Image by Xan [Canva Stock Images, basic text editing, no AI]
Blood n' Rust: An Orbital Blues Ballad
An endless series of podunk colonies cheer when the stellar-fair comes to town, and be damned if you don't get payback on the SoB that keeps you here.
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Monday - 2:00 AM UTC
Feb 16 / Session 6
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
Campaign Length / 7–12 Sessions
3 / 6 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
3/6
About the adventure
Fresh-faced greenhorns and seasoned hands alike are welcome on this take of grit and payback, set to a score of a drunken cheering crowd still ringing in your ears. [First time Orbital Blues players welcome! Come learn this lightweight, melodramatic game about sad space carnies trying to outrun their past or experience a system you already know with some unique homebrew to fit this setting] Back in the day, everyone thought that space was where the future waited for us. We could outrun the vices and mistakes that always kept us from finding that idealized utopia we always heard before bed. But dreams come and go, and what's left is a chain of backwater planets, destitute moons, and outdated satellite colonies that're held together by as much super glue and spite as they are technological advances. Our story takes place in a place no different, a small cluster of moons and stations called the Colt Colonies: a burned-out husk of rock designated as "C-077" by the folks who bother to keep records. The Carmine family calls all the shots that matter around here and they keep their hands full by making sure the doctors, farmers, and even the law know who to help and when to turn a blind eye. At this point it'd be easier to blast the whole damn system out of the stars than root out all the corruption. That's not to say that they're untouchable though. Especially that bastard Peanut. Bennet "Peanut" Carmine's blood runs foul, even compared to the rest of his kin. That honest handshake and shit eatin' grin belie a coward with something to prove. The kind of man you wouldn't trust with your wife or wallet; least of all your debt. He runs the "off-the-books entertainment" that's affordable to the common workin' folk but not nearly important enough to draw any real scrutiny. Bit of smugglin', bit of gamblin', bit of vice indulgence when the opportunity strikes; but he's made his fortune running the Colt Colonies' traveling entertainment spectacular. When the show comes to town, some of the crushing weight of life can be forgotten, lost in the moments of hootin' and hollerin' at rusted mechs that knock each other around while meagre savings are lost on rigged carnival games. For most folks the show comes and goes, but somehow that bastard Peanut got you in his grips. By hook or crook you’re under his thumb, or maybe you willingly got into bed with a viper to finally get that payback you so rightly deserve. However it happened, you're part of this traveling shitshow, days filled with blood n' rust, and nights plotting your revenge on the dirty SoB that signs your paychecks -- Touchstones: Firefly meets G Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Sippin' whisky over cards, The smell of oil and tobacco, Sticky dive bar floors, Belly laughs after a bar brawl, Dinge tinted carnival lights, Cheap thrills on rickety rides
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Theater of the Mind
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(23)
5 years on StartPlaying
119 games hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Creativity, Storytelling
About me
Former fire-breather turned therapeutic GM. Cool, now that I've got your attention. I'm Xan, if the Therapeutic GMing is what got your eye the check out my psychology today listing at the bottom! My numbers and accomplishments are cool, so I'll list them below. Here's who I am though. I'm a life-long storyteller and performer. The love the smell of honey suckles and the sound of a cat's purr. I'll give you a run for your money with a pun contest *any* day of the week, and I live by the motto "Manic enthusiasm is still enthusiasm". Games have brought me joy, relief, and catharsis over the years and I can say without hesitation that they, and the friends I've made through them, have been a huge positive impact on my life. So I'm here to pay that joy back and be the background tapestry for your happy memories and kickass stories. "Rule of Cool" always par for the course and expect me to be just as invested in your characters as you are. I love to flesh a game out through how your character sees the world, "you walk into the market and an unexpected scent brings you back home for a split second. What is it?". I prioritize safety and making sure that I'm making my game suited to the players, not the other way around. Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to talk about booking a private game or consultation about your own game. I'd love to help you make your own time as a GM the most rewarding it can be. I'm also available if you are looking for guests or experts in the topics at the intersection of mental health and TTRPGs. And, the numbers! 20+ Featured Speaking events (PAX, Save Against Fear, Therapeutic and Applied Gaming Growth Summit) 9 Years professional GM 1 published adventure in Rock and Roll 5e (zine) 50+ homebrew materials for the larger games 4 Hacks written 1 original game developed 1 Full length game in development 33 years of being a total badass Therapeutic Skill building‽‽ With games (or just with a cool coach)‽‽ Yup! Full disclosure though, listings on Startplaying *are not* therapeutic sessions. Those require a different approach, intent, and structure. Reach out on my Psychology Today page if you're interested and I'm happy to have that conversation with you on a HIPAA compliant server :) https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/1380727
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation for Orbital Blues is super fast and easy. You'll just be assigning 3 stats and picking a trouble, gambit, and piece of equipment. For a little homebrew, well also describe what kind of Junker you pilot and pick one other piece of equipment for it. There's a bit of stuff for ship creation, but that won't be as important since you're part of a traveling show already. If you join in after the game starts I'll work with you before your first session to get everything put in place, shouldn't take more than 10min at absolute max. I'll supply the game PDF and we'll use roll20 to actually hold the sheets.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
All you need to do is join up and I'll send you the discord invite. We'll talk plans, share links, and do the actual voice/video side of things there.
What Xan!!! brings to the table
I've got the PDFs, rule refs, roll20, and discord already set up and waiting.
Homebrew rules
There'll be some light homebrew to handle the Junker situation, but it'll just be picking a piece of equipment and giving yourself a bit of armor while you're in it. It'll use the same stats and health as your character out of the suit.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Microphone
Computer
Platforms used
Safety
How Xan!!! creates a safe table
There's a pre-game lines and veils checklist to establish what's likely to show up, and what topics need to be avoided (lines) or have happen off screen (veils). The games themself are open table, so you can always get up and take time to yourself if you need to, and we take a 10min bio about halfway through. The X card is always respected and in play. A safe game's story can't be sacred, so if we need to do some light retconning or fail in a way that feels more honest to your character or the story then that's all there is to it. That said, there's no going back from a result once the dice are rolled, this is a game where its easy to bite off more than your character can chew. At the end of the session we'll have a recap and debrief, and you're always welcome to message the channel or me directly if there's anything we need to follow up on.
Content warnings
Safety tools used