[eWIP] Sundered Lands - A Dark Sun Conversion

from Elemental Forums

Introduction

Athas.

A desolate planet beneath a crimson sun lies home to oceans of deserts, wrought with savagery.  Magic has torn this world asunder, destroying all but the most hardened life, plant and animal alike.  The only resource which is rarer than the precious water is the scarce traces of metal… and civility.

Sorcerer-Kings, arcane wielders who defile the land, wish to keep Athas a barren wasteland in order to force a splintered population into serving their vile agendas.  It is these sovereigns who rule their city-states in tyranny, chaos, fear, or whatever diabolical means further their reach and power.  They are the Defilers.

The Preservers are the last bastion of hope for this dying world.  Their numbers, while dwindling, are strong with moral fiber and iron will.  The magic they weave takes care not to harm the precious land, and often will heal it.  They are the only ones with the courage to stand up to the Sorcerer-Kings and their evil servants.

Meanwhile, beating down upon each faction with impunity, is the Dark Sun.

The Basics

Sundered Lands is a conversion/modification set in the Dark Sun Campaign World for the game Elemental: War of Magic, created by Stardock Entertainment.

You will choose the role as one of the Defilers or as one of the Preservers.

As a Defiler, or Sorcerer-King, your goal will be the conquest of Athas by any means necessary.  Your greatest commodity is life itself, and those that wish to live, must serve you or surrender that life.  You corrupt the land, offering small pockets of salvation in the form of city-states where your people live.  You control powerful, life-devouring magic that you use to corrupt the land as well as destroy any of those that may stand in your way.

As a Preserver, your goal is to breathe life back into Athas.  Your population is sworn to preserve the land, bringing back nature in all of its green glory from the hopeless desolation it finds itself in.  The Sorcerer-Kings consider you outcasts, criminals, and traitors, yet they are the ones that stand in the way of returning Athas to a living, thriving world.

Elemental:  War of Magic offers the foundation of bringing Athas to life, or extinguishing that life if that purpose suits you.

Game Terminology and Mechanics

Two factions, Preservers and Defilers, each consist of five sub-factions (races).  These sub-factions will eventually be defined.

Each sub-faction will have unique technology trees, although there may be similarities.  However, all sub-factions will have technologies, buildings, units, weapons, armor, and so on that are unique to their respective sub-faction.

Due to Athas’s savage and desolate nature, many common resources are either scarce or completely non-existent.  For instance, gold is replaced with ceramic bits, which is the traditional Athasian currency.  Also, water is an equally important commodity than food when attempting to grow your population.  These are just two examples.  A complete list will be available in time.

The 4E Dark Sun races and classes will be available through the hero system.  Obviously, these heroes will be a representation of the races and classes, and the traditional and complete 4E mechanics may or may not be integrated.

4E mechanics will be investigated.  However, due to their complexity, it is unlikely that they can be fully implemented for use with Elemental.  Whatever degree, if any, of hybridization will be investigated and implemented as long as it does not break the system.

Neutral factions and creatures unique to the Dark Sun world will be created.

Individual units (singletons) will not exist except in the form of the sovereign and the heroes.  Unit training will be done in stacks from the beginning, a la Master of Magic unit stacks.  For instance, 8 halflings, 6 humans, 4 thri-kreen, 2 half-giants, etc.

More details will be unveiled as the conversion progresses and the XML is dissected more.  In other words, stay tuned.

Join the Team

It is very likely (inevitable) that I will be looking for a 3D modeler to join the ranks as Athas is vastly different than the world of Elemental.  Please send me a private message if you are interested.

Discussions and Suggestions

Feel free to discuss the project and offer suggestions along the way.  My goal is to capture Athas in all of its chaos and harmony, and everyone's PnP experiences vary.  If you have anything to share, be it a story, a quest idea, or anything related, please do not hesitate to post your thoughts.

I also intend to keep this thread updated as the project evolves.  But please remember that this is an endeavor of enjoyment.  Please respect that I will not offer a timeline for completion, and I also ask that all discussions be kept civil and friendly so we all can enjoy the project.

Thank you.

RELATED LINKS:

World Resources

37,652 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Great project!  Good luck to you.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Superb ! .. good luck, looking foreward to test it out :)

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

yeah this is interesting.  i look forward to seeing its progress.

Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

From the inquiry thread:

Quoting tamides, reply 16
Yes, this would be great !

Perhaps this mod would focus on less but big cities, and more outposts for resources linked in with massive caravans

End of tamides's quote

I won't know what type of control I have over these types of mechanics.  Considering that the sub-factions, particularly those of the Sorcerer-Kings, are going to be the major city-states, this would make more sense.  However, I also have absolutely no idea how this may impact gameplay.  I will have to explore this in time.

 

Quoting divvu80, reply 17

Are you going to reproduce the Dark sun map too? With the Forest Ridge and the Sea of Silt? Because that would be awesome!

I actually have the Dark Sun cloth map still hanging in my room, just behind the LCD where I'm typing ATM
End of divvu80's quote

This is a possibility.  I have noticed that the XML does contain proper names to be assigned to terrain types (groupings?) within Elemental, so I can add these names to the game.  Whether they are used or not, I do not know.  A map of Athas would be fun to provide, so I would never rule that out.

I can say that there will be an overhaul of terrain types to include those found within the 4E campaign setting:

  • Boulder Fields
  • Dust Sinks
  • Mountains
  • Mudflats
  • Rocky Badlands
  • Salt Flats
  • Salt Marshes
  • Sandy Wastes
  • Scrub Plains
  • Stony Barrens

 

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

I only played a few games in the Dark Sun campaign setting back in my P&P (Pen and Paper) D&D days. I thought it was a very unique setting that's for sure. Good luck with this my friend. I'll be very happy to play it when you're done. If there's anything we can do to help please let us know, just keep in mind until it's done we'll be putting the main bulk of our efforts into the Dragonlance Mod. Still, any help or advice we can throw your way we will :) .

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Very very cool. Best of luck, my friend.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Some notes regarding the factions:

While pouring over the DSCS (Dark Sun Campaign Setting), the faction structure started to come into focus quite a bit more.  There are currently 7 city-states under the rule of Sorcerer-Kings, and all of these are covered in some detail in the DSCS.  What this essentially means is that a lot of the "uniqueness" of these sub-factions are readily available.  Many unique units, buildings, political structure, and flavor are all at my fingertips.

Tyr is now considered a "free" city, under new rule.  The city is in chaos, but the current ruler is attempting to make it a free state.  Tentatively, I have placed have placed them firmly in the middle as a neutral faction and their decisions can be made during the course of the game to side with the Defilers or Preservers.  Hopefully, I can find a way to accommodate this in game.  This does leave the balance of power firmly on the side of the Defilers.  One option is to leave out one or two of the city-states.  However, I may opt to leave them in, as the Sorcerer-Kings do rule Athas.

Here are the factions as they currently stand:

Factions and Sub-Factions

Defilers:

  • Balic, City of Sails
  • Draj, City of the Moons
  • Gulg, the Forest City
  • Nibenay, City of Spires
  • Raam, City of Unrest
  • Urik, City of Lions

Neutral:

  • Tyr, The Free City 

Preservers:

  • Elemental Priests
  • Primal Guardians
  • The Veiled Alliance
  • Wasteland Nomads

 

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Novaburst, reply 7
I loved the old Dark Sun CRPGs from back in the day.

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands

Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager

Frustratingly buggy at times, but loved the psionics / magic and the story.
End of Novaburst's quote

Those were definitely excellent games.

There was also a Dark Sun MMO that was pretty fun, as well.  Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands

 

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Raven, reply 5
I only played a few games in the Dark Sun campaign setting back in my P&P (Pen and Paper) D&D days. I thought it was a very unique setting that's for sure. Good luck with this my friend. I'll be very happy to play it when you're done. If there's anything we can do to help please let us know, just keep in mind until it's done we'll be putting the main bulk of our efforts into the Dragonlance Mod. Still, any help or advice we can throw your way we will .
End of Raven's quote

I appreciate it.  Currently, I am an army of 1, so I do look forward to any guidance.  :)

At the moment, I am rifling through the XML files to see what I have available to me.  As you well know, there are a lot of them and they lack consistent structure, which makes it even more difficult to dissect.  Eventually, as I progress, I intend to go through each with a fine toothed comb to document them.

I know that there are a lot of abilities and effects that are not contained within, so I can only go so far without Stardock's modding documentation.  Hopefully, they have something for us soon.

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

I loved the first Darksun computer game as well as the first series based on Darksun. I think the mul was Ricken. Read it a long time ago though.

 

Never understood why they didn't make a NeverWinter Nights mod of Shattered Lands but a mod for Darksun using the Elemental platform would be great.

Reply #12 from Elemental Forums Top

YES!

I support this with all of my essence!

I think this is a great idea and PERFECT for Elemental. Dark Sun is an amazing setting, methinks, and justice can be done to it here.

I will be very eagerly following this mod.

Reply #13 from Elemental Forums Top

Small update:

I am currently working on revamping the resources.  My intention is to have a significantly more complex resource/economy system.  Resources are a premium on Athas.  The game should reflect this.  Masterwork weapons and armor will be available, which is reflected in the sub-categories below.

Preliminary resource list:

Code: xml
  1.  <!--
  2.  Wood      
  3.         
  4.  Crystal      
  5.  Obsidian     
  6.  Textiles     
  7.   - Aaracokra Feathers  
  8.   - Crystal Spider Silk  
  9. Leather      
  10.   - Jhakar Leather   
  11.   - Drake Leather   
  12.  Hide      
  13.   - Kank Hide    
  14.   - Roc Hide    
  15.  Bone      
  16.   - Kank Bone    
  17.   - Cilops Bone    
  18.  Scales      
  19.   - Mekillot Scale   
  20.   - Drake Scale    
  21.  Chitin              
  22.   - Braxat Chitin   
  23.   - Braxat Lord Chitin  
  25.  Clay
  26.  Ceramic Bit     
  27.  Food
  28.  Water
  29.  Population
  30.  
  31.  Spell Points
  32.  Research Points
  33.  Prestige Points
  34.  Influence Points
  35.  Diplomatic Points
  36.  
  37.  Mana
  38.  Air Shard
  39.  Earth Shard
  40.  Fire Shard
  41.  Water Shard
  42.  
  43.  Erdlu      
  44.  Crodlu      
  45.  Kank      
  46.  Mekillot  
  48.  
  50.  -->
 


Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

Any news on how the project is going ? :)

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

Slowly, but surely.  :)

I am working on the new resources at the moment, which entails coding them into the XML and taking notes along the way while new and exciting ideas are cropping into my head.  The inability to disable the default resources is a nasty hurdle that I am working on solutions for.

But just to give you an idea of one of the things that has cropped into my head...

Kanks have multiple uses in the economy.  They are a source of food, hide, bone, and mounts.  So, a "kank herd" world resource will have the ability to be upgraded to a "Kank Farm" and a "Kank Stable."  Kank Stables will be able to produce mounts, so this is rather straight-forward.

Kank farms will be able to produce food, hide, and bone, as well as an occasional masterwork kank hide and/or kank bone.  This is all dependant on technology unlocks, of course.  The hide and bone will need to be processed by Hide Crafters and Bonecrafters (different buildings) in order to create hide armor and bone armor or bone weapons.  Masterwork related buildings will also need to be present to process the masterwork armor and weapons.

Kank Hide and Kank Bone will also be obtainable from killing wild kank (wandering monsters).

  • Kank Herd
  • -- Kank Farm
  • ---- Produces Food
  • ---- Produces Hide
  • ------ Produces Kank Hide (masterwork)
  • ---- Produces Bone
  • ------ Produces Kank Bone (masterwork)

 

  • Hide Crafter
  • -- REQUIRES Hide
  • -- Produces Hide Armor

 

  • Masterwork Hide Crafter
  • -- REQUIRES Kank Hide
  • -- Produces Masterwork Hide Armor

  

  • Bonecrafter
  • -- REQUIRES Bone
  • -- Produces Bone Weapons
  • -- Produces Bone Armor

 

  • Masterwork Bonecrafter
  • -- REQUIRES Kank Bone
  • -- Produces Masterwork Bone Weapons
  • -- Produces Masterwork Bone Armor

 

So as you can probably see, the military tech tree as well as some of the civilization tech tree starts to write itself simply by flushing out the resources.

 

Reply #16 from Elemental Forums Top

Current World Resource List:

Code: xml
  1. WORLD RESOURCE Oasis
  2.   --> IMPROVEMENT Farm
  3.         --> PRODUCES Food
  4.   --> IMPROVEMENT Deep Well
  5.         --> PRODUCES Water
  7. WORLD RESOURCE Clay Deposit
  8.   --> IMPROVEMENT Clay Quarry
  9.         --> PRODUCES Clay
  10.      
  11. WORLD RESOURCE Forest
  12.   --> IMPROVEMENT Woodcutter
  13.         --> PRODUCES Wood
  14.   
  15. WORLD RESOURCE Crystal Deposit
  16.   --> TECHNOLOGY Crystal Forging
  17.         --> IMPROVEMENT Crystal Mine
  18.               --> Produces Crystal
  20. WORLD RESOURCE Obsidian Deposit
  21.   --> TECHNOLOGY Obsidian Crafting
  22.         --> IMPROVEMENT Obsidian Mind
  23.               --> Obsidian
  25. WORLD RESOURCE Sheep Herd
  26.   --> IMPROVEMENT Sheep Farm
  27.         --> PRODUCES Food
  28.         --> TECHNOLOGY Cloth Armor
  29.               --> PRODUCES Wool
  31. WORLD RESOURCE Kank Herd
  32.   --> IMPROVEMENT Kank Farm
  33.         --> PRODUCES Food
  34.   --> TECHNOLOGY Hide Armor
  35.         --> PRODUCES Hide
  36.      --> TECHNOLOGY Masterwork Hide Crafting
  37.            --> PRODUCES Kank Hide
  38.   --> TECHNOLOGY Bonecrafting
  39.         --> PRODUCES Bone
  40.      --> TECHNOLOGY Masterwork Bonecrafting
  41.            --> PRODUCES Kank Bone
  42.   --> TECHNOLOGY Mounted Combat
  43.         --> IMPROVEMENT Kank Stable
  44.         --> PRODUCES Kank
  46. WORLD RESOURCE Tortoise Herd
  47.  --> IMPROVEMENT Tortoise Farm
  48.        --> PRODUCES Food
  49.     --> TECHNOLOGY Scale Armor
  50.           --> PRODUCES Scale
  51.     --> TECHNOLOGY Masterwork Scale Armor
  52.           --> PRODUCES Tortoise Scale
  54. WORLD RESOURCE Ankheg Field
  55.   --> TECHNOLOGY Chitin Armor
  56.         --> IMPROVEMENT Ankheg Farm
  57.         --> PRODUCES Chitin
  58.      --> TECHNOLOGY Masterwork Chitin Armor
  59.            --> PRODUCES Ankheg Chitin
  60.      
  61. WORLD RESOURCE Mekillot Herd
  62.   --> TECHNOLOGY Mounted Combat
  63.         --> PRODUCES Mekillot
  65. WORLD RESOURCE Erdlu Herd
  66.   --> TECHNOLOGY Mounted Combat
  67.         --> PRODUCES Erdlu
  69. WORLD RESOURCE Crodlu Herd
  70.   --> TECHNOLOGY Mounted Combat
  71.         --> PRODUCES Crodlu
  73. WORLD RESOURCE Air Shard
  74.   --> TECHNOLOGY Elementalism
  75.         --> PRODUCES Mana
  76.         --> PRODUCES Air Element
  78. WORLD RESOURCE Fire Shard
  79.   --> TECHNOLOGY Elementalism
  80.         --> PRODUCES Mana
  81.         --> PRODUCES Fire Element
  82.   
  83. WORLD RESOURCE Earth Shard
  84.   --> TECHNOLOGY Elementalism
  85.         --> PRODUCES Mana
  86.         --> PRODUCES Earth Element
  88. WORLD RESOURCE Water Shard
  89.   --> TECHNOLOGY Elementalism
  90.         --> PRODUCES Mana
  91.         --> PRODUCES Water Element
  93. WORLD RESOURCE Ruins
  94.   --> IMPROVEMENT Archaeology Site
  95.         --> PROVIDES Tech Research
  97. WORLD RESOURCE Ley Lines
  98.   --> IMPROVEMENT Arcane Tower
  99.         --> PROVIDES Arcane Research
  100.   --> REQUIRES TECHNOLOGY Mana Farming
  101.         --> IMPROVEMENT Mana Farm
  102.            PROVIDES Mana

Reply #17 from Elemental Forums Top

Current Global Resource List:

Code: xml
  1. GLOBAL RESOURCE Population
  2.   --> REQUIRES Food
  3.   --> REQUIRES Water
  4.   --> REQUIRES "Housing"
  6. GLOBAL RESOURCE Mana
  7.   --> REQUIRES Mana
  9.   GLOBAL RESOURCE Diplomatic Points
  10.   --> REQUIRES "Diplomatic Buildings"

Reply #18 from Elemental Forums Top

Another concept that I am investigating is "District-based" city building.

The initial plan of Sundered Lands is to have one major city that can be built around.  Imagine various fantasy maps that you have seen through your life, such as Waterdeep.  These cities have various districts that group subsets of the population and economy together.  If you have access to the newest Dark Sun Campaign Setting, you will have a better idea as to the flavor I will be going for.  But until then, imagine the cities to look more like fantasy cities: a bit more tightly knit, so the tiles will be a bit more condensed to represent this.  Think more like:

 

Access to outlying resources will be obtained through outposts, which will be small "cities" with small a small radius of influence with minimal building options, such as trading posts, guard posts, and potentially some other buildings that may be found in outposts (tavern, inn, etc.).  Smaller hamlets may or may not be available, as I don't necessarily think that this fits into the lore and atmosphere of Dark Sun, although these smaller city structures may make more sense for Preservers, as they are typically considered rebel factions.

Anyhow, back to districts.  Within the area of influence of a major city, smaller "cities" can be built that represent city districts.  These districts can then have their own flavor and provide a unique city structure.  These districts will be able to build subsets of buildings available.  For instance:

  • Housing district will support various housing options.  There will likely be two or three types based upon the wealth of the district.
  • Political district will house diplomatic and influence structures. 
  • Trade district will house various resource producing buildings. 
  • Market district will house various buildings which provide the "final product" to consumers. 
  • Masterwork districts will produce masterwork goods. 
  • Military districts will house military based buildings.

This is purely conceptual and may not be possible.  It is all dependant on what I will be able to customize through XML and Python.

Reply #19 from Elemental Forums Top

I've been thinking about trying to start an Eberron, realized it doesn't fit the core mechanics for Elemental, and then this morning went, "Dark Sun would fit!"

You beat me to it. 8(|

I'm not much of a code jockey, but I'd be happy to help with concept, tech, unit dev, and I'll even take a stab at the world map. If you want the help. I've got some ideas on using current resources as well.

Reply #20 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting vashtyphoon, reply 19
I've been thinking about trying to start an Eberron, realized it doesn't fit the core mechanics for Elemental, and then this morning went, "Dark Sun would fit!"

You beat me to it. 8(|

I'm not much of a code jockey, but I'd be happy to help with concept, tech, unit dev, and I'll even take a stab at the world map. If you want the help. I've got some ideas on using current resources as well.
End of vashtyphoon's quote

I would definitely welcome the help.  It's a daunting task, to be sure, considering the scope that I would like this to encompass.  I really don't have any intentions of this being some superficial cosmetic mod.  I really want to capture the essence of Athas and the strife between the Defilers and Preservers.  I find it very intriguing that Dark Sun is more Elemental in nature than Elemental is... as far as the lore and atmosphere goes.

Anyhow, I will send you a PM with my email address and you can drop me a line.

Thanks!

Reply #21 from Elemental Forums Top

Keep up the good work.

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

Until the modding community gets everything that we need (Python, ability to disable default content, etc.), I am taking this all at a snail's pace.  The last thing I want to do is to get completely invested in a project that will not come to fruition because of critical limitations.

Hopefully, we start getting some signs that Stardock is just as committed to supporting us modders as well as Elemental itself.

Reply #24 from Elemental Forums Top

The storyline of Dark Sun fits PERFECTLY with Elemental's setting.  The Fallen would be the Defilers and the Kingdoms of Men are the Preservers; it's just perfect.  Really looking forward to this one!

Reply #25 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm fairly certain this mod is doa, or at least for the time being.