Fading Suns is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 space opera

Space opera

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 published by Holistic Design

Holistic Design, Inc.

Holistic Design, Inc. is an American game company that was founded in the early 1990s. Only one of the original partners is still with the company, Ken Lightner, though the other current partners bring a broad array of game design skills to the firm, most notably Bill Bridges, Andrew Greenberg and...

. The setting was also used for a PC game (Emperor of the Fading Suns

Emperor of the Fading Suns

Emperor of the Fading Suns is a science fiction "grand-scale" space strategy computer game made by Holistic Design in 1996. This game was based on Holistic's in-house role playing game Fading Suns. The game had a wide array of units and a complex back-story but was rushed to market and released...

), a live action role-playing game (Passion Play

Passion Play (live-action role-playing game)

Passion Play is a live action role-playing game created by Bill Bridges and Bill Maxwell and first published by Holistic Design in 1999. Passion Play is based on the 1996 table top role-playing game Fading Suns.- External links :*...

), and for a space combat miniature game (Noble Armada).

Game setting

The action is set in a future medieval-analogue empire built on the remains of a previous, more sophisticated human galaxy-spanning civilization made possible by ancient "Jumpgates". The Jumpgates are relics left over from an ancient civilization or civilizations, the mysterious Anunnaki, who seems to have influenced the evolution of the lesser species (such as humans) for their own end, and waged a devastating war many millennia ago using the lesser species as tools of war.

The atmosphere is strongly reminiscent of Frank Herbert's

Frank Herbert

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...

 Dune

Dune (novel)

Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...

and of the Hyperion

Hyperion Cantos

The Hyperion Cantos is a series of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. Set in the far future, and focusing more on plot and story development than technical detail, it falls into the soft science fiction category...

stories by Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....

, but borrows from many other science fiction books and movies as well.

Power is administered by noble houses, guilds and by the monolithic Holy Church. Psionic

Parapsychology

The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...

 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). The Church is also capable of producing miracles through Theurgic rites, a kind of divine sorcery.

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 guilds or of a number of religious sects, and alien characters are also available.

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 have been increasingly hard to find in recent years. After several years with very few additions to the line, RedBrick LLC has been granted a license to continue development of Fading Suns products.

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.
In 2000, an adaptation of the setting to the popular 3rd edition OGL system was also been published - D20 Fading Suns. For several years, supplements carried rules for both systems. RedBrick LLC, which took over development of the line in February 2007, has announced that it will initially support only the VPS version of the system. RedBrick is currently working on a third edition of the VPS system.

Holistic Design has released a LARP version of Fading Suns entitled Passion Play.

Authors

Fading Suns was written by Andrew Greenberg

Andrew Greenberg

Andrew Greenberg is a game designer of both pen-and-paper role-playing games and computer games. He was one of White Wolf's original developers on Vampire: The Masquerade , particularly the famous supplement Chicago by Night which many credit with setting the tone for the Vampire books that...

 and Bill Bridges

Bill Bridges (game designer)

Bill Bridges is a role-playing game developer and author. He was one of the primary White Wolf original developer to Werewolf: The Apocalypse from 1992 to 1995...

, known for having been involved with the original Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....

and Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game and series of novels from the now defunct World of Darkness line by White Wolf. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as Garou , as well as other lycanthropes: warriors who are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual...

role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s which were published by White Wolf

White Wolf

White Wolf is a publisher of role-playing games, notably the World of Darkness.White Wolf may also refer to:*White Wolf , a location in Yosemite National Park*White Wolf , a Canadian heavy metal band...

.

Sourcebooks

Victory Point System:

• 1996 First Edition Rulebook, ISBN 978-1-888906-00-4 (OOP)
• 1996 Gamemasters Screen First Edition, ISBN 978-1-888906-01-1 (OOP)
• 1996 Forbidden Lore: Technology, ISBN 978-1-888906-03-5
• 1996 Byzantium Secundus, ISBN 978-1-888906-02-8
• 1997 Players Companion, ISBN 978-1-888906-07-3
• 1997 Lords of the Known Worlds, ISBN 978-1-888906-11-0 (OOP)
• 1997 The Dark between the Stars, ISBN 978-1-888906-08-0
• 1997 Merchants of the Jumpweb, ISBN 978-1-888906-09-7
• 1997 Weird Places, ISBN 978-1-888906-05-9
• 1997 Priests of the Celestial Sun, ISBN 978-1-888906-06-6 (OOP)
• 1998 Children of the Gods, ISBN 978-1-888906-10-3
• 1998 Sinners & Saints, ISBN 978-1-888906-11-0
• 1999 Second Edition Rulebook, ISBN 1-888906-19-9 (OOP)
• 1999 Gamemaster's Screen and Complete Pandemonium, ISBN 978-1-888906-19-6
• 1999 Legions of the Empire, ISBN 978-1-888906-16-5
• 1999 Imperial Survey 1: Hawkwood Fiefs, 1-888906-15-4 (OOP)
• 1999 Imperial Survey 2: al Malik Fiefs, ISBN 978-1-888906-17-2
• 1999 War in the Heavens: Lifeweb, ISBN 1-888906-23-4
• 2000 Star Crusade, ISBN 978-1-888906-20-2
• 2000 War in the Heavens 2: Hegemony, ISBN 978-1-888906-25-7
• 2000 Imperial Survey 3: Hazat Fiefs, ISBN 978-1-888906-22-6
• 2001 Alien Expeditions: Vorox, ISBN 978-1-888906-27-1
• 2001 Secret Societies: Spies & Revolutionaries, ISBN 978-1-888906-29-5
• 2001 Into the Dark, ISBN 978-1-888906-28-8
• 2001 Imperial Survey 4: Li Halan Fiefs, ISBN 978-1-888906-26-4
• 2001 Imperial Survey 5: Decados Fiefs, ISBN 978-1-888906-30-1
• 2002 Star Crusade 2: Lost Worlds, ISBN 978-1-888906-21-9
• 2002 Secret Societies: Heretics & Outsiders, ISBN 978-1-888906-31-8
• 2002 Lord Erbian's Stellar Bestiary, ISBN 978-1-888906-34-9
• 2003 Alien Expeditions: Orphaned Races Hironem & Ascorbites, ISBN 978-1-888906-38-7
• 2003 Imperial Survey 6: Imperial Fiefs (PDF, as a free download)

Collections:

• 2000 Aliens & Deviltry, ISBN 1-888906-23-4 (contains Children of the Gods and The Dark Between the Stars)
• 2002 Worlds of the Realm, ISBN 978-1-888906-35-6 (contains: Hawkwood Fiefs, al Malik Fiefs, Hazat Fiefs, Li Halan Fiefs, and the previously unprinted Imperial Fiefs)
• 2002 Lords & Priests, ISBN 978-1-888906-35-6 (contains Lords of the Known World and Priests of the Celestial Sun)

d20 System:

• 2001 Fading Suns: d20, ISBN 978-1-888906-32-5
• 2003 d20 Character Codex, ISBN 978-1-888906-37-0

Passion Play:

• Passion Play: Fading Suns Live-Action Roleplaying, ISBN 978-1-888906-23-3

Fiction:

• 1998 Tales of the Sinful Stars, ISBN 978-1-888906-14-1 (OOP)

RedBrick LLC Publications

• 2007 Second Edition Revised Rulebook, ISBN 978-1-877451-10-2
  • Editors/Writers: Carsten Damm, Kathy Schad, James D. Flowers
  • Description: Mostly identical with 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.
• 2007-2008 Interstellar Dispatches, (Free web publication) .
  • Author: Angus McNicholl
  • Description: A series of in-game news reports, social column entries and advertisements by the Town Criers Guild, featuring articles running for 20 volumes from 30th May 5007 to 30th December 5008 (in-game time).
• 2007 A Road So Dark, ISBN 978-1-877451-16-4 (PDF release)
  • Author: Angus McNicholl
  • Description: an adventure about a previously unknown jumproute between two stellar systems.
• 2007 Imperial Survey Vol. 7: Church Fiefs, ISBN 978-1-877451-21-8
  • Author: Mat Wakefield
  • Description: this details the Church planets Artemis, Holy Terra, Pentateuch, De Moley, and Pyre
• 2007 Kraken's Loom, ISBN 978-1-877451-29-4 (PDF release)
• Author: Angus McNicholl
  • Description: this adventure leads the characters in to barbarian space in search of a lost heirloom, but the situation is complicated by being the strangers in a strange land.
• 2008 Arcane Tech, ISBN 978-1-877451-31-7
  • 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", which has been discontinued, as well as new technological items, ranging from alien technology to weird tech to new weapons and gear.
• 2008 Ruinous Folly, ISBN 978-1-877451-35-5 (PDF Release)
  • 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, no ISBN (PDF Release)
  • Author: Thomas Baroli
  • Description: this adventure takes the characters from a religious ceremony, to an obscure plot of murder and intrigue
• Prisoners & Exiles (announced)
• League Worlds (announced)
• Fading Suns Third Edition - Players' Guide (announced, Q1 2012)
• Fading Suns Third Edition - Gamemasters' Guide (announced, Q2 2012)
• The Kiss of Dawn (Drama Shard) (announced)
  • Author: Thomas Baroli

External links

• Holistic Design - The Publishers of the Fading Suns line of products.
• RedBrick LLC - The current licence holders of Fading Suns
• Review of the 2nd Edition Fading Suns Core Rulebook
• Empire of the Phoenix Throne
• Fading Suns Wiki at WikiCities
• Fading Suns MUSH Webpage
• Interview with Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg