"Your character can die during character creation. That's a feature."
Traveller is the granddaddy of sci-fi tabletop RPGs (1977, Marc Miller). Current edition is Mongoose 2e: 2d6 + modifiers, skill checks, lifepath instead of classes. You don't build a hero — you build a biography: a stint in the Imperial Navy, a botched brokerage deal, a leg lost on a colonial backwater. The game is about freelancers on a beaten-up ship, a mortgage on the jump drive, and cargo you'd rather not inspect.
Charted Space and the Third Imperium. 11,000 inhabited worlds, jump drives up to 6 parsecs, feudal aristocracy with lasers. Beyond the sectors lie frontiers, pirates, lost colonies. You're not galactic saviors — you're a free trader's crew with a bank payment due every 30 days.
Lifepath, not level-up
Career before play: service, events, failures. You can die at chargen. But what walks out is a person with scars — not a walking stat block.
The ship is a character
Free Trader, Scout, Far Trader. A 40-year mortgage, fuel costs, insurance. The ship is your fifth crewmember and your biggest problem.
Trade as gameplay
Buy wheat on an agri-world, sell it on an industrial one. Broker rolls, speculative cargo, smuggling. A whole economic mini-game.
2d6 + everything
One roll for everything: skill + stat + modifier, target 8+. Simple curve, intuitive odds. No d20 required.
Open in Session Zero to let every player vote and see the results.