Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm

A third-person driving and shooting game, based on a popular "alternative" comic series by Mark Shultz. The game is a rail-shooter, similar to Rocket Science's earliest game Loadstar.

You find yourself in the so-called Xenozoic Age - after a cataclysm in 2020 A.D., mankind was forced to hide beneath the surface. Once it could come out again, it found the world terribly changed, with dinosaurs roaming freely once again. A mysterious mutant-like race, called the Grith, believe the cataclysm was caused by the upsetting of the natural balance. Now, the leader of the restored City in the Sea, Scharnhorst, is using old technology and disrupting the balance again. The Girth chose you, Jack Tenrec, and your partner Hannah Dundee, to rid the world of Scharnhorst. And you get to do it in a red '53 Cadillac with mounted machine guns.

While you're at the task, you must battle hungry, mean dinosaurs, but also be careful not to upset the balance of nature. Also, try not to upset your volcanic-energy fueled caddy by hitting too much obstacles along the way.

Graphics are a mix of 3D objects and environments and comic-like 2D sprites, but captures much of the original comic book's style.

Reign of Fire (PS2)

The fiery premise of man versus dragon is lost in this movie-to-game license.

By Douglass C. Perry

US, October 23, 2002 - For a publisher looking for movie licenses, Reign of Fire is theoretically a perfect choice. It's got everything: A clear battle between two distinct foes -- brutally fierce, fire-breathing dragons, and a rag-tag group of post-apocalypse military rednecks angry, desperate and armed with enough fire-power to make a difference. But despite the Mad Max hints of outlaw tragic madness, the movie Reign of Fire went down in flames.

Which isn't the case with the game by the same name, BAM's second big movie-based game (the first being Driven). Reign of Fire is filled with every evolutionary phase of dragons you can imagine, and you get to fight them all. And then, later you get to fight as the dragons. Which all sounds good and fun. But Reign of Fire is a difficult game to recommend, since the development team never really crystallized the finer aspects of the gameplay, and as a result, players find themselves trapped in a series of military missions neither inspiring nr fun. Tedious and laborious, yes, but fun? That's arguable, at best.

Gameplay
Having finished playing Reign of Fire, I've re-checked my preview of the same game (from July 25), in which I had written rather glowingly about it. The feeling of playing as a dragon was really thrilling then (which was the focus of my preview), and it still is now. But the big change in my feeling toward this game comes down to execution. Nearly every aspect of the final version of Reign of Fire is delivered without a feeling of finished, polished exciting gameplay. Where I saw potential before, I now see missed opportunities, where I saw possibilities in the vehicular combat, I now see an unpolished combat system.

The premise has huge potential, in fact the concept is loaded, but the game's execution never really hits top gear, and it never really delivers the visceral impulse to freely play 'til the late night hours. It's not a total loss of a game, but Reign of Fire is neither great nor miserable. It's just a tick above average.

Following the theme from the movie, players start as part of a remaining human community, struggling to stay alive as a powerful breed of dragon grows rampant across the earth, feeding on humans in their quick ascension up the food chain. The Englishman Quinn and his followers have captured a castle in which they find a certain level of comfort and protection, and the American Van Zan and his military brigade of dragon killers have joined up with Quinn's people, but with a slightly different purpose. The game follows a thin outline of the movie at best, focusing instead on the straight up defense of their lands and offense movement against dragon attacks and upon their lair, respectively.

Reign of Fire plays like a lot of console-based military games, with objective-based missions and a recognizable tricks of the trade, such as a giving players variety of vehicles, scenarios, and numerous dragon types with which to fight. With nine human levels and nine entirely different dragon levels, Reign of Fire seems like a relatively large game, too. But starting with the training mission and moving into convoy, rescue, and collection missions, players find their main concern is not strategizing how to beat a level, it's getting to grips with the controls.

There are two controls setups, one for face buttons (simple) and the other for two analogs (advanced). In the human missions (using advanced controls), players use the left analog controller to move forward or backward, while the right analog aims the turret on the vehicle and also steers. This is an interesting, often confusing, sometimes frustrating mechanic, and it's at the very crux of the game. It functions like a first-person shooter in theory, and mimics Halo's vehicle controls, but it doesn't work as well. Or at the very least, it's a long learning curve to get to a level of comfort. On the flip side, the game isn't on rails, and it gives you full 3D views of the wide-open terrain, so you have nearly complete control. But with a mechanic such as this, which gives you such freedom, it has to be very tight, smooth and easy to use, and this isn't. It's a chore.

Given four vehicles -- dune buggies, fire trucks, pick-ups and tanks -- players roam the plain, fire-torn landscapes in search of dragons to kill. When the mechanic works best is when the vehicles move slower and more deliberately. The tank works best because it's slow enough to enable you to keep a focused line of fire on the constantly moving dragons, but as the vehicles decrease in size, the more difficult they become to control. While I truly enjoyed the freedom of movement, I cannot say, however, that I love this aiming system. Tracking faster flying dragons is challenging and if you're stuck in a flock of them -- and you haven't grown very accustomed to the controls yet -- you're in for a frustrating time.

It's really the dragons that are most interesting in this game. All the while you are defending or chasing dragons, they're circling and firing at you. They appear in several forms, not just the two I mentioned in my preview. The smallest of them are called Jackals, and they are wingless little creatures resembling Raptors. Apparently, as the dragons grow in size, they evolve from land-based creatures to massive winged beasts, which doesn't make too much sense because there are larger land-based dragons than some of the flying ones. The second land-based character is a massive, fledgling, fire-breathing dragon that quickly crawls around and exhumes deadly fire on you. There is a small, quick airborne dragon as well as a massive, monster vulture attacker as well. You will find variations on all of them as you progress through the game, and all are well modeled and textured.

But what it really comes down to is control and mission design. The game's controls aren't titillating, and depending on your patience level, they could very well be hateful. I felt that a slightly more interesting set of weapons, guided missiles, and a better tracking system would have assisted this aspect of the game greatly. I could throw some arguably painful camera issues in to boot, which there are, but I'll leave it that. And as for the level design, it's strict, by the book stuff: Rescue, defend, attack, repair, you know the drill. It just feels uninspired. It's also interesting to note that since I've been playing so many games in which there are various ways to beat a level, these kinds of recipe-style missions feel incredibly limited and restrictive.

On the other hand, the dragon levels are more fun to play. They control relatively well, with a bit of a learning curve, and they revolve around destroying a whole lot of stuff. Dragons deliver straight lines of fire for closer range attacks or they spout out long-distance fireball attacks. Dragons can also pick up human vehicles, which is a blast! They pick them up and drop them, a tactic around which a few levels are built. The dragon levels are undoubtedly more fun, yet still not explosively great -- just moderately good entertainment.

Reign of Fire makes adequate use of movie materials. It's a mixed bag of good expected stuff and missing stuff. For instance, while Matthew McConaughey's likeness and voice aren't available, the game features the likeness of Christian Bale is (he played the role of the leader of the UK forces in the movie). There are DVD-style extras, too, such as cutscenes from the movie, extra footage, and interviews with the director and footage showing the making of the movie.

Graphics
On the one hand, Reign of Fire shows visual promise, while on the other, it's incredibly stripped down and dull. Using grim, apocalyptic landscapes savaged by fire and destruction, the environments show essentially large polygonal stretches of land, with few details to cover them. The human structures are much more detailed, especially the military barracks, castle remains, and the vehicles themselves. The texture palettes generally show earthen colors revolving around the colors brown and tan, and the special effects, for the most part, are also spare.

The dragon models and textures, however, are excellent looking. The animations are nearly perfectly implemented. They don't move quickly, but they flow smoothly and with a captivating, unearthly grace. It's just cool watching the dragons move and to see them up close.

The fire particle effects are also great. The special effect isn't the best fire in the world, but the blazing stuff appears in various forms, from small patches on the ground to giant walls of it. Also, streaming from the dragons' mouths in either jet form or in fireball form, the fire looks even better. The dragons' fireballs rumble the Earth with varying degrees of impact, too.

Sound
For the most part, Reign of Fire neither offends nor excites with its sound qualities. The human voices, no matter how loud you adjust them (effects, music and voices can equally be adjusted in options), are low, as if badly mixed or produced into the game.

The sound effects are adequate, though several of the sampled effects are used ones. I don't know how many times I have heard the special effect, used here to simulate a dragon casting down a spray of fire, in a movie or TV show. The music, however, does have a lingering affect, and I enjoyed the energetic, soaring score it was given.

Closing Comments
Reign of Fire is one of those games I wanted to like more than I did. I truly believe that all sorts of cool dragon games could be made, but that few have really nailed it. The closest one, to me, was Drakan: The Ancients' Gates, which was more of an action-adventure game that included a dragon.

Bam's game is unfortunate in a couple of ways. First, the movie didn't light up the box offices, which means that most people are going to think that the game is just like the movie. And while I find it hard to entirely dispute that, if you can bear through the human missions, you may very well enjoy the dragon missions. But the linear missions, oftentimes frustrating controls and general dreariness of the gameplay, which makes it all feel more like chore than entertainment, may prevent you from that entirely.

In the end, Reign of Fire is a very, very average game, with a few little gems that just barely lift it from the norm.

5.0 Presentation
Average delivery. Better than decent load times, OK, menus, not incredibly high production value movie clips.

6.5 Graphics
While the dragon models and textures are excellent, the rest of the game isn't so visually impressive.

5.0 Sound
Megh. Not great, not horrible, just there.

6.0 Gameplay
Pretty good dragon levels, pretty mediocre human levels (which you have to play to get to the dragon levels).

6.5 Lasting Appeal
Eighteen levels, and pretty interesting dragon ones at that. But I don't foresee playing this game more than once.

Dinosaur Battles Full Version Download By Knowledge Adventur

Dive into real-time 3-D action with fighting dinosaursCustomize different dinosaurs with thousands of fighting power combinations Six interactive, ever-changing levelsUse logic, problem-solving and strategy skills.

What a game and what a game idea. I really impressed with this game. Here we can control the world's most dangerous dinosaurs. Dinosaur Battles is an awesome fighting game. I am crazy to play this game. - By Connie

We have to build-up our dinosaur army, take over our enemies and become the dinosaur fighting champion. It has outstanding and unbelievable features. I am very delighted to suggest this game to all of my friends. - By Catherine

Dinosaur Battles is a different and challenging game. In my view, this is the best way to get more fun and more enjoyment. What can I say about this game, completely rocking and terrific!! - By Franz

Windows 2000/XP/VistaProcessor: PII 266 MHzDirectX 8.064 MB RAMFree hard drive space: 400 MB3D Accelerator with Hardware T&L and Pixel Shading 16MBDirectX-compliant Sound Card

Rifts® WB 27: Adventures in Dinosaur Swamp™

Kevin Siembieda joins forces with the intrepid Todd Yoho to present more descriptions, dinosaurs, and adventure in Dinosaur Swamp.

Dinosaurs the likes of which have never been recorded in our fossil record.

Dinosaurs with powers nobody would ever have expected.

New menaces, villains, mysteries, struggles and adventures.

Written by Todd Yoho and Kevin Siembieda.

Spectacular cover by Scott Johnson.

160 pages. Cat. No. 866.

TWG Review: Rifts World Book 26: Dinosaur Swamp

Overall score:

In the complex, chaotic world of Rifts, Dinosaur Swamp is refreshingly simple: there are no alien intelligences, no evil empires, and no convoluted historical recreations. In this sense it gets back to the good old days of the core Rifts book, by defining its corner of the world based on post-apocalyptic speculation instead of stereotyped regional memory. Dinosaur Swamp begins with the simple premise that unchecked nature has reclaimed the southern states, and goes on from there to create a brutal wilderness where human survivors maintain a precarious position in the circle of predators and prey.

Is it cheesy for the whole area to be overrun by dinosaurs? Sure, but no cheesier than anything else in the game, even with the unexplained magical abilities manifested by many of them—some allosaurs, for example, can become invisible as long as they remain motionless. Rifts-era biologists disagree as to whether the dinosaurs have always had such powers, or if they mutated in the magic-rich environment, or if they simply evolved that way through some kind of super-fast genetic defense mechanism. Regardless of their origins, the dinosaurs thrive in the swamps and forests of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas as the dominant species, held back from the rest of North America by the Appalachian mountains.

Everything about the area says “primitive.” Far from the enormous technological empires that dominate so many World Books, Dinosaur Swamp is populated by regressed tribes of barbarians. The largest city in the region, known as Char, is still tiny by Coalition standards and is more of a trading camp than anything else. Even the level of magic technology is low, with very few of the “big” magic OCCs like Shifters and Line Walkers, and a preponderance of Eco-Wizards instead. Eco-Wizardry is an interesting form of Techno-Wizardry in which you enchant the bones and teeth and hides of animals to create weapons and armor. Combine this with some pretty interesting plant-based resources (such as the oddly-capitalized SteelTrees) and you get a culture that can work entirely with caveman-level technology and still manage to go toe-to-toe with giant MDC monsters.

So let’s sum up the book’s good points: it has a solid post-apocalypse base mixed with a lot of cool flavor perfect for a book called Dinosaur Swamp. It avoids some of the bad Riftsclichés while embracing some of the good ones. It offers a unique setting with plenty of new bad guys and fun characters. On those grounds, I would recommend it.

Now for the book’s bad points: what it really lacks, if I may condense the problem into a single word, is urgency. There’s no pressing need to go there—no vital prize to be gained or evil to be destroyed. There are plenty of ruins to explore (the book makes special mention of NASA and Disney World), so you could mount an expedition for purposes of salvage or scientific exploration, but there are no great evils to destroy, nefarious villains to fight, or all-powerful artifacts to recover—just a lot of dinosaurs to hunt and man-eating plants to escape from. This is not to say that such things don’t exist at all in Dinosaur Swamp, merely that the book doesn’t mention them; a GM will have to do a lot of that work himself.

If you do a campaign that starts in Dinosaur Swamp, completely populated by barbarians, the problem gets even stickier. Barbarians have no interest in any of the tech buried in the ruins, and so the games could quickly devolve into dinosaur hunts and tribal wars with no escalating conflict—the book doesn’t contain so much as a war-hungry barbarian chief with dreams of conquest. Once again, all of the heavy lifting will have to be done completely by the GM and he characters.

In short, the book contains a great setting with very little story to back it up; this is bad on one hand because it leaves so much work for the GM, but good on the other hand because it gives GMs a wide-open palette to play with. If you can think of a good reason to visit,Dinosaur Swamp is a wonderful edition to the Rifts line; if you can’t, it’s just an interesting footnote to the rest of the world.

Written by Fellfrosch on September 13th, 2004

Rifts® World Book 26: Dinosaur Swamp™

This book will surprise and delight readers, as a portion of the east coast of North America is outlined and described for the first time. The imagination of Todd Yoho will take players to places they never imagined even existed. And if you're looking for dinosaur and general weirdness . . . look no farther.

Mega-Damage Dinosaurs galore.

Mutant Dinosaurs and Random Mutations.

New O.C.C.s, including Wilderness Barbarians, Eco-Wizards, and others.

The secret of the Swamps – Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas all outlined.

More world background, adventure and adventure ideas.

Cat No. 862
Page Count: 160 pages.
Cover by: John Zeleznik.
Interior Art: Perez, Dubisch, Okamura and Drunken Style Studio.
Written by: Todd Yoho.

Breathing Life into Tyrannosaurus rex

By analyzing previously overlooked fossils and

by taking a second look at some old finds,

paleontologists are providing the first glimpses

of the actual behavior of the tyrannosaurs

by Gregory M. Erickson

Download PDF

DINOSAUR PLANET: BRONCOSAURUS REX REVIEW -- JULY 2, 2002

Scenic New Savannah

By Steven Creech, Exec. Chairman

**Available at FRP Games for only $15.95!!**

This review is for Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex by Goodman Games. This d20 core rulebook is a 96-page excursion to an alien world where dinosaurs exist. It retails for $20.00.

Broncosaurus Rex has some good points to it, especially if you are a fan of dinosaurs and want a d20 alternative to the usual magical fantasy fare. The basic premise in this setting is that a resource hungry and culturally divided Earth is colonizing space and has discovered Cretasus. The year is 2202 and two major factions exist as a result of the Civil War, the Federation Union of Planets and the Confederacy. The Federation, which is the more technologically advanced culture, wants to exploit the world for its natural resources and leave it barren. The Confederacy, however, wishes to colonize Cretasus and live in peaceful co-existence with the indigenous life, some of which is intelligent (yes, smart dinosaurs).

There are six possible character classes to choose from, but only one race - human. Bronco Riders are your stereotypical cowboys except that dinosaurs are their mounts as opposed to horses. Machinists are tinkerers and inventors, coming up with all manner of contraption. Soldiers are the fighters of this world with a good understanding of tactics. A Spy also falls into stereotype with espionage, stealth and disguise as their forte. Two-Fisters are the rough and tumble warriors who prefer using their fists rather than fancy weaponry. These guys are tough as nails. Finally, the Wild One is a type of ranger/hermit who prefers the company of dinosaurs to his fellow man.

Most of the existing skills and feats from the Player's Handbook are available for use, but some have been modified. This book also comes with its share of new ones that, for the most part, are balanced and have a good purpose. New skills include Drive, Pilot, and Repair Device. New feats include Death Wish, Dinopathy, Dinosaur Presence, and Great Lover, to name a few.

Of course in 2022, equipment will be considerably different. Broncosaurus Rex does a great job listing, describing and giving balanced stats for such equipment.

Chapter three is all about the dinosaurs of Cretasus and how they are actually intelligent and social creatures. True paleontologists will probably take issue with how the dinosaurs are presented statistically and described, but let's face it, this is a game designed for fun, not a scientific journal. The different listings are one of the real strengths to this book and complement the listings from the Monster Manual nicely.

The remainder of the book contains information for GMs to develop adventures on Cretasus. The various faction names are listed, the motivations of the settlers and major political issues discussed, and the treasures that may be found are covered. Another nice touch is the One Hundred Adventure Ideas that give you plenty of excellent adventure hooks.

In conclusion, Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex is an excellent choice for the dinosaur lover. It represents a very good alternative d20 game and is a fun change of pace from your typical Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I liked it and recommend it. It's a good buy at $20.00.

The Critic's Rating: (maximum 5 pts for each category)

• Amount of Open Game Content: 4.0
• d20 Compliance: 5.0
• Originality: 5.0
• Playability: 5.0
• Value for the dollar: 5.0

Overall Rating: 4.8

Final Grade: A

The Dinozonian Prestige Class - Broncosaurus Rex

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Human Charisma
1st	+1	+0	+1	+1	Dinosaur Totem +2, Totem Ally	-1
2nd	+2	+0	+2	+1	Dialect Similarities	-2
3rd	+3	+1	+2	+1	Dinozonian Feat	-3
4th	+4	+1	+3	+2	Dinosaur Totem +4	-4
5th	+5	+2	+3	+3	Warrior Women	-5
6th	+6/+1	+2	+4	+3	Dinozonian Feat, At One With Cretasus once/week	-6
7th	+7/+2	+3	+5	+4	Dinosaur Totem +6	-7
8th	+8/+3	+4	+5	+4	At One With Cretasus twice/week	-8
9th	+9/+4	+4	+6	+5	Dinozonian Feat	-9
10th	+10/+5	+5	+7	+6	Dinosaur Totem +8	-10

The Dinozonian (v 1.0)BY TIM GRUBBS

For information on the Dinozonians, please consult page 91 on the Broncosaurus Rex: Dinosaur Planet Core Rulebook.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become a dinozonian, a character must fulfill the following prerequisites.

Alignment: Any neutral nonevil.

Sex: Female

Animal Empathy: 8 ranks.

Knowledge (nature): 4 ranks.

Wilderness Lore: 4 ranks.

Knowledge (strategy & tactics): 2 ranks.

Language: at least one dialect of the dinosaur species totem of the tribe you become a part of.

Feats: Dinopathy.

Special: Must join a tribe of Dinozonians and be on good terms with the species of the dinosaur totem. May not have any levels in classes other than Wild One and (if GM permits) Dinopath. May not use Tech Level 3 or higher weapons. Dinozonians are expected to participate in the activities of their tribe and their allies as described on page 91 of Broncosaurus Rex: Dinosaur Planet Core Rulebook. Dinozonians may not harm a dinosaur of the same race as their dinosaur totem. They must also help a dinosaur of their totem when it is in need.

Class Skills

The dinozonian’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (strategy & tactics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Speak Language (dinosaur languages only), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore (Wis).

Skill Points at each level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the dinozonian prestige class.

Weapon and Armor proficiency: Dinozonians gain no new proficiency in weapons or armor.

Dinosaur Totem: A dinozonian’s tribe has a totem which is it’s dinosaur ally. Dinozonians receive bonuses when interacting with dinosaurs of the same species as their totem. This bonus is +2 at 1^st level, +4 at 4^th level, +6 at 7^th level, and +8 at 10^th level. This bonus applies to Charisma-based skill rolls made involving dinosaurs of your tribe’s totem.

Totem Ally: This works just like the Wild One ability Dinosaur Ally (Broncosaurus Rex: Dinosaur Planet Core Rulebook page 32). The only difference is that the Totem Ally must be the same race as the Dinozonian tribe’s Dinosaur Totem.

Dialect Similarities: Dinozonians gain the ability to easily pick up dialects of the species of their Dinosaur Totem. When faced with another dialect, the dinozonian may make a roll with a DC 15 with their Wisdom bonus. A success means they learned the dialect. A failure means they can try again 24 hours later with a +2, and another +2 for every 24 hours afterwards that they are exposed to the unfamiliar dialect. A bust means they have great difficulty picking up the dialect and any future rolls to learn the dialect are at –2 after the first 24 hours, with an additional –2 for each additional 24 hours. Learning Dialect rolls may only be made once per day.

Dinozonian Feat: There are new feats associated with the Dinozonians, some of which deal with their positions. At third, sixth, and ninth level, the Dinozonian may gain one free Dinozonian feat. The list of Dinozonian Feats is listed below.

Warrior Women: Dinozonians are known for being fierce warriors. Part of this is due to them not being easy to sneak up on, while their knowledge of tactics and the terrain also plays a role. At second level, dinozonians gain a +2 competence bonus in knowledge (nature), knowledge (strategy & tactics), Listen, Spot, and Wilderness Lore.

At One With Cretasus: Dinozonians become attuned to Cretasus and are able to call upon it’s life force to aid them. Starting at 6^th level, once per week, a Dinozonian may draw in the power of Cretasus to add a whopping +10 to any roll. AT 8^th level, a Dinozonian may do this twice per week.

Human Awkwardness: This works just like the Wild One ability of the same name (Broncosaurs Rex: Dinosaur Planet Core Rulebook page 32). The only difference there may be is that to some male characters, the negative modifier may actually be a bonus in interactions with them if they particularly like the ‘jungle woman’ look.

Dinozonian Feats:

1) Caregiver – This feat goes to Dinozonians who are trusted enough to look after the children of tribal allies while they are away. This requires a great amount of trust in the abilities of the Dinozonian given such an important job. The feat grants a +5 circumstance bonus to Animal Empathy and Diplomacy rolls made with tribal allies (either Dinozonian or dinosaur tribes).

2) Healer - Healers are important to helping injured Dinozonians and dinosaur allies. Some of their remarkable healing ability is due to the healer being able to understand what is wrong with the patient through a spiritual and mental connection formed between allies and fellow Dinozonians over time. The Dinozonian gains a +6 circumstance bonus to Heal rolls made to heal tribe members and tribal allies.

3) Scout - These Dinozonians know the surrounding area well and are usually tasked with scouting choice hunting grounds and, when necessary, good ambush locations. The feat grants a +4 Wilderness Lore and +2 Knowledge (Strategy & Tactics) competence bonus when scouting the surrounding areas for either of the above instances.

4) Rider - requires Mounted Combat; These Dinozonians are trained to ride their dinosaur allies into combat when necessary or even in friendly circumstances. The feat grants a +4 competence bonus to Ride made with dinosaurs of the tribal totem. They also gain a +2 circumstance bonus to attack rolls when mounted on dinosaurs of the tribal totem species.

5) Hunter - The Dinozonian is faced with providing food for the tribe, mostly due to their own skill in hunting. They receives a +4 competence bonus to Hide, Knowledge (nature), and Intuit Direction rolls, all of which are used when finding and stalking prey.

6) Fast to Strike - Some say that the Dinozonian is “As Fast As A Compy”. Some also say that this is due to some Dinozonians being more willing to fight for than negotiate a resolution. This is true for the purposes of striking fast in combat. The Dinozonian gains a +4 bonus to Initiative rolls. Choosing to take this bonus causes a -2 bonus to attack rolls.

7) One Strike, One Kill - The Dinozonian is particularly good at taking an opponent down fast to prevent lengthy combat. This is often due to the Dinozonian choosing to take her take to act and think out the best attack for the most damage. This feat gives a +2 bonus to attack rolls, and damage is increased by one die. To take advantage of this bonus, the Dinozonian must act last in combat.

8) Physically Adept – Dinozonians stay in shape and improve their physical skills due to constant use. This feat grants a +3 competence bonus to Climb, Jump, Swim, and Tumble rolls.

Broncosaurus Rex Resources

Official Web Enhancements

• Psionic Protoceratops: An article on the mysterious protoceratops and their psionic powers. (PDF, 1 MB) Originally appeared in Gaming Frontiers #1.
• Broncosaurus Rex Character Sheet: Everything you need to maintain a record of your character, formatted as a two-page MS Word document.
• Broncosaurus Rex GM Screen: A 6-page download designed for the MasterScreen from Citizen Games, and other modular GM screens that can be loaded with pages for whatever game you are currently playing. The screen comes in four versions. The "guts" are the same in each version; the only difference is the cover art:
  • Screen with cover art from the Core Rulebook
  • Screen with cover art from the Cretasus Adventure Guide
  • Screen with cover art from the Complete Guide to Velociraptors
  • Screen with cover art from the Complete Guide to T-rex
• Complete Guide to Velociraptors:
  • Velociraptor Magic: An article that explains the basics of velociraptor magic in a fantasy setting. (See also the Velociraptor Ways fan article below.)
  • Lettoko Den: A larger map of the Lettoko tribe's den. (65K)
  • Tactician Feats: The special feats available to raptor tacticians (reprinted from the Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex Core Rulebook).
• Dinosaurs That Never Were: The trogloraptor is an unusual raptor variant that was not documented in Dinosaurs That Never Were. Click here to learn about it. (71K PDF)

Fan Material

• The Tim Grubbs File: Prolific fan Tim Grubbs has steadily expanded the Broncosaurus Rex universe with these fan articles:
  • New Velociraptor Ways: More spells for spell-casting raptor shamans, imitating the Ways of various dinosaurs. This builds on the Velociraptor Magic expansion for the Complete Guide to Velociraptors.
  • More Velociraptor Ways: Still more spells for raptor shamans, all derived from the study of other dinosaurs.
  • Union Feats: Some feats for Union characters in Broncosaurus Rex. Helps round out the Confederate feats in the Core Rulebook.
  • Free Fleet Feats: Feats for Free Fleet characters.
  • Free Fleet Trader Prestige Class: A class to personify the nature of Free Fleet characters.
  • Dinozonian Prestige Class: A prestige class to allow characters to become Dinozonians.
  • Dinosaur Breeder: A prestige class for characters who raise dinosaurs.
  • Dinosaur Man: A prestige class for Wild Ones that become even more feral.
  • Offworlder Feats: Last in the series of new feats.
  • The Deinosuchus Defense: A short story describing an innovative tactic of the Confederacy.
  • Ceratopsian Hunting: An article describing the market for ceratopsian horns on Cretasus and ways to build scenarios around the situation.

DINOSAURS THAT NEVER WERE - STORM VALLEY

Introduction

This book describes the wildlife, terrain, and other features of Storm Valley, one of the first great valleys of the planet Cretasus to be explored by humans. Storm Valley is notable not merely for its violent weather, but also for the amazing variety of dinosaurs that live there. Many of these creatures were once derived from the “root stock” of Earth dinosaurs, but have evolved into entirely new beasts. They are “dinosaurs that never were” – dinosaurs that could have evolved on Earth but never did, yet have evolved on Cretasus. Although Storm Valley is set in the world of Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex, most of this book is world-neutral monster statistics. You can use these creatures in any d20 game world. Where the first two Broncosaurus Rex books focused on creatures with low CR (the better to start low-level campaigns with), this book expands into the higher CRs. Most are in the 6-8 range – but some are as high as 30!

Dinosaurs, the Wild West, Space Travel, and the Civil War...

In the year 2202, dinosaurs have been discovered on the planet Cretasus. But these dinosaurs are just as smart as the humans now flocking to their home. Velociraptors trade in alien weapons, leptoceratops guard their desert secrets, and T-rex dynasties protect their nests from egg raiders. Despite the dinosaurs, human pioneers arrive in droves at New Savannah's busy spaceport. Lured by free land, gold, and simple freedom, they yearn for a new life. Their wagon trails soon trudge west on the rutted path of the Tecumseh Trail, bringing new adventures to Cretasus.

Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex is a science fiction world setting. The basic premise is that the Civil War did not end as we know it, but resulted in separate Federal and Confederate nations. This state continued into the space age. In the year 2202, an alien planet full of dinosaurs was discovered, opening new mysteries and establishing the world of Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex.

Your character could be a bronco rider, riding the dinosaurs for ranchers, farmers, the military, or pure adventure. You could be a soldier: a Union ironclad pilot, a federal sheriff, or a rebel blockade runner. You could be a street fighter come to find your fortune, or a homeworld dissident fighting for freedom. You could be one of the legendary Wild Ones, fearsome humans who leave human company to sleep with the dinosaurs. You could be a Union machinist, always equipped with the latest technology. You could be an idealistic infantryman, a freelance dino hunter, a warp pirate, a Union turncoat, an outer ranges explorer, a dino rustler, or an alien hunter. The world of Broncosaurus Rex is in your hands!

Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex Role Playing Game

THE LOST WORLD (2001 FILM)

Directed by: Stuart Orme

Written by: A. Conan Doyle (novel) Adrian Hodges

Starring: Bob Hoskins

James Fox

Peter Falk

Release date(s)2001

Running time: 150 min.

Country: U.K. / U.S.A. / Germany

Language: English

The Lost World is a 2001 adaptation of the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, directed by Stuart Orme and adapted by Adrian Hodges. It was produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC1 in the UK and A&E in the United States. It consisted of two 75-minute episodes which were first aired in the UK on the 25th and 26th of December, 2001, and in the USA on October 6 and 7, 2002.

Bob Hoskins played Professor Challenger and was supported by James Fox, Peter Falk, Matthew Rhys, Tom Ward and Elaine Cassidy.

Plot

While on a journey through the remote regions of the Amazon rainforest, Challenger (Hoskins) has an animal shot, which turns out to be a prehistoric pterosaur. During a lecture at the London Museum of Natural History, he argues that it is genuine and that he shot it several months ago. The lecturer, Professor Summerlee (Fox) dismisses it as nothing more than a clever hoax, as do several others. Eventually ambitious John Roxton (Ward), a noted hunter and womanizer, and Daily Gazette columnist Edward Malone (Rhys) announce they will volunteer for the expedition.

On the boat, Challenger shows a sarcastic Summerlee and his expedition members a map, drawn up by a Portuguese man called Padre Mendoz who ended up in the remote, uncharted area of Brazil which Challenger claims prehistoric creatures thrive. Most notably, there is a plateau, which would supposedly isolate the inhabitants from the evolutionary mainstream for millions of years. Upon arrival, Roxton begins flirting with Agnes (Cassidy), the niece of Reverend Theo Kerr, a priest who disregards the idea of evolution.

They eventually find the plateau. They cross over a log bridge, which the Reverend suddenly pushes into a deep crevice in an abrupt mood swing, thus leaving them stranded. In the jungle, Edward makes 'friends' with a hypsilophodont, and the stunned group spot an Iguanodon, and then a group of pterosaurs who attack and injure Summerlee.

They retreat to the forest where Edward is scared out of a tree by an ape that, in his words "looked almost human". In the middle of the night, while they are gathered around the campfire whispering about "Who will miss them if they die" they are attacked by a large carnosaur, which is later identified by Summerlee as an allosaur.They then search for and find a large lake in the centre of the plateau which Malone had discovered while up the tree,and he names it "Gladys" while Roxton and the professors rest by the beach. Edward and Agnes walk off along the beach until the Allosaur from last night emerges from the forest and drinks from the lake, but soon notices them as they run into the forest. In the cliffhanger ending of the first episode, the carnivore pursues them through the borders of the forest until they all fall into a pit, where the Allosaur is killed after being impaled on two wooden spikes.

After making their escape, they find out that Challenger and Summerlee have been kidnapped by the ape-men. The apes take them to an enclosed sacrificial chamber, where they are placed on a thick sheet of rock which is covered with blood. The sun shines through a crack and the beasts place Summerlee's head in a groove on the plate of rock, about to smash his head with a large stone when Roxton and the group start shooting all the ape-men. Challenger tries to save the creatures, calling them "The missing link between animal and human" upon leaving the animals territory, the group also rescue an Indian chief's son. The tribe recognizes Challenger as Padre Mendoz - the Portuguese man that returned from the plateau and drew up a map of the area. They are also told of how a man, whom they thought was the Devil, came to visit them and then left, sealing off the cave that was their only route out of the plateau. The two groups cooperate very well together, with Challenger sitting by the chief's side, and Roxton marrying the patriarch's daughter. However, the presence of the ape-men disturb the tribes people but, with Professor Challenger's protection, they remain safe from harm and are kept in a wooden cage/construction on the border of the village.

However, two Allosaurs attack the village after weeks of harmony. After causing much death and destruction, the first Allosaur is killed by Roxton and his Elephant gun but the second, larger Allosaur kills the chief. In an act of kindness, Agnes and Malone set the ape-men loose and they flee back into the jungle. One psychotic ape gets its hands on a knife and keeps an eye on Roxton. Edward Malone eventually kills the larger dinosaur, but is a little late to save the chief and several of the Indians. He is critically injured, and dies in the arms of his son, who blames the white intruders. During the attack, Summerlee blows up the debris blocking their only escape route, and after the chief's son assumes command, the outsiders flee while Roxton stays behind to stall them. The ape with the knife stabs Roxton in the torso, injuring him while the son of the chief shoots the mad ape while it stands atop a rocky mound, growling. Outside, the Reverend comes to block the remaining group's way, intending to kill all of them and seal off the cave again, insisting that the plateau is "Not part of God's kingdom", and calling it "the work of the devil". While struggling with Summerlee, he accidentally shoots himself in the chest and dies.

The explorers go back to London, where the juvenile pterosaur that Challenger brings back escapes. Afterwards, Malone and Summerlee urge Challenger to end the whole affair so that the plateau and its inhabitants can exist in peace; the pterosaur is dismissed as an Amazonian vulture, while the articles Edward sent back are passed off as extracts of a novel he is writing. Edward confesses he loves Agnes, who tells him the same, and they kiss in the great hall of the museum where the crew have been exposed as frauds. In the final scene, Roxton is shown alive and well, and still happily married to Muree.

Bestiary

Allosaurus

Entelodont

Hypsilophodon

Iguanodon

Pteranodon summerlensis

Diplodocus

Brachiosaurus (seen at a distance)

Pithecanthropus challengeris

[edit]Differences from Doyle's novel

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In the book, the plateau is in Venezuela. In the 2001 adaptation, it was in Brazil.

The prehistoric lake scene from the book is absent.

In the book, Edward Malone doesn't meet another love interest besides Gladys.

In the book, the Indians deliberately call the Allosaurus to the village, where they kill them and eat them for dinner. In the film, the ape men call the dinosaurs to the human settlement.

The characters Gomez and Zambo - indeed, any of the Indians - are not mentioned. They are replaced by Reverend Theo Kerr, and his niece Agnes.

Following the attack on the campfire by the Megalosaurus in the book, neither Summerlee nor Challenger are immediately able to identify even the family of carnivore that attacked them, whereas Summerlee immediately dubs the animal an allosaur upon being asked by Lord Roxton. Also, the campfire attack is fairly different from the book. In the novel, the group spot the Megalosaurus, and before it has a chance to attack, Roxton scares it off with fire. In the film, the group are completely taken by surprise and the allosaur almost gains the upper hand, before being scared away with fire.

The ape men are present in both the novel and film, but the other humanoid tribe, rather than a prehistoric species, consists of the surviving members of a Portuguese expedition.

In the book, Edward Malone says he will join Roxton on the next expedition to the plateau. In the film, he tentatively offers to Professor Challenger, who says he'll be in touch.

Lord John Roxton escapes the plateau in the book. In the BBC adaptation, he is stabbed by an Ape Man, and supposedly dies. However, at the end of the second episode, we see him still happily married to Muree, the former patriarch's daughter.

The diamonds found in the blue clay in the book do not feature in the mini-series.