Beings as we have a year to go until 4th ed., is anyone (other than me) still running their 3rd ed. game, or am I talking to the wrong crowd?
I'll agree that it's great that Wizards has decided on Dark Sun for their next world, but all this random speculation on what needs or should be done for fourth edition is driving me up the wall. I'd like to here what is going on now with people's games, not all the "Ooh wouldn't it be cool if..." posts that have taken over the forums.
Thanks for taking time to read my rant.
I think that, for this topic, you need to ask in the Previous Edition boards- I think this one in Other Campaign Settings is designed/intended for Dark Sun as it applies to 4e. If you want to hear 3.5 or whatever edition stories about Dark Sun, then I'd recommend you ask in Previous Editions- I'm pretty sure they too have a campaign setting board.
All of the Previous Edition threads are non-campaign specific. Not of much use to a campaign unique as Athas.
This is THE DarkSun board, not the 4E DarkSun board. Heck, I don't even use D&D to play in the setting and haven't for years! The last DS game I played, we used the rules for Donjon. Someday I want to give my Sorcerer hack a try especially with the Sword & Sorcerer supplement. Athas just SCREAMS dark, gritty S&S fiction, with Immanents lingering in toppled ruins, and sorcerers Pacting with powerful entities for services, and so forth...
Still running 3.5. Had a really good 3.5 DS game going for awhile. I will be looking at the the book to see if its worth actually trying 4th again, but I doubt it. Just too many things about 4th I cant stand and if they dumb it down like they have the rest of the game, it wont be worth the paper its written on. Might as well simply wait for a WOW expansion for the desert.
Might as well simply wait for a WOW expansion for the desert.
I love you man!
That was great.Campaign setting except for some Monsters, Artefacts and Diseases, don't have a lot of mechanic in them. For any Dark Sun fan, it will be useful for any edition and even any system.
A Player Guide will be more 4E specific, bringing the bulk of the mechanics.
Ze Grummore still play 3.5e DS! I am currently running Dregoth Ascending and in the second part. I have modified it so it take longer to run.
I was pleased to learn that DS 4e was happening, but I have heard things so bad about 4e that before DS came to reality I would never have bought a 4e book.
I now have open an eye to 4e.
Btw, I still have a nice project on slaves in 3.5e I have hard time finishing... If anybody want to give a hand, I would be most pleased!
What's still missing? I know you were planning to have an adventure attached, but the mechanics are finished now. Correct?
Another DS old-timer has told me 4E looks like crap on paper, but plays beautifully. So, I guess, run a half-dozen sessions first, then decide.
Though I love reminiscing about the old days when I hand-hacked Ema's PSE (Psionic Spell Editor) for Dark Sun content, the truth is I really like 4E. But it wasn't all cake. I playtested it, played at the first 4E preview at D&D XP, and played some home game trials... and it took a while for me to like it.
I do recommend you try it. Wait a bit. Try it again. It takes a while to take, in part because the PH is written like instructions for my children ("play a dragonborn if you like dragons", thanks!).
In the end, 4E is super-awesome for the DM. 3.5 made my experienced head spin. 2E lacked any sort of sliding scale and building blocks. 4E really nails it for the DM. On the player side, you have enough powers to make you think you would make a super-hero jealous. And a lot of it is an illusion, but really works to keep you wanting that next level, enjoying combat at nearly all levels of play, and super excited about what the rest of the team brings to the table. The more tactical game can be a blast.
Anyway, not the board for this, but do give it a try. It, in many ways, has more of a 1st edition feel than 2E, and yet is really innovative.
Still running Dark Sun 3e (with a drik-load of houserules). The more editions here, the merrier. Cool ideas are independent of edition, after all 
I finished up running Dregoth Ascending several months ago using 3E. Once DS is re-released next year I will attempt to run it 4E
I just started a 4E Dark Sun game with some cobbled together rules from any sources I could find.
My idea was to set it in Kalidnay. At first, I was going to go back in time and let the players be the downfall of him, whether it's because they know his ritual won't work or they warn the ther SKs to attack him, so that I match "canon" timelines. Then I thought about changing it so that Kalidnay didn't get pulled into Ravenloft, or whatever the "canon" was for him, and play it in the present with eight city-states. At the moment, I haven't decided the year but it hasn't been an issue.
I used Google SketchUp to create Kalidnay but also use Masterplan for combat. It's been fun! I still have lots to do with the city. It's not done but I like what I have.
As for everything else, we use 4E and patch things in as needed. I am not doing well with psionics in terms of having them around but am trying to work them into the games more and more.
It's been a lot of fun so far! Really enjoying the world! I don't know how Dark Sun it feels, and my players don't know much about the world to tell me, but I am hoping to work up to that!
turlough