Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 mouthymerc Oct 01, 2006 20:15:19	Okay, apparently there is a god-awful long thread somewhere about these articles. If it is still around, could someone direct me to it. Failing that, I have couple of questions. 1. The defiler rules in Dragon #315. In regards to the defiler score itself. Am I correct in saying the the score only comes into play when a Detect Defiler spell is cast. It seems to me that the score only affects your aura while the amount of points collected affects you more. 2. The second question is a little more complex. I've seen hints of diatribes for and against the Dragon & Dungeon Dark Sun articles. I'm not too interested on anyone's views on the fluff parts, like the dwarves worshipping the dragon-kings or that it is not what the world of Dark Sun would be like in 300 years. Stuff like that is easily swept under the rug. I'm more interested in unbalanced mechanics and anything that would skew the game. So, my question is, what is mechanically wrong with the articles.
#2 mouthymerc Oct 03, 2006 9:49:19	Anyone?
#3 csk Oct 03, 2006 10:18:38	1. I seem to recall the defiler score was pretty useless. But isn't there something about becoming a t'liz when it gets too high? 2. I don't think anyone has come up wth balance errors from a 3.5 standpoint, except possibly the inclusion of monks who don't require larger amounts of equipment to be effective. Since Athas is traditionally magic item poor, this may be a probelm when the other characters don't have sufficient magic items to be on par with their supposed effectiveness. Others find no problem here saying that magic items can easily be replaced with psionic items.
#4 redkank_dup Oct 03, 2006 12:00:22	Okay, apparently there is a god-awful long thread somewhere about these articles. If it is still around, could someone direct me to it. Failing that, I have couple of questions. You need to hunt through the old boards to find that kind of stuff: http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=214718 http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=143619 http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=231267 There are probably a couple of others, but these are the ones that stuck out after a quick search. Get 'em while they're hot - those boards won't be around for much longer. As for your other questions, I must confess to an overwhelming sense of apathy in that department. Sorry.
#5 mouthymerc Oct 04, 2006 7:21:01	1. I seem to recall the defiler score was pretty useless. But isn't there something about becoming a t'liz when it gets too high? Thought as much. The defiler becomes a t'liz if he allows himself to collect too many points (which are different from the score). 2. I don't think anyone has come up wth balance errors from a 3.5 standpoint, except possibly the inclusion of monks who don't require larger amounts of equipment to be effective. Since Athas is traditionally magic item poor, this may be a probelm when the other characters don't have sufficient magic items to be on par with their supposed effectiveness. Others find no problem here saying that magic items can easily be replaced with psionic items. Good to know. Thanks.
#6 mouthymerc Oct 04, 2006 7:29:56	You need to hunt through the old boards to find that kind of stuff: http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=214718 http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=143619 http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=231267 There are probably a couple of others, but these are the ones that stuck out after a quick search. Get 'em while they're hot - those boards won't be around for much longer. Hmm, some interesting reading there. Strikes me that a majority of dislike was in the fluff department. That's understandable. Fans are always going to have a particular view of how things should be, otherwise they wouldn't be fans. As for your other questions, I must confess to an overwhelming sense of apathy in that department. Sorry. It's okay. I just wanted to know if anyone saw any discrepancies in the mechanics. I didn't want to dig up any dead kanks and start putting the boots to them.
#7 xlorepdarkhelm_dup Oct 05, 2006 14:26:43	Hmm, some interesting reading there. Strikes me that a majority of dislike was in the fluff department. That's understandable. Fans are always going to have a particular view of how things should be, otherwise they wouldn't be fans. Dislike in the fluff department (as you put it), as well as in the mechanic department (significantly watered down to mirror the core D&D 3.5e rules, including the addition of character classes that make little sense in Dark Sun when pulled directly from the PHB), over-simplifaction of other areas (like combining templars and clerics as a single class), addition of metal, and therefore radical changes to the mechanics involving equipment (because of the sudden unexplained proliferation of metal in the world). The mechanics behind the Defilers I liked... but I didn't like the T'liz thing. I restructured it for my own campaigns, also throwing in a huge lob of the Addiction rules from the Book of Vile Darkness, making Defiling a pretty nasty addiction in my games. And I tend to be of the same boat as Brax is, when it comes to fluff/flavor for a setting. The mechanics and rules should augment/assist the fluff & flavor of the setting, not the other way around. I don't like the idea that the flavor/fluff is discarded in favor of mechanics (not a big fan of metagaming and/or powergaming), and I tend to rule that if the mechanics don't fit the setting, then it is time to adjust the mechanics to make it work, rather than changing the setting to fit the mechanics.
#8 mouthymerc Oct 05, 2006 18:03:00	Dislike in the fluff department (as you put it), as well as in the mechanic department (significantly watered down to mirror the core D&D 3.5e rules, including the addition of character classes that make little sense in Dark Sun when pulled directly from the PHB), Whether or not you use the classes has nothing to do with mechanics. Mechanically they work, at least in my other D&D games. Whether they fit the flavour is up to the GM and players. Personally, I always try to accomadate my players as they can come up with some fun ideas. over-simplifaction of other areas (like combining templars and clerics as a single class), Actually, I like this aspect. addition of metal, and therefore radical changes to the mechanics involving equipment (because of the sudden unexplained proliferation of metal in the world). The article didn't seem to advocate the use of metal so much as just having there for cmparison. Besides, as the GM, I decide how much is available. The mechanics behind the Defilers I liked... but I didn't like the T'liz thing. I restructured it for my own campaigns, also throwing in a huge lob of the Addiction rules from the Book of Vile Darkness, making Defiling a pretty nasty addiction in my games. Again, this is something I like, even the t'liz thing. The only thing I would add are some conditions for having a high score. And I tend to be of the same boat as Brax is, when it comes to fluff/flavor for a setting. The mechanics and rules should augment/assist the fluff & flavor of the setting, not the other way around. I don't like the idea that the flavor/fluff is discarded in favor of mechanics (not a big fan of metagaming and/or powergaming), and I tend to rule that if the mechanics don't fit the setting, then it is time to adjust the mechanics to make it work, rather than changing the setting to fit the mechanics. In the end, though, we, as GMs, tend to adapt most of it to fit what we want. Which is what I'm going to do. My concern was any disparities noticed in the mechanics proper that I may have missed since I've only read the articles at this point. Thanks.