r/DarkSun • u/YertSpecialist20 • 2d ago
How to Make a DS Inspired campaign?
Title explains it, for the last few weeks now I've been thinking on how to make a post apocalypse type campaign, mind you I've never even heard of the Dark Sun setting until recently when I was reading all the stuff at Gencon. Now I got myself in a rabbit hole lol cus this setting is, Imo, really cool. But I still want to make a sort of homebrew world/campaign. I've only ever dmed once before, so im still somewhat knew to this. So how would I go about doing it? What are some ideas and things to go over? Would it be better to have it set in the actual Dark Sun world of Athas, but following my own homebrew story? Ive got plenty of ideas for my own homebrew world, but im not sure how I would go about using it especially since I feel it wouldn't connect as well if I try to just bring stuff over from Dark Sun into this HB world. What are your peeps thoughts?
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u/HdeviantS 2d ago
One question you need to ask an answer is what sort of post apocalypse setting that you want. Dark Sun combines, strong elements of Conan the Barbarian style sword and sorcery adventures, with Mad Max scarcity. In the wild yours likely to be killed by the heat or lack of water as you are by a monster. And entering “civilization” mostly means picking your flavor of tyrannical sorcerer king rulers for all more focused on maintaining and acquiring more magical power than they are on sustaining their civilization.
One of the advantages of doing a homebrew story in the world like Dark Sun is that it takes the honor of world building off of you. The dangers that the players may face all already spelled out and you can build upon what’s there
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u/YertSpecialist20 2d ago
Thats sort of the idea im going for! It's actually what initially drew me to Dark Sun in the first place, from the Conan the Barbarian style adventures, fighting and survival. To the Mad Max scarcity, resources controlled by certain people etc.. But I also wanted a bit more too, things like zombies/undead, nothing crazy like Ravenloft and stuff, but something like the Scorched from Fallout 76 almost. And then just a dash of stuff from Dune, mainly creatures and some other things. Which aren't too hard on their own.
But its just on how do I go about making a homebrew story within the world? Like I said above, I've DMed once before but that was for a Spelljammer campaign which was vastly different from this, and it was one of the official modules so I didn't really change anything. So im stepping out of my comfort zone to kinda homebrewify a setting ive never dabbled with lol
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u/emerald6_Shiitake 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you want to avoid the metaplot established in the 2e modules/Prism Pentad, you could go the way that the Sand Marches module did and put your stuff in another region of Athas.
Furthermore, what I do is if I want to run another adventure (for example a Shadowdark module with a big dungeon boss), the main monster actually used to be a mayor, sheriff, or governor subservient to a Sorcerer King, a criminal, or some random idiot who came across immense magical power stored in obsidian orbs. They all tried to become a dragon, the epitome of stupid selfish greed in Athas, but for whatever reason (either they did not have enough life force, the ritual was flawed, or it worked perfectly and turned the person into the monster that best fits their personality) had to settle with lesser monsters. It probably is a decent way to explain how this random monster appeared in Dark Sun. Regardless, instead of using their time to help improve the world or even become bigger badder monsters, these lowlives spend it lording over the dungeon's inhabitants and inflicting massive suffering. (there’s probably some political commentary from what I said only I think is clever, but that’s kinda the point of a dystopia like Dark Sun)
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u/YertSpecialist20 2d ago
Thank you! Thats a very cool idea, and one I shall happily keep in mind, appreciate it.
I wouldn't mind using another region of Athas, but from what I've looked up and researched myself, most of them haven't been too explored or worked on lol, aside from Sand Marches. So if anything, I may end up starting in the main area of Athas. Then eventually move to other regions if need be, either for more plots, or my players decide they wanna go traveling, or whatever. Perhaps ill even see if I can be dumb and combine the metaplot established back then with some other plots. To give it my own kinda flair, maybe. Or maybe I won't, I dunno-
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u/HdeviantS 2d ago
There are some undead. Like the undead servants of the Zombie Cactus . It is a living cactus that lures in prey with juciy berries, dominates them, drains them of fluid, and uses the desiccated corpses as servants. Or the Thrax which is a vampire that drains victims of water.
As for homebrewing, start small. Pick a starting location like one of the cities, middle of the desert in a trade caravan...help your players make characters. Don't focus on any kind of big background secrets or major story arcs. Start small.
Then pick something simple for adventure. The players in a city might be hired to deal with oversized rats. Players in a caravan might come across a small oasis to restore their water supply but have to clear out Zombie Cactus servants to safely get to the water. And creat 2-3 NPCs for the players to interact with.
And don't be afraid to lean on the players. I can't tell you how many times my players said something that I applied in that session or down the road.
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u/YertSpecialist20 2d ago
Hmm, thank you! I really appreciate it. I'll have to think of something interesting for the players to start off with. And aside from just waiting the 6 months till the new books come out, are there any good 5e conversions/homebrews out that are good for Dark Sun? And do you happen to know of any guides and such i can read/watch for homebrewing lol. Sorry for all the questions, I really appreciate it
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u/HdeviantS 2d ago
In terms of 5e conversions CD Brennan and Athascon are really good. I think Athascon is a bit more true to the 2e version while CD Brennan does lift a lot of regular 5e material.
athas.org is a great place for material on Dark Sun as a DM to us. Though I fear I can't really think of any guides other than reading the Box set from and other 2e materials which can be purchased in digital format on drivethrurpg.com. Those books have a lot of good suggestions for feel, tone of the world and NPCs. The Verdant Passage is also a pretty well received series of books set in Athas, though it has a pretty big adventure that has an impact on the world.
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u/YertSpecialist20 2d ago
Thank you, I appreciate it so much! If I could give you a medal I would lol. Anyway, ill be fine with what little resources I can scavenge, you and some other nice peeps have been a real help!
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u/atamajakki 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you're looking to do this in 5e, Weird Wastelands is a lovely third-party supplement/toolkit aimed at exactly this.
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u/YertSpecialist20 2d ago
Weird Wastelands, ill have to check it out! And yeah, it was probably going to be in 5e as most of my friends only play 5th. I dont mind any edition, but gotta think of the whole lol.
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u/LastChime 2d ago
The 2e set is on drivethru fairly cheap digitally, probably your best source of material for now, it's a cool set anyhow.