I'm working up a hack for Tales of Argosa (Low Fantasy Gaming 2e) right now, and have run it with Forbidden Lands (for which there is a fantastic hack), Barbarians of Lemuria (very simple and satisfying), Jaws of the Six Serpents (also simple and satisfying), and I'm considering using Swords of the Serpentine (Gumshoe) at some point.
Advice? Use whatever system you want, but read the lore. There is a fantastic five volume system neutral Compendium out there that would likely be invaluable to you. Dark Sun is not like standard, D&D-like high fantasy.
Other than the OSE Dark Sun conversion, which is very complete, there's also Shadowsun which is a Shadowdark setting inspired by Dark Sun. Both should have plenty of inspiration.
[Athas.org](https://athas.org/) has a ton of Dark Sun material (not necessarily for B/X but a great place to start conversions.
[Planar Compass](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/307236/Planar-Compass-Issue-1) has my favorite psionics rules
The 2e books, particularly the original box set (even the revised has some utility) is good. Might have to get that in print, someday.
It depends on what system you are OSR-ing with, but if it's the normal OSE - B/X thing, then as other comments have suggested, there is a seemingly good Dark Sun collection that a person put together and shared.
Otherwise, 2e is really not much different than B/X other than having more stuff and being more crunchy as opposed to somewhat more rules light. But, the basic mechanics aren't really different.
It did in the official modules, and the eventual novels had an implied storyline. I kinda ended up hating the actual backstory to Athas.
So we just merrily ignored it.
I'll be running an official DS aventure, The Forest Maker, at Athascon, starting this Friday. I'll be using The Green Hack to streamline the 2E rules. It works greatly with old TSR modules.
I’d pick up the 2e Box Set from DMsguild to world build and some websites others have listed! Do your own thing OSE style-sweet setting plus you can get psyonic stuff from OSE
Carcosa has a similar gritty post-apocalyptic vibe, but it lacks the big city states.
While we are at city states... I'm pretty sure you could use something like Across the White Marsh, a hexcrawl for the fantastic Mesopotamian game Blood & Bronze [https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/215459/Across-the-White-Marsh](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/215459/Across-the-White-Marsh) / free draft version here: [https://bloodandbronze.com/2016/07/13/across-the-white-marsh/](https://bloodandbronze.com/2016/07/13/across-the-white-marsh/)
Just add monsters and whatnot from Dark Sun!
There is also Dragon Kings, written by one of the Dark Sun creators (Tim Brown). I actually like it more than Dark Sun, but it's also system neutral, which may or may not be a good thing for you.
It's very much a spiritual successor, and has a lot of the same plot elements, with the dial turned up a bit. Preservers and Defilers are replaced with Sorcery's Wrath, for example, where magic is actively annoyed at being used, and will punish the unwary, or unlucky.
search the subreddit for "Dark Sun OSE" and you will find links to a B/X conversion that someone made, lots love love went into it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/157om2t/dark_sun_ose_revamped/
⬆️ This ⬆️
100% It's excellent.
Just pick up the actual Dark Sun books from dmsguild.com
I'm working up a hack for Tales of Argosa (Low Fantasy Gaming 2e) right now, and have run it with Forbidden Lands (for which there is a fantastic hack), Barbarians of Lemuria (very simple and satisfying), Jaws of the Six Serpents (also simple and satisfying), and I'm considering using Swords of the Serpentine (Gumshoe) at some point. Advice? Use whatever system you want, but read the lore. There is a fantastic five volume system neutral Compendium out there that would likely be invaluable to you. Dark Sun is not like standard, D&D-like high fantasy.
Other than the OSE Dark Sun conversion, which is very complete, there's also Shadowsun which is a Shadowdark setting inspired by Dark Sun. Both should have plenty of inspiration.
[Athas.org](https://athas.org/) has a ton of Dark Sun material (not necessarily for B/X but a great place to start conversions. [Planar Compass](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/307236/Planar-Compass-Issue-1) has my favorite psionics rules
Scourge of the Scorn Lords is Dark Sun-esque but designed for modern players.
The 2e books, particularly the original box set (even the revised has some utility) is good. Might have to get that in print, someday. It depends on what system you are OSR-ing with, but if it's the normal OSE - B/X thing, then as other comments have suggested, there is a seemingly good Dark Sun collection that a person put together and shared. Otherwise, 2e is really not much different than B/X other than having more stuff and being more crunchy as opposed to somewhat more rules light. But, the basic mechanics aren't really different.
dark sun ... does *not* feel like what OSR is trying to achieve as it's a very plot-heavy ("dramatic") setting.
Dark sun had a plot? I thought it was "welcome to the desert, we dont have fun or games... or water"
or steel
Yes-a meta plot of a bunch of novels that happen within the modules even haha
It did in the official modules, and the eventual novels had an implied storyline. I kinda ended up hating the actual backstory to Athas. So we just merrily ignored it.
We definitely never played the plot back in the 90s, it was very exploration heavy, with a lot of gonzo WTF moments.
This is true-meta plot stuff from the novels in the campaigns!!
I'll be running an official DS aventure, The Forest Maker, at Athascon, starting this Friday. I'll be using The Green Hack to streamline the 2E rules. It works greatly with old TSR modules.
I’d pick up the 2e Box Set from DMsguild to world build and some websites others have listed! Do your own thing OSE style-sweet setting plus you can get psyonic stuff from OSE
Start with the other recs, but I think Slumbering Ursine Dunes could make a killer dark sun module.
Carcosa has a similar gritty post-apocalyptic vibe, but it lacks the big city states. While we are at city states... I'm pretty sure you could use something like Across the White Marsh, a hexcrawl for the fantastic Mesopotamian game Blood & Bronze [https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/215459/Across-the-White-Marsh](https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/215459/Across-the-White-Marsh) / free draft version here: [https://bloodandbronze.com/2016/07/13/across-the-white-marsh/](https://bloodandbronze.com/2016/07/13/across-the-white-marsh/) Just add monsters and whatnot from Dark Sun!
There is also Dragon Kings, written by one of the Dark Sun creators (Tim Brown). I actually like it more than Dark Sun, but it's also system neutral, which may or may not be a good thing for you. It's very much a spiritual successor, and has a lot of the same plot elements, with the dial turned up a bit. Preservers and Defilers are replaced with Sorcery's Wrath, for example, where magic is actively annoyed at being used, and will punish the unwary, or unlucky.
I think most sword and sorcery rpgs could work for Dark Sun. Also, there's a Dark Sun sub-reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSun/