More Dark SUn tidbits by Rich Baker

[SSquirrel]

... and a power that gives them reach (to simulat their large size) once per encounter.

Ooh! Call it "Elbow Room". Or would that be better for an ability that makes a close burst power add an extra box of range?

 

[Dausuul]

If you put a large guy in front of your party in your average 10' corridor noone else gets to fight.

Sure they do. They move through his space and take up a position beyond him, which they can do without penalty in 4E. Or they just stand behind and use ranged attacks.

 

[Wik]

Sure they do. They move through his space and take up a position beyond him, which they can do without penalty in 4E. Or they just stand behind and use ranged attacks.

Except they can't move through the enemies that have moved up in front of him.

In short, everyone becomes a ranged attacker, so he can plug hallways. Boring.

Or, in an open fight (and let's be honest... an above average number of dark sun games are going to involve open areas... which is a good thing!), the half-giant of large size will attract more people in base to base combat. Which screws up the math - he'll get hit a lot more. Plus he's easier to flank. Plus it's harder for him to get cover. Plus...

Basically, the large half-giant is gonna get destroyed. I don't see the big deal of making him medium. Especially because it's not like it's a change, or anything. the Only real effect of being "large" in 2e was the fact that you took different damage from certain weapons and armour was more expensive to wear... "size of a creature's base" was not a factor.

 

[SSquirrel]

Or, in an open fight (and let's be honest... an above average number of dark sun games are going to involve open areas... which is a good thing!), the half-giant of large size will attract more people in base to base combat. Which screws up the math - he'll get hit a lot more. Plus he's easier to flank. Plus it's harder for him to get cover. Plus...

Basically, the large half-giant is gonna get destroyed. I don't see the big deal of making him medium. Especially because it's not like it's a change, or anything. the Only real effect of being "large" in 2e was the fact that you took different damage from certain weapons and armour was more expensive to wear... "size of a creature's base" was not a factor.

I see this whole comment as just another reason to keep the double HP (and likely double size healing surge as well) method from 2E.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

Hasn't a Gladiator mechanic already been introduced in the early DDI eDragon? They've had Arena fighting feats and Gladiator style mechanics for 4e since close to month 1 or 2 in the 4e lifecycle.

I'm going to assume this is not rhetorical. You are correct. And I'll take it a step further: I went through my Dark Sun stuff this weekend to remember how the AD&D setting was, and I realized that there wasn't very much in the setting that would need a tweak from 4e. The setting did not introduce new mechanics , and defiling and preserving were role-playing consequences only.

I mean, all the priestly classes can be wrapped represented by the cleric. Gladiators are covered by the multi-classing. There was a bit on a character tree, and there was a section on piecemeal armor. But really, it seems that 90% of the crunch needed to play is races and monsters.

 

[Somebloke]

My ideal take is something like this:

Most magic items go bye-bye. Instead, we introduce "Class paths", a set of powers that are activated by magic-item dailies. So, the "templar" path gets magic-item dailies reflecting his service to the SK, while the "Gladiator" path gets some nice bonuses in melee combat, and so on, and so forth.

This keeps the game magic-item low, keeps the power level the same (what with new uses for dailies), and keeps at least a little of the old flavour alive.

Maybe an expanded version of the 'rewards without magic' system in the DMG?

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

So.... just how many books am I going to need if I want to do 4E Darksun?

I'm seeing PHB2 and PHB 3, Darksun being 2 books... people talking about DDI...

I don't want to spend some $300 just to run this stupid thing. I'm refusing to spend the money on a DDI subscription; should I just write off Darksun?

 

[Phaezen]

So.... just how many books am I going to need if I want to do 4E Darksun?

I'm seeing PHB2 and PHB 3, Darksun being 2 books... people talking about DDI...

I don't want to spend some $300 just to run this stupid thing. I'm refusing to spend the money on a DDI subscription; should I just write off Darksun?

Depending on how much you are looking to spend, at a bare minimum you are looking at the 3 core books (PHB1, DMG1 and MM1), the Darksun Campaign guide and the Darksun Players Guide. Anything else is strictly optional really.

 

[Jack99]

Depending on how much you are looking to spend, at a bare minimum you are looking at the 3 core books (PHB1, DMG1 and MM1), the Darksun Campaign guide and the Darksun Players Guide. Anything else is strictly optional really.

Which is basically the same as it has always been.

 

[Rechan]

Hopefully we'll get some new updates from Rich Baker today!