Clarification for the Variant Rule "Free Archetype" (Gamemaster Guide P2)

[Norbert Rottman]

As I understand it, it works like this:

At level 2, the player can select an archetype (provided he has the required ability scores) and receives the dedication feat for the archetype for free.
Then the player receives an archetype feat (of the choosen Archetype) for free every even level (4,6,8 ..).

Did I miss something?
Maybe some wiser GMs can explain that (as simple as possible ^^)

[Taja the Barbarian]

Chapter 4: Variant Rules / Feats and Features / Free Archetype
Sounds like you pretty much have it right.

The key question to ask is 'why would I want to use this option?' and following is provided:

Free Archetype (Gamemastery Guide pg. 194) wrote:

Sometimes the story of your game calls for a group where everyone is a pirate or an apprentice at a magic school. The free archetype variant introduces a shared aspect to every character without taking away any of that character’s existing choices. It can also provide a lighter version of dual-class characters by giving everyone a free multiclass archetype.

Variant rules should probably be avoided unless they provide something you are specifically looking for in your game.

[Norbert Rottman]

Thanks for answer.
The Reason why i want to use the Free archetype is:
I am DMing a DarkSun Adventure.. 3 Players... and historicaly (from 2e onward), DarkSun PCs where always a little bit thougher than those water-pampered Adventurers from other planes. (start at lvl 3 or getting better starting stats and so on)
So.. if the Players survive to lvl 2... they should get a little bit of "DarkSun Love" ^^

[Zapp]

I don't think this variant makes heroes appreciably stronger.

It literally is for the purposes cited above. For example, in a pirate campaign you might not like having every hero have to choose a pirate-y archetype (which denies them lots of other choices, such as taking a multiclass dedication archetype).

So you choose to use the "free archetype" variant, telling your players they are all pirates and must take this or that pirate-y archetypes with their free feats. But they can still build their characters as normal on top of that.

Being a pirate probably does not mean you can kill more Orcs. But it might ensure you get basic pirate skills (pirate lore, talk like a pirate, get a parrot, swing from the rigging, draw traesure maps, etc) without that denying your Fighter or Wizard your regular charbuild choices.

Hope that explains the difference :)

[R0b0tBadgr]

One thing you can do Norbert is come up with a few archetypes that are specific to your campaign. This way they probably have a better chance of surviving. Like some other people have said, it doesn't make the PCs significantly more powerful, but having an archetype that allows them to survive in the desert better might be cool.

Since you're playing in Dark Sun, you're probably already creating a bunch of stuff on your own anyway, so this shouldn't be a big deal (besides the fact that you have more stuff to create). Though getting some player input in the form of "what kind of archetype(s) do you think would be cool to have?" is always helpful.

[thenobledrake]

That Dark Sun-ism always bothered me... for reasons of the world being harsh and hard to survive, every starter character was "tougher" in comparison to starter characters from other settings. Higher ability scores, higher level, stuff like that.

...but then, other than the slight modifiers for lower-quality weapons that only applied if you were trying to use out-of-theme weapons, there wasn't a whole lot making the challenges you faced more difficult or dangerous relative to those of a different setting. Which meant the net result was, typically, that a Dark Sun campaign felt easier than a campaign in a setting with normal starting character rules.

The point of me saying this: Don't make changes just to make changes. Think through the impact, check the actual outcomes, and make sure that any alterations you make have a goal and actually work towards that goal - because otherwise all the time spent making those changes is time wasted.

[Aratorin]

thenobledrake wrote:

That Dark Sun-ism always bothered me... for reasons of the world being harsh and hard to survive, every starter character was "tougher" in comparison to starter characters from other settings. Higher ability scores, higher level, stuff like that.

...but then, other than the slight modifiers for lower-quality weapons that only applied if you were trying to use out-of-theme weapons, there wasn't a whole lot making the challenges you faced more difficult or dangerous relative to those of a different setting. Which meant the net result was, typically, that a Dark Sun campaign felt easier than a campaign in a setting with normal starting character rules.

The point of me saying this: Don't make changes just to make changes. Think through the impact, check the actual outcomes, and make sure that any alterations you make have a goal and actually work towards that goal - because otherwise all the time spent making those changes is time wasted.

You must have played a different version of Dark Sun than I did. 2nd Edition Dark Sun was so brutal that each player would run 3 PCs at a time, as 1-2 of them were guaranteed to die.

[thenobledrake]

Character trees were another "this is because this world is so dangerous" thing that actually made the game easier.

It's not that Dark Sun wasn't deadly or "brutal" - it's that standard AD&D rules were more brutal by comparison rather than less.

[Taja the Barbarian]

thenobledrake wrote:

Character trees were another "this is because this world is so dangerous" thing that actually made the game easier.

It's not that Dark Sun wasn't deadly or "brutal" - it's that standard AD&D rules were more brutal by comparison rather than less.

As I recall, Resurrection was limited to Templars in Dark Sun, so dying was much more likely to be permanent.

Also, one of the modules did put you up against an Athasian dragon that had a Power Word: Kill prepared long before you probably had the health to possibly survive it.

[Zapp]

Just start your 5E or PF2 Dark Sun campaign using regular characters, they're already beefed up compared to what Dark Sun had in mind when it talked about beefing up starting characters back in '91.