Backgrounds
of Athas
Introduction
The unique factions, environment, locations, and elements of Athas mean that not all backgrounds will fit into the setting. Some backgrounds may need more context to discover their place in the Athasian landscape. Additionally, some unique backgrounds have been added specifically for Athas.
Changes
Currency
All currency granted from your background is in cp (ceramic pieces) instead of gp (gold pieces).
Literacy
The following backgrounds are literate: Noble, Guild Artisan, Sage
The following backgrounds do not exist on Athas: Acolyte, Folk Hero, Sailor, Sailor (Pirate), Noble (Knight)
Charlatan
The city-states are rife with trade, lump coinpurses, and black markets to smuggle in. A clever charlatan makes a nice sum of money, assuming they avoid mindbenders and templars. The Trading Houses don't take kindly to swindlers, and being a charlatan is a dangerous trade. But those cunning and audacious enough will find themselves with pockets full of coin.
Criminal
Bog-standard criminals exist in every city-state. Small gangs who harass merchants for protection money are as common as flies. Bigger, organized crime organizations are harder to come by, however. The Trading Houses and templars have a monopoly on "under the book" crime, and many career criminals find themselves doing dirty work for those organizations. Your contact likely belongs to one of those organizations.
Criminal (Spy)
Sorcerer-kings, templars, Tading Houses, and revolutionaries all have a use for spies, though their careers are often bloody and short.
Entertainer
Though entertainers of all stripes exist in Athas, many of them often get into trouble due to their reputation as spies and assassins. In city-states, you are very likely to find an audience, though outside of them your chances are slim.
Entertainer (Gladiator)
Gladiator fights are the most popular form of entertainment in the city states, though nearly all gladiators are slaves. Arena fights are typically brutal and cruel, and those born into the lifestyle leave either covered in their own blood, or that of their foes.
Guild Artisan
Regardless of whether you're an artisan or a merchant, you likely do most of your work with one of the major Trading Houses. These houses are powerful, some of them powerful enough to give even the sorcerer-kings pause. They are the lifeblood of Athas and the trade of foodstuffs, water, and other goods are what keep the city-states alive.
The cost of your guild dues is in ceramic pieces, not gold pieces. Additionally, you are literate in any language you can speak. Merchants and craftsmen are technically only allowed to be literate insofar as is necessary for their business, though the enforcement of these laws is lax and most business owners enjoy the full luxury of being able to read and write.
You can roll or choose which of the houses you belong to. Additionally, each house makes its members swear by its merchants code. Though the exact code varies, each code generally follows by the same general principles:
- By joining, you acknowledge any citizenship to any city and membership to any tribe is forfeit.
- You must perform in the best interest of the House.
- You must deal honestly with stranger, friend, and foe alike
- You must not flaunt any wealth you may acquire.
- You must uphold the laws of the city in which you reside and trade in.
- You must not incur the wrath of a sorcerer king, nor incur that wrath upon the House.
If you are not a member of a house, you are likely an unlicensed merchant (see: Criminal or Charlatan) or you trade in a small village outside of the power of the major Merchant Houses.
Merchant Houses
| d8 | House | City | Primary Goods | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inika | Gulg | Kola nuts, exotic feathers, spices, gemstones | Plain gold circle on a black field |
| 2 | M'Ke | Raam | Metal, weapons, food, obsidian | A gray feather pen and inkwell on a red background |
| 3 | Shom | Nibenay | Rice, water, wood, weapons, art objects | Three white dragonflies on a red/black diagonal background |
| 4 | Stel | Urik | Weapons, ceramics, iron, obsidian, wood, feathers, slaves, gold | Two black scimitars on a white backdrop |
| 5 | Tslaxa | Draj | Hemp, grain, artwork, ornate weapons, exotic slaves | Two yellow eyes on a black background |
| 6 | Vordon | Tyr | Silk, cloth, dyes, ceramic, bricks, building materials | A black, circular web with a hollow center on a red background |
| 7 | Wavir | Balic | Grains, ceramic, precious metals | A gray, bipedal reptile on a blue background |
| 8 | Reroll | - | - | - |
This is not an exhaustive list; many smaller, less powerful houses exist in the villages between cities, often working in tandem other houses.
Hermit
The nature of your secret can be a many number of things: a way to restore Athas' landscape, exactly how Athas was destroyed, or some secret to the cosmology itself.
Noble
You belong to one of the many families of nobles who form councils and hold political power in the city-states. Though the life of a noble is lavish, maintain political power is a tightrope balance of managing alliances and being cutthroat to your enemies. Only the most cunning keep power long enough.
Your Position of Privilege will get you access to most nobles in the city-state you originate from, though nobles outside of there may be less likely to be hospitable.
You are also literate in any language you can speak. Nobles are permitted to be able to read in write in Athas. If for some reason you are discovered to be literate and cannot prove that you are from a noble family, you will likely be hanged.
Outlander
In the harsh sands underneath the dark sun, the skills provided by the outlander are invaluable. Most outlanders are tribals, especially aarakocra, thri-kreen, or halfling tribals, having learned to survive off the land through necessity.
Sage
Writing in Athas is highly regulated and strictly forbidden for most rungs of society. The few libraries that exist belong only to the rich, the sorcerer kings, or to the few revolutionaries who managed to hide away illegal scriptures. You know of at least one of these libraries, though you may not be able to access it.
You are literate in any language you can speak. Your literacy is most likely a secret, one you keep to save you from a guaranteed excecution.
Soldier
Standing armies are nonexistant on Athas. The city-states procure their own defenses via the templars and city guard, and if conflict arises with other city-states, they hire mercenaries. You are likely a member of a band of mercenaries, trading blood for coin.
Urchin
The city-states are filled with homeless and vagabonds. A violent existence means many young are orphaned, or worse. Recently freed slaves often have no money or homes to call their own, and live lives only marginally better than the ones they left. Urchins are not hard to come by on Athas.
New Backgrounds
Athasian Slave
You are--or formerly were--property. Chattel to be bought and sold, forced to waste away doing menial labor or left to die in the arena. Years of experiencing and witnessing abuse have taken their toll on you, mentally and physically, but nothing will ever match that gut feeling when you see a person treated like livestock, born to be used and slaughtered.
Consider how you came to be enslaved. Were you born into it, or were you a former free person, captured and sold by slavers? What is your outlook on slavery? Do you still feel the urge to become docile at the shout of a command, or does the idea of being subservient again fill you with rage? If you are free, how did you become free?
Skill Proficiencies Athletics, Sleight of Hand
Tool Proficiencies One language (likely the language of your captors) and one tool (related to the work you did as a slave)
Equipment Broken manacles, a tattered cloth hood, a wood bowl and spoon, a waterskin, a dirty set of common clothes, and a coin pounch with 5 ceramic pieces
Specialty
Slaves come from different backgrounds and hold different jobs on Athas. Roll or choose from the options available below.
Slave Specialty
| d6 | Slave Work |
|---|---|
| 1 | Field slave, made to harvest grains under the fiery sun. |
| 2 | Arena slave, made to fight for my life like a gladiator. |
| 3 | Merchant slave, made to haul and load goods on caravans. |
| 4 | Noble servant, made to cook, clean, and tend to the manor. |
| 5 | Test subject, used as a guinea pig for nefarious psionic and magic experiments |
| 6 | Unspeakable, your time as a slave was so horrific you've blanked out the memory of it |
Suggested Characteristics
Slaves share some similar qualities based on their shared trauma and how they adapt to it.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I always feel unease during leisure time, as if someone is watching my lack of productivity. |
| 2 | I prefer my food bland and tasteless, like the slop I was served as a slave. |
| 3 | I chastise people who talk about work being too hard and tell anecdotes of my slave days. |
| 4 | I treat all my friends like family. |
| 5 | I indulge greatly in the few conveniences I never had as a slave, like colorful clothes and good food. |
| 6 | Even when things seem well, I always prepare for the worse. |
| 7 | I always volunteer to do the heavy lifting, or to keep watch an extra shift. |
| 8 | I can't sleep unless my bed is hard as stone. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hard work. If you want it, you have to earn it. |
| 2 | Emancipation. Nobody should be under the boot of tyranny. |
| 3 | Authority. Things are easier if you obey and keep your head down. |
| 4 | Revenge. The stains of slavery will only be washed away with the blood of the captors. |
| 5 | Hope. No matter how desolate, we must always pine for a better future. |
| 6 | Endure. I've survived slavery, nothing will keep me down. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | A family member, friend, or loved one is still enslaved. I hope to rescue them someday. |
| 2 | Someone risked it all for my emancipation. I owe them everything. |
| 3 | An abusive guard beat someone I cared about to death. I still seek justice. |
| 4 | I was falsely accused of a crime that landed me in chains. I seek to clear my name. |
| 5 | I met the love of my life before we were sold to separate owners. I seek to find them. |
| 6 | I'll never let myself be captured by slavers ever again. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I become meek and submissive at the bark of a command. |
| 2 | I have no respect or trust for anyone who hasn't done a day of hard labor in their life. |
| 3 | Nightmares of the abuse I've suffered haunt me at night. |
| 4 | I hoard food and water due to the days I was left starving and dehydrated as a slave. |
| 5 | I hate anyone who resembles the guard who whipped me, even after I get to know them. |
| 6 | Anything resembling a demand or order throws me into a rage. |
Templar
You are--or formerly were--a templar, the enforcement arm of the sorcerer kings will. Part ordained priest, part secret police, part royal guard, the templars are highly trained and often magically gifted, hunting down forbidden magic users, jailing criminals, and performing civil services.
Templars are generally freepersons and nobles and thus are generally literate. This background gives you literacy in any language you can speak.
As a templar, consider which sorcerer king and city-state you've dedicated yourself to. Also consider the kind of work you've done as a templar.
Skill Proficiencies Intimidation, Insight
Tool Proficiencies Land vehicles and one language of your choice
Equipment Your sigil (a symbol representing your authority), a set of manacles with the matching key, a uniform and a coin pouch with 10 ceramic pieces.
Sorcerer King
You serve or served a particular sorcerer king. Choose or roll on the table below.
| d12 | Sorcerer Monarch | City |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abalach-Re* | Raam |
| 2 | Andropinis | Balic |
| 3 | Borys | Ur Draxa |
| 4 | Daskinor | Eldaarich |
| 5 | Dregoth | New Guistenal |
| 6 | Hamanu | Urik |
| 7 | Kalak* | Tyr |
| 8 | Lalali-Puy | Gulg |
| 9 | Nibenay | Nibenay |
| 10 | Oronis | Kurn |
| 11 | Tectuktitlay | Draj |
| 12 | Reroll | - |
*These sorcerer kings are currently deceased.
Feature: Mage Hunter
You know some of the typical locations that illicit magic users congregate. If you ever find another illicit magic user hideout, you can generally procure some form of assistance from your templar temple in order to raid it. Depending on the circumstances, you might only get a small amount of eqiupment, or you could get a few templars to help you make arrests. The nature of the assistance is up to your DM.
Suggested Characteristics
Choose from the list of characteristics presented in the soldier or acolyte backgrounds.
Tyrian Revolutionary
In the wake of the death of Kalak and the emancipation of the slaves of Tyr, hopes stir of revolutions elsewhere. You are a revolutionary of Tyr, or a revolutionary of another city-state inspired by the successes of Tyr. You work with underground syndicates looking to dismantle the sorcerer kings power piece by piece, and to take down the nobles and houses that make slavery possible.
Consider why you feel revolution is the solution. Are you a former slave? Were one of your close friends enslaved, driving you to free them? Have you seen your magic-practicing allies dragged away by templars? Do you think literacy shouldn't be a privilege but a right?
Feature: The Underground
You have access to an underground group of revolutionaries who can help provide free food, water, and shelter to you and any slaves traveling with you and no one else. This group won't always help you if assisting you would put them at immediate risk of ruining their operations, though they always help if able.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I always keep one eye over my shoulder. You never know who's watching or listening. |
| 2 | I daydream about what a better world would look like. |
| 3 | I always assume someone in a place of authority is wrong, unless that person is me. |
| 4 | I'm not lazy, I just take pride in my leisure time! |
| 5 | I can never rest while there's work to be done. |
| 6 | Having only two backup plans means you have no backup plans. |
| 7 | I always sleep in shifts. You never know when you'll get raided. |
| 8 | I enjoy telling people about how much I read more than I enjoy actually reading. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Idealism. A perfect world is possible. |
| 2 | Change. I just want to see who's in charge trade hands. |
| 3 | Dignity. Every person should be treated fairly. |
| 4 | Free trade. Power should belong to the people, not the Merchant Houses. |
| 5 | Despair. This world is doomed--I'm just easing the pain as it goes out. |
| 6 | Power. The problem is just with who's in charge; it isn't me. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have dreams of running a library someday. |
| 2 | I come from a long line of preservers who wish to make the world a better place. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 3 | I've witnessed the cruelty of slavery and will stop at nothing to end it. |
| 4 | I've angered a noble or high-ranking member of a Merchant House and am on the run. |
| 5 | I am a fugitive hiding from the ever-prying eyes of the sorcerer kings and their templars. |
| 6 | I won't stop till the sand on Athas is turned to ash. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | My empathy often puts me or other people at risk. |
| 2 | I have no trust for those who haven't proven themselves to the cause. |
| 3 | I take joy in killing my oppressors. Maybe a bit too much. |
| 4 | I love talking about what I read so much that I accidentally mention it in front of templars. |
| 5 | I think the revolution sounds a bit more fun than all this "helping people" crap. |
| 6 | My way of doing the revolution is better than everyone elses. Or so I think. |
Languages
Many languages normal in other settings do not exist in Dark Sun. When choosing a language, pick from one of the options below.
Languages
| Languages | Speakers |
|---|---|
| Common | All but halflings and thri-kreen |
| Dwarvish | Dwarves, some muls |
| Elvish | Elves, some half-elves |
| Giant | Beast-head giants, braxat, tareks |
| Gith | Gith |
| Halfling | Halflings, Forest Ridge residentes |
| Pterran | Pterrans, nikaals, ssurrans |
| Sign Language | Humans, elves, half-elves |
| Thri-kreen | Thri-kreen |
Exotic Languages
| Languages | Speakers |
|---|---|
| Aarakocra | Aarakocra |
| Ancient halfling (dead language) | Historical texts, psionic lore |
| Draconic (artifical language) | Magical texts |
| Draxa (dead language) | Historical texts |
| Primordial | Clerics, drakes elementals |
| Psurlonese | Psurlons |