The Federation of the Hub is the setting for several stories by James H. Schmitz. Perhaps best known for his humorous science-fiction novel The Witches of Karres, Schmitz was also known for writing stories with strong female characters, ecological themes, and intriguing plot twists. Inspired by pulp science fiction writers such as E. E. "Doc" Smith, Schmitz wrote many stories in the spaceships-and-blasters subgenre that has come to be called "space opera." He never won a Hugo or Nebula Award, but he was nominated for five Nebulas and two Hugos, all during the 1960s, his most prolific decade.
I want to run roleplaying games set in the Federation of the Hub -- I'm basically hoping that the Schmitz estate doesn't mind. I don't plan to have any of Schmitz' characters appear other than peripherally. I plan to base my game on the d20 system -- since Wizards of the Coast's Open Gaming License allows people to publish games with the d20 system, I figure they'll be OK with me running a game that isn't going to be published, except in the sense that these web pages are electronically published.