D&D 5E Dark Sun Spiritual Successor on Kickstarter: Red Dawn: Into the Dawnlands

[Stormonu]

Doesn't thrall just mean slave?

Not 100%, there's connotations of mind manipulation/domination with the word.

Though I suspect Red Dawn is using the name for Muls.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Does anybody remember "Dragon Kings"?

I understand we have to await a lot but I miss Dark Sun. It is not about the crunch part but I want to know how was going to continue the metaplot. OK, it will be rebooted, like Ravenloft, you haven't to make me to remember it.

But I can't understand as the age of the sorcerer-kings was so politically frozen, but when the PCs appear then the chaos breaks out and big fishes start to fall.

I backed Dragon Kings (it was my first Kickstarter!) and the later Player's Guide. I dig it. And I think it made a perfect "spiritual successor" to Dark Sun; the fact that one of the major developers behind DS wrote it probably helped.

 

[Charlaquin]

Doesn't thrall just mean slave?

Pretty much. It comes from the old Norse word for slave, but in a modern context it’s used more generally to mean someone who is under another’s power in some way.

 

[Zardnaar]

Pretty much. It comes from the old Norse word for slave, but in a modern context it’s used more generally to mean someone who is under another’s power in some way.

Yeah I knew about Norse origin. One of my games (sci Fi) you can create thrall world's.

Generally I'm fine with everything "bad" irl but it depends on context, nuance, genre, setting, execution etc.

This includes all the bad stuff slavery, genocide, torture etc.

Hell some of the he best fantasy I've read features all sorts of things that are bad (Empire Trilogy Janny Wurts/Raymond E Feist).

If this setting offends you better not watch more than a few R16 or R18 movies.

Villains gonna villain and if it's a dystopian world it's perfectly fine for them to have government's and systems completely abhorrent to modem sensibilities.

Where I draw the line personally if it's a barely disguised propaganda for CSA, Nazis etc although it's fine to include elements of those regimes (or Rome, Tamerlane etc) in your work.

 

[squibbles]

Versimilar.

Nice. It seems verisimilitudinous can maybe be correct, but thanks for the pointer. Verisimilar is a lot more elegant.

Doesn't thrall just mean slave?

Pretty much. It comes from the old Norse word for slave, but in a modern context it’s used more generally to mean someone who is under another’s power in some way.

The tricky thing about "slave" is that its a loaded word which refers to entirely too many different institutions. Norse thralls are not Athenian slaves, are not Spartan Helots, are not medieval serfs, are not triangular trade chattel slaves--though the institutions all share a family resemblance to the point that the term can apply to them. (The Wittenburg to Westphalia podcast did an excellent series unpacking the historical scholarship on the topic, for those interested. There's a very apropos thought experiment in the third cast about how hopelessly incompetent a southern planter would have been at interacting with thralls in migration era Scandinavia.)

Using the term thrall drags in some fraught historical connotations--but that doesn't mean doing so is inherently objectionable.

Talislanta had a species/culture that went by the name "thrall", which took the premise of a people purposively engineered to be unfree warriors and went in a interesting and non-trope-laden direction with it: Ancient sorcerers created them as near genetic duplicates of each other--so, upon liberation, they created a highly regimented but sexually and inter-generationally egalitarian society and invented a complex system of tattoos so that each individual could look unique.

In fairness, it seems like Red Dawn is setting up its thrall species as having a mysterious origin (they "hide a world changing secret"). I think it might be too soon to say whether it's in poor taste. They could do something inventive and thoughtful.

 

[Charlaquin]

Nice. It seems verisimilitudinous can maybe be correct, but thanks for the pointer. Verisimilar is a lot more elegant.

Oh, yeah. I’m a firm believer that language is defined by use, so if people use it, it’s correct. But I’m also an advocate of elegant usage

Also, apologies if I came off as correcting you. I know a lot of folks consider it rude so I try to be careful about it.

 

[rgoodbb]

Well I bit the bullet and pledged.

I think if nothing more, this would act as a good source of extra information/inspiration that could be used on its own but also embellish anything that WOTC may bring out in the future.

Plus it's DS-esk and I find that very difficult to ignore.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well I bit the bullet and pledged.

I think if nothing more, this would act as a good source of extra information/inspiration that could be used on its own but also embellish anything that WOTC may bring out in the future.

Plus it's DS-esk and I find that very difficult to ignore.

Can probably adapt it to be a different part of Athas.

 

[Stormonu]

Well, sadly this Kickstarter has been cancelled, despite successfully funding. No direct word on why it was cancelled, but I would not be surprised they got hit with some form of cease and desist, or possibly using non-srd/basic D&D content.

Personally, I felt they were on good track to developing their own twist on Dark Sun, so I am unhappy it got the axe. Hopefully they can try again sometime soon.

 

[Remathilis]

Well, sadly this Kickstarter has been cancelled, despite successfully funding. No direct word on why it was cancelled, but I would not be surprised they got hit with some form of cease and desist, or possibly using non-srd/basic D&D content.

Personally, I felt they were on good track to developing their own twist on Dark Sun, so I am unhappy it got the axe. Hopefully they can try again sometime soon.

Sounds like WotC lawyers got a whiff of how close the cut this was to thier own IP.

Perhaps they will retool it to a more unique take on the subject rather than DS with the names filled off.