The original reason that I took interest in GURPS was because of my abiding fascination with the Traveller universe. Within the Traveller canon there is a curious alternative narrative which was created to support the GURPS Traveller line of sourcebooks. Impressed by these books, I found myself buying in to thee broader GURPS line.

In simple terms, GURPS Traveller offered an escape from the Imperial Rebellion and Virus storyline that dominated the development of the game through the mid-1980s and 1990s. While I enjoyed the Rebellion era resources, I could appreciate the steady-state that the original game offered. More than this, I enjoyed the depth the GURPS books offered.

Being an explorer by nature, I found the collection of GURPS Traveller books to contain a more thorough and rational setting in which to play. Coupled with the grounded GURPS rules, this form of science-fiction adventure game combined a flavour of hard-enough science with strong social and political interest.

As I have been considering the direction of my own hobby in recent months, GURPS Traveller has resurfaced in my consciousness more than once. Given my delight in the older GURPS Third Edition rules and my long-standing desire to return to the science-fiction of my earliest gaming experiences, this seems an obvious path to revisit.

What of the Rim of Fire then?

For me, the release of Supplement 10: The Solomani Rim in 1982 was a seminal moment because it began to answer questions about the Official Traveller Universe that I was asking. The GURPS supplement, however, takes these roots and gives them a far greater degree of nuance and intrigue that I have been curious about since it was published in 2000.

That frontier of Charted Space which centres around Terra has always fascinated me. I delight in the story of humanity’s first flight to Barnard’s Star to discover that the galaxy had already been largely conquered… by other humans. The Solomani (as humans from Sol came to be known) epitomise a certain failure to accept reality that long amused me.

While many SF players would be happy to explore the far-off Spinward Marches of the Traveller universe, I have long harboured a desire to run a game of cold-war style operations along the Solomani-Imperial border. The scope for adventure in the backyard of Humaniti’s homeworld has always seemed huge and inviting. Whether rebels or smugglers, political activists or military officers, the place is a powder keg waiting to explode.

As I contemplate the kinds of game I want to run and play in, my eye falls once again on my collection of GURPS Traveller books and in particular to the Solomani Rim Sourcebook. There’s just enough detail to grab and run with out of the book but just enough space left between the lines to explore and make it your own.

Game on!