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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 4004947" data-attributes="member: 18280">So, you'd have no trouble whatsoever with believing a news report that said a herd of triceratops had been discovered in Montana?  Would you have trouble with the DM announcing that apatosauruses were located within the City of Greyhawk?  After all, dinosaurs covered a wide range of environments and thus can plausibly be found in an equally wide range of environments.  Would you have a problem with an ancient red dragon squatting atop the castle over Waterdeep for centuries....but no one has noticed?Clearly, just because a creature can potentially exist in an environment doesn't mean that it does.  Large creatures living unbeknownst to you in an area you don't know well?  Sure.  Small creatures living unbeknownst to you in an area you know well?  Sure.  Large creatures living unbeknownst to you in an area you know well.....maybe, if they are solitary or have some ability to remain hidden.  Herds of animals weighing over a ton each living unbeknownst to you in an area you know well?  That seems to be a whole lot less likely to me.  YMMV.Yet again, clearly, at least one of those involved in the game didn't seem to think that this was within the realm of possibility for that game, so something is wrong here.  I am not saying that the inclusion of dinosaurs is what's wrong (indeed, as said, I include dinosaurs in my own game), but that the player(s) don't know what they can reasonably expect from the campaign world is a serious problem.Again, Brother MacLaren put this well:  "I view it as an obligation of the player to create a PC that works with the DM's vision of the game world. It is not the obligation of the DM to create a kitchen-sink world in which anything published by WotC is admissable. It is, however, the DM's obligation to communicate to his players what the game world is like."The game is setting-neutral.  Once you begin play, perforce, you are creating a setting.  D&D is setting-neutral.  No D&D campaign can be so.No.However, the same criteria apply.All creatures leave ecological footprints of their existence.  The larger the animal (and the larger the group it lives in) the larger its footprint.  Intelligence can mitigate this to some degree.  Certainly, dwelling far from civilization can do the same (which is why Lost World novels take place in Lost Worlds).  It should also be noted that the ecological footprints of prey animals (herbivoures) are often larger than those of predators (because any given region will support a vast number of prey animals compared to the number of creatures that prey on them).RC</blockquote>

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