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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marandahir" data-source="post: 8556093" data-attributes="member: 6803643">That's one of my favourite Youtube reviews of the movie. Genuinely great channel, too. For me, the film has been a part of my life since my parents taped it off the air when I was a kid and I couldn't stop watching the VHS over and over again - because no matter how many horrors Dorothy went through, the ending was worth it. I had to get to the eucatastrophe and resolution to make it through the bad things. I think WotC can create such a setting guide as I spoke to above. And again, I don;'t think it should be a message novel: I said that Return to Oz worked precisely because it DIDN'T foist morals onto the characters and speak down to the child audience. It let us identify with the protagonists in the face of adversity, and I think that's one of the core values that D&D is known to engender among young persons. I don't think it has to be a giant treatise on why slavery is evil. It just needs to show the relentless, unforgiving evil of Athas and cast the characters as heroes who will not be able to heal the world and solve all its problems, but nevertheless strive against it because they're the good guys, gorramit! And that's an INCREDIBLY powerful message that is engendered by the nature of the hobby and is reinforced by the details of the setting. Defiling Magic causes problems. Being evil is not a good idea in Athas, because it creates some really uncomfortable results. But being good doesn't save you either. This sets up the fundamental conflict of Dark Sun, and one that is quintessentially D&D, but in a setting that reinforces it. They merely have to not prop up evil player options and "evil mode" narratives and simply focus the thrust of the Dark Sun campaign on the few good people struggling against overwhelming evil. There are no gods of good backing you up on this one. There are no higher powers than the Sorcerer Kings and the Dragon of Tyr. There is no safe zone. The wilderness isn't safe and the cities are morally bankrupt at best, outright hostile at worst. You are utterly alone. Or you would be, but you have your companions. You are one of a team, and this team may not avert climate change, but you might be able to overthrow an oligarchic oil baron or two… err, you see why I said we need this sort of narrative in our lives right now? Sorry, I slipped a bit into my slant.I actually thought they were pretty close with 4e's take on Dark Sun, though the artwork was demeaning as ever. I think they'll do better in 5e's take.</blockquote>

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