Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 FlashbackJon Jul 15, 2010 15:54:41	So I'm in the process of designing my Dark Sun campaign for my players, who have varying levels of experience with D&D (of varying editions) but none of whom have ever experienced Athas in any capacity.   The result of which is that I'm running headlong directly into a massive case of Writer's Block.  In a self-edificating attempt to jumpstart my creativity, and perhaps open up a more friendly collaboration in the DS forums, I thought we could all benefit from a brainstorming session, in time-honored What's a DM to do? tradition. Post your encounter ideas or adventure seeds!  Share or adapt from others.  Explain your inspirations or comment on others!  My only rules: Keep it in Heroic tier.  A lot of Dark Sun focuses on the people at the top of the food chain, but let's go Heroic.  If this one does well, I might add Paragon or start a new thread. Keep the numbering intact as you list your options. If you post, you have to include an encounter/seed, even when commenting on someone else's idea. Here's a handful I've come up with**: Adventure: The players come upon (or are directed to) a massive structure buried in the sandy wastes: a relic of the Green Age.  Inside the structure, when the players rest, they find themselves thrust back in time, to era when the place was besieged.  Whether these intermissions are dreams or hallucinations or actual time travel is never revealed, but the players come to realize that their actions in the "past" directly affect the structure in the present.  Thoughts for implementation: the players are being thrust into the memories of dead heroes - a party that matches their basic composition - as such, they must accomplish some purpose in the "dream" to let the spirits of the dead rest in peace.  Battles found there weaken the creature that defiles the structure presently (by reclaiming or restoring a psionic artifact in the "past," that same artifact protects the players from the creature's machinations in the present, etc). Adventure: The players enter a portion of Catacombs (out in the wastes, or perhaps beneath the city) populated by the mummified remains of a Cleansed race.  Depending on their disposition, the players either slaughter them or possibly assist them in their desired vengeance.
#2 Gnollfiend Jul 15, 2010 16:07:21	It's always helpful to have the players flesh out background stories (theme) which will in turn help you forge a story.  Are any of them slaves?   Gladiators?  Any arcane casters?  Most of the cities are controlled by 'evil' templars or Sorcerer Kings.  It's an adventure just to find a safe place to stay during the day or find water to drink.   If they do stumble upon a massive structure in the sandy wastes how will that story evolve into paragon?  --Perhaps you want to tell a story how Eberron become Dark Sun after the Mourning and the pcs are members of the forgotten dragonmarked houses?  Start small.  Start with the characters and their stories first.   my 2 cent
#3 Raddu76 Jul 16, 2010 10:40:17	I was always a fan of the "you come upon a fight between two group".  It makes the characters try to figure out the situation and help/hinder one side....but was it the right side? 3)  Sounds of battle echo off the walls of the rocky badlands you've been traveling in for several days.  You cautiously approach the  sounds and as you round a corner you see two battered thri-kreen cornering a lone elf.  Numerous cuts are visible on the elf and the thri-kreen have several punctures in their chitin, which ooze a green back liquid.   Possibilities for the encounter: The elf is a Thri-Kreen Hunter, one of the fabled warriors of elven tribes.  WHen thri-kreen packs get it in their mind to hunt elves they send out scouts to find small groups of elves to report back to their larger pack.  It's the job of a Thri-Kreen Hunter to stop these scouts from ever getting back to their pack and protect the elven tribe. The elf was part of a small adventuring band which was taken out by a small pack of kreen in a struggle for resources.  With everyone else dead, will this elf make a victory meal for the kreen?  4) After topping a dune the party sees a drama unfolding before them.  A lone mul faces off against a pair of templars and several human guards.  The mul doesn't look particularly frightened of the guards, but eyes the templars warily. What's going on here?  Is the mul an escaped gladiator?  A thief who stole something from his templar master?  Perhaps he is a psionic hermit who has knowledge a Sorcerer-King seeks?