Forum: The Pit – Topic: Thinking like a Dragon King...

I was looking through the various monster manuals for Dark Sun, and I noticed that there’s a large number of domesticated or tameable animals that are used by the templars & guards of the various city-states. Obviously, this amplifies the already considerable power of the DKs! Back when I DM’d, I never really implemented this and PCs and NPCs just had your typical draft animals like erdlus/crodlus, kanks, inix and mekillots, and of course the farmers had your basic herd animals like aprigs, sygra, z’tal and carru.

The “Athasian Emporium” supplement has a great section on poisons (p.49-55) that shows that quite a few animals can be used for creating poisons, although we can probably assume that the more dangerous among them are not tamed but merely have their poison sacs harvested when they’re slain in the wild. Those that we know are tamed are the mulworm, kivit, pulp bee, jankz and kip. Others like the dust glider, silt spider, silt serpent, gold scorpion and dragon beetle could possible be bred & harvested for their poison, but it would be unusual & thus more dangerous.

Anyways, aside from these poisonous creatures, I’ve listed some others below that would be useful for the templars & city guards, sorted roughly by size & type, along with their primary use(s):

Bioweapon Animals:
(in addition to the poison animals listed above)
Cerebral Parasites – used for incapacitating psionicists (found in Gulg’s dungeon in “Asticlian Gambit” adventure & in Kalidnay in “Merchant House of Amketch” adventure)
Sitak Parasites – reside on wild sitaks & cause “sitak fever” in handlers, but must be removed when sitaks are tamed – could be used as a bioweapon, esp. by Gulg
Purple Caterpillar – used for torture & feeble-minding by slave masters
Tas’l Worm – used to lower a creature’s resistance to telepathy
Shaqat Beetle – normally rather harmless, but can be used as a vector for parasites (e.g. House Shom of Balic infects them with cerebral parasites in the “Merchant House of Amketch” adventure)
Agony Beetle – used by templars for torture & as sling bullets by halflings
Sa’rikka Beetle – used in special “rha’kut arrows” by Silt Stalker elves (Nibenay/Giusternal/Raam area)
Brain Mole – used for incapacitating/killing psionicists (found in Gulg’s dungeon in “Asticlian Gambit” adventure)
Kip – used for their pheromones, esp. by dwarves of Kled
(I also threw in some more of these critters in my campaigns, such as rot grubs, ear seekers, throat leeches, gold bugs, book worms, and even the basilisk and the rust monster. The back story was that they were all created as bioweapons during the Cleansing Wars.)

Familiar/Messenger Animals:
Ock’n – kind of a boring pet & limited in value, but useful for its resin
Hurrum – kind of a boring pet & limited in value, since all it does is hum pleasantly
Psionocus – artificially created as familiars by psionicists; can also be used for their poison
Sitak – used for relaying messages telepathically, esp. in Gulg
Kes’Trekel – used as watch birds, esp. by merchants
Wrab – used as pets & gauges of rhetorical skill by the Tyrian Council
Critic – used as household pets & danger sensors (prominent in Urik in the novel “Rise & Fall of a Dragon King”)
Jankz – used for primarily for poison, but might also make a good pet
Zhackal – used as evil pets by some nobles
Kivit – used for poison but might also make a good pet, esp. for druids
Z’tal – usually just used for its meat & scales, but might make a good pet
Giant Wasp – used as pet by wasp herders of Kurn
Rohorind Raptor – used as hunting bird by Rohorind halflings up north
(The original Dark Sun boxed set also included a variant list of wizard familiars along with the 1st level “Find Familiar” spell: bat, beetle, black cat, pseudodragon, rat, scorpion, snake. I might include some of the animals from the “Improved Familiar” feat like the shocker lizard, stirge, monstrous spider, flying snake, and perhaps even the homunculus – since if psions can make a psionocus it makes sense that wizards can construct their own familiar as well.)

Tracker/Guard Animals:
Aurumvorax (Golden Gorger) – used as guard animal by Tyrian templar in the PC game “Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager”
Lirr – not usually tamed, except as animal companion for druids
Ruve – companions for good-aligned wizards, clerics & psions, esp. Villichi, more common up north on the Trembling Plains
Plains Cur – trained as herd dogs by the Eloy half-elf tribe of the Trembling Plains
Rasclinn – used as hunting partners, esp. by rangers & reavers
Baazrag (Lesser Boneclaw) – used for hunting vermin & for pulling carts by nobles of Tyr & Balic, cleaning vermin from sewers in Tyr
Jhakar – used for tracking & guarding, esp. by Draxans & Eldaarich’s Neshtap, and occasionally as animal companion for druids
Sand Howler – used as trackers & guards
Gorak – used as trackers
Tigone – used as hunting partners by halflings (Sorak in the novel “The Outcast” has one as his pet)
Kirre – hunted by halflings, but not usually tamed (The Sage in the novel “The Seeker” has one as his pet)
Kir’ren – flying relative of the Kirre, sometimes used as hunting companion by Rohorind halflings or guard animals by nobles & templars of Kurn & Eldaarich
Harnaq Terrier – used as guards for harnaq cows by the herders of Kurn, also used for their poison
Daggoran – used as vermin killers & trackers in Draj
Feylaar – created as shock troops by one of the deceased sorcerer-kings, but currently untameable
Thrax – appear to have been magically created as assassins back in the Cleansing Wars or early Brown Age, but no official info on by who…
Bog Wader – used for guarding water holes, esp. by some slave tribes & Thri-Kreen in the Tyr Region
Kluzd – not usually tamed, except as animal companion for druids
Athasian Bear (Klaar) – there is some indication these were kept as guards by dwarves in the past, but now appear to be untameable
Baazrag (Greater Boneclaw) – unlike its smaller relative it’s not usually domesticated, except as an animal companion for druids, but animal tamers in Tyr & Balic might be able to tame them
Hatori – not usually tamed, except as animal companion for druids
Fanner Beast (Subterranean Lizard) – used as guards by Dray
Cistern Fiend – used for guarding wells, and can also be used for their poison
Cilops – used for tracking, esp. by Nibenay

Special Mounts:
(aside from typical animals like erdlu, crodlu, kank)
Giant Dragonfly – used as mounts by Rohorind halflings of the north
Kalin – used for riding & warfare by Dray
Pterrax – used for airborne warfare & transport by Pterrans in the Hinterlands & humans of the Silt Archipelago
Aviarag – used for airborne warfare & transport, but only by good-aligned handlers
Dragonne – could possibly be used for airborne warfare & transport, but not mentioned anywhere…
Roc – used for airborne warfare & transport, esp. by Draxans (Nibenay also sends one to his mercenary Valsavis in the novel “The Nomad”, and there were lone individuals in the “Forest Maker” and “Dragon’s Crown” adventures that were roc riders not in the service of a DK)
Wyvern – possibly used for airborne warfare & transport (wyvern riders appear in the PC game, “Dark Sun: Shattered Lands” outside of Draj)

Heavy Draft/War Machine Animals:
(aside from typical heavy draft beasts like the inix & mekillot)
So-Ut (Rampager) – appear to have been magically created as war machines, but no official info on by who… (appear in Draj’s army as part of the final battle in the PC game, “Dark Sun: Shattered Lands”)
Jalath-gak – used for land transport by Kreen Empire
Ruktoi – used for silt transport by House Wavir of Balic
Watroach – used as undead war machines by various city-states
Rhezzata Beetle – used as undead war machines by various city-states, esp. Nibenay & Raam
Silt Horror – probably only useable by psionic beastmasters
Sharg – brought to Athas from outer planes by Dregoth, but is of very limited use for now since it must live in water
Slimahacc – used as draft beastsby Pterrans
Behir – probably only useable by psionic beastmasters
Dracolisk – probably only useable by psionic beastmasters
Drakes, Elemental & Paraelemental – probably only useable by drake guardians and psionic beastmasters
Cloud Ray – probably only useable by psionic beastmasters (used by Shammu, a beastmaster from the Order in the “Dragon’s Crown” adventure)
Korinth – used for patrols by Draj
Megapede – probably only useable by psionic beastmasters
Drik – used for war machines by Urik & Raam and for transport by Eldaarich’s Neshtap
Nightmare Beast – appear to have been magically created as war machines, but no official info on by who…
Stalking Horror (Moon Beast) – powerful summoned creature of mysterious origins, linked to certain magical artifacts, but no official info on who might control it…
Tarrasque – used as ultimate war machine by Draxans in the PC game “Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager”
Note: Chapter 6 of the “Legends of Athas” supplement lists several epic monsters that might also fit into the DK’s arsenals, such as the Living Vault, Colossus, Umbral Blot (Blackball), Devastation Vermin, Ruin Swarm.

I think that just as the armies of each city-state are different, I’d expect they’d use some different animals. Where the moster manual entries or events from the DS novels or adventues connected an animal with a certain city-state, I’ve noted it above. Personally, as a DM, I’d suggest dividing up the other animals among the various city-states so they have a roughly equal number of bioweapon animals, familiar/messenger animals, tracker/guard animals, special mounts and heavy draft/war machine animals. After all, the city-states of the Tyr Region have maintained a rough balance of power for centuries, so if some of them like Urik, Draj, Raam & Nibenay have guard animals, special mounts and war machines but you don’t give any to Tyr, Gulg or Balic, then it’s tough to see how they didn’t get conquered or destroyed.

The other factors to consider in each city-state’s army are any powerful artifacts they might have (e.g. Psionatrix, Skull of Durag-Thel, Eye of the Psulorns, Kalid-Ma’s Orbs, Star of Badna), any magical constructs they might use (e.g. golems, undead, guardians), summoned creatures (e.g. elementals & elemental beasts, shadow giants, various planar creatures) and other sentient creatures they may ally themselves with, which I’ll cover next…

Forum: The Pit – Topic: ACTUAL PROOF THAT DS 4ed SUCKS

1) D&D is a combination of rules details, a combination of a genre and mechanical theme, not exacting specific details (no matter how much some of those might have changed), so your point-by-point reply is nonsense. It badly misses the forest for the trees (as the saying goes). Using a process similar to yours, I could easily show how 2nd Edition AD&D is not real D&D, based on differences with earlier editions and its much more incoherent design — the loss of focus in its ruleset — than found in any other edition.

2) Right. It’s my fault for coming into a forum I’m a regular on, getting pissed off that edition-haters and One True Wayists like yourself are pissing and bleating all over the forums of late, and telling them to just shutup already and stop being noobs. I politely remind you that it takes two to tango.

Forum: The Sandbox – Topic: Indie Sands Productions

Okay after digging through some copyrights and legal stuff. It appears that athas.org has tried to stay with the OGL as much as possible. Although, there is a clause in the core rules that identify Dark Sun as PI of WoTC. Also, according to WoTC’s website the OGL can be applied to software (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/oglfaq…)

1) Does this mean we can use anything on athas.org for our software, but not the Dark Sun name, characters, and anything else that is PI?
2) If 1) is true THEN: How were y’all able to legally write the documents? Did you have to get permission from WoTC? If so, who did you contact? If you are not comfortable posting that data, please PM me or message me at the indiesands forums located here: http://indiesandsproductions.com/forums/

Thank for keeping Dark Sun going!

~PauloftheWest

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: Athasian Dromites

I always found that dromites, with their insect-like features, would be a fitting race for Dark Sun.
Their small size, similar to halfling’s one, can give them a direct link to the first intelligent race of Athas.
To avoid all the problems concerning the Cleansing Wars, a Champion with the task to kill them, etc., dromites can be developed as a pre-Rebirth race.
Some nature benders could have altered the bodies of some rhulisti, giving them their insect-like features.

Dromites are energy-themed, with their energy ray psi-like abilities, and their resistance. To make them more “Athasian” that trait can be altered a bit, linking them to the four elements. In the Blue Age the dominant element was Water, but with the Rebirth the first dromites may have “linked” themselves to the other elements.

Athasian Dromites are divided in four great clans (Fire Clan, Earth Clan, etc.), and their society now is divine magic based, with the most powerful clerics at the head of each clan (maybe the greatest hierophants are Element Lords).

Their racial traits same as in the Expanded Psionic Handbook, with the following changes

-2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Cha

Chitin: +3 natural armor bonus and resistance 5 to acid (earth dromites), cold (water dromites), fire (fire dromites), or sonic (air dromites)

Psi-Like Abilities: 1/day – control flames (fire dromites), energy ray (sonic) (air dromites), float (water dromites), or stomp (earth dromites). ML equal to 1/2 Hit Dice (minimum 1st). DC is Cha-based

Automatic languages: Common, Aquan (water dromites), Auran (air dromites), Ignan (fire dromites) Terran (earth dromites). Bonus Languages: Entomic, Gith, Jozhal, Saurial.

Favoured Class: Cleric.

Suggestions? Thoughts?

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: So, Who is Staying

Great!

Can you PM or link them, please?

Forum: The Pit – Topic: [Future of Athas.org] We are all curious

Funny you should mention volunteers. I seem to recall just over a year ago, you volutneered to do some work on City-State of Balic, and well I am still waiting…

Forum: Product Feedback – Topic: Developers still around?

Are the developers of these products still around? We at indiesands would like to discuss licensing on the DSun world and how athas.org received rights to publish this material. We would like to reopen our work on Dark Sun Online and have issues to discuss on licensing and contracting.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: [Map] City of Tyr - Complete

Forbidden.

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: So, Who is Staying

Hey Hades,

I’ve done Pathfinder updates of the Gladiator, Templar and Bard classes.

I based all of them in the new classes that Pathfinder is releasing in Advanced Player Options: the Gladiator is based on the Cavalier (minus all the mounted combat and chivalry abilities), the templar is based on the Inquisitor and the Bard is based on the Alchemist. My gaming group seems to think that it’s worked pretty well.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: [Map] City of Tyr - Complete

yep i cant access them

Forum: The Pit – Topic: Wizards has been quite secretive about DS 4.0

I like your picture but it is still not a thri-kreen (they only have 2 legs)

Forum: The Sandbox – Topic: The Rebuilding of Yaramuke

Nice idea, may use portions of that.

Forum: The Sandbox – Topic: The Rebuilding of Yaramuke

So while reading through the old adventures I read Black Flames. In it describes how Hamanu cursed the oasis in Yaramuke so no one could settle it, and more importantly it would probably kill anyone without foreknowledge who tried to loot the place. Great idea.

Then I decided that the Tari would rebuild it. If the Tari being crazy resistant to sickness and poison were immune they could easily keep the city buried while working under the cover of sand to rebuild the city as a modern Ythri. They breed like rats, so it wouldn’t take long until their were enough of them to probably even defend the city. Moreover anyone who would try and siege them would suffer the curse if they drank the water. You can’t siege someone without a steady supply of water.

Anyway, the adventure hooks come pretty easily. A party finds a Tari black market trader dealing in ancient relics and investigates. A recent rise in the Tari population in either Urik or Raam requires investigation which leads back to…

My guess is within 10 years they could be somewhere between 100 and 500 Tari living there just off of breeding. Once the word got out there was a safe city the rats would flock there. Within 20 years they could have a city state with 10,000 tari, which can’t be sieged by an army and has access to everything they can find.

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: So, Who is Staying

ill be dming 3.5 but i might play 4e if someone else is dming

Forum: The Pit – Topic: What about Aarakocra?

the bird people are awesome in my opinion lots of chances to roll play the claustrphobia thing in dungeons. fun to play to if you use your imagination. the ability to fly to presesents alot of advantages

Forum: The Sandbox – Topic: Stupid little adventure ideas

sounds fun

Forum: The Pit – Topic: [Future of Athas.org] We are all curious

Hey Jon! Sorry I’ve come over here a lot and I missed your post! I’m feeling stupid right now!

1- I think we’d need some information on the athas.org front page just to let us know nobody is dead!
2- It would be nice to see them actually manifest themselves!
3- Forgot an “s” to projects. And by 4e projects I mean fan made stuff.
4- Waiting on Flip then!
5- Isnt there a global projects manager?
6- Well, we are 2 years away from your previous manifestation for recruitment, do another! You’ll find someone that stick and want to work. There are still peoples that will commit.
7- Find someone you can trust that have the guts to take the relay on the “old-timer” while you are inactive!
7-

Forum: The Pit – Topic: ACTUAL PROOF THAT DS 4ed SUCKS

While we can discuss which RPGs are more “gamist” versus “simulationist” versus “narrativist” or whatever, the whole point of playing RPGs is to have fun. So if a particular edition of D&D isn’t fun for you, just play another edition. There’s plenty of material for 2nd & 3rd edition out there, but if you like 4th ed then you’re in luck come August. And if you like Dark Sun but don’t like D&D, then convert it to another system. If you google “GURPS Athas” or “BRP Athas”, you’ll find that some are already doing this.

Personally, after I’d played & DM’d 2nd ed D&D for a while, my taste in RPGs changed quite a bit. After playing Ravenloft, my friends & I got frustrated with how the DM & players were encouraged to make the setting more atmospheric & really “roleplay”, yet playing D&D always required lots of discussion of game mechanics that broke the immersion. As greyorm noted above, experienced players can counterbalance this by learning the rules until their second nature & also making some modifications, but it’s still very difficult.

One of the nice things about playing Dark Sun was that the overabundance of magical items in other campaign settings was gone, and we could focus more on our character’s skills (which Monte Cook also did with “Iron Heroes”). But we also got fed up with a lot of the limitations that D&D placed on skill acquisition, tieing it to classes & levels with limits on multi-classing & racial limits. BRP’s Call of Cthulhu RPG seemed more realistic in this regard, since you never “level up” & just gain bonuses to your skills by using them like in the real world. Your Hit Points also didn’t increase with level, but were derived from your Endurance + Size, which makes more sense. And of course, the spell list in CoC was much smaller, yet quite nasty in its effects, which made magic more like the mysterious & dangerous force it is in most fantasy novels.

GURPS also had some nice imporvements on D&D, such as the character creation process, where instead of rolling stats you started with a pool of points to divide among your stats, advantages & disadvantages, and skills. GURPS also allowed you to increase your stats over time by studying for more intelligence or lifting weights for more strength, which I liked.

Personally, I plan to go back to the 2nd ed material and then use some house rules perhaps using BRP, GURPS, Unisystem, etc. for inspiration. One thing I’d really like to create is a new combat system, which is easier to resolve battles but also captures the versatility of combat tactics & realistic effects of wounds a bit better. In the age of computers, software might be a good tool for this, since it could do a lot of the number crunching instead of having to roll the dice, which slows everything down & requires discussion of game mechanics that detracts from immersion. Of course, another possibility is to just use the ol’ CPU. upstairs – the DM’s brain – and make some commonsense judgements about what happens without always relying on game mechanics.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: ACTUAL PROOF THAT DS 4ed SUCKS

Although a degenerated version.All of the similarities and choices are a small part of what they were before,watered down (as for what they mean in the system) sacrificed on the altar of balance and (to be fair) much more easy for a new player to get them.
Also:
1)saves are different (you don’t roll them,they are some kind of static defense like AC and their calculation is different too) in essence they only have the name on them as a link to the old mechanic.
2)Classes are different (they have specific roles in a unit to accomplish) and again in the name of balance (which is what the system is supposed to promote among other things) watered down.Multiclass is gone essentially,replaced with a system of trivial power trading with only a single class at a time.It doesn’t mean you are a mage/fighter because of some trivial powers of the mage.You are just a fighter with some trivial powers of the mage.
3)Races are extremely limited in the essence that you can’t play monster characters any more,except for certain exceptions.The racial abilities of races lost their disadvantages and had their grand advantages (such as the four arms of the thri kreen) mutilated into minor bonuses preserving their precious balance but destroying the variation that is the stuff that fills novels with the excuse of it being minor trivia before game balance.
4)Abilities have lost most of their way to incrise meaningfully,in order for example to make some little kid,an anime figure that beats up two grown men and make a memorable scene out of it.Also they lost importance as half your level is added on the modifiers as checks.So a strong man has little between him and a paraplegic (in terms of pure strength) if they are through enough experiences.So they represent different things,both systematically and in the world simulation.
5)Trope fantasy is not an exclusion of dnd.Even in a board game called descent the had trope fantasy.We could be standing before a similar case.But what I’m saying!It has the dnd logo on it.The brand new too. Shame on me.
6)HPs represent exhaustion and not wounds before a certain threshold.And even after that nothing that cannot be healed in a 6 hour period or a 5 minute muscle stretching and breath catching if you haven’t stretched enough today.It really is different from the hps in the past although they have the same name:you see a guy half his hps plus 1 and he hasn’t even a scratch on him.Then you turn around and see the truly tired red dragon he is fighting that has just dozed him to flames.The funny thing is that the dragon in also unscratched (even with come direct hits from the hero’s hackmaster +12) just really tired.So different.A.. and many video and board games include hp in the same essence exactly.
7)Alignments have decreased to become 5 out of 9 out of 17 they were.Every reduction is bad in the essence that more things lack proper representation,but to not be able to be lawful and evil at the same time,or chaotic and good while the opposites are true is curious.No evil guy ever had a specific lawful pattern dominant in his head?While the opposite has representation?If you don’t have lawful evil villains how can you seem to have Hamanu for example?“Well.. you see Hamanu was a real rebel at his youth he cannot be characterized as lawful”.-Punch in the face
If that interpretation is wrong,then the alignments represent different things than what they used to.
8)AC is practically the same except for the incredibly good fact that it scales by lvl (as it makes more sense to be harder to hit with experience)which also includes the insanity that it scales for everyone equally:the guy that just got out of a 40 year in the library somehow knows how to dodge swords equally well with a grognard.
9)Equipment lists,treasure,monsters and dungeon environments can be found in any board game or video game and are not exactly something that could tell dnd apart from the others.Same goes for the exploration and combat focus.And rolling a d20 is the only same thing that is left in the way exploration and combat works.

So AC,d20s along with some mechanical names are the only things left.

If another company two years ago was to print some new rpg and printed 4th edition,I would say that it was an rpg that had a resemblance on dnd except for those elements.It lacks complex spell systems a ton of flavor made out of complex but “broken” abilities of classes creatures ect.. and other focuses on the ways it tries to promote fun (balance and not flavor for example).

I know for sure that if that system didn’t bear the dnd trademark,nobody would even think to consider them the same game.

But that doesn’t happens so..hail dnd 4th edition.

PS:Now that you know about the edition war why come here if you hate it?This thread would had died except for your presence.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: What about Aarakocra?

Nice find. I hadn’t noticed that portion of the site. Probably just further evidence that even I was ignoring the bird people.

The aerial encounters table is nice.

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: Athas Organizations

Since the “known world” in only a small portion of Athas, a group focused to explore all the planet is a very interesting idea.

You already mentoned Nibenay, but even Oronis seems to be a very scholary being, focused in knowledge. And also, Nibenay is a SK that want knowledge only for himself and his loyal servants, while for the Avangion of Kurn is ok to spread the knowledge for all the people.

In post-Pentad setting, even the Trade Lords of Balic may support the Wanderers if they’re seeking to explore the eastern side of the Sea of Silt: a sort of Athasian version of “Spain supported Cristopher Columbus”.

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: So, Who is Staying

Thank you for the links, laric. I hope they’ll update soon all the psionic rules.

It would be very interesting to see a Pathfinder update of the Gladiator and Templar classes.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: What about Aarakocra?

Well Phil, I found some 2nd Edition information
http://webhome.idirect.com/~rpblack/ds/aarakocr…
Good luck.

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: Athas Organizations

What, if any, non-canon large organizations do you guys have for your Dark Sun campaign?

Canon wise we have various organizations such as the Veiled Alliance, The Order (and other lesser independent psionic groups), The sundry Merchant Houses, The Night Runners, one might include the City-States, then you have a plethora of minor groups (villages and tribes).

In my own campaign I thought of adding another organization (maybe two depending on the reaction here). It seems that the Wanderer’s Journal exists as an in-campaign document; to that end, I’m sure some individuals have heard about it, seen it, even possibly read portions of it, Inspiring them and maybe others they tell to set out to explore. Certainly the majority would fail at this endeavor, but a few people like guides, hunters and rangers who already live a similar wandering lifestyle may very well exceed in the limited exploration and cultural contact. This would be the origins of an organized group dedicated to guiding travelers through the wastes while exploring and pathfinding on the side. These activities would very well lead to a home base side of record keepers someplace centrally located in the Tablelands, with a strong trade routes and well properly defended, lets say Nibenay (hee hee).

Now as we know the Shadow King is always looking for the well educated for uses within the Naggaramakam, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for his templars to be watching and listening for individuals bearing news of exotic locals. After an interrogation or two someone would have most likely figured out the design and purpose of this group, Nibenay or one of the higher ranking templars realizes the potential of supporting (or at least not interfering with) an independent group of wandering researchers willing to poke their noses into the dark holes of Athas. Thus the Wanderers are created, with a bit more fleshing out to do.

The source of inspiration for this organization was the 3.0 PrC Royal Explorer from Song and Silence Guidebook and the Wanderer’s tales.

Let me know what you guys think.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: ACTUAL PROOF THAT DS 4ed SUCKS

Trope fantasy. Classes. Races. Ability scores from 3-18. Saving throws. HPs. AC. Alignments. Equipment lists. Rolling d20. Dungeons. Monsters. Treasure. Heavy combat and exploration focus…etc. Sorry, it’s as much D&D as 3E was (which, I note, certain people went around proclaiming “wasn’t D&D anymore” either).

Fucking edition wars.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: What about Aarakocra?

Has anyone spent any time working things up on the bird folk? For a race that was added into the standard races in the revised rules, it seems that they have gotten little love. Even the Pterrans got the “Pterrans of the Hinterlands” written up by a fan. I have more ideas about what to do with the Tari, and Ssurran than the birds.

Maybe I just missed something, but it seems that the bird people have been neglected.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: Clarify please?

“Overall, there are very few ‘sentient’ monsters on Athas. Most of them are just hungry and/or thirsty.”

Really? I’d have to look back at the random encounter charts to verify this, but when I played back in 2nd edition, it seemed like most of the monsters you encountered were sentient. Besides the plethora of npc humanoids (gith, belgoi, braxat, giants, mountain stalkers, ssurans, tareks, dune freaks, b’roghs, hej-kin, t’chowb, etc.), I believe that the drakes, flailers, floaters, mastyrials, kirre, and klar all had at least “low” (5-7) intelligence, and others like the gaj, id fiends, feylaar, jozhal, scrabs, tembos, and dark spiders all have “average” (8-10) to “high” (11-14) intelligence. It got kinda ridiculous, so I house-ruled several of them back to “animal” (1) or “semi” (2-4) intelligence.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: Clarify please?

I want to remind also that the lay people of Athas believe there is only – 1 – dragon. Only a very select few know of the dragon metamorphosis or the Sorcerer Kings’ transformations.

Overall, there are very few ‘sentient’ monsters on Athas. Most of them are just hungry and/or thirsty.

I think this is likely to change in 4E because the trend seems to be to shove ‘everything’ into the setting (ie Tieflings, Dragonborn… we fought goblins in the last D&D Encounters session)

Forum: DS 3 – Topic: So, Who is Staying

I mostly play a 2nd ed home brew, but I have no interest in 4th. 3.5 has its moments, and I like it as a system.

Forum: The Pit – Topic: Clarify please?

“There is the Dragon from Black Flames adventure. He wasn’t SK. Can’t recall his name though. Begins with an “E” if I’m not mistaken.”

Yes, his name was Farcluun. He was an upstart defiler/psionicist who’d reached the beginning of dragon transformation. Dote Mal Payn, former necromancer to Kalak, is listed in “Faces of the Forgotten North” as another upstart dragon.

In addition to dragon transformation, you’ve also got some clerics who can take the “Drake Guardian” prestige class and over time transform themselves into “half drakes” (detailed in “Terrors of Athas”). I’m not sure if they can become full drakes at epic level, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

And then there’s the Dray, which are humans that are transformed into dragon-like humanoids by the undead sorcere-king Dregoth in his effort to create a “perfect race”. There’s some indication that these will be the Dragonborn in 4e Athas.

Oh yeah – and along with drakes, there were several other dragon-like monsters in 2nd edition. There were wyverns as noted above, and also the dracolisk (giant basilisks with pertrification gaze), behir (dragon-like creature with 12 legs that breathes lightning), and dragonne (dragon/lion crossbreed with a roar attack). Not sure if these are included in later editions of the DS setting…