Dinosaurs as Animal Companions - Gamebreaker?

[Olaf the Stout]

This happened in my game and I want to see what people here think about it.

My campaign had been going for about 1 1/2 years and was at about 10th level when one of my players decided that he had done all he could with his PC and wanted to bring in a new one. For his new PC he created a Druid with a (large-sized) dinosaur from the MM3 as his animal companion, which he also rode on as a mount.

Upon being introduced to the party one of the players said, "WTF, he's riding a dinosaur! What sort of game are we playing?" To him dinosaurs were creatures that might have lived on some far off continent, they did not get ridden around like a horse.

After that session the player quit the game, taking another player with him, effectively ending the campaign. He e-mailed me about it specifically citing the Druid riding a dinosaur as a gamebreaker for him. To him a game where people rode on dinosaurs was just too weird a game world for him to consider playing in. It broke the game for him.

So, if this had happened in a game you were playing in what would have been your reaction? Personally I was a little surprised that the player reacted the way that he did. In a game where you fight dragons and cast fireballs from your hands, is it really that out-there to see someone riding a large lizard-like beast? I'm interested in seeing what people's thoughts are.

Olaf the Stout

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

I know what you mean, that doesn't make any sense to me either.

Far as my own games go dinosaurs/dire animals/magical beasts are as common as ordinary animals in any of my homebrew settings. Besides with dinosaurs around in large numbers you can finally explain what dragons eat Then again I've also got sky islands floating around, WH40K inspired fortress cities, flying ironclads, gods running around the prime material, etc.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

It isn't a game breaker. It's a matter of taste. Personally, I'm all over it like white on rice.

My homebrew has a whole section of it that contains the prehistoric feel and is home mostly to reptilies and other scaled monstrosities, where riding exotic mounts is quite common.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I know what you mean, that doesn't make any sense to me either.

Far as my own games go dinosaurs/dire animals/magical beasts are as common as ordinary animals in any of my homebrew settings. Besides with dinosaurs around in large numbers you can finally explain what dragons eat Then again I've also got sky islands floating around, WH40K inspired fortress cities, flying ironclads, gods running around the prime material, etc.

Obviously myself and the player in question had a very big disconnect as to what is normal in your average D&D world and what "OMG WTF is that thing?"

Olaf the Stout

 

[XCorvis]

After that session the player quit the game, taking another player with him, effectively ending the campaign. He e-mailed me about it specifically citing the Druid riding a dinosaur as a gamebreaker for him. To him a game where people rode on dinosaurs was just too weird a game world for him to consider playing in. It broke the game for him.

So, if this had happened in a game you were playing in what would have been your reaction? Personally I was a little surprised that the player reacted the way that he did. In a game where you fight dragons and cast fireballs from your hands, is it really that out-there to see someone riding a large lizard-like beast? I'm interested in seeing what people's thoughts are.

I would be surprised too, but I bet that it wasn't the only thing the guy had a problem with. It just doesn't seem like a serious enough thing to quit a game over. Looking back, were he and the other guy having fun before the dino rider got introduced? Maybe it was a "last straw" kind of thing for him.

But even if he was having fun before, if he's so fickle that something like another player's choice of animal companion can make him quit a 1.5 year game, then good riddance.

You should start up a Lost World style game just to spite him.

 

[Jubilee]

That seems like a really odd thing to quit over - was the dinosaur totally overpowered and taking away all the combat fun from everyone else? Maybe the player in question hates eberron and is afraid you're going to turn your game into an eberron game?

Still, seems odd to quit without at least discussing it with the GM first.. maybe the player was already looking for an excuse to quit?

/ali

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I think that the dinosaur(s) (the Druid also wildshaped into a dinosaur for a combat) were the final straw, not just the whole problem themselves. The player himself has admitted that he is not the easiest player to deal with. He has said a number of times that he didn't think he could deal with himself if he was a player in his game.

Olaf the Stout

 

[DrunkonDuty]

When I GM I like to keep my dinosaurs in far away locales, places the PCs have to work hard to get too. But that's just because I want to keep that Lost World feeling of them being exotic, far away and mysterious. I want to keep them special. Comes down to personal choice really. I certainly wouldn't quit a game oversomething like that. I agree with XCorvis; I suspect the fella was having other issues already.

Aside: Someday I will do campaign where riding dinosaurs are common. You'll walk down a dusty street and there'll be an allosaur hitched to a post next to a (nervous) stegosaur. I wouldn't want to be the street sweeper in a place like that though.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

It is very odd to quit over. I mean is it really weirder than having dragons? As a matter of fact fantasy evolution might dictate that dragons could be be descended from dinosaurs.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dinosaurs, while not exactly common, are animals and thus appropriate for this kind of treatment. That means they can also recieve all those "Animal" templates...and be Awakened by a Druid of sufficient level...all of which I'm doing in my own campaign.

As long as the 'saur wasn't overpowered vis a vis other animals a Druid that level could have, I don't see a problem.

I'm surprised this was your player's breaking point. I mean, I've had players leave a game in a huff but not over something in the "suspension of disbelief" category. The few times it has happened, it was either over a DM call the player (deeply) disagreed with or serious RW stuff.

As a matter of fact fantasy evolution might dictate that dragons could be be descended from dinosaurs.

Or that dinos are degenerate, devolved, or accursed dragons...