This software generated in Java includes all rules needed for the creation of a character sheet for the role play game called Fading Suns 3E (Revised Edition). If you are looking for the Fading Suns 4E, please go to this link.
Personally, I do not like the provided character sheet in the Player's Guide book, and I have designed a new one based on some old sheets for previous versions of this game. Also, I have added some custom rules for random character generation that can be used for PC or NPC generation. This software only includes the rules that can be included as a dependency on other pieces of software, but cannot be used as a standalone application. If you are looking for a complete software to generate characters, take a look at Think Machine: Advisor, a mobile application for character generation based on Android devices. This app includes everything that you are looking for.
To get an idea of the final character sheet result, here you have a preview:
If you like the design, and you want to use it, only the final PDF document is needed. To avoid the complexity of compilation this source code and using some programming languages, you can directly download the PDF from these links:
- Character Sheet (English)
- Character Sheet (Spanish)
- Character Sheet Small Version (English)
- Character Sheet Small Version (Spanish)
The fonts needed for these PDFs are: ArchitectsDaughter, DejaVuSans and Roman Antique. All of them can be used freely for non-commercial use. Maybe you need to download and install them to see the PDFs properly.
If you want to skip the font installation, you can also download these sheets as a PNG image:
- Character Sheet (English)
- Character Sheet Reverse (English)
- Character Sheet (Spanish)
- Character Sheet Reverse (Spanish)
- Character Sheet Small Version DIN A5 (English)
- Character Sheet Small Version DIN A5 (Spanish)
Click any of these links to get a complete updated copy of the sheet.
From version 0.4.0 exists the option to generate random character sheets. This feature is very useful for the creation of random NPC (non-player characters). You can define some basic options for the character such us nobility status, psi, combat preferences, equipment and more; and the software will generate the complete character for you in a few seconds. Each character generated is strictly following the rules of the Fading Suns core rule book and therefore, also can be used as a standard playable character. I hope this feature will add extra color in your campaigns.
Some examples already generated are:
- Catherine Hawkwood (English)
- Shinsuke Li Halan (Spanish)
- Farida Benkira (English Small DIN A5)
- Oleg Decados (Spanish Small DIN A5)
From version 0.4.8 exists a new option for autogenerate a complete group of NPC. Only must select the maximum threat level of the group and a party schema. The application will generate a complete party from these inputs. Very useful if you want to generate encounters quickly. The "Threat level" is a custom measure of how dangerous the party will be. The higher value, more combat actions and better equipment will have.
Still, the code of this application is provided in GitHub for some reason:
- Maybe somebody wants to change some texts on the character sheet.
- Maybe somebody wants to translate it to a different language (see below for some instructions).
- Maybe somebody wants to integrate it in a custom application.
- In general, I like the idea of free source, and therefore, I have released this software under the GNU General Public License.
If you are interested in the translation of the sheet/application in a different language, at the Wiki of this project you can find some instructions.
The application has been created using Maven with Java. Therefore, for executing this application, you need both Maven and Java installed on your machine. Then
you must execute this command inside the thinking-machine-core folder:
mvn exec:java -Dexec.args="en /path/to/file"
Where en is the language to obtain the file (now can be en, es) and /path/to/file must be a valid path where the application has permissions to generate
a file. If this execution is too complex for you, you can always do a pull request on this project and I will generate it for you.
You can also convert PDF to PNG automatically if you have ImageMagick installed and is at the path. Execute this Maven command:
mvn install -Prelease
And all the possible PDFs will be generated and later converted to PNG. Final result is located in the sheet folder.
This component is available at the Maven Central Repository and can be included as any other dependency. For example, for Maven, the dependency would be:
<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.softwaremagico/think-machine-rules -->
<dependency>
<groupId>com.softwaremagico</groupId>
<artifactId>think-machine-rules</artifactId>
<version>0.8.6</version>
</dependency>
Currently, this project is divided in three subprojects: think-machine-rules (for Fading Suns rules related to the character generation),
think-machine-random (logic behind the creation of random characters) and think-machine-pdf(exporting a character to a PDF sheet). Each subproject can be
included separately. For any extra information about how to do it or use Gradle, Ivy or any other, please
follow this link.
Since version 0.6, this application allows the inclusion of modules. Each module can have different definitions of skills, weapons, psi powers, etc. Can be useful to include custom weapons, change some skills or add different languages. Also, it is interesting if you want to use the Victory Point systems for other different adventures without using the Fading Suns world. As an example, The Last Week is a module that can be used as a reference for creating new ones. It is based on the year 2047, and some skills and equipment have been adapted for this specific adventure.
This application only contains the logic for defining characters and NPC using Fading Suns victory point rule system. No user interface is included and therefore, cannot be used as a standalone application. In the close future, new applications will appear for different platforms that include a UI. These applications will be listed here:
- Think Machine: Advisor is an Android application also based on Java that allows the use of this library for the creation of Player and Non-Player Characters.
This software has been developed using the Librepdf library for generating PDFs.
Fading Suns is a TradeMark owned by Holistic Design.
Fonts used in this project: DejaVuSans, ArchitectsDaughter and Roman Antique.
ImageMagick is a free image manipulation software.
0.1.0 Basic PDF generation
0.2.0 Multilingual added (English and Spanish).
0.3.0 Small PDF chart generation added.
0.4.0 Random character generator and equipment included.
- 0.4.1 Weapons added.
- 0.4.2 Armors and shields added.
- 0.4.3 Combat styles added.
- 0.4.4 Age calculations
- 0.4.5 Cybernetics included.
- 0.4.6 Random profiles.
- 0.4.7 Threat level calculation.
- 0.4.8 Random groups generation.
0.5.0 Performance improvements and code checks.
0.6.0 Modules system and some improvements
- 0.6.1 Improvements in Json exporter.
0.7.0 Experience added.
- 0.7.1 Faction restricted and suggested benefices.
0.8.0 UI integration improvements.
- 0.8.1 Android SDK compatibility.
- 0.8.2 Cost changes interaction with UX.
0.9.0 Element descriptions and extra content.
- 0.9.1 Equipment descriptions.
- 0.9.2 Occultism descriptions.
0.10.0 NPC generator.
- 0.10.1 Players Companion NPCs
- 0.10.2 Added circleci
- 0.10.3 Some extra content
- 0.10.4 Fixing sonarqube remarks