Glass/crystal locks would be great, especially if you can use lenses/magic to focus sunlight rather than melting the glass via burning things - the Fire clerics are certainly aware that Athas is running low on flammable materials.
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Fixed that for you. cough-cough. ^-^
I have a pyrokinetic character who teamed up with a psionic version of a sandshaper and they are opening a glassworks shop together once they retire from adventuring.
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Psionics aside 
, i was actually thinking Sun clerics, not wizards - though Iām sure a Cerulean would be great at making lenses.
MY biggest pet peve with DS is the whole āmagicā vs arcane/divine magic conversational issuesā¦
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I did some digging on real world history with this. The earliest things that can be called locks were ropes. Tie it around the frame of the door and a hole in the door. Whatās important here, is not to prevent entry. Any determined thief could get through that.
The major point was just to know IF the someone had opened the door.
In Dark Sun, thatās already leveled up in a way, and explains a variant version of ālockpicking.ā Remember we have giant hair ropes. That would already make for tougher rope locks. Add some special treatment of the hair to make it even tougher.
How does this apply to lockpicking? Simple. Itās having the tools and the know how to get past these rope locks without damaging them and disguising all methods of tampering with them.
Makes better sense than obsidian. Too brittle.
A metal lock might invite more trouble than itās worth. Might has well have a sign that says āvaluable items within.ā
Two work arounds with this. First, FAKE psionic locks. Hope that any thieves wonāt be able to spot the forgery and leave it alone out of fear. Lockpicking would include being able to spot the fakes.
Also, I can see various psionic guilds or merchant houses loaning these. āYou did the job I needed. You can have this lock with my symbol proudly proclaiming that this lock is psionic AND you have my favor.ā Busting that lock could anger not only the owner, but the people loaning it.
Or you could steal the chest, and break into at your leisure.
If they live that long you need to step up your DM game!
All excellent points!
I like to think most of the psionic powers are useless. Ability to look irresistible to thri kreen but only if wearing a Southern Belleās summer dress.
Silly trivia. Breaking and entering was originally the opposite of subtle. It was originally coined to describe how Vikings would smash into huts by smashing and cutting with an axe.
Oh the possibilities make the mind bubble.
I love questions like these! Thanks for sharing
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Those two characters are not on Athas. I mostly brought them up because of the glass.
I seriously doubt that the evolutionary pressure of Athas would allow for useless psionic powers to exist after this many generations of harsh survivalism. Like you said, if any Athasians have useless powers at this point in the time line, you need to step up your DM game!
All Athas animals, plants, and creatures would have useful survival powers by now.
Except for the breeding farmsā¦ coughā¦ I mean cities. The sorcerer kings keep them all weak on purpose.
A metal lock would invite attention the way a safe would. If the home already clearly belongs to someone of wealth and privelage, using metal locks makes sense. But I do agree if you want something hidden in plain sight, metal locks arenāt the best idea.
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Good point. āAfter overcoming the psionically dominated sand howlers, evading the magical glyphs, defeating half giant guards, arranging a diversion so the Chief High Templar wouldnāt be homeā¦ I was SHOCKED! SHOCKED I say! To discover a metal lock. Thatās when I knew something was valuable here.ā
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I still think that glassteel would totally exist in Athasā¦ but rather than turning metal transparent, the Athasian psionic version would give glass the tensile strength and hardness of metal instead.
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Sounds like Dasl to me.
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I almost made the same comment
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I donāt know. That ādaslā make any sense to me.
And from which source and page where in the rpg books might once find dasl, please? I seem to have missed that referenceā¦
Its the crystal Kreen can make from their spit.
Iām sure (w/o checking) that its in Thri-Kreen of Athas and the 3.5e Rules (under special materials).
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Heās right. Kreen chew a certain plant that mixes with their venom then they smear it onto sand which bonds it together. It does say though that dasl molecular structure breaks down if you make oddly shaped items like knives or swords. It pretty much needs to be relatively triangular in shape. Also the plant paralyzes the venom glands for the day when they chew it.
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Ah, hence the crystal throwing wedges.
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Thatās probably a prohibition against certain weapon shapes, not blocks of crystal to make locks and such, plus thereās always magic/psionic shaping methods.
Or you could just have a weird, trigonal-shaped lock & key, because Kreen. 
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Hereās another lock for Athas.
Combination lock. Itās cool to see how simple these can be made.
Also, the tip for real world rogues at the 3:10 mark is insightful.
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I think the idea of using metal locks on doors in the setting is hilarious. If I were a thief I would just specialize in removing the locks and selling them for scrap. Like why risk actually breaking into a place and digging around for treasure when people are just putting it on their doors for you?
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Here is some good type
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