Making a T-Rex hunt even cooler?

[Brendanicus]

So, my group just finished the third session of my new campaign, and things are going fantastically. Unfortunately, they are also whipping through the plot WAY faster than I thought they would, so quest ideas I had on the backburner need to get polished quickly. This is one such quest.

Having achieved local fame/infamy, the party is approached by a cloaked human noble in her mid-40's. She informs the players that about 15 years ago, she was given a dragon egg as a present to commemorate inheriting her father's lands. When the egg hatched, it turned out not to be a dragon, only some sort of large, wingless reptile. She cast it out in the woods, assuming that would be it.

Now, reports have come that a massive, wingless dragon has descended down from the mountains and is attacking shrines and travelers outside the city. Suspecting that she is responsible (reptiles are not native to the region), the noble-woman hires the party to hunt down and kill the T-Rex.

This is a decent, but basic quest. A few Survival checks, and T-Rex fight. How do I flesh this out, though? There should be some sort of twist to it. I would love your suggestions.

Edit:

Figured it out. Having only heard of such great beasts in legend, a local druid sect saw the arrival of a T-Rex as a sign to embrace nature's destructive wrath. They now attack any passers-by and artificial structures. The leaders even Polymorph themselves into T-Rexes to go follow the example of "the great omen" in destructive rampages. Kill the original T-Rex to set the record straight and get the wackos to settle down.

[JNAProductions]

The T-Rex has babies.

The T-Rex is actually a dragon.

The T-Rex is intelligent.

The T-Rex is being controlled by Mind Flayers.

The T-Rex is magical.

[Thrudd]

There are TWO T-Rexes, which nobody knew since people have only ever seen one at a time. When they kill the first one, it turns out that was the weaker/adolescent, and now the Mama T-Rex is after them.

[Temperjoke]

T-Rex has an army of kobold worshippers.

It's not the baby T-Rex, it's the mother searching for her baby, who isn't a baby any more either.

The T-Rex was awakened by a passing druid, and it's using magic to disguise itself as the noblewoman.

[JAL_1138]

It's not a T-Rex, it's the Tarrasque.

[AbyssStalker]

Were-rex??

[Gnomes2169]

The T-Rex has inspired multiple cults and researchers to make some new freaky things including; Were-Bullets, owlbears with velociraptor heads, dino-bots (warforged and golems in the shape of their tyrannical lizard lord) and a proto-terrasque, who their messiah "foretold."

[Kane0]

This isn't even my final form

[Malifice]

http://canitbesaturdaynow.com/images/fpics/953/april_2_81_.jpg

This works.

[woodlandkammao]

http://canitbesaturdaynow.com/images/fpics/953/april_2_81_.jpg

This works.

That works

[Regitnui]

The rex got adopted by an otherwise friendly tribe of lizardfolk/dragonborn, where it is very happy and kept as a tribe totem. The tribe will pay good money for more Rex eggs or another adult so they can breed more, but are unwilling to restrict their totem's movements, believing that it will guide the tribe on their next migration.

[hymer]

You could throw in some shout-outs to the T-rex attack scene in Jurassic Park.
I'd make sure to have the PCs come across some of the places where big T did his thing, so I could describe just what an eight ton carnivore could do to a human body or a farm house - and therefore the PCs. A panic-striken survivor might be gold, too. And, of course, at one time they ought to think that now they're about to go into the fight, but it turns out that it was just a cat (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CatScare).
Build-up is essential when dealing with a fight like T-rex. Don't let him fight alone, either, you don't want an anti-climax fight.

Edit: Another idea: A second group of hunters, trying to get the T-rex first (their reasons could be interesting). They don't want to fight the PCs for it, but they do try to get it first. They can supply panicked survivors and horribly mutilated bodies later.

[JoeJ]

Keep the T-rex moving. It doesn't have a lair; the PCs have to track it through the forest. But instead of letting them finally find it, have it find them. Preferable coming from a direction they didn't anticipate.

A T-rex is an animal; it has no reason to fight to the death. The first time the PCs manage to do any significant damage it's going to flee, possibly grabbing a party member as it goes. With a speed of 50 it'll most likely get away, so the party will be back to tracking it. Only this time it's both wary and angry. And it might just double back and hit them again.

When it gets low on hp, have it head for someplace it can lie low to rest. Give the T-rex proficiency in Stealth (it's a relative of the ones in Jurassic Park), so it'll will be extremely hard for the PCs to find its nest. Also, a T-rex is big enough to just step over things that would be significant obstacles to a group of medium sized creatures.

Finally, since this is likely to be a long, drawn-out hunt, remember that the T-rex can recover hit points after a rest just like PCs can.

[Kane0]

The rex got adopted by an otherwise friendly tribe of lizardfolk/dragonborn, where it is very happy and kept as a tribe totem. The tribe will pay good money for more Rex eggs or another adult so they can breed more, but are unwilling to restrict their totem's movements, believing that it will guide the tribe on their next migration.

Oh, thats a pretty good one.

[Aetol]

It's not a T-Rex, it's the Tarrasque.

T-Rasque ?

[busterswd]

Keep the T-rex moving. It doesn't have a lair; the PCs have to track it through the forest. But instead of letting them finally find it, have it find them. Preferable coming from a direction they didn't anticipate.

A T-rex is an animal; it has no reason to fight to the death. The first time the PCs manage to do any significant damage it's going to flee, possibly grabbing a party member as it goes. With a speed of 50 it'll most likely get away, so the party will be back to tracking it. Only this time it's both wary and angry. And it might just double back and hit them again.

When it gets low on hp, have it head for someplace it can lie low to rest. Give the T-rex proficiency in Stealth (it's a relative of the ones in Jurassic Park), so it'll will be extremely hard for the PCs to find its nest. Also, a T-rex is big enough to just step over things that would be significant obstacles to a group of medium sized creatures.

Finally, since this is likely to be a long, drawn-out hunt, remember that the T-rex can recover hit points after a rest just like PCs can.

I really like this idea, and it would have been similar to one of my suggestions; they have to track the T-Rex by following a trail of destruction. Build up anticipation by showing the burning remnants of a town; have them find the corpses of some high ranking druids, possibly the contacts of the quest giver. ("Find Arch-Druid Ramul; he's one of the greatest of our order and can give you advice.")

And then start the battle of attrition. Have the T-Rex ambush the party, buffed with freedom of movement, longstrider, stuff that won't be visually obvious. Have him savage the crap out of one or more of the members, and then skedaddle at half HP. Have it come back, completely healed, retreat, then attack again.

One of several possibilities will happen:

Possibility 1: The T Rex continues to attack, and the party can't quite catch him before he retreats. It hits them over, and over, until their resources are running low. The party then has to prioritize finding safe harbor from the angry dinosaur to rest and refresh; otherwise it hits them while they're low on resources and attempting to rest. Survival/nature/perception checks: they need to cover their tracks, mask their scent, basically get the hell away from it. This becomes a game of being elusive prey. Once they manage to rest up, give them survival checks to realize that there's signs of other creatures roaming around. They get a chance to track down and eliminate the druids that are healing/supporting the T-Rex before moving in to finish off the main monster.

Possibility 2: the PCs will get lucky, dispel magic to stop the retreat, and manage to actually beat the T-Rex with some effort. And when it hits 0 HP... they discover it's a shapeshifted druid, who curses at them before they squish him. And just as they wipe their brow: another T-Rex shows up; presumably another shapeshifted druid.

Possibility 3: they curb stomp the first T-Rex, no sweat. That's when the remaining druids and the actual T-Rex attack at the same time, for a giant boss battle, with the druids generally being evil little sh*ts during the fight.


TLDR: Basically, the evil druids (let's say, 3-5 of them) are either supporting the actual T-Rex and buffing/healing the crap out of it, or they're pinch hitting for their dinosaur friend; the party has to basically take out a marathon of several T-Rexed druids. If they manage to take a druid out, the next T-Rex is slightly weaker (one less buff concentrated on, less HP healed). If it's obvious the T-Rex stats are no match for them, the remaining enemies group up and try to take them out.

[Joe the Rat]

It's not a T-Rex, it's the Tarrasque.


T-Rasque ?

I was going with Tarr-Rex.


So what will they do with the body? Dead Beat

[TopCheese]

http://canitbesaturdaynow.com/images/fpics/953/april_2_81_.jpg

This works.

Can confirm.

Also, you should give the T-rex expertise in stealth and able to squeeze into medium size doors.... It worked for the one from Jurrasic Park...

[Beleriphon]

Can confirm.

Also, you should give the T-rex expertise in stealth and able to squeeze into medium size doors.... It worked for the one from Jurrasic Park...

That thing clearly got in via the loading docks.... or something.

[Regitnui]

Oh, thats a pretty good one.
Thanks. I like adding a bit of.choice to.quests.

[TopCheese]

That thing clearly got in via the loading docks.... or something.

In the first movie? Where it didn't shake the ground and had human sized doors all around it? That thing either had rogue or bard levels for expertise (stealth).

Even if it had a big enough door, that thing was sneaky as hell... The raptora didn't even hear/smell/see it...

Just bad writing in reality but it is what it is. Stealthysaurus-Rex.

Edit: Ha, bard levels for a T-Rex.

[Temperjoke]

In the first movie? Where it didn't shake the ground and had human sized doors all around it? That thing either had rogue or bard levels for expertise (stealth).

Even if it had a big enough door, that thing was sneaky as hell... The raptora didn't even hear/smell/see it...

Just bad writing in reality but it is what it is. Stealthysaurus-Rex.

Edit: Ha, bard levels for a T-Rex.

I now have a sudden mental image of a T-Rex attempting to play a violin.

[Regitnui]

Edit: Ha, bard levels for a T-Rex.

Elanasaurus Rex also has levels in Dashing Swordsman! Or should that be Dashing Swordsaur?

[TopCheese]

Elanasaurus Rex also has levels in Dashing Swordsman! Or should that be Dashing Swordsaur?

Oh god what have we done...

Can someone draw this? I have no artistic ability.

[JoeJ]

In the first movie? Where it didn't shake the ground and had human sized doors all around it? That thing either had rogue or bard levels for expertise (stealth).

Even if it had a big enough door, that thing was sneaky as hell... The raptora didn't even hear/smell/see it...

Just bad writing in reality but it is what it is. Stealthysaurus-Rex.

Edit: Ha, bard levels for a T-Rex.

It wasn't wearing clothes, so it really should have been invisible too.

[TopCheese]

It wasn't wearing clothes, so it really should have been invisible too.
*snaps fingers* that must have been it!

Can't believe I didn't realize that.

[wasgreg]

The Last Dinosaur (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-qufQQQlI)

You need to somehow get Richard Boone involved. Perhaps as Smaug?

[Temperjoke]

The Last Dinosaur (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA-qufQQQlI)

You need to somehow get Richard Boone involved. Perhaps as Smaug?


Nah, this is the route to go with the T-Rex https://youtu.be/sLlibrF5DRM