"ALIEN BREEDS is a roleplaying supplement for the Cepheus Engine and other classic 2D6 SF roleplaying games. It details a new species of hostile alien predator with both an unnerving and horrific lifecycle as well as an ability to mutate ad hoc to suit its current environment. ALIEN BREEDS works well within Zozer Games’ own SF setting called HOSTILE, but it can be used in any Cepheus Engine game – as long as your players can handle this beast… and there is certainly no guarantee of that!"

When it comes to using iconic xenomorphs the Alien Breeds supplement brings it home from zozar games for the Cepheus rpg or old school Traveller. This is a forty one page solid adaptation of the alien monster. But what Alien Breeds does is create a number of xenomorph variations in spades for adventures. Paul Elliott, always brings more bang for the buck as a author & designer. Even though Alien Breeds is a good supplement its the inclusion of the adventures & the installations that makes it excellent for Cepheus rpg campaigns; "a typical colony installation. It is a fairly small example, big enough to hold may be 50 or 60 people, enough for an extended science survey, a prospecting mission or the maintenance of some new equipment on planet – perhaps a powerplant, refinery, test mine or atmosphere processor." And Alien Breeds is perfect to add into the outer interstellar gulfs of TSAO: These Stars Are Ours! from Stellagama Publishing. The PC's climb aboard a Grey saucer & the last thing their going to expect is a nest of Xenomorphs. Yes I realize that Alien Breeds is for the vaulted 80's sci fi inspired Melee rpg setting But TSAO has marines built into the interstellar setting & the xenomorphs are a perfect biological weapon for them.

Personally I can see Alien Breeds being a perfect add into the mythos of the TSRO universe. Their origins are mysterious & should be kept that way. In the Dark Horse Alien comic book universe it was implied that many alien races have used the Xenomorphs as biological weapon systems & have run afoul. I'm looking forward to getting more titles from Zozer games in the near future. Alien Breeds is a five outta of five in my book. Eric Fabiaschi Swords & Stitchery Blog Want More OSR action?! Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/

Godstar is a supplement for the Cepheus Engine rules. You’ll either need that or a version of Traveller to use this, although it can be adapted for use with other systems. It’s set on a desert world and there are a lot of similarities to Dune. There are, however, no Sandworms so you’ll be able to convince your players to go into the desert. The supplement starts with a brief history of settlement on Aurelia, a few maps of the main locations and an introduction to the planetary environment, the people who live there and maps and statistics of the subsector around it. The factions in the game are treated as if they were people, they have statistics like a player-character and can roll under these statistics to decide whether they have something. So, if a faction has STR of 4, it is comparatively weak and if it wants to force you to do something, it has to roll under 4 on 2D6 to have armed men, weapons and ships to do so. A faction with high SOC has respect, confidence (and support) of others in power. I like this mechanic. If your players negotiate an alliance with another faction that provides extra infantry, that might increase your faction’s STR. Your players will be working for these factions. Character creation is modified to take account of the setting. There are a few additions to the usual rules, such as personal force fields. The consequence is that firearms are less useful than swords, knives and spears, although there are rules and firearms are included.

One thing I really liked was the rules for duelling. If you have used medieval weapons, these feel like a much better abstraction on how one-on-one combat works. It’s worth buying just for this, it’s a much better system than the basic Cepheus rules. There are rules for gladiatorial combat too, based on the Roman model, although with less emphasis on the low status of Roman gladiators. You can be part of a traveling troop of professional gladiators, or take part in a competition as an amateur (and hope you win your first bout). Computers are huge mechanical devices or non-existent (something similar to the Butlerian Jihad in Dune happened in the past). Personal computing and embedded computers in devices just don’t exist, although there are no Mentets in this setting. There are some mystical powers (called Karam) that you could make into Bene Gesserit powers. It’s not Dune, although you could easily adapt it. You have extensive rules for desert survival. You could make a very entertaining game with a few characters in a crashed starship or escape pod trying to get to civilisation. There are plot suggestions and some NPCs to use. There nice pictures, helping you to visualise them. There is no introductory adventure, though. The artwork in this ranges from excellent to OK. There are lots of pictures of desert settings and a few that are really excellent. The illustrations of weapons and the maps are acceptable, but they contrast with the excellent quality in the rest of the publication. There’s nothing I’d characterise as poor.

Bad points: I thought the entry on “playing Gaugamelans” (page 45) was poorly done. Most of the paragraph is a brief history of the race’s interaction with humans, at the end is a sentence with a brief physical description and what changes to statistics are made to play one as a character. Nothing about their personality traits, culture or anything else to bring them alive. The picture looked like a Space Ork from Warhammer 40K with protruding lower fangs. I thought this could have been left out and made into a supplement. Gaugamela is Greek for “uncle”, so it’s either a reference to one of Alexander’s battles or a dig at a family member.

Where Dune uses Arabic words to give flavour, Godstar uses lots of words associated with the Central Asian area, so there’s a Masada and a Ferghana, a Hermon and an Akkadia. Nothing wrong with that, but I thought the Latin city names of Primus, Secundus and Tertius (First, Second and Third) didn’t work. The people of Aurelia are called The Kuban, so I thought they might use Russian (or Turkish) words for their cities. Weapons names are Central Asian. It gives the supplement a nice feel.

The Godstar of the title is little developed. You are free to decide how much to use what information is provided and take your game in whatever direction you please. If you want to use this just for a campaign based on House Atreides versus the Harkonnens, it’s ideal.

It’s moderately priced and you get more than your money’s worth. If you use Cepheus Engine rules, buy this for the duelling and desert survival rules. There are a lot of other useful ideas throughout this supplement that you will adopt for your own games. It’s good value, I'm very happy I bought it.

That's a really great cyberpunk setting! And it uses one of my favourite systems: Cepheus Engine - with simultaneous initiative, which I find a nice touch. But the best part of the game are the hacking rules, IMO. Cutting "ice" can now be fun!

Streamlined, thourough, and inviting Plenty for new gamers a great entrance into the hobby. For experinced gamers: You will also find alot to like.
Zenobia has potential to scratch various itches Maybe help you discover new itches that Zenobia will scratch. Well worth picking up. These game mechanics just great. Buy the print from lulu.com and get the pdf free. Just message the author your. recipt Paulelliotbooks.com It's that simple.

I really need to rate and review all of these books - but here's some stuff I posted about this one on facebook as a starter:

For a small upcharge - the surivival canopy parachute of the Neumayer can be upgraded with an extremely brightly colored corporate or personal logo to aid search spotting from air or space. A default red and white emergency checkerboard pattern is standard (Think of a giant QR code spelling HELP that can be read from orbit)

My personal favorite is the Orchid ... for reasons... mine says "E1" and "Miss Piggy" on the nose and wing art.

The Nomad is also offered in custom modular lifter "skycrane" configuration which pick up a number of accessory modules... but not man-rated modules - use a Starlifter for that.

The Sabre seems like one of those ubiquitous utility things that are everywhere and often overlooked.

Starlifter will be a mainstay of the Omega-99 setting too hehehee - but all of those modules detailed in the book pretty much guarantee this is the mainstay for many games. Great workhorse here.

The Halo needs a table of unflattering nicknames commonly given it by its crews... which will cause them to start a fight with anyone who's not a Halo pilot who uses those nicknames...

The Thunderchief aka 'The Brick' ... I guess this is where Halo pilots graduate from when they leave military service and reenter civilian life?

Mustang - nice to see more of this - my favorite two examples of the Mustang class are the Bugstomper and the Smart Ass.

The general operations and flight handbook is standout addition for this - well done. I got a laugh from the "Baghdad approach?" scrawl.

This book is giving me an idea for a rather underserved niche of sci-fi gaming - the transit adventure. The Star Trek Kobayashi Maru book and a few episodes of Next Generation had this - where a couple of crew were stuck on a ship for a long ride together and either told stories or something specific happened. Marooned is probably one of the most famous. Each of these ships is, maybe unintentionally, an adventure hook of some sort waiting to happen.

Oh well I wrote this last bit before running into The Sands of Time in the book. Yeah basically that is what I meant.

This is a great guide to gaming in an industrial near-future, the Cold War-esque setting, and the emphasis on paring back rules to the original LBBs makes for great reading.

The "Autonomous Region" setting is defined by relabelling the Classic Traveller starships and small craft, some small rule additions (fitting combat to the Aliens universe), and downsizing world generation (worlds will tend to be less populous).

Two new ship designs, a bulk carrier straight out the original Alien movie, and a mining platform from Outland further help to set the scene of grimy industrialisation in space.

Rounded out by a great set of scenario hooks, in the form of a Rumours Table, and Library Data, which is littered with film references to help you set the scene better.

It's short, 21 pages, and has a couple of minor typos, but nothing too distracting, and otherwise it's great!

Baltic War is a well researched supplement for the Cepheus Engine's Modern War, giving fans of games like Twilight 2000 a new game to be excited about. It combines the two primary flashpoints for NATO and the Russian Federation - NATO assumes Russia will invade the three Baltic countries while Russia assumes Western powers will attempt to influence or undermine Belarus. In this supplement, both happen, providing four unique theatres to explore in game.

Due to word count, the supplement appears to leave out some setting assumptions. For example, there is barely any information about naval and air postures during the war. Current studies assume that, due to the heavy militarization and presence of missiles in Kaliningrad, air power and naval movements would be severely limited in the early stages of a Baltic conflict, making this the ground war this supplement describes.

Overall an interesting supplement and a good start to the expanded Modern War line. Definitely recommended to Twilight 2000 fans or military/alternative history fans.

I really like this game. I think it hits the right balance for me right now between playability and subject matter. The game itself is based on the Cepheus Engine, which is based on Traveller. For those not familiar, task resolution is based on 2d6 add skill against a target number. An 8 or more is typically a success. I played in one Traveller game about 30 years ago. It was fun, but we were exploring systems and Call of Cthulhu and Warhammer stole our attention eventually. Fast forward and I have a wife, two kids, a full time job, and limited time to invest in gaming. Time has been at a premium. Games of Choice have been OSR, Barbarians of Lemuria, etc. to maximize plot and reduce crunch. Another game from my teenage years was Twilight 2000, whcih was fun even if few of the campaigns lasted more than 10 or so meetings. I've always had a soft spot for military themed games ever since, though, and nostagia has influenced buying decisions in the past mostly with disappointing results. They were either too simulationist, like wargames, or too simplistic. Regardless, when I saw this on DTRPG I decided to invest because I already had bought a couple games from Zozer and thought they were interesting.

The Good:

1. Traveller is simple, flexible, proven system that is hard to break. Character creation is simple--with modern weapon damage, they better be.
2. The game is writen with the assumption that the players are leaders and members of an infantry squad and assigned missions as part of platoon and company. The author goes to lengths to provide advice and mission ideas to maximize independence of the squad and hence the players on the battlefield. Advice is dispensed to head off interplay rivalries regarding rank. This was an issue that dogged my group whenever leadership and command were injected in the game.
3. Roles within the squad are discussed in detail including Rifleman, Grenadier, Medic, Marksman, and Gunner, to name a few.
4. A mission generator is included, complete with complications. Non-infantry careers are also detailed, along with how to generate civilian characters.
5. Combat covers all of the concepts I would want to see in a more detailed game such as recoil, blind fire, concealment, cover, panic, autofire, artillery support, communication, vehicle combat, etc. Having read a lot of modern games, I found them reasonable and simple to apply without a calculator or flow chart.
6. The role of the squad is unique in this game, in that the NPC squad members also generate fire that you resolve quickly as part of the combat system. I thought this was particularly interesting, and made the game unique from what I've seen.
7. A comprehensive equipment list allowed differentialtion between individual weapons and vehicles complete with photos.

The Bad:

1. I've found a few editing mistakes here and there. I'm pretty sure this is a one-man shop so I'm cutting some slack. A couple of places the rules weren't as clear as I would have liked, but I figured the meaning out.
2. Another nitpicky one is the absence of a dedicated Stealth skill. Cepheus has it, this doesn't. In Modern War it's combined with Recon: getting in, seeing what you need to, and getting out without getting shot up is all one skill set. In virtually any game I've played, the skill you use to spot stuff is one of the most critical, and adding stealth to it makes even more powerful. I'm not sure I like that. That's an easy fix--the game is resilient so I can easilty fix it (which goes back to #1 in the good column). Tons of things have been written, allowing you to mix and match easily to other eras or circumstances, adding and subtracting equipment and rules.

I like this game a lot, and by the way I think this system would easily support a Twilight 2000 game. The inclusion of the Scrounging skill and Rads make me think that might have been one of the intentions of the author.

A fun, well written mini game that would fit perfectly in any alternative history, world jumping campaign. If you have watched For All Mankind and wondered what that might look like centuries later, here you are. My only grumble is that I want more, more setting, more sectors, including Earth. Bravo.

I just wanna say "WOW" I mean "WOW". This PDF is absolutely amazing. I give it 5 stars!!! The rules here go into depth in regards to military style combat. This fires up my imagination in a thousand directions. I am impressed with how weapons are explained illustrated and used. Also how armor and armor plating work. I also like the book addresses Armor piercing weapons and combat issues in general. I think of running a Red Dawn campaign, A special Ops rescue or any mercenary style ticket you can imagine. I highly recommend this supplement. It is a must have!!! Great work!!!!

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.

If you're looking for rules for reaction drive(chemical/ntr rockets) travel within the solar system this is fantastic. It has a good amount of realism that you could certainly ramp up based on these rules.

I have used this several times now in my own setting. This magic system works really, really well. It is, indeed, fast, it keeps the game moving along quickly, and it inspires player creativity. The response of players has been positive, and I am impressed by the spells which players have developed on their own.

I would recommend this as a supplement to any Cepheus Engine game which uses magic.

I feel this game gets the genre gaming. Streamlined combat that captures the sense of cinema as oposed to simulation. Running around Cyberspace has been handled beautifully The 2D6 Cepheus engine has been streamlined. Character background tables are great. Love the authors writing style. Get the book on Lulu email author get the pdf free. Can't say fairer than that. Looking forward to picking up Hostile next

It's like those two books were made for each other. Zozer are doing Cepheus mechanics proud. If you're looking for exciting ideas fleshed out and ready to go keep it Zozer Five stars × 2 Looking forward to picking up more.

knowing the past works of the artist the deck plans were bit disappointing, overall a well written addition, and very useful source related supplement.