It’s a new age for Dungeons & Dragons, or at least, that’s the message that the game and its parent company, Wizards of the Coast, are pushing after the D&D Vision Keynote 2027 at this year’s Gen Con. Among the news and exciting announcements that will shape the course of D&D for the next year or more, one stands out as the most hardcore: D&D is going back to Dark Sun, and no punches will be pulled.
Among the many campaign settings created for D&D, Dark Sun and its world of Athos are the most controversial. To get an idea of the vibes, think of Mad Max or, for the old-school anime fans, Fist of the North Star. This is a desolate, post-apocalyptic world where evil has won and heroes mostly fight for survival rather than salvation. Slavery is also rampant, which is likely one of the reasons why D&D has not returned to the setting since a 4th edition sourcebook was released in 2010. Many fans feared that, if the company ever decided to publish new official Dark Sun products, the gritty, dark fantasy themes and elements of the setting would get sanded down to cater to modern sensibilities. They were wrong.
A short teaser trailer revealed during Gen Con begins with what could only be described as a Mortal Kombat fatality. The abundance of gore, eviscerations, and ultra-violence make it clear that this is a product for adults — if the mature content warning message wasn’t enough. The discussion and artwork that were shown to fans also seem to confirm that Athos has not changed. This is still a world devastated by a magical disaster, where immortal sorcerer-kings rule with an iron fist over isolated city states.
Dark Sun will be the centerpiece of D&D’s Season of Survival in 2027. Three books will be released: the setting expansion Edge of Oblivion (a campaign sourcebook aimed at Dungeon Masters), the gameplay expansion Blood and Power (which will contain most of the rules and player-focused content), and a limited edition of the 5.5 edition Player’s Handbook featuring dedicated Dark Sun art. If you thought that the art in the PHB was too fanciful for your tastes, then this is a great chance to give it a gritty upgrade. One of the big new features will be a new character class, the Psion, which will bring psionics back into the game outside of subclasses, specific feats, and a few stray spells.
The D&D team made it clear that one of their big focuses for the future is to make sure that the game caters to all types of players. The return to Dark Sun signifies that players’ requests for more mature content have not been ignored, and it won’t end with the world of Athos. At GenCon, actor and newly-appointed CEO of the D&D Icons line, Joe Manganiello, unveiled his homebrew campaign setting, Death Saves. This is now an official D&D product, inspired by Manganiello’s home campaign and his line of clothing. The heavy metal, dark fantasy vibes are quite evident.
There is a lot to be excited about, but as a fan of the original Dark Sun products, I hope that D&D won’t simply treat this as an ultra-violent gimmick. The origins of the setting actually harken back to environmental activism: Athos is a grim cautionary tale about the dangers of the unethical exploitation of natural resources and the disasters brought by the unchecked accumulation of power in the hands of the few.