Adventures under the Dark Sun

A couple of years ago, I wrote three articles about Athasian Diseases and how they can be used in a game. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use them too much and I doubt anyone else has either, because scrolling through three articles is very inconvenient.
So, I took some time and combined the disease and treatment rules into a pdf. I have labeled this pdf version 1.0, so I can make corrections after play testing them. I hope this makes it easier for other Dark Sun game masters to torment their players with diseases.

PDF: Athasian Diseases and Treatment Version 1.0.

Here are links to the original articles, for reference:

Athasian Disease Part One

Athasian Disease Part Two

Athasian Disease Part Three

As noted above, these rules have not been extensively tested in game. If you have any questions or comments, or have adapted them to another rule system and want to share, please comment below. 

Thank you.

Social class is extremely important in the Tablelands of Athas. Was your character born in the sandy wastes, a slave-tribe village, or a city-state? These optional rules allow a player to roll randomly for the social class that they were born into, or lived most of their youth in. It is possible for a character to be born into a free-citizen family, but raised in slavery to pay a debt. If that is the case, the character has a slave social class.
Some of the social classes may not be appropriate for certain races, such as a thri-kreen noble. The decision about what is appropriate for a character is ultimately determined by the DM.

Roll 1D10 to randomly determine a characters social class.
1. Noble
2. Templar
3. Merchant - Large Merchant House
4. Merchant - Small Merchant House
5. Merchant - Independent Merchant
6. Free-Citizen
7. Criminal
8. Nomad
9. Villager
10. Slave

 

Durian Fruit

Potion fruits are one of the most interesting differences between Dark Sun and other TSR settings. Although it is a simple difference, I believe it adds something special and unique to the Dark Sun World. Also, the ability to, possibly, grow more magical fruits is a major bonus. In the process of growing more fruits, you risk losing all of them, which is another harsh Dark Sun trait.
I my game, I choose to not have potion fruits rot. This means the group may find them in ancient ruins or modern complexes. If you choose to have potion fruits rot in your game, I would suggest making them rot a lot slower than fruits in the real world.
I had a lot of fun creating new potions in my last potion fruit article and it appeared to be a popular article as well. So, I have created some more using more exotic fruits. All of the fruits are real and more information can easily be gathered about them. I hope you enjoy them.

Use the chart below to randomly choose the type of fruit, color of fruit, and potion type. Roll as many times as you like, or just choose the best combination for your game.

Prickly Pear

Cherries. For some reason when assigning the fruit part of potion fruits, cherries are the first fruit to pop into my mind. It is perhaps because I love cherries, but so many potions being cherries wasn't particularly interesting for my players. In addition, all the fruit I thought of was common to the modern United States.
If you have the same problem as I do, this article is for you. I have decided to write up some random tables for selecting the type of fruit, color, and magical properties for your Dark Sun game. I hope you enjoy them.

All of the fruits are real. Use the chart below to randomly choose the type of fruit, color of fruit, and potion type. Roll as many times as you like, or just choose the best combination for your game.

 Most magic items have a bonus to hit and damage and it is permanent. One of the flavorful aspects of the Dark Sun setting is lack of resources. So, I wondered, what if magic weapons had charges? These are my thoughts and suggestions on how charged weapons could work in the AD&D second edition game, tailored toward the Dark Sun campaign setting.
The base rules for magic item creation are found in the Book of Artifacts. These rules should be used to supplement, and not replace, the rules found in this article. If there is any confusion or contradiction, just assume the Book of Artifacts is correct.
This system would require some bookkeeping, just as all magic items with charges do. If the PC is able to determine the number of charges than you, as the DM, may allow them to keep track of it themselves. However, if they do not know, you should not inform them and watch them stare in disbelief when their weapons ceases it's glow, or crumbles to dust.

In part one of the athasian mutation exploration articles, I created a list of one-hundred appearance mutations. Those mutations had no influence on game statistics or rolls. In part two, I will be writing about beneficial mutations. These mutations will impact the human in a game-related beneficial way. Abilities are not changed, but ability checks may be. Also, it is important to note that the benefit must make sense. For example: A character that has lizard eyes loses all benefits from this mutation when blindfolded. Often, these beneficial mutations will be accompanied by a change in appearance.

Class Q poison is a light gray powder that must be ingested to take effect. The onset time is 1d4 x 30 minutes. When the onset time elapses, the victim of class Q poison must succeed at a saving throw vs poison. If the save is successful, the victim feels nauseous, pain in their stomach, and may vomit. The victim will suffer 2d4 damage, but should fully recover. A failed save indicates that the victim will suffer from severe stomach pain, vomiting blood, and vertigo. The victim will suffer 2d4 x 10 points of damage. If left untreated, the victim must make another saving throw vs poison after another 1d4 x 30 minutes. If this second save is successful, the victim will still feel terrible for 1d4 days, but can expect to make a full recovery. If this second save fails, the victim will die.
Class Q poison is useful for poisoning food or drink and then making an escape. The victim will not know they are poisoned for sometime later, which will allow the poisoner to get far away and to avoid suspicion.
The ingredients for class Q poison are somewhat difficult to find, but are  most available in the rocky badlands. Long term physical contact with class Q poison will cause redness and swelling to the skin, but will not cause the loss of any hit points.

In the original core boxed set, page thirteen under the Humam heading, the text mentions that humans have been twisted by magic. In the rules book, it mentions that this twisting changes human's appearance, but has no additional effect. While this does allow for a variety of strangeness, I thought it might be interesting to explore these mutations further.
I recently introduced a tribe of humans with burnt orange skin. This skin is a harmless mutation due to the magical contamination of the drinking water. So, if a human lives off of this source of water for an extended period of time, their skin will eventually become orange.
I thought it might be helpful to create a chart of random visual mutations that humans, or a human group, may possess. These mutations do not provide any game rule changes, they only change a character's appearance and make them more unique. Encountering a group of humans with green robes and blue keffiyehs is interesting, but it might make your players think twice if they all also have pale violet eyes.
DM's should feel free to roll 1d100 to determine random aspects of a human, or human group. Fell free to roll as many times as you wish and alter any mutations as you see fit. In addition, player character's may manifest a mutation if damaged in an area of twisted magic.
Please note that white and black indicate ranges of color beyond the spectrum of normal human skin tones.

Treating a natural disease can be done in multiple ways. Ideally, the infected individual has access to a healer and an herbalist. Healers can diagnose and treat the disease. Herbalists can create remedies useful for reducing the symptoms.
When using the herbalism proficiency, the herbalist may provide poultices and other herbal remedies to treat symptoms, but the symptoms must be told to them, or be obvious. In order to mix the proper treatment for the symptoms, the herbalist must have the herbs on hand, or it requires 1d4 days to gather them, if they are locally available. To make the herbal remedy requires another 1d4 days. The herbalist will be able to create enough of the remedy to keep the diseases symptoms at bay for one day per point of success. For example: If an herbalist wants to mix a remedy and has an herbalism proficiency rating of thirteen and the herbalist rolls a nine, the remedy will prevent the symptom for four days.

Lung diseases will cause eye shortness of breath, cough, headache, and fatigue. The incubation period of lung diseases is generally two to fifteen days.
Mild symptoms will cause a loss of one point of constitution every seven days of infection. If not treated and the character's constitution drops to zero, they die.
Moderate symptoms will cause a loss of two points constitution every seven days of infection. If not treated and the character's constitution drops to zero, they die.
Severe symptoms will cause a loss of two points of constitution every three days of infection. If not treated and the character's constitution drops to one half, a system shock roll must be made. If this roll fails, the character loses one point of constitution permanently. If successful, the character will die if their constitution reaches zero.

Mucous membrane diseases will cause dry mouth, mouth and throat pain, thick and bloody mucous, open sores in mouth and throat, and painful swallowing. The incubation period of mucous membrane diseases is generally five to ten days.
Mild symptoms will cause a loss of one point of constitution every month of infection. After six months, the symptoms will become moderate. If the character's constitution drops to zero, they die.
Moderate symptoms will cause a loss of one point of constitution every month of infection. In addition, the infected character must succeed at a saving throw vs poison everyday, or be unable to eat and drink that day due to pain. After six months, the symptoms wil become severe. If the character's constitution drops to zero, they die.
Severe symptoms will cause a loss of one point of constitution every athasian week of infection. In addition, the infected character must succeed at a saving throw vs poison everyday, or be unable to eat and drink that day due to pain. Also, the character's mouth becomes so overwhelmed with thick blood and mucous, they begin to drown if the are laid down, whether voluntary or involuntary. If the character's constitution drops to zero, they die.

Athasians are generally a hardy lot, but can still be overcome by disease. Athasians do not have a concept of germ theory and the idea of tiny creatures causing illness would likely be met with skepticism at best, or accusations of magic use at worst. However, even without this knowledge, herbalists and natural healers can treat and cure many diseases that athasians have to deal with throughout their lives.
Whether the disease is caused by a virus, bacteria, or parasite, they may all be cured with the proper application of clerical magic. Cure Disease can cure any natural disease or infection. In the eyes of the elemental lords, there is no difference. Some diseases may be slower to heal, even with the application of magic, but the disease will not progress. No matter their source, all diseases and infections will be simply called diseases in this article.
Diseases are categorized by the effects of the victims body. Blood, bones, brain, cardiovascular, connective tissue, ears, eyes, lungs, mucous membranes, muscles, nose & throat, skin, stomach, urinary tract, or the whole body can be affected by any number of diseases or infections. Specific names of diseases differ between various city-states, if they are named at all. Athasians see a stomach problem and treat it as a stomach problem, not as e.coli or salmonella poisoning.
When exposed to a disease, a player character must make a saving throw vs poison with a bonus or penalty equal to their hit point adjustment modifier. If successful, the character has avoided the disease for twenty-four hours. If exposed again after that time, the character must make another saving throw for the next twenty-four hour period. If the saving throw fails, the character has contracted the disease. Every athasian week (fifteen days), the character has a chance to make another saving throw to shake off the disease. This second saving throw is made will a bonus, or penalty, based upon the severity of the symptoms. Mild symptoms have a +2 bonus, moderate symptoms have no bonus or penalty, and severe symptoms have a -2 penalty.
Diseases can have mild, moderate, or severe effects. If a character fails their saving throw by one to four points, mild symptoms will occur. If a character fails their saving throw by five to nine points, moderate symptoms will occur. If a character fails their saving throw by ten or more points, severe symptoms will occur.

I was looking at my old copy of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Wilderness Survival Guide, by Kim Mohan, and I thought some of the information could be adapted to my Dark Sun game. Instead of writing a crazy long article that few would read, I decided to break it up into different sections. Bite-sized articles seem to be my forte.
This article is all about temperature, which I know some will laugh at. I can hear you now, "It's hot!" This, however, is not always the case. In the Wanderer's Journal, it is mentioned that nights on Athas get bitterly cold, even near freezing. Also, the Ringing Mountains have snow caps, which indicates freezing cold.
The rules presented below will be for AD&D second edition and will be for the sole purpose of making your Dark Sun a little more challenging for your players. I view Dark Sun as the "hard" setting for AD&D, so I do not hesitate to make my player characters a little more uncomfortable.
The coldest part of the athasian night will be right before sunrise and the hottest part of the day will be around mid-afternoon. These are simple generalities, the Dungeon Master will be the final arbiter of the in-game situation. These swings can be upwards of eighty to one-hundred degree difference in only a few hours.

I made a simple combat option cheat sheet from the information provided in the Player's Option: Combat & Tactics book. In my experience, having a cheat sheet will remind the players of the possible maneuvers and make combat more interesting.

You can view the google doc here or here.

The manuvers include:
Block
Called Shot
Charge
Disarm
Grab
Overbear
Pull/Trip
Sap
Shield-Punch
Shield-Rush
Trap
Trap & Break
Unarmed Attack
Unmount

I hope that this is useful for your game. May you always find water and shade.

Imagine, your character is keeping watch while the rest of the party sleeps. You hear a noise and stare intently into the darkness to see what made it. You ask the DM, "How much light is there?" And the DM gets a look on his face like he never even thought about how bright the moons would make it.
Well, Rovewin of Athas.org made this awesome calendar of moon phases so this doesn't happen to your DM, or to you if you are the DM.


Special thanks to Rovewin, for allowing me to share this with all Dark Sun fans.

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.

Himalayan Mountains, Asia

Mountain ranges consist of a series of mountains in a line and connected by high ground. There are numerous mountain ranges in the Tablelands, including the Black Spine Mountains, the Mekillot Mountains, the Windbreak Mountains, and the Ringing Mountains. These mountain ranges are made up of various types of rock and stone. While they can be very different, they are also very similar. All mountains are large landforms that rise above the surrounding area. These usually form peaks or small plateaus.
The Ringing mountains are the largest peaks in the Tablelands and the only ones capped in snow. They are made up of granite, diorite, monazite, shale, and limestone. High quality garnets are mined in the Ringing Mountains. From a distance of a hundred miles, the Ringing Mountains look like a ridge of reddish clouds hugging the horizon. As you move closer, their soft edges gradually grow sharper and more distinct. Within five miles of the mountains, the range takes on the appearance of a great wall.
The Windswept Mountains are made up of sandstone, shale, and limestone. They mark the northwestern base of the Ivory Triangle region. This high mountain range juts abruptly from the sandy wastes at the edge of the Tablelands on its northwestern side. These mountains are called the Windbreak Mountains because they protect the Gulg and Nibenay region from the prevailing west winds blowing off the Tablelands.
The Black Spine and Mekillot Mountains are made up of granite, gneiss, mudstone, and limestone. The Mekillot Mountains are an old, low-lying range in the center of the Great Ivory Plain. They're shaped like the backs of giant mekillots. The Black Spine Mountains are east of the Windbreak Mountains. They look like a huge gith, with a granite spine. Both of these mountain ranges get little rain.
There are other mountain ranges in the Tablelands as well, such as the Smoking Crown Mountains, the Kregill Mountains, and the mountain range near South Ledopolous. These mountain ranges are likely similar to the dry Black Spine and Mekillot Mountain ranges in composition, flora, and fauna.

Temperate Forest in Heidelberg, Germany

Forests on Athas are living barriers that likely shelter venomous creatures looking for their next meal. Trees provide respite from the sun, but also make it difficult to spot your enemies. Of course, the strange trees and plants may try to kill you before any enemy on two legs. Rain is most common in the forests of the Tablelands and it is unlikely characters come prepared for all of that moisture. Thri-kreen chitin may rot if exposed to the forest's wetness for too long and so can leather armor and hemp rope.
There are many different types of forest and they do not necessarily look alike. This is usually based on the amount of rain fall that pours down from the sky. No place in the Tablelands get as much water as the forests. There are two types of forests on Athas, temperate forests and tropical forests.
Temperate forests tend to have trees with dense, strong wood, like agafari. The undergrowth consists of ferns, fungi, moss, and shrubs. Temperate forests are darkened by thick canopies that shade the forest floor and fog is common in the morning and evenings. The Crescent Forest and a majority of the Forest Ridge are temperate forests.
Tropical forests get more rain than temperate forests. These forests are thick with vegetation and mud. The canopy tends to be extremely thick, darkening the forest floor considerably. All of the undergrowth in temperate forests are present in tropical forests, but in greater numbers. In addition, there are flowering plants and vines. It is not uncommon for trees in tropical forests to grow to incredible heights, but the trees tend to be thinner than in temperate forests. Only the deepest parts of the Forest Ridge are tropical forests.
It's important to note that Athasians would not use the terms temperate and tropical.

Barrel Cactus

I like making my Dark Sun games realistic, well, at least as realistic as a fantasy roleplaying game can be. With that in mind, I read up on getting water from a cactus. Is it possible? Yes, but it's not necessarily as easy as fiction might show.

Players may want to play an outcast yuan-ti. This is possible, but only as a assuddha (pureblood). An assuddha can pass for human 80% of the time. They only have slight differences from true humans, such as slit eyes, a forked tongue, or maybe even small fangs.
Yuan-ti assuddha are made just like any other character using the following modifications.
Racial Ability Requirements: Strength 5/20, Dexterity 5/20, Constitution 5/20, Intelligence 10/20, Wisdom 5/20, Charisma 7/20.
Racial Ability Adjustments: +1 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -1 Wisdom
Assuddha have fast reflexes, which grants then a  natural armor class of 9 in non-surprise situations.
Assuddha are medium sized creatures.
Class Restrictions and Level Limits: Fighter 16, Gladiator N/A, Ranger N/A, Defiler 12, Preserver 10, Air Cleric 8, Earth Cleric 14, Fire Cleric 12, Water Cleric 8, Druid 10, Bard N/A, Thief 12, Trader 12, Psionicist Unlimited.
All yuan-ti start with their own language and one other of their choice.
If a yuan-ti rolls animal affinity for their wild talent, they automatically get snake, giant as the affine animal.
Height and weight should be rolled on the human chart.
Starting age has a base of 50 with a variable of 2d10.
Maximum age has a base of 400 with a variable of 5d20.
Middle Age for a yuan-ti assuddha is 200. Old Age is 300 and venerable is 400.

No one knows how many Templars a Sorcerer Monarch may imbue with spellcasting ability, but it is apparent to many that there are many non-spellcasting templars in the ranks of the Sorcerer Monarchs as well. These templars are usually not field agents, but sit behind tables and fill the ranks of bureaucrats required to keep a city-state running. Here, I will give statistics for non-spellcasting templars, parchment-pushing bureaucrats or others whom their liege has denied power, but bestowed temporal power.

The fall from grace is difficult. Atomhawk