More Dark SUn tidbits by Rich Baker

[Nebulous]

One thing that really worries me, and something 4e has shown great propensity for, is that the art direction and layout are going to follow the same patterns as all the other books. Art is not everything of course, but it can certainly convey a HUGE sense of a setting, and DS has oodles of flavor. I really liked the Wayne Reynolds cover (although i usually disapprove of his work), but if the interior is just more random pics thrown together without a sense of theme i will very dissapointed. Dammit, i want a *pretty* gamebook, not just a utilitarian one.

 

[avin]

Agreed, Nebulous, I know that 4E style pleases some people around (and some 4vengers defend it just because it's their favorite edition), but I want DS4E looks as beautiful as FRCS3E.

Pathfinder's book of monsters preview beats any 4E book by miles, IMO.

 

[wedgeski]

Scheduling conflicts.

Wait... has anyone ever seen you two in the same room together?

/me looks Mouseferatu up and down

 

[avin]

Scheduling conflicts.

get your dirty modron-basher hands away from my dark sun, you silly two-headed troll lover

 

[Henrix]

At a minimum, Half-Giants had the iconic "Stomp" power and psionic aptitude.

You mean, they had that in 3e, where there was no Dark Sun (well, almost none). And that makes it iconic for the Dark Sun version of the race?

In 2e they doubled what they rolled on their hp dice - why would not that be iconic instead?
Or perhaps we should just say that in 4e they can ignore some of the damage they take, like a goliath, instead of vastly increasing their hp?

It seems to me that goliaths could make rather good half-giants with some minor tweaks.

 

[Dausuul]

Well, a large PC race is never gonna happen - and it'd be murder to have it happen. You'd be much easier to flank, but a lot of your "close burst 1" powers would be overkill. It really messes with the system.

I think you're overstating the impact. I had a player run a minotaur warden for a few sessions not long ago, and because I didn't have any Medium-sized minotaur minis at the time, I gave him a Large-sized one instead.

It did change the combat dynamic some, but it didn't throw the whole system out of whack. As you say, Large characters are much easier to flank. They also provoke more opportunity attacks, and they're more vulnerable to being swarmed by melee minions. On the plus side, their close burst powers cover a bigger area, as does their own opportunity attack zone.

When fighting in close quarters, there are additional effects both good and bad; they have a harder time maneuvering, but they can also do a better job of blocking for their allies.

All in all, I would say being Large-sized is a net positive, but far from overwhelming. Large characters are good at exactly what you'd expect them to be good at. They make excellent defenders and are generally strong in a "heavy melee" role, but don't do well in classes that call for evasive, skirmish-style tactics.

 

[hexgrid]

One thing that really worries me, and something 4e has shown great propensity for, is that the art direction and layout are going to follow the same patterns as all the other books.

This is explicitly intentional- the "everything is core" philosophy of 4e also applies to trade dress. So don't expect the Dark Sun books to look significantly different from any other 4e books.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Well, IMHO they fall short beacuse they... are short (ugh).

HG in the original material were iconically big. I don't think any race smaller than Large can give me the same feel. The same happened with the 3e rendition of HG. They didn't feel right to me.

Personally, I'd rather have Large sized half-giants too. It'd be nice to take them back to their roots. However, I don't see WotC allowing a Large sized creature any time soon, due to balance issues. My guess is that the half-giant, no matter the presentation, will be on the upper side of medium.

If I can't have a playable, balanced PC race of Large Half-Giants, I'd rather really only have them as a monster race and use them as the sorcerer-kings' bodyguards, like I almost always did.

I'd prefer to save the feeling of the setting than having a PC race more.

Personally, I'd like to have the half-giant as a playable race since they were back in 2e. To take that option away would be to take away a part of the setting, IMO.

At a minimum, Half-Giants had the iconic "Stomp" power and psionic aptitude.

Those were abilities that were added on after Dark Sun in the Expanded Psionics Handbook in 3.5. If you look at a Dark Sun half-giant and the XPH half-giant, they are very different beasts. The XPH version added the stomp power, but shrank the half-giant by 3 feet and put it on a massive weight loss program. If anything defined the Dark Sun half-giant beyond their massive size, it was their axis alignment, an aspect of them that I don't think will work in 4e.

So to me, saying the goliath wouldn't work for the half-giant since they can't "stomp" is a false analogy since the 3.5 half-giant was so different from its 2e inspiration. Now, if you argued about the height difference and the axis alignment, I'd be there with you.

Question is, did the goliath kill the half-giant and take his stuff?

 

[Squizzle]

It must be difficult for an artist or writer with multiple personality disorder.

"Sorry, I can't that month. My other self is writing Kirk/Spock fanfic then. No, that doesn't pay the bills, why do you ask?"
"When I proposed this novel last year I was a different personality! I have no idea how to write the ending I had in mind, and the guy usually only emerges in response to Christmas! And the editor expects my final draft this July! And all other personalities are currently going through writer's block, except the analphabet!"

By far the worst type of phabet!

 

[Mouseferatu]

It must be difficult for an artist or writer with multiple personality disorder.

Here's the dirty little secret about writers:

We all have over-inflated egos. You have to be at least somewhat egotistical to believe (even if it's true) that other people want to read what you have to write.

On the other hand, we're also extremely insecure. We're convinced that any minute now, people are going to decide that we're frauds who can't really write. We're convinced that we'll never be able to write anything remotely as good as [insert favorite writer here]. We're far more likely to take a few negative reviews to heart than we are a whole truckload of positive ones.

So honestly? Multiple Personality Disorder would be redundant.