Per Ardua Ad Astra
Basic information about the game.
Who is who in the Known Worlds.
A little about the game universe.
Handouts, rules and amendments unique to the campaign
Non-Player and Player characters of note.
Out of Character resources
House Rules etc.
I'm likely to be using 2nd edition 'Fading Suns' rules but there are only a very few differences between 1st & 2nd anyway.At present I am dithering over whether or not to tinker with the damage system and the mechanics of the languages/literacy skills but aside from that, the game should be pretty much 'out of the book' rules wise.
Gun Damage
I am inclined to use the optional rule that whilst melee weapons roll for damage, firearms and the like do their full rating in damage points rather than in dice.
Initiative
Another rule swiped from Chris Hogan's excellent website. Initiative is based on Dex+Wits+1d10 with each character getting one action per 10 'segments'.Characters can hold their action and if necessary "Jump the gun" to perform an action ahead of their usual turn (to a maximum of +5 segments)
Out of sequence Dodges and actions are at -4 for the first and -6 for the second.
Actions taken AFTER an out of sequence dodge/action are at -2 for the first and -4 for the second.
N.B.You cannot 'jump the gun' on your first action, this represents someone just plain old getting the drop on you.
If a character wants to jump the gun after taking two actions already and would not normally have a third action that turn, they may do so BUT on their next turn the first action is at -4.
Languages
First Ed' had the mechanic that each language was bought as a written and spoken skill with levels like any other skill which was an utter sinkhole for skill points (When a 'good' rating in a skill is over 5 anyone wanting to be in anyway polyglot is going to pay through the nose).Second Ed' however made languages levelless skills which cost 2 points for each read or speak skill. However here there was no account made for level of fluency.
What I am considering is introducing a 'linguistics' skill which reflects a character's depth of understanding of nuance, vocabulary and syntax. This will be rolled when attempting tasks that require more than the basic level of understanding.
Characters will start with a Linguistics of 3 and additional languages will be bought as per Second Ed'. However, some additional languages will only cost 1 point for spoken or written rather than 2 e.g. Someone wishing to learn Latin or Urth-Tech when they already speak or read Urthish should pay less than someone attempting to learn Ukari or Vorox.
This should allow characters who wish to specialise in languages to do so without being unduly penalised and reward scholarly characters who have put points into being able to understand arcane or obscure material.
Considerations when designing characters
N.B. Whilst I may be using some of my 1st ed supplements for the game, no player should rely on what they may or may not have read in any book except the core rules.