I'm just getting started with a "home brew" 5e campaign in which I'm going for a brutal desert world. I'm borrowing a bunch from Dark Sun. Devouring whatever I can find on the setting.
Dark Sun was such an awesome game world. So brutal and treacherous. It was so "out of the box" for game world at the time. The box sets and adventure box sets with the spiral books were so amazing. They should bring it back for 5e.
I remember reading the short narrative fiction that came with the boxed set, showing an adventure shared between two escaped slaves, street thief half-elf Jedra and ex-templar Kayan. It was a great example of what possible adventures could happen in the setting. They went on to write a full length novel continuing the adventures of the two protagonists, called "The Darkness Before the Dawn". The book picks up right where the short story left off. The pair's connection deepens as they use their newfound freedom to seek out a mentor for their shared psionic abilities. Along the way, they face great peril, crossing the path of Sorcerer Kings, slavers, and dangers in the wild. It's a great story, full of adventure, triumph, romance, and humor. That's the kind of writing I fell in love with back in old-school D&D, and I wish we had more of that today.
super cool videos. I come back to these a lot. Currently playing "old school Dungeons and Dragons" with friends I grew up with. But I definitely want to get into this. I am going to save up and grab that box!
He's using the 1st edition AD&D Dark Sun setting . It came out before 2nd edition and once 2nd edition came oyt they changed it to the 2nd edition dark sun which added a few new classes and races and got rid of Halfling illusionists
Dark Sun, Dune and Morrowind are my favorite sand worlds... If you love those worlds make sure you played Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (DOS 1993), Dune and Dune 2 (DOS 1992), and Morrowind (Win 2002).
Great analysis. I love, love, LOVED this setting back in the day. As you said, besides maybe Spelljammer, this was the only alternate world for D&D. Completely bizarre. And the art!
I would love to play a session of Dark Sun with you one day. I'm also working on my own similar terrain and picked up quite a few good tips from your video.
Absolutely awesome and vastly nostalgic for me. I played and GMed it when I was a kid and it never left me. Actually, there are way more novels than 5, though. I read them all. I'm a big fan and through the books I actually learned English! Please keep it up and bring me more of those fantastic videos.
Whenever you make a video i am instantly put in a good mood. You are so infectious in a good way that it makes me excited about both, life and D&D. The way you become so engaged and so obviously interested about a topic is so refreshing and entertaining. What im trying to say is, You're a Badass and please never stop making videos like these!!!! Much Love!
I remember when Dark Sun came out and I was super excited for it. Was the first world I ever Dm'd for so it will always have a special place in my heart.
Dwarven Fire Cleric FTW! I mean that combo was hella fun to play. Slightly situational but good times are there for the having. Dark Sun is a huge portion of my D&D fun quotient. The Setting, the Story and the Art all tucked into a playable package was genius. Just play through the first scenario and you will get it. Amazingly well crafted and worthy of an entire campaign.
24:23.... this moment, when you praise Athas that much and there is silt in your mouth. Fun aside, I thank you very much for this great video. I found the old box in the net and it is totally worth it. I became insane reading it, it is so good. Keep the flame burning brother ! PS great channel !
Just came across this, Dark Sun was an amazingly inventive setting and so well thought out and executed! It was truly one of the great campaign settings TSR came up with back in the day (my personal favorite was Al Qadim though). I will say that when Forgotten Realms first came out back in 1e, it had a very different feel than it does now. It really changed over the years (mainly through all the 2e stuff). 2e was totally the edition I played the most. Also, I would just note, while Dark Sun put the Thri-Kreen on the map (so to speak), they were actually introduced back in 1e in the Monster Manual II in 1983. I recall using some for an adventure back in 1e.
I am actually currently working on a world that has city states, sorcerer kings, templars, and giant insects and reptiles like Dark Sun. But instead of land turning into desert it's almost impossible to clear the forest for farming. Shamans can keep small patches clear for farming by sacrificing to the spirits, but only the sorcerer kings can clear large areas with their dark magic. If the shamans get too weak or the sorcerers die, everything gets overgrown in a few years. Basically Dark Sun, but in green.
i never got to pla these games but when i was 12yo i got the darksun wake of the ravager pc game and that game with its instruction manual had my imagination go wild.i never knew the board games were even a thing and missed out on somthing that would be nostalgic today and thats a shame
This box set is fantastic, with the player aid cards and everything! I'd love to see WotC start structuring their stuff kinda like this. Might have to pick this up. Thanks Hankerin!
Dark Sun was my all-time favorite campaign setting as well, and this terrain is absolutely beautiful. Before it went out of print our group collected every last supplement, and it's all been waiting patiently in the attic to be cracked open and used once more, whether that be D&D or Pathfinder. Thanks so much for the trip back!
That intro was pretty metal. I started playing D&D in 2003 with version 3. I wanted the gritty aspects of it, and it seemed like the series kinda strayed away from that. I never played earlier than v3, but I've always wanted to. Dark Sun looks like the kind of thing I could really get into, especially as a way to get more into v2
Happen to grab a box set cheap from someone who had multiple copies. It even came with the post cards and mail in post cards...everything was there originally and even sold me an original box set or planescape too everything original in it
Please continue this series! I love the well of knowledge to not only gain the ability to play these classic worlds but also involve the flavor and mythos of them in current sessions. You are a sage.
I know this video is old, but what you said is almost exactly what I did. I took the setting, make a few rules tweaks and set my campaign and story within it. Last week, we came to the end of a campaign that has lasted for 10 years on and off in real life time. I kept a lot of the lore and canon information, focusing on Tyr remaining free with them fighting Urik and their spies from time to time. There were other threats over the many many story arcs, and they even managed to work for Draj for a while by helping to defend an important client village of Draj that sat near a wealthy mine. They dug a bit into the Green Age and the Blue Age history, so they got take a look what the world was like before. In someways they turned part archaeologists as they reached into the low to mid levels, since they knew bits and pieces of these old ages were around and about from time to time so they kept an eye out for them. This lead to them exploring Undertyr, and they got a glimpse of what Tyr was like during and even before Kalak's rule. Regardless of the revised psionics rules, I tweaked that a very small amount and got that to work, and I used all the cannon materials that you were allowed to use for spells. All in all, I made the setting mine, and I have to say that even now its still as good now as it always was. Managing to have a group of players that have been playing in that campaign world for on and off 10 years clearly is a testament of its worth. It has engaged even the most seasoned and knowledgeable of players, keeping even those types on their toes as they suddenly come across something they have never seen or heard of before. I cant praise it enough. Even at the later levels, the players found new threats, and turned their eye towards environmental conservation. Every now and then they would deliberately memorize spells to make the ground fertile, summoning grass, shrubs, & even trees. They would make such pockets of life occasionally as they were off on their explorations or other tasks. Obviously for the Preserver, these places were super important, as they could end up being places he could go to harmlessly gather his spell energy. The creators of the setting have helped me run a captivating game for 10 years on and off thus far, and I could not thank them more for that.
Loved this campaign setting! My group had gotten so high level that we were buffed stats in highly magiked protective shells. *yawn* Dark Sun cracked open these shells! Metal, armor, and magic items became a rare treat in world where dying of thirst and avoiding monsters was the number one threat! Brutal! Savage! Fun!
42ndStreetMatthew One of my players stole the cloth map, and quickly got a lesson in pain from our resident black-belt. Oddly enough, even after having his arm broke and2 teeth knocked out he still came back to play. Athas is too fucking awesome i guess(or maybe it had to do with the fact that the next closest DM of Darksun was 30 miles away...)
I emulate your passion for Darksun I've read all source material I could locate. Everything you said plus the three character roll up because of death being such a plausibility. BUT the Psionics everyone having one or possibly 2 naturally occurring abilities down to every creature and sometimes bushes and rocks. Plus the addition of the psionic class and disciplines minor and major. Soni believe you could have like a defiler or preserver/ pscionicist with two extra psionic powers. Can I say power overwhelming? Monty? I love me some Darksun!
I am proud to say that I still own the box set I bought off of my very first DM (along with the original Ravenloft box set) in Freshman year of high school ('95). Sadly, the box itself didn't fare well against time and constant moving/relocation, but all the components are still there. I rely more heavily on PDFs to continue preserving my books, but I can say that I am with you on the greatness of Athas (Preservers 4 Lyfe!). Sadly, I still have yet to run even a single adventure because I am the only one in my longtime group who loves/appreciates harsh environmental settings and many of the circles I used to run/play in generally avoided it, with some even actually preferring a Ravenloft campaign over the idea of being stuck with bone weapons and harsh wasteland survival. Needless to say, Dark Sun is second only to Ravenloft (and tied with my first ever D&D experience within Al-Qadim) as one of my favorite settings ever. I would still love to run Dark Sun, but I'd rather run using 2E (my fave version of D&D, though 5E is not bad) or Mythras Classic Fantasy than any other edition, so it'll probably never happen considering most people swear by earlier or later editions. Ah well... EDIT: Thinking about it, I think that my longtime group's overall distaste for Psionics may also have been a factor. I personally didn't mind them even though I much prefer Arcane magic (specifically Wizards, then Bards). Sure, they were potentially overpowered at lower levels, but they eventually plateaued in the mid levels.
Dark Sun came out towards the end of 1st edition AD&D because on the rulebook halflings are allowed to become illusionist which was a separate class from magic users and was removed from 2nd edition as a separate class from magic users and made into speciality mages but not separate classes . 2nd edition Dark Sun removed illusionists from the class selection for characters including halflings . It added Trader as a class which meant that players could all be part of a merchant house working together as higherlings or as junior traders tasked to set up new trade routes or to find and search old ruins for objects to sell to collectors . My first party of players consisted of a half-elf bard/preserver , a mul learn earth cleric/fighter , a human preserver , a human water cleric , a Halfling ranger , a human gladiator , a Halfling earth/water druid/psionisist , a thri-kreen gladiator , and a pterran fighter all working for a minor merchant house just starting out . They were members of an ex-slave tribe named the water hunter tribe that has about 238 tribe members that lived in old ruins of a town that had a large well and had stone walls and towers for defences . It lasted about 3 years until many of my players moved due to parents in the military being stationed around the country and in a few cases other countries . But we had fun while it lasted , we lost a few characters and gained a few . I'm now thinking of converting Dark Sun to Basic Fantasy Role-playing by Chris Gonnerman but I'll have to come up a new psionic system that fits . I might make the psionic system a point buy system where the players have a certain amount of points at start to buy attacks , defences and powers with the more powerful psionic abilities costing more points and requiring higher ability scores to buy and use . Players will start with a few points plus bonus points based on ability scores at the start and gain more points per level . All players will start with a random 1 or 2 minor psionic powers rolled on a table based on their character race . I hope I can figure out all the details to make it work lol
I think that Basic Fantasy RPG is a great choice - an easily homebrewed framework to use for old school style play. Agree that there hasn't been a perfect psionic system - I'd probably try to blend the 2E psionics handbook, 3.5 Expanded Psionics and the various 4E psionic powers from the Dark Sun books.
I’m DMing my first ever game this April and have decided to use Dark Sun/Athas as the campaign setting. Broms artwork is so inspiring and alluring, plus I’m a big fan of Fallout and wasteland style games so Dark Sun is perfect. The restrictions to Magic, different classes and overall lore is seriously unique from anything I’ve seen recently. Gonna run it using 1e AD&D rules🤘🏻I’m 6 years late to the party but thanks for the video!
For some reason, Dark Sun (as described by you) reminds me of the Dark Souls series, what with the emphasis on a dying, decaying world well past its prime.
I've watched several 5E Dark Sun games (not official of course) and not one has mentioned the oppressive heat. Then I watched this video and the first thing he does is mention the oppressive heat. Well done.
the rant @ 24:00 is a huge piece of motivation for me to continue putting my blood sweat and tears into the setting im currently crafting from the ground up. All of my classes and even the magic system is routed in and morphed by my world. its nice hearing that this can be a positive when others start delving into my setting and not a negative as it starts to stray further away or doesn't adhere strictly to the classic dnd rules/ lore. I couldn't place my finger on it but i do believe that the sense of discovery is what my players enjoy most about my campaign. Great video!
Met Brom at the last comic con I went to. I was so excited. He was very instrumental in my journey as an artist. When I was a kid I could not wait for the release of the boxed set. Wish someone had the balls to make a Dark Sun Movie...
Dark Sun was an under appreciated gem in its day. As a fan of both Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs, it was a setting I really was hoping would take off. If you are wanting to get folk excited to play, maybe host a movie night with some films like : *Heavy Metal (especially the sequences "Den" and "Taarna") *John Carter *Spartacus : Blood and Sand (TV series, a bit raunchy but great for arena politics!) *Stargate (remove to overt sci-fi elements and it's a great story about rebellion in the desert!) ...as for me, I been wanting to create a Barsoom inspired world with cities like from Dark Sun but with the Spelljammer ships flying between them. Here's hoping I can make it work!
I'm not familiar with Dark Sun, but really excited to check it out after this video. Would love more classics videos. The art reminds me of my dad's old Frazetta books that I used to look through and practice drawing from when I was a kid. The bright yellow/black oldschool-style dice look amazing with the set you built too. :)
In the early 90s Dark Sun felt like TSR was looking at what Games Workshop was doing and new they had to up their game as far as setting and art quality. As good as Larry Elmore was his art felt like 80's fantasy and next to Warhammer Fantasy Battle/RPG/40k it felt really dated. Brom's work was intense and visceral and was like a more refined less cartoonish Simon Bisley. Even the logo was badass and its hard to believe its 30 years old. The art still holds up with anything being published today.
Dark Sun seems interesting. I've had a similar home-brew setting in mind, although it's closer to the good ol' Blackthorne game from Blizzard. You know, humans vs orcs in a Heavy Metal -esque world with ballistic guns and sci-fi gear like hover bombs, laser fields etc. Fun stuff, fun stuff.
Love it! Dark Sun is awesome. I'm totally motivated to craft a dark sun terrain set now. What happened to the first video lol! It reminded me of practicing my narrative in the car. Best place to get ready to run my game.
Troy Denning wrote a few Star Wars books that were amazing, Tatooine Gost, and the Joiner Trilogy. They came out years before the Disney take over, so the aren't considered canon. But they are still a testement to Troy's awesome writing.
Hank is kickin butt! I just upped my Patreon support to IMMORTAL! If you haven't checked out his Patreon you are missing out. I get so much out of all the Runehammer outputs: UA-cam, patreon, Google+. Id feel like a paladin who just stole from a sacred shrine if I didn't throw a few duckets into the hat. Keep up the awesome work Hankerin'! Elbow of Alacrity!
I'd argue Timothy Brown was the nexus of Dark Sun as a setting (not necessarily design), unless you're privy to information I've never seen. Brom, however, cannot be overstated.
Great presentation of Dark Sun, Hank. You really made me wanna find out more about the setting. I'm really interested in novels which explore those settings. For someone like me, who has nothing to do with the setting, which novel would you recommend to be my first to read, so that I will learn a lot about the world of Athas and enjoy the journey?
DarkSun is very cool setting but I'm not luckly enough to having played in it... yet. I toyed with similar ideas many times, desert settings, immortal and powerful beigns that rule the world but are kinda crazy (kinda like DarkSouls too). For a while I wanted to play the game using Monte's Iron Heroes, but I think 5th should do the trick too, the hard part is driving home the core things that make DS a though world to live in.
To me, Dark Sun was 2nd edition dnd. Played it on and off for over a decade. It's also the focus of my 5e game. I'm not a big fan of the 4e version, but the 2e stuff is a great resource for any edition. I hope to see more DS videos!
i have a tone of dark sun stuff but my rpg group broke up and we never actually got to play, can i use 5th edition rules is THACO still a thing. i am dusting off the box set and sneezing while i type this.
I'm just getting started with a "home brew" 5e campaign in which I'm going for a brutal desert world. I'm borrowing a bunch from Dark Sun. Devouring whatever I can find on the setting.
Darksun, Ravenloft and Planescape were all so creative.
Updated my journal
Flowerbud updated my journal
And Spelljammer. The Golden Age of D&D.
Not Ravenloft tho
@@omardaddy2218 why would you say not Ravenloft it was a very customized game in the 90s. Very precisely crafted to do what it does well.
Concise and structured are the words you were looking for.
Dude Brom was one of my favourite MTG artists from the 90a.
"This very 90s metal wasteland, which is like... YEAH!"
this sentence really drives home what dark sun is. The YEAH says a whole lot about it
Dark Sun was such an awesome game world. So brutal and treacherous. It was so "out of the box" for game world at the time. The box sets and adventure box sets with the spiral books were so amazing. They should bring it back for 5e.
Yeah the writing in those early Dark Sun products was such a high Quality, and when you combine it with the Art of Brom you had a winner.
I remember reading the short narrative fiction that came with the boxed set, showing an adventure shared between two escaped slaves, street thief half-elf Jedra and ex-templar Kayan. It was a great example of what possible adventures could happen in the setting.
They went on to write a full length novel continuing the adventures of the two protagonists, called "The Darkness Before the Dawn". The book picks up right where the short story left off. The pair's connection deepens as they use their newfound freedom to seek out a mentor for their shared psionic abilities. Along the way, they face great peril, crossing the path of Sorcerer Kings, slavers, and dangers in the wild. It's a great story, full of adventure, triumph, romance, and humor.
That's the kind of writing I fell in love with back in old-school D&D, and I wish we had more of that today.
super cool videos. I come back to these a lot. Currently playing "old school Dungeons and Dragons" with friends I grew up with. But I definitely want to get into this. I am going to save up and grab that box!
Hell yeah, 2nd edition! That was the era of the campaign setting.
He's using the 1st edition AD&D Dark Sun setting .
It came out before 2nd edition and once 2nd edition came oyt they changed it to the 2nd edition dark sun which added a few new classes and races and got rid of Halfling illusionists
The dramatic opening of this video was killer!!! Great narration.
Dark Sun, Dune and Morrowind are my favorite sand worlds... If you love those worlds make sure you played Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (DOS 1993), Dune and Dune 2 (DOS 1992), and Morrowind (Win 2002).
Brom and Larry Elmore...fantastic art...soo much nostalgia
I'm so thankful this guy didn't take his meds before filming this. Totally worth a full watch !
Great analysis. I love, love, LOVED this setting back in the day. As you said, besides maybe Spelljammer, this was the only alternate world for D&D. Completely bizarre. And the art!
"This guy" is Rikus!
I would love to play a session of Dark Sun with you one day. I'm also working on my own similar terrain and picked up quite a few good tips from your video.
Brom's miniature wargame Dark Age was awesome, it is just too bad it didn't get any buyers.
Good video! I love this setting. We did a mix of Shattered Lands and Marauders of Nibenay. Best campaign I ever DMed.
Just stumbled on this and what an intro!
Would live play this with Merp rules. The gritty feeling woud lend itself well here.
Absolutely awesome and vastly nostalgic for me. I played and GMed it when I was a kid and it never left me. Actually, there are way more novels than 5, though. I read them all. I'm a big fan and through the books I actually learned English! Please keep it up and bring me more of those fantastic videos.
Rediscovering Dark Sun and enjoying the insight you bring to it! 👍
Same!! One of my favourite settings!! It doesn't get enough love!!
Whenever you make a video i am instantly put in a good mood. You are so infectious in a good way that it makes me excited about both, life and D&D. The way you become so engaged and so obviously interested about a topic is so refreshing and entertaining.
What im trying to say is, You're a Badass and please never stop making videos like these!!!! Much Love!
I remember when Dark Sun came out and I was super excited for it. Was the first world I ever Dm'd for so it will always have a special place in my heart.
darn i wish i had not sell that box 20 years ago... dark sun was a piece of art
Dwarven Fire Cleric FTW! I mean that combo was hella fun to play. Slightly situational but good times are there for the having. Dark Sun is a huge portion of my D&D fun quotient. The Setting, the Story and the Art all tucked into a playable package was genius. Just play through the first scenario and you will get it. Amazingly well crafted and worthy of an entire campaign.
24:23.... this moment, when you praise Athas that much and there is silt in your mouth. Fun aside, I thank you very much for this great video. I found the old box in the net and it is totally worth it. I became insane reading it, it is so good. Keep the flame burning brother ! PS great channel !
Darksun and spelljammer were my favorites. By far the most fun to play and run as a gm.
Man, my group had so much fun with this setting. We played a 2 and a half year campaign with this setting.
Psionics right!
Just came across this, Dark Sun was an amazingly inventive setting and so well thought out and executed! It was truly one of the great campaign settings TSR came up with back in the day (my personal favorite was Al Qadim though). I will say that when Forgotten Realms first came out back in 1e, it had a very different feel than it does now. It really changed over the years (mainly through all the 2e stuff). 2e was totally the edition I played the most.
Also, I would just note, while Dark Sun put the Thri-Kreen on the map (so to speak), they were actually introduced back in 1e in the Monster Manual II in 1983. I recall using some for an adventure back in 1e.
I am actually currently working on a world that has city states, sorcerer kings, templars, and giant insects and reptiles like Dark Sun. But instead of land turning into desert it's almost impossible to clear the forest for farming. Shamans can keep small patches clear for farming by sacrificing to the spirits, but only the sorcerer kings can clear large areas with their dark magic. If the shamans get too weak or the sorcerers die, everything gets overgrown in a few years.
Basically Dark Sun, but in green.
I love Athas. City by the Silt Sea saw my players go through their entire Character Trees lol
One of my all time favorite settings. I have played EVERY SINGLE edition of Dark Sun....even the 3.5 edition they put in dragon magazine
Do you know the issue number(s)?
Dragon #319 for the player's stuff, and Dungeon #110 for the DM's stuff
Blue Line Battle Sports Did you try the 3.5 version Athas.org put out? It was better than what Paizo did in Dragon and Dungeon
First time with Darksun was the DoS game Shattered lands. Still one of the best turn based rpg i'v played.
Amazing game! Made me love the world of dark sun!
That was the first d&d game I ever played. Been hooked ever since.
such a good game, bought it again on GOG
best intro out there!
Ya LOVE the look and feel of dark sun! You did an AMAZING job of representation of that feel in your terrain!!!! GREAT feel to that board :)!!!
Dark sun was the first set of novels I read as a kid and fell in love with the setting. I still have the cloth map from the box set on my wall.
the novels were super fun
i never got to pla these games but when i was 12yo i got the darksun wake of the ravager pc game and that game with its instruction manual had my imagination go wild.i never knew the board games were even a thing and missed out on somthing that would be nostalgic today and thats a shame
You didn't grow up with a single board game in the home? Even bad ones like monopoly or Cluedo? 😐
@@rwentfordable we had family games but no d&d
This is still my favorite campaign world! Got everything TSR released for it. Just need a giant carrying case for 80 lbs of goodness..
This box set is fantastic, with the player aid cards and everything! I'd love to see WotC start structuring their stuff kinda like this. Might have to pick this up. Thanks Hankerin!
With Planescape and the Underdark, these 3 settings form the Holy Trinity of fantasy tabletop rpg in my opinion.
I remember playing the collectble card game Spellfire, and Dark Sun realms were always the most powerful with the best built in abilities.....
Boxed set on amazon currently $466, wow, i missed the boat on this one 😔
Love the dark sun setting! I have all the novel's , still have that box set from when it came out.
Dark Sun was my all-time favorite campaign setting as well, and this terrain is absolutely beautiful. Before it went out of print our group collected every last supplement, and it's all been waiting patiently in the attic to be cracked open and used once more, whether that be D&D or Pathfinder. Thanks so much for the trip back!
That intro was pretty metal.
I started playing D&D in 2003 with version 3. I wanted the gritty aspects of it, and it seemed like the series kinda strayed away from that. I never played earlier than v3, but I've always wanted to.
Dark Sun looks like the kind of thing I could really get into, especially as a way to get more into v2
Those flip books are fracking amazing!
Happen to grab a box set cheap from someone who had multiple copies. It even came with the post cards and mail in post cards...everything was there originally and even sold me an original box set or planescape too everything original in it
Oh hell yes! This is one of the best settings in all of TRPG. More classics!
Please continue this series! I love the well of knowledge to not only gain the ability to play these classic worlds but also involve the flavor and mythos of them in current sessions. You are a sage.
I know this video is old, but what you said is almost exactly what I did. I took the setting, make a few rules tweaks and set my campaign and story within it. Last week, we came to the end of a campaign that has lasted for 10 years on and off in real life time. I kept a lot of the lore and canon information, focusing on Tyr remaining free with them fighting Urik and their spies from time to time. There were other threats over the many many story arcs, and they even managed to work for Draj for a while by helping to defend an important client village of Draj that sat near a wealthy mine.
They dug a bit into the Green Age and the Blue Age history, so they got take a look what the world was like before. In someways they turned part archaeologists as they reached into the low to mid levels, since they knew bits and pieces of these old ages were around and about from time to time so they kept an eye out for them. This lead to them exploring Undertyr, and they got a glimpse of what Tyr was like during and even before Kalak's rule.
Regardless of the revised psionics rules, I tweaked that a very small amount and got that to work, and I used all the cannon materials that you were allowed to use for spells. All in all, I made the setting mine, and I have to say that even now its still as good now as it always was. Managing to have a group of players that have been playing in that campaign world for on and off 10 years clearly is a testament of its worth. It has engaged even the most seasoned and knowledgeable of players, keeping even those types on their toes as they suddenly come across something they have never seen or heard of before.
I cant praise it enough. Even at the later levels, the players found new threats, and turned their eye towards environmental conservation. Every now and then they would deliberately memorize spells to make the ground fertile, summoning grass, shrubs, & even trees. They would make such pockets of life occasionally as they were off on their explorations or other tasks. Obviously for the Preserver, these places were super important, as they could end up being places he could go to harmlessly gather his spell energy.
The creators of the setting have helped me run a captivating game for 10 years on and off thus far, and I could not thank them more for that.
Loved this campaign setting! My group had gotten so high level that we were buffed stats in highly magiked protective shells. *yawn*
Dark Sun cracked open these shells! Metal, armor, and magic items became a rare treat in world where dying of thirst and avoiding monsters was the number one threat! Brutal! Savage! Fun!
I knew nothing of Dark Sun before this, but this video for sure piqued my interest.
Dark Sun was/is Metal AF.
ICRPG Dark Sun live stream would be rad.
Best Campaign Setting EVER. The revised setting boxed set was no slouch either. I loved the goddamn cloth map in the set.
42ndStreetMatthew One of my players stole the cloth map, and quickly got a lesson in pain from our resident black-belt. Oddly enough, even after having his arm broke and2 teeth knocked out he still came back to play. Athas is too fucking awesome i guess(or maybe it had to do with the fact that the next closest DM of Darksun was 30 miles away...)
Explained perfectly! I've had the boxed set for years but was almost too intimidated by the world setting to run it.
I emulate your passion for Darksun I've read all source material I could locate. Everything you said plus the three character roll up because of death being such a plausibility. BUT the Psionics everyone having one or possibly 2 naturally occurring abilities down to every creature and sometimes bushes and rocks. Plus the addition of the psionic class and disciplines minor and major. Soni believe you could have like a defiler or preserver/ pscionicist with two extra psionic powers. Can I say power overwhelming? Monty? I love me some Darksun!
I am proud to say that I still own the box set I bought off of my very first DM (along with the original Ravenloft box set) in Freshman year of high school ('95). Sadly, the box itself didn't fare well against time and constant moving/relocation, but all the components are still there. I rely more heavily on PDFs to continue preserving my books, but I can say that I am with you on the greatness of Athas (Preservers 4 Lyfe!). Sadly, I still have yet to run even a single adventure because I am the only one in my longtime group who loves/appreciates harsh environmental settings and many of the circles I used to run/play in generally avoided it, with some even actually preferring a Ravenloft campaign over the idea of being stuck with bone weapons and harsh wasteland survival.
Needless to say, Dark Sun is second only to Ravenloft (and tied with my first ever D&D experience within Al-Qadim) as one of my favorite settings ever. I would still love to run Dark Sun, but I'd rather run using 2E (my fave version of D&D, though 5E is not bad) or Mythras Classic Fantasy than any other edition, so it'll probably never happen considering most people swear by earlier or later editions. Ah well...
EDIT: Thinking about it, I think that my longtime group's overall distaste for Psionics may also have been a factor. I personally didn't mind them even though I much prefer Arcane magic (specifically Wizards, then Bards). Sure, they were potentially overpowered at lower levels, but they eventually plateaued in the mid levels.
Best setting ever!
Dark Sun came out towards the end of 1st edition AD&D because on the rulebook halflings are allowed to become illusionist which was a separate class from magic users and was removed from 2nd edition as a separate class from magic users and made into speciality mages but not separate classes .
2nd edition Dark Sun removed illusionists from the class selection for characters including halflings .
It added Trader as a class which meant that players could all be part of a merchant house working together as higherlings or as junior traders tasked to set up new trade routes or to find and search old ruins for objects to sell to collectors .
My first party of players consisted of a half-elf bard/preserver , a mul learn earth cleric/fighter , a human preserver , a human water cleric , a Halfling ranger , a human gladiator , a Halfling earth/water druid/psionisist , a thri-kreen gladiator , and a pterran fighter all working for a minor merchant house just starting out .
They were members of an ex-slave tribe named the water hunter tribe that has about 238 tribe members that lived in old ruins of a town that had a large well and had stone walls and towers for defences .
It lasted about 3 years until many of my players moved due to parents in the military being stationed around the country and in a few cases other countries .
But we had fun while it lasted , we lost a few characters and gained a few .
I'm now thinking of converting Dark Sun to Basic Fantasy Role-playing by Chris Gonnerman but I'll have to come up a new psionic system that fits . I might make the psionic system a point buy system where the players have a certain amount of points at start to buy attacks , defences and powers with the more powerful psionic abilities costing more points and requiring higher ability scores to buy and use .
Players will start with a few points plus bonus points based on ability scores at the start and gain more points per level .
All players will start with a random 1 or 2 minor psionic powers rolled on a table based on their character race .
I hope I can figure out all the details to make it work lol
I think that Basic Fantasy RPG is a great choice - an easily homebrewed framework to use for old school style play. Agree that there hasn't been a perfect psionic system - I'd probably try to blend the 2E psionics handbook, 3.5 Expanded Psionics and the various 4E psionic powers from the Dark Sun books.
I’m DMing my first ever game this April and have decided to use Dark Sun/Athas as the campaign setting. Broms artwork is so inspiring and alluring, plus I’m a big fan of Fallout and wasteland style games so Dark Sun is perfect. The restrictions to Magic, different classes and overall lore is seriously unique from anything I’ve seen recently. Gonna run it using 1e AD&D rules🤘🏻I’m 6 years late to the party but thanks for the video!
For some reason, Dark Sun (as described by you) reminds me of the Dark Souls series, what with the emphasis on a dying, decaying world well past its prime.
shoo Dark Souls! Shoo! that game needs a break from being mentioned lol
Sorry, it's what it made me think of... :P I'll be sure to refrain in the future haha
I've watched several 5E Dark Sun games (not official of course) and not one has mentioned the oppressive heat. Then I watched this video and the first thing he does is mention the oppressive heat. Well done.
I wish they still came like this. Dark sun was the first box set I ever bought
the rant @ 24:00 is a huge piece of motivation for me to continue putting my blood sweat and tears into the setting im currently crafting from the ground up. All of my classes and even the magic system is routed in and morphed by my world. its nice hearing that this can be a positive when others start delving into my setting and not a negative as it starts to stray further away or doesn't adhere strictly to the classic dnd rules/ lore. I couldn't place my finger on it but i do believe that the sense of discovery is what my players enjoy most about my campaign. Great video!
Testify brother Runehammer!!
Love Dark Sun! It's been years but I would love to revisit. Guess I need to find a portal somewhere here in Greyhawk...
Met Brom at the last comic con I went to. I was so excited. He was very instrumental in my journey as an artist. When I was a kid I could not wait for the release of the boxed set. Wish someone had the balls to make a Dark Sun Movie...
2:26 We've got dark sun, its right there!
Looks at the window. Ohhh yea, we do!
that intro was sick!
Playit along with the first song of koyaanisqatsi. EPIC
Dark Sun was an under appreciated gem in its day. As a fan of both Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs, it was a setting I really was hoping would take off.
If you are wanting to get folk excited to play, maybe host a movie night with some films like :
*Heavy Metal (especially the sequences "Den" and "Taarna")
*John Carter
*Spartacus : Blood and Sand (TV series, a bit raunchy but great for arena politics!)
*Stargate (remove to overt sci-fi elements and it's a great story about rebellion in the desert!)
...as for me, I been wanting to create a Barsoom inspired world with cities like from Dark Sun but with the Spelljammer ships flying between them. Here's hoping I can make it work!
I'm not familiar with Dark Sun, but really excited to check it out after this video. Would love more classics videos. The art reminds me of my dad's old Frazetta books that I used to look through and practice drawing from when I was a kid. The bright yellow/black oldschool-style dice look amazing with the set you built too. :)
The Unburned Witch www.bromart.com/ Brom makes fantastic art. I believe they commissioned him specifically to do Dark Sun to preserve its theme.
In the early 90s Dark Sun felt like TSR was looking at what Games Workshop was doing and new they had to up their game as far as setting and art quality. As good as Larry Elmore was his art felt like 80's fantasy and next to Warhammer Fantasy Battle/RPG/40k it felt really dated. Brom's work was intense and visceral and was like a more refined less cartoonish Simon Bisley. Even the logo was badass and its hard to believe its 30 years old. The art still holds up with anything being published today.
Dark Sun seems interesting. I've had a similar home-brew setting in mind, although it's closer to the good ol' Blackthorne game from Blizzard. You know, humans vs orcs in a Heavy Metal -esque world with ballistic guns and sci-fi gear like hover bombs, laser fields etc. Fun stuff, fun stuff.
Love it! Dark Sun is awesome. I'm totally motivated to craft a dark sun terrain set now.
What happened to the first video lol! It reminded me of practicing my narrative in the car. Best place to get ready to run my game.
Really cool video! amazing setting, love it since 2nd edition!
Troy Denning wrote a few Star Wars books that were amazing, Tatooine Gost, and the Joiner Trilogy. They came out years before the Disney take over, so the aren't considered canon. But they are still a testement to Troy's awesome writing.
Hank is kickin butt! I just upped my Patreon support to IMMORTAL! If you haven't checked out his Patreon you are missing out. I get so much out of all the Runehammer outputs: UA-cam, patreon, Google+. Id feel like a paladin who just stole from a sacred shrine if I didn't throw a few duckets into the hat. Keep up the awesome work Hankerin'! Elbow of Alacrity!
Look at that sweeeeeet DarkSun terrain!! AND roll box! Oh my Gat!
Ye have opened me eyes hankerin'! I must play Dark Sun 😀
Dark sun, Spelljammer and 2e. These are my first loves.
I hollar for more classics!!
More of these! Awesome video!
This episode has my fav into lol.
I need a costume like this one for my next Dark Sun session.
Your terrain is absolutely badass.
Awesome vid. So true. My old group was all "AD&D - same old boring..." until we played Dark Sun. Hooked.
Love it! Seems like it would feel very Mad Maxish which is so cool!!!!
Please make a tutorial for your dark sun style base terrain board!!!
AD&D Dark Sun was the most fun I had with any game in the 90s :) Great vid, subbed!
I just started playing DND last year with Ravenloft and I have read these novels a long time ago I hope I get to play Dark Sun sometime
would love to see a balders gate3 game with darksun . but a non buggy finished product.
I'd argue Timothy Brown was the nexus of Dark Sun as a setting (not necessarily design), unless you're privy to information I've never seen. Brom, however, cannot be overstated.
Great presentation of Dark Sun, Hank. You really made me wanna find out more about the setting. I'm really interested in novels which explore those settings. For someone like me, who has nothing to do with the setting, which novel would you recommend to be my first to read, so that I will learn a lot about the world of Athas and enjoy the journey?
I seriously disliked the novels. The original campaign book is the best
I loved the Dark Sun campaign setting. I also loved the Ravenloft Campaign setting. Thanks for an awesome video.
Defiler me?! yeah sure of course! **hides my Preserver iconography**
DarkSun is very cool setting but I'm not luckly enough to having played in it... yet. I toyed with similar ideas many times, desert settings, immortal and powerful beigns that rule the world but are kinda crazy (kinda like DarkSouls too). For a while I wanted to play the game using Monte's Iron Heroes, but I think 5th should do the trick too, the hard part is driving home the core things that make DS a though world to live in.
I never looked into Dark Sun, it sounds really interesting.
I love your board. I don't suppose you have a tutorial on how it was done?
coming soon!
Awesome! Thank you very much.
The Dark Sun video games are criminally underrated. No other game has gotten Mind Flayers as right as Wake of the Ravager.
To me, Dark Sun was 2nd edition dnd. Played it on and off for over a decade. It's also the focus of my 5e game. I'm not a big fan of the 4e version, but the 2e stuff is a great resource for any edition. I hope to see more DS videos!
i have a tone of dark sun stuff but my rpg group broke up and we never actually got to play, can i use 5th edition rules is THACO still a thing. i am dusting off the box set and sneezing while i type this.