Are you a Droyne fan?

[robject]

I've had a soft place in my heart for some of the races in the OTU. And while Droyne may not be my favorite, they have interesting aspects.

In my games, they're apt to show up as a kind of space wanderers, like the Romany stereotypes in the Medieval world with their wagons and mysteriousness. It's not a great match, but it's been fun for gaming.

How do you see the Droyne?

 

[mike wightman]

They are driven by caste, ritual and... something that is hard to define (hence alien).

They have little sense of self worth, their role in life being quite rigidly determined (even sports are not as free as we like to think them).

They are limited in how they understand other cultures and races, sometimes with tragic consequences.

 

[Timerover51]

I have a soft spot for the Droyne as well. Aside from the Aslan, they are the only other Traveller aliens I would like to have in my Out Rim sector, but I fear that I will have copyright problems with them.

I have a Great-Child group in the Out Rim that Grandfather never knew about, as they could see how things were going before the Ancients War broke out and got out while the getting was good. They do have access to some very advanced technology, but keep a low profile out of concern for survival. The Rim Scouts would love to have one of the ANNIC class ships, but so far, no luck.

 

[Maksim-Smelchak]

I've had a soft place in my heart for some of the races in the OTU. And while Droyne may not be my favorite, they have interesting aspects.

There's so much you can do with them, Rob. Many of the later materials that you haven't yet read, have some pretty good ideas.

In my games, they're apt to show up as a kind of space wanderers, like the Romany stereotypes in the Medieval world with their wagons and mysteriousness. It's not a great match, but it's been fun for gaming.

That's a great application.

But the anomaly angle is yet another great angle that is so ripe with potential... So many mysteries and great metadata plots to realize!

How do you see the Droyne?

I love them as a dark horse, the ultimate stranger behind the curtain...

Shalom,
M.

 

[mike wightman]

A few years back Don McKinney and I were bouncing emails about the Droyne book he was working on for Mongoose. I had some interesting scenario ideas to highlight the different worldview of the Droyne vs humans.

The scenario involved a human colony or megacorp mining concern or some such coming into conflict with a Droyne settlement...

 

[Maksim-Smelchak]

A few years back Don McKinney and I were bouncing emails about the Droyne book he was working on for Mongoose. I had some interesting scenario ideas to highlight the different worldview of the Droyne vs humans.

The scenario involved a human colony or megacorp mining concern or some such coming into conflict with a Droyne settlement...

Mike, I'd love to hear your ideas. I have been finishing projects one by one and I very much want to finish Don's Droyne book.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I was going to write some Droyne fan fic, but there's little individualism in Droyne society. Their social structure is almost insect like, minus the fact that each individual in an Oytrip is an individual, but all driven by the needs of the collective.

They're interesting from a distance, but I've only ever played them twice, and both times were restrictive by what I was allowed by my caste.

I can't say I'm a fan, but they are interesting for what they are.

 

[jcrocker]

I think that my group saw them as more 'mysterious' than they deserved to be - a Vargr, a human, and a Droyne could cross the same street at the same crosswalk at the same time, but they saw the Droyne as 'up to something'.

 

[CaptRet]

I think that my group saw them as more 'mysterious' than they deserved to be - a Vargr, a human, and a Droyne could cross the same street at the same crosswalk at the same time, but they saw the Droyne as 'up to something'.

When we all know that it was really the Hiver who was laying deep plots.

 

[Winged Cat]

How do you see the Droyne?

To be blunt, as engineered submissives: a servitor race whose master (Grandfather) abandoned them, then rescued a few just enough that they could survive without constant attention.

For example, the casting ceremony gives them an excuse to have been "told" what to become, even though the thing that is "telling" them is a mixture of random luck and other Droyne deniably rigging things.

They were robbed of initiative and will, and try to get those things back while outwardly seeming to obey their restrictions, enough to satisfy what was written into their genes. Even more than Aslan desire land, Droyne need to serve something, though they have some freedom in determining what that something is - if nothing is pressing them for service.

You might like to check out http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Wave_Chasers for one take on where this might lead. I've also written up http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Yaskoydri_Technocracy as a (mostly) human polity that tries to imitate Droyne ways but has had to adapt to being (mostly) human. In particular, see their imperfect take on the castes.

 

[Cryton]

Droyne fan? Oh yeah.

I was also in cohoots with DonM when he was writing them up for MgT1. Some of the arguments we had were epic. I miss him.

But, yes Robject, I like the Droyne a lot.

As for how I see them, well, lets just say that in my games, the Empress Wave shook something loose, and very quietly, Worlds that had Cirper Populations are finding them inexplicably being replaced by Droyne populations.

 

[Cryton]

I like what a lot of you say about Droyne being limited by caste. But I have NEVER played them that way. especially when one takes in consideration the cross-train skill from First edition. And I figure inclusion of ANY amount of time as a Leader or Sport amounting out to being an individual-Logic and Critical Thinking course for the character regardless of their Caste.

I mean really, is there much aside for biological sex between a Drone who spends 12 years cross-trained as a Leader, and a Leader of three terms (Drones being Fe, and Leaders, Sports and warriors being AMa, while Workers and techs are BMa.)?

I suppose it's all in how you want to use them in your own game.

 

[GypsyComet]

I like what a lot of you say about Droyne being limited by caste. But I have NEVER played them that way.

I see an individual pre-Death Droyne being limited by caste, possibly relative to the power of their caste. The more Coynis you draw before landing on a Caste, the less defined by the Caste you are.

 

[Blue Ghost]

On the upside when I was playing a Droyne character and our ship got boarded by pirates, I remained invisible and took out a bunch of them.

 

[Madmax]

Droynes are great as super mysterious NPCs. Never seen them as PCs, not even sure how I would handle them as a Ref if someone wanted to be one.
I also view the "Memory loss" events in Mongoose Character Generation meaning that the character found out something about the Droynes that they don't want known, so the character is 'helped' to forget. :xh:

 

[GypsyComet]

Droynes are great as super mysterious NPCs. Never seen them as PCs, not even sure how I would handle them as a Ref if someone wanted to be one.

Droyne PCs in an otherwise typical campaign should be Deathless, which means their usefulness to mainstream Droyne society has concluded. Most Droyne simply die at that point, as they've spent all of their adult lives as cogs in the Droyne machine. A few decide to see what else there is and become Deathless. Other Droyne's reactions to them will vary, and they will frequently be a bit "at sea", if not depressed, lonely, and doubting their choice.
You might want to read the advice regarding the Chirper NPC in Research Station Gamma, but otherwise as a Referee they're just another PC that doesn't interact with the universe very well.
A player wanting to play a Deathless should be prepared to convey confusion, be openly happy about belonging to a crew, and unhappy if asked to do something alone (unless they are a Sport). That's just scratching the surface, but is the easy part for a player who may not realize what they are getting into.

I also view the "Memory loss" events in Mongoose Character Generation meaning that the character found out something about the Droynes that they don't want known, so the character is 'helped' to forget. :xh:

That's one explanation, sure. If it were the only one it wouldn't be too mysterious.

 

[BwapTED]

While I have always liked the way they look, I was not a Droyne fan until I purchased the PDF of the CT aliens module and read it. Now I like them a lot as an OTU race.

 

[boomslang]

How do you see the Droyne?

IMTU, I see the Droyne proper as exceptionally creepy and off-putting, if not downright terrifying.

I play up the most alien/horror elements: warriors reaching perhaps 3 meters tall in combat-rated, blade-augmented mechanical wings and battle dress kit can be pretty intimidating, especially in their ability to literally sneak right up on top of folks who are not psionically-shielded.

I stress the avian-insect-chiropteran physiology, even among the normal-sized castes: huge, unblinking wide-angle bug eyes on twitchy reptilian heads, with leathery wings flapping disconcertingly in accompaniment to the beak-and-claw-clicking they always seem to unnecessarily punctuate their spoken language with yet swear is not a second, secret argot.

And once they start up with their group psionic activities -- especially inducing Forgetfulness adversarially -- it is easy to see why pretty much no one trusts them... or wants to seriously cross them.

 

[aramis]

There's a bigger issue with the droyne in the OTU... few truly believe them to be a single race, let alone know that they're the descent from the Ancients.

And until the 1100's, the chirpers being droyne is "fringe theory"...

Potentially blown open by PC's (Adv 7, IIRC).

Most won't ever have seen one outside a textbook, and even then, they don't socialize outside their own normally, so even those who see them in the line of work won't really have known them. And the few who do socialize are krinaytsoyni (Deathless), and usually Sport caste or Leader Caste, and often the latter are borderline insanely looking for a group to lead.

They're also not out there actively seeking non-droyne partners in business or pleasure... they will accept reasonable offers, and will do what they do (including negotiate) to the best of their ability... but somehow, the deals all seem to come out to reasonable, no matter whom the negotiator is who was sent to deal with them.

 

[Grav_Moped]

There's a bigger issue with the droyne in the OTU... few truly believe them to be a single race, let alone know that they're the descent from the Ancients.

And until the 1100's, the chirpers being droyne is "fringe theory"...

Potentially blown open by PC's (Adv 7, IIRC).

Most won't ever have seen one outside a textbook, and even then, they don't socialize outside their own normally, so even those who see them in the line of work won't really have known them. And the few who do socialize are krinaytsoyni (Deathless), and usually Sport caste or Leader Caste, and often the latter are borderline insanely looking for a group to lead.

They're also not out there actively seeking non-droyne partners in business or pleasure... they will accept reasonable offers, and will do what they do (including negotiate) to the best of their ability... but somehow, the deals all seem to come out to reasonable, no matter whom the negotiator is who was sent to deal with them.

Adventure 3 Twilight's Peak, Ref's notes and pretty clear from events (Droyne are Ancients, but nothing about the Chirpers)-- but the PCs may not be inclined to share that information with the general public, and there probably won't be any evidence left to prove it.