Dark Sun: What System would you use?

[pdiddy]

I would go with Barbarians of Lemuria.

It is easy to run, and easy to learn, plays fast, doesn't have long combats, and doesn't need minis to run. It also has broad characters.

I know I've seen a hack somewhere but I can't remember where. Maybe the old yahoo group?

I also love 2nd edition AD&D but I never liked how the defiler vs preserver mechanics worked.

 

[pawsplay]

Now that Psionics Unleashed is out by Dreamscarred Press, Pathfinder looks like a very friendly option. Plus, the Piazza has a 3e/Pf friendly Dark Sun discussion going.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Now that Psionics Unleashed is out by Dreamscarred Press, Pathfinder looks like a very friendly option. Plus, the Piazza has a 3e/Pf friendly Dark Sun discussion going.

Not trying to start some sort of system/edition war here, but could you please expand on this? What makes it better than the rules put out by them for 3.5, or the Psychic's Handbook by Green Ronin, or any of the other psionics stuff kicking around for 3.x? For a fair number of folks out there "Pathfinder" really isn't different from "3.5", despite whatever tweaks that fans might happen to like/prefer. Your quote above seems to suggest that Psionics Unleashed is better and I'm wondering if that's a preference (you like Pathfinder) or if there's some sort of significant reworking of the Psionics Unleashed rules making them better than any of the other 3.x psionics.

Thanks.

Oh and since it appears I didn't actually offer up a system myself...I thought sure I had...

4th Ed Talislanta. You can find it here:
Talislanta Library

The rules are actually pretty straight forward. Even if you don't happen to care for the setting (which I also really dig), the rules should do you just fine for what you're looking for. Won't cost you a dime either, since the owner of Talislanta has authorized all the books to be posted up; his way of thanking folks for their support of Talislanta over the years.

Magic is probably going to be where you'll need to spend a bit of time thinking, but the Codex Magicus should help out there.

You can probably get some inspiration for some of your Dark Sun stuff too by downloading the "People & Places: Djaffa" book.

The Menagerie (either d20 version of Tal version) should provide you with some additional funky critters if you want to spice up your Dark Sun game. While I personally feel the d20 version of the Tal rules is far less than it could be, it should be at least mildly helpful in figuring out stats if you stick with a d20-based game.

One of the big things about 4th Ed Tal is that it runs on an archetype sort of character generation. Meaning you page through the book, find an interesting looking picture or turn to the area that the game is happening in and pick it, tweak a few points to customize it to the player's desire, and you're good to go. You can literally have an entire group of people have characters all done and ready to go within less than half an hour; most of the time being spent in trying to decide which archetype you want to use.

What I'd suggest doing is looking through the archetypes and simply "reskin" them to match the particular "class" and "race" combos you're looking for. For example, the "Thrall" (the tattooed dude stabbing the critter on the cover of the 4th Ed book) might do just fine for a Mul warrior type. So, go through the book, grab a bunch of archetypes, and when someone says, "Yeah, I want to be a [whatever]" you'll be able to just give them the archetype you've picked and you're good to go.

 

[pawsplay]

Not trying to start some sort of system/edition war here, but could you please expand on this? What makes it better than the rules put out by them for 3.5, or the Psychic's Handbook by Green Ronin, or any of the other psionics stuff kicking around for 3.x?

For a fair number of folks out there "Pathfinder" really isn't different from "3.5", despite whatever tweaks that fans might happen to like/prefer. Your quote above seems to suggest that Psionics Unleashed is better and I'm wondering if that's a preference (you like Pathfinder) or if there's some sort of significant reworking of the Psionics Unleashed rules making them better than any of the other 3.x psionics.

Improvements in the core classes, some clean up on skills and psionic focus. Also, it's in print and inexpensive. As with most Pathfinder changes, it's generally similar to 3.5, but insofar as it is different, mostly better. It's not a Paizo product but it's put out by people who know their stuff.

4th Ed Talislanta. You can find it here:
Talislanta Library

The rules are actually pretty straight forward.

Almost too straightforward. Talislanta 4e doesn't offer much in the way of psionics. You have Muse telempathy, and a couple of critters with some odd pseudo-magical powers, and that's about it. What would you use as a psionics plug-in?

True20 has an extraordinarily similar skeleton to the Omni/Tal4e system. I wonder if that wouldn't do better, or if there is some way to graft True20 powers easily onto Tal. There is a generic Omni book; I'm less familiar with the contents.

 

[Wik]

Thanks a lot for the recommendations, guys. I just feel I should make one minor addition:

I don't really care for psionics. I'm seriously considering dropping psionics completely. This doesn't have to be a "by the book" conversion of Dark Sun. I could, in fact, just use arcane magic... I think it'd be less RP-gamey, and more novel-like to do so.

So even if a system lacks psionics, it doesn't mean it's a no-go.

 

[pawsplay]

Are you sure you don't just want to play Conan + Thri-Kreen or something? Hulking warriors, devious wizards, furtive slaves, pitiless bandit-merchants...

 

[Matt James]

I like Iron Heroes, but I would have to think on it more due to the setting.

 

[blargney the second]

I don't really care for psionics. I'm seriously considering dropping psionics completely.

Noooo.... I really really want psionics! I've never played Dark Sun, and I've always been told that it's got psionics in it. I've never played a psionic character before, so this was going to be my opportunity for it!

If you want to run a Conan game, I'd be down with a psionics-free Conan game. But if we're in Athas, I'd really like to see the psi stuff I've been led to expect to be there.
-blarg

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Not sure if someone mentioned these on page 2, but...

If you are having fun using BECMI, just use that. It's easy enough to create classes for Dark Sun using BECMI (there are at least two articles I know of that delve into class-creation for BECMI; one is called "Customized Classes" or something like that, from a Dragon mag, and the other one was called "Building the Perfect Class", by Erin D. Smale).

The other game system that I think would work and be a lot of fun to customize for DarkSun would be the d6 system. You can get it free, and it's pretty sweet. It was used for the 'original' Star Wars RPG (developed by WEG, now defunct). You can DL the rules here: http://www.wegfansite.com/forum/ ).

Baring those two...just go with 2nd edition AD&D and tweek to your liking. The best thing about the "old editions" is that they were developed in a very modular format. Don't like the combat system? Go use something else, like Rolemaster, or RuneQuest II. Want a different magic feeling? No problem, switch to Talislanta, Ars Magica or GURPS. The beauty of those earlier editions is that it only takes some minor adjustments to rip out and replace just about anything, without 'screwing up the balance' of the system.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Thanael]

Other: 3E*

Use the extensive 3E conversion and netbooks from athas.org.
Incorporate a few of the old 2E isms such as having a roster of PCs starting at 3rd level.
Season with 3E modifications from Trailblazer and/or Pathfinder as needed/wanted.

Or go with Pathfinder and convert the athas.org material. (There should be several threads about that on paizo..)

But definitely download the stuff from athas.org, regardless of the system you use. They put out some very nice material/expansions to the setting.