Freelance Traveller

Alien Module 5: Droyne

reviewed by Paul Anuni

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2024 issue.

Alien Module 5: Droyne. J. Andrew Keith, Marc Miller, John Harshman
Game Designers’ Workshop (defunct; most Traveller material preserved under Far Future Enterprises https://farfuture.net)
52pp. PDF, originally softbound
Currently available from FarFuture Enterprises on the Classic Traveller CD-ROM.

Most Traveller play seems (reasonably) to focus on playing Human characters; Vargr or Aslan characters tend to run close seconds. K’kree, Hiver, or Droyne characters seem to rarely be selected for play. This is perhaps because Vargr and Aslan characters can be [mis?]played as exaggerated more-or-less human stereotypes; the other races are farther from perceptions of human norms, and thus perceived as more difficult to play – or to play well.

This module provides the information that a player would need to understand the Droyne and thus to play one as a character. It should be noted that because of the nature of Droyne society, a party with a single Droyne among multiple humans is unlikely (but possible); a human minor character travelling with a Droyne group is more appropriate.

After the introductory information concerning needed (e.g., a set of core rules) and recommended additional materials (e.g, Book 4: Mercenary and Book 5: High Guard), a dozen pages of background information outlines the history and society/social organization of the Droyne; this should be required reading for anyone who wants to play or referee Droyne characters. It sets out clearly that the Droyne are the direct descendants – or degenerate remnants – of the Ancients, and mentions that after the Ancients period of Droyne history, the Droyne lost the ability to Caste (until the discovery/receipt of the Coyns), but no connection between this and the modern Chirpers is drawn. This material also sets out in a certain level of detail how Droyne society is structured, and how the various Castes and sub-Castes fit in.

It’s not clear whether the background material should be read as ‘meta-information’ known to the referee (who is ‘outside’ the setting), or as ‘real information’ (known to characters and NPCs within the setting); my personal preference is to treat it as ‘meta’ and keep the Ancients as an enigma within the setting, as much other material appears to do. However, it is clear that Droyne characters will know that the Ancients are their ancestors, and Droyne do take an interest in the Ancients and their artifacts.

Psionics is a Thing with Droyne, though it’s called Sense rather than Psi (and it’s a primary stat – part of the UPP – rather than an addendum, like it is for most other Traveller sophonts). There are some Droyne-specific Abilities that Droyne may possess in addition to the standard psi Abilities. Most, but not all, are restricted to use by the Droyne character on other Droyne. Even the ‘standard’ abilities come with a cost if used on non-Droyne; psi costs are doubled for using any ability against generally Droyne-shaped aliens (such as Humans, Vargr, or Aslan), and are not possible against other aliens (e.g., K’kree, Hivers, Virushi). Droyne with sufficiently high (within Droyne society) Sense are automatically trained in Droyne psionics – there is no need to go searching for an underground Psionics Institute for training.

Droyne have wings, but in general, can only fly on small worlds (size 5 or less), and even then, they must have a certain minimum STR and training. Under limited circumstances, and with certain assists, it is possible for some Droyne to fly short distances on some worlds at the low end of ‘medium’ sized (Size 6 or 7).

Character generation for Droyne follows the same general pattern as for other characters, but the devil is in the details: for example, the first four characteristics are Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, and Intelligence, just as they are for other characters, but the fifth characteristic is Sense, corresponding to the addendum of Psi for other characters, and the sixth characteristic is Caste, which is immutable and does not correspond to any characteristic for other characters. Caste is critically important to Droyne character generation; the basic Droyne character generation procedure relies on Caste for determining available skills and die rolls for survival and “distinction” (an analog to “decoration” within standard character generation, but not quite the same); the basic process does not use ‘careers’ as such.

There are extended processes corresponding to the Book 5: High Guard and Book 4: Mercenary processes; even here, Caste determines assignment. It should be assumed that Droyne enlist (or are assigned by their oytrip) in Droyne naval or military units, not Imperial/Imperial-Colonial.

Droyne start their “careers” sooner than other races (age 12), and also start aging sooner (term 2, age 20). Droyne that reach age 36 are subject to more severe aging effects, as well.

The Coyns are central to the Droyne; in addition to their use in deciding a Droyne’s caste, Droyne characters expect them to be used to predict the outcome of almost any significant action or voyage, and reactions suffer if this is omitted. In addition to its specific depiction, a Coyn has three possible ‘values’, positive/neutral/negative, with implications for the prediction. I think these valuations are … not entirely felicitous; the words in question tend to have ‘emotional’ connotations when used in other than a purely mathematical sense. I can’t think of better words under the circumstances, however.

In using the Coyns, there will be an almost inevitable tendency to want to use the specific depiction in a Tarot-like way; while this shouldn’t be avoided completely, it should always be kept in mind that Droyne social organizations and social cues are not the same as those for other races, and any interpretation of Coyns must be viewed through the Droyne lens.

This module contains a complete list of skills available to Droyne, and the Droyne interpretation/view of them. There are some differences between the standard and Droyne interpretations of skills. Skills not listed here, even if in the core rules (Books 1-3, or The Traveller Book), Book 4: Mercenary, or Book 5: High Guard books, should be assumed not available to Droyne characters. Special note should be taken of ‘Black Skill’; this provides an opportunity to acquire certain skills that are rare among Droyne.

There is a section on Droyne world generation, which also discusses how Droyne and various non-Droyne relate to each other in general terms. This process is oriented toward placing Droyne populations on existing worlds (“Continuation method”), though there are also rules for generating Droyne worlds ab initio (“Creation method”). Droyne worlds will be Captive Government, Balkanized, or a special Droyne government type (coded X) that could probably best be described in human terms as a hereditary gerontocratic oligarchy.

Droyne practice dual law levels – for any given oytrip, law level within its own domain is effectively zero; for non-members, the given law level applies, and should be interpreted as chance of harassment by the oytrip’s warriors. Other Droyne reaction-roll situations can be complex; familiarity with the Droyne Encounters section of this folio is critical for the referee to properly administer such situations.

There is a section on Droyne in interstellar travel, which discusses both Droyne on Droyne ships and Droyne on Human ships; one can draw the conclusion from the material here that Humans on Droyne ships should really not be considered viable unless both Human and Droyne are willing to tolerate significant discomfort.

A Droyne-centric adventure is provided, focusing on a search for a stolen Ancient artifact, the oynssork. The basic outline of the adventure is provided, but the referee will be required to create the details throughout; this is not an adventure for a ‘rookie’ referee. (In fact, I would say that administering Droyne in an adventure at all is not for the ‘rookie’ referee.)

I think the book’s organization leaves something to be desired; for example, the textual discussion of Droyne Mercenary and High Guard procedures is after their respective tables, and rules for the use of Coyns – including the listing of the Coyns – are all in the section on adventuring and reaction rolls, after the character and world generation. The character generation process does mention “how” to use the Coyns within the process, but to fully understand what it means in context, and to interpret some of the results, reference to the separate Coyns section is necessary. Droyne Psionics rules are up near the beginning of the folio, in the discussion of Droyne psionics in the ‘background’ material, rather than being mid-folio with the rest of the rules. Because of this, it’s actually better to have the PDF from the FarFuture Classic CD than to have a physical copy; a PDF reader with the ability to set named bookmarks in a file makes referring to specific important rules (such as psionics or Coyns) easy.

I’ll say it again: Administering Droyne is not for the ‘rookie’ referee, and even experienced players should not enter lightly into playing Droyne characters. If taken seriously and cautiously, however, I think it can be rewarding, and would encourage people to try it.

Overall, this folio provides fascinating material, even if just for reading. As part of the Classic Traveller CD-ROM, it is definitely an item that contributes to its value, even above and beyond the fact that it was part of the Classic canon.