Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 7, "Banquets and Beatdowns"

This is a very Chrome-centric episode, so of course I like it. He was funny, he was sneaky, he had a juicy role-play opportunity, and he was useful in a fight. (Next session will continue this trend, but with vehicles.)

Because All Ones didn't include the picture of what Chrome wore to the Aslan shindig, here it is in all its glory: 

https://amzn.to/4h2xA3U

As you can see, there's totally room for a stunner pistol down that codpiece!

Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 6, "Solomani Salami"

This is my favorite session so far, because this is the one where it feels like everyone's character clicked into place and we all started role-playing as a group rather than a bunch of individuals. Denton is in full Dr Strangelove mode, and his invention of "salami" as an insult to Solomani was inspired. 

Also, Merry Christmas! Chrome has a very special present for all of you in the first 2 minutes of the video. 

 

The intro and outro was done by my friend Jay Peterson,  a professional actor. You can hire him at jaythebarbarian.com. He also has a novel, Renfield Blues: The First Grunt's Grimoire, available for purchase at Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format. It's a fun, fast-paced, and intelligent story that's also amazingly well-written.

https://amzn.to/41QSIFy

If you're a fan of urban fantasy like Dresden Files or Monster Hunter International, feel nostalgic for 1990s horror RPGs from White Wolf, or just like stories with competent gun use and/or magic systems more involved than "I cast fireball!", then this is a book you will enjoy reading.  I'm eagerly looking forward to the sequel.

And here's a standalone version of that segment, for you to use if you want to send it to friends and fans of Traveller. 

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a safe Jump. 

Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 5, "Veterans Without Borders"

 

This session is basically just tying up the first act of the adventure and then beginning the second act. There's no action (wait until next episode for that!) but there's a lot of good character development, including what I think are many fun Chrome-isms. 

 

One of these days, the other players are going to think to ask Chrome why his sense of aesthetics is... whatever it is... but so far it hasn't happened yet. 

Also, here's the stand-alone "KOYNZ" commercial that originally aired at the end of Episode 3. Those of you who are familiar with my work may have noticed the script is from this blog post. 

KOYNNNNNZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!

Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 4, "Prometheus"

This week kind of disappeared as interest in Operation Blazing Sword and the Pink Pistols exploded due to the election.

Anyway, episode 4 of our Actual Play series is out. Don't worry if you're behind, because we missed playing last week and will miss this week, so you have time to catch up. 

 

As Chrome's player, I want to make it clear that it was never my intent to blackmail the rest of the party and I hope it wasn't taken as such. Alice said I was basically threatening them with mission failure, and I can honestly say that was never on my mind. Instead, Chrome's feelings were like this:

1. The Leader and the other Warriors of his kroyloss (fraternity) seemed set on killing all the droyne on the planet. As the only droyne in the PC party, Chrome took that personally, and he also thinks that Denton-Warrior-Friend is more than a little deranged when it comes to orbital bombardment. 
2. Within droyne culture, droyne who cannot contribute are encouraged to engage in a painless suicide ritual known as krinaytsyu. A sport that is ignored isn't contributing much. 
   
   
3. Therefore, Chrome's last-ditch action was more along the lines of a samurai performing kanshi to protest the decision of Roberd-Leader-friend the best way he knew how: "Well, if I'm so worthless that you won't listen to me, just leave me there to die with the other droyne you consider worthless."

Dramatic and passive-aggressive? Yes. That's how a lot of things are in caste systems. But I, the player, wouldn't throw the rest of the players under the bus of "Do it my way or fail the mission," and I really hate that it came out that way. I made sure the rest of the players knew that. 

Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 3, "Kilts, Coyns, and Kukri"

 

Chrome now has a kilt! It's a pity that Hero Forge doesn't have the complexity for tartan patterns. But speaking of Droyne with kilts, here's a tartan that they'd love, as they use Base 6 and this pattern is hexagonal. 

https://www.spoonflower.com/en/fabric/10056924-trueblue-hexagon-plaid-by-tallulahdahling

For the bagpipe music played during the battle, I chose "March of Cambreadth" by Alexander Adams. 

Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 2, "Red Tape Rendezvous"

The hijinks continue!

Traveller Actual Play: R.A.V.E.N. ep 1, "Combat Lawyer"

I joined a Traveller RPG group that plays on Mondays. If you're interested in listening, this is our first episode.

I play Chrome the Droyne, a weird little guy who is the ship's pilot.  For reasons which may never be revealed, Chrome likes wearing Hawaiian-print shirts.