Here we are again with a message beamed at you through the ether. This Void Transmission, as has become the trend it seems, has been some time in the making, mostly because summer has been busier than expected for me (no vacation, no sireee) and the FS3 work slow.

Despite a busy work schedule I've finally all but finish that blasted Antinomy chapter that has taken for ever to write it seems (there is only a half-page left that I need to go through before including it in the text). I started out with high hopes and even higher ambitions, and that came right back and bit me in that shiny part that isn't made out of metal... But at least it is now all but done and will be passed on to the other folks for a read though and comments. I have ranted about the Antinomy chapter for the last few Void Transmissions so I do not think I will repeat that now (check out previous VTs). But let me say that I am pleased with how it turned out, and I do think it offers many angles and though-foods for Gamemasters to darken their campaigns with. Is's been a long ride with research sessions spanning everything from modern Satanism and Satanism-hysteria, to Hollywood perceptions of evilness, to alleged incidents of devil worship and dark ceremonies in medieval Europe, to modern occultism, to ancient Greek and Roman paganism, and much else. It has been an interesting journey, and I hope you guys will like it.

One of my writing sessions working on FS3 Antinomy turned out to be especially interesting, and inspired the name for this blog post. It was one of my last sessions working at a local coffee-shop that I managed to set fire to my notes when I put them down too close to a live candle. What was worse was that I didn't notice the fire at first, not before I had a nice little bonfire going on my table there, concealed behind the screen of my laptop. Now, putting out the fire was easy enough (fires aren't that dangerous if you don't panic), but I did loose quite a lot of notes. Luckily, it was all stuff I was more or less done with anyway, so in the end it mattered little. Still, one got to wonder if not the Empyrean Realms were trying to teach me a lesson for writing about such grim stuff, although I detected no smell of brimstone so I guess my soul is still more or less ok.

With Antinomy behind me I've decided to lay of the magics for a bit and concentrate on something else. So next I will dive into space travel and starships again, and see what I can contribute there.

RedBrick is gearing up for GenCon at the moment, and if you attend you'll be in the company of quite a few of our team members. Because of this things are likely going to be a bit quiet here fore a few weeks, due to travel and post-convention convalescence. Alas, I will not be able to go myself (it's a long way from Norway).

So, what else is going on you ask? Well, in last Void Transmission I talked a bit about FS Shards, and we have gotten good response on that. Apart from the handful of Shards already in the making, a few prospective new authors have approached us with ideas. I think we have three new writers working on their first Shard as we speak, and I am very hopeful for how this will turn out. (You know who you are, so keep up the good work! :-D ). More contributors are always welcomed though. We're always interested in seeing new ideas and help develop them.

Exciting times ahead people, exciting indeed.. ;-)

Here we are again, another (beautiful spring) month and another Void Transmission. Today I’m going to talk about the usual things and give (hopefully) some insight into the development work, and then I’ll go on talking about a subject I’ve been promising to cover for some time – Fading Suns Shards.

Work in FS3 Land is slow nowadays. We’re still waiting for Holistic to get back to us with their review, comments and suggestions/demands for the Player’s Guide. We’re all impatient here, but reviewing a book such as this, and doing it with the love and care of the HDi bunch, takes quite a bit of time. Better not to rush things. The backside of this is of course that the “by the end of 2010” deadline-of-sorts is rushing on at light speed. Realistically, although I said otherwise at the start of 2010, I do not think we’ll manage to get the thing out before next year. “But it’s a whole other year!”, said Luke. “But it is only one more season”, his uncle replied… We’re still hopeful, but one thing you can rely on is that we’ll not turn out something we are not completely satisfied with, and FS3 will see the light of day as soon as it is finished. Again, developing an RPG takes a lot of time, and we are fortunate enough to have the Canon writers to aid us (HDi), and unfortunate enough to have a very small writer team (50% of our writers just became a father by the way), so everything is moving forward with tiny little steps.

In the coming few months I hope things will pick up a little, and I personally intend to dedicate my summer vacation to giving the project a proper overhaul – Pancreator willing! Right now I am still working on Antinomy, although work has been slow lately due to a busy work schedule. The next few weeks are looking to be unproductive too, because of more work followed by some well-deserved rest, including having a house guest over and going to two concerts, namely Guns n’ Roses (Hell yeah!) and Porcupine Tree (huh?). But I promise that when my vacation starts in the middle of June, Fading Suns will be on the top of my list of priorities.

Well, back to the present. “So, just what are you doing with Antinomy”, you ask? Ok then, I’ll give you all some pointers. As I indicated in my last Void Transmission, I want Antinomy to be more inspiring and thought provoking to the GM. I want to turn every facet of the concept into a possible adventure idea for the GM, inspiring them to create great stories. If I succeed, the back story, the Malsacraments, the Rites and Operations, and the game mechanics should all work to inspire interesting Antinomy based dramas for GMs so inclined. Ideally, every one of these facets should inspire the GM to go, “Oh! There’s a story!”. The word antinomy means “incompatibility with the (Divine) law”, which makes Antinomy a magic tradition that uses the breaking of taboos and committing sins to fuel their powers. What I have done then is turning Aninomy from “Demon Magic” into “Sacrilege Magic”, which should, I hope, open the concept up to more interesting stories. At this time of the developing process there are four traditions or schools of Antinomy: Malificium (a general “lesser” Dark Arts); Draconian (Hell-wizardry); Necromancy (death, dying, and un-death); and Improvidence (what was called “Visceromancy” in previous editions, and which is now expanded into an art of obstructing and manipulating the Divine Plan or The Pancreator’s Divine Providence if you like). Each of these four schools have their own Rites and Operations, with Malificium being the basic and general tradition on which the other three are based and derived. Next up for me is doing the Malsacraments, or… not DOING them per se, but rather I’ll try inventing them.

I’ve also been able to playtest the introduction drama one more time, with a fresh group of players, and this time things worked out real well. I made one mistake early on when running it, and that came back to haunt me later on when they failed to put 2 and 2 together, forcing me to give my players the “hey guys, I forgot to tell you something when you first came to town”, but my players are forgiving and it went well. What’s more important is that I made the mistake so that it can be fixed in the text right away, preventing it from leaking through to other gaming groups. All in all it was loads of fun re-running the drama, and my players loved it. One of them (my gf nonetheless) even came up with a theory during in-game investigation that was so good I decided it should be worked into the text as an optional approach to the story. Still, that me and my players enjoy a drama I’ve written doesn’t say that much, so I am really looking forward to have it playtested by other GMs.

What more is going on? Well, Darthgus has been playing around with some space combat things again, and I think he is on to something. This is not something that will turn up in FS3 core, but something interesting for the future, heh heh *being all mysterious and sneaky*

Well, I think that just about covers things as they currently are in FS3 Land. So let’s go on to talking about Shards now.

“Once more from the top”
Shards are small fan-made game source pieces, typically an adventure, but it can be almost anything really. Fans come to us with an idea of what they would like to do, we comment on what we would like to see and give suggestions as to how to best proceed, and then the fan-writer goes to work producing his/her Shard. Further discussions and suggestions and kicking-back-and-forth-of-ideas surely follow, until everybody is happy with the finished text. Then it is taken over by our style and art gurus, and worked into a presentable booklet for pdf publication. Voila, you have your name on the cover of an official Fading Suns supplement!

How long does it take? And how much work is it? Well, this really depends on the type and ambition of the Shard, and the speed at which the writer works, as well as how busy the FS3 developer team is at the moment. I myself love to read and give feedback on Shards, so unless it’s really close to a major deadline, someone should be able to pick up your baby in not too long a time. In general, I would predict (guess) that a Drama Shard will to take a year or two to write, develop and publish, but it is different for every individual project.

Why bother? Primarily because it is fun, and because getting your name published is a thrill. In short, because you want to... Also, Shards are a unique opportunity for YOU to set your stamp, however modest, on the Fading Suns setting. In addition, you’ll get a copy of the finished product (as well as later re-working of it, such as if your Shard ends up in a Shard anthology down the road), and you’ll get some credits towards buying RedBrick products depending on the Shard size. If you’re an ambitious person, then the greatest benefit of doing a Shard is that you’ll enter out circle of writers, from which we recruit for new things. And we’re desperate for more writers, so if you present us with an interesting project and demonstrate that you’re a team player, chances are we will love you and shower you with attention, and perhaps also cookies.

What are we looking for in a Shard? Although dramas are typical, we’re open to almost any kind of project, as long as it relates to something we have the rights for (we cannot do novels for example, as that is not part of our current deal with HDi). Don’t send us ideas for Shards touching things to which we do not have a license or hold the copyright, so don’t send us your Space Marine Chapter conversion or Wookies-in-FS house rules. Rules-heavy Shards should probably wait till FS3 is out, although we’re interested in listening to ideas and perhaps nudge you in the right direction. Of particular interest to me personally are locations and spaceships useful in any campaign. Generally speaking, an ordinary location is more interesting and usable than a weird place, a common spaceship better than a unique one. Make your idea as accessible as possible, and not only will we like it better, you’re finished Shard will probably get more circulation.

Some general tips: If you’re seriously contemplating doing a Shard, the very first thing you should do is immersing yourself in the relevant Submissions guidelines for Fading Suns Shards (see the Little Steps Blog Comments forum topic for links). Do not rely on the guidelines given in this Void Transmission alone. When you’ve immersed yourself in what producing a Shard entails, you should think hard and long on just what you want do achieve with your Shard, and set out to present the idea as clearly and interestingly as possible before pitching it (by contacting submissions@fading-suns.com). If it is a Drama Shard, make sure to present it as a story outline overview to give us an idea of what you’re up to. Fading Suns use a playwright model, and an outline might look something like this:

Name of the drama
A synopsis of the story
Act 1 – The introduction to the plot
Scene 1 – Cadre solicited for work
Scene 2 – Preliminary investigation/information gathering
Act 2 – The plot twist and escalation
Scene 1 – The return of an old adversary
Scene 2 – A turn for the worst/a taste of future troubles
Act 3 – The plot resolution
Scene 1 – Chasing the bait
Scene 2 – Engaging the bad guys


Now, a drama could have more or fewer Acts, although 3 is the norm (and has been for a few thousand years), and each act will have a varying number of Scenes. By presenting your idea in such a way, you’re not only making life much easier for us, you also force yourself to structure your thoughts and laying out a path that will make it much easier for you to develop the story. Also remember to keep to Fading Suns-speak when writing a Shard: it is cadre not “party”; drama not “scenario/mission”; act not “episode”; scene not “encounter”; gamemaster not “story teller/DM”; etc. Also, do yourself a favor and be modest in your ambition. Your first Shard should not be the epic multi-drama story to rival Masks of Nyharlathotep or The Enemy Within, or whatever. This is a very common mistake made by new writers (I remember I once pitched a 300 page book as my first suggested submission to WFRP, back in the Hogshead days – luckily they politely turned me down and asked me to try something smaller). Remember, you’re a fledgling writer, so don’t bite over too much. A small contained piece is easier for everyone, and more impressive. “But, I am a published writer already, not a fledgling novice!” Great, then writing a simple piece to demonstrate your skill should be no problem at all. Prove to us that you can deliver what we want, and we’ll welcome you with open arms, be you a struggling beginner or an established master. I can promise that your baby will keep expanding as you write, so keep your pitch simple, small and short.

Here the current Void Translation ends. Please keep those questions and comments rolling in!

Angelman

I guess it is time to send out one of those Void Transmissions again, although this will be somewhat shorter than earlier posts. Things are moving in the land of FS3, although not as fast as we all would like. Darthgus and I are churning away on the Gamemaster’s Guide, he currently occupied with Symbiots and other fun things, while I am still working Antinomy. I’ve decided to tweak and change the concept some, making it less of a not-quite-player-option, and hopefully turn it into something a lot more plot device-ish and adventure inspiring. The previous antinomy material is interesting and has some very strong points, but in the end of the day it did little more than offer a way to make interesting magic powers for bad guy. I intend to build on this and turn it into something more coherently useful for Gamemasters to build stories from. Also, FS3 antinomy will be based on the theurgy formula we’ve come up with, with rituals and operations as I have described in previous Void Transmissions. Finally, I’d say that antinomists have become a lot darker and vile – these guys are truly evil folk, not just cartoon badies…

So, where is FS3 at at the moment you ask? Well, as I’ve said before the beta version of the first draft of the FS3 Players’ Guide is done. This now sits with Holistic Design, and we can’t wait to hear from them on the project! Getting feedback from Holistic Design will be like getting first class professional aid for free – good stuff, good stuff indeed. The first preliminary reaction was positive though, so we pat ourselves on the back and head on with other work. Hopefully Holistic Design will get back to us soon, and then we can start the proof reading and edit and play testing phases, and generally get the ball rolling again.

On another matter, I am planning to run another play-test session of the introduction scenario in the near future, and it will be interesting to see how it turns out. Also, RedBrick has found its way to Facebook , so if any of you find it convenient to follow the company and its products from there, then please do join the fan hordes!

Finally. We’re always looking for good stories or setting pieces for FS3, so if you have a good idea you’d like developed, then do consider creating a Shard for the game. When FS3 is out we will most certainly be looking to recruit talented and inspired people, and those who have proven their dedication with Shard work have a foot inside – hint: everyone currently associated with FS3, except for the head honchos of RedBrick, got onto the developer team through Shards… ;)

It has been a long time coming, but the FS3 developer team has finally completed the first draft of Fading Suns 3rd Edition, an achievement for which we pat ourselves own the back as much as we can get away with. In essence, what we have done with FS3 is:

a) Updating the game mechanics (the one thing that I believe HDi never bothered devoting too much time to, instead adopting the “let’s get on with the story and setting” approach that was en vogue in the 1990s);

b) Updating the setting to reflect the time that has passed since HDi’s last FS product (FS3 is set in 5010 while the last few HDi products were set in the early 5000s and the last RedBrick products were set around 5007);

c) Incorporate much of the expanded post-FS2 rulebook material into the FS3 core;

d) And finally, we have tried really hard to make the already excellent game even better, by tweaking things and improving on those ideas that some players and GMs had an issue with about FS2.

The last statement is not meant to be quite as pompous as it sounds, for the current FS RPG developer team does not claim to be smarter or more skilled than any previous team. We are, however, fortunate enough to write a RPG that is based on two previous editions and almost 15 years of game play and fan feedback. We believe that our approach to game mechanics, a “let’s work hard to create a simple yet strong game engine that can address everything we need, so that we can then get on with the story and setting without having to tweak things later on” approach, will prove advantageous in the long run. Times have changed since the mid-90s, when White Wolf’s “we need not focus on the game mechanics, for it’s all about the story anyway” was all the rage, and we think our “a strong game mechanics fundament” approach will be more appropriate for the 2010s, and hopefully long after.

At the time of writing the FS3 draft has been handed over to the RedBrick’s senior editors for a read through and to organize it into a pretty text. When this is done, FS3 will be sent off to HDi, who will likely approve it with a set of change suggestions and addressing any issues they spot. I feel that we are really lucky to be a second generation RPG developer team, for we are guaranteed very serious and professional feedback from people who know the game industry in and out, and who have received known the game for years. Experienced eyes scrutinizing our new take on things – this can only be good!

All that said, it is now time to let you people in on a little game development secret. Up until now we have been talking about “FS3 Core” in general (unspecified) terms only. This has been very deliberate, for behind the scenes we have been plotting and scheming. We have now created FS3, but what we really hope to be able to do is create TWO FS3 Core books – a Players’ Guide and a Gamemasters’ Guide. The book we have been talking about thus far has been the FS3 Player’s Guide, which includes the basic presentation of the FS3 setting as well as the game mechanics and such. We do, however, hope to be able to publish a Gamemasters’ Guide along with it, and that will include a more in-depth discussion on several aspects of the game and setting, including “behind the scene” things that players will not be privy to, discussion on various threats the player characters might get entangled with, and just plain more stuff that would be useful for the GM (no rules overlap or anything mind you).

The FS3 developer team will, now that we have completed the basic stuff, need to get the game off its knees and back to its feet, concentrate on writing and developing material for the Gamemasters’ Guide, though several of the chapters are already in place. Should we, for whatever reason, be unable to finish this book on time for publication together with the Players’ Guide, we will simply reorganize the Players’ Guide ever so slightly, and turn it into The FS3 Rulebook instead of just one of the FS3 core books, and then publish the remaining GM stuff as a separate book later on when that is finished. In the end, this should not be much of a difference for you guys, although we would ourselves like it very much to be able to do FS3 as a two books thing. There is just so incredibly much stuff that belongs to the FS setting, that being able to present it all in this two-book form would be great. Besides, writing the Gamemasters’ Guide should be quite a bit faster than the working on the Players’ Guide, that because this book composes of a lot more flavor and setting and such, which are much quicker to write and develop than the rules. And likewise, getting HDi’s approval on this second book should take less time and consideration than the more rules heavy Players’ Guide.

So what am I up to nowadays you ask?
Well, having finished working on the PSI Chapter for FS3, the last chapter to be given the final game development work-over, I will dive into working on the Gamemasters’ Guide. This book has been charted long ago, and some of its chapters have already been worked on in the past. The first two things I have been scheduled to do, is writing the Antinomy chapter and developing a mass combat system. The latter should be a very simple scale conversion system, using the existing rules on a larger scale, while the Antinomy chapter will require more work and consideration. I plan to build on the Antinomy tradition of FS1 & FS2, but expand it into something even more interesting, which at the same time is compatible with the theurgy rules. Antinomy will basically be a corrupted/twisted/back-wards version of theurgy (no surprises there I guess), and I have quite a few interesting ideas for it. This chapter will be modeled after the Theurgy Chapter (have a look at my theurgy discussion in previous Void Transmissions), but will otherwise read as an updated version of what has been presented before. I think GMs will find that FS3 Antinomy reads a little bit more like dark religiosity than a stereotypical bad-guy factory. Attention will be given to why and how some people become antinomists, and I will try to show Antinomy as a many-faceted tradition. What I will not attempt, is to, like some games have done throughout the years, present the devil worshipers as misunderstood cool guys who use their dark powers to do good-ish things. Make no mistake, FS antinomists are evil, and are not suitable for player characters.

After mass combat and Antinomy I will head into some other aspect of the Gamemasters’ Guide – but I will talk about that when the time comes.

There are things stirring in the Darkness Between the Stars…

Since I took so long to write the previous blog post, I thought I should make up for it by writing another one already. There hasn’t been terribly much development since my last post, although writing goes on, and there is always something I can pick at and rant about in the world of FS3. As I predicted in the Christmas Eve 2009 post, we haven’t managed to complete the principle writing stage of developing FS3 just yet, although the momentum is still strong. Being perfectionists, we have a tendency to dwell on and pour over what we work on, so that things sometimes get stalled a little while we obsess on details and such. But if I am not mistaken, the only chapters that remain in the process of “blitzing” (the finishing up effort before giving things over to the Project Director) are the: PSI, Cyber, Changed and the Starship chapters. I’m currently engaged with the PSI chapter, while Angus has seemingly made Starships and space stuff his pet obsession on FS3 – can’t wait to see how that turns out! All of this means that we’re almost done with the writing bit :-)

What I have been up to lately.
When I wrote my last blog post, I was in the process of wrapping up the work on the Theurgy chapter. Since then the chapter has been approved and sent off to the Project Director, and I am happy to say that it was well received. My primary addition to this chapter has been a discussion on sacraments (see my previous post) and on what I call Theurgical Operations. The Theurgical Operations are more long-term “magical projects” than theurgic rites, composing of such things as Homunculi creation, Exorcism, and Conversion with Empyrean beings – in other words they are more true real life occult/mystical goals and aspirations. They work primarily as fluff and adventure seed elements, and they are not simply more powerful theurgic rites. In fact, many of the Operations are not particularly useful in most adventures, as they concern a theurgist’s occult aspirations and inner development rather than the production of immediate miraculous effects – stuff that a theurgist might be working on when he is not adventuring and being all heroic like. (A little bit of Whedon-English for you there). And yes, the Eskatonics now has a proper Symbiot foiling spell in their arsenal ;-)

Following the Therugy chapter, I have now begun working on the PSI chapter. This chapter was in need of a little work, as it was rather bare-boned and raw. I’m planning to expand the history of psychic phenomenon (or “psychism” as it is sometimes referred to in real world occult circles), from “early human history” (i.e. 19th Century paranormal investigations) through to the Second Republic and the New Dark Age, as well as the current position of PSI. I also intend to detail non-human psychics in this chapter so that one does not need to wait for a certain alien book to make an alien psychic. And I plan to present psychic covens and their unique take on and challenges with PSI. Other things I will try to flesh out are some practical discussions, such as how FarHand (telekinesis) work in different gravities and using Psyche (telepathy) on alien and animal minds. There are plenty of little things I want to include to make this stand out. We’ll see how it all turns out.

About the introduction scenario I’ve been working on, a fully written out second draft is currently being reviewed by the team and is therefore out of my hands at the moment. I’m planning to do a second playtesting of this before the end of February, which will help iron out any further bumps and issues. When that is done, and I have received some feedback from the team, I’ll playtest it yet again with a third group before making any final adjustments to the story.

Finally in this Void Transmission, here’s a challenge for you fans:
Working on the PSI chapter I have started to wonder. What are the best and most interesting ways of turning the psychics side of the game into story elements and plots? How can one explore say the Favyana in a scenario without exhausting it? How would you go about using the Kun Lun lost world in a way that doesn’t seriously alter the game setting (such as having Kun Lun being annexed by the Phoenix Empire or becoming a new Klondike for resource extraction and trade)? How can one turn Urge into an interesting story? The PSI of Fading Suns has a lot of potential, but it also carries the risk of skewing the power balance in the setting or otherwise influence the setting in permanent ways. What are the best ways of utilizing the PSI potential without having loosing the setting to it? I’d like very much to hear your takes on this. Please share and discuss the stories and story ideas you have used or come up with on the Void Transmissions forum :-)

V

It has taken me quite some time, but here’s finally a new Void Transmission, the last one of 2009. The reason it has taken so long has to do with the same reasons why FS3 has been moving slowly the last few months. The last 6 months has been filled with hardship and busy real lives, and that has put FS3 (and the Void Transmission blog) somewhat on the backburner. Things have been picking up lately though, and as always, it was Darthgus who led the way here.

In November, I think it was, he rallied the troops and declared boldly that since he expected to get some spare time soon, he would throw his full weight at FS3 and vowed to have the development stage (where most of the writing is done) done by the end of the year. With stubborn dedication he seems to have devoted all of his spare time to finishing up the various chapters, and “blitzing” this project on to the next stages of development – that is giving it over to the Product Director for proofreading, layout and artwork and all those things. Some chapters needs more work than others, but he has managed to complete one after the other. Personally I suspect we will not be completely finished with the writing stage by New Year’s Eve, but I it will be damn close, thanks to Darthgus blitz efforts. But making RPGs is a complex and many-facetted process, and it will be some time still before FS3 goes off to printing. Mind you, I know nothing about the publishing industry and how things work (I just know writing), but I would be really surprised if you fans don’t get to enjoy a copy of FS3 at some time during 2010 – The Pancreator willing!

My recent work on FS3:
For months I’ve been planning to tackle the Theurgy chapter of FS3, but for a number of reasons it didn’t materialize until just recently. With all my major obligations done by early December, I finally found time to begin work on this on the 12th, my birthday. My plan was to use my knowledge and experience of religions to spice up, expand, and make religion more relevant to the folk populating the Known Worlds. I wanted to give the Universal Church some worth beyond being a “wizard’s guild”, something I hope I have achieved by creating sacraments. I see that as what the Church is really about, and I have thereby downplaying the role (but not worth) of Theurgy in the Universal Faith. The primary function of the Church is to save souls through dispensing and performing sacraments, and I see Theurgy more as a special kind of tool at the Church’s disposal. I’ve tweaked other things too in the Theurgy chapter, but I won’t go into those before we have decided exactly on what to use in FS3.

Next I plan to tackle the Psi Chapter (yes, occultism is split into individual chapters in FS3). I have not thought much about it yet, but I’ll start researching psychokinetic and EPS and such things real soon. The general mechanics has already been developed, so it remains for me to tweak and expand and make it more fluffy (pun intended). We’ll see what happens there…

I’ve also recently learned that another writer has petitioned to do an introduction scenario for FS3. That is great news, as if this comes to pass will have two adventures to pick and choose from (although both will probably see the light of day eventually in one form or another). Great stuff is in the works people.

In 2010 we will see a renewed effort on the FS3 line. Although currently Darthgus and I are the most active writers, we have other great people on the team, both new recruits and established veterans, all just dying to get into this once real life gives them the opportunity. When the current project is off to the next stages of development, we FS developers will probably start working on the next projects real soon. I can’t wait to get this show on the road, and begin ride the wave of publishing onto new books.

Best wishes for the holidays and for 2010. Angelman

In response to my previous Void Transmission, Ryval asked some questions that I will try to clarify. The first question was about how RedBrick will handle source material for the FS3 line. I am not entirely sure if he meant reprints from FS1 & FS2, or the new products we will do, so I try to answer both as best I can.

I do not believe we will do any direct FS1 or FS2 reprints. The material already developed by RedBrick may perhaps see more direct FS3 update reprinting down the line, but this will likely not be the case with what HDi produced. Our plan is to relaunch the game from scratch, so we’ll not assume that readers are already familiar with previous editions. We do not wish to simply reprint say Merchants of the Jumpweb with updated rules, but will rather produce new, updated and improved sourcebooks, building on the 15 or so years of experience and feedback from fans. Although many sourcebooks will build on, and contain contents from earlier publications, and some overlapping will occur (most of the FS3 core book background will for instance be familiar to fans), we will strive to add and improve and reinvigorate the material.

We have a unique advantage over HDi in that we have their experience with designing and evolving the game to build on, whereas they were learning as they went. Some of what they did was not as successful as other things, and we will learn from their hard work when we create source material for FS3. We have a better vantage point with FS3, being able to look back on HDi’s accomplishments and efforts. What the size and shape of books are concerned, we are likely to crate several medium sized books, one for each of the major factions etc., with all you need to know about the topic in that one book. The Church sourcebook will, for instance, include information on the history and culture of the Universal Church of the Celestial Suns and the five major sects; several branches and minor sects; all Church worlds (geography, gazetteer, culture information, bestiary, personalities and so on…) and important “off-world” Sees; relevant technology and character options; and much more. In other words, we opt to make faction-oriented sourcebooks, with everything relating to that faction contained in the one book.

To sum it up, FS3 will be an updated version of FS2, the rules building on what we are accustomed to, but with all the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and a fresh start on things. Our design goals are to make the rules faster, sleeker, more comprehensible and also more coherent. For instance, your actions in combat will be resolved with a single die roll, which should greatly speed things up.

Adventure Shards:
Ryval also asked about the possibility of a Adventure Shard compilation. Although not something we’re currently working on (being too busy with FS3), this is a project that has been around since the beginning of the Shard line. With a new edition of the game I think this would be even more appropriate, as we could update the individual adventures to FS3 as well as improve on issues mentioned in reviews and fan feedback. So yes, I personally believe this is something we’ll eventually see, although I have no idea as to when.

On the subject of Adventure Shards, there are a few pitches in development. One is an interesting intrigue story written by Dead End author Thomas Baroli, called The Kiss of Dawn. I have been involved in the editing of this story and I must say it looks really good. I might manage to persuade Mr. Baroli to come talk a little about his Shard in a future Void Transmission, but for now I can reveal it to be a search for a missing person which in time evolves into something grander. The story explores themes central to Fading Suns, such as the double edged nature of technology and the tension between obligation, self-preservation and ethics. The characters are all 3-dimensional and non-stereotypical, and the plot skillfully invokes the atmosphere of Fading Suns. At present it is hard to predict when this Shard Adventure will see publication, but The Kiss of Dawn is something to look out for.

What I am currently up to:
As mentioned in my last Void Transmission, I’m currently occupied with writing an introduction scenario for FS3. After play testing the scenario with one of my gaming groups recently, I have now started to write a second draft of the thing. The scenario is a murder mystery set in rural Grail, but proved to be too difficult for my playing group to work out. One or two events of the first draft that I originally thought would be interesting and flavoring, turned out to side-track the story and confuse my players. Admittedly, my players are not the strongest problem solvers (which is why they were very useful as play testers this time around), but it is important for an introduction scenario to be manageable for both fresh gamemasters and players.

Writing an introduction scenario is also somewhat different from writing a more traditional adventure. The reason for this is that the introduction scenario needs to be shorter so that it does not take up too much space in the core book, and it should be very focused and concise. Therefore, this scenario will be a bare-boned investigation story, heavy with setting and atmosphere, allowing the gamemaster to expand the story around the clues-hunt if s/he so wishes. Option suggestions will stimulate the gamemaster to customize the scenario to fit his/her group’s style. If more action is wanted, suggestions to start the scenario with a bang is available. If court intrigue is desired, options for involving local aristocrats in the investigation is presented. If trade and fortune is the groups principle incentive, ways to include shady deals and savvy business opportunities in the plot is given. Whichever way the gamemaster choose to fatten the story (or not), at the core is the basic clue-hunt murder investigation, with unseen implications…

Now, more comments and questions please!

Welcome to my first Fading Suns developer blog. Here I intend to rant and rave, and hopefully present some intriguing insights into the process of developing Fading Suns 3rd Edition and later supplements. But before I start, I should probably tell the readers a little about myself.

My name is Vidar Edland, a Norwegian born in 1976, and has been gaming RPGs since Christmas Eve 1989. I’m a scholar and academic by training (Egyptology and Science of Religion), but earn my income as a movie and TV subtitler (English à Norwegian). As with most experienced gamers I have played more RPGs then I care to list, but my principle games have been Warhammer FRP, Cyberpunk, Call of Cthulhu and WEG Star Wars. In the fall of 2001 I approached the gaming store where I lived, asking if they knew of a good Sci-Fi space opera RPG, preferably a bit more serious and Dune’ish than Star Wars. I left the store with a copy of Fading Suns 2nd Edition, and I have never looked back since.

In April (I think it was) this year, I was rather surprised to be invited to join the FS3 developer team, after having hounded poor Angus for months over a Shard adventure I had asked him to read, but that he had no time to seriously consider (because of FS3 workload). I guess Angus finally grew tired of my nagging, and asked me to come work on FS3, probably to give him some breathing space. In any case, here I am, and since I like talking and writing, I volunteered to do a developer blog for FS3.

My FS3 work so far:
The developer team is still busy with designing the game, although the major pieces have now fallen into place. Although every developer eventually work on everything and anything, I have so far primarily worked on: the game background; game engine; Lifepath part of character generation; and equipment & other stuff. Currently I’m engaged in writing an introduction scenario for FS3, a setting-heavy murder mystery, taking place on Grail (I’ll post more on this when I have done some more writing).

Where FS3 is currently at?
The developer team is currently hammering out the chapters for the FS3 Core. The meat of the texts has been written, but there are many details and sections and nuances still needing to be worked out. Remember that we are outsiders (not HDi) working to resurrect the game, and there are so many things we need to consider and keep in mind, and we’re all perfectionists who desire to get it all right.

What people need to remember is that we are a very small developer team, working in our spare time, and we do not have the budget of the big companies. But that is probably for the better, for although we do not have the resources to churn out one or more books every single month, we are all in it for the love and devotion of the game, so perhaps we put just that little extra into everything we do, compared to the major game industry players who have the luxury to aim for volume and quantity.

What does the future hold?
That is hard to say, but RedBrick has several supplements lined up for developing. Presently we’re all giving a 110% for FS3 Core, and we’ll get back to supplements when FS3 is nearing completion. As I hinted at above, we do not have the man-power to release loads of books a year, so the development of the FS3 line will be slow but steady. Unless that is, you good people would like to contribute?

I shall discuss Shard releases at length in a future blog post, but let me encourage you all to consider writing a Shard or two to help bolster releases for FS3 (adventures, setting locations, faction groups, rules, conversions… there are many avenues one could explore). You write it, and we help develop it, edit it, provide artwork and layout, and publish it. This is a great opportunity for aspiring writers to help shape the game we all love so much. You labor out of love, and we help make your puppy as pretty and upstanding as we can. So please do get on with the writing and pitching!

Here my introductory Void Transmission ends, but I will try to post regular rants in the coming weeks and months. Is there anything in particular you would like me to talk about?