Another Dark Sol Hack

DARK SOL II:
You're all welcome to the Google doc here.

There already exists a Dark Sun hack for AW. I don't want to stomp on the heels of Michael P... but I didn't want a setting that felt so D&D-ish, it wasn't my cup of tea. FYI, the original hack can be found here.

I love the Dark Sun setting enough that I decided to make a brain dump. I'll be making changes, etc, so don't be surprised if the document is updated periodically. If something isn't filled out, it's probably because I haven't gotten to it yet. I encourage comments and criticism while I work (thanks!).

I haven't played AW all that much... so this is very much an experiment.

A couple of notes:

• I'm using Vincent's basic moves and stats. I don't see a reason to change that.
  
• The character classes are all 'new', except that some of them are essentially original classes with Dark Sun aesthetics.
• You can pick a race if you'd like (or not) when you choose stats. There are recommendations included. Races provide a big benefit with some potentially debilitating flaws.
• Haven't decided on how weapons work - because they will mostly be melee-based weapons. I'll probably peek at some other hacks for some suggestions.
• Mounts = cars and bikes. Just haven't written anything about that.

I like how you incorporated the wants into the races. Neat. :)

Thanks :)

I'll be honest. I have yet to see a mechanic that better describes and simplifies the 'wants' of the Dark Sun races. D&D almost ignores the concept as 'fluff', or invented convoluted and overly complex mechanics to understand how each race's society doesn't mesh well with the common society.

I couldn't decide on specific wants for some of the races. For example, should Elves be more want:anxiety or want:desperation or maybe even want:desertion?

I love muls; want:reprisals is a great mechanic but doesn't really describe the race but how the world treats the race. Muls are constantly under threat from slavers, and potentially their former masters. They are often looked down upon society as slaves.

Half-giants. Want:hunger. Yup. Always hungry and thirsty. That's what you get for having such a huge stomach in a desert wasteland.

Halflings should probably have want:savagery... but what do I use for 'Kreen? I like the want:curiosity (I made it up)... but maybe I shouldn't shy away from having multiple races with similar wants. They kind of mean different things despite being the same category. Want: judgement works well too.

Half-Elves (Curs) have want:desertion. What I really should just say is want:solitude, and make it up.

Want:obligation fits perfectly with the overly focused Dwarves.

Anyways, I should probably include a note with suggested substitutions, because there's so many...

Does anybody know whether there's any info on Mounts: horses, camels, goats...

It's very Postman-esk, but it would be fun to ride a mount rather then a bike or car.

I got a Horseman playbook here, if you want it.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was looking for. The sight attribute will be perfect for Dark Sun, and is easy to work with. Thanks a bunch!

There's no such thing as a horse in Dark Sun (I don't quite understand why...), but that's just aesthetics.

There's no such thing as a horse in Dark Sun (I don't quite understand why...)...

No grass? :)

Probably the Classical influence. Along with Greek city-states and the Roman gladiatorial combats, you have infantry being the dominant form of military, and so not much use for horses, aesthetically.

Sorry... it wasn't really a question :P

There are plenty of mounts: Erdlu, Crodlu, Inix, Kanks and even the mammoth-sized Mekillots, and these are used all the time by raiders, gladiatorial chariots, or by massive trade caravans. The developers wanted to create an alien atmosphere, away from classic fantasy books, by moving away from camels, horses, lions, elephants, dogs, warthogs...  

Horses are cool, and there's no real reason why that 'cannot' be on Athas - apart from figuring out how to keep them well-fed on grasses ;). But it's also nice to know that there are other cool options.