TSR
$30

Recently TSR has re-released their Dark Sun Campaign Setting in a stick new boxed set. The package contains everything necessary to run an AD&D game on the world of Athas, and clearly outlines extensive revisions to the previous release. The set includes: three good maps (the cloth one is particularly nice); a GM screen with many useful charts; "Mystery of the Ancients" an"" adventure designed for starting players: "The Way of the Psionicist which describes Psionics and game mechanics; "The Wanderer's Sourcebook" for the world itself.

The world of Athas is harsh and brutal, alien indeed compared to more traditional fantasy settings like Greyhawk or The Forgotten Realms. Athas has been turned into a wasteland by the use of powerful destructive magic. Many familiar AD&D creatures, such as lizard men, pixies, and gnomes, have been exterminated by evil rulers in the past. Those races that remain, (such as dwarves, elves, and halflings) have been forced to evolve and aadapt to the ostile environment and thus bear little comparison to their relatives on other worlds. The unique nature of Athas includes new character races such as half-giants, thri-kreen, aarakocra, muls (half- dwarves) and pterrans (reptilian bipeds unique to Athas).

Character generation in Dark Sun is significantly revised beyond choice of race. Ability scores are higher on Athas than other worlds, an effect of the harsh environment. Accordingly, there have been revisions to the use of some ability scores (particularly Strength and Constitution) to maintain game-balance. More significantly, all intelligent creatures on Athas have psionics, thus making it a central part of the game instead of an option. Fortunately, "The Way of the Psionicist" prepares a GM for this, and includes extensive revisions in the way psionics are used. One significant adjustment is that psionic combat has been simplified and made to function exactly like normal AD&D combat, with a Mental THACO, and a Mental Armor Class. This helps shortens the learning curve for those unpracticed with psionics. Unfortunately, the guide is incomplete and doesn't include descriptions of all Psionic powers, a surprising omission.

Even more significant are the changes to the normal AD&D concepts of magic. Clerical magic has been significantly changed since Athas is not connected to the Outer Planes. This means Gods cannot influence Athas, and thus religion has undergone major changes. Clerics on Athas worship the Elemental Planes, and receive powers from those uncaring forces. Druids still exist, gaining power from nature itself, but are not organized into a hierarchy.

Other Clerics, termed Templars, receive their magic from the extremely powerful rulers of certain cities, who are known as Sorcerer-Kings. Mages are also in for a surprise since their power no longer comes without a price. Every use of non- clerical magic on Athas is drawn from the life- force around the magic user. Too much use of this magic kills nearby life, and is known as Defiling magic. Those who are cautious are termed Preservers and must limit their use of magic to minimize harm to the environment.

As all of these changes indicate, Dark Sun is one of the largest departures within the AD&D line. This makes it a refreshing change for players and GMs who are burned out on the traditional fantasy games. However, it also means that Dark Suns is not easily integrated into the rest of the TSR universe. For instance, Athas is not a good place for the casual player-adventurer to visit, and, should indeed be kept isolated from the other worlds.

As a whole, this new vision of Dark Sun is to be recommended for providing all the tools needed to run this unique environment. Those already familiar with Dark Sun will find the new boxed set valuable for the streamlined game play revisions and the updated source material, whih reflects changes to the game world over the last few years, all of which will undoubtedly impact Dark Sun products.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com