I just got a hold of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting and I see a lot of really excellent ideas that I wish had appeared much earlier in the lifespan of 4E.
Themes: Yes it represents a little power creep, but it is a wonderful way to introduce mutually exclusive powers. Just adding more powers to a class can promote far greater power creep through impressive and unforeseen combos. Themes help ensure such combos are kept to a minimum and really let the writers cut loose with fluff.
Primary Ability: It's about time they stopped trying to mix and match ability scores in the majority of paragon paths/epic destinies. I think this actually promotes more to power creep than anything else, but I really like how it makes a paragon path more modular and smooth.
Power Advancement: I like the way several powers have higher level variants written in to them. This also promotes power creep since it allows for unforeseen combos, but it adds an impressive amount of flexibility. A nice balance would be 2 new encounter powers and 2 new dailies, combined with all your powers having the option of advancement.
Fixed Enhancement Bonuses: Some campaigns won't need this, but I really feel like treasure in D&D is more about the + than the fact that a sword bursts into flames. Fixed Enhancement really helps your players enjoy a magic item for it's unique abilities, and makes it easier for DMs who don't like juggling wealth per level.
Variable Attribute Races: This is not new to Dark Sun, but I enjoy how most of the new races have a variable secondary stat. Most players I know won't pick a race that does not have at least one stat in the primary ability for a desired class. Having three stats opens up a race to a much wider variety of possible classes.
Racial Paragon Paths: Also not new to Dark Sun, but anything that makes your race more important than a couple of forgettable powers and a few feats makes me smile. I hope to see more of these, and maybe even some themes based on race as well.
Mental Health Track: I noticed this in the MM3 with Meenlock Corruption. It used the disease track to simulate a mental condition. A lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that you could use Insight to Improve/Maintain/Worsen any number of emotional effects you felt were relevant to your game. Enraged? Depressed? Apathetic? Stressed? Traumatized? Terrified? Insanity? Things like a horrible creature from a Lovecraftian Nightmare, or the death of a character should have some lingering mental health effects.
Themes: Yes it represents a little power creep, but it is a wonderful way to introduce mutually exclusive powers. Just adding more powers to a class can promote far greater power creep through impressive and unforeseen combos. Themes help ensure such combos are kept to a minimum and really let the writers cut loose with fluff.
Primary Ability: It's about time they stopped trying to mix and match ability scores in the majority of paragon paths/epic destinies. I think this actually promotes more to power creep than anything else, but I really like how it makes a paragon path more modular and smooth.
Power Advancement: I like the way several powers have higher level variants written in to them. This also promotes power creep since it allows for unforeseen combos, but it adds an impressive amount of flexibility. A nice balance would be 2 new encounter powers and 2 new dailies, combined with all your powers having the option of advancement.
Fixed Enhancement Bonuses: Some campaigns won't need this, but I really feel like treasure in D&D is more about the + than the fact that a sword bursts into flames. Fixed Enhancement really helps your players enjoy a magic item for it's unique abilities, and makes it easier for DMs who don't like juggling wealth per level.
Variable Attribute Races: This is not new to Dark Sun, but I enjoy how most of the new races have a variable secondary stat. Most players I know won't pick a race that does not have at least one stat in the primary ability for a desired class. Having three stats opens up a race to a much wider variety of possible classes.
Racial Paragon Paths: Also not new to Dark Sun, but anything that makes your race more important than a couple of forgettable powers and a few feats makes me smile. I hope to see more of these, and maybe even some themes based on race as well.
Mental Health Track: I noticed this in the MM3 with Meenlock Corruption. It used the disease track to simulate a mental condition. A lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that you could use Insight to Improve/Maintain/Worsen any number of emotional effects you felt were relevant to your game. Enraged? Depressed? Apathetic? Stressed? Traumatized? Terrified? Insanity? Things like a horrible creature from a Lovecraftian Nightmare, or the death of a character should have some lingering mental health effects.
