Animal Archives - Dino Files II - Theropods.pdf - Blackdirge Publishing - R5700

D INO F ILES II: T HEROPODS

C REATED AND W RITTEN BY

J ESSE M OHN

A ERYN “B LACKDIRGE ” R UDEL

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Revised Edition

Core Books, published bu Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Credits

Animal Archives

DinoFiles II: Theropods

Animal Archives

DinoFiles II: Theropods

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Written by

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Hunter McFalls

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Author: Aeryn Rudel

Blackdirge Publishing

Credits

Introduction

Animal Archives

DinoFiles II: Theropods

A WORD ON THEROPODS

Gigantic forms such as Giganotosaurus , Spinosaurus ,

and Tyrannosaurus Rex became the undisputed super-

predators of the planet, and their massive, toothy jaws

still awe us today in museums around the world.

Theropods are bipedal, primarily carnivorous dinosaurs

that provided the world’s top predators from the Early

Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous. The suborder

theropoda covers a wide array of dinosaurs, from some of

the very ﬁrst to evolve, such as Eoraptor , all the way to

their modern descendents: the birds. Theropods comprise a

large majority of the dinosaurs most people would be very

familiar with. The famous Tyrannosaurus Rex belongs to

the suborder theropoda, as do the infamous raptors that

prowled the screen in movies like Jurassic Park .

AUTHOR’S NOTE

In this product, I have endeavored to present an array of

theropod dinosaurs that highlight different stages of the

order’s evolutionary development. This gives DMs and

players a wide range of sizes and challenge ratings to

choose from, and there are dinosaurs here that are perfect

for animal companions, mounts, and even familiars.

Here you will ﬁnd man-sized, speedy predators, gigantic,

8-ton monsters, and everything in between, enough to

populate your ancient jungles and primeval forests with

some truly unique and powerful animals.

Physically speaking, theropod dinosaurs are typiﬁed by

a number of characteristics. They were bipedal, standing

on powerful legs that, in some species, could propel

them forward at speeds rivaling modern-day cheetahs.

They had hollow, thin-walled bones, a characteristic that

links them with modern birds, and yet another sign of

their evolutionary history. Theropod hands displayed

three ﬁngers, with a reduced fourth and ﬁfth digit, while

theropod feet had three large, weight-bearing toes and a

reduced fourth and ﬁfth toe. Theropods were primarily

carnivores, and most featured recurved teeth, useful for

tearing ﬂesh, and sharp talons on ﬁngers and toes.

The special attacks featured by each dinosaur in this

volume are based on actual scientiﬁc hypotheses and

theories of how these animals might have behaved.

Although the abilities are listed in the write-ups for

individual animals, two of these special attacks are

appropriate for most of the dinosaurs presented here, and

for similar dinosaurs featured in other products. Below is

a description of these new special attacks and how they

can be implemented.

Theropod dinosaurs evolved in the Middle Triassic; in

fact, early members, such as Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus ,

were some of the ﬁrst dinosaurs to evolve. In the Late

Triassic, lightweight theropods such as Coelophysis led

the way to a dinosaur-dominated planet.

Gaping Charge (Ex): When a creature with this special

attack makes a charge attack in conjunction with a bite,

it inﬂicts double bite damage plus 1.5 times its Strength

bonus. This in addition to the normal beneﬁts and hazards

of a charge.

Early theropods were fairly small, usually not more than

75-150 pounds, but into the Early Jurassic, the ﬁrst truly

large predatory dinosaurs began to evolve. One of the

ﬁrst large theropods was Dilophosaurus , a lean muscular

dinosaur that hunted the Jurassic forests. It’s descendents,

such as Ceratosurus and the famous Allosaurus , grew

much larger in the Middle and Late Jurassic, up to 40

feet in length for the largest allosaurs.

Shake (Ex): If a creature with this special attack begins

its turn with an opponent held in its mouth (see Improved

Grab), it can attempt a new grapple check (as though

attempting to pin the opponent). If it succeeds, it violently

shakes its prey, inﬂicting normal bite damage to the held

opponent. In addition, a creature that has been shaken

must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or be stunned

for 1 round. Unless otherwise noted, the opponent can be

up to one size category smaller than the shaking creature.

The saving throw is Constitution-based.

The Cretaceous Period saw an even greater

diversiﬁcation of theropods. Smaller forms, such as the

dromeosaurs, continued the evolutionary march toward

the ﬁrst birds, even evolving feathers and other bird-

like features. The larger theropods became true giants

in the Middle to Late Cretaceous, giving rise to the

largest terrestrial carnivores the world has ever seen.

Author: Aeryn Rudel

Blackdirge Publishing

Introduction

Coelophysis (Hollow Form)

Animal Archives

DinoFiles II: Theropods

(S EE - LOW - FYE - SISS )

CR1

This lithe, bipedal dinosaur moves with bird-like grace

and economy of motion. Its body is long and lean, and

seems ideal for speed and agility. Its head rests on a

long, serpentine neck, and has a narrow snout ﬁlled with

many needle-like teeth.

Always Neutral Medium Animal

Init +5; Senses low-light vision, scent;

Listen +9, Spot +9

Languages —

A coelophysis is a lightly built predatory dinosaur

about the size of a large dog or wolf. It is an intelligent,

opportunistic hunter that preys primarily on small

reptiles and mammals. Like many small carnivorous

dinosaurs, a coelophysis will sometimes cooperate with

others of its kind to bring down larger prey. However,

these small predators are much more likely to feast on

the carrion left by other, larger carnivores than tackle

large prey themselves.

AC 17, touch 15, ﬂatfooted 17; uncanny dodge

(+5 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 11 (2 HD)

Resist evasion

Fort +4, Ref +8, Will +2

Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)

Melee bite +6 (1d4+1) and 2 foreclaws +1 (1d2)

Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Base Atk +1; Grapple +2

Atk Options pounce

Occasionally, these small dinosaurs can be found in

massive numbers, especially in areas without large

predators, or particularly harsh environments where

other animals cannot easily survive.

Abilities Str 13, Dex 21, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 7

Feats Alertness, Weapon Finesse B

Skills Hide +10, Jump +14, Listen +9, Move

Silently +10, Spot +9,

A coelophysis is 10 feet long and weighs around 75 pounds.

Environment warm forests

Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3-6)

Treasure none

Advancement 3-6 HD (Medium)

COMBAT

A single coelophysis is not likely to attack a creature its own

size or larger. However, packs of these small dinosaurs can be a

serious threat to slow moving creatures – such as adventurers.

Evasion (Ex): A coelophysis can avoid even

magical and unusual attacks with great agility.

If it makes a successful Reﬂex saving throw

against an attack that normally deals half

damage on a successful save, it instead takes

no damage. A helpless coelophysis does not

gain the beneﬁt of evasion.

A coelophysis attacks with its bite and foreclaws. It

pounces on opponents to begin combat, and then leaps

in and out of melee to confuse and frustrate its foes. Its

great agility makes a ceolophysis difﬁcult to strike in

combat, and these dinosaurs have been seen dodging

everything from arrows to ﬁreballs .

Pounce (Ex): If a coelophysis charges, it can

make a full attack.

FOR PLAYER CHARACTERS

Although slight, a coelophysis can be trained as a mount

for a Small humanoid. Kobold scouts occasionally ride

these animals, using their speed and agility to cover even

difﬁcult terrain quickly. In addition, lizardfolk and some

swamp-dwelling human tribes have been known to train

packs of coelophysis, using them as guard and hunting

beasts. Training a coelophysis chick requires a DC 17

Handle Animal check. An adult coelophysis can carry up

to 50 pounds as a light load.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): A coelophysis can react to

danger before its senses would normally allow

it to do so. A coelophysis retains its Dexterity

bonus to AC even if it is caught ﬂat-footed or

struck by an invisible attacker. However, it still

loses its Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.

Skills: A coelophysis has a +4 racial bonus on Hide,

Jump, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks.

Author: Aeryn Rudel

Blackdirge Publishing

Monster

C OELOPHYSIS

Coelophysis (Hollow Form)

Animal Archives

DinoFiles II: Theropods

A coelophysis can be summoned with summon nature’s

ally I or a higher level summon nature’s ally spell.

Treat a coelophysis as being on the 1st-level list of the

Summon Nature’s Ally table. A celestial or ﬁendish

coelophysis can be summoned with summon monster II

or a higher level summon monster spell. Treat a celestial

or ﬁendish coelophysis as being on the 2nd-level list of

the Summon Monster table.

COELOPHYSIS IN THE REAL WORLD

Coelophysis is one of the earliest known dinosaurs, and

certainly one of the earliest theropods. It lived in the Mid

Triassic (around 228 million years ago), a time when

dinosaurs were just beginning to exert their dominance.

Although a predator itself, Coelophysis was certainly

not the dominant hunter of the period. Huge crocodile-

like rauisuchians, such as Postosuchus , were the apex

predators of the time. However, Coelophysis had many

advantages over the slow-moving rauisuchians; it was

alert, intelligent, and it’s bipedal stance allowed it to

move and run with great speed and agility. These traits

would later lead to larger and more powerful theropods,

as dinosaurs spread to all ecological niches in the Early

Jurassic and beyond.

A druid of 1st level or higher can gain a coelophysis as

an alternate animal companion

Author: Aeryn Rudel

Illustrator: Hunter Mcfalls

Monster

Animal Archives - Dino Files II - Theropods.pdf

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