Hi there,
I am curious how many people are able to run years or decades long campaigns in Dark Sun. Is it suitable for such play. This is easy to do in Greyhawk, the setting I am most familiar with, but Dark Sun seems like eventually the world is either saved or ends, or people might just get sick of the desert after 4 years of play.
Its just like any other setting - player investment in the world is going to drive long campaigns, random encounters in the desert.
I have been running an AD&D2e Dark Sun game for six years. It is very easy to do so. The biggest problem we have had is real life, not the setting
My 2E play-by-posts have daily contributions and long term plots and hooks. I can post links if you want examples of extended non-module play.
Gameplay:
PCs, NPCs, Items, Home Rules
One of the things that can help the longevity of a Dark Sun campaign (or other game worlds) is changing the theme as the campaign and players progress.
Your campaign would likely start out as a survival campaign for the players. As they get stronger and more established, they gain all new goals. Do they want to create a village or merchant house? Become warlords or raiders? Seek after lost knowledge and power?
After their choices, as a DM you decide what direction your campaign goes next. If they create a village some others may want to conquer it or enslave its people. If they create a merchant house, other merchant houses will likely try to destroy them. If they become warlords, they could fight other tribes or even armies of the city states. If the players start amassing psionic or magic power, other jealous and covetous beings will want to slay them and take it.
If the players survive these trials, then take the next logical step for their choices. Your campaign will keep evolving, and that change can keep players interested. They will also feel they have more of an impact in the world which will get them more involved.
Good luck!
With the Dragon-King’s Book, the players have an incentive to have a long-term campaign and advance their characters, which is ironic considering the lethality of the game even with character-trees.