Happy Jacks: Ashes of Exodus

This Stu Venable (@srvenable) GM’ed Traveller podcast used the Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition rules and remains one of the few examples of MgT2e Actual Play. As a bonus, Happy Jacks included the recording of Session 0 for those who want to see the infamous and occasionally fatal character creation system for Traveller at work.

Ashes of Exodus is the second Happy Jacks Traveller release, and instead of utilizing an existing setting GM Stu created a compelling Tech Level 10 setting with clear limits to technological development (Tech Level 10 is just entering into the Faster than Light era). Frontier challenges, Politics and intrigue run deep in this believable hard sci-fi setting. Session 0/character creation shows some of the give-and-take needed to develop a setting that is compelling to both GM and players.

As this Actual Play was only released for 5 sessions, regardless it remains commendable because of the ruleset, the character and setting creation, and the table dynamics.

A notable aspect of this recording is that it reveals the diversity of the characters as produced by the Traveller system. Kimi (@goldenlassogirl) generates a Debutante—with the power of wealth and connections (and not much else); another player character takes a detour into jail. Characters in Traveller already tell a story when you finally set out to play them, and this is one of the few Traveller Actual Plays to reveal that essential aspect of Traveller.

The Happy Jacks table is always fast and conversational, not always orderly, but almost always entertaining. The wits are sharp and the years of roleplaying experience are invaluable—and that unique table synthesis is apparent in this recording.


Update from the Happy Jacks Twitter feed, this setting will return in February 2018.


Irregular release, currently on indefinite hiatus.

3–4 hour recording length.

Good quality recording, occasional overtalking, explicit tag in iTunes.

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Active: 2016-2017

Picture from the Happy Jacks YouTube recording and all rights reside with the original creator..