Flavor/architecture of Tablelands cities (and a rules question) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Flavor/architecture of Tablelands cities (and a rules question)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
darksoulman
Nov 30, 2005 4:24:56 As my Dark Sun campaign is just about to start, I'm trying to catch as much of the flavor of Athas and the Tablelands as possible to portray to the players. So far, I've detailed the following (with pics where appropriate):

* Nature of Athas (terrain types, weather, travel etc)
* Social structure of Athas (SKs, templars, nobles etc)
* Races and classes
* Peoples of Athas (cities, villages, nomads etc)
* Short intro to Tyr and merchant houses (the players will initially be connected to a merchant house, Wavir, in Tyr)

If someone has any suggestions of further areas that would be nice to flesh out, by all means go ahead (obviously, personalities of Tyr, other cities and so forth will be detailed as the campaign unfolds)!

Although the City-State of Tyr supplement describes some of the architecture, I still find it kind of lacking (unlike the Ivory Triangle, for example, which describes Nibenay pretty well). I always like to show off some real-world equalents so the players have something well-known they can build their imaginations on. This is what the City-State supplement says:

City-State of Tyr wrote:
#2
elonarc
Nov 30, 2005 6:37:23
And finally, the rules question...In Dark Sun 3, both Half-Giants and Thri-Kreen start play as the equivalent of a third level character (due to their 2 HDs from race). Has anyone tried starting HG/Kreen chars as 2nd level, without the extra racial HD, or is this deemed to unbalanced? I'd like to start the party at 2nd level if possible...

Unbalanced? Unbalanced?! Yes, very very very much. The racial HDs are a whole lot weaker than class levels and this is intended by the rules. The racial HDs are so weak so that they balance out the lots of benefits the creatures get. I guess replacing the racial HDs with class levels would increase the ECL to +3 (making them level 5 characters).
I strongly advise against doing this and try to cope with the problem in a different way. Perhaps cut some of the attribute boni and give them the remaining boni when they reach 3rd level.
#3
zombiegleemax
Dec 02, 2005 6:59:49 Yeah, point of order here!
DS 3 says Thri-kreen and Half-giants are ECL +3
Terrors of athas gives them ECL +1

Regardless of the inconsistency,
personally I think +3 is too severe, and would opt for +2 instead,
or am I being an old softy?
#4
nytcrawlr
Dec 02, 2005 8:03:34
Yeah, point of order here!
DS 3 says Thri-kreen and Half-giants are ECL +3
Terrors of athas gives them ECL +1

LA +1 with 2 HD, *that* is an ECL of 3.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 darksoulman Nov 30, 2005 4:24:56	As my Dark Sun campaign is just about to start, I'm trying to catch as much of the flavor of Athas and the Tablelands as possible to portray to the players. So far, I've detailed the following (with pics where appropriate): * Nature of Athas (terrain types, weather, travel etc) * Social structure of Athas (SKs, templars, nobles etc) * Races and classes * Peoples of Athas (cities, villages, nomads etc) * Short intro to Tyr and merchant houses (the players will initially be connected to a merchant house, Wavir, in Tyr) If someone has any suggestions of further areas that would be nice to flesh out, by all means go ahead (obviously, personalities of Tyr, other cities and so forth will be detailed as the campaign unfolds)! Although the City-State of Tyr supplement describes some of the architecture, I still find it kind of lacking (unlike the Ivory Triangle, for example, which describes Nibenay pretty well). I always like to show off some real-world equalents so the players have something well-known they can build their imaginations on. This is what the City-State supplement says: City-State of Tyr wrote:
#2 elonarc Nov 30, 2005 6:37:23	And finally, the rules question...In Dark Sun 3, both Half-Giants and Thri-Kreen start play as the equivalent of a third level character (due to their 2 HDs from race). Has anyone tried starting HG/Kreen chars as 2nd level, without the extra racial HD, or is this deemed to unbalanced? I'd like to start the party at 2nd level if possible... Unbalanced? Unbalanced?! Yes, very very very much. The racial HDs are a whole lot weaker than class levels and this is intended by the rules. The racial HDs are so weak so that they balance out the lots of benefits the creatures get. I guess replacing the racial HDs with class levels would increase the ECL to +3 (making them level 5 characters). I strongly advise against doing this and try to cope with the problem in a different way. Perhaps cut some of the attribute boni and give them the remaining boni when they reach 3rd level.
#3 zombiegleemax Dec 02, 2005 6:59:49	Yeah, point of order here! DS 3 says Thri-kreen and Half-giants are ECL +3 Terrors of athas gives them ECL +1 Regardless of the inconsistency, personally I think +3 is too severe, and would opt for +2 instead, or am I being an old softy?
#4 nytcrawlr Dec 02, 2005 8:03:34	Yeah, point of order here! DS 3 says Thri-kreen and Half-giants are ECL +3 Terrors of athas gives them ECL +1 LA +1 with 2 HD, that is an ECL of 3.