shortgames

Collection of one-shot tabletop RPG games, free of use.

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Dinos Make a Movie

Inspired by Grant H’s Honey Heist game

Goal

You are tired of the typical scientific dinosaur documentary and want to show off how awesome dinosaurs are. You decide to make a Hollywood blockbuster movie, get rich, and be famous! But you are a dinosaur living amongst humans even though everyone thinks dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago.

Materials

  1. 1d8 or more (for character creation); you can also use 1d6 if you would prefer simpler options
  2. 1d6 or more (for play)
  3. Pencil and paper (or some other way to record stats)

Characters

Roll 1d8 per table below to determine your species, role in the movie, and personality trait.

Species

  1. Triceratops (charging)
  2. Stegosaurus (standing ground)
  3. Ankylosaurus (taking damage)
  4. Archaeopteryx (flying)
  5. Parasaurolophus (swimming)
  6. Compsognathus (sneaking)
  7. Velociraptor (acrobatics)
  8. Anything else (subject to player agreement) or roll again

Movie Role

  1. Director
  2. Lead
  3. Producer
  4. Set designer
  5. Sound/lights
  6. Special effects
  7. Stunt/fighting instructor
  8. Anything else (subject to player agreement) or roll again

Personality Trait

  1. Fresh off the bus
  2. Sleazy
  3. Perfectionist
  4. Short tempered
  5. Washed up
  6. Rising star
  7. Druggie
  8. Anything else (subject to player agreement) or roll again

Disguise (optional)

  1. Hat
  2. Coat
  3. Pants
  4. Shoes
  5. Feather boa
  6. Necklace/earrings
  7. Lingerie
  8. Anything else (subject to player agreement) or roll again

Name and Language

Give your character a name. It can be its real name or a stage name. Your character knows the language Dinosaur and can talk to other dinosaurs. You character has a very rudimentary grasp on the language Human and can muddle through conversations.

Stats

Each player has two stats: Diva and Dino. Each stat starts at 3. Use your Dino stat for being a dinosaur (eating, running, roaring, and anything else that is specifically dinosaur-related). Use your Diva stat for everything else (you are pretending not to be a dinosaur after all).

Changing Stats

You can change your stats by moving a point from one to the other in the following ways.

Diva -> Dino

  1. Roar like a dinosaur
  2. Rampage through the streets
  3. Eat your preferred meal option in public without utensils

Dino -> Diva

  1. Flip your hair dramatically
  2. Scoff at a player or the GM with a condescending/mean insult
  3. Steal the show and perform a scene from the movie extravagantly (who cares if you’re explicity an actor) or sabotage the set

When a player rolls, and the lowest die is a 6, the GM can move a point from the rolled stat to the other (i.e., if the player is trying to act in a fight scene, the dinosaur within might come out and rampage a little too much).

Stats and Dying

If your Dino stat reaches 6, you throw down your disguise, roar, and run offset to cause chaos and carnage in the streets. A zookeeper will eventually subdue you with an outstretched hand and put you on display.

If your Diva stat reaches 6, you loudly declare “I quit!”, storm offset, and hire an agent to get you a new movie, preferably with Stephen Spielberg. You eventually star in a reality show for has-beens where no one cares about you.

Actions

Whenever you take an action with an uncertain outcome, roll 1d6. If the numnber is equal to or less than your relevant stat, you succeed; otherwise, you fail. If your action is related to your dinosaur special ability, movie role, personality, or disguise, add an extra die to the pool and choose the lowest value on the roll.

Ending the Game

The game ends when either everyone has gone full-Dino or full-Diva or your movie premier after-party ends.

Random Tables

Use any of the below tables if you get stuck during play or just want a random experience.

Type of Movie

  1. Action
  2. Drama
  3. Comedy
  4. Horror
  5. Science Fiction
  6. Romance
  7. Mystery
  8. Present-day documentary

Filming Location

  1. New Zealand countryside
  2. Hollywood studio set
  3. Pittsburgh streets
  4. Antartica
  5. Sahara Desert
  6. Studio apartment
  7. Cave
  8. Green screen set

Hinderances to filming (roll 2-3 times)

  1. Actors get food poisoning
  2. Studio execs say no to every major plot point
  3. Important staff member gets slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit
  4. Someone leaks some early footage and audiences hate it
  5. Script is terrible
  6. Scientists protest the movie due to its “inaccurate portrayal of dinosaurs”
  7. Budget runs out
  8. A rival studio is making a similar movie and is getting better publicity

The studio

  1. is cheap and withholding
  2. is betting everything on this one movie
  3. has too many projects right now and barely pays attention to yours
  4. wants more nudity
  5. gives you everything you need way too readily
  6. thinks dinosaurs are real and are living amongst humans and wants to out them
  7. wants to remake Jurassic Park “but better, you know?”
  8. thinks you should replace dinosaurs with sexy aliens

GM Secret Table

  1. PETA is trying to “protect” the dinosaur actors by killing them
  2. The dinosaur players are actually robots and/or puppets controlled by humans but those humans don’t know it
  3. The studio execs knows the players are dinosaurs and is terrified of them
  4. This film will bring about a dinosaur empire, so one of the humans on set was sent from the future to stop it from happening
  5. The studio never got the rights to produce a dinosaur movie and will be forced to close down the set midway through filming
  6. A meteor is headed straight for the film set and will strike in two days
  7. Stephen Spielberg heard about the film and is trying to shut it down
  8. The Discovery Channel set up this whole thing