There are :
_ races
_ classes
_ equipement & rules
It's interesting to read. I advice you this.
In Dragon Magazine 319, there are a Player's Handbook for Dark Sun writed by David Noonan p18-45.
There are :
_ races
_ classes
_ equipement & rules
It's interesting to read. I advice you this.
:D.
This has come up once or twice already, Slad Chaos, but it was quite a while back. You might want to check out these threads... (but please don't resurrect them - let sleeping kanks lie and dead ones even more so
...)Dragon #319's take on DS 3.5
Dark Sun 3.5, by David Noonan in Dragon and Dungeon?
Thanks for the links.
IMO, the material presented in the Dragon and Dungeon magizine is just plain bad. I have been a long time subscriber to both mags, but the DS material was a serious let-down.
I totally think that if they were serious about bring out new DS material, they would have contacted Athas.org to produce it! Sure, the material may be good for those who have never experienced the original wastelands of Athas, but for those of us who have wanted to see the crimson sun rise again, it was a total let-down.
If you like the Ds stuff in the magizines, that's cool, but I would suggest buying some of the original material even if it is only in PDF, and reading it over.
Sorry, but as the search don't function, I didn't know.
Thanks for the links.
No worries - having no search function is a bit of a hassle in tracking old topics
.I have to reply, though I know what I am saying may have been posted before...
Nooooooo!!!! Flee!! Flee for your lives!!!
;)
I have to reply, though I know what I am saying may have been posted before.
IMO, the material presented in the Dragon and Dungeon magizine is just plain bad. I have been a long time subscriber to both mags, but the DS material was a serious let-down.
I totally think that if they were serious about bring out new DS material, they would have contacted Athas.org to produce it! Sure, the material may be good for those who have never experienced the original wastelands of Athas, but for those of us who have wanted to see the crimson sun rise again, it was a total let-down.
If you like the Ds stuff in the magizines, that's cool, but I would suggest buying some of the original material even if it is only in PDF, and reading it over.
Ebay!! I picked up the revised DS setting box just last week for 10 bucks. And a couple months ago a picked up a mini set of the original box set for 5 bucks (if you have trouble reading small print, not the best set to pick up, and it has a small map as well, but still nifty to have)
As for the Paizo stuff, I haven't see it, but I have heard a lot about it from here, and basically it sounds like someone had an idea as follows.....
Note, the following is a purely fictional conversation as I picture happened at Paizo staff. . . .
"hey, lets get some old DS material, chop it up and reform it so that anyone can 'port their current game into a Dark Sun Setting! Paladins, Orcs, Dragons..."
"But what about the fact that DS has no Gods?"
"Aw, who cares, paladins exist in D&D, so they will exist in Dark Sun!"
"Gnomes?"
"Yeah, them too!"
"You do know that the denizens of the Land swept across the world millenia ago and wiped out most of the races that you would call 'typical' from D&D"
"So? Whats your point? We can't offend anyone who wants to play a Half Orc, or a bearded Dwarf, so they will all be present in our DS mag publication!"
"Well Sir, I think you should wear an asbestos suit from now on, cuz I can see the loyal Dark Sun fanbase are gonna be torching us on all of their websites and message boards"
"What do you mean loyal Dark Sun Fans, how can there be fans already if we haven't published the magazine yet?"
"You know, fans from the original series?"
"Original Fans? You must be joking. The Original Dark Sun was uninspired, way too unbalanced, and just a dead product"
"You must be new to the game. . . Dark Sun was an awesome, very original, inspired, butt kicking setting-"
"Yes, exactly, thats what it will be when we publish our new and improved, anyone can play anything they want, Dwarves have beards, Half-giants are wusses, Paladins exist, Dark Sun World!"
"I think I am going to tender my resignation and see if Athas.org needs anyone else to work for them"
Anyway I can only hope that someone there had an idea of what Dark SUn really stood for, and resigned when Paiso butchered it. . . But, I doubt it.
Anyway I can only hope that someone there had an idea of what Dark SUn really stood for, and resigned when Paiso butchered it. . . But, I doubt it.
You take this stuff too seriously, I doubt anyone would resign over an issue so small. The people who read Dragon are for the most part unfamiliar with DS and so don't care that the presented material doesn't match up with the original. Anyone who is really interested in the setting would probably have a pretty good chance of finding Athas.org and getting connected to the DS communtiy. You have to remember that Wizards allows and provides for our exsistance (in a fashion) as well.
I think it might have actually been worse if the article had been better. It was so bad that no real DS fan who even only played a couple of games or read one of the books would buy it. But it reminded them that there was a setting and maybe made them go looking for better information to run their game. "Surely there is something better than this online"-DS fan. I know that this is the case because it is my own personal expirience, (except for the fact that I've played a lot more than a couple of games). ;)
make it stop please make it stop have mercy please no more no more help me please somebody help me
Mindwipe for Kamie!
Seriously though, the Dark Sun article wasn't *really* about Dark Sun ... it's point was (remarkably) the same as the point of the original Dark Sun setting: sell copies of the Psionic's Handbook.
There was really nothing else that Pazio could have done -- their work has to be generally usable, or they loose their subscriber base. I think general usability could be done in a way that wouldn't inflame the setting fan base, but I'm not actually sure how it could have been done ...
At the very least, the future timeline is good for me. It was actually very good of them to leave us room to manuver, and at the broad strokes was pretty much logically in line with the progression of things.
At the very least, the future timeline is good for me. It was actually very good of them to leave us room to manuver, and at the broad strokes was pretty much logically in line with the progression of things.
The only thing I really did not like about the timeline is that it puts everything basically back to ground zero- they might as well have brought Kalak back from the dead as well by just saying "Well he wasn't really killed...it just looked like it!" Come on, man!
The only thing I really did not like about the timeline is that it puts everything basically back to ground zero- they might as well have brought Kalak back from the dead as well by just saying "Well he wasn't really killed...it just looked like it!" Come on, man!
Give me a break...Athas has been at war or enslaved for thousands upon thousands of years. Suddenly a bunch of dinky heroes come along and the world changes overnight?
That's just so badly conceived an idea, so underwhelmingly uncreative, it makes me want to curl up in a corner and rock myself, "Shhhh...it's not so bad...it's just a book...you can change it if you want...horrible, horrible canon!...THEY'RE LOOKING AT ME!!!...shhhhh...it's okay..."
I prefer that things went back to near-status quo, instead of "Happy-land Athas here! You come too, now! Be happy! Happy-land Athas! Yay!"
You take this stuff too seriously, I doubt anyone would resign over an issue so small.
Apparantly the sarcasm wasn't dripping from my post enough... because I was joking there.
Mindwipe for Kamie!
Seriously though, the Dark Sun article wasn't *really* about Dark Sun ... it's point was (remarkably) the same as the point of the original Dark Sun setting: sell copies of the Psionic's Handbook.
There was really nothing else that Pazio could have done -- their work has to be generally usable, or they loose their subscriber base. I think general usability could be done in a way that wouldn't inflame the setting fan base, but I'm not actually sure how it could have been done ...
At the very least, the future timeline is good for me. It was actually very good of them to leave us room to manuver, and at the broad strokes was pretty much logically in line with the progression of things.
Yeah, considering what they had to work with, they probably did a great job. I mean, how often do people show up here having used it with success? Heck, there are a lot of people who have set non-D&D/D20 systems in a Dark Sun universe, and had it work, so the system and what is allowed is really less important than whether or not the people enjoy what they are playing.
Personally, I am a bit of a purist. I would be running a AD&D2 Dark Sun campaign if my group could stomach the old system, but I like Athas.org and find the material there as close as I have encountered to original material. (and I even houserule a few of the old things into my game too - like a Bard getting a free poison every level and stuff)
But as for Expanded Psionics Handbook publicity, Dragon and Dungeon do their job in trying to broaded people's repertoire of "settings" and needs to buy this new book, and I think they did a fair job at it. And yes, for those that check it out and decide to do a "dark sun" search, they can always find athas.org and use this if they prefer.
In Dragon Magazine 319, there are a Player's Handbook for Dark Sun writed by David Noonan p18-45.
There are :
_ races
_ classes
_ equipement & rules
It's interesting to read. I advice you this.
...
Welcome to last year.
...
Better yet: No Comment. Everything I ever had to say about those magazine articles, are better covered in other threads.
Give me a break...Athas has been at war or enslaved for thousands upon thousands of years. Suddenly a bunch of dinky heroes come along and the world changes overnight?
That's just so badly conceived an idea, so underwhelmingly uncreative, it makes me want to curl up in a corner and rock myself, "Shhhh...it's not so bad...it's just a book...you can change it if you want...horrible, horrible canon!...THEY'RE LOOKING AT ME!!!...shhhhh...it's okay..."
I prefer that things went back to near-status quo, instead of "Happy-land Athas here! You come too, now! Be happy! Happy-land Athas! Yay!"
Gives GreyOrm another Rock.
BTW I like the books.
;)