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[D&D 4E] Dark Sun discussion

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    AriviaArivia I Like A Challenge Earth-1Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    feeddannow wrote: »
    I am hoping the renewed interest in DS will get people (the artsy ones... you know who you are) to start drawing more cannibal halflings that I can stea...er...borrow for my own characters.

    I can see myself running a pbp for those halflings next summer, too.

    Arivia on
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    It should be noted that no matter what you do, halflings are never cool. No, not even in Darksun. Yes, even in the setting where Sloths are badass, halflings still aren't cool.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    AriviaArivia I Like A Challenge Earth-1Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    It should be noted that no matter what you do, halflings are never cool. No, not even in Darksun. Yes, even in the setting where Sloths are badass, halflings still aren't cool.

    I can see waist-high cannibals with biomagical powers and facial tattoos that take after the kindergardeners in Recess working well. Yeah, that's an odd influence, but I like it.

    Arivia on
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    feeddannowfeeddannow Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    It should be noted that no matter what you do, halflings are never cool. No, not even in Darksun. Yes, even in the setting where Sloths are badass, halflings still aren't cool.

    No no no...

    You got it all wrong. It was Kender that were never cool. Halflings are awesome. I remember hashing out some really awesome halfling shield-wall fighters... the IHOPlites...

    feeddannow on
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    I don't think I've ever read a Dragonlance sourcebook or novel, so I only have secondhand knowledge of those.

    But on to Darksun things that are Awesome. Braxat. Because they are huge bug/rhinos that wait in ambush for you, then eat you. Oh, and they are smarter than you, too.

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    DisruptorX2 on
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    AriviaArivia I Like A Challenge Earth-1Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    oh Thomas Baxa, source of all my fears

    Arivia on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Or how about the So-Ut, a creature driven nuts by the site of artifical structures and manmade stuff. It's like free license for the DM to break shit and trash villages.

    Morskittar on
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    ObexObex Registered User new member
    edited August 2009
    I got so nostalgic over this i went and dug out my old Dark Sun Box set

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    Obex on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Obex wrote: »
    I got so nostalgic over this i went and dug out my old Dark Sun Box set

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    That was the one I played for years. I sold it to buy gas to get home from school one summer, though.

    I've since bought the later edition to replace it, but it's just not the same. :(

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    The later one wasn't nearly as awesome. It had some interesting later elements, but the whole
    Prism Pentad no-Dragon, Tyr-storms, lots of freedom
    thing just wasn't as characterful.

    Morskittar on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    The later one wasn't nearly as awesome. It had some interesting later elements, but the whole
    Prism Pentad no-Dragon, Tyr-storms, lots of freedom
    thing just wasn't as characterful.
    I think it worked as long as the players were somehow involved in it the whole way with
    helping kill Kalak, leading the war with Uric (Ulic?), aiding the Veiled Alliance, etc

    But it was a poor place to be dropping a "new" edition of the setting. It lost a lot of the charm of the original because of it.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    This new edition of Dark Sun is so far awaaaay. :(

    I'm eager to see how it's going to get changed from what we're familiar with.

    Fiaryn on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    OptimusZed wrote: »

    But it was a poor place to be dropping a "new" edition of the setting. It lost a lot of the charm of the original because of it.

    Yeah. I could dig elements, but the feel seemed too fundamentally changed. I did always have a few campaign ideas that I never carried through with;
    Like having the Dragon not be banished to the Black/killed, but turn up somewhere else instead. Like in an artifact where he can talk to a party, or somewhere like Sigil or the outer planes.

    For the 2010 release, there's a good chance I'll have the players inatvertantly kill a few of the PP mains. Whoops!

    Morskittar on
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    PygmalionPygmalion Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Dark Sun. I know nothing about it. I'll run a campaign in this setting when it comes out. That's the best way.

    And then doom will stalk the land, and hardcore players will scream as I keep getting dark sun wrong. And I will laugh and laugh at their ridiculousness and enjoy myself most heartily. Like a good DM.

    Pygmalion on
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    I have both Dark Sun editions, though I don't have the box for the first one, just the books. The revised edition has far more actual content and a much more fleshed out world. The Wanderer's chronicle is about as long as both the rulebook and setting book from the original box.

    There's only 2 things wrong with the revised setting: it uses the Prism Pentad continuity and it doesn't have rules for Templars. Both are easily fixed by just owning both. Now, granted, Templars are basically just clerics, but they did have a fluffy spell progression. Low level Templars get shit spells, because the Sorcerer King doesn't want to waste effort channeling them, and high level ones get kickass spells because they are the most favoured.

    Also, I don't know who the artist is for the revised setting, but he's really good and does capture the setting very well. I like his art nearly as much as Brom's and Baxa's.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    I have both Dark Sun editions, though I don't have the box for the first one, just the books. The revised edition has far more actual content and a much more fleshed out world. The Wanderer's chronicle is about as long as both the rulebook and setting book from the original box.

    There's only 2 things wrong with the revised setting: it uses the Prism Pentad continuity and it doesn't have rules for Templars. Both are easily fixed by just owning both. Now, granted, Templars are basically just clerics, but they did have a fluffy spell progression. Low level Templars get shit spells, because the Sorcerer King doesn't want to waste effort channeling them, and high level ones get kickass spells because they are the most favoured.

    Also, I don't know who the artist is for the revised setting, but he's really good and does capture the setting very well. I like his art nearly as much as Brom's and Baxa's.

    I think he's the same guy that started showing up around the Thri-Kreen of Athas. If that's the one I'm thinking of, he is pretty awesome. Less stylized than Brom or Baxa, but still carries quite a bit of character.

    Fuck I'm excited to run Dark Sun again. Even if it's a year out, that just gives me time to relearn the rules and slowly start writing a campaign again.

    Morskittar on
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    PygmalionPygmalion Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    I'm not writing anything. Before each session I'll open the campaign guide to a random page and poke my finger, and that'll be the adventure. Then I won't be bringing any of my preconceived notions to the setting.

    Pygmalion on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Pygmalion wrote: »
    I'm not writing anything. Before each session I'll open the campaign guide to a random page and poke my finger, and that'll be the adventure. Then I won't be bringing any of my preconceived notions to the setting.

    That's actually pretty spot on, as long as the "random thing" is always "horrible and unpleasant".

    Morskittar on
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    PygmalionPygmalion Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Everything I run is horrible and unpleasant. So, that's safe.

    Pygmalion on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Pygmalion wrote: »
    Everything in Athas is horrible and unpleasant. So, that's safe.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    AriviaArivia I Like A Challenge Earth-1Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    Pygmalion wrote: »
    Everything in Life is horrible and unpleasant. So, that's safe.

    *emo*

    Arivia on
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    PygmalionPygmalion Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Possibly true. I will not make any assumptions.

    Pygmalion on
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    OptimusZed wrote: »

    But it was a poor place to be dropping a "new" edition of the setting. It lost a lot of the charm of the original because of it.

    Yeah. I could dig elements, but the feel seemed too fundamentally changed. I did always have a few campaign ideas that I never carried through with;
    Like having the Dragon not be banished to the Black/killed, but turn up somewhere else instead. Like in an artifact where he can talk to a party, or somewhere like Sigil or the outer planes.

    For the 2010 release, there's a good chance I'll have the players inatvertantly kill a few of the PP mains. Whoops!

    The PCs in my game killed Tithian, but he's honestly not really that tough. Templar who can't spells (lol)/Psionicist. I didn't really consider as a possibility in the campaign, but hey. My continuity took into account the Freedom and Road to Urik modules only.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Have any of you ever started a Dark Sun campaign where the characters aren't slaves?

    Morskittar on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    Have any of you ever started a Dark Sun campaign where the characters aren't slaves?
    I have. Lots of times. Then again, I ran lots of Dark Sun back in the day.

    Templar campaigns, exploration campaigns and tribal campaigns all featured non-slave PCs.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    Have any of you ever started a Dark Sun campaign where the characters aren't slaves?

    I was working on one, where the PCs are either Templars or Templar thugs. Might actually get around to finishing and running it.

    In practice? No, my campaigns pretty much copied the intro to Shattered Lands and went from there.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    Have any of you ever started a Dark Sun campaign where the characters aren't slaves?

    I was working on one, where the PCs are either Templars or Templar thugs. Might actually get around to finishing and running it.

    In practice? No, my campaigns pretty much copied the intro to Shattered Lands and went from there.

    Shattered Lands was the template for most of mine, as well. It's also why most were set around Draaj, at first, when not starting in Tyr.

    I'm starting to toss around ideas for a campaign in 4e (in a year...) for which I want to do something both iconic and different. I'm not sure I want to stray from the slave formula, but I'm really eyeing a few other locations, particularly some of the more distinct ones. Raam's original setup is pretty interesting (and lends itself well to a crime-oriented or "streets" sort of campaign) and I've always been pretty partial to Nibenay for some reason.

    Really, though, I'd never run anything outside of Tyr, Draaj, the Great Rift, and a bit in the Crimson Savannah.

    Morskittar on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    We had a lot of fun in Nibenay, and Gulg was an important location for our less civilization oriented games.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    How did the players react to Gulg? It always felt a bit anachronistic to me, but in such a way that made the overall setting more interesting; a counterpoint to the endless desert to highlight what may have once been.

    Morskittar on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    How did the players react to Gulg? It always felt a bit anachronistic to me, but in such a way that made the overall setting more interesting; a counterpoint to the endless desert to highlight what may have once been.
    There was a lot of speculation about how a place like that could exist. Most of it revolving around the queen. I'm fairly sure some of them still think she was a Preserver and secretly in league with the Alliance.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    That suggests a good (but fatal) storyline.

    "All we have to do is fight our way through to her, and then deliver the Alliance' message!"

    Morskittar on
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    There are jungles in Darksun. That where Halflings live. There's the one behind Tyr, and the one where Gulg is. Both are natural.

    IIRC, the queen of Gulg doesn't use defiling magic in her own kingdom. You don't shit up your own house. She also fancies herself as a Forrest Goddess and protects it from outsiders. There's plenty of fluff out there on her, in the Ivory Triangle book, the Forest Maker suppliment, and the Revised setting. She's not a preserver and especially not a nice person.

    Aside from the queen, who's one of the more interesting sorcerer kings, I never really found Gulg very interesting, though. Its very nature means that it doesn't really have a place in most campaigns.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    There are jungles in Darksun. That where Halflings live. There's the one behind Tyr, and the one where Gulg is. Both are natural.
    Yeah. I had alot of the stuff on the Gulg region, if not all of it.

    There are some green areas in the ringing mountains as well, in mid elevations.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    There are jungles in Darksun. That where Halflings live. There's the one behind Tyr, and the one where Gulg is. Both are natural.

    Yeah, but the Ringing Mountains are a clearly different topography and well separated from the Tyr region. I can see where players would be a bit weirded out by a forest perched at the base of a small mountain range.

    IIRC one of the modules dealt with that sort of thing in detail.

    Morskittar on
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    The plot of the Forest Maker module is that the Queen of Gulg (whats her name, Lalilay Pui or something) is pretending to be an Avangion in order to suck up souls to become the next level of Dragon.

    Or, at least I think it was. It might have been the other sorcerer Queen, Abalach-Re. Its been a while since I read it.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    I think it was Abalach-Re and maybe part of the justification for why her city-state was so poorly run. She was off galavanting around trying to become a dragon.

    Man I wish I had all of the modules. I never had any of the core ones (Freedom, Road to Urik, etc).

    Morskittar on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Morskittar wrote: »
    I think it was Abalach-Re and maybe part of the justification for why her city-state was so poorly run. She was off galavanting around trying to become a dragon.

    Man I wish I had all of the modules. I never had any of the core ones (Freedom, Road to Urik, etc).
    I had most of them. I found them at Kaybee Toys of all places.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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    DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    Well, Nibenay sits around all day studying how to, and his city state is one of the most competently run. He's by far the most intelligent of the bunch, though, as the highest level Dragon. All the ones who are higher level than him cheated to get it.

    As for the modules, I only have Road to Urik as an actual box. The others I acquired and printed out. I picked up Road to Urik and the Ivory Triangle at a KB Toys years back on clearance prices. Unfortunately this was back in 96 or 97 and I was a kid, so I was only able to get just those 2 because thats what my parents would let me. They had at least a dozen Dark Sun modules and boxes there. D:
    OptimusZed wrote: »
    I had most of them. I found them at Kaybee Toys of all places.

    haha, oh wow.

    DisruptorX2 on
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    MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited August 2009
    There's a lot on ebay...

    I might need to sort through my collection too; I think there are a lot of gaps. My situation was similar to yours Disruptor... I might have had my first high-school job when I was buying Dark Sun stuff, but that's also around when I got into Games Workshop stuff.

    Morskittar on
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    OptimusZedOptimusZed Registered User regular
    edited August 2009
    I sold off all my Darksun stuff piece by piece to pay for books, or gas.

    I miss it, horribly.

    OptimusZed on
    We're reading Rifts. You should too. You know you want to. Now With Ninjas!

    They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
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