Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Timpookie Jan 24, 2015 6:40:06	I typically don't get setting books, but I've been thinking for a short while about getting Dark Sun. Any reasons why I should or shouldn't get it would be appreciated, along with infomration on whether or not I should get Dark Sun if I'm a newbie to using prepublished campaign settings or instead get, say, Eberron or Forgotten Realms.
#2 eventhorizon1 Jan 25, 2015 6:42:17	If you like the idea of the setting then I would say yes. WOTC has the pdf’s and they cost very little. As far as the other 2 settings go I can’t say it’s all a matter of what you want in a campaign. Eberron is what I call a high magic campaign, and forgotten realms is the new 5th edition default setting, however there is no new setting updates. So if you want a really gritty survival campaign the Dark sun is the way to go. I would recommend the 2nd edition of dark sun, but that is just my personal opinion.
#3 cowleymen Jan 26, 2015 0:55:10	Yes, I tried running darksun off of wiki information, and it kind of fell apart. One of my players had also played the original 2e box of it, but thats beside the point.  I would say yes, get the pdf as soon as you can. Also, are those PDF's the original box information?
#4 Torg_Smith Jan 27, 2015 5:28:12	Dark Sun is a different type of setting. It is non-standard. The environment is supposed to be as deadly as any monsters the players would face.   Now one thing to consider is what ruleset you are planning to run. They have rules for Dark Sun in DnD 2e, 3e, and 4e. The 3e ones are in Dragon 315, 319, and Dungeon 110. The Magazines are for sale on Paizo’s site http://paizo.com , and the rest can be purchased from http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com . You can use any ruleset, but will have more work involved in setting up the campaign. There is a bunch of fluff information in the 2e books so those would be good to get.
#5 Kynesis Jan 28, 2015 21:52:48	I want to say 'yes' but over the years it's been driven into a real niche.   There are lots of interesting aspects to the setting, some of them like Psionics in earlier editions... are difficult to use well.   I'd suggest reading a couple of the associated novels as a starting point, frankly you can get enough of the gist of the setting from them to try out a few simple game sessions of your own devising - resources are in short supply, there's an unofficial caste system (ie slaves, people who aren't slaves, the wealthy, nobles (who possess a lineage of wealth), city officials (templars and their assistants) and the king.   The world is (cartoonishly) arid and somehow manages to sustain lots of nasty monsters. You could say that it inherently adheres to the 'points of light' principle of isolated pockets of civilisation surrounded by untamed wilds. It's often described as "post-apocalyptic" but how far down that path you go is entirely up to you. Later sources ignore much of the original material and take the core concepts on a journey to extreme depravation, making the setting ever more barbaric & tribal.   That's roughly enough information to adapt an existing setting of your choice to see how your players react.
#6 Torg_Smith Jan 29, 2015 17:20:06	Kynesis wrote: