D&D General Would you like there to be a new publication of Dark Sun?

[LuisCarlos17f]

My suggestion is after the future event and possible reboot of D&D multiverse DS will be remade, and the "Athaspace" replaced with the "demiplane of desolation". The Athasian Tablelands will keep, but now it will be only a piece within a bigger jigsaw. Some potentially problematic elements will be only briefly mentioned or insinuated.

I support the idea of this "demiplane of desolation" because this could allow more creative freedom to change the limits about species and classes.

 

[BrokenTwin]

What genre is that? I don't mean to be coy; to my thinking Dark Sun is a mix of sword and planet, sword and sorcery, swords and sandals, and post-apocalyptic fiction. Which of those genres do you view as unwelcome in the current gaming culture? (and why?)

That WotC would need to support, say, the sword and planet genre with appropriate optional rules and character options is a large part of why I would like to see them publish Dark Sun content in the future--even if 5e isn't the perfect fit, system-wise.

Sword & sandals was the specific genre I was thinking of. For a lot of people, that genre is inextricably linked to slavery, sex in various forms (revealing clothing, rape as drama, etc), and all manner of very human evils. None of which seem okay for the current environment WotC is making their content in. Not a judgement call one way or another, to be clear, just an observation.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I would search a list of Christian-friendly sword&sandal movies, for example Samson and Dalila, Ben-Hur or Quo Vadis. And also other example of action-live movies for adults being adapted to "kid-friendly" cartoons, for example Starship Troopers, Toxic Crusaders, Rambo or Robocop.

In the movie Conan the barbarian, played by Arnold Schwenegger, he started as a slave, and after as a pit fighter.

My suggestion is to not mention it until the adventure/module where Kalak is defeated.

Other option could be the setting and the player handbook be "soft" and later the adventures or modules to be "sensible content about distopian society where human dignity is not respected".

And there are titles in DMGuild about heroes fighting against the slavery.

Or DS could be be a "generic" sourcebook about post-apocaliptic +primal-punk adventures, with only a dozen of pages about the Athasian Tablelands.

 

[Guest 85555]

Sword & sandals was the specific genre I was thinking of. For a lot of people, that genre is inextricably linked to slavery, sex in various forms (revealing clothing, rape as drama, etc), and all manner of very human evils. None of which seem okay for the current environment WotC is making their content in. Not a judgement call one way or another, to be clear, just an observation.

I think one problem they are facing though is D&D is a property, in large part, built on the sword and sorcery genre (which has many of the same elements as sword and sandal). And sword and sandal is even an influence too I would say. So they can move away from S&S, but a lot of people expect some amount of sword and sorcery. Even other flavors of fantasy has many of these elements too.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Have I said Hasbro produced a child-friendly Conan the barbarian cartoon?

 

[Clint_L]

I think one problem they are facing though is D&D is a property, in large part, built on the sword and sorcery genre (which has many of the same elements as sword and sandal). And sword and sandal is even an influence too I would say. So they can move away from S&S, but a lot of people expect some amount of sword and sorcery. Even other flavors of fantasy has many of these elements too.

I think D&D: Honour among Thieves illustrates pretty exactly where Hasbro see the franchise at, in terms of theme and content.

 

[Guest 85555]

I think D&D: Honour among Thieves illustrates pretty exactly where Hasbro see the franchise at, in terms of theme and content.

I haven’t seen it. How would you describe it?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

D&D:HaT is fantasy action with pieces of comedy, like some episode of Xena, or the Princess Bride. Maybe it could become a cult movie in the future. It is not perfect but there is a good feeling in it. It was too fun to fall into the oblivion.

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And DS has got a very unique visual style, mixing the ancient cultures and the tribal-punk look. There is a great potential for videogame collabs and merchandising products.

 

[Stormonu]

I haven’t seen it. How would you describe it?

Ren fair irreverence? Basically, modern day with stylish fantasy outfits and technology (or video game tropes)-as-magic. Nothing earth-shattering or in-depth, just a surface level veneer of fantasy. Definately not a grim look at the middle ages nor Conan-esque levels of savagery and supernatural mysticism. And I say that having greatly enjoyed the film.

There were some dark moments in the film thematically, but the characters were rather aloof to the gravity of it. Even in the darkest moments the characters were pretty chipper and nonchalant (as if their players were sitting around a table, munching on chips as the game unfolded). The bad guys were more of a "I'm bad because I need to be the villian" than "woe is me, the world has mistreated me and now I will have my revenge upon it and all will know my suffering."

Personally, I like my games to lean a bit more towards Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, but not quite as bloody. WotC would have a seizure trying to produce something akin to that nowadays.

 

[squibbles]

Sword & sandals was the specific genre I was thinking of. For a lot of people, that genre is inextricably linked to slavery, sex in various forms (revealing clothing, rape as drama, etc), and all manner of very human evils. None of which seem okay for the current environment WotC is making their content in. Not a judgement call one way or another, to be clear, just an observation.

Thanks for explaining. I'm less familiar with the stylistic conventions of that genre than the others.

I haven’t seen it. How would you describe it?

Have you ever heard of the convention where movies were pitched as "Die Hard on a Plane" (Air Force One), "Die Hard in a Bus" (Speed), etc.

Well DaD:HaT is "Guardians of the Galaxy but with horses."

It's fun. There is lighthearted action, there are jokes, there are macguffins, items designated as Dungeons and Dragons Product Identity appear intermittently. It is generally well made, and I laughed occasionally while rooting for the +1 Chris of quipping to defeat the BBEG by hitting her in the face with his lute again.

Ren fair irreverence? Basically, modern day with stylish fantasy outfits and technology (or video game tropes)-as-magic. Nothing earth-shattering or in-depth, just a surface level veneer of fantasy. Definately not a grim look at the middle ages nor Conan-esque levels of savagery and supernatural mysticism. And I say that having greatly enjoyed the film.

Yeah, it's curious. I strongly dislike the idea of that movie and think of it as being pandering and jejune... but I enjoyed it anyway.