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.

 

[Eubani]

If you look at the page for the revised 2e Darksun effects of Preserver and Defiling magic I pasted above you can see the choice was made when memorizing the spell.

 

[Alzrius]

No, that isn't describing a choice made when casting a spell, it's made when preparing spells for the day. The choice to defile at the time of spellcasting was novel to 4e, unless there's something I missed.

No, it's both; the aforementioned book outlines (pages 13-16) that you can use a "gather power when preparing spells" method, or a "gathering power when casting spells" method. The rules for preservers being able to defile (presented on the pages noted in my previous post) work with both options; hence, preservers have the choice to defile while casting a spell in this supplement, and so in AD&D 2E's iteration of Dark Sun.

 

[occam]

No, it's both; the aforementioned book outlines (pages 13-16) that you can use a "gather power when preparing spells" method, or a "gathering power when casting spells" method. The rules for preservers being able to defile (presented on the pages noted in my previous post) work with both options; hence, preservers have the choice to defile while casting a spell in this supplement, and so in AD&D 2E's iteration of Dark Sun.

I still don't see where it lays out an option for a Preserver Wizard to defile on-the-fly when casting, or what the consequences would be if choosing to do so. Using "Method Two" described on p. 14 of Defilers and Preservers, only defilers use the defiling mechanic (Int check on the Gathering Spell Energy table). "For preservers, no game mechanic is necessary"; they just cast like normal wizards based on spells memorized for the day.

However, I never played the Expanded & Revised 2e Dark Sun, only the OG 2e and 4e, so maybe there's something else I'm missing?

 

[Alzrius]

I still don't see where it lays out an option for a Preserver Wizard to defile on-the-fly when casting, or what the consequences would be if choosing to do so. Using "Method Two" described on p. 14 of Defilers and Preservers, only defilers use the defiling mechanic (Int check on the Gathering Spell Energy table). "For preservers, no game mechanic is necessary"; they just cast like normal wizards based on spells memorized for the day.

However, I never played the Expanded & Revised 2e Dark Sun, only the OG 2e and 4e, so maybe there's something else I'm missing?

I pointed it out before: pages 29-32 of that same book. It lays out a mechanic whereby a preserver can choose to defile, and it works with both of the methods laid out on pages 13-16.

So if you opt to use "Method Two," and then make use of "The Road to Corruption" (p. 30), then you have a method where a preserver can defile on-the-fly.

EDIT: Here's a screenshot of the relevant text, which (to reiterate the point) works with both of the methods (i.e. gathering power when memorizing spells, or gathering power when casting spells) laid out in the same sourcebook:

 

[occam]

I pointed it out before: pages 29-32 of that same book. It lays out a mechanic whereby a preserver can choose to defile, and it works with both of the methods laid out on pages 13-16.

So if you opt to use "Method Two," and then make use of "The Road to Corruption" (p. 30), then you have a method where a preserver can defile on-the-fly.

EDIT: Here's a screenshot of the relevant text, which (to reiterate the point) works with both of the methods (i.e. gathering power when memorizing spells, or gathering power when casting spells) laid out in the same sourcebook:

View attachment 415152

Ah, I didn't interpret that to apply to the on-the-fly Method Two, but now I see how one could; thanks for pointing that out. Although... looking at it again, it's only a choice for the first spell cast in a day, so it's still not a choice you make for every spell cast. And the result's pretty dicey compared to the 4e implementation, where you can almost guarantee that defiling is a power-up, or at least not a negative (aside from harming those around you).

 

[Remathilis]

This thread has shown me a lot of people apparently have either forgotten or homebrewed what preserving and defiling meant.

 

[pukunui]

This thread has shown me a lot of people apparently have either forgotten or homebrewed what preserving and defiling meant.

My brain had certainly come up with a different sense of what they were than what was actually in the OG book.

 

[Kurotowa]

This thread has shown me a lot of people apparently have either forgotten or homebrewed what preserving and defiling meant.

If they ever knew. I'll admit, back in the day I read one of the novels and played the video games and never had any of the actual TTRPG books. And the sense I get is that a lot of the setting details and mechanics were different in each of the three. Not to mention that it sounds like Dark Sun and Dark Sun Revised and Dark Sun 4e each had a different set of rules, too.

Time makes memory dim and muddied. Things get forgotten or confused or mixed together. And very often you didn't know as much as you thought you knew.

 

[pemerton]

Using the medusa as an example might not be the best choice, as there have been male medusae in D&D before 2024, most notably in Princes of the Apocolypse.

And in the 4e D&D MM.

 

[pukunui]

If they ever knew. I'll admit, back in the day I read one of the novels and played the video games and never had any of the actual TTRPG books. And the sense I get is that a lot of the setting details and mechanics were different in each of the three. Not to mention that it sounds like Dark Sun and Dark Sun Revised and Dark Sun 4e each had a different set of rules, too.

Time makes memory dim and muddied. Things get forgotten or confused or mixed together. And very often you didn't know as much as you thought you knew.

Indeed. I can’t remember if I got Dark Sun: Shattered Lands or the OG Dark Sun box set first. I have the latter still but haven’t read it properly since I first got it in the mid-90s. Back then, my only experience actually playing Dark Sun was via the Shattered Lands game, which I found so difficult that I never completed it.

I didn’t actually get to play a D&D game set in Dark Sun until around 2013 or 2014, when my then-DM did a tour of the older editions in preparation for us switching to 5e. The adventures he ran weren’t originally set in Dark Sun, though, so it didn’t feel like a Dark Sun campaign to me.