Shattered Lands

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The Basics of Dark Sun

Most of the people here are familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, J. R. R. R. R. Tolkien, Harry Potter or the rest of that high-fantasy "Elves are hawt!" genre where the land is verdant and rife with joy and frolicking gnomes. The World of Dark Sun is not such a fantasy world. Athas is a blasted apocalyptic wasteland where there's no such thing as orcs, gnomes, or dogs (That's right, they even killed your dog). It's a deadly desert where you could be killed for half a canteen of fresh water. It's a godless world where mercy and justice come only at the whim of insane sorceror kings. It's your new home. The section below will help you get a feel for your new home - and maybe help you survive it.

Facts about Athas:

1) It's a desert.

Keep that in mind because it's going to be real important. The setting is as much your enemy as any monster, perhaps even more so. It's an unrelenting furnace in the daytime, 130F during midday. Extremes in temperature and the general hostility of the elements means that travel is difficult and that anyone wandering around unprotected is probably going to die of sun-sickness. There are no oceans in Athas - instead there's the great silt sea - a vast expanse of silt, fine fine sand that's nearly impossible to navigate without special equipment - and the silt that gets whipped up by the winds can cut like razors. To quote Penny Arcade "There's no travel for pleasure in Athas".

2)Life on Athas is brutal and short.

Bloodthirsty raiders, greedy slavers, and hordes of inhuman savages over run the deserts and wastelands. The cities are little better; each chokes in the grip of an ageless tyrant. The institution of slavery is widespread on Athas, and many unfortunates spend their lives in chains, toiling for brutal taskmasters. Every year hundreds of slaves, perhaps thousands, are sent to their deaths in bloody arena spectacles. Charity, compassion, kindness— these qualities exist, but they are rare and precious. Only a fool hopes for such riches.

3) Metal is scarce

Most arms and armor are made of bone, stone, wood, and other such materials. Mail or plate armor exists only in the treasuries of the sorcerer-kings. Steel blades are almost priceless, weapons that many heroes never see during their lifetimes. By and large this won't affect you too much game-mechanics wise, but keep it in mind when you are describing things.

4) Arcane Magic Defiles the World

The reckless use of arcane magic during ancient wars reduced Athas to a wasteland. To cast an arcane spell, one must gather power from the living world nearby. Plants wither to black ash, crippling pain wracks animals and people, and the soil is sterilized; nothing can grow in that spot again. It is possible to cast spells with care, preserving the world and avoiding any more damage to it, but defiling offers more power than preserving. As a result, sorcerers, wizards, and other wielders of arcane magic are reviled and persecuted across Athas regardless ofwhether they preserve or defile. Only the most powerful spellcast ers can wield arcane might without fear of reprisal. So a note to you arcane-power source people (wizards, sorcerors, bards, spell-blades, warlocks and the like): You can defile, and you can preserve, the choice is yours - Defiling isn't necessarily evil - but it is a selfish act. And all magic is despised - so you squishy wand-wavers had better treat your friends right, because they are likely all that is standing between you and the angry pitch-fork waving mob.

5) Sorcerer-Kings rule the City-States

Terrible defilers of immense power rule all but one of the city-states. These mighty spellcasters have held their thrones for centuries; no one alive remembers a time before the sorcerer-kings. Some claim to be gods, and some claim to serve gods. Some are brutal oppressors, where others are more subtle in their tyranny. The City State that is most important for your immediate concern is Draj - which is ruled by the war-hungry god-king Tectuktitlay.

6) The Gods are Silent

There are no gods in Dark Sun. Though the Sorcerer Kings sometimes set themselves up as such, true dieties do not exist. Therefor there are no divine powers to draw from - that means no traditional clerics, paladins, avengers or anything of the sort. Nobody knows where the gods went, if they ever existed at all, and only a madman or a fool would waste their breath on prayers that will surely go unanswered. There is some evidence of ancient religions - crumbling temples, strange abandoned holy sites - but no god protects them now, and their once hallowed halls are now homes to wild beasts and savage monsters that seek shelter from the sun.

7) Fierce Monsters Roam the World

The ecology in Athas is amazingly different from any other fantasy world you probably have encountered. There are no horses, no cows, no pigs - instead people tend flocks of erdlus, ride on kanks or crodlus, and draw wagons with inixes and mekillots. Wild animals like lions, tigers and bears are non-existant (oh my.) In their place are terrors that stalk the wastelands, beasts like the baazrag, the id fiend, and the zombie cactus. Once again, only a lunatic would travel in the wastes alone.

8) Familiar races are not what you'd expect

Typical fantasy stereotypes don’t apply to Athasian heroes. In many DUNGEONS & DRAGONS settings, elves are wise, benevolent forest dwellers who guard their homelands from intrusions of evil. On Athas, elves are a nomadic race of herders, raiders, peddlers, and thieves. Halflings aren’t amiable riverfolk; they’re xenophobic headhunters and cannibals who hunt and kill trespassers in their mountain forests. Goliaths or half-giants, as they are commonly known are brutal mercenaries who serve as elite guards and enforcers for the sorcerer kings and their templars in many city-states.