The Burnt World of Athas

The official Dark Sun website

Articles

Encounters of Athas #10 - The Black Betty

Cutting through the powder with creaking wheels and snapping sails, a skimmer plies the Sea of Silt. Known as the Black Betty, she is a former slave transport turned pirate vessel.

Ahrachuah

Herein is presented Ahrachuah as an Elemental Patron, with formatting inspired by 2e deity entries. Ahrachuah’s stat block is followed with divisions of specialty priests built using Player’s Option rules, in order to create diverse roles in a self-contained community, each committed to serving the madness of their patron.

The Ruins of the Ancients

The ruins of ancient civilizations and peoples like beneath the sands of Athas, but these ruins are as varied as the people who left them behind.

Ecologies of Athas - Cha’thrang

Ecologies of Athas is a series dedicated to examining some of the less well-detailed creatures of Athas. Today, we examine the cha’thrang.

What if Athasian gnomes had survived the Cleansing Wars?

What If is a series of articles examining how the Dark Sun setting might be different if a single aspect were changed.

This week, we look at how Athas might be different if the gnomes - much like the lizardfolk of the Last Sea - had survived the Cleansing Wars.

What if moongates were more common, but were dangerous to use?

What If is a series of articles examining how the Dark Sun setting might be different if a single aspect were changed.

Moongates are a concept introduced in the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting, and supposedly provided a means to travel from Athas to the moons of Ral and Guthay, but the concept was never truly fleshed out. If used in a Dark Sun game, moongates should probably be quite difficult to find, with only a handful of gates to be found on Athas and maybe only one or two each on Ral and Guthay. But, what if they weren’t?

What if Dark Sun had no "Tolkien" races?

What if the Dark Sun’s development team had eliminated all of the Tolkien-type races from the setting like they had originally wanted to? In fact, what if they had gone even further and eliminated humans as well? Could that be a possible vision of a future Athas?

What if Dark Sun had no “Tolkien” races?

Athasian Chariots, Part 1 - Chariots in Dark Sun

Chariots - how have they been used in Dark Sun in the past, how were they used in the real world, and how might we use them in Dark Sun?

Quick Plot Hooks #4

The Quick Plot Hooks series started as a fun thought experiment - how to develop interesting but reasonable encounters using two types of creatures from randomly determined Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium entries.

Parasites of Athas

Four creatures that live as parasites within humanoids on Athas.

The Dust Filchers

As they near the silt estuary, just south of Fort Kalvis, travelers along the People’s Road often move with some trepidation. Fears of rampaging monsters give way here to anxiety about the frequent dust storms that permeate the area. During these storms, many traders attempt to push through, rather than be delayed; those that tarry or stop are often unceremoniously robbed of their most precious belongings by a fast-moving gang of creatures under a shroud of silt and dust.

Quick Plot Hooks #3

The Quick Plot Hooks series started as a fun thought experiment - how to develop interesting but reasonable encounters using two types of creatures from randomly determined Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium entries.

Quick Plot Hooks #2

The Quick Plot Hooks series started as a fun thought experiment - how to develop interesting but reasonable encounters using two types of creatures from randomly determined Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium entries.