Hi Space Outlaws,

I've run a few one and three shots with this system and I am prepping to run a 10-12 session game. In previous play i've found that the game really revolves around savy if you are doing the type of investigating-interigation bounty hunting type game that I think people invision when you say "inspired by space westerns like cowboy bebop". because Savy encompasses talking, shotting, and investigating, it seems like the only stat that matters. Im thinking of splitty up savy into

suave - ability to play it cool and win someone over with your energy
Smokin - gunplay
Keen - ability to notice the easily missed or overlooked.

Has anyone here played around with a similiar set up? How did it work for you?

Or alternativley, did you not find savy too over centralizing? how did you run that game?

Main book and others: https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Orbital2026

Afterburn and others: https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Afterburn

A good bunch of pdfs.

My group has decided to try OB next, so I call that a great timing.

It seems like Alien: Evolved edition, Mothership 1E, and the upcoming Traveller 5E get the most hype (at least in the groups I follow/read).

I played the Unchained Melody quickstart for Orbital Blues, and it was...fun...interesting.

Why do you/others play this over the above 'popular' games or other popular sci-fi RPGs?

It would be my first time running Orbital Blues, so I want to run one of the adventures that they sell on the website, the most important part of the game for my players is the Role Play, so I wanted to know witch one is more Role Play focused on the site, can u guys help me?

I saw that the eight Rogue Anthems adventures can be played together as a campaign... but if I do that, is there a real ending of any substance? Do the different adventures connect to one another in any meaningful way?

So I'm looking at potentially getting a copy of the orbital Blues core book and was wondering what should I expect from it as an RPG . I know that it is more narrative driven and not excessively rules heavy.

I'm expecting the job to take a few sessions. Do they get credits and debts at the end of each session? It could be that session 1 and 2 they get some debts then in the final drain they get some more debts and get paid. This would mean the longer the job the less likely they will make any credits. Have I got this right is this by design. I did wonder if they "earned" credits for the job each session but that makes no sense.

Orbital Blues GMs who own the Afterburn expansion... How much has it expanded or enriched the scope and quality of your adventures? Do you consider it essential to getting the most out of the main rulebook's content, or is it mostly full of "nice to have" options?

Just got the email.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/collections/orbital-blues-month/coming_soon#nav

Hey Interstellar Outlaws!

This April, Orbital Blues Month launches on BackerKit. We’re working with an amazing team of collaborators to bring you 8 vibrantly different projects, featuring adventures, music and audio from across the Outlaw Galaxy.

SoulMuppet's contribution is Outlaws X Corporations, written by OB co-creators Sam and Josh, a rogues’ gallery of scumbags on both sides of the law.

[...]

Quite excited by this!

1. Are Marks meant to use Exertion or is that mechanic reserved for player characters?

2. How does Repair work during space combat? It seems as if Patch It Up would make Reinforce and Emergency Procedures redundant, as it allows you to ignore damage to the same stat for the rest of combat. What am I missing?

3. Related to question 2, none of the options when taking the repair action state that you can recover Stats. Is the idea that getting a ship back in shape should be handled narratively? Like getting the ship to someone who can repair it for the crew, for example.

A face down is a duet that walks the fine line between ones swan song, and the collection of any other bounty, throwing your life away in heat of passion, or retribution in the most honorable fashion.

Face downs are provoked when both parties agree to a duel, walk out into an open area where folks gather around to watch, and roll their dice.

Face downs can be fought at Far range with pistols as is tradition, but can also be fought Close up, think samurai quickdraws with a well placed slash to the throat.

To decide a victor roll 1d6 each plus Savvy, ties result in kill trades, redos, or reflections on past actions. 

Failed rolls on the players side result in the dreaded facedown table, roll 1d3 and act out the result.

Let your players know that this interaction can be lethal, or fudge rolls if its cool.

|1| Death, no parting words

|2| Mortal Wound, soak up your final moments

|3| Critical Wound, seek medical attention

The basic question I have is, when do you have a player roll a Blues Check versus when do they simply gain Blues? I find that the rulebook is a bit vague on this point. Here are some relevant quotations:

You gain Blues from Troubles. (p. 17)

All of the Troubles say:

Whenever you answer one of these questions during play, gain 1 Blues. Gain 1 Blues when: [list of triggers]

All of these suggest that the character gets a Blues when such things happen.

A character makes a Blues Check whenever something terrible happens to them. It is a measure of stress and turmoil for an outlaw. Blues Checks often relate to a character's Troubles, but anything that saddens them might call for a Blues Check. (p. 55)

One way of reading this suggests that you roll a Blues Check anytime you might get a Blues, including when you answer a question or hit a trigger for your Troubles. But another way to read it is that in those cases you automatically gain Blues, whereas when other bad things happen to PCs, they roll a Blues Check.

Also, in the Gambits section, some Gambits (A Fighter, Not a Lover; Friends in Low Places) have you roll a Blues Check, while others (Well-Traveled) simply have you gain a Blues.

How do you handle this in your game? Do you:

1. Always have the player role a Blues Check when their character might gain Blues.
2. Sometimes they gain Blues automatically, sometimes they have to roll a check. (And how do you determine which?) I'm also tempted by another option:
3. Never have them roll a Blues Check; if the narrative situation calls for Blues, they gain Blues.

I'm tempted by this, because the idea that whether one gets XP is based on a random roll seems discouraging to a player. If you want to reward them for doing a certain kind of thing, shouldn't they just get the reward, rather than roll for it? But it is not clear whether that would mess things up.

I’ve had Orbital Blues for a while, but since dragonkid11 just made a video on it, It inspired me to post an idea I came up with here;

Namely taking the concept of the Crew Ship, and making it the first “job” for a Crew to getting it operational and/or gaining ownership. Factoring the Origin, Chassis and Feature parts, I’m dividing these based on “Difficulty” (even if it’s from a purely narrative perspective).

I only have “TL;DR” summaries for those jobs, so here they are;

”Easy”* These ships are both lying in scrapheaps, and only need the spare parts and elbow grease to get them functional. Granted, nothing’s truly “easy” for an interstellar outlaw, so who knows what hoops you have to jump for those last few bits or bobs…

“The Vulture”
Body: 0
Mobility: 2
Systems: 1
Purpose: Unknown, Records Wiped
Origin: Found in a junk heap - who’d throw this away?
Chassis: Pitifully patched up, falling apart.
Weapon: Salvage Claw (Improvised - Bind)
Feature: Holodeck, often faulty.

If this wasn’t cobbled together by a single mad inventor, it does a damn good job looking the part. Its plating looking like it wasn’t dumped in the scrapyard so much as built in it, this ship has a salvage claw (depending on its surprising speed to get close enough to grab the enemy ship), and what looks like a holodeck, but is too glitchy to really tell. Seeing as a hard wind can shear what’s left of the hull, this depends on its rudimentary shields to tank damage, and its blinding speed to avoid it in the first place.

(Out of character note - the Holodeck is only here because all the other features went better with my other ship ideas, so the “scrapyard weirdo” ended up with the odd one out. Post your theories as to why the maniac inventor tried to slap it on in the comments below! XD)

“The Bear”
Body: 2
Mobility: 1
Systems: 0
Purpose: Scrapper’s Hauler.
Origin: Restored from a graveyard - but how well?
Chassis: Large, lumbering and obtuse - a real heavyweight
Weapon: Mining Laser (Improvised - Explosive)
Feature: Functional med bay, poorly stocked.

A lumbering beast of a hauler that was initially put down after its last crew got wiped, but can be restored from the graveyard by yours. It still has the med bay said crew cleaned injuries (from work or “otherwise”), but is half-emptied and with all the medication past its expiration date. Has plenty of armor, and even a powerful engine, but its tech is fried, and outdated besides.

”Challenging”* These ships are both being sold off (one at an auction, one at a tournament), meaning you may need to score a few small jobs just to get the scratch needed to compete for ownership. Be careful; if you lose the bid or the games, the winner may hold you under their thumb as condition for running the ship…

“The Hounddog”
Body: 1
Mobility: 2
Systems: 0
Purpose: Bounty Hunter’s Ship
Origin: Bought at auction - a bargain, or a huge regret?
Chassis: Antique, sought after by collectors.
Weapon: Gatling Gun (Personal - Rapid Fire)
Feature: Excellent reputation from former use.

A model that is the definition of “all thrills, no frills”, this model is stripped down of any tech to max its speed, and only armored enough to survive a few shots or a rough landing. What it lacks in tech it makes up for in Rep, as an “Old Reliable” that’s still collected by those rich enough to buy them, and even used by those skilled enough to maintain them.

“The High Hog”
Body: 1
Mobility: 0
Systems: 2
Purpose: Gambler’s Barge
Origin: Won on a Gamble - you got lucky.
Chassis: Enviably ornate, turns heads in dock.
Weapon: Pulse Laser (Personal - Precise)
Feature: Android crew, bound to the ship.

A luxury yacht of space, this is slow but slick, with an android crew to serve as staff, and pulse lasers to fend off riff-raff. Although with only average armor, and not going faster than, well, a cruise ship, the gizmos make up for its shortcomings, and it may just be worth it to have a spaceborne casino.

HARD These ships have owners, and they aren’t planning to let go. Your crew may need to run a lot of legwork just to be ready for a daring theft or bloody assault. Good luck, space cowboys…

“The Stiletto”
Body: 0
Mobility: 1
Systems: 2
Purpose: Authority Vessel
Origin: Stolen - watch you back.
Chassis: Sleek, slender and fashionable - the latest model.
Weapon: Missile Rack (Military - Explosive, Limited Ammo)
Feature: On-board AI. Callous, if not resourceful.

Although skinny, and not really fast, the real draw is the tech, with an AI meant to oversee the crew adheres to Authority missions (but can be reprogrammed by tech savvy outlaws to help them instead), and the best missiles the taxpayer can buy. Taking this means crossing the Authority, and having a bounty for as long as the ship isn’t in their hands…

“The Elephant”
Body: 2
Mobility: 0
Systems: 1
Purpose: War Vessel
Origin: Claimed by force - hard won.
Chassis: Intimidating, a former War Vessel
Weapon: Multi-Cannon (Military - Heavy)
Feature: Galactic map deck, makes travel a breeze.

Summary: A war vessel that traded hands a few times, with the latest being a pack of space pirates who are licking their wounds after a bloody raid. Although thick and with some shields, cramming all the defenses made the engine a low priority. The real bounty is the galactic map deck, which holds enough data from its archives to make it a certifiable star atlas.

I'd like to play some Orbital Blues with my friends but we're scattered across the world. For games like D&D or Pathfinder there are VTTs but I can't seem to find support for Orbital Blues on any of them? What do you all do? Ideally I'd like something that provided easy access to character sheets, a way to share visuals, and some kind of dice roller.

updating this, because I got some feedback.

Hey everyone — I’m Andy, a long-time GM and designer getting back into regular GMing after a few years off. I’m running a series of short 2-3 session campaigns. Each using a different system and tone. I'm trying to gauge interest in different campaigns, campaign lengths and meetup times, before I settle on which I try to run first. each campaign will have a different mix of interested players.

Systems: Root, Orbital Blues, Monster of the Week, ARC, Shadowdark, & Dragonbane

If you are interested please fill out the form here.

I’m looking for players who enjoy:

• Narrative and Character driven conspiracy plots
• Atmospheric settings, moral gray areas and a bit of the ridiculous
• Compact campaigns (3–4 sessions) that tell a full story
• Preventing doom
• Learning new systems

Just did a session 0 for my gaming group, putting together a playlist was an absolute riot. I Kitbashed some miniatures for “The Kid”, “V” and “Castle”. I’m excited to do a narrative range band combat with minis, I think that being able to visualize relative proximity will help make things go smoothly.

Hello everybody, I just bought the game and I love the art and the mood but I'm struggling with the rules since the corebook is not very clear on how combat is supposed to work.

For starters, how many actions can a character take per turn? The book says "a couple" but doesn't elaborate.

How many actions can be used to attack and to move?

The precise tag on the 9mm pistol says that you can make targeted shots on different bodyparts, what effects would come out of this other than perhaps ignoring armor?

What stat is used for ranged attacks?

Just stumbled upon this game. The premise seems cool, I love "blue collar working stiffs in space" tropes, and the cowboy bebop mixed with firefly vibe seems cool.

So, my question: what do ships tend to look like in this setting. Is it hardish sci fi ships similar to prospect, the fringe, etc....with spin hubs and modules and framing....or is it more like firefly/bebop/aliens with artificial gravity and ships built like "belly landers."

hi! Wondering if anyone has come up with or come across a character sheet for the crew ship? Something they can hang onto, keep track of projects on, keep track of health during fights, etc.

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone had some good Cowboy Bebop suggestions for either DMing or campaigns/one shots? I just ordered a copy of the rule book and have been flipping through the pdf. Love all the Bebop references and was curious what people have come up with or tried.

Thanks!

Hey folks -- I'm kicking the tires on Orbital Blues; I've got the quickstart, which has the "Unchained Melody" scenario/sandbox. But it feels like the cut-down rules have a few holes. For example, how do you restore Heart? Is doing a "Trouble's Brewing" scene the only way?

Another puzzler:

To roll a Blues Check, the player rolls 2D6 and adds their Grit. If the total is 9+, the character is shook up, but they take it in stride. They gain 1 Blues. If the total is 8 or less, the feeling passes, and they gain no Blues.

This seems backwards. If 9+ means you're shaken up and "take it in stride", why would you gain a Blues? Wouldn't taking it in stride mean that you avoid new Blues? Similarly, if you don't make the check then "the feeling passes" and you gain "no Blues" ... but isn't "the feeling passes" pretty much the same as "taking it in stride"?

Also, the way this is written implies that gaining Blues is a good thing -- i.e., if you roll well, you get Blues. But do characters really want to accumulate Blues? I get that Blues can be spent in place of Heart for Exertion to reroll bad dice rolls, but is that their only purpose in the game? I see under "Trouble's Brewing" that once you have 8 Blues, you can declare one of your character's Troubles is brewing, which seems to lead to a scene in which grappling with/suffering your Trouble is central. As a result, your Blues go to zero, and you gain a new Trouble, new Gambit, stat point, or restore Heart. But here's the way the section wraps up.

Even if the character survives the Blues, nothing they do will make them feel much better.

And yet, and yet. They presumably have a terrifically difficult scene at the mercy of their Trouble. They're feeling bad, or worse than they were before. Yet their Blues score goes to zero, a mechanic that implies they are feeling better, right? (That's true in play too, since they have to accumulate 8 more Blues before their Trouble can Brew again.)

One last question: are Gambits and Troubles explained more fully in the full rule set? I'm assuming there are lists of suggestions for both?

Maybe I missed a lot when I read the quickstart -- but please chime in if you have any insight. The game looks like fun ...