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Its funny, I am not the biggest fan of D&D 4e preferring 3.5, also D&D Next has just been announced, and yet I found myself yesterday ordering the D&D 4e Dark Sun books from Amazon.
I had heard of Dark Sun previously but no mention of it grabbed me, however recently I saw some posts and photos from a group in my Meetup group who have been playing 4e Dark Sun and something piqued my interest.
I started reading a few reviews and suddenly I was grabbed! Its a harsh sword and sorcery setting with city states rather than nations, rulers who use forbidden magic, and somewhere the gods have forsaken and where magic items are very, very rare! Cool!
No setting since Eberron has grabbed me this much (not Glorantha, Anglerre, Spinward Marches, Mars or Golarion) - Dark Sun makes me want to play possibly in spite of the game system, whereas most other settings I will play because I like the system.
So, I have bought the books and am awaiting their arrival. Has my order been made in haste? Will I be happy with my purchase? Is Dark Sun just that great of a setting?
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I don't play 4th edition, but the Dark Sun books are great apart from the adventure, "Marauders of the Dune Sea".
If it isn't too late, I'd strongly recommend not buying the adventure, as it ruins one major and several minor elements of the setting.
The only way its publication makes any sense at all is if it was originally written for some other setting and then converted by someone who didn't know the first thing about Dark Sun.
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I can’t comment on the 4e reprint of this setting, but it was one of my favorite 2e settings. It was very innovative. I really enjoyed the gritty nature of the setting and the aspect of the environment itself being a deadly force to contend with...
The setting was so deadly in fact, that the rules suggested that you start the PCs out at 3rd level just to give them an edge...
It was also the first setting to fully incorporate psionics into the very fabric of the world...
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The Setting is very good and I have to admit, the 4th edition rules work quite well for Athas, even for me, despite my preference for 3.5/pathfinder. The new books are great, providing a good overview of the world with some more detailed areas and a lot of monsters/encounters fitting to the world.
The Adventure is sadly quite bad, if you read the core books before you read it, you will instantly know why, even if you have no prior knowledge of the setting. The free rpg day adventure is short but better and is easily combined with the intro in the corebook.
This site offers a good deal of information on the setting, including several great webbooks they published since the setting was more or less abandoned with the end of 2nd. edition AD&D (found in the product pages as books published by athas.org).
Have fun in the unforgiving sands of Athas.
So, I have bought the books and am awaiting their arrival. Has my order been made in haste? Will I be happy with my purchase? Is Dark Sun just that great of a setting?
The best analogue I know to Dark Sun is Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Cycle and John Norman's ". . . of Gor" books. Dark Sun shows that you can do off the wall things with D&D and AD&D and still be D&D. Dark Sun is that great of a setting.
It's a fresh take on D&D. Just like Birthright and Eberron are.
So, I have bought the books and am awaiting their arrival. Has my order been made in haste?
No.
Is Dark Sun just that great of a setting?
Yes.
I think Dark Sun is best described as a post apocalyptic sword and sorcery setting.
I used to play the original Dark Sun campaign for 2nd Edition AD&D. It does have it own feel and atmosphere, and I recommend it. I haven't read the 4th edition books, but if it's anything like the original you will be pleased.
FYI, I forget which issue it's in, but one of the print issues of Dragon Mag from a few years back had a Dark Sun conversion guide for 3E. If you want to use 3E/Pathfinder you might look into getting your hands on that, then you can play the Dark Sun setting with the system you prefer.
I played some Dark Sun with 4E, it worked fairly well. However, I don't think that the 4E system lends itself to the gritty style of play that setting espouses. My Mul fighter was pretty bad ass though.
Dark sun... Fond memories. It is absolutely top notch as a setting. I especially liked the original series of adventures: Freedom, Road to Urik, Dragon's Crown. The setting material is good, such as The Ivory Triangle. Note that there have been other periods. Mind lords of the Last sea, Windriders of the Jagged cliffs and so on are late additions that play a bit fast and loose with the setting. Also note that the novels, the Prism pentad, are central to the setting, and reveals a lot of things left as mysteries in the game. First and foremost, the big why. The other novels for Dark sun are good, the ones I have read anyway.
It is worth the invested time and energy. Understand, though, that the setting is pretty heavily developed during 2nd edition. Whether you want to ignore that depends on your completist and obsessiveness scores. :-)
I've been playing in a 4E Dark Sun game, it's great. My Mul Gladiator/Arena Fighter/Mul Battle Slave hits surprisingly hard for a defender. We use the inherent bonus system, which makes the game very balanced even though I don't have a single magic item at level 12.
Themes are one of the best things they added to 4E. I think you'll really enjoy the books. I think they are probably the best supplements produced for 4E.
The Dark Sun books are great, and they do a good job of conveying the setting. I would suggest, however, that you should grab the first 2E box set that came out if you can find it. The Wanderer's Journal inside it is an amazing accessory for truly getting into the Dark Sun mindset. Even if you can't get the whole set, just that book would be worth it (the cloth map and first flip adventure are nice additions).
Make sure it's not the second box set though, they changed too much due to the Prism Pentad books (which is why I think they rewound the setting to right after the first book). That being said, the first novel in the Prism Pentad will lead up to exactly where the 4E version of the campaign world begins. Like a preview.
Thanks again. BTW has anyone read the Dark Sun graphic novel? I was thinking of getting it to get me in the mood?
I'd rather read the original prism pentad books. The graphic novel is not bad, but rather generic and .. well. I cannot really recommend it.
But the prism pentad series was written by the author of the setting, and you can get used copies of the books for a few cents... so I can second (or third, or .. ) the recommendation to read at least The Verdant Passage, the first novel in the series.
Another thing... The absolutely most impressive supplement for Dark Sun, really a heavy hitter compared to any such supplement, is Dragon kings. Think epic rules before epic rules were invented, it shaped a lot of what came later, and it truly oozes flavour. It is 2nd edition, of course.
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But the prism pentad series was written by the author of the setting, and you can get used copies of the books for a few cents... so I can second (or third, or .. ) the recommendation to read at least The Verdant Passage, the first novel in the series.
I was looking at the graphic novel as I could read that pretty quickly, however novels take me quite a bit longer as I am a slow reader. If I only got the Verdant Passage is it a self contained story in itself or would I feel I had only read the first part of a story?
Thanks for pointing them out BTW!
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If I only got the Verdant Passage is it a self contained story in itself or would I feel I had only read the first part of a story?
It's been years since I read these books (read them when they first came out in the early 90's), but IIRC, you will indeed feel like you just read the first part of a story, and, if you are even slightly obsessive-compulsive (like I tend to be when it comes to collecting), you will want to get (and read) the rest, if for no other reason than for the sake of completion...
There is a definite sense of closure in the first book, as the second feels like it starts out with a "Well, what do we do now?" vibe. Also, where the first book ends, is EXACTLY where the 4E Dark Sun material begins. It allows you to be familiar with the stage being set for the beginning of a game or campaign using the new material.
I think the whole story if (all 5 books) if read through change WAY to much in the world, and affect a lot. Many fans actually disregard what happened in them. If you know anything about FR, it is almost as if the Avatar trilogy of books were the very first ones, and didn't get resolved at the end. The whole world is affected by the novels, and I think you would be MUCH better off only reading the first.
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Dark Sun is the main reason I want PF to release psionic and epic rules. Even as a person that doesn't play 4e I have the 4e Dark Sun books for reference material. It is by far my favorite official campaign setting. I was really happy at Gen Con last year when I managed to finish up my 2e Dark Sun collection.