First time as a player for FS, I’m having a difficult time choosing just one character ;)

Two ideas come to mind :
-  A middle aged Ur-Ukar cut from his people and in need of a protector while he rebuilds himself a life.

- A young traveling eskatonic priest not shy on dirtying his hands.


@Baron : I wouldn't mind, no.

ok dude, that concept really clicks.  Consider that my primary concept now.

Nice. You wouldn't happen to know the date when that Vorox incident occurred on Stigmata, would you? I remember reading about it, but I don't recall a date being given.

I don't recall a date either, but I can't seem to figure out which book I read that snippet in anymore.

I checked and the corebook very, very briefly mentions this incident in the end of the Rolplaying Notes for Vorox - but all it says is that this occurred during "the Symbiot war". The Symbiot war of course is technically still ongoing (it began in 4900 and continues on the Stigmata front), so it's probably referring to earlier stages of the war before the Manifest Light and the Scions of Zahl beat back the Symbiots decisively.

I'm not entirely sure when that happened but if I had to guess, I'd say that since the Eskatonic Order was officially brought into the Church's fold in 4955 to legitimize the Church's contracting Eskatonic theurgists as Manifest Light Inquisitors to fight the Symbiots, the Symbiots were probably beaten back within a few years after 4955. The Stigmata Garrison most likely wouldn't resort to throwing Vorox shock troops at the Symbiots after the Manifest Light had proven so effective, so I'm guessing this infamous incident concerning Vorox commandos being converted by Symbiots must have occurred sometime between 4900-4955.

This means a Vorox who was discharged from service in the Stigmata Garrison upon the instatement of this policy would now be anywhere between his 60's or 70's to well over 100 by the year 4996, depending on exactly when this incident occurred during the Symbiot war.

Admittedly, when I brought up the concept of a Vorox ex-Stigmata Garrison veteran to illustrate an example of brainstorming character ideas, I had been thinking of a previous Fading Suns game I once ran on RPOL which took place on Stigmata during the Emperor Wars, prior to the rise of Alexius. Before the group decided on the game's time period and theme, there had been a player entertaining the idea of playing a Vorox who had been discharged from the Stigmata Garrison following the Symbiotized Vorox incident and now working as a Muster mercenary. When the group later decided they would actually like an Epic set on Stigmata during the Emperor Wars, with the PC's being soldiers in the Stigmata Garrison fighting the Symbiots, the player asked about the possibility of playing a Vorox in the Garrison - which led to this discussion.

Ultimately, what I've read in my FS sourcebooks has been unclear on exactly when this incident occurred during the Symbiot war. If you'd like to play such a Vorox, I'd like to see if we can unearth more about this event from the canon. Anyone's help with that would be much appreciated.

my idea for a character would be a noble from a minor house and given the fact that there seems to be a good amount of talk about aliens maybe Juandaastas.

Of course there is the possibly of a Guild based adventure where we have a group of guilders who control a starship locked in a Passage Contract (10) to a noble.

I honestly have no real clue what to offer as a character concept for Fading Suns. but i look forward to seeing more of everyone's suggestions

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 16):

Is there any note of a maximum age for Vorox anywhere?

Guild-based campaign might be fun.

Not that I'm aware of. I would imagine that most detailed info about Vorox exists in Alien Expeditions: Vorox, which unfortunately I don't own. Does anyone here have that sourcebook?
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:35, Wed 27 June 2012.

From "Alien Expeditions: Vorox," page 61:

"The average lifespan for a feral in the wilds is 30-40 years. Civilized Vorox--generally used to better sanitation, medical care and less-dangerous daily lives--live  to 50-60 years (sometimes longer)."

In reply to lurker (msg # 18):

Vorox enter puberty at 7, are adults at 18. Feral Vorox last an average of 30-40 years while Civilized Vorox last 50-60 (sometimes more). The King Kummanga of the Ferals is a 'doddering ancient' at 45.

In reply to LaserEye (msg # 22):

Shoot, well that kills the stigmata garrison part of the concept if I stick with Vorox.  I could just go with a retired Vorox commando turned Muster Merc.

If you go with the whole retired Vorox commando. Maybe have the Vorox ex-Stigmata Garrison war veteran working as a Muster mercenary might be Vorox's patron in the guild or his recruiter.

Thanks for the info, eskatonic and LaserEye. Is there anything in that supplement that talks about the Symbiot conversion incident and Vorox being banned from the Stigmata Garrison thereafter?

It sounds like we have some good concepts forming for the group:

Vorox ex-(Li Halan?) commando Muster merc, ex-Stigmata Garrison soldier serving as a bodyguard or Sanctuary Aeon priest
Charioteer pilot or alien outcast (Ascorbite or Hironem or Etyri)
Urth Orthodox priest/confessor, Brother Battle monk, Obun mystic or Muster adventurer
Ukar outcast or traveling Eskatonic priest
Juandaastas nobleman

Now that several of you have fielded your ideas, is anyone leaning more heavily toward a particular concept?

I skimmed through all the books I thought would have more detail, and there doesn't seem to be any more than the blurb in the main rulebook, sorry.  Since the Symbiot Wars ended 50 years before the start of the Emperor Wars, it would have been a looong time ago, by Vorox reckoning, I think.

"Vorox are highly sought by humans as shock troops or guerrilla warriors. They were gleefully dropped on Stigmata during the Symbiot Wars, but when converted Vorox returned with Symbiot abilities, they wreaked more havoc than could be imagined. They aren’t allowed near Symbiots anymore."

Well the Symbiot Wars hadn't actually ended 50 years before the start of the Emperor Wars, merely "calmed" according to the 2nd ed rulebook. Since the Symbiot Wars began in 4900 and the Emperor Wars began in 4956, that would mean the Symbiot Wars "calmed" around 4906 - after just 6 years. But we know it wasn't until after 4955 (when the Eskatonic Order was officially accepted into the fold) that "the Church unleashed other Eskatonic Order priests and rogue psychics (promised absolution for their service) onto Stigmata" and "the Symbiot War was brought to an uneasy standstill."

That's a huge gap (50+ years) between the Symbiot Wars "calming" and the point when the "long, protracted guerrilla battle on the frontier was at an end, and an uneasy silence descended upon the front." So this incident with Vorox commandos being dropped on Stigmata and converted by the Symbiots could very well have taken place sometime during those 50+ years before the Manifest Light and Scions of Zahl beat back the Symbiots on Stigmata.

Actually, the only way the canon can be interpreted in such a way that it doesn't contradict itself is if this "calming" of the Symbiot Wars refers to this:

"Finally, in one area, surprisingly and for no apparent reason, the tide was turned and the Symbiot forces pushed back. Upon investigation, it was discovered that two people were largely responsible: Friar Berthold of the then-heretical Eskatonic Order and Damiana, a Charioteer trader."

So this could be what the canon is referring to with the Symbiot Wars "calming" 50 years before the Emperor Wars began. Otherwise, it contradicts itself by saying that "the Symbiot War was brought to an uneasy standstill" by theurgists and psychics after the official acceptance of the Eskatonic Order into the Church's fold, which happened in 4955. We would have to interpret the Symbiot Wars "calming" and their being "brought to an uneasy standstill" as two separate events, 50+ years apart, even though they sound like the same thing.

Of course, it's also conceivably possible that the authors originally intended the Eskatonic Order to have been brought into the Church's fold sometime between 4900-4906 (meaning the Symbiot Wars would only have lasted about 6 years before this "uneasy standstill"), with the Emperor Wars beginning "fifty years after the Symbiot Wars had calmed, leaving a tense and fearful populace waiting for the next alien expansion" - and then subsequently forgot about that and changed their minds, placing the official acceptance of the Eskatonic Order by the Church in 4955 instead.

But I'd prefer to go with the first interpretation, since I'd rather not start doubting the authors' accuracy with dates of landmark events in the timeline. Besides, 6 years can hardly be called a "long, protracted battle."

Regardless, in conclusion: even if the Symbiot Wars came to a standstill in the late 4950's and even if Vorox were dropped on Stigmata right up until that point (unlikely), those Vorox who were subsequently discharged from service in the Stigmata Garrison (even if assuming they were merely adolescents by Vorox standards at the time) would now be at least 50 years old or more in 4996, which is "ancient" by Vorox standards. If those Vorox were discharged from service anytime before about 4940 or so, they are probably all or almost all dead by now. So unfortunately, that particular concept probably isn't viable in this game's time period. But you could still play a Vorox ex-commando of some sort now serving as a Muster mercenary or as a noble's personal bodyguard or in some other capacity.

I'd like to play a human Trader, with skill in a laz gun as good as a soldier but the rest would be dedicated to merchant skills like Selling/Buying; Assessing the potential Wealth of an object; and Economic Lore knowing the places where a better deal can be done for the product in question.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 25):

I have never actually PLAYED FS. I ran two fairly long campaigns for it and spent a lotof time on the original FS MUSH where I played a Decados noble and some of his entourage.

So would be interested in playing something along those lines again - Most everyone else seems to lean towards guild etc, so this would 'balance' things perhaps.

Okay, so as of now, these are each player's potential concepts as I understand it:

lurker:      Vorox ex-(Li Halan?) commando Muster merc, ex-Stigmata Garrison soldier serving as a bodyguard or Sanctuary Aeon priest
Baron:       Charioteer pilot or alien outcast (Ascorbite or Hironem or Etyri)
eskatonic:   Urth Orthodox priest/confessor, Brother Battle monk, Obun mystic or Muster adventurer
mrstrange:   Ukar outcast or traveling Eskatonic priest
LaserEye:    Juandaastas noble
Dalewarrior: Yeoman trader/merchant
Camojoe:     Decados noble
Exile:       (pending)
Yuber Okami: (pending)

lurker, Baron, eskatonic and mrstrange - are any of you leaning more toward a particular concept at this point?
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:50, Wed 27 June 2012.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 30):

I'm set on the Vorox ex-commando (no longer in service to House Li-halan), Muster Mercenary.  I see him as older, kinda getting long in the tooth and grey bearded, but unwilling or unable to stop seeking the thrill of combat.

Excellent, go ahead and submit your character details to me per the Character Creation thread's guidelines.

In reply to Gamemaster (msg # 30):

I'm leaning more towards idea 1, especially if we play within human territory. The idea was to impersonate a character with conflicting morals.

Ideally, having an identified protector or employee within the cast at the start would be good. The Jundaastas, being usually open minded towards xenomorphs could be a good candidate, but any one with the will to help, the need for particular talents or masochist tendancies would work put :)

Heh, honestly I'm still undecided. Are any of those alien races I liked a possibility as a charioteer pilot? Maybe the winged ones?

(I'm not really interested in the charioteer/trader type, just the idea of a pilot.)

I don't see why they couldn't be. I seem to recall Etyri being somewhat claustrophobic (though I could be misremembering), which might not lend too well to being couped up in a cockpit for weeks at a time, and there are of course the difficulties I mentioned with playing Ascorbites, but a Hironem pilot might work.

Right now we have a Vorox Muster mercenary and a yeoman merchant for certain, probably a Decados noble and a Juandaastas noble, and possibly an Ukar outcast in need of a protector of some sort. Once each of you are set on a particular concept, go ahead and submit your character details to me (again, per the guidelines in the Character Creation thread).
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:40, Wed 27 June 2012.

Well, let me look at the Etyri and Hironem tonight then, and I'll see if either works for me. Otherwise I'll just look at a vanilla charioteer pilot. Thanks!