The Odradek's Drift Series (Alpha Version)

04 Nov, 2026

The Drift Series

What this is: A low-key baseball tournament set in the same universe as my Odradek's Drift Classic Traveller campaign, on the industrial planet El Zocalo. Run on the Gay Beholder OSR Discord.

The pitch (no pun intended): Players take on the role of managers for one of the planetary baseball teams in Odradek's Drift sector. Players will generate and name a roster of players using rules I'll provide, and then I'll organize the teams into tournament brackets. Every Tuesday night from 6-7 PST (and maybe Sunday afternoons as well, exact schedule TBD) I'll resolve one of the games live on VC using a slightly modded version of Deadball until a winner is determined.

Downtime: Between games, managers can specify what their teams are doing. There will be a list of default downtime activities, but managers will also have a pool of resources with which to engage in cheating and subterfuge.

Prizes/aftermath: The winning team will be immortalized as the winner of the 6926 Drift Series. They will receive an impractically large trophy, CR 10,000,000 in cash, and the honor of watching the losing teams parade through the "despondent avenue of the vanquished".

Additionally, any characters generated for the Drift Series will be fair game to play in future Odradek's Drift CT campaigns, and existing characters can bet money on the outcome.

Additional Notes:

• As a manager, it is up to you whether or not you control your team during a game -- it's most fun if you do, but if you can't make a session I'll resolve it for you or you can delegate it.
• Anyone is welcome to spectate while the games are being resolved -- it probably won't be that exciting to watch, but if you're going to hang out in VC anyways it could be fun.
• If you want to bring a "guest" team from a distant sector (i.e. Frydheld, your home game), feel free (just get permission from the Ref first)!

Thank you to Oldhawkeyes and Scribble M. Horror for providing feedback on this draft.

Neogen Stadium

A gargantuan arena, basically its own arcology. Dizzying bleachers extend hundreds of meters into the air. Blinding halogen lights hang from an enormous dome, slightly hazy from the moisture collecting at the top. Levitating jumbotrons drift in smooth arcs, flashing ads for CocaCola and Krongu Ultradrank and BigRollem' Cigarettes in between live feeds of each play.

Here, all strata of Zocaline society mingle with privileged visitors from distant planets. Wheeled robots serve popcorn and protein cylinders to wan, jumpsuited Zocaline industrial serfs, bombastic Giardinian aristos, Goshenian steak magnates, Castalian brothers from Ivo, Benningtonite refinery technicians, and much more.

The field is a regulation diamond, with artificial turf and powerful gravitors keeping the arena's local gravity within +/- 12% of 1G. A roomy 420' spans the distance to the edge of center field. Players wait to bat in tungsten-plated dugouts, littered with sunflower seed shells.

During downtime, players stay in the neighboring Neogen Athletics Complex, where they can train, relax, or take a 30-minute maglev to the bustling Arcology 001 and spaceport.

Making a Manager & Team

For the manager: Roll up a CT character, or a Deadball character -- it doesn't really matter which. They should be at least 40 though. Give 'em a name. Pick a style (examples from Deadball: "Monastic", "Sadist", "Gentle", "Combustible", "Stubborn", "Robotic"). You can also co-manage with a friend if you want.

For your team, come up with a name (it it doesn't have one already) and logo. I can provide details about the planet from my notes, if applicable.

Not every planet fields an interstellar-league team -- the following are the equivalent of major cities at the subsector scale, selected for based on starport quality, ability to support ball fields, and population.

You can also play a 'guest' team from another sector, with your Ref's permission.

See below for how to roll up players.

Baseball rules

We'll be using [W.M. Aker's Deadball] to resolve baseball games -- I settled on it because it's the most simulationist baseball sim I know of, with lots of knobs to fiddle with to account for gravity and stuff, and it accounts for the miniscule chance of players dying over the course of a game.

Rule Modifications

Stress

Players accumulate stress over the course of the tournament. Each point of stress reduces the pitch die by one level, and is subtracted from OBT.

Pitchers automatically gain 1 stress per game. Other players have a 2-in-6 chance of gaining stress. Players sent on a subterfuge mission automatically gain 1 stress.

Stress can be dissipated by using downtime to blow off steam.

Gravity

The absolute difference between a teams homeworld gravity (Size in the UPP) and the gravity of the field is called the Gravity Differential. The Gravity Differential is applied as a bonus to OBT, as pitchers struggle to adapt their throws to the new gravity.

Additionally, the Hit Table is modified by [7 - Current Gravity].

Players from worlds with TI 9+ and Population 7+ can specify what gravity they trained at, as their fields are equipped with adjustable gravity.

The El Zocalo field is set by default to level 7 (equivalent to Earth gravity) but can be adjusted in the Neogen Stadium control center.

Creating a roster

Teams have 15 players. You have two options for generating a player:

1. Worlds with population 6+ and government type TODO can support full-time pro players. Follow the procedures on p. 56-57 to generate them using Deadball rules. Use the "Ancient" rules.
   1. Poor and Agricultural worlds can only field "Farmhand" players. Rich worlds can field all 'Top prospect' players. Otherwise, the number of "Top prospects" you can roll is equal to your world's population digit; the rest must be "Farmhands".
2. Anyone can roll a CT character and convert them to a baseball player. Simply play the CT character generation minigame, then convert as follows:
   1. BT is calculated as TODO
   2. OBT is calculated as
   3. Roll for random traits as per Deadball

When rolling CT characters, there are no take-backs, so consider prioritizing careers that will kill off weak players.

Backup players generated mid-season are always "Farmhands" or CT characters.

Lineup Template

• Player: The Player's name -- nicknames are encouraged!
• POS: Preferred position. Deadball imposes small penalties for playing a different position than preferred. Bench players can prefer infield, outfield, catcher, or "utility"
• L/R: handedness -- has a small effect on pitcher/batter matchup odds
• BT: Batting target
• OBT: On base target
• TRAITS: Specific traits that affect a player. See p. ????
• AGE: self-explanatory -- generated either via Deadball or CT character creation.
• GRAV: Player's homeworld gravity. (See Gravity rules above).
• ST: Current stress (starts at 0).

Bench

Pitchers

Downtime

Between games, managers can direct the activities of their players.

Default activities

Subterfuge

Managers have a pool of credits that they can spend on equipping their players for clandestine activities, resolved using skill rolls.

Starting credits = KCR (Spaceport) + Pop. + Govt. + TI

Thus, El Zocalo A-543A98-13 starts with KCR 4D + 32

Resolving subterfuge:

• Specific players must be assigned to subterfuge tasks. The number of players assigned affects the skill DM per the table below.
• Each subterfuge task has a skill roll. This should be made by the most qualified character assigned to the task.
• Some tasks have improved odds if more money is spent. A cost of KCR 10/14/20 means that the base cost is KCR 10, a +1 DM is applied if KCR 14 is spent, and a +2 DM for KCR 20.
• Disqualified players can still perform subterfuge tasks, they just can't play. Arrested players are assumed to be in lockup for the duration of the series unless bailed out.
• Subterfuge will be processed in order of lowest-scoring team to highest-scoring team. If another team's action renders a mission invalid (i.e. by incapacitating a character), the manager can substitute other players or abort.

Scandal

That the Drift Series is a messy affair is an open secret, but even the sector's jaded public can only accept so much. Each team has a scandal level. Every week, 1D is rolled for each team, if equal to or under the scandal level, the team is censured.

Censures are as follows:

• Strike one: warning.
• Strike two: next game forfeited.
• Strike three: team disqualified.

Gambling

Managers (and any active characters in the Odradek's Drift universe) can bet their money on the outcome of any game. If your team gets eliminated, this can be a good way to remain invested in the outcome of the series.

Bonus

Presence of A Team

To determine which planets field teams in a subsector, throw 2D with a target of 8+ and the following DMs:

#Traveller #game-design #odradeks-drift