I can’t speak to how well 5e would work with dark sun, but 5e is very much about epic heroism. Levels 1-3 exist entirely as an introductory system to avoid overwhelming new players - IIRC, there are official suggestions to just skip them if playing with experienced players. Additionally, they are designed to go incredibly fast. The meat of the game really starts after that, and the characters quickly catapult to functional super heroes.
I am but a humble traveling troubadour of Lower Noblesse. Or that is what I would have you believe. In truth, I am an information broker and spy for Steel Anne, the infamous forest bandit, and her band of Jolly Fellows from the Robbin Woods.
Silver Dragonborn Ancients Barbarian - I wanted to try a tanky build again, after not liking my attempt with paladin. He was Con primary, Str secondary, using a Warhammer and shield, and I was excited to see how the path of the ancients intersected with things like shield Master or sentinel. He was from a tribe of remnant Dragonborn after Abeir split back off. His tribe used to rely on shamans that communicated with their ancestors, but the last one had passed in his grandfather before he was identified as a new shaman. His sister died in a horrible accident, and his communication with her spirit was how he was identified. No one in the tribe knew how to help with his gift, so he went out into the world, accompanied by the spirit of his sister, to see what he could learn. His rage manifested as an icy white cloud rolling over him and falling to the ground, slowly revealing the spirits that accompanied him. I planned for him to notice and get to know more and more of his ancestors’ spirits as he got more powerful - including his grandfather, a taciturn half-dragon, and a happy-go-lucky silver dragon. Unfortunately, I had to bow out of the campaign just as we hit level 3, so I never got to experience any of it. ☹️
IDK. Most of the early games were actually pretty entertaining. I fairly recently played sorcerer’s stone on the gbc, and it was still pretty fantastic.
While it never got much past the concept phase, I think it would be fun to play a circle of stars druid as a magical girl. I was thinking this ancient elven man who learned a bit of the druidic magics of his people, but was always more fascinated with the stars. One day he connected with a group of gnomes who invented a flying machine that could take them to the moon, and immediately signed up for the trip. When he got there, he discovered a moon goddess that had been trapped there. They hit it off famously, he offered to help free her, and she turned him into a knight of sorts, giving him the transformation ability. When he transforms, he turns into this young, bubbly, vivacious eleven woman with crazy armor and the standard anime oversized weapon that is based on which form he transformed into. She still has all the same memories, ideas and goals, but with a completely different personality. It would be pretty entertaining.
I am once again making my way through The Dresden Files - about half way through Side Jobs. I haven’t yet read the two latest books, so I’m excited to get into those.