I took a chance and bought it from the local comic-book shop and then introduced all my D&D playing friends the game; and then, we found other friends that liked Dark Sun; this was back in '92
I actually spend a whole day, that summer, reading the entire box-set from cover to back, so I knew how to run it.
Exactly this! Itās not an amoral world. Itās the campaign where the moral stakes are really high. Where you can make the most difference, where your actions really matter, etc.
So. It seems that Iām an outlier.
I started playing D&D (B/A thru 2e as editions changed) and Star Frontiers back during the early 80s, and subsequently branched out to many other RPG systems. Except for grimdark and apocalyptic, which at the time I didnāt like.
Thus I actually skipped Dark Sun 2e (and Gamma World for that matter). I eventually came to appreciate mid/post apocalyptic, but I still donāt like grimdark.
It wasnāt until I was looking for āMORE PSIONICSā for 3rd edition that I found Athas.org and also Dark Sun.
Therefore, Iām the strange fan who only discovered Dark Sun for the psionics material and related concepts and have never read any of the novels, or played a single game of Dark Sun. And even within the rule books, I skipped all the useless fluff and pointless story parts in favor of the valuable rules mechanics.
In conclusion, I will comment that through the fervor and devotion of the Athas.org fan base, and despite my obsessive autistic focus on the rules, that I have actually gained more appreciation for the plot arcs and story details of the Dark Sun universe. You lot are true fans to have managed to get that through my (DR 30/rules mechanics) skull, lol!
First was an ad for Dark Sun Shattered Lands in some English gaming magazine. The art instantly attracted my interest.
Then I played the game and became hooked.
I been collecting fan based content for Dark Sun since 90s and some of it is on old PC in the attic.
When you get the chance, post the fan material here. We have been trying to preserve fan works.
For me it started way back when I visited a local gaming shop, saw the original boxed set on the shelves and bought it. After reading the opening paragraph of The Wandererās Journal, still one of the best and most evocative openings anywhere, I was mesmerised by the whole setting. In fact Dark Sun literally changed my mind on what fantasy could be given just how unique it was.
Also, some of the same friends that were really into Dark Sun, were also into Battltech: playing the Clans because of their superior genetics and mechs.
I donāt think they would have played Dark Sun if it was, 3D6 in Order.
my original introduction to dark sun was to the art via the Spellfire card game from the 1990s, then i got into d&d and we had dark sun stuff for us to play at the local game store.
Dark Sun 2e wasnāt just my first exposure to the setting, it was also my first Dungeons and Dragons product. The first characters and games I ever did in DnD were from the 2e revised boxed set. I started RPGs with Earthdawn 1e in the 1990s when I was in middle school. I played whole campaigns of that before I ever got anything DnD. That Dark Sun box isnāt just my idea of the setting, itās also centrally connected to my whole experience of DnD ā which is quite odd, since itās so far outside the norm of any of the other 2e settings.
I was running a AD&D/Gamma World campaign in 1990, based on an analog of 1980ās Earth with many tropes from Thundaar the Barbarian including magic, technology, and psionics (from AD&D of course). My world had Sorcerer Kings and City States. I also had different races who had been Psionically (genetically) created for specific purposes (Muls? halflings? Half Giants?). I called mine True Births (Adapted from Battletech Clan people) and each represented one of the AD&D ability scores. I had mutants (Monsters?) with Mind Powers and physical adaptations. I also was using old Arduin stuff like Phraint (Kreen?) and Deodanth (Elves). One of my city states even had a Gladitorial Arena, that I began the party in as gladiators. Anyway, imagine my surprise and excitement when I walked into my FLGS and saw the DS1 Box Set and the Brom Artwork, especially of the Human Female Gladiator, Neeva. First, I really thought somone from TSR had seen my campaign or even played in it and used the ideas for the basis of Dark Sun. LOL Of course that was not even close, but this is before the internet and back then, I thought I had a pretty cool and unique campaign. Anyway, I immediately bought the box set and have loved Dark Sun ever since. It is by far my favorite TSR setting.
Iām absolutely the same way.
I was raised in the desert of Southern Utah, and lived in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona until my 20s. I discovered Dark Sun from an advert on the back of Dragon Magazine, and was given the boxed set as a present. My friends liked it, and I loved it.
I quit playing RPGs in general in 2003 after my cousin and best player went off to Army boot camp. I didnāt touch the stuff again until the UKās COVID lockdown in 2019 (I live in London), when I fell in love with the setting again through Athas.orgās extended timeline and the Athasian Cartographerās Guildās incredible map.
Since then, Iāve been passionately working with a team to push out content to see if we can get more new people interested in this setting again.
Iāve always thought that there was a good chance that the Overlord of Bonparr was out there in the Athasian wastes somewhere.
Yep I have that module as well as many others from Gamma World. Funny thing is once I discovered Dark Sun, I never played Gamma World again. Although I did draw a lot of inspiration from it. Dark Sun continues to be my go to setting. I love the stuff on Athas.com although I keep to the vague history of DS1 mostly. My campaigns usually involve exploring the edges of the map. My longest running Dark Sun Campaign is four years and I have ran probably a half dozen campaigns going 2 years or more. Itās tough because Iāve been fortunate to have 7-10 players in each of my campaigns. With any luck I will continue running Dark Sun for mother 30+ years.
My first exposure to Dark Sun as in playing in the setting was in 4th Edition.
I had a couple of groups I gamed with. The 4th Ed group liked to try out the newest stuff, and when Dark Sun came out I found it very interesting. I liked the themes and the characters. I was very well versed in 4th Ed character creation so I made a pretty potent psionic shaper idea. However, as was the norm for that group it stayed on the lighter side of things. As a result, the DM quickly left the foray we had.
The next time I really got the opportunity to dive into Dark Sun was years later.
I had the chance to read into more lore and had gotten used to the other settings available. That in part is what made Dark Sun so interesting. We played it and are still playing it in 3.5 D&D. This makes little over two years now weāve been in this campaign. My character recently hit level 26, and its been a wild ride. We have been using pretty much every book Athas.org has put out, and as many crazy things as we can. However it all leads back to, ādoes it fit the settingā before we add in anything extra from another source.
While 4th Edition was my first introduction to the setting, I got the chance to really engage in it in 3.5. It is a great setting. 
While that may be true, it sadly wasnāt the case for me. Most of the people I game with read almost everything like me. They were pretty familiar with the setting as a whole.
