Player characters might get involved in a dinosaur race, either through their own interest or because they’re approached by a racing team. In this case, you’ll need to play out the race. This can be quite a bit of fun, especially if you let players whose characters aren’t directly involved take over at least some of the NPC racers. Encourage everyone to race hard, even if it’s in the group’s best interest for a particular dinosaur to win.
A race runs a length of 300 feet; this is abstract, as a race actually covers a lot more ground. Every round, each rider makes a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check; the DCs for different types of dinosaurs are listed in the Racing Dinosaurs table. With each successful Animal Handling check, the first number listed as the dinosaur’s speed is added to its “running tally.” If the check fails, that dinosaur’s tally doesn’t increase that turn. When a racer’s tally equals or exceeds 300, that dinosaur crosses the finish line. A racer can try to move at the higher listed speed by lashing the animal furiously; in this case, the Animal Handling check is made with advantage, but the dinosaur must also make a successful DC 10 Constitution check at the end of this round or its speed is halved for the rest of the race.
No initiative is involved. Riders can make their Animal Handling checks in any order, or all at the same time. If two or more dinosaurs cross the finish line on the same round, the one with the highest tally wins. If the tallies are the same, the racers tied. In the event of a tie, brawls are likely to break out in trackside betting pools.
In the unchained event, dinosaurs can attack other dinosaurs if their tallies are within 50 of each other at the end of a round. Each dinosaur’s pertinent combat statistics are listed on the Racing Dinosaurs table. If a dinosaur has half or fewer of its starting hit points, the rider makes Animal Handling checks with disadvantage.
For simplicity, riders can’t attack or be attacked, but DMs with a cruel streak might be tempted to relax that rule. Just be aware that if rider attacks are allowed, the event is more likely to become a straight-up dinosaur fight than anything resembling a race. Raising a dinosaur to be a racer is difficult and expensive. Most owners aren’t willing to lose one—especially a fast one—in a weekly bloodfest.
| Mount |
Speed |
Skill Check DC |
AC |
Hit Points |
Attack |
Damage |
Constitution |
| Allosaurus, young |
50/80 |
16* |
13 |
30 |
+6 |
8 (1d10+3) |
15 (+2) |
| Deinonychus |
40/60 |
12* |
13 |
26 |
+4 |
6 (1d8+2) |
14 (+2) |
| Dimetrodon |
30/50 |
8 |
12 |
19 |
+3 |
8 (2d6+1) |
15 (+2) |
| Hadrosaurus |
40/50 |
10 |
11 |
19 |
+3 |
6 (1d10+1) |
13 (+1) |
| Other |
40/60 |
12 |
12 |
24 |
+3 |
6 (1d8+2) |
16 (+3) |
| Triceratops, young |
50/75 |
14 |
13 |
38 |
+5 |
6 (1d10+1) |
15 (+2) |
| Tyrannosaurus rex, young |
50/100 |
18* |
13 |
46 |
+6 |
9 (1d12+3) |
17 (+3) |
