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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7316398" data-attributes="member: 42582">By "comsology" I mean that metaphysical aspect of fantasy as it figures in D&D: planes of existence, otherworldly forces arrayed against one another in struggles that link the fate of those planes to the mortal world, etc.I think 4e takes it seriously in a few senses: (1) many PC builds connect the PC to the cosmology (eg dwarves vs giants; Raven Queen devotees  vs Orcus; warlocks and their patrons; elves and the Feywild; etc); (2) the tiers of play explicitly reference the cosmology, and PP and especially ED choices strengthen the connections of PCs to it; (3) these cosmological elements are statted out and so useable in play; and so (4) the connections that are referenced at (1) and (2) can, because of (3), actually become the subject matter of play at the table without the game breaking or the GM having to make everything up from whole cloth.This also solves the problem of establishing meaningful stakes for ultrapowerful PCs without collapsing into self-parody: an issue since at least 1st ed AD&D (with its charts that notionally contemplated 29th level MUs etc but rules, Monster Manuals, etc that only worked up to about 12th level or so).A flip side of this is that I personally wonder whether Dark Sun can really work all the way to 30th level, because I'm not sure the relative mundanity of Sorcerer Kings etc can fit with the mechanical and fictional "heft" of epic tier PCs. It seems that it might work better as a setting that caps out at paragon. The general lesson (if I'm right - and I'm conjecturing, not talking from experience) would be that if you don't want your D&D to take cosmology seriously, and are going to focus on more worldly/mundane challenges, then recognise that and don't force your most gonzo elements onto that setting. (But then, to reference the other part of my post that you quoted, you better be prepared to make that mundane stuff sing, and I worry a bit that even 4e doesn't have quite enough to make that work - although I think [MENTION=6696971]Manbearcat[/MENTION] would disagree, if he's paying attention, as he always has interesting ideas - a lot better than mine! -  for how to make skill challenges work for mundane physical/geography challenges of the sort that Dark Sun should involve.)</blockquote>

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