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Dark Sun fans: What are the essential elements of Dark Sun to you?
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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8946318" data-attributes="member: 6877472"><p>The TTRPG market in the 80's was very "throw a concept at the wall and see if it sticks". TSR was a juggernaut with D&D, but they were always trying to break into other genres, without a lot of success (Boot Hill, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Marvel Super Heroes, Alternity, Buck Rogers, and a few more that I'd instantly go "oh yeah, that one!" if you mentioned it, but my old man brain is forgetting at the moment.</p><p></p><p>Dark Sun itself is a Frankenstein monster of a setting, since they wanted to push the new Psionics book <strong>and </strong>their latest attempt to get back into the wargaming market, Battlesystem, so the setting was literally built around these ideas (even if the Battlesystem stuff was largely marginalized, even with the high level rules in Dragon Kings, Athas isn't really a great setting for large scale battles to happen very often; I mean, just think of the logistics required!).</p><p></p><p>They wanted a "Battlesystem" campaign setting, and originally, their concept was "War World." The team envisioned a post-apocalyptic world full of exotic monsters and no hallmark fantasy creatures whatsoever. TSR worried about this concept, wondering how to market a product that lacked any familiar elements. Eventually, elves, dwarves, and dragons returned but in warped variations of their standard <em>AD&D</em> counterparts. The designers credited this reversion as a pivotal change that launched the project in a new direction</p><p></p><p>Steve Winter came up with the desert setting, and from there, the idea to make it a post-apocalyptic Swords & Sandals/Swords & Sorcery setting followed. </p><p></p><p>It got popular simply because it was something completely different than what D&D was usually about...and some great Brom art. I don't think it was a reaction to any specific real-world events, any more than the other post-apocalyptic TTRPG's of the time were (but I don't know that for sure, having never played Twilight 2000, Aftermath, or even the TMNT After the Bomb setting).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8946318, member: 6877472"] The TTRPG market in the 80's was very "throw a concept at the wall and see if it sticks". TSR was a juggernaut with D&D, but they were always trying to break into other genres, without a lot of success (Boot Hill, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Marvel Super Heroes, Alternity, Buck Rogers, and a few more that I'd instantly go "oh yeah, that one!" if you mentioned it, but my old man brain is forgetting at the moment. Dark Sun itself is a Frankenstein monster of a setting, since they wanted to push the new Psionics book [B]and [/B]their latest attempt to get back into the wargaming market, Battlesystem, so the setting was literally built around these ideas (even if the Battlesystem stuff was largely marginalized, even with the high level rules in Dragon Kings, Athas isn't really a great setting for large scale battles to happen very often; I mean, just think of the logistics required!). They wanted a "Battlesystem" campaign setting, and originally, their concept was "War World." The team envisioned a post-apocalyptic world full of exotic monsters and no hallmark fantasy creatures whatsoever. TSR worried about this concept, wondering how to market a product that lacked any familiar elements. Eventually, elves, dwarves, and dragons returned but in warped variations of their standard [I]AD&D[/I] counterparts. The designers credited this reversion as a pivotal change that launched the project in a new direction Steve Winter came up with the desert setting, and from there, the idea to make it a post-apocalyptic Swords & Sandals/Swords & Sorcery setting followed. It got popular simply because it was something completely different than what D&D was usually about...and some great Brom art. I don't think it was a reaction to any specific real-world events, any more than the other post-apocalyptic TTRPG's of the time were (but I don't know that for sure, having never played Twilight 2000, Aftermath, or even the TMNT After the Bomb setting). [/QUOTE]
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