Idea for a Dark Sun Campaign beginning. - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Idea for a Dark Sun Campaign beginning.

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
aviankaos
Sep 30, 2010 20:42:22 Alright so this is an idea I came up with to open a campaign that will take place in the Dark Sun setting. This is nothing more than fluff so DMs are free to take the campaign in any direction they'd like(or any direction the players take it) afterwards. As this is just fluff, DMs may feel free to change or modify this in anyway that they would like it more/that better fits the group.

First off I would like to say I am posting this here in the hopes that DMs will USE IT! I claim no ownership of this and I would feel no offense if you use it. I wan't you to use and then I want to be updated on how it works out for you.

Alright let's begin with the little details:

1.Begin by telling your players this campaign will begin in [insert generic setting]. This wording is on purpose, you will see why.

2. Have your players make level 1 characters with the following restrictions:

Races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Eladrin, Half-elf, Dragonborn, Goliath, Halfling, or Tiefling

Classes: Classes from PHB1, 2, & 3

Equipment: PHBs only, no magic items

Money: All of their left over funds must be converted to a non-metal form of currency such as gems.

3. Open the campaign in anyway you want, just try and lead your group to somewhere where they would come across some kind of powerful magic, be it an ancient relic, a disgruntled wizard, or even a wayward scientific experiment if you are beginning somewhere like Eberron.

Alright so this is the part where some of you are probably thinking "Random magical teleportation? Really? That's so cliche and lame!" and you are right, but I can't think of any better way to do it, please let me know if you can think of one.

Anyways, point is, suddenly your characters are in Dark Sun...begin campaign...

Why go to all this trouble just to begin what could have just started as a Dark Sun Campaign?

Here are the perks of this opening:

The players will be challenged to thrive in a situation they weren't prepared for, both in and out of game.

Your characters will be reduced to penniless beggars as no one in dark sun would accept their carried currency(make sure you fluff out their metal gear being useless besides as gear, something like too great a lack of purity or something like that)

If your party has an arcane class obviously they will have no idea what is up, they won't know to hide their magic in the presence of society, and they won 't realize the defiling properties of their magic. This should make for some interesting situations with Templars as well as combat.

Any Dwarven party members can enjoy the horror of beardless dwarves and the half-human Mul.

Tiefling party members will be looked at as walking images of hell itself.

Dragonborns, while not treated like Tieflings, will still be treated as lessers.

Divine classes will have to deal with the non-existence of the gods, as well as a world that doesn't believe in gods.

So on and so forth...

Alright so that's the gist of it, please let me know what you think, whether it sucks or if you like it, if you think you might use, or how I might improve on it.
#2
neoblue
Oct 01, 2010 13:52:16 Not bad and could be fun if your players are willing to roleplay the situation. They'll be in heap-lots of trouble and opportunities abound for adventure: will they want to go home? Will they try to reintroduce their norms and mores on this new society? Will they see a new world as carte blanche to take over and put in their own views? Fun stuff all around...

Some things I can foresee you having to answer (or have an answer in mind) when they come up quickly:

a) With a sudden lack of divine power...what is now powering the unfortunate divine-based pcs? (This is probably the biggest question you'll have to answer...and if the answer is "nothing"...then get with the PC on how to retool his character fast)

b) Would an arcanist PC be able to create items/rituals that the Darksun campaign says to limit (summoning water etc)? (I could argue both sides of this so will keep quiet).

c) Languages? Is common common still or can a goblin speaking pc understand a darksun goblin?

d) Is there a random chance that a PC arcanist spontaneously defiles (since he dosn't know how to control it) or is it a constant thing until he realizes what's happening? (I suggest random btw)

e) Psionics: is there any chance the PC's can suddenly sprout them OR develop via roleplay any of the traits such as Templar, WildTalent, Gladiator etc etc..

My only advice would be to let the players have "good" (if non magical) equipment instead of saying/fluffing that they purchased dross. Consider all the quick and dangerous attention they would get when they walk around in chainmail, wave their metal weapons, or even start a fire with flint-and-steel. Not to mention the disadvantages of survival in a desert in such outfits. A whole series of adventures could be had of somebody after the dwarf's family handaxe.
#3
onusbone
Oct 01, 2010 15:06:50 Actually, I thought you were going to start them in the Green Age, and bring them forward to see the destruction they have wrought.
#4
aviankaos
Oct 01, 2010 15:20:52 Those are great things to mention, and I figured I'd reply with my answers to those questions, though if anyone else has ideas, please join in.

a) The Dark Sun Campaign Setting mentions divine characters could be created if their family has say an heirloom that is a relic of one of the late gods, or if they were stranded in the desert for days and started hearing a whispering voice that led them to safety and start reverring that voice as that of a god. I believe that this points to two diferent possibilities. One is that the Dark Sun gods, at least some of them, still exist in one form or another, shadows of their former selves. This would mean they could still potentially empower their followers. The other possibility is that gods from other D&D realms may have the power to bleed over into Dark Sun. If one of the PCs is a Paladin of Bahamut, maybe Bahamut can still watch over them in Dark Sun, or maybe the PC works as a sort of lightning rod for their Gods' powers despite being in Dark Sun.

b) In my opinion, yes they could but since the only thing that would give them the ability to perform such rituals would be their magic, defiling would occur.

c) The campaign setting lists the languages as Common, Dwarven, Elven, and so on, so I feel they are the same languages across every realm, otherwise they would be listed as a different language, but that's just my take on it.

d) I feel it would be a lot of fun to roll to see what happens when a PC arcanist casts a spell before realizing the sinister properties of magic. Say you have 4 PCs, roll 1d4 with each result corresponding to a player, that player takes the damage. The best part would be you could roleplay it so it may not appear to have been caused by magic, like tell the afflicted pc that he suddenly feels sick, but don't tell him until a minute or two after the spell. PCs jumping to conclusion could lead to adventures to cure some mysterious poison that never even existed.

e) The way I look at it is PCs could develope Wild Talents over the course of the camapaign. Obviously Psionic PCs would develope their powers fastest, then probably Primals, Arcanes, Divines, and finally Martials. Once again thats just how I look at it, you could always have them get the talents all at once, randomize their appearance, or have them never develope them at all. As for the Heroic Themes such as Templar or Dune Trader, the PCs would have to learn them from NPCs or DMPCs. The reason a Dark Sun PC starts as an Athasian Minstrel is they grew up learning to be one, or something caused them to acquire the knowledge. I feel these options should be available to the PCs but only if they can reasonably develope such skills during the game.

The problem with giving the PCs good equipment is the value of metal in Dark Sun. Once the PCs realize this, the rogue could sell his masterwork dagger and instantly becoming a billionaire. he could then buy the best gear available, an unlimited amount of survival equipment and rations, and a large sand skimmer to transport it on. The lack of money and important gear in Dark Sun is a key part of what makes it so pleasantly challenging and giving a PC an item worth so much money ruins that. In my opinion, while it would be amusing to see the fighter in the group practically melt when he walks into the desert in his full plate armor, it's not worth it once he realizes it's value and sells it.
#5
aviankaos
Oct 01, 2010 15:22:33
Actually, I thought you were going to start them in the Green Age, and bring them forward to see the destruction they have wrought.

Thats also an interesting idea. Use time travel rather than inter-realm travel and open the campaign with the PCs accidentally causing the realm's downward spiral into a feral desert.
#6
Kereminde
Nov 03, 2010 11:41:34 "The problem with giving the PCs good equipment is the value of metal in Dark Sun. Once the PCs realize this, the rogue could sell his masterwork dagger and instantly becoming a billionaire. he could then buy the best gear available, an unlimited amount of survival equipment and rations, and a large sand skimmer to transport it on. "

And it will get stolen by the first group stronger than the PCs who want it. This is Dark Sun, such wealth only invites people to come take it from you.

Seriously, the idea is interesting . . . well, both of them. Random magical teleportation will put a bunch of PCs not meant for Athas in the midst of struggling to understand and survive. Having them cause the downfall and come back to see present-day Athas has similar things wrong with it.

- The PCs are going to be targeted as easy marks. And there are going to be those stronger than them as soon as they hit town.
- They won't have a clue on how to survive, and learning the hard way on Athas means . . . well, dying. Or close to it.

As for other concerns:

- Divine magic is not GONE, but changed. It now focuses on the four elemental spheres than gods themselves. But since the gods exist on different planes anyway, why not allow them to function? OF course, it's not the same, and there won't be support . . .
- Arcane magic is so fundamentally different from other settings it is almost as difficult to translate. But the defiling is not automatic, it just is an easy way to boost the power of a spell.

My biggest problem trying to get into Dark Sun is simple: I never embraced psionics. I never used them, ever, except when I played the Dark Sun computer game. Playing a setting which was built off psionics with no attachment to them is not a good recipe. That's like playing Forgotten Realms and not wanting to pay attention to the history of the setting's people/places.

Right now, my potential game in writing for Dark Sun is the PCs being responsible for a budding village and how to keep it safe, supplied, and growing . . . when faced with the myriad threads of Athas.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 aviankaos Sep 30, 2010 20:42:22	Alright so this is an idea I came up with to open a campaign that will take place in the Dark Sun setting. This is nothing more than fluff so DMs are free to take the campaign in any direction they'd like(or any direction the players take it) afterwards. As this is just fluff, DMs may feel free to change or modify this in anyway that they would like it more/that better fits the group. First off I would like to say I am posting this here in the hopes that DMs will USE IT! I claim no ownership of this and I would feel no offense if you use it. I wan't you to use and then I want to be updated on how it works out for you. Alright let's begin with the little details: 1.Begin by telling your players this campaign will begin in [insert generic setting]. This wording is on purpose, you will see why. 2. Have your players make level 1 characters with the following restrictions: Races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Eladrin, Half-elf, Dragonborn, Goliath, Halfling, or Tiefling Classes: Classes from PHB1, 2, & 3 Equipment: PHBs only, no magic items Money: All of their left over funds must be converted to a non-metal form of currency such as gems. 3. Open the campaign in anyway you want, just try and lead your group to somewhere where they would come across some kind of powerful magic, be it an ancient relic, a disgruntled wizard, or even a wayward scientific experiment if you are beginning somewhere like Eberron. Alright so this is the part where some of you are probably thinking "Random magical teleportation? Really? That's so cliche and lame!" and you are right, but I can't think of any better way to do it, please let me know if you can think of one. Anyways, point is, suddenly your characters are in Dark Sun...begin campaign... Why go to all this trouble just to begin what could have just started as a Dark Sun Campaign? Here are the perks of this opening: The players will be challenged to thrive in a situation they weren't prepared for, both in and out of game. Your characters will be reduced to penniless beggars as no one in dark sun would accept their carried currency(make sure you fluff out their metal gear being useless besides as gear, something like too great a lack of purity or something like that) If your party has an arcane class obviously they will have no idea what is up, they won't know to hide their magic in the presence of society, and they won 't realize the defiling properties of their magic. This should make for some interesting situations with Templars as well as combat. Any Dwarven party members can enjoy the horror of beardless dwarves and the half-human Mul. Tiefling party members will be looked at as walking images of hell itself. Dragonborns, while not treated like Tieflings, will still be treated as lessers. Divine classes will have to deal with the non-existence of the gods, as well as a world that doesn't believe in gods. So on and so forth... Alright so that's the gist of it, please let me know what you think, whether it sucks or if you like it, if you think you might use, or how I might improve on it.
#2 neoblue Oct 01, 2010 13:52:16	Not bad and could be fun if your players are willing to roleplay the situation. They'll be in heap-lots of trouble and opportunities abound for adventure: will they want to go home? Will they try to reintroduce their norms and mores on this new society? Will they see a new world as carte blanche to take over and put in their own views? Fun stuff all around... Some things I can foresee you having to answer (or have an answer in mind) when they come up quickly: a) With a sudden lack of divine power...what is now powering the unfortunate divine-based pcs? (This is probably the biggest question you'll have to answer...and if the answer is "nothing"...then get with the PC on how to retool his character fast) b) Would an arcanist PC be able to create items/rituals that the Darksun campaign says to limit (summoning water etc)? (I could argue both sides of this so will keep quiet). c) Languages? Is common common still or can a goblin speaking pc understand a darksun goblin? d) Is there a random chance that a PC arcanist spontaneously defiles (since he dosn't know how to control it) or is it a constant thing until he realizes what's happening? (I suggest random btw) e) Psionics: is there any chance the PC's can suddenly sprout them OR develop via roleplay any of the traits such as Templar, WildTalent, Gladiator etc etc.. My only advice would be to let the players have "good" (if non magical) equipment instead of saying/fluffing that they purchased dross. Consider all the quick and dangerous attention they would get when they walk around in chainmail, wave their metal weapons, or even start a fire with flint-and-steel. Not to mention the disadvantages of survival in a desert in such outfits. A whole series of adventures could be had of somebody after the dwarf's family handaxe.
#3 onusbone Oct 01, 2010 15:06:50	Actually, I thought you were going to start them in the Green Age, and bring them forward to see the destruction they have wrought.
#4 aviankaos Oct 01, 2010 15:20:52	Those are great things to mention, and I figured I'd reply with my answers to those questions, though if anyone else has ideas, please join in. a) The Dark Sun Campaign Setting mentions divine characters could be created if their family has say an heirloom that is a relic of one of the late gods, or if they were stranded in the desert for days and started hearing a whispering voice that led them to safety and start reverring that voice as that of a god. I believe that this points to two diferent possibilities. One is that the Dark Sun gods, at least some of them, still exist in one form or another, shadows of their former selves. This would mean they could still potentially empower their followers. The other possibility is that gods from other D&D realms may have the power to bleed over into Dark Sun. If one of the PCs is a Paladin of Bahamut, maybe Bahamut can still watch over them in Dark Sun, or maybe the PC works as a sort of lightning rod for their Gods' powers despite being in Dark Sun. b) In my opinion, yes they could but since the only thing that would give them the ability to perform such rituals would be their magic, defiling would occur. c) The campaign setting lists the languages as Common, Dwarven, Elven, and so on, so I feel they are the same languages across every realm, otherwise they would be listed as a different language, but that's just my take on it. d) I feel it would be a lot of fun to roll to see what happens when a PC arcanist casts a spell before realizing the sinister properties of magic. Say you have 4 PCs, roll 1d4 with each result corresponding to a player, that player takes the damage. The best part would be you could roleplay it so it may not appear to have been caused by magic, like tell the afflicted pc that he suddenly feels sick, but don't tell him until a minute or two after the spell. PCs jumping to conclusion could lead to adventures to cure some mysterious poison that never even existed. e) The way I look at it is PCs could develope Wild Talents over the course of the camapaign. Obviously Psionic PCs would develope their powers fastest, then probably Primals, Arcanes, Divines, and finally Martials. Once again thats just how I look at it, you could always have them get the talents all at once, randomize their appearance, or have them never develope them at all. As for the Heroic Themes such as Templar or Dune Trader, the PCs would have to learn them from NPCs or DMPCs. The reason a Dark Sun PC starts as an Athasian Minstrel is they grew up learning to be one, or something caused them to acquire the knowledge. I feel these options should be available to the PCs but only if they can reasonably develope such skills during the game. The problem with giving the PCs good equipment is the value of metal in Dark Sun. Once the PCs realize this, the rogue could sell his masterwork dagger and instantly becoming a billionaire. he could then buy the best gear available, an unlimited amount of survival equipment and rations, and a large sand skimmer to transport it on. The lack of money and important gear in Dark Sun is a key part of what makes it so pleasantly challenging and giving a PC an item worth so much money ruins that. In my opinion, while it would be amusing to see the fighter in the group practically melt when he walks into the desert in his full plate armor, it's not worth it once he realizes it's value and sells it.
#5 aviankaos Oct 01, 2010 15:22:33	Actually, I thought you were going to start them in the Green Age, and bring them forward to see the destruction they have wrought. Thats also an interesting idea. Use time travel rather than inter-realm travel and open the campaign with the PCs accidentally causing the realm's downward spiral into a feral desert.
#6 Kereminde Nov 03, 2010 11:41:34	"The problem with giving the PCs good equipment is the value of metal in Dark Sun. Once the PCs realize this, the rogue could sell his masterwork dagger and instantly becoming a billionaire. he could then buy the best gear available, an unlimited amount of survival equipment and rations, and a large sand skimmer to transport it on. " And it will get stolen by the first group stronger than the PCs who want it. This is Dark Sun, such wealth only invites people to come take it from you. Seriously, the idea is interesting . . . well, both of them. Random magical teleportation will put a bunch of PCs not meant for Athas in the midst of struggling to understand and survive. Having them cause the downfall and come back to see present-day Athas has similar things wrong with it. - The PCs are going to be targeted as easy marks. And there are going to be those stronger than them as soon as they hit town. - They won't have a clue on how to survive, and learning the hard way on Athas means . . . well, dying. Or close to it. As for other concerns: - Divine magic is not GONE, but changed. It now focuses on the four elemental spheres than gods themselves. But since the gods exist on different planes anyway, why not allow them to function? OF course, it's not the same, and there won't be support . . . - Arcane magic is so fundamentally different from other settings it is almost as difficult to translate. But the defiling is not automatic, it just is an easy way to boost the power of a spell. My biggest problem trying to get into Dark Sun is simple: I never embraced psionics. I never used them, ever, except when I played the Dark Sun computer game. Playing a setting which was built off psionics with no attachment to them is not a good recipe. That's like playing Forgotten Realms and not wanting to pay attention to the history of the setting's people/places. Right now, my potential game in writing for Dark Sun is the PCs being responsible for a budding village and how to keep it safe, supplied, and growing . . . when faced with the myriad threads of Athas.