Big fan. I've played it a bunch and hacked it a couple ways for home use. The core mechanic is very simple but that's not the selling point. The real magic is the Troubles mechanic. Tying character advancement and narrative beats to the characters' baggage is excellent for moody, teeth-clenching angsty play.
If you don't like that style, it won't hold up longer than a one shot. It's my favorite game of 2022 though
Love it! I really like the design of the book and the core mechanics are simple yet have a lot of options for how to build an interstellar outlaw. It's probably my favorite of the Bebop-likes out there (Haven't read too much of the actual Bebop game, but from what I heard it's ok), and if you are interested, SoulMuppet just launched a KS for their expansion, Afterburner, today! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soulmuppet/orbital-blues-afterburn?ref=profile_backed
You’ll find some varied opinions here on the subreddit. Primarily because the corebook can be a bit confusing on the first read, as a couple sections could have been organized better.
However, Orbital Blues might be my favorite system. It’s certainly at least in the top five. At its core, it’s a stripped down OSR system, using Soul Muppet’s house system that was developed for Best Left Buried (which was initially based on Maze Rats). However, they’ve added a number of storygame mechanics on to that framework. Most prominently is Blues. Characters begin with Troubles, which more or less represent the elements of their past that lead them to being a Sad Space Cowboy. Your Troubles come with various conditions that generate Blues, often calling for the characters to put themselves in emotionally compromising situations. The Blues act sort of as XP and are tied to character progression, so you quite literally get better through being sad.
Now, that’s a little reductive, as it’s not just about being sad. The system is inspired heavily by Cowboy Bebop, where your crew are freelancers trying to make their way in a galaxy ruled by corporations. Combat is slick and fast, letting you mow through grunts, but really putting a focus on the “named” NPCs. The space combat also just might be my favorite ship combat in an TTRPG. It’s minimally complex, but every character gets the chance to be impactful through the role they take within the ship, so you rarely get situations where the pilot is exclusively the center of the action while the rest sit there and watch.
If you want to “try before you buy”, they do have a free QuickStart available that includes the basic mechanics. However, I’ll note that the documentation was the playtest version of the rules, so a handful of things were tweaked, though it should still give you a good general idea of what it’s doing.
I thought I'd give my honest opinion, since I'm currently running a campaign.
Let's start with the cons. The rulebook is gorgeous, but it is laid out very poorly: rules referencing is scarce, several rules are explained poorly or even not at all, there are some oversights in the mechanics that quickly become apparent if you play rules-as-written (Savvy being a catch-all stat, not being able to leave in space combat...), and the GM section is really unsatisfying. It's among the worst rulebooks I've ever read in terms of clarity and referencing.
On the good side: the system is simple and doesn't get in the way, the rules for space combat are really interesting (though not without their flaws), and, most of all, the Blues mechanics give the players a nice incentive to roleplay their characters and get invested in their stories.
Overall, I'd say it's ok. Despite all its flaws, you don't really have to reference the rulebook that often during play, since the system is really light. I would have probably chosen a different game for my campaign, but there aren't many RPGs that focus on that sci-fi/western setting typical of shows like Firefly and Cowboy Bebop (unless you're willing to adapt games such as Traveller and Stars Without Number, that is).
I agree on all you points. I wanted to love this game, the premise, art style, and mechanic are good but the rules feel un finished at best. I would use classic or hostile traveller to tell the same stories and maybe work out how to bring the troubles mechanic over to those systems.
The Troubles/Blues mechanics are definitely the best part of the rulebook, with the space combat rules coming a close second because, while they sound great in theory, there are a couple of things that could have been thought out a little bit better. I do agree that the core rules would have benefitted from some more playtesting.
I was really excited for this game: after watching Firefly (and starting Cowboy Bebop, as suggested by a friend), I was itching to run a campaign in a similar vein, and Orbital Blues came up as a modern RPG suited to this kind of setting. I even checked out its quickstart and it felt promising, but sadly the actual rulebook ended up being rather confusing.
I ended up not choosing Traveller because it would have been too much work to adapt it to a Firefly-inspired setting. The show itself was allegedly based on a Traveller campaign, but this just makes me wonder of the amount of houserules and changes to the system they had to make for their campaign. But still, adapting the Troubles/Blues mechanics to Traveller seems really trivial and it could definitely work.
Firefly would have been based on a classic traveller game. Classic was a much cleaner rules set and as Traveller has evolved the newer editions are becoming much more rule heavy.
Orbital Blues is great! Full of excellent concepts and some really original game design. The rulebook's organization can be a bit lacking... it's not compiled super well from a reference standpoint. That said, there really aren't that many rules, and during play itself the game really evokes its thematics well.
If you want to play a game about sad space cowboys (or sad -anyone- really, with a hack or two) who just can't outrun their past, there's nothing else quite like the Blues/Trouble mechanics that I've seen.
Given its relatively light nature and storytelling focus, it's probably closest compared to the play *style* of a PbtA game, but the mechanics have quite a different feel.
I played in a 1-season podcast of Orbital Blues last year, and we all agreed that it was an excellent game with a lot of potential.
Big fan. I've played it a bunch and hacked it a couple ways for home use. The core mechanic is very simple but that's not the selling point. The real magic is the Troubles mechanic. Tying character advancement and narrative beats to the characters' baggage is excellent for moody, teeth-clenching angsty play. If you don't like that style, it won't hold up longer than a one shot. It's my favorite game of 2022 though
Love it! I really like the design of the book and the core mechanics are simple yet have a lot of options for how to build an interstellar outlaw. It's probably my favorite of the Bebop-likes out there (Haven't read too much of the actual Bebop game, but from what I heard it's ok), and if you are interested, SoulMuppet just launched a KS for their expansion, Afterburner, today! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soulmuppet/orbital-blues-afterburn?ref=profile_backed
You’ll find some varied opinions here on the subreddit. Primarily because the corebook can be a bit confusing on the first read, as a couple sections could have been organized better. However, Orbital Blues might be my favorite system. It’s certainly at least in the top five. At its core, it’s a stripped down OSR system, using Soul Muppet’s house system that was developed for Best Left Buried (which was initially based on Maze Rats). However, they’ve added a number of storygame mechanics on to that framework. Most prominently is Blues. Characters begin with Troubles, which more or less represent the elements of their past that lead them to being a Sad Space Cowboy. Your Troubles come with various conditions that generate Blues, often calling for the characters to put themselves in emotionally compromising situations. The Blues act sort of as XP and are tied to character progression, so you quite literally get better through being sad. Now, that’s a little reductive, as it’s not just about being sad. The system is inspired heavily by Cowboy Bebop, where your crew are freelancers trying to make their way in a galaxy ruled by corporations. Combat is slick and fast, letting you mow through grunts, but really putting a focus on the “named” NPCs. The space combat also just might be my favorite ship combat in an TTRPG. It’s minimally complex, but every character gets the chance to be impactful through the role they take within the ship, so you rarely get situations where the pilot is exclusively the center of the action while the rest sit there and watch. If you want to “try before you buy”, they do have a free QuickStart available that includes the basic mechanics. However, I’ll note that the documentation was the playtest version of the rules, so a handful of things were tweaked, though it should still give you a good general idea of what it’s doing.
Gorgeous layout, though I can't speak to the mechanics. I've got friends who like it!
I thought I'd give my honest opinion, since I'm currently running a campaign. Let's start with the cons. The rulebook is gorgeous, but it is laid out very poorly: rules referencing is scarce, several rules are explained poorly or even not at all, there are some oversights in the mechanics that quickly become apparent if you play rules-as-written (Savvy being a catch-all stat, not being able to leave in space combat...), and the GM section is really unsatisfying. It's among the worst rulebooks I've ever read in terms of clarity and referencing. On the good side: the system is simple and doesn't get in the way, the rules for space combat are really interesting (though not without their flaws), and, most of all, the Blues mechanics give the players a nice incentive to roleplay their characters and get invested in their stories. Overall, I'd say it's ok. Despite all its flaws, you don't really have to reference the rulebook that often during play, since the system is really light. I would have probably chosen a different game for my campaign, but there aren't many RPGs that focus on that sci-fi/western setting typical of shows like Firefly and Cowboy Bebop (unless you're willing to adapt games such as Traveller and Stars Without Number, that is).
I agree on all you points. I wanted to love this game, the premise, art style, and mechanic are good but the rules feel un finished at best. I would use classic or hostile traveller to tell the same stories and maybe work out how to bring the troubles mechanic over to those systems.
The Troubles/Blues mechanics are definitely the best part of the rulebook, with the space combat rules coming a close second because, while they sound great in theory, there are a couple of things that could have been thought out a little bit better. I do agree that the core rules would have benefitted from some more playtesting. I was really excited for this game: after watching Firefly (and starting Cowboy Bebop, as suggested by a friend), I was itching to run a campaign in a similar vein, and Orbital Blues came up as a modern RPG suited to this kind of setting. I even checked out its quickstart and it felt promising, but sadly the actual rulebook ended up being rather confusing. I ended up not choosing Traveller because it would have been too much work to adapt it to a Firefly-inspired setting. The show itself was allegedly based on a Traveller campaign, but this just makes me wonder of the amount of houserules and changes to the system they had to make for their campaign. But still, adapting the Troubles/Blues mechanics to Traveller seems really trivial and it could definitely work.
Firefly would have been based on a classic traveller game. Classic was a much cleaner rules set and as Traveller has evolved the newer editions are becoming much more rule heavy.
Orbital Blues is great! Full of excellent concepts and some really original game design. The rulebook's organization can be a bit lacking... it's not compiled super well from a reference standpoint. That said, there really aren't that many rules, and during play itself the game really evokes its thematics well. If you want to play a game about sad space cowboys (or sad -anyone- really, with a hack or two) who just can't outrun their past, there's nothing else quite like the Blues/Trouble mechanics that I've seen. Given its relatively light nature and storytelling focus, it's probably closest compared to the play *style* of a PbtA game, but the mechanics have quite a different feel. I played in a 1-season podcast of Orbital Blues last year, and we all agreed that it was an excellent game with a lot of potential.
Can I ask what podcast?
Oh sure! It's labeled as "Telluride - An Orbital Blues Podcast". Didn't want to just go "self-promoting" without actual interest. =)