(as I've written on some other threads), I'm in the process of starting up a Dark Sun campaign. It's not the first time I've played in Dark Sun, but a lot has changed in the 10+ years it's been since last time...
I was wondering if the good people of these boards had any suggestions for original TSR books that are worth buying besides the ones I've already acquired. Without going into too much detail, I'm planning on starting the campaign at the same time as the Revised Dark Sun Campaign setting book details (Free year 10 if memory serves? 4 months after the Cerulean Storm anyways), basing the group in Tyr as members of the trading "house" from the Hidden Village (which will be assimilated into House Wavir).
The long-term campaign ideas I have so far revolve around central members in House Wavir allowing the Veiled Alliance of several cities to use Wavir's resources and contacts to gain more power and spread its goals. As such, the campaign will have an ecological focus. To underscore the significance of the Veiled Alliance's goals, I'm planning on incorporating some natural disaster directly affecting the PCs and some of their closest relations. Eventually, I had thought of including the ruler of Kurn (the name escapes me at the moment) as the group's "sponsor". In short, the campaign will focus on ecology, social relations and schemes (between trading houses, between cities, in the city of Tyr etc etc) and intercity-warfare. Hmm, that ended up being a bit more detailed than I had planned, but so be it
These are the books I've already bought (or in the process of buying):
- Dark Sun original and revised boxed sets
- Dune Trader
- Slave Tribes
- Veiled Alliance
- Ivory Triangle
- City-State of Tyr
- Beyond the Prism Pentad
- The Prism Pentad series and other novels (already read the PP when it came out, but want to refresh my memory and soak up more of that gritty Athasian flavor)
Already planning on buying the Monstrous Compendiums for imagery. Can you guys recommend any other books that are good in general, and perhaps also in relation to the ideas I've mentioned? For example, does the Dragon Kings book contain any setting/NPC information, or just rules stuff? What about the Will and the Way? And so forth...
Since each book costs $5, it's not about the money, more about the time I could avoid wasting (time is sooo much more valuable when you have a full-time job
)...any tips would be greatly appreciated!Hi,
(as I've written on some other threads), I'm in the process of starting up a Dark Sun campaign. It's not the first time I've played in Dark Sun, but a lot has changed in the 10+ years it's been since last time...
I was wondering if the good people of these boards had any suggestions for original TSR books that are worth buying besides the ones I've already acquired. Without going into too much detail, I'm planning on starting the campaign at the same time as the Revised Dark Sun Campaign setting book details (Free year 10 if memory serves? 4 months after the Cerulean Storm anyways), basing the group in Tyr as members of the trading "house" from the Hidden Village (which will be assimilated into House Wavir).
The long-term campaign ideas I have so far revolve around central members in House Wavir allowing the Veiled Alliance of several cities to use Wavir's resources and contacts to gain more power and spread its goals. As such, the campaign will have an ecological focus. To underscore the significance of the Veiled Alliance's goals, I'm planning on incorporating some natural disaster directly affecting the PCs and some of their closest relations. Eventually, I had thought of including the ruler of Kurn (the name escapes me at the moment) as the group's "sponsor". In short, the campaign will focus on ecology, social relations and schemes (between trading houses, between cities, in the city of Tyr etc etc) and intercity-warfare. Hmm, that ended up being a bit more detailed than I had planned, but so be it
These are the books I've already bought (or in the process of buying):
- Dark Sun original and revised boxed sets
- Dune Trader
- Slave Tribes
- Veiled Alliance
- Ivory Triangle
- City-State of Tyr
- Beyond the Prism Pentad
- The Prism Pentad series and other novels (already read the PP when it came out, but want to refresh my memory and soak up more of that gritty Athasian flavor)
Already planning on buying the Monstrous Compendiums for imagery. Can you guys recommend any other books that are good in general, and perhaps also in relation to the ideas I've mentioned? For example, does the Dragon Kings book contain any setting/NPC information, or just rules stuff? What about the Will and the Way? And so forth...
Since each book costs $5, it's not about the money, more about the time I could avoid wasting (time is sooo much more valuable when you have a full-time job
You have some of the best ones covered there already (well, except for Beyond the Prism Pentad, which is pretty awful, imho). Dragon Kings is just rules material - it's valuable for high-level games, although if you only want the information on high-level wizards, get Defilers & Preservers instead. The Will and the Way is interesting, as it has setting information on the practice of psionics across the Tablelands and details some psionics schools and NPCs.
Other than those mentioned above, I would strongly recommend getting the following:
Earth, Air, Fire and Water - an excellent resource for priests, with plenty of information on their beliefs and practices as well as shrines and NPCs of the Tablelands.
Elves of Athas - all-round great book on elves. Well worth your time and money.
Thri-Kreen of Athas - equally useful coverage of the kreen and contains a revised-era adventure too.
Complete Gladiators Handbook - less useful for non-gladiator based games, but it does contain some interesting setting details.
The other books are entirely setting-based and dependent upon your needs. If you plan on running games around the Last Sea, the Jagged Cliffs or the Valley of Dust and Fire, then it is worth getting the books for those areas. They are also of some interest if you are not using those areas, for the peripheral info that they contain. Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs contains a whole host of lifeshaped items, for example, and The Valley of Dust and Fire has details on the islands of the Silt Sea.
Finally, there is Psionic Artifacts of Athas. It is a great book for adding Athas-specific treasure to your game (it has details on more lifeshaped items, psionic and magical items as well as the actual artifacts) and the section on artifacts is rich in backstory and setting and adventure hooks. It is a bit hit-miss in its presentation, however and requires balanced DM oversight.
Supplements aside, that leaves just the adventures. GIven your campaign outline notes above, I would definitely consider picking up Merchant House of Amketch, as it deals specifically with inter-trade intrigue. This is also a feature of Asticlian Gambit, but that adventure rapidly moves away from trade intrigue and into other areas, so you might find it less useful.
You have some of the best ones covered there already (well, except for Beyond the Prism Pentad, which is pretty awful, imho). Dragon Kings is just rules material - it's valuable for high-level games, although if you only want the information on high-level wizards, get Defilers & Preservers instead. The Will and the Way is interesting, as it has setting information on the practice of psionics across the Tablelands and details some psionics schools and NPCs.
Thanks for the feedback! I forgot to mention, I'm running the campaign with D&D 3.5 rules, so I suppose some of the books you mention aren't as interesting then (such as Dragon Kings and Defilers & Preservers). Amazing how much information there is on a discontinued campaign setting...
Thanks for the feedback! I forgot to mention, I'm running the campaign with D&D 3.5 rules, so I suppose some of the books you mention aren't as interesting then (such as Dragon Kings and Defilers & Preservers). Amazing how much information there is on a discontinued campaign setting...
Yes, they are of less use under 3.5 rules - the same goes for The Will and the Way. They still have some flavour material on how wizards and psions approach their respective professions, however, so you won't find them a total loss. Earth, Air, Fire and Water is much stronger on the flavour side, and so doesn't suffer quite as much for being a 2e product.
Dragon Kings is just rules material - it's valuable for high-level games, although if you only want the information on high-level wizards, get Defilers & Preservers instead.
There is one really cool bit of setting info in Dragon Kings. The Athasian folklore. But, despite how cool the stories are, it hardly seems worth buying a whole book nine half-page stories. And, I suppose there is a little useful info on the construction and design of warmachines and silt skimmers too. All and all it amounts to about 12 pages of useful information.
I wish we could just rerelease that info and chuck the rest...*sigh*
Honestly, Defilers and Preservers is about as deviod of useful info as Dragon Kings at this point. Most of the rules info has allready been converted into 3.5 and there is scant setting material provided: a little about the planes and the history of magic, some philosophy about the paths of magic. All in all about the same amount of setting material as found in the Dragon Kings book. And personally I find the info in the Dragon Kings book to be more interesting and useful!
Everything else said is spot on.
Mindlords of the Last Sea
Ivory Triangle
Dune Trader is good but you've already got that.
Mindlords of the Last Sea
:OMG!
:OMG! :OMG! 
:OMG!
I liked the fluff. Theres very little 2nd ed mechanics in that book and it had history about the Green age in it. Hippie surfing Druids were odd to say the least though.
Although I don't own every Dark Sun product, I have read through many of them and browsed others. There are certain products which would generally be considered the "should have" books for the Dark Sun line. They would be the following:
Dark Sun Boxed Set 1st Edtion
Dark Sun Boxed Set 2nd Edtion
Dark Sun Dragon Kings Accessory
Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium 1 Terrors of the Desert
Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium 2 Terrors Beyond Tyr
Dark Sun The Will and the Way Accessory
Dark Sun Earth, Air, Fire, and Water Accessory
Dark Sun City By the Silt Sea Boxed Set
Obviously, the rule books you are using will affect the usefulness of each Dark Sun product. So much has changed between 2nd Edition AD&D and D&D 3rd Edition/3.5 Edition that the rules you use will require varying levels of adaptation on your part. Obviously, those Dark Sun products most unaffected by Rules Editions would be the two Dark Sun boxed sets and City By The Silt Sea. The other books will be less useful for campaign information, but never useless as each product has some great ideas.
Hope this helped.
Think I'm all set now, bought the following:
- Thri-Kreen of Athas
- Elves of Athas
- Monstrous Compendiums I & II
- City by the Silt Sea
- Earth, Wind, Fire and Water
- Merchant House of Amketch
I'll probably buy the Jagged Cliffs book later on, the Mind Lords concept didn't really appeal that much to me. Thanks again!