Dark Sun: What System would you use?

[Hungry Like The Wolf]

A fantasy shadowrun could be awesome but that'd be a bit of work. I'd say tweak BRP to suit athas or just run 2nd edition.

 

[pawsplay]

Really, if you just want a game that can handle some rough sword-fights and a few dastardly spells, you could use almost anything.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I'd say out of the options you set forth, 2E seems the closest to what your striving for. Heck, I'd suggest using the skills & powers book for the proficiency system instead of 3e's skill system, personally - but just not S&P for point-building PCs.

I'd second this. Normally I'm a big fan of the Skills & Powers system but if you're looking for a simple system with little focus on build mechanics, you're better off just adopting the proficiency systems.

 

[Wik]

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

Right. I forgot about you.

Okay, disregard what i said people. Apparently, psionics have to be in it!

Although really, I think Pawsplay kind of got it - I DO sort of see Dark Sun as a Conan + Thri-Kreen type game.

 

[Wik]

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).

I do like BECMI, but it's been mentioned a few times by my players that they don't know if it'd work for a longer-term game. I'm inclined to agree with them.

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/ ).

While I do love d6 (it is, in fact, my favourite system), I don't think it's a good match for Dark Sun. The rules are too cinematic and high octane, and it's very easy in a fantasy game to simply create characters that bury all their points into one or two skills and become combat MONSTERS. Not to mention that d6 is a game that expects a lot of chases, banter, and the like, and I don't really envision Dark Sun as a good match.

Which is unfortunate, because I love running d6 games.

***

Right now, I'm considering Savage Worlds or 2e as my prime contenders, although I'm looking at the Cortex system (from the Serenity RPG).

 

[Argyle King]

GURPS

Dark Sun is a rough and tumble & gritty campaign world. That style of fantasy is something GURPS does exceptionally well right out of the box.


If you want to pair down the rules a little bit and keep more of a D&D feel, use the Dungeon Fantasy suppliments.

If you want more in depth rules for equipment made out of bone and such, pick up Low-Tech.

 

[pawsplay]

GURPS conversion in process:

GURPS Dark Sun Conversion - Steve Jackson Games Forums

 

[Odhanan]

I chose "other option."

If I was running Dark Sun at this point (which I like), I would take the first boxed set, and basically pillage the John Carter series of Edgar Rice Burroughs to customize it, and then run it with 1st edition AD&D rules.

In effect, it would look like a blend of Dark Sun and Barsoom, with complete sandbox 1st edition game play, including the reintroduction of dungeons and the like in the environment. We'd go from there.

Yes. It would be awesome.

 

[blargney the second]

Right. I forgot about you.

Okay, disregard what i said people. Apparently, psionics have to be in it!

Woot! Thanks, Wik.

 

[Wik]

Woot! Thanks, Wik.

I get lost in these GM-related questions sometimes. And I forget that, you know, I actually have players.

**

If it wasn't for psionics, 2e would win by a landslide, almost (though with a BECMI style THAC0 progression for both PCs and monsters). However, if we add psionics to the list, I kind of like either Savage Worlds or Cortex, or some weird frankenstein's monster combo of the two.

Unless there's some great set of 2e Psionics that I don't know about? There could possibly be a hack out there. Really, I never had too many problems with psionics "back in the day", but I have a feeling this is because I used to be a very heavy-handed GM and would just ignore flagrant abuses.

I've never played GURPS, but from what I understand, it's a very "buildy" game. And while I don't mind buildy games, I want my non-buildy players to be able to make PCs and go and still be able to play the same game as the build-oriented players. How does the game actually play out? I've never really heard too many play experiences of the game... sort of like Traveller, to be honest. What is GURPS like in play? And how much could I reasonably expect to pay to get started?

3e is only an option if it's an e6 Variant. I'd love to hear some opinions on how the game would work out in actual play. How does e6 work in slightly longer-term campaigns? And really, how would e6 work with, you know, sorcerer kings? I have no desire to play full on d20 or pathfinder. Sorry to the 3e guys, but I don't want to go back. And sorry to the 4e crowd, but that game isn't for me, either.