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"Post-apocalypse" may be something of a misnomer, but a second "genre" seemed a fitting way to point out that DARK SUN is different from most of the campaign settings given to xD&D over the years. It's enough of a variant on traditional fantasy, and well-done enough, to be worth a look.

The setting is Athas, a world that was once verdant and green but due to some ancient magic going awry has turned into a barren desert planet. There is a vast Silt Sea, a plain of pure obsidian stone, and a forest filled with feral Halflings who have no qualms about eating other sentient beings. (There are three maps included- one made of cloth, which actually is kinda cool.) In the farthest reaches of the known world, a new realm full of intelligent insect creatures has just been discovered. Most of the cities are ruled by the tyrannical Sorcerer Kings, who use defiling magic to gain power while draining the life from the world around them. Among these city-states is the free city of Tyr, which has recently dethroned its Sorcerer-King and is now attracting people and things from all of Athas. Can the other Sorcerer Kings be dethroned? Can Athas be restored to its former glory? Can your PCs be the ones behind this? Mmmmmaaaaayyyybe.

This is a tough world, so Athasian PCs are a little stronger than most. They roll 5d4 for stats (4d4+4 if you're using the "1st roll is Strength, second is Constitution" method) and start at third level. Races include the conventional ones (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, etc.), as well as Muls (sterile Half-Dwarves originally bred as slave labor), Half-Giants, Thri-Kreen (the aforementioned insectoids from the far reaches of Athas), Aarakocra (bird people), and Pterrans (sorta like Lizard Men, except they're not, apparently.) New classes include Gladiators, Defilers (normal Mages are called Preservers, because their magic doesn't kill the land), Psionicists (there's a small book on Psionics rules included, but I recommend getting THE COMPLETE PSIONICS HANDBOOK), and Traders. Apparently the part of the Prime Material Plane containing Athas doesn't have the proper conduits through which gods give and recieve power to and from their worshippers, so there are no Paladins, and only Elemental Clerics (and Druids.)

Metal is rare on Athas, so the common currency is the ceramic piece and most weapons are made of cheaper materials such as bone, obsidian stone or wood. This makes them slightly less effective in combat, but them's the breaks, and I must admit the idea of bone battle axes and obsidian swords is pretty cool. Metal armor is also expensive (not to mention dangerous given the average temperature on Athas), and there are rules for piecemeal armor.

The idea of playing characters who are more powerful than normal, Mages who can show off more than once per adventure right from the start, and stuff like that is rather appealing. The DM will have to work just a little harder to make sure the situations are still challenging, but with threats like an entire realm of undead (the aforementioned obsidian plain), bizarre and dangerous relics from the ancient world, lots of monsters with psionics and the inevitable problems of water supply and heat exhaustion, somehow I don't think that'll be much of a problem.

One complaint is that the material is presented without many ideas given as to how it might be used. The PLANESCAPE boxed set had information as to what the feel of the environment really was, what kind of goals the characters could expect to accomplish, and how that might be handled in adventures- one could argue the more complex setting required that kind of explanation, but it did give the DM something to start with. TSR essentially promoted this as a setting where the PCs' actions could have great consequences in deciding the future of the realm, and some of the prose in the historical summary supports that, but no advice is given to the DM on how such an "epic" campaign might be staged. Someone used to conducting dungeon crawls and slay-the-dragon adventures might not know where to begin.

There's a decent adventure (which should advance characters about half a level) included, though having played it through it seems just a bit too difficult for starting characters. It's easily "tweaked" though. The only other problem is that storywise, it sorta goes off track. The mission the PCs are given at the start is still unfulfilled at the end and the DM will have to fill in the rest of the story. Nonetheless, it does serve as a good introduction to the world, and has a few interesting encounters besides the straightforward combat situations.

I'm still not sure why Psionics needed to be created as a discipline separate from magic, but the system is different enough to be interesting and its use in a "desert planet" setting reminds me of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood from DUNE. Anyone who has a problem with the Vancian "use a spell and forget it" magic system of the game will probably want to give Psionics a try. I don't know what other settings use psionics very prominently, but they work in DARK SUN.

On the whole this is a good setting, rich with ideas and possibilities, though you might have to be at least moderately experienced to start working with them. Of course, there's nothing wrong with taking a few pumped-up, bone-axe-wielding PCs on a dungeon crawl through ruins of the Blue Age, either. This setting was cancelled a while back, and is unlikely to surface in the near future, but it's still worth seeking out a copy if you want something different for AD&D, but not quite as "heavy" as PLANESCAPE. Athas is a world worth visiting.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Dark Sun Campaign Setting- Revised & Expanded
Author: Bill Slavicsek Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: AD&D 2nd ed. Cost: 30.00 Page count: n/a Capsule Review by Evan Waters on 06/20/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Post-apocalypse	"Post-apocalypse" may be something of a misnomer, but a second "genre" seemed a fitting way to point out that DARK SUN is different from most of the campaign settings given to xD&D over the years. It's enough of a variant on traditional fantasy, and well-done enough, to be worth a look. The setting is Athas, a world that was once verdant and green but due to some ancient magic going awry has turned into a barren desert planet. There is a vast Silt Sea, a plain of pure obsidian stone, and a forest filled with feral Halflings who have no qualms about eating other sentient beings. (There are three maps included- one made of cloth, which actually is kinda cool.) In the farthest reaches of the known world, a new realm full of intelligent insect creatures has just been discovered. Most of the cities are ruled by the tyrannical Sorcerer Kings, who use defiling magic to gain power while draining the life from the world around them. Among these city-states is the free city of Tyr, which has recently dethroned its Sorcerer-King and is now attracting people and things from all of Athas. Can the other Sorcerer Kings be dethroned? Can Athas be restored to its former glory? Can your PCs be the ones behind this? Mmmmmaaaaayyyybe. This is a tough world, so Athasian PCs are a little stronger than most. They roll 5d4 for stats (4d4+4 if you're using the "1st roll is Strength, second is Constitution" method) and start at third level. Races include the conventional ones (Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, etc.), as well as Muls (sterile Half-Dwarves originally bred as slave labor), Half-Giants, Thri-Kreen (the aforementioned insectoids from the far reaches of Athas), Aarakocra (bird people), and Pterrans (sorta like Lizard Men, except they're not, apparently.) New classes include Gladiators, Defilers (normal Mages are called Preservers, because their magic doesn't kill the land), Psionicists (there's a small book on Psionics rules included, but I recommend getting THE COMPLETE PSIONICS HANDBOOK), and Traders. Apparently the part of the Prime Material Plane containing Athas doesn't have the proper conduits through which gods give and recieve power to and from their worshippers, so there are no Paladins, and only Elemental Clerics (and Druids.) Metal is rare on Athas, so the common currency is the ceramic piece and most weapons are made of cheaper materials such as bone, obsidian stone or wood. This makes them slightly less effective in combat, but them's the breaks, and I must admit the idea of bone battle axes and obsidian swords is pretty cool. Metal armor is also expensive (not to mention dangerous given the average temperature on Athas), and there are rules for piecemeal armor. The idea of playing characters who are more powerful than normal, Mages who can show off more than once per adventure right from the start, and stuff like that is rather appealing. The DM will have to work just a little harder to make sure the situations are still challenging, but with threats like an entire realm of undead (the aforementioned obsidian plain), bizarre and dangerous relics from the ancient world, lots of monsters with psionics and the inevitable problems of water supply and heat exhaustion, somehow I don't think that'll be much of a problem. One complaint is that the material is presented without many ideas given as to how it might be used. The PLANESCAPE boxed set had information as to what the feel of the environment really was, what kind of goals the characters could expect to accomplish, and how that might be handled in adventures- one could argue the more complex setting required that kind of explanation, but it did give the DM something to start with. TSR essentially promoted this as a setting where the PCs' actions could have great consequences in deciding the future of the realm, and some of the prose in the historical summary supports that, but no advice is given to the DM on how such an "epic" campaign might be staged. Someone used to conducting dungeon crawls and slay-the-dragon adventures might not know where to begin. There's a decent adventure (which should advance characters about half a level) included, though having played it through it seems just a bit too difficult for starting characters. It's easily "tweaked" though. The only other problem is that storywise, it sorta goes off track. The mission the PCs are given at the start is still unfulfilled at the end and the DM will have to fill in the rest of the story. Nonetheless, it does serve as a good introduction to the world, and has a few interesting encounters besides the straightforward combat situations. I'm still not sure why Psionics needed to be created as a discipline separate from magic, but the system is different enough to be interesting and its use in a "desert planet" setting reminds me of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood from DUNE. Anyone who has a problem with the Vancian "use a spell and forget it" magic system of the game will probably want to give Psionics a try. I don't know what other settings use psionics very prominently, but they work in DARK SUN. On the whole this is a good setting, rich with ideas and possibilities, though you might have to be at least moderately experienced to start working with them. Of course, there's nothing wrong with taking a few pumped-up, bone-axe-wielding PCs on a dungeon crawl through ruins of the Blue Age, either. This setting was cancelled a while back, and is unlikely to surface in the near future, but it's still worth seeking out a copy if you want something different for AD&D, but not quite as "heavy" as PLANESCAPE. Athas is a world worth visiting. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Dark Sun Campaign Setting- Revised & Expanded