Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World

so im currently tailoring a mortals game around The Lost world and im having to stat up dinosaurs.  would anyone be willing to review some of my stats for them.  im also having to stat quite a few other extinct animals and those would be included also.

alrighty then im going to start by saying: self bump and this is the stats for the Allosaurus


Allosaurus:
Power: 8
Finesse: 4
Resistance: 6

Skills:
Survival: 3
Brawl (bite): 5
Intimidation (size):3

Merits:
Fleet of foot: 3

Health: 22
Willpower: 4
Size: 16
Speed: 25
Armor: 3/2
Defense: 4
Initiative Mod: 6

Bite: 14(L) 5 damage automatic on success

c34r34lk1ll3r:

Allosaurus:
Power: 8
Finesse: 4
Resistance: 6

I think you should use the more complete version (Strength, Wits, Composure, etc.) since I think that dinosaurs can be very strong but certainly not very smart. I have not read the book (I assume it is a book) and I have not seen the movie with that guy from Talladega Nights, but I assume this still applies.

Skari-dono:

c34r34lk1ll3r:

Allosaurus:
Power: 8
Finesse: 4
Resistance: 6

I think you should use the more complete version (Strength, Wits, Composure, etc.) since I think that dinosaurs can be very strong but certainly not very smart. I have not read the book (I assume it is a book) and I have not seen the movie with that guy from Talladega Nights, but I assume this still applies.

the movie you are thinking of is land of the lost which is very similar but isnt quite the same thing but regardless i set it up this way simply because i didnt feel like filling out an entire character sheet. 

c34r34lk1ll3r:

i set it up this way simply because i didnt feel like filling out an entire character sheet. 

The thing is, Intelligence and Strength would use Power, which makes the Allosaurus as intelligent as it is strong, which apparently is a lot. You could say that an Allosaurus (or any dinosaur) has a certain penalty to Mental rolls (the -3 for not having Mental Skills is not enough in my book, since that still leaves 5 dice at best and a chance die at worst). I think you really need to do a full list of Attributes.

Also, I think "teeth" should be a great specialty for Intimidation. If the creature faces another creature of similar size, it can't actually use its own size to intimidate it, but it should still be fudging scary.

Finally; yes, that is the movie I was thinking about.

Skari-dono:

I think you really need to do a full list of Attributes.

On the contrary, I don't even think he needs all the stats he has.  If your Allosaurus has to make an Intelligence roll, your game is pretty fucked up.  This thing is a big lumbering combat threat.  It really only needs Strength (for grapples), Defense, Initiative, Perception, Speed (if they want to run away), and its attack pool.  Since its a mortal game it doesn't even need resistance traits because they're mostly for super powers (if they have access to poisons or tranqs, you may want a Sta+Res pool, though). 

Skari-dono:

Also, I think "teeth" should be a great specialty for Intimidation. If the creature faces another creature of similar size, it can't actually use its own size to intimidate it, but it should still be fudging scary.

Why in the hell would you make an Allosaurus roll Intimidate against another dinosaur?  Can't you just judge that for yourself?  "It's scary" seems good enough for me.

mplindustries:

Skari-dono:

I think you really need to do a full list of Attributes.

On the contrary, I don't even think he needs all the stats he has.  If your Allosaurus has to make an Intelligence roll, your game is pretty fucked up.  This thing is a big lumbering combat threat.  It really only needs Strength (for grapples), Defense, Initiative, Perception, Speed (if they want to run away), and its attack pool.  Since its a mortal game it doesn't even need resistance traits because they're mostly for super powers (if they have access to poisons or tranqs, you may want a Sta+Res pool, though). 

I'm just saying, the dinosaur has a stat that represents Intelligence, whether it uses it or not. Saying it automatically fails any and all Intelligence based rolls is fine by me, but having a dinosaur with effective Intelligence 8, even if it is not expected to use it, is like creating a loophole. If you don't think I am making any sense, just disregard whatever it is I'm saying. I won't be offended.

But I would like to point out that Perception rolls would in this case use Finesse + Resistance (Wits + Composure). I'm not sure, but a giant reptile with a brain the size of an acorn is not going to be very perceptive in my oppinion, or at least not 10 dice worth of perceptive. But that's just me. It's not like I've made a dinosaur for my game or anything.

mplindustries:

Skari-dono:

Also, I think "teeth" should be a great specialty for Intimidation. If the creature faces another creature of similar size, it can't actually use its own size to intimidate it, but it should still be fudging scary.

Why in the hell would you make an Allosaurus roll Intimidate against another dinosaur?  Can't you just judge that for yourself?  "It's scary" seems good enough for me.

You make a good point. I tend to think of characters (and one time monsters, too) as having Skills and Specialties that they might actually use in their day-to-day lives, as opposed to what ever the hell they will be using in the game and nothing more. That is just a tad bit flat for me, so I prefer giving them a little dimension. If you disagree, that's your oppinion.

i honestly think that if i have to roll intelligence for a allosaurus im doing something wrong but i know where you are coming from.  another thing is that most people have the misconception that dinosaurs were big lumbering moronic animals it may not be intelligence 8 smart but it is definitely more intelligent than 1 and its perception would be a bit higher than you are giving it credit for also. 

Allosaurus weren't that smart.  They are descended from a primitive dinosaur that pretty much was all chop.  They used their arms to hold large prey down.  Unless an Allosaurus is really hungry, the players should have little to fear from them as Allosaurus is designed to hunt large prey animals.


Neanderthals, if you included them. well, would have difficulty surviving against Dinosaurs.  It's that Neanderthals, though they had the same brain size as us, they couldn't innovate.  They had difficulty coming up with new ways of doing things.  It was only until contact with modern humans that Neanderthal's began to make different tools.  

Unholy Pilgrim:

Allosaurus weren't that smart.  They are descended from a primitive dinosaur that pretty much was all chop.  They used their arms to hold large prey down.  Unless an Allosaurus is really hungry, the players should have little to fear from them as Allosaurus is designed to hunt large prey animals.


Neanderthals, if you included them. well, would have difficulty surviving against Dinosaurs.  It's that Neanderthals, though they had the same brain size as us, they couldn't innovate.  They had difficulty coming up with new ways of doing things.  It was only until contact with modern humans that Neanderthal's began to make different tools.  

i know they weren't that smart but if i have to roll a intelligence for an allosaurus i think i should just put my books back on the shelve and not ST any more

Instance where you might roll intelligence for a dinosaur, a classic movie scene:

Players are trapped in a cave hiding behind an outcropping of rock, one gets the brilliant idea to throw a rock to distract him, intelligence + survival(sensory) to avoid being fooled.  =)

palin11:

Instance where you might roll intelligence for a dinosaur, a classic movie scene:

Players are trapped in a cave hiding behind an outcropping of rock, one gets the brilliant idea to throw a rock to distract him, intelligence + survival(sensory) to avoid being fooled.  =)

the cave probably wont be big enough for the allosaurus

palin11:

Players are trapped in a cave hiding behind an outcropping of rock, one gets the brilliant idea to throw a rock to distract him, intelligence + survival(sensory) to avoid being fooled.  =)

I'd call that Wits + Comp, aka, the perception roll.