Here's another teaser advertisement for Dark Sun, from Dragon #172 (August 1991) – a month before the formal release of the game. What stands out to me about this ad is that it calls the setting AD&D's "toughest challenge ever" or some variation thereof. This makes me wonder more about the genesis of the setting within TSR and what segment of the game's audience the company was hoping to attract.
Let's see, you could play a half-human/half-dwarf gladiator with psionic powers armed and armored with items made from the chitin of dead giant bugs... You know the first such character was named Munchkinius Maximus!
ReplyDeleteIs that Jabba the Hut's house? I think my kids made that place at Pompano Beach in 2009.
DeleteI do recall the feeling when Dark Sun came out that it was the grimmer, deadlier setting where live was cheap. And with everything having psionics, it was going to be more dangerous.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great interview with Troy Denning about the creation of Dark Sun. You could skip to 16 minutes in to get the details on how it came together. I don't think any other design team at TSR ever got the time and resources they did. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-9-troy-denning-part-1/id1261413594?i=1000615537286
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link.
DeleteIt sounds like they ALMOST tapped into the Swords & Sorcery genre, but they just HAD to offer the Epic Fantasy dish of heroes saving the world….
ReplyDeleteI guess TSR knew their fan base best (cough), but it seems to me, this setting was primed and ready for some sandaled feet, amoral grit, and player-driven adventure.
Too bad the powers that be envisioned Aragorn and Frodo setting the world to right….
This isn't correct. Both Dark Sun and Planescape were wildly popular back then and they were anything but LotR inspired fantasy or even high fantasy. Yes especially dark sun had rules for crazy characters but the players were never meant to get there and take on Borys of Ebe.
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