OSR Commentary - The Hostile rpg & Space Hunter Adventurers In The Forbidden Zone

So tonight has been a revisiting the Hostile rpg books both setting & rules while thumbing through the setting book. It lists the above average grade 'B' film 'Space Hunter Adventures in the Forbidden Zone'. Space Hunter came out in 1983 & as an Eighties kid I believe I wore out the VHS tape on this film as a kid. 
So tonight we rewatched 'Spacehunter Adventures In The Forbidden Zone' & it's still a blast but what does this film have to do with Hostile?! A bit of everything because of the fact that in the Hostile has been expanding it's line with titles such as Colony Builder. 

And Colony Builder showcases exactly what can go wrong with a terraformed world. Does Space Hunter have connections to say Blade Runner, Alien, or even a film like Outland?! Nothing but the production has the same 'lived in working man' mid tier Science Fiction. And rewatching Space Hunter it might as well be the post child film of what can go wrong with a interstellar colony on an E type world. 

For Hostile Space Hunter represents another stab at a world that might appear have history that could be shoehorned into a retrofuture campaign. Personally I would have loved to seen more of Nikki & Wolf's adventures across the galaxy in another Space Hunter film. That being said hyperspace routes could easily lead to places that should not be visited. Especially given hyperspacial routes within Hostile according to it's author;"First manned mission was in 2150, but interstellar drones began mapping routes from 2120. I need to get a history together for free distribution!" Yes, yes, you do Paul but that being said there's several factors that still up point to Hostile's connection with Space Hunter. All of the aliens encountered by Wolff & Niki are actually humans modified to live in extreme enviroments. From the bat people to the Amazons who worship the native dragon like monster these are all types that we see not in Hostile but in it's side rpg  game Zaibatsu! A hundred years or so primitive efforts with Retrogenics  the corporation  have perfected retroactive DNA modification as an experiment in terraforming & colonization efforts. 

'Space Hunter Adventures In The Forbidden Zone''s events are not  the exception in the Hostile rpg universe but the norm. Normal working class stiffs who get sucked into the universe as adventurers & freebooters without exception. 

The New Age of Discovery In Zozer Games Hostile - Beyond The Furthest Horizon

 Tonight I've got to wait until two of my players work scheduling issues so tonight I'm dusting off Zozer games Colony Builder & Explorers for the gritty HOSTILE science fiction setting. And this being done to fill in several colonies that we've got on the outer fringes of our Hostile campaign. 

This is being done to create several unexplored worlds with lots of natural resources. Rich natural resources that temp the heck out of rough necks who want that want that big  company bonus. The interstellar scene is one of very dynamic & dangerous exploration. These planets are prime points in the universe of Hostile for expansion. 
This instellar expansion reminds me of the great Age of Discovery. This would later result in the exploitation of the lands of the discovery something baked into the Hostile rpg  setting. 

The explorers of Hostile are the trail blazers & scouts of the rpg. They face & can die under very easy circumstances. Spacers in Hostile are the workers & explorers working space job by job. They are not the heroes of the rpg. They can be more often then the victims waiting to happen. 

This new Age of Discovery marks the bounty of adventure within Hostile. Because its not simply about xenomorphs. But straight on into exploring some of the most dangerous planetary & asteroids in the Hostile rpg. These will determine the fate of mankind among the stars, For myself this is the real power of the Hostile rpg. 

And its the exploitation of thesse new worlds for me as DM that works so well. The fact is that these new worlds provide so much more then simply another planet. But the basis for further exploration & expansion as well as providing both the finiancial & raw material to move further into the inerstellar scene. 

As the Hostile rpg campaign moves further along the stakes get higher & corporations begin to move into their instellar & galactic holdings. These go beyond the simple exoplanet colonies and into the ever expanding galactic turf of the setting. In many respects we are the late comers to the Hostile universe. 

The Age of Exploration in the Hostile campaign setting is only beginning. Who knows what the future will hold coming up. 

Using Zozer Games Colony Builder By Paul Elliot For The Hostile rpg & 2d6 Campaign Setting Construction

 Games Colony Builder By Paul Elliot is a essentially a mini game of colony construction for a Hostile or 2d6 Science Fiction rpg campaigns. And its the mini campaign setting aspect that floors me, its a sort of mini game within the role playing game itself. Its this aspect that even described within the Colony Builder's description;"COLONY BUILDER is a supplement for the Cepheus Engine roleplaying game and the HOSTILE setting. It provides all of the tools that players need to create their own living and breathing extrasolar colonies. Take a budget and spend it wisely, and keep in mind your environment – every world is potentially hostile! Once built, your players can take up the roles of key personnel and get to manage the fledgling colony, leading the colonists in the struggle against hunger, air-loss, earthquakes, alien parasites and more… Play out the problems, the solutions, the casualties across the course of a year; can you keep the colony going, will it thrive? Or will the corporate auditors swoop in to try and shut you down? 

Colony Builder is not a small supplement clocking in at a hundred & seventy eight pages of colony building goodness. Instellar colonies are the heart & soul of a Hostile rpg campaign and not simply a horror movie set piece. These colonies are the adventure setting for a Hostile rpg game but they can be so much more then that. They can produce vast amounts of resources, enconomic backbones for the adventurers, and more then just a place to rest your head. Colonies are the stepping stone for spacers to get into the vast dark wine of instellar space. 
If the Clement Sector is the Old Western setting of Cepheus Engine then Hostile is the great Age of Corporate exploration & exploitation of instellar space. The horror happens betweeen points. 
Instellar colonies are investiments in terms of both adventure & campaign for a Hostile rpg game. They represent the future of a corporation's push into a sector or system. And huge profits for said corporation. 

Colony Builder provides so many challenges within the building & hisory of an interstellar colony that it becomes a bit of a brush with the fate of the dice to see what will befall a colony. And the most mundane things or events can brush a colony well into the diaster area of the spectrum. 
Eventually with the grace of the DM gods & a good set of dice rolls  a colony may thrive & here's where the fun begins. The natural resources, productions, & manufacturing of products can provide the colony with its reason for existence. And this reasoning folds right into the point & purpose of Colony Builder. 

Not only does this point up some of the long term goals for the colony but the fact that the colony itself could become a player in its own right over the years as it moves up the ranks for its imporance to the corporate ladder. This means that the colony could become a major point of interest to the corporation as a center of production, a headquarters to the corporation, a bastion of R&D, a point of interest for the Science division, the list of the good fates for a colony are endless. 

Because this is plugged into a colony's fate then it goes back into the idea of the colony being a stepping stone into the dark wine black of space. The colony is mother, nurturer, provider, and all around shelter for the colonists, and the adventurers. 

Is Colony Builder necessary for a good game campaign of Hostile?! No but it damn sure helps to move & motivate a campagin along. Colony Builder has all of the tools & tool boxes for doing fine interstellar colonies on the frontier of space. Can Colony Builder be used for other 2d6 Science Fiction campaigns?! Absolutely it could and should be! 

 Zozer Games Colony Builder By Paul Elliot For The Hostile rpg  & 2d6 Campaign Settings Is Available Right Here. 

OSR Review & Commentary On Colony Builder Supplement For The Hostile Setting From Zozer Games & Your 2d6 Science Fiction Games

" Build a colony within the HOSTILE setting. Build a colony from your favourite SF movie or TV show. Make it pay. Keep your costs low. And then test in the market. How will it fare with a key group of characters at the helm? Make decisions for them as they try to fix the colony's inevitable problems, chart the fate of your creation into glory or ignominy. And then watch the corporation come in to take your profits!  "

Paul Elliot of Zozer Games made sure that I had a review  copy of Colony Builder the new latest supplement in Zozer Games continuing line of Hostile products. This one is a beast clocking in at a hundred & nine pages. And Colony Builder fills the place of providing  2d6 rules & guidelines for creating & farming a whole host of adventure settings for your 2d6 Science Fiction terror filled adventures. Colony Builder fills a very specific range of adventure design but does so with gusto. This is a supplement that does its job in ways that are creative & very unexpected ways. Colony Builder can take a colony from its beginnigs, through its maturity, & into its eventual fully functionality. And Colony Builder does this with Zozer Games usual gusto. We finally see more behind the curtain then ever before as we see the true extent of the corporate masters of Hostile. 
Colony Builders presents a full set of 2d6 guidelines to take the DM from inception to full on exacution for an interstellar colony. For Hostile,Colony Builder gives the DM so many options but does so with common sense guide lines. We get factions, complications, weird events, & even more Hostile elements. 

Colony Builder could be used with other 2d6 Cepheus Engine rpg products as well. But primarily Colony Builder is perfect for Hostile's interstellar frontier. The feel here is the almost interstellar wilderness of the edge of the map of the Hostile univese. And its this edge that makes the fact that Colony Builder slots its material right into Explorers. And it was Explorers that Colony Builder has reflections of. 



Explorers  are the trail blazers & they are followed by the Roughnecks the real hard asses of the Hostile universe. Colony Builder allows one to take the material in Roughnecks or Explorers & expand upon it in spades. Those spades are the interstellar 'wilderness' of  Hostile setting. A wilderness full of rare 'bears, lions, and God knows whatelse. Oh my! 

Colony Builder is well laid out & has the same quality of Zozer Games Hostile product line. The Colony Builder book follows the Hostile setting very well. Colony Builder is a solid book & supplement for the whole Cepheus Engine rpg. Because it present not only a great  Hostile rpg setting book but also a great book for creating colony adventure locations for Cepheus Engine games. Colony Builder is a quality book & is a great book to add the DM's toolbox for 2d6 Science Fiction games & Hostile rpg.