Dark Sun CliffNotes and Discussions

[frobones]

Hey guys, I decided to make a thread that summarizes the minor and major changes in the Dark Sun Campaign settings along with notes that describe important people and places. Feel free to use this as a discussion for various Dark Sun nuances.

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<!> - means DM rule exception feasible

Racial Nuances

• Dragonborn: created by the sorcer-king of Giustenal (pg. 24)
  
• Dwarf: mostly hairless/beardless (pg. 25)
  
• Eladrin: need an exceptional reason to venture in the mortal world of Athas from the Lands Within the Winds or to use Arcane Magic as their people abhor its use. (pg. 26)
  
• Elf: they are now a very nomadic people, othen becoming traders and herders. They are also charlatans, entertainers, thieves, and raiders. No longer are they the nature loving, tree hugging people we know and love. (pg. 26)
  
• Goliath (Half-Giant): its race was magically combined of human and giant stock by the sorcerer-kings to make powerful armies and guardians (pg. 27)
  
• Half-elf: More or less the same, outcast in both human and elven circles. (pg. 27)
  
• Halfling: A secluded and xenophobic people. Some tribes more savage than others, some partaking in the eating of other intelligent races while other prefer to conduct necessary trading with those outside their villages. (pg. 27)
  
• Human: it's humans, they are everywhere and do everything. (pg. 28)
  
• Tiefling: Same story, ancestors made a deal with the dark one and now they are paying the price. (pg. 29)

• Main races of Athas: Mul, Thri-Keen, Dragonborn (Dray), Dwarf, Eladrin, Elf, Goliath (Half-Giant), Half-Elf, Halfling, Human, Tieflings (pg. 30)
  
• Minor races: Genasi, Kalashtar, Minotaur (pg. 30)
  
• Unmentioned races: Shifter, Shardmind, Wilden, Warforged, Half-Orc, Drow, Shadar-kai, Revenant, MM races
  
• Obscurely mentioned races:
  
  • Gith: mentioned on pg. 173 under Mount Narran, pg. 174 under Exploring the Road of Kings, and pg. 183 under Celik
    
  • Changeling: Someone with the ability to change shape is mentioned in the sidebar on pg. 139, perhaps he is a Changeling
    
  • Gnoll: mentioned on pg. 185 under Dragon Horns
    
• Dead races: Devas, Gnomes, Kobolds, Ogres, Orcs, Kuo-toas, Sahuagin, and Trolls <!> (pg. 25, 196)
  

World of Athas

• No Divine power source <!> (pg. 9)
  
• The Feywild is refered to as the Lands Within the Wind (pg. 17)
  
• The Shadowfell is known as the Gray (pg. 17)
  
• The Astral Sea is empty, as the deities have retreated after their loss against the Primordials (pg. 17)
  
• Athas is very "close" to the Elemental Chaos, it has physical manefestations on the mortal realm (pg. 17)
  
• There is only one dragon, The Dragon of Tyr, who was originally a sorcerer-king who transformed himself into the terrible creature (pg. 208)
  
• Metal coins are rare. Ceramic coins are the Athasian replacement for currency. Each city-state mints its own ceramic coins, referred to as copper bits, silver bits, etc. Sorcerer-kings back their cities' ceramic coins with royal wealth. Coins can be exchanged from one city to another for a fee of 5 percent, but in practice few people bother swapping currency since most merchants accept coins of any city. Although rare, metal coins are valuable when dune traders deal with villagers or tribes in the wastes, as ceramic coins there are just pretty clay chips. (pg. 14)
  

Banned/Restricted Material
Some rituals are limited/controlled while others are just forbidden to use in the world of Athas as it would trivialize certain aspects of the campaign setting (pg. 116)


Game Mechanics

Surviving Athas (pg. 198)
To survive the blazing heat of Athas 1 of 3 things must be done:

• Spend at least part of the day in a city, villiage, outpost, or oasis
  
• Expend a survival day worth of supplies (this is a ration package that is normally worth 5 gp)
  
• Use the Nature skill to forage successfully
  

If you fail to do one of the above you risk contracting sun sickness which is a disease that can lead to death with two failed Endurance checks, i.e. DEATH IN TWO DAYS.

Optional Rule: Weapon Breakage (pg. 122)

• Fumbling Breakage: Rolling a natural 1 with a nonmetal weapon causes it to break
  
• Reckless Breakage: When you roll a natural 1, you can reroll the attack causing your weapon to break. Nonmetal weapons will then break, metal weapons break on a natural 5 or lower on the reroll.
  

Optional Rule: Metal Armor and Overheating (pg. 119)
-5 penalty to Endurance checks resulting from heat while wearing heavy metal armor

Optional Rule: Random Wild Talent (pg. 81)
Roll a d10 to randomly determine a characters wild talent instead of choosing.

[frobones]

Seven City States

Tyr
It's sorcerer-king Kalak recently overthrown and killed, its new and current King, Tithian, a former high templar, has abolished slavery to make it the first free city-state in the Desert Age. However, several groups within Tyr vie to overthrow the newly appointed king.There are several factions that have great influence within the city: Deposers of Kalak, the Freed, Commoners, House Merchants, Templars, and Nobles. There is a very delicate power balance between each faction; individual, none have the power nor influence to challenge the new king's rule.

Balic
The government fronts a democratic system while in realitiy its sorcerer-king Andropinis holds dictatorial power. Templars are voted into positions of power, but if Andropinis is unhappy something fateful happens to the elected. From time to time he will indulge idealist, allowing corrupt nobles and unsatisfactory templars to be indicted or voted out. The city also houses a large harbor for Silt travel and has fleet of a dozen silt dromonds, psionically powered warships.

Draj
The city state is ruled by its mad sorcerer-king Tectuktitlay. While the city is not busy waging war against Raam its raiding parties are scouring the surrounding wastelands, plundering villages for fresh slaves. Tectuktitlay claims to be a divine deity, the son of the two moons Ral and Guthay as a matter of fact, sent to the world of Athas to lead his chosen people to glory. Of course this is not true, Tectktitkay is petty, spiteful, and ravenous for power, constantly trying to expand his empire.

Gulg
The forest city under the monarch rule of the sorcerer-queen Lalali-Puy. She is beloved by her citizens. Gulg is rivals with the city state Nibenay. The noble class of Gulg is the warrior. Gulg's templars are secretive witch doctors that watch from the shadows. They seldom walk the streets but their presence is felt only in the aftermath of their actions. Lalali-Puy, unlike the other sorcerer-kings, informs her people of the "threat" that is primal magic instead of disregarding it as a sham. She deludes her people into believing that primal spirits are the enemy, pure embodiments of evil, and that only primal magic can contain these forces. Therefore, just like arcane magic is regulated in other city-states, Gulg regulates Primal magic. While other city-states tend to ban and persecute practitioners Primal magic.

Nibenay
Perhaps the noblest of the city-states, Nibenese regard themselves as the only civilized people remaining in the world of Athas and anything that happens outside its walls are merely the squabbles of savages. The city bares the name of its sorcerer-king and he has left the entire city to be run by his templars. He only emerges from his palace, the Naggaramakam, to lead forces of war. But with the recent "death" of Kalak, Nibenay has been arranging meetings with his high council and taking an active interest in readying his armys and in the affairs of the city's noble houses. Oh, and all the templars are female and each of them are wives of Nibenay.

Raam
Raam is on the brink of degredation by the hedonistic rule of it's sorcerer-queen Abalach-Re. Declaring herself a representative of an all-powerful deity known as Badna, she razed the cities extisting shrines and temples and replaced them with shrines dedicated to Badna. Raam suffers from empty alabaster quarries and gemstone mines, reckless agricultural practices have lead to food shortages, there are constant riots in the streets, and there are some districts where the templars dare not set foot. Although Raam is perhaps the most degraded city-state, it is also the most populous - almost doubling the population of any other city state with its 40,000+ people. Raam also employs a caste system.

Urik
It's sorcerer-king Hamanu, self-styled King of the World, is no idle claim. Its armies have never met defeat and Hamanu has never run from a battle. His presence is so dominant that any decision of importance in the Tyr region must first consider the wishes of Urik's sorcerer-king. Needless to say, this city state is highly organized and militarized. Urikite people are tested by templars and are assigned to vocations that best suit their abilities, making Urik somewhat of a meritocracy. However, those with the right influence and connections can secure important posts and stations. Hamanu takes an active role in governing his city and his draconian laws, although oppressive of those not in the noble class, discourage street crime.

[frobones]

Savage Lands

Estuary of the Forked Tongue
The inlet from the Sea of Silt that reaches the harbor of Balic, The Estuary of the Forked Tongue serves as the primary trading route for Balic and silt schooners. Littered along its coasts are various villiages and trading outposts. The oppression of the sorcerer-kings fail to reach out far into its shores; however, marauding giants, deadly predators and savage raiding tribes plague the area.

The Forest Ridge
A vast, dense and verdant jungle that contrasts with the arid desert most of Athas is accustomed. Separated from the rest of the world by the Ringing Mountains, passage to and fro requires knowledge of secret roads and hidden passage ways through the mountain range. The Forest Ridge also serves as the native home of the Halflings.

The Ivory Triangle
The Ivory Triangle consists of the Great Ivory Plain, the Cresent Forest, and the Salt Meres of Bodach. Outside the city-states of Gulg and Nibenay, only a handful of small villages and outposts are scattered across the area. Dune traders often use the Ivory Triangle as a trade route from Raam and Draj in the north to Balic in the south. However, the Triangle is also home to monsters and desert raiders.

Ringing Mountains
The mountain range that separates the Forest Ridge from the rest of the Tyr region, its peaks reach up to heights of 20,000 feet and no shorter than 12,000 feet. Reclusive monasteries, mountain tribes, isolated clans, and dangerous predators call this place home. The region is virutally unconquerable by the sorcerer-kings due to the nature of its geography.

Road of Kings
This road refers to the trail that connects the three northern city-states of Tyr: Urik, Raam, and Draj. An oft used caravan route between the three city-states, the road passes by tiny desert villages, mining camps, nomadic tribes, and trade outposts. The roads are also plagued by bandits, raiders, and hungry savages. In times of battle between the city-states on the Road of Kings, skirmishing armies can be found in this region.

The Sea of Silt
This is the ocean of Athas. The nature of the silt is unnatural, a great elemental power has subtly altered natural law, balancing air, earth, and water in a deviant fashion. The dust coalesces and refuses to compact under its own weight. It's light enough to be whipped up by the wind and cover nearby lands, yet it eventually trickles back down in time to rejoin the larger sea. There is also legend that a Dust Kraken resides in the Sea of Silt. The largest of silt skimmers can only venture a mile or two from the shore, venturing farther requires levitation or flight. However, there are a few well-charted shoals (shallow "water") where travel is made possible further into the Sea of Silt.

The Southern Wastes
An expansive desert south of the Tyr region, reaching thousands of miles. As far as the world is concerned, there is nothing but uninhabitable desert to the south. However, near the margins of the great southern desert are home to nomadic tribes and small villages. There is also a monster known as Herumar the Sand Scourge, a seven-headed hydra of immense size that resides somewhere in the Southern Wastes.

The Tablelands
The Tablelands consist of the region east of the Ringing Mountains, west of the Great Ivory Plain, north of the Lost Oasis, and South of the Dragon's Bowl. The Tablelands are a true cross-section of Athas; here one finds herders, elven tribes, raiders, dwarf miners, trading posts, and ruins teeming with savage marauders. Scores of tiny hamlets, remote camps, and nomadic tribes call this area home. The Tyr and Urik city-states dominate the Tablelands.

The Western Hinterlands
These are the plains that lie to the west of the Forest Ridge. This region could be called by many as the native home of the nomadic Thri-kreen. Much like the Southern Wastes, the Western Hinterlands is a vast region of flat plains, instead of desert, that seems to go on forever. The area has no cities, no known villages, and few ruins and ancient sites. In the northern area of the Western Hinderlands, called the Jagged Cliffs, some settlements of Halflings can be found.

[reiphil]

Feywild is also tiny. All together sums up the city state of tyr.

[frobones]

This thought just came to mind. If one were to use a quarterstaff, would it still be subject to weapon breakage rules? I mean, the quarterstaff was wood in other settings. Does Athas have weaker trees/wood? Also, are implements subject to the breakage rules? I can imagine a bone rod; orbs have been and probably are still made of glass in this campaign. Staves are just quarterstaffs, totems are probably wood and bone, tomes are just books, and Ki focuses can be anything. And then what about weapons that serve as implements? Some are wielded more melee-esque than others (like with monks and swordmages) and some simply channel magic through them (like a sorcerer's dagger). I find no evidence in the DS book and it will probably have to be house-ruled.

[reiphil]

Aug 7, 2010 17:14:42 GMT -8 frobones said:

This thought just came to mind. If one were to use a quarterstaff, would it still be subject to weapon breakage rules? I mean, the quarterstaff was wood in other settings. Does Athas have weaker trees/wood? Also, are implements subject to the breakage rules? I can imagine a bone rod; orbs have been and probably are still made of glass in this campaign. Staves are just quarterstaffs, totems are probably wood and bone, tomes are just books, and Ki focuses can be anything. And then what about weapons that serve as implements? Some are wielded more melee-esque than others (like with monks and swordmages) and some simply channel magic through them (like a sorcerer's dagger). I find no evidence in the DS book and it will probably have to be house-ruled.

Quarterstaves don't necessarily have to be wood. They can be bone, metal, stone, etc.

Implements can break too, IE not able to channel energy correctly.