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Faces of the Dead Lands Released!

cover image of skeletal undead
Faces Of The Dead Lands by Jane Bradley
The final primary supplement for Secrets of the Dead Lands, Faces of the Dead Lands, has been released! It is the largest and most extensive book of NPCs ever produced by Athas.org.

Faces of the Dead Lands is far more than just a collection of NPCs and their stats. Within these pages you will find the first-hand accounts of this devastated land and the lush lands that came before it, as experienced through the eyes of the ancient undead who were there. The stories within each NPC description not only paint clear pictures of the motivations and experiences of these characters, but they also build upon existing canon for both the Dead Lands and the other ancient stories from the rest of Athas, granting a much clearer picture of what it was really like to experience the early days of the Cleansing Wars and the terrible Obsidian Tide.

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Dragon Article: Black Blade of Raam

Eye on Dark Sun

by Rodney Thompson

Despite the best efforts of the sorcerer-kings to oppress their subjects, on rare occasions individuals gain enough power and prestige to become nuisances to those despots. Sometimes, however, those who rise in status independent of the sorcerer-kings are not rebellious freedom fighters or challengers of authority, but instead agents of chaos who lash out at targets both virtuous and vile. The Black Blade is one such individual, a powerful assassin in Raam who serves neither Abalach-Re nor any of the other power bases in the city.

Read More on the WotC Site DDI Subscription Required

New Release: Faces of the Forgotten North


A beta release of Faces of the Forgotten North is available. This is a playtest release of more than 140 NPCs and monsters of the Trembling Plains, including that region’s unique Spirits of the Land. FFN also provides adventure leads, equiptment, feats, prestige classes, and other new material for running a campaign in the Trembling Plains region. FFN is the companion book for Lost Cities of the Trembling Plains, which is back in production and will be released in beta form by the end of 2007. The final version of FFN may include NPCs and monsters from other future releases related to the Trembling Plains, such as Prison-State of Eldaarich, City-State of Kurn, Flamesky, and Silt Sailors of the Kulag Fleet. Please submit playtesting feedback to templarate at lists.athas.org.

New NPC Class: Psychic Adept

This new class supplements the NPC classes found in Chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.

Psychic Adept

Not all those with psionic ability have the time, resources, or inclination to fully exploit their psionic potential. Artisans sometimes discover a useful psionic power, but are too caught up in their mundane crafts and responsibilities to obtain training or to dedicate themselves to psionic self-discovery. Slaves and day laborers cannot afford psionic training, and their social rank bars them from psionic education in many societies. Additionally the exhausting drudgery of their lives leaves little time for self-exploration, so only the most gifted become wilders. A few spoiled and lazy nobles have had the benefit of a rigorous psionic education, unlocking their psionic potential, put little Will into their Way. In the wastes, Psychic Adepts often rise to prominence, often serving their isolated community as a seer or healer. Those with telepathic “gifts” often speak for the tribe when dealing with outsiders. In almost any society, some psychic adepts ply their gifts handling dangerous animals such as mekillots.

Game Rule Information

Psychic Adepts have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a power a Psychic Adept can manifest and how hard those powers are to resist.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Dice: d4.

Class Skills

The Psychic Adept’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Psionics) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Psicraft (Int).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Psychic Adept NPC class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psychic Adepts are skilled with all simple weapons. Psychic Adepts are not proficient with any type of armor nor with shields.

Power Points/Day: A Psychic Adept’s ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His base daily allotment of power points is given on the table below. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Charisma score (see Table 2-1: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points, on page 18 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items.

Powers Known: A Psychic Adept begins play knowing one power of your choice, and the rest of his powers known is given on the table below.

Choose the powers known from the psion/wilder list, the psychic warrior list, and the discipline lists. A Psychic Adept can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level.

The total number of powers a Psychic Adept can manifest in a day is limited only by his daily power points.

A Psychic Adept simply knows his powers; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent power points.

The Difficulty Class for saving throws against Psychic Adept powers is 10 + the power’s level + the Psychic Adept’s Charisma modifier.

Maximum Power Level Known: A Psychic Adept begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As he attains higher levels, he may gain the ability to master more complex powers.

To learn or manifest a power, a Psychic Adept must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the power’s level.

NPC Level BAB Fort Ref Will Power Points/Day Powers Known Maximum Power Level Known
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 1 1 1st
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 2 1 1st
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 3 2 1st
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 4 3 2nd
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 5 3 2nd
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 6 4 2nd
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 7 5 3rd
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 8 5 3rd
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 10 6 3rd
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 12 7 4th
11th +5 +3 +3 +7 15 7 4th
12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 18 8 4th
13th +6/+2 +4 +4 +8 21 9 5th
14th +7/+1 +4 +4 +9 24 9 5th
15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 28 10 5th
16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 32 11 6th
17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 36 11 6th
18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 40 12 6th
19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 45 13 6th
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 50 13 6th