BLOWN AWAY!! and it's free!.

Nice to have , adds more technical information to the Hostile game, obviously!

I must say that the main Hostile Rpg manual is one of the best rpg things I've read in a long time eaily within the top 1%.( Zibatsu by the same guy is very good aswell) It fully realises the 80's retro feel of the sci fi movies of the time , especially the Dan Obannon vision of the Alien tech universe.

I do hope the author will continue expanding the hole Hostile line (Tau Setti war expansion?) , with the same attention to quality and detail.

If he does I'l continue buying and supporting his stuff.

It is very rare to find this level of quality in Sci Fi books.

Long may this line continue!.

The problem with Aliens (and vampires) is that everyone has seen the movies and knows a lot about how to kill them. If you'd like to include something similar in your RPG, but don't want the players to use that understanding to beat the creatures too easily, this has some useful variations you can use. It comes with a good scenario to use and a nice set of colony plans and maps.

Bottom line up front: I wanted something to go along with blackpowder fantasy for Cepheus Engine. This is a perfect fit. Good history of the blackpowder firearm and how it informs the use of such weapons. The rules are light and easy to implement. Equipment includes arquebuses to percussion cap revolvers, petards, and cannons. Short, sweet, to the point. Can't beat the price or the product. Fully recommend.

An extemely useful little addition to the "Hostile" rpg setting. Not only do we get details of a small, adapatable space station of a type which players could encounter in many different loactions, we also get a scenario showing precisely how well one can be used in the game. Additionally (and almost as useful) we get the stats for a (comparatively) small starship, a 5000 ton Platform Supply Vessel that can carry a combination of dry cargo, liquid volatiles and passengers. Specifically noted as the sort of vessel used for cargo runs to distant outposts and isolated stations it makes an ideal character ship for getting it's crew into dangerous situations. Would love to see an illustration and deckplan.

If you'd rather reach for the shotgun than the phaser in your sci-fi rpgs then this is definately the product for you. The combination of the easy-playing Cepheus engine system (rooted in the old favourite of the classic "Traveller" game) and a background that draws heavily on the grungy industrial science fiction of the 80s works beautifully to present a gritty, nuts and bolts feel. It goes a great job of both putting humans at the centre of the action and reminding them just how extremely dangerous this brave new frontier is. A very appropriately named game and a welcome alternative to the shiny utopias and improbable technologies of many other rpgs in the overall genre.

The xenomorph is a well-known and terrifying monster. However, because of its fame, most players will be familiar with the creature and it's capabilities and few weaknesse. Alien Breed gives a GM lots of variations on the xenomorph and will remind players why they are scared of the dark.

If you play Cepheus Engine or Mongoose Traveller and you want to surprise your players with a certain iconic alien lifeform, this is the supplement to get. The book details a variety of "evoled" xenomorphs, that is, they have new features that make them a little different then the stock aliens. This includes some which breathe fire, other which create spores, or others which are puppeteers. Each one has a full explanation of their lifecycle and the game stats you need to terorrize your unsuspecting adventurers. It also includes a small 40-50 person mining colony which is being terorrized by the aliens. It has full maps and stats for the colony and colonists. I highly recommend it.

Zozer Games' HOSTILE is an RPG that wears it's influences proudly on it's sleeve, and it's beautifully crafted for the job. It's also phenomenally good value for money. ALIEN BREEDS continues the trend, and addresses the only criticism that I have of HOSTILE - that it needed more monsters. The array of lifeforms presented are both familiar enough that players will enjoy the nostalgia, and unfamiliar enough that they'll present a genuine challenge. The colony setting included is invaluable, a resource that the GM will be able to use over and over in a variety of HOSTILE adventures. Impressive work from Paul Elliott, yet again.

Highly recommended.

I'm part of an experienced RPG group in Kazakhstan. I love the setting for this, and the game mechanic is easy and straight-forward. I enjoy crunchy games, too, but we used Zaibatsu for a 4-hour one-shot. By strategically selecting portions of the book to print, I was able to put together materials that the players could use to make their characters and play without prior knowledge of the game. PC generation took about 20 minutes. The game went great! I used the beginning mission included in the book. The players, as usual for our group, managed to completely avoid the direction they were supposed to go. But, with some ad hoc additions to the game, things went fine. I followed the designer's suggestion of keeping combat frequent and deadly. I also added new NPC's on-the-fly (I introduced the Makita assassin as a "femme fatale," and put her and her team earlier in the game, then had them have a shoot-out with the PC's for the climax). But, again, this was easy to do given the easy game mechanic. The players loved the setting and the fast-pace of the game!

Keep in mind that the game's modified Cepheus engine was easier for me than for some gamers in that I was already familiar with Traveller. The book has a few typos, but I'll address one of these on the discussion thread.

We're planning to use Zaibatsu for a local con on Saturday.

I do recommend this game!

This book provides an incredibly rich setting for human exploration of star systems relatively close to Earth made possible by massive corporations searching for profits and raw materials while consuming the hardworking lives of countless technicians, explorers, and agents. Although outerspace is mostly void, HOSTILE describes a universe filled with heavy machinery, grease, and blood. It intentionally offers a retro (1980s) SF vison, but players and GM interested in an updated (but equally dark) vision could add certain technologies (e.g. widespread wireless access) according to their preferences.

Having long been a fan of the original Traveller RPG, I was intrigued enough to download this supplement for the Cepheus Engine rules and I have to say I’m glad I did.

This short pdf provides a slightly altered task resolution system, but the majority of the page count is taken up with an overhaul of the combat system. This greatly simplifies the Cepheus Engine rules and tries (and succeeds) at recreating the very free-form nature of original Traveller combat. Its also great to see a version of Andy Slack’s excellent vehicle combat rules included here (originally published in White Dwarf in the 1980s).

Although these rules are probably not to everyone’s taste, if you’re a fan of those original ‘little black books’ and want to give your Cepheus Engine games that OSR feel, the 1970s 2d6 Retro Rules are well worth a look.

Komban-wa, ronin. If you are a hardwired street samurai, if your eyes are always bathed in neon reflected from rain-slicked streets, if your skeleton is laced with titanium, or if you dream of electric sheep, this game is for you. Zaibatsu is a complete cyberpunk game based on the Cepheus Engine. The characters all work for a multinational conglomerate (nicknamed ‘zaibatsu’). As such, the character creation process is a bit different than usual for a Traveller setting -- characters have "concepts," not careers (street samurai, organ legger, maverick cop, ninja, etc.). Each concept comes with one skill and one piece of equipment. You get a few extra skills for a high Edu stat. The employer pays for retrogenics, cyberware or genetic alterations, which are detailed in the book. Finally, you start with a handgun and a radio headset and 4,000 yen. The standard PC here is a young, fresh out of training hired-gun or technician, solving problems for their employer.

The book includes a stripped down version of Cepheus Engine, meaning personal and vehicular combat is included, but ships and ship design are not. The focus is on street combat, with androids, robots, and vehicular combat getting a good treatment. These rank as Tiny, Small or Large and as Softskin, Light Armor or Heavy Armor. Three figures are given for a variety of vehicles; Armor Points, Disable Value, and Destruction Value. Armor points are subtracted from the damage of an attack. The damage is then inflicted on the vehicle (and added to previous damage suffered by it). When this total reaches the Disable or Destruction Value then the referee describes the consequences. There's stats for heavy weapons in the book, and the combat's go fast and lethal. It's very free-form, but also easy to use and fun. If things go bad, the PCs can be

The setting is in the Japan of 2100, a timeline much the same as the one outlined in Zozer's other game, Hostile. However, whereas Hostile deals mostly with the frontier worlds, Zaibatsu is about life in flashy, high-tech world of Japan. There are lots of details on the technology of the classic cyberpunk era, on money, and places to eat and shop. The author has created a setting that feels fast and claustrophobic, and though it focuses on Japan, the description works just as well for Los Angelos, say. Sa the book says, "take the broad brushstrokes that Gibson used to create that dystopian Japanese setting and create a living, vibrant world, detailed, immersive, exciting, dangerous, fashionable and also seedy" This a world without cellphones, using old school tech as it was envisioned in the 1970s and 1980s -- vidphones, no wireless computing, and instead of an internet, you have a datanetwork and cyberspace. And yes, the game includes rules for cyberdecks and playing in cyberspace, hacking, and so forth. The book includes descriptions of all the major zaibatsu and the yakuza.

If you are looking for something that is fast, easy to use, and captures the essence of the 80's cyberpunk books and films, this is it.

Admission of bias from the jump: I provided suggestions on the superheroes section back in 2003 and am credited in the book.

I have been a long-time fan of this game. Super simple, requires no prep, and is all resolved on a single d6. With this system I've written a Final Fantasy, Minecraft, Fallout, Harry Potter, and even a stand-alone space genre for my kids. I'd love to see a 'fan setting' page set up somewhere for people to populate with character 'sheets' and suggested skill lists per genre.

For free this is a great rules-lite system. My only issue is I prefer games with dice pools, but that's easily worked around.

If you want a gritty and edgy setting that feels dangerous and grungy from the first page, this book is the LV-426 you've been looking for.

This is a retro-80's setting, ala Aliens or Bladerunner -- no smartphones and no nanotechnology, heavy on the industrial grunge, corporate oppression, and conniving criminal syndicates. It really feels like the classic sci-fi of that era, and includes extensive world and organizationl information. You've got colonial marines, military contractors, miners, work-a-day joes fit for the moons of Jupiter, and yes, androids as PCs. (The series 110 are the heavy combat chassis, indeed.) The technology of the setting is fully fleshed out, including plenty of guns, armor, vehicles (from Aliens exoskeleton loaders and APCs to Bladerunner-style hovercars), and a ship design system for large and small craft that has a lot of setting appropriate flavor and details (Nostromo-style tugs, USCM dropships, one-man lifepods).

The game covers a description of the major players in the universe, and has plenty of maps to describe the world. You can drop your PCs right into it and just start playing. I liked the effort at creating company names and logos. It's very handy for waving your hand around as a GM and giving the impression of a deep background. However, Hostile is generic enough and familiar enough that honestly, you don't need to say much more than "you are a commerical shipping crew in hibernation when you are awakened because of a distress signal." And then watch your players fall apart. They know what's coming. And fortunately for the GM, there's a section of horror pacing and for creating exomorphs.

Note, that if you have Zaibatsu, the Japanese cyberpunk game by Zozer, then you'll see that Hostile plugs into that setting seamlessly. Whereas Zaibatsu is focused on cyberpunk Japan, Hostile is more industrial sci-fi, and seems more comfortable on the far away frontier. The two games share a common timeline. Rules-wise the two fit together nicely.

I have enjoyed re-connecting with Classic Traveller/Mongoose Traveller over the last few months through the Cepheus Engine. This product is a nice addition to those games, and provides a lot of bang for the buck.

The one con to the whole thing is no bookmarks for the pdf. For a 307 page book, that's a real pain. I did have some problems reading a few pages of the pdf in my chosen viewer, Sumatra, but it reads fine in Adobe.

Amazing wealth of information, and like all of the work tied to SOLO and their other publications, this is just a fantastic resource. Paul offers usable concise and inspiring insights into both how the UWP is often portrayed, and in expanding it to make worlds, and the situations and encounters, colorful, usable, and above all memorable. I cannot give this one enough praise.