Should they use a higher standard array of stats (much like 2nd ed Dark Sun used 5d4's for stats instead of 3d6's)..
What do you think should be left out?
I really like some of the conversions i have seen on the forums, but i am curious about what new races, classes and equipment etc people want to see, what core races and classes should be scrapped? Is there anything that isn;t in the setting that could be worked into it?
In other words.. i just want to hear people's ideas for 4th ed Dark Sun.. should it happen...
I think that the writer needs to come up with a kick but way of doing defiler/peserver
I want the city of Tyr, The prestin Tower, Thri Kreen PCs.
I think Sand storm from 3.5 was a good start, but make it more dark and edgy.
I want Brom(I have no idea how to spell his name) Art.
Epic destiny Sorcerer King.
I DO NOT WANT A MOON BASE FULL OF HAFLING SPACE MEN!!!!!!!!!!
I think the divine power source and warlocks should be banned.
why warlock???
Also Lets see a Gladiator Base class.
i think classes would have to include
Preserver/Defiler (perhaps just alterations to the wizard class?)
Psionic Classes (and Wild Talent feats or powers?)
Elemental Clerics (also just an alteration to existing clerics?)
Gladiator
Templar (although probably better suited to bad guys)
Druid
Bard (But a darker type of bard/assassin)
Races i would want to see
Thri-Kreen
Mul
Alterations to the Elf, Dwarf and Halfling..
I don't think Tieflings or Dragonborn really fit the campaign, but i could see Gensai as an interesting addition.
Rules for weapons/armour made of different materials..
I don;t actually think all of that would happen, but i would definitely like to see it!
why warlock???
Because I don't see Athasian characters making pacts with anything other than an elemental being or a sorcerer king – fey, fiends and tentacle heads didn't play a big role in Dark Sun.
Hey, maybe they could make new pacts for the warlock in the form of elemental pacts (the old fire clerics etc) and a Sorcerer King pact (our lovely templar buddies).
Because I don't see Athasian characters making pacts with anything other than an elemental being or a sorcerer king – fey, fiends and tentacle heads didn't play a big role in Dark Sun.
Hey, maybe they could make new pacts for the warlock in the form of elemental pacts (the old fire clerics etc) and a Sorcerer King pact (our lovely templar buddies).
I like that idea alot!.. i do seem to remember a module or two going on to the (2nd ed) astral plane (isn't that where the Psulrons come from? Is that even spelt right??), which might make way for a modified star pact
i do seem to remember a module or two going on to the (2nd ed) astral plane (isn't that where the Psulrons come from? Is that even spelt right??), which might make way for a modified star pact
There was a module for Dark Sun that dealt with the Githyanki invading from the Astral, so there you could involve squid-heads from the stars maybe!
And i do remember the module with the Githyanki.. so yea.. and sort of star pact/made a deal with a squid pact warlock could work.. but it wouldn't be anywhere near as cool as a Sorcerer King or Elemental pact warlock.
I think the trickiest thing to put in would be Preservers/Defilers, i actually think it would end up with Preservers basically being the standard wizard with some new powers and the Defiler being something relegated to NPCs (much inline with wizards seemingly good aligned PC policy)... although with the Necromancer being listed as a Shadow Pact class.. i could see the Defiler sneaking in there as a Class..
I was wondering what people would want to see out of a dark sun setting?
Should they use a higher standard array of stats (much like 2nd ed Dark Sun used 5d4's for stats instead of 3d6's)..
I think that you would not be well served by using a different set of stats. I think that for the most part one should try to keep mechanics while perhaps re-flavoring things.
For example there is an explicit expectation in 4e that characters get magic weapons, armor, and necklaces at a fairly steady rate to keep their attacks and defenses competitive with monsters. One might understandably want to run Dark Sun with no magic items, in which case you could replace those with either "training" to give those bonuses or some kind of non-magical "exceptional" equipment that gives the same +1 (and later +2,+3, etc) bonuses to the characters.
Also, when converting things, there may be perfectly good existing rules that can be merely renamed for the setting. While I'm certainly not extremely well versed in Dark Sun lore, is there any particular reason that the Dark Sun "Bard" can't be represented by a rogue with certain feats or a paragon path?
I can see how the warlock doesn't really fit the Dark Sun theme..
i think classes would have to include
Preserver/Defiler (perhaps just alterations to the wizard class?)
Psionic Classes (and Wild Talent feats or powers?)
Elemental Clerics (also just an alteration to existing clerics?)
Gladiator
Templar (although probably better suited to bad guys)
Druid
Bard (But a darker type of bard/assassin)
Without a doubt the Dark Sun campaign should also include the Trader class from 2e. It fits perfectly in the setting and would help fulfill (what I think is to be) a new class for every setting, a la Sword Mage from FG.
I think that you would not be well served by using a different set of stats. I think that for the most part one should try to keep mechanics while perhaps re-flavoring things.
For example there is an explicit expectation in 4e that characters get magic weapons, armor, and necklaces at a fairly steady rate to keep their attacks and defenses competitive with monsters. One might understandably want to run Dark Sun with no magic items, in which case you could replace those with either "training" to give those bonuses or some kind of non-magical "exceptional" equipment that gives the same +1 (and later +2,+3, etc) bonuses to the characters.
Also, when converting things, there may be perfectly good existing rules that can be merely renamed for the setting. While I'm certainly not extremely well versed in Dark Sun lore, is there any particular reason that the Dark Sun "Bard" can't be represented by a rogue with certain feats or a paragon path?
I think the higher stats were to make up somewhat for the lack of magic.. maybe gaining extra stat boosts as characters level would be an answer..
A Bard paragon path for the rogue (or even the Dungeoneer Ranger) would work just fine for the Athasian Bard in my opinion.
– Templar as the 1 new class. Divine controller.
– No tieflings, dragonborn or eladrin
– No gladiator class. Its a job, not a class.
– Thri-kreen and Mul as the 2 new PC races
– Dragon and Avangion epic destinies.
– Campaign-specific warlock paths, if they even include the warlock
– Characters with normal ability score levels. There is no need to unbalance all the material with the DS stuff.
Ooh.. i just remembered where i got the Astral and Psulrons in Dark Sun from.. the old SSI video games form the early '90's. i still have them.. now i need to play them again.. the graphics sucked, but the game play was about as addictive as it could get.
God, I loved that game... The first one, I never had the opp. to try the second one. Sadly, I couldn't beat the game because of a glitch at the last battle, but I must have played through it to that point half a dozen times.
I like a lot of what I'm hearing here for ideas. I could see Preserver/Defiler being two paths of Wizard, much like Artful Dodger/Brutal Scoundrel for Rogue, that affect power choices and other abilities.
MUST have Thri-Kreen, Mul... And in agreement that Eladrin and Dragonborn would be out of place. Tieflings I can go either way, and I DO miss my Half-Giants.
I like the suggestion to keep Warlocks, but their pacts are to Sorcerer-Kings. In that respect, they would be very similar to Templars, so the Templar class could incorporate much of what a Warlock is, so they could be dropped, I suppose. Elements, I think, should be reserved for clerics and druids.
Also in agreement that Gladiator doesn't need to be a class
Psionics big time, of course.
No divine power source seems harsh...so I guess it fits!
I think the Feywild is part of the consistency they want between worlds, but it doesn't have to be exactly the same in DS. Some mirages or oases could be tied to it. Druids could be familiar with it. Perhaps in DS it is simply the Gray and is barren like the planet (except near fertile areas of the material plane).
Warlocks in general don't seem to fit; there aren't supposed to be other things to turn to beyond the harsh world itself. Warlocks could be made with elemental pacts to represent clerics, but I'd much rather see use of the Elemental power source. Having them as special agents of the Sorcerer-kings could work, except wouldn't they be baddies? Also, would the power source for warlocks and Templars be arcane, just siphoned from the sorcerer-kings (as opposed to "divine")?
Athasian bards seem tricky. IIRC, they were very "roguish" compared to your standard bard and didn't have spells, but they still had the 3e bardic music effects. So, combat-useful spells were replaced with out-of-combat benefits. In 4e that = unbalanced combat. What did they do in combat? Would a heavily restyled warlord work? Seems funny. A rogue with a PP does seem like the best idea for now, although that is effectively no "bard" class at all. Just rogues who perform (without bardic music effects) and are information brokers.
Athasian "clerics" tied to an elemental power source are what I want to see most. I'm really curious about DS clerics and shugenja and if they'll be similar. Will they be able to fit all the elemental specialties into one class? Will they have "manifest element" feats to distinguish between different elemental affinities? Hm.
Edit: Why isn't this under Other Worlds?
Edit: Why isn't this under Other Worlds?
The same reason the Dragonlance one isn't.. it is a space for speculation about what we might see in a future setting and what we would like to see.
On the clerics, i would actually see them working in one of two ways. they could each be a separate class with separate powers etc, or they could work like the warlock does in the PHB now, you choose your path and go from there (if they did do that though, i would like to see more options at each level than what the warlock has in the PHB).
The same reason the Dragonlance one isn't.. it is a space for speculation about what we might see in a future setting and what we would like to see.
Cool. Just askin'.
On the clerics, i would actually see them working in one of two ways. they could each be a separate class with separate powers etc, or they could work like the warlock does in the PHB now, you choose your path and go from there (if they did do that though, i would like to see more options at each level than what the warlock has in the PHB).
Interesting. Wouldn't that require, like, 8 paths, though? Heh...I'm sure they'll cook somethin' up.
I must to bed! I must! I must!
I also think it will not look like the old stuff, but be simalar with a 4e twist. I see teiflings and dragon born and warlocks running around athas..
but I could be wrong
I would be happy with the 4th ed twist as long as the feel is still there (the grittiness and brutality of the setting)
As for the art work, i like the original box sets artwork way better than the re-released box set the art work was far too polished for the setting, IMO. I think it should be raw and gritty much like the setting is.
Has anybody heard anything about the Dark Sun novels apparently coming out in the next year? I heard on the forums a while back there would be some, but i haven't really heard anymore about it.
As for the art work, i like the original box sets artwork
Yeah, the original boxed set was the best, Brom really helped crystallize the Dark Sun vibe for me (just like Tony for Planescape), but when that hack Baxa starting doing a lot of the art it almost turned me off.
Yeah, the original boxed set was the best, Brom really helped crystallize the Dark Sun vibe for me (just like Tony for Planescape), but when that hack Baxa starting doing a lot of the art it almost turned me off.
Brom IS Dark Sun, you got that right. I can't see anyone else casting the same kind of awesomeness onto DS campaign art. I hate to badmouth artists, but Baxa was never really my favorite either. He's gotten better, though, as time has progressed.
I wonder how/if obsidian/bone weapon breakage would be handled?
gritty vibe.
Defilers.
Sorcerer Kings.
Fun Halflings.
I suspect they will try not to add too many races and classes with each setting. As long as I get my mules(er... muls :D ) I'm happy.
I think the higher stats were to make up somewhat for the lack of magic.. maybe gaining extra stat boosts as characters level would be an answer..
A Bard paragon path for the rogue (or even the Dungeoneer Ranger) would work just fine for the Athasian Bard in my opinion.
I agree that the higher stats were to help make up for the lack of of magic, but I personally feel that it wasn't a great way since it has other consequences. In 4e there is a cleaner and clearer model of what bonuses the game expects players to have at varying levels, and I feel that modifying attributes would muddy the waters. If you change the attributes of the darksun characters then in addition to modifying their to-hit/damage/defense values, you also modify their skills, hitpoints, healing surges, and various class features that use stat modifiers directly (warlord tactical/inspiring presence, cleric bonus healing, paladin lay-on-hands uses, etc). Along with the extra things you are changing, you are not even guaranteed to modify everything you were trying to since characters in heavy armor won't have their AC improve.
A cleaner way in 4e I feel would be to apply those expected weapon/armor/necklace enhancement bonuses to the characters over time if you are trying to keep them in the low-equipment and low-magic feel of Dark Sun. Essentially, just replace the thing you are removing with something that gives the *same* mechanic with a different flavor rather than trying to adjust other mechanics to make up for its absence.
I agree that the higher stats were to help make up for the lack of of magic, but I personally feel that it wasn't a great way since it has other consequences. In 4e there is a cleaner and clearer model of what bonuses the game expects players to have at varying levels, and I feel that modifying attributes would muddy the waters. If you change the attributes of the darksun characters then in addition to modifying their to-hit/damage/defense values, you also modify their skills, hitpoints, healing surges, and various class features that use stat modifiers directly (warlord tactical/inspiring presence, cleric bonus healing, paladin lay-on-hands uses, etc). Along with the extra things you are changing, you are not even guaranteed to modify everything you were trying to since characters in heavy armor won't have their AC improve.
A cleaner way in 4e I feel would be to apply those expected weapon/armor/necklace enhancement bonuses to the characters over time if you are trying to keep them in the low-equipment and low-magic feel of Dark Sun. Essentially, just replace the thing you are removing with something that gives the *same* mechanic with a different flavor rather than trying to adjust other mechanics to make up for its absence.
Yea that does make sense, i was thinking about more on the level of the races of Athas have evolved into something hardier than your standard PC races. I can see from a mechanics angle that it would effectively make the Dark Sun characters/creatures etc effectively incompatible with other settings characters etc..
It will be interesting to see how WOTC would handle it.
i was thinking about more on the level of the races of Athas have evolved into something hardier than your standard PC races.
Every Athasian character has endurance as a bonus feat!
…Sorry, I didn't mean to yell.
Every Athasian character has endurance as a bonus feat!
…Sorry, I didn't mean to yell.
that is a great idea for it, that keeps them balanced with other pc's while making them hardier.
Here are some of my thoughts:
Ability Scores
Kept the same as core 4e. Increased ability scores actually make it easier to survive, which is the opposite of what Dark Sun should be about.
Races
Not allowed from the PHB: Tiefling, Dragonborn, Eladrin, Warforged
These races were never in the original Dark Sun setting. There isn’t much demonic influence, so no backstory for the Tieflings. Dragons on Athas are very specific – Dragonborn do not make sense. There wasn’t really the magic-using High Elf concept on Athas, so no Eladrin.
Modified from the PHB: Dwarves, Elves, Half-elves, Halflings, Humans.
The unique reflavoring of these classic races really made Dark Sun exciting and new. Bald Dwarves? Cannibal Halflings? Tall nomadic Elves? Mutated humans? Yes please.
New Races: Mul (half-dwarf), Half-giant, Thri-kreen
These were core to the feel of Dark Sun, and they MUST be in the new edition. Half-giants could be reduced in size (reflavored Goliaths from PHBII?).
Pterrans and Aarakocra I would leave out – flying PCs is something they want to get away from.
Classes
Keep these from the PH: Cleric (with elemental themes), Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Warlord
Keep these from PHII: Barbarian, Druid (with Dark Sun flavor), Shaman
Templar: I think the warlock and a pact with a Sorcerer King would work well, but the mechanics for pacts do not restrict the warlock to only choosing powers from their chosen pact. It means you would have fey, infernal, and star flavored powers in Dark Sun, and I don’t think they fit. I would scrap/reflavor the existing warlock powers, or design a new suite of powers. I don’t think Templar would be a good choice for Dark Sun’s signature class, as they are usually evil (or unaligned at best), tied to their home city-state, and ill-suited for a lot of heroic adventuring.
Defiler/Preserver: Two builds for the wizard (or sorcerer?) with a unique mechanic representing the impact of defiling.
Psionics: an absolute must for Dark Sun.
Gladiator: at first I thought “no, gladiator is just a fighter”, but in 4e a fighter is a defender, where I see gladiator as a striker. The ranger and rogue are too different from a gladiator to get away with reflavoring or paragon paths. This could be Dark Sun’s signature class (Swordmage for Forgotten Realms, Artificer for Eberron). There was a full 2e supplement for the gladiator (black softcover, IIRC).
Trader: I don’t think there is enough design space to make the trader a full class. Their 2e shtick was to make money, and I don’t think it would be wise to break the player economy (such as it is). A paragon path would be sufficient to represent the trader.
Bard: The Dark Sun bard doesn’t scream “Arcane Leader” to me, but assassin or spy instead – rogue would be fine, perhaps with a build and a few new powers to help flesh it out, along with paragon path(s).
Artificier – not in Dark Sun. Leave it in its signature setting – Eberron.
Paladin – not in Dark Sun. The concept of self-sacrifice for others is too alien on Athas.
Swordmage – not in Dark Sun. Arcane power is taboo on Dark Sun already, and the idea of a swordmage just doesn’t work for me. I’d leave it in Forgotten Realms as its signature class were arcane power is common.
For the setting itself, I fall into the ‘reboot’ group; scrap the expanded material and return to the original boxed set. Brom’s art made Dark Sun come to life – get him back if at all possible! I love the idea that everyone gets Endurance as a class skill.
Verys
PS Here is my Thri-Kreen from a homebrew 4e campaign.
Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity. Thri-kreen are strong and quick, but they think differently from most humanoids and have a hard time relating to folk of other races.
Size: Medium
Speed:7
Vision: Normal
Languages: Common
Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Athletics (+5 bonus to Stealth while in sandy or arid environments)
Exoskeleton: A thri-kreen's exoskeleton gives it +4 natural AC +1 every 5 levels . It does not stack with manufactured armor, and cannot be enchanted. It is considered light armor, and you may add either your dexterity or intelligence modifier to AC.
Multi-limbed: Moving an item from one claw to an empty claw is a free action. A thri-kreen's second set of arms (lower), are too weak to wield any weapon except off-hand weapons. It may carry a light shield or implement instead. A thri-kreen with the two-weapon fighting or two-weapon defense feats gets an additional +1 bonus to damage or AC when all four limbs carry weapons (Note, a single two-handed weapon and two off-handed weapons is possible, but not two two-handed weapons).
Know Direction: A thri-kreen always knows which direction is north while above ground.
Great Leap
A thri-kreen's powerful hind legs allow it to leap high into the air.
Encounter
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Shift up to 5 squares away as a jump. Vertical distance cleared equals 1/4 distance jumped (6' for a 5 square jump).
Poison Bite
Poison is injected into the Thri-kreen's victim after it is bitten
Daily {} Poison
Standard Action Melee
Target: One creature
Attack: Constitution vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 damage and Dazed (save ends).
Miss: Target is dazed until the end of your next turn.
Yea that does make sense, i was thinking about more on the level of the races of Athas have evolved into something hardier than your standard PC races. I can see from a mechanics angle that it would effectively make the Dark Sun characters/creatures etc effectively incompatible with other settings characters etc..
It will be interesting to see how WOTC would handle it.
Every Athasian character has endurance as a bonus feat!
…Sorry, I didn't mean to yell.
Endurance feat concept is on the right thematic track, but "bonus" anything is, I think, unnecessary. We don't have to give Athasian characters a bigger pool of stuff, just redirect the distribution. I think.
For example, what if instead of a +2 bonus to two different ability scores, all Athasian races gained a +4 to one physical stat? Elves might get Dex, Muls Str, Dwarves Con, etc. Humans might still keep the +2 to any, or limit it to a physical trait.
That might have some bad mechanical effect later in the game, in terms of optimization of racial feats or something, thoug. I think the racial abilities are maybe the best place where harsh world adaptations can shine through. Elven Accuracy might be replaced with Elven Speed or something like that, etc.
Warforged would also fit in perfect. 1) They already are mostly made from materials that could be found in DS. 2) They'd fit perfect as soldiers the Sorcerer Kings used during the race wars. Just say they'd been lost in some forgotten location, and have now been re-awakened.
Dragonborn would fit perfect in Dark Sun. The Dray from the city of the undead Sorcerer King.
Warforged would also fit in perfect. 1) They already are mostly made from materials that could be found in DS. 2) They'd fit perfect as soldiers the Sorcerer Kings used during the race wars. Just say they'd been lost in some forgotten location, and have now been re-awakened.
Dragonborn maybe. I mean, dragonlike creatures on a big desert world doesn't sound farfetched. Still kind of throws off the feel a little bit because it lends a "classic" dragon air to things when DS dragons are hardly that. I wouldn't vote for including them, but it might not be a dealbreaker, so to speak.
Warforged, on the other hand, really just don't seem to fit the flavor at all. I mean, it could be cool to have them as remnants of a bygone era, pretty much how they are anyway I guess. But....no. I think the flavor just really sticks out and doesn't go well.
:P Also, it was MAGIC that wiped out Athas, not technology. A warforged as the equivalent of a golem found in some ancient ruin, maybe. As a PC race???? Nah.Warforged, on the other hand, really just don't seem to fit the flavor at all. I mean, it could be cool to have them as remnants of a bygone era, pretty much how they are anyway I guess. But....no. I think the flavor just really sticks out and doesn't go well.
Plus, aren't warforged made of metal? That would be a small problem....
October will also see the Domains of Dread return to D&D, with the long-time Ravenloft concept being folded into the core now. Meanwhile we’ll also be trying out a new rules concept that allows you to multiclass into classes that don’t really exist, like gladiator. I should probably stop now before R&D gets forbidden from feeding me previews.
regarding gladiator:
That sounds like a hint to me...
Dragonborn maybe. I mean, dragonlike creatures on a big desert world doesn't sound farfetched. Still kind of throws off the feel a little bit because it lends a "classic" dragon air to things when DS dragons are hardly that. I wouldn't vote for including them, but it might not be a dealbreaker, so to speak.
Warforged, on the other hand, really just don't seem to fit the flavor at all. I mean, it could be cool to have them as remnants of a bygone era, pretty much how they are anyway I guess. But....no. I think the flavor just really sticks out and doesn't go well.
Warforged are magic, not technology. :P
Plus, aren't warforged made of metal? That would be a small problem....
They can be made of metal. But they're mostly wood and stone and some weird fluid stuff for "blood."
Radical changes to the New Races
Dragonborn
Forget noble classic dragon inspired lizardmen. These are fanatic Athasian Dragon inspired lizardmen. They worship the Dragon, and emulate it. They move from place to place, razing the land like a plague of locusts. The only race to openly embrace defiling magic, they are hated by most other species, especially the Thri-Kreen, with whom they compete for land and prey.
Eladrin
The elves and eladrin are related, but the division of their race is not based on civilization vs wilderness. Instead it is based on inanimate stone vs living plants. In most settings, this makes the eladrin civilized and the elves wild. In Athas, the reverse is true. While the elves of Athas are hardly civilized, the eladrin make them look tame. They live in the deep, deep wild, the places other races consider unihabitable. They live in the salt flats and the great sandy wastes. How they survive is unclear, but druidic magic or elemental pacts are suspected. Change their feystep power to something sandstorm-themed and give them some kind of wilderness survival feat or power.
Tieflings
This one's a little trickier, but doable. The sorceror kings created the half-giants in order to have a race of magically altered slaves, perhaps the tieflings were a first attempt. I'll need to think about this a little more.
Dragonborn would fit perfect in Dark Sun. The Dray from the city of the undead Sorcerer King.
Warforged would also fit in perfect. 1) They already are mostly made from materials that could be found in DS. 2) They'd fit perfect as soldiers the Sorcerer Kings used during the race wars. Just say they'd been lost in some forgotten location, and have now been re-awakened.
I'm not that familiar with DS. Is there the extensive canon that FR developed through novels and such? Would a retgened DS lose some of its appeal to fans?
I could easily imagine both Dragonborn and Warforged, as well as Tieflings in the low-magic, dark-themed R.E. Howard type of sword-and-sorcery world that Dark Sun conjures up in my mind, but then I've never played in the setting before.
I'm not that familiar with DS. Is there the extensive canon that FR developed through novels and such? Would a retgened DS lose some of its appeal to fans?
I could easily imagine both Dragonborn and Warforged, as well as Tieflings in the low-magic, dark-themed R.E. Howard type of sword-and-sorcery world that Dark Sun conjures up in my mind, but then I've never played in the setting before.
It isn;t developed to the same extent as FR, but there is quite a bit of backstory to it all. Where it become tricky is many races simply did not exist in Dark Sun. Lizard men where heavily altered, no orcs etc. Dragons were very very specific.. so it makes some things very difficult to just retcon into the campaign, at least not with out changing thing significantly.
oh ok. well i guess they could happen.. but i still don't think they fit the theme of Dark Sun very well.. not unless they are discovered surviving in the ruins of an ancient civilization or something.
See, that was the kinda idea I was going for. The Warforged could have been soldiers in the old race wars, and then left to molder in some forgotten city that got covered by the wastes, and some recent upheaval uncovered the city and re-awoke them.
Something like that.
What will be there is a distilled Dark Sun.
They will identify the identities of things and then build around that using the tools that 4th edition gives them.
Wizards would be quite silly to make 4/5 divine classes, and a whole book (Divine Power should be out by the time DS is out) and invalidate them for a portion of their audience.
Things that will likely stay - dying world, general cosmology. defiling etc magic. Psionics (PhB3 will be out by then) the original races for the most part including their role in the world. Dragon Kings. Deserts. No Metal.
But magic items will be around, and just as common as in normal 4th ed. The races in the PHB will all be there, either in their old roles as 2nd edition (some like the half-giant will probably get something like they did with devas/aasimars in the FRPG 'Goliaths are often called and considered half-giants'), or brand new ones that are just as interesting. SrGrvsaLot has the right idea I think.
Dark Sun 4th Edition will be awesome for basically all the reasons the 2nd edition one was, but won't be close to the same. I guarantee that.