Shattered Swords and Badass Bears: My 1st Dark Sun Experience Part 2 of 2

Before anything else, during my last post I forgot to put some Dark Sun related images. I think these really helped me get the feel of the setting. The images are all made by Gerald Brom (you can also check it out here), a very talented artist whose art style really captured the harsh, gritty world of Athas.

Here are some examples:

Cool, huh?

Since it’s a desert world, our characters were having a hard merely traveling from one place to another. The lack of food and water, monsters popping up every now and then, and the distance which we have to walk makes you think twice about leaving the city-state at all. Our characters went to an area called The Ringing Mountains, where, gasp, there’s a forest! And rain! For our characters, who were used to sand and rock, it was pure amazement.

Then halflings tried to eat us. Think LOTR’s Frodo and Sam in tribal gear, carrying poison darts, having a taste for flesh, and can pound people twice their size with one punch. Not so jolly hobbits now, huh?

Not that being in a city-state makes you feel safe though. Each city-state has its own unique flavor of “power-hungry overlord”. Tyr (the default DS city), had its ruler, King Kalak, on the verge on becoming a full-fledged dragon. It involved sacrificing thousands of souls but hey, you’re king. Unfortunately for him, he dies before at the end of The Verdant Passage. Gulg is a “forest city”, built on what is left of the jungles of Athas, ruled a self-styled Mother Nature, Lalali-Puy. Nibenay is what I call a “Pimp City”, for all its templars are women, who are also his wives, and is ruled by… wait for it… Nibenay. Raam, an Egypt-inspired land, is in constant war with itself, factions killing each other for supremacy.

Those are just four out of nine, and it doesn’t get any better from there.

Now, from all the crazy shit Dark Sun has to offer, what moral value can it possibly show to players when there’s a threat at every corner you turn? Well, it’s simple really. It’s about hope, and one’s willingness to live despite unbelievable odds. Think about it, in such a crapsack world such as Athas, one can see that not everyone succumbs to the corruption. There are still rebels who think that the world could still prosper. The world may never be as it was before, but it’s still their world, and as long as there’s grass growing, there’s a chance for change.

So where am I getting at? Why go all preachy about this? Is it just an overreaction to my Dark Sun experience? Possibly, unlike other settings like Forgotten Realms and Eberron, where its just a land of great adventure, playing in Athas gives you a rather more unique way of roleplaying, wherein everyday’s a struggle, and everything’s an adventure. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all the campaign settings I’ve played, it’s just that this one really hits the spot for me in terms of flavor, attitude, and sheer hardcore difficulty.

If you’ve read through all this, why not try it out yourselves? Just don’t go near the cactus.