Thursday 8 January 2009

Dino games

Late last year, Walt at the Lost World Safari yahoo group posted this treasure trove of information:


I'm putting together a free supplement for dinosaur/prehistoric gaming, and as part of that I'm complied a list of RPGs and miniature games focused on theme. I thought I'd share it here. I should point out these are games where prehistoric beasts are a major element, just not filler. That means several games that do have dinosaurs, but only as occasional monsters, were left out.


Adventures in Jimland (MINI)
Jim WrightSelf-published /2003

Free miniatures game about 19th century African exploration. Dinosaurs abound, and players can specialize in paleontology. The rules can be downloaded at http://nagssociety.com/resources/Jimland/Jimland.htm

(Note I advertised these rules in a post here: http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2007/11/adventures-in-jimland.html)


Animal Archives: Prehistoric Animals (RPG)
Jesse Mohn and Aeryn RudelSkeleton Key Games/Blackdirge Publishing/2004

Short D20 bestiaries focusing on overlooked prehistoric animals.Blackdyrge's Templates: Primordial Beast (RPG)Aeryn RudelBlackdirge Publishing/2007D20 guide for turning ordinary animals into evolutionary throwbacks.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Roleplaying Game (RPG)
Frank A. Chadwick and Mark SchultzGame Designers Workshop/1991

Based on the comics by Mark Schultz, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is set in a post-apocalyptic world where jungles grow over the ruins of civilizations and prehistoric animals rule the landscape. The game uses the same rules system as Twilight: 2000 and has interesting ideas for mounting wilderness expeditions.


The Complete Guide to T. rex (RPG)
Joseph GoodmanGoodman Games/2002

D20 supplement for roleplaying T. rexes as intelligent characters.


The Complete Guide to Velociraptors (RPG)
Joseph GoodmanGoodman Games/2002

D20 supplement for roleplaying raptors as intelligent creatures, mostly as Native American-types for the company's Broncosaurus Rex setting.


Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex (RPG)
Joseph GoodmanGoodman Games/2002

D20 space western set on a planet populated by dinosaurs, some of which have human-like intelligence.


Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex: Cretasus Adventure Guide (RPG)
Fred Bush, Joseph Goodman, and Mike RobertsGoodman Games

Adventures for the company's Broncosaurus rex setting.

Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex: Dinosaurs That Never Were (RPG)
Gregory DetwilerGoodman Games

Bestiary of dinosaurs that may have evolved had they not died out 65 million years ago.


Eberron: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (RPG)
Keith BakerWizards of the Coast/2004

Pulp fantasy setting where dinosaurs still roam in many parts of the world.

Forgotten Futures III: George E. Challenger's Mysterious World (RPG)
Marcus L. Rowland/Heliograph, Inc./1994Game setting based on the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's scientist-hero Professor Challenger, who discovered a lost world of dinosaurs in South America.

GURPS Dinosaurs (RPG)
Stephen DedmanSteve Jackson Games/1996

Perhaps the most comprehensive roleplaying supplement about dinosaurs so far written. Includes much material reprinted from GURPS Ice Age.


GURPS Ice Age (RPG)
Kirk Wilson TateSteve Jackson Games/1989

Guide to playing in caveman settings, from realistic Ice Age adventures to slapstick.


GURPS Lands Out of Time (RPG)
Steve Jackson Games/200

6PDF supplement for playing B-movie "lost world" adventures, complete with cold-blooded, tail-dragging dinosaurs.

Hollow Earth Expedition (RPG)
Jeff Combos et al.Exile Game Studio/2006

Indiana Jones meets Jurassic Park. Guidebook for playing 1930s pulp "lost world" adventures set inside the earth.


Hollow World: Dungeons & Dragons (RPG)
Aaron AllstonTSR/1990

Campaign setting for the original D&D set inside a hollow world populated with dinosaurs and lost civilizations. Basis for the SEGA Genesis game "Warriors of the Eternal Sun."

Inner-Earth (RPG)
Stephen S. LongHero Games/2000:

Hero System supplement for playing a hollow world adventure.


The Isle of Dread: Dungeons & Dragons (RPG)
David Cook and Tom MoldvayTSR/1981

D&D Adventure set on an island modeled after King Kong's home, Skull Island.


Isle of the Ape: World of Greyhawk (RPG)
Gary GygaxTSR/1985

Yet another Skull Island adventure set in the world of D&D, this one for higher-level adventures than The Isle of Dread.


The Jungles of Chult: Forgotten Realms (RPG)
James Lowder and Jean RabeTSR/1993Short supplement for Forgotten Realms setting describing Chult, a lost world where dinosaurs still roam. The setting is expanded in Lowder's novel, "The Ring of Winter."


Lands of Mystery: Justice, Inc. (RPG)
Aaron AllstonHero Games/1985

Perhaps the most comprehensive supplement ever written about putting together lost world adventures.


Lost Prehistorica (RPG)
Steven Cook and David WoodrumDark Quest Games/2004

D20 supplement for combining traditional D&D gameplay with the prehistoric lost worlds of pulp fiction.


Mammalian Mayhem (MINI)
Chris PeersHLBS Publishing/2000

Miniature safari hunting game with rules for hunting prehistoric mammals.


Primal Codex (RPG)
J.C. AlgerNetherland Games/2001
D20 supplement for playing in primitive settings.


Saurian Safari (MINI)
Chris PeersHLBS Publishing/2002

Rulebook for undertaking dinosaur hunting trips with a Victorian flare.

(Note I advertised these rules in a post here:
http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2006/12/lost-world-safari-tours_29.html)


The Savage Empire: Worlds of Ultima (RPG)
Origin Systems/1990Computer

RPG set in the Ultima universe but in a lost valley populated with prehistoric creatures and primitive tribes.


Space: 1889 (RPG) - Naturally!
Frank A. ChadwickGame Designers Workshop/1988

Alternate history game based on the premise that the inner planets of the solar system can all sustain life and are at different stages in biological evolution. Venus is a swamp-covered world filled with dinosaurs while life on Mercury is just starting to make the transition to land.


Sticks & Stones (MINI)
Rob LuskJeff Valent Studios/2008

A miniatures game based on the caveman-and-dinosaur movies of the 1950s and 1960s. Uses the Savage Worlds skirmish rules.


Thrilling Expeditions: Valley of the Thunder Lizard (MINI)
Richard A. Johnson et al.Rattrap Productions/2008

Supplement for .45 Adventure gaming system that allows gamers to play skirmish games in lost world settings. Comes with stat templates for several different prehistoric animals.


Thrilling Places (RPG)
Stephen S. LongHero Games/2006

Supplement for Pulp Hero describing several different locations for adventures to take place, two of them lost worlds.


Thrilling Tales: Dragon Island (RPG)
Walt CeichanowskiAdamant Entertainment/2005

Adventure from the D20 Thrilling Tales system with a giant pterodactyl taking the place of King Kong.


Tooth & Claw (RPG)
JaredSelf-published/2003

Simple rules system that allows players to play as dinosaurs instead of humans encountering dinosaurs.

(Note I advertised these rules in a post here:
http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2007/12/tooth-and-clawthe-rpg.html)


Tooth & Claw (MINI)
Chris PeersWargames Illustrated Publishing

A rules system for launching Victorian hunting with prehistoric mammals as the game.

(Note I advertised these rules in a post here:
http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-prehistoric-animal-hunting-rules.html)



Torg (RPG)
Greg Gorden and Bill SlavicsekWest End Games/1990

Alternate worlds setting with two worlds based on the lost world genre.


Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (RPG)
Erick WujcikPalladium Books

A roleplaying supplement for the TMNT series focusing on time travel and introducing a variety of prehistoric beasts.


Tusk and Tusk II (MINI)
Matthew HartleyIrregular Miniatures/1994 & 1995

Rules for hunting mammoths and other prehistoric creatures.

(Note I made a post about these rules here:
http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/2008/11/tusk-pics-posted.html


Voyages Extraordinaire (MINI)
Matthew Hartley, Steve Blease and Mike BaumannWessex Games

Rules for playing pulp skirmish games against dinosaurs and other strange creatures.


Many thanks to Walt for his work in compiling this list and sharing it!

3 comments:

mordicai said...

Transdimensional TMNT! It is weird that you mention it, because I just mentioned something from it in my blog-- Gary Morbriar, who is the most haunting time-travel related character bar none-- Time Traveller's Wife be damned.

I really like TMNT's twists; a perfect way to portrait time travel. A shame Palladium is unplayable.

Der Geis said...

Don't forget "Land of Og"

http://wingnutgames.com/landofog.htm

Eli Arndt said...

Quite the list of stuff. I have "Complete Guide to Velociraptors" which is a nasty look at what would happen if raptors went intelligent and tribal.


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