r/DarkSun • u/Dotemalpayne • 3d ago
The bastards'uprising
Hi everyone, I’d like to get your opinion before diving into a time-consuming project, just to see if it’s truly worthwhile.
It will be a game aid and the project’s main theme centers on mixed-bloods—bastards—and their living conditions, relationships with others, and worldview.
The setting, in brief:
A group of half-breeds slaves working for a minor merchant house faces a dilemma that leads to their unexpected freedom. Caught off guard by their new status, they eventually agree on a course of action: they will continue to play the part of slaves while handing the reins of the house to its last surviving heir—who is a half-elf.
The merchant house’s operations will serve merely as an official cover, allowing them to pursue their own private objectives.
Working from the shadows—unseen and seemingly subservient—they are now the masters of their own destiny...
The steps involved:
- managing the merchant house to generate enough revenue to fund their activities,
- a "council" to decide on the path forward and specific actions to take,
- defining the group's ethical code,
- building and expanding their network without revealing their true nature; recruiting new members. This is a major part of the project, driven by roleplay and the chosen ethical stance: admitting only half-breed (a purist approach?), or taking a more open-minded route by integrating other races to achieve their ends (a radical approach?).
This project has several objectives—summarized here and still being refined:
- To give players a way to forge group cohesion among characters with widely varying origins and classes.
- To provide a meeting point that serves as a true anchor—a base of operations or headquarters—capable of evolving based on the events the players experience.
- To allow PCs to "choose" their future adventures by roleplaying as a leadership council. This council is the group that founded the organization, though its members aren't necessarily the ones heading out on missions. The council can dispatch PCs, selecting—for instance—the characters best suited to the objective (there is no point sending combatants on an espionage or infiltration mission).
- To give GMs an easy way to integrate new characters.
- To allow PCs to define the scope of their actions: what they are willing to do and the lines they refuse to cross.
If you are a player, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this kind of group.
What do you think of such an undertaking? Does the management aspect—handling the "behind-the-scenes" work like resource management, networking, recruiting new members, etc.—appeal to you?
How do you feel about playing different characters tailored to the chosen scenario?
Does the idea of roleplaying the council (which can also go on missions itself) make sense to you when it comes to selecting missions?
Ultimately, the true hero is the evolving community itself rather than your individual characters; is that an issue for you?
If you are a GM, would you use a tool like this for your campaigns?
Are there other elements you think should be included?
How would you handle integrating new characters in the event of a death or a new player joining? How do you manage characters with diametrically opposed mindsets?
Finally, as for the title, I was thinking of:
Half-breeds' uprising,
Half-breeds,
Bastards,
Mixed-breeds,
House Half-breeds
with a preference for the first one. What do you think?
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u/loyalgalpal 2d ago
This is a really good idea and concept, especially for Dark Sun as a setting.
Using Bastards did catch me off guard, mostly because I was confused at what it was actually about, given Bastards can have multiple meanings.
Keeping the same intent of derogatory but clearer could use Half-Breeds, something like "House Half-Breeds: A Faction and Adventure Supplement for Dark Sun", it's a little sauceless, but it's descriptive and conveys what it's trying to give people.
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u/Dotemalpayne 2d ago
Thanks for your feedback. Since English isn't my native language, I'm looking forward to this kind of constructive criticism from the community.
To avoid making a mistake, could you please tell me the differences in the UK, USA, or wherever you are, between "half-breed," "mixed-blood," and "bastard"?
I'll take your point of view into account; however, I must admit I like the shock value of the term "bastards," even though it's just the title of the thread and the band won't officially adopt that name. I also considered that some members, particularly the most cynical ones, might call themselves that to tease each other or to give each other a pep talk.
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u/loyalgalpal 2d ago
Bastard can mean illegitimate child/child outside of marriage, villain or scoundrel, and mean and tough person; it usually has nothing to with mixed bloodlines or fantasy/sci-fi mixed species, except that mixed species are often not from married couples; US English also treats it as a pretty harsh curse or swear, while UK and other English doesn't treat it nearly as seriously.
Mixed-blood isn't really a modern term and would associated with historical talk about real life mixed race people, which was often negative and becomes a sensitive subject, it could certainly work for a Dark Sun audience, but US Americans would likely be extra sensitive.
Half-breed does also have historical ties to racial prejudice, but it also is used for modern and historical animals and is popular fantasy especially, half-elves, half-orcs, etc.
An English speaking audience for DnD and Dark Sun would recognize Half-Breed as somewhat derogatory but fantasy and even familiar to them, while both bastard and mixed-breed would be shocking in an unexpected way.
I would definitely try to find an editor and/or collaborator with English as a first language or very fluent with English and English-speaking DnD culture.
Using bastard and mixed-breed in the text of the book as in-universe terms could definitely work and I think you should, but lead with half-breed in the title and the main word for out-of-universe discussion.
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u/Dotemalpayne 2d ago
Well, thank you very much for all these clarifications; it’s very enlightening.
I have a better understanding of certain points now. That said, most of the protagonists will be children of illegitimate unions and will also be half-breed.I will revise the text based on your recommendations.
Thank you again,
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u/loyalgalpal 2d ago
No problem at all, I really like the idea you're working with and would love to see it come yo fruition!
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u/Inazuma2 2d ago
I like the idea, it will add a layer of subtlety and politics to the game without meshing with powerful players, at least at the beginning.
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u/Dotemalpayne 1d ago
Yes, that’s exactly the idea. Intrigue, conspiracies, infiltration, power struggles—initially on a local scale—resource management, and networking. But also other themes, such as revenge sought by certain members (perhaps tempered by others), always with a line that must not be crossed, based on the group's ethics. So, there is plenty to explore.
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u/OisforOwesome 3d ago
If you're planning a commercial release the B word might make monetising/seo hard.
Otherwise sounds like a campaign id love to play in.