Ive always been fascinated with post apocolyptic fantasy and the DS setting however I've never played on Athas before. I've recently gotten much of the 2nd ed stuff on PDF and I have all the PDF's from Athas.org. Im planning on running a DS campaign about midsummer with a group who has also never played the setting but also knows very little about it. I've read all the PDF's voraciously and feel i have a good grasp of the setting. I have an idea for a campaign involving around Draj involving house Tsalaxa, The Veiled Alliance, a Slave Tribe (haven't decited which yet) and several other factions. That said id like all the advice you guys could give me. I have a feel specific questions.
1) How do, in game terms and in adventures, I exemplify and really make the brutality of Athas come alive.
2) What kind of adventures schould I run, how do I highlight the brutality and fatalism of the tablelands and still have a level of intruge in the adventues.
3) What specific special rules schould I impliment.
4) Any other and all advice is welcomed and apperciated.
Thanks, you Favorite Kender, Uncle Trapspinger
1) The easiest way to make the setting come alive is to keep things harsh. Typical gaming (things like CR) are based around 4 CR encounters per day (or between resting periods). Also, sometimes it's better to surrender or run away. Also, it's always good to make them fight something that kills one of them. Make that death nasty and gruesome, ans something that they could not control. The will then always remember when Vanith the Gladiator was bitten in half by the tembo.
2) easies starting adventures start based of the "a little knowledge" adventure in the original boxed set. The PC's are slaves in transit. A good variation of this is the PC's are caravan guards. I'd save the second for later, but the first allows them to taste their freedom (kill the guards and stuff), but then the raiders free them and allow them to take a weapon, a water skin and that is it. one and one and no more. Then they have to make it to the closest settlement with next to nothing. This is the Darksun equivalent to "orcs attack the town" or "the PC's are in an inn and..."
3) go to Athas.org for some really great rules. 3.5 and all that. all you need besides the rules on athas.org is the rules from the SRD.
4) Have fun. Character trees are good to use, as a DM it lets you kill more characters, and have different ways of playing inside and outside of cities.
If the players are new to the world, give them only what they need, and ask that they read only what you approve. Some here on the boards have made edited copies of the rules so that players only have access to so much (if you have an issue with character vs. player knowledge). Read the novels to figure out when in the timeline you want to play. Bottom line, Athas is harsh, but that's why it is fun.
I played a Mul in a Dragonlance game. I was a lead scout.
Right from the start, the characters were fighting HORDES of enemies. Usually half-giant guards where in "normal" D&D you´d expect goblins.
I suggest throwing more enemies at your players´ characters - not only as cnahumck proposed by adding "encounters per day" but also by increasing the number of enemies in a single encounter and by increasing the CR of the encounters. Something around 4 - 5 encounters with a CR+1 (or even +2) or 6 - 7 encounters with a "standard" CR seems like a good start to me.
I´d also take another look at the rules for psionics (one of the "trademarks" of Dark Sun, after all). Don´t throw wizards at them. Send in psions instead...
Other than the premade adventures I had my adventurers go and manage a large battle between a small Oasis town and an invading Gith army. I had them go to Ur Draxa under the direction of Sadira and the Tyr council to retrieve an item left behind. Ultimately my party became quite advanced and actually started their own army. This army eventually defended a town from being invaded by Nibenay's army only to be destroyed by an angered Dragon king.
A big key to being able to pull off the adventures was that I did not allow ANY of my fellow players to look at any of the source material. They were completely new and had no idea what to expect out of the sands of Athas. They were often afraid to go out into the desert in fear of the New Species and other psychic terrors that lurk in the dunes.
Lastly, Psionics. Use it... often. It defines Athas.
In the old 2e books, PCs started at 3rd level. Does everyone/anyone still start their PCs at 3rd, or do we make everyone try and survive from 1st level?
I think adventures that highlight Athas' vast, horrible, utterly untamed wilderness are really exemplary of the place. It forces the players to be resourceful and merciless, and Dark Sun wilderness encounters remain horrible even for higher level PCs. It turned out pretty memorable, too: they emerged from the mountains riding an animated skeleton behir, with enough time to spare to set up a really effective ambush for the caravan.
One, decide if you're going to use Paizo's version or the Athas.org version of the rules. (Assuming you're using 3rd edition, of course!) In game is the worst place to be deciding whether to use this or that version of said monster. If you're unhappy with both versions for one reason or another, you can, of course, write your own. (A time-consuming process, though.)
Two, the environment in Dark Sun is lethal. The players need to recognize it as an adversary and respect it as such. Don't shy away from the heat exhaustion rules. If the party wants to tromp through the desert at high noon, let them find out the hard way. And when they've realized their error and are trying to find shade, drop a random encounter on them. Don't be afraid of player casualties.
Three, remember that the 3rd edition D&D rules make very clear assumptions on treasure and item gains based on level. Dark Sun doesn't have quite as clear of an advancement curve. Generally, players are lucky to have METAL weapons, much less magical ones. Don't trust CR ratings from the D&D base rules, because they don't apply very well when the players lack high-end gear. Dark Sun will, unfortunately, create a lot more work and need for off-the-cuff encounter judgments. In that vein, don't be afraid to award plenty of experience, even if players are leveling a little fast... there's always something tougher in Athas.
Finally, make a clear decision on the tone of the Dark Sun campaign you want to run. It should not be like any other D&D game. Otherwise, you'd be playing a different campaign. Some good themes are:
Sorcery/magic is corrupting - Like the classic swords & sorcery novels of Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, and Robert E. Howard, magic in Dark Sun tends to lead to power, corruption, and evil. Even with good intentions, magic eventually leads to trouble and grief, and practitioners tend to fall from grace.
Law and order is rarely good - In Athas, the only real sources of "law" are the city-states of the sorcerer kings. So "law" tends to be viewed as arbitrary, cruel, and efficient, but at the least predictable. In contrast, "chaos" is the life of a slave tribe, who answer to no one and prey on those weaker than themselves. Both sides have contempt for one another; there's not a lot of room in Athas for a neutral stance. So when a player talks about "justice" and "order", the average Athasian does not think of paladins or equal rights for all.
Screw the environment - While Athas has been devastated by magic, and the amount of verdant territory remaining has diminished to almost nothing, people are, still, people. If it comes down to their own survival or the destruction of the environment, nearly everyone goes for the former. Players should have this illustrated to them, so that they can remember that their actions are rarely going to be appreciated, and so they can recognize what makes them heroes, where everyone else isn't. (Unless, of course, they're NOT heroes. In which case they fit right in.)
I've got an idea of how to hook the current situation into the Whispers of the Storm adventure, and following that, the Tyrian Conspiracy.
Aside from the basic over-arching plot though, I really want to focus on the basic fundamentals of DS.
Any suggestions on things to keep in mind, or particular things to avoid? (considering it's a new player)