Over 1400% funded: Professor Primula’s Portfolio of Palaeontology by PalaeoGames

Professor Primula’s Portfolio of Palaeontology, the sequel book to the critically acclaimed Dr Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs by PalaeoGames, launched on Kickstarter earlier this month. Within a week, it had a chieved over 1000% funding and has already smashed all of its content stretch goals. At the time of writing, it has breached 1400% funding and is still climbing daily.

Dr Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs has already had a meteor-sized impact on the tabletop gaming world. The community feedback for that book was overwhelmingly positive:

“One of the best D&D books ever made is Dr Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs. A book made by real palaeontologists that give stat blocks and history and biology and behaviour and ecology and academic references, all about dinosaurs. It’s designed to teach you about dinosaurs while putting them into Dungeons & Dragons. This book is awesome. The passion and the knowledge of the creators just drips off every page.” – DnD Shorts (D&D YouTuber)

This is because of the unique approach that the team behind PalaeoGames takes. They are scientific researchers who have found an ingenious way to merge science communication with engaging gameplay for Dungeons & Dragons. By creating realistic dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, accompanied by both scientific information and novel gaming mechanics, they’ve brought science education into the tabletop gaming world.

With Professor Primula’s Portfolio of Palaeontology, PalaeoGames are now looking to expand on that theme, including other strange creatures from Earth’s past (as well as loads more dinosaurs). With realistic behaviour and interesting abilities, PalaeoGames have created exciting and educational encounters with animals that do more than mindlessly kill. Players can now expect complex threat displays, mock charges, and stealthy predatory stalking from animals that look and feel real, as well as teach them about the real biology of these ancient animals.

They’ve not neglected the fantasy elements either, with each creature possessing unique magical rules to spice up gameplay; multiple playable races themed after different extinct creatures like pterosaurs; the ability to run your own museum; and new rules for dinosaur-themed kaiju and time-travel consequences. Dr Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs already sets the gold-standard for 3rd party supplements, and Professor Primula’s Portfolio of Palaeontology looks set to perpetuate that quality.

“Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have long made appearances in table-top roleplaying games, but the available info on them has always been a bit... sketchy, a bit sparse. In these magnificent books, qualified palaeontologists and world-class artists have combined their interest in and passion for RPGs to produce what's already regarded as a world class contribution to the genre. I'm especially fond of the various sapient species invented for the book. Amazing! And... as for the speculative renditions of Spinosaurus.... oh my! Packed full of fantastic art and providing all the stats and facts needed for RPG campaigns, Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs is fun, a pleasure to look at, and fantastically well-designed. I cannot recommend it enough and am seriously impressed every time I pick it up.” – Dr Darren Naish (Dinosaur researcher at University of Southampton, Tet Zoo author, and BBC Studios chief scientific consultant on Prehistoric Planet)

If you’re interested in this project and would like to learn more, head over to their Kickstarter or website for more details!