campaign options

[whswhs]

So I've been compiling my list of possible campaigns for 2025, and I'd like to have a science fictional proposal in it. I'm not sure I'm happy with any of the ideas I came up with in the past. I might like to run a classic SF campaign, in the spirit of Poul Anderson or James Schmitz, and Traveller seems a possible choice for that. However,

* I'm not happy with the assumption of randomized character creation.

* GURPS Traveller avoids that issue, and goes into more detail on things like planetary systems.

* However, most GURPS Traveller material that I've seen seems to be 3/e, and I'm no longer in touch with how 3/e works.

* I'd particularly prefer to run a campaign focused on trade or diplomacy, rather than on either war or exploring new solar systems.

* A lot of Traveller, including GURPS Traveller, seems to be focused on the published setting with Solomani, Vilani, Zhodani, Aslan, Vargr, and so on; but that's not the flavor I want—I don't particularly want psionics, I prefer more alien aliens, and I'd rather not have an imperial state (if there's any widespread polity, I'd like something more like the Polesotechnic League).

So what's available for 4/e, and does it fit my inchoate sense of the kind of campaign I might run?

[selenite]

GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars handles Traveller for 4th Ed. GURPS. It's reasonably good as a generic SF game. I use it for my Firefly RPG sessions.

It is built into the Traveller setting, though in an earlier period when Earth is just contacted and fighting the Vilani Empire. Psionics gets a single sidebar saying they're "almost unknown" in the setting.

The default campaign is for merchants, but it doesn't have business rules. You'd need GT Far Trader or GURPS Spaceships 2 for that.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by selenite

GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars handles Traveller for 4th Ed. GURPS. It's reasonably good as a generic SF game. I use it for my Firefly RPG sessions.

It is built into the Traveller setting, though in an earlier period when Earth is just contacted and fighting the Vilani Empire. Psionics gets a single sidebar saying they're "almost unknown" in the setting.

The default campaign is for merchants, but it doesn't have business rules. You'd need GT Far Trader or GURPS Spaceships 2 for that.

I was wondering about that. I do have both Interstellar Wars and Spaceships 2, though I have to say I find it hard to make sense of the Spaceships series. I'll have to give them a look.

For creating solar systems and alien races, would I want to consult GURPS Space?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by whswhs

For creating solar systems and alien races, would I want to consult GURPS Space?

Using any realistic system for world generation will produce a lot of uninhabitable rockballs and hellworlds, which is of dubious value to an RPG, so a lot depends on what you want out of your solar systems and alien races.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Using any realistic system for world generation will produce a lot of uninhabitable rockballs and hellworlds, which is of dubious value to an RPG, so a lot depends on what you want out of your solar systems and alien races.

As I recall, GURPS Space offers one system where you can assume a Garden world, and then build the solar system around it.

[selenite]

Originally Posted by whswhs

For creating solar systems and alien races, would I want to consult GURPS Space?

Yes, for alien races. Interstellar Wars has a dozen pages for generating a Traveller subsector map, from planet type to trade routes. You may want to compare it to Space.