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.

 

[Garmel]

That's simple. Don't buy it. Pretend like the book doesn't exist. Then your precious ideas about how Dark Sun should be can be maintained.

No one has to buy these setting books. If (general) you do... knowing full well you aren't going to like the result... it means that you are just slapping yourselves in the face for no good reason other than wanting to make yourself upset. But that's not WotC's responsibility to keep you from doing that.

Well, some of us don't want a classic setting being altered because a few people can't handle some of the darker elements.

Athas is a bad place that's in need of heroes. Don't water it down.

 

[mamba]

How will they handle the problematic content of Dark Sun? Will this be a big sourcebook or a big adventure? Is it going to be a boxed set or one or more books?

I assume like DL, some pages on the setting and mostly an adventure, not sure they will repeat the three-book approach

Those are all interesting questions, but I think there's one main question that's on everyone's mind...

How are they going to shoehorn Baldur's Gate into Dark Sun??

turns out Elturel did not fall into hell but onto DS

 

[Michael Blackett]

Am now seriously looking at the PoD on Drivethrurpg for the AD&D 2e version of Dark Sun now, which i was fond of.

Have concerns that the treatment WotC will be along the lines of The Spelljammer slipcase book set or the Planescape one.

 

[Mecheon]

Well, some of us don't want a classic setting being altered because a few people can't handle some of the darker elements.

Athas is a bad place that's in need of heroes. Don't water it down.

Athas is also the one where they published rules for surfing druids back in the day. TSR watered it down to begin with, Mind Lords of the Last Sea exists.

Whatever we get isn't going to be as that as, that.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Well, some of us don't want a classic setting being altered because a few people can't handle some of the darker elements.

Athas is a bad place that's in need of heroes. Don't water it down.

You own the old stuff right? So your Dark Sun game isn't being altered.

Or does your ego require everyone else to want and play the same Dark Sun you do? Well, that's not going to happen because neither WotC nor any of other thousands of players out there in the world care about your own particular wants and needs, so they will do, design, and play the game the way they want.

You have your Dark Sun, they have theirs. As is always the case.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Am now seriously looking at the PoD on Drivethrurpg for the AD&D 2e version of Dark Sun now, which i was fond of.

Which is exactly how everyone who wants to play a particular setting from a particular moment in publishing time should do.

 

[Garmel]

You own the old stuff right? So your Dark Sun game isn't being altered.

Or does your ego require everyone else to want and play the same Dark Sun you do? Well, that's not going to happen because neither WotC nor any of other thousands of players out there in the world care about your own particular wants and needs, so they will do, design, and play the game the way they want.

You have your Dark Sun, they have theirs. As is always the case.

You should put your ire toward those trying to change the setting, not those who want to keep the original flavor.

Those who want to change the setting because it bothers them are the ones who are in the wrong because they want the company to conform to their way of thinking.

Talk about egos....

 

[DEFCON 1]

Does your ego require WOTC to conform to a minority opinion and release a watered down version of the setting?

You should put your ire toward those trying to change the setting, not those who want to keep the original flavor.

No... I don't CARE if they update the setting or don't update the setting. Because I use the material from whatever setting I'm playing at the time said material was what I want to use.

I occasionally run Eberron. I use all my 3.5 Eberron books (about a dozen) to supply me with whatever Eberron material I want/need. I have since then bought the 4E Eberron books, the 5E Eberron books, and a bunch of DMs Guild Eberron books. In all of these books, a number of things get changed (including of course all the mechanics.) But that doesn't matter to me, because my Eberron campaigns are run using what I want to use from the books I want to use them from.

Same thing with Dark Sun. If I want to play Dark Sun in the manner it was made during 2E... then I would use the material from 2E and run my game. I'd probably also update all the required mechanics myself as well if necessary, rather than wait on and reuly on WotC. Because my Dark Sun game would be MY Dark Sun game.

 

[Umbran]

Those who want to change the setting because it bothers them are the ones who are in the wrong because they want the company to conform to their way of thinking.

Talk about egos....

Mod Note:
Please don't pretend that there's only one group who wants the company to conform to their own way of thinking. Or that one group is more right, or more wrong, for doing so.

 

[Remathilis]

Well, some of us don't want a classic setting being altered because a few people can't handle some of the darker elements.

Athas is a bad place that's in need of heroes. Don't water it down.

Does it?

Most of the vibe I get from people who liked the classic setting is that they don't want heroes. They want bad people who do bad things to even badder people. Good isn't a moral choice, it's an unintended consequence. Which is why preserving should be weak and paladins non-existent and slavery part of society. You basically play a villain who is a little less villainous than the actual villains of the setting.