In September 2023 we politely revived the April 2022 Hostile Bundle featuring HOSTILE, the SFRPG of deep-space alien horror from Zozer Games. Based on the Cepheus Engine rules (the leading retro-clone of Classic Traveller), Paul Elliott’s HOSTILE is a gritty retro-future setting inspired by movies like Outland, Blade Runner, and Alien – a universe of harsh planets and toxic atmospheres – claustrophobic space freighters and brutal industrial colonies – ancient horrors entombed on icy moons – killer ETs, perfectly evolved to survive at any cost. Whether you’re a combat-weary veteran or a miner on a grungy corporate star tug deep in the Extraction Zones, HOSTILE pits you against deadly hazards in an unforgiving void where no one can hear you scream.
Paul Elliott writes nonfiction books on ancient military history (Warrior Cults, Everyday Life of a Soldier on Hadrian’s Wall) and is active in Roman historical reconstruction and re-enactment groups in Yorkshire, UK. He brought this experience to RPGs with the historically accurate 43AD and the sword-and-sorcery Zenobia. In gaming Paul has also written for Fria Ligan (Alien Colonial Marines) and GURPS (Atomic Horror), but he has poured his heart into Classic Traveller, and more recently its modern retro-clone, the Cepheus Engine. HOSTILE, in particular, expands any Cepheus or Traveller game with its supplements for planetary survival, colony building, cargo hauling, and let’s not forget all those killer aliens.
This revived April 2022 offer once again presented much of the HOSTILE line for an unbeatable bargain price – an obviously generous and well-meaning gesture. There were five titles in this revived offer’s Starter Collection (retail value $48) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete HOSTILE Rules and Setting corebooks, the Gunlocker weapon guide (that will come in handy, trust us), the Cepheus Handouts, and the Referee’s Screen.
Those who paid more than the threshold (average) price also got this revival’s entire Bonus Collection with eight supplements worth an additional $56 that help build out your pitiless universe:
- Three guides to survival on bad worlds that don’t want you: Explorers, Dirtside, and Colony Builder
- Two bestiaries about entities that really, really do want you: Alien Breeds and Synthetics
- Two full-scale hardware and vehicle guides: Gunboats & Shuttles and Marine Corps Handbook 2215
- A campaign framework well described by its title: Crew Expendable
Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to this Hostile offer’s designated charity, Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and to regional response agencies across the world.
