This thread is for discussing what kind of Fading Suns game everyone would prefer. I've included 10 options below, as per what was mentioned in the Welcome notice. Please rate each of them from 1-10 (10 being your highest preference, 1 being your lowest) so that I can get an idea of what the majority would like best. Please use each integer between 1-10 only once. The current choices are:


Explorers of the Republic: (5.0)
Age of Miracles: (3.8)
Attack of the Ukar: (3.9)
Dawn of the Golden Age: (2.1)
Fall of the Golden Age: (5.4)
The Dark Times: (5.8)
The Barbarian Invasions: (6.1)
The Symbiot Wars: (8.0)
The Emperor Wars: (7.1)
Rise of Alexius: (7.9)


Please voice your input on what you would prefer most and why, so other players can evaluate their decisions. I will update this post with the current totals after each player's ratings, so everyone has a picture of the overall preferences thus far. Have an idea for an Epic not included above? Let me know and I may add it to the list (or replace something else). So, let's hear it. What kind of Fading Suns game do you guys want most?
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:36, Wed 24 Oct 2007.

From 10 Being the Most Desirable to 1 being the least.

Explorers of the Republic:1
Age 0f Miracles:2
Attack of the Ukar:3
Dawn of the Golden Age:4
Fall of the Golden Age:5
The dark Times: 6
The Barbarain Invasion:9
The Symboitic Wars: 10
The Emperor wars:7
The Rise of Alexius:8

It would be hard for me to order the 10 choices.  I'm not entirely sure which time frame I'd prefer, but I do think that I'd prefer a game where we weren't locked into a narrow framework.  A game in the time of the Symbiot Wars or the Emperor Wars could be interesting, but I'd rather not play one where we all had to be soldiers in the same garrison or pilots in the same squadron or the like.  I would much prefer a game in which we each had more leeway as far as character design and concept.

Purely in terms of time period, I think that we might have more flexibility if we went with one of the periods associated with internal change... the first explorations, the fall of the 2nd republic, the emperor wars, or the rise of Alexius.  Even if we find that a single style of story holds our attention well and is quite entertaining, those periods would at least give the option of many different kinds of stories to explore.

My apologies if this post is somewhat garbled, I'm not feeling overly well tonight and will be sleeping soon... I felt it would probably be a good idea to say something, though, and see what others thought of it.

Fair points. While characters living in the time of the Symbiot Wars (for example) might conceivably range across any number of roles - Stigmata troops, victims of Symbiot infestations, commoners struggling with Dark Ages lifestyle, or adventurers with wholly separate agendas - it's true that the primary appeal of playing during that era is to be in some way involved with the Symbiot conflict. Otherwise, why play in that era as opposed to any other time? You could easily be commoners or free-ranging adventurers in any of the ten time-periods provided. The biggest defining characteristic of that period (4900-4956 AD) which set it apart from the other choices, is that it was the height of the Symbiot Wars - before the Emperor Wars began - back when the Symbiots still actively threatened the Known Worlds on a significant scale, and the Empire was just beginning to learn ways to effectively combat them.

The same principle goes for the other periods provided. When the Emperor Wars began in 4956, the Symbiot Wars were still going on at the battlefront of Stigmata. In fact, even the Barbarian Invasions still persisted at the Hawkwood and Hazat borders. But the real action for the vast majority of the Known Worlds at that time was the conflicts between Royal Houses battling for the Imperial throne. It's not that you couldn't play Stigmata soldiers, Dervishes, Vorox shock troops and Brother Battle warrior-monks combating Symbiots, or Hawkwood or Hazat soldiers and mercenaries fighting barbarian raiders during the Emperor Wars. You could. But it would seem somewhat counterintuitive, being that you could take on those roles in certain other periods as well or better than during the Emperor Wars, and meanwhile you'd be missing the opportunity to take part in the most central events of that time which would shape history and forge the beginning of a new age to come.

By the same token, you may find it more difficult to play adventurers not involved in the Emperor Wars during that time, since the jumproads were closed to public travel. Just something to consider.

Howdy gang.  Here's my votes:

Original explorers of the jumpgates back in the time of the First Republic (2305-2500 AD)?  6

Characters who lived during the Age of Miracles in the Diaspora (2723-2849 AD)? 3

Fighters in the Ukar War (2855 AD)? 4

Characters who lived during the height of the 2nd Republic (3500-4000 AD)?  1

Characters who lived during the collapse of the 2nd Republic (4000 AD)?  5

Adventurers in the Dark Ages (4000-4525 AD)?  2

Warriors in the Barbarian Invasions (4525-4900 AD)? 7

Legionnaires of the Stigmata Garrison during the Symbiot Wars? (4900-4956 AD)? 8

Soldiers in the Emperor Wars? (4956-4995 AD)? 9

Or adventurers in the time of Consolidation (4996 AD)? 10

Note--anything in or before the fall of the dark ages doesn't interest me too much, so could be considered a tie for last place.  A big part of the setting for me is the post-fall idea of it.

Also, during the emperor wars is just about as good for me as during the consolidation, though I'd prefer that we not be limited to soldier roles.

Alright, so far we seem to be moving toward playing in the later periods, with Symbiot Wars and Consolidation tied for the lead, and Emperor Wars and Barbarian Invasions vying for a close second. Still waiting on four of you to post your votes. As soon as all currently signed up players have voted, I'll announce the result.

Hi All

Heres my vote.

Explorers of the Republic: 7
Age of Miracles: 3
Attack of the Ukar: 2
Dawn of the Golden Age: 1
Fall of the Golden Age: 10
The Dark Times: 8
The Barbarian Invasions: 4
The Symbiot Wars: 9
The Emperor Wars: 5
Rise of Alexius: 6

Hi all.

Having now read the history section of the rule book, I'm going with these ratings:

The original explorers of the jumpgates back in the time of the First Republic (2305-2500 AD)? 7

Characters who lived during the Age of Miracles in the Diaspora (2723-2849 AD)? 8

Fighters in the Ukar War (2855 AD)? 3

Characters who lived during the height of the 2nd Republic (3500-4000 AD)? 1

Characters who lived during the collapse of the 2nd Republic (4000 AD)? 5

Adventurers in the Dark Ages (4000-4525 AD)? 2

Warriors in the Barbarian Invasions (4525-4900 AD)? 4

Legionnaires of the Stigmata Garrison during the Symbiot Wars? (4900-4956 AD)? 10

Soldiers in the Emperor Wars? (4956-4995 AD)? 6

Adventurers in the time of Consolidation (4996 AD)? 9

It's looking like we're probably doing the stigmata garison idea at this (though there is still at least one person who hasn't voted, I think).  If that's the case, I have a few questions:

For the GM:
-what is the status of the eskatonics at the time of the game?  If I recall the history correctly (quite possible I don't!), they were considered heretic until they proved useful against the symbiots.  Will they have proven themselves by the time the game starts, or will we be playing before that point in time?

-What is the state of the struggle for the throne?  How are the houses currently aligned against each other, and who is the current regent?

-Who currently controls the Garrison (ie, which house is in charge of Stigmata)?

-Are we going to primarily be playing legionaires, fighting against the symbiots, or is the fight more likely to be going on "in the background," while we do related, but somewhat tangential things?  This is mostly an issue of what kinds of characters are viable.  If we're spending most of our time in combat with symbiots, a Reeve probably won't make much sense as a character choice, for example.

for the other players:
Anyone given any thought to what kind of characters they're likely to play?  Seems like there are plenty of combat-focussed roles (Muster, Brothers Battle, etc.), though I'm less keen on playing one of those at the moment.  I've been thinking about a theurge of some flavor, perhaps eskatonic or Avestite if that would fit in, but my heart isn't set on it yet.

Another spin on the same question:  Any character types anyone really wouldn't want to see on the team?  Avestites or chainers for example?

At this point there are three players who have not voted yet (one due to just joining today, another due to still familiarizing himself with the FS setting and history). As for the third...Zahir, ready to throw in your votes? :)

As for Tycho's questions...



If we do play during the height of the Symbiot Wars, I will try to choose a year that will allow for the greatest possible freedom of choice among character types. Ideally, that means a time before Vorox shock troops were banned from the Stigmata Garrison, and after or during the time Eskatonics and Dervishes proved their usefulness against Symbiots, and were granted some degree of (reluctant) tolerance by the Church. So you'd still be in a tenuous state of proving yourselves, but would at least be allowed the opportunity to do so.



These questions I will address once we have a clearer view of exactly what year the game will take place in.



That is entirely up to all of you. If you would like to take part in the Symbiot conflict, so be it. If you'd prefer to play characters with other agendas, that's fine too. I will go with whatever intrigues the players most.