PDA

View Full Version : Character goals in Dark sun



Sploosh
2010-07-25, 02:08 PM
My group has been playing in Dark Sun for some time due to our main DM's obsession with sword and sorcery and as a whole we have encountered a rather staggering problem: we seem to be unable to come up with decent character goals.

We have tried the basic goals like living the good life after aquiring wealth, but any attempts to settle down in one of the major towns like Tyr is met with either slavery, extreme taxation or our city being attacked by a crazy dragon THE crazy dragon.

Any attempts to settle into an oasis has been met with them either being housed by large groups of bandits, or us being attacked by large groups of bandits. Any attempts at associating with said bandits ends with us being attacked by templars. Any attempts of us associating with templars would likely end with said dragon.

We can't kill the bugger or the sorceror king as that has been made very clear that they are factors of the enviroment and powerlevel over 9000.

There doesnt seem to be any other major threats except the invicible dragon and his sorceror cronies/enemies which leads us to just wandering oasis to oasis fighting bandits, templar and monsters. This leads to the very boring character goal of survive.

The Dark sun is the 1st edition dark sun, so anything from 2e-4e is considered "crazy garbage." The mentioning of it leads to a little dance, arm wagging and a five minute cursing ramble about Richard Baker.

Any suggestions on some goals for characters in this situtation, or just condolences would be welcomed. Thanks for reading.

Coidzor
2010-07-25, 02:29 PM
A religious quest for a decent DM, comes to mind...

Or a different game.

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-07-25, 02:41 PM
I thought the whole goal of any Dark Sun character was just living to see another wretched day. If you aren't constantly killing and betraying people for mouthfuls of water and crumbs of food while being mercilessly beaten by your slavemaster until finally you die of heat stroke and the local halflings start fighting over who get's first pickings from your corpse, you're not playing Dark Sun. At least, that's the impression I got from it. :smallconfused:

Coidzor
2010-07-25, 02:51 PM
I thought the whole goal of any Dark Sun character was just living to see another wretched day. If you aren't constantly killing and betraying people for mouthfuls of water and crumbs of food while being mercilessly beaten by your slavemaster until finally you die of heat stroke and the local halflings start fighting over who get's first pickings from your corpse, you're not playing Dark Sun. At least, that's the impression I got from it. :smallconfused:

Yep. As I said, if you don't like it, get the DM to run a different game.

If he won't, get a different DM.

Ravens_cry
2010-07-25, 03:24 PM
Struggle to make your little part of the world a little bit better, protecting friends and family.
Always worthy goals, and if they are that much harder in Dark Sun, they are that much more worth doing.

Lord Vukodlak
2010-07-25, 04:48 PM
"Athas was once a beautiful jewel of the cosmos, a lush world full of life and wonder. But then came the defilement the it spread across the globe sapping the green and blue from the world turning the shining jewel into a lifeless husk under a burnt red sun."
—Braxis the world hydra

Here's a goal and its lofty and perhaps unattainable but pursuit of this goal could take you to the four corners of Athas. If the goal of setting up a safe community is impossible and just leads to mindless battle, instead travel the world searching for a way to leave.

You probably won't succeed but it could also help send the message your not happy with the current mood of the campaign.

Milskidasith
2010-07-25, 04:53 PM
Can't you still cast all the druid spells? Forcibly make your own oasis, or at least use Create Food and Water to ignore material needs.

Dark Sun's supposed to be tough, but I don't recall it ever getting rid of easy magical access to life's necessities.

Shatteredtower
2010-07-25, 06:16 PM
Your DM is using a 2nd Ed setting with 1st Ed rules? Psionics alone makes this a bad idea.

People often talk of how unforgiving this world is, without acknowledging how rich it is in cultures and life. (If that last statement causes your DM to curse the original Baker, he needs to look into professional counselling.)

Go out there and see that world. Learn from that, and never stop moving. Strive to bring together what you can. If that turns out to be impossible because something always destroys the places you've been and people you knew, note that the setting could never have survived an Endlean Cycle, let alone 189 King's Ages, and replace your DM.

Athas is too rich a setting to waste on staying home. It is going to need Einstein's Prescription ("a new kind of thinking") in the long run, but first you're going to have to get out there to gain understanding of what it is you're trying to save.

Lhurgyof
2010-07-25, 06:41 PM
You need to know about the world to give yourself distinct goals. Unless the DM has given some hints about some of the greater things that can be done in Dark Sun, then you're kinda screwed. But also note that even in AD&D, Dark Sun is meant to go to LEVEL 50.

Shatteredtower
2010-07-25, 08:13 PM
But also note that even in AD&D, Dark Sun is meant to go to LEVEL 50.

30, not 50. Even multi-classing doesn't actually break that cap: 20 levels each of defiler and psionicist combined with 10 of dragon still amount to a 30th level character in both AD&D editions.

Lhurgyof
2010-07-25, 09:19 PM
30, not 50. Even multi-classing doesn't actually break that cap: 20 levels each of defiler and psionicist combined with 10 of dragon still amount to a 30th level character in both AD&D editions.

Ah, really? Sorry, then, never played AD&D enough to know that. xD
But nonetheless, it's meant to go into the high levels. So if you're at low levels, staying alive is much more important than anything else.
Plus, there's a lot of good roleplaying/politics in Dark Sun. There are no (er... little) dungeon crawls, and going out in the desert to fight monsters is just about the dumbest idea. xD

Criptfeind
2010-07-26, 12:19 AM
It seems obvious to me. Kill the dragon. You can not now but try to take down any organization and slowly gain power until you can.

Lord Vukodlak
2010-07-26, 12:34 AM
Can't you still cast all the druid spells? Forcibly make your own oasis, or at least use Create Food and Water to ignore material needs.

Dark Sun's supposed to be tough, but I don't recall it ever getting rid of easy magical access to life's necessities.

I do recall it getting rid of the easy magical access to the necessities of life.


It seems obvious to me. Kill the dragon. You can not now but try to take down any organization and slowly gain power until you can.

The problem is many of those cities can only exist because of the sorcerer-dragon king ruling over it.

Aroka
2010-07-26, 07:44 AM
Dark Sun's supposed to be tough, but I don't recall it ever getting rid of easy magical access to life's necessities.

Yes and no. I've got my 2nd ed. revised Dark Sun books here, and create water and create food & water are nerfed (you can create enough water for one inactive person per level, or half the requirement of an active person, or one-quarter that required by someone in metal armor; halve those again for half-giants). So high-level clerics/druids, or those willing to devote a big part of their spell slots to creating water, could do it. But remember, only Water priests (clerics or druids) get those spells - if you wanted to use any other elemental sphere, you're out of luck.

A pile of other spells are changed in Dark Sun, too, like wall of iron getting a duration (sorry, no free iron for you).

Edit:

It seems obvious to me. Kill the dragon. You can not now but try to take down any organization and slowly gain power until you can.

This is what Rikus, Neeva, Sadira, Agis, and Tithian did in Troy Denning's abominable Dark Sun novels. The thing is, the Dragon (as in Borys) can only be defeated with some unique artifacts. The Sorcerer-Kings (also dragons) only require about one unique artifact. But if you defeat any of them, you're going to be creating a power vacuum into which other similar creatures will try to step (if you defeat Tectuktitlay, Hamanu will invade Draj; if you defeat Borys, another dragon, like Dregoth, will conquer the region; and there are dragons outside the Tyr region, too).

If the PCs can get to a point where they can regularly and confidently defeat Sorcerer-Kings and the Dragon... er, well, that'd just be stupid. Unless they become dragons and whatever-those-preserver-moths-are-called.

Coidzor
2010-07-26, 08:53 AM
If the PCs can get to a point where they can regularly and confidently defeat Sorcerer-Kings and the Dragon... er, well, that'd just be stupid. Unless they become dragons and whatever-those-preserver-moths-are-called.

avangions, I think...

Optimystik
2010-07-26, 08:57 AM
I do recall it getting rid of the easy magical access to the necessities of life.

I know it skipped 3.x, but I know Dark Sun had plenty of psionics. If there were a 3.x version, wouldn't Elans have a significant advantage in the harsh environment? What with not needing to eat/drink and all. I don't know a great deal about Dark Sun, though it intrigues me. Could one theoretically use the Sandstorm rules and maybe crib the pieces together?

Milskidasith
2010-07-26, 09:01 AM
I know it skipped 3.x, but I know Dark Sun had plenty of psionics. If there were a 3.x version, wouldn't Elans have a significant advantage in the harsh environment? What with not needing to eat/drink and all. I don't know a great deal about Dark Sun, though it intrigues me. Could on theoretically use the Sandstorm rules and maybe crib the pieces together?

Actually, there is a 3.5 version of Dark Sun, and Elan's are not one of the races in the Dark Sun setting. It may have still nerfed create food and water, but I lost the link so I can't go check.

Coidzor
2010-07-26, 09:03 AM
athas.org you mean?:smallconfused:

Anyway, at this point, the characters could actually find the thingy they imprisoned What's His Butt, Lord of Evil Hobbits before the seals start weakening and just toss it somewhere out of the way, since Sir Dragonsbutt the Dragonically Insane is still, well, Draconically Insane

hamlet
2010-07-26, 09:54 AM
Actually, there is a 3.5 version of Dark Sun, and Elan's are not one of the races in the Dark Sun setting. It may have still nerfed create food and water, but I lost the link so I can't go check.

Elan do not exist! At least not in the AD&D version.

There is a psionic power out there (in Dragon Kings book I think) that permits a decent psionicist to gather water out of the environment into a suitable vessel, but the quantitiy isn't grand unless you're somewhere particularly moist. Probably would get enough out of each use to keep a human sized person from dying of dehydration on a daily basis. Handy little tool.

As for the OP: the goal is to set your own goal. Dark Sun is not a world where you just wander around Forgotten Realms style waiting for the next adventure hook to snag your nose. Make a decision about what it is, as a group, that you want to do and then start determining what you need to do to make that happen.

A recommendation for you would be to get in touch with the Veiled Alliance. They're about the closest thing in the world to genuine good guys running around, though they aren't particularly nice. They will, though, help out anybody who wants to stick a thorn into the side of one of the Sorceror Kings and kill off Defiler magic.