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New to Dark Sun

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
raster
Jul 20, 2005 23:49:30 Umm...Hello. You don't eat newbies on this board, right? I'm in the unfortunate predicament of having been born a generation too late to have any knowledge of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting until I stumbled across the revised 3.5 rules at The Burnt World of Athas, and after devouring every scrap of information I could, I'm now hooked.

But I need more. I can't run a campaign without more setting information. I know I can purchase the PDFs from RPGNow!, but I don't know which are the most important ones to get. Is there some sort of heirarchy, with certain ones that you absolutely must read, some that really help, and some that are just minor extras? Can someone set me on The Way?
#2
korvar
Jul 21, 2005 0:13:23
Umm...Hello. You don't eat newbies on this board, right? I'm in the unfortunate predicament of having been born a generation too late to have any knowledge of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting until I stumbled across the revised 3.5 rules at The Burnt World of Athas, and after devouring every scrap of information I could, I'm now hooked.

But I need more. I can't run a campaign without more setting information. I know I can purchase the PDFs from RPGNow!, but I don't know which are the most important ones to get. Is there some sort of heirarchy, with certain ones that you absolutely must read, some that really help, and some that are just minor extras? Can someone set me on The Way?

The obvious ones are the Boxed Sets - they will have enough info to run a campaign from.

Next IMO would be The Veilled Alliance - as well as information specific to that organisation, it has a brief overview of the seven main City-States, with population stats, culture notes, and even what people are wearing.

Depending on where you're wanting to set your adventures, City-State of Tyr gives a detailed look at, well, the City-State of Tyr (does exactly what it says on the tin, as we say in the UK). The Ivory Triangle details Gulg and Nibenay, and the surrounding area. Of course, there's also City-State of Draj, from Athas.Org.

Then you're getting into more specific areas - Elves of Athas, Thri-Kreen of Athas, Air Earth Fire and Water (Clerics), Preservers and Defilers, Complete Gladiator's Handbook.

Dune Trader has some interesting info on what each City-State produces, and needs, which might be interesting for some campaigns.

That should be enough for getting on with :D
#3
zombiegleemax
Jul 21, 2005 1:14:58 Ivory Triangle and Dune Trader also have price lists for every day things like food and drinking water ale, beer, bread, as well as small everyday items like rope and such. They also have prices for some odd things and i think there balck market items in either those or in the elves hand book. the elves book give alot of great info on the life style and culture of the elves of athas they are quite different iirc they even have insluts in elvish more flaver you know.

you will need to get the prisim pendant to follow some of the changes that have taken place in the setting from the original boxed set but it is not nessisary to play just help you understand what some of us are talking about here it was put out catch the setting up to the fiction book that were released.

the thri-keen book is good for more detail but not a must
the will and the way was good for the 2.0 version but it may be a mute put with 3.5

personally the city-state of Tyr book is a must have it pretty much details the city and the dead SK's tower and gardens the only thing that the book really lack that disapointed me was it didn't have a lot of notable pople or houses around the city not even shops or taverns but it is a must have if you are playing in tyr its worth double the price, make a lot less work for you.

as Korvar said The Veilled Alliance expansion is great for flavor and feel.

I'll look through my books when i get home and see if there are more that would be good.

oh the funnies and kinda disgusting thing that i have seen was i think in the Ivory Triangle there is a price list for items in Nibenay on this price list it state the price for a bath (used water)
#4
raster
Jul 21, 2005 1:47:34 For the boxed sets, does the revised campaign setting have all the information as the original plus more, or is there some information in the original that wasn't considered important enough to reprint? Like older history?
#5
jon_oracle_of_athas
Jul 21, 2005 2:10:30
For the boxed sets, does the revised campaign setting have all the information as the original plus more, or is there some information in the original that wasn't considered important enough to reprint? Like older history?

The revised campaign setting has 98% of the information from the original boxed set, and quite a lot of extra information. The original campaign setting is set in Free Year 1, right after Tyr's liberation, and the revised setting is set in Free Year 11. The latter takes into account the events of the Prism Pentad books. Some prefer to play in FY 1, others FY 11 - the books had some rather drastic elements, such as the deaths of three sorcerer-kings, four if you include Kalak of Tyr. Also, the adventure included in the original boxed set gives you a very good introduction to the survival mood of the setting, whereas the one included in the revised boxed set deals with investigating one of the recent major changes in FY 11 and is a very different kind of adventure.
#6
jon_oracle_of_athas
Jul 21, 2005 2:18:01 For monster illustrations, you might want to pick up Dark Sun Monstrous Compendiums I and II. Athas.org is still in need of illustrations for our Terrors of Athas book, which has all the monsters that have ever appeared in Dark Sun, be it in a computer game, polyhedron magazine, monstrous compendium etc in 3.5 rules. Meanwhile, there is Mike (Dawnstealer)'s art page. You can find the link to it in his signature in one of his posts.
#7
raster
Jul 21, 2005 16:28:29 Thanks for all the advice! I imagine I'll lurk around here for awhile, and once I've got a better understanding of the setting I'll make some attempts at posting relevant ideas or questions...

Just out of curiosity, what's the story behind Athas.org? How did you guys get together, and how did you get the rights from WotC to produce "official" Dark Sun material? I'm suprised there's no "about us" page on the site.
#8
Kamelion
Jul 21, 2005 17:07:22
Just out of curiosity, what's the story behind Athas.org? How did you guys get together, and how did you get the rights from WotC to produce "official" Dark Sun material? I'm suprised there's no "about us" page on the site.

About us.

:D

Oh, and welcome to the boards!
#9
zombiegleemax
Jul 21, 2005 20:55:57 Welcome to Athas. May your stay be hot and brutal. :D

No, seriously, enjoy the setting. Have fun with it... or we'll sic Rajaat on ya.
#10
Pennarin
Jul 22, 2005 3:00:27
Umm...Hello. You don't eat newbies on this board, right?

No we don't! There are a few bears here and there, but if you are careful (or they are hibernating) you'll do just fine! ;)

Enjoy you're stay on these boards, how ever breef or long that may be.
As soon as you're settled in and you get an idea you think is so great it deserves to be implemented...post it! We'll have fun discussing it over, sending suggestions, etc.

Welcome.
#11
jon_oracle_of_athas
Jul 22, 2005 3:14:41 Raster, I would suggest reading the FAQ:

http://www.athas.org/faq/

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 raster Jul 20, 2005 23:49:30	Umm...Hello. You don't eat newbies on this board, right? I'm in the unfortunate predicament of having been born a generation too late to have any knowledge of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting until I stumbled across the revised 3.5 rules at The Burnt World of Athas, and after devouring every scrap of information I could, I'm now hooked. But I need more. I can't run a campaign without more setting information. I know I can purchase the PDFs from RPGNow!, but I don't know which are the most important ones to get. Is there some sort of heirarchy, with certain ones that you absolutely must read, some that really help, and some that are just minor extras? Can someone set me on The Way?
#2 korvar Jul 21, 2005 0:13:23	Umm...Hello. You don't eat newbies on this board, right? I'm in the unfortunate predicament of having been born a generation too late to have any knowledge of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting until I stumbled across the revised 3.5 rules at The Burnt World of Athas, and after devouring every scrap of information I could, I'm now hooked. But I need more. I can't run a campaign without more setting information. I know I can purchase the PDFs from RPGNow!, but I don't know which are the most important ones to get. Is there some sort of heirarchy, with certain ones that you absolutely must read, some that really help, and some that are just minor extras? Can someone set me on The Way? The obvious ones are the Boxed Sets - they will have enough info to run a campaign from. Next IMO would be The Veilled Alliance - as well as information specific to that organisation, it has a brief overview of the seven main City-States, with population stats, culture notes, and even what people are wearing. Depending on where you're wanting to set your adventures, City-State of Tyr gives a detailed look at, well, the City-State of Tyr (does exactly what it says on the tin, as we say in the UK). The Ivory Triangle details Gulg and Nibenay, and the surrounding area. Of course, there's also City-State of Draj, from Athas.Org. Then you're getting into more specific areas - Elves of Athas, Thri-Kreen of Athas, Air Earth Fire and Water (Clerics), Preservers and Defilers, Complete Gladiator's Handbook. Dune Trader has some interesting info on what each City-State produces, and needs, which might be interesting for some campaigns. That should be enough for getting on with :D
#3 zombiegleemax Jul 21, 2005 1:14:58	Ivory Triangle and Dune Trader also have price lists for every day things like food and drinking water ale, beer, bread, as well as small everyday items like rope and such. They also have prices for some odd things and i think there balck market items in either those or in the elves hand book. the elves book give alot of great info on the life style and culture of the elves of athas they are quite different iirc they even have insluts in elvish more flaver you know. you will need to get the prisim pendant to follow some of the changes that have taken place in the setting from the original boxed set but it is not nessisary to play just help you understand what some of us are talking about here it was put out catch the setting up to the fiction book that were released. the thri-keen book is good for more detail but not a must the will and the way was good for the 2.0 version but it may be a mute put with 3.5 personally the city-state of Tyr book is a must have it pretty much details the city and the dead SK's tower and gardens the only thing that the book really lack that disapointed me was it didn't have a lot of notable pople or houses around the city not even shops or taverns but it is a must have if you are playing in tyr its worth double the price, make a lot less work for you. as Korvar said The Veilled Alliance expansion is great for flavor and feel. I'll look through my books when i get home and see if there are more that would be good. oh the funnies and kinda disgusting thing that i have seen was i think in the Ivory Triangle there is a price list for items in Nibenay on this price list it state the price for a bath (used water)
#4 raster Jul 21, 2005 1:47:34	For the boxed sets, does the revised campaign setting have all the information as the original plus more, or is there some information in the original that wasn't considered important enough to reprint? Like older history?
#5 jon_oracle_of_athas Jul 21, 2005 2:10:30	For the boxed sets, does the revised campaign setting have all the information as the original plus more, or is there some information in the original that wasn't considered important enough to reprint? Like older history? The revised campaign setting has 98% of the information from the original boxed set, and quite a lot of extra information. The original campaign setting is set in Free Year 1, right after Tyr's liberation, and the revised setting is set in Free Year 11. The latter takes into account the events of the Prism Pentad books. Some prefer to play in FY 1, others FY 11 - the books had some rather drastic elements, such as the deaths of three sorcerer-kings, four if you include Kalak of Tyr. Also, the adventure included in the original boxed set gives you a very good introduction to the survival mood of the setting, whereas the one included in the revised boxed set deals with investigating one of the recent major changes in FY 11 and is a very different kind of adventure.
#6 jon_oracle_of_athas Jul 21, 2005 2:18:01	For monster illustrations, you might want to pick up Dark Sun Monstrous Compendiums I and II. Athas.org is still in need of illustrations for our Terrors of Athas book, which has all the monsters that have ever appeared in Dark Sun, be it in a computer game, polyhedron magazine, monstrous compendium etc in 3.5 rules. Meanwhile, there is Mike (Dawnstealer)'s art page. You can find the link to it in his signature in one of his posts.
#7 raster Jul 21, 2005 16:28:29	Thanks for all the advice! I imagine I'll lurk around here for awhile, and once I've got a better understanding of the setting I'll make some attempts at posting relevant ideas or questions... Just out of curiosity, what's the story behind Athas.org? How did you guys get together, and how did you get the rights from WotC to produce "official" Dark Sun material? I'm suprised there's no "about us" page on the site.
#8 Kamelion Jul 21, 2005 17:07:22	Just out of curiosity, what's the story behind Athas.org? How did you guys get together, and how did you get the rights from WotC to produce "official" Dark Sun material? I'm suprised there's no "about us" page on the site. About us. :D Oh, and welcome to the boards!
#9 zombiegleemax Jul 21, 2005 20:55:57	Welcome to Athas. May your stay be hot and brutal. :D No, seriously, enjoy the setting. Have fun with it... or we'll sic Rajaat on ya.
#10 Pennarin Jul 22, 2005 3:00:27	Umm...Hello. You don't eat newbies on this board, right? No we don't! There are a few bears here and there, but if you are careful (or they are hibernating) you'll do just fine! ;) Enjoy you're stay on these boards, how ever breef or long that may be. As soon as you're settled in and you get an idea you think is so great it deserves to be implemented...post it! We'll have fun discussing it over, sending suggestions, etc. Welcome.
#11 jon_oracle_of_athas Jul 22, 2005 3:14:41	Raster, I would suggest reading the FAQ: http://www.athas.org/faq/