Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex: Core Rulebook

by Joseph Goodman

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 drove 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 the planet of Cretasus. Dinosaur 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 Broncosaurus Rex. Your character could be a bronco rider, riding the dinosaurs for ranchers, farmers, the military, or pure adventure. You could be a 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! This book uses the 3.0 edition of the d20 rules set, and is fully compatible with the world’s most popular role playing game.

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t help thinking that Goodman found a box of old plastic toys, some confederates, dinosaurs, cowboys and sci-fi weapons mixed together, and wanted to play with them. Then he made this into a D20 RPG and lived happily ever after.
The game is really loads of fun, though there are some things not totally in line with the D20 rules system (due to unfamiliarity, probably, his later steampunkfantasy Dragonmech doesn’t suffer from this). The tech-level mechanic may actually some use in other games (“Yes he found a shotgun, but your lizardman barbarian is just too backward to grasp it’s intention.”)
My only serious problem with the game are the ethics involved with eating dinosaurs of near-human intelligence.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
The system is interesting, and the art is plentiful and beautiful, even in black and white. Mechanically, it's tied too close to the OGL, it would benefit from its own unique mechanics, as well as being more explicit about what rules its relying on. There are many statements like "unlike normal humans, characters don't get an extra feat" that, without context, make no sense.

The game also has a pro-confederacy slant that is pronounced and problematic. I'm also not convinced that the game is balanced against itself, it's certainly not balanced against 3.0 rules and classes.


I don't know if this is intentional or just unfortunate wording, but the implication is clear.

That said, there's a lot of good here. Tech levels are an interesting mechanic, but the ties to D&D need to be cut for this system to shine. There's a great opportunity to merge those tech levels with simplified craft rules, addressing one of the most common criticisms of D&D - that its craft system feels tacked on.

It's a shame that the "cool" dinosaurs are for high level of play, while the custom classes don't seem to provide benefits beyond starting level. This kind of imbalance makes it unclear exactly what level of play the system aims at, and makes it harder to get to what should be the core mechanic -- bringing iconic dinosaurs to the RPG table. Genre-wise, there's a lot of potential for good with western+dinos, even space western + dinos, but this game is not the best execution of that setting.

I would love to see more specialized mechanics for mechs, specific alien races (or none at all), special rules for lassoing and dino riding (entangling for lassos is a good start, but that's really all it is). Really, the mechs ("ironclads") are more flavor than substance (a good summary for the book as a whole), as there are rules for performing actions like jumping and righting a fallen ironclad, but just a passing mention to fighting in them, with a promise that rules will be further expanded on "in future supplements" (research shows it is probably the Cretasus Adventure Guide).

[Superman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is a nice book because sounds good.