Because Dinosaurs and Sci-Fi is just begging for a meta-concert of crystal infused hyper-aware dinosaurs:
Dinosaurs on a hunting preserve have been eating native creatures which are naturally suffuse with crystals which interact with standard power circuits, and especially, shuttle drive power trains and base main power supplies. The crystals also create a weak mental link which imbues extraordinary intelligence and perception. (The link is what makes the crystals useful for building power circuits.)
After a short off season, where the preserve facilities were down for construction, the dinosaurs crossed a threshold of awareness. When the facilities were brought online and the construction crew shuttled offworld, the resonance of the crystals in the dinosaurs with the shuttle power systems causes them to go berzerk. This was not immediately apparent, with the dinosaurs initially stunned and confused, giving time for the preserve to take in new arrivals to start the next hunting season.
Shuttle transports to outstations drew in the dinosaurs, which, en-masse, overran the outstations then refocused on the harder to reach main base.
The players are drawn into the situation either as hired trouble shooters (why did the outstations go dark?) Or as members of a hunting party, perhaps as guards or as hunters themselves.
At an outstation, the players are either overrun as a part of the initial onslaught, or are attacked when they reach the already overrun outstation (the dinosaurs drawn by the power systems in their shuttle.) Simultaneously, the dinosaurs achieve a level of meta-awareness and their link begins to disrupt the main base power systems.
The situation becomes:
(1) The players have an initial fight at an outstation with unexpectedly smart and aggressive dinosaurs;
(2) The base is overrun, and, in particular, any powered systems (shuttles and the outstation itself) are destroyed by frenzied dinosaurs;
(3) Contact with the main base becomes sporatic then goes completely offline as the base shifts to emergency power.
How to resolve this could be:
(1) There is a triad of dinosaurs with the largest concentration of crystals which must be defeated to break the dinosaurs meta-circuit, which would restore power to the main base, two lesser dinosaurs, then one final greater dinosaur.
(2) One or more of the outstations, perhaps an older one which was decommissioned, or a new one which hadn't yet been put online, has power systems which were not yet turned on and not attacked by the dinosaurs. Power circuits must be recovered from one of the intact outstation to repair the power circuits of the shuttle, providing a way offworld.
(3) A large concentration of crystals located in a valley a distance from the characters can be used to send a counter-pulse which would divert the dinosaurs meta-awareness. But key equipment must be reached then transported to the valley, then activated.
!n all cases, the players must travel overland to at least two objectives, and deal with a final onslaught while they accomplish their final objective.
The dinosaurs are exceptional in several ways: They share awareness; they have an innate sense of the location of powered technology and are drawn to these locations to attack and destroy power circuits; they are exceptionally intelligent; they are highly aggressive tending to berzerk rages; larger individuals have strange powers which emanate from large crystals growing from their skin: These are rays or bursts, and can cause temporary blindness, disrupt neural activity, or, when focused, act as damaging energy discharges.
Thx!
TomB
