How exactly does the grey prevent Spelljammers from going to Athas?
I played a campaign where we were able to crash (and destroy ) a spelljammer onto Athas , thus stranding our characters on Athas. The ship crashed because magic simply didn’t work the same and our wizard lost control once he entered the crystal. This also left our cleric without a god etc.
Is this possible by the rules developed here?
If I recall correctly, that is not a function of the Grey at all. The reason Spelljammers don’t work is that the crystal sphere of Athas is locked and impenetrable by any spell or psionic power with only two exceptions: a 12th level spell that specifically affects the crystal spheres around stars, and teleportation. No one gets in and no one gets out, unless they can teleport (and survive the blind teleport without miss jumping) or are able to cast 12th level spells… which is above epic, as all epic spells in 3.x count as 10th level.
Most Spelljammers do not have built in teleport functions.
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Thank you for that answer. It sounds right.
So the question now would be , for those of us who believe rules matter , what would be the simplest way to dump characters from a normal spelljammer game into Athens?
One must admit the attraction of taking characters from a space age, high technology setting and stripping them of everything they thought they knew and dumping them into a post apocalyptic setting like darksun.
As I research this I find many gamers attracted to the idea and making very elaborate ways to do it.
I just would like very much to find a way to do it that would not break official rules, would protect the dark sun world from abuse and outside change, and not be so outlandish that it’s cheesy.
Well, Athens is easier than Athas. Lol. After all, Earth is one of the official Primes in D&D.
So, Athas. Problem one, you have to FIND it in the first place. I don’t recall it appearing on the official Spelljammer maps, but I could be wrong.
Problem two, crossing the crystal sphere. The sphere is locked. Only 12th level magic, psionics, or divine interference can unlock the crystal sphere.
However, there is an easy fix. Since teleportation DOES work across a crystal sphere boundary, it can be used in solving the problem.
Use the Stronghold Builders Guidebook, and treat the Spelljammer ship as a mobile fortress. It will be expensive to enchant the entire ship with a teleport effect (remember the price is per 20’ cube enchanted), but it can be done. If you limit it to once a day, then it is cheaper. Then your ship can teleport and thus cross the crystal sphere.
Have something nasty jump them on one side or the other, damage the helm and or the ship, flee, crash on Athas… good luck finding repair materials!
Also, it has been shown that outsiders can still cast and recover arcane magic, at least for a time. Divine casters can cast, but recovery is another issue altogether. Just don’t remind them of the value of metal on Athas, and watch them get mugged and robbed first thing. ^^
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I can’t remember exactly how the gythyanki got to athas in the black spine adven
Sorry got interrupted by some crazy homeless lady digging through crap on my front porch. Anyway, I know you can get to Athas via planar portals from what I remember that is how the gythyanki got there in the Black Spine adventure. I think they accessed one on the astral plane. Getting off of Athas is a whole other problem though I believe most portals are one way. Dragon Magazine #251 has an article about the World Serpent Inn that has a portal to Athas.
You can find pretty much everything Dark Sun ( and RPG in general) related for download at
Good luck
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Thank you Robyn Hackett
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