AD&D DARK SUN Campaign Setting – Ideas, Books, Manuals and Supplements from the World of Athas

A decade has passed since the Age of Heroes began. The city of Tyr has broken free of tyranny, though turmoil still holds the world in its merciless grip. The Dragon King lies dead, earthquakes rock the land, and revolution spreads like wildfire across the Tyr Region. Giant rifts pierce this once impenetrable land: far to the north, the alien thri-kreen empire quickens, sensing its opportunity to invade. And to the south, in the obsidian wasteland, the ground stirs with the emergence of the undead?

Amid the barren wastelands of Athas lie the scattered city-states, each in the grip of its own, tyrannical sorcerer-king. Protecting their own positions with dark magic, they demand absolute obedience. The restless mobs are placated with bread and circuses –the arenas overflow with spectators seeking release from their harsh lives.

Something awakens beneath the ruins of ancient Giustenal, the City by the Silt Sea. Many have tried to discover the secrets of this forsaken place, to plunder its legendary treasures. Few have returned from its shadowy embrace. Did they run afoul of savage raiders in the desert wastes? Did they lose their way in a sudden sandstorm only to sink hopelessly into the blowing, shifting silt? Perhaps they heard the psionic voice of the Caller in Darkness and succumbed to its mesmerizing summons? Or did they meet the true master of the ruins, a being as old as the Dragon-and just as terrifying? 

Reviled and hunted, hated and feared, they live in secrecy, hiding who and what they are from the rest of the world. They are criminals whose crime calls for swift execution. They are outcasts, with no place to call home. They are wizards, and their crime is the practice of magic.

Out of the swirling, bone-dry sands of Athas come hordes of raiders. They overrun caravans, strip them bare then vanish into the untracked wastes once more. Who are these ghosts of the desert? Where do they live? How do they survive far from the high walls of the city-states? Slave Tribes answers these and many more questions about the ex-slaves who escape into the desert.

In the harsh lands of Athas, even the bare necessities of life are hard to come by. The caravans of the traders ply the shifting sands, daring raiders and the elements to bring goods and hope to both the teeming hordes of the city-states and the isolated villagers in the trackless wastelands. Without the traders, life on Athas would be impossible. 

VEILED ALLIANCE

Few safe havens exist on Athas, and fewer still for preservers. In the hidden places of the cities – a potter’s shop, a crematoria, even under the very palace of a sorcerer king – the Veiled Alliance abides, aiding and protecting preservers and auxiliaries, and standing against defilers. In Tyr, Balic, Draj, Gulg, Nibenay, Raam, and Urik, protection from the dark forces of Athas endures.

For thousands of years a great and terrible secret has lain hidden in the depths of the Sea of Silt. In the heart of this vast dust basin, an endless storm of ash and shrieking wind guards the deadliest concentration of evil and power found on the dying world of Athas – the Valley of Dust and Fire.

Tyr has battled and bled for its freedom, throwing off the yokes of an insane sorcerer-king and slavery. The city stands poised on the brink of democracy, but has Tyr the strength to seize the future and shape it in the image of that freedom, or has the city merely traded one form of slavery for another? 

On a world with no gods, what do priests serve? The priests class on Athas is unique and distinct from the priest classes of any other AD&D campaign world. Athasian priests worship no gods, collect no followers, and carry edged weapons.

They run across the burning plains where others fear to walk. They live for the moment, these savages of a dying world. The elves of Athas are wild, dangerous, and unlike any other elves. Forget the frail forest dwellers of other campaign worlds. Athas’s elves stand tall and lean, with long limbs and fearsome faces. They are thieves and raiders, swift warriors and terrible foes. 

Most adventurers know better than to listen to rumors. But when the rumors speak of a magical forest blooming deep in the burning stretch of the Alluvial Sand Wastes, even the most battle-hardened gladiator takes notice. A mysterious summons has gone out to the humans and demihumans of the Tyr region, luring them to the new forest and promising Athas’ salvation. Now your characters have heard the call – but will they heed the Forest Maker, or seek to destroy her?

Beyond the Scorched Plateau, across the Burning Plains, in the shadow of the Thunder Mountains, the largest body of water beneath the crimson sun sparkles like a desert mirage. But the place is real, for I have seen it. I felt the cool spray on my skin, tasted the salt mist on my lips. It is the Last Sea, a remnant of a long-lost age hidden far to the north of Tyr

“We are all that is left. We hold in our hands the fate of our people. The Rhul-thaun are the true fruit of the rhulisti tree. The life-shapes are what set us above the other races. Only we still know the secrets of life and how to shape it. Heed not the temptations for the powers of the mind, for they are amathema. Spurn the lesser races, for they are not of the true blood. Believe in the life-shapers, for only they can deliver you to the glory that is our birthright.”

In the forests of Gulg live elite hunters called the Judaga Warriors, who claim the heads of their prey as trophies. Behind the walls of Nibenay (built with the toil of countless slaves), decadent markets promise myriad experiences to those who have the money to spend and courage to spare. Across the desolate slat flats of the Great Ivory Plain, a handful of bold merchant outposts and slave tribes struggle to exist and to exploit unwary wanderers. Amidst all, a sinister poisoner of the Tablelands plies his trade on the border between life and death. These dangers and more lie within that region called the Ivory Triangle-the ideal setting for continuing adventures on the deadly world of Athas! 

In the deserts and cities of Athas, the most dangerous weapon is the mind. With a thought, deadly mindbenders can shatter stone, bend steel, or break opponents. Thousands of Athasians possess wild psionic talents, but only a select few can master the Way and call themselves psionicists.

They tower above mere human warriors and adventurers. In a savage world, they hunt-and all else is prey. Wandering the sandy wastes and stony barrens under the crimson sun, thri-kreen are the most skilled trackers, the most barbaric gladiators, the most implacable of foes. Mysterious and savage, the mantis people have been a closed book. Until now? 

To the west of Tyr, the proud strongholds of the Jagged Cliffs defy everything that is known about Athas. The history of the halflings who live there is as old as Athas itself. Their origins lie with the rhulisti, who were masters of the world during the Blue Age-and you caused the end of an age when a simple experiment went horribly awry.

The Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium contains 96 pages of new monsters specially designed for use in the Dark Dun campaign setting. Within these pages you’ll find a variety of monsters, many with unbelievable psionic powers. This compendium includes details on the massive creatures that lurk beneath the Great Silt, powerful elemental beings unlike those found anywhere else, and golems of ash, chitin, and obsidian.

Only the bravest-or the most foolhardy-would dare stand before the creatures included inside this Monstrous Compendium appendix. Encounter the shadow giant, the stalking horror, and the unique undead found lurking beyond the Tablelands as well as many other terrors. Containing 128 pages of full-color monsters, this accessory is designed for the Dark Sun campaign world but is adaptable to any AD&D campaign.