Torrent: Dinosaur Planet

By C.J. Williams

Torrent

Just outside of Frontier space is a world known as Torrent. It is a world untouched by any civilization. It is timing with life both above and beneath its surface. Torrent a planet revealing the mysteries of the ancient past of every world. A planet dominated by dinosaurs.

Sixty-four percent of Torrent's surface is covered by water. The air has a high concentration of carbon dioxide, making breathing difficult. Areas closer to the equator are near impossible to survive without proper breathing apparatuses. The air can be filtered, and with properly formulated pills, a person's lungs can be made to breath the air normally. Because of the humidity in those regions, an environmental suit is needed as well or else the person will collapse in moments from heat exhaustion.

In far southern and northern regions, near to the ice caps, most races can live and breath normally without assistance, though they have a -5 penalty (-1 CS) to all actions requiring any kind of exertion (Referee's discretion) on account of the humidity. When traveling long distances, character's distance traveled is affected by a .05 penalty per kilometer traveled.

An outstanding feature of Torrent is its wildlife. Torrent is home to an estimated 35,000 variations of dinosaur and an estimated 200 million species of plant and animal life, not counting the untold number of insects. It is a planet in its early stages of life. Soil samples reveal that the planet is barely 1.5 billion years old and life has only been on the planet for barely a fifth of that time. It has been suggested that the Tetrarchs likely respected the early stages of life development as otherwise they would have likely conquered the planet and transformed its life long ago. Others suggest that it is likely that the Tetrarchs created Torrent.

Dinosaurs of all kinds are the trademark of Torrent. You can see them herding along the planes, skirted by predators. Deep in the forests insects and small animals dash about, seeking food and scrounging for scraps. The Council of Worlds has identified Torrent as special and set it aside as a nature preserve.

The Southern Veil

The accompanying map is a landing zone on Torrent, a massive peninsula known as the Southern Veil. Each square on the map is 10 km. The map is an image taken by the Promenant in low orbit. You will note the rather large underwater coastline. Along the southern-most tip the water is only 3 meters deep at its lowest point. In other places around the peninsula, the water only goes as far as 10 meters deep. In some places this underwater coastline stretches as far as 30 kilometers out into the ocean. Beyond the underwater coastline is a steep dropoff.

The waters of the western coastline are known only as the Torrent, from which the planet gets its name. The name results from the fact that the waters cannot be traversed under or over its surface due to a massive and violent current caused by the warm current of the north end of the sea meeting the cold wastes of the southern cap. Attempts to pass through those waters will result in certain death. On the eastern coastline you will notice the calm waters of the Blue Ocean and its many underwater capes, islands, and barriers. Throughout this area is a massive system of unexplored underwater caves running for many kilometers under the land mass.

At the very southern-most tip of the peninsula you will notice a yellowish area in the water. This is an area with a high concentration of an algae known as cleat, which releases large amounts of sulfates, iodide, and urea. It has a distinct pleasant odor like clean soap. Bathing in the waters can rid characters of many pollutants, including radiation. Despite being in a cold region, the algae causes the waters in this area to be a moderately cold, but comfortable temperature around 4° C.

Herbs of Note

Siproot

Large Photosynthetic Plant; Tree. Drinking from this tree's roots or branches daily provides natural short-lived vaccination against most Torrent diseases and viruses. The plant apparently develops medicines by acquiring samples of saliva and blood from animals that sip its roots or branches to develop a drinkable panacea that defends against various biological infestations. This is a pansymbiotic relationship with all animals that ensures that the plant is able to reproduce by attaching its tiny seeds to the fur of animals drinking from its roots and limbs. Chewing the root or limbs also cleans teeth.

Tree Mold

Tree mold is a fungus that grows as tiny, plate-like leaves in tall trees and is a bright green in color. It produces a sweet pungent scent that is unavoidable to taller dinosaurs. They track down the trees with the most tree mold in it. The tree mold is high in nutritious elements and natural sickness fighters (colds, flu, etc.).

Adventure Ideas

An adventure consisting entirely of survival amongst a planet of dinosaurs is different than the usual fare of intrigue and chasing villains. In this environment a Referee must throw creature after creature at his players to keep them on their toes until they adapt, are rescured, or die. This, of course, does not prevent a Referee from carrying on intrigue amongst the planet of dinosaurs. There are lots of ways to fit Torrent and its dinosaur inhabitants into your campaign:

Expedition. Your party has been sent to explore the planet, observe its life, and most importantly find herbs that can be used for medicines, as well as identifying new genetic types for product research. Unfortunately, your shuttle crashes in transit far from destinatiion, destroying most of the equipment you had for keeping the wildlife at bay. Now you must fend for yourself until your ship can rescue you.
Lost in Transit. Your group of soldiers were en route to a military facility to bolster the ranks, when the ship is attacked by Sathar and left for dead. Your ship crash lands on a nearby planet where you must survive until saved by explorers or someone from the UPF looking for you.
Misjump. Your intrepid group of adventurers were attempting to go to Starmist, but a misjump landed you in a different part of space, putting you over Torrent. You land to find out if there is any culture that can help you, but what you find is an entirely unexplored world with endless potential only just starting its trek through the developmental battlefield.
Hunters and the Hunted. Your group has been hired by a rich gamer to track down and hunt a large dinosaur when all goes wrong. Little did you realize the cunning intelligence of the enormous Retributosaur.
Pirate Treasure. Your adventurers have stumbled upon a treasure map on a ship's computer that leads them to Torrent. On their way to the treasure, they stumble across pirates, perhaps having been in hunt of the treasure themselves, or maybe to recover the booty they burried.
Saboteur. The ship has clearly been sabotaged and your players are in the midst of the investigation when the ship is forced to crash land on Torrent. Now, not only must they survive against a deadly planet, they must find out who the saboteur (or saboteurs) is before they kill off the entire crew or the crew succumbs to the inhabitants of torrent.

Creature Manifest

There are many, many more creatures on Torrent, but these are the ones to watch out for at the Southern Veil, or which your players may be able to do something with. he truth is, this is only a small cross-section of the creatures you'll find on Torrent. There are many other landing zones on Torrent, and each one has its own dangers and things of interest.

Torrent has many, many more creatures on it, many of which are just variants of the ones presented in this article. Feel free to make your own dinosaurs and dangerous plants to add to the list of creatures inhabiting this lost world.

See links below

Other Sources

There are great sources for adventure ideas with dinosaurs that can be found in classic literature.

Anne McCaffrey's Dinosaur Planet/Planet Pirates series' with Elizabeth Moon, and Jody Lynn Nye, where a team of geological investigators look for ways to exploit the planet's resources, only to find a planet of few resources and many dangers.

Xenozoic Tales (a.k.a, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs), an underground comic by Mark Schultz that has been made into a TV series and an RPG published by GDW, where men went underground after environmentally devastating the planet and come up four centuries later to discover that the world has reclaimed itself.

Editor’s Note: This article has a lot of stuff for use in your games. Even if you don’t locate these creatures on the planet described in the article – it’s fourteen fully-detailed creatures! Dinosaurs can scare the heck out of an adventurer. They’re big, sometimes fast, and you don’t really know just how smart they are. Will they work as a pack like wolves? Will they chase you beyond their established territory? Is there a way adventurers can learn to identify the markings of that territory? Are they just as curious about you as you are about them? What if one can actually befriend a dinosaur, like domestication of some household pets where the animal will consider the character a part of its family? These questions and more all await you on planet Torrent – or wherever you use these great resources.

Thanks Corjay!

Armagor (Ceratops)

TYPE: Large Quadruped Herbivore

NUMBER: 2

MOVE: Fast

IM/RS: 4/40

STAMINA: 240

ATTACK: 60

DAMAGE: 4d10 Gore, Trample

SPECIAL ATTACK: Charge at full speed

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Armor, Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: An armagor is over 1 metric ton and a thick skin covers the armagor's body protecting it from all manner of attack. It has a single horn on its snout that it uses to gore anything it perceives to be a threat. Quick-tempered, the armagor can run around 60 kph and is exceptionally territorial. Only a mateable armagor can get in the vicinity.

Clamorbeak (Pterosaur)

TYPE: Medium Carnivore

NUMBER: 1-2

MOVE: Medium (flying)

IM/RS: 4/40

STAMINA: 30

ATTACK: 45

DAMAGE: 1d10 claw, peck

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: None

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: These pterosaurs clack their beaks at many very loud clacks per second, producing what sounds similar to a jackhammer pounding on marble for several seconds. The sound is amplified by a resonating chamber on their very pronounced snout. If woken at night, they will resume their clamoring. The problem is, it attracts carnivores, as they know the sound means moving animals.

Gainer

TYPE: Large Carnivore

NUMBER: 2-10

MOVE: Very Fast (Special)

IM/RS: 8/75

STAMINA: 160

ATTACK: 85

DAMAGE: 4d10 claw, bite

SPECIAL ATTACK: Charge and trip

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Speed

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: A gainer is a cat with a narrow head and long legs designed to make ever magnifying charges, increasing speed as it runs until it overtakes its victim or dies of heart failure. It looks like a long-legged cat mixed with a deer.

Hitchhiker (insect)

TYPE: Small Omnivore

NUMBER: 1 (or 40 gnats)

MOVE: Medium (flying)

IM/RS: 7/70

STAMINA: 5

ATTACK: 65

DAMAGE: 1d10/hr

SPECIAL ATTACK: Lays eggs in a host that begin eating the host after 1 day.

SPECIAL DEFENSE: None

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: A hitchhiker is a .1 m long flat fly that flies silently and gently attaches itself to a host in transit, laying eggs in the host, resulting in disease and larvae infestation that slowly kills the victim, and the larvae continue to feed on the corpse long after death until they morph into around 40 gnats.

Klastidon (Treerake)

TYPE: Giant Herbivore

NUMBER: 1-10

MOVE: Medium

IM/RS: 5/45

STAMINA: 200

ATTACK: 65

DAMAGE: 3d10 toss, gore, trample

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: The klastidon is a noble-looking elephant with large, flesh-covered, dull, flat tusks extending out to either side that it uses to pull down trees, challenge suitors, and defeat threats. It stands approximately 3.5 meters tall at the shoulders.

Langet (Avian)

TYPE: Small Carnivore

NUMBER: 2-20

MOVE: Medium (flying)

IM/RS: 4/35

STAMINA: 30

ATTACK: 50

DAMAGE: 1d5 claw, peck

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: None

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: The langet is a carrion scavenger with dark blue to black feathers and a pale yellow beak. Its wingspan is approximately 1.5 meters. It only has interest in picking the meat from already dead carcasses.

Polyceratops

TYPE: Giant Herbivore

NUMBER: 3-20

MOVE: Medium

IM/RS: 3/30

STAMINA: 180

ATTACK: 45

DAMAGE: 2d10 trample

SPECIAL ATTACK: Stomp

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: It is believed that a polyceratops can be domesticated and rode similarly to an elephant. It has a long neck and tail and the trademark ceratops plate with spiked points. Those with riding skill may do a skill check for riding a polyceratops. A polyceratops moves at 4 kilometers an hour and can run as fast as 40 kilometers an hour for 1d5 minutes despite its awkward shape. Its front legs apparently pull the dinosaur's body into the run while the hind legs bear the weight of the polyceratops's mass when coming down. It uses its front legs for pushing or pulling tall trees down to its mouth level to feed, not off of the leaves, but from tree mold that has taken root on the leaves and branches.

Pteribak

TYPE: Medium Carnivore

NUMBER: 2-10

MOVE: Medium (flying)

IM/RS: 6/55

STAMINA: 120

ATTACK: 60

DAMAGE: 2d10 claw, bite

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: None

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: A dangerous hunter, the pteribak seeks out medium size prey for feeding to its young. It has a long, pointed snout, oblong head, and sharp, saw-like teeth. It has a conspicuous waddle used to store up to 50 lbs of meat to feed to its young.

Retributisaur

TYPE: Giant Carnivore

NUMBER: 1

MOVE: Very Fast

IM/RS: 7/70

STAMINA: 300

ATTACK: 75

DAMAGE: 7d10 claw, bite

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: An impressive pear-shaped dinosaur with large back legs designed for fast charges and small forward arms designed for tearing and holding prey in place for feasting. It has a latter-like stripe pattern down its back, but no other distinguishing features.

Ripclaw

TYPE: Medium Carnivore

NUMBER: 1-3

MOVE: Fast

IM/RS: 7/70

STAMINA: 160

ATTACK: 80

DAMAGE: 3d10 claw, bite

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torent

DESCRIPTION: The ripclaw is lean dinosaur armed with large razor-sharp claws on their hands and feet. It also has horny protrusions and bumps on its scull and down its neck and some parts of its back and tail. They sharpen their claws on the wetting plant, a bamboo-like plant that thrives on being sliced apart or crushed. When you see a wetting plant that has been sliced apart, then a ripclaw is likely near by. The ripclaw's lower jaw is not joined, so it can disconnect its jaw and swallow large portions or even whole victims.

Snaggleback

TYPE: Giant Herbivore

NUMBER: 1-4

MOVE: Medium

IM/RS: 3/30

STAMINA: 180

ATTACK: 30

DAMAGE: 3d10 trip, trample

SPECIAL ATTACK: Trips with its tail and stomps

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: A large dinosaur with plates on its back facing in chaotic directions, apparently used for confusing predators and protecting it against a predator's bites, as well as camouflage. The plates are also used for mating, filling with blood to produce a bright red display.

Terrorsaur

TYPE: Large Carnivore

NUMBER: 1-2

MOVE: Fast

IM/RS: 8/80

STAMINA: 250

ATTACK: 70

DAMAGE: 4d10 claw, bite

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: Needler weapons do not penetrate hide

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: S

meters tall, and having ridges and a few spikes all over its body, with a course, plated, reddish skin. The terrorsaur releases a blood-curdling screech to terrify its victims into shock and submission. At which point it charges the stationary, mewing, and shivering creature and eats without resistance.

Trapesaur

TYPE: Medium Carnivore

NUMBER: 3-6

MOVE: Medium

IM/RS: 7/65

STAMINA: 55

ATTACK: 65

DAMAGE: 1d10 claw, bite; 1d5/turn acid

SPECIAL ATTACK: Spitting acid causes damage, blindness, and eventual paralysis (-2m/turn)

SPECIAL DEFENSE: None

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: A multi-colored dinosaur standing approximately .7 m tall and has a multi-colored skin flap that flairs out around its neck for mating and intimidating. It has yellow and black mottled stripes down its spine and tail. 3-10 trapesaurs will surround a hapless victim, giving off the sound of a gelding dinosaur. They attack all at once clawing and biting their prey until it succumbs to exsanguination. They attempt to eat the prey while still alive.

Tybor Monkey

TYPE: Small Omnivore

NUMBER: 2-20

MOVE: Medium

IM/RS: 6/60

STAMINA: 60

ATTACK: 50

DAMAGE: 1d10 claw, bite

SPECIAL ATTACK: None

SPECIAL DEFENSE: None

NATIVE WORLD: Torrent

DESCRIPTION: The tybor monkey is a social scavenger and forager, subsisting on bugs, some plants, and stolen meat. It looks like a lizard in the shape of a monkey with large round eyes. Careful, these mischievous monkeys can wreak havoc in a camp. These semi-intelligent creatures are poised to be the dominant species on the planet.