Dark Sun Positivity
I listen to a lot of D&D podcasts. I watch a lot of D&D-Tube. Dark Sun was in the news this week, and Iāve got something to say.
We heard about Dark Sun this week because Wizards of the Coast put designs for unmistakably Dark Sun classes in the Unearthed Arcana playtest materials, hinting at a future possible Dark Sun product. But as a result, this week I also heard my favorite RPG show hosts admit that the main thing they knew about Dark Sun is that it did not age well and has controversial content.
I agree. The Dark Sun setting contains controversial tropes, stereotypes, and subjects, like slavery, which must be acknowledged. They are difficult to include in a game without first having a serious conversation with oneās gaming group, and their unmodified inclusion in a game release in 2026 seems unlikely. However, left out of this weekās conversation were many of Dark Sunās positive aspects and contributions to the game of D&D that we now take for granted or - quite frankly - we may never see done as well in the medium.
So here we go. From a super fan of the setting, my top favorite things about Dark Sun that arenāt getting talked about:
Revolution and Freedom
The opening adventure module of Dark Sun - aptly titled āFreedomā - starts the characters as unjustly enslaved laborers and gladiators in Tyr and ends with them as willing participants in open revolution against a tyrannical sorcerer king. What follows in both the adventures and novel is a mix of the internal struggles of a fledgling free city and the conflict with the surrounding slave-holding city-states.
The story of Tyr is inspired directly by the French Revolution. Tyr is akin to Paris, a city with a corrupt and entrenched church, complicit nobles, a poor population freed from serfdom, and a massive power vacuum left by the dead king. The new government survives internal power struggles while defending itself from a European continent ruled by hereditary monarchs whose legitimacy and inevitability are no longer guaranteed.
Dark Sun asks the question of what happens when revolutionary leaders become the new rulers. How long before named NPCs are put to the guillotine - or ice pick if you are going to go Bolsheviks on this analogy? Dark Sun asks what happens after the revolution, when the king is deposed but the sources of power are still held by the institutions and the rich. The adventuring players often come from all walks of life before the revolution, but in free Tyr they are all equal citizens.
D&D has always appealed to history nerds. Compared to meeting in a tavern to deal with a cave of goblins, Dark Sun makes political and social commentary and invites players to explore topics of revolution and freedom with unique adult appeal.
Skipping to the fun
Dark Sun called for players to start their characters at level 3, allowing for more powerful starting races and jumping directly into more dangerous and narratively interesting scenarios. Dark Sun had no āstarter zonesā for rat caching in the tavernās basement or running errands around a friendly town. Adventures started with capable heroes fighting dangerous monsters; a trend that is now the standard in many modern incarnations of D&D. Compared to its contemporaries, I joined several campaigns of D&D 2nd edition that fizzled out before we even got to the story. Dark Sun prompted players to create backup characters and challenged GMs to make the game dangerous again. This seems common now that we have the OSR, but in the early 90s, D&D needed an injection of energy, and Dark Sun provided it.
Matching player options to setting
When any new setting or 3rd party content for D&D is released, we now all expect character options, races, classes, and subclasses that match the aesthetic and lore of a new world. Dark Sun was the first to do this well, including new options in the core book, but not going to the extremes of later D&D 3rd Editionās splat book problem. Typical classes were reskinned and modified for the setting, and whole new classes were created to give additional player experiences that could not be had in previous settings. Options that didnāt match the world were removed. Dark Sun was not a ākitchen sinkā setting where every asian monk, Norse barbarian, steampunk artificer, and Tolkien elf had to somehow coexist. Everything in Dark Sun fits.
Psionics as a world-building foundation
Having a rich genre setting meant that psionic powers in Dark Sun stood on its own without feeling tacked on or dependent on the players being fans of Appendix N pulp fantasy. Psionic PCs, NCPs, monsters, and magic items all had a place. Dark Sun monsters were wild monstrous mutations, often evolved or enchanted with psionic abilities. I have tembo life-drained many player characters in the colosseum of Tyr. Additionally, by making psionics common and arcane magic rare, Dark Sun magic users felt narratively impactful even at mid levels.
Brom
Fantasy artist Bromās work is unmistakable. His paintings inspired the tone and stories we told in the setting. D&D art was excellent before Dark Sun and continues to be excellent, but we have not seen a direct creative contribution to a game setting by the lead artist.
Stories in a power vacuum
The death of Tyrās sorceror king created an interesting power vacuum and story catalyst for high-level play. Will his evil court wizard ascend to Sorceror-Kingdom? Will a powerful Psionicist take over? Will a neighboring city-state invade? The players quickly find themselves as the most capable defenders of the free city.
In the Forgotten Realms, it is never explained why the players need to save the world, given the hundreds of high-level NPCs and retired adventurers available. Other D&D settings tend to run like a 1980ās television show where the equilibrium is always restored by the end of the episode. Dark Sun stories had the potential to witness, cause, and survive additional calamity rather than just read about it between edition changes. Itās already a post-apocalypse, so the story will keep going if you lose a city or two.
This also meant that by high-level play, the players are appropriately main characters in the world - likely battling Sorcerer Kings and the Dragon (there is only one, and that is awesome). There are no deities or higher powers to appeal to. If you want to save the world, the player characters are your first and last stop.
They let it cook
Unlike 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions, Dark Sun was among the last D&D settings to get a full run of supporting books and adventures. The world was fleshed out with excellent setting guides. A second core box with a timeline update, expanded character options, and a larger world map was a welcome arrival. Dark Sun was given room to breathe and receive support. We let it cook.
Dark Sun also died before jumping the shark. I think of it as the James Dean of D&D settings. It died young and in its prime like a golden age movie star dying in a car accident before it grew old and ugly. Unlike the Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun will likely be forever young.
Final Thoughts - If a 5e product is released
I played the Spell Jammer 5e book and found the setting materials lacking. I avoided the Planscape box set entirely. If a Dark Sun product is released, I expect it will be a chapter of an anthology book or a single 64-page setting book and linear adventure with no long-term support from WOTC ā¦ just a one-time cash grab.
Iāll mostly be interested to see how they handle the controversial setting elements - not to criticize but to potentially steal as solutions for potential future games in Bronze Age and post-apocalypse settings.