Dark Sun Trading Cards 13

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.

Session Twenty-Nine: The Shadow People

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

Jessel was called to the front of the caravan, as there were no healers stationed up front. In addition, a seventh wagon was added at the last moment. Vashti, Alaxander, Julius, Shade, and Kalino were assigned to guard the final two wagons in the caravan and were allowed to tether their kanks to the final wagon. In addition, a young human was assigned to assist the group. The young man was a Tyrian and he introduced himself as Khalil Twaq. He carried a longbow made of horn.
Khalil told the group that this was the third time he guarded a caravan for House Wavir and was surprised that the group had never done so before. He explained that he had a sweetheart in Tyr, but didn't know her name. She was very pretty and had almost all her teeth, but her father would likely not allow him to court his daughter, unless he had more money. He bragged about making nine bits a day to guard the caravan and told the group not to feel bad if he was making more than the rest of them, because he had more experience guarding caravans than they did. Julius replied that he understood.

Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

https://www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world/the-christ-child

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Beetle, Giant

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, or make them more interesting.
Since there are no rhinoceros' on Athas, I renamed the rhinoceros beetle the braxat beetle and made some minor alterations.

Beetle, Giant

	Bombardier	Boring	Fire	Braxat	Stag	Silt
Climate/Terrain	Forest	Forest	Any Land	Any Land	Forest	Silt Sea
Frequency	Common	Common	Common	Uncommon	Common	Uncommon
Organization	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary
Activity Cycle	Day	Night	Night	Any	Any	Any
Diet	Carnivore	Omnivore	Omnivore	Omnivore	Herbivore	Omnivore
Intelligence	Non (0)	Animal (1)	Non (0)	Non (0)	Animal (1)	Non (0)
Treasure	Nil	C,R,S,T	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Alignment	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
No. Appearing	3-12	3-18	3-12	1-6	2-12	1-12
Armor Class	4	3	4	2	3	3
Movement	9	6	12	6	6	3/9
Hit Dice	2+2	5	1+2	12	7	4
Thac0	19	15	19	9	13	17
No. of Attacks	1	1	1	2	3	1
Damage/ Attack	2-12	5-20	2-8	3-18/2-16	4-16/1-10/1-10	3-18
Special Attack	Acid Cloud	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Special Defense	Fire Cloud	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Magic Resistance	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Size	S (4' long)	L (9' long)	S (2½' long)	L (12' long)	L (10' long)	M (6'long)
Morale	Elite (13)	Elite (14)	Steady (12)	Elite (14)	Elite (13)	Elite (14)
XP Value	120	175	35	4,000	975	120

Dark Sun Trading Cards 12

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.

The Athasian Elemental Planes Part Nine: The Plane of Sun

The Paraelemental Plane of Sun

The dark crimson sun drifts lazily through the emerald sky, baking the soil of Athas. The sun scorches all it touches and increases the paraelementals power. Only clouds decrease the power of the plane of sun and those are exceptionally rare.
The Paraelemental Lords of Sun were the first lords to seek the total destruction of the planes of air and fire, convincing the lords of magma and silt to join them. Over the millennia, the plane of sun changed from an intensely hot, active blue, to a cooler, lazy yellow, and it is now a cool, crazed crimson. The sun lords are in constant plain, freezing and driven mad by the outside forces that changed them.

Hazards

Unprotected visitors to the Paraelemental Plane of Sun are instantly burned to ash. Even the darkest areas of the plane are over a hundred times hotter than the hottest Athasian day. In addition, the air is toxic and the plane has no surface to stand upon. The plane is a gigantic sphere that has a center and inner layers, but no outer boundary.
The Paraelemental Plane of Sun is divided into seven layers. In the very center of the plane is the core, with the other layers forming concentric spheres around it. Most of the planes natural inhabitants live on the fifth, sixth, and seventh layers of the plane. Moving between the layers is obvious, as pressure, gravity, and heat increase or decrease noticeably.
Interestingly, the inhabitants of the Paraelemental Plane of Sun will not go out of their way to attack visitors. They do not fear invasion and see visitors as curiosities at best. They're winning the Elemental War and are confident in their eventual success.

Non-Dark Sun Creatures in Dark Sun - Beetle

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, or make them more interesting.

Beetle

	Death Watch	Slicer	Stink	Water
Climate/Terrain	Forest Ridge	Forest	Forest	Any Land
Frequency	Very Rare	Rare	Rare	Uncommon
Organization	Solitary	Solitary	Solitary	Colony
Activity Cycle	Any	Any	Any	Day
Diet	Carnivore	Carnivore	Carnivore	Omnivore
Intelligence	Animal (1)	Non (0)	Animal (1)	Non (0)
Treasure	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Alignment	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
No. Appearing	1	1-3	1-3	1-100
Armor Class	3	3	5	10
Movement	12	6	3	1
Hit Dice	9	6	3+1	1 hp
Thac0	11	15	17	20
No. of Attacks	1	1	1	0
Damage/ Attack	3d4	2d8	1d6	0
Special Attack	Death Rattle	Dismemberment	Stink	Nil
Special Defense	Camouflage	Nil	Nil	Nil
Magic Resistance	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Size	M (5' long)	S (3' long)	S (3' long)	T (1" long)
Morale	Elite (13-14)	Elite (13-14)	Steady (11-12)	None
XP Value	2,000	420	120	1

Session Twenty-Eight: Truth is One, Paths are Many

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

Day 1, Week 2, Sedulous, Friend's Vengeance, 190th King's Age, High Sun

Kalino took the last watch outside of Serena's hut and was cooking breakfast when Jessel walked up to him. Kalino was surprised and nudged Julius awake with his foot, while greeting the half-giant. The commotion woke up Shade, who woke Alaxander.
They all greeted Jessel with half-hearted welcomes. They weren't sure if Jessel was still in the thrall of Abu. Julius asked Jessel to open his mind and allow him in. Jessel asked why and Julius explained that he wanted to make sure Jessel was not under magical compulsion. Jessel agreed and allowed him inside his mind. Julius read the surface thoughts of Jessel, while asking him questions.
It was clear to Julius that Jessel was still under Abu's spell, but since Abu was not there, he was not a danger to the group. He then asked what happened with Abu and Jessel was reluctant to speak of it out in the open. His thoughts, however, showed Julius a brief glimpse of the events that had transpired.
The rest of the group brought Vashti out from the hut, hoping there was something the earth cleric could do to help her. Julius was still processing what he had saw, as Jessel looked at the plant matter growing out of Vashti's side. Jessel was shocked and had no idea how to help her.
Julius asked Alaxander to use the way to silence the area around them, muffling their conversation. He excused the group from Jessel and informed them that Jessel should be fine, as long as Abu was not present. He aslso told them a story of templars, King Kalak, and a weeping monster. The group was surprised by the information and invited Jessel to tell them his story.

Dwarves of Athas Part Five: Settlements 5 (Foul Puddle)

Far to the north of the Tyr Region is a dwarven fortress that I have never had the opportunity to visit. I have heard stories from other traders about the dwarves there. They have constructed a fortress that protects them, and their oasis, from raiders. I have asked a human trader from Draj, Chimalli, to tell me about this particular group of dwarves.

The dwarves of Foul Puddle aren't a particularly friendly lot. And why should they be? They've endured quite a bit to hold onto their oasis. They've been building that fortress for the past two hundred years, they have to fight off a nearby elven raiding tribe constantly, all while drinking water from an oasis that smells like rotten erdlu eggs.

Dark Sun Trading Cards 11

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.