D&D 4E Running player commentary on Sanzuo's 4e Dark Sun campaign

[Iron Sky]

We didn't end up playing last week due to the majority of the players being out at various events. Tonight we were missing Thoon and Gilneas again.

We leveled up between sessions. Kyden picked up Strategists Epiphany(initiative buff), Jinn Inspiring Fortitude(second wind buff), Jak Stone Spirit Ward(DR for a round). We all got the Enduring Mountain Tribal Feat to raise our healing surge value by 2+1 per ally within 10. Considering how low our healing surge values are, it's a pretty significant buff).

Tonight's session (now with color coded powers!) started with us figuring out what to do with the graphite non-steel sword we won. We decided the best use of it would be to fix it up to make it look steel again so we could sell it or trade it later at "steel value".

Sanzuo decided on a 13 Thievery to make it look passable, 20 to make it look perfect. Jinn and Kyden assisted (one failure, one success), and we both used our Noble Adept powers to on Jacks Thievery roll. Result: 12, not quite enough.

We gave up on that and headed back to Jinn's place to find everyone dead, the guard stabbed to death and Jinn's father and step-mother dead of poisoning. While Jinn searched the place, Kyden collected a second poisoned bottle of wine... just as a Mul guard and two half-giants arrived.

They attempted to seize and search us. Knowing possession of two bottles of poisoned wine would look... a bit suspicious, Kyden attacked.

*Round 1: Kyden misses with Viper's Strike. Mul misses Kyden. Half-giants flank Kyden, one misses, other hits, Vengeance is Mine, Jinn moves to flank, both Kyden and Jinn hit with their MBAs. Jak flanks the other giant, Disruptive Advance hits, pushes the giant back, slows him and the Mul. Jinn draws an OA from the giant, is hit, moves adjacent to all 3 enemies, Demoralizing Strike Augment 2 hits all 3, one half-giant goes bloodied, all at -4 defenses.

*Round 2: Kyden hits a half-giant with Viper's Strike. Mul crits Kyden, Kyden bloodied and marked. Giants attack Kyden, one hits, Kyden goes down. Jak hits the Mul with Possessing Spirits, Mul goes bloodied and is forced to attack one of the half giants, hitting, Jak's AP, Guardian Harrier hits Mul. Jin heals Kyden to bloodied with Ardent Surge, Energizing Srike, drops the bloodied half-giant and gives 5 temps to Kyden.

*Round 3: Kyden rolls a nat 1 on Viper's Strike, weapon breakage! Kyden rerolls and hits, drops the Mul exactly. The last half-giant runs, Kyden punches him to bloodied with his unarmed MBA. Jak hits him with Biting Swarm. Jin delays until after Kyden to take advantage of a Inevitable Surge hit.

*Round 4: Kyden draws his spare fullblade, charges with Inevitable Wave, hit, dead. Combat over.

After cleaning the blood off of himself, Kyden headed out to hide the wine, noly to find the house manservant outside. He managed to pull off a 16 Bluff to convince him that the guards were murdered by "mysterious killers". The manservant was gone by the time Kyden could point Jinn at him. At this point, Kyden took the Erdlu to the caravan (to remove himself and the wine from the scene) while Jinn and Jak went looking for guards.

The manservant had a pile of guards and accused Jinn of murdering his father. Jinn whipped up a 26 Intimidate and a 33 Bluff to accuse the manservant instead. Jinn and the manservant were both escorted away. Kyden was found back at the manor by guards just after he tossed his broken fullblade over the manor wall. Everyone went to jail and a arrived to tell us we were guilty of patricide. After a lengthy plea to prove our innocence, Jinn dropped a 26 Insight to determine that the Templar was pretty much paid off to see us hang and we were wasting our breath.

The manservant then cut us a deal - drop all claims and ties to house Vordon and the charges would be dropped. Jinn agreed and we were released at dawn, exiled from Tyr and off in the caravan with Belana Wavir. We got a lowdown on Tyrian politics (Wavir + Vordon vs Tomblador) with the supposition that Tomblador was responsible for our exile. Also got hired by the caravan master - 1 coin a day to help protect the caravan.

3 (survival) days in, a handful of thrikreen met with Thoon and asserted Thoon's inferior -kreenitude that resulted in knowledge that Alterook was paying gp for gnoll hides and the knowledge that Dragonhorn gnolls were preying on caravans nearby.

2 (survival) days later, kestrekel (psychic crow lizard) flock sighting... a battlefield? Kinda. Tiny slaughtered Alterook caravan. Looting it (Perception rolls of 1, 3(Kyden)and 8, 20(Jinn) and 25(Jak)) yielded as many survival days as we could carry (which amounted to totals of 20 for the Erdlu, 16 for Kyden, 2 for Jinn, 11 for Jak), 1 Javelin for Kyden, and a light crossbow for Jinn and signs of raiders heading south.

Our caravan hired us to hunt down the raiders with 10 of their guards and we were off! Towards dark find a ruin jutting up from the sand. Time for initiative. Kyden uses Strategists Epiphany, letting everyone use his History check of 20 or what they rolled for initiative. All the "good guys" go at 20 and pile up at the barricade thrown up at the door of the tower.

*Round 1: Minion allies rush in, kill the first 2 bandit archers and rush in, 4 more bandit archers spotted in side rooms off the initial chamber of the tower. Kyden throws his Javelin (RBA) and kills a bandit. Jak double moves up. Jinn fires his Crossbow (RBA), miss. Bandits fire their crossbows, 2 allies die. More bandits show up in the side rooms.

*Round 2: 2 Bandit Bodyguards charge and miss our allies. Caravan guards attack, 2 hits on one bodyguard, 3 hits the other. Kyden throws an Obsidian Dagger and misses(being retarded and forgetting for the second round in a row that I have Direct the Strike and could be using Jak as my ranged attack). Jak moves up and uses Guardian Harrier, crit, Bodyguard bloodied. Jinn uses his Crossbow (RBA), miss. The Bandit Leader uses his glaive and cuts down another 3 allies. Bandit archers kill another 2 allies.

*Round 3. One Bandit Bodyguard takes down the last ally inside the tower(Kyden ordered one ally outside so we'd have someone who knew the way to Alterook) and takes damage from Guardian Harrier, the other bodyguard hits Jak. Kyden misses a Bodyguard with Viper's Strike. Jak misses with Disruptive Advance. Jinn misses with Energizing Strike. The Bandit Leader uses his Glaive and hits Kyden, Jak, and Jinn, sliding us, Jak bloodied. Archers hit Kyden, taking him to bloodied, miss everyone else.

*Round 4: Bodyguards miss Kyden, hit Jinn, Jinn bloodied. Kyden Inspiring Words himself out of bloodied, hits the bloodied Bodyguard with Viper's Strike, dead. Jak uses Guardian Harrier on the other Bodyguard, bloodies him. Jinn uses Ardent Surge to heal Jak out of bloodied, Second Winds out of bloodied and uses Inspiring Fortitude to give Jak and Kyden 13(!) THP. The Leader attacks everyone with his Glaive again, hits Kyden, crits Jak, misses Jinn, slides Kyden and Jinn. The Archers all shoot at Kyden, all 3 hitting.

*Round 5: The bodyguard hits Jinn, takes damage from Guardian Harrier. Kyden misses with Viper's Strike, Jinn uses Adept's Insight, makes it a hit, kills the last Bodyguard. Jak uses Guardian Harrier, hits the leader. Jinn shifts in, taking damage from the leader for moving, bloodied, uses his 2nd Ardent Surge to go back out of bloodied, uses Energizing Strike, hits, 5 THP to Kyden. Leader uses his Glaive, hits Kyden, Vengence is Mine, Kyden hits with MBA, Jinn misses with his MBA, leader hits Jinn, misses Jak, kills another ally, takes 3 damage from Guardian Harrier. Archers hit Kyden twice, bloodied.

*Round 6: Kyden hits the leader with Viper's Strike, 2nd Inspiring Word to heal to full. Jak uses Harrier Strike, miss. Jinn nat 1 with Energizing Strike vs the enemy leader. Enemy leader attacks with his glaive again, hits Kyden, Jak, and Jinn, sliding everyone around, Jinn and Jak bloodied, Jinn uses Ardent Outrage to give us all CA. Archers hit Kyden once and hit Jak once. The last ally hiding outside comes in and crits the leader.

*Round 7: Kyden moves, the leader's aura bloodying him for moving, and kills an archer with Viper's Strike. Jak uses Stone Spirit Ward then nat 1 on Guardian Harrier, weapon breakage turns it into a hit on the leader. Jinn uses Burning Spray hitting the leader and missing an archer, taking the leader to bloodied, a reaction lets the leader shift towards the door, drawing an OA from our ally who misses, throws a glass dart at Jinn and crits, doing poison damage and slowing Jinn(save ends), Jinn doesn't save. The Leader drops Jinn and the last minion with his glaive, Kyden uses Fearless Rescue, drawing an OA from an archer that hits, moves next to the leader, hits, and heals Jinn to bloodied, the boss flees drawing an MBA OA from Kyden that hits. Archers hit Jak twice, but he takes no damage thanks to Stone Spirit Ward.

*Round 8: Kyden uses Second Wind, moves, AP charge with Inevitable Wave, miss, Adepts Insight, still miss. Jak uses Guardian Harrier and kills one of the last 2 enemy archers. Jinn stands and charges the last archer, MBA, dead, Jinn doesn't save again. The leader attacks Kyden with his glaive, bloodies Kyden, draws an OA MBA from Kyden that hits.

*Round 9: Kyden moves and charges with Inevitable Wave, hits. Jak moves out of the tower and uses Stinging Swarm, hits, enemy takes -2 to attacks. Jinn moves slowly towards the door, draws his crossbow and reloads it, fails his save. The Leader crits Kyden, dropping him. Kyden makes his death save. Jak uses Stinging Swarm and kills the leader.

Kyden makes a death save and Jak stabilizes him with a 20 Heal check.

Jinn discovers a bound and beaten half-giant that he leaves bound until after the 15 minute rest wherein Jinn and Kyden heal each member of the party twice with Inspiring Words and Ardent Surges. We gave the half-giant a weapon and a few survival days in exchange for an agreement to guide us to Alterook.

He asked us about treasure hunting and the Black Sands. With a 19 history rolled (Kyden rolling his 2nd nat 1 on a history check this session), Jak told us of the desert where the sands are black and the half-giant told of the ancient city from a lost age in its depths that he'd seen with his own eyes and gave us directions.

Looting the bandits yielded their weapons, 15 more survival days, and 1000 gp!

Resting for the night, we heard the howling of a sandstorm outside... and ended there.

That Enduring Mountain feat was super handy - +4 to our surge values when they're normally about 7-8. I'm not sure if we would have made it through that second fight without it - and it gets even better when we have a full party! No crits with Viper's Strike (Jak was hoarding all the crits).

Even though the second fight was tough, Jinn still had 2 PP and could have healed a dying ally 5hp with a 1 augment Energizing Strike or a regular ally with 2. In a somewhat related note, I think Kyden has gone down in the majority of fights this game. Anyway, I think that's it for this session, hopefully more in a week!

 

[Iron Sky]

For our next session, we were again missing Gilneas the Psion, but added Ackbar the Desert Trader Fighter.

Ackbar wandered in out of the sandstorm and, having no Survival Days, was offered some if he could prove himself useful.

The session continued with Kyden realizing while on watch during the night, "hey, we're in the top level of buried tower, isn't there more tower below us?" We dug it out while the sandstorm raged outside.

The next level down had a giant sarcophagus with an Egyptian-style mask carved in the visage of death. It seemed to be thousands of years old, perhaps even older than Tyr, and also appeared to have been unopened since its construction. Searching several rooms resulted in only ancient mummies and the discovery that, in any room or hallway, we couldn't open a door until any other doors to the room were closed first. Curious.

Then we entered a room and found a fullblade sitting unattended on a dias.

Using Ackbar as a trap-finder(to earn the water Jinn let him have), the sword was brought back to Kyden only to have the party instantly attacked by a Tembo (a well-known and universally reviled cross between a lizard and a saber-toothed tiger, known for sneaking into settlements and carrying off, well, whoever they want) that appeared out of nowhere.

It had a necrotic aura 2 that did damage to everyone who started in it and did massive damage with its claws, dropping Kyden (of course) in a single round, then taking Jak to 1 hp in the next. We had taken it to heavily into bloodied when it became invisible and ran from the room we were in back to the one we had been in before, yet, when we pursued, we found ourselves in a completely different room - and very confused.

After a bit of experimentation, we found that any time we entered a hallway, a random room appeared to be on the other side. With our 1 Arcana-trained character being elsewhere for the session, we had no way of figuring out if it was magical (our meager untrained checks revealing nothing). While wondering around, we were ambushed again by the Tembo. The main highlight was Thoon doing 42 points of damage with a Two-Fanged Strike (one crit + one hit).

Determining the ambush was going to be a milestone, we unloaded our action points. Unfortunately, the Tembo was insubstantial, so it took a while to take it down. During the interim, it had also added to its aura power (or the DM had noticed he missed it before) the ability to halve all healing done while inside it. It also did 46 damage to Ackbar in one round thanks to twin crits on its claw-bite combo and killed him outright - but wait! on review, Sanzuo realized he hadn't applied the damage for Jinn's AP attack, which would have just barely killed it. Ackbar lives!

As a bonus, killing it released all the doors! Turns out the Tembo was controlling the shifting of the rooms psychically, messing with us while it prepared a new ambush. The rest of the tower-tomb was empty and seemingly unfinished - probably because a Tembo moved in, killed whoever was building it, then became trapped in there when the tower was buried by the sands.

Oh, Kyden also discovered the fullblade was a +1 Learning Fullblade - our first magical weapon and super-useful (+1 to hit the next attack after you miss, +2 to damage the next attack after you hit).

Upon returning topside, we found the half-giant gone... not good since the sandstorm obliterated any chances of us finding our way to the caravan again and our last remaining guide to Alterook... just took off. Enter an Obsidian Skill challenge to track him down.

Out of the gate on Round 1, Ackbar crits his Athletics check to pursue, 2 successes! A mix of Athletics, Perception(tracking), Nature(keeping the party moving quickly over the sands), and Diplomacy(keeping party spirits up) all yielded successes.

Round 2, was History(remembering the maps we'd viewed in Tyr to figure out where he was going), Perception(one failed, one succeeded continuing tracking), Nature(determining exactly where we are in conjunction with the History check), Endurance(keeping up at the fast pace the party was setting). Result, enough successes to succeed at the challenge without even needing to go to the third round.

The half-giant in sight, we switch to individual "standard" skill challenges (4 successes before 3 failures) to catch him as he sprinted through the rocky, broken lands we found ourselves in. Kyden, with +13 Athletics, auto-succeeded and everyone else managed to get them all, though Jak only made it with a Noble Adept nudge from Kyden to pull him through.

After catching the half-giant, we chastised him and convinced him we wouldn't kill him, leave him in the desert to die, or sell him as a slave at Alterook. As another bonus, between Jak and Thoon's amazing Nature rolls, they managed to forage enough survival days to keep the whole party alive for the full two days. Score!

Once in Alterook, we spent some time buying and selling. We discovered that the Tembo hide was worth a small fortune just about anywhere but that it could also be made into some pretty sweet armor for a medium fortune. The decision was made to hold onto it.

Session ends with us booking passage on a Silt-skimmer ship to travel across the Sea of Silt with a minimum of inconvenience and modicum of safety. Before it departs, however, Alterook hosts a bustling arena...

Random in-character and ooc quotes from the night:
"A Thri-kreen never goes back on his word. And the word is 'vvvvvbt'".
"You find a +1 boot... to the head."
"What's 20% of a longsword? A dagger!"
"Can I cut off one of Walter's legs and sell him as exotic food and just use the Raise Beast Companion ritual to get him back later?"

We also invented a new word/concept, but I don't think it's appropriate to post here so I won't .

 

[Mr. Wilson]

Using Ackbar as a trap-finder...

Slowly claps his hands together.

What you did. I see it.

 

[Iron Sky]

Tonight's session: Adventures on the Sea of Silt in the Alterook Arena

Initial Details:
*No Ackbar.
*Gilneas' player was supposed to arrive late in the session, but never showed.
*Jak's player was there in person instead of playing over Skype.

The session started with us booking passage on a Silt Skimmer for 50gp each + 50gp for our Erdlu. That settled, off to the Arena!

Our first fight was butchering some slaves that had attempted to escape and were sent to the arena. 8 minions vs 4 players to start, but after all of them died, another wave was released, 12 more. Annoying thing about these minions? Kill them and they don't die until the end of their next turn. Oh, and they do +1 damage per all adjacent to the target. Rough. On the plus side, for the 2nd fight ever, Kyden didn't go down (though he was at 3 hp at one point).

Special rule: Flourish! If you drop an enemy and make an appropriate skill check, you can get the crowd behind you, giving you a +1 to attacks, damage, and speed until EonT.

An entry fee of 25gp and winnings of 350 convinced us to return for a second round, this one against cannibalistic halflings from the Crescent Forest. This time, we started piled up atop the 10' tall rock that Thoon started on last fight.

These ones had an amazing attack, shift 5, stealth, ongoing 5 poison damage power that made them essentially invisible for most of the fight. Thanks in part to Jak's Swarm of Bats granting us CA and hindering them, we took them down without too much trouble.

Three fights in a row without Kyden going down!

***

At this point, I took off to go walk the dogs (since I'm currently house-sitting), and I walked back in to "...that takes Jak to -28hp, dead."

The arena they were in had four 3x3 zones full of spinning blades that didn't have much effect on the fight's outcome. The gladiator was bloodied and the other half-giant unhurt, the third one dead. Jinn was bloodied, Thoon hurt, Walter bloodied and sitting in one of the spinning blade zones.

Apparently, they decided to go for match 3 at the arena and ended up fighting a half-giant badass gladiator and his 2 friends. Jinn was dropped the first round by the "little" half-giant's encounter powers and was granted a Heal-triggered surge by Jak. Jak was at low hp and the gladiator hit him with an encounter power that did 30 damage. Jak over.

Thoon was cornered and attacked with Twin-Strike (unarmed): 1d20+2 vs AC, 1d4+1 damage... two crits in a row for 21 damage with his bare claws(yay for Inherent Bonuses!).

Kyden jumped into the arena; two rounds later the gladiator was dead and two rounds after that, the battle was over. I was there for enough of the battle that I say it counts as Kyden's 4th fight without being dropped. I think the worst is over.

As a result of the fight, Jinn gained the Battlescarred Champion Boon: +1 to his healing surge value and a daily power that let him make an MBA against a creature that bloodied him.

We also got his armor - which even had a bit of metal on it - +2 Hide Armor with a built in set of +2 Claws, which Thoon promptly stripped off the corpse, strapped on, and pulled the claws over his own claws. It also had an encounter attack power on it that let him make a close-burst 1 attack with his new claws. Between that and his racial Thri-kreen power, he's got a pretty nasty bit of melee action waiting for enemies that try to engage him too close to use his bow.

Our sole remaining ranged character now has the highest AC at 21 vs Jinn and Kyden's 17...

On top of it all, our winnings amounted to over 1000gp and a meeting at a Broi-house (ale house essentially) with a powerful admirer. We also figured out the ceramic gp we were carrying weighed almost 50lbs, so we bought another Erdlu to carry our cash and have a friend for Skitch, and named him Breng.

At the Broi-house, thronged by admirers, it was decided that we should be called the Arenagades (beating out the Arenauts and the Very Glad-iators) rather than Thoon's Poons, though Thoon, of course, disagreed. Also, our admirer met with Jin and hired us to take a small chest from an agent at a Tomblador stronghold in town and return it to our admirer.

Thoon set off to scout and ended up sneaking in to steal it on his own. The result, a series of Complexity 1 skill challenges to get it: Climbing skill challenge to climb the wall, Stealth to sneak in, failed, killed some guards before they could raise the alarm, Perception to find the chest, Thievery to steal it, Stealth to get out. The one failed challenge and a series of other smaller failures left a lot of evidence, but he did it!

We (of course) tried to open the chest, but failed, shrugged, and turned it in to our admirer.

400gp reward and an (unneeded) warning to watch out for Tombladors in the future and we called it a day.

Off to the Sea of Silt. Silt skimmers seem to be a cross between sailing ships and wagons, with wheels affixed to the hull for silt-less areas and are incredibly uncomfortable to ride in until you get into Silt, even in a hammock.

We ended there, finding ourselves conveniently bunked with the dwarven noble-adept battlemind Eberk...

Quotes from the night:
"Tyr is a forsaken place, there's nothing worthwhile there but revenge."
"...that was quite the exchanging of blows." "Like when a prostitute meets a coke dealer."
Various jokes about metrosexual Thri-kreen: Bi-kreen, Drag-kreens, Drama-kreens, etc...
"Walter sees people in hammocks, freaks out, 'unfinished cocoons!'"

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I'm planning on running a Dark Sun campaign soon... and this is inspiring!

Taking down a tembo... a 6th-level solo? Now that's impressive!

You're using a lot of non-core rules there that I'm not familiar with, and by extension many visitors are probably also not familiar with. (I also can't seem to figure out Jak's class/profession. Gladiator shaman?) Could you give us a brief overview what some of the at-wills/encounter abilities are? For instance, what is Guardian Harrier or Swarm of Bats? Demoralizing Strike?

 

[Iron Sky]

I'm planning on running a Dark Sun campaign soon... and this is inspiring!

Taking down a tembo... a 6th-level solo? Now that's impressive!

You're using a lot of non-core rules there that I'm not familiar with, and by extension many visitors are probably also not familiar with. (I also can't seem to figure out Jak's class/profession. Gladiator shaman?) Could you give us a brief overview what some of the at-wills/encounter abilities are? For instance, what is Guardian Harrier or Swarm of Bats? Demoralizing Strike?

(Almost) anything in the Character Builder is legal for us. The few exceptions are extremely setting specific material such as Spellscars, Forgotten Realm, Scales of War, and Eberron backgrounds, etc.

Jak is (was) a Minotaur Gladiator Seeker (Primal Controller, PHB 2), Jinn is a Half-elf Noble Adept Ardent(Psionic Leader, PHB 3). Things like our Themes, defiling, and weapon-breakage rules are Dark Sun-specific material found in the Dark Sun Campaign Setting Guide. Gladiator is a theme, as are Jinn and Kyden's Noble Adept, Thoon's Nomad, and Ackbar's Desert Trader.

If there's other non-core rules that we're using, I'd be curious to know what they are. Aside from "dramatic leveling" I wasn't aware of any general house rules, though some fights might have special rules to make them more interesting. Generally, we play our 4e pretty RAW.

As for Seeker/Ardent powers, if you have CB, you can look them up pretty easy by making a level 1 version of those characters. If not, check the sblocks below.

[sblock=Jak's (Seeker) powers]Harrier's Strike (target takes extra damage if it doesn't move 2+ squares during it's turn)
Stinging Swarm (target and all enemies adjacent take -2 to attacks)
Possessing Spirits (hit one enemy, they make MBA against an ally, if that hits, both dazed)
Disruptive Advance (Gladiator power, hit an enemy, push them, they and adj. enemies are slowed)
Guardian Spirits? (not sure on this one's name, lvl 2 utility that gives him minor DR for a round)
Swarming Bats (area burst 2 for damage and creates a movable swarm of bats that are difficult terrain and enemies grant CA while within)[/sblock]

[sblock=Jinn's (Ardent) powers]Energizing Strike (grant ally decent chunk of temps, augment it to make it heal for real)
Demoralizing Strike (enemy takes penalty to hit, augment it to make it a close-burst 1)
Adept's Surge (Noble Adept power, raise self or ally's d20 roll by a bit, more with augment)
Endurance Skill Utility 2 (I forget this one's name too. He can use it when he second winds to give allies a huge chunk of temps (- ike, around at/around our bloodied values huge).
Some-Daily-Whose-Name-I-Forget (He's only used it once... hit an enemy and buff adjacent allies somehow?)[/sblock]

As for the tembo, we're all powergamers (at least, we are as of 4e, before that most of us weren't - 4e makes it so much easier!) Decently op characters + decently op tactics + plenty of heals made it survivable.

Anyway, glad you're getting something out of it. Good luck with your upcoming Dark Sun game!

 

[Sanzuo]

Taking down a tembo... a 6th-level solo? Now that's impressive!

This is the same group that killed a Balor (25th level elite) at level 16... a supposedly impossible encounter that I had intended they run from. Killing a Tembo at level 2 was merely "difficult."

Still, my level 7 elite in this last session managed to kill Jak in a single blow, so... go me?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

(Almost) anything in the Character Builder is legal for us.

I wasn't complaining, although I don't have the Character Builder. Just pointing out I was confused. Since Jak was a minotaur, I had a hard time picturing him using (mostly) controller effects.

If there's other non-core rules that we're using, I'd be curious to know what they are.

I only count stuff from PH1, MM1 and DMG1 as "core". I have Dark Sun and am familiar with pretty much anything that's not a paragon class path in them (so I'm very familiar with themes).

Some non-core stuff that you haven't already mentioned:

Strategist's Epiphany (presumably a warlord's alternate power or feature that boosts Initiative)
Vengeance is Mine (some sort of counter-attack ability)
Inevitable Surge (warlord power?)
Inevitable Wave (warlord power)
Direct the Strike (core? warlord power)
Fearless Rescue (another warlord power; Kyten must have raided a sourcebook or two!)

What is a Seeker? A class? A build?

 

[Iron Sky]

Ah, we consider anything in a WotC book "core", hence the confusion.

Strategists Epiphany is a daily skill power that lets the party use your history check or their initiative check for init, whichever is higher.

Vengeance is Mine is a Warlord encounter reaction power that lets you make an MBA against whatever just hit you, then lets and ally move their speed and do the same.

Inevitable Surge... I probably meant Inevitable Wave, Warlord at-will that you can use on a charge and gives allies a damage bonus when charging the the same target.

Direct the Strike is a Warlord ranged at-will that let's an ally make a basic attack.

Fearless Rescue is a Warlord daily reaction that lets you make an attack against an enemy the just dropped an ally, then heal that ally.

I have no idea where most of these came from. They were just there as options in the Character Builder, I clicked on the ones I wanted, and away we go!

The Seeker is a primal controller class(the Wizard is an arcane controller). They infuse ranged weapons with nature magics that hinder enemies.

 

[Spatula]

"Core" for Dark Sun would almost have to include the PHB3 for the psionic classes. And the PHB2 for the bulk of the primal classes.

I'm curious about how effective the group felt the seeker was. Forum folk seem to look down on the class, and, on paper at least, the spiritbond seeker seems like a poor choice compared to the bloodbond seeker. Thrown weapons are shorter range, do a lot less damage, and have poor upgrade options compared to bows. Plus you're pretty much stuck with using a spear (javelin or upgrade to tratnyr).