Official Axanar Podcast #38: A Psychic Timeshare

The Making of the FASA Role Playing Game.

The story of Axanar was born of the role-playing game published by the FASA Corporation between 1982 and 1989. Many elements of the game have influenced later Star Trek, particularly John M. Ford’s supplement, The Klingons, published in 1983. But it was 1986’s Four Years War sourcebook and its companion campaign module “Return to Axanar” that would plant the seeds for the story of Prelude to Axanar and the film yet to come.

Is that material canon? To some it is, to others it is not. But it was licensed, and the amount of research that went into crafting it is incredible.

In this episode of the official Axanar podcast, hosts Robert Meyer Burnett and Alec Peters are joined by two of the creators: John Theisen and Stephen Fender. John is the original author of the FASA Four Years War supplement, and Stephen penned the four-part novel series. Get set for a fascinating story of the history behind content made for fans, by fans, fueled by passion.

But first, Rob and Alec recount the night of May 20, the Star Trek Beyond fan event, and a little something that JJ Abrams and Justin Lin said while up on stage.

News
JJ, Lin, and the Lawsuit (00:03:59)

Feature: The Making of the FASA Role Playing Game
Meeting John and Stephen (00:24:45)
Finding FASA (00:28:08)
John Ford’s Klingons (00:30:55)
Researching and Writing for FASA (00:35:21)
Studio Involvement in FASA (00:42:14)
It Came from a Game (00:44:26)
A Multitude of Stories (00:54:55)
Canon or Not Canon (01:01:01)
Fueled by Passion (01:10:54)
Closing (01:19:013)

Hosts
Robert Meyer Burnett and Alec Peters

Guests
John A. Theisen and Stephen Fender

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Will Nguyen (Content Manager)