Dark Sun (4E Conversion)

The following is a quick and dirty conversion of the classic (and best) AD&D setting to 4E.

Dark Sun Races

Note: All starting characters are illiterate. Listed languages are those spoken. Literacy is gained through feats.

Common Races

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From Left to Right: Elf, Aarakocra, Dwarf, Human

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From Left to Right: Half Giant, Halfling, Half Elf

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From Left to Right: Pterran, Mul, Thri-Kreen

• Human: As per Player’s Handbook I.

Due to the Cleansing Wars of ages past and their own natural tenacity, humans are the predominant race on Athas. They are a versatile breed, brilliant and exceptional as often as they are unremarkable and mundane. The average Athasian human male stands between 6 and 6½ feet tall, and weighs 180 to 220 pounds. Females are typically smaller, topping out at 6 feet tall and weighing 100 to 140 pounds. Skin, eye, and hair color vary widely, though most Athasians humans have tanned, weathered exteriors.

Compared to dwarves, muls, half-giants, and thri-kreen, humans aren’t very strong. They are, however, cunning, highly inventive, and persistent in the extreme. They tend toward impulsiveness and great daring, seeking to make the most of whatever fate throws their way. Wherever life has entrenched itself in the Athasian wastelands, humans can be found.

Humans can also be found at all levels of society. In the city-states, humans fill more than their share of the ranks, from sorcerer-kings, nobles, and templars, to free workers and lowly slaves. In the wilderness, humans hunt with slave tribes, drive herds with nomadic clans, and lead or serve merchant caravans as they trek across the barren plains. Humans are extremely adaptable and usually highly tolerant of the differences that drive other races to war. They often serve as diplomats, tribal chiefs, or some other function that binds different races together.

• Half Elf: As per Player’s Handbook I

Humans and elves must deal with each other from time to time, and in some cases — whether by force or through genuine love — children are born of mixed parentage. These are the half-elves, beings who combine features of both races, creating something different in the process. Half-elves generally grow taller than their human parents but rarely approach the height of their elf side. They average about 6 feet tall, though they tend to inherit some of the bulk of their human half. In most cases, a half-elf can pass himself off as a human with greater ease than he can a full elf, though telltale elven features can be spotted if he is examined with care and scrutiny.

Half-elves don’t form their own communities. Instead, they live either among or on the fringe of human society. Half-elves are most often encountered in the cities of the Tyr Region, though some can be found in the villages and tribes of ex-slaves that inhabit the wilderness. Unlike muls, half-elves can produce offspring.

Elves have no tolerance for children of mixed heritage. Their tradition demands that children born from the union of elves and humans be left for lirrs and other predators. Humans are more tolerant of half-elves, but only to a limited extent. Humans will work with them, but few will call a half-elf friend unless they mistakenly believe him to be human. Half-elves born in a human society have a better chance to survive, but life is never easy. Humans have no faith in a half-elf’s elven side, and elves likewise distrust the human in them. As such, they go through life as outsiders and loners, developing high levels of self-reliance in order to survive.

The intolerance of their parents’ kin doesn’t extend to other races, however, and some half-elves find companionship among dwarves and thri-kreen. Still, the typical half-elf goes through life trying to gain the acceptance of one side of his parentage or the other, usually in vain.

• Elf: As per Player’s Handbook I

While the last remnants of civilization huddle around pools of brackish water and clumps of withered vegetation, the elves of Athas run free. Elf villages are even less likely to be found than a pool of clear water in the desert, for elves only stop running when they fall down and die. Silver Spring, of course, is a notable exception. Otherwise, elves gather in nomadic tribes that revel in theft, raiding, and warfare. Elves are excellent merchants, though they have no concept of fair trade practices. Anything goes when dealing with an elf trader.

Athasian elves stand between 6½ and 7½ feet tall. They are slender, lean, longlimbed, and usually in excellent physical condition. They aren’t the pale-skinned, delicate elves of other worlds. Their features are deeply etched into their weather-toughened faces, and their skin is as rough and rugged as the bark of an agari tree. Yet their flesh is as varied in hues as the other races, and as affected by the baking sun and scouring wind. Elves grow no body hair, save for the hair on their scalp. The locks are long, full, and come in all colors.

Elves are generally lazy and deceitful. They strive to lead short, happy lives as opposed to long, sad ones. For an elf, the future is a dark, deadly place, so he struggles to make every moment (every now, as the elves speak of it) as enjoyable and full as possible. Elves will do whatever is necessary to keep themselves and their tribemates alive and prosperous, but no more. When the work is done, and not a moment later, the fun begins. They engage in long periods of frenzied feasting and raucous revelry. Elf tribes do work, however, mostly at hunting and foraging, for they don’t farm. They detest hard labor and never construct anything larger or more permanent than a market tent, but they will spend long hours haggling over the price of a single trade good.

• Dwarf: As per Player’s Handbook I

Short but extremely powerful, Athasian dwarves average 4½ to 5 feet tall and are mostly bald. Because of their massive musculature and wide frames, full-grown dwarves weigh in at a hefty 200 pounds or so. Cities of the dwarves were once as numerous as the caravan forts guarding the trade roads, but today not one exists. Likewise, no more than a handful of dwarf villages remain in the Tyr Region. Kled and the twin villages of North and South Ledopolus are the most prominent. The rest of the dwarf population lives in the citystates of the sorcerer-kings or among the slave tribes that wander the desert wastes.

Dwarves embrace work with joy, often giving themselves over to a favorite cause or task. They are a stoic, single-minded people to whom compromise doesn’t come easy. Dwarf soldiers, laborers, and crafters are common, though members of this race can be found among the templars, nobles, merchants, and slaves.

• Halfling: As per Player’s Handbook I with the following exception:

    1) Languages: Halfling, Common

Once halflings were the masters of the world. In fact, during the Blue Age the Halflings were the only intelligent beings on all of Athas. They were the original inhabitants of the world, and all human, demihuman, and humanoid races are descended from them.

That said, today’s halflings bear little resemblance to their ancient forebears. Where once halflings filled the land in every direction, today they inhabit the slowly disappearing forests and jungles, like the Forest Ridge and the vertical forests of the Jagged Cliffs. Where once they were civilized masters of an advanced society, today they are feral, savage creatures as wild as the arid winds. They are more willing to eat a stranger in their lands than to welcome him.

Halflings grow to a height of 3½ feet and weigh 50 to 60 pounds. They are muscled and proportioned like humans, but they have the faces of wise and beautiful children whose features never succumb to the rigors of age. Ritual and custom control every aspect of halfling life, and their culture is rich in art and song. Oral tradition recounts the halflings’ mighty past, though it has deteriorated to the point where memories seem but legend and fable. Still, the deep and abiding respect for the world that led the halflings of the Blue Age to sacrifice themselves remains imbedded in the halfling psyche.

The halflings care little for the things that motivate other races. What good is gold or other currency to halflings? They care more for an individual’s inner well being and spiritual unity with his race and the environment. Everything a halfling does is for the good of his community and halfling culture as a whole. When outside their own areas of control, however, halflings can be tolerant of the lack of “civilization” they encounter.

• Mul: As per the Goliath entry in Player’s Handbook II with the following exceptions:

    1) Ability Score Bonus: +2 Constitution and +2 Strength or Dexterity.
    2) Skill Bonus: +2 Endurance, +2 Athletics.
    3) Powerful Athlete applies to all Athletics rolls.
    4) Languages: Common, Dwarven

Muls are born of mixed heritage, created from the union of humans and dwarves. They have existed for as long as the two races have been interacting, but their numbers were never significant enough in the past to categorize them as a separate race. It was only with the rise of the Age of Sorcerer-Kings, as the former Champions of Rajaat sought the most powerful soldiers to defend their new domains, that muls have been bred in large numbers — though as slaves. As muls tend to be independent and hard to control, the sorcerer-kings quickly abandoned the idea of forming large armies of them. Instead, other uses were found for this hardy race.

Muls retain the height and adaptability of their human heritage and keep the durability, bulk, and raw strength of their dwarf side. As such, muls are among the most powerful of the demihuman races. Adults grow to heights of between 6 and 7 feet tall, weighing in at over 250 pounds. It isn’t unheard of for particularly large and strong muls to weigh upwards of 300 pounds. Their robust metabolism makes muls lean and muscular, but this isn’t to suggest that they’re thin. Muls are broadshouldered and wide, with almost no body fat. They appear to be large humans in most respects, though there are significant and obvious differences. With prominent eye ridges and pointed, swept-back ears, if their size doesn’t give away their heritage these features certainly will. Male and female muls alike have no body hair, and almost every mul is bald. Unlike half-elves and half-giants, muls are sterile; the only way to create a mul child is through the union of a human and a dwarf.

Like half-giants, muls don’t have a unified history or culture to draw upon. They don’t gather in mul communities, and there are no mul villages hidden in the wastes. For the most part, muls are slaves or ex-slaves, living in the city-states, client villages, merchant houses, or slave pens of the nobles-or among the slave tribes roaming the wilderness. A small number of muls are born free in the dwarf villages or somewhere else outside the jurisdiction of the sorcerer-kings and merchant lords.

• Half Giant: As per the Half-Orc entry in Player’s Handbook II with the following exception:

    1) Ability Score Bonus: +2 Constitution and +2 Strength.
    2) Languages: Common, Choice of one other

Half-giants are one of the newer races to walk upon the burning sands of Athas. The race was created by the magical experiments conducted during the first years of the Age of the Sorcerer-Kings. At the time, the sorcerer-kings were looking to create ultimate warriors to protect their domains. Because of these origins, half-giants have no culture of their own to draw upon, no ancient traditions and homelands to turn to for inspiration.

Typical half-giants stand between 10 and 12 feet tall, weighing about 1,600 pounds. They have human features that are exaggerated in some way. Along with the size gained from their giant heritage comes low intelligence and great physical strength. From the human side, half-giants get an interest in communication and cooperation, curiosity, a willingness to learn, and a general tendency toward kindness. They don’t gather in communities of their own, but instead tend to adopt the cultures of those they admire or have access to.

In the city-states, half-giants serve as soldiers, guards, or laborers. In the wilderness, they attach themselves to charismatic leaders or communities demonstrating tendencies that they admire. Wherever they are, half-giants have to deal with the fact that they are too big for the world around them, for things built for the use and convenience of humans don’t work well in the hands of half-giants.

Uncommon Races

• Thri-Kreen: As per the Eladrin entry in Player’s Handbook I with the following exceptions:

    1) Skill Bonus: +2 Perception, +2 Nature or Stealth
    2) You gain proficiency with the Gythka instead of the Longsword
    3) Fey Origin does not apply
    4) Fey Step becomes Prodigious Leap, and the Teleportation keyword becomes Flight.
       Instead of teleporting 5 squares you fly 5 squares.
    5) Languages: Low-Kreen, Common

Thri-kreen are large insectoids — the least “human” of all the intelligent races of Athas. Standing 7 feet tall at the shoulder and growing about 11 feet long from end to end, they have six limbs, sandy-yellow exoskeletons, and large, multifaceted eyes. The two hindmost limbs are designed for walking and leaping, while the four forward limbs end in extremely dexterous hands.

In the Tyr Region, thri-kreen aren’t common in the city-states. They gather in packs devoted to the hunt that roam the wastes and have little understanding of human society. If encountered in a city, a thri-kreen is either a slave or attached to a group of adventurers (whom the thri-kreen has adopted as his pack). As slaves, thri-kreen are used on the farms or as laborers, though some make it to the gladiatorial pens to offer a different kind of entertainment to the crowds.

Many things make the thri-kreen strange and alien to those of the other races, not the least of which is their appearance. Add to that the fact that thri-kreen don’t sleep, that they don’t collect wealth or possessions, and that they sometimes eat other intelligent creatures, and the differences between humans and thri-kreen seem vast and imposing. When thri-kreen join up with a group consisting of members of other races, they seek to establish dominance as they do in their own packs. Once the matter is settled, they abide by the outcome, though party members who aren’t prepared for such behavior often experience moments of genuine terror as the hulking insect-men make menacing threats in an effort to dominate the group, or “clutch.” Is it any wonder that most people fear the thri-kreen, or that they are viewed as treacherous and unreliable?

However, those who have won the trust and friendship of a thri-kreen wind up with a friend for life. The pack mentality is so ingrained in thri-kreen culture that they apply it to every situation they find themselves in. As they would in an all thri-kreen pack, they leap to protect their clutchmates (regardless of race) whenever danger strikes, no matter the risk to themselves.

• Pterran: As per the Dragonborn entry in Player’s Handbook I with the following exceptions:

    1) Skill Bonus: +2 Nature, +2 Diplomacy
    2) Dragon Breath becomes Call the Earth Mother
    3) Cold is not a selectable damage type for Call the Earth Mother
    4) Languages: Pterran, Common

Pterrans are reptiloids with light brown, scaly skin. Adults grow to be about 6 feet tall, and there are no obvious physical characteristics that distinguish males from females. Pterrans stand upright, with two arms that end in hands that have three taloned fingers and an opposable thumb, and two legs with three-toed feet. They have short tails and two stubs at their shoulder blades-evidence of wings that vanished many generations ago. Some believe pterrans are related to the flying creature called the pterrax, though the link must be in the distant past.

All pterrans revere the Earth Mother, the name they have given to Athas. They believe that they are the Earth Mother’s first, best children, and that the recent earthquake and aftershocks are a call to action for their race. “The Earth Mother cries out, and we share her pain,” the pterran druids proclaim. “Now we must aid her in her time of desperate need.” Adult pterrans follow one of three “Life Paths” — the Warrior’s Path, the Druid’s Path, and the Psionicist’s Path — as part of their normal society.

• Aaracokra: As per the Kenku entry in Monster Manual II with the following exception:

    1) Languages: Aaracokran, Common

The intelligent bird-people called aarakocra live in small tribes in the rocky badlands and mountains of Athas. In most cases, these uncivilized aarakocra have little impact on the world around them. One group of bird-people, however, has an advanced society in the White Mountains north of the Tyr Region. Here, nestled in the snowcovered peaks, is the large village called Winter Nest.

Winter Nest’s aarakocra (who call themselves “the silvaarak,” or “people of the silver wing”) average about 7 feet tall. Males weigh 100 pounds, females 85. They have gray beaks, black eyes, and plumage that ranges from purest white to silver to shades of light blue.

Rare Races

• Half-Effreet: As per the Genasi entry in the Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide with the following exception:

    1) Languages: Common

Tales of the “plane touched” have been present in the Tyr region for as long as anyone can remember, but most figured they were simply fairy tales used to entertain the children of the city. The truth came as a shock when the half-effreet began to appear in the newly freed city.

They come from a small village on an island in the Sea of Silt, having been trying to remain hidden for fear the Sorcerer Kings would attempt to capture them for use in horrible arcane experiments. When word of the death of Kalak reached their village, a few bold individuals left and made their way to Tyr hoping to see first hand the state of the world, and maybe help the city survive as a place for their people.

• Warforged: As per Eberron Player’s Guide with the following exception:

    1) Languages: Common

Built by the Sorcerer Kings to be untiring slaves, these psionic constructs were quickly abandoned as a waste of resources when it was easier and cheaper to just breed or capture a living slave. However Kalak found a welcome niche for these workers in his iron mines where they tirelessly tore through the rock to extract the vital red ore.

Upon his death, and the freedom of Tyr’s slaves, King Tithian and the council decided to also free the remaining warforged who seemed to still have a semblance of sentience. This handful of freemen has tried hard to integrate itself into the city’s population, but have found true acceptance nearly impossible.

Dark Sun Classes

Martial

• Beastmaster Rangers should choose an appropriate Athasian animal for their companion, otherwise the class remains unchanged.

• Warlord, Fighter, and Rogue remain unchanged.

Primal

• Wild Shapes, Spirit Companions, Guardian Forms, and Rages should all be reflavored to reflect Athasian animals and plants but otherwise all Primal classes are unchanged.

Divine

• Divine characters must choose an elemental instead of a deity. Replace any occurrence of the keywords Radiant and Necrotic or the damage types radiant or necrotic with the one appropriate for the chosen elemental type:
  

Fire ---> Fire

Earth ---> Force

Air ---> Lightning

Water ---> Acid

• The Avenger class is now called the Dervish.

• The Paladin class is now called the Champion.

• The Cleric and Invoker remain unchanged.

Arcane

• All PC’s are considered Preservers by default. However, all arcane classes, multi-classes, and hybrids gain access to the Defiling Magic class feature.

• Bard and Warlock are moved to the Psionic power source.

• Carrying a spellbook is an easy way to be outed as a wizard. Therefore it's suggested that players come up with an alternative such as pictograms carved in a staff, a code knotted into a robe, or even tattoos of some kind. Otherwise the class remains unchanged.

• The Artificer, Sorcerer, and Swordmage remain unchanged.

Psionic

• The Bard is now a psionic class. Replace all instances of the keyword Arcane with Psionic. Instead of gaining Ritual Caster as a bonus feat they instead gain the Poisoner Feat from Dragon 373 and must take Alchemist in lieu of Ritual Caster. Additionally, at character creation they can choose for Words of Friendship to add a bonus to either Diplomacy or Intimidate.

• The Warlock is now a Psionic class known as the Wilder. The names of the pacts change to the following disciplines:

Infernal/Vestige ---> Psychometabolist

Star ---> Psychokineticist

Fey/Dark ---> Telepath

Change all instances of the keyword Arcane to Psionic. Otherwise the class remains unchanged.

• Ardent, Battlemind, Monk, and Psion remain unchanged.

Skills

• Arcana now covers general knowledge of both magic and psionics.

Wild Talents

Every sentient creature on Athas has a wild talent, a natural and untrained psionic ability. Mechanically these are represented by choosing a Background ability and reflavoring the bonus to be a psionic power. For example, +2 Nature or Nature as a Class Skill can be reflavored as having Animal Empathy.

Feats

• Jack of All Trades conveys basic literacy for one of a character's languages in addition to it's normal benefit. They won't be able to read most books but written signs, posters, and pamphlets are understandable.

• Linguist gives the player a choice to either learn three new spoken languages, or full literacy in one they currently speak.

• All setting specific (Dragonmarks, Spellscarred, etc), bloodline (Dhampyr, etc), and heritage (Zombie Hunter, etc) feats are not allowed unless the player can come up with a significant reflavoring and justification.

• Divine domain and channel divinity feats need appropriate justification and reflavoring for a character's chosen element before being allowed at the DM's discretion.

Equipment

A Ceramic Piece and some Bits. Not bad for a day's work.

Money in Dark Sun is different then other settings: Ceramic pieces are the currency of the masses. Each city-state fires their own CP's, and generally merchants only accept the coins of their city. Of course there is normally an exchange station at the gate of each city-state that will be more then happy to provide you with appropriate coins. For a small fee of course...

The rough exchange rate looks something like this:

100 CP = 10 SP = 1 GP = 1/5 PP

However, it's very possible for a commoner to go through an entire lifetime without ever holding a metal coin. Additionally, ceramic pieces are etched so they can be broken into tenths. Each of these wedges is known as a Bit, and they are the most common denomination for everyday use.

Starting characters begin play with 100 CP. For the most part, the equipment list in the Player's Handbook is the same as it is on Dark Sun, just the prices are changed. Subistitute CP for GP and Bit for SP in the tables. All weapons purchased at character creation are considered to be made of bone or obsidian. Metal weapons are out of the question for starting characters, and will be dealt with on a case by case basis during play.

To simplify play, all armor types are assumed to be an optomized piecemeal version of that armor. This eliminates the need for continuous endurance rolls for wearing heavy armor. Proficiency in heavy armor, automatically includes proficiency in armor optimization. However, when Endurance rolls are required the check penatly for wearing heavy armor still applies.

Setting specific weapons can be found here.