Information AboutDark Sun |
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| dark sundungeons amp; dragons campaign settings | |
| dark sun | |
| dungeons amp; dragons campaign settings | |
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: ''Dark Sun'' is a discontinued '' Dungeons & Dragons '' Campaign Setting set on the desert world of Athas , once a blue planet teeming with life, but which has since been stripped of its fertility by uncontrolled use of magic. It is a sun-burnt land forsaken by the gods, water, and hope. Another characteristic of Athas life is its lack of available metal, as a result, wood, obsidian and bone are used for weapons, tools and other equipment. While the campaign is no longer supported with published rulebooks, rules for the 3.5 edition (d20) have appeared in several places. Users from athas.org created the basic rules, two monster manuals, some adventures and several other accessories. In addition, a special feature in '' Dragon Magazine '' #319 (the May 2004 issue) and a parallel feature in '' Dungeon Magazine '' #110 revived the setting for the revised Third Edition (3.5) Dungeons and Dragons game. (The rules for defiler wizards appear in ''Dragon'' #315, and additional monsters in ''Dungeon'' #111.) There were also many fan-created online resources written prior to this feature. ''Dark Sun'' was the setting for three computer games: '''' was an MMORPG that was developed and hosted by the T.E.N. Network . UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS Player Characters in ''Dark Sun'' are markedly tougher than other campaign settings—most start at third level with attributes on a 5-20 scale as opposed to the normal 3-18 scale. Most characters also possess some degree of Psionic talent, making even the lowest slave surprisingly formidable. Athasian races include half-giants, more intelligent than their counterparts in other worlds, but with a tendency to change personalities over time, muls (a dwarf-human half-breed), thri-kreen (a race of savage mantis men, formerly appearing as monsters in other settings), and Aarakocra (a race of winged bird men, also formerly monsters). Even "normal" ''D&D'' races are substantially different; for instance, most halflings are vicious cannibals, elves are desert-running nomads, and dwarves are bald, with a tendency to become mentally focused or obsessed on achieving designated goals (like the Derro ). Psionics is highly developed on Athas even in animal minds. Schools of the minds exist, mostly maintained by and serving the Sorcerer-Kings. An alternate path is available for wizards in ''Dark Sun: Defilers''. Defilers absorb magical energy from plant life around them. This makes defilers able to cast more powerful spells than their Preserver equivalents (Preservers being more or less like the typical ''D&D'' wizard), but at the expense of killing plant life around them, and significantly sterilizing the soil those plants were in, rendering it impossible to grow new plants there for centuries. This defiling of the land is why the once healthy planet is mostly a desert. Extremely powerful defiler spells can even snuff out the life force of animals (descibed in the ''Dragon Kings'' book). The rulers of the isolated city-states are called Sorcerer-Kings and, in most cases, are secretly the ''Dark Sun'' equivalent of dragons. Templars can serve and worship these Sorcerer-Kings as a source for their spells (which are actually granted by something known as as living vortex), while Clerics worship Elemental forces (Air, Fire, Water and Earth) and Druids follow powerful entities known as Spirits of the Land. Water and the Sea of Silt In the world of Athas, water has long since ceased to flow on the surface and can only be found in the last sea, some oases, tiny lakes and streams, as well as west of the Ringing Mountains in the Forest Ridge. Not only are the mountains nearly impassable (the name Ringing Mountains refers to the lightheaded feeling one feels from lack of oxygen when traversing them) but the Forest Ridge is the home of halflings, which in the Dark Sun world are small creatures that live in tribes in the forest and do not hesitate to capture and eat intruders to their realm. This makes the prospect of going west across the mountains a near impossibility. In the place of an ocean, the world of Athas, due to defiling magic, has a sea composed entirely of silt. The silt is incredibly dangerous as it is not capable of supporting the weight of humanoid creatures, and the particles themselves are extremely fine and get into the lungs quite easily. A strong wind from the Silt Sea can cause people from nearby villages to have to remain indoors all day, though with a certain amount of water some people often make use of a mask-like object called a ''silter'' which is placed over the mouth and nose and kept wet in order to help the user breathe. The silt actually becomes packed a few metres below the surface, but this is of no help to a human as the level within the first two metres is extremely finely packed. However, giants often make use of the packed silt roads further below and can be seen wading chest-deep through the silt. Humans have sometimes built crafts that can navigate these silt roads much like giants do, though the going is much slower and both humans and giants still have to deal with the creatures that live in the sea. There are also shipfloaters, which are psionicists who, through use of a large obsidian orb to focus their power, can telekinetically levitate and sail the ship as if it were sailing through water. UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS (3.5TH EDITION, DRAGON MAGAZINE) In place of the higher dice for ability scores, the abilities of all of the player character races have been improved. Each (including humans) has an additional bonus to one or more ability scores, an innate psionic power, and often other bonuses. Every race has a level adjustment, meaning that a PC of the race counts as a PC of higher level than he actually is for purposes of balance. MAJOR CITY-STATES OF THE TYR REGION The campaign setting of the ''Dark Sun'' world generally takes place in the Tyr Region of the world of Athas, an area that spans from the Silt Sea in the east to the Hinterlands in the west and a bit beyond, plus south to the dead lands and north to a certain extent. There are cities further to the north and the south but the land is extremely unfriendly and most people do not wish to risk a journey of such length, and the location of other cities beyond the region is uncertain at best. As a whole, life within the Tyr Region itself is hard enough, and though characters in the campaign setting begin on a much higher level than those of other campaigns, this is also accompanied by a severe practicality, that risking one's life for adventure or altruism is a foolish notion, and survival from day to day takes precedence. Balic The southernmost city of the Tyr Region, formerly ruled by the sorcerer-king Andropinis. It is situated on the edge of the Silt Sea, and is the only city in the region to have a tradition of elected government. Draj Located on a vast mud flat in the northeastern area of the Tyr Region, Draj was formerly ruled by the "god-king" Tectuktitlay, and he has been replaced by his putative son, Atzetuk. Gulg Ruled by the forest-goddess, Lalali-Puy, Gulg is unique among the city-states due to its construction from living materials of the forest instead of stone and brick. Nibenay Nibenay is located closer to the centre of the Tyr Region, just to the east of the city-state of Gulg. Nibenay is ruled by a sorcerer-king called simply "the Shadow King," and he is the most reclusive of them all. The Shadow King will often stay out of sight for years or more due to lack of interest in governmental affairs and having other more important projects to work on. Raam Formerly ruled by the sorcerer-queen Abalach-Re, Raam was fermenting with revolt even before her death and is now filled with chaos, an armed camp divided among various struggling factions. Tyr Tyr is located just to the east of the Ringing Mountains. Tyr was ruled by the sorcerer-king Kalak until his overthrow on the verge of his ascension. It is now the only free-city of the region, banning the practice of slavery. Urik Ruled by the totalitaring Hamanu, Urik has become a closed city since the Great Earthquake, only rarely sending out trade caravans and remaining otherwise sealed. PLAYABLE RACES
INTERESTING PERSONAGES The City-States of Athas described in the original rulebooks are ruled by several "dragon kings," former Champions Of Rajaat , the first sorcerer of Athas, who was obsessed with returning the world to its Green Age, and orchestrated the extermination of all the "impure" Athasian races created since then (the halflings and the thri-kreen, which he believed were animals). When the champions learned that Rajaat intended to destroy the humans as well, they rebelled against him. The rebels could not slay their master, and imprisoned him in a place called the hollow instead. Afterwards, in order to maintain Rajaat's prison, they worked in concert to turn one of their number, Borys of Ebe, into a fully-fledged dragon, capable of maintaining their erstwhile master's magical prison. There are also other characters which play a major part in the storyline/game products of the ''Dark Sun'' world; among them include:
SOURCES Athas.org version of Dark Sun Paizo rendition of Dark Sun
EXTERNAL LINKS
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