Fun fact: The tail on a stegosaurus is called a thagomizer. Because of a joke in an old Far Side comic where they comment it was named in honor of Thag.
They even combined the scientific names of them. Deinonychus antirrhopus. Velociraptor mongoliensis. In the movie/book they are called velociraptor antirrhopus. There are also close similarities to Utahraptor, which is another cool dino.
Crichton was referencing Gregory S. Paul's 1988 book "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World", which lumped Velociraptor and Deinonychus into the same genus. This is a classification that paleontologists have since largely rejected. The "Velociraptor" portrayed in the JP movie is larger still, about the size of Achillobator.
@@Thagomizer I also remember reading a fictional story called "Raptor Red" about a female Utahraptor, and the author mentions that the movie's raptors also drew heavy inspiration from that species as well.
@WolfMoon Studios Oh I loved that book. The first xenofiction I'd ever read. I still have my copy. Falling apart, dog-eared, torn in places, and still read through at least twice a year.
I made a half Red Dragon T-Rex for a 3rd ed game a few years back. My players were totally unprepared for an intelligent T-Rex that had a cone of flame as a breath weapon.
Ha ha! That is so nasty, I love it. I once planned to use a black half dragon that had been transformed into a draconic mind flayer, but the campaign ended before they got to meet that nightmare boss.
I actually went with a journey to the center of the earth feel with a artificial sun. So while my players haven't seen it yet I think they'll be laughing before yelling at me that I have duergar riding around on dinosaurs
I like the idea of dinosaurs being a major theme in Maztica. In my homebrew setting, the only place with dinosaurs is the "New World" equivalent, where there are no dragons.
On my current D&D game we use Dinosaurs and Mammalian Mega Fauna a lot because for our setting, we actually a month ago met a really strange Tribe of Orcs who became completely Vegan to emulate things like Therozinasaurs, Giant Ground Sloths, and and Theropods. They where a nasty bunch they used gauntlets made of wood and bone with the Claws of Therozinasaurs and Ground Sloths. They where also massive with even bigger tusks used to strip bark and dig up roots. They where so massive and had hide so thick the local Elven People had to develop new weapons to put them down massive Two Person Bows where one person held and aimed the bow and the second person was the person to draw the string back that loosed a Lance sized arrow
I think Forgotten Realms and Eberron have the right idea of having Dinosaurs in their own sections of the world. I have given Dinosaurs their own planet/plane of existence in my homebrew multi-verse. They are more rare sights on the main world.
The Great White Shark is not a very primitive shark. Yes, not as "modern" as hammerheads but still fairly derived compared with sand tiger sharks and deep sea sharks.
I would always locate them in an isolated area that is hard to reach from the outside world. Like on an macro island surrounded by razor reefs and constant storms. The only humanoids on it are the survivors of shipwrecks of crews trying to sail through the area, but leaving would be close to impossible The storms could also interfere with magical or technological teleportation in and out of the region, so once you're there you're pretty much stuck.
AJ Pickett When Annihilation comes out, you should do a Jurrassic Park side campaign. A human Merchant Prince College of Valor or Lore bard has a large swath of land where he gives guided tours of dinosaurs. He has a group of followers that protect the tourists and act as guides. He, also, has an tiefling artificer and elven wizard who help the eggs grow faster and do experiments on them, aka like adding element or other creature types to them, in secret to any guests. There is a wild dwarf big game hunter conclave of beasts ranger with a raptor as a pet. But, there is one ghostwise halfling, he was kicked out of his tribe for acts just like this, mastermind rogue who wants to sabotage an excavation, so he can take the eggs to Waterdeep for profit. There is a tabaxi jungle circle of the land druid that knows nature always finds a way as well as a gnome nature and half-elf life domain clerics of Ubtao who want to see if he would approve. I'm bored lol!
Dimetradon is older than dinosaurs by a large margain. They are from before when dinosaurs existed and is more closely related to people than dinos. It is " dyno sue kiss" just so you know . i cant spell greatly well but i am pretty ok with pronunciations .
BODAK T-REX I recommend you modify the T-rex to a Yutyrannus if you want to have it in a colder climate because the Yutyrannus was basically a T-rex but much more adapted to the colder climates of northeastern China.
It is taking all my restraint to only say Dimetrodon wasn’t a dinosaur it’s the ancestor of mammals and neither are pliosaurs, which are marine reptiles. Also it’s Die-non-ickus
I hate to be a nitpick, but Paleontology Nazi that I am, I have to point out a few things: The name Pteranodon means "Winged and Toothless", because it is indeed both of these things. "Pteros" means wing, "-odon" means tooth, and the prfix "a" or "an" means "without". The way you pronounced it "Pterodon" would mean "winged tooth". The creature pictured at 4:09 is a Camarasaurus, not a Brontosaurus. Camarasaurus was the most common sauropod in Late Jurassic North America, living alongside Brontosaurus, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, Torvosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Allosaurus, etc. But for some reason, it doesn't have as much pop culture exposure. It had stats in 1st edition D&D, though, and so did the rest of those guys. Less powerful than Diplodocus (no tail-whip), and less hit points, but it's much more plentiful. The creature pictured at 8:20 is a Parasaurolophus, a lambeosaurine. "Hadrosaur" is a good umbrella term to denote the superfamily which includes Hardosaurinae and Lambeosaurinae etc. But Hadrosaurus itself is not particularly well known. I don't know why it would be given specific attention in 5e when there are other, more quintessential hadrosaurs that could have been statted out instead, like Edmontosaurus, Brachylophosaurus, Lambeosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Shangtungosaurus, etc. you could probably simulate any of these dinosaurs using the same stats, with some hit point modifications where appropriate. Heck, they really should have included Iguanodon as well. Two thumb spike attacks in addition to a tail lash! And it's damn big to boot. The name "Quetzalcoatlus" is obviously derived from Quetzalcoatl, since it was found around Texas and Mexico. As such, I think it would be pronounced the same way, with the "-us" at the end. But perhaps this could even be an Easter egg in a game set in Maztica. Maybe a Quetzalcoatl worshipping cult trains these? Maybe (and this would truly be outlandish), there could be some breed of these creatures replacing the Coatl in certain settings, retaining the same stats, but with Coatl's intelligence, alignment, role and abilities. Regarding Triceratops, most depictions in pop culture have grossly understated the lethal power of this beast. This was such a nasty and dangerous animal, larger and stronger than an elephant and with the same muscular build as a hippo. I truly hate that stupid "herbivores are friendly" trope all the JP movies have used. Elephants, Hippos, and Cape Buffalo are the most dangerous animals in Africa, and they're all herbivores. The ceratopsids may have even been omnivorous, too. It seems now that they were more like giant boars than dinosaurian bovines or rhinos. I don't know if you've covered these guys in the past, but I'm very glad the Froghemoth (seen around 12:45) has been included in Volo's new guide. I don't think they've been in print for a long time.
Lol. Your name gives away your affection for dinosaurs. I completely agree. It irritated me in Jurassic world when the ankylosaurus turned tail and tried to run from the plotasaurus instead of presenting their tail and pounding it into hamburger meat. Seriously. They are tanks armed with wrecking balls. Why would they run away.
If my memory is correct, the only "friendly" herbivores in the Jurassic Park movies are the Triceratops in the first, who was sick and could barely move, the Brachiosaurus also from the first, who is so large that it has no reason to find humans threatening, and a couple of babies in Jurassic World's petting zoo. The Lost World and Fallen Kingdom depicted Stegosaurs and Pachycephalosaurs as quite dangerous too.
I could see these being in a similar ecology to Giants. A Fire Giant going into battle on top of a T-Rex sounds like something I will throw at my players in the future.
I've been thinking about creating a race of Dino-like humanoids, kinda like the Voth in star trek, which would be a collective race of several different sub-races that had evolved from the different types Dinosaurs. Which might serve a niche in a setting like the Lizardmen races do, if you chose to not include them, or had this type of race as a ancestor of the Lizardmen in such a setting. I do remember there being some Dino-races at some point in D&D, but it has been quite sometime since I read up on them.
You reminded me of the insanity of my DM that used Dinosaurs... We fought an adult red dragon and managed to knock it prone into a mud pool. Our Druid wild shaped into a Tyrannous Rex and began to devour the Red Dragon. The weirdness began that after eating the Red Dragon, the Druid's T-Rex form had a property changed. Became Fire affinity with Fire Immunity and attacks inflicted Fire Based damage. I stopped and asked my DM why or how this happen? "Roll me an Arcana Check." ... I happen to be playing a Barbarian with an INT dump stat.
hey AJ! I love your vids, and they help me with my on going campaign to make the enemies feel more deep and alive. however I was wondering if you could do a series on the common/interesting deities? the DM and Player handbooks don't explain what the gods expect from followers. I know it's not in depth so the DM has control, but for on the fly situations it's impossible. thanks and keep up the fantastic videos!
If you ever play the game Ark Survival Evolved everyone gives up and calls all the creatures including mammals like a Mammoth and Megelaceros and fantasy creatures like a Wyvern a "Dino" even though probably 80% or more of the player base knows better.
It is a bit like that yeah, the Human's of Chult (also called Tabaxi actually) migrated from there (I wonder if they brought Dingos with them, and how long before they all got eaten by Death Turkeys).
fair enough. tho fun note, recent research indicates that large pterosaurs probably lived on the plains. they'd have an advantage over larger birds because the used the same muscles to take of as to fly, while birds use their leg muscles to take off so they can get away with being heaveyer!
Great video, as always. Still, a few "real world" corrections: Pleiosaures, ichiosaures and pterodons are NOT dinosaurs, and sharks are definitely not mammals. Also, although relatively clumsy on the ground, it seems that Quetzalcoatlus could maneuver reasonably well there, and could kick themselves into flight in one large leap (strongly assisted by the front-limbs). Quetzalcoatlus definitely had the muscle attachments for active flight, so although they could glide quite well, there would have been more if a wing-flapper than our vultures and albatross (closer to a large bird of prey that glide most of the time, but would fly very actively at the final stage of a hunt, or just for takeoff) I know that does not affect the game, but still...
I don't know about that, but yes: between flight athleticism and maintaining the right blood pressure in the head when it moves up and down, the cardiovascular system of these beasts must have been very unique. Even on our giraffes [for which we have the full physiology AND behavior], we still (as far as I know) do not fully understand how their heads do not explode every time they drink...
I get that D&D dinosaurs are entirely different from real dinosaurs, but my OCD is killing me with the fact that dimetrodon was a synapsid, not a dinosaur, and pterosaurs were an entirely different group from dinosaurs.
DIE-nah-NUH-cus. Mid sized (about wolf sized) dromeosaur aka "raptors ". Also fun fact: Dimetrodon was not a dinosaur but rather a synapsid, a group of reptiles that have been thought to be ancestral to mammals.
Dimetrodon is not a Dinosaur. It is an ancient reptile, that existed in the early to mid Permian Period. The raptor you're talking about is pronounced Die-na-nie-cus.
There's a travelling animatronic dino exhibit at the Phoenix zoo right now; standing 6-10' from life sized, reasonably realistic dinos is pretty thrilling and gives you a greater appreciation of an animal, particularly a predator, at that size. I highly recommend it to anyone who has one visit their area.
In real life, if your bitten by a T-rex, your dead, there is no going back, that bite force is so powerful that you will die just from it biting the tip of your tow... ok so I exdurated.
An alternative prime material plane (1980s gamer here) had dinosaurs never go extinct. They became Saurians, their version of humans, demi-humans and humanoids.
The1e Monster Manual and Monster Manual II (from 1977 and 1983) have a huge menagerie of dinosaurs to choose from, much bigger than what the later editions provided. Tanystropheus, Coelophysis (Podokesaurus), Dilophosaurus, Temnodontosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Massospondylus, Mamenchisaurus, and more. For the most part, their stats are relatively accurate, though the Iguanodon is underpowered, the Stegosaurus is overpowered, and the sauropods are swamp-dwellers. Despite this, it would be fairly easy to convert the stats of 1e dinosaurs into another ruleset. In the DMG, Gygax made note on the dinosaur subtable that the creatures present didn't come from the same time period, but in his view, the provided a "highly interesting mix", and suggested that the DM devise his own encounter tables for the Triassic Jurassic, Cretaceous, or any other period desired if they wanted to. This is an interesting suggestion, because while our D&D world doesn't need to conform to real history in regard to the mere coexistence of certain creatures, it might be good to consider the ecological conditions of varying Mesozoic biomes accordingly. It could even add a certain amount of depth to the game world. In an arid Jurassic environment, for instance, there would be no grasses or flowering plants of any kind. Would this affect anyone with a herbalism skill or the workings of a mage or priest who needs another sort of component not found in the area? Would these places be lethal hotbeds of insects and disease for non-locals? How might a tribe of humans, demi-humans, or humanoids live in such places if they had to? A good book to expand on this sort of research might be "Dinosaur Odyssey" by Scott D. Sampson, which goes over this sort of thing, sometimes in visceral detail. The sort of biome of Jurassic North America was utterly unique and we haven't seen anything like it since. According to Sampson, the space needed to recreate the appropriate Jurassic milieu and sustain the number and variety of animals would pretty much cover all of North America, rather than a tiny isolated island. In the planes, of course, this problem is easily remedied.
oh Men i remember in an odl video when i wished (and comment) fot you to tackle dinosaurs and paleo fauna and you finally manage it to get to it amazing great video and thanks :) !!! (still waiting fo paleo fauna but i'm sure you will get to it evetually too)
That's one of the conundrums with the fantasy world of Abeir-Toril, it doesn't have a fossil record and incredibly ancient plant & animal life, the whole planet is only 32489 years old, because it was remade by Ao when he split the planet into Abeir and Toril. But, there are all sorts of critters on it, and I will get around to them eventually :)
In my world dinosaurs exist on what today we would call the mammoth step and the grasslands of the Sahara because apparently grasslands are incredibly good at feeding large numbers of massive grazing animals since it grows so fast
We desided to go full jurassic Park let me say this the 6ft velociraptor is 10 times more terrifying not just the size up and stat boost but the fact only 3 almost whipped out a level 4 party of 6 people
YES DINOSUARS AND PREHSITORIC CREATURES!. pleasersors. their are also sort necked varieties also their necks were likely not that flexible. dimetredon is actually more related to mammals then dinosuars. its in the ears yes got it right velocirpators aren't that big and are feathered seems like even JP had a paleontologist on staff dnd still is more accurate in that regard. also t-rex young were also apparently covered in feathers of down like stuff and lost most of it when they grow up. also a few suggestions for things that may not be found in the dnd books. Leviathan melvillei (the real killer whale). Quetzalcoatlus (its a bird, its a plane, its RUN!!) megaraptor (probably not related to the other raptor dinos) Paraceratherium (pfft elephants) terror birds. Cronopio Dentiacutus (name it scrat) Kaprosuchus (aka boar croc) Kronosaurus maybe some demon prince who favors dinos and similar life forms (if one doesn't already exist). dire dinos/prehistoric creatures. some jobba the hutt like character with a pet t-rex instead of a rancor. etc
A Deinonychus(pronounced di-non-i-kus) was about the exact same size as the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park NOT smaller, although Velociraptors in real life WERE the size of turkeys, for some reason in Jurassic Park they made them bigger
A little off topic but interesting to work into the story if you're inclined to, in the yugioh anime they explain that in dule monsters either dinosaurs come from dragons or the other way around. I always thought of it as an interesting idea and have thought about doing that in one of my worlds as an explanation of how overtime dragons have become rare or dinosaurs exist in greater numbers than them but it's not something I've done yet but maybe one day 🤔
you mentioned dinosaurs with lycanthrope? do you mean a dinosaur afflicted with lycanthrope or a person who changes to a dino-form on the full moon? A were-Deinonychus (dine-o-ni-kous) could be seriously cool. They would be roughly wolf sized and with claws, toe claws, and bite attack be more than a match for much of anything. Doesnt the afflicted require sentient intelligence? In a tangential question, is there a conservation of mass to polymorph and lycanthrope? I'm guessing not cause of the whole dragon to humanoid polymorph, but it has always bugged me. It's one thing for a ton sized dragon turning into a 250 pound man but always liked the idea of a fully adult wizard polymorphing into a hamster and finding himself a 250 pound hamster.
There is no excuse for portraying a featherless dromaeosaurid (i.e. "raptor") in ANY context whatsoever. I have no sympathy for anyone who whines about their ruined childhood and their memories of Jurassic Park. How small-minded is it to prefer a childhood chimeras without stopping to contemplate that dinosaurs are a real part of our world and our planet's history! How does this fact NOT blow your mind? It's almost like a religious revelation. The real thing was richer, more complex, more beautiful, more subtle, and less predictable than anything that could have been imagined by a fantasy or sci-fi writer. On the other hand, the more derived Tyrannosaurids (Tyrannosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Tarbosaurus) appear to have had fairly standard mosaic scales on the basis of what we've found so far.
I'm curious. Can elemental infusion translate into entirely new species, or will the offspring be born normal? Because I have this image in my head of a entire sub-species of T. Rex that have developed an affinity for ice and I'm wondering if that would be at all feasible in a traditional D&D setting.
Your comments about sharks was very interesting. Would never have picked the great white as the primitive one. I watched a documentary where a guy used a fossilized shark tooth to open a can. Also on the list of living prehistoric creatures. Crocodiles. I believe the prehistoric ones were enormous. On the behemoths though. Didn't 4e have both the macetail behemoth and an ankylosaurus?
I've used dinosaurs in my campaign. And how I introduced them to the players actually worked. Do it a lot like Jurassic Park: you have the party wandering up a hill and when they reach the top and see the other side, there is a MASSIVE herd of various dinosaurs. Brachiosaurus, stegosaurus, anklyosaurus, triceratops... all herbavores. Where are the carnivores? Probably following the herd to take any sickly ones? So... Behind them, maybe even you? They'd be around. ;) And truly, having the party deal with either a herd of stampeding triceratops or a very very hungry T-rex is quite the riot at times. I also had dinosaurs spread out just a little more than just on Chult, though that is still where greatest concentration could be found. You'd be able to find stray herds here and there up the west coast of far'run and in the South, in general.
@@RokuroCarisu not that it's bad but Prionosuchs is a fish eater, not a serious threat compared to Koolacucus who attacked small to medium animals like modern crocodiles
It would be cool to have dinosaurs if you want a jurassic park or dinotopia campaign, in chult they feel out of place, tolkien didn't have dinosaur in middle earth, but for a pulpy land before time or prehistoric campaign they are awesome.
The first forgotten realms book, the villain is a T Rex. Very disappointing to look it up and find that out, but was described as such in hindsight, and the party DID make a big deal about his footprint once
Well, they certainly do, but for the purpose of our ease of reference, the Earth names are used (though the creatures on Toril are not actually dinosaurs, so, a Toril T-Rex could not breed with an Earth T-Rex).
really like this video. a while ago I watched Kong: Skull Island. and the gears started turning. and having a fondness for Dinobots. lol yep I went here. but the Dinobots (warforges) are like Kong and are the protectors of this lost area of land. depending on how the players I interact determines them a threat, or friend, or indifferent.
Funny how they put brontosaurus in d&d, as it is not in fact real, it was the result of a brachiosaurus body being put together with a camrasaurus neck and head, although it is in an alternate dimension
I put a dire tyrannosaurus in my game that was the result of a genetic experiment that was let loose to see how deadly it was. The locals think that its a wingless red dragon with small arms. In game its only believed to be a rumor, but when my players ever go deeper into the wilderness they'll soon learn the truth. And a bunch of Jurassic park references will ensue.
Dude, these dinosaurs could easily out-pace even dragons with the aid of a powerful wizard. Think about it: celestial teleporting velociraptors, with lightning breath.
yay for random earth biology lesson! interesting to not that ocean environments are reletively constant over evolutinary time periods when compared to land. maybe it has to do with the water reducing temperature changes where land has more variation? i mean, fish or things that look like fish have existed for so long filling the same giant niches so the ecosystem built up from that has also ben pretty stable
True, and some of the most extreme creatures are found in water, such as crabs that live in total darkness, feeding on exotic bacteria at the spires of volcanic vents.
That may not be exactly true. We know that during parts of the permian many of the shalow marine environments (the richest and most diverse) dried up as part of the end permaian extinction event. We also think that the ocean lost most of its below surface oxegen levels; again part of the end permian (I think; I could be off on that one). Also we know that global cooling wiped out much of the marine Mega fauna during the eocene Something to do with the abundance of food. You have to reemember that the open ocean is something of a dersert when it comes to food sources. Again not certain why bu I think it could be to do with disolved mineral abundances for algea growth.
Rob Young The evolution of land animals is so diverse due to way more ecosystems. The deeper oceans have remained MORE constant. By no means does that mean they've been stable, but the niches that need filled have remained dominated for centuries. As the temperatures rise there will be more extinctions, therefore more species will have to evolve to fill the niches left by said extinctions.
you guys are right, there are more niches than originally came to mind when i wrote the comment. is a shame that the marine-life-style of creatures in fantasy worlds always end up as fish, crab, and octopus. why not giant anemonies that ponder the meaning of life? (i guess d&d has the flumph), or eels that maraud around eating everything?
Look at some of the erly weird stuff for inspriation. Sea scorpians, Animalorarids, Grapholytes, bellomites Plachioderms, Tullimonster and the opabinia. The cambrian brought out some really weird sea life.
How hard would it be to tame dinos as mounts, I'm guessing it's next to impossible in this game. By the by I'm talking large theropods like rex or the raptor's.
Id go that dinosuars are a older species of drakes why mainly cause in real world lore dinosaur or prehistoric animal bones were often mistaken for dragon bones or other mythical creature or make dinosaurs an off shoot of dragons more akin to drakes and wyverns.
My Homebrew is a Chult-like continent Mercer's Exandria. I've got Feysaur, Shadesaur, all manner of elemental dinosaurs and the particularly nasty Demosaurs, which are dinosaurs captured and warped by the Demon Lords. Yeenoghu's Deinonychus are not fun for my PCs.
Fun fact: The tail on a stegosaurus is called a thagomizer. Because of a joke in an old Far Side comic where they comment it was named in honor of Thag.
Damn straight!
RIP Thag Simmons
And at the time scientists didn't actually have a name for it so they saw the comic and said "yeah, that works" and starter using it in papers
The velociraptor in jurassic park were originally supposed to be deinonychus, but the writer of the book thought the name velociraptor was better.
The mind boggles... I read some of that writers work.. got half way through the Sphere novel and got bored with it.
They even combined the scientific names of them.
Deinonychus antirrhopus.
Velociraptor mongoliensis.
In the movie/book they are called velociraptor antirrhopus. There are also close similarities to Utahraptor, which is another cool dino.
Crichton was referencing Gregory S. Paul's 1988 book "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World", which lumped Velociraptor and Deinonychus into the same genus. This is a classification that paleontologists have since largely rejected. The "Velociraptor" portrayed in the JP movie is larger still, about the size of Achillobator.
@@Thagomizer I also remember reading a fictional story called "Raptor Red" about a female Utahraptor, and the author mentions that the movie's raptors also drew heavy inspiration from that species as well.
@WolfMoon Studios Oh I loved that book. The first xenofiction I'd ever read. I still have my copy. Falling apart, dog-eared, torn in places, and still read through at least twice a year.
I made a half Red Dragon T-Rex for a 3rd ed game a few years back. My players were totally unprepared for an intelligent T-Rex that had a cone of flame as a breath weapon.
Ha ha! That is so nasty, I love it. I once planned to use a black half dragon that had been transformed into a draconic mind flayer, but the campaign ended before they got to meet that nightmare boss.
That would of been an excellent boss monster. To bad they never got to meet it.
Sounds like a sentient Anjanath.
_slowly pulls out Kadachi Kaina_
@@TheUnholyHandGrenade hehe
Dude suck. Would you mind if I do something similar in one of my games
6:40 If we’re being technical dimetrodon’s are actually synapsids meaning they are more closely related to us/mammals.
I actually went with a journey to the center of the earth feel with a artificial sun. So while my players haven't seen it yet I think they'll be laughing before yelling at me that I have duergar riding around on dinosaurs
Angry Dwarves on Angry dinosaurs.. I like it.
Fun fact - T-Rex is as far removed in time from Stegosaurus as we are from T-Rex.
further. there is 80 million years between Stegosaurus and T.rex, where there is 65 million years between us and T.rex
@@markusnavergard2387 that just makes me think like damn that's a lot of years
Which also means a T-Rex fighting a stegosaurus is more anachronistic than a T-Rex riding a moped.
Which also means a T-Rex fighting a stegosaurus is more anachronistic than a T-Rex riding a moped.
That's a hypothesis
I like the idea of dinosaurs being a major theme in Maztica. In my homebrew setting, the only place with dinosaurs is the "New World" equivalent, where there are no dragons.
On my current D&D game we use Dinosaurs and Mammalian Mega Fauna a lot because for our setting, we actually a month ago met a really strange Tribe of Orcs who became completely Vegan to emulate things like Therozinasaurs, Giant Ground Sloths, and and Theropods. They where a nasty bunch they used gauntlets made of wood and bone with the Claws of Therozinasaurs and Ground Sloths. They where also massive with even bigger tusks used to strip bark and dig up roots. They where so massive and had hide so thick the local Elven People had to develop new weapons to put them down massive Two Person Bows where one person held and aimed the bow and the second person was the person to draw the string back that loosed a Lance sized arrow
All this time I kept thinking Dinosaurs didn’t exist in that world, but it turns out they do
I think Forgotten Realms and Eberron have the right idea of having Dinosaurs in their own sections of the world.
I have given Dinosaurs their own planet/plane of existence in my homebrew multi-verse. They are more rare sights on the main world.
Dinosaurs actually did live in environments where it snowed near the poles, so it's scientifically justified to add some to cooler climates.
but i here they died out do to cold, so i'd doubt it
Espically with all the feathered therapods we got now. It will be really interesting if we can learn more about their avian like metabolism.
Scientist. Agree that dinosaurs are at most partly if not all warm blooded animals much like there bird kin!
Just cover them in penguin style fur/feathers and their good to go. Lol
Yup I can think of one of the top of my head, that's cryolophosaurus
The Great White Shark is not a very primitive shark. Yes, not as "modern" as hammerheads but still fairly derived compared with sand tiger sharks and deep sea sharks.
I would always locate them in an isolated area that is hard to reach from the outside world. Like on an macro island surrounded by razor reefs and constant storms. The only humanoids on it are the survivors of shipwrecks of crews trying to sail through the area, but leaving would be close to impossible The storms could also interfere with magical or technological teleportation in and out of the region, so once you're there you're pretty much stuck.
Welcome Chultassic Park.
spared no expense.
AJ Pickett When Annihilation comes out, you should do a Jurrassic Park side campaign. A human Merchant Prince College of Valor or Lore bard has a large swath of land where he gives guided tours of dinosaurs. He has a group of followers that protect the tourists and act as guides. He, also, has an tiefling artificer and elven wizard who help the eggs grow faster and do experiments on them, aka like adding element or other creature types to them, in secret to any guests. There is a wild dwarf big game hunter conclave of beasts ranger with a raptor as a pet. But, there is one ghostwise halfling, he was kicked out of his tribe for acts just like this, mastermind rogue who wants to sabotage an excavation, so he can take the eggs to Waterdeep for profit. There is a tabaxi jungle circle of the land druid that knows nature always finds a way as well as a gnome nature and half-elf life domain clerics of Ubtao who want to see if he would approve. I'm bored lol!
Lol
They have a Terrasque
Dimetradon is older than dinosaurs by a large margain. They are from before when dinosaurs existed and is more closely related to people than dinos. It is " dyno sue kiss" just so you know . i cant spell greatly well but i am pretty ok with pronunciations .
Is it possible that you mean to pronounce Deinosuchus (a big crocodile relative) instead of Dimetrodon?
Dimetradon is a synapsid. That means it is closer to mammals.
BODAK T-REX
I recommend you modify the T-rex to a Yutyrannus if you want to have it in a colder climate because the Yutyrannus was basically a T-rex but much more adapted to the colder climates of northeastern China.
In my setting all reptilians are decended from dragons, dinosaurs branch off from drakes.
That also works.
@@TheBlackLantern34 Who said Dragons were reptiles?
Kaz Avian it’s dnd who cares
@@TheBlackLantern34 they are reptiles. they are diapsids, all diapsids are reptiles, can also be called Sauropsids
It is taking all my restraint to only say Dimetrodon wasn’t a dinosaur it’s the ancestor of mammals and neither are pliosaurs, which are marine reptiles. Also it’s Die-non-ickus
I hate to be a nitpick, but Paleontology Nazi that I am, I have to point out a few things:
The name Pteranodon means "Winged and Toothless", because it is indeed both of these things. "Pteros" means wing, "-odon" means tooth, and the prfix "a" or "an" means "without". The way you pronounced it "Pterodon" would mean "winged tooth".
The creature pictured at 4:09 is a Camarasaurus, not a Brontosaurus. Camarasaurus was the most common sauropod in Late Jurassic North America, living alongside Brontosaurus, Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, Torvosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Allosaurus, etc. But for some reason, it doesn't have as much pop culture exposure. It had stats in 1st edition D&D, though, and so did the rest of those guys. Less powerful than Diplodocus (no tail-whip), and less hit points, but it's much more plentiful.
The creature pictured at 8:20 is a Parasaurolophus, a lambeosaurine. "Hadrosaur" is a good umbrella term to denote the superfamily which includes Hardosaurinae and Lambeosaurinae etc. But Hadrosaurus itself is not particularly well known. I don't know why it would be given specific attention in 5e when there are other, more quintessential hadrosaurs that could have been statted out instead, like Edmontosaurus, Brachylophosaurus, Lambeosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Shangtungosaurus, etc. you could probably simulate any of these dinosaurs using the same stats, with some hit point modifications where appropriate.
Heck, they really should have included Iguanodon as well. Two thumb spike attacks in addition to a tail lash! And it's damn big to boot.
The name "Quetzalcoatlus" is obviously derived from Quetzalcoatl, since it was found around Texas and Mexico. As such, I think it would be pronounced the same way, with the "-us" at the end. But perhaps this could even be an Easter egg in a game set in Maztica. Maybe a Quetzalcoatl worshipping cult trains these? Maybe (and this would truly be outlandish), there could be some breed of these creatures replacing the Coatl in certain settings, retaining the same stats, but with Coatl's intelligence, alignment, role and abilities.
Regarding Triceratops, most depictions in pop culture have grossly understated the lethal power of this beast. This was such a nasty and dangerous animal, larger and stronger than an elephant and with the same muscular build as a hippo. I truly hate that stupid "herbivores are friendly" trope all the JP movies have used. Elephants, Hippos, and Cape Buffalo are the most dangerous animals in Africa, and they're all herbivores. The ceratopsids may have even been omnivorous, too. It seems now that they were more like giant boars than dinosaurian bovines or rhinos.
I don't know if you've covered these guys in the past, but I'm very glad the Froghemoth (seen around 12:45) has been included in Volo's new guide. I don't think they've been in print for a long time.
Nice name btw!
Lol. Your name gives away your affection for dinosaurs.
I completely agree. It irritated me in Jurassic world when the ankylosaurus turned tail and tried to run from the plotasaurus instead of presenting their tail and pounding it into hamburger meat.
Seriously. They are tanks armed with wrecking balls. Why would they run away.
Thagomizer hippos are onivoures arent they?
If my memory is correct, the only "friendly" herbivores in the Jurassic Park movies are the Triceratops in the first, who was sick and could barely move, the Brachiosaurus also from the first, who is so large that it has no reason to find humans threatening, and a couple of babies in Jurassic World's petting zoo. The Lost World and Fallen Kingdom depicted Stegosaurs and Pachycephalosaurs as quite dangerous too.
He also calls plesiosaurs “marine dinosaurs” when they were not dinosaurs at all
12:48 is that a froghemoth fighting a trex?
Excellent spotting sir! Yes, the relative size of the two creatures is evident in this image.
Subbed
Metal as fuck
I could see these being in a similar ecology to Giants. A Fire Giant going into battle on top of a T-Rex sounds like something I will throw at my players in the future.
Visually appealing, but I think a fire giant would be too heavy for a T-Rex.. still, these are not Earth Dinosaurs, so, I say hell yeah!
Actually you make a good point... hmm... time to come up with a new plan.
Noximus Jamaicanus Why dont you just make it an extra large t-rex that has a fire breath cone attack!
You have given me so many ideas. I love these videos.
"Dinosaurs afflicted with lycanthropy."
Wow...that's an awesome idea.
Pokemon4WoT it is
What about dinosaur lycanthropes? Like a were-Tyrannosaurus!
I have the best idea for lore about a WereDino if anyone would like to hear me out?
Dun mind me, just borrowing these stat blocks to try and make some Monster Hunter creatures.
I like to think of them as the perfect mounts for lizardfolk
Dinosaurs in D&D? Where do I sign up?!
I'm actually planning on doing a dnd campaign completely centered around dinosaurs who look, behave, and fight as realistically as possible
I've been thinking about creating a race of Dino-like humanoids, kinda like the Voth in star trek, which would be a collective race of several different sub-races that had evolved from the different types Dinosaurs. Which might serve a niche in a setting like the Lizardmen races do, if you chose to not include them, or had this type of race as a ancestor of the Lizardmen in such a setting. I do remember there being some Dino-races at some point in D&D, but it has been quite sometime since I read up on them.
You reminded me of the insanity of my DM that used Dinosaurs...
We fought an adult red dragon and managed to knock it prone into a mud pool.
Our Druid wild shaped into a Tyrannous Rex and began to devour the Red Dragon.
The weirdness began that after eating the Red Dragon, the Druid's T-Rex form had a property changed.
Became Fire affinity with Fire Immunity and attacks inflicted Fire Based damage.
I stopped and asked my DM why or how this happen?
"Roll me an Arcana Check."
... I happen to be playing a Barbarian with an INT dump stat.
A dinosaur alone won’t case that much distraction, sure a group of 10 or 20 sorapods could wipe out a forest but alone they are ineffective.
hey AJ! I love your vids, and they help me with my on going campaign to make the enemies feel more deep and alive. however I was wondering if you could do a series on the common/interesting deities? the DM and Player handbooks don't explain what the gods expect from followers. I know it's not in depth so the DM has control, but for on the fly situations it's impossible. thanks and keep up the fantastic videos!
Oh sure, there is LOADS of lore on that, I can certainly make a vid on that for you.
AJ Pickett thanks AJ! I'm looking forward to watching it! Thank you for being engaging with your community!
diemetrodons were technically not dinosaurs
Dimetrodon is a Pelycosaur (or pelycosaur-grade synapsid), you are correct, they were not dinosaurs,
Yup, they're closer related to Mammals than to dinosaurs.
Also, the one you were having trouble pronouncing is pronounced die-non-ick-us.
Very true. Neither are Pteranodons and Plesiosaurs!
We are actually related to dimetrodon as it was a mammal like reptile
If you ever play the game Ark Survival Evolved everyone gives up and calls all the creatures including mammals like a Mammoth and Megelaceros and fantasy creatures like a Wyvern a "Dino" even though probably 80% or more of the player base knows better.
4:15 Dian-Nye-Kus: I finally hundreds of hours of dinosaur documentaries pays off. XD
Love your channel. Keep it up. Cant wait to be a paytreon.
Not sure if this has been said but in the Mystara Campaign the first Immortal was in fact a Dinosaur.
1:46
Ahaha, Katashaka looks like a warped Australia.
It is a bit like that yeah, the Human's of Chult (also called Tabaxi actually) migrated from there (I wonder if they brought Dingos with them, and how long before they all got eaten by Death Turkeys).
"hadrosaurus" shows pic of Parasaurolophus (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
HA! There is only one specimen of the Hadrosaur, if you ask me, it was probably a Parasaurolophus anyway, (no offense to the people of New Jersey). :)
fair enough. tho fun note, recent research indicates that large pterosaurs probably lived on the plains. they'd have an advantage over larger birds because the used the same muscles to take of as to fly, while birds use their leg muscles to take off so they can get away with being heaveyer!
That explains a lot :)
Great video, as always. Still, a few "real world" corrections:
Pleiosaures, ichiosaures and pterodons are NOT dinosaurs, and sharks are definitely not mammals. Also, although relatively clumsy on the ground, it seems that Quetzalcoatlus could maneuver reasonably well there, and could kick themselves into flight in one large leap (strongly assisted by the front-limbs). Quetzalcoatlus definitely had the muscle attachments for active flight, so although they could glide quite well, there would have been more if a wing-flapper than our vultures and albatross (closer to a large bird of prey that glide most of the time, but would fly very actively at the final stage of a hunt, or just for takeoff)
I know that does not affect the game, but still...
Good to know... I wonder what the heart capacity of the Quetzalcoatlus was, must have been massive. Those things were huge! Like a flying giraffe.
I don't know about that, but yes: between flight athleticism and maintaining the right blood pressure in the head when it moves up and down, the cardiovascular system of these beasts must have been very unique. Even on our giraffes [for which we have the full physiology AND behavior], we still (as far as I know) do not fully understand how their heads do not explode every time they drink...
I get that D&D dinosaurs are entirely different from real dinosaurs, but my OCD is killing me with the fact that dimetrodon was a synapsid, not a dinosaur, and pterosaurs were an entirely different group from dinosaurs.
DIE-nah-NUH-cus. Mid sized (about wolf sized) dromeosaur aka "raptors ". Also fun fact: Dimetrodon was not a dinosaur but rather a synapsid, a group of reptiles that have been thought to be ancestral to mammals.
Thanks
It's pronounced dino-ny-kus
Die-non-uh-cuss. That's how I always learned to pronounce it.
As another place you missed, there's the Crawling Jungle...which is a terrifying thing to deal with at all
I'm glad I Universe have their own version of Jurassic Park
Dimetrodon is not a Dinosaur. It is an ancient reptile, that existed in the early to mid Permian Period. The raptor you're talking about is pronounced Die-na-nie-cus.
There's a travelling animatronic dino exhibit at the Phoenix zoo right now; standing 6-10' from life sized, reasonably realistic dinos is pretty thrilling and gives you a greater appreciation of an animal, particularly a predator, at that size.
I highly recommend it to anyone who has one visit their area.
AJ, nice references to Dinotopia by Gurney
In real life, if your bitten by a T-rex, your dead, there is no going back, that bite force is so powerful that you will die just from it biting the tip of your tow... ok so I exdurated.
Dyna-ni-chus, member of the raptor family. Utah Raptor is the biggest of the family.
An alternative prime material plane (1980s gamer here) had dinosaurs never go extinct. They became Saurians, their version of humans, demi-humans and humanoids.
Omg, tuatara are my fav animal. Learned about them when I was a kid. Iv always wanted one so I could pass him on to my kids. Is Henry still alive??
The1e Monster Manual and Monster Manual II (from 1977 and 1983) have a huge menagerie of dinosaurs to choose from, much bigger than what the later editions provided. Tanystropheus, Coelophysis (Podokesaurus), Dilophosaurus, Temnodontosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Massospondylus, Mamenchisaurus, and more. For the most part, their stats are relatively accurate, though the Iguanodon is underpowered, the Stegosaurus is overpowered, and the sauropods are swamp-dwellers. Despite this, it would be fairly easy to convert the stats of 1e dinosaurs into another ruleset.
In the DMG, Gygax made note on the dinosaur subtable that the creatures present didn't come from the same time period, but in his view, the provided a "highly interesting mix", and suggested that the DM devise his own encounter tables for the Triassic Jurassic, Cretaceous, or any other period desired if they wanted to. This is an interesting suggestion, because while our D&D world doesn't need to conform to real history in regard to the mere coexistence of certain creatures, it might be good to consider the ecological conditions of varying Mesozoic biomes accordingly. It could even add a certain amount of depth to the game world. In an arid Jurassic environment, for instance, there would be no grasses or flowering plants of any kind. Would this affect anyone with a herbalism skill or the workings of a mage or priest who needs another sort of component not found in the area? Would these places be lethal hotbeds of insects and disease for non-locals? How might a tribe of humans, demi-humans, or humanoids live in such places if they had to?
A good book to expand on this sort of research might be "Dinosaur Odyssey" by Scott D. Sampson, which goes over this sort of thing, sometimes in visceral detail. The sort of biome of Jurassic North America was utterly unique and we haven't seen anything like it since. According to Sampson, the space needed to recreate the appropriate Jurassic milieu and sustain the number and variety of animals would pretty much cover all of North America, rather than a tiny isolated island. In the planes, of course, this problem is easily remedied.
oh Men i remember in an odl video when i wished (and comment) fot you to tackle dinosaurs and paleo fauna and you finally manage it to get to it amazing great video and thanks :) !!! (still waiting fo paleo fauna but i'm sure you will get to it evetually too)
sorry for my english by the way is not my native language
That's one of the conundrums with the fantasy world of Abeir-Toril, it doesn't have a fossil record and incredibly ancient plant & animal life, the whole planet is only 32489 years old, because it was remade by Ao when he split the planet into Abeir and Toril. But, there are all sorts of critters on it, and I will get around to them eventually :)
My favorites are the Pachycephalosaurs aka the Bone headed dinosaurs. Hitting you with their armored heads like a Ram! ouch!
Now I want to do a Cadillacs and Dinosaurs campaign even more.
Why wipe out a perfectly good food source? I can just imagine a dragon dinosaur rancher. "Drako the Terribles hunder lizard ranch"
Like a .... Jurassic park *puts on sunglasses*
It'd have to be its on world, but just check out the cartoon and see what I mean. Use modern rules and it'd be hilarious.
In my world dinosaurs exist on what today we would call the mammoth step and the grasslands of the Sahara because apparently grasslands are incredibly good at feeding large numbers of massive grazing animals since it grows so fast
We desided to go full jurassic Park let me say this the 6ft velociraptor is 10 times more terrifying not just the size up and stat boost but the fact only 3 almost whipped out a level 4 party of 6 people
YES DINOSUARS AND PREHSITORIC CREATURES!.
pleasersors. their are also sort necked varieties also their necks were likely not that flexible.
dimetredon is actually more related to mammals then dinosuars. its in the ears
yes got it right velocirpators aren't that big and are feathered seems like even JP had a paleontologist on staff dnd still is more accurate in that regard. also t-rex young were also apparently covered in feathers of down like stuff and lost most of it when they grow up.
also a few suggestions for things that may not be found in the dnd books.
Leviathan melvillei (the real killer whale).
Quetzalcoatlus (its a bird, its a plane, its RUN!!)
megaraptor (probably not related to the other raptor dinos)
Paraceratherium (pfft elephants)
terror birds.
Cronopio Dentiacutus (name it scrat)
Kaprosuchus (aka boar croc)
Kronosaurus
maybe some demon prince who favors dinos and similar life forms (if one doesn't already exist).
dire dinos/prehistoric creatures.
some jobba the hutt like character with a pet t-rex instead of a rancor.
etc
So I'm looking at this near Earth part and I've but one question. Where is Texas?
A Deinonychus(pronounced di-non-i-kus) was about the exact same size as the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park NOT smaller, although Velociraptors in real life WERE the size of turkeys, for some reason in Jurassic Park they made them bigger
A little off topic but interesting to work into the story if you're inclined to, in the yugioh anime they explain that in dule monsters either dinosaurs come from dragons or the other way around. I always thought of it as an interesting idea and have thought about doing that in one of my worlds as an explanation of how overtime dragons have become rare or dinosaurs exist in greater numbers than them but it's not something I've done yet but maybe one day 🤔
you mentioned dinosaurs with lycanthrope? do you mean a dinosaur afflicted with lycanthrope or a person who changes to a dino-form on the full moon? A were-Deinonychus (dine-o-ni-kous) could be seriously cool. They would be roughly wolf sized and with claws, toe claws, and bite attack be more than a match for much of anything.
Doesnt the afflicted require sentient intelligence?
In a tangential question, is there a conservation of mass to polymorph and lycanthrope? I'm guessing not cause of the whole dragon to humanoid polymorph, but it has always bugged me.
It's one thing for a ton sized dragon turning into a 250 pound man but always liked the idea of a fully adult wizard polymorphing into a hamster and finding himself a 250 pound hamster.
Hey AJ... always love your M.E.. I remember AD&D had a huge section on dinosaur's. The lost world is always interesting. Have a great day AJ..!!
Thanks Matt!
Dimetrodon was closer to mammals than reptiles acccchhhhttuuuuuuaaaalleeeeeeee
*considers teaching one how to fetch*
Transporting dinosaurs on a large ship! What could possibly go wrong?
Please do more videos on actual dungeons and settings if able
Faerie dragons are up next
@@AJPickett not bad
@@AJPickett not bad
TRIGGER WARNING:
Feathers.
no proof the T-rex did, but the Raptors, yep, fossil evidence.
I roll to disbelieve.
www.amnh.org/our-research/science-news/2007/velociraptor-had-feathers
*MAKE YOUR ROLL WITH DISADVANTAGE*
*Takes 20d6 psychic damage*
There is no excuse for portraying a featherless dromaeosaurid (i.e. "raptor") in ANY context whatsoever. I have no sympathy for anyone who whines about their ruined childhood and their memories of Jurassic Park. How small-minded is it to prefer a childhood chimeras without stopping to contemplate that dinosaurs are a real part of our world and our planet's history! How does this fact NOT blow your mind? It's almost like a religious revelation. The real thing was richer, more complex, more beautiful, more subtle, and less predictable than anything that could have been imagined by a fantasy or sci-fi writer.
On the other hand, the more derived Tyrannosaurids (Tyrannosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Tarbosaurus) appear to have had fairly standard mosaic scales on the basis of what we've found so far.
Great video
Thanks!
I'm curious. Can elemental infusion translate into entirely new species, or will the offspring be born normal? Because I have this image in my head of a entire sub-species of T. Rex that have developed an affinity for ice and I'm wondering if that would be at all feasible in a traditional D&D setting.
There’s a plesiosaur in Icewind Dale
Your comments about sharks was very interesting. Would never have picked the great white as the primitive one. I watched a documentary where a guy used a fossilized shark tooth to open a can.
Also on the list of living prehistoric creatures. Crocodiles.
I believe the prehistoric ones were enormous.
On the behemoths though. Didn't 4e have both the macetail behemoth and an ankylosaurus?
I've used dinosaurs in my campaign. And how I introduced them to the players actually worked. Do it a lot like Jurassic Park: you have the party wandering up a hill and when they reach the top and see the other side, there is a MASSIVE herd of various dinosaurs. Brachiosaurus, stegosaurus, anklyosaurus, triceratops... all herbavores. Where are the carnivores? Probably following the herd to take any sickly ones? So... Behind them, maybe even you? They'd be around. ;) And truly, having the party deal with either a herd of stampeding triceratops or a very very hungry T-rex is quite the riot at times. I also had dinosaurs spread out just a little more than just on Chult, though that is still where greatest concentration could be found. You'd be able to find stray herds here and there up the west coast of far'run and in the South, in general.
I'd definitely use Jurassic dinosaurs for my campaign, no other period, I just like them more, maybe use Koolacucus instead of crocodiles
Koolasuchus was pretty small compared to some of its earlier relatives.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prionosuchus
@@RokuroCarisu not that it's bad but Prionosuchs is a fish eater, not a serious threat compared to Koolacucus who attacked small to medium animals like modern crocodiles
ye, the Jurassic period is seriously underrated
I'm not saying dinosaur but dinosaurs
*ominous jungle drums*
Yay dinosaurs!!!
Character idea
Kobold ranger, give him a australian accent take swarm keeper, and become a velociraptor wrangler.
dude repeat with me dei-no-ni-kuss
Thank you! Words... sometimes they hate me.
It would be cool to have dinosaurs if you want a jurassic park or dinotopia campaign, in chult they feel out of place, tolkien didn't have dinosaur in middle earth, but for a pulpy land before time or prehistoric campaign they are awesome.
Thanks for ideas
Speaking of dinosaurs, have you done a video on the destrachan, yet?
great intro. really got me laughing lol
The first forgotten realms book, the villain is a T Rex. Very disappointing to look it up and find that out, but was described as such in hindsight, and the party DID make a big deal about his footprint once
I'm suprised they don't have more fantasy sounding names
Well, they certainly do, but for the purpose of our ease of reference, the Earth names are used (though the creatures on Toril are not actually dinosaurs, so, a Toril T-Rex could not breed with an Earth T-Rex).
@@AJPickett what are the names? Or is that for the dm to make up ?
really like this video. a while ago I watched Kong: Skull Island. and the gears started turning. and having a fondness for Dinobots. lol yep I went here. but the Dinobots (warforges) are like Kong and are the protectors of this lost area of land. depending on how the players I interact determines them a threat, or friend, or indifferent.
Can you do a Ecology of the Saurials and their Thunderers on their Home World?
Funny how they put brontosaurus in d&d, as it is not in fact real, it was the result of a brachiosaurus body being put together with a camrasaurus neck and head, although it is in an alternate dimension
Is it possible to tame a tyrannosaurus and ride it use it as a war mount? And if so what would it take to do so?
Yes... goat meat, lots and lots of goat meat.
Not without magically charming it, I'd say. Or parhaps if the rider was a giant.
Those solutions could also make for a more interesting encounter.
I put a dire tyrannosaurus in my game that was the result of a genetic experiment that was let loose to see how deadly it was. The locals think that its a wingless red dragon with small arms. In game its only believed to be a rumor, but when my players ever go deeper into the wilderness they'll soon learn the truth. And a bunch of Jurassic park references will ensue.
Dude, these dinosaurs could easily out-pace even dragons with the aid of a powerful wizard. Think about it: celestial teleporting velociraptors, with lightning breath.
yay for random earth biology lesson! interesting to not that ocean environments are reletively constant over evolutinary time periods when compared to land. maybe it has to do with the water reducing temperature changes where land has more variation? i mean, fish or things that look like fish have existed for so long filling the same giant niches so the ecosystem built up from that has also ben pretty stable
True, and some of the most extreme creatures are found in water, such as crabs that live in total darkness, feeding on exotic bacteria at the spires of volcanic vents.
That may not be exactly true. We know that during parts of the permian many of the shalow marine environments (the richest and most diverse) dried up as part of the end permaian extinction event. We also think that the ocean lost most of its below surface oxegen levels; again part of the end permian (I think; I could be off on that one).
Also we know that global cooling wiped out much of the marine Mega fauna during the eocene Something to do with the abundance of food. You have to reemember that the open ocean is something of a dersert when it comes to food sources. Again not certain why bu I think it could be to do with disolved mineral abundances for algea growth.
Rob Young The evolution of land animals is so diverse due to way more ecosystems. The deeper oceans have remained MORE constant. By no means does that mean they've been stable, but the niches that need filled have remained dominated for centuries. As the temperatures rise there will be more extinctions, therefore more species will have to evolve to fill the niches left by said extinctions.
you guys are right, there are more niches than originally came to mind when i wrote the comment. is a shame that the marine-life-style of creatures in fantasy worlds always end up as fish, crab, and octopus. why not giant anemonies that ponder the meaning of life? (i guess d&d has the flumph), or eels that maraud around eating everything?
Look at some of the erly weird stuff for inspriation. Sea scorpians, Animalorarids, Grapholytes, bellomites Plachioderms, Tullimonster and the opabinia. The cambrian brought out some really weird sea life.
How hard would it be to tame dinos as mounts, I'm guessing it's next to impossible in this game. By the by I'm talking large theropods like rex or the raptor's.
That is where magic comes in.But if you raise them from hatchlings, it's just a matter of conditioning.
Could just be a moon druid and BECOME the dino
Home brew 3e monster training rules.
Zombie dinosaurs sounds like it would be a good campaign. To try and stop whats causing them.
Don’t forget about the cave dinosaurs made by the yuan-ti
Id go that dinosuars are a older species of drakes why mainly cause in real world lore dinosaur or prehistoric animal bones were often mistaken for dragon bones or other mythical creature or make dinosaurs an off shoot of dragons more akin to drakes and wyverns.
My Homebrew is a Chult-like continent Mercer's Exandria. I've got Feysaur, Shadesaur, all manner of elemental dinosaurs and the particularly nasty Demosaurs, which are dinosaurs captured and warped by the Demon Lords.
Yeenoghu's Deinonychus are not fun for my PCs.
Nice opening graphic
11:00 You're a biologist ?!
I dabble
sharks have been around for longer than trees
Next do Monster Ecology: Angry Human Man With A Sword
Dye. Non. E. Cuss. 👍
Dinosaurs hells yeah