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]

WotC doesn't really do books with distinctive visual styles any more though. Back in the 80s/90s you had Brom defining DS, DiTerlizzi putting his stamp all over Planescape etc. These days there's really only 'the D&D style'. Each book has dozens of different artists (probably because the full-colour interior art we get now is MUCH more labor-intensive than the line drawings you saw back then), and style-wise they're relatively close together.

 

[Parmandur]

WotC doesn't really do books with distinctive visual styles any more though. Back in the 80s/90s you had Brom defining DS, DiTerlizzi putting his stamp all over Planescape etc. These days there's really only 'the D&D style'. Each book has dozens of different artists (probably because the full-colour interior art we get now is MUCH more labor-intensive than the line drawings you saw back then), and style-wise they're relatively close together.

Yes, consistent high quality art is one of the better qualities of modern D&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes, consistent high quality art is one of the better qualities of modern D&D.

Providing you actually like the art. I prefer pretty much all the various TSR styles over 3e forward, with the occasional specific exception on both sides).

 

[Zardnaar]

Yes, consistent high quality art is one of the better qualities of modern D&D.

Overall it's higher quality but the best of tge best I find is still the old stuff.
New stuff has that bland, generic CGI look. There's no passion or impact conveyed. Kind of falls in the 6.6-7.5 range.

You do tend to avoid the worst of tge old art it's more consistent.

 

[Parmandur]

Providing you actually like the art. I prefer pretty much all the various TSR styles over 3e forward, with the occasional specific exception on both sides).

Well, sure, that is true. But if WotC is good at anything, it is producing fantasy art that the vast majority of people of like.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, sure, that is true. But if WotC is good at anything, it is producing fantasy art that the vast majority of people of like.

Vast majority of people tolerate and don't complain about, at least.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The fantasy art is also very good to sell merchandising products as posters and t-shirts.

* I wonder if D&D-One could create a special section for 3PPs to create new elements for the VTT. Then we could see "dessert tribal-punk" characters in the VTT.

* This is not only an update. They have to choose if the setting is going to be rebooted, or wonder how to design the rest of the Athaspace. They have to say if PC can explore the Athasian Feywild, the "Land-within-the-Wind". If WotC wants DS allows space for a wargame, then the lore should can explain the economy of the armies in a region with low level of resources. Or they have to imagine about people hidding in the Athasian underground to survive the cleasing war.

If there were deities in Athas. Did these create astral domains? Then, what happened with these domains?

What if the rest of the Athaspace was conquered by the githyankis? Or her new queen proclaims to be the prophetess of the "egregore", the voice of the people, the wisdow by the ancestors. This renegade faction could be useful to explain the reason of an adventure where Athasian and no-Athasian elements appeared mixed.

* What if the cult to the ancestors could work to create divine magic?

What if sorcerer-kings could create slaves by means of a transgenic version of yellow musk creeper?

What if a wildspace was conquered by the cult of the elemental eye, but later this was invaded by Athasians?

 

[Doctor Futurity]

Hungary, Europe. To be honest I cannot comprehend most of the issues discussed here. DS is the Ancient World setting for D&D. It portrays the vast societal inequalities, the at-will wars waged on each others. Then it is also evident why it is a point of light setting: without a source of water, people cannot live and those sources of water are tightly controlled. In many sense it would make a more perfect setting to D&D than any else. Adventuring (you go about in a country fully armed and rob tombs) would not really fit any setting that mimics our 15th - 18th century.

The US has a long history of the current religious/cultural zeitgeist obsessively determining that some form of literature or entertainment must be corrupting in a manner which requires a self-imposed censorship. It seems to be a long-standing tradition that I think stems from the US's protestant/puritanical roots that the written word* has a corrupting and dangerous influence, but this concept has jumped the shark and now operates way beyond the restrictive religious boundaries it once resided within.

*EDIT the "wrong sort of written word," I mean. Anyone espousing such restrictions have a quick and short list of approved written words.

 

[Vaalingrade]

That explanation is kind of hilarious when it's the puritanical guys who keep trying to justify and excuse slavery up to an including saying folks like me would be happier if they brought it back.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

We can bet DS is going to be rebooted, and not only about the lore and all potentially problematic content, but because gameplay reasons, for example changings the limits about classes and PC species. Maybe the size of the Athasian Tablelands could be enlarged, since the size of British islands to Northamerica, to allow more space for adventures, the previous "sandbox" was too limited.

I have suggested there is a logical reason slavery not showed, because the sorcerer-kings are enough smart to realises the citizens are easier to be controlled thanks an illusion of freedom, and the people would believe the forced works are for criminals and people who couldn't pay their debts.

Other point if it the faction from the black spine module conquered the rest of the Athaspace, creating other explanation about because Athas is so isolated. And maybe remains from the Vodoni empire (a Spelljammer faction) arrived and started an invasion of the Athaspace.

And my question is if DS could allow a class like the psi-artificer, or a "biohacker" (the class from Starfinder RPG by Paizo).

Could the sorcerer-kings keep the secrets of the biotech, the life-shape craft by the rusthili?