Darksun equipment and prices DnD 3.5

I'm looking for equipment prices for this system. I have the DM and Players Guide for the system and the setting book too. I can't find prices for things like tools, raw materials( spell components, cloth,leather, fur) or music instruments. Wondering if anyone has any idea where to find this.

I didn't think the made a 3.Xe version of Dark Sun. In any case, go here . At the bottom, click on Files. The first link is the conversion materials. Page 34 is Equipment. It might not have everything you're seeking, but it's a start. The rest of the site is good for all things Dark Sun. As an aside - I find Dark Sun is less about the mundane and scrounging about for materials than it is about weird stuff and epic conflict like in Barsoom. Your campaign, your scope, of course, but I thought I'd mention something I struggled with for a long time as a Dark Sun DM. When I started running it with a lot more pulp and a lot less mundane, the campaign setting really sang. Playing up the variety in the city-states is a great way to do it, rather than mucking about in the wastelands skinning beasts. Good luck!

Ah, see I was equipped to wander around skinning animals. Finding it tricky to find bard gear.

Under "Wealth & Money" page 34, convert all gold to ceramic pieces on a 1:1. That would make a musical instrument in the d20SRD 5 cp and a masterwork instrument 100 cp. This presumes they aren't made of any metal components. For flavor, look to the cities. Each one has some real-world equivalents: Balic is rather like Greece/Rome while Draj is Mesoamerican (Aztec, Mayan). If you cross-reference musical instruments from those cultures then give them a Dark Sun spin (make them of inix bone or giant's hair), then you're good to go. Ask your players for ideas, too!

Are masterwork tools extremely hard to get? They aren't too hard in the handbook. DM is getting to grips with explaining the world to us.

I don't get the impression that it's hard to get relatively high-quality stuff in Dark Sun, as long as metal isn't used.

Steven B. said: Are masterwork tools extremely hard to get? They aren't too hard in the handbook. DM is getting to grips with explaining the world to us. It really depends. DMs run Dark Sun differently. My experience as a player is mostly D&D in Death Valley where the PCs are scrubs and just counting their survival days before the next hellish month-long sandstorm shows up. This is fine for the odd scenario in the setting, but it fails as the focus for a campaign. The DM really should be going over all of this stuff with you guys in Session Zero. That's important to running a good game where everyone in the group is on the same page as to expectations. This is especially true of settings like Dark Sun which are heroic fantasy, but not the usual fare.

We went through character creation, had a sample fight and are getting equipped. For safety I picked skills that meant I didn't need a group to adventure. I can make my own armor, weapons, ammo; heal myself and make cash by performing or gambling. I know metal is expensive and that water is scarce. Equipment lists are bare as the setting only has specific setting unique items only. I will probably get tools as good as I can afford and some raw materials. Then just make my own gear and wait for the group to finish first mission and if need be miss more then one mission to get kitted out.

Steven B. said: For safety I picked skills that meant I didn't need a group to adventure. This intrigues me.

From what I have at hand it seems buying masterwork tools and crafting your own gear seems highly necessary. Also there isn't any synergy in the party so self preservation would strongly encourage self dependance. Further reading makes it highly desirable to buy masterwork tools and make your own gear. Since the equipment list is so short it must be by design that we make our gear.

Paul U. said: Steven B. said: For safety I picked skills that meant I didn't need a group to adventure. This intrigues me. The group don't know each other. So built character so they can leave anytime they wish. It also means I can solo adventure if I wish. Though it does mean that I may not be fully optimized as the skills are spread out a little.

Steven B. said: Paul U. said: Steven B. said: For safety I picked skills that meant I didn't need a group to adventure. This intrigues me. The group don't know each other. More to follow Oh, goodness. This is the start of trouble for many groups. Besides which, if your character doesn't need a group, where's the incentive to get to know the others better?

Not a huge amount of reason but it also means that if I do adventure with them I can help out a lot. It's a flaw in making isolated characters.

Steven B. said: Not a huge amount of reason but it also means that if I do adventure with them I can help out a lot. It's a flaw in making isolated characters. That's not the only flaw. But in any case, if they made self-sufficient characters too then they won't need your help. What do you think will happen if your character or the group is unable to handle some specific challenge the GM puts forth? What do you think will happen if your character of the group is able to easily handle every challenge the GM puts forth? Is the GM expecting characters to die regularly, as Dark Sun is known for, or are they expecting characters to survive? If a character dies, what are the player's options?

To be honest I have no idea what sort of adventures are planned so went for self contained. I usually build a group in such a way as to ensure everyone os needed to get the job done. No planning on this one so made do with what I can make.

Steven B. said: To be honest I have no idea what sort of adventures are planned so went for self contained. I usually build a group in such a way as to ensure everyone os needed to get the job done. No planning on this one so made do with what I can make. Having such little information is a risky way to play. I wish you luck.

Does encourage me to be very self reliant as can't depend on group to cover any gaps.

Steven B. said: Does encourage me to be very self reliant as can't depend on group to cover any gaps. And, as I asked before, what are you afraid will happen if certain gaps are left uncovered? Because whatever the GM has planned, you can bet they're planning for your characters to be in a jam at times, and will find ways to do that no matter how self-reliant you think your character is.

Steven B. said: We went through character creation, had a sample fight and are getting equipped. For safety I picked skills that meant I didn't need a group to adventure. I can make my own armor, weapons, ammo; heal myself and make cash by performing or gambling. I know metal is expensive and that water is scarce. Equipment lists are bare as the setting only has specific setting unique items only. I will probably get tools as good as I can afford and some raw materials. Then just make my own gear and wait for the group to finish first mission and if need be miss more then one mission to get kitted out. It sounds like the usual Dark Sun escaped from slavery starting scene, or something like that, where you had nothing and now you do as a result of a battle. Now it's on you to equip yourself. Bear in mind that lots of equipment confers no real bonus at all. They're there for the purpose of verisimilitude and to offer some examples of what something similar might cost. Just about everything that's in the SRD should be available to you in Dark Sun, only its cost is measured in CP rather than GP, provided it has no metal in it, and anything that does can likely be remade with other materials like wood, bone, chitin, stone, or giant hair. (Check with your DM on this score.) With regard to the purpose of some equipment and price lists, this is a feature of D&D 3.5e and its simulationist leanings. It's all about fidelity to the setting and genre, so those items are examples of things you might find in the world. Crafting, performing, etc. are all pretty mundane and granular, and not at all economically viable in the face of other pursuits like actually adventuring , provided the DM is using the actual rules of generating wealth. By early levels, you'll have far outstripped any reasonable need to craft or perform or have a profession other than adventuring. They're there at that point simply to say something about your character and the world itself. I don't think that's a particularly good use of design space, but there you go. Steven B. said: It's a flaw in making isolated characters. You're absolutely right! Good call.

My problem is the fact I have no reason to go adventuring. My gear is crap, I have no link to the rest of the party and no ability to take control of my fate. This would strongly motivate me to hide and equip fully.

Steven B. said: My problem is the fact I have no reason to go adventuring. My gear is crap, I have no link to the rest of the party and no ability to take control of my fate. This would strongly motivate me to hide and equip fully. I don't think you have any motivation to play the game on any level, even if "hiding" can be said to be playing. I recommend raising these issues with the GM.

But you do have a reason to go on adventuring - because it's fun for you, the player, and because it's the point of the game you've chosen to play. All you need do is take full control of your character, which is a game construct, nothing more. Give him reasons and motivations for wanting or needing to adventure without all of the things he needs. Get into trouble and then out of trouble while under-equipped, rather than avoid it. Good stories are created when we embrace complications and adversity rather than avoid it or mitigate it to the point of not engaging with the game.

Headhunter Jones said: But you do have a reason to go on adventuring - because it's fun for you, the player, and because it's the point of the game you've chosen to play. All you need do is take full control of your character, which is a game construct, nothing more. Give him reasons and motivations for wanting or needing to adventure without all of the things he needs. Get into trouble and then out of trouble while under-equipped, rather than avoid it. Good stories are created when we embrace complications and adversity rather than avoid it or mitigate it to the point of not engaging with the game. Good point. This is what I was after with my (unaddressed) question of what happens if the character or group are underprepared. it hands the GM the ability to get your character but... don't you want your character to get into trouble? (Of course, the issue is often that the GM's idea of fun trouble might not be everyone else's or anyone else's idea of fun. So, players get their gear and skills right so that they can block as much as possible the GM's options for complicating the PCs' lives. Without communication to find out the complications the GM has planned, and whether they'll be fun, the only thing to do is limit the GM's control with what control the player does have.)

I think my paranoid self is expecting to get utterly crushed if I forget to bring a cooking pot. As to what happens of you aren't prepared is you don't feel you get to have an impact on the story. An archer without arrows is fun for a bit but eventually just stands around waiting for resupply or they leaves to get more ammo. I just really don't want to have a scenario where I'm just hanging around making funny faces due to lack of supplies. Perhaps it might be an idea for me to put in a big block of time learning the roll20 system and run another game.

Steven B. said: I think my paranoid self is expecting to get utterly crushed if I forget to bring a cooking pot. As to what happens of you aren't prepared is you don't feel you get to have an impact on the story. An archer without arrows is fun for a bit but eventually just stands around waiting for resupply or they leaves to get more ammo. I just really don't want to have a scenario where I'm just hanging around making funny faces due to lack of supplies. Perhaps it might be an idea for me to put in a big block of time learning the roll20 system and run another game. You have to ask yourself what the benefit is to you, the game, the other players, or the GM themselves to crushing you for failing to prepare perfectly. If you don't find there to be a benefit, and you think that it will happen, and you think that perfect preparation is onerous, avoid that game. I think it's just generally smart not to build one-trick pony characters, and to always have at least both melee and range capabilities, but I recognize that this is the same tendency that leads to the urge to carry forty pounds of gear: the desire to always be able to participate meaningfully. Death is the biggest participation ender (unless you have a back-up, as I mention elsewhere), but injury, starvation, and lack of consumables can also cause that. Frankly, there's no excuse for decreased participation to be the consequence for in-game choices. Players are sitting down, spending their valuable free time for a game and at no time should they feel that they don't get a fair turn to participate meaningfully. Sure, a player can meet a GM halfway, but this isn't like real-life camping where you know what the needs and concerns are. The GM can literally make anything happen and can arrange for a player oversight to amount to no real concern, or to take the player out of the game altogether. I highly recommend not playing with people who think that it's fine for others to be taken out of the game. If you don't mind it, fine, but it appears you do.

Headhunter Jones said: (paraphrased) ........ take full control of your character....... Get into trouble and then out of trouble while under-equipped, rather than avoid it. Good stories are created when we embrace complications and adversity rather than avoid it or mitigate it to the point of not engaging with the game. It is the sole responsibility of the player to play the character. All of the equipment, and other rules for that matter, are there simply to give context to the character as Headhunter already stated. They mean nothing at all if the player doesn't breath life into the character. Many a GM has suffered the player of indecision and uncertainty. Conflict is the story. Don't have your favorite +25 sword of butt kicking, better just sit back and let somebody else handle this. Wait, nope, find a fun and exciting way to take part in the story, resolve the current conflict and save the day. That's why you sit at the "table." I bet you've never seen a Bruce Willis movie where he just kicked back and waited because he didn't have a pistol. No way, he just head butted the bad guy and saved the day. Be the hero, your character is not, I repeat, not a collection of equipment and bonuses. If it is, it probably won't be fun to play for you. Steven, you just need to be more clear with your group and your GM about your misgivings. My guess is you are reading way too far into the equipment/usefulness issue. [warning: nostalgia follows] Most of my favorite PCs in Dark Sun where broke slaves that fought through hell and back to make tough moral choices and risk everything for "the girl." The only piece of equipment that I even remember from those wonderful years of gaming was a measly iron two handed sword that my female gladiator won in a warrior challenge to save the group. It was called Gith's Bane and had no special properties other than my character's love. My point? Relax, have some fun and enjoy the things that your character will reveal to you. If you have all the answers and all the equipment, then your character doesn't need to go adventuring and you need to raise another one :)

Rob M. said: Headhunter Jones said: (paraphrased) ........ take full control of your character....... Get into trouble and then out of trouble while under-equipped, rather than avoid it. Good stories are created when we embrace complications and adversity rather than avoid it or mitigate it to the point of not engaging with the game. It is the sole responsibility of the player to play the character. All of the equipment, and other rules for that matter, are there simply to give context to the character as Headhunter already stated. They mean nothing at all if the player doesn't breath life into the character. Many a GM has suffered the player of indecision and uncertainty. Conflict is the story. Don't have your favorite +25 sword of butt kicking, better just sit back and let somebody else handle this. Wait, nope, find a fun and exciting way to take part in the story, resolve the current conflict and save the day. That's why you sit at the "table." I bet you've never seen a Bruce Willis movie where he just kicked back and waited because he didn't have a pistol. No way, he just head butted the bad guy and saved the day. Be the hero, your character is not, I repeat, not a collection of equipment and bonuses. If it is, it probably won't be fun to play for you. Problem-solving without equipment, or with limited equipment is a particular playstyle. Any playstyle can work if everyone at the table is bought into it, but if someone is expecting one thing (like being able to contribute meaningfully on their own terms) and is given something else (like being unable to contribute meaningfully, or only on someone else's terms) the game is not going to go very well.

I agree with you Paul, every player should get to enjoy themselves/contribute to the team. That is the ultimate goal after all.

Rob M. said: I agree with you Paul, every player should get to enjoy themselves/contribute to the team. That is the ultimate goal after all. Which is why I always got the player to tell me what their vision for the character was and let me put the numbers on that. Then assign the player the gear they need so they can focus on inhabiting the world around them. I'm the DM so need to know all the little rules, skills, feats and whatnot, the player doesn't need to have a forensic level of knowledge of the rules to just have a quick adventure. I much prefer to spend my time creating little quirks, getting to know the other characters and having fun in the tavern before skipping town before the bailiffs arrive to arrest those still on the floor. So far I'm thinking of adding some skill points to Trader, outfitting adventuring troupes must be highly profitable.

Steven B. said: I much prefer to spend my time creating little quirks, getting to know the other characters and having fun in the tavern before skipping town before the bailiffs arrive to arrest those still on the floor. So far I'm thinking of adding some skill points to Trader, outfitting adventuring troupes must be highly profitable. The question still remains: Is that the kind of game you've signed up for? If I were running this game, it would be epic games of slave-sacrifices playing ollamalitzli with a severed head for their very lives in the celestial ball court of the sorcerer-king of Draj during the Flower War. Or vicious desert warfare between the ragtag armies of Tyr and the nigh unstoppable legions of Hamanu of Urik. Or mind-altering psionic travels through obsidian orbs in the vast unexplored places that harken back to a previous age. It most certainly would not be about pouring over inventory logs and placing orders with suppliers to outfit actual adventurers. As such, our game expectations would be a mismatch and you'd not be best pleased, I'd wager. (This is not to say your wishes are invalid, simply not a match for the group. As mentioned in this and the other thread, more discussion with your DM and the group is advisable to make sure this is the game for you. More than anything, being on the same page is what makes for a good game. Good luck!)

I got stuck into learning how to use the tools in the app. Once I get it figured out should really add to the fun. I appreciate the comments and feedback. I might be sounding whiny at the moment and that isn't how I do things. Will put a pin in this game and try other games or failing that run my own. Will raise my concerns with my DM and see what happens.