Instead of traditional fantasy worlds like Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Greyhawk, the Dark Sun setting takes place in the world of Athas. It is a desert like world that is more of a post-apocalyptic setting than a fantasy setting. The world is very harsh and brutal compared to traditional fantasy games.

Magic is much less common in the world of Athas. The world has negatively altered by the destructive forces of magic. Due to this, magic is much less common among the regular population. The replacement for magic in society is psionics. Psionics are more common and accepted among the populace of Athas.

There are many unique races in Dark Sun that are playable character races. Muls are half dwarf and half human hybrids. Thri-Kreen are mantis like creatures with multiple limbs. Half-Giants are considered a playable character race as well. In addition, there are also the ‘standard’ races such as Human, Elf, Dwarf, Half-Elf, and Halfling.

The mix of classes in Dark Sun is recognizable to other fantasy games, but significantly altered. For example, there isn’t any equivalent to Paladins, Monks, or Sorcerers. Spell casters are typically divided up between Preservers or Defilers. And, Priests derive their power from non-traditional sources, as opposed to deities or gods.

If you are looking to learn about Dark Sun lore, there are three book series that are great reads. The Prism Pentad is a five book series by Troy Denning. The Tribe of One is a three book series by Simon Hawke. And the Chronicles of Athas is a five book series by multiple authors. Each series will give you more information about the world of Athas.

Many of the Dark Sun resources available on the internet are free for fans to use. There is the Unofficial Dark Sun Wiki, a Dark Sun interactive Atlas for the World of Athas, the Official Dark Sun Discussion Forum at Wizards of the Coast, and many other product releases that are available if you know where to look.

Wizards of the Coast made a great selection by choosing Dark Sun as their next campaign setting. They have pleased many of the fans with this decision and the choice should prove to be a great success for the company. The world is very different from other settings currently offered. Look for the Dark Sun Campaign Guide in 2010.

Skills Matter - Whenever I played D&D, Star Wars, or any other d20 game, skills always seemed like an afterthought. In D&D, the combat powers I received from leveling were always more important. In Star Wars, feats and powers always seemed to be more important.

In Spycraft, your skills are the lifeblood of your character. The skills are extremely well thought out and designed. There are really no ‘must have’ skills. There is a more level playing field with the skills and each one seems to have good overall value. It isn’t like every other d20 game where everyone in the group has to get Perception and Stealth because everything else is worthless.

The skills do matter more in the game because the game makes it that way. The game makes skills more of a focus. It will take players and gamemasters time to figure out how to use these skills properly. But we discovered several sessions into the campaign that the skills start to come together better and better.

Unique Gear System – The gear system is Spycraft is one of the most unique gear systems of any roleplaying game. The system is very versatile and allows players to choose both specific items for their character, as well as design specific and unique items for their characters.

In your average game, players are going to choose a primary weapon and a set of armor. Those are often your most important pieces of gear. After that you will get your adventuring gear which comprises all of your non-combat stuff. That is what most games do, but not what Spycraft does

During the first session of play, the player character were attempting to get into a sold out championship hockey game. They had many options on how to try and get in, but one player used one of his gear gadgets and was able to acquire tickets to get the group into the game. He spent his gear pick, got the tickets, and they were in.

There was another piece of gear that one of the characters had. He used gear picks to get a cane that was capable of injecting tranquilizing toxin into a target. This gear wasn’t something that was listed in the book. It was something that the player was able to design for his character using gear picks.

You Can Have Fun Without Combat – Spycraft is completely capable of being a game that is fun without combat. It definitely has the rules and crunch to do a lot of combat, but it also has rules for other types of games. If you’re creative, you can run session after session, never get into combat, and still have a ton of fun.

During one part of the first session, two of the player characters encountered two armed NPCs. They were able to use their skills to convince some people working in the law enforcement arena that the other NPCs were there to cause problems. The security and law enforcement personnel took care of the two armed NPCs, and the player characters continued on their way.

Overall – I am fairly impressed with our first taste of Spycraft v2.0. I was a little concerned that there would be too many rules for me to deal with, but the game is very well thought out and put together. The more I read the book, the more I realize they really designed the system to fit a modern spy setting. I believe it does this exceptionally well, and I’m looking forward into delving deeper into the game.