What is WRATHEN? 

What better way to start a new year of Shadowdark RPG than with a new setting? Wrathen is an apocalyptic sandbox - pun intended - inspired by locations like Mad Max, Arrakis in Dune [but without the problematic and overt eugenics], and Athas from D&D's Dark Sun [but without the oddly anti-science undertones]. But it is also distinct from all of these in that it is shooting entirely for fantasy and high fantasy at that. Wrathen is a desert world with only a few cities left as beacons of civilization, only contrasted by the nomadic desert Elves. Unfortunately, Wrathen's twin suns are dying and as night falls, the creatures that used to be subjugated to the deep outer dark below have begun to emerge under cloud cover and in places the suns can no longer reach. 

Wrathen, far from being a story about nihilistic despair, is about heroes rising to the challenge of the end times, wielding hope and a firm refusal to be conquered by the desert, the suns, and the dark beneath. It is also inescapably a Punk setting, where the selfishness of authoritarian powers best positioned to aid societies contribute instead to the endless spiral of the apocalypse; and where inequity and inequality are just as tormenting a monster as Ramlaat's under-beasts.

Just like in GODLESS, the purpose of this setting guide is to provide enough information to a Dungeon Master to run a fun and collaborative campaign with their friends, but not so much that a Dungeon Master is constrained by the content. Wrathen gives you the fabric of the world, its myths, monsters, magic, and other similar tools, but allows YOU, the players, to build their world with these tools of broader context. Wrathen is not like the extensive setting guides of 3rd edition, but is a brief 18 pages, big print, guiding you into themes of play and giving you a place to start, and a track to run on.

We hope you enjoy Wrathen! We plan on making more settings for this wonderful game that the Arcane Library handed to everyone. This is our 6th edition and it is not going anywhere. AND - just like our other supplements, you will not need to buy anything, just use the Arcane Library's Quickstart Guide and as much of our stuff as would be helpful. Let us know what you think of our little shared world!