Darksun Teasers

[avin]

I love Darksun. I don't even really know why, but I do. The only thing about 2e Darksun that I didn't like were the food and water rules. I get why the rules were there, but I always felt like they got in the way. Of course, I feel the same way about the encumbrance rules so that may have something to do with it. Hopefully 4e changes that aspect of Darksun.

Hopefully not.

What's the point in playing a desert setting if no survival measures are needed? I will be disappointed if endurance and survival have no roles on DS4E.

 

[MrMyth]

And to repeat as above, Dark Sun is being made for 4th Edition.

If you don't like 4e, why the hell should you care?

ProfessorCirno explained his reasons upthread: If there is a new Darksun, when he chats about it with his friends, they won't get his references to the original, since they will only be familiar with the new version.

Which, of course, makes absolutely no sense - if there were familiar with the old version, the release of a new one wouldn't take their prior knowledge away, and if they weren't familiar with the old version, then they wouldn't know what he was talking about anyway.

So yeah, I don't get it.

 

[abyssaldeath]

Hopefully not.

What's the point in playing a desert setting if no survival measures are needed? I will be disappointed if endurance and survival have no roles on DS4E.

I'm not talking about getting rid of it all together. I just want the focus to be more on the adventures and less on food and water rations. I'm sure there has to be a way to give you the survival of the fittest feel without it having to be constantly in your face.

 

[darjr]

I get either light blue text or light grey text in Ie8, Chrome, and Safari on Windows XP.

Have not tested my linux machines. Firefox 3.5 it's black text on white.

I left a comment on the blog post.

 

[avin]

I'm not talking about getting rid of it all together. I just want the focus to be more on the adventures and less on food and water rations. I'm sure there has to be a way to give you the survival of the fittest feel without it having to be constantly in your face.

Find and fight for food or water are adventures themselves, I don't want it to be removed.

It doesn't need to be the same rules but this must be an essential part of the game, not just only fluff, people playing Arthas like some Toril backyard...

To be honest I think Dark Sun works better on GURPS than on D&D.

BTW: the link redirects me to Community's main page, not the article...

 

[Obryn]

Find and fight for food or water are adventures themselves, I don't want it to be removed.

I, however, want them to be completely optional. I would like them present, but in a sidebar, basically.

I would be great with survival stuff with tidier and more transparent mechanics, but I'd rather not micromanage food and water. Even during my 2e Dark Sun days, we basically resorted to common sense.

-O

 

[amysrevenge]

Find and fight for food or water are adventures themselves, I don't want it to be removed.

I think the point is that there is a wide spectrum available between neglecting survival entirely, and painstakingly accounting for every calorie and minute under the hot sun and ounce of water. The dial doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) turned all the way to one end or the other.

From my perspective, there is a lot of room under the existing Endurance scheme to abstract away most of the details, while still requiring the occasional raid for a drink.

 

[mudbunny]

ProfessorCirno explained his reasons upthread: If there is a new Darksun, when he chats about it with his friends, they won't get his references to the original, since they will only be familiar with the new version.

That which Prof is worried about is also something that is a regular part of any type of industry/hobby/etc where there are updates to things. Cars, TVs, computers, etc. When they get upgraded to a new version, there will be some initial confusion when talking with someone else about it.

 

[Nifft]

I'm not talking about getting rid of it all together. I just want the focus to be more on the adventures and less on food and water rations. I'm sure there has to be a way to give you the survival of the fittest feel without it having to be constantly in your face.

Earlier editions could be played (and indeed were played by some) as primarily wilderness survival games. "Clear The Hex" and whatnot. IMHO, Dark Sun's environmental focus reflected its edition, not its inherent nature.

4e is much less a wilderness survival game (though it could have elements of wilderness survival). Therefore, I suspect the new Dark Sun book will have a greater focus on the adventures.

That said, the environment in Dark Sun should present some challenges, and I look forward to some cool rules for handling the specifics of Dark Sun's environment in skill challenges.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Dire Human]

I have no idea why people are so pissed about this stuff. Here you go, free of charge:

Tieflings. Two words: resist fire. A roaming band of horned barbarians with sandpaper skin, walking naked and barefoot across the burning sands, sharpened teeth ideal for cutting through the only tough meat they can find: yours. The lone hunting sharks to the halfling's piranha feeding frenzy.

Dragonborn. Pathetic remnants of a mighty lizard race. Trying so hard to delude themselves of their relevance when their time has clearly come, the only thing that keeps them from being snuffed out altogether is their cognitive dissonance; when near defeat, their broken pride turns to a suicidal bloodlust that is legendary.

Deva. When one goes mad in Athas, there is so far to fall. Babbling nonsense to gods who cannot hear, telling tales of lives that have never been lived, eyes wide with sights that no one can see. If by pity or fear they are not killed, they can be easily identified by the mud and pigments they smear their faces and bodies with, claiming them to be "divine markings".

Divine characters. With no clouds for gods to hide behind, in the sky there is only the harsh, unrelenting sun. When when you fight against one blessed by the elemental spirits, nothing can shade you from the searing heat and blinding light. Whether one channels the rivers of silt, the blistering heat, the shifting sands, or the bone-dry winds, it must be remembered that the desert sun looks down over all these things, and over you.

Seriously, guys, even if my attempts at alternate flavor are off-base, 4e fits right in.