Hi, everybody, welcome back!
As I promised last time, it’s back to Dark Sun for this blog post. First, I’ll take the liberty of confirming what a number of you have already inferred from the catalog copy that’s available—the timeframe of the Campaign Guide is a few weeks after King Kalak’s death, when Tyr is still seething in revolutionary fervor and various factions are struggling for control. Tithian might be king, but he’s king over a city that just deposed a much more fearsome and capable king than he currently is, so he has to tread lightly and cement his rule with great care. There are a couple of reasons we chose this specific moment for the setting of the new 4th Edition Dark Sun, but I’ll leave that discussion for another venue.
Once we decided to set our new edition of Dark Sun in this particular era, we naturally saw an opportunity to fix something that bugged us game designers at TSR for years. The 1991 boxed set presented a beautiful snapshot of this incredibly evocative, unique D&D world—and it was rendered partially obsolete by the very first adventure and the very first novel to come out for the setting, because what the boxed set said about the city of Tyr was no longer true. Rather than give people pre-revolution Tyr again, we thought we’d be wiser to give people Tyr as it’s going to be for a while. It’s a dynamic and unbalanced situation, one full of adventure possibilities, but it could go on that way for months or years. It means that there’s a years-long in-game window for your games to run in accordance with the canon of the new Campaign Guide, instead of a window of days or weeks before Kalak gets killed and what we printed ain’t true anymore. So tip your hat to the new revolution, take a bow for the new constitution!
All right, with that much out of the way, I’ll move on to another topic I feel pretty safe in talking about: The Ringing Mountains and the Forest Ridge. Just like the Dragon’s Bowl always bugged me (see my blog post of a few weeks back), the mountains troubled me too. Why didn’t people living in the blasted desert take the Forest Ridge for their own? I mean, here are these mighty sorcerer-kings with huge armies and loyal spellcasters at their beck and call, and they’re happy to live in the wasteland when there’s a cool, well-watered paradise right next door? It always seemed strange to me. So in revising Dark Sun this year, I found myself wondering what sort of obstacle those mountains had to be in order to keep everyone else from moving in on the halflings.
The first thing I realized is that these might be really serious mountains. What if we’re talking about the Andes here? The Forest Ridge might be like the altiplano of Bolivia. If it’s 10,000 feet up, that is a truly significant obstacle. Back in 1991, I totally didn’t get the whole “ringing” thing and the Wanderer’s Journal emphasis on how travelers found themselves dizzy from the thin air (I grew up on the flat, flat, flat Jersey shore). It just didn't seem like anything that would be a real impediment to me. Well, last September I had the opportunity to drive through RockyMountainNational Park with my wife and kids. The pass we went through was over 11,000 feet in elevation… and I discovered how much altitude can just knock you on your butt. I’ve done a lot of hiking in the Cascades around 5,000 to 7,000 feet in the last few years, but going over the Rockies I hit a real wall right around 10k. I almost felt like I was drunk. I mean, I had no idea. So that’s one more place where Colorado native Troy Denning clearly had some personal experience and insight that I hadn’t ever appreciated. He knew what he was writing about when he was talking about those darned mountains. (Sorry I didn’t believe you before, Troy!)
(For that matter, I finally made it down to Arizona a couple of years ago and saw the spectacular mesas around Sedona. I tried to slip a little bit of the mesa landscape into the writing and art descriptions of the Tablelands. Living out here in Washington State, traveling a little more in this half of the country, and seeing more of real mountains and desert over the last few years really has given me a different perspective on the scenery of Athas. Looking back on it, the magic of the Wanderer's Journal was how well it conjured up such a complete and evocative description of Athas for someone who'd never really seen desert before, which was certainly true for me back in 1991. It's really a remarkable piece of writing, with some wonderfully lyrical passages and imagery... we've borrowed from the Wanderer's Journal in quite a few places for call-outs and flavor quotes, and I think it works really well. Your mileage may vary, of course.)
All right, so say the RingingMountains are like the Andes. The passes aren’t 4,000 or 5,000 feet, they’re more like 12,000 feet up. Getting an army up there would be incredibly difficult. (Jose de San Martin lost a third of his army in three weeks when he crossed the Andes in 1817. Look it up, it’s a hell of a story.) Well, when you say “Andes,” I naturally think of things like Macchu Picchu, Incan roads, lost cities, all sorts of interesting things. And that suggests something interesting about the halflings of the Forest Ridge: Maybe they’re living in the ruins of their own ancient empire. Some folks speculate that the Incas weren’t actually the builders of many of the fortresses and cities they lived in at the time of the conquest. Likewise, the savage halfling tribes might be living among the ruins of an older, more advanced halfling civilization that’s long since vanished. Imagine that the Forest Ridge is crisscrossed by mysterious ancient mountain roads, with old long-abandoned halfling Macchu Picchus hiding among misty peaks. Maybe that old halfling empire was resilient enough, vital enough, to stand up to the armies of Rajaat back in the day, and that’s why the Forest Ridge wasn’t defiled. What sorts of treasures--or threats--might be buried in vaults in those ruined mountain fortresses?
The idea of the old halfling civilization led me to think about the bits here and there in old Dark Sun about “life science” and “nature magic.” In the context of 4e, that points pretty squarely at the primal power source. Well, we know the old halfling empire wasn’t likely using much divine or arcane magic. What if they were an empire whose magical might was founded on primal magic? What if, in fact, they used their mastery of primal magic to create powerful wards and defenses against defiling? Maybe the forest’s borders and the mountainsides are dotted with ancient moai statues anchoring an ancient interdiction or ban against defiling within the bounds of the halflings’ old kingdom. The old wards are fading now, but defilers calling upon their powers inside the ban still suffer shooting pains, nausea, nosebleeds, and so on instead of the “rush” of defiling. Or maybe the wards somehow mark defilers as enemies, so that the natural flora and fauna seem to direct all their attention to driving off/killing the offender. Any army of the sorcerer-kings heading up into the mountains would be physically crippled by the grueling ascent, and magically blunted by the halflings’ ancient interdictions. So, in a scenario like that, the sorcerer-kings would have long ago realized that conquering the Forest Ridge just wasn’t feasible without risking everything they already controlled, so they’ve decided to leave it alone. It’s not like they’re thirsty or hungry down in the desert, after all.
So there you have the RingingMountains of Athas. You start thinking about one small question in world-building, and like pulling a thread out of a sweater, you find yourself drawn on from one topic to the next. In this case, I think it led me to a pretty interesting place. But then I’m a goob for that sort of world detail.
For you War at Sea fans: Next week it's your turn. I'll tip off a few units from Condition Zebra. And for you general D&D fans, I've got a small secret about warlocks I'm just itching to spill sooner or later. If I can talk about three ships for Christmas, maybe I'll talk a little bit about stars too.
I don't know if it will feel like Athas, at least we get some 3e rules.
I figured the SKs avoided the jungle out of fear of depleting the last bit of plant life from Athas and pissing off the halflings. When they have access to items like the Heartwood Spear and the Staff of Nok I can hardly blame them.
I though they were afraid to leave the city when Borys had his rampage. Later they were just to busy. And why waste the ressources for such an expedition when you have more important things to do, like building a ziggurat.
I really liked Baker's description of why the SKs didn't go into the forest. Even without the fluff I think the logistics make sense. They have a status quo down in the tablelands and its kind of a carefully balanced zero-sum game. When you introduce a bunch of resources into a zero-sum game like that, chaos is bound to emerge. There is a reason Kalak was working in secrecy and Dregoth got killed on his rise to super-dragon levels. If Hamanu led a force into the ringing mountains, like someone said he wouldn't be in a position to defend Urik, and you can bet that he would come home to a different situation than the one he left.
All in all, I am really happy that we are getting the ancient halfling civilization. What does everyone think of the fit to primal power. I think it sounds great, maybe with an infusion of psionics. I am, though, wondering how lifeshaping would fit into primal power. BUt I am guessing that we will have to wait for a dragon article to get anything more than a tease about that...
Maybe that old halfling empire was resilient enough, vital enough, to stand up to the armies of Rajaat back in the day...
I found this line to be interesting. Was not Rajaat's intent to give Athas back to the halflings? Why would his armies be attacking them in the Forrest Ridge? Is the new 4e spin on Athasian history that this was not the War-Bringer's goal?
Might be jumping to conclussions but still thought this was worth pointing out.
This bothered me too.
"And What if, in fact, they used their mastery of primal magic to create powerful wards and defenses against defiling?"
Adn this statement too, since the art of Life Shaping was lost prior to the discovery of Magic.
This bothered me too.
"And What if, in fact, they used their mastery of primal magic to create powerful wards and defenses against defiling?"And this statement too, since the art of Life Shaping was lost prior to the discovery of Magic.
I could understand this being the case if its some residual byproduct of Life Shaping but as a direct defense to something that hadn't been created yet makes no sense.
Furthermore, a protective effect that encompasses the whole forest doesn't sit well with me. Specific pockets or small regions of the Ridge would work but the entire jungle would be a bit much.
This could be possible now. After all this is 4e, and everything no longer needs to follow rules, there's thankfuly a lot of hand-waving now a days.
As for the halflings now using the primal power source instead of the science known as lifeshaping...not a big deal. The only depiction of the science-like lifeshaping was in a single accessory, Windriders of the Jagged Cliffs; other sources did not refer to this lifeshaping as a science per say, and its description was very vague (see the Prism Pentad's last chapters).
Also, do not forget that the magical-like powers of the pristine Towers never synched with the science of lifeshaping in the first place, even though the halflings grew the tower. That the halfings used primal energies, and the tower also uses it, makes more sense in the final analysis.
I like what Rich is doing: trying to create an air of mystery about the past and making far off, difficult-to-reach, lands more exotic. DMs will have an easier time getting player characters' curiosity peeked. Can the player characters somehow harness the powers of these idols to weaken the SKs? Or maybe, reverse the power so that defiler players can harness ancient powers of a grand scale?
Agreed. On a recent trip I read The Verdant Passage again. Halway through I'm thinking "wait, they really still will cross the Ringing Mountains in this book?". And then they do so in a handful of pages. Sorry, but the SKs can hire adventurers too... as can merchant companies. It isn't like Rikus was the only decent gladiator, or Tithian the only capable templar, etc.
The lifeshaping thing doesn't bother me. Everything halfling was basically "out there" story-wise for me and just fodder for a DM to use as desired. I certainly don't have a problem with WotC changing/shaping that, especially if they can make it more meaningful (or even leave it as a mystery).
Teasers, WJ-style? Or more rounded adventure-oriented instancing (not necessarily long/complex, but more "full" in terms of what's there/what you can do)?
Then we've got the dragon levy, the shadow wars, daily chores of running a city, transforming into a dragon, stopping others from transforming before them, dealing with spies and traitors, hunting for avangions and dealing with things only a sorcerer king would be aware of aside from the hundreds if not thousands of other events I'm not listing. Then we've got the forest itself, along with the halflings and their well guarded secrets.
Conquest of the forest ridge is a pipe dream. Its very plausable, that in order for a SK to conquer the forest ridge, much of the forest would have to be destroyed in the unavoidable conflict that would follow. The sks would probably not waste their time or resources on a large scale operation and just stick to covert specialty groups to extract any resources needed or more than likely, form agreements with client villages to do the work for them.
As for some of the other posts, An athasian feywild (mostly in ruins) is very interesting to me. I'm not completely on board with the idea yet, but I'm interested to see how they will include the feywild and shadowfell and what that means for the other sections of creation.
As for life shaping as primal magic. I'm not really feeling that.
Well boo to that.
If there's to be the death of a sorcerer king, it will be to some evil self-serving plot and will be part of the climax to a major campaign. Not some heroe NPC. Heroes don't exist in Dark Sun let alone NPC ones! Where's the backstabbing and politics if you have heroes? The city is only a safe place to live in comparison. Any neighbour might turn you in to the templars for any number of reasons.
Sorry, but the SKs can hire adventurers too... as can merchant companies. It isn't like Rikus was the only decent gladiator, or Tithian the only capable templar, etc.
See, this right here. This. This is why there are no adventurers in my version of Dark Sun. This is why King Kalak will still reign supreme. I want to create a feel like no other D&D setting when I use Dark Sun. So no heroes. Ever.
Will anyone else be rewinding their campaigns slightly?
Adn this statement too, since the art of Life Shaping was lost prior to the discovery of Magic.
What if the Blue Age wasn't the first Age? What if it came about due to epic-global-warming. Perhaps Dark Sun was once a rich and fertile land. Perhaps these halflings had complete control over life-shaping powers (and/or primal power) and a cataclysm occurred which causes the Blue Age to come around. Most halflings died, but a few managed to survive.
Perhaps modern halflings aren't inhabiting ruins from the latest Green Age. But are in fact inhabiting the ruins of a pre-Blue Age.
I don't know Dark Sun canon that well, so I don't mind stomping all over it
I think for me I'll be going "back to basics" and using the map and info from the original 2nd ed Campaign Setting boxed set and from there adapting it to my vision of Dark Sun (which is probably quite different, having only ever played in Dark Sun for 8 hours. Ever). Introduce the Thornwalker Mountains to the north (do they already exist in Dark Sun?) and completely ignore everything north of the Tyr region and just start housruling my own stuff into it instead 
This bothered me too."And What if, in fact, they used their mastery of primal magic to create powerful wards and defenses against defiling?"
Adn this statement too, since the art of Life Shaping was lost prior to the discovery of Magic.
It seems like it would imply just how truly powerful the wards were and still are. To bring in an FR example, mythals were created well before the spellplague and yet some of them still managed to withstand it. Therefore, old elfy magic was the bomb.....as is, by extension, old halfling magic in DS. Or at least that's how it read to me.
I'll be rewinding Tyr back to just before King Kalak's death. For me, the death of King Kalak signals the beginning of the Heroic Age. Its a mere man who kills Kalak, and as far as I know he did so in order to "free the slaves" and bring an end to the tyranny.
Well boo to that.
If there's to be the death of a sorcerer king, it will be to some evil self-serving plot and will be part of the climax to a major campaign. Not some heroe NPC. Heroes don't exist in Dark Sun let alone NPC ones! Where's the backstabbing and politics if you have heroes? The city is only a safe place to live in comparison. Any neighbour might turn you in to the templars for any number of reasons.
That's an interesting point. Can this feel be created with Tithian there? I mean, that has to be the devs' goal.....to keep that feel yet use this point in the timeline. I wonder what they are planning.
I'll be rewinding Tyr back to just before King Kalak's death. For me, the death of King Kalak signals the beginning of the Heroic Age. Its a mere man who kills Kalak, and as far as I know he did so in order to "free the slaves" and bring an end to the tyranny.
That's an interesting point. Can this feel be created with Tithian there? I mean, that has to be the devs' goal.....to keep that feel yet use this point in the timeline. I wonder what they are planning.
I understand why they used a SK-free city to base the default campaign. Especially Tyr, the richest city (the only iron mine) with the largest slave-to-freeman ratio in the region prior to Kalaks death. Just because its free of the resident SK doesnt mean its free of SK-related problems. Tyr is a juicy target that practically screams "invade me!" after the death of Kalak.
As for Tithian hes a mere man and something the players can work around; Kalak and his templars are a pretty heavy hand and something that cant be touched at low levels. So having one free city makes sense and provides a haven of sorts for a campaign to start in.
It depends on the campaign arc you want to run. Do you want the players themselves to kick off the Heroic Age? Kill Kalak (heroic tier), fend off the Dragon levies and Urik's invasion (paragon tier) and finally defeat the Dragon and Rajaat (epic tier)? You could easily run a "Prism Pentad" campaign and pretend the novels' heroes did not exist and just reuse the plot elements. Your players may not want to do that though, especially if they are DS vets. If your campaign arc is going to revolve around anything else, then Free Tyr would be a good place to start. Or maybe you start in Urik and invade Tyr...
So having one free city makes sense and provides a haven of sorts for a campaign to start in.
It depends on the campaign arc you want to run. Do you want the players themselves to kick off the Heroic Age? Kill Kalak (heroic tier), fend off the Dragon levies and Urik's invasion (paragon tier) and finally defeat the Dragon and Rajaat (epic tier)?
Heck no! *checks my ranting prior to now* Oh, I haven't said this part of my rant yet
The sorcerer-kings are gods. They are all that protects you from the harsh dangers of the desert (of which there are many ranging from mere spiders who'll kill you all to evil defilers who destroy others to fuel their own magic). The ruler of your home city-state is of course the one true god with all other city-states having mere false gods who aren't as powerful as your god. Working for the gods were templars. These templars would be the iron fist in which the sorcerer kings crushed its people with. They gained their powers directly from the sorcerer-king and so likewise were quite powerful.
I think that's an amazing set up that's great fun to play in. But if you follow the Pentad Prism a hero kills a sorcerer-king. This completely undermines the authority and power of the sorcerer kings. They're suppose to be infallible, omnipotent and omniscient. And yet here a mere gladiator kills one, proving their not all powerful!
So that's why I dislike Kalak's death as described in the books. If anything kills a sorcerer-king, it should be a very powerful entity. So not a heroic tier achievment, but in fact an epic tier achievment (or at least a late paragon one).
But that's just my view of Dark Sun. Different strokes for different folks and all that. But this explains why I want King Kalak to still be alive.
I think that's an amazing set up that's great fun to play in. But if you follow the Pentad Prism a hero kills a sorcerer-king. This completely undermines the authority and power of the sorcerer kings. They're suppose to be infallible, omnipotent and omniscient. And yet here a mere gladiator kills one, proving their not all powerful!
So that's why I dislike Kalak's death as described in the books. If anything kills a sorcerer-king, it should be a very powerful entity. So not a heroic tier achievment, but in fact an epic tier achievment (or at least a late paragon one).
I respect your mindset, but I disagree...if the Dk's were gods and infallible then what hope do the heroes of the story (and in MY games the PCs are the heroes.) have? This hope is what stirs them on, and what pushes them to defend tyr, and fight the other SKs
I respect your mindset, but I disagree...if the Dk's were gods and infallible then what hope do the heroes of the story (and in MY games the PCs are the heroes.) have? This hope is what stirs them on, and what pushes them to defend tyr, and fight the other SKs
That's cool. Different strokes for different folks. Also the main difference is, you have heroes in your campaign. I don't. So therefore we have different goals for our respective campaigns and so therefore require different things.
Kalak, one of those "mighty-and-omnipitant gods" (personally: Powerful, yes. That powerful? What they want you to belive) was basically killed by Plot Device.
As was every other Dragon offed in the Prism Pentad. Without fail, they were either killed by Rajaat himself, or they were killed by an artifiact. Death by Plot Device. Although Abalache-Re deserved it. ;)
[0] And keep in mind, level progression in 2nd edition was much flatter than it is now. You got more spells and your thac0 went down, but you weren't exactly rolling in HP and feats.
You got more spells and your thac0 went down...
Ha! You said thac0
