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First, I have all the Dragon and Dungeon magazine copies for Dark Sun.
That said, what I would like is a release of some book or .pdf that has the Dark Sun PHB, DMG, MMI and MMII (perhaps with some new goodies) combined for released. A hardback would be grand, but a stiff paperback would be satisfactory.
Has there been any talk about this.
I've never played played Dark Sun, and yet, upon reading through the materials, I'd have to say that it is one of my more favorite settings.
Alternatively, you could combine a lot of past exciting settings into one grand book. Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Knights of the Lich Queen and Omega World come immediately to mind.
Do WotC's copyright issues (for .pdfs and otherwise) translate to past Polyhedron publications, too? (I know that Paizo has problems making .pdfs for sale do to some copyright restrictions.)
I second that recommendation. Athas.org is a great resource for Dark Sun material (particularly love the "Dregotha Ascending" modules). It is probably the best official fan site for any of the defunct TSR campaign settings that I've perused.
Athas.org has some good rules material and some background stuff as well. Just about all of it is available for download free of charge. It also links to some fan-sites that are worth checking out.
While I was initially excited to see the DS stuff in Dungeon and Dragon, I was let down. In reality, the Athas.org stuff is far higher quality, and in my opinion, more true to the original setting. I violently love Dark Sun; it was the first campaign setting that I ever bought. I believe that it is the most ingenious campaign setting to date (granted, I've not read Eberron, so I can't entirely back that statement up until I do).
While the original DS stuff has tons of inconsistencies, the very basics make for one of the most original and interesting role-playing experiences a player can ever have. My only complaint about the fan stuff is that no one has shelled out any cash for good art. Nothing against fan art.. well, actually, I do have something against fan art. Frankly, it's bad. Getting good art isn't that difficult if you're willing to put up a little cash for it and my guess is that if athas.org asked for some donations for art, people would gladly chip in. I sure would.
And Shroomy: do you play DS? You're in Madison, right? I'm in Madison. Get the hint? ;)
Athas.org has some good rules material and some background stuff as well. Just about all of it is available for download free of charge. It also links to some fan-sites that are worth checking out.While I was initially excited to see the DS stuff in Dungeon and Dragon, I was let down. In reality, the Athas.org stuff is far higher quality, and in my opinion, more true to the original setting. I violently love Dark Sun; it was the first campaign setting that I ever bought. I believe that it is the most ingenious campaign setting to date (granted, I've not read Eberron, so I can't entirely back that statement up until I do).
While the original DS stuff has tons of inconsistencies, the very basics make for one of the most original and interesting role-playing experiences a player can ever have. My only complaint about the fan stuff is that no one has shelled out any cash for good art. Nothing against fan art.. well, actually, I do have something against fan art. Frankly, it's bad. Getting good art isn't that difficult if you're willing to put up a little cash for it and my guess is that if athas.org asked for some donations for art, people would gladly chip in. I sure would.
And Shroomy: do you play DS? You're in Madison, right? I'm in Madison. Get the hint? ;)
I owned the original DS boxset and a couple of the original modules (I hated those flipbooks), but my high school campaign was set in the FR and I found 2e psionics confusing. Then I went to college and stopped playing for 11 years, so I missed a lot (Rajaat who? Cleansing Wars what?).
BTW, last time I was in Avol's Used Bookstore, they had a bunch of DS boxsets for sale.
The original DS box set was also the first campaign I bought. We played through a lot of it at Uni. We worked through Freedom, Road to Urik, Arcane Shadows, Asticlian Gambit and Dragon' Crown.
Peronally I liked the flip books, I think the format encouraged writers to be less linear in a way. What I really liked about the format though was the seperation of DM content from Player content into the two separate books.
I've not really checked out Athas.org's 3e stuff, I read the articles in Dungeon and Dragon and felt they didn't match up to the memory I have of what Athas was like.
Dark Sun was great, we all really enjoyed it at the time. Something I never took notice of at the time was the authors names, many of which I now know as famous names from the industry.
I'm old, so I like what I'm familiar with. That being said, I honestly believe Wizards would have done better to re-invent Dark Sun instead of venturing ahead with Everwrong, umm... Eberron.
I think I have the Dragon issues, but if I don't, what were they? And I must have missed the Dungeon issues, what were those?
Has the ruvkova appeared in any of those issues of dungeon? I am looking for a stat block but I honor my DMs request to not view any Dark Sun references. I want ruvkova for an adventure.
Also, I just wanted to say thanks for the kind words of support in the above posts for our work at athas.org - they are greatly appreciated. Apart from the satisfaction and enjoyment that comes with helping to keep the DS setting alive, positive feedback from the fan community is the best reward that we could receive. Thankyou!
I also have to agree with the assessment about some of the artwork - there are places where the quality could be upped a notch or two. Unfortunately, zero budget for art (or anything, really) is part and parcel of being a fan site (no matter how "official" we are). Mind you, we recently appointed a dedicated art director who has been scouring the globe for talented artists - there are a couple of really promising candidates in the mix, so hopefully we will see the standard of the art improve over the course of the coming months.
Anyway, do keep an eye on our site for fresh updates (we are due a revised release of "Terrors of Athas", our monster manual, before very long) and stop by the Dark Sun forum on the WotC site and say hi!
Hey Kamelion-
Firstly, you're welcome. I've been a huge fan of DS3E for a long time and I've tried to get involved to no avail. ;)
How would you feel about someone with a little extra cash commissioning some DS artwork for you guys? Who would one take that up with?
You ahtas.org guys are kick ass. I can offer up another artist, he might want money (don't they all?), but that's something you could talking to him about.
His name is Reilly Brown. http://www.oddgodpress.com/reillybrown/
He did some commission work for me and he's always looking for other stuff. He's top notch, and has done work for Marvel Comics.
Anyway... my "group" is celebrating. A DM in the group has just announced he's kicking off a massive Dark Sun campaign. I was lucky enough to be named as one of the players he wanted to run. So thanks a TON for ALL the hardwork you guys have done at Athas.org. Oh the character contemplations are the good stress I love.
Say Kamelion, an interesting thing came up at our "character creation" meeting for the new Dark Sun game I'm in. Athas.org is recognized as being the Official Dark Sun for 3.x versions of D&D as well as content creation and such. Who if I may ask, would I hit up at WoTC for more along the lines of the Intellectual Property rights? See, my friends and I absolutely LOVE Dark Sun and the whole setting. Just the sheer idea of it, is fantastic. Well we think there are more people out there that feel the way we do. Since the people I play with are somewhat corporate savy, etc. We're actually interested in somehow getting printed a new "boxed" set (big hardcover really) piece of material. If we have to purchase the "rights" to the setting... we decided, so be it.