I love Dark Sun. And I’ve really been enjoying Dungeon World. Happily my players agree with both points, and after trying two Dungeon World one-shots we’re going to be doing a campaign in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world named Lyth. To get the ones who don’t know the post-apocalyptic fantasy genre onto the same page as everyone else, I made this small setting document that I figured I’d also share with the community.
My goal here was to get players up to speed enough to narrate elements of the ruined world themselves. It’s still missing stuff — more GM moves, principles, monsters and magic — but given that I haven’t yet played it myself I don’t really know what moves I’ll be making or what cool monsters we’ll create. And I was hoping that the awesome community here would have some cool ideas I could incorporate!
So without further ado, here’s my take on Dark Sun, a la Dungeon World.
I’m really curious about this… On the one hand, I think players appreciate some context. On the other hand, I’ve had someone far more familiar with DW than I am more or less tell me “you’re doing it wrong”. What are other people’s opinions? Is it okay to build a sketch of a setting with lots of blanks, or should we leave the page entirely devoid of content only to be filled after the first session? What’s the role of “classic” settings like FR, Greyhawk or even Eberron and Dark Sun in the world envisioned by DW?
Personally, Dungeon World seems to come with certain setting assumptions attached: mechanically, regarding elements like magic and divine power, and thematically, with various classes and the moves they can make. “Under a Sickened Sky” grew out of my desire to alter these baseline assumptions. On top of that, many players and GMs also have a shared vision of a Greyhawk/FR world and the elements it contains, that I feel that Dungeon World implicitly encourages — enchanted forests, planar monsters, undead tombs… Dark Sun is different enough, and DW gives players enough narrative control, that calling out generalized setting elements (a toxic jungle, a shattered land, a city of a Priest-King) helps get everyone on the same page for introducing thematically-linked elements, and ultimately create a cohesive story together.
Josh Symonds Yes, that totally makes sense to me. I would also love to hear Sage LaTorra and/or Adam Koebel ‘s take on this as well.
Ah, this is brilliant. Have you seen the Gladiator class written by GimpInBlack on the SA forums?
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?ob8ewooe1g3lebc
It’s a very different take on how to approach setting than the core DW / AW games tend to take.
That doesn’t mean it’s bad! I’ll have to devote the time to read it word-for-word before I can say more!
John Ryan I didn’t even know there were DW SA forums, so I’ve not seen this! What a great addition, thanks!
Josh Symonds There’s also a Templar conversion for the Paladin kicking about by the guy who did the Mage and Priest. GimpInBlack is actively working on Dark Sun Dungeon World on SA.
Jacob Randolph did the Artisan, Mage, Priest and Templar. I highly recommend them. They take a step away from the leveling baggage of D&D: no more spell lists and the Templar allows for a knight of good, lawful and evil alignments, and really adds a lot to that niche.
I like this a lot. Very cool.
Josh Symonds: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WcGmBtG7JKYl_EpGveG6VCKr4oZ38FE5pVld7lx9Tmc/edit
That’s all of the SA Dark Sun Dungeon World stuff. Most of it is GimpInBlack’s.