Our space wizard scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should!
Some of the best games to come out in the last few years have been the simplest and the weirdest… And Dinosaur Wizards in Space hits a bullseye on both of those targets. What are the dinosaurs doing in space? Why are they wizards? And of course, what is this game?!!
Dinosaur Wizards in Space
When I say that this game is simple, I don’t mean that it’s relatively rules-lite. I don’t even mean that it has a short handbook. No, Dinosaur Wizards in Space is one of those two-page very rules-lite systems. And personally, I love those. Are they good for long ongoing adventures? Usually not. But for shorter one-shots and good-time-not-long-time sessions? They’re amazing.
The premise of this game is simple. You are a dinosaur, you are a wizard, and you are in space. Why are you in space? The asteroid made your planet inhospitable. How did you survive? Magic. Why are you a dinosaur? Dinosaurs are sick as hell, that’s why. We’re here to have fun.
Your wizard dino goal is to travel the universe in your space ship and find your people. They’re out there somewhere on three settlement planets, but you can’t remember where that is exactly and now your space wizard dino communication spells aren’t working… So you’re having cool galactic adventures until you find them.
And that is literally the entire premise. It’s only a two-page system and I’ve only paraphrased what’s written in the actual source material a little.
Character Creation & Gameplay
Making and playing your character in this game is game almost couldn’t be easier or faster. It’s also a simple enough system that it enables solo or GMless play.
Making your dinosaur is as easy as picking your Dino Traits, Flaw, Special Trait, and ship Talent. These all have options to pick from. Then you pick three skills or careers, a kind of wizardry to specialize in (alchemist, crafter, necromancer, seer, sorcerer). Pick three Traits, two Flaws, and one special Feature to describe your ship, and you’re in dino business.
Players roll 3d6 to ask the GM (or story if you’re playing solo) a simple yes or no question. The first die is the answer with 1-3 meaning Yes and 4-6 meaning No. The second die is the modification where 1-2 is a “but”, 3-4 is nothing, and 5-6 is an “and.” And finally the third die is flavor, which depending on the roll can add a little weirdness or a lot of risk, etc.
Everything in this game can be left up to the dice deities and completely randomized. Planet descriptions? There’s a d6 description list for that. Rewards? d6 list. Aliens? You guessed it. This also means that even if you do have a GM with a vision who is guiding the story along, there is a lot of room for making things up on the fly and improvisation. Not sure? Ask the die. The dice know all.
If you’d like to check out Dinosaur Wizards in Space for yourself, you can learn more on the game’s DrivethruRPG page.
Happy adventuring!
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