Back at the beginning of 2025, I decided that I wanted to double-down on my mastery of GURPS as the roleplaying game system that I actually consistently enjoy. Alongside that I decided that I wanted to take on the challenge of developing my own science-fiction space-based game. This would involve creating a sector of space and working out the basis for different approaches to SF play within it.

With a month of anxious dithering behind me, I found inspiration while sitting with the face-to-face group prior to continuing our current Cthulhu investigation: one of the players expressed, not for the first time, a desire to play something SF. Given my realisation that I have transitioned towards a more improvisational style at the table, I determined that it would be fun to create a framework within which we might play.

The essence of what I am trying to do is captured in the idea of a ‘framework’. This means creating a reasonably-sized campaign area map, taking the larger-scale campaign decisions that answer the main questions players need answered before they can create characters, and placing a few initial NPCs and places onto a starting place world. Spinning up specific situations and missions for the PCs can happen as any particular group forms a party of adventurers.

Sitting alongside this plan for an SF game lies an interest in using the smallest and most simple framework of rules from the Basic Set and associated supplements. In the spirit of the improvisational GM, I intend to draw on elements that already exist within the GURPS system but try to create a more relaxed style of play. As I unclench my tense past approach to GMing, I want to embrace a grounded yet slightly more freewheeling tone and pace. This will be a sandbox for all of us to play in.

This will be a sequence of posts outlining my decision-making process in the early stages of campaign design. Everything is open to change and alteration as I figure out the steps I need to take. GURPS Space will be my primary guide and we’ll see where things end up. Perhaps sharing my thoughts and ideas will inspire some interest from others, spurring this setting to the table.

Next post: New Frontiers, Part II

Game on!