Together along with Dead Box Games and Critical Crafting, they’re producing a tabletop roleplaying game about dinosaurs returning to our world and the mayhem that ensues. Zac agreed to talk Raptor Ruckus with me, so let’s jump in.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): What is the pitch for your latest Kickstarter Raptor Ruckus?
ZAC GOINS (ZAC): It’s Jurassic Park with the serial numbers filed off, with a dash of government espionage, and an injection of more survival horror. We’re using a variant of the MÖRK BORG system (d20, streamlined, roll high), but reapproaching it as a game that focuses less on combat and more on exciting chase scenes, tense moments of panic, and an objective of getting out alive.
EGG: MÖRK BORG and dinosaurs, why this system for this idea?
ZAC: It wasn’t the first system I looked at, or the second. But the truth is, BORG is really, really simple, and also really modular, so it’s great for bending the way you need. Stylistically, it’s also a great fit for both the tense moodiness that we’re going for and the 1990s color-pops that harken back to our main inspirations.
EGG: This is set in the modern/near-modern world. You’ve added guns and vehicles and science-borg to the game. As a designer, how did you work in gunplay and vehicular homicide with racing dinosaurs?
ZAC: Ooooh. Good one. I think it’s about keeping bullets and hit points low. Guns in the game usually deal about a d8 damage, and the average dino has upwards of 12 HP. On the flip side, Dinos also usually deal around d8 damage, but humans have about 6 HP. Right out the gate, you’re at a disadvantage. Then, add in the fact that we track bullets as a Supply Rating, and not per bullet, so it’s possible you lose a Supply every time you shoot. It’s not that a gun can’t kill a Dino…it’s just a high risk maneuver. It’s way better to focus on getting to the Jeep and hightailing it out of there. Every Dino has hit points, but they also have a Tenacity score, and burning down that by clever maneuvers (evading, hiding, stunts, driving), is a faster way of ensuring your survival than hoping you can punch enough bullet holes in it before it guts you.
EGG: Nice! What inspired this project?
ZAC: Being told it couldn’t work, first and foremost. That got stuck in my craw to the point where I noodled on it for months. I’m also a massive fan of Jurassic Park and monster movies in general, so this was right up my alley, you could say.
EGG: Let’s talk about the Jurassic movies. I’m gonna say that they are formulaic. How will Raptor Ruckus keep each session fresh, horrific, and fun?
ZAC: Great question! That’s actually the reason I was told it couldn’t work. “Too formulaic of an idea.” I think the first note is that we’ve reapproached the idea of an “adventure”. In fact, we’ve largely tossed that term altogether. We prefer to look at scenarios as “set pieces” that build toward a campaign, and each campaign has an objective. So, as an example, we’re releasing a campaign book called Fragmentation alongside the core book. It’s composed of 8 set pieces that come together with the objective of “escaping the island”. If you want to write your own set piece, or pick up another creator’s scenario, you can drop those in to expand the campaign, but we’re trying to avoid adventure after adventure of escaping the island. In the future, we’ll put out more campaign books that showcase other objectives that can also be expanded, or you can make your own. The flip side is that formulaic stuff isn’t bad just because it's formulaic. Futurama is formulaic, but we still love it because every episode carries something new and weird. The same can be true here.
EGG: All excellent points. Let’s talk about an element of the rulebook, how does the “Build-Your-Own-Dino Generator” work?
ZAC: It’s a bunch of funky tables that build on each other as you work through them. It’s not as simple as “roll 3d6 on each table and bingo”, your results on previous table rolls/choices will impact how you roll on the next entry. The result is a Dinosaur that’s not just original, but also makes some amount of sense, and isn’t some overly bizarre amalgamation of features.
EGG: You’re designing this under your Snapback Game Studios but working with Creature Curation as the publisher. Why partner with Creature Curation?
ZAC: My day job is Director of Marketing for Limithron (we make Pirate Borg), and I love that job. Partnering with Creature Curation means that we can share responsibilities and takes some of the weight off my back, while giving Brian a whole new line to sell. If it was just me, I can’t, for example, do the Limithron booth at a convention and also the Snapback booth. This is my way of having my cake and eating it too…and I get to share a piece of that cake with my friend Brian.
EGG: Since he’s good peoples, I’m going to bring Raptor Ruckus publisher, Brian Colin, into the mix. Zac, Brian, what is your favorite dinosaur?
ZAC: It’s not technically a Dino, but ever since I’ve stared up at a Quetzalcoatlus skeleton in person, it’s the one that gets my pulse pounding the most. If I have to stick to a true Dinosaur, I’d say the Baryonyx. It’s just so nasty and delightful.
BRIAN COLIN (BRIAN): As a kid my favorite was always the Triceratops. As an adult, the Saichania. I love how spikey and knobby their armor is. They had the types of textures that I love to sculpt when making my own creatures.
EGG: Zac, beyond Raptor Ruckus, what are you working on?
ZAC: Always stuff for Pirate Borg. We’ve just announced nine new translations for the game, and that’s a project that I’m helping manage. Other than that, I’ve got a few things in the works, like the Nocturne RPG with Daniel Fox, a Shadowdark supplement called Dark Devilry with Jeff Jones, and a campaign book called The Winds of Hell for Pirate Borg that I’m tackling with Joe Raso.
EGG: Brian, beyond published Raptor Ruckus, what else is coming from Creature Curation?
BRIAN: I'll have Plunderlust, Sqwürmish, and a zine double-feature fulfilling very, very soon. Then after that I will be launching the next expansion of Vast Grimm at the end of September. I have recently acquired a digital printing press and will be releasing 6 zines as the mainstay of the campaign (all of which I will print myself), along with a new Battle Binderz, fiction by John Baltisberger, and a Starter Set to get new people playing Vast Grimm!
EGG: Thanks for talking dinos with me. Where can fans read more of your raptor research?
ZAC: The Kickstarter’s almost the one-stop-shop for now, but they can also join The Grimm Place Discord, or our Facebook Group. We’ve even got a Quickstart on the KS page, if they want to give the game a go.
L to R: Egg Embry, Zac Goins, and Tiger Wizard aka Andrew Bellury at Gen Con 2025
If you’re interested in the Raptor Ruckus RPG from Snapback Game Studios and Creature Curation, check out their Kickstarter before it ends on September 25 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT. In the comments, let us know what your favorite dinosaur is.
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, Kobold Press Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, Kobold Press, and Amazon.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): What is the pitch for your latest Kickstarter Raptor Ruckus?
ZAC GOINS (ZAC): It’s Jurassic Park with the serial numbers filed off, with a dash of government espionage, and an injection of more survival horror. We’re using a variant of the MÖRK BORG system (d20, streamlined, roll high), but reapproaching it as a game that focuses less on combat and more on exciting chase scenes, tense moments of panic, and an objective of getting out alive.
EGG: MÖRK BORG and dinosaurs, why this system for this idea?
ZAC: It wasn’t the first system I looked at, or the second. But the truth is, BORG is really, really simple, and also really modular, so it’s great for bending the way you need. Stylistically, it’s also a great fit for both the tense moodiness that we’re going for and the 1990s color-pops that harken back to our main inspirations.
EGG: This is set in the modern/near-modern world. You’ve added guns and vehicles and science-borg to the game. As a designer, how did you work in gunplay and vehicular homicide with racing dinosaurs?
ZAC: Ooooh. Good one. I think it’s about keeping bullets and hit points low. Guns in the game usually deal about a d8 damage, and the average dino has upwards of 12 HP. On the flip side, Dinos also usually deal around d8 damage, but humans have about 6 HP. Right out the gate, you’re at a disadvantage. Then, add in the fact that we track bullets as a Supply Rating, and not per bullet, so it’s possible you lose a Supply every time you shoot. It’s not that a gun can’t kill a Dino…it’s just a high risk maneuver. It’s way better to focus on getting to the Jeep and hightailing it out of there. Every Dino has hit points, but they also have a Tenacity score, and burning down that by clever maneuvers (evading, hiding, stunts, driving), is a faster way of ensuring your survival than hoping you can punch enough bullet holes in it before it guts you.
EGG: Nice! What inspired this project?
ZAC: Being told it couldn’t work, first and foremost. That got stuck in my craw to the point where I noodled on it for months. I’m also a massive fan of Jurassic Park and monster movies in general, so this was right up my alley, you could say.
EGG: Let’s talk about the Jurassic movies. I’m gonna say that they are formulaic. How will Raptor Ruckus keep each session fresh, horrific, and fun?
ZAC: Great question! That’s actually the reason I was told it couldn’t work. “Too formulaic of an idea.” I think the first note is that we’ve reapproached the idea of an “adventure”. In fact, we’ve largely tossed that term altogether. We prefer to look at scenarios as “set pieces” that build toward a campaign, and each campaign has an objective. So, as an example, we’re releasing a campaign book called Fragmentation alongside the core book. It’s composed of 8 set pieces that come together with the objective of “escaping the island”. If you want to write your own set piece, or pick up another creator’s scenario, you can drop those in to expand the campaign, but we’re trying to avoid adventure after adventure of escaping the island. In the future, we’ll put out more campaign books that showcase other objectives that can also be expanded, or you can make your own. The flip side is that formulaic stuff isn’t bad just because it's formulaic. Futurama is formulaic, but we still love it because every episode carries something new and weird. The same can be true here.
EGG: All excellent points. Let’s talk about an element of the rulebook, how does the “Build-Your-Own-Dino Generator” work?
ZAC: It’s a bunch of funky tables that build on each other as you work through them. It’s not as simple as “roll 3d6 on each table and bingo”, your results on previous table rolls/choices will impact how you roll on the next entry. The result is a Dinosaur that’s not just original, but also makes some amount of sense, and isn’t some overly bizarre amalgamation of features.
EGG: You’re designing this under your Snapback Game Studios but working with Creature Curation as the publisher. Why partner with Creature Curation?
ZAC: My day job is Director of Marketing for Limithron (we make Pirate Borg), and I love that job. Partnering with Creature Curation means that we can share responsibilities and takes some of the weight off my back, while giving Brian a whole new line to sell. If it was just me, I can’t, for example, do the Limithron booth at a convention and also the Snapback booth. This is my way of having my cake and eating it too…and I get to share a piece of that cake with my friend Brian.
EGG: Since he’s good peoples, I’m going to bring Raptor Ruckus publisher, Brian Colin, into the mix. Zac, Brian, what is your favorite dinosaur?
ZAC: It’s not technically a Dino, but ever since I’ve stared up at a Quetzalcoatlus skeleton in person, it’s the one that gets my pulse pounding the most. If I have to stick to a true Dinosaur, I’d say the Baryonyx. It’s just so nasty and delightful.
BRIAN COLIN (BRIAN): As a kid my favorite was always the Triceratops. As an adult, the Saichania. I love how spikey and knobby their armor is. They had the types of textures that I love to sculpt when making my own creatures.
EGG: Zac, beyond Raptor Ruckus, what are you working on?
ZAC: Always stuff for Pirate Borg. We’ve just announced nine new translations for the game, and that’s a project that I’m helping manage. Other than that, I’ve got a few things in the works, like the Nocturne RPG with Daniel Fox, a Shadowdark supplement called Dark Devilry with Jeff Jones, and a campaign book called The Winds of Hell for Pirate Borg that I’m tackling with Joe Raso.
EGG: Brian, beyond published Raptor Ruckus, what else is coming from Creature Curation?
BRIAN: I'll have Plunderlust, Sqwürmish, and a zine double-feature fulfilling very, very soon. Then after that I will be launching the next expansion of Vast Grimm at the end of September. I have recently acquired a digital printing press and will be releasing 6 zines as the mainstay of the campaign (all of which I will print myself), along with a new Battle Binderz, fiction by John Baltisberger, and a Starter Set to get new people playing Vast Grimm!
EGG: Thanks for talking dinos with me. Where can fans read more of your raptor research?
ZAC: The Kickstarter’s almost the one-stop-shop for now, but they can also join The Grimm Place Discord, or our Facebook Group. We’ve even got a Quickstart on the KS page, if they want to give the game a go.
L to R: Egg Embry, Zac Goins, and Tiger Wizard aka Andrew Bellury at Gen Con 2025
If you’re interested in the Raptor Ruckus RPG from Snapback Game Studios and Creature Curation, check out their Kickstarter before it ends on September 25 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT. In the comments, let us know what your favorite dinosaur is.
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, Kobold Press Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, Kobold Press, and Amazon.
