GURPS Traveller - The DSD Chronicles

System: GURPS

Themes & Tone

Firefly+The Expanse

• PCs just trying to run a successful business, make some money, and otherwise live in peace, but keep getting dragged into the Universal meat-grinder
• Backdrop of International Espionage, Wilderness of Mirrors, as Tamborro Station always gets caught in the middle and/or tossed about (Tambo/Denotam is a hub of international espionage activity, as a convenient backwater/fringe world out of direct view of authorities, contrasted with Celestia Station, which is newer, more modern/classy, safer w/ a large Navy presence—and more visible)
• Centered around home base, Tamborro Station; voyages should always return there, and action often happen there
  • Tambo is being evaluated for possible decommissioning; residents struggling to make it shiny & chrome for the SPA auditors, while others who consider it a hive of scum & villainy, or want their percentage of (legal or illegal) business traffic, are trying to devalue it
  • All the players want Tambo to succeed and thrive, but for differing reasons, using differing methods
• Ever-present professional rivalry (w/ Sophie crew)

Settings

• Basic Realism
• TL11 (variable); tech details per Traveller source material
• Starting Wealth: per GT
• Impulse Buys: usage per website; use normal CP, with +3 use-or-lose Plot Points at campaign start
• No Extra Effort in Combat (probationary)

Unofficial Rules/Options

• Standard House Rules
• No dodging "bullets" beyond Per# yards; "Evasive Movement" (-2), Drop Prone, Give Ground (if suitable cover is present) allowed

Characters

• 200 CPs
• -75 CPs Disads+Quirks
• No "Cinematic" Traits; Exotic/Super Traits available by Race, or cyber/genetic modification
• Check "realistic limits" for improved Derived Stats (usually limited to ±2, w/ex)

Other Considerations

• Vilani language=Chinese in Firefly

Advancement

• Will be using Improvement Through Study (B292) time-use tracking (spreadsheet); expect to get some use out of it