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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nifft" data-source="post: 1007951" data-attributes="member: 6562">The only issue with that is then Orcs overlap the Gnome's Favored Classes... maybe gnomes could have different Favored Classes, then?It's a reasonable ability for a monster, but IMHO too strong for a PC race. Perhaps give them Improved Grapple or Improved Bull Rush for free instead? Those still grant the wrasslin' theme, but use standard Feats for the mechanism.1) Why no seasons? Even if all parts of the globe are always equidistant from the Sun, which need NOT be the case, you can still have gigantic macro-weather systems which periodically warm first this ocean, then that ocean, and the temperature differentials cause storms, high-altitude clouds, and other reasons for season-like effects to occur. If the Dyson Sphere isn't exactly centered on the Sun, you have an even better excuse for seasons.2) Sun Spot: it's circular, right? So it's not going to affect much of the Sphere at all, is it? And remember, the reflected light from the interior of the sphere is going to be more than enough to give significant light to the blacked-out zone.Moreover, remember that unless the sun spot is large enough to cover exactly half of the sun, it's not going to eliminate light -- it's just going to dim the sun a little bit. And if it is as large as half of the sun, it's going to be a very frequent and highly expected phenomenon.Finally, you don't need a sunspot to give the world darkness: just say that, for no apparent reason, the sun "goes out" (shines no more brightly than Earth's moon) for a week or two (or three...). Some people think it's a divine test, and requires some sort of show of faith -- fasting, mass human sacrifice, etc.. In reality, it's when the nano-bots that maintain the Dyson sphere need extra juice to make a major repair. Warnings are broadcast (via FM Radio), but in a format and language none will ever understand.3) Cloud systems: they could get really, really big. Even here on Earth, it can be quite dark at high noon, given thick enough clouds.4) Dust clouds: if there are deserts, it's possible that very, very large dust clouds could form. One of these could easily block out the sun for a period of time.You're forgetting underground (or inside a tree). There are ALWAYS burrowing critters, and the earth has to be at least as deep as the largest tree's root system. There's plenty of space in which darkness rules, even if there's never a real night.Finally, if a normal day on the surface of the Earth can get twilight-dark due to thick clouds, imagine how dark the depths of the jungle will be at that time... dark as moonless starlight, I'd imagine.Anyway, what I plan to steal is the idea of long, very light days, and the resulting giant trees. I'm going to do it with a Jupiter-like planet, with a tilted axis, in an Earth-like orbit, with an Earth-sized moon. The moon will get light half the year from both the planet and the sun, and would suffer about a week of total darkness when the planet eclipsed the sun. Even then, though, the planet's rings would be bright lines in the sky. -- Nifft</blockquote>

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