There is an AD&D game oing on in the dark sun confrence to join type join ds at
the  okay prompt, it's pretty cool;-)

100 responses total.

Yup. Be there.

yup

I *hate* Dark Sun.

I find it run-of-the-mill hack and slah with stupid rules...

        Hmm.. why on earth would I want to join *THAT*? Dark Sun, as a
system is sub-standard!

Wouldn't say that

I don't play in many campaigns other than Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, so
I don't know much about Dark Sun.  All I've heard is that you can metamorph
into dragons and stuff.  Can somebody explain it for me?

The only diference is you start at level 3 nomatter what and four your stats
you roll 4d4+4 it's a brutal world and has many kits like the others

Yeah, I like a campeign where you THINK (Gasp!!) about options, try it!

Well, I don't like DS much either, but when I came on as DM the campaign
was already established in the DS world, and I don't want to mess with it.

As I've already mentioned elsewhere, I will allow off-world classes and
races, and am trying to play the hack-n-slash factor down.

seveners:  Darksun is set on the world of Athas.  The theory behind it is
that the local mages drew their energy from the environment, but they 
overdid it and trashed the place.  Now it's mostly desert, with a few
patches of jungle guarded by druids.

If demand is overwhelming, I'll talk to shaymu about switching worlds somehow.

Most of them are not *druids* per se, only mages who use ecologically-friendly
magic.  I have a friend who believes that Athas is a future version of Toril
(Forgotten Realms).

I see (said the blind man to his deaf dog as he picked up his hammer and saw)

All you Dark Sun-haters go to hell!
you only hate it bercause it is the only difficult world to play in, it
takes some role-playing skill, which you f**king panzies don't have!
'nuff said

Shaym, I was actually thinking of transferring the adventure to a different
world, maybe spelljammer.  The difficulty level would remain just as
high, but if you have some sort of objection I will leave it in DarkSun

Athas lies not in a crystal sphere, but on an alternate prime plane where
Spelljamming devices will not work.  If they did, you can just imagine the
Sorceror-kings' reactions.

Well, I try to keep an open mind and I PREFER other settings to DS for a few
reasons like all that seems to happen is HACK-SLASH-OWWWW!!!! type stuff. Other
settings need the same role-playing talent that DS does, but not neccisarily
fighting ability

Dark Sun happens to be my favorite campaign setting..

Most because it is so different from anything TSR has ever produced.

Even the Planescape setting has all the Medieval Europe elements that exist
in every other TSR setting besides Dark Sun.  

There's nothing that it can be compared to in the real world.  Even Al Quadim,
set in the decidedly non-familliar Arabian millieu, still has things that we 
can "steal" from other sources to model our charachters after..  We can make
our own version of Sinbad, or a desert rider, all the stuff from the 1001
tales.

But with Dark Sun, YOU make the heros, villains, etc to be modeled after. (With
the obvious exceptions of the charachters in the novels, but who doesn't know 
someone who's tried to make an Elminster)  It's a whole new KIND of world to 
explore and flesh out.

If you're scared of that and want the familliarty of settings like Greyhawk,
Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance, where every corner has been explored and
they have become stale and predictable, go for it.  Have Fun rehashing the
same old plots time and time again.  I'll be doing stuff no one's done or 
thought of before.  You're welcome to jion in the exploration. =)

I would-IF the Dark Sun campaign were actually SURVIVABLE!!!

welcome to the party!

I like Al-quadim 'cuz they have a BIIIIIG spot that sez "unexplored desert," a
DM's paradise. Al-Quadim also requires more thought then "which weapon will I
use?"

*chuckles*
I guess you're just not ready for it yet.. =)

I survive rather nicely thank you very much...
My latest charachter is a rain priest.  Who has survived to the 8th level so 
far and is well on his way to bigger and better things.

For those of you who don't know what a rain priest is, para-elemental cleric
of the "Rain" para-element (for all you fans of DS, check out TSR's supplement
for priests, "Earth, Air , Fire, and Water" is the title, I believe.. Don't 
remember it exactly).  Rain clerics have, approximately, zilch combat ability.
Aside from the normal priestly combat ability, their spell selection for 
combat is basicall non-existant.

And tell me Dark Sun isn't survivable???  Pshaw...  

Try learning something about how the planet works..  Read whatever your DM
will let you...  Press him for cultural backgroud, etc...  Do some work and 
maybe you'll get something out of it...  And all work ain't hard.. =)

Dark Sun has its pros and its cons, but so does every other campaign world.
I could believe that Athas is a future version of any number of AD&D
planets, since "The Ringing Mountains" are an almost consistant landmark.
Now that I'm a Planescapee, I need to knopw about every campaign world
my players could come from as well as the pros and cons of being a prime
as opposed to a planar or vice versa.  Dark Sun is designed to be a Hack &
Slash campaign world, but a good DM can create great plot lines and may
even cut down on the routine killing.

definatly hack and slash I prefer al-quadim.

Welp, personally I like Forgotten Realms best...It's a nice, familiar
mideival setting, and my RPG career started in elementary school as an 
interest in the mideival period.  Therefore, I stick to FR as it is of the
most long-lasting interest to me.  The world is believable and realistic,
from Oriental Kara-Tur to Amerindian Maztica and everything in between (The
Hordelands, Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim [yes, Al-Qadim IS part of the FR
setting so don't say otherwise]).  Dark Sun strikes me as a little too
combat-oriented of a system, even over modem, which is the only way I've 
played DS.  Seems to me that modemized RPGs would have extra-role playing 
and less hack and slash.  But with DS, it still seems to be combat-heavy.

Personally, I think that the current DS game should be scrapped for something
else, or else another game should be started.  As I said, I like FR best,
so I cast my ballot in favor of something on the FR world...Al-Qadim seems to
be the favored setting, and I'll go along with that.

Dark Sun was sort of IN with my past Morbidity, but has lost its touch
for me.  I am perfectly willing to play (or DM) any other campaign that
my bardic knowledge of "a little bit of everything" includes.  I prefer
balance above combat, and lack of balance in lieu of moree role-playing.

The problem with DS is image.

The promos hype it as this brutal world.  Arena's, gladiators, huge nasty
pointy toothed monstrosities.  And that's partly true...  Life on Athas is
short, and not easy by any means.

But the promos have left out stuff...  The Machiavellian intrigue in the ranks
of the Templars.  The entire trader class (introduced in the Dune Trader book)
is devoted to non-hack and slash...  Yeah, that makes alot of sense, a trader
going aronud killing everyone and everything he/she sees..

Sure, DS can easily be turned into a hack and slash world...  Anyone who can't
see that is quite blind.

But I really don't get how you can say DS was "designed" to be a hack and slash
world...  You got the office memo from TSR to prove it??

I've never ran, nor been in, a hack and slash campaign in Athas...
Maybe you need to find a better DM...

*Anything* can be turned into a h/s world. I see it done with Ravenloft
all the time.

very true mark but anything can be turned into a creative campaign as well it
all depends on the DM.

How true...

It's not as easy being a DM as it is a player. It takes quite a large amount of
free time to be suitably prepared.

It's worth it at times to watch players make complete fools of themselves

Yeah, I love that part!!!

Amen. I sent a group of 4th level people against a Tarrasque, and they won
(DRAT!!!)

But aren't Tarrasques like one of the strongest types of monsters around?
<I'm just asking 'caause I'm too lazy to look it up...>

Now, wait one minute here.  There's no way a group of 4th level people can
beat a Tarrasque, unless they either have devine intervention or are in a
SERIOUS Monty Haul campaign.

well one person cou;d caast wish but doing so put all his abilities to 3 for
a few ddays and he wnt unconsious for 4 and one of us ahd a vorpal long sword

You can't cast wish at 4th level no matter WHAT race you are.
(don't quote me on that.)

How In THe Name Of Primal Chaos did a group of 4th level characters beat
a creature that has in excess of 70 hit dice!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

"The mere sight of a tarrasque causes creatures with less than 3 levels
or Hit Dice to be paralyzed with fright (no saving throw) until it
is out of their vision."
But ofcourse you already knew that...
(You also need a +1 or better weapon to have any hope of hitting it.)

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss