After the computer game Machiavelli the Prince, Holistic Design looked to try something new - a space strategy computer game, which ultimately became Emperor of the Fading Suns (1996).[1]:322 Holistic commissioned Andrew Greenberg and Bill Bridges to use their world building experience to create a universe for the game, which would also be used as the setting for a tabletop role-playing game to be released simultaneously.[1]:322 Greenberg and Bridges had previously helped define the style of White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness and, according to Shannon Appelcline, people noticed this game's similarity to the "White Wolf style".[1]:322 Appelcline comments further: "Fading Suns is unique mainly for its distinctive setting. It is a hard science-fiction game, but much of the universe has fallen back to Medieval technology: noble houses, guilds and a monolithic church control most of the power in the universe. Many people compare the universe to that of Frank Herbert's Dune, though Bridges points to Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun, Isaac Asimov's Foundation and others as his inspiration."[1]:322Fading Suns was well supported with supplements for a few years and in that time the line sold well.[1]:322 Holistic released the table-top miniatures game Noble Armada (1998), which was designed by Ken Lightner and Chris Wiese as a spaceship combat game intended to compatible with Fading Suns.[1]:323Passion Play (1999) was a live action role-playing game for Fading Suns.[1]:323 Holistic published a d20 version of Fading Suns (2001), and then published their later Fading Suns supplements with dual sets of statistics to use them for both d20 and their own "Victory Point System".[1]:323 Over the next few years Holistic announced that they were working on a third edition of Fading Suns as well as new games which would have been designed using the d20 Modern rules and would have explored different periods in the history of Fading Suns, but none of these products were released.[1]:324 In 2007 Holistic Design licensed Fading Suns to RedBrick, and in 2012 the license passed to FASA Games, Inc, which released a revised edition of Fading Suns later that year. In 2014 FASA Games announced they would be releasing a new version of Noble Armada.[2] In 2016 Holistic Design licensed the publishing rights for Fading Suns to Ulisses Spiele, who announced they were planning a new edition, with products published in both English and German. FASA Games retained the license for Noble Armada products and miniatures.[3]
Game setting
The action is set in the Known Worlds, a future medieval-analogue empire built on the remains of a previous, more sophisticated human space-faring civilization made possible by ancient "jumpgates". The jumpgates are relics left by the mysterious Anunnaki, an ancient civilization (or civilizations) which seem to have influenced the evolution of lesser species, such as humans, for their own end, and waged a devastating war many millennia ago using them as tools and weapons.
The atmosphere is strongly reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune and of the Hyperion stories by Dan Simmons, but is influenced by many other science fiction and horror books and movies as well, including the Cthulhu Mythos. The Known Worlds are a very superstitious and dangerous place.
Power is administered by five major Noble Houses, five major guilds within the Merchants League, and six major sects of the Universal Church of the Celestial Sun.
While most role-playing situations arise from the strict codes regulating the everyday life of the empire's citizens, the Imperial Age is rife with opportunities for adventure. Following the fall of the old regime, and centuries of darkness and warfare, most worlds have slipped backward to a technology level not much more advanced than 21st century Earth, and a number of alien threats lurk in the shadows. Pushing at the borders of the Known Worlds lurk the mutangenic horror of the Symbiots, the ancient and enigmatic Vau, and the barbarian empires of the Kurgan and the Vuldrok, all waiting for their chance to throw humanity into darkness and chaos.
Players can take the role of either a member of a Noble House, of one of the various merchant guilds, or a member of one of the numerous religious sects. A number of alien species, most notably the human-like 'psychic' Ukar and Obun, and the six-limbed, bestial Vorox, are also available as player characters.
Two separate types of occult abilities exist within the game universe: psychic powers and Theurgy. Psychic powers manifest, generally, from the practitioners' own mental abilities. Psionicists, castigated as 'demon worshippers' and heretics, are often hunted down and killed by the Church, or enrolled in the Church's ranks (after a good bit of 're-training'). Theurgy is a kind of ordained divine sorcery practiced by the Church through various approved rites and is capable of producing miracles, often by calling on the assistance of various saints and angels.
A large library of supplements provides descriptions of locales (planets, space stations, whole sections of space), alien societies, minor houses, guilds and sects, monsters and secret conspiracies, thus expanding the thematic possibilities offered by the setting.
Game system
The Fading Suns engine uses a simple attribute and skill, level and classless, single d20-powered system, called the Victory Point System (VPS).[4] The second edition of the game's rules solved many issues raised by the earlier rule book, while increasing the amount of data available. The current Revised Edition further updated and streamlined the VPS mechanics.
While generally stereotypical in their template-like form, characters are easily personalized through either life path or points-buy systems.
In 2000, an adaptation of the setting to the popular 3rd edition OGL system was also published - D20 Fading Suns. For several years, supplements carried rules for both systems.
Holistic Design has released a LARP version of Fading Suns entitled Passion Play.[5]
A fourth edition of Fading Suns is in development, helmed by original writer Bill Bridges.
2003 Imperial Survey 6: Imperial Fiefs (PDF, as a free download)
Collections:
2000 Lords & Priests, ISBN978-1-888906-24-0 (contains Lords of the Known World and Priests of the Celestial Sun)
2002 Aliens & Deviltry, ISBN1-888906-33-2 (contains Children of the Gods and The Dark Between the Stars)
2003 Worlds of the Realm, ISBN978-1-888906-35-6 (contains: Hawkwood Fiefs, al Malik Fiefs, Hazat Fiefs, Li Halan Fiefs, and the previously unprinted Imperial Fiefs)
2007 Second Edition Revised Rulebook. (Not to be confused with 2012 Fading Suns Player's Guide Revised Edition Core Rulebook)
Editors: Alex Wichert, Carsten Damm, Kathy Schad, James D. Flowers
Description: Mostly identical to Second Edition main rulebook. The layout was changed slightly, the index was expanded, important tables were gathered and printed in an appendix. Another adventure (called Pandemonium Unchained) was added.
2007 A Road So Dark (PDF; now part of the Shards Collection, below)
Author: Angus McNicholl
Description: an adventure about a previously unknown jumproute between two stellar systems.
2007 Imperial Survey Vol. 7: Church Fiefs
Author: Mat Wakefield
Description: this details the Church planets Artemis, Holy Terra, Pentateuch, De Moley, and Pyre
2007 Kraken's Loom (PDF; now part of the Shards Collection, below)
Author: Angus McNicholl
Description: this adventure leads the characters into barbarian space in search of a lost heirloom, but the situation is complicated by being the strangers in a strange land.
2008 Arcane Tech
Authors: Bill Bridges, Alan Bryden, Brian Campbell, Andrew Greenberg, Lee Hammock, Dave Harrison, Samuel Inabinet, Bill Maxwell, Angus McNicholl, Angelus Michaels, Laura Poplin, Rustin Quaide, Sandra Schneider, Nicky Rea, Jay Verkuilen, James Walker-Bumcrot, Mat Wakefield, Martin Welnicki, Alex Wichert, Gabriel Zarate
Description: this sourcebook contains reprinted and refreshed material from "Forbidden Lore: Technology", as well as new technological items, ranging from alien technology to weird tech to new weapons and gear.
2008 Ruinous Folly (PDF; now part of the Shards Collection, below)
Author: Angus McNicholl
Description: this adventure takes the characters from a private auction to the turbulent atmosphere of Gargantua in search of a lost treasure, but the treasure has ideas of its own.
2008 Dead End (PDF; now part of the Shards Collection, below))
Author: Thomas Baroli
Description: this adventure takes the characters from a religious ceremony, to an obscure plot of murder and intrigue
2011 Fading Suns Shards Collection Volume One (Print and PDF Release)
Author: Thomas Baroli, Angus McNicholl
Description: compiles and updates the previously released PDF adventures Dead End, Ruinous Folly, Kraken's Loom, and A Road So Dark into one volume.
FASA Games Publications
2012 Fading Suns Player's Guide - Revised Edition Core Rulebook. (Not to be confused with 2007 Fading Suns Second Edition Revised Rulebook) -- produced by RedBrick, published by FASA Games, Inc.[7]
Author: Todd Bogenrief, Vidar Edland, Chris Wiese, Andrew Greenberg, Bill Bridges, Phil Cameron, Richard Ashley, Thomas Baroli, Ruben Ramos, Mark Stout, James Sutton
Description: Similar in places to the Fading Suns Second Edition, with rules extensively re-written (especially combat rules). Updates and additions throughout.
Authors: Todd Bogenrief, Vidar Edland, Richard Ashley, Thomas Baroli, Brandon van Buren, Phil Cameron, Tristan Lhomme, Ruben Ramos, Mark Stout, James Sutton, Dennis Watson, and Chris Wiese, with reused material by Bill Bridges, Brian Campbell, Andrew Greenberg, Robert Hatch, Jennifer Hartshorn, Chris Howard, Sam Inabinet, Ian Lemke, Jim More, Rustin Quade
2015 Criticorum Discord - A Fading Suns Drama Book [8]
Description: Three dramas for Fading Suns provide the backdrop to the beginnings of an uprising in the Known Worlds. The al-Malik world of Criticorum is highlighted, with each drama taking place on the planet itself, or within the star system.
Ulisses Spiele GmbH
On November 1, 2016, Holistic Design announced that Ulisses Spiele GmbH has taken over publishing the Fading Suns roleplaying game.[9]
In 2020 Ulisses started a Kickstarter for several new books.[10]
In August 2020 Kickstarter backers received the electronic version of the new Fading Suns 3rd edition "Universe Book".
In October 2020 Kickstarter backers received the electronic version of the new "Character Book", the new "Gamemaster Book" and the new "Intrigues and Escapades".
Reception
In the August 1997 edition of Dragon (Issue 238), Rick Swan liked the sombre setting, but criticized the task resolution system: "Inexplicably, the designers pile on the numbers, adding stuff like effect dice, effect numbers, and complementary actions, all of which are intended to make task resolution more realistic, but just make it more confusing." But Swan liked the rest of the game, and gave it a rating of 5 out of 6, saying, "Although Fading Suns fails to scale the heights of Traveller — the setting isn't as rich, and the rules, though solid, aren't nearly as elegant — it succeeds on its own terms, evoking a vividly imagined future where street smarts count more than computer literacy, where betrayal and despair are more common than sunshine. With nearly 50 pages of background to digest, it's not the easiest game to get into. But for players who like a little anguish with their space opera, it's worth the effort."[11]
Traveller is a science fiction role-playing game first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop. Marc Miller designed Traveller with help from Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and Loren Wiseman. Editions were published for GURPS, d20, and other role-playing game systems. From its origin and in the currently published systems, the game relied upon six-sided dice for random elements. Traveller has been featured in a few novels and at least two video games.
The Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR. The Monster Manual was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for D&D. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics, a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, the Monster Manual is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the D&D game. As such, new editions of the Monster Manual have been released for each edition of D&D. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a pivotal example of a new style of wargame books. Future editions would draw on various sources and act as a compendium of published monsters.
Andrew Greenberg is a game designer of tabletop role-playing games and role-playing video games.
Several different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of D&D, Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the game. However, many D&D fans continue to play older versions of the game and some third-party companies continue to publish materials compatible with these older editions.
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is a d20 System roleplaying game set in the Star Wars universe. The game was written by Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins and J. D. Wiker and published by Wizards of the Coast in late 2000 and revised in 2002. In 2007, Wizards released the Saga Edition of the game, which made major changes in an effort to streamline the rules system.
Bill Bridges is an American role-playing game developer and fantasy author. He designed the role-playing games Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, and Promethean: The Created. He additionally worked on a video game based on his Fading Suns role-playing game Emperor of the Fading Suns. He is currently a developer at Holistic Design.
Holistic Design, Inc. (HDI), is an American game company.
Ken Lightner is a game designer with experience in multiple fields. His primary area of expertise is in computer games.
Chris Wiese is a role-playing game designer.
BattleForce was originally created by FASA Corporation, a wargame set in the BattleTech universe designed to allow the simulation of larger-scale actions. Units typically represent lances, but there are provisions for allowing the counters to represent larger units/formations, such as companies, battalions, and so forth.
David L. Pulver is a Canadian freelance writer and game designer, author of more than fifty role-playing game rulebooks and supplements, including the award-winning Transhuman Space.
Dark Heresy is a role-playing game published by Black Industries in 2008 that uses the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay system. A second edition was published in 2014 under Fantasy Flight Games.
Conan: The Roleplaying Game is a sword and sorcery British role-playing game based on the D20 System first published in January 2004 by Mongoose Publishing, mainly designed by Ian Sturrock and set in the fictional Hyborian Age of Conan the Barbarian, created by Robert E. Howard in the 1930s.
Rapture: The Second Coming is a role-playing game published by Quintessential Mercy Studio in 1995, with a second edition by Holistic Design in 2002.
RedBrick Limited was a New Zealand game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements. The company moved to the United States in 2010 and established business as RedBrick LLC. In 2018, RedBrick Publishing – the successor to RedBrick's earlier incarnations – started operations.
Living Room Games was an American game company, active between 2000 and 2006, that produced role-playing games, game supplements and books, particularly for the Earthdawn series.
Ross Watson is a designer of computer, miniature and role-playing games and a writer in various genres. Watson worked on the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay line as the Lead Developer for Dark Heresy, was the lead designer for Rogue Trader and Deathwatch, and was part of the design team for Black Crusade. He was the lead developer for both Aaron Allston's Strike Force and Savage Worlds Rifts. His written works include the Accursed and Weird War I settings for Savage Worlds, contributions to the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG, and the video games Darksiders II, Warhammer 40,000: Regicide, and Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. Watson has designed rules and scenarios for miniature game lines, such as Dust Warfare, and he has written for several card games, including Warhammer: Invasion, Empire Engine, and the Lost Legacy series.
Byzantium Secundus is a supplement published by Holistic Design in 1996 for the science fiction space opera role-playing game Fading Suns.
Noble Armada is a board game published by Holistic Design in 1998.
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