People, such as myself, have been griping for Dragon to put in more epic material.
When they actually do, it's not for a generic game but something specific like Dark Sun. Nice "monkey's paw" effect there, Dragon. :P
So, I've noticed the two epic feats presented in the article would prove to be very useful to epic characters NOT from Dark Sun, especially epic-level Cerebremancers.
So, I suggest those that want to use "Arcane Augmentation" and "Metamixture" as epic feats in a non-Dark Sun campaign setting to use the following:
ARCANE AUGMENTATION
Prerequisites: Change text to "Knowledge (arcana) 24 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 24 ranks, ability to cast 9th-level arcane spells, ability to manifest 6th-level psionic powers, any two metapsionic feats, any two metamagic feats, Epic Spellcasting or Epic Manifesting"
METAMIXTURE
Prerequisites: Change text to "Knowledge (arcana) 24 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 24 ranks, ability to cast 9th-level arcane spells, ability to manifest 6th-level psionic powers, any two metapsionic feats, any two metamagic feats, Epic Spellcasting or Epic Manifesting"
There. And now, the rest of the text stays pretty much the same.
Enjoy your new epic feats in your non-Athasian campaigns! :D
This is somehwat like what I believe should be done with "campaign exclusive" rules mechanics presented in Dungeon and Dragon.
I wrote the letter to the editor a couple issues back (Jeremy Tollefson, Sacramento, CA), and I am always happy to see campaign-specific material that can almost always be very easily adapted to one's own campaign.
Besides the "fluff" text (using the not-so-favorite term of Erik's), there is absolutely nothing in the mechanics of the prestige class that makes it Dark Sun exclusive. There are some similar flavors (sacrificing follower hit points to power epic spells), but this can easily be a neat rule mechanic to introduce into any campaign. And if someone doesn't like it, it is easy to change (as Razz has).
By the same token, the monsters in Creature Catalogue IV are in no way specific to those settings, the Spelljammer character races are easy to transfer (I particularly like the insectare and will definitely use the Scro to replace normal orcs in one of my campaign worlds), and the Dead Factions article offers a plethora of useful feats, items and prestige classes (I'm thinking of a chaotic-themed Sopn of Mercy).
Razz's post simply reminded me of how easy it is to use this kind of material for any campaign setting. I applaud you, Razz, and I hope more people take a similar view when reading campaign-specific material.
Seriously, much like the last Campaign Classics issue (and like most Campaign Classics articles besides), there are only two kinds of information: That you can use and that you can't. There isn't any such thing as "un-adaptable". There's "not espically useful" (I tend to put Planescape articles in this category, unfortunately. Yes, I'm a clueless prime, or whatever you hep cats are using this week...), but everything's adaptable.
... Which is why complaints about Forgotten Realms material confuse me so. It's D&D's cash cow. Get over it. Either adapt the articles, or ignore them because Ed Greenwood's overly florid writing makes your head hurt (guilty as charged...). What's that? It's cluttering up your issue? I feel the same way every time a Silicon Sorcery or A Novel Approach article sees print, which happens a lot more often. So get in line.
Ahem. Can't wait for next year (I'll probably still have a sub by then...), but don't limit yourself to once a year. Update whenever you like. There's always something that catches my eye...
I wanted to know how can i lvl an Athasian Dragon after lvl 10, i wanna make a really strong Dragon King, but how should i make him stronger after lvl 10, i mean when do i make him grow more, etc. Anyone?