Decyphering Dionosaurs

One-hundred-and-fourteen years ago, the Time Machines screamed and self-destructed. In the process, they trapped twenty-thousand Commuters sixty-five million years in the past in the Cretaceous Period. Worse, at some point in the future, the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event will kill everyone and almost everything on the planet. In the century since the ‘Last Commute’, the survivors of the ‘Gre-Vakian c trials’ mission have adapted to their world, cut off from their homes in the twenty-fourth century and no longer able to rely upon their employers, the interstellar conglomerate, Space and Time, Interglobal (SATI). Their home, Grevakc, is spread out over two continents, Laramidia and Appalachia, divided by the Western Inner Sea, on what would be one day be the North American continent. They now breed dinosaurs, many people taking them as companions often controlled via cybernetic implants, whilst dinosaurs in the wild still remain a threat. A wide range of technology is used, a mix of that developed in the Cretaceous from leather, scales, fur, and bones, and future advances such as smart fluids, wetweave, piezotextiles, and more. Advanced arms, armour, and technology remain the province of SATI, suspected of holding caches in its bases across Grevakc, some of which are known, many of which are hidden. SATI dominates the few cities and many of the towns that have arisen since the ‘Last Commute’, its membership dominated by descendants of original SATI employees, working to maintain its grip on advanced technology whilst also trying to restore the ability to time travel and either go home or make contact with the corporation in the future. However, they opposed by the ‘Butterflies’, a guerrilla group, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story, ‘A Sound of Thunder.’, that is staunchly anti-technology and opposed to any use of time travel technology, working to ensure that Humanity in the Cretaceous Period dies out in the upcoming Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event and thus preventing them altering the evolutionary time path. A more recently founded organisation is the ‘Genesix Fellowship’, a religious group that openly preaches about its desire to find the ‘Garden of Eden’, seeing the destruction of time travel technology as God’s punishment for Humanity’s failure to find it, believing that the secret to its location can be found in dinosaur DNA, and knowing that when it is found, God will repair the time machines. One of the side effects of the destruction of the Time Travel machines—or perhaps the attempts by scientists to restore it—are ‘Time Anomalies’. Appearing as glitches or flickering mirages, they can last from a few hours to even years and are known to drop technologies, objects, and information from the future in the form of cyphers, artifacts, and remnants, and these are a steady supply of things from the future.

This is the set-up for Predation, a Science Fiction campaign involving dinosaurs, time travel, dinosaurs, cybernetics, dinosaurs, post-apocalypse, dinosaurs, and dinosaurs. Published by Monte Cook Games, it is a setting for use with Cypher System, first seen in Numenera in 2013. This is a setting which gives the players new character options, a new paradise to explore, secrets to discover, potentially a mystery to solve, and most fun of all, dinosaur companions! Or of course, it could be used as a means to add dinosaurs to other Cypher System roleplaying games and settings—in fact, The Way of the Dinosaur: Converting Predation for Numenera and The Strange is a complete guide to that—and it could be used as world that the Player Characters or ‘Recursors’ could visit in The Strange. In general though, this is a setting that stands alone, primarily because it presents a world that that is genuinely different and original.

In terms of character options, Predation makes multiple changes to what a player can play, whilst still adhering to the standard format that the Cypher System uses describe and encapsulate a Player Character. This is “I am a [adjective] [noun] who [verbs]”, where the noun is the character’s Type; the adjective a Descriptor, such as Clever or Swift, that defines the character and how he does things; and the verb is the Focus or what the character does that makes him unique. There are four Types—Karn, Tec, Pteryx, and Osteon. These roughly equate to the Warrior, Adept, and Explorer respectively, whilst the Osteon fulfils the social role. Plus, unlike the Adept, the Tec deploys science rather than magic. The Karn is also capable of fighting dinosaurs as well as other threats. There are only five now Descriptors—‘Daring’, ‘Empirical’, ‘Savage’, ‘Slick’, and ‘Volcanic’. These are mostly self-explanatory and it is easy to tie these to particular Types, such as an Empirical Tec, a Slick Osteon, or a Daring Pteryx. The exception is ‘Volcanic’, meaning a character who bides his time and then acts big or explosively, giving up actions to inflict greater damage when he does attack, but is always slow to act.

Similarly, there are four new Foci. These are ‘Plays God’, ‘Predates’, ‘Self-Evolves’, and ‘Walks with Dinosaurs’. ‘Plays God’ means that the Player Character employs genetics and cloning to grow, develop, and engineer dinosaurs; ‘Predates’ means he grows claws and teeth and more to hunt and fight more like a dinosaur; ‘Self-Evolves’ enables him to make a better version of himself through bioengineering and cybernetics; and ‘Walks with Dinosaurs’ means that he prefers the company of dinosaurs and can communicate with them. In addition to a list of Foci appropriate to the setting, Predation lists several Foci that are problematic and ways around them. For example, ‘Builds Cyborgs’ replaces ‘Builds Robots’ because there are no robots in the setting (they did not travel well from the future); ‘Moves Like a Raptor’ replaces ‘Moves Like a Cat’ as there are no cats—traditional pets—in the setting; and ‘Sees Through Time’ is adjusted to take account of the Time Anomalies so that a Player Character can see through time rather than travel through time.

The ‘Walks with Dinosaurs’ Focus highlights another feature of the Predation setting. Effectively, it effectively replaces the ‘Control Beasts’ Focus. Beasts, and dinosaurs in particular, play a big role in the setting and further, every Player Character has a dinosaur companion. This can be a Tyrannosaur, Raptor, Ornithomimid, Ceratopsian and Ankylosaur, Pterosaur, or even an Early Mammal type and stats and abilities which will develop as a Player Character does. Each has a personality trait, like Clever, Curious, or Intimidating, which grants their Player Character an asset when attempting certain tasks, but comes with its downsides too. For example, a Timid Companion grants an asset on all stealth actions, but is likely to runaway and hide from danger. The dinosaur companion is treated like another Player Character rather than an NPC, but instead of it being roleplayed by the player whose character it is companion, it is roleplayed by the player to his left. So every dinosaur companion is a player character, but roleplayed by someone else.

This has its challenges. It is not a new idea, originally appearing in White Wolf’s Wraith: The Oblivion with another player roleplaying a Player Character’s dark side, his Shadow, and then seen more recently with John Wick’s WIELD: Chronicles of the Vatcha. It doubles the number of Player Characters at the table, though of course, the actual Player Characters dominate play with their dinosaur companions getting time in the spotlight. A dinosaur companion though does not simply take orders as if it is an adjunct to the Player Character, but instead a player must interact with the player roleplaying his dinosaur companion and he must roll to see whether his dinosaur companion agrees to his request. This need not be for every action and it does get easier as both Player Character and dinosaur companion gain experience. This changes some of the dynamic around the table and increases the amount of extra play and effort that a player has to put into the game. Not only is he roleplaying his character and understanding what he is capable of, he has to roleplay and understand what another Player Character’s dinosaur companion is capable of, he needs to know what his own character’s dinosaur companion is capable of. Plus, the need to persuade a dinosaur companion to act can slow play. The last challenge is that this is a style of play rarely seen and unfamiliar to most roleplayers and, even there is an example of it in play, it will take some adjusting to.

In terms of equipment, Predation is underwhelming. There is a good discussion of the materials available, a mixture of future technology brought from the future and developed since as well as that adapted from what can be harvested from the now. The future technology includes smart fluid and piezotextiles, wetweave produced from genetically modified orb weaver spiders, and solarium, an artificial biofilm that absorbs solar energy to heal itself, whilst shrilk film is made from shrimp shells and spidersilk proteins to create, a thin, clear material as strong as aluminium , but biodegradable. Anything made from furs, scales, and leather is cheap and easy to find, but advanced technology can be very expensive, especially if it came from the future. Included are body upgrades, augments, and enhancements, such as nightvision, cybernetic limbs, and cybernetic limb or tail, but the list at just five entries is disappointingly short. The Game Master may want to consult the Cypher System’s Cyberpunk supplement, Neon Rain, for further ideas. Another issue is that the gear is a bit bland when it really could have done with some branding.

Cyphers, artifacts, and remnants are also something that is changed for the Predation. Cyphers are vestigial remnants of far-future technologies, sciences, and information storage systems that have slipped into the past and can be found in the Time Anomalies. When he walks through a Time Anomaly, Cyphers map themselves onto the Player Character’s DNA and when activated erase themselves afterwards. For example, a ‘Biological Plait’ releases a compound that weaves itself into the user’s blood, brain, and musculature for effects such as temporally increasing his Might, Speed, or Intellect Pool, training him in a skill, and so on. ‘Dinosenses’ enhances his senses when it comes to dinosaurs granting an asset when studying, understanding, and communicating with dinosaurs. ‘Timeseeker’ enables the use to detect Time Anomalies nearby, determine their intensity, and know how they will last. Artefacts can appear with greater abilities, but also have limited use and same can appear that not working at all. Many carry the SATI logo, which marks them as company property, but if not in the possession of a SATI employee, then such marks will be erased. Examples include the ‘Bibliotheca’, a disk that when embedded under the skin enables the user to download a digital book that works as an asset on an area of knowledge for twenty-four hours; ‘Microbial Mood Ring’ which reads the user’s gut bacteria and changes colour if there is an environmental hazard nearby; and a ‘Sky Map’ that provides an augmented reality version of the night sky to grant an asset when predicting the weather, navigating the world, and astronomy.

Remnants are items spat out by the Time Anomalies that have no actual game effect or use as they are neither weapons, armour, or devices. In general, they can be anything from a ‘Broken mug with MARS LANDING ’21 written on it in English’ to a ‘Hollow rubber creature that squeaks when compressed’. They can be sold, but in the main, they enforce the idea that not everything coming out of the Time Anomalies is useful, simply adding flavour and detail to the setting rather than anything else.

The setting of Predation is richly detailed with a good overview, and a gazetteer that covers both Laramidia and Appalachia, its factions and its secrets, societies, and more. Of course, in terms of the setting, what we are really here for the dinosaurs. The bestiary describes many new additions, many of which have or can have upgrades like physical armour, sharper claws, electrode brainwiring, subvocal speech systems, and even cybernetic limbs. In general, the Game Master will probably want to refer to the Cypher System core rulebook for dinosaurs unaugmented, as most here do have some cybernetics or have been genetically altered or bred. The Acroplocerex (ankylosaurus or Euoplocephalus) is typically heavily armoured with hydraulic armour to serve in SATI convoys; the Argoraptor, trained to operate in packs by SATI; Nerezza are gliding raptors using as scouts and silent thieves; Supersauri, composite dinosuars derived from numerous genetic materials and planned as SATI superweapons, but are fearsome whether in the wild or under control; and Teslasaurus, ankylosaurs injected with electric eel genetic materials in the hope of creating docile bioelectrogenesis hosts to biologically power base facilities, but made aggressive by the process and they are used for mobile energy defence and offence. All of these dinosaurs reflect the changes in scientific knowledge about them, so that many are brightly coloured and have feathers. This does not mean that they are strictly scientifically accurate, and they do not need to be, the point being that this is a Science Fiction roleplaying setting and the nod to scientific accuracy is still present. Combine these with dinosaur entries from the Cypher System core rulebook and the Cypher System Bestiary and the Game Master has a lot to play with.

The advice for the Game Master covers the nature of time travel in the setting and how strong the Science Fiction should be, as well as giving some campaign seeds in addition to the ‘Reading the Bones’ boxed sections with gives numerous adventure seeds. It makes clear that the setting focuses primarily on mission-based play rather than simple exploration as in other Cypher System settings. The advice also expands greatly upon the secrets of the setting as they pertain to SATI—something not accorded to ‘Butterflies’ and the ‘Genesix Fellowship’, although SATI and what its plans were for the ‘Gre-Vakian c trials’ mission underpin the setting as a whole, whereas the other two factions are more straightforward. However, the explanation given in ‘SATI’S Big Mystery: A Guide For GMs’ only gives part of the mystery as definitive, leaving parts of it for the Game Master to decide. The supplement makes clear that the ramifications of whatever discoveries the Player Characters make—and there are big ramifications—lie outside the scope of Predation. However, it leaves the setting with big questions that the Game Master is very likely going to have to answer in the long term because they are questions that the players and their characters are going to ask and want answers to. Why did the Time Travel machines break down? What was the purpose of the ‘Gre-Vakian c trials’ mission? Can the Time Machines be repaired? Can the people of Grevakc escape to the future and what happens if they do? Or is Grevakc doomed to be destroyed by the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event and become lost footnote in history like the Roanoke colony? In some ways, what Predation really describes is a richly detailed campaign set-up with the endgame very much in the Game Master’s hands.

Lastly, the Game Master is given an introductory adventure, ‘Promised Land’. It takes place in a town best known for its dinosaur wrestling and has the Player Characters looking for a top-ranking dino-wrestler for a mutual friend of theirs. The clues lead them out into the nearby jungle and the discovery of a Time Anomaly and other secrets. It is a decent scenario.

Physically, Predation is well written, well presented, and accessible. The artwork is as good as you would expect for a book from Monte Cook Games and the writing is engaging.

There is a lot about Predation that just makes you go, “That’s cool.” A great set-up of being trapped in the past, dinosaurs and dinosaur companions, augmented dinosaurs, and mysteries—big mysteries. Yet as enticing and as entertaining as this setting is, it is the big mysteries where it leaves the Game Master and her players wanting more. A sequel, a whole campaign, something that pushes the setting forwards towards the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event, but in the process gives answers and explanations and perhaps closure. Instead, it leaves the Game Master to really develop that and that is a lot of work and it might not lead to answers that everyone is happy with. (To be fair neither would a commercially published campaign, but it is less likely.) This makes Predation sound like a bad product, but it is definitely not. It has everything for the Game Master and her players to start playing and exploring the setting and potentially for the Game Master to write a campaign.

Predation is great setting. It is fresh and exciting and original. It is the Planetary Romance genre done in the past where the players and their characters get to have exciting adventures with dinosaurs and explore a verdant paradise. Whether there is hope or an end is ultimately up to the Game Master.