Quote from: jeff37923;919776What hard science fiction do you like to read? Give us some titles or authors so we can better grasp where you are coming from with the OP question.

Well I think people have already given me some ample leads here. I ended up buying Stars without Number and looking into some of the others people mentioned. I won't be able to start prep on this one until after this month. What I may end up doing, since this is going to be an every now and then kind of thing, is try out a few different systems at first. Part of my trepidation is I've not run many Science Fiction campaigns as a gamemaster (been in plenty as a player).

To answer your question, I like all kinds of science fiction, but for this campaign I am going for stuff on the harder end as well as military science fiction. I do realize Hard Science Fiction is a bit of  fuzzy line though and I am not terribly picky about the definition. I am a big fan of Arthur C. Clarke. Also stuff like Weir, Niven, Heinlein, Asimov, etc. By far the biggest influence would be Clarke. And my aim is to do them as short 1-6 session mini-campaigns where each might have its own concept and ideas. So I could be running something like Rendezvous with Rama one month, Starship Troopers on another and Contact or End of Eternity in another. Of course, if the first session bombs or something, maybe it will just be a one shot.

If it were me, I think I use traveller (Mongoose, because that's the one I have) Then would use the Hammers Slammers Traveller supplement. Mostly because I love the books and the setting.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;917462I really like science fiction, and in particular stuff from the 50s and 60s from guys like Clarke. I don't really run that many science fiction campaigns though, and I am looking for the right system to do hard sci-fi one-shots every so often. So I am looking for something that either doesn't have a baked in premise or is adjustable enough that removing its premise would allow for a range of scenarios. Preferably on the lighter end with rules, because I want to be able to run it at a moments notice. Anyone have suggestions?

The Void:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/117563/The-Void-Core-PDF

Comes with quickstart creation rules with quickbuild pregens and templates with a small selection of NPCs, creatures and gear you'll need. Very flexible system, very much hard sci-fi (even goes into detail about pseudo-gravity generated in stations and on ships, also the "modular" nature of them) with mysterious cthonian/xenos beings and some occultist magic for flavor which can easily be stripped out. Uses d6 almost exclusively so also very good for introducing newbies to RPGs. Very good system overall and quite lethal too.