D&D 5E "Doom Sun" − reconstructing a 5e Dark Sun setting for the DMs Guild

[Shardstone]

With refugees from Fyreen escaping partially into the multiverse, word spreads of the Moons of the Dragon-Kings. Fear spreads with it. These near-almighty beings, if allowed to escape Doomspace, could cause a great catastrophe any material plane they go. And what if one entered Celestia and defiled the gods? What kind of power would that bring about? Or if one invaded Avernus and defiled the fighters of the Bloodwar?

The Dragon-Kings cannot be let out of Doomspace. No actually good god will send their solars into it. The Astral Elves have tried, and failed. Out of ambition, mind-flayers and gith have tried, and failed. Still, the Dragon-Kings cannot be let out of Doomspace. If one ever reached Eberron, or Ravnica, or Theros, worlds full of bounty and life, and just started defiling it, it'd kickstart a new genocide and a bloody war. Doesn't even matter if the Dragon-King loses, because the casualties would be immense.

 

[Jer]

Perhaps they are competing to see who can loot the most stuff / resources from the planet before it falls into the black hole.

Perhaps the purpose of the setting in the boxed set is for the PCs to stop the destruction so that it doesn't get destroyed - I haven't seen anything about whether it's actually used in the aventure in the boxed set or not. If so that could be why it was originally Athas - it would be a way to reintroduce the world and also provide an event to alter the setting to make it more conducive to a 5e conversion. I could see that being an idea that they'd think was a good one initially and then change their mind later.

 

[dave2008]

Yes, yes. The 1995 version retconned things. We already established that. I also established that the 1991 setting mentions gods in the distant past.

Max, I trust you. However, do happen to know where that is? I actually downloaded the '91 boxed set from the DM'sGuild last night to look for it and I couldn't find (I was curious if Yaarel was correct as they kept quoting the revised DS). Now, I can't say I read the whole thing, but I couldn't find it on a quick scan.

 

[dave2008]

With refugees from Fyreen escaping partially into the multiverse, word spreads of the Moons of the Dragon-Kings. Fear spreads with it. These near-almighty beings, if allowed to escape Doomspace, could cause a great catastrophe any material plane they go. And what if one entered Celestia and defiled the gods? What kind of power would that bring about? Or if one invaded Avernus and defiled the fighters of the Bloodwar?

The Dragon-Kings cannot be let out of Doomspace. No actually good god will send their solars into it. The Astral Elves have tried, and failed. Out of ambition, mind-flayers and gith have tried, and failed. Still, the Dragon-Kings cannot be let out of Doomspace. If one ever reached Eberron, or Ravnica, or Theros, worlds full of bounty and life, and just started defiling it, it'd kickstart a new genocide and a bloody war. Doesn't even matter if the Dragon-King loses, because the casualties would be immense.

That is a pretty awesome idea.

 

[Maxperson]

5e needs a more neutral term for inhabitants of the astral sea.

I have zero interest in referring to creatures as "gods" if my characters dont view them that way.

I don't think it does need a more neutral term for gods. If your character doesn't view them that way, call them something else. There was an entire Planescape faction that was built around the premise that there weren't any gods.

 

[Baron Opal II]

In a strict reading of the Doomspace description, here is a possibility.

• The gods definitely destroyed the crystal sphere.
• The planet Fyreen is definitely falling into the black hole.
• But nobody knows what the connection is.

Maybe the gods destroyed the sun?

Maybe not?

Is something else going on?

Mind flyers did it. Whether it is a relic of their past empire or the first salvo of their reemergence is yet to be seen.

 

[Faolyn]

By the end of the novel series, Borys the dragon and several of the sorcerer-kings had been killed. Rajaat had been freed and then re-imprisoned in/as some kind of never-ending storm. Tyr was now the "Free City" because it didn't have a sorcerer-king. The "revised and expanded" box set from 1995 also included some areas beyond the Tablelands as well as some revised mechanics for psionics and stuff. I think it also had a generally more hopeful outlook to the setting than the grimdark look of the original.

Interestingly, I just found an article in which one of Dark Sun's original creators says he always imagined it as a setting that never had any actual gods. (Source) EDIT: That article also states that WotC invited Brom to contribute art to the 4e books but he declined!

See, now this is why I don't like or care about meta-plots. Why should my (hypothetical) game have to change because of the novels? It would be like forcing the game books you buy to be different because of the events at my table.

 

[Jer]

See, now this is why I don't like or care about meta-plots. Why should my (hypothetical) game have to change because of the novels? It would be like forcing the game books you buy to be different because of the events at my table.

Dark Sun did things the wrong way around for what they were trying to do. The campaign setting should have represented the status quo AFTER the novels were done rather than selling a boxed set and then immediately invalidating it with novels. But from the numbers Ben Riggs posted last month it looks like they were primarily focused on selling novels and the campaign settings were just there to drive novel sales. So with that perspective they might have viewed the campaign setting as a teaser for the novels first and a game setting second.

 

[Faolyn]

If referring to unusually powerful creatures, I am ok with calling them "epics", referring to their corresponding leveling tier.

That doesn't seem like a term people in-universe would use, though.

At least with powers, it has a "powers-that-be" feel to it.

 

[Yaarel]

That doesn't seem like a term people in-universe would use, though.

At least with powers, it has a "powers-that-be" feel to it.

Sounds natural to me.

"That monster was epic!"

Whence "epics" as a shorthand.



I already refer to creatures of the "legend" tier (levels 17 to 20) as "legends".

"That athlete is a legend in her own time."
"He is a legend at wizardry."