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Author Topic: 5e - Dark Sun: Pits of Urik  (Read 644 times)

OmSwaOperations

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5e - Dark Sun: Pits of Urik
« on: April 09, 2021, 06:36:46 AM »
Looking for C&C on the linked Dark Sun Gladiator Character Creator (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VJuZzQcbFwXP3jJ98P_M5Rl3uMctXvm4PA3IQbA3pn4/edit?usp=sharing); and the game concept accompanying it.

I've recently been inspired to run a Dark Sun campaign, based around the elaborate gladiatorial games of a city state. Players will begin as fledgling gladiators, pressed into the eponymous pits. Their first goal will be mere survival, but there will be plenty of drama and politics behind the scenes (from approaches by nobles with money riding on bouts, to plots by the Veiled alliance, to the ultimate potential for breaking out, being rescued by a patron, being "promoted" to Templar muscle, etc.).

To impress the merciless nature of the pits onto the players, I was thinking of running a "funnel" system for character generation. Players would roll on the generator above to create three characters. Then, over the campaign, those characters would be winnowed down; first very dramatically (with PC v PC fights); and then more slowly (with the focus shifting to PC v NPC beast or team contests).

To create a sense of permanence, impact, and a feeling that the only way to survive would be escape, you would never have more than your three starting characters. If they died, they died, and if players lost all three, they'd be out of the game (though ofc I'd check in to tell them what happened to everyone else). Indeed, given I'd start with 6-8 people on Roll20, I'd probably want that to happen to 3-4 players during the first few weeks.

What do people think? Any suggestions for the character generator? Ideas for gladiatorial bouts? Thoughts on the campaign mechanics (they are intentionally very brutal, but hopefully not unreasonably so)?

Ratman_tf

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Re: 5e - Dark Sun: Pits of Urik
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2021, 08:03:28 AM »
I understand wanting to impress the brutality of the games on players, but I think an elimination mechanic would be unfun. I can't imagine being OK with sitting out the rest of the campaign.
When Dark Sun first came out, one of the first things we discarded was the character tree. It wasn't worth the bookkeeping trouble.

With the right group, it could work, but I'd make sure everyone is on board for the concepts, and be prepared to back off if the majority don't like the ideas.

Mentioning a character funnel, I'm thinking maybe start all the players with 1st level character like in Dungeon Crawl Classics, and then run those PC vs PC matches, and the survivors of the gauntlet become their main characters. If I did that, I'd use a very simplified character generation system, save the details for later, just get stats and combat abilites done, and they can flesh out the rest of their characters later.
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