An interesting addition to the character creation process in 4e is the Character Theme. It is somewhere between character race and class. It is available to all characters and grants 1 feature power which can be retrained to a more powerful version at higher levels. It also grants access to additional choices during character advancement. They also open up some paragon paths.
These themes help shift standard classes closer to one of the classic Dark Sun classes. The list is Athasian Minstrel, Dune Trader, Elemental Priest, Gladiator, Noble Adept, Primal Guardian, Templar, Veiled Alliance, Waste Land Nomad, Wilder. These mainly line up with a couple individual classes but they can be combined with any class to create some unique options.
I like this section. Making classes in 4e seems more complicated than back in ADnD since you each one needs pages of powers that have to be written. These themes Dark Sun up the existing classes without having to write a whole new build.
The themes are a great addition for Dungeons and Dragons in 4E, but really help with Dark Sun. An additional Slave theme is posted on www.wizards.com/dnd
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