Mutant Epoch Role Playing Game Review & Commentary

"The Mutant Epoch™ post-apocalyptic RPG challenges your in-game persona to survive in an age of rediscovery, high adventure, savage conflict, and freakish mutants and machines. Characters work in small excavation teams making forays into ruined cities, through junk strewn wastelands, twisted forests, nightmarish swamps and across polluted seas. During their expeditions they must contend with mutant beasts, the environment, as well as raiders, cultists, and robotic forces, only to stake their place in the newly emerging barter forts and factional bastions of humanity.

        Players can take on the roles of pure stocks, mutants, ghost mutants, cyborgs, beastial humans and an assortment of synthetic or engineered humans. All you need is the TME hub rules book, dice, paper and pencils, a few friends and your imagination.

The Mutant Epoch™ uses the Outland System™ game mechanic, which employs the full set of polyhedron dice, is easy to learn, logical, fast paced, and perfectly suited to the hard core action of post apocalyptic game play.

    Inside this lavishly illustrated book you will find all the rules, art and content to generate characters, challenge them with perils, and then reward them with potent relics.

       This core book includes: • 8 character types   • 30 castes   • 36 skills   • over a 111 mutations •68 cybernetic implants  •104 creatures   • 9 robots and 10 androids   • complete encounter tables   • hazards, traps and insanity   • typical humans   • rules for called shots, parrying and chases   • 9 relic vehicles, 44 weapon relics, 14 armor relics and 70+ miscellaneous relics   •common PA vehicles and 10 scrap built Vehicles   • dozens of helpful tables   • character sheet  • GMs party record sheet • grid and hex paper, and much more!   "

So reads the add & hype from Outland games? Does it live up to it ? 

 So the Thursday night Stars Without Number game crashed. Two players bailed. One due to sickness & the other due to car problems. The whole night was a bust with pouring rain & cold. Things couldn't be worse accept for the fact that Outland Arts had brightened my night with a copy of  " Mutant Epoch"!
Lets see what we have? 

The book is really thick & it was packed well. Already scoring points right off the bat! 

The cover just screams action & post apocalyptic fun! Sort of got this weird fifth element/90s Judge Dredd action thing going on here.
The Introduction goes through the background of the Mutant Epoch. The whole storyline has a flexibility about it. Seems to be taking place in the 23 century has a wide, wide, variety of characters right off the bat.So the background is nicely done. Echoes of another Gamma world game in there as well.
Character generation & observations 

There is a metric ton of wall to wall artwork in the book. The book screams 70s & 80s OSR role playing goodness.
Character Generation is very flexible & the whole thing is customization is key here. There are lots & lots of random tables. 

Very Flexible PC types with ton of options that actually seem to work. That's a nice switch from another old school game that I recently re took a look at. 

Wall to Wall mutant animals! This has got to be one of the most extensive sections on mutant animals & how to play them that I've seen.  Teenage Mutant Turtles by Palladium games was the only other game that had mutant animals this well designed. 

Love the concept of "Ghost Mutants" a Marvel style mutant whose powers aren't as easily visible. There's a definitive comic book vibe about this game that comes straight through the character generation even.
The Game Play section is clear, easy to read,& sets out the parameters of the game. The game play even spells out the flavor of the game without hitting you over the head with the world. The flavor of the game play feels like Gamma World or Metamorphis Alpha without some of the kinks of those systems. Accept there's no mutant plants as characters
The Hazards section 

The Hazards section isn't simply things that kill you PCs but elements that can lead into further adventures & complications for the game itself. The hazards can really complicate the hell out of PCs lives & be used as a meter for the campaign background.
These are pretty well thought out & very fleshed out for game play.
The Encounters section is nicely done as well. The encounters are the frame work of the game. These seem to give more bang for the buck then some other games.
Monsters & Robots Sections 

Wow just wow. These monsters are each laid out by type & species. There are metric ton of mutant menaces across the page through out with a lot of artwork to go with them. These aren't made for encountering their made to chew up & spit out PCs. There are some familiar faces or varieties of them from other games of yesteryear but these monsters are like something from a 50s Atomic horror movie. That's a good thing in my book. 

The stat blocks are laid out & pretty easy to read. These look much more DM friendly then other games & the monsters look good enough to spawn adventures on their own.
The robots actually look like their a part of the world that their from & not something stuck from the latest Fallout game. The robot section back ties into the PC section.The technology of this world leads into the relic section.
The Relic Section 

The relic section is fairly even with a number of familiar & iconic weapons from the post PA genre. These could be used in any number of adventures for fast, quick, & dirty adventures. These relics are not something that is endemic to simply one game world
The Tables Section 
Some of the best I've seen in a post apocalyptic game recently. The bottom line is that a science fantasy rpg can live & die by the tables section. If as a DM I've got to go searching for tables we've got problems & lost time during game play. These are well thought out & very nicely done.
Appendices 
An actually useful section information regarding the game. This section rounds out an already impressive rpg book.
Index 
Possibly one of the most useful things an rpg company can stick into a game book. Other companies please take note on this & give us indexes in your product. This one actually works well.
The Bottomline  
The bottomline is the bottomline on the Mutant Epoch game. There is a lot of bang for the buck in this game. You will not need another post apocalyptic game once you have this book. There is enough here to play at least 12 different campaigns. For 28.00 for 246 pages of mutant playing & killing madness this is a great game. I haven't been this excited to see a game in a while this is one not to miss.
This one does actually live up to the hype. The fact is that this can be used on its own or even mind for days for ideas for a number of different genres.
Since I believe in total transparency Outland games did send me this review copy but seriously they didn't have anything to do with this review. I'm totally blown away with their product.
You can find more about Mutant Epoch  & the ton of support that they bring to this game line right Here

50th Anniversary James Bond Observations

A quick article about Dr. No which was released on this day back in 1962 on the Dark Corners of Role Playing blog
Right Here

Mining the Lost Universe Anime For Stars Without Numbers

Lost Universe is one of those animes that simply seems to get shelved right next to its bigger brother. In this case its big brother is the classic anime Slayers. That's a pretty long shadow to be in. However the series has several things going for it.

The plot is pretty good. From Wiki :

"In Slayers, it was mentioned that the main characters of that series live on a world that is one of the four created by the mother of all creation, called the Lord of Nightmares. This world was known as the Red World. Lost Universe, however, takes place in a different world, known as the Black World. Whereas the demi-gods of the various worlds such as Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo and Dark Star Dugradigdo had physical presence in that world, they appear in the Black World as "Lost Ships", intelligent space ships of unknown origin that have powerful or somewhat divine powers with more advanced technology than any other device in the universe. Their rarity and superiority has sparked suggestions that they have been made by an advanced ancient alien civilization or by coming from the beginning of the universe itself. Being a central part to the plot the "Lost Ships" are intelligent beings with different loyalties and even their own agenda. Kane Blueriver, a "trouble contractor," inherits a "Lost Ship" from his grandmother and from there, he and his sidekick Milly, together with Canal, the ship's computer, journey to find a source of the evil that threatens the universe." 

The Lost Ships & Relic Ships One of the over all driving forces in the show are the so called Lost Ships. "Whereas the demi-gods of the various worlds such as Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo and Dark Star Dugradigdo had physical presence in that world, they appear in the Black World as "Lost Ships", intelligent space ships of unknown origin that have powerful or somewhat divine powers with more advanced technology than any other device in the universe. Their rarity and superiority has sparked suggestions that they have been made by an advanced ancient alien civilization or by coming from the beginning of the universe itself. Being a central part to the plot the "Lost Ships" are intelligent beings with different loyalties and even their own agenda" 


Sword Breaker & its ilk are A.I. driven star ships that fit right into the nature of the various high level tech level five relics that appear in Stars Without Number. However in one of the episodes of the series another ship is found. This ship doesn't have an A.I. in it. Its simply an ancient alien craft of unknown origin that is commandeered by some pirates. While powerful its no match for the power of the Sword Breaker.
Warning Spoiler Alert or The Price Of the Lost Ships
 

Many of the high end  star ship weaponry in Lost Universe would fit right into the Stars Without Number game. There is however a price to be had. For each 1d4 battles the ships are in & they use their main weapons they will take 1d6 hit points directly from a PC . That is unless a saving throw is made each time the ship is in a major battle.
Each ship is also bonded with its pilot sometimes for the duration of their lives. For a Psychic this is a major relationship that defines their lives. The A.I.s of these ships are beings of incredible power who have seen major interstellar civilizations rise & fall. They are psychic NPCs within their own right. They also have agendas all their own. They aren't entities to be taken lightly.
Lost Ships will be psychics of 4th or higher level. Their psychic shield ability is quite powerful against many conventional psychic powers.
 Assign other abilities as you would any major NPC!
A major NPC 
Lost Universe Characters
 

Major

Kain Blueriver (カイン・ブルーリバー Kain Burūribaa^?)

Voiced by: Souichiro Hoshi (Japanese), Steve Metz (English)

Kain is the protagonist of the adventure. He is an intergalactic trouble-Contractor. He is a tough and reckless adventurer who captains Sword-Breaker, the legendary lost space ship from an ancient civilization. He acquired his spaceship from his grandmother and constantly recites quotes of her. A free spirit, keeps an open mind whatever the situation. Ever the optimist, he is always confident he will prevail over whatever troubles await him. His motto is "carry out any difficult assignment to the end!" Kain is the master of the Psi-Blade, a weapon of psi energy, requiring tremendous mental strength.

He always wears a black cloak, apparently also worn by his grandmother.

Canal Vorfeed (キャナル・ヴォルフィード Kyanaru Vorufiido^?)

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Jessica Schwartz (English)

Canal is a female human-like hologram. She is the computer terminal of the Sword-Breaker. She has a distinctive personality, emotions and reasoning abilities. Her usual form is a teenage girl, but if necessary, and she can morph her form into a baby, a noble lady or other objects, whatever is needed to help Kain in his missions. Her motto is "carry out any difficult assignment to the end, as long as it shows a profit!" In this respect she's much like Lina Inverse, from the spin-off series Slayers. Ironically they're voiced by the same actress. Canal's mind functions as a computer...she is very practical, analytical and logical. On the other hand, she sometimes shows her emotions when she teases Kain for his mistakes or has a quarrel with Millie Farrier.

She is a bit selfish, doing a lot of negative actions for the Sword Breaker owner (Kain Blueriver), like turning off Life System only for getting a job Kain didn't want

Millennium "Millie" Feria Nocturne (ミレニアム・フェリア・ノクターン Mireniamu Feria Nokutaan^?)

Voiced by: Mifuyu Hiiragi (Japanese), Larissa Wolcott (English)

"Millie" is an uninvited assistant to Kain. Jealous of Canal, Millie is a happy-go-lucky girl who is a self-professed, but amateur private detective. She has very basic detecting' skills like opening a locked door with her hair pin! Her dream is to be the best in the universe' at everything she does. At work, she is indeed the best shot in the universe...but at home on Sword-Breaker, is another matter. Providing a bit of comedy, she routinely blows up the kitchen, but somehow the meals turn out delicious.

She meets Kain and Canal in the first episode but doesn't actually join them until the second. She travels with them throughout the series.

[edit]

Minor

Raily Claymore

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Bill Wise (English)

A handsome and smart police inspector of Interstellar Police. Kain has a sort of inescapable "give-and-take" relationship with this young inspector. He often contacts the crew of the Swordbreaker with mission requests, that are not always requests.

Nina Mercury

Voiced by: Masami Suzuki (Japanese), Camille Chen (English)

The secretary of Raily Claymore. Nina is so deeply in love with Raily that she is fascinated by his gaze and forgets what she is doing. Two running gags in the series focus on her actidentally spilling coffee on Rail, and shortening out any machine with the slightest touch. The latter is actually useful in several adventures.

Stargazer

Voiced by: Jouji Nakata (Japanese), George Spelvin (English)

The master of giant company called Gazer Konzern and the boss of mega-crime organization; Nightmare. He is the master of the Lost Ship Darkstar and intends to control the whole universe. Stargazer possesses a power to destroy the mind of a person from afar.

Spreader of Darkness

A young-looking guy who works for Stargazer, and master of Goln-Nova, one of the legendary Lost Ships. He commands Glen and Carly at Nightmare. He was injured in the battle with Alice 10 years ago pre series and has since been in statis. He woke up after sleeping for 87016 hours in a capsule.

Carly

An assassin of Nightmare who admires Spreader of Darkness and wants him to acknowledge her strength. Carly's hobby is hunting and her favorite prey is Kain. She is good at many types of weapons but prefers an energy whip.

Glen

Director of 2nd business department of Gazer Konzern and the assassin of Nightmare. Glen tries to kill Kain with various tactics.

R-20

A female child made for a meta-psychology experiment that Kain and Mille rescued. She can control all meta-psychology-related instruments with her mind, and all of them become useless when she's scared. Her nickname is Anis.

She only appears in the manga.

That 70s Space Vibe
 

For all of its late 90s trappings of science fantasy Lost Universe has a very 70s style to it. The anime feels like a Marvel Star Wars comic plot line & the technology is straight out of the SWN rule book.
" Kain is the master of the Psi-Blade, a weapon of psi energy, requiring tremendous mental strength." The portrayal of this is almost right out of the rule book.

Kain Blueriver is a very well defined anime character & pretty much the ever present fighter. I'd say at least 6th or better level. 

"Millennium "Millie" Feria Nocturne (ミレニアム・フェリア・ノクターン Mireniamu Feria Nokutaan^?)

Voiced by: Mifuyu Hiiragi (Japanese), Larissa Wolcott (English)

"Millie" is an uninvited assistant to Kain. Jealous of Canal, Millie is a happy-go-lucky girl who is a self-professed, but amateur private detective. She has very basic detecting' skills like opening a locked door with her hair pin! Her dream is to be the best in the universe' at everything she does. At work, she is indeed the best shot in the universe...but at home on Sword-Breaker, is another matter. Providing a bit of comedy, she routinely blows up the kitchen, but somehow the meals turn out delicious.

She meets Kain and Canal in the first episode but doesn't actually join them until the second. She travels with them throughout the series."  This is your expert right out of the rule book of SWN. With all the quirks that go along with the class.

Canal is your A.I. & really gives some very cool insight into how an A.I. should function in a game. She's able to go with the rest of the party pretty much anywhere planet side & interact with them when it comes to adventuring. Yet she's one of the most annoying characters I've ever seen. I have no idea why but she grates on my last nerve at times.

Canal Vorfeed (キャナル・ヴォルフィード Kyanaru Vorufiido^?)

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Jessica Schwartz (English)

Canal is a female human-like hologram. She is the computer terminal of the Sword-Breaker. She has a distinctive personality, emotions and reasoning abilities. Her usual form is a teenage girl, but if necessary, and she can morph her form into a baby, a noble lady or other objects, whatever is needed to help Kain in his missions. Her motto is "carry out any difficult assignment to the end, as long as it shows a profit!" In this respect she's much like Lina Inverse, from the spin-off series Slayers. Ironically they're voiced by the same actress. Canal's mind functions as a computer...she is very practical, analytical and logical. On the other hand, she sometimes shows her emotions when she teases Kain for his mistakes or has a quarrel with Millie Farrier.

She is a bit selfish, doing a lot of negative actions for the Sword Breaker owner (Kain Blueriver), like turning off Life System only for getting a job Kain didn't want

I think that Lost Universe & animes like it really push the envelop of the technlogy level for the game not that's a bad thing. Over time it becomes clear that certain conventions of science fiction & science fantasy fold into each other in SWN game play.. All in all there's lots to be had from Lost Universe for a Stars Without Numbers or even  a Terminal Space game.  

1d10 Logan's Run Random Encounter Table ~ For Your Old School Science Fantasy Campaign

1d10 Logan's Run Random Encounter Table

1. A group of 1d10 runners moving across your party they are in total panic as they are pursued by a group of  five sandmen 2nd level fighters 
2. A group of Sandmen 1d4 (2nd level fighters) looking for a runner. They are armed with flame pistols 1d4 points of damage 30 yard range 
3. A group of 2 hit dice feral children juiced up on a designer drug. Will fight as Tucker's Kobolds 
4. A lone wandering bewildered runner clutching his Lfie Clock in his hand. Simply crying & waiting for the Sandmen to show up 
5. A group of  renegade Sandmen looking for a vicious runner/psycho killer they will stop at nothing to track him down. 
6. A bewildered doctor & his nurse who have escaped from a ruined nearby citystate no one has heard of . 
7. A large cybernetic droid & his party of adventurers who are looking for Sanctuary. The droid will be able to provide 1d8 metic tonnes of frozen food for a village or community. 
8. An old sage who is well versed in the nearby ruins & will prove to be a font of  information on the hazards, legends, & treasures of the ruins. 3rd level sage able to read & write in the language of the ancients. 
9. A strange teenage Sandman armed with a completely different gun from other Sandmen. He's determined, deadly, & completely lost. Some might say time lost. 
10. An evil female runner, very beautiful but nasty and very dangerous armed with a dagger & stolen sandmen pistol. 4th level fighter & very capable. 

For more information on Logan's Run see Here  This is part of the backlog of posts & thought I'd throw up an old favorite of mine.

"Sometime in the 23rd Century... the survivors of war, overpopulation and pollution are living in a great domed city, sealed away from the forgotten world outside. Here, in an ecologically balanced world, mankind only lives for pleasure. freed by the servo-mechanisms which provide everything.

There's just one catch.

Life must end at thirty, unless reborn in the fiery ritual of carrousel."
You can also see an old favorite site of mine here that has a metric ton of information on the movie
Right Here

Now Run Runner! 

Monster Monday - The Erare - The Gutter Deaths A Monster For Your Old School Space Opera

Valere Bernard'' la Mort Allaitant une Chauve Souris'' (1897)

The Erare - The Gutter Deaths 

Type :Other
Number Appearing :1d4 per world 

Armor Class: 6 

Hit points: 4 

Damage : By Weapon or Claw 1d4 per hit 

Specials: Accompanied by giant Intelligent  alien bat creatures able to teleport without error
Only hit by magical or psychic weaponry 

Save: 3
Move:12 ground/12 fly
Challenge Level/XP : 15/2,900
 These planar creatures are the remains of a long vanished alien civilization that now wander the intergalactic byways of the universe. They are drawn to the most dire moments of a planet's history or often when a meta plague is about to break out across a star system. These awful creatures come to sup on the spirits of  the  dead & spread misery across universe.
They are pathetic creatures accompanied by 1d6 giant bat like alien things that collect around them telling them of their next victims.They travel with them in a weird symbiotic relationship. 
The monsters are greedy eats & will hover around areas of particularly hot activities of disease & death waiting for the next victim to fall. Just to feed on the spiritual remains. 
The appearance of these monsters is always accompanied by the sound of tinkling bells. The sound simply seems to float on the wind. 
These miserable creatures move from world to world & are often worshiped in the lowest strata of the intergalactic underworld. The promise freedom from poverty, misery, & disease. For a time they do fulfill their promise. They often bring with them "treasure" from the worlds that come from. Some valuables or baubles taken from  here or there. These things are cursed with the death energies of their former owners & bring nothing but pain & grief with them. These items will either have a disease or a psychic residue that  will taint whatever it comes in contact with. Saving throws must be taken whenever coming in contact with these items. 
Those soul energies that they feed upon will be reduced to moth like creatures. These are sometimes stored in bell jar like devices that are hung at the sides of these monsters. There will be 1d8 random souls within these traps. Breaking the devices will free the soul. Once they have fed from a world these things will take flight into the solar winds once more to plunge from world to world. Locusts of death moving across the intergalactic gulfs
The monsters may be rebuked by clerics or psychics who possess the gifts of healing.
These bastards may be banished by the planar energies of healing which will cause a psychic synaptic reaction within their bodies. This will do 1d4 points of damage each time such practices are used. They may be driven off for a time this way.


The Crearea - The Flying Jackals of Death
 

Type : Monstrous Hybrid
Armor Class:7 (12)
Hit Dice: 2-3 
Attacks : Bite (1d10) 
Saving Throw:13 
Special:  Major Disease Carrier
Move: 4/18 (when flying) 
Challenge Level/XP 5/240 
These hateful humanoid alien hybrid beings always accompany their masters plunging from world to world to feed upon the healthy & living. They carry the most hateful diseases & there is a 50% of them carrying such nasty & alien diseases! Many worlds have a 400 credit bounty upon them. Red Death, zombie plague, necrophagic reaction syndrome, are only a few of the things that these monsters carry.
Those who have truck with these wretched things are often taken burned lynch mob style if found out. Yet time & again these monsters are found within the company of one or another cult. A special variation of the Summon Monster spell or the Call Creature From Beyond psychic power may be used to call these horrid things from beyond the pales of space & time. Do so at your own peril!

Heroes & Magic By Eldritch Enterprises, LLC Reviewed & Revisited Again.

"A collection of fantasy short stories from noted fantasy game designers and authors James M.Ward, Frank Mentzer, Christopher Clark, and Tim Kask.  Walk with an elf masquerading as a human, discover the story behind Lich Dungeon and The False Prints, explore the world of Tim Kask and much, much more.  This anthology is guaranteed to entertain you for more than a few trips on the plane." 

Since I've been reviewing all of the products by Eldrith Enterprises lately. I thought I would revisit one of their first offerings that happened my way. The pdf of Heroes & Magic is big & clocks in at 311 pages. There are 17 stories  in all. The stories run from very interesting to plan weird. There's something that really needs to be explained about these. 

The stories are preludes to some of the mysteries of the campaign world that's lurking in behind the scenes in  

Eldritch Enterprises worlds. 

  There are metric ton of James Ward's efforts here from Smallish Chamber of Doom to The Luck of The Dauntless. Each story hints at a separate element to his on going world/campaign. These stories might shed some light on his design work for upcoming products. Their entertaining, retro, & somewhat nasty in a way. There are some elements for the DM to lift from for a campaign background. Mr. Ward is one of the most prolific authors for this book. If there is a tone for the Ward efforts it would be Rpg old school adventurer. 

There's only one story from the pen of Tim Kask & I'm a bit disappointed that there wasn't more. The story When Bhanas Fly is coming of age story which reveals lots of little details about the Burning Sands region of his world. The story is short, sweet, & to the point. An enterprising DM could well use it as a Jump off point for an encounter or adventure. 

  There are metric ton of James Ward's efforts here from Smallish Chamber of Doom to The Luck of The Dauntless. Each story hints at a separate element to his on going world/campaign. These stories might shed some light on his design work for upcoming products. Their entertaining, retro, & somewhat nasty in a way. There are some elements for the DM to lift from for a campaign background. Mr. Ward is one of the most prolific authors for this book. If there is a tone for the Ward efforts it would be Rpg old school adventurer. 

There's only one story from the pen of Tim Kask & I'm a bit disappointed that there wasn't more. The story When Bhanas Fly is coming of age story which reveals lots of little details about the Burning Sands region of his world. The story is short, sweet, & to the point. An enterprising DM could well use it as a jump off point for an encounter or adventure. 

 Chris Clark's three efforts reveal bits & pieces of the ideas behind some of his adventures & offers a glimpse into the mind at work behind Forrest of Deceit. 

JF Mentzer's efforts round out the book. They really give some cool pieces of background, little hints here & there about things in the upcoming campaign universe of the Ohio based company.  

Using Heroes & Magic In An OSR Setting 


With any book of fiction or fantasy the bottom line for the book is, " Is there enough material here to create a campaign or adventure over the long haul." The answer is yes. The authors know their stuff. There's enough here that's different to add to the old school material already available from Drivethru rpg.
Is the material gameble & able to create memorable or usable NPCs from the characters presented in the story. The first time I read the book it wasn't clear where the authors were going with this. However after a second read through the answer is yes. The characters make excellent NPCs as jump off points for further adventures into the worlds of Eldritch.
 There's even enough within these stories to create a few interesting & entertaining combat situations.
The cost of the pdf is 8.00 but for a 311 page book that's not bad. I personally want a paper copy  but I'm very old fashioned that way. My only complaint if you want to call it that is that I wanted more on Mr. Kask's world.
I'm still peeved at Mr. Mentzer's dungeon for killing my PC but all things heal with time. Pick this one up if you enjoy old school fantasy/gaming material. We don't have Dragon magazine anymore but this will do in the meantime.
 You can find Heroes & Magic right Here
Still not convinced that this is a good anthology of short stories? Want to know more? Hmm well how about the chance for more background & insight into it by reading some of the notes of James Ward & the story SMALLISH CHAMBER OF DOOM
You can read the whole thing right over Here

Heroes & Magic 311 pages by Frank Mentzer, Tim Kask, Jim Ward and Chris Clark

New/Old Blog Dark Corners Of Role Playing For October

A couple of months ago I was trying to get another old school blog about horror role playing up but between work & everything else, it never came off. This was then & now's a different time. So I've been able to resurrect the idea & move forward with the content.
The Dark Corners of Role Playing has its first entry up. This is going to be another OSR blog concentrating on the horror & dark fantasy elements of our hobby.
Go check it out right Here

Maniac Monday - 1d10 Planet Dinosaurs Random Encounter Table For Your Favorite Old School Space Opera

Planet of Dinosaurs is an great old fashioned grind house movie. Its the type of film so bad its good. The basic plot goes something like this from wiki :

After a mechanical failure aboard the spaceship Odyssey, Captain Lee Norsythe (Louie Lawless) is forced to crash land on a planet with atmosphere and conditions much like that of Earth, although it is many light-years away. As the ship sinks into the lake that it landed in, communications officer Cindy (Mary Appleseth) realizes that she forgot the radio in the ship and attempts to retrieve it, with the assistance of fellow crew-member Chuck (Chuck Pennington). En route, Cindy is attacked and killed by an unidentified aquatic creature, prompting Chuck to return to shore without the radio.

Realizing that they are stranded, the remaining eight people aboard the ship decide that survival is their primary goal and begin to explore the planet that they have landed on. Derna Lee (Derna Wylde) quickly loses one of the laser guns that Mike (Max Thayer) had given her, leaving the stranded individuals with one less weapon. They eventually come across a Brontosaurus, which leads them to deduce that the planet is following a similar evolutionary track as Earth, but is millions of years younger. Later, Charlotte (Charlotte Spear) determines that the plant life, especially the berries, is poisonous. After another dinosaur encounter, Lee decides that the best option is to climb the mountains and reach a higher plateau, where he believes the large creatures will be unable to reach them

During the ascent, Nyla (Pamela Bottaro) slips and loses the entire supply of food rations, which Lee refuses to retrieve. In a cave higher up the mountain, Vice-President of Spaceways Incorporated Harvey Baylor (Harvey Shain) discovers a nest full of eggs. After stealing an egg, Harvey is attacked and killed by a Centrosaurus. Soon after, much to ship engineer Jim's (James Whitworth) dismay, Lee decides to halt the expedition and settle at what he considers to be a defensible area. Lee expects to hold out until they are rescued, but Jim believes them to be trapped forever on the planet, and advises that they begin a new civilization. Lee triumphs and the remaining crew begin to build a defensive stockade around a cave. After a few more encounters, including a giant spider and an Allosaurus, a large Tyrannosaurus arrives and kills Derna, demolishing the stockade in the process.

The crew finally agrees with Jim that the best way to survive is to kill the predator. Their first plan, devised by Lee, is to attempt to poison the dinosaur by smearing berries on a dead Polacanthus and leave it outside of the Tyrannosaurus's lair. The plan backfires when the beast attacks from behind, killing Mike. Jim's plan is to set up large, wooden stakes and coat them in the poison, then lure the predator into them. After some initial troubles, including a fight between the T. rex and Rhedosaurus, the plan works, killing theTyrannosaurus, which nearly takes Jim with it.

Years pass and the survivors have set up an agricultural settlement. Chuck and Charlotte now have a son.
Charlotte wonders if they will ever be rescued, to which Nyla comments that it does not seem important anymore.

Watch it Here

1d10 Random Encounter Table For The Lost Planet 

1. 1d8  Brontosaurus  Herd 
2. Centrosaurus.
3. 1d4 Allosaurus hunting 
4. A group of  flightless herbivore dinosaurs species unknown 1d4 3 hit points each good eating stock 
5. A group of  cantankerous Polacanthus 1d4  30% of attacking 
6. Diabolically smart  large Tyrannosaurus with double the normal hit points. Will stalk & kill members of the party. 
7. Rhedosaurus on the hunt able to track prey over a 5 mile area. Has none of the special abilities of the mutant strain 
   
   
   8.  Smaller Gojira strain out hunting prey. 60% of attacking 
   9. A Gorgo & baby hunting for prey & are very hungry 70% of attacking. 5 hit points for the mother. 2 for the baby 
   10. A flock Q_-_The_Winged_Serpents move quickly over head & the sky is filled with the cries of these terrible monsters. 70% of attack.

 Using Planet Of Dinosaurs For Your OSR Game 

Planet of Dinosaurs might as well be set right within the Star Trek universe or a similar timeline. The technology of the Odyssey is made from the same thing as hundreds of other '70s grind house pictures. This also means its easily adaptable to your favorite retro clone game 

 The encounter table is done tongue firmly in cheek & I'm not going to tell you that this isn't a horrible movie.The whole thing is worth watching for the stop motion. The characters in this are victims waiting to happen but the ideas put forth are notible for two reasons. One this is is an artificial planet seeded long ago by your favorite ancients. Two this easily works as an Isle of  Dread in Space.

With Star Ships & Spacemen second edition coming out & Terminal Space already out the idea of a planet where you can set your favorite lost world adventure is very appealing.The Isle of Dread is meant to introduce players and Dungeon Masters familiar with only dungeon crawl-style adventures to wilderness exploration. THe same can be done with Planet of Dinosaurs. This movie/adventure idea works on a number of levels allowing the DM to set the difficulty for the PCs as needed. 
The planet can be used as a base for a villain or as a location based adventure. Even as a Stars Without Number middle group between the gonzo & serious tones of  old school space adventure.
Further the planet might serve as a duck blind in space where your favorite alien god race has hidden a dungeon 22 mile long below the core. The chooses for adventure aren't too limited with the situation even if the movie isn't the greatest. The concept is still worth looking into in my opinion as a DM.