Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dawnstealer Apr 19, 2005 18:17:46	I'm doing something I haven't done since 1992: taking a group of players into Dark Sun that have never journied there before. What to do, what to do... Of course, they're used to running around fluffy worlds, prancing in tulips, and so on, so my goal's to immediately introduce them to the harshness of Athas. So far, my plan is something like this: (the numbers roughly correspond to levels, but my campaigns are never really this structured. This campaign will start, as all of my campaigns do, shortly before the fall of Kalak) 1-6) Players will start in Balic. After an initial series of microencounters, the players should have a good sense of Athas, slavery, templars, and so on. Once they're "comfortable," I'll begin the real campaign. After a short series of moral tests, a member of the Alliance will approach the PCs with a job offer. They will probably not know that he is a member of the Alliance and it's certainly not something that he will advertize. Their job will be to poison a gladiator of a particularly investigative templar. This will begin a series of campaigns that will continue through 6th level where the PCs will gradually bring the templar down and will end with him in the arena answering for his "crimes." Also at this time, the PCs will become wanted by several different factions (stepping on toes and such). Giants will attack and give the PCs an out. 7-10) They will lie low for a while persuing some clues out to the islands of Forked Tongue which will lead them to Kalidnay. Kalidnay will give some clues as to Kalak's plan, but not enough to form a clear picture. Also during this time, they will run afoul of Dote Mal Payne. While in the islands of the Forked Tongue, the PCs managed to grab something that was absolutely necessary to Kalak's plan and Dote is trying madly to get it from them. This will be a series of hit-and-run encounters all the way to Kalidnay and then half of the way to Tyr, where Dote will likely get his item and make for Tyr. Once in Tyr, the players will take part in those "festivities," possibly alerting the local Alliance of what's to come (maybe). From there, they will take part in the war with Urik (being higher level, now) and my own version of the Dragon's Crown events. From there? Um, maybe Dregoth Ascending and so on, but that's a long ways off. I usually play it by ear and see where the PCs want to go, but that's my plan right now.
#2 pringles Apr 19, 2005 21:14:25	Nice
#3 valeshdemon May 13, 2005 2:08:50	That sounds cool. I myself am reletively new to Athas, I've read some material, but i'm absorbed by the originality of this world. I tried to run this setting for my regular group, but it's hard to keep it going, when i dont know where to find more setting info. Any suggestions, other than Athas.org?
#4 Pennarin May 13, 2005 4:11:12	Do you really want to have Dote Mal Payne have reach going as far as the Estuary of the Forked Tongue? He was, after all, Kalak's necromancer of the games, working in the arena.
#5 dawnstealer May 13, 2005 10:43:53	Yar, I use him as sort of a lackey of the chief defiler. He's being sent on this mission because the big guy (somewhere in the range of 10th level) can't be bothered with it. At this point, Payne's only about 3rd or 4th level - enough to be a, well, pain, but not enough to be the "super-evil-monster-wizard." Yet. The goal is to consistently keep him about one or two levels ahead of the PCs. Kalak sent Payne for two reasons: 1) he needed his head defiler to help with the Ziggurat, 2) His head defiler might figure more out than he's supposed to, endangering Kalak's plans; Payne is just happy to be noticed. He'll also be picking up critters here and there and sending them back to Tyr in caravans. Heady PCs might figure this out, even though it isn't too pertinent to the story.