D&D 5E Thoughts on a Darksun Cleric

[Coroc]

How easy? So long as you stay in the sorcerer king's good book. What the warlock's patron gives they can quite easily take away.

The Templars are not fighters as such, they are casters, judges, officials, clerks, lawmen etc. They do not need much melee prowess, they got a squadron of halfgiants for the rough stuff if they need it.
So any pact but tome is not very fitting, chain self evidently, because there ain't Templars with imps on a leach that would be ridiculous, and blade I pointed out several in game as well as mechanical reasons.
You can be very creative with the spell selection, have them have spells which can hold subdue, or charm individuals, or create fear or detect thoughts and lies etc. They do not need to be blasters but hex / eldritch blast reskinned as bane of the sorcerer king/ inflict wounds works for me if needed, plus it gives them the cleric refluff true to the original.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The templars of 2nd edition where moderate melee fighters.

And you are never going to be able to balance keeping good weapons out of the hands of PCs unless you completely remove cantrips from everyone. Which I would say is the point when it ceases to be close enough to core D&D to use the name.

 

[Arnwolf666]

That's the easy way, for now using light, life, nature,tempst for fire, water, earth clerics and air clerics.

Absolutely for now until an official supplement can be made

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Here's what I've found on Dark Sun's classes (source is 1d4chan):

• Clerics - There are no real gods in the setting (according to 4e, this is because the Primordials drove them off in the Dawn War), so most clerics worship elements or quasi-elements. In a desert world, summoning water elementals will get you * until you realize that if you level up to much you become a true elemental too. Very nasty to be drank alive for being a water elemental. The way they are described, they are more "elemental shamans" than archetypical clerics. Other types are insinuated to exist, such as a 'sun cleric' featured in the novels, representing the aspect and domain of the sun as a natural force rather than a deity.
• Druids - Druids serve spirits of the land. They have a guarded lands that they are responsible to look after.
• Gladiators - You know. Like the movie. Also one of the most overpowered classes in the times of AD&D, a low level gladiator could be the personification of a certain Frank Frazzeta illustration entitled "The Destroyer". Essentially, they were Barbarians before Barbarians as 3e made them were a thing.
• Dune Traders - lol that's actually a class? Was more one the role-playing side of things, could get loads of handy contacts and power within tradehouses. Took care of diplomacy, trading, and generally any situation that could be resolved without a weapon.
• Fighters - Not as good as a Gladiator in personal combat, but who is? Really excelled at attracting and leading armies at higher levels.
• Bards - Most bards sing songs and boost the other party members' rolls. Dark Sun bards will poison and kill you, and maybe **** you. Maybe in that order, too.
• Paladins - lol nope. Honor and virtue fell by the wayside a long time ago on Athas, but what else would you expect from a planet this Darwinian?
• Templars - Replace Paladins thematically, but more on the police side of things to the point they are like the Gestapo in the French State. Ability-wise, they're more like Clerics with slower spell-progression but more spellslots and the ability to use any weapon. Worship the Sorcerer King who rules their city.
• Psionicists - Psionicists are considered accepted and normal in this setting. In fact, every PC is guaranteed to have at least one psionic power! OMGWTF! Think Jedis, kind of. Wanna move naughty word with your mind without casting a spell like some faggy ass wizard? Check. Mind****? Check. ****ing Time Travel? Double Check. Unfortunately suffered from the fact that psionics in 2e were a horrible mess, and with a few notable exceptions, most of your powers are either incredibly niche or use clunky subsystems.
• Rangers - Same old ****. Think Aragorn in the desert.
• Rogues - Pretty similar to the non-Athasian kind. Attracted a Patron at level 10, aka you work for me now bitch.
• Wizards- Two types exist in the setting, but everyone hates them both:
  • Defiler - Evil mages, who suck out the life force of things. When they level up enough, they usually have an allergic reaction called dragon metamorphosis.
  • Preserver - Mages who are not manly enough to steal life force, so they sacrifice efficiency to keep the stuff around them alive. Unfortunately for them, the commoners think all wizards are the same. Fortunately for them, most of their naughty word can be passed off as psionics. When they grow up enough to be considered bad ass they turn into the manta ray like aliens from Abyss.

I think these could be restructured to a certain extent, making Templars the Cleric subclass, Defiler the Wizard subclass, Preserver the Sorcerer subclass, Gladiators the Barbarian subclass. Maybe cut Warlocks, even though I think Rajaat and the new dragons could all work as patrons.

 

[Arnwolf666]

Here's what I've found on Dark Sun's classes (source is 1d4chan):

• Clerics - There are no real gods in the setting (according to 4e, this is because the Primordials drove them off in the Dawn War), so most clerics worship elements or quasi-elements. In a desert world, summoning water elementals will get you * until you realize that if you level up to much you become a true elemental too. Very nasty to be drank alive for being a water elemental. The way they are described, they are more "elemental shamans" than archetypical clerics. Other types are insinuated to exist, such as a 'sun cleric' featured in the novels, representing the aspect and domain of the sun as a natural force rather than a deity.
• Druids - Druids serve spirits of the land. They have a guarded lands that they are responsible to look after.
• Gladiators - You know. Like the movie. Also one of the most overpowered classes in the times of AD&D, a low level gladiator could be the personification of a certain Frank Frazzeta illustration entitled "The Destroyer". Essentially, they were Barbarians before Barbarians as 3e made them were a thing.
• Dune Traders - lol that's actually a class? Was more one the role-playing side of things, could get loads of handy contacts and power within tradehouses. Took care of diplomacy, trading, and generally any situation that could be resolved without a weapon.
• Fighters - Not as good as a Gladiator in personal combat, but who is? Really excelled at attracting and leading armies at higher levels.
• Bards - Most bards sing songs and boost the other party members' rolls. Dark Sun bards will poison and kill you, and maybe **** you. Maybe in that order, too.
• Paladins - lol nope. Honor and virtue fell by the wayside a long time ago on Athas, but what else would you expect from a planet this Darwinian?
• Templars - Replace Paladins thematically, but more on the police side of things to the point they are like the Gestapo in the French State. Ability-wise, they're more like Clerics with slower spell-progression but more spellslots and the ability to use any weapon. Worship the Sorcerer King who rules their city.
• Psionicists - Psionicists are considered accepted and normal in this setting. In fact, every PC is guaranteed to have at least one psionic power! OMGWTF! Think Jedis, kind of. Wanna move naughty word with your mind without casting a spell like some faggy ass wizard? Check. Mind****? Check. ****ing Time Travel? Double Check. Unfortunately suffered from the fact that psionics in 2e were a horrible mess, and with a few notable exceptions, most of your powers are either incredibly niche or use clunky subsystems.
• Rangers - Same old ****. Think Aragorn in the desert.
• Rogues - Pretty similar to the non-Athasian kind. Attracted a Patron at level 10, aka you work for me now bitch.
• Wizards- Two types exist in the setting, but everyone hates them both:
  • Defiler - Evil mages, who suck out the life force of things. When they level up enough, they usually have an allergic reaction called dragon metamorphosis.
  • Preserver - Mages who are not manly enough to steal life force, so they sacrifice efficiency to keep the stuff around them alive. Unfortunately for them, the commoners think all wizards are the same. Fortunately for them, most of their naughty word can be passed off as psionics. When they grow up enough to be considered bad ass they turn into the manta ray like aliens from Abyss.

I think these could be restructured to a certain extent, making Templars the Cleric subclass, Defiler the Wizard subclass, Preserver the Sorcerer subclass, Gladiators the Barbarian subclass. Maybe cut Warlocks, even though I think Rajaat and the new dragons could all work as patrons.

I think paladin could be done in the 5E with the oath of vengeance. Vengeance is a very dark sun doable concept.

 

[Zardnaar]

Not to side track(too much), but I've always been curious about defilers leaving Darksun to other realms, and wizards traveling to Darksun.

Dragon covered this. Defiling wouldn't work on FR. a wizard traveling to Athas would need to figure out how to draw energy from plants.

 

[Zardnaar]

Here's what I've found on Dark Sun's classes (source is 1d4chan):

• Clerics - There are no real gods in the setting (according to 4e, this is because the Primordials drove them off in the Dawn War), so most clerics worship elements or quasi-elements. In a desert world, summoning water elementals will get you * until you realize that if you level up to much you become a true elemental too. Very nasty to be drank alive for being a water elemental. The way they are described, they are more "elemental shamans" than archetypical clerics. Other types are insinuated to exist, such as a 'sun cleric' featured in the novels, representing the aspect and domain of the sun as a natural force rather than a deity.
• Druids - Druids serve spirits of the land. They have a guarded lands that they are responsible to look after.
• Gladiators - You know. Like the movie. Also one of the most overpowered classes in the times of AD&D, a low level gladiator could be the personification of a certain Frank Frazzeta illustration entitled "The Destroyer". Essentially, they were Barbarians before Barbarians as 3e made them were a thing.
• Dune Traders - lol that's actually a class? Was more one the role-playing side of things, could get loads of handy contacts and power within tradehouses. Took care of diplomacy, trading, and generally any situation that could be resolved without a weapon.
• Fighters - Not as good as a Gladiator in personal combat, but who is? Really excelled at attracting and leading armies at higher levels.
• Bards - Most bards sing songs and boost the other party members' rolls. Dark Sun bards will poison and kill you, and maybe **** you. Maybe in that order, too.
• Paladins - lol nope. Honor and virtue fell by the wayside a long time ago on Athas, but what else would you expect from a planet this Darwinian?
• Templars - Replace Paladins thematically, but more on the police side of things to the point they are like the Gestapo in the French State. Ability-wise, they're more like Clerics with slower spell-progression but more spellslots and the ability to use any weapon. Worship the Sorcerer King who rules their city.
• Psionicists - Psionicists are considered accepted and normal in this setting. In fact, every PC is guaranteed to have at least one psionic power! OMGWTF! Think Jedis, kind of. Wanna move naughty word with your mind without casting a spell like some faggy ass wizard? Check. Mind****? Check. ****ing Time Travel? Double Check. Unfortunately suffered from the fact that psionics in 2e were a horrible mess, and with a few notable exceptions, most of your powers are either incredibly niche or use clunky subsystems.
• Rangers - Same old ****. Think Aragorn in the desert.
• Rogues - Pretty similar to the non-Athasian kind. Attracted a Patron at level 10, aka you work for me now bitch.
• Wizards- Two types exist in the setting, but everyone hates them both:
  • Defiler - Evil mages, who suck out the life force of things. When they level up enough, they usually have an allergic reaction called dragon metamorphosis.
  • Preserver - Mages who are not manly enough to steal life force, so they sacrifice efficiency to keep the stuff around them alive. Unfortunately for them, the commoners think all wizards are the same. Fortunately for them, most of their naughty word can be passed off as psionics. When they grow up enough to be considered bad ass they turn into the manta ray like aliens from Abyss.

I think these could be restructured to a certain extent, making Templars the Cleric subclass, Defiler the Wizard subclass, Preserver the Sorcerer subclass, Gladiators the Barbarian subclass. Maybe cut Warlocks, even though I think Rajaat and the new dragons could all work as patrons.

Yeah PCs shouldn't have access to knowledge of Rajaat.


Warlocks maybe after the Prism Pentad events. Same thing with Sorcerers as Storm Sorcerer could sub for a Cerulean.

Same thing with Dray, post PP fine, classic DS no.

Templars to me mostly resemble war clerics looking at the 2E ones.

Sorcerers don't fit as magic from your bloodline doesn't fit the magic from plants.

Warlocks don't fit do to pact magic being clerical and they don't fit mechanically due to things like pact of the blade.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Yeah PCs shouldn't have access to knowledge of Rajaat.

Warlocks maybe after the Prism Pentad events. Same thing with Sorcerers as Storm Sorcerer could sub for a Cerulean.

Same thing with Dray, post PP fine, classic DS no.

Templars to me mostly resemble war clerics looking at the 2E ones.

Sorcerers don't fit as magic from your bloodline doesn't fit the magic from plants.

Warlocks don't fit do to pact magic being clerical and they don't fit mechanically due to things like pact of the blade.

Yeah I don't see why Rajaat being a warlock patron is somehow off-limits. He's an imprisoned super-wizard, he's practically a textbook case of a great warlock patron.

Also I wasn't talking about Dray, I meant the three characters who succeeded in becoming dragons; Borys, Dregoth, and Kalid-Na. They could make good warlock patrons too as the dragons in Dark Sun are more powerful and as close to a god as things get there. There is a module on killing Borys and it is essentially impossible (Valley of Dust and Fire).

 

[Zardnaar]

Yeah I don't see why Rajaat being a warlock patron is somehow off-limits. He's an imprisoned super-wizard, he's practically a textbook case of a great warlock patron.

Also I wasn't talking about Dray, I meant the three characters who succeeded in becoming dragons; Borys, Dregoth, and Kalid-Na. They could make good warlock patrons too as the dragons in Dark Sun are more powerful and as close to a god as things get there. There is a module on killing Borys and it is essentially impossible (Valley of Dust and Fire).

Rajaats ye olde ancient threat. PCs can find out about him but his existence wouldn't be common enough knowledge to justify a level 1 warlock. And he gets killed.

Rajaats trained normal wizards he didn't really offer pacts. Read the tone of the original boxed set about the past.

Magic comes from plants on Athas not patrons.

Magics so hard to use in Athas they rewrote the bard to not use arcane magic. Adding more arcane classes dilutes one if the key concepts of the setting IMHO.

In 2E the only class I added to the setting apart from Psion was the Barbarian.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Rajaats ye olde ancient threat. PCs can find out about him but his existence wouldn't be common enough knowledge to justify a level 1 warlock. And he gets killed.

Rajaats trained normal wizards he didn't really offer pacts. Read the tone of the original boxed set about the past.

Magic comes from plants on Athas not patrons.

You're description of Rajaat matches a lot of warlock patrons honestly. It doesn't make a lot of sense in real terms for a god like Tharizdun to make a pact with someone, but that's mechanically how it can work. Same reason for why Rajaat would want to give someone a pact; vague backstory about how he sees this PC as the key to breaking free of his prison.

He gets killed in the Prism Pentad, but let's be real that's not going to be canon again.

The idea that there are no beings in Dark Sun powerful enough to support a warlock is frankly a little ridiculous.