Hey all!
Decided to throw some of my campaign story line up. I always enjoy some good flavor and perhaps these thoughts will churn some original ideas in you as you read.
I posted some of the meta of my campaign in the GMing DarkSun thread.
First Game:
My players are relatively unfamiliar with DarkSun. They know it only as a dangerous survival focused game where everything is psionic and TPKs (Total Party Kills) are common. If you’re going to sell something, go all in, and I wanted to sell DarkSun like it was gamer’s cocaine (as opposed to World Of War-crack).
Initial Character creation consisted of the following: What’s your name? 3 guys and 1 girl, they each played a human of the appropriate gender. Slave’s don’t need classes (I ran them as commoners, though they will lose those stats when they characters flesh out at the end of the adventure). Before the adventure started I gave them two hand-outs “An Ex-Slave without a Tribe” and “A Slave Revolt” which I took from the Slave Tribes suppliment from 2nd Ed.
We started in a dark caravan hold, shackled to the floor with agafari wood manacles secured with giant hair rope. The conditions dismal, the treatment worse and their future prospects even dimmer. We spent some time RPing between the PCs, allowing the players to come up with general storyline off the cuff (improv always brings some unique situations).
The characters got to interact with the world when the caravan was attacked. The guards were chased off and the players got to interact with a member of the raiding party who was debating them as to whether he should release them or not. This is when the guards counter-attacked.
The raider loosed the PCs, told them he was just kidding about keeping them in the caravan. If they survived the combat, they’d talk again. The PCs were free to scavenge the insides of the caravan (despite it being mostly picked clean by the raiders already) to pull together some MacGuyver-like supplies and improvised weapons.
The PCs decided to join the raiders against their former captors in battle. I introduced some nameless NPCs who stood out in combat, and as the melee spiraled I gave them play by play descriptions of the events involving the NPCs on a round by round basis. While they got to have some sweet revenge on a couple of guards (and take their obsidian longswords and Inix leather armor), they saw an interesting battle unfold.
Aside from the raiders fighting in a couple unique groups with interesting tactics, and the guards mounting a kank cavalry charge, the PCs got to witness a duel between a defiler (guard) and an earth cleric (raider). The Earth Cleric readied an action to pull up a defensive wall made from a previous casting of the sandstone spell. Once the defiler began casting his spell the dwarven cleric lifted the wall in place blocking the defiler’s LOS. A summoned swarm kept the defiler busy (concentration checks) until he could be taken out by a raider who was mindbending (psionics).
After the battle, the defiler was staked out in the open and revived. To keep him from casting they severely fractured his jaw with many different blows with massive blunt instruments. They revived the defiler again. Content that his ability to cast was impared they placed an agony beetle on his chest and left him there to die… slowly… in unbearable pain. Such is the lot of those who use magic under the dark sun.
One of the raiders gave the PCs their options. What they scavenged while on the field of battle was theirs by all rights. The rest of the booty from the battle belonged to the group and was not theirs. The PCs were given a choice. They could head out on their own, with directions and minimal supplies being given to them to reach the nearest outpost. Or they could walk back to the guards and travel with them. They were Free to choose.
The raider who originally spoke with them in the caravan (Iruka by name) then presented them with a third choice. He explained that going with the guards wasn’t really a choice as it was just their natural instinct as slaves to want to be protected by their masters. Going to the nearest outpost similarly was no choice as they would be exercising their freedom but they would not survive long as free-men without the capability to be self-sufficient and the savvy to stay out of the slavery that has dominated their lives.
His offer… 2 years indentured servitude. In exchange they would be treated as equals (just under the authority of another… not a slave), given skills and abilities to survive this harsh world (both in the wild and in the cities) and have the protection they needed while they grew. The PCs thought about it for a bit, then agreed to Iruka’s offer.
Iruka went over to the raiders and they seemed to offer him ‘fair-wells’. He came back to the PCs laden with supplies and spread them out evenly between the party members, himself included. When the PCs asked what was happening Iruka explained simply, “They’re headed back home… if you’re going to learn you’ll need to see the world, I know just where to start!” and with that he led them off into the deserts.
In the desert the PCs went ‘hunting’ with him. Hunting apparently means being used as bait for Iruka to take down a Greater Boneclaw. Surprisingly the PCs, feeling safe in the presence of Iruka, threw themselves at a creature that they were warned could split them in two. (They actually did a majority of the damage to the creature while only taking a little bit of damage themselves… lucky)
Shocked by their complete lack of ability and dependance on luck and desperation, Iruka began some weapons training for the group. Here they got some RP time mixed with dice rolling as Iruka showed them the merits of training to do combat with just their hands as well as his psionic capabilities.
Our gaming session wrapped up with character creation. (Yup, that’s right… character creation at the end of the first game!) I’ve created a questionaire with four simple questions for the PCs to fill out. They do not know what these questions are for, other than filling out their character’s personality.
The first question puts them in a low water situation in a group and asks them to select the mindset that best fits their characters. (I pulled this from the severe desperation alignment rules for low water situations… both 2nd Ed. Core Rulebooks, as such, their choice will determine their alignment).
The second question asks them about their preferred combat style along these lines: “Rrraaaghhh!!! CRUSH THEIR SKULLS!!!!” vs. “I’ll keep out of the fray until I see an opponent lower thier guard, then I’ll strike for all I’ve got” (This selection chooses their class from the limited list I’ve allowed beginning characters to choose from in this campaign.)
The third question poses an interesting situation. As DS focuses on the defiler/preserver battle, and I knew a couple of my PCs were vaguely aware of it I had to pose the question a bit differently. “You find a random geometric pattern in the sand. Staring at it you feel enlightened as you contemplate the intricate shapes. You are certain that by wiping a foot across it and destroying it, you would gain further enlightenment… what do you do?” (This gives me some insight as to alignment on a good/evil axis as well as possible defiler or preserver motivation for the future)
Last but not least, a bit of background: “What kind of slave were you?” The answer will force 6 ranks (3 ranks if cross classed)of skill points to be spent on a related skill during character creation.
I then revealed the results of their questionaire, gave the PCs a copy of the rules (Thank you Burnt World of Athas!), told them to make their PC and as homework they needed to build a 2nd PC for their character tree under the same limits (Human only; Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, or Rogue classes only; Ex-Slave background only).
Hope you’ve enjoyed!!
Good Gaming!
-Jason

This actually sounds like a really good way of opening up a new world like Athas to new players. I’ve toyed with something like it before – that is, pre-making the first character of the tree for the players at a low level, giving everybody something simple and functional to start off with. It worked well for players who have some roleplaying experience, but are new to the world; I’m thinking that, with some refinement, this is probably the best way to get a new group started in general.
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I’m very curious to see how the campaign went from there. Would you care to share with us some further adventures of this group?

Aran,
Absolutely. This thread will be a journal of my campaign. If ‘sold’ correctly, the offer from Iruka for two years of indentured servitude is an automatic choice (without being over-powering so as to seem like the PCs made a good decision on their own). Once they are on this ‘2 year tour’ the DM has a control over the campaign through Iruka’s leadership which provides a fluidity to the following gaming sessions. If there were interest, it wouldn’t be much work to translate my preparation notes into a fully fledged series of modules to take a group of PCs through the world of Athas. I’m no good at artwork though and would prefer some artistic support to make these modules fit with DS flip-book feel.
Oh, and as for storyline of character tree use…
Iruka is associated with an ex-slave tribe rather than a generic band of evil raiders. The two-year indentured servitude agreement is a standard practice and some of Iruka’s compatriots are spread across Athas with small groups of their own. Occasionally, leaders ‘swap’ some of their team for a change of pace or access to a different mix of skill sets. This system works well until the PCs begin to unlock additional ‘background types’ for their character creation like City-State Freeman, Merchant House Agent, Hunter-Gatherer Clansman, Member of a Herder Group, Village Freeman, etc.
Good Gaming!
-Jason

Sounds interesting. Have you run the next session?

I like what you did to the defiler :)
I will try to incorporate such a scene into our next DS adventure.

Update: Character introductions…
Figure I should post the current party before posting the next leg of the adventure. They were designed as 1st level characters, though each has a single 3rd level back-up on their character tree. Oddly enough, their questionaires came out widely different so we have an even spread of character types.
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Grak is a lightly tanned young man of middling age and sandy brown hair kept loose at shoulder length. Being gifted with his hands, he had the priviledge of recieving artisan training from a young age. This ability raised his lifestyle higher than a typical laborer slave, yet he chafed against the bondage he was raised in… always envious of those freemen who practiced the same trade as he did. Once he found his freedom he galvanized his desire to make something of his freedom with his hands just as he worked other raw materials into tools and items. (CG alignment, Ranger Class, Preservationist, Mandatory ranks in Craft-Leatherworking)
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Alex is a pale flower of a woman. Other than her skin tone her looks are rather unremarkable on first inspection. This is just the first deception as she has spent her life in the harems of Merchant House Shom as a concubine. Her movements are almost serpentine and her grace can capture the attentions of the most desensitized of the indulgent nobles. She is a gladiator of the human psyche and has a knack for being able to become exactly what a person wants her to be, an engratiating power she has relied on for her survival thus far. Now she is completely out of her element, away from civilization and free to boot. She is immediately purplexed by her own desires to engage in acts of wanton excess which she formerly deplored when such behavior was constantly forced upon her. She’ll have to learn new skills to survive without resorting to her old ways again. (Neutral alignment, Rogue Class, Preservationist, Mandatory ranks in Perform-Sensual)
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Donov is a heavily tanned man with close cropped dark hair and facial hair that seems to grow back just hours after shaving it off. His back is marked with the lash and he sports other, deeper scars on his chest, arms and thighs. When given his freedom during the caravan raid he immediately jumped into the fray with the very manacles that once bound him. Donov, you see, was a soldier slave. He celebrated in the slaughter of his once captors a rare glimpse of emotion from a hardened warrior. He feels the freedom in his trained sword arm and of those freed would have mostly likely remained free through sheer brutality if nessecary. Donov felt an immediate kinship with Iruka and indentured himself as much to learn from this odd raider as well as to protect those others who gained their freedom with him. (CG Alignment, Fighter Class, Preservationist, Mandatory ranks in Climb)
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Kelb is a hulking dark skinned terror of a man who doesn’t speak much. The others originally thought him mute as he remained distant from their conversations. The product of a series of cruel masters, Kelb offers silent intimidation to all who remain in his presence. His existance, his soul, his very being used to revolve around the Obsidian mines of Urik. It was there that his final master finally broke his will, commiting vile acts against those Kelb had come to care for while he watched powerless. Kelbs secret strength now comes from the hidden pains of his existance, a strength that leaves him sluggish after he releases it… but for those few aweful moments he is a juggernaught of rage. (NE alignment, Barbarian Class, Despoiler, Mandatory ranks in Profession-Miner)
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(NPC) Iruka is an enigma. Though caring and good natured, his instruction is as brutal and unforgiving as a desert sandstorm. Aside from a proven ability in the wilds, he is a practitioner of the Way (psionics). He doesn’t talk about where he comes from or the band of raiders he was a member of other than to refer to them as his ‘family’. His skin is marked heavily with the lash, marking him an ex-slave just as the PCs are. The toughest challenges he faces the party with are conversational. Assumptions and motivations are questioned. It’s as if he is breaking down the very thought process of those he speaks with. If it weren’t for the fact he apparently ‘walks the walk’ much of his ideas about freedom, choice and obligation would seem condescending. He is a lean, mildly tanned man of questionably middling age with sun bleached hair and green eyes. A long deep scar cuts across his face from cheek to cheek over the bridge of his nose. It must have been painful.
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Good Gaming!
-Jason

Jason, this is a superb way to introduce a group of gamers into DS!
Well done. For my new gaming sessions, I think I might just borrow some of these ideas.

This is an interesting campaign premise. I’d like to hear more. Question, if you’re only allowing the players to be non-casters how are you getting around things like healing or the need for offensive spell casting?

Nadal, I appreciate the good word. Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all.
Sysane, I only allow the players to begin as non-casters. As they adventure and interact with the world, they open up alternate “paths” that they make take with their main character or use to create a character in their tree for use in the game. In the beginning, the PCs also have a mentor who will provide some minor healing on occasion. Besides, nothing builds realism like having to rest for 3 days because that nasty Gith warrior impaled you with a bone spear.
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I’ve found that, esspecially in the lower levels, Athas is such a brutal world you typically need a strong combat oriented team to survive. Once they can stand the “normal” hazards of creatures and environment they can begin to explore some of the mystical side of Athas.
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Good Gaming!
-Jason

I want to hear more of your tales! :)
I’m feeling tempted to imitate some of your ideas, like Nadal.
I don’t know if your campaign has progressed so far, but what level would your PC’s be at the point when their indenturement ends? Just out of curiosity.
/CLCP