After several years of work and contributions by members of athas.org, the pristine tower project, and others in the community, we are pleased to announce an updated release of the DS3 core rules!
The latest version has the following changes:
updated easier to read layout
new organisational system with clickable table of contents links, and a more thorough index.
separate Player and DM Sections, and separate chapters for the timeline and inner planes respectively
new prologue discussing how to handle sensitive game topics with new generations of players
countless small refinements and expanded explanations/illustrations of rules and lore.
fully illustrated pages full of great art created by the Dark Sun community over the past 20 years
We are proud to announce the release of the 7th and final version of the Dark Sun Core Rules. The final rules set is massively 314 pages, almost three times as large as the previous iteration. It has been many hours of blood, sweat and toil for the project team led by Bruno, and they deserve the applause of an arena filled with spectators. You will find that not only have the existing chapters been expanded and improved upon; we have also included several new chapters to enhance your Athasian experience.
The Races and Classes chapters have undergone some changes. You will find that thri-kreen and half-giants no longer have racial hit dice, and there have been significant revisions to the DS specific classes, i.e. bard, gladiator and templar. One of the key features of the new gladiator is Gladiatorial Performance, which is an arsenal of different abilities unlocked by the gladiatorâs level and Perform progression. Templars now have access to all spells on their spell list, vastly improving their versatility, and they gain domains from the Playerâs Handbook depending on their Sorcerer-Monarch. Bards also have a few new tricks up their sleeves centered around speed, poisons and secrets. We have also included a selection of prestige classes, which provide additional information and supersede the versions found in the Prestige Class Appendices.
The Magic and Psionic chapters have been greatly expanded. We have converted a lot of second edition spells and powers, in addition to writing brand new ones, and all spells and powers include illustrative descriptions. Cleric domains have been revamped, with the biggest change being that armor proficiencies are no longer tied to domains, but part of the core cleric class, and overall the domains should be more balanced now. The Magic and Psionics chapter now also features information on the Athasian cosmology. Feats and Skills are in new chapter called Heroic Characteristics, and include a great number of new feats along with updates such as language revisions, expanded use of the Warcraft skill, and Survival skill modifiers when foraging for food and water on Athas. Equipment has been expanded to include chapters on magical and psionic items â and the artifacts of Athas, such as the Dark Lens.
For those fans who have requested more setting specific information, your prayers have been heard. The Core Rules now include a chapter on the city-states and other important locations â including Kurn, Eldaarich and Saragar. We have also included a chapter with suggestions for how to play games set in other eras of play, such as the Blue Age and the Green Age. You will also find stats on key DS personas such as Agis, Rikus and Sadira of Tyr, and a host of generic and sample NPCs for added DM convenience. DMs will also note that the Monsters chapter has a completely new and extended format, and the selection of monsters will be familiar to those who own the original Dark Sun campaign boxed set. There is also a new chapter with information on important organizations such as the Order and the Veiled Alliance. Finally, we have included a chapter on how to run Athasian campaigns in the atmosphere we believe defines Dark Sun.
While we start the process of illustrating the final version of Dark Sun 3 Core Rules, we encourage you to provide feedback through the playtest form on the athas.org website. We are primarily interested in reports on typos and such; the rules set will not be altered at this point â you had the previous six revisions to suggest changes to that.
We have released three more chapters and made updates to the two already published chapters of the Dark Sun 3 Core Rules revision 7. A big thanks goes to Bruno for his prolonged engagement to this project and his team.<p>
The new releases are Chapter 1 â Races, Chapter 3 â Heroic Characteristics, and 7 â Life on Athas. Among the important changes you will find that thri-kreen and half-giants no longer have racial hit dice, the number of feats has been greatly expanded along with additional regional information, and the brand new Chapter 7 contains much sought after information on the major cities of Athas â including Kurn, Eldaarich and Saragar.
As you might know, we are releasing the final version of Dark Sun 3 (R7) chapter by chapter. <p>
Two chapters have now been released: “Magic and Psionics” and “Monsters” . </p><p>
The Magic and Psionics chapter now includes information on the Athasian cosmology. We have also converted a lot of 2nd edition spells and powers, in addition to writing brand new ones, and we have revamped domains for clerics. </p><p>
The Monsters chapter has a completely new and extended format, and the selection of monsters will be familiar to those who own the original Dark Sun campaign boxed set. </p><p>
