Dark Sun Trading Cards 08

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.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Basilisk

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.

Basilisk

Lesser
Climate/Terrain: Any Land
Frequency: Uncommon
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Special, See Below
Intelligence: Animal (1)
Treasure: F
Alignment: Neutral
No. Appearing: 1-4
Armor Class: 4
Movement: 6
Hit Dice: 6+1
Thac0: 15
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/ Attack: 1-10
Special Attack: Gaze Turns to Stone
Special Defense: Nil
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: M (7' Long)
Morale: Steady (12)
XP Value: 1,400

Greater
Climate/Terrain: Any Land
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Special, See Below
Intelligence: Low (5-7)
Treasure: H
Alignment: Neutral
No. Appearing: 1-7
Armor Class: 2
Movement: 6
Hit Dice: 10
Thac0: 11
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/ Attack: 1-6/1-6/2-16
Special Attack: See Below
Special Defense: Surprised Only on a 1.
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: L (12' Long)
Morale: Champion (16)
XP Value: 7,000

Dark Sun Trading Cards 07

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.
I personally find it humerus that Agis' name is spelled incorrectly.

Session Twenty-Six: All Your Base are Belong to Us

Scrub Plains

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

Kalino watched Jessel run in the distance. After a few minutes, he asked Shade what happened. Shade explained that Jessel picked up Abu and ran away, which made no sense. Kalino suggested that Jessel was under magical or psionic mind control. Shade, Vashti, and Julius agreed. They discussed chasing after Jessel, but they knew that they'd never catch him.
Alaxander then reminded them about the prisoners on the top floor of the keep. There was some looks of resignation, but they agreed to free them. The entrance hall they were standing in had two single doors and a set of double doors, excluding the doors to the outside.
They chose the door on the right. Shade hid next to the door, while Alaxander opened it. Alaxander tried to act surprised when he saw the two guards and a guard dog inside the small barracks. He turned to run and the dog chased him, chomping at his heels. The two guards engaged Vashti, who was the closest obvious target.

The Athasian Elemental Planes Part Seven: The Plane of Rain

The Paraelemental Plane of Rain

The minuscule amount of rain that falls on the face of Athas is a welcome site to all. The endless green sky of the Paraelemental Plane of Rain was once filled with clouds that poured rain into each other. Like the endless skies of the Elemental Plane of Air, there is no end to the plane. Dark clouds drift through the sky, pouring out water and sending out flashes of lightning.
Once, these storm clouds filled the endless sky and soaked travelers to the bone. The clouds crackled with lightning and roared with thunder. The entire plane was one giant storm. Now, the plane is more empty sky than dark clouds. The rain still comes, but it is more of a drizzle than a downpour. Lightning less commonly crashes between the clouds and when thunder rings out, it sounds like a lament for what once was.

Hazards

Visitors will find that the Paraelemental Plane of Rain is very welcoming. There is air to breath and, while the temperature is warm, it is not too hot. However, visitors much be weary of lightning storms and boiling hot rain

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Baatezu, Pit Fiend

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.

Tony DiTerlizzi

Baatezu,Pit Fiend
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Genius (17-18)
Treasure: G,W
Alignment: Lawful Evil
No. Appearing: 1-4
Armor Class: -5
Movement: 15, Fl 24 (C)
Hit Dice: 13
Thac0: 7
No. of Attacks: 6
Damage/ Attack: 1d4/1d4/1d6/1d6/2d6/2d4 or weapon +6 (Strength Bonus)
Special Attack: Fear, poison, tail constriction
Special Defense: Regeneration, +3 weapons to hit
Magic Resistance: 50%
Size: L (12' tall)
Morale: Fearless (19-20)
XP Value: 21,000 (19,000 if non-magical)

The most terrible baatezu, pit fiends are giant winged humanoids, gargoylish in appearance, with huge bat-wings that can wrap around their body in defense, large fangs that drip with vile, green liquid, and hulking red, scaly bodies that burst into flame when thev are angered or excited.

THAC0 Cheat Sheet

Preview

When talking about 2nd Edition AD&D, I hear quite a few people complain about how THAC0 is too difficult to calculate. I grew up with THAC0, so it was never a problem for me, but I understand how it could be confusing for newer players, or players who are terrible at math.

Gahal's Tale: First Day of Freedom

The slave wagon rumbled down the road to Silver Spring. They had left Urik in the predawn hours of the day. Gahal sat in the slave wagon, held his knees and stared at his feet.
As long as Gahal could remember he'd been a labor slave. Forced to do whatever menial tasks his master had demanded of him. He'd never left the lands around Urik, but now his master had apparently decided to sell him. He didn't know where the wagon was going, but it didn't matter. He'd given up hope of ever being free.
When the guards started yelling and rushing around, Gahal barely noticed. When he heard a guard fall to an arrow and the other slaves in his wagon start shouting, he raised his head to look. He couldn't see what was going on, but he knew the small slave caravan was under attack. Gahal curled up into a ball, trying to avoid any wayward arrows. He didn't much care about the attack. Whoever captured the caravan would simply keep him as a slave, so he didn't care who won the fight.
A guard died near the wagon and a human slave with more initiative reached through the bone bars and grabbed the guards obsidian knife. The slaves became excited as they sawed at the giant hair holding the door closed. Gahal didn't participate. It wouldn't work, Gahal knew, they wouldn't escape. He had no hope.
The wagon's door opened and the slaves began rushing out. Some of the slaves foolishly fled into the fray and were quickly cut down. Now alone in the cage, Gahal stared at the open door for a few moments. He crawled toward it and looked outside. The sun was still low in the sky as Gahal climbed out the wagon. He felt hope rise in his chest, a feeling he had abandoned long ago.

Dark Sun Trading Cards 06

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.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Baatezu, Abishai

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.

Baatezu, Abishai

Black
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Lawful Evil
No. Appearing: 2-20
Armor Class: 5
Movement: 9, Fl 12 (C)
Hit Dice: 4+1
Thac0: 17
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/ Attack: 1d4/1d4/1d4+1
Special Attack: Poison, Dive
Special Defense:+1 or better weapons to hit, regeneration
Magic Resistance: 30%
Size: L (8' tall)
Morale: Average (8-10)
XP Value: 7,000 (5,000 if non-magical)

Green
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Lawful Evil
No. Appearing: 2-8
Armor Class: 3
Movement: 9, Fl 12 (C)
Hit Dice: 5+2
Thac0: 15
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/ Attack: 1d4/1d4/1d4+1
Special Attack: Poison, Dive
Special Defense:+1 or better weapons to hit, regeneration
Magic Resistance: 30%
Size: L (7' tall)
Morale: Average (8-10)
XP Value: 8,000 (6,000 if non-magical)

Red
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Very Rare
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Treasure: Nil
Alignment: Lawful Evil
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 1
Movement: 9, Fl 12 (C)
Hit Dice: 6+3
Thac0: 13
No. of Attacks: 3
Damage/ Attack: 1d4/1d4/1d4+1
Special Attack: Poison, Dive
Special Defense:+1 or better weapons to hit, regeneration
Magic Resistance: 30%
Size: L (6' tall)
Morale: Steady (11-12)
XP Value: 9,000 (7,000 if non-magical)

The Legend Of Ort the Druid

In a previous campaign, my player's visited a small village in the wastes of Athas and were told this tale by one of the village elders. I thought someone might enjoy this tale, hopefully it's you.

The Legend of Ort the Druid

Many years ago, when the trees of the forest were saplings, a young Elf druid named Ort lived in a lush grove. Ort spent his days protecting his grove from savage monsters and evil men.
One day, a young man entered the grove. Ort watched the man from the shadows of an agafari tree. When Ort saw the man's face, he nearly let out a gasp for the man was hideous to look upon. The ugly stranger wondered about the grove, examining the flora. Ort watched the man reach his hand toward the ground and saw energy flow into the man's hand. Ort knew something was wrong and stepped from the shadows to stop him. The hideous man looked at Ort and Ort saw only hatred in his eyes.
“Stop.” Ort ordered.
The plants around the monstrous man began to wither. Ort's eyes grew wide in shock as the plants turned black and crumbled to ash. Ort raised his agafari spear and prepared to attack. The horrid man pointed a finger at Ort and uttered an incantation. Fire erupted from the man's finger and engulfed Ort. Ort fell to the ground as the fire burned his cloak and the plants around him.