are there any good adventures out there to break in new dark sun players? i'd like something that really gives the feel nicely. i have collected most of the old resources over the years but i havent been thru them in many years so i dont rememeber what adventure was where.
i plan to be using the new darksun 3 and the terrors of athas. they will be starting at 3rd level. i would like to have a wilderness adventure ready and a city adventure depending where they end up.
even links to homebrews or interesting ideas given here will be welcome.
thanks
what is the athas equivilant of an orc?
by that i mean: numerous and good for low level pcs.
ps--
what is the athas equivilant of an orc?
by that i mean: numerous and good for low level pcs.
The Gith seem to hold that slot, more or less.
Of course, you could use elves, thri-kreen or trin as well.
A good start is to either make them slaves in a caravan that gets attacked by gith, or caravan guards that defend it from gith.
Of course, you could use elves, thri-kreen or trin as well.
I agree with cnahumck, Caravans always seem to be the best place to start
I'm in the middle of working out an original mini-adventure based partially on the Cave of Wonders scenes in Aladdin (I'm cutting down on the song and dance numbers though) :P
I was gonna run that one, but it focused almost entirely on elves and insects, which would've bored the hell outta my players.
well, athas outside the cities is elves and insects...
edit: ...and power-hungry defilers...
For my campaign, I ripped off some idea of Dragon Crown and the new Net-book about the Trembling plain.
Basicly, the PC had to make the dangerous journey to the Road of Fire (see Valley of Dust and fire and Dragon Crown). I wanted the make clear it was dangerous and they had basicly no chance of succeeding. So as the PC silt skeemer advanced near the island chain, they saw on a big 300 feet high crag proting out of the silt, a gigantic beasthead Giant looking at them then turning on what looked like an immense drum made from the skin of air drake
and beggin to beat on it with gigantic stick. The earth was even trembling from the drumming and the skimmer had to dodge rock falling from the crag.
Then, on another crag far away, they saw a second beast head Giant responding the same way and the PC heard a third drum far away and other drumming beginning on the island of the road of fire. It took time, but when the PC realised what these drum meanning (a communication system alerting the whole island chain that intruder are coming) they knew they were in big trouble.
Add scorching heat, scarce water, grey death silt, volcano and molting lava and that how you show your player that Athas is a dangerous epic world.
When the Giants came in big number the next day, the PC were so afraid to lose there character they had no choice but to surrender and hoping to escape after that.
P.S Sorry for my bad english, i'm french.
Very nice idea! I imagine all silt-dwelling giants would use that, as the low-frequency sounds would pass the best through the silt haze, and might go some distance even in a storm to allow them to find each other.
Not many people know about Quebec province, or that we're dubbed French-Canadians. It becomes easier to say we're "French".
Why don't you call yourselves "Freedom"-Canadians?
That would be too inflamatory....NOT!
1. Fistful of Dollars. (town adventure) the pcs are approached by two different merchant houses with a grudge between them, each offering a job. There is a Romeo and Juliet option as well as the temptation to play both sides...
2. Good, Bad and Ugly. (wilderness mostly) in the midst of the Gulg/Nibenay War the pcs discover that a caravan train with the pay in steel pieces for the Gulg Army has been hidden by a dying templar before Nibenay's troops caught up with the caravan. The only trouble is that it is hidden in a ruined temple in the middle of the war zone.
I got started on Freedom (the second flipbook adventure), but then my campaign pickedup and I have been too busy between that and work to update it
Chahir
P.S: As for it being about elves and insects, I managed to add an Athasian lion (Phrenic Dire >)), aarakocra scouts, a B'rogh and several types of carnivorous plant into the mix ;)
I kind of like using Western film ideas for Dark Sun.
1. Fistful of Dollars. (town adventure) the pcs are approached by two different merchant houses with a grudge between them, each offering a job. There is a Romeo and Juliet option as well as the temptation to play both sides...
2. Good, Bad and Ugly. (wilderness mostly) in the midst of the Gulg/Nibenay War the pcs discover that a caravan train with the pay in steel pieces for the Gulg Army has been hidden by a dying templar before Nibenay's troops caught up with the caravan. The only trouble is that it is hidden in a ruined temple in the middle of the war zone.
both these sound great. Consider them stolen, or borrowed, or reborrowed or whatever
An aging bounty hunter approaches the party seeking to enlist their aid. He wishes the PCs to infiltrate a local slave tribe of savage raiders and lure the tribe into a trap under the guise of wanting to collect the bounty on the raider's heads. Unbeknownst to the PCs is that the bounty hunter's true motive is to gain revenge against the slave tribe's leader for a past wrong doing.
Have all your PCs from a village, perhaps in the mountain forests that gets raided. The PCs are enslaved and forced to march to the city-state, in which they are not sacrificed, but rather, used as fodder in the Gladitoral arena. The PCs manage to kill an important Noblemen-Tribe's son, in which the Tribe chases the PCs as they manage to escape the city-state. The the Noblemen-Tribe, has numbers and material advantages, like steel weapons, the PCs are huntmens and masters of the barbarian wastes. One by one they manage to kill their hunters. This is more of the weak barbarians vs. the strong city-state.
I'm thinking of making a map for this adventure. It won't take place in the Tyr Region, however, it will be classic Darksun.
cnahumck: thanks, you should watch the films too, they're fun. Specially the second one, one of my favourite westerns.
The trick is to use ones that are mostly action/intrigue oriented; you can't as easily make use of "Unforgiven" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" since they are more character driven and existential.
"The Magnificent Seven"/"Seven Samurai" would also make a good DS tale. In a way perfect--a group of down on their luck adventurers are in some city where everything costs a lot, no chance of employment until a group of humble farmers or villagers approach them, offering them 3 square meals a day plus feed for their mounts (if any) if they will defend the place from bandits. You could up the ante in some way by making it an estate, monastery, small farming region as opposed to just one village. Or the pcs' initial defense could prompt other communities to want to hire them till they are actually receiving a decent set of rewards. You could even do the corrupt cattle baron thing by having them find out it is really a local nobleman who is defraying the costs of something he wants to do by allowing slavers to raid his estates...
Run Apocalypto meets Dark Sun.
Have all your PCs from a village, perhaps in the mountain forests that gets raided. The PCs are enslaved and forced to march to the city-state, in which they are not sacrificed, but rather, used as fodder in the Gladitoral arena. The PCs manage to kill an important Noblemen-Tribe's son, in which the Tribe chases the PCs as they manage to escape the city-state. The the Noblemen-Tribe, has numbers and material advantages, like steel weapons, the PCs are huntmens and masters of the barbarian wastes. One by one they manage to kill their hunters. This is more of the weak barbarians vs. the strong city-state.
I'm thinking of making a map for this adventure. It won't take place in the Tyr Region, however, it will be classic Darksun.
One thing to mention--Nibenay has an annual sacrifice to the dragon of more than 1000 people, ideally slaves.
cnahumck: thanks, you should watch the films too, they're fun. Specially the second one, one of my favourite westerns.
I echo this. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly is one of my favorite all time films.
One thing to mention--Nibenay has an annual sacrifice to the dragon of more than 1000 people, ideally slaves.
All the city-states do.
I love it--Westerns somehow just resonate for me with DS.
cnahumck: thanks, you should watch the films too, they're fun. Specially the second one, one of my favourite westerns.
The trick is to use ones that are mostly action/intrigue oriented; you can't as easily make use of "Unforgiven" or "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" since they are more character driven and existential.
"The Magnificent Seven"/"Seven Samurai" would also make a good DS tale. In a way perfect--a group of down on their luck adventurers are in some city where everything costs a lot, no chance of employment until a group of humble farmers or villagers approach them, offering them 3 square meals a day plus feed for their mounts (if any) if they will defend the place from bandits. You could up the ante in some way by making it an estate, monastery, small farming region as opposed to just one village. Or the pcs' initial defense could prompt other communities to want to hire them till they are actually receiving a decent set of rewards. You could even do the corrupt cattle baron thing by having them find out it is really a local nobleman who is defraying the costs of something he wants to do by allowing slavers to raid his estates...
Seen 'em, just didn't think to using them before now. What other movies can I steal from...
You know, there are only like 7 stories in the world, with many variations of characters.
"The Magnificent Seven"/"Seven Samurai" would also make a good DS tale. In a way perfect--a group of down on their luck adventurers are in some city where everything costs a lot, no chance of employment until a group of humble farmers or villagers approach them, offering them 3 square meals a day plus feed for their mounts (if any) if they will defend the place from bandits. You could up the ante in some way by making it an estate, monastery, small farming region as opposed to just one village. Or the pcs' initial defense could prompt other communities to want to hire them till they are actually receiving a decent set of rewards. You could even do the corrupt cattle baron thing by having them find out it is really a local nobleman who is defraying the costs of something he wants to do by allowing slavers to raid his estates...
Great movie. Have you seen the Anime series 7 Samurai loosely based on the original movie. Btw, I think Tyr after the death of Kalak, or Raam (doesn't matter what time period) would make ideal locals for the city. The bandits could easily be the agents of a corrupt militant merchant house like Stel or Shom.
All the city-states do.
Not anymore. The Dragon is dead so there is no need/way to levy people each year. What problems might this cause I wonder? Perhaps there is an adventure idea right there......?
AZAZEL
Not anymore. The Dragon is dead so there is no need/way to levy people each year.
Yes, I know. This was in response to the statement that Nibenay had a yearly 1000 person sacrifice made to the Dragon.
The way it was presented made it sound as if GoriceXII believed that it was the only city-state that did so.
Actually I do know that, I was just thinking a little obsessively about Nibenay. However there's nothing to say that they wouldn't have the sacrifice survive in some form...after all I'm pretty sure that the original purpose of the 'flowery wars' of the Aztecs died out long before it simply became a tradition to try to take captives in ceremonial battles in order to sacrifice them.
Personally, I can see Draj calling for the sacrifice just on the fact that the city-state has deep Aztec civilization flavor.
I feel Nibenay (the SK not the city-state) would continue the levy in order to fuel his own dragon metamorphosis.
The economic and population had a lot to do with how many sacrifies were carried out in Tenochtitlan.
Perhaps 10'000 would be too much for the Draji economy.
The levy in most cities was in majority not formed of citizens but of slaves, stragglers, prisonners of wars (wars declared just to meet the quota), and desert dwellers that no citizen would ever miss. For most instances and purposes, none of the citizens in any of the cities are seeing a difference, with or without a levy. Slave numbers have the potential to increase dramatically, though.
You can make some side adventures, maybe the leader of the village ask the pcs to go to a city to get help
Its an idea lol