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.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

That... doesn't track. They're keeping another evil sealed, but for the sake of self-preservation, not altruism. Also, you know, sacrificing countless innocents to do so is evil no matter how you slice it.

Also the Dragon doesn’t require them for upkeep in the most recent version.

 

[humble minion]

The Dragon is just a higher level Sorcerer King that the others are aspiring to be like.
Two of the other Sorcerer Kings are already almost another Dragon.

Dregoth, and Nibenay

Pre-Cerulean Storm, there was a nice balance-of-terror/mutually-assured-destruciton dynamic between the sorcerer-kings that I actually appreciate.

All of them watched Borys become a dragon, all of them watched him run wild with agonised murderous insanity for a hundred years in the process. Nobody wants to go through that - Kalak's aborted ritual and Nibenay's arcane researches are all about speeding the transformation through mass human sacrifice, or trying to find away of remaining sane and in control during the metamorphosis. At the same time, nobody wants anyone else to become a dragon, because if they cause as much damage as Borys did, then it's quite possible it tips Athas across the line from 'awful and inhospitable harshness' to 'completely dead planet of sterile ruck and dust'. When Dregoth tried, all the other Tyr Valley sorcerer-kings joined together to kill him. And everyone reluctantly agrees that a dragon is needed because it's the only way to keep Rajaat imprisoned - Borys is NECESSARY, so what happens if another dragon arises and frenzies, and Borys is hurt or killed in trying to put it down?

They're all basically staring at each other with fingers on the big red 'dragon' button. None of them can renounce it for fear of the others. If anyone presses, there's small chance that they win big and a large chance they die, but guaranteed all of Athas loses. The old modules tend to write the sorcerer-kings as cacklingly eeeevil Snidely Whiplashes, but I think this dynamic works better. It allows them to be, in their own minds, just a bunch of clear-eyed pragmatists Making Hard Choices (TM), a bunch of ancient immortal semi-draconic Kissingers who self-justify their fear and ambition and casual contempt for the value of life by with the claim that they are the only ones smart enough truly see and understand the Big Picture (TM).

 

[Chaltab]

That's basically my take.

With the added bonus that, if my players ever managed to defeat Borys, Rajaat would appear as a withered 50 HP husk of a creature from being sealed away for eons. He's immortal but he also hasn't had a meal in 5000 years.

 

[humble minion]

With the added bonus that, if my players ever managed to defeat Borys, Rajaat would appear as a withered 50 HP husk of a creature from being sealed away for eons. He's immortal

I’ve thought a lot about how to handle Rajaat in a hypothetical rerun of the Prism Pentad with PC heroes. If killing a returned Rajaat was that easy, Borys would have done it centuries ago. In the books it’s only managed by a complete deus ex machina which would not only be very hard to emulate on the table, but would be unsatisfying for the players if you did. It’s a tough plotting nut to crack in a way that makes it both internally consistent with the logic of the world, and a worthy, fun, satisfying climax to actually game out.

 

[Chaltab]

I’ve thought a lot about how to handle Rajaat in a hypothetical rerun of the Prism Pentad with PC heroes. If killing a returned Rajaat was that easy, Borys would have done it centuries ago. In the books it’s only managed by a complete deus ex machina which would not only be very hard to emulate on the table, but would be unsatisfying for the players if you did. It’s a tough plotting nut to crack in a way that makes it both internally consistent with the logic of the world, and a worthy, fun, satisfying climax to actually game out.

The idea is that Borys doesn't know Rajaat has wasted away. Or maybe he noticed once but thought it might be a trick. Or perhaps he assumed it was a hallucination or false memory in his madness. Either way he wasn't going to risk it. Besides, it's his excuse for ultimate power and one thing that deters the other SKs from uniting against him. If Rajaat were dead then he doesn't need to exist. He's expendable... and that's not acceptable.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Is that drink BEFORE or AFTER you get kneed in the crotch or tasered/pepper sprayed?

Presumably after, though to be frank I had not even considered this. I am not exactly the most adept at being flirtatious. (Rather the opposite, I'm afraid. Shyness, social anxiety, and being oblivious to cues.)

More like getting a room lol. Complete mystery to typical gamer though

Fair enough! As noted, my knowledge of this sort of thing is, if anything, negative. I know less than nothing about social expectations regarding flirtation/courtship.

 

[Zardnaar]

Presumably after, though to be frank I had not even considered this. I am not exactly the most adept at being flirtatious. (Rather the opposite, I'm afraid. Shyness, social anxiety, and being oblivious to cues.)

Fair enough! As noted, my knowledge of this sort of thing is, if anything, negative. I know less than nothing about social expectations regarding flirtation/courtship.

NZ fairly casual. If this was flirting in NZ it's basicallybget a room.

 

[Zardnaar]

Indeed. Freedom is essentially "go on minor side quests to aid the rebellion while the novel heroes do all the hard work (like fighting the sorcerer-king) and get all the glory." IIRC the adventure even includes a bit where the PCs get to watch the novel heroes do their thing in the arena, but they don't get to help because that's not what happened in the novel.

Yeah a lot a like that or are essentially a tour guide.

Think worst bits of HotDQ. HotDQ is probably better.

I've minefield some, haven't had a good one.

 

[humble minion]

The idea is that Borys doesn't know Rajaat has wasted away. Or maybe he noticed once but thought it might be a trick. Or perhaps he assumed it was a hallucination or false memory in his madness. Either way he wasn't going to risk it. Besides, it's his excuse for ultimate power and one thing that deters the other SKs from uniting against him. If Rajaat were dead then he doesn't need to exist. He's expendable... and that's not acceptable.

Yeah, it makes entire in-world sense, and i like the extra wrinkle of Borys's paranoia having him keep up the pretence all that time.

Would it work as a scenario in game though? It's a bit 'little man behind the curtain'. It might be a letdown to the players if you've hyped up Rajaat all campaign only to make it a complete anticlimax when they finally meet him.

And what happens if the PCs see Rajaat's pathetic frail form and decide 'hey, Borys was a tyrant who lied about everything, this is just a harmless old guy, we'll take him home and give him a pizza and help nurse him back to health'?

Presumably the logical in-world answer is 'Hamanu or Andropinis or someone realises what these idiots are doing, teleports in and kills Rajaat as thoroughly as possible while he's weak, and then leaves'. But would that - or requiring the PCs to stick a sword in a basically helpless prisoner - be a satifying end to a campaign? I'm honestly not sure, it'd depend on the group and the buildup. But that would be my primary worry about this resolution.

 

[mamba]

That... doesn't track. They're keeping another evil sealed, but for the sake of self-preservation, not altruism. Also, you know, sacrificing countless innocents to do so is evil no matter how you slice it.

if you have the option to ‘save’ the world at the cost of a few thousand lives a year or certain destruction, I’d say you kinda have to go with option 1.

Could the SK be nicer, sure, but ultimately they are saving the world from something worse