Pyramid Pick: Fading Suns, 2nd Ed.

Pyramid Pick

Fading Suns, 2nd Edition

Published by Holistic Design, Inc.

Written by Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg

312 pages, $34.95

New editions are a touchy subject in the roleplaying industry, especially for games that are less than five years old. Games like AD&D, where a new edition arrives only once a decade, are a rarity. Much more common is the "beta test" model, in which the initial release of a game -- filled with typos, broken rules and references to page "XX" -- is replaced 18 months later by a second edition. The second edition is almost always a better product, but you can't help but wonder why the designers hadn't taken the time to do it right the first time around. So, it was with some trepidation that I greeted the arrival of the second edition of Holistic Design's Fading Suns.

Released in 1996, the first edition of Fading Suns was a Pyramid Pick. Set at the dawn of the sixth millennium, the game postulates a new Dark Age ruled by feudal lords, zealous priests and scheming guildsmen. Once, humanity had built a shining Republic of high technology and universal emancipation. Filled with hubris, mankind squandered the Republic and its boons, casting the galaxy into decline. As if in punishment for such foolishness, the stars themselves have begun to fade, throwing a pall over the Known Worlds and their inhabitants.

Fading Suns distinguished itself as a gritty but thoughtful science fantasy roleplaying game. While its designers, Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg, . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: December 10, 1999

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