So, Dark Sun: It's officially out. What do you think of it?

[Ahrimon]

Re: GP vs. CP.

My quick skimming of the economy section basically explained that Ceramic Pieces were issued by the Dragon Kings as a means of economic control, but once you got outside the city GPs were widely used instead.

I"m just going to run it as everything is cermic peices. They're just colored differeantly and with differant stamps on them. Copper peices, silver peices and gold peices are just differant color stains in the glazing process. =)

 

[Troy70]

I think WOTC did a great job with Dark Sun.

Love the art work.

Too bad that the CB will not get updated with DS until Sept 21st.

I never got to play in 2ed Dark Sun.

 

[Bagpuss]

For those familiar with the previous Dark Sun 2nd Ed stuff, how far on is the history of the setting?

Can you adapt earlier adventures? Seems this is set post "Freedom" adventure but what about the other published adventures for the setting?

 

[Scribble]

I"m just going to run it as everything is cermic peices. They're just colored differeantly and with differant stamps on them. Copper peices, silver peices and gold peices are just differant color stains in the glazing process. =)

Thats kind of how they explain it in the book too.

 

[Shroomy]

For those familiar with the previous Dark Sun 2nd Ed stuff, how far on is the history of the setting?

It's pretty much the same as in previous editions, but they don't go into much depth; it's largely confined to a single sidebar in the CS, the Dragon of Tyr entry in the Creature Companion, and a few smatterings of lore scattered throughout both books. I don't believe they mention the Blue Age at all, as well as what caused the transition from the Blue Age to the Green Age, they only allude to the halfling's previous dominance, and Rajaat's ultimate motivation for the Cleansing Wars is not explored. The biggest change to the setting history would be the addition of the Dawn War; during that time, the primordials vanquished the gods, which introduced the flaw in magic that would lead to defiling, ushering in the Red Age (I don't have the CS in front of me, so I may be misquoting specifics or jumbling the exact timeline).

 

[TarionzCousin]

Gnome lovers, we must not stand for this!

The gnomes are already standing, I think--it's kind of hard to tell.


Some questions:
Is walking around in broad daylight painful?

Are there rules for environmental hazards?

And what percentage of the monsters are psionic?

 

[Bagpuss]

It's pretty much the same as in previous editions, but they don't go into much depth;( snip stuff) (I don't have the CS in front of me, so I may be misquoting specifics or jumbling the exact timeline).

Thanks but I was more talking about how far on from the initial time line.

For example in the original Dark Sun there was an adventure called Freedom about the liberation of Tyr from it's Sorcerer-King, but in 4th Ed, the Sorcerer King of Tyr is already dead. So you can't go coverting Freedom to run in 4th Ed.

I was wondering home many other adventures from 2nd Ed are similarly effected.

 

[Shroomy]

Some questions:
Is walking around in broad daylight painful?

Yes, it can be really hazardous if you don't take the proper precautions or run out of survival days (the abstraction for the food, water, and desert survival gear you'd need). There's a new, nasty disease called sun sickness that can really mess with you.

Are there rules for environmental hazards?

Yep, there's an entire chapter in the Creature Catalog describing specific environment hazards and terrain types found on Athas.

And what percentage of the monsters are psionic?

The majority of them do have some sort of psychic abilities. Basically, if it had psionic abilities in previous editions, it stands to reason they'd have some sort of ability with a psychic, charm, fear, or illusion keyword.

 

[Shroomy]

Thanks but I was more talking about how far on from the initial time line.

For example in the original Dark Sun there was an adventure called Freedom about the liberation of Tyr from it's Sorcerer-King, but in 4th Ed, the Sorcerer King of Tyr is already dead. So you can't go coverting Freedom to run in 4th Ed.

I was wondering home many other adventures from 2nd Ed are similarly effected.

I didn't follow DS after the first few 2e supplements so others may be able to give you more details, but the 4e version of DS is set in the aftermath of Kalak's death (probably a few months aftewards) and I don't believe the other events detailed in the Prism Pentad series have happened. All of SKs are still around, that's for sure.

 

[Pbartender]

Thanks but I was more talking about how far on from the initial time line.

For example in the original Dark Sun there was an adventure called Freedom about the liberation of Tyr from it's Sorcerer-King, but in 4th Ed, the Sorcerer King of Tyr is already dead. So you can't go coverting Freedom to run in 4th Ed.

Why not? It'd be an awesome introduction to a Dark Sun campaign, and it'd give the PCs some initial investment in the campaign setting.

I think I know what my next project is... Converting that adventure.