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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jacob Lewis" data-source="post: 9750559" data-attributes="member: 6667921">I’ve always loved the Dark Sun setting, but ironically, I don’t think D&D’s rules are the right fit for it. Athas is a world where survival extends far beyond combat. In fact, combat should usually be the worst possible option—something characters resort to only out of desperation or when forced into it. Most fights should leave them outmatched, drained, or worse. That design tension is intentional, and it runs directly against the grain of what D&D usually emphasizes. That’s part of why Dark Sun appeals to me in the first place.But because Dark Sun was published as a D&D campaign setting, it remains bound to the rules it was designed to subvert. That constraint, to me, holds it back from reaching its full potential. Instead of being its own thing, it often feels like D&D in cosplay—or just “hard mode” D&D with extra restrictions bolted on.You can see the cracks in nearly every case where Dark Sun insists that “things are different here.” Take magic: the setting says it’s rare, feared, and destructive to the world’s fragile ecosystem. Yet in practice, wizards are still fully supported as player options, with little mechanical consequence to reflect the supposed danger or stigma. Or consider clerics: Athas has no gods, so there should be no divine casters. The solution? Simply reskin clerics as elemental priests and shuffle their spell lists a bit. The message is clear—don’t worry, you can still play a cleric, just with different window dressing.This “yes, but…” pattern repeats everywhere. Rules that should reinforce the world’s premise instead work around it to preserve the standard D&D experience. The setting says “scarcity and danger define every choice,” while the rules quietly say “business as usual.” And that tension is why, for me, trying to run Dark Sun under D&D rules feels unsatisfying.If I were to run a proper Dark Sun campaign, I’d lean into what makes Athas different rather than sanding it down to fit inside D&D’s mold. Survival would be the centerpiece: food and water always the highest priority. Combat skill and raw power might make life easier, but neither guarantees access to the most valuable resources. In this vision, the measure of success isn’t defeating enemies—it’s enduring long enough to see another day.I realize that’s not everyone’s ideal game. Plenty of players come to Dark Sun expecting the familiar rhythms of D&D with a coat of Athasian paint, and for them, the published rules deliver. But I see Dark Sun as something more than that—a world whose tone, priorities, and mechanics should break away from traditional D&D, not be shackled by it. That difference is the whole point.</blockquote>

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