Athas, the world of Darksun

The world of the DARK SUN setting is unique in several ways. Many familiar trappings of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game are missing or turned on their heads. Athas is not a place of shining knights and robed wizards, of deep forests and divine pantheons. To venture over the sands of Athas is to enter a world of savagery and splendor that draws on different traditions of fantasy and storytelling. Simple survival beneath the deep red sun is often its own adventure.

Newcomers to Athas have much to learn about the world, its people, and its monsters, but the following eight characteristics encapsulate the most important features of the DARK SUN campaign setting.

Races aren't what you Expect

Typical fantasy stereotypes don’t apply to Athasian heroes. In many DUNGEONS & DRAGONS settings, elves are wise, benevolent forest dwellers who guard their homelands from intrusions of evil. On Athas, elves are a nomadic race of herders, raiders, peddlers, and thieves. Halflings aren’t amiable riverfolk; they’re xenophobic headhunters and cannibals who hunt and kill trespassers in their mountain forests. Goliaths—or half-giants, as they are commonly known—are brutal mercenaries who serve as elite guards and enforcers for the sorcerer-kings and their templars in many city-states.

Adventure

Culture

Nobles

The aristocrats of Athasian society usually control farmland and water through hereditary titles that the sorcerer-king granted to their ancestors long ago. They are expected to maintain their holdings and to have private military forces ready to maintain order and repel invasion when necessary. Most noble houses keep large stables of slaves as laborers, soldiers, and gladiators. Competition among the nobles, as well as between nobles and templars, is fierce.

In some cities, the heads of the noble houses form a council that advises the sorcerer-king. At any time, the monarch can call upon the resources, living and otherwise, at a noble’s disposal.

Merchants

Athasian merchants as a group include merchant dynasties, tribal merchants, and independent merchants (or free citizens, discussed below). Merchant dynasties (or houses, as they’re often called) are a class of free folk who maintain emporiums, resource-gathering outposts, and trade routes in the city-states and across the hostile wastes. They are citizens of no city and exist outside the normal power structure, although their wealth and influence rivals that of the most prominent nobles. Each merchant house is a family or an alliance of dealers with its own small army of guards and slaves that keeps goods flowing from one region to another. Intrepid dune traders and larger caravans carry merchandise from place to place. Merchant dynasties operate large emporiums in various city-states and pay taxes to the sorcerer-kings in return for this privilege. Even the most rapacious templars avoid harassing members of merchant houses without good cause. Doing so would risk not only the templars’ personal buying power but also the welfare of the city-state.

Free Citizens

City dwellers who aren’t templars, nobles, affiliated merchants, or slaves are citizens. Independent merchants and artisans make up the bulk of this class. Mercenaries, minstrels, monks, priests, masters of the psionic arts, and adventurers or others who wield extraordinary powers make up the rest.

These people are free, but only until a capricious templar or noble judges them guilty of a crime. When that happens, a free citizen becomes a slave. However, this fate usually befalls only the powerless citizens. Those who can defend themselves are rarely harassed by templars, who do not wish to risk losing several soldiers just to acquire one slave.

Slaves

Slaves make up a large portion of the urban population. Some are born into slavery, and others are tribal folk or villagers from distant lands who were seized by slavers and sold into captivity. Templars and nobles also have the power to condemn debtors and criminals to slavery (although dangerous people are executed if enslaving them is considered too risky).

Wealthy Athasians keep slaves as a show of prosperity as well as a source of cheap labor. Most slaveholders have few moral qualms about the practice, arguing that it is better to enslave others than to allow them to starve in freedom. A slave’s treatment depends on his usefulness and the affluence of his owner. Reliable and loyal slaves are likely to receive better treatment.

Each slave is afforded a place according to his or her talents. Most are farmers, laborers, or servants. Those with fighting skills end up as soldiers or gladiators. (The best soldier slaves are trained as such from birth.) A few slaves have talents that earn them spots as artists or entertainers in a household. Skilled slaves can enjoy comfortable lives, but they are always at risk of falling out of favor. Few slaves earn lasting freedom.

Villagers

In the unforgiving desert, villages exist only in locales that have valuable resources, important trade cross- roads, or defensible positions. A mining settlement,a raiding tribe’s base, and a merchant trading post all are considered villages. Independent villages, especially those built by escaped slaves or members of a particular race, are chaotic, colorful places. They have strong or charismatic leaders and allow practices that are frowned upon in city-states (such as the use of primal magic). Of course, given the dangers of the wilderness, any village can disappear or become abandoned overnight.

Nomads

Any people who live a mobile existence can be considered nomads. They survive by moving to wherever the resources are. Some nomadic tribes or bands are racially diverse, and others are racially homogenous. A few tribes enjoy the sponsorship of (and provide services to) a patron, such as a city-state, but most survive independently by herding, hunting, or raiding. A single tribe might resort to all these methods.

Matters of Learning

In the urban societies of Athas, knowledge - especially information about arcane magic — is tightly controlled. Those who rule know that truth and enlightenment make the governed less likely to accept the status quo. People who gain abilities that allow them to challenge or escape authority become threats to the stability of the system.

The march of Time

The sorcerer-kings make sure that hardly anyone knows the true age of Athas. Regardless, most Athasians are too concerned with day-to-day living and survival to wonder about what happened in the past. People suppose that things are more or less as they have always been.

Years on Athas are named, not numbered, and recorded by the Calendar of Kings. By this calendar, the current year is the Year of Priest’s Defiance, in the 190th King’s Age. Last year was the Year of Desert’s Slumber, and next year will be the Year of Wind’s Reverence. Every 11 years an eclipse occurs, and every 45 years the Messenger—a comet that turns night to day—blazes through the sky. Most Athasians find this complicated calendar less than useful; they rely on the templars to tell them about important events related to the passage of years.

History

Since common Athasians are forbidden to read or write, few people know the annals of their world. They do know that Athas used to be lush and green, rich with water and thronged with cities and realms. This knowledge is no secret; any traveler can see the evidence of the former world crumbling in the deserts. Ancient bridges span empty watercourses, dilapidated castles sag on hilltops over deserted towns, shrines to vanished gods lie dusty and silent, and the ruins of great cities are filled with sand and monsters — all remnants of the time known as the Green Age. Fleeting tales whisper of eras that preceded the Green Age, leaving older and even more mysterious ruins, but no definite knowledge of such fantastically ancient days remains in the world unless the sorcerer-kings know more.

Cosmology

Most Athasians know nothing of the worlds and planes that exist beyond their own. Very few scholars have studied such topics at length, and their writings are locked away in the vaults of the sorcerer-kings.

All Athasians know the night sky and its familiar constellations, and many peoples assign different meanings to the motions of the stars and planets. Athas has two moons, Ral and Guthay. Ral, a mottled green in color, is the closer of the two. Sages who have scried Ral report that it is covered in great green seas and mountain-islands of dizzying heights. Guthay, the smaller and more distant moon, is a golden orb mantled in steaming mists beneath which lie scarlet jungles and marshy seas. Stories tell of ancient moon-gates on Athas that lead to both Ral and Guthay, but they function only at unpredictable intervals.

The Gray is an echo of Athas, an otherworld of shadows and ghosts. In this realm, the restless spirits of the dead linger amid the haunted ruins of great cities. Some sources call this otherworld “the Shadowfell” or “the Plane of Shadow.” Like the Lands Within the Wind, the Gray is home to strange and powerful creatures, including mighty shadow giants, fearsome nightmare beasts, and a race of devils that traveled to the Gray when the connection between their home plane and Athas withered. Unlike the eladrin of the fey realm, the denizens of the Shadowfell are much more hostile to mortals who venture into their domain.

Underlying the rest of existence is the Elemental Chaos, a vast, churning realm from which all the energy and elements of the world were formed. Some sources call this realm “the Elemental Planes” or “the Inner Planes.” In cosmological terms, Athas is close to the Elemental Chaos, and vortexes such as volca- noes, sand gyres, and desert flats known as “anvils” link the planet to corresponding parts of the seething realm. Elemental influences grow steadily stronger and more chaotic as one travels farther away from the Tyr Region, suggesting that the presence of civiliza- tion or natural life holds true elemental power at bay (or that in the distant past, the region was shielded from unchecked elemental manifestations).

Races of Athas

Elf, Dune Runner

Tall, long-legged desert rovers whose tribes wander the face of Athas. Elves run swiftly and with great endurance. Tribes can manage forty miles a day or more, day in and day out. Elves consider it shameful to ride an animal such as a crodlu or a kank, and one does so only if ill or gravely wounded. Normally, such mounts are used as beasts of burden to carry the tribes’ goods and tents. If a sorcerer-king sends his soldiers to punish an elven tribe for a brazen act of theft or lawlessness, he might find that not even kank-mounted cavalry can catch a tribe that has a mind to be somewhere else.

Most Athasians consider elves lazy and deceitful. It’s true that many elves dislike hard work and prefer to live in the moment, avoiding unpleasant tasks and drudgery. They have little regard for anyone who isn’t a member of their tribe. Elves happily take advantage of, steal from, lie to, or misdirect outsiders, not out of malice so much as a desire to separate the gull ible from their items of value. When it’s important to maintain a valuable trading relationship, elves honor their word and barter in good faith. But the moment they perceive an opportunity that is too good to pass up, they abandon their previous deals. Although elves are fickle business partners, they can be true and loyal friends to those who win their trust. But few outsiders gain the friendship of an elven tribe.

• Ability Scores: Dex +2; Con +1
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 35ft.

• Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
• Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill. Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
• Trance. Elves don't need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is "trance.") While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
• Fleet of Foot. Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.
• Light Stride. When you dash, you can ignore difficult terrain.
• Runners High. Elves are natural runners, they can keep constant running speeds for hours on end, their overland speed is doubled when running, and they don't become exhausted from running. (normal running rules allow running for 3+con bonus rounds)

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish.

Genasi, Half-Elementals

Also known as half-elementals, genasi typically reside in the depths of the wastelands and on isles in the Sea of Silt. Their elemental nature gives them the ability to endure environmental conditions that other humanoids find intolerable. Most genasi are devoted to the elemental spirits of the wastes, and they bitterly resent defilers, especially the sorcerer- kings and agents of those tyrants.

As a people touched by elemental power, genasi are viewed as seers, prophets, and chosen ones. The birth of a genasi, whether a slave, a noble, or a member of a desert tribe, is an auspicious event. Most Athasians believe a given genasi is destined for greatness—or infamy.

• Ability Scores: Con +2
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30ft.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial. Primordial is a guttural language, lled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.

Water Genasi

The lapping of waves, the spray of sea foam on the wind, the ocean depths—all of these things call to your heart. You wander freely and take pride in your independence, though others might consider you selfish.

• Ability Scores: Wis +1

• Acid Resistance. You have resistance to acid damage.
• Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.
• Swim. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
• Call to the Wave. You know the shape water cantrip when you reach 3rd level, you can cast the create or destroy water spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you nish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Gith

Remnants of ancient Illitihid wars on Athas, the Gith still have two groups, and a degenerated brethern that had their minds and bodies broken by the war.

• Ability Scores: Int +1
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30ft.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Gith.

Half-Giants (Athasian Goliath)

Centuries ago, sorcerer-kings magically combined giant and human stock to breed powerful minions, creating the hardy race of towering warriors known as goliaths (commonly called half-giants). Most sor- cerer-kings have hundreds of goliaths in their armies and shower the mighty warriors with luxuries in exchange for their loyalty. Other half-giants become urban thugs or mercenaries. They adopt the culture and traditions of the cities in which they dwell.

Half-giants are often violent and short-tempered, but their moods are mercurial. They can pass from frothing rage to gales of laughter in the blink of an eye.

• Ability Scores: Str +2; Con +1
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30ft.

• Natural Athlete. You have proficiency in the Athletics skill.
• Stone's Endurance. You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
• Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.
• Savage Attacks. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon's damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Giant.

Halfling, Jungle Cannibals

Most halflings hail from the Forest Ridge, a mysterious and legendary jungle said to crown the Ringing Mountains. Halflings live apart from other races, divided by their stature and odd customs, but no one can deny their bravery and cunning. The savagery for which they are feared masks a deep and abiding reverence for the natural world and an uncommon connection to the land’s spirits. Halflings live throughout the Tyr Region—some as slaves, others as mercenaries, and still others as raiders. Regardless, all halflings look to the Forest Ridge as their homeland.

Halflings see all creatures as potential sources of sustenance. After all, living beings compete to survive, and halflings think nothing of eating their enemies, for doing so ensures their own survival.

• Ability Scores: Dex +2; Wis +1
• Size: Small
• Speed: 25ft.

Mul, Half-Dwarf

Muls are half-dwarves, descended from the union of a human and a dwarf. They have the stature, agility, and mental flexibility of humankind, coupled with the physical resilience and endurance of dwarves—a rare combination of qualities that makes muls more than a simple blend of the two races.

Because they are strong, tough, quick, and blessed with fantastic endurance, muls are highly prized as slaves. In fact, most muls are born into slavery.

Muls have little collective racial identity and adopt the dress and fashion of their homes. However, they are fond of tattoos and favor simple geometric patterns rather than depictions of creatures or objects. In this way, they honor their dwarven heritage with designs reminiscent of dwarven motifs.

• Ability Scores: Str +1; Con +2
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30ft.

• Mul Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.
• Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
• Mul Stamina. You have advantage on athletic checks related to stamina tests. During a short of long rest, you can spend a Hit Die to recover from levels of exhaustion as long as you have access to food and water.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Dwarven.

Naga, Serpent Folk

Naga resemble enormous snakes with shoulders, arms, and a torso that resembles a humanoid form. They typically hold their heads and torsos off the ground while moving, but they can increase their speed by lowering their bodies and using their hands for extra propulsion. They adorn their torsos with armor, jewelry, and a vague nod toward the clothing worn by other races. Male naga have broad hoods, wider than their shoulders, while females have narrower hoods and longer faces.

Naga believe in a principle called the Sweetest Harmony, which describes a perfect balance between the body and the mind. Finding that balance, as they understand it, is a sure path to illumination, since a combination of physical and mental preparation will ensure success in every trial. Just so, mental strength supports physical capabilities, and physical fortitude feeds mental tenacity, so neither mind nor body can exist in isolation.

• Ability Scores: Con +1; Int +2
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30ft.

• Poison Immunity. You are immune to poison damage and can't be poisoned.
• Poison Affinity. You gain proficiency with the poisoner's kit.
• Speed Burst. By lowering your body to the ground and propelling yourself with your arms, you can move more quickly for a time. As a bonus action on your turn, if you have both hands free, you can increase your walking speed by 10 feet until the end of your turn.
• Natural Weapons. Your fanged maw and constricting serpentine body are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes.

If you hit with your bite, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, and your target must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier). On a failed save, the target takes 1d4 poison damage.

If you hit with your constrict attack, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, and the target is grappled (escape DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and you can't constrict another target.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Naga.

Thri-kreen, Mantis Warriors

Thri-kreen are mantislike humanoids that hunt in packs throughout the wastes of Athas. They have adapted to the harsh climate and are experts at sur- viving with only scarce resources. Thri-kreen are nimble, and many also have psionic abilities.

Thri-kreen minds, behavior, and physiology often seem bizarre to members of other races. But despite their fierce appearance, the insectlike humanoids can be loyal and courageous companions. Thri-kreen have most of the same needs and morals as do other races; they simply prioritize those needs and morals differently. Most important, thri-kreen judge others solely on physical and mental ability. The lazy and weak deserve contempt, regardless of race; likewise, strength and cleverness merit respect no matter who demonstrates these qualities.

• Ability Scores: Dex +2; Cha -1
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 40ft.

• Standing Leap. The thri-kreen's long jump is up to 30 feet and its high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start.
• Natural Armor. Carapace provides a natural armor class of 13.

Tortle

Tortles are reptilian-looking humanoids with large shells on their backs that are capable of containing their entire bodies and provided ample protection. Most tortles have the notion of having their houses on their backs, which means that they rarely felt homesick or the need to lay roots in any single place. They are eager to learn new customs and find beauty in the most ordinary things. Despite spending much of their lives isolated, tortles like to form strong friendships.

• Ability Scores: Str +2; Wis +1
• Size: Medium
• Speed: 30ft.

• Claws. Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
• Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour at a time. Tortles aren't natural swimmers, but they can remain underwater for some time before needing to come up for air.
• Natural Armor. Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn't affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield's bonus as normal.
• Shell Defense. You can withdraw into your shell as an action. until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, and you have advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. While in your shell, you are prone, your speed is 0 and can't increase, you have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, you can't take reaction, and the only action you can take is a bonus action to emerge from your shell.
• Survival Instinct. You gain proficiency in the Survival skill. Tortles have finely honed survival instincts.
• Slow Metabolism. You can go for a week without food, and 3 days without water before taking levels of exhaustion.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Aquan and Common.

Classes

Obsidian

Silt Sea

Moon

(Not available for now) The beast category is very different on Athas, and flavor-wise they aren't a good match for how things work on Athas

Sheppard

Highly praised and recruited by caravans

Spiritlords

With their elemental affinities they are popular among genasi

Fighter

Fighters tend to be freemen or nobles, and considered by many natural leaders.

Monk

Compared to other settings, they are very common and hold varied positions in society. They frequently multiclass with psionics

Open Hand

Very popular among gladiators

Sun Soul

Tend to keep a low profile, and actively work against the sorcerer-kings

Paladin

Their powers are not derived from divine focus, but by raw force of the way and the will (psionic teachings).

Defiling Magic

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Warlocks and Wizards wield Arcane Magic - which defiles the land.

All arcane magic defiles the surrounding, dealing 1d4 necrotic damage to plants and tiny animals within 5ft per spell slot level.

Other beings will sense a temporary feeling of weakness which they are likely to correlate with defiling magic.

Equipment and Currency

• Carrikal. This axe has two forward-facing blades carved from the front of a large jawbone, commonly that of a mekillot.
• Chatkcha. This throwing wedge, often shaped from crystal or obsidian, is a thri-kreen invention. It returns to a proficient wielder’s hand after the ranged attack is resolved.
• Dejada. Along, scooped basket fitted to a glove- like bracer, the dejada is used to hurl projectiles. Ammunition can be a fist-sized stone, but the weapon is also used to extend the range of explosive alchemical mixtures.
• Dragon Paw. Short blades attach to either end of this staff. In the center ofthis double weapon is a guard with a protruding blade perpendicular to the staff. The light, middle blade (which serves as the off-hand end) can be used for quick jabs, ideal for a warrior with a roguish bent.
• Gauntlet Axe. This heavy bracer holds two light crescent blades, turning the forearm into an axe while keeping the hand free. The weapon can also serve as a light shield. A gauntlet axe does not occupy a character’s arms slot.
• Garrote. Typically made from Crystal Spider, the garrote is a favored weapon of assassins. If you have advantage against a foe, you can grapple the target and deal damage as long as the grapple is not broken.
• Gouge. This spadelike weapon has a long haft with a handle on the end. The head is a wide, double-edged blade with a stabbing point at the top. Some gouges are fitted with a strap or a harness, making the weapon easier to carry.
• Gythka. Each end of this thri-kreen staff has a small, crescent-shaped blade with a centered stabbing tine. The secondary end of this double weapon is light enough to be used as an off-hand weapon. A gythka can be thrown like a javelin.
• Harpoon. A thrown weapon that an be used to grapple and pull enemies towards you, or pull yourself towards a larger enemy. Can double as a grappling hook.
• Lotulis This short-staffed double weapon sports outward-pointing, barbed crescent blades on each end.
• Puchik The grip of this weapon is perpendicular to its wide blade. A puchik is treated as a katar.
• Singing Stick. The ends ofthis 2 1/2-foot-long, narrow rod are carved to be slightly wider than the middle. It whistles as it spins in the hands of a proficient user.
• Talid. Made from leather, chitin, and bone, this spiked “gladiator’s gauntlet” augments unarmed attacks. It does not occupy a character’s hands slot.
• Tortoise Blade. This bony or chitinous plate is affixed with a short blade that points forward from the wielder’s hand. A tortoise blade can be used as a shield or a magic weapon, but not both. A tortoise blade and a spiked shield are considered to be the same weapon.
• Trikal. This polearm projects three blades sym metrically lengthwise from its haft. A trikal is equivalent to a halberd.
• Widow’s Knife. Although this weapon originated as a harvesting tool, it has become a favorite in noble courts. The blade is a flat semicircle. The grip can be modified to hold poison. A widow’s knife and a dagger are similar weapons.
• Wrist Razors. This weapon consists ofthree sharp blades that protrude from a sturdy bracer, free ing the wielder’s hand. A shield cannot be worn on the same arm as wrist razors. Wrist razors do not need to be drawn, nor do they need to be sheathed for the wielder to use the hand the razors are on. An enchanted wrist razor occupies the arms slot.

Magic

Planar Travel

The focus of a DARK SUN game is Athas, so planar travel should be rare. Attempts to reach other planes typically fail unless the caster is near a place that allows passage to that realm. The Gray is accessible, but it is considered to be a land where dead and fiendish creatures live, so few go there.

Passing through the Gray is the only way to reach the Astral Sea, but such travel is risky. Reaching the Elemental Chaos is still possible. In general, planar travel is associated with arcane magic, so most people consider it evil. As with rituals that create food and water, these rituals should be the subjects of adventures and should be acquired only at the Dungeon Master’s discretion.

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