Awesome Darksun map online

[Lt. Tyler]

This is a really cool interactive map of Athas. You can drag it around, and click on places of interest for a description of it.

Back in the day we played a bunch of Dark Sun stuff. Lots of fun.

http://www.digitalwanderer.net/darksun/

[Corgano]

Thanks Lt. Tyler, I love Dark Sun stuff. I never had the chance to play any of it though except for the computer games. I did however collect most of the 2nd. campaigns/modules/books and stuff for it.

Apparently what’s old is what’s new again as they’re re-releasing the Dark Sun stuff for 4th edition. I sooooo hope our DM will at least run some type of campaign there for a while. Anyways…

Thanks again,
Cor

[Lt. Tyler]

The rerelease of Dark Sun is definitely cool. As a setting it’s just too cool.

So you and your group playing 4E now Cor? Or sticking with 3? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

[Corgano]

@Lt. Tyler wrote:

So you and your group playing 4E now Cor? Or sticking with 3? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

We made the move to 4th edition, no more 3.5 for us. My thoughts on it.. Hmm… Well, I still enjoy playing the game and getting together with friends and all that. And I think that’s the most important part. It has a different pace about it as well, a bit faster pace that is.

However, our group is still getting used to the new rules and all that. Say, feats for instance. There are several feats that multiple party members could use that would feed off each other getting stronger and such, but we’re not that coordinated, lol. We each tend to try to make our own characters stronger and aren’t concerned with the feats of others. And we have a tendancy to fight everything. We’re not very diplomatic if you can’t tell. 🙂

4th edition has a little bit of a feel of Magic the card game to it as well. As you have various powers that you “spend” as you play. And these are printed on little cards that you can throw on the table when they get used. Some powers are daily, encounter, or at will. Daily are the strongest, encounter are medium strength, and at will are the lowest usually, but can be played over and over in an encounter.

Some things that are time sinks are remembering which creatures have been cursed, or blinded, or slowed or whatever and for how long. This happens a lot usually as various powers affect critters in different ways. And conversly, the critters can (and do) do that stuff often to us.

Take blinded for example, a critter blinds a few of us and we take a -5 to our attack rolls. This will continue untill you make a saving throw of 10 or above. Usually with no modifiers either. So, roll poorly and you’ll be blinded most of the encounter. Then, the critter may have another attack that weakens so you only do half damage. Things can add up quickly. We do a lot of writing as we’re playing and keeping track of all those affects.

Just last night, as a matter of fact, one of our players wasn’t there and his character was being played by someone else. Unfortunately, he was killed and we haven’t had a chance to see if we can find his body yet to take him to a temple to get raised. So, basically 4th edition is just like any other edition in that reguard.

The usualy saying still applys when asked, “Hey, how are we doing?” and the response is, “Same as always…” and “Oh, that bad, huh?”

To sum up, still an enjoyable game but it’s not the same D&D any more. It’s D&D crossed with Magic, and a bit of a computer game feel to it. Faster paced… at first maybe. But once you get into it there’s a lot of things to write down every round and keep track of. And there aren’t people doing tons of damage any more. No mage casting fire ball for 100d10 of damage. It’s more about each critter and learning their strengths and weaknesses as you play.

Hope I didn’t ramble on too long. That’s about the extent of my knowledge so far. We’re only level 6ish characters at the moment. But, I think we’ve been through enough to give us a good taste of what things are like in 4th Ed. Hope that answers your question and if you (Or anyone else) have any more questions please feel free to ask.

Peace,
Cor

[Lt. Tyler]

Thanks for your perspective Cor.

I’ve heard the “card game” analogy before, and that’s a shame.

As for the continual rerolling of certain effects, like the blindness, that seems to be a pretty stupid mechanic. Why adding an extra roll to a round is good isn’t clear to me. Why not just a single roll at the onset of the effect. If the designer wants different probabilities, then change the dice rolled.

I really don’t see the rationale.

[s-m-r]

I’ve been completely removed from the p&p version of D&D for quite some time now, so I may be a bit skewed towards old-skool. But from what I’ve heard the mechanic for continued attempts at resistance isn’t so bad in my book. I like the notion of being able to summon up the chutzpah or whatever to eventually resist a magical effect of some kind, though I assume that low-level characters will end up with the short end of the stick most of the time. I remember how Hold Person was devastating to a low-level party.

Of course, everything else I’ve heard about the newest version doesn’t look promising. I remember playing v3 and maybe some 3.5…Didn’t like it. 🙁

Cor, thanks for the thorough assessment.

[Lt. Tyler]

Good point s-m-r; I think I was just focused on the time added to each round to make another roll:

“Dude, you’re up. Roll your attack”

“Hey, where’s the goddamn Mountain Dew”

“C’mon roll”

“Aw man, Slappy here drank the last of the Mountain Dew”

*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLCHHHHHHHH*

“Ok, I slash at the orc, crying ‘Verily I saith unto you, Meet Thy Maker Evil Doer'”

*rolls*

“Do I hit”

“Wait, wait, aren’t you still blinded? Hmm….yeah, you are. Roll to see if you overcome it.”

Seems kinda like a PITA pure mechanics wise. Not that that’s inherently bad, just not sure the benefit of the mechanic (different shaped probability distribution) is warranted.

Of course, none of this is based in any RL experience whatsoever. It’s all based in the crazy swirl going on in the noggin!

[Corgano]

Well, if you have an affect placed on you that a roll will end (Which is the way it is a lot of times) That roll always comes at the end of your turn. So, if you miss the roll you know next round that you’ll still be blinded and take a -5 to attacks or what not.

But yeah, placing marks and curses on monsters can add up quickly for the DM to keep track of as well. But yeah, it can be a pain in the arse to keep track of for everyone.

*Looks over Lt. Tylers last post* Yeah, that’s pretty much the way it is when someone drinks the last of the Mountain Dew! 🙂

Peace,
Cor

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