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[Let's Read] Dr. Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9229589" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p><strong>Note:</strong> While I plan to edit the prior posts, I did want to address the Player-Facing options for dinosaurs I thought were too high CR to use for Polymorph. The Yutyrannus, Paralititan, Hatzegopteryx, and Deinosuchus. As there are no Beasts in the official rules that go above CR 8, these dinosaurs have no equivalent comparisons. Their inclusion in the rules helps make Polymorph a viable option at Tier 3 and higher levels: the Yutyrannus is a beefier T-Rex that can multiattack and take quite a bit of damage along with having immunity to a rather common energy type, the Paralititan makes for a great living siege engine that can deal a lot of single-target damage with the right set-up, the Hatzegopteryx is a decent flying option that is faster than most creatures, and the Deinosuchus can deal a lot of damage against large creatures while having a huge amount of hit points. All in all, they’re pretty nice options to have.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/xB9weF9.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrosuchus" target="_blank"><strong>Erythrosuchus</strong></a> was an apex predator during the Middle Triassic period in South Africa. Its head was disproportionately larger than the rest of its body, which was otherwise similar to many other four-legged reptiles. It is believed to have primarily fed on various kinds of animals in a semi-arid region, but there isn’t much other research regarding its behavior and living conditions at this point in time. It is believed that it ambushed prey rather than trying to outrun them due to its bulky form.</p><p></p><p>Erythrosuchus is a Large CR 8 dinosaur that primarily fights with a grappling bite it can attack with twice via Multiattack, 20 feet darkvision, and it has advantage on attacks vs Medium and Large creatures but disadvantage vs all other size categories. It can make a single bite attack as a bonus action if it dashes, and has one use each of Legendary Resistance and Legendary Action, the latter of which can be done to thrash a grappled creature to do more damage or to automatically move and carry a grappled target with it. Its Optional Magical Rule ups its CR to 8, where anyone bitten by it must make a Wisdom save or go mad for 1 minute, having their Intelligence reduced to 3, their Proficiency Bonus reduced to 0, and cannot communicate.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> The erythrosuchus shares its CR with the T-Rex of the core rules and the Huge Giant Crab and Sperm Whale of other published adventures. In comparison to the T-Rex this dinosaur has the same number of hit points but has a better AC (16 vs rex’s 13), albeit with a slower speed of 25 feet. It deals much less damage with its multiattack. While the erythrosuchus’ thrash legendary action can help close the gap in damage, as a Polymorphed option a character cannot make use of it. Its Optional Magical Rule gives its bite a great debuff: even when fighting a creature that doesn’t make use of language or Intelligence, the Proficiency Bonus reduction is downright amazing. It can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/lzlcCu3.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcatakely" target="_blank"><strong>Falcatakely</strong></a> is a small bird-like dinosaur that is believed to have mostly subsisted on fruits with the occasional insect and small animal. It lived in wet areas of northern Madagascar, notably rivers and floodplains, and lived in mated pairs. It is a Tiny CR 0 creature, its chirp can be heard up to 300 feet away, and when PCs first find one it will reveal nearby fruit food sources that are the equivalent of 4 days worth of rations. Its Optional Magical Rule doesn’t alter its CR, where druidic magic present in the animal causes plants in a region to double the amount of fruit they grow provided it stays in an area for a week, and it can be obtained as a familiar. If it’s acquired as a familiar its lush growth only activates once each time it is summoned in a new area.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> An encounter with this creature is basically one that only has upsides, as it more or less gives the party some free food when found. It feels strongly geared towards wilderness survival types of adventures with a built-in reward. The Optional Magical Rule is more of a gimmick for people with Find Familiar; increased food yields aren’t so important in typical adventures. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/0kHGRd3.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garjainia" target="_blank"><strong>Garjainia</strong></a> is an erythosuchid, a carnivore which the Erythrosuchus also belongs to and are thus relatives. It too lived during the Triassic period and had a huge head with a powerful bite, and was likely an ambush predator. Although it shared territory with larger animals, it was strong enough to get into fights with them when the need arose.</p><p></p><p>It is a Small CR 1 dinosaur that can Dash as a bonus action as a rechargeable ability, its bite attack has a d3 table of random effects while grasping onto it such as halved speed from a bitten leg to disadvantage, and instead of a straightforward grapple its Lock Jaw lets it automatically grasp onto a creature. This lets its random effect persist, and the bitten creature must make contested Strength checks to move that round and requires a separate Strength check to remove the Garjainia. Its Optional Magical Rule doesn’t alter its CR, where its bite has a random chance to make a target lose a spell slot, and 4-5 Garjainia can swarm together to create a new stat block which is basically a much tougher CR 6 version with Swarm traits and Multiattack.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> As a CR 1 beast, it has to be compared to a Dire Wolf. While the Garjainia has slightly more hit points at 38, it has a much slower speed and its bonus action Dash is too unpredictable to rely on. Its Over-Sized Bite is a good means of imposing debuffs on enemies and holding them in place, which helps save the creature a bit. The Optional Magical Rule can make it a good anti-mage option, and while Conjure Animals can only summon up to 2 CR 1 beasts, I can see some optimizers having 2 characters cast this spell and using the 4 Garjainia to combine into a much tougher Swarm. It can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/6mvAdQx.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffatitan" target="_blank"><strong>Giraffatitan</strong></a> is yet another big long-necked sauropod, likely being 85 feet long at adulthood and lived part-time in coniferous forests and tidal flats. Like other sauropods it is a slow-moving herbivore most predators don’t bother with, but its young are another story.</p><p></p><p>It is a CR 9 Gargantuan or Colossal dinosaur, with resistance to non-magical damage. As its AC is 12 and hit points are 246, it is going to get hit a lot, but can take a lot of hits. It has advantage on sight-based Perception checks due to being able to survey vast distances as well as saves vs the prone and paralyzed conditions, but auto-fails Dexterity saves. The giraffatitan multiattacks with a neck sweep that can hit up to three targets that can knock them prone, and a single-target chomp attack. Its Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to 11 and lets it gain a new Minor Mutation (or increases its reach by 5 feet as an alternative) for 1 hour whenever it’s hit by an attack or fails a save.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> Much like the Paralititan, this Polymorph/shapechange option is for when the caster wants to soak up a bunch of damage and get multi-target melee attacks. Its vast size plus reach lets it affect quite the number of squares, albeit its slow movement at 15 feet means that it should only be polymorphed into once the caster is near the creatures it wants to harm. The Optional Magical Rules can grant various neat mutations, but as that’s a random table you aren’t guaranteed to get exactly what you need. It can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/2mzPfge.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanodon" target="_blank"><strong>Iguanodon</strong></a> was the second dinosaur to be discovered, and thus is one of the most famous ones in the popular consciousness. It was most likely a herbivore that fed on a wide variety of plants, and it has distinctive spikes on each forelimb’s digit. As their fossils were found in large numbers in one spot, it’s believed that they moved in herds.</p><p></p><p>The iguanodon is a Huge CR 4 creature, with a base 30 foot speed that increases to 40 feet when it Dashes, has advantage on Strength saves, and as a bonus action it can release a warning bellow that lets all other creatures of its type know that it’s in danger. It can attack up to three times, with two thumb spikes and a tackle, the latter of which can knock prone struck targets but if the iguanodon misses it risks ending up prone itself. Its Optional Magical Rule includes two abilities: one that’s cosmetic where its thumb spikes are replaced with a single nasal horn, and another where the iguanodon has an implanted explosive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars" target="_blank">as the consequence of two rival paleontologists attempting to sabotage each other’s research.</a> In this latter case, the iguanodon’s bomb triggers upon death after 2 rounds during which it makes a noticeable ticking sound, dealing bludgeoning and fire damage in an AoE.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> The Iguanodon is roughly equivalent to an elephant in terms of defense, but in terms of damage and offense the elephant can deal more. However, effects that can stack damage can help the Iguanodon win out as it can attack three times by default rather than the elephant which doesn’t have multiattack but can potentially attack twice with a prone-causing gore and stomp. Its Optional Magical Rule is too situational and likely wouldn’t make narrative sense to be of use: did the bomb just come out of nowhere with a Polymorph casting? It can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8cH7zqq.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juravenator" target="_blank"><strong>Juravenator</strong></a> is a Tiny or Small dinosaur whose only found fossil at this point is a juvenile specimen, so its true size at adulthood is unknown. Its sharp teeth point towards a carnivorous diet, and its skin had a thin covering of feathers. The scales were similar to those of crocodiles, indicating it lived near bodies of water.</p><p></p><p>It is a CR 0 creature that is pretty sturdy for its size and CR, having 4 hit points. Its darkvision is an amazing 120 feet due to its nocturnal lifestyle, and has resistance to cold damage due to fat deposits and advantage on attacks against smaller submerged targets. It has advantage on Dexterity saves and checks and can Dash as a bonus action, which combined with its +4 Stealth makes it pretty good at sneaking around. The juravenator’s Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to ⅛, where it has an Adult form that doubles various stats such as to-hit bonuses and hit points, becomes Small, and gains resistance to bludgeoning damage. Its juvenile form can be summoned as a familiar. </p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> Once again, it is a poor shapechanging option in general, and despite indicating a semi-aquatic lifestyle it has no swim speed. The only potential upside is its extreme darkvision, but that’s too situational for most campaigns. It could be good as a familiar to scout ahead, though. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/sjzrWuP.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentrosaurus" target="_blank"><strong>Kentrosaurus</strong></a> is a smaller relative of the stegosaurus, with defensive plates to supplement its many spikes for natural defenses. Like the stegosaurus it’s an herbivore, and its diet was different enough from other such creatures nearby to have to worry about competing for resources. It is unknown to what extent its spikes were used primarily for combat vs social displays, although its tail made for an effective weapon.</p><p></p><p>The kentrosaurus is a Large CR 3 dinosaur, with a decent 60 hit points but a sturdy 16 AC. It can multiattack with either two Thagomise* attacks that can hit one target each, or a less damaging tailsweep that can hit three targets at once and knock prone targets. It has great defenses, such as a reaction-based Thagomise against a melee attacker that can also impose the Frightened condition on a failed Charisma save, and creatures don’t gain advantage on attacks for outnumbering or flanking the kentrosaurus. In practical terms, this more or less negates Pack Tactics and similar abilities. Its Optional Magical Rule draws from Kentish folklore where it can magically disguise itself as a horse, and those who try to touch or mount it take piercing damage.</p><p></p><p><strong>*Fun Fact:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer" target="_blank">“Thagomizer,”</a> a made-up word in a Far Side cartoon strip, eventually entered the informal lingo of paleontologists.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> Once again, the ankylosaurus serves as a close comparison. The kentrosaurus has less hit points but a better AC, but it can do more damage and versus multiple targets. The ability to do a Frighten-based counterattack makes it a good tank option. The horse disguise is too gimmicky to be of use in most campaigns. It can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/DbjA6nM.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klobiodon" target="_blank"><strong>Klobiodon</strong></a> is a Small pterosaur that primarily lived on coasts, feeding on various animals by snatching them up with its maw and trapping them within a “cage” of teeth. It gathered in groups and likely swarmed when fighting intruders to their territory and other threats. It is a Small CR ⅛ dinosaur and ignores opportunity attacks providing that it is flying. Its bite attack isn’t anything to write home about in terms of damage, but it can automatically grasp onto creatures, moving with them automatically whenever the creature moves and can be dislodged via a Strength check. While so lodged, the Klobiodon deals automatic damage and reduces the creature’s movement speed; the effects are cumulative, so more klobiodons reduces speed even further while doing more damage. Its Optional Magical Rule lets it become invisible as long as it doesn’t move, and its bite attack deals double damage in the first round of combat if it’s so invisible.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> A weak shapechanging option, the best use I can see for this dinosaur is to summon a flock of them with Conjure Animals and reduce enemy speed by having them grasp onto a single target. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/SPgcrrY.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulindadromeus" target="_blank"><strong>Kulindadromeus</strong></a> is a Small bipedal dinosaur whose fossils were discovered in a lake near a volcano, and it was an herbivore that ate ferns but could have possibly eaten insects as well. There isn’t much known about how it lived, but the writers assume it acted like most small herbivores: constantly alert to flee from danger and probably lived with others of its kind.</p><p></p><p>The kulindadromeus is a CR ⅛ dinosaur with 40 foot darkvision, advantage on Stealth checks in foliage, reduces cold damage by 1d4 and ignores difficult terrain from mud, and has great Perception and Survival at +6 in spite of its 7 Wisdom. Its Optional Magical Rule doesn’t change its CR but makes other Ornithischia herbivores (iguanodons, kentrosauruses, and some other creatures in this book) friendly to it and will defend them with their lives.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> The unique abilities of the kulindadromeus are too situational to be of much use for shapechanging and summoning purposes. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/v75at9l.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptonectes" target="_blank"><strong>Leptonectes</strong></a> is an aquatic dinosaur that specialized in hunting soft prey such as squid and jellyfish, primarily hunting at night. Much of the research discovered was found via unborn embryos, where due to the volume found it is believed that mothers formed maternal pods and lived closely with their children.</p><p></p><p>They are a Large CR 4 dinosaur, with 60 foot darkvision, and while in water it cannot be grappled by smaller sized creatures and is immune to the Tidal Wave spell and similar effects while in water. The leptonectes is resistant to cold and thunder damage and primarily attacks with either a snout skewer that deals more damage when it charges or a giant paddle slap that is an adjacent-range AoE aura that deals bludgeoning and thunder damage to those who fail a Constitution save. Its Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to 5, letting it generate an aura that can impose the incapacitated condition for 1 turn and has a Legendary Action to swim 5 feet and make a snout skewer attack.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> There aren’t any core CR 4 Beasts that have a swim speed, so it doesn’t have much competition in terms of forms. However, the Giant Walrus from Rime of the Frostmaiden does, and while the leptonectes doesn’t deal as much damage as the walrus it can multihit via its paddle slap and has a faster swim speed at 60 feet vs the walrus’ 40. The dinosaur still has to hold its breath like a dolphin or whale, but at 2 hours that can last for quite a while. It can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/A45jqst.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodonsaurus" target="_blank"><strong>Mastodonsaurus</strong></a> is an amphibian from the Middle Triassic period, looking like a frog-crocodile hybrid. As can be expected it is a carnivore, and probably ambushed prey from below in the muddy freshwater rivers and swamps. While it could move (slowly at 10 feet) on land, it spent as much time in water as possible.</p><p></p><p>The mastodonsaurus is a Large CR 4 dinosaur, where it can breathe both air and water but gains enhanced abilities in water such as +3 bonus on Dexterity saves (-1 normally) and its blindsight increases from 5 to 30 feet. It can blend in perfectly with sediment in water while motionless, and should initiative be rolled it will act first, gaining advantage on its first attack and deal 1d10 bonus piercing damage with its tusked bite. The bite can also grapple struck targets. Its Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to 5 and deals a bonus 1d8 randomly determined elemental damage drawn from a table. The dinosaur gains immunity to that damage type until its next turn, albeit the book doesn’t say if it’s until the start or end of its next turn.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> Another CR 4 aquatic creature, the mastodonsaurus has more hit points than a walrus, at 90 vs 85, and a better AC at 12 vs the walrus’ 9. The blindsight and ambush bonuses are begging to use this monster before combat begins, albeit it is of limited scouting ability as its 8 Dexterity makes it poor at Stealth checks. Blindsight can be good when fighting creatures one can’t see underwater, but that’s rather situational. As we just covered the leptonectes of the same CR, that dinosaur is better for straightforward combat or with ample room to charge when an ambush cannot be guaranteed. The mastodonsaurus can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RobwIDY.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalosaurus" target="_blank"><strong>Megalosaurus</strong></a> is one of the most famous dinosaurs due to it being the first formally described taxon. Like other theropods it is a large carnivorous animal with powerful legs and sharp teeth, and its fossils were found near lagoons that hosted a variety of prey for it. It likely ambushed thirsty animals, but could’ve also scavenged carcasses.</p><p></p><p>The megalosaurus is a Large CR 4 dinosaur which is basically a smaller, stealther t-rex, being proficient in Perception, Stealth, and Survival, and has advantage on attacks versus creatures that are the same size category as itself.* It has a limited multiattack where its bite can be used twice but each time must be against a different target, and it can use either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. In the real world it was called “scrotum humanum” by a physician in comparing its appearance to testicles, which in game terms translates to the dinosaur taking triple damage against the Vicious Mockery cantrip. Last but not least, the megalosaurus has one use of Legendary Action where it can either Disengage up to 10 feet or chooses a single creature which will be knocked prone (no chance to resist) should the dinosaur hit it with its next attack. Its Optional Magical Rules increase its CR to 5, where it affects any humanoid within 60 feet who sees it for the first time with a random d4 curse table of forced actions or inactions, such as attempting to feed or heal it on their next turn.</p><p></p><p>*The wording means that it can gain advantage on other size categories if affected by Enlarge/Reduce and similar effects.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> At 106 hit points and 14 AC, the megalosaurus is a very beefy option for shapechangers of its CR, and its situational advantage on attack rolls makes it a good offensive option against certain monsters. Its proficiency in Perception and Stealth make it a passable scout albeit it will likely outshone by the party Rogue), and its multi-target bite attack helps spread out the damage. The magical curse table can be useful in making enemies act inefficiently in combat. However, it doesn’t do much damage for CR 4 or 5 creatures, being upshone by the stegosaurus and triceratops. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/fn3SFUA.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnyamawamtuka" target="_blank"><strong>Mnyamawamtuka</strong></a> is another big long-necked sauropod, but as the only fossil discovered is a juvenile it’s unknown how large it can grow. There isn’t much new to cover that I haven’t already discussed for other sauropods in terms of diet and behavior.</p><p></p><p>It is a Huge or Gargantuan CR 5 creature, having higher AC than other sauropods at 15 due to its scale and osteoderm placements, and each time it is encountered the DM rolls on the Minor Mutation table reflecting its diverse evolutionary patterns. It has +5 and advantage on saves to avoid being knocked prone, but suffers a total -5 modifier and disadvantage on Dexterity saves. It can multiattack, attacking once with a bite that can force a target to drop an item on a failed Strength save and two whips with its tail. In spite of its size these aren’t very strong attacks, being 1d8+2 and 1d6+2 respectively. Its Optional Magical Rule bumps its CR to 6, granting it a Heart-Shaped Soul where anyone hit by the mnyamawamtuka’s attack is charmed by it for 1 minute if they fail a Charisma save. The charm’s effect involves the creature fetching food for the dinosaur.</p><p></p><p><em>Player-Facing:</em> As a shapechanging option the mnyamawamtuka is a big bag of hit points with a rather pitiful damage-dealing capability, easily shone up by a Brontosaurus or Giant Crocodile. And the brontosaurus has a faster movement speed (30 feet vs this one’s 20) and a better to-hit and damage bonus. Overall a poor option. The mnyamawamtuka can be affected by Animal Friendship.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> We see a continued trend of this bestiary’s dinosaurs being less damaging than official Beasts but have better defenses and more special abilities. The sauropods are a bit too similar in roles and abilities, and I wish there was a bit more diversity that didn’t require Optional Magical Rules. Darkvision is starting to become a more common sense type, too, as is the use of bite attacks as a form of movement and battlefield control which is pretty cool. In terms of favorites I like the kentrosaurus’ defensive-minded fighting tactics and the megalosaurus in being a “roguish T-Rex.” </p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we finish up the Rest of the Alphabet!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 9229589, member: 6750502"] [b]Note:[/b] While I plan to edit the prior posts, I did want to address the Player-Facing options for dinosaurs I thought were too high CR to use for Polymorph. The Yutyrannus, Paralititan, Hatzegopteryx, and Deinosuchus. As there are no Beasts in the official rules that go above CR 8, these dinosaurs have no equivalent comparisons. Their inclusion in the rules helps make Polymorph a viable option at Tier 3 and higher levels: the Yutyrannus is a beefier T-Rex that can multiattack and take quite a bit of damage along with having immunity to a rather common energy type, the Paralititan makes for a great living siege engine that can deal a lot of single-target damage with the right set-up, the Hatzegopteryx is a decent flying option that is faster than most creatures, and the Deinosuchus can deal a lot of damage against large creatures while having a huge amount of hit points. All in all, they’re pretty nice options to have. [img]https://i.imgur.com/xB9weF9.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrosuchus][b]Erythrosuchus[/b][/url] was an apex predator during the Middle Triassic period in South Africa. Its head was disproportionately larger than the rest of its body, which was otherwise similar to many other four-legged reptiles. It is believed to have primarily fed on various kinds of animals in a semi-arid region, but there isn’t much other research regarding its behavior and living conditions at this point in time. It is believed that it ambushed prey rather than trying to outrun them due to its bulky form. Erythrosuchus is a Large CR 8 dinosaur that primarily fights with a grappling bite it can attack with twice via Multiattack, 20 feet darkvision, and it has advantage on attacks vs Medium and Large creatures but disadvantage vs all other size categories. It can make a single bite attack as a bonus action if it dashes, and has one use each of Legendary Resistance and Legendary Action, the latter of which can be done to thrash a grappled creature to do more damage or to automatically move and carry a grappled target with it. Its Optional Magical Rule ups its CR to 8, where anyone bitten by it must make a Wisdom save or go mad for 1 minute, having their Intelligence reduced to 3, their Proficiency Bonus reduced to 0, and cannot communicate. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] The erythrosuchus shares its CR with the T-Rex of the core rules and the Huge Giant Crab and Sperm Whale of other published adventures. In comparison to the T-Rex this dinosaur has the same number of hit points but has a better AC (16 vs rex’s 13), albeit with a slower speed of 25 feet. It deals much less damage with its multiattack. While the erythrosuchus’ thrash legendary action can help close the gap in damage, as a Polymorphed option a character cannot make use of it. Its Optional Magical Rule gives its bite a great debuff: even when fighting a creature that doesn’t make use of language or Intelligence, the Proficiency Bonus reduction is downright amazing. It can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/lzlcCu3.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcatakely][b]Falcatakely[/b][/url] is a small bird-like dinosaur that is believed to have mostly subsisted on fruits with the occasional insect and small animal. It lived in wet areas of northern Madagascar, notably rivers and floodplains, and lived in mated pairs. It is a Tiny CR 0 creature, its chirp can be heard up to 300 feet away, and when PCs first find one it will reveal nearby fruit food sources that are the equivalent of 4 days worth of rations. Its Optional Magical Rule doesn’t alter its CR, where druidic magic present in the animal causes plants in a region to double the amount of fruit they grow provided it stays in an area for a week, and it can be obtained as a familiar. If it’s acquired as a familiar its lush growth only activates once each time it is summoned in a new area. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] An encounter with this creature is basically one that only has upsides, as it more or less gives the party some free food when found. It feels strongly geared towards wilderness survival types of adventures with a built-in reward. The Optional Magical Rule is more of a gimmick for people with Find Familiar; increased food yields aren’t so important in typical adventures. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/0kHGRd3.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garjainia][b]Garjainia[/b][/url] is an erythosuchid, a carnivore which the Erythrosuchus also belongs to and are thus relatives. It too lived during the Triassic period and had a huge head with a powerful bite, and was likely an ambush predator. Although it shared territory with larger animals, it was strong enough to get into fights with them when the need arose. It is a Small CR 1 dinosaur that can Dash as a bonus action as a rechargeable ability, its bite attack has a d3 table of random effects while grasping onto it such as halved speed from a bitten leg to disadvantage, and instead of a straightforward grapple its Lock Jaw lets it automatically grasp onto a creature. This lets its random effect persist, and the bitten creature must make contested Strength checks to move that round and requires a separate Strength check to remove the Garjainia. Its Optional Magical Rule doesn’t alter its CR, where its bite has a random chance to make a target lose a spell slot, and 4-5 Garjainia can swarm together to create a new stat block which is basically a much tougher CR 6 version with Swarm traits and Multiattack. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] As a CR 1 beast, it has to be compared to a Dire Wolf. While the Garjainia has slightly more hit points at 38, it has a much slower speed and its bonus action Dash is too unpredictable to rely on. Its Over-Sized Bite is a good means of imposing debuffs on enemies and holding them in place, which helps save the creature a bit. The Optional Magical Rule can make it a good anti-mage option, and while Conjure Animals can only summon up to 2 CR 1 beasts, I can see some optimizers having 2 characters cast this spell and using the 4 Garjainia to combine into a much tougher Swarm. It can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/6mvAdQx.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffatitan][b]Giraffatitan[/b][/url] is yet another big long-necked sauropod, likely being 85 feet long at adulthood and lived part-time in coniferous forests and tidal flats. Like other sauropods it is a slow-moving herbivore most predators don’t bother with, but its young are another story. It is a CR 9 Gargantuan or Colossal dinosaur, with resistance to non-magical damage. As its AC is 12 and hit points are 246, it is going to get hit a lot, but can take a lot of hits. It has advantage on sight-based Perception checks due to being able to survey vast distances as well as saves vs the prone and paralyzed conditions, but auto-fails Dexterity saves. The giraffatitan multiattacks with a neck sweep that can hit up to three targets that can knock them prone, and a single-target chomp attack. Its Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to 11 and lets it gain a new Minor Mutation (or increases its reach by 5 feet as an alternative) for 1 hour whenever it’s hit by an attack or fails a save. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] Much like the Paralititan, this Polymorph/shapechange option is for when the caster wants to soak up a bunch of damage and get multi-target melee attacks. Its vast size plus reach lets it affect quite the number of squares, albeit its slow movement at 15 feet means that it should only be polymorphed into once the caster is near the creatures it wants to harm. The Optional Magical Rules can grant various neat mutations, but as that’s a random table you aren’t guaranteed to get exactly what you need. It can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/2mzPfge.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanodon][b]Iguanodon[/b][/url] was the second dinosaur to be discovered, and thus is one of the most famous ones in the popular consciousness. It was most likely a herbivore that fed on a wide variety of plants, and it has distinctive spikes on each forelimb’s digit. As their fossils were found in large numbers in one spot, it’s believed that they moved in herds. The iguanodon is a Huge CR 4 creature, with a base 30 foot speed that increases to 40 feet when it Dashes, has advantage on Strength saves, and as a bonus action it can release a warning bellow that lets all other creatures of its type know that it’s in danger. It can attack up to three times, with two thumb spikes and a tackle, the latter of which can knock prone struck targets but if the iguanodon misses it risks ending up prone itself. Its Optional Magical Rule includes two abilities: one that’s cosmetic where its thumb spikes are replaced with a single nasal horn, and another where the iguanodon has an implanted explosive [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars]as the consequence of two rival paleontologists attempting to sabotage each other’s research.[/url] In this latter case, the iguanodon’s bomb triggers upon death after 2 rounds during which it makes a noticeable ticking sound, dealing bludgeoning and fire damage in an AoE. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] The Iguanodon is roughly equivalent to an elephant in terms of defense, but in terms of damage and offense the elephant can deal more. However, effects that can stack damage can help the Iguanodon win out as it can attack three times by default rather than the elephant which doesn’t have multiattack but can potentially attack twice with a prone-causing gore and stomp. Its Optional Magical Rule is too situational and likely wouldn’t make narrative sense to be of use: did the bomb just come out of nowhere with a Polymorph casting? It can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/8cH7zqq.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juravenator][b]Juravenator[/b][/url] is a Tiny or Small dinosaur whose only found fossil at this point is a juvenile specimen, so its true size at adulthood is unknown. Its sharp teeth point towards a carnivorous diet, and its skin had a thin covering of feathers. The scales were similar to those of crocodiles, indicating it lived near bodies of water. It is a CR 0 creature that is pretty sturdy for its size and CR, having 4 hit points. Its darkvision is an amazing 120 feet due to its nocturnal lifestyle, and has resistance to cold damage due to fat deposits and advantage on attacks against smaller submerged targets. It has advantage on Dexterity saves and checks and can Dash as a bonus action, which combined with its +4 Stealth makes it pretty good at sneaking around. The juravenator’s Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to ⅛, where it has an Adult form that doubles various stats such as to-hit bonuses and hit points, becomes Small, and gains resistance to bludgeoning damage. Its juvenile form can be summoned as a familiar. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] Once again, it is a poor shapechanging option in general, and despite indicating a semi-aquatic lifestyle it has no swim speed. The only potential upside is its extreme darkvision, but that’s too situational for most campaigns. It could be good as a familiar to scout ahead, though. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/sjzrWuP.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentrosaurus][b]Kentrosaurus[/b][/url] is a smaller relative of the stegosaurus, with defensive plates to supplement its many spikes for natural defenses. Like the stegosaurus it’s an herbivore, and its diet was different enough from other such creatures nearby to have to worry about competing for resources. It is unknown to what extent its spikes were used primarily for combat vs social displays, although its tail made for an effective weapon. The kentrosaurus is a Large CR 3 dinosaur, with a decent 60 hit points but a sturdy 16 AC. It can multiattack with either two Thagomise* attacks that can hit one target each, or a less damaging tailsweep that can hit three targets at once and knock prone targets. It has great defenses, such as a reaction-based Thagomise against a melee attacker that can also impose the Frightened condition on a failed Charisma save, and creatures don’t gain advantage on attacks for outnumbering or flanking the kentrosaurus. In practical terms, this more or less negates Pack Tactics and similar abilities. Its Optional Magical Rule draws from Kentish folklore where it can magically disguise itself as a horse, and those who try to touch or mount it take piercing damage. [b]*Fun Fact:[/b] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer]“Thagomizer,”[/url] a made-up word in a Far Side cartoon strip, eventually entered the informal lingo of paleontologists. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] Once again, the ankylosaurus serves as a close comparison. The kentrosaurus has less hit points but a better AC, but it can do more damage and versus multiple targets. The ability to do a Frighten-based counterattack makes it a good tank option. The horse disguise is too gimmicky to be of use in most campaigns. It can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/DbjA6nM.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klobiodon][b]Klobiodon[/b][/url] is a Small pterosaur that primarily lived on coasts, feeding on various animals by snatching them up with its maw and trapping them within a “cage” of teeth. It gathered in groups and likely swarmed when fighting intruders to their territory and other threats. It is a Small CR ⅛ dinosaur and ignores opportunity attacks providing that it is flying. Its bite attack isn’t anything to write home about in terms of damage, but it can automatically grasp onto creatures, moving with them automatically whenever the creature moves and can be dislodged via a Strength check. While so lodged, the Klobiodon deals automatic damage and reduces the creature’s movement speed; the effects are cumulative, so more klobiodons reduces speed even further while doing more damage. Its Optional Magical Rule lets it become invisible as long as it doesn’t move, and its bite attack deals double damage in the first round of combat if it’s so invisible. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] A weak shapechanging option, the best use I can see for this dinosaur is to summon a flock of them with Conjure Animals and reduce enemy speed by having them grasp onto a single target. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/SPgcrrY.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulindadromeus][b]Kulindadromeus[/b][/url] is a Small bipedal dinosaur whose fossils were discovered in a lake near a volcano, and it was an herbivore that ate ferns but could have possibly eaten insects as well. There isn’t much known about how it lived, but the writers assume it acted like most small herbivores: constantly alert to flee from danger and probably lived with others of its kind. The kulindadromeus is a CR ⅛ dinosaur with 40 foot darkvision, advantage on Stealth checks in foliage, reduces cold damage by 1d4 and ignores difficult terrain from mud, and has great Perception and Survival at +6 in spite of its 7 Wisdom. Its Optional Magical Rule doesn’t change its CR but makes other Ornithischia herbivores (iguanodons, kentrosauruses, and some other creatures in this book) friendly to it and will defend them with their lives. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] The unique abilities of the kulindadromeus are too situational to be of much use for shapechanging and summoning purposes. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/v75at9l.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptonectes][b]Leptonectes[/b][/url] is an aquatic dinosaur that specialized in hunting soft prey such as squid and jellyfish, primarily hunting at night. Much of the research discovered was found via unborn embryos, where due to the volume found it is believed that mothers formed maternal pods and lived closely with their children. They are a Large CR 4 dinosaur, with 60 foot darkvision, and while in water it cannot be grappled by smaller sized creatures and is immune to the Tidal Wave spell and similar effects while in water. The leptonectes is resistant to cold and thunder damage and primarily attacks with either a snout skewer that deals more damage when it charges or a giant paddle slap that is an adjacent-range AoE aura that deals bludgeoning and thunder damage to those who fail a Constitution save. Its Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to 5, letting it generate an aura that can impose the incapacitated condition for 1 turn and has a Legendary Action to swim 5 feet and make a snout skewer attack. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] There aren’t any core CR 4 Beasts that have a swim speed, so it doesn’t have much competition in terms of forms. However, the Giant Walrus from Rime of the Frostmaiden does, and while the leptonectes doesn’t deal as much damage as the walrus it can multihit via its paddle slap and has a faster swim speed at 60 feet vs the walrus’ 40. The dinosaur still has to hold its breath like a dolphin or whale, but at 2 hours that can last for quite a while. It can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/A45jqst.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodonsaurus][b]Mastodonsaurus[/b][/url] is an amphibian from the Middle Triassic period, looking like a frog-crocodile hybrid. As can be expected it is a carnivore, and probably ambushed prey from below in the muddy freshwater rivers and swamps. While it could move (slowly at 10 feet) on land, it spent as much time in water as possible. The mastodonsaurus is a Large CR 4 dinosaur, where it can breathe both air and water but gains enhanced abilities in water such as +3 bonus on Dexterity saves (-1 normally) and its blindsight increases from 5 to 30 feet. It can blend in perfectly with sediment in water while motionless, and should initiative be rolled it will act first, gaining advantage on its first attack and deal 1d10 bonus piercing damage with its tusked bite. The bite can also grapple struck targets. Its Optional Magical Rule increases its CR to 5 and deals a bonus 1d8 randomly determined elemental damage drawn from a table. The dinosaur gains immunity to that damage type until its next turn, albeit the book doesn’t say if it’s until the start or end of its next turn. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] Another CR 4 aquatic creature, the mastodonsaurus has more hit points than a walrus, at 90 vs 85, and a better AC at 12 vs the walrus’ 9. The blindsight and ambush bonuses are begging to use this monster before combat begins, albeit it is of limited scouting ability as its 8 Dexterity makes it poor at Stealth checks. Blindsight can be good when fighting creatures one can’t see underwater, but that’s rather situational. As we just covered the leptonectes of the same CR, that dinosaur is better for straightforward combat or with ample room to charge when an ambush cannot be guaranteed. The mastodonsaurus can be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/RobwIDY.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalosaurus][b]Megalosaurus[/b][/url] is one of the most famous dinosaurs due to it being the first formally described taxon. Like other theropods it is a large carnivorous animal with powerful legs and sharp teeth, and its fossils were found near lagoons that hosted a variety of prey for it. It likely ambushed thirsty animals, but could’ve also scavenged carcasses. The megalosaurus is a Large CR 4 dinosaur which is basically a smaller, stealther t-rex, being proficient in Perception, Stealth, and Survival, and has advantage on attacks versus creatures that are the same size category as itself.* It has a limited multiattack where its bite can be used twice but each time must be against a different target, and it can use either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. In the real world it was called “scrotum humanum” by a physician in comparing its appearance to testicles, which in game terms translates to the dinosaur taking triple damage against the Vicious Mockery cantrip. Last but not least, the megalosaurus has one use of Legendary Action where it can either Disengage up to 10 feet or chooses a single creature which will be knocked prone (no chance to resist) should the dinosaur hit it with its next attack. Its Optional Magical Rules increase its CR to 5, where it affects any humanoid within 60 feet who sees it for the first time with a random d4 curse table of forced actions or inactions, such as attempting to feed or heal it on their next turn. *The wording means that it can gain advantage on other size categories if affected by Enlarge/Reduce and similar effects. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] At 106 hit points and 14 AC, the megalosaurus is a very beefy option for shapechangers of its CR, and its situational advantage on attack rolls makes it a good offensive option against certain monsters. Its proficiency in Perception and Stealth make it a passable scout albeit it will likely outshone by the party Rogue), and its multi-target bite attack helps spread out the damage. The magical curse table can be useful in making enemies act inefficiently in combat. However, it doesn’t do much damage for CR 4 or 5 creatures, being upshone by the stegosaurus and triceratops. It is too smart to be affected by Animal Friendship. [img]https://i.imgur.com/fn3SFUA.png[/img] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnyamawamtuka][b]Mnyamawamtuka[/b][/url] is another big long-necked sauropod, but as the only fossil discovered is a juvenile it’s unknown how large it can grow. There isn’t much new to cover that I haven’t already discussed for other sauropods in terms of diet and behavior. It is a Huge or Gargantuan CR 5 creature, having higher AC than other sauropods at 15 due to its scale and osteoderm placements, and each time it is encountered the DM rolls on the Minor Mutation table reflecting its diverse evolutionary patterns. It has +5 and advantage on saves to avoid being knocked prone, but suffers a total -5 modifier and disadvantage on Dexterity saves. It can multiattack, attacking once with a bite that can force a target to drop an item on a failed Strength save and two whips with its tail. In spite of its size these aren’t very strong attacks, being 1d8+2 and 1d6+2 respectively. Its Optional Magical Rule bumps its CR to 6, granting it a Heart-Shaped Soul where anyone hit by the mnyamawamtuka’s attack is charmed by it for 1 minute if they fail a Charisma save. The charm’s effect involves the creature fetching food for the dinosaur. [i]Player-Facing:[/i] As a shapechanging option the mnyamawamtuka is a big bag of hit points with a rather pitiful damage-dealing capability, easily shone up by a Brontosaurus or Giant Crocodile. And the brontosaurus has a faster movement speed (30 feet vs this one’s 20) and a better to-hit and damage bonus. Overall a poor option. The mnyamawamtuka can be affected by Animal Friendship. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] We see a continued trend of this bestiary’s dinosaurs being less damaging than official Beasts but have better defenses and more special abilities. The sauropods are a bit too similar in roles and abilities, and I wish there was a bit more diversity that didn’t require Optional Magical Rules. Darkvision is starting to become a more common sense type, too, as is the use of bite attacks as a form of movement and battlefield control which is pretty cool. In terms of favorites I like the kentrosaurus’ defensive-minded fighting tactics and the megalosaurus in being a “roguish T-Rex.” [b]Join us next time as we finish up the Rest of the Alphabet![/b] [/QUOTE]
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