Dinosaur Racing

The city of Port Nyanzaru is famous for its weekly dinosaur races through the streets. Dinosaurs are painted in bright designs, and their riders try to steer them along a course that winds around the harbor and the city’s four hills. Spectators are seldom injured, but it’s a dangerous sport for the dinosaurs and their riders.

A typical race day has three races: one for four-legged beasts, one for two-legged beasts, and one no-holds-barred “unchained” race. Many of the dinosaurs involved are juveniles, since fully grown versions can be too large and too difficult for riders to manage. The dinosaurs are stoutly muzzled and have their claws and horns blunted in all but the unchained race.

The four-legged race is dominated by young **ankylosauruses** and **triceratopses**, but **dimetrodons** have also done well when paired with Small riders. Most competitors in the two-legged race are **hadrosauruses** and **deinonychuses** (again with Small riders). The unchained race sees racers on anything, including young **allosauruses** and very young **tyrannosauruses**.

## Betting

Characters can bet on the dinosaur races to help fund a jungle expedition or earn some extra cash. The racers, the available odds, and the chance to win are listed in the Betting on Dinosaur Races table below. Bets can range from 1 cp to 500 gp. Once bets are placed, roll a die for each bet. Losing bets cost the full amount of the wager. Winning bets pay out according to the table. Bets can be for a dinosaur to win, place, show, or do something specific during the race (like attack another racer or throw its rider), so many bets can win in the course of a single race.

Losers are expected to pay up in a timely fashion. Those who don’t are visited by a debt collector backed up by Chultan legbreakers. Port Nyanzaru bookies never forget a debt; even a year away on an expedition into the jungle isn’t long enough to erase an unpaid gambling loss.

## Racing

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.

##### Racing Dinosaurs

\* If an Animal Handling check made with advantage due to lashing fails by 5 or more, the animal goes berserk and is out of the race

### **Events**

Whenever an area is first entered by a racer, the DM rolls on a random chart to determine an event that's specific to that area.

### **Encounters**

In Dinosaur Racing V2, any time a racer starts a new turn, the DM rolls on a random chart that's different for every area of the track. If the DM rolls an event, they describe the event to the players before that racer takes their turn.

### **Theme**

At the start of the race, the Dm rolls on a random chart to determine the Race Theme. The theme or event can range anywhere from a sudden storm to there being extra people on the streets. Some events affect the race more than others.

### **Racer Initiative**

In Dinosaur Racing V2, racers roll for initiative. This is different from rolling initiative for a combat encounter.

Have the racer roll a d20 and add their dinosaur's dexterity to the result. If the racer is proficient in Animal Handling, they may add their proficiency bonus to the result.

Unlike in combat, racers roll for initiative multiple times. Every time a racer enters a new area of the track, they roll for initiative again and start the next round at their new initiative.

### **The Track**

The race track is divided up into different areas that have their own events. Along the race track are squares to place miniatures or markers of some sort down on.

**Distance**

The distance between each square on the track is 10 feet. This is an abstract number as the actual distance of the race is much longer. The shape of the track, and placement of area dividers is also an abstract view of where they actually are in-game.

**Hidden View**

When players are racing, the DM hides the center of the track to prevent players from being able to see which shortcuts to take.

**Shortcuts**

There are many potential shortcuts scattered across the race track, but very few actually serve as a shortcut. Most of the potential shortcuts that players will see either lead into a dead end, backtrack, or take even longer than the normal path. Players must decide for themselves if they want to take a shortcut.

Shortcuts are an abstract placement just as the map is and is supposed to serve more as a changeable tool for DMs, rather than an actual interpretation of where shortcuts are in the city. The DM may describe shortcuts in a way to make sense of the shortcut, but that area may differ entirely from what the area looks like in a normal setting.

Shortcuts are marked with different symbols to show players and DMs what sized dinosaurs can fit through the path. Unless a path is marked to allow a creature to squeeze into a path smaller than normal, the dinosaur cannot pass through that path and must turn around.

## Turn Stages

2. Roll for initiative\*\*
3. DM rolls an encounter
4. Choose to lash your dinosaur or not
5. Make your animal handling check
6. Make a constitution check if you chose to lash
7. Move forward or stay in place
\*\*Only when you enter a new area
\*\*\*Only the first time someone enters a new area