Xenozoic Adventures: My free supplement for Cadillacs & Dinosaurs gaming

[Double W]

Here it is: The project I've been working on for the last week -
"Xenozoic Adventures," a free-to-download supplement for tabletop gaming in the world of Xenozoic Tales, aka Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. Link: http://sdrv.ms/18nwVQA

What is Cadillacs & Dinosaurs? Only my favorite comic, one that combines Jurassic Park with Indiana Jones and Mad Max. It is one of the best modern-day takes on pulp adventure out there.

In this 23-page supplement you will find:

* A summary of the world of the Xenozoic Era.
* Suggestions for gaming scenarios.
* A guide to different locations in the world, with suggestions for what terrain would best suit each location.
* Templates for different characters featured in the comic series.
* Stats for vehicles and a wide variety of prehistoric creatures.

You will need copies of Ganesha Game's Flying Lead, A Song of Blades and Heroes and A Song of Wind and Water to take full advantage of the supplement. That said, the material in the document is easy enough to adapt to other rule systems, if you wish to do that.

This is an unofficial, fan-made supplement. It does not reproduce any images or text from either the comic or Ganesha Games' rulesets. It can be shared freely but cannot be reproduced for sale or profit. Seriously, if you want to know more about Xenozoic Tales or Ganesha Games, buy their stuff.

I should point out this is very much a first draft. I'm sure things will change as I get more chances to play in the setting.

If nothing else, I hope this supplement inspires wider interest in Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. I would love to see an official rulebook someday with its own line of miniatures. For now, pick up the comics, which have been collected in Flesk Publication's Xenozoic: http://bit.ly/18mYkSX

[Cherno]

Excellent, I just read over it. This is one setting that might actually make me come back to miniature gaming (after dabbling in videogame programming for months). I'll read it through tomorrow, thanks a bunch for uploading it and here's hope that we see someone make a full game report out of it :]

[mikedemana]

I'll have to check it out...I'm a big fan of the Ganesha Games stable of products. Have you approached Andrea about marketing it? I am actually doing a French & Indian War stand-along supplement to Song of Drums & Shakos for him...

He likes quirky stuff, and this sounds like it'd fit the bill...!

Mike Demana

[Double W]

The thought of approaching him about this didn't even cross my mind. Licensing could be a sticky issue: Not only would a game company have to license the rights to Xenozoic Tales, but according to Wikipedia, General Motors holds the rights to "Cadillacs & Dinosaurs" and any commercial use involving the likeness of Cadillacs. I'm not sure a small company like Ganesha Games would have the resources to acquire the use of the title, or at least be willing to make the investment to publish a supplement for a comic that, admittedly, few people know about. (That's no knock on Ganesha Games. I'm just making the assumption Andrea is a shrewd businessman.)

Right now, by distributing it for free, Xenozoic Adventures falls under the same status as fan fiction. Plus this supplement has a LONG way to go. You're looking at only about a week's worth of work - I've done little playtesting, if you will. I don't consider that a big deal in this case because most of the stats for characters are only templates for other players to build on -- basically they're suggestions for what special rules would be appropriate for any given character. I do suggest some new rules for modeling dinosaur behavior but they are very minor. (And speaking of being a first draft, I've already found at least two grammar errors and one rather embarrassing misspelling since making the PDF public. I'll correct those in a future version.)

Again, my dream: An officially licensed ruleset for Xenozoic Tales supported by its own line of miniatures. Maybe this supplement will get that ball rolling? If nothing else, perhaps it would get more people to read the comic or play Ganesha Games products, which would be a win.

EDIT: That misspelling, corrected and a new PDF is now available. What was it? I misspelled Andrea's name! But changes made now.

[Doomsdave]

This is very cool.  I loved Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.  I even had at one time the short-lived RPG book and a TV tray. 

[Double W]

This is very cool.  I loved Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.  I even had at one time the short-lived RPG book and a TV tray. 

That RPG book? I have two copies: One for reading, and another one in mint conditions (carefully stored away.) I even own the cartoon series, just because I can, basically.