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2E Dark Sun Materials?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
knarfenstein
Jan 10, 2010 23:38:46 So I just found a bunch of my old 2E Dark Sun materials and just wanted to ask if that would still be relevant or if its not really worth the effort to try to incorporate into the new 4E rules?
Anyone had much luck with this in the past?

(I mean in conjunction with the new 4E Dark Sun material being released this year of course.)
#2
salla
Jan 11, 2010 0:23:55 Most likely answer: Mechanics no, setting information 'fluff', yes.
#3
JohnLynch
Jan 11, 2010 0:33:04 All the fluff can be as relevant as you like. I've played a Dark Sun-inspired game for the past 8 years and yet when I turned to the Dark Sun books I discovered all the wonderful things about the game weren't from Dark Sun at all.

So I'm taking thye fluff from that game and the fluff from the original boxed set and merging the two to create an enjoyable gaming experience for me and (hopefully) my players. So all my fluff is going to be fairly independent of the actual 4th ed books (I'll take a month to try to incorporate any major changes into my version of Dark Sun. But if the new fluff sucks, I'm going to ignore it).

But if it isn't fluff you're talking about, I'm a bit unsure. I'm unsure what mechanics were unique to Dark Sun.

I'm considering "house-ruling" the following...

Elementalist Classes
There are 5 Elementalist classes (one for each type of Genasi). Unlike Defilers who must learn how to defile, some people are born with a connection to a particular plane which allows them to channel abilities from that plane. The planes are:
Vivadu, the plane of water.

Whira, the plane of wind.

Suk-Krath, the plane of fire.

Ruk, the plane of earth.

Elkros, the plane of energy (lightning/thunder).

If you want to play a human who has a connection to a particular plane, but does their best to keep this a secret you can play a genasi and rarely (or never) use your racial ability.

Alternatively for non-humans you can reflavour a pre-existing class. For example a storm-build warden would make a good Elkrosian. Or a draconic sorcerer using fire-based powers would make a good Suk-Krathi.

How much you channel your elemental abilities is up to you. You could multiclass into one of these classes for a small taste (e.g. a dwarven suk-krathi by multiclassing into sorcerer). Or you could use the hybrid rules to have half of your powers come from your element. Or you could make that your base class and have all your power come from it.

Psionic Wild Talents
I read somewhere (I don't know where) that they might remove psionic wild talents and make them a much smaller aspect of the campaign. I can't remember WHERE I read that, but if they do this I've got the following house-rule in mind.

All people are connected to something called the Way. The Way connects all individuals and powerful psions draw upon it to fuel their powerful and dangerous attacks. However all intelligent creatures can communicate over the Way in a rudimentary manner.

You can telepathically send a message to someone you've met, no matter how far away they are. After you've sent the message, make a saving throw. If you fail you lose HP equal to half of your healing surge. If you reach 0 or less HP because of communicating over the Way, you are considered stabilised.

This way people need to fail their saving throw 8 times before they reach 0 HP. This means people can reasonably send a few messages to each other, but can't have conversations that last for hours and hours. Also saving throws at the base are skewed towards succeeding them more often than failing them. You can also take feats to make the odds even better for you.

-------
Is that what you meant? If not, more details?
#4
knarfenstein
Jan 12, 2010 20:48:11 Hey thanks for the feedback, yeah I guess it was more of the "fluff" information I was asking about. I also really liked your post on how you've adapted your setting as well JohnLynch.

I feel like such a noob getting back into this. SO much has changed since I was last into gaming it's almost overwhelming.

I look forward to seeing what changes have come to Athas since the 2E rules however might just pick up the Monster Manual for Athas and use the existing maps / materials I already have to create a very Fallout / Mad Max style world.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 knarfenstein Jan 10, 2010 23:38:46	So I just found a bunch of my old 2E Dark Sun materials and just wanted to ask if that would still be relevant or if its not really worth the effort to try to incorporate into the new 4E rules? Anyone had much luck with this in the past? (I mean in conjunction with the new 4E Dark Sun material being released this year of course.)
#2 salla Jan 11, 2010 0:23:55	Most likely answer: Mechanics no, setting information 'fluff', yes.
#3 JohnLynch Jan 11, 2010 0:33:04	All the fluff can be as relevant as you like. I've played a Dark Sun-inspired game for the past 8 years and yet when I turned to the Dark Sun books I discovered all the wonderful things about the game weren't from Dark Sun at all. So I'm taking thye fluff from that game and the fluff from the original boxed set and merging the two to create an enjoyable gaming experience for me and (hopefully) my players. So all my fluff is going to be fairly independent of the actual 4th ed books (I'll take a month to try to incorporate any major changes into my version of Dark Sun. But if the new fluff sucks, I'm going to ignore it). But if it isn't fluff you're talking about, I'm a bit unsure. I'm unsure what mechanics were unique to Dark Sun. I'm considering "house-ruling" the following... Elementalist Classes There are 5 Elementalist classes (one for each type of Genasi). Unlike Defilers who must learn how to defile, some people are born with a connection to a particular plane which allows them to channel abilities from that plane. The planes are: Vivadu, the plane of water. Whira, the plane of wind. Suk-Krath, the plane of fire. Ruk, the plane of earth. Elkros, the plane of energy (lightning/thunder). If you want to play a human who has a connection to a particular plane, but does their best to keep this a secret you can play a genasi and rarely (or never) use your racial ability. Alternatively for non-humans you can reflavour a pre-existing class. For example a storm-build warden would make a good Elkrosian. Or a draconic sorcerer using fire-based powers would make a good Suk-Krathi. How much you channel your elemental abilities is up to you. You could multiclass into one of these classes for a small taste (e.g. a dwarven suk-krathi by multiclassing into sorcerer). Or you could use the hybrid rules to have half of your powers come from your element. Or you could make that your base class and have all your power come from it. Psionic Wild Talents I read somewhere (I don't know where) that they might remove psionic wild talents and make them a much smaller aspect of the campaign. I can't remember WHERE I read that, but if they do this I've got the following house-rule in mind. All people are connected to something called the Way. The Way connects all individuals and powerful psions draw upon it to fuel their powerful and dangerous attacks. However all intelligent creatures can communicate over the Way in a rudimentary manner. You can telepathically send a message to someone you've met, no matter how far away they are. After you've sent the message, make a saving throw. If you fail you lose HP equal to half of your healing surge. If you reach 0 or less HP because of communicating over the Way, you are considered stabilised. This way people need to fail their saving throw 8 times before they reach 0 HP. This means people can reasonably send a few messages to each other, but can't have conversations that last for hours and hours. Also saving throws at the base are skewed towards succeeding them more often than failing them. You can also take feats to make the odds even better for you. ------- Is that what you meant? If not, more details?
#4 knarfenstein Jan 12, 2010 20:48:11	Hey thanks for the feedback, yeah I guess it was more of the "fluff" information I was asking about. I also really liked your post on how you've adapted your setting as well JohnLynch. I feel like such a noob getting back into this. SO much has changed since I was last into gaming it's almost overwhelming. I look forward to seeing what changes have come to Athas since the 2E rules however might just pick up the Monster Manual for Athas and use the existing maps / materials I already have to create a very Fallout / Mad Max style world.