The Baazrag and the Cheetah. A Dark Sun Fable.

A baazrag decided one day that his home, the stony barrens, was far too hot and hard to enjoy himself. He left the stony barrens and went into a grassland instead. The baazrag enjoyed the cooler breeze and soft grass.
A cheetah came upon the baazrag and immediately attacked. Just as the cheetah was about to enjoy this unexpected meal, the baazrag said, "I deserve to be eaten. What business did I have coming to these grasslands, where it is impossible for me to hide? I was made for the stony barrens and I should have remained there."

Dark Sun Trading Cards 01

Back in the early nineties, TSR released a series of trading cards. There were some Dark Sun card included, so I decided to hunt them down and post them here. They might be useful or just a novelty, but I hope they're enjoyable.

Dwarves of Athas Part Five: Settlements 3 (Charvass)

Desert Volcano by Balance-Sheet

 Far to the northeast of Draj, on the edge of the Silt Sea is a small trading village run by House M'ke. The outpost is nearly all Dwarves, but run by a human. The outpost is so far out of the Tablelands, that I have not visited it personally, so I have asked a Draji Dwarf trader named Tenoch to provide more information about the village. Tenoch has traded with the outpost numerous times and happens to owe me a favor. So, here is the commentary he provided.

The history of Charvass needs to be explained before I can explain the Dwarves themselves. Charvass used to be a subsistence farming village next to an extinct volcano. The old volcano had rich soil, but growing anything close to the Sea of Silt is strenuous. Then House M'ke came along and convinced the Dwarves to mine obsidian from the old volcano and import all their food instead. This only happened four years ago and the village and outpost are quite well established. It shouldn't be a surprise how much the villagers got accomplished in that amount of time. They are Dwarves after all.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Alguduir

There are many creatures for 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.

Alguduir

Climate/Terrain: Swamps
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Solitary (Family)
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Low to Average (5-10) (Low (5-7))
Treasure: I (No Coins), Q
Alignment: Nil
No. Appearing: 1-2
Armor Class: 6 (8)
Movement: 6, Fl 21 (B), Sw 14 (4, Fl 16 (C), Sw 12)
Hit Dice: 4+4 (1+1)
Thac0: 17 (20)
No. of Attacks: 5 (3)
Damage/Attacks: 1-6 (bill)/2-5 ×2 (front claws)/2-4 ×2 (rear claws) (1-4 (bill)/1-2 ×2 (front claws))
Special Attack: Nil
Special Defense: Spell Reflection
Magic Resistance: 40%
Size: M (7’ long) (S (1-4’ long))
Morale: Elite (13-14) (Unreliable (2-4))
XP Value:975 (420)
Attributes in parenthesis are for young alguduir.

An alguduir’s body is fat but sleek, covered with tough, durable oil-glistening scales. Its front feet have five black talons each; its rear feet have only four talons each. Its wings are usually a mottled white, brown, and gray. Its head and body are gray or green-gray, and are readily camouflaged by marsh plants. Its eyes are yellow or green. Its gills are located in the throat area behind and beneath the bill.

Its feathered  wings are oily and can shed water rapidly. This allows the alguduir to swim to the surface, shake its wings out to full span, and fly away without pause. This oil is not flammable and an alguduir suffers no extra damage from fire based attacks.
A capable swimmer, the alguduir can breathe underwater and dive with force and accuracy from the air to an underground target, gaining a +2 attack bonus. Alguduir snarl, grunt, or shriek, showing the full scope of emotion, but when hunting they are eerily silent.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Alaghi

There are many creatures for 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.

Alaghi
Climate/Terrain: Forest Ridge
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Family Groups
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Omnivore
Intelligence: Low (5-7)
Treasure: I (No Coins), Q
Alignment: Neutral
No. Appearing: 2-5
Armor Class: 4
Movement: 12
Hit Dice: 9
Thac0: 11
No. of Attacks: 2
Damage/Attacks: 2-12/2-12 or by weapon type (+5 Strength bonus)
Special Attack: Missile Weapons
Special Defense: Stealth
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: L (6' Tall with large girth)
Morale: Steady (11-12)
XP Value: Adult: 2,000; Young: 120; Elder: 5,000; Hermit: 6,000
Psionic Summary
Level: 5
Dis/Sci/Dev: 2/3/10
Attack/Defense: 0/3
Score: 13
PSPs: 72
Psychometabolic: Metamorphosis, Shadow-Form, Biofeedback, Body Weaponry, Cell Adjustment, Chameleon Power, Flesh Armor, Heightened Senses
Psychokinesis: Telekinesis, Animate Object, Ballistic Attack, Control Flames, Soften

Alaghi are forest-dwelling humanoids. They are barrel-chested, with short, almost invisible necks, and wide, flat heads with sloping brows. Their shoulders are broad, and their arms are long and powerful. Their legs are short but thick, and their hands and feet are very large. An alaghi’s entire body is covered with thick hair, usually blond, reddish brown, or charcoal gray. Most blond individuals have green eyes and fur tinged with green highlights. Adult alaghi stand about six feet tall and weigh about 330 pounds. They usually live for 75-85 years.

The Critic-Woman. A Dark Sun Fable

The Shadow King of Nibenay and the Forest Goddess of Gulg were having an argument about the possibility of a creature changing it's nature. Nibenay said "Yes," but the Oba said, "No." So, to test his theory, Nibenay turned a critic into a young woman. He gave her to a citizen of his city and ordered them to be wed. The wedding was performed that very day and a feast was held afterward.
"See," Nibenay said to the Oba, "She behaves well. Who could tell that she was a critic yesterday? Obviously, her nature has changed."
"Wait." replied the Oba, and she released a cricket into the room.
The bride saw the cricket and jumped up from her seat to catch it.
"Now you see," said the Oba, "nature will triumph."

Dark Sun Paper Miniatures 02

I'm out of town for work and my books are out of reach. I did not want to leave my tens of readers high and dry, so I'm posting another set of paper miniatures. The last set seemed rather popular, so I hope these are welcome as well. They are set to proper scale if using a battlemat with 1" x 1" squares.
These Miniatures are rather simple and fold into a tent. You can add extra weight by taping a penny to the bottom. Download the PDF.

Here we have hunting cactus, cilops, gorak, crodlu, dwarf, and a couple more gith, because you can never have too many gith. I also included a campfire tile, because I find it useful. Enjoy my friends.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Aerial Servant

There are many creatures for 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.
In this, I am using the Elemental War theory I have written about in the past and is mentioned briefly in Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. I have included their stats for ease of reference.

Session Twenty-Four: Darkness is Their Ally

Cloud Ray by Thomas Baxa

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

Vashti shouted to the passing humans, asking what was wrong. Most of the humans ignored her, but one pointed up. As the group looked, the remaining rays of the sun were obscured. They saw a two hundred foot long creature floating through the sky. Shade shouted that it was a cloud ray.
Kalino and Julius ran back into the canyon they had just emerged from. Alaxander jogged after them, while deepening the shadows in the canyon with the way.
Vashti struggled to turn the wagon around and Shade fired some arrows at the gigantic ray. The arrows were stopped by the creatures natural telekinetic defenses. Spike barked, but couldn't reach anything so high. Jamil held his axe ready and questioned whether this was a fight they could win.

The Athasian Elemental Planes Part Six: The Plane of Magma

The Paraelemental Plane of Magma

A churning mass of molten stone forms an ocean of lava that spews acid and poison into the air. Jagged crags made of obsidian and basalt rise out of the magma and reach for the endless toxic sky. Anyone who travels to this plane unprepared will not live long to regret it.
Long ago, the Paraelemental Plane of Magma was small and lazily drifted toward the Planes of Earth and Fire. The inhabitants of the plane were content to wade and swim leisurely through the molten stone. Now, huge storms that form cyclones of magma and acid rain rage across the plane; while the inhabitants of the plane howl in madness and cry for the destruction of all that will feed their plane.

Hazards

The largest pits of lava on Athas cannot compare to the destructive might of the Paraelemental Plane of Magma. The heat and pressure of the liquid stone are sure to burn and crush anything that enters it. A simple protection from fire spell would not protect a visitor from the crushing pressure or toxic gas.