Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Sonja Mar 23, 2004 1:13:49	I was looking for the stats for the Dragon in ToA, then it occurred to me: Maybe DS3.5 is set in a time frame a few years ahead of what I am reading in the original 2e Box Set, and history has changed a few things. (I read something about Tyr being free or something?) If so, what sources will give me the info to bring me to par on the current time? Do I have the option of setting my DS campaign in the original time? Or am I totally misunderstanding something. Thanks! :D
#2 Kamelion Mar 23, 2004 2:54:53	DS3e is indeed set a good 10 or 11 years after the initial boxed set (iirc, it's set just after the time of the 2nd DS boxed set, which was set 10 years after the 1st box). We didn't include rules for dragons or other advanced beings in ToA - they're being saved for an epic-level supplement further down the line. Tyr may or may not acheive its liberty, depending on the events of the first DS flipbook adventure Freedom. Most games follow this timeline (as do the DS novels) but not all by any means. There are plenty of DMs who prefer to keep Tyr under Kalak's iron fist, preserving the feel of the 1st boxed set. If you want to bring your campaign up to date, the 2nd Dark Sun boxed set is really all you need. You can buy it as a pdf from svgames here. If you just want the hard details of the metaplot instead of a whole new setting, you should instead go for Beyond the Prism Pentad (here) which is a booklet summarising the salient details of the ten years that pass between the 2 sets. (And ignore the stupid, pointless, ridiculous excuse for an adventure at the end. Ahem. Sorry - pet peeve...) Of course, there's nothing to stop you from staying true to the 1st boxed set. Apart from the novels and the two products mentioned above (and maybe also City by the Silt Sea), the metaplot has no relevance to the published material whatsoever and you can use, refuse or abuse it with impunity, imho ;)
#3 Sonja Mar 23, 2004 3:16:58	Kamelion, thanks!!!! Is the mediocre adventure you're referring to called Mystery of the Ancients?
#4 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 23, 2004 3:20:43	I think he was referring to Defiler's Gambit in Beyond the Prism Pentad.
#5 Kamelion Mar 23, 2004 3:28:14	Originally posted by Jon, Oracle of Athas I think he was referring to Defiler's Gambit in Beyond the Prism Pentad. Heh, that's the one. Silly. Very silly. You're welcome, Sonja. (Another Canadian? What is it with you guys and Dark Sun? :D)
#6 Sonja Mar 23, 2004 3:43:11	I think it's all the cold we get. Maybe the hot world of DS strikes us as an exotic and refreshing change. :P :P Although that gives me ideas to create an Arctic D&D campaign setting...! I don't think there really is one out there. I could base it on a mishmash of Inuit/Siberian/Norse/Finnish mythology. Hmmm...
#7 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 23, 2004 3:52:04	I've been toying around with the concept of an arctic setting myself. It didn't make it past the opening round of the WotC contest though.
#8 Kamelion Mar 23, 2004 4:19:52	Canadians, Scandinavians, arctic settings... Beginning to see a pattern here...
#9 gab Mar 23, 2004 6:19:20	Heh! Sonja, didn't notice you were in Moncton. So am I.
#10 Grummore Mar 23, 2004 7:25:42	Yeah Sonja, Gab is THAT man, since he is, as jon and flip, the HIGH peoples from the athas.org team. You must find him in Moncton and bug him about the DS news he is creating! :D
#11 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 23, 2004 7:27:13	Or maybe we could hire her to assassinate you so we would get some peace to actually do some work? :D
#12 Sonja Mar 23, 2004 10:32:28	WTF! Wow, another gamer in Moncton. Gab, let's play! Are you running a game right now? I live near Jones Lake. Also check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monctonrpg/ (I'm trying to connect all the gamers in town.)
#13 zombiegleemax Mar 23, 2004 10:42:14	Originally posted by Sonja I think it's all the cold we get. Maybe the hot world of DS strikes us as an exotic and refreshing change. :P :P Although that gives me ideas to create an Arctic D&D campaign setting...! I don't think there really is one out there. I could base it on a mishmash of Inuit/Siberian/Norse/Finnish mythology. Hmmm... One of the head developers at White Wolf (the friendly folks who just got done murdering the World of Darkness) is working on a d20 fantasy world called "Frostholme." This may be the arctic setting you've been looking for! --keep an eye here for further details NB
#14 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 23, 2004 10:54:38	"Frostholme" actually has somewhat of a meaning in Norwegian. Interesting.
#15 Sonja Mar 23, 2004 11:03:31	Originally posted by Jon, Oracle of Athas Or maybe we could hire her to assassinate you so we would get some peace to actually do some work? :D Well, I could use the money!! :P
#16 zombiegleemax Mar 23, 2004 11:16:04	Originally posted by Jon, Oracle of Athas "Frostholme" actually has somewhat of a meaning in Norwegian. Interesting. Oh? --do tell NB
#17 jon_oracle_of_athas Mar 23, 2004 12:02:15	No rocket science here: Frost = frost Holme = islet (holm) Though Frostholme is not a word on its own, it could be a location name. A more naturally sounding name in Norwegian would be Frostholmen, more or less translated to "the frozen islet/holm".
#18 zombiegleemax Mar 23, 2004 16:06:57	Heh, I always wanted to do a far future Athas where the sun had actually been altered even further by some kind of cataclysmic event (instigated by Andropoinis 1,000 years in the future, after he gets out of the Black). The result was turning the huge crimson sun into a nearly burned out brown dwarf, which is much, much cooler than a standard star (although it never really looks brown, its still a burning object in the sky, just smaller with less cornea). The world was even more bleak under the new arctic conditions. I never got much beyond the brainstorming . . . All I've heard about Frostholm have been general rumors and speculation. I love a good exotic setting, hopefully this own won't be as cliche' as most of the standard settings that have been coming out for d20.