It's Dark Sun

[I'm A Banana]

I wouldn't necessarily use that kind of thing for defiling, but it's giving me great ideas about using them in a setting based off of monotheistic mysticism, where Good and Evil are dynamic forces, and Evil always should be tugging at the PC's...

Hmmm....

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Yep, I concur. While I wouldn't mind optional rules for dehydration, it represents a level of long-term obsessive-compulsive tracking I stopped messing with 20 years ago.

-O

Um, you all do know it's much easier and already in 4th ed rules to do this kind of thing?
Page 159, environmental hazards, Endurance skill checks 1/8 hours or lose 1 healing surge
simple, effective, and dangerous wihtout being too complex or too deadly! (it's very hard to recover lost healign surges as few powers can do that, so, you need extended rest in a cooler area etc)
I'm sure they could add more complex skill challenges if wished

 

[crazy_cat]

If the DCs are designed carefully it might allow a person to play a terribly conflicted character for an extended period of time.

I like this idea - I like it a lot.

The internal and moral conflict an Athasian wizard faces between power and principles is something I don't think D&D game mechanics have yet modelled realistically under any edition. Very interested to see what WOTC do in this area.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Um, you all do know it's much easier and already in 4th ed rules to do this kind of thing?
Page 159, environmental hazards, Endurance skill checks 1/8 hours or lose 1 healing surge
simple, effective, and dangerous wihtout being too complex or too deadly! (it's very hard to recover lost healign surges as few powers can do that, so, you need extended rest in a cooler area etc)
I'm sure they could add more complex skill challenges if wished

This does seem to be one of the best ways to handle it with 4e. Simply turn all struggles against heat and dehydration into skill challenges that hold your healing surges ransom. Also, simply preventing you from taking an extended rest unless you are in a cool place and have water would work very efficiently.

Some kind of heat/thirst tracking minigame would be terrible, but 4e can easily get the desired result without something so clunky.

 

[Aldarc]

Um, you all do know it's much easier and already in 4th ed rules to do this kind of thing?
Page 159, environmental hazards, Endurance skill checks 1/8 hours or lose 1 healing surge
simple, effective, and dangerous wihtout being too complex or too deadly! (it's very hard to recover lost healign surges as few powers can do that, so, you need extended rest in a cooler area etc)
I'm sure they could add more complex skill challenges if wished

Well thanks then for pointing out what should have been obvious for us.

 

[Mort_Q]

Wizards will never publish a Large PC race, because there's no way to balance the racial feature "Affects 150% more creatures with Close Bursts".

Half-Giants should just use the Goliath stats.

Simple solution, although the Paragon Races approach taken be Svalin Games works well, imho. Of course, that means you either start at paragon or higher, or they could be replacement characters.

But (!) if the designers can come up with interesting ways to challenge PCs at all levels with environmental effects, ways that didn't require tedious tracking of conditions, then I'll gladly take this "messing with the setting" with joy.

Not regaining all your healing surges is the easy enough...

This does seem to be one of the best ways to handle it with 4e. Simply turn all struggles against heat and dehydration into skill challenges that hold your healing surges ransom. Also, simply preventing you from taking an extended rest unless you are in a cool place and have water would work very efficiently.

Some kind of heat/thirst tracking minigame would be terrible, but 4e can easily get the desired result without something so clunky.

We shall see.

 

[Bumbles]

Woot, nice news.

I haven't read the thread, but the cover looks nice and going back to OBS is for the good.

So I hope for the best.

 

[Draloric]

Went back and reread the interview with James Wyatt.

Am I off in my interpretation that the Shaman seems to get the role of the old 2e DS cleric?

Could this be how some class role assignments fall out?

2e DS cleric = 4e shaman
2e DS templar = 4e cleric?

I wondered about this myself when reading the interview. Perhaps this is to be taken even further? Consider that the 4th Edition Primal power source covers 2nd Edition clerics and druids, while the Divine power source represents the power of the sorcerer-kings as manifested through their templars? Thus templars of many different roles could exist: defenders (something akin to a paladin--in mecahnics only, I pray) strikers (avengers), leaders (clerics), and controllers (invokers).

 

[I'm A Banana]

Avengers as a sorcerer-king's sycophantic assassins, murdering "enemies of the state" in the streets, listening at the walls, waiting for your friends to rat you out for that hot-blooded complaint you made (or for you to miss a bribe so that your friend doesn't rat you out)....

There's a lot going for it by tying the divine power source to the sorcerer-kings, I think.

Primal = Elements; Divine = Sorcerer-Kings; Arcane = Defiling; Martial = Nothin' Special; Psionic = Nothin' too special...

I'm kind of a fan.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I'm very surprised that we are getting Dark Sun next year. I would have bet nearly anything it would have been Dragonlance. I am, however, delighted that it is Dark Sun as I have disliked DL for a very, very long time. I am happily waiting for the previews and sneak peaks my DDI subscription will bring. What is best is that fact that, although I do own the Revised box set of DS, I have never read through much of it so this setting will be completely new to me! yay!