D&D 5E DnDBeyond leaks Dark Sun?

[Charlaquin]

I agree with player agency.

I agree with planetary scarcity.

At the same time, there needs to be real hope, that effort matters, to restore Athas − in order for me to find the setting interesting.

The setting needs to make available tools that can restore the magnitude of the entire planet.

Part of that is certain localities are working on this and have some tools to some degree.

So, two things: First, yes, I ageee that there needs to be real hope of restoring Athas. But to restore it, it must first be despoiled; Dark Sun isn’t about preventing climate collapse, it’s about figuring out what to do after it has already happened. Second, it’s ok if that doesn’t interest you. Not every setting needs to be interesting for everyone. I’m not particularly interested in Spelljammer, but I don’t want it to be changed to suit my interests. That would ruin it for the people who do like it, because it wouldn’t be recognizable as Spelljammer any more.

 

[Yaarel]

there needs to be real hope of restoring Athas

it must first be despoiled

How do these two points reconcile?

For example, if Athas is hurtling toward the blackhole, and plantlife went extinct from lack of sunlight, etcetera, ...

How exactly does this REAL hope happen?

 

[see]

Its been years since I read or played SJ so you may be quite right and I may be confusing it with Star Wars, D20 Future or even Alternity but I'm pretty sure it was SJ.

Original Spelljammer was 2D, the War Captain's Companion alternate combat system included optional 3D.

 

[Charlaquin]

How do these two points reconcile?

Because prevention and restoration are different things.

Look, I’m all for speculative fiction about how to prevent climate collapse. But it’s also important to have speculative fiction about how to move forward if prevention efforts fail. Both are very real possibilities, and both are therefore important to explore. Dark Sun is the latter.

For example, if Athas is hurtling toward the blackhole, and plantlife went extinct from lack of sunlight, etcetera, ...

How exactly does this REAL hope happen?

You’re describing Fyreen here, not Athas. Athas wasn’t destroyed by a natural disaster like a black hole, it was destroyed by the selfish actions of powerful people. That’s central to the message. How do we rebuild after that destruction? Well, first off, we need to depose the tyrants who put the world in that state. Then we need to figure out how to distribute the resources they hoarded. Then we need to figure out how to live sustainably off those resources, and hopefully leave ourselves enough surplus to start building something new. And of course we need to create safeguards against someone else doing it again.

 

[Yaarel]

You’re describing Fyreen here, not Athas. Athas wasn’t destroyed by a natural disaster like a black hole, it was destroyed by the selfish actions of powerful people. That’s central to the message.

The god-kings injured the sun, turning it red. Arguably, they also destroyed the sun, causing its collapse into a blackhole.

How do we rebuild after that destruction? Well, first off, we need to depose the tyrants who put the world in that state. Then we need to figure out how to distribute the resources they hoarded. Then we need to figure out how to live sustainably off those resources, and hopefully leave ourselves enough surplus to start building something new.

So the setting is for players to engage all the way from tier 1-4 in a dystopia to tier 21-24 successfully restoring a utopian planet Athas?

If so, then tier 9-12, they can found a community.

In tier 13-16, they can expand their influence to other communties.

 

[Charlaquin]

The god-kings injured the sun, turning it red. Arguably, they also destroyed the sun, causing its collapse into a blackhole.

Well, they didn’t turn it into a black hole. That was a thing that happened in Doomspace, which is a different setting (and also in that setting it wasn’t the sorcerer-kings who turned the sun into a black hole).

So the setting is for players to engage all the way from tier 1-4 in a dystopia to tier 21-24 successfully restoring a utopian planet Athas?

If so, then tier 9-12, they can found a community.

In tier 13-16, they can expand their influence to other communties.

Hell yeah, that sounds hype AF.

 

[Yaarel]

Well, they didn’t turn it into a black hole. That was a thing that happened in Doomspace, which is a different setting (and also in that setting it wasn’t the sorcerer-kings who turned the sun into a black hole).

Heh, I am focusing on the Doomspace scenario to get a sense of, how bleak is bleak?

Hell yeah, that sounds hype AF.

I can deal with 0 to planet.

 

[Charlaquin]

Heh, I am focusing on the Doomspace scenario to get a sense of, how bleak is bleak?

The problem with Doomspace isn’t that it’s too bleak, it’s that it isn’t Dark Sun. Like, at all.

I can deal with 0 to planet.

 

[Demetrios1453]

If anyone is worried about WotC avoiding mentioning slavery in products, the neogi are explicitly called "slavers" in the Spelljammer adventure.

 

[R_J_K75]

Original Spelljammer was 2D, the War Captain's Companion alternate combat system included optional 3D.

You are correct. As its been years since we played SJ I'm assuming I picked up the War Captains Companion shortly after the getting the original boxed set and just thought 3D combat was there from the start