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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steampunkette" data-source="post: 8285401" data-attributes="member: 6796468">Oh, I don't -expect- them to flip a whole bunch of classes on their heads. Far from it.I would expect a 256 page book, like Ravenloft, with new mechanics, one race and a few "Reskin these Race" options, possibly a class, and a world overview.Some of those new mechanics and descriptions would have to be:1) Resource Management of Water: This is a -key- theme and driving motivator for many Athasian characters and even campaigns. Without a solid system to make it narratively and mechanically important, without being odiously so to the point people ignore it outright, Dark Sun will lose more bite than a defanged vampire.2) Defiling and Preserving: Like water management, Defiling is an important narrative function of the setting. Up to and including breathtakingly large areas of Dead Zones. Perhaps a system where Preserving involves expending Hit Dice and eventually Hit Points to cast Arcane Spells stronger than Cantrips? Could have Water use restore hit dice expended in this manner, so that Arcane Casters are resource-hogs in the party! Then have Defiling do no harm to the caster, but it cannot be used in Dead Zones. Toss in a stigma tracker for defilement and voila!3) Guidelines for appropriate characters in a Dark Sun campaign. Not just "You shouldn't play Paladins" but also Athasian Class Definitions to show that Bards aren't colorful musicians but are instead assassins so players recognize the shift in class fantasy. Possibly with a "Spell-less Bard" variant tested in UA, or rules for Bards being Defilers/Preservers, too! Toss in the Elemental Cleric subclass, have Warlocks find Athasian-Appropriate patrons (Or get their power from Sorcerer-Kings like Paladins), stuff like that.4) Race options. Dragonborn as Dray, Mul as a Dwarf or Human Subrace or Lineage, Goliath Half-Giant subrace, perhaps. Gonna need to do a full Thri-Kreen, possibly with subraces.5) Psionics. Either a full Psionics class, or turn Warlocks into Psionicists by making their only available Patron on Athas "The Will and the Way", introducing a Power Points mechanic to make their spellcasting and invocations -slightly- more flexible, and call Eldritch Blast "Mind Blast". The subclasses and the Wild Talents can stay as they are, of course.While they -could- pawn this work off onto the DM's Guild and say "Just use this unofficial psionics class as official psionics for 5e" I highly doubt any company would be willing to do something like that. And without these things? It just wouldn't -be- Dark Sun.I'd also like to note about the Korranberg Chronicles Psionics: The Empath is Yoda, and the Icon is a random character from a Persona game. The way they present psionics is very narrowly shaped by these ideas, and doesn't exactly "Fit" with Dark Sun's traditions. Honestly it doesn't even really fit Eberron's traditions, either. Don't get me wrong, though. I do -like- the ideas they've got for psionics. Might even suggest someone reframe the Icon character class into a "Truenamer" Vestige-Manipulator class 'cause that's kinda what it screams, to me.Just don't think they're what Athas needs.</blockquote>

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