Dungeons & Dragons Releases New Unearthed Arcana Subclasses, Strongly Hinting at Dark Sun

Wizards of the Coast has released four new D&D subclasses for playtesting, all of which have heavy thematic ties to the post-apocalyptic Dark Sun setting. The four subclasses, released as "Apocalyptic Subclasses," include the Circle of Preservation Druid, the Gladiator Fighter, the Defiled Sorcerer, and the Sorcerer-King Patron Warlock. Although not stated outright, the Gladiator and Sorcerer-King Patron are explicit nods to the Dark Sun setting, set in a ruined world ruled by Sorcerer-Kings where gladiatorial fights were common.

The Circle of Preservation Druid creates areas of preserved land that grants buffs to those who stand upon it. The Gladiator adds secondary Weapon Mastery properties to their attacks, with bonus abilities. Notably, the Gladiator uses Charisma as its secondary stat. The Defiled Sorcerer can expend its hit dice to amp up damage to its attacks and can also steal the life of its targets to deal additional damage. The Sorcerer-King Patron gains a number of abilities tying into tyranny and oppression, with the ability to cast Command as a Bonus Action without expending a spell slot, causing targets to gain the Frightened Condition, and forcing those who attack them to re-roll successful attacks.

The survey for the subclasses goes live on August 28th.

 

[Scribe]

But I daresay in 20 years or w/e, we may see awful humourless 40K again

It didnt really change. Yes, 8th was a blip (and a terrible one but we likely hate/like it for different reasons!) but 10th brought us back to where things have really been since 3/4/5th codified the 'modern' setting.

Every release, I would go through the novels, the codex, the main book, and really dig into 'did they ruin it yet?'

8th was close, I wont lie, but they have not yet crossed that red line. They are getting there, but we are still ok.

Just watch the release video for 10th!

 

[Scribe]

I mean, I guarantee a bunch of "grimdark" stuff you like is technically equally classifiable as hopepunk. Not all of, it but like, probably a significant double-digit fraction, so I'm not sure I entirely buy "anathema".

If the 'good guys can win' and fundamentally change the setting, its not grimdark.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It didnt really change. Yes, 8th was a blip (and a terrible one but we likely hate/like it for different reasons!) but 10th brought us back to where things have really been since 3/4/5th codified the 'modern' setting.

Nah.

3/4/5 were humourless rubbish. Absolute rubbish.

And no, they didn't "codify" the modern setting. 2E did. I've had this argument at great length with assorted 40K people, and it always ends the same way, the person claiming 2E didn't do that ends up admitting they weren't very familiar with 2E, because they started later than that.

You see it with 40K podcasts even when they go back to 2E lore, they're always astonished, because some concept they thought was later is full-formed already there.

If the 'good guys can win' and fundamentally change the setting, its not grimdark.

Sure, you can define it that way, most people don't but you can, and in that case, Dark Sun has absolutely never, ever, even for one second been grimdark, because literally first adventure, which came packed into the Dark Sun boxed set in 1991, features the good guys killing Kalak and fundamentally changing the setting. So what are you even upset about lol?

Also, most literary grimdark isn't by that token. Malazan isn't. The First Law isn't. None of Moorcock's stuff is. Black Company isn't. In fact, the only fantasy settings I can think of which are 100% definitely grimdark by that logic, Prince of Nothing and A Land Fit for Heroes. Which I think most fantasy readers would consider like ultra-grimdark.

 

[Eubani]

For Darksun to work bad guys have to be allowed to do bad things and players have to have freedom of choice on how to react to bad things despite push back from bad guy and society.

 

[Scribe]

Nah.

3/4/5 were humourless shite. Absolute shite.

And no, they didn't "codify" the modern setting. 2E did. I've had this argument at great with 40K people, and it always ends the same way, the person claiming 2E didn't do that ends up admitting they weren't very familiar with 2E, because they started later than that.

You see it with 40K podcast even when they go back to 2E lore, they're always astonished, because some concept they thought was later is full-formed already there.

I admit, a TON of it was set up in 2e, but if I had to bet, hmm some of the art however and now you have me second guessing lol

 

[Chaltab]

The problem is that Dark Sun was never really a humor setting, so a grimdark Dark Sun doesn't work. Grimdark only works as a parody.

 

[Scribe]

Grimdark only works as a parody.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I admit, a TON of it was set up in 2e, but if I had to bet, hmm some of the art however and now you have me second guessing lol

See lol!

3E established the Necrons, T'au and Drukhari, so that does matter, but it also de-established a bunch of stuff, much of which has since been re-established. The biggest lore changes which weren't just introducing those three races were actually much later, with the whole Primaris thing profoundly reworking by far the most popular faction in the game.

The Sisters of Battle are 2E even, and I think de-perv-ified in like 6E or 7E? But I couldn't swear to it. It was after 3/4/5E though, pretty sure.

I think if you go back and really look a 2E 40K from 1990 to 1998, read the White Dwarfs, read the lore in everything to Adeptus Titanicus to Battlefleet Gothic*, you will find like 90% of everything that's like major lore, and isn't Primaris or later (or relating to the three new races above, all of three of whom are kind of "lesser" - Necrons the least lesser as it were, which is funny because in 1998 I fully expected them to get basically Squat'd within a decade! Their lore did get changed drastically at one point, but I forget which edition - it's definitely one of the ones after 3E, but I'm not sure if it's 5, 6, or 7 or even 8), is established there.

Oh Horus Heresy absolutely changed a ton of lore too, but that's outside the scope of this because it's none of the editions.

* = Not demanding you do this, I only did it because I was a teenager and had a lot of time on my hands and loved 40K lol.

 

[Chaltab]

Name one non-parodic grimdark that doesn't suck.

 

[Sacrosanct]

"What's dark sun?"

The answer is different today, then i you ask that question after a hypothetical hopepunk retcon is unleashed on the world.

I'm not trying to be flippant, but that still doesn't answer my question. What does that take away from you?