A) Where can I find some good Dark Sun fluff, short of buying the box set off Ebay?
B) Aside from the PHB, DMG, MM, and EPH, what 3.X books would be useful?
C) What should we know about running a Dark Sun campaign?
D) What makes a good Dark Sun adventure? (Intrigue? Hack/Slash? Horror?) and/or where can a good Dark Sun adventure be found?
You can buy the original boxed set in pdf format from www.paizo.com
I recommend it (some folk like myself hate the way later stuff screwed the setting and preffer original, though with 3.5 rules)
b) sandstom perhaps, lots of useful stuff in other books but nothing "specific", I like the Complete Adventurer.
c)and d) Harshly, gritty, tough, high likelyhood of dying. Survival and smarts are prime partof DS games, rather then "heroics" it's often about survival and defeating the shmucks who rule, or are trying to get one over you.
Think Mad Max, Death Lands that kind of thing
Most of my DS games are set in Tyr and involve "dirty deeds done dirt cheap".
(You can also check my sig for some of the best material around too :D )
As for other books - well it always just depends on what you want to add to your game - but with the material from Athas.org and the core books from Wizards, there is not reallt much else that you really need - I would first suggest that you get the campaign running using only the Athas.org material and the core books then add on as you feel the need.
I would say that if you want to get to know the setting, the best way to really do that is to read the Prism Pentad series by Troy Denning - you can find cheap used copies at half.com that will really work - I bought a whole set just for my players to read (and because I would not let them read my orginal first edition, very good condition ones).
In my campaign, I have alway kept the danger level just short of TPK - I make my players earn the cool things I give them. I also have had an on going plot line that the story has followed - using and tweeking some of the adventures from Athas.org to fit my needs and writing my own.
If you really want to introduce Dark Sun, I think you need to to have an adventure were the characters are survivors of a raided caravan. (Raided by Elves!) and the characters all have to get to the nearest well in order to get the water they need to survive.
Give each character a different card of world knowledge they need to get to say... Altruk or The Bitter Well... and give them reasons to not fully share that inforamtion with each other. Kinda like a murder mystery.
In those cards you can give individual characters elements of Dark Sun, such as:
- distrust of Magic-users
- escaped slaves
- psionic mercenary
- half-elves are REALLY dispossesed
- dwarves are hairless
- elves are worshipers of the Now
- Muls are crossbreeds
- Templars are the oppressors
- defilers kill the Land
- preservers hate defilers
- thri-kreen don't sleep and eat people
- halflings are like the boomerang kid from Road Warrior and they eat people too
And whatever you want to add. The players will introduce Dark Sun to each other and all you need to do is keep them on an interesting path together.
Thanks for the help, guys. I am not familiar with this campaign setting, but with this info, I am confident that the Dak-Kon campaign will be sucessful.
If you are ever doubting if your game is truly "Dark Sun" enough - just kill a character or make your players cry - that is a good measuring stick
I knew it was working when my players became wary of the plant life as well as the denizens.
Mongol General: Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of [the players in my Dark Sun campaign].
:D
Originally Posted by Modified quote from Conan the Barbarian
Mongol General: Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of [the players in my Dark Sun campaign].
They werent mongols. that would be like saying the guy who taught conan to use a sword was japanese/samurai. or that people from Draj are actually Aztec.
And the worst part of running a DS 2nd edition campaign was trying to kill ppl with 22s or 24s in their stats. T
he FUN part was sending them to Myth Drannor and having the Defiler break down in tears at the sight of all the trees. Then have a whole bunch of pansy wood elves turn up. And get killed by the Mul gladiator (there was always one); or the half-giant with his x2 hit points.
They werent mongols. that would be like saying the guy who taught conan to use a sword was japanese/samurai. or that people from Draj are actually Aztec.
Chill dude - I got the quote from the web and that was how they had it listed - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082198/quotes - jeeze!
And whoever labelled that IMDB quote is wrong too. (damn i am trying to chill i swear)
lastard >8)
PS: would it be possible to update the links section of athas.org? a lot of the links are dead
and me thinks some new pages have appeared on the net :DPS: The link question should really be a separate thread.
er....
Lastard >8)
Mad Max is a good example - if Mad Max was a vengeful druid who seeks to sabotage defilers and torture them with swarms of vermin and if he co-operated with an Aunt Entity ranger/bard woman and a MasterBlaster gladiator-duo (half-giant carrying a bossy halfling).
This answers your question what makes a good DS adventure: sabotaging of anything to do with Sorcererkings/-queens. Be it through the Veiled Alliance, druids or other people bearing a grudge!
Lastard >8)