Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Sep 01, 2003 21:13:22	Hello, New to the forum and very happy to see somebody working on Darksun which we played every Sunday for about 5 years or so since it first came out. we are looking forward to playing your 3.5 version. Two questions: 1. Why did you decide to change the attribute bonuses to some of the races from what they were in the original? 2. Why use the ECL rules for some of the races? The original races were pretty well ballanced so why bother. Thanks
#2 flip Sep 01, 2003 21:47:55	I thought I'd seen the last of these questions over a year and a half ago ... Originally posted by stormbird73 Hello, 1. Why did you decide to change the attribute bonuses to some of the races from what they were in the original? 3e changed the way attribute scores are interperted, which had some interesting effects. In 3e core, every races's adjustments were modified from what they'd been in AD&D2. One of the major changes was that there was a much broader range of scores that actually had an effect ... unlike in AD&D2, where you basically had to get a 15 to start seeing any kind of bonus from many attributes, you start getting a boost with scores as "low" as 12. Because of this, we chose to slim down the number of abilities affected by non-ecl races ... 2. Why use the ECL rules for some of the races? The original races were pretty well ballanced so why bother. ... The half-gaint and the thri-kreen were well balanced? :OMG!
#3 zombiegleemax Sep 01, 2003 23:31:51	Thri-kreen were balanced! If they had chitin rot, a lung infection, as well as broken chitin wounds from a lajav . . . Half-giants were balanced too! If you cast shrink on them . . .
#4 zombiegleemax Sep 01, 2003 23:59:18	Thanks for the info. We had half giants and thri kreen mixed in our normal party without any trouble or complaints. I think the key was that the size of the half giant was a liability fairly often and its x4 water consumption was also a large factor in our game. The thri-kreen's inability to use many magic items and not wear armor were a big hinderance once we got into higher level games but it did make it really nice in the lower level games. I think it would depend much upon how willing the DM was to actually make these limitations part of the game.
#5 zombiegleemax Sep 02, 2003 0:24:43	My games in 2nd edition always had problems with thri-kreen in particular. A thri-kreen gladiator was a walking death machine and a half-giant was a tank who used high level fireballs to light his cigar. So he had to wait outside during tavern breaks, but the half-giants could still rip open a new doorway should the need arise. Arakocra were also a bit over powered. Never underestimate the power of flight. I think the team has got the ECL nailed for the current races (though you could alter them by one and not entirely break the system). I still would have rather seen the option for racial levels even before the Arcana Unearthed came out with those options built in so one could in theory play a lower level thri-kreen or half-giant. Perhaps later on we'll see some nifty sets of expanded options from the athas.org team *hint, hint*
#6 zombiegleemax Sep 02, 2003 10:10:04	That sounds like a good idea. I ran a "lower" level Drow in our Dragonstar game after playing a couple of months as the standard ECL 2(i think) Drow. Being so far behind in skills & such was not worth the limited spell casting and stuff. Any word on when Dark Sun 3.5 will be ready?
#7 flip Sep 02, 2003 10:39:12	Originally posted by stormbird73 Any word on when Dark Sun 3.5 will be ready? Really only waiting on the spells/powers to get sorted through.
#8 irdeggman Sep 04, 2003 4:37:56	I agree with Mach2.5's comment on racial levels (or monster class levels as portrayed in Savage Species {prior to Arcana Unearthed and 3.5 forward compatable}. They would be a very good addition and would help eliminate any potential problems with starting party levels. I also agree with the fact that Thri-Kreen and Half-Giants, especially the Kreen were not balanced in 2nd ed. The ones in our parties were the ultimate killing machines, when they gained their poison abilities it made them even more efficient. Oh yeah and they don't sleep. As far as chiton rot - first of all there has to be sufficient water around to have this effect. There are not all that many places on Athas where this comes into play. Using spells to overcome an obstacle is part of the game and doesn't affect that statement that the races weren't balanced with each other. That is the important issue here - would a player running a human feel that he was being jipped if another player got to run a Kreen at the same character level?
#9 zombiegleemax Sep 26, 2003 19:19:02	I have to agree that 2e half-giants were a little over powerful. I played one in a party. She was a psionicist (a beast master, who better than a half-giant to keep inixes and meikellots in line?)Then we got in a melee fight. She is a pacifist type, if such can be said of anyone on Dark Sun. She has started to pick up using a quarterstaff, since the nifty mage in the party had one (though my character's was more of a 2 1/4 staff) I botched a hit roll, then rolled a 20 when the DM said "Well, let's see how hard you hit your party member" We think the remains are in orbit somewhere over Gulg. ECLs won't necessarily fix that, but being a few levels higher than I was might have given that little guy a sporting chance.
#10 jon_oracle_of_athas Oct 08, 2003 15:48:57	ECLs won't necessarily fix that, but being a few levels higher than I was might have given that little guy a sporting chance. The idea is that ECLs *should* fix this to some extent. CafeeineGenasi, you might want to look into the DS3 FAQ in case you have other design questions. It's available at: http://www.sederqvist.com/ao