Many years ago, I came across a campaign setting for AD&D 2nd ED called Dark Sun. It was my first foray into non-traditional fantasy and I fell in love with the setting; a dark, gritty world where an apocalyptic war of magic had left most of the world a desert wasteland, countless races wiped out and the remnants huddled in a few city-states ruled over by tyrannical immortal sorcerer-kings where life was short and brutal, slavery was the norm and the characters often were forced into the gladiator pits.
This is what the world of Athas looks like;
Dark Sun
Well, it is back. Or will be next year when it is updated for 4E.
The Dark Sun setting had a big influence on the world of my writings. Before it was a fairly standard clichéd fantasy world. Afterwards I began to rework it until it has reached its current form today, which is a world of vast tracks of inhospitable deserts, with civilisation clinging to the edges along the coasts. Nowhere near quite as inhospitable as Athas, but not your normal world either.
Also, the current Nhaqosa story being worked on, Echoes of Dark Reflections, has some definite Athasian elements too it. I suppose we could all it a tribute to Athas.
Mist and Shadows 