The reason nobody uses dinosaurs in D&D

It's because they're boring. I mean, sure, dinosaurs, cool, but at the end of the day they're just large bags of Hit Points with a bite attack. If they're really extravagant, they might have trample or a tail swipe. In a game with dragons, demons, wizards and weird monsters that just doesn't cut it.

So for those who want to use dinosaurs without their players yawning, here's a Random Dinosaur Mutation Table! It doesn't have as many entries as I'd like to see, so add your own one in the comments!

1 aura of silence – 75% for a few rounds at a  time,  20% for hours, 5% constantly

2 breathes fire

3 breathes frosty air blast

4 breathes mutagenic gas

5 burning blood – harms whoever inflicts close combat damage

6 commands other reptiles

7 feathered (or featherless, if otherwise typical theropod)

8 friendly – 50% to whoever is kind to it, 50% picks a friend and sticks with him to the point of being burdensome

9 giant

10 glittering feathers/scales – when moving in bright light, observers must save or be stunned

11 glows – 1 in 3 chance glow is radioactive or has magical effect

12 inorganic diet – 50% preferred diet is ferrous (armour, weapons), 50% prefers coins and/or treasure

13 invisible – 75% for a few rounds at a time, 20% for hours, 5% constantly

14 knows how to operate doorknobs, winches, levers, etc.

15 laser (or death energy) eyebeam

16 lulling song – 50% magical sleep effect

17 mind control – 50% short duration, direct „puppetmaster”, 50% long duration insinuator

18 miniature

19 multiple heads – 75% 2 heads, 25% 1d6+2 heads

20 non-reptilian animal head

21 religious – greatly respects: 20% the given land’s immortal ruler / 20% some god from the  God Coast / 20% a dinosaur deity / 15% the Olm / 15% Baratrón / 10% other

22 sound mimicry (like the Predator, it can mimic but doesn’t understand it)

23 primitive (tribal level) intelligence (50% it affects the entire herd/pack)

24 shapeshifter – 40% into similar-sized animals, 40% into inanimate objects or plants, 20% into humans (but doesn’t gain human intelligence)

25 spawn – miniature copies burst out from carcass

26 speaks

27 spellcaster

28 spits acid

29 spits hallucinogenic substance

30 spits poison

31 telekinesis – 50% weak, 40% strong enough to hurl people around, 10% collapses buildings

32 walks through walls

33 winged, can fly (though pretty clumsily if it’s a Tyrannosaurus or somesuch)

34 wreathed in flames

35 wreathed in frost

36 X-ray vision

37-50 several mutations, roll again twice and do NOT ignore this result in the future