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Dark Sun fans: What are the essential elements of Dark Sun to you?
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8946139" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>Promised explanation:</p><p></p><p>Before the heroes arrive, the world is fully hurtling toward total destruction. Even with their presence, the world may still meet its end. For those who want it so, they may decide this darkness locked in, it cannot be changed: the world was already doomed, the best they can do is make the most of the remaining time they have.</p><p></p><p>For those who do not want that, they are not required to hold it so, and the official (but now deprecated) 2e metaplot shows one possible path things can follow. The heroes will be <em>tested</em> against the darkness of the setting, rather than simply guaranteed to fail <em>or</em> succeed.</p><p></p><p>As far as I can tell, it is the latter that is the most interesting for fans of Dark Sun. The world <em>sucks.</em> It's miserable and cruel and savage. Full of darkness and monsters, and the worst monsters are sapient. But, crucially, it isn't <em>totally</em> beyond saving. Many in Athas will claim it is! Many will look at that darkness and be filled with rage or despair or nihilistic hedonism: why bother saving a corpse? Just feed on the still-warm blood while you can. But the PCs can be people who dare to believe that even a world this dark can still come back into the light, that <em>doing</em> something can in fact make a difference, that being alive means you still have a <em>chance.</em> That it is better to burn out trying to do something worthy than it is to fade away.</p><p></p><p>In some sense, it is a world where Greek heroism (great people doing great things, whatever their goals) and modern heroism (morally upstanding souls struggling for what is right and good) cease to be separate things. That's a compelling idea, especially when many folks could rightly say that there is nothing worth saving in Athas, and thus heroes trying to save it have their work cut out for them just to sell people on the idea of the world being <em>worth</em> saving.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8946139, member: 6790260"] Promised explanation: Before the heroes arrive, the world is fully hurtling toward total destruction. Even with their presence, the world may still meet its end. For those who want it so, they may decide this darkness locked in, it cannot be changed: the world was already doomed, the best they can do is make the most of the remaining time they have. For those who do not want that, they are not required to hold it so, and the official (but now deprecated) 2e metaplot shows one possible path things can follow. The heroes will be [I]tested[/I] against the darkness of the setting, rather than simply guaranteed to fail [I]or[/I] succeed. As far as I can tell, it is the latter that is the most interesting for fans of Dark Sun. The world [I]sucks.[/I] It's miserable and cruel and savage. Full of darkness and monsters, and the worst monsters are sapient. But, crucially, it isn't [I]totally[/I] beyond saving. Many in Athas will claim it is! Many will look at that darkness and be filled with rage or despair or nihilistic hedonism: why bother saving a corpse? Just feed on the still-warm blood while you can. But the PCs can be people who dare to believe that even a world this dark can still come back into the light, that [I]doing[/I] something can in fact make a difference, that being alive means you still have a [I]chance.[/I] That it is better to burn out trying to do something worthy than it is to fade away. In some sense, it is a world where Greek heroism (great people doing great things, whatever their goals) and modern heroism (morally upstanding souls struggling for what is right and good) cease to be separate things. That's a compelling idea, especially when many folks could rightly say that there is nothing worth saving in Athas, and thus heroes trying to save it have their work cut out for them just to sell people on the idea of the world being [I]worth[/I] saving. [/QUOTE]
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Dark Sun fans: What are the essential elements of Dark Sun to you?
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