Strange Owl Games has announced a new 5E-compatible edition of Timothy Brown’s Dragon Kings, launching on BackerKit on 22 September 2026. The project reunites key creators behind TSR’s classic 1991 Dark Sun setting, including Troy Denning, Brom, Bill Slavicsek, and Rich Baker, as well as Deadlands and Savage Worlds designer Shane Hensley.
The release returns players to Khitus, a desolate fantasy world suffering the aftermath of vanished rulers and depleted resources. Designed as a standalone hardback book, the new edition packages setting lore alongside complete 5E rules, native psionics mechanics, and conversion guidelines for 2E roleplaying games.
The project shifts the format from the 2014 release, which originally published Khitus as a system-free core setting supported by separate mechanical rules supplements. This edition integrates the rules directly into the main volume, providing six ancestries such as the Makadan and Penmai, dedicated classes, survival systems, and over thirty bespoke monsters. Strange Owl Games has also committed to human-led production, commissioning more than sixty original interior illustrations without generative AI.
Fulfilment and physical distribution will be managed by Studio 2 Publishing. Early campaign incentives include collectible pins, offering a Despair pin for followers and a Hope pin for $5 reservations, both tied exclusively to physical pledge tiers.
Timothy Brown, lead designer and founder at Strange Owl Games, said in a statement:
Dragon Kings is sword and sandal, blood and sand, dark sorcery and elusive, god-like rulers. Capturing the feel of that kind of pulp environment is tricky. I’ve brought together the original team that invented this RPG genre, the team that held the original vision, and as we’ve seen before, you can’t fake that.”
Contributor and original Dark Sun co-creator Troy Denning noted that they are:
… thrilled to reunite with fellow Dark Sun® co-creator Timothy Brown in the fallen world of Khitus for a one-of-a-kind adventure.”
Artist Brom added:
This is a savage, exciting world; looking forward to this edition!”
Bill Slavicsek, designer and contributor at Strange Owl Games, said in the same press release:
I got copies of the galleys for the original Dark Sun® boxed set when I was a freelancer, and reading about the cool setting and seeing the Brom art was just inspiring. Tim’s Dragon Kings hits all the same notes as the original, and I’m eager to dig in and add my own ideas to what he’s created.”
Rich Baker, author and designer at Strange Owl Games, said in a statement:
That is one of the first worlds I got to work on when I started at TSR. I’m excited to spend some time in a world that shares those savage, splendid inspirations.”
Shane Hensley, creator of Savage Worlds and contributor at Strange Owl Games, said in a statement:
I will always love Athas. Timothy Brown, Troy Denning, and Brom put together a setting that transcended the typical fantasy settings of the time to forge something new, exciting, and unapologetically savage. Dragon Kings takes those ideas to the next level, breaking the chains that held back the world of Athas for so long. Now we have the world of Khitus, the Age of Despots, incredible monsters, relentless gladiators, and terrifying magic!”
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