Rules Book Table of Contents Chapter One: Ability Scores.................. 2 Chapter Two: Player Character Races.......... 3 Chapter Three: Player Character Classes...... 19 Chapter Four: Alignment...................... 42 Chapter Five: Proficiencies.................. 44 Chapter Six: Money and Equipment............. 49 Chapter Seven: Magic......................... 56 Chapter Eight: Experience.................... 63 Chapter Nine: Combat......................... 68 Chapter Ten: Treasure........................ 73 Chapter Eleven: Encounters................... 77 Chapter Twelve. NPCs........................ 82 Chapter Thirteen: Vision and Light........... 84 Chapter Fourteen: Time and Movement.......... 85 Chapter Fifteen: New Spells.................. 90 Game Design by Troy Denning & Timothy Brown Edited by William W Connors and J. Robert King Editorial Assistance by David Wise Black & White Art by Brom & Tom Baxa Color Art by Brom Graphic Design & Production by Dee Barnett & Paul Hanchette Cartography by Dave Sutherland, Dennis Kauth, & Diesel Typography by Tracey Zamagne Special Thanks to James M. Ward and Mary Kirchoff. TSR, Inc. TSR Ltd. POB 756 120 Church End Lake Geneva Cherry Hinton WI 53147 Cambridge, CBI 3LB U.S.A United Kingdom DARK SUN, BATTLESYSTEM and the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR Inc. (c) l991 TSR Inc. All Rights Reserved ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, DRAGONLANCE, FORGOTTEN REALMS and GREYHAWK are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English language products of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR, Ltd. This product is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of TSR Inc. Every Dark Sun character has the same six ability scores used in the AD&D game: Strength, Dex- terity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. However, the manner by which these are determined is quite different. The six ability scores are determined randomly by rolling dice to obtain a score from 5 to 20. These numbers are, on the average, higher than those for characters in other campaign worlds. There is a very good reason for this: the world of Athas is brutal and unforgiving. It is a savage world with frightful challenges beyond everyone. Athas is not a world for the weak or the simple-minded-those who can- not adapt, who cannot meet every challenge with confidence in their skills and abilities simply won't survive. The world of Athas has produced races of beings that are generally superior-of greater strength and endurance, capable of greater intellect and vision-to those who inhabit other campaign worlds. When rolling ability scores for player and non- player characters, use these methods: Roll 4d4 + 4 six times, once for each ability score, in order. The totals rolled are written down as rolled. Roll 5d4 six times, once for each ability score, in order. The totals rolled are written down as rolled. The following optional methods may also be used for player or non-player character generation, if the DM so chooses. Roll 5d4 twice for each ability score, keeping the higher of the rolls. Roll 5d4 six times and assign the rolls to the ability scores as desired. Roll 5d4 twelve times and assign the six best rolls as desired. Roll 6d4, discarding the lowest die, six times. Assign the six totals to the ability scores as desired. Each ability score starts with a score of 10. The player then rolls 10d4. These dice can be added to the character's abilities as de- sired (with some restrictions.) All of the points on a ability score and no die must be added to the same as ability score can exceed 20 points. The six ability scores govern a player character's interaction with the world Of Athas just as described in the Player's Handbook, with these exceptions: The DARK SUN" campaign setting assumes the use of both the weapon and non- weapon proficiency rules. Thus, the number of languages a player character can speak is strictly governed by proficiencies. Because of this, the number of languages column on the Intelligence table in the Player's Handbook translates directly into additional proficiency slots. These additional slots need not be used for new languages; they can be used for any nonweapon proficiency. Templars, a player character Class of bureaucratic priests, receive their spells through their sorcerer-king. If a templar falls from favor with his sorcerer-king, all of his spells can be lost, includ- ing those granted for having a higher Wisdom score. If you are familiar with fantasy roleplaying games or literature you will no doubt find many of Dark Sun's concepts familiar. But Athas is a world where the essential, fundamental nature of things has been twisted through years of unchecked, environ- mentally-abusive magic-many of the things you find familiar may be so in name only. The player character races are no exception to this, and the elves, dwarves, half-elves, and halflings Of Dark Sun are bizarre adaptations of those found on other AD&D game worlds. Each of the eight player character races (dwarf, elf, half-elf, half-giant, halfling, human, mul, and thri-kreen) are described in detail here, with specific rules for using them in the campaign. The notes given on roleplaying each race are also very impor- tant, since a character earns additional individual experience point awards when played according to these racial descriptions. Within these guidelines, players are encouraged to develop their own aims, attitudes, and personalities for their characters. For Dark Sun characters, use the racial ability re- quirements given here. If a character's ability scores fit all of these requirements, the character may choose that race. Consult this table before making any racial adjustments to ability scores. Strength 10/20 5/20 5/20 17/20 3/18 10/20 8/20 Dexterity 5/20 12/20 8/20 3/15 12/20 5/20 15/20 Constitution 14/20 8/20 5/20 15/20 5/20 8/20 5/20 Intelligence 5/20 8/20 5/20 3/15 5/20 5/20 5/20 Wisdom 5/20 5/20 5/20 3/17 7/20 5/20 5/20 Charisma 5/20 5/20 5/20 3/17 5/20 5/20 5/17 Some races are naturally stronger or weaker or more or less agile than others. These and similar differences are accounted for with modifiers to their generated ability score. These modifiers are applied exactly as described in the Player's Handbook. No adjustment can raise a score above 24 or lower it below 3. Dwarf +2 Constitution, +1 Strength, -1 Dexterity, -2 Charisma Elf +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence, -1 Wisdom, -2 Constitution Half-Elf +1 Dexterity, -1 Constitution Half-Giant +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma Halfling + 2 Dexterity, + 2 Wisdom, -1 Constitution, -1 Charisma, - 2 Strength mul +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -1 Intelligence, -2 Charisma Thri-kreen + 2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, - 1 Intelligence, - 2 Charisma Class Restrictions and Level Limits Just as in the traditional AD&D game, there are restrictions to the classes available to a character, and the level to which he may advance, based on his race. Players and DMs familiar with the AD&D game will find that these restrictions are very differ- ent in DARK SUN campaign setting, however, be- cause of the unusual nature of the demihuman races. Humans are always unrestricted in level advance- ment or class selection. It is recommended that the optional rule on Exceeding Level Limits (presented in the Dungeon Master's Guide) be used when playing a DARK SUN campaign. Languages Athas is a world where the intelligent races come from a wide variety of species-the humans and demihumans are very different than the insectmen and beastmen. Each intelligent race has its own lan- guage, sometimes even its own approach to lan- language and communication. For instance, the thri- kreen language is a combination of clicks and whines that come very natural to their pincered mouths-humans find it very difficult to reproduce these sounds, but the task is not impossible. DARK SUN adventures are not quite as language friendly as other AD&D campaign worlds-characters will tend to rely more heavily upon magic or interpreters for communication. As a reminder, the DARK SUN campaign as- sumes that players and DMs are making use of the optional proficiency system detailed in the AD&D game. The Common Tongue There is a standard language (known simply as common or the common tongue) that all humans, dwarves, elves, half-elves and muls speak. It is im- portant to note that halflings and thri-kreen do not speak common. It is strongly recommended, how- ever, that player character halflings and thri-kreen use one of their proficiency slots to obtain the com- mon tongue. Table 3: Racial Class And Level Limits Class Human Dwarf Elf H-Elf H-Giant Halfling Mul Thri-kreen Bard U - - U Cleric U 12 15 16 12 12 10 12 Defiler U - 16 U U Druid U - - 14 - 12 12 16 Fighter U 16 14 U 16 12 U 16 Gladiator U U 10 U 14 12 U 15 Illusionist U - 12 16 - 16 Preserver U - 15 12 Psionicist U U U U U U U U Ranger U - 16 14 8 16 - 12 Templar U 10 16 14 - - - - Thief U 12 12 12 - 16 12 U: The character has unlimited advancement potential in the given class. Any #: A player character can advance to the maximum possible level in a given class. The Player's Handbook gives rules for advancing the player characters to 20th level -: A player character cannot belong to the listed class. 4 Player Character Races Other Languages All other languages are identified with their race name (such as halfling, thri-kreen, gith, and oth- ers). Characters begin the game knowing only their racial language. Other languages, including com- mon or other racial languages, must be assigned proficiency slots. The following is a list of possible languages availa- ble to newly generated player characters. Dungeon Masters may wish to expand or reduce this list to accommodate their own campaigns. Aarakocra * Anakore Belgoi Braxat Ettercap Genie * Giant Gith Goblin Spider Halfling Jozhal * Kenku * Meazel Thri-kreen Yuan-tl * these creatures generally speak common Dwarves Dwarves are short but extremely powerful. Atha- sian dwarves average 4 1/2 to 5 feet in height and tend to have a very large muscle mass-a full grown Dwarf weighs in the neighborhood of 200 pounds. Lives of hard work in the hot sun leave them with a rich tan and rugged, calloused hands and feet. Dwarves can live up to 250 years. A dwarf's chief love is toil. A dwarf is never hap- pier than when there is a cause to work or fight for, something he can approach with stoic single- mindedness for weeks, months, years, or even dec- ades at a time. Once a dwarf s mind is committed to a certain task, he'll only set it aside after a great deal of grumbling and coercion. The fulfillment he achieves upon completion of a lengthy, difficult task is what he strives for. The task to which a dwarf is presently committed is referred to as his focus. A dwarf's focus must be a feat requiring at least one week to complete. Shorter term goals cannot be considered a focus. While per- forming tasks that are directly related to his focus, a dwarf receives a + 1 bonus to all his saving throws and a + 2 bonus to all his proficiency rolls (or + 10 to any percentile roll). Actually, a dwarf's commit- ment to his focus is based in his physiology-those who complete their lives before they complete their foci Live out their afterlives as banshees in the wastes, haunting their unfinished works! By nature, dwarves are nonmagical and never use magical spells, just as described in the Player's Hand- book. This restriction does not apply to cleric or tem- plar spells. An Athasian dwarf takes notice of other beings based upon his focus. If the other being is also actively committed to the dwarf's focus, the dwarf will consider him a sensible and dependable companion. If, however, the other being is vehemently opposed to the dwarf's focus, the two will be irrevocably at odds until one or the other is dead. There is very little room for compromise in the mind of a dwarf. Player Character Races Elves The dunes and steppes of Athas are home to thousands of tribes of nomadic elves. While each tribe is very different culturally, the elves within them remain a race of long-limbed sprinters given to theft, raiding, and warfare. An Athasian elf stands between 6 1/2 and 7 1/2 feet tall. They are slender, lean, and generally in terrific physical condition. Their features are deeply etched into their weather-toughened faces, and their skin made rugged by the windblown sands and baking sun of the wilderness. Elves typically dress to survive in the desert environment. Even when at an oases or in the cities, elves tend to prefer their native garb, designed to wrap the wearer against the brutality of the elements. Elves are all brethren within their own tribe, but re- gard all outsiders as potential enemies. There is no racial unity among the elves-an elf from outside the tribe is just as much a foe as a human, halfling, or thri-kreen. Acceptance of an outsider by an individual elf can be achieved, but trust will only develop over time. Acceptance of an outsider by an entire tribe is also possible, but rare. It is usually only awarded after some great sacrifice has been made on behalf of the tribe-many outsiders have been accepted posthu- mously into elven desert tribes. Individually, tribal elves are swift, sure, and self- reliant in the extreme. An elf is conditioned to run quickly over sandy and rocky terrain, sometimes for days at a time-an elf warrior can cross better than 50 miles per day. An elven war party on the move is a deadly force of endurance and maneuverability. Elves use no beasts of burden for personal transpor- tation, though they do sometimes engage kanks and similar creatures for baggage or raw materials trans- port. It is dishonorable among elves to ride on an animal unless wounded and near death-even preg- nant women and old elves are expected to keep up with the tribe or be left behind. While most elven tribes make their living through herding, some have turned to commerce and others to raiding. Elven traders are rightly considered the most capable on Athas. Not only can they barter and deal with a variety of races, they can move and protect their goods across the vast wilderness. Elven culture, while savage, is also very rich and diverse. A player character elf can choose from a variety of classes: cleric, defiler, fighter, gladiator, preserver, psionicist, ranger, templar, or thief. In ad- dition, they may select any combination of classes in accordance with the multi-class combinations table presented in the next chapter. A player character elf can be from a wild, tribal background or from a city state upbringing-there are many elves that have settled in the cities as ba- zaar vendors, and still many more that have been dragged there in chains. Elves are masterful warriors, naturally skilled in the use of their long bows and long swords. Elves gain a bonus of + 1 to their attack rolls with these weapons, but only those of native tribal make and design. In order to qualify for this bonus, a weapon must be crafted by members of the elf's tribe-no others will do Elves gain a bonus to surprise opponents when in the wilderness or wastes of Athas. In desert or steppe encounters, when an elf or party of elves ap- proaches a non-elven group, the opponents suffer a penalty of - 4 to their surprise rolls. Mixed parties cannot gain this advantage. Elves have no special knowledge of secret or con- cealed doors. They also have no special resistance to spells. Elven infravision enables them to see up to 60 feet in darkness. With nimble fingers and incredible speed, elf characters add two to their initial Dexterity score. They also add one to their initial Intelligence score. However, their intellect is not generally balanced by common sense, so elf characters subtract one from their initial Wisdom score. Finally, elven characters are especially fine-boned and have a high metabo- lism that tends to tire them out, forcing them to sub- tract two from their initial Constitution score. Player Character Races Roleplaying: Elves have no great love of creatures outside their tribe. Even when found in the company of others, an elf will keep to himself, often camping near but not directly with his companions. When encountering outsiders, an elf will often fabricate tests of trust and friendship. For instance, an elf might leave a valuable object in the open to see if his new companions attempt to steal it. After a series of such tests, the elf will gradually learn to trust or distrust the outsiders. The severity of these tests of loyalty may take an alarmingly dangerous turn, even revolving around life-threatening situa- tions, before an elf accepts an outsider as an equal. Elves never ride on beasts of burden. They prefer to run everywhere they travel, even when running might prove slower or others in the elf's party will be taking animal or magical transportation. Half-elves Elves and humans travel many of the same roads on Athas-elven tribes have at times encountered human mercenaries, just as elven warriors have found gainful employment in the armies of the city states. The merchant class, too, is overrun with traders of both races, so it is not at all unusual for children of mixed parentage to be born into the world-the half-elves. A half-elf is generally tall, between 6 and 61/2 feet tall, but more meaty than his elven counterparts. His facial features are clearly more deeply defined than those of a human, but based solely on his countenance a half-elf can usually pass for either an elf or a human. A half-elf's life is typically hardened by the intol- erance of others. Neither fully human nor fully el- ven, half-elves rarely find acceptance with either race. Elves are especially intolerant, at times driving mothers of half-elven infants from their camps into the desert. Humans are more apt to accept half- elves as allies or partners, but seldom accept them into their homes, clans, or families. Rarely do half- Player Character Races elves congregate in great enough numbers to form communities of their own, so they remain outsiders, forever wandering from situation to situation with- out a people, land, or village to call home. Intolerance, however, has given the half-elf his greatest attribute-self-reliance. As a loner, usually without permanent residence, a half-elf survives the rigors of life in the wilderness completely on his own. The skills involved in survival, such as locating food, water, and shelter, are only half of the challenge they face-half-elves must also learn to deal with the ab- sence of companionship, the complete lack of con- versation and basic friendship. Coincidentally, faced with intolerance from the races of their parentage, many turn to completely alien races for acceptance. Dwarves and even thri-kreen have no basic dislike of half-elves- nor do they grant them any favor. At the very least a half-elf dealing with these races can expect no auto- matic prejudices. Also, some half-elves turn for companionship to the animal world, training beasts of the air and sands as servants and friends. Half-elves add one to their initial Dexterity score because of their fleet-footed elven ancestry. How- ever, they inherit the same light frame and thin bone structure of the elves as well, causing them to sub- tract one from their initial Constitution score. Half-elven characters have no resistance to charm or sleep-related magic, nor are they endowed with an ability to find secret doors. Half-elven infravision enables them to see up to 60 feet in darkness. A half-elf character can choose from all of the available character classes, though he will have to face eventual level limits in many of them. He can also become multi-classed, having the widest variety of combinations available to him (see the multi-class combinations table in the next chapter). A half-elf gains some benefits as he increases in levels. A half-elf gains the survival proficiency when he reaches 3rd level. He need not spend any of his pro- ficiency slots in order to known survival. Like other characters, half-elves must specify a terrain type for this proficiency. Dark Sun terrain types include stony barrens, sandy wastes, rocky badlands, moun- tains, scrub plains, forest, salt flats, or boulder fields. A half-elf can befriend one pet when he reaches 5th level. The pet may be of any local animal, no larger than man-sized. The half-elf must spend one week with the animal while it is still young. After that time, the pet will follow the half-elf everywhere and obey simple commands. A half-elf can only have one such pet at a time, and must wait 100 days after the death of one pet to begin training another. Choice of pets is always subject to the DM's ap- proval. Refer to Chapter 11: Encounters for possi- ble pet choices. Roleplaying Half-elves pride themselves on their self-reliance. A player with a half-elf character should keep this in mind and apply it whenever pos- sible. For example, when a half-elf is part of a larger Player Character Races party of characters, he will rarely eat of the meal prepared by the others, nor will he use the fire set for the camp. He will instead hunt for his own food, cook and eat it by himself, away from the others. A half-elf character will discuss strategy with his com- panions when he has them, and will cooperate as necessary, but will always seem semi-detached and aloof. Despite their self-reliance, when faced with elves or humans, half-elves often find themselves looking for acceptance. For instance, when among elves, a half-elf will go out of his way to prove just how elven he is, by running great distances with them and ob- serving other social and cultural rituals with the elves. These efforts, however, are mostly lost on the elves and therefore serve no purpose. The half-elf's behavior is seen by some as slightly irrational, but only by those who are comfortably wrapped in the blankets of racial acceptance; having none leaves half-elves out in the bitterest cold. Half-giants Giants dominate many of the islands and coastal areas of the Silt Sea, wading across it to plunder the communities of smaller races where they find them. In some lost millennium, as a bizarre experiment or perhaps as some sort of curse, giants were magically crossbred with humans. Half-giants are now fairly common, especially to human controlled lands at the edge of the sea of dust. A half-giant is an enormous individual, standing between 10 and 12 feet tall, and weighing in the neighborhood of 1,600 pounds. Their features are human, but exaggerated. A half-giant character can be a cleric, fighter, gladiator, psionicist, or ranger. Further, a fair array of multi-classed choices are available to half-giant characters, as detailed on the multi-classed combi- nations chart in the next chapter. Simply put, a half-giant gains terrific size from his giant heritage, but also inherits that race's dull wits. His human background, however, provides him with 9 Player Character Races an interest in communication and cooperation, not to mention more reserved traits such as curiosity a willingness to learn, and a general tendency toward kindness. At any rate, half-giants are capable of far more kindness than their often tyrannical, blood- thirsty giant kin. Though no one knows for certain, half-giants seem to be a fairly young race, perhaps only a few tens of centuries old. There is no half-giant culture common to all of their kind. On the contrary hav- ing insufficient history and overall intelligence to have their own culture, half-giants tend to readily adopt the cultures of other creatures they admire or associate with. Half-giants are very imitative crea- tures, eager to fit into new situations as they present themselves. Half-giants sometimes collect into communities of their own, though they most often adopt the culture and customs of those creatures that are nearby. When near an elven nation, for instance, half- giants will form their own hunting and raiding par- ties, adopting the ways of the elven marauders. They won't mix with the elves, neither will they fight with them. In most instances, imitative half-giant communities will compete directly with the race whom they are likening themselves to. It is their great size and combat prowess that keeps their com- petitors at a safe distance. Half-giants can switch their attitudes very quickly, taking on new values to fit new situations. A half- giant whose peaceful farming life is disrupted by marauders may soon adopt the morals of the very renegades who sacked his village. To reflect this, one aspect of a half-giant's alignment must be fixed, and chosen during character creation. The other half must be chosen when they awaken each morn- ing. They are only bound to that alignment until they sleep again. (See Chapter 4, Alignment). For example, a half-giant may have a fixed "lawful" alignment. Every morning, he must choose to be lawful good, lawful neutral, or lawful evil. Half-giant characters add four to their initial Strength scores and two to their initial Constitution scores. They subtract two from their initial Intelli- gence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, however. Half-giants double their hit die rolls no matter what their character class. Add any bonus for a high Constitution score after doubling the roll of the die. All personal items such as clothes, armor, weap- ons, food, etc., cost double for half-giant charac- ters. Other considerations, such as transportation or lodging, are also considerably more expensive when they are available at a11. In areas not domi- nated by half-giants, things such as buildings, furni- ture, wagons, boats, etc. aren't made to support their weight. Even in cities, they tend to camp out- side to avoid destroying things. Roleplaying Half-giants are friendly and eager to please those they meet. Others who accept them find that half-giants quickly adopt their Lifestyles and skills, even their values. A half-giant character who is presented with a new situation should exam- ine the roles of the people there, determine where he might best fit in, and then start performing the tasks necessary. For example, a half-giant character who happens upon a dwarven stone quarry may watch the dwarves, then start quarrying stone himself. He won't work with the dwarves, necessarily but, if he can make a Living at it, he will continue to quarry stone just like his neighbor dwarves do. This is not to say, however, that half-giants are strictly bound to perform as those they see around them, nor are they restricted from moving on. On the contrary, if the situation is not beneficial or if the half-giant would not perform well (Living in the trees Like the halflings, for instance), he won't imitate it. Also, half-giants are not bound to a piece of work or a lifestyle the way other races are-they seldom have regrets or reminiscences about what has gone be- fore. They simply aren't as emotionally attached to their lives or works. Persons playing a half-giant character should be Player Character Races prepared to switch goals and lifestyles easily, usually based on the charismatic individuals their character meets. Remember, though, that due to size alone, half-giants make excellent fighters. Always remem- ber their great size and roleplay accordingly. Dungeon Masters should not mindlessly allow the character to fit easily through human-sized door- ways or ride in a tiny wagon. Similarly, they must not forget that he can see in many second story win- dows, reach things humans cannot, and lift things humans would never consider lifting. Halflings Beyond the Ringing Mountains are jungles that flourish in rains that never reach the tablelands or the Sea of Silt. There life is abundant, the foliage thick and untamed. The undisputed rulers of these jungles are the halflings. A halfling is a very short humanoid, standing no more than 3 1/2 feet in height. They are muscled and proportioned like humans, but they have the faces of wise and beautiful children. Halflings live to be as much as 120 years old, but once they reach adult- hood, their features never succumb to their years- it s very difficult for an outsider to determine a given halfling's age. A halfling weighs 50 to 60 pounds and is virtually always in peak physical condition. Halflings possess a great deal of racial unity. Though divided politically into separate villages and communities, halflings have great respect for their race as a whole. Political differences between them are settled wherever possible peaceably, through rit- ual and custom, most often under the direction of their clerical leaders, the shaman witch doctors. On a personal level, halflings relate very well to one another, well enough to have built a considera- ble culture rich in art, song, and other expressive communication. However, they tend to rely heavily on their culture for communication, a culture that both parties in a conversation are assumed to un- derstand. It is difficult for a halfling to compensate Player Character Races in conversation for a listener who isn't intimately fa- miliar with halfling culture, and as such they easily become frustrated with outsiders. Depending upon how "official" a meeting is, outsiders often have to take great pains to learn local customs merely to communicate with the halflings in question. Of course, halflings who have travelled widely outside their traditional jungle home have a much greater tolerance of those with a "lack" of halfling culture; so much so that they can communicate easily and without frustration. Halfling culture is fabulously diverse, but difficult for other races to comprehend. A complete history of their culture, if such a thing existed, would speak volume upon volume of complex social change, in- spirational clerical leaders, and in-depth personal studies of the halfling and his duty to his jungle home. Conspicuous in their absence would be refer- ences to great wars of conquest or tremendous mon- etary wealth-the yardsticks by which other races measure cultural success. Halfling culture cares for the individual's inward being, his identity and spirit- ual unity with his race and environment. Their cul- ture does not provide for more traditional values, and vices such as greed and avarice are particularly discouraged. Oddly, the richness of the land may be disturbed and examined, even used for a halfling's own gain. However, those riches belong to the land and, in the mind of the halfling, should never be moved away. For instance, nature intended a spring to bring wa- ter only to a certain area. To move the water through irrigation to some other area is not what nature had in mind. Similarly, an archaeological find in the jun- gle that yields a great pile of gold and metals is an event that shouldn't be tampered with-the gold might be used to raise a spectacular series of clerical buildings on the spot, but it should not be carted off to some other location. Halfling characters have the same high resistance to magic, resistance to poisons, talent with slings and thrown weapons, and bonuses to surprise oppo- nents that are described in the Player's Handbook. In Dark Sun, halflings are not divided into Hair- foots, Tallfellows, and Stouts, nor do they gain addi- tional initial languages. No halflings have infravision . Due to their small size, halfling characters sub- tract two from their initial Strength score and one from their initial Constitution score. Also, their in- troverted nature means they subtract one from their initial Charisma score. However, halflings are pos- sessed of tremendous speed and agility, and so add two points to their initial Dexterity score. Finally, their pious unity with their race and their jungle en- vironment grants them an additional two points to their initial Wisdom score. As mentioned in the Player's Handbook, half- lings with a Strength score of 18 never roll for excep- tional strength-while they may be quite strong, their small size precludes them attaining the muscle mass or leverage to apply tremendous strength. Roleplaying Halflings are very comfortable when in their own groups. While not afraid to adventure on their own among other races, they tend to have a difficult time adjusting to other customs and points of view. However, being generally open-minded, rather than becoming abrasive or combative, half- lings tend to be curious and, at times, utterly con- fused by the behavior of others. To quell their own confusion, their curiosity de- mands that they attempt to learn many of the cus- toms of those they confront on the outside world. This is not to say that a halfling character will adopt these customs. On the contrary, they will almost cer- tainly not, but a wide variety of experience is encour- aged by the clerical teachings of halfling witch doctors-they see the customs of others as no threat to their own and as a welcome chance to learn through a different point of view. The accomplishments that are normally held in high esteem by other races are completely alien to halflings. For example, tremendous booty from an adventure might tantalize other races, but a halfling Player Character Races would, instead, be concerned with how his part in the adventure will help advance halfling culture, his own knowledge or inner well-being--the treasure would not be a consideration for the halfling. Also, whereas many other races will think less of halflings because of their small size, they quite hon- estly see great bulk as a drawback in others. They are usually prepared to respond to "short" com- ments with their own philosophical views on the vir- tue of stealth, speed, etc. When among others of his kind, a halfling will never cross or lie to his brethren. They will help each other in times of need, regardless of danger. Human Humans are the predominant race on Athas. Human characters are not restricted in either the classes they can choose or the levels they can attain. High-level humans can easily become the most pow- erful characters in the campaign. Although humans can not be multi-classed characters, they can be Du- al class characters as described in the Player's Handbook. An average human male stands between 6 and 6l/2 feet tall and weighs 180 to 200 pounds. A hu- man female is somewhat smaller, averaging between 51/2 and 6 feet in height and weighing between 100 and 140 pounds. The colors of skin, eyes, and hair vary widely. On Athas, centuries of abusive magic have not only scarred the landscape--they've twisted the essence of human appearance, as well. Many hu- mans in Dark Sun look normal, and could pass unnoticed among humans of the FORGOTTEN REALMS" or GREYHAWK" campaign set- tings. Others, however, have marked alterations to their appearance. Their facial features might be slightly bizarre; a large chin or nose, pointed ears, no facial hair, etc. Their coloration might be subtly different, such as coppery, golden brown, hueds of grey, or patchy. The differences may be Player Character Races 14 more physical, such as webbed toes or fingers, longer or shorter limbs, etc. A player with a hu- man character should be given broad latitude in making up these alterations to his form, if he so wishes. Ultimately, none of them will give him any benefit nor any hindrance to game play--his ap- pearance is strictly a roleplaying asset. The children of humans and other races produce the so-called half-races half-elves and muls. It is im- portant to note, however, that half-giants are a race born of a magical union in the distant past; half- giants can only reproduce with one another. As in other AD&D(R) campaign worlds, humans are generally tolerant of other races. They can easily adapt to situations involving elves or dwarves, and even more exotic races such as half-giants and thri-kreen. Where other, less toler- ant races come into contact with one another, hu- mans often serve as diplomatic buffers. Mul A mul (pronounced mul) is an incredibly tough crossbreed of a human and dwarf. They retain the height and cunning of their human parent, plus the durability and raw strength of their dwarven heri- tage. Muls are usually the products of the slave pits--owners recognize the muls' assets as gladia- tors and laborers, and so order the births of as many muls as can be managed within the ranks of their slaves. Muls are born sterile--they cannot perpetu- ate their kind. A full-grown mul stands 6 to 6 l/2 feet tall and weighs 240-300 pounds. They are fair skinned, some- times tending toward a copperish coloration. Their dwarven ancestry gives them a well-muscled frame and an incredible constitution--mul laborers can perform heavy work for days at a time without stop- ping. Muls have stern facial features. They are un- mistakably human in appearance, though their ears are swept back and slightly pointed. Most muls, whether male or female, have no hair or beard. Born as they are to lives of slave labor, with the Player Character Races taskmaster's whip taking the place of parents and family, muls are given to a gruff personality and vio- lent reactions. Understandably, many never seek friends or companionship but live out their lives in servitude, driven by hatred and spite. Most, how- ever, learn who to trust in the slave pits and who not to, gaining favor and reputation among the other slaves . Many slave muls have either escaped or otherwise won their freedom and now live independent lives all over Athas. Of these, a large percentage have bar- tered their combat prowess, making their way as sol- diers or guards. A few others, given to more cerebral pursuits, have turned to priestly devotions or the mental disciplines of psionics. A player character mul may become a cleric, druid, fighter, gladiator, psionicist, or thief. When created, the player must decide if his mul character will be considered a demihuman or a human char- acter. As a human, the mul character can have un- limited advancement in any class and become a dual-classed character later in his career. As a demi- human, a mul can become a multi-classed character in accordance with the multi-classed combinations table in the next chapter. Once the decision is made, the mul character will forever be considered either a human or demihuman in all ways. A mul character adds two to his initial Strength score and one to his initial Constitution score. While often cunning and bright, a mul's training rarely encourages the mental disciplines, so mul characters subtract one from their initial Intelligence scores. The rigors of their upbringing in bondage makes them sullen and difficult to befriend--mul Mul Exertion Table characters subtract two from their initial Charisma scores. Mules are able to work longer and harder without rest than are most other races. Regardless of the preceding type of exertion, eight hours of sleep will let a mul become fully rested, ready to begin work again. Roleplaying Muls are slaves, true, but when they are doing well in the arena, they are the most pam- pered slaves. It is expensive to generate and main- tain a stable of muls, and their owners protect their large investments with special treatment and consid- erations. It's rare that a mul who does his work well receives particularly harsh treatment as a slave. Thus, they often don't see their slavery as all that bad a deal. Of course, when their arena or work performance is lacking, discipline is cruelly rein- stated. Like their dwarven parent, a mul who sets his mind on freedom or disruption among the other slaves is rarely kept on hand. They most often are sold or traded from owner to dissatisfied owner until they are eventually relegated to harsh labor in a re- mote area or sent to the gladiator pits. Type of Exertion Heavy Labor (stone construction, quarry work, running) Medium Labor (light construction, mining, jogging) Light Labor (combat training, walking encumbered) Normal Activity (walking, conversation) Time Before Rest 24 + Con hours 36 + Con hours 48 + Con hours Con days Player Character Races Thri-kreen Hulking insect-men standing as tall as 7 feet at the shoulder, the thri-kreen are the least "human" of the player character races. Their survivability in the wilderness, combined with their cunning and in- tellect, have made the mantis warriors (as they are known to some races) the undisputed masters across large tracts of the Athasian wastes. The individual thri-kreen is a six-limbed creature with a tough, sandy-yellow exoskeleton. Its hind legs are the most powerful, used for walking, running, and leaping. The four forward limbs each have a hand with three fingers and an opposable thumb. A thri-kreen's exoskeleton is extremely hard, and gives the creature a base armor class of 5. A thri-kreen's head has two large eyes, two anten- nae, and a small-but-powerful jaw. The jaws work from side to side and have several small extensions that grab and manipulate food while it is being eat- en. The eyes are jet black and multi-faceted, sepa- rated to either side of the head. The antennae are all but vestigial, serving only to help maneuver through brush and grasslands in the darkness (they also serve to lessen any darkness or blindness based penalty by 1 point (or 5%)--ranged activities (like missile combat) do not gain this benefit). Thri-kreen have no need of sleep. Thri-kreen characters can remain active through the day and night. Thri-kreen make and use variety of weapons. 16 Chief among them are the gythka, a polearm with wicked blades at either end, and the chatkcha, a crystalline throwing wedge. They also fashion many forms of clothing, but never wear armor. Thri-kreen can use most magical items such as wands, rods, staves, weapons, shields, and most miscellaneous magic. Those items, however, de- signed to be worn by demihumans, such as rings, girdles, armor, and cloaks, will not function for a thri-kreen because he simply cannot put them on. Unless otherwise stated, magical items are designed for use by demihumans. The pack is the single unit of organization among the thri-kreen, generally having 2-24 individuals. The pack is always on the hunt, never idle--there are no permanent thri-kreen communities. The so- called thri-kreen nations are, in fact, not organized as such, nor are they thought of as nations by the mantis warriors. The nations are human conven- tions to delineate on maps where the thri-kreen thrive and dominate. Player Character Races Thri-kreen are carnivores and the pack is con- stantly on the hunt for food. They consider the oth- er player character races as potential food stock, but only prey on other intelligent creatures in times of desperation. The mantis warriors have a well-known taste for elves, which keeps both races at an uneasy peace when they are forced to cooperate. Thri-kreen player characters can become clerics druids, fighters, gladiators, psionicists, or rangers. They may also be multi-classed (see multi-classed combinations in the next chapter). Regardless of his class, a thri-kreen gains certain advantages as he in- creases in experience levels. A thri-kreen has formidable natural attacks. They are able to make one bite and four claw at- tacks per round. Each claw strikes for 1d4 points of damage, and the bite inflicts 1d4 + 1 points of dam- age. If using a weapon, the thri-kreen can attack with its weapon and bite; multiple attacks due to fighter level only apply to the weapon. A thri-kreen can leap up and forward when he reaches 3rd level. The thri-kreen can leap 20 feet straight up or up to 50 feet straight forward. They cannot leap backward. A thri-kreen can use a venomous saliva against opponents when he reaches 5th level. Those struck by the thri-kreen's bite must save vs. paralyzation or be paralyzed; smaller than man-sized creatures are paralyzed for 2d10 rounds, man-sized for 2d8 rounds, and larger for 1d8 rounds. Creatures clas- sified as huge or gargantuan are only affected for one round. A thri-kreen masters the use of the chatkcha, a crystal throwing wedge, when he reaches 5th level. The chatkcha can be thrown up to 90 yards and still return to the thrower if it misses the target. When it hits, a chatkcha inflicts 1d6 +2 points of damage. In game terms, a thri-kreen gains an automatic bo- nus proficiency in chatkcha on reaching 5th level. If he has previously spent a proficiency slot on chatkcha, the thri-kreen gains nothing for reaching 5th level 17 A thri-kreen can dodge missiles fired at it on a roll of 9 or better on 1d20 when he reaches 7th level. He cannot dodge magical effects, only physical missiles. Magical missile weapons (enchanted arrows, thrown axes, etc.) modify this roll by their plus. Thri-kreen add one to their initial Wisdom score and add two to their initial Dexterity scores. Their intellect and behavior are such that they subtract one from their initial Intelligence score and subtract two from their initial Charisma score. Roleplaying A thri-kreen's obsession is the hunt. Thri-kreen are skilled and wise hunters--skilled enough to bring down the animals they need, wise enough to move on before they completely deplete an area of prey. From birth, all thri-kreen are involved in the hunt--the young are concerned with preparation and preservation of hunted food elders are hunters. There are no distinctions between male and female thri-kreen in their pack society. To outsiders, thri-kreen sometimes seem overly preoccupied with gathering food, hunting, and maintaining stocks of travel food. Since they do not sleep, thri-kreen often hunt through the night while other races they are working with are "needlessly lying around. Their pack intelligence also makes them protect- ive of their clutch-mates. To a thri-kreen, his clutch or pack includes whoever he is with at the time of danger. It is instinctive for a thri-kreen to leap into battle to protect those he is with, regardless of per- sonal danger. Other Characteristics As has been said, Dark Sun characters are very different from those in other AD&D(R) games. This is reflected in the following tables for height, weight, age, and aging effects, which replace those given in the Player's Handbook. Player Character Races Height And Weight Height in Inches Weight in Pounds Race Base Modifier Base Modifier Dwarf 50/48 2d4 180/170 4d10 Elf 78/72 2d8 160/130 3d10 Half-elf 70/68 2d6 120/95 3d12 Half-giant 125/125 3d10 1500/1450 3d100 Halfling 36/34 1d8 50/46 5d4 Human 60/59 2d8 140/l00 6d10 Mule 66/65 2d6 220/180 5d20 Thri-kreen* 82/82 1d4 450/450 1d20 *Thri-kreen are 48 inches longer than they are tall. Age Starting Age Maximum Age Range Race Base Age Variable (Base + Variable) Dwarf 25 4d6 200 + 3d20 Elf 15 3d4 100+2d20 Half-elf 15 2d4 90 + 2d20 Half-giant 20 5d4 120 +1d100 Halfling 25 3d6 90+4d12 Human 15 1d8 80 + 2d20 Mule 15 1d6 80 +1d10 Thri-kreen 6 - 25 + 1d10 Aging Effects Race Middle Age* OId Age** Venerable*** Dwarf 100 133 200 Elf 50 67 100 Half-elf 45 60 90 Half-giant 60 80 120 Halfling 45 60 90 Human 40 53 80 Mule 40 53 80 Thri-kreen**** - - 25 * -1 Str/Con; +1 Int/Wis ** -2 Str/Dex, -1 Con; + 1 Wis *** -1 Str/Dex/Con; +1 Int/Wis **** Thri-kreen suffer no aging effects until they reach venerable age, when they suffer - 1 Str/Dex. Player characters on Athas fall into the same gen- eral groups found in the traditional AD&D(R) game: warrior, wizard, priest, and rogue. Dark Sun char- acters can also be psionicists, as described in The Complete Psionics Handbook. There are, however, minor modifications to all classes. A Note About Psionics Dark Sun is a world of powerful psionics. Every player character has at least one psionic talent, as do many of the non-player characters and monsters. A thorough understanding of The Complete Psi- onics Handbook is required for full enjoyment of any DARK SUN(TM) campaign. Warrior Classes There are three different classes within the war- rior group on Athas: fighter, ranger, and gladiator. Each is conditioned for a particular style of combat. The fighter is a skilled warrior, trained for both individual combat and warfare in military forma- tions. Characters of this type are the mainstay of any organized military force. The ranger is a warrior knowledgeable in the ways of the wilderness, skilled in surviving the rigors of the wild oases and the brutal stretches of desert be- tween them. Many slave tribesmen are rangers. The gladiator is a specialized warrior trained for combat in the arenas. He is skilled in the use of many obscure weapons and combat techniques, in- cluding those peculiar to specific combat games and exhibitions popular among the general populace. As a note, there are no paladins on Athas. Wizard Classes A wizard is able to capture and master magical energies. However, on Athas, magic and the ecosys- tem are irrevocably bound--no one, not even a wiz- ard, can affect one without affecting the other. All wizards must decide at the beginning of their Player Character Classes careers whether they are trying to work with nature or without regard for it. In Dark Sun, this means a wizard must be either a defiler or a preserver. The defiler is a wizard who activates tremendous magical energy without regard to its effect on the environment. With the casting of each spell, a defil- er destroys a portion of the world's ecosystem, ren- dering it dead and sterile. The means by which a defiler learns and uses magic is comparatively easy to master, so he advances quickly. A defiler can be either a noble, freeman, or slave. The preserver attempts to use magic in concert with the environment. Learning how to wield such magic on Athas is especially difficult, so the pre- server's advancement is slow. A preserver can be ei- ther a freeman or slave. The illusionist is a specialist wizard who wields magical illusions. An illusionist can be either a pre- server or a defiler, and will advance in levels accord- ingly. An illusionist can be from any social class. Priest Classes There are three types of priests on Athas--clerics, templars, and druids. The cleric is a free-willed priest, tending the needs of the local people with his particular talents. On Athas, clerics draw their magical energy directly from one of the four elemental planes earth, air, fire, or water; not from any manner of deity. A cleric may be either a freeman or a slave. The templar is a regimented priest devoted to a single sorcerer-king. Such disciples work within the hierarchy of that particular sorcerer-king's clergy, advancing in power and position. A templar draws his magical energy through his sorcerer-king. A templar can be either a freeman or a noble. The druid is a priest tied to a particular feature or aspect of Athas. Unique geographic features are guarded by spirits when druids serve. For example, a pooled oasis has its own spirit and a single druid will reside there to protect it and preside over its use by humans, demihumans, and animals. Druids can 20 be from any social class. Rogue Classes Athas is a world of corruption and power where rogues are well-suited to success. There are still those, however, who use their disreputable talents toward noble ends, but they are especially rare. There are two types of rogues on Athas thieves and bards. The thief is a rogue whose strengths lie in stealth and pilfering. On Athas the thief can be regarded as a talented individual for hire--some city states do not even consider the thief as a wrongdoer; only the person who hired him is guilty of a crime. The thief may also be a simple robber seeking personal wealth or redemption. A thief can be from any social class. The bard is a rogue who uses songs and tales as his tools. He is a man of wit and comradeship. With few other talents to offer, the bard is still a welcome source of entertainment and information across Athas. A bard can be from any social class. The Psionicist Class The psionicist uses the forces of his own mind to affect his environment. Psionic powers are not magi- cal in nature, that is to say, psionic powers do not draw upon magical energy that surrounds all things. Rather they are derived from within when the psionicist has his entire essence in coordination; his mind, body, and soul in perfect harmony. Since psi- onic powers are not magical, they in no way affect the world's ecosystem when they are used. Any human or demihuman character who meets the ability requirements may elect to be a psionicist. However, those who do not choose the psionicist class will have latent psionic powers. Every player character in Dark Sun has latent psionic powers and will be a psionicist or wild talent. Refer to the Psionicist section below for details. Player Character Classes Class Ability Score Requirements As with character classes in other campaign worlds, those unique to Dark Sun require minimum scores in various abilities. For classes not unique to Dark Sun, the ability score requirements listed in the Player's Handbook still apply. Class Ability Minimums Class Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Gladiator 14 12 15 Defiler 9 Templar 10 9 Psionicist 11 12 15 Newly Created Characters In Dark Sun, characters do not begin adventur- ing as novices to the world around them. Rather, they start with a fair degree of experience. Starting Level In Dark Sun, all single-classed player characters , start the campaign at 3rd level. A player character ' thus begins his adventuring career with the mini- mum number of experience points to attain 3rd level. He gets the THAC0 and saving throws of a 3rd level character, plus any class or race benefits that apply. This rule reflects the fact that daily life on Athas is much harsher than it is in other AD&D(R) realms, forcing characters to mature more quickly if they are to survive. Starting Hit Points Beginning characters determine their hit points in a fairly normal fashion. Roll a hit die for each of the character's first three levels of experience, apply any Constitution modifications to the rolls, and then to- tal them to determine starting hit points. . Starting player characters receive their initial Player Character Classes weapon and nonweapon proficiencies, plus the ad- ditional slots due at 3rd level. Thus, warriors receive an additional weapon slot (5 total) and an addition- al nonweapon slot (4 total) for being of 3rd level. Wizards and priests receive an additional non- weapon proficiency (5 total) for being of 3rd level. For those not used to this system, remember that the Number of Languages column from Table 4: Intelligence in the Player's Handbook indicates a number of bonus nonweapon proficiency slots. Starting Money PCs who start the campaign as freemen have three times the starting money stated in Chapter 6 Money & Equipment of the Player's Handbook. Multi-classed Player Characters Player characters who are multi-classed start ad- venturing in the campaign at different levels. The character begins with just enough experience points to be 2nd level in his most "expensive" class. For example, a fighter/preserver would have 2,500 experience points in each class, the minimum to be 2nd level as a preserver, letting him start the campaign at 2nd level in each class. A fighter/ preserver/thief would also have 2,500 experience points in each class, which is enough to make him 2nd level as both preserver and fighter, but enough to let him start the campaign as a 3rd level thief. 22 Non-player Characters While player characters start the campaign at higher levels, NPCs can still be 1st or 2nd level, as determined by the DM. Thus, it is important to re- alize that the PCs are truly exceptional individuals and that lower-level NPCs will be fairly common. Class Descriptions The complete character class descriptions that follow provide detailed information about each class. Those unique to Dark Sun are detailed fully while those that are found in other campaigns are presented so that the contrasts to similar characters in other settings can be made clear. Warriors There are no paladins in Dark Sun--the idea of serving good and right for the simple rewards of in- ner peace and faith faded from the barren world of Athas long ago. There is, however, one new warrior character class: the gladiator. Born of a demand for blood and excitement in the arenas, gladiators are, perhaps, the most deadly fighting characters. Fighter Ability Requirements: Strength 9 Prime Requisite: Strength Allowed Races: All On Athas, the fighter is a trained warrior, a sol- dier skilled in mass warfare. Every society on Athas maintains an army of fighters to protect itself from attack or to wage wars of plunder and annihilation against its neighbors. Fighters are both the com- manders and soldiers in these armies, and at higher levels are experts in both individual and formation combat, leadership, and morale. Fighters can have any alignment, use magical items, and gain weapon proficiencies and specializa- tion as described in the Player's Handbook. As a fighter increases in experience levels, his rep- utation as a warrior and leader of men grows. As word spreads, less experienced warriors who are ea- ger to fight for the same causes will seek him out. These followers will remain loyal to the fighter for as long as they are not mistreated and there are battles to be fought. A fighter need not have a stronghold to attract followers. Followers are always gained in groups of l0 indi- viduals called a stand. All l0 are of the same race and experience level and have the same equipment. A unit consists of some number (usually 2-20) of identical stands. Once a fighter reaches 10th level, he attracts his first unit of followers. This first unit will always be made up of warriors of the same race and back- ground as the fighter (if the fighter is a slave tribes- man, so will be his first unit of followers). The first unit will consist of 1d10 + 2 stands (30-120 individ- uals). Roll 1d2+1 to determine the level of the unit. As the fighter gains each new level beyond the 10th, he will attract another unit of followers. Roll dice to determine the number of stands in the unit and the level of the followers. These subsequent fol- lowers, though, may be of very different back- grounds than the fighter himself. A fighter cannot avoid gaining followers. The desperate populations of Athas are constantly on the lookout for great commanders; warriors who will lead them on campaigns of glory. Fighter's Followers Character level Stands Level Special 11 1d10+4 1d3+1 5% 12 1d12 1d3 +2 10% 13 1d12+2 1d4+ 1 15% 14 1d12+4 1d4+2 20% 15 1d20 1d6 + 1 25% 16 1d20+2 1d6+2 30% 17 1d20+4 1d8+ 1 35% 18 1d20+6 1d8+2 40% 19 1d20+8 1d10+ 1 45% 20 1d20+ 10 1d10+2 50% Stands indicates the number of stands of followers that are attracted to the character. Level indicates the level of the characters that make up the stand. Special indicates the chance that the unit is of an unusual nature. Some examples include kank cavalry, thri-kreen, elves, aarakocra, or human fighters of exceptional equipment or morale--the DM decides all special characteristics beyond number of stands and level of followers. It is important to remember that these are merely the automatic followers that a fighter gains. In the course of a campaign, a player who wishes to role- play the situations might raise huge armies of form- er slaves or gain control of an entire thri-kreen tribe. A fighter has the following special benefits: A fighter can teach weapon proficiencies when he reaches 3rd level. The fighter can train students in the use of any weapon in which he is specialized. The fighter may train a number of students equal to his level in a single "class", and a class requires 8 hours of training each and every day for one month. At the end of that time each student must make an Intelligence check; those who pass gain a bonus pro- ficiency slot in that weapon. A student may only be trained once, regardless of success, with a specific weapon. Students can learn any number of new proficiencies in this manner, even beyond those slots normally allowed for a character of that level. A fighter can operate heavy war machines when he reaches 4th level. including bombardment engines (like ballistae, catapults, and trebuchet), crushing engines (like rams and bores), and siege towers. A fighter can supervise the construction of defenses when he reaches 6th level. These include ditches and pits, fields of stakes, hasty stone and wooden barri- cades, and even semi-permanent stone fortifications. Specific rules governing the construction of these de- fenses are presented in Chapter 9: Combat. A fighter can command large numbers of troops when he reaches 7th level. In roleplaying terms, the fighter has mastered the skills and techniques to take charge of l00 soldiers per level--this includes terminology, use of messengers and signals, use of psionic and magical aids to communication, etc. Rules for troop command in roleplaying are given in Chapter 9: Combat. In BATTLESYSTEM(TM) miniatures rules terms, the fighter gains a command diameter or CD. This value is calculated by adding the fighter's experi- ence level to his Loyalty Base figure (from the Cha- risma Table in the Player's Handbook). Note that this ability allows the fighter to command troops as- signed to him, but does not give him the ability to raise the troops himself. A fighter can construct heavy war machines when he reaches 9th level, the specific rules for which are given in Chapter 9: Combat. In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules covering fighters in the Player's Handbook should be used Gladiator Ability Requirements: Strength 13 Dexterity 12 Constitution 1 5 Prime Requisite Strength Allowed Races: All Gladiators are the slave warriors of the city states, specially trained for brutal physical contests. Disci- plined in many diverse forms of hand-to-hand com- bat and skilled in the use of dozens of different weapons, gladiators are the most dangerous war- riors on Athas. They advance as Paladin/Rangers. A gladiator who has a Strength score (his prime requisite) of 16 or more gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns. Gladiators can have any alignment: good, evil, lawful, chaotic, or neutral. A gladiator can use most magical items, includ- ing potions, protection scrolls, most rings, and all forms of enchanted armor, weapons, and shields; he abides by all warrior restrictions that apply. Gladiators have the following special benefits: A gladiator is automatically proficient in all weap- ons.--he never suffers a penalty for not being profi- cient with any weapon, even one that is new to him. A gladiator can specialize in multiple weapons. As a reward for their years of training and disci- pline, gladiators are the ultimate masters of weap- ons. A gladiator character may specialize in any number of weapons, provided he has the number of proficiency slots required. A gladiator is an expert in unarmed combat. He receives 4 point modifier to punching and wrestling attack rolls, which he can use as a plus or a minus to his roll after it is made. The gladiator may consult the Punching and Wrestling Results Table in the Player's Handbook while making this decision. A gladiator learns to optimize his armor when he reaches 5th level. He conditions himself to use his armor to its best advantage, dodging and moving his body in such a way that opponents are con- founded by his armor and shield. Provided the gladiator is wearing armor, his armor class is re- duced by one for every five levels (-1 at 5th-9th level, -2 at 10th-l4th level, -3 at 15-19th level, --4 at 20th level). This benefit does nothing for gladiators who aren't wearing armor. Some magical items (like a ring of protection +2), do not count as armor while others (such as bracers of defense) do. The DM must rule on a case-by-case basis. A gladiator attracts followers when he reaches 9th level. The followers arrive in the same manner as for fighters. A gladiator's first unit will always consist of other gladiators who have come to study his fighting style and learn from a true master. Ranger Ability Requirements Strength 13 Dexterity 13 Constitution 1 4 wisdom l4 Prime Requisites: Strength, Dexterity, Wis- dom Races Allowed: Human, Elf, Half-elf, Halfling, Thri-kreen Though Athas is a land different from other AD&D campaign worlds, the role of the ranger is largely unchanged. The wilderness is harsh and un- forgiving, calling for skilled and capable men to master its ways--the ranger answers that challenge. A ranger's motivations can vary greatly. For in- stance, human rangers are very often former slaves forced into the desert wilderness for simple survival. Halfling rangers, on the other hand, are an integral part of their aboriginal society, serving as advisors and trackers. Whatever their origin, all rangers are of good alignment, living rugged lives through clever mastery of their surroundings. A ranger can use any weapon or wear any armor, and he can fight two-handed, just as described in the Player's Handbook. A ranger also gains the tracking' move silently' and hide in shadows abilities as described in the Player's Handbook. An Athasian ranger must also choose a species enemy, gaining attack adjustments against them (consult Chapter 11: Encounters for a list of possi- ble species enemies). A ranger is skilled at animal handling. His adept- ness with both trained and untamed animals is, again, just as presented in the Player's Handbook. A ranger can learn clerical spells when he reaches 8th level. At that time, he must decide upon a single elemental plane of worship and can only choose spells from that sphere (a ranger cannot use spells from the Sphere of the Cosmos). A ranger never gains bonus spells for a high wisdom score, nor is he ever able to use clerical scrolls or magical items unless specifically noted otherwise. While a ranger cannot enchant magical potions on his own, he can reproduce them using botanical enchantment (see Chapter 10: Treasure). At 10th level, a ranger attracts 2d6 followers, but his followers are far different from those granted to a fighter or gladiator. To determine the type of fol- lower acquired, consult the following table (rolling once for each follower). RANGER'S FOLLOWERS 01-04 Aarakocra 05-08 Anakore 09-12 Ant Lion, Giant 13 Behir 14-19 Belgoi 20-25 Baazrag 26-30 Cat, Great 31 Dragonne 32-35 Druid 36-39 Ettin 40-45 Fighter (human) 46-52 Fighter (elf) 53-58 Fighter (thri-kreen) 59-62 Giant 63-68 Kenku 69-78 Lizard 79-82 Preserver 83 Psionicist (human) 84-90 Roc 91-95 Thief 96-98 Wyvern 99 Yuan-ti 00 Other wilderness creature (chosen by the DM) In all other ways, govern the creation and play of rangers as presented in the Player's Handbook. Wizard In Dark Sun, magic is irrevocably linked to the environment. The casting of magical spells and the enchantment of magical items always draws energy directly from the living ecology in the vicinity, de- stroying the life there. Wizards can choose two paths toward mastery of magical energy. The preserver learns to tap magical energies in such a way as to minimize or even cancel his de- struction through balance and in-depth study, but his progress as a wizard is very slow. The defiler, on the other hand, casts magical spells without regard to the havoc he plays upon the environment--compared to a preserver, a defiler ad- vances through levels very quickly, but his very exist- ence destroys the life around him. Illusionists, a specialized type of wizard, can prog- ress as preservers or defilers, as explained below. 26 Wizards are restricted in their use of weapons and armor, just as explained in the Player's Handbook. All wizards in Dark Sun use spell books and memorize their spells, just as explained in the Play- er's Handbook. In Dark Sun, however, "books"-- made with flat pages bound along one edge between heavy covers--are fairly rare, usually only found as artifacts. Dark Sun wizard characters tend to have their spells written on paper or papyrus scrolls, or woven into small tapestries or, in extreme cases, some use complicated knot and string patterns or stone tablets. They are all still collectively referred to as "spell books" and function accordingly. Defiler Ability Requirements: Intelligence 9 Prime Requisite: Intelligence Races Allowed: Human, Elf, Half-elf Defilers are wizards who have decided to take a faster, darker approach to mastering the use of mag- ical spells. In the give and take of spell casting, defil- ers are well versed in the taking, but give nothing in return. With every spell cast, a defiler leeches the life-energy out of the plants and soil around him, leaving a lifeless zone. Because of this, defilers can only have non-good alignments. A defiler who has an intelligence score of l6 or higher gains a 10 percent bonus to all experience points earned. A defiler can use any magical item normally available to wizards. Just like preservers, defilers can opt to specialize. Specialist defilers are treated as explained in the Player's Handbook. The actual amount of damage to the environment done by a defiler casting spells depends upon the level of spell and the nature of the defiler's sur- roundings while he is casting it. The rules governing this process are given in Chapter 7: Magic. Defiler Experience Levels Level Defiler HitDice (d4) 1 0 1 2 1,750 2 3 3,500 3 4 7,000 4 5 14,000 5 6 28,000 6 7 42,000 7 8 63,000 8 9 94,500 9 10 180,000 10 11 270,000 10 + 1 12 540,000 10 + 2 13 820,000 10 + 3 14 1,080,000 10 + 4 15 1,350,000 10 + 5 16 1,620,000 10 + 6 17 1,890,000 10 + 7 18 2,160,000 10 + 8 19 2,430,000 10 + 9 20 2,700,000 10 + 10 In most cases, defilers are outlaws (even in the eyes of the corrupt sorcerer-kings), so they keep their magical abilities under cover. Unlike preservers who have a loose organization in their underground, outlaw defilers tend to be loners, keeping their am- bitions and powers to themselves. A sorcerer-king tolerates a select few defilers in his employ, to carry out day-to-day magical tasks that he has no patience for. These defilers are always at the beck and call of their master, and the sorcerer-king himself oversees the training of new recruits. The sorcerer-king's de- filers are feared and hated far and wide. Wherever they travel they leave behind a swath of ashen de- struction . Preserver Ability Requirements: Intelligence 9 Prime Requisite Intelligence Races Allowed: Human, Elf, Half-elf The preserver is a wizard of the old, established school of magic. In the give and take of spell casting, preservers have mastered the balance. A preserver's magical spells are cast in harmony with nature. When a preserver casts a spell, there is no damage to the nearby environment. Dark Sun preservers are treated just as the mages described in the Player's Handbook. They may spe- cialize freely. A preserver who has an Intelligence score of 16 or higher gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns. In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about mages in the Player's Handbook should be used. Illusionist Ability Requirements: Dexterity 16 Prime Requisite: Intelligence Races Allowed: Human, Elf, Half-elf, Halfling Illusionists are treated just as described in the Player's Handbook. They may be defilers or pre- servers, but that decision must be made when the character is created. They will advance in levels and cast magical spells as defilers or preservers, depend- ing on which way of life is chosen. In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about illusionists in the Player's Handbook should be used. Illusionists, like all specialist wizards, must con- form to the race and minimum ability score require- ments as presented in the Player's Handbook. Priest Athas is a world without deities. Powerful sorcerer-kings often masquerade as gods and demi- gods but, though their powers are great and their worshippers many, they are not true gods. The world does, however, provide sources of magical power. Such belief-inspired magic is separated into three distinct areas, each with a class of priest that specializes in its application. Templars worship the sorcerer-kings and draw their magical energies through them. The sorcerer- kings grant magical spells to their templars for serv- ices rendered. If a templar falls from favor with his sorcerer-king, or if his sorcerer-king is killed, the templar looses all magical spells. Clerics worship one of the four elemental planes: earth, air, fire, or water. They call upon magical en- ergies from those planes, specializing in one ele- ment s magical applications on the prime material plane. The spells available to a cleric depend upon his elemental plane of worship. To reflect this, the spheres of clerical spells have been altered--there are only five spheres the Spheres of Earth, Air Fire, Water and the Sphere of the Cosmos (a gen- eral sphere). A cleric gains access to all spells within his chosen elemental sphere and to all spells in the Sphere of the Cosmos. The spells themselves are received directly from the elemental sphere (even the Cosmos spells). A cleric need not restrict his activities to supporting his element on Athas, but direct opposition may cause spells to be withheld, at the DM's option. For ex- ample, a cleric of the water who goes out of his way to poison or otherwise damage a watering hole might suffer for this action. Druids associate themselves with the spirits that inhabit special geographical locations on Athas-- every oasis, rock formation, stretch of desert, and mountain has a spirit that looks over it and protects its use. A druid will ally with a particular spirit, act- ing as that spirit's earthly counterpart, drawing his magical energy from the spirit in question. Spheres of Magic On Athas, the spheres of spells are changed to reflect the emphasis on the elemental planes. Clerics are restricted to one of these spheres, plus the 29 sphere of the cosmos. Templars can have access to any sphere, but their spell progression is slower than normal. Druids choose their spheres based upon the geographic feature with which they are associ- ated. The new lists of priest spells by sphere is given in Chapter 7 Magic. Otherwise, priest characters are created and used just as described in the Player's Handbook. They use eight-sided Hit Dice and can gain additional spells for having high Wisdom scores. Restrictions to armor and weaponry vary according to class. The use of priestly magic never adversely affects the ecosystem in and of itself. The net result of the spell may affect the environment (such as summon insects or lower water), but the use of the magical energy itself entails no destruction akin to the un- leashing of a defiler's magic. Cleric Ability Requirements: Wisdom 9 Prime Requisite: Wisdom Races Allowed: All Outside the city states, away from the bureaucra- cy of the sorcerer-kings and their templars, the most common type of priest is the cleric. All clerics wor- ship the elemental planes and draw their magical energies directly from them. However, the back- grounds and motivations for clerics may be vastly different--the shaman witch doctors of the half- lings, the mullahs of the trader caravans, and the healers among the slave tribes are all very different but they're all clerics. A cleric must have a Wisdom score of 9 or more. A cleric who has a Wisdom of 16 or more gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns. Every cleric must choose one elemental plane as his focus of worship. This choice will dictate what spells he can call upon and what types of weapons he will prefer to use. A cleric has major access to the sphere of his element of worship. He also has minor access to the Sphere of the Cosmos. Player Character Classes Clerics concentrate their efforts on magical and spiritual pursuits, and usually leave combat to oth- ers. However, Athas is a violent world, and practi- cality dictates that they train in combat, as well. Clerics are not restricted with regard to the armor they may wear, but commonly limit themselves to weapons that are somehow related to their particu- lar elemental plane of worship. Cleric Weapons Restrictions Elemental Plane of Earth--Clerics of the earth are usually the best armed since they can use stone and metal in their weapons. Wood is also accept- able to them since it originally grew from the ground. They may use any weapon listed in the Player's Handbook. Elemental Plane of Air--Since the air does not lend itself easily to being an offensive weapon, clerics of the air rely instead on weapons that are guided by the air. They may use any sort of bow, blowgun, or sling, regardless of construction. Spears are also ac- ceptable, used in either a melee or missile role. Elemental Plane of Fire--Clerics who worship this plane rely on flaming weapons. Favored weapons include flaming arrows, burning oil, and magical weapons enchanted to somehow burn or scald. In extreme circumstances, heating metal weapons to cause searing damage is another acceptable prac- tice among the clerics of the flames. Because it was once fused under great pressure and heat, all obsidian weapons are also acceptable. Elemental Plane of Water--Those who worship this plane recognize water as the bringer of life to the wastelands, the originator of all that grows. Therefore, clerics of the water may use any weap- on that is of organic origin, usually wood or bone. They may use bows, clubs, maces, javelins, quar- terstaffs, spears, and warhammers. Clerics are not strictly forbidden from using weapons that do not conform to those listed here. However, clerics will not gain their share of group 30 experience awards for creatures defeated using weapons outside this scheme. Clerics have power over undead' just as described in the Player's Handbook. In Dark Sun, undead are classified as either controlled or free-willed, but the cleric's ability to turn or dispel them is the same. Athasian clerics never gain followers simply as a reward for advancing in levels, nor do they ever gain official approval to establish a stronghold. However, any of these things may come about as a result of good roleplaying. Clerics do gain certain powers with regard to their elemental planes of worship as they advance in level. A cleric can ignore the presence of the element he worships when he reaches 5th level. The duration of this power is a number of rounds equal to his level, and it can only be performed once per day. Thus, a cleric of water may move through water freely and one of earth may pass through stone walls as if they were not there. Force exerted on the cleric by the element may also be ignored--a great wind will not affect a cleric of the air, flames will not burn a cleric of the flames. This protection extends to everything that the cleric is carrying on him at the time. A cleric can gate material directly from his ele- mental plane when he reaches 7th level. The amount of material he may gate is one cubic foot per level above 6th. The material is a pure specimen from the plane in question--earth, air, fire, or water. The exact nature of the material will be raw and ba- sic; stone (not metal) from the plane of earth, air, flame, and liquid water from their respective planes. Air so gated comes in the form of a terrific wind, capable of knocking down all huge or smaller crea- tures; it lasts one round. The shape of the gated material may be dictated by the cleric (a stone wall one inch thick, a sheet of flame surrounding the altar, etc.), but it cannot be gated more than 50 feet from the cleric. Material may be gated only once per day. Though not a granted power, a cleric can conjure elementals from his elemental plane when he reach- es 9th level, since conjure elemental is a 5th level spell in Dark Sun. The 6th level spell conjure fire elemental and the 7th level spell conjure earth ele- mental have been removed from the Dark Sun cleri- cal spell lists. In all cases where the rules here don t contradict them, the rules about clerics in the Player's Hand- book should be used. Druid Ability Requirements: Wisdom 12 Charisma 1 5 Prime Requisites: Wisdom, Charisma Races Allowed: Human, Half-elf, Half- ling, mul, Thri-kreen Druids are independent priests who ally them- selves with various spirits of the land. He shares power with the spirit he worships, nurturing and protecting the geographical feature to which the spirit is tied. Virtually every feature of the land on Athas has a druid to protect it, but there is no worldwide organization of druids--they serve inde- pendently, living patient, solitary lives of guardian- ship. Every druid must choose one geographic feature to be his guarded lands. The geographic features that a druid might make his guarded lands can vary widely. For instance, one may watch over a particu- lar stretch of open desert, another may protect a belt of scrub grass within it, while still another might watch over a small oasis that borders on both. Lower-level druids may travel widely in the world. During their time of wandering' a young druid learns about the world, its ecology, the balance of nature and the ways of its creatures; he may spend as much time on his guarded lands as he sees fit. Upon reaching 12th level, the druid s time of wandering has come to an end. From that time for- ward, the druid must spend half of his time on his guarded lands, watching over them and protecting them. The rest of the time a higher-level druid must again travel the world, keeping tabs on trends that might threaten nature in general and his guarded lands in particular. Druids tend not to bother or even encounter those who use their guarded lands without damag- ing them. Travelers who stop at an oasis to water their animals and then move on will probably never know there is a druid watching their every move. It is a druid's firm belief that the lands are for all to use, men and animals, alike. They merely see to it that their guarded lands aren't abused in any way. Un- derstandably, druids tend to be very apprehensive about wizards who venture into their realms, as they might turn out to be defilers. A druid who has both a Wisdom and Charisma score of l6 or more gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns. Druids have no restrictions as to what weapons they may use. They may never wear armor, but may don items that give magical protection (bracers, cloaks, etc.). They can use any magical item nor- mally available to druids. A druid has major access to spells from any sphere that is associated with his guarded lands. For instance, a druid whose guarded land is a stream might be restricted to spells from the Sphere of Wa- ter. A more exotic druid might choose as his guard- ian lands the howling winds of the north and use spells from the Sphere of Air. Still another druid whose guarded land is a desert spring may draw spells from both the Sphere of Water and the Sphere of Earth, though only one may be of major access and the other of minor, as decided by the DM. At most, a druid may claim two Spheres to be related to his guarded lands, and they must meet the approval of the DM. In addition, a druid has major access to spells from the Sphere of the Cos- mos. Possible Guardian Lands sphere of Earth: a particular mountain or hill, a rock outcropping, an expanse of desert or steppes. Player Character Classes Sphere of Air: the skies over a particular area, the winds of a canyon or any prevailing wind pattern. Sphere of Fire: dry grasslands, a volcanic vent, hot springs, or boiling tar pits. Sphere of Water: a spring or pool, oasis, or natural cistern. When in his guarded lands, a druid has several powerful granted powers. A druid can remain concealed from others while in his guarded lands. This is proof against all nor- mal forms of detection (sight, hearing, etc.) but will not protect the druid from magical detection (in- cluding a detect invisible spell). The druid cannot move or cast spells in any way while concealed. A druid may speak with animals in his guarded lands when he reaches 3rd level. He can speak with all animals when he reaches 7th level. A druid may speak with plants in his guarded lands when he reaches 5th level. He can speak with all plants when he reaches 9th level. A druid can live without water or nourishment in his guarded lands when he reaches 7th level. At that point the druid draws his life energy directly from his guarded lands. A druid can shapechange into creatures com- mon to his guarded lands when he reaches 10th level. The druid can so shapechange up to three times per day. The size of the animal is not restrict- ed provided the animal is native to the druid s guarded lands. When assuming the shape of the animal, the druid takes on all of its characteristics--its movement rate and abilities, its armor class, number of attacks, and damage per attack. The druid's clothing and one item held in each hand also become part of the new body; these reappear when the druid resumes his normal shape. The items cannot be used while the druid is in animal form. Since many animals wander over wide ranges on Athas, druids often have a large number of creatures to choose from. However, they cannot shapechange into creatures totally alien to their guarded lands. Consult Chapter 11: En- counters for a list of possible creatures; use the ter- rain indicated for each creature when considering whether it is native to the druid's guarded lands. The druid retains his own hit points, THAC0, and saving throws while in animal form. In all cases where the rules here don t contradict them, the rules about druids in the Player's Hand- book should be used. 32 Templar Ability Requirements: Wisdom 9 Intelligence 10 Prime Requisite: Wisdom Races Allowed: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Half-elf Templars are the greatly feared disciples of the sorcerer-kings. Their organization is steeped in an- cient tradition and treacherous politics, and the work they perform for the sorcerer-kings is gov- erned by endless bureaucracy. To city dwellers, the templars are the enforcers of the sorcerer-king's will, allowed to run rampant, enforcing the local edicts with painstaking indifference, doling out punishment or even execution with the sorcerer- king's blessing. An organization of wicked men looking out for their own wealth and power, the templars are overrun with corruption to the highest level--the sorcerer-kings generally turn a blind eye to bribery and scandal among the templars, pro- vided terror is maintained among their subject populations . Templars gain levels as do clerics, but their spell progression at low levels is slower. At 15th level, though, the progression increases drastically as the character enters the upper ranks of the templar hi- erarchy. At the highest levels, templars have more spells available to them than clerics of the same level. lemplar Spell Progression Templar Spell Level Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 - 2 1 - 3 1 1 - 4 2 1 - 5 3 2 - 6 3 2 1 - - - - 7 3 2 2 - - - - 8 3 3 2 1 - - - 9 3 3 3 1 - - - 10 3 3 3 2 - - - 11 4 3 3 2 1 - - 12 4 4 3 3 1 - - 13 4 4 4 3 2 - - 14 5 5 4 4 2 1 - 15 6 6 5 5 3 2 1 16 7 7 6 6 4 3 1 17 7 7 7 7 5 4 2 18 8 8 8 8 6 4 2 19 9 9 9 9 7 5 3 20 9 9 9 9 9 6 4 The libraries of the templars are unavailable to outsiders, but are the most extensive in the cities. Their use allows templars to access all the spheres for their spells. Also, the extensive libraries encour- age magical research. Templars may begin creating scrolls at 6th level and potions at 8th. A templar character may be either neutral or evil--there are no good templars. The templars from one city state have no association with those from another. Thus, templars cannot transfer loyal- ty from one sorcerer-king to another while the first is still alive. Should a templar's sorcerer-king fall from power or be killed, he may petition to another sorcerer-king for acceptance, where he may find an open hand or the taste of steel, at the new sorcerer- king's whim. Templars are initially trained as warriors and, at lower levels, are forced to garrison temples and pal- aces in their city state. Templars are not usually re- stricted as to weaponry or armor worn, but some sorcerer-kings impose temporary restrictions. In times of war, the templars are commonly called upon to summon formations of undead soldiers that they will lead into combat and to act as officers for his mortal armies. A templar's spells are received directly from the sorcerer-king he worships. Spells can be taken away by the sorcerer-king if the templar has somehow displeased him. If the sorcerer-king is particularly displeased, he might kill the offending templar. Templars have power over undead, but only to raise or ally with them, never to turn them away. As discussed for evil priests and undead in the Player's Handbook, this is resolved in the same way as a turning attempt. Up to 12 undead can be commanded. A "T" result means the undead automatically obey the templar, while a "D" means the undead become completely subservient to the templar. They follow his commands (to the best of their ability and understanding) until turned, commanded, or destroyed by another. As a templar advances in level, he gains certain powers within his city state. A templar can call upon a slave to do whatever he wants. Slaves who do not do as ordered by a templar face immediate death. A templar can pass judgement upon a slave at any time. In any matter involving disobedience or the actions of a slave, a templar may judge, sentence, or pardon a slave as he sees fit, regardless of who owns the slave. Penalties can include imprisonment, torture, or even death. A templar can legally enter the house of a freeman when he reaches 2nd level. The freeman has no right to refuse the templar admission, under punishment of imprisonment and possible execution. A templar can requisition soldiers when he reaches 3rd level. He can call upon 1d4 soldiers per level. The soldiers will all be 1st-level templars with one 2nd-level templar centurion. A templar can call upon soldiers any time he wishes, but the soldiers cannot be ordered to leave the city without permission from the templar's sorcerer-king. A templar can accuse a freeman of disloyalty or similar crimes when he reaches 4th level. Regardless of evidence, an accused freeman will be locked in the dungeons of the sorcerer-king for as long as the accusing templar wishes. A templar can gain access to all areas in palaces and temples when he reaches 5th level. Before that time the templar is restricted from areas such as libraries and council chambers unless ordered to go there by a higher-level templar. A templar can draw upon the city treasury for official investigations when he reaches 6th level. The number of gold pieces he can draw from the treasury is equal to the roll of a number of 10-sided dice equal to the templar's level, multiplied by his level, per month. For example, a 7th level templar would roll 7d10 then multiply the result by 10. Few questions are asked when gold is requisitioned, provided no attempt is made to withdraw funds more often than once per month. A templar can pass judgement on a freeman when he reaches 7th level. The freeman must be at least two levels lower than the judging templar, regardless of the freeman's class. Judgement can be in the form of a fine, a stretch of time in the dungeons, enslavement, execution, or anything else the templar wishes. Failure to comply makes the judged freeman an outlaw who, if caught, will be executed. Again, there need be no real evidence against the freeman being judged. A templar can accuse a noble when he reaches 10th level This is similar to the ability of the templar to accuse freemen, but permits the character to take action against the nobility on behalf of the sorcerer-king. A templar can pass judgement on a noble (just as he can judge a freeman) when he reaches 15th level. The noble must be at least two levels lower than the judging templar. A templar can grant a pardon to any condemned man when he reaches 17th level. Only the sorcerer-king himself can nullify the pardons granted by such a character. As a rule, a templar can have no more than one man accused and in the dungeons per level. He may judge or pardon no more than one man per week. He may never accuse, judge, or pardon another templar who is of equal or higher level. The templar hierarchy is measured strictly by experience level. A templar of higher level can negate any action taken by one of lower level (prevent the requisitioning of money or troops, release accused prisoners, etc.). Templars of the same level who disagree must seek out someone of higher level within the hierarchy to arbitrate their differences. Templars never gain followers as do clerics. They never receive official approval to establish religious stronghold - a sorcerer-king's life revolves around his one city and, while that may expand, he will never open branch areas that he cannot control. Rogue Athas is a world of intrigue and treachery, of shady deals and secretive organizations - it's a rogue's paradise. Beyond the cities, among the wasteland tribes and villages, thieves live by their wits. Within the secure walls of the city states, many typically roguish occupations have become institutions unto themselves. Thieves and bards have become pawns of the wealthy, deployed in deadly games of deceit between noble families. Bard Ability Requirements: Dexterity 12 Intelligence 13 Charisma 15 Prime Requisites: Dexterity, Charisma Races Allowed: Human. Half-elf The bard is a member of a bizarre class of entertainers and storytellers prized by the aristocratic city dwellers. Freemen all, the bards tour through cities in groups or individually, then travel on, making a living with their wits and talents. It is also widely accepted that many bards lead double lives as notorious blackmailers, thieves, spies, and even assassins. As described in the Player's Handbook, the bard must remain mostly neutral in alignment; that is, he must have "neutral" as one of the elements of his alignment. The bard's profession puts him in touch with all sorts of people and situations and he cannot afford to have a strong polarity of alignment to complicate his interaction with them. Athasian bards have no restrictions to their armor or weapon choices. However, they tend to wear no armor, in favor of more festive clothing, and their weapons are often concealed and small. Bards are first and foremost entertainers. Each has some skill as a singer, actor, poet, musician, and juggler. Every bard character specializes in one particular mode of performance which should be noted on his character sheet - this may become pertinent in some roleplaying situations. Among the nobility of the cities, bards are tools. They are commonly hired by one house of nobles and sent to another as a gift. The bards are sent to entertain, and usually to perform some other subtle task (such as robbery, assassination, espionage, etc.), as well. It is considered rude to turn down the gift of a bard or bard company. However, when presented with a troop of bards from one's worst enemy, sometimes they are turned away. To get around this, the hiring party sometimes disguises their approach by using a third party to send the bards - it can turn into a very complicated collage of intrigue and deceit. A bard has a bewildering variety of benefits. A bard can use all thief abilities: pick pockets, open locks, find/remove traps, move silently, hide in shadows, hear noise, climb walls, and read languages. The initial values of each skill is given on the Thieving Skill Base Scores table, and is modified by race, Dexterity, and armor worn. Unlike thieves, bards add nothing to these base values at 1st level. Each time the bard rises a level in experi- ence, the player receives another 20 points to dis- tribute. No more than 10 of these points can be assigned to a single skill and no skill can be raised above 95 percent. A bard can influence reactions just as described in the Player's Handbook. Music, poetry, and stories of the bard can be in- spirational, as described in the Player's Handbook. Bards also learn a "little bit of everything"' again, just as described in the Player's Handbook. A bard is a master of poisons, knowledgeable in both their use and manufacture. Each level, the bard rolls 1d4 and adds to it his level to determine which new poison he has mastered (on the table be- low). If the bard already has mastered the poison rolled, he gains no new poison at that level. If the roll is 18 or higher, the bard may choose any poison on the list. Once mastered, the bard can make a single application of the poison every day, using eas- ily obtained materials. The methods of application are presented in Chapter 9: Combat in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Bard Poison Table Die Roll Class Method Onset Strength 2 A Injected 10-30 min. 15/0 3 B Injected 2-12 min. 20/ 1 -3 4 C Injected 2-5 min. 25/2-8 5 D Injected 1-2 min. 30/2- 12 6 E Injected Immediate Death/20 7 F Injected Immediate Death/0 8 G Ingested 2-12 hours 20/ 10 9 H Ingested 1-4 hours 20/ 10 10 I Ingested 2-12 min. 30/ 15 11 J Ingested 1-4 min. Death/20 12 K Contact 2-8 min. 5/0 13 L Contact 2-8 min. 10/0 14 M Contact 1-4 min. 20/5 15 N Contact 1 minute Death/25 16 O Injected 2-24 min. Paralytic 17 P Injected 1-3 hours Debilitative 18 + Player s Choice Athasian bards do not gain the use of magical spells at higher levels. Further, they never gain the ability to use magical devices of written nature. In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about bards in the Player's Hand- book should be used. Thief Ability Requirements Dexterity 9 Prime Requisite Dexterity Races Allowed All Athasian thieves run the gamut of society. They range from gutter snipes who prey upon the mer- chants and freemen of the cities to vagabonds who steal what they can from passing caravans or mer- chant trains. At their best, thieves can be in the em- ploy of the nobility, plying their trade by contract in the name of a royal household or noble do-gooders who seek to steal only from the corrupt and wealthy. A thief's prime requisite is Dexterity. A thief with a Dexterity score of 16 or more gains a 10 percent bonus to the experience points he earns. A thief can choose any alignment except lawful good. A thief can be from any social class--slave, freeman, or noble. Any human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, mul, or thri-kreen character can be a thief. A thief's selection of weapons is not limited; a thief character can use any weapon, but suffers non- proficiency penalties where appropriate. A thief's choice of armor is limited, just as described in the Player's Handbook. However, there is no such thing as elven chain armor on Athas. A thief's skills are determined just as in the Play- er's Handbook. However, racial and Dexterity ad- justments will be different for Dark Sun thieves. Player Character Classes Thieving Skill Exceptional Dexterity Adjustments Pick Open Find Move Hide in Dex. Pockets Locks Traps Silently Shadows 18 +10% +15% +5% +10% +10% 19 +15% +20% + 10% +15% +15% 20 +20% +25% + 12% +20% +17% 21 +25% +27% + 15% +25% +20% 22 +27% +30% + 17% +30% +22% Athasian thieves can employ the backstab and use of scrolls abilities, just as described in the Player's Handbook. There is no thieves' cant used on Athas, nor do thieves attract followers. At 10th level a thief can attempt to attract a patron. A patron is a noble who will sponsor the thief and protect him under his house and name. Such a character is expected to perform tasks for the noble patron, such as theft, spying, and even assassination, in return for lodging and political protection. The base chance of finding a patron is a percentage roll equal to 5% per level of the thief beyond 9th. Once a patron is obtained, the thief need not roll further--the thief is from then on in the employ of one noble family from one city of the DM's choice. A thief need not seek out a patron if he doesn't wish to. Further, once a thief has a patron, the only way to leave his service is through death - a hired thief knows too many of the noble's secrets to be allowed to "resign" in any conventional way. In the campaign, having a thiefly patron will mean several things. First, the DM can assign the thief jobs for the family, which he must perform or be targeted for assassination, himself. Second, the thief can never be personally held responsible for his crimes while working for a patron. Typically patrons have powerful friends among the defilers and templars of a city state to protect both themselves and their thief employees. In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about thieves In the Player's Handbook should be used. Psionicist (Dark Sun variation) Ability Requirements: Constitution 11 Intelligence 12 Wisdom 15 Prime Requisites: Constitution, Wisdom Races Allowed: Any All intelligent creatures on Athas have some measure of psionic power. However, not all are considered to be of the psionicist character class. In Dark Sun there are no racial restrictions nor racial level limits for psionicist characters. Any human character who meets the ability requirements may be a dual-classed psionicist. Any demihuman character who meets the ability requirements may be a multi-classed psionicist. For dual-or multi- Thieving Skill Racial Adjustments Skill Dwarf Elf Half-elf Halfling Mul Pick Pockets - +5% +10% + 5% Open Locks + 10% -5% + 5% -5% Find/Remove + 15% - - + 5% Move Silently - + 5% - +10% +5% Hide in Shadows - + 10% +5% +15% Detect Noise - + 5% - +5% Climb Walls - 10% - - -15% +5% Read Languages - 5% - - -5% -5% 37 Player Character Classes classed characters, the psionicist class may be com- bined with any other class or classes. Inherent Potential In DARK SUN(TM) cam- paigns, a character may have a Wisdom or Consti- tution score as high as 22. This table is an expanded version of that given in The Complete Psionics Handbook, covering the higher scores. Inherent Potential Table Ability Base Ability Score Score Modifier 15 20 0 16 22 +1 17 24 +2 8 26 +3 19 28 +4 20 30 + 5 21 32 +6 22 34 + 7 Power Checks It is possible for a Dark Sun psionicist to have a power score of 20 or more. In such cases, ignore the psionic power's power score and 20 results; a roll of 20 always fails, but with no detrimental or beneficial effect. Wild Talents All player characters, even those who do not meet the ability requirements for the psionicist character class, are automatically wild tal- ents, as described in The Complete Psionicists Handbook. They may roll for their devotions as de- scribed there. Non-player Characters All non-player charac- ters who meet the ability requirements for the psionicist class are wild talents, as well. In most cases, unimportant NPCs are assumed to have only a psionic defense mode. For important NPCs, the DM must roll for their devotions normally. In all cases where the rules here don't contradict them, the rules about psionicists in The Complete Psionics Handbook should be used. 38 Multi-Class and Dual-Class Characters Dark Sun characters can become multi-or dual- class just, as described in the Player's Handbook. Multi-Class Combinations Any demihuman character who meets the ability requirements may elect to become a multi-class character, subject to the restrictions presented in the Player's Handbook. The following chart lists the possible character class combinations available based upon the race of the character. Dwarf Cleric/Psionicist Fighter/Cleric Fighter/Psionicist Fighter/Thief Elf or Half-elf Fighter/Mage Fighter/Thief Fighter/Psionicist Fighter/Cleric Cleric/Mage Cleric/Psionicist Cleric/Thief Mage/Psionicist Mage/Thief Thief/Psionicist Half-giant Fighter/Cleric Fighter/Psionicist Halfling Fighter/Thief Fighter/Cleric Fighter/lllusionist Thief/Psionicist Fighter/Cleric/Psionicist Fighter/Thief/Psionicist Fighter/Mage/Cleric Fighter/Mage/Thief Cleric/Mage/Thief Cleric/Fighter/Thief Fighter/Mage/Psionicist Fighter/Thief/Psionicist Fighter/Cleric/Psionicist Cleric/Mage/Psionicist Cleric/Thief/Psionicist Mage/Thief/Psionicist Cleric/Psionicist Cleric/Psionicist Illusionist/Thief Illusionist/Psionicist Fighter/Psionicist Thief/Psionicist Cleric/Illusionist Fighter/Thief/Psionicist Cleric/Thief Mul Fighter/Thief Cleric/Thief Fighter/Cleric Psionicist/Thief Fighter/Psionicist Fighter/Thief/Psionicist Cleric/Psionicist Fighter/Thief/Cleric Thri-kreen Fighter/Cleric Cleric/Psionicist Fighter/Psionicist Fighter/Cleric/Psionicist Defiler or preserver can be substituted for any mage entry. Templar can be substituted for any cleric entry. Ranger can be substituted for any fighter entry by elves, half-elves, half-giants, halfling, or thri- kreen. Bard can be substituted for any thief entry by half- elves. Druid can be substituted for any cleric entry by half-elves, halflings, muls, or thri-kreen. Gladiator can never be a part of a multi-class com- bination for demihumans. Dual-class Characters Human characters are free to become dual class- ed characters on Athas, just as they are in any other AD&D(R) campaign world. The rules governing this are fully detailed in the Player's Handbook. Character Trees DARK SUN(Tm) campaigns are set in a violent world. Powerful magics and psionics, desperate hordes of raiders, and even the unforgiving desert wastes all conspire against player characters--death is not at all uncommon on Athas, nor is it uncommon for player characters in DARK SUN campaigns. Replacing a fallen player character of high level with a novice first level character is never satisfying for the player. Also, where this new character fits into the plot is usually contrived on the spot. In DARK SUN campaigns, players are encour- aged to use character trees, where they play with on- ly one character at a time, but they have four to call upon at the beginning of any particular adventure. In brief, a character tree consists of one active character (which the player is using as his player character) and three inactive characters. The active character takes part in the adventure, performing actions in the campaign world. When a new adven- ture begins, the player may switch to one of his inac- tive characters or keep his previously active character to continue play. Setting Up a Character Tree To begin a character tree, a player should comma- palely roll up four characters. Once this is done, the player selects the character that he intends to run for the first adventure, making that one his "ac- tie" character. The other three are inactive. Alignment The four characters that make up a player's char- acter tree are unrestricted as to class or race; any combination is acceptable. However, the alignment of these characters is restricted. All of the four char- caters in a character tree must be either good, en- trail, or evil. Devotion to chaos or law makes no difference, however. For example, one character tree might have a Cha- tic good dwarven gladiator, a lawful good three- keen fighter, a neutral good human bard, and a chaotic good elven preserver. The thri-kreen could not be lawful evil or even lawful neutral and still be a part of that character tree. If a character is forced to change alignment so that it no longer fits within the tree, that character must be discarded (or, optionally, the player may discard the other three, inserting three new characters into his tree and adopt this new alignment). Discarded characters should be given to the dungeon master for use as NPCs. Changing Characters There are three instances when a player may switch the character he wishes to use in play: be- twin adventures, during an adventure, or upon an active character s death. Between Adventures When an adventure is concluded (in the eyes of the DM, that is), a player may switch his active character for an inactive one. The player is not obi- gated to do so, and may keep one character active through any number of consecutive adventures. During an Adventure Within the scope of the campaign world, calling upon another character to replace the active church- tour requires a substantial investment in time, whet- ER for sending messages or journeying and searching for the transient inactive characters of the tree (pi- tonics and magic may make this task easier, but can- not solve all the problems). The DM should sparingly allow players to switch their active church- tour during an adventure, and usually impose a 3d6 day delay. The DM should never allow switching during critical or dangerous scenes of an adventure. Any switching of characters during an adventure is subject to the discretion of the DM, who may freely veto any request to do so. Upon an Active Character's Death When the active character dies, one of the Inca- tie characters on the tree is assumed to arrive on the scene within one day (if possible). The player picks which inactive character will arrive and must subsequently roll a new first-level character to occur- pi the vacated spot on the tree. If circumstances make it difficult for a new character to arrive, the DM may be forced to extend the period before the newly activated adventurer arrives. Character Advancement The active character in a campaign receives expel- rinse points and advances in levels just as de- scribed in the Player's Handbook. Every time the active character goes up a level of experience, the player may also advance one of his inactive characters one level. The inactive character chosen must be of a lower level than the active char- acter. Adjust the experience point total on that Inca- tie character's sheet to the minimum number for the new level attained. For purposes of character tree advancement, multi-and dual-classed characters that are inactive may only advance in one class. As active characters, multi-class characters cause an inactive character to advance when he increases one level in each of his classes. A dual-classed character causes an inactive character to advance with every level he attains. For inactive multi-class characters, care must be taken that a single experience point total can or- recently yield the level combination. In general, an in- active multi-classed character should never be more than one level different in each class (3,3,4 is okay, 3,3,9 is not). The Status of Inactive Characters inactive characters are not NBC or followers. They aren't involved in the adventure at any time. At no time will a player's active and inactive church- tress come into contact in the campaign world. When not in play, inactive characters are assumed to be elsewhere on Athas, performing other tasks. All characters in a character tree are assumed to know each other and are working toward similar ends. The player may invent connections--the char- caters are all sons of the same powerful woman, are distant cousins, friends from childhood, etc. How- ever, there is no need to have any relationship be- twin them--the player may decide that the individuals in his character tree have no more than a passing acquaintance with one another. Using the Character Tree to Advantage The character tree's chief purpose is to give every player a pool of adventurers to choose from for if- ferret situations or when one of his characters dies. The player is familiar with these characters and can apply their strengths more readily than he might be able to with freshly created characters. However, if care is taken, the character tree can be a valuable tool to the player in an extended campaign. As only one inactive character gains a level of ex- perinea every time the active character does so, de- chiding which character to advance might be a decision based on which direction the campaign seems to be taking. If, for instance, a large war is in progress, a player may wish to use his fighter for his active character. If the war is winding down, he might want to advance inactive non-fighter church- tress for the post war adventures to come. As another example, the quest might be a Dan- gores trek across the wilderness to steal a magical item from an ancient defiler's mansion. The player might use his ranger character to make the journey, but all the while might be using his inactive church- tour advancements to make his thief more powerful for the final assault on the mansion. Exchanges Between Characters Even though characters are on the same tree, they cannot freely exchange equipment, magical items, cash, or personal possessions. Keep separate lists for all such items. In some instances, if there is a compelling reason to do so, characters may exchange important items or information, but this is an option that can be as- ill abused. In general, items stick with the original character and that's that. DARK SUN(TM) campaigns call upon players to roleplay their characters according to alignments, just as in AD&D(R) campaigns. The alignment scheme is the same, combining an attitude toward order (law, neutrality, or chaos) with an attitude to- ward morality (good, neutrality, or evil). All charac- ters and creatures have an alignment in Dark Sun. As stated in the Player s Handbook' "consider alignment as a tool, not a straight jacket that restricts the character." Encourage players to manipulate their Dark Sun characters, using alignment to enhance their roleplaying--creative roleplaying in the Dark Sun world, as in any AD&D campaign world, will enhance both its realism and its enjoyment. Half-giants and Alignment As stated in Chapter 2 Player Character Races' half-giants have rapidly shifting attitudes toward both order and morality. Their imitative nature and basically poor grasp of right and wrong facilitate this flip-flopping of attitudes which, in game terms, manifests itself as a change in alignment. One half of a half-giant s alignment remains fixed, the other half may vary. A half-giant must choose an alignment every morning, one that reflects a reaction to his changing environment, but it must be an alignment that the DM agrees to. In general, a half-giant will be imita- tive or will be reacting to his environment when a change in alignment occurs. Unless there is a valid reason for the half-giant to become, say, chaotic evil for a day, then the DM should not allow it. If a play- er repeatedly requests daily alignment changes sim- ply for personal gain, the DM should suggest he play another type of character. Remember, a half- giant character's alignment may change each day, but it isn't mandatory--he may go months at a time without a single change. For this reason, half-giant characters, while the dumbest in the campaign world, are generally the most difficult to accurately roleplay. A half-giant's shifting alignment should become 42 a hindrance as often as it is a boon. His any-way- the-wind-blows thinking can make him appear unre- liable, even dangerous to characters with a more linear approach to order and morality. The DM must sometimes present situations where a half- giant's changing alignment will cause him some grief. Alignment in Desperate Situations (Optional Rule) Life threatening circumstances always put a char- acter's alignment to the test. How he acts, how he treats the other characters in a party, and how he controls his own actions can change drastically with desperation. These rules are presented chiefly to govern situations where water is in very short supply, but they can be adapted to a variety of other situa- tions: the commodity in short supply could just as easily be food in times of famine, the antidote to a poison, the cure for a widespread disease, air in a collapsed tunnel, etc. A party of characters that has a potentially dead- ly shortage of water will have to take several things into consideration. Individually, characters should react based on their alignment. As a group, they will have to examine which of their number are strong and capable and which are weak and in need of assistance. Plans may be made to give more water to certain individuals so they can survive to cast spells or fight foes. How characters react to such plans again rests with their alignments. Lawful Good A character of this alignment will insist that ev- eryone get an even share of what water there is, even those in the party who seem beyond hope. He will readily conceive of and accept plans that call for un- equal distribution of water for the good of the group, but will never let the weak or dying go with- out water. Lawful Neutral Such characters will insist that everyone get an even share of available water, but won't care one way or the other about characters that may be be- yond hope. He will also accept plans that call for unequal distribution of water for the good of the group . Lawful Evil A character of this alignment will insist that avail- able water be evenly distributed among the able- bodied of the group, but won't offer any to those who seem too far gone. He will accept plans that call for unequal distribution of water for the good of the group, especially if that means more water for him. Neutral Good A neutral good character will insist that everyone in the group get an even share of remaining water, even the severely dehydrated. He will consider plans calling for unequal water distribution, but will have to be convinced that the plan will ultimately benefit the party and not hurt him personally. True Neutral A character of this alignment will want a fair share for himself, but won't necessarily come to the aid of the very weak. He will consider plans that call for unequal water distribution, but only if he and the party will benefit in the short term. Neutral Evil A character of this alignment will insist on his fair share, and will be against giving water to the very weak. He will consider plans for unequal water dis- tribution, but only if he personally will benefit soon. Chaotic Good A chaotic good character will insist that everyone get an even share of the available water, even the Alignment very weak. He will not consider plans calling for un- equal water distribution unless he and those he likes personally get more water as part of the plan. Chaotic Neutral Such a character will insist on his fair share, and won't concern himself with the plight of the very weak. He won't consider plans calling for unequal water distribution unless he personally gets more water as part of the plan. Chaotic Evil A chaotic evil character will freely lie, cheat, or even kill to get all the water he can. He will constantly suggest plans calling for unequal water distribution that grant him additional water immediately. Severe Desperation For the purposes of this rule, severe desperation sets in when one member of the party (either a PC or NPC) dies from dehydration and the situation shows no signs of changing. At such times, the DM should make a Wisdom check for each character every day in order to avoid madness. The madness created by water deprivation forces a character to adopt a chaotic evil alignment for that day with regards to obtaining water. The DM should inform the player of this temporary align- ment change--the player should do his best to adopt the madness in his character's style a stupid gladiator might simply take out his sword and de- mand the water, whereas a bard might poison some of his fellows in secret to increase his share. If a play- er is unwilling to take appropriate actions, the DM should make the character into an NPC until the madness wears off. It is mostly for this reason that this rule is optional. Alignment related class abilities are lost during the period of madness. Once a character has a successful Wisdom check or is rehydrated, the madness goes away. 43 In Dark Sun, both weapon and nonweapon profi- ciencies generally follow the guidelines in the Play- er's Handbook. Any exceptions to typical AD&D(R) game mechanics appear in this chapter. Dark Sun characters often have higher attribute scores than those in other AD&D campaign worlds. As a result, Dark Sun characters can more easily accomplish proficiency checks, which are based upon attributes. Even so, players should re- member that rolling a natural 20 still results in fail- ure, regardless of their characters, attribute scores. Dark Sun Weapon Proficiencies Weapon proficiencies and specialization function as usual for all Dark Sun character classes except the gladiator class. Gladiators begin the game with proficiency in every weapon. In addition, they can specialize in any number of weapons, provided they have enough slots available to do so. A gladiator must spend two slots to specialize in any melee or missile weapon except a bow, which requires three slots. Gladiators thus transcend the rule that limits specialization to fighters. For example, Barlyuth, a dwarven gladiator, starts the game with four weapon proficiency slots. As a gladiator, he already holds proficiency in all weap- ons, so he needn't spend any of his four slots to be- come proficient. Instead, he may spend all four slots to specialize in two melee weapons, or spend three slots to specialize in a bow weapon and save the re- maining slot for later specialization. A 9th-level gladiator could thus specialize in two melee weapons and one bow weapon (seven total weapon proficiency slots) and an 18th-level gladia- tor could specialize in five melee weapons (10 total weapon proficiency slots). A gladiator gains all the benefits for every weapon in which he specializes, suffering no penalty for multiple specializations. New Nonweapon Proficiencies GENERAL Proficiency Slots Ability Modifier Bargain 1 Wis -2 Heat Protection 1 Int -2 Psionic Detection 1 Wis -2 Sign Language 1 Dex 0 Water Find 1 Int 0 PRIEST Bureaucracy 1 Chr -2 Somatic Concealment 1 Dex -1 WARRIOR Armor Optimization 1 Dex -2 Weapon Improvisation 1 Wis -1 WIZARD Somatic Concealment 1 Dex -1 Description of New Proficiencies As in the Player's Handbook, the proficiencies here appear alphabetically with description and rules for using them in a campaign. Armor Optimization This proficiency allows a character to use his armor to best advantage against a particular opponent (much like the gladiator spe- cial ability). A successful proficiency check in the first round of any combat situation gives a - 1 bo- nus to the character's Armor Class in that situa- tion. A situation is a series of rounds in which a particular character engages in combat. Once the character goes two full rounds without combat, the situation ends. The character must be wearing some type of armor or employing a shield in order to use the armor optimization proficiency. The bonus pro- vided by the armor or shield adds to the bonus from the armor optimization proficiency. Furthermore the bonus from the armor optimization proficiency adds to that of the gladiator special ability. Bargain A character with the bargain proficiency can haggle over cash, service, and barter transactions to capture a better deal. In a cash transaction, a suc- cessful check allows the character to purchase an item for 10% less or sell one for 10% more than the going rate. In a simple barter transaction, a successful check improves the perceived value of the bargainer's goods by 10% In protracted barter, a successful check al- lows the bargainer to roll 3d6 instead of 2d6 for that round of barter; a separate check initiates every round. (See Chapter 6 Money and Equipment). In a service transaction, a successful check provides the bargainer 10% more than the going rate for his serv- ices. The DM should require players to roleplay the bargaining session to gain the benefits of this profi- ciency. Simple and protracted barter are fully explained in Chapter 6: Money and Equipment. Bureaucracy The bureaucracy proficiency helps characters in a number of situations. A successful check shortens the time a character spends in a city dungeon awaiting judgement. It can also speed the process of gaining an audience with an important templar or other official. The bureaucracy profi- ciency helps a character understand political hierar- chies and who to consult to get a job done. A successful check also allows the character to pay 10% less on a tax levied against him; two successful checks in a row allow him to avoid the tax altogether. In addition to these example uses, the bureaucra- cy proficiency functions in countless other ways to let a character understand and use (or abuse) bu- reaucratic systems. Heat Protection: A character with the heat pro- tection proficiency has learned to use clothing and personal pacing to optimize endurance against the rigors of Athas, heat. With a successful check, the character need only consume half the normal amount of water per day to avoid dehydration. In combat, the heat protection proficiency allows a character wearing metal armor to battle better and longer. A successful check each round allows the Proficiencies character to avoid the THAC0 loss for that round. In addition, when the character reaches his Consti- tution score limit to rounds of combat, a successful check will allow him to fight for five more rounds. This check can be made at the end of every subse- quent five round period, but once failed, the charac- ter collapses from exhaustion. Dehydration receives full explanation in Chapter 14: Time and Movement. The effects of using metal armor in combat appear in Chapter 6: Money and Equipment. Psionic Detection The psionic detection profi- ciency works much as the metapsionic devotion psi- onic sense, but is much less powerful. With this proficiency, a Dark Sun character uses his latent psionic ability to detect the expenditure of psionic strength points (PSPs) around him. When employing this proficiency, a character must clear his mind and concentrate, taking at least one full round to prepare. A successful check allows the character to detect the expenditure of any PSPs Proficiencies within 50 yards of his location, regardless of inter- vening material objects. A character can maintain use of the proficiency for successive rounds, but dur- ing that time he cannot move or perform any other action. The proficiency check, however, must suc- ceed on the round the PSPs are expended or the character detects nothing. Psionic detection proficiency can only inform a character that PSPs were expended within 50 yards, telling nothing more. The detecter cannot deter- mine the number of PSPs, their source, the powers or devotions drawn upon, or the purpose of the ex- penditure (e.g., to initialize a power or to maintain one). This proficiency is not cumulative with other detection techniques. A player whose character has psionic detection proficiency should ensure that the DM knows. Of- ten the DM will secretly roll the proficiency and in- form the player of results. Sign Language Those who have mastered the use of sign language can communicate among themselves without words, provided they can see each other's hands. Signing is a language unto it- self it conveys ideas that any other character with the sign language proficiency can understand, re- gardless of their native language. To use sign language for an entire round, all parties involved must make a successful check. Characters who succeed can converse together for an entire min- ute; those who fail cannot listen. When a PC signs successfully with an NPC, the DM should speak free- ly with the player for one minute per round. Every round of conversation requires another check. A failed check means that either the speaker didn't per- form his finger movements accurately, the listener wasn't watching the speaker closely enough, or some- thing else blocked communication. On Athas, many groups employ sign language for covert conversations. In some city states, using sign language can be grounds for imprisonment. Though sign language throughout Athas is generally consist- ent, secret societies often employ special codes so that 46 unwanted eyes cannot decipher specific conversations. Somatic Concealment Though spell casters can mumble verbal components and hide material com- ponents in their hands or robes, somatic compo- nents are harder to hide. The somatic component of any spell, magical or clerical, is apparent to any character watching the spell caster. On Athas, where spell casting is sometimes illegal, the ability to hide the necessary gestures becomes important. If movements can be concealed, a spell can be un- leashed without calling attention to the caster. A character using the somatic concealment profi- ciency must announce to the DM his intention to do so at the beginning of time round. Then, when the character casts his spell, the DM makes his roll in secret. A successful check indicates that anyone who could normally view the wizard doesn't recog- nize his gestures as magical in nature. A failed check means that all who can view the casting wiz- ard see his movements for what they really are. Water Find Even the most barren desert yields water to those who know how to find it. Small ani- mals burrow in the ground and store water there some rare plants store water in cistern roots beneath the soil; seemingly lifeless trees sometimes have moist heartwood. The find water proficiency can on- ly be used once per day and takes an hour to per- form. During this time the character can only move half as far as normal. A successful check indicates he has found sufficient water to sustain himself for one day. It does not mean that he has found enough water to rehydrate, but he will not further dehydrate that day. The character can only find enough water for himself--if he shares his find with others, none of them gains any benefit. Weapon Improvisation In Dark Sun, virtually anything can be (and has been) used as a weapon. A character with this proficiency rolls against Wis- dom to spot a useable weapon just about anywhere. A successful check means the character has found a club that does 1d6 + 1 damage to man-sized and smaller creatures, or 1d3 + 1 to larger opponents. The DM may assign modifiers for the ease or diffi- culty of finding such a weapon: a marketplace might warrant a +2, a barren grassland a -2, and a sandy desert might annul the proficiency altogether. Nonweapon Proficiency Group Crossovers Character Class Proficiency Groups Defiler Wizard, General Gladiator Warrior, General Preserver Wizard, General Psionicist Psionicist, General Templar Priest, Rogue, General Trader Rogue, Warrior, General Use of Existing Proficiencies in Dark Sun Because Athas differs drastically from other AD&D(R) game worlds, some of the existing profi- ciencies may seem awkward in their application. For instance, navigation and seamanship proficiencies on a world without oceans of water are ludicrous and should only be considered for characters who are mad or unnaturally old (i.e., can remember the old Athas). The following text clarifies use of other such proficiencies in this desert world. Agriculture On Athas, the low humidity makes grain storage extremely easy, but raising crops far more difficult. This proficiency covers the best use of land and water for a given crop and how to keep that crop alive through the dry growing season. Armorer The lack of metal on Athas leaves ar- morers to concentrate on other materials, namely chitin, bone, and stiffened leathers. Metal armor is so rarely constructed that, when such a task is un- dertaken, it is usually done so by a team of armorers and blacksmiths. Artistic Ability This proficiency itself remains un- changed, but its usefulness upon Athas may be more far-reaching. Slaves with artistic ability are sometimes brought out of the mud pits and into the homes of nobles, where they are taught to read. Once out of favor, however, literate slaves cannot be returned to the Proficiencies pits--they are either executed or sent to the arena. Blacksmithing As with the armorer proficiency, Proficiencies blacksmiths perform the same functions, but have shifted their main material from metal to other du- rable substances. Fishing Obviously, fishing is only useful in the few exotic places where pools of water support fish. Navigation The methods of direction finding common to naval voyages prove equally useful for caravans crossing the trackless seas of sand. Religion Large, organized religions have never developed on Athas, though sorcerer-kings make themselves out to be gods or godlike and have sur- rounded themselves in religious mystique. On a lo- cal level, cities and villages have ancient lore about mysterious beings or demigods, but consistent myth- ic systems are never widespread. Seamanship This proficiency only finds study by madmen, fools, or the preternaturally ancient. Swimming This proficiency applies rarely; for ex- ample, in the decadent pools of nobles or small bodies of natural water in exotic locales. Weaponsmithing Again, this proficiency re- mains unchanged but for the materials used. Use of Survival Proficiency in Dark Sun As described in the Player's Handbook, each slot of survival proficiency must be applied to a specific type of terrain. Athas contains sandy wastes, stony barrens, rocky badlands, salt flats, mountains, jun- gles, and steppes. Survival proficiency gives the character a chance to locate food and water in that particular terrain, but only in minuscule amounts. A successful check allows a character to find enough water to avoid losing any Constitution points from dehydration. The character will not re- hydrate, and he may continue to dehydrate on sub- sequent days that he doesn't receive water. The same check allows a character to find enough food to sustain him for a day. Survival proficiency helps a character avoid poi- sons. A successful check informs the character wheth- er a plant or animal is poisonous, provided the food source is native to the proficiency's terrain type. To understand commerce and equipment in Dark Sun, one must understand that Athas is a metal- poor world. In game terms, all metal items--swords, armor, coins--are worth considerably more than on other AD&D(R) worlds such as Krynn or Oerth. Virtually all Athasian city states issue coins minted in tribute to their sorcerer-kings. Also, some independent dwarven communities and some wealthy merchant families mint their own coins when the precious metals are available to them. Though the currencies vary (a gold coin minted in Tyr might be a bit heavier than the square gold coins that bear the Ryharian family crest), they all fall under the standard exchange rates given in the Player's Handbook. On Athas, 100 cp (ceramic pieces) = 10 sp = 2 ep = 1 gp = 1/5 pp. Ceramic Pieces and Bits The most commonly used coin throughout Athas is the ceramic piece (cp). Ceramic coins can be manufactured from the most common clay of Athas, then glazed in specific colors and kilned to discourage forgery. The molded shape of ceramic pieces allows them to be broken into 10 separate pie-shaped pieces. Each of these "bits" is worth 1/10 of a ceramic piece. What Things Are Worth The equipment lists in the Player's Handbook show not only how much each item costs, but what each item is worth in typical AD&D game coinage. On Athas, the relative rarity of metal increases the value of metal items. Coins themselves are worth more, so fewer Athasian coins are needed to pur- chase things that aren't made of metal. However, metal items, because of the scarcity of metal coin- age, cost relatively the same number of coins as in other worlds. When Dark Sun characters make purchases from the equipment lists in the Player's Handbook, therefore, the following rules apply All nonmetal items cost one percent of the price listed. All metal items cost the price listed. Thus, the small canoe (a nonmetal item) costs 3 sp, but the long sword (a metal item) costs 15 gp. If an item is typically a mixture of metal and non- metal components and the metal components could be replaced easily, the nonmetal price applies. For example, Athasian chariot makers have found ways to avoid using metal parts to make an equally sturdy chariot, so the nonmetal price of 5 gp applies. All prices listed in the DARK SUN(TM) boxed set or in any other DARK SUN module or accessory al- ready compensate for the rarity of metals. Prices listed in other AD&D game products are not adjusted--the rules of conversion apply for them, as well. Monetary Systems Societies on Athas exchange goods and services in three ways coin, barter, and service. Coin Transactions where goods or services are purchased with money remain quite common on Athas, despite the lack of metals Athas is metal- poor, not metal-depleted. Coins are a readily ac- cepted means of payment and, considering the increased value of coins, are less bulky to carry around . Barter Barter is the exchange of goods for other goods no coins change hands. By its very nature, barter is an age-old ceremony of negotiation. Char- acters in Dark Sun can enter either a simple or pro- tracted barter. Simple Barter In simple barter, characters com- pare the costs of the items to be exchanged and then match the quantities until they are approximately even. For example, Kyuln wishes to exchange his crop of rice for a metal bastard sword. On Athas, Kyuln's rice is worth 2 bits (2/10 cp) per pound, and the metal bastard sword he seeks is worth 25 gp (2500 cp). Kyuln would have to trade 12,500 pounds of his rice (his entire harvest) to the weapon- smith in exchange for his new metal bastard sword. The weaponsmith might not be that hungry. Protracted Barter: In protracted barter, dice are thrown and costs recalculated in three separate Money and Equipment rounds before a final exchange is made. Because of its complexity, protracted barter works best for items that cost more than 100 gp. For protracted barter, the Charisma scores of the parties involved (usually a player character and nonplayer character con- trolled by the DM) must be known. In the first round of protracted barter, each party rolls 2d6 and adds the result to his Charisma score; the higher roll wins the round. The winner has talked down the price of the loser's barter item by 10 percent. If either party decides to end the barter, it is finished here. If neither party decides to end the barter, it continues to a second round, and then to a third. Protracted barter can last no more than three rounds. Once entered into, a transaction will take place--neither party can back out of a deal once protracted barter has commenced. If Kyuln from the previous example (Charisma score of 13) were to enter into protracted barter with the weaponsmith (Charisma score 7), he might get a better or worse deal. In the first round, Kyuln rolls 7 ( + 13 = 20) and the weapons smith rolls 10 ( + 7 = 17); Kyuln wins the round. He has talked the weaponsmith down 10 percent, so the metal bastard sword in question is now worth 22 gp and 5 sp. Both men wish to continue into a second round. Kyuln rolls 4 ( + 13 = 17) and the weapons smith rolls 10 (+7 = 17); the tie means that neither cost is ad- justed. In the third and final round, Kyuln rolls a 10 ( + 13 = 23) and the smith rolls a 7 ( +7 = 14); Kyuln wins again. He has talked the weaponsmith down to 20 gp for the metal bastard sword, so must only exchange 10,000 pounds of his rice for it. Service: The services a character renders--from those of the unskilled laborers to those of the prized engineers--all have their asking price. Common Wages Title Daily Weekly Monthly Military Archer/artillerist 1 bit 1 cp 4 cp Cavalry, heavy 3 bits 2 cp,5 bits 1 sp Cavalry, light 1 bit 1 cp 4 cp Cavalry, medium 2 bits 1 cp, 5 bits 6 cp Engineer 5 cp 3 sp, 5 cp 15 sp Footman, heavy 1/2 bit 5 bits 2 cp Footman, irregular 1 bit 5 bits Footman, light 2 bits 1 cp Footman, militia 1 bit 5 bits Shieldbearer 1 bit 5 bits Professional Unskilled labor 2 bits 1 cp Skilled labor* 1 bit 1 cp 4 cp Classed labor** 3 bits 2 cp, 5 bits 1 sp *available only to characters who have a proficiency related to the job. **available only to characters who are being em- ployed because of their class. A character may receive payment for his services in other services, goods, or coins, depending upon the situation. With both barter and service exchanges, the DM should make certain the goods or services ex- changed are needed or desired. (Desert nomads need neither a barge nor a stonemason.) Starting Money All PCs begin the game with a specific amount of money. The player should use this starting money to equip his character; campaign time need not be spent to "play out" these purchases unless the DM deems it important to his adventure. The following table indicates how much money each character starts the campaign with, based on the character's class group. These figures are for starting 3rd-level characters; characters starting at 1st-level should divide the total by three. Characters generated as inactive members of the character tree also get starting money. The owning player may equip inactive characters at any time prior to using them as active characters. Money and Equipment Initial Character Funds Character Group Die Range Warrior 5d4 x 30 cp Wizard (1d4 + 1)x30cp Rogue 2d6 x 30 cp Priest 3d6 x 30 cp Psionicist 3d4 x 30 cp Athasian Market: List of Provisions Weapons The weapons commonly found in the brutal lands of Athas consist of obsidian, bone, wood--and sometimes even metal. The following weapons, because they can be easi- ly made without metal, can be purchased for one percent of their price in the Player's Handbook and used normally: blowguns (with barbed dart or nee- dle), all bows, clubs, all crossbows, harpoons, jave- lins, all lances, quarterstaves, scourges, slings (with sling stones), spears, staff slings, and whips. The remaining weapons--because they can be constructed from a variety of materials--vary in cost, weight, damage, and hit probability: battle ax- es, all arrows, all quarrels, daggers or dirks, darts, footman's flails, footman's maces, footman's picks, hand or throwing axes, horseman's flails, horse- man's maces, horseman's picks, knives, mancat- chers, morning stars, all polearms, sickles, sling bullets, all swords, tridents, and warhammers. The table below indicates the percentage cost and weight of weapons, and modifiers to damage and hit prob- ability for the stats in the Player's Handbook. The arquebus is unavailable on Athas. Weapon Materials Table Material Cost Wt. Dmg* Hit Prob.** metal 100% 100% bone 30% 50% -1 -1 stone/obsidian 50% 75% -1 -2 wood 10% 50% -2 -3 *The damage modifier subtracts from the damage normally done by that weapon, with a minimum of one point. ** this does not apply to missile weapons. In the game and in text, such weapons should al- ways be referred to with their material and make: wooden broadsword, bone sickle, metal dagger, and so forth. As well as adding flavor to battle scenes, this indication helps the DM keep track of what type of weapon is being used. Nonmetal weapons detract from the wielder's hit probability as well, much in the same way a cursed weapon does. Note the hit probability reduction on the player s record sheet. Nonmetal weapons can be enchanted. However, enchantment is cumulative with the weapon's hit probability modifier; in this case a--1 penalty. The net modifier for a bone Dagger +2 is actually + 1. Breaking Weapons Obsidian, bone, and wooden weapons are prone to breaking. Whenever a suc- cessful attack inflicts maximum damage, there is a 1-in-20 chance that the weapon will break, as per the following example: Bruth is sent to the arena armed with a bone bat- tle axe against three unarmed gith. In his first round, Bruth cleaves through the skull of his first opponent (makes a successful attack) and brings him down (rolls an 8 on his 1d8 for damage). Un- fortunately, the shock of the blow splinters the bone of the axe head (Bruth's player rolls a 1 on 1d20, indicating weapon breakage), leaving him weapon- less. Bruth's career in the arena may be brief. Armor All forms of armor listed in the Player's Hand- book are available in Dark Sun. They afford the same AC rating described there. Metal Armor in Dark Sun Two facts on Athas conspire to limit the use of metal armor: extreme heat and the high price of metal. A suit of field plate armor costs 2,000 gp on Athas, the equivalent of 200,000 gp on other AD&D(R) campaign worlds. Simply put, a sorcerer-king can either purchase sev- eral suits of field plate or build a substantial addi- tion to his city walls. Likewise, the intense heat across Athas, barren surface makes metal armor an unpleasant experi- ence, to say the least. In any daytime combat situa- tion, a character wearing metal armor adds one to his THAC0 for every round of combat beyond the first and will collapse, exhausted from the heat, in a number of rounds equal to his Constitution score. Alternate Materials Many types of armor can be constructed without metal on Athas, using more readily available materials. Shields Shields are mostly constructed with lay- ers of leather stretched over a wooden or bone frame and hardened. Effective shields can also be con- structed of chitinous materials scavenged from dead insectoids. Though made of alternate materials, shields on Athas come in the typical varieties: buck- lers and small, medium, or body shields. Leather Armor Perhaps the most common type of armor used on Athas, leather armor is shaped to the individual wearing it, and then hardened. Padded Armor As described in the Player's Handbook, this armor is made from heavy cloth and batting. Many Athasian warriors prefer pad- ded armor woven from giants hair. Hide Armor Hide armor on Athas is usually constructed from mekillot or braxat hide. Studded Leather, Ring Mail' Brigandine' and Scale Mail Armor These varieties of armor are constructed using pieces of bone or chitin. Chain' Splint' Banded' Bronze Plate' or Plate Mail; Field Plate and Full Plate Armor These types of armor must be made with metal compo- nents, making them both expensive and potentially deadly in the day's heat. New Equipment The following equipment is generally available in populated sectors of Athas for the prices shown. Household Provisions Tun of water (250 gal.) 1 sp Fire Kit 2 bits Tack and Harness Barding Inix, leather 35 sp 240 lb Inix, chitin 50 sp 400 lb Kank, leather 15 sp 70 lb Kank, chitin 35 sp 120 lb Mekillot, leather 500 sp 1000 lb Mekillot, chitin 750 sp 1600 lb Transport Chariot one kank, one warrior l0 Sp two kank, two warrior 25 sp four kank, three warrior 50 sp Howdah inix 1 sp inix, war 10 sp mekillot 2 sp mekillot, war 50 sp Wagon, open 1,000 pound capacity 10 cp 2,500 pound capacity 20 cp 5,000 pound capacity 30 cp 10,000 pound capacity 50 cp Wagon, enclosed 1,000 pound capacity 15 cp 2,500 pound capacity 25 cp 5,000 pound capacity 40 cp 10,000 pound capacity 60 Cp Wagon, armored caravan 100 sp Equipment Descriptions Household Provisions Tun of water In most Athasian cities, water is drawn from a collective cistern maintained by the sorcerer-king and his templars. It is not at all un- common for the price of water to increase dramati- cally during particularly dry periods or when the templars are attempting to extort more money from consumers . Animals Erdlu 10 cp Inix 10 sp Kank Trained 12 sp Untrained 5 sp Mekillot 20 sp Weapons Damage Cost Wt Size Type Speed S-M L Chatkcha 1 cp 1/2 S S 4 1d6+2 1d4+1 Impaler 4 cp 5 M P 5 1d8 1d8 Polearm, Gythka 6 cp 12 L P/B 9 2d4 1d10 Quabone 1 cp 4 M P/S 7 1d4 1d3 Wrist Razor 1 sp 1 S S 2 1d6+1 1d4+1 Money and Equipment Fire kit: Though flint is readily available, steel is scarce on Athas. The standard fire-starting kit therefore uses a bow and sticks rather than flint and steel. Tack and Harness Barding: There are two types of barding for the various beasts of burden on Athas: leather and chi- tin. Leather barding is made with stiffened leather pads, often reinforced with bone or chitin, and joined together with cloth or soft leather straps. Leather barding affords the animal a - 1 bonus to its AC. Chitin barding is made from plates of insec- toid chitin and bone, fastened together with leather and cloth. Chitin barding affords the animal an AC bonus of - 2. The two types of barding cannot be combined. Transportation Chariot A chariot is a lightly armored vehicle constructed of wood, chitin, and hardened leathern, designed for riding and combat. The driver of the chariot must have either the teamster/ freighter secondary skill or the charioteering profi- ciency. The chariot driver can attack with single-handed weapons while the vehicle is moving, but suffers a - 4 penalty to all attack rolls. Others in the vehicle suffer no penalty to melee attack rolls, but have a - 1 penalty to missile attack rolls while the chariot is moving. Those in a chariot have 50% cover from the front or sides, 25% cover from the flank or rear (consult the Dungeon Master's Guide for the exact effects of cover and concealment on combat). If one of the animals hitched to a multi- kank chariot dies or is maimed, the chariot's speed is reduced to 1/3 that of normal. The slain beast may also cause the chariot to crash, but the fallen animal can then be cut loose by survivors. Multiple deaths in the animal team bring the chariot to a halt. Howdah A howdah is a frame with seats de- signed to be mounted on the back of an inix or me- killot. A normal howdah is made of a light wooden frame and has one seat for the animal's driver. Nor- mal howdahs do not count against the carrying ca- pacity of the animal, but the driver's weight does. A war howdah is constructed of much sturdier materials, affording cover to those within. An inix war howdah weighs 150 pounds and can hold four fighters. A mekillot war howdah is a more elaborate affair, weighing 1,000 pounds. Within the mekillot war howdah's two levels 16 warriors may ride, four of which can fight to any one side at a given time. Soldiers in a war howdah can choose to have 25%, 50%, 75%, or 90% cover and concealment (consult the Dungeon Master's Guide for the exact effects of cover and concealment on combat). Anyone riding in a howdah is considered to be at rest and shaded. Wagons' open An open wagon is little more than a wooden box on four wooden wheels. A 1,000- pound-capacity wagon requires a single kank to pull it. The 2,500- pound-and 5,000-pound-capacity wagons need teams of two and four kanks, respec- tively. The l0,000-pound-capacity requires a single mekillot to move. Inix are not used to pull wagons for the simple reason that their tails get in the way. Wagons' enclosed Enclosed wagons require the same animal power as similar-capacity open wag- ons. Items within enclosed wagons are little affected by weather. Some merchants and nomads convert enclosed wagons into living quarters. Individuals riding within enclosed wagons are considered at rest and shaded. Wagon' armored caravan An armored caravan wagon weighs 5,000 pounds and can carry up to 35,000 pounds more. The exact design of any par- ticular armored caravan wagon can change from trip to trip. Artisans customize the interior for each journey, adding or taking away slave pens, expand- ing or removing enclosures, and so forth. In general, an armored war caravan can carry a cargo of 15,000 pounds of goods, plus have room for 50 fully armed warriors, 25 slaves in transit, and a handful Money and Equipment of merchants, nobles, or other stately travelers. Sol- diers in an armored caravan wagon can choose to have 25%, 50%, 75%, or 90% cover and conceal- ment (consult the Dungeon Master's Guide for the exact effects of cover and concealment on combat). While one mekillot can pull an armored caravan wagon, they are usually drawn by a team of two, to prevent the death of a mount stranding the wagon. Animals Erdlu Erdlus are herd beasts raised by many dif- ferent cultures on Athas. These large, flightless birds stand up to seven feet tall and weigh around 200 pounds. Their omnivorous diet allows them to graze nearly anywhere and their hardy nature keeps them alive in harsh terrain. The price of a single erdlu can be as much as double that listed or as little as half, depending upon availability. Erdlu's eggs are also edible: one egg can fetch 3 bits. Inix An inix is a large lizard animal that grows to as much as 16 feet long. Each can carry up to 2000 pounds. Though herbivorous by nature, inix are vi- cious combatants, attacking with both tail and bite. Inix trained for riding are also trained not to fight while mounted, for no rider could manage to keep his seat while an inix thrashed its mighty tail. Inix can be fitted with a howdah. Half-giants use them as individual mounts. Inix cannot generally pull wagons because of their lengthy tails. Kank Kanks serve as both herd animals and beasts of burden. They are large insectoids, 4 feet high and 8 feet long, weighing around 400 pounds. As herd animals, kanks are durable and easily tend- ed. Kanks are not raised for their meat, which be- comes foul-smelling as soon as they die. Instead, they are raised for honey globules produced on their bellies. A single honey globule can bring 4 bits. As hiding beasts, kanks provide effective trans- portation for a single character (except for half- giants, who use inix for the same purpose). A kank can carry up to 400 pounds. Kanks used as riding animals also require harnesses and saddles. The tack and harness prices given in the Player's Hand- book for horses work well for kanks also. Kanks can be hitched to wagons individually or in teams. A character needs the teamster/freighter secondary skill or the animal handling proficiency to effectively operate teams of kanks. Mekillot A mekillot is an enormous 6-ton lizard, used as a beast of burden. Each one can carry 8,000 pounds or pull up to 40,000 pounds behind it. Me- killots are hard to control and sometimes turn on their handlers. A mekillot can be fitted with a pack howdah or a war howdah, carrying several men into combat. Weapons Chatkcha This thri-kreen throwing weapon is common among the steppes tribes. It is a crystal wedge that can be thrown up to 90 yards and, due to its spin and affect upon the air, still return to the thrower if it misses the target. Gythka This thri-kreen polearm has wicked blades at either end. The weapon's thick shaft al- lows it to be used like a quarterstaff against similarly armed opponents. Impaler An impaler is a weapon developed for arena combat. It has a single shaft about 4 feet long with a pair of long pointed blades, splitting to each side and forming deadly "T." The weapon can be swung horizontally or vertically, over the head. Quabone This weapon is constructed from four identical shanks of bone, lashed together to form a radially symmetrical, sword-length rod. With its lightness and crudely sharpened end, the quabone is a fairly ineffective weapon. The quabone is used in arena situations where combat is intended to draw out for a long period of time. Wrist Razor Wrist razors consist of a trio of blades that protrude from a heavy arm band. The razors project out over the back of the hand, are extremely sharp, and can be up to 6 inches long. Wrist razors can be worn on one or both forearms. The sources of magical energy on Athas are very different from those in other AD&D(R) campaign worlds. Athas is a world without deities, where cler- ics worship the elemental powers themselves. De- spite the brutality that seems infused in its soil, Athas is a fragile world, where the very existence of wizardly magic can disrupt and destroy the land s ability to support life. Priestly Magic The priests of Dark Sun worship the beings that inhabit the elemental planes those of earth, air, fire, and water. In Dark Sun campaigns, priest spells fall into four spheres associated with those four elemen- tal planes, and a separate Sphere of the Cosmos. This last sphere is by far the largest, though the oth- er four hold generally more powerful, more special- ized spells. All priests on Athas thus draw magical energy (the energy with which they cast spells) from the elemental planes. Sphere of Earth Magical Stone (1st) Dust Devil (2nd) Meld Into Stone (3rd) Stone Shape (3rd) Conjure Elemental (Earth) (5th) Spike Stones (5th) Transmute Rock to Mud (5th) Stone Tell (6th) Transmute Water to Dust (6th) Animate Rock (7th) Earthquake (7th) Transmute Metal to Wood (7th) Sphere of Air Dust Devil (2nd) Call Lightning (3rd) Control Temperature, 10, Radius (4th) Protection From Lightning (4th) Air Walk (5th) Conjure Elemental (Air) (5th) Control Winds (5th) Insect Plague (5th) Plane Shift (5th) Aerial Servant (6th) Weather Summoning (6th) Astral Spell (7th) Control Weather (7th) Wind Walk (7th) Sphere of Fire Endure Heat/Endure Cold (1st) Faerie Fire (1st) Fire Trap (2nd) Flame Blade (2nd) Heat Metal (2nd) Produce Flame (2nd) Resist Fire/Resist Cold (2nd) Flame Walk (3rd) Protection From Fire (3rd) Pyrotechnics (3rd) Produce Fire (4th) Conjure Elemental (Fire) (5th) Flame Strike (5th) wall of Fire (5th) Fire Seeds (6th) Chariot of Sustarre (7th) Fire Storm (7th) Sphere of Water Create Water (1st) Purify Food & Drink (1st) Create Food & Water (3rd) Water Breathing (3rd) Water Walk (3rd) Lower Water (4th) Reflecting Pool (4th) Conjure Elemental (Water) (5th) Magic Font (5th) Part Water (6th) Transmute Water to Dust (6th) p.57: the whole page contains a picture Magic Sphere of the Cosmos Animal Friendship (1st) Bless (1st) Combine (1st) Command (1st) Cure Light Wounds (1st) Detect Evil (1st) Detect Magic (1st) Detect Poison (1st) Detect Snares & Pits (1st) Entangle (1st) Invisibility to Animals (1st) Invisibility to Undead (1st) Light (1st) Locate Animals or Plants (1st) Pass Without Trace (1st) Protection From Evil (1st) Remove Fear (1st) Sanctuary (1st) Shillelagh (1st) Aid (2nd) Augury (2nd) Barkskin (2nd) Chant (2nd) Charm Person or Mammal (2nd) Detect Charm (2nd) Enthrall (2nd) Find Traps (2nd) Goodberry (2nd) Hold Person (2nd) Know Alignment (2nd) Messenger (2nd) Obscurement (2nd) Silence, 15, Radius (2nd) Slow Poison (2nd) Snake Charm (2nd) Speak With Animals (2nd) Spiritual Hammer (2nd) Trip (2nd) Warp Wood (2nd) Withdraw (2nd) Wyvern Watch (2nd) Animate Dead (3rd) Continual Light (3rd) Cure Blindness or Deafness (3rd) Cure Disease (3rd) Dispel Magic (3rd) Feign Death (3rd) Glyph of Warding (3rd) Hold Animal (3rd) Locate Object (3rd) Magical Vestment (3rd) Negative Plane Protection (3rd) Plant Growth (3rd) Prayer (3rd) Remove Curse (3rd) Remove Paralysis (3rd) Snare (3rd) Speak With Dead (3rd) Spike Growth (3rd) Starshine (3rd) Summon Insects (3rd) Tree (3rd) Abjure (4th) Animal Summoning 1 (4th) Call Woodland Beings (4th) Cloak of Bravery (4th) Cure Serious Wounds (4th) Detect Lie (4th) Divination (4th) Free Action (4th) Giant Insect (4th) Hallucinatory Forest (4th) Hold Plant (4th) Imbue With Spell Ability (4th) Neutralize Poison (4th) Plant Door (4th) Protection From evil, 10, Radius (4th) Repel Insects (4th) Speak With Plants (4th) Spell Immunity (4th) Sticks to Snakes (4th) Tongues (4th) Animal Growth (5th) Animal Summoning 11 (5th) Anti-Plant Shell (5th) Atonement (5th) Commune (5th) Commune With Nature (5th) Cure Critical Wounds (5th) Dispel Evil (5th) Moonbeam (5th) Pass Plant (5th) Quest (5th) Rainbow (5th) Raise Dead (5th) True Seeing (5th) Animal Summoning Ill (6th) Animate Object (6th) Anti-Animal Shell (6th) Blade Barrier (6th) Conjure Animals (6th) Create Tree of Life (6th) Find the Path (6th) Heal (6th) Heroes, Feast (6th) Liveoak (6th) Speak With Monsters (6th) Transport Via Plants (6th) Turn Wood (6th) Wall of Thorns (6th) Word of Recall (6th) Changestaff (7th) Confusion (7th) creeping Doom (7th) Exaction (7th) Gate (7th) Holy Word (7th) Regenerate (7th) Reincarnate (7th) Restoration (7th) Resurrection (7th) Succor (7th) Sunray (7th) Symbol (7th) 59 Magic Clerics have major access to the sphere of the ele- ment they worship, plus minor access to the Sphere of the Cosmos. Templars have major access to all spheres, but gain spells more slowly. There are no deities in Dark Sun. Those spells that indicate some contact with a deity instead reflect contact with a powerful being of the elemental planes . Wizardry Magic Wizards draw their magical energies from the liv- ing things and life-giving elements around them. Preservers cast spells in harmony with nature, using their magic so as to return to the land what they take from it. Defilers care nothing for such harmony and damage the land with every spell they cast. Defiling Defilers wield magic with no concern for their dying world: Indeed, defilers are much to blame for Athas's current state. With each spell they cast, defilers draw magical energy from the life force of plants in the vi- cinity and channel it to their own selfish ends. Even the sorcerer-kings, however, are not the most dread users of defiler magic: the great dragon's de- filer magic is so powerful that it destroys living ani- mals as well. All magic cast by defilers up to 20th level, including all 1st through 9th level spells, de- stroys plant life only. Any creatures in the area, however, suffer great pain. Casting Defiler Spells: Spells cast by defilers use all the necessary verbal, somatic, and material com- ponents. The absence of any of these precludes the successful casting of the spell. The range, duration, casting time, area of effect, and saving throws re- main unchanged. When a defiler casts a spell, a11 vegetation in a sphere around him turns to ash. The radius of that sphere depends upon two things: the abundance of vegetation in the area, and the level of the spell cast. Magic 60 Defiler Magical Destruction Table Terrain Type Spell Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stony Barrens 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Sandy Wastes 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Rocky Badlands 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Salt Flats 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Boulder Fields 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Silt Sea 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Mountains 10 14 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 Scrub Plains 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 Verdant Belts 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 Forest 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 The number shown is the radius, in yards, around the defiler where all vegetation is turned to ash. The effect is instantaneous with the casting of the spell. Note that these numbers adjust for specific situa- tions. For example, in a city, the mud pits might have no more vegetation than the stony barrens, while the gardens of the sorcerer-king will be equal to a teeming forest. Casting Multiple Spells from the Same Location If a defiler casts more than one spell from the same location, the radius of destroyed vegetation expands around him. Consult the Defiler Magical Destruc- tion Table for the highest level spell cast from that location, then add one yard for every other spell cast. (Spells equal to the highest level spell are treat- ed as additional spells). For example, the defiler Grifyan casts a lightning bolt, a 3rd-level spell, while in the scrub plains. The area of ash around him will be 4 yards. In the next round, he casts a magic missile spell, expanding the radius of ash by 1 yard, bringing the total of burnt earth to 5 yards. In the third round, Grifyan decides to unleash an advanced Illusion, a 5th-level spell. Since this is the highest-level spell cast from this loca- tion, the area of ash is recalculated; 5 yards for the 5th-level spell, plus 1 yard each for the two lower-level spells cast, for a total radius of ash of 7 yards. Effects on Living Creatures Though only plants are destroyed within the radius, living creatures are caused great pain. Any being in *the radius of a defiler s magic suffers an immediate initiative modifier penalty equal to the level of the defiler spell cast. No matter how high the resulting initiate roll, though, the pain can never keep a character from performing an action during a round. The initiative penalty only postpones when the action occurs. Ash The ash created by defiler magic is black and grey, completely devoid of life or life-giving elements. Nothing will grow in an area of ash for one year. The ash itself is very light and usually blows away, leaving behind a lifeless, circular scar on the ground. Even with the ash gone, though, the defiler's magic has leeched all life-giving nutrients from the soil, so that an area defiled may take many years to recover life, if it ever does. Trees of Life A tree of life is a mighty and magical tree, enchanted by a powerful priest or wizard. The magical life forces of trees of life make them virtually eternal. The greatest trees of life are ancient: many solitary trees predate the villages around them and others stand in entire groves, a quiet testimony to the great wizards of a bygone age. Present-day priests and wizards still create new trees to enrich the world or, in the case of the defilers, to pervert their powerful life forces to further their destructive, evil ambitions. A tree of life is, in essence, a living magical item. It stores and channels energies from all four elemental planes. Thus, though wizards can create a tree of life, only clerics and druids can tap its special powers. Special Powers Any cleric or druid in contact with a tree of life receives from the tree four spells, each of which can be cast once per day. The spells gained are heal, augury' divination, and magic font. Destroying a Tree of Life: A tree of life has two distinct parts its physical form and its life force. The stump, branches, roots, or leaves of a tree of life make up its physical form, and are not inherently magical. The same things that would destroy a normal tree will destroy the physical form of a tree of life (e.g. , chopping it down, burning it) with one exception. Neither climate nor terrain effect a tree of life. One will flourish in the middle of the desert or on a rocky mountain face, regardless of drought, severe weather, natural lightning, earthquakes, and so forth. Destroying the tree's life force is much more difficult. A tree of life, at any stage of growth (even sprout) has 100 hit points (10 levels of 10 hit points each) that can only be affected by life-draining magic. The wizard spells vampiric touch' enervation, trap the soul, and energy drain can each drain hit points; death spell, finger of death, limited wish, and raze can each snuff out 3 levels of the target tree; and a wish slays the tree. The priest spells that affect a tree's life force are raise Lad (and its reverse slay living), restoration (and its reverse, energy drain), and resurrection (and its reverse, destruction). Undead creatures that have an energy drain attack can affect the life force of a tree of life. Defiler magic also affects a tree's life force. Every level of defiler magic cast within 100 yards of a tree of life drains one level of life force from the tree. This negates the effect the spell would otherwise have on surrounding vegetation. The life force of a tree of life is completely snuffed if it falls below zero levels or hit points. The life force will not regenerate if either of these numbers falls below zero, in which case both the life force and the physical form of the tree die. Regeneration Both a tree of life's physical form and its life force regenerate. If the tree's physical form is damaged or destroyed, it will grow back, to full size. The tree will regrow at a rate of one quarter of its full size per week. A sprout will appear in one day, grown to a sapling in one week. It will grow to a young tree in two weeks, then to a full-sized adult tree in three. After four weeks, the tree of life will revert to its true form: an ancient and mighty tree. No matter how many times the physical form of the tree is destroyed, it will always grow back in four weeks. The life force of a tree of life regenerates one level (10 hit points) per hour. It regenerates even if the life force reaches zero points, but not if it goes below zero. Trees of Life in the World of Athas: Though originally created by wizards to combat the destruction of nature, trees of life are now heavily exploited by defilers, who use the trees, powerful life forces to charge their defiling spells. Sorcerer-kings often have large gardens within their cities, even within their palaces, where groves of trees of life are tended and maintained. Thus, defilers can exercise evil magic from their citadels without decimating the cities below - a desperate measure to keep their tiny verdant belts as plentiful as possible. Magical Items Use of magical items never causes a defiling effect on the surrounding grounds. However, defilers who create magical items do cause destruction at the time of manufacture. Potions and Oils: On Athas, potions are drawn from the juices of fruits. Rules on how to use these fruits appear in Chapter 10: Treasure. Scrolls Scrolls found as part of a treasure will always be papyrus and will lack a case of any kind, unless otherwise noted. As such, these delicate scrolls often do not survive the combat in which they are won. The spells on a scroll can be either wizard or priest, as indicated in the Dungeon Master s Guide, and should be determined using the random spell lists in Appendix 1 of this book. The process of setting a spell to a scroll inherently strips the spell of defiler or preserver characteristics. Thus, spells cast from scrolls do not cause defiler destruction. Rings, Rods, Staves, Wands, and Miscellaneous Magic: These items function just as described in the DMG. Such items rarely consist of metal, but rather are fashioned from the finest alternate materials available. Armors and Shield Substitute the following table for its counterpart in Appendix 2 of the DMG. ARMOR TYPE d20 Roll Armor 1 Brigandine 2-5 Hide 6-8 Leather 9 Padded 10 Ring Mail 11-12 Scale Mail 13-17 Shield 18 Studded Leather 19 Metal Armor 20 Special Metal ARMOR d100 roll Armor 01-15 Banded Mail 16-23 Bronze Plate Mail 24-45 Chain Mail 46-50 Field Plate 51-55 Full Plate 56-65 Plate Mail 66-75 Splint Mail 76-99 Metal Shield 00 Special Magical adjustment to Armor Class is determined normally. Special armor is also determined normally, but elven chain mail does not exist on Athas; reroll if necessary. Weapons: All magical weapons found as part of a treasure are metal or have metal components. Nonmetal weapons can be enchanted as well, but magical adjustments must still take into account the inherently poorer quality of the material used. Weapons are determined as in the DMG. Weapons can have intelligence, and those with intelligence 15 or greater can have a psionic wild talent (25% chance). In the DARK SUN(TM) game world, substantial experience-point awards are made available to char- acters, based not only on their defeat of monsters, but also on their roleplaying use of racial and class special abilities. These latter awards help promote better roleplaying of distinctions between races and classes. Experience for defeating monsters is divided normally among party members in a DARK SUN campaign and individual awards should be consid- ered for every character based on the following guidelines . Individual Class Awards Action Award All Warriors: Per Hit Die of creature defeated 10 XP/level Fighter Stand commanded 50 XP/day in combat or war construction of defense or war machine 100 XP/day Gladiator: Per Hit Die of creature defeated in arena* 10 XP/level Ranger Spells cast 50 XP/spell level Track, hide, or move silently 100 XP use followers in crisis 100 xP All Wizards Spells cast to defeat foes or problems 50 XP/spell level spells successfully researched 500 XP/spell level Potion, scroll, or magical item made xP value Preserver Maintain spell-casting secrecy 50 XP/spell level Defiler Spells cast for sorcerer-king 25 XP/spell level All Priests Per use of granted power 100 XP Spells cast l00 XP/spell level Potion or scroll made XP value Permanent magical item made XP value Cleric use element creatively 100 xP Druid Defeat defiler 200 XP/level Templar Profit by accusing, judging, or pardoning freeman 150 xP Profit by accusing, judging, or pardoning noble 500 XP Profit by accusing, judging, or pardoning templar 750 xP Advance sorcerer-king's goals 100-1,000 XP All Rogues: Special ability successfully used 200 XP Treasure obtained 2 XP/cp value Hit Die of creatures defeated 5 XP/level Thief Treasure obtained for patron** 4 XP/cp value Bard Effective use of poison 100 XP/level Psionicist: Psionics used to defeat foe or problem l0 XP/PSP Psionics used to avoid combat 15 XP/PSP Psionic opponent defeated 100 XP/level or Hit Dice Create psionic item 500 XP/level * For gladiators, this award only applies to creatures slain without outside aid. The gladiator gets no ex- perience points for being part of a group kill. The 10 XP per level, however, are added to the normal allotment for kills, representing the gladiator's sub- sequent glory. ** The thief adds this XP allotment to the rogue gain for treasure obtained. Individual Race Awards Dwarf: Pursue present focus 20 xP/day Ignore present focus -100 xP/day Complete major focus* 5,000 xP Elf Subtle test of trust 20 XP Life-threatening test of trust 250 XP Refuse animal or magical transport 50 XP Continuous run l0 XP/mile Half-elf Observe human or elven custom 50 XP Better a human or elf in custom 250 XP Half-giant Imitate charismatic friend 20 xP/day shift alignment per influence 50 xP Halfling Practice another race's custom 50 XP Aid another halfling 100 XP Mul: Heavy exertion 50 XP/ 12 hours Thri-kreen Per kill brought back for food 50 xP Per creature paralyzed 100 XP Per missile dodged 10 XP * Dwarves do not consider any mission a major fo- cus unless it lasts at least a year. Individual Class Awards Fighter: The fighter's greatest skills lie in orga- nized mass warfare; conducting himself well during such times will gain him additional experience points. Awards for commanding followers only ap- ply during critical situations--even during war, fighters do not gain experience points for spending weeks camped in reserve. Gladiator The intensity of arena combat sharpens the senses, tests the courage, and magni- fies the skills of gladiators. The award for combat within the arena therefore adds to the points given for defeating a creature as a warrior. The arena ex- perience bonus only applies to gladiators. Ranger: Among the warrior class, rangers have the most unique abilities. Casting clerical spells and employing thieflike abilities provides experience awards. Awards for using followers do not, however, apply to everyday applications; only use of followers in life-threatening situations gain the ranger experi- ence. DMs should not reward cowardly or greedy use of followers. Preserver Preservers benefit from the normal wiz- ard experience point bonuses. However, when trying to maintain spell-casting secrecy, success wins for the preserver an additional bonus. Because use of magic is often illegal--or at least discouraged-- preservers who try to conceal their magic use deserve the listed XP bonus. Defilier: A defiler also receives the bonuses listed for all wizards. When carrying out the business of the sorcerer-king, defilers receive an additional ex- perience point award for spells cast. The sorcerer- kings send their defilers out into the countryside to maintain order and terror; sorcerer-kings who no- tice a successful underling send him additional sup- port. Cleric: The cleric's granted powers can be very powerful, and so provide their own reward. With them, a cleric and his party should be able to defeat greater foes and, therefore, get greater group experi- ence awards. There is consequently no special expe- rience award for clerics; the priest awards suffice. However, should a cleric use his granted powers in an original way, employing his particular element with finesse and flair to overcome an obstacle, the DM may wish to grant these bonus experience points . Druid The priest awards are generally adequate to give druid characters the experience they deserve. However, defeat of their arch-enemies, defilers, war- rants a class experience award in addition to group experience. Templar The conniving ways of the templar de- mand that he abuse his position for his own ends. The class awards listed separately for the templar reward the use of that deceit. DMs should make certain that PC templars make enemies every time an accusation or judge- ment is made. Victimizing a freeman brings few or low-powered enemies. Nobles command greater re- spect and friendship, so a templar who accuses or judges a member of the aristocracy may well expect foes in high places. Assassination is a common end for templars. Similarly, pardoning individuals can also gain a templar valuable friends. Note that accusations, judgements, and pardons only give a templar experience when these acts fur- ther the templar's ends. Pardoning an important noble for a bribe or favor or accusing a stone mer- chant to temporarily get him out of the way will earn the templar experience. Simply accusing, judging, 65 Experience and pardoning the general population at random-- though perfectly acceptable to the sorcerer-kings-- won t gain any experience for the templar. Pleasing the sorcerer-king is always a boon for a templar. The sorcerer-king grants him special atten- tion and favors that manifest themselves as an expe- rience point bonus. Rogues Note that rogues all gain experience points per ceramic piece of treasure obtained, not per gold piece. This system only works if the DM appropriately reduces the amount of treasure in DARK SUN(TM) campaigns (see Chapter 10 Trea- sure and Chapter 6 Money and Equipment). Thief A thief in the employ of a patron generally does not get to keep his prizes. He does, however, gain an addition 4 XP award per cp taken, making such tasks worth a total of 6 XP per cp. Bard Every use of poison gains the bard the expe- rience point bonus given to all rogues for successful use of an ability (200 XP). However, bards also get points based on the level of the victim. Note that poisons can be used for many things: to weaken, to sicken, to temporarily incapacitate. Rogues don't necessarily always kill victims with their poisons. Individual Race Awards Good roleplaying of the player character races in DARK SUN brings with it substantial experience point awards. Conversely, poor roleplaying brings drastic penalties, regardless of individual class awards. Judgement of good roleplaying ultimately lies with the DM, so he must be familiar with all the nuances of the Athasian player character races. Players should be careful never to forget the pecu- liarities of their character's race, and should apply these to all the roleplaying situations they can. The lines of communication between the DM and the players should be clear to allow good roleplaying and to emphasize the unique nature of Dark Sun campaigns . Dwarf A dwarf's roleplaying revolves around his focus. The focus of a player character dwarf should Experience be agreed upon by the player and the DM. Exam- ples of dwarf foci range from the broad (e.g., con- struction of a temple, protection of a village, quest for a lost family member) to the narrow (e.g., jour- ney from one city-state to another, escort a caravan explore a half-buried ruin). The pursuit of a rele- vant mission is perfectly acceptable, but relevance must be agreed upon in advance by both the player and the DM. Dwarves rarely shift focus drastically before a project is completed, and only in the face of exceptional circumstances (e.g., imminent war, as- sassination of a brother, dragon attack on the area). Again, these exceptional circumstances must be agreed upon in advance by both the player and DM. Elf: An elf's roleplaying revolves around his self- reliance and relationships with outsiders. Outsiders include anyone not of the elf's tribe--even other elves. Thus, an elf on Athas should not wish to gain friendship and trust with every character he meets; on the contrary, he tests the trustworthiness of out- siders who display some redeeming characteristics (redeeming to an elf, that is). Elves also perform such tests on outsiders who try to befriend them. El- ven PCs should put outsiders to tests of trust or loy- alty whenever possible rather than trust them from the onset just because they're other player charac- ters. The trust of an elf is not easily earned. Subtle tests of trust include the following: ù entrusting an outsider with a confidential piece of information, ù leaving a valuable item out in the open, in clear view, to see if the outsider takes it, ù arranging a secret rendezvous, then making sure the outsider shows up in the right place and on time, ù asking the outsider to deliver a message or item. Life-threatening tests of trust include the following: * letting oneself get captured by gith to see if the outsider attempts a rescue (this is among elves of the stony barrens), * faking unconsciousness after a battle to see what care the outsider provides, * making certain part of the water supply is lost on a cross-desert journey, then seeing if he gets a fair share of what s left, * challenging a particularly deadly enemy to see if the outsider stands with him or flees. An elf will also recognize displays of trust and loy- alty that are not planned in advance. If an outsider fails one or more tests of trust, an elf player charac- ter should not consider him a friend and should nev- er retest him. However, if a series of tests are passed, the elf player character can declare the outsider a friend--no further tests will be necessary unless the friend severely breaks that trust. With regards to self-reliance, elves never take ani- mal transport unless they have been too injured to run. Elf player characters should use running as their chief means of transport. Half-elf: Seeking acceptance among humans and elves is important to every half-elf, though they will vehemently deny it. Simply observing a local custom of a human or elven community he is visiting gives a half-elf PC an experience point award. These cus- toms are usually very simple, such as drinking the local ale with the elven chieftain or participating in a human wedding ritual. Such opportunities come up rather frequently when a half-elf character comes upon a new human or elven community. Experience point awards, therefore, should be received the first time the half-elf performs a particular custom. In extreme cases, a local custom may take the form of a contest or competition. If the half-elf char- acter can get involved and perform better than any one of the humans or elves also participating, he re- ceives the experience point award listed. If he does better than all of the humans or elves involved, he gains double that award. Examples of such contests Experience are archery contests, psionic strength games, artistic competitions, and animal training. Winning such half-elf awards will entail a great deal of roleplaying; if the player makes the effort, he should be rewarded. Half-giant Adopting the lifestyles of others gives a half-giant purpose. As a player character, a halfgiant should seek out the most charismatic member of the party and imitate his racial and class customs. When he does so, he will gain an experience point bonus. Sometimes a particularly charismatic nonplayer character may attract the attention of a player character half-giant. The half-giant character might, for a time, even switch sides in an adventure, during which time he should get his experience point bonus. When a half-giant character shifts his alignment according to the influences he is experiencing in the campaign, the DM should give him the experience point bonus listed. This can be earned every time the half-giant properly shifts alignment and roleplays that shift accordingly, but no more than once per day. Halfling: Their curiosity and open-mindedness demand that halflings experiment with the customs of other races. When given the opportunity to do so, no matter how trivial the custom, the Halfling gains an experience award bonus. This bonus includes everything from drinking from a caravan master's ceremonial cup for luck to hunting wild erdlus with the elf warriors. The DM should grant the award only once per custom observed, regardless of repetition. Halflings are honor bound to aid one another when in need. This award should only be handed out when there is a danger of injury or loss of life to the aiding Halfling. Mul: A mul's ability to exert himself over long periods of time can earn him an experience point award. Each 12 hours beyond the first 12 that a mul exerts himself (such as carrying a wounded party member, keeping watch, etc.) merits the listed 67 award. Note that the exertion must be necessary to the adventure, a judgement subject to the DM's approval. Thri kreen: A thri-kreen's natural combat abilities are formidable and shouldn't be overlooked in favor of human tactics. A player whose thri-kreen uses natural combat abilities will gain the awards listed. Again, instances must be relevant to the adventure to warrant an award. Each creature slain and taken back to a camp or nest for food also warrants an experience point award; the Hit Dice or relative toughness of the creature has no effect on the award. Athas is a violent world: those who wish to survive must fight, and only those who fight well survive. PCs will find themselves battling a lone monster in the desolate seas of sand, a polished gladiator in the roaring arenas, or legions of combatants in a full scale war. Arena Combats Every major city on Athas has an arena for holding gladiatorial games. The sorcerer-kings use the games to entertain their slave and noble populations and to hold barbaric executions and trials by combat. On Athas, life is cheap and the champions of the arenas are the popular folk-heroes of the age. Player characters may well find themselves thrust into the arena as prisoners or gladiators. Success can mean great things; failure means certain death. More powerful player characters may become champions or may themselves own entire stables of gladiators . The customs of every arena are unique, but some generalities can be drawn about the various matches made and the treatment of slaves bound for the arena floor. Games: All arenas feature spectacles that pit gladiatorial slaves against each other or against ferocious beasts. Wagering on these games is the sport of sorcerer-kings, nobles, merchants, and peasants alike. Matinee: Matinees feature very simple combats, pitting inexperienced gladiators or prisoners against each other in struggles to the death. Matinee warriors are never well armed or armored. Combatants who do well in matinee games sometimes rise to higher contests or are traded from house to house. At times, the sorcerer-king, master of the games, uses matinees for simple executions, as well. Matinees whet the spectators, appetites for more skilled games to come. Grudge Match: Gladiators who have met before and survived are often called upon to fight again. Wagering on grudge matches is especially heavy. 68 Most often, grudge matches aren't fought to the death, only to severe injury; thus the combatants may fight again. Trial by Combat Many people accused of crimes by the sorcerer-king or his templars receive the right to trial by combat. Unfortunately for the accused, the sorcerer-king chooses whom the accused will fight, picking from among his best gladiators. Death is tantamount to a confession of guilt. Those who win gain their freedom, but are often accused and imprisoned again unless they flee the city. Matched Pairs Many stables present pairs of gladiators to fight side-by-side. Pairs are trained together and selected to complement each others, skills. Bestial Combat: Gladiators and prisoners are often sent into the arena against savage beasts. The sorcerer-kings sponsor expeditions to capture will animals, or buy them from the many caravans that come to their cities. The crowd finds these bloody affairs particularly enjoyable. Test of Champions: A test of a champion is often the culmination of a day's gladiatorial games. A popular and powerful gladiator is selected to face a series of unusual tests. They may be as simple as fighting several demihuman or animal opponents at once or more elaborate contests against magical or psionic opponents in a maze of walls assembled just for the occasion. Advanced Games: Most cities have team games that are popular with their audiences, but make no sense to those from outside the city. The rules are complicated and deadly, involving dozens of gladiators at a time. Stables: Most noble and merchant houses have stables of slaves. These slaves combat each other as well as the gladiators, criminals, wild animals, and intelligent animals sponsored by the sorcerer-king, himself. Typical stables of slaves have between 10 and 100 potential arena combatants. The sponsoring noble house provides the slaves with adequate food, clothing, and housing - nobles want their investments to pay off, so gladiatorial slaves seldom want for the necessities of life. The slaves are trained for 12 hours virtually every day in the courtyards of the noble's estate, overseen by armed guards and their instructors. Every slave in a stable receives minimal training in armed and unarmed combat before being sent to his first matches. Those who show promise (and who survive the dangerous early days of their careers) are further trained in specialized combat techniques. This training emphasizes skilled unarmed combat, raw endurance, and specialization in arena weapons such as the trident, quabone, and net. Slaves who have survived several matches and undergone this more extensive training are considered gladiators (levels 1 through 4, usually) and are the mainstay of the stables, arena warriors. Every stable has its champion or champions. A champion is a gladiator of level 5 through 20, the most experienced warrior in the stable. When a single arena hosts multiple high-level gladiators, rivalries can develop. Usually, rivalries between champions within a single stable are not allowed - one stable will not arrange a match between two of its own, no matter how fierce the rivalry. The champion of a stable has performed well in all the matches described above and has gained the attention of every other noble house. Wagering Bets between spectators run rampant during the games. Noble houses and the sorcerer-king himself cover all wagers against their own gladiators, setting odds based on the gladiators involved and the amount of wagering on each side. The rich very often challenge each other with enormous bets, hoping to wipe out another noble house with the outcome of a single contest. When player characters want to wager- on gladiatorial games, the DM may handle it in one of two ways. If all players agree, they can roll up the gladiators in question and play the match out themselves. Otherwise, the DM must determine the outcome randomly. The odds on any particular contest will vary, but a player character can rarely do more than double or triple his original bet. Trading of Gladiators: Gladiators are often traded or sold to other houses. Of course, subterfuge and intrigue run wild in the gladiatorial pits. A bard may be sent to one house just to poison and weaken that house's champion in advance of an offer to purchase him. Also, it is unwise to refuse the sorcerer-king's request to purchase a gladiator, no matter how little he offers. Battling Undead in Dark Sun On Athas, undead are still just that dead beings that are somehow animated to function among the living. In the DARK SUN campaign world, undead come in two varieties mindless and free-willed. Mindless undead are corpses or skeletal remains animated by some character or creature for its own purposes. When encountered, skeletons and zombies are always mindless, controlled by their animators. Skeletons and zombies are never free-willed. Undead monsters created using an animate dead spell are always mindless. Free-willed undead are usually very powerful creatures with great intellect and ambition. Every freewilled undead creature in Dark Sun is unique - each has its own reason for existing and its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Athas has no ghouls, shadows, wights, ghasts, wraiths, mummies, spectres, vampires, ghosts, or liches, though PCs may encounter a host of monsters very much like them. Confronting and defeating a free-willed undead creature in Dark Sun is always interesting and challenging - powerful undead on Athas break all the familiar molds. Quite often, free-willed undead have minions, either living creatures or mindless undead that they have animated. Oftentimes Athas, powerful undead operate undiscovered among the living, while some have even become powerful allies of the sorcerer-kings, themselves. 70 Turning and Controlling Undead Athasian clerics draw their spell casting powers from the elemental planes of earth, air, fire, and water. They also can tap the Positive Material plane for augury, other information, and the ability to turn undead creatures. Templars draw their magical powers through their sorcerer-kings, who in turn draw upon the Negative Material plane; templars cannot turn undead, but they can control them. Druids have no powers over undead. Turning Undead: A cleric on Athas wishing to turn undead must challenge the creature with the power of his elemental plane. A cleric of earth, for instance, must throw dirt or dust toward the undead, but he need not strike them, so no attack roll is needed. A cleric of water must splash water at the undead, and a cleric of fire must toss ash or hold forth a burning object. One of the great advantages granted a cleric of air is that he can turn undead, with a breath. Once the character has made the challenge, he rolls for turning the undead normally. Free-willed undead are turned according to their relative power, which is measured by their Hit Dice only. Turned undead flee as described in the Player's Handbook. Dispelled undead are spectacularly overcome by the element: suffocated by earth, charred and burnt by fire, dissolved by water, or battered by hurricane-force winds. These elemental catastrophes only effect the undead being dispelled. Commanding Undead Templars, wizards using necromancy, and sorcerer-kings can command undead as per the rules for Evil Priests and Undead in the Player's Handbook. Character Death Dark Sun is a particularly dangerous place; one where character death is frequent and, at times, gruesome. High PC mortality rates find some relief in the character tree - a fallen player character is immediately replaced by another of similar level, a character with which the player is already familiar. Still, as deadly a world as Athas is, player characters, especially those at low levels, may die too frequently. Thus, in the DARK SUN(™) campaign, DMs should use the "Hovering on Death's Door" optional rule (the so-called "neg 10" rule). Hovering on Death's Door (Optional Rule) DMs may find that their DARK SUN campaign has become too deadly too many player characters are dying. If this happens, you may want to allow characters to survive for short periods of time even after their hit points reach or drop below 0. With this rule, a character can remain alive until his hit points reach - 10. As soon as the character reaches 0 hit points, though, he falls to the ground unconscious . Thereafter, he automatically loses 1 hit point each round. His survival from this point on depends on the quick thinking of his companions. If they reach the character before his hit points reach ~ 10 and then spend at least one round tending his wounds (e.g., stanching the flow of blood), the character does not die immediately. if the only action is to bind his wounds, the injured character no longer loses 1 hit point each round, but neither does he gain any. He remains unconscious and vulnerable to damage from further attacks. if a cure spell of some type is cast upon him, the character is immediately restored to 1 hit point - no more. Further cures do the character no good until he has had at least one day of rest. Until such time, he is weak and feeble, unable to fight and barely able to move. He must stop and rest often, can't cast spells (the shock of near death has wiped them from his mind), and is generally confused and feverish. He is able only to move and hold somewhat disjointed conversations. if a heal spell is cast on the character, his hit points are restored as per the spell, and he has full vitality and wits. Any spells he may have known are still wiped from his memory, however. (Even this powerful spell does not negate the shock of the experience.) Waging Wars The sands of Athas have been stained red with the blood of a thousand campaigns of conquest. Wars are waged over food, water, territory, and less sorcerer-kings pit armies of slaves against each other, watching with cold-hearted pleasure as hundreds meet their deaths, more often than not all over some wager or just for the enjoyment of the spectacle. Athas is a violent world where the hand of diplomacy bears a sword or chatkcha. Player characters will eventually be called upon to fight wars, either as soldiers or as commanders of armies . Once player characters must deal with large numbers of troops, waging wars of defense or expansion in the DARK SUN campaign world, the DM should institute BATTLESYSTEM™ miniatures rules to fight these wars. Adopting BATTLE SYSTEM removes the outcomes of important battles from the hands of the Dungeon Master and puts them on the tabletop where they belong. Followers Though fighters and gladiators automatically gain followers when they reach higher levels, any character, regardless of class or race, may find himself at the head of a rag-tag army of followers. The political fortunes of Dark Sun characters can rise and fall rapidly: military might keeps powerful forces at bay and gives a character the strength to affect large populations and areas of Athas. A warrior's followers almost never arrive with all of their equipment. More often than not they join the warrior with nothing more than the clothing on their back. But in general they are highly motivated to follow the warrior and will fight for him regardless of equipment provided. Obviously a warrior will want to arm and armor his followers, and see to it that they are well fed and housed in order to keep them in premium fighting condition, but circumstances and finances sometimes leave little choice. Piecemeal Armor Dark Sun characters seldom (if ever) wear complete suits of metal armor. The reasons are manifold, but focus primarily on the oppressive heat of the Athasian sun and the scarcity of metal. It is not uncommon, at least among heroic sorts, for a character to wear scavenged portions of armor, however. Determining the correct Armor Class for someone in piecemeal armor can thus be very important. Each type of armor piece has a specific AC modifier associated with it. When a piece of armor is worn, that modifier is subtracted from the character's base Armor Class (usually 10) to determine his actual AC. Thus, a character who is exploring some ancient ruins and finds an old, battered breast plate from a suit of full plate armor would be able to don it, reducing his AC by 3 places. No more than one piece of armor may be worn to protect a specific region of the body. Thus, it would be impossible for a character to wear two breastplates and claim a double bonus to his Armor Class. The chart above indicates the AC bonus associated with any given piece of armor. Important Considerations Although piecemeal armor is lighter than full suits of armor, it can still be quite heavy and cumbersome. Breastplates weigh one half the weight of a complete suit of that armor type and each arm or leg piece weighs one eighth the weight of the original suit. Characters wearing piecemeal metal armor are also subject to the exhausting effects of Athas, hot climate. A character with armor over more than two limbs or wearing a breastplate is subject to the full effects of the Dark Sun's savage heat. Bonus to AC Per Type of Piece Armor Type Full Breast Two One Two One Suit Plate Arms Arm Legs Leg Banded Mail 6 3 2 1 1 0 Brigandine 4 2 1 0 1 0 Bronze Plate 6 3 2 1 1 0 Chain Mail 5 2 2 1 1 0 Field Plate 8 4 2 1 2 1 Full Plate 9 4 3 1 2 1 Hide Armor 4 2 1 0 1 0 Leather Armor 2 1 1 0 0 0 Padded Armor 2 1 1 0 0 0 Plate Mail 7 3 2 1 2 1 Ring Mail 3 1 1 0 1 0 Scale Mail 4 2 1 0 1 0 Splint Mail 6 3 2 1 1 0 Studded Leather 3 1 1 0 1 0 Since Athas is a metal-poor world, the treasure tables for coins in the Dungeon Master's Guide are inappropriate for coins found in lair. The DM should use these tables instead for all Dark Sun lair encounters Dark Sun Treasure Types Lair treasures Treasure Type Bits Ceramic Silver Gold Gems Magical Item A 200-2,000 100-2,000 10-100 10-100 10-40 Any 30% 40% 35% 25% 60% 30% B 400-4,000 100-1,000 10-100 5-50 1-8 Armor Weapon 25% 25% 25% 30% 30% 10% C - 100-600 10-60 - 1-6 Any 2 - 15% 20% - 25% 10% D 1,000- 10,000 1,000-3,000 100-600 100-400 1-10 Any 2 + 1 15% 50% 15% 10% 30% potion 15% E 2,000-12,000 1,000-4,000 300-1,800 200-1,200 1-12 Any 3+1 25% 25% 25% 30% 15% scroll 25% F 3,000-18,000 1,000-4,000 300-1,200 100-400 2-20 Any 5 except 10% 30% 10% 10% 35% weapons 30% G - 1,000-8,000 300-1,800 10-40 3-18 Any 5 - 40% 20% 10% 45% 35% H 1.000-10,000 1,000-6,000 200-1,200 20-120 3-30 Any 35% 30% 30% 15% 60% 15% I - - 100-600 10-100 2-12 Any 1 - - 30% 1 0% 65% 15% Individual and Small Lair Treasures J 2-12 K - 2-12 L - - - 2-8 M - - 1-6 N - - 1-4 O 10-30 10-20 P - 10-40 1-10 Q - - - - 1-6 R - - 2-16 10-40 3-18 S - - - - 1-8 potions T - - - - - 1-4 scrolls U - 3-24 Any 1 - 90% 70% V - - - - - Any 2 W 4-24 1-6 2-20 Any 2 - - 50% 25% 70% 60% X - - - - - Any 2 potions Y - - 200-800 - - - Z 100-300 100-400 100-600 100-400 1-10 Any 3 50% 50% 50% 60% 75% 50% Treasure Coins Because metal coins are more valuable on Athas, they are somewhat more rare in treasures. The frequency and quantities of coins in these treasures is less than most AD&D(R) campaign adventurers will be used to. No platinum or electrum pieces are regularly minted on Athas. The metal, is occasionally found in small amounts, but not enough to warrant inclusion on the table. Finds of platinum or electrum will be special treasures placed by the DM. Bits are one-tenth pie pieces of a ceramic piece. When found, they may or may not be completely broken into individual bits; some may still be unbroken or partially broken coins. Ceramic, silver, and gold pieces weigh in at 50 to the pound. Five hundred bits weigh 1 pound. Gems Where metals are very rare, gems become a more frequent medium of exchange. On Athas, gems are fairly common and still quite valuable. Gem Table D 100 Base Roll Value Class 01-25 15 cp Ornamental 26-50 75 cp Semi-precious 51-70 15 sp Fancy 71-90 75 sp Precious 91-99 15 gp Gems 00 75 gp Jewels The gem variations and descriptions of the individual stones from the DMG still apply to gems found in Dark Sun. Objects of Art Art is not usually a part of lair treasures on Athas. Such finds will be specially placed by the DM. The objects of art table in the DMG appropriate for determining the price of such items, except that the number ranges represent ceramic piece value, not gold piece. Items consisting of steel make a valuable treasure, as well. Magical Items The nature of magical items found in DARK SUN campaigns is discussed in Chapter 7: Magic. When magical items are found as part of a lair treasure, Table 88: Magical Items (from the DMG) will suffice to determine each item's general category. Subsequent rolls on the subtables yield a variety of specific items, though the DM may find some have names that are anachronistic to DARK SUN campaigns. For instance, gauntlets of ogre power are very useful on Athas, but Athas holds no ogres. The various items of giant strength have the same problem because DARK SUN campaigns do not use the traditional pantheon of giants. If a Dark Sun DM rolls up a random magical treasure item with an inappropriate name, he should either change the name or, better yet, don't give the players a name for the item at all. This latter solution makes PCs cautious with their newfound magical items, testing them carefully for powers that, were they to know the official name, they might recognize from years of play. Other magical items in the DMG are anachronistic not in name only. in magical item descriptions, the mention of humanoids not native to Dark Sun obviously do not apply. A final group of items so contradicts the environment of Athas that they either do not exist, or have been changed. potion of dragon control' scroll of protection from dragon breath' bag of tricks' bucknard's everfull purse' decanter of endless water' horseshoes (all), stone horse, hammer +3 dwarven thrower, elven chain, and any item having to do with aquatic settings or lycanthropes. The following items are changed to fit DARK SUN campaigns: • Potion of Giant Control: Affects any giant. • Potion of Giant Strength: The strength equivalent names do not apply in the Dark Sun campaign, though all the listed benefits are the same. • Potion of Undead Control Roll the 1d10 normally; the result is the maximum Hit Dice of the undead that the potion can control. • Rod of Resurrection Charges required are gladiator 2, templar 2, psionicist 4, half-giant 6, thri-kreen 2, and mul 2. • Boots of Varied Track Substitute Dark Sun animal tracks for those listed. • Candle of Invocation: Rather than invoking pantheons of gods, these draw upon the spirits of the lands or the elemental planes. • Deck of illusions Though many of the creatures listed are not native to Athas, they can still serve as illusions. • Figurines of Wondrous Power: Keep ebony fly and golden lion. Characters will find no other figurines on Athas. • Necklace of Prayer Bead: The bead of summons calls a powerful creature from the elemental planes, instead. Potions On Athas, potions come in the form of magical fruits or berries. The juices of the fruit hold the magical properties of the potion and the fruit must be eaten to release the magical effect. In Dark Sun, potions are never found as fluids in a flask or vial. Any juicy berry or fruit may be enchanted with a potion. Since the juice itself holds the potion, drier fruits such as dates cannot be so enchanted. The type of fruit chosen to house the potion has no effect; any fruit can contain any potion. Any potion listed on Table 89: Potions and Oils in the Dungeon Master's Guide can be enchanted into a fruit. On Athas, these may be referred to as potions or fruits, interchangeably (a potion of giant strength is the same as a fruit of giant strength). Treasure Once the skin of the fruit is broken, it must be eaten within one turn or the potion's magic is lost. Whereas normal fruits may only remain ripe for a few days or weeks before they begin to rot, potion fruits have their period of ripeness greatly extended. Once enchanted with a potion, a fruit will remain ripe for 99 years. After that time, the enchantment fades and the fruit will rot normally. The entire fruit must be eaten to gain the effect of the potion. This takes an entire round. Fruits that are enchanted with oil-type potions must be crushed and the juice allowed to run over the user, which takes two rounds. Potion fruits cannot be identified by taste. A detect magic spell will identify a fruit or tree as magical, but only identify or similar magic provides a positive identification. Potion fruits can be combined. Different potion fruits eaten concurrently will all have their effects on the ingester. Potion fruit duration is 4 + 1d4 turns unless otherwise stated in the description. Fruits may be enchanted with potions in one of two fashions: magical and botanical enchantment. Magical Enchantment: Any wizard, cleric, or druid can enchant normal fruits into potions. Magical enchantment occurs as described under "Potions" in Chapter 10 of the DMG. Botanical Enchantment Any wizard, ranger, cleric, or druid can use botanical enchantment. Botanical enchantment is the process of using one enchanted fruit to grow more. The original potion fruit must be planted unused. From this seed a magical tree grows very quickly, producing a full-sized fruit tree grows in 1d6 weeks. Once the magical tree is grown, a d6 is rolled: on a roll of 1 or 2, two new potion fruits of the same type appear on the tree; on a 3-5, one new potion fruit of the same type appears on the tree, and on a 6 there will be no potion fruits on the tree. Regardless of how many nonmagical fruits the tree bears, there will be, at most, two potion fruits on it. Once these are picked, there will be no additional potion fruits Treasure from that tree. If a permanency spell is cast on a magical tree, it grows a continuing series of potion fruits. Once the tree's potion fruit is picked, a new one grows in 1d6 days. Such a tree will live at least 99 years unless it is destroyed. Botanical enchantment is somewhat risky. The tree must be tended, watered, and pruned every day while it is growing. Any severe change in the weather, such as a drought or freeze, will ruin the tree and no fruit will be borne. Any use of defiler magic near the tree will kill it and render any potion fruits on it useless. Even if all goes well, the tree may not bear potion fruits, anyway. New Magical Items These new magical items can be found as part of lair treasures in Dark Sun. Because they do not appear on the subtables in the DMG, DMs may wish to create new tables or use these items when the "DM's Choice" is rolled. Amulet of Psionic Interference XP Value: 5,000 This item scrambles the wearer's psionic abilities, rendering him incapable of making any psionic power checks. The device creates a magical field around the wearer's mind that does not eliminate his psionic strength points, but interferes with them in such a way that they cannot be called upon for power checks. The amulet does not interfere with the wearer's ability to recover psionic strength points. Only the person who places the amulet around someone's neck can remove it; if someone puts it on himself, they can easily remove it, but if it was placed on by another, the wearer cannot remove it without a remove curse or wish spell. Oil of Feather Falling XP Value: 700 Crushing such a fruit and rubbing the juices on one's feet gives the character all the abilities of the 76 wizard's spell feather fall, but for a duration of exactly 10 hours. The character can carry with him up to 250 pounds of equipment beyond his normal clothing and weapons. Oils of feather falling are most often used to travel across the Silt Sea - a person of feather weight can float easily on the surface of the silt and walk at his normal rate of movement. Multiple applications can last a character long enough to cross an estuary of the Silt Sea or even to reach one of its many islands from shore. Ring of Life XP Value: 500 This item protects the wearer from the effects of defiling magic. When worn, the character is immune to the initiative point loss incurred when in the destructive diameter of a defiler's spell. The ring of life also bestows upon its wearer recuperative powers as if he had complete bed rest; the wearer naturally heals 3 hit points per day. The ring of life will not protect its wearer from the dragon's defiling magic. Rod of Divining XP Value: 3,500 This item is a small "Y" shaped stick that must be held in both hands to use. With each charge expended this item will locate and pull its holder toward any accumulation of water of at least one gallon within 1,000 yards. The end of the rod will point toward the water and gently pull the character that way. The quality of the water need not be such that the character can easily obtain it. For instance, the rod might point down to an underground water source up to 1,000 yards beneath the caster. It might also locate moisture within a large plant (if it amounts to one gallon or more) or that hidden by invisibility or other concealing magic, but it will ignore the moisture within living beings. (Every player character holds far more than a gallon of water.) If multiple accumulations of water reside in the rod's range, it draws itself to the largest one. Encounters in the DARK SUN™ fantasy world occur exactly as described in generic AD&D(R) campaigns. Surprise rolls and encounter distances appear in the Player's Handbook, and the philosophy and details of encounters appear in the Dungeon Master's Guide. The additional rules given here specifically target Dark Sun encounters, making them easier and faster to run for the DM. Wizard, Priest, and Psionicist Encounters Spellcasters and psionicists pose numerable problems for the DM, not the least of which is deciding what spells or psionic powers they can use at the time of the encounter. in instances when the DM has particular spells he needs NPCs to have, he should choose those spells and fill out the rest, using the system given there. At times, an encounter with a large group of creatures calls for multiple spell casters or psionicists. The DM may wish to roll their spells or powers as a group to save time. Encounters where 15 elven psionicists can all perform different psionic actions may be interesting, but are nightmarish for the DM. Rolling for spells or powers as a group simplifies the action and can satisfy for DMs and players alike. Encounters in City-States Athasian city states are usually very crowded and busy: half-elven merchants loudly hawk their wares in bazaars and street corners; slaves and peasants bear nobles high on sedan chairs and force their way roughly through the throngs; templar guards patrol the streets against the many thieves and low-lifes that scurry through the alleys and sewers. Even at night, the decadent lifestyles of the wealthy keep the city alive with festivals and parties that last until the lawn . When dealing with encounters in a city, it is more appropriate to ask whom the player characters do 77 not encounter than whom they do. Any normal denizen of the cities - peasants, slaves, templar guards, merchants, nobles - can be located without much trouble: they are ubiquitous. if the player characters wish to avoid some particular encounter, such as with the city guards or with a particular aristocrat, that too is fairly easy; city states throng with crowds. Specific encounters should be set up by the DM. These will mostly be adventure-specific, presenting the player characters with individuals that will help or hinder their progress. Monsters Many of the monsters presented in the AD&D Monstrous Compendiums are appropriate for DARK SUN campaigns. They should be used in addition to those new monsters given in the Wanderer's Guide. In many cases, these creatures have adapted themselves to the more harsh, arid condi tions on Athas. Magic Those creatures capable of casting spells should be treated as defilers. When they cast spells, they ruin the ground around them, according to spell-level, just as described in Chapter 7: Magic. As a result, spell-wielding monsters rarely cast spells directly from their lair. Those who merely have spelllike abilities do not cause defiling damage when using those abilities. Psionics: Of all the monsters in the following list, only yuan-ti have psionic powers (according to the Complete Psionics Handbook). However, all those marked with an asterisk could possess wild powers in DARK SUN campaigns. Whether or not an individual creature is a wild talent is the DM's decision. Plant-Based Monsters Defiling magic destroys all plant-life within its area of effect without exception. A plant-based monster can thus be destroyed (or injured if it isn't wholly contained within the area of effect), with no save allowed. Monstrous Compendiums 1 and 2 Aarakocra * Aerial Servant Ankheg Ant Ant Lion, Giant Basilisk Bat Beetle Behir * Bulette Cats, Great Cave Fisher Centipede Dragonne * Elementals, all Ettercap * Ettin * Genie, all * Giant-kin, Cyclop Golem Hornet Kenku * Lizard Pseudodragon * Plant, Carnivorous Rat Remorhaz Roc Sandling Scorpion Skeleton Snake (except Sea, Giant) Spider Wyvern * Yuan-ti * Zombie Forgotten Realms (MC3) Bhaergala * Meazel * Rhaumbusun Strider, Giant Thessalmonster Thri-kreen * Dragonlance (MC4) Fire Minion * Hatori Horax Insect Swarm Skrit Slig lk Tylor * Wyndlass Greyhawk (MC5) Beetle Bonesnapper Dragonfly, Giant Dragonnel Horgar Plant, Carnivorous (Cactus, Vampire) Kara-Tur (MC6) Goblin Spider * Jishin Mushi * indicates possible psionic wild power No creatures from the SPELLJAMMER Monstrous Compendiums live on Athas. Fiends from the Outer Planes Appendix (MC10) can travel to and from Athas at will, but do so rarely, only when summoned by dragons or great wizards. Wilderness Encounters The wilds of Athas are teeming with intelligent and unintelligent monsters. Encounters in the wilderness should be rolled for on a daily basis or as the DM sees fit. Obviously, if characters are lost or unprepared, even the most routine wilderness encounters can prove to be fatal for the party. Each of the tables below lists monsters for encounters in a particular terrain type. The monsters listed come from the Wanderer's Guide and from Monstrous Compendiums I and II. The other monsters listed as appropriate to Dark Sun can be added, as well, if you have the appropriate Monstrous Compendiums: When encounters occur should be determined using the Frequency & Chance of Wilderness Encounters table in the DMG. Stoney Barrens Die Roll Creature 2 gaj 3 bulette 4 roc 5 genie, dao 6 ankheg 7 wyvern 8 basilisk, lesser 9 spider, huge 10 gith 11 ettercap/behir 12 centipede,giant 13 beetle, boring 14 baazrag 15 tembo 16 braxat 17 bat, huge 18 ettin 19 basilisk, greater 20 ant, swarm Sandy Wastes Die Roll Creature 2 genie, djinn 3 basilisk,dracolisk 4 spotted lion 5 lizard, minotaur 6 wasp 7 snake, giant 8 snake, constrictor 9 sandling 10 elves/gith 11 kank 12 scorpion, huge 13 slaves 14 inix 15 anakore 16 jozhal 17 spider, phase 18 centipede, megalo 19 yuan-ti 20 dragonne Mountains Die Roll Creature 2 lizard, fire 3 ettin 4 roc 5 ant, giant 6 giant-kin,cyclops 7 lizard, giant 8 leopard 9 beetle, fire 10 bat, common 11 halflings/dwarves 12 gith 13 slaves 14 kenku 15 spider, giant 16 ettercap 17 zombie 18 aarakocra 19 pseudodragon 20 bulette Scrub Plains Die Roll Creature 2 genie, jann 3 remorhaz 4 behir 5 ant lion, giant 6 mekillot 7 silk wyrm 8 cheetah 9 erdlu 10 gith 11 elves/slaves 12 kank 13 rat, giant 14 jaguar 15 scorpion, large 1G spider, giant 17 bat, huge 18 plant, carnivorous, man-trap 19 pseudodragon 20 gaj Rocky Badlands Die Roll Creature 2 aarakocra 3 dragonne 4 giant-kin, cyclops 5 roc 6 ankheg 7 belgoi 8 lizard, giant 9 beetle, fire 10 spider, large 11 gith/dwarves 12 kluzd 13 rat giant 14 common lion 15 hornet 16 bat, huge 17 braxat 18 giant 19 genie, efreeti 20 ant, swarm Salt Flats Die Roll Creature 2 basilisk, dracolisk 3 zombie, ju ju 4 snake, spitting 5 ant, giant 6 wasp 7 wyvern 8 hornet 9 skeleton 10 scorpion, huge 11 zombie 12 centipede, giant 13 spider, large 14 lizard, giant 15 bat, large 16 skeleton 17 spider, phase 18 zombie, monster 19 remorhaz 20 gaj The denizens of Athas will react to the player characters in much the same way they would in any other AD&D campaign setting. There are, of course, exceptions and they are dealt with here. Spellcasters as NPCs Priests in DARK SUN campaigns have no compunction regarding the sale of their magical services. An Athasian cleric or templar will readily sell himself to cast magical spells for the prices shown on the NPC Spell Costs chart in the DMG. Remember to charge in ceramic pieces, not gold pieces. Druid NPCs, however, have no desire for monetary gain They will sometimes cast their spells for free if the player characters are performing some task which benefits the druid's guarded lands or the natural environment in general. It will have to be quite clear to the druid NPC that the player characters are promoting what he believes to be the ultimate good and, if he even thinks there is a defiler among the party members, he won't offer any of his services, regardless of their intentions. Wizard NPCs will not readily offer their services for coin. Most preservers and defilers are outlaws within the city states and won't even let it be known that they have spellcasting capabilities. Even outside the city states, where folklore and common conceptions about the destructive nature of magic prevail, wizards are reluctant to let their identities be known. Since virtually anyone they meet could be a templar attempting to discover their secrets, renegade wizards shun those who seek to buy their services. Rare instances may come up where a renegade wizard might allow himself to be bought. If the use of his magic can be concealed and it benefits him or furthers his alignment's calling, a wizard might be bought. Such occurrences will be rare, and the DM should allow such purchases sparingly. One notable exception to the reluctance of wizards to sell spells are the affluent, treacherous defilers who perform for the sorcerer-kings, themselves. These defilers are uncaring and are, for the most 82 part, above the law. If such an ambitious defiler is sought out to cast magical spells for coin, he may readily accept; however, the chance that he will later betray the buyer or even blackmail him are high Templars as NPCs Templars are the most feared people in the city states. Their power to accuse and imprison nearly anyone for any reason keeps the city dwellers in terror. Not surprisingly, templars tend to abuse the powers they have for their own personal gain which, so long as the city is administered and kept in order does not bother the sorcerer-king. Templars perform three vital functions within a given city state. Primarily, they comprise the city guards and officers of the sorcerer-king's armies. Secondly, they see to it that the city is administered, its businesses kept running, and its slaves fed. Finally, the templars are responsible for maintaining the illusion that the sorcerer-king is a god - they have absolute power to enforce worship and homage to the sorcerer-kings. Every templar NPC will be actively pursuing one of these functions. One final, unwritten function of the templars is to advance through their ranks as rapidly as possible. The means by which a templar might gain power and position are wide open, including bribery, theft, and even assassination of others within their ranks. Every templar NPC can be counted on to accept underhanded schemes that will help him rise to power among his fellows. Templar soldiers are the enforcement arm of their service to the sorcerer-king. Low-level templars (levels 1-4) are common soldiers, guards within the cities around the slave areas practiced and drilled in formations around the city walls. Mid-level templars (levels 5-8) are officers in charge of small (10-100 man) units of guards, slave soldiers, or undead soldiers (in times of war). High-level templars (levels 9 + ) are usually generals or administrators, keeping the army equipped and fed. In the administration of the city states. templar Typical Administrative Templar Positions Low Level ( 1-4) Mid level (5-8) High level (9 + ) Removers of Waste Tax Collection Coin Distribution Movers of Grain Major Construction Construction Minor Construction Slave Control Planning Disease Control Grain Distribution Mayor of the City Maintenance of Gardens Gate Monitor Governor of the Maintenance of Roads Assigner of Permits Farmlands Maintenance of Walls Riot Control Aid to the King NPCs occupy all positions from waste removal to the mayorship. Lower-level templars (levels 1-4) are given the dirtier jobs that require hands-on work, having a few guards at their disposal and fewer slave laborers than they need to perform their tasks effectively. Middle-level templars (levels 5-8) gain greater responsibilities and may have several lower-level templars beneath them. High-level templars (levels 9 and higher) move into management of the city state - such templars are difficult to unseat, since they can blame nearly any shortcomings on their underlings . These are only a sampling of the many levels of templar bureaucracy. Advancement through the ranks has little to do with ability or experience. Technically, the sorcerer-king is a god within his own city and the templars assure him of worship and obedience. In actuality, a sorcerer-king is not a god or a demigod, though he is generally an extremely powerful wizard and psionicist. However, the templars erect temples and subjugate the populations to worship him. There isn't a noble, merchant, or peasant in a city state who doesn't at least pay lip service to the sorcerer-king or the templars who enforce his will. The DM must keep two things in mind when dealing with any particular templar NPC. First, how will the templar attempt to use the player characters to gain advantage? He could accuse or imprison them, which always looks good in the eyes of a superior. or he could buy their services to perform a task such as assassination or simply making a superior look bad. Second, the DM must consider how the player characters might appeal to the templar's wicked ways and greed. In their quest for power, they are sometimes easily manipulated. Beware, though - higher-level templars have played these games of treachery before and, by their very existence, they've proven pretty good at them. Druids as NPCs An NPC druid will defend his guarded lands. Regardless of where the player characters are in Athas, hinterlands, there is almost certainly a druid watching their every move. Those player characters who responsibly use the druid's guarded lands will never be bothered. Hunting on their lands or using its timber for equipment is, to the druid, part of the natural order of things and he won't interfere. Irresponsible use of his guarded lands, however, will bring him out into the open with full force. Hunting his lands until there is no game left or stripping the vegetation will cause the druid to take action. An NPC druid who finds a defiler on his land will take steps to eliminate that threat. Limits of Vision All of the conditions presented on the Visibility Ranges table in the Player's Handbook exist on Athas. However, there are a number of conditions unique to Athas that should be added. Dark Sun Visibility Ranges Condition Movement Spotted Type ID Detail Sand, blowing 100 50 25 15 10 Sandstorm, mild 50 25 15 10 5 Sandstorm, driving 10 10 5 5 3 Night, both moons 200 100 50 25 15 Silt Sea, calm 500 200 100 50 25 Silt Sea, rolling 100 50 25 10 5 The Athasian Calendar Every city state has its own calendar, but that most commonly used and considered the Calendar of Tyr. In the calendar of Tyr, years are counted off using a pair of concurrently running cycles; one of eleven parts, the other of seven. The eleven-part, or endlean cycle, is counted and spoken first, in the order presented below. The seven-part, or seofean cycle, is counted and spoken second. The endlean cycle is complete when Athas, two moons, Ral and Guthay, meet in the heavens - a major eclipse that occurs once every 11 years. The seofean cycle is more abstract, meeting when agitation in the cosmos leads to fury. Every 77 years the cycle repeats itself, ending with a year of Guthay's Agitation and starting again with a new year of Ral's Fury. Each 77-year cycle is called a king's age; there have been 189 complete king's ages since Tyr adopted this calendar (more than 14,500 years). So, the first year of each king's age is a year of Ral's Fury. The next year is a year of Friend's Contemplation, followed by a year of Desert's Vengeance, etc. The 76th year of each king's age is a year of Enemy's Reverence, followed by the 77th year, a year of Guthay's Agitation. The Endlean Cycle Ral Friend Desert Priest Wind Dragon Mountain Enemy Guthay The Seofean Cycle Fury Contemplation Vengeance Slumber Defiance Reverence Agitation Superstition and folklore surrounds each of the years of the king's age. Storms during a year of 85 Wind's Vengeance are believed to be more powerful and dangerous, so many overland trips are avoided. Sacrifices and prayers are called for to ward off the great beast during years of Dragon's Agitation. Years of Enemy's Contemplation are supposed to enliven treaties and alliances - the list goes on. Each year is made up of exactly 375 days: the exact time between highest suns. Athasians have no seasons that govern their thinking of time - there is no marked difference in temperature or weather patterns. However, the year is divided into three equal phases: high sun, sun descending, and sun ascending. Highest sun is the first day of the year in the calendar of Tyr and lowest sun indicates the midpoint of the year (which, incidentally, occurs at midnight, and is generally observed in nighttime ceremonies). Days are kept track of in a variety of ways. Merchants tend to identify days with phrases such as "thirty five days past the high sun." Other schemes divide the year into 25 weeks of 15 days each, the names of those days associated with important personages of a particular royal house. In DARK SUN™ campaigns, DMs may stick to seven day weeks with the standard Gregorian calendar names for simplicity. Year of the Messenger Every 45 years, a brilliant comet visits Athas. By night one can read by the messenger's light, and it can be seen clearly in the full light of day. Folklore holds that the messenger visits the dragon every 45 years to deliver to him important information - reconnaissance that the stars have observed since its last visit. Starting the Campaign For campaign purposes, the calendar starts on High Sun (the first day of the year) of the Year of Priest's Defiance, in the 190th King's Age. The next Year of the Messenger will be the Year of Enemy's Slumber, six years away. Time and Movement: Dehydration As PCs adventure, one overriding consideration will almost certainly be the supply of water. Quite often in DARK SUN™ campaigns, characters will be in situations where the supply of water has no impact on the adventure. These dehydration rules are intended for extreme situations only and should only be enforced when a lack of water could be lifethreatening. Water Consumption How much water a character needs depends upon his level of activity and his race. An active character (hard exertion, walking, riding, etc.) needs 1 gallon of water per day. An inactive character (sitting, resting, or sleeping, etc.), needs 1/2 gallon of water per day. If the character is in the shade during the entire day, he only needs half the amount of water dictated by his activity. A character wearing a full suit of metal armor requires twice as much water each day to avoid dehydration. Thus, a character in metal armor who undertakes only light activity but is unable to remain in shaded areas would require 1 gallon of water. A character who does not drink enough water will suffer the effects of dehydration. Unusual Races Thri-kreen and half-giants suffer from dehydration differently than humans and normal demi humans. Thri-kreen: Thri-kreen can go for one week on the amount of water it takes to sustain a human for one day. Thus, thri-kreen characters only roll for dehydration once per week without water. Half-giants: Due to their great size, half-giants need four gallons of water per day when active or two gallons when inactive. 86 Substituting Other Liquids Many common beverages such as wine, beer, ale, and fruit juices can supplement a character's water intake - the quantities per day remain the same. In times of desperation, players may suggest more outlandish liquids to stave off dehydration: honey, tree sap, even the blood of fallen monsters. Generally, none of these are suitable substitutes. Effects of Dehydration A lack of water is reflected in the game by a reduction in Constitution. Beginning with the first day a character does not receive his required allotment of water, consult the dehydration table at midnight and immediately apply the result. Dehydration Effects Table Amount of Water Constitution Loss Full requirement None Half or more of requirement 1d4 Less than half of requirement 1d6 Constitution losses are cumulative over consecutive days of dehydration; a character's hit point adjustment, system shock, resurrection survival, poison save, and regeneration rate all drop accordingly. Every point drop in the character's hit point adjustment (from + 1 down to 0, or from ~ 1 down to - 2, etc.) will reduce the character's hit points by a number equal to the character's level (highest level for dual-or multi-classed characters). A character whose constitution reaches 0 is dead - such characters leave a resurrection survival number of 25%. Rehydratation A character can rehydrate by drinking his full allotment of water through the course of one day. At the end of that day, his Constitution score goes back up 1d8 points. Each consecutive day that the character's water needs are met restores another 1d8 points until the character is fully recovered. Lost hit points are regained at a character's normal recovery rate. Example of Dehydration Thyasius, a human third son of a noble family, is captured by elven nomads. When his family fails to pay the ransom, the elves turn him loose in the desert without food or water. His Constitution score is 15. After the first day without any water, he rolls a 3 on 1d6 bringing his Constitution temporarily down to 12. Since Thyasius is a 5th-level fighter, five of his hit points were due to his original Constitution of 15, so these are temporarily lost, as well. After a second day without water, Thyasius rolls 6 on 1d6, bringing his Constitution down to 6. Since the hit point adjustment for a character with a Constitution score of 6 is - 1, he will temporarily lose another five hit points. After the third day, he rolls a 1, bringing his Constitution down to 5. Since the hit point modifier is still 1, Thyasius loses no more hit points on the third day. On the fourth day, he is found by a half-elven trader who gives him a full gallon of water - Thyasius, rolls 1d8 and regains 6 of his lost Constitution points. His lost hit points will return more slowly, in accordance with his normal healing rate. Transporting Water Water must be carried in skins or barrels. The wineskin listed in the Equipment Lists carries one gallon of liquid. The small barrel listed carries 30 gallons. Every gallon of water (with its container) weighs 9 pounds. Animals and Dehydration Animals also suffer Dehydration. Tiny animals need 1/8 gallon; small animals need 1/2 gallon; mansized animals need 1 gallon; larger than man-sized animals need 4 gallons; huge animals need 8 gallons; gargantuan animals need 16 gallons of water per day. Animal water intake can be cut by half for shade or inactivity, or quartered for both. At the end of a day that an animal doesn't get its full allotment of water, there is a 10%o chance it will die, that chance increasing by 10% for each additional day without water. Animals fully rehydrate after one day in which they drink their full allotment of water. Movement by Night At night, the temperatures in all types of terrain drop significantly, though moisture is still at a premium. If characters decide to travel by night, they gain the benefit of working in shade (half water consumption) . The draw back to such plans is that good rest under the blistering sun of the day is difficult. Characters who are travelling by night must seek shelter during their daytime rest periods. Rock outcroppings or caves will suffice, as will tents or other make-shift buildings. If such shelter cannot be located, each character must make a save vs. poison in order to rest well. Those who fail will sleep fitfully and can not memorize spells or recover hit points. Thri-kreen obviously are not subject to this rule. Overland Movement The rules presented for overland travel in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide still govern movement on Athas. It is important to note, however, that those suffering from Dehydration cannot undertake a forced march. The races of Dark Sun also have different movement rates than those in traditional AD&D campaigns. The following table details these differences. Race Movement Points Force March Human 24 30 Dwarf 12 15 Elf* 24 30 Half-elf 24 30 Half-giant 30 37 Mul** 12 15 Thri-kreen*** 36 45 * For overland movement, an elf may add his Con- stitution score to 24 (his normal movement rate) or 30 (his forced march rate) to determine his ac- tual movement in miles (or points) per day. ** This is for a normal 10-hour marching day. A mul can move for 20 hours per day on each of three consecutive days. The fourth day, however, must be one of rest in which the character only travels for 10 hours. A "resting" mul can still force march. *** This is for a normal 10-hour marching day. A thri-kreen can always move for 20 hours per day. Terrain Modifiers in Overland Movement Athas challenges its characters with a variety of new terrain types, each of which affects movement in different ways. The following table lists the cost (in movement points) to pass through one mile of the given terrain. Terrain Costs For Overland Movement Terrain Type Movement Cost Stony Barrens 2 Sandy Wastes 3 Rocky Badlands 3 Mountains 8 Scrub Plains 2 Forest 3 Salt Flats 1 Boulder Fields 4 The movement cost listed is movement points needed to cross one mile of the listed terrain. Ter- rain obstacles and hindrances apply as listed on the Terrain Modifiers table in the DMG. Mounted Overland Movement As usual, Athasian mounts can move a number of miles per day equal to their movement rate under normal conditions. The following chart details the movement rates of Athas' most common mounts. Mount Movement Points Kank 1 5 Inix 1 5 Mekillot 9 These overland movement rates can be doubled or tripled, but the animal may become lame or ex- hausted, as per the AD&D rules. dehydrated an- imals cannot move at greater than their base movement rate. Half-giants and Thri-kreen Half-giants are extremely large, and so need an equally large mount to carry them. Half-giants can ride an inix (so long as the beast is not called upon to carry any extra cargo). Thri-kreen never ride animals. They look upon it in the same way that a human might view a child "playing with his food" Care of Animals Athas, beasts of burden are hardy animals, accli- mated to their world's harsh conditions; they are generally self-reliant, if somewhat savage creatures. Many beasts are more intelligent and deadly than those used on other AD&D campaign worlds. A Dark Sun character has a more uneasy peace with his animal, and experience warns him that the rider may become the hunted. Kank A kank is a large, docile insect used mainly as an individual mount. Each can carry either a 200 pound rider and 200 pounds of extra cargo or two 200 pound riders with no extra cargo. A kank can find food in any terrain other than salt flats if al- lowed to graze for a few hours each day. Otherwise, it must have five pounds of plants or vegetables per day. Each kank needs only two gallons of water per day to avoid dehydration. All kank mounts are of the food-producer variety, creating large globules of green honey on the abdo- men every other day; it can be eaten by all the player Time and Movement character races and counts as one gallon of water. Characters on a strict diet of kank honey can survive on it alone for a period of days equal to their Constitution score; after that, the character's diet must be supplemented with other foodstuffs or he will become weakened and ill. A kank that is dehydrated or not getting enough food does not produce honey. A kank pushed to double or triple its normal movement rate receives a + 1 bonus to its saving throw to avoid exhaustion. Inix An inix is a large lizard that can be tamed for use as a beast of burden. Each can carry up to 2,000 pounds of cargo or passengers. Each inix needs 150 pounds of food and eight gallons of water per day. If allowed to graze every day in scrub plain, forest, or verdant belt terrain, an inix will forage enough food for itself. Every day that an inix doesn't receive its fill of water or food, it must save vs. death or go berserk. The animal's basic saving throw is 10, but there is a cumulative - 2 penalty on the save imposed with each passing day. The berserk inix's aim is not to eat its masters, but to escape to forage elsewhere. However, it will attack those who try to stop it - once berserk, an inix must be either set free, magically or psionically charmed, or killed. The chance to go berserk is in addition to dehydration. An inix can be pushed to double or triple its normal movement, like any other mount. Mekillot This is a huge animal that can carry or pull up to 8,000 pounds on its back or up to 40,000 pounds on a wagon. A mekillot needs 300 pounds of food and 16 gallons of water per day. When in use as a pack animal, a mekillot may decide to stop working or to move in a random direction. Each day, roll 1d20. On a roll of one, the mekillot stops where it is and won't move further that day. On a roll of two, the mekillot takes a new direction, not given to it. Exactly when the mekillot becomes stubborn is determined randomly (roll 1d10 for the ten-hour march day). A stubborn mekillot can sometimes be controlled through magic or psionics. Any physical effort to change a mekillot's 89 mind (a beating, attempting to lure it with food* etc.) enrages it and causes it to attack. A mekillot cannot be pushed to double or triple its normal movement. Use of Vehicles Wagons, carts, and similar conveyances must be pulled by kanks, mekillots, or the like. A cart is any wagon of less than 1,000 pounds capacity; carts generally have two wheels and can be drawn by one kank. Open, enclosed, and armored caravan wagons that require multiple draft animals also require a teamster to drive them - a teamster is any character with the animal handling proficiency. Wagons can be easily broken, especially when in difficult terrain. For every day of travel, a wagon has a 1%o chance of breaking down (broken axle or wheel, the floor gives way, etc.). For every day of travel in rocky badlands, stony barrens, or mountain terrain, there is a 3% chance of breaking down. These chances are not cumulative with the passage of time. Broken wagons can be repaired by someone with the carpentry or engineering proficiency. A wagon moves at the speed of its beasts of burden The animals cannot be pushed to double or triple their normal speed while pulling a wagon. Chariots are just as described in the DMG, except that on Athas they are pulled by kanks. Kank teams of one, two, or four may be used that carry chariots holding no more than one, two, or three warriors, respectively. Chariots are more fragile and tend to break down during times of high speed and stress (such as combat). Use the wagon break down rates for day to day movement. However, in combat these same percentage chances apply per round, and are doubled if the chariot is turned more than 45 degrees while at high speeds. Howdahs are small structures built for the backs of mekillots and inix. Having a howdah does not reduce the animal's carrying capacity, and it can still move at double or triple rate, subject to the lameness and exhaustion rules in the DMG. Magic used on Athas is shaped and molded by the harsh realities of that world. The influences of foul defilers, the valiant efforts of preserves, and the corrupt researches of sorcerer-kings have left their mark upon the wizard's trade. This chapter highlights important differences between Dark Sun and magic in other AD&D(R) game worlds. Wizard Spells First Level Spells Charm Person Athasian creatures that can be charmed include all PC races except thri-kreen, plus the belgoi. Find Familiar In DARK SUN campaigns, substitute this table for that found in the Player's Handbook. D20 Roll Familiar Sensory Powers 1-3 Bat Night, sonar-enhanced vision 4-5 Beetle Senses minute vibrations 6-8 Cat, black Excellent night vision and superior hearing 9 Pseudodragon Normal sensory powers, but very intelligent 10-11 Rat Excellent sense of taste and smell 12-15 Scorpion Senses fear 16-20 Snake Sensitivity to subtle temperature changes Mount In DARK SUN campaigns, substitute this table for that found in the Player's Handbook. Caster Level Mount 1st-3rd level Wild Kank 4th-7th level Trained Kank 8th-12th level Inix 13th-14th level Mekillot (and howdah at 18th level) 15th level & up Roc (and saddle at 18th level) Second-Level Spells Detect Psionics (Divination) Range: 0 Components: V, S, M Duration 2 rounds/level Casting Time 2 Area of Effect sphere (10 yard/level diameter) Saving Throw None This spell is similar to the metapsionic devotion, psionic sense, but uses magical rather than psionic means. The spell allows a character to detect the expenditure of psionic strength points (PSPs) in a sphere around him. The diameter of the sphere is equal to the range of the spell. At level (4 or below), the spell only lets the character know that PSPs were expended within the sphere, not how many PSPs, from what individual, what powers or devotions were used, or whether the PSPs were expended to initialize a power or to maintain one. Casters who are of levels 5-7 will also learn what individual within the sphere is expending PSPs. Casters of level 8-11 will also learn what discipline the psionicist is calling upon and whether the points were spent to maintain or initiate a psionic effect. Finally, casters of level 12 or higher will learn exactly which science or devotion is being used. Fool's Gold Copper coins are seldom minted on Athas. However, copper is still the medium of this spell and can be turned into solid gold. In DARK SUN campaigns, the area of effect is reduced to 1 cubic inch, or about 15 gold coins, per level. Third-Level Spells Fleet Feet (Alteration) (Reversible) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 day/5 levels Casting Time: 3 Area of Effect one individual Saving Throw: Neg. This spell allows an individual to move more quickly. The person affected can take very large strides, as if his feet and legs weighed far less than they actually do. For purposes of cross country movement, an affected character can travel double his normal movement rate (and may still force march beyond that, though he is still subject to those effects). The character's movement rate is doubled in combat situations, as well, but his balance and inertia make it difficult to maneuver. If he moves greater than his normal movement rate and attempts to turn in any way, such as to round a corner or to avoid an obstacle, he must make a successful Dexterity check to avoid falling (ending his movement for the round and making him prone). The reverse of this spell, stone feet, makes the affected character's legs feel as heavy as rock, slowing his movement to half. The character's balance is unaffected. A saving throw negates this effect. The material component for this spell is a feather from a flightless bird, such as an erdlu (or for the reverse, a piece of mekillot hide). Phantom Steed In DARK SUN™ campaigns, this spell creates a kank-like creature with the same abilities listed in the Player's Handbook. Fourth-Level Spells: Ice Storm In DARK SUN campaigns, the water, hail, and ice created by this spell is only temporary. It will disappear three turns after the completion of the spell. Even water consumed in that time disappears, giving its imbiber no benefit. Massmorph Since trees might be somewhat conspicuous in DARK SUN campaigns, the caster of this spell has the option of making the affected creatures appear to be boulders and stones, instead. The material components must be any handful of available pebbles. Plant Growth This spell has no effect on a tree of life. Since a defiled area has no vegetation left, this spell has no effect if cast there. Psionic Dampener (Alteration) Range: 5 yards/level Components V, S, M Duration: Special Casting Time: 4 Area of Effect: one individual Saving Throw Neg. Use of this spell allows the caster to disrupt the psionic activities of one individual. The target is allowed a saving throw to negate the spell. Whether successful or not, the target immediately knows that the spell was cast and who cast it. If the spell is successful, the target is unable to expend PSPs for its duration. The spell lasts until the wizard stops concentrating, either voluntarily or involuntarily. The affected psionicist can otherwise function normally. If the affected psionicist moves beyond the range, the spell is broken and he can again use PSPs normally, even if he reenters the spell s area of effect. The material component for this spell is any small object within a blown glass sphere. Raze (Alteration) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration Permanent Casting Time: 5 rounds Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: None This spell duplicates the life-draining effects peculiar to defiling magic. The spell may be cast by a defiler or a preserver, though a defiler will cause more damage with it. The casting of the spell causes a large area of vegetation to instantly give up its magical potential and turn to ash. Unlike the natural destruction of defiling magic, raze affects all vegetation within the radius of the spell, regardless of the terrain. The area of effect for a preserver is one yard per level of the caster. For a defiler, it is five yards plus one yard per level of the caster (in lieu of normal defiling damage). The ash created is black and grey, completely de void of life or life-giving elements. Nothing will grow there for half a year, leaving a lifeless circular scar on the ground. The material components for this spell are a handful of ash (either from a previous raze spell or from normal defiler magic) and a pinch of salt. Transmute Sand to Stone (Alteration) Reversible Range: 10 yards/level Components: V, S, M Duration 2d6 days Casting Time: 4 Area of Effect: One 10-foot cube/level Saving Throw: None This spell turns a volume of sand into an equal volume of sandstone. The caster can choose any simple shape he desires, provided no single portion is smaller than one cubic foot and none of the shape exceeds the range of the spell. The spell does not confer the ability to move the sand or stone created; the stone will occupy the space where the sand was at the time of casting. Persons standing with their feet in the sand at the time of casting will have to break themselves free, though a saving throw vs. paralyzation is allowed to jump free, (if possible). The fact that an area of sand has been so turned to sandstone is not readily apparent even after the spell has been cast. Viewers may have to make an Intelligence check to notice that there is stone where there was once sand. Though permanent, the magically created sandstone will quickly break down into sand particles over a period of 2d6 days. The reverse of this spell, transmute stone to sand, allows the caster to change any type of stone to sand (sandstone, granite, gems, clay brick, concrete, etc.). Stone items such as weapons become useless. Floors turned to sand may cause those standing on them to lose their balance and fall (dexterity check to avoid). Supporting stones in buildings so affected can easily cause a structure to completely collapse. The material component for the spell is sand ground between two pebbles (or sand from an hour glass for the reverse). Wall of Ice Like the ice storm spell, the ice created disappears three turns after the conclusion of the spell. Fifth-Level Spells Transmute Rock to Mud The mud created by this spell is of a magical nature - no water can be gotten out of it. Rejuvenate (Alteration) Range: Touch Components: V, S, M n Duration Special Area of Effect: 5" radius/level This spell grants the ability to support vegetation to an area of ground. in the case of ground made barren by defiler magic, rejuvenate dispels the ground's sterility, making it immediately capable of supporting vegetation. The spell may be cast on any ground short of solid rock, including sand, rocky sand or soil, or dust. In either case, the spell affects the ground in a circle extending away from the caster, so he must stand in the middle of the area he wishes to revitalize. The radius of the circle is 5 feet per level of the caster. Once cast, the soil is enriched and moistened, and a layer of fine grass emerges instantly. The duration of the spell varies. Once cast, the moist soil and grass are not magical, and are subject to all natural forces upon them. They will, however, survive a week in even the worst of conditions. Rejuvenate will otherwise last until another defiler spell destroys the vegetation there. The material component of the spell is a seed (of any type) and a drop of water. Defilers cannot cast rejuvenate. Wall of Iron In DARK SUN™ campaigns, the duration of this spell is one turn per level of the caster. Sixth Level Spells Reincarnation In DARK SUN campaigns, substitute this table for that found in the Player's Handbook. D100 Roll incarnation 01-08 Aarakocra 09-16 Belgoi 17-24 Dwarf 25-32 Elf 33-34 Giant 35-37 Giant-kin, Cyclops 38-48 Half-elf 49 55 Half-giant 56-66 Halfling 67-78 Human 79-85 Kenku 86-89 Mul 90-96 Thri-kreen 97-00 Yuan-ti Transmute Water to Dust In DARK SUN campaigns, this spell has no reverse. Seventh-Level Spells Doom Legion (Necromancy) Range: 0 Components: V, S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 7 rounds Area of Effect 120 yard radius Saving Throw: None This spell creates skeletons or zombies from the remains of an army defeated in battle. The spell must be cast on the site of the conflict, where the fallen bodies still lie. When cast, only the bodies or skeletons of the losing side will be animated. If the battle took place less than three months before the casting of the spell, the undead will be zombies. Any longer period of time will yield skeletons - even if the bones have turned to dust, they will reassemble when this spell is cast. The number animated depends upon the radius of the spell and the number of bodies within it. The DM decides what level of conflict was fought on the grounds where the spell is cast, then rolls dice to find how many undead are raised Skirmish 3d12 Small Battle 6d12 Major Battle 10d20 Animated bodies that are less than 1 yard beneath the surface will dig themselves out within one turn of casting the spell. Those deeper will not animate. The bodies cannot have been disturbed before the casting of the spell - those that are moved, searched, or in any way disturbed do not animate. There is a chance that the animated army of undead will ignore the spell caster and undertake their original mission, depending on how long the vanquished army has laid at rest. Time at Rest Chance to Ignore 1 day 90% 1 week 80% 1 month 70% 3 months 60% 1 year 50% 5 years 40% 10 years 30% 50 years 20% 100 years 10% Over 100 years 0% An army of undead that ignores the spell caster will not necessarily attack him, but it will not obey him. It will pursue revenge for its defeat, advancing on its previous enemy, even if that no longer makes sense, considering the passage of time. Should the army not ignore him, the undead will consider the spell caster its new leader and will follow him until every individual is somehow destroyed. The material components for this spell are a drop of blood from one of the unit's old opponents (or a descendent thereof) plus a handful of soil from the unit's original homeland. Eighth Level Spells Create Tree of Life (Alteration's Enchantment) Range: 0 Components V, S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 1 turn Area of Effect One tree Saving Throw: None By means of this spell, a wizard can enchant a living sapling to become a magical tree of life. The sapling must have already sprouted from the ground, though the wizard can transplant such a sapling before casting the spell. It will grow to its full size in only one week, but has its full powers and capabilities immediately after the spell is cast. Any tree less than one year old will suffice; this spell cannot be cast on an older tree. The properties of a tree of life are described in Chapter 7: Magic. The material components for this spell are the sapling (which grows into the tree of life) and a piece of copper wire formed in the shape of a tree. Priest Spells First-Level Spells Create Water In Dark Sun, create water produces only one half gallon of water per level of the caster. In all other ways, the spell is exactly as described in the Player's Handbook. Merciful Shadows (Abjuration) (Reversible) Sphere: Cosmos Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 day/5 levels Casting Time: 1 round Area of Effect: Person touched Saving Throw Neg. This spell creates a magical shade to protect an individual from the scorching sun. Once cast, the individual gains the benefits of being in the shade (half water consumption requirements), even when traveling or fighting in the full light of the sun. The individual so protected appears normal, except that he doesn't sweat as much as expected and his coloration is a bit gray. The reverse of this spell, blistering rays, intensifies the light and heat of the sun on the victim. The individual must have twice the water per day for the duration of the spell or suffer the effects of dehydration Also, in each round of combat in the open sun, the individual must make a Constitution check to keep from passing out. The saving throw, applicable only to the reverse of the spell, negates its effects. This spell (and its reverse) has no effect on an individual who is in the shade. The material components of this spell are a piece of a palm leaf (or black fabric for the reverse). Second Level Spells Charm Person or Mammal Athasian creatures that can be charmed include all of the player character races except thri-kreen plus the aarakocra, Anakore, bat, belgoi, braxat cats, cyclops, ettin, giant, gith, and rat. Hold Person In Dark Sun campaigns, this spell effects all player character races except thri-kreen, plus aarakocra, anakore, belgoi, and gith. Snake Charm Yuant-ti and silk worms can be affected by this spell. Third-Level Spells Create Food & Water In Dark Sun, this spell can create a maximum of one half gallon of water per level of the caster. The remainder of the material created will be bland food. In all other ways, the spell is exactly as described in the Player's Handbook. Air Lens (Alteration) Sphere: Air Range: 90 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: 3 rounds + 1 round/level Casting Time: 3 Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: None By means of this spell, the priest creates a magical lens high in the air, with which he can direct intensified rays of the sun against his enemies (the caster must be in the sunlight for the duration of the spell). Once cast, the priest can attack with the lens twice per round, against one or two different targets within the range of the spell. Attack rolls must be made for each attack, but the priest suffers no nonproficiency penalty. Targets under cover receive benefits for both cover and concealment. Each hit inflicts 2d6 points of damage. Creatures resistant to heat or fire take only half damage. The spell can also be used to ignite flammable materials. When doing so against non-mobile targets, no attack roll is necessary and any normally combustible material (cloth, wood, paper, etc.) will ignite. Personal equipment may also be targeted, but the priest must make a successful attack roll with a -4 penalty. If hit, the article of equipment ignites. Burning clothing will inflict 1d6 points of damage for 1d6 rounds or until discarded. Burning shields become useless. The flames so created are not magical in nature and can be extinguished normally. Magical darkness can negate the effects of this spell. Magical shade reduces damage by half. The material component for this spell is a small, round piece of glass. Fourth-Level Spells Call Woodland Beings This spell is not available in Dark Sun campaigns. Rejuvenate (Alteration) Sphere: Elemental, Plant Range: Touch Components: V, S, M Duration: Special Casting Time: 1 round Area of Effect: 10, radius/level Saving Throw: None This spell functions just as the 5th-level wizard spell of the same name. Fifth-Level Spells Commune In Dark Sun campaigns, a priest is able to contact powerful beings from the elemental planes to answer his questions. Conjure Elemental (Conjuration/Summoning) Reversible Sphere Elemental (Various) Range: 80 yards Components: V, S Duration 1 turn/level Casting Time 5 rounds Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: None In Dark Sun campaigns, there is no 6th-level conjure fire elemental spell or 7th-level conjure earth elemental spell for priests. Instead, this spell allows the caster to open 8 special gate to any elemental plane to which he has major access and summon an elemental to step through. The Hit Dice of the elemental are determined randomly. Roll Hit Dice 0 1 -65 8 66-90 12 91-00 16 The elemental will not turn on the caster, so concentration need not be maintained. The elemental summoned remains for a maximum of one turn per level of the caster, or until it is slain or magically banished. Sandstorm (Conjuration/Summoning) Sphere Air Range: 60 yards Components: V, S, M Duration 3 rounds/level Area of effect: Special This spell allows a priest to conjure a very large version of a dust devil one that can engage and at tack a number of targets at once. The storm has AC 0, MV 12, and hit dice equal to the level of the caster. The sandstorm is a large whirlwind of dust and sand twelve feet tall that covers a 10-yard by 10-yard square per level of the caster. The storm's shape can be determined by the caster and changed on any round after casting, provided no portion of the storm moves further than its movement rate. Any creature within the storm is subject to an attack which will do 2d6 points of damage (save versus spells for half damage). The storm is only subject to attacks from magical weapons. The winds of the storm will put out all normal fires within it. Also, any items within the storm must make item saving throws each round or be destroyed - all sandstorm saves are as if vs. acid with a + 5 bonus. The storm can hold a gas cloud or a creature in gaseous form at bay or push it away from the caster. The cloud obscures vision through it, and creatures are blinded for 1d4 rounds after emerging from it (save versus spell to avoid blindness). A spellcaster caught within the sandstorm loses concentration and any spells he is about to cast are ruined. The material component for this spell is a small bottle of air collected on a windy day. Sixth Level Spells Create Tree of Life (Alteration, Enchantment) Sphere: Cosmos Range 0 Components: V, S, M Duration: Permanent Casting Time 1 turn Area of Effect: One tree Saving Throw: None This spell is identical to the 8th-level wizard's spell of the same name.