Dark Sun?
Are you playing 2nd Edition or 3.x?
If you're playing second edition, then I would recommend the original boxed set and the first adventures (Freedom and Road to Urik) as a great start. Road to Urik in particular has some awesome roleplaying scenarios. For a later adventure, Dragon Crown is turely "epic" in every sense of the word.
There are also a number of useful supplements for characters (Complete Gladiator's Handbook; Will & the Way; Earth, Air, Fire & Water; Defilers & Preservers) and Dm's (two Monstrous Compendiums, Psionic Artifacts of Athas). Also some nice Dragon articles with kits, weapons and monsters were around as well. One of the Drgaon annuals also had Skills & Powers options for DS characters.
If you're playing 3rd edition, then you can either go with the Athas.org rules or those presented in Dragon and Dungeon magazine a couple of years back.
Personally I would love to see WOTC do an "Expedition to Athas" book but I can't see it ahppening any time soon.
If you're playing second edition, then I would recommend the original boxed set and the first adventures (Freedom and Road to Urik) as a great start. Road to Urik in particular has some awesome roleplaying scenarios. For a later adventure, Dragon Crown is turely "epic" in every sense of the word.
There are also a number of useful supplements for characters (Complete Gladiator's Handbook; Will & the Way; Earth, Air, Fire & Water; Defilers & Preservers) and Dm's (two Monstrous Compendiums, Psionic Artifacts of Athas). Also some nice Dragon articles with kits, weapons and monsters were around as well. One of the Drgaon annuals also had Skills & Powers options for DS characters.
If you're playing 3rd edition, then you can either go with the Athas.org rules or those presented in Dragon and Dungeon magazine a couple of years back.
Personally I would love to see WOTC do an "Expedition to Athas" book but I can't see it ahppening any time soon.
Wik
First Post
Alright, I'm in a hurry, so I can't go into detail, but...
Get the original Dark sun set. The revised is fine (the felt map is AMAZING), but I like the tone of the original more.
Ivory Triangle set... it really goes into two of the city-states, and it's a great place to run adventures. I've never actually owned it (just a purchased PDF) but it worked great in one of my campaigns.
Veiled Society (or is it Veiled Alliance?). It's about the DS mages, which are great in their own respect, but it also goes into a fair amount of detail about all seven of the city-states. You can base an entire campaign on this one book. It's great.
Buy one monster book, although if you're running a 3e game, you're better off with the Paizo monster stuff (I use it, it's amazing). In any case, the Paizo stuff is pretty good.
"City State of Tyr" is a great place to set your campaigns (it's kind of the Waterdeep of Athas).
***
Don't pick up "Valley of Dust and Fire", since it's pretty much a campaign setting of it's own, set away from the Tablelands - it's an alright book, but not a great intro to DS.
Windriders of the jagged peaks and Mind Lords of the Last Sea are also "mini-campaigns" in that they're set away from the Tablelands, and thus, not worth picking up.
Defilers and Preservers is my least favourite DS book, though - I just hate it.
Get the original Dark sun set. The revised is fine (the felt map is AMAZING), but I like the tone of the original more.
Ivory Triangle set... it really goes into two of the city-states, and it's a great place to run adventures. I've never actually owned it (just a purchased PDF) but it worked great in one of my campaigns.
Veiled Society (or is it Veiled Alliance?). It's about the DS mages, which are great in their own respect, but it also goes into a fair amount of detail about all seven of the city-states. You can base an entire campaign on this one book. It's great.
Buy one monster book, although if you're running a 3e game, you're better off with the Paizo monster stuff (I use it, it's amazing). In any case, the Paizo stuff is pretty good.
"City State of Tyr" is a great place to set your campaigns (it's kind of the Waterdeep of Athas).
***
Don't pick up "Valley of Dust and Fire", since it's pretty much a campaign setting of it's own, set away from the Tablelands - it's an alright book, but not a great intro to DS.
Windriders of the jagged peaks and Mind Lords of the Last Sea are also "mini-campaigns" in that they're set away from the Tablelands, and thus, not worth picking up.
Defilers and Preservers is my least favourite DS book, though - I just hate it.
If you're playing a 2Ed game, any of the suggestions above are sound.
If you're going 3.x, get one of the basic settings- each has its merits, find Dragon magazine issues #315 & 319 and Dungeon magazine issues #110-111 for 3.x updates, and check out Athas.org.
You'll also want the Expanded Psionics Handbook (XPH)- it has the current versions of the Half-Giant and Thri-Kreen and almost all the psi you'd want- many people who use psionics also use Hyperconscious (a 3rd party product by Bruce Cordell- the XPH's writer). There are some good things in CompPsi, but some better things for the Soulknife in particular in Dragon #341.
If you're going 3.x, get one of the basic settings- each has its merits, find Dragon magazine issues #315 & 319 and Dungeon magazine issues #110-111 for 3.x updates, and check out Athas.org.
You'll also want the Expanded Psionics Handbook (XPH)- it has the current versions of the Half-Giant and Thri-Kreen and almost all the psi you'd want- many people who use psionics also use Hyperconscious (a 3rd party product by Bruce Cordell- the XPH's writer). There are some good things in CompPsi, but some better things for the Soulknife in particular in Dragon #341.
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