Cleon
Legend
3.5 statblocks do (sometimes) allow for Colossal creatures with a Space larger than 30 ft.
the 3.5 revision to Epic Handbook, gives the devastation vermin, and the biggest Abomination, a 50 ft space.
Oh blast, I'd forgotten about the Devastation Vermin, and they're SRD so there's nothing to stop us using them as a precedent.
also- the larger specimens of Diplodocus (Diplodocus hallorum, AKA Seismosaurus), may have weighed a bit more than 16 tons.
True enough, but I was statting up a Diplodocid of nondescript size (e.g. a 80-90 foot long, 10-15 ton Diplodocus carnegiei), not a particularly large one which would be Gargantuan or maybe even Colossal.
By the way, I've decided to increase the bite reach of my 3E Diplodocid stats. Its definitely longer-necked than a standard sauropod.
Which reminds me, I've forgotten to include really long necked sauropods like Mamenchisaurus.
All well and good- but they list Diplodocus as being revised downward from 5500 kg to 4000 kg.
Since when did anyone think it was 5500 kg?
That does seem way too low. They do appear to be getting carried away with the air-sacs. I know some of the Diplodocids had extensive weight-saving adaptations, but if they're talking about a 70+ foot long individual that doesn't sound right.
There's a similar situation with recent weight estimates for large Pterosaurs, some of the weight estimates for a large Pterosaur like Quetzalcoatlus are so low you wonder how the poor beast would be able to land or walk without collapsing like a deck of cards. I've been using the higher weight estimatesuggested in Witton & Naish's paper A Reappraisal of Azhdarchid Morphology and Paleoecology. They seem credible, and a more robust interpretation is better suited for a "D&D version" of a big Pterosaur.
Anyhow, I'd better go and add the revisions to my Sauropod post. I haven't started on the bipedal Prosauropoda yet.