The Burnt World of Athas

The first time it happened, Kareth thought he was dying. Which, in the wastes, meant very little. The sun had already taken his water, his strength, and most of his thoughts. It burned overhead like a merciless eye, waiting for him to stop crawling. Sand filled his mouth. His tongue had swollen so badly it felt like a second throat choking him from within. He remembered falling. He did not remember getting back up. But something inside him refused to stay still. It wasn’t courage. It wasn’t hope. Those things had dried up days ago. This was something uglier, something desperate. A clawing, blind instinct that pushed against the inside of his skull. Then the world moved. Not the wind. Not the dunes. Something else.

The sand before him shifted, not by breeze, but by intent. It trembled, then parted, as if something beneath it recoiled from him. For a moment, just a moment, the dunes revealed a darker line beneath the surface.

Moisture.

Kareth’s mind seized on it, and the pressure inside his skull surged.

He screamed, but the sound never left his lips. It exploded outward instead.

The sand burst aside in a violent spray, exposing a shallow seam of damp earth. Not water. Not salvation. But enough.

He dug like an animal. Like something worse than an animal.

When he finally collapsed beside the muddy trench, clutching the dampness to his cracked lips, he realized he was laughing.

Or crying.

Or both.

New weapon and armor rules for you 5.5e Dark Sun game.

A follow-up to the What If - Orcs in Dark Sun article (https://athas.org/articles/what-if-athasian-orcs-had-survived-the-cleansing-wars), this week we examine the society and racial stats of Athasian orcs.

A new psionic power - empower tattoo - for use in your AD&D Dark Sun games.

In the parched and perilous world of Athas, where elemental forces surge unchecked, three heretical sects of elemental priests rise from the fringes of sanity and nature. The acid priests, born of the volatile clash between Fire and Water, wield corrosive power to dissolve stone, metal, and spirit alike, spreading chaos and decay as sacred truths. The typhoon priests, errant manipulators of Air and Water, twist storm and gale into instruments of terror — not to bless Athas with rain, but to rip the life from the land in gales of withering violence. And from the fetid, sun-choked lowlands crawl the bog priests, stewards of rotting wetlands and parasitic growth, worshipers of stagnant Water and creeping suffocation. Together, these priests form a trinity of elemental blasphemy, each forsaking harmony for devastation, proving that in a dying world, even the elements turn to war.

Proposed 5e mechanics for an Athasian Bard Rogue subclass.

Proposed 5e mechanics for a Warlock Pact Templar.

A number of alternative spellbook and potion options for your Dark Sun game.

A brand new series of Lawful Stupid blogs, this one featuring new rules for the Warrens Elf kit.

A follow-up to the article “What if Athasian gnomes had survived the Cleansing Wars?”, this week we examine the potential society and racial stats of Athasian gnomes.

A brand new series of Lawful Stupid blogs, this one featuring new rules for the Ancestor Cultist kit.

The Polymath Specialist Artificer for Dark Sun or Bronze Age Campaigns.

Life Siphon, a new psionic power for your AD&D psionicist.

Graycasting is a rare and little-understood method of arcane spellcasting. Herein lies an overview of Graycasting, as well as a proposed way of instituting it in your 5e Dark Sun campaign.

A repost of articles from the Lawful Stupid RPG blog, this one featuring Dark Sun mounts and livestock.

A repost of articles from the Lawful Stupid RPG blog, this one featuring new cultural weapon groups.

Optional rules 5e for Dark Sun gladiators that are easily portable into other editions.

A repost of articles from the Lawful Stupid RPG blog, this one featuring new kits for the Templar class.

A repost of articles from the Lawful Stupid RPG blog, this one featuring the new Noble class.

Rules for charioteering for your 5e game.