textbooks published on Earth, outside“experts” are often clueless about the most basic dinosaur behav-iors and make embarrassing gaffes.

Scholars are a wimpy lot. Many expeditions to the jungleshave just vanished – whether devoured, caught in the battlesbetween Union and Confederacy, or gone native, it’s impossible tosay. Institutions have grown wary of sending more researchersinto the wilds until the situation becomes calmer. About the onlygroup still sending out expeditions is Grant University on Luna;Grant’s well-organized teams often work with the Union military,which gives them the protection they need to accomplish theirtasks, and most of their research has military implications. Thatmeans most non-military research is done by amateurs: enthusias-tic folks without much equipment but with a lot of guts. Or richfools with a pet theory, lots of money, and no chance in hell of sur-viving the wilds of Cretasus without some expert help!

The first important scholarly conclusion about Cretasusdinosaurs is that they’re not quite the ones that we had on Earth.The most obvious difference is dinosaur language, no evidence ofwhich exists in Earth’s historical record. The other important dif-ference is intelligence and all that it entails. Protoceratops buildstructures, raptors use tools – as far as naturalists can determine,none of this ever happened on Earth.

The dinosaurs on Cretasus represent various Earthly histori-cal periods, some hundreds of millions of years apart. Dinosaursthat were common on Earth (well-represented in the fossil record)also seem to be common on Cretasus (wandering around in greatnumbers). One suggestion, first posed by Grant University’sWilliam Ackerley, as to how dinosaurs ended up on Cretasus andEarth is the presence of a dimensional portal somewhere on Earth,not unlike a warp gate, where occasionally Earth dinosaurs wouldmigrate and find themselves on Cretasus. However, biologistspoint out that the first of such settlers on Cretasus would likelybranch out to fill all the available ecological niches, not unlike thefinches of the Galapagos Islands, so if the dimetrodons hademerged, we would see giant sauropod dimetrodons, tiny gecko-sized dimetrodons, and so on. Such an effect has not been demon-strated, much to the chagrin of collectors, who would love to owna brachiosaur-sized sail.

Moreover, many of the dinosaur species of Cretasus are phys-ically different from those of Earth. The best-documented evi-dence is on protoceratops. Union naturalists have discovered a lotof Earthly protoceratops remains, primarily in the Gobi desert,and they were among the best-studied species before the explo-ration of Cretasus. Nowadays, naturalists have had many chances

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Chapter II: Dinosaurs

* Outside settled areas, characters without at least one rank ofWilderness Lore have a -2 circumstance penalty to Listen checks.

to study the living versions. Scholars agree that that Cretasus’ pro-toceratops have a larger cranial cavity, and almost certainly a larg-er brain, than the Earth variety. They point particularly to the lan-guage centers of the protoceratops brain, which have been identi-fied in Cretasus specimens, and whose odd growth has causedsome skull deformations not present in Earth protoceratops.Naturalists battle over whether this means that Cretasus protocer-atops should be considered a separate species. However, since inall other respects Cretasus protoceratops exactly resemble Earthprotoceratops, the larger implication is that an outside force mayhave enhanced the intelligence of these dinosaurs!

All known alien races have denied intervention on Cretasus.Still, there are many rumors of alien ruins in faraway valleys and“alien treasure maps” are frequently sold to gullible new arrivals.Various oral myths of the brachiosaurs mention sky-gods landingin golden chariots, and some tantalizing pictures of the protocer-atops knowledge cave at the Hollow Hills seemed to show imagesof humanlike creatures in hermetic suits, traveling in a flyingvehicle of some sort. Some claimed these creatures resemble thealien Scray, but the Hollow Hills complex was destroyed in anunexplained explosion not long afterwards, and the dinosaurshave become notably silent on the subject.

Cretasus’ fossil record has proven difficult to interpret. Digsaround the main forts have established the presence of dinosaurspecies for at least 100 million years. However, one hotly-con-tested finding shows a layer of mammal strata suggesting that fora period of a million years, the Main Valley was inhabited solelyby mammals, like Mammoth Valley to the west. Calhoun Careysuggests that all of Cretasus is a giant alien preserve, whose ecol-ogy is managed (and occasionally altered) and whose inhabitantsare experimental subjects – hence the title of his autobiography,Poacher in the Lizard Park.

Many locals also believe that dinosaurs have telepathic abili-ties to communicate, divine the weather, and predict fires, floods,and other natural disasters. While some of this no doubt relates tothe long-range subsonic sounds that dinosaurs can emit, and theirextensive knowledge of Cretasus (reflected in game terms by highWilderness Lore ranks), both the Confederacy and the Union aretaking seriously the idea of psychic dinosaurs, especially sinceseveral alien races are known to have developed psychic commu-nications. Human scientists are particularly interested in studyingthe legendary tyrannosaur Tyrant Kings, which are rumored topossess the power to kill with a single thought! But no one haslocated one of these elusive creatures; for now, speculations on thepsychic powers of dinosaurs must remain simply that, specula-tions.

Dinosaur Languages

All dinosaurs, even the imbecile stegosaurs, can understandthe language of Dinosaur Common, which is conveyed by pos-tures and movements as well as by sound. Big dinos may not evennotice tiny creatures performing Dinosaur Common. However,

the primary element to dinosaur speech is sonic, or rather subson-ic. Like those of elephants, most dino communications are belowthe frequencies which the human ear can hear. These sounds cancarry for miles; the bellowing of brachiosaurs sometimes carriesacross mountains! All dinosaurs can hear the subsonic noises, butonly the larger ones can actually produce sounds in that range.This means that big dinos are better at getting their meaningsacross than lesser ones. Most of the time, their communicationsconsist of “get out of my way!” but this also means that the larg-er dinosaurs can call the others together more effectively. Theycan Thrum more persuasively, as will be described later. Largedinosaurs serve as the natural leaders for united dinosaur action.

Because of this subsonic component of dinosaur speech,humans need help to fully communicate with dinosaurs. Devicescalled resonators can be attached to the ears, allowing the listenerto hear the subsonic rumblings. These resonators are slightly dis-tracting and can make it difficult to hear other noises. Similarly,humans can use so-called “shouters” to project into the subsonicrange. These devices are necessary to speak some dinosaur lan-guages properly, and the deeper tone, like a soothing bass, makesdinosaurs react more favorably to the speaker.

Tool Use

Even before the arrival of humans, dinosaurs were alreadyusing technological devices. Raptors with their tools, herbs, andchemicals; protoceratops with their written language; and ornit-holestes with their clubs were the most obvious examples of dinotech that early explorers encountered.

More subtle uses of technology were also at work.Protoceratops understand agriculture, fertilizer, and irrigation;even without hands they dredge furrows and canals to producevast fields of low-lying plants, their preferred diet. They use theirknowledge of weather patterns and ecology to control the devel-opment of a region, including minimizing floods and erosion.Most of the time their mastery is used only to protect their way oflife, but sometimes they’ll take more aggressive action, likediverting the course of rivers to flood humans who anger them ordeprive them of water so they’re forced to leave.

The big predators know how to preserve food. In colderareas, they keep frozen prey in their caves for lean times. Inwarmer climates, they leave portions of their kills to dry in thesun. Foolhardy humans will sometimes raid these stashes for food,but the furious owners will exact revenge if their prizes are taken.

Humans often puzzle over why raptors, with their advancedtechnology, haven’t exterminated the other, larger species, like theearly humans did to the mammoths. Grant University scholarspoint to the “ecological consciousness” of the raptors and theirslow breeding, while Calhoun Corey thinks that raptors did wipeout all other life in one valley, but the valley was simply “re-seed-ed” by aliens. Both Corey and the Grant scholars think that theprey species would eventually Thrum if they were being extermi-nated by an expansionistic raptor tribe. The raptors themselves,

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when asked, dismiss it as a “stupid mammal question.”Neither the Confederacy nor the Union is eager to see raptors

get their hands on modern technology, particularly guns. Theirclaws are clumsy when it comes to using triggers, and they’re notable to rapidly and accurately maneuver long arms. However, theycan aim rifles for ambushes, and they handle low-recoil pistolspretty well. Special weapons have even been designed for raptorsby unscrupulous machinists. Luckily for humans, in the few caseswhere raptors have obtained serious firepower they could use,they rapidly ran out of ammunition, which taught them to distrustfirearms.

Most dinosaurs are also limited by their lack of an opposablethumb to grasp objects. Those not so limited, like ornitholestesand the raptors, often collect manufactured goods, and such itemshave become a currency. Knives, for example, are traded for ter-ritory and prey. In general, the tool-using dinosaurs prefer simpleweapons like knives (which they know how to sharpen them-selves) to charged tools or weapons with ammunition.

Raptors love to get their claws on binoculars and scramblers,although they rarely can. Finally, most species of dinosaur areendlessly amused by holospheres of any sort, and value them farmore highly than people do.

The Dinosaur Singers

Some dinosaurs take it upon themselves to Sing – an art formmore sacred than mere music as humans know it. Dinosaurs of allsize and temperaments Sing, except for stegosaurs, who are tone-deaf. There is one Song in particular that has been passed downsince time immemorial; its meaning is unknown, but the wordshauntingly familiar to any saurian speaker. Both the Confederacyand the Union have clamped down tight on the Song; it has yet tobe broadcast off-planet, and they censor the press to removenotice of it. It’s considered a military secret.

Besides that one Song, Singers pick up a bewildering varietyof tunes in a variety of languages; Allosaur is considered the mostappropriate tongue for epics, while Raptor is quick and lively.Few Singers have the vocal range to speak all the tongues, buteach strives to learn as many as he can.

A Singer arriving in the area is a big event; the Singerannounces his presence by screaming about it at the top of hislungs for the greater part of a day. That evening, dinosaurs gather.By tradition, a Singing is a safe time, when predators and prey cangather together to hear the Singer perform. The Singer singsthrough the night, beginning with the Song and continuing withhis repertoire. If the Singer performs well, the crowd of dinosaursslowly disperses until when the sun rises all are gone. If the Singerperforms badly, the dinosaurs linger, and at sunup the Singer ismessily killed by a few self-appointed critics while all presentwatch silently.

Even meat-eating dinosaurs will not harm a successfulSinger. After the Singer’s performance, the community ofdinosaurs keeps the Singer fed for the next week – predators pro-

vide flesh, herbivores allow him to graze unmolested – afterwhich he moves on.

Singing is a Perform skill; Singing the Song is only DC 5because dinosaurs are always pleased to hear it. Keeping thecrowd of dinos entertained with other songs is not easy; onlysomeone trained in Perform can do it, and the DC ranges from 10to 20 if the dinosaurs are particularly surly for some reason! MostSingers have at least 5 ranks in Perform, or else they’re eatenbefore too long.

Humans have been known to accompany Singers along theirroutes. This is an easy way to meet many varieties of dinosaur ina peaceful setting. Younger dinosaurs appreciate instrumentalbackup, but the old guard views instruments as an abomination,destroying the essence of the art form. Still, Jeremiah Fogart andhis electric guitar are well-remembered in dinosaur society. Nohuman singer has sufficiently mastered the Song to perform on hisown; those who have tried have met a gruesome fate.

However, above and beyond Singing, dinosaurs have a richappreciation for human music. Country and western music is thefavorite. Scientists speculate that the twanging of the guitarreminds the dinos of pterosaur cries; indeed, some modified gui-tars approximate the range of different pterosaur sounds. Thesmarter dinosaurs are often wary of the music, since cleverhunters will sometimes pipe out some old-timey country andwestern to lure prey into ambushes. However, an obviouslyinnocuous traveler can often break the ice with a dino by per-forming a classic Johnny Cash or Tennessee Ernie Ford song.

Some humans have been known to tour dinosaur lands with agroup of dinosaur accompanists. Pterosaurs imitate guitars prettywell, compsognathids produce a solid percussive clatter, but thebest backer is a parasaurolophus. A veritable organic music syn-thesizer, these walking pipe organs are able to replicate just aboutany sound and project it at great volume!

Other humans make a lot of money performing among otherhumans. Jeremiah Fogart is getting rich right now playing his gui-tar with the backing of two parasaurolophuses – he doesn’t needto worry about a sound system; he just picks a meadow and letsloose with some lonesome lyrics. His envious competitors suggestthat the dinosaurs should be getting most of his gate receipts andhis royalties. Fogart has publicly challenged his own rivals to tryraising twin parasaurolophuses from eggs in order to train them toproduce the perfect sound at the perfect moment. So far, no oneelse has been able to, so there’s a steady stream of composers andmusicians to the Fogart household.

The Thunder and the Dark

The Thunder and the Dark is the epic poem of the tyran-nosaurs. They sing it at mournful times and at the birth of a par-ticularly promising child when the stars are right. It’s been trans-lated into most of Cretasus’ dinosaur languages by the protocer-atops poet vrthu. Hearing the Thunder and the Dark intoned by atyrannosaur, all dinos feel a chill.

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It speaks of the time of the great dying, of the Thunder thatcame and roared and the Dark that followed.Mythopaleontologists consider this to be a record of a massivemeteor impact upon the planet, although humans have found nosign of such an impact. Grant University scholars use this evi-dence to prove their “dimensional gate” concept, arguing thatsome tyrannosaurs came through the gate from Earth just after agreat asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula with a great roar andcreated a year-long time of darkness.

It is said that a tyrannosaur will spare any prey dinosaur whocan give a proper rendering of the Thunder and the Dark. Ofcourse, no dinosaur without a deep set of lungs (and the ability toproject into the subsonic) can speak Tyrannosaur, so it’s a mootpoint for most smaller creatures, and the really big dinos are rarelypreyed on by T-rexes, anyway.

The Thrum

Another aspect of dinosaur culture is the Thrum. The lan-guage of Dinosaur Common is limited in what it can convey,although the Song also crosses species boundaries. But the terri-ble Thrum has a compelling force for all dinosaurs that hear it. Itis a deep warbling noise that can be produced by a dinosaur of sizeLarge or greater, or any four dinosaurs of Medium size. Small orTiny dinos can’t Thrum. Marine dinosaurs Thrum underwater,where other marine creatures can hear them. Only a Singer, adinosaur with five or more ranks of Perform, can Thrum effec-tively.

A Singer begins to Thrum whenever he feels that the naturalorder of things has been destroyed. Ordinarily, a Thrum is aresponse to deliberate malice, an atrocity of some kind: when atribe of raptors begins to kill every dinosaur in their hunting area;when protoceratops set an entire valley ablaze to avenge the deathof one of their children; when explosives destroy a clutch ofhatchlings; when machine guns are trained on a herd of iguan-odons; when poison gas settles into protoceratops warrens... AThrum represents the moral outrage of a planet, put into song.

Many dinosaur noises carry for miles, but not a Thrum. Thehigh-pitched primal urgency in a Thrum does not travel far. Theeffective distance equals the Thrumming Singer’s Perform checkmultiplied by 50 feet. Dinosaurs able to hear the Thrum need tomake a Will save (against a DC of 10 + singer’s Perform check)or immediately break off their activities and carefully approachthe dinosaur who makes the noise. If they too witness somethingoutside of the natural, they will begin to stamp, bellow, and beattheir paws to the music. Otherwise, they attempt to kill theThrumming dinosaur. (Crying wolf is unpopular!) After ten min-utes of stamping along to the Thrum, the dinosaurs enter a berserkfury (+4 strength and constitution, -4 intelligence and wisdom)against the offending creature.

Not all dinosaurs are susceptible to the Thrum. Velociraptorsseem completely immune. Protoceratops are usually unaffected(in game terms, they receive a +10 bonus to their Will save).

Humans have been unable to replicate the Thrum. Dinosaursrecognize a sham Thrum immediately and take violent offense.Grant University scientists are convinced that certain pheromonesreleased into the air during a Thrum are the key to controlling thisaspect of saurian behavior, so they periodically send out researchteams armed with a new perfume to spray into the air along witha Thrum recording. Nowadays, they also include some sort ofspeedy transportation for the team in case the natives get restless.

Thrumming dinosaurs once besieged Fort Tecumseh butfailed to break in; after a day of slaughter, the Thrum abruptlystopped and the dinosaurs melted back into the jungles.Ordinarily, however, a Thrum continues until all the dinosaurswho can hear it are dead or the targets have been destroyed, afterwhich the dinosaur who began to Thrum stops, and slowly thefury of the Thrum dies down.

The Thrum has proven very inconvenient to both the Unionand the Confederacy as they attempt to tame Cretasus for humanhabitation. The Union once tried to clear an area of dinosaurs bylobbing poison gas in artillery shells. A Thrum and carnage ensuedonce the gas cleared. Dinosaurs rarely Thrum when struck byrifles; they consider ordinary firearms a part of nature, a sportingpart of life like claws or teeth. They don’t object to airplanes orvehicles unless they are attack dinosaurs, who consider thesemachines unnatural.

Once New Savannah’s spaceport was complete, some earlysettlers attempted to destroy dinosaurs from planes. The danger-ous large beasts show up on ground radar and make admirable tar-gets for strafing. Unfortunately, this induces a Thrum if a Singeris present, and pterosaurs inspired by a Thrum will throw them-selves at planes. A pilot whose vehicle hits an angry swarm ofpterosaurs needs to make a Piloting check, whose difficultydepends on how many pterosaurs manage to get in his way: for 1-5 pterosaurs, the DC is 10; for 6-10 pterosaurs, it is DC 15; andfor more than 10 pterosaurs, it is DC 20. If the pilot fails hischeck, the plane is damaged: it stalls and the pilot will need tomake a crash landing.

However, the fact that a Thrum can be performed only bySingers makes things simpler for humans – kill the local Singers(or befriend them) and the job of civilization gets much easier.The Union often hires assassins to take out Singers who enterUnion territories. Even raptor tribes occasionally kill unwantedSingers who enter their territory, lest they foil the tribe’s plans.

Dinopathy and Animal Empathy

It’s unclear why some people relate so well to dinosaurs.Neither the Dinopathy feat nor the Animal Empathy skill is aproduct of practice or education; children seem to be born withthem, or sometimes they manifest instantly in the field. CalhounCarey is of the opinion that they’re psychic powers, just like awild one’s Animal Peer ability, reflecting a deep inborn affinitywith dinosaurs. He calls Dinopathy “reaching back to the reptilebrain.” The folks at Grant University are working hard to quanti-

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fy Dinopathy and reduce Dinosaur Common to a language that amachine can translate and perform. So far, they haven’t had muchluck.

It’s important to note a couple things about Dinopathy. First,it doesn’t work on offworld reptiles, like Earth alligators and croc-odiles. Second, it makes characters vulnerable to a Thrum! A char-acter with Dinopathy must make a Will saving throw (against aDC equal to the Singer’s Perform check, with a max DC of 20) orbe drawn into a Thrum, thus becoming hostile towards the targetof the Thrum. At some level, the character has becomea dinosaur(in sensibility, at least), and so is affected by the heartrending cry.

Wild ones are always affected by a Thrum, even if they do nothave Dinopathy.

Characters with Dinopathy, therefore, tend toward good andneutral alignments. So deep is their connection to the natural orderof Cretasus that they may (uncontrollably) fight to the death anyevil against the ecosystem. Players should choose Dinopathy fortheir characters carefully – and non-Dinopathic characters shouldmind how they interact with dinosaurs, lest a Dinopathic comradebecome enraged!

Cultural Habits

Thunder Moon

When the moons are right, early in the lunar year, the anky-losaurs hold their mating ceremony. They gather in the mud pits,hundreds and hundreds of them. Then they search for mates. Theirmating ritual is long and slow but not stately. First the male andthen the female take mud in their long tongues and smear it allover the mate, producing spirals, squares, and wavy lines in manycolors of mud. Recently, some ankylosaurs have been seen to imi-tate writing, though it’s not clear that they understand the purposeof writing, perhaps viewing it as a more permanent symbol of themating ritual.

After daubing one another with mud, the ankylosaurs beginthe Thundering. One by one, they stamp their feet in some pri-mordial rhythm. (Recordings of Thundering have become populardance tracks throughout known space.) Then they lay waste to thesurrounding lands in an orgy of destruction similar to a Thrum,but not directed at living targets. Starting at moonrise, they ram-page until the following moonrise, when their mating begins – andcontinues for a full 12 hours! Finally, exhausted, they lick the mudoff one another and resume normal life.

During the rampage, they smash anything larger than about 8feet tall with their mighty tails, or sometimes by simply ramminginto it head-first. They ignore anything that moves, although theywill respond to attacks. In this state, they are berserk, getting a +4rage bonus to strength and constitution and fighting on until theyreach -20 hit points. Ecologists theorize that this rampage helps toclear large trees and promotes the growth of smaller trees andshrubs, the mainstay of ankylos’ diet. Most ordinary folks just

enjoy the spectacle (preferably from an airplane or at the veryleast from a safe distance).

Cretasus natives have learned not to build their houses nearankylosaur mud flats.

Dancing with Oviraptors

The oviraptor mating ritual is a long, protracted processwhere the male and the female dance around each other for hoursbefore the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them. Itincludes both a ritual aspect and an improvisational aspect, aseach dinosaur performs original steps to convince the other oftheir worthiness as a partner. At any time, either the male or thefemale can break off the courtship if they don’t like the other’smoves, sometimes even attacking a particularly ungraceful com-panion.

Human dance club owners have discovered that oviraptorsare natural showboats who will perform their dance steps withvery little provocation, so they use oviraptors to enhance theirmusic parlors. In the more sedate clubs, oviraptors are kept incages in the middle of the dance floor or around the edges of thefloor. In some of the wilder clubs, the oviraptors are unleashedinto the middle of the dance floor, and the patrons are encouragedto dance with them! Many humans find it exhilarating to attemptto imitate the moves of the oviraptor, and others attempt to workits movements into their own dance moves, an even more chal-lenging feat.

Untamed oviraptors tend to go wild when confronted with theflashing lights and the pulsingmusic of a modern danceclub. However, they can betrained (Handle Animal, DC15) to display their matingmoves when the music starts.

The oviraptors usuallypay no attention to thehumans who dance aroundthem, even if they mimic itsmoves. They are wild creatures, howev-er, and will bite if they are attacked orfeel threatened. They also are poten-tially dangerous to the knowledge-able human who attempts a“female” dance in front of a maleoviraptor or vice versa. That willimmediately get the oviraptor’sattention and it will perform alengthy duet with the other person.However, if the human fails toproperly execute the dance steps,the oviraptor will attack in anger.Otherwise, the oviraptor dances afew more minutes before realizing that

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the other dancer is a human – not a potential mate – and returningto its solitary dance step in peace. Humans who can “dance withthe dinos” are very popular with the opposite sex.

Clubs have their patrons sign release forms before enteringthe dance floor with a oviraptor. Treat oviraptors as havingPerform (Dance) of at least 5 ranks (giving a total bonus of +7with the oviraptor’s Dex). In order to attract an oviraptor’s atten-tion on the dance floor, a human needs to make a Perform checkat DC 15. In order to continue the duet without being attacked, thehuman needs to make another Perform check at DC 20!

Raptor Kidnappings

Frontier families tell their children: be good, or the raptorswill come and get you in your sleep!

It’s not an idle tale.Raptor tribes have been known to abduct human children. In

fact, it’s often a badge of honor: if a raptor tribe kills a particular-ly brave and worthy human foe, then the raptor tribe will some-times adopt the warrior’s child, whether son or daughter. This willonly happen if the child is small (five years old at most); other-wise, the raptors will treat the child as a small warrior and kill it.It’s an extension of a custom that raptors usually apply to otherraptor clans.

Raptor children grow up to be wild ones. They are taughtEnglish and thereafter speak it with an atrocious lizardy accent –although most people will think that they’re just offworlders. Inmost ways, they are considered to be full members of their adop-tive tribe. They are not expected to take a mate within the tribe,but they might bond with a raptor widow or another non-breedingraptor.

Of the four raptor-raised children known to have been recap-tured by humans, none has ever been successfully reintroduced tohuman society. They take any possible opportunity to escape intothe wilds, and kill themselves if confined for too long period.They howl miserably when kept in confinement and hurl terriblecurses at their jailers. Some of those curses have come true, whichhas also kept down the number of attempted captures.

A raptor-raised human, Laila Iron, leads the Dark Heart tribeof raptors. Her wealthy uncles, meat merchants who have boughta Union senatorship, have tried to recapture her, but so far she haseluded them. Her underground autobiography is very popular – itdescribes her romance with the poet and country singer ElroyJones, who took the dinosaur name of Mire Break while with theDark Heart tribe, but Iron’s powerful relatives have prevented anylarge-scale printing of Heart of Iron.

Laila Iron, Offworlder Female Wil4: CR 4; Medium-size Humanoid (6 ft.); HD 4d8+12; hp 29; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.;AC 13 (+3 Studded Leather); Atk +4 melee (1d6+2, reaperclaw – see page 124); SA Dinosaur Ally, Motivating Cause;AL NE; SV Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +6; Str 15, Con 16, Dex 11,Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10/8*.

* Base of 10 reduced to 8 around humans.

Skills: Animal Empathy +7 (7), Animal Peer +6 (4), Heal+9 (7), Hide +6 (7), Intuit Direction +4 (2), Wilderness Lore+9 (5). Feats: Alertness, Lightning Reflexes.

Possessions: Knife, leather armor, liquor flask, cash$4d10, various stolen goods.

SA – Dinosaur Ally (Ex): Laila Iron is allied with the DarkHeart raptors.

SA – Motivating Cause (Ex): Having been raised from avery young age by the Dark Heart raptors, Laila’s motiva-tions are very similar to theirs. Her motivating cause is theexpansion of her tribal hunting grounds. She receives a +1attack bonus against other carnivores who compete withtheir territory, as well as humans who would restrict theirhunting area.

Ornitholestes in the Ring

Ornitholestes are naturally vicious dinosaurs who show littlesympathy for their own race. They also have opposable thumbs,show a deftness with manual weapons, and are easily trained.Even more so than most dinosaurs, this makes them perfect forgladiatorial combat!

Gladiatorial combat is officially banned in both Union andConfederate space. However, the Free Fleet sponsors numerousarenas, and clandestine operations exist wherever the local admin-

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istrators are corrupt and willing to be bribed, which is a lot ofplaces. Male ornitholestes are often eager to display their fightingprowess and become the heroes of millions, and give their assis-tance to smuggling themselves offplanet. Most training is doneoffplanet, but it’s proven difficult to get the creatures to breedaway from Cretasus, and the steep casualties in the arenas meansthat there’s a desperate demand for more ornitholestes fighters.For years there have been rumors of a massive breeding operationon Cretasus – raising and training ornitholestes for the ring – butneither the Union nor the Confederacy can spare the manpower totrack the rumor down.

Ornitholestes that fight in the ring are usually covered with agarish shade of body paint, marking them with their owner’s col-ors. Because they are so valuable, they often fight not to the death(-10 hit points) but merely until one fighter is unconscious (0 hitpoints), and the damaged fighter is tended until he recovers. Someunscrupulous arena owners train their ornitholestes to fake akilling move on an unconscious opponent. The owner claims theapparent corpse, nurses it back to health, and gives it a secondcareer with new paint and a new name!

Ring dinosaurs are trained in a variety of manual weaponsand armor similar to those of the historical gladiators: sword-and-shield and trident-and-net are the most common weapon combi-nations. Others are trained in more exotic and amusing weaponslike chainsaws, burning torches, and scythes. Some gladiatorswear full armor while others wear pieces only over their arms orlegs or torsos. Treat Ring Fighters as having at least one level ofFighter, although they start out proficient with only one specificmanual weapon and one type of armor.

Protoceratops and the Conclave

The protoceratops are the only dinosaurs on Cretasus todevelop a written language. Deep in their caves of knowledge,they preserve the history of the planet, as well as wondrous storiesand the Songs of the great singers. At first, they were eager toshare their information. But several human-induced accidentsdestroyed or closed off protoceratops cave complexes, and a GrantUniversity team despoiled an ancient protoceratops bone yard.They are now wary of sharing their wisdom with humans. Whilean individual protoceratops will often bond with a group ofhumans and share her knowledge with them, the clans have decid-ed not to allow humans into their caves of knowledge without aconclave.

Every year, the protoceratops gather for their conclave, whereeach member, from the eldest to the youngest, in turn raises itsconcerns and requests for the upcoming year. Only the mostimportant requests, requiring the assent of the entire tribe, ever gobefore a conclave. Poetic and musical presentations are viewedwith great favor by the dinosaurs, while naked threats are usuallyignored. Only at a conclave would outsiders be allowed to viewthe caves of learning. Human communities who wish the proto-ceratops to take action on one of their proposals take their place at

the end of the line. Depending on how large the tribe is, this cantake days, and the protoceratops will refuse to listen to those whodo not patiently wait their turn.

Rumors persist that the Union has nerve-gassed a network ofprotoceratops caves and is closely guarding the area as itsresearchers attempt to decipher the ancient writings. Several ofthe Union’s archaeological expeditions have indeed found exqui-site, abandoned protoceratops cities, but they attribute their suc-cess to superior mapping techniques that reveal past settlementpatterns.

Protoceratops are frequently found in the major human set-tlements as interpreters and research assistants. It’s rare to find alibrary without at least one protoceratops shuffling around thestacks, carrying books carefully in his mouth. While they can’tmanipulate things like card catalogs, they do have a phenomenalmemory and can remember the exact location of thousands ofindividual items. They prefer the large library of New Savannahwith its children’s wing, as they particularly enjoy small childrenand will let kids climb all over them. Most urban protoceratopscover the sharp surfaces of their beaks with a sheath so that theydo not accidentally maim someone. This effectively renders themdefenseless, but attacking a protoceratops is a cowardly andunpopular act that will often spur nearby two-fisters to tell you to“pick on something your own size!”

Dinosaurs in the Wild

Dinosaurs are smart, but they’re also creatures of instinct. Ingeneral, wild dinosaurs react to people as they would react toother unfamiliar dinosaurs: predators stalk them if they’re of aproper size, prey dinosaurs watch them alertly and flee if they’reapproached. However, dinosaurs also talk amongst themselves, soeven the dimmest stegosaur in the Main Valley knows about theflesh-lumps that have powerful weapons.

Nevertheless, the residents of different valleys do not com-municate with each other. Even the pterosaurs don’t fly from onevalley to another. Only the marine dinosaurs bridge the gaps, andland dinosaurs don’t listen to them. This means that in someremote valleys, the inhabitants haven’t heard of people and willreact to them naively. However, it’s always best to expect a cer-tain amount of savvy on the part of the dinosaurs.

Herbivore Herds

It’s a dangerous world out there. Most herbivorous dinosaurstravel in herds for safety. The fiercest (like ankylosaurs) and thesmallest (like edaphosaurs) often travel in smaller groups, butteeming hordes of grass-munching ’saurs are a common sight onthe great plains of Cretasus.

It’s important to note that herds are only useful whereincreased eyes bring increased vigilance and where food is rela-tively plentiful. Thus, herd behavior is rare in forests or mountains

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or deserts, but prevalent in lush grasslands and savanna.Herds will react initially to a single human or a pair of

humans only by watching carefully. The only exception would beif they’re carrying swords or wearing raptor-claws; the herd mightmistake them for raptors, and will either attack or flee. Otherwise,the herd will consider a few humans not dangerous becausethey’re too small. A group of humans half as big as the herd orbigger will be considered a threat, and the herd will shift awayfrom it.

A herd of dinosaurs is simple (DC 5) to track, and also sim-ple (DC 5) to spot and hear. Getting surprised by a herd ofdinosaurs is possible, although it will make you the laughingstockof the valley.

A herd typically posts several adult scouts on its periphery.This means, essentially, that anyone attempting to sneak up on aherd makes their opposed Move Silently and Hide checks againstat least two creatures, with one more for every twenty animals inthe herd. If any of these scouts spots or hears the creeper, it willimmediately alert the herd. This rule reflects the general watch-fulness and wariness of the group.

Herd dinosaurs have two basic strategies: run and “circle thewagons.” Most herbivores of size Large or smaller will flee a dan-gerous predator at their running speed (x3). An entire herd ofdinosaurs fleeing raises enough dust and confusion that the herdgets a +2 dodge bonus to AC against all attacks. The herd willconstantly shift position as it flees; this means that it’s almostimpossible to attack the same target twice without cutting a mem-ber out of the herd. After one target is wounded, it moves backinto the mass, where it has at least one-half cover (+4 AC).

The way to hunt herd animals is to cut an animal out of thepack. First, you have to close to melee range (possibly incurringattacks of opportunity) and make a successful Grapple, Bluff, orIntimidate roll on a dinosaur. (Remember the penalties to Bluffchecks against non-humanoid opponents.) If you succeed, youdrive the dinosaur away from the herd and it loses its herd bonus-es. If you fail, the dinosaur attacks you and continues on as part ofthe herd. In addition, you will be charged by 1d2 other dinosaursthe round you attempt your attack, whether or not you succeed.

A dinosaur who is stunned, dazed, or entangled also falls outof the herd. It tries to sprint (run x4) to return to the group if it isnot immediately killed.

There’s a lot that ecologists don’t understand about Cretasusdinosaur herds. Some herds (like triceratops) seem to have setdomains, which they travel across over the course of severalyears. The domains of different types of herd dinosaurs oftenoverlap, but somehow the herds avoid being in the same place atthe same time. Sometimes herd animals attack humans invadingtheir migration paths, attempting to destroy the settlements, but atother times they simply alter their movements to avoid the newdevelopments. Both the Union and the Confederacy are eagerlyseeking techniques to guide dinosaur herds into the opposition’ssettlements and forts, but so far, no luck.

Large Carnivores

Tyrannosaurs and other enormous predators are not always agreat threat to humans. These beasts need a tremendous amount offood, about the equivalent of a Large creature each day.

Tyrannosaurs gain much of their food just by scavenging. Thepowerful stench given off by a rotting brachiosaur travels formiles, attracting all tyrannosaurs. They get first dibs on anycorpses; nothing is stupid enough to mess with them (excepthumans!).

Allosaurs, ceratosaurs, and other big carnivores must rely onconstant hunting. Many types of prey dinosaurs stay near water-ing holes, taking to deeper water for protection against thecarnosaurs. Other types of prey (like the triceratops) can slaughtera carnosaur in a fair fight. So most large dinosaurs rely on a charg-ing ambush to carry out their attacks.

These large dinosaurs will rarely bother with human preyunless they’re quite hungry. However, the mounts that humans useoften invite attacks from big beasts. Naive dinosaurs will alsoconsider vehicles to be prey; many’s the jeep overturned by a hun-gry allosaur, whose usual good nature turns to rage as he realizeshis prize is a foul-tasting tooth-breaking machine!

Freetowners and those living in forts are often deathly afraidof T-rexes, allosaurs, and other monstrous carnivores. Wheneverthey spot one approaching their settlement, they’ll hire hunters todeal with it. A family of T-rexes is often enough to convince agroup of settlers to stay away from a particular site. To a largeextent, their fears are unfounded, since small settlements usuallycontain few prey creatures of interest to a large predator.

Ranchers are the ones who suffer the depredations of the bigmeat-eaters the most. The same characteristics that makedinosaurs good animals to herd for their meat (large size anddocile nature) make them perfect targets for hungry T-rexes.Ranchers carefully plot the hunting domains of T-rexes andallosaurs on their maps as they plan the routes they hope to taketo bring their herds to market. While they hope to avoid conflict,they usually also instruct their riders to shoot without mercy anycarnosaurs they see.

Conflicts escalate as civilization encroaches on dinosaur ter-rain. Those giants who live near people are more likely to be hos-tile towards them than are dinosaurs living in the wilds. Less con-tact with humans means fewer opportunities to get shot at.

Wild raptors, however, are a different story. Although theyhunt single creatures extensively, they also use their intelligenceto capture herds. Raptors have been known to chase smaller herdsinto fire pits or off of cliffs. Wild raptors located away from civi-lization are likely to view passing humans as food, not as equals.Unless a treaty is in effect, tribes will eagerly attack groups ofhumans who enter their territory.

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Raptors at War

Raptors are the only dinosaurs sufficiently civilization to bedeclared “warlike.” Other dinosaurs may go berserk when theyhear the Thrum, or be combative and aggressive (such as the lep-toceratops), but raptors aren’t affected by the Thrum; they’re theonly known dinosaurs who completely ignore its effects. Raptorsplan their violence carefully. Their intentionality makes themmuch more dangerous.

Raptors with a grievance against another dinosaur tribe – or,more recently, against humans – prepare extensively. They storepreserved meat in the wild for provisions, gather knives andsharpening stones for their claws, and, most importantly, havetheir shamans create sufficient supplies of deadly chemicals andhealing draughts.

Shamans are considered too important to go to war, but theyperform the Rites of Separation upon the warband. The Rites ofSeparation are performed near a body of water under total dark-ness. Those raptors about to go to war emerge from an under-ground area, cast off their tribal insignias, bathe in the water, andhave mystic symbols painted on their chests. They then go out todestroy their enemies.

Raptors at war hunt nothing but their enemies; they say noth-ing but to scream victory; they do not sleep, except after a suc-cessful battle; they do not flee, except to gather the others of theirwarband. Even when at war, they still use cunning guerilla tacticsand they will not attack a superior force. Warbands are led by atactician if one is available.

Raptors are growing more adept at destroying buildings.They’ve been known to tunnel under forts with theirclaws. Some tribes, understanding explosives,try to mine structures. Other strategiesinclude infiltrating bases under thecover of night or in the cargo bay oflarge vehicles, or rushing throughopen gates when a caravan or largegroup of vehicles passes.

Raptors have occasionallyrun into armored vehicles andironclads. They recognize thatthey cannot penetrate sucharmor, so they retreat. But theyalso recognize that there aresoft, vulnerable humans hidinginside those hard metal shells,so they wait until the humansemerge, striking quickly andbrutally before fading awayinto the night. They’re mastersof lightning raids on campsand settlements, their preferredmode of attack on a superioropponent.

Against humans who face them on even terms, without airsupport or heavy armor, raptors can be persuaded into a battle ofhonor – both sides approach each other in an open field, with noambushes or surprises planned, and fight until one side is utterlydefeated, after which that side admits its loss and returns home.Such battles need to be negotiated beforehand, and raptors willonly undertake them against other raptor tribes or against humanswho have proven to be honorable and trustworthy in the past.Those who violate a battle of honor will nevermore be trusted byraptors if word gets out, as various forts have discovered to theirchagrin.

Wild Ones and Dinosaurs

Wild ones often exist in the role of solitary hunter and hermit.Other meat-eating dinosaurs are wary of the solitary wild ones andwill usually not bother them as long as they respect the dinosaur’skills; not much meat on those human bones! However, wild oneswho maintain their connections with human society are often mis-trusted and disliked, particularly if they lead hunting parties intothe wilds or if they serve as guides for military expeditions.

Wild ones who join tribes of dinosaurs are treated very dif-ferently. Much as they might like it to be otherwise, wild ones arebound by certain limits of human physiology and cannot eat thesame food as herbivorous dinosaurs, nor can they live on carrionalone, which means they’re most comfortable with fellow omni-vores. In addition, they often find it difficult to communicate withvery large or very small dinos, so they most commonly join

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groups of Medium or Large dinosaurs, often a tightly-knit familyunit.

Wild ones also often find themselves running with raptors.The authorities, both Union and Confederate, consider raptortribes with attendant wild ones a great threat, because of the wildones’ knowledge of human culture and human military tech-niques. However, most wild ones who adopt dinosaur ways try toforget their past, expunging their knowledge of corrupt humansociety from memory; thus, a wild one living amongst a group ofdinos has a -4 to all Knowledge checks relating to humanity.

Among a group of dinosaurs, wild ones rarely take the role ofleaders, preferring to merely exist with as little thinking as possi-ble. However, they often serve a role analogous to that of the rap-tor shaman, creating healing potions and advising the tribethrough a superior knowledge of the natural world.

Other wild ones, like the Dinozonians, live with a group ofhumans in the wild, hunting and behaving like a pack ofdinosaurs. Usually renouncing technological devices, but nothuman language, these tribes of wild ones bewilder theConfederate and Union authorities, who aren’t sure what to makeof them. Ranchers view them as a nuisance to be wiped out, sincethey sometimes prey on their herds. Raptor tribes treat them asother raptors, as do other dinos, calling them “soft raptors” or“blunt raptors.”

Sometimes these tribes pitch camp just outside freetowns inorder to carry out trading. Youths from the freetowns might evensneak outside to join them once the trading is done. No one evergoes after such children; they are considered lost to the wild, evenif they return, many years later, silent about their experiences.

Dinosaurs in the Economy

Dinosaur Ranching and Range Wars

The open plains of the central Main Valley are the territory ofthe ranch barons: an aristocracy of meat, where hard-bitten menon enormous, scarred dinosaurs protect fat, succulent herds ofdinosaurs from raptor tribes and rival ranches, then lead themevery year hundreds or even thousands of miles to a slaughter-house, where they are shipped to a hundred worlds. The ranchersown vast tracts of land, and their bronco riders often know thatland better than the official maps; arrogant and touchy, the ridersview themselves as the natural rulers of the terrain, beyond meregovernments, an elemental force.

Dinosaur ranching is most feasible in areas that are withinreach of a settlement, or with allied tribes of raptors or wild ones.With hostile natives, it’s almost impossible to ranch. Ranchingworks best with Medium dinos, like camptosaurs. Most of thefree-range dino meat shipped offplanet is camptosaur meat. Theirbig advantages are that they congregate in herds, they obeyauthority, they’re even-tempered, they’re small enough to be man-ageable while being large enough to put a lot of meat on the table

– and they taste great. The biggest problem is that they don’t breedin captivity. So ranchers every year release half their herd into thewild and capture half to bring to the slaughterhouse. Luckily forthe ranchers, the herd sticks together, so they can locate them eas-ily next year come slaughterin’ season. Most camptosaur herds inthe Main Valley are branded, meaning (in theory, at least) theybelong to one particular rancher.

Camptosaurs thumb spikes are cut off before they’re drivento the slaughterhouse; otherwise, the risk of a stampede or anattack is too great. Thumb-clipped camptosaurs have no naturalweapons except for their bulk and their tails. In the wild, thesedefenseless herds attract lots of predators, which seek out the agedand infirm camptosaurs and attempt to separate them from theprotection of the mass. Bronco riders ride point, defending againstdangerous predators. It’s a hazardous job, especially in hostile ter-ritory. Often ranchers have to call in airstrikes against threateningpacks of dinos, which can sometimes trigger a Thrum if a Singeris present. Other times they literally have to rely on the cavalry –dinosaur riders in remote outposts who are called in to deal withnative incursions, Union attacks, or other emergencies. Othertimes, ranchers strike deals with the larger local predators, usingprotoceratops to speed the negotiations.

Herding iguanodons and pachycephalosaurs is pretty similarto herding camptosaurs. Both types of dinos are even-temperedand require protection from outside threats. Stegosaurs are eveneasier, since all that’s required to bring them in to market ispatience and a good set of laser prods. (Few predators will bothera healthy adult stegosaur, so the drovers don’t even need to worryabout protecting the herd, merely guiding it.) However, the bigmoney isn’t in iguanodonts or stegosaurs, it’s in horn-head bron-cos: triceratops and their kin.

Triceratops are an enormous amount of meat on the hoof, andtheir meat is highly prized across human space. Connoisseursagree that triceratops meat is the most tender and tasty of alldinosaur meats. It is sold in supermarkets on hundreds of worldsas “Filet Big,” “Cretasus’ Own Horn Cuts,” “Thunder Roasters”and other beloved brand names.

The biggest problem with bringing in triceratops is simplypreventing the herd from stampeding and attacking the drovers!Triceratops herds follow patterns from year to year, and they’reextremely resistant to being led out of their way (to a slaughter-house, say). To do this, the drovers have to establish their author-ity by thoroughly cowing the larger male triceratops into obeyingtheir orders! Most bronco riders who herd triceratops have theirown triceratops mounts: hardened veterans of numerous fights fordominance. They use their mounts to batter some of the largermales into submission; the rest of the herd quickly obeys.

The other time-honored technique to herd triceratops is to usemounts that they fear: allosaurs and tyrannosaurs. Preferably, sev-eral allosaurs and tyrannosaurs at once. A herd of triceratops willattack a single giant carnivore if it stays too close, so it takes twoor three acting in concert to drive a herd.

Ranchers don’t cut off a triceratops’ horns to render him lessdangerous; it doesn’t make business sense. Triceratops who lose

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their horns often seem to despair of their life, lie down, and die.So bronco herders are forced to spend all their waking hoursaround powerful, easily-angered dinosaurs who could skewerthem in a heartbeat. It’s not a job for the faint-hearted. Broncoherders display an admirable sangfroid in the face of danger; someoften take a stint in the cavalry after they’re done herding, findingmounted combat a little more relaxing than the constant stress ofkeeping a hundred six-ton dynamos in order. If triceratops arespooked by something – a tribe of raptors, heavy explosives, sev-eral large meat-eating dinosaurs – and their leaders attempt toguide them in any direction except away from the threat, they willoften try to crush the leaders and flee as quickly as possible. Thismeans that herders have to keep a constant lookout for danger,including rival ranchers who might attempt to disrupt the broncodrive.

Ranchers operate in two different areas: their estates and theirherd’s grazing areas. First, they clear extensive estates in defensi-ble areas to live in. This is where the wealthy ranch owner himselfmay live, along with his family and a few prized breeding bulls.However, to maintain their herds, the ranchers require a vast for-aging territory, so they let their massive herds roam across thou-sands of acres of public lands. They don’t own the spaces wherethey feed and water their herds; no one does. Ranchers often sparwith one another over prime turf, and theft of herd dinos is alsocommon.

Ranchers keep the time-honored technique of branding to dif-ferentiate their herds during the fall and winter, as they graze onthe common lands. Nowadays, it’s easy to apply a brand: brand-ing guns painlessly apply the mark to the dinosaurs. But technol-ogy has also made it easier to steal branded dinos. Modern med-ical technology means that branding scars, in prior years indelible,can be repaired: a DC 20 Heal check with a tech level 5 healingkit allows one to eliminate burn scars. To counteract this, mostranchers maintain two sets of marks: a public brand, known to alland marked on the dino’s hide with a branding gun; and a privatechemical mixture, secretly added to the dinosaur’s food, whichenters the dino’s bones and stays in their system for years.Ranchers keep this chemical cocktail to themselves, and reveal itonly to the authorities, when they think someone’s rustled theirbroncos and changed their brands. A blood test then reveals the“inner brand” of the contested dinos.

Unfortunately for legitimate ranchers, most slaughterhousesdon’t check whether all dinos in a herd have the same brand; theyjust buy the dinos at a fixed amount per head and process themquickly. They certainly won’t perform a blood test on their meat.This means that bold thieves often prosper. There are few policein the wilds, and freeholders are usually too intimidated by theranchers to interfere in a range war. Occasionally, the military willintervene if things get particularly messy, but for the most partsuch low-intensity warfare is quietly encouraged by theConfederacy as a way to develop skilled cavalry!

The fertile territory near the forts and freetowns is quicklybeing fenced off for agriculture, to the chagrin of ranchers. TheConfederacy has already developed vast experimental farms in

order to test new agricultural techniques, and independent farmershave staked numerous claims. More importantly, many of theavailable rivers are being diverted to irrigate croplands. This isalready causing strife between ranchers (who need open space)and farmers (who need organized, fenced territories). Soldiers areoften called in to restore order between the two warring bands.Around the freetowns, however, the large ranchers are effectivelythe law, with their own private armies of bronco riders protectingtheir herds and intimidating the local population.

Dinosaur ranching has not been successful on other planets.While individual dinosaurs have been able to survive, herds tendto go insane on other worlds, losing their high intelligence, degen-erating into mere beasts, and finally entering a self-destructiverampage, smashing everything around them before gnawing eachother to death. The reasons for this gruesome behavior areunknown. The practical effect has been to drive up the prices fordinosaur meat, as more people get to taste it and the supply lagsbehind demand.

Regulation of ranches varies between Union and Confederatelands. The Union attempts to regulate its ranchers closely, withlicenses, regular veterinary visits, and supervision by the Unionmilitary machine. The Confederates allow their ranchers to appealto nearby Confederate outposts in time of danger, and they alsoallow meatpackers to operate within their forts, but they make noother attempts to control or regulate ranchers. As a result, thou-sands of ranches have popped up on Confederate-controlled areas,many of them vanishing quickly as a result of hostile dinosauractivity or attacks from other ranchers. Union ranches also suffersuch attacks, but they don’t take the hint; their owners are busi-nessmen with political connections who grow fat and soft whiledepending on Union military assistance to save their herds.Meanwhile Confederate ranchers are the cutting edge of theConfederate war machine, often able to repel attacks on their own,providing an ever-increasing number of recruits for the DinoWarriors.

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Dinosaur Labor

Cretasus couldn’t survive without the workhorse sauropods –brachiosaurs, apatosaurs, vulcanodons, and diplodocus – that liftand carry enormous weights all around the planet. While Cretasusis rich in oil and metals, it doesn’t have the facilities to refineenormous amounts of oil and it doesn’t have factories to createhighly complex machines. (Every time one faction sets up a fac-tory to create machine parts, the other side works hard to sabotageit.) In addition, the moist climate of the Main Valley plays hell onthe internal combustion engine, still humanity’s primary mode ofpropulsion.

The results of these interconnected processes are visibleevery day to Cretasus dwellers. Jungle paths are dotted with rust-ing-out hulks of enormous trucks and cranes brought in from off-world. From time to time, a fort launches a reclamation campaignto recover the metals and parts from those vehicles, using bra-chiosaurs to haul the wreckage back to civilization. The irony ofa beast of burden lifting and carrying a precise machine, the prod-uct of five hundred years of technological refinement, has notbeen lost on machinists. Both the Union and Confederacy havecome to realize that it’s silly to build an industrial base when allyou really need to do is feed the natives.

Brachiosaurs and their smaller cousins are the most valuabledinosaurs anyone can own. They require an enormous capitalinvestment, which is the only start of extensive operating costsfueled by their gargantuan appetites. Brachiosaur families stripentire hillsides and small forests of their vegetation in order to sur-vive. Diplodocus pods will clear an entire lake of seaweed overthe course of a couple weeks. Most freetowns designate a largeportion of their land to be Giants Grazing Zones, preserves fortheir enormous laborers. These dinosaurs are unable to digestmost grains, and they derive no more nutritional value from treebark than from protein shakes: it’s quantity, not quality, thatcounts with these enormous creatures.

The Confederates use brachiosaurs as construction aids, tohaul goods between towns, and to dredge new irrigation canals.Typically brachies belong to the freetown or the government,since their feeding is a public expense. However, almost everylarge farm owns its own “workosaur,” as do many itineranttraders. These folks are eager to protect their investments, so bra-chiosaurs are among the most pampered creatures in knownspace. More veterinarians on Cretasus specialize in treating bra-chiosaurs than any other species, and freetowns will spend exor-bitant amounts of money preparing gigantic medications whentheir enormous laborers fall ill. Killing a farmer’s brachiosaur isthe simplest way to ruin her farm, and in the backcountry such anact is considered almost as despicable as murdering the farmer inher sleep.

Union forces use brachies heavily around mining areas, bothto clear rubble away from the mines and to build roads into moun-tainous areas. Sustaining a brachiosaur in such a barren arearequires a supply chain focused entirely on importing food for the

brachiosaur. Big believers in the power of vehicles, the Uniondoesn’t use the dinosaurs much to transport valuable goods,although they assign one or two to every loyal Union freetown.

It’s traditional for farmers to purchase a brachiosaur hatchlingwhenever a child is born into their family. The farmer then lets thechild and the brachiosaur grow together until both are ready tostrike off on their own. A brachiosaur is ready to begin workingfull-time on a farm at about age 25 (even though it’s not fullymature) and that’s about the age when most farmers want to seetheir kids settled with farms of their own.

Another common sight on the roads is the brachy-peddler. Abrachiosaur holds an awful lot of cargo, and it’s not going to beattacked by anything smaller than a family of T-rexes or a tribe ofraptors, so an enterprising individual will simply purchase hun-dreds of tons of varied goods at New Savannah and strike out intothe wilderness to do some trading.

When a brachy-peddler arrives at a new town, it usually takesher two whole days to unpack her goods for trading, although she

might allow quick peeks to some of thetown’s children. Her appearance is a fes-tive event in town, marked by celebra-tions and corn liquor, since most localsdon’t get much chance to trade theirgoods. Oftentimes the brachy-peddlerhas new offworld fabrics, spices, ortechnology – things which would nevershow up in the freetown’s general store– so the peddler usually ends up withmost of the freetown’s liquid capital.

Brachy-peddlers travel fromfreetown to freetown,

spending a week ormore in each town,

buying anything

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that’s not nailed down for future trades, picking up gossip, andremembering what’s popular in each town. Peddlers usually takea year or two to complete their circuit of small freeholds. Afterthey return to New Savannah, they bank their profits and buy anew set of goods for another run through the towns.

Mugging a brachy-peddler is a bad idea, even when thedinosaur isn’t around. Most brachies have spent decades formingfriendships with their riders, and they can get a mite ornery whentheir masters fail to appear. Freetowns have been nearly flattenedjust because a peddler was sleeping off a hangover.

Cooking Dinosaurs

People on Cretasus eat dinosaur meat and dinosaur eggs allthe time. Dino meat is a delicacy offplanet. It’s legal to ship meat,and it’s a major export: folks all over the universe enjoy a goodhunk of iguanodont.

Munchasaurus is the premier offworld restaurant specializingin dinosaur meat. Their Brontoburgers, BrachLTs, andIgunanochomps (little bite-sized nuggets for the kiddies) are pop-ular quick eats in every human city. Munchasaurus has seen mete-oric growth in the last five years. Contrary to popular opinion,they do use 100% dinosaur meat in their meals, which means a lotof shipping.

Munchasaurus is the primary exporter from Cretasus.Munchasaurus transports, featuring their distinctive logo (a dinnertable with a tyrannosaurus bite taken out of it), are a commonsight at New Savannah and Fort Lincoln, loading up flash-frozendinosaur corpses for the long haul back to dinner tables on hun-dreds of worlds. Munchasaurus contracts with both the Union andthe Confederacy to get its meat products, but its success has alsointerested the Cabal, which is working to take control of the cor-poration for its own nefarious purposes.

Munchasaurus often hires groups of bronco riders to herdwild dinos into a slaughterhouse area; it charges a figurative armand leg for the resulting “Guaranteed: Wild!” chops.

Other restaurants are pickier about their meat. Gourmetrestaurants want wild dinosaurs, since the meat is gamier and theirknowledgeable customers can tell the difference. In addition, theyseek dinosaurs that were unafraid when they were killed – thepresence of certain fear-related hormones in the body at the timeof death subtly alters the taste. A dino which is killed while asleep,or while flatfooted, is considered pristine for their purposes, andthey’ll pay top dollar, up to five times the market price, for a pris-tine corpse of the desired species. They don’t mind messy kills,but they do insist on a swift death. Agents for these restaurantsoften hang around spaceports looking for a group willing to huntdown a dinosaur according to their specifications, but they findfew takers – it’s very difficult to kill a ceratosaur in one shot, nomatter what weapon you’re using, and most dinosaurs are notori-ously light sleepers.

Dinosaur meat has a distinctive, exciting flavor but is oftentough. It is best simmered or boiled for a long period of time in

order to soften the meat. Its strong taste can put off many diners,so non-Cretasus natives add a lot of spices. Munchasaurus, forexample, uses garlic and basil in most of their products.Confederates who preserve their Louisiana Cajun heritage havebrought Cajun cuisine to Cretasus, dusting off their great-great-great-great-grandpappy’s alligator recipes for use with the newmeat. It works great, and dino gumbo can be found a’cookin’ allover Confederate-held territory.

Among the Union settlements , the preferred cooking style isslow-roasting on a spit over a fire pit. True dino warriors just chopup their kill, give it a quick burst with a flamer to sear it, and chowdown. Raw dino is stomach-churning; characters need to make aFortitude save (DC 10) to keep it down. Dried dinosaur meat, or“lizard jerky,” is best kept for emergencies.

All sides agree on one thing – mincing a dinosaur is like eat-ing quiche. Real men just don’t do it.

Dinosaur Smuggling

To humans, dinosaurs are among the most valuable livingthings, anywhere. Cloning technology is highly regulated by theUnion government; the technology necessary to clone and breeddinos is exorbitantly expensive, rarely found in public hands. It’scheaper to send raiding ships to swoop down on Cretasus andescape quickly with a hold full of dinosaurs, trying to establish abreeding colony in a hidden locale. Passenger liners which tourCretasus sometimes leave with more passengers than when theybegan.

Both the Union and the Confederacy object to third partiesattempting to smuggle dinos offplanet: the Union because itbelieves that dinosaurs in private hands are dangerous, and theConfederates because selling dinosaurs is a lucrative source offunds for the government, and they’re not about to give that up tosome damn Yankee traders! Taking live dinosaurs offplanet is ille-gal, punishable by life imprisonment by the Confederacy and theannihilation chamber by the Union. So far, all the offplanet breed-ing projects have either been dismal failures or have been locatedby the authorities, but the smugglers keep trying.

The most valuable dinosaurs are the meat-eaters, who arebrought into fighting pits and gladiatorial arenas all over knownspace. As described above, ornitholestes are valued for their man-like stance, martial tendencies, quickness in learning to useweapons, and willingness to battle one another to the death. T-rexes also command top dollar and deep respect for their leg-endary size; brutal arena masters pit them against elephants, rhi-nos, lions and tigers.

Small, brightly-colored dinos are prized as pets. There’s littledemand for the big herbivores, and the costs of transporting themare astronomical, so compsognathus and other smaller dinosaursalso make valuable quarry.

Simply landing on Cretasus and grabbing all the dinos near-by is a viable strategy, although it means the raiders will only getwhatever dinos are in the area, not necessarily the smallest and

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most valuable. Instead, most smugglers operate with the help ofplanetside accomplices. These accomplices catch an assortment ofsmall dinosaurs, then hide in a cave or isolated area to await a ren-dezvous with their ship, which lands, loads, and runs. Authoritieshave broken up several such smuggling rings based in the HideoutHills.

Smugglers use expensive alien technology that can cloak aship from most human sensors, and smugglers rely on this “shim-mer field” to mask their presence. However, the shimmer field fre-quently causes fluctuations with ship’s engines, which means con-stant repairs and an uncertain approach time. Many a smugglingteam has to wait for weeks as their ship limps toward Cretasusfrom the warp gate after an unexpected engine sputter! The shim-mer field also does not completely eliminate a radar image, nordoes it prevent visual sightings, and so the Union or theConfederacy may dispatch a patrol to investigate a possible sight-ing. Some smugglers will just brazen it out, sweeping through theAlacion Portal with a false flight plan and having their illegalcargo secretly brought to the spaceport.

Well-established smuggling networks exist in all the majorsettlements. New Savannah has its share of corruption and theft.While the smugglers do bring wealth into these cities, they alsocommit crimes from assassination to sabotage as they try to pro-tect their lucrative profession. Despite all this, the smugglers arefolk heroes with the population, especially among some of thebackwoods freetowners, and their deeds are common gossip. Inthe forts and in New Savannah, they are quite unpopular, butevery smuggler has a friendly hometown where he can lie low andrelax after a tough day’s work, which makes them very hard totrack down.

The most feared smugglers are the Red Claws, who use rap-tor-claw weapons as their assassination tools. The Red Claws arecurrently trying to eliminate the richer and older Dons, a groupbased on the legendary Earth mafia, whose secret leaders takepseudonyms like “Don Iguana” and “Don Tracho.” These battlesoccasionally spill into the streets, and the authorities are desperateto crack down on both groups. The Red Claws are known to runguns to raptors. The Dons view this as a betrayal of the humanrace, and are quick to point out the moral failings of their rivals,even as they work hard to assassinate every Red Claw man theycan find.

It’s common knowledge that any piece of mail addressed to“Red” and sent through the postal service will eventually find itsway to the Red Claws, while the Dons operate Cretasus’ only win-ery.

Dinosaur Hunting

Dinosaur hunting is a big deal on Cretasus. The rich fromhundreds of worlds dream of testing their mettle against a tyran-nosaur. Farmers make reprisal raids against raptor tribes.Confederate and Union troops try to capture entire herds of ridingdinosaurs for cavalry mounts. Trophy hunting, since it doesn’t

involve shipping live dinos offworld, is allowed, indeed encour-aged by the Confederates as a test of strength and honor.

Expeditions into the deep jungle do not rely on powered vehi-cles, which are likely to break down or draw unwelcome attention.Instead, hunters use dinosaur mounts both to travel and to carrythe kills. Dinosaur mounts are expensive and hunting is very dan-gerous, so most hunters build money and skill either working onranches or with the military forces of one or the other government.Others prove themselves by arriving in town with a ceratosaurcarcass.

Hunters face many threats: first, there’s the prey itself, diffi-cult to kill even with modern, high-powered weaponry. It’s a markof pride among “true hunters” not to use alien weaponry to takedown their kills, which makes it even more challenging. Next,there’s the necessity of avoiding the competition: raptor tribes andother carnivores, who are an unwelcome sight for any huntinggroup that’s planning to go after big herbivores. Some expeditionsoutfit themselves to take on raptors or T-rex, but it’s an entirelydifferent set of weaponry that’s appropriate, and those hoping tobag raptor also make sure to have a very fast escape route planned,in case the whole tribe makes an appearance.

Professional hunters often use triceratops or allosaur mountsfor solo expeditions. These combat-ready mounts can carry enor-mous amounts of trophies and meat. Alternatively, hunters maymake deals with a raptor tribe, travelling on foot or on a lightermount, giving the meat to the tribe and bringing home only valu-able portions of the skeleton.

However, most hunters make their money leading wealthyoffplanet tourists into the jungles. Although exporting livedinosaurs is illegal, bringing dead dinos offplanet is perfectly fine.Dino hunters usually come bearing high-powered weapons andhigh-powered egos, eager to bring home a trophy for the corporateboardroom or the manor house. Taking a dino-hunting trip toCretasus is an expensive proposition, so only the rich can affordto make the trip.

A typical “hunting package” has the tourists starting out fromone of the major forts, where they are met by a native hunter/guidewho checks their gear, makes necessary purchases in town, thenleads them to a stable to pick up their mounts. Part of the wholeexperience is riding a dinosaur, so the tourists spend a few daysgetting used to their mounts – typically camptosaurs, since they’redocile and easily led, although the native hunter will point to theirthumb spikes as a sign of their dangerous nature. Guides alsocheck that the tourists have at least a minimum degree of compe-tence with the basic dino-hunting weapons. Once the guide is surethat they won’t embarrass themselves, they head into the jungles.

Most hunting parties hire a raptor guide or a wild one toadvise the group leader, tell the group where the dinos’ lairs are,and keep them apprised of raptor and T-rex movements. Well-equipped but foolish hunting parties launch reconnaissanceprobes to lead the way, but these drones don’t last long;pterosaurs, the climate, the Union, and the Confederates all worktogether to take them down.

Dinosaur hunters typically want unblemished souvenirs of

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their accomplishments, trophies which often include the three H’s:heads, hides, horns. Screamer rifles are the ideal tools for takingdown dinosaurs and leaving the trophy parts untouched, but mosthunters and hunt aficionados consider them a coward’s weaponbecause of their area effect. Besides the screamers, the followingweapons do no damage to a dino’s corpse: amp bomb, laser pis-tol, laser rifle, and monofilament blade. The wealthy often comebearing masterwork laser rifles, considered the gun of choice forthe sportsman. Responding to customer demand, WinchesterPyrotechnics has released a special laser rifle with an inertia-dampening mount, meant to be fired from the back of a movingdino, which is what most Cretasus hunters now carry.

Other weapons are classified as “messy,” “very messy,” or“unsuitable” for dinosaur hunting. Messy weapons have a 1%chance per point of damage inflicted of ruining the pelt, and preykilled with messy weapons has a 10% chance of having its heador horns damaged. A good shot will preserve the value of a pelt:prey killed with a critical hit always has its valuable parts undam-aged. Very messy weapons have a 3% chance per point of damageinflicted of ruining the pelt, and prey killed with a very messyweapon has a 40% chance of having its head or horns damaged.Prey killed with a critical hit from a very messy weapon still hasa 20% chance of having its valuable parts ruined. Unsuitableweapons always render the pelt unusable, and have an 80%chance of ruining the head or the horns, even with a critical hit.

Messy weapons: All manual and melee weapons exceptmonofilament blade, Colt .45, Absentee Voter, Automatic Pistol,Musket, ROGUE rifle, Whisper Gun, Shotgun, Winchester Rifle,Laser Lance, Laser Sword

Very Messy Weapons: Monofilament Blade, Bronto Gun,Heavy Machine Gun, Frag Grenade, Pulse Rifle, Wide BeamLaser

Unsuitable Weapons: Flamer, Howzer, Piledriver, Cryon Ray,Plasma Sling, Plasma Bomb, Chimera Fiend, Annihilator, DustGun

Dinosaur Tourism

Dinosaurs are the most exciting thing on dozens of worlds.Researchers and rich folks alike are eager to see them in person!The tight military control that both sides put on Cretasus meansthat only the rich have a realistic chance of coming to Cretasusjust to see dinosaurs. However, every grunt in the Union army andevery Confederate colonel dreams of being reassigned toCretasus, to see the dinosaurs. Frequent expeditions leave thebases with rather questionable objectives – really, they’re just tosee the ‘saurs.

Expeditions into the wilds are dangerous, of course, even ifyou’re planning to watch and not hunt. One of the few companiesthat has managed to establish a reputation as a safe and reliableservice is Blue Pygmy Expeditions. Blue Pygmies are offworldersfrom a particularly hostile planet where some of the insects get asbig as the dinos on Cretasus. Fifty years ago, the Blue Pygmy

president-for-life had a brainstorm, and his world’s economyshifted almost entirely from subsistence farming to tourism. Heretrained his army to lead the curious and the wealthy throughtheir terrain. Now, they’ve branched out into Cretasus, where theygive their clients the full Cretasus experience: touring forts andbreeding pens, and moving through protoceratops caves, raptorvillages, and triceratops herds.

Blue Pygmy routes often seem very dangerous to travelers,but it is all an illusion. The Blue Pygmies present themselves assuper-tough super-strong battle dynamos, ready to take on anydinosaur that dares challenge them. The truth is that they’reextremely shrewd businessmen who plan every second of everyexpedition and pay dinosaurs very well in order to produce a falsesense of danger. Blue Pygmies somehow drive off the ravening T-rex just before it reaches the lumbering brachiosaur carrying thesupplies; they always persuade the raptor tribe to reject its xeno-phobic warrior-chief and free its human captives; they head off theherd of triceratops at the last minute with a loud explosion. Nevera dull moment, but never a truly dangerous one either.

Most Blue Pygmies are Two-Fisters, and some are full-blownBronco Riders, but they realize they aren’t totally well-adapted toCretasus yet. For security, the Blue Pygmies hire mercenaries totravel with large groups, concealing them as fellow tourists. Theyalso use outside help to scout new routes and begin negotiationswith fierce-looking but greedy dinosaurs. There are persistentrumors that the Blue Pygmies are connected with the Dons’ smug-gling operations.

Dinosaur Picture Shows

Communications satellites do not last long in Cretasus orbit;one side or the other shoots them down as soon as they revealthemselves by transmitting. So television is broadcast at theground level by powerful transmitters. Places outside of the MainValley lack reception. Television sets themselves are rare, even inNew Savannah and the few settlements that have electricity. Thathasn’t stopped dinosaur television and dinosaur movies frombecoming an important part of popular culture.

The most popular television show in the world is “WhiteBranch Raptors’ Hour.” The White Branch Raptors got theirbroadcasting equipment after they ate a particularly annoyingpaleoanthropologist who had some surprisingly good gear for aresearcher. Their shaman learned how to use it after a lot of trialand error, eventually making contact with human television com-panies though a protoceratops intermediary. The humans wereblown away by the sheer stark power of what they saw, and the‘Hour was born.

The ‘Hour usually involves a hunt, a meal scene, some philo-sophical expostulation (in Raptor, untranslated), and possibly anattack on a rival group that has entered White Branch lands. Theraptors bring their raw footage to a heavily-guarded freetown stu-dio where it is carefully but lightly edited (the White Branchgroup has eaten producers who made unwanted changes to their

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show). The show is broadcast around Cretasus, generally pickingup 60% or more of the available audience.

The White Branch clan is large and prosperous beyond thedreams of most raptors. Its success has led to recent intertribalfriction over what to do with its newfound wealth, which makeseven better television as its members challenge each other tofights to prove the worth of their arguments!

So far no one has managed to replicate the success of theWhite Branchers. One well-funded attempt to copy this show, theThunder Hills Raptors Hour, led to the extermination of theThunder Hills Raptors by forces unknown. The smoking crater ofthe recording studio has helped to discourage others from bring-ing copycat shows to air.

Sometimes raptors will adopt the mannerisms of the WhiteBranch group in order to interact well with people. Some raptorsgo so far as to impersonate the White Branch crew, hoping forgifts from star-struck humans. Most people can’t tell raptors apart,so they frequently fall for these shams.

Even outside the White Branch Raptors Hour, dinosaurs arethe most popular subject of entertainment in the galaxy. Directorsand creative artists are eager to record dinosaurs and use them intheir shows. Holographic techniques can perfectly replicate reali-ty, but some snobs claim to be able to tell the difference. A studyof dinosaur life also leads to better, more “realistic” action. Thismeans that entertainers are occasionally found wandering thewilds of Cretasus, negotiating with protoceratops or wild ones toget the perfect image for their work.

The tools of the modern entertainment industry are microsen-sors. These fist-sized devices, developed from alien technology,are liberally deployed around an area and provide 360 degree cov-erage of that area, picking up several different kinds of input andstoring them. In addition, conscientious entertainers will usehandheld scopes with inertial dampers to capture the perfectimage.

Dinosaurs as Weapons

Both sides are eager to use dinosaurs as weapons in their mil-itary campaigns. Developing an industrial base on a newly con-quered world is extremely difficult; raising and training a bunchof triceratops is a lot easier and cheaper than importing ironcladsand trained pilots. Both sides view dinosaurs as a means to devel-oping superb and inexpensive colonial troops.

Cavalry Mounts

The simplest and most obvious military use for dinosaurs isin the cavalry. It’s important to note that technology inBroncosaurus Rexhas taken a different track than modern tech-nology has. Our Earth has supertanks that would run roughshodover triceratops cavalry. It’s true that Confederate dinosaur caval-ry would have little chance attacking New York or any other

Union cities on Earth. However, powered vehicles are not in com-mon use on Cretasus, or most other colony worlds, because theytend to break down, because it’s difficult to repair them on a pre-industrial world, and because they’re not designed for localweather, atmospheric, and gravity conditions. It takes time for alocal economy to gear up to produce its own vehicles, and it takestime for technicians to discover which modifications are mostappropriate for a particular vehicle for a particular planet.Dinosaurs, however, reproduce themselves, are hardy and adapt-able, and mend quickly, so they’re ideal bioweapons.

Triceratops: Much current cavalry research is on the horneddinosaurs (ceratopsians). They travel in large herds, so they’reused to close contact with one another. As plant-eaters, they canlive off the land, and their upkeep is much less expensive thanmeat-eaters. They are easy to breed and relatively easy to trainwhen a hatchling. Furthermore, their thundering charge is terrify-ing.

In combat, their bony frills protect their riders as they charge.A rider on a charging triceratops gains one-half cover (+4 AC).Laser lances are the preferred weapon of the triceratops rider,because the mount’s instinctual attack mode also sets up the riderfor a similar attack.

Iguanodon: A lot of research has also gone into trainingiguanodons. Iguanodon mounts have become less popular as themarket for their sumptuous meat has grown. Even so, many bron-co riders who have tamed their iguanodons swear by their useful-ness as mounts and refuse to eat them. While not nearly as effec-tive as the triceratops in combat, they’re faster, lighter, and able toassume a more agile two-footed stance to navigate tricky terrain.

They have many of the same advantages of triceratops:they’re herd beasts, able to accept human authority; they’re planteaters, so they’re less of a logistical burden. Their great handicapright now is their unwillingness to breed in captivity. Scientistsare scratching their heads in confusion over how to get these crea-tures into “mass production” – the group that figures out the mys-teries of iguanodon breeding will be richly rewarded.

Allosaurs: If you have to have a carnivorous mount,allosaurs are clearly the way to go, with their affability and eager-ness to please. Wild allosaurs don’t really serve as mounts; theyagree to take a position as a mount. They’re not sophisticatedenough to want a salary, but they do expect frequent gifts, and willjust walk away from a rude rider (they’re too polite to eat their rid-ers... usually!). Allosaurs raised from the egg to be mounts aremore docile and respectful than their wild cousins.

Allosaurs are not used to traveling in large groups and areuncomfortable in formations. They are ideal for lone scouts, butnot so useful for a mass charge. They spook most animals andeven most dinosaurs smaller than a triceratops.

Allosaurs are extremely expensive to maintain, another draw-back. They can’t forage for themselves as they travel, as the her-bivores can. After two days of travel, they need to spend one dayhunting in order to maintain their fighting trim, or be providedwith a Large carcass every three days.

Besides their obvious combat prowess, the other advantage to

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keeping an allosaur mount is that it is a knowledgeable and wisecompanion, willing to chat and provide companionship for lonelydays. Allosaur riders have very high morale and are tightly boundto their mounts, and the camaraderie means that both rider andmount are willing to fight to protect one another, something miss-ing with other types of dinosaurs.

The Union views the high intelligence of the allosaur as apotential drawback, fearing a revolt of its “vehicles.” Union sci-entists have developed an operation to limit allosaur intelligence,which is often performed on allosaurs bred in captivity. This oper-ation results in a stunted, withered allosaur, two-thirds normalsize, with an Int of 6. These beasts are noticeably easier to trainthan standard allosaurs (DC 20 as a youth), while still retainingtheir good nature. So far Union scientists have been able to passoff these creatures as a heretofore unknown species, but if theallosaurs ever learn the truth about their lobotomized brethren,they will be out for blood.

Armored Dinosaurs

Even during the early years of the Civil War, it was clear thathorses were on their way out as cavalry mounts, mostly due totheir vulnerability to modern weaponry. Dinosaurs are morerobust than horses, but sometimes they also need help.

The ideal dinosaur armor would be light, rugged, and wouldnot affect mobility. Dinosaur mounts usually need to be able topack their armor, since they spend a lot of time traveling acrosscountry, and they can’t wear armor for extended periods withoutan agony of chafing. For most circumstances, flak armor is good– it doesn’t weigh much and it’s only moderately expensive (espe-cially compared to the cost of the dinosaur). Flak armor doesrequire advanced technology to create, however, so it’s not logis-tically appropriate for colonial worlds; even on Cretasus it’s hardto get outside of the major forts. Most bronco riders use hidearmor, because dinosaur hides are easy to get and prepare. It doesslow down the dinos, but it’s perfect for an emerging colony sinceit’s grown, not manufactured.

Of course, the well-equipped warrior surrounds her dino andherself with an absorption field. Any field big enough to surrounda dino is also capable of surrounding its rider. Again, this is anexpensive option, but with a flak vest and absorption field, thefront AC of a triceratops rises to 25 against bullets, comparingvery favorably with that of an armored vehicle.

Cyborged Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are not just animals. They are much smarter thanthe average creature and can learn to utilize high technology.Dinosaurs that can be used as mounts are unable to properly uti-lize machines, since they lack an opposable thumb. So machinistshave been working to implant various devices into their dinosaursto strengthen them. Most devices enhance the senses: low-lightvision, enhanced hearing (+2 to listen rolls), and implanted radio

receivers are common enhancements (costing a mere $500 at a labwith an experienced machinist).

However, some experiments consist of enhancing the naturalpowers of the dinosaur. Besides the silverclaw raptors, one exper-iment removed the horns of a triceratops and replaced them withlaser lances (increasing gore damage to 4d8+7, doubled on acharge!), which unfortunately requires the dinosaur to be calmedand have the laser power packs recharged daily. Triceratops havealso had armor plates surgically implanted (extra +4 natural armorbonus), although that cuts their speed to 20 feet.

Scientists have also implanted poison glands into variousdinos. The glands can be added to either the bite or the claw attackof a dinosaur; a gland stores enough poison for 10 attacks, andmany varieties of poisons exist, including knockout (DC 15, 1Con/unconsciousness), red agony (DC 18, 1d2 Dex/1d6 Dex), andscreaming skull (DC 12, 1d6 Int/1d6 Int). If the poison gland bear-er suffers any damage, there’s a 5% chance of the gland rupturing,with subsequent spillage of poison into the bearer’s system, witha penalty to the Fort save of -1 per remaining dose.

In at least one case, the stress of these secret experimentscaused a machinist to crack. After slipping out of a top secretresearch base, Canada Louie Wilhelm became legendary for hisattempts to transplant human brains into ceratosaur bodies. WhenUnion troops finally tracked him down, they found his base com-pletely abandoned but surprisingly well-stocked. A few crypticnotes claimed success in the experiments. They also found theheadless corpses of several wealthy elderly men. Union spies stillkeep a watchful eye for Canada Louie, who knows far too manysecrets, although they scoff at his extravagant claims – in public.In private, they’re worried.

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Flying and Aquatic Dinosaurs

Most strategists, quartermasters, and meatpackers viewaquatic dinosaurs as less useful than the land creatures, butweapons masters are still trying to domesticate them and developtheir capabilities for combat. Most training is similar to that ofdolphins in the old Union Navy: plesiosaurs are used asminesweepers and to carry high explosives on suicide missions. Inaddition, unleashing a few elasmosaurs into swimming areas is aterror tactic not beyond the Cabal.

Flying dinosaurs are an entirely different kettle of fish.Pteranodons can carry 200 pounds – enough for a slender riderand his gear. Saboteurs, snipers, and spies favor pteranodonmounts for their silence, their speed, and their ability to go whereland creatures cannot. Pteranodons spend much of their time glid-ing, making them very quiet fliers, and they are difficult to pickout in the night sky. They don’t show up particularly well on radarscreens since they’re not made of reflective metal. They’re perfectfor infiltrating men into faraway places. They have a high metab-olism rate for dinos – it takes 30 pounds of fish to feed a pterosaurfor one day. But they can go several days without food in a pinch,and the seas are swarming with fish, so it’s easy to maintain theirravenous appetites.

Both sides are engaged in crash breeding programs to createmore tractable and easygoing pteranodon mounts, as well asslightly larger and heavier creatures that can carry more weight.They’re also looking for slim or short folks to serve as an elitepteranodon corps! The Blue Pygmies have already politely turneddown a request by the Confederacy to serve as their elite flyingcorps, and the Union is actively recruiting the petite inhabitants ofseveral distant offworld locations. Especially on Cretasus, wherepowered air vehicles are constantly swarmed by the nativepterosaurs, an air force composed of pteranodon riders is veryattractive to the military commanders.

Pterosaurs are the most reliable communications medium onCretasus. Since electronic communicators are limited to line-of-sight range and can be jammed with a scrambler, important orsecret messages are usually consigned to couriers on pteranadons.They keep irregular schedules and are often difficult to distinguishfrom routine training flights, which makes it difficult to target thecouriers and intercept the documents. However, it does mean thatsometimes a dead man, a dead lizard, and some extremely valu-able information comes falling from the sky into the middle ofnowhere – victims of a lightning storm, another pterosaur, or alucky shot from enemy troops. Locating and retrieving those doc-uments from the middle of the Cretasus wilderness can be quite achallenge.

Some of the freetowns have established an airborne expressto deliver letters – pteranodon riders who carry mail and smallpackages between isolated settlements. These riders paint theirpteranadons white, declaring themselves neutrals in the strugglesbetween the Union and the Confederacy, and they’re usually wel-come at any settlement or fort. Spies from both sides often pose as

airborne express men to gather information; it gives them the per-fect cover and a legitimate reason to be flying a pterosaur acrossthe countryside.

Union vs. Confederate Strategies ForDinosaurs

The Union has little respect for dinosaur life. Merely cleveranimals, they’re tools to be used in order to crush resistance anddestroy the enemy. Raptors, allosaurs, and other intelligentdinosaurs are to be treated just like other less-developed aliens: asmeans to an end, as drones and cannon fodder. Union courts haveruled that dinosaurs are chattel with no rights: they can’t ownproperty, can’t testify in court, can’t even travel in Union-con-trolled territories without government permission. (This last ruleis rather hard to enforce, however.)

The Union pours money and time into research on the mili-tary uses of dinosaurs. The Union is extremely interested in devel-oping the Thrum to send hordes of berserk dinos against its foes.It also seeks to induce triceratops rampages and breed savage rap-tors to unleash upon foes. The Union views dinosaurs as the per-fect bio-weapons, a sort of giant plague ready to be unleashedupon its opponents.

Time and time again, Union expeditions into the wildernessare ambushed and destroyed because they underestimate the clev-erness and abilities of the Cretasus dinosaurs. While natives ofCretasus know the dinosaurs better, Union tactical and strategicdoctrine is set by generals and senators on Earth, whose policiesin turn come from the Cabal, which has its own motives for keep-ing the Union from forming closer ties with the intelligentdinosaurs.

Still, the Union does possess a powerful machine base andfrequently sends out devastating expeditions to punish a dinosaurambush. The dinosaurs often retaliate, and the cycle of violenceescalates until one side or the other concedes after too many casu-alties – usually the dinosaurs.

The Confederates view dinosaurs as allies, not tools.Confederates sign and respect treaties with raptor tribes. Theyvalue and treasure their relationships with lesser dinosaurs, evenas they attempt to understand the sentience of the brighter species.The Confederacy has a deep respect for the capabilities and pow-ers of the dinosaurs; even when they find themselves fighting aparticular group of dinos, they’re always careful to treat theiropponents with caution. Of course, the greed intrinsic in individ-ual humans is still a limiting factor on the attitude of any particu-lar Confederate citizen.

Confederate research into dinosaurs has focused primarily ontheir abilities when combined with people, such as in a cavalryrole. They’re less interested in using dinosaurs as terror weaponsor bio-tools, and more interested in developing teamwork betweenmen and dinosaurs. Dino Warriors are their ultimate goal, a fusionof man and dinosaur into a skilled and deadly juggernaut.

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Dinosaur Combat Rules

Fighting with Dinosaurs

Fighting with dinosaurs requires a quick review of the rulesfor combat with large creatures.

The rules about facing can make it complicated to determineexactly how many creatures can attack a large creature at once.The rules allow many, many creatures to attack dinosaurs at once.For example, fourteen humans (5 ft. x 5 ft.) can attack onestegosaurus (5 ft. by 20 ft.): one at each end, four along each side,and four on the corners. To make things simple when dealing withlarge creatures, remember that the rule of thumb is that eight crea-tures that have the same face (if square) can attack one another. Soup to eight 10 ft. x 10 ft. dinosaurs (e.g., ceratosaurs) can attackone 10 ft. x 10 ft. camptosaurus.

The more interesting rule, and one that will frequently arisewhen humans attack dinosaurs, is reach. A defender with longerreach than its attacker gets an attack of opportunity when theattacker moves within its threat zone. This includes most charac-ters attacking dinosaurs. Most dinosaurs have at least a 10 ft.reach, and some have more; the tyrannosaur, for instance, has a 15ft. reach. This also means that a tyrannosaur, with its 15 ft. reach,gets an attack of opportunity on a charging triceratops with a 10ft. reach.

Characters 5 ft. from a creature with 10 ft. reach, or 10 ft.from a creature with 15 ft. reach, are also unable to retreatwithout provoking an attack of opportunity. You get itcoming and going.

Unarmed Combat with Dinosaurs

Individual characters engaged in unarmed combat with dinosare at a huge disadvantage. Nevertheless, two-fisters will some-times try it, especially when drunk, so here are some guidelines.

Dinosaurs cannot be disarmed. Two-footed dinosaurs can bebull rushed; it is impractical to attempt this with a four-footeddinosaur and merely extremely unwise for a tyrannosaur.

Characters can grab opponents which are very large, but theycan’t hold anything two or more size classes larger than they are.Even if you grapple a smaller dinosaur, unless you pin him he’llstill be able to cut you up with his natural weapons. This ruledoesn’t allow for certain crazy cinematic actions, like a horde ofsmall dinos pulling down a tank, or for the “running of the tricer-atops.” Those sorts of swarming tactics are totally in keeping withour conception of the game, so here’s a rules change: if there areeight or more creatures colluding in a grapple, one of them maymake a grapple attack on a creature three sizes larger. If sixty-fourcollude, then one of them may make a grapple attack on a creaturefour sizes larger.

Allosaurs and ceratosaurs are quite fond of grappling, notreally to hurt their opponents, but to keep them in one place sothey can kill them easier! Tyrannosaur forelimbs are too tiny foran effective grapple.

Overrun attacks don’t work on dinosaurs if they’re more thanone size class larger than the character attempting it. Neither does

the trip action. Most dinosaurs will overrun PCs blocking apath to food or if they feel trapped. Many of the larger

herbivores trample instead of overrunning; read thedescription of the dinosaur to find out if it’s capa-

ble of trampling its opponents.

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Character Classes

Prestige Class: Dino Warrior

Dino Warriors are the Confederacy’s elite dinosaur cavalry.PCs who become Dino Warriors put themselves in the service ofthe Confederate military. They receive specialized training in rais-ing and training dinosaurs, access to the Dino Warrior domesti-cated dinosaur herds, and the admiration of virtually all the set-tlers on Cretasus. But they are limited by their military role.

Characters become Dino Warriors for many reasons. Broncoriders find that the rigorous training and experience in the hatch-eries develops their animal handling skills beyond the limits oflife on the ranch. Soldiers become Dino Warriors because they canapply their disciplined strategy and tactics to a kind of cavalrywarfare that is unique in the galaxy. Some two-fisters becomeDino Warriors because their adventurous, rough-and-tumble fron-tier life is appealing. Machinists and spies rarely become DinoWarriors, and wild ones cannot multiclass.

Not all of the Confederacy’s dinosaur-mounted soldiers aremembers of the Dino Warriors prestige class. Multi-classed bron-co riders/soldiers have a place in the Dino Warriors chain of com-mand – usually quite low. These are simply the “riders” – a termthe Dino Warriors use to describe soldiers who can ride dinosaursbut aren’t skilled enough to train or raise them.

Hit Die: d10.

RequirementsTo qualify to become a Dino Warrior, a character must fulfill

the following criteria.Place of Origin: Confederate or Offworlder.Loyalty: Loyal to the Confederacy.Animal Empathy: 8 ranks (bonuses from Dinopathy feat

count as ranks).Handle Animal: 8 ranks (bonuses from Dinosaur Presence

feat and a bronco rider’s levels count as ranks).Ride: 6 ranks.Feats: Mounted Combat, Dinopathy.Special: After applying for membership, a character must

spend a year working in the hatcheries. The first three months arepure drudgery – shoveling triceratops dung, hauling dinosaur

feed, turning eggs under heat lamps at precise intervals, and so on.The next six months are more interesting: training wild dinosaurs,tending to injured animals, catching wild dinosaurs intact, andraising the young from the hatchery. The final three months are ataste of Dino Warrior life: accompanying patrols and basically liv-ing like a full-fledged Dino Warrior.

At the end of the year, the character’s performance is evalu-ated. The training period should be role-played – although the firstfew months are pretty bland, the last portion involves some realadventure. If you as the GM want to speed past the bland parts,award some experience (500 XP is appropriate) to the DinoWarrior-in-training for nine months of service. The course of thetraining will test all of the requirements for being a Dino Warrior(loyalty, Animal Empathy, Handle Animal, Ride and mountedcombat ability). In general, unless the character failed his checksrepeatedly or did something very stupid, he will proceed on to theinitiation rites.

The initiation rites are a number of solo tasks similar to thosedescribed on pages 36-37. There should be at least three encoun-ters of CR 4 or higher. If the character survives, he is inducted intothe Dino Warriors.

Adventures: The thing to remember about Dino Warriors isthat they are part of the Confederate military. Their adventuring islimited by the call of duty. A GM can arrange his campaign to suitthis fact, since there is no shortage of missions for Dino Warriors.But being part of the Confederate military places some fairlystringent obligations on a character’s behavior – consorting withUnion sympathizers is obviously no longer acceptable!

One benefit of military service is a wage: Dino Warriors arepaid $10 a month per character level, and all of their room, board,and equipment is paid for. But even though they’re the cream ofthe crop, the Confederacy itself is quite poor and not always ableto provide the best weapons. The Dino Warriors are supposed togive up loot captured on duty for military disposal. But nobodyminds if they take a little weaponry or ammunition for them-selves...

Class SkillsThe Dino Warrior’s class skills (and the key abilities for each

skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str),Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Intuit Direction (Wis),Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature, strategy and tactics, Int), Ride(Dex), Use Rope (Dex), Wilderness Lore (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Chapter III: Player Reference

Class FeaturesAll of the following are class features of the

Dino Warrior.Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Dino

Warrior is proficient with weapons suited to fightingwith dinosaurs. This includes the lasso, bronto gun,laser lance, and laser prod, as well as one-handedweapons that can be used while riding: Colt .45,automatic pistol, laser sword, and laser pistol. Theyare also proficient with all ballistic weapons, allswords, daggers, knives, and lances, and light andmedium armor.

Special Weapons and Equipment:The DinoWarriors have the facilities and knowledge to pro-duce weapons and equipment for dinosaurs notavailable anywhere else. Injection harnesses(Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, page 58) are onesuch item. Others include resonators, shouters, andthud sensors. Furthermore, Dino Warriors often sur-gically modify their mounts. Silverclaw raptorscame about in this way. One common modificationis coating teeth with steel sheaths, which adds to thecreature’s bite damage (+1d4 for large, +1d6 forhuge). The availability of these and other such improvementsdepends on the military’s needs at the time, as well as senioritywithin the Dino Warriors, as adjudicated by the GM.

Specialized Training:Dino Warriors train extensively with asingle kind of mount – for example, tyrannosaurus, allosaurus, ortriceratops. The character can pick which mount is his specialty.When working with that kind of mount, the character receives acompetency bonus equal to his Dino Warrior class level to all Rideand Handle Animal checks. This stacks with bonuses for being abronco rider.

Dinospeak:At second level, the character has spent so muchtime with his specialized breed that he picks up its language.

One Mind: Once he is intimately familiar with one breed, aDino Warrior raises a specimen from birth to become his mount.This forges a powerful parent-child bond between the rider andmount. Only one such bond canexist at a time. When fightingwith the mount that he raised, aDino Warrior has the followingabilities:

Intimidate: At third level,the character is proficientenough to use his mount tointimidate both other humansand dinosaurs, although thisability is limited by his classlevel. Any time the charactermakes an Intimidate checkwhile riding his mount, he addsthe smaller of his Dino Warriorclass level or the mount’s CR to

his own rank in the skill. (“If you won’t listen to me, listen toHIM!”)

Visual Speech:At sixth level, the rider and mount can com-municate silently through subtle motions. As long as they can seeeach other, they can communicate just as well as if they werespeaking.

One Claw:At eighth level, the rider and mount are so per-fectly attuned that no communication is needed. The mount sens-es the slightest twitch from his rider and always knows the rightthing to do. The rider automatically passes all Ride checks relatedto riding this mount, as long as the rider and mount are lucid andnot influenced by anything that would break their bond (mind-altering substances, insanity, loss of touch sensation, and othersuch things will interfere with this ability). When making a Ridecheck for purpose of the Mounted Combat feat, the Dino Warriorgets a bonus equal to half his mount’s CR (rounded down).

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Table 3-1: The Dino WarriorBase Fort Ref Will Special

Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Specialized Training2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Dinospeak3 +3 +3 +1 +1 One Mind – Intimidate4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Herd Tactics -15 +5 +4 +1 +16 +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 One Mind – Visual Speech7 +7/+2 +5 +2 +2 Herd Tactics -28 +8/+3 +6 +2 +2 One Mind – One Claw9 +9/+4 +6 +3 +310 +10/+5 +7 +3 +3 Herd Tactics -3

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Herd Tactics: Beginning at fourth level, the character is ableto control herds with amazing precision. Creatures he herds countas being one size smaller for purposes of determining how manyhe can control at once (see Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook,page 37), with +10 creatures herded for each negative size differ-ence (e.g., a human herding small creatures). At seventh level,creatures count as being two sizes smaller, and at tenth level, theycount as being three sizes smaller.

Prestige Class: Federal Marshal

The federal marshals are the Union’s intergalactic frontierpolice. They maintain law and order in the Union’s distantcolonies. Union citizens from the major metropolises will nevermeet a marshal, but those who live in the outer reaches learn tofear them. Yet even those who fear them are thankful for theirpresence – they may be terrifying, but at least they’re terrifying inthe name of the law.

Only Union sympathizers can become federal marshals.Union soldiers covet the post for the autonomy and adventure itprovides. Even most regular citizens would love to be a marshal,if only they had the ability.

Hit Die: d10.

RequirementsTo qualify to become a federal marshal,

a character must fulfill the following criteria.Place of Origin: Union.Loyalty: Loyal to the Union.Alignment: Lawful good, lawful neu-

tral, lawful evil, neutral good, or chaoticgood.

Diplomacy: 4 ranks.Gather Information: 4 ranks.Intimidate: 4 ranks.Knowledge (Strategy & Tactics): 4

ranksFeats:Combat Tactician, Leadership.Special: After applying for member-

ship, a character must spend six monthstraining. Training sessions happen only oncea year. At that time, all prospective recruitsare sent to the nearest Marshal Academy.The training is absolutely brutal. The firstphase involves tests of strength, stamina,coordination, reflexes, and leadership. Itrequires combat expertise, familiarity with awide variety of weapons, and the ability toquickly organize combat units of ordinarypeople. Most candidates wash out by thispoint. Even those candidates who getthrough must then survive in a variety ofextreme environments, where most of the

rest either wash out or die. Those who survive must then endurethe earlier tests again for the balance of the six months.

You can resolve this training in two ways. You can role play it,or resolve it quickly with a series of checks. Either way you have tomake the checks, but if you role play it, it can make a good extend-ed single-player adventure. The training is filled with ordeals andtrials suitable to the occasion. In order to pass, the character mustmake six separate saves, one for each month of training. They are:

Month 1: Ref (DC 5)Month 2: Will (DC 6)Month 3: Fort (DC 7)Month 4: Ref (DC 8)Month 5: Will (DC 10)Month 6: Fort (DC 12)

If the character passes the saves, he emerges from the train-ing sessions alive and successful, though in need of quite a bit ofrest! If he fails the saves, he fails the training. Characters who failmay apply for membership again in the following year. Eitherway, the training is worth 100 XP for every month endured.

Adventures: Remember that federal marshals are in the serv-ice of the Union. They are highly autonomous, but still must ful-fill their duties. The benefit is that a marshal has access to

advanced equipment and a great deal ofUnion support. They receive a monthlysalary of $20 per level, and the Union paysfor all of their on-duty expenses (travel,housing, food, repairs, etc.).

Class SkillsThe federal marshal’s class skills (and

the key abilities for each skill) are Balance(Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy(Cha), Drive (Dex), Gather Information(Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), IntuitDirection (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge(strategy & tactics, technology) (Int), Listen(Wis), Operate Ironclad (Dex), Pilot (Dex),Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot(Wis), and Use Technical Equipment (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Intmodifier.

Class FeaturesAll of the following are class features

of the Federal Marshal.Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A

federal marshal is proficient with all manualand ballistic weapons, as well as all kinds ofarmor.

Special Weapons and Equipment:Federal marshals are provided with the bestequipment the Union has to offer. At each

new character level (including first), a federal marshal may requi-sition equipment from the Union. The value of the equipment ateach level is shown on the accompanying table. The equipmentmust have a tech level equal to or less than the character’s totalcharacter level. (The character must be able to use the tech levelas well, of course; this rule reflects that the Union parcels out thebest high-tech equipment to the higher-level marshals, and thelower-level ones have to take what they can get.) Requisitionedequipment takes 1d4 months to arrive.

Deputy: A first level federal marshal is a called a deputy. Hewears a small silver deputy’s star. Deputies work closely withsheriffs, although they are occasionally sent out to take care ofthings on their own. A deputy who displays his star receives a +2circumstance bonus to Charisma when dealing with Union citi-zens or sympathizers.

Raise Posse:At second level, a marshal can raise a posse.Marshals raise posses to assist them in hunting down criminals,enforcing laws, and keeping people safe. Posses can’t be raisedduring calm times – theyare spontaneous organiza-tions that only form toaddress a pressing issue.In order to raise a posse,the marshal must addressa crowd. He makes aspeech to motivate the cit-izens to help him enforcethe law. He isn’t just ask-ing them to follow him;he’s asking them to takethe law into their handsand possibly risk theirown injury or death. Thetrick is swaying the crowdas a whole; no one citizenwill risk his life alone, but if enough of them believe that the restof them will go along with it, then they will form a posse.

Make a Diplomacy skill check to determine if the speech issuccessful. Add the marshal’s class level as a bonus to the check.The DC is 10 if the task is fairly safe (chasing down unarmedcriminals), DC 14 if it is somewhat dangerous (raiding a gang’swell-defended hideout), and DC 18 if it is positively life-threaten-ing (defending the town against a rampaging T-rex). The crowd’salignment modifies the DC: if the crowd is lawful, reduce the DCby 2; if the crowd is chaotic, increase the DC by 2. If the checksucceeds, the crowd rallies, grabs their weapons, and marches outbehind the marshal.

A posse only lasts as long as its members are motivated. Ingeneral, a posse will last for 1d4 hours per level of the marshal.After that, members start to desert and the posse unravels.

Sheriff: At fourth level, a deputy is promoted to a sheriff. Heis assigned a gold sheriff’s badge and a territory that is his to

patrol. He is now in charge of enforcing the law in that territory.A sheriff who displays his badge receives a +3 circumstancebonus to Charisma when dealing with Union citizens and sympa-thizers. Even when dealing with humans not sympathetic to theUnion, he receives a +1 bonus to Charisma when displaying hisbadge – everybody knows how tough sheriffs are supposed to be!

Issue Law: At sixth level, a marshal can issue law. He candeclare on the spot that something is or is not legal, and the localswill obey his edict – or so he expects. In order to issue law, themarshal simply makes a pronouncement in an appropriate cir-cumstance – during a trial, after a riot, or whenever the full forceof his law will be felt. If necessary, he may have to call a specialtown meeting to issue his law. All those who hear his law firsthand will obey it if the marshal passes a Diplomacy check. Addthe marshal’s class level as a bonus to the roll. The DC is 10 if thelaw doesn’t require behavioral change for most people (i.e., a lawagainst public drunkenness), 14 if it requires minor behavioralchange (i.e., a law against drinking on Sundays), and 18 if it

requires major behavioral change (i.e., a prohibition on drinking).As with a posse, a +2 or –2 modifier applies if the community islawful or chaotic. Failure means his law is ignored. If the marshalpersuades at least 60% of a colony first hand, the rest will auto-matically obey. If less than 60% hear his initial proclamation, thenhe must make a second Diplomacy check a day after the first,against the same DC, to determine if his message is successfullycarried through the community. PCs subjected to a marshal’s suc-cessful law may make a Will save to resist (using the marshal’sDiplomacy roll as the DC).

Marshal: At seventh level, a sheriff is promoted to a marshal.He is assigned a navy blue uniform with a gold marshal’s badge,and put in charge of ten or more sheriffs. A marshal in his uniformand displaying his badge receives a +4 circumstance bonus toCharisma when dealing with Union citizens and sympathizers,and a +2 circumstance bonus when dealing with anyone else whois familiar with federal marshals.

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Table 3-2: The Federal MarshalBase Fort Ref Will Special Req. Equipment

Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save1 +1 +2 +0 +2 Deputy $1002 +2 +3 +0 +3 Raise Posse $2003 +3 +3 +1 +3 $5004 +4 +4 +1 +4 Sheriff $1,0005 +5 +4 +1 +4 Issue Law $2,0006 +6/+1 +5 +2 +5 $3,0007 +7/+2 +5 +2 +5 Marshal $5,0008 +8/+3 +6 +2 +6 $7,0009 +9/+4 +6 +3 +6 $9,00010 +10/+5 +7 +3 +7 $12,000

Machinists

Machinists have the ability to create custom weapons, armor,and equipment. Although most of their creations are inoperableoutside their tender care, powerful machinists can create itemswith permanent bonuses. Many of the universe’s most powerfulweapons were custom built by such machinists. This requires aspecial feat and significant expenditure in both money and XP.

The feat Permanent Enhancement is required for these per-manent creations. See the description for Permanent Enhancementin the New Feats section.

Skill EvolutionThe pioneers who travel to Cretasus’ frontiers are jacks of all

trades. They know the basics of farming, hunting, fishing, miningand logging. When they find a place to settle, they learn a tradeappropriate to the terrain. If a pioneer becomes a farmer, forexample, he gradually learns more and more about farming. In theprocess, he may his skills in logging and fishing, or simply letthem atrophy through lack of use.

The ability to learn new skills at the expense of others, with-out advancing in character level, is called skill evolution. Thisnew rule explains NPC “career changes” in a way that the exist-ing rules cannot. It allows a pioneer to begin a journey with theskills Profession (Farming) +2, Profession (Fishing) +2,Profession (Mining) +2, and Profession (Logging) +2, and end upas a farmer several years later with the skill Profession (Farming)+8.

Skill evolution allows a character to transfer skill pointsbetween different skills over time. The newly learned skill mustbe accessible, both in terms of class and place of origin availabil-ity (e.g., only Union characters can learn Operate Ironclad) andgame world situation (e.g., a Union character in the middle of thedesert with no military experience cannot teach himself OperateIronclad). Given those restrictions, the skill point transfer takesplace with these restrictions:

1. Ranks in the new skill cost the same skill points as theywould normally, depending upon whether it is a class or cross-class skill.

2. The time required to learn a new skill is three to twelvemonths per skill point. The GM decides depending upon the com-plexity of the skill. As a rule of thumb, you can assume sixmonths. For example, assume the pioneer in the above examplewants to trade Profession (Fishing) +2 and Profession (Mining)+2 for four ranks in Profession (Farming). This will take roughlytwo years.

3. During each period of transition, the character may not usethe skill point which is presumably atrophying from lack of use.If the character is losing a rank in an existing skill, he must use itat the lower rank. During this transition period, the charactereffectively has fewer skills than he did before – he can’t use the

old one, but he hasn’t advanced in the new one yet. His skill pointis in limbo.

4. At the end of transition period, the character has learned thenew skill. He may now apply his skill point to the new skill.

This rule is meant to explain real-life changes in skill sets thatresult from practice, active learning, and career changes. PCsshould not be allowed to change skills every six months unlessthere is a very good game world reason!

New FeatsBARGAIN HUNTER (General)Bargain hunting is not just the ability to recall prices. It alsoencompasses a talent for remembering inventory levels, under-standing distribution systems, and knowing wholesalers who willcut under-the-table deals with end users – in other words, every-thing necessary to get goods for cheap.

Prerequisites:Wis 13+.Benefits: The bargain hunter can use his Gather Information

skill to find the cheapest source of an item. He receives a +4 bonusto all such checks. In general, the DC for finding a cheap item isdetermined by the item’s tech level and the size of the local pop-ulation. Multiply the tech level by 4 to find the DC; if searchingin New Savannah, the DC is reduced by 4 to account for thegreater availability of goods. If the bargain hunter fails to find acheap item, he must buy it at face value. If he succeeds, he findsit for cheaper than usual. Exactly how cheap is determined byrolling 1d4 for every point by which he exceeded his GatherInformation check; the result is the percent discount off the nor-mal price.

For example, Attacus Barnaby is searching for a ROGUErifle (tech level 5) around Fort Apache. The DC is 20 (5 times 4).His Gather Information skill has a +10 modifier. He rolls a 13,which with his +10 bonus yields a result of 23. He exceeds the DCby 3, so he finds the ROGUE rifle for 3d4% cheaper than usual.

The source of a cheap item may not be the same from onevisit to another – inventory and suppliers do change, after all, andprices that were cheap when business was good may go up whenbusiness gets bad. Your GM will let you know whether you haveto find a new supplier.

Special:This feat can also be used in reverse, to find buyerswho will pay more for a good.

FAST TALKER (General)Dr. Ezekial Price isn’t the only fast talker on Cretasus; any char-acter may take this feat. A fast talker can connive, convince, andconfuse his interlocutors, provided he closes the deal before theyget a chance to think.

Prerequisites: Cha 13+.Benefits: You receive a +4 bonus to Bluff skill checks. The

bonus to Bluff applies only in conversational settings – you can-not use it to help feint in combat.

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PERMANENT ENHANCEMENT (General)With Permanent Enhancement, a machinist may make the bonus-es on his custom weapons permanent, as well as create devicesthat operate outside his maintenance.

Prerequisites: Permanent Enhancement is only available toMachinists of 5th level or higher.

Benefits:Permanent Enhancement allows a machinist to per-manently modify his weapons. Modifying a weapon for perma-nent usage has significant costs associated with it, as follows. Apermanently customized weapon has a base dollar cost of $100per tech level of the weapon, plus the weapon’s bonus squaredtimes $1,000. For example, a weapon of tech level 2 with a +1bonus would cost $200 plus $1,000, while a similar weapon witha +2 bonus would cost $200 plus $4,000. This is the cost of thematerials and specialized technology required for the bonus. Inaddition, the character must expend XP at one eighth of the dollarexpense. Thus a +2 weapon would also require 500 XP. The timerequired to modify the weapon is roughly one month per bonuspoint.

The permanently modified weapon’s tech level is increased.For each bonus past +1, a +1 applies to the tech level.

For example, +2 Colt .45, which is normally tech level 3,would be tech level 4. A machinist may attempt to simplify thetechnology. Each point of reduced tech level has a bonus equiva-lent of +2 (per the tables on pages 22-23 of the Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook).

Once a character has made a weapon’s bonuses permanent, itno longer counts toward the maximum customization bonus hislevel allows.

There may be other secondary effects of the permanentbonus. The weapon may require a new power source or may bemuch heavier due to additional parts. These are at the discretionof GM.

New Equipment

New Weapons

Table 3-3 shows the stats for the new weapons discussed else-where in this book.

Hollow-point Ammo: This special kind of ammunition isextremely deadly. Any cartridge or clip for a pistol or rifle can behollow-point ammo at ten times the normal cost. Hollow-pointammunition causes an extra d6 damage (e.g., a Colt .45 with hol-low-point ammo would cause 1d10+1d6 damage). However, hol-low-point rounds crush easily, and suffer a –2 circumstance penal-ty to hit against any sort of medium or heavy armor. Animal hidesof +3 or better armor count as medium armor. Hollow-pointammo is only manufactured in areas with advanced facilities, andis available in very limited quantities on Cretasus.

Laser Sniper Rifle: This Winchester Pyrotechnics device,with a telescopic sight and an inertial tripod as standard equip-ment, is designed to be fired from the back of a dinosaur. It givesa +2 circumstance bonus to all attack rolls. Firing this gun is afull-round action, and it requires the shooter’s full concentration,meaning that the shooter gets no Dex bonus to armor class for thatround. The Sniper Rifle gets no penalty due to a mount’s move-ment. It projects a tiny but extremely intense laser beam and isparticularly deadly when hitting a vital area.

Reactive Truncheon: The preferred weapon of federal mar-shals and sheriffs is the reactive truncheon. This high-tech batonis coated in a material very similar to reactive armor. The reactivetruncheon bounces in response to impact. This magnifies the forceof the blow almost tenfold. Even a slight jab from a reactive trun-cheon can knock a man out; a full-force swing can decapitate. Thewide range of force possible with a reactive truncheon makesthem useful for everything from crowd control to battlefield com-bat.

A reactive truncheon has three settings: subdual (causes 2d4subdual damage), riot (causes 1d4 regular damage plus 1d4 subd-ual damage), and military (causes 1d8 regular damage).

Reactive truncheons are not considered energy weapons.

Dinosaur Hide Armor

Table 3-4 (on the next page) summarizes the armor values ofvarious dinosaur hides. The table here is scaled for human-sizedarmor; you’ll need to multiply by the values on page 54 of theBroncosaurus RexCore Rulebook to get the proper weight andcost for mounts.

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Table 3-3: New Weapons

Size Weapon Cost Dam Crit Range Targeting Weight Tech TypeIncrement Range Level

BALLISTIC WEPAPONS - AMMUNITIONTiny Hollow-point Ammo x10 +1d6 - - - x1 5 -

HIGH TECH WEAPONS – MELEEMedium Reactive Truncheon 30 Special x2 - - 3 lb. 6 Bludgeoning

HIGH TECH WEAPONS - RANGEDLarge Laser Sniper Rifle 500 3d8 19-20/x3 500 250 10 lb. 8 Special

New Equipment and Devices

Table 3-5: Equipment and Devices

Name Cost Weight Tech LevelEgg Warmer 25 30 4Microsensor 75 1 7Resonator 50 1 4Shouter 100 5 4Thud sensor 25 4 4Tyro Musk (1 use) 250 1 1

Egg Warmer: This is a padded cubical incubator, two feet toa side, whose flexible interior walls can be shaped around anydinosaur egg in order to keep it warm and stable. An Egg Warmercan also be used to keep a hatchling dinosaur warm and secure.

Microsensor: These miniature recording devices record andstore three-dimensional images. Hand-sized, they record for twen-ty-four hours on a microcrystal. They use special miniature ener-gy packs which hold ten charges, and drain one charge per day ofuse; these energy packs cost $20 each.

Resonator:This earpiece allows a character to hear the sub-sonic noises that dinosaurs make. A resonator gives a +4 enhance-ment bonus to Listen rolls against Large or bigger dinosaurs.Wearing a resonator gives a -1 enhancement penalty to all otherListen checks. For now, resonators are individually built and arenot common equipment; they should be considered devices.

Shouter: This handheld megaphone converts certain humansounds to subsonic noises. It gives a character a +2 enhancementbonus to Diplomacy rolls with dinosaurs. It also allows a charac-ter to communicate only at the subsonic level, so that otherhumans can’t hear what’s being said. To do this, make an

Innuendo roll to communicate with dinosaurs or humans equippedwith a Resonator. Provided there is a common language, the lis-tener can make an untrained Innuendo check to understand thecharacter. A Shouter can also be used as a simple megaphone,doubling the volume of a character’s voice. For now, shouters areindividually built and are not common equipment; they should beconsidered devices.

Thud Sensor: Thud sensors track terrestrial dinosaurs bymonitoring vibrations. A good thud sensor can detect a Hugedinosaur at 400 yards, a Gargantuan dinosaur at 800 yards, and aColossal dinosaur at 1600 yards. It only works if the creature ismoving. On soft ground, the range is cut in half. A thud sensorrequires a Use Technical Equipment check (DC 10).

Tyro Musk: This is an extremely foul-smelling secretion thata tyrannosaur uses to mark its territory. Small amounts can berecovered by scraping a T-rex’s markings (which requires enteringits territory!), or larger quantities can be procured by carving theappropriate glands out of a T-rex. Both methods are quite danger-ous, so tyro musk is very expensive. The price is steep, but it isworth it. Dinosaurs will instinctively avoid a character coveredwith tyro musk. In order to attack a character who has not alreadyattacked, a dinosaur must make a Will save, with a DC of 25minus 1 per hour passed since the musk was applied. (For exam-ple, if the character applied the musk three hours ago, the DCwould be 22.). If the save is failed but the character initiates anattack, the dinosaur is allowed to make a second save, this time atDC 15 minus 1 per hour passed since the musk was applied. If thesecond save is passed, the dinosaur can attack; if failed, thedinosaur will attempt to flee even after seeing that the character isnot a tyrannosaur. (It is an instinctive response, remember.) Tyromusk will keep prey as well as predators away, and can be detect-ed at a range of 200 yards minus 10 yards per hour of wear. Whenthe range is reduced to 0, it has worn off.

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Table 3-4: Dinosaur Hide Armor

Armor Cost Armor Max Dex Armor Speed Tech Wt.Bonus Bonus Check (30 ft.) Level

PenaltyMedium Armor

Albertosaur or allosaur 600 +4 +3 -2 20 ft. 1 20 lb.Ceratosaur 600 +4 +4 -3 20 ft. 1 30 lb.Croc 150 +3 +5 -2 20 ft. 1 15 lb.Tyrannosaur 2,500 +5 +4 -2 20 ft. 1 30 lb.

Heavy ArmorStegosaur 600 +5 +2 -4 20 ft.* 1 100 lb.**Ankylosaur 900 +7 +0 -7 20 ft.* 1 300 lb.**

* When running in heavy armor, you only move triple your speed, not quadruple.** These armors are generally used only for mounts.

Generating SettlementsThis section lets you quickly generate profiles of settlements

in the Main Valley. You can use this for random generation, or asguidelines for distributing settlements within an area of your owndesign.

You should use the standard town design tables for determin-ing alignment and other characteristics not specific to Cretasus,then use the tables below for aspects unique to Cretasus.

General Guidelines

Cretasus is a sparsely settled world. While the area aroundNew Savannah is home to many settlements, the faraway frontiersare virtually uninhabited. Most settlements on Cretasus are thusquite small.

Table 4-1 lets you randomly determine the size of a settle-ment based on its location: N.S. (around New Savannah), Fron.(in the settled frontier areas, such as along the Tecumseh Trail orBay Trail), and Wild (in the wild, unsettled frontiers – far from thetrails).

Economy

Most Cretasus settlements are centered around one (or some-times two) primary industry – farming, logging, fishing, and soon. The primary industry depends on the neighboring environ-

ment, as most occupations require the presence of certain naturalresources. For example, you can’t have a community of loggerswithout a forest nearby! Table 4-2 lets you generate the primaryindustry randomly based on environment. A roll of 01-05 meansthe town has a more complex economy with two or more primaryindustries.

The trading post requires a little explanation. These are thesettlements that crop up alongside well-traveled trails, betweenmajor cities, or halfway between a commodity’s demand and itssupply. They serve as a point of exchange for buyers and sellers.A good example is Miller’s Crossroads, which provides pioneerswith a final dose of civilized merchandise before they head intothe frontier, and also gives frontiersmen a place to sell their rawgoods to New Savannah merchants.

The “Other” result applies to settlements that support them-selves in unusual ways. In frontier areas still heavily populated bydinosaurs, this could indicate a town of wilderness guides whocater to wealthy safari hunters. In areas near swampy trails, itcould be a town of strong men who act as porters. A river commu-nity could make its living ferrying travelers from shore to shore.Make up a result that suits the terrain and your own campaign.

Support businesses (sawmills, grain silos, etc.) and otherlocal establishments (stores, saloons, blacksmiths, banks, etc.)

appear as a settlementgrows. These supportbusinesses dependmore on the settle-ment’s size than itsprimary industry, asindicated on table 4-3.

Stores: Between50% and 100% willbe general stores,with the rest special-ized in a specific kindof merchandise –clothing, leathergoods, feed and seed,

hardware/tools, etc.Support: These are the businesses that directly support the

settlement’s primary industry, such as sawmills and lumberyardsfor logging-based communities.

Smiths: Depending on the town’s tech level, this could be ablacksmith or low-level machinist.

Chapter IV: Gamemaster Reference

Table 4-1: Random Settlement Generation

d% by Location Size Population Tech Wealth NPCN.S. Fron. Wild Level Limit Mod.

01-10 Individual 1 2 $5 -101-20 11-50 Family/Gang 2-7 3 $10 -3

01-20 21-40 51-90 Neighbors 8-20 3 $30 -221-40 41-70 91-100 Hamlet 21-60 4 $100 -141-60 71-80 Village 61-300 4 $500 061-80 81-95 Small town 301-1,000 4 $1,000 +181-95 96-99 Large town 1,001-5,000 5 $10,000 +296-100 100 Small city 5,001+ 5+ $20,000+ +3

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Specialists: Specialized tradesmen who operate their ownshops, such as silversmiths, cobblers, carpenters, bridle makers,locksmiths, wheelwrights, and stonemasons.

Professionals: Primarily lawyers and doctors, this categorycould also include accountants, notary publics, and otherswhite-collar professions.

Power Centers

In the wilds of Cretasus, lawlessness is a more commonproblem than despotism. Most small settlements have no for-mal government. Disputes are settled by the parties involved,often with fists or guns. If things get out of hand, the rest of thecommunity may break up the fight or even take sides. Wherethere is a leader, it is a well-respected local hero, the town’sfounder, or simply the bravest soul in town.

Only in larger settlements with some semblance of a towncenter do formal governments exist. In the free lands of thefrontiers, these are invariably democracies, although unlessthere is an unusually wide pool of prospective leaders, the samecandidates (usually the town founders) win every election. The

first post to be put to the vote is alwaysmayor (sometimes as part of a towncouncil), followed by sheriffs andjudges. Large or complex governmentsare rare.

In a few settlements, particularlythose in the wildest frontiers, the powercenter may not be a rightful one. Thereare some towns run by bandits, rustlers,or even dinosaurs.

The alignment of power centerscan be determined using the table givenin the core d20 rules.

Wild one: A local wild one isobeyed because the townspeople eitherrevere or fear his connections to nearbydinosaurs.

Dinosaurs: A group of intelligentdinosaurs has taken over town affairswith or without the humans’ consent.The townspeople may be forced to paytribute in the form of food or technolo-gy, or help the dinosaurs build their owncave system. The townspeople can’tseek help because the dinosaurs eat any-one caught leaving the town limits.Alternatively, the townspeople mayhave sought out an alliance with thedinosaurs, for protection or survival orout of some bizarre appreciation.

None: The town is either so small,so new, or so friendly that it genuinely

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Table 4-2: Primary Industry

d% based on environment Primary IndustryPlains Forest Swamp River Hills01-05 01-05 01-05 01-05 01-05 Roll again twice06-30 06-15 06-20 06-15 06-15 Farming – foodstuffs31-45 16-30 21-30 16-25 16-20 Farming – cash crops46-75 31-35 31-40 26-35 21-30 Livestock/ranching76-95 36-45 41-65 36-45 31-40 Hunting/trapping

46-95 Logging66-95 46-95 Fishing

41-85 Mining96-97 96-97 96-97 96-97 86-97 Oil drilling98-99 98-99 98-99 98-99 98-99 Trading Post100 100 100 100 100 Other

Table 4-3: Number of Local Establishments by Town Size

Town Size: Neighbors Hamlet Village Town CitySaloons 0-1 1d2 1d4 3d4 4d6Stores 0-1 0-1 1d2 2d4 3d6Support 0 0-1 1d2 2d4 3d6Stables 0 0-1 1d2 2d4 2d6Smiths 0 0-1 0-1 1d4 2d4Specialists 0 0 0-1 2d6 3d6Professionals 0 0 0-1 1d4 2d4Banks 0 0 0 0-1 1d4

Table 4-4: Power Centers

d% by Population Power Center(s)1-20 21-300 301+01 01 Wild one02-05 02 Dinosaurs06-55 03-12 None56-80 13-27 01-05 Local hero81-95 28-52 06-15 Town founder96-100 53-57 16-17 Maverick

58-62 18-20 Wealthy rancher,farmer, or merchant

63-72 21-30 Sheriff73-82 31-60 Mayor83-92 61-85 Town council93-96 86-92 Guild97-98 93-94 Outlaw gang99 95-96 Military post100 97-100 Roll again twice

has no power center. People get along as equals. If anything getsout of hand, the community rises up and makes sure affairs aresettled.

Local hero: This is a well-liked citizen whose advice is heed-ed by the townspeople. He isn’t necessarily a warrior (although hecould be), but he is charismatic enough to arbitrate disputes. Invery small settlements, he could simply be the family patriarch (ormatriarch).

Town founder: He may be respected for leading the towns-people to their new home – or he may be considered a tyrant.Regardless, he owns most of the local land and has the strongestconnections, so he’s in charge.

Maverick: A loner who settles things whether people like it ornot. He may be a natural lawman, instilled with a strong sense ofpersonal ethics, or he could be a troublemaker who likes gettinginto a fight. Either way, he shows up whenever there’s trouble andhe always settles it.

Wealthy rancher, farmer, or merchant: Whether or not there isan official government in place, the richest man in town maintainspower through a combination of bribes, connections, reputation,and threats.

Sheriff: Even though there’s a mayor, everybody knows thesheriff really runs things. He may be elected by the people orappointed by the mayor.

Mayor: The town has organized democratic voting in order toelect a mayor. In most frontier towns, election day is either a dayof revelry or a day to stay indoors with your shotgun at the ready.

Town council: A council of several people, each representinga different part of town. One of the elected council members maybe the nominal mayor for all or part of his term.

Guild: This could be a merchants association, group of ranch-ers, or bankers’ club. Regardless of the town’s official structure,the guild keeps the wheels greased to make things easy for itsmembers.

Outlaw gang: A gang of bank robbers, dino rustlers, smug-glers, or claim jumpers controls the town. They may do it throughfear – or they may be so generous with their spoils that the townloves them.

Military post: A Confederate or Union military post keepsthings under control. The post may be secret, so the townspeoplebelieve that another government runs things.

Loyalties

Table 4-5 lets you determine a settlement’s loyalties. If youwant to make things interesting, roll twice: once for the powercenter, and once for the townspeople themselves. This can gener-ate towns ready to rise up in rebellion at the slightest provocation.

The “other” result indicates loyalty to the Free Fleet, adinosaur tribe, aliens, a religious cult, or some nascent local gov-ernment. Make up a result that fits your campaign.

Population Composition

Most of the town’s population works in the primary industryor its supporting businesses. But there are still a few NPCs of ahigher level than average. Apply the NPC modifier from table 4-1 to the results on table 4-6 to determine the highest-level localsin each class. The NPC modifier for a community of a single indi-vidual is only -1 because individuals brave enough to venture outon their own are often of high levels.

A result of 0 or lower means no characters of that type are inthe community.

The vast majority of settlements are entirely human. But notall are! Use table 4-7 to determine if dinosaurs or aliens live in a

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Table 4-5: Settlement Loyalty

d% by Location LoyaltyN.S. Fron. Wild01-65 01-40 01-25 Confederate66-85 41-70 26-96 Freetown (no loyalty)86-99 71-99 97-98 Union100 100 99-100 Other

Table 4-6: Highest Level NPCs

PC Classes Character LevelBronco rider 1d6 + NPC modifier *Machinist 1d2 + NPC modifierSoldier 1d3 + NPC modifier **Spy 1d3 + NPC modifierTwo-fister 1d6 + NPC modifierWild one *** 1d4 - NPC modifier

NPC Classes Character LevelCommoner 3d4 + NPC modifierExpert 2d4 + NPC modifierWarrior 1d4 + NPC modifier

* If a bronco rider of level 6 or above is present, thereis a 5% chance that he is a Dino Warrior.

** If a soldier of level 7 or above is present, there is a5% chance that he is a federal marshal.

*** This includes wild ones in the general area, sincethey probably won’t be living in town. Note that the NPCmodifier is subtracted from the roll, not added as withother classes, so you get higher-level wild ones aroundsmaller settlements, further away from civilization.

settlement. Dinosaurs and aliens that live in a settlement areassumed to be friendly (or at least non-hostile). They live on theedge of town, or, occasionally, in a barn or shed or other spaceprovided by an ally or employer. (Note that this table has no bear-ing on dinosaurs that kept as mounts or for other uses. It only indi-cates how many intelligent dinosaurs live locally and interact withresident humans as equals.)

How to read table 4-7: The table shows the percent chancethat a particular dinosaur will be present in a settlement accordingto the settlement’s location (using the abbreviations from table 4-1 for N.A., Fron., and Wild). If the dinosaur is present, it willmake up a percentage of the town population equal to the d% roll.For example, in towns in the New Savannah area, there is a 15%chance that protoceratops will be present. If you roll 08, indicat-ing that some protoceratops are present, they will compose 8% ofthe local population.

If aliens are present, determine the type on your own (Scrayor something else of your own design).

As can be seen from the table, protoceratops that do live withhumans prefer the more civilized areas near New Savannah. Theother dinosaur species, however, become common only as thehuman population becomes more sparse.

Typical NPCsHere are some stats for typical NPCs from the frontier. No

place of origin is listed except when it is relevant, as most NPCscan be Confederate, Union, or offworlders if born on Cretasus.

Certain information is omitted from the profiles: all theseNPC’s are Medium-size Humanoids (6 ft.), and unless noted oth-erwise, all ability scores are average (10).

A Note on NPC Abbreviations

The skill bonuses and combat statistics for all NPC profiles inthis volume include modifiers for ability scores, armor checkpenalties, racial characteristics, and special abilities. The skillrank is indicated in parenthesis after the skill bonus – for exam-ple, Handle Animal +6 (4) means the NPC has four ranks inHandle Animal, with the other +2 coming from another source

(such as an ability score or class ability). Please note that modi-fiers due to skill synergies are not incorporated into the bonus.

Remember that Confederate characters receive an extra featat first level, which is why some low-level NPCs have two feats.However, this feat is only given to named NPCs; the typical NPCprofiles (everyday people) do not receive the free feat. The freeheirloom weapon for Confederate characters only applies to play-er characters and notable NPCs – not every low-level Confederatecitizen carries around an heirloom!

One final note about NPCs: The commoner of Cretasus has adifferent skill set than the commoner of other worlds. We haveoccasionally assumed that certain skills are class skills for com-moners.

The following class abbreviations are used in NPC profiles:

Bro: Bronco RiderCom: CommonerDnw: Dino WarriorFdm: Federal MarshalMac: MachinistSol: SoldierSpy: Spy (I guess that one is obvious)Twf: Two-fisterWil: Wild One

Typical NPC Stats

Bank Manager, Exp1: CR 1/2; HD 1d6; Init +0; Spd. 30ft.; AC 15 (+5 flak jacket); Atk +0 ranged (1d10/crit x3, auto-matic pistol) or +0 melee (1d3, unarmed); AL LE; SV Fort+0, Ref +0, Will +2; Int 12.

Skills: Appraise +5 (4), Bluff +4 (4), Diplomacy +4 (4),Knowledge (Mathematics) +5 (4), Profession (Finance) +4(4), Sense Motive +4 (4), Spot +4 (4). Feat: Iron Will.

Possessions: Pen, pencil, calculator, 1d4 leather-boundledgers, automatic pistol and 1d6 bullets, flak jacket, well-tailored suit (which conceals the pistol and flak jacket),leather satchel containing $2d20 x10, personal cash $3d20.

In public, the bank manager is always accompanied bya bodyguard with the profile of a sheriff’s deputy.

Bartender, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.;AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d3, unarmed); AL LG; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Will +1; Cha 12, Wis 12.

Skills: Bluff +3 (2), Gather Information +3 (2), Listen +3(0), Profession (Bartender) +3 (2), Sense Motive +3 (2),Spot +3 (0). Feat: Alertness.

Possessions: 1d4 flasks of liquor, hunk of cheese,bread, cash $1d6-1.

Blacksmith, Exp1: CR 1/2; HD 1d6; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.;AC 11 (+1 leather apron); Atk +1 melee (1d4+1, knife); ALN; SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Wil +2; Str 12.

Skills: Appraise +4 (4), Chemistry/Alchemy +4 (4),Climb +5 (4), Concentration +4 (4), Craft (Blacksmithing) +4

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Table 4-7: d% Chance and Population ofDinosaurs and Aliens

N.S. Fron. WildProtoceratops 15% 10% 5%Velociraptor 2% 4% 8%Ornitholestes 1% 3% 6%Aliens 10% 3% 1%

(4), Listen +2 (2), Spot +2 (2). Feat: Great Fortitude.Possessions: Knife, hammer, tongs, leather apron, 2d4

metal ingots, cash $1d6.There is a 35% chance that a blacksmith who achieves

2nd level will decide to multi-class as a machinist. SeeMachinist NPC details for more information.

Claim Jumper, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 (1d10/crit x3, Colt .45); AL CE; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Wil +0.

Skills: Forgery +2 (2), Profession (Miner) +2 (2), Spot+2 (2), Wilderness Lore +2 (2). Feat: Track.

Possessions: Knife, Colt .45 with 2d4 bullets, shovel,pick, chalk, bucket, blanket, bedroll, 1d4 empty sacks, 2d6days of hardtack.

Dino Rustler, Bro1: CR 1; HD 1d8; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.;AC 11 (+1 padded armor); Atk +0 ranged (1d10/crit x3, Colt.45), +0 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchester rifle), +0 ranged(special, lasso), or +1 melee (1d4+1, knife); AL CN; SV Fort+0, Ref +2, Wil +0; Str 12, Cha 12.

Skills: Animal Empathy +5 (4), Balance +2 (2), HandleAnimal +8 (4), Intimidate +3 (2), Intuit Direction +2 (2), Ride+4 (4), Wilderness Lore +4 (4). Feats: Mounted Combat,Dinosaur Presence.

Possessions: Knife, lasso, Colt .45 and 3d10 bullets,Winchester rifle with 3d10 bullets, padded armor, bit and bri-dle, saddlebags, backpack, bedroll, blanket, clay jug, 3d20pounds of animal feed, 4d6 days worth of hardtack, cash$1d10.

Mount: Depends on region, employer, and characterlevel; to randomize, roll d%: 01-25 parasaurolophus, 26-50camptosaurus, 51-65 iguanodon, 66-75 pachy-cephalosaurus, 76-85 triceratops, 86-90 pteranodon. 91-97allosaurus, 98-100 T-rex.

Doctor/Veterinarian, Exp1: CR 1/2; HD 1d6; Init +0;Spd 30 ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d4, knife); AL LG; SV Fort+0, Ref +0, Wil +2; Int 12.

Skills: Chemistry +3 (2), Concentration +4 (4), HandleAnimal +4 (4), Heal +4 (4), Knowledge (medicine/healing)+5 (4), Profession (Doctor) +4 (4), Ride +3 (3), Spot +2 (2),Wilderness Lore (1). Feat: Endurance.

Possessions: Knife, medical kit, blanket, sack, 30’ rope,flask of liquor.

Farmer, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC10; Atk +0 melee (1d3, shovel); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0,Wil +1; Wis 12.

Skills: Craft (Carpentry or Leatherworking) (1), HandleAnimal +3 (3), Profession (Farming) +5 (4). Feat:Endurance.

Possessions: Spade, hoe, shovel, bucket, 1d4 smallpouches filled with seeds (d%: 01-75 worth $1d4, 76-95worth $2d6, 96-100 rare local plants worth $2d20 in NewSavannah), cash $1d4-2.

Fisherman, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.;AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d4, knife); AL N; SV Fort +0, Ref +2,

Wil +1; Wis 12.Skills: Profession (Fishing) +4 (3), Spot +2 (2), Swim +2

(2), Use Rope (1). Feat: Lightning Reflexes.Possessions: Knife, fishing net, 2d6 fish hooks, 100 ft.

fishing line, 20 ft. rope, 10 ft. pole, sack of bait, bucket, 2d4fish, cash $1d6-2.

Hunter/Trapper, War1: CR 1/2; HD 1d8+1; Init +0; Spd20 ft.; AC 13 (+3 hide armor); Atk. +2 melee (1d4+1, knife),+1 ranged (1d10/crit x3, Colt .45), or +1 ranged (1d12/critx3, Winchester rifle); AL CN; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Wil +0; Str12, Con 12.

Skills: Climb -1 (1), Handle Animal (1), Intuit Direction+2 (2), Ride (1), Swim +2 (1), Wilderness Lore +2 (2). Feat:Track.

Possessions: Knife, Colt .45 and 2d20 bullets,Winchester rifle and 1d20 bullets, hide armor, 20 ft. rope,canteen, bedroll, 1d4 leather sacks each filled with 5pounds of salted meat, 1d4 uncured animal skins, 1d4-2unbutchered recent kills, cash $2d6.

Land Speculator, Exp1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd30 ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d4, knife); AL CN; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Wil +5; Wis 13.

Skills: Appraise +4 (4), Bluff +6 (4), Diplomacy +6 (4),Disguise +4 (4), Forgery +4 (4), Gather Information +6 (4),Perform +2 (0), Sense Motive +2 (0). Feat: Turncoat (seeBroncosaurus Rex Core Rulebook, page 43).

Possessions: Knife, pen, paper, land deeds, official-looking seal, cash $6d10 in small bills suitable for bribes.

Logger, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC10; Atk +1 melee (1d6+1/crit x3, handaxe); AL N; SV Fort+0, Ref +0, Wil +0; Str 12.

Skills: Climb +3 (2), Handle Animal (1), Jump +2 (1),Profession (Logging) +2 (2), Use Rope +2 (2). Feat:Endurance.

Possessions: Handaxe, 100 ft. rope, 20 ft. chain, saw,cash $1d6-2.

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Machinist, Mac1: CR 1; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC10; Atk. +2 ranged (1d10/crit x3, custom +2 automatic pis-tol), or possibly another ranged weapon (see below); AL N;SV Fort +0, Ref +1, Wil +2; Int 13.

Skills: Chemistry +3 (2), Craft (Blacksmith) +4 (3), Craft(Gunsmith) +4 (3), Disable Device +7 (4), Drive +2 (2),Knowledge (Science) +4 (3), Knowledge (Technology) +6(3), Repair Device +7 (4), Use Technical Equipment +7 (4).Feat: Gearhead.

Possessions: Custom +2 automatic pistol with 1d4 20-bullet cartridges, binoculars, handheld communicator, com-pass, engineering tools, flashlight, scanner, cash $2d10,25% chance of an exotic weapon (d%: 01-15 screamerknife, 16-30 laser sword, 31-50 flamer, 51-80 whisper gun,81-95 laser pistol, 96-100 amp bomb).

Mayor, Exp2: CR 1; HD 2d6; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10;Atk. +1 melee (1d4, knife); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Wil+6; Cha 14, Int 12, Wis 12.

Skills: Appraise +6 (5), Bluff +7 (5), Diplomacy +7 (5),Gather Information +7 (5), Intimidate +7 (5), Sense Motive+6 (5), Spot +6 (5). Feat: Iron Will.

Possessions: Knife, pen, paper, seal of office, 1d4 local

maps, book of tax records, 1d4 flasks of liquor, well tailoredsuit, cash $3d20.

Miner/Prospector, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd30 ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d4, hammer) or +0 melee(1d4, pick); AL CN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Wil +0.

Skills: Profession (Mining) +3 (3), Listen +2 (0), Spot +7(5). Feat: Alertness.

Possessions: Hammer, pick, shovel, spade, hoodedlantern (50% chance of having a flashlight as well), sieve,tin pan, chalk, flask, 4d6 days of hardtack, bedroll, blanket,backpack, 1d6-2 quarter-pound ingots (d%: 01-80 worth$2d6 each, 81-98 worth $4d6 each, 99-100 worth $2d10x10 each), cash $2d6, 25% chance of a treasure map (d%:01-25 fake, 26-50 real but leads to a mine long ago strippedbare, 51-80 real but the mine is nonvaluable metals, 81-100real and the mine is valuable).

Outlaw/Bandit/Bank Robber, War1: CR 1/2; HD 1d8;Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 leather armor); Atk +1 ranged(1d10/crit x3, Colt .45), +1 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchesterrifle), or +1 melee (1d4, knife); AL CE; SV Fort +2, Ref +0,Wil +0.

Skills: Climb (1), Intimidate +3 (3), Jump (1), Ride +3(3). Feat: Run.

Possessions: Knife, Colt .45 and 2d10 bullets,Winchester rifle and 2d10 bullets, leather armor, bedroll,blanket, 2d4 sacks, 3d6 days worth of hardtack, cash$1d10-2, 25% chance of stolen loot worth $2d10 x10.

Peddler/Trader, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd30 ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 melee (1d4, knife); AL N; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Wil +0; Cha 12.

Skills: Appraise +4 (4), Bluff +7 (2), Gather Information+3 (2). Feat: Fast Talker.

Possessions: Knife, cart, cash $2d10, 25% chance of acommon mount.

Goods for trade: d8-2 of any common item, 1d4 com-mon weapons (tech level 3 or lower), 1d6-2 uncommonweapons (tech level 4), as well as seeds, clothes, ore, andother items picked up along his route.

Pioneer, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC10; Atk +0 melee (1d4, knife), or 25% chance of +0 ranged(1d10/crit x3, Colt .45); AL LN; SV Fort +0, Ref +0, Wil +0.

Skills: Handle Animal +2 (2), Profession (any 2 ofFarming, Fishing, Mining, Logging) (each +2), WildernessLore +2 (2). Feat: Endurance.

Possessions: Knife, 25% chance of Colt .45 with 1d10bullets, shovel, hammer, pick, bucket, 20’ rope, canteen,bedroll, blanket, d4 sacks, 6d6 days worth of hardtack,hooded lantern, 10 ft. pole, fishing net, 1d4 fishing hooks,1d4 small pouches filled with seeds (d%: 01-75 worth $1d4,76-95 worth $2d6, 96-100 rare local plants worth $2d20 inNew Savannah), cash $1d4-2.

In addition to the equipment listed, a typical pioneer’sload could include a full wagon’s worth of equipment. Someof the more common items might be feather beds, ground

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cloths, pillows, a tent, poles, stakes, a hatchet, bullet molds,lead, a keg of gunpowder, flour, bacon, coffee, baking soda,corn meal, dried beans, dried beef, dried fruit, molasses,vinegar, pepper, eggs, salt, sugar, rice, tea, a kettle, a skil-let, a coffee grinder, a teapot, a butcher knife, a ladle, tinplates and silverware, a water keg, matches, a hoe, a plow,a spade, a whetstone, an extra axle and bolts, chains,trousers, boots, hats, bonnets, shirts, coats, bandages,campstool, chamber pot, washbowl, candles, candle molds,scissors, needle and thread, and perhaps even some of thetrappings of home: books, family albums, china, silverware,and furniture.

Ranch Hand, Bro1: CR 1; HD 1d8; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.;AC 11 (+1 padded armor); Atk +0 ranged (1d10/crit x3, Colt.45), +0 ranged (special, lasso), or +1 melee (1d4+1, knife);AL N; SV Fort +0, Ref +2, Wil +0; Str 12, Cha 12.

Skills: Animal Empathy +5 (4), Balance +2 (2), Craft(Leatherworking) +2 (2), Handle Animal +7 (4), IntuitDirection +4 (4), Ride +4 (4), Wilderness Lore +4 (4). Feat:Mounted Combat, Dinosaur Presence.

Possessions: Knife, lasso, Colt .45 and 2d20 bullets,padded armor, bit and bridle, saddlebags, backpack,bedroll, blanket, clay jug, 3d10 pounds of animal feed, 2d4days of hardtack, cash $d10.

Mount: Depends on region, employer, and characterlevel, but in general (d%): 01-25 parasaurolophus, 26-50camptosaurus, 51-65 iguanodon, 66-75 pachy-cephalosaurus, 76-85 triceratops, 86-90 pteranodon, 91-97allosaurus, 98-100 T-rex.

Sheriff, War2: CR 1; HD 2d8+5; Init +1 (Dex); Spd 30ft.; AC 16 (+1 Dex, +5 flak jacket); Atk +3 ranged (1d10/critx3, automatic pistol), +3 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchesterrifle), +3 ranged (special, shotgun), +3 ranged (special,bronto gun), or +3 melee (1d4+1, knife); AL LG; SV Fort +4,Ref +1, Wil +0; Str 12, Dex 12, Con 12.

Skills: Climb +1 (2), Intimidate +6 (5), Jump +1 (2), Ride+4 (3). Feat: Toughness.

Possessions: Automatic pistol with 1d4+1 20-bullet car-tridges, Winchester rifle with 1d4 30-bullet cartridges, shot-gun with 3d10 shells, bronto gun with 2d4 shells, knife, flakjacket, binoculars, flashlight, medical kit, manacles, cash$5d6.

Sheriff’s Deputy, War1: CR 1/2; HD 1d8+3; Init +0;Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 studded leather armor); Atk +1 ranged(1d10/crit x3, Colt .45), +1 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchester

rifle), or +2 melee (1d4+1, knife); AL LG; SV Fort +2, Ref +0,Wil +0; Str 12.

Skills: Climb +1 (1), Intimidate +4 (4), Jump +2 (2), Ride(1). Feat: Toughness.

Possessions: Knife, Colt .45 with 4d10 bullets,Winchester rifle with 3d10 bullets, studded leather armor,flashlight, manacles, cash $2d6.

Shopkeeper, Com1: CR 1/2; HD 1d4; Init +0; Spd 30ft.; AC 10; Atk +0 ranged (1d10/crit x3, Colt .45); AL LN; SVFort +0, Ref +0, Wil +0.

Skills: Appraise +4 (4), Listen +2 (0), Profession(Merchant) +4 (4), Spot +2 (0). Feat: Alertness.

Possessions: Colt .45 with 1d6 bullets, pen, paper,ledger, coin purse, cash $2d10 mostly in small coins.

Soldier, Confederate Sol1: CR 1; HD 1d10+1; Init +0;Spd 30 ft.; AC 15 (+5 flak jacket); Atk +1 ranged (1d10/critx3, automatic pistol), +1 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Winchesterrifle), or +0 melee (1d4, knife); AL LN; SV Fort +3, Ref +0,Wil +0; Con 12.

Skills: Climb +0 (2), Intimidate +4 (4), Jump +0 (2),Knowledge (strategy and tactics) +4 (4), Listen +2 (2), UseTechnical Equipment +2 (2). Feat: Point Blank Shot.

Possessions: Knife, automatic pistol with 3d6 20-bulletcartridges, Winchester rifle with 3d6 20-bullet cartridges,flashlight, binoculars, compass, flak jacket.

Soldier, Union Sol1: CR 1; HD 1d10+1; Init +0; Spd 20ft.; AC 16 (+6 riot gear); Atk +1 ranged (1d10/crit x3, auto-matic pistol), +1 ranged (1d12/crit x3, Marionette), or +0melee (1d4, knife); AL LN; SV Fort +3, Ref +0, Wil +0; Con12.

Skills: Drive +2 (2), Intimidate +4 (4), Jump -2 (2),Knowledge (strategy and tactics) +4 (4), Listen +2 (2), UseTechnical Equipment +2 (2). Feat: Point Blank Shot.

Possessions: Knife, automatic pistol with 3d6 20-bulletcartridges, Marionette (a.k.a. Absentee Voter) with 3d6 20-bullet cartridges, flashlight, binoculars, compass, riot gear.

Wealthy Merchant, Exp2: CR 1; HD 2d6; Init +0; Spd30 ft.; AC 10; Atk +1 melee (1d4, knife); AL N; SV Fort +0,Ref +0, Wil +3; Cha 12, Int 12.

Skills: Appraise +6 (5), Bluff +6 (5), Diplomacy +6 (5),Gather Information +6 (5), Listen +5 (3), Profession(Merchant) +6 (5), Ride +2 (2), Sense Motive +6 (5), Spot+2 (0). Feat: Alertness.

Possessions: Knife, pen, paper, ledger, 1d4 odd trin-kets, coin purse, cash $10d10.

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Getting Around CretasusNot everybody on Cretasus has a pet triceratops to cart them

around town. Although livestock provide the most commonmeans of locomotion, there are still quite a few motorized vehi-cles in service. The Confederacy is constructing a railroadbetween New Savannah and Mount Crowe. Air transport, thoughrare for civilians, is not unheard of, and there are even a fewspaceships that have been adapted for atmospheric transport.

This section gives a brief overview of common modes oftransportation on Cretasus. It also provides basic rules for incor-porating vehicles into your campaign.

Common Mounts

As you might expect, most people on Cretasus travel bydinosaur. Within the confines of New Savannah and other civi-lized towns, you usually see only smaller dinosaurs; larger onesare common only on the outskirts of towns, or in frontier andwilderness areas. Several species of smaller herbivores can beeasily trained and safely handled by most civilians. These are usedas individual mounts, or as beasts of burden to haul carts, wagons,and stagecoaches. Monoclonius, styracosaurus, and bactrosaurusare sold by most stables and are used virtually everywhere.

Larger herbivores carry larger loads or haul heavier wagons.Miners use convoys of edmontosaurus, triceratops, vulcanodon,or even brachiosaurus to transport large loads of ore, as do manyfarmers moving huge quantities of grain. Convoys of such hugecreatures snake their way toward and from New Savannah inevery direction.

Theropods and other large carnivores are rarely used exceptby adventurers, soldiers, wilderness hunters, and hired hands whoprotect ranches and trade caravans. Most regular citizens areunderstandably nervous around an allosaurus or T-rex, even if therider claims it’s domesticated. Furthermore, theropods make her-bivorous mounts nervous, and at close quarters can even causethem to panic. As a result, large carnivores (and even most small-er ones) are banned from the city center of New Savannah andmany of the towns around it, although frontier areas are more tol-erant.

Another regular sight is imported horses. Horses have beencarried by the Confederacy to every planet it has visited; some tra-ditionalist ranchers on Cretasus still raise them. It is easy toacquire a horse in New Savannah, though they become scarcevery quickly as one enters the frontier. The problem with horseson Cretasus is that they spook easily around dinosaurs. This is aninstinctive response, and even those born on the planet are subjectto spooking.

Pteranadons and other pterosaurs are not in common use.

They are difficult to ride and they can’t carry much weight – onlya single human with very little baggage. Most domesticated pter-anadons are used by Dino Warrior scouts, by the few private mes-senger services, or by wild ones who travel light. The enormousquetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur almost twice the size of pteranodon, isconsidered by dino handlers to be a likely target for practical use,though no specimen has ever been domesticated. Quetzalcoatlusroost only at very high altitudes and have so far escaped humancaptivity.

Recent explorations of the Fur River have revealed its west-ern passage to Mammoth Valley. Prehistoric mammals are oftenfound in the Main Valley around the mouth and western edges ofthe river. Some reckless animal handlers have taken to trainingmammoths, mastodons, prehistoric horses, and other mammalscaptured there. Such mounts are extremely rare, but are seen moreoften as more travelers reach (and return from) the Fur River.

Spooking: Any herbivore within 100 ft. of carnivores ofequal or higher challenge rating becomes nervous. All Ride orHandle Animal checks have a penalty equal to the differencebetween challenge ratings. (This reflects that the animal is morewary of more dangerous creatures.) Within 25 ft., the herbivoremay actually panic. The rider or handler must make a HandleAnimal check (DC 14) or the herbivore will buck (requiring aRide check (DC 5) to stay in saddle) and try to run away.

Horses are particularly afraid of dinosaurs. The penaltiesabove apply for horses within 100 ft. or 25 ft. of any dinosaur. Ifthe dinosaur is a carnivore, an additional -2 penalty applies toRide and Handle Animal checks.

Getting Around

Many stagecoach services operate between New Savannahand the neighboring towns. Direct transportation usually costs$0.03 to $0.50 per mile, depending on traffic, road conditions, anddanger. For that price, you get your own seat inside the coach, andstorage space for a backpack or two. Skinflints can hitch rideswith non-commercial wagons for half or even a quarter of thatprice – but you may end up sitting on a sack of ore or a pile ofgrain, or even in a hammock slung under a dino’s belly. None ofthese is comfortable, and the last option is rather smelly.

Outside New Savannah, transportation is less regular. Travelalong the trails is possible by hitching a ride with a wagon train.However, many pioneers don’t actually ride in their wagons. Theywalk alongside to conserve their mounts’ energy. (Even a perfect-ly healthy mount can tire itself to the point of injury or even deathon such a long journey. Moreover, heavier loads increase the riskof injury.) “Hitching a ride” in that case may only mean walkingwith the pioneers. The pioneers may charge a fee and will cer-tainly require the characters to contribute to chores and commonexpenses. Well-armed characters may be able to negotiate theirprotection services as the fee for accompanying the caravan.

Transportation Speed

Table 4-8 summarizes tactical and overland speeds fordinosaur mounts. The overland speeds are for one hour periods,and are divided into mount speed and load speed. Mount speed isthe animal’s speed carrying nothing or only a single human as amount. (The pteranodon is an exception to this; it slows to loadspeed when carrying a human.) Load speed is the animal’s speedwhile pulling more weight, whether carried on its back or towedin a wagon. (This is simplified but serves as an easy reference –feel free to adapt the more complicated encumbrance rules if youwish.)

As you can see, dinosaur mounts move slowly. A heavy horsecan outpace most dinosaurs, and a light horse can beat most of therest. Dinosaur mounts are generally large, heavy-boned creatures.They support a lot of weight, but move slowly. There are severalspecies of so-called “ostrich dinosaurs” (such as coelophysis andelaphrosaurus) which are very swift runners but which are useless

as mounts because of their bird-boned structure – a lightweightskeleton that can’t support much weight. The dryosaurus of thenorthwestern plains will prove to be a very popular mount if it canbe successfully raised in New Savannah – but so far it is a rarityseen only in the hands of returning explorers.

Vehicle Rules

Like all other technologies on Cretasus, the vehicles in userange from ancient to ultra-tech. However, their use is dwindling.Because there are no vehicle manufacturing facilities on Cretasus,they cannot be replaced except through importation from offplan-et. Maintaining and fuelling a vehicle costs a lot more than adomesticated dinosaur that can be grazed on the plains for free.Nonetheless, some vehicles are still in use. Union colonists usethem on a regular basis, as well as many plains travelers. They aresomething of a status symbol in New Savannah, and are still quite

useful in and around the city.This section gives descriptions of several common

vehicle types, as well as an overview of basic vehiclerules. We won’t even attempt to go into detail on air orspace vehicles – they would fill a whole book. The pur-pose of the rules herein is to give you simple guidelinesfor dealing with the typical overland adventure. Futuresupplements will delve into greater detail.

The skills Drive and Pilot (as presented in theBroncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, pages 36 and 38-39)cover most driving situations. In most respects, theexisting d20 rules cover most tanks, cars, and walkersjust as well as they do wagons. There are only two areaswhere vehicle rules need special attention: movementand maneuverability, and resolving damage.

Movement and Maneuverability

A vehicle’s movement is governed by accelerationand handling ability.

The speed listed for a vehicle is its maximumspeedon a road. This speed is slowed by difficult terrain. Inaddition, getting to max speed requires acceleration.Acceleration takes place at the rate per round indicatedin the vehicle description. Deceleration is generallythree times as fast as acceleration. A vehicle carrying50% or more of its payload accelerates and deceleratesat half the normal rate.

Turns

Turning is a tad more complex. Each vehicle has aspecified “turn limit” statistic. For every 50 ft. of speed,the vehicle’s sharpest turning angle per round is equal to90° minus its turn limit. The minimum turning angle is

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Table 4-8: Movement Speed for Dinosaur Mounts

Mount Tactical Mount LoadSpeed Speed Speed

Albertosaurus 30 ft. 3 miles 2 milesAllosaurus 40 ft. 4 miles 2 1/2 milesBactrosaurus 30 ft. 3 miles 2 milesBrachiosaurus 80 ft. 8 miles 5 1/2 milesCamptosaurus 30 ft. 3 miles 2 milesCeratosaurus 30 ft. 3 miles 2 miles *Dryosaurus 70 ft. 7 miles 4 1/2 milesEdmontosaurus 50 ft. 5 miles 3 1/2 milesIguanodon 40 ft. 4 miles 2 1/2 milesMonoclonius 30 ft. 3 miles 2 milesPachycephalosaurus 40 ft. 4 miles 2 1/2 milesParasaurolophus 40 ft. 4 miles 2 1/2 milesPteranodon 50 ft. (fly) N/A** 3 1/2 milesQuetzalcoatlus 80 ft. (fly) 8 miles 5 1/2 milesStegosaurus 30 ft. 3 miles *** 2 milesStyracosaurus 20 ft. 2 miles 1 1/2 milesTherizinosaurus 20 ft. 2 miles 1 1/2 milesTriceratops 30 ft. 3 miles 2 milesTyrannosaurus rex 40 ft. 4 miles 2 1/2 miles *Vulcanodon 30 ft. 3 miles 2 miles

* Only when carrying a load on its back – even the best-trainedceratosaurus or T-rex would refuse to pull a wagon.

** A pteranodon can only carry 200 pounds. With such a lowcapacity, it slows to load speed when carrying even a singlehuman.

*** A stegosaurus cannot be ridden, of course – its plates leaveno room for a rider.

15°. A turn can be made at any point in the round’s movement.For example, imagine a lumbering truck with a turn limit of

15. At a speed of 100 ft., this vehicle’s maximum turn per roundis 60° (90° base turning angle, minus 30° – twice the turn limit of15). At 150 ft., this drops to 45° (50 ft. faster = 15° less), and at200 ft. it drops to 30°.

A character attempting a tighter turn than is normally possi-ble must make a Drive or Pilot check (DC 13). The DC increasesby 2 per increment of turn limit – i.e., if a 60° turn is safe and thevehicle has a turn limit of 10, the DC would be 13 for 70°; 15 for80°; and 17 for 90°. Failure indicates the vehicle goes out of con-trol.

Shooting While Driving

Attempting to shoot or attack while driving – whether with ahand-held weapon or a built-in weapon – requires a Drive check.The DC is 5 (drive with one hand) if the shooting is not duringfull-fledged combat (e.g., taking a pot shot at a passing pterosaur),but DC 14 if the shooting is in active battle (e.g., a T-rex is lung-ing for the car or a tank is firing at you). Failure means loss ofcontrol. Driving while being shot at or otherwise involved in com-bat requires a Drive check against DC 9 (as described in theBroncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, page 36). Otherwise, the pilotloses control.

Shooting At Vehicles

Some vehicles move very fast. Fast objects are hard to hit.The following attack penalties apply to any fast-moving object:

Going Out of Control

An out of control vehicle moves in a random direction eachround. Roll 1d8 on table 4-9 to determine the direction.

The angle of an out of control turn is always lessthan the vehicle’s maximum turn angle. It is equal to thevehicle’s current maximum turn radius (based on itsspeed and turn limit) minusd4 times its turn limit, witha minimum turn of 15°. For example, if a vehicle’s cur-rent max turn radius is 70°, and its turn radius is 10, aroll of 3 on 1d4 would indicate the vehicle turned 70° –(10° x 3) = 40°.

Collisions

A vehicle that cannot decelerate or turn in time may collidewith something. Collision damage is similar to falling damage inthat distance moved determines the amount of damage. However,the two big distinctions are the mass of the colliding objects, andthe speed of the collision.

Damage is inflicted based on the size and speed of the objectsinvolved, as referenced on table 4-10. Collisions of less than 15mph (tactical speed of 150 ft. or less) do not cause damage – it isassumed a fender prevents serious injury; at worse, a human hit bya vehicle at that speed gets a bad bruise. Additionally, this ruleprevents normal humans from inflicting collision damage merelyby running into one another!

In a collision with an immobile object (such as a jeep hittinga wall), determine damage on table 4-10 based on the size of themoving object. For example, if the jeep (a Large object) weremoving 500 ft. or 50 mph, it would take 6d6 points of damage.

In a collision between two mobile objects (such as a jeep run-ning over a human), each object takes damage according to theother object’s size. Use the speed of the fastest-moving object. Forexample, if the jeep were moving 50 mph and the human were sta-tionary, the human would take 6d6 points of damage, and the jeepwould take 4d6.

Note that a jeep running into a canyon wall takes less damagethan if it runs into a stationary T-rex (size Huge). The rationalebehind this is that the T-rex would be moving, and all that masswould wallop the jeep as a force vector opposite its own trajecto-ry. A wall, on the other hand, just absorbs the blow. In reality, thedamage should take into account the angle of impact, but that isbeyond the scope of these rules, which are intended to provideonly a simple, fast game mechanic.

If a vehicle is destroyed in the colli-sion, excess damage is applied evenly toeach occupant (e.g., if a vehicle has 12 hitpoints and takes 32 hp of damage, eachoccupant takes 20 hp of damage).Furthermore, even if the vehicle is notdestroyed, the occupants may take damage

from the jostle of the crash itself. Roll d%; on a result of 35 orless, apply that percentage of the vehicle damage to each occupant(e.g., if the crash causes 120 damage, a d% roll of 32 means eachoccupant takes 0.32 x 120 = 38 hp damage, whereas a d% roll of67 indicates the occupants take no damage).

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Condition PenaltyDefender moved greater than 250 ft. in previous round (25 mph) -1Defender moved greater than 500 ft. in previous round (50 mph) -2Defender moved greater than 1,000 ft. in previous round (100 mph) -4

Table 4-9: Out of Control Vehicles (d8)

Roll Result1-2 Turns left3 Goes straight ahead and accelerates (if possible)4-5 Goes straight ahead at current speed6 Goes straight ahead and decelerates maximum amount7-8 Turns right

Running Over Enemies (or Friends!)

Running over an enemy is a great way to kill them. Thesesorts of collisions are resolved with a Drive check versus anopposed Reflex save.

First, the driver must make a melee touch attack against thevictim, using his Drive skill bonus as the base attack bonus. Thehigher the roll, the more accurate his driving. Faster vehicles areharder to dodge, but they’re also much harder to aim accurately,so there are no modifiers for speed.

If the attack hits, the driver’s roll with all bonuses applied isthe DC for the victim’s Reflex save. If successful, the victimjumps out of the way at the last minute and takes no damage. Ifunsuccessful, the target takes full collision damage.

Damage

A vehicle has hit points, armor class, and hardness, like anyother object.

Unlike other objects, however, vehicles can be disabled longbefore they are destroyed. The conventional rules for damagingobjects do not consider complex mechanical systems that can bedisabled by puncturing one tiny hose. In game terms, a singlepoint of well-placed damage can immobilize a truck!

Thus, vehicle hit points represent not the amount of damagenecessary to physically destroy the vehicle, but the amount ofdamage necessary to disable its functional systems and prevent itfrom operating. It is important to note that a vehicle at zero hitpoints is not necessarily destroyed. It still provides cover for occu-pants, and can still be repaired. It just cannot move or otherwiseact as a vehicle.

Vehicles are divided into two classes: open or closed. Aclosed vehicle provides protection to its occupants. Open vehiclesprovide no protection, and the driver and passengers may be indi-vidually targeted. Note that a vehicle may be open for the driverand closed for passengers, or the reverse, depending on thedesign.

A closed vehicle’s hit points are depleted before any occu-

pants take damage, with the exception of crit-ical hits, collisions, and a few kinds ofweapons. Even when the vehicle is reduced to0 hp, it still provides some protection, asdetailed below. Of course, a passenger ordriver who can be seen through the closedvehicle (via a windshield, view slit, etc.) canbe targeted with the normal cover rules.

Certain weapons (such as psychic andgenetic weapons) can penetrate a closed vehi-cle’s hull and injure the occupants while thevehicle has full hp. These are an exception tothe usual rules.

Finally, note that vehicles are similar toconstructs under the core d20 rules. Although

they do suffer critical hits, they do not suffer damage from poisonand certain other sources. Use common sense to evaluate this.

Critical Hits

Unlike normal objects, vehicles are susceptible to criticalhits. Vehicles have critical components as well as weak spotswhere damage may pass through to the occupants.

It is possible for a vehicle to stop running while still at a sig-nificant number of hit points. A single lucky hit might puncture atire or cause a fuel leak. When a vehicle is reduced to 50% of itsstarting hit points, the driver must make a Drive check against DC8. If the check fails, the vehicle automatically takes a critical hit.At 25% of its starting hit points, the driver must make anothercheck against DC 12. This represents chance damage to tires,engines, and other components. A good driver can maneuver hisvehicle so the vulnerable parts face away from enemies.

When a weapon causes a critical hit, determine damage withthe usual multipliers for a crit. Half applies to the vehicle and theother half is applied to a single randomly determined occupant. Inaddition, roll d% on table 4-11, the Vehicle Critical Hits Table.

Attackers can target specific areas of a vehicle, if the targetsare visible. Tires are the most common specific target. Raise thetarget’s AC based on its size – for example, a tire is Tiny, which isa +2 AC bonus. Remember to remove penalties for the vehicle’soverall size – i.e., a Huge truck has a –2 size penalty to AC, so itstires would net out +4 above the truck’s body AC. A normal tirehas 10 hit points; the number of tires that must be destroyeddepends on the vehicle, but destroying enough (such as 1 for amotorcycle, or 5 for a 3-axled, 10-tired truck) can cause locomo-tion system damage or even destruction.

Destruction

When a vehicle’s hit points are reduced to 0, it ceases to func-tion. It cannot accelerate, its weapons are damaged and unusable,and it will decelerate at its maximum rate until stopped. It cannotbe steered and is out of control until it stops (use table 4-9 but do

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Table 4-10: Collisions

Speed Damage by Object’ s Size Tactical Overland Small Medium Large Huge160-200 ft. 16-20 mph 1d6 1d6 2d6 2d6201-300 ft. 21-30 mph 1d6 2d6 2d6 4d6301-400 ft. 31-40 mph 2d6 2d6 4d6 6d6401-500 ft. 41-50 mph 2d6 4d6 6d6 8d6501-600 ft. 51-60 mph 4d6 6d6 8d6 12d6601-700 ft. 61-70 mph 6d6 8d6 12d6 16d6701-800 ft. 71-80 mph 8d6 12d6 16d6 24d6801-900 ft. 81-90 mph 12d6 16d6 24d6 32d6901-1000 ft. 91-100 mph 16d6 24d6 32d6 48d6

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not allow for acceleration). It is now an inert hulk.But even an inert hulk might still have quite a bit of sub-

stance. All damage down to –20 hit points is split evenly betweena randomly determined occupant and the vehicle. (If the occu-pants disembark, the vehicle itself absorbs full damage.)Occupants in a vehicle that has 0 to –20 hit points can disembarksafely as a full round action.

A vehicle that reaches –21 hit points is a mangled mess thatprovides no cover to occupants. Anyone still in it is automaticallyhelpless. They can escape only if someone with a blowtorch orsaw cuts them out (which takes 1d6+6 rounds), or by passing anEscape Artist check (DC 18). (The character may repeat thischeck each round.)

If a vehicle reaches –40 hit points, it is liable to explode. Eachtime thereafter that it suffers damage, roll d% and deduct its hitpoints from the roll. On a result of 0 or less it blows. Anyone stillinside automatically takes 12d6 points of damage (no save). Allother creatures within 30 ft. take 6d6 points of damage, withReflex saves (DC 16) for half damage.

Damage may be repaired with the Repair Device skill. Lossof up to 20% of system hp counts as minor repairs; loss of up to60% counts as substantial; and loss of more than 60% counts asheavy damage. In addition to fixing the systems damage asexplained in the Repair Device skill, it takes additional time andmoney to restore the vehicle to full hit points. It costs $1d6 andtakes 1d6 minutes per hit point repaired. Note that hit points canbe restored only if the systemic damage is repaired with theRepair Device skill.

Fuel

One final consideration for vehicles is fuel. The vehicledescriptions indicate how many gallons of petrol each vehicle’stank holds, and how far they can go on that load. Most wildernesstravelers carry along a lot of additional fuel. But petrol is expen-sive – it goes for $3 to $5 a gallon in New Savannah and for asmuch as ten times that in the back country. And petrol purchasedin the back country could have who-knows-what mixed in –which could cause the vehicle to sub-perform or even breakdown...

Typical Vehicles

On the following page are profiles of eight typical vehicles.They have damage reduction values based on their armor and theexposure of their technical innards.

Motorcycle: A motorcycle has two wheels. Destroying one isenough to destroy the locomotion system. Some motorcycles havesidecars to hold larger weapons or a passenger.

Jeep:A jeep has four wheels and is designed for 4x4 wilder-ness transportation. Characters driving jeeps need only checkagainst DC 9 (not 11 as normal) to drive in the wilderness.

Halftrack: A halftrack has two wheels on its front and twotracks on its rear. It is designed for moving over difficult terrain.A halftrack can move on roads and trails in jungle, swamp, hills,and mountains as if they were highways.

Overlander: An overlander is a heavy truck. It has a largehood, a rumbling engine, and a ribbed canvas cover for the cargobed behind the cab.

Recon Walker: A recon walker is a basic walking vehicle.The cab stands on two legs about 10 feet from the ground butcrouches for the driver to enter and exit. It moves slowly but isexcellent at traversing difficult terrain.

Light Tank: This is a typical light tank. Each of its passen-gers acts as a gunner for one weapon.

Hover Car: Hover cars are uncommon on Cretasus, but themilitary and some well-to-do citizens do have them. They requirethe Pilot skill rather than the Drive skill.

Prop Plane: This is the typical small open-topped propellerplane used by ranchers to patrol their territories. They have anunfortunate tendency to attract the attention of pteranadons.

Buying a Mount

On page 94 is a list of prices for vehicles and trained mounts.The prices listed are New Savannah prices. Some dinosaurs arecheaper in their native terrain (as there is no need to pay transportcosts to New Savannah), while most manufactured goods aremuch cheaper in New Savannah than anywhere else. Therefore,the multiplier column indicates how much more or less expensiveeach item is outside of New Savannah. For example, “x2” indi-

Table 4-11: Vehicle Critical Hits Table (d%)

Roll Result01-15 Locomotion system (tires, wheels, jets, etc.)

destroyed: max speed reduced to 0; deceler-ate at max rate until stopped; Drive checkagainst DC 12 or lose control

16-25 Locomotion system damaged: accelerationand max speed are halved; Drive checkagainst DC 8 or lose control

26-35 Engine damage: engine cuts off; vehicledecelerates at max rate; Drive check againstDC 12 to restart engine

36-50 Fuel leak: lose 1/4 gallon of fuel each rounduntil repaired

51-75 Steering damage: turn limit doubled; DC todrive with one hand increased by +5

76-90 Brake damage: deceleration reduced to samerate as acceleration

91-100 Acceleration damage: acceleration rate halved

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cates the item may cost up to twice as much outside NewSavannah, although it could be only x1.5 or 1.75 depending onmarket fluctuations.

The availability column indicates the chance of finding thisitem for sale in and around New Savannah (N.S.) or in any givenfrontier settlement (Fron.). If an item is not available, you canmove on to the next town, or wait a month and make anothercheck in the same town.

Prices for a mount are determined from a variety of factors,including supply and demand, training difficulty, transportationcosts, availability (through ranchers or wild-caught?), opportuni-ty costs (why sell an iguanodon as a mount for less than you

would sell the meat?), and the mount’s speed, fighting ability, andcarrying capacity. Trained mounts aren’t always easy to come by,but untrained mounts are. Assume untrained mounts are availableat twice the frequency of trained mounts. Prices for untrainedmounts range from a quarter to half the price for a trained mount,depending on several factors: how hard it is to train; whether it isalso used as a source of food; and whether the seller raised it,caught it, or bought it off others for resale.

Vehicle prices are strictly a matter of supply and demand –the supply on Cretasus is limited, and demand is slowly dwindlingas trained dinosaurs become more prevalent.

Typical Vehicle Statistics

Motorcycle Jeep Halftrack OverlanderType: Open wheeled Open wheeled Closed tracked Closed wheeledSize: Medium Large Large LargeTech Level: 3 3 4 3Driver(s): 1 1 1 1Passengers: 0 or 1 3 7 15Payload: 450 lbs. 1,000 lbs. 4,000 lbs. 6,000 lbs.Damage Reduction: 0 5 10 5Hp: 8 48 72 64Speed (Max): 500’ 400’ 300’ 400’Acceleration: 250’ 90’ 60’ 60’Turn Limit: 5 10 10 15AC: 13 (+3 natural) 13 (-1 size, 15 (-1 size, 13 (-1 size,

+4 natural) +6 natural) +4 natural)Weapons: 1 medium 1 medium 1 large, 1 medium 1 large, 1 mediumFace: 5’ by 5’ 10’ by 10’ 10’ by 15’ 10’ by 15’Fuel Load: 5 gallons 10 gallons 20 gallons 30 gallonsMiles/gallon: 50 40 20 15Range: 250 miles 400 miles 400 miles 450 miles

Recon Walker Light Tank Hover Car Prop PlaneType: Closed walker Closed tracked Open atmospheric Open atmosphericSize: Large Huge Large LargeTech Level: 5 4 6 4Driver(s): 1 1 1 1Passengers: 0 3 3 1Payload: 400 lbs. 5,000 lbs. 1,000 lbs. 800 lbs.Damage Reduction: 5 20 5 5Hp: 36 156 48 36Speed (Max): 120’ 400’ 800’ 1600’Acceleration: 60’ 50’ 120’ 80’Turn Limit: 5 10 5 10AC: 13 (-1 size, 16 (-2 size, 11 (-1 size, 10 (-1 size,

+4 natural) +8 natural) +2 natural) +1 natural)Weapons: 1 medium 1 huge, 1 large 1 medium 1 mediumFace: 5’ by 5’ 15’ by 15’ 5’ by 10’ 10’ by 10’Fuel Load: 8 gallons 50 gallons 10 gallons 15 gallonsMiles/gallon: 30 10 10 20Range: 240 miles 500 miles 100 miles 300 miles

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Table 4-12: Vehicle and Trained Mount Costs and Availability

Mount or Vehicle Price Multiplier ____Availability____N.S. Fron.

Trained MountsAlbertosaurus $6,000 x1 5% 10%Allosaurus $8,000 x1 4% 8%Bactrosaurus $250 x2 75% 60%Brachiosaurus $19,000 x1 5% 5%Camptosaurus $900 x2 10% 5%Ceratosaurus $6,500 x3/4 3% 6%Dryosaurus $3,000 x3/4 1% 1%Edmontosaurus $2,500 x3/4 50% 60%Iguanodon $2,200 x3/4 5% 10%Monoclonius $400 x1 50% 50%Pachycephalosaurus $3,500 x2 15% 10%Parasaurolophus $900 x1 40% 40%Pteranodon $1,500 x3 7% 3%Quetzalcoatlus $5,000 x3 * *Stegosaurus ** $1,000 x2 60% 40%Styracosaurus $350 x1 50% 50%Therizinosaurus $850 x2 10% 5%Triceratops $2,000 x2 80% 60%Tyrannosaurus rex $17,000 x3 2% 1%Vulcanodon $1,700 x1 40% 30%

VehiclesMotorcycle $1,000 x2 50% 20%Jeep $2,800 x2 40% 15%Halftrack $8,000 x3 20% 5%Overlander $10,000 x3 30% 10%Recon Walker $5,000 x4 10% 1%Light Tank $50,000 x3 5% 1%Hover Car $30,000 x4 5% 1%Prop Plane $20,000 x3 20% 5%

* No trained mounts are available. But if characterswere to bring one back and train it, this is what theycould get for it.

** These are not used as mounts, obviously, but theycan haul goods.

Treasure Tables

These treasure tables allow you to customize treasure resultsfor Cretasus. Use the standard treasure tables first to determine thevalue of a treasure horde. Where the GM must depart from thestandard is in determining the coinage and objects which consti-tute that value.

Coinage and Currency

Standard coinage should be substituted as follows:Copper pieces: Heavy chunks of rock or earth containing

unprocessed ores (coal, aluminum, sulfur, tin, lead, or copper);byproducts (skulls, skins, etc.) from common dinosaurs; coinagefrom regional Confederate governments (actual coins, not paper).

Silver pieces: Nuggets of semi-valuable ores (iron, nickel, sil-ver); rare dinosaur byproducts; paper money (either Confederateor Union).

Gold or platinum pieces: Valuable metals (gold or platinum);paper money; gems; high-denomination bank notes.

There are many other currencies that can be spent on a newworld like Cretasus, including:

Alien currencies: Coins or paper from alien species. Some ofthe more common alien currencies may have recognized value onCretasus, whereas others may be considered worthless by terres-trial merchants and only have worth when dealing with wide-trav-eling merchants (such as the Free Fleet).

Regional Confederate currencies: Coins from localConfederate governments, including those on or off Cretasus. Thespending power of these notes drops off rapidly from their facevalue the more distant one gets from the issuing government.

Bank notes: Securities guaranteed by a bank’s reserves. Thebearer is entitled to exchange the bank note for its face value ingold bullion at the issuing bank. Bank notes are a good light-weight way to carry a lot of money. They are readily spent as cur-rency, but only in their initial denomination (usually in incrementsof $500). Unfortunately, their value rapidly drops to zero if theissuing bank has financial problems (or even if they’re rumoredtohave financial problems) – which may a great adventure hook forcharacters in possession of a lot of bank notes!

Railroad bonds: A security sold by a railroad to finance itsgrowth. Although still a rarity on Cretasus, this kind of currencyis growing in popularity since New Savannah began constructionon a railroad to Mount Crowe. The bonds are sold in incrementsof $50 and can be redeemed three years after their issuance datefor cash plus a small amount of interest (usually around 5% peryear). An investor with a large position in railroad bonds is eagerto make sure a railroad doesget built – otherwise his bonds willbe worthless!

Other bonds: Many companies on Cretasus have issuedbonds, including the Bay Side Company, timber companies,ranchers, and even explorers who promise valuable discoveries.

The value of these bonds always depends on the solvency of theirissuers. For example, an exploration in search of natural sugarcane fields might issue bonds to pay for their journey. The ownersof the bonds are entitled to partial land rights on any fields dis-covered; sugar processors might buy the bonds, hoping to reducethe price of their primary ingredient. When an exploration partyfalls out of contact and is not heard from for three months, theyare presumed dead and the value of their bonds falls to nearlyzero. That’s when a high-risk investor steps in, buys up the bondsfor pennies on the dollar, and hires the characters to find the sugarcane fields and bring the original explorers back alive. If they do,of course, the investor recoups a huge return on his investment –and has plenty of money to pay his brave troubleshooters.

IOU: In the cash-poor frontiers, local residents may tradehand-written IOUs for goods and services. The IOU itself can inturn be used as currency, provided the recipient recognizes who-ever wrote it. Eventually, the IOU is presented back to the issuerfor redemption in cash or barter, often by a party far removedfrom the original recipient. If issued by someone prominent, theIOU may be called a letter of credit. The only problem is that theIOU is only good as long as the issuer is known – you can’t spendit very far from where it was issued. IOUs are standard practice onthe frontier, and characters trying to sell goods in distant free-towns may have no alternative but to accept IOUs. This might cre-ate an adventure if the person who issued their IOUs is kidnappedor threatened – they’ll never get a pay-out if he’s killed!

Art Objects

Art objects may be of human, dinosaur, or alien origin. Onaverage, assume an equal chance of each, but modify this accord-ing to circumstances – in the unexplored back country, for exam-ple, most art objects will be of dinosaur origin.

You can determine the value of the art objects using the stan-dard tables, then come up with the appropriate type of object.Human art on Cretasus also incorporates dinosaur themes – forexample, a necklace with a gold-plated T-rex incisor, an ornateshield made from a baby triceratops skull plated in silver, and soon. Alien art objects may be completely indecipherable.Characters without Appraise or the appropriate Knowledge skillmay not realize they have value!

Most dinosaur art objects are primitive art; their value is notin their refinement, but in the frenzied fashionability whichdinosaur art has achieved in the art world. Dinosaur art includessculptures, bas-relief, statuettes, ornate pillars and architecturalelements, cave paintings, carved horns and skulls, primitive neck-laces, helmets, earrings and other pierce-jewelry, and imagesscratched into bowls, urns, or simple rock faces. Most of the finerart objects are fashioned by protoceratops or velociraptors, some-times utilizing the services of ornitholestes, but even the moreclumsy species will occasionally feel the urge to scratch an imageinto a rock face, which, no matter how primitive, is of great valueto art collectors and paleoanthropologists.

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Dinosaur art objects are also great adventure hooks. Youshould make up art objects that relate to whatever adventure thecharacters are on, or whatever adventure you want to steer themtoward. For example, here are six art objects that might be dis-covered in the search for the Great Library of Logos:

1. A stone tablet detailing T-rex genealogy for thousands ofyears. It ends five hundred years ago, when the library wasdestroyed. Such an authoritative history would be incredibly valu-able to any T-rex descended from those listed on the tablet. Thecharacters might be able to wring some treasure or favors from theright T-rexes. Of course, they will also need someone to translatethe Ceratopsian inscription into Tyrannosaurus...

2. A stone tablet describing the medicinal uses of the lepto-ceratops anatomy. See the leptoceratops description on page 115for the benefits of using leptoceratops parts in Heal checks.

3. A “Rosetta stone” inscribed with a protoceratops fablewritten in Ceratopsian and 1d4+2 other languages. One of the lan-guages is not a known language. A character can use the stone tolearn the other languages. The stone can also be sold toresearchers or collectors.

4. A map of the area that now contains New Savannah, withstrange symbols dotting the area along the shoreline and themountains. If the characters explore the areas, they will find thatthe symbols indicate areas rich in gold deposits. Some of themhave already been discovered, but some of which haven’t. Andwho knows what may be guarding those that haven’t yet beenfound...

5. A tablet with a diagram explaining the cataloguing systemand layout of the great library. This essentially serves as a map ofthe first level of the library.

6. Ancient protoceratops artifacts. These range from inscribedtablets to rough-hewn statuettes of local animals and long-goneheroes.

Items

There is no magic in Broncosaurus Rex. But there is ultra-tech. The creations of aliens and advanced machinists make valu-able rewards for characters.

Item rewards can be weapons, armor, exotic equipment, andalien devices. The following tables allow you to randomly gener-ate weapons and armor. Other item rewards should be determinedby the GM as appropriate to an adventure or setting.

Weapons

Special weapons come in three categories: heirloomweapons, which are well-constructed masterwork weapons pro-viding a simple +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls; customweapons, which are refined by machinists (and sometimes aliens)to exceptional quality, sometimes incorporating a special abilityof some sort; and alien weapons, some commonly known, but oth-ers rare or poorly understood.

Table 4-13: WeaponsMinor Medium Major Weapon Bonus01-50 01-05 Heirloom weapon51-70 06-10 +1 custom weapon71-85 11-20 +2 custom weapon

21-58 01-20 +3 custom weapon59-62 21-38 +4 custom weapon

39-49 +5 custom weapon63-68 50-63 Alien weapon

86-95 69-85 64-85 Custom weapon withspecial ability

96-100 86-100 86-100 Roll again twice

Table 4-14: Heirloom Weaponsd% Weapon01-20 Longsword21-40 Greatsword41-50 Dagger51-60 Longbow61-75 Winchester rifle76-100 Colt .45

Table 4-15: Custom Weaponsd% Weapon01-10 Absentee Voter11-12 Ammunition only*13-15 Bronto Gun16 Cryon Ray17-19 Flamer20-25 Gauntlet, Energy26-27 Howzer28-29 Laser Lance30-37 Laser Pistol38-41 Laser Rifle42-44 Laser Sniper Rifle45-53 Laser Sword54-56 Piledriver57-70 Pistol, automatic71-74 Plasma Sling75-76 Pulse Rifle77-78 Reactive Truncheon79-84 ROGUE Rifle85-87 Screamer Knife88-90 Screamer Rifle91-94 Trank Gun95-96 Whisper Gun97-99 Wide Beam Laser100 Roll on alien weapons table

* Roll again to determine the weapon that the ammunitionfits.

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Table 4-16: Alien Weaponsd% Weapon01-30 Annihilator31-45 Chimera Fiend46-60 Dust Gun61-80 Monofilament Blade81-90 Warp Render91-100 New alien weapon (see below)

Table 4-17: Special Abilities*d% Ability01-08 Armor piercing09-12 Defuser13-25 Duo26-29 Electric30-36 Explosion37-45 Extra penetration46-53 Flame54-65 Improved range66-73 Increased crit multiplier74-81 Increased threat range82-86 Lightweight87-91 Low-tech92-95 Plasma96-97 Rapid fire98-100 Trank

* Some special abilities may not apply to some weapons.Re-roll if the result doesn’t make sense.

Armor piercing: The weapon is extremely effective againstphysical armor. It ignores up to 3 points of armor bonus fromphysical armor. For example, a flak jacket (normally +5) wouldonly provide a +2 bonus against an armor piercing weapon.Padded armor (normally +1) would provide no bonus, but the userwould not suffer a penalty to his AC. In addition, armor piercingweapons bypass object hardness up to a hardness of 10; hardnessabove 10 works normally.

Defuser: The weapon is extremely effective against energyarmor. It ignores up to 3 points of armor bonus from energy armor.

Duo: The weapon has been combined with another weaponsuch that they can both be fired with the pull of a single trigger.Both weapons must be aimed at the same target. A single roll isused to determine whether both guns hit or miss. Roll again on thecustom weapons table to determine which other weapon isinvolved.

Electric: The weapon causes an electric shock. This adds 1d4points of damage on a successful hit, plus another 1d4 if the tar-get is wearing metal armor.

Explosion: The weapon causes an explosion upon impact.The explosion causes the same damage as the weapon. Its areaeffect has a 1d3 x10 feet radius.

Extra penetration: The weapon causes extra damage.Increase damage by one-half after including all modifiers.

Flame: The weapon causes fire damage. Targets must makea Reflex save (DC 15) or catch fire.

Improved range: The weapon’s range increment is multi-plied by 2.

Increased crit multiplier : Add 1d2 to the crit multiplier.Increased threat range: Subtract 1d2 from the weapon’s

threat range. For example, if the current threat range is 19-20 andyou roll 2, the new threat range would be 17-20.

Lightweight: The weapon’s weight is reduced by 50%.Low-tech: The weapon’s technology has been simplified. Its

tech level is 1d2 points lower than normal. (Does not apply toweapons of tech level 3 or lower.)

Plasma:The weapon uses plasma blasts. Targets must makea Reflex save (DC 15) or catch fire. In addition, the area within 5’of the point of impact is embroiled in a fireball which dissipatesin 1d3+6 rounds in still weather and 1d3+1 rounds in windyweather.

Rapid fire: The user may make an extra attack per turn withthe weapon. The attack is at the wielder’s highest base attackbonus, but each attack (the extra one and the normal one) suffersa –2 penalty. You must use the full attack action to use this specialability.

Trank: The weapon carries tranquilizer fluid and inflicts sub-dual damage as well as normal damage. Targets take 1d6 points ofsubdual damage in addition to normal damage. Moreover, theymust take a Fortitude save (DC 15). If the save fails, they take anadditional 1d6 points of subdual damage on the next round, andmust continue making saves each round thereafter until one ispassed.

New alien weapon:There is unlimited potential for intro-ducing powerful alien weapons into your Broncosaurus Rexcam-paigns. They were transported to Cretasus by the Free Fleet, off-world adventurers, or even the aliens themselves (perhaps thou-sands of years ago, perhaps quite recently), and were in use untilthe untimely demise of their owners.

You can create alien weapons as you deem appropriate, oryou can use the following method to randomly determine them.Future Broncosaurus Rexsupplements will have even more alienweapons.

Here are the steps to generate a new alien weapon:1. Roll 1d6 on the table on the next page to determine the tech

type and tech level. This also determines how you will determinedamage. (This method stops at tech level 16. To determine highertech levels, roll 1d8 or 1d10 and add 10 to the result.)

All weapons of tech level 12 and higher are modified touchweapons (only energy fields provide an armor bonus against mod-ified touch weapons). All weapons of tech level 16 and above aretouch weapons (even energy fields don’t give an armor bonus).

Roll Tech Type Tech Level1 Monofilament 112 Genetic 123 Antimatter 134 Disintegrator 145 Beam 156 Psychic 16

2. Determine damage by rolling d%according to the weapon’s tech level on thetable to the right. For weapons with a dieroll for damage, determine the crit modifierby rolling 1d3+1, and determine the threatrange by subtracting 1d4 from 21. Forweapons with a save against damage, theDC of the save is determined by adding 2d6-4 to the weapon’s tech level.

Mutation: The weapon causes a physi-cal mutation of some kind. Some weaponstarget specific organs (always mutating the

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d% by Tech Level Damage11 12 13 14 15 1601-20 3d1021-50 3d1251-70 4d1071-85 01-10 4d1286-90 11-20 01-15 4d20 subdual91-95 01-20 21-30 16-40 6d20 subdual96-97 21-40 31-40 01-20 41-50 5d1098 41-50 41-70 21-40 01-10 6d1099 51-60 71-80 41-60 11-25 4d20100 81-85 26-35 Death (Ref save negates)

61-85 Mutation (Fort save negates)86-100 61-100 Death (Fort save negates)

86-100 36-55 Blink56-100 51-70 Energy drain (-1 level) (Will

save negates)71-80 Ability drain (-1 Int) (Will save

negates)81-100 Death (Will save negates)

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arms or eyes, for example), while others are more general in theireffects. Regardless, the mutations are never pleasant and usuallyharmful. Each mutation causes a permanent loss of 1d4-1 pointsof Cha. In addition to changes in physical appearance, the muta-tion causes damage – roll 3d20 as if on tech level 11 to determinehow much.

Blink: The target blinks into the warp. The effect is just likethe warp render (see Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, page 61).

3. Determine range increment by rolling d% according to techlevel (see table below).

4. To determine the weapon’s weight, roll 1d20. On 1-10,record the result as the weapon’s weight in pounds. On 11-20,record the result and then roll 1d20 again. If the second roll is 1-10, the weight is the sum of the two rolls. If the second roll is 11-20, record the two rolls and repeat the process until you roll 1-10.

Armor

Armor and shield bonuses can be randomly determinedaccording to the standard rules. The type of armor or shield can bedetermined according to the tables that follow. Many of the stan-dard special abilities make sense in Broncosaurus Rex– fireresistance, energy resistance, and so on. If the resulting specialability does not make sense in your campaign, re-roll or pick.

There is a 10% chance that armor will not be built for a medi-um-size creature, but instead be designed for a mount. If so, it willbe designed for Large (01-50), Huge (51-90), or Gargantuan (91-100) creatures.

Table 4-18: Random Armor Typed% Armor Type01-07 Hermetic suit08-12 Padded13-20 Leather21-24 Studded leather25-27 Chain shirt28-40 Flak jacket41-55 Hide56-60 Chainmail61-65 Reflective armor66-68 Riot gear69-70 Vacuum suit71-74 Reactive armor76-78 Bomb suit79-85 Powered armor86 Bioceramic armor *87-89 Kinetic field90-92 Absorption field93 Vibrofield94 Allosaur hide95 Ceratosaur hide96-97 Croc hide98 Tyrannosaur hide99 Stegosaur hide100 Ankylosaur hide

* As given in the Scray creature description on page 119.Bioceramic armor discovered as treasure has a 75%chance of having been already fitted to its original wearer,and is thus useless to anyone else. A machinist might stillbuy fitted bioceramic armor to study its composition andsee if he can duplicate it; these suits are rare and even fit-ted ones can fetch $500 or more. If not fitted, it conformsto the shape of the first person to don it. Roll 1d6 for type:1-2 light, 3-4 medium, 5-6 heavy.

Table 4-19: Random Shield Typed% Shield Type01-50 Small steel51-65 Large steel66-80 Riot81-90 Energy91-100 Reinforced dinosaur skull

d% by Tech Level Range Increment11 12 13 14 15 1601-25 01-15 None (Melee)26-40 16-30 01-20 01-20 Grenade – 10 ft./20 ft.41-55 31-45 21-50 21-40 Grenade – 10 ft./40 ft.56-80 46-47 51-65 41-50 10 ft.81-95 48-59 66-75 51-70 25 ft.96-100 50-53 76-95 71-90 50 ft.

54-60 96-100 91-95 01-25 01-10 100 ft.61-85 96-98 26-50 11-25 250 ft.86-98 99-100 51-85 26-50 400 ft.99-100 86-95 51-75 1 mile

96-100 76-100 None – limited onlyby sight range

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Encounter Tables

The following tables allow you to create random encounters by challenge rating and terrain. For encounters in ruins, caves, or otherunderground areas, use the column corresponding to the terrain that surrounds the encounter area (because creatures from the sur-rounding terrain will seek shelter there). You can then use the standard CR rules to determine the number of creatures encountered.

These encounter tables lump CRs in increments of two. That should work for most encounters – just remember to increase thenumber of creatures if the CR is below the party’s level, and decrease the number of creatures if above the party’s level.

Table 4-20: Encounters of CR 1/10 through 1CR Creature d% by Terrain

Forest Plains Riverine/ Hills/ Desert AquaticSwamp Mountain (Any)

1/10 Toad 01-02 01-041/8 Mon. Centipede, Tiny 03-04 01 01-04 01-091/8 Trilobite, Common 05-14 01-151/6 Lizard 05-07 02-03 15-17 05-06 10-121/6 Small Game, Tiny 08-12 04-09 18-25 07-11 13-20 16-251/4 Cheirolepis 26-351/4 Mon. Centipede, Small 13-14 10-11 12-13 21-251/4 Mon. Scorpion., Tiny 15 12 14-15 26-301/4 Mon. Spider, Tiny 16 13 16-17 31-331/3 Giant Beetle, Fire 17-18 14-15 18-19 34-351/3 Small Game, Small 19-26 16-23 26-35 20-25 36-40 36-451/3 Snake, Tiny Viper 27 24 36-40 26-29 41-43 46-501/2 Claim Jumper (NPC) 30-331/2 Compsognathus 28-31 25-28 41-50 34-451/2 Giant Bee 32-33 29-30 46-47 441/2 Mon. Centipede, Med. 34-35 31-32 48-49 45-491/2 Mon. Scorpion, Small 36-38 33-35 50-51 50-541/2 Mon. Spider, Small 39-40 36-37 52-53 55-601/2 Pterodactylus 38-43 54-651/2 Snake, Small Viper 41-42 44-45 51-55 66-67 61-65 51-551/2 Tanystropheus 43-471 Dino Rustler (NPC) 48-49 46-49 68-691 Dryosaurus 50-541 Edaphosaurus 50-57 56-651 Eurypterid 56-651 Giant Ant, Worker 58-60 55-56 70-71 66-671 Mon. Centipede, Large 61-63 57-58 72-73 68-721 Mon. Scorpion, Med. 64-65 59-60 74-75 73-771 Mon. Spider, Med. 66-67 61-62 76-77 78-801 Octopus 66-751 Ornitholestes 68-77 63-72 66-70 78-831 Outlaws/Bandits (NPCs) 78-80 73-75 71-73 84-90 81-84 76-801 Oviraptor 81-86 76-85 85-901 Protosuchus 87-95 86-92 74-80 91-95 91-921 Shark, Medium 81-851 Snake, Medium Viper 96-97 93-95 81-83 96-97 93-96 86-881 Soldier (NPC) 98-99 96-99 84-86 98-99 97-991 Squid 89-951 Stenonychosaurus 100 100 87 100 1001 Trilobite, Giant 88-100 96-100

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Table 4-21: Encounters of CR 2 and 3CR Creature d% by Terrain

Forest Plains Riverine/ Hills/ Desert AquaticSwamp Mountain (Any)

2 Bactrosaurus 01-102 Camptosaurus 01-05 11-202 Crocodile 21-30 01-202 Dimetrodon 06-12 31-402 Dunkleosteus 21-402 Giant Ant, Soldier 13-17 01-10 01-10 01-152 Giant Ant, Queen 18-19 11-13 11-13 16-192 Giant Beetle, Bombardier 20-25 14-18 14-18 20-252 Giant Dragonfly 41-602 Giant Lizard 26-35 19-28 61-65 19-28 26-352 Giant Praying Mantis 36-402 Leptoceratops 29-38 36-452 Mon. Centipede, Huge 41-45 29-34 39-44 46-502 Mon. Scorpion, Large 46-50 35-39 45-49 51-552 Mon. Spider, Large 51-55 40-44 50-54 56-602 Plesiosaurus 41-702 Protoceratops 56-65 45-56 66-70 55-70 61-792 Scray 66-67 57-58 71-72 71-72 81-852 Shark, Large 71-902 Snake, Constrictor 68-71 73-82 91-952 Snake, Large Viper 72-73 86-95 96-983 Giant Wasp 74-75 59-62 73-75 96-983 Parasaurolophus 83-873 Snake, Huge Viper 76 71-74 88-90 76-77 99-100 99-1003 Stegoceras 77-79 75-853 Velociraptor 89-100 86-100 91-100 90-100

Table 4-22: Encounters of CR 4 and 5CR Creature d% by Terrain

Forest Plains Riverine/ Hills/ Desert AquaticSwamp Mountain (Any)

4 Giant Beetle, Stag 01-054 Giant Crocodile 01-20 01-304 Monoclonius 01-204 Mon. Spider, Huge 06-10 21-35 01-15 01-1004 Pteranodon 36-50 16-454 Shark, Huge 31-603 Styracosaurus 11-30 46-755 Edmontosaurus 21-505 Elasmosaurus 61-905 Iguanodon 31-60 51-855 Pachycephalosaurus 61-75 51-705 Quetzalcoatlus 71-80 76-855 Snake, Giant Constrictor 76-85 86-100 91-1005 Therizinosaurus 86-100 81-100 86-100

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Table 4-23: Encounters of CR 6 and 7CR Creature d% by Terrain

Forest Plains Riverine/ Hills/ Desert AquaticSwamp Mountain (Any)

6 Ceratosaurus 01-05 01-13 01-10 01-206 Deinosuchus 06-15 04-09 11-356 Megaraptor 16-25 10-16 36-45 21-356 Mon. Centipede, Garg. 26-30 17-18 36-45 01-206 Mon. Scorpion, Huge 31-40 19-20 46-55 21-506 Vulcanodon 41-507 Albertosaurus 51-60 21-357 Allosaurus 61-70 36-45 46-60 56-657 Ankylosaurus 46-60 61-70 51-857 Mon. Spider, Gargantuan 71-80 61-65 66-70 86-1007 Spinosaurus 71-1007 Stegosaurus 81-90 66-75 71-857 Triceratops 91-100 76-100 86-100

Table 4-24: Encounters of CR 8 and 9CR Creature d% by Terrain

Forest Plains Riverine/ Hills/ Desert AquaticSwamp Mountain (Any)

8 Kronosaurus 01-608 Mon. Centipede, Col. 01-35 01-25 01-25 01-408 Octopus, Giant 61-858 Tyrannosaurus 36-85 26-75 01-100 26-759 Mon. Scorpion, Garg. 86-100 76-100 76-100 41-1009 Squid, Giant 86-100

Table 4-25: Encounters of CR 10 and 11CR Creature d% by Terrain

Forest Plains Riverine/ Hills/ Desert AquaticSwamp Mountain (Any)

10 Mon. Spider, Colossal 01-25 01-30 01-20 01-4011 Brachiosaurus 26-75 31-70 21-7011 Mon. Scorpion, Colossal 76-100 71-100 76-100 41-100

In addition to the random encounter tables such as those above, there are tables for encountersthat are specific to certain areas of Cretasus. These encounters need not be creatures – on trails, forexample, they could be simple travel hazards. Here are two tables to generate encounters relatingto travel along the Tecumseh or Bay Trails, and the lost library of Logos. The Logos encounters aremore detailed and can be fleshed out into mini-adventures. You can create similar tables for otherareas that your characters will frequent.

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Table 4-26: Trail Encountersd% Result01-05 Steep rocky hill. Going around takes two full days. Wagons hauled uphill may break loose (5% chance) or flip

over (5% chance).06-10 Steep downhill slope. Going around takes three full days. Wagons must be carefully skidded downhill, but there

is a chance they may go out of control (10%).11-15 River or stream which must be crossed. If the party camps overnight before crossing, there is a 15% chance

that a nighttime thunderstorm will raise the water level to impassable levels for 2d6 days.16-20 Marauding dinosaurs (determine randomly).21-25 2d4 outlaws on horses.26-27 1d4 outlaws on triceratops.28-35 1d6 graves alongside the trail. Disturbing them yields $1d6 in salable goods (boots, belt buckles, hats, etc.).36-37 1d6+3 graves clustered in one spot alongside the trail. Characters who examine them closely must make a Fort.

save against DC 7 or contract a disease (incubation 1d4 days, damage 1d4 Con).38-50 Unusual rock formations, which are interesting to look at but impede movement (reduce speed by half).51-60 Deep wagon ruts filled with mud. Movement speeds reduced by half.61-65 A crying child, whose caravan accidentally left her behind.66-75 A natural spring – an oasis of sorts. Food and water are plentiful.76-85 Various belongings dumped by earlier pioneers to lighten their load: a chest of clothes, kitchen table, anvil,

stove, window glass, bureau, etc.86-90 A dry riverbed.91-100 Natural springs; use d%: with (01-15) geysers, (16-30) high salt content, (31-50) natural carbonation, (51-85)

pure, delicious water, (86-95) slight intoxicating effect, (96-100) harmful bacteria (Fort save DC 12 vs. disease;incubation 3d6 days; damage 1d3 Str).

Table 4-27: Encounters in the Search for Logosd6 Result1 The characters discover a small boat wrecked on the shores of the Danjow. The crew has been killed and

scalped. It is the work of an adolescent zulep who needs just one more scalp to complete his coming-of-age ritu-al. He returned to his tribe to tell them about the boat he has captured.

2 As they are traveling along the Danjow, the characters hear a human cry for help. After a difficult search, theyfind the person at the bottom of a pit, less than four feet square and more than thirty feet deep. The pit is at thecrest of a bluff along the river. It leads into a section of the library which broke loose in the great flood and nowmakes a medium-sized cave. The person is an explorer in search of the great library; he climbed down but hisrope broke and now he can’t make his way back up.

3 A section of the library tunnels that broke loose during the great flood has washed up on the shore of theDanjow. A zulep band has moved in, using it as shelter. This enrages some protoceratops who live nearby, sothey are preparing a raid to chase out the zuleps and reclaim the library section for their study.

4 Logos was well known for the series of grand gates that guarded its entrance. While the opening on the firstgate was enormous, the aperture on each successive gate grew progressively smaller until the final gate was awall forty feet tall with a door less than four feet high. The gates provided protection from large theropods, and asystem for trapping predators foolish enough to pursue their prey to the city’s edge. Now one of the gates –nearly intact – is discovered being used as a wall in a settler’s barn. He found it in the Danjow, hauled it to hisplot of land, and is only interested in its practical uses. It is covered in Ceratopsian script. Despite its value, hewon’t sell it for any price unless the buyer also helps him build a new barn.

5 The characters encounter a tribe of ornitholestes carrying ancient gold-leafed tablets inscribed in Ceratopsian.The ornitholestes decorate their nesting areas with the sparkly, pretty tablets. They won’t divulge where theyfound them, but if the characters observe them for several days they will find that the ornitholestes frequent anunremarkable group of caves along the Danjow.

6 A well-known protoceratops explorer sent news back to his relatives that he had found a stone tablet with a mapto Logos. He was on his way home when he was eaten by a ceratosaurus known to the local protoceratops.They now want to kill and gut the ceratosaurus in the hope that it ate but cannot digest the tablet.

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Coloration

Each dinosaur species has a characteristic coloration, but thecolors of individuals vary depending on local conditions. Somewide-ranging dinosaurs have evolved different skin colors andpatterns for camouflage in the regions they inhabit. Others havebright colors to frighten off competitors. Genetic anomalies mayproduce unusual coloration unrelated to the environment.

Giving your dinosaurs unusual skin tones can add adventure tothe game. Big game hunters may want to capture a specimen of theelusive tiger-striped tyrannosauruses of the northwestern plains.Characters about to face a dinosaur in combat may be thrown off bythe bright red spots on its skin – is it diseased? is it a mutant withunusual abilities? or is it simply an unusual but natural marking?

The following tables summarize standard color schemes fordinosaurs, and provide a random generation method for producingvariants. (Start with table 5-1, which is on the following page...layout of tables is harder than you might think!) The variants aredivided into habitat-based color schemes and unusual colorschemes. Habitat-based schemes usually evolve to suit a particu-lar environment; they are rarely found outside that environment.Aquatic dinosaurs have no habitat-based variants listed becausetheir habitat is always the water (although you could allow foralbino deep-sea inhabitants).

You can pick from this table if characters are in the appropri-ate region. Unusual color schemes can evolve from cross-breed-ing or from intimidation advantages, or by random genetic muta-tion. For unusual schemes, roll once on table 5-3 to determine thecolors, then roll on table 5-4 to determine the pattern.

Table 5-2: Habitat-Based Color Schemesd% Color Scheme01-10 Desert: Brown and tan11-20 Desert: Black and brown21-25 Forest: Green and black26-30 Forest: Dark green and light green31-40 Forest: Gray and green41-45 Plains: Black and tan46-50 Plains: Green and tan51-60 Plains: Green and brown61-70 Hills/mountains: Black and brown71-80 Hills/mountains: Gray, green, and black81-90 Marsh/river: Gray and blue91-95 Marsh/river: Gray and dark green96-97 Nocturnal: Gray and black98-100 Nocturnal: Dark gray and navy

Table 5-3: Unusual Colorsd% Colors01-03 Albino04-05 Black (melanistic)06-10 Black and blue01-15 Black and red16-20 Red and blue21-25 Red and yellow26-30 Yellow and blue31-40 White and red41-50 Black and white51-55 Black and yellow56-60 Green and red61-65 Orange and white66-70 Blue and white71-75 Purple and orange76-100 Roll again twice and combine the colors

Table 5-4: Unusual Patternsd% Pattern01-10 Tiger stripes11-20 Zebra stripes21-30 Polka dots31-40 Leopard spots41-50 Giraffe spots51-60 Alternating bands61-70 Random smudges71-80 Camouflage pattern81-90 Long dorsal stripes (parallel to the spine)91-100 Different-sized splotches

Subspecies and Mutations

Cretasus is a large planet, and its parallel evolution with Earthremains a mystery. Unlike on Earth, however, the evolution ofdinosaurs continues on Cretasus. There are dinosaur subspecieswith special abilities, and some unusual mutations whose origins(natural or artificial) are unknown.

Many zoologists, biologists, paleoanthropologists, and explor-ers are interested in tracking down subspecies for their own uses –research, taxidermy, or trophies. Some safari hunters want to bag arare creature. A few machinists with an interest in genetic researchwant to trace the origins of the dinosaurs or duplicate unusual abil-ities. Finding and capturing subspecies can be a profitable vocation.

It can also be dangerous. Subspecies and mutations can be a

Chapter V: Creature Statistics

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way to throw your characters for a loop. Just when they think it’syet another stegosaurus...

These unusual specimens never associate with normal ani-mals of their kind. If the creature is geographically isolated fromthe rest of its kind, call it a subspecies. It is possible to encounterentire herds of subspecies dinosaurs. If the animal is not isolated,however, it is a mutation of some sort, and no more than one fam-ily will ever be encountered.

Table 5-5 provides a guide for randomly determining sub-species and mutations. Roll again if you get a result that is redun-dant or doesn’t make sense (like a kronosaurus that can breatheunderwater or a sneaky brachiosaurus).

Avoid the temptation to overpopulate your world with anom-alies. No more than 1 out every 1,000 creatures will be a subspeciesor mutation – and even then, the mutation may be insignificant.

Side note: One of the more interesting evolutionary routes is

Table 5-1: Color Schemes and Chance of VariantCreature Common Colors % Chance of Variant

Habitat Unusual NoneAlbertosaurus Red 01-03 04-06 07-100Allosaurus Yellow, red, blue 01-05 06-10 11-100Ankylosaurus Yellow, brown 01-05 06-07 08-100Bactrosaurus Gray, green 01 02-04 05-100Brachiosaurus Brown, gray, olive 01 02-03 04-100Camptosaurus Green, gray 01-06 07-12 13-100Ceratosaurus Olive, brown 01-02 03-05 06-100Compsognathus Blue-gray 01 02 03-100Deinosuchus Dark green 01-02 03-05 06-100Dimetrodon Red, blue 01-03 06-15 16-100Dryosaurus Pale green, tan 01 02-03 04-100Edaphosaurus Brown, green 01-03 06-15 16-100Edmonotosaurus Gray, green, brown 01 02-04 05-100Elasmosaurus Brown w/ gray spots N/A 01-03 04-100Iguanodon Green, gray 01-06 07-12 13-100Kronosaurus Brown w/ tan stripes N/A 01 02-100Leptoceratops Brown, tan 01 02 03-100Monoclonius Tan, green 01 02-03 04-100Ornitholestes Pale red 01-05 06-10 11-100Oviraptor Black, gray, white 01-05 06-10 11-100Pachycephalosaurus Brown, gray 01-02 03-04 05-100Parasaurolophus Gray, brown 01 02-04 05-100Plesiosaurus Grayish-red N/A 01-05 06-100Protoceratops Green, brown, blue 01-10 11-20 21-100Protosuchus Brown, tan, dark gray 01-05 06-08 09-100Pteranodon Gray 01 02 03-100Pterodactylus Gray 01 02 03-100Quetzalcoatlus Gray 01 02 03-100Spinosaurus Dark gray, black 01 02-10 11-100Stegoceras Brown, gray 01-02 03-04 05-100Stegosaurus Brown, blue, gray 01-05 06-15 16-100Stenonychosaurus Pale gray-blue 01 02 03-100Styracosaurus Green, olive 01 02-03 04-100Tanystropheus Green, olive 01-03 04-06 07-100Therizinosaurus Green, brown 01-02 03-05 06-100Triceratops Brown, olive, black 01-10 11-25 26-100Tyrannosaurus Rex Brown, olive, black 01-15 16-30 31-100Velociraptor Brown, black, green 01-15 16-30 31-100Vulcanodon Red and yellow 01-05 06-10 11-100

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that followed by the cetaceans. The modern cetaceans are knownas whales... but their ancestors were land-dwellers. This meansthey evolved from primitive sea-dwelling amphibious mammalsto land-dwelling ungulates, then back to the sea as the whales weknow. If you really want to throw a monkey-wrench into yourcampaign, the cetaceans provide empirical precedent for an evo-lutionary process that could result in plesiosauruses with legs orallosauruses with fins...

A Note on Stats

As noted in the Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, we treatdinosaurs as type animal, not beast as in the core d20 rules.Nevertheless, we have given our dinosaurs the hit dice of beasts(d10), not animals (d8), to conform to previously published d20stats for dinosaurs. A T-rex on Cretasus shouldn’t be any less

tough than a T-rex in another d20 game just because one is an ani-mal and the other is a beast!

You may notice one other inconsistency in our stat blocks: wedo not always apply Str bonuses evenly across all of an animal’sattacks. Str bonuses are applied based on how the creature’s mus-cular system works. Many large herbivores are have strong legsand bodies, but their jaws are quite weak. In game terms, the crea-ture’s Str bonus should not apply to its bite. Or, for a more dra-matic example, consider the T-rex. The muscles in a T-rex’s jawand neck are much more powerful than the muscles in its arms.Some paleontologists conjecture that T-rex’s arms could only lift50 pounds! The legendary crushing power of the T-rex’s jawsmakes it obvious that there are two Str stats at work here: one forthe jaws, and one for the arms. This “relevant muscular group”approach to Str bonuses is why some Broncosaurus Rexdinosaursdo not have Str bonuses applied evenly to all of their attacks.

Table 5-5: Subspecies and Mutationsd% Mutation Effect01-02 Fur or feathers Extremely rare specimen on cusp of major physi-

ological evolution – of great value to biologists03-10 Unusual color Roll on tables 5-3 and 5-411-15 Short legs Speed half normal16-20 Long legs Speed twice normal21-30 Long neck or tail Double range of bite or tail attack31-35 Poisoned bite Injury causes poison – DC 1d10+10, initial and

secondary damage of 1d3 to (roll 1d4) Dex (1),Str, (2), Con (3), or Int (4)

36-40 Spits poison Range 1d6 x 10 feet – poisoned touch attack –determine type as above

41-45 High intelligence +2d4 Int46-50 Opposable thumbs/claws Depending on Int, may have advanced tools and

weapons51-55 Very strong +2d4 Str; this increases attack bonus and dam-

age56-65 Very fast Increase speed by 50%, +1d4 Dex66-70 Chameleon Can change color to suit environment: one-half

concealment at all times (20% miss chance) dueto ability to blend in to background, +15 to Hidechecks

71-75 Breathe underwater Can breathe underwater indefinitely76-80 Swim/walk Swimming (walking) speed equal to normal speed81-85 Good eyesight +6 to Spot checks86-90 Good hearing +6 to Listen checks91-95 Canny +6 to Bluff checks96-100 Sneaky +6 to Hide and Move Silently checks

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ALBERTOSAURUS (“PACKMOUTHS”)

AlbertosaurusHuge Animal

Hit Dice: 14d10+42 (119 hp)Initiative: +2 (Dex)Speed: 30 ft.AC: 14 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +4 natural)Attacks: Bite +15 melee, kick +6 meleeDamage: Bite 3d8+9, kick 1d6+3Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./15 ft. bite, 10 ft. kickSpecial Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +12, Ref +11, Will +8Abilities: Str 24, Dex 14, Con 17,

Int 7, Wis 18, Cha 10Skills: Listen +8, Spot +8, Wilderness Lore +5

Climate/Terrain: Warm forest, plainsOrganization: Pack (7-12 adults and 1-6 young)Challenge Rating: 7Treasure: StandardAlignment: Usually neutralAdvancement: 15-21 HD (Huge)

Albertosauruses are highly social carnosaurs, slightly smallerthan allosaurus. They reach 30 feet in length. Unlike allosauruses,ceratosauruses, and tyrannosauruses, they are pack animals, andas many as a dozen will hunt together. A keen observer will quick-ly distinguish an albertosaurus from other theropods by the way itmoves: it is quite agile and light on its feet for a creature its size.

SOCIETYAlbertosaurus live in packs of up to a dozen adults. During

mating season, the pack may have as many as half that number ofadditional young. Albertosaurus packs are ruled by the largest ani-mal, who may be male or female, as both genders grow to similarproportions.

Albertosaurus packs spend their time much as lions do.Almost all of their day is spent lounging in the shade. When anopportunity presents itself, they will rise groggily, shake them-selves awake, and stalk a potential meal. Albertosaurus packs arenot against attacking large herds of herbivores, which they will tryto splinter into smaller groups that can be safely attacked.

All large theropods compete for hunting grounds. Because oftheir pack nature, albertosaurus are a particular threat to theircompetitors. Although an allosaurus or tyrannosaurus would eas-ily win a one-on-one fight, they are almost always outnumberedbecause albertosaurus travel in packs. Enemies of albertosaurusesfocus on ambushes and hit-and-run tactics when fighting them.They also make a concerted effort to kill albertosaurus youthwhenever they get the chance.

Albertosauruses speak their own language, Albertosaur,which has no dialects.

COMBATAlbertosauruses are enthusiastic hunters. They enjoy stalk-

ing, chasing, and fighting prey. They attack with their jaws. When

Statistics For Dinosaurs And Other Creatures

fighting at close range, theyalso employ short, powerfulstrikes with their well-clawed hind legs. They arethe only large theropods toemploy kick attacks.

BYPRODUCTSRanchers hate alber-

tosauruses. Because of theirpack habits, they can domore damage in a shortertime than any other largetheropod. Many ranchersoffer a standing bounty forany albertosaurus killed ontheir land.

Albertosaurus skins canbe used to make one suit ofhuman-sized masterworkhide armor, and their clawsand teeth can be used tomake daggers. An intact hidecan be sold for $400. A fullset of claws and teeth can besold for $200.

Albertosauruses are noeasier to train than mostother large theropods, so their eggs are not in especially highdemand. The Dino Warriors will occasionally purchase them,though they prefer allosaurus and T-rex eggs. A single alber-tosaurus egg can fetch $200.

TRAININGYoung albertosaurus can be trained as mounts at DC 27,

while adults can be trained at DC 34. An adult albertosaurus cancarry 2,000 pounds.

There are many kinds of ceratopsians on Cretasus, withtriceratops being the best known. But several smaller varietiesalso inhabit the planet, and their small size makes them preferredfor many domestic uses. All share the same basic build, similar toa triceratops, with the arrangement of their horns being theirdefining characteristic.

Styracosaurus has a crown of horns emerging from its neckcrest. Unlike the horns of a triceratops, these horns point to theside, not the front. Three long horns protrude from each side of thecrest, as well as many smaller horns along the crest’s edge and ashorter spike on the creature’s nose.

Monoclonius has only a single horn coming from its snout,but it is long and deadly.

Styracosaurus can grow as long as 18 feet, but most speci-mens are shorter. Monoclonius is slightly larger, with some knownto have reached 20 feet. These lengths include their tails and theirrather long skulls; their bodies are only about half as long.

SOCIETYThese ceratopsians share similar societal traits. Like tricer-

atops, they wander in herds without fixed leaders. Males competefor mating rights in non-lethal contests, but are otherwise notcombative. The various herds ignore each other except in cases ofterritorial infringement.

Styracosaurus and monoclonius follow migration patterns,much like triceratops. They travel the same circuit year after year.

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CERATOPSIANS (“HORN LIZARDS,” “BRONCOS”)

Styracosaurus (“Thrasher”) Monoclonius (“Longhorn”)Large Animal Large Animal

Hit Dice: 6d10+30 (63 hp) 6d10+30 (63 hp)Initiative: -1 (Dex) -1 (Dex)Speed: 20 ft. 30 ft.AC: 14 front (-1 size, -1 Dex, +6 natural), 14 front (-1 size, -1 Dex, +6

natural),10 sides (-1 size, -1 Dex, +2 natural) 10 sides (-1 size, -1 Dex, +2

natural)Attacks: 3 gores +7 melee Gore +7 meleeDamage: Gore 1d4+4 Gore 1d10+4Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft. 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: None Charge for double damageSpecial Qualities: Scent ScentSaves: Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +3 Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +3Abilities: Str 18, Dex 9, Con 20, Str 19, Dex 9, Con 21,

Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 6 Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 6Skills: Listen +2, Spot +2 Listen +2, Spot +2

Climate/Terrain: Warm forest and hills Warm plainsOrganization: Pair or herd (9-16) Herd (21-40)Challenge Rating: 4 4Treasure: None NoneAlignment: Always neutral Always neutralAdvancement: 7-9 HD (Large) 7-9 HD (Large)

COMBATCeratopsians are herbivores. They don’t attack unless threat-

ened. Predators are obviously a threat, as are any creatures thatcan endanger their nesting grounds. Since the arrival of man, cer-atopsians have learned to fear humans, who hunt them and ropethem. Most herds will go on alert at the sight of a human.

The AC of a ceratopsian depends on the angle of attack. Anyattack coming from the forward 90° arc hits the neck crest, whichhas a much higher AC than the creature’s fleshy sides.

If forced to fight, all ceratopsians fight with their horns.Styracosaurus is the least graceful– its sideways-facing hornsmake it hard to directly gore an enemy, so it comes in close andthrashes its head around wildly. The sheer number of horns beingflailed about makes this attack quite dangerous. The damageinflicted by this counts as slashing, not piercing.

Monoclonius makes powerful stabbing motions with the longhorn that extends from its snout. The horn inflicts double damageon a charge.

BYPRODUCTSBoth monoclonius and styracosaurus are valued as mounts.

They are small and easily handled (compared to their largercousins, at least). However, their eggs are not particularly valu-able, as they have been heavily domesticated and are easy toacquire from tame creatures. Eggs can be sold for $10 each toranchers for breeding, or for much less to farmers for dinner!

TRAININGAdult monoclonius and

styracosaurus are the size ofvery large oxen (not countingtheir tails, of course!) and arenow in common use as mountsand beasts of burden. Both canbe trained as adults at DC 22,or as youth at DC 18. Fullygrown styracosaurus can carry1,200 pounds, and monoclo-nius can carry 1,400 pounds.

CHEIROLEPIS (“NEEDLE-BITER”)

CheirolepisTiny Animal (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 1/2 d8 (2 hp)Initiative: +2 (Dex)Speed: Swim 10 ft.AC: 15 (+2 size, +2 Dex, +1 natural)Attacks: Bite +4 meleeDamage: Bite 1d6-3Face/Reach: 2 1/2 ft. by 2 1/2 ft./0 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: NoneSaves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1Abilities: Str 4, Dex 14, Con 10,

Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 1Skills: Spot +3Feats: Weapon Finesse (bite)

Climate/Terrain: Temperate aquaticOrganization: School (4-40)Challenge Rating: 1/4Treasure: StandardAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: -

Cheirolepis is a primitive predatory fish that lives in slow-moving water, such as swamps. It grows up to 22 inches long, hasthick, heavy scales, and has large eyes at the front of its armored

head. Its most unusual feature isits mouth, which is filled withirregular rows of sharp, angledteeth. Although its jaw is onlyfour inches long, cheirolepis canopen its mouth wide enough toengulf prey up to two-thirds ofits length. A single cheirolepis isno danger to a human, but aschool of them can tear apartprey much larger than them-selves.

COMBATCheirolepis will attack just

about anything when they arehungry. Characters movingthrough swampy areas arebound to encounter them.

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DRYOSAURUS (“GRASS-RUNNER,”“DINOSAUR GAZELLE”)

DryosaurusLarge Animal

Hit Dice: 4d10 (22 hp)Initiative: +3 (Dex)Speed: 70 ft.AC: 13 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural)Attacks: Bite +0 meleeDamage: Bite 1d4Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: NoneSaves: Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +2Abilities: Str 11, Dex 17, Con 10,

Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 10Skills: Spot +10, Listen +8, Jump +10

Climate/Terrain: Warm plainsOrganization: Herd (41-60+)Challenge Rating: 1Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 6-8 HD (Huge)

Dryosaurus is a recently discovered dinosaur native to thenorthwestern plains. It has been nicknamed the “dinosaur gazelle”for its constant sprinting, playful antics, alert herds, and jumpingbehavior.

Dryosaurus’ speed makes it valuable as a mount, and the fewthat have been brought back from the northwestern plains havebeen sold for high prices to New Savannah residents. There is agreat demand for faster dinosaur mounts, and the first person toraise a herd of trained dryosauruses will be very successful. So far,however, their natural habitat is so distant that no one has man-aged this.

Although dryosaurus reaches a length of 13 feet, it is verylightweight. Half of its length is its straight, counter-balancingtail. Its hips are only a foot or so taller than a human’s hips. Itsskeletal structure is much more substantial than many of the otherfleet-footed dinosaurs, so it can carry a human mount.

SOCIETYDryosauruses dart across the northwestern plains in enor-

mous herds. At watering holes or good grazing areas, severalherds sometimes coalesce into even larger uber-herds, which thendissipate as the constituent herds move on separately.

A herd of dryosauruses is marked by the fact that at least halfthe animals are always alert. The herd is always scouting forpotential danger. At the slightest sign of trouble, they jump up and

prance off. Their alertness combined with their great speed makesthem difficult prey.

Dryosaurus herds do not have a single leader or an organizedsocial system. They are social creatures but they lack a complexlanguage.

During mating season, the entire herd stops for five weeks totend to the eggs. As soon as the eggs hatch, the herd immediatelymoves on and the young learn very quickly how to walk, run, andjump. The herd is most vulnerable during mating season, when itloses the mobility that protects it from predators; dryosaurusescarefully conceal their nests during this time.

COMBATDryosauruses do not like to fight. Given the choice, they

retreat from combat. Their speed, agility, and jumping ability givethem the ability to outrun or outmaneuver most opponents. If cor-nered, they use their bite until they get an opening to retreat.

BYPRODUCTSDryosaurus are playful and cute – a difficult standard for

most dinosaurs to meet. Humans enjoy their presence. A trainedadult dryosaurus currently fetches $3,000 in the New Savannahlivestock markets. Eggs would probably fetch $350 each or more,but none have been brought back. Prices are high, becausedemand exceeds supply. As more dryosauruses are caught, theseprices will fall. But there will always be a demand for them, asthey are very fast mounts.

TRAININGDryosauruses can carry up to 250 pounds. An adult can be

trained at DC 20, and a youth at DC 16.

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DUNKLEOSTEUS (“HELMET-FISH”)

DunkleosteusLarge Animal (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 6d8+6 (33 hp)Initiative: +0Speed: Swim 60 ft.AC: 15 (-1 size, +6 natural)Attacks: Bite +6 meleeDamage: Bite 1d8+3Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: Improved Grab, GrindSpecial Qualities: NoneSaves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +2Abilities: Str 16, Dex 11, Con 13,

Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 1Skills: Spot +3

Climate/Terrain: Any aquaticOrganization: Solitary or school (2-5)Challenge Rating: 2Treasure: StandardAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 7-12 HD (Huge), possibly larger

The dunkleosteus is a barrel-shaped primitive fish with massivearmored plates covering its head. This bony shield extends as far asits pectoral fins, giving its scale-less body and eel-like tail a moder-ate degree of maneuverability. The most frightening feature of dun-kleosteus is its jaws. It does not have teeth; rather, it has two largedental plates with varied edges. The fronts are edged with powerfulfangs, while the back are flat, molar-like surfaces for grinding.

Most dunkleosteus are 12 to 15 feet in length. However, a fewsurvive to reach a size of near-invulnerability, at which point theycontinue growing almost indefinitely. The largest dunkleosteusknown was 35 feet long, but there are doubtless even larger onesswimming the seas.

COMBATDunkleosteus lurks below the surface of the water waiting for

prey. It has been found in water as shallow as four feet; in suchcircumstances, characters who pass Spot checks may see the dun-kleosteus’ silhouette under the water before it attacks (DC 8 to 12depending on the water’s clarity). Because they patrol fixed terri-tories, the remains of former kills may be found in the area. Thismeans treasure – but it might be underwater!

Improved Grab (Ex): Dunkleosteus attack with a ferociousbite. Once they land a successful bite, they lock their jaws andbegin grinding with the rear section of their dental plates. Thisquickly dissolves most victims. A dunkleosteus may use itsimproved grab ability if it lands a bite attack.

Grind (Ex): A target grabbed by a dunkleosteus will be sub-jected to a gruesome grinding by its rear dental plates. The grind-ing does 2d8+6 damage on a successful grapple check. The dun-kleosteus cannot use its bite attack while it is grinding an enemy.

EURYPTERID (“SEA SCORPION”)

EurypteridMedium-Size Vermin (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)Initiative: +2 (Dex)Speed: 10 ft., swim 30 ft.AC: 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)Attacks: Claws +4 meleeDamage: Claws 1d6Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: VerminSaves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +0Abilities: Str 11, Dex 14, Con 10,

Int -, Wis 10, Cha 2Skills: Spot +6Feats: Weapon Finesse (claws)

Climate/Terrain: Any aquaticOrganization: Solitary or pack (2-5)Challenge Rating: 1Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 4-6 HD (Medium), 7-9 HD (Large)

Eurypterids are ancient arthropods that resemble aquaticscorpions. They have two long pincers extending from their head,which they use to catch their prey. Their tail has small barbs but isused to swim, not fight, and it does not have poison glands. Thecommon eurypterid is eight feet long.

COMBATEurypterids swim through the water, always on the lookout

for prey. They are not a threat to boats but are a real danger forswimmers.

Many species of hadrosaurs, or duckbilled dinosaurs, grazealong the lakes and rivers of Cretasus. Superficially, they are verydifferent, sporting a wide variety of colors, crests, and skin tex-tures. Structurally, however, they are very similar, with their uni-fying characteristic being the broad, flat snout with a toothlessbeak. For game purposes, the primary distinction is their size.Parasaurolophus, described in the Broncosaurus RexCoreRulebook (p. 75), is an example of a Huge hadrosaur. Here wedescribe typical examples of Large and Gargantuan hadrosaurs:bactrosaurus (13 feet long) and edmontosaurus (45 feet long).

SOCIETYHadrosaurs graze in

large herds. The herds willcongregate where the grassis greenest (so to speak),forming enormous popula-tions in rather small areas.These roving “hadrosaurcities” graze as a singlemass, with herds of manydifferent species intermin-gling. Following closebehind are the many preda-tors that survive by pickingoff the old, young, and sick.

When not grazing along-side a river or lake, hadrosaursspend their time wading in theshallow waters near the bank.It is very rare to encounter aherd of hadrosaurs far fromother hadrosaurs. They areweak herbivores and theyknow their greatest strength isin numbers.

Each species of hadrosaur has its own language(Parasaurolophus, Bactrosaurus, Edmonotosaurus, etc.), but theyare derived from a single source. A person who speaks one cancommunicate in another hadrosaur language, much as if it were a

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HADROSAURS (“DUCKBILLED DINOSAURS”)

Bactrosaurus EdmontosaurusLarge Animal Gargantuan Animal

Hit Dice: 4d10 (22 hp) 16d10+16 (104 hp)Initiative: +0 -1 (Dex)Speed: 30 ft., swim 30 ft. 50 ft., swim 40 ft.AC: 10 (-1 size, +1 natural) 8 (-1 Dex, -4 size, +3 natural)Attacks: Bite +1 melee Bite +9 meleeDamage: Bite 1d4 Bite 1d8+6Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft. 40 ft. by 15 ft./10 ft.Special Attacks: Trample TrampleSpecial Qualities: Scent ScentSaves: Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +2 Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +6Abilities: Str 12, Dex 11, Con 11, Str 22, Dex 8, Con 13,

Int 4, Wis 13, Cha 11 Int 4, Wis 13, Cha 12Skills: Listen +6, Spot +6 Listen +10, Spot +10

Climate/Terrain: Warm marsh, lakeshore, riverbank Warm marsh, lakeshore, riverbankOrganization: Herd (10-40) Herd (10-40)Challenge Rating: 2 5Treasure: None NoneAlignment: Always neutral Always neutralAdvancement: 5-8 HD (Large) 17-24 (Gargantuan)

different dialect, but with a 25% chance of misunderstandingrather than the usual 10%.

COMBATHadrosaurs are timid plant-eaters that do not enjoy combat. If

attacked, they attempt to flee. If they must fight, they use theirduckbilled bite in defense.

Trample (Ex): Small groups of predators will rarely cause ahadrosaur herd to panic. But if many enemies attack, the herd willmove in unison in a giant stampede. Although no hadrosaur vol-untarily approaches a predator, the panic and crazed trampling ofanimals in the rear of a herd may cause the entire herd to movedirectly toward predators. The ensuing trampling can be deadly.Hadrosaur tramples cause 1d8 (bactrosaurus) or 2d10 (edmon-tosaurus) points of damage. Opponents who don’t make attacks ofopportunity may make a Reflex save (DC 13) to take half damage.

BYPRODUCTSHadrosaurs are most valued for their meat. They are basical-

ly the dinosaur equivalent of cattle. A bactrosaurus carcass can besold for $200, and an edmontosaurus carcass for $800.

TRAININGBactrosauruses are common civilian mounts. They can be

trained as a mount at DC 23 for an adult, and DC 19 for a youth.Edmontosauruses are less common as mounts, as their bulk makesthem unwieldy; there are smaller creatures that are almost asstrong. An edmontosaurus can be trained at DC 35 for an adult,and DC 31 for a youth. Bactrosaurus can carry 500 pounds;edmontosaurus can carry 16,000 pounds.

KRONOSAURUS (“OCEANIUS REX”)

KronosaurusHuge Animal (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 16d10+64 (152 hp)Initiative: +1 (Dex)Speed: 10 ft., swim 60 ft.AC: 13 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +4 natural)Attacks: Bite +26 meleeDamage: Bite 6d8+16Face/Reach: 15 ft. by 40 ft./10 ft.Special Attacks: Hurdle, improved grab, swallow

wholeSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +6Abilities: Str 32, Dex 12, Con 18,

Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 10Skills: Listen +3, Spot +5

Climate/Terrain: Any aquatic – deep sea or shallowshorelines

Organization: SolitaryChallenge Rating: 8Treasure: NoneAlignment: Usually neutral evilAdvancement: 17-32 HD (Gargantuan)

Kronosaurus is the tyrannosaurus rex of the seas. Althoughnot the longest marine reptile, it is the deadliest. Its short-necked45-foot long body is thick and muscular, giving it far more

strength and mass than its long-neckedcompetitors. Fully grown kronosauruseshave been known to weigh 20 tons ormore.

Fortunately, kronosaurus is extremelyrare. Encounters with kronosauruses arenotable enough to quickly become gossipfor miles around.

SOCIETYKronosauruses are solitary hunters.

They cruise the ocean devouring anythinglarge enough to merit their attention. Theyare feared by all sea dwellers.

Kronosaurus have a compact, highlymaneuverable body which is surprisinglyagile for their size. They are adroit swim-mers in both deep and shallow water, andhave been encountered in water as shallowas 10 feet deep.

No one knows their mating or socialhabits. Kronosaurus encounters are usuallysingular events – only a dozen or so

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encounters are reported each year, rarely in the same places. It isunknown whether this is because the kronosauruses are few butfar-ranging, or many but reclusive.

COMBATKronosauruses take massive gulps out of whatever stands in

their way. Their jaws are longer than a T-rex’s and their bites arejustifiably feared.

Hurdle (Ex): Kronosauruses are so strong that they can hurltheir entire body out of the water. They use this ability to attackships and even low-flying pterosaurs. As a move-equivalentaction, the kronosaurus can hurdle itself out of the water. A hurdlecan only take place if the kronosaurus ran its full distance in theprevious round. The hurdle covers a distance of 100’ and reaches30’ above sea level at the arc’s apex.

One of the most famous kronosaurus attacks concerned themerchant vessel Plentiful. While bearing liquor from PlesiosaurBay to New Savannah, Plentiful encountered a kronosaurus. Thebeast hurled itself into the masts, shattering both of them in twoleaps. It completely cleared the decks with each jump. Afterdestroying the masts, it bit several large holes in the hull. It thenfollowed lazily behind until the boat sank, whereupon it picked offthe sailors one by one.

Other captains learned from the Plentifulencounter. When akronosaurus was spotted approaching the vessel New Worldinshallows near Plesiosaur Bay, the captain steered the boat parallelto the shore in very shallow water. The kronosaurus hurdled overthe boat, grabbing several crewmen. But the water on the otherside of the boat was too shallow and the creature ran aground! Bythe time the kronosaurus waddled off the beach, New Worldhadsped safely away.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the kronosaurusmust hit a Medium-size or smaller creature with its bite attack. Ifit gets a hold, it can try to swallow the foe.

Swallow Whole (Ex): A kronosaurus can swallow aMedium-size or smaller foe with a successful grapple check. Theswallowed creature takes 2d8+8 points of damage plus 8 points ofacid damage each round. A swallowed creature can cut its way outwith claws or a small or tiny slashing weapon. It must cause 25points of damage to the gizzard (AC 20) to escape.

BYPRODUCTSSo few kronosaurus have been sighted that it is not known

whether they have any useful byproducts. Many hunters wouldcrown their collections with a kronosaurus skull trophy, but thebeasts are so difficult to locate that no one has yet killed one.

TRAININGThe well-known dino handler “Jaws” Giovanni, famed for

having trained four T-rexes with his own hands, met his deathwhile trying to capture and train a kronosaurus. They are hard tolocate and nearly impossible to capture. No one has ever trainedone. If characters do manage to locate and isolate one, they canattempt to train it at DC 36.

LEPTOCERATOPS (“ZULEPS”)

LeptoceratopsMedium-Size Animal

Hit Dice: 2d10+6 (17 hp)Initiative: +0 (Dex)Speed: 25 ft.AC: 13 (+3 natural)Attacks: Bite +4 meleeDamage: Bite 1d8+3Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: Scent, fire resistance 10, cold vulnerabil-

ity, barbarian rageSaves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +2Abilities: Str 17, Dex 11, Con 17,

Int 6, Wis 15, Cha 9Skills: Listen +8, Spot +8

Climate/Terrain: Warm desert, hills, and mountainsOrganization: Solitary, pack (4-5), or entire tribe (9-16)Challenge Rating: 2Treasure: StandardAlignment: Usually chaotic neutralAdvancement: By character class

The leptoceratops are primitive relatives of the protoceratops.Although more lightly built and not as hardy, they are much moreferocious. They are unusually bloodthirsty for herbivorous crea-tures, a development that can be traced to their proud warrior cul-ture forged by the harsh environment of the Crystal Desert. It isthis warrior culture that allowed them to survive where their weak-er cousins, such as the psittacosaurus or bagaceratops, did not.

An adult leptoceratops can be as long as seven feet. Theyhave five toes and strong grasping ability with their front arms,though they lack a true opposable thumb. They walk on their rearlegs, but sometimes drop to all fours to run.

SOCIETYThe desert-dwelling zuleps have always had to battle for lim-

ited supplies of food and water, against both other animals andneighboring tribes. Long ago, they developed a martial codewhich has since evolved into a strong warrior culture. Althoughherbivores, they eat flesh for ceremonial purposes.

All zuleps, both male and female, must undergo a coming-of-age ritual that involves leaving the tribe and not returning untilthey have scalped a certain number of enemies. They must returnwith one scalp for every year of their own age, and the scalpedenemies must be no smaller than their own size.

Zulep adolescents can choose to undergo this ritual at anytime from the age of 7 to 12 years. Obviously, the ritual is moredifficult for older creatures – even though they are older andstronger, they must capture more scalps from larger creatures. Butthe most militant zuleps intentionally delay their coming-of-age

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as a sign of strength. Those that succeed in the ritual at the latestages often become leaders in their tribes.

Throughout their lives, zuleps practice tattooing, scarifica-tion, and piercing. Some tattoos and scars commemorate passagesor successes, while others are purely aesthetic. Many zulepsexhibit unusual mutations, including malformed limbs, extra ormissing fingers, strangely shaped beaks, or extra eyes. This is dueto the radiation immanent in the Crystal Desert they inhabit.

Leptoceratops live in nomadic tribes. They wander in searchof food, living off of the rugged shrubs that grow in the CrystalDesert and the foothills of the Danjow. They stay in one place fora few weeks or months, until they have exhausted nearby supplies,then move on to somewhere else in the same general region. Theyare intimately familiar with the desert and know the uses of itsmore common crystals.

Zulep tribes are frequently at war, both with neighboringtribes of zuleps and with other species of dinosaurs. When a pred-ator approaches, they usually face it head on. War is their usualstate of affairs.

Each zulep tribe speaks a different dialect of their own lan-guage, a corrupted version of Ceratopsian which is no longer rec-ognizable as such.

COMBATZuleps value strength and power. They are aggressive – espe-

cially so for herbivores. Their violent culture produces great war-riors, and a horde of screaming, charging zuleps is a terrifyingsight. But they are barbarian warriors – individual heroes withvery little coordination, strategy, or formation to tie them togeth-er. They are vulnerable to organized, regimented opponents.

Although they have a powerful natural bite, zuleps prefer touse spears, clubs, and shields in battle. They produce their ownstone, metal, and crystal spear heads, which they attach to caneshafts; they also wield other weapons acquired through trade orplunder. Individual zuleps are armed as follows. Zuleps should beconsidered proficient in whatever weapons they bear:

d% Armament1-40 Club41-60 Longspear61-80 Halfspear and large wooden shield81-95 Battleaxe and large wooden shield95-100 Other (GM’s choice – acquired through trade or

plunder)

Zulep weapons often have straps so they can be slung overthe creature’s back when it runs on all fours.

Zuleps often carry trophies from previous battles. These tro-phies range from mundane (a velociraptor claw or human scalp)to exotic (a laser pistol which they don’t know how to use).

Fire Resistance 10 (Ex):Zuleps are raised in extreme tem-peratures and are accustomed to great heat. They ignore the first10 points of fire damage dealt to them each round.

Cold Vulnerability (Ex): Zuleps suffer double damage fromall cold attacks except on a successful save (as if of the fire sub-type).

Barbarian Rage (Ex): Once per day, a zulep can rage exact-ly as a first-level barbarian. This stacks with rages gained byzuleps who have barbarian class levels.

BYPRODUCTSZuleps have unusual anatomies. They can endure extreme

heat and frequent dehydration. Many of their organs have medic-inal uses. Any character with the Heal skill can learn how to useleptoceratops parts in healing. This takes two months with instruc-tion (whether teacher or text), or six months if self-taught. Thecharacter must also be able to gather the leptoceratops parts,which requires the Wilderness Lore skill (see DinosaurByproducts, Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook p. 63). One lepto-ceratops corpse will yield 1d3 uses of healing agents. After study-ing the leptoceratops anatomy, the character receives a +1 compe-tence bonus to Heal when he uses leptoceratops healing agents.

TRAININGDue to their antagonistic nature, zuleps are practically impos-

sible to train.

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PLESIOSAURUS (“SEA WOLF”)

PlesiosaurusMedium-Size Animal (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 3d10+6 (23 hp)Initiative: +3 (Dex)Speed: 20 ft., swim 40 ft.AC: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 natural)Attacks: Bite +5 meleeDamage: Bite 1d6+3Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +0Abilities: Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14,

Int 3, Wis 9, Cha 6Skills: Listen +2, Spot +3

Climate/Terrain: OceanOrganization: School (3-10)Challenge Rating: 2Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 4-6 HD (Large), 7-9 HD (Huge)

Plesiosaurus is the most common of the sea predators. Itreaches a length of 8 feet, with a neck as long as 3 feet – just longenough to threaten fisherman in small boats. Plesiosaurus is builtfor maneuverability, not speed, and is extremely skilled at snatch-ing fish out of nets without being captured itself. When they arecaught in nets, plesiosaurs are usually able to gnaw their way out.

SOCIETYPlesiosaurus schools are constantly on the move. They dart

among the fish, snatch them in their jaws, quickly gulp them

down, and move on to the next target. Plesiosaurs often followright behind fishing expeditions, grabbing fish out of the nets asfast as the fishermen can haul them in. They are the bane of fish-ermen throughout the inland sea, but especially in the northernwaters of Plesiosaur Bay, where they are so numerous as to makefishing expeditions pointless.

COMBATPlesiosaurs do not actively threaten humans, but their daring

attempts to steal fish from under fishermens’ noses inevitably getthem into trouble. They will defend themselves if attacked, asmany a fisherman has learned when clubbing one with an oar.Nevertheless, plesiosaurs will not initiate attacks against humansexcept against injured swimmers or children, as their mouths aretoo small to easily eat humans.

BYPRODUCTSPlesiosaurs are considered pests with no usable byproducts.

TRAININGIt is rumored that some wild ones have taught plesiosaurs to

fish for them. Characters can attempt this at DC 23.

QUETZALCOATLUS (“GRAYWING”)

QuetzalcoatlusGargantuan Animal

Hit Dice: 13d8+26 (85 hp)Initiative: +2 (Dex)Speed: 20 ft., fly 80 ft. (good)AC: 10 (-4 size, +2 Dex, +2 natural)Attacks: Bite +9 meleeDamage: Bite 3d8+4Face/Reach: 20 ft. by 40 ft./15 ft.Special Attacks: Improved grabSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +5Abilities: Str 19, Dex 14, Con 14,

Int 7, Wis 12, Cha 6Skills: Listen +5, Spot +6*

Climate/Terrain: Any mountainsOrganization: Solitary or pairChallenge Rating: 5Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: -

Quetzalcoatlus is the largest flying creature of all time. Itsforty-foot wingspan and seven-foot-long beak frighten humansand dinosaurs alike, although it feeds primarily on carrion andshellfish. Quetzalcoatlus has incredible eyesight and can spot foodfrom several miles away.

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SOCIETYQuetzalcoatluses live in lofty, inaccessible rooks far from

human settlements. They are sometimes seen cruising over humansettlements at high altitudes, but it is very rare for a human toencounter one close-up. High in their cliff-side dwellings, theyseem to live a life of their own, unconcerned with what the rest ofthe world is doing. They speak pterosaur.

COMBATQuetzalcoatluses are not predators, so they generally will not

attack unless provoked. However, they will swoop down fromabove to feed on the body of a recent kill – which may be a prob-lem for humans intent on recovering some trophy from the car-cass.

Quetzalcoatluses have claws, but they only use their bite incombat. They first try to intimidate opponents by snapping theirhuge beaks. If that doesn’t work, they will take a few bites. If theenemy is still not cowed, the quetzalcoatlus will resort to pickingthem up and dropping them from very high up.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the quetzalcoatlusmust hit a Large or smaller sized creature with its bite attack. Itcan then carry the target to a great height and drop it (often for themaximum of 20d6 points of falling damage). It can continue tobite whatever it is carrying, automatically inflicting 3d8+4 dam-age until the creature escapes or is dropped. If it tries to bite some-thing else, the carried creature is automatically dropped.

Skills: *Quetzalcoatlus gain a +8 racial bonus to Spot checksin daylight.

BYPRODUCTSQuetzalcoatluses are valued as mounts. Their eggs would

surely go for a good price – if any could be found! The creaturesroost at such high altitudes that none of their eggs has everhatched in captivity.

TRAININGMany dino trainers covet the chance to train a quetzalcoatlus,

as they make strong, fast mounts. An adult can be trained at DC32. A youth can be trained at DC 26, although the youth grow upat such high altitudes that they are extremely rare. An adult cancarry up to 900 pounds.

SCRAY

ScrayMedium-Size Humanoid (Alien)

Hit Dice: 1d8 (4 hp)Initiative: +0 (Dex)Speed: 30 ft.AC: 21 (+6 vibrofield, +5 light bioceramic

armor)Attacks: Laser pistol +1 ranged or monofila-

ment blade +1 meleeDamage: Laser pistol 2d10 or monofilament

blade 3d12Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.Special Qualities: Fast healing 4Saves: Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +2Abilities: Str 13, Dex 10, Con 11,

Int 18, Wis 11, Cha 13Skills: Chemistry +5, Disable Device +10,

Drive +2, Knowledge (nature) +5,Knowledge (science) +5, Knowledge(technology) +5, Listen +1, OperateIronclad +2, Pilot +2, Repair Device+10, Use Technical Equipment +10

Feats: Weapon proficiency (all alienweapons), Gearhead

Climate/Terrain: AnyOrganization: Any; on Cretasus, usually found in

pairs or small groups (3-6)Challenge Rating: 2Treasure: Standard plus technology (see below)Alignment: Usually chaotic neutralAdvancement: By character class

The Scray were the first aliens that humanity encountered.They are native to the Scray system, though they can now befound across the universe.

All Scray look menacing to humans. They are thin, bipedalhumanoids who stand about seven feet tall, with arms that arenoticeably longer than human proportions. They are alwayssheathed in fringed black cloaks. The occasional glimpse beneaththe cloak reveals complex Giger-like ridged body armor. Inhuman atmospheres, they must wear coiled, bio-organic gasmasks to breathe. Examining a Scray corpse reveals a thin, dusky,gray-skinned creature with near-human proportions (except for

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the skinny arms that reach almost to their calves), a small headwith two pinprick eyes, and a small mouth with omnivorous teeth.

The Scray are much more technologically advanced thanhumans. Although they speak their own languages (at least twen-ty-six have been identified by human scholars), they are alwaysequipped with translator devices which make them understood byalmost any creature.

SOCIETYScray civilization predates humanity by at least four hundred

thousand years. But the Scray are an introverted race whose galac-tic ambitions fall far short of humanity’s. Had we not found them,they would have avoided us.

Like humans, the Scray have their own varied nations andallegiances. Most humans are familiar with only a small portion oftheir society. The Scray that humans encounter are invariablyresearchers, adventurers, explorers, or traders, and it is by theseacquaintances that most humans form their perceptions.

At the simplest level, the Scray are aloof, stand-offish, andsilent. They seem eerily quiet even when not around humans, withthe rasping of their gas masks providing a noisy contrast to theirown silence.

The Scray are uninterested in human politics. They seeminterested only in technology. Much of their interaction withhumans comes about because of their many gadgets – they invari-ably have a miniaturized handheld machine for doing whatever ahuman needs to do. Except for meeting their basic needs, they arenot interested in human wealth, and prefer to trade their technolo-gy for interesting machines, artifacts, or chemicals. There are veryfew human technologies unknown to them, but our raw materialssometimes mystify them. Even the most basic human chemicalsmay be exotic to the Scray who first encounters them. Savvytraders sometimes walk away with amazing deals – it is rumoredthat the first dust gun to fall into human hands was traded for apack of cigarettes!

Communication with a Scray is not easy. They are naturallyreticent, and easily annoyed by humans who are loquacious, over-bearing, or noisy. At the same time, Scray have been known tooffend humans by refusing to accept “normal” wealth for theirgoods. Fortunes have been offered for Scray technology, only tobe refused. Of course, the failed buyer is none too happy to learnthe Scray later traded their gadgets for the equivalent of cigarettes.Scray interests are eclectic and inscrutable to humans, andattempts to acquire their technology with human riches rarely suc-ceed. The Scray may demand an obscure chemical or strangedevice in trade for their goods – or, as they once did, they maytrade powerful technology only if the purchaser arranges an intro-duction with a well-known human biochemist. No human has yetto understand, much less predict, what a Scray will want.

Scray come to Cretasus for three primary reasons. First, it isthe Scray who provide the technology that the Union uses to buildironclads, so they are most common in Union areas in and aroundthe ironclad research center near Fort Lincoln. (Only the highestUnion officers know what they have offered the Scray in returnfor their assistance.) Second, much as they explore all new plan-ets, the Scray are exploring Cretasus in search of interesting rawmaterials and native life forms they can use in their bio-techresearch. Finally, some Scray are there simply for adventure.

COMBATScray do not enjoy bloodshed. They prefer to resolve disputes

peacefully. But when forced to fight, Scray fight viciously withtheir advanced technology. A typical Scray has a tech level of 15;more intelligent ones may be even higher. They have human-likehands and most of their inventions can be used by humans. A typ-ical Scray carries a laser pistol and monofilament blade, but theymay be encountered with almost any combination of weapons.

Fast Healing 4 (Ex):The Scray have self-repairing medicalsystems built into their armor. This allows them to heal quickly.The medical systems only work with their physiology, although itis rumored that they have designed similar systems for humans.

BYPRODUCTSScray wear a lightweight bioceramic armor that is custom-

molded to their body shape. The armor is literally grown to match

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their build,; one Scray’s bioceramic armor cannot be worn by anyother creature, even another Scray. Bioceramic armor is tech level12, and can be grown in varying thickness, as follows. Growingbioceramic armor requires advanced facilities, which a Scraymight be persuaded to provide.

Scray carry a variety of technological doodads. Assume eachScray has 1d4 randomly determined tech items (2d4 if the Scrayis a machinist). Some will be in use; others will be carried fortrade or examination. You can use this table to determine what theScray has, or you can pick or create an item. Remember that theyoften carry minor items that humans find immensely useful – forexample, a handheld metal detector that lets miners find minuteveins up to 100 ft. underground.

d% Tech Item01-05 Ankle jets06-07 Annihilator08-10 Bionic arm11 Bionic ear12-13 Bionic eye14-16 Bionic leg17 Chimera fiend18-20 Cryon ray21-22 Dust Gun23-26 Dyno-mites27-31 Electron field32-37 Energy gauntlet38-43 Energy packs (2d6)44-46 Energy shield47-56 Engineering tools57-58 Grav field59-68 Holosphere69-70 Jet pack71-76 Laser rifle77-82 Medical kit83-85 Plasma charges (1d6)86-88 Plasma sling89-91 Powered armor92-93 Pulse rifle94-96 Scanner97-98 Spibot99 Tractor beam100 Warp render

SCRAY NPCS

Many Scray adventurers have character levels. The stats pro-vided are for a Scray commoner. 60% of all Scray encountered on

Cretasus have character levels. Of thosewith character levels, 75% are machin-ists, 20% soldiers, and 5% spies. Scraywild ones and bronco riders are unheardof, and although they do have two-fis-ters, they’re not encountered on alienplanets like Cretasus. Roll 1d6 to deter-mine a Scray’s character level. If youroll a 6, re-roll and add 5 to the result,rolling again and adding 10 if you rollanother 6, and so on.

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Bioceramic Armor Armor Max Dex Armor Speed Wt.Bonus Bonus Check (30 ft.)

PenaltyLight +5 +4 -2 30 ft. 8 lb.Medium +6 +3 -3 20 ft. 16 lb.Heavy +7 +2 -4 20 ft. 24 lb.

SMALL GAME

Small Game, Tiny Small Game, SmallTiny Animal Small Animal

Hit Dice: 1/2 d8 (2 hp) 1d8+2 (6 hp)Initiative: +2 (Dex) +3 (Dex)Speed: 20 ft. 40 ft.AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex) 15 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +1 natu-ral)Attacks: Bite or claw +1 melee Bite or claw +3 meleeDamage: Bite or claw 1d3-4 Bite or claw 1d4Face/Reach: 2 1/2 ft. by 2 1/2 ft./0 ft. 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: None NoneSpecial Qualities: Scent ScentSaves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1 Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Str 11, Dex 17, Con 15,

Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 5 Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6Skills: Listen +2, Spot +3, see below Listen +4, Spot +5, see below

Climate/Terrain: Various VariousOrganization: Solitary, pair, or pack Solitary, pair, or packChallenge Rating: 1/6 1/3Treasure: None NoneAlignment: Always neutral Always neutralAdvancement: - -

The hunters of Cretasus do not spend all their time tracking T-rexes. An endless variety ofsmall game skitters across the landscape. Small-time hunters, independent farmers, and trap-pers devote a lot of their energy to capturing these smaller creatures, which are less dangerous,more common, and easier to transport than large dinosaurs.

The small game profiles can be applied to a variety of smallamphibians and reptilians living on Cretasus. They are the prehis-toric equivalent of rabbits, beavers, weasels, pheasants, raccoons,dogs, and other such creatures. Since small game will likely playa small part in most campaigns, we have not described it here ingreat detail; the entries below give specific details for some of themany creatures that fit the profiles above. They can be used toflesh out wilderness encounters, give results to hunting expedi-tions, and explain what’s for dinner when the characters stop byFarmer Brown’s house.

Platyhystrix (“Spinyback”) (Small – 3 ft. long; swim 20ft.; climate/terrain: warm swamp, forest, river and lakeshore): Platyhystrix is a sail-backed, semi-aquatic creature. Itsbrightly colored skin is red with green and yellow sails. It bites ifattacked.

Peltrobatrachus (“Fatball”) (Tiny – 2 ft. long; speed 10 ft.,swim 10 ft.; AC 14 when moving, 15 when balled up (no Dexbonus, +3 bonus to natural armor); climate: warm swamp,forest, plains): Peltrobatrachus looks like a cross between a sala-mander and an armadillo. Hunters value this slow-movingarmored amphibian because it is extremely easy to kill – ratherthan running, it rolls up into an armored ball. Unfortunately forthe peltrobatrachus, its armadillo armor is easily penetrated bymodern weapons (especially when it loses its Dex bonus afterrolling up), and the ball defense is nearly useless against humans.If it actually survives an attack, it unrolls and bites.

Gerrothorax (“Flathead”) (Small – 3 ft. long; swim 30 ft.;AC 12 until hit (no Dex bonus), then AC 15; skills: Hide +9;climate: warm swamp, shallow water): Gerrothorax is a flatamphibian that looks sort of like a fat lizard that has been run over.Its eyes are on the top of its flattened head. It hunts by digging intoa shallow river bottom, covering itself with sand or rocks, and bit-ing the first thing to come by. It is difficult to spot, but once spot-ted extremely easy to kill because it won’t move until attacked.Gerrothorax always counts as flat-footed until it has been hit.

Labidosaurus (“Gizzard Lizard”) (Tiny – 2 ft. long; skills:Balance +10, Climb +10; climate: warm forest, plains, desert):Labidosaurus is a fat, squat lizard that eats insects, snails, and veg-etation.

Coelurosauravus (“Glider”) (Tiny – 1 1/2 ft. long; glide 40ft.; skills: Balance +13, Climb +16, Move Silently +8; climate:warm forest): Coelurosauravus is an unusual early reptile that isadapted for gliding. It looks like a thin lizard, but its ribs are great-ly elongated to form two rigid “wings” emerging from either sideof the body. Flaps of skin between the ribs allow it to glide. It falls5 ft. downward for every full 20 ft. that it glides. Some forestclearings on Cretasus are practically alive with the constant glid-ing of coelurosauravuses. Sharp-shooting them in mid-air is afavorite sport of bored farm hands.

SPINOSAURUS (“SWAMP LURKER”)

SpinosaurusHuge Animal

Hit Dice: 14d10+56 (133 hp)Initiative: +1 (Dex)Speed: 40 ft., swim 20 ft.AC: 13 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +4 natural)Attacks: Bite +15 melee, claws +2 meleeDamage: Bite 3d8+7, claws 1d4Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./15 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +13, Ref +10, Will +6Abilities: Str 24, Dex 13, Con 18,

Int 5, Wis 15, Cha 11Skills: Listen +12, Spot +12, Wilderness Lore

+5, Hide +0*, Move Silently +0*

Climate/Terrain: Swamp or marshOrganization: Solitary or pride (3-5 adults and 0-4

young)Challenge Rating: 7Treasure: StandardAlignment: Usually neutral evilAdvancement: 15-30 HD (Gargantuan)

Spinosauruses are large theropods distinguished by the six-foot-tall spine that runs down the length of their backs, much likethat of the dimetrodon. They are huge carnivores, growing to 40feet in length (as long as an allosaurus) and six tons in weight.They dwell exclusively in swamps and are the most feareddenizens of the Bayou. No survivor ever forgets the sight of adripping, moss-laden spine slicing menacingly through the wateras the spinosaurus pursues its victim.

Spinosauruses spend a great deal of time lurking just belowthe water’s surface, much like crocodiles. Spinosaurus seek outwater that is about ten feet deep – just the right depth for theirlurking. If water of the right depth can’t be found, they dig pits in

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shallow water so they can hide, waiting for prey to pass.The spine serves several purposes. It helps regulate body tem-

perature, absorbing heat while the rest of the spinosaurus is sub-merged. A submerged spinosaurus often hides among reeds orswamp grass to conceal its spine which extends above the water line.The spine can also be inflated slightly to help the spinosaurus float.

SOCIETYSpinosauruses live in prides of three to five adults: one an

adult male, and the rest adult females. The pride may have asmany one child per female.

Spinosauruses generally hunt large hadrosaurs. The adults

hunt alone or in pairs, bringing theirkills back to the rest of the pride to eat.They alternate on hunting duty. Whennot hunting, the other spinosauruseslaze about in the water.

Each pride has its own territory.They aggressively contest any otherlarge carnivore within their territory.They don’t attack velociraptors orother smaller predators because theydon’t consider them competition.

Spinosauruses speak their ownlanguage.

COMBATSpinosauruses fight with their

jaws and front claws. Their jaws arenoticeably slimmer than those of theother large theropods. They are nomatch in a head-on fight with anallosaurus or T-rex, but their ambush-ing abilities make them just as fearedamong prey. They consider humans tobe eligible meals.

Skills: * Spinosauruses receive aracial bonus of +9 to Hide checks inwater or swamp. They have an uncan-ny ability to move silently throughwater and muck, and receive a +6racial bonus to Move Silently in wateror swamp terrain. They can movesilently while swimming or whilewalking.

BYPRODUCTSAt close range, spinosaurus have

an unbearable stench. This usuallydoesn’t affect their ambushing ability,as they will have attacked by the timetheir prey could have smelled them,but it reduces their resale value.Nobody wants spinosaurus leather!

The only part of the spinosaurus that has value is its sail, and thenonly as a trophy for the dino hunter who bagged it himself.

TRAININGNobody in their right mind would try to train a spinosaurus,

since they stink, they have a huge spine right where you’d want tosit, and their native environment is the swamp. But if you reallywant to try, go for it. The DC is 34 for an adult and 27 for a youth.An adult can carry 3,500 pounds, though it is impossible to findsaddle bags that accommodate their spine.

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STENONYCHOSAURUS (“MOONLIZARD,” “GHOST DINO”)

StenonychosaurusSmall Animal

Hit Dice: 1d10 (6 hp)Initiative: +4 (Dex)Speed: 40 ft.AC: 16 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +1 natural)Attacks: Kick +1 melee, bite +0 meleeDamage: Kick 1d6, bite 1d4Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +5Abilities: Str 11, Dex 18, Con 11,

Int 17, Wis 20, Cha 13Skills: Balance +4, Climb +3, Hide +8*,

Jump +5, Knowledge (nature) +8,Knowledge (dinosaurs) +8,Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge(geography) +8, Knowledge (history)+8, Knowledge (local) +8, MoveSilently +8, Listen +5, Spot +5,Wilderness Lore +12

Feats: Blind-fight

Climate/Terrain: Any NocturnalOrganization: Solitary or flock (20-40 adults and 5-

15 young)Challenge Rating: 1Treasure: NoneAlignment: Usually neutralAdvancement: By character class

Stenonychosauruses are light, nimble dinosaurs of exception-al intelligence. They are similar in structure to a velociraptor,although smaller and weaker. Relative to their body size, theyhave the largest brain of any dinosaur. They are extremely raredue to their small size, stealthy habits, and nocturnal lifestyle.Most settlers on Cretasus will never see one, even though they arenative to every terrain.

SOCIETYVery little is known about the reclusive stenonychosauruses.

They are active only at night, though no one has ever found theirdaytime hiding places. Given that the three fingers on their handare very useful for grasping, it is possible that stenonychosaurusbuild hidden dwellings. Their large, round eyes reflect light likean owl’s, and their pale gray-blue skin is haunting in moonlight.These two traits have earned them the nicknames “moon lizards”and “ghost dinos.”

Stenonychosauruses try to remain hidden; they always flee if

discovered. Their hiding ability makes encountering them verydifferent from discovering them, however. Many a nighttime trav-eler has been startled to realize he is only a few feet from one ofthe creatures, which promptly sprints away. Groups of stenony-chosaurus are almost never seen. When encountered, though, theyare surreal: an oblivious passer-by will witness a seemingly stillforest come to sudden life as twenty or more previously hiddenghost dinos suddenly flee.

Stenonychosauruses have limited relations with other intelli-gent dinosaurs. They are known to engage in trade with veloci-raptors and protoceratops. Dinosaur legends hold that they are theguardians of long-hidden secrets. Protoceratops claim they are theservants of a mysterious race of humanoid dinosaurids.

The only humans to have initiated communication with a livestenonychosaurus are wild ones, and they have not divulged whatthey’ve heard. On the other hand, stenonychosaurus have initiat-ed communication with humans, albeit rarely. Their enormousintelligence has let some learn to read and write human languages,and this is their method of communication (as they lack the vocalabilities to speak properly).

They are enigmatic and their messages do not always makesense. Moreover, the communication process is terrifying: a humanwho thinks himself alone will suddenly find ten stenonychosaurus

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materialize out of the darkness around him, drop off a rock or logwith a message scratched on it, then disappear just as suddenly.

But the communication is often useful, at least in retrospect.There is no pattern to their decisions to communicate; the mes-sages passed have ranged from “fruit red good” (which apparent-ly thanked a farmer for the apples he had imported to grow in hisorchard) to “danger hole mouth” (a warning to a Confederate ser-geant about a ceratosaurus lurking in a ravine near his unit).

COMBATIt is highly unlikely that a stenonychosaurus will ever be

pinned down in combat. They always try to flee. If forced to fight,they bite and kick and look for any opportunity to escape.

Skills: *Stenonychosaurus receive a racial bonus of +8 toHide checks at night.

BYPRODUCTSStenonychosaurus have no known useful byproducts, but

when killed they are often stuffed and displayed as rarities.

TRAININGNo one has ever captured a live stenonychosaurus to train.

However, given their intelligence, “training” isn’t an issue. Theywill probably be smarter than their trainer. The issue would bepersuading them to cooperate.

TANYSTROPHEUS (“LONG BITER”)

TanystropheusMedium-Size Animal

Hit Dice: 1d10 (6 hp)Initiative: +1 (Dex)Speed: 30 ft.AC: 13 (+2 natural, +1 Dex)Attacks: Bite +0 meleeDamage: Bite 1d4Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft. (see below)Special Attacks: PoisonSpecial Qualities: NoneSaves: Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +0Abilities: Str 10, Dex 13, Con 11,

Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 5Skills: Spot +6, Listen +1, Hide +4Feats: Combat reflexes

Climate/Terrain: Warm ForestOrganization: SolitaryChallenge Rating: 1/2Treasure: StandardAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 2-4 HD (Large)

Tanystropheus is a bizarre ancient reptile of ridiculous pro-portions. It resembles a modern lizard, with one gigantic excep-tion: its neck is three times as long as its body. Its body is abouttwo feet long with a tail of equal size, while its neck extends a fullsix feet in front of the body before terminating in a small lizard-like head. Strangely, the neck is not particularly flexible, as it onlyhas ten vertebrae!

SOCIETYTanystropheus are always found alone, although they are usu-

ally alone in the same general area – that is, if you find one byitself, you’ll probably find others nearby.

COMBATTanystropheus lurk in tangled jungles. They especially like

areas with vines and thick underbrush. They position their body ina protected area, then snake their head around to observe the areaaround them. When an enemy approaches, they thrust out a seriesof quick bites. Their bite range is aided by their long neck, but theneck’s inflexibility also prevents them from striking enemies atclose range. Their bite attack should be treated as a reach weapon.

Tanystropheus’ hiding ability is due to their skill at blendinginto areas of dense underbrush, where their projecting neck willbe mistaken for a vine.

Poison (Ex):Tanystropheus has a poisonous bite. The poisonis transmitted via injury, and requires a Fort save (DC 16) to count-er. Initial and secondary damage are each 1d4 temporary Dex.

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BYPRODUCTSTanystropheus poison is released from a pair of glands at the

base of its neck. These glands can be harvested and sold for thepoison they contain. Each gland provides 1d4 uses. A gland can besold for $50, though harvesting it is dangerous – it requires aWilderness Lore check (DC 6), and failure has a 50% chance ofsubjecting the character to the poison.

THERIZINOSAURUS (“REAPER”)

TherizinosaurusHuge Animal

Hit Dice: 12d10+36 (102 hp)Initiative: +0Speed: 20 ft.AC: 11 (-2 size, +3 natural)Attacks: 2 claws +13 meleeDamage: Claw 2d6+6Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./10 ft.Special Attacks: NoneSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +11, Ref +8, Will +4Abilities: Str 22, Dex 11, Con 17,

Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 7Skills: Listen +8, Spot +2

Climate/Terrain: Warm plains, forest, hillsOrganization: Solitary or herd (3-5 adults)Challenge Rating: 5Treasure: NoneAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 13-18 HD (Gargantuan)

Therizinosauruses are eccentric theropods. Unlike T-rex andthe other theropods, their 35-foot long bodies are rather plump(almost like the sauropods), with a long neck, small head, andweak jaws. Their front legs are eight feet long and fully function-al, and they sometimes saunter about on all fours. Most notably,they have three-foot long scythe-like claws on their front feet.

SOCIETYTherizinosauruses are highly specialized carnivores. They

feed only on insects. They use their enormous claws to dig up dirt,river bottoms, and even tree trunks in search of prey. They have avoracious appetite and eat constantly, as creatures their size musteat a lot of bugs to stay full!

Some farmers on the plains have used therizinosauruses tohelp till and plow their fields. Simply letting one of the beastsloose on a field will ensure it is well plowed, though a bit errati-cally. Some farmers have had limited success training them toplow in a straight line.

Therizinosauruses speak a dialect of sauropod.

COMBATCompared to the other large theropods, therizinosaurus is

slow, fat, and weak. It does not need strength or power to survive,so it does not have such strength or power. It is considered poten-tial prey by many carnivores, although its claws are intimidatingand most predators would prefer a defenseless duckbill.

Therizinosaurs spend most of their time gazing at the groundas they root around for insects. They count on their hearing to alertthem to danger.

BYPRODUCTSHumans use therizinosaur claws as weapons. They can be

shaped into swords, scimitars, and other weapons of variouslengths. Many wild ones fight with a “reaper claw,” a simple,unhewn therizinosaur claw. A reaper claw has the stats of alongsword.

TRAININGTherizinosaurs can be trained at DC 27 for an adult and DC

20 for a youth. They can carry 1,000 pounds.

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Trilobites are the primordial arthropods of the sea. They canstill be found in many of the waterways of Cretasus. They swimalong river bottoms and scurry in the rocks beside shore, scav-enging for tidbits of plant and animal matter. Many seaside vil-lages must deal with swarms of trilobites attracted by the leftoversof fishing expeditions. Trilobites are not good for eating (they’remore shell than meat) and are considered pests at best and preda-tors at worst.

Although most are only a few inches in length, some commonspecies reach two feet long. The six-foot-long giant trilobites are

mostly found deep at sea,although they have been seennear shore in Plesiosaur Bay.

COMBATAlthough individual trilobites

are mere vermin, swarms aresometimes dangerous. Humanswho have fallen asleep near aswarm have awakened to therasping bites of feeding trilobites.A misstep on a rocky shore couldaccidentally disturb a hiddentrilobite colony, prompting themto file out from beneath the rocksand defend themselves.

VULCANODON (“FLAMER,” “STOMPER”)

VulcanodonHuge Animal

Hit Dice: 14d10+98 (175 hp)Initiative: -2 (Dex)Speed: 30 ft.AC: 8 (-2 size, -2 Dex, +2 natural)Attacks: Bite +9 meleeDamage: Bite 1d6+6Face/Reach: 20 ft. by 10 ft./10 ft.Special Attacks: TrampleSpecial Qualities: ScentSaves: Fort +16, Ref +7, Will +7Abilities: Str 22, Dex 7, Con 25,

Int 5, Wis 16, Cha 6Skills: Spot +6, Listen +4

Climate/Terrain: Warm forestOrganization: Herd (5-20)Challenge Rating: 6Treasure: StandardAlignment: Always neutralAdvancement: 2-4 HD (Large)

Vulcanodons are ponderous, slow sauropods. They grow to20 feet long, which is small for a sauropod. Their powerful buildbut (relatively) small size makes them useful as mounts and beastsof burden, for they are much more easily trained than their larger

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TRILOBITE (“SEA BUGS,” “SCURRIES”)

Trilobite, Common Trilobite, GiantTiny Vermin (Aquatic) Medium-Size Vermin (Aquatic)

Hit Dice: 1/2 1d8 (2 hp) 3d8+3 (17 hp)Initiative: +1 (Dex) -1 (Dex)Speed: 20 ft., swim 20 ft. 20 ft., swim 20 ft.AC: 13 (+2 size, +1 Dex) 10 (+1 natural, -1 Dex)Attacks: Bite +1 melee Bite +2 meleeDamage: Bite 1d4-4 Bite 1d4-1Face/Reach: 2 1/2 ft. by 2 1/2 ft./0 ft. 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.Special Attacks: None NoneSpecial Qualities: Vermin VerminSaves: Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0 Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +1Abilities: Str 2, Dex 13, Con 10, Str 10, Dex 9, Con 12,

Int -, Wis 10, Cha 2 Int -, Wis 10, Cha 5Skills: Hide +5, Spot +2 Hide +2, Spot +4

Climate/Terrain: Any aquatic, shorelines Any aquatic, shorelinesOrganization: Colony (5-10) or swarm (30-100) Colony (5-10) or swarm (30-100)Challenge Rating: 1/8 1Treasure: None NoneAlignment: Always neutral Always neutralAdvancement: 1-2 HD (Small) 4-6 HD (Large)

sauropod relatives. They are named after their brilliant flame-likered and yellow coloration.

SOCIETYVulcanodons prefer forests to open areas. They push their

way through the underbrush, munching as they go. They are quiteeasy to find, as they are brightly colored and leave a trail of flat-tened vegetation. As mounts, they grudgingly travel in open areas– mildly agoraphobic, they get nervous on the plains. They domake good city mounts, being quite comfortable with lots ofclose-range distractions.

Vulcanodons speak a dialect of Sauropod.

COMBATThe bit of a vulcanodon is designed for plants and thus not

particularly dangerous, but sometimes enough to convince a pred-ator to go fight something else.

Trample (Ex): Vulcanodons can trample creatures ofMedium size or smaller. The trample causes 2d12+6 points ofdamage. Opponents who do not make attacks of opportunity maymake a Reflex save (DC 23) to take half damage.

BYPRODUCTSVulcanodons eggs are prized as the hatchlings are relatively

easy to train. A single egg can go for $200.

TRAININGVulcanodons are highly valued as beasts of burden and, to a

lesser degree, as mounts. It takes less effort to train a herd of vul-canodons than a single brachiosaurus, and the herd of vulcan-odons can carry more. More and more caravans are coming to relyon vulcanodons.

A vulcanodon adult can be trained at DC 29, and a youth atDC 22. An adult vulcanodon can carry 13,000 pounds.

Templates

IRONCLAD (Template)

Ironclads are the bipedal walking tanks developed by theUnion with alien assistance. They require a human pilot. In gameterms, an ironclad is treated as a template applied to the pilot whenhe activates the armor. Ironclad armor without a pilot is simply aninert hulk – like a vehicle, it needs someone to drive it!

There are three classes of ironclads. The Monitor is the small-est, the Ulysses is larger, and the Sherman is the largest.

CREATING AN IRONCLAD“Ironclad” is a template that can be added to any pilot who

boards an ironclad and who has the Operate Ironclad skill (seeBroncosaurus RexCore Rulebook, page 38). Pilots without theOperate Ironclad skill are unable to activate the ironclad.

An ironclad uses the pilot’s statistics and special abilitiesexcept as noted here.

Size: Monitor class ironclads are Large (12 ft. tall). Ulysses(16 ft.) and Sherman (20 ft.) class ironclads are Huge.

Hit Dice: The ironclad is fundamentally an armored vehicle.It does not replace the pilot’s hit dice, but it does add hit points,which represent the superstructure of the ironclad itself. These hitpoints are depleted before the pilot takes damage – but critical hitsand a few kinds of weapons may damage the pilot before thesuperstructure is destroyed. If the pilot is killed, the ironclad ceas-es to function.

An ironclad’s hit dice depend on its class. Monitor class iron-clads have 8d10+24 HD (68 hp). Ulysses class ironclads have12d10+36 HD (102 hp), and Sherman class have 18d10+72 HD(171 hp). You don’t have to roll for hit points for standard mili-tary-issue ironclads; they have 68, 102, or 171 hit points depend-ing on class. The HD entry provides limits on the hit points of cus-tomized (“souped-up”) ironclads.

A critical hit against an ironclad indicates a lucky shot thathas penetrated the hull. Determine the crit damage as usual. Halfof it applies to the ironclad itself, and the other half is applied tothe pilot.

Ironclads are treated as vehicles for purposes of critical hitsand negative hit points.

Initiative: The ironclad uses the pilot’s initiative modifier.No Operate Ironclad check is required – a quick pilot (even ifunskilled) makes for a quick ironclad.

Speed:50 ft. for Monitor; 40 ft. for Ulysses and Sherman.Monitor-class ironclads are usually equipped with jump jetswhich allow the ironclad to move up to 300 feet in a single jump.This distance is limited by the jets’ power and cannot be increasedby running. As stated in the Jump skill description, the height of ajump for maximum distance is one-quarter its length. The jets can-not be fired in two successive rounds and they carry enough fuelfor 12 uses. The pilot must make an Operate Ironclad check (DC

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10) to land the suit safely after jumping.AC: Ironclads are fundamentally oversized suits of

powered armor. They have a base AC which indicates thestrength of their armor. This is modified by the ironclad’ssize. In addition, a skilled pilot can maneuver the iron-clad well enough to add his Dex bonus. The pilot’s Dexbonus only applies if he succeeds at an Operate Ironcladcheck (DC 10) (see Broncosaurus RexCore Rulebook,page 38). The max Dex modifier of an ironclad suit is +2.It is added to these base ACs: Monitor AC 22/20 (-1 size,+9 armor, +4/+2 absorption field), Ulysses AC 22/20 (-2size, +10 armor, +4/+2 absorption field), Sherman AC 25(-2 size, +11 armor, +6 vibrofield).

Attacks: An ironclad has two weapon mounts, oneon each shoulder. In Monitor and Ulysses ironclads,these can hold any weapon up to Large size; inShermans; they can hold weapons up to Huge size. Somecustom suits have a third mount in the chest or on theback, though this is not standard Union issue. All iron-clads also feature a grenade dispenser at the waist. Sincethe primary and secondary weapon depends only onwhere the pilot is focusing his attention, the pilot candeclare each round which weapon is primary and whichis secondary. The standard ironclad armament is as fol-lows, though this is modified for special missions. Attackmodifiers are not listed; they vary according to abilityscore modifiers and the usual rules for fighting with mul-tiple weapons.

Monitor: Two oversized hydraulic claws; grenadelauncher, 10 smoke and 10 frag grenades

Ulysses: Oversized hydraulic claw, heavy machinegun; grenade launcher, 10 smoke and 10 frag grenades

Sherman: Heavy machine gun, howzer; grenadelauncher, 10 smoke and 10 frag grenades

Damage: Damage by weapon plus the appropriateability modifier. A hydraulic claw does 3d8 points of damage plusthe ironclad’s Str modifier.

Face/Reach:10 ft. by 10 ft./10 ft.Special Attacks: Trample (Ex): An ironclad can trample

creatures smaller than itself, although only a good pilot canremain standing after a trample! The pilot must succeed at anOperate Ironclad check (DC 15) or the ironclad falls over. Even ifit falls over, there is a 25% chance that it will trample an opponentin the process. Trampled opponents take damage according to theironclad’s size: 1d8+5 for Monitors, 2d8+7 for Ulysses, and3d8+10 for Shermans. Trampled opponents who do not makeattacks of opportunity can attempt Reflex saves for half damage.The save is DC 18 for Monitors, 21 for Ulysses, and 25 forShermans.

Special Defenses: Damage Reduction 20; Construct.Anironclad is a machine. As such, it is not affected by poisons. Theironclad suit itself is not vulnerable to genetic or psychicweapons, though powerful examples of those weapons may pene-trate the suit and damage the pilot.

Saves: Ref and Will saves use the pilot’s save. Fort savesdepend on the ironclad’s construction, as follows: Monitor +8,Ulysses +12, Sherman +18. Use the pilot’s Fort save if it is better.

Abilities: The ironclad uses the Dex, Int, Wis, and Cha scoresof its pilot. Its Str and Con depend on its class as follows:

Str ConMonitor 20 (+5) 16 (+3)Ulysses 24 (+7) 17 (+3)Sherman 30 (+10) 18 (+4)

Skills: All ironclads have the Jump skill: 16 ranks forMonitors, 12 for Ulysses, and 8 for Sherman. Including Str andarmor check modifiers, this nets out to Jump +13 for Monitors,Jump +11 for Ulysses, and Jump +10 for Shermans. You shoulduse the pilot’s Jump skill if better. All other skills are as the pilot,though the ironclad’s ability scores are used if applicable. An iron-clad suit has a -8 armor check penalty.

Feats:Same as the pilot.Challenge Rating:As pilot, plus 6 (Monitor), 7 (Ulysses), or

8 (Sherman).

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IndexAlbertosaurus . . . . . . . . . .9-10, 107Alien Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . .97-99Aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .See ScrayAllosaur, Old Ned the . . . . . . . . . .43Animal Empathy . . . . . . . . . . .58-59Armor

As Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . . .99Bioceramic . . . . . .99, 118-119Dino Hide . . . . . . . . . . . .79-80Dinosaurs and . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Army of Solaris . . . . . . . . . . .35, 37Art Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95-96Assoc. for Mutual Protection . . . .44Bargain Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Barrister House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Bay Side Company . . . . . .47-48, 95Bay Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47-54Bayou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45-46Big Al’s Bronco Rodeo . . . . . .22-23Black Jungle . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44-45Bowie, General . . . . . .34-35, 37-39Brisbane, Colonel . . . . . . . . . .41-43Bubble Berry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Butlers, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23-26C.P.C.K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18-19Cabal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42, 67, 72Carey, Calhoun . . . . . . . . .55, 56, 58Ceratopsians . . . . . . . . . . . . .70, 108Chatham Theatre . . . . . . . . . .12, 16Cheirolepis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109City Hall (of New Savannah) . . . .12Coelurosauravus . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Crowe, Jonas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Crystal Desert . . . . . .30-33, 114-115Danjow River . . . . . . . . .29-32, 103Decker, Col. Paul . . . . . . .19-20, 22Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79, 80Dino Warriors . . . .21-22, 35-37, 65

Dinosaur Cavalry . . . . . .70-71Hatcheries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Prestige Class . . . . . . . . .74-76

Dinopathy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58-59Dinosaurs . . . . .55-73, 88-94, 104-126

Aquatic . . . . . . . . .72, 113, 116Belly Rubbing . . . . . . . . . . .50Coloration . . . . . . . . . .104-105Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Cooking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Cyborged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Flying . . . . . . .72, 88, 116-117Hunting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68-69Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . .55-58Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66-67Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Mounts . . . . . . . . .88-89, 92-94Movement Speed . . . . . . . . .89Mutations . . . . . . . . . .104-106New Savannah, In . . . . . .17-18Picture Shows . . . . . . . . .69-70Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94

Ranching . . . . . . . . . . . . .64-65Singers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57, 58Smuggling . . . . . . . . .61, 67-68Subspecies . . . . . . . . . .104-106Thrum . . . . . . . . .58, 59, 63, 72Tool Use . . . . . . . . . . . . .56-57See also individual species

Dons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Dryosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89, 108Duckbill Moss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Duckbilled Dinosaurs . . . . . . . . .112Duels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Dukes, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23-26Dunkleosteus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Egg Warmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80Encounter Tables . . . . . . . . .100-103Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79-80Eurypterid . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111-112Fast Talker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Federal Marshals . . . . .40-42, 76-77Fort Apache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49-51Fort Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39-43Fort Tecumseh . . . . . . . . . . . . .34-39Frog & Spanner . . . . . . . . . . . .21-22Frot Gut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Fur River . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44, 45, 88Gaines Gang . . . . .19, 20, 21, 22, 26Garsville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Gerrothorax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Gilmore Homestead . . . . . . . . . . .44Glass Blood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Grand Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Great Library . . . . . . . . . .see LogosHadrosaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112Hampshire Mines . . . . . . . . . .41-42Hideout Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Hollow Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Hollow-point Ammo . . . . . . . .10, 79Hood, Nathanial . . . . . . . .10-11, 15Inland Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Iron, Laila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Ironclads . . . .7, 41-42, 63, 126-127

See also ScrayKelly, Nathanial . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Kitty’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Kronosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . .113-114Labidosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Lake Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . .34, 43-44Lantern Crystal . . . . . . . . . . . .32-33Laser Sniper Rifle . . . . . . . . . .69, 79Lefitte, Captain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53Leptoceratops . . . . . . . . . .see ZulepsLevers, William T. . . . . . . . . . .21-22Listen checks and Cretasus . . . . . .55Logos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29-32

Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . .103See also Crystal Desert

Long Ridge Hatchery . . . . . . . . . .39Machinists . . . . . . . . .32, 71, 78, 79Main Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-54

Mammoth Valley . . . . . . . .5, 56, 58McCauley, Marshal . . . . . . . . . . . .42McQuarry Brothers . . . . . . . . .27-28Microsensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70, 80Miller’s Crossroads . . .37, 41, 43-44Monoclonius . . . . . . . . .88, 108-109Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . .See IroncladMontague, Richard . . . . . . . . . . . .19Mount Crowe . . . . . . . . . . . . .19-23New Savannah . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-19Northwestern Plains . . . . . . . . . . .54NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84-87

See also individual NPCsOffice of Agriculture . . . . . . . .14-15Office of Civil Defense . . . . . . . .15Office of Public Welfare . . . . . . . .14Office of Public Works . . . . . . . . .14Office of Trade and Industry . . .15-16Old Ned the Allosaur . . . . . . . . . .43Ornitholestes . . . . . . . .60-61, 67, 95

See also ZagmoOthelthwaite, Jeremiah . . . . . .15-16Oviraptors . . . . . . . . . . . . .39, 59-60Permanent Enhancement . . . . . . .79Peltrobatrachus . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Peterson Precinct . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Platyhystrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120Plesiosaur Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . .51-54Plesiosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116Police, New Savannah . . . . . . . . .13Porter, Hepsediah . . . . . . . .5-19, 32Price, Dr. Ezekial P. . . . . . . . . . . .48Protoceratops

Amnesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Art Objects . . . . . . . . . . .95-96Conclave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Hollow Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . .55-56New Savannah, In . . . . .17, 84Thrum and . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Underglen . . . . . . . . . . . .18,48 See also Logos, qrfel, vrthu

qrfel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Quetzalcoatlus . . . . . . . .88, 116-117Raptors . . . . . . . . .See VelociraptorsReactive Truncheon . . . . . . . . . . .79Reaper Claw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124Red Claws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Resonator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56, 80Rifleman, 2nd South Carolina . . . .20Rough Riders . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-14Scray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56, 117-118

New Savannah, In . . . . .14, 84See also Ironclads

Sea Scorpions . . . . . . . . . . .111-112Sesquiped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Settlements, Generating . . . . .81-84Sheriff’s Office . . . . . . . . . . . .13-14Sherman . . . . . . . . . . . . .see IroncladShouter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56, 80

Silvia Jameson . . . . . . . . . . . .21, 22Singers, Dinosaur . . . . . . . . . .57, 58Skill Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Small Game . . . . . . . . . . . .119, 120Song Crystal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Southwestern Plains . . . . . . . .43-45Spaceport . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 14-15Sparkle Root . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Spinosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . .120-121Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21, 50Stenonychosaurus . . . . . . . .122-123Styracosaurus . . . . . . . . . . .108-109Tanystropheus . . . . . . . . . . .123-124Tax Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Tecumseh Trail . . . . . . . . . . . .34-46Therizinosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . .124Thrum . . . . . . . . . . . . .58, 59, 63, 72Thud Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80Thunder Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Towns, Generating . . . . . . . . .81-84Trail Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . .103Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95-100Trilobite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125Tyro Musk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80Ulysses . . . . . . . . . . . . .See IroncladUnderglen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18, 48Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89-94

Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89-92Typical Stats . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

VelociraptorsColoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Cree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Dark Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Inaka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Kerosaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Kidnappings . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Lettoko . . . . . . . . . . .36, 38-39New Savannah, In . . . . . . . .17Thunder Hills . . . . . . . . . . . .70Thrum and . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Tool use and . . . . . . . . . .56-57War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63White Branch . . . . . .49. 69-70Wild Ones and . . . . . . . . . . .64

Vicente Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44vrthu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Vulcanodon . . . . . . . . . . . . .125-126Warp Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Dinosaur hunting and . . . . . .69Wild Ones . . . . . . . . . .59, 63-64, 82Wilderness Lore and Listen . . . . .55Windham, Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Winthorpe, Edgar . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Wylde, Zeke . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10, 13Zagmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Zuleps . . . . . . . .30-33, 103, 114-115