This is my attempt to establish Darksun rules for 5e while being as true as possible to 2e.
Also I try to use as much 5e stuff reskinned as possible. E.g. my Mul is basically a halforc.
I will start with the possibly race and class combos followed by some in depth explanation.
All characters start at level 3 with maximum HP. No feats. On level up PC can either do a attribute raise of +2 to a single attribute or +1 to 2 attributes. Alternatively every race who can be a mystic can take some minor psionic talent. Human PC get one of these bonus at creation.
On the races: Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf is almost standard. Mul is a reskinned Halforc. Thrikreen is pretty experimental, Maybe the poison bite should scale per level as with a dragonborns breath weapon.
For halfgiant they get 1d4 bonus damage as if they were humans under the spell Enlarge. So their natural weapon output is 2d4.
Of the races I see human Halfling, dwarf, elf, mul, as unproblematic. Halfgiant and thrikreen are rather optional.
The classes are pretty restricted to be true to the 2e version, and to prevent some of the typical Darksun environmental challenges to be trivialized like e.g. monk, barbarian could.
An x marks a combo I would allow in my campaign, you see I am a bit into archetypes.
Normal fighters would be of the champion subclass, the gladiator class with all its tricks is best depicted as battlemaster in my point of view. Preserver can be of any subclass except necromancer.
The bard is actually a rogue assassin, not a RAW bard. He should get some poisoner skills and needs a bit fleshing out.
Druids would be mostly NPC because they are really bound to their strip of land, the area they guard in Darksun.
Templars, I see them as 5e warlocks of the tome with their sorcerer-king/queen as patron rulewise. Not that they would get an actual tome, they could, but it rather could be a crest or a ring or a necklage or another token. Chain does not fit, Darksun is not about summoning imps to assist one self. Blade also does not fit, there is no easy way to get a metal weapon in Darksun so their should not be an easy way to get a magical weapon. Again normally Templars are NPCs
My take on defilers is that they are either sorcerers of the wildmage subclass or Wizards wit hthe necromancer subclass, both rather should be NPC, and I need some mechanic eventually free sorcerer points or so to depict the defiling.
I will cont. this thread with my take on the special equipment rules for Darksun I think I got a pretty cool solution for minor weapon quality w/o breaking 5e bound accuracy.
Also I try to use as much 5e stuff reskinned as possible. E.g. my Mul is basically a halforc.
I will start with the possibly race and class combos followed by some in depth explanation.
| Race | Human | Halfling | Elf | Dwarf | Mul | Thrikreen | Halfgiant |
| Strength | +1 | +2 | +2 | ||||
| Dexterity | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | |||
| Constitution | +1 | +2 | +1 | +2 | |||
| Intelligence | +1 | +1 | |||||
| Wisdom | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | |||
| Charisma | +1 | ||||||
| Runspeed | 30 | 25 | 50 | 25 | 30 | 40 | 40 |
| Special | Psi Talent | Cannibalistic Advantage vs.Fear . Resistance vs. Poison. | Advantage Running . Immune vs. Sleep. Advantage vs. Charm. | Focus . +1HP/Level. Resistance vs. Poison. | Advantage Constitution. Needs only half water ration. Brutal Crtitcal +1d (Fighter, Glad. only) . Die Hard 1 x per long rest, if HP reduced to zero, HP reduced to one HP instead. | Bite 2d6 Poison 1x per short or long rest, Saving throw Co or pois. 1 turn DC= Co+Prof+8. Natural weapons 1d4. Advantage jumping, 3 x distance. Nat. Armor 13+ Dex mod. Cannot use normal armor. | Advantage Strength Double Carrying capacity. Equipment costs 4x normal. Needs 4x Water ration Natural Weapons 2d4 . Large, does 1d4 more physical damage with weapons. |
| Class | Human | Halfling | Elf | Dwarf | Mul | Thrikreen | Halfgiant |
| Fighter (Champion) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Gladiator (Battlemaster) | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Preserver (all Subclass except Nekromancer) | X | only Illusionist | X | ||||
| Rogue Thief sbubclass | X | X | X | ||||
| Bard (Rogue Assasin subclass) | X | X | |||||
| Cleric Fire (Light) | X | X | X | X | |||
| Cleric Water (Healing) | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Cleric Earth (War) | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Cleric Air (Tempest) | X | X | X | X | |||
| Mystic (Psionicist) | X | X | X | X | X | ||
| Templar (Warlock Tome reskinned) | NPC | ||||||
| Druid (Circle of the Land only) | NPC | NPC | NPC | ||||
| Defiler (Sorcerer Wildmage) | NPC | NPC | |||||
| Defiler Necromant | NPC | NPC |
All characters start at level 3 with maximum HP. No feats. On level up PC can either do a attribute raise of +2 to a single attribute or +1 to 2 attributes. Alternatively every race who can be a mystic can take some minor psionic talent. Human PC get one of these bonus at creation.
On the races: Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf is almost standard. Mul is a reskinned Halforc. Thrikreen is pretty experimental, Maybe the poison bite should scale per level as with a dragonborns breath weapon.
For halfgiant they get 1d4 bonus damage as if they were humans under the spell Enlarge. So their natural weapon output is 2d4.
Of the races I see human Halfling, dwarf, elf, mul, as unproblematic. Halfgiant and thrikreen are rather optional.
The classes are pretty restricted to be true to the 2e version, and to prevent some of the typical Darksun environmental challenges to be trivialized like e.g. monk, barbarian could.
An x marks a combo I would allow in my campaign, you see I am a bit into archetypes.
Normal fighters would be of the champion subclass, the gladiator class with all its tricks is best depicted as battlemaster in my point of view. Preserver can be of any subclass except necromancer.
The bard is actually a rogue assassin, not a RAW bard. He should get some poisoner skills and needs a bit fleshing out.
Druids would be mostly NPC because they are really bound to their strip of land, the area they guard in Darksun.
Templars, I see them as 5e warlocks of the tome with their sorcerer-king/queen as patron rulewise. Not that they would get an actual tome, they could, but it rather could be a crest or a ring or a necklage or another token. Chain does not fit, Darksun is not about summoning imps to assist one self. Blade also does not fit, there is no easy way to get a metal weapon in Darksun so their should not be an easy way to get a magical weapon. Again normally Templars are NPCs
My take on defilers is that they are either sorcerers of the wildmage subclass or Wizards wit hthe necromancer subclass, both rather should be NPC, and I need some mechanic eventually free sorcerer points or so to depict the defiling.
I will cont. this thread with my take on the special equipment rules for Darksun I think I got a pretty cool solution for minor weapon quality w/o breaking 5e bound accuracy.
