A campaign with no (few) dinosaurs?

[Greg K]

Well, no group that I have played with has ever considered dinosaurs as a natural part of the ecosystem. If they have existed at all, it has been in a remote Lost World and that occured only once. As such, I don't think it would have an adverse effect on a druid's companion or summon list.

Just a quick question for discussion. It seems that in the "default" D&D settings, dinosaurs are a natural part of the ecosystem, seemingly as common as bears and deer.

If I decide to rule that in my homebrew, dinos only exist in remote "Land of the Lost" type sections of the campaign world, or rule them extinct altogether, would this have too big an adverse effect on things like druid's selection of companion, or creatures on the summon lists?

...basically I want an encounter with a dino to be a rare and wondrous experience, but I don't want to mangle the rules too much to achieve this.

 

[frankthedm]

Well, here some data on the deal with dinos in the monster manual...
http://www.enworld.org/forum/4028746-post1535.html

What was the main reason for the copious amount of dinosaurs in the 1EMM?

Any particular reason D&D went with the dinosaur bodied hydra?

What a very unusual querry!

Actually, the number of dinosaurs given as monster listings for the AD&D game can be considered only a brief survey.

First I loved dinosaurs since I was a little child around age 5. As there existed when I wrote the AD&D monster materials any number of works featuring encounters with such creatures, the film King Kong amongst them, I decided to include a selection of them for use by DMs acquiring the book.

A snake-like hydra offers fewer environmental possibilities than does one with a quadrupedal body.

 

[Kask]

It seems that in the "default" D&D settings, dinosaurs are a natural part of the ecosystem, seemingly as common as bears and deer.

Nope, not at all. The "default" setting, if there is one, is medieval EU, not the Jurassic period.

 

[GuJiaXian]

So, Frank, having fun playing thread resurrection? Seems like you're dredging up quite a few year-dead threads (I counted at least three).

And, lest this post be *entirely* off topic, I don't prefer dinosaurs in my D&D campaigns at all.

 

[frankthedm]

So, Frank, having fun playing thread resurrection? Seems like you're dredging up quite a few year-dead threads (I counted at least three).

Viewing the forum by date of last post is not the only way of doing so.

And, lest this post be *entirely* off topic, I don't prefer dinosaurs in my D&D campaigns at all.

The host of my group shares that feeling. Myself, I like them, though maybe that might be more because their minis are so accessible

 

[Jhaelen]

Just a quick question for discussion. It seems that in the "default" D&D settings, dinosaurs are a natural part of the ecosystem, seemingly as common as bears and deer.

Umm, are they?
They've never showed up in any of my games for sure.

Well, I did use some 'ice age' critters in my arctic campaign, like wooly rhinos and sabre-tooth tigers but never dinosaurs. Imho, they clash with the more fantastic creatures. I simply cannot imagine them living in the same environment.

So, yes, I think, you'll be totally fine, if you don't use them (often).

 

[Lord Xtheth]

I've never used a dinosaur as a villian of any kind. I avoid even looking at them as "real" monsters.

That has never stopped one of my players from summoning one. Magic, by definition CAN do anything.

 

[demiurge1138]

Yeah, I wouldn't call dinos default by any means. Druids can call them with summon nature's ally, but from distant shores and forgotten worlds... ie, in most settings, dinosaurs are relegated to lost worlds and Dinosaur Islands (Skull Island, the Isle of Dread, etc). I'd only allow a druid to have a dinosaur companion if he were explicitly from one of those areas, or was in a more dino-permissive setting, like Eberron.