What do I do with this setting?!

[Nellisir]

A few quick thoughts:
- something this big (stargates leading to prehistoric planets) is going to get alot of interest and alot of traffic. The party will be looking at neo-nazis searching for a refuge to build The Ultimate (Dinosaur) Weapon, well-prepared Amish settlers, hapless Edenic nudists, various countries searching for -anything-, mining interests, the mysterious cabal of super-rich, the tourist super-rich.
- All of the above, but as aliens...and someone forgot to invent the universal translator....
- Someone once said, don't hold anything back. If you have ancient Master aliens, use them in the plot. What's the point otherwise? You going to save them for the "next" campaign? I think "bad guys get ahold of ancient weapon and the PCs must a) stop them and b) stop the weapon" is a classic for a reason.
- I'd use the stargates for a similar reason, and put the party on the forefront of the (public) exploratory stage. Have 3-6 "core" worlds that are notably different from each other (dino-world, dino-extinction world, stone age /ice age world, and one or two more...), and have the party travel between them, discovering links and uncovering secrets.

 

[Kesh]

If you're going the "stargates" route, I'd throw out the dinosaurs entirely. Make them "alien hunters," bringing back exotic species of creatures for scientists, zoos and military purposes.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Check the Kromagg entry on wikipedia. Also, if you don't own Tangents (Alternity supplement), buy it as a pdf from rpgnow.

The combination of these materials should give you some inspiration.

 

[Desdichado]

If you're going the "stargates" route, I'd throw out the dinosaurs entirely. Make them "alien hunters," bringing back exotic species of creatures for scientists, zoos and military purposes.

**stunned silence** Dude, the dinosaurs are the whole point! If I throw them out, I got nuttin'.

 

[Kesh]

**stunned silence** Dude, the dinosaurs are the whole point! If I throw them out, I got nuttin'.

... oh.

Well, in that case, I got nuttin'.

 

[Andor]

Lotsa stuff to do.

First be really ambiguous with the greys. At one point they move heaven and earth to save a wounded PC. Another time they come home to learn that another expedition was wiped out to a man, apparently to save a butterfly. Any encounter with them should leave the PCs apprehensive and puzzled.

Second play evolution games. In some worlds the dinos look like classic old movie dinos. In others T-Rex has plumage like a Green Winged Macaw and sings to attact mates. Then play smaller and subtler games with evolution and cross-contamination. When they return to a world they haven't seen for a while it's been ravaged by rats introduced from earth. Small dinos escape into earth. Strange diseases start afflicting some worlds.

Third. Moral Dilemas. Let them discover some world have strains of dino that are more or less intelligent. For example a race of strong but not bright (Int 6-8) dinos that regard the PCs as gods. They will of course be heavily exploited by humanity. Another race is brighter but very hostile. Another is intelligent but small and has no manipulative digits.

Fouth, as was mentioned above, rival human groups to interact with.

Fifth, Strange ruins to explore. Weird hints about the gates/barges. Worlds where the ecology doesn't make sense. Steal from old SF shows like star trek and the twillight zone.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Start with everything you need for an adventure:

A villain
A patron
A lure
A home base.

Whatever you think you need for a hunting dinosaurs adventure. Then, fill in the gaps after the players have had a whack at it.

Sometimes these things get out a lot better if you just *do* 'em.

 

[Tinner]

How about this?
The PC's are the ones who find the gate/barge/whatever lets them travel to Dino-World.
Dino-World is the only setting they initially can access on the gate.
Dino-World is an exploitable paradise, rich in natural resources, minerals, etc. The dinosaurs are the main danger, and also happen to be useful critters that can be sold for a profit as well.
Give the PC's the opportunity to exploit this discovery in any way they choose. Do they try to start importing the abundant mineral wealth? Do they catch baby-dinos to raise as pets, or sell to biotech companies?
Introduce the creeping horror as you like. Do the dinosaurs spread diseases among the earth population? If the PC's bring too much wealth back do they crash the economy of that item?
Is there a hostile alien intelligence that creates the gates? Cause when you say dinosaurs, alien tech, and gates, I'm thinking Sleestaks!

The key to this setting IMO is the theme of responsibility vs. exploitation. Are the PC's going to try to milk Dino-World for their personal wealth, or will they use their discovery more responsibly?
Are the Dinosaurs just an exploitable varmint, or is there some greater reason for a world of reptiles? Do the PC's have a moral right to exploit these creatures?
IMO this setting's big hook is almost one of Manifest Destiny. You can easily use this setting to examine themes similar to those found in colonial America, and the Westward Expansion of the USA.

YMMV.

 

[Desdichado]

I think the bit theme vis a viz the dinosaur worlds is that we were evolved by some outside governing agent that evolved us to where we are today. Why did they do so? I'm not sure yet. But that's the big question/mystery/theme of this whole idea.

If you know much about vertebrate paleontology, one of the more curious things is that therapsids--who were primitive "almost mammals" were pretty much all the big megafauna in the Permian and throughout much of the Triassic, whilst the "thecodonts" which were the "almost dinosaurs" starting horning in on their ecological niches throughout the Triassic, and by the time the Jurassic came along, their domination via the dinosaurs was complete. It was the original hostile takeover. The funny thing is, of course, that at the end of the Cretaceous, the original dynasty took back over and has held the line ever since.

What was that all about? Some kind of power struggle between gray alien factions; one who favored mammalian evolution and one who favored dinosaurian? And what does that mean potentially for the setting?

Anyway, these are questions that I've thought of but have--as yet--no answer to.

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

**stunned silence** Dude, the dinosaurs are the whole point! If I throw them out, I got nuttin'.

Sure you do:

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/alienplanet/splash.html

Somewhere, I have the d20 stats for a lot of these critters. I yoinked them off the WotC forums.