For this game, we'll be building on the rules presented as Night Tripper by Chris P Wolf, a light science fiction ruleset mostly resolved by rolling 2d6 (with an 8+ generally indicating success ... but you can read the rules, or learn as you play).
The Wilderness
The characters have come to the edge of the empire, to the far reaches on the boundary of a sector of space called "The Wilderness". The sector beyond is largely unexplored, except by certain scouts and prospectors jealous of their personal knowledge and successes. There is a vast opportunity in the opening up of this space--new planets to mine, new life to research, new civilizations to engage with and perhaps secure exclusive trade-deals. And of course, all of this comes with great danger--and the excitement therefrom. From whatever corner of the empire you've come, you're at Starbase Cherryh to try your damnedest to make a fortune out of this potential--or perhaps die trying!
Character Creation
See the rules here, but also look at a couple additional options I presented here.
Home Base
In the "old school" tradition of role playing that I've come to enjoy, Starbase Cherryh will be the home base of all the characters, a safe space to return to away from the adventures and excitement of the wilderness space beyond.
Sessions of play will begin at the station, from thence to venture out into the wild unknown in search of adventure and riches. Play will last for perhaps a couple of hours, and it is expected that players will return to the safety of Starbase Cherryh at the end of the session. Exceptions to this are certainly possible--for instance, longer voyages relying on known safe-spaces previously identified in the great beyond--but that is the generally intended method of play.
Play can continue at the home base in another fashion, however. Characters who are not adventuring are expected to do something in the meantime, whether that be merely the drudgery of holding down a wage-job, or engaging in other productive downtime activities, in which we will be following Ben L.'s excellent framework of rules developed for D&D.
Time and the Calendar
Days and weeks in the game will advance at the same rate as in the real world. This will assist the Referee in keeping track of who's where when. The nearest stars in the wilderness beyond are a week away, meaning that extended expeditions into that area of space will actually take place over many weeks or perhaps months. Though such expeditions will be resolved in the course of a session of live play over a few hours, the Referee will note how many weeks those characters took on their journey, and such characters will be unavailable for further play until their date of return to the station.
Meanwhile, other characters on the station may continue to pursue their downtime activities, or whatever highjinks they wish to partake in while remaining at the station, perhaps taking up a job to venture into the unknown on a separate venture.
It may behoove players to develop a small "stable" of characters, so that even if one is away on an extended expedition, they may still take part in a different venture with another character. Such characters should not be played as if they are close friends, and their credits and possessions must be tracked separately and not be shared between them.
Contracts
Starting characters won't have enough credits or financial clout to purchase a starship of their own, or get a loan to purchase a ship, or even rent one. They'll have to find other means of traveling into the Wilderness to pursue opportunities there. Contracting with someone who has a ship and who's already going that way would be a good way to "get a piece of the action" in this case.
Contract notices will be posted at the Saloon and at the Lost Horizon bars (i.e. posted the blog), including the goal of the expedition, the expected length of time, the number of positions open, and the remuneration offered at the end of successful completion of the job. Once enough PCs have enlisted, the expedition will set forth and a session will be scheduled with those who signed on to resolve the expedition. Contracts that receive no interest from player-characters will eventually be dropped, either filled in by non-player-characters, or given up as a pipe dream by the proposer.
This will be an initial means by the Referee of getting player-characters from the station into adventure and live playing sessions. It is expected that as player-characters come into their own and recognize their own goals, and perhaps realize their own means of transportation, that they may eventually tend to ignore any but the highest-paying contracts, or perhaps recruit others with contracts of their own, all while pursuing their own goals without worrying about these contract-boards. But that's all in the future at the moment.
The Goal
Without experience points, the gameplay loop may be a little nebulous to some. What are we striving for and adventuring after? Is it really only to grub a few extra credits, to buy that starship, so that even more credits can be grubbed up?
Exploration and achievements are the goals that I envision, as the Referee setting up the initial milieu. The satisfaction of filling in the map ... "to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations--to boldly go where no man has gone before!" To be the one who explored system WD-12 first. To be the captain who negotiated a lucrative (and exclusive?) trade deal with the inhabitants of the Frith star system. To be the commodore who organized a devastating strike against the pirates of the Methi Nebula ...
Such goals must obviously be left up to the players to resolve, or discover on their own what they wish to do. The game is open ended, even more so than traditional D&D with its experience points and self-improvement through leveling. The player-characters will have to be self-made--and self-willed.
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