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[Jonesy]

Has anyone statted out dinosaurs yet for a Jurassic Park, Turok, etc. game.

[Vinzent]

I haven't given it much thought, but the question arises...

Do you stat up dinosaurs from the movies (like Jurassic Park) or do you go with the real things? In Jurassic Park, Raptors were 6 feet tall. In reality, they were barely 3 feet (as I recall from the Discover channel's Walking With Dinosaurs).

[Jago]

They were less than 3 feet tall and 30lbs in weight. And feathered. But adapted for speed and with vicious jaws. Theri claws were simple piercing weapons, not edged (so no disembowelling slashes).

I'd probably go for the real versions of dinosaurs. Because players will be much more familiar with the film version. A pack of oversized chickens (seen from a distance) will give a much greater shock when they turn out to be fast and fearsome predators...

[Rebecca Iavelli]

That's the average "regular" type raptor. If you want the larger type, like in J.P. movie, check out the Utahraptor: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Utahraptor_scale.png for a graph, and this link to see a picture of the different size in the claw: http://sublunari.gnn.tv/blogs/5989/Utahraptor

Don't know how common they were, but there were raptors, large or larger than a man, and pretty deadly and smart, at that.

[Jago]

Yes, you're quite right. I was taking the initial reference to be to velociraptors because of the film reference.

[koeran]

Yeah, the 'Raptors' in the film were called "Velociraptors" but in reality Velociraptors are actually about the size of a turkey, give or take.

As far as the raptors in the film are concerned, as far as we are aware, there weren't any of that particular size.  The ones in the film are somewhere between Deinoychus and Utahraptor.  Although, you could argue that the ones in the movie were juvenile Utahraptors and thus weren't fully grown yet.

The issue of if the claw was used for piercing or slashing is still under debate.  If the claw was entirely bone, then it was probably only for stabbing.  If it was bone covered with a keratin sheathe, then it could have had an edge on it as well as a point.

There was a fun documentary hosted by Bill Oddie called "The truth about killer dinosaurs."  It's a fun watch, but not 100% scientifically accurate.  But it does cover Velociraptors and their claws.  Though it doesn't make any mention of a keratin sheathe and thus concludes that piercing was the only way they were used.
It does also, in another episode, cover T-rex's and Triceratops.  Once again, it's entertaining, but not accurate.  They make a Triceratops skull out of a synthetic bone like material, but then they make a T-rex skull out of steel.  It's cool, but not all that realistic.  Though pointing out that studies of Triceratops skulls show that not only were they attacked by Tyranosauras' they may have, on occasion, survived such encounters, is pretty cool.  Not to mention that they also have evidence that Triceratops may have duelled like Antelope, Deer and other horned animals.

On the topic of using movie ones or real ones, I'd also vote for real.  As I previously mentioned, Utahraptors are bigger.  And bigger does have a habit of being scarier too.

[Caled]

I have a request for tiny toy dinosaur turned real stats, my group has a tendency to want to do dream sequences, wash being attacked by his toy dinos would be interesting, no?

[Lynn LeFey]

Stats for Allosaurus appear in the Cortex Generic. The same stats, if used in 'Personal' scale (Instead of large) would work for the 'Jurassic Park' Velociaptor / Utahraptor / Deinonychus / Microvenator.

[Jonesy]

Off topic but Lynn what other animals are statted out in the Core Book?

[Lynn LeFey]

Animals:
Boar, Bear, Camel, Crocodile, Dog, Elephant, Gorilla, Great White Shark, Horse, Insect Swarm, and Raptor (bird of prey).

Monsters:
Alien (Grey), Burrowing Fiend, Carnivorous Plant, Demon, Dinosaur (Allosaurus), Dragon, Giant Spider, Formless Horror, Gryphon, Harpy, Lake Monster, and Zombie.

There are a few other menaces spread throughout the book, such as 'Robot/Android', 'Beastman', 'Saurian', and 'Vampire' trait bundles, 'Crystal Golum Wizard Guardian' and 'Hunter-Killer Infiltrators' in the Androids and Synthetics equipment section.

[annnoyinglizardvoice]

Yeah, the 'Raptors' in the film were called "Velociraptors" but in reality Velociraptors are actually about the size of a turkey, give or take.

As far as the raptors in the film are concerned, as far as we are aware, there weren't any of that particular size. The ones in the film are somewhere between Deinoychus and Utahraptor. Although, you could argue that the ones in the movie were juvenile Utahraptors and thus weren't fully grown yet.

The issue of if the claw was used for piercing or slashing is still under debate. If the claw was entirely bone, then it was probably only for stabbing. If it was bone covered with a keratin sheathe, then it could have had an edge on it as well as a point.

There was a fun documentary hosted by Bill Oddie called "The truth about killer dinosaurs." It's a fun watch, but not 100% scientifically accurate. But it does cover Velociraptors and their claws. Though it doesn't make any mention of a keratin sheathe and thus concludes that piercing was the only way they were used.
It does also, in another episode, cover T-rex's and Triceratops. Once again, it's entertaining, but not accurate. They make a Triceratops skull out of a synthetic bone like material, but then they make a T-rex skull out of steel. It's cool, but not all that realistic. Though pointing out that studies of Triceratops skulls show that not only were they attacked by Tyranosauras' they may have, on occasion, survived such encounters, is pretty cool. Not to mention that they also have evidence that Triceratops may have duelled like Antelope, Deer and other horned animals.

On the topic of using movie ones or real ones, I'd also vote for real. As I previously mentioned, Utahraptors are bigger. And bigger does have a habit of being scarier too.

I remember that show. They kinda messed up with the Tricerotops tests. A T-rex would respond very differently to a wall if charged

[koeran]

I remember that show. They kinda messed up with the Tricerotops tests. A T-rex would respond very differently to a wall if charged

Most definitely!    They messed up all the tests to be honest.  How many animals react like they have a solid steel skeleton and are bolted to a concrete floor when they're being attacked?  According to the test, all except Velociraptors, which instead react turkeys sitting on stools!  Hell, even the Triceratops charges like it's head's attached to a giant steel sled!