HALF-GIANTS
My half-giants will be as normal but for a few minor changes. Their Ability bonuses go to Str and Con or Cha. Instead of Nature, they get a Skill bonus to Intimidate. Instead of Mountain's Tenacity and Powerful Athlete, they get Oversized. And for fluff's sake, their average height is 10 to 12 feet, and average weight is 1500 to 1700 pounds (though they are still Medium for mechanics' sake). They still count as Goliaths for racial prereqs.
WEAPON BREAKAGE
I don't like either of the weapon breakage options in the book, so I came up with this, based on 2e's breakage rules. Whenever a player rolls a Critical Hit on a weapon or implement power, roll a d20 and add the weapon or implement's enhancement bonus. If the result is 5 or less, the weapon or implement breaks and is unusable. A roll of a Natural 1 always results in breakage.
HYDRATION
Characters must drink at least a gallon of water each day, or suffer penalties to Endurance checks. For each day the character does not imbibe a full gallon, he or she will suffer cumulative -5 penalties to Endurance. One gallon of water weighs 7 pounds, not including its container.
What other interesting house rules are people planning to use?
HYDRATION
Characters must drink at least a gallon of water each day, or suffer penalties to Endurance checks. For each day the character does not imbibe a full gallon, he or she will suffer cumulative -5 penalties to Endurance. One gallon of water weighs 7 pounds, not including its container.
...doesn't the Survival Days/Sun Sickness mechanic cover this? Actually, more specifically, how did they end up including that in the DSCG?
Thusfar, I plan to simply houserule the math fix feats, as always: Expertise at 5, Paragon Defenses at 15.
I'm considering allowing Warforged as uncovered relics of a bygone age if someone has some random inclination to play one, though that's about it. Right now everything else seems solid to me.
I may also allow non-wizard arcane characters to take a cantrip instead of a wild talent.
Thusfar, I plan to simply houserule the math fix feats, as always: Expertise at 5, Paragon Defenses at 15.
What's this?
To me, pre-emptive house ruling is like adding salt to food before I have tasted it.
To me, pre-emptive house ruling is like adding salt to food before I have tasted it.
You've obviously never eaten grits.
Reskinned races:
Jozhals = gnomes, probably making them a dex/wis race, maybe another mechanical tweak as needed
Tarek = half-orcs (no real mechanical changes)
These seem like simple fixes, and gives the option of using these races as something other than sunwarped new races.
Race/class(/theme?) rarity
Certain races/classes are common (Human, Half-Elf, Goliath, Mul, Dwarf; Martial and Psionic classes) and have no RP issues. Others will be rare (you've seen Elves, Thrikreen, Halflings and Tarek, but they stick out in cities, as do Primal and Arcane characters). The rest probably need more backstory and are likely to have RP issues (You're an assassin made of living crystal? That's weird, even for Athas.). Its mostly to set the tone of what's normal and what's unusual or persecuted, and make players aware that they're playing things that are unusual or unique. I'd probably still allow the Deva Runepriest blacksmith of Tyr who has no memory of his past, but is haunted by symbols in his dreams, if everyone knows the consequences of those choices. Sunwarped new races are perfectly fine, so its mostly a matter of integrating the fluff and crunch well.
Ritual Casting
I like rituals, but I'm contemplating modifying the component costs, how they're learned, and how rituals interact with distinct power sources. More to integrate them into the campaign in general, rather than Dark Sun specifically.
I don't have the books yet (curse your amazing discounts, Amazon!) but...HYDRATION
Characters must drink at least a gallon of water each day, or suffer penalties to Endurance checks. For each day the character does not imbibe a full gallon, he or she will suffer cumulative -5 penalties to Endurance. One gallon of water weighs 7 pounds, not including its container.
...doesn't the Survival Days/Sun Sickness mechanic cover this? Actually, more specifically, how did they end up including that in the DSCG?
The Survival Days/Sun Sickness mechanics are actually quite elegant-- I do like them. But they only affect Healing Surges and HP. While I may not use the Hydration house rule, if it gets too messy, I wanted there to be an effect on Endurance as well.
I never add salt to my grits...I prefer sausage gravy.
For some reason, every restaurant where I live doesn't seem to get it's easier to cook grits with salt (two or three dashes, those that don't salt their grits fail to notice the difference but those that do will) than it is to salt them after they're cooked (couple dozen dashes, still isn't as good), so pre-emptive salting is sometimes necessary.
Have you seen Duke5150 optional rules for weapon beakage?
www.4shared.com/document/bMZK2PNy/Update...
And while paladins didn't exist in dark sun back then, thats probably since paladins were LG in 2nd edition, and not free to have any alignment like now in 4e, as unaligned and evil paladins are more likely to push forward or enforce the will of their respective Sorcerer-Kings/Queens.
And probably arakockra's as a playable race, but I haven't finished up their racial-writeup yet. But that is not that important to me.
Divine Classes. If you could worship a Sorcerer-King/Queen, Elemental Spirit (Primordial or the like) or Natural Spirit (primal power source) in 2nd edition dark sun, I don't see any reasonable reason of why they would be excluded it in 4e. Besides, A cadre of divine classes working on behalf of a sorcerer King seems very fitting in my opinion. Sure, the templar "theme" might cover some of that but, having an avenger templar hunt you down in the name of abimalech-re is cooler.
And while paladins didn't exist in dark sun back then, thats probably since paladins were LG in 2nd edition, and not free to have any alignment like now in 4e, as unaligned and evil paladins are more likely to push forward or enforce the will of their respective Sorcerer-Kings/Queens.And probably arakockra's as a playable race, but I haven't finished up their racial-writeup yet. But that is not that important to me.
Wasn't the whole point of Divine classes the obtaining power from deities, deities that weren't supposed to exist in Dark Sun, and that the only real reason for allowing "cleric" at the time was because there wasn't any other healer back then, other than the cleric?
If I'd be allowing a Divine class, it'd have to be the Runepriest, as it's the only Divine class whose mechanics & fluff is the least deity-driven of the Divine classes... although I would likely only allow multiclassing to Runepriest at first, before allowing actual Runepriests.
[ Runepriests could much more readily be fitted into Dark Sun, given that they draw power not from any particular deity, but from the script that was supposedly used by deities. Such scripts could be considered "dead language" or "lost language" by IRL standards, given that the deities were defeated by primordials... but just because the creators of the language is dead, doesn't necessarily mean the power behind those words are lost forever. ]
If the Divine power source would still be disturbing for some, just change the Runepriest's power source to Arcane and change the Runepriest to Runecaster or Runesmith. Problem solved.
EDIT: For players to be able to access the Runepriest multiclass feat, they must look for fragments of the script [treating the completed script as a sort of Rosetta Stone], making the players pioneers for reviving such a craft... although obviously the Sorcerer-Kings wouldn't like anything related to deities be found, so it's likely that the pioneers of the Runepriest class, as well as all succeeding characters who study and practice the art of using Runes, would be hunted down by templars very intensely, mayhaps even more fiercely than they would hunt defilers.
1) Weapons break under stress, not from missing their target. When I fenced, the most common reason a blade would break during a bout was from a strong attack. It was rare for a blade to break due to a parry or a miss.
2) It makes sense for implements to share breakage rules with weapons, since they'd be stressed by the arcane essence flowing through them.
3) Magic weapons have an inherent protection from breakage, but breakage should be something every character fears. Since I'll be using inherent bonuses, it won't be a death sentence, but it could make things much more difficult.
KungFuJoe
Have you seen Duke5150 optional rules for weapon beakage?
www.4shared.com/document/bMZK2PNy/Update...
Those are interesting rules, but a bit overly complex for my taste. The reasons I made mine as it is are three-fold:
1) Weapons break under stress, not from missing their target. When I fenced, the most common reason a blade would break during a bout was from a strong attack. It was rare for a blade to break due to a parry or a miss.
2) It makes sense for implements to share breakage rules with weapons, since they'd be stressed by the arcane essence flowing through them.
3) Magic weapons have an inherent protection from breakage, but breakage should be something every character fears. Since I'll be using inherent bonuses, it won't be a death sentence, but it could make things much more difficult.KungFuJoe
Have you seen Duke5150 optional rules for weapon beakage?
www.4shared.com/document/bMZK2PNy/Update...
A question out of pure curiosity: have you ever met a player who enjoyed the weapon breakage rules?
As a DM, I'm somewhat bothered that now the players decide when the weapon breaks; however, all the people I've played DS with (and it's a dozen of them) literally exulted when they heard that weapon breakage was gone.
I can't remember a moment when in 2nd edition a weapon broke and anyone (but me) found it entertaining.
Some of the overlooked aspects of Reckless Breakage are that one, broken magic weapons can be repaired with a very low-leveled ritual (Make whole). two, a broken weapon is still treated as an improvise weapon and the new build for fighters (The arena fighter) gets a bonus with improvised weapons. So in a way the Arena fighter is ideal for reckless breakage, just as the sorceror king pact warlock is ideal for defiling. Plus certain weapons, such as thrown weapons, have less of an impact when broken (so long as you have several, like Castri from D&D encounters.)
I'm not sure that applying it to a "big hit" will make it less painful (in fact, it might suck the fun out what is otherwise a high point). That is to say, I'm not sure the rules are made to represent the weapon breaking on a parry or miss. Instead, I'm pretty sure it's intended that it was a parry or miss because the weapon broke.
And I've known several players, including myself, who have thoroughly enjoyed Breakage. It creates intense and interesting encounters. It just needs to be managed properly. Breakage shouldn't be overly common, and DM's should apply it to monsters and NPC's wherever applicable. Sure, it sucks when your Greataxe breaks, but how great is it when that Half-Giant guard's maul snaps in two?
Not to say that don't exist, but in my experience no player enjoys arbitrary penalties.
I'm not sure that applying it to a "big hit" will make it less painful (in fact, it might suck the fun out what is otherwise a high point). That is to say, I'm not sure the rules are made to represent the weapon breaking on a parry or miss. Instead, I'm pretty sure it's intended that it was a parry or miss because the weapon broke.
We differ on what adds "interest" to an encounter. I don't think applying an encounter-long handicap completely at random adds anything to the game. Intensity and challenge should be something applied meaningfully and purposefully, not randomly added to punish a player for no reason at all.
I get the impression that when people say they enjoy critical fumbles and breaking weapon mechanics what they actually mean is that they enjoy overcoming challenges no matter what obstacles are placed in their way, which is perfectly understandable: I've never met a player that didn't feel that way. I just don't believe my job as DM is to apply those obstacles randomly and without meaning.
That said, in order to apply it equally to monsters, you'll have to houserule the effects of a lost weapon, since monsters don't wield weapons. I've made several recommendations for this in the past in the other DM and adventure related forums.
Assuming your monsters have inherent bonuses too makes the whole process a lot simpler, actually. You'll just need to subtract 2 from attack rolls for weapon attacks versus AC, and lower the base damage die of weapon attacks to 1d4 (one-handed) or 1d8 (two-handed) (or as appropriate for the monster). I'll have to double-check the damage expressions to make sure those values make sense for a creature, though. It might be simpler to apply the weakened condition to weapon attacks or something.
Not to say that don't exist, but in my experience no player enjoys arbitrary penalties.
I'm not sure that applying it to a "big hit" will make it less painful (in fact, it might suck the fun out what is otherwise a high point). That is to say, I'm not sure the rules are made to represent the weapon breaking on a parry or miss. Instead, I'm pretty sure it's intended that it was a parry or miss because the weapon broke.
Yeah, I think what WotC is trying to avoid is the "Aww, crap I got critical hit" factor, while introducing a way for players to integrate critical fumbles (one of the more common houserules) into their campaigns.
Here's my thoughts on a possible fluff for Reckless Barrage:
The d20 represents the chance for an attack to hit or miss. Hitting we could easily understand -- attack slipped through enemy defenses -- but a miss is a bit more complicated in terms of fluff, as it represents one of several possibilities: a successful parry by the enemy, the weapon or attack hitting only air, or the enemy was successfully hit but his armor or hide was so thick he didn't even feel it.
Critically fumbling (1) or critically hitting (20) would be cases where either the enemy's defenses were completely bypassed, or the attacker completely failed to bypass the defenses. Neither of which represents the actual "strength" of a swing, nor an expression of stress on a weapon, as a critical strike from a flurry of attacks is just the same as a critical strike from a heavy swing, as a critical strike from striking a vital point with a single relatively light swing of a sharpened wooden sword... and frankly weapon breaking from an arterial stab that didn't take much effort to execute in the first place (because the enemy was wide open at the time, represented by the natural 20) is far from "realistic" if you ask me.
The way I see the current DS implementation of weapon breaking -- particularly with regards to vs AC attacks -- is this: a natural 1 would be the weapon being successfully parried or blocked by the opponent's armor, no matter how skilled the execution of the attack is. As mentioned by KungFuJoe, a weapon would normally break under enough stress, so what if the reroll was actually an attempt to put extra effort in the attack, possibly (or definitely) breaking the weapon in an effort to damage the target in spite of his parry/block? For inferior weapons, the added stress would automatically shatter the weapon, while metallic weapons wouldn't be easily broken [although would likely bend or dent instead]. If the second attack missed, the fluff could be either that the attack completely missed instead of being parried and the blade hit the ground so hard it shattered, or the attack was perfectly blocked, in spite of swinging very hard.
I am largely satisfied with 4E Dark Sun, but here are the house rules I'm considering:
RACES
Muls
-Feats: Muls can take human and dwarf feats, with no need to pick a "preferred" heritage.
-Extended Rest: Muls sleep once every three days (as normal), but on the other two nights, they can be involved in strenuous activity and still take an extended rest. No combat, but routine physical tasks are permitted. For instance, a mul can take an extended rest while mining, smithing, or loading a cart.
Half-giants
-Carrying capacity: Triple standard values. IE, a half-giant's normal load is Strength * 30 pounds, and a heavy load is Strength * 60 pounds: this means that even a Strength 10 giant can lift 600 pounds off the ground. If they weren't significantly stronger for labor, then why bother creating them as slaves?
-Thrown Weapons: When half-giants use improvised thrown weapons, they gain the heavy thrown property, deal 1d8 damage rather than 1d4, and have a range of 10/20; there is still no proficiency bonus. This recalls more of their giant heritage without negating the benefit of the arena fighter template.
ARCANE MAGIC
Rather than being limited to daily powers, I prefer it to be a continuous temptation for all arcane magic users. It should apply to encounters and at-wills. The damage to allies is a sufficient barrier to constant use.
WEAPONS
I'll be using the Reckless Breakage rule - on a natural one, players can opt to break weapons for a reroll. It gives players options, so it's awesome.
All characters are assumed to be illiterate, unless they have one of the following character themes:
-Dune Trader
-Noble Adept
-Templar
or is trained in the "history" skill.
I chose the History skill because History is a hard skill to come by, represents training in "forbidden knowledge," and could not be obtained without first learning to read and write. Arcana, OTOH I imagine is committed to paper as little as humanly possible, and with wizards using odd objects to serve as "spellbooks" anyways, I think an athasian spellcaster could get by without ever knowing how to read and write, prefering to commit arcane knowledge to memory, anyway.
The spellbooks could be written in ideograms that the spellcaster, and perhaps their mentor, other students of their mentor, or own students, would be able to read.
I'll also allow literacy to be taken as a language.
Depending on how religion is used, I guess I'll allow that a character with 10 ranks in religion (probably arcana as well) knows how to read.
Aside from that, I plan on making small (...or large) alterations to Arcane Defiling. Not changing the mechanic, just a little something. Whenever a PC (or monster) uses Arcane Defiling, it creates an area of "Defiled Ground". If a lvl 1 daily was defiled, close burst 1 centered on the defiler. Lvl 3 daily increases to close burst 2, and 9th lvl daily increases the defiled zone to close burst 3.
The defiled zone is permanent and doesn't end at the end of the encounter. Any casting class can sense a defiled zone if it isn't visibly noticeable, and can tell where it starts/stops. Any powers with the arcane keyword used while in defiled zone take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and arcane daily powers used in the area can not be altered with arcane defiling.
It pretty much represents that that area has already been sucked dry of lifeforce, and while arcane powers can still be used there, there isn't much left to draw off of. If nothing else, it'll give the casters of the group a reason to migrate around if they defile with their dailys. They could also do it near enemy casters to hamper them I suppose.
Any thoughts on this?
I also plan on using the illiteracy rule, where they are assumed illiterate until it is taken as a language slot. And I like Nimblegrund's plan, giving it for free for those themes (thanks).
Aside from that, I plan on making small (...or large) alterations to Arcane Defiling. Not changing the mechanic, just a little something. Whenever a PC (or monster) uses Arcane Defiling, it creates an area of "Defiled Ground". If a lvl 1 daily was defiled, close burst 1 centered on the defiler. Lvl 3 daily increases to close burst 2, and 9th lvl daily increases the defiled zone to close burst 3.
The defiled zone is permanent and doesn't end at the end of the encounter. Any casting class can sense a defiled zone if it isn't visibly noticeable, and can tell where it starts/stops. Any powers with the arcane keyword used while in defiled zone take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and arcane daily powers used in the area can not be altered with arcane defiling.
It pretty much represents that that area has already been sucked dry of lifeforce, and while arcane powers can still be used there, there isn't much left to draw off of. If nothing else, it'll give the casters of the group a reason to migrate around if they defile with their dailys. They could also do it near enemy casters to hamper them I suppose.
Any thoughts on this?
Actually that's an optional rule in the Dark Sun Campaign Guide. Page 80. It's not just for the Arcane Defiling at-will, the passage is more like "whenever you use an arcane power, you can choose to defile. Whenever you defile, you can create defiled terrain (see Dark Sun Creature Catalog) at the DM's discretion."
The number of squares you defile depends on the arcane power you use at the time; for dailies it's specifically stated that you create a close burst area whose number of squares is equal to half the power's level [so a level 29 daily creates a zone of defiled terrain creates a close burst 14 of defiled terrain]. No duration specified, so for all intents and purposes it is permanent.
There are four types of defiled terrain, and the one you described would fall under Dead Magic defiled terrain: -5 penalty to attack rolls with Arcane and Primal attacks, and you cannot use Arcane Defiling while in this defiled terrain. There simply is nothing left to draw from.
[ One defiled terrain causes Weakened, another penalizes your healing, and another creates silt, which can be kicked up to create a close blast 3 of obscured terrain that lasts until the end of the encounter (each creature hit by the blast is blinded for a round). ]
Long story short, your houserule is actually quite tame compared to the by-the-book options.
Full of rewards and several plot hooks.
I'm house ruling a complete arena system.
Full of rewards and several plot hooks.
Be sure to snap up the Arena Fighting and Gladiator articles on DDI.
I also plan on using the illiteracy rule, where they are assumed illiterate until it is taken as a language slot. And I like Nimblegrund's plan, giving it for free for those themes (thanks).
Aside from that, I plan on making small (...or large) alterations to Arcane Defiling. Not changing the mechanic, just a little something. Whenever a PC (or monster) uses Arcane Defiling, it creates an area of "Defiled Ground". If a lvl 1 daily was defiled, close burst 1 centered on the defiler. Lvl 3 daily increases to close burst 2, and 9th lvl daily increases the defiled zone to close burst 3.
The defiled zone is permanent and doesn't end at the end of the encounter. Any casting class can sense a defiled zone if it isn't visibly noticeable, and can tell where it starts/stops. Any powers with the arcane keyword used while in defiled zone take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and arcane daily powers used in the area can not be altered with arcane defiling.
It pretty much represents that that area has already been sucked dry of lifeforce, and while arcane powers can still be used there, there isn't much left to draw off of. If nothing else, it'll give the casters of the group a reason to migrate around if they defile with their dailys. They could also do it near enemy casters to hamper them I suppose.
Any thoughts on this?
Actually that's an optional rule in the Dark Sun Campaign Guide. Page 80. It's not just for the Arcane Defiling at-will, the passage is more like "whenever you use an arcane power, you can choose to defile. Whenever you defile, you can create defiled terrain (see Dark Sun Creature Catalog) at the DM's discretion."The number of squares you defile depends on the arcane power you use at the time; for dailies it's specifically stated that you create a close burst area whose number of squares is equal to half the power's level [so a level 29 daily creates a zone of defiled terrain creates a close burst 14 of defiled terrain]. No duration specified, so for all intents and purposes it is permanent.
There are four types of defiled terrain, and the one you described would fall under Dead Magic defiled terrain: -5 penalty to attack rolls with Arcane and Primal attacks, and you cannot use Arcane Defiling while in this defiled terrain. There simply is nothing left to draw from.
[ One defiled terrain causes Weakened, another penalizes your healing, and another creates silt, which can be kicked up to create a close blast 3 of obscured terrain that lasts until the end of the encounter (each creature hit by the blast is blinded for a round). ]
Long story short, your houserule is actually quite tame compared to the by-the-book options.
Wow, I can't believe I missed that in the book... And that my idea was in the book, but better, lol.
I'm also thinking of including Dragonmarks from Eberron and reflavoring them as Starmarks. Instead of being associated with Dragonmarked Houses, they are based on the 12 astrological signs of the Athasian zodiac. Futhermore, the true origin of the marks is that they were each gifts given to the 12 original champions of Rajaat (Borys is the Death mark?) and thus each is tentatively associated with on the old champs. Those with the marks have yet-to-be-revealed association with the champions.
There is the possibility that i may whip up some paraelemental manifestations for genasi characters. Sun and silt genasi would be badass.
Ive decided that i will effectively swap out all the "divine" options and flavor them as "elemental." The big change though is that any divine character must choose an element to worship and switch out all the radiant damage from their powers and feats for an energy type that is associated with that element. I know that this could get real unbalanced pretty fast, but im trusting my players not to go buck wild and abuse it. They will understand if i have to retroactively nerf something if a new energy type combo seems to crazy.
I'm also thinking of including Dragonmarks from Eberron and reflavoring them as Starmarks. Instead of being associated with Dragonmarked Houses, they are based on the 12 astrological signs of the Athasian zodiac. Futhermore, the true origin of the marks is that they were each gifts given to the 12 original champions of Rajaat (Borys is the Death mark?) and thus each is tentatively associated with on the old champs. Those with the marks have yet-to-be-revealed association with the champions.
There is the possibility that i may whip up some paraelemental manifestations for genasi characters. Sun and silt genasi would be badass.
i don't have, and have never played eberron, but i would love to see your final/working write ups on all of this. cool ideas.
I'm also thinking of including Dragonmarks from Eberron and reflavoring them as Starmarks. Instead of being associated with Dragonmarked Houses, they are based on the 12 astrological signs of the Athasian zodiac. Futhermore, the true origin of the marks is that they were each gifts given to the 12 original champions of Rajaat (Borys is the Death mark?) and thus each is tentatively associated with on the old champs. Those with the marks have yet-to-be-revealed association with the champions.
That's really interesting. You have a lot to play around with there. The Starmarks could really explain some of the qualities and powers of each Champion. There's a lot of questions here too, why would the champions want these starmarks hidden from public knowledge? Can they pass the mark on or imbue somebody else with them? The Stars and Planets sometimes have a tie in with the Far Realms, maybe these marks are related to or gifts from the Far Realms? Are they intelligent, or can they have an effect on your attitudes?
Are there 12 Dragonmarks in Eberron too?
Thanks for sharing.
Weapon Breakage: I’ll be using a modified version of the Reckless Breakage rule. Instead of breaking, the first time your weapon ‘breaks’ according to the rule in the book, your weapon’s Proficiency Bonus is lowered to 0. This is repairable damage for many weapon types. If your weapon ‘breaks’ a second time without being first repaired, it is shattered and useless.
Dehydration: For each day that a character does not have access to the required number of water units, that character becomes dehydrated. A party requires 6 water units per day, minimum, to survive. For each water unit less than 6 the party consumes, each member of the party loses the use of one healing surge. This loss persists until the party consumes a full 6 water units in a day, as follows:
- The first day of adequate water supply does not restore the lost healing surges.
- Each day thereafter of adequate water supply restores one lost healing surge.
- Any interruption of full hydration will cause healing surge loss, and will require a full day of hydration before recovery begins again.
- Note that the number of surges lost is per water unit less than six; a full day with no water at all will cause every party member to lose six healing surges.
- Lost healing surges are lost ‘available’ surges; you can use your surges in combat, and dehydration can then consume those ‘used’ surges. Dehydration will always prefer to consume unused surges.
- Surges lost through dehydration come back in the ‘used’ state, and must be restored via an extended rest.
- In addition to lost surges, a dehydrated character suffers a -1 penalty to all actions for each lost surge.
- If, at any point, dehydration attempts to consume a surge and you have none available, you die of dehydration.
- For each hour of moderate exertion, such as digging or moving heavy objects, a character must make an Endurance test or expend one healing surge.
- Every fourth round of combat (i.e., on rounds 4, 8, 12 and so on), a character must make an Endurance test or expend one healing surge.
- The DC of this test is a Moderate skill DC (10 at level 1 to 3).
- Modifiers to this test are as follows:
- The character is wearing heavy clothing: +1
- The character is wearing medium armor: +2
- The character is wearing heavy armor: +4
- The character’s armor is made out of metal: +6 (in addition to the armor type)
- The character is heavily encumbered: +2
- The temperature is over 130 degrees: +2
- The temperature is over 140 degrees: +4
- The temperature is over 150 degrees: +8
- If you run out of healing surges, and fail another Endurance test, you fall unconscious.
- These are normally-expended surges, and thus recover after an extended rest as usual.
Other: There's also a handful of other minor house rules I'm using, like restricting the Templar and Veiled Alliance themes to arcane characters only, and revising what 'dead' means.
Resolve: I've written a fairly extensive system for exploration, making camp, and resting. It's very, very long so I'll only post it if there's interest.
Drop them in a wiki page or blog post, so I can favorite/bookmark and reference easily.
i don't have, and have never played eberron, but i would love to see your final/working write ups on all of this. cool ideas.
Thanks
That's really interesting. You have a lot to play around with there. The Starmarks could really explain some of the qualities and powers of each Champion. There's a lot of questions here too, why would the champions want these starmarks hidden from public knowledge? Can they pass the mark on or imbue somebody else with them? The Stars and Planets sometimes have a tie in with the Far Realms, maybe these marks are related to or gifts from the Far Realms? Are they intelligent, or can they have an effect on your attitudes?
Im thinking that the starmarks are tied to the origin of arcane magic itself. In the 4E DSCS, it tells of how Rajaat discovered arcane magic when the gods of Athas were destroyed, introducing a fault in the world which was the possibility of arcane magic. Im going to say that, much like our set of constellations inspired by greek mythology on earth, the constellations of the Athasian zodiac represent the lost gods of the world, put in the sky upon their destruction at the hands of the primordials. Rajaat looked to the sky and divined the hidden power of the remnant gods but it was a flawed power, born from the death the very beings who brought life to the planet itself. His divination of the stars was the source of arcane magic and he gifted each of his most powerful students with the mark of one of these lost, defiled gods.
As defiling destroyed the world, the flawed gift won from the starry corpses by Rajaat touched the lives of countless creatures. Now, the marks appear sporatically across Athas on humanoids whose lineage has been touched by the tainted touch of defiling magic. There are sages who dedicate their lives to understanding the origin and true nature of the starmarks, many believing that those bearing the marks may play a role similar to the first champions; rising up with arcane power to subvert the status quo and once again change the face of Athas.
Are there 12 Dragonmarks in Eberron too?
If memory serves me, there are 12 standard ones and one "lost" one. Plus aberrant marks. I figures this neatly corresponds to having 12 original champions plus the dragon.
I'm going to houserule that failed Death Saves are only refreshed from an Extended Rest, rather than from a Short Rest.
I wouldn't. You're either going to end up gimping the encounters to the point of making them to easy (and boring) or you're going to frustrate your players by constantly killing them. With the new damage output of monsters AND the need for survival days (at 8lbs each!) AND the higher risk of surge loss, it's simply not fair for the players and isn't balanced at all.
Kill your players enough times simply because "THIS IS DARK SUN! (kicks someone into the sea of silt) and they will vote to play eberron instead. lol. DS is hard enough when you put everything together. I mean, seriously.
I think some folks are going a bit overboard with the whole "hard mode" mindset before even running the game. Play some adventures to test the waters before making the game even harder. Don't want to discourage your players. Do you?
I'm going to houserule that failed Death Saves are only refreshed from an Extended Rest, rather than from a Short Rest.
Wait, I thought this was the by-the-book rule.
Edit: Upon re-reading, I was wrong. Well, I've been playing it the hard way since 4E came out.
Bit = RAW CP
Ceramic Piece = RAW SP
Copper Piece = RAW GP
Silver Piece = RAW PP
Gold Piece = RAW AD
Wait, I thought this was the by-the-book rule.
Me too. Upon playing Encounters, I learned the truth. I actually like it when you only regenerate with an extended rest. It means something. It's more challenging. But... it's not for everyone.
I'm going to houserule that failed Death Saves are only refreshed from an Extended Rest, rather than from a Short Rest.
I wouldn't. You're either going to end up gimping the encounters to the point of making them to easy (and boring) or you're going to frustrate your players by constantly killing them. With the new damage output of monsters AND the need for survival days (at 8lbs each!) AND the higher risk of surge loss, it's simply not fair for the players and isn't balanced at all.
Kill your players enough times simply because "THIS IS DARK SUN! (kicks someone into the sea of silt) and they will vote to play eberron instead. lol. DS is hard enough when you put everything together. I mean, seriously.
I think some folks are going a bit overboard with the whole "hard mode" mindset before even running the game. Play some adventures to test the waters before making the game even harder. Don't want to discourage your players. Do you?
I see what you're saying. I have a whole long argument why I prefer it at extended rests. Truth of it is: the rule does does make the game harder. But not much. It mostly just changes players' perspective on how they treat Death Saves (as a resource) and that they cannot allow a player to just bleed on the ground.
Also... there are backgrounds that increase the number of death saves you start with. These backgrounds become more useful (and wow... somebody might actually take one!).
To me, pre-emptive house ruling is like adding salt to food before I have tasted it.
You've obviously never eaten grits.
The best part about grits is you can add salt OR sugar!
I think I might go a step further and say that only 1 death save is recovered per extended rest.
All houserules are open for discussion, and if it seems to the group that something isn’t working, or is just stupid, we can change it.
- Halflings have their own language in Dark Sun, consisting of primitive animal noises, clicks, growls, and hand gestures. This reflects the isolated, primitive nature of the halfling homelands in the Ringing Forest.
- I’m considering altering Thri-Kreen water needs, to reflect 2e fluff. Possibly just an extra day for Kreen.
- Player Character half-giants are known as Goliaths. They are still descendant of the original half-giants created by sorcery eons ago, but are smarter, free-willed and smaller than their cousins to centuries of selective breeding and eugenics. NPC half-giants, or feral half-giants, are the original, Large-sized half-giants, between 10 and 12 feet tall, weighing around 1600lbs. They are muscular in a flabby sort of way, dull-witted, and need direction and instruction in any kind of hierarchy. They still sport the skin patterns of Goliaths, just fainter, and are hairier than goliaths, with the males sporting thick manes of black hair. These are the half-giants more commonly in service to Sorcerer Kings as enforcers, though half-giant troops are often under the command of a Goliath. Feral half giants are statistically similar to ogres, since ogres were wiped out in the Cleansing Wars.
- Weapon Breakage: I plan on using the Reckless Breakage rule, wherein if you roll a 1 on an attack, you can choose to reroll, but the weapon breaks after the attack is resolved. I would still like to have some kind of non-player controlled random breakage, but I can’t think of anything just yet, so we’ll leave it be.
- Defiling and Tactics: This is less of a houserule and more of a desire. I’d like to keep Meta down when planning tactics in combat. I ‘m going to try and encourage you to roleplay tactical advice and orders. What happens when the rogue starts yelling across the battlefield on who should move where? The warlord gets miffed. Having your character yell, “Get behind him!”, is way cooler than saying, “you should move to this square because it’s outside my Blast”. IMHO, let’s give it a shot.
- This extends to Defiling as well. I don’t know if any of you are planning on playing a Defiling-capable character, but if you are the kind of person who would turn an olive grove into an ashtray and sap your colleagues life force for the chance of doing more damage, chances are you’re not going to care what they think about it. Go ahead. Defile. See what your friends think. Aheh.
Your damage increases by 10 points (15 paragon, 20 epic)
Your companions take a thier full value healing surge damage (instead of half)
The range of the defling is increased by 1
Obviously, a small party might have more trouble, but in our case 4-5 PC's means that someone always can save the fallen PC quite fast.
We do use a house rule that you can take a healing potion and make an unconscious character drink it by using a standard action yourself, which means that even the PC's without the heal skill usually can save others (but at the cost of a potion).
I like the exhaustion rules detailed above, except that they are a bit cluttered. I think I'd reduce the modifiers to just give a penalty for metal armor. Remember that skills take a penalty from armor by default, even endurance. I just houserule it so that endurance vs. disease checks and similar ones ignore that penalty.
We do use a house rule that you can take a healing potion and make an unconscious character drink it by using a standard action yourself, which means that even the PC's without the heal skill usually can save others (but at the cost of a potion).
That's not a houserule. PH pg289, Actions In Combat, under standard actions.
I'm house ruling a complete arena system.
Full of rewards and several plot hooks.
Be sure to snap up the Arena Fighting and Gladiator articles on DDI.
Can you link to this? Or tell me where to find it. I've had friends look and we cannot find these articles. Be curious to see them.
Thanks!
The defiled zone is permanent and doesn't end at the end of the encounter. Any casting class can sense a defiled zone if it isn't visibly noticeable, and can tell where it starts/stops. Any powers with the arcane keyword used while in defiled zone take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and arcane daily powers used in the area can not be altered with arcane defiling.
Wouldn't this mean that pretty much every permanently settled area would be defiled? At least almost everywhere inside city-state walls at least, probably someways outside them too.
The defiled zone is permanent and doesn't end at the end of the encounter. Any casting class can sense a defiled zone if it isn't visibly noticeable, and can tell where it starts/stops. Any powers with the arcane keyword used while in defiled zone take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, and arcane daily powers used in the area can not be altered with arcane defiling.
Wouldn't this mean that pretty much every permanently settled area would be defiled? At least almost everywhere inside city-state walls at least, probably someways outside them too.
I'm kinda confused as to why there should be a defiled "zone" in the first place, given that the books allow the creation of defiled "terrain" upon DM discretion. Altered terrain would be permanent unless specified, with visibility depending on DM discretion (it *is* terrain after all). The Dead Magic type of defiled terrain grants a -5 penalty to arcane and primal attack rolls, as well as prevents the use of Arcane Defiling, while another type of defiled terrain causes the weakened condition.
Compared to what can be found in the Dark Sun Creature Catalog, this houserule seems like a toned down version of the default rules.
Can you link to this? Or tell me where to find it. I've had friends look and we cannot find these articles. Be curious to see them.
Thanks!
We Who Are About To Die... and Fight! are the two articles. They are also in the Dragon Magazine Annual.
I really like the suggestion on a blog that defiling magic goes in by default and you have to spend a round drawing as a standard action to use preserving magic. Probably seriously messes with game balance though, as it makes arcane spellcasters far less useful, but at the same time, psionicists are supposed to replace them, so it would really force players to only play wizards if they really want to explore the idea of being a preserver.
That rule would work a LOT better if it instead stated that it costs a minor action (spent directly prior to using an arcane power) to preserve while casting a spell.
Critical Breakage -Can only be used on non-metal weapons-
• Whenever a player rolls a critical hit with a weapon power, he may attempt a critical breakage of the weapon. To critical break, immediate roll another d20. If the roll is 6 or above, add your primary ability modifier to the attack’s damage. Regardless of the reroll result, the weapon breaks once the attack is complete.