Zardnaar
Legend
TLDR version. Grim, survival, psionics, magic is rare and mysterious, Sorcerer Kings are nasty, ignore Prism Pentad/2E metaplot and 4E version.
This thread is about how I would run a Darksun campaign. I might do some others for other themed based games and/or campaign settings. Generally I am an originalist when it comes to D&D settings, this is because I do not like the meta plot TSR and WotC have come up with and it often ruins whatever attracted you to the setting in the 1st place. Darksun was ruined by the Prism Pentad books IMHO. However DS is not the only setting to deal with things like his (Grand conjunction, Time of Troubles/Spellplague, everything after the War of the Lance, Unhuman War etc etc etc).
This means I tend to prefer the settings close to when they were published and material that enhances the setting over material that moves a metaplot along. This is something I like that Paizo has done with Golarion, invent a interesting setting and don't ruin it (over exposed perhaps a'la FR). Rather than make drastic changes to a setting I prefer that designers create something new, for example Nerath was not awful by itself but they recycled/changed enough of the setting to upset people of the older D&D lore. New lore is fine, retcons not so much. To get a good handle on Darksun I like the original boxed set and the short story A Little Knowledge". Major themes of Darksun IMHO.
1. The Environment. Athas is a wasteland.
2. Resources are limited (water, metal etc)
3. Magic (arcane) can ruin the land.
4. Knowledge of the past and magic is rare/limited. The magic power level is still fairly high.
5. Psionics. All PCs are psionic along with a lot of the NPCs and monster.
6. Slavery. Slavery is widespread.
7. The Sorcerer Kings. The 7 cities are rules by immortal despots.
Overall generally a dark and gritty place almost grimdark. Despite being a desert Darksun is not D&D Arabian Nights, this is a major factor why I thought the 4E Darksun missed the target with their conversion along with various other things such as healing surges which I thought were silly full stop in the context of Athas. Major hazards of course are the environment with a lack of water and silt being big ones although PCs often have ways to get around water requirements even in 2E (magic, psionic, proficiency etc) the idea however is you have to devote resources to that goal.
Reading through the old Darksun adventures its fairly obvious who the villains are- defilers, Templars,slavers and the Sorcerer Kings. Athas has The Dragon as well, but he is best used as a plot device like the Demon Lord in out of the Abyss so the PCs can encounter him early on but do not have to fight him. How tough in the Dragon? In 2E he was one of the most powerful NPC's published with perhaps a few avatars from Forgotten Realms being tougher. In 5E terms think of the CR 30 Tiamat from RoT, but adding level 20 wizard and psionic abilities (latter tweaked to level 30). He was more powerful than the 2E Powers and Pantheons Tiamat avatar.
Even in 2E they had a lot of classes available (200+) but Darksun was fairly minimalist, they rewrote the PHB classes and the only new class they added was the trader which is better off as a background in 5E. Other classes such as Templars and Gladiators were tweaks of the 2E PHB classes or archetypes in 5E terms. Out of the extra classes in non DS the only ones I would have added to the setting would be the Barbarian which was very different from the d20 Barbarian.
Races were also limited with some from the PHB being excluded and new ones tended to be reptilian, avian and insecticoid in appearance. Once again less is more IMHO, Darksun was never designed as a kitchen sink setting I would suggest looking at Mystara, Eberron and Spelljammer for those types of settings. Most of the 5E archetypes do not really fit the Darksun setting in my conversions I allow around a dozen classes and a smaller number of races more or less being limited to the original Darksun boxed set. Any new additions to the setting need to make sense such as Yuan Ti purebloods are reptilian, psionic and Yuan-Ti exist on Athas. Drow really do not make any sense either along with things like Warforged for example. Neither do Dragonborn IMHO, and while 4E retconned them in as Dray the way they did it was ham fisted IMHO. Dragonmen do not really fit Darksun either IMHO and at best should be added only if you do the events of City by the Sea of Silt adventure. Otherwise they have no business being an everyday race hanging out on the surface. Other races do not exist due to being wiped out or not existing in the 1st place. With Darksun I think less is more in terms of class and race options. It also helps the setting stand out and raises questions like "Why no Half Orcs/Orcs, and where do Half Giants originate from".
While Darksun has grimdark elements, I think the goal of the campaign would make sense to make the world a better place even if its just a small Druids grove where the PCs can rest up and funnel rescued slaves to the free villages scattered around Athas. PCs can even challenge the Sorcerer Kings and The Dragon perhaps recycling elements of the Prism Pentad but having the PCs as the protagonists instead of the events of the Prism Pentad. I would probably keep the original backstory and ancient past of Darksun changing it perhaps f the PCs are familiar with the events of the prism Pentad or set the game in a different timeline to the original set, perhaps at the start of Kalak constructing his pyramid or long after the events of the Prism Pentad. Darkun is harsh but I would not go out of the way to kill the PCs off as such but I would punish them harshly for being stupid. By being stupid I mean casting arcane spells for example in public in one of the domains of the Sorcerer Kings/Queens or picking fights with Templars. I would trow out the 5E guidelines for encounters. For example if you chop up a patrol of Templars they will mobilise and send out squads of elite Templars or even arch Templars and if the PCs are powerful enough(level 10+) perhaps even a Sorcerer King and his favourite pets can make an appearance if the regular Templars can't deal with the PCs. Darksun is not fair if you encounter the Dragon at 5th level so be it perhaps the beast has a task or demands tribute, or can even be entertained.
Exploration is also a major theme of Athas perhaps moreso than most settings. There are a lot of ruins in a reasonably small area, the Tyr region is a lot smaller than the Sword Coast. I treat Athas like an onion, peeling back layers to discover what lies beneath. Survival DCs are generally higher than default 5E, but you should be able to mitigate them in various ways such as strapping a barrel of water to the PC Half Giant perhaps. Until raiders broach it anyway. The past can also be changed over the official metaplot I think I would keep major elements of it (Cleansing Wars, ancient Halflings) but perhaps change the details.
And that is more or less it, ATM I am working on a conversion with the end goal of making some Athasian archetypes, feats and races but for now recycling as much as I can of the PHB just limiting a lot of the options. Of course mechanics need to be tweaked but IMHO the setting should faithfully duplicate the feel of the 1991 boxed set. Rather than pick up where the setting left off give a new generation the opportunity to experience Darksun as the original designers intended. IRL the designers were moved to other projects and freelancers and others were responsible for some of the latter 2E silliness (paraelemental clerics, surfing Druids etc).
This thread is about how I would run a Darksun campaign. I might do some others for other themed based games and/or campaign settings. Generally I am an originalist when it comes to D&D settings, this is because I do not like the meta plot TSR and WotC have come up with and it often ruins whatever attracted you to the setting in the 1st place. Darksun was ruined by the Prism Pentad books IMHO. However DS is not the only setting to deal with things like his (Grand conjunction, Time of Troubles/Spellplague, everything after the War of the Lance, Unhuman War etc etc etc).
This means I tend to prefer the settings close to when they were published and material that enhances the setting over material that moves a metaplot along. This is something I like that Paizo has done with Golarion, invent a interesting setting and don't ruin it (over exposed perhaps a'la FR). Rather than make drastic changes to a setting I prefer that designers create something new, for example Nerath was not awful by itself but they recycled/changed enough of the setting to upset people of the older D&D lore. New lore is fine, retcons not so much. To get a good handle on Darksun I like the original boxed set and the short story A Little Knowledge". Major themes of Darksun IMHO.
1. The Environment. Athas is a wasteland.
2. Resources are limited (water, metal etc)
3. Magic (arcane) can ruin the land.
4. Knowledge of the past and magic is rare/limited. The magic power level is still fairly high.
5. Psionics. All PCs are psionic along with a lot of the NPCs and monster.
6. Slavery. Slavery is widespread.
7. The Sorcerer Kings. The 7 cities are rules by immortal despots.
Overall generally a dark and gritty place almost grimdark. Despite being a desert Darksun is not D&D Arabian Nights, this is a major factor why I thought the 4E Darksun missed the target with their conversion along with various other things such as healing surges which I thought were silly full stop in the context of Athas. Major hazards of course are the environment with a lack of water and silt being big ones although PCs often have ways to get around water requirements even in 2E (magic, psionic, proficiency etc) the idea however is you have to devote resources to that goal.
Reading through the old Darksun adventures its fairly obvious who the villains are- defilers, Templars,slavers and the Sorcerer Kings. Athas has The Dragon as well, but he is best used as a plot device like the Demon Lord in out of the Abyss so the PCs can encounter him early on but do not have to fight him. How tough in the Dragon? In 2E he was one of the most powerful NPC's published with perhaps a few avatars from Forgotten Realms being tougher. In 5E terms think of the CR 30 Tiamat from RoT, but adding level 20 wizard and psionic abilities (latter tweaked to level 30). He was more powerful than the 2E Powers and Pantheons Tiamat avatar.
Even in 2E they had a lot of classes available (200+) but Darksun was fairly minimalist, they rewrote the PHB classes and the only new class they added was the trader which is better off as a background in 5E. Other classes such as Templars and Gladiators were tweaks of the 2E PHB classes or archetypes in 5E terms. Out of the extra classes in non DS the only ones I would have added to the setting would be the Barbarian which was very different from the d20 Barbarian.
Races were also limited with some from the PHB being excluded and new ones tended to be reptilian, avian and insecticoid in appearance. Once again less is more IMHO, Darksun was never designed as a kitchen sink setting I would suggest looking at Mystara, Eberron and Spelljammer for those types of settings. Most of the 5E archetypes do not really fit the Darksun setting in my conversions I allow around a dozen classes and a smaller number of races more or less being limited to the original Darksun boxed set. Any new additions to the setting need to make sense such as Yuan Ti purebloods are reptilian, psionic and Yuan-Ti exist on Athas. Drow really do not make any sense either along with things like Warforged for example. Neither do Dragonborn IMHO, and while 4E retconned them in as Dray the way they did it was ham fisted IMHO. Dragonmen do not really fit Darksun either IMHO and at best should be added only if you do the events of City by the Sea of Silt adventure. Otherwise they have no business being an everyday race hanging out on the surface. Other races do not exist due to being wiped out or not existing in the 1st place. With Darksun I think less is more in terms of class and race options. It also helps the setting stand out and raises questions like "Why no Half Orcs/Orcs, and where do Half Giants originate from".
While Darksun has grimdark elements, I think the goal of the campaign would make sense to make the world a better place even if its just a small Druids grove where the PCs can rest up and funnel rescued slaves to the free villages scattered around Athas. PCs can even challenge the Sorcerer Kings and The Dragon perhaps recycling elements of the Prism Pentad but having the PCs as the protagonists instead of the events of the Prism Pentad. I would probably keep the original backstory and ancient past of Darksun changing it perhaps f the PCs are familiar with the events of the prism Pentad or set the game in a different timeline to the original set, perhaps at the start of Kalak constructing his pyramid or long after the events of the Prism Pentad. Darkun is harsh but I would not go out of the way to kill the PCs off as such but I would punish them harshly for being stupid. By being stupid I mean casting arcane spells for example in public in one of the domains of the Sorcerer Kings/Queens or picking fights with Templars. I would trow out the 5E guidelines for encounters. For example if you chop up a patrol of Templars they will mobilise and send out squads of elite Templars or even arch Templars and if the PCs are powerful enough(level 10+) perhaps even a Sorcerer King and his favourite pets can make an appearance if the regular Templars can't deal with the PCs. Darksun is not fair if you encounter the Dragon at 5th level so be it perhaps the beast has a task or demands tribute, or can even be entertained.
Exploration is also a major theme of Athas perhaps moreso than most settings. There are a lot of ruins in a reasonably small area, the Tyr region is a lot smaller than the Sword Coast. I treat Athas like an onion, peeling back layers to discover what lies beneath. Survival DCs are generally higher than default 5E, but you should be able to mitigate them in various ways such as strapping a barrel of water to the PC Half Giant perhaps. Until raiders broach it anyway. The past can also be changed over the official metaplot I think I would keep major elements of it (Cleansing Wars, ancient Halflings) but perhaps change the details.
And that is more or less it, ATM I am working on a conversion with the end goal of making some Athasian archetypes, feats and races but for now recycling as much as I can of the PHB just limiting a lot of the options. Of course mechanics need to be tweaked but IMHO the setting should faithfully duplicate the feel of the 1991 boxed set. Rather than pick up where the setting left off give a new generation the opportunity to experience Darksun as the original designers intended. IRL the designers were moved to other projects and freelancers and others were responsible for some of the latter 2E silliness (paraelemental clerics, surfing Druids etc).