Hard sci-fi space crew sourcebook

[Tzeentch]

I'm really hard pressed to recommend Traveller for a hard sci-fi anything. At a bare minimum the setting is knee deep in assumptions about ubiquitous contragravity, artificial gravity, and reactionless drives.

GURPS Space is absolutely abysmal at providing game mechanics or advice that would be useful for the topic BTW.

[DangerousThing]

There are some interesting 3rd party Traveller supplements that use a low tech, probably GURPS TL 9, by Zozar. The main setting book is called Orbital and is available through rpg.drivethru.com. Actually, they're selling all their Traveller stuff as a bundle of pdf's.

It's supposed to be hard SF according to what I've heard: no FTL, that sort of thing. However, I only have one free adventure in the series, but that was well written.

[z0boson]

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

There are some interesting 3rd party Traveller supplements that use a low tech, probably GURPS TL 9, by Zozar. The main setting book is called Orbital and is available through rpg.drivethru.com. Actually, they're selling all their Traveller stuff as a bundle of pdf's.

It's supposed to be hard SF according to what I've heard: no FTL, that sort of thing. However, I only have one free adventure in the series, but that was well written.

Thanks for the info. I will have a look at it!

[z0boson]

Originally Posted by Tzeentch

I'm really hard pressed to recommend Traveller for a hard sci-fi anything. At a bare minimum the setting is knee deep in assumptions about ubiquitous contragravity, artificial gravity, and reactionless drives.

GURPS Space is absolutely abysmal at providing game mechanics or advice that would be useful for the topic BTW.

Well, artificial gravity would be kind of a deal breaker... It takes out one of things that would be quite important for a hard sci-fi crew.

GURPS space is mainly focussing on world creation, which is kind of useless in a campaign without FTL drives. I guess the life of the crews is too setting dependent to have a general sourcebook about it. It would have been cool to have a compendium similar to the low tech compendia (UT compendium I: Space technologies).

[DangerousThing]

Originally Posted by z0boson

Well, artificial gravity would be kind of a deal breaker... It takes out one of things that would be quite important for a hard sci-fi crew.

GURPS space is mainly focussing on world creation, which is kind of useless in a campaign without FTL drives. I guess the life of the crews is too setting dependent to have a general sourcebook about it. It would have been cool to have a compendium similar to the low tech compendia (UT compendium I: Space technologies).

Just because the main setting has gravity control, it doesn't mean that all the supplements use it, or that all GMs use it. Just as there are rules in GURPS that I tweak a bit, there are GMs that use a more realistic technology base (getting rid of anti-gravity and such).

Me, I tend to mix my SF with magic, so I don't mind somewhat magical technology. However, when I was on the Traveller forums, I saw that many Traveller GMs played a hard SF games without portable beam weapons or antigravity or (some) without FTL.

However, there are a lot of good settings from third party venders.

And don't forget that many of the GURPS space settings had antigravity.

Speaking of which, you might want to look at GURPS Transhuman Space. I think you'd have to get them in PDF form from e23, but that's all I buy nowadays.

[Phil Masters]

In the Transhuman Space line -- Spacecraft of the Solar System has a bit on space operations; High Frontier has a fair bit on Earth-orbital ops; Deep Beyond has a bit, but is largely about the communities of the setting's outer Solar System; Personnel Files has a small sample orbital spacecraft crew.

[Flyndaran]

Hard sci-fi is by nature opinion and aesthetics, unless it is science that exists right now.
That means the only "truly" appropriate material would be from N.A.S.A.

[z0boson]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Hard sci-fi is by nature opinion and aesthetics, unless it is science that exists right now.
That means the only "truly" appropriate material would be from N.A.S.A.

Well then it would not be sci-"fi" anymore ;)

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by z0boson

Well then it would not be sci-"fi" anymore ;)

The story could be fictional just with a scientific backdrop. Imagine a murder mystery inside the LHC complex.

[z0boson]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

In the Transhuman Space line -- Spacecraft of the Solar System has a bit on space operations; High Frontier has a fair bit on Earth-orbital ops; Deep Beyond has a bit, but is largely about the communities of the setting's outer Solar System; Personnel Files has a small sample orbital spacecraft crew.

Thanks for the info, I will have a look!