Posse: The Utah Water Rustlers

September 13, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Today is a really special treat, as a forum poster has completed his own Posse using the v0.9 rules. But he went above and beyond doing just that, and actually ordered and painted up a slew of cowboy figures to go with his Ankylosaurus figure. The creator is cody20 from the DakkaDakka forums, and I really have to thank him for his interest in the game and dedication to assembling a terrific looking Posse!

Without further ado (since most of you recent readers are probably coming from the DakkaDakka thread in the first place :)) I give you the Utah Water Rustlers:


I guess this means I really need to get on having a similarly dashing looking force available for my battle reports, instead of the hodge podge of figures I’ve used in the past. Anyways with luck this won’t be the last we hear of from cody20, so hopefully I can post some bonus battle reports from him in the future!

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Scenario: Dinoegg Heist

July 18, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

I’m hoping to use this scenario in a game soon, instead of the usual stand up fight. I’m thinking of re-using the posses from my Keyes, Oklahoma Street Fight since they seemed well matched.

But yeah the basic idea is to have a fight over dinosaur eggs (dinoeggs), with the random element of a few wandering dinosaurs thrown in. Stealing a dinoegg awards more than the standard for killing an enemy, so that should motivate players to focus on the eggs. This is the first scenario I’ve tried to formally write up, so bear with me in terms of layout and balance.

Anyways here are the details of the scenario:

Scenario: Dinoegg Heist
Dinosaur eggs are prized possessions in the new wild west. Unhatched young of certain rare breeds can fetch hundreds of Neodollars, whereas common eggs are full of enough nutrients to feed a family for a week. This scenario represents two wandering posses stumbling across the same clutch of dinosaur eggs, and then trying to steal as many as they can.

Posse Restrictions: No Dinosaurs allowed.
Dinoegg stealing is a delicate matter and having a friendly dinosaur present can disrupt the process. The scent of another dinosaur can enrage the dinoegg parents or a stampeding beast can trample the precious dinoeggs.

Table Size: 48″ long by 36″ wide
In other words “My Kitchen Table”.

Table Setup: Setup the terrain as normal. No buildings should be used (as dinosaurs tend to avoid nesting near structures).

Posse Setup: Roll to randomize which Posse deploys at which long table edge. Roll again to see who deploys first.

Deployment: 2 members of the Posse must be placed within 4″ of the center of the table. The remaining 1-3 members are deployed within 6″ of their table edge.

Dinoeggs
Deploying Dinoeggs: D6 dinoeggs will be placed. Mark the center of the table, and place each dinoegg 2D12″ in a random direction (roll a directional dice or a D12 to represent the clockfaces to choose direction).
The 4 Posse members that deployed near the center of the table start with 1 Dinoegg each.
I recommend using Mini Eggs to represent dinoeggs – plus the players can literally eat their spoils after!

Using Dinoeggs: A Dinoegg has AR 4 and HP 4.
A single dinoegg can be carried by a character at no penalty.
Picking up, dropping, or transferring (to an adjacent ally) a dinoegg can be done for 1 Action Phase.
If an entity carrying a dinoegg is taken out of action, the dinoegg is dropped where they fell.
If an entity carrying a dinoegg voluntarily moves off a table edge they have escaped with the dinoegg.

Oviraptors
Deploying Oviraptors: At the start of each new Turn after the first roll a D12. On a roll of 8+ an Oviraptor appears to steal dinoeggs! The Oviraptor is deployed 6″ in from a random table edge.
A maximum of 3 Oviraptors can be in play at once.
The Oviraptor has the following modified “Ripper” statistics:

Oviraptor
Size S, MV 6, AR 1, MMC 7, BRV 6, HP 8, 2-2 A-D
Note: Can carry 2 Dinoeggs at once

Using Oviraptors: The Oviraptor is not controlled by either Posse, and is a mainly after dinoeggs. All Oviraptors act at once, and do so after all other Posse members have finished. The Oviraptor will move towards the nearest dinoeggs or nearest entity who is holding a dinoegg and try to pick up the dinoegg. Once the Oviraptor has 2 dinoegg it will move in a direct line towards the nearest table edge. If it reaches the table edge it has escape into the jungle with the dinoegg!

Victory Conditions: The game ends when either Posse is entirely taken out of action or off the table, or all the dinoegg are destroyed or off the table.
Aside from the usual Improvement Point benefits from a battle award the following:

6 IP and $30 = Dinoegg taken off the board or in possession.
-6 IP = Dinoegg destroyed.
1 IP (in addition to standard +3) = Killing an Oviraptor carrying 1 or more Dinoeggs.
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Official Variant Rules

July 6, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

I had previously posted some ideas on optional variant rules for Dinosaur Cowboys. Basically it was a list of neat ideas that just barely didn’t make it into the core rules for a variety of reasons. In most cases it was because they would overly complicate the core rules, or slow down the game, or overwhelm the players with options. But all the ideas are still very valid and interesting.
So I cleaned those up and formatted them and put them in the v0.9 rules as a new “Variant Rules” section. I’ve also pasted that section below so you can see:

Variant Rules

These optional rules can be used by players to give a different feel to certain situations in the game. Both players have to agree ahead of time on which rules (if any) to use. Most of these variants were created where they may have added too much complexity to the game or changed the overall flavor.

Fumbles: Any unmodified rolls of 1 count as -1 Hit, to a minimum of 0 hits.

Armor Damage Reduction: Instead of modifying Miss Chance, Armor directly reduces damage equal to the Armor Rating.
For example being hit for 5 damage with Flak Armor (AR 3) would mean only 2 damage is done.

Miss Chance in Melee: Instead of using RMC for ranged weapons in melee, use MMC instead. Still apply the “In Melee” penalty.

Running Target: +1 Miss Chance against targets that Ran.

Variable Run: Instead of Run providing an additional 1/2 Movement statistic, roll a D6 as inches instead.

Purchasing IP: 1 IP can be bought for $10.

Mount Protection: Any riders add the Dinosaurs AR to their own when attacked while Mounted.

Downed at 0 HP: Instead of removing an entity when they reach 0 HP or less, place them face down instead. They can take no actions and cannot be attacked, but an ally can heal Hitpoints (using a Medpack, Whiskey Drop, etc.) to restore the Downed entity.

Yeehaw Action: Instead of allowing 1 re-roll in 12″, this ability can provide one free Action Phase to any entity (even one who was already Activated) in 12″.

Additional Ideas
Here are some other possible variants and improvements the players could extend and elaborate.

  • Can buy and set Traps like spiked pits, tripwires, etc. Deployed before battle and the X-Y coordinates (in inches) are marked down to keep them hidden from opponents.
  • Some kind of “quick draw” with Six-Shooters that lets you roll off / duel an opponent within short range.
  • Gatling Gun (or similar) that has variable D6 or D12 Attacks instead of a set number.
  • Fire rules for Molotov cocktails (maybe a X” wide patch that lasts until the end of the turn?), get same attack if target enters or is pushed into it
  • Weather effects (sandstorm, acid rain, etc.) and hazardous terrain (lava, quicksand, etc.).
  • Dinosaur equipment upgrades (armor plates, extra saddle, etc.).
  • Weapon upgrades (laser sight, etc.) that grant additional benefits to the gun, such as +1A or +1D.
  • Non-Dinosaur beasts (Sabertooth cats, Woolly Mammoths, etc.).
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Fillable Posse Roster PDF form

June 29, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Although I haven’t had a ton of time for additional playtests, I have gotten to work at making the Posse Roster a fillable PDF form. This will be handy for those with small, cramped writing, or for people who are used to creating their sheets that way.
But what it’s REALLY useful for is the possibility of programmatically filling the form. Ideally I’d like to write an application (probably a web app) that allows you to build a Posse and then export to PDF. Thanks to the Java version of iText this is hugely possible and not even that challenging. I did some testing along these lines and already have the Leader filling in properly. Now I just need to build the rest of the sheet and slap an interface on that lets you modify statistics, purchase equipment, etc. This would be a great asset for Dinosaur Cowboys as you could quickly and easily build different Posses and jump into a game in no time.
The application will be called “The Saloon”, and I’m going to try to sit down and put some serious work into it asap. I want to get a couple more playtests in, but the current rules are definitely approaching a finalized state.

Anyways to give you an idea of what the sheet looks like, here is a screenshot of the autopopulated form from my preliminary version of The Saloon:

Not much else to say really. I was away all weekend so I got less Dinosaur Cowboys than I would have liked. And unfortunately all the forum posts I did trying to generate interest and get some comments didn’t actually result in much feedback. I guess people don’t have a ton of time to sit down and read rules and playtest. Hopefully I hear back from some of the forum folks soon.

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What To Read

June 1, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

This post is meant to summarize different points of interest inside the blog so that new readers can skip to the best parts without having to browse post by post and month by month. Also a list of related media (comics, books, video games, etc.) that feature genre mixing of dinosaurs and humans in various forms.

From This Blog

  • Category: Game Sessions and Category: Campaign – Any of the battle reports under these categories are great for giving you an idea of how the game plays. Some use older rules (since I was recording playtests), but there are plenty of pictures and descriptions of an action-by-action look at different Posses fighting. If you want a continuous, connected story look at the Windy River solo test campaign or Battle to Seattle group campaign.
  • Category: Fiction – Various works of fiction written for Dinosaur Cowboys. Mostly created during the National Novel Writing Month initiative.
  • Dinosaur Gallery – This shows my collection of toy dinosaurs, and should help give an idea of how they look on their own. All the toys are highly detailed and from the company Papo.
  • v2.0 Release – Another big celebration for the highly refined release of v2.0 of Dinosaur Cowboys.
  • v1.0 Release – The Halloween celebration for the “finalized” release of v1.0 of Dinosaur Cowboys.
  • Decision to Rewrite as Skirmish – Older post from 2010 wherein I decided to move the game to a 90/10 skirmish/rpg ratio instead of a 50/50 split. This is the basis for the rules you know today.
  • Original 2009 Brainstorm – My first draft of the rules after a big brainstorm of mechanics. I like how the core combat system hasn’t truly changed since then, which is a good sign to me.

Comics

Books

RPGs and Tabletop Games

  • G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T is a skirmish ruleset in the Victorian era intended to be used with sci-fi elements. Dinosaur encounters or safari hunts seem like a common theme.
  • Broncosaurus Rex D20 RPG with great black-and-white artwork in their rulebook.
  • Saurian Safari rules focused on asymmetrical hunting of dinosaurs in an alternate reality, as compared to a more traditional skirmish.
  • GURPS Dinosaurs is a thick tome containing a huge number of detailed stat blocks for various dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures. Great for brainstorming for enemies in campaigns.
  • Adventures in the Lost Lands wargame for use with various human eras mixed with dinosaurs.
  • Dino Wars tabletop game pitting the army against dinosaurs.
  • Jurassic Reich tabletop game featuring Nazis riding dinosaurs, plus some custom figures.
  • Pulp Alley a generic pulp ruleset with support for dinosaurs.
  • Weird West gallery of figures including some great mounted cowboys and indians on various dinosaurs.

Movies and TV

  • The Valley of Gwangi movie about cowboys capturing a dinosaur for a circus.
  • Aztec Rex low budget movie about Aztecs with a dinosaur defending against Cortez.
  • Terra Nova short lived TV series but has some interesting human/dinosaur interactions.
  • Cowboys & Aliens not related to dinosaurs, but has some good brainstorming material for normal wild west cowboys interacting with an overwhelming sci-fi opponent.

Video Games

  • ARK: Survival Evolved upcoming survival game with trainable dinosaurs, crafting tech trees, base building, and much more. Very promising
  • Dinosaur themed games at MobyGames. A great list of older games containing dinosaurs as a central element.
  • Dino D-Day multiplayer first person shooter game with playable dinosaurs and an Axis and Allied team.
  • Primal Carnage multiplayer first person shooter game similar to Team Fortress 2 but with dinosaurs.
  • ORION: Dino Horde (was Dino Beatdown) multiplayer first person shooter game with coop elements and a dinosaur horde, similar to Left 4 Dead.
  • Paraworld video game involving RTS elements and dinosaurs. Not technically reading material, but still in this genre!
  • Dino Storm browser game featuring cowboys on dinosaurs with laser pistols. Sound familiar?

Other

  • Dinosaur Kingdom tourist attraction in Virginia about dinosaurs in the Civil War era.
  • Dinosaur Toys Collectors Guide is a great site with info on the various brands of dinosaur toys available. Good place to start when looking to build a collection for your posses.
  • spohniscool Gallery of a very skilled artist who provided the cover art for the main rulebook and some of the interior art for the Quickdraw rules.
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