Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Randomthoughts" data-source="post: 5742829" data-attributes="member: 6681248">Completely agree with Puget Sound here. I get the sense from the OP that 4e Dark Sun wouldn't precisely meet all of his objectives but it could be tweaked to get you there (or close enough). For example:  * Healing surges and extended rests: The amount of surges regained could be limited (per Puget Sound) but also so could the circumstances in which they are regained. To avoid the 15 min work day, you can limit that an Extended Rest is only gained at certain parts of the adventure (and therefore not at the discretion of PCs) or in certain places like a safe haven (and not out in the wild or in a dungeon). Another house rule I'm considering are long term "wounds" which uses 4e's disease mechanic and would limit the max # of surges regained and spent, and perhaps debuff current attack/damage/skill checks. * Lethality: 4e could be quite lethal if encounters are designed well and the GM uses monsters effectively. So I don't agree that PCs aren't placed at risk in combat, even when fully loaded and rested. If you're referring to premade adventures, then yeah, I would agree that they aren't as challenging as customized encounters (and could be a bit grindy). Dark Sun creatures in particular are pretty lethal and it's not like you can't add more monsters or traps. * Power level: Admittedly, 4e PCs have a lot of things they can do. If this is a concern, I'd avoid the fiddly bits that give them even more abilities like themes and backgrounds. If OTOH you are concerned about the AEDU power structure, you can limit classes to only Essential variants. * Survival: DS 4e uses an abstract concept called "survival days". You might like it or not, but it's easy to break them down into its component parts (water, food, etc.) for a more intense resource management feel. In my game, I hand out chits and players track survival days that way...and they get very nervous when they are taken away day after day and in response to failed Endurance rolls or skill challenges. DS also has a mechanic where Athas "attacks" each PC which could result in a disease called sun sickness. * Light: I personally make lighting an issue when I want it to be, but the RAW are there. If you want to make them track each and every torch and impose the encumbrance rules, you can. You can also limit the availability of certain spells and rituals (like light) to get the desired effect. Dark Sun already imposes restrictions on certain rituals (like ones where you can create water or food, for obvious reasons). * Traps and Environment: The Dark Sun Creature Catalog describes a variety of traps and environmental hazards you may find helpful. But the main mechanic I use to reflect environmental risks (like travelling through the desert plains of Athas) are skill challenges. You can design these to be as lethal as you want them to be (and coupled with how you regulate extended rests and surges, they can really become quite lethal). * Gear: I'm not sure if gear in and of itself is a concern for you (or whether it's more how powerful PCs could be). But if you want to minimize the need for gear found in other D&D settings, you can use Inherent Bonuses. I use these and go a step further: the gear that PCs receive is abstracted - they may get the ability but it's not from an actual object. There are items called boons that accomplish the same thing. This way, PCs aren't carrying around a christmas tree that other settings have. I've played Runequest (the original) and Runequest II a bit (and will obtain Legends as well). RQII may have the gritty feel you are looking for but IMO it's not due to resource management mechanics in which case 4e DS is pretty good.  I'd be interested in hearing what you decide.</blockquote>

Verification