Wow, punch specialization is no joke. +1 attack, +1 damage, +1 chart bonus (on top of my gladiator +/-4), and 1 extra attack per round. Like you said wrestling is great for restraint, and in both cases, being able to knock someone out can be really useful if we need to take someone alive. (something most parties are notoriously bad at)
I think I'll specialize in both Punching and Wrestling and sit on the level 3 proficiency for now. By level 5 I'll have decided if to spend it on one-handed fighting for the AC bonus, or if to go for specializing with a better weapon.
Keep in mind that 75% of punch damage is temporary damage - what would be called nonlethal damage in PF/3e. This means you are more likely to beat someone into unconsciousness than to kill them with a punch. It takes long enough to recuperate that it doesn't usually make a difference in a small unit fight, though, like the ones that adventurers are usually in - if you're fighting half a dozen gith and you pound them all into the sand, you can then do whatever you want while they're out cold.
Also, don't forget the rules under "More Than One Style":
"A single-class Warrior can only specialize in one of the three unarmed combat styles when he is first created."
So it's specialization in one of the three for ya, and the other leftover slot (assuming you don't take martial arts, which would cost two to specialize - one for proficiency, one for specialization) would go into a fighting style or special talent.
Note that the AC bonus for one-handed fighting only applies if your off hand is empty - no shield. Of course with the AC bonus from the style you don't need a shield anyway! But at much higher levels you want a shield so that you can get the sweet magic bonus...
So Punching to start and for now, I'll go with the one-handed style, until the benefits of using a shield outweigh the AC bonus. Maybe when the next chance comes (I assume when we level) I'll take the wrestling specialization
Ok here goes. Hoping to get stats for a Bard or an elemental cleric the first round of rolls.
First Character:
Second Character:
Third Character:
Dang those backup character stats are the bomb.
Going for an elemental cleric. Let's see of what? Just for fun.
And we have water.
I think I'll go with an elven elemental cleric of water.
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So Punching to start and for now, I'll go with the one-handed style, until the benefits of using a shield outweigh the AC bonus. Maybe when the next chance comes (I assume when we level) I'll take the wrestling specialization
For a gladiatrix, you gain a new weapon proficiency every 3rd level (6th, 9th, 12th, etc.).
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Water Cleric is gold in a place where water is kinda scarce
Right, it's Armor Optimization that happens at 5th
A quick heads-up regarding water clerics: one of their Sphere spells, Create Water, was nerfed for this setting.
In other settings, Create Water delivered 4 gallons per level of the caster. Here, it only delivers one half-gallon per level of the caster.
Added the basic cleric class to the wiki. It will take a while to get up spells and the special minor powers from Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Fun factoid: Either Shane Hensley made a mistake in his draft, or some stuff was cut during development, because for some of the elements, there aren't enough special minor powers in Earth, Air, Fire, and Water for you to have choices at every level (you can get them all and still have picks leftover by 20th level).
x 30 240 CP
Psychokinesis Table
Magnetism
Am I supposed to keep rolling or stop at the first roll?
The notes under the tables are confusing me.
1. Ignore another result of 88 or better.
2. Roll one power on this table, and then roll a second wild talent from Table I again. Ignore rolls of 88 or better.
3. Roll one power on this table. Then roll on Table VII until a Psychokinetic Science is indicated. Ignore additional rolls of 88 or better.
You stop at the first roll UNLESS you roll a high score that tells you to roll again. The footnotes are for the entries from 88-100: There should be little superscript numbers at the ends of those, showing that if you roll, say, 91 on the Clairsentience devotions table, you need to consult that note at the bottom that says to ignore any subsequent rolls of 88 or more. That's to prevent someone from rolling a bunch of "roll again twice" results and getting a bazillion powers.
I've added Magnetize to the wiki. (The tables in the book call it "magnetism" but in the power description it's listed as "magnetize.")
Also @CariMac: With a wild talent you gain enough PSPs to activate it once and to maintain it for four rounds. Magnetize doesn't have a maintenance cost, so you get the minimum to activate it (2), plus 4 points per character level over 1st. Since you start at 3rd level, you'll have 10 PSPs.
Does that mean that I have enough to do so for both of mine?
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Yes. You start with enough PSPs to activate each power once, and to pay for its maintenance cost 4 times. Zelimah has five powers and thus gets a lot of power points!
When you get points to activate a power, you use the lowest cost to activate it. For contact, that's 3 points. So Zelimah gets:
From contact: 3 (activation) + 4 (maintenance)
From mindlink: 3 (activation) + 32 (maintenance)
From sight link: 3 (activation) + 20 (maintenance)
From telekinesis: 3 (activation) + 4 (maintenance)
From molecular bonding: 5 (activation) + 16 (maintenance)
From being 3rd level: +8
Total: 101 PSPs
This gives you a lot of raw power, so you can use your powers a lot!
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Awesome! Pretty decent natural psion and combat prodigy on She-Hulk's frame.
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Here's some background information on Balic, for those of you who'd like to create a PC from there. Hopefully, it'll inspire some character ideas!
BACKGROUND
A wealthy mercantile city-state on the shores of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, Balic is under the control of Dictator Andropinis, a sorcerer-king who claims to have been elected to his throne over seven hundred years ago. Despite the dictator’s grip, Balic is perhaps the most affluent city-state in the Tyr Region and is home to powerful merchant houses that bring great wealth to Balicans fortunate enough to share in the prosperity. The business of Balic is business, and for the most part, Andropinis does not interfere in routine affairs of nobles or merchant emporiums.
The city is renowned for its democratic traditions. Balic’s nobles are seated in a Chamber of Patricians that creates and maintains the code of laws, and its templars must stand for election to 10-year terms. The various professional guilds conduct their business by taking votes and electing officers; even the dictator is, in theory, elected. Much of this democracy, however, is little more than an illusion. The office of dictator is held for life, and Andropinis has endured in his position now for centuries. Public debate and discourse is allowed, but only up to a point. Any direct criticism of the dictator or his templars is dealt with harshly, and the patricians learned long ago to pass only those laws that meet with the dictator’s approval.
Balic enjoys a cultural heritage and a civic mythology dating back thousands of years, which finds expression in a public appreciation for poetry and drama. The cultural heritage is evident in the dozens of theaters throughout the city-state, which run the gamut from crowded, ramshackle stagehouses in the poorer quarters to magnificent amphitheaters in the noble districts. In Balic, talented playwrights and orators can win acclaim equal to that held by the greatest gladiators as long as they steer clear of subject matter that the dictator’s templars might find offensive.
POWER STRUCTURE OF BALIC!
Most Balicans regard Andropinis as a necessary evil, resigning themselves to the fact that the dictator wields supreme power and isn’t likely to surrender it.
Andropinis routinely arranges the elections of templars he favors and directs the Chamber of Patricians to pass the laws he drafts. From time to time, he indulges idealists and reformers, allowing corrupt nobles or unsatisfactory templars to be indicted or voted out. However, the dictator retains absolute control over the city’s legions and brooks no defiance of his personal authority.
Patricians: Balic’s nobles are known as patricians. The patrician class is composed of the leading landowning families; almost every family owns a slave-worked estate of grain fields, vineyards, olive groves, and pastures in the lands west of the city. Many of Balic’s most prestigious public offices, such as military command and important templar positions, can be filled only by candidates of the patrician class, so the families amass a great deal of influence by placing their sons and daughters in public service.
The dictator theoretically governs with the consent of the Chamber of Patricians (a legislative body made up of representatives from each family), but in practice, the patricians rarely challenge Andropinis. A charge of treason, justified or not, is all the excuse the dictator needs to strip a patrician family of its lands and offices and redistribute them elsewhere.
Praetors: Praetors are the templars of Balic. By popular vote, they are elected to their offices for 10-year terms. Once they have won their positions, Andropinis invests them with the magical power necessary to perform their duties. The dictator’s minions carefully screen candidates and arrange voting districts and slates to produce the results that Andropinis desires. On occasion, an unwanted praetor is elected despite the dictator’s arrangements; unfortunate accidents often befall such people shortly after they take office.
Praetors whose terms end without reelection or who are elevated in anticipation of offices they might one day hold serve at the discretion of Andropinis. The most important praetors in Balic, the high praetors, hold no particular office but stand high in the dictator’s confidences.
Merchant Houses: Trade is the lifeblood of Balic, and the great merchant companies fill the dictator’s coffers with coin. The streets surrounding the open market square known as the Agora are home to large emporiums from other city-states in the Tyr Region, including House Vordon ofTyr, House M’ke of Raam, and House Stel of Urik. The Agora is dominated by three major Balican merchant houses and a dozen or more small ones.
Commoners & Slaves: Many of Balic’s common tradesfolk and artisans belong to guilds of varying power. Some guilds are strong enough to force nobles and merchants to heed their demands; for example, the Potters’ Guild enforces high standards (and high prices) on Balic’s distinctive pottery, ensuring that its members earn a good wage from selling the pieces they produce. Below the common citizens are the slaves, who make up 40 percent of the city-state’s population. Slaves enjoy basic protections under Balic’s laws, but the
praetors enforce these laws only in the most egregious cases of cruelty.
EXPLORING BALIC!
Balic lies near the eastern end of the Balican Peninsula, a range of arid hills between the arms of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue. The slopes of the hills are mild and verdant by Athasian standards; grain fields, vineyards, olive groves, and progressively drier pastures extend about thirty miles west of the city-state’s walls before giving way to stony barrens and brown mountain peaks. Large, slave-worked noble estates along the peninsula provide most of Balic’s food supply, but they are threatened by desert raiders and by giants who lair in the islands of the Estuary.
Most travelers bound for the city-state follow the Road of Legions, the major passage along the spine of the peninsula. Balic’s wall cuts off the tip of the peninsula, running about two miles between the arms of the Estuary.
The city-state sits on a natural harbor formed by high hills ringing a bay of silt. Many ages past, the harbor was a seaport, but the water is long gone. Where proud galleys and dromonds once rocked gently in their moorings, a great fleet of silt skimmers now takes shelter. Scores of the wheeled sailing vessels call Balic home, carrying the commerce of the local merchant houses from Altaruk and Ledopolus all the way to the distant Silt Archipelago or the shores by Raam and Draj. Within the walled harbor of the military shipyard known as the Arsenal lies the pride of the dictator’s fleet—a dozen silt dromonds, light warships fitted with psionically powered helms that levitate and can navigate silt of any depth.
Balic is divided into five administrative precincts plus the Megaleneon, which is the civic center, both literally and figuratively.
Arena Precinct: Travelers following the Road of Legions to Balic arrive at the Great Gate, the heavily guarded main entrance. Beyond lies the Arena Precinct, an area of artisans, workshops, and small stores. The Road of Legions cuts through the middle of the precinct and ends at the plaza surrounding the Criterion, Balic’s spectacular arena. As one ventures north or south from the main road, the streets grow more cluttered and the people grow poorer.
Guilder’s Precinct: North of the Arena Precinct stretches another commoner district that reaches to the shores of the silt. This district is home to many artisans and workshops, including potters, leatherworkers, stonecutters, weavers, and limners. Balic’s professions are organized into large guilds. The crowded taverns and stagehouses of the Guilders’ Precinct are full of voices muttering against the dictator and the wealthy patricians—not to mention spies who report what they hear to the praetors.
Harbor Precinct: Between the Agora and the Estuary of the Forked Tongue is Balic’s Harbor Precinct. Like the Guilders’ Precinct, it is cluttered with the dwellings and work shops of common folk, but it is also home to several large shipyards, warehouses, and a legion barracks.
Market Precinct: This part of the city is dominated by emporiums and warehouses of the prevailing merchant houses. Some
of these compounds are small cities within the city, housing hundreds of mercantile agents and laborers.
Villa Precinct: The Villa Precinct, Balic’s noble district, spreads over the slopes of the cypress-dotted hills south of the Arena Precinct and the Megaleneon. High above the haze of silt that chokes the lower-lying precincts stand the palaces of the patricians, surrounded by orchards and guard barracks.
The Megalaneon: The physical and political centre of Balic is the Megaleneon, a high, rocky hill overlooking the harbor. Andropinis rules from the White Palace, a majestic structure at the top of the hill. The Chamber of Patricians and the barracks of the First Legion sit farther down the slope of the Megaleneon.
MERCHANT HOUSES OF BALIC!
House Wavir: One of the wealthiest merchant-houses of the city-state—and also the only one with anything even resembling a conscience. House Wavir deals in all manner of goods throughout the Tyr Region, with outposts as far north as the Mekillot Mountains. They are savvy and ruthless, but nevertheless are unique on Athas in that they actively reject the institution of slavery—every single one of its employees and agents are free folk.
House Tomblador: Formerly the top merchant-house of Balic, House Tomblador is House Wavir’s bitterest rival. They embrace the slave trade Wavir so fervently rejects—and supplement it with their fleet of Silt Skimmers for trade along the Estuary of the Forked Tongue and the coastline of the Silt Sea.
House Rees: Another of House Wavir’s rivals, House Rees is known in Balic for its many counting houses--lending to institutions that support smaller businesses only to squeeze them brutally for years afterward. They are utterly driven by profit.
Awesome. Is there anyone that would be attending Lady Athena Vestang's party, that would be showing off their prize Gladiator, fresh off a win?
Certainly. Patricians of Balic are known to employ the services of a few gladiators--some of whom aren't even slaves. ;)
Off the top of my head, there's the Nauripides patrician family. Not as prominent as other patricians, but they do have their own villa and they all employ their own staff rather than rely on slavery. The head of the family, Zaethus Nauripides, is currently attending Lady Athena's soirée with his daughter Mabriel as a mix of a networking opportunity and a father-daughter bonding trip.
K, that's got those updates done. Let me know what I need to do next please.
K, that's got those updates done. Let me know what I need to do next please.
You need to choose your weapon proficiencies and nonweapon proficiencies.
For weapons, you start with 2 weapon proficiencies from the list in the Psionicist class. These are the two weapons you know how to use without any penalty. Any other weapon that you try to use, you take a -4 penalty on the attacks.
You can use your claws and bite without any penalty.
At 5th level (if the game goes that long) you'll get proficiency in the chatkcha, a special kind of crystal throwing wedge used by kreen, for free.
After that, you need to pick your nonweapon proficiencies (like skills). You gain 3 from being a psionicist, +1 for reaching 3rd level as a psionicist, +3 from your Intelligence score of 12, for a total of 7 picks. The big list at the bottom of the nonweapon proficiency page has all the things you can learn and how many picks ("slots") it costs to learn one. For instance, Cooking costs 1 slot, but Mining costs 2. Since you're a psionicist, you can pick things from the General and Psionicist parts of the list. If you choose a skill from one of the other parts of the list, it costs +1 "slot." For instance, Survival normally costs 2 slots, but it's in the Warrior list; you would pay 3 slots for it.
I recommend:
Rejuvenation—Psionic proficiency that allows you to regain used psionic power faster while you rest.
Language, Modern—Thri-kreen characters start knowing only the kreen language by default. Taking this nonweapon proficiency allows you to also know Common, so you can communicate with the rest of the team!
Beyond that, it's a wide-open field. Spend a bunch of picks to learn Survival skills from a different list, or pick up something illegal like Reading/Writing (all DARK SUN characters are illiterate unless they take this), or shove 5 picks into Power Manipulation (each extra "slot" you spend on a choice after taking it gives you a +1 with it). Whatever you think would be fun and interesting. (Note that skills don't improve automatically with level! Every 3rd level you gain a new pick, and you either use it to learn a new skill or to improve one that you already have.)
Finally, your psionic strength total. As a psionicist, you start with a base score determined by your Wisdom, then you get extra points each level.
Base score (Wisdom 18): 24
+3 from 18 Constitution
Each level gained: 10 + 3 (from Wisdom 18)
Total: 24 + 3, +13, +13 = 53
Every time you gain a level as a psionicist, you will gain another 13 points.
Then you need to purchase equipment. You start with 3d4 x 30 ceramic pieces. I'll try to get general gear pages up on Monday. For now, you just need to buy weapons from whichever ones you picked proficiency in, like a spear (assuming you want to use weapons at all). You can't use armor, but you can use a small shield if you want. (If you do, that gives you a -1 improvement to your Armor Class, but only against up to 2 people who are in front of you.) You should probably have a pack, a couple of waterskins, and some food. (Note that thri-kreen are almost exclusively carnivorous.) You don't need a bedroll because you don't sleep.
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what would be a good merchant house to say... have a beef with and the mission to infiltrate and get revenge upon? With the prospect of rescuing two of my tribe wives and a couple of children? Im guessing House Tomblador.
Slight backstory sort of brainstorming it out.
The Shifting Wind Tribe has been hunting and gathering around the stony barrens of Ballic. They have made a rough living out of extracting poison from venomous creatures and selling it to those who have such need of things and selling hard gnarled tuber roots called Oushka that be fermented into a potent liqour . 2 months ago, when the most of the tribe's hunters and warriors were away a shady trader decided to abscond with two of the tribe's pregnant wives and children... no doubt to sell into slavery. The council of elders took in the information they had and decided that the could not directly engage against the trading coster that had wronged them...but there would be a response. 3 of the tribe's most promising hunters were given the mission to find and free their tribemates...and kill someone of import within the company. A further message that the Shifting Winds Tribe was not to be taken lightly.
House Tomblador would be a great choice of enemy for that background.
What do you think about this?
As my character's (still to be named) element is water. She's come to commune with the oasis, and found it's changed. There's a manor built there. She's curious about the owner and tries to find her way into the party to make sure that Lady Athena Vestang is worthy of owning "her" oasis.
@CariMac: That could certainly work--of course, that's bound to cause some friction with the local druid. ;)
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x 30
450 -
longbow - 75 cp and 2 hours of oil massages given to Aluhani the bowyer
12 sheaf arrows - 60 cp
24 flight arrows - 60 cp
Bone dagger - 140 cp and gave up naming rights to Illhana's first birthing.
Carrikal - 80 cp - bought off a merchant. Also had to perform oil massage that night.
Studded leather - 20 cp and a weeks worth of aid given to Bruthas the brutal
435 of 450 used
15 cp left
I cannot remember how multiclass hitpoints work for the life of me, outside of that i think i am mostly ready to go, just need to make an alias
For multiclass HP:
Roll for each class separately, total them up and divide by the number of dice rolled (rounded down). CON bonuses are added afterward. In this instance, take max HP for both your Ranger and Thief levels, divide by 4, and add any relevant CON bonuses for each level afterward.
@TheNine: Your hit points would be:
Ranger, 2 levels: 10 + 10
Thief, 2 levels: 6 + 6
Total = 32
Averaged between two classes = 16
+whatever your Constitution bonus is for each level. I don't know your CON score so I can't say.
Laurelin's math is evidently better than mine.
Equipment page is up.
@TheNine: You might want thieves' picks. Then again, locks are pretty rare.
That makes it easy, you get +1 for each class level. So, +4 now, +1 more every time you gain a level in a class.
Added the Trader class. This is a rogue variant that has thief skills (not as good as a thief) + lots of ability to make market connections and to fast-talk through bargaining and difficult situations. Also starts with extra cash! A fun "adventure generator" class, because you're always buying, traveling, and selling.
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Ok, making a potential character for @Rysky.
... huh. Interesting.
Human ranger (justifier) 3
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 13
Hit Points: 33
THAC0 18
Armor Class 5 (studded leather + buckler + Dex bonus)
Weapon Proficiencies (5 slots): Composite long bow specialization (3 slots), hand axe, spear
Nonweapon Proficiencies (6 slots): Bowyer/fletcher, Direction Sense, Heat Protection, Psychic Defense (2 slots), Survival—stony barrens, scrub plains (free from justifier); Tracking (free from ranger), Water Find
Hide in Shadows: 20%
Move Silently: 27%
(These are halved in structures, cities, urban spaces, dungeons, etc.)
x30 = 450 cp
Starting gear:
Studded leather armor (20 cp, 25 lbs.)
Buckler (1 cp, 3 lbs.)
Composite long bow (100 cp, 3 lbs.)
Metal sheaf arrows, 12 (60 cp)
Metal hand axes, 2 (100 cp ea., 5 lbs. ea.)
Backpack (2 cp, 2 lbs.)
Waterskins, 2 (8 bits ea., 1 lb. ea.)
Small tent (5 cp, 10 lbs.)
Iron rations, 1 week (5 cp)
Whetstone (2/10 bit)
Rope, silk, 50' (10 cp, 8 lbs.)
Clothing:
• Tunic (7 bits)
• Archer's gloves (5 cp)
• Drawers (6 bits)
• Braies (8 bits)
• Belt (3 bits)
• Cloak (6 bits)
• Pin (6 cp)
• Hood (3 bits)
• Boots, soft (1 cp)
• Quiver (8 bits, 1 lb.)
Leftover funds: 29 cp, 2 bits
I tried to make a character that I thought you would find interesting based on what little I know of your playstyles!
How this character works:
As a justifier ranger, you specialize in surviving in harsh environments and fighting dangerous monsters. Maybe you were part of a special scout unit for one of the city-states, or maybe you were like a witcher, hired to go and kill monsters that threatened trade routes or villages. Whatever the case, you developed significant combat experience as well as a broad range of survival skills.
In combat, you use a bow, with a small number of precious broadhead arrows with metal points. (As long as you can scavenge the point from a kill, you can make a new arrow, since you're skilled in fletching.) If an enemy gets up close, you ditch the bow and switch to fighting with a pair of metal axes. The fact that you've managed to hang onto metal weapons indicates that you know what you're doing, though sometimes it means that people try to threaten you in order to get your stuff. That usually doesn't go well for them.
The justifier kit (like a PF archetype) is a ranger variant that gets weapon specialization, and you're a specialist with the composite long bow. This gives you excellent range and the ability to automatically take a shot before anyone rolls for initiative if you have your bow already out and loaded. You also gain point-blank range, meaning you get a +2 on your attack roll when firing at a target up to 30'. The justifier can also fight unarmed, inflicting 1d4 damage on an unarmed strike, and has the ability to gain tactical advantage on enemies: If you scout an enemy group and watch them for 10 minutes and then pass a Wisdom check, the team is able to automatically surprise the enemies and then win initiative for the first round of combat.
Unlike PF/3e, there is no penalty for attacking while you have a buckler on your arm. Your buckler is probably a small round shield made of wood or chitin with leather stretched over it. It only gives you an AC bonus against one attack each round, though (you're AC 6 against everyone else).
Because you're a ranger, you suffer no penalties when using your paired axes to fight.
Note that justifier rangers must always be Lawful Good alignment.
If any of this doesn't work for ya, let me know and I'll rebuild it to something different!
Looks good!
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Added the justifier kit to the wiki, so you have the actual full text for how it works.
Also, I forgot to add the justifier's +5% stealth bonus; the character above should have Hide in Shadows 25%, Move Silently 32%.
Alright, I have my proficiencies chosen, let me know if I need to make any corrections as well as what the modifiers will look liie.
I will work on equipment later on.
Thri-kreen can't learn to swim; you'll need to swap that for something else.
Don't worry about it too much. DARK SUN is a desert world. Swimming is the sort of thing that comes up like... once in a campaign. (Unless you're playing Mind Lords of the Last Sea, which I don't think we are.)
I was planning on keeping this campaign in the southern reaches of the Tyr Region, so it's highly unlikely Mind Lords will come into play.
Might swap swimming myself since I'm unlikely to have ever encountered a body of water big enough to make it an issue.
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Mind Lords is actually one of my favorite underrated DARK SUN products, so much so that I did a podcast with Matt Forbeck about his work on it. :D
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Eagerly awaiting the final results of everyone's character building!
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Added the druid class to the wiki. Unfortunately the DARK SUN druid is a mess: In the Rules Book it says "In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about druids in the Player's Handbook should be used." This implies that druids should still have some abilities that make no sense in the DARK SUN setting, like learning the languages of woodland creatures (most of which are extinct in the setting) and having resistance to charms from woodland creatures. The druid's experience table is custom in the PHB and requires you to do funny stuff because of the hierophant levels, but the DARK SUN druid says that there is no druidic organization, no hierophants, and no Grand Druid. How this works is never explained! Even Earth, Air, Fire, and Water just reprints the rules from the DARK SUN rules book and doesn't clarify, and ends abruptly with a comment about high-level (20+) druids transforming into spirits of the land but never gives any rules about it.
Anyway, I guess druids should have the abilities listed in the PHB that don't contraindicate anything from the DARK SUN book, so you can at least identify pure water and pass through overgrowth (probably handy if you're in a cactus field). Presumably druid shapeshifting works based on your guarded land stuff, not based on the PHB, as it wouldn't make much sense to give you "shapeshift into animals" at 7th level and then "shapeshift into creatures from your guarded lands" at 10th.
The other interpretation would be "granted powers from your guarded lands supersede the whole granted powers section in the PHB" but who knows? As far as I know, nobody asked Sage Advice back in the day. I'll just assume that because it makes more sense than "DARK SUN druids have all kinds of forest powers!"
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Kinda makes me wonder if the designers wanted druids to be an NPC class only... I mean, just about everything regarding a DARK SUN druid is tailored to work the most effectively when they're on a plot of land they're sworn to protect, and after a certain level they're forced to spend half their time on their guarded lands (effectively taking them out of adventures and forcing their players to use a different character).
Or perhaps they didn't think the class' design through in general. 90's design and all that.
The "stay on your guarded lands 50% of the time" rule works with character trees though. You can swap to a different character while your druid is protecting the home turf. This design shows up many places in DS: when a dragon or avangion must spend time in an atavistic or ascended state for instance.
I mean, yes, that part does work, but it doesn't really change the fact that most of the druid's class features (especially the early-level ones) are firmly tailored to be the most effective when they're 'close to home'. Compared to, say, an elemental cleric, they're going to be operating at a disadvantage unless the current adventure/encounter is taking place on their home turf.
Honestly, the druid class in general was kind of a mess in AD&D 2E...
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The druid's power limitations are offset by their wider spell access. They have Major access to Cosmos, while clerics only have Minor. Also most druids will have two elemental spheres (one Major, one Minor), so they have a slightly wider range of spells even at low levels. Plus they can use any weapon, without all the rigamarole that elemental clerics have about using weapons of the right material type.
The real hassle for DARK SUN druids is the inability to wear armor. Yeah, I'm gonna just wander around at AC 10. Of course, most people in the setting don't have great AC just because you can't really wear heavy armor anyway.
By mid- to high-levels the druid is competitive because of their wider spell selection and the fact that some of their "operates on guarded lands" powers expand to be usable anywhere.
Fair enough. :)