“Face the Fire of the Dark Sun…a World Ravaged by Sorcery!”
These were the words on the cover of the original Dark Sun World Campaign Setting boxed set.
Like many members of the Gamer Nation, I was first introduced to the world of tabletop Roleplaying Games through Dungeons and Dragons. I had seen some of the older kids in my Scout troop playing, so I watched and listened as they played. Some of my friends and I tried playing without dice, but were not very successful. The first time I sat down at a table and played with dice and official rules was in high school. A couple of friends from my church and their brothers played and they invited me to join. Thus began my 20 year love of this hobby and the other people who share my enjoyment of these games.
For a short time, my parents vehemently opposed my playing of the game. They relented when the parents of the other kids explained that we were doing nothing more than making up adventure stories and that if you won’t allow a child to play a game then you might as well take away their fiction books as well.
My first character was a Half-Giant Gladiator named Tak. He dual-wielded axes and though he was very violent at times, he was also a good person. No, literally. In Dark Sun World, Half-Giants picked one axis of their alignment and it was permanently fixed, not even a Helm of Opposite Alignment could change it. Tak’s other axis could, and often did, change on a daily basis. He would swing from Law to Chaos after a nap. His favorite tactic, though some of his companions feared it, was to pick up said companions and hurl them through the air at the enemy before charging in behind them. I named this tactic poor man’s teleport.
I eventually played in other Campaign Settings; some other favorites are Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Greyhawk and Eberron. (Back in the 90s, there were probably over a dozen different D&D campaign settings to choose from.) However, Dark Sun will probably be my favorite setting of all time.
The first boxed set was released in October of 1991 using the AD&D 2nd Edition rules set. Its working title during development at TSR was War World, which should give you a clue to the tone of the setting. It was one of the first campaign settings to tie a metaplot into the adventures and the novels for the setting. It was also the first setting that placed the entire art direction under a single artist. And they picked a great one when the got Gerald Brom to fill this role. His visual style, in my opinion, set the tone and aesthetic for the setting more that the writing style or mechanics changes.
The world of Athas, the name of the planet that the Campaign Setting takes place on, was extremely different from any other setting in that it was a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. That the planet was dying, ravaged by sorcery was not a joke. In order for a wizard or other arcane class to use their abilities, they had to drain the life from the land or some other living thing. The sun turned an unforgiving red. Nearly all plant life died, save for a few oases and a forest ridge which is inhabited by Halfling tribes. Water was a very precious commodity. The setting was Psionics heavy, with PC characters having a chance to gain a wild talent no matter what class they were.
A Revised and Expanded box set was released for 2nd edition in 1995. There were no officially printed products for 3rd edition D&D, though The Burnt World of Athas (athas.org) did some online and pdf downloads under the Open Gaming License. Wizards of the Coast did do two supplement books and an adventure for 4th edition. We’ll have to wait and see if anything gets released for 5th.
For your class selection, you had the typical Fighter, Wizard, Ranger, and Druid. However, other classes were drastically different and there were a few exclusive to the setting. Clerics had to be of the Elemental type, due to the fact that there were not any gods in Dark Sun, but I’ll come back to this. Bards were minstrels and storytellers, but they were usually also spies and assassins as well and so filled the role of the traditional Rogue. Dune Traders were a class that was exclusive to the setting and 2nd edition. It was like a Rogue, but geared more towards commerce, trading and setting up networks. Gladiators, the name is self explanatory, were specialized entertainment fighters. There was also a class called Templars, who were almost always NPCs, as they served one of the Sorcerer-Kings to get their abilities. And then there were the Psionic classes, which varied greatly depending on the edition. Most of the more specialized classes were treated as prestige classes in the 3rd edition fan-created supplements or as character themes in 4th edition.
Typical fantasy racial stereotypes were mostly ignored. Dwarves were probably the closest to their typical depiction in that they were seen as good fighters as well as gifted craftsmen. Where they differ was that they usually had little or no hair. Even if dwarf could grow a beard they would shave it off as they considered body hair to be unhygienic. Elves were nomadic and tribal. They often had trade caravans, but were not above thievery and banditry when necessary, or when they believed they could get away with it. Finally we come to Halflings. They were the oldest race on the planet and the most savage. Meeting a Halfling could be a harrowing experience as they were more than likely going to kill you and eat you and, if you were very lucky, it will be in that order.
There were several races that were introduced in the Dark Sun setting. First were Half-Giants, a race created through magic and psionic ritual by the Sorcerer-Kings to be slaves and soldiers. Extremely strong armed and dull witted. Muls, half-dwarves, again bred by the Sorcerer-Kings to be slave labor and soldiers. Capable of working for long hours with little to no rest. Thri-Kreen, six-limbed insect people with venomous saliva and armored carapaces. Dark Sun also introduced the Aarakocra, tribal bird-people who were exceptional hunters. As well as their counterparts, Pterrans, reptilian flying dinosaur people. Races from other settings were added in later editions, such as Minotaurs, Kalashtar, Genasi and Eladrins. Notably Orcs, Goblins and Gnomes are absent. Gith replace Orcs and Goblins, while in one of the 2nd edition supplements it is mentioned that one of the Sorcerer-Kings committed genocide against the Gnomes sometime in the past.
Most herd animals were not present either. Instead of horses most people rode kanks, see article title, large domesticated beetles. Or when necessary, a psionically controlled mekillot, a huge to gargantuan animal that could literally carry a caravan, or two, or a siege engine on its back. The environment was just as deadly as the creatures you might encounter. What looked like a water-fat cacti could actually be a sentient humanoid-eating plant. There were no gods. All were either destroyed or abandoned the world, never to return. This was left unclear on purpose. And the Sorcerer-Kings ruled the city-states of the Tablelands, a large basin plateau surrounded by the forest ridge at the top, which also contained the Sea of Silt.
The planet was also almost completely isolated from the other settings in cosmology as well. It was difficult to leave Athas and travel to other planes to begin with. And nigh impossible for others to get to Athas, even traversing the Astral or Ethereal Planes. Magic and even Psionically-enhanced weapons and armor were rare. Even metal weapons were hard to come by. Most weapons were made out of bone, obsidian or stone. Armor was made out of the carapaces of large insects or hides. Metal was so scarce that the currency was Ceramic Pieces instead. So the setting focus was on what your character could do, not what, or how much, magic gear you had.
Most of the games I played in, published or homebrew, usually started out with our characters enslaved in one of the Sorcerer-King cities or newly captured in a slave caravan being taken to one of those cities, with our escape the focus of the first two to three sessions.
All in all, I hope I have reminded veteran players of the Gamer Nation about some of the more interesting aspects of this setting. And whet the appetites of newcomers to the possibilities that a setting like Dark Sun has to offer.
“Dark sun logo” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.
Wes Goodwin
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