[Dark Sun] [Spoilertastic] Sorcerer Kings

[I'm A Banana]

Since I wrote a reply post that was not really talkin' 'bout sorcerer-kings at all, I forked this noise.

 

[Riley]

What does it mean that it is a "magical apocalyptic" world? Are there areas of "high (magic) tech" waiting to be found?

Dark Sun's lost history will be published in a series of box-sets beginning this fall.

They're calling it Gamma World.

 

[catastrophic]

But the whole point of having a "different" setting is for it to be different. Explaining how it's really just a standard D&D world after some earth-shaking events is counter to its purpose. It doesn't need a connection to the core D&D canon -- Dark Sun difference from that canon is its raison d'etre.

I think the idea is to emphasise that it was a post apocalyptic setting.

I mean, it isn't that orcs never existed, it's that they all died!!!, and I guess that's supposed to add some kick to the apocalypse, by framing it in that D&D-esque way. It hit or miss in execution, but I can see the appeal, and part of that is presenting not just some ancient dead race (wich is commonplace), but saying that one of the races people take for granted has died out.

In 4e this could take on an intersting twist- imagine if the DM were to take the races the group decides to play- any race they want- and then reveal during the game that all the other races were wiped out. That could get a little goofy if somebody wanted to play a new rance, but it's still an interesting idea.

 

[Pbartender]

In 4e this could take on an intersting twist- imagine if the DM were to take the races the group decides to play- any race they want- and then reveal during the game that all the other races were wiped out. That could get a little goofy if somebody wanted to play a new rance...

...or if no one decided to play a human.

 

[Riley]

Agreed. At the moment this is exactly what I want, so that by next Christmas, I can mix one part Dark Sun with one part Gamma World and run a Thundarr the Barbarian campaign. "Ahhhhhhhhh-Hee!"

Yes, I agree Dark Sun and Gamma World really call out for a mix-and-match. It's like what I imagine the John Carter of Mars stories might be like.

(And yes, I do fondly remember Thundarr. I even made my own complete DIY Thundarr DVD set when it ran on cable last year.)

 

[Dausuul]

For me, there are some things that I want ideas in how to explain them. For example, most of the world is illiterate. How do they pass on knowledge? Obviously, it can be done, but they can't be unable to memorize or learn things or they won't survive!

All of the major races have a special organ that is used for this purpose. It generates pulses of energy that can be sensed by all nearby creatures. By modulating these pulses of energy, the sender can encode information into the signal. The organ has various names among different races; among humans, it's called a "mouth."

 

[Pbartender]

It's like what I imagine the John Carter of Mars stories might be like.

That was my other thought... Although, my players aren't quite serious enough to play something like Barsoom. Thundarr is something they could have fun with.

 

[Riley]

That was my other thought... Although, my players aren't quite serious enough to play something like Barsoom. Thundarr is something they could have fun with.

I have the opposite problem: if the word 'Thundarr' was ever uttered, the game would inevitably degenerate into a farce.

 

[Banshee16]

Gnomes and Dwarves don't come across to Players as weird and unusual, they destroy the feeling of mystery and wonder.

That's why the DM doesn't come out and say "you step into the tomb, and see a pile of dead gnomes in a pit". You see these creepy, inhuman, 3' tall corpses with bone structures that seem......wrong in some way...whose proportions are "off". As DM, you might realize they're gnomes...but the characters don't. Maybe they find out somehow later on...but you don't have to come out and say it. The characters would have no way to know they're looking at gnomes....they have no frame of reference, since nobody has ever seen a live gnome.

Personally, the whole genocide and blasted world aspect was one of the things I liked with how the setting developed in the original game. It really highlighted just how far the world had fallen, and how horrific were the events perpetrated by the still-living sorcerer kings. These guys weren't simply long lived wizards. They were psychopathic, tyrannical, genocidal madmen, who utterly ruined a living world through pursuit of their goals, refused to make amends for their actions, used dark magic to grant themselves virtual immortality, and basically erased history, and any memory of the great evil they carried out. I mean, how vile can they get? They were the ultimate definition of criminals who never paid for their crimes. And they redefined the shape of their entire world, and rewrote the history books. No death could do these villains justice for what they had done.

Banshee

 

[Deverash]

Maybe the other Sorcerer Kings, snickering in the corner at him, are the ones who coined the name. I mean, who comes up with their own nicknames, anyways?