Dinosaurs are scary enough, but what about undead or cybernetic ones?
Monsters are an important part of one Dungeons & Dragons the session. There are many books devoted to finding the right monster to challenge your players during a climactic battle. So why not choose one dedicated to the biggest real-life monster that ever existed: the dinosaur?
A Time Traveler’s Guide to Dinosaur Hunting provides Dungeon Masters with a catalog of primitive animals to use in them D&D the game world. The book takes inspiration from the multiversal trend in pop culture to give players a chance to fight these creatures large and small. The idea arose from a pair of sources; a father who worked in fiction and a son who loved dinosaurs.
“I was writing a short story that kept inspiring my version of a multiverse,” said creator Daryl T. Jones. “It gave me the fuel and clarity I needed to delve into any genre I wanted and I was excited about it. And the dinosaurs? Well, my son was a big part of that. He is so passionate about them that he is planning to explore genetic engineering and pranks to become Dr. Hammond in real life by Jurassic Park. I took a few pictures of each other exploring the idea, combining time travel, dinosaurs and saving the multiverse and I was hooked. I knew I had to dive in!”
Jones assembled a large team of writers for the project. Designers include Jeff Grubb, Kat Kruger, Alex Kammer, Craig E. Sawyer, Zac Goins, Alan Patrick, Ginny Loveday and Ben Palmer. These writers are crafting a versatile collection of stories that span space and time.
“A Time Traveler’s Guide to Dinosaur Hunting there are multiple adventures that can be linked together to form a massive, multiversal story arc where players eventually save all the strings that need saving,” Jones said. Each adventure, thanks to time travel, can be completely independent. You can drop any of the adventures into an existing campaign, so your players can suddenly fight an immortal giganotosaurus, and then easily return to the Forgotten Realms, or wherever they started. It’s a neat concept that really emphasizes flexibility.”
There are many creatures and adventures to choose from Dungeon Masters, but the books also provide toys for the player. Jones understands that some gaming groups want to befriend these beasts rather than put one on the tavern wall as a trophy. Players looking to emulate Owen Grady from Jurassic World they will find tools they can use to bring the dinosaurs to their side.
“It also has a ton of player options,” Jones said, “particularly flavored with prehistoric and dinosaur themes. One of the favorites is the playable lines based on dinosaur families. We’re really excited about the aggression and mitigation rules. Each creature is assigned an aggression rating. This, plus the creature’s CR, is used to determine whether the creature can be tamed. Furthermore, the aggression will be used by the Dungeon Master when encounters dinos in the wild. It gives a starting point for the creature’s behavior and how likely it is to attack. We also have the animal class, which is a creature taming class, only to be on the nose.”
A time traveler’s guide to dinosaur hunting is divided into two books. A book includes player options, adventures, and more. The second book is a bestiary full of dinosaurs of all sizes and shapes. Everyone knows T-Rexes and raptops, but some of the entries offer some obscure options.
“Yi Qi is a small micro-raptor-like creature, but it has membrane wings instead of feathers and was only able to glide instead of powered flight,” Jones said. “The Razor-Toothed Komsognathus is a cybernetically enhanced compsognathus with packing tactics and laser beams. The Helicoprion is a shark-like creature with a set of teeth set in a spiral at the end of its jaw that can grab and pull prey in the mouth. Rehausaurus is a tyrannosaurid with an intelligence of 16 and deadly mind power! Oh, and we mustn’t forget the velociraptors squid, the deadly genetically altered minions of the Brain Gorgers, known as mind flayers.
A time traveler’s guide to dinosaur hunting is available on Kickstarter until Thursday, February 13, 2025. The books are currently targeting a Q3 2026 release.
