Looking to recreate the feel of Firefly, The Outer Worlds, The Expanse, or similar, in a ttrpg that is somewhat leaning to the hard sci fi side. Any thoughts?
I’ve been poking Traveller but it’s hard to tell what the definitive versions are. Also Stars Without Number looks interesting.
I’m particularly looking for ship based stuff – where the ship is statted and you can have ship to ship combat.
Have you looked into Starfinder at all?
My experience as a GM is that starship combat in Starfinder is a bit of a slog. It has loads of cool mechanics but the main issue is that the rules are so different from regular encounters that generally you don’t have much of a chance to internalise them.