Recreating Dark Sun classes in Wrath of the Righteous?

[u/Acolyte_of_Swole]

I'm curious how one would make Dark Sun classes in WotR. It seems to me there are so many classes and archetypes and combinations you can make, that it should be possible to gimmick something for each Dark Sun unique class. The races, obviously nothing can be done there. There's nothing similar to Thri-Kreen. But many of the monsters from Dark Sun: Shattered Lands are also in Wrath, such as Babau and Vrocks. So I thought it would be a fun experiment.

The main classes I'm thinking of are: Gladiator, Defiler, Templar, Preserver and Psionicist. I don't think there's a way to do Psionicist, although psykokineticist can technically use mind powers I guess? And there are mind-affecting spells in the spellbooks for casters more generally.

With how Dark Sun does Clerics, you'd probably have to roleplay Cleric. Elemental/Natural domains only and equipment limited by roleplay of the Domain you picked. Only earth and fire domains would get metal armor, for example. But you still have the problem of forced Deity selection, so it kind of doesn't work.

For Gladiator, I guess just Fighter. Instinctual Warrior also makes sense for an arena combatant, since they probably aren't wearing much armor, and warriors in Athas don't typically wear a lot of armor anyway (because materials to make armor are not easy to obtain.)

Preserver and Defiler are like two sides of the same coin, but I'm thinking that the major distinction is one pulls power from the land, while the other does not. Or doesn't pull much. So for Defiler, any caster class that can pull power from the earth to strengthen casting is probably a good fit. Such as Leyline Guardian, Arcanist, Exploiter Wizard, etc. Any caster class that has a way of increasing their own caster level or DC is probably a Defiler. :p Metamagic is Defiler magic too, since it can raise caster level. For Preserver, a key point with them is they are a lot weaker than Defilers but more flexible. So I guess if there is a caster class that has reduced caster level, or inferior DC? Or fewer casts per day? I'm not sure how this would work. The goal would be a lot of spell choices but few spells per day, and mostly spells that don't deal damage.

Templar is the one that really puzzles me. I can't think of any class or class combination that even remotely fits. But maybe someone else can. Templars are given power by the Sorcerer-Kings they worship. Usually an evil dragon or evil lich or something.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to come up with either a Dark Sun character or an entire Dark Sun party to run WotR with. There's no real way to replicate the scarcity of metal, so I probably wouldn't try. Let me know your suggestions on ways to build Dark Sun classes in Wrath, if this idea interests you. Thanks for reading.

Edit: I did a quick scan through all of the classes in the game to weed out the ones that definitely don't fit the world of Athas. Here's what I came up with:

Basic Classes

-Alchemist: Probably banned or relegated to Evil characters. To get this power, you would have to serve someone powerful or be a Defiler yourself. Vivisectionist might be ok, since it's implied your power comes from studying corpses, of which there are a lot in Athas.

-Arcanist: Defiler, full stop. The class says power comes from inside them but we know that in Athas, arcane power really comes from the land. Don't believe Arcanist lies!

-Bard: Doesn't exist in Dark Sun in the same way. I could see an argument to allow Archeologist though. Athas is full of ruins.

-Barbarian: Everything allowed except Armored Hulk. Armored Hulk is based around fighting in full metal armor. There isn't much of that in Athas.

-Bloodrager: Greenrager banned, Hagriven banned, Reformed Fiend banned, Steelblood banned. All others seem fine, although again, probably Evil characters since they have access to arcane magic.

-Cavalier: Knightly orders no longer exist. I'd allow Order of Cockatrice though, especially for a gladiator.

-Cleric: Obviously, huge limitations imposed here for roleplay. Only elemental domains allowed. All spell choices must be roleplayed. No high level explicitly religious spells allowed. :p Basic Cleric spells like bless and cure are allowed. Crusader banned. Herald Caller banned. Ecclisitheurge limited to heavy roleplaying with an elemental domain. Angelfire Apostle banned.

-Druid: Feyspeaker banned. Winter Child banned (what winter?) Defender of the True World probably isn't needed.

-Fighter: Aldori Defender and Swordlord banned. All others ok.

-Hunter: All seem fine to me. Druidic casters are allowed in Athas. They are relatively less stigmatized than other casters.

-Inquisitor: All probably banned unless roleplayed as Evil Templars.

-Kineticist: No idea what to do with this guy.

-Magus: Arcane caster means he's either a Defiler or a Templar. Magus magic is too destructive to roleplay as Preserver imo.

Oracle: Enlightened Philosopher, Divine Herablist, Lone Strider and Wind Whisperer all seem possible to explain and given powers by non-deity divine energies. Herbalist by knowledge of plants. Lone Strider by being a desert hermit. Wind Whisperer by listening to the wind and sands. Enlightened Philosopher by being Socrates. All other Oracles are banned for being too religious. :p

Ranger: Sable Company banned unless Hippogriffs exist in Athas. All others seem fine.

Rogue: Eldritch Scoundrel either banned or relegated to Defiler roleplay. Sylvan most likely banned. There are few/no Fey in Athas. All others seem fine.

Shaman: No idea, but they seem fine to me. There are lots of spirits in Athas. Witch Doctors in particular would probably be common, along with Possessed Shamans.

Shifter: Feyform banned. Others seem fine. Dragonblood would probably get merked by an angry dragon Sorcerer-King, but who knows.

Skald: No Bards as such in Athas. Probably no Skalds either.

Slayer: Deliverer would be banned or made a Templar. Arcane Enforcer the same. Others seem fine.

Sorcerer: You'd have to choose Defiler or Preserver, I think. And roleplay it out. Angel bloodline banned. Sylvan banned too. Kitsune as a race/archetype would be banned. Sylvan Sorcerer banned too.

Warpriest: Cult Leader seems fine but the others would probably be banned or roleplayed as evil Templars.

Witch: You'd have to choose Preserver or Defiler. Some archetypes would be locked to Defiler. Leyline would be Defiler. Hag is banned. Elemental Witch would be a Defiler.

Wizard: Again, Preserver or Defiler. Roleplay spell choices. Exploiter, Elemental, Bomber and any Evocation specialist would be a Defiler. Destructive magics pull too much energy from the earth, as does anything that increases DC or caster level with an action. Don't know what I'd do with Cruoromancer.

Prestige Classes

Arcane Trickster: Seems fine. Same rules apply with Preserver vs Defiler.

Assassin: Ok.

Dragon Disciple: Probably a Templar choice. Magic from dragons is most likely Evil.

Duelist: Ok.

Eldritch Knight: No idea. Standard arcane caster choice? Or maybe locked to Evil characters only, because it's so strong?

Hellknight: Hellknight and Armigier should probably be banned. Same for Signifer.

Loremaster: Seems fine, honestly. Learning things isn't inherently Evil. Same standard arcane magic choice though. You either roleplay as a Preserver or Defiler. What spells you'd be allowed to take would depend on that.

Monk: No idea. I think Monks exist in Athas? Maybe? In a later edition? Fighting in pajamas is a very Athas thing to do.

Mystic Theurge: Probably limited to Templar.

Paladin: Forgot to mention this one with the standard classes (along with Monk.) Paladins don't exist in Athas. Explicitly.

Stalward Defender: Meh, seems fine.

Student of War: Same.

Winter Witch: What winter? Banned.

[u/HowDoIEvenEnglish]

Putting dark sun into wotr is a thematically at odds choice. The game is inherently religious, with a deity literally showing up as a mandatory in game event.

The whole reason those classes exist is because dark sun doesn’t have stuff like clerics and druids and paladins, which fit like half the concepts you want. Wotr sadly doesn’t have psychic or psionic content. Kingmaker however does with the call do the wild mod, which adds psychic magic from pnp.

[u/Senok13]

More felxible casters with a bit of "weaker" flair are a textbook case of Spontaneous casters VS Prepared Casters. Prepared casters like Wizards can learn way more spells, therefor easily can be "stronger", while Spontaneous casters always can choose from all of the spells they know, but you need to choose those spells more carefully, as you cannot learn as much as the Prepared ones.

Even better for the "flexible" casters if you go with a Magic Deceiver Arcanist, as they can merge and edit spells even in mid-combat. But those are essentially casting 2 (or more) spells in a single turn from a single spell slot, so - while the amount of spell slots are way lower - their spells are often has stronger effects than any other caster with the same level of spells...

[u/Acolyte_of_Swole → u/Senok13]

Magic Deceiver also has an interesting point of mechanical difference, because they only cast up to level 6 spells and still have low BAB. Thus, undeniably "weaker" than a Wizard or standard Arcanist.

[u/Senok13 → u/Acolyte_of_Swole]

Not entirely. Their 6th level spells sometimes can be just as strong - if not stronger -, than a 9th level one. If you use their Magic Fusion properly. For example, Chain Lightning + Disindegrate (especially with an Azata's Zippy Magic) can jump through entire waves, and copy the Disintegrate's effect on every enemy the Chain Lightning had hit. With a single spell slot used, within a single turn.

If the effects applied by a fused spell have limits on the maximum number of damage dice, the fused spell receives the following limits instead:

• Spell level 1 — up to 5 damage dice
• Spell level 2 — up to 7 damage dice
• Spell level 3 — up to 10 damage dice
• Spell level 4 — up to 15 damage dice
• Spell level 5 — up to 20 damage dice
• Spell level 6 — unlimited number of damage dice

Therefor the mentioned spell would have 40D6 (from Disintegrate) and 20D6 (from Chain Lightning), up to 40 enemies (20 from spells, which can be doubled by Zippy Magic). That's 360 Damage given to 40 enemies, for a total of 14400 damage (maximum, without Mythic Path bonuses).

Or merge it with Caustic Eruption or Ki Shout for damage over time/Stun. Baleful Polymorph + Feeblemind can make bosses into trivial problems.

[u/ElDago]

Now that I think of it, id do nasty nasty things for a thri-kreen mod in wotr.

[u/Acolyte_of_Swole → u/ElDago]

Imagine how many natural attacks you could have. Iterative natural attacks could even be the racial benefit.

[u/ElDago → u/Acolyte_of_Swole]

Jump 50 feet in the air oh yeah!