I've run Fading Suns games inspired by Westerns and Chanbara, suggested long-term plots informed by horror movies, conspiracy tales, and victorian-era comedy of manners vignettes. I've gleefully taken mcguffins from post-human SF and from epic fantasy, and pilfered interesting characters from sources as varied as movies, novels, TV shows, and NPCs from other RPGs.
As Fading Suns 3rd Edition approaches, I think I'll also be starting a series of posts on various RPGs I've taken some stuff from and smushed into the setting somehow (not that hard, there are a lot of adventure hooks that jump out at you as you read various sourcebooks). Only this time, I'll try to be a bit more thoughtful about how I do it!
I've never played Fading Suns but I always thought it looked interesting. It certainly has inspirations I like.
ReplyDelete@Trey: I'm glad you find it interesting! I suppose I could mention the historical inspirations as well (Age of Sail, the 'Dark Ages', and various colonies) but the list was getting a bit long.
ReplyDeleteWhat's nice is that it still retains its core character, despite all these influences.
Your post makes me miss Fading Suns. Too many games, too litle time. :( next time I will run FS based on Banks' Against A Dark Background.
ReplyDelete@spielmeister: I too plan on running at again soon. But (*whew*) Against a Dark Background? Props to you!
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