D&D 5E WotC: Why Dark Sun Hasn't Been Revived

In an interview with YouTuber 'Bob the Worldbuilder', WotC's Kyle Brink explained why the classic Dark Sun setting has not yet seen light of day in the D&D 5E era.

I’ll be frank here, the Dark Sun setting is problematic in a lot of ways. And that’s the main reason we haven’t come back to it. We know it’s got a huge fan following and we have standards today that make it extraordinarily hard to be true to the source material and also meet our ethical and inclusion standards... We know there’s love out there for it and god we would love to make those people happy, and also we gotta be responsible.

You can listen to the clip here.

 

[humble minion]

The Warforged are a great literary device, because the surreality of their existence creates enough distance from real word parallels to allow for creative exploration of resonant themes without being a massive turnoff or uncomfortable.

I'd 100% allow Dark Sun warforged as scarecrow-like minor-golem constructs of bone, stone and ivory bound together with ropes of twisted fiber and sinew, given a mind by a powerful psion using a power analogous to the Awaken spell...

 

[Zardnaar]

I'd 100% allow Dark Sun warforged as scarecrow-like minor-golem constructs of bone, stone and ivory bound together with ropes of twisted fiber and sinew, given a mind by a powerful psion using a power analogous to the Awaken spell...

Any race no matter how tefluffed that can essentially ignore the environmental effects is probably poor fit for the setting.

A small curated list of races is probably better anything new should probably pass the "does this race fit on Athas test".

So genasi and yuan ti are probably fine warforged no.

 

[humble minion]

Or you just redo the cleric spell list, tweak the class features and have elementary domains.

Yeah, I'm big on the 'redo the spell list' approach when it comes to making a decent psion out of the sorcerer. It'd work here too. Of course WotC has shown zero inclination towards doing that in any context at all.

Any race no matter how tefluffed that can essentially ignore the environmental effects is probsblva poor fit for the setting.

That's a pretty good point. I'd probably add a disadvantage of some sort to balance things out (or maybe they have to repair themselves every night, using rushes and wood and the like which are not entirely trivial to come by...)

 

[Staffan]

Or you just redo the cleric spell list, tweak the class features and have elementary domains.

At that point you might as well just make a new class. Which sort of is what they did in 4e (except the class was in a different book).

 

[Vaalingrade]

Any race no matter how tefluffed that can essentially ignore the environmental effects is probably poor fit for the setting.

A small curated list of races is probably better anything new should probably pass the "does this race fit on Athas test".

So genasi and yuan ti are probably fine warforged no.

Avoiding logistics is the greatest super power!

 

[Zardnaar]

Avoiding logistics is the greatest super power!

Heh in Darksun that's an OP ability.

I remember shooting PCs water casks in 2E/3E. That scares them.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Even if living constructs were allowed in DS, and these didn't need water or food, they need human company to keep their humanity and sanity. They couldn't be made by metal because this is too expensive. They would be watched like a little lamb among wolves. Maybe the wouldn't want to be in any city.

* What if in the begining of the cleasing war Athas suffered a planar invasion by the Phyrexians?

* And even if there was an update of psionic powers, somebody would complain about not getting ideas from others, for example the occultist powers from Pathfinder, or the classes by Dreamscarred Press.

* Maybe Athaspace suffered a planar rift, and other planets appeared. But these new visitors were too busy with their own troubles and they couldn't stop the cleasing war, and after Athas was isolated because remains of the brown tide could cause new damage in the Feywild and Shadowfell.

Maybe the name of the Shadowfell is the "(eternal) starless night".

 

[Zardnaar]

View attachment 277430

Even if living constructs were allowed in DS, and these didn't need water or food, they need human company to keep their humanity and sanity. They couldn't be made by metal because this is too expensive. They would be watched like a little lamb among wolves. Maybe the wouldn't want to be in any city.

* What if in the begining of the cleasing war Athas suffered a planar invasion by the Phyrexians?

View attachment 277431

* And even if there was an update of psionic powers, somebody would complain about not getting ideas from others, for example the occultist powers from Pathfinder, or the classes by Dreamscarred Press.

* Maybe Athaspace suffered a planar rift, and other planets appeared. But these new visitors were too busy with their own troubles and they couldn't stop the cleasing war, and after Athas was isolated because remains of the brown tide could cause new damage in the Feywild and Shadowfell.

Maybe the name of the Shadowfell is the "(eternal) starless night".

Maybe it has its original unique cosmology and psiforged are non Athasian?

 

[Vaalingrade]

Heh in Darksun that's an OP ability.

I remember shooting PCs water casks in 2E/3E. That scares them.

DM: We're going to be tracking supplies and arrows in the campaign.

Me: ~while maintaining eye contact, pulls out key fob and presses it.~

Explosive bolts I've previously concealed in the DM's floor for just this occasion blow out the floor beneath my seat, dropping me into a chute and into a tunnel I've been digging out little by little over the last five years using solo cups and the tops of all the tupperware in their house. I land perfectly atop an escape cart made by stealing and modifying their neighbor's riding lawnmower and gun it down the tunnel until it meets with old moonshiner's tunnels. I emerge two days later in Kentucky where I change my name to Tadd Winslowe and marry a diner waitress named Leverne, hiding out until I discover through social media that the campaign is over.

Once the all-clear is sounded and I know I will no longer have to participate in logistics, I leave Leverne and our three kids immediately, resuming my previous life, but not without demanding reimbursement from the DM for the time off work I spent destroying the resale value of their home as well as a new set of explosive bolts to reset the system in case they decide to make me pick and alignment in the future.

 

[Zardnaar]

DM: We're going to be tracking supplies and arrows in the campaign.

Me: ~while maintaining eye contact, pulls out key fob and presses it.~

Explosive bolts I've previously concealed in the DM's floor for just this occasion blow out the floor beneath my seat, dropping me into a chute and into a tunnel I've been digging out little by little over the last five years using solo cups and the tops of all the tupperware in their house. I land perfectly atop an escape cart made by stealing and modifying their neighbor's riding lawnmower and gun it down the tunnel until it meets with old moonshiner's tunnels. I emerge two days later in Kentucky where I change my name to Tadd Winslowe and marry a diner waitress named Leverne, hiding out until I discover through social media that the campaign is over.

Once the all-clear is sounded and I know I will no longer have to participate in logistics, I leave Leverne and our three kids immediately, resuming my previous life, but not without demanding reimbursement from the DM for the time off work I spent destroying the resale value of their home as well as a new set of explosive bolts to reset the system in case they decide to make me pick and alignment in the future.

Well water is a thing in Darksun it's post apocalyptic survival.

They strapped a cask of water to the half giant. Big obvious target.