Fantastic! A great system for use with Traveller or Cepheus engine. Any expansions in the works for this product?

This is a great setting idea product from a wonderful publisher. A GM could get a lot of miles from this one product.

It you are running Traveller or a Cepheus Engine based game, either could use this product.

I am glad I picked this one up. :-)

I own the first edition and this one brought more, new content to the table. I love how Zozer Games creates and builds their products. This is well worth the price. I recommend this to anyone trying to play Traveller or Cepheus solo.

Review updated: 5/5 Stars. Mr. Elliott can’t be accused of being unresponsive to customers' comments and criticisms. I provided this initial review of his product and dinged him on several points. I was upset about the lackluster cover, and he updated it with new cover art, including a spaceship, which I was disappointed to find missing from my original PDF purchase. The table of contents and index issues haven’t been addressed yet; however, having played with these rules some more, I find this shortened rule set really doesn’t suffer as much from those missing items as I originally suggested. Finally, I purchased a print version of these fine rules and got the spaceship cover art I always wanted, and I am very happy with it, indeed.

Original review (4/5 Stars): Unfortunately, my PDF version of these rules didn’t come with the cool spaceship on the cover, but rather an underwhelming planet with rings motif (e.g., Saturn). Honestly, the spaceship cover is what initially drew me to this product, so that’s a bummer to begin with. Further bummed, the marginal table of contents was missing hyperlinked page numbers and there is no index. I thought the early placement of the tech levels table was odd until the following section on “setting” referenced various TLs a lot, so it’s a good thing TLs were introduced early on.

The following section on characters was solid, with an ample 12-step character creation checklist. These rules consist of six characteristics, six careers, and 24 skills, amongst other things. Several techniques are introduced to speed up character creation. For example, the author provides number strings (basically 42-point buy) for determining characteristic values (no die-rolling here). This process culminates with the familiar hexadecimal UPP code.

Task/skill difficulties aren’t the expected 8+ for everything. The referee is encouraged to establish a difficulty rating from 2 to 12, depending on the presumptive challenge of whatever is being attempted. When in doubt, it is suggested that the referee roll 2d6 to establish a challenge rating at random. Unskilled penalties, multi-skill requirements, opposed rolls, and characteristic rolls are all within the scope of these abbreviated rules (much like Classic Traveller).

The section on combat deals fairly and simply with initiative, surprise, movement, time, range, terrain, grappling, auto fire, throwing things, aiming, reloading, injuries, medical attention, armor, robots, sensors, damage repair, etc. Rules for simultaneous, melee, ranged, vehicular, and starship combat abound.

Spaceflight procedures cover crew requirements, skimming fuel, travel times, passenger options, spacecraft operations, misjumps, finances, buying and selling speculative cargo, and more.

Shipbuilding rules consist of a 17-item checklist consisting of displacement tons, hull size, drives, power plants, fuel, computers, artificial gravity, ship’s fittings and weaponry, final design notes, etc. For those who prefer premade vessels, 21 historic and new ships are outlined and discussed over 6 or 7 pages.

The equipment section dives into a broad range of weapons, armor, vehicles, tools, gear, and various other accessories to keep travelers active in gameplay and engaged in pursuit of their goals for a long time to come.

Although I’m not interested in any treatment of psionics (space magic), the author dedicates 4 to 5 pages to the subject to keep those Referees and Players interested and engaged.

Worlds and star mapping are adequately covered over the next 7 to 8 pages. Animals and encounters follow up over the next 5 to 6 pages. Solo gaming enthusiasts will be pleased to note a section of solo rules that takes up the next 10 pages. A setting, the Autonomous Region, is designed and outlined over the following 11 or 12 pages. Much of this seems to be a repeat of material provided elsewhere in the Zozer lineup, but I think it is good and appropriate to be included here as well.

Appendix 1 covers the optional random (dice-rolling) character (and NPC) generation method. Appendix 2 covers supplementary planet/star system generation methods and materials for generating extra detail to keep travelers engaged in whatever setting a referee places them in.

The product is rounded out with various forms (character sheet, ship sheet, star system sheet), blank and filled hex grid maps, legal notice/game license, and artwork. If I counted correctly, 10 black and white, non-AI pieces of art tastefully decorate these rules.

These 2d6 retro sci-fi rules have turned out to be precisely where I wanted and needed them to be – not too much nor too little. At 91 pages in length, this ruleset isn’t as comprehensive as Cepheus Universal, clocking in at 443 pages, or the Clement Sector Core Rules at 673 pages. Conversely, Retro Sci-Fi Rules provides much more detail IMHO than Cepheus Atom, Quantum Starfarer, etc. While each 2d6 sci-fi ruleset has its sweet spot (rules-heavy, rules-lite, rules ultralight), I think I might have found my GOAT 2d6 sci-fi ruleset in Zozer’s Retro Rules (individual results will, of course, vary).

Happy gaming!

Clash of Steel 2e is genuinely fantastic! Lightweight rules that still have enough to feel interesting, loads of roll tables (including tons of fully-drawn maps!), and an excellent solo section. The magic is interesting and, unlike most games that claim this, is actually rare and dangerous. It evokes the Swords & Sorcery genre perfectly, and both the setting that’s included and the setting creation tools fit that genre exactly as they should. Highly, highly recommended!

Lots of good items in this to make your own colony that can be nearly system-neutral, or for various stories. It has rough guides for a breakdown of colony jobs, with a 3-step scale from small to large colonies.

Does the publisher have a forum where I can add some detail comments about it? For example, the Greenhouse and Hydroponic Autofarms are the same cost per Food produced, meaning there is no reason to have just Greenhouse Autofarms. Similarly, the Large Underground Mine is a better investment than the Small or Open-Cast Mine.

One of the best (and there are very few!) caveman based games ever written! A personal favorite and a background and world lore I would use for any prehistoric game. The subject is taken seriously and yet made in a way that would be fun to play.

I’m not crazy about the ‘stones-as-dice’ concept because really, caveman could just have easily used dice! But otherwise a must-have for prehistoric RPG fans!

This review is for the 39-page A5 PDF booklet version. I find this version easier to read on my preferred device.

First, I am new to sci-fi TTRPGs, having spent the last 40 years playing, almost exclusively, fantasy TTRPGs. Basic or Classic Traveller has only recently been brought to my attention. I have had no other exposure to sci-fi TTRPGs to date. I purchased a POD copy of the Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition and paired it with this free setting offered by Paul Elliot of Zozer Games in an attempt to help me flesh out the core rules. I have no desire to immerse myself in the Third Imperium (Official Traveller Universe) setting.

This product has a sufficient, albeit not hyperlinked, table of contents. There is no index, but a robust reference section (library data) draws the reader’s attention to almost 20 films, books, gaming supplements, and blogs to help round out one’s perception of this setting as envisioned by Paul. Minimal black and white Alien-esque (perhaps AI-generated) artwork is sprinkled within for flavor. There appears to be an image of a mining platform from or alluding to the 1981 film Outland starring Sean Connery. Various service and organizational badges are depicted to help set the in-game tone and feel. Sufficient backstory is provided to paint a vivid picture of the officers and organizations of the Outworld Authority and the Autonomous Region. A wonderfully detailed subsector map is offered to help get one started in either solo or supervised play. Sufficient explanation and reasoning are provided where deviation from the core rules is suggested for tonal alignment to the dark, gritty, blue-collar subsector Paul depicts.

Mr. Elliot packs a lot within these pages, covering topics such as creating characters, extra military small arms for flavor, combat mods, fighting xenomorphs (reticulan parasites), minor adjustments to starship rules, world generation, patrons, rumor tables, and culminates with 6-7 pages of library data in this version of this product. All in all, it is a tremendous offering at this price point. So much creativity and imagination has been packed into such a small bundle.

Many thanks to Paul Elliot of Zozer Games and his website for additional gaming material. May your future endeavors be blessed. Good luck, and happy gaming. May all your dice rolls be favorable.

Playing Solo Classic Traveller (PSCT) is an absolute godsend. I have wanted to try solo role-playing and a new TTRPG system simultaneously, and pairing Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition by GDW with this product has allowed me to do so. The learning curve for both products has been steep, as I had no experience with the genre beforehand, but the result has made it all worthwhile.

I must confess that PSCT is a real gem of a supplement, IMHO. At 25 pages, it has everything I wanted and needed for my maiden voyage into solo sci-fi role-playing. It is well-written and nicely enhanced with a smattering of B&W artwork. All the random tables mesh nicely with those provided in the facsimile edition of rules to inspire solo adventures and gameplay. Incorporating a blank character sheet, an 8x10 subsector map, and a 14x17 sector map is thoughtful. The suggested sequence of play and final play loop has afforded me hours of solo play without the need for any other material. If, however, one wishes to augment this basic sci-fi solo game, the author makes several recommendations for other books, supps, etc., to enhance one’s enjoyment.

Paul Elliott has written an excellent solo play supplement for Classic Traveller and its many Cepheus variants. One could just as easily pair this tome with other iterations of the 2d6 sci-fi TTRPG and get equally pleasing solo results.

Well done, Mr. Elliot. Thank you for this useful solo supp. If you, as a player, are interested, Mr. Elliot has other solo rulebooks that build off of and add tremendously to this product. Individual results may, of course, vary.

Excellent and well thought out game. You can run a sleek Cyberpunk game with minimal prep and minimal character creation.

I'm on the lookout for streamlined/rules-lite style RPGs these days since game time and my brain capacity after long work days are in short supply. Recently, I told my players I wanted to switch to a sword & sorcery style game and have been reviewing different systems for that genre while looking for rules simple to pick up quickly. While I really liked Barbarians of Lemuria, it has a few quirks that I felt slowed down play. Clash of Steel addresses those and I also enjoy the built in solo play procedure. I'm glad I took the chance on this game and hope more people will do the same.

Very good rules-light sword and sorcery system. I prefer it to BOL (really) and Sword of Cepheus, has faster combat than either, and improvised magic system is less work for better results.

This is a wonderful and immediately useful book that outlines the procedures for hauling cargo in the Hostile universe. It's pretty usable for any other science fiction game as well - just change the planet/destination tables.

It also comes with a very good 1,000 ton cargo hauler spaceship with deck-plans.

Along with a large selection of random tables and some great rules for loading and unloading cargo (something missing from every other sci-fi game about hauling stuff to other planets) this is a very useful supplement.

You should be aware that this is NOT an adventure exactly - this is a dirty, dull job. But a great way to get players to the adventure while they're doing it!

Highly recommended and a permanent part of may sci-fi games and GM toolkit! Thanks!

Overall, I liked this book. If you like the Zozer setting, you should still pick up this book if you plan to have characters visit Earth for any real length of time.

A fun and spooky scenario that exceptionally easy to run. It's only weakness is that it wasnt designed the Pioneer station or an Orbital or something with an already existing map and it's a little fuzzy about whether the players can retreive the 'treasure' in the station. Both minor fixes and I would recommend this.