I need help with a Dark Sun/War of the Worlds/Barsoom kit-bash...

[Pbartender]

I'm planning ahead for a Dark Sun campaign, but I'm going to mix it up a little.

The basic concept is that Athas is a far future post-apocalyptic Earth. The War of the Worlds actually happened, and we lost... Wells' "Martians" first invade Burroughs' Barsoom, enslaving them and laying waste to the planet. Then, they invaded Earth, doing the same.

I'm going for a sort of Thundarr the Barbarian or Masters of the Universe sort vibe... rough and tumble post-apocalyptic swords and sorcery with a long-lost ancient super-technology sci-fi underpinning.

So, I could help with a little brain-storming... First, I'm trying to decide which races and classes to include.

As for races:

Humans, Dwarves, Muls, Halflings and Goliaths are a lock, I think, as various sub-species of human that have were force-bred by the Wellsian aliens for different types of work.

Elves, Half-elves, Eladrin and Drow will likely be the Barsoomian Red, White, Black, and Yellow Martians, though I haven't yet decided which are which and will probably only allow Half-elves and Elves as playable races. Thri-kreen, of course, will be the Green Martians and will be playable.

I don't think Dragonborn and Tieflings will be playable. I just can't think of a good way to make them fit in yet.

To add in a little variety back in, I'm going to allow the goblinoid races -- Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, maybe Orcs and Half-orcs as well -- as "mutants".

Classes I'm less certain about... Martial, Psionic and Arcane classes are pretty much going to be a sure bet, but I'm not sure how I want to handle Divine and Primal classes. I need some ideas and advice on how they might or might not fit into this sort of setting.


Any thoughts?

 

[Nytmare]

Is it possible for the Wellsian martians to have some kind of otherworldly enemy?

I know it probably takes your plans in a much different direction, but I'm imagining a kind of extra-dimensional Lovecraftian struggle spread between the planes. The martians could exist between several dimensions and are locked in wars on several fronts at once. Divine powers could be gifts from one or more alien factions who are looking to reach their own goals, for better or for worse.

 

[S'mon]

I'm going for a sort of Thundarr the Barbarian or Masters of the Universe sort vibe... rough and tumble post-apocalyptic swords and sorcery with a long-lost ancient super-technology sci-fi underpinning.

Personally I'd be very wary of which races I included. I find that inclusion of the usual Tolkien-derived race array is highly inimical to creating any feel other than "slightly reskinned D&D". I would suggest deleting all Elves, Dwarves, Orcs etc, replacing them with variant Human races (or just racial Backgrounds) and non-Tolkien stuff like Thri-Keen, Goliath, and Shifters.

 

[Walking Dad]

...

I'm going for a sort of Thundarr the Barbarian or Masters of the Universe sort vibe... rough and tumble post-apocalyptic swords and sorcery with a long-lost ancient super-technology sci-fi underpinning.

...

Never got a post-apocalyptic vibe from 'Masters of the Universe'. And technology is neither ancient, nor forgotten ... are you thinking of the life-action movie?

 

[RangerWickett]

I'd suggest taking a look at Gamma World if you haven't yet. Not necessarily to use the rules wholesale, but it's got a good baseline.

 

[Pbartender]

Is it possible for the Wellsian martians to have some kind of otherworldly enemy?

No, not really... My plan was that the Wellsians didn't stick around. They came, plundered Mars and Earth into wastelands to repair, refuel and restock their interstellar ship, and then left.

To a large degree, that will inform many of the other "secrets" behind the setting...

Why doesn't Earth look like Earth anymore?
[sblock] The methods used to so thoroughly strip-mine the Earth of its mineral resources completely changed the landscape.[/sblock]

If it's future Earth, why are there now two moons?
[sblock]One of them is the immense "drydock" the Wellsians used to repair their starship.[/sblock]

Where did all these strange non-human races and monsters come from?
[sblock]Some were slaves brought to Earth from Barsoomian Mars. Others are humans that were bred by the Wellsians for specialized labor. And others are mutations inflicted by the Wellsian's chemical, biological and radioactive weaponry during the War of the Worlds.[/sblock]

...and so on.

I don't want an inter-dimensional war between aliens to overshadow the campaign... I rather have it focus on the characters, Tyr and Athas and the goings-on there. I'd also like to keep the Dark Sun "isolated world" trope alive.

However, that doesn't mean I can't use other-worldly enemies. Let's think about this:

What if, on their way out, the Wellsian aliens marooned a whole bunch of war prisoners, criminals and dissidents on Earth? What if these castaways are the true powers behind the Sorcerer-Kings? Hrm... I'm thinking Aboleths, Illithids and/or Beholders might work well in that role. Aboleths seem to be closest to the original descriptions of Wellsian Martians.

 

[Pbartender]

Personally I'd be very wary of which races I included. I find that inclusion of the usual Tolkien-derived race array is highly inimical to creating any feel other than "slightly reskinned D&D".

Sure, but to a large degree, that's what Dark Sun already is... Reskinned D&D with a few fresh bits thrown in. Mechanics and rules-wise, I don't want to stray too far from that. Partially, because it's what my players want and are used to, and partially because I'm an inherently lazy DM that doesn't want to build and balance all new races from scratch -- races that won't be supported by all the books and online tools my players love to use.

Anyway...

I would suggest deleting all Elves, Dwarves, Orcs etc, replacing them with variant Human races (or just racial Backgrounds) and non-Tolkien stuff like Thri-Keen, Goliath, and Shifters.

Like I mentioned above, I'm kind of doing that by reskinning them... Dwarves, Halflings, Muls and Goliaths will be variant Human races by dint of breeding. Goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears will be variant Human races by dint of mutation. Thri-kreen, Half-elves, Elves and Eladrin will be the Barsoomian Martian races.

I don't want to build new stuff; I want to use what's there. So far, this is the best fit for the sorts of playable races I want available.

 

[Pbartender]

Never got a post-apocalyptic vibe from 'Masters of the Universe'. And technology is neither ancient, nor forgotten ... are you thinking of the life-action movie?

No, I'm thinking partially of the cartoon (which, while a little heavier on the sci-fi, does have the sort fantasy/sci-fi fix I'm looking for), but more of the original mini-comics, which had a little bit different concept and background than the later version of Eternia...

The original concept of Eternia is as a world with a barbaric civilization, recovering from an ambiguous Great War, that has wiped out advanced civilizations, but has left behind advanced technology, vehicles and machinery, as well as powerful magic.​

That, in a nut-shell, is exactly what I'm aiming for here by using D&D and Dark Sun.