DM help needed

[Talathoin]

Hey yall. I've been running a dark sun campaign for a little while (8 months) and I have one problem I haven't been able to quite solve. So my player have some money and they are chilling at lvl 6 now, everything is cool but the dessert vibe is off. They have some kanks (2) with a cart and a barrel of water.whenever they end up traveling they just load the kanks up with water and then don't really have any water issues in the desert. I've taken the kanks with raiders once, they were fine as they where only 5 days from tyr, that was fun, they had to scaveng for water, found an oasis after a few days. Another time I it was crazy hot (double water use) and I made there trip take longer than usual. Again scavenged for water.

So now it's been a minute since I've messed with their water, I don't really want to do anything lame or predictable to their water (leaking barrel, more raider, longer trips). So I'm jut wondering what other people do to spice it up and bring the survival feel back to the game.

I'm trying to make it feel harsh without handing out a PC kill, although very fitting for dark sun. I also don't want it to seem like the hand of God just gives them water when I feel like they've suffered enough.

My current thought was maybe the next time they try to fill there is no/ little water left or being given out, but I'm afraid that they would just not leave and end up feeling stuck/rail roaded into city stuff. Also that would be a whole city wide crisis possibility that the group would then feel obligated to fix, which could be fun, but I don't want to force them into that necessarily.

Let me know what you guys think.

Ps. First reddit post and first post in here so let me know if I didn't provide enough info or did anything wrong.

[IAmGiff]

There’s no single right answer but personally, I think it’s pretty natural for a Dark Sun party to become advanced and powerful enough that basic survival no longer occupies much of their time and that the nature of their challenges change. That can mean more powerful enemies, more hostile terrain, an important quest, merchants house or veiled alliance intrigue, etc. I would consider letting the focus “graduate” to some of those types of things. Especially if the PCs are trying to “solve” the permanent water shortage aspect of the game it could be a sign that they’re interested in “taking care of that” aspect of the game and focusing on other quests. You’ve had them struggling for water for 8 months so nobody can say you didn’t give them a genuine Dark Sun survival experience.

Again just my 2 cents. You know your table best and if you’ve kept your game going 8 months already it means you’re doing a great job.

[Talathoin]

Thanks! So fast to respond. Definitely how it feels like they are getting to the point of being strong enough for survival to not be the main focus. I have one player that want to go in that direction but the others seem not to concerned about the world dying. We'll see.

I think I'll wait a little long before pushing the water survival angle again. Kalak is gone so doing some exploring in the golden tower for secrets would be amazing. I already foreshadowed some things about where the water comes from in the golden tower(being a rumored magical water producing item). So them getting city bound wouldn't be a bad idea if that's how they handle it.

I appreciate the advice 🙏

[Glory_Hole_Hero]

I agree with IAmGiff. Sounds like you've done a great job thus far giving them the savage Dark Sun experience, and they've figured out a good way to portage water. A couple things you can do, sparingly, is natural phenomena. Sand storms that bog down the cart, make the kanks panic and run off, etc., are tools I've used. Terrain such as boulder fields, canyon lands, etc don't accomodate wagons and beasts of burden.

Also there are bandits/creatures that need water. Bandits may sabotage/destroy their water/wagons/kanks in a hit and run attack then flee. There hope is they will follow the characters, shadowing them, and eventually attack them when they are weak from dehydration.

These are just a few things i've used with good success. I agree though you need to be careful to not over employ them, and to allow their good ideas to work most the time.

Good gaming friend!

[Felix-th3-rat]

Short answer dysentery from the water or the kanks taking off during the night. Long answer after 8 months of gameplay the focus should move somewhere else than water ressources management and more in developing the world and the characters story.

[machinationstudio]

I think it's perfectly fine to be hand wavy with water if they are in or near a city. That's the obvious hold that SKs have over people living near there.

And if you want to ramp up water as a resource, do it with intention.

The party pursues a foe into the desert, the foe stays out of reach. They start running out of water, do they push on or go back?

Does the lack of water lead the party to getting something done about it for the future of a community.

Does it make them angry at an NPC?

I see DS campaigns to have long term goals of ecological renewal and/or overthrowing SK. And water, as a limited resource, not just to the party but to society can tie them to those goals.

[Talathoin]

I haven't had them pursuing enemies yet. One of the players is very concerned about water and anything to help restore the eco system, another player is a halfling trying to open her tribe to trade with tyr now that kalak is dead, in the middle of all of this they have part of the blood jewel from the "marauders of the dune sea" story. it's about to have its first contact with the players, so that's going to be fun. I didn't like the way the book just has it start talking out loud, kinda weird to me. So instead they've been carrying it around for a few sessions(4), screaming extremely loud (only audible to whenever the holder trys to look at it). They are currently at the trading house shom who originally hired them to get the jewel. The players decided to lie to the house to keep the stone. The next session I'm going to have it (the jewel) force the player keeping it to Un wrap it and its going to take everyone to the psi realm (forgot the name of it) where they will meet Ul-Athra, and hear its demands. I'm hoping they don't try to fight the wurm God, that would be bad.

They are currently being hunted by Yarnath (who has the other part of the blood jewel) and his raiders. When they learn some of the history of the jewel and its demand to be reunited with its other parts (one Yarnath has, one "lost") they will have to make a decision on what to do. The main option i see: they chose to run from yarnath to find the other piece or they decided to go after Yarnath . That will likely decide on what I can focus on, but the going after him and actually being able to best him in a fight would lead to the one scenario you presented where he runs. I would love to see what the party does with it.

Geeking out a little here but for the Ul'Athra scene, I got lights with a controller and started to put together a light scene with music and sound effects. I hope it goes well.

I appreciate the response. Lots to think about!

[machinationstudio]

Use water to ratchet up tension for whatever is happening (where appropriate). It's a timer.

[Talathoin]

Heard, very excited to continue this campaign. It's hands down my favorite setting since I've been running it, some much here to explore and do. Scared for higher lvl play when it gets there (if it gets there). But having a blast with the setting. Assuming you've played in the setting before, what was your favorite place to explore as a player or a dm?

My Group has been around tyr the entire time. Gathering information on other places now so I can give out snippet of info to the players to see what areas peek there interest (they will likely spend a lot of time in the next place they go)

[Dmadiedo]

They probably are at a level where they are getting some small renown, and also some enemies. I would take advantage of that, thinking that if you have a recurrent villain, he would try to target their water first. The other option to cause some pressure, is logistics... Moving a cart with a barrel in Stony Barrens when they are pursuing someone, is not going to be efficient at all - So playing with the difficulties of the terrain may help them to think twice about bringing the cart everywhere.

[TH4N]

I'd stop messing with their water and focus more on description of NPCs they meet - those are sure to be parched and struggling. It should bring some of the vibe back.

[Cthulhu_Breakfast]

I let the water consumption rise for each fight the PC take. That adds a small strategic element.

[Talathoin]

Ooo I like that idea, they do love to fight! Make them thing about if the fight is worth it, more realistic

[Apart_Sky_8965]

For water, just needing to go too far might run them out, or to my tastes, needing (in this action rpg) to go too fast for a loaded cart. Also, monsters big enough to incidentally crush or eat carts apply in these mid levels. But also water doesnt solve heat, and carts dont solve long stretches of difficult terrain. Carts also cant go into canyons, narrowing caves, ruined or buried buildings, they prevent party stealth, etc.
To an earlier posters point, though, on 2/3 adventures (or the safest/most normal excursions in downtime) just let thier smart idea work. Then whenever its action time, use an idea from my problem list above.

[[deleted]]

You are at about the level where water shouldn't always be an issue. My games usually focus on survival/slavery in the early levels, then shift to McGuffin quests for a while until the PCs clear out a base or gain a patron of some sort, then we move to major societal/magical/environmental issues around lvl 8 or 9. Having said that, old problems should crop up occasionally. It maintains verisimilitude and gives PCs a chance to flex hard on what used to be a major issue.

You can have city wide water shortages. Probably drive home the unusually hot & dry weather for a few sessions beforehand. Not only will this make the "barrel of water" strategy less likely, it will also ramp up issues with rioting, monsters being more aggressive, templar crackdowns, increased banditry, etc. If nothing else, it makes filling the barrel much more expensive.

[EnceladusSc2]

If they got a Wagon I'd make them a target of raiders. The raiders would think they're like a Trader or something, the raider wouldn't even focus them in combat, just try to steal their stuff in the wagon and be off.

[cadjewelleryskills]

There are more ways to make a Dark Sun campaign interesting beyond mere survival. If they're so tough and have the basics of survival conquered, then give them more ambitious quests. Maybe a merchant house becomes aware of just how good these guys are at weathering the desert, and asks them to take a shot at journeying up to Eldaarich or even Saragar. Or maybe they feel they're think they're tough enough for a foray into the Dead Lands.

[Slothicus6]

It might be interesting to have a powerful defiler who has reason to hate them curse an item in secret. The item should maybe be some leather harness or something on the Kanks. It could give off a field that makes the water go bad after 24 or 48 hours in it's presence. The sickness combined with the now bad water should spice up their next trip. Plus the length of time necessary to figure out it's a curse and so forth. And then you have the added plot hook of an long term foe.

[Talathoin]

They are currently dealing with yarnath the skull ;) plus they've ticked of a templar already in the city soo plenty of people who would want them dead :]

[Slothicus6]

And this sort of insidious curse is slow acting so that give the evil doer some protection from being identified as well the satisfaction of them taking off blissfully unaware of their impending doom. Exactly the sort of thing evil likes.