FS Revised vs. FS 2E

[Groggy Grognard]

Good afternoon,

I'm happy to see a new edition of Fading Suns out and about!

Is there anywhere someone can point me to the changes made between 2E (the version I have) and the Revised version?

Thanks!

[Angelman]

Hi Groggy Grognard!

There are quite a few changes between FS2 (the various versions) and the FSR (which is a 3rd edition in all but name).

I recently answered the same question elsewhere, and since I'm in a bit of a hurry, I'll copy-paste it here. Hope this helps

From memory, the major changes are:
-FSR has no opposed Spirit characteristics (from Extrovert vs. Introvert, Passion vs. Calm, & Faith vs. Ego in FS2 to Presence, Faith, & Will in FSR)
-FSR VP calculated by dividing the rolled number by 2 instead of by 3
-FSR has a new mechanic in the Defense characteristic. Defense is subtracted from attack VP scored against the character. This replaces defensive actions and thus greatly speeds up combat.
-FSR has introduced Fighting Stances, which are a set of basic approaches a character can choose to take in combat.
-In FSR, Martial arts actions have been redone with greater focus on styles and less clutter in the rules. You now buy a style to get the base bonus/action, and you will qualify for further bonuses/actions if you have the required skill ranks (typically, the higher Fight/Melee/Shoot you have, the more features of the martial arts style you'll qualify for)
-Weapons, gear, and other 'stuff' has been greatly expanded in FSR. Weapons have some brand new features called 'properties', and armors that are not built specifically to withstand said properties have reduced effects. (i.e. a fire-proof suit receives full armor protection vs. Flame weapons, but not vs. Slug guns). There are many more examples of things available for purchase, which were written in an attempt to sneak more setting and fluff into the game. Tech Level is discussed at length.
-FSR occultism has been expanded with more background info, and a few new powers invented (Eskatonics now finally have a rite with which to fight Symbiots)
-In FSR, critical failures may occur when a natural 20 is rolled (which is also a natural failure). Critical failure is determined by rolling another d20, a score of another 20 resulting in a fumble.
-FSR allows characters to spend Wyrd to gain re-rolls. (1 for one)
-FSR has rules for such things as Falling/Impact/Collision, Heat/Fire/Plasma, Asphyxiation, Decompression, and Radiation.
-There might be more major rules updates, although these are the ones I can think of right now.

In addition, there are loads of minor new rules throughout.

Vi also added loads of optional rules to suggest ways of tweaking the game to fit the style of individual gaming groups.

[Groggy Grognard]

Those changes sound really interesting!

Why no more opposed Spirit characteristics, if I may ask?

Also, how compatible would you say it is with previous Fading Suns books? Is there a section on converting earlier material?

(Expanded occultism in the core also sounds awesome, by the way!)

[Angelman]

The greatest change from FS1/FS2(s) to FSR is that the core material is now 2 fat books instead of one

The opposed Spirit characteristics were one of the most complained about features of FS1/FS2. Many people loved it, but many more people disliked it. It didn't necessarily work properly - for instance, you couldn't make introvert rock star (Kurt Cobain).

There is no conversion chapter in the FSR core books. It should, however, be pretty easy to make an on the fly conversion. If you want to convert FS2 characters to FSR, the easiest thing might be to deconstruct how many EXP they have spent, and respend them within the framework of FSR.

We hope you will like FSR, Groggy Grognard

[Groggy Grognard]

I've just asked my wife for the Fading Suns revised books for Christmas. You've sold me on giving the old game another try!

So I see there's a few more books in the pipeline, given the titles you've listed in your signature. May I beg for more details on them, if you're allowed to say anything? I'm interested to hear the plans for future FS books!

(And I don't know what "The Darkness Project" is obviously, but I'm hoping it has to do with horror themes like the previous books Dark Between The Stars and Into the Dark. I have no idea how my feelings match up with the FS customer base as a whole, but I love the space-horror elements of FS, and would love to see more development of them. Heh, the nice thing about the game is that it absorbs so many different themes so easily!)

[Angelman]

FS books for Christmas would be the best!

We do have a few concrete books in the pipeline, as well as pre-production work on some others, but things are moving much slower than we'd like unfortunatelly. Since Todd discussed the future of FSR and the upcoming titles in an online chat earlier this year, I can discuss what was revealed there
Criticorum Discord: This one has gotten quite a bit for press already. It is a drama anthology with 3 brand new dramas set on or en route to Criticorum. It deals with themes and motifs of aliens and alien rights in the Known Worlds, presented in three rather different stories.
Merchant League: Exactly what is sounds like. It expands upon and reconceptualize MotJ and other guild sources.
"The Darkness Project": The official name has not yet been released, but yes it is about antinomy and demons and things that go bump in the night, as well as the flipside of that coin.
Rise of the Phoenix: This discusses the current state of the Known Worlds setting. Alexius has been in power for a bit now, and has been working to reshape his Phoenix Empire in his own image.

[Holz]

I can say, other than Psi and Occult powers, I never used (maybe properly) the Spirit traits....