Awesome setting! It is two years since Terra fought an alien race to a stand still, causing them to withdraw from the planets near Earth. I have stolen news articles from 1918 (spanish flu anyone??) and 1945-1950 to give more background events.

We started off with a group of salvage experts (rogues) who mostly dealt with humans, and then needed more information, so slowly started to interact with aliens - who are more than just clever dogs and cats. The aliens are good - well described and fun to run as GM. Not sure i want aliens as PCs as too hard to get right.

I am introducing many more sentient races (read clever monsters) and hazards (read monters and nasty plants) on the nearby stars for the hapless players to enjoy. I have limited Terra's tech to 10, Jump-1, so that players cannot go just anywhere, and it kind of feels like they have to 'hug the coast' :-) Anything above that (including Jump 2) is stolen tech. Players can only do J2 on a transporter ship, which has reduced their desires to be wanton criminals as they are easy to spot when waiting for a highliner to turn up. And it means that there is lots of alien tech just sitting around waiting to be acquired for Terra (hurar!!) - and boffens will pay nicely for it.

As per other reviews of mine, i am also including disco from Retro Stars, and simple characters from Space Aces.

"These Stars Are Ours is a space-opera setting for the Cepheus Engine Core Rules and other 2D6 OGL SciFi games. Set in 2260 AD - two years after the Terrans took Keid and forced the Reticulan Empire to capitulate the book it introduces the player characters to the immediate aftermath of the Terran victory in the Terran Liberation War against the mighty Reticulan Empire and its many thralls. For their part, the upstart Terrans, bolstered by their victory against their old masters, now move to become a power to be reckoned with in interstellar affairs. Against this background of espionage, maneuvering, and saber-rattling, and on the new interstellar frontiers, the player characters can forge a destiny of heroes or villains of the new United Terran Republic. The book provides all the astrography and background necessary to set a sci-fi campaign in the exciting times of the 23rd century.

It is two years after we won the War against our old Reticulan masters. We - the children of Mother Terra - are now free to forge our destiny and put our mark on the stars. These stars are ours! This is a time for bold men and women to step up and claim the universe. We need intrepid explorers to discover the riches of our far frontiers; enterprising merchants to open new trade routes with far-away alien stars; cunning spies and agents to protect us from any alien plot against our hard-won independence; and of course - daring soldiers and spacemen to protect our borders and push back those who would enslave us again.

We are not alone - brave Cicek warriors and even Reticulan and Ssesslessian defectors fought along our side against the Reticulan legions. Against this mighty alliance, stand our many enemies - both internal and external. Corrupt politicians and crime-lords plot to turn our glorious Republic into their own plaything at our expense. Ruthless pirates and raiders rob far-flung colonies, heedless of the opening they give to our greater enemy. In the shadows, House Thiragin - the Reticulan noble house which once ruled Terra with an iron fist - plots and plans for its ultimate revenge on us upstart “barbarians”. For all of this - children of the Earth – Mother Terra needs you!"

Between work & my gaming group its been a wild two days of writing, reviewing, & revamping These Stars Are Ours review for this blog. This is a great supplement & setting campaign material for the Cepheus Engine rpg system.

This is a complete interstellar campaign setting in every sense of the word, this thing is bloody huge with a history, background, setting material, empires, factions, planetary information etc. These Stars Are Ours feels like a mix of Space Above & Beyond & 'The High Chaparral' with a wiley sense of the 'Brown Coats' from 'the Serenity' TV show. There are elements of the Expanse here but they are few & far between. This book has the classic Traveller three black rpg books feel to it & that's done on purpose by authors Omer Golan-Joel, Richard Hazlewood, & Josh Peters

The Reticulan Empire is a nasty piece of with expansive holdings & all kinds of dangerous bits & pieces lurking at the edges of the works The military of the humans have an extensive array of alien allies that are available for PC options. The book presents a huge pethora of PC options, ships, & even forces all presented with the history,deep background, & even powers behind the scenes.

Is These Stars Are Ours worth the price of admission?! Yes, its campaign setting as deep as Greyhawk & The Wilderlands of High Fantasy. This is part of the background of the interstellar high wheeling space opera feel of These Stars Are Ours .

The deeper part of the background dives into the reasons for the politics, placement, & even possible future warfare within the setting all at the fingertips of the DM. Its a nice little gem of a space opera setting from which we've just freed ourselves from the old Reticulan masters!

The Greys are actually available as a PC option with all kinds of options & they are completely viable as a table top possiblity. They are fully fleshed out, & there's a full range of government bodies, rebels, star ships,etc. all for these dangerous & utterly ruthless aliens of popculture.

The star ship diagrams & plans of 'These Stars Are Ours ' perfect for handouts for the players. I love 'These Stars Are Ours '& its gonna be one of the choices for a complete interstellar campaign settings that I'll be using at the table top level. If you get a chance definitely pick up 'These Stars Are Ours '!

Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery blog Want More original OSR content for this Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

I want more. Not in a bad way. This product leaves me hungry for more of this setting. Don't worry this is a complete, albeit in broad strokes, setting. Plenty of room for adventures in a campaign setting set almost immediately following a war between humans and reticulans. The reticulan masters have been overthrown and other alien races have been liberated. Alien allies and villians populate the setting as well as humanity. Plenty of setting material screams to be used in adventures. There are the typical typos when you have a small publisher, but nothing egregious. Rules are well organized. Overall a solid buy.

“The more deeply we are cast under a story’s spell, the more potent its influence.” Underlying all passionate Traveller fans is a desire to tell and participate in grand science fiction narratives. We can worry about Canon and setting and what game Traveller is supposed to be. Or we can write sweeping histories such as “These Stars Are Ours!“. Published by Stellagama Publishing, its goal is to provide an immersive Traveller universe that explores a variety of themes and stories, drawing upon well known science fiction tropes. A consequence of separating the “engine” of Traveller from the “setting” is that it liberates writers and publishers to create their own settings for adventures. Echoing the great product the Twilight Sector, “These Stars Are Ours!” is a successful and comprehensive setting that includes new and modified rules relevant to the setting and takes advantage of Stellagama Publishing’s existing work in extending the Cepheus Engine. It entrances the reader immediately and provides a powerful basis for Traveller adventures.

Alegis Downport has already written an informative review. The comment thread below the review already contains positive responses from the publisher promising further material for the setting – great news for fans. This review will comment more on the history and nature of setting itself.

The star charts draw upon Stellagama’s earlier work “Near Space“. It makes Earth (“Terra”) the centre of the setting – and so players have an immediate stake in the game, connecting to the future of our own planet. The setting approximately 400 years into the future, not thousands, also making it more immediate to us as readers and players. The period is clearly parallel to Traveller 2300 but this setting has a very different flavour. The Reticulans are the almond-shaped-eyed aliens of Area 51 fame who conquer Terra and rule it with an iron fist until thrown off by the free-spirited, fighting and proud Terrans. Play begins in the aftermath of this revolutionary war.

The history of the war itself is a great read. This reviewer saw clear parallels to the Russian Civil War of the 1920’s and to World War II – there was even a ‘Stalingrad’ moment in this setting’s history. While the ‘fighting Terran’ spirit is reminiscent of fiction such as Starship Troopers, the setting is also clearly influenced by the gritty realism of Firefly and its themes of the real social consequences of war and oppression. This theme carries through in describing the history and culture of the various non-human sophonts of the setting. None are cardboard cut-out “bad guys” and all have redeeming qualities as well as flaws. How these various aliens react to the Reticulan Imperium and the United Terran Republic causes us to reflect upon the reasons for our actions – the best part of role play games (although I also enjoy blowing things up).

The patrons provided are all great hooks firmly grounded in this detailed and nuanced setting. There are familiar industrial espionage, smuggling and exploration themes, but all layered with the particular history of the setting, including a mysterious race of Precursors who have left artefacts. But on top of this there are very specific adventures interacting with the various alien races in ways other than at the other end of a weapon. The Reticulans are divided into competing feudal houses. The Zhuzzh are untrustworthy and nomadic – but as a wise man once said, you can always trust an untrustworthy man to be untrustworthy. The Cicek are fierce fighters and dashing pirates, but also divided along gender lines Aslan-style. The Ssesslessians are mysterious respecters of ancient traditions. Once more familiar with the setting, all of these species would make interesting player characters.

This setting book also offers careers and advanced career rules including setting-based events that affect characters, drawing players into the history and engaging them with the background. All of the new rules and alternate career paths are clearly based on the story needs of the setting. This is an excellent use of a rules engine: it obeys the story needs, not the other way around.

While the deck plans and starship designs are few, the generic ship designs from the Cepheus Engine will fit this setting well. The publishers have promised further ships for the setting in the future. The ‘flying saucer’ designs were a real treat, and the text justifies ‘mysterious UFOs’ at TL13 by showing how mysterious true gravitics would be to 20th Century earth – but always by example, never by telling the reader. This kind of excellent descriptive writing strengthens the setting and is an excellent example of ‘show don’t tell’ in RPG writing.

The star maps provided give plenty of contrasting settings for adventure, right on the border of four different political entities. “The Frontier” is always a good source of adventures and conflict. What These Stars Are Ours! shows is that you can pack a lot of adventure and campaign ideas into just two subsectors. This is plenty for a typical Traveller sandbox campaign.

Priced at a very reasonable $20, any Referee can pick this up and plan adventures for hungry players quickly. You will not regret the purchase.

Original review here: http://zho.berka.com/2017/04/05/these-stars-are-ours/

A very interesting alternative setting for the Cepheus Engine and related 2D6 science fiction games. I especially liked the detailed history of the setting and the comprehensive descriptions of the Terran society and of the societies of the various alien species, they make it easy to "get into" the setting. Of course, the other parts of the setting are also very interesting and useful, too. Overall highly recommended, even people who do not intend to use the setting itself can find and borrow some nice ideas. I am looking forward to additional material for this setting.