Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Centaur, Desert

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.

Athasian Centaur (Centaur, Desert)
These are the only centaurs present on Athas, so there would be no need to differentiate them from other centaurs. I added Athasian, so there's no confusion with dungeon masters and players, but on Athas, they would simply be called centaurs.
Also, they would not be descibed as "half-horse," because horses don't exist on Athas. They would be "half-sygra."

Jesse Heinig created rules to play a desert centaur in your dark sun 2nd edition AD&D game. Here ya go.

	Centaur	Centaur, Priestess
Climate/Terrain	Hinterlands	Hinterlands
Frequency	Very Rare	Very Rare
Organization	Tribal	Tribal
Activity Cycle	Night	Night
Diet	Omnivore	Omnivore
Intelligence	Low to Average (5-10)	Very to High (11-14)
Treasure	Q, U	1d4 gems
Alignment	Neutral or Chaotic Good	Neutral
No. Appearing	1-8 (70%) or 4-32 (30%)	1
Armor Class	6	6
Movement	21	21
Hit Dice	3, Leader 4	3
Thac0	17, Leader 16	20
No. of Attacks	3	3
Damage/ Attack	1-4, 1-4, and weapon	1-4, 1-4, and weapon
Special Attack	Missile weapons	Spells/ Missile Weapons
Special Defense	Nil	Nil
Magic Resistance	Nil	Nil
Size	M (6' tall)	M (6' tall)
Morale	Elite (13-14)	Elite (13-14)
XP Value	120, Leader 175	175

Athasian centaurs are the ultimate fusion of mount and nomadic tribesman – tough, slim, fast and stealthy nighttime raiders who slip into enemies’ camps and then depart like shadows before the dawn. They are as reclusive, but very defensive of the lands they claim as their own.

They have barrel-like chests and long, thin legs. The males generally grow long beards which they elaborately curl and oil into perfect form. The females wear veils, but take few other cares about their appearance. When traveling they carry their goods in packs or drag them along in litters.

The Two Erdland. A Dark Sun Fable.

Two erdland were strolling happily on the rocky steeps of a mountain valley. They happened to meet with a chasm between them. The chasm was deep and filled with jagged, sharp rocks. The trunk of a dead tree formed a bridge over the chasm, but it was so narrow, not even two critics could have passed each other safely. The narrow path would have made the bravest tremble. But not our two erdland. Their pride would not permit either to stand aside for the other.
One set her foot on the log. The other did likewise. In the middle they met beak to beak. Neither would give way, and so they both fell. Scavengers fed on their corpses below.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Carrion Crawler

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.

Carrion Crawler

	Carrion Crawler	Undead Carrion Crawler
Climate/Terrain	Any Land	Any Land
Frequency	Uncommon	Very Rare
Organization	Solitary	Solitary
Activity Cycle	Any	Any
Diet	Carnivore	None
Intelligence	Non- (0)	Non- (0)
Treasure	B	Nil
Alignment	Neutral	Neutral
No. Appearing	1-6	1
Armor Class	3/7	1/5
Movement	12	9
Hit Dice	3 + 1	4+1
Thac0	17	16
No. of Attacks	8 or 1	8 or 1
Damage/ Attack	Special or 1-2	Special or 1-4
Special Attack	Paralysis	Paralysis/ Disease
Special Defense	Nil	Spell/Psionic Immunity
Magic Resistance	Nil	Nil
Size	L (9' tall)	L (9' tall)
Morale	Special	Special
XP Value	420	1,400

The carrion crawler is a scavenger, feeding primarily upon carrion. When such food becomes scarce, however, it will attack and kill living creatures. The carrion crawler dislikes the intense heat of the day, so stays underground until the sun sets.

The crawler looks like a cross between a giant green cutworm and a cephalopod. The monster’s head, which is covered with a tough hide that gives it Armor Class 3, sprouts eight slender, writhing tentacles. The body of the carrion crawler is not well protected and has an armor class of only 7. The monster is accompanied by a rank, fetid odor which often gives warning of its approach.
Undead carrion crawlers look similar to their living counterparts, but their flesh is rotting and barely clinging to its carapace.

Kvale

It was pointed out to me by Rovewin of Athas.org, that the Kvale is mentioned in the Ivory Triangle boxed set. However, they are not drawn up in any of the books. So, in an effort to rectify the situation, I have created the two mentioned kvales below.

	Kvale, Green	Kvale, Red
Climate/Terrain	Crescent Forest	Crescent Forest
Frequency	Uncommon	Uncommon
Organization	Solitary or Pair	Solitary or Pair
Activity Cycle	Day	Day
Diet	Omnivore	Omnivore
Intelligence	Animal (1)	Semi (2-4)
Treasure	Nil	Q
Alignment	Neutral	Neutral
No. Appearing	1-2	1-2
Armor Class	7	6
Movement	2, 14 fl	2, 14 fl
Hit Dice	2	3
Thac0	17	16
No. of Attacks	2	2
Damage/ Attack	1-2	1-2
Special Attack	Swoop	Swoop, Spells
Special Defense	Nil	Nil
Magic Resistance	Nil	20%
Size	T (1' tall)	T (1' tall)
Morale	Unsteady (5-7)	Steady (11-12)
XP Value	65	175

Session Thirty Four: A Chance Assassination

Note: For those unfamiliar with Dark Sun, psionics are called the Will for wild talents and the Way for trained psionicists.

Shade dripped water into Vashti's mouth, making sure she did not choke. They kept watch and went back to sleep. Thankfully, the thrax did not return.
Vashti woke with the others in the morning. After rehydrating, she preached her sermon to the group and captive muls. She then gave the muls water and food. They muls were perplexed, but gratefully took the offerings.
Vashti began questioning the captives. They explained that they lived in some ruins near the black waters, but were driven out of it by a dwarf wearing a black cassock and some soldiers. The ruins were about four days away. Vashti informed the rest of the group and they had a discussion about what to do.
They decided that the dwarf in question was obviously Abu. And that meant one of the gems was in the ruins. The ruins were clearly between their present location and Raam. Vashti was holding off her plant growth with the way, so they thought finding a gem that could potentially destroy a sorcerer king was slightly more important. The group agreed, Julius was the most reluctant.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Cactus, Blood (Vampire)

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.

Cactus, Blood (Vampire)
I have renamed the vampire cactus the blood cactus because there are no vampires on Athas. There is also no indication there has ever been vampires on Athas.

	Cactus, Blood	Cactus, Psionic Blood
Climate/Terrain	Any Desert	Any Desert
Frequency	Very Rare	Very Rare
Organization	Solitary	Solitary
Activity Cycle	Any	Any
Diet	Special	Special
Intelligence	Non- (0)	Non- (0)
Treasure	Incidental	Incidental
Alignment	Neutral	Neutral
No. Appearing	1-3	1
Armor Class	6 (core), 7 (leaf), 8 (thread)	6 (core), 7 (leaf), 8 (thread)
Movement	0	0
Hit Dice	3 (core), 1+1 (leaf), 4 hp (thread)	3 (core), 1+1 (leaf), 4 hp (thread)
Thac0	17	15
No. of Attacks	12	12
Damage/ Attack	1-2 x 12	1-2 x 12
Special Attack	Blood Drain	Blood Drain, PsP Drain
Special Defense	Nil	Nil
Magic Resistance	Nil	Nil
Size	M (5-6' tall)	M (5-6' tall)
Morale	Fanatic (17-18)	Fanatic (17-18)
XP Value	650	1,400

Blood cacti are plants of the deep desert that supplement their water supply by draining liquids from animals that come within range.

Blood cacti resemble century plants, with 12 fleshy leaves, each tipped with a sharp needle about one inch long. Sprouting from the plant’s central core is a single spike rising to a height of five to six feet. The leaves are about five feet long, but droop toward the ground so the main body of the plant stands about three feet high. The leaves are dusty green with a narrow band of yellow around their margins. The needles on their tips are white. The central spike is golden yellow. Once every high sun a single small flower blooms at the top of the central spike. This flower is blood-red in color. After this flower has been pollinated, a small blood-red fruit forms. The fruit is moist and sweet-tasting, almost irresistible to most birds.
The plant itself is rooted to one spot, but it can move its leaves rapidly. Blood cacti are usually surrounded by the skeletons and drained corpses of warm-blooded denizens of the desert.

The Jankz and the Hurrum. A Dark Sun Fable.

The Jankz always sleeps during the day. Then after sundown, when the crimson light fades from the sky and the shadows rise slowly through the desert, out she comes blinking from her underground den. She begins her hunt for the bugs, beetles, and mice she likes to eat.
Now there was a certain old Jankz who had become very grumpy, and hard to please, as she grew older, especially if anything disturbed her daily slumbers. One hot afternoon as she dozed away in her den, a Hurrum nearby began joyously humming very loud. Out popped the old Jankz's head from the opening in the ground that served her both for door and for window.
"Get away from here, sir," she said to the Hurrum. "Have you no manners? I am old and I deserve respect! Now, go and let me sleep in peace and quiet!"
But the Hurrum answered impolitely that he had as much right to his place in the sun as the Jankz had to her place in her underground den. Then he struck up a louder and still more shrilling hum.
The wise old Jankz knew quite well that it would do no good to argue with the Hurrum, nor with anybody else for that matter. Besides, her eyes were not sharp enough by day to permit her to punish the Hurrum as he deserved. So she laid aside all hard words and spoke very kindly to him.
"Well sir," she said, "if I must stay awake, I am going to settle right down to enjoy your humming. Now that I think of it, I have a bottle of wonderful wine here, sent to me from Urik, where even the mighty Hamanu enjoys the sweet taste. Please come up and taste this delicious drink with me. I know it will make you hum even more beautifully."
The foolish Hurrum was taken in by the Jankz's flattering words. Down he crawled to the Jankz's den, but as soon as he was near enough that the old Jankz could see him clearly, she pounced upon him and ate him up.