Map of The Dead Land

The Dead Land

2 weeks ago
by Eugene in

I’ve always liked the idea of Dark Sun’s “The Dead Land” and I’ve always seen it as an oversite that the 2E and 4E settings never expanded on it. Since 4E is still going strong, Wizards of the Coast can certainly surprise me and do an article or two on this part of Athas, but who knows. Luckily, a Dark Sun fan during the 2E days put together an overview of The Dead Land and posted it online (pdf). Given the lack of Dead Land material even today, I thought I would clean up the document and add some 4E notes. Once I started though, I realized it needed a bit more than a once-over. There was content and story in the original document that didn’t make sense and some sections I saw as unnecessary. So I edited the document. (more…)

warforged-02

Athasian Warforged (links to Athas.org)

1 month ago
by Eugene in

Recently, the Kraken’s Kiss arrived in Balic’s port with several items of interest beyond their usual trade of cloth and giant hair from Draj and elsewhere along the coast. While traversing the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, they came upon a skimmer wreck recently revealed after storms blew away silt from long leagues of shoreline. Hoping to find something of value from the wreck, the captain ordered his crew to investigate, but found the only thing intact on board to be a series of clay tablets upon which runes were inscribed. Not being able to read, the captain felt that some coin might be made by selling the tablets to scholars. In port, modest sums changed hands and the tablets found their way to a low level Balican Templar with an interest in ancient writings. These tablets were at first little interest to him since they were written in the common tongue of modern times. Reading the tablets however revealed that they were not only over a hundred years old, but described a journey to the ruins of Waverly. Some of the tablets were too worn to be read, but the fragments that remained told of only a single treasure deemed worthy of record. (more…)

heroesofelementalchaos

Heroes of the Elemental Chaos as a Dark Sun Supplement (links to Athas.org)

1 month ago
by Eugene in

Someone reading “Heroes of the Elemental Chaos” might immediately think of it as a companion supplement to “The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos”. And that is certainly the case in many respects since many of the topics are focused on the Elemental Chaos rather than any particular setting. However, it’s no surprise that the Elemental Chaos has a place in the Dark Sun setting since a portion of the setting revolves around the elements, both in the prevalence of elemental beings and how mortals utilize elemental power. The 4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting even goes so far as to note its connection with the Elemental Chaos with references to the primordial Ul-Athra as well as describing portals to the Plane Below (e.g. Dhuurghaz: The largest island in the Road of Fire).
(more…)

harokhan

Defiling, A History and a Look Beyond (links to Athas.org)

1 month ago
by Eugene in

Defiling is arguably the most unique and recognizable aspect of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting. Though the idea of defiling is well ensconced in the mind of players, the concept and rules surrounding it have changed not only between editions, but even within editions. Here we look at defiling through the ages and leap into what we need for the future. (more…)

windriders

Thoughts On Life-Shaping

1 month ago
by Eugene in

There was a type of “magic” that was introduced in the 2E Dark Sun world which hasn’t made a return in 4E, that being “life-shaping”. In its simplest form, life-shaping was a sort of biotechnology, neither magic nor psionics, but something wholly from the Blue Age of the world. It always seemed to me reminiscent of G.I. Joe’s Cobra-La. (more…)

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