Dark Sun Dwarf Cleric Help

[Rune]

Dwarves have always existed on Athas. They just don't have any hair (unless they're part of the Abyss series). They also turn into banshees if they break their focus.

nd yes dwarves do exist in Athas. If you look at the races of Athas, dwarf is number two.

Ah. Seems like my memory has gotten a little fuzzy in the well-over-a-decade since I last owned the Dark Sun Boxed Set.

I stand corrected.

 

[Grimmjow]

Actually, what bugs me more than a Cleric in Dark Sun is this: you're presenting a sun god as some kind of source of life and fertility - on a scorched desert world.

Now, maybe Pelor really does exist on Athas, and he really does support life and healing and all that. But your character using blinding sunlight to heal people and fertilize the desert is going to seem really weird to just about everyone in the setting. Athasians want water a whole lot more than they want more sun.

This is a good point. Here's what imma do.

Instead of Pelor contacting him while he is dying in the desert, My dwarf will be an ex-slave. While he was a slave, he was forced to mine the riches of the desert for a sorcerer-king (any idea's for one who hates dwarves or uses alot of mines to be rich that i could use for this King?). One day while he was mining, the wall he was working on caved in. What he found was a chamber with a giant statue like symbol, which was glowing slightly. Of course it is the symbol of Pelor, but he doesnt know that. When he touched the statue, his skin began to burn but he could not move his hand away. After what seemed like hours the burning went away and the statue crumbled away.

Me and my DM talked about it and we decided that just before Pelor died (and maybe the other gods did this too) he sealed himself inside of this statue. When the dwarf touched it, pelor's essence transferred to him. Pelor isnt powerful enough to influence the dwarf in anyway but the dwarf can relay on his powers. He used these powers to escape from being a slave (yes, im using the theme). Now has he begins to better understand his powers, he begins to know that the sun may be a destructive force, but in the right hands its light can be used too heal. While others might not believe this to be true the dwarf does. He scortches his enemies and heals his allies with the same power. As long as they trust him, and don't betray him, he will grant them the warmth and soothing light of the sun. But in his mind the sorcerer-kings are already burning in his blazing sun.

So now im also changing his goals:
1) Revenge on the Sorcerer-Kings and 2)Find out what this ancient magic really is.


How does all of that sound?

 

[Obryn]

If your DM is good with starting it that way, anything goes, man. If it were in my game, I'd make that more something you quest for than something you start with, but it can work.

For my own Dark Sun game, I've taken a different take on the gods. More or less, they were pretty awful - more like ultra-powerful crazy despots who laid claim to territory and generally enforced a strict kind of monotheism. (Hmmm... where have we heard THAT on Athas?) As part of the Cleansing Wars, the Champions of Rajaat killed all of them off (or so they thought).

One of the PCs in my game has made "bringing back the gods" a quest of his. He's run into one so far - he thought it'd be a good idea to follow a ritual he found in a buried, forgotten temple, and it almost killed the party - and found some holy texts for another. He's no longer so sure it's such a good idea.

Too bad it's probably going to be happening before long, anyway.

-O

 

[Jhaelen]

Isn't Kled a dwarven village full of sun worshippers? It also features ancient ruins nearby, so it strikes me as a good place to originate from if you are interested in playing a cleric of Pelor.

Having said that, I definitely prefer cleric-less Dark Sun games: Where's the point of playing in the Dark Sun setting if you're going to introduce the whole kitchen sink?

 

[Trit One-Ear]

I've oly visited Athas briefly, but if your DM is alright with you playing a cleric, I think that's a pretty dynamic and exciting way to reintroduce a god into the world. It doesn't immediately destroy the lore around having no gods, and may not even lead to Pelor's revival (how wonderfully anticlimactic would that be!) but at the same time, it could lead to some pretty unique adventures around the possibility of a god returning. And wha if he does return, and as [MENTION=11821]Obryn[/MENTION] suggests, it's not a very positive development?

Possibilities...

Trit

 

[Grimmjow]

So i guess you guys have changed my mind.

Instead imm going to play a Dray Fighter/Warlord hybrid.

The problem is im not sure he will work in my group. There are four people playing, and they are each filling a different role, with leader being the only open one. Is a warlord/fighter hybrid going to be enough healing to keep the other people alive?

 

[Octangula]

I don't know much about how your group plays, but in the D&D game I'm in, we have a Dward Warlord who's quite effective when he gets up close and personal. Being a Warlord doesn't mean that you have to be a lazy "let other people do the fighting for me" character.

Also, as a Hybrid, you'll only get one use of Inspiring Word per encounter, instead of two. So that will be a direct limit. In exchange, you gain the ability to mark enemies (which may interfere with your other defender), and the ability to punish your mark being ignored, which relies on you being on the front lines. You might want to be there anyway (it largely depends on what class your defender is), but the flexibility to not need to be there to be effective may turn out to be helpful.

 

[Herobizkit]

Just as a point of note, having no Clerics in the original 2e version of the game meant no magical healing. At all. Period.

Given that every character in 4e has at least a nominal amount of self-healing, the lack of Clerics/Gods is more a flavour note than anything else.

I still suggest a Dwarf Shaman (or Druid, or even Runepriest) if you really want to fit in to the setting.

But a Dray Druid/Shaman/Runepriest has an interesting flavour... not sure if it's ideal for the race but the idea is pretty cool (to me, anyway).

If you want some strong Melee ability and a cool pet to help you along, the Druid (Sentinel) is pretty fantastic, especially if you pick the Summer option and pair it with Staff Expertise. Now you're thumping d12 with a reach weapon and your staff also counts as an implement. Bear would have to be changed to a more appropriate creature, but the whole "Sun is our savior" shtick would work with it.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Just as a point of note, having no Clerics in the original 2e version of the game meant no magical healing. At all. Period.

No. Elemental priests could heal in 2e. They weren't good at it though, only being able to cast healing (and other cosmos) spells up to 3rd-level. There were a few specific water healing spells, but I don't recall them being any good.

Druids and templars did not suffer this penalty, but druids took more XP, and templar spellcasting progression was a bit slower in one of two 2e Dark Sun editions.

 

[Obryn]

No. Elemental priests could heal in 2e. They weren't good at it though, only being able to cast healing (and other cosmos) spells up to 3rd-level. There were a few specific water healing spells, but I don't recall them being any good.

Druids and templars did not suffer this penalty, but druids took more XP, and templar spellcasting progression was a bit slower in one of two 2e Dark Sun editions.

Yep. DS clerics could heal adequately at low levels, but if you ran the game any higher, you needed a druid. Or a templar I suppose, but those were usually NPCs IME.

Honestly, until the Earth, Air, Fire, Water supplement came out, Clerics were severely hampered for spells. The 2e "spheres" concept was interesting, but there wasn't a deep enough spell list to support elemental casting at first.

-O