D&D General Dark Sun as a Hopepunk Setting

[abirdcall]

I didn't respond to his post because I didn't want to make him feel like he was being dragged back in. He wants to bow out so we should let him.

That said, he is right about me 'shitting' on alignment. But not because I don't like it, because I recognize that as a community we have moved on from alignment on the basis of the 'straightjacket' argument.

It was meant to be a way to undercut the "Motivations are just as restrictive" argument which came off too aggressively and hit a nerve. That's all.

Have we? I love alignment and so do a lot of others.

 

[GuyBoy]

I'd definitely be up for buying, DM-ing and playing in a Hopepunk update of Dark Sun by @Steampunkette , albeit with ONE condition; as a UK gamer, I cant seriously think of any character named Borys (or any spelling thereof) as anything but a corrupt, incompetent and dishonest buffoon.

 

[Gradine]

Have we? I love alignment and so do a lot of others.

Sure, but also, its place in Dungeons & Dragons has almost entirely faded from significance. That's not to say anyone is wrong for liking it, but it is fairly factual that D&D has more or less moved on from alignment, in particular its use as a "straightjacket" for roleplaying.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'd definitely be up for buying, DM-ing and playing in a Hopepunk update of Dark Sun by @Steampunkette , albeit with ONE condition; as a UK gamer, I cant seriously think of any character named Borys (or any spelling thereof) as anything but a corrupt, incompetent and dishonest buffoon.

Back in the day we pronounced it Bory (like Corey) ys. Then someone pointed out is it actually Boris?

 

[TwoSix]

Sure, but also, its place in Dungeons & Dragons has almost entirely faded from significance. That's not to say anyone is wrong for liking it, but it is fairly factual that D&D has more or less moved on from alignment, in particular its use as a "straightjacket" for roleplaying.

Alignment is definitely a meme at this point, not a mechanic.

The main reason not to remove it entirely is BECAUSE it's a fun meme.

 

[GrimCo]

If hopepunk is answer to grimdark, isn't grimpunk answer to classic fantasy with black and white morality with Big Damn Heroes?

One of the things that makes DS unique is that Athas itself is enemy to the players. Scarce resources, scorching heat. Even if you want to be BDH, world itself is actively against you. Droping that survival part out and it loses solid chunk of it's appeal.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Really starting to whittle down what we're allowed to feel ok about eating over time.

And that's why, when the waiter looked appalled when I barked 'manflesh' as my order, I chastised him for being a bleeding heart, then roasted and consumed his bleeding heart.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Ah, so the murder is less actively genocidal but rather a by-product of the system.
Drawing on parallels.

problem is towards the end any system that apathetic to life will likely start using mass murdering warlords as enforcers.

the setting can afford to have far more bad guys as you have the lunatic who taught defiling magic it wielders then the apparatus of control they employed.
then any post-fall opportunist rising power.

Back in the day we pronounced it Bory (like Corey) ys. Then someone pointed out is it actually Boris?

I assumed it was said like the Greek north wind.

If hopepunk is answer to grimdark, isn't grimpunk answer to classic fantasy with black and white morality with Big Damn Heroes?

One of the things that makes DS unique is that Athas itself is enemy to the players. Scarce resources, scorching heat. Even if you want to be BDH, world itself is actively against you. Droping that survival part out and it loses solid chunk of it's appeal.

you have to know how to use it effectively as a dm to much and everyone fails to care and to little and the players burns through the content easily.

 

[overgeeked]

If hopepunk is answer to grimdark, isn't grimpunk answer to classic fantasy with black and white morality with Big Damn Heroes?

One of the things that makes DS unique is that Athas itself is enemy to the players. Scarce resources, scorching heat. Even if you want to be BDH, world itself is actively against you. Droping that survival part out and it loses solid chunk of it's appeal.

Absolutely. But it's a super easy fix. Keep survival as an important piece of tier 1 play and effectively drop it after that.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Absolutely. But it's a super easy fix. Keep survival as an important piece of tier 1 play and effectively drop it after that.

make it a possibly complicating factor at higher levels just less direct death