"Dino Damage" Topic

About how much effect would late 19th century firearms have on dinosaurs? I am guessing that Gatling guns and buffalo guns would be of some use but I don't know how ineffective other weapons would be.

I think that if you shot a T-rex with a martini-henry a few times it would be pretty badly hurt, depending on where you shot it. Dinosaurs have organs and if their lungs are collapsed they would die as easily as anything else or at least be rendered out of action.

Now piercing to those organs might be more difficult than on a deer or a human but I'd imagine that a shot or two in the right place with a m-h would probably bring one down.

If you shoot it in the fleshy part of the leg, not so much.

Or in the head for that matter.

They don't got much going on upstairs.

It'd depend on the dinosaur, size and build.

One idea would be to take analogies with modern animals : small to mid size herbivores would be equivalent to elephants, rhinos or cape buffalo (possibly with equivalent dispositions), possibly steroid fed elephants…

Large herbivores like sauropods would probably require artillery to get a quick effect.

Meat-eaters seem to have been more lightly built and fragile generally, as they had to be able to move faster than the herbivores. They'd also be more vulnerable to what you might call 'critical hits' particularly to the legs : four legs can limp along on three, two legs gets decidedly dodgy if one is damaged.

I guess the other problem is that as they're so big that a single bullet isn't going to cause quickly disabling damage unless you hit a vulnerable point : disable a limb, brain, eyes, spine, big veins in neck.

If you're talking volly fire from a platoon or a rapid fire weapon like a gatling or nordenfelt, you might do enough damage quickly enough.

This gives you the opportunity to have Heros pull off trick shots, and the extras to do it with numbers or heavy weapons.

Of course, I could just be talking through my hat here.

One question : in the game / scenario design, just how dangerous do you want the dinos to be?

Have the humans had time and resources to develop specific anti-dino weapons or is it 'come as you are'?

Right now I am thinking come as you are. I am thinking of doing an El Dorado type-story. Adventurers and gunslingers hear native stories of a fabulous city of gold. Word gets to a bunch of bandidos as well. The army starts getting involved as do a band of ruthless outlaws. Nobody of course figures on the dinosaurs. I would probably prefer more dangerous dinos so that the players have to use different tactics to fight them. Otherwise the dinos are just big people with tough melee abilities.

Heh. Sounds like fun.

I'd think loud noises (and bad smells), smoke and fire would be important factors too, at the very least startling them.

Other fun ideas would involve lariets to trip particularly the large carnosaurs. Hoth snowspeeder style.

One of the walking with Dinosaurs spinnoffs (Big Al) speculated that the allosaur in question died as a result of a simple trip which broke a toe bone… couldn't walk effectively and feed itself, the break got infected and it eventually died.

Great idea Mr Pumblechook. I would imagine a fall for a dinosaur, like a fall for any large animal, would be more serious than a fall for a human or small animal. Since black powder arms produced a lot of smoke that would be a factor.

Live fast, die young, leave a good looking fossil.

:)

With black powder, there'd also be the smell of the powder.

With respect to the reactions, it might depend a lot on the animal… speculating wildly again, in the face of the unknown, you could imagine that carnosaurs are going to be a lot more hesitant vs the unfamiliar : they're more fragile and there'll be something else along to eat sooner or later.

On the other hand, cowboys could smell delicious!

Herbivores, where it's life and death, will either run or fight it out (depending on build and disposition : Scare a rhino and it could run, or it could charge)

You wouldn't want the players to get too complacent on this… sometimes they'll hesitate, sometimes they'll run, sometimes they'll charge.

Once again, I could be talking through my hat.

Also, it's not a nature history documentary, it's a Pulp cowboy game with Dinosaurs!

It has to be fun and play up the stereotypes.

We did a post WWII Jurassic Park a few years back. It was fun. We used WWII British weapons and landed from a Flower class corvette. And we got sort of off the beach before the T-Rex got loose amongst us.
Count Natokina.

<Q>You wouldn't want the players to get too complacent on this… sometimes they'll hesitate, sometimes they'll run, sometimes they'll charge.</Q>

And that's just the players…

Dinosaurs in a pulp adventure don't act like regular animals. They go out of their way to attack small prey (humans) and eat people even if they are herbivores. Small arms shouldn't hurt them (in fact, someone should blaze away at them to no avail then throw their gun at the dino when they run out of bullets), it should take shotguns, elephant guns, gatling guns, and cannons to hurt them.

Stewart Grainger could take one out with a single bullet.

I should think the Sharps buffalo rifle would cause even a Triceratops to take note.

Note, however, that the Sharps was a single-shot weapon.

Small arms should only be effective in the hands of an expert. I would think that a legendary gunman might get really good shot on an animal.

T Rex is the only BIG dino you have to consider; and it was c. the same weight as en elephant: so anything that can take down an elephant will take down Rex. There's a reason why they called it an "elephant gun". (note: that Stewart Grainger shot in "King Solomon's Mines" was real; you can see the hit on the elephant's skull)…

Go find a copy of De Camp's "A Gun for Dinosaur".

Hope this provides additional ideas for your game:

TMP link

CC

The 2-gauge might put a dent into a dino or two.

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If that fails you'll need something like the punt gun

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Or the Hotchkiss revolving cannon

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Any sensible gentleman who played the most dangerous game wouldn't be caught on foot in Dinosaur country. He'd probably ride an elephant or two.

Thanks everyone. That does help give me some ideas.

Shoot them? Oh heavens no, cowboy – trade in on your professional skills and *stampede* them…

Birds are prone to shock, so the more bird-like the dino the more prone to cark if traumatised?