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Actually I was going to "mongrelize" PF and T20 as T20 has "Character Classes" but the levels don't give your character any actual power other than skills, hit points, et cetera (no spells though) and combat is lethal at ANY level. Also, T20 gives a prior history. What I don't care for in T20 is how FTL travel is handled neither do I care for lack of shielding and FTL communication rules. I suppose that I could explain those other rules by saying that the shields and FTL communications have a "DEM field" surrounding it (DEM stands for "Deus Ex Machina") which makes everything work. Again this is only the "brain storming" stage.
Look at the Technology Guide first
Then maybe make archetypes of most classes in order to better include technological equipment.
Depending on the nature of the setting casters should be limited or refactored in the psychic magic. In this the Psychic can be used almost without modification.
I too am running a scifi campaign.
What kind of things do you need.
Most of any advice I can give you is third party material for Pathfinder RPG.
Looking at the thread I see T20, and I assume you mean Traveler. I know nothing about Traveler so I can't contribute on that front.
Off the top of my head.
Rogue Genius Games has a product called Anachronistic Adventures. It has six base classes that at their core don't have magic and at the most have more spoonbending new age magic. They are meant to play characters from the 1900s but with access to Paizo's Technology Guide they are surprising adept at representing space age classes, making a lot of space niches from some products obsolete. For example one archetype mingles well with most piloting and drive rules making for a great mecha pilot without any adaption.
Speaking of the Technology Guide, Fat Goblin Games has a pdf called Call to Arms: Fantastic Technology which is a huge addition to it.
I know you said you don't want magic but for the sake of entertainment I would recommend replacing magic with psionics from Ultimate Psionics from Dreamscarred Press. Although I don't officially ban magic I encourage taking Psionic classes instead of magic ones calling them ESPers in game. Psionics can hit a lot more tropes in a future setting than they can mingling with magic covering pseudo-magic like Jedi and telekinetic grey aliens.
I reluctantly recommend this as it's not exactly for everyone or is as robust of crunch as I want it to be but I've picked out valuable stuff from Star Tramps for spaceships and how FTL works, mainly because it handles both in a very uncomplicated way.
Let me know what you need in more detail.
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I have been inspired to create a game based on the SyFy Channel series "Dark Matter". Yes, I realize that there is a WotC game called Dark Matter. If I create said game it will not be called that. With that in mind, would anyone mind giving me pointers?
I am not familiar with the show that you reference, but here are some things you can start with.
It sounds like the game will be largely defined by the setting, so clearly define the elements that make up that setting.
- What is the genre you are going for? You already said it was sci-fi.
- What flavor of sci-fi are you going for - hard sci-fi, space opera/fantasy, cyberpunk, modern day with fantastic elements?
- Do the laws of nature/reality match those of the real world? If not, how are they different?
- What is the technology level?
- Does magic exist? If so, how common is it? Does the general public know/believe that magic exists?
- Is there some other strange/mystic force other than magic, like psionics, the force or people that have superpowers?
- What races should be available to players? Is it just humans? Can you use existing Paizo or 3PP races or should you create your own?
- What classes are available to the players? Again can you use existing Paizo or 3PP classes or should you create your own?
With the setting clearly defined, I think that any gaps in the existing rules for Pathfinder RPG, as they apply to your new game, may become apparent and you can decide how to address them.