premise

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Premise

Dinotopia: an island paradise where dinosaurs and humans live in harmony with each other and the earth itself. Surrounded by a localised storm-system and savage reefs, the island is barred from safe travel. Those humans who live on the island are descended from newcomers who have, over time, been shipwrecked by storm and reef and washed up on the island's shores—the dolphinbacks.

You aren’t sure what happened. Perhaps you were swimming. Perhaps you were bathing. Perhaps you were in a fishing-boat with a friend and they pushed you overboard in a fit of good-natured fun (or malicious intent). Whatever the case, when you went under the water you were home; and when you break the surface, you are in the middle of the ocean.

The sky is dark with stormclouds; lightning rakes the sky. It’s hard to tell rain and ocean spray apart, and you’re lucky if you can see more than a few feet in any direction. The waves are surging, rising far over your head; when they break they come down like a truck, and if they force you under, it’s all you can do to make it to the surface again.

You’re not alone in the water. Dolphins gather around you, sleek and strong even in the ocean’s tumult. They put themselves under you and lift you up to the surface, guiding you toward a distant mist-wreathed shore through a maze of reefs. The fog is heavy on these beaches, but the storms break where the reef does, and the water stills as you draw closer to land.

The dolphins deposit you on the sand and linger just long enough to make sure you’re safe and steady, and then with a flick of their tails they shoot back into the stormy ocean.


Dolphinbacked is a panfandom plot-driven game based on the Dinotopia book series. It is designed to finish a maximum of two and a half years from its opening, with the end being determined entirely by player actions. Although there is room for slice-of-life playing for those who just want to interact with an island full of self-aware dinosaurs, the main premise of the game is to place characters at the mercy of the setting.

Players begin as a dolphinback from another universe. Dolphinbacks can come from any universe, any timeline, can be any being, human or alien. Most will find their way first to Waterfall City for orientation or for business. The Dinotopians will make all newcomers welcome and give them all the aid they need, but their overwhelming imperative is to stabilise Dinotopia in the wake of the earthquake. Regardless of the new dolphinbacks’ oddities, no one has ever successfully left the island.

No one, they believe, ever will.

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