Prehistoric Monsters

Prehistoric Monsters Original Document: Salvatore Cucinotta, with contributions from “Sunlessnick” of the Eden Studios B

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Prehistoric Monsters Original Document: Salvatore Cucinotta, with contributions from “Sunlessnick” of the Eden Studios Board. Images and Species: BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs, Walking With Beasts, Walking with Monsters, Walking with Cavemen, Allosaurus: a Walking with Dinosaurs Special, Land of the Giants: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special, The Giant Claw: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special, Chased by Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special, Prehistoric Park, “The Internet” (among such sites as Wikipedia and the Speculative Dinosaur Project (Website lost, so proper credit cannot be given) and the artists Charles R. Knight and Deviant Artist “avancna”. Editing, Layout and Other Considerations: Salvatore Cucinotta Dedication: C. J. Carella, for sharing Unisystem with the world; Jason Vey for introducing me to the concept of Netbook creation; The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for supporting my love of the past as well as allowing me to volunteer with them as part of my research; and the great folks at the Eden Studios Message Boards, because they’re the ones who will use it! Copyright Notice: The entire WALKING WITH… series and spin offs is © by the British Broadcasting Company 1999-2006, all right reserved. UNISYSTEM and C J CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT are © C. J. Carella 1996-2006. CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT is a Trademark™ of CJ Carella under exclusive license of Eden Studios. All original writing and presentation within this document that is not tied directly to another owner is © by Salvatore Cucinotta. This document may be distributed freely as long as the document remains intact. This document may not be sold for profit under any circumstances. Obligatory CYA Statement: The animals may be real, but these descriptions are simplifications and in some cases extrapolations of the actual creatures for the purposes of a roleplaying game. Any other use is not intended or wise.

Chapter 1 Paleontology Introduction Since the coining of the word in 1842 by Sir Richard Owen, Dinosaurs have become the greatest icons of prehistory. The word ascribes massive power and majesty, as well as sluggishness and ineptness. So powerful are the dinosaurs that they have eclipsed all other prehistoric life. Few people know about Indrocotherium. Fewer still know of the powerful predatory Gorgonops. And only a handful can look at an Anamalocharis and realize that it is not the fanciful creation of a science fiction author, but an actual creature that lived, breathed and died on this planet. This supplement for Unisystem games hopes to introduce all of these magnificent creatures to the gamer. They are weird and wonderful animals that can inspire, capture awe and, most importantly, give

a director new obstacles for the cast to encounter or be torn apart by in an ambush. What You Need to Use This Supplement To use this supplement effectively, you need to own several Unisystem products already. The most important of these would be a copy of Terra Primate. Several qualities and drawbacks used for intelligent apes equally apply to other forms of life. Some of the new qualities and drawbacks directly reference Terra Primate. A copy of Witchcraft or Armageddon would not hurt either for some sections involving magic and spirits. All Flesh Must Be Eaten and its supplements have application to certain sections of the book. Cinematic conventions are also dealt with directly in the book, so a copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

RPG, Army of Darkness or Ghosts of Albion would help with those sections, but are not as requirement as Terra Primate is. Inspirational Material Prehistoric Life has been committed to film hundreds of times, but this supplement aims for a more scientific and realistic view of prehistoric life to share with the reader. Listed here are the most famous, infamous, odd, accurate and influential films and books about Prehistoric Life yet produced. Also included are documentaries on natural life that aid in any understanding of animal life and their habitats: modern or prehistoric. Films and Television The Lost World (1925) King Kong (1933, 2005) Son of Kong (1933) Fantasia (1940) One Million BC (1940) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) The Land Unknown (1957) Dinosaurus! (1960) One Million Years BC (1964) The Valley of Gwangi (1969) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) The Land that Time Forgot (1971) Creatures the World Forgot (1971) The Land of the Lost (1974, 1991) Planet of the Dinosaurs (1979) Dinosaur (1980) Caveman (1981) Quest for Fire (1981) Legend of the Dinosaurs a.k.a. Dinosaur: Legend of the Strange Bird (1983) Iceman (1984) Dinosaur! (1985) Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) Jurassic Park (1993) The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) The Lost World (2001) Raptor Island (2004) Prehistoric Park (2007) Primeval (2007) 10,000 BC (2008) Documentary and Docu-Drama The Animal World (1956)

The First Eden (1987) Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1989) Life of Plants (1995) Life of Birds (1998) Walking With Dinosaurs (1999) Allosaurus: a Walking with Dinosaurs Special (2000) Walking With Beasts (2001) Land of the Mammoth (2001) Blue Planet (2001) Life of Mammals (2002) Walking with Cavemen (2003) Land of the Giants: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special (2003) The Giant Claw: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special (2003) Chased by Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special (2003) Dinosaur Planet (2003) Ancient Monster Hunters (2004) Walking with Monsters (2005) Life in the Undergrowth (2005) Planet Earth (2006) Life in Cold Blood (2008) Jurassic Fight Club (2008) Evolve (2008) Prehistoric Monsters Revealed (2008) Books The Young Oxford Book of the Prehistoric World by Jill Bailey and Tony Seddon The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert T. Bakker Hunting Dinosaurs by Louie Psihoyos with John Knoebber The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Prehistoric World edited by Douglas Palmer et al. Dinosaurs: A Global View by S. & S Czerkas Animal edited by David Burnie & Don E. Wilson. The World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures by Dougal Dixon Dinosaurs: the Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages by Thomas R. Hotlz Fiction Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne The Lost World by Author Conan Doyle Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Chapter 2 Paleozoology Introduction This section of the supplement covers creature building, but it‘s not to say that there cannot be characters with some of the qualities and drawbacks. Be they some alien being or supernatural beast, these qualities are meant to reflect the natural world more than the world of magic, monsters and aliens in some RPG campaigns. Also are rules for Spirits for use in Armageddon or Witchcraft.

Creature Building Qualities and Drawbacks Some qualities from Terra Primate need to be read to understand some of the write-ups. The qualities from that book are not included here. There are also alterations to existing qualities. Before the main qualities can be discussed, however, the subject of Size must be taken into account:

Size (2 point quality per distance from 5) Size Rating 12 Titanic

Numbers

Hit Bonus

441-900ft/136-275m

Base Life Point Formula

Weight/Example

4

(Strength + Constitution) x8 +10

100 thousand tons/Ghidrah

11 Gargantuan 211-440ft/66-135m

4

(Strength + Constitution) x7 +10

10 thousand tons/Godzilla

10 Colossal

101-210ft/31-65m

4

(Strength + Constitution) x7 +10

100 tons/Blue Whale

9

Monstrous

51-100ft/15-30m

4

(Strength + Constitution) x6 +10

48 tons/Large Whale

8

Vast

16-50ft/5-15m

3

(Strength + Constitution) x6 +10

7 tons/Elephant

7

Huge

10-15ft/3-5m

2

(Strength + Constitution) x5 +10

2.5 Tons/Rhino, Hippo

6

Large

7-10ft/2-3m

1

(Strength + Constitution) x5 +10

1000 pounds/Gorilla, Elk

5

Human

5-6ft/1.5-2m

0

(Strength + Constitution) x4 +10

400 pounds/Humans, Deer

4

Small

3-4ft/1-1.4m

-1

(Strength + Constitution) x3 +10

110 pounds/Sheep, Dog

3

Petite

1-3ft/30cm-1m

-2

(Strength + Constitution) x2 +10

50 pounds/Beaver

2

Tiny

6 inches/15cm

-3

Strength + Constitution +5

5 pound/Rats, Rabbits

1

Minute

< 5 Inches/15cm

-4

Strength + Constitution