TSR worried about this concept, wondering how to market a product that lacked any familiar elements. The team envisioned a post-apocalyptic world full of exotic monsters and no hallmark fantasy creatures whatsoever. In 1990 the company began pre-production on a new campaign setting that would use this ruleset, the working title of which was 'War World'. TSR released the second edition of Battlesystem, its mass-combat ruleset, in 1989. Development Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd edition) ĭark Sun has been mentioned by developers, most notably Mike Mearls, and appeared in psionics playtest materials for Dungeons & Dragons for the fifth edition of the game. Only third-party material was produced for the third edition D&D rules, but a new official edition of Dark Sun was released in 2010 for the fourth edition. ĭark Sun 's popularity endured long after the setting was no longer supported, with a lively online community developing around it. The setting was also the first TSR setting to come with an established metaplot out of the box. The artwork of Brom established a trend of game products produced under the direction of a single artist. Dark Sun differs further in that the game has no deities, arcane magic is reviled for causing the planet's current ecological fragility, and psionics are extremely common. The traditional fantasy races and character classes were altered or omitted to better suit the setting's darker themes. Dark Sun 's designers presented a savage, magic-ravaged desert world where resources are scarce and survival is a daily struggle. ĭark Sun deviated from the feudalistic backdrops of its Tolkienesque pseudo-medieval contemporaries, such as Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, in favor of a composite of dark fantasy, planetary romance, and the Dying Earth subgenre.

The product line began with the original Dark Sun Boxed Set released for D&D's 2nd edition in 1991, originally ran until 1996, and was one of TSR's most successful releases. Dark Sun featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take on traditional fantasy role-playing. Game accessories, novels, comics, role-playing video gamesĭark Sun is an original Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. For other uses, see Dark Sun (disambiguation).

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