Thursday, November 26, 2020

Undead Athasian Turkey


In honor of Thanksgiving, the United States holiday, I gave stats for the Athasian Turkey, which is mentioned in the Veiled Alliance sourcebook, last year. This year, I present the undead version of the terrible beast.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey, Undead
Climate/Terrain Any
Frequency Very Rare
Organization Flock
Activity Cycle Night
Diet Nil
Intelligence Non- (0)
Treasure Nil
Alignment Neutral Evil
No. Appearing 1-20
Armor Class 6
Movement 12
Hit Dice 4+4
Thac0 16
No. of Attacks 1
Damage/ Attack 1-8
Special Attack Disease
Special Defense Spell Immunity
Magic Resistance Nil
Size S (3' + tall)
Morale Fearless (19-20)
XP Value 420

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Missing Monsters - Kwilit


It was pointed out to me by Rovewin of Athas.org, that the kwilit is mentioned in the Revised Dark Sun Boxed Set. However, they are not drawn up in that, or any other book. So, in an effort to rectify the situation, I have created the kwilit below.

Kwilit
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Uncommon
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Omnivore
Intelligence: Animal (1)
Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral
No. Appearing: 1-2
Armor Class: 6
Movement: 12
Hit Dice: 2+4
Thac0: 19
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attacks: 1-6
Special Attack: None
Special Defense: None
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: M (7' long)
Morale: Average (10)
XP Value: 65

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

The Templar and the Citizen. A Dark Sun Fable.

A simple-minded and trusting human citizen of Nibenay was asked to join a group of cheerful elves. The elves were planning on visiting one of the Shadow King's fields outside of the city and the human citizen agreed to go with them. The elves saw the food was nearing harvest and starting picking the food for themselves. The citizen watched the elves, but did not gather any of the food for himself.
A templar soon emerged from the field, with a large group of guards in tow. The guards seized the citizen and a couple of the elves, but most of the elves dashed away into the wilderness. The citizen begged the templar to spare him.
"Please let me go," he pleaded. "I am a citizen in good standing. I have never broken any laws and I was not stealing the food. I did not know the Elves were going to steal."
"You may be a good citizen," answered the templar, "but I caught you with the thieving elves. You will face the same punishment as them."

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Dune Stalker

 

There are many creatures from the various monstrous manuals that have been officially added to Dark Sun. I added some unofficially for my game and I'm sure a lot of other DMs do the same.
There is no inherent problem with this, although the flavor text often doesn't fit with the Dark Sun setting. My goal is to list the various monsters that "don't fit" and rewrite their flavor text to make them fit.
I often add a new Athasian variant as well.

Dune Stalker


Dune Stalker
Dune Stalker, Greater

Climate/Terrain All, except Silt
All, except Silt
Frequency Very Rare
Very Rare
Organization Solitary
Solitary
Activity Cycle Day
Day
Diet Carnivore
Carnivore
Intelligence High (13-14) High (13-14)
Treasure Nil
Nil
Alignment Neutral Evil
Neutral Evil
No. Appearing 1
1
Armor Class 3
0
Movement 12 12
Hit Dice 6
12
THAC0 15
9
No. of Attacks 1
1
Damage/Attack 2-12
2-12
Special Attacks Kiss of Death
Kiss of Death
Special Defenses Can Only be Hit by Magical Weapons
Can Only be Hit by Magical Weapons
Magic Resistance 30% 30%
Size M (7' tall) M (7' tall)
Morale Elite (14) Elite (14)
XP Value 2,000
7,000

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Session Forty-Nine: Fade to Black


Note: For those unfamiliar with Dark Sun, psionics are called the Will for wild talents and the Way for trained psionicists.
 
Julius ran past the members of his group, into the cave opening. He urged his fellows to follow him, yelling about the giant arachnid. Abilkisu and Shade also noticed the large scorpion-spider.
Alaxander didn't see the creature, but trusted Julius and used the way to make himself insubstantial. He then ran through the cave wall, into the raging sandstorm outside. Vashti, spurred on by Abilkisu, ran for the door as well.
Shade saw another passage way and ran toward it, instead of following the party. Kiara followed Shade, believing he saw something she did not. Kalino decided to follow Vashti and Abilkisu, believing that Shade was just crazy.
The creature scuttled forward, ignoring Shade and Kiara, and going straight toward Abilkisu. Abilkisu fired his crossbow, but his bolt bounced off the creature's chitin. Kalino cast magic missile, but the creature's natural magic resistance ignored the spell. 

Thursday, November 5, 2020

The Roc and the Kes'trekel. A Dark Sun Fable.

A roc swooped down on powerful wings and seized a ram in its talons. It easily lifted the ram into the sky and carried it back to its nest. A kes'trekel saw what the roc had done and somehow got the idea that it was big and strong enough to do the same.
The kes'trekel ruffled its feathers and loudly called. Then, it flew toward a sheep and sunk its claws into the wool of the sheep's back. When the kes'trekel tried to lift the sheep, it found that its talons were tangled in the sheep's wool. The sheep barely noticed the small bird, as the kes'trekel tried to escape, but found that it could not.
The shepherd saw the fluttering kes'trekel and knew what the stupid bird had done. He ran up to the kes'trekel and broke its neck. That evening he took the bird to his family for dinner.
"What kind of bird is this, father?" The shepard's daughter asked him, while eating.
"It is a kes'trekel," He answered. "But if you would have asked it, it would have said it was a roc."

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Dragonnel

There are many creatures from the various monstrous manuals that have been officially added to Dark Sun. I added some unofficially for my game and I'm sure a lot of other DMs do the same.
There is no inherent problem with this, although the flavor text often doesn't fit with the Dark Sun setting. My goal is to list the various monsters that "don't fit" and rewrite their flavor text to make them fit.
I often add a new Athasian variant as well.

Dragonnel

 


Adult Young
(Para-)Elemental
Climate/Terrain All, except Sandy Wastes and Silt
All, except Sandy Wastes and Silt Varies, See Description
Frequency Very Rare
Very Rare
Very Rare
Organization Solitary or band
Solitary
Solitary
Activity Cycle Night
Night
Any
Diet Carnivore
Carnivore
Carnivore
Intelligence Semi- (2-4) Semi- (2-4)
Semi- (2-4)
Treasure Nil
Nil
Nil
Alignment Neutral (evil)
Neutral (evil)
Neutral
No. Appearing 1-4
1
1
Armor Class 3
8-4 3
Movement 12, Fl 18 (C; D if mounted)
7, Fl 13 (C) - 11, Fl 17 (C)
12, Fl 18 (C; D if mounted)
Hit Dice 8+4
3+4 - 7+4
8+4
THAC0 11
16 - 12
11
No. of Attacks 3
3
3
Damage/Attack 1-6/1-6/4-16
1-4/1-4/3-12
1-6/1-6/4-16
Special Attacks Tail Slap (2-12)
Nil
Tail Slap (2-12), Breath Weapon
Special Defenses Nil Nil
Elemental Immunity
Magic Resistance Nil Nil
Nil
Size H (24' at shoulder) S (4') - H (20')
H (24' at shoulder)
Morale Elite (13) 11-12 (Steady)
Champion (15-16)
XP Value 2,000
270 - 1,400
4,000