Fading Suns
Fading Suns (2nd edition) cover
Designer(s)	Bill Bridges, Andrew Greenberg
Publisher(s)	Holistic Design, Inc.
Publication date	1996 (1st edition) 1999 (2nd edition) 2001 (d20 edition)
Genre(s)	Science fiction
System	Victory Point System, d20 System

Fading Suns is a science fiction space opera role-playing game published by Holistic Design. The setting was also used for a PC game (Emperor of the Fading Suns), a live action role-playing game (Passion Play), and for a space combat miniature game (Noble Armada). Image File history File linksMetadata Fading_Suns_2nd_ed_cover_small. ... Bill Bridges is a RPG developer and author. ... Andrew Greenberg is a game designer of both pen-and-paper role-playing games and computer games. ... Holistic Design, Inc. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The d20 System logo The d20 System is a system of game mechanics for role-playing games published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast and based on the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic adventure, exotic settings, and larger than life characters. ... A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ... Holistic Design, Inc. ... Emperor of the Fading Suns is a science fiction grand-scale space strategy game made by Holistic Design in 1996. ... A live action role-playing game, or LARP as it is commonly known, is a form of role-playing game where the participants perform some or all of the physical actions of the characters they play the role of. ...

Game setting

The action is set in a future medieval-style empire built on the remains of a previous, more sophisticated human galaxy-spanning civilization made possible by ancient "gates", themselves the relics of an even older, not necessarily human civilization. The atmosphere reminds one strongly of Frank Herbert's Dune and of the Hyperion stories by Dan Simmons. Power is administered by noble houses, guilds and by the monolithic Holy Church. Psionic powers exist but psionicists are often hunted down and killed by the Church (or led back to orthodoxy and enrolled in the Church's ranks - where psionics are considered miracles of faith). While most roleplaying 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 the following centuries of darkness and warfare, many worlds have slipped back to a pre-civilized state, and a number of alien threats lurk in the shadows. Players take the roles of members of the aristocracy, of the various merchant guids or of a number of religious sects, and alien characters are also available. Frank Herbert (1920 - 1986) Frank Patrick Herbert (October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986) was a critically and commercially successful American science fiction author. ... Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965. ... Hyperion Hyperion (book) redirects here. ... Parapsychology is the study of the evidence of mental awareness or influence of external objects without interaction from known physical means. ...

A large library of supplements provides description 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. The products are normally of high quality, but are increasingly hard to find in recent years.

Game System

The Fading Suns engine uses a simple attribute & skill, level- and classless, dice-pool powered system, called Victory Point System (VPS). The second edition of the game rules has solved many of the issues raised by the earlier rulebook, while increasing the amount of data available. While generally stereotypical in their template-like form, characters are easily personalized. A recent adaptation of the setting to the popular 3rd edition OGL system has also been published - D20 Fading Suns. Recent supplements normally carry rules for both systems.

Authors

Fading Suns was written by Andrew Greenberg and Bill Bridges, known for having created the original Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse role-playing games for White Wolf. Andrew Greenberg is a game designer of both pen-and-paper role-playing games and computer games. ... Bill Bridges is a RPG developer and author. ... Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover. ... This articles content is specific to the fictional setting known as the World of Darkness. ... A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ... White Wolf, Inc. ...

External links

• Holistic Design - The Publishers of the Fading Suns line of products.
• Review of the 2nd Edition Fading Suns Core Rulebook
• Empire of the Phoenix Throne
• http://dmoz.org/Games/Roleplaying/Genres/Science_Fiction/Fading_Suns/
• Fading Suns Wiki at WikiCities