D&D General Dark Sun as a Hopepunk Setting

[Mind of tempest]

The irony is delicious, of course, but there's also:

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gods I hate that smug thing's face.


also the reason I say to cut closer to the dragon but just remove dragons is simply to have a super cool cover art monster.
you can sell people on a setting with things that are deeply cool to look at

 

[Steampunkette]

The idea of picking an anticapitalist theme because it sells better is kind of hilarious.

What can I say? I want to sell my material to the biggest audience I can because:

1) I get to feel proud more people are using it.
2) The goal is to make some money off this.

Though I will note, that since everything I do with other writers and designers is profit-shared, it's selling more copies while the means of production are kept in the hands (and heads) of the workers.

So it's not capitalism in this case!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The irony is delicious, of course, but there's also:

I always loved Rage Against the Machine Concerts, when you had 20,000 fans chanting with Zach in unison .... Eff U I won't do what you tell me.

 

[Mind of tempest]

What can I say? I want to sell my material to the biggest audience I can because:

1) I get to feel proud more people are using it.
2) The goal is to make some money off this.

Though I will note, that since everything I do with other writers and designers is profit-shared, it's selling more copies while the means of production are kept in the hands (and heads) of the workers.

So it's not capitalism in this case!

ah someone who remembers that markets are far older than the economic system.

is there a need for media to be cut up for parts? I know some to work from?

 

[Steampunkette]

ah someone who remembers that markets are far older than the economic system.

is there a need for media to be cut up for parts?

Not sure what the second sentence is in reference to, precisely... sorry. Could you clarify?

 

[Mind of tempest]

Not sure what the second sentence is in reference to, precisely... sorry. Could you clarify?

lists of works to be studied for viable parts, e.g. influences or stuff to rob from?

 

[Zardnaar]

I ran sonething like this in 3.5. Advanced the timelines 1000 years, more rain via Cerulean Storm.

Ran with the glimmer of hope in revised boxed set and RaFoaDK. New Sorcerer Queens (Razia and another one iirc), Lalali-Puy was pro Druid.

Races. Mutants just say no to things that really don't fit. Eg Warforged can ignore food and water so they're out. Exception would be if the planet has been restored to some extent.

Expand the default races. Eg Yuan Ti are present, genasi make sense. You can organically add more vs 4E shoehorn.

 

[Steampunkette]

lists of works to be studied for viable parts, e.g. influences or stuff to rob from?

Oh, absolutely.

The best story is the story made up from those already written put together in new ways with some new material to hold it all together. I will always stand by that idea.

The best movies are combinations of different genres and styles of storytelling. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark was such a compelling and fantastic film because Spielberg used immaculate framing, as seen in dramatic films, carefully choreographed long-form movements, as seen in musicals, and the direction of black and white silent films to convey information without words, to create one of the -greatest- Action Adventure films every made.

Truly fantastic stuff. And everyone should crib those notes.


The hard part is being respectful of each component in relation to one another, rather than just throwing it a blender and slapping a clown wig on top to pretend it's referential humor, like World of Warcraft and Champions Online do.

 

[Remathilis]

So, I'm going to preface this with a simple statement: I don't like Dark Sun. At least, the way it was sold to me in the 90's. The 90's version of Dark Sun did not feel like D&D to me, and the play loop for the setting that I saw was "make the most OP character you can and watch them die of thirst".

That said, what is being presented here might convince me otherwise.

What would sell it for me is the idea that Athas isn't a doomed planet; it can get better. Maybe not restored to former glory, but things can get better. The sorcerer-kings can be overthrown. Slavery and fascism aren't the only type of society. Metal and water aren't completely gone. There is something worth fighting for.

As someone who isn't wedded to the intricacies of the setting, I am not against changing things to make them work better with D&D. I much preferred 4e's presentation of DS than 2e's. An Oath of Glory paladin absolutely feels on vibe. And in a conflict between fidelity to 30-year-old sourcebooks and making the setting playable with the 2024, I will choose the latter every time.

But absolutely moving the vibe from "survive in a world near death" to "save a world on the verge of extinction" would be a big step to making the setting appealing for me.

 

[payn]

I think a hopepunk campaign for Darksun would be great, I think focusing the entire setting on being a Hopepunk game generator would be received very poorly.