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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Verys Arkon" data-source="post: 4471217" data-attributes="member: 60891">I'd love to see Dark Sun as the third setting book. In the meantime, Campaign Classic articles would be a really nice place to see some of the basics return. Here are some of my thoughts:Ability ScoresKept the same as core 4e. Increased ability scores actually make it easier to survive, which is the opposite of what Dark Sun should be about.RacesNot allowed from the PHB: Tiefling, Dragonborn, Eladrin, WarforgedThese races were never in the original Dark Sun setting. There isn’t much demonic influence, so no backstory for the Tieflings. Dragons on Athas are very specific – Dragonborn do not make sense. There wasn’t really the magic-using High Elf concept on Athas, so no Eladrin.Modified from the PHB: Dwarves, Elves, Half-elves, Halflings, Humans.The unique reflavoring of these classic races really made Dark Sun exciting and new. Bald Dwarves? Cannibal Halflings? Tall nomadic Elves? Mutated humans? Yes please.New Races: Mul (half-dwarf), Half-giant, Thri-kreenThese were core to the feel of Dark Sun, and they MUST be in the new edition. Half-giants could be reduced in size (reflavored Goliaths from PHBII?). Pterrans and Aarakocra  I would leave out – flying PCs is something they want to get away from.ClassesKeep these from the PH: Cleric (with elemental themes), Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Warlord Keep these from PHII: Barbarian, Druid (with Dark Sun flavor), ShamanTemplar: I think the warlock and a pact with a Sorcerer King would work well, but the mechanics for pacts do not restrict the warlock to only choosing powers from their chosen pact. It means you would have fey, infernal, and star flavored powers in Dark Sun, and I don’t think they fit. I would scrap/reflavor the existing warlock powers, or design a new suite of powers. I don’t think Templar would be a good choice for Dark Sun’s signature class, as they are usually evil (or unaligned at best), tied to their home city-state, and ill-suited for a lot of heroic adventuring.Defiler/Preserver: Two builds for the wizard (or sorcerer?) with a unique mechanic representing the impact of defiling.Psionics: an absolute must for Dark Sun.Gladiator: at first I thought “no, gladiator is just a fighter”, but in 4e a fighter is a defender, where I see gladiator as a striker. The ranger and rogue are too different from a gladiator to get away with reflavoring or paragon paths. This could be Dark Sun’s signature class (Swordmage for Forgotten Realms, Artificer for Eberron). There was a full 2e supplement for the gladiator (black softcover, IIRC).Trader: I don’t think there is enough design space to make the trader a full class. Their 2e shtick was to make money, and I don’t think it would be wise to break the player economy (such as it is). A paragon path would be sufficient to represent the trader. Bard: The Dark Sun bard doesn’t scream “Arcane Leader” to me, but assassin or spy instead – rogue would be fine, perhaps with a build and a few new powers to help flesh it out, along with paragon path(s).Artificier – not in Dark Sun.  Leave it in its signature setting – Eberron.Paladin – not in Dark Sun.  The concept of self-sacrifice for others is too alien on Athas.Swordmage – not in Dark Sun. Arcane power is taboo on Dark Sun already, and the idea of a swordmage just doesn’t work for me. I’d leave it in Forgotten Realms as its signature class were arcane power is common.For the setting itself, I fall into the ‘reboot’ group; scrap the expanded material and return to the original boxed set. Brom’s art made Dark Sun come to life – get him back if at all possible! VerysPS Here is my Thri-Kreen from a homebrew 4e campaign.Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity. Thri-kreen are strong and quick, but they think differently from most humanoids and have a hard time relating to folk of other races.Size: MediumSpeed:7Vision: NormalLanguages: CommonSkill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Athletics (+5 bonus to Stealth while in sandy or arid environments)Exoskeleton: A thri-kreen's exoskeleton gives it +4 natural AC +1 every 5 levels . It does not stack with manufactured armor, and cannot be enchanted. It is considered light armor, and you may add either your dexterity or intelligence modifier to AC.Multi-limbed: Moving an item from one claw to an empty claw is a free action. A thri-kreen's second set of arms (lower), are too weak to wield any weapon except off-hand weapons. It may carry a light shield or implement instead. A thri-kreen with the two-weapon fighting or two-weapon defense feats gets an additional +1 bonus to damage or AC when all four limbs carry weapons (Note, a single two-handed weapon and two off-handed weapons is possible, but not two two-handed weapons).Know Direction: A thri-kreen always knows which direction is north while above ground.Great LeapA thri-kreen's powerful hind legs allow it to leap high into the air.EncounterMinor Action PersonalEffect: Shift up to 5 squares away as a jump.  Vertical distance cleared equals 1/4 distance jumped (6' for a 5 square jump). Poison Bite Poison is injected into the Thri-kreen's victim after it is bittenDaily {} PoisonStandard Action MeleeTarget: One creatureAttack: Constitution vs FortitudeHit: 1d6 damage and Dazed (save ends).Miss: Target is dazed until the end of your next turn.                                                                                                                                                                              <img src="http://forums.gleemax.com/images/misc/community/progress.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> <a href="http://forums.gleemax.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=16810222" target="_blank">http://forums.gleemax.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=16810222</a></blockquote>

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