TEXT: Vol. V, No. 8
  by Roger E. Moore
  Some years ago a movie was made
  entitled The Valley of Gwangi, in which a
  group of cowboys stumble across a lost
  valley in the American Southwest popu-
  lated by prehistoric dinosaurs and mam-
  mals. In the course of an impromptu
  rodeo, the cowboys encounter the un-
  crowned king of the valley: a great Tyran-
  nosaurus Rex known as “Gwangi.” The
  rest of the film is reminiscent of King
  Kong, with the capture of Gwangi, the
  attempt to exhibit him commercially, his
  escape and final destruction. Did the
  movie have to end this way? Maybe not.
  The following scenario is freely adap-
  ted from the movie, and was designed to
  fit in with an ongoing Boot Hill™ cam-
  paign if desired, or as a one-evening
  adventure unconnected with the regular
  goings-on. It should provide some lively
  entertainment for the players (and for
  the BH gamemaster as well; the look on
  the player’s faces when he describes the
  figure towering over their characters will
  be something to treasure until the refe-
  ree is old and grey.) Rather than creating
  a Lost Valley and the characteristics of
  the hordes of other beasts therein, an
  alternative method of getting “Gwangi”
  into play is given.
  The Scenario
  It is spring in El Dorado County. For
   two weeks thunderstorms have lashed at
  the countryside; flash floods and land-
  slides are reported in the hills and moun-
  tains around Promise City. As the weath-
  er subsides (“the worst gully-washer in
  forty-odd years,” say the old-timers)
  rumors of a great “devil-beast” are heard
  by traders doing business with some
  Indians in the mountains. The monster
  was supposedly released by the powers
  beyond during the height of the storm’s
  fury, and now roams the hills at will.
  Some of the Indians believe that the
  beast, which they call The Avenger, was
  sent to destroy the white man and return
  the land to its original occupants. Other
  Indians, including most of the ones claim-
  ing to have seen the beast, regard the
  creature as evil and potentially hostile to
  all men.
  These rumors are heard in the bars
  and taverns of Promise City, but are
  usually told with great derision and ob-
  vious amusement or contempt. Soldiers
  from Fort Griffin regard the rumors as a
  possible prelude to a general Indian
  uprising, believing the story to be the
  vision of a medicine man.
  As time progresses, ranchers near the
  mountains discover the tracks of some
  unknown creature, unlike any tracks
  ever seen before. Many people regard
  them as a hoax, though the ranchers
  finding the tracks swear they aren’t.
  Some reports of missing cattle are made
  known in the same area. Finally, a lone
  rider enters town, obviously panicked
  and having ridden hard for most of the
  day, and tells a tale of having met a huge
  reptilian beast in the mountains that
  attacked his party. He doesn’t know
  what has happened to his friends, who
  rode off into a canyon to escape the
  creature.
  When a posse is organized and goes
  into the area, the men discover the
  bodies of two of the missing men, par-
  tially devoured, and their mounts. Giant,
  three-toed tracks cover the area and
  lead away from the site, but the trail is
  lost as it enters rockier ground. The
  bodies of the men and animals show the
  marks of teeth larger than anything
  known, and the members of the posse
  believe it is impossible for this to have
  been the work of Indians or any other
  humans. The town marshal posts a re-
  ward of $50,000 for the killing or capture
  of the monstrous predator.
  Referee’s Information
  The thunderstorms caused a land-
  slide, opening a natural cavern in the
  mountains. Through an unusual combi-
  nation of geological circumstances, a
  Tyrannosaur was trapped in that cavern
  millions of years ago and preserved alive
  but in hibernation; the rain waters washed
  away the surrounding rock cover and
  awakened the slumbering giant. It is
  now roaming about the country in search
  of food, and relishes the new diet of
  horses, cows, and humans it finds in the
  rough terrain. It has no established lair,
  but wanders freely in a fifty-mile radius
  around the place it emerged from. It
  fears nothing. Unless cut short by act of
  man or God, it has a life expectancy of
  another 50 years.
  Some basic information on the Tyran-
  nosaurus Rex will be helpful in running
  the adventure. The creature, by the best
  paleontological figuring available today,
  weighed eight tons in life, stood twenty
  feet high and had an overall length of
  forty to fifty feet. It moved with a wad-
  dling gait, using its tail to counterbal-
  ance its head and chest as it moved. It
  was fairly fast-moving, despite the ap-
  parent clumsiness of its motion.
  While Tyrannosaurs existed, some six-
  28
  ty million years ago and more, they were
  at the top of the ecological food chain
  and preyed on any and all creatures
  across the American West and Asia.
  Their jaws were four feet long and jam-
  med with four- to six-inch-long teeth.
  Tyrannosaurs had thick hides and were
  probably dark in color (black, grey, or
  reddish). Their forelimbs were useless
  as weapons and served only to help
  them get up from the ground after resting.
  One of the books listed in this article’s
  bibliography
  (The Day of the Dinosaur)
  discusses some of the finer aspects of
  dinosaur hunting, supposing that such
  was possible to the modern sportsman,
  and tells about shooting Tyrannosaurs
  in particular. It ain’t easy, pard. First of
  all, it is difficult to say what the best
  place is to shoot at. A Tyrannosaur has a
  very tiny brain (though with highly deve-
  loped reflexes and senses), and head
  shots are not necessarily fatal. The heart
  is the best aiming point, but the de
  Camps note that the average Tyranno-
  saur heart weighed somewhere between
  fifty and one hundred pounds and a
  direct hit with an elephant rifle would
  probably only slow the creature, rather
  than kill it immediately. Shots put else-
  where are a waste of time, and are dan-
  gerous for the hunter besides (who, in
  such cases, quickly becomes the hunt-
  ed).
  The Boot Hill characteristics of an
  adult Tyrannosaur given below are arbi-
  trary, of course, but are based on all
  available information. The statistics may
  be modified as desired, but in any event,
  it is recommended that it be very hard for
  a character to kill a dinosaur of any kind
  with only one shot. The stopping power
  of weapons in the 1800’s was not as
  great as the weapons the de Camps
  spoke of in their discussion, and besides,
  a prolonged gunbattle will generate more
  excitement in the game.
  An interesting side note: Paleontolo-
  gists (fossil-hunters) and other scien-
  tists were unaware of the existence of
  Tyrannosaurs until the late 1800’s and
  early 1900’s, when several skeletons were
  discovered in Montana. Any scientists in
  the time of Boot Hill, might, however, be
  aware of the fossils of related species,
  such as Megalodon and Antrodemus
  (which were discovered earlier than Ty-
  rannosaurus),
  Tyrannosaurus Rex in Boot Hill:
  Strength: 250
  Speed: 27” tactical scale; 4 hexes/turn
  strategic scale. (Tactical scale turns are
  
  February 1981
  10 seconds long; strategic turns are an
  hour long.)
  Attacks: One every turn (10 seconds)
  for 2-11 wounds (1d10+1) per bite. Roll
  for the effects and location of each wound
  separately.
  To hit: 85% base chance; modifiers for
  target condition (obscured, moving, etc.)
  apply, as well as modifiers for the wound-
  ed condition of the Tyrannosaur.
  Range of Attack: From where it stands,
  a Tyrannosaur has a “reach” of three
  hexes, tactical scale (about 18’), when it
  leans down to bite at someone. The
  Tyrannosaur will attack last in order in
  each turn that it attacks.
  Morale: 100%. Absolutely fearless.
  Additional notes: A Tyrannosaur can-
  not be stunned unless dynamite is used
  (see Dynamite Rule below). All minor
  characters must make an immediate mo-
  rale check at -60% upon first confronting
  this monster, fleeing immediately if they
  fail. Characters firing weapons or shoot-
  ing bows at a Tyrannosaur have a +15%
  to hit due to its large size.
  Hit Location Chart for Tyrannosaurus
  Dice
  Location
  Light Serious Mortal
  Wound Wound Wound
  01-20
  Tail
  01-80
  81-00
  ---
  21-50
  Rear Leg**
  01-60
  61-00
  ---
  51 -55
  Forearm**
  01-70
  71-00
  ---
  56-75
  Abdomen
  01-50
  51-99
  00
  76-85
  Chest
  01-40
  41-95
  96-00
  86-00 Head & Neck 01-40 41-98 99-00
  A result of Light Wound means a
  deduction of 3 points from the Tyranno-
  ** 01-50 = Left, 51-00 = Right.
  saur’s strength; a result of Serious Wound
  deducts 7 points. If a Mortal Wound is
  received, the Tyrannosaur will continue
  to fight for 1-10 turns before collapsing
  and dying. During that time it will move
  at half normal speed and have a base
  chance of 45% to hit a target, making
  one attack every two turns until death.
  If the Tyrannosaur’s strength is reduc-
  ed to zero of less from non-mortal
  wounds, it becomes unconscious and
  has a 30% chance of dying 1-10 hours
  later. Thereafter, if it survives, it regains
  one strength point per day, to a maxi-
  mum of its original strength. If captured
  alive, it must be fed its own weight (8
  tons) in raw meat every month to keep it
  healthy. It will also be active and ex-
  tremely dangerous, and any keepers will
  have their hands full!
  Using the above chart, there is a 1%
  chance of inflicting a mortal wound on
  the Tyrannosaurus with any single shot.
  Referees should adjust hit location to
  take into account attacks made from
  ground level, since these beasts had
  hips 10’ off the ground and knees 6’
  high. An Indian warrior with a tomahawk
  would score a hit on a location between
  01-50 on the above chart (a leg or tail)
  unless the dinosaur bends down to bite
  him; if that happens, hits may be regis-
  tered elsewhere on the body or head.
  The Dynamite Rule
  For every two sticks of dynamite used
  against a Tyrannosaur in one attack,
  there is a cumulative 50% chance of
  stunning it for one turn (10 seconds), a
  25% chance of inflicting a wound or
  wounds (d10: 1-2 = one wound, 3-5 = two
  wounds, 6-8 = three wounds, 9-0 = four
  wounds), and a cumulative 10% chance
  of killing it outright. This percentage is
  reduced by 20% (for stunning, wound-
  ing, and killing) for each 2” (12’) that the
  monster is distant from the explosion.
  For example, 20 sticks of dynamite ex-
  ploded 4” (24’) from a Tyrannosaur has
  a 460% chance of stunning it (500-40=
  460), a 210% chance of wounding it (250-
  40=210) and a 60% chance of killing it
  (100-40=60). Treat any amount of dyna-
  mite greater than 40 sticks as 40 sticks.
  Good luck, and
  have a fast horse!
  hoping you
  Bibliography
  de Camp, L. Sprague, and Catherine Crook
  de Camp, The Day of the Dinosaur, Curtis
  Books, N.Y., 1968, paperback.
  Desmond, Adrian J., The Hot-Blooded Dino-
  saurs, Warner Books, N.Y., 1977, paperback.
  2 9
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Boot Hill/Magainzes (relocated to Games - Magazines)/This Here's Tyrannosaurus Tex - Dragon 046.pdf