UFO Random Encounter Table For Your Retro Future Old School Game

UFO Random Encounter Table 1d10 

1. A Flaming Ball of Hot Plasma! Actually a 5 hit point Plasma Elemental With Flaming Tendrils of Hot Star Stuff That does 1d4 points of damage 
2. A Whirling Disco Light Light Show of  13 separate Alien Craft - Actually Time Travelers from  a strange  Prime Material Plane - Friendly 
3. 4 Small Silvery Organic Craft That Move At High Speed Will Attack With Lasers Doing 1d4 Points of Damage - A herd of alien transport animals 
4. 2 Balls of  Black & Green Energy  Will Attack With Neutron Energy Bursts doing 1d10 Points Of Damage - A Negative Planar Elemental Divided in 2. Very hostile 
5. A Flaming Green Object Moving Through The Sky - The Hulk Overdosed on Gamma Radiation -Any contact does 1d10 points of  radioactive damage. Roll for mutation 
6. A Strange green Glowing Pyramid - A Pyramid Of Time belonging to a very lost time traveler or a research mission. Will stun anyone they come across & collect them for transport to the 40th century 
7. A Green Glowing Egg Shaped Craft - This is an advanced scout craft for the greys. The ship is armed with antimatter cannons each doing 1d3 points of damage each shot. The ship also has a plasma screen for 1d10 points of flaming death. Very hostile 
8. An Orange Ball Of Fire Drains The Charges  From Any Magic Items Present - A magic leech life form from outside the local time space continuum. All Magic Items get a save but will be drained of all charges 
9. A Swirling Black Cubic Craft from Beyond The Blackest Hells - This craft will attack anyone present with hellfire blasts for 1d6 points of damage. This attack will by pass any armor present. A cleric may turn the craft as if it was undead. The thing will chill the very souls of those who witness it 
10. A squadron of WWII Air Force Flying Saucers! These airmen will attack with ray guns 1d4 points of damage & machine guns 1d6 points anyone they come across. Spells may help to calm them down. They crossed over in a fault in the time space continuum
    

Neutral Mass Weapons - A Black Code Weapon For Your Retro Future Old School Game

Neutral Mass Weapon 
This weapon  nails the target with an anti planar beam of high density Anti Zeta Rays causing horrific wounds.The effects aren't pretty doing 1d10 points of damage that only cure light wounds or better spells will heal. They have range of 200" though & can distort the local time space continuum 

Another affect the weapon has is the way it attacks the target, absorbing whatever light is in its path, increasing its power, then completely and fusing the opening and exit wounds.There are other qualities these weapons possess. 

1. The weapons is made of an undetectible material.
2. The weapon is illegal on Earth and because it was used only for Off-World combat.
3. They may only be purchased in some of the more exotic alien markets such as CH're & SEREW The so called Siren's World. 

These weapons show up in the hands of assassin droids,replicants, & far worse. They are also part of the standard armaments of some. 

These weapons have a black code against them on many worlds & have far reaching  time pollution issues. Many local areas are affected after long term wars where these types of weapons were used.
Finally the ammo for this weapon is expensive at 200 credits a piece for a clip of 10 rounds 

Local Random Time Pollution Effects Table 1d10 

1. Those with a 20" radius of the battle site must make a dex or saving throw or be sucked into the astral through a planar hole 
2. The local arrow of time is slightly bent & use must repeat any actions for 1d3 rounds before the action actually takes place 
3. Puddles of liquid time are here & there around the battle site anyone touching these clear, silvery liquid puddles must make a saving throw or be aged 1d20 years 
4. Planar Shredding The area has mirco planar fractures that do 1d8 points of damage to those caught in them! Bits & pieces are randomly teleported around the cosmos. There is a blue hazing effect when this happens 
5. The area creates a sphere of annihilation which will track anything within a  200 yard radius. Living things cause the sphere discomfort which it will try to remove asap 
6. Time crystals grow around the area causing weird rainbow time distortions lose 1d10 minutes, hours, days. The crystals can be harvested if you can get close to the electrical arches between them. 1d4 points of damage from each strike 
7. Toxic time spheres float in the air. They will reverse the aging process & erase 1d6 memories from your character unless a saving throw is made. Take your highest attribute & drop it by 1 point every 3 rounds. A lightning bolt can shatter these weird purple pink spheres! 
8. Undead Time Gnomes Out For Blood! 1d4 # appearing count as wights! Can be killed with fire or magic. 
9. The entire area within 1d100 yards has a zone of silence & antimagic around it. The place attracts mutant predators into it. Only a druid pure of heart may heal the land 
10. A combination of 1d3 above 

Retro Futuristic Jet Powered Trains For Your Old School Science Fantasy Games

Retro Futuristic Jet Powered Trains For Your Old School Science Fantasy Games 

 With retro futurism games like Fall Out New Vegas & its expansions the retro futurism movement is here to stay. Mutant Future & Gamma World live & die by some of the strange relic technology that surfaces from time to time. The train is one item that strangely seems to be ignored except for the occasional classic like Cavern of The Sub-Train. The occasional Thunddar The Barbarian cartoon with a steam locomotive. This all changes now!
These monster jet powered trains are possibly still running right now in some alternative universe. Each train has an armor class of 7 or better. They move at 183 mph or more. Each one of theses beasts requires some good solid maintenance down time as well. Between 1d10 hours of  maintenance & tender loving care.
The most advanced models have nuclear batteries or power plants with a half life of 300 years or better. These may also be Artificially Intelligence run or assisted requiring both ID & charisma rolls to gain confidence & assistance with. A 4 man crew or more are need to run these monsters. Botched rolls in operation & driving could have far reaching complications. Still as a means of transport these trains have substance & tons of style! They make a great addition to any retro future game as both relic & technology of a by gone era that never happened! All aboard! Stay Tuned for the second part of this article ! 


Original article found on Dark Roasted Blend Here


It's a Jet! It's a Train! It's M-497 





Something out of Buzz Lightyear's imagination, this jet-enhanced train car was tested (successfully) in the summer of 1966. This was the time when rail-road usage declined in America, as the interstate highway system completed its major routes and airlines drew increasing numbers of travelers. New York Central research team, led by Don Wetzel, was assigned a task to collect data on possible high-speed rail service and whether the tracks could handle high-speed passenger traffic.

You can read the account of the jet locomotive's test in this article, or check out a book"Flight of the M-497" by Hank Morris and Don Wetzel





"Wetzel and his crew adapted two General Electric J-47-19 jet engines, which had been designed as boosters for the Convair B-36 intercontinental bomber. These were mounted just above the engineer’s station at the front of the car. Wetzel’s original design had the jet engines at the rear, but this changed after his wife, making her point with some sketches on a dinner napkin, suggested that the locomotive would look better with them mounted up front. This switch also helped keep the nose of the locomotive on the tracks. The Cleveland shop fashioned a black streamlined cowling for the front of the Budd car, which was designated M-497. Workers called it the Black Beetle."



The tests have seen the M-497 flashing by at 183.85 miles per hour, a U.S. rail-speed record that stands to this day.



"Jet-powered Budd cars were never seriously considered for practical passenger service, and modern high-speed trains in France, Japan, England, and the United States all use conventional diesel-electric or all-electric motive power.

Wetzel and his team reused the jet engines for another research project, a high-powered snow blower for opening winter track. In tests at the Central’s Buffalo yards, the jet blower efficiently cleared the rails; it also blasted most of the ties and ballast from under them."



Images courtesy TrainWeb, NE Rainfan

UPDATE:

As it turns out, Russia also entered into the "Jet Train" race, with a similar prototype in 1970:



It had engines from a Yak-40 passenger jet plane and could go as fast as 249 km/h (only a little slower than an M-497). It remained only a prototype, possibly because of the conditions of the Russian railroads at the time.


(illustration from 1971 "TM" magazine)


2. This Locomotive Has Fins!

The M-497 was not the only experiment to find a way to draw ridership back to rails back in the 1960s. GM Aerotrain came closer to wide-spread use and is certainly more well-known today.




In the era of Harvey Earl's dreamy cars with the sweeping lines and fins, this locomotive fits right in.




"The Aerotrain is a streamlined trainset introduced by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in the mid-1950s. Like all of GM's great body designs of this mid-century era, this futuristic train was first brought to life in Harley Earl's GM Styling Section." (Wikipedia)
Designed along the lines of Buick LeSabre Futurama concept car, this railroad marvel was meant to capture the hearts of Space-age American public. It stayed in service till 1966.

Buick LeSabre:



The Aerotrain cars, based on GM bus designs and using an air cushioning system, were rough riding and not very comfortable for the passengers. O, but you could lose yourself at the rail-road crossings, staring at the streamlined forms ...



The Time magazine article in 1956 noted: "No plush-lined Cadillac of the rails, the Aerotrain was designed more like a stripped-down Chevvy." It even had the rear end design of the Fifties station wagon:



and the view of the cabin is very car-like:




"If we can build a railroad car to sell at half the price of present cars, and be operated at half the price, that's good for the railroads and good for G.M. too."
Such was the idea in 1956, but we all know how it ended.



Image Sources: Carofthe Century, NexusBoard


Other High-Speed Train visions: 

Pennsylvania Railroad S-1 locomotive, styled by Raymond Loewy. It was shown at the 1939 World's Fair (read more here):



"Sky-Train" (we will cover some high-speed trains in the next part of this article)



The bizarre "radio tube train" from Modern Mechanix:



Vacuum Tube Train ideas were quite popular in the 60s. The following two images are ultra-rare futuristic illustrations from Soviet "TM" magazine, published in 1967:





Here are a few Disney visions and vintage monorails, seen in Disneyland (late 50s versions):


(image credit: plan59)




(image credit: davelandweb)

We don't have much information about this concept. Any info would be appreciated: