Characters and Campaigns on Colony Worlds for GURPS Space

by Royce Easton Day

Teal paused at the end of the shuttle's loading ramp, her knees suddenly weak. The familiar corridors of the slow-light transport, so much like the crowded warrens of Earth, were gone. She stood now in an open space bigger than the largest Green Space back home, with a ceiling (the sky, she told herself) higher than anything she'd ever seen.

A warning honk from the cargo loader made her jump off the ramp to stand on the shuttleport's tarmac. She turned around, drinking in the open, unfiltered, pure air. Then she stopped, pausing in confusion.

"Now where do I go?" she said aloud.

* * *

Space colonies have been a staple of science fiction since its literary beginnings. From the eager Ganymede Boy Scouts of Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky, to the stranded, Thread-threatened colonials of McCaffrey's Dragonsdawn, colonists exploring and exploiting their new homes have provided the plots and settings for numerous books.

While most space-based RPGs have rules on how to generate planets and cultures, it's rare to find one that details how those worlds were colonized. This article builds on the ideas provided in "Thoughts of Empire," and provides GMs with guidelines on how to set up a campaign set on a single colony world, and how to involve PCs in carving out a whole new civilization.

Building the Colony

Following the guidelines of Thoughts of Empire, a GM preparing a colonial campaign should figure out what sort of group, business or government . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.




Article publication date: April 13, 2001


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