politics in Wizards of the Coast is clear and we have verified it with one of the most recent decisions. The Dungeons & Dragons publisher decided to remove the term “races” from its tabletop RPG seeking to “meet the needs of our players and foster a welcoming space for all.” We have now learned that the campaign Dark Sun he will not even experience this fate.
Originally released in 1991, Dark Sun presents us with the rawest and darkest setting of all that D&D has had to date. A post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with slavery, killing magic, death everywhere, tyrannical kings, and an utterly bleak outlook for the planet Athas. No content from this set has been seen since D&D 4e in 2009 and it won’t, according to Kyle Brink.
The executive producer of D&D has been interviewed by YouTuber Bob World Builder and has pointed out that “Dark Sun’s configuration is problematic in many ways, and that is the main reason why we have not returned to it”, as collected from Wargamer. “Today we have rules that make it extraordinarily difficult to be faithful to the original material and also comply with our ethical and inclusion standards”, says the person in charge.
“We know he has a lot of fans,” Brink acknowledges regarding a possible return, who have already raised their voices at this vision by Wizards of the Coast. While the company hasn’t specifically pointed out what the issues with Dark Sun are, it all seems to point to just how terrible a world this setup draws. Several users have defended on social networks that they should bet on a return without any kind of modification:
They shouldn’t be scared of challenging settings and themes. Put your creative hats on and do the work, that’s what you are paid to do. It smells like they’re worrying about what twitter’s reaction will be before even putting words to paper. Meh.
— NewbieDM (@newbiedm) February 23, 2023
They should not be afraid of challenging scenarios and topics. Put on your creativity hats and get the job done, that’s what you get paid to do. It seems they are worried about what Twitter’s reaction will be before they even put words to paper. Meh.
In regards to the Dark Sun discussion:
Players can most certainly handle themes of slavery and racism in their games. Adventures like Out of the Abyss deals with this and more, and it works perfectly fine. DMs know they can tune the themes to the table’s liking…
— MrRhexx (@MrRhexx) February 23, 2023
Regarding the Dark Sun discussion:
Gamers can certainly handle themes of slavery and racism in their games. Adventures like Out of the Abyss deal with this and more, and it works perfectly well. DMs know they can adjust the themes to suit the table. Dungeon Masters and players are not children who need to be protected from the harms of the world, they are adults who can decide for themselves what they want to play or not. Curse of Strahd is full of troublesome themes and remains the most popular adventure…
“Troublesome” might be my most hated word.
This is good news for people who enjoy Dark Sun. Modern WotC sucks and would ruin the setting.
This is a classic case of addition by subtraction.