Dark Sun: Shattered Lands

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Has anyone played it? The reviews i've seen are pretty positive, and as Dark Sun is one of my favorite DnD settings, i'm considering buying it. Any opinions or advice from anyone who has tried it?

 

I liked it a lot, even more than Baldur's Gate. It feels a little unpolished but offers great roleplaying freedom.

 

It is old, but it was a good one.

 

A great game with a great ending. Highly recommend it. Part 2, Dark Sun:Wake of the Ravager, was pretty good as well, but a bit buggy. Still worth playing as well IMO.

 

So I bought it from my local indie game store for a measly 4 bucks and i'm having a ton of fun with it. Some of the races are awesome, half-giants and thri-keens FTW. Thri-keens are crazy powerful. 5 (!) attacks per round at level 4 is just insane. It's sad that a single class druid has more melee kills than a gladiator, fighter/cleric, and fighter/preserver. Also thank god for Dosbox because there is no way any modern system could run this game without it.

Unfortunately the game didn't come with the manual and the game store owner, also a huge DnD fan and runs a campaign i'm proudly a part of, told me that it was needed to slay the powerful but often unheard of copyright-protection dragon. So thank god for the internet and downloadable manuals.

 

Glad to hear it! DosBox is excellent.

I get my manuals at here.

 

After escaping slavery this game just got pretty hard and even more fun. Exploring a huge world with little to no guidance, but still with a goal and coherent story, is a big plus. You'd think DnD was supposed to be non-linear or something.

 

Some advice about bugs:

1) When there are too many items in an area (including your party inventory) some might disappear. So don't hoard stuff you don't need and use or sell it instead.

2) When a NPC is scripted to leave the map and disappear be patient and let it happen. Don't leave the map before he/she has left it.

 

You can easily play through this game several times in a row with completely different parties. I even tried a party where every character is a Multiclassed-Psionic build. Very fun! Thri-kreens are awesome when attacking with fists, but remember they cannot hurt creatures that require +1 or better weapons, so carry a magic weapon as backup.

 

Now that I think about it, this is the first DnD game i've played that uses psionics. I didn't make anyone with the psionic class because everybody gets certain powers automatically and, more importantly, I haven't the slightest clue as to how it works.

Yeah, I should probably get an enchanted weapon for him. They're pretty rare at least so far though, i've seen two enchanted swords the entire game. I like how armor is way different in this game. Instead of full plate, chainmail, etc., there's different armor pieces that go together to make a total AC. I now regret not multi-classing my thri-keen druid with fighter. Those mad attacks per round aren't as useful if you aren't hitting often. I think a full party of multi-classed thri-keen fighters would be the best party you could make. Except for maybe half-giants. 24 strength is awesome.

 

I found everyone race can be melee oriented. In this game, with level-caps, multi- or dual is the way to go. Especially for Thri-kreem. Though I did like a straight up Half-Giant Fighter or Gladiator as they receive TONS of HPs. Sometimes 2 is even better. Mages are not a must in these games.

The starting area has a lot of loot, if you go through everything. You can rack up a ton of XP there as well just fighting. Rampagers are a great source of XP.

My favorite party build....

Half-Giant Gladiator
Mul Fighter/Cleric/Psionic
Thri-Kreen Fighter/Druid/Psionic
Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief

 

What's the level cap? I'd like to dual my gladiator before I hit it.

 

The level cap is 9. So you can build a human gladiator8/psionic8/druid9 or gladiator8/preserver8/psionic9 for example.