FASA Games, a name from the past

[Dread Moores]

Right up front, let me be clear that this is something that should have little effect on SR or BT. I just thought it was interesting to see this name out there again.

http://redbrickllc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=659&p=5534#p5534

Other folks online have mentioned that the names attached to FASA Games are Ross Babcock and James Sutton. The first name is a real blast from the past. I wish them luck.

[bytor]

Interesting.  There is a FASA Games website, with a modified version of the final FASA Corp logo, some trademark notices and that's it.  I had no idea that Earthdawn was still around, but that's cool that someone kept it going, and will continue to do so. 

And Ross Babcock!  Most of the FASA stuff I have, either Battletech or not (especially Star Trek RPG), has his name on it someplace.....

[General308]

I wonder what they have planed. Would love to see Renigade Legion.

[greatsarcasmo]

At GenCon I bought a friend the new edition of the Fading Suns player guide.
Wish them well!

[Atlas3060]

Good to see more of the old crew (the titles) still alive.  O0

[Trace Coburn]

  Redbrick converted the Earthdawn setting to Pathfinder rules?  :o  8)  I might have to take a look at that, if I get the chance.  I skimmed a couple of Earthdawn sources back around the time SR3(!) was released, but the ED mechanics put me off; now, however, I'm already familiar with 3.5E/PF, so I won't have to clear so many mental hurdles.  If nothing else, it could provide more things to loot for a custom campaign-setting.  :D

[StCptMara]

  Redbrick converted the Earthdawn setting to Pathfinder rules?  :o  8)  I might have to take a look at that, if I get the chance.  I skimmed a couple of Earthdawn sources back around the time SR3(!) was released, but the ED mechanics put me off; now, however, I'm already familiar with 3.5E/PF, so I won't have to clear so many mental hurdles.  If nothing else, it could provide more things to loot for a custom campaign-setting.  :D

They also did a Savage Worlds edition, as well, as well as keeping the classic system. I am going to be using some of the stuff in
my Pathfinder game(alot of the stuff works great for the Grey Elves of my setting)

I just wish they had the Horrors book out in pathfinder....

[Stahlseele]

Hm apparently FASA Games is Red Brick renamed with a different owner (a FASA co-creator) and James Sutton as president.

Some more info on RB-turns-into-FASA: http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=26201

RPC: These [pointing to Earthdawn, Fading Suns, Blue Planet, and 1879] are going to be your core lines?
JS: No [meaning they aren't stopping there], Demonworld is a FASA property anyway, we’re doing RPGs and tabletop miniatures, it’s about 500 skus for that alone. Blue Planet has obviously come across from RedBrick, Fading Suns as well. 1879 is an original property, Earthdawn’s a FASA property anyway, sort of come back to roost. We’re also working on four new games to be released over the next five to six years, filling in the gaps around the second world, sixth world, and eighth world of the FASA cosmology. All of those games are intended to be interlinked properly unlike with what happened to Earthdawn and Shadowrun.
RPC: You’re free to talk about it if you’d like.
JS: The second world is effectively the age of dragons. It’s high magic, it’s the birth of Earthdawn. That may end up being the last game that we’re doing because it’s dragons, it’s harder to do. They’re all to be supported with miniatures and supported, hopefully if we get it off the ground, with the tabletop platform we’ve been developing. RPGs, fiction, hopefully card games and board games if all goes well, it’s fairly ambitious. Fourth world, Earthdawn, we’ve already got that, that’s already in progress. The sixth world game we have in mind is a post-apocalyptic reset, post scourge if you’re familiar with the Earthdawn and FASA cosmology.
Every 5,000 years there’s the Mayan long calendar, so there’s a period of high magic and there’s a period of low magic. During the peak of high magic these things called horrors come out of netherspace and ravage things and things go horribly wrong for humanity usually, which is what happened in Earthdawn. Everybody went underground, wait until the magic level dropped and low and behold. Shadowrun sort of deals with that as well, it’s part of the FASA cosmology but we’re ignoring Shadowrun, completely, for obvious legal reasons. The sixth world game is effectively a post-apocalyptic. The corporations have been shattered by the horrors, there’s bikers… the whole Mad Max thing, just taken to the factor of “lots.” The eighth world game we’ll be working on… “nuke ‘em from orbit” it’s the only way to be sure.

[Nerroth]

Shadowrun sort of deals with that as well, it’s part of the FASA cosmology but we’re ignoring Shadowrun, completely, for obvious legal reasons.

I would have hoped that the obvious thing to do would be to try and negotiate with Catalyst about trying to find a way to present a common set of timelines across companies.

(Though there isn't any currently-active IP holder to act as a referee, the way Holistic do between RedBrick/FASA 2.0 and Mongoose for the Fading Suns IP, it feels like a missed opportunity to simply write any sort of cross-company deal off entirely.)

[Terminax]

I hope Shadowrun and CGL stays well clear of the mess that was Red Brick and is now FASA Games.

[3rdCrucisLancers]

I hope Shadowrun and CGL stays well clear of the mess that was Red Brick and is now FASA Games.

They seemed to have some issues, but I'm not too familiar with them. Can you elaborate, either here or in PM?

[Terminax]

The other thread in OT covering Fading Suns pretty much covers the drama.

[Dread Moores]

I'm just disappointed Redbrick never managed to get Equinox off the ground. While I do love Eclipse Phase, I'm relatively intrigued by the idea of Earthdawn's space-based future in a high mana cycle. While I ended my time with Earthdawn a very long way back (when there was only one edition/version), the lore of the setting always fascinated me. So, while I'm not a huge fan of some of Sutton's business decisions, I'm still happy to see the setting hopefully continue to push onwards. And I do like seeing Mr. Babcock's name tossed about on pure nostalgia notes. ;)

As much as I love BT (and SR), I often felt ED had the setting (of the FASA spawned games) with the best angle and held together when looking for internal consistency.

[ianargent]

I liked the ED mechanics for turning the xD&D mechanical tropes inside-out; though they desperately needed a better grounding in probability for some of their mechanics. The world itself was interesting, but didn't grab me by the throat and drag me into it. (For the record, I enjoyed the gonzo-high-magic period of SR that came out of it, and some of my best memories are of running Harlequin's Back and homebrewed events riffing on the connection).

I'll wait and see about what happens with nuFASA

[Stahlseele]

I hope Shadowrun and CGL stays well clear of the mess that was Red Brick and is now FASA Games.

Well, to be honest, CGL isn't entirely free from such stuff either. Remember the fiasco that led to losing several of the SR FreeLancers?

[imperator]

I just went to DriveThruRPG and was looking at the new Fading Suns Players(Rev) guide and just saw it was produced by FASA!!!! Has FASA restarted or is somebody using its name?

[greywolf79]

That would be awesome. Do not get me wrong, I love Catalyst and think they have done amazing things for BattleTech, but FASA is also a great company and it would be nice to see them come back.

[Charlie Tango]

Moving this thread to Off Topic and merging it with the already-extant thread on this topic.

[StCptMara]

I just went to DriveThruRPG and was looking at the new Fading Suns Players(Rev) guide and just saw it was produced by FASA!!!! Has FASA restarted or is somebody using its name?

It is...interesting. Yes, FASA is back. Their big coming out was at GenCon. Too bad it wasn't the return of the FASA Parthenon.
I still wish I could have seen that and the TSR Castle in the old days....

However, yeah...they have a bunch of cool stuff. I picked up the Earthdawn Pathfinder stuff....I am so going to use some
of that stuff in my Pathfinder game...

[Dread Moores]

It's also important to keep in mind that FASA Games isn't FASA. The people that made up FASA, the large majority of them that wrote the material that people love about the FASA games, have moved on to other things or other games. So yeah, FASA is back producing games. But FASA isn't back. The only name in common between FASA Games and FASA currently is Ross Babcock.

[HikageMaru]

The only thing that invokes more feelings of nostalgia than FASA is TSR.

[Dread Moores]

Or Star Trek, BSG, Star Wars, or just about anything else.

[greatsarcasmo]

My co-worker who I picked up the Fading Suns player guide was less then impressed with the book. Though I'm not sure if this was a brand-new edition, or a revising, or...
He also told me that there is a Savage Worlds Fading Suns ruleset coming out. I'll pick that up.

[Von Jankmon]

As far as I am aware FASA never went away, it just stopped trading and producing directly and became purely a holding company for its intellectual property.

[Dread Moores]

It didn't. This also isn't FASA, the holding company for those IPs (at least as I understand it). This is FASA Games. How exactly that works in with the parent holding company? No clue.

[worktroll]

Probably a new business name covering the amalgamation of Red Pins' IP, separate but owned by FASA Corp. Probably.

[Neko_Bijin]

I feel about the transfer and license of intellectual property among corporate entities precisely the way that normal people feel about the movement of charged particles in a cyclotron: completely bewildered, and with a vague sense that it ought to be stopped somehow.

[GreenDragon]

I loved the old FASA Star Trek, and consider much of it more canon that what is officially canon.  Dr. Who was also a great game.  Didn't they also do a wargame using machines that look like the ones in Robotech?  :D

I wish them best of luck, and might check out the Earthdawn/Pathfinder game.

[Wrangler]

Hope FASA Games succeeds in their mission in entertaining people way old FASA used to.

I hope they revive Renegade Legion wargame, it would be fun play in and hopefully be better done in Strategic level as well normal tactical one.

Star Trek RPG was fun and easy, i didn't get play with the Tactical Simulator, so i don't know if worthwhile to revive.  I wasn't crazy about what Old FASA did with their ST Next Generation.   

[nerd]

Star Trek RPG was fun and easy, i didn't get play with the Tactical Simulator, so i don't know if worthwhile to revive.  I wasn't crazy about what Old FASA did with their ST Next Generation.   

The tactical simulator is a great game.  Fun and easy to play.