Dark Sun

By Shawn Bowman

SECOND EDITION

Credits

Designer: Shawn Bowman

Play Testers: Berry Mears, Dustin Mitchell, Jean Mitchell, Preston Pounds, Robert Kirchner, and Steven Schroeder

Cover Art: Wayne Reynolds

Interior Art:

Version: 1.8

Special Credit: Anarchopaladin for all his inspiration and work on converting Dark Sun to Pathfinder 2E.

Optional Rules

Dark Sun characters have always been more powerful than other campaign's characters. Dark Sun uses few alternate rules to represent this impact.

Automatic Bonus Progression This variant removes all items bonuses to rolls and DCs provided by magic items and replaces it with a new kind of bonus -- potency-- to reflect a character's innate ability instead.

Free Archetype Every character receives a free multiclass archetype at level 2.

Gradual Attribute Boosts Characters gain attribute boosts more gradually as they level up.

No Alignment Dark Sun will not use the alignment system at all. Instead, players will have at least three Moral Intentions to represent their character.

Psychic Wild talent All heritages grant psychic dedication at level 1 to represent the latent psionic talent in all ancestries.

Copyrighted Content

All artwork and visual layout elements in this template are copyrighted by Paizo Inc. and are used for demonstration purposes only. If you plan to distribute homebrew material using this template you must remove all elements that are copyrighted: page border, parchment background and the sidebar backgrounds. However, you may use this template to share homebrew with your players, as is.

Cover: "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game" by David Alvarez is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Free action

One-Action Activity

Two-Action Activity

Three-Action Activity

Reaction

1 Introduction
4

Athas is a very different world from most fantasy settings. This section covers the things players need to know when adventuring in Dark Sun.

2 World of Athas
7

This section details the important locations in Dark Sun along with the various planes that interact with Athas. Finally, the section lists the important faiths that characters may worship.

3 Ancestries
27

Choose the people your character belongs to—whether they’re dwarves, elves, halflings, or humans.

4 Backgrounds
123

Choose a background that fleshes out what your character did before becoming an adventurer. Details on languages also appear in this chapter.

5 Classes
139

Bold fighters, devout clerics, scholarly wizards, and inventive alchemists are just a few of the 16 character classes you can select from.

This chapter also details animal companions, familiars, and multiclass archetypes that expand your character’s abilities.

6 Feats
277

Expand your capabilities by selecting general feats that improve your statistics or give you new actions. This chapter includes skill feats, which are tied directly to your skills.

7 Equipment
273

Gear up for adventure with this vast arsenal of armor, weapons, and gear.

8 Spells
293

Learn to kindle magic in the palm of your hand. This section includes the rules for spellcasting, hundreds of spell descriptions, focus spells used by certain classes, and rituals.

9 Treasure
302

Information on the various magic items are included in this section.

Introduction

For thousands of years, the Tablelands have remained untouched: its politics frozen in a delicate stalemate, its life in a balance even more delicate. It is true that the Sorcerer-Kings amused themselves with their petty wars, rattling sabers to punctuate the passing of ages. It is true that, occasionally, another city would be swallowed by the wastes. But there were no surprises. The Sorcerer-Kings steered everything from their omnipotent perches, content in their superiority, but ever thirsting for challenge. All that has changed. The Tablelands have been thrown into turmoil, the likes of which have not been seen since times forgotten. The Sorcerer-Kings have been thrown into confusion, grasping for the tedium they so recently lamented. And yet I fear the worst is yet to come. Change is in the air, and change has never come gently to Athas.

Athas’s savage, primal landscape is the result of long centuries of ecological and magical abuses. The world is dying. It breathes its last gasps as water turns to silt, grasslands become sandy wastes, and jungles decay into stony barrens. Still, life finds ways to endure even in these hellish conditions. In fact, it thrives. Children growing up beneath the crimson sun don’t aspire to become heroes. True heroes who champion causes or try to make the world a better place are as rare as steel on Athas. Living to see the next dawn is more important than defending a set of beliefs, so survival ultimately motivates all living creatures—not virtue or righteousness.

Today, Athas rushes toward its future. If the course of destruction is to be diverted, if Athas is to be restored, then heroes must grab the reins of destiny and give new hope and promise to the world. It will not be easy. In fact, it will be extremely difficult. But it is possible. The denizens of the Tablelands have suffered under oppression for thousands of years, and now, a boiling point has been reached. Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but someday, change will come.

Ten Things to Know

Every player needs to know and remember these facts about the world of Athas.

1. Dark Sun is Different from
Traditional pathfinder

Many monsters, classes, spells, or magic items from the core rulebooks simply are not available in Athas.

Many races are not available because Athas has a very different background than most fantasy settings.

2. Tone and Attitude.

Athas puts the survival of the fittest concept to its fullest.

Those who cannot adapt to endure the tyrannical Sorcerer‐Kings, the unrelenting sun, or the many dangers of the wastes will certainly perish.

Illiteracy and slavery are commonplace, while magic is feared and hated. The term “hero” has a very different meaning on Athas.

3. A Burnt World.

Thousands of years of reckless spellcasting and epic wars have turned Athas into a barren world, on the verge of an ecological collapse. From the first moments of dawn until the last twinkling of dusk, the crimson sun shimmers in the olive–tinged sky like a fiery puddle of blood, creating temperatures up to 150° F (65° C) by late afternoon. Water is scarce, so most Athasians need to come up with alternative solutions for dealing with the heat or perish.

4. A World Without Metal.

Metals are very rare on Athas. Its scarcity has forced Athasians to rely on barter and different materials, such as ceramic, to use as currency. It also hampers industrial and economic development as well; mills and workshops rarely have quality tools to produce everyday products.

Even though most Athasians have developed ways of creating weapons and armor made of nonmetallic components, the advantage of having metal equipment in battle is huge.

5. The Will and The Way.

From the lowliest slave to the most powerful Sorcerer‐King, psionics pervade all levels of Athasian society. Virtually every individual has some mental ability, and every city‐state has some sort of psionic academy available. Athasians use the term Will to refer to someone’s innate ability for psionics and the Way for the study of psionics.

6. A World Without Gods.

Athas is a world without true deities. Powerful Sorcerer‐Kings often masquerade as gods but, though their powers are great and their worshippers many, they are not true gods. Arcane magic requires life force, either from plants or animals, to be used. All divine power comes from the Elemental Planes and primarily power from the Spirits of the Land that inhabit geographic features.

7. Planar Insulation.

Barriers exist between Athas and other planes. In the case of other planes of existence, the Gray impedes planar travel, except to the Elemental Planes. Consequently, travel via spell jamming is impossible, and planar travel is much more difficult. The same holds true for those trying to contact or reach Athas. The barrier formed by the Gray impedes travel in both directions.

8. The Struggle For Survival.

The basic necessities of life are scarce on Athas. This means that every society must devote itself to attaining food and safeguarding its water supply, while protecting themselves from raiding tribes, monsters, and other city‐states. This essentially means that most Athasian must devote a large deal of their lives just to survive.

9. The Seven City‐states.

The Tyr Region is the center of the world of Athas, at least as far as the people of the seven city‐states are concerned. It’s here, along the shores of the Silt Sea and in the shadows of the Ringing Mountains that civilization clings to a few scattered areas of fertile land and fresh water.

The majority of the population lives in the city‐states of Tyr, Urik, Raam, Draj, Nibenay, Gulg, and Balic. The remainder live in remote villages built around oases and wells or wander about in nomadic tribes searching for what they need to survive.

10. New Races and Classes

In addition to the common player character races found in the Core Rulebook, players can choose to play aarakocra, dray, half‐giant, mul, and thri‐kreen in Dark Sun. Aarakocra are bird people that fly above the wastes. Dray are a dragon like race created by the Sorcerer-King Dregoth. Half‐giants are creatures with great strength, but dull wits.

A mul is a hybrid race that combines the natural dwarven resilience and stubbornness with the adaptability from humans. Thri‐kreen are insectoid creatures that roam the Athasian wastes in search for prey. The following races do not exist on Athas and therefore are not playable races: gnome, goblin, and other races listed in any other sourcebooks.

There is one new class to pick, psychic warrior. However, with that there is a few classes from the Pathfinder that are not playable classes: bard, gunslinger, inventor, sorcerer, thaumaturge, and witch. In most cases a class is exactly as described in the Pathfinder unless otherwise noted in their brief descriptions. Due to the nature of magic (both arcane and divine) on this world the landscape for typical wizards, and clerics have changed dramatically.

The World of Athas

The world of Athas is an interconnected network of City-States, Merchant Houses, and villages. Ancient grudges and fresh wounds simmer after the death of Sorcerer-King Kalak. Tensions are high, and the need for heroes is desperate.

The world of Dark Sun is focused on the Tyr region of Athas. Seven City-States dominate and control most of the Tyr region: Balic, Draj, Gulg, Nibenay, Raam, Tyr, and Urik. Recently the ancient city of Kemalok has been found and has brought new hope to the Tyr region. Most PCs will start in the Tyr region, one of the major humanoid population centers of Athas.

Tyr Region

The Tyr region has been divided amongst the powerful City-States across the region. These City-States are generally ruled by a Sorcerer King or Queen. Almost all races can be found in a City-State but halflings and Thri-Kreen are generally not native to the cities. Smaller villages and outposts dot the Tyr region and may be independent or under the control of a merchant house or City-State.

Tyr
City-State

Council of Advisors

15,000 (70% human, 10% dwarf, 6% mul, 3% elf, 1% half-elf, 9% half-giant, 1% thri-kreen, a few halflings) another 15,000 exist in the fields and noble estates surrounding Tyr. Natives called “Tyrians”.

Formerly Kalak's profile, currently a star on purple background

Iron, silk

Freemen, Guildsmen, Nobles, Templars

King Tithian

As far as most Athasians are concerned, Tyr has always existed. Certainly, it has endured through the entire Desert Age, and even with the fall of its sorcerer-king, it seems likely to endure for centuries to come. And throughout all the long years of its existence, it was a city-state enslaved. That has all changed. In the courts of the other city-states, rumors of King Kalak’s overthrow are only whispered, but in Tyr, the repercussions howl through the streets. Many scheme to succeed Kalak, and the templars and other power groups vying for control struggle to keep the city-state from disintegrating into anarchy at the hands of people eager to enjoy their freedom. Nobles and merchants clamor for influence, and commoners and freed slaves openly celebrate, challenging civic authority and social boundaries at every turn. Tyr hunkers within high walls in the middle of the fertile Tyr Valley, which lies in the foothills of the Ringing Mountains. From miles away, a traveler can make out the massive spires of the Golden Tower rising over the city state’s walls.

City-State Lore

Most PCs will be natives of one of the City-States of Athas. This nationality will likely be an important part of their character. Some characters will gain a City-State Lore based on their background.

City-State Dialect

The Common language in Athas has various dialects. Each City-State has its own dialect and travelers will often use the trade tongue when speaking in other City-States. When picking languages, consider the languages local to your home region.

Not far from the tower, a brick step-pyramid soars above the walls: the Ziggurat of Kalak, multicolored and resplendent under the desert sun. The city walls are parched sandstone, smoothed by time and centuries of continual repair. Beyond Tyr loom the ramparts of the Ringing Mountains, whose topmost peaks glint with a dusting of snow during the months of Sun Descending.

Urik
City-State

Sorcerer King

32,000 (75% human, 3% dwarf, 6% mul, 2% elf, 1% half-elf, 10% half-giant, 3% thri-kreen, and 1% halfling). Natives called “Urikites” or the slightly derogatory “Uri”.

Hamanu’s face; Hamanu in battle dress; Hamanu surrounded by red fire; and so on.

Obsidian, water, slaves, silk, pottery

King Hamanu

Located in the hilly region northeast of Tyr, between the Dragon’s Bowl and the Smoking Crown Mountains, the square, clean lines of the city-state of Urik can be found. Urik sits in a fertile belt maintained by careful irrigation from deep wells. Grain fields and fruit-bearing orchards surround the city-state in neat rows. Urik gleams, its stone walls steeped in yellow pigment made from the sulfurous waters of the nearby Lake of Golden Dreams. Statues of bold, bipedal lions march to war across its walls. Lion heads carved from stone serve as merlons atop the dizzying walls, where sentries stand guard, bows never far from their hands. As much an imposing fortress as it is a city-state, Urik is protected by intimidating walls and fearless defenders.

Four gates offer access to the city. The Slave Gate sees heavy traffic, including caravans bound to and from the obsidian mines in the Smoking Crown. Nobles and templars enter and exit through High Gate, and most other visitors pass in and out through the Obsidian Gate and the King’s Gate. Half-giant guards, archers, and war templars staff the towers at each gate and rigorously question all who enter. Most of Urik is a place of straight roads and clean lines. Bricks pave the streets. In most districts, houses and buildings are uniform, nearly identical except for writing that designates the function or owner. A visitor unaccustomed to Urik’s style can easily become lost. In addition, one finds Hamanu’s likeness everywhere. The yellow and white glazed walls feature brilliant murals that capture the Mighty King’s many exploits. The sorcerer king has spared no expense in ensuring that the people do not forget who rules.

The hills surrounding Urik are mostly barren, but extensive irrigation transforms the land into arable soil. Grain fields, orchards, and vineyards create surprising greenery beneath the looming brown hills. Four roads emerge from the city-state and cross this verdant tract. The wide, winding Obsidian Way climbs toward the Smoking Crown and Urik’s obsidian mines. The High Road leads west toward Makla, Urik’s most important client village. The Trade Way travels south to the Silver Spring Oasis, and the Road of Kings travels east to Raam.

If you visit Urik, be very careful to obey all of Hamanu’s laws and keep some gold hidden securely away just in case you must bribe a templar for your freedom. Few fates are worse than being sold into slavery to work in the quarry pits. The sharp edges of the glassy stone will slice your fingers, hands, and arms to a point of uselessness within days.

Balic
City-State

Sorcerer King

27,500 (80% human, 8% dwarf, 3% mul, 4% elf, 4% half-giant, 1% thri-kreen, a few half-elves and halflings); 5% patricians, 55% freemen, 40% slaves). Natives are called “Balikites”.

Sun, sheaves of grain (in peace); sword, shield (in war).

Grain, salt, olives, kank nectar, livestock, leather, silver.

Dictator Andropinis

A wealthy mercantile city-state on the shores of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue, Balic is under the control of Dictator Andropinis, a sorcerer-king who claims to have been elected to his throne over seven hundred years ago. Despite the dictator’s grip, Balic is perhaps the most affluent city-state in the Tyr Region and is home to powerful merchant houses that bring great wealth to Balicans fortunate enough to share in the prosperity. The business of Balic is business, and for the most part, Andropinis does not interfere in routine affairs of nobles or merchant emporiums.

The city is renowned for its democratic traditions. Balic’s nobles are seated in a Chamber of Patricians that creates and maintains the code of laws, and its templars must stand for election to 10-year terms. The various professional guilds (and Balic’s chapter of the Veiled Alliance, for that matter) conduct their business by taking votes and electing officers; even the dictator is, in theory, elected. Much of this democracy, however, is little more than an illusion.

The office of dictator is held for life, and Andropinis has endured in his position now for centuries. Public debate and discourse is allowed, but only up to a point. Any direct criticism of the dictator or his templars is dealt with harshly, and the patricians learned long ago to pass only those laws that meet with the dictator’s approval.

Balic enjoys a cultural heritage and a civic mythology dating back thousands of years, which finds expression in a public appreciation for poetry and drama. The mythology still lives in the form of powerful arcane vestiges; Andropinis and his templars are masters of manipulation. The cultural heritage is evident in the dozens of theaters throughout the city-state, which run the gamut from crowded, ramshackle stage-houses in the poorer quarters to magnificent amphitheaters in the noble districts. In Balic, talented playwrights and orators can win acclaim equal to that held by the greatest gladiators as long as they steer clear of subject matter that the dictator’s templars might find offensive.

Raam
City-State

Sorcerer Queen

40,000 (40% human, 20% dwarf, 10% mul, 15% elf, 5% half-elf, 5% half-giant, 4% thri-kreen, 1% halfling: 5% priests, 10% templars and soldiers, 20% merchants, artisans, and landowners, 60% servants and laborers, 5% untouchable). Natives are called “Raamites” or “Raamish”.

Abalach-Re’s face; Badna, a four-armed man in a long loincloth.

Silver, gems, flint; jute, a fibrous plant; silk, carpets, textiles, art

Grand Vizier Abalach-Re

Ancient and magnificent, Raam has fallen far from its formerly wondrous heights. Centuries of plundering the countryside for its resources, rampant corruption in its government, and the rule of a hedonistic and disinterested sorcerer-queen have brought the city-state to the brink of disintegration. The alabaster quarries and gemstone mines stand exhausted; reckless agricultural practices have led to disastrous food shortages. In the streets, violent factions sworn to one warlord or another battle for control as the once vibrant and influential city slips into ruin. Mobs riot daily against their ineffectual ruler, the sorcerer-queen Abalach-Re, and her templars dare not set foot in some of the city’s districts.

The present difficulties might have been averted by a strong hand, but Abalach-Re had less interest in ruling than in feeding her insatiable appetite for pleasure. Generations ago, she abandoned her royal title and declared herself to be the representative of an all-powerful deity known as Badna.

Calling herself the Grand Vizier, a title normally held by Raam’s greatest mystics, she razed the city’s existing shrines and temples, replacing them with new shrines dedicated to Badna. The deity’s image – that of a grinning, four-armed male dressed in a long loincloth – appears all over the city-state. Abalach-Re continues to assure the citizens that Badna watches her closely and will strike her dead if she falters in her duties, but few believe her anymore.

More than 40,000 people live in Raam, making it the most populous of the city-states. Another 40,000 or so dwell in the warlord-dominated estates surrounding the city. Humans constitute less than half the population.

Elves and dwarves are the most numerous minorities, and muls, half-giants, and half-elves make up most of the rest.

Raam draws water from a deep reservoir below the city, which provides enough to sustain the populace and irrigate the fields beyond.

Although the renowned mines have been picked clean and the current troubles have all but paralyzed trade, Raam retains enough commodities to lure merchants. The city exports silver, gemstones, flint, silk, rugs, art, and textiles, among other goods.

The mansabdars form the heart of the largest army in the Tyr Region, leading thousands of wretched slave soldiers. In addition, Abalach-Re hoards weapons, armor, and equipment in an enormous armory beneath her palace.

Nibenay
City-State

Sorcerer King

24,000 (60% human, 10% dwarf, 4% mul, 10% elf, 4% half-elf, 12% half-giant, a few thri-kreen and halflings). Natives are called “Nibenese”.

Many monsters, both real and imaginary; highly conventionalized representations of nobles, and the sorcerer-king; all integrated in a complex folklore.

Copper, rice, fruit, vanilla, spices, betel nut, timber, hardwood weapons, linen, and dyes

The Shadow King

Nibenay is a city of stark contrasts, a volatile place of fleeting fortunes in the shadow of an ancient culture. The merchant houses of this decadent city never close their largest and most opulent emporiums, and any object or experience may be purchased for the right price. Once a city of seemingly limitless possibilities for the free citizen class, opportunities Nibenay are now dwindling.

The city has a distant and stoic past. Its remote noble class, to whom blood is cheaper than water and nothing more precious than the fertile land of their fields, preserves the city's most ancient traditions. In Nibenay, the lucky are rewarded and the rest are swallowed whole.

All around the city is evidence of the ancient culture that Nibenay was built upon. Modern Nibenese construction surrounds and intermingles with ancient ruins and edifices. Some of these old sites are abandoned, but others remain occupied by the city's masses.

Of all the rulers of Athas, the sorcerer-king Nibenay (who gave his name to his city) is perhaps the least involved in the day-to-day management of his empire. He has, over the centuries, established an amazingly competent bureaucracy that allows him to focus his attention on the study of dark magic instead of the mundane matters of government. Nibenay's reclusiveness has earned him the title of Shadow King from his people. He spends virtually all of his time in his walled sub-city, called the Naggaramakam, which lies at the center of Nibenay. From here, his templar-wives manage the day-to-day affairs of the kingdom.

Nibenay believes in the delegation of responsibility and management through precisely designed systems. This belief results in a powerful, impersonal bureaucracy that runs smoothly and destroys those caught beneath its wheels.

Gulg
City-State

Sorcerer Queen

8,500 (80% human, 5% dwarf, 3% mul, 7% elf, 3% half-elf, 2% thri-kreen, a few halflings and half-giant slaves; 5% templars, 15% nobility, 20% noble kin, 60% slave). Natives are called “Gulgs”.

The hegbo, a large lizard regarded as a loyal guardian of its young; also, many abstract symbols.

Hunting, livestock; fruit, vanilla, cloves, spices, nuts; copra; textiles, feathers; some furs and hardwoods.

The Oba Lalali-Puy

Gulg is a city that has, through the effort of its ruler, been remarkably resistant to change. The queen has created a stable if not stagnant society that, while delicately balanced, has continued to suppress the vehicles of change – including free mercantile activity. The city is a pleasant enough place to live for natives, but of all the cities in the Tyr region, Gulg is the least hospitable to strangers.

Gulgs live by relatively simple means in a culture that stresses respect for the wisdom of elders, veneration of the hunt, and individual conformity. The people of Gulg are taught to respect the forest of their queen and to live within the strict confines of the rituals and customs that dictate their behavior. This respect, however, is more a testimony to the power of superstition and an oppressive culture than lightened impulse to act as custodians of the planet.

Outsiders often romanticize Gulg as having the only ruler who enjoys the popular support of her people. While this is true in some regard, the oba enjoys that support for three simple reasons. First, they believe she is a goddess embodying the life of the forest whose appeasement benefits the life of the community. Second, they rightly believe that she is all that stands between them and slavery in the city-state of their ancient enemy, Nibenay. Last, the stifling culture of the city is so ingrained in the public consciousness that the people would be hard pressed to even imagine a different life. The people of Gulg do indeed love and fear their oba.

A visitor to Gulg may become discouraged at the confusing customs and suspiciousness of the natives. There are, however, many small and fascinating pockets within the city that will reward the curiosity of the persistent seeker, not least of which is the city-state's ruler. Gulgs believe their queen is an immortal of supreme power. Lalali-Puy (pronounced la-la-lee-pie, meaning forest goddess) is called oba by her people. She is a stunningly beautiful woman with luxurious black hair, and she has not appeared to age a day in all the centuries of her rule.

Her influence can be felt in all aspects of Gulg life. The leafy crown of her palace, built amid the branches of an enormous agafari tree, can be seen from virtually any point in the city Common greetings invoke the protection of the forest woman with luxurious black hair. Her decrees prescribe and regulate all aspects of the behavior of her subjects. The entire forest and everything in it belongs to her. The city of Gulg survives only by her will.

Draj
City-State

Sorcerer King

17,000 (60% human, 15% dwarf, 5% mul, 15% elf, 3% half-elf, 2% half-giant, a few thri-kreen and halflings; 40% freemen, 60% slave, fractional percentages of nobles and Moon Priests). Natives are called “Draji” or “the Draj.

Feathered serpent, smoking mirror, jaguar, and other ferocious creatures

Wheat, rice, other grains, hemp; turkeys, rabbits, textiles, straw mats, and pottery.

Father of Life, Tectuktitlay

Draj is a backwater city-state held firmly in the grasp of a mad sorcerer-king. Draj has never known peace, for warfare and conflict are among its highest ideals. Warriors hold power, and their status is something all aspire to attain. When not waging war against Raam or defending their home from reprisals or conquest, Draji raiders prowl the surrounding wastes, plundering villages for fresh slaves to replace those expended in labor or sacrifice.

Draj owes its sinister nature to its sorcerer-king. Tectuktitlay, the Father of Life, is a pervasive presence in the city-state. His visage adorns walls and buildings, his symbol ripples on banners, and his templars (known as moon priests) are everywhere, enforcing his laws and instructing the people in his perfect divinity. No one would suggest it, but in fact, the sorcerer-king’s features have little majesty. Tectuktitlay has narrow eyes, a wide nose, heavy jowls, and round, pouty lips. Other regal images include the feathered serpent found on banners carried by soldiers in war. The jasuan, or ambush drake, also has a place of prominence in Draj.

Tectuktitlay’s influence is so insidious that most Draji dare not question his divinity, doubt the deeds attributed to him, or disobey the commands given by his moon priests. All citizens know that dissent invites this ire, and his anger can be quelled only by blood sacrifice.

The boggy mudflats surrounding Draj release little usable water, but deep wells in the Gift tap into the water table below.

Draj is an agricultural center, with abundant grain and hemp fields that can feed the city-state many times over. Textiles such as cotton, linen, and silk are major exports. The city’s distance from Tyr means that some commodities, specifically metal goods, are hard to acquire.

The city-state has an enormous military. Some five hundred jasuan knights make up the core of the defense and receive support from another three thousand lesser warriors. The moon priests can press slaves into service if they see the need to do so.

The Tablelands

Altaruk
City 12

Governor

2,000

trading outpost for three merchant houses

Merchant Houses Wavir, Rees, and Tomblador

Governor Sartaj

The Balican merchant dynasties of Wavir, Rees, and Tomblador sponsor this fortified town of about two thousand souls astride the trade route that connects Balic with Tyr. Desperate raiders wait in ambush in the stony barrens and rocky badlands that surround the village, but Altaruk's well-paid mercenaries drive off any bandits they find lurking within half a day's travel of the town's gates.

This protection is not free to travelers. All who want to enter Altaruk must pay a toll of 1 gp per visitor (including each beast of burden). But for those inside the 15-foot-high walls, Altaruk offers stables, room and board, trade opportunities between merchant houses, and gossip from all corners of the Tablelands. Only the largest and fiercest raiding tribes would consider attacking Altaruk, but rumor has it that giants of the Estuary of the Forked Tongue are gathering to strike at the town. It's happened before

Grak's Pool
Village 4

Mercenary Leader

500

ex-raider village

Warlord Grak

Midway between Altaruk and Ledopolus stands a mud-brick fortress built over a natural spring. Because surface water is rare anywhere on Athas, Grak’s Pool is a welcome stop for travelers. Grak, a half-elf warrior of some renown, commands a band of mercenaries based here. He allows visitors to set up camp around the outskirts of his fortress, but his water is not free. He charges travelers 5 cp per drink and 20 cp per bath.

Below the fortress and the spring, a foundation of older ruins extends beneath the stony barrens of the surrounding landscape. Grak and his mercenaries have explored only a portion of these tangled, echoing tunnels. Spine-chilling roars sometimes echo up from the deep passages below Grak’s Pool. Their awful resonance has been sufficient to keep the mercenaries from venturing too far beneath the fortress.

Hidden Village
Village 6

Governor

500

ex-raider village

General Bartras

The tribe of ex-slaves known as the Free established the Hidden Village in a remote crater in the foothills between Tyr and Urik. Since the village was originally founded, the tribe has advanced from a band of raiders to a well-to-do small trading house. The village remains hidden to protect it from nearby Urik, but tribe members confidently travel to Tyr on a regular basis and have become a client village of the Free City.

Though “Hidden Village” remains the name of the community, there has been a push to call the village “Freedom.” This isn’t a high priority on Governor Drog’s or Trade Master Bartras’s list of things to do, however. Opening trade routes to the west is, and the Free have begun negotiating with the pterran villages of the Hinterlands on behalf of Tyr. House Vordon wants to establish an exclusive trade agreement with the pterrans, however, and may cause trouble for the ex-slaves.

Kemalok
City 13

Monarchy

5,000 (90% dwarf, 5% mul, 5% other)

obsidian, stone, grain

Elemental Temples, Geniekin

King Escanor

Once the dwarven settlement of Kled. The Dwarves along with a group of adventurers were able to rediscover the ancient dwarven citadel of Kemalok. Escanor and a group of adventurers from House Ardinay were able to drive out an elemental cult set on destroying the Tyr region. During their adventurers Escanor was able to find the legendary Axe of the Dwarvish Lords and was proclaimed King of the dwarves on Athas.

Dwarves from all over the Tyr region have been moving to the city. Kemalok has a plentiful supply of water and the fields in a nearby valley produce abundant grain. Near the old village of Kled it is surrounded by fields of cactus that provide the dwarves fruit and sustenance for their herds of kip.

Along with an obsidian mine the dwarves have also been mining the surrounding area providing granite and other stone to the city-states.

Kra-Hnur
Client Village 6

Raiding Tribe

500

goats. erdlu

The Great Kra

Home to an aggressive tribe of half-giant raiders, the hold of Kra-Hnur lies in a hanging valley about halfway between Tyr and Walis. Crude stone fortifications barricade the path leading up from the valley to the stronghold. The half-giants keep large flocks of goats and erdlus in the high pastures behind their walls, along with several hundred thralls of other races – captives taken in raids on the lowlands.

The leader of the tribe, a huge, one-eyed half giant war chief known as the Great Kra, is far cleverer than his brutish appearance would suggest. The Great Kra spent his youth serving in the royal guard of King Kalak of Tyr, and when he returned home, he seized control of his tribe. He despises humans, elves, and other “weaklings,” and he personally leads his warriors on raids. The Kra-Hnurdha tribe primarily strikes at caravans on the Trade Road and isolated villages and outposts in the Tablelands. However, with the recent chaos in Tyr, the Great Kra has turned his eye on the client villages clustering within the city’s verdant belt.

However, as Salt View began to show some promise as a legitimate trade partner, House Wavir of Balic ignored the ban. The houses based in Gulg and Nibenay obeyed the edict until Fort Fyra was established. The merchant houses who trade with Salt View through Fort Fyra maintain the polite fiction that the two are entirely separate entities. While House Wavir has been most forward thinking in their efforts to lead the ex-slaves away from their dependency of raiding, some other houses will trade with Fyra to the extent that it serves their own interests, and to the extent that it will protect their caravans from attack by the ex-slaves. The rulers of Nibenay and Gulg have authorized trade with Fort Fyra at the discretion of their Templars.

Fort Harbeth
Trading Fortress 9

Oversight by merchant house

dwarven goods, erdlu, spice

Master Trader Waltian Inika

Fort Harbeth is the major fort of House Inika in the Ivory Triangle region. The fortress is in the southwestern foothills of the Mekillot Mountains, at the intersection of the caravan routes between Gulg, Salt View, and North Ledopolus. It stands at the top of a large hill in the stony barrens, its rear and sides protected not only by the fortress wall but also by the sheer sides of the hill which act as natural palisades. A winding road brings caravans up the hillside to the main gate. In keeping with the traditions of this house, its defenses are quietly understated, but the nomads and raiders of the Triangle have learned better than to attack this powerful fort.

Fort Inix
Merchant Fortress 6

Oversight by merchant house

275

inix

Master Trader Pevuran Bollos

House Shom’s largest fortress east of Nibenay is Fort Inix. Once a major caravan stop, it has been all but useless for decades. It is, however, one of the oldest active merchant fortresses in the Tyr region and controls a strategic oasis in the northern part of the Ivory Triangle region.

Fort Inix can be found at an oasis 30 miles east of Nibenay, just south of the Blackspine Mountains. It lies in a transition zone where the salt flats of the Great Ivory Plain change to the sandy wastes that dominate this region of the Tablelands. The fort itself sits upon a man-made hill.

The Fort Inix oasis is most fertile in the season of sun ascending and early high sun. At this time, the immediate region is filled with flowers, small brush, and other light vegetation. By the end of the high sun season, however, the land has all but dried completely, with only a few deep wells producing water.

Losthome
Village 4

slave village

hunter-gatherers

Chief Zivlil

The halfling slave village of Losthome is a relatively recent addition to the Crescent Forest. The oba’s halfling slave project is less than five years old, and the majority of the inhabitants of Losthome are escapees from this program. Despite its relative youth, it has become a sizable community, with over 50 halflings living in the central portion of the Crescent Forest. While many of the halflings wish to return to their home in the jungles beyond the Ringing Mountains, thus far none have made the terrible journey across the Tablelands. Slowly the Crescent Forest, and Losthome, is becoming their true home.

Outpost 19
Village 7

Oversight by merchant house

trading

Master Trader Ragstol Wavir

Outpost 19 is a small trading outpost in a stony canyon at the northeastern end of the Mekillot Mountains. Established by House Wavir primarily for caravans traveling between Nibenay and North Ledopolus, Outpost 19 now also conducts a significant amount of business with Fort Fyra.

Salt View
Village 6

Slave Tribe

500

performance, raiding

Chief Xaynon

The village of Salt View, nestled in the Mekillot Mountains, is a chaotic sprawl of tents and buildings located within a large cavern on the mountain’s eastern face. Ex- slaves of all races fill the community. The tribe originally practiced raiding as its primary occupation, but today it’s known for a lavish form of storytelling called theater. Salt View’s traveling theater troupes are welcome across the Tyr Region, though they present themselves as free merchants from the independent House Fyra (a cover for Salt View activities). The troupes perform for caravans, at oasis villages, and even in the city-states of Tyr, Nibenay, and Balic.

Estuary of the Forked Tongue

Ledopolus
Town 10

dwarven merchants

3000

trading outpost

Master Builder Bruthambar

The twin towns of North Ledopolus (population 1,000) and South Ledopolus (population 2,000) sit on the shores opposite the island of Ledo. Many dwarves live in these towns, and they are engaged in a great project – the construction of bridges to span the northern fork of the estuary and replace the silt skimmer ferry. The dwarf Bruthambar, chief of the Rockcutter clan, is the head builder and master of the towns. He is a pugnacious ex-mercenary whose bluff good cheer is wearing thin after years of setbacks and obstacles.

The giants that inhabit Ledo, a key stepping-stone for any bridge across the estuary, have already torn down two previous bridging attempts. The giants believe that the bridge is a scheme to gain access to their island's valuable flint deposits. Attempts to bribe them into allowing the construction have proved fruitless. Competing merchant houses make the situation even more difficult. The Wavir and Inika trade posts in Ledopolus favor the bridge, but the head of the Tomblador outpost secretly fans the giants' fears.

Road of Kings

Ket
Client Village 8

Draji Templars

200

trading outpost

Master Templar Harask

Seventy miles northeast of Bitter Well sits the large village of Ket, known to dune traders as the last outpost of civilization in this corner of the Tyr Region. The half legendary cities of Kurn and Eldaarich are many days' travel to the north, and trade with those distant realms is infrequent. Ket lies in a large mudflat covered in tall grasses, trees, and brush. A silt basin surrounds the flat, and a mile-long wooden causeway spans the dust, linking Ket to the Road of Kings. Ket is a client village of Draj, and Draji warriors stationed here protect the settlement from attacks by giants.

Makla
Client Village 8

Urikite military

1700

obsidian

Captain Raqqaq

Makla is a Urikite town of 700 freemen (and another 500-1000 slaves) which sits in the foothills of the Smoking Crown mountains and near the Lake of Golden Dreams.

From Makla, seven obsidian-mine camps sit within a day’s travel (and three more within another day), and as such Makla provides a staging ground for resupplying the mining camps with food, water, tools, and slaves and as a central distribution point for obsidian that comes out of the Smoking Crown mountains.

Generally, merchant caravans will arrive in Makla with supplies, sell them to citizens or various mining concerns, and then load up with obsidian to ferry back to Urik (about 4-5 days’ journey away).

The Urikite military has a large presence in Makla, with a garrison of ~100 soldiers who provide security for the town (both patrolling its streets and protecting it from bandits or rival city-states), though at any given time half of them are on patrol somewhere between Makla and the various mining camps. 20 halflings attached to the garrison serve as scouts and slave-trackers. The garrison is commanded by Captain Raqqaq, a cold and effective thri-kreen.

Hinterlands

Pterran Vale
Village 9

Pterran Triumvirate

4000

farming and hunting

Pterran Vale is by far the largest settlement, with 4,000 permanent residents. The pterrans live in lodges built over hollowed out pits. The lodges are made using bones and hides taken from the larger creatures wandering the Hinterlands, including mekillots and Inixs. The pterrans farm, hunt, and raise herds. They are also fine crafters, making some of the best bone weapons and tools in the known world.

Lost Scale
Village 7

Pterran Triumvirate

2000

farming and hunting

Lost Scale consists of only 2,000 villagers. Originally, the community was established after the pterrans had a split along religious lines. Some continued toward the Tablelands and became the primitive pterrans that still reside there today. Others settled the village of Lost Scale. The disagreements that led to the split have long since been settled, and today the two villages form the basis of civilization for the pterrans of the Hinterlands.

The people of Lost Scale are recognized for their legion of pterrax riders. The best warriors of the village must travel far to the southeast to reach rocky badlands where the flying creatures reside. There, they search the canyons for pterrax eggs. Each warrior is responsible for securing one egg, and for raising and training the baby pterrax that eventually emerges.

Forest Ridge

Ogo
Village 6

Halfling Tribe

4000

King Urga Zoltapl

The town of Ogo is home to a prosperous tribe of about four thousand halflings. At its heart stands a massive, ruined step-pyramid that has stood for as long as the town lore keepers have recorded. A shrine at the base of the structure houses the Spirit Oracle, female halfling druid of unknown abilities who spends much of her time in deep communion with primal powers. Such is her reputation that even individuals from beyond the Forest Ridge seek out her far-seeing advice.

Planes of Dark sun

Athas is a world alone in its planar cosmology, unattached to the rest of the multiverse. Athas sits at the center surrounded by the Black, Gray, and the Elemental and Paraelemental planes, all of which influence the material plane differently. Each plane is a piece that composes the world of Athas, though some connections are more noticeable than others.

The planes of Athas are complex and exist as the total embodiment of a concept in all its forms. The planes interact with Athas and manifest their concepts and effects on the material plane. This can come in the form of being coterminous or remote - in which the planes effect becomes more or less dramatic across the world, or in the form of Manifest Zones which directly affect a small region of the world.

Planar Traits

Each plane, dimension, and demiplane has its own properties and attributes. Planar traits can be broken down into five categories: scope, gravity, time, morphic, and planar essence. Combined, those traits describe the laws and makeup of the plane. These appear in the plane’s traits entry, though any trait that matches the Material Plane (described in the Normal entry in each section below) is omitted.

Enhanced and Impeded Magic

Some planes enhance certain magic and impede opposing effects. A plane that enhances a particular type of magic grants anyone Casting a Spell with that trait a +1-circumstance bonus to their spell DC or spell attack roll with that spell. Impeded magic means a character who Casts a Spell or Activates an Item with the specified trait must succeed at a DC 6 flat check or lose the spell or activation.

Scope Trait

Most planes are immeasurable, so immense they are impossible to quantify. Which immeasurable planes, if any, are infinite is a subject of debate among philosophers and scholars alike. Since so many planes are immeasurable, those planes omit a scope trait. Otherwise, the plane likely has either the finite or unbounded trait.

Finite: Finite planes consist of a limited amount of space (Material Plane).

Immeasurable: Immeasurable planes are immeasurably large, perhaps infinite.

Gravity Traits

Many planes have unusual gravity.

Normal: Bodies of great mass are the centers of gravity, and objects fall toward those centers with a measured amount of force relative to the size of the body.

Microgravity: There is little to no gravity on this plane. Creatures float in space unless they can push off a surface or use some force to propel themselves throughout the plane.

Subjective Gravity: All bodies of mass can be centers of gravity with the same force, but only if a non-mindless creature wills it. Unattended items, objects, and mindless creatures treat the plane as having microgravity. Creatures on a plane with subjective gravity can move normally along a solid surface by imagining “down” near their feet. Designating this downward direction is a free action that has the concentration trait. If suspended in midair, a creature can replicate flight by choosing a “down” direction and falling in that direction, moving up to their Speed or fly Speed. This pseudo-flight uses the Fly action.

Time Traits

Time flows differently on many planes.

Normal: Time passes the same way it does on the Material Plane. One hour on a plane with normal time equals 1 hour on the Material Plane.

Timeless: Time still passes, but the effects of time are diminished. Creatures on these planes don’t feel hunger, thirst, or the effects of aging or natural healing. The effects of poison, diseases, and other kinds of healing may also be diminished on certain timeless planes. Spell energy and other effects still dissipate, so the durations of spells and other effects function as normal. The danger of this trait is that when a creature leaves a timeless plane and enters a plane with another time trait, the effects of hunger, thirst, aging, and other effects slowed or arrested by the timeless trait occur retroactively in the instant of transition, possibly causing the creature to immediately starve or die of old age.

Planar Essence Traits

Planar essence traits describe a plane’s fundamental nature. For example, many of the Inner Sphere’s planes are infused with an element or energy, each of which affects magic on those planes, and the Shadow Plane is awash with shadow.

Outer Planes are fundamentally made up of quintessence, a philosophically aligned material with infinite potential for shape and state that conforms to powerful and prevailing beliefs.

Air: Planes with this trait consist mostly of open spaces and air of various levels of turbulence, though they also contain rare islands of floating stone and other elements and energies. Air planes usually have breathable atmospheres, though they may include clouds of acidic or toxic gas. Air magic is enhanced, and earth magic is impeded. Earth creatures often find themselves at a disadvantage within air planes, which tend to at least make them uncomfortable, as there is little solid ground for them to gain their bearings.

Earth: These planes are mostly solid. Travelers arriving upon an earth plane risk suffocation if they don’t reach a cavern or some other air pocket within the plane’s solid matter. Creatures who can’t burrow are entombed in the plane’s substance and must attempt to dig their way toward an air pocket. Earth magic is enhanced, and air magic is impeded. Air creatures are ill at ease, as they rarely have the space to move freely through even the loftiest warrens.

Fire: Planes with this trait are composed of flames that continually burn with no fuel source. Fire planes are extremely hostile to non-fire creatures. Unprotected wood, paper, cloth, and other flammable materials catch fire almost immediately, and creatures wearing unprotected flammable clothing catch fire, typically taking 1d6 persistent fire damage. Extraplanar creatures take moderate environmental fire damage at the end of each round (sometimes minor environmental damage in safer areas, or major or massive damage in even more fiery areas). Fire magic is enhanced, and cold and water magic are impeded. Water creatures are extremely uncomfortable on a fire plane, and any natural resistance they have against fire doesn’t function against this environmental fire damage.

Magma: Planes with this trait are composed of endless fields of magma that never cool. Magma planes are extremely hostile to non-magma creatures.

Unprotected wood, paper, cloth, and other flammable materials catch fire almost immediately, and creatures wearing unprotected flammable clothing catch fire, typically taking 1d6 persistent fire damage. Extraplanar creatures take major environmental fire damage at the end of each round or massive damage in even more fiery areas). Fire magic is enhanced, and cold and water magic are impeded. Water creatures are extremely uncomfortable on a fire plane, and any natural resistance they have against fire doesn’t function against this environmental fire damage.

Rain: Planes with this trait consist mostly of open spaces but with a constant Heavy Downpour of rain. Rain planes have breathable atmospheres, though they often have Severe Thunderstorms that sweep through the plane. Air and water magic is enhanced, and earth and fire magic is impeded. Earth creatures often find themselves at a disadvantage within air planes, which tend to at least make them uncomfortable, as there is little solid ground for them to gain their bearings.

Silt: These planes are an endless sea of silt. Wind will often kick up the silt and make visibility non-existent and breathing difficult. The silt does not support any weight and any that are not adapted to silt sink to the bottom. Within the silt there is no visibility and breathing is impossible. During the frequent windstorms that pick up the silt all creatures are concealed in the storm.

Extraplanar creatures take minor void environmental damage at the end of every 10 minutes. This damage has the death trait, and if a living creature is reduced to 0 Hit Points by this void damage and killed, it crumbles into dust. Void magic is enhanced, and vitality magic is impeded.

Sun: These planes consist of open spaces with a huge crimson sun. No wind disturbs this plane.

Extraplanar creatures take moderate environmental fire damage every minute (sometimes minor environmental damage in safer areas. Light magic is enhanced, and shadow magic are impeded. Any darkness magic is dispelled. Water creatures are extremely uncomfortable on a sun plane, and any natural resistance they have against fire doesn’t function against this environmental fire damage.

Water: These planes are mostly liquid. Visitors who can’t breathe water or reach an air pocket likely drown. Water magic is enhanced, and fire magic is impeded. Creatures with a weakness to water take damage equal to double their weakness at the end of each round.

Cold: Planes with this trait are supernaturally cold.

Extraplanar creatures take minor environmental cold damage every minute. Cold magic is enhanced, and fire magic is impeded. Fire creatures are extremely uncomfortable on a cold plane, and any natural resistance they have against cold doesn’t function against this environmental cold damage.

Void: Planes with this trait are vast, empty reaches that suck the life from the living. They tend to be lonely, haunted planes, drained of color, and filled with winds carrying the moans of those who died within them. At the end of each round, a living creature takes at least minor void environmental damage. In the strongest areas of a void plane, they could take moderate or even major void damage at the end of each round. This damage has the death trait, and if a living creature is reduced to 0 Hit Points by this void damage and killed, it crumbles into ash and can become a wraith. Void magic is enhanced, and vitality magic is impeded.

Shadow: Planes with this trait are umbral with murky light. On a shadow plane, the radius of all light from light sources and the areas of light spells are halved. Darkness and shadow magic are enhanced, and light magic is impeded.

Planar Stat Blocks

Each of the planes listed in the following pages includes a short stat block of key information. The plane’s type—whether it is a plane, dimension, or demiplane—appears in the stat block’s heading, followed by the traits that define that plane. The following entries also provide important information about each plane.

Category: This indicates whether the plane is an Inner Plane, Outer Plane, Transitive Plane, or dimension.

Divinities: A list of all of the powers that call this realm their home.

Native Inhabitants: A sample of typical inhabitants of the plane. Also listed are the plane’s petitioners, the souls of dead mortals who have been judged and sent on to whichever plane reflects the life they led.

Inner Sphere Planes

The planes of the Inner Sphere form the heart of dark sun. They are the home of mortal life, the focus of elemental attention, the source of mortal souls, and the origin point of the great cycle of quintessence that fuels the motions and stability of reality itself.

Inner Plane

elemental lords of magma

alsahari, lavasouls, magma drakes, magma elementals

This plane is an endless volcanic waste. Every sort of volcanic feature can be found here from rivers of lava to obsidian wastes. The surface tends to be more liquid (hotter) towards the plane of Fire and more solid (cooler) towards the plane of Earth.

Plane of Rain
Plane

Inner Plane

elemental lords of silt

mistsouls, stormsouls, rain drakes, rain elementals, qorrashi

This plane exists between a muddy floor, and a sky of unbroken storm clouds. The rain is constant, and at times becomes sleet or hail. With the sun obscured, most light comes from random bolts of lightning.

Plane of Silt
Plane

Inner Plane

elemental lords of silt

dustsouls, silt drakes, silt elementals, silt horrors, wahali

The Black
Plane

Transitive Plane

shadow giants, Rajat

psi-shadow, shadow, shadow giants, shadow-touched

The Black is a coterminous and coexistent plane that resides next to Athas. It is a reflection of the Prime Material Plane and shows what exists by way of negative space. For as long as Athasians have realized the power of the shadows the Black has been used, whether magically, psychically, or mundanely. The landscape of the Black is in constant flux, spells and psionic powers draw power from the planes, and due to the reflexive nature of the plane, changes on Athas cause changes in the Black.

The power and energy from the Black comes from its connection to the Material Plane of Athas. Shadows show what exist by absence. Shadows are negative space that shows existence through a negative. The Black exists where shadows are, and as its own plane. The Black contains not only the negative space from the reflections of existing objects, but also the potential of what all those things could be. Within the Black, all the things that could be are, but they are reflections, and have no substance, not existence, no life. When creatures used the Black to fuel their abilities, they are drawing on this potential and giving it a reality. The Black is not only the reflection of what is on Athas, but also the reflection of what could be. Powerful spellcasters have investigated the power of exploiting this potentiality to great effect. Rumors of a place beyond the Black, where not even reflections of reality exist are true.

The Hollow is a plane outside of space and time. It is non–existence, and it is here that the Champions trapped Rajaat during the Rebellion.

Because of this, the landscape of the Black is constantly in motion, and never settled. It is at once a reflection of what is, and all the things that could be. The landscape resembles Athas, and there is a definite up and down, ground and sky, buildings, trees, rivers, and seas. However, all these things change and warp constantly. Gravity here exists, but only if one wishes it to. Within the Black there are creatures that once lived on Athas. The halfling servants of the Warbringer were thrown into the Black during the Rebellion. To this day, they remain bodily within the Black, and are only able to interact with Athas through manipulating shadows. Creatures native to the Black are few, but rumor has it that deep within the depths are possibilities of what could be, for both good and ill, and that these things sleep, unless someone awakens them. Terror could be unleashed on Athas if these things were given form outside the depths of the Black.

The Gray
Plane

Inner Plane

none

incorporeal undead

When a character enters the Gray, its vast emptiness stretches out before him. It can be extremely hard to keep one’s bearing in the Gray, especially without a reference point. Distances are hard to determine, and even figuring out which direction one is moving can be a challenge.

The Gray is coexistent with the Material Plane but separate from the Elemental Planes. The Material Plane itself is visible from the Gray, but it appears muted and indistinct, its colors blurring into each other and its edges turning fuzzy. The Gray is usually invisible to those on the Material Plane, and creatures in the Gray cannot normally attack creatures on the Material Plane, and vice versa. A traveler in the Gray is invisible, incorporeal, and utterly silent to someone on the Material Plane.

Religion

In a world without gods, spiritualism on Athas has unlocked the secrets of the raw forces of which the very planet is comprised: earth, air, fire, and water. However, other forces exist which seek to supplant them and rise to ascendancy in their place. These forces have taken up battle against the elements of creation on the element’s own ground in the form of entropic perversions of the elements themselves: magma, rain, silt, and sun.

Faiths

Anyone can be spiritual, but those who do so devoutly should take care to pursue the faith’s edicts (behaviors the faith encourages) and avoid its anathemas (actions considered blasphemous). Each faith has benefits available to the most ardent devotees of the deities. You get these benefits only if you’re a cleric of the deity or some other rule specifically gives you a devotee benefit.

Elemental Clerics

The champions of the elemental lords tend to hold the same environmental views as their elemental masters. This is a result of the peculiar selection process of the elementals and of the initiation that all clerics must suffer.

Air

Clerics who make pacts with the denizens of the Plane of Air are perhaps the most misunderstood of all the elemental clerics. They are wanderers, diviners, travelers, and mystics. Like the winds, their minds are constantly wandering, and they rarely seem focused on a current problem or situation. Some say that is because they are empowered by flighty patrons, and others say that repetitive viewing of the future drives one mad.
Edicts fight all forms of bondage whenever possible, including slavery, and preserve the earth and water
Anathema except any form of bondage, including slavery, allow an innocent to remain jailed.

Devotee Benefits

Dexterity or Wisdom

harm or heal

can choose holy

Performance

Shortbow

Air, Freedom, Knowledge, Travel

1st: gust of wind, 2nd: summon elemental*, 3rd: wall
of wind, 4th: fly, 5th: elemental form*, 6th: teleport, 7th: unfettered pack, 8th: punishing winds

Special: You can’t cast any spell with the Earth trait. Your Summon Elemental and Elemental Form spells only allow you to summon creatures with the Air trait or to take the form of an air elemental.

Earth

Earth endures, and like the mountains and the drying plains, earth clerics must bear the brunt of the fight for Athas' s survival.

Because air, fire, and water all depend on growing things for their enrichment, and because earth alone must sustain itself, it is the earth clerics who must carry on the burden of preventing the environmental holocaust looming over Athas. For, if they do not preserve the land, will not the death of Athas weigh upon their shoulders?
Edicts oppose defilers and teach the nature of the life cycle, attempt to reform any friendly defiler, teach proper agriculture techniques
Anathema do not travel with a known defiler, work with one, or allow a defiler to defile in their presence

Devotee Benefits

Strength or Constitution

harm or heal

can choose holy

Nature

Warhammer

Creation, Earth, Might, Protection

1st: pummeling rubble, 2nd: summon elemental*, 3rd:
one with stone, 4th: shape stone, 5th: elemental form*, 6th: petrify , 7th: planar seal 8th: earthquake

Special: You can’t cast any spell with the Air trait. Your Summon Elemental and Elemental Form spells only allow you to summon creatures with the Earth trait or to take the form of an earth elemental.

Fire

The most feared and unpredictable of the Athasian clerics are those of the Elemental Plane of Fire.

Some say these individuals become crazed during initiation, and others say that one must be insane to petition the destructive lords of flame in the first place.

Whatever the reason for their erratic nature, fire clerics are the most powerful and the most destructive of the elemental priests. Fire priests have earned their reputations for two reasons, they are very aggressive and very offensive. They will laugh maniacally while their enemies are incinerated, and they appear to thrive only when everything around them is being devoured by the fiery appetites of their patrons.
Edicts Encourage the growth of forests, cities, and fields so that they can destroy it again
Anathema Work with a sorcerer-king or any defiler

Devotee Benefits

Dexterity or Charisma

harm or heal

can choose holy

Intimidation

Bastard Sword

Destruction, Fire, Passion, Zeal

1st: breathe fire, 2nd: summon elemental*, 3rd: fireball, 4th: wall of fire, 5th: elemental form*, 6th: flame vortex, 7th: fiery body, 8th: burning blossoms

Special: You can’t cast any spell with the Water trait. Your Summon Elemental and Elemental Form spells only allow you to summon creatures with the Fire trait or to take the form of a fire elemental.

Water

Among the elemental brotherhood, none are more desperate than the lords of the Elemental Plane of Water. Millennia ago, these beings were happy, babbling through brook and floating leisurely in the vast, blue seas. Now they are claustrophobic, screaming for each drop lost to the parched earth. They know that they must quench the thirst of the land before their streams and rivers can return, but every spilled drop of water is yielded grudgingly. It must be so, for the Plane of Water has nearly perished. Clerics of the dying Plane of Water are few, still, they perform the age-old functions of water as healer and bringer of life.
Edicts give water and aid to any in need except those who would criminally waste water, protect all water sources
Anathema waste water, destroy a forest or any other moisture producing area

Devotee Benefits

Dexterity or Constitution

harm or heal

can choose holy

Medicine

Constitution or Wisdom

harm or heal

can choose unholy

Stealth

Scythe

Death, Decay, Delirium, Dust

1st: gritty wheeze, 2nd: summon elemental*, 3rd:
cup of dust, 4th: mirage, 5th: elemental form*, 6th: disintegrate, 7th: control sand, 8th: desiccate

Special: You can’t cast any spell with the Air trait. Your Summon Elemental and Elemental Form spells only allow you to summon creatures with the Silt trait or to take the form of a silt elemental.

Sun

Sun spirits, currently basking in their magnificent power, have the strangest pact in existence between the inner planes and mortal minions.

Sun priests must help eliminate gases that filter and weaken the rays of the sun and remove any other obstructions that would dare defy its radiant omnipotence.
Edicts eliminate gases that filter and weaken the rays of the sun and remove any obstruction that dares defy the sun
Anathema grow trees, forests, or buildings that block the sun

Devotee Benefits

Strength or Charisma

harm or heal

can choose unholy

Intimidation

Khopesh

Fire, Moon, Star, Sun

1st: dizzying colors, 2nd: summon elemental*, 3rd:
holy light, 4th: radiant beam, 5th: chromatic wall, 6th:
vibrant pattern, 7th: cosmic form*, 8th: prismatic wall

Special: You can’t cast any spell with the Water trait. Your summon elemental and cosmic form spells only allow you to summon creatures with the Sun trait or to take the form of a sun elemental.

Sorcerer-Monarchs

Sorcerer-Kings and Sorcerer-Queens are the uncontested rules of their respective City-States. They are immortal in the sense that they cannot die of old age or non-magical disease. In some cases, they cannot be truly killed, but can be stripped of power.

They are masters of combat and magic. Specifically, they wield vast Arcane power, and often mix this power with other disciplines. All can use defiling techniques to power their magic, but not all do so.

Abalach-Re

Raam’s Great Vizier is a neurotic and paranoid woman. Interestingly, and unlike her fellow Sorcerer-Kings, she makes no claim to godhood. Rather, Abalach-Re claims to be the earthly clergy of a divine being called Badna.

Many of the Sorcerer-Kings are avid patrons of gladiatorial sport. From the Forest Arena to the Gladiatorial Coliseum, all the City-States are known for state arenas with regular tournament schedules. Yet, of all the arenas, only The Pit of Black Death of Urik has seen its patron actively participate in the sport itself.

This hands-on approach extends to more than just the games. Hamanu is very active in the rule of his city, passing down edicts and enforcement protocol in the form of his Code of Laws. What’s more, the Lion personally trains with them nearly every day. Not only do his troops bear witness to his physical power, but they also see he holds himself to the same standards of discipline he holds his subjects.

Still, while Hamanu’s templars believe he is a god. He does nothing to thwart or encourage his belief.
Edicts uphold the laws of Urik, prepare for war constantly, destroy the enemies of Urik
Anathema allow emotions to rise to the surface, pity the non Urikite, disobey the edicts of Hamanu

Devotee Benefits

Strength or Constitution

harm or heal

can choose unholy

Athletics

Short Sword

Might, Perfection, Toil, Zeal

1st: endure, 2nd: telekinetic maneuver, 4th:
winning streak

Kalak

There can be no question as to the demands Kalak made upon citizen and slave alike within his City-States. His slaves worked seemingly endless shifts in the Iron Mines of Tyr. Kalak appeared old and frail but had the grip of a trained warrior. He rarely worked magic in front of his people, but claimed he was a god. His Templars viciously stamped out other beliefs, although he did not demand reverence or ritual from his people.

Kalak seemed to lack any form of patience and executed frequently. His Templars were called clergy at times but were in fact bureaucrats. Templars of Tyr were once known for honesty and straight-forward natures. Templars known to have displeased The Tyrant usually ended their lives as part of the Levy. This all has changed with his recent death at the hands of the heroes of Tyr.
Edicts enforce the laws of Tyr, keep order in Tyr
Anathema revolt against Kalak, break the laws of Tyr

Devotee Benefits

Dexterity or Intelligence

harm or heal

can choose unholy

Society

Scourge

Ambition, Secrecy, Trickery, Tyranny

1st: befuddle, 2nd: blur, 3rd: magical fetters

Lalali-Puy

Humanoids of all kinds have made their home in the Tyr Region of Dark Sun along with the insectoid Thri-Kreen. Presented in alphabetical order, the playable Ancestries in this section have especially shaped the land's history.

Table 2-1: Ancestry/Heritage Rarity

Ancestry	Rarity
Aarakocra	Uncommon
Dray	Uncommon
Dwarf	Common
Elf	Common
Fleshwarped	Rare
Half-Elf (Human Heritage)	Common
Half-Giant (Human Heritage)	Common
Halfling	Uncommon
Human	Common
Lizardfolk	Uncommon
Mul (Human Heritage)	Common
Tari	Uncommon
Thri-Kreen	Common

Table 2-2: Versatile Heritage Rarity

Ancestry	Rarity
Ardande	Uncommon
Gray-Touched	Rare
Naari	Uncommon
Oread	Uncommon
Shadow-Touched	Rare
Sylph	Uncommon
Undine	Uncommon

Dark Sun

Intelligent creatures inhabit every harsh, desolate corner of the world of Athas. Giants roam the Silt Sea, gith wander the mountains and canyons, and braxats and belgoi stalk the deserts, but few of these cultures have made a lasting impact on the Tyr Region and its nearby environments as the ten ancestries described in this chapter have.

Common or uncommon, they are all prominent racial types, and thus are available as player characters. If you are familiar with fantasy roleplaying games or literature, you will no doubt find many of Dark Sun's concepts familiar. But Athas is a world where the essential, fundamental nature of things has been twisted through years of unchecked, environmentally abusive magic - many of the things you find familiar may be so in name only.

Thus, your character will often meet single-minded dwarves, nomadic elves, brutish half-giants and sturdy muls among the bustling human settlements.

Mingling among these common races are the members of somewhat uncommon species: a half-elven hermit visits the city of Nibenay, after a long trip in the scorching deserts of Athas, carrying a bunch of ancient artifacts. A group of savage halflings roam the streets, befuddled by the human culture they have just met for the first time. And an alien thri-kreen stands guard outside a watering hole, silent and imposing, its insectoid eyes never blinking.

Ancestry

A character has one ancestry and one background, both of which you select during character creation. You’ll also select several languages for your character. Once chosen, your ancestry and background can’t be changed.

This chapter is divided into three parts:

Ancestries express the culture your character hails from. Within many ancestries are heritages—subgroups that each have their own characteristics. An ancestry provides attribute boosts (and perhaps attribute flaws), Hit Points, ancestry feats, and sometimes additional abilities.
Backgrounds, starting on page 123, describe training or environments your character experienced before becoming an adventurer. Your character’s background provides attribute boosts, skill training, and a skill feat.
Languages, starting on page 138, let your character communicate with the wonderful and weird people and creatures of the world.

Ancestry Entries

Each entry includes details about the ancestry and presents the rules elements described below (all of these but heritages and ancestry feats are listed in a sidebar).

Hit Points

This tells you how many Hit Points your character gains from their ancestry at 1st level. You’ll add the Hit Points from your character’s class (including their Constitution modifier) to this number.

Size

This tells you the physical size of members of the ancestry. Medium corresponds roughly to the height and weight range of a human adult, and Small is roughly half that.

Attribute Boosts

This lists the attribute scores you apply attribute boosts to when creating a character of this ancestry. Most ancestries provide attribute boosts to two specified attribute scores, plus a free attribute boost that you can apply to any other score of your choice.

Attribute Flaw

This lists the attribute score to which you apply an attribute flaw when creating a character of this ancestry. Most ancestries, with the exception of humans, include an attribute flaw.

Languages

This tells you the languages that members of the ancestry speak at 1st level. If your Intelligence modifier is +1 or higher, you can select more languages from a list given here.

Traits

These descriptors have no mechanical benefit, but they’re important for determining how certain spells, effects, and other aspects of the game interact with your character.

Special Abilities

Any other entries in the sidebar represent abilities, senses, and other qualities all members of the ancestry manifest. These are omitted for ancestries with no special rules.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can’t change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

Ancestry Feats

This section presents ancestry feats, which allow you to customize your character. You gain your first ancestry feat at 1st level, and you gain another at 5th level, 9th level, 13th level, and 17th level, as indicated in the class advancement table in the descriptions of each class.

Ancestry feats are organized by level. As a starting character, you can choose from only 1st-level ancestry feats, but later choices can be made from any feat of your level or lower. These feats also sometimes list prerequisites—requirements that your character must fulfill to select that feat

Uncommon Ancestries and heritages

Though uncommon elements of the game are usually acquired during play, you choose your ancestry and heritage at the beginning of the game. This means you should talk to your group and GM about which uncommon ancestries and heritages make sense for the story. For these options, the uncommon trait just means you should take that extra step to talk about it first.

Rare and Unique Backgrounds

Some backgrounds have enough story weight that you need to work with the rest of your group to determine if they’re right for a particular story, like being heir to a throne. You can find more information about these special backgrounds starting on page 123.

Aarakocra

Aarakocra are the most encountered bird people of the Tablelands. Some are from Winter Nest in the White Mountains near Kurn, while others are from smaller tribes scattered in the Ringing Mountains and elsewhere. These freedom‐loving creatures rarely leave their homes high in the mountains, but sometimes, either as young wanderers or cautious adventurers, they venture into the inhabited regions of the Tablelands.

“You are all slaves. You all suffer from the tyranny of the ground. Only in the company of clouds will you find the true meaning of freedom.” ―Kekko Cloud‐Brother, aarakocra cleric

Beak and Feather

From below, aarakocra look much like large birds. Only when they descend to roost on a branch or walk across the ground does their humanoid appearance reveal itself. Standing upright, aarakocra might reach 5 feet tall, and they have long, narrow legs that taper to sharp talons.

Feathers cover their bodies. Their plumage typically denotes membership in a tribe. Males are brightly colored, with feathers of red, orange, or yellow. Females have more subdued colors, usually brown or gray. Their heads complete the avian appearance, being something like a parrot or eagle with distinct tribal variations.

Sky Wardens

Nowhere are the aarakocra more comfortable than in the sky. These bird‐people can spend hours riding the wind currents of the mountains, soaring in the olive-tinged Athasian sky. In battle, they prove dynamic and acrobatic fliers, moving with remarkable speed and grace, diving to lash opponents with weapons or talons before turning and flying away.

Once airborne, an aarakocra leaves the sky with reluctance. While traveling, aarakocra prefer to fly high above to get a good view all-around of their location and detect any threats well in advance. When they stop to rest, they tend to perch on high peaks or tall buildings. Enclosed spaces threaten the aarakocra, who have a racial fear of being anywhere they cannot stretch their wings. This claustrophobia affects their behavior. Unless it is absolutely necessary, no aarakocra will enter a cave or enclosed building, or even a narrow canyon.

Avian Mannerisms

The resemblance of aarakocra to birds isn’t limited to physical features.

Aarakocra display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary birds.

They are fastidious about their plumage, frequently tending their feathers, cleaning, and scratching away any tiny passengers they might have picked up. When they deign to descend from the sky, they often do so near pools where they can catch fish and bathe themselves.

Many aarakocra punctuate their speech with chirps, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. An aarakocra might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; an aarakocra’ s threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa. The idea of ownership baffles most aarakocra. After all, who owns the sky? Even when explained to them, they initially find the notion of ownership mystifying.

As a result, aarakocra who have little interaction with other people might be a nuisance as they drop from the sky to snatch livestock or plunder harvests for fruits and grains.

Shiny, glittering objects catch their eyes, and they find it hard not to pluck the treasure and bring it back to their settlement to beautify it. An aarakocra who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses.

Aarakocra Names

As with much of their speech, aarakocra names include clicks, trills, and whistles to the point that other peoples have a difficult time pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to four syllables with the sounds acting as connectors. When interacting with other races, aarakocra may use nicknames gained from people they meet or shortened forms of their full names.

Male Names: Akthag, Awnunaak, Cawthra, Driikaak, Gazziija, Kraah, Krekkekelar, Nakaaka, Thraka.

Female Names: Arraako, Kariko, Kekko, Lisako, Troho.

Tribal Names: Cloud Gliders, Sky Divers, Peak Masters, Far Eyes, Brothers of the Sun.

Aarakocra Heritages

Nightglider Aarakocra

You are a dedicated nocturnal avian, keeping watch and predating in the most lightless environments. You gain darkvision.

Predator Aarakocra

You come from a line of aarakocra with exceptionally broad wings and lengthy talons. You gain a talon melee unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage. Your talon attack is in the brawling group and has the agile, finesse, and unarmed traits.

Scavenger Aarakocra

Your ancestors originated from a land where food was scarce, and threats were many. You are trained in Survival. You gain the Forager skill feat as a bonus feat. Your thoroughness when gathering food provides you a +1 circumstance bonus to Survival checks to Subsist.

Songbird Aarakocra

You descend from a talented line of strix storytellers. From the highest mountains and purest landscapes where your lungs fill with glorious clean air, you trill, whistle, and croon sweet songs.

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Dexterity

Free

Languages

Common

Aarakocra
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if positive). Choose from Dwarven, Elven, Halfling, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region)

Traits

Aarakocra

Humanoid
Uncommon

Low-light Vision

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

Wings

All aarakocra possess powerful wings. While not all aarakocra focus on honing their flying skills, a strong flap of their wings allows aarakocra to travel longer distances when jumping. When Leaping horizontally, you move an additional 5 feet. You don't automatically fail your checks to High Jump or Long Jump if you don't Stride at least 10 feet first. In addition, when you make a Long Jump, you can jump a distance up to 10 feet further than your Athletics check result, though still with the normal maximum of your Speed.

While natural sounds make you predisposed to sing, voices make you predisposed to mimicry. You receive a +1 circumstance bonus on Deception checks to Impersonate a mimicked voice, where the sound of the voice is the only factor; if you are a master in Deception, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus instead. You also gain a +1 circumstance bonus on Performance checks to sing; if you are a master in Performance, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus instead.

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As an aarakocra, you select from among the following ancestry feats.

1st Level

Aarakocra Defender
FEAT 1

Your ancestral feud with humans gives you experience dealing with vicious foes, and your vengeance knows no bounds. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Intimidation, Perception, and Survival checks against humans, as well as on damage rolls against humans with weapons and unarmed attacks. However, your hatred of humans is immediately obvious, giving you a –2 circumstance penalty to Diplomacy checks against them and usually starting their attitude one step worse towards you.

Aarakocra Lore
FEAT 1

You're well connected to your tribe and perhaps even aarakocra communities beyond your own, where you've learned about the land and techniques of graceful movement. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Acrobatics and Nature. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Aarakocra Lore.

Nestling Fall
FEAT 1

You trust the strength of your wings and can spread them to glide safely to the ground. As long as you can act, you take no damage from falling, no matter what distance you fall.

Story Crooner
FEAT 1

You're a talented story weaver and use your voice effectively. You are trained in Performance. If you would automatically become trained in Performance, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You also gain the Impressive Performance skill feat and gain a +1 circumstance bonus when Performing for an audience of aarakocra.

5th Level

Aarakocra Vengeance
FEAT 5

once per 10 minutes

You, or an aarakocra ally you can see, are damaged by an enemy's critical hit.

You dedicate yourself to destroying those who harm your kin. Until the end of your next turn, you deal an additional +1d6 damage on Strikes against the triggering enemy. The bonus increases to +2d6 if your devastating attacks are two dice and +3d6 if your devastating attacks are three dice.

Feathered Cloak
FEAT 5

To blend in with the grounded and wingless, you fold your wings just so on your back, creating the illusion of a feathered cloak. You receive a +2 circumstance bonus to Deception checks to Impersonate a version of yourself who is not an aarakocra.

Additionally, your folded wings help you obscure objects on your person, providing a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks to Conceal an Object.

Fledgling Flight
FEAT 5

once per round

You can fly through the air in short bursts at half your land Speed. If you don't end your movement on solid ground, you fall at the end of your turn.

Thrown Voice
FEAT 5

You've learned how to throw your voice through the winds, tricking others as to your location. You can cast ventriloquism as a primal innate spell once per day. If you're a songbird aarakocra, you can cast it twice per day instead.

9th Level

Ferocious Gust
FEAT 9

once per 10 minutes

With heavy wing beats, you whip up a furious gust and direct it at your opponents. This air blast has the effects of gust of wind with a DC equal to your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher.

Juvenile Flight
FEAT 9

You unfold your wings for travel and can keep them unfolded for 10 minutes. You gain a fly Speed equal to your land Speed while your wings are unfurled. If you have Fledgling Flight, you gain a +10-foot status bonus to your fly Speed with Juvenile Flight. As normal, since your fly Speed is derived from your land Speed, this status bonus isn't cumulative with a status bonus to your land Speed, if you have one.

Spirit Arts
FEAT 9

A spirit of the land has begun to bond themselves to you, granting you a pact with the land. You can cast speak with animals and status as primal innate spells once per day each.

Wing Step
FEAT 9

With a sharp flap of your wings, you stay light on your feet as you move. You Step 5 feet twice.

13th Level

Ancestor's Transformation
FEAT 13

You can commune with ancestor spirits to assume the form of an enormous primeval aarakocra. You can cast 5th-rank aerial form as a primal innate spell once per day, but you take the form of a primeval aarakocra, using the statistics for a bird form.

Combat Aerialist
FEAT 13

Juvenile Flight

You've studied with aarakocra who have developed fighting
styles dedicated to combat in the air. You gain a +2
circumstance bonus to Acrobatics checks to Maneuver in Flight
and a +5-foot status bonus to your fly Speed.

Fully Flighted
FEAT 13

Juvenile Flight

You gain the effects of Juvenile Flight at all times, rather than just once per day for 10 minutes. This includes the status bonus to your Speed if you have Fledgling Flight.

Aarakocra Adventurers

Adventuring aarakocra most commonly take the emissary, hermit, nomad, scout, or street urchin backgrounds. Aarakocra are agile combatants and prudent adventurers who excel as druids, fighters, monks, rangers, or rogues.

Dray

Created many centuries ago by the Sorcerer-King of Giustenal to serve as a race of sorcerous warriors, dray, as they call themselves—are a strong, resilient race of dragon like humanoids. Most dray were cast out of their home by their creator, Dregoth, and a handful of dray survived when Giustenal was destroyed. From those ancient refugees arose a race of mercenaries, sorcerers, and slave traders known for their calculating (and sometimes duplicitous) ways.

Created in his image

Dray are tall, lean draconic beings with scaly skin, hairless bodies, and clawed limbs. They have no wings, though they do have tails. The first generation dray are less than the perfect beings Dregoth envisioned. Their claws are jagged, their scales mottled and uneven, their bodies slightly bent and mutated. The second generation are near replicas of the dragon king, with proud draconic heads atop long necks. Straight, ivory teeth are set in neat rows within their long jaws. Their leathery scales come in a variety of colors, and their long, whip like tails stretch out majestically behind them.

Dray Names

Dray have personal names given at birth, but they put their clan names first as a mark of honor. A childhood name or nickname is often used among clutch mates as a descriptive term or a term of endearment. The name might recall an event or center on a habit.

Male Names: Arjhan, Balasar, Bharash, Donaar, Ghesh, Heskan, Kriv, Medrash, Mehen, Nadarr, Pandjed, Patrin, Rhogar, Shamash, Shedinn, Tarhun, Torinn

Female Names: Akra, Biri, Daar, Farideh, Harann, Havilar, Jheri, Kava, Korinn, Mishann, Nala, Perra, Raiann, Sora, Surina, Thava, Uadjit

Clan Names: Clethtinthiallor, Daardendrian, Delmirev, Drachedandion, Fenkenkabradon, Kepeshkmolik, Kerrhylon, Kimbatuul, Linxakasendalor, Myastan, Nemmonis, Norixius, Ophinshtalajiir, Prexijandilin, Shestendeliath, Turnuroth, Verthisathurgiesh, Yarjerit

Dray Heritages

A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

First Generation Dray

The first generation of dray created were bestial shadows of dragons, and though their bodies are misshapen and mutated they are extremely durable creatures. They are monstrous in appearance and in demeanor, tending toward ferocity rather than wisdom or intellect. Most first generation dray despise Dregoth for having rejected them.

You gain a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage. Your jaws are in the brawling group and have the finesse and unarmed traits.

Second Generation Dray

The second generation of dray created were more refined in form, in body and in mind. They are not necessarily superior to their progenitors, but they consider themselves to be so, and so does their creator. These dray are frequently arcanist, often favoring defiling magic. Most second generation dray still revere Dregoth, though many do not know he has returned in undeath.

You gain an extra Charisma attribute boost but gain a Dexterity attribute Flaw. Second generation dray have a trace of draconic magic flowing through their veins. Choose one cantrip from the arcane spell list. You can Cast this Spell as an arcane innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up. You gain the trained proficiency rank in arcane spell attack rolls and spell DCs, and your key spellcasting attribute is Charisma.

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As a dray, you select from among the following ancestry feats.

1st Level

Draconic Spell Familiarity
FEAT 1

Second Generation Dray

Either through study, exposure, or familial devotion, you have the magic of dragons bubbling in your blood. During your daily preparations, choose daze, detect magic, or ignition. Until your next daily preparations, you can cast the chosen spell as an arcane innate cantrip. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Dray Breath
FEAT 1

You channel your draconic power into a gout of fire that manifests as a 15-foot cone, dealing 1d4 fire damage. Each creature in the area must attempt a reflex saving throw against the higher of your class DC or spell DC. You can't use this ability again for 1d4 rounds.

At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, the damage increases by 1d4.

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Strength

Free

Languages

Common

Draconic
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if positive). Choose from Ignan, Terran, Undercommon and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region)

Traits

Dray

Humanoid
Reptilian
Uncommon

Born of Fire

You live underground near blazing heat, gaining incredible resilience to warm environments. You gain fire resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1). Environmental heat effects are one step less extreme for you, and you can go twice as long as normal before you are affected by starvation or thirst. However, unless you wear protective gear or take shelter, environmental cold effects are one step more extreme for you.

Claws

Your sharp claws offer an alternative to the fists other humanoids bring to a fight. You have a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage is in the brawling group and has the agile, finesse, and unarmed traits.

Darkvision

You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Dray Lore
FEAT 1

You listened carefully to the tales passed down among your community. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Deception and Diplomacy. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Dray Lore.

Dray Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

You've trained with weapons ideal for subterranean efficiency. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the dray trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the dray trait plus crossbow, greatpick, light pick, pick, and spear—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

Parthenogenic Hatchling
FEAT 1

You were hatched from an unfertilized egg during hard times for your people, and you are a biological copy of your mother. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against diseases. Each of your successful saving throws against a disease reduces its stage by 2, or by 1 for a virulent disease. Each critical success against an ongoing disease reduces its stage by 3, or by 2 for a virulent disease. You take damage only every 2 hours from thirst and every 2 days from starvation, rather than every hour and every day.

Razor Claws
FEAT 1

You have honed your claws to be deadly. Your claw attack deals 1d6 slashing damage instead of 1d4 and gains the versatile (piercing) trait.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with your claws, you get its critical specialization effect.

Reinforced Scales
FEAT 1

First Generation Dray

Your scales have hardened providing you greater protection. Your scales are medium armor in the plate armor group that grants a +4 item bonus to AC, a Dex cap of +1, a check penalty of –2, a speed penalty of –5 feet, and a Strength value of 16. You can never wear other armor or remove your scales; however, you still don't become fatigued from sleeping. Finally, you can etch armor runes onto your scales as normal.

Tail Whip
FEAT 1

By birth or through training, your tail is strong enough to make for a powerful melee weapon. You gain a tail unarmed attack that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage. Your tail is in the brawling group and has the sweep and unarmed trait.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with your tail, you get its critical specialization effect.

5th Level

Dragon Spell Mysteries
FEAT 5

at least one innate spell from a dray heritage or ancestry feat

You've learned more dragon magic. During your daily preparations, choose charm, fear, or sleep. You can cast the chosen spell as a 1st-rank arcane innate spell once that day.

Flexible Tail
FEAT 5

You can perform simple Interact actions with your tail, such as opening an unlocked door. Your tail can't perform actions that require fingers or significant manual dexterity, including any action that would require a check to accomplish, and you can't use it to hold items.

Winglets
FEAT 5

You're among the few dray who grow a set of draconic wings. The wings are initially small and weak; while not enough for full flight, a strong flap allows you to jump further. When Leaping horizontally, you move an additional 5 feet (this additional distance isn't cumulative with the increased Leap distance from the Powerful Leap feat). You don't automatically fail your checks to High Jump or Long Jump if you don't Stride at least 10 feet first. In addition, when you attempt a Long Jump, you can jump a distance up to 10 feet longer than you normally would based on the result of your Athletics check, though you still can't jump farther than your Speed.

9th Level

Dangle
FEAT 9

Flexible Tail

You can hang by your tail from any suitable anchor point, such as a tree branch, balcony, or rocky outcropping (subject to the GM's discretion), typically while climbing. While hanging, you have free use of all your other limbs, so you can perform tasks that require both hands, such as firing a bow or swinging a greatsword.

Dracomancer
FEAT 9

Your inborn arcane power manifests as a dragon's most time-honored spells.

Choose one 1st-rank spell and one 2nd-rank spell from those listed (1st: charm, enfeeble, or sure strike and 2nd: translate, resist energy, or see the unseen).

You can cast each of these spells once per day as arcane innate spells. You gain the trained proficiency rank in arcane spell attack rolls and spell DCs, and your key spellcasting attribute is Charisma.

Dragon's Breath
FEAT 9

Dray Breath

You can put more effort into your Dray Breath to channel greater draconic power, though it takes more out of you. When you use Dray Breath, you can increase the damage dice to d8s and increase the area to a 30 feet cone. If you do, you can't use Dray Breath again for 1 hour.

Dragonblood Paragon
FEAT 9

Dracomancer, Dragon Breath, First Generation Dray, or Second Generation Dray

Your draconic anatomy becomes especially pronounced. You increase the power of one of the following dray heritages or feats you have.

Dracomancer Increase the number of times you can cast each of the granted 1st- and 2nd-rank innate spells by 1.

Dray Breath Creatures that critically fail their save against your Dray Breath take 3d4 persistent fire damage.

First Generation Dray Your jaws unarmed attack gains the deadly d6 trait.

Second Generation Dray Choose one common 2nd-rank spell from the arcane tradition. You can cast this arcane innate spell once per day.

Guarded Thoughts
FEAT 9

Your mind, like a dragon's, foils attempts to read your thoughts. Any effect that specifically attempts to read your mind to glean information must succeed at a counteract check against the higher of your class DC or your spell DC to do so successfully; otherwise, it gains no information. The counteract rank is equal to half your level rounded up.

13th Level

Elite Dracomancer
FEAT 13

Dracomancer

Your magic rivals that of lesser dragons. Choose one 3rd-rank spell and one 4th-rank spell from those listed (3rd: grease, haste, mind reading and 4th: invisibility, mountain resilience, wave of despair). You can cast each of these spells once per day as arcane innate spells.

Hatchling Flight
FEAT 13

Winglets

You can fly a little! You Fly up to half your Speed. If you don't end your movement on solid ground, you fall at the end of your turn.

17th Level

Wyrmling Flight
FEAT 17

Hatchling Flight

Your draconic wings have grown large and strong enough for flight. You gain a fly Speed equal to your Speed, using your wings to stay aloft.

Dray Adventurers

Dray often adventure in pursuit of the power, lore, and treasure that they feel befit their large egos. When adventurers, militias, or careless tyrants shatter a kobold community, the survivors often seek revenge. Typical dray backgrounds include artisan, artist, criminal, hunter, miner, scout, and warrior, plus bandit, cultist, scavenger, and servant. Dray excel as fighters, rangers, and wizards, though they also often channel their ingenuity as alchemists.

Dwarf

Cities of 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 city-states of the Sorcerer-Kings or among the slave tribes that wander the desert wastes.
Dwarves of Athas have no lands of their own and live among the other folk of Athas. They reside both in cities and the countryside, and they tend to be builders and farmers instead of nomads or raiders. Despite the absence of their once marvelous cities and strongholds, they still possess a rich cultural history passed down from generation to generation in great sagas and secret traditions.

"REMEMBER THE INTENSITY OF YOUR FOCUS. Breaking or ignoring your focus will be detrimental to both your body and mind. There is no greater satisfaction than fulfilling a difficult focus. Be serious and sober, always. The only time to be festive is when you have recently fulfilled your focus, during the hours or days until you set a new focus."*

— Vow of the Focus, 1:3

Stocky and Rugged

Short and powerful, dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and possess frames that are extremely massive; the average dwarf weighs in the vicinity of 200 pounds. Most dwarves have deep tanned complexions from lives spent toiling in the hot sun, with wide, callused hands and feet. They usually sport little or no hair; the flowing beards commonly found in dwarven societies of other worlds are never seen on Athas.

Life in the Athasian wastes has given the dwarves a rugged look. They prefer simple and practical clothing that is sturdy and unadorned, a set of clothes that shall be worn repeatedly in their span of toiling in the harsh lands.

Laborious Folk

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, merchants, and slaves.

Dwarves are by nature industrious, skilled, and materialistic. They make excellent artisans and merchants, specializing in either the craftsmanship of handicrafts, weapons, and armor, or the trade thereof.

While they can serve the city or their tribe as warriors, followers of the Way, or healers, their most important contribution to their community is as artisans or traders.

Persistent Minds

Dwarves are known for their stoicism and single-mindedness. They prefer to occupy themselves with meaningful tasks, and often approach these tasks with an intensity rarely seen in other races. Once they fix their minds on the task at hand, be it a challenging bit of engineering, an intricate work of craft, a struggle for survival, or a quest for revenge, it's impossible to abandon it or leave the work half done.

Dwarves will simply fail to listen to reason and will treat any who hinder them as obstacles that must be removed. On the other hand, people who help a dwarf accomplish its task or share its goals are treated with respect and considered good companions.

The commitment to a single task is called a dwarf's focus. A dwarf will work to complete its focus above all else, for the compulsion to succeed is built into the dwarven nature. They literally live for their focus; if a dwarf dies without completing its focus, the need remains so strong that the dwarf may return as an undead to finish the task that drives it.

Dwarf Names

A dwarf receives its name by the community leader, who usually grants it to them after they have completed their first focus, in accordance with their ancient traditions. Thus, they jealously strive to honor their names and never misuse or bring shame to it.

Male Names: Birgaz, Bontar, Brul, Caelum, Caro, Daled, Drog, Ghedran, Gralth, Gram, Hai, Jo'orsh, Jurgan, Kov, Krom, Lian, Lodo, Ltak, Lyanius, Murd, Nati, Portek, Rkard, Sa'ram, Sult, Veso.

Female Names: Ardin, Erda, Ghava, Greshin, Gudak, Fyra, Kesi, Lazra, N'kadir, Palashi, Vashara.

Dwarf Heritages

Ancient-Blooded Dwarf

Dwarven heroes of old could shrug off their enemies’ magic, and some of that resistance manifests in you. You gain the Call on Ancient Blood reaction.

Call on Ancient Blood

You attempt a saving throw against a magical effect, but you haven’t rolled yet. Your ancestors’ innate resistance to magic surges before slowly ebbing down. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws on the triggering save and other saves against magical effects until the end of this turn.

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

20 feet

Attribute Boosts

Constitution

Wisdom
Free

Attribute Flaw

Charisma

Languages

Common

Dwarven
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Dwarf

Humanoid

Darkvision

You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.

Dwarven Focus

A dwarf's focus is the central point of its existence. Pick a Lore skill. You gain the trained proficiency rank in that skill. At 2nd level, you gain expert proficiency in the chosen Lore as well as the Lore granted by your background, if any. At 7th level you gain master proficiency in these Lore skills, and at 15th level you gain legendary proficiency in them. Once a focus is completed a dwarf can gain a new focus that typically takes a week of downtime.

Anvil Dwarf

You are a descendant of a famed crafter and have your own amazing talent. Other dwarves might consider this a blessing from your ancestor, depending on where you grew up. You become trained in Crafting (or another skill if you were already trained in Crafting) and gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat, but you can pick two different specialties instead of one.

Death Warden Dwarf

Your ancestors have been tomb guardians for generations, and the power they cultivated to ward off necromancy has passed on to you. If you roll a success on a saving throw against an effect that has the void trait or was created by an undead creature, you get a critical success instead.

Desert Dwarf

You have a remarkable adaptation to hot environments from ancestors who inhabited blazing deserts. This grants you fire resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1), and you treat environmental heat effects as if they were one step less extreme (incredible heat becomes extreme, extreme heat becomes severe, and so on).

Elemental Heart Dwarf

Through a connection to a genie of the Elemental Planes, you can exude a burst of energy. Choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, electricity, fire, holy, or unholy. Once chosen, this can't be changed. You gain the Energy Emanation activity.

Energy Emanation

(primal) once per day Energy bursts forth from your body. You deal 1d6 damage of your chosen type to all adjacent creatures (basic Reflex save using your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher). At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, this damage increases by 1d6.

Oathkeeper Dwarf

Growing up, you never tried to lie to get what you wanted, and even when necessary, lying makes you uncomfortable. The especially faithful might even have thought that you were blessed by the elements. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to Sense Motive and to Perception DCs against attempts to Lie to you. Furthermore, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy checks to convince others you speak the truth when you are telling the truth, and you take a –4 circumstance penalty to Lie and to your Deception DC against Sense Motive.

Rock Dwarf

Your ancestors lived and worked among a quarry of the mountains or in the depths of the earth. This makes you solid as a rock when you plant your feet.

You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Fortitude or Reflex DC against attempts to Reposition, Shove, or Trip you. This bonus also applies to saving throws against spells or effects that attempt to force you to move or knock you prone.

In addition, if any effect would force you to move 10 feet or more, you are moved only half the distance.

Strong-Blooded Dwarf

Your blood runs hearty and strong, and you can shake off toxins. You gain poison resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1), and each of your successful saving throws against a poison affliction reduces its stage by 2, or by 1 for a virulent poison. Each critical success against an ongoing poison reduces its stage by 3, or by 2 for a virulent poison.

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As a dwarf, you select from among the following ancestry feats

1st Level

Adaptive Vision
FEAT 1

After years of working under the harsh sun of Athas, you've become accustomed to dazzling flashes of light and sudden shifts in illumination. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against visual effects. If you roll a success on a saving throw against a visual effect, you get a critical success instead.

Avenge In Glory
FEAT 1

once per day

Death Warden Dwarf

An ally within 30 feet gains the dying condition.

You honor your ally’s life, gaining temporary Hit Points equal to your level for 1 minute. As long as you have these temporary Hit Points, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Cultured Dwarf
FEAT 1

Your interactions with other cultures have not only taught you about many other ancestries but have also helped you realize the value of your own. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Diplomacy and Society. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore skill feat for the Lore corresponding to your culture (for instance, Kled Lore or Ledopolus Lore).

Dwarven Doughtiness
FEAT 1

You are either naturally calm and collected in the face of imminent danger, or you are very good at faking it. At the end of your turn, reduce your frightened condition by 2 instead of 1.

Dwarven Lore
FEAT 1

You eagerly absorbed the old stories and traditions of your ancestors, the elements, and your people, studying in subjects and techniques passed down for generation upon generation. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Crafting and Religion. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Dwarf Lore.

Dwarven Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

Your kin have instilled in you an affinity for hard-hitting weapons, and you prefer these to more elegant arms. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the dwarf trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the dwarf trait plus the battle axe, pick, and warhammer—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

Eye For Treasure
FEAT 1

You know good artisanship when you see it and can wax poetic about crafting techniques and forms. You become trained in Crafting and gain a +1 circumstance bonus on all Crafting checks made to Recall Knowledge.

If you would automatically become trained in Crafting (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. In addition, you gain the Crafter's Appraisal skill feat, enabling you to identify magic items using the Crafting skill.

Fire Savvy
FEAT 1

You've grown up around a forge and are well-suited to dealing with smoke and flame. Your flat check to remove persistent fire damage is DC 10 instead of DC 15, which is reduced to DC 5 with appropriate assistance. In addition, if you roll a success on a saving throw against suffocation or choking due to smoke or ash, you get a critical success instead.

Forge-Day's Rest
FEAT 1

Your unusual rest cycle allows you to recover faster. As long as you rest for 12 hours, you gain the effects of the Fast Recovery general feat, and you can go 20 hours without resting before becoming fatigued.

Rock Runner
FEAT 1

Your innate connection to stone makes you adept at moving across uneven surfaces. You can ignore difficult terrain caused by rubble and uneven ground made of stone and earth. In addition, when you use the Acrobatics skill to Balance on narrow surfaces or uneven ground made of stone or earth, you aren't off-guard, and when you roll a success at one of these Acrobatics checks, you get a critical success instead.

Stonemason's eye
FEAT 1

You understand the intricacies of stonework. You become trained in Crafting. If you’re already trained in Crafting, you instead gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat for stonemasonry.

You also gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to notice unusual stonework. This bonus applies to checks to discover mechanical traps made of stone or hidden within stone.

If you aren’t using the Seek action or searching, the GM automatically rolls a secret check for you to notice unusual stonework anyway. This check doesn’t gain your normal circumstance bonus

Unburdened Granite
FEAT 1

You've learned techniques first devised by your ancestors during their ancient wars, allowing you to comfortably wear massive suits of armor. Ignore the reduction to your Speed from any armor you wear.

In addition, any time you're taking a penalty to your Speed from some other reason (such as from the encumbered condition or from a spell), deduct 5 feet from the penalty. For example, the encumbered condition normally gives a –10-foot penalty to Speed, but it gives you only a –5-foot penalty. If your Speed is taking multiple penalties, pick only one penalty to reduce.

Vengeful Hatred
FEAT 1

You heart aches for vengeance against those who have wronged your people. Choose an ancestry of your choice when you gain Vengeful Hatred. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to damage with weapons and unarmed attacks against creatures with that trait. If your attack would deal more than one weapon die of damage (as is common at higher levels than 1st), the bonus is equal to the number of weapon dice or unarmed attack dice. In addition, if a creature critically succeeds at an attack against you and deals damage to you, you gain your bonus to damage against that creature for 1 minute regardless of whether it has the chosen trait.

5th Level

Boulder Roll
FEAT 5

Rock Runner

Your dwarven build allows you to push foes around, just like a mighty boulder tumbles through a subterranean cavern. Take a Step into the square of a foe that is your size or smaller, and the foe must move into the empty space directly behind it. The foe must move even if doing so places it in harm’s way. The foe can attempt a Fortitude saving throw against your Athletics DC to block your Step. If the foe attempts this saving throw, it takes bludgeoning damage equal to your level plus your Strength modifier unless it critically succeeds.

If the foe can’t move into an empty space (if it is surrounded by solid objects or other creatures, for example), your Boulder Roll has no effect

Defy the Darkness
FEAT 5

darkvision

Spending a lengthy time underground has honed your darkvision. You gain greater darkvision, enabling you to see through magical darkness even if it normally hampers darkvision (such as the darkness created by a 4th-rank darkness spell). You can't cast spells with the darkness trait, use item activations with the darkness trait, or use any other ability with the darkness trait.

Dwarven Reinforcement
FEAT 5

expert in Crafting

You can use your knowledge of engineering and metalwork to temporarily strengthen thick objects and structures. By spending 1 hour working on an item, you can give it a +1 circumstance bonus to its Hardness for 24 hours. If you're a master in Crafting, the bonus is +2, and if you're legendary, the bonus is +3. You can reinforce a portion of a structure, though 1 hour usually reinforces only a door, a few windows, or another section that fits within a 10-foot cube.

Sheltering Slab
FEAT 5

The stone around you is your ally, and you have learned to use it to shore up your weaknesses. As long as you remain on the ground and are adjacent to a vertical stone wall that rises to your height or taller, you aren't off-guard against attacks as a result of being flanked. This works even if you are at the outside corner of the wall.

Tomb-Watcher's Glare
FEAT 5

Death Warden Dwarf

When you critically hit an undead creature, or an undead creature critically fails a saving throw against one of your abilities, you drive your divine wrath home in your enemy’s heart. The undead is enfeebled 1 for 1 round.

9th Level

Echoes in Stone
FEAT 9

You are standing on a stone or earthen surface

You pause a moment to attune your senses to the stone around you. Until the start of your next turn, you gain imprecise tremorsense with a range of 20 feet.

Energy Blessed
FEAT 9

Elemental Heart Dwarf

Energy runs through your blood more powerfully. When you use Energy Emanation, you can create an emanation of 5 feet, 10 feet, or 15 feet. The damage increases to 6d6 plus an additional 1d6 for every level you have above 9th, instead of 1d6 plus an additional 1d6 for every 2 levels above 1st.

Heroes' Call
FEAT 9

The songs of ancient heroes echo through your mind and quicken your pulse, especially in dire straits. You gain heroism as a 3rd-rank innate occult spell that you can cast once per day. If you Cast the Spell when you have half or fewer Hit Points, you also gain temporary Hit Points equal to twice your level.

Kneel For No One
FEAT 9

Ancient-Blooded Dwarf

Your ancestors’ defiance of magic and your people’s strictly egalitarian mindset mean that certain forms of magic have little effect on you. When you use your Call on Ancient Blood reaction against any spell and roll a critical failure on the saving throw against that spell, you get a failure instead.

Mountain's Stoutness
FEAT 9

If you also have the Toughness feat, the Hit Points gained from it and this feat are cumulative, and the DC of your recovery checks is equal to 6 + your dying value.

Stone Bones
FEAT 9

You are struck by a critical hit that deals physical damage.

Your intractable nature can help you shrug off even the most grievous injuries. Attempt a DC 17 flat check. If you are successful, the attack becomes a normal hit.

Stonewalker
FEAT 9

You have a deep reverence for and connection to stone. You can cast one with stone as a 3rd-rank primal innate spell once per day.

If you have the Stonemason’s Eye feat, you can attempt to find unusual stonework and stonework traps that require legendary proficiency in Perception. If you have both Stonemason’s Eye and legendary proficiency in Perception, when the GM rolls a secret check for you to notice unusual stonework, you keep your bonus from Stonemason’s Eye.

13th Level

Earthen Power
FEAT 13

You channel strength from the earth beneath your feet to pummel your enemies. When making a melee Strike against a target who is standing on the same earth or stone surface as you are, you gain a circumstance bonus to the damage roll equal to the number of weapon damage dice.

March The Mines
FEAT 13

You march through the earth and lead an ally along. You gain a burrow Speed of 15 feet when you use this activity (if you don’t have a higher one), and then you either Stride twice or Burrow twice. You can choose one willing ally adjacent to you at the start of your movement to move with you. That ally ends its movement one square behind you.

Scrutinizing Gaze
FEAT 13

You have a history of encountering undead, this has given you a sixth sense for detecting spirits, haunts, and other restless dead, no matter their form or the strength of their presence. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to Sense Motive when trying to determine if a creature is possessed or under the influence of an effect that would make them controlled, a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks made to see through disguises worn by undead, and a +2 circumstance bonus when using the Seek action to find hidden or undetected haunts or undead within 30 feet of you.

If you aren't using the Seek action or searching, the GM automatically rolls a secret check for you to notice haunts or undead within 30 feet anyway. This check doesn't gain the usual +2 circumstance bonus, and instead takes a –2 circumstance penalty.

17th Level

Stonegate
FEAT 17

Stonewalker

Earthen barriers no longer impede your progress. You gain magic passage as a 7th-rank primal innate spell that you can cast once per day. Unlike the spell, however, this ability can be used only to open passages through barriers of earth or stone.

Stonewall
FEAT 17

once per day

An enemy or hazard’s effect hits you or you fail a Fortitude save against one.

The strength of stone overcomes you so strongly that it replaces your stout body. You become petrified until the end of the current turn. You don’t take any damage from the triggering effect or any other ill effects that couldn’t affect stone.

Dwarven Adventurers

Dwarven adventurers tend to work as treasure hunters or sell swords. They often leave in search of wealth to enrich their families or to reclaim long-lost dwarven treasures or lands taken by the desert.

Typical dwarven backgrounds include acolyte, artisan, merchant, miner, and warrior. Dwarves excel at many of the martial classes, such as barbarian, fighter, monk, and ranger, but they also make excellent clerics and druids.

Elf

The elves of Athas are long-limbed sprinters who lead lives of thievery, raiding, trading, and warfare. As members of tribes that wander the sun-scorched lands, elves usually make a living as traders and herders and rarely stay in one place for long. Each of the city-states hosts an Elven Market — a never-ending bazaar where the elves (and others who deal in goods of dubious origin) sell their wares.
Most elf tribes make a living through herding, but merchants and raiders also ply the desert roads. Elf culture, while savage, is also rich and diverse. They have turned celebrating into an art form, and elf song and dance is some of the most beautiful and captivating in all of Athas.

THEY RUN ACROSS THE BURNING SANDS LIKE whirling dust sweeps across the baked dunes and parched steppes of the Tyr Region. By day they are untamed winds, blowing hot gusts of chaos from one end of the Tablelands to the other. By night they are swift shadows, always in motion, dancing beneath the light of Athas's twin moons. They are the elves of Athas, and the twisted path they trace over the landscape is fast, furious, and more than a little dangerous.*

Savage Beauty

Elves stand between 6 and 7 feet tall, with slender yet muscular builds. They have deeply etched features, with skin that has been made rugged by the baking sun and the scouring sand. Unlike the elves of other worlds, the elves of Athas are not pale-skinned, delicate beings. Their pigmentation is as varied as the flesh of other races and as affected by the rays of the sun. They grow no facial or body hair, but the locks atop their heads come in all colors — from sun-bleached blond to red and brown to darkest black.

Elves prefer to dress in garb designed to protect them from the desert and the elements but also to showcase their tribal customs and traditions. Some also incorporate plunder from raids to enrich their native dress. Song and dance play a major part in elven life, and the music they produce is captivating and seductive to non-elves.

Natural Wanderers

Elves are tireless desert rovers forged in the desert — burned dark by the sun, toughened by the swirling sand, and given strength and speed by the constant wind. There's no racial unity among them. Within a given tribe, all elves are brethren, but outsiders —even other elves— are regarded as potential enemies.

Outsiders can be accepted and perhaps even become friends, but trust takes time to develop, and it is often associated with tests and great sacrifice.

Elves crave free, open spaces in which to run, so elven slaves wither in captivity if they can't escape, a practice they always strive for, when captured. Travelers often see whole tribes running swiftly and with great endurance across the sandy wastes.

Only rarely will an elf ride a crodlu or a kank as mount. To do so is dishonorable unless ill or gravely wounded. The custom of the elves is to keep up or be left behind, so those unworthy of following the elf runs are not considered to be strong and useful to the tribe.

Indolent and Unscrupulous

Most Athasians consider elves lazy and deceitful. It's true that many elves dislike hard work and prefer to live in the moment, avoiding unpleasant tasks and drudgery. If work can wait for even another moment, then it will. For an elf, the future is a dark, deadly place, so it strives to make every moment as enjoyable and full as possible. They also enjoy taking advantage of, steal from, lie to, or misdirect outsiders, not out of malice so much as a desire to separate the gullible from their items of value.

Still, elves do work. In some ways, they work harder than members of other races. While they detest hard labor and will never voluntarily set out to construct anything more durable than a tent or small hut, they will spend hours on end haggling and negotiating with potential customers. When it's important to maintain a valuable trading relationship, elves honor their word and barter in good faith. But the moment they perceive an opportunity that is too good to pass up, they abandon their previous deals.

Elf Names

Names are very important to elves, and they take a great deal of time and care before selecting one. Much thought goes into the selection of names, and tribal leaders consider naming young runners as one of their most solemn duties. Elven names are derived from two sources, the name of their tribe, and a given name based upon the elven tradition of a child's first interesting thing while learning to run. While this might seem an easy task, tribal leaders watch for occurrences that are both significant and that fit the child's personality, for traditions hold that names help shape the elves they are given to. With the proper name, a young elf can grow to become a great elf. With the wrong name, the same elf will disappear in the wastes. Some childhood names are changed because of extraordinary actions undertaken during a youth's rites of passage, but such changes do not happen very often.

Male Names: Abyuuk, Botuu, Coraanu, Dukkoti, Eevuu, Galek, Haaku, Ikan, Jaarati, Kathak, Lobuu, Mutami, Nuuko, Quaar, Radurak, Sorak, Traako.
Female Names: Alaa, Areela, Celba, Deryssa, Ekee, Elas, Enala, Esylk, Grissi, Guuta, Hukaa, Ittee, Jeila, Katza, Keelorr, Nuuta, Nysia, Tala, Utaa, Yalana.
Tribe Names: Clearwater, Night Runner, Shadow, Silt Stalker, Silver Hand, Sky Singer, Swiftwing, Water Hunter, Wind Dancer.

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

30 feet

Attribute Boosts

Dexterity

Intelligence
Free

Attribute Flaw

Constitution

Languages

Common

Elven
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Elf

Humanoid

Low-Light Vision

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

Elven Resilience

You live under the desert's blazing heat, gaining incredible resilience to warm environments. You gain fire resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1), and environmental heat effects are one step less extreme for you (incredible heat becomes extreme, extreme heat becomes severe, and so on).

Elf Heritages

Deep Desert Elf

Your innate connection to the desert makes you adept at moving across sand. You can ignore difficult terrain and uneven terrain caused by rubble or sand in the desert.

In addition, when you use the Acrobatics skill to Balance on narrow surfaces or uneven ground made of sand, you aren't off-guard, and when you roll a success at one of these Acrobatics checks, you get a critical success instead.

Moonless Elf

You have traveled countless hours in the dark of night. You gain darkvision.

Seer Elf

You have an inborn ability to detect and understand magical phenomena. You can cast the detect magic cantrip as an arcane innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

In addition, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to checks to Identify Magic and to Decipher Writing of a magical nature. These skill actions typically use the Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion skill.

Well Traveled Elf

In your journeys, you've dabbled in many paths and many styles. Choose a class other than your own. You gain the multiclass dedication feat for that class, even though you don't meet its level prerequisite. You must still meet its other prerequisites to gain the feat.

Whisper Elf

Your ears are finely tuned, able to detect even the slightest whispers of sound. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus when using the Seek action to find hidden or undetected creatures within 30 feet of you. When you target an opponent that is concealed from you or hidden from you, reduce the DC of the flat check to 3 for a concealed target or 9 for a hidden one. This benefit doesn’t apply if you can’t hear or if the creature is incapable of making sound (for example, if it’s affected by a silence spell).

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As an elf, you select from among the following ancestry feats.

1st Level

Ancient Blooded
FEAT 1

Your elven magic manifests as a simple arcane spell, even if you aren’t formally trained in magic. Choose one cantrip from the arcane spell list. You can cast this cantrip as an arcane innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Cultivated Knowledge
FEAT 1

You have accumulated a vast array of knowledge through your travels. During your daily preparations, you can reflect upon your journeys to gain the trained proficiency rank in one skill of your choice. This proficiency lasts until you prepare again. Since this proficiency is temporary, you can’t use it as a prerequisite for a skill increase or a permanent character option like a feat.

Cultivated Linguistics
FEAT 1

Over your travels, you've studied many languages. During your daily preparations, you can recede into old memories to become fluent in one common language or one other language you have access to. You know this language until you prepare again. Since this knowledge is temporary, you can't use it as a prerequisite for a permanent character option.

Desertcraft
FEAT 1

You have an innate familiarity with desert areas. When in a desert or rocky badlands, if you roll a critical failure on a Survival skill check to Sense Direction, Subsist, or Cover Tracks, you get a failure instead, and if you roll a success, you get a critical success instead.

Elemental Wrath
FEAT 1

You are so attuned to the land that you can call forth a bolt of energy from your surroundings. When you gain this feat, select acid, cold, electricity, or fire. You can call to the land to cast the acid splash cantrip as an innate primal spell at will, except the spell has only verbal components and deals the type of damage you chose instead of acid damage; the spell gains the trait appropriate to its damage instead of the acid trait. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Elf Run
FEAT 1

You lead by example and can help others push themselves beyond their normal limits. When Hustling in an elven group during exploration mode, your elven group can Hustle for up to 20 additional minutes, to a maximum of the amount of time the character with the highest Constitution modifier could Hustle alone.

Elven Aloofness
FEAT 1

As much as you might care for them, you've come to terms with the ephemeral nature of non-elves, and it makes their threats feel less troublesome. If a non-elf rolls a failure on a check to Coerce you using Intimidation, it gets a critical failure instead (and thus can't try to Coerce you again for 1 week).

When a non-elf attempts to Demoralize you, you become temporarily immune for 1 day, instead of 10 minutes.

Elven Lore
FEAT 1

You’ve studied traditional elven arts, learning about arcane magic and the world around you. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Arcana and Nature. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Elf Lore.

Elven Verve
FEAT 1

You can shake off flesh-numbing magic of all kinds. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against effects that would impose the immobilized, paralyzed, or slowed conditions. When you would be immobilized, paralyzed, or slowed for at least 2 rounds, reduce that duration by 1 round.

Elven Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

You favor bows and other elegant weapons. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the elf trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the elf trait plus longbows, composite longbows, sabres, shortbows, and composite shortbows—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

Know Your Own
FEAT 1

You've spent countless hours listening to the stories of elves on Athas and are a studied expert in your people's ways. If you critically fail a check to Recall Knowledge about elves, elven society, or elven history, you get a failure instead.

Nimble Elf
FEAT 1

Your muscles are tightly honed. Your Speed increases by 5 feet.

You have developed psychic link to communicate with other elves without speaking, though this habit that is often uncomfortable to observers. You can cast mindlink as an innate occult spell once per day, but you can target only other elves or half-elves.

Thri-kreen Slayer
FEAT 1

You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to damage with weapons and unarmed attacks against kreen. If your attack would deal more than one weapon die of damage (as is common at higher levels than 1st), the bonus is equal to the number of weapon dice or unarmed attack dice.

Unwavering Mien
FEAT 1

Your psychic control and meditations allow you to resist external influences upon your consciousness. Whenever you are affected by a mental effect that lasts at least 2 rounds, you can reduce the duration by 1 round.

You still require natural sleep, but you treat your saving throws against effects that would cause you to fall asleep as one degree of success better. This protects only against sleep effects, not against other forms of falling unconscious.

Wildborn Magic
FEAT 1

You have learned to access the primal magic provided by spirits of the land. Choose one cantrip from the primal spell list. You can cast this cantrip as an innate primal spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

5th Level

Cultured Patience
FEAT 5

You work at a pace born from working with hundreds of non-elves that enhances your thoroughness. You can voluntarily spend twice as much time as normal on a Perception check or skill check to gain a +2 circumstance bonus to that check. You also don't treat a natural 1 as worse than usual on these checks; you get a critical failure only if your result is 10 lower than the DC. For example, you could get these benefits if you spent 2 actions to Seek, which normally takes 1 action. You can get these benefits during exploration by taking twice as long exploring as normal, or in downtime by spending twice as much downtime.

The GM might determine a situation doesn't grant you a benefit if a delay would be directly counterproductive to your success, such as a tense negotiation with an impatient creature.

Defiance Unto Death
FEAT 5

You loathe templars and their controlling magic, and you’ve been trained to be willing to die rather than give into mental manipulation.

If you would start your turn confused, controlled, or fleeing due to a failed Will save, you can attempt a Will save against the same DC; on a success, you become paralyzed until your next turn, rather than act against your will.

Desert Stealth
FEAT 5

expert in Stealth

You are in a desert or rocky badland environment near an environmental feature that would allow you to Take Cover.

You are skilled at quickly hiding behind bits of rocky terrain or desert plants. You Take Cover and then use that cover to Hide.

Elven Instincts
FEAT 5

Your senses let you react rapidly. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks made as initiative rolls. Additionally, if your initiative roll result is tied with that of an opponent, you go first, regardless of whether you rolled Perception or not.

Elven Suspicion
FEAT 5

Elves have seen elven tribes rice and fall, often at the hands of outside forces. As a result, they have developed a wariness of others who might seek to influence or control them. You've been trained to resist such manipulation, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to saving throws against effects that would make you controlled, such as dominate, and to Perception checks to Sense Motive when trying to determine if a creature is under the influence of such an effect. When you roll a success on a saving throw against such an effect, you get a critical success instead.

Martial Experience
FEAT 5

You've crossed blades with a wide variety of foes wielding a wide variety of weapons, and you've learned the basics of fighting with nearly any of them. When wielding a weapon, you aren't proficient with, treat your level as your proficiency bonus.

At 11th level, you become trained in all weapons.

Wildborn Adept
FEAT 5

Wildborn Magic

The whispers of the spirits of the land grant you more diverse access to simple primal magic. You can cast light, tangle vine and, vitality lash, as innate primal spells at will. If you chose one of those spells with Wildborn Magic, you can select a new spell for Wildborn Magic.

9th Level

Arcane Acumen
FEAT 9

at least one innate spell gained from an elf ancestry feat

The arcane magic you possess grows in power and complexity. Choose one common 2nd-rank spell from the same tradition as an innate spell you previously gained from another elf ancestry feat (from the arcane list if you have Ancient Magic, for example). You can cast that spell as an innate spell once per day, using the same tradition as the list you chose the spell from.

Your magic is adaptable. By spending 1 day of downtime, you can change the spell you chose to a different common 2nd-rank spell from the same tradition.

Brightness Seeker
FEAT 9

Once per day, you can spend 10 minutes studying your surroundings in search of omens related to a particular course of action to cast augury as an innate occult spell. Unless the result of the augury was “nothing,” you gain the following reaction for the next 30 minutes:

Call Upon The Brightness

You attempt an attack roll, skill check, or saving throw while performing the course of action from your augury, but you haven’t rolled yet. You gain a +1 status bonus to the triggering check, or a +2 status bonus if the result of the augury was “woe” and you proceeded anyway.

Elf Step
FEAT 9

You move in a graceful dance, and even your steps are broad. You Step 5 feet twice.

Improved Elf Run
FEAT 9

Elf Run

You know how to get the most effort out of your allies during travel. When Hustling in a group during exploration mode, your group can Hustle for as long as the member who could Hustle longest on their own, plus an additional 20 minutes beyond that.

Polished Knowledge
FEAT 9

Cultivated Knowledge

You’ve continued to refine the knowledge and skills you’ve gained through your travels. When you choose a skill in which to become trained with Cultivated Knowledge, you can also choose a skill in which you are already trained and become an expert in that skill. This lasts until your Cultivated Knowledge expires.

When the effects of Cultivated Knowledge and Polished Knowledge expire, you can retrain one of your skill increases. The skill increase you gain from this retraining must either make you trained in the skill you chose with Cultivated Knowledge or make you an expert in the skill you chose with Polished Knowledge.

Sense Thoughts
FEAT 9

Share Thoughts

You have an even stronger knack for communicating psychically. You can cast mind reading as an innate occult spell once per day.

13th Level

Avenge Ally
FEAT 13

once every 10 minutes

You are within 30 feet of an ally with the dying condition

Your allies have been accepted as close friends, seeing them at death's door brings clarity to your attacks. Make a Strike. Roll twice on the attack roll and use the higher result.

Longrunner
FEAT 13

Improved Elf Run

You’ve perfected your Elf Run ability. While hustling in a group, your group can hustle for a number of hours equal to 1+your constitution modifier.

Universal Knowledge
FEAT 13

Cultivated Knowledge

once per day

You’ve perfected your ability to keep up with all the skills you’ve learned over your many travels, so you’re almost never truly untrained at a skill. You reflect on your many travels, changing the skill you selected with Cultivated Knowledge (and the skill you selected with Polished Knowledge if you have that feat).

17th Level

Magic Rider
FEAT 17

Your people used powerful magic to travel between the planes, and the remnants of that magic make such transportation easier for you. When you are the target of a teleportation spell that transports more than one person, it can affect an additional person beyond the normal limit, chosen by the caster. Additionally, when you're the target of a teleport spell, you and the other targets arrive no farther than 1 mile off target, regardless of distance traveled.

Elven Adventurers

Many elves adventure to explore the world and discover new things. Typical backgrounds for an elf include bandit, charlatan, emissary, entertainer, merchant, or nomad. Elves often become rangers or rogues, taking advantage of their dexterity, or alchemists or wizards, exploring their intellectual curiosity.

Fleshwarped

Fleshwarps are people whose forms were created or radically transformed by magic, alchemy, or unnatural energies like the Pristine Tower. Their unorthodox appearance can make it difficult for them to find a place for themselves in the world.

Magic and unnatural energies that can warp bone and twist sinew are rare on Athas. Fleshwarps are those who have been permanently altered by such methods—sometimes a sapient being created whole cloth from inanimate flesh, but often a victim unwillingly transformed by strange energies or sadistic creators.

The ancestry name “fleshwarp” is an umbrella term, since on Athas the actual fleshwarping process is more infamously well-known than are alterations caused by uncontrolled magic, or the Pristine Tower. Whether practiced by Sorcerer Kings and Queens fleshwarping is the craft of reshaping flesh and mind in vats of foul magical reagents. This has led some scholars of monsters to argue that only those beings created by the Pristine Tower should be considered fleshwarps. Regardless of the source of their altered forms, fleshwarps bear their new shape forever, transformed beings living a wild and strange existence beyond what was possible for their original ancestry.

Although fleshwarps are humanoid, no two look the same. One might possess limbs in unusual places and skin as smooth as glass, while another might have a thick matting of spiny fur. Some might have animalistic features, like a boar snout, scales, or cloven hooves. Others have entirely alien appearances, such as bulging eyes on the backs of their hands. Some may have only subtly uncanny features that differentiate them, such as glowing teeth, smoking eyes, or fingernails made of bone. The only commonality among fleshwarps is their mismatched nature. Let your imagination run wild when creating a fleshwarp character!

If you want a character who is tough and hardy, can change their form as they grow, and can use their wholly unique appearance to inspire awe or fear in others, you should play a fleshwarp.

You Might...

Embrace your unusual appearance to inspire respect or fear.
Be used to relying on yourself.
Distrust large groups of people, particularly mobs, based on past experiences.

Others Probably

Find your physiology fascinating or terrifying.
Assume you are an expert on strange creatures or occult phenomena.
Consider you an enigmatic and unpredictable—and perhaps even dangerous—outsider.

Physical Description

Fleshwarps are humanoids, ranging from 5 to 7 feet tall and from just under 100 pounds to more than 300 pounds. The proportion and appearance of their limbs and features differ widely, but fleshwarps functionally have two legs, two arms, and a single head; a fleshwarp with more limbs than this should consider an appropriate ancestry feat to reflect this variance, or one of their limbs might be vestigial and mostly nonfunctional. Fleshwarps differ widely in their appearance due to the unique circumstances of their creation. Even fleshwarp siblings or two people transformed through the same procedure might look wildly different.

Society

Fleshwarps are so few in number that congregations of them are rare. They most often live on their own, with a small family group, or at the outskirts of a community. Some thrive in cities, however, where they can remain anonymous among the crowds while pursuing careers that allow them to avoid contact with people who might fear or persecute them.

Fleshwarps value endurance and are quick to learn from others, so those who come into contact with others of their kind usually share stories that help each other survive, hide, or thrive more effectively. How a fleshwarp formed can be a painful or horrifying subject, one they consider rude to discuss with anyone besides close friends or loved ones.

Beliefs

Fleshwarps have little to gain from the broader society, and therefore rarely work to support society in turn, beyond perhaps helping other fleshwarps. They need to be able to adapt quickly to survive on their own. Although bigoted or short-sighted people view fleshwarps as monsters, fleshwarps are no more or less prone to evil than any other people, and most seek only to live their lives without trouble. While alienation doesn't force a fleshwarp to feel contempt for others, neither does it encourage a fleshwarp to avoid it. This is especially true for fleshwarps living in the societies that gave birth to their traumatic transformation. Fleshwarps aren't often casually religious; most either have little to do with the elements at all or are exceptionally devout.

Fleshwarped Names

Fleshwarps can come from—and thus have names from—any culture or ancestry, but some give themselves new names after being transformed, whether to celebrate the change, recognize a new phase of their lives, or conceal their past identity. Many fleshwarps also carry a descriptive nickname granted to them by others, such as “Triple Handed,” “Barkfoot,” or “Many-Mouth.” Fleshwarps don't keep nicknames they find personally offensive, but they tend to keep ones that describe their distinctive appearances or that are given by people they care about.

Fleshwarped Heritages

Cataphract Fleshwarp

Your battle-hardened skeleton is laced with additional cartilage and muscle to help bear armor across vast areas of
operation, and your skin is bedecked with tiny spurs of pliable, resilient keratin to optimize the grip and weight distribution of your armor.

Hit Points

Size

Medium or Small

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Constitution

Free

Languages

Common

Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Aberration

Humanoid
Rare

Low-Light Vision

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

Unusual Anatomy

Your unorthodox body resists physical afflictions meant for other creatures. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against diseases and poisons.

You gain the Armor Proficiency feat. If your class makes you trained in all types of armor, you instead become trained in Athletics (or a skill of your choice if you're already trained in Athletics) and gain the Armor Assist skill feat.

Created Fleshwarp

Either through foul defiling magic or psionics, you were created by someone else, voluntarily, or not. Your manufactured body is durable; you don't need to eat and can't starve. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saving throws against diseases.

Discarded Fleshwarp

The lifeshapers who warped your form labeled you a “discard on discovery”—a euphemism for destroying you on sight. An anomaly among anomalies, your body stubbornly repudiates the efforts of lifeshapers seeking to mold you to their grandiose visions, and your immune responses blunt the worst effects of unwanted fleshwarping attempts. If you roll a success on a saving throw against a polymorph effect, you get a critical success instead.

Mutated Fleshwarp

Transformed by uncontrolled magic, by proximity to the Pristine Tower, or by some other mean, you were once a member of a "normal" Athasian ancestry, but not anymore. Due to your toughened or redundant organs, the DC for your checks to recover from persistent bleed damage is 10 instead of 15, and it's reduced to 5 instead of 10 if you have particularly effective assistance recovering from the persistent damage.

Shapewrought Fleshwarp

A powerful defiler, psionicist, or even a sorcerer-monarch, has reshaped you to make you more resilient. You have nevertheless turned the psychic toll of your transformation into a strength. You gain resistance to mental damage equal to half your level (minimum 1).

Surgewise Fleshwarp

The undulations of your body's cilia are hyper-attuned to wellsprings of psionics; they trill and thrum with insights into psychic energies, and their vibrations alert you to the presence of secrets. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Occultism. If you're trained in Occultism, you instead become trained in another skill of your choice. You also gain the Oddity Identification skill feat.

Unknown Origin Fleshwarp

Nobody knows who or what has made you the way you are now. Your emotions are dulled and hard to influence. When you roll a success on a saving throw against an emotion effect, you get a critical success instead.

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As a fleshwarp, you select from among the following ancestry feats.

1st Level

Aberration Kinship
FEAT 1

Your mind resonates with the inscrutable thought processes that inhuman aberrations use to communicate. You can cast mindlink as an innate occult spell once per day, but you can target only aberrations.

Deepvision
FEAT 1

Your vision is suited for night or the underground. You gain darkvision.

Embodied Nibenese Subjectivity
FEAT 1

Cataphract Fleshwarp

You're from Nibenay

Nibenay's Fleshforges shaped you not to achieve individual greatness at arms, but rather to become a part of a legion, a modular piece integral to the combined arms stratagems of Nibenese Templars. You become trained in Arcana and Athletics. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills, you instead gain the trained rank in another skill of your choice. You also become trained in Warfare Lore.

Living Weapon
FEAT 1

You've learned to use part of your form as a weapon. When you select this feat, you gain a claws unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage and has the agile and finesse traits; a horn, jaws, or tusk unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage and has the versatile S trait; or a tail unarmed attack that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage and has the backswing. Each of these unarmed attacks is in the brawling weapon group and has the unarmed trait.

Your features are mutable; you can select this feat at any level, and you can retrain into or out of this feat or change the type of attack you gain.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these unarmed attacks, you get its critical specialization effect.

Special You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you do, select a new attack from the options above.

Startling Appearance
FEAT 1

You are trained in Intimidation (or another skill of your choice, if you were already trained in Intimidation) and gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat as a bonus feat.

5th Level

Embodied Dreadnought
Subjectivity
FEAT 5

Cataphract Fleshwarp

You're from Nibenay

Your colossal might marks you as a behemoth, the pride of Nibenay's Fleshforges, and the heaviest ordnance is a child's toy in your monumental grasp. You're a dreadnought, a living siege weapon, albeit one that wields other siege weapons in battle as your endoskeleton and flesh toughens. You gain the Hefty Hauler skill feat, and your maximum Bulk limit further increases by 3, for a total of 2 to your encumbered limit and 5 to your maximum limit.

Finned Ridges
FEAT 5

The ridges and flaps of your skin steer you through the water. You gain a swim Speed of 15 feet.

Gaping Flesh
FEAT 5

once per day

A creature you are aware of damages you with a melee Strike.

Your wound yawns open, appalling your attacker. The attacker must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher, or become sickened 1 (sickened 2 on a critical failure). It can't recover from the sickened condition while it's adjacent to you.

Mutate Weapon
FEAT 5

Living Weapon

Select one unarmed attack you gained with Living Weapon. The damage die for that attack increases by one step until the end of your turn. In addition, choose to either have the attack gain a reach of 10 feet until the end of your turn or for you to gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls with the chosen unarmed attack until the end of your turn.

Powerful Guts
FEAT 5

Your stomach is particularly durable. When you succeed at a Fortitude save to reduce your sickened value, you reduce it by 2 (or by 3 on a critical success).

Transposable Compliance
FEAT 5

Your protean vitality is fecund and many-succoring: your veins run with life-giving ichor that adapts to the blood and physiology of any body, and your skin molts on command, creating wound-stanching sheaths of tissue for yourself and others. You become trained in Medicine. If you were already trained in Medicine, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You can Administer First Aid without healer's tools by using your physiology instead, but you must take 1 damage to make the attempt. Similarly, you can Treat Wounds without healer's tools but take 2d8 damage. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus on all Medicine checks to Administer First Aid and Treat Wounds using your own physiology.

Uncanny Awareness
FEAT 5

You have a keen sense of movement around you. You gain motion sense as an imprecise sense out to 30 feet. Motion sense allows you to detect nearby motion through vibration and air movement.

9th Level

Captivating Curiosity
FEAT 9

You can snare the attentions of onlookers with your unique appearance. You can cast enthrall as a 3rd-rank occult innate spell once per day.

Coating of Slime
FEAT 9

An acidic ooze coats your limbs. Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 persistent acid damage on a critical hit.

Eerie Compression
FEAT 9

Medium size

Your limbs and even your torso can collapse in on themselves, allowing you to fit through tight spaces as though you were a Small creature. You can move at full Speed while Squeezing.

Embodied Dragoon Subjectivity
FEAT 9

When your allies call for swift reinforcements or lightning raids, you're ready to answer. Your titanic form encompasses both cavalry and rider so that you're able to traverse vast distances and exploit opportunities in the theater of war. Your pores distend and extrude copious amounts of blood, subcutaneous fat, and lymphatic fluid for you to harden and flash-sculpt into gliding wings or a swift-hurtling mount. You can cast gentle landing and marvelous mount each once per day as innate arcane spells. When you cast gentle landing in this way, gliding wings slow your fall, and when you cast marvelous mount in this way, the steed physically protrudes from your own lower body. Neither of these cosmetic changes alter the spells' effects; for example, foes can still attack the marvelous mount as normal.

Gripping Limbs
FEAT 9

Nodules, hooks, or claws on your limbs allow you to cling to surfaces with ease. You gain a climb Speed of 15 feet.

Slip the Grasp
FEAT 9

You are grabbed, immobilized, or restrained.

You have some feature that allows you to quickly evade effects that restrain you. Attempt a check to Escape.

If you succeed, you can Stride, Step, or make a Strike with a melee unarmed attack targeting the creature you Escaped from. If you fail, you instead attempt to Escape a second time.

You increase your multiple attack penalty as appropriate for the actions you took, but only after completing both actions.

13th Level

Augment Senses
FEAT 13

You open vestigial eyes, unfurl tympanic flaps of skin, or otherwise enhance your senses. Until the start of your next turn, you gain the following benefits: you can't be flanked; when you Seek for creatures, you can scan a 60-foot cone or a 30-foot burst instead of the normal area; and when you Seek for hidden objects, you can search a 15-foot square instead of the normal area.

Spew Snakes
FEAT 13

You can open your mouth to an immense size and spew forth an impossibly large mass of snakes. You can cast slither once per day as an innate occult spell, though when you do so, they spew them from your mouth out to the appropriate range, where they land and begin Grappling and damaging creatures as usual. The snakes recognize you as a part of them and don't attempt to Grapple or damage you, even if you are in the area.

Fleshwarp Adventurers

Fleshwarps often live on the margins of society. The hermit, hunter, nomad, or street urchin backgrounds work well for many fleshwarps; others might be criminals, entertainers, or prisoners. The need to defend themselves leads many fleshwarps to become barbarians, fighters, rogues, or rangers. Champions and druids are common callings among fleshwarps who seek to defend and better the lot of others of their kind.

Half-Elf

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.
Born from two worlds but welcome in neither, half-elves struggle to find their place in a hostile land. While being the offspring of two races, they face prejudice and unwillingness from both sides. That, in conjunction with the lack of culture, has turned the half-elves into lonesome, self-sufficient folk.

She kept scouting ahead with the crodlu riders, at times sniffing the air or examining the hard, baked ground. It seemed like she lived in the deserts her whole life, for there wasn't a single day where we took a wrong turn or faced any nasty raiders. Such a lonely and tight-lipped person, I couldn't figure out her whereabouts; even when I tried to approach her, she reluctantly welcomed my effort. Only during the end of our trip did I manage to glean the truth about her. And it was at this moment, when the morning wind brushed her hair, and I suddenly glimpsed a pair of pointed ears.

Of Two Worlds

Half-elves generally grow taller than their human parents but rarely approach the height of their elven parent. They average well above 6 feet tall, though they tend to inherit some of the bulk of their human half, averaging at 140 pounds. In most cases, a half-elf can pass itself off as a human, though telltale features can be spotted that hint at its elven heritage.

Half-elven coloration and features tend to lie somewhere between their human and elven parents, and thus show a variety even more pronounced than that found among either race. Half-elf men can also grow beards.

No Homeland

A half-elf’s life is typically hardened by the intolerance of others. Neither fully human nor fully elven, half-elves rarely find acceptance with either race. Elves are especially intolerant, going so far as casting out the mother of a half-elf child, while humans are more apt to welcome them as allies or partners, although they seldom accept them into their homes. More often than not, half-elves remain outsiders, forced to endure on society’s fringes.

Half-elves don’t form their own communities. Instead, they live either among or on the fringe of human society. They 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.

Natural Survivalists

Intolerance and social rejection has given the half-elf its greatest attribute – self-reliance. As a loner, usually without permanent residence, a half-elf survives the rigors of life in the wilderness completely on its own. The skills involved in survival are only half of the challenge they face – half-elves must also learn to deal with the absence of companionship, the complete lack of conversation and basic friendship. Consequently, these lonesome folk turn for companionship to the animal world, training beasts of the air and sands as servants and friends.

Half-elves hold self-reliance as their most valued trait, never expecting or asking for help no matter what their situation. Self-taught and naturally adept at learning, half-elves dabble in a variety of areas, mastering the skills they need to survive on their own. Some half-elves are bitter and sullen, but most seek to make the best of their circumstances. More than anything, half-elves take pride in defeating expectations.

Half-Elf Names

Half-elves usually pick human or elven naming conventions. As a result of social rejection from both races, they often come up with twisted forms of human and elven names or invent their own.

Male Names: Boaz, Brazin, Ero, Fyrian, Gathalimay, Laban, Lafus, Luris, Melestan, Mirch, Navarch, Poortool, Regg, Ruach, Solzak, Vok, Wek, Wheetan, Xutan.
Female Names: Alie, Arya, Aso, Drewet, Feera, Feykaar, Krysta, Lorelei, Mila, Ranis, Sareka, Thania, Vaerhirmana.

Half-Elf Heritage

Either one of your parents was an elf, or one or both were half-elves. You have pointed ears and other telltale signs of elf heritage. You gain the elf trait, the half-elf trait, and low-light vision. In addition, you can select elf, half-elf, and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Ancestry Feats

You can select elf, half-elf, and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

1st Level

Earned Glory
FEAT 1

Elves are often skeptical of their half-elven kin, and you are experienced at telling stories of your accomplishments to gain their respect. You are trained in Performance. If you would automatically become trained in Performance (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You gain the Impressive Performance feat. When you attempt a Performance check to Make an Impression on an elf, if you roll a critical failure, you get a failure instead.

Elf Atavism
FEAT 1

Your elven blood runs particularly strong, granting you features far more elven than those of a typical half-elf. You may also have been raised among elves, steeped in your elven ancestors' heritage. You gain the benefits of the elf heritage of your elven parent or ancestors. You typically can't select a heritage that depends on or improves an elven feature you don't have. For example, you couldn't gain the cavern elf's darkvision ability if you didn't have low-light vision. In these cases, at the GM's discretion, you might gain a different benefit.

Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.

Round Ears
FEAT 1

Your elven lineage is subtle enough that you look barely different from other humans, and you’ve learned to use that to your advantage. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Deception (or another skill of your choice if you were already trained in Deception). You gain a +4 circumstance bonus to Impersonate checks to pretend you aren’t a half-elf. Observers are never granted circumstance bonuses to Perception checks due to you Impersonating a full-blooded human, and you never take circumstance penalties due to you Impersonating a full-blooded human.

Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.

Sociable
FEAT 1

You’re extremely extroverted, and you often spend your time carousing or otherwise socializing. You are trained in Diplomacy (or another skill of your choice if you were already trained in Diplomacy), and you gain the Hobnobber skill feat.

5th Level

Inspire Imitation
FEAT 5

Your own actions inspire your allies to great achievements. Whenever you critically succeed at a skill check, you automatically qualify to use the Aid reaction when attempting to help an ally using the same skill, even without spending an action to prepare to do so.

Supernatural Charm
FEAT 5

The elven magic in your blood manifests as a force you can use to become more appealing or alluring. You can cast 1st-rank charm as an arcane innate spell once per day.

9th Level

Pinch Time
FEAT 9

One of your parents has a human life span and another an elven life span, with your own somewhere between. As a result, you have an unusual perspective on time, which you've learned to manifest to aid yourself in moments of stress. You gain haste as a 3rd-rank arcane innate spell, though you can target only yourself. You can Cast this Spell once per day.

Half-Elf Adventurers

Many half-elves have difficulty forming lasting bonds with either humans or elves due to the distance they feel from both peoples as a whole. Typical backgrounds for a half-elf include acolyte, courier, hermit, hunter, nomad, or scavenger. Half-elves often become druids, rangers, or psychic.

Half-Giant

In some lost millennium, as a bizarre experiment or perhaps as some sort of curse, giants were magically crossbred with humans, producing a hardy race of towering creatures known as half-giants. Most of them are enlisted as gladiators or in the armies of the Sorcerer-Kings, while others are cast away and become thugs or mercenaries. Whatever their backstory, they more often than not prove to be mighty warriors. Though no one knows for certain, half-giants seem to be a fairly young race. In the city-states, they 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 somewhat big for the world around them, for things built for the use and convenience of humans don't work in their hands.

THERE IT STOOD, A TOWER OF MUSCLE AND BONES, a hulking beast let loose to rampage on its enemies. As the horns blazed over the walls, this creature of mythical size and strength reached the field of battle, swinging a bloodied stone maul at every side. No later than a few minutes, the enemy lay dead, and this half-giant warrior was back at its cage, slightly winded and smiling at its owner. Confounded, I watched as the half-giant's attitude switched from a bloodthirsty beast to a peaceful creature in an instant. What twisted magics had brought such an unpredictable monster into life?

Towering Hulks

A half-giant is an enormous individual, standing between 7 and 8 feet tall, and weighing about 450 pounds. Simply put, a half-giant has inherited its size and massive strength from its giant parent. Its human background, along with human features, has provided it with curiosity, and willingness to learn and cooperate.

Half-giant skin ranges from light brown to deep tan, like certain colors of sand. They either shave their heads or wear long knots, usually in black or brown colors, though paler half-giants can be found with sandy blonde hair.

Of No Culture

There is no half-giant culture common to all of their kind. On the contrary, having insufficient history and overall intelligence to have their own culture, half-giants tend to readily adopt the cultures of other creatures they admire or associate with. Half-giants are very imitative creatures, eager to fit into new situations as they present themselves.

Half-giants, however, aren't as emotionally attached to objects or work as are other races. Whenever presented with a new situation, they examine the roles of the people there, determine where they might best fit in, and then start performing the tasks necessary. But if a situation isn't beneficial, or if a half-giant can't perform well in a given environment, it won't imitate the nearby culture, preferring to moving on when it sees fit.

Fickle Minds

Half-giants switch attitudes very quickly, taking on new values to fit new situations. A half-giant whose peaceful farming life is disrupted by marauders may soon adopt the morals of the very renegades who sacked its village. Goals and lifestyles switch easily, usually based on the charismatic individual that crosses paths with the half-giant or as a reaction to a significant change around it.

Such attitude may present half-giants as unpredictable folk, but more often than not this is not the case. Given the right circumstances, an influential personality can turn a half-giant into an obedient and predictable follower. It will demonstrate friendliness and eagerness to help its companion and remain loyal most of the time — that is, until some powerful personality seizes the opportunity to influence it, or a major event occurs that shakes its behavior.

Half-Giant Names

A half-giant's name depends on whether it's free or enslaved. Free half-giants are likely to borrow the naming conventions of the people they interact with, whereas enslaved ones are usually given a human name.

Male Names: Crag, Den-du, Doorub, Gaanon, Gall, Garchom, Ghurs, Gigus, Hurgen, Jaryx, Junnai, Pegen, T'sor, Tah, Tak, Tutoc.
Female Names: Atrocla, Astara, Baraka, Camla, Er'the, G'rshun, Hezze, Katid, Mura, Ot, Romla, Tal, Vun, Zambia.

Half-Giant Heritage

Your parents were both half-giants. You have an enormous stature and other telltale signs of giant heritage. You gain the giant trait and begin with 10 starting hit points. Half-Giants start with a Strength, Constitution, and a Free attribute boost and gain an Intelligence attribute flaw. You gain the Big Boned trait.

Big Boned

While many creatures with large size have increased reach, your reach functions as it would for medium size creatures.

Because half-giants are Large, they must buy gear made for Large humanoids, see page 295 of CRB for the cost and bulk of items made for large creatures. Half-Giants also require twice as much food and water daily compared to other Ancestries or large sized rations and waterskins. In addition, you can select giant, and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Ancestry Feats

You can select giant and human feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

1st Level

Fear Me
FEAT 1

Everyone fears an angry giant, and you know how to make the small folk tremble. You become trained in Intimidation and gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat. If you're already trained in Intimidation, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

Giant Lore
FEAT 1

You have gone through some of the training for young half-giants. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Athletics and Intimidation. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Giant Lore.

Giant Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

You have been brought up with weapons allow you to fully apply your strength. You have familiarity with the battleaxe, greatclub, greataxe, greatsword, javelin, and hatchet—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

Powerful Frame
FEAT 1

Your giant ancestry shows in your sturdy build or endurance. You gain the Hefty Hauler feat, even if you do not meet its prerequisites.

Stoneclad Boulder
FEAT 1

With your sheer size and strength, armor simply does not weigh you down the way it weighs down smaller creatures. Ignore the reduction to your Speed from any armor you wear. Any other effects which grant an item bonus to AC, but impose a speed penalty (such as the monk's Mountain Stance) have five feet deducted from that penalty

Stupid Giant Know Nothing!
FEAT 1

All half-giants are big, dumb, and gullible, right? Sure. You become trained in deception. If you are already trained in deception, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to feint, create a diversion, and any Deception checks made to feign stupidity or ignorance.

Throw Rock
FEAT 1

You gain the Throw Rock action. You are trained in rocks. You interact to pick up a rock within reach or retrieve a stowed rock, then throw it with a ranged rock Strike that deals a base of 1d6 bludgeoning damage, and with a range increment of 60 feet.

This is considered a simple weapon and a ranged weapon attack from the sling weapon group. However, rocks are not truly considered weapons and cannot normally benefit from weapon runes etched upon them.

5th Level

Behind Me, Tiny!
FEAT 5

You have a shield raised.

You use your large shield to protect your allies. You grant cover to one adjacent ally who is medium or smaller. They may use their reaction to use your help and gain the benefits of standard cover.

Break the Chains
FEAT 5

Half-Giants are too often exploited by industry or slavers. You will not have it: You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to escape the grappled and constrained conditions, as well as all forms of bondage. You also gain this bonus to checks which would free someone else from those conditions, such as Shove attempts which would move a grappling creature out of their arms’ reach, and to assist others escape bondage.

Large Reach
FEAT 5

You have learned to make the most of your size in combat. Your reach increases by 5 feet.

Massive Stride
FEAT 5

Your stature leads to a larger stride. Your Speed increases by 5 feet.

Rock Lobber
FEAT 5

Throw Rock!

Rock lobbing becomes a feat of strength. When making a ranged rock Strike it gains the brutal trait.

9th Level

Catch Rock
FEAT 9

you are targeted with a thrown rock Strike, or a rock would fall on you

You must have a free hand but can Release anything you are holding as part of this reaction. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack or to any defense against falling rocks. If the attack misses you catch the rock, take no damage, and are now holding the rock.

Excessive Bullying
FEAT 9

expert in Athletics or Intimidation

You know how to take advantage of a bad situation. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to intimidation checks against creatures that are grabbed, prone, or restrained. You also gain a +1 circumstance bonus to athletic checks against frightened creatures. These circumstance bonuses increase to +2 when you become legendary in either Athletics or Intimidation.

Giant Resiliency
FEAT 9

Your hardiness lets you withstand more punishment than most before going down. Increase your maximum Hit Points by your level. When you have the dying condition, the DC of your recovery checks is equal to 9 + your dying value (instead of 10 + your dying value). If you also have the Toughness feat, the Hit Points gained from it and this feat are cumulative, and the DC of your recovery checks is equal to 6 + your dying value.

Monumental Weapon
FEAT 9

You have mastered using the weight of large weapons. Weapons that were built for a creature of Large size have the forceful trait while you are wielding them. Large weapons that already have the forceful trait gain a circumstance bonus to the damage roll equal to the number of weapon damage dice.

13th Level

Relentless Beating
FEAT 13

The heaviest of weapons do best at bringing your strength to bear. When you make a melee attack using strength with a Large weapon which has the forceful, backswing, or shove traits, you gain a circumstance bonus to the damage roll equal to the number of weapon damage. If you have the Monumental Weapon Feat, large weapons that already have the forceful trait gain a circumstance bonus to the damage roll equal to double the number of weapon damage dice.

Half-Giant Adventurers

If a half-giant feels like their strength is not appreciated where they are at, they may be turned to adventuring. Although is unlikely a half-giant will ever adventure alone as none will be there to appreciate might and bravery.

Common half-giant backgrounds include guard, hunter, laborer, martial disciple, miner, nomad, and warrior from the Core Rulebook, plus outrider, and refugee from the advanced player guide. Half-giants thrive in martial classes like barbarian and fighter.

Halfling

In the ancient past, halflings were the masters of the world. According to their myths, they were the original inhabitants of the old times, and all other folk are descended from them. That said, today's halflings bear little resemblance to their supposedly ancient forebears. Where once halflings filled the land in every direction, today they inhabit the slowly disappearing forests and jungles, like the Forest Ridge. 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.

"YOU HAVE DESECRATED OUR SACRED PLACE," A wispy voice called from behind. Just in front of the stand of trees, there stood a halfling, looking wild and primal with his painted body and forest-decorated hair, and pointing a crude, bone sword at the party. "The ancient nature-masters cannot forgive you for trespassing, and neither can I! I will raise up the forest itself to destroy you!" All of a sudden, a rain of arrows exploded out of the trees, splintering on the ground all around the surprised group, while the feral cries of halfling warriors echoed from the darkness of the forest.*

Small and Primitive

Halflings are diminutive in stature, standing about 3 feet tall. They are muscled and proportioned like humans, but they have the faces of wise and beautiful children that never succumb to the rigors of age. They weigh between 50 and 60 pounds and are virtually always in peak physical condition. Their skin ranges between pale to tan and their hair is usually a brown or black mane. They have brown or hazel eyes, though blue are rarely found; such halflings are said to bear the life of the oceans inside them.

The appearances of the halflings are considered primitive by most of the other Athasian races; while their garments are usually a plain loincloth and occasionally a vest or shirt, halflings fancy painting their skins in various colors. They rarely tend to their hair, instead letting them grow in great lengths, and keeping them unkempt and dirty. Halflings sport no body hair.

Solidary and Ritualistic

Halflings possess a great deal of racial unity. Though divided politically into separate villages and communities, halflings have great respect for their race as a whole. Disputes between members of communities are most often settled peaceably, through ritual and custom.

These customs are often directed by each tribe's shaman, the spiritual leaders who hold positions of honor and respect above all other halflings.

On a personal level, halflings relate very well to one another, well enough to have built a considerable culture rich in art, song, and other expressive communication. Ritual and custom control every aspect of halfling life. Such is the diversity of their culture, that the rest of the races find it difficult to comprehend. More than a few times, a halfling will be frustrated by outsiders who can't seem to grasp their abstract thinking and complicated concepts. Fortunately, halflings who have travelled widely outside their traditional home have a much greater tolerance toward those "lacking" of culture.

Self-Improvement

Halfling culture cares for each individual's inner well-being and spiritual unity with race and environment. They have little concept of conquest or monetary wealth, and vices that other societies take for granted — such as greed and avarice — are particularly discouraged. Treasure that appeals to other characters holds little interest to a halfling. It is more concerned with promoting halfling culture, its own knowledge, or its inner well-being. A halfling will never lie to or betray another halfling.

Expanding Knowledge

Halflings face difficulties at first, in adjusting to other customs and points of view, but as a generally openminded race, they tend to be curious or confused by the actions of others rather than initially combative. Halfling adventurers will attempt to learn all they can about other cultures but will almost never adopt those cultures as their own. Their shamans teach that the customs of others are no threat to their own, so a halfling adventurer will welcome the chance to learn another point of view, rather than instantly try to change it.

Halfling Names

Halflings have a given name, provided to them by their community. They stick to that name as a mark of their heritage, even though they might adopt many different names from the other cultures.

Male Names: Cha, Derlan, Fullgrin, Lokee, Nok, Pauk, Pletaw, Purhas, Urga-zoltapl, Zivlil.
Female Names: Alansa, Anezka, Dokala, Grelzen, Horga, Jikx, Joura, La, Nasaha, Tar, Vensa.

Halfling Heritages

Hit Points

Size

Small

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Dexterity

Wisdom
Free

Attribute Flaw

Strength

Languages

Common

Halfling
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Halfling

Humanoid
Uncommon

Keen Eyes

Your eyes are sharp, allowing you to make out small details about concealed or even invisible creatures that others might miss. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus when using the Seek action to find hidden or undetected creatures within 30 feet of you. When you target an opponent that is concealed from you or hidden from you, reduce the DC of the flat check to 3 for a concealed target or 9 for a hidden one.

Cannibal

Your ancestry has a reputation of cannibalism. When interacting with creatures of other ancestries that don‘t know you personally or don‘t have any reason to trust you, you get a -1 circumstance penalty on diplomacy checks. On the other hand, you also get a +1 circumstance modifier on intimidation checks against the same creatures.

Forest Ridge Halfling

Accustomed to the vibrant life of the forest ridge, the soothing sounds of the forest and plentiful vegetation have provided you with the means to find rest and relaxation especially replenishing. When you regain Hit Points overnight, add your level to the Hit Points regained. When anyone uses the Medicine skill to Treat your Wounds, you can eat a snack to add your level to the Hit Points you regain from their treatment.

Green-touched Halfling

The blood of the life shapers is so strong within you that you’re truly one of them. Choose one cantrip from the primal spell list. You can cast this spell as a primal innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up. You can change this cantrip to a different one from the same list once per day by meditating to realign yourself with the Green; this is a 10-minute activity that has the concentrate trait.

Gutsy Halfling

Your tribe is known for keeping a level head and staving off fear when in difficult situations, making them wise leaders and sometimes even heroes. When you roll a success on a saving throw against an emotion effect, you get a critical success instead.

Nomadic Halfling

Your ancestors have left the forest ridge and have travelled across the Tyr region, never content to settle down. You gain two additional languages of your choice, chosen from among the common and uncommon languages available to you, and every time you take the Multilingual feat, you gain another new language.

Observant Halfling

Your finely honed senses quickly clue you in to danger or trickery. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your Perception DC, though not to your Perception checks.

Twilight Halfling

Your ancestors hunted under the concealing cover of the jungle, whether for good or ill, and over time they developed the ability to see in twilight beyond even the usual keen sight of halflings. You gain low-light vision.

Wildwood Halfling

You hail from deep in the jungle or forest, and you’ve learned how to use your small size to wriggle through undergrowth, vines, and other obstacles. You ignore difficult terrain from trees, foliage, and undergrowth.

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As a halfling, you select from among the following ancestry feats.

1st Level

Canopy Sight
FEAT 1

You can see equally well even in dense jungles where only a small amount of light shines through. You gain low-light vision.

Distracting Shadows
FEAT 1

You have learned to remain hidden by using larger folk as a distraction to avoid drawing attention to yourself. You can use creatures that are at least one size larger than you (usually Medium or larger) as cover for the Hide and Sneak actions, though you still can't use such creatures as cover for other uses, such as the Take Cover action.

First World Magic
FEAT 1

Your connection to the spirits of the land grants you a primal innate spell. Choose one cantrip from the primal spell list. You can cast this spell as a primal innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Halfling Courage
FEAT 1

The most important thing you've learned living with fear is how to overcome it. When you roll a success on a saving throw against a fear effect, you get a critical success instead. In addition, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Will saves against fear effects and a +2 circumstance bonus to your Will DC against attempts to Demoralize you.

Halfling Lore
FEAT 1

You've learned how to provide for your tribe, be it through hard-earned sustenance or your knowledge of nature. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Crafting and Nature. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Halfling Lore.

Halfling Scuttle
FEAT 1

An ally ends a move action adjacent to you.

You take advantage of your ally’s movement to adjust your position. You Step.

Halfling Superstition
FEAT 1

You attempt a saving throw against a spell or magical effect but haven’t rolled yet.

You notice spirits that inhabit objects, learning which bring good fortune and which are unlucky. You focus on the power of a lucky object, granting you a +1 circumstance bonus to your saving throw against the triggering effect.

Halfling Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

You've trained with weapons ideally suited to dense forests and jungles. You familiarity with blowguns, hatchets, scythes, shortbows, and composite shortbows—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

Hunter's Defense
FEAT 1

once per hour.

trained in Nature.

A creature with the animal, beast, elemental, fey, fungus, or plant trait attacks you, and you can see the attacker.

Your canny understanding of natural and primal creatures helps you predict and dodge their attacks. The triggering attack roll targets your Nature DC instead of your AC. Though this allows you to avoid taking penalties to your AC, it doesn't remove any conditions or other effects causing such penalties. For example, an enemy with sneak attack would still deal extra damage to you for being off-guard, even though you wouldn't take the –2 circumstance penalty against the attack.

Intuitive Cooperation
FEAT 1

You are accustomed to working alongside others, relying on each other to get by. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid, and your allies gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid you.

Jungle Strider
FEAT 1

You are adept at dodging roots, foliage, and other jungle obstacles. You ignore difficult terrain in forests and jungles. In addition, when you use the Acrobatics skill to Balance on narrow surfaces or uneven ground made of plant material, you aren't off-guard, and when you roll a success at one of these Acrobatics checks, you get a critical success instead.

Scuttle Up
FEAT 1

Your environment requires you to climb mountainous terrain or tree trunks with great regularity. You gain a Climb speed of 10 feet.

Slither
FEAT 1

You are an expert at moving through extremely tight spaces. You gain the Quick Squeeze skill feat, even if you're not trained in Acrobatics. When you roll a success on an Acrobatics check to Squeeze, you get a critical success instead.

Snare Setter
FEAT 1

You are adept at the time-honored halfling art of trap making. You gain the trained proficiency in Crafting. If you were already trained in Crafting, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain the Snare Crafting feat.

Sneaky
FEAT 1

Stealth is an important tool in your arsenal. You can move 5 feet farther when you take the Sneak action, up to your Speed.

In addition, as long as you continue to use Sneak actions and succeed at your Stealth check, you don't become observed if you don't have cover or greater cover and aren't concealed at the end of the Sneak action, as long as you have cover or greater cover or are concealed at the end of your turn.

Sure Feet
FEAT 1

Whether keeping your balance or scrambling up a tricky climb, your hairy, calloused feet easily find purchase. If you roll a success on an Acrobatics check to Balance or an Athletics check to Climb, you get a critical success instead. You're not off-guard when you attempt to Balance or Climb.

Teeth Sharpener
FEAT 1

You have filed your teeth into jagged points and have an unusually powerful jaw, making your mouth a dangerous weapon. You gain a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d4 piercing damage. Your jaws are in the brawling group and have the finesse and unarmed traits. Whenever you score a critical hit with your jaws unarmed attack, your target takes 1 persistent bleed damage per weapon damage die.

Unfettered Halfling
FEAT 1

You were either pressed into indentured servitude or shackled in a prison, but you’ve since escaped and have trained to ensure you’ll never be caught again. Whenever you roll a success on a check to Escape or a saving throw against an effect that would impose the grabbed, immobilized, or restrained condition on you, you get a critical success instead. Whenever a creature rolls a failure on a check to Grapple you, it gets a critical failure instead.

Woodcraft
FEAT 1

You have an innate familiarity with forested areas. When in a forest or jungle environment, if you roll a critical failure on a Survival skill check to Sense Direction, Subsist, or Cover Tracks, you get a failure instead, and if you roll a success, you get a critical success instead.

5th Level

Ambush Awareness
FEAT 5

You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks attempted as initiative rolls.

Additionally, if your initiative roll result is tied with that of an opponent, you go first, regardless of whether you rolled Perception or not.

Ankle Bite
FEAT 5

teeth sharpener

A foe gives you the grabbed or restrained condition using a part of its body.

Whenever someone grabs onto you, you instinctively bite down hard. Sometimes that makes them let go, and sometimes it just makes them angrier, but either way, it’s both satisfying and tasty. Make a jaws Strike against the triggering foe. On a critical hit, you are no longer grabbed. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to this Strike.

First World Adept
FEAT 5

First World Magic

By drawing upon the spirits of the land, you can siphon a portion of their power to learn more primal innate magic. Once per day, you can cast animal allies, protector tree, or summon animal. At 7th level, the spell is heightened to 2nd-rank, and every 2 levels thereafter, the spell is heightened an additional spell rank.

Forest Stealth
FEAT 5

expert in Stealth

You are in a forest or jungle environment near an environmental feature that would allow you to Take Cover.

You are skilled at quickly hiding behind bits of underbrush or foliage. You Take Cover and then use that cover to Hide.

Kneecap
FEAT 5

You deliver a punishing blow to an enemy's knee, shin, or other vulnerable anatomy within your reach. Make a Strike with one of your melee weapons or melee unarmed attacks. This attack doesn't deal damage. On a hit, the target takes a –10-foot status penalty to its Speed (or a –15-foot status penalty on a critical hit). The penalty lasts for 1 round. This penalty applies only if the target has a land Speed and depends on legs or other targetable appendages to use its land Speed. As with all penalties to Speed, this can't reduce a creature's Speed below 5 feet.

Recognize Ambush
FEAT 5

You roll initiative

Your experience with the various predators of the jungles has honed you to be ready for an attack at all times. You Interact to draw a weapon.

Skilled Climber
FEAT 5

Scuttle Up

You can navigate vertical surfaces with ease. Your climb Speed increases to your land Speed when climbing trees or mountainous terrain.

Snare Genius
FEAT 5

expert in Crafting; Snare Crafting

Your expertise makes your snares more powerful, and you can place them quickly and efficiently. Each day during your daily preparations, you can prepare three snares from your formula book for quick deployment; if the snare normally takes 1 minute to Craft, you can Craft it with 3 Interact actions. Snares prepared in this way don't cost you any resources to Craft. The number of snares you can prepare this way increases to four if you are a master in Crafting, and to five if you are legendary.

When you Craft and deploy a snare that deals damage, any creature that critically fails its saving throw against the snare's initial effect and takes damage becomes off-guard until the end of its next turn.

Step Lively
FEAT 5

A Large or larger enemy ends a move action adjacent to you.

You are an expert at avoiding the lumbering footsteps of larger creatures. You Step to another space adjacent to the enemy.

9th Level

Between the Scales
FEAT 9

Underestimating you is a grave mistake, but it's one others keep making. You've learned to take advantage of slips in your foes' defenses. When you Strike an off-guard creature using a melee weapon or unarmed attack that has the agile and finesse traits, it gains the backstabber trait.

Briar Battler
FEAT 9

You've learned to use roots, crevices, uneven ground, and dense underbrush to your advantage. When you're in difficult terrain from an environmental feature, you can Take Cover, even if the feature wouldn't ordinarily be large enough for you to Take Cover.

Cling
FEAT 9

Your last action was a successful Strike.

You hang onto a foe to harry them into submission. If your target moves while you're hanging onto it, you can choose to move with the target. The target is released if you choose not to move with it, at the start of your next turn, or if the target Escapes.

Attempts to Escape from a Cling follow the rules for Escape but use your Acrobatics DC and end the Cling instead of the conditions normally ended by the Escape action.

Special You can use this action without a free hand if your preceding Strike was made with your jaws or a similar unarmed attack you could use to hang on. The GM determines which unarmed attacks apply. Hanging on in this way prevents you from using that unarmed attack.

Close Quarters
FEAT 9

You've trained to fight with allies in dense undergrowth, or similarly cramped terrain. If you are Small or smaller, you can end your movement in the same square as a Small or smaller ally. No more than two creatures can share the same space when using this ability or a similar one.

Dance Underfoot
FEAT 9

Step Lively

You dart under the legs of your enemies in combat. You can end a successful Tumble Through action in a Large or larger enemy's space. Also, when using the Step Lively feat, you can Step into the triggering enemy's space. The enemy must have limbs or otherwise leave you enough room for this maneuver, as determined by the GM. For instance, you could share space with a giant or dragon, but not an ooze.

First World Expertise
FEAT 9

at least one primal innate spell

You can use your connection to spirits of the land to hide yourself and expose hidden foes. You can cast invisibility and revealing light each once per day as primal innate spells.

Hungry Halfling
FEAT 9

Teeth Sharpener

You’ll eat anything and anyone. Whenever you inflict persistent bleed damage with your jaws unarmed attack, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to half your level for 1 minute.

Irrepressible
FEAT 9

You are easily able to ward off attempts to play on your fears and emotions. When you roll a success on a saving throw against an emotion effect, you get a critical success instead. If your heritage is gutsy halfling, when you roll a critical failure on a saving throw against an emotion effect, you get a failure instead.

Skittering Scuttle
FEAT 9

Halfling Scuttle

You can scuttle farther and faster when maneuvering alongside allies. When you use Halfling Scuttle, you can Stride up to half your Speed instead of Stepping.

Snare Commando
FEAT 9

Snare Crafting; expert in Deception or Intimidation

A creature fails or critically fails a save against your snare.

Your snares are so befuddling that your victims rarely notice you slipping out of sight. If you have expert proficiency in Deception, you can Create a Diversion against the triggering creature. If you have expert proficiency in Intimidation, you can instead Demoralize the triggering creature. If you have both, choose one of the two effects.

Unhampered Passage
FEAT 9

You won't allow others to restrain you. You can cast unfettered movement on yourself as a primal innate spell once per day.

Vivacious Conduit
FEAT 9

Your connection to the spirits of the land has grown, and their vitality energy flows into you rapidly. If you rest for 10 minutes, you gain Hit Points equal to your Constitution modifier × half your level. This is cumulative with any healing you receive from Treat Wounds.

13th Level

Ceaseless Shadows
FEAT 13

Distracting Shadows

You excel at going unnoticed, especially among a crowd. You no longer need to have cover or be concealed to Hide or Sneak. If you would have lesser cover from creatures, you gain cover and can Take Cover, and if you would have cover from creatures, you gain greater cover.

Predator Step
FEAT 13

You know how to take advantage of foes thrown off-balance by unstable terrain, or similar impediments. While in an outdoor environment, you can Step into difficult terrain and enemies in difficult terrain are off-guard to you.

Toppling Dance
FEAT 13

Dance Underfoot

While sharing a creature's space using Dance Underfoot, your weapons and unarmed attacks gain the trip trait, but only against the creature whose space you share. You can be in the same space as a Large or larger prone creature, even if it's not your ally.

Very Sneaky
FEAT 13

Sneaky

You can move up to your Speed when you use the Sneak action, and you no longer need to have cover or greater cover or be concealed to Hide or Sneak.

Vicious Snares
FEAT 13

Snare Crafting; expert in Crafting

You've learned how to create traps that cause greater injuries. You deal an additional 1d6 precision damage with damaging snares you craft. This increases to 2d6 additional precision damage if you're legendary in Crafting.

17th Level

Shadow Self
FEAT 17

once per hour

legendary in Stealth

You successfully use Stealth to Hide and become hidden from all your current foes or use Stealth to Sneak and become undetected to all your current foes.

With a powerful talent for misdirection, you slip from your adversaries' notice so thoroughly you appear to be somewhere else. You become invisible for 1 minute or until you take a hostile action, whichever comes first. Choose a location within 10 feet of you. Until your invisibility ends, you appear to be hidden in that location to anyone trying to find you. If the searcher gets clear evidence that you're not there, they no longer think you're hidden there, but they don't discover your actual location.

Halfling Adventurers

For the many halflings who hail from remote regions, wilderness backgrounds like hunter, nomad, or scout are excellent fits. Those more accustomed to urban areas might be animal whisperers, bounty hunters, and herbalists. Hermits are common, and emissaries are critical to maintaining relationships with other peoples. Thanks to their deep cultural connections to nature, halflings make excellent druids and rangers. Halflings' natural agility and perceptiveness also make them capable clerics, fighters, and rogues.

Human

Humans are the predominant race on Athas. They are a versatile breed, brilliant and exceptional as often as they are unremarkable and mundane. A resourceful and hardy race, they can be found in every social stratum and situation: city dweller or desert villager, herder, or trader, noble or slave. Humans' drive, ambition, and ingenuity help the race survive on the dying world and thrive under the rule of the Sorcerer-Kings.

YOU SEE THOSE POOR SODS, STROLLING ABOUT, minding their own business? All those people around you, in their various garments and colorations. A foolish lot they are, for they outnumber every other race, yet they can't control their very lives, instead choosing to live under the tyranny of those Sorcerer-Kings and their lackeys, the templars. But just because they accept this oppressive life doesn't mean they don't have goals or ambitions. This mass of unclean bodies you see can topple their superiors just as easily as they bow their heads at them. You only have to give them motivation, or the promises or wealth and power.

Diverse in Appearance

There is no typical human in the Tyr Region. An individual can stand a little over 6 feet tall and weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. While they come in all shapes and sizes, they tend to reflect certain traits common to particular city-states. Humans in Draj, for example, have broad chins, bronze skin, and black hair that hardly ever grows on their faces. Humans from Gulg have dark brown skin and rounder features with thick, curly hair. And humans hailing from Balic bear tanned complexions, dark eyes, and grow finely trimmed beards.

More diverse are the humans that have been subject to the abusive magic that devastated the land and twisted its appearance. These people show unusual physical traits — odd skin or eye color, lack of body hair, webbed fingers, or exaggerated features. While unusual, these traits are not uncommon and rarely elicit more than a glance.

A Multitude of Personalities

Humans are the most adaptable, ambitious, and individualistic people among the common races; even the tyranny of the Sorcerer-Kings hasn't stamped out their diversity. Other races often don't know what to expect when meeting a human for the first time, because predicting their behavior based on cultural norms is difficult. Their widely varying tastes, morals and customs is linked to their various different cultures, which are based around the seven city-states.

Individually and as a group, humans can be adaptable opportunists, and they stay alert to changing political and social dynamics.

Bereft of Past

What generally passes for the history of Athas is actually a jumble of folklore and propaganda. Prohibited by the Sorcerer-Kings and templars from keeping written histories, most humans know only the stories told in their communities. These tales paint the despots as saviors, gods, or anointed champions who, through selfless actions, saved Athas from certain destruction. Many humans scoff at these tales, however, being more concerned with the problems of the present than devoting themselves to the lessons of the past.

Still, there are those who chafe against tyranny's chains, but hold their tongues, seeing no reason to jeopardize the shelter, water, and food they receive in the city-states they usually live in return for their loyalty. The most daring, ambitious, relentless, or even foolish among them are usually the ones who defy the comforts of a city-state to choose the life of adventure.

Natural-Born Diplomats

Many humans learn at an early age to get along with everyone, defusing hostility and finding common ground. Since humans are generally more tolerant of other races, they can easily adapt to situations involving elves or dwarves, and even more exotic races such as halflings and thri-kreen. Where other, less tolerant races come into contact with one another, humans often serve as diplomatic buffers.

Human Names

Humans generally adopt the culture of the city-state they live in or are closest too. Since they are a race in constant motion, however, and due to their diversity, it is all too common to meet humans of different ethnic groups living behind the walls of the same city. As such, their naming conventions have been mostly blurred, and humans welcome any names suitable for themselves or others.

Male Names: Agis, Astemba, Azzer, Banoc, Brevit, Canth, Daclamitus, Dote, Etheros, Evrim, Faldar, Frayne, G'rshun, Gammeg, Grak, Hargat, Ibl, Jedra, Kargash, Kilay, Kyuln, Leoricius, Limrick, Maetan, Marut, Morlak, Nylorac, Ojoba, Paxitus, Quay, Ragoner, Raka, Rathoras, Salust, Sizzkus, Styan, Tabaros, Taiy, Thanik, Thaxos, Toth, Varnag, Weom, Xamres, Ydris, Zaethus, Zeburon.
Female Names: Amandia, Astara, Averil, Buris, Camla, Catrion, Damras, Dorjan, E'la, Faria, Haarna, Jaseela, Jun, Katid, Kelira, Korla, Lestria, Llunet, Nadia, Nanda, Nauhyotl, Ode, Rasia, Rayne, Sa-rea, Shallin, Sycia, Talara, Tamar, Tara, Tella, Temmnya, Tierney, Ular, Veeshte, Ves.

Human Heritages

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Two free attribute boosts

Languages

Common

Additional languages equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Human

Humanoid

Other Halves

By default, half-elves, half-giants, and muls descend from humans.

A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

Half-Elf

Half-Giant

Big Boned

While many creatures with large size have increased reach, your reach functions as it would for medium size creatures.

Mul

One or your parents was a dwarf. Muls resemble powerfully built humans but with broad shoulders, powerful thighs, thick arms but swept-back ears that come to subtle points. You gain the dwarf trait, mul trait, and dark vision. In addition, you can select dwarf, human, or mul feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Skilled Heritage

Your ingenuity allows you to train in a wide variety of skills. You become trained in one skill of your choice. At 5th level, you become an expert in the chosen skill.

Versatile Heritage

Humanity's versatility and ambition have fueled its ascendance to be the most common ancestry in most city-states throughout Athas. Select a general feat of your choice for which you meet the prerequisites (as with your ancestry feat, you can select this general feat at any point during character creation).

Ancestry Feats

1st Level

Adapted Cantrip
FEAT 1

spellcasting class feature

Through study of multiple magical traditions, you’ve altered a spell to suit your spellcasting style. Choose one cantrip from a magical tradition other than your own. If you prepare spells, you can choose this spell when you prepare your cantrips, in addition to your other options. If you have a spell repertoire, replace one of your cantrips known with the chosen spell. You can cast this cantrip as a spell of your class’s tradition.

If you swap or retrain this cantrip later, you can choose its replacement from the same alternate tradition or a different one.

Cooperative Nature
FEAT 1

The short human life span lends perspective and has taught you from a young age to set aside differences and work with others to achieve greatness. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus on checks to Aid.

General Training
FEAT 1

Your adaptability manifests in your mastery of a range of useful abilities. You gain a 1st-level general feat. You must meet the feat's prerequisites, but if you select this feat during character creation, you can select the feat later in the process in order to determine which prerequisites you meet.

Special You can select this feat multiple times, choosing a different feat each time.

Haughty Obstinacy
FEAT 1

Your powerful ego makes it harder for others to order you around. If you roll a success on a saving throw against a mental effect that attempts to directly control your actions, you critically succeed instead. If a creature rolls a failure on a check to Coerce you using Intimidation, it gets a critical failure instead (so it can't try to Coerce you again for 1 week).

Know Oneself
FEAT 1

background with a psychic academy

once per day

You roll a critical failure on a saving throw against an emotion effect.

You center yourself and call to mind the monastic ideals of mindfulness and self-knowledge. You fail the save against the emotion effect instead of critically failing.

Natural Ambition
FEAT 1

You were raised to be ambitious and always reach for the stars, leading you to progress quickly in your chosen field. You gain a 1st-level class feat for your class. You must meet the prerequisites, but you can select the feat later in the character creation process in order to determine which prerequisites you meet.

Natural Skill
FEAT 1

Your ingenuity allows you to learn a wide variety of skills. You gain the trained proficiency rank in two skills of your choice.

Psychic Tattoos
FEAT 1

background with a psychic academy

You have tattoos on your body corresponding to one of the various psychic academies. Choose one of the following cantrips: shield, tangle vine, daze, electric arc, figment, sigil, or void warp. You can cast the associated cantrip as an innate occult spell at will.

Unconventional Weaponry
FEAT 1

You’ve familiarized yourself with a particular weapon, potentially from another ancestry or culture. Choose an uncommon simple or martial weapon with a trait corresponding to an ancestry (such as dwarf, elf, or halfling) or that is common in another culture. You gain access to that weapon, and for the purpose of proficiency, you treat it as a simple weapon.

If you are trained in all martial weapons, you can instead choose an uncommon advanced weapon that has an ancestry’s trait or is common in another culture. You gain access to that weapon and have familiarity with that weapon. For the purpose of proficiency, you treat it as a martial weapon.

5th Level

Adaptive Adept
FEAT 5

Adapted Cantrip; can cast 3rd-rank spells

You’ve continued adapting your magic to blend your class’s tradition with your adapted tradition. Choose a cantrip or 1st-rank spell from the same magical tradition as your cantrip from Adapted Cantrip. You gain that spell, adding it to your spell repertoire, spellbook, or prepared spells just like the cantrip from Adapted Cantrip. You can cast this spell as a spell of your class’s magical tradition. If you choose a 1st-rank spell, you don’t gain access to the heightened versions of that spell, meaning you can’t prepare them if you prepare spells and you can’t learn them or select the spell as a signature spell if you have a spell repertoire.

Clever Improviser
FEAT 5

You’ve learned how to handle situations when you’re out of your depth. You gain the Untrained Improvisation general feat. In addition, you can attempt skill actions that normally require you to be trained, even if you are untrained.

Ornate Tattoo
FEAT 5

Psychic Tattoos

You expand your tattoos to encompass greater magic. Choose a 1st-rank occult spell from the same school as your Psychic Tattoos, either a common spell or another to which you have access. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate occult spell.

Sense Allies
FEAT 5

Like many humans raised in a close-knit community, you have always been strongly attuned to the presence of others. Willing allies that you are aware of within 60 feet that would otherwise be undetected by you are instead hidden from you. The flat check for you to target willing allies within 60 feet that are hidden from you is 5 instead of 11.

9th Level

Cooperative Soul
FEAT 9

Cooperative Nature

You have developed a soul-deep bond with your comrades and maintain an even greater degree of cooperation with them. If you are at least an expert in the skill you are Aiding, when you roll a failure or critical failure to Aid a skill check, you get a success instead.

Group Aid
FEAT 9

Your upbringing emphasized teamwork and helping your allies comes naturally to you. After you Aid an ally at a skill check that doesn't have the attack trait, you can also Aid any other ally who attempts the same skill check for the same purpose that round. You do so as a free action rather than a reaction.

The preparation you did to help must still apply to the other allies, and you can Aid each ally only once. For example, if you helped lift up an ally to Aid them on an Athletics check to scale a wall, you could keep the same posture to give a boost to other allies attempting to scale the wall in the same round.

Hardy Traveler
FEAT 9

There's no journey too far or burden too heavy when your friends are at your side. Increase your maximum and encumbered Bulk limits by 1. In addition, you gain a +10-foot circumstance bonus to your Speed during overland travel.

Incredible Improvisation
FEAT 9

once per day

You attempt a check using a skill you’re untrained in

A stroke of brilliance gives you a major advantage with a skill despite your inexperience. Gain a +4 circumstance bonus to the triggering skill check.

Multitalented
FEAT 9

You've learned to split your focus between multiple classes with ease. You gain a 2nd-level multiclass dedication feat, even if you normally couldn't take another dedication feat until you take more feats from your current archetype.

If you're a half-elf, you don't need to meet the feat's attribute score prerequisites.

Virtue-Forged Tattoos
FEAT 9

Ornate Tattoo

Your tattoos are a work of psychic genius, a masterpiece of art, psionics, and skin. Choose a 3rd-rank occult spell from the same school as your Psychic Tattoos, either a common spell or another to which you have access, including a lower-rank spell heightened to 3rd-rank if you wish. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate occult spell.

13th Level

Advanced General Training
FEAT 13

Over the course of adventuring, your adaptability has let you pick up numerous useful abilities. You gain a general feat of 7th level or lower. You must meet the feat's prerequisites.

Special You can select this feat multiple times, choosing a different feat each time.

Bounce Back
FEAT 13

once per day

You lose the dying condition

You recover from near-death experiences with astounding resilience. Don't increase the value of your wounded condition due to losing the dying condition.

Stubborn Persistence
FEAT 13

Humans are renowned for their ability to persist through the most grueling of trials. When you would become fatigued, attempt a DC 17 flat check. On a success, you aren't fatigued. If the fatigued condition has an underlying cause that you don't address, such as lack of rest, you must attempt the check again at an interval determined by the GM until you fail the flat check or address the underlying cause.

17th Level

Heroic Presence
FEAT 17

once per day

The blood of heroes courses through your veins, and you inspire your allies to dig deep and find a new level of resolve. You grant up to 10 willing creatures within 30 feet the effects of a 6th-rank zealous conviction, though the effect automatically ends on a target if you give that target a command, they would normally find repugnant. This action has the auditory trait or visual trait, depending on how you inspire your allies.

Human Adventurers

Humanity is the most diverse of all the ancestries. They can be from any of the listed backgrounds and excel in any class.

Lizardfolk

Ages ago when Athas was green and lush, the ancestors of the Lizardfolk were the same that you might find on any other sphere in the Material Plane. The Lizardfolk of Athas had some of the same tribal societies, living in the swamps and the tropical regions of the world. That all changed when Athas started to die. As the soil began to change, so did the Lizardfolk.

“The people of the Tablelands know nothing of life. They choose no Path for themselves, and consume everything until they are dead.” -- Keltruch, pterran ranger

Lizardfolk adapt to the environment they are born in. Over several millennia the native Athas Lizardfolk began to change along with the world. They have since developed inito unique heratages.

Jozhal

A typical jozhal rarely tops 4 feet in height and individuals weighing more than 80 pounds are rare. Jozhal have long, slender legs, lanky arms ending in dexterous hands, and long, flexible tails. The neck of a jozhal is also long and flexible, ending in a narrow muzzled head with large eyes and many needle-like teeth. The skin is covered in many tiny scales, which are only visible on close examination, and can change color to match with or contrast against the creatureʹs surroundings.

The jozhal of athas travel in family groups, traveling between the fertile areas of the Tablelands and Hinterlands, beyond the Ringing Mountains. Jozhals are naturally shy and secretive creatures. The leader of a family will learn the Common tongue, so that he or she may communicate with outsiders on the rare occasion that interaction is necessary. When around those they do not know, especially other races, jozhals become much more withdrawn and are unwilling to even speak to outsiders unless necessary. They will often travel days out of their way just to avoid encountering non-jozhals, especially elves and humans, whom they consider destructive. If forced to interact with members of another race, jozhals will attempt to make the experience as short as possible. Jozhals always make use of every little bit of anything that they find, to the point of extremes, practicing cannibalism and fashioning the bones of their dead into weapons and tools.

Lizardfolk of Saragar

Lizardfolk have toothy snouts and long and powerful tails. Those from temperate or desert regions tend toward gray, green, or brown scales that aid in camouflage, while those from tropical climes are brightly colored. Many sport dorsal spikes or garish neck frills that hint at their clan lineage. Lizardfolk reach physical adulthood at age 15 and live up to 120 years. The average lizardfolk stands 6 to 7 feet tall, but grows throughout their lifetime, gaining strength and size with age.

The lizard folk of saragar lifted themselves from savagery earlier than their cousins of other worlds, the lizardfolk of sarangar developed a simple yet civilized society ages ago. Living in close contact with the kreel flocks that they shepherd, the saragar lizardfolk have long since lost their taste for sentient flesh, subsisting instead largely on a diet of kreel flesh, kelp and various shellfish.

Ruled by a line of wise and generous kings, they have also enjoyed the support of Saragar‘s Mind Lords, who saved the lizardfolk from the ravages of the Cleansing Wars and the dread Keltis.

Nikaal

The nikaal are 5 to 6 feet tall and weigh 150 to 250 pounds. Although their facial features are similar to humans, their scales and eyes set them apart. Their bodies are covered with fine, purple scales that regulate the body temperature in the searing desert sun and prevent evaporation of vital fluids. Nikaalian eyes have a distinctly serpentine shape and color.

Nikaals are a race of nomadic tribes of wanderers and explorers. They rarely remain in one place for more than a week, and some suspect they have traveled to the Tablelands from a faraway homeland beyond the Ringing Mountains.

Nikaal tribes wander from city to city, trading goods bought at the last city or picked up on their travels. Only during tribal crises, such as the appointment of a new elder, does a tribe stop for more than a week. Though supposed to have journeyed from beyond the Ringing Mountains, the nikaals‘ origin is shrouded in mystery.

Pterran

Pterrans are 5 to 6 1/2 feet tall reptiles with light brown scaly skin, sharp teeth, and a short tail. Pterrans wear little clothing, preferring belts and loincloths, or sashes. They walk upright, like humanoids, and have opposing thumbs and three– fingered, talon–clawed hands. Pterrans have two shoulder stumps, remnants of wings they possessed long ago, and a finlike growth juts out at the back of their heads. Pterrans weigh between 180 to 220 pounds. There is no visible distinction between male and female pterrans.

Pterrans are rarely seen in the Tablelands. They live their lives in the Hinterlands, rarely leaving the safety of their villages. However, the recent earthquake and subsequent storms have brought disruption into the pterran’s lives. More pterrans now venture outside their homes, and come to the Tyr region to seek trade and information.

Ssurran

Ssurrans range in size from 4 to 6 feet tall and weighing anywhere between 180 and 225 pounds, and there’s little difference between male and female ssurrans in terms of body shape or size. Their thick leathery hide is found in all manner of earthen tones, and has seen them adapt well to the harsh Athasian climate and provides some manner of camouflage in the desert environment. Their heads feature a pronounced, toothy snout –-perpetually curved into a slight, sly smile-– and small, dark eyes. Their crocodilian appearance is completed by a thick, non-prehensile tail, between 2 and 3 feet in length, used for balance, posture, and communication.

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Two attribute boosts based on heritage

Free

Attribute Flaw

One attribute flaw based on heritage

Languages

Common

Iruxi
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from Elven, Giant, Halfling, Kreen, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Humanoid

Lizardfolk
Uncommon

Claws

Your sharp claws offer an alternative to the fists other humanoids bring to a fight. You have a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage. Your claws are in the brawling group and have the agile, finesse, and unarmed traits.

Low-Light Vision

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

Ssurrans are nomadic, humanoid reptiles. Some are raiders while others are simple hunters. As lizardfolk of the desert, they have adapted to the heat of the Athasian day and are active even during the blazing mid-day heat. Ssurrans roam Athas, seeking shelter and food. There have been cases when multiple tribes have joined together against a common threat. These multitribal groups are led by a council of elders formed from the shaman/leaders of each tribe. Ssurrans are strict carnivores. They prefer the flesh of halflings, but prey upon any living thing they find.

Lizardfolk Names

Lizardfolk names come from their ancient language and tend to be traditional. Names are typically chosen by the clan’s astrologer in accordance to omens and which star signs are ascendant when a lizardfolk egg hatches, though occasionally a lizardfolk’s parents may name a hatchling for an ancestor or a beloved historical hero.

Lizardfolk Names: Arasheg, Barashk, Essaru, Enshuk, Gishkim, Hazi, Inishish, Kutak, Nasha, Shulkuru, Tizkar, Utakish, Zelkekek

Lizardfolk Heritages

Jozhal

You can change your skin color to blend in with your surroundings, making minor shifts with a single action and dramatic changes over the course of an hour. When you're in an area where your coloration is roughly similar to the environment (for instance, forest green in a forest), you can use the minor, single action application of this ability to make localized changes that help you blend into your surroundings, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks until your surroundings change in coloration or pattern. Jozhal are Small size and have an attribute boost in Dexterity and Intelligence and an attribute flaw in Strength.

Lizardfolk of Saragar

Your family is descended from the most common lizardfolk heritage, and you are accustomed to aquatic environments. You gain a 15-foot swim Speed and you gain the Breath Control general feat as a bonus feat. The lizardfolk of saragar have an attribute boost in Strength and Wisdom and an attribute flaw in Intelligence.

Nikaal

You can flare your neck frill and flex your dorsal spines, Demoralizing your foes. When you do, Demoralize loses the auditory trait and gains the visual trait, and you don't take a

penalty when you attempt to Demoralize a creature that doesn't understand your language.

You also gain the Threatening Approach action. Nikaal have an attribute boost to Constitution and Strength and an attribute flaw in Charisma.

Threatening Approach

You Stride to be adjacent to a foe and Demoralize that foe. If you succeed, the foe is frightened 2 instead of frightened 1.

Pterran

You move easily through thick forest and jungle, using every branch or bush. You can always use the Take Cover action when in forest or jungle terrain to gain cover, even if you're not next to an obstacle you would normally be able to Take Cover behind. You gain the Terrain Stalker feat, even if you're not trained in Stealth, and you must choose underbrush as your chosen terrain. Pterran have an attribute boost in Charisma and Wisdom and an attribute flaw in Dexterity.

Ssurran

Your thick scales help you retain water and combat the sun's glare. You gain fire resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1). Environmental heat effects are one step less extreme for you, and you can go 10 times as long as normal before you are affected by starvation or thirst. However, unless you wear protective gear or take shelter, environmental cold effects are one step more extreme for you. Ssurran have an attribute boost in Constitution and Strength and an attribute flaw in Dexterity.

Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level). As a thri-kreen, you select from among the following ancestry feats.

1st Level

Bone Magic
FEAT 1

Your connection to your lizardfolk ancestors manifests as a simple primal spell that you cast using a fragment of an ancestor's bones. Choose one cantrip from the primal spell list. You can cast this cantrip as a primal innate spell at will, and it's heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up.

Consult The Stars
FEAT 1

You find wisdom in the movements of the heavens. Once per day, you can spend 10 minutes to draw upon your readings of a recent night's sky to gain the trained proficiency rank in one skill of your choice; the chosen skill's key attribute must be Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom. This proficiency lasts until your next daily preparation. Since this proficiency is temporary, you can't use it as a prerequisite for a skill increase or a permanent character option like a feat.

Lightning Tongue
FEAT 1

Your tongue darts out faster than the eye can see to retrieve loose objects. You Interact to pick up a single unattended object of light Bulk or less within 10 feet of you. If you don't have enough hands free to hold the object, it falls to the ground in your space.

Lizardfolk Lore
FEAT 1

You listened carefully to the tales passed down among your community. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Nature and Survival. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Lizardfolk Lore.

Lizardfolk Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

In combat, you favor the brutal weapons that are traditional for your lizardfolk ancestors. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the lizardfolk trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the lizardfolk trait—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons or a lizardfolk unarmed attack, you get its critical specialization effect.

Marsh Runner
FEAT 1

You have a swim speed

You are adept at moving through marshy terrain. When you use the Step action, you can ignore difficult terrain caused by flooding, swamps, or quicksand. In addition, when you use the Acrobatics skill to Balance on narrow surfaces or uneven marshy ground, you aren’t flat-footed, and if you roll a success on the Acrobatics check, you get a critical success instead.

Parthenogenic Hatchling
FEAT 1

Special You can take this feat only at 1st level.

Razaor Claws
FEAT 1

Your have honed your claws to be deadly. Your claw attack deals 1d6 slashing damage instead of 1d4 and gains the versatile (piercing) trait.

Reptile Rider
FEAT 1

To you, hatori, giant lizards, and slimahaccs are loyal steeds, not monsters. You gain the Ride feat, even if you don't meet the prerequisites. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Nature checks to Handle an Animal as long as the animal is a reptile or even a non-sapient drake.

Reptile Speaker
FEAT 1

You hear the sounds of reptiles as language. You can ask questions of, receive answers from, and use the Diplomacy skill with animals that are reptiles (the GM determines which animals count as reptiles).

Sharp Fangs
FEAT 1

Your teeth are formidable weapons. You gain a fangs unarmed attack in the brawling group that deals 1d8 piercing damage and has the unarmed trait.

Tail Whip
FEAT 1

By birth or through training, your tail is strong enough to make for a powerful melee weapon. You gain a tail unarmed attack that is in the brawling group and deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage and has the sweep and unarmed trait.

5th Level

Acid Spit
FEAT 5

Nikaal

You've learned the art of lobbing acidic spittle at vulnerable spots on your foes, especially the eyes. You gain a acidic spit ranged unarmed attack with a range increment of 10 feet that deals 1d4 acid damage. On a critical hit, the target is also dazzled until the start of your next turn and takes persistent acid damage equal to the number of weapon damage dice. Your spit doesn't have a weapon group, nor a critical specialization effect.

Envenom Fangs
FEAT 5

a number of times per day equal to your level

Sharp Fangs

You envenom your fangs. If the next fangs Strike you make before the end of your next turn hits and deals damage, the Strike deals an additional 1d6 poison damage. On a critical failure, the poison is wasted as normal.

Flexible Tail
FEAT 5

Guided By The Stars
FEAT 5

once per day

You are about to attempt a skill check or saving throw.

The stars grant you insights that guide your actions. You roll twice and take the better result. If it's night and you can see the stars, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to the triggering roll.

Shed Tail
FEAT 5

Tail Whip

You become grabbed.

You have a fully grown tail.

You can shed your tail to escape. You cease being grabbed, then Stride without triggering any reactions from the creature that grabbed you. It takes 1 week for your tail to fully grow back. Until it does, you can’t use your tail unarmed attack, and you take a –2 circumstance penalty on checks to Balance.

Swift Swimmer
FEAT 5

Lizardfolk of Saragar

You swim faster than most lizardfolk. Your swim Speed increases to 25 feet.

Tongue Disarm
FEAT 5

trained in Athletics; Lightning Tongue

You lash out with your tongue to disarm your foe. You attempt to Disarm a creature within 10 feet, ignoring the requirement that you must have at least one hand free.

9th Level

Bone Caller
FEAT 9

Using a mixture of reptile bones and the bones of your ancestors to focus your magic, you animate lizards and giant reptiles to carry messages or serve as mounts. You can cast animal messenger and marvelous mount as primal innate spells once per day each. The animal messenger is always a Tiny lizard, and your innate spell transforms it from bones to flesh, even if there are no lizards nearby. The marvelous mount looks like a large reptile rather than a horse but functions identically.

Dangle
FEAT 9

Flexible Tail

Read The Stars
FEAT 9

trained in Primal or Astrology Lore

You're incredibly skilled in lizardfolk astrology, and you can gain useful (if cryptic) hints from the stars' alignment. Once per night, if you can clearly see the stars, you can spend 1 hour reading the heavens to see how they relate to a particular goal, event, or activity that will occur within 1 week. The GM rolls a secret check, either a DC 28 Astrology Lore check or a DC 32 Primal check. On a success, you learn a cryptic clue or piece of advice that could help with the chosen event, and on a critical failure, you learn a misleading cryptic clue or piece of advice.

Terrain Advantage
FEAT 9

You can take advantage of the terrain to bypass foes’ defenses. Non-lizardfolk creatures in difficult terrain are off-guard to you. If you have a swim Speed, non-lizardfolk creatures that are in water and lack a swim Speed are also off-guard to you.

13th Level

Bone Investiture
FEAT 13

You encase yourself in spiritual dinosaur bones to become a Huge dinosaur. You can cast dinosaur form on yourself as a 5th-level primal innate spell once per day.

Lizardfolk Spirit Strike
FEAT 13

Your lizardfolk unarmed attacks channel the spiritual energy of your ancestors. Any unarmed attacks you acquire from lizardfolk heritages or ancestry feats gain the effects of a ghost touch property rune.

Primal Rampage
FEAT 13

You tap into the unstoppable, primeval strength of your ancient kin. You gain mountain resilience and unfettered movement as 4th-level primal innate spells that you can cast once per day. As a 3-action activity, you can Cast a Spell twice to cast both of these innate spells, as long as they are both still available for the day.

17th Level

Bone Rider
FEAT 17

Using your ancestors' bones, you manifest their spirits around you in a fossilized form, terrifying your foes. You can cast mask of terror on yourself as a primal innate spell once per day. When you do, you appear as a skeletal lizardfolk ancestor, twisted in a way that inspires the deepest fears of those who observe you.

Scion Transformation
FEAT 17

You go into hibernation for 24 hours and perform a ritual dedicated to your ancestors, undergoing a one-time metamorphosis. You permanently gain the effects of enlarge, and your maximum Hit Points increase by your level. The ritual transforms most of your gear to the appropriate size for your new body (though powerful items like artifacts or items strongly tied to their original size may not transform, at the GM's discretion).

Lizardfolk Adventurers

Some background options are particularly suitable for lizardfolk. Wilderness or martial backgrounds like the animal whisperer, hunter, scout, or warrior are ideal. Living at the margins of human civilization means a lizardfolk might have grown up as a hardy street urchin, traveled as a nomad, or found work as a laborer or gladiator. Lizardfolk's ties to the wilderness make them excellent rangers or druids. Their outstanding strength serves them well if they select the barbarian, fighter, or monk classes, though they can also strike from stealth as a rogue. Lizardfolk also have a strong oral tradition kept alive by lizardfolk shamans.

Mul

Sterile crossbreeds of humans and dwarves, muls are well-known for their outstanding stamina. Accordingly, templars, noble families, and merchant houses breed them as slaves.
Combining dwarven toughness and human ingenuity, muls inherit the best features of both races. Although muls can serve in many ways, most find their lives shaped by a noble's desire to create a worthy champion or a merchant's calculated investment in a gladiator for the arenas.

WHO AM I? I AM DARUS, ONCE A SLAVE SERVING A patrician in the city of Balic. The noble raised me to battle in the Criterion, to spill the blood of my enemies, revel in the cheers of the crowd, and fill the pockets of my master with silver and gold. But now I am free of my bonds, outlawed in Balic, and a member of this slave tribe. Do I believe in the dream of freedom? I cannot answer that, for in truth I do not know. I know that I have tasted freedom and it is very sweet. I never want to thirst for it again, toiling for a master while my spirit withers beneath the hot sun of bondage.

Squat and Brawny

Muscular and fit, muls resemble powerfully built humans. Standing between 6 and 7 feet tall and weighing about 300 pounds, these half-dwarves bear heroic proportions — broad shoulders, powerful thighs, and thick arms. Both genders are hairless and hint at their dwarven ancestry, with strong, stern features and small, swept-back ears that come to subtle points. Mul skin and eye colors are as varied as they are in humans, but many muls have a copper or deeply bronzed complexion, and few have noticeable gold flecks in their eyes.

Muls have little collective racial identity and adopt the dress and fashion of their homes. As products of the city-states where they are bred, they have no culture of their own. Some escaped slaves make a home for themselves among the desert tribes, but because no mul can start a family, they have no place to call their own.

Born into Slavery

All muls begin their lives as slaves. Slaveholders throughout the Tyr Region have long known that tremendous hardiness and stamina result from mixing human and dwarven lines. Since muls make outstanding gladiators, slave warriors, and heavy laborers, enduring toil and hardships that would kill lesser folk, they are often most sought.

Born to the slave pens, the taskmaster's whip takes the place of loving parents and family. For this reason, muls develop violent reactions.

But when they perform well in the arena, they receive the most pampered treatment of any slave. Consequently, some don't see slavery as that a great hardship. However, those who have tasted the sweet air of freedom will fight to retain it.

Gruff and Taciturn

Muls are hard, driven, pragmatic folk with little remorse or sympathy in their hearts. Many grow up under the lash, subjected to brutal training for the arena or grinding toil in fields or quarries. As a result, muls have a hard time offering friendship and trust to anyone. More than a few muls, scarred by the hardships of their upbringings, spend their days as bitter, violent misanthropes. Others are suspicious, grasping mercenaries who have learned never to lift a finger on behalf of another person without establishing what they will gain from providing aid. Despite their tendency to be sullen or self-centered, muls don't have a particular enmity for any people and can learn to work alongside others. Growing up in the slave pits and the underclass of society taught them how to figure out who to trust, who not to, and how to gain favor and reputation among others, slaves, or free people; their survival demanded nothing less.

Lust for Freedom

Muls who set their hearts on freedom are difficult to keep in chains. Some escape to the wilds and become raiders or join tribes of ex-slaves, whereas others who escape become mercenaries and sell their fighting skills to whomever they can. Muls who don't flee captivity can win their freedom in the arena or by completing a dangerous task for their masters. A few highly prized gladiators receive so many privileges and comforts that they are effectively free, enjoying great latitude to go where they want and do as they wish.

Mul Names

Muls favor one simple name, generally a human one or variants. They don't have families, so they don't get to pick a last name, but sometimes they use place names to denote their place of origin, like "Mersten of Nibenay" or "Tomak of Tyr".

Male Names: Aram, Borthomar, Bost, Darok, Darus, Durn, Eben, Erekard, Gard, Harask, Marok, Morg, Rikard, Sanozar, Tomak, Uskan, Zedath, Zorus.
Female Names: Aisa, Aivel, Brithis, Callia, Demosis, Elina, Faivel, Himithis, Laivi, Mersten, Narisel, Raina, Reshel, Saditha, Tirshel, Uisel, Zerima.

Mul Heritage

One or your parents was a dwarf. Muls resemble powerfully build humans but with broad shoulders, powerful thighs, thick arms but swept-back ears that come to subtle points. You gain the dwarf trait, mul trait, and dark vision. In addition, you can select dwarf, human, or mul feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Ancestry Feats

You can select dwarf, human, or mul feats whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

1st Level

Beast Trainer
FEAT 1

You have an impressive innate ability to tame and command ferocious beasts. You become trained in the Nature skill and gain your choice of the Pet general feat or the Train Animal skill feat.

Hold Mark
FEAT 1

You bear scars or tattoos enhanced by the mark of your community's prowess. When you select this feat, choose one of the options from the below table. You are trained in the listed skill and gain a +1 status bonus to saves against spells from the listed tradition. You gain a large brand or tattoo in the shape of the chosen emblem or a similar concept (for example, the Burning Sun could be a torch, sun, volcano, or other fiery symbol, while the Empty Hand could be a fist or claw).

Hold Mark Emblem	Skill	Tradition
Burning Sun	Diplomacy	Arcane
Death's Head	Survival	Primal
Defiled Corpse	Religion	Divine
Empty Hand	Intimidation	Occult

Iron Fists
FEAT 1

Your fists have been forged by battle, your naturally tough skin and dense bone further hardened by conflict. Your fist unarmed attacks no longer have the nonlethal trait and gain the shove weapon trait.

Mul Ferocity
FEAT 1

once per day

You would be reduced to 0 Hit Points but not immediately killed.

Fierceness in battle runs through your blood, and you refuse to fall from your injuries. You avoid being knocked out and remain at 1 Hit Point, and your wounded condition increases by 1.

Mul Lore
FEAT 1

Your trainers taught you your people's histories, told tales of great athletic feats, and shared with you the hardships your ancestors endured so that you can pass this wisdom down to future generations. You become trained in Athletics and Survival. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Mul Lore.

Mul Superstition
FEAT 1

You attempt a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, before rolling.

You defend yourself against magic by relying on techniques derived from your superstitions. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your saving throw against the triggering spell or magical effect.

Mul Warmask
FEAT 1

You paint your face to create a warmask, an invested magic item of negligible Bulk with an item level equal to your level and a usage of worn (mask). It has a magical tradition trait depending on its type. Donning or removing your warmask requires 1 minute of work, though you don't need to Invest the mask each time. The warmask is unique to you and might signify your hold, your accomplishments, or your faith. While creating your mask, you must choose the source of your warmask’s power from the options below. This source determines the mask's associated skill as well as magical tradition.

Once you select this source, it can't be changed. You become trained in the associated skill, and you gain the Dubious Knowledge skill feat as a bonus feat. You can spend 1 hour performing a ceremony that costs 50 gp to attune yourself more deeply with your warmask. If you do, you gain a +1 item bonus to the associated skill whenever you wear the warmask.

The Elements Religion, divine tradition
The Land Nature, primal tradition
Psionics Occultism, occult tradition

Mul Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

In combat, you favor the brutal weapons that are traditional for mul gladiators. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the gladiator trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the gladiator trait plus the carrikal, forearm axe, and dejada—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

5th Level

Athletic Might
FEAT 5

Surviving in hostile terrain has given you a great talent for mobility. Whenever you roll a success on an Athletics check to Climb or Jump, you get a critical success instead.

Bloody Blows
FEAT 5

Your lethal unarmed attacks leave bloody gouges or cause severe internal bleeding. When you critically hit with a Strike using an unarmed attack that isn't nonlethal, the target takes 1d4 persistent bleed damage. This can be because you're taking the penalty to use a fist for a lethal attack or because you have an unarmed attack without the nonlethal trait due to Iron Fists, or a similar ability.

Defy Death
FEAT 5

Mul Ferocity

You're exceptionally difficult to kill. The DC of your recovery checks is equal to 9 + your dying value, or 8 + your dying value if you have the Toughness general feat. In addition, whenever someone returns you to life using magic that would normally leave you debilitated for a week (such as raise dead or the resurrect ritual), you don't suffer that condition.

Mask of Power
FEAT 5

Mul Warmask

Your warmask sharpens your connection to the source of your mask's power. During your daily preparations, choose fear, phantom pain, or sure strike. Until your next daily preparations, you can cast this spell as a 1st-rank innate spell once per day; the spell's tradition is determined by the tradition tied to your warmask. You must be wearing your warmask to Cast the Spell.

Mask of Rejection
FEAT 5

once per day

Mul Warmask

You fail a saving throw against an effect from your warmask’ s magical tradition.

You're wearing your warmask.

Your warmask projects a white-hot fury that attempts to vaporize the offending magic. You reroll the triggering check with a +2 circumstance bonus, but you must use the new result, even if it's worse than your first roll.

Scar-Thick Skin
FEAT 5

Glorious, storied scars cover and protect much of your body. Your DC on flat checks to end persistent bleed damage is reduced from 15 to 10, or from 10 to 5 after receiving especially appropriate assistance.

Victorious Vigor
FEAT 5

You bring a foe to 0 Hit Points.

Your victories in battle fill you with pride and imbue you with the energy to fight a bit longer despite your wounds. You gain temporary Hit Points equal to your Constitution modifier until the end of your next turn.

9th Level

Death's Drums
FEAT 9

Your life has been spent challenging death itself, and proximity to that implacable foe only makes your heart beat harder. When you are taking persistent damage or your wounded value is 1 or greater, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Fortitude saving throws.

Mask of Pain
FEAT 9

expert in Intimidation; Mul Warmask

You succeed at a Demoralize check.

You're wearing your warmask.

Your mask has grown into a manifestation of your pain, which you can release. The creature you successfully Demoralized takes 2d6 mental damage, or 4d6 mental damage if you're legendary in Intimidation. The target is then temporarily immune to additional damage from Mask of Pain for 24 hours.

Pervasive Superstition
FEAT 9

Mul Superstition

You steep yourself in superstition and practice ancient mental exercises for shrugging off the effects of magic. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against spells and magical effects at all times.

Undying Ferocity
FEAT 9

Mul Ferocity

You resist death's clutches with supernatural vigor. When you use Mul Ferocity, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to your level.

13th Level

Ferocious Beasts
FEAT 13

animal companion, Pet, or Bonded Animal; Mul Ferocity

For many years, the mightiest mul beast tamers would draw out the true fighting spirit of their companion beasts by feeding the creatures a draft incorporating the mul's own blood. All animal companions, pets, familiars, and bonded animals you have gain the Mul Ferocity feat, and gain one reaction per round they can use only for Mul Ferocity. If you have the Undying Ferocity ancestry feat, all animal companions, pets, familiars, and bonded animals you have also gain the benefits of that feat when using the Mul Ferocity reaction.

Incredible Ferocity
FEAT 13

Mul Ferocity

Given time to collect yourself after a near-death scrape, you can rebuild your ferocity and withstand additional finishing blows. You can use Mul Ferocity with a frequency of once per hour, rather than once per day.

Lifeblood's Call
FEAT 13

The impulse to survive and continue fighting resonates deep within you. You gain a circumstance bonus to damage rolls on your melee Strikes equal to twice the sum of your wounded and doomed conditions (to a maximum of a +8 circumstance bonus to damage) whenever you have one or both conditions.

Mask of Fear
FEAT 13

Mul Warmask

You start your turn with the frightened condition.

You're wearing your warmask.

Your warmask burns off of your face, releasing your apprehension. You remove the frightened condition. Your warmask is destroyed, and you can't reapply it until your next daily preparations.

Special You can use this free action even if you have a condition tied to the frightened condition that would normally prevent you from using a free action, such as “fleeing as long as you're frightened” or “paralyzed as long as you're frightened.”

Spell Devourer
FEAT 13

Mul Superstition

You don't just resist magic; you devour it. Whenever you succeed at a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to double the spell's rank, or equal to the level if the magical effect isn't a spell. These temporary Hit Points last until the end of your next turn.

17th Level

Rampaging Ferocity
FEAT 17

Mul Ferocity

You use Mul Ferocity

You lash out viciously even as you fend off death. Make a single melee Strike. If this Strike brings a foe to 0 Hit Points, this activation of Orc Ferocity doesn't count against its frequency.

Mul Adventurers

A mul's drive to overcome challenges and prove themself spurs many muls to become adventurers, though muls are more likely to set out on their own or with other former slaves than alongside adventurers of other backgrounds.

Common mul backgrounds include gladiator, hunter, martial disciple, nomad, and warrior from the Core Rulebook, plus bandit, outrider, and refugee from this book. Orcs thrive in martial classes like barbarian and fighter.

Tari

The tari are commonly referred to as ratfolk by the other denizens of the Tyr region. They are small, furry humanoid scavengers, capable of thriving on food and water too polluted for humans to ingest. Hunted freely as pests, the tari are the barbaric descendants of a once thriving culture who inhabited lands to the south of the Tyr region.

What you at first mistook for some monstrous breed of rat now rears up on its hind legs and chitters at you in indignation. Clad in a ragged assortment of tattered clothing, the creature has matted fur, needlelike teeth and a long coiling tail.

The tari are unimpressive creatures, roughly 5 feet tall and weighing 100 pounds. They move about as bipeds, but sometimes walk on their knuckles. Their tails are about 2-1/2 feet long, used mainly for balance, and just strong enough that they can wrap it around a branch and hang from it. Their entire bodies are covered with fine fur, usually brown, but sometimes gray, golden, or even silver, or a combination of any of these. Many tari use dyes from gyava berries to create rings or spots of color for decoration. Males and females alike often braid the longer hair along the back of the neck and the base of the spine and decorate these with beads or feathers. Their mouths are filled with needlelike teeth, and to either side they have long black hairs that add to their overall ratlike appearance.

Tari wear no clothing, though warriors sometimes have leather jerkins or even chitin greaves. Chieftains and warriors are taller than other tari and the former are usually highly decorated with dyes, beads, and ceremonial garb.

Tari have a high-pitched, squeaky language all their own. They can send and receive some signals that are beyond the human ear’s ability to hear. Tari can learn other languages, often Common and Elven, though the sounds of humanoid speech are difficult for them to make with their mouths.

Tari Society

The tari race once boasted a thriving culture far to the south of the Tyr region. Ythri, their legendary capital city, is now a ruin lost among the crags. Their education and knowledge was much greater than it is today, and their technology allowed them to build stone and concrete structures. What happened to their civilization is a mystery; the tari of the Tablelands have no written history. All that remains is a collection of exaggerated myths and legends describing wondrous works. Now the tari live wherever they can – in the underbellies of the cities, the back lots of the villages and the lost and hidden canyons in the deepest heart of the wild.

The lives and attitudes of the urban and wilderness tari are quite different. Both kinds travel in packs, but their approaches to matters of survival are quite disparate. Urban tari live like scavengers, taking whatever they can get hands on and stealing what they cannot easily get. They often approach life in a similar fashion, forming strong attachments that are easily discarded. The tari of the wilderness, however, are nomads who scout for miles in all directions, seeking for the best lands and competing fiercely with the other races of the Tablelands to claim them. In daily life they tend to be harsh and competitive, but given to long-lasting bonds over time.

Other than the individual differences between urban and wilderness tari, the rat folk tend to avoid the other races of the Tablelands as much as possible, wherever necessary. This isolationist behavior is for a very simple reason. Tari are generally despised as vermin by the other races of the Tablelands and are hunted where they are found in the larger cities.

Tari Names

Every tari family has perhaps two dozen names that have been passed down from generation to generation, sometimes with minor alterations or alternative nicknames. A grandfather might be Grivver, for example, while his daughter goes by Griva and her son is simply Griv. Ratfolk are often assigned nicknames and sobriquets by humanoids they interact with, but most tari find these names distasteful and endure them only when outside tari communities.

Tari Names: Barnan, Chikis, Chonan, Deto, Jass, Jix, Knagi, Kubi, Lolo, Ninnec, Nos, Rak, Renzi, Skigim, Tali, Zess

Tari Heritages

Deep Rat

Your ancestors lived deeper underground than other ratfolk, granting you the ability to see in the dark. You gain darkvision.

Desert Rat

You are native to arid plains and likely grew up traveling the roads. You have a leaner build than other ratfolk, with longer limbs and short fur. If you have both hands free, you can increase your Speed to 30 feet as you run on all fours. In addition, environmental heat effects are one step less extreme for you, and you can go 10 times as long as normal before you are affected by starvation or thirst. However, unless you wear protective gear or take shelter, environmental cold effects are one step more extreme for you.

Longsnout Rat

The long snouts that run in your family give you a keener sense of smell than most ratfolk. You gain imprecise scent with a range of 30 feet. This means you can use your sense of smell to determine a creature’s location. The GM will usually double the range if you’re downwind from the creature or halve the range if you’re upwind.

Hit Points

Size

Small

Speed

25 feet

Attribute Boosts

Dexterity

Intelligence
Free

Attribute Flaw

Strength

Languages

Undercommon

Common
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from Dwarven, Halfling, or any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Tari

Humanoid
Uncommon

Low-Light Vision

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, so you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

In addition, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to Seek a creature or object within the range of your scent.

Sewer Rat

You come from a long line of tari from a community based in the sewers beneath a large settlement. You are immune to the disease filth fever. Each of your successful saving throws against a disease or poison reduces its stage by 2, or by 1 for a virulent disease or poison. Each critical success against an ongoing disease or poison reduces its stage by 3, or by 2 for a virulent disease or poison.

Shadow Rat

Your ancestors lived in dark spaces underground, granting you dark fur and a vaguely unnatural mien that unnerves sapient creatures and frightens animals. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Intimidation and can use Intimidation to Coerce animals. When you Demoralize an animal, you don’t take a penalty for not sharing a language with it. If you would automatically become trained in Intimidation (from your background or class, for example), you become trained in another skill of your choice.

Animals’ attitudes toward you begin one degree worse than normal, usually starting at unfriendly instead of indifferent for domesticated animals, and hostile instead of unfriendly for wild animals.

Tunnel Rat

Your incredibly small bones allow you to easily compress your body and squeeze through gaps. You gain the Quick Squeeze feat as a bonus feat, even if you aren't trained in Acrobatics. Tight spaces not tight enough to require the Squeeze action aren't difficult terrain for you.

Ancestry Feats

1st Level

Cheek Pouches
FEAT 1

Your cheeks are stretchy, and you can store up to four items of light Bulk or less in these cheek pouches. None of these items can have a dimension longer than 1 foot. As long as you have at least one item in your cheek pouches, your speech is noticeably difficult to understand. Placing an item in your cheek pouch or retrieving one is an Interact action. You can empty your mouth with a single action, causing everything you had stored in your cheek pouches to fall to the ground in your square.

Pack Rat
FEAT 1

Years of packing for travel have taught you how to cram vast quantities into small spaces. You can fit an additional 50% of the listed Bulk capacity into mundane storage containers or vehicles. For example, you can fit 6 Bulk in a backpack, or 12 Bulk in a chest. This doesn't alter the items' Bulk, nor does it change how much you can store in a magical or extradimensional storage space, such as a bag of holding.

Rat Familiar
FEAT 1

You have a pet rat that has become magically bonded to you. You gain a familiar, and this familiar must be a rat. It still gets the benefits of familiar abilities, but its base form remains a rat.

Ratspeak
FEAT 1

To you, the squeaking of rats and other rodents makes a strange kind of sense. You can ask questions of, receive answers from, and use the Diplomacy skill with rodents, including beavers, mice, porcupines, rats, and squirrels, but not with other mammals, such as dogs or bats. The GM determines which animals count as rodents.

Skull Creeper
FEAT 1

You wear skulls to demoralize foes. You become trained in Intimidation and gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat. If you're already trained in Intimidation, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. If you pay 50 gp for a splendid skull mask, the mask grants you a +1 item bonus to Intimidation; its usage is worn (mask).

Tari Lore
FEAT 1

Years of experience among ratfolk communities have made you nimble, and you've learned to run and hide when enemies threaten. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Acrobatics and Stealth. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Tari Lore.

Tinkering Fingers
FEAT 1

You're good with your hands and can quickly improvise a fix for broken or damaged equipment. You're trained in Crafting. If you would automatically become trained in Crafting (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You can Repair an item without using a repair kit without taking the –2 circumstance penalty, improvising tools from whatever you have at hand.

Vicious Incisors
FEAT 1

You've let your incisors grow long enough to serve as formidable weapons. You gain a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage. Your jaws are in the brawling group and have the finesse and unarmed traits. Unlike most creatures, you can file down your teeth and regrow them later on, enabling you to select this feat at any level, and to retrain into and out of this feat.

Warren Friend
FEAT 1

You're adept at making contact with other tari. When you arrive at a new settlement, you automatically find the nearest ratfolk enclave by spending 1 day of downtime searching, provided one exists and its members aren't actively hiding from you. Once you've made contact, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Gather Information and Earn Income in the settlement.

Warren Navigator
FEAT 1

You're particularly good at solving mazes and navigating twists and turns. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Survival. If you would automatically become trained in Survival (from your background or class, for example), you become trained in another skill of your choice. When you Sense Direction or attempt a roll against a quandary spell, you get a result one degree of success better than you rolled. You don't take a penalty to Sense Direction when you lack a compass.

5th Level

Cornered Fury
FEAT 5

When physically outmatched, you fight with unexpected ferocity. If a foe of a larger size than you critically hits and damages you, that foe is off-guard to you for 1 round.

Gnaw
FEAT 5

Vicious Incisors

With enough time and determination, you can chew through nearly anything. You deal double your jaws damage to an unattended, inanimate object.

Lab Rat
FEAT 5

You've spent more than your share of time in an alchemy lab. You might have been an alchemist yourself, an assistant, or perhaps even a test subject. Either way, you have been exposed to a wide variety of alchemical poisons and elixirs, leaving you with increased tolerance of their effects. You have a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against poison and harmful effects from elixirs. If you roll a success on your saving throw against an elixir or poison, you get a critical success instead.

Plague Sniffer
FEAT 5

Longsnout Rat

You can sniff out the pungent tang of disease. When you detect a creature by scent, you can also detect if that creature is suffering from a disease at a non-carrier state. If the disease is particularly subtle, you might need to attempt a Perception check against the disease's DC (subject to the GM's discretion).

Quick Stow
FEAT 5

once per round

Cheek Pouches

You are adept at quickly moving items into your cheek pouches. You Interact to store one held item in your cheek pouches (provided it fits).

Rat Magic
FEAT 5

There always seems to be a little rat around to carry messages for you. You can cast animal messenger once per day as a primal innate spell. When you do, the animal that responds is always a rat. If there are no rats within range, the spell is lost.

Ratfolk Roll
FEAT 5

Your ability to curl up into a tight ball comes in handy. You roll up into a ball and move up to four times your Speed in a straight line down an incline. If you reach the bottom of the incline or hit an obstacle during this first turn of movement, you stop rolling safely. Otherwise, you automatically keep rolling at this Speed during subsequent turns until you hit the bottom of the incline or an obstacle ends this movement (which can happen in the middle of your turn). You're slowed 2 each turn after the first that you keep rolling, and if you hit an obstacle on a turn after the first, you and the obstacle both take 4d6 bludgeoning damage and you stop rolling.

9th Level

Big Mouth
FEAT 9

Cheek Pouches

Your cheek pouches are especially stretchy. Instead of storing up to four items of Light Bulk in your cheek pouches, you can store up to 1 Bulk worth of items. The maximum size of a given item is unchanged.

Overcrowd
FEAT 9

Your physiology is slight, and you can pack into small spaces with others of similar stature. As long as you are Small, you can end your movement in the same square as a Small ally. Only two creatures total can share the same space when using this ability or a similar one.

Ratform
FEAT 9

You can transform into an innocuous-looking rat to scout an area or slip through tight spaces. You gain the effects of a 1st-level pest form spell, except that you must assume the battle form of a Tiny rat.

Uncanny Cheeks
FEAT 9

You squirrel away useful objects and seem to retrieve them at just the right time. You gain the Prescient Consumable and Prescient Planner feats, except that you always withdraw the objects from your cheek pouches. This means the object you retrieve must fit in your cheek pouches; this is generally an item of negligible Bulk unless you also have the Cheek Pouches feat.

13th Level

Shinstabber
FEAT 13

Overcrowd

You can dart around and between your larger allies' legs without tripping them up. As long as you're Small or smaller, you can end your movement in the same square as a Medium or larger ally. Only two creatures total can share the same space when using this ability or a similar one.

Skittering Sneak
FEAT 13

You squish, slink, and skitter from cover to cover with great speed and stealth. You can move up to your full Speed when you Sneak.

Warren Digger
FEAT 13

You've learned to put your sturdy claws to work digging through the earth. You gain a burrow Speed of 15 feet.

17th Level

Ratfolk Growth
FEAT 17

You call upon the familial bonds you share with other tari to defend them in battle. You can cast enlarge as a 6th-level primal innate spell once per day. You can target only yourself and other tari with this spell.

Tari Adventurers

Tari might take up the adventuring life to explore and travel, to defend their family or community, or for any number of other reasons.

Their natural wit and nimble fingers make tari excellent alchemists and rogues, while some specialize in ranged weapons as fighters or rangers.

Typical tari backgrounds include animal whisperer, artisan, merchant, medic, nomad, scout, and tinker plus bandit, barber, scavenger, and teacher from this book.

Thri-Kreen

Alien to most people of Athas, thri-kreen are mantis-like creatures that hunt in packs throughout the wastes of Athas. They have adapted to the harsh climate and are experts at surviving with only scarce resources. Being exceptionally nimble, they live for the thrill of the hunt.
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.

WE ARE NOW IN THE BROWN TIMES, THE AGE OF OUR KIND, when the world is dry. The kreen are matchless in the dry times. The dra, those-who-sleep, used terrible forces and killed many plants and animals, and the world withered and turned brown. But the kreen were wise and skilled and could hunt and find prey where others could not. So, the kreen stayed with the dra and lived among them, to work and share knowledge. We are the kreen of the south, and we run free, caring for little but the hunt.

— Klik-Chaka'da, thri-kreen scout

Alien Bodies

Thri-kreen resemble a giant praying mantis, bipedal and standing about 7 feet tall and weighing between 300 and 350 pounds. They have six limbs, wedge-shaped heads with compound eyes, two antennae, and powerful mandibles, and are covered in tough, sandy-colored chitinous plates. They have six limbs protruding from their thorax: two for walking and four for use as arms, ending in four-fingered claw-like hands capable of tool- and weapon-use. In combat, thri-kreen hold weapons or shields in their upper limbs, while the middle, smaller pair must use lighter weapons or are used instead for fine manipulation.

Alien Minds

Thri-kreen behavior may seem bizarre and alien to members of the other races; after all, they never sleep, they don't collect wealth or possessions, and they sometimes eat other intelligent creatures. As for the latter, they have a particular taste for elves, which keeps both races at an uneasy situation.

Despite their fierce appearance and weird habits, the insectoid people can be loyal and courageous companions. Most importantly, thri-kreen judge others solely on physical and mental ability. The lazy and weak deserve contempt, regardless of race; likewise, strength and cleverness merit respect no matter who demonstrates these qualities.

Pack Mentality

Thri-kreen view everything through the lens of the hunt and the predator-prey relationship. Their basic social units are the clutch, a small group consisting of members in the minds of "team", "friends", and "family", and the pack, a larger social unit that consists of any number of clutches. If deprived of a clutch, a thri-kreen is biologically compelled to seek out a new group to join.

Obeying their pack instincts, thri-kreen try to find their place in any group. When they join up with potential clutch mates, they seek to establish dominance through a series of challenges, that can be subtle and secret like puzzles or, when necessary, demanding a trial by combat. Thri-kreen seize leadership of groups in which they are the strongest members, but they are willing to accept subordinate roles in the presence of powerful allies. They take orders from the pack or clutch leader without hesitation, eager to fulfill the duties of their position.

Natural Hunters

All thri-kreen are obsessed with the hunt, the daily ritual that makes up much of their life. They strive to become skilled and wise hunters, capable of stalking and catching what they need and then moving on before a region is depleted of game.

Non-kreen sometimes view this preoccupation with gathering food and maintaining traveling supplies as a bit strange, especially considering that thri-kreen hunt throughout the night while other races "lazily lie around". Being strict carnivores, thri-kreen will look toward other intelligent races as sources of food in extreme emergencies, but they won't turn to other members of their clutch or packs for food — no matter how desperate the situation.

Combat is just another kind of hunt. Thri-kreen rarely fight out of malice and see no need for aggression unless it is the best means of obtaining the resources they need to survive, or where under self-defense. After a victorious battle, a thri-kreen' s first instinct is to collect any useful possessions that belonged to the enemy or to harvest the body for food.

Thri-Kreen Names

Thri-kreen begin their life and are given a simple name related to something they were observed doing. When the thri-kreen reach adulthood, they take a name that reflects goals or some other aspect of the life path to be pursued. There is no difference between male and females names; both genders use the same names.

Thri-Kreen Names: Cha'ka, Chuka-tet, Drasna, Drik-chkit, Hakka, Ka'cha, Ka'tho, Klik-chaka'da, Lakta-cho, Qhak'cha, Qhik-ik-cha, Sa'Relka, T'Chai, Tak-tha.

Thri-kreen Heritages

Chameleon Thri-kreen

The color of your chitin is mutable. You can slowly change the vibrancy and the exact color, and the coloration can be different across your body, allowing you to create patterns. It takes a single action for minor localized shifts and up to an hour for dramatic shifts throughout your body. When you're in an area where your coloration is roughly similar to the environment (for instance, forest green in a forest), you can use the single action to make minor localized shifts designed to help you blend into your surroundings. This grants you a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks until your surroundings shift in coloration or pattern.

Hit Points

Size

Medium

Speed

30 feet

Attribute Boosts

Dexterity

Wisdom
Free

Attribute Flaw

Charisma

Languages

Kreen

Common
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Traits

Kreen

Humanoid

Alien Nature

Your alien physiology sets you apart from humanoids, you can go five times as long as normal before you are affected by thirst.

Claws

Your sharp Chitin claws offer an alternative to the fists other humanoids bring to a fight. You have a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage. Your claws are in the brawling group and have the agile, finesse, and unarmed traits.

Multiple Limbs

You have a shorter pair of arms in the center of your chest. The secondary arms of a thri-kreen cannot be used to wield weapons or shields but can be used to draw or stow small objects. A thri-kreen gains an extra action that can only be used for an Interact action.

Sleepless

Your physiological needs are different than those of other creatures. You don't need to sleep, but you still need a daily period of rest. During this period of rest, you must enter a recuperating torpor state for 2 hours, which is similar to sleeping except you are aware of your surroundings and don't take penalties for being unconscious. Much like with sleeping, if you go too long without entering your torpor state, you become fatigued and can't recover until you enter torpor for 2 hours.

Resourceful Thri-kreen

You have better aptitude to crafting then most other thri-kreen. You become trained in Crafting (or another skill if you were already trained in Crafting) and gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat, but you can pick two different specialties instead of one.

Scarred Thri-Kreen

Your chitin carries the marks of your harsh life. The marks on your skin show your exceptional hardiness and vitality. You gain 12 Hit Points from your ancestry instead of 8. You also gain the Diehard feat.

Scavenger Thri-Kreen

Ancestry Feats

1st Level

Alien Mind
FEAT 1

Your alien kreen mind processes emotions differently than other humanoids. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against emotion and fear effects. If you roll a success on a saving throw against an emotion or fear effect, you get a critical success instead.

Ancestral Memory
FEAT 1

once per hour

You attempt a skill check requiring 3 actions or fewer.

You delve into your ancestral memories, channeling those experiences into yourself. You gain a +2 status bonus on the triggering skill check.

Clicking
FEAT 5

You critically fail a Deception, Diplomacy, or Intimidation check against a creature that doesn't have the kreen trait.

You let out an awkward clicking or clacking sound to cover up a social misstep or faux pas. You get a failure on the triggering check, rather than a critical failure. All creatures that witnessed you Clicking are temporarily immune for 24 hours.

Desert Strider
FEAT 1

You are adept at navigating the deserts and rocky badlands. You ignore difficult terrain in deserts and rocky badlands. In addition, when you use the Acrobatics skill to Balance on narrow surfaces or uneven ground made of sand or rubble, you aren't off-guard, and when you roll a success at one of these Acrobatics checks, you get a critical success instead.

Hardened Chitin
FEAT 1

Your chitin is medium armor in the plate armor group that grants a +4 item bonus to AC, and has a Dex cap of +1, a check penalty of –2, a Speed penalty of –5 feet, a Strength value of 16, and the comfort trait. You can never wear other armor or remove your chitin. You can etch armor runes onto your hide.

Improved Antennae
FEAT 1

You have heightened senses from your antennae. You gain darkvision.

Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.

Pack Hunter
FEAT 1

You were taught how to hunt as part of a pack. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid, and your allies gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid you.

Powerful Mandibles
FEAT 1

Your powerful mandibles are fearsome weapons. You have a mandible unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage. Your mandibles are in the brawling group and have the unarmed traits.

Sensitive Antennae
FEAT 1

Your large antennae aren't just for show. You gain imprecise scent with a range of 30 feet.

Special You can take this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain out of this feat or into this feat.

Shallow Torpor
FEAT 1

Kreen don‘t really sleep when they rest, though this is particularly the case for you. You get a +2 circumstance bonus to all saving throws against sleep effects and effects that cause or alter dreams.

In addition, torpor is more restorative for you. You regain HP equal to your Constitution modifier times double your level instead of just times your level, and you reduce any drained and doomed conditions you have by 2 instead of by 1.

Stealthy
FEAT 1

Stealth is an important tool in your arsenal. You can move 5 feet farther when you take the Sneak action, up to your Speed.

Thri-Keen Lore
FEAT 1

You have trained in the hunt for years. You become trained in Survival and get the Experienced Tracker skill feat. If you would automatically become trained in Survival (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Kreen Lore.

Thri-Kreen Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

In combat, you favor the kreen weapons that are traditional for your thri-kreen ancestors. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the kreen trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the kreen trait—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons or your kreen unarmed attacks, you get its critical specialization effect.

5th Level

Ancestral Ceremony
FEAT 5

You tap into your ancestral memories. You gain the Untrained Improvisation general feat. In addition, you can attempt skill actions that normally require you to be trained, even if you are untrained.

Climate Adaption
FEAT 5

You have adapted to the harsh environment of Athas. You're unaffected by cold or heat environmental effects, these effects are one step less extreme for you (incredible heat becomes extreme, extreme cold becomes severe, and so on).

Climbing Claws
FEAT 5

You can extend your claws to aid you in climbing. You gain a climb Speed of 10 feet.

Envenom Mandibles
FEAT 5

once per hour

Powerful Mandibles

You envenom your mandibles. If the next mandible Strike you make before the end of your next turn hits and deals damage, the target is affected by the kreen venom poison. On a critical failure, the poison is wasted as normal.

Kreen Venom (poison) The save DC for your venom is equal to the higher of your class DC or spell DC, Fortitude; 6 rounds 1d6 poison damage and off-guard (1 round); 2d6 poison damage, clumsy 1, and off-guard (1 round); 2d6 poison damage and paralyzed (1 round)

Pack Stalker
FEAT 5

Pack Hunter; expert in Stealth

Ambushes are an honored thri-kreen tradition. You gain the Terrain Stalker feat and can extend its effects to a single ally so long as they remain within 10 ft. of you. If you have master proficiency in Stealth, you can extend the effect to two allies. If you have legendary proficiency in Stealth, you can extend it to four allies.

Springing Leaper
FEAT 5

expert in Athletics

Your powerful legs allow you to make sudden and dramatic leaps. You can Leap as a 2-action activity to double the distance you can Leap vertically, or Leap as a 3-action activity to triple the distance you can Leap vertically. You don't automatically fail Long Jumps for jumping in a different direction than your Stride.

Strengthened Limbs
FEAT 5

Your shorter pair of arms become stronger. You can perform simple Interact actions with your smaller arms, such as opening an unlocked door. Your smaller arms can't perform actions that require fingers or significant manual dexterity, including any action that would require a check to accomplish.

Strong Metabolism
FEAT 5

You've spent more than your share of time struggling against the venomous creatures of Athas. You have a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against poison and harmful effects from elixirs. If you roll a success on your saving throw against an elixir or poison, you get a critical success instead.

9th Level

Dasl Crafting
FEAT 9

master in Crafting, trained in Survival, Envenom Mandibles

You delve into your ancestral memory and learn the art of crafting dasl. You gain the formulas for both gythka and chatkcha and can craft dasl using special unique herbs, known only to thri-kreen, along with your kreen venom. Crafting dasl requires no special tools. While crafting you are unable to use your envenom mandibles until you rest. You gain the Herbal Gathering action.

Herbal Gathering (Exploration, Kreen) You have learned where to seek out special thri-kreen herbs used in crafting dasl. You can use Survival to Earn Income gathering herbs. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to the check if you are expert in Survival. The bonus increases to a +2 circumstance bonus if you’re a master in Survival.

Empowered Limbs
FEAT 9

Strengthened Limbs

Through constant usage you have empowered your shorter pair of arms to become stronger. You now have four arms, which allows you to wield and hold up to four hands’ worth of weapons and equipment. While your multiple arms increase the number of items you can have at the ready, it doesn't increase the number of attacks you can make during combat.

Your smaller arms can perform actions that require fingers or significant manual dexterity, including any action that would require a check to accomplish.

Moderate Enhanced Venom
FEAT 9

Envenom Mandibles

You upgrade your kreen venom you can apply with Envenom Mandibles to moderate kreen venom. Envenom Mandibles frequency becomes once per 10 minutes.

Moderate Kreen Venom (poison) The save DC for your venom is equal to the higher of your class DC or spell DC, Fortitude; 6 rounds 2d6 poison damage and off-guard (1 round); 3d6 poison damage, clumsy 2, and off-guard (1 round); 3d6 poison damage and paralyzed (1 round)

Pack Tactics
FEAT 9

You have mastered how to hunt with your pack. If an enemy is within reach of you and at least two of your allies, that enemy is off-guard against you.

Terrain Advantage
FEAT 9

You can take advantage of the terrain to bypass foes’ defenses. Non-kreen creatures in difficult terrain are off-guard to you.

Thri-kreen Camouflage
FEAT 9

Chameleon Thri-Kreen

You have developed psychic techniques to aid you with stalking your prey. You can cast blur and invisibility each once per day as 2nd-rank occult innate spells.

Venom Spit
FEAT 9

Envenom Mandibles

Your venomous glands get so powerful they can now project venom at a distance. As a single action, You gain a venomous spit ranged unarmed attack with a range increment of 10 feet. If you do so, the kreen venom loses the injury trait and gets the contact traits instead.

13th Level

Heightened Venom
FEAT 13

Envenom Mandibles

You have become more adept with you kreen venom, you can consistently deliver venomous attacks when you hit an enemy's weak points. When you critically hit using a Mandible Strike and deal damage, you deal an additional 1d4 persistent poison damage to your target.

Molting
FEAT 13

You have outgrown your exoskeleton, emerging out it in a
spectacular metamorphosis. You gain the effects of enlarge
constantly.

Venom Purge
FEAT 13

once per day

Envenom Mandibles; trained in Medicine

You produce a specialized venom that burns out other toxins and impurities in your body. For each disease or poison currently affecting you, attempt a Medicine check to counteract that disease or poison. As normal, your counteract rank is equal to half your level rounded up.

Very Stealthy
FEAT 13

Stealthy

You can move up to your Speed when you use the Sneak action, and you no longer need to have cover or greater cover or be concealed to Hide or Sneak.

17th Level

Adapted Carapace
FEAT 17

Molting

You have mastered you fully grown adult body. You are no longer clumsy due to the effects of enlarge.

Greater Enhanced Venom
FEAT 17

Moderate Enhanced Venom

You upgrade the kreen venom you can apply with Envenom Mandibles to greater kreen venom. Envenom Mandibles frequency becomes once per minute.

Greater Kreen Venom (incapacitation, injury, kreen, paralysis, poison) The save DC for your venom is equal to the higher of your class DC or spell DC, Fortitude; 6 rounds 3d6 poison damage and off-guard (1 round); 4d6 poison damage, clumsy 2, and off-guard (1 round); 4d6 poison damage and paralyzed (1 round)

Vicious Venom
FEAT 17

Envenom Mandibles

The venom you produce is exceptionally potent and difficult to overcome. Your kreen venom gains the virulent trait, requiring two consecutive saves to reduce the venom's stage by 1. A critical success reduces your venom's stage by only 1 instead of by 2.

Thri-Kreen Adventurers

Some background options are particularly suitable for thri-kreen. Wilderness or martial backgrounds like the animal whisperer, hunter, scout, or warrior are ideal. Living at the margins of human civilization means a thri-kreen might have traveled as a nomad or found work as a laborer or gladiator. Thri-kreen’ s ties to the wilderness make them excellent rangers or druids.

Versatile Ancestries

There exist instances of these versatile ancestries throughout the world of Athas, as such they are Uncommon or Rare in rarity. However, the following Ancestries are typically the result of unique circumstances around the birth of a child.

Athas is home to a variety of versatile heritages. Some are born to unusual creatures or arise through specific mundane or supernatural circumstances. Many, however, result from an infusion of extraplanar energy, whether through direct parentage, more distant ancestors, or simply direct exposure to the quintessence of that plane. These individuals are known as planar scions.

Because the circumstances that give rise to versatile heritages aren't limited to a single ancestry, a versatile heritage can be chosen by a character of nearly any ancestry. Some versatile heritages are more common among some ancestries than others, and some might list additional restrictions specific to that heritage. Your GM may place other restrictions on which ancestries can use a given versatile heritage based on the story and setting.

Playing a Versatile
Heritage

To play a character with a versatile heritage, first select your ancestry, just like you would for any character. You gain Hit Points, size, Speed, attribute boosts and attribute flaws, languages, traits, and other abilities from that ancestry.

Then, instead of choosing a heritage from those normally available to that ancestry, apply your chosen versatile heritage. You gain all the features from your versatile heritage, some of which might modify or replace statistics, abilities, or traits from your ancestry.

Since a versatile heritage is a heritage, you can have only one, and you can't have any other heritage in addition to your versatile heritage.

Sometimes a versatile heritage might give you an ability that conflicts with an ability from your ancestry. In these cases, you choose which of the conflicting abilities your character has.

When selecting ancestry feats, you can choose from those available to your ancestry as well as those specific to your versatile heritage.

Lineage Feats

Some ancestry feats within a versatile heritage have the lineage trait.

These feats specify a physiological lineage your character has—such as the type of genie that birthed a naari character, or the type of shadow that influenced a gray-touched birth.

You can have only one lineage feat; you can select such a feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain into or out of this feat.

In This Book

This book includes the rules for ten versatile heritages, all of which are planar scions.

Planar Scions

Life is present everywhere across the planes of Dark Sun, and the intermingling of Material Plane mortals and extraplanar beings is no rare thing. The resultant children of these relationships—and sometimes the descendants of those children—are known as planar scions. There are numerous types of planar scions, just as there are countless types of beings across the planes that might consort with mortals.

Geniekin

Kin to the elements and infused with the power of the planes within the Inner Sphere, geniekin live scattered all over the world, especially wherever extreme environments provide a conduit to primal energy. Most commonly found in the Tyr region, many geniekin gather in small communities both within and outside of major cities.

Gray-Touched

The Gray touches both the prime material and the elemental planes. Any living creature that dies has its soul sucked into the gray where it slowly dissolves into nothingness. In some cases, the power of the gray infuses certain individuals. Those that have been infused rather than born served the cycle of life and death, but their time was cut short until the gray gave them another life. Born anew, each gray touched appears near the site of their past life, forever altered and with an uncertain destiny. Those born gray touched have an uncertain path ahead, as it is clear from birth that they are unlike the parents they were born to.

Shadow-Touched

Like those that were gray-touched, shadow-touched are individuals infused with the power of the Black. Shadow-touched are a striking people whose skin appears entirely drained of color. These lithe and shadowy beings seem to sink and vanish into the gloom. They see in darkness, exercise control over shadows, and have strange occult powers. Some shadow-touched develop their powers enough to pass between the Black and Material Planes, leaving other ancestries to whisper about figures that emerge from shaded corners and then vanish without a trace.

Many Ancestries

Though a character can have only one heritage, it doesn't mean characters with lineages tracing back to multiple ancestries or heritages don't exist. It's certainly possible for an oread to be born to a half-elf mother, or for a gray-touched to appear in a community of death warden dwarves. In these cases, the influence of the versatile heritage overshadows the other heritage—the oread heritage overshadows the half-elf heritage, and the gray-touched abilities replace those of the death warden dwarf heritage. So, while, superficially, a character might bear a resemblance to both heritages, mechanically, they only gain the benefits of the versatile heritage.

Supernatural Origins

The circumstances that give rise to individuals with versatile heritages vary widely, from direct biological descendance to clandestine rituals, planar incursions, or unique mystical phenomena. It's up to you to decide the details of your character's heritage and how they came into being. The sections in this book provide some broad suggestions that you can use as a jumping-off point, but these aren't restrictions. It's your story to tell!

Geniekin

The elements themselves flow through the veins of geniekin, mortals who carry the proud legacy of their elemental ancestors.

The strength of mountains, the swiftness of wind, the heat of flame, and the fluidity of tides—geniekin are made of elemental energy as much as they are flesh and blood. They are planar scions, the descendants of unions between mortals and otherworldly creatures from beyond Athas. For geniekin, these planar ancestors are elementals, most often genies, who have altered their families and physiologies forever. Because the category encompasses a wide range of elemental heritages, geniekin vary greatly in appearance. All geniekin clearly read as members of their humanoid ancestry, but some supernatural element always sets them apart. Occasionally, a geniekin child is born to wholly mortal parents who were exposed to powerful elemental forces, or their extraplanar traits might skip one or several generations. Geniekin who grow up without the benefit of an elemental mentor can sometimes have trouble navigating mortal society or understanding what makes them different.

Ardande

Ardande are geniekin descended from spirits of the land. If you want to play a character who embodies the tenacity, flexibility, and succor of the spirits of the land, you should play an ardande.

Brightsoul

Brightsouls are naari geniekin descended from sun elementals, like dukhani. If you want a character who embodies the brutality, strength, and greed of elemental sun, you should play a brightsoul.

Dustsoul

Dustsouls are oread geniekin descended from silt elementals, like wahali. If you want a character who embodies the decay, deception, and craving of elemental silt, you should play a dustsoul.

Lavasoul

Lavasouls are naari geniekin descended from magma elementals, like alsahari. If you want a character who embodies the ferocity, power, and ravenousness of elemental magma, you should play a lavasoul.

Mistsoul / Stormsoul

Mistsouls and Stormsouls are slyph geniekin descended from rain elementals, like qorrashi.

If you want a character who embodies the fervor, passion, and fury of elemental rain, you should play a mistsoul or stormsoul.

Naari

Naari are geniekin descended from fire elementals, like ifrit and fire drakes. If you want a character who embodies the intensity, energy, and hunger of elemental fire, you should play a naari.

Oread

Oreads are geniekin descended from earth elementals, like jabalis and earth drakes.

If you want a character who embodies the strength, stubbornness, and resilience of elemental earth, you should play an oread.

Sylph

Sylphs are geniekin descended from air elementals, like jaathooms and air drakes. If you want a character who embodies the freedom, caprice, and speed of elemental air, you should play a sylph.

Undine

Undines, the water elemental geniekin, are descended from planar creatures like water drakes and faydhaans. If you want a character who embodies the adaptability, mystery, and power of elemental water, you should play an undine.

Geniekin Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a geniekin you can choose from among the following ancestry feats, in addition to those available to your specific geniekin heritage and your ancestry.

1st Level

Dualborn
FEAT 1

Your elemental heritage can be traced back to two geniekin ancestors that embodied two combined elements. Choose two of the following elements: air, earth, fire, and water. Once made, this choice can't be changed. You gain resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1) to all damaging effects with the traits of either of your chosen elements.

Special This feat replaces the heritage gained from naari, oread, sylph, or undine.

If you take the Elemental Assault or Elemental Bulwark ancestry feats, you can use them only with your chosen elements. You can add your resistance from this feat to the resistance you gain from Elemental Bulwark against effects with your elements' traits, for a total of 5 + half your level, or 10 + half your level with Improved Elemental Bulwark. If you take the Dualelemental Assault feat, you can choose each of your two elements twice each.

Elemental Assault
FEAT 1

once per day

You shroud your arms and held weapons in elemental magic. Choose the element associated with your heritage. Until the end of your next turn, your Strikes deal an additional 1d6 damage of the indicated type and have the trait corresponding to the element: electricity for air, bludgeoning for earth, fire for fire, or cold for water.

Elemental Embellish
FEAT 1

You can summon a harmless but impressive elemental display. You become trained in Intimidation. If you would automatically become trained in Intimidation (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. When you Demoralize a foe, if you choose to Demoralize via an elemental display, Demoralize loses the auditory trait and gains the visual trait, and you don't take a penalty when you attempt to Demoralize a creature that doesn't understand your language.

Elemental Eyes
FEAT 1

low-light vision

You can see in the darkness as easily as an elemental. You gain darkvision.

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain into or out of this feat.

Elemental Lore
FEAT 1

You’ve devoted yourself to researching the secrets of the Inner Sphere. You gain the trained proficiency in your choice of Survival and either Religion or Nature. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat in the Lore associated with your Elemental Plane of origin (such as Plane of Fire Lore).

Common Terminology

The term geniekin came into common parlance mostly thanks to tales from Kemalok and, in particular, the city of Tyr. Many of these folk stories, songs, and other common tales include great figures who have genie parentage. The prominence and legacy of these stories, along with the fact that the most common geniekin are those with genie ancestors, have cemented “geniekin” as a common term for any individual who manifests elemental traits. This is true even when genies are not part of a person’s lineage, such as individuals descended from elementals. Scholars have pushed to use the more accurate descriptor of “elemental scion,” but the term has yet to permeate the common lexicon.

Elemental Permutations

While other planar scions have lineages that reflect the Gray or the Black, geniekin lineages are better described as permutations of elemental expression. Elements sometimes manifest in unique and unusual ways within a line of geniekin, regardless of the elemental they descend from. These permutations and their lineages are as follows.
Air: fumesoul (miasma sylph), smokesoul (haze sylph), stormsoul (lightning sylph)
Earth: dustsoul (silt oread), gemsoul (crystal oread), miresoul (mud oread)
Fire: brightsoul (sun naari), cindersoul (ash naari), lavasoul (magma naari)
Land: ambersoul (plant ardande), moldersoul (decay ardande), springsoul (spring ardande)
Water: brinesoul (saltwater undine), mistsoul (rain undine), rimesoul (frost undine)

Genie Weapon Familiarity
FEAT 1

You’ve trained with weapons used by your genie ancestors. You gain access to all uncommon weapons with the geniekin trait. You have familiarity with weapons with the geniekin trait plus the falchion, ranseur, scimitar, and tridente—for the purposes of proficiency, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons.

At 5th level, whenever you get a critical hit with one of these weapons, you get its critical specialization effect.

Scholar's Inheritance
FEAT 1

Your parents devoted themselves to alchemical experiments involving elemental energy. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Crafting. If you would automatically become trained in Crafting (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You also gain the Alchemical Crafting skill feat.

5th Level

Elemental Bulwark
FEAT 5

An enemy is about to damage you with cold, electricity, or fire, or with a spell that has the air, earth, fire, or water trait associated with your heritage.

You call upon the corresponding elements of your geniekin heritage to resist the effect. You gain resistance 5 against the triggering damage.

Special You can add your resistance from your heritage or lineage feat against effects with your elements' traits, for a total of 5 + half your level.

Nobile Resolve
FEAT 5

Once, genies ruled vast kingdoms, and a remnant of that confidence and power is reflected in your strong will. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Will saves against effects with the mental trait. Regardless of success or failure, you become aware of the person who used the effect on you if they were visible to you at the time of use.

Skillful Tail
FEAT 5

You were born with a tail, and with practice you’ve learned how to perform simple Interact actions with it, such as opening an unlocked door. Your tail can’t perform actions that require fingers or significant manual dexterity, including any action that would require a check to accomplish, and you can’t use it to hold items.

9th Level

Dualelemental Assault
FEAT 9

Dual Born, Elemental Assault

Your Elemental Assault cycles through both your elements. When you use Elemental Assault, instead of choosing a single element, you can choose either elements from your Dual Born feat, and then choose a different element at the beginning of each of your next 3 turns without spending an action. Each time you choose an element, until the beginning of your next turn, your Strikes deal an additional 1d6 damage of the indicated type and have the trait corresponding to that element.

Miraculous Repair
FEAT 9

once per day

Geniekin can't grant magical wishes, but some echo of power lingers within you. Faced with a mechanism that is damaged but not destroyed, you can wish it back into a functional state for a period of 10 minutes. The object must be mundane and no larger than 5 Bulk, such as a disabled locking mechanism in a door. For 10 minutes, the object functions as it should, ignoring any damage to its mechanism. This doesn't grant you any knowledge of what a device might do or how it ought to function. Once the 10 minutes are up, the object falls back into disrepair and is temporarily immune to Miraculous Repair for 1 day.

Suli Magic
FEAT 9

The magic of jann runs through your blood. You can cast elemental zone and enlarge once per day each as 2nd-rank primal innate spells.

13th Level

Continuous Assault
FEAT 13

Elemental Assault

You can use Elemental Assault once per hour instead of once per day.

Improved Elemental Bulwark
FEAT 13

Elemental Bulwark

You gain resistance 10 from Elemental Bulwark instead of 5.

Special You can add your resistance from your heritage or lineage feat against effects with your elements' traits, for a total of 10 + half your level.

Planar Sidestep
FEAT 13

once per day

A creature hits you with a melee Strike.

You shift your body briefly between planes, reducing the damage from your foe's attack. You gain resistance 25 to all damage against the triggering attack. Observers simply see you shimmer with elemental energy for a moment, just as the attack lands.

Ardande

The strength of a baobab trunk and flexibility of a yew branch, flowers and fruit sprinkled across a forest canopy like jewels in a crown, soft moss blankets, and the daytime constellations created by pinpricks of light through leaves—this is what ardandes are made of.

Ardandes are geniekin, or elemental planar scions, born from spirits of the land with flesh and blood-like sap flowing through their veins; just as much elemental essence as they are mortal. They are the descendants of spirits of the land, powerful druids, or were born under the influence of powerful elemental forces of Athas.

Ardandes often share a connection to specific aspects of nature, such as spring blossoms, ancient and rotten stumps seething with life that feeds on their decay, or sap dripping down tree bark; this is called an ardande lineage. Typically, an ardande has the same lineage as their ardande parent, though some are born with a new or different lineage, or to parents who didn’t have one. Sometimes a lineage reflects where an ardande was born, such as springsoul ardandes born in the vibrant forest ridge, or moldersoul ardandes influenced by the oblivion swamp below the jagged cliffs.

If you want to play a character who embodies the tenacity, flexibility, and succor of the spirits of the land, you should play an ardande.

YOU MIGHT…

Associate your personal identity with spirits of the land, and believe the characteristics of wood, plants, and trees form core aspects of your personality.
Enjoy giving gifts or expressing love for your friends with food and hospitality.
Take pride in your elemental lineage and your connection to a specific spirit of the land.

OTHERS PROBABLY…

Look to you as an authority on plant creatures and elemental spirits of the land.
Take you for granted as an endless well of energy, patience, and support.
Mistake you for a ruvoka, perhaps not even realizing there are spirits of the land.

Physical Description

Ardandes vary in appearance just as much as their different ancestors do.

Green, brown, and ash gray are the most common skin tones, though many also have bodies covered in moss, bark, or knotted wood. Ardandes are often born with coils of ivy or flowering vines for hair, but just as common are those who grow beards made of petals or leaves, or hair that rustles like a leaf caught in a perpetual wind. Most smell like dew on fresh grass, wildflowers, or a mossy forest floor. Rarely, an ardande is born with amber or bark for nails, leaves or delicate petals freckling their skin, or even rotten, mossy bodies that shed spores and resin.

Society

Poorly understood by both them and others, ardandes born before the recent convergence of the prime elements have struggled to fully comprehend their own heritage. Due to the recent power surge of the elements, Athas has had too few ardandes for the geniekin to form their own societies or cultural norms. In most regions where ardandes are found, only a single family might have a connection to a spirit of the land, and the norms of the elemental scions in those areas are simply those of that single ardande family.

BELIEFS

Many ardandes value community and family. Religious ardandes gravitate to the druidic orders. Evil ardandes sometimes look to sorcerer kings for guidance, like Hamanu, Nibenay, or Lalali-Puy. The ardandes who venerate these sorcerer kings and queens often interpret corruption and disease as necessary components of nature’s eternal cycle: death that carves the way for renewal, rather than death as a final ending.
Popular Edicts flow with the cycles of nature, grow the world I want to live in
Popular Anathema betray my family

Ardande Heritage

You descend from ruvoka or have some other heritage influenced by a spirit of the land. You might have green, mossy skin, vines that grow from your head instead of hair, or thin appendages that resemble twigs.

You gain the ardande trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You also gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision.

You can choose from ardande feats, geniekin feats, and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Ardande Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As an ardande, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry and geniekin feats.

1st Level

Ambersoul
FEAT 1

Your elemental heritage is reflected in the oils and fragrances of plants, in tree resin that fossilizes into amber, or in the gentle smell of a flower. Sticky, golden sap runs through your veins instead of blood. Each time a creature deals slashing or piercing damage to you with a melee Strike, your sap coats its weapon or unarmed attack. The creature takes a –1 circumstance penalty on attack rolls with that weapon or unarmed attack until the end of its turn.

Grove-Harbored
FEAT 1

You are accustomed to exploring thick woodlands and defending yourself against the attacks of magical plants. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against plant, poison, and wood effects, and if you roll a success on a save against a poison effect, you get a critical success instead.

Moldersoul
FEAT 1

Your connection to elemental wood asserts itself in the form of decay, like forgotten logs left to rot and the char that remains after a forest fire, cycles of devastation clearing away what was to make room for the next generation of life. You gain the Decompose action.

Decompose

(primal, void) once per day; Void energy seeps out of you, decaying everything within a 5-foot emanation and causing plants and foliage to age and decompose. Natural difficult terrain is destroyed, and creatures in the area with the plant or wood trait take 1d6 void damage with a basic Fortitude save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher.

Springsoul
FEAT 1

Your connection to the spirits of the land manifests as fresh blossoms, spring fruits, and the seeds of new life, and you harness this power to spread vitality and abundance. You can cast the tangle vine cantrip as an innate primal spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Woodworker
FEAT 1

Practicing your own woodcraft helps you feel a connection with the spirits of the land. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Crafting. If you would automatically become trained in Crafting (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat for woodworking.

5th Level

Read The Roots
FEAT 5

The root systems of plants are a far-reaching network of information, and you know how to access them and extract their secrets. You Seek within 30 feet using tremorsense, an imprecise sense, instead of one of your own senses. You can also detect subjects touching or burrowing through the surface you are standing on in this way.

Sunlit Vitality
FEAT 5

You gain nourishment through photosynthesis, like trees and other green plants. You typically don’t need to pay for food, though you begin to starve if you go without sunlight for 1 week. You can derive nourishment from specially formulated bottles of sunlight instead of natural sunlight, but these bottles cost 10 times as much as standard rations (4 gp per week).

Treespeech
FEAT 5

You speak Wildsong.

Your connection to the spirits of the land allows you to communicate with trees in the Universe in Wildsong. You can ask questions of, receive answers from, and use the Diplomacy skill with woody plants like trees and shrubs.

9th Level

Druidic Magic
FEAT 9

You can wield the primal magic of a druid, casting entangling flora and one with plants once per day each as 2nd-rank primal innate spells.

Flowering Path
FEAT 9

once per day

Vitality and life energy flows out from your body and into the earth, infusing it with a stream of new life. When you walk, you leave blooming flowers and sprouting vines in your wake.

For the next minute, each time you Step or Stride, you create difficult terrain in each square you leave during your movement.

13th Level

Summon Wood Elemental
FEAT 13

Your connection to the spirits of the land allows you to summon elemental allies. Once per day, you can cast summon elemental as a 5th-rank primal innate spell, but the elemental must be a wood elemental.

Wooden Mantle
FEAT 13

Your connection to the magic of the spirits of the land allows you to call upon the power of plants and trees to protect yourself. You can cast mantle of the unwavering heart as a 5th-rank primal innate spell once per day.

17th Level

Wood Ward
FEAT 17

A creature targets you with an attack.

once per hour

With a sweep of your hand, vines and roots burst from the ground along the edge of your space between you and the attacker, creating a natural lattice of wood that grants standard cover. The circumstance bonus from the cover applies to your AC when you’re determining the outcome of the triggering attack. If the triggering attack still hits and deals physical damage to you, the ward reduces the damage by 30 and is immediately destroyed. If the attack misses, the ward instead persists for 3 rounds before withering back into the earth. Creatures can cross the ward, but it’s difficult terrain.

Ardande Adventurers

Misunderstood and unexplained, many ardande children turn to lives of adventure as they search for answers and information about themselves. Backgrounds as artists and artisans are common, as woodcrafts and sculpture often help them to feel connected with the spirits of the land, though many also become scholars and elementalists in their quests to uncover the secrets of Athas and their place inside it.

Naari

Naaris descend from creatures such as naaris, salamanders, and fire drakes. Their spark of ancestral flame gives them a reputation for being passionate, if not capricious.

Naaris often build up personal relationships between themselves and the idea of fire, feeling as though they embody it mentally or spiritually, in addition to physically. Some naaris relate to fire’s mutable energy, illuminating properties, or destructive nature. Some naaris share a connection from birth to specific aspects of elemental fire, such as radiance or lava; this is called a naari lineage. Naaris often have the same lineage as their parents, though sometimes naaris are born with lineages different from their families, or to parents without one. Lineages can appear in naari children as a reflection of where they were born. They can also occur as a reflection of the naari’s planar ancestry, such as a brightsoul naari having a fire-themed sun ancestor like a Dukhani. Magma naaris with the lavasoul lineage are most often born the descendants of magma drakes or other magma elementals.

You Might...

Relate your personal identity to elemental fire and believe fire represents core aspects of your personality.
Always keep yourself moving and busy, traveling to new places or trying new things, for fear that slowing down may dim your inner fire.
Take great pride in your elemental lineage, especially if you believe you are related to the mighty ifrit nobles, the maliks.

Others Probably...

Look to you as an authority on fire magic or the elemental planes.
Think of you as a never-ending well of passion and inspiration, with an inner spark that never dies.
Assume you must be hot-headed and reckless, acting before you think.

Physical Description

Just as their elemental origins can vary, so too can naaris’ otherworldly appearances. Red, orange, and brass are all common skin colors, while others have charcoal-gray, ash-brown, or radiant white, yellow, or blue hues. Naari hair often falls in untamable coils of flame that grow over the naari’s lifespan. Salamander-descended naaris can have lizard-like scales, while those descended from ifrit may have huge, red horns curling up from their skulls.

Many naaris keep their skin uncovered and open to the air, favoring loose or breathable clothes made in light fabrics like silk and chiffon. Their styles often feature bright colors and bold patterns paired with metallic jewelry.

Society

Naaris are typically born into societies built by others, where they comprise minority populations. Most naaris place a high value on their freedom, and though they might live within societies and cultures dominated by humans, elves, or dwarves, many carve out peaceful, productive, and fulfilling places for themselves. Because most naaris aren’t bothered by high temperatures, many gravitate toward workplaces that get uncomfortably hot for other mortals, like forges.

Beliefs

Naaris are fiercely independent, sometimes valuing their personal freedoms above those of others around them.

Though frequently accused of lacking morals by their detractors, naaris who tend toward mischief are rarely motivated by malice.

Naaris are rarely inclined to venerate Athas’ sorcerer kings, typically resenting the strictures and rules of an organized faith, but those who do most often worship elemental lords of fire or the sun.

Naari Heritage

You descend from fire elementals or bear the mark of the Inner Spheres, and your features illustrate the influence that elemental fire has over you. You gain the naari trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain resistance to fire equal to half your level (minimum 1), and you treat environmental heat effects as if they were one step less severe (incredible heat becomes extreme, extreme heat becomes severe, and so on). You can choose from naari feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Naari Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a naari, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Brightsoul
FEAT 1

The fire inside you asserts itself as beaming, radiant light. Your body is naturally luminescent, glowing with the effects of a primal light cantrip. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up. The light is involuntary and constant; if counteracted, it returns in 1d4 rounds. You suffer a –2 circumstance penalty on Stealth checks to Hide or Sneak and gain a +1 circumstance bonus on saves against light effects and effects that inflict the blinded or dazzled conditions.

Cindersoul
FEAT 1

The fire of your elemental ancestor manifests like dying embers of a blaze, and your inner charcoal helps staunch bleeding, purify simple poisons, and absorb acid. The DC for you to recover from persistent acid, bleed, and poison damage is 10 instead of 15 (or 5 if you have particularly effective assistance).

Ember's Eyes
FEAT 1

Your eyes blaze with inner flame. You gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision.

Special If your ancestry has neither low-light vision nor darkvision, you can take this ancestry feat a second time to gain darkvision. You can't retrain out of this feat.

Inner Fire
FEAT 1

You can call the fire inside you into the palm of your hand. You can cast the ignition cantrip as an innate primal or divine spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Lavasoul
FEAT 1

Your elemental lineage manifests as magma and molten rock, and you can focus the magma into your hand to attack your foes. You gain a magma spike unarmed attack, which requires a free hand to use. This is an agile, finesse, unarmed attack in the brawling weapon group that deals 1d4 piercing damage, as well as 1 additional fire damage. Instead of the normal critical specialization effect, the target takes 1d6 persistent fire damage; you gain a bonus on this persistent damage equal to your item bonus to attack rolls on unarmed attacks.

Molten Wit
FEAT 1

Your elemental soul has sparked not just your body but also your mind. You either become trained in Deception and gain the Charming Liar skill feat, or you become trained in Diplomacy and gain the Group Impression skill feat. If you're already trained in one of these skills, you must take the other and can choose from either skill feat. If you're trained in both skills, you become trained in a different skill of your choice instead and can choose from either skill feat.

Sinister Appearance
FEAT 1

You possess horns, a tail, or red eyes, or could otherwise be mistaken for an elemental aberration. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Intimidation. If you would automatically become trained in Intimidation (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat, as well as a +2 circumstance bonus on Deception checks to Impersonate when pretending to be a version of yourself who is an elemental aberration.

5th Level

Firesight
FEAT 5

You can see through the haze of flame. You automatically succeed at the flat check to target a concealed creature if that creature is concealed only by smoke and fire.

Heatwave
FEAT 5

once per 10 minutes

An effect would deal fire damage to you, even if you resist all the damage.

You harness the oncoming flames and twist them into a screen of heat and smoke, granting you concealment until the beginning of your next turn.

9th Level

Charred Remains
FEAT 9

once per day

Your next fire spell leaves embers in its wake. If your next action is to Cast a Spell with an area and the fire trait, for 1 minute, your spell's area becomes difficult terrain as well as hazardous terrain, dealing 1 fire damage for each square a creature moves through.

Ifrit Magic
FEAT 9

The magic of your ifrit ancestors flows through you. You can cast enlarge and illusory object once per day each as 2nd-rank primal innate spells.

Scorching Disarm
FEAT 9

once per day

You make a weapon unbearable to hold. Attempt an Athletics check to Disarm a target creature. You don't need to have a hand free to make this Disarm attempt. If the Disarm attempt succeeds, the target takes 4d6 fire damage unless it drops the weapon, and on a critical success, it takes 4d6 fire damage and drops the weapon. If you're legendary in Athletics, this increases to 8d6 fire damage.

13th Level

Radiant Burst
FEAT 13

once per day

Your skin glows with intensity. Creatures within 10 feet who can see you must succeed at a Fortitude save against your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher.

The creature is unaffected.

The creature is dazzled for 1 round.

The creature is blinded for 1 round and dazzled for 4 rounds.

The creature is blinded for 4 rounds and dazzled for 10 minutes.

Summon Fire Elemental
FEAT 13

You can summon an elemental ally. Once per day, you can cast summon elemental as a 5th-rank primal innate spell, but the elemental summoned must be a fire elemental, sun elemental (brightsoul), or magma elemental (lavasoul).

17th Level

Blazing Aura
FEAT 17

once per day

Your turn begins.

You explode in flame. Enemies in a 20-foot emanation take 7d6 fire damage (basic Reflex save using your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher). Allies in the area are quickened for 1 round and can use the additional action to Strike or Stride.

Naari Adventurers

Naaris who choose to set out as adventurers usually have backgrounds as artisans, artists, entertainers, and merchants. Naaris who choose to become champions are often redeemers, especially when they enter the service of elemental fire, and naari clerics tend to worship either fire, sun, or magma.

Oread

The Plane of Earth’s influence runs through an oread’s family, most often from a jabalis or earth drake ancestor. Oreads tend to be stoic, steadfast, and dependable, but they contain depths not seen on the surface.

Oreads can be slow to reveal their true selves, or perhaps more accurately, have enough depth and mystery inherent to their beings that they can reveal new and unexpected facets of themselves every day. They usually feel that they personify certain aspects of earth, stone, or other sediments or minerals, such as a cliff’s tenacious resilience against erosion, the generosity and nourishment of fertile soil, or the versatile utility of metal and stone.

Oreads born with a special connection to a specific subset of elemental earth, such as crystal, mud, or silt, might have an oread lineage. A lineage can be inherited along a family bloodline, or it can manifest spontaneously in oread children. They can be caused by where an oread’s ancestors lived, frequently seen in siltsoul oreads, many of whom are born in a desert or to a family that has lived near the sea of silt for generations. Lineages can also be the result of specific planar heritages. Gemsoul oreads often have an earth drake in their lineage, and miresoul oreads descend from the more sodden creatures of elemental earth.

You Might...

Relate your personal identity with elemental earth and believe stones or mountains represent core aspects of your personality.
Value moments of peace and quiet seclusion where you can be alone with nature.
Take great pride in your elemental lineage, especially if you believe you are related to the austere jabali pashas.

Others Probably...

Look to you as an authority on earth magic or elemental planes.
Think you are wise and cautious, moving into action only after you have considered a problem from all angles.
Assume you are stoic and quietly strong, keeping your thoughts and feelings to yourself.

Physical Description

Oreads have the same diversity in height, body type, and physical characteristics as any other member of their mortal ancestries, alongside a handful of other traits that distinguish them as geniekin.

Their skin is often gray or brown, but can also resemble metals and precious stones, with copper and iron veining or crystals that grow out of their skin.

Instead of hair, oreads often have crystals or rocks that grow from their heads; regardless, most oreads sculpt, decorate, or otherwise maintain the appearance of their hair, whatever form it takes. Almost all oreads have shimmering gemstone eyes, beautiful and multifaceted.

Oreads usually dress in sturdy clothes that can withstand physical labor and exposure to the elements, like fur and leather. Many choose clothing that will expose their unique characteristics, tailored to show off any crystals embedded in their rocky skin.

Society

Born and raised within the societies of their mortal families, oread children are often (though not universally) described as shy and quiet, growing up to be patient, observant, and clever. They gravitate toward careers that allow them to work in peaceful contemplation with their thoughts, present opportunities to work with their hands, or ideally, both. Many oreads become miners or crafters who work with the earth, such as stonemasons, metalworkers, or gem cutters. Oreads also tend to enjoy opportunities to uphold structures or systems, and many find their vigilance and patience well-suited for careers as guards, wardens, or clerks. Oreads born in rural communities find fulfillment working and living on the land in a peaceful, self-sufficient harmony with nature.

Beliefs

Oreads are known for being steadfast and reliable, often placing high value on personal honor and keeping their word. Many are fiercely protective of their friends but less concerned for the safety of those outside their circle.

Religious oreads find that lives of silence, contemplation, or seclusion suit them well, and most dedicate themselves to the worship of earth and the Elemental Lords of Earth. Dustsoul oreads however, break this mold and look to further erode the land by deceiving those who wish to enrich their lands with poor farming techniques. These dustsouls most often serve the elemental lords of silt.

Oread Heritage

An earth elemental ancestor has influenced your bloodline, and your features highlight this elemental planar connection. You might have a crystalline or metallic sheen to your skin or hair, rough and stony flesh, or glittering gemstone eyes. You gain the oread trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You also gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from oread feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Oread Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels).

As an oread, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Dustsoul
FEAT 1

Your silt elemental ancestor's influence manifests in you as dust and dirt, like the soil of a field or the hot desert sands. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Survival. If you would automatically become trained in Survival (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You can sustain yourself on sand and silt instead of normal food and water.

Elemental Trade
FEAT 1

You have a strong connection with stone and metal. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Crafting. If you would automatically become trained in Crafting (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat for both Stonemasonry and Blacksmithing.

Gemsoul
FEAT 1

The earth inside you asserts itself as crystallized gemstones or metals, like a cluster of quartz or veins of iron and gold. This shimmering presence inside your being inspires you to flashy and flamboyant performances. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Performance. If you would automatically become trained in Performance (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain the Impressive Performance skill feat.

Miresoul
FEAT 1

You have a connection to the muddier denizens of the Plane of Earth from its border with the Plane of Water, and your elemental lineage manifests as clay or mud, reflecting that bond. Your body's mud like quality makes it easy for you to compress and squeeze yourself through smaller areas. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Acrobatics. If you would automatically become trained in Acrobatics (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You gain the Quick Squeeze skill feat.

Silent Stone
FEAT 1

You've lived in the shadow of the Ringing Mountains, and the patience of those ancient mountains expresses itself in your stillness. Your body might have veins of granite, sandstone, or similar sedimentary rocks that make it easier for you to camouflage yourself in certain regions. You become trained in Stealth, and you gain the Terrain Stalker skill feat. If you're already trained in Stealth from another source, you become trained in a skill of your choice instead.

Steady on Stone
FEAT 1

Your connection to the earth makes natural uneven surfaces less of a hindrance for you. You can ignore difficult terrain caused by rubble and uneven ground made of stone and earth. In addition, when you use the Acrobatics skill to Balance on narrow surfaces or uneven ground made of stone and earth, you aren't off-guard, and when you roll a success at one of these Acrobatics checks, you get a critical success instead.

5th Level

Fortify Shield
FEAT 5

once per day

Shield Block

You reinforce your shield with a rocky outgrowth of metal and stone. You Raise your Shield. If you use the Shield Block reaction before your next turn, add your character level to your shield's Hardness when determining how much damage is blocked.

Treacherous Earth
FEAT 5

once every 10 minutes

You have the power to shatter the earth into a shape of your devising. You crack the ground beneath you, creating difficult terrain in a 5-foot burst centered on one corner of your space.

9th Level

Earthsense
FEAT 9

Your connection to earth and stone allows you to feel the slightest displacement that disturbs them, down to the shift of a pebble. You gain tremorsense as an imprecise sense with a range of 30 feet.

Jabali Magic
FEAT 9

The magic of jabalis runs through your blood. You can cast revealing light and resist energy once per day each as 2nd-rank primal innate spells.

13th Level

Jabali Skin
FEAT 13

When in danger, you can harden the stone in your skin into armor, much like a jabali. You can cast mountain resilience on yourself only, 3 times per day as a 4th-rank primal innate spell.

Metal-Veined Strikes
FEAT 13

Metallic veins grow throughout your body, giving your unarmed attacks a metallic sheen. Choose either cold iron or silver. Your unarmed attacks are treated as the chosen type of metal.

One With Earth
FEAT 13

You've learned to harness your connection to the earth to travel through it. You gain a burrow Speed of 15 feet.

Summon Earth Elemental
FEAT 13

You have a connection to the Inner Sphere, allowing you to summon an elemental ally. Once per day, you can cast summon elemental as a 5th-rank primal innate spell, but the elemental summoned must be an earth elemental or silt elemental (dustsoul).

17th Level

Stone Form
FEAT 17

You can transform your body into a pure primal manifestation of earth, an elemental. Once per day, you can cast elemental form as a 7th-rank primal innate spell, but you can only choose the earth elemental form.

Oread Adventurers

Oread adventurers usually come from artisan, herbalist, and miner backgrounds. Many oreads work with their hands as craftspeople, creating their work out of stone, metal, gems, or other forms of their ancestral element. Oread clerics tend to worship elemental earth or in the case of dustsouls elemental silt. Druid and ranger oreads are also common.

Sylph

Sylphs are an intense and lively people, flighty and tempestuous. These planar scions have kinship to beings of elemental air such as jaathooms, invisible stalkers, and air drakes.

Sylphs enjoying following their own tempos, shifting between wild energy that draws all eyes to embodying the spirit of unseen breezes that slip away without note. They often build their identities around their perceived personal connection to the element of air, relating to a gentle breeze, a sudden flash of lightning, or an uncontrollable storm.

Some sylphs are born with a connection to an extremely focused aspect of elemental air, such as smoke, storms, or toxic gas. While it does happen, a child is rarely born with a lineage that differs from their parents', as geniekin typically pass these unusual gifts on to their offspring. Lineages can manifest in sylph children as a result of where they're born, such as when stormsoul sylphs are birthed in regions prone to thunderstorms. A lineage can also reflect a sylph's elemental heritage like in smokesoul sylphs, who often descend from belkers. Fumesoul sylphs, on the other hand, are associated with poisonous and otherwise unbreathable gases.

You Might...

Relate your identity with the element of air and believe the wind and storms represent core aspects of your personality.
Enjoy traveling and exploring high, secluded places where you can observe the world beneath you.
Take pride in your elemental lineage, especially if you believe you are related to the gregarious jaathoom viziers.

Others Probably...

Look to you as an authority on air magic or the elemental Plane of Air.
Believe you easily flow through all aspects of society, while listening to those around you.
Assume you must be airheaded or capricious, prone to irresponsible behavior without regard for consequence.

Physical Description

Like all geniekin, sylphs are recognizable as members of their ancestries with unique characteristics that identify their planar heritage. Their skin and hair can be any color of the sky, ranging from cloudy whites to the twilight tones of dawn and dusk. Complex, swirling marks dance across the skin of many sylphs, resembling shifting summer clouds. Some have skin cool to the touch, while others are surrounded by a constant static.

Their hair can move with a life of its own, and they're often accompanied by light breezes that follow them everywhere they go.

Sylphs typically prefer clothing in light, airy fabrics such as silk and linen, cut in loose and voluminous styles that flow in the breeze. Many of them deliberately wear chimes and jewels that jingle in the wind, though stealthier geniekin endeavor to keep everything pinned down.

Society

Sylphs exist within the societies of other ancestries, usually that of their mortal families, and it's incredibly common for them to have a sense of never quite belonging.

Most sylphs engage in a practice known as “listening to the wind,” keeping their eyes and ears open to all that happens, often making their companions uncomfortable in the process. For sylphs, this habit of vigilance and information-seeking helps them feel connected to the world around them. A curious and restless bunch, many sylphs seek out occupations and lifestyles that allow them to travel and explore.

Beliefs

Most sylphs place little value on laws and tradition, preferring to forge their own paths and go where the wind blows, especially as many have a great love for subterfuge and trickery, placing them at odds with nearly all laws and social norms. Overall to pursue the most expedient avenues toward accomplishing their goals, regardless of legality.

Sylphs often find themselves drawn toward the mysteries of the air elemental lords or rain elemental lords.

Sylph Heritage

You are descended from air elementals or were born under the element's influence. You gain the sylph trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You also gain low-light vision or darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from sylph feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Sylph Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a sylph, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Fumesoul
FEAT 1

The air inside you asserts itself as a toxic miasma, inuring you to most poisons. You gain resistance to poison equal to half your level (minimum 1).

Smokesoul
FEAT 1

You have a connection to smoke and haze. You gain the Smoke Blending reaction.

Smoke Blending

(sylph) A creature attempts a flat check to target you because you're concealed or hidden due to fog, haze, mist, or smoke; You shroud yourself in smoke, making it harder for your foe to hit you. If you're concealed, the DC of the flat check increases from 5 to 7; if you're hidden, it increases from 11 to 13.

Stormsoul
FEAT 1

Your elemental ancestor's influence manifests in you as tumultuous, thundering storms, with dark clouds and bolts of lightning. You gain resistance to electricity equal to half your level (minimum 1).

Swift
FEAT 1

You move with the wind always at your back. Your Speed increases by 5 feet.

Special The Speed increase from this feat isn't cumulative with any Speed increase from your ancestry feats (such as Nimble Elf).

Wind Pillow
FEAT 1

The winds have whispered to you all your life, and the essence of air itself helps you at times, making you somewhat buoyant when you're suspended in space. Treat all falls as though they were 10 feet less than the actual distance traveled. You also gain the Powerful Leap skill feat, even if you don't meet that feat's prerequisites.

Wind Tempered
FEAT 1

You are at home in tempestuous weather and accustomed to even the harshest winds. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against air and electricity effects. If you roll a success on a save against an air effect, you get a critical success instead.

5th Level

Cloud Gazer
FEAT 5

Your connection to air allows you to see through obscuring mists. You can see well enough through fog, mist, and clouds that would normally cause creatures to be concealed that you don't need to succeed at a flat check to target creatures benefiting from such concealment.

Slip With The Breeze
FEAT 5

expert in Athletics

You create gusts of wind when you jump, allowing you to carry yourself across greater distances. You gain the Quick Jump and Powerful Leap skill feats as bonus feats.

9th Level

Jaathoomi Magic
FEAT 9

The magic of jaathoom runs through your blood. You can cast gust of wind and invisibility once per day each as 2nd-rank primal innate spells.

Inner Breath
FEAT 9

Your body is capable of recycling its own air. When you hold your breath, you can do so for an additional hour. At the end of this hour, your body needs to rest before it can recycle air again. This rest requires 10 minutes of exposure to breathable air.

Wings of Air
FEAT 9

You can strain to call forth feathered or cloudy wings from your back. Once manifested, these wings remain for 10 minutes. You gain a fly Speed equal to your land Speed while you've manifested your wings.

13th Level

Airy Step
FEAT 13

once per day

A creature targets you with an attack or other targeted effect, and you can see the attacker.

You create a blanket of fog in a 5–foot burst centered on one corner of your space. All creatures within that area are concealed, and all others are concealed to them. This concealment applies to the triggering effect, and the fog lasts for 1 minute or until dispersed by a strong wind. After resolving the triggering effect, you Step. If an effect prevents you from Stepping, you attempt to Escape the effect and Step if you succeed.

Summon Air Elemental
FEAT 13

17th Level

Eternal Wings
FEAT 17

Wings of Air

Your wings are now a permanent part of your body. You gain the effects of Wings of Air at all times rather than just once per day for 10 minutes.

Storm Form
FEAT 17

You can transform into an elemental. Once per day, you can cast elemental form as a 7th-rank primal innate spell, but you can only choose the air elemental form.

Sylph Adventurers

Sylphs who become adventurers often have backgrounds as acrobats, entertainers, nomads, and scouts. Traveling beneath an open sky or exploring the highest mountains is irresistible, and this drive to always reach for the sky drives many to pursue a life of adventuring. Sylph champions are most often liberators, and clerics typically serve elemental lords of air or rain. Many sylphs are wizards that focus on elemental magic.

Undine

These dynamic, fluid mortals trace their ancestry to creatures from the Plane of Water, such as faydhaans, water scamps, and water drakes.

Undines often go through life in a series of shifting phases, their interests waxing, waning, or sometimes morphing altogether as old loves are discarded for new interests. Structure provides a much-needed focus to undines’ lives, and without strong goals or support from those around them, undines can find themselves stagnating in feelings of despondence. Most undines feel they personify specific aspects of water, some seeing themselves with the strength and power of the waves, the speed and tenacity of a river current, or the calm of a peaceful lake or pond. Others identify with all these aspects and more, their demeanors shifting like the tides from one situation to the next.

Undines born with a connection only to a specific subtype of elemental water, such as ice, brine, or mist, might have a specific undine lineage. These are typically passed down from parent to child, as with other geniekin, but on occasion, a child is born with a lineage never seen in their family. Sometimes lineages are the result of where an undine’s ancestors lived, such as rimesoul undines being born at the tops of mountain peaks. At other times it can be related to the undine’s elemental heritage, as is often the case with brinesoul undines, who usually descend from water drakes. Mistsoul undines might have a distant but powerful connection to elemental water or might even have a bit of elemental air mixed into their ancestry.

You Might...

Relate your identity to elemental water and believe the streams and tides represent core aspects of your personality.
Be equally comfortable above the waves as you are beneath them.
Take great pride in your elemental lineage, especially if you believe you are related to the formidable faydhaan shahzadas

Others Probably...

Look to you as an authority on water magic or the elemental planes.
Think you can speak with aquatic creatures.
Assume you are easily swayed by others, with few real opinions of your own

Physical Description

With all the same diversity in height, body type, and physical characteristics as any other member of their ancestries, undine coloration runs a vast breadth of variation.

Most commonly, an undine’s skin and hair mimic the colors of the lakes, seas, or oceans near where they were born, ranging from the palest of blues to sea greens and navies. A rare few undines may even take on the bioluminescence of deep-sea fish, the bright colors of corals and anemones, or the pale bone hues of seashells. More unusual traits can include fin-like ears, thin layers of shimmering fish scales covering their bodies, coral growths at their joints or temples, tails with caudal fins, and even webbed hands and feet.

Society

Unlike other geniekin, undines create and congregate within their own tightly knit communities near water or floating on top of it.

Undine neighborhoods that develop within larger cities, typically near the docks or directly on the water, are informally known as flotillas. Because undines deliberately create and seek out these communities, their children usually have healthy childhoods focused on the values of fellowship and harmony. This stands in contrast to many other planar scions, who all-too-often grow up feeling like outsiders.

Undines typically gravitate toward occupations that allow them to live and work near water, and many of them excel at fishing and sailing thanks to their love and understanding of the sea.

Beliefs

Undines are flexible and community-minded, often valuing the overall health of their communities above that of any one individual. Usually, their moral concerns are often centered around their societies rather than their actions.

Religion isn't a major part of most undine's lives, but they often have strong spiritual connections to elemental water or to water itself. Some undines worship elemental lords of water or rain.

Undine Heritage

A water elemental ancestor influences your bloodline. You gain the undine trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain a swim Speed of 10 feet and the amphibious trait. Like all creatures with the amphibious trait, you can breathe both water and air. You can choose from undine feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Undine Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As an undine, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Aquatic Eyes
FEAT 1

As your connection to water grows, you can see more easily in places with less light, such as the depths of the ocean. You gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision.

Special If your ancestry has neither low-light vision nor darkvision, you can take this ancestry feat a second time to gain darkvision. You can't retrain out of this feat.

Brinesoul
FEAT 1

Your elemental ancestor's legacy asserts itself as brackish water, like the seawater of the ocean. You gain the Salt Wound reaction.

Salt Wound

(undine) once per day; A creature that has blood and is not at its maximum Hit Points hits you with a melee Strike; You channel salt and brine from your blood into the creature's wounds. The creature must attempt a Fortitude save using your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher. On a failure, the creature takes 1d6 persistent acid damage and is sickened 1 by the pain. On a critical failure, it instead takes 2d6 persistent acid damage and is sickened 2.

Mistsoul
FEAT 1

You have a connection to vaporous forms of water, such as fog and mist. You gain the Mist Blending reaction.

Mist Blending

(undine) A creature attempts a flat check to target you because you're concealed or hidden due to fog, haze, mist, or smoke; You shroud yourself in mist, making it harder for your foe to hit you. If you're concealed, the DC of the flat check increases from 5 to 7; if you're hidden, it increases from 11 to 13.

Native Waters
FEAT 1

You were born with or obtained a special connection to either fresh water or salt water. Once made, this decision can't be changed. Whenever you take your full rest in a natural body of water of the type corresponding to your connection, you recover additional Hit Points equal to your level, and if you have the doomed or fatigued conditions, you reduce them by 2 instead of 1.

Rimesoul
FEAT 1

The water inside you is cold and frozen, like sheets of ice and frigid glaciers. You gain resistance to cold equal to half your level (minimum 1), and you treat environmental cold effects as if they were one step less severe (incredible cold becomes extreme, extreme cold becomes severe, and so on).

Tide-hardened
FEAT 1

You're at home in the unpredictable tides. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against cold and water effects. If you roll a success on a save against a cold or water effect, you get a critical success instead.

5th Level

Fluid Contortionist
FEAT 5

You can ignore difficult terrain caused by moving through tight spaces that aren't tight enough to force you to Squeeze. When you roll a critical failure on a check to Squeeze, you get a failure instead, and when you roll a success, you get a critical success instead.

Steam Spell
FEAT 5

You transform your fire spells into steam, making them more effective underwater. If your next action is to Cast a Spell with the fire trait, you can cast it underwater. When you do so, it takes the form of scalding steam. Underwater creatures do not gain the normal fire resistance for being underwater against this spell, but they don't light things on fire or cause persistent fire damage, nor do they add other effects that would apply to fire but not steam (at the GM's discretion).

9th Level

Faydhaan Magic
FEAT 9

You channel the magic of faydhaans. You can cast hydraulic push and mist each once per day as 2nd-rank primal innate spells.

Strong Swimmer
FEAT 9

Your swim Speed increases to match your land Speed.

13th Level

Summon Water Elemental
FEAT 13

You can summon an elemental ally. Once per day, you can cast summon elemental as a 5th-rank primal innate spell, but the elemental summoned must be a water elemental, or rain elemental (mistsoul).

Translucent Skin
FEAT 13

Your body is translucent while underwater. Whenever you are fully submerged in water, you can Hide from other creatures even if you don't have cover against them and aren't concealed from them.

17th Level

Tidal Shield
FEAT 17

once per day

You conjure the force of the tides to gain a +4 circumstance bonus to AC until the end of your next turn. Any allies adjacent to you during the duration gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC as long as they remain adjacent to you. You can Sustain the effect to a maximum duration of 5 rounds. When a creature receiving a circumstance bonus to AC from Tidal Shield would take damage from an attack, as a reaction, you can reduce the damage to that creature by 40; after you do so, Tidal Shield ends.

Undine Adventurers

Undines often come from the animal whisperer, artist, and sailor backgrounds before becoming adventurers. The artist background is especially common among undines descended from faydhaans, and undines raised on the Plane of Water in their parent's courts often develop their skills as an entertainer. Undine clerics usually serve water or rain elemental lords.

Gray-Touched

You see a person appearing gaunt and sickly, with pale skin, hollow cheeks, and sunken, weary, and sore-looking eyes.

Gray-touched creatures are those who have been scarred by the horrifying effects of death magic. Born from the undead, cursed by a kaisharga, victor of an immortal conflict, or merely a survivor of a terrible encounter with undeath. Most appear paler and more feral than normal versions of their races. Some gray-touched are generations removed from their undead progenitors.

Gray-touched have an inherent understanding of the cycle of life and death. In most cases this manifests as a deep respect for that cycle and pushes the gray-touched toward occupations that help them to protect it, such as hunters of the undead, midwives, morticians, and priests.

You Might...

Seek out opportunities to form strong friendships with a diverse array of companions.
Become focused on preventing the spread of undeath.
Be intrigued at finding your identity in a previous life.

Others Probably...

Assume you’re a necromancer or have some other strange interest in death or the dead.
Want to know if you remember your past life or ask you about the secrets of death or the afterlife.

Physical Description

Whether it is because you have died and have escaped the Gray to return to your body, or because you have magically contacted it, you have developed a physical link to the Gray. As gray-touched retains many of the physical traits they possessed in their previous life and is a member of that ancestry, though as a gray-touched they have distinctive ash-gray, dark blue, or pale corpse-like skin.

Society

It’s not uncommon for a gray-touched to go their entire life without encountering another of their kind. Despite their overall rarity, gray-touched are likely to become adventurers, both due to the strange conditions of their creation and common feelings of social isolation.

Beliefs

Gray-touched are a macabre lot, usually filled with a love for the morbid and sepulchral. Being infused by the force of the Gray itself, gray-touched rarely display fear.

Gray-Touched Heritage

Somehow you were infused by the Gray in your past life, now you have been reborn as a gray-touched, a planar scion with a connection to the Gray. You gain the gray-touched trait in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You gain resistance to void damage equal to half your level (minimum 1). Neither your body nor your spirit can ever become undead. You can choose from gray-touched feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Gray-Touched Ancestry
Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a gray-touched, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Chance Death
FEAT 1

once per day

You would die as a result of a failed saving throw or recovery check.

Your previous life ended due to sheer poor luck, struck by lightning, or choking on a fish bone. You can reroll the triggering recovery check or saving throw, but you must use the new result, even if it's worse than the first roll.

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can't retrain into or out of this feat.

Dead Sight
FEAT 1

Your eyes gleam with the darkness of undeath. You gain low-light vision, or you gain darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision.

Special: If your ancestry has neither low-light vision nor darkvision, you can take this ancestry feat a second time to gain darkvision. You can't retrain out of this feat.

Death Glare
FEAT 1

Your glare makes people think death is approaching. You are trained in Intimidation and gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat. If you were already trained in Intimidation (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

Death Touched
FEAT 1

You have been reborn, but you are still not quite living, as the power of the Gray still courses through your body. When you have the drained condition, calculate the penalty to your Fortitude saves and your Hit Point reduction as though the condition value were 1 lower. You are trained in Diplomacy. If you would automatically become trained in Diplomacy, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

Deliberate Death
FEAT 1

once per day

You are about to gain the dying condition as a result of another creature's attack or ability, and that creature is within your melee reach.

Once, you died because someone—murderer or monster, soldier, or executioner— chose to strike you down. Just before losing consciousness, make a melee Strike against the triggering creature.

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can't retrain into or out of this feat.

Ghost Hunter
FEAT 1

Your connection to the Gray ensures that your blows strike true against spectral beings. Your weapon and unarmed attack Strikes against incorporeal creatures become magical. If they are already magical, they instead gain the effects of a ghost touch property rune.

Gloomy
FEAT 1

You are constantly thinking about death, which you had a taste of. This leaves you stoic and emotionless. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Will saves against effects with the emotion trait, and when you roll a success on a saving throw against such an effect, you get a critical success instead.

Gray-Touched Lore
FEAT 1

You either found another gray-touched who taught you the secrets of your kind, or you managed to research your unusual heritage. You gain the trained proficiency rank in Arcana and Medicine. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Gray Lore.

Willing Death
FEAT 1

once per day

An ally within 30 feet takes damage that would otherwise reduce them to 0 Hit Points and give them the dying condition.

Once, you died because you valued someone else's life above your own; just as then, you protect an ally by suffering in their stead. Reduce the damage the triggering ally would take by 1 + your level. You redirect this damage to yourself, but your immunities, weaknesses, resistances, and so on don't apply. You aren't subject to any conditions or other effects from whatever damaged your ally (such as poison from a venomous bite)—your ally is still subject to those effects even if you redirect all of the triggering damage to yourself.

If the redirected damage prevents the ally from being reduced to 0 Hit Points, they remain conscious and don't gain the dying condition.

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can't retrain into or out of this feat.

5th Level

Death's Door
FEAT 5

Your connection to the Gray allows you to usher undead to true death. You gain infuse vitality as an innate arcane spell. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate arcane spell. You can also cast vitality lash as an arcane innate cantrip at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Lifesense
FEAT 5

You have a limited ability to sense life force, like the undead of the Gray. You gain lifesense as an imprecise sense with a range of 10 feet. This allows you to sense the life force within living creatures and its counterforce that animates the undead, though you can't distinguish between the two.

Spirit Soother
FEAT 5

You are attuned to the minute sounds and sensations of restless spirits. Even if you aren't Searching, you can attempt a check to find haunts that normally require you to be Searching. You still need to meet any other requirements to find the haunt.

Undead Companion
FEAT 5

an animal companion or a familiar

Your companion is also touched by undeath, a mix of a traditional companion and a skeleton, zombie, or stranger form of unlife. Your companion gains the undead trait instead of the animal trait and gains void healing. It otherwise uses the normal rules for an animal companion or familiar; that means it can still be affected by many conditions or effects to which most undead are immune.

Undead Slayer
FEAT 5

Your knowledge of your own not-quite-living anatomy, combined with your experience in combat, helps you take down undead foes with ease. Against undead creatures, you gain a circumstance bonus to damage with weapons and unarmed attacks equal to the number of weapon damage dice for the Strike. This bonus increases to double the number of weapon damage dice if your target has the spirit trait.

Ward Against Corruption
FEAT 5

Your soul is warded against the power of undeath and plague. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against death effects, disease, and all effects from undead. This bonus increases to +2 against an undead’ s death effect or disease.

9th Level

Gray Magic
FEAT 9

Your connection to the Gray gives you the power to glimpse the near future and protect corpses from the ravages of undeath. You can cast augury and peaceful rest each once per day as 2nd-rank arcane innate spells.

Spirit Strikes
FEAT 9

Your connection to the Gray empowers you to bring death to all forms of life and unlife, exploiting their weaknesses. All your weapon and unarmed Strikes are magical and deal 1 additional void damage to living creatures and 1 additional vitality damage to undead.

13th Level

Resist Ruin
FEAT 13

Your gray-touched heritage allows you to extend protection against void energy to yourself or an ally in need. You gain resistance 5 to void energy plus half your level, and once per day, you can cast death ward as an arcane innate spell.

17th Level

Call of the Gray
FEAT 17

You have a powerful connection to the Gray, granting you the ability to travel to and from the Gray. You gain interplanar teleport as an arcane innate spell. You can cast it twice per week. This can be used only to travel to the Gray or from the Gray to the Material Plane. Due to your unique connection to the Gray, your body serves as the focus, and you don't require a tuning fork.

Death's Grandeur
FEAT 17

You have been granted a sliver of the power of the Gray. You exhale a blast of icy wind. This is a 30-foot cone that deals 14d6 slashing damage and 4d6 persistent slashing damage (basic Reflex save using your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher). On a critical failure, targets also become sickened 2.

Gray-Touched Adventurers

Gray-Touched become adventurers most often out of some sense of misplaced destiny. While gray-touched have free will, they also feel the pressure to make good use of their reincarnation. Many gray-touched choose to study the otherworldly arts and become wizards. Gray-touched are also more concerned than most with matters of the soul, commonly becoming clerics, champions, and monks. Gray-Touched most often come from the acolyte, fortune teller, hermit, martial disciple, and scholar backgrounds.

Shadow-Touched

Somehow or someway, you have been infused with the power of the Black, shadow-touched display the netherworld’s ancient influence through monochrome complexions, glowing eyes, and the casting of supernatural shadows.

Shadow-touched are a striking people whose skin appears entirely drained of color. These lithe and shadowy beings seem to sink and vanish into the gloom. They see in darkness, exercise control over shadows, and have strange arcane powers. Some shadow-touched develop their powers enough to pass between the Black and Material Planes, leaving other ancestries to whisper about figures that emerge from shaded corners and then vanish without a trace. Through magic and other means, they've spread across Athas, as adaptable as the humans they once were.

You Might...

Live and work in gloomy areas of dim light with plenty of shadows, only providing bright light when expecting visitors.
Look to people's shadows as a way of identifying them, alongside features like stature or facial structure.
Maintain composure when faced with strange creatures and circumstances.

Other's Probably...

Believe you have shadowy powers, such as the ability to consume light as food, melt into darkness, or travel between planes.
Expect you to be cautious, reserved, and a loner.
Express interest in your ancestral physiological connection to the Shadow Plane.

Physical Description

Most of the Black appears as an altered version of Athas but leeched of color. These same forces in the Black have infused the shadow-touched, whose skin tones fall on a monochromatic scale from stark white to deep black, and all the shades of gray between. Their bodies are just as diverse in shape and size as any ancestry, though most display a certain fluidity of motion reminiscent of shifting shadows. Shadow-touched’ s reflective, pupilless eyes can pierce shadow.

A shadow-touched’ s most notable feature is their shadow, which almost never faithfully reflects their body. Instead, shadow-touched shadows might have incongruous shapes or sizes, while others flicker, move of their own accord, or imitate the shadow of another nearby creature.

Society

Most shadow-touched remain close to Athas on either the Material Plane or the Black but forge solitary paths. Both planar groups tend to be insular; many shadow-touched preserve memories of their early, perilous days confronting the Black's hostile or beguiling denizens. Their predilection for forming tight communal bonds and adapting to local customs has spread to become part of broader shadow-touched culture, who live in the shadow of more powerful entities.

Beliefs

A culture of survival passed down through generations means many shadow-touched prefer to maintain a cautious worldview and adapt to prevailing circumstances. As a result, many trend toward a neutral outlook on life. Some choose to join with local powers for personal or communal advancement, or to tear systems down from the inside. Others attempt to shatter what they see as fetters that bind them and their communities.

Shadow-Touched Heritage

You have somehow been infused with the power of the Black or were born under the Black's influence. You gain the shadow-touched trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You also gain low-light vision or darkvision if your ancestry already has low-light vision. You can choose from shadow-touched feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Shadow-Touched Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As a shadow-touched, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Black Eyes
FEAT 1

low-light vision

You can see in the darkness as easily as shadow. You gain darkvision.

Special You can select this feat only at 1st level, and you can’t retrain into or out of this feat.

Hard to Fool
FEAT 1

You're accustomed to seeing through shifting darkness and bewildering magic. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus on Perception checks against illusions as well as to Will saves against illusions and shadow effects.

Shadow Blending
FEAT 1

A creature attempts a flat check to target you while you're concealed or hidden due to dim light or darkness.

You draw shadows close to create a shroud. Increase the DC of the flat check by 2.

Shrouded Magic
FEAT 1

Choose one cantrip from the arcane spell list. You can cast this cantrip as an arcane innate spell at will, heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

Shrouded Mien
FEAT 1

You're used to dealing with dangerous situations and sinister creatures. You become trained in Deception (or another skill of your choice, if you're already trained in Deception), and you gain the Lengthy Diversion skill feat as a bonus feat.

Slink
FEAT 1

You can move through gloom with the speed of darkness. You can move 5 feet farther when you take the Sneak action, up to your Speed. In addition, as long as you continue to use Sneak actions and succeed at your Stealth check, you don't become observed if you end a Sneak action in dim light or darkness, as long as you have cover or greater cover or are concealed at the end of your turn.

Shadow-Touched Lore
FEAT 1

You've learned obscure lessons about your fellow shadow-touched. You're trained in Arcana and Stealth. If you would automatically become trained in one of those skills (from your background or class, for example), you instead become trained in a skill of your choice.

You also gain the Additional Lore general feat for Black Lore.

5th Level

Clever Shadow
FEAT 5

You can perform simple Interact actions with your shadow, such as opening an unlocked door. Anything your shadow Interacts with must be within your reach. Your shadow can't perform actions that require significant manual dexterity, including any action that would require a check to accomplish, and you can't use it to hold items.

Extinguish Light
FEAT 5

once every 10 minutes

You wrap shadow around a single unattended light source within 120 feet that's no larger than a torch. Any non-magical light source you target is automatically extinguished. For magical light sources, attempt a counteract check using your Fortitude or Thievery modifier against the target's DC. Your counteract rank is equal to half your level rounded up. Successfully counteracting the light source suppresses its ability to produce light for 1 minute, but not any other effects. If you're in dim light or darkness when you Extinguish Light, its range is 240 feet.

Lightless Litheness
FEAT 5

Your body is almost as flexible as your shadow. When you critically fail at Squeezing, you get a failure instead. Additionally, when you roll a success at an Escape check, you get a critical success instead; if you roll a critical success, you can Step instead of Striding up to 5 feet.

Shadow Disguise
FEAT 5

You wrap yourself in shadow to change your appearance. You can cast illusory disguise as a 1st-rank arcane innate spell once per day. This spell gains the shadow trait.

9th Level

Hefting Shadow
FEAT 9

Clever Shadow

Your shadow can contain objects. You can Interact with your shadow to store or retrieve objects, just like you would a mundane container (meaning you spend two Interact actions total to store and then retrieve the object, for example). Your shadow can contain 2 Bulk of objects, which don't count toward the Bulk you're carrying. The items remain solid but take on a shadowy patina while stored this way.

Though the items are in your shadow and can be detected normally, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks to Conceal the Objects unless someone knows to check your shadow for items.

Sculpt Shadow
FEAT 9

You coax nearby shadows into the shape of a simple weapon or a simple tool or item, using a tiny piece of your shadow to make it solid; in doing so, you lose 1 Hit Point. You can create only level-0 common, non-consumable weapons, or adventuring gear with no intricate parts, written text, or other complicated components. The item lasts until used for a single activity, until you Sculpt Shadows again, or for 1 minute, whichever comes first. Once the duration expires, the object dissipates, and you regain the lost Hit Point unless the item was Broken or Destroyed. As the object holds a tiny sliver of your shadow, you can't recover the lost Hit Point until after the object dissipates.

Shadow Sight
FEAT 9

once per hour

You draw on your connection with the Black to see through all but the deepest darkness. You gain greater darkvision for 1 minute.

Slip Into Shadow
FEAT 9

ability to cast at least one spell with the darkness trait

Your shadow magic bleeds into the space around you. Whenever you cast a spell with the darkness trait, a lingering aura of shadows reduces bright light within a 5-foot emanation around you to dim light until the end of your turn. Like in natural dim light, you can use these shadows to Hide, but the aura still makes your overall position obvious, so you can't become undetected through the use of these shadows alone.

13th Level

Shadow's Assault
FEAT 13

Your shadow assaults your foes. You can cast shadow blast as a 5th-rank arcane innate spell once per day. At 17th level, your shadow blast is heightened to 6th-rank.

Skirt the Light
FEAT 13

You can travel the border between the Material and Shadow Planes and even bring others along. You can cast umbral journey as an arcane innate spell once per day.

17th Level

Pierce the Light
FEAT 17

You tear the veil between the Material Plane and its shadow. You can cast interplanar teleport twice per week as an arcane innate spell that can only target yourself; you can travel only to the Material or the Black, and your body serves as the focus component.

Shadow-touched Adventurers

Shadow-touched have a well-earned reputation as travelers. Their merchants and emissaries ply many roads, while nomads seek what lies over the next horizon. Charlatans, criminals, and street urchins carve livelihoods from inhospitable environs. Many shadow-touched leverage their natural litheness as swashbucklers or rogues. The Black's caress awakens hidden power in many shadow-touched and drives them to study deeper mysteries as wizards

Wild Talents

All ancestries on Athas are born with innate access to the will and the way. You gain the wild talent trait, in addition to the traits from your ancestry. You also gain the psychic dedication feat. You can choose from wild talent feats and feats from your ancestry whenever you gain an ancestry feat.

Psionic energy suffuses Athas, making it the most common and accessible power source. Most inhabitants of Athas are born with some small aptitude for psionics. In time, these abilities develop into psionic tricks called wild talents.

Wild Talent Ancestry Feats

At 1st level, you gain one ancestry feat, and you gain an additional ancestry feat every 4 levels thereafter (at 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th levels). As you have a psychic ancestry, you can choose from among the following feats in addition to those available from your ancestry.

1st Level

Community Knowledge
FEAT 1

once per hour

You attempt a skill check requiring 3 actions or fewer.

You commune with the psychic echoes of your ancestors and community, channeling their experiences into yourself. You gain a +2 status bonus on the triggering skill check.

Emotional Partitions
FEAT 1

You have created strong mental partitions in your mind to filter out negative emotional influences. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus on saving throws against emotion effects. If you roll a success on a saving throw against an emotion effect, you get a critical success instead.

Open Mind
FEAT 1

You have inherent psychic abilities that allow you to tap into the power of your mind. Choose one cantrip from the occult spell list. You can cast this spell as an occult innate spell at will. A cantrip is heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

5th Level

Empathic Calm
FEAT 5

Once per day, you can cast either calm or sanctuary as an innate occult spell, heightened to half your level rounded up.

Unlock Secret
FEAT 5

Open Mind

You delve deeper into your psychic potential. Choose a 1st-rank occult spell, either a common spell or another to which you have access. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate occult spell.

Well of Potential
FEAT 5

once per day

focus pool, at least one innate spell from a wild talent ancestry or psychic dedication feat that shares a tradition with at least one of your focus spells

Your mind is a deep well of psychic potential. You regain 1 Focus Point, up to your usual maximum.

Fortified Mind
FEAT 5

Your mind is unusually resilient and resistant to influence. When you would gain the fascinated or stupefied condition, you can attempt a DC 17 flat check. On a success, you don't gain the fascinated or stupefied condition.

9th Level

Mental Sustenance
FEAT 9

You can sustain yourself with the power of your mind. You need only a single serving of food and water each week to avoid starvation or dehydration. You can hold your breath for an additional 5 rounds before running out of air.

Telekinetic Slip
FEAT 9

once per day

Your turn begins, and you're grabbed or restrained.

A thin shell of telekinetic energy pushes from your skin, widening your enemy's grasp enough for you to slip free.

You gain a +2 status bonus to checks to Escape from whatever has you grabbed or restrained. This bonus lasts until either you're no longer grabbed or restrained, or you fall unconscious.

Transcendent Realization
FEAT 9

Unlock Secret

You've unleashed even more of your mind's limitless potential. Choose a 3rd-rank occult spell, either a common spell or another to which you have access, including a lower-rank spell heightened to 3rd-rank if you wish. You can cast that spell once per day as an innate occult spell.

13th Level

Psychic Revivification
FEAT 13

once per day

You have the dying condition and are about to attempt a recovery check. You can use Psychic Revivification even if you're otherwise unable to act.

The well of psychic energy held within your mind can exceed the limitations of your physical body. You're restored to 1 Hit Point, lose the dying and unconscious conditions, and can act normally on this turn. You gain or increase the wounded condition as normal for losing the dying condition.

Reimagine
FEAT 13

Transcendent Realization

You can cast dreaming potential as an innate occult spell. You can cast this spell targeting yourself as your last activity before falling asleep to receive its normal benefits and effects.

17th Level

Bend Space
FEAT 17

Transcendent Realization

Not even space itself is a match for the unleashed power of your mind. You can cast teleport as an innate occult spell. You don't need to touch creatures to target them with this innate spell as long as they're in range of your empathic sense.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds allow you to customize your character based on their life before adventuring. This is the next step in their life story after their ancestry, which reflects the circumstances of their birth. Your character’s background can help you learn or portray more about their personality while also suggesting what sorts of things they’re likely to know. Consider what events set your character on their path to the life of an adventurer and how those circumstances relate to their background.

At 1st level when you create your character, you gain a background of your choice. This decision is permanent; you can’t change it at later levels. Each background listed here grants two attribute boosts, a skill feat, and the trained proficiency rank in two skills, one of which is a Lore skill. If you gain the trained proficiency rank in a skill from your background and would then gain the trained proficiency rank in the same skill from your class at 1st level, you instead become trained in another skill of your choice.

Lore skills represent deep knowledge of a specific subject and are described on page 247. If a Lore skill involves a choice (for instance, a choice of terrain), explain your preference to the GM, who has final say on whether it’s acceptable or not. If you’d like some suggestions, the Common Lore Subcategories sidebar on page 248 lists a number of Lore skills that are suitable for most campaigns.

Skill feats expand the functions of your skills and appear in Chapter 5: Feats

Academy Dropout
Background

You were once a student in one of the numerous Athasian schools of the Way but have since dropped out. Maybe there was a momentous incident, maybe you had to return to other responsibilities, or perhaps it was just too much for you. Whatever the case, your exit from the academy has shaped your life as much as your entrance and led you to where you are today.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Occult and Psychic Schools Lore. You gain the Dubious Knowledge skill feat.

Acolyte
Background

You have served as an acolyte to one or more elemental or paraelemental clerics. Maybe you were part of an order or other kind of organization, like a monastery, or maybe you served under a single preacher. You might have stayed with them in a single place, like a sanctuary, or followed them in incessant wandering. Whether you’re still with them or not, their tutelage has made you what you are now.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Religion skill and the Elemental Lore skill. You gain the Student of the Canon skill feat.

Acrobat
Background

You have survived by performing as an acrobat in one or more Athasian cities’ streets, either as part of a troop, or by yourself. You might have constantly travelled from one city to another, or always have stayed in the same place. Street entertainment isn’t a very lucrative trade in itself, but it allows you to find different sidelines, if it isn’t only a cover for some other, more secretive activity.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Acrobatics skill and a Lore skill related to one of the cities you practiced in. You gain the Steady Balance skill feat.

Amnesiac
Background

Your background is... well... honestly, you can’t remember! You might have inklings deep within your mind, undercurrents of unusual emotions or unexpected responses to certain people or situations, but ultimately you don’t know who you once were. Maybe you barely survived an encounter with some desert dwelling monster that left your mind maimed, or you had a psychic surgery performed on you to erase your memory. Whatever you are doing right now isn’t related to what you once were, or maybe it is, but you wouldn’t know.

It’s up to you and the GM how to handle the truth of your character’s backstory. You could leave it to the GM so it’s a secret, work together with the GM, or even choose to leave it undecided until later. In any case, you and your GM should determine a few noteworthy details about your character or their belongings to get the first clues to your past.

You gain three free attribute boosts. You choose two, and the GM chooses the third based on their first inklings of your character’s possible history.

Animal Whisperer
Background

You have always felt a connection to animals, and it was only a small leap to learn to train them. Whatever you, you do it while befriending the animals you meet along the way.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill and a Lore skill related to one terrain inhabited by animals you like (such as Rocky Badlands Lore or Stony Barren Lore). You gain the Train Animal skill feat.

Anti-magical
Background

Maybe you represent a recent adaptation of Athasian life to the arcane devastation of the planet’s ecosystems, or maybe you were exposed to arcane magic to an early age and developed a resistance to its effects. Whatever the reason, arcane magic doesn’t affect you as much as usual people.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in a Lore skill of your choice, though it can’t be about a magical subject (as determined by the GM if it’s unclear, but psionics aren't considered magic in this case). Whenever you would be affected by arcane magic, even your own or that of an ally, the originator of the effect must attempt a DC 5 flat check. On a failure, the magic doesn’t affect you (though it still has its normal effects on anyone else). This includes any defiling effect that could occur as a consequence of this arcane magic effect. On a success, the magic affects you and there is no need to attempt further flat checks for the same magical effect, even if it affects you again later.

Archeologist
Background

When it comes to exploring the ruins of Athas’ ancient past, you’re the specialist. You might have developed those skills in service to a larger organization, like a sorcerer-monarch’s inner temple or the Veiled Alliance, or simply to insure you or your community’s survival, if not prosperity. Though you can easily locate the site of any kind of ruin and are very knowledgeable about the dangers that might lurk inside, you might never fully understand what societies left them there, a knowledge that would undoubtedly put you in danger anyway...

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Architecture Lore skill. You gain the Additional Lore skill feat related to a type of terrain in which you have actively searched for ruins (such as Sandy Wastes Lore or Sea of Silt Lore) or to a type of monster you can encounter in such places (such as Silt Monsters Lore or Undead Lore)

Arena Doctor
Background

Either as a free worker or as a specialized slave, you served as an arena doctor, healing and patching wounded gladiators as best you could, or at least diminishing their suffering, if not ending their misery. You might have been serving the city-state and its sorcerer-monarch directly as a public arena worker or been at the service of a particular gladiator team or owner. Whether you still hold this function or not, the skills you’ve learned can prove vital in the violent Athasian life.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You are trained in the Medicine skill and the Gladiatorial Lore skill. You gain the Risky Surgery skill feat.

Artisan
Background

Either as a free worker or as a specialized slave, you practiced a particular form of building or crafting, developing a specialized skill. You might have been a chitin worker, producing chitin objects such as chitin armors, a stonemason, toiling over the construction of a city-state’s monuments, or even a Tyrian blacksmith, knowledgeable in the rare skill of iron working. You still hone these skills.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Crafting skill and the Labor Lore skill. You gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat.

Artist
Background

Either as a free worker or as a specialized slave, you have mastered an art form. You might be working independently, selling your products to rich patrons, or be serving under a particular one, such as a noble house, a merchant house, or even a sorcerer-monarch.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Crafting skill and the Art Lore skill. You gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat.

Astrologer
Background

Rightly or not, Athasian peoples put a lot of importance in the movement of celestial objects, to the point that astrology often acts as a religion per se. You studied the stars and learned to interpret their movement. You might have served as an apprentice to an established and renowned astrologer or learned another way.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Arcana, Occult, or the Religion skill, and the Astrology Lore skill. You gain the Oddity Identification skill feat.

Bandit
Background

Your past includes no small amount of rural banditry, robbing travelers on the road and scraping by. Whether your robbery was sanctioned by a local noble or you did so of your own accord, you managed until now to escape retribution, whether by some authority or self-served justice.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and a Lore skill related to the terrain you worked in (such as Salt Flat Lore or Scrub Plain Lore). You gain the Group Coercion skill feat.

Barber
Background

Haircuts, dentistry, bloodletting, and surgery—if it takes a steady hand and a razor, you do it, either as a free worker or as a slave.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Medicine skill and the Surgery Lore skill. You gain the Risky Surgery skill feat.

Barkeep
Background

In a world as dry as Athas, thirst surely has to be quenched one way or another. Either as a free worker or as a slave, you worked in a tavern, or any other similar establishment.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Alcohol Lore skill. You gain the Hobnobber skill feat.

Barrister
Background

Most Athasian city-states are corrupt, absolutist regimes, but that doesn’t mean there is no law at all. And where there is law, there are barristers. Most of the time, the occupation is not a profession per se, but a sideline to a more common occupation. You know the law and juridical proceedings, either formal or informal. You might be a templar habilitated to prosecute or pass judgment, the member of a noble or merchant house promoting your house’s interests in face of the Templarate, or an independent professional offering legal counseling to whomever able to pay or deserving it according to your world view.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Legal Lore skill. You gain the Group Impression skill feat.

Blessed
Background

You have been blessed by an elemental or paraelemental lord, a spirit of the land, or even by a sorcerer-monarch. For an unknown reason, and irrespective of your actual beliefs, something has granted you a boon to use for good or ill. Your blessing grants wisdom and insight to aid you in your struggles. You may or may not even know the identity of the being who blessed you, and the blessing might come with a cost you discover later on.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You are trained in a Lore skill associated with the entity who blessed you (such as Last Drink’s Spirit Lore) if you know their identity, or else in a Lore skill of the GM’s choice if you don’t. Either you can cast guidance as a divine innate spell at will, or you gain a similar blessing determined by the GM.

Bookkeeper
Background

Either as a free worker or as a specialized slave, you ran the numbers on a large farming estate, for a merchant house’s endeavors, or for your own small establishment. You kept track of expenses, payroll, profits, and anything else that had to do with money, for better or worse. If better, you might still be running numbers for a prosperous enterprise. If worse, you may be fleeing from impending consequences, in the hope that no one finds you.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Accounting Lore skill. You gain the Eye for Numbers skill feat.

Bounty Hunter
Background

Whoever you were working for, be it the Templarate, the Veiled Alliance, some crime lord, a slave tribe village, or as an independent, you have earned your living by fetching wanted people. You may have abandoned this trade since, or maybe you are still practicing it, but one way or another, you know how to track someone, or something.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Legal Lore skill. You gain the Experienced Tracker skill feat.

Bureaucrat
Background

Either as a free worker or as a specialized slave, you spent years working as a clerk to a Templar in a city-state’s government. Your service taught you a thing or two about rousing speeches and manipulating the bureaucracy.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Charisma or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Templarate Lore skill. You gain the Group Impression skill feat.

Caravan Master
Background

Caravan leading is a huge responsibility. Logistic, itinerary, supplies, personnel management, and so on, you do it all. This gives you an important status within the merchant world, sure, but on the road, you’re the only master on board (as long as you promote the caravan’s owners interests, of course).

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Mercantile Lore skill. You gain the Group Impression skill feat.

Caravan Merchant
Background

You’ve taken part to use caravans to trade your goods, either as an independent merchant or as a merchant house operative.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Mercantile Lore skill. You gain the Multilingual skill feat.

Charlatan
Background

You travelled from place to place, never staying long at the same point. In one village you pretended to be a druid able to raise draught

withered crops, on a Sea of Silt island to be a Silt paraelemental cleric who could, for a price, reverse the curse dooming the isle and its inhabitant to sink to their death, and in a city-state to be a gladiatorial manager from a distant merchant house. Maybe you are fleeing your last victims, or maybe are on the road in search of your next con.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Deception skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Charming Liar skill feat.

Chosen One
Background

Your birth has fulfilled a prediction, or so it is believed, and people close to you are counting on you to do great things. There’s intense pressure on you to be up to the task, and the fickle nature of prophecy complicates your path.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

Decide with your GM the basics of the prophecy in which you’re meant to play a major part. You’re trained in one skill related to the prophecy, and the Astrology Lore skill. You gain the Prophecy’s Pawn free action.

Prophecy's Pawn

(divine, fortune) You fail a saving throw, attack roll, or skill check You twist the prophecy in your favor, which will have consequences later. Reroll the failed check. You must use the result of the second roll.

For 24 hours afterward, the GM can force you to reroll a successful saving throw, attack roll, or skill check as fate balances the scale. This is a misfortune effect. You can’t use prophecy’s pawn again until the GM uses this option or 24 hours pass, whichever comes first.

Circuit Judge
Background

You’re a circuit judge, a templar who is habilitated to pass judgment and who serves a group of client villages around your city-state. You show up every couple of months, hear the cases that have piled up since your last visit, give verdicts, and then it’s on to the next town in your itinerary.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Deception and Legal Lore. You gain the Lie to Me skill feat.

Code Breaker
Background

Whether you’re serving a Templarate, the Veiled Alliance, or any other secretive organization of the sort, you have a head for patterns and linguistics, using this ability to break code.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Cryptography Lore skill. You gain the Glean Contents skill feat.

Cook
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you grew up in the kitchens of a tavern and became an exceptional cook or were in the service of a merchant or noble house, or even of a templar. Baking, cooking, or a little brewing on the side—you’ve spent lots of time out of sight.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Cooking Lore skill. You gain the Seasoned skill feat.

Courier
Background

Either for a noble or merchant house, a templar or anybody with a minimal station, you have been running messages, as a free worker or as a slave, darting through crowded cobblestone streets.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Lore skill for the city in which you were raised. You gain the Glean Contents skill feat.

Criminal
Background

As an unscrupulous independent or as a member of an underworld organization, you lived a life of crime. You may now be seeking redemption, trying to escape the law, or simply trying to get bigger and better loot.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Stealth skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Experienced Smuggler skill feat.

Crystal Healer
Background

Mineral formations can be beautiful things, sparkling and arrayed in geometric configurations. To you, they are also potent natural healing aids. You may have taken up adventuring to prove yourself by healing the ailing or to find new crystals with unique properties to add to your growing collection.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill and the Plane of Earth Lore skill. You gain the Natural Medicine skill feat.

Cursed
Background

You are the victim of a personal or hereditary curse. Through great effort and astrological study, you have learned to fend off the curse’s worst effects and, by extension, you can protect yourself against other harmful magic. However, the curse still hangs over you and sometimes manifests in dangerous ways.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You are trained in Astrology Lore and Curse Lore. You gain the Warding Sign reaction. You and the GM should determine the full effects of the curse, though you’ve staved most of them off for now. The GM determines the curse’s lingering manifestations on you, which usually include at least a constant or very frequent thematic effect and occasional more dangerous effects.

Warding Sign

(divine, fortune) once per minute You attempt a saving throw against a magical effect, but you haven’t rolled yet You call on the power of a personal, primal sign of protection, which flares brightly before slowly fading. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering saving throw, or a +3 circumstance bonus if the effect is a curse

Deckhand
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you were a deckhand on a ship sailing the Sea of Silt. Whether you’re still navigating or not, you still retain an excellent sense of balance and quick reflexes.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You're trained in the Acrobatics skill, and the Sailing Lore skill. You gain the Cat Fall skill feat.

Dendrologist
Background

Trees grow in every biome, and your awe at their ability to conquer terrain has inspired deeper study into their workings. There are trees everywhere, and your study of them will inevitably take you ever further afield in search of new varieties, perhaps even to the Plane of Wood itself.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Spirit of the Land Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Expertise skill feat for forests.

Deputy
Background

You were once deputized as the lawful protector of a community, either by being in service to a templar, by being elected to this function in a slave tribe village, by hereditary right, or any other mean. That responsibility shaped you. Whenever a community is in trouble, and the lawful authorities are nowhere to be found (or are not to be called upon...), residents call on you to capture a criminal, rescue people, or go toe to toe with outlaws.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Hunting Lore skill. You gain the Experienced Tracker skill feat.

Desert Herder
Background

You grew up far from civilization as the member of a small community or herder. You might have herded creatures such as Aprigs, Carrus, or Kanks, but in any case, you quickly came to know animals and the way you can insure your survival thanks to them.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill and the Animal Lore skill. You gain the Train Animal skill feat.

Detective
Background

You solved crimes as a templar or took jobs for wealthy clients as a private investigator. Whether you’re still operating as such or not, you may find it very attractive with the idea of going into a new mystery or have to live with the unsuspected consequences of a prior case.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Streetwise skill feat.

Driver
Background

You practically live at the reins of a vehicle, like a chariot or a wagon, and can handle just about anything the harsh road can throw at you. With such a lifestyle, there are a lot of opportunities for travel and adventuring.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Acrobatics skill and the Piloting Lore skill. You gain the Assurance skill feat with Piloting Lore.

Dune Trader
Background

Either as an independent worker or as a merchant house operative, you travel through the Tablelands and beyond to trade goods. You may be one among a lot of competitors when in a city-state, but to an isolated village, you often represent the difference between life and death. Your lifestyle has made you a clever merchant as much as a hardened survivor.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society and Survival skills, and a Lore skill related to one terrain type you’re used to travel through (such as Mud Flat or Stony Barrens).

Dung Handler
Background

Fire is one of the foundations of civilization. In a world mostly devoid of wood where timber is far too precious to be burned, dried dung is the most common combustible, a commodity as abundant as it is base. As a Dung Handler, it is your function to gather dung and make it dry to serve as a combustible. You might be a free worker, especially in communities like a slave tribe village, but in tyrannical societies like a city-state ruled by a sorcerer-monarch, you’re probably a slave. Even if you’re free, you’re probably of a very low social status, except in the most democratic and egalitarian slave tribes.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill and the Dung Lore skill. You gain the Assurance skill feat with Dung Lore.

Elementally Infused
Background

You were exposed to a strong burst of elemental essence originating directly from an elemental plane, most likely caused by a planar breach. Your body absorbed the elemental essence with no ill effects, and now it coalesces within you. With time, you’ve learned to project elemental power in a manner safe to you but still deadly to others.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

Choose one elemental plane: Air, Earth, Fire, Magma, Rain, Silt, Sun, or Water. You are trained in the corresponding Lore skill: Plane of Air Lore, Plane of Earth Lore, Plane of Fire Lore, Plane of Magma Lore, Plane of Rain Lore, Plane of Silt Lore, Plane of Sun Lore, or Plane of Water Lore. You also gain a cantrip according to your chosen plane: Air: gale blast; Earth: scatter scree; Fire: ignition; Magma: magma shield; Rain rousing splash; Silt ancient dust; Sun ray of sunlight; or Water: water spout. You can cast this spell as a primal innate spell at will.

Emissary
Background

As a diplomat or messenger in the service of a noble or merchant house, of a city-state or even of a Veiled Alliance’s chapter, you traveled to lands far and wide. Communicating with new people and forming alliances were your stock and trade, and you’re still very good at it.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and a Lore skill related to one city you’ve visited often. You gain the Multilingual skill feat.

Energy Scarred
Background

Exposure to a significant magical event overloaded you with magical energy. Perhaps you were exposed to the defiling effects of arcane magic and were barely saved by powerful druidic magic. Perhaps it was something even more peculiar. Whatever happened, you still bare the marks of this event.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be Constitution and one is a free attribute boost.

Your innate magical trait is primal. Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, void, vitality, or sonic. You are trained in a Lore skill associated with the chosen energy (such as Fire Lore) and you gain resistance to that energy type equal to half your level (minimum 1).

Entertainer
Background

Through an education in the arts or sheer dogged practice, you learned to entertain crowds. You might have been an actor, a dancer, a musician, a street magician, or any other sort of performer, either as a free worker or as a specialized slave.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Performance skill and the Entertainment Lore skill. You gain the Fascinating Performance skill feat.

Escaped Slave
Background

You were once a slave, but not anymore. Either because you wanted to go back to the life you had before being enslaved, to flee the harsh living conditions that befall most slaves, or simply for the sake of freedom, you fled. You might be pursued in order to be punished or put back into bondage, but for now, you don’t belong to anybody.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Deception and the Stealth skills. You gain the Lengthy Diversion skill feat.

Exorcist
Background

You’re a healer, but your skills attack the ill at its root: malefic spirits, haunts, possession, and more.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Medicine skill and the Herbalism Lore skill. You gain the Inoculation skill feat.

False Medium
Background

There are people in this world who possess the attribute to pierce the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead, allowing them to communicate with spirits. You... are not one of them. But you know enough about the Gray, as well as cold reading tricks and various practices from local religions and astrology, to scam your way into people’s coin purses.

Unlike a through-and-through charlatan, there’s some real mystic methodology behind your flimflam, but that’s likely cold comfort to the people you swindle.

You might have decided to take a more righteous path, been caught, and made to pledge to make it right, or still have been slipping in a few "séances".

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Religion and Gray Lore. You gain the Deceptive Worship skill feat.

Farm Hand
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you tilled the land and tended crops. Maybe you still do, or perhaps something happened to throw your life in disarray or to make you regain your freedom.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Farming Lore skill. You gain the Assurance skill feat with Athletics.

Farmsteader
Background

You once owned or managed a farm, and maybe you still do, either as a husbandman, as a yeoman, as the head of a small noble house, or as a contractor for a large noble family.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Farming Lore skill. You gain the Forager skill feat.

Feral Child
Background

You spent your youth in the wilderness, living close to or perhaps raised by animals. You have a close, mystical connection with these animals and gained certain abilities from them, though this limited your well-roundedness in mental pursuits.

Choose one attribute boost. It must be Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.

You are trained in Nature and Survival. You gain low-light vision (or darkvision if you already had low-light vision), imprecise scent with a range of 30 feet, and the Forager skill feat.

Field Medic
Background

In the chaotic rush of battle, you learned to adapt to rapidly changing conditions as you administered to battle casualties. You patched up soldiers, guards, or other combatants, and learned a fair amount about the logistics of war.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Medicine skill and the Warfare Lore skill. You gain the Battle Medicine skill feat.

Fire Warden
Background

Whether you fought against fires in the wilderness or in crowded city streets, you’ve had your fair share of dealing with uncontrolled flames. Battling thick smoke and toxic fumes, you’ve broken down obstacles to save trapped people from a fiery grave, and you’ve studied the nature and source of fire itself to try and better learn how to fight it.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Plane of Fire Lore skill. You gain the Breath Control feat.

Forest Dweller
Background

You were raised in the Forest Ridge, the CrescentForest, or any other wooded area.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill as well as the Forest Lore skill. You gain the Natural Medicine skill feat

Forest Guerilla
Background

You most probably grew up in Gulg or one of its client villages, or in a Halfling community from the Forest Ridge. Woodcraft comes naturally to you, and you have learned how to use the forest to your tactical advantage against superior forces in skirmishes against the Nibeneese templars, slave raiders, or any other threat.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Stealth skill and the Forest Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Stalker (underbrush) skill feat.

Fortune Teller
Background

The strands of fate are clear to you, as you have learned many traditional forms by which laypeople can divine the future. You might have used these skills to guide your community, or simply to make money. But even the slightest peek into these practices connects you to the astrological mysteries of the universe.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Religion skill and the Astrology Lore skill. You gain the Oddity Identification skill feat.

Gambler
Background

The thrill of the win drew you into games of chance. This might have been a lucrative sideline that paled in comparison to some other venture, or you might have fallen on hard times due to your gambling and have to flee your way out of a spiral. Perhaps you’re still indebted, or you simply cannot stop gambling.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Deception skill and the Games Lore skill. You gain the Lie to Me skill feat.

Genie-Blessed
Background

You have somehow received a genie’s blessing. Maybe you drew their attention, or offered something in exchange for their favor. However, it happened, you are now blessed with luck.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Genie Lore skill. You gain the Wish for Luck free action.

Wish For Luck

(arcane, auditory, fortune) once per day You are about to roll an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check You wish aloud for success. Roll the check twice and take the higher result.

Gladiator
Background

The burning sand of the Athasian arenas is where you received you education. A fearsome combatant, you are nonetheless very skilled at entertaining a crowd with your fighting prowess.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Performance skill and the Gladiatorial Lore skill. You gain the Impressive Performance skill feat.

Grave Robber
Background

As few as they may be, some people on Athas are rich enough to afford sumptuous ceremonial burial. Most aren’t.

To whichever group you belong to, you know the first one can bring you the ceramics you need to survive or whatever other goal you may fancy.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Stealth skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Experienced Smuggler skill feat.

Guard
Background

You served in the guard, out of patriotism or the need for coin, in a small village or in a large city-state. Either way, you know how to get a difficult suspect to talk.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Legal Lore or Warfare Lore skill. You gain the Quick Coercion skill feat.

Haunted
Background

You are followed by a spirit or entity, either from childhood or since a traumatic or momentous event. You may have seen this entity. Others may have seen it as well. You have studied for a long time, trying to understand your situation, but this presence in your life remains a mystery. Whatever this entity is or wants, it influences your life in subtle ways, not always good. Sometimes the entity helps you, but at other times, its influence is malevolent or harmful. The entity is most likely to surface in stressful situations.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You are trained in Religion and an additional skill in which the haunting entity is well-versed, determined by the GM. Any time you attempt a skill check for the entity’s skill, the GM can offer you a +1 circumstance bonus to the check, as though the entity were Aiding you. If you accept but fail the check, you are frightened 2 (frightened 4 on a critical failure). The initial frightened value can’t be reduced by effects that would reduce or prevent the condition (such as a fighter’s bravery).

Haunted Citizen
Background

You grew up in a region where undead lurk everywhere. This could be a small village unlucky enough to have settled near a haunted ruin from the ancient times, Under-Tyr, or simply a city block in which lived a powerful necromantic defiler. As an ever- present concern, the undead greatly shaped your life. Living with fear became an everyday skill... as did pleading for your life.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Lore skill for your home settlement. You gain the No Cause for Alarm skill feat.

Herbalist
Background

As a formally trained apothecary or a rural practitioner of folk medicine, you learned the healing properties of various herbs. You’re adept at collecting the right natural cures in all sorts of environments and preparing them properly.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill and the Herbalism Lore skill. You gain the Natural Medicine skill feat.

Hermit
Background

In an isolated place—like a cave, remote oasis, or secluded mansion—you lived a life of solitude, which gave you lots of time to pounder on your inner self. You are very well adapted to this solitude and can survive by yourself in the harsh Athasian environment.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature or Occult skill, plus a Lore skill related to the terrain you lived in as a hermit (such as Mountain Lore or Mud Flat Lore). You gain the Dubious Knowledge skill feat.

Hired Killer
Background

Your life truly began after your first kill. Maybe you killed in self-defense, maybe it was a crime of passion, or maybe it was just an accident, and you were a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the end, the why doesn’t matter. You got away with it. And then you found that maybe it didn’t bother you as much as it should have. And maybe, just maybe, you had a talent you could use to forge a life for yourself. A blood-soaked talent and a blood-soaked life, sure. But it’s yours.

Choose two attribute boosts. One boost must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Stealth skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Stalker skill feat, choosing a terrain appropriate for where you make your kills.

Hounded Thief
Background

Some time ago, you stole a unique item from a strange individual. Who knows what organization this individual might have been a part of? You might still have your loot or you might have parted with it one way or another, but either way, you can’t shake the feeling that you’re being followed and watched, likely by forces who want to retrieve what you took.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Thievery skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Pickpocket skill feat.

Hunter
Background

You stalked and took down animals and other creatures of the wild. Skinning animals, harvesting their flesh, and cooking them were also part of your training, all of which can give you useful resources while you adventure.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Tanning Lore skill. You gain the All the Animal skill feat.

Inlander
Background

You grew up in an untamed region, and you know how to survive in the wild.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and a Lore skill related to the terrain type associated with your home region (such as Boulder Fields Lore or Mountain Lore). You gain the Survey Wildlife skill feat.

Insurgent
Background

You were either a Veiled Alliance operative or asset, or the member of any other kind of subversive organization. Whatever the cause, you fought for what you thought was right. You may or may not still believe in that cause, or perhaps victory or exile has led you on a new journey to trumpet your glory... or to escape the consequences of your defeat.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Deception skill and the Warfare Lore skill. You gain the Lengthy Diversion skill feat.

Junk Collector
Background

To most Athasians, life is a daily struggle just to survive, while for some happy few, it is a long stream of pleasure and excess. You belong to the first category, but live from the refuse of both. Whether by sifting through scrap heaps or digging up old battlefields, you remain on the lookout for lost or discarded objects that you might be able to turn into something useful. More often than not, you just manage to survive, but who knows what surprise could radically change your life?

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Crafting skill and your choice of either the Engineering Lore or Mining Lore skill. You gain the Crafter’s Appraisal skill feat.

Junker
Background

You live on the outskirts of civilization, combing through the detritus left behind for interesting trinkets to sell or use in your own crafting. Though you have a preferred terrain to search, you know that the greatest treasures occur near large city-states.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Lore skill of the terrain in which you scavenge. You gain the Hefty Hauler skill feat.

Laborer
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you’ve spent years performing arduous physical labor. It was a difficult life, but you somehow survived it, keeping the robustness this occupation gave you.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Labor Lore skill. You gain the Hefty Hauler skill feat.

Magical Experiment
Background

At some point in your life, powerful people performed magical experiments on you that changed you permanently. You still bear the marks, as well as the abilities.

You gain one attribute boost. It must be to Constitution.

You’re trained in Arcana and the Underworld Lore skill.

You gain one special ability as a result of the magical experimentation. Work with the GM to select an appropriate ability from the following list or to come up with another special ability.

Enhanced Senses You gain low-light vision (or darkvision if you already had low- light vision) and an imprecise sense with a range of 30 feet, such as scent, thoughtsense, tremorsense, or wavesense.
Resistant Skin The experiments rendered your skin tougher and resilient to a particular type of damage. You gain resistance equal to half your level (minimum resistance 1) against two of the following types of energy damage, one chosen by you and the other chosen by the GM: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic.
Touch Telepathy The experiments to your body allowed you to link minds via touch. You gain telepathy with creatures as long as you are in physical contact. This allows you to communicate mentally with any creatures you’re in physical contact with, as long as you both share a language. This doesn’t give any special access to their thoughts, and communicates no more information than normal speech would.

Magical Merchant

Selling magic items isn’t like being an ordinary merchant. The wares you buy, and sell are expensive and most of the time illegal, making each sale as rare and lucrative as it is dangerous. Be it magical items or spell components, you know how to find them all, for those who can pay for them or can even find you.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Crafting and the Mercantile or Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Crafter’s Appraisal skill feat.

Magical Misfit
Background

You don’t understand folks who claim that magical talent is some sort of burden or great responsibility: you’ve always used your magic to cause trouble and to escape the consequences. Preserver or defiler, you shun dedicated wizards who serve in the Veiled Alliance or a sorcerer-monarch, or even those self-serving who long to attain a definite goal. Your only aim is to wreak havoc and have fun while doing it, and the more dangerous the prank, the funnier it is.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Arcana and Underworld Lore. You gain the Trick Magic Item skill feat.

Market Runner
Background

"Standard markets", slave markets, elven markets, you know them all, running errands to buy and sell whatever good is asked of you. You may be serving a merchant house or any other affluent organization or person as a slave or as a free worker, or even be an independent trader. Whatever your status, you can make a living just by hanging around on a market place, waiting for good deals to present themselves.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Mercantile Lore skill. You gain the Bargain Hunter skill feat.

Martial Disciple
Background

You dedicated yourself to intense training and rigorous study to become a great warrior. The school you attended might have been a traditionalist monastery, an elite military academy, or the local branch of a prestigious mercenary organization.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in your choice of the Acrobatics or Athletics skill. You gain a skill feat: Cat Fall if you chose Acrobatics or Quick Jump if you chose Athletics. You’re also trained in the Warfare Lore skill.

Menagerie Dung Sweeper
Background

Whether you washed warrior beasts below some arena floor or tended to the mounts of elite military forces, you are experienced with all manner of weird animal life.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Nature skill and the Animal Lore skill. You gain the Train Animal skill feat.

Merchant
Background

You’re a merchant house operative or an independent merchant, but in either case, you buy and sell goods in the street, a shop, or an emporium.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill and the Mercantile Lore skill. You gain the Hobnobber skill feat.

Merchant House Underling
Background

Your experience as a ledger-keeper for one of the great merchant houses of the Tablelands has made you a canny investor and shrewd entrepreneur.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Mercantile Lore skill. You gain the Experienced Professional skill feat.

Miner
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you worked wrenching precious minerals from the lightless depths of the earth: obsidian, copper or even maybe even iron. In any case, you’re not the one who pocketed the wealth you extirpated from the ground.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Mining Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Expertise skill feat with underground terrain.

Missionary
Background

You are a missionary, travelling to spread the word of your faith, be it elemental, paraelemental, or of a different nature.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You are trained in the Diplomacy and Religion skills. You gain the Group Impression skill feat.

Mortuary Tender
Background

Death is a common thing on Athas and societies have to dispose of their corpses one way or another, be it by burial in a scrub plain in order to return what the dead one has eaten to the ground, by natural mummification in a salt flat, by sky burial, or by mandatory reanimation in order to enlarge the ranks of the sorcerer-monarch’s undead forces. You tend to a funeral site where those rites are proceeded to, be it a burial ground, a tower of silence, or a reanimation chamber.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Medicine skill and the Funeral Lore skill. You gain the Forensic Acumen skill feat.

Musical Prodigy
Background

Either as a free artist or as a specialized slave, you are a master of musical performances, most probably living by the graces of a musically inclined master or patron.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Performance and Music Lore. You gain the Virtuosic Performer skill feat.

Necromancer’s Apprentice
Background

You apprenticed under a necromancer—a hard education in a field where a cadaver you were dissecting could suddenly animate, and every magical artifact seemed deadly. Now on your own, you’re grateful you learned to identify magical threats quickly and thoroughly.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Arcana skill and the Necromancy Lore skill. You gain the Quick Identification skill feat.

Nibeneese Forest Laborer
Background

Either as a free worker, or most probably, as a slave, you’ve toiled in the Crescent Forest cutting wood for some of Nibenay’s merchant houses or for the city-state itself. You somehow managed to survive the harsh conditions and the deadly raids of the Oba’s angered servants.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Forest Lore skill. You gain the Assurance skill feat with Athletics.

Noble
Background

Though enjoying a level of comfort, luxury, and even hubris that most Athasians are unable to even imagine, you know a noble’s lot is obligation and intrigue: obligations foremost to one’s house, and intrigue with everybody.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and a Lore skill related to the region or city-state you live in. You gain the Courtly Graces skill feat and Literacy Feat.

Nomad
Background

Traveling far and wide, you picked up basic tactics for surviving on the road and in unknown lands, getting by with few supplies and even fewer comforts.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and a Lore skill related to one terrain you traveled in (such as Salt Flats Lore or Sandy Wastes Lore). You gain the Assurance skill feat with Survival.

Otherworldly Mission
Background

You’re called to serve a specific purpose—some elemental, paraelemental, or any other kind of entity told you so, and so it must be true. Maybe you grew up knowing all along, or maybe it came to you one day in a vision, clear as a bell and twice as loud. You have some task that only you can accomplish. Your mission might be as dangerous as killing a deadly tyrant or as simple as opening a particular door on a particular day. You should work with your GM on how to handle the truth of your character’s backstory or leave it to the GM to decide in secret.

Is this call to action a message from the character’s own mind, are they being manipulated by some manner of supernatural entity, or are they actually getting marching orders from one of the elemental or paraelemental lords?

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Religion. Once per adventure, you can ask the voice you believe to be a superior entity commanding you for orders and get some kind of instruction—you never get any kind of explanation, simply a command to go somewhere or do something. Following those commands isn’t always safe, but it’s usually interesting.

Pilgrim
Background

In your youth, you made several pilgrimages to important shrines and holy sites. You might have been a mendicant friar, a seller of holy relics (real or fraudulent), or just a simple farmer following the dictates of your faith or philosophy. Whatever the aims of your wanderings now, your faith still protects you on the road.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Religion skill and the Lore skill for your faith. You gain the Pilgrim’s Token skill feat.

Planar Migrant
Background

Your birthplace was on one of the elemental planes, but you traveled to the Universe for some reason. Maybe you left on good terms, or maybe you were driven out and hope to one day return. Maybe you were even exiled, and any mention of it brings pain and resentment. In any case, nowhere has quite felt like home since, and you’ve roamed the land, carrying your life’s possessions on your back wherever you go. You adventure possibly in search of a place to belong or a way to return to your plane of origin and settle unfinished business.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be Dexterity or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and one of the following lore skills: Plane of Air Lore, Plane of Earth Lore, Plane of Fire Lore, Plane of Magma Lore, Plane of Rain Lore, Plane of Silt Lore, Plane of Sun lore, or Plane of Water Lore. You gain the Hefty Hauler and Prescient Planner skill feats.

Plant Whisperer
Background

You’ve always had a green thumb, allowing you to care for plants that others found too difficult to grow and tend with a skill that borders on the magical. If you travel, you encounter all sorts of new plants and plant creatures, allowing you to expand your horizons and deepen your understanding of flora.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Nature and Plant Lore. You gain the Natural Medicine skill feat.

Press-Ganged
Background

You might remember what happened, or not, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve been enslaved, by being captured by slavers in the desert, by punishment for a crime you may or may not have committed, to repay a debt, or whatever reason. You now belong to someone else, who has total power over you.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Labor Lore skill. You gain the Hefty Hauler skill feat.

Prisoner
Background

You might have been imprisoned for crimes (whether you were guilty or not), maybe awaiting execution, or most probably enslaved for some time now. Either way, you’ve had time to learn something from the criminals you encountered there.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Stealth skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Experienced Smuggler skill feat.

Raider
Background

In a world where resources are as scarce as Athas, Raiding is a common activity. More than that, it often is a vital activity, to the point it has become a way of life for lots of different people. You are such a raider. You might be a remorseless and brutal criminal, or simply a person who couldn’t find any other way to insure the survival of your family and community. In any case, either in small group or with a whole tribe, you scourge the desert, riding fast beasts to be able to hit and run efficiently at any valuable target.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the nature skill and a Lore skill related to the terrain you hunt in (such as Grassland or Scrub Plain). You gain the Express Rider skill feat.

Raised by Belief
Background

Whether in a monastery, a religious household, or just as part of your everyday life, your upbringing was steeped in the traditions of a faith or philosophy. You might remain committed or you may have turned from your childhood creed, but your skills are still founded in your devotion.

Choose two attribute boosts. One boost must be to an attribute specified in the (Para)Elemental or Sorcerer-Monarch Attribute entry for your faith, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in your (Para)Elemental or Sorcerer-Monarch’s associated skill, and you gain Assurance with that skill. You gain a Lore skill with a subcategory associated with your (Para)Elemental or Sorcerer-Monarch.

Refugee
Background

A city-state, a village, or whatever community you were a part of has been destroyed, either during a war, a natural disaster, or anything else. Although your home is gone, you have managed to survive and are making your way in search of a better life.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You are trained in the Survival skill and the Hunting Lore skill. You gain the Forager skill feat.

Returned
Background

You died, but one way or another, you willed yourself to return to life before being called into the Gray, and yet with knowledge of the realms beyond death and a stronger link to life. Some dead and undead souls might feel a strange, instinctual kinship with you.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You gain the Diehard feat and the Additional Lore feat for Gray Lore.

Revenant
Background

You died. No real doubt about that, you were dead as dead can be. Then you got back up again. Maybe you had some unfinished business, or maybe someone called for you so strongly it brought you back. Either way, you came back for a reason, but not before having been into the Gray and touched by it.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Religion and Gray Lore. You’re still alive, not undead, but you have the void healing ability, which means you’re harmed by vitality damage and healed by void effects as if you were undead.

Saboteur
Background

Whether you do it for personal enjoyment or at the behest of a military organization or rebel organization, you have a knack for destroying things. You have a sense for an object or structure’s weak spots and know where to deliver them a fatal blow.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Thievery skill and the Engineering Lore skill. You gain the Concealing Legerdemain skill feat.

Sailor
Background

Either as an officer, a free worker or as a slave, you’ve been sailing the Sea of Silt on ships floated by psionicists. Silt creatures, giants, silt storms, you know them all.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Sea of Silt Lore skill (a player might also opt to take Forked Tongue Estuary Lore instead). You gain the Silt Marauder skill feat.

Scavenger
Background

You’ve made a living sorting through the things society throws away. You might have scavenged simply to survive, or plied a trade as a ragpicker, dung carter, or the like. While you’ve left that life behind, you still keep one eye on the ground out of habit.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Lore skill of the settlement in which you scavenge. You gain the Forager skill feat.

Scholar
Background

You’ve been privileged enough to learn to read, either under lawful authorization, or clandestinely. In either case, this has changed your life and the way you look at the world.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You receive the Literacy general feat. You’re also trained in a Lore skill of your choice (the GM might impose some restrictions on this choice, though).

Scion of Slayers
Background

You were born into a lineage of undead slayers. No mere occupation, in your family slaying is a mantle of almost mystic responsibility passed from parent to child. Over the generations, this single-minded focus has begun to manifest in uncanny ways during combat.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and the Undead Lore skill. You can cast vitality lash as an innate divine cantrip. You can use Intelligence as your spellcasting ability for this innate spell.

Scout
Background

You called the wilderness home as you found trails and guided travelers. Whether you’re still a scout or not, you can easily find your way in the wilderness.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and a Lore skill related to one terrain you scouted in (such as Boulder Field Lore or Salt Flats Lore). You gain the Forager skill feat.

Sea of Silt Islander
Background

You’ve lived for the most part of your life on an island in the Sea of Silt, living from the resources available on this island per se, and in seasonal or permanent nearby mud flats.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and Sea of Silt Lore skill related. You gain the Terrain Expertise skill feat for mud flat.

Seer of the Dead
Background

You have long been gifted with the ability to see and speak with the departed. This could have manifested at your birth or when a chance encounter linked you inextricably to the spirits of the dead. Their constant presence might feel like a curse, or it might provide you with welcome companionship.

You gain one attribute boost. It must be to Constitution or Wisdom.

You’re trained in Religion and Undead Lore. You gain the effects of the spirit sense spell at all times.

Servant
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you served, waiting on nobles, and engendering their trust as one of the confidantes of the household. You might still be, or you might have earned your freedom one way or another.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Society skill and the Labor Lore skill. You gain the Read Lips skill feat.

Shadow Hunted
Background

For a reason or another, you have some acquaintance with the Black. Though not a black- touched per se, and whether you like it or not, you still seem to be followed by shadows, and you make people and animals uncomfortable.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Black Lore skill. You gain the Quick Coercion skill feat.

Sky Rider
Background

The freedom of a bird in flight is something to envy, and envy it you did, but not for long. You’ve borrowed mechanical gliders or sought out the benefits of magically aided gliding and flight, doing anything for an opportunity to look down on the world with only the wind to keep you aloft. The expense of these experiences may have been a notable factor in why you undertook the adventuring lifestyle or perhaps you are seeking new methods of flight to master.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Acrobatics skill and the Plane of Air Lore skill. You gain the Cat Fall skill feat.

Slave Overseer
Background

Slaves have to do the job that is asked of them, but they also have to be managed, ordered around, and, quite often, disciplined. It is your job to do so. You might be a templar overseeing public slaves, a member of a merchant or noble house managing your own chattel, a free worker hired to do the job, or even a slave elevated to the position for good behavior or through corruption. In any case, you’re used to be subservient to those higher than you in the social hierarchy, and to bully those bellow you.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Labor Lore skill. You gain the Group Coercion skill feat.

Slave Tribe Villager
Background

You live in a small village, founded by escaped slaves, and well hidden from a city-state’s troops and templars, surviving by tending crops and herds, or by raiding trade caravans. You might be an escaped slave yourself, or maybe you’ve been born here. Then again, maybe you simply stumbled on this community or have been saved by it before settling there.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and a Lore skill related to the terrain in which your village is located (such as Sandy Wastes or Salt Flat). You gain the Survey Wildlife skill feat.

Spotter
Background

An eye for detail, a sense for the wind, and a strong trust in your gut feelings. These qualities have set you apart from others when it comes to assisting a sharpshooter with setting up the perfect shot against their target. Elevation, wind direction, and concealment— these are all vital factors that need to be considered to pull off a feat of true marksmanship, and no sniper would be able to function without an experienced spotter.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Stealth skill and the Scouting Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Stalker skill feat.

Spy
Background

You have been trained to become a spy. Whether it has been on the account of a sorcerer- monarch, a templarate, the Veiled Alliance, the Order, or any other such organization, you know how to avoid detection while discerning who might be an enemy operative within your ranks. You also know what awaits you if you ever get caught.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or to Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Deception skill. You gain the Lie to Me and the Secret Speech skill feats.

Squire
Background

You trained at the feet of an army officer, military templar, warrior noble, or any other such figure, maintaining their gear and supporting them in daily life and in battle.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Athletics skill and your choice of the Heraldry Lore or Warfare Lore skill. You gain the Armor Assist skill feat.

Storm Survivor
Background

Through luck or through skill, you managed to survive a catastrophic disaster, such as a Sea of Silt shipwreck or the Great Earthquake. You have a keen sense for weather or situations that are similar to the one you escaped.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Weather Lore skill. You gain the Forager skill feat.

Street Preacher
Background

May the sorcerer-monarchs and their templars be damned to the Gray! You’re a follower of an elemental or paraelemental faith or philosophy, most probably a cleric, and you’re decided to bring your beliefs to the people of a city-state. You’ve preached on the street corners and in public houses, always avoiding being caught by the guard or by templars.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Religion skill and the Elemental Lore skill. You gain the Dubious Knowledge skill feat.

Street Urchin
Background

You eked out a living by picking pockets on the streets of a major city, never knowing where you’d find your next meal. While some folk adventure for the glory, you do so to survive.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Thievery skill and a Lore skill for the city you lived in as a street urchin (such as Nibenay Lore or Tyr Lore). You gain the Pickpocket skill feat.

Student of Psionics
Background

You spent years understanding, identifying, and harnessing the innate psionic talents within you. A psionic-rich world has taught you that you can never have too much training when everyone around you is capable of psionics.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be Intelligence or Charisma and one is a free attribute boost.

You're trained in Occult, and the Psionic Schools Lore skill. You gain the Recognize Spell skill feat.

Tall-Tale
Background

You’ve successfully pleaded for your life to the Dragon, went to the bottom of the Sea of Silt, and seen an oasis so large the other side wasn’t even visible.

That’s what the stories say, anyway, and even if people don’t strictly believe them, they are curious about you. Certainly, the stories keep spreading, and it would appear that you either have a unique destiny or are trying to convince the world that you do.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in Performance. You gain the Impressive Performance skill feat. You can gain the Connections skill feat later without being expert in Society or having Courtly Graces—this represents less traditional social connections and more the way that your legend has spread, and you’ve learned to leverage your legend, with people wanting to meet you and see you for themselves.

Tavern Scourge
Background

All you want to do is entertain the people, but sure enough, bad news seems to follow you. Stabbings, brawls, robberies, and more befall establishments you perform to, and word is quick to spread. Keep one town ahead of the gossip, and you just might be able to play a gig, command a stage, or run a table again.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Charisma or Dexterity, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Performance skill and a lore skill of your choice. You gain the Virtuosic Performer skill feat.

Tax Collector
Background

Reviled but required, you were sent when taxes were due. You’re most probably a templar, but you might also be a noble or even a free worker to which tax collecting powers have been granted. Performing your job might have required travel and persuasion, or perhaps you were responsible for collecting taxes on trade. Either way, you still know how to get what is due.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Lore skill for the settlement that employed you. You gain the Quick Coercion skill feat.

Templarate Aspirant
Background

Whether you were following a sense of duty towards your city-state or sorcerer-monarch, or your own self-interest, you’ve studied to become a templar. You may since have been accepted as such, or you might have been rejected, unless you just didn’t want to be a templar anymore and went away when you were done studying. In any case, you know how to make your demands and requests heard.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Diplomacy skill, and the Lore skill for your city-state. You gain the Bon Mot skill feat and literacy general feat.

Tinker
Background

In a world so devoid of resources as Athas, problem-solving and ingenuity don’t bring wealth or fame but are simply a matter of life and death. Your engineering skills take a particularly creative bent, though, pushing it a little further than most people do.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Crafting skill, and the Engineering Lore skill. You gain the Specialty Crafting skill feat.

Tomb Born
Background

Your parents conceived you for a fell purpose at a site tainted by death, like a wight’s barrow, mass grave, or ossuary. Their reasons could be a mystery, or you might know of their grand design and seek to escape—or fulfill—their plans. Either way, you’re at your most dangerous when near death.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Dexterity or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Undead Lore skill. You gain the Final Spite reaction.

Final Spite

once per day You're reduced to 0 Hit Points; You make a Strike before falling unconscious.

Trailblazer
Background

Uncharted realms have always intrigued you, and you’ve explored and mapped large territories in service to merchants, city-states, or your own curiosity. Where some see a blank spot on a map, you see the potential for something new and undiscovered.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill and the Cartography Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Expertise skill feat with one terrain you’ve explored (such as Forest or Mountain).

Undercity Scavenger
Background

You are an undercity dweller, with muscles and mind hardened by years spent tunneling through rock and earth and a confidence built upon your pride in your ability to adapt, survive, and thrive in such an environment.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Crafting skill, and in the Mining Lore skill or the Engineering Lore skill. You gain the Improvise Tool skill feat.

Veiled Alliance Prospect
Background

You might not even know it, but you’ve been spotted by the Veiled Alliance as a potential asset. Maybe you already know, maybe it was you who wanted to go under the Veil. You might be a preserver, or you might have never learned magic at all. In either case, you’ve set foot in a desert full of undetectable quick sand pits.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Intelligence or to Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Deception skill and the Underworld Lore skill. You gain the Lie to Me skill feat.

Wandering Preacher
Background

While you once spoke to a small congregation in a ramshackle shrine, those days are behind you now. Whatever happened, you now meander the lands holding a worn religious symbol in one hand, and a fiery conviction in the other.

Choose two attribute boosts. One boost must be to Constitution or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Religion skill and a Lore skill associated with the Element, Paraelement, or any other religious patron you worship. You gain the Pilgrim’s Token skill feat.

Ward
Background

Either as a free worker or as a slave, you became the ward of another house—boarded, fed, and maybe even educated, but never quite a part of the family. Perhaps you had to tend to their needs in return for feeding and raising you, or perhaps you were provided for but disregarded.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Constitution or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Performance skill and the Genealogy Lore skill. You gain the Fascinating Performance skill feat.

Warrior
Background

In your younger days, you waded into battle as a mercenary, a warrior defending a nomadic people, or a member of a militia or army. Maybe you still are, or you might have wandered to other occupations.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Strength or Constitution, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Intimidation skill and the Warfare Lore skill. You gain the Intimidating Glare skill feat.

Waste Walker
Background

You’re a survivor, having been through, for whatever reason, the deep, desolate Athasian desert, where you quickly learned that only the strong survive. You were forced to evade monsters, undead, and worse, as each new day heralded the possibility of a danger or threat you’d never seen before, and the very daily threat of dehydration. You learned to adapt to the worst possible conditions and how to forage and survive in a place few others would survive, even less dare to venture to.

Choose two attribute boosts. One boost must be to Strength or Wisdom, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Survival skill, and a Lore skill related to the terrain you went to (such as Salt Flat Lore or Sandy Wastes Lore). You gain the Forager skill feat.

Well Master
Background

Be it in a slave tribe village, a fort, a trade post, or in a city-state, someone’s got to ensure water is supplied in quantity minimally allowing the community’s survival (and the luxury of the rich and powerful). As the well master, this is your job. You might be a free citizen, a water cleric, or a templar who has been given a well concession; you might do this as a civic duty or for the sake of profiteering, but one thing is certain: your people and your community won’t live long without you (or a suitable replacement).

Choose two attribute boosts. One boost must be to Strength or Intelligence, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Crafting skill, and the Aquifer Lore skill. You gain the Specialty crafting skill feat.

Willing Host
Background

You speak to spirits only you can perceive: wispy shreds of lost souls, household guardians, ancestral spirits, and other entities. You can negotiate with these beings, allowing them into your body to impart knowledge or aid in a task for the price of a favor.

Choose two attribute boosts. One must be to Wisdom or Charisma, and one is a free attribute boost.

You’re trained in the Spirit Lore skill. You gain the Host Spirit action.

Host Spirit (arcane, exploration) once per day You attempt one skill check to perform an exploration activity, even if it normally requires you to be trained to do so. You’re trained in the skill just long enough to make that single check (to a maximum of 10 minutes).

Whether or not the check succeeds, in the next 24 hours you must perform a minor favor to appease the spirit who aided you, determined by the GM (usually something sensation related, such as tasting a certain food, listening to a specific song, or smoking a pipe). You can’t use Host Spirit again until you’ve performed the favor. If you haven’t completed it after 24 hours, you’re fatigued until the obligation is fulfilled.

Languages

Athas is a world where the intelligent races come from a wide variety of species - humans and humanoids are very different than the insectoids and reptilians. Each intelligent race - with the exception of half-elves, half-giants, and muls - has its own language, sometimes even its own approach to language and communication.

Half-Elves, half-giants, and muls don't have their own societies or cultures to draw upon, so they speak the language of the society they live in. For example, a mul raised in the gladiator pits of Urik would converse in Urikite a High Tyrian variety in that city. Thri-kreen, on the other hand, use a combination of clicks and whines that come naturally to their pincer mouths, a speech humans find almost impossible to imitate. Language barriers therefore present a major obstacle for adventures set in Athas. Characters must rely heavily on magic, psionics, or interpreters for communication.

Because knowledge is power, and the most efficient way of passing on knowledge is through literature, the Sorcerer-Monarchs have decreed that literacy is outlawed and punishable by death. No one but templars and nobles are permitted to read and write. Other people who gain access to that knowledge are considered threats to the stability of the system and are hunted down. Most Sorcerer-monarchs have authorized their templars to execute on the spot anyone demonstrating any reading or writing skills. Merchants are educated enough to keep accounts, and thus they seldom face any repercussions, although some are fully literate.

Slaves of nobles with artistic abilities may also have access to reading and writing, but when they are no longer needed, they are often disposed of prematurely.

Languages

The following languages are present in the world of Athas. Most humanoids in the world of Athas speak at least one of the common languages. Uncommon languages are typically only be found in isolated cultures.

Many uncommon languages are spoken by natives of other planes who rarely appear near the Tyr region unless summoned. Mortals learning these languages might spend a lifetime without meeting a native speaker.

Regional Languages

These regional languages are uncommon outside the region of their genesis. A character hailing from one of the regions listed below automatically has access to that language. In the Tyr region, the language referred to as Common elsewhere in the rules is the same as Tyrian.

Table 2-3: Regional Languages

Language	Regions
Balican	Balic
Draji	Draj
Gulgan	Gulg
Nibenese	Nibenay
Raamish	Raam
Tyrian	Tyr
Urikite	Urik

Table 2-3: Common Languages

Language	Typical Speakers
Common	Traders, Tyr region
Dwarvish	Dwarves
Elvish	Elves

Table 2-4: Uncommon Languages

Language	Typical Speakers
Aarakocran	Aarakocra
Anakore	Anakore
Belgoi	Belgoi
Braxat	Braxat
Draconic	Dray
Giant	Giants, B'rohg
Gith	Gith
Halfling	Halflings
Iruxi	Lizardfolk, Pterran, Nikaals, Ssurrans
Kreen	Thri-kreen
Petran	Earth creatures
Pyric	Fire creatures
Sakvroth	Hej-Kin, Serpentfolk, Tari
Shadowtongue	Shadow Giants
Susurran	Air creatures
Tarek	Tarek
Thalassic	Water creatures

Classes

Characters in a Dark Sun campaign have a limited number of classes to choose from compared to those in other campaign worlds. Those classes that are available often vary from those listed in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and other supplemental materials.

“From the lowliest slave to the highest templar, our fates are decided for us. The slave at the hands of the master, and the templar at the will of the king. Pray to Ral and Guthay that your children are born when the stars align to favor them. Few are those privileged to choose their own path of life and cursed are those for they are bound by choice and have but themselves to blame for their misfortune. It is the choices that define who you are and how you die, regardless of who makes them.”

Alchemist
Page 141

                        The alchemist uses their skill at crafting to
create alchemical items—such as bombs,
                              elixirs, and poisons—that they use to defeat
                             foes and aid allies. Smart and resourceful,
                              an alchemist often has just the right tool for
                           the job and esoteric knowledge to help their
friends get out of a jam.

Barbarian
Page 145

                         The barbarian is a fearsome embodiment
                             of rage, focusing the deadly power of their
                            anger against anyone who stands in their
way. A barbarian is quick to enter battle
and, once their fury has been unleashed, is
immensely strong, often unpredictable, and
nearly unstoppable.

Bard
Page 149

                          Athasian bards are the unquestioned masters
                            of oral tradition and forgotten lore, but rather
                            than sharing their lore with whoever will
listen, Athasian bards guard their secrets as
jealously as the sorcerer‐kings harbor their
water and iron.

Champion
Page 153

A defender of the (para)elements, or a sorcerer
king, who straps on armor and wields a
righteous weapon, the champion protects
those who follow his cause. Steadfast in
their beliefs, and devoted to his cause, they
follow a strict code as they fight to protect his (para)element or sorcerer-king.

Cleric
Page 166

Athas is a world without gods, so clerics in the
Dark Sun setting draw power from the
enigmatic rulers of the (para)elemental
planes or sorcerer-kings. These clerics
devote themselves to a single elemental
domain: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Those that serve the sorcerer-kings are their templars.

Druid
Page 170

The druids are the remnants of an ancient
order dedicated to protecting Athas and the
unseen spirits that dwell within the land.
Each druid draws spiritual energy from a
landmark or stretch of terrain known as
their "guarded land". They are fierce enemies
of the defilers and Sorcerer-Kings that seek to destroy the land for their own purposes.

Fighter
Page 173

With calculated daring and fearless
determination, the fighter tracks down and
confronts their enemies while defending
allies from harm. A master of the battlefield,
the fighter is quick to exploit opportunities
and strike any who stumble within reach of
their sword or bow.

Investigator
Page 177

Clever and insightful, the investigator solves
mysteries and teems with knowledge. In
battle, they play out every possibility in
advance, striking true when the time is right.
Their methodology grants them an edge, and
their high Intelligence and number of skills
mean they almost always have the right tool for the job.

Kineticist
Page 180

The power of the elements flows from within you. Roaring fire, pure water, fleeting air, steadfast
earth, twisting wood, slicing metal. A kinetic
gate inextricably tied to your body channels
power directly from the elemental planes,
causing elements to leap to your hand, whirl
around your body, and blast foes at your whim. As your connection to the planes grows, you attain true mastery over your chosen elements.

Monk
Page 185

Although rare, monks do exist on Athas.
Through training and discipline they
hone their minds and bodies, tapping
into psychic powers within. Other monks
may be hermits, hiding in secluded canyons
and atop high peaks, far away from the rigors of urban life.

Oracle
Page 190

The oracle is a paradox of elemental magic,
able to tap into and manipulate energies
from the elemental and paraelemental
planes that would overwhelm anyone else.
These mysteries grant unusual powers and
revelations, as well as a double-edged curse -
which they must learn how to simultaneously endure and exploit.

Psychic
Page 197

Guided by the personal combination of their access to the will and the way, a psychic calls forth psionics with but a
thought. The psychic focuses more on
moment than on daily spell slots,
wielding, unique, versatile cantrips and
unleashing their mind to use strange and powerful abilities.

Psychic Warrior
Page 200

The psychic warrior, a polymath of battle, trains in both psionics and strikes.
Combining these arts, a psychic
warrior channels psionics into their
weapon or body to inflict devastating
wounds upon their foes. The psychic warrior's
versatility in combat and knowledge of psionics makes them a welcome addition to any party.

Ranger
Page 211

Resourceful and cunning, the ranger
is a hunter, tracker, and warrior who
preserves the natural world and
protects civilization from its ravages.
Whether they use a bow, crossbow
a pair of weapons, or snares, the ranger
is a fearsome enemy and great ally in the wild.

Rogue
Page 214

Cunning and quick, the rogue brings
skill and expertise few of their comrades
can match. In battle, they excel at
sneak attacks and ambushes. Their
racket gives them the tools they need
to get the job done, and their wide array of
skill choices lets them specialize as they see fit.

Swashbuckler
Page 216

To a swashbuckler, anything worth doing is worth
doing with style. This dynamic daredevil performs
bold feats of derring-do and mixes their own
unique style with flamboyant attacks. The
swashbuckler tumbles around the battlefield,
befuddling their foes to set them up for powerful finishing moves.

Wizard
Page 219

The wizard is the arcane master of spellcasting,
plucking incredible power from the land through
complicated spell formulas. They stride with
confidence, without a need for armor or ,
weapons enacting their will upon the world and
bringing woe upon their enemies.

Table 3-1: Variant Features

Level	Benefits
1	-
2	1st attribute boost, attack potency +1, free archetype
3	2nd attribute boost, skill potency (one at +1)
4	3rd attribute boost, devastating attacks (two dice), free archetype
5	4th attribute boost, defense potency +1
6	Free archetype, skill potency (two at +1 each)
7	1st attribute boost (a second set), perception potency +1
8	2nd attribute boost, free archetype, saving throw potency +1
9	3rd attribute boost, skill potency (one at +2, one at +1)
10	4th attribute boost, attack potency +2, free archetype
11	Defense potency +2
12	1st attribute boost (a third set), devastating attacks (three dice), free archetype
13	2nd attribute boost, perception potency +2, skill potency (two at +2 each, one at +1)
14	3rd attribute boost, free archetype, saving throw potency +2
15	4th attribute boost, skill potency (three at +2 each, one at +1)
16	Attack potency +3, free archetype
17	1st attribute boost (a fourth set), attribute apex, skill potency (one at +3, two at +2 each, two at +1 each)
18	2nd attribute boost, defense potency +3, free archetype
19	3rd attribute boost, devastating attacks (four dice), perception potency +3
20	4th attribute boost, free archetype, saving throw potency +3, skill potency (two at +3 each, two at +2 each, two at +1 each)

Alchemist

There’s no sight more beautiful to you than a strange brew bubbling in a beaker, and you consume your ingenious elixirs with abandon. You’re fascinated by uncovering the secrets of science and the natural world, and you’re constantly experimenting in your lab or on the go with inventive concoctions for every eventuality. You are fearless in the face of risk, hurling explosive or toxic creations at your foes. Your unique path toward greatness is lined with alchemical brews that push your mind and body to their limits.

Dark Sun Alchemist

The alchemist is mostly unchanged from how it is presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. Any new changes are noted below.

During Combat Encounters...

You harry your enemies and support the rest of your party with potent elixirs. At higher levels, you've learned how to extend the use of your potent elixirs.

While Exploring...

You keep an eye out for useful materials you can add to your elixirs, while giving advice on all things alchemical and mysterious.

You Might...

Enjoy tinkering with strange formulas and alchemical reagents, often with a single-minded dedication and recklessness that gives others pause.
Get a kick out of wreaking havoc with the alchemical concoctions you’ve made, and enjoy watching things burn, dissolve, freeze, and jolt.
Endlessly experiment to discover new, more potent alchemical tools.

Others Probably...

Think you’re some kind of wizard and don’t understand and fear what you can do. the general population doesn't understand that you don't cast spells
Don’t understand your zeal for alchemy, creativity, and invention.
Assume that if you haven’t caused a catastrophe with your experimentations, you inevitably will.

Table 3-2: Alchemist Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, alchemy, formula book, research field, alchemist feat
2	Alchemist feat, skill feat
3	General feat, skill increase
4	Alchemist feat, skill feat
5	Ancestry feat, field discovery, powerful alchemy, skill increase
6	Alchemist feat, skill feat
7	Alchemical weapon expertise, general feat, iron will, perpetual infusions, skill increase
8	Alchemical feat, skill feat
9	Alchemical expertise, alertness, ancestry feat, double brew, skill increase
10	Alchemist feat, skill feat
11	General feat, juggernaut, perpetual potency, skill increase
12	Alchemist feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, greater field discovery, medium armor expertise, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Alchemist feat, skill feat
15	Alchemical alacrity, evasion, general feat, skill increase
16	Alchemist feat, skill feat
17	Alchemical mastery, ancestry feat, perpetual perfection, skill increase
18	Alchemist feat, skill feat
19	General feat, medium armor mastery, skill increase
20	Alchemist feat, skill feat

Class Changes

Research field

Bomber

Bombs have recently been introduced into Dark Sun. This makes this research field and all Bomb Feats Uncommon.

Chirurgeon

This research field has been around for millennia and is accessed as normal.

Mutagenist

Mutagens have been unlocked from the ancient blue age technology of lifeshaping. These secrets are held by few and are not shared with the outside world. This research field and mutagen feats are Rare.

Toxicology

The ancient art of poison making has been around since the beginning of time. This research field is accessed as normal.

Alchemist Feats

At each level that you gain an alchemist feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated alchemist feats.

4th Level

Chemical Purification
FEAT 4

once per round

You use Quick Alchemy to craft an alchemist's fire or ghost charge, and that bomb's level is at least 2 levels lower than your advanced alchemy level.

You developed a method to chemically purify and consecrate your bombs on the fly. You include this additive mixture when crafting your alchemist's fire or ghost charge. The created bomb deals 1d4 persistent vitality damage in addition to whatever damage it would normally cause. As usual for vitality damage, this damage harms only undead and creatures with void healing.

Inured to Alchemy
FEAT 4

expert in Fortitude saves

You're from Kemalok or the hinterlands

You've developed control over how your body processes alchemical poisons and drugs. Each of your successful saving throws against an alchemical poison, a drug, or an addiction reduces the stage by 2, or by 1 for a virulent alchemical poison, drug, or addiction. Each critical success reduces the stage by 3, or by 2 for a virulent alchemical poison, drug, or addiction.

6th Level

Artokus's Fire
FEAT 6

once per round

You use Quick Alchemy to craft an alchemist's fire, and that bomb's level is at least 2 levels lower than your advanced alchemy level.

Artokus developed a mixture of volatile materials that burns hotter and longer than typical alchemist's fire. You include this additive mixture when crafting your alchemist's fire. The alchemist's fire deals 1d4 persistent fire damage in addition to what the alchemist fire would normally cause (for instance, a moderate alchemist's fire deals 1d4+2 persistent fire damage). A creature taking persistent fire damage from the alchemist's fire requires two successful flat checks to end the persistent damage, or one check if the creature had an assisted recovery that reduces the flat check to DC 10. The enhanced alchemist's fire burns even underwater, and any attempts to end the persistent damage by using water have no effect.

8th Level

Retaliatory Cleansing
FEAT 8

You're holding holy water or a bomb that deals vitality damage in one of your hands.

You would take damage from an adjacent creature's Strike.

You twist your hand in front of the blow, ensuring the enemy's attack shatters the required holy water or bomb. The creature takes the on-hit and splash damage from the holy water or required bomb, not counting any additional affects you would add or apply when you throw the bomb, such as weapon specialization or Calculated Splash. You're splashed by the holy water or required bomb, although since vitality damage harms only undead and creatures with void healing, it's unlikely you will take damage.

12th Level

Shaped Contaminant
FEAT 12

Through a combination of careful manipulation and precise breath control, you can deploy inhaled toxins precisely. When you activate an inhaled poison, you can cause it to fill a 20-foot line that’s 5 feet tall rather than a 10-foot cube. You gain a +3 status bonus to saving throws against inhaled poisons that you activate.

20th Level

Astonishing Explosion
FEAT 20

once per minute

You use Quick Alchemy to craft an alchemical bomb that deals splash damage and is at least 2 levels lower than your advanced alchemy level.

Your bomb incorporates an explosive spark of wonder that leaves witnesses dumbfounded. Any target hit by your Strike with the bomb is fascinated by you for 1 round. On a critical success, the target is also stunned 1.

Efficient Alchemy (Paragon)
FEAT 20

Your daily preparations are particularly efficient and plentiful. When using your infused reagents to create alchemical items during your daily preparations, you make a batch of three of a given item instead of a batch of two, or a batch of four if your field normally lets you create three of that item.

Plum Deluge
FEAT 20

You have at least three of the same contact poison.

You have learned to saturate an area with poison. As part of this ability, you Interact to draw three vials of the same contact poison and throw them in the air, where they shatter and spread a poisonous deluge affecting a 20-foot burst within 60 feet. All creatures in the burst are automatically exposed to the poison, immediately bypassing any onset time, and must attempt a saving throw against that poison. The three vials must be identical, even if the poison can come in multiple types or different levels.

Barbarian

Rage consumes you in battle. You delight in wreaking havoc and using powerful weapons to carve through your enemies, relying on astonishing durability without needing complicated techniques or rigid training. Your rages draw upon a vicious instinct, which you might associate with an animal, a spirit, or some part of yourself. To many barbarians, brute force is a hammer, and every problem looks like a nail, whereas others try to hold back the storm of emotions inside them and release their rage only when it matters most.

Dark Sun Barbarians

The barbarian is mostly unchanged from how it is presented in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. Any new changes are noted below.

During Combat Encounters...

You summon your rage and rush to the front lines to smash your way through. Offense is your best defense—you’ll need to drop foes before they can exploit your relatively low defenses.

While Exploring...

You look out for danger, ready to rush headfirst into battle in an instant. You climb the challenging rock wall and drop a rope for others to follow, and you wade into the risky currents to reach the hidden switch beneath the water’s surface. If something needs breaking, you’re up to the task!

You Might...

Have a deep-seated well of anger, hatred, or frustration.
Prefer a straightforward approach to one requiring patience and tedium.
Engage in a regimen of intense physical fitness—and punch anyone who says this conflicts with your distaste for patience and tedium.

Others Probably...

Rely on your courage and your strength, and trust that you can hold your own in a fight.
See you as uncivilized or a boorish lout unfit for high society.
Believe that you are loyal to your friends and allies and will never relent until the fight is done.

Table 3-3: Barbarian Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, rage, instinct, barbarian feat
2	Barbarian feat, skill feat
3	Deny advantage, general feat, skill increase
4	Barbarian feat, skill feat
5	Ancestry feat, brutality, skill increase
6	Barbarian feat, skill feat
7	General feat, juggernaut, skill increase, weapon specialization
8	Barbarian feat, skill feat
9	Ancestry feat, lightning reflexes, raging resistance, skill increase
10	Barbarian feat, skill feat
11	General feat, mighty range, skill increase
12	Barbarian feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, greater juggernaut, medium armor expertise, skill increase, weapon fury
14	Barbarian feat, skill feat
15	General feat, greater weapon specialization, indomitable will, skill increase
16	Barbarian feat, skill feat
17	Ancestry feat, heightened senses, skill increase, quick rage
18	Barbarian feat, skill feat
19	Armor of fury, devastator, general feat, skill increase
20	Barbarian feat, skill feat

Instincts

Animal Instinct

Athas is home to very fierce beasts, some of which fill you with wild ferociousness when you Rage, granting you ferocious unarmed attacks. Select an animal from Table 3–4: Animal Instincts that best matches your chosen animal.

Table 3-4: Animal Instincts

Animal	Attack	Damage	Traits
Carru	Horn	1d10P	Shove, unarmed
Dagorran	Jaws	1d10P	Trip, unarmed
Feylaar	Fist	1d10B	Grapple, unarmed
Inix	Jaws Tongue	1d10B 1d4B	Unarmed, Agile, Unarmed
Kirre	Jaws Claw	1d10P 1d6S	Unarmed, Agile, Unarmed
Klar	Jaws Claw	1d10P 1d6S	Unarmed, Agile, Unarmed
Sand Shark	Jaws	1d10P	Grapple, unarmed
Snake	Fangs	1d10P	Grapple, unarmed
Sygra	Horns	1d10B	Shove, unarmed

Specialization Ability
7th

The inix's tongue attack and sygra's horns attack gain reach 10 feet.

Dragon Instinct

There are no dragon's living on Athas except for The Dragon. This instinct is not available on Dark Sun.

Fury Instinct

A world so brutal as Athas can fuel a deep rage within people who have not been lucky enough to avoid its cruelty and unfairness. You are such a person. Your rage comes from a deep and purely personal well within you. You use your rage as you choose. No change to the abilities listed in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

Giant Instinct

Giants of the Sea of Silt have had some profound influence on you, one way or another. No change to the abilities listed in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

Spirit Instinct

Whether you are emotionally sensitive to the spirits around you; worship ancestors or apparitions; or are haunted by the specter of an ancestor, relative, friend, or foe, your rage takes the form of a spiritual possession. No change to the abilities listed in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook.

Superstition Instinct

Arcane magic has left the world in ruins, and as such, you

rightly despise it.

While you don’t have anything against elemental, druidic, or maybe even templar magic, or against the Way, you can’t accept the very existence of any practitioner of arcane magic, whatever their nature or their actual goals.

Anathema

You can’t associate in any way with anything arcane in nature. As such, you can’t willingly benefit from arcane magic, be it in the form of a spell, scroll, potion, magical item, or whatever. You can’t willingly associate yourself to an arcane caster either, as you would usually prefer to put them to death on the spot. Only a very sound argument or a very good reason would prevent you from doing so.

Superstitious Resilience (Instinct Ability)

While raging, you gain a +2 status bonus to all saves against arcane magic. Increase your damage from Rage from 2 to 4 against creatures that can cast arcane spells. Once every 10 minutes, when you Rage, you regain Hit Points equal to the temporary Hit Points you gain from that Rage action.

Specialization Ability
7th

crease the damage from Rage from 4 to 8 against creatures that can cast arcane spells. If you have greater raging specialization, instead increase the damage from Rage to 12 against creatures with arcane spells and 8 against other creatures.

Raging Resistance
9th

The resistance from your raging resistance class feature applies against all damage you take from arcane spells, regardless of the type of damage dealt by the spell.

Barbarian Feats

At each level that you gain a barbarian feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated barbarian feats.

4th Level

Flip
FEAT 4

trained in Acrobatics; trained in medium armor

An enemy targets you with a melee Strike.

Flinging your body into a twisting somersault, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your AC against the triggering attack. If the attack still hits you, you can Step to an open space that's still within the triggering enemy's reach, turning the impact of the blow into momentum.

Ghost Wrangler
FEAT 4

spirit instinct

Spirits around you coalesce upon your fists, enabling you to seize and harm other ghosts and spirits. Until the beginning of your next turn, your fists gain the effects of the ghost touch property rune, and you can make Strength-based skill checks against incorporeal creatures.

Inured to Alchemy
FEAT 4

expert in Fortitude saves

You're from Kemalok or the hinterlands

6th Level

Pain Tolerance
FEAT 4

expert in Fortitude saves

You gain resistance to mental damage equal to half your level and a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against effects that would make you clumsy, drained, or enfeebled.

10th Level

Corpse-Killer's Defiance
FEAT 10

You destroy an undead foe.

Allies that can see you gain a +1 status bonus to attack and damage rolls against undead for 1 round, or a +2 status bonus to attack and damage rolls against undead for 2 rounds if the undead foe destroyed was a creature of your level or higher.

20th Level

Annihilating Swing
FEAT 20

You have learned from the destructive power of the Gray. You make a melee Strike that ignores any resistances the target has. If you target a solid unattended object or surface with your Strike, you might automatically destroy it without an attack roll. If you target any object or surface with Hardness 20 or less that isn't a magic item or the effect of a spell, you destroy it. If the target object or surface is a magic item or the effect of a spell, you attempt to counteract it using your attack bonus with the Strike for the counteract check. On a successful counteract check, you destroy the object or surface unless it has Hardness greater than 20, is an artifact, or is similarly difficult to destroy. You destroy up to a 5-foot cube of an object or surface larger than Medium.

Whirlwind Toss
FEAT 20

Collateral Thrash

You have a foe grabbed.

You whirl a foe to smash into all nearby creatures before throwing them far away. You Thrash. During this Thrash, your Collateral Thrash feat applies to all foes adjacent to you. You can then throw the grabbed creature 10 feet, where they fall prone.

If the foe you choose for Collateral Thrash is also adjacent to you, they attempt only one save and take the damage only once.

Bard

You are a master of artistry, a scholar of hidden secrets, and a captivating persuader. Using powerful performances, you influence minds and elevate souls to new levels of heroics. You might use your powers to become a charismatic leader, or perhaps you might instead be a counselor, manipulator, scholar, scoundrel, or virtuoso. While your versatility leads some to consider you a beguiling ne’er-do-well and a jack-of-all-trades, it’s dangerous to dismiss you as a master of none.

Dark Sun Bards

Athasian bards are the unquestioned masters of oral tradition and forgotten lore, but rather than sharing their lore with whoever will listen, Athasian bards guard their secrets as jealously as the sorcerer‐kings harbor their water and iron.

During Combat Encounters...

You use psychic performances to alter the odds in favor of your allies. You confidently alternate between attacks, healing, and helpful psionics as needed.

While Exploring...

You’re a font of knowledge, folktales, legends, and lore that provide a deeper context and helpful reconnaissance for the group’s adventure. Your psionics and performances inspire your allies to greater discovery and success.

You Might...

Have a passion for your art so strong that you forge a spiritual connection with it.
Take point when tact and nonviolent solutions are required.
Follow your muse, whether it’s a philosophical concept, or psychic force, and with its aid learn secret lore that few others possess.

Others Probably...

Relish the opportunity to invite you to social events, either as a performer or guest, but consider you to be something of a curiosity in their social circles.
come to you to spy, gather information, or possibly assassinate their rivals
Respond favorably to your social charm and abilities but remain suspicious of your beguiling magic.

Table 3-3: Bard Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, attribute boosts, bard spellcasting, initial proficiencies, spell repertoire, composition spells, muse
2	Bard feat, skill feat
3	2nd-rank spells, general feat, reflex expertise, signature spells, skill increase
4	Bard feat, skill feat
5	3rd-rank spells, attribute boosts, ancestry feat, skill increase
6	Bard feat, skill feat
7	4th-rank spells, expert spellcaster, general feat, skill increase
8	Bard feat, skill feat
9	5th-rank spells, ancestry feat, fortitude expertise, performer’s heart, skill increase
10	Bard feat, skill feat
11	6th-rank spells, bard weapon expertise, general feat, skill increase, vigilant senses
12	Bard feat, skill feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, light armor expertise, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Bard feat, skill feat
15	8th-rank spells, attribute boosts, general feat, master spellcaster, skill increase
16	Bard feat, skill feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, greater performer’s heart, skill increase
18	Bard feat, skill feat
19	General feat, legendary spellcaster, magnum opus, skill increase
20	Bard feat, skill feat

Class Features

The following class features have been changed to represent the Athasian Bard.

Bard Spellcasting

Your spellcasting draws on the will and the way to cast psychic powers. You are a spellcaster and can cast psychic powers using the Occult spell list using the Cast a Spell activity. As a bard, when you cast spells, your psychic powers might include musical riffs or clever limericks, your gestures might incorporate dance and dramatic pantomiming, and you might accompany your spellcasting by playing a musical instrument.

Each day, you can cast up to two 1st-rank spells. You must know spells to cast them, and you learn them via the psychic repertoire class feature. The number of spells you can cast each day is called your spell slots. As you increase in level as a bard, your number of spells per day increases, as does the highest rank of spells you can cast, as shown on the Bard Spells per Day table in Player Core.

Some of your psychic powers require you to attempt a spell attack to see how effective they are or have your enemies roll against your spell DC (typically by attempting a saving throw). Since your key attribute is Charisma, your spell attack modifiers and spell DCs use your Charisma modifier.

Heightening Psionics

When you get spell slots of 2nd rank and higher, you can fill those slots with stronger versions of lower-rank spells. This increases the spell’s rank, heightening it to match the spell slot. You must have a spell in your psychic repertoire at the rank you want to cast in order to heighten it to that rank. Many spells have specific improvements when they are heightened to certain ranks. The signature spells class feature lets you heighten certain psionics freely.

Cantrips

Some of your psychic powers are cantrips. A cantrip is a special type of psychic power that doesn’t use spell slots. You can cast a cantrip at will, any number of times per day. A cantrip is automatically heightened to half your level rounded up—this is usually equal to the highest rank of bard spell slot you have. For example, as a 1st-level bard, your cantrips are 1st-rank spells, and as a 5th-level bard, your cantrips are 3rd-rank spells.

Psychic Repertoire

The collection of psychic powers you can cast is called your psychic repertoire. At 1st level, you learn two 1st-rank occult spells of your choice and five occult cantrips of your choice. You choose these from the common spells from the occult list or from other occult spells to which you have access. You can cast any spell in your psychic repertoire by using a spell slot of an appropriate spell rank.

You add to this psychic repertoire as you increase in level. Each time you get a spell slot (see the Bard Spells per Day table), you add a spell to your psychic repertoire of the same rank. At 2nd level, you select another 1st-rank spell; at 3rd level, you select two 2nd-rank spells, and so on. When you add spells, you might add a higher-rank version of a spell you already have, so you can cast a heightened version of that spell.

Though you gain them at the same rate, your spell slots and the spells in your psychic repertoire are separate. If a feat or other ability adds a spell to your psychic repertoire, it wouldn’t give you another spell slot, and vice versa.

Muses

As a bard, you select one muse at 1st level. This muse leads you to great things and might be someone you know, a supernatural creature, location, philosophy, or captivating mystery. Depending on the type of inspiration you receive, your 1st-level muse grants you a specific 1st-level bard feat and adds a spell to your repertoire.

In addition to this, each muse opens the door to many later bard feats. If one type of inspiration is not enough to represent your muse, consider the Multifarious Muse feat.

Enigma

Your muse is a mystery, driving you to uncover the hidden secrets of life and the planes of Athas. These muses can be people you cannot fully grasp, texts layered deeply with symbolism, or emotional paradoxes that underline a lifetime’s work. If your muse is an otherworldly creature, it might be a mysterious elemental or an elemental drake. Art inspired by an enigma muse could be cryptic, eerie, or laden with speculation and conspiracy. As a bard with the enigma muse, you support your allies by providing knowledge alongside inspiration and occult support.
Muse Feat Bardic Lore
Muse Spell sure strike

Maestro

Your muse constantly inspires you to greater heights of artistic prowess. For many bards, a teacher or rival fills this role, although some set their sights higher and attempt to surpass great composers of the past or blaze a new trail entirely. If your muse is a supernatural creature, it might be one who loves to perform. Art inspired by a maestro muse is precise and inventive, a formalist achievement. As a bard with a maestro muse, you are an inspiration to your allies and confident of your musical and oratorical abilities.
Muse Feat Lingering Composition
Muse Spell soothe

Polymath

Your muse is a jack of all trades, flitting between skills and pursuits. Some bards are constantly moved by new muses or draw their inspiration from an idealized being, whether it’s based on a real person or purely philosophical. If your muse is a single creature, it might be an eclectic creature or one who’s learned a lot over a long lifespan. Art inspired by a polymath muse is restless, with each composition exhibiting new techniques and an ever-evolving style.

As a bard with a polymath muse, you are interested in a wide array of topics but rarely dedicated to any one, and you rarely make up your mind—you want to try everything.
Muse Feat Versatile Performance
Muse Spell phantasmal minion

Warrior

The battlefield is your stage, the clang of steel, your song. Your muse has seen countless battles, whether reveling in combat or resigned to its necessity. An individual soldier or general might inspire you, but so might a battlefield or weapon with a particularly profound history. If your muse is a creature, it might be an otherworldly soldier, such as an elemental genie. Art inspired by a warrior muse is triumphant and strident, often detailing epic battles. As a bard with a warrior muse, you train for battle in addition to performance, and you prepare your allies for the dangers of combat. You might even wade into the thick of things with them.
Muse Feat Martial Performance
Muse Spell fear

Champion

You are an emissary of the elements or a faithful servant of a Sorcerer-King, a devoted servant who has taken up a weighty mantle, and you adhere to a code that holds you apart from those around you. You have powerful defenses that you share freely with your allies and innocent bystanders, as well as primal power you use to end those that threaten your devotion.

During Combat Encounters...

You confront enemies in hand-to-hand combat while carefully positioning yourself to protect your allies.

While Exploring...

You overcome barriers both physical and spiritual, providing inspiration to your allies through your actions and—when your fellow adventurers ask for it—providing guidance.

In Downtime...

You spend much of your time in solemn prayer and contemplation, rigorous training, and fulfilling the tenets of your code, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to take up a craft or hobby.

You Might...

Believe there is always hope that your element will triumph over its opposition, no matter how grim the odds.
Know the ends justify the means, since justified acts increase the influence of your Sorcerer-King.
Have a strong sense of how the elemental planes interact with the world, and grow frustrated when others don't understand this fact

Others Probably...

See you as a symbol of hope or one of tyranny.
Worry you secretly despise them for not living up to the impossible standards of your Sorcerer-King, or afraid you may bring the wrath of the elements down upon them if they disagree with you.
Know that you've sworn an oath of service they can trust you to keep.

Table 3-5: Champion Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, champion's code, oath and cause, religious weapon, champion's reaction, devotion spells, champion feat, shield block
2	Champion feat, skill feat
3	Divine ally, general feat, skill increase
4	Champion feat, skill feat
5	Ancestry feat, skill increase, weapon expertise
6	Champion feat, skill feat
7	Armor expertise, general feat, skill increase, weapon specialization
8	Champion feat, skill feat
9	Ancestry feat, champion expertise, divine/elemental smite, juggernaut, lightning reflexes, skill increase
10	Champion feat, skill feat
11	Alertness, diving will, exalt, general feat, skill increase
12	Champion feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, armor mastery, skill increase, weapon mastery
14	Champion feat, skill feat
15	General feat, greater weapon specialization, skill increase
16	Champion feat, skill feat
17	Ancestry feat, champion mastery, legendary armor, skill increase
18	Champion feat, skill feat
19	General feat, hero's defiance, skill increase
20	Champion feat, skill feat

Champion's code

Choose one of the following causes and tenets. This choice must be made at character creation and cannot be changed except via in-game interpretation. It also determinates the nature of your champion reaction, elemental smite, and exalt class feature.

Elemental Knight

You’ve sworn yourself in the service of an element or paraelement. Choose one element or paraelement to serve. Choose one of your element or paraelement’ s domain. You gain the initial domain spell of this domain as a focus spell. Add one focus point to your focus pool. If you choose a paraelement, choose one of its adjacent elements (for instance, fire or earth for magma). This is the type of damage your paraelement deals when you use a champion class feature, for instance, a Champion’s Reaction. It also serves to determine your opposed element. This choice is to be made at character creation and cannot be changed thereafter.

You are to protect your chosen element or paraelement’ s interests on Athas, its clerics, or sanctuaries, and can never work against them. Failing to respect this tenet within reason is anathema to you.

Templar Knight

You’ve sworn yourself in the service of a sorcerer-monarch. Choose one sorcerer-monarch to serve.

Choose one of your Sorcerer-monarch’s domains. You gain the initial domain spell of this domain as a focus spell. Add one focus point to your focus pool.

You are to obey any command that might come from them and vie to maintain the established order within their city-state, which you are to protect from inside or outside threats. You are also to protect any of their templars and obey the templars you serve under. Failing to do so within reason is anathema to you.

Champion's reaction

Your cause gives you a special reaction: Retributive Strike or Glimpse of Redemption for elemental knight, Selfish Shield, or Iron Command for templar knight.

Retributive Strike

An enemy damages your ally, or your chosen element, and both are within 15 feet of you.

You protect your ally and strike your foe. The ally gains resistance to all damage against the triggering damage equal to 2 + your level. If the foe is within reach, make a melee Strike against it.

Glimpse of Redemption

An enemy damages your ally, or your chosen element, and both are within 15 feet of you.

Your foe hesitates under the weight of sin as visions of redemption play in their mind’s eye. The foe must choose one of the following options:
- The ally is unharmed by the triggering damage.
- The ally gains resistance to all damage against the triggering damage equal to 2 + your level. After the damaging effect is applied, the enemy becomes enfeebled 2 until the end of its next turn.

Selfish Shield

An enemy within 15 feet damages you.

Your self-interest keeps you safe. You gain resistance against the triggering damage equal to 2 + half your level, regardless of damage type.

In addition, your Strikes against the triggering creature deal 1 extra mental damage until the end of your next turn. This extra damage increases to 2 at 9th level and 3 at 16th level.

Iron Command

An enemy within 15 feet damages you, a templar, or a symbol of your chosen sorcerer-monarch (such as a statue or sigil).

You put a rebellious foe who dared contest your sorcerer-monarch’s authority in their proper place. You command your enemy to kneel before you in obedience. If they dare to refuse, they must pay the price in pain and anguish. The foe must choose one of the following options.
- The enemy kneels, dropping prone as a free action.
- The enemy refuses, and you deal 1d6 mental damage to it. This damage increases to 2d6 at 5th level, 3d6 at 9th level, 4d6 at 12th level, 5d6 at 16th level, and 6d6 at 19th level.

In addition, your Strikes against the triggering creature deal 1 extra mental damage until the end of your next turn. This extra damage increases to 2 at 9th level and 3 at 16th level

Devotion Spells

Your (para)elemental's or sorcerer-monarch's power grants you special divine spells called devotion spells, which are a type of focus spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell, and you start with a focus pool of 1 Focus Point. You refill your focus pool during your daily preparations, and you regain 1 Focus Point by spending 10 minutes using the Refocus activity to pray to your (para)element or sorcerer-monarch or do service toward their causes.

Focus spells are automatically heightened to half your level rounded up. Certain feats can give you more focus spells and increase the size of your focus pool. You gain a devotion spell depending on your cause, and you are trained in divine spell attack rolls and spell DCs. Your spellcasting attribute is Charisma.

Elemental Ally
3rd

Your devotion attracts an elemental spirit attracted to your element or sorcerer-monarch. Once you choose an ally, your choice can’t be changed.

The following are elemental allies:

Blade Ally: An elemental spirit of battle dwells within your armaments. Select one weapon or handwraps of mighty blows when you make your daily preparations. In your hands, the item gains the effect of a property rune. For an elemental knight, choose corrode (silt), crushing (earth or magma), flame (fire, magma, sun), ice (water or rain), jolt (air, or rain), disrupting, ghost touch, returning, or shifting. For a templar knight, choose fearsome, returning, or shifting. You also gain the weapon’s critical specialization effect.

Shield Ally: An elemental spirit of protection dwells within your shield. In your hands, the shield’s Hardness increases by 2 and its HP and BT increase by half.

Steed Ally: You gain a young animal companion as a mount (page 214). Ordinarily, your animal companion is one that has the mount special ability. You can select a different animal companion (GM’s discretion), but this ability doesn’t grant it the mount special ability.

Elemental Smite
9th

Your champion's reaction improves.

Retributive Strike: The target takes persistent damage of your chosen element or paraelement type equal to your Charisma modifier.

Glimpse of Redemption: A foe that responds to your Glimpse of Redemption by dealing damage takes persistent damage of your chosen element or paraelement type equal to your Charisma modifier.

Selfish Shield: If your Charisma modifier is +2 or greater, your resistance against the triggering damage equals your Charisma modifier + half your level.

Iron Command: The target takes persistent mental damage equal to your Charisma modifier.

Exalt
11th

Your champion's reaction exalts nearby allies, allowing them to benefit as well.

Retributive Strike: Each ally within 15 feet of you with the target in their melee reach can spend a reaction to Strike the target with a –5 penalty.

Glimpse of Redemption: You can apply the resistance granted by Glimpse of Redemption to yourself and all allies within 15 feet of you, including the triggering ally, except the resistance is reduced by 2 for all.

Selfish Shield: Each enemy within 15 feet of you takes a –1 status penalty to attack rolls against you until the start of your next turn.

Iron Command: Each enemy within 15 feet of you other than the triggering creature must also either drop prone or take mental damage (the enemy chooses). These creatures take only minimum damage (typically 3 damage at 11th level, 4 at 12th, 5 at 16th, and 6 at 19th), and the effects they take can’t be adjusted by anything that changes your Iron Command.

Champion Feats

At each level that you gain a champion feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated champion feats.

1st Level

Agile Shield Grip
FEAT 1

You are wielding a shield with a shield boss or shield spikes in one hand.

You change your grip on the shield, allowing you to combine rapid attacks with your shield boss or shield spikes and your main weapon's Strikes in a series of swift motions. You reduce your shield boss and shield spikes weapon damage die to 1d4. As long as the weapon damage die is 1d4, your shield boss and shield spike Strikes gain the agile weapon trait. You can use Agile Shield Grip again to switch to a normal grip, returning the damage to the usual amount and removing the agile trait.

Desperate Prayer
FEAT 1

once per day

You begin your turn and have no Focus Points in your pool.

You call out to your element or sorcerer-monarch in a plea for their aid. You instantly recover 1 Focus Point.

Elemental Domain
FEAT 1

elemental knight

You embody an aspect of your element. Choose one of your elements’ domains. You gain the domain's initial domain spell as a devotion spell.

Everstand Stance
FEAT 1

You are wielding a shield.

You brace your shield with both hands, enhancing its potential for both offense and defense. When in this stance, you wield the shield with both hands. When wielding a shield this way, increase the weapon damage die of the shield’s boss or spikes by one step, and increase the shield’s Hardness by 2 when using the Shield Block reaction.

Iron Repercussions
FEAT 1

iron command

Disobeying your Iron Command has lasting consequences. If an enemy refuses to kneel to you, you can deal persistent mental damage instead of normal mental damage. You must decide whether the mental damage will be persistent before your enemy chooses whether to kneel or not. The amount of damage is unchanged.

Lay on Hands
FEAT 1

You gain the Lay on Hands focus spell. Add one focus point to your focus pool.

Ongoing Selfishness
FEAT 1

selfish shield

Your powerful personality and incredible ego demand that you protect yourself above all else. After you use Selfish Shield, you gain resistance to all further damage from the triggering enemy until the end of the turn on which you used the reaction. This resistance is equal to half your Selfish Shield resistance.

Range Reprisal
FEAT 1

retributive strike

You can use Retributive Strike with a ranged weapon. In addition, if the foe that triggered your reaction is within 5 feet of your reach but not in your reach, as part of your reaction you can Step to put the foe in your reach before making a melee Retributive Strike.

Templar Domain
FEAT 1

templar knight

You embody an aspect of your sorcerer-monarch. Choose one of your monarch's domains. You gain the domain's initial domain spell as a devotion spell.

Touch of Corruption
FEAT 1

You gain the Touch of Corruption focus spell. Add one focus point to your focus pool.

Weight of Guilt
FEAT 1

glimpse of redemption

Guilt clouds the minds of those who ignore your Glimpse of Redemption. Instead of making the triggering creature enfeebled 2, you can make it stupefied 2 for the same duration.

2nd Level

Conceited Mindset
FEAT 2

templar knight

Because you know your mind is superior, you scoff at anyone who would alter your mental state—but this hubris gets the better of you when you're wrong. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against mental effects. If you succeed at a save against a mental effect, you critically succeed instead; similarly, if you fail at a save against a mental effect, you critically fail instead.

Defiler Executioner's Oath
FEAT 2

elemental knight

Oath of Civic Loyalty
FEAT 2

templar knight

You have sworn an oath to defend your city-state from any exterior threat. Add the following tenet after all the others: “You must hunt down and exterminate creatures that infiltrate your city-state to hurt its established order or to spy on it as long as you have a reasonable chance of success and aren’t engaged in a mission that would prevent your doing so.”

When you use your champion’s reaction against an exterior threat to your city-state, the extra damage you deal with Strikes increases by 1 (or by 2 at 9th level and by 3 at 16th level).

Oath of Freedom
FEAT 2

elemental knight

You have sworn to rid Athas of slavery and the tyranny of every sorcerer-monarch. Add the following tenet after all the others: "You must hunt down and exterminate sorcerer-monarchs and any creature that serves them or slavers as long as you have a reasonable chance of success and aren't engaged in a mission that would prevent your doing so."

You gain the Liberating Step champion’s reaction, as well as the Unimpeded Step class feat.

Oath of Paraelemental Usurpation
FEAT 2

elemental knight serving the paraelements

You’ve embraced Athas’ decay and have sworn an oath to see the paraelements replace the elements as its determining natural forces. Add the following tenet after all the others: “You must hunt down and exterminate creatures that have an elemental trait or that are clerics or champions of an element as long as you have a reasonable chance of success and aren’t engaged in a mission that would prevent your doing so.”

Reliable Squire
FEAT 2

You know the path to victory isn't traveled alone, and you lend aid to your companions whenever you can. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Aid. If you roll a critical failure on a check to Aid, you get a failure instead.

Resilient Mind
FEAT 2

You're firm in your convictions and have girded your mind against outside influence. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against mental effects. This bonus increases to +2 against mental effects originating from undead.

Shining Oath
FEAT 2

elemental knight

You’ve sworn an oath to put the undead to rest. Add the following tenet to your champion’s code after the other tenets: “You must end the existence of undead you encounter as long as you have a reasonable chance of success; in the unlikely event you find an undead that isn't unholy, you can try to work out a more peaceful way to help it recover from its undead state rather than destroying it in combat, such as helping it complete its unfinished business and find peace.

Your Retributive Strike gains a +4 circumstance bonus to damage against an undead, or +6 if you have master proficiency with the weapon you used. Your Glimpse of Redemption’s resistance against damage from an undead is 7 + your level. If you use Liberating Step triggered by an undead, your ally gains a +4 circumstance bonus to checks granted by your Liberating Step, and the ally can Step twice afterward.

You don’t consider undead to be legitimate authorities, even in nations ruled by undead.

Slaver Oath
FEAT 2

templar knight

You’ve sworn an oath to crush any slave who would dare rebel or not to submit in anyway. Add the following tenet after all the others: “You must hunt down and exterminate slaves that have rebelled or foment rebellion against their condition or your city- state’s established order as long as they don’t repent and as long as you have a reasonable chance of success and aren’t engaged in a mission that would prevent your doing so.”

When you use your champion’s reaction against an exterior threat to your city-state, the extra damage you deal with Strikes increases by 1 (or by 2 at 9th level and by 3 at 16th level).

4th Level

Accelerating Touch
FEAT 4

devotion spell (lay on hands)

Your healing energies are infused with bounding energy. A creature that recovers Hit Points from your lay on hands gains a +10-foot status bonus to its Speed until the end of its next turn.

Aura of courage
FEAT 4

elemental knight

You stand strong in the face of danger and inspire your allies to do the same. Whenever you become frightened, reduce the condition value by 1 (to a minimum of 0). At the end of your turn when you would reduce your frightened condition value by 1, you also reduce the value by 1 for all allies within 15 feet.

Aura of despair
FEAT 4

templar knight

Your presence as an avatar of a sorcerer-monarch makes your foes more susceptible to terror and makes it almost impossible for them to shake off fear when you are near. Enemies within 15 feet of you take a –1 circumstance penalty to saving throws against fear. In addition, an enemy that ends its turn within 15 feet of you can't reduce the value of its frightened condition below 1.

Cruelty
FEAT 4

devotion spell (touch of corruption)

The harm you deal with your corrupting touch saps the strength from your enemy's body. If your next action is to cast touch of corruption on a living creature, the target is also enfeebled 1 for 1 minute if it fails its save (enfeebled 2 if it critically fails).

Elemental Health
FEAT 4

elemental knight

Your faith makes you resistant to disease, protecting you as you offer succor to the ill. You gain a +1 status bonus to saves against diseases. In addition, if you roll a success on a save against a disease, you get a critical success instead.

Everstand Strike
FEAT 4

Everstand Stance

You are wielding a shield in two hands.

Your follow-up blow leaves you an opening to set your shield. Make a Strike with the wielded shield. If the Strike hits and deals damage, you also Raise your Shield.

Inspiring Resilience
FEAT 4

You and at least one other creature become the target of a spell or effect with the emotion, fear, or mental trait that allows a saving throw, and you haven't rolled the save yet.

You show defiance in times of hardship and inspire your companions to persevere. Allies within 30 feet of you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to their Will save against the triggering effect, or a +2 circumstance bonus if the effect originated from an undead.

Knock Sense
FEAT 4

You attack carefully to knock some sense into a creature whose actions aren't their own. Make a Strike against a confused ally. The Strike is nonlethal and doesn't take a –2 penalty for using a weapon without the nonlethal trait; if you hit and deal damage, your ally automatically succeeds at the flat check to remove the confused condition when taking damage.

Light of Revelation
FEAT 4

You’ve learned to call upon light to reveal what is hidden. You gain the light of revelation devotion spell.

Mercy
FEAT 4

devotion spell (lay on hands)

Your touch relieves fear and restores movement. If the next action you use is to cast lay on hands, you can attempt to counteract a fear effect or an effect imposing the paralyzed condition on the target, in addition to the other benefits of lay on hands.

Sun Blade
FEAT 4

elemental knight, sun domain

You can unleash burning sunlight from your sword or spear. You gain the Sun Blade devotion spell.

6th Level

Reactive strike
FEAT 6

A creature within your reach uses a manipulate action or a move action, makes a ranged attack, or leaves a square during a move action it’s using.

You lash out at a foe that leaves an opening. Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature. If your attack is a critical hit and the trigger was a manipulate action, you disrupt that action. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to this Strike.

Corrupted Shield
FEAT 6

divine ally (shield), templar knight

Your shield ally is more than just an elemental spirit of protection— it's a conduit for deadly elemental magic. When you use your shield ally to Shield Block a melee unarmed attack or a melee weapon Strike from an adjacent creature, the attacker takes 1d6 void damage. If the attack or Strike breaks or destroys your shield, double this additional damage.

The damage the attacker takes increases to 2d6 at 11th level and 3d6 at 16th level.

Invigorating Mercy
FEAT 6

Mercy

Your elemental touch rejuvenates the weak and tired. When you use Mercy, you can instead attempt a counteract check to remove the clumsy or enfeebled conditions, using the source of that condition to determine the counteract rank and DC. If the condition was caused by an ongoing effect and you don't remove that effect, the condition returns at the end of your next turn.

Loyal War Mount
FEAT 6

elemental ally (steed)

You and your mount have grown closer, and your loyalty to each other is unbreakable. The mount you gained through the elemental ally class feature is now a mature animal companion. In addition, your mount never attacks you, even if it is magically compelled to do so.

Shield Wall
FEAT 6

Your shield is raised and an adjacent ally Raises a Shield.

You use your shield in tandem with an ally's, forming a barricade. Both you and the triggering creature have standard cover as long as you remain adjacent to each other and you both have your shields raised; when this is no longer the case, the effect ends. You and your ally can't use this cover to Hide, as it's obvious you're standing there holding your shields, but you and your ally can use it to Take Cover. Normally, if you and your ally don't move, Shield Wall lasts until the beginning of your next turn, when your shield is no longer raised.

Shield Warden
FEAT 6

elemental ally (shield)

You use your shield to protect your allies. When you have a shield raised, you can use your Shield Block reaction when an attack is made against an ally adjacent to you. If you do, the shield prevents that ally from taking damage instead of preventing you from taking damage, following the normal rules for Shield Block.

Smite Enemies
FEAT 6

elemental ally (blade), templar knight

Select one foe you can see. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes with the weapon your blade ally inhabits against that foe deal an extra 4 mental damage, increasing to 6 if you have master proficiency with this weapon.

If the foe attacks one of your allies, the duration extends to the end of that foe’s next turn. If the foe continues to attack your allies each turn, the duration continues to extend.

Smite Foes
FEAT 6

elemental ally (blade), elemental knight

Select one foe you can see. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes with the weapon your blade ally inhabits against that foe deal an extra 4 damage of your elemental or paraelemental type, increasing to 6 if you have master proficiency with this weapon.

If the foe attacks one of your allies, the duration extends to the end of that foe’s next turn. If the foe continues to attack your allies each turn, the duration continues to extend.

8th Level

Advanced Elemental Domain
FEAT 8

Elemental Domain

Through your conviction, you have glimpsed the deeper secrets of your elemental’s domain. You gain an advanced domain spell from the domain you chose with Elemental Domain. You can cast that spell as a devotion spell.

Advanced Templar Domain
FEAT 8

Elemental Domain

Through your conviction, you have glimpsed the deeper secrets of your sorcerer-monarch’s domain. You gain an advanced domain spell from the domain you chose with Templar Domain. You can cast that spell as a devotion spell.

Greater Cruelty
FEAT 8

Cruelty

The extent of the corruption within you does more than simply sap your foes' strength, it devastates their minds and reflexes. When you use Cruelty, choose whether you want to make the creature enfeebled as normal, to make it clumsy 1 on a failed save (clumsy 2 on a critical failure), or to make it stupefied 1 on a failed save (stupefied 2 on a critical failure).

Greater Mercy
FEAT 8

Mercy

Your faith enhances your ability to remove conditions. When you use Mercy, you can instead attempt to counteract the blinded, deafened, sickened, or slowed conditions.

Heal Mount
FEAT 8

elemental ally (steed), devotion spell (lay on hands)

Your devotion to your mount manifests as a surge of vitality energy. When you cast lay on hands on your mount, you can restore 10 Hit Points, plus 10 for each heightened level.

Impassible Wall Stance
FEAT 8

reactive strike

You refuse to let foes past your guard. As long as you are in this stance, when you critically hit with a Reactive Strike triggered by a move action, you disrupt that move action.

Quick Shield Block
FEAT 8

Shield Block

You can bring your shield into place with hardly a thought. At the start of each of your turns, you gain an additional reaction that you can use only to Shield Block.

Sacrifice Armor
FEAT 8

You are hit by a Strike that deals physical damage.

With unnatural awareness, you twist your body to lessen the impact of an attack. Reduce the damage you take by an amount equal to twice your armor's level. Your armor becomes broken, reducing its Hit Points to its Broken Threshold. If your armor was already damaged, it is destroyed instead.

Second Ally
FEAT 8

elemental ally

Your inner grace attracts the attention of a second protective elemental spirit. Choose a second type of elemental ally and gain its benefits.

Sense Defiling
FEAT 8

You sense the mark of defiling as a queasy or foreboding feeling. When in the presence of a creature that bears the mark of defiling, you eventually detect the aura, though you might not do so instantly, and you can't pinpoint the location. This acts as a vague sense, similar to humans' sense of smell. A creature that bears the mark of defiling using a disguise or otherwise trying to hide its presence attempts a Deception check against your Perception DC to hide its aura from you. If the creature succeeds at its Deception check, it is then temporarily immune to your Sense Defiling for 1 day.

10th Level

Devoted Focus
FEAT 10

devotion spells

Your devotion is strong enough to increase your focus to incredible heights. Whenever you Refocus, completely refill your focus pool.

Elemental Blade Spirit
FEAT 10

elemental ally (blade)

Your elemental ally radiates power, enhancing your chosen weapon. When you choose the weapon for your blade ally during your daily preparations, add the following property runes to the list of affects you can choose from for elemental knight: corrosive, flaming, frost, shock, thundering, and crushing (greater) or templar knight: death drinking, grievous, and wounding.

Elemental Light
FEAT 10

elemental knight

You raise your arms to the sky and pray fervently, surrounding yourself in a beacon of elemental light. The beacon sheds bright light in a 30-foot-radius, 100-foot-high cylinder centered on you until the beginning of your next turn. Creatures that violate your morals in the area must succeed at a Will save equal to your class DC or spell DC (whichever is higher) or become dazzled for 1 round.

Elucidating Mercy
FEAT 10

Mercy

Your mercy grants clarity to those around you just when they need it most. When you use Mercy, you can instead attempt a counteract check to remove the confused or stupefied conditions, using the source of that condition to determine the counteract rank and DC. If the condition was caused by an ongoing effect and you don't remove that effect, the condition returns at the end of your next turn.

Imposing Mount
FEAT 10

Loyal War Mount

Under your care, your mount has realized its innate potential.

The mount you gained through the divine ally class feature is now a nimble or savage animal companion. During an encounter, even if you don't use the Command an Animal action, your mount can still use 1 action on your turn to Stride or Strike.

Litany of Self-Interest
FEAT 10

devotion spells; templar knight

You compel a creature to act toward its own ends rather than consider others. You can cast the litany of self-interest devotion spell.

Resilient Touch
FEAT 10

devotion spells (lay on hands)

Your healing energies create an aura of protection that defends your allies against more than just blades and arrows. An ally that recovers Hit Points from your lay on hands gains a +1 status bonus to their saving throws until the end of their next turn.

Shield of Reckoning
FEAT 10

champion's reaction; Shield Warden

A foe’s attack against an ally matches the trigger for both your Shield Block reaction and your champion’s reaction.

You are wielding a shield.

You use your shield to harry your enemies, preventing them from stepping away from or around you. All spaces adjacent to you are difficult terrain for your enemies.

Enforce Oath
FEAT 12

once per hour

You've sworn to an oath against a specific type of creature.

You call on your oath to embolden you in combat. When you Enforce your Oath, select one creature you can see that you've sworn to defeat as part of your oath. You gain a +1 status bonus to AC and saves against attacks and effects by the chosen creature. You also gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls against the chosen creature. However, your dedication to Enforcing your Oath draws your focus away from all other foes. While you are Enforcing your Oath, you take a –1 status penalty to AC, attack rolls, and saves against all other creatures until you stop Enforcing your Oath.

You stop Enforcing your Oath once the chosen creature is reduced to 0 Hit Points or offers a legitimate surrender to you or your allies. You immediately stop Enforcing your Oath if you are unconscious or if the chosen creature goes unnoticed by you for more than 1 minute. You can also stop Enforcing your Oath at any time during your turn as a free action.

Gruesome Strike
FEAT 12

templar knight

Make a Strike against the creature that triggered your champion's reaction. If you hit, the target takes double the extra damage from your reaction and must succeed at a Fortitude save against your class DC or be drained 1. Regardless of the result, the creature is temporarily immune to your Gruesome Strike for 24 hours.

Lasting Doubt
FEAT 12

glimpse of redemption

When you cast doubt upon your foes, the effect lasts longer than usual. After being enfeebled 2 by your Glimpse of Redemption, the foe is enfeebled 1 for 1 minute.

If you have Weight of Guilt, after being stupefied 2 by your Glimpse of Redemption, the foe is stupefied 1 for 1 minute or until the flat check from stupefied causes it to lose a spell, whichever comes first.

Liberating Stride
FEAT 12

Oath of Freedom

Instead of you taking a Step at the end of your Liberating Step, the triggering ally can Stride up to half their Speed. Even if you have exalt, only the triggering ally gains this benefit.

Miraculous Intervention
FEAT 12

An adjacent undead begins to use a reaction.

Through elemental intervention or whispered prayers, you foil an enemy's response. If the triggering creature's level is equal to or lower than yours, you disrupt the triggering reaction. If the triggering creature's level is higher than yours, you must make an attack roll or spell attack roll against its AC (your choice). On a success, you disrupt the reaction.

Necromantic Deflection
FEAT 12

You imbue your shield with life-giving energy to deflect harmful void magic. When you have your shield raised, you gain the shield's circumstance bonus to your AC and saving throws against spells with the void trait. If you have the Shield Block reaction, damage you take as a result of a void spell can trigger that reaction, even if it isn't physical damage.

Pale Mount
FEAT 12

elemental ally (steed); templar knight.

Your mount becomes a grotesque creature of foreboding when you ride it. Its appearance transforms as flames erupt from its skin, a whorl of void energy surrounds it, or poison leaks from its flesh. When you Mount your steed ally, you can choose fire, void, or poison. As long as you ride it, your steed gains resistance 10 to the chosen damage type, and any creature that touches your steed takes 1d6 damage of the chosen type; this includes hitting the steed with unarmed attacks or with a melee weapon Strike while adjacent to the steed. This damage increases to 2d6 at 16th level and 3d6 at 20th level.

14th Level

Anchoring Aura
FEAT 14

Defilers Executioner’s Oath, or End to Arcane Magic Oath

Your aura hampers creatures that bear the mark of defiling or arcane spellcaster's teleportation depending on your oath. Your aura attempts to counteract teleportation spells cast by those creatures within 15 feet, using the spell rank and DC of your devotion spells.

Aura of Life
FEAT 14

Shining Oath

Your aura protects against death effects. You and all allies within 15 feet gain resistance 5 to void energy and a +1 status bonus to saves against void effects.

Aura of Righteousness
FEAT 14

elemental knight

Your righteous aura dampens your opposed elements might. You and all allies within 15 feet gain resistance 5 to your opposed element.

Aura of Vengeance
FEAT 14

exalt; Retributive Strike

When you call upon others to take retribution, you also guide their aim. When you use Retributive Strike, your allies who make Strikes take only a –2 penalty, instead of a –5 penalty.

Elemental Reflexes
FEAT 14

At the start of each of your turns, you gain an additional reaction that you can use only for your champion’s reaction.

Greater Interpose
FEAT 14

Sacrifice Armor

Your elemental grace empowers you to avoid hits when you otherwise could not. You can use Sacrifice Armor to reduce any type of damage from an attack or effect requiring a Reflex save. When you use Sacrifice Armor against a critical hit or a critical failure on a Reflex save that would otherwise cause you to take double damage, you take the normal amount of damage instead.

Litany of Depravity
FEAT 14

templar knight

You undercut your enemy's vain moralism, opening their heart to evil. You can cast the litany of depravity focus spell.

Litany of Righteousness
FEAT 14

elemental knight

You call upon righteousness to expose an evil foe’s weakness. You can cast the litany of righteousness devotion spell.

Magicbane Aura
FEAT 14

Defilers Executioner’s Oath, or End to Arcane Magic Oath

Your aura protects against destructive energies. You and all allies within 15 feet gain resistance equal to your Charisma modifier to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and poison. If the source of one of these types of damage is from a defiler or arcane spell caster, depending on your oath, increase the resistance to half your level.

16th Level

Auspicious Mount
FEAT 16

elemental ally (steed); Imposing Mount

Guided by your ongoing care, your mount has developed incredible intelligence and skill. The mount you gained through the elemental ally class feature is now a specialized animal companion. You can select one of the usual specializations or the auspice specialization.

Auspice mounts gain the following benefits: Your companion is marked by your elements symbol as a sacred creature of your element. Its proficiency rank in Religion increases to expert, it can speak the language associated with your elements’ servitors (Susurran, Petran, Pyric, or Thalassic for Elemental Champions), and its Intelligence modifier increases by 2 and its Wisdom modifier by 1.

Expand Aura
FEAT 16

You have at least one aura from a champion feat or feature.

You focus your elemental power to extend your influence. Select one aura you have from a champion feat or feature, such as Aura of Courage or Aura of Life. The radius of the aura is doubled until the start of your next turn.

Instrument of Slaughter
FEAT 16

elemental ally (blade); templar knight

Your blade ally thirsts for the blood of your foes. Whenever you critically hit an enemy with the weapon inhabited by your blade ally while dealing extra damage from your champion's reaction, the target takes persistent bleed damage equal to two of the weapon's damage dice.

Instrument of Zeal
FEAT 16

elemental ally (blade); elemental knight

Elemental energy fills your weapon. Whenever you critically hit a foe with Blade of Justice or a Retributive Strike, your attack adds an extra damage die, and the target is slowed 1 on its next turn.

Shield of Grace
FEAT 16

Shield Warden

You protect an ally with both your shield and your body. Whenever you use the Shield Block reaction to prevent damage to an ally, you can evenly split the remaining damage after the Shield Block between the ally and yourself.

18th Level

Dragon Form
FEAT 18

templar knight

Your features reshape into those of a type of dragon, for example scales, elongated snout, and tail. You gain a fly Speed equal to your Speed. You gain darkvision if you don’t already have it, and you gain the dragon trait and the trait appropriate to your sorcerer-monarch.

Elemental Form
FEAT 18

elemental knight

You take on an elemental or paraelemental countenance, appearing like a type of elemental or paraelement corresponding to your chosen element or a paraelement. You gain a fly Speed equal to your Speed. You gain darkvision if you don’t already have it, and you gain the element trait and the trait appropriate to your chosen element or paraelement type.

Rejuvenating Touch
FEAT 18

devotion spell (lay on hands)

Your healing energies linger after you cast, providing continual benefits. An ally that recovers Hit Points from your lay on hands gains 10 temporary Hit Points at the start of their turn during each of the next 10 rounds. This effect ends if the ally is knocked unconscious.

Ultimate Mercy
FEAT 18

Mercy

Your mercy transcends the bounds of life and death. When you use Mercy, you can cast lay on hands on a creature that died since your last turn to return it to life. The target returns to life with 1 hit point and becomes wounded 1. You can’t use Ultimate Mercy if the triggering effect was disintegrate or a death effect.

20th Level

Aura of Unbreakable virtue
FEAT 20

You are a paragon of your champion's code, your overwhelming aura causing foes to cower. All opposed (para)elemental creatures, clerics, or elemental knights or creatures threatening your chosen city-state and its established order within 15 feet of you take a –1 status penalty to checks and DCs that target you or your allies. This penalty is –2 against creatures you have taken an oath against (such as defilers if you have the Defiler Executioner's Oath feat). You can choose to suppress or resume this aura as an action, which has the concentrate trait.

Banishing Blow
FEAT 20

Any oath that targets an elemental or paraelemental creature.

You use your champion’s reaction, triggered by an elemental or paraelemental creature you’ve sworn an oath to fight within your reach.

You attempt an Athletics check to Shove the creature that triggered your champion's reaction; on a success, the target can't teleport or summon creatures for 1 minute. On a critical success, the target is also stunned 1 and can't teleport or summon creatures for 1 hour, and if you are on your home plane and the target is a creature of level 18 or lower from another plane, it is also banished to its home plane. Your multiple attack penalty doesn't apply to this attack.

Elemental Blade Master
FEAT 20

elemental ally (blade); Elemental Blade Spirit.

Your elemental ally turns your chosen weapon into a paragon of its type. When you choose the weapon for your blade elemental ally during your preparations, add the following property runes to the list of affects you can choose from: dancing, greater disrupting, and keen. For elemental knights they can also choose: brilliant, greater corrosive, greater flaming, greater frost, greater shock, and greater thundering. For templar knights they can also choose: greater fearsome

Everdistant Defense
FEAT 20

A creature within your aura is targeted by a ranged attack or a creature moves through your aura.

You have at least one aura from a champion feat or feature.

Each square within your aura that the triggering attack or creature would move through counts as triple the distance. If this reaction is used on a ranged attack, the attack takes range increment penalties based on the adjusted range and fails if this would cause it to exceed its maximum range.

Sacred Defender
FEAT 20

You are a great warrior that can stand strong against the fiercest opponents to your cause. You gain resistance 10 to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage caused by creatures and effects opposed to your tenets. In addition, creatures and effects that roll a natural 20 on an attack roll against you don't improve their result by one degree of success.

Shield Paragon
FEAT 20

elemental ally (shield)

Your shield is a vessel of elemental protection. When you’re wielding your chosen shield, it is always raised, even without you using the Raise a Shield action. Your chosen shield doubles its HP and BT, rather than increasing them by half. If it would be destroyed, it vanishes to your elemental realm instead, where your elemental ally repairs it. During your next daily preparations, the shield returns to you fully repaired.

Supreme Mount
FEAT 20

elemental ally (steed)

Your mount gains darkvision, its maximum Hit Points increase by 40, and it gains weakness 10 to an appropriate damage type (for instance, it could be a paraelement if you had taken the Elemental Restoration Oath) or to mental damage if you are a Templar Knight. Additionally, it gains a fly Speed equal to its Speed. It gains the element trait and the trait appropriate to your chosen element or to the element type you chose for your paraelement if you follow the Elemental knight cause, or the moral trait if you follow the Templar Knight cause.

Cleric

Spiritual powers work their will upon the world in infinite ways, and you serve as one of their most stalwart mortal servants. Blessed with elemental magic, you live the ideals of your faith, adorn yourself with the symbols of your element or sorcerer-monarch, and train diligently to wield your element’s or sorcerer-monarch's favored weapon. Your spells might protect and heal your allies, or they might punish foes and enemies of your faith. Yours is a life of devotion, spreading the teachings of your faith through both word and deed.

During Combat Encounters...

If you’re a warpriest, you balance between casting spells and attacking with weapons— typically the favored weapon of your element. If you’re a cloistered cleric, you primarily cast spells. Most of your spells can boost, protect, or heal your allies. Depending on your outlook, you get extra spells to heal your allies or harm your enemies.

While Exploring...

You detect nearby magic and interpret any religious writing you come across. You might also concentrate on a protective spell for your allies in case of attack. After a battle or hazard, you might heal anyone who was hurt.

In Downtime...

You might perform services at a temple, travel to spread the word of your element or sorcerer-monarch, research scripture, celebrate holy days, or even found a new temple.

You Might...

Visit the temples sacred to your element or in your city-state and have an immediate affinity with other worshipers of your element or other templars.
Follow the beliefs and guidance of your element or uphold the laws of your city-state.
Cooperate with your allies, provided they don’t ask you to go against your element or sorcerer-king.

Others Probably...

Find your devotion impressive, even if they don’t understand it.
Expect you to heal their wounds.
Rely on you to interact with other spiritual figures

Table 3-6: Cleric Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, elemental power or sorcerer-monarch, cleric spellcasting, divine font, doctrine
2	Cleric feat, skill feat
3	2nd-rank spells, general feat, second doctrine, skill increase
4	Cleric feat, skill feat
5	3rd-rank spells, ancestry feat, perception expertise, skill increase
6	Cleric feat, skill feat
7	4th-rank spells, general feat, skill increase, third doctrine
8	Cleric feat, skill feat
9	5th-rank spells, ancestry feat, resolute faith, skill increase
10	Cleric feat, skill feat
11	6th-rank spells, fourth doctrine, general feat, lightning reflexes, skill increase
12	Cleric feat, skill feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, divine defense, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Cleric feat, skill feat
15	8th-rank spells, fifth doctrine, general feat, skill increase
16	Cleric feat, skill feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, skill increase
18	Cleric feat, skill feat
19	Final doctrine, general feat, miraculous spell, skill increase
20	Cleric feat, skill feat

Class Changes

Elemental Power or Sorcerer-Monarch

As a cleric, you are a mortal servitor of an elemental power or sorcerer-monarch you revere above all others. You may choose from the elements of Air, Earth, Fire, or water or the paraelements of Magma, Rain, Silt, or Sun. The Templars (clerics of the sorcerer monarchs) choose from either Abalach-Re, Andropinis, Dregoth, Hamanu, Kalak, Lalali-Puy, Nibenay, or Tectuktitlay. These spiritual powers appear on pages 17-23, along with their benefits you get for being a cleric of that spiritual power. Your spiritual power grants you the trained proficiency rank in one skill and with the power's favored weapon. If the favored weapon is uncommon, you also get access to that weapon.

Your spiritual power also adds spells to your spell list. You can prepare these just like you can any spell on the divine spell list once you can prepare spells of their level as a cleric. Some of these spells aren't normally on the divine list, but they're divine spells if you prepare them this way.

Sanctification

Depending on your faith, its sanctification can make you holy or unholy. This gives you the holy or unholy trait, which commits you to one side of a struggle over the lives of Athas and may be referenced in other abilities. If you “can be” holy or unholy according to your faith, you make that choice, and if you “must be” holy or unholy you gain the trait automatically. If you gain the opposing trait in some way, you lose the previous trait until you complete an atone ritual.

Anathema

Acts fundamentally opposed to your spiritual powers ideals are anathema to your faith. Learning or casting spells, committing acts, and using items that are anathema to your spiritual power remove you from your power's good graces.

Casting spells opposed to your element is always anathema to the elemental lords and would interfere with your connection to your elemental lord.

If you perform enough acts that are anathema to your spiritual power, or your Sorcerer-monarch dies, you lose the magical abilities that come from your connection to your spiritual power. The class features that you lose are determined by the GM, but they likely include your divine font and all divine spellcasting. These abilities can be regained only if you demonstrate your repentance by conducting an atone ritual. For those templars that have a sorcerer-monarch die it is possible to pledge your loyalty to a new sorcerer-monarch.

Cleric Feats

At each level that you gain a cleric feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated cleric feats.

1st Level

False Faith
FEAT 1

worshipper of a sorcerer king

Your sorcerer-king knows you may need to disguise yourself in societies that oppose your faith. After spending 1 hour in prayer to your sorcerer-king, you can cast spells using the religious symbol of another power as your divine focus, and you can address verbal prayers to that power. Your sorcerer-king intercepts your prayers and answers them without the named power knowing.

This ability applies to the religious symbol of only one power at a time—making a different religious symbol work in this fashion requires another hour of prayer and causes the old one to cease functioning. You can always use a religious symbol of your sorcerer-king without affecting this ability.

2nd Level

Resilient Mind
FEAT 2

6th Level

Elemental Weapon
FEAT 6

once per turn

You finish Casting a Spell using one of your divine spell slots on your turn.

You siphon residual spell energy into a weapon you’re wielding. Until the end of your turn, the weapon deals an additional 1d4 element (elemental or paraelemental) or mental (sorcerer-king) damage. If you are holy or unholy, Strikes with the weapon also gain that trait, and the additional damage increases to 2d4 against creatures of the opposing trait.

10th Level

Prayer-Touched Weapon
FEAT 10

ability to cast focus spells, divine spells

You infuse a spell with the power of your faith, consecrating it. If the next action you use is to Cast a Spell that targets a single undead, you can expend a Focus Point, channeling the power of your focus spells into the primary spell. If you do, the spell you cast deals additional holy or vitality damage (your choice) equal to the rank of your focus spells. As normal for additional damage, this additional damage is doubled if the spell cast requires an attack roll and the result of the attack roll is a critical hit, or if the spell cast requires a saving throw and the result of the saving throw is a critical failure.

Sun Light
FEAT 10

you worship the paraelement of sun

You raise your arms to the sky and pray fervently, surrounding yourself in a beacon of sun light. The beacon sheds bright light in a 30-foot-radius, 100-foot-high cylinder centered on you until the beginning of your next turn.

Enemy creatures in the area must succeed at a Will save equal to your class DC or spell DC (whichever is higher) or become dazzled for 1 round.

14th Level

Purifying Breeze
FEAT 14

divine spells

Your most recent action was to cast a non-cantrip spell with the healing trait.

You transfer the divine essence of your magic to the air around you, cleansing it of toxins. Attempt a counteract check against each airborne disease or poison effect in a 15-foot radius around you. Regardless of your success or failure, until the beginning of your next turn, all creatures in the purified area gain a +1 status bonus to Fortitude saving throws.

20th Level

Dance of Intercession
FEAT 20

three times a day

expert in Performance

You either performed in or stood witness to the dance used to invoke the elemental lord of water Lormoch. You Stride in a dance up to half your Speed, attempting a DC 25 Performance check. You can perform this dance up to three times per day. The second time you do so in the same day, use the degree of success one worse than your actual roll on the Performance check. The third time in a day, use the degree of success two lower than your actual roll.

You perform the movements of the Dance of Intercession so gracefully that you evoke a glimmer of the memory of Lormoch's awesome power. You cast the 3-action version of either 9th-rank harm or heal at any point during your Stride. This does not use any spell slots.

As critical success, but the spell is 7th-rank instead of 9th as you stumble through the movements.

As critical success, but the spell is 5th-rank instead of 9th as you stumble through the movements.

You fail to remember the steps of the dance. You gain no additional effect beyond Striding half your Speed, and you can't attempt the Dance of Intercession again until your next daily preparations.

Denier of Destruction
FEAT 20

healing font

Any ally within 30 feet that you can heal with your heal spell would take damage from an attack or effect from a source you can observe.

You have a heal spell prepared and you aren't off-guard to the source of the damage.

You can manipulate the same energies that the elements use to sustain life. You cast heal on the triggering target. Instead of its normal effects, the heal spell reduces the triggering damage by an amount equal to the Hit Points a 1-action heal spell of that rank would have recovered. As usual, if this reduces the damage to 0, it might also remove additional effects of the triggering attack, such as injury poisons.

Emblazon Divinity
FEAT 20

Emblazon Armament

Your sacred etchings imbue objects with power. It takes you only 1 minute to emblazon a symbol using Emblazon Armament, and you can have up to four symbols emblazoned at a time. Each item can still have only one symbol emblazoned upon it, and if you exceed the limit of four, the oldest symbol disappears. These symbols can benefit even those who don’t follow the deity, provided they aren’t directly opposed (as determined by the GM).

You can select a different benefit for each emblazoned symbol, chosen from any you have from Emblazon Armament or other feats such as Emblazon Energy or Emblazon Antimagic.

Druid

The power of nature is impossible to resist. It can bring ruin to the stoutest fortress in minutes, reducing even the mightiest works to rubble, burning them to ash, burying them beneath an avalanche of snow, or drowning them beneath the waves. It can provide endless bounty and breathtaking splendor to those who respect it—and an agonizing death to those who take it too lightly. You are one of those who hear a spirit of the land’s call. You stand in awe of the majesty of its power and give yourself over to its service.

During Combat Encounters...

You call upon the forces of nature to defeat your enemies and protect your allies. You cast spells that draw upon primal magic to protect yourself and your friends, heal their wounds or summon deadly animals to fight at your side. Depending on your bond to nature, you might call upon powerful elemental magic or change shape into a terrifying beast.

While Exploring...

Your nature skills are invaluable. You track down enemies, navigate the wilderness, and use spells to detect magical auras around you. You might even ask wild animals to lend their extraordinary senses and scouting abilities to your group

In Downtime...

You might craft magic items or potions. Alternatively, your tie to nature might lead you to tend a wilderness area, befriending beasts and healing the wounds caused by civilization. You might even teach sustainable farming and animal husbandry techniques that allow others to subsist off the land without harming the natural balance

You Might...

Have a deep and meaningful respect for the power of nature.
Be in constant awe of the natural world, eager to share it with others but wary of their influence upon it.
Treat plants and animals as allies, working with them to reach your goals.

Table 3-7: Druid Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, druid spellcasting, anathema, druidic order, Shield Block, voice of nature, Wildsong
2	Druid feat, skill feat
3	2nd-rank spells, fortitude expertise, general feat, perception expertise, skill increase
4	Druid feat, skill feat
5	3rd-rank spells, ancestry feat, reflex expertise, skill increase
6	Druid feat, skill feat
7	4th-rank spells, expert spellcaster, general feat, skill increase
8	Druid feat, skill feat
9	5th-rank spells, ancestry feat, skill increase
10	Druid feat, skill feat
11	6th-rank spells, general feat, skill increase, weapon expertise, wild wildpower
12	Druid feat, skill feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, medium armor expertise, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Druid feat, skill feat
15	8th-rank spells, general feat, master spellcaster, skill increase
16	Druid feat, skill feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, skill increase
18	Druid feat, skill feat
19	General feat, legendary spellcaster, primal hierophant, skill increase
20	Druid feat, skill feat

Others Probably...

View you as a representative of nature and are sure you can control it.
Assume you’re a recluse who avoids society and cities and prefers to live in the wild.
Consider you a mystic, similar to a priest, but answering only to the forces of nature.

Druid Feats

At each level that you gain a druid feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated druid feats.

12th Level

Necromantic Deflection
FEAT 12

You imbue your shield with life-giving energy to deflect harmful void magic. When you have your shield raised, you gain the shield's circumstance bonus to your AC and saving throws against void spells. If you have the Shield Block reaction, damage you take as a result of a void spell can trigger that reaction, even if it isn't physical damage.

Cactus Skin
FEAT 12

You are transformed into a plant by a polymorph spell.

Your plant form sprouts hundreds of spines, and your blood causes mild hallucinations in creatures exposed to it. Each time a creature touches you, hits you with an unarmed attack, or hits you with a melee weapon attack while adjacent to you, that creature takes 1d6 piercing damage. Increase the damage to 2d6 if the polymorph spell is 8th-rank or higher, or to 3d6 if it’s 10th-rank.

When an adjacent creature damages you with piercing or slashing damage, it must succeed at a Fortitude save against your class DC or become stupefied 1 (or stupefied 2 on a critical failure) until the end of its next turn.

These benefits last until you’re no longer polymorphed into a plant.

20th Level

Apex Companion
FEAT 20

animal companion

You can call upon the essence of every individual animal of a particular species to temporarily transform your animal into an exemplar of its kind. You learn the apex companion order spell.

Fighter

Fighting for honor, greed, loyalty, or simply the thrill of battle, you are an undisputed master of weaponry and combat techniques. You combine your actions through clever combinations of opening moves, finishing strikes, and counterattacks whenever your foes are unwise enough to drop their guard. Whether you are a guard, mercenary, sharpshooter, or blade master, you have honed your martial skills into an art form and perform devastating critical attacks on your enemies.

During Combat Encounters...

You strike with unmatched accuracy and use specialized combat techniques. A melee fighter stands between allies and enemies, attacking foes who try to get past. A ranged fighter delivers precise shots from a distance.

While Exploring...

You keep up your defenses in preparation for combat and keep an eye out for hidden threats. You also overcome physical challenges in your way, breaking down doors, lifting obstacles, climbing adeptly, and leaping across pits.

In Downtime...

You might perform manual labor or craft and repair armaments. If you know techniques you no longer favor, you might train yourself in new ones. If you’ve established your reputation, you might build an organization or a stronghold of your own

You Might...

Know the purpose and quality of every weapon and piece of armor you own.
Recognize that the danger of an adventurer’s life must be balanced out with great revelry or ambitious works.
Have little patience for puzzles or problems that require detailed logic or study

Others Probably...

Find you intimidating until they get to know you—and maybe even after they get to know you.
Expect you’re all brawn and no brains.
respect your expertise in the art of warfare and value your opinion on the quality of armaments.

Table 3-8: Fighter Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, Reactive strike, fighter feat, Shield Block
2	Fighter feat, skill feat
3	Bravery, general feat, skill increase
4	Fighter feat, skill feat
5	Ancestry feat, fighter weapon mastery, skill increase
6	Fighter feat, skill feat
7	Battlefield surveyor, general feat, skill increase, weapon specialization
8	Fighter feat, skill feat
9	Ancestry feat, battle hardened, combat flexibility, skill increase
10	Fighter feat, skill feat
11	Armor expertise, fighter expertise, general feat, skill increase
12	Fighter feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, skill increase, weapon legend
14	Fighter feat, skill feat
15	General feat, greater weapon specialization, improved flexibility, skill increase, tempered reflexes
16	Fighter feat, skill feat
17	Ancestry feat, armor mastery, skill increase
18	Fighter feat, skill feat
19	General feat, skill increase, versatile legend
20	Fighter feat, skill feat

Fighter Feats

At each level that you gain a fighter feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated fighter feats.

1st Level

Agile Shield Grip
FEAT 1

You are wielding a shield with a shield boss or shield spikes in one hand.

4th Level

Flip
FEAT 4

trained in Acrobatics; trained in medium armor

An enemy targets you with a melee Strike.

Inured to Alchemy
FEAT 4

expert in Fortitude saves

You're from Kemalok or the hinterlands

Knock Sense
FEAT 4

6th Level

Pain Tolerance
FEAT 4

expert in Fortitude saves

You gain resistance to mental damage equal to half your level and a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against effects that would make you clumsy, drained, or enfeebled.

Shield Wall
FEAT 6

Your shield is raised and an adjacent ally Raises a Shield.

8th Level

Warrior's Retaliation
FEAT 8

trained in Athletics

An undead creature within your reach critically fails a Strike against you.

You knock the enemy's blow aside and twist, unbalancing your foe. You attempt to Disarm, Shove, or Trip the triggering creature.

10th Level

Dazzling Display
FEAT 10

expert in Intimidation

You perform a bewildering show of prowess, such as by whirling and flashing a weapon, that unnerves foes. Attempt Intimidation checks to Demoralize each enemy within 30 feet. If your last action was a critical hit against an enemy or reduced an enemy to 0 Hit Points, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your Intimidation checks. Regardless of the results of your checks, each creature is then temporarily immune to Dazzling Display for 1 minute.

20th Level

Reflecting Riposte
FEAT 20

Dueling Riposte, Mirror Shield, or Twin Riposte

An opponent casts a spell and you critically succeed at a saving throw against it.

You have a shield raised or are benefiting from Dueling Parry or Twin Parry.

You attempt to counteract the triggering spell using powerful magical techniques. Use your attack roll modifier with your shield or parrying weapon for your counteract check. If you counteract the spell, it is reflected upon the caster. If the spell targeted individual creatures, it targets the caster only. If the spell targeted an area centered on a point, the new area is centered on the caster. If the spell was a cone or line, the cone or line emanates from you toward the caster. If the spell has a save DC, it uses your class DC, and if it requires a spell attack roll, use the same attack roll modifier as the counteract check.

Investigator

You seek to uncover the truth, doggedly pursuing leads to reveal the plots of devious villains, discover ancient secrets, or unravel other mysteries. Your analytical mind quickly formulates solutions to complicated problems and your honed senses identify even the most obscure clues. Wielding knowledge as a weapon, you study the creatures and dangers you encounter to exploit their weaknesses.

During Combat Encounters...

Your keen insights regarding your foes make you more dangerous than your physical strength would suggest. After spending a moment to study your enemies, your perceptiveness allows you to act quickly, striking them where it hurts most. You often assist tougher members of your party, wisely protecting yourself while providing vital aid.

While Exploring...

You look for clues in your environment. You often prove yourself to be a valuable ally by serving as a party scout, analyzing the intricacies of puzzles or mysterious phenomena, and pursuing leads that could reveal beneficial information.

In Downtime...

You study up on subjects new and old, make new allies you can share information with, and pursue hobbies that keep your active mind satisfied. You might make a bit of coin on the side working as a private detective or consulting with the local constabulary.

You Might...

Start asking questions—including several that are quite involved—immediately after you’re presented with a conundrum.
Strive to uncover the deeper meanings behind anything you encounter and to identify the social machinations that truly drive events behind the scenes.
Get so involved in a case that you ignore other matters, deeming them trivial.

Table 3-9: Investigator Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, on the case, Devise a Stratagem, methodology, investigator feat, strategic strike 1d6
2	Investigator feat, skill feat
3	General feat, keen recollection, skill increase, skillful lesson
4	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
5	Ancestry feat, skill increase skillful lesson, strategic strike 2d6, weapon expertise
6	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
7	General feat, skill increase, skillful lesson, vigilant senses, weapon specialization
8	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
9	Ancestry feat, great fortitude, investigator expertise, skill increase, skillful lesson, strategic strike 3d6
10	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
11	Deductive improvisation, general feat, resolve, skill increase, skillful lesson
12	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
13	Ancestry feat, incredible senses, light armor expertise, skill increase, skillful lesson, strategic strike 4d6, weapon mastery
14	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
15	Evasion, general feat, greater weapon specialization, skill increase, skillful lesson
16	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
17	Ancestry feat, greater resolve, skill increase, skillful lesson, strategic strike 5d6
18	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase
19	General feat, light armor mastery, master detective, skill increase, skillful lesson
20	Investigator feat, skill feat, skill increase

Others Probably...

Find the cascades of information you spout forth extremely helpful, if difficult to fully comprehend.
Get a bit annoyed that you’re such a know-it-all.
Rely on you to solve mysteries, puzzles, or other challenges requiring intellectual curiosity and reasoning.

Class Changes

Methodology

Alchemical Sciences

This methodology has only just developed with the alchemical discoveries from Kemalok. This methodology and all feats associated with it are Rare.

Empiricism

Many investigator's pursue the methodology of Empiricism. This methodology is common.

Forensic Medicine

Many city-states will hire an Investigator that pursues forensic medicine. This methodology is common.

Interrogation

Many templar's in the city-states have an investigator on hand that pursues the methodology of interrogation. This methodology is common.

Investigator Feats

At each level that you gain an investigator feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. The feats listed below are new or updated investigator feats.

4th Level

Merchant House Initiate
FEAT 4

trained in Survival

You've received the basic training developed for all merchant house recruits. You become an expert in Survival and gain the Experienced Tracker and Survey Wildlife skill feats.

8th Level

Merchant House Veteran
FEAT 8

Your turn starts, and you're in combat against a creature you spent at least 10 minutes Tracking.

Your time spent tracking your target allows you to quickly identify its weaknesses and relay them to your allies. Attempt a Recall Knowledge check against the creature you were Tracking. On a success, you always know the creature's greatest weakness and highest resistance or immunity, in addition to any other information the check would typically provide. You immediately use a quick series of hand gestures to signal this information to any allies who can see you.

Unseen Passage
FEAT 8

once per day

You have mastered a magical technique for moving through dangerous woodlands unseen. You can cast vanishing tracks as an innate primal spell heightened to a spell rank equal to half your level rounded up.

20th Level

All The Time In The World
FEAT 8

once per hour

Your firsthand experience of the subjective nature of time and space has given you new observational insights. Your mind processes information so quickly that time appears to stop for all creatures but you. You can take up to 9 actions in 3 sets of up to 3 actions each. During this time, you can use purely mental and observational abilities such as Recall Knowledge, Seek, and Devise a Stratagem, and you can use an action to move a mental projection of yourself to a location within a 60- foot radius to observe objects more closely and from different angles, though you can't affect your surroundings in any way (for instance, you could move your mental projection more closely to a distant door to read a minute inscription on its handle, but you could not open it to observe the other side). When the duration elapses, time resumes its normal flow.

Kineticist

The power of the elements flows from within you. Roaring fire, pure water, fleeting air, steadfast earth. A kinetic gate inextricably tied to your body channels power directly from the elemental planes, causing elements to leap to your hand, whirl around your body, and blast foes at your whim. As your connection to the planes grows, you attain true mastery over your chosen elements.

During Combat Encounters...

Elemental magic surges from you throughout the fight. Without any restrictions on how often you can use your abilities, you become a reliable slinger of magic. You can develop powers you can use in a variety of situations... or you can choose just a few favorite attacks you use repeatedly

While Exploring...

Your innate connection to the elements hones your awareness of the natural world. In an environment full of an element you can channel, you’re unparalleled, with the ability to repeatedly manipulate the element around you.

In Downtime...

You could commune with the elements or practice your control over your kineticist powers. Through retraining, you can realign the flow of your kinetic gate to perfect different manifestations of your element.

You Might...

Have a conflicted relationship with the kinetic gate that fuels your kineticist magic, possibly because it manifested at a traumatic point in your past.
Struggle with controlling and understanding your elemental powers.
Form a kinship with elemental creatures or feel at home in areas strong with your element.

Table 3-10: Kineticist Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, kinetic gate, kinetic aura, impulses (Elemental Blast, Base Kinesis), kineticist feat
2	Kineticist feat, skill feat
3	Extract Element, general feat, skill increase, Will expertise
4	Kineticist feat, skill feat
5	Ancestry feat, gate's threshold, skill increase
6	Kineticist feat, skill feat
7	General feat, kinetic durability, kinetic expertise, skill increase
8	Kineticist feat, skill feat
9	Ancestry feat, gate's threshold, perception expertise, skill increase
10	Kineticist feat, skill feat
11	General feat, kinetic quickness, reflow elements, skill increase, weapon expertise
12	Kineticist feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, gate's threshold, light armor expertise, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Kineticist feat, skill feat
15	General feat, greater kinetic durability, kinetic mastery, skill increase
16	Kineticist feat, skill feat
17	Ancestry feat, double reflow, gates' threshold, skill increase
18	Kineticist feat, skill feat
19	Final gate, general feat, kinetic legend, light armor mastery, skill increase
20	Kineticist feat, skill feat

Others Probably...

Find your ability to keep calling on more and more elemental power truly astonishing.
Defer to you in all matters related to your element, from the smallest tasks to the politics of the elemental planes.
Worry you’ll consume yourself with elemental magic or lose control of its primal forces.

Class Changes

Kinetic Gate

The plane of wood and metal do not exist in Dark Sun.

Dual gate

When choosing to combine elements you select from the paraelements. In Dark Sun you select from Magma (earth and fire), Rain (water and air), Silt (earth and water), and Sun (fire and air). Then, select two 1st-level impulse feats, one with the trait of the first element and one with the trait of the other.

Kineticist Feats

At every level that you gain a kineticist feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat. Wood and Metal impulses are not available on Dark Sun.

Elemental Impulses: When you gain a kineticist feat, you can either select one from the feats available to all kineticists or select an impulse feat for one of your kinetic elements: air, earth, fire, or water. You can also choose a composite impulse if you can channel all the kinetic elements it requires.

Composite Impulses

4th Level

Ice pinions
FEAT 4

Small icicles fly from you, propelled with air at great velocity. Make ranged impulse attack rolls against up to three creatures within 60 feet of you. All three attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but it doesn’t increase until after all the attacks. The icicles deal 3d4 cold damage and 3d4 piercing damage on a hit (or double damage on a critical hit).

Level (+2) Each type of damage increases by 1d4.

Ice Strike
FEAT 4

Jagged ice shards form in the air and lash out from you. You choose shards or spines, which changes the area, damage type, and critical failure effect. Each creature in the area attempts a basic Reflex save against your class DC. Shards deal 3d6 slashing damage in a 15-foot cone, and a creature that critically fails takes 1d6 persistent bleed damage. Spines deal 3d6 piercing damage in a 30-foot line, and a creature that critically fails is clumsy 1 until the start of your next turn.

Level (+2) The damage increases by 1d6.

Lava Leap
FEAT 4

You wreath yourself in molten stone and hurtle toward your enemy. Leap up to your Speed. At the end of your Leap, a wave of lava crashes onto all creatures in a 10-foot emanation. Each creature in the area takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage and 2d6 fire damage, with a basic Reflex save against your class DC.
The cooling remains of the lava form a temporary protective shell around you, granting you a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.

Level (+3) Each type of damage increases by 1d6.

Living Sunlight
FEAT 4

A mass of light forms at your command, forming a bright light fearsome enough to scare off predators in the night. You conjure the light in an unoccupied 10-foot-square space within 30 feet. The light shines for 10 hours, providing all the benefits of a normal campfire. If you use this impulse again, any previous one ends.
When you make an air or fire ranged Elemental Blast, you can have it come from the mass of light instead of you, flinging burning rays of light. This blast deals an additional 1d6 fire damage. Each time you do this, the size of your ball of light is reduced by one 5-foot square. If all the squares are removed, the impulse ends.

Level (+5) The fire damage increases by 1d6.

Silt Stream
FEAT 4

Streams of silt spread out on surfaces in your kinetic aura. A creature that starts its turn in the silt takes a -10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds until it leaves the area. The silt is hazardous terrain. A creature takes 2 void damage each time it moves into one of these squares. If any square the silt grows on is sand or silt, double the hazardous terrain damage for all silt streams. If you move, the silt disappears, new silt flows from you at the end of your turn.

Level (+4) The damage increases by 1.

Sun Rays
FEAT 4

A fusillade of sun rays flies from you. Creatures in a 30-foot cone take 3d4 fire damage and 3d4 persistent fire damage with a basic Reflex save against your class DC.

Level (+2) Each type of damage increases by 1d4.

6th Level

Consume Power
FEAT 6

You would take acid, electricity, fire, or sonic damage.

You absorb energy and hold it in your kinetic gate. You gain resistance equal to your level to the triggering damage—choose one eligible type of resistance. If this reaction prevents any damage, you gain a status bonus equal to half your level to the damage roll of the next air or fire impulse you use before the end of your next turn.

Dash of Rain
FEAT 6

A small cloud of rain heals a creature. The clouds effects change depending on which malady you decide to treat: confused, disease, poison, sickened, or injuries. Target one living creature within 30 feet, who regains 2d8+4 HP and can attempt a new save against one malady of the chosen kind. If you chose injuries, instead increase the healing dice to d10s. The creature becomes temporarily immune to Dash of Rain for 10 minutes.
Alternatively, you can add the rain to a dish of food being prepared for up to six people. Creatures who partake in the meal gain the benefits. The herbs’ healing effects wear off if not eaten within an hour, though their flavor remains.

Level (+2) The healing increases by 1d8.

Magma Barricade
FEAT 6

Pieces of magma flow together into a structure. The barricade is up to 30 feet long, 15 feet high, and 1/2 inch thick. It must form in a straight line in an unbroken open space that doesn’t pass through any creatures or objects, or the impulse fails. Each 10-foot-by-10-foot section of the wall has AC 10, Hardness 10, and 20 Hit Points, and it’s immune to critical hits and precision damage. If any section is destroyed, the entire wall collapses, and each creature adjacent to the wall takes 2d8 fire damage with a basic Reflex save against your class DC. The wall lasts until the end of your next turn, but you can Sustain it up to 1 minute.

Level (+2) The maximum length of the wall increases by 10 feet, the HP of each section increases by 10, and the damage when it’s destroyed increases by 1d8.

8th Level

Conductive Sphere
FEAT 8

A floating storm cloud forms in a space within 30 feet, flashing with electricity. It can’t be targeted or damaged. Any of your allies adjacent to it gain resistance to electricity equal to your level and add the shock rune to all their Strikes. The sphere lasts until the end of your next turn, but you can Sustain it up to 1 minute.

When you conjure the sphere and the first time you Sustain the impulse on subsequent rounds, you can either have it Fly up to 20 feet or deal 1d12 electricity damage to an adjacent creature with a basic Reflex save against your class DC.

Magma Skin
FEAT 8

You touch a willing creature, causing its skin to harden and form spiky protrusions. The target gains resistance 4 to all physical damage (except adamantine). Whenever a creature damages the target with an unarmed attack or non-reach melee weapon, the attacking creature takes 2 fire damage.
This impulse lasts for 10 minutes, but each time the target takes physical damage, the duration decreases by 1 minute. The target is temporarily immune to this impulse for 1 hour. If you use Spike Skin again, any previous one ends.

Level (+2) The resistance and damage each increase by 2.

Silt Retch
FEAT 8

You exhale a cloud of silt. All creatures in a 30-foot cone take 4d10 void damage with a basic Fortitude save against your class DC. A living creature that fails its save also takes 2d4 persistent void damage.

Level (+2) The cloud’s void damage increases by 1d10 and the persistent damage increases by 1d4.

Solar Radiation
FEAT 8

Solar radiation spreads around you. A creature in your kinetic aura when you enter the stance, or who later enters the aura or ends its turn in the aura, attempts at a Fortitude save against your class DC. On a failure, it’s sickened 1 (sickened 2 on a critical failure) and dazzled until it’s no longer sickened. A creature attempts this save no more than once per round and doesn’t attempt a new save if already affected.

12th Level

Rain of Magma
FEAT 12

Globs of magma from the sky. Each creature in a 20-foot burst within 60 feet takes 9d6 fire damage with a basic Reflex save against your class DC. The magma sticks to all surfaces in the area, making them hazardous terrain for 1 minute. A creature that moves through this hazardous terrain takes 3 fire damage for every square of the area it moves into.

Level (+2) The initial damage increases by 1d6 and the hazardous terrain damage increases by 1.

18th Level

Beasts of slumbering cloud
FEAT 18

You conjure rain elemental mounts made of solid clouds. Target up to 5 Medium or smaller willing creatures within 30 feet. Large mounts appear underneath them, and the targets can immediately Mount the creatures. Each mount can take four different forms. One form has only a land Speed of 80 feet, and the other forms each have a land Speed of 30 feet with a climb, fly, or swim Speed of 60 feet. Each rider chooses the initial form and can change the form as a single action, which has the concentration trait.

The mounts have AC 40, Fortitude +30, Reflex +30, Will +25, and 180 Hit Points. They’re mindless and immune to bleed, healing, paralyzed, poison, and sleep. They can’t attack. They remain for 1 minute or until you use this impulse again. You can use this impulse as a 1-minute exploration activity to make the duration 1 hour, but this halves the mounts’ defenses and HP.

Magma Hell
FEAT 18

The landscape fills with flows of magma and hardens into stone. The magma flows into a cube 30 feet on a side within 500 feet.Each creature in the area takes 13d6 fire damage, with a basic Reflex save against your class DC.
Each creature that fails its save is covered in stone, becoming immobilized until it Escapes (the DC is your class DC); a creature that critically failed is also off-guard as long as it’s covered.
The hell remains until the end of your next turn, but you can Sustain it up to 1 minute. Using this impulse again ends any previous one. The first time you Sustain it each round, the magma reignites. Each creature in the area takes 3d12 fire damage with a basic Reflex save against your class DC.
Squares in the area are hazardous terrain. A creature takes 6 fire damage for every square of the area it moves through.

Level (20th) The initial damage is 17d6, and the hazardous terrain damage is 7

Monk

The strength of your fist flows from your mind and spirit. You seek perfection—honing your body into a flawless instrument and your mind into an orderly bastion of wisdom. You’re a fierce combatant renowned for martial arts skills and combat stances that grant you unique fighting moves. While the challenge of mastering many fighting styles drives you to great heights, you also enjoy meditating on philosophical questions and discovering new ways to obtain peace and enlightenment.

During Combat Encounters...

You speed into the fray, dodging or leaping past obstacles with acrobatic maneuvers. You strike opponents in a rapid flurry of attacks, using your bare fists or wielding specialized weapons that you mastered during your monastic training. Stances let you change up your combat style for different situations, and ki abilities allow you to perform mystic feats like healing yourself and soaring through the air.

While Exploring...

You climb up walls, dodge traps, overcome obstacles, and leap over pits. You usually stay toward the outside of the group to protect more vulnerable members, and you’re well suited to looking for danger or moving stealthily.

In Downtime...

You diligently exercise, eat healthy foods, meditate, and study various philosophies. You might also take up a craft that you strive to perfect.

You Might...

Maintain a regimen of physical training and meditation.
Face adversity with a calm and measured approach, never panicking or succumbing to despair.
Look to the future for ways you can improve, while remaining at peace with your present self.

Others Probably...

Marvel at your feats of physical prowess.
Think you’re more than a bit uptight, given your vows and tenets.
Come to you for philosophical advice.

Table 3-10: Monk Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, flurry of blows, monk feat, powerful fist
2	Monk feat, skill feat
3	General feat, incredible movement +10 feet, mystic strikes, skill increase
4	Monk feat, skill feat
5	Alertness, ancestry feat, expert strikes, skill increase
6	Monk feat, skill feat
7	General feat, incredible movement +15 feet, path to perfection, skill increase, weapon specialization
8	Monk feat, skill feat
9	Ancestry feat, metal strikes, monk expertise, skill increase
10	Monk feat, skill feat
11	General feat, incredible movement +20 feet, second path to perfection, skill increase
12	Monk feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, graceful mastery, master strikes, skill increase
14	Monk feat, skill feat
15	General feat, greater weapon specialization, incredible movement +25 feet, skill increase, third path to perfection
16	Monk feat, skill feat
17	Adamantine strikes, ancestry feat, graceful legend, skill increase
18	Monk feat, skill feat
19	General feat, incredible movement +30 feet, perfect form, skill increase
20	Monk feat, skill feat

Class Changes

The below changes represent monks in Dark sun.

Table 3-11: Monk Unarmed Attacks

Attack	Damage	Group	Traits
Dagorran jaw	1d8 P	Brawling	Agile, backstabber, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed
Drake tail	1d10 B	Brawling	Backswing, nonlethal, unarmed
Erdlu wing	1d6 B	Brawling	Agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed
Falling stone	1d8 B	Brawling	Forceful, nonlethal, unarmed
Iron sweep	1d8 B	Brawling	nonlethal, parry, sweep, unarmed
Kirre claw	1d8 S	Brawling	Agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed
Lashing branch	1d8 S	Brawling	Agile, finesse, nonlethal, unarmed
Wind crash	1d6 S	Brawling	Agile, nonlethal, propulsive, unarmed

Some monk stances allow you to make special unarmed attacks while in those stances. These attacks are summarized above.

Monk Feats

Kirre Stance
FEAT 1

You are unarmored.

You enter the stance of a kirre and can make kirre claw attacks. These deal 1d8 slashing damage; are in the brawling group; and have the agile, finesse, nonlethal, and unarmed traits. On a critical success with your kirre claws, if you deal damage, the target takes 1d4 persistent bleed damage.

As long as your Speed is at least 20 feet while in Kirre Stance, you can Step 10 feet.

Rain of Embers Stance
FEAT 1

You are unarmored.

You enter the stance of an enraged phoenix, holding your fingers as rigid as deadly talons while moving with quick, flickering gestures that dance with biting flames. The only Strikes you can make are fire talon Strikes. These deal 1d4 fire damage; are in the brawling group; and have the agile, finesse, fire, nonlethal, and unarmed traits.

While in Rain of Embers Stance, you gain a +1 status bonus to AC and fire resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1).

6th Level

Blazing Talon Surge
FEAT 6

Rain of Embers Stance

You are in Rain of Embers Stance

You rush forward and latch onto your enemy with talons of hungering fire. Stride once. If you end your movement within reach of at least one enemy, you can make a fire talon Strike against that enemy that deals an additional 1d4 persistent fire damage. If it hits and deals damage, you can attempt an Athletics check to Grapple the creature you hit.

Dagorran Drag
FEAT 6

Dagorran Stance

You are in Dagorran Stance

You rip your enemy off their feet. Make a dagorran jaw Strike. Your dagorran jaw gains the fatal d12 trait for this Strike, and if the attack succeeds, you knock the target prone.

Drake Roar
FEAT 6

Drake Stance

You are in Drake Stance

You bellow, instilling fear in your enemies. Enemies within a 15-foot emanation must succeed at a Will save against your Intimidation DC or be frightened 1 (frightened 2 on a critical failure). When a creature frightened by the roar begins its turn adjacent to you, it can’t reduce its frightened value below 1 on that turn. Your first attack that hits a frightened creature after you roar and before the end of your next turn gains a +4 circumstance bonus to damage.

After you use Drake Roar, you can’t use it again for 1d4 rounds. Its effects end immediately if you leave Drake Stance. Creatures in the area of your roar are then temporarily immune for 1 minute.

Erdlu Flutter
FEAT 6

Erdlu Stance

You are targeted with a melee attack by an attacker you can see.

You are in Erdlu Stance

You interpose your arm between yourself and your opponent. Your circumstance bonus to AC from Erdlu Stance increases to +3 against the triggering attack. If the attack misses you, you can immediately make an erdlu wing Strike against the attacker at a –2 penalty, even if the attacker isn’t within your reach.

Feylaar Pound
FEAT 6

expert in Intimidation; Feylaar Stance

You are in Feylaar Stance

You pound your chest before slamming into your foes. Attempt an Intimidation check to Demoralize, then make one feylaar slam Strike against the same target. If your Strike hits, you gain a circumstance bonus to the damage roll equal to triple the value of the target's frightened condition.

Special If you have this feat, while you are in Feylaar Stance, you gain a climb Speed of 15 feet.

Kirre Slash
FEAT 6

Kirre Stance

You are in Kirre Stance

You make a fierce swipe with both hands. Make a kirre claw Strike. It deals two extra weapon damage dice (three extra dice if you’re 14th level or higher), and you can push the target 5 feet away as if you had successfully Shoved them. If the attack is a critical success and deals damage, add your Strength modifier to the persistent bleed damage from your kirre claw.

8th Level

Floater Stance
FEAT 8

You are unarmed

You relax your posture and loosen your joints, allowing yourself to move with incredible fluidity. You can make stinging lash attacks that deal 1d6 slashing damage. These attacks are in the brawling group, and have the finesse, nonlethal, reach, and unarmed traits.

While in Floater Stance, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Reflex saves and on checks to Escape and Squeeze.

10th Level

Entwined Energy Ki
FEAT 10

You can transform your inner power into a type of energy to empower your ki abilities. When you gain this feat, choose either acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage. When you cast ki blast, you can choose to have the spell deal the type of damage you chose instead of force damage. When you cast ki form or ki strike, add the type of damage you chose to the list of damage types you can select for the spell.

Special At the GM's discretion, this feat can alter other ki spells.

Wronged Monk's Wrath
FEAT 10

ki spells

You gain the wronged monk's wrath ki spell.

12th Level

Sense Ki
FEAT 12

ki spells

You can read the presence of ki in your area. You gain imprecise lifesense out to a range of 30 feet.

14th Level

Explosive Death Drop
FEAT 14

Blazing Talon Surge

You are in Rain of Embers Stance and have a target grabbed or restrained.

You lift your enemy into the air before bringing them crashing down with a fiery detonation. Roll an Athletics check against your target's Fortitude DC. You take a –1 circumstance penalty to your check if the target is one size larger than you and a –3 circumstance penalty if it's larger than that. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your check if the target is one size smaller than you and a +3 circumstance bonus if it's smaller than that.

The target takes 12d6 fire damage and falls prone in an unoccupied adjacent square of your choice. The target is no longer grabbed. The target and any creature adjacent to it also each take 1d6 persistent fire damage.

As critical success, but the target takes 6d6 fire damage instead of 12d6, and creatures don't take persistent fire damage.

The target is no longer grabbed.

As failure, but you fall prone.

16th Level

Electric counter
FEAT 16

Wild Winds Initiate

You would take damage.

You are in Wild Winds stance.

You gain resistance to electricity equal to your level until the start of your next turn. If the triggering damage was electricity, this resistance applies to it. If the triggering damage was from a melee attack, the attacker takes 3d6 electricity damage.

Special This feat has the trait corresponding to the tradition of ki spells you cast, either divine or occult.

18th Level

Effortless Reach
FEAT 18

Focusing the powers of your ki to augment your blows, you stretch and lengthen your body in ways that defy logic. Your unarmed attacks gain the reach trait.

Oracle

Your conduit to elemental power eschews the traditional channels of prayer and servitude—you instead glean elemental truths that extend beyond normal elemental worship. You understand the great mysteries of the inner planes embodied in overarching concepts that transcend the elemental and paraelemental powers, whether because you perceive the common ground across multiple elements or circumvent their power entirely. You explore one of these mysteries and draw upon its power to cast miraculous spells, but that power comes with a terrible price: a curse that grows stronger the more you draw upon it. Your abilities are a double-edged sword, which you might uphold as an instrument of the elemental lords or view as a curse from the elements.

During Combat Encounters...

You draw upon your mystery to empower yourself in combat, balancing miraculous effects with the increasing severity of your curse as conflicting divine demands overtax your physical body. You cast spells to aid your allies and devastate your foes, or depending on your mystery, you might wade into battle yourself.

While Exploring...

You recenter yourself to bring the terrible metaphysical conflicts causing your curse back under control so you can draw upon your mystery’s power again later. You remain aware of supernatural forces acting around you, perhaps peeking into the future to gain insights.

In Downtime...

You might seek to learn more about your mystery and the divine wellsprings that fuel your power. Associating with others interested in the subject of your mystery can make it easier to live with your curse. You could associate with an organized religion or even start your own faithful following devoted to your mystery.

You Might...

View your oracular powers as a blessing, a curse, or both.
Push yourself to the limits of what you can withstand to work great acts of magic.
Rely on magical items to provide a pool of safer and more reliable magic.

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, divine spellcasting, spell repertoire, mystery
2	Oracle feat, skill feat
3	2nd-rank spells, general feat, signature spells, skill increase
4	Oracle feat, skill feat
5	3rd-rank spells, ancestry feat, skill increase
6	Oracle feat, skill feat
7	4th-rank spells, expert spellcaster, general feat, resolve, skill increase,
8	Oracle feat, skill feat
9	5th-rank spells, ancestry feat, magical fortitude, skill increase
10	Oracle feat, skill feat
11	6th-rank spells, alertness, general feat, major curse, skill increase, weapon expertise
12	Oracle feat, skill feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, light armor expertise, lightning reflexes, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Oracle feat, skill feat
15	8th-rank spells, general feat, master spellcaster, skill increase
16	Oracle feat, skill feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, extreme curse, greater resolve, skill increase
18	Oracle feat, skill feat
19	General feat, legendary spellcaster, oracular clarity, skill increase
20	Oracle feat, skill feat

Others Probably...

Don’t realize your spellcasting draws upon elemental power and instead believe you command stranger—and possibly evil—powers.
Assume you performed some terrible transgression to become cursed by the elements.
Admire your determination and the sacrifices you make to perform wondrous acts.

Class Changes

On dark sun the Oracle wields miraculous power from the elemental lords. They have a direct connection to the elemental and paraelemental planes.

Mystery

An oracle wields elemental power, either from the elemental or paraelemental planes. This power could come from a potent concept or ideal, the attention of an elemental lord whose area of concern is a specific element, or a direct and dangerous conduit to raw elemental power. This is the oracle’s mystery, a source of elemental magic not beholden to any elemental power.

Choose the mystery that empowers your magic. Your mystery grants you special spells called revelation spells and might later grant you divine domain spells. It dictates the effects of your oracular curse, adds an additional cantrip to your repertoire, and gives you one or more trained skills. Drawing insight and power from the collective divine influences that fuel your magic also provides you with a special benefit.

The following oracle mysteries are available in Dark sun.

Ash: You see all things in the world as little more than fleeting and temporary, waiting to be purified into their base essence: the ash left behind after a burning fire.

Flames: You dance with fire and do your best to remain unscorched by it.

Frost: Ice encrusts your heart, and cold pulses through your veins.

Life: The teeming energies of life flow through you out into the world.

Mountain: Your soul is linked to the awesome might of towering mountains.

Radiance: The light is the purveyor of truth, and the truth is inescapable.

Tempest: Wind, waves, and storms rage at your beck and call.

Mysteries

Choose the elemental mystery that fuels your mystical power. Your mystery might represent a devotion to an elemental lord with power over the element of your mystery, or a conduit to raw elemental energy.

Whatever its origin and nature, your mystery determines the revelation spells you can cast and the oracular curse that overtakes your body when you do. You learn skills related to that mystery, gain access to a cantrip, and gain a special benefit drawn from the combined divine knowledge and experience of your mystery.

Reading a Mystery Entry

A mystery entry contains the following information, followed by a description of that mystery’s curse.
Mystery Benefit The mystery benefit is a special ability (or

abilities) you gain from your mystery.
Trained Skill You become trained in the listed skill. A few

mysteries make you trained in more than one skill.
Granted Cantrip You automatically add this cantrip to your

spell repertoire, in addition to those you gain through

divine spellcasting.
Revelation Spells You automatically gain your mystery’s

initial revelation spell at 1st level and can gain more by

selecting the Advanced Revelation, Greater Revelation,

and Diverse Mystery oracle feats.
Related Domains These are the cleric domains associated

with your mystery. You select one initial domain spell

from one of these domains at 1st level, which you can cast

as a revelation spell with the cursebound trait.

Ash

You see all things in the world as little more than fleeting and temporary, waiting to be purified into their base essence: the ash left behind after a burning fire. While you understand fire is a necessary part of this process, you see fire mostly as a tool to achieve final purity, not a goal. You have much in common with oracles with the flames mystery, but you may consider them to be short-sighted, or at best simply lacking in understanding of the truths that their burning fires impart.

You might see ash as the only true representation of the impermanent nature of life and its pointless existence. Alternatively, you may see the benefit ash can have on soils and farmlands as part of a larger cycle of death and rebirth.
Mystery Benefit Your flesh flows around physical threats

like a cloud of ash. You gain resistance equal to half your

level (minimum 1) against all physical damage and you

gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saves and DCs against

Grapple, Shove, and forced movement.
Trained Skill Occultism
Granted Cantrip ignition
Revelation Spells initial: ashen wind; advanced: incendiary

ashes; greater: ash form
Related Domains destruction, fire

Curse of Creeping Ashes

Your body is slowly being consumed by the fires of your internal power, purifying you with each passing day. You are occasionally wracked with dry, wheezing coughs, and wherever you go you leave behind a fine trace of ash that falls from your body.

Minor Curse The smoldering furnace of power within you begins to feed on your body and generate ash, which you inhale with every breath and leave behind with every step, impeding your footing. You take a –1 penalty on Constitution-based checks, such as Fortitude saves, and your Speed is reduced by 10 feet.

Moderate Curse The ash you produce intensifies and fills the area around you, obscuring details and making the ground challenging to navigate. You are dazzled. An aura of ash surrounds you in a 10-foot emanation. You and creatures in the aura are concealed. If you do not move for 1 round, heaps of ashes settle in the aura, creating difficult terrain that lasts until you move (when the ashes blow away).

Major Curse You and nearby creatures collapse into ash with the slightest flame. Within your moderate curse's aura, you and all creatures gain weakness to fire equal to half your level. If a creature other than you in this aura is killed by fire damage, its body collapses into ash. Objects and structures in your aura halve their Hardness, and any parts of the object or structures in your aura that are reduced to 0 Hit Points collapse into ash.

Flames

Fire lives at the center of the world, the center of the sun, and the center of civilization. You might revere this elemental force, siphon power from the Elemental Plane of Fire, or the Paraelemental Plane of Sun.
Mystery Benefit Like fire itself, you flicker and dance,

avoiding effects that would quench your vitality. You have

expert proficiency in Reflex saves. At 13th level, if you gain

the lightning reflexes class feature, your proficiency rank

for Reflex saves increases to master, and when you roll a

success on a Reflex save, you get a critical success instead.
Trained Skill Acrobatics
Granted Cantrip ignition
Revelation Spells initial: incendiary aura; advanced:

whirling flames; greater: flaming fusillade
Related Domains fire, sun

Curse of Engulfing Flames

You see flames and smoke wherever you look. These flames might be imagined, or they might be a preternatural glimpse of the metaphorical fires that empower the plane of fire. Fires flare noticeably (though not dangerously) in your presence, you occasionally smoke slightly, and your body is almost painfully hot to the touch.

Minor Curse The smoke, heat, and crackling flames of your curse fill your vision and all your other senses. Creatures further than 30 feet are concealed from you. You can’t benefit from effects that would allow you to ignore or mitigate this concealment, as normal for effects of an oracular curse.

Moderate Curse Smoke and flickering visions of flame fill your senses more completely, and harmless flickers of obscuring flames also fill your space. You are concealed from other creatures, though as the other creatures aren’t cursed themselves, they can benefit from effects that would allow them to ignore or mitigate the concealed condition, as normal. All other creatures and objects are concealed from you regardless of distance; however, when casting a fire spell, you automatically succeed at the flat check for this concealed condition for targets within 30 feet.

All your senses become imprecise beyond 30 feet, meaning everything past 30 feet that you’d normally be able to see is hidden from you

Major Curse (11th) The flames surrounding you are no longer simply visions. An aura of fire surrounds you in a 10-foot emanation, dealing 4d6 fire damage (basic Reflex save) to all other creatures in the aura at the end of each of your turns. You lose 1d6 Hit Points at the end of your turn each round, with no save; if you have a weakness to fire, increase the number of HP you lose by that weakness.

You can suppress your aura until the start of your next turn by spending a single action, which has the concentrate trait, to diminish the flames, causing neither you nor anyone in the aura to take damage. While Refocusing to reduce your curse, you are continually diminishing the flames, so you don’t lose HP. The flames subside if you fall unconscious, but they resume when you wake up unless you rested for long enough to reset your curse. As usual for oracular curses, you can’t mitigate or reduce the lost Hit Points in any way, though you can still heal the lost HP normally after the fact.

Frost

Ice encrusts your heart, and cold pulses through your veins. No matter where you go, or what you do, subzero temperature clings to you as a vessel of the cold. You draw your powers from the heart of the Paraelemental Plane of Rain, the fierce power of ice shall be known by your presence.
Mystery Benefit You gain cold resistance equal to half your

level and treat environmental cold as one degree less

severe. You treat your Balance checks and Reflex saves

against ice as one better and when on uneven ground that

is caused by ice you are not off-guard. You gain the Feather

Step general feat.
Trained Skill Crafting
Granted Cantrip frostbite
Revelation Spells initial: sheets of ice; advanced:

glacial sculpting; greater: fractal frosting
Related Domains cold, creation

CURSE OF ICY STEPS

Your gaze is nearly as cold as the touch of your skin. Even in warm weather, your breath condenses as if it were freezing, and patches of ice sometimes appear on your clothes or hair.

The cold has been a companion when others have felt you were distant and unapproachable, and it has never bothered you.

Minor Curse The ice begins to set, each of your steps leaving frost in its wake. When you begin your turn in encounter mode, your square and all immediately adjacent squares become ice and are considered difficult terrain and uneven ground. This ice lasts until the end of your current turn. The Balance check and Reflex DC for your ice's uneven ground is equal to your spellcasting DC.

Moderate Curse The ice begins to claim more than just your feet. The ice created by your curse lasts until the end of your next turn instead of the end of your current turn. If you begin your turn in the area of your ice created on a previous turn, you become slowed 1 for 1 round and you do not treat your ice as uneven ground while slowed by your curse. When you finish casting a spell with the cold or cursebound traits you become immune to the slowed condition caused by your curse until the end of your next turn.

Major Curse The ice thickens. When you begin your turn in an area of ice from your previous turn and you are already affected by the slowed condition, you also become grabbed by your ice and must Escape. When you begin your turn, your square and all squares out to 15 feet are covered in ice until the end of your next turn. If a creature other than you ends its turn within the area of this ice, it takes your level in cold damage and must attempt a basic Fortitude save. Creatures that critically fail their save are also slowed 1 for 1 round.

Life

The never-ending flow of vitality within living beings is palpable to you. You might uphold the sanctity of life, or perhaps you seek to undermine it. You draw power from the Elemental Plane of Water.
Mystery Benefit Your body is a deep reservoir of life energy.

At each level, you gain Hit Points equal to 10 + your

Constitution modifier from the oracle class, instead of 8 +

your Constitution modifier.
Trained Skill Medicine
Granted Cantrip stabilize
Revelation Spells initial: life link; advanced: delay affliction;

greater: life-giving form
Related Domains death, healing

Curse of Outpouring Life

Life energy flows outward from you and connects you to all living things, but you expend your vital essence to do so. Your presence comforts the ill and injured, causes scars to fade slightly, spurs new growth in plants, and otherwise infuses your surroundings with vitality.

Minor Curse As your life force seeps outward, it becomes more difficult to keep your body functioning. Effects that restore Hit Points to you take a status penalty equal to half your level (minimum 1) to the number of HP you recover.

Moderate Curse The flow of life energy away from you can’t be reversed. In addition to the effects of your minor curse, you can’t be healed by magical effects originating from other creatures. However, if you are unconscious, magical effects can restore you to 1 HP (but no higher). You are affected normally by healing elixirs, potions, and other items. When you cast heal and all your targets are living creatures, you roll d12s instead of d8s for the amount of healing. Whenever you finish casting a non-cantrip spell, you restore Hit Points equal to the spell rank to your choice of either one target of the spell or the creature nearest to you. You can’t heal yourself in this way. This healing has the healing, and vitality traits, as well as the tradition trait of the spell.

Major Curse (11th) Life energy tears through you to empower your magic. Some of your spells carry vitality with them. Each time you use a spell slot to cast a 5th-rank or higher spell that takes 2 or more actions to cast, you disperse vitality energy in a 30-foot burst with the effects of a 3-action heal spell with a rank 4 lower than that of the spell you cast. This healing occurs immediately after you finish Casting the Spell. You don’t benefit from this healing. Instead, you lose double the number of Hit Points rolled for the heal spell.

Mountain

Your soul is linked to the awesome might of towering mountains. You have a direct connection with the Elemental Plane of Earth. You yourself are a holy peak, and your powers manifest as such.
Mystery Benefit You are innately suited to survival in the

mountains. Your mystery has hardened your skin to that of

stone, which is a medium armor in the plate armor group

that grants a +4 item bonus to AC, a Dex cap of +1, a check

penalty of –2, a speed penalty of –5 feet, and a Strength

value of 16, and has the comfort trait. You can never wear

other armor or remove this armor. You can etch armor

runes into your body to complement your stone armor,

allowing you to upgrade your body’s armor as normal. You

are trained in medium armor and gain expert proficiency

in medium armor when you gain light armor expertise. In

addition, you can ignore difficult terrain caused by rubble

and uneven ground made of stone and earth.
Trained Skill Athletics
Granted Cantrip scatter scree
Revelation Spells initial: rolling rubble; advanced:

raise mountain; greater: juggernaut of jagged stone
Related Domains earth, might

CURSE OF THE ANCIENT SUMMIT

Your dreams are haunted by visions of a tall, mighty peak calling you to join it and become a part of the mountain yourself. In moments of stillness, your skin almost resembles stone, and you might find moss growing on you after a restful night's sleep. You can't help but feel that perhaps you are simply a vessel of this mountain and that one day, you'll return to it and join it in an eternal, stony slumber.

Minor Curse Your skin starts to petrify, giving you a heavy, rock-like appearance. You have a -5 status foot penalty to all of your speeds, and you can never benefit from a status bonus to your speeds or overcome this penalty. You treat your degree of success on Athletics checks to Swim as one degree worse.

Moderate Curse More and more stone and rock builds up around you, coming around your legs from the ground you stand upon and increasing your stature. You have a -10-foot status penalty to all of your speeds. Your gain +2 circumstance bonus to your defenses against forced movement or effects that would give you the prone condition. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Athletics checks to Force Open and Shove.

Major Curse You give in to the call of the earth, you become immobilized. You can spend 1 action with the concentrate trait to overcome your immobilized condition for 1 round. You gain a +2 status bonus to AC, provide standard cover, and cannot be off-guard or disarmed. When you make an Athletics check to Long Jump or High Jump and land on solid ground, you create a 15-foot burst of greater difficult terrain centered on the square you land in as the ground ruptures beneath you.

Radiance

The light is the purveyor of truth, and the truth is inescapable. You carry light with you as a great warrior would wield a weapon, though perhaps it burns you greater than any mortal weapon could hope to wound you. You found the guiding light from the Paraelemental Plane of Sun. The light will shine as long as you walk with it by your side.
Mystery Benefit Your light shines bright, and those within

your rays of brilliance cannot escape your vision.

Concealed enemies that are inside the area of an effect or

spell with the light trait that originates from you do not

require a flat check to be targeted by your spells and

creatures that attempt to Hide or Sneak while within the

area of your light receive a -2 circumstance penalty to their

checks.
Trained Skill Arcana
Granted Cantrip light
Revelation Spells initial: flash of brilliance; advanced:

rainbow blade; greater: light prison
Related Domains star, sun

CURSE OF UNSUPRESSABLE BRILLIANCE

Your inner light shines so bright that it exudes from your eyes, ears, mouth, and fingertips with blinding extravagance. At all times you exhibit a faint glow of a color that reflects the energy of where your magic originates. Your Curse of Unsupressable Brilliance’s counter modifier is equal to your spell attack roll modifier and has the light and visual traits.

Minor Curse Your brilliant light shines so bright it’s difficult to see. You are dazzled, but only to creatures and objects within 15 feet of you. You shine bright light in a 15-foot emanation and dim light 15 feet beyond that.

Moderate Curse Your eyes begin to emanate light as well; the shimmering brilliance overwhelms your senses entirely but shines light on your enemies. You are dazzled. You shine bright light in a 20-foot emanation and dim light 20 feet beyond that. On the turn you enter this stage, all creatures within a 10-foot emanation must attempt a Fortitude save against your spell DC or they become dazzled for 1 round on a failure or dazzled for 1d4 rounds on a critical failure.

Major Curse You are bursting with radiance. On the turn you enter this stage you are blinded, and then on subsequent turns you are dazzled. You exude bright light in a 40-foot emanation and dim light 40 feet beyond that. On the turn you enter this stage, all creatures within a 20-foot emanation must attempt a Fortitude save against your spell DC or they become blinded for 1 round on a failure or blinded for 1d4 rounds on a critical failure. This effect has the incapacitation trait.

Tempest

The fury of the wind and waves pounds in your heart, whether your power flows from natural storms, a conduit to the elemental Planes of Air, Water, or paraelemental Plane of Rain.
Mystery Benefit You can see perfectly through wind and

water, and you send electric charges through both air and

water. You never take penalties to Perception from wind,

rain, fog, or other precipitation, or from looking through

water or being underwater, and such conditions don’t

cause anything to be concealed from you. When you deal

physical damage with a non-cantrip air or water spell, you

deal an additional 1 electricity damage per spell rank.
Trained Skill Nature
Granted Cantrip electric arc
Revelation Spells initial: tempest touch; advanced:

thunderburst; greater: tempest form
Related Domains Air, Water

Curse of the Perpetual Storm

You are the center of your own tiny tempest, ever surrounded by wind and rain that worsens the more you tap into your elemental powers. Even when you are calm and at rest, your hair and clothing are blown about by gentle winds, you are slightly damp, and your touch often comes with a static shock.

Minor Curse An aura of a whirling storm whips up in a 5-foot emanation around you and in your space. The aura puts out small non-magical fires 1 round after they’re lit or brought into your aura. Electrical energy builds up within your storm, turning you into a lightning rod, you gain weakness 2 to electricity, and electricity spells or effects that have additional effects for a creature wearing or holding metal treat you as though you were wearing metal.

Moderate Curse Your minor curse’s aura expands to a 10-foot emanation and carries rain on the winds. The whirling winds impose a –2 circumstance penalty on ranged attack rolls using physical ammunition that target you or originate from you. Your weakness to electricity increases to 5 or half your level, whichever is greater, but torrential rain grants you an equal amount of fire resistance.

Major Curse (11th) Your minor curse’s aura expands to a 15-foot emanation and grows stronger. High winds blowing outward in the aura impede creatures’ progress. The aura is difficult terrain for Large and smaller creatures on the ground, and for Huge or smaller flying creatures. You aren’t affected by this difficult terrain. The electricity arcing through you becomes dangerous. Any creature that touches you, including with a touch spell or a melee unarmed attack, takes 1d6 electricity damage.

Psychic

The mind can perceive truths hidden to fine-tuned instruments, house more secrets than any tome, and move objects and hearts more deftly than any lever. By delving into both the will and the way, you have awoken to the might of psionics, allowing you to cast spells not through incantations or gestures but by the power of your will alone. While the thin line between your mind and reality means that a single errant thought could have unintended consequences for yourself and your companions, you know that anything is possible, if you can imagine it.

During Combat Encounters...

You rely on your collection of psionic cantrips as a mainstay, choosing where and when to amplify them for maximum effect. You weave your more conventional powers into the fray where more complex psionics are needed, unleashing your mind’s full potential in a blaze of power when the time is right.

While Exploring...

You keep your mind’s eye open for the many paranormal threats that those who are less sensitive might not detect. Typically, you either scan for magic or investigate for psychic impressions, veiled thoughts, and wandering spirits.

In Downtime...

You strive to learn more about the depths of the mind, seeking out new psionics and phenomena to uncover, knowing that as you gain a deeper understanding of yourself, you can access more of the power within. You test the limits of your adaptability by retraining to fit your evolving understanding of your potential.

You Might...

Show a preference for learning, meditation, dreams, or other intangible manifestations of thought over the immediacy of the physical world.
Learn new things about yourself, just when you thought you knew it all.

Table 3-13: Psychic Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, psychic spellcasting, spell repertoire, psi cantrips and psi amps, unleash Psyche, subconscious mind, conscious mind
2	Psychic feat, skill feat
3	2nd-rank spells, general feat, signature spells, skill increase
4	Psychic feat, skill feat
5	3rd-rank spells, ancestry feat, clarity of focus, precognitive reflexes, skill increase
6	Psychic feat, skill feat
7	4th-rank spells, expert spellcaster, general feat, skill increase,
8	Psychic feat, skill feat
9	5th-rank spells, ancestry feat, great fortitude, skill increase
10	Psychic feat, skill feat
11	6th-rank spells, extrasensory perception, general feat, skill increase walls of will, weapon expertise
12	Psychic feat, skill feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, personal barrier, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Psychic feat, skill feat
15	8th-rank spells, general feat, master spellcaster, skill increase,
16	Psychic feat, skill feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, fortress of will, skill increase
18	Psychic feat, skill feat
19	General feat, infinite mind, legendary spellcaster, skill increase
20	Psychic feat, skill feat

Think of your psionics as so much a part of you that you use it even when normal methods suffice, perhaps preferring to communicate via mental messages or levitating an object to a companion at the opposite end of a table.

Others Probably...

Are awed by your mental abilities, especially when your psyche is unleashed.
Have difficulty understanding that the magic you perform with your mind comes from the same source as more conventional spellcasting.
Wonder if you might be a monster in disguise, possessed by spirits, or have some other unusual reason for your strange powers.

Psychic Warrior

Where the psychic spends his days studying the intricacies of psionic power and unlocking the mysteries of the mind, others choose to use their internal power to augment their physical form. These psychic warriors use their psionic potential as a way to improve their natural abilities, becoming fierce and deadly in their chosen path.

KEY ATTRIBUTE STRENGTH OR DEXTERITY
At 1st level, your class gives you an attribute boost to your choice of Strength or Dexterity.

HIT POINTS 8 plus your Constitution modifier
You increase your maximum number of HP by this number at 1st level and every level thereafter

During Combat Encounters...

You channel psionics through your weapon or body to hit enemies with a powerful attack and spell combination. Because your spells per day are limited, you often rely on trusty, carefully chosen cantrips and focus spells. When necessary, you know how to win a fight without psionics.

While Exploring...

Your flexibility means you might look for psychic auras, remain on guard, or even sneak around. Your ability to fill different niches means that your role often depends on the talents of the other members of your group.

In Downtime...

You split your time between psychic pursuits, like researching psionics and crafting items, and martial practice, such as retraining combat abilities to learn new techniques.

Initial Proficiencies

At 1st level, you gain the listed proficiency ranks in the following statistics. You’re untrained in anything that is not listed unless you gain a better proficiency rank in some other way.

Perception

Trained in Perception

Saving Throws

Expert in Fortitude

Trained in Reflex
Expert in Will

Skills

Trained in Arcana

Trained in a number of additional skills equal to 2 plus your Intelligence modifier

Attacks

Trained in simple weapons

Trained in martial weapons
Trained in unarmed attacks

Defenses

Trained in light armor

Trained in medium armor
Trained in unarmored defense

Spells

Trained in occult spell attacks

Trained in occult spell DCs

Table 3-14: Psychic Warrior Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, conflux psionics, hybrid study, psychic spellcasting, psionic cascade, psystrike
2	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
3	2nd-rank spells, general feat, skill increase, unlimited signature spells
4	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
5	3rd-rank spells, ancestry feat, lightning reflexes, skill increase, weapon expertise
6	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
7	4th-rank spells, general feat, skill increase, studious spells, weapon specialization
8	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
9	5th-rank spells, alertness, ancestry feat, expert spellcaster, resolve, skill increase
10	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
11	6th-rank spells, general feat, medium armor expertise, skill increase
12	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, skill increase, weapon mastery
14	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
15	8th-rank spells, general feat, greater weapon specialization, juggernaut, skill increase,
16	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, master spellcaster, medium armor mastery, skill increase
18	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat
19	Double psystrike, general feat, skill increase
20	Psychic warrior feat, skill feat

You Might...

Continually refine your psionics and item selections to suit your personal style or prepare battle plans and psychic lists for a variety of situations.
Socialize with scholars of psionics and veteran combatants alike, seeking out masters to teach you new techniques.
Overreach with ambitious plans that pull you in too many directions at once.

Others Probably...

Wonder how you can keep on top of two disparate disciplines at the same time.
Believe you have a broad enough skill set to take care of yourself in most situations.

Class Changes

The abilities listed below apply to the psychic warrior which is a reskinned Magus.

Psychic Spellcasting

You study psionics so you can combine them with your attacks or solve problems that strength of arms alone can’t handle. You can cast occult spells using the Cast a Spell activity, and you can supply material, somatic, and verbal components when casting spells. Because you’re a psychic warrior, you can draw replacement sigils with the tip of your weapon or your free hand for psionics requiring material components, replacing them with somatic components instead of needing a material component pouch.

At 1st level, you can prepare one 1st-rank spell and five cantrips each morning from the spells in your repertoire (see below). Prepared spells remain available to you until you cast them or until you prepare your spells again. The number of spells you can prepare is called your spell slots.

As you increase in level as a psychic warrior, your number of spell slots and the highest rank of spells you can cast from spell slots increase, shown in Table 3–15: Psychic Spells per Day. Because you split your focus between physical training and psionic scholarship, you have no more than two spell slots of your highest rank and, if you can cast 2nd-rank spells or higher, two spell slots of 1 rank lower than your highest spell rank.

Some of your spells require you to attempt a psychic attack roll to see how effective they are, or have your enemies roll against your spell DC (typically by attempting a saving throw). Your psychic attack rolls and spell DCs use your Intelligence modifier. Details on calculating these statistics appear on page 447 of the Core Rulebook.

Heightening Spells

When you gain spell slots of 2nd rank and higher, you can fill those slots with stronger versions of lower-rank spells. This increases the spell’s rank, heightening it to match the spell slot. Many spells have specific improvements when they are heightened to certain ranks.

Cantrips

A cantrip is a special type of spell that doesn’t use spell slots. You can cast a cantrip at will, any number of times per day. A cantrip is always automatically heightened to half your level rounded up—this is usually equal to the highest rank of spell you can cast as a psychic warrior. For example, as a 1st-level psychic warrior, your cantrips are 1st-rank spells, and as a 5th-level psychic warrior, your cantrips are 3rd-rank spells.

Spell Repertoire

The collection of spells you can cast is called your spell repertoire. At 1st level, you learn four 1st-rank occult spells of your choice and eight cantrips from any type of your choice. You can choose the eight cantrips from any spell list.

You choose the 1st-rank spells from the common spells from the occult list or from other occult spells to which you have access. You can cast any spell in your spell repertoire by using a spell slot of an appropriate spell rank.

You add to this spell repertoire as you increase in level. Each time you get a spell slot (see Table 3-15), you add a spell to your spell repertoire of the same rank. At 2nd level, you select another 1st-rank spell; at 3rd level, you select one 2nd-rank spell, and so on. When you add spells, you might add a higher rank version of a spell you already have, so you can cast a heightened version of that spell. Your conscious mind also adds additional spells to your repertoire as you gain spells of higher ranks.

Though you gain them at the same rate, your spell slots and the spells in your spell repertoire are separate. If a feat or other ability adds a spell to your spell repertoire, it wouldn’t give you another spell slot, and vice versa.

Swapping Spells in your Repertoire

As you gain new spells in your repertoire, you might want to replace some of the spells you previously learned. Each time you gain a level and learn new spells, you can swap out one of your old spells for a different spell of the same rank. If it’s a level at which you lose a set of lower rank slots, you can replace the two in either order. You can also instead swap a cantrip. You can also swap out spells by retraining during downtime.

At 6th level and every even level thereafter, you can swap out any number of your spells for different spells of a rank you can cast. When you do, you must keep at least one spell you can cast with your lowest rank of spell slots so you don’t end up with slots you can’t use. For instance, at 6th level you would need to keep at least one 2nd-rank spell, but all your other spells could be 3rd-rank.

Psystrike

You’ve learned the fundamental psychic warrior technique that lets you combine psychic and physical attacks together. You gain the Psystrike activity.

Psystrike

until recharged (see below)

You channel a psychic spell into a punch or sword thrust to deliver a combined attack. You Cast a Spell that takes 1 or 2 actions to cast and requires a spell attack roll. The effects of the spell don’t occur immediately but are imbued into your attack instead. Make a melee Strike with a weapon or unarmed attack. Your psychic spell is coupled with your attack, using your attack roll result to determine the effects of both the Strike and the spell. This counts as two attacks for your multiple attack penalty, but you don’t apply the penalty until after you’ve completed the Psystrike. The infusion of psionic energy grants your Strike the occult trait, making it magical.

After you use Psystrike, you can’t do so again until you recharge your Psystrike as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. You also recharge your Psystrike when you cast a conflux psionic that takes at least 1 action to cast; casting a focus spell of another type doesn’t recharge your Psystrike.

Psystrike Specifics

Though the base Psystrike rules cover most spells, various modifications apply to more complicated spells when loaded into your fist, blade, or other attack.

One Target: The spell targets only the target of your Strike, even if it normally allows more targets. Some feats let you affect more creatures.

Reach: The coupled psionic affects the target using the reach of the weapon or unarmed attack you make your Psystrike with. For instance, thunderstrike would affect a creature beyond the reach of your hand if you used a weapon with reach, and frostbite would affect only a creature in your weapon’s reach, even though the spell’s range is longer.

Ancillary Effects: Your spell still has any non-targeted effects that might affect creatures other than the target, as well as any ongoing effects starting from the moment you hit with the Strike. For example, caustic blast would still deal its splash damage to creatures other than the target and tangle vine’s circumstance penalty would last for its normal duration. The spell takes effect after the Strike deals damage; if the Strike has other special effects, the GM determines whether they happen before or after the spell.

Multiple Defenses: Any additional rolls after the initial spell attack still happen normally, such as the Fortitude save attempted by the target of a disintegrate spell. Similarly, a spell that allows you to attack with it again on subsequent rounds would only combine a Strike with its initial attack roll, not with any later ones.

Invalid or Immune Target: If the target you hit wouldn’t be a valid target for the spell, the spell is still expended but doesn’t affect the target. If the target is immune to your attack but not the spell, it can still be affected by the spell.

Variable Actions: Some spells have different effects based on the number of actions you spend to cast them. You choose whether to use the effects of the 1- or 2-action version of the spell when you use Psystrike. A spell has to take exactly 1 or 2 actions; you can’t use Psystrike with a spell that takes a free action, reaction, or 3 or more actions.

Spellshape: You typically can’t use spellshape with Psystrike because spellshape requires the next action you take to be Cast a Spell, and Psystrike is a combined activity that doesn’t qualify.

Psionic Cascade

After you wield psionics, you can enter a special stance to make your attacks more effective.

Psionic Cascade

You used your most recent action this turn to Cast a Spell or make a Psystrike. You need to meet this requirement only to enter the stance, not to remain in it.

You divert a portion of the spell’s magical power and keep it cycling through your body and weapon using specialized forms, breathing, or footwork. While you’re in the stance, your melee Strikes deal 1 extra damage. This damage increases to 2 if you have weapon specialization and 3 if you have greater weapon specialization.

TABLE 3-15: CLASS SPELLS BY LEVEL

Your Level	Cantrips	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1	5	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	5	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	5	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
8	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
9	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
10	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
11	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
12	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
13	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
14	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
15	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
16	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
17	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
18	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
19	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
20	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2

* The studious spells class feature gives you extra slots of this rank for specific spells.

Any Strike that benefits from this damage gains the occult trait, making it magical.

If your most recent spell before entering the stance was one that can deal damage, the damage from the stance is instead the same type that spell could deal (or one type of your choice if the spell could deal multiple types of damage).

Hybrid Study

Your extensive physical training and carefully chosen psionics combine to form a unique and dangerous fighting style that’s more than the sum of its parts. You choose one field of hybrid study to represent your particular combination of skills. Your hybrid study gives you a special ability, usually tied to Psystrike or Psionic Cascade, and it determines your initial conflux psionic. The hybrid studies presented in this book are as follows.

Inexorable Iron

Once you begin along a path, nothing can stop you from reaching its end. You transform the mass of a greataxe, greatsword, or polearm into an unstoppable force to augment your own striking power or keep you standing on the battlefield.

When you enter Psionic Cascade stance and at the start of each of your turns while you’re in that stance, if you’re wielding a melee weapon in two hands, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to half your level (minimum 1 temporary HP).

Conflux Psionic thunderous strike

Laughing Shadow

Psionics are freeing, a means to your ends, and you can use it to go where you want, do as you please, and avoid the consequences. You are a laughing shadow of psionics and blade, always one step ahead of your foes, always with a trick up your sleeve.

While in Psionic Cascade stance, you gain a +5-foot status bonus to your Speeds, or a +10-foot bonus if you’re unarmored. If you have a free hand while in the stance and are attacking an off-guard creature, you increase the extra damage to 3, to 5 if you have weapon specialization, or to 7 if you have greater weapon specialization. You must have your other hand completely free; the extra damage doesn’t apply if you have a free-hand weapon or other item in that hand, even if you would normally be able to use the hand for other things.

Conflux Psionic dimensional assault

Sparkling Targe

You’ve studied the applications of psionics, training yourself to perform not just offensive maneuvers but defensive tactics as well.

When psychic power flows through you, your shield can block impossible things, even a dragon’s breath or a force barrage.

You gain the Shield Block general feat.

When you’re in Psionic Cascade stance with your shield raised, your circumstance bonus to AC from your shield also applies to your saves against spells and other magical effects. In addition, damage you take as a result of a spell or magical effect while you’re in Psionic Cascade can trigger your Shield Block reaction, even if the damage isn’t physical.

When blocking damage in this way, increase your shield’s Hardness by an amount equal to the extra damage from Arcane Cascade (typically 1, but 2 if you have weapon specialization, or 3 if you have greater weapon specialization). These benefits apply whether you’re using an actual shield, the shield spell, or something else that works like a shield (such as a raised tome if you have the Raise a Tome feat).

Conflux Psionic shielding strike

Starlit Span

With psionics, the sky’s the limit, and you can’t be bound by the confines of physical proximity. Your power reaches as far as your senses can perceive, transcending the space between you and your target even with spells that normally require direct physical contact.

When you use Psystrike, you can make a ranged weapon or ranged unarmed Strike, as long as the target is within the first range increment of your ranged weapon or ranged unarmed attack. You can deliver the spell even if its range is shorter than the range increment of your ranged attack.

Conflux Psionic shooting star

Twisting Tree

The staff is perhaps one of the simplest of weapons, but this simplicity belies its elegance and versatility. To you, a staff is casting implement and martial weapon alike—the foundation of a fighting style.

While you wield a staff in one hand, the staff adjusts in shape and weight, gaining the agile trait and increasing its damage die size to 1d6. While you wield a staff in both hands, it lengthens, twists, and reshapes, gaining the parry, reach, and trip traits. While you’re in Psionic Cascade stance, you can Interact or Release to change your grip on the weapon as a free action when you Strike with your staff, including Strikes made in a Psystrike. This happens before you roll your attack roll. You can also Interact to change your grip on the staff as a free action triggered at the end of your turn.

Conflux Spell spinning staff

Conflux Psionics

You learn a conflux psionic from your hybrid study, and you can cast additional conflux psionics by selecting certain feats. Conflux psionics are psychic warrior-specific spells created for combat and are a type of focus spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell, and you start with a focus pool of 1 Focus Point.

You refill your focus pool during your daily preparations, and you can regain 1 Focus Point by spending 10 minutes using the Refocus activity to perform a physical regimen. Psychic Warrior conflux psionics appear on pages 280–281.

Focus spells are automatically heightened to half your level rounded up. Focus spells don’t require spell slots, nor can you cast them using spell slots. Taking feats can give you more focus spells and increase the size of your focus pool, though your focus pool can never hold more than 3 points. The full rules can be found on page 300 of the Core Rulebook.

Unlimited Signature Spells
3rd

All of your spells are signature spells. That means that if you know a spell, you can heighten it freely by casting it from a higher rank spell slot, up to the maximum rank of spell you can cast. You can similarly cast any of its lower rank versions without learning them separately.

Studious Spells
7th

Your hybrid study grants you additional spells that can enhance your power in combat. You gain two special 2nd-rank studious spell slots, which can be used to prepare gecko grip, sure strike, water breathing, and an additional spell depending on your hybrid study. You add any spells from this class feature to your spellbook. At 11th level, the extra slots increase to 3rd-rank, and you add haste and an additional spell depending on your hybrid study. At 13th level, the extra slots increase to 4th-rank, and you add fly and an additional spell depending on your hybrid study.
Laughing Shadow 7th: mirror image; 11th: shift blame; 13th:

translocate
Sparkling Targe 7th: resist energy; 11th: warding aggression;

13th: mountain resilience
Starlit Span 7th: darkvision; 11th: wall of wind; 13th:

freedom of movement
Inexorable Iron 7th: enlarge; 11th: earthbind; 13th:

planar seal
Twisting Tree 7th: embed message; 11th: slow; 13th: blink

Psychic Warrior Feats

At every level that you gain a psychic warrior feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat.

1st Level

Familiar
FEAT 1

You make a pact with a creature that helps you with your martial endeavors and assists your spellcasting. You gain a familiar (Core Rulebook 217).

Psionic Fists
FEAT 1

Your physical training encompasses unarmed combat forms. The damage die for your fist changes to 1d6 instead of 1d4.

You don’t take the normal –2 circumstance penalty when making a lethal attack with your fist or any other unarmed attacks. Your unarmed attacks gain the occult trait, making them magical.

At 5th level, you also gain the critical specialization effects of unarmed attacks in the brawling group and weapons in the brawling group.

Psychic Warrior's Analysis
FEAT 1

Psystrike

You make an assessment informed by your knowledge of how a creature fights. Attempt a check to Recall Knowledge about a creature.

You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your check if you previously hit the creature with a Strike this turn. If your check is successful, recharge your Psystrike. The subject of your check is temporarily immune to Psychic Warrior’s Analysis for 1 day.

2nd Level

Cantrip Expansion
FEAT 2

Dedicated study allows you to prepare a wider range of simple spells. You can prepare two additional cantrips each day.

Enhanced Familiar
FEAT 2

a familiar

You infuse your familiar with more magical energy. You can select four familiar or master abilities each day, instead of two.

Expansive Psystrike
FEAT 2

Psystrike

You’ve adapted a wider array of spells to work with your attacks. Rather than needing to use a spell that has a spell attack roll for a Psystrike, you can use a harmful spell that can target a creature or that has an area of a burst, cone, or line (abiding by any other

restrictions of Psystrike). When you Cast a Spell that doesn’t have a spell attack roll as part of a Psystrike, it works in the following ways.

If your Strike critically fails, the spell is lost with no effect.
Creatures use their normal defenses against the spell, such as saving throws.
If the spell lets you select a number of targets, it instead targets only the creature you attacked with your Strike.
If the spell has an area, the target must be in that area. A burst is centered on a corner of the target’s square, or the square corner closest to the center of the target, if the target is Large or larger; you choose the corner if more than one is eligible. A cone or line emits from you and must include the target; if you’re not adjacent to the target (using a reach weapon or starlit span, for example), choose any square adjacent to the target as the source. The spell affects all creatures in the area as normal, but the Strike still targets only one creature.

Force Fang
FEAT 2

focus pool

You can turn your attack into an unerring blur of force. You learn the force fang conflux psionic (page 279).

Spell Parry
FEAT 2

You have one or more hands free.

You infuse psionic power into your body or armaments to parry both physical and magical assaults. You raise your guard, gaining a +1 circumstance bonus to AC and to saving throws against spells that target you until the start of your next turn, as long as you continue to meet the requirements.

Spirit Sheath
FEAT 2

You have one or more hands free.

You’ve psionically constructed an extradimensional sheath for your weapon that you access through your clothing, typically through a pocket, sleeve, or seam. This sheath is hard to notice, granting a +2 circumstance bonus to your Stealth checks to Conceal an Item within it. A spirit sheath can hold only one weapon at a time, and the weapon must be 1 Bulk or less.

During a Psystrike, you can Interact to draw the weapon before you Cast the Spell. You can draw or return a weapon in a spirit sheath as an Interact action, as can anyone else holding or wearing the clothing that contains the sheath.

A dispel magic spell or similar effect can be used against the spirit sheath to expel the weapon. The counteract check is made against your spell DC and uses the sheath’s counteract rank of 1. The weapon is also expelled if you become unconscious.

4th Level

Devastating Psystrike
FEAT 4

Psionic Cascade, inexorable iron hybrid study, Psystrike

You are in Psionic Cascade stance and your Psystrike is charged.

Your Psystrike sweeps are so wide and devastating, they splash onto nearby foes. Make a Psystrike. Foes adjacent to the target take splash damage equal to 2 + the extra damage from Psionic Cascade. The damage type is the same as Psionic Cascade; if the spell already deals splash damage of the same type, combine the damage together before applying weaknesses or resistances.

Distracting Psystrike
FEAT 4

laughing shadow hybrid study hybrid study, Psystrike

You’re in Psionic Cascade stance and have a hand free.

You weave distracting psionics with one hand to enhance your Psystrike. Make a Psystrike and Feint against the target of your Strike. Do this immediately before making the Strike, but after choosing your target.

The Feint gains the occult, illusion, and visual traits, and it always has the basic effects of a Feint, rather than applying any adjustments or alternate effects from other feats or abilities.

Emergency Targe
FEAT 4

sparkling targe hybrid study

An enemy hits you with a melee Strike or a melee spell attack roll, or you fail a save against an enemy’s spell

You are wielding a shield or have the shield
spell prepared

You immediately Raise a Shield or cast shield. The circumstance bonus applies to your defenses when determining the outcome of the triggering attack or spell.

Starlit Eyes
FEAT 4

Psionic Cascade, starlit span hybrid study

Starlight shines in your sight, enhancing your perception and range. When you make a ranged Strike while in Psionic Cascade stance, you lower the DC of your flat check to target a creature that’s concealed or hidden from you. The DC is reduced to 3 instead of 5 against a concealed creature and to 9 instead of 11 against a hidden one.

When you cast shooting star and target a hidden creature, you don’t have to attempt the flat check for targeting a hidden creature with a ranged Strike.

Steady Spellcasting
FEAT 4

Confident in your technique, you don’t easily lose your concentration when you Cast a Spell. If a reaction would disrupt your spellcasting action, attempt a DC 15 flat check. If you succeed, your action isn’t disrupted.

Striker's Seal
FEAT 4

Psystrike

You can attach a seal to your weapon or handwraps of mighty blows to blend its spell into an attack, carefully folding it around a part of the weapon or sealing it to the weapon’s surface. Attaching a seal requires using the Affix a Talisman action (Core Rulebook 565). You can have only one seal affixed to a weapon at a time, and you can’t have both a talisman and seal attached.

You can Cast the Spell from the seal as part of a psystrike, assuming the spell is one you could normally use with Psystrike. You can’t Cast the Spell in any other way while it’s affixed, though you can use Affix a Talisman again to remove the seal and use it as a normal—if a bit scratched—seal.

Student of the Staff
FEAT 4

Psionic Cascade, twisting tree hybrid study

You’ve studied the staff extensively to learn the hidden capabilities of your chosen weapon. When you critically succeed at an attack roll using a staff, you apply the critical specialization effect of the club group. While you’re in Psionic Cascade stance, your staff gains the deadly d6 trait, with the damage from the deadly die being the same damage type as the extra damage from Psionic Cascade.

In addition, you can place property runes into a magic staff you prepare, even though a magic staff can’t typically hold property runes. You can’t inscribe runes that can’t be placed on a non-magical staff, nor can you inscribe the shifting rune. When you prepare a staff, you can impart any number of property runes into the staff, up to the limit imposed by your attack potency bonus.

6th Level

Reactive strike
FEAT 6

A creature within your reach uses a manipulate action or a move action, makes a ranged attack, or leaves a square during a move action it’s using.

You lash out at a vulnerable foe. Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature. If your attack is a critical hit and the trigger was a manipulate action, you disrupt that action. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to this Strike.

Cascade Countermeasure
FEAT 6

Psionic Cascade, focus pool

When in Psionic Cascade, you can make yourself resistant to magic. You learn the cascade countermeasure conflux psionic (page 143).

Knowledge is Power
FEAT 6

When you critically succeed at a Recall Knowledge check about a creature, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your next attack roll against the creature, to your AC against its next attack roll, and to your save against its next effect requiring a save. If you share this information with your allies, they gain the benefits as well. If not used, these bonuses end after 1 minute.

8th Level

Capture Magic
FEAT 8

Psionic Cascade

You succeed at your save against a foe’s harmful spell, or a foe fails a spell attack roll against you from a harmful spell.

When you resist a spell, you capture some of its magic for your own use. You enter your Psionic Cascade stance, using the triggering spell to determine what damage type your Psionic Cascade deals. Alternatively, if you’re already in Psionic Cascade, you can instead amplify its effects temporarily. Until the end of your next turn, you gain a +2 status bonus to the damage from your Psionic Cascade.

Fused Staff
FEAT 8

Psystrike

When you prepare a staff, you can hold it up to a weapon to merge the two items.

You can switch the fused item’s form from the weapon to the staff or vice versa as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. When the item is in staff form, you can Cast the Spells from the staff and benefit from any other abilities the staff grants. They don’t share any runes or specific abilities.

You can Cast Spells from the staff as part of a Psystrike even when the staff is in weapon form. Otherwise, you can’t cast the staff’s spells while it’s in weapon form.

The fusion lasts until your next daily preparations, though you can spend 10 minutes to separate the two items and meld the staff into a different weapon. The melding works for you alone. A different wielder can use the staff in its current form but can’t transform it, get the benefit of the shared runes, or use its spells for a Psystrike if it’s in weapon form.

Psionic Swipe
FEAT 8

Psystrike

Your psystrike is charged.

You attack in an arc and enact your psychic spell against everyone you hit. Make a Psystrike, but roll separate Strikes to attack two creatures, each of whom must be within your melee reach and adjacent to each other.

If your psychic spell could affect two or more targets, your psychic spell affects whichever foes you hit, not just the first target; otherwise, choose one target to affect with the spell. A Psionic Swipe counts as two attacks for your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn’t increase until after you make both attacks.

If you’re using a weapon that has the sweep trait, its circumstance bonus applies against both targets. You can use this activity with only melee Strikes, even if you have the starlit span hybrid study or a similar ability.

If you use Expansive Psystrike to Psystrike with an area spell, apply the area as described in Expansive Psystrike, choosing one of the creatures you Strike to determine the area and whether the spell fails due to a critically failed Strike. If you use Expansive Psystrike to Psystrike with a targeted spell, the spell is lost completely only if both Strikes are critical failures.

Runic Impression
FEAT 8

focus pool

You can temporarily replicate the effects of a property rune for your weapon or unarmed attacks. You learn the runic impression conflux psionic (page 279).

Standby Psionic
FEAT 8

Psystrike

You’ve honed one psionic as your favored combat technique, and you’ve practiced it enough that you no longer need to prepare it to cast it. Choose a spell in your spell repertoire that you could use with Psystrike and that has a rank no higher than the highest rank psychic warrior spell slot you have. You can Cast this Spell without having it prepared ahead of time by expending a spell slot of a sufficient rank to cast your chosen spell. You can change this spell whenever you add new spells to your spell repertoire, or by meditating on your spell repertoire for 1 hour.

10th Level

Cascading Ray
FEAT 10

Psystrike

Your last action was a successful Psystrike, and the spell you cast dealt energy damage (acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, void, vitality, or sonic).

Psionic energy spills out to extend beyond the creature you struck. The flowing energy forms a ray with a range of 60 feet from the creature you damaged. You can’t target any of the creatures you damaged with your Psystrike with the ray. Make a spell attack roll against the new target’s AC, at the same multiple attack penalty as the Strike. On a hit, the target of the ray takes 1d4 damage per spell rank of the same type of energy damage the spell deals (double damage on a critical hit). If you cast the spell in your Psystrike from a spell slot, the damage from Cascading Ray increases to 1d8 damage per spell rank.

If the spell deals more than one type of energy damage, you choose only one for the ray. This ray has the attack trait, the school and tradition traits of the original spell, and the trait matching the damage type.

Dazzling Block
FEAT 10

Psionic Cascade, sparkling targe hybrid study

You are in Psionic Cascade stance.

When you use Shield Block, you can create a flash of brilliant, multicolored light in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must attempt a Fortitude save, with the following effects.

The creature is unaffected.

The creature is dazzled for 1 round.

The creature is blinded for 1 round and dazzled for 1 minute. The creature can spend an Interact action rubbing its eyes to end this blinded condition.

The creature is blinded for 1 round and dazzled for 1 hour.

Dimensional Disappearance
FEAT 10

dimensional assault focus spell, laughing shadow hybrid study

You take advantage of teleportation to better hide your position. When you cast dimensional assault, you’re affected by an invisibility spell at the end of the teleport. You can choose not to make the Strike that is normally part of dimensional assault. If you do make the Strike, your invisibility ends after the Strike, as normal for invisibility.

Lunging Psystrike
FEAT 10

Psystrike, twisting tree hybrid study

You're wielding a staff.

Your spell unwinds the structure of your staff to make it exceptionally long, or even separate it into shards held together by magical power. Make a Psystrike with a staff, with a spell that isn’t a cantrip or focus spell. Increase the staff’s reach by 5 feet × the spell’s rank.

Meteoric Psystrike
FEAT 10

Psystrike, starlit span hybrid study

You’re wielding a ranged or thrown weapon or have a ranged unarmed attack.

A trail of energy flows from your target back to you. Make a Psystrike with a ranged weapon or ranged unarmed attack against a target within the ranged weapon or unarmed attack’s first range increment. The spell you cast for the Psystrike can’t be a cantrip or focus spell.

Each creature in a line between you and the target, excluding you and the target, takes damage equal to double the spell's rank. Determine the damage type as described in Psionic Cascade.

Rapid Recharge
FEAT 10

Psystrike

once per day

You tap into an arcane trick to recover your ability to meld spells and attacks. You recharge your Psystrike.

Sustaining Steel
FEAT 10

Psionic Cascade, inexorable iron hybrid study

You Cast a Spell using a spell slot.

You're in Psionic Cascade stance.

You pull psychic power into your weapon, using its substance to transform the magic into restorative energy. You regain Hit Points equal to double the spell’s rank and roll to end any persistent void damage you have.

If the spell was of the necromancy school, any persistent void damage you have ends automatically, and you can change the damage type from Psionic Cascade to vitality if you wish. (Vitality damage typically damages only undead or other creatures with void healing.)

12th Level

Conflux Focus
FEAT 12

conflux psionics

Your last action was a successful Psystrike, and the spell you cast dealt energy damage (acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, void, vitality, or sonic).

You imagine how you’ll focus psionics and combat into future battles, improving your focus. Whenever you Refocus, completely refill your focus pool.

Magic Sense
FEAT 12

You have a literal sixth sense for ambient magic in your vicinity. You can sense the presence of magic auras as though you were always using a 1st-rank detect magic spell. This detects magic in your field of vision only. When you Seek, you gain the benefits of a 3rd-rank detect magic spell on things you see (in addition to the normal benefits of Seeking). You can turn this sense off and on with a free action at the start or the end of your turn.

Overwhelming Psystrike
FEAT 12

Psystrike

Your Psystrike is charged.

You pierce through your foe’s resistance. Make a Psystrike. The spell you cast as part of the Psystrike ignores an amount of the target’s resistance to acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage equal to your level. This applies to all damage the spell deals, including persistent damage and damage caused by an ongoing effect of the spell. A creature’s immunities are unaffected.

14th Level

Hasted Assault
FEAT 14

focus pool

You can speed yourself up to move and attack more swiftly. You learn the hasted assault conflux psionic (page 279).

Preternatural Parry
FEAT 14

Spell Parry

You’re targeted by a Strike or a spell attack roll, or you’re about to roll a saving throw against a spell effect.

You have one or more hands free.

You snap your weapon or limb into place to ward off harm at the last second. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC and saving throws against the triggering effect until the start of your next turn.

Psionic Shroud
FEAT 14

Psionic Cascade, Psystrike

once per turn

Your most recent action was to Cast a Spell from a spell slot or make a Psystrike with a spell from a spell slot.

Your magic has a powerful aftereffect, briefly granting you a certain spell. When you take this feat, choose three of false vitality, fire shield, fleet step, flicker, invisibility, mountain resilience, and see the unseen. You use psionic Cascade and are subject to an additional aftereffect spell of your choice from the three you selected.

This aftereffect spell’s duration lasts until the end of your next turn or its normal duration, whichever is shorter. Using Psionic Shroud again ends any existing spell you gained from Psionic Shroud.

16th Level

Dispelling Psystrike
FEAT 16

Psystrike

Your Psystrike is charged.

The spell you deliver tries to force out magic affecting your enemy. Make a Psystrike.

If it hits, you also attempt to counteract a single spell (of your choice) active on the target. The counteract rank is half your level rounded up, and the counteract check modifier is the standard modifier for counteracting with a spell (your Intelligence modifier plus your spellcasting proficiency bonus, plus any bonuses or penalties that specifically apply to counteract checks).

Resounding Cascade
FEAT 16

Psionic Cascade

Your Psystrike is charged.

You combine the might of a multitarget spell with a whirling flurry of attacks. You use Psystrike, making a melee Strike against each enemy within your reach instead of against one enemy. If your spell can affect multiple targets, your spell affects all foes you hit, not just the first target, up to the spell’s normal maximum targets. If you Strike more foes than the spell could target, choose which foes are affected by the spell. Each attack counts toward your multiple attack penalty but doesn’t increase your penalty until you’ve made all your attacks.

If you use Expansive Psystrike to Psystrike with an area spell, apply the area as described in Expansive Psystrike, choosing one of the creatures you Strike to determine the area and whether the spell fails due to a critically failed Strike. If you use Expansive Psystrike to Psystrike with a targeted spell, each creature you critically fail to Strike is unaffected by the spell, but the spell isn’t lost completely from a single critical failure.

You can use this activity with only melee Strikes, even if you have the starlit span hybrid study or a similar ability.

Ranger

Some rangers believe civilization wears down the soul, but still needs to be protected from wild creatures. Others say nature needs to be protected from the greedy, who wish to tame its beauty and plunder its treasures. You could champion either goal, or both. You might be a scout, tracker, or hunter of fugitives or beasts, haunting the edge of civilization or exploring the wilds. You know how to live off the land and are skilled at spotting and taking down both opportune prey and hated enemies.

During Combat Encounters...

You can single out particular foes to hunt, making you better at defeating them. You target and brutalize your chosen foe with either a bow or melee weapons, while supporting your allies with your skills.

While Exploring...

You guide your allies through the wilderness or follow tracks. You keep an eye out for trouble, constantly alert for danger even when it’s not overt.

In Downtime...

You craft weapons and train animals in preparation for your next venture. If you prefer to get outside, you might go on hunts or scout nearby areas to better understand your environment.

You Might...

Respect the raw power of nature and understand how to make the best of its bounty.
Enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
Scout out ahead of the party, reconnoitering dangers before combat begins.

Others Probably...

Call upon you to protect them from the wilds or the encroachment of civilization.
Expect you to be a quiet or taciturn loner.
Think there is something dangerous and wild about you

Table 3-15: Ranger Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, hunt prey, hunter's edge, ranger feat
2	Ranger feat, skill feat
3	General feat, skill increase, will expertise
4	Ranger feat, skill feat
5	Ancestry feat, ranger weapon expertise, skill increase, trackless journey
6	Ranger feat, skill feat
7	General feat, natural reflexes, skill increase, perception mastery, weapon specialization
8	Ranger feat, skill feat
9	Ancestry feat, nature's edge, ranger expertise, skill increase
10	Ranger feat, skill feat
11	General feat, medium armor expertise, skill increase, unimpeded journey, warden's endurance
12	Ranger feat, skill feat
13	Ancestry feat, skill increase, martial weapon mastery
14	Ranger feat, skill feat
15	General feat, greater natural reflexes, greater weapon specialization, perception legend, skill increase,
16	Ranger feat, skill feat
17	Ancestry feat, masterful hunter, skill increase
18	Ranger feat, skill feat
19	General feat, medium armor mastery, skill increase, swift prey
20	Ranger feat, skill feat

Class Changes

The following entries have been changed to reflect a ranger in Dark sun.

Ranger Feats

At every level that you gain a ranger feat, you can select one of the following. You must satisfy any prerequisites before taking the feat.

2nd Level

Favored Terrain
FEAT 2

You have studied a specific terrain to overcome its challenges. Choose aquatic, forest, mountain, rocky badlands, salt flats, sandy wastes, scrub plains, silt, sky, stony barrens, or underground as your favored terrain. When in that terrain, you can ignore the effects of non-magical difficult terrain. If you have the unimpeded journey class feature, you gain a second benefit while in your favored terrain, depending on your choice:

Aquatic You gain a swim Speed equal to your Speed. If you already had a swim Speed, you gain a +10-foot status bonus to your swim Speed.
Sandy Wastes, Salt Flats, or Stony Barrens You need to eat and drink only one-tenth as much as usual, you aren’t affected by severe or extreme heat, and you can walk along sand at full Speed without needing to Balance.
Forest, Mountain, Rocky Badlands, or Underground You gain a climb Speed equal to your Speed. If you already had a climb Speed, you gain a +10-foot status bonus to your climb Speed.
Scrub Plains You gain a +10-foot status bonus to your land Speed.
Silt You can move through silt at full Speed, even if it is deep enough to be greater difficult terrain.
Sky You gain a +10-foot status bonus to your fly Speed, if you have one.

4th Level

Favored Enemy
FEAT 4

You have studied a specific type of wild creature and can hunt it more easily. When you gain this feat, choose animals, beasts, drakes, or both fungi and plants as your favored enemy. Alternatively, you can select two races of humanoid (such as belgoi and gith) as favored enemies. When you roll initiative and can see an enemy that belongs to the chosen category, you can Hunt Prey as a free action, designating that enemy.

You can use this free action even if you haven’t identified the creature yet with Recall Knowledge. The benefit doesn’t apply against favored enemies disguised as other creatures, and the GM determines whether it applies against a creature disguised as a favored enemy.

Rogue

You are skilled and opportunistic. Using your sharp wits and quick reactions, you take advantage of your opponents’ missteps and strike where it hurts most. You play a dangerous game, seeking thrills and testing your skills, and likely don’t care much for any laws that happen to get in your way. While the path of every rogue is unique and riddled with danger, the one thing you all share in common is the breadth and depth of your skills.

During Combat Encounters...

You move about stealthily so you can catch foes unawares. You’re a precision instrument, more useful against a tough boss or distant spellcaster than against rank-and-file soldiers.

While Exploring...

You sneak to get the drop on foes and scout for danger or traps. You’re a great asset, since you can disable traps, solve puzzles, and anticipate dangers.

In Downtime...

You might pick pockets or trade in illegal goods. You can also become part of a thieves’ guild, or even found one of your own.

You Might...

Hone your skills through intense practice, both on your own and out in the world.
Know where to attain illicit goods.
Skirt or break the law because you think it’s meaningless or have your own code.

Others Probably...

Find you charming or fascinating, even if they think they know better than to trust you.
Come to you when they need someone who is willing to take risks or use questionable methods.
Suspect you’re motivated primarily by greed.

Table 3-16: Rogue Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, rogue's racket, sneak attack 1d6, surprise attack, rogue feat, skill feat
2	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
3	Deny advantage, general feat, skill feat, skill increase
4	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
5	Ancestry feat, skill feat, skill increase, sneak attack 2d6, weapon tricks
6	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
7	Evasive reflexes, general feat, skill feat, skill increase, vigilant senses, weapon specialization
8	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
9	Ancestry feat, debilitating strike, rogue resilience, skill feat, skill increase
10	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
11	General feat, rogue expertise, skill feat, skill increase, sneak attack 3d6
12	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
13	Ancestry feat, improved rogue reflexes, incredible senses, light armor expertise, master tricks, skill feat, skill increase
14	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
15	Double debilitation, general feat, greater weapon specialization, skill feat, skill increase,
16	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
17	Ancestry feat, skill feat, skill increase, slippery mind, sneak attack 4d6
18	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase
19	General feat, light armor mastery, master strike, skill feat, skill increase
20	Rogue feat, skill feat, skill increase

Swashbuckler

Many warriors rely on brute force, weighty armor, or cumbersome weapons. For you, battle is a dance where you move among foes with style and grace. You dart among combatants with flair and land powerful finishing moves with a flick of the wrist and a flash of the blade, all while countering attacks with elegant ripostes that keep enemies off balance. Harassing and thwarting your foes lets you charm fate and cheat death time and again with aplomb and plenty of flair.

During Combat Encounters...

You show off to gain panache, leveraging your flair to build up to powerful finishing moves. You stay nimble, moving into the best position to perform your maneuvers while dodging enemy blows and responding with swift ripostes. Depending on your swashbuckler’s style, you might dance among your foes; slip past their defenses; or beguile, distract, or frighten them.

While Exploring...

You keep a careful eye on your surroundings and other people, always prepared to leap into action with bravado and flair. You interact with the environment in bold, sweeping strokes rather than skulking to avoid detection.

In Downtime...

You might carouse at the tavern, repair, and maintain your armaments, or train to learn new techniques. To maintain your impressive reputation, you might build an organization in your name or establish a following of admirers.

You Might...

Portray yourself as a heroic daredevil or a roguish braggart, knowing you can live up to the image you present.
Hold yourself in high esteem, confident in your abilities and your reputation.
Practice your skills and maneuvers regularly to ensure you never grow rusty.

Table 3-17: Swashbuckler Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, panache, swashbuckler's style, precise strike (2d6), confident finisher, swashbuckler feat
2	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
3	General feat, great fortitude, opportune riposte, skill increase, stylish trick, vivacious speed +10 feet
4	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
5	Ancestry feat, precise strike (3d6), skill increase, weapon expertise
6	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
7	Evasion, general feat, skill increase, stylish trick, vivacious speed +15 feet, weapon specialization
8	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
9	Ancestry feat, exemplary finisher, precise strike (4d6), skill increase, swashbuckler expertise
10	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
11	Continuous flair, general feat, skill increase, vigilant senses, vivacious speed +20 feet
12	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
13	Ancestry feat, improved evasion, light armor expertise, precise strike (5d6), skill increase, weapon mastery
14	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
15	General feat, greater weapon specialization, keen flair, skill increase, stylish trick, vivacious speed +25 feet
16	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
17	Ancestry feat, precise strike (6d6), resolve, skill increase
18	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat
19	Eternal confidence, general feat, light armor mastery, skill increase, vivacious speed +30 feet
20	Skill feat, swashbuckler feat

Others Probably...

Admire your theatrics, bravado, and skill with a blade.
Find you arrogant unless they know you well enough to appreciate your style.
Underestimate how much of a threat you pose until they face the end of your deadly blade.

Wizard

Athasian wizards drain energy from the surrounding soil. The method used labels the wizard as a defiler or a preserver. Preservers have the self–control to gather energy without destroying plants. Those who do not, or who feel no remorse about the damage caused, become Defilers. Defilers leave behind sterile soil and infertile ash when they cast spells. Because of this, most wastelanders blame wizards for the desert landscape that dominates the Tablelands today, and their hatred extends to defilers and preservers alike. In the seven cities, arcane magic is outlawed and feared.

During Combat Encounters...

You likely try to stay out of the fray, carefully judging when to use your spells. You save your most powerful magic to incapacitate threatening foes and use your cantrips when only weaker foes remain. When enemies pull out tricks like invisibility or flight, you answer with spells like revealing light or earth bind, leveling the field for your allies.

While Exploring...

You locate magical auras and determine the arcane significance of magical writing or phenomena you uncover. When you run across an unusual obstacle to further exploration, you probably have a scroll that will make it easier to overcome.

In Downtime...

You learn new spells, craft magic items, or scribe seals for your party, and seek out new and exciting formulas in addition to spells. You might even join the veiled alliance in your city-state.

You Might...

Have an unquenchable intellectual curiosity about how everything in the world around you works—magic in particular.
Believe fervently that your school of magic is superior (if you’re a specialist) or that true mastery of magic requires knowledge of all schools (if you’re a universalist).
Use esoteric jargon and technical terms to precisely describe the minutiae of magical effects, even though the difference is probably lost on other people.

Table 3-17: Wizard Advancement

Level	Class Features
1	Ancestry and background, initial proficiencies, wizard spellcasting, arcane study, arcane bond, arcane thesis
2	Skill feat, wizard feat
3	2nd-rank spells, general feat, skill increase
4	Skill feat, wizard feat
5	3rd-rank spells, ancestry feat, reflex expertise, skill increase
6	Skill feat, wizard feat
7	4th-rank spells, expert spellcaster, general feat, skill increase
8	Skill feat, wizard feat
9	5th-rank spells, ancestry feat, magical fortitude, skill increase
10	Skill feat, wizard feat
11	6th-rank spells, general feat, perception expertise, skill increase, wizard weapon expertise
12	Skill feat, wizard feat
13	7th-rank spells, ancestry feat, defensive robes, skill increase, weapon specialization
14	Skill feat, wizard feat
15	8th-rank spells, general feat, master spellcaster, skill increase
16	Skill feat, wizard feat
17	9th-rank spells, ancestry feat, prodigious will, skill increase
18	Skill feat, wizard feat
19	Archwizard's spellcraft, general feat, legendary spellcaster, skill increase
20	Skill feat, wizard feat

Others Probably...

Consider you to be incredibly powerful and dangerous.
Fear what your magic can do to their minds, bodies, and souls, and attack you furiously, as few can identify whether one of your spells is harmless or malevolent until it’s too late.

Class Changes

The following rules reflect arcane spell casters in Dark Sun.

Defiling

once per round

must be in non-desolate terrain

prior to casting a spell

Prior to casting a spell, you can strip the life energy of the land. You defile a 5 feet burst of defilement in Forest or Verdant areas or 10 feet burst in barren terrain. Plants in the defiled area die and turn to ash. The terrain changes to desolate and can no longer support defiling. Any creature in the area of the defiling must make a fortitude saving throw vs your spell casting DC or become sickened 1. On a critical failure they become sickened 2.

The act of defiling empowers you with magic. If your next action is to cast a cantrip or a spell, reduce the number of actions to cast it by 1 (minimum 1 action).

If your next action is to cast a focus spell, there is no focus cost for casting the spell.

Terrain Types

Below are some guidelines on which terrain type to use when determining area of defilement. Note that these guidelines may be adjusted for specific situations. For example, in a city, the mud pits might have no more vegetation than the stony barrens, while the gardens of the Sorcerer-King will be equal to a teeming forest.
Desolate: Includes defiled, dust basin, salt flat, and silt

sea terrains.
Barren: Includes boulder field, mountain, rocky badland,

sandy wastes, and stony barren terrains.
Verdant: Includes mud flat, salt marsh, savannah, scrub

plain, and verdant belt terrains.
Forest: Includes the forest ridge and other areas with

abundant vegetation.

The Cost of Defiling

Defiling leaves a trace in the body and soul of a defiler.

When an arcane spellcaster defiles, three things happen: you attempt a saving throw against addiction, you suppress the negative effects of addiction for 1 day, and you gain the defiling trait. Failing a save against addiction caused by defiling causes you to go to 1 stage higher than the maximum stage you had previously (2 stages higher on a critical failure.) If you're currently suffering from addiction when you attempt a save from defiling, you can't improve your stage; if you succeed on the save, the stage remains the same as it was.

When you attempt your save against addiction each week, the stage you are currently at can't get worse - it can only stay the same or improve. The conditions from addiction can only be removed by an atonement ritual while you are affected by the addiction and suppressing the addiction by defiling only avoids the effects - it doesn't remove the disease.

Saving Throw Fortitude (difficulty equal to spell rank DC (10 for cantrips) + amount of times previously defiled that week.) Onset 1 round; Stage 1 +1 status bonus to spell attack rolls and DCs and -1 status penalty to any non-intimidate charisma check or DC (1 week); Stage 2 fatigued, +1 status bonus to spell attack rolls and DCs and -2 status penalty to any non-intimidate charisma check or DC (1 week); Stage 3 fatigued, sickened 1, +1 status bonus to spell attack rolls and DCs and -3 status penalty to any non-intimidate charisma check or DC (1 week); Stage 4 fatigued, drained 1, sickened 2, stupefied 1 and -4 status penalty to any non-intimidate charisma check or DC (1 week).

As soon as an arcane spell caster has any addiction stage, they can be felt as defilers. Any druid, natural animal, beast, or spirit of the land can make a secret perception check. DC 30 stage 1, DC 20 stage 2, DC 15 stage 3, DC 10 stage 4.

They feel ill at ease and are able to pinpoint the defiler.

They feel ill at ease and are able to understand there's a defiler in the vicinity

They feel ill at ease, but don't necessarily understand why.

They feel nothing

Arcane Studies

Most wizards acquire their knowledge of spells from a teacher. At 1st level, you choose your arcane study, which grants you magical abilities.

You gain additional spells and spell slots from the curriculum learned during your studies. Some wizards follow the study of unified magical theory, which attempts to forge a new way of learning by studying independently and drawing information from a multitude of texts. Though a wizard with this approach lacks the focus of formal training, they have greater flexibility.

Arcanamach

The royal defilers are feared and powerful wizards traditionally in the service of the sorcerer-monarchs. They are often trained in the arcane arts by more powerful defilers in service of the king or queen, and sometimes even personally by the sorcerer-monarch. Royal defilers can exert the same authority as templars within the boundaries of their monarch’s city state. In cities that have lost their dragon kings, some defilers still serve the new rulers of the cities, either openly or in secrecy. Contrary to the templars of many city-states, the defilers have not lost their spellcasting abilities. These defilers can attain powerful positions in the templar hierarchy and can achieve great personal power.

Curriculum cantrips: shield, telekinetic projectile; 1st: breath fire, force barrage, mystic armor; 2nd: mist, resist energy; 3rd: earthbind, fireball; 4th: wall of fire, weapon storm; 5th: howling blizzard, impaling spike; 6th: chain lightning, disintegrate; 7th: energy aegis, true target; 8th: arctic rift, desiccate; 9th: falling stars

Study Spells initial: force bolt; advanced: energy absorption

Arena Mage

The arena mage is a wizard who has acquired the skills necessary to survive the rigors of arena combat, engaging his opponents with an arsenal of spells. The lesson to conceal this spellcasting ability comes quickly, as failure means death. As such, an arena mage becomes a master at casting spells in secret, as well as masking his magic-use. To accomplish this feat, the arena mage has developed a unique talent to help him: giving his spells the trappings of psionic powers. Through the art of deception and a constant charade of psionic aptitude he is able to maintain secret his spellcasting even in the most public of places.

Curriculum cantrips: figment, message; 1st: charm, command, dizzying colors, fear; 2nd: invisibility, silence; 3rd:haste, paralyze; 4th: confusion, suggestion; 5th: hallucination, subconscious suggestion; 6th: mislead, vibrant pattern; 7th: true target; 8th: disappearance, uncontrollable dance; 9th: foresight

Study Spells initial: scramble body; advanced: shifting form

Chasseur

Chasseurs, or huntsmen, are wizards who specialize in hunting down others of their kind. Some chasseurs are found working for the Veiled Alliance hunting down defilers, while others are employed by the templars and the sorcerer-kings to hunt down preservers. Some do not answer to any authority at all, but have their own agendas. Whether a defiler or a preserver, a chasseur uses skill and magic to hunt down and kill or capture other wizards.

Curriculum cantrips: daze, shield; 1st: command, dizzying colors, fear, illusory disguise; 2nd: dispel magic, stupefy; 3rd: blindness, paralyze; 4th: confusion, dispelling globe; 5th: false vision, slither; 6th: spellwrack, truesight; 7th: planar seal, warp mind; 8th: hidden mind, pinpoint; 9th: detonate magic

Study Spells initial: charming push; advanced:dread aura

Earth Defender

Earth defenders are preservers concerned with protecting the environment at all costs. Some earth defenders choose to protect an area of land, while others devote their efforts to protect a species. The earth defender’s charge is called a ward, and she is prepared to go to almost any length to protect it.

Many earth defenders are fanatics. Their hatred against defilers or anything else that could harm their ward can be extreme. Death is the most usual punishment for threatening the earth defender’s ward.

Curriculum cantrips: gouging claw, tangle vine; 1st: pest form, pummeling rubble, spider sting, summon animal; 2nd: entagling flora, mist; 3rd: insect form, wall of thorns; 4th: mirage, outcast's curse; 5th: toxic cloud, wall of stone; 6th: cursed metamorphosis, tangling creepers; 7th: mask of terror, project image; 8th: monstrosity form, quandary; 9th: metamorphosis

Study Spells initial: fortify summoning; advanced: spiral of horrors

Exterminator

Exterminators are defilers who use their defiling methods to purposefully destory the ecosystem. Some of these defilers enjoy the rush of power that destroying plants give them; some are so consumed by hatred that they want to annihilate everything in their path. Others may be convinced that the evil plants of Athas need to be obliterated. Exterminators are the blood enemies of restorationists and earth defenders.

Curriculum cantrips: caustic blast, ignite; 1st: breath fire, enfeeble, runic weapon, sure strike; 2nd: blazing bolt, noise blast; 3rd: fireball, vampiric feast; 4th: fire shield, weapon storm; 5th: magic passage, toxic cloud ; 6th: disintegrate, vampiric exsanguination; 7th: energy aegis, fiery body; 8th: desiccate, earthquake; 9th: massacre

Study Spells initial: earthworks; advanced: elemental tempest

Illusionist

As an illusionist, you use magic to create images, figments, and phantasms to baffle your enemies. You understand that perception is reality.

Curriculum cantrips: figment, message; 1st: dizzying colors, illusory disguise, illusory object, ventriloquism; 2nd: illusory creature, invisibility; 3rd: hypnotize, invisibility sphere; 4th: mirage, vision of death; 5th: hallucination, illusory scene; 6th: phantasmal calamity, vibrant pattern; 7th: mask of terror, project image; 8th: disappearance, scintillating pattern; 9th: phantasmagoria

Study Spells initial: warped terrain; advanced: invisibility cloak

Mercenary

Mercenary wizards are those who sell their talents to the highest bidder. They work for whoever pays the best-usually. There are exceptions. Mercenaries are usually flamboyant, openly practicing their magic whenever possible so that prospective employers will notice them.

Curriculum cantrips: figment, prestidigitation; 1st: dizzying colors, item facade, runic weapon, ventriloquism; 2nd: blur, enlarge; 3rd: lightning bolt, wall of wind; 4th: fly, weapon storm; 5th: howling blizzard, sending; 6th: repulsion, vibrant pattern; 7th: eclipse burst, mask of terror; 8th: arctic rift, uncontrollable dance; 9th: falling stars

Study Spells initial: protective wards; advanced: community restoration

Necromancer

As a necromancer, you call upon the powers of life and death. While your study is often vilified for its association with raising the undead, you understand that control over life also means control over healing.

Curriculum cantrips: torturous trauma, void warp; 1st: animate dead, enfeeble, grim tendrils, spider sting; 2nd: deafness, false vitality; 3rd: blindness, vampiric feast; 4th: enervation, sanguine mist; 5th: blister, toxic cloud; 6th: necrotize, vampiric exsanguination; 7th: eclipse burst, tempest of shades; 8th: desiccate; 9th: massacre

Study Spells initial: call of the grave; advanced: life siphon

Restorationist

Restorationists are preservers whose main goal is to return Athas to its former state of verdant vegetation and plentiful water. Wholly subsumed to their task, restorationists often tutor others in ecologically sound land management. A restorationist seldom takes lives unnecessarily, eats meat only when fruit and other plants that can return something to the land are unavailable, and searches for magic in her travels that can revitalize Athas.

Curriculum cantrips: light, telekinetic hand; 1st: alarm, create water, mystic armor, summon construct; 2nd: environmental endurance, peaceful rest; 3rd: safe passage, veil of privacy; 4th: shape stone, unfettered movement; 5th: magic passage, truespeech; 6th: teleport, wall of force; 7th: energy aegis, retrocognition; 8th: power word stun, quandary; 9th: foresight

Study Spells initial: physical boost; advanced: dimensional steps

Tribal Wizard

The tribal wizard is a spellcaster who comes from a small tribal group. Mysterious and often feared, they nonetheless exert great influence in their communities.

Curriculum cantrips: light, message; 1st: alarm, ant haul, create water, mending; 2nd: create food, translate; 3rd: cozy cabin, safe passage; 4th: creation, telepathy; 5th: mind probe, truespeech; 6th: teleport, truesight; 7th: retrocognition, true target; 8th: disappearance, pinpoint; 9th: foresight

Study Spells initial: diviner's sight; advanced: rune of observation

Unified Theory

You eschew the idea that magic can be neatly expressed by the teachings of any single study, instead directing your self-study to pick up the best of every study of magic. In doing so, you’ll find the truths that lie at the intersection of each school, coming closer to the ideal nature of arcane magic.

One day, you’ll uncover that single elegant theory detailing all magic (perhaps a theory bearing your name?), but until then, your studies continue.

No Curriculum You don’t have a set curriculum, and so you don’t have curriculum spells and can’t benefit from abilities that specifically affect them. Instead, you gain an additional 1st-level wizard class feat, and you add one 1strank spell of your choice to your spellbook to represent your diverse studies.
Your studies into the very nature of magic itself have let you use it more efficiently—instead of using Drain Bonded Item only once per day, you can use it once per day for each rank of spell you can cast, recalling a spell of that rank each time.

Study Spells initial: hand of the apprentice; advanced: interdisciplinary incantation

Veiled One

Veiled ones are wizards who have joined the secretive network of preservers known as the Veiled Alliance. In the Alliance they find a safe haven and gain access to magical resources otherwise unavailable. In return they devote themselves to the causes of the Alliance.

The Alliance is the enemy of the sorcerer-kings and all defilers, although the various Alliance chapters have different approaches and varying degree of success. Missions Veiled Ones undertake range from assaults on defilers and templars and rescuing imprisoned preservers to obtaining rare spell components and arcane items. Other missions revolve around breaking into templar offices to find compromising information, and hunting down renegade members who pose a threat to the organization. Alliance wizards benefit from archives of spells and arcane knowledge, but once they join the Alliance there is usually no way out except through death. This is due to well-founded paranoia that the wizard could betray the Alliance, or be captured by agents of the sorcerer-kings.

Curriculum cantrips: detect magic, telekinetic hand; 1st: charm, command, disguise magic, illusory disguise; 2nd: embed message, humanoid form; 3rd: blindness, veil of privacy; 4th: detect scrying, peaceful bubble; 5th: false vision, subconscious suggestion; 6th: mislead, scrying; 7th: contingency, warp mind; 8th: hidden mind, unrelenting observation; 9th: implosion

Study Spells initial: ancestral memories; advanced: extend spell

Wizard Feats

At each level that you gain a wizard feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before taking the feat.

1st Level

Agonizing Radius
FEAT 2

Your defiling techniques are extremely painful. Any creature in the area of the defiling that fails its Fortitude save increases the sickened value by 1.

Controlled Raze
FEAT 2

You have learned to draw energy from further away. Your defiling radius increases by 5 feet. .

If you are in an area of desolate terrain but barren, verdant, or forest is within 10 feet you expand your defiling radius by 5 feet to gather the energy you need.

Defiling Conservation
FEAT 4

once per minute

defiled on the previous round

You focus on the energy gathered by defiling. By carefully manipulating the arcane energies gathered during defiling, you conserve enough power to cast another spell. During your turn, you gain the ability to cast one spell you prepared today, without spending a spell slot. You must still Cast the Spell and meet the spell’s other requirements.

Destructive Raze
FEAT 4

You can focus the energy you absorb from plants to increase the damage your spells inflict. Add +1 to damage per damage die inflicted by spells when defiling.

Distance Raze
FEAT 6

You can gather energy for spells at a distance. You can move the center of your defiling circle up to 5 feet per caster level, in effect moving the entire circle of defiling.

Efficient Raze
FEAT 10

You can gather energy more efficiently, utilizing the maximum energy potential of a given terrain. Treat the terrain you gather energy in as one category better when you defile. This feat has no effect in the Obsidian Plains.

Master Defiler
FEAT 14

You have mastered the art of defiling and have learned how to fully utilize the energy gathered during defiling. Spells cast in the same round you defile are heightened by one rank. Your defiling radius increases by 5ft.

Superior Defiling
FEAT 16

Defiling Conservation

You have learned to use defiling effectively. You are able to use Defiling Conservation once per round.

Animal Companions and Familiars

Some adventurers travel with loyal allies known as animal companions and familiars. The former begin as young animals but acquire impressive physical abilities as you level up, while the latter share a magical bond with you.

Animal Companions

An animal companion is a loyal comrade who follows your orders. Your animal companion has the animal and minion traits, and it gains 2 actions during your turn if you use the Command an Animal action to command it; this replaces the usual effects of Command an Animal, and you don’t need to attempt a Nature check. If your companion dies, you can spend a week of downtime to replace it at no cost. You can have only one animal companion at a time.

Young Animal Companions

The following are the base statistics for a young animal companion, the first animal companion most characters get. You adjust these statistics depending on the type of animal you choose. Animal companions calculate their modifiers and DCs just as you do with one difference: the only item bonuses they can benefit from are to Speed and AC (their maximum item bonus to AC is +3). As you gain levels, you might be able to make your companion stronger by advancing.

An animal companion’s starting statistics are as follows.

Level: Your animal companion’s level is equal to yours.

Proficiencies: Your animal companion is trained in its unarmed attacks, unarmored defense, barding (a type of armor for animals), all saving throws, Perception, Acrobatics, and Athletics. Animal companions can’t use abilities that require greater Intelligence, such as Coerce or Decipher Writing, even if trained in the appropriate skill, unless they have a specialization that allows it.

Attribute Modifiers: An animal companion begins with base attribute modifiers listed in its stat block.

Hit Points: Your animal companion has ancestry Hit Points from its type, plus a number of Hit Points equal to 6 plus its Constitution modifier for each level you have.

Companion Types

The species of animal you choose is called your companion’s type. Each companion type has its own statistics, as follows.
Size The companion’s size
Unarmed Attacks One or more entries with the companion’s

unarmed attacks and their traits and damage
Attribute Modifiers Starting attribute modifiers
Hit Points The companion’s ancestry Hit Points
Skill An additional trained skill your companion has
Senses Special senses your companion has
Speed Your companion’s Speeds
Special If present, this lists any special ability your

companion has, such as whether it often serves as a

mount.
Support Benefit A special benefit you gain by Commanding

the Animal to use the Support action (see below).
Advanced Maneuver A powerful new action your

companion learns how to use if it becomes a nimble or

savage animal companion

Support

The creature is an animal companion.

Your animal companion supports you. You gain the benefits listed in the companion type’s Support Benefit entry. If the animal uses the Support action, the only other actions it can use on this turn are basic move actions to get into position to take advantage of the Support benefits; if it has already used any other action this turn, it can’t Support you.

Riding Animal Companions

You or an ally can ride your animal companion as long as it is at least one size larger than the rider. If it is carrying a rider, the animal companion can use only its land Speed, and it can’t move and Support you on the same turn. However, if your companion has the mount special ability, it’s especially suited for riding and ignores both of these restrictions.

Air Elemental

Your companion is an air elemental, such as a zephyr hawk.

Small

gust (finesse) 1d6 bludgeoning

+1 +2 +1 -4 +1 +1

Stealth

darkvision

fly 50 feet

Your air elemental swirls around you with concealing gusts, making it harder for your foes to hit you and possibly giving you a moment to hide. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit with a Strike and deal damage to a creature in your air elemental's reach, you are concealed to that creature until the start of your next turn.

Circling Flyby

Your air elemental flies in a circle, blowing gusts at your foes before returning back to its starting position. The air elemental Flies up to half its Speed, makes two gust Strikes, then Flies up to half its Speed again to return to its original location. Both attacks count toward the air elemental's multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn't increase until after it makes both attacks..

Ape

Your companion is an ape or Feylaar: A lumbering, four-armed ape with a pronounced bony plate over its forehead, this creature stands a foot taller than a full elf and ripples with muscles beneath its furry hide. Long quills run the length of its spine, with an extra pair flaring backwards from the creature’s cheekbones and you see broad yellow fangs in the beast’s wide mouth. Its fur is brown, with amber highlights, the flesh of its face and bare chest is a dull grey and the quills are a glossy black.

Medium

fist 1d8 bludgeoning

+3 +1 +2 -4 +2 +0

Intimidation

low-light vision

25 feet, climb 25 feet

Your ape threatens your foes with menacing growls. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit and deal damage to a creature in your ape's reach, the creature becomes frightened 1.

Frightening Display

Your ape makes a loud and frightening display, throwing a foe off balance. The ape attempts to Demoralize the target creature; this display gains the visual trait and doesn’t require language. While frightened by this ability, the target is off-guard to your ape.

Aprig, Boar

Your companion is an Aprig Boar. A small, piglike creature with a hard shell and a flat, snuffling snout, this timid beast noses about the undergrowth for food along with its herd-mates.

Medium

tusk 1d8 piercing

+3 +1 +2 -4 +2 +0

Survival

low-light vision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet

35 feet

Your aprig boar gores your foes. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your boar’s reach also deal 1d6 persistent bleed damage. If your boar is nimble or savage, the persistent bleed damage increases to 2d6.

Boar Charge

The aprig boar Strides twice in a straight line and then makes a tusk Strike. As long as it moved at least 20 feet, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus to its attack roll.

Baazrag

Your companion is a baazrag. Two feet long or less, it is one of the smallest omnivores in the stony barren regions. The baazrag’ s face is protected by a bony covering that reaches down on either side of the head and across the nose, with holes for the creature’s nostrils and eyes. The mouth and lower jaw are not protected below the bony covering. The beast’s humped back is covered with a hard, natural armor that protects the animal, especially the fluid storage sack just beneath the shell. Its four legs are comparatively frail but are adequate for darting from shelter to shelter around its rocky home.

Small

jaws 1d8 piercing

+2 +2 +2 -4 +2 +0

Survival

low-light vision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet

35 feet

Your baazrag digs around your foe’s position, interfering with its footing. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit and deal damage to a creature your baazrag threatens, the target can’t use a Step action (unless it can Step through difficult terrain) until it moves from its current position.

Baazrag Rage

The baazrag isn’t fatigued or raging.

The baazrag enters a state of pure rage that lasts for 1 minute, until there are no enemies it can perceive, or until it falls unconscious, whichever comes first. It can’t voluntarily stop raging. While raging, the baazrag is affected in the following ways.

It deals 4 additional damage with its bite attacks and 2 additional damage with its claw attacks.
It takes a –1 penalty to AC.
It can’t use actions that have the concentrate trait unless they also have the rage trait. The animal companion can Seek even while raging.

After it has stopped raging, it can’t use Baazrag Rage again for 1 minute.

Bat

Your companion is a particularly large bat, such as a giant bat.

Small

jaws 1d6 piercing

wing (agile, finesse) 1d4 slashing

+2 +3 +2 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

echolocation 20 feet (the bat can use hearing as a precise sense within this range), low-light vision

15 feet, fly 30 feet

Your bat flaps around your foes' arms and faces, getting in the way of their attacks. Until the start of your next turn, creatures in your bat's reach that you damage with Strikes take a –1 circumstance penalty to their attack rolls.

Wing Thrash

The bat thrashes wildly with its wings, making wing Strikes against up to three adjacent foes. Each attack counts toward the bat's multiple attack penalty, but the penalty only increases after all the attacks have been made.

Beetle, Screamer

Your companion is a hard-shelled, larger-than-normal insect that has a multicolored shell and can let out an ear-piercing screech.

Medium

mandible 1d8 piercing

+3 +1 +3 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision

25 feet

Your beetle stomps around and smashes into foes, knocking them off balance or pushing them aside when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that deal damage to a creature within your Screamer Beetle's reach make the target off-guard until the end of your next turn.

Sonic Blast

The screamer beetle emits a sonic blast in a 30-foot cone of sound, dealing 1d6 sonic damage for every 2 levels the screamer beetle has to all creatures in the area (basic Reflex save). This uses a trained DC using the screamer beetle's Constitution modifier or an expert DC if the screamer beetle is specialized.

Bird

Your companion is a bird of prey, such as an eagle, hawk, or owl.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d6 piercing

talon (agile, finesse) 1d4 slashing

+2 +3 +1 -4 +2 +0

Stealth

low-light vision

10 feet, fly 60 feet

The bird pecks at your foes’ eyes when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature that your bird threatens also deal 1d4 persistent bleed damage, and the target is dazzled until it removes the bleed damage. If your bird is nimble or savage, the persistent bleed damage increases to 2d4.

Flyby Attack

The bird Flies and makes a talon Strike at any point along the way.

Cat

Your companion is a big cat, such as a kirre, panther, or tigone.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d6 piercing

talon (agile, finesse) 1d4 slashing

+2 +3 +1 -4 +2 +0

Stealth

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

35 feet

Your cat deals 1d4 extra precision damage against off-guard targets.

Your cat throws your enemies off-balance when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that deal damage to a creature within your cat's reach make the target off-guard until the end of your next turn.

Cat Pounce

The cat Strides and then Strikes. If it was undetected at the start of its Cat Pounce, it remains undetected until after the attack.

Conashellae

Your companion is a conashellae, a tiny crustacean with a hard shell covering its top and a soft underbelly.

Two rows of pseudopods jut out from the creature’s front, one set dexterous and probing the dust like sensory organs, the other hard as bone, pointed, and strong, used for burrowing.

Small

pseudopod (agile) 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +1 +2 -4 +2 +0

Stealth

low-light vision

25 feet, burrow 10 feet

Your conashellae moves its pseudopod in the way of enemy attacks. You gain lesser cover from your conashellae against all attacks, not just ones where the conashellae would be in the way.

Extend Pseudopod

Your conashellae lengthens itself, granting its pseudopod Strike a reach of 10 feet until the beginning of your next turn.

Crodlu

Your companion is a crodlu, a large, flightless combination of bird and reptile resembling an ostrich. It has wicked claws at the end of its long fore and hind limbs, and its scaly hide is a yellowish red, with similar colors along its side and underbelly.

Large

beak 1d8 piercing

talon (agile) 1d6 slashing

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision

40 feet

mount

Your crodlu screeches at your enemies when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that deal damage to a creature within your crodlu’ s reach make the target off-guard until the start of your next turn.

Tearing Clutch

The crodlu makes a beak Strike; on a successful hit, the target takes 2d6 persistent bleed damage.

Dagorran

Your companion is a dagorran, a large, frog-like monsters with a gold-colored hide.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d8 piercing

+2 +3 +2 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

40 feet

Your dagorran tears tendons with each opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage creatures your dagorran threatens give the target a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds for 1 minute (–10 on a critical success).

Knockdown

The animal companion’s last action was a successful jaws Strike.

The dagorran automatically knocks the target of its jaws Strike prone.

Drik

Your companion is a drik, a large giant lizard, used as mounts and pack animals.

Large

jaws 1d8 piercing

foot 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +1 +3 -4 +1 +0

Athletics

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

25 feet

mount

Your drik assists you in battle. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus on your next attack roll to Strike a foe within your drik's reach. The bonus lasts until the first time you use it or until the beginning of your next turn, whichever comes first.

Lurching Rush

The drik Strides and then makes a jaws Strike. If it moved at least 15 feet away from its starting position, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus to this attack roll.

Dunecrab

Your companion is a dunecrab. A five-foot-diameter crab, its ridge covered shell blending in perfectly with the surrounding sand and dust. The crab’s four eyestalks angle about, looking for prey to mash with its barbed pincers.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d6 piercing

pincer (agile) 1d6 slashing

+3 +3 +1 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

darkvision

30 feet

Your dunecrab holds your enemies with its pincers, interfering with reactions. Until the start of your next turn, any creature your dune crab threatens can’t use reactions triggered by your actions unless its level is higher than yours.

Constrict

The dunecrab has a smaller creature grabbed.

The dunecrab deals 12 bludgeoning damage to the grabbed creature; the creature must attempt a basic Fortitude save. If the dunecrab is a specialized animal companion, increase this damage to 20.

Earth Elemental

Your companion is an earth elemental, such as a living boulder or sod hound.

Small

fist 1d8 bludgeoning

+2 +0 +3 -4 +1 +0

Survival

darkvision

20 feet, burrow 10 feet

Your earth elemental cracks the earth beneath your foe's feet, making it difficult for the foe to move. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit with a Strike and deal damage to a creature in your earth elemental's reach, the first square the creature moves into after taking that damage is difficult terrain.

Rolling Knockdown

Your earth elemental rolls along the ground like a bowling ball and knocks a foe over. It Strides up to 10 feet then makes a fist Strike. If it hits, the target is also knocked prone.

Erdlu

Your companion is an erdlu. A tall, flightless bird with heavy scales or rough feathers, this creature is as tall as an elf. It has a long neck, large beak and stands on two tough, sinewy legs.

Medium

jaws 1d8 piercing

talon (agile) 1d6 slashing

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

low-light vision

40 feet

Your erdlu constantly darts into flanking position. Until the start of your next turn, it counts as being in its space or an empty space of your choice within 10 feet when determining whether you and your companion are flanking; you can choose a different space for each of your attacks.

Darting Attack

The erdlu Steps up to 10 feet and then Strikes or Strikes and then Steps up to 10 feet.

Fire Elemental

Your companion is a fire elemental, such as a cinder rat.

Small

tendril (agile, finesse) 1d6 fire

+2 +2 +1 -4 +1 +0

Intimidation

darkvision

25 feet

Immunities fire, Weaknesses cold and water (equal to the fire elemental's level)

Your fire elemental burns your foes and sets them on fire. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your fire elemental's reach also deal 1d6 persistent fire damage. If your fire elemental is nimble or savage, the persistent fire damage increases to 2d6.

Flamethrower

Once per 10 minutes.

The fire elemental makes a tendril Strike against all creatures in a 60-foot line, even those that aren't in the tendril Strike's reach. All these Strikes count toward the fire elemental's multiple attack penalty, but it doesn't increase until all the Strikes.

Giant Centipede

Your companion is one of the various species of giant centipede.

Small

mandibles 1d6 piercing plus poison

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

darkvision

30 feet

The centipede's jaws attack deals an additional 1d4 poison damage or 2d4 poison damage if the giant centipede is a specialized companion.

Your giant centipede drips poison from its mandibles when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your giant centipede's reach also deal 1d6 persistent poison damage. If your giant centipede is nimble or savage, the persistent poison damage increases to 2d6.

Lurching Rush

The giant centipede Strides and then makes a mandibles Strike. If it moved at least 20 feet away from its starting position, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus to this attack roll.

Giant Poisonous Snake

Your companion is one of the various species of giant poisonous snakes.

Small

fangs (finesse) 1d6 piercing plus poison

+3 +3 +1 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

20 feet, climb 20 feet, swim 20 feet

The giant poisonous snake attack deals an additional 1d4 poison damage or 2d4 poison damage if the giant poisonous snake is a specialized companion.

Your giant poisonous snake drips poison from its fangs when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your giant poisonous snake's reach also deal 1d6 persistent poison damage. If your giant poisonous snake is nimble or savage, the persistent poison damage increases to 2d6.

Darting Attack

The giant poisonous snake Steps up to 10 feet and then Strikes or Strikes and then Steps up to 10 feet.

Giant Wolf Spider

Your companion is one of the various species of giant wolf spiders.

Small

fangs (finesse) 1d6 piercing plus poison

+3 +3 +1 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

darkvision

20 feet, climb 20 feet

The giant wolf spider attack deals an additional 1d4 poison damage or 2d4 poison damage if the giant wolf spider is a specialized companion.

Your giant wolf spider drips poison from its fangs when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your giant poisonous snake's reach also deal 1d6 persistent poison damage. If your giant poisonous snake is nimble or savage, the persistent poison damage increases to 2d6.

Tearing Attack

Tearing Bite

The giant wolf spider makes a fangs Strike; on a successful hit, the target takes 2d6 persistent bleed damage.

Hatori

Your companion is a hatori, a crocodile of the sands.

Medium

jaws 1d8 piercing

tail (finesse) 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

low-light vision

25 feet, burrow 10 feet

The hatori can hold its breath for about 2 hours.

Your hatori clamps its jaws on your foe, refusing to let go. Until the start of your next turn, if your Strike damages a creature in your hatori’ s reach, your hatori can latch onto the creature. While thus attached, the hatori can move along with the target whenever the target moves until the end of your next turn. Your hatori can latch onto only one creature in this way, and it must release the creature to make a jaws Strike. If the target is smaller than the hatori, it takes a –10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds and can't Fly while the hatori is latched on.

Death Roll

The hatori has a creature grabbed.

The hatori tucks its legs and rolls rapidly, twisting its victim. It makes a jaws Strike with a +2 circumstance bonus to the attack roll against the grabbed creature. If it hits, it also knocks the creature prone. If it misses, it releases the creature.

Inix

Your companion is a large lizard that is protected by a thick shell, and flexible scales on its underside.

Large

jaws 1d8 piercing

tail (finesse) 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet

30 feet

mount

The inix distracts an adjacent opponent with snapping jaws and rapid movements. Until the start of your next turn, if your Strike damages a foe, any time the foe attempts an action with the manipulate trait until the end of your next turn, it must attempt a DC 5 flat check. On a failure, the action is disrupted.

Lurching Rush

The inix Strides and then makes a jaws Strike. If it moved at least 20 feet away from its starting position, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus to this attack roll.

Jankz

Your companion is a Jankz, a small, furry, mammalian animal with long curved spurs on its limbs.

Small

claw (agile, finesse) 1d6 slashing plus poison

+2 +3 +1 -4 +2 +0

Stealth

low-light vision

25 feet, burrow 10 feet

The jankz attack deals an additional 1d4 poison damage or 2d4 poison damage if the jankz is a specialized companion.

Your jankz drips poison from its claws when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your jankz’ s reach also deal 1d6 persistent poison damage. If your jankz is nimble or savage, the persistent poison damage increases to 2d6.

Hustle

The jankz moves at incredible speed. It Strides three times.

Jhakar

Your companion is a jhakar, This creature is squat and leathery, dull in color except for the garish frill rising from its back. Its eyes are wide set on either side of a large maw filled with a wall of teeth.

Small

jaws 1d8 piercing

+3 +2 +1 -4 +2 +0

Survival

low-light vision, scent (imprecise 30 feet)

30 feet

Your jhakar tears tendons with each opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage creatures your jhakar threatens give the target a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds for 1 minute (–10 on a critical success).

Knockdown

The animal companion’s last action was a successful jaws Strike.

The jhakar automatically knocks the target of its jaws Strike prone.

Kank

Your companion is a Kank, a large insect often used as mounts.

Large

mandible 1d8 piercing

foot (agile) 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +1 +3 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision

35 feet

mount

Your kank stomps around and smashes into foes, knocking them off balance or pushing them aside when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, while riding on your kank, your Strikes that deal damage either make the target off-guard until the end of your next turn or move the target 5 feet away from the kank (this is forced movement). The target chooses which effect occurs.

Hustle

The kank moves at incredible speed. It Strides three times.

Kes'trekel

Your companion is a kes’trekel, a large scavenging bird.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d8 piercing

+2 +2 +2 -4 +2 +0

Survival

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

10 feet, fly 45 feet

Your kes'trekel gains a +1 status bonus to all saves against disease, and if it rolls a success on a save against a disease, the result is a critical success instead.

The kes'trekel retches and vomits onto a foe within 10 feet. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit and deal damage to the target, the target must succeed at a Fortitude save or become sickened 1 (sickened 2 on a critical failure). The DC of the Fortitude save is 12 (or 14, if the kes'trekel is a specialized animal companion) + your level + the kes’trekel’ s Constitution modifier.

Feast on the Fallen

once per hour

A creature adjacent to the kes'trekel is reduced to 0 Hit Points

The kes'trekel consumes a piece of the defeated foe, regaining 18 Hit Points. If the kes'trekel is a specialized animal companion, increase the Hit Points regained to 30.

Klar

Your companion is a klar, a large bear covered with chitinous plate on its back.

Medium

jaws 1d8 piercing

claw (agile) 1d6 slashing

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Intimidation

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

35 feet

Your klar mauls your enemies when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, each time you hit a creature in the klar’ s reach with a Strike, the creature takes 1d8 slashing damage from the klar. If your klar is nimble or savage, the slashing damage increases to 2d8.

Klar Hug

The klar’ s last action was a successful claw Strike.

The klar makes another claw Strike against the same target. If this Strike hits, the target is also grabbed, as if the klar had successfully Grappled the target.

Mekillot

Your companion is a mekillot, a huge lizard with a thick shell covering its head and back.

Large

jaws 1d8 piercing

foot 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +1 +3 -4 +1 +0

Intimidation

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

25 feet

mount

Your mekillot roars and puts on a fearsome display as you attack, startling your foes. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit and deal damage to a creature within your mekillot’ s reach, the creature is frightened 1.

Overwhelm

The mekillot bears down on an enemy and pins it with its jaws. The mekillot makes a jaws Strike; on a hit, the target is grabbed.

Minotaur Lizard

Your companion is a minotaur lizard, a huge lizard with horns on top of its head.

Large

jaws 1d8 piercing

claw (agile) 1d6 slashing

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision

30 feet

The minotaur lizard distracts an adjacent opponent with snapping jaws and rapid movements. Until the start of your next turn, if your Strike damages a foe, any time the foe attempts an action with the manipulate trait until the end of your next turn, it must attempt a DC 5 flat check. On a failure, the action is disrupted.

Lurching Rush

The minotaur lizard Strides and then makes a jaws Strike. If it moved at least 20 feet away from its starting position, it gains a +2 circumstance bonus to this attack roll.

Mole Boar

Your companion is a mole boar, a cross between a weasel and a boar.

Small

jaws 1d8 piercing

claw (agile) 1d6 slashing

+2 +2 +2 -4 +2 +0

Survival

low-light vision

25 feet, burrow 10 feet, climb 10 feet

Your mole boar digs around your foe’s position, interfering with its footing. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit and deal damage to a creature your mole boar threatens, the target can’t use a Step action (unless it can Step through difficult terrain) until it moves from its current position.

Mole Boar Rage

The mole boar enters a state of pure rage that lasts for 1 minute, until there are no enemies it can perceive, or until it falls unconscious, whichever comes first. It can’t voluntarily stop raging. While raging, the mole boar is affected in the following ways.

It deals 4 additional damage with its bite attacks and 2 additional damage with its claw attacks.
It takes a –1 penalty to AC.
It can’t use actions that have the concentrate trait unless they also have the rage trait. The animal companion can Seek even while raging.

After it has stopped raging, it can’t use Mole Boar Rage again for 1 minute.

Pterrax

Your companion is a pterrax, a large pteranodon-like creatures which are capable of flight.

Medium

beak (finesse) 1d6 piercing

talon (agile, finesse) 1d4 slashing

+2 +3 +1 -4 +2 +0

Survival

darkvision

10 feet, fly 60 feet

Your pterrax expands its wings and makes distracting flapping motions. Any creature that would gain lesser cover from the pterosaur gains standard cover instead.

Pterrax Swoop

The pterrax Flies up to its Speed and makes one beak Strike at any point during that movement.

Rasclinn

Your companion is a rasclinn, a small dog-like creature with an almost metallic hide.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d8 piercing

+2 +3 +2 -4 +1 +0

Survival

low-light vision

40 feet

Your rasclinn gains a +1 status bonus to all saves against poison, and if it rolls a success on a save against a poison, the result is a critical success instead.

Your rasclinn tears tendons with each opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage creatures your rasclinn threatens give the target a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds for 1 minute (–10 on a critical success).

Rasclinn Rage

The rasclinn enters a state of pure rage that lasts for 1 minute, until there are no enemies it can perceive, or until it falls unconscious, whichever comes first. It can’t voluntarily stop raging. While raging, the rasclinn is affected in the following ways.

It deals 4 additional damage with its jaws attacks.
It takes a –1 penalty to AC.
It can’t use actions that have the concentrate trait unless they also have the rage trait. The animal companion can Seek even while raging.

After it has stopped raging, it can’t use Rasclinn Rage again for 1 minute.

Rhynox

Your companion is a rhynox a large muscular quadruped with three large horns used for combat.

Medium

horn 1d8 piercing

+3 +1 +3 -4 +1 +0

Survival

Normal

30 feet

Your rhynox swings its heavy head to unbalance your enemy. The first creature within your rhynox’ s reach that you hit and deal damage to before the start of your next turn becomes clumsy 1 until the end of your next turn.

Rhynox Charge

The rhynox Strides and makes a horn Strike at the end of its Stride. As long as the rhynox moved at least 20 feet, the horn Strike deals 1d8 additional piercing damage, or 2d8 additional damage if your rhynox is nimble or savage.

Sand Shark

Your companion is a sand shark, a shark that swims in sand.

Medium

jaws 1d8 piercing

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

tremorsense (imprecise, 30 feet), scent (imprecise, 60 feet)

10 feet, burrow 30 feet

When your land shark senses blood, it tears into your enemies. Until the start of your next turn, each time you hit a creature in the land shark's reach with a Strike and deal slashing or piercing damage, the creature takes 1d8 slashing damage from the land shark. If your land shark is nimble or savage, the slashing damage increases to 2d8.

Shred

The land shark hit with a jaws Strike on its most recent action this turn.

The land shark viciously rips into the wound, dealing additional damage. The target of the land shark's Strike takes 1d8 slashing damage (2d8 for a mature land shark or 3d8 for a specialized companion).

Scorpion

Your companion is one of the various species of giant scorpion.

Small

stinger 1d6 piercing plus poison

pincer (agile) 1d6 slashing

+3 +3 +1 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

darkvision

30 feet

The scorpion's stinger attack deals an additional 1d4 poison damage or 2d4 poison damage if the scorpion is a specialized companion.

Your scorpion drips poison from its stinger when you create an opening. Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that damage a creature in your scorpion's reach also deal 1d6 persistent poison damage. If your scorpion is nimble or savage, the persistent poison damage increases to 2d6.

Grab and Sting

The scorpion holds its foe in place with its pincers in order to sting it. It makes a pincer Strike. If the Strike hits, the target creature automatically becomes grabbed by the scorpion, which then makes a stinger Strike against it. The grabbed condition lasts until the end of your next turn.

Shadow Hound

Your companion is a canine creature related to the Black denizens known as shadow mastiffs.

You're a shadow wizard

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d8 piercing

+2 +3 +1 -4 +1 +1

Intimidation

darkvision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet

30 feet

Your shadow hound shrouds your foes in shadow when you leave an opening. Until the start of your next turn, when you damage a creature with a Strike and that creature is within reach of your shadow hound, both you and your shadow hound become concealed to the creature until the end of your next turn.

Bay

The shadow hound releases an eerie bay, attempting to Demoralize each foe in a 20-foot emanation. These Demoralize attempts don't require a language and don't take any penalty due to not sharing a language.

Slimahacc

Slimahaccs are a sinuous species of reptile with uncertain heritage. They are also sometimes known as sand drakes, but it is unknown if they are truly related to drakes or are instead some sort of native reptilian or worm offshoot. They roam the deserts, using stealth and speed to overrun and devour their prey.

Large

jaws 1d8 piercing

tail 1d6 bludgeoning

+3 +2 +2 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

low-light vision, tremorsense (imprecise) 30 feet

25 feet, burrow 10 feet

mount

Your slimahacc holds your enemies with its coils, interfering with reactions. Until the start of your next turn, any creature your slimahacc threatens can’t use reactions triggered by your actions unless its level is higher than yours.

Tail Swipe

Your slimahacc sweeps its tail, making tail Strikes against up to two adjacent foes. Each attack counts toward the slimahacc's multiple attack penalty, but the penalty only increases after all the attacks have been made.

Snake

Your companion is a constrictor snake, such as a boa or python.

Small

jaws (finesse) 1d8 piercing

+3 +3 +1 -4 +1 +0

Stealth

low-light vision, scent (imprecise, 30 feet)

20 feet, climb 20 feet, swim 20 feet

Your snake holds your enemies with its coils, interfering with reactions. Until the start of your next turn, any creature your snake threatens can’t use reactions triggered by your actions unless its level is higher than yours.

Constrict

The snake has a smaller creature grabbed.

The snake deals 12 bludgeoning damage to the grabbed creature; the creature must attempt a basic Fortitude save. If the snake is a specialized animal companion, increase this damage to 20.

Treant Sapling

Your companion is a walking tree, a cousin of the great athasian treants. A treant sapling has the plant trait instead of the animal trait, but it otherwise functions normally as an animal companion. They are typically only selected by animal order druids who are also members of the leaf order.

Small

branch 1d8 bludgeoning

+3 +1 +2 -4 +2 +0

Stealth

low-light vision

25 feet

Your treant sapling plants roots around your foe, impeding its movement. Until the start of your next turn, if you hit and deal damage to a creature in your treant sapling's reach, the first square the creature moves into after taking that damage is difficult terrain.

Throw Rock

The treant sapling Interacts to pick up a rock within reach or retrieve a stowed rock, then throws it with a ranged rock Strike that deals a base of 1d6 bludgeoning damage with a range increment of 30 feet. The damage is 2d6 for a mature arboreal sapling and 3d6 for a specialized one.

You can advance an animal companion, usually due to one of your class feat choices. Normally, you can advance a young animal companion to a mature animal companion, advance a mature companion to either a nimble or savage companion, and advance a nimble or savage companion into a specialized companion.

Genie-Touched

If you take a feat that would normally allow you to choose to have a savage or nimble animal companion, you can instead choose to for it to become a genie-touched companion.

When you choose the feat, select the type of genie whose power infuses your companion. The genies and their elemental traits are as follows: jaathoomi (air), ifrit (fire), faydhaan (water), or jabali (earth). A genie-touched companion increases its Wisdom modifier by 2 and its Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution modifiers by 1. It deals 3 additional damage with its unarmed attacks; this damage is fire damage for an ifrit-touched companion or of the same type as the unarmed attack for the others. It gains resistance 5 to damage of a type depending on the genie: acid for jaathoomi, fire for ifrit or faydhaan, and electricity for jabali. If the companion is jaathoomi-touched or ifrit-touched, increase its proficiency rank in Acrobatics to expert; if it is faydhaan-touched or jabali-touched, increase its proficiency rank in Athletics to expert. It also learns the advanced maneuver for its type. Its attacks count as magical for the purpose of ignoring resistances and gain the genie's elemental trait.

Indomitable

When you pick your animal companion, you can choose to have it be a megafauna animal companion. Megafauna animal companions are mostly similar to other animal companions of the same category, though they look different, and they have one difference in their upgrade path.

If you take a feat that would normally allow you to choose to have your companion become a savage or nimble animal companion, a megafauna companion instead can choose to become a savage or indomitable companion.

An indomitable companion increases its Constitution modifier by 2 and its Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom modifiers by 1. It deals 3 additional damage with its unarmed attacks. Increase its proficiency rank in Athletics to expert and its proficiency rank in barding to expert. It also learns the advanced maneuver for its type. If your companion is Medium or smaller, it grows in size by one category. Its attacks count as magical for the purpose of ignoring resistances.

Mature Animal Companions

To advance a young animal companion to a mature animal companion (usually a result of one of your class feat choices), increase its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom modifiers by 1.

Increase its unarmed attack damage from one die to two dice (for instance 1d8 to 2d8), and its proficiency rank for Perception and all saving throws to expert. Increase its proficiency ranks in Intimidation, Stealth, and Survival to trained, and if it was already trained in one of those skills from its type, increase its proficiency rank in that skill to expert. If your attack companion is Medium or smaller, it grows by one size.

Nimble Animal Companions

To advance a mature animal companion to a nimble animal companion, increase its Dexterity modifier by 2 and its Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom modifiers by 1.

It deals 2 additional damage with its unarmed attacks. Increase its proficiency ranks in Acrobatics to expert. It also learns the advanced maneuver for its type. Its attacks become magical for the purpose of ignoring resistances.

Savage Animal Companions

To advance a mature animal companion to a savage animal companion, increase its Strength modifier by 2 and its Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom modifiers by 1. It deals 3 additional damage with its unarmed attacks. Increase its proficiency rank in Athletics to expert. It also learns the advanced maneuver for its type. If your companion is Medium or smaller, it grows by one size. Its attacks become magical for the purpose of ignoring resistances.

Unseen

Cryptid animal companions look a touch peculiar, often with uncanny features or ones that seem to come from a different animal. If you take a feat that would normally allow you to choose to have your companion become a savage or nimble animal companion, you can choose to make it an unseen animal companion instead. An unseen companion increases its Wisdom modifier by 2 and its Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution modifiers by 1.

It deals 3 additional damage with its unarmed attacks and deals an extra 1d4 precision damage against off-guard targets (if the animal companion already deals precision damage, such as a cat, combine the precision damage). Increase its proficiency rank in Stealth to expert. It also learns the advanced maneuver for its type.

Specialized Animal Companions

Specialized animal companions are more intelligent and engage in more complex behaviors. The first time an animal gains a specialization, it gains the following: Its proficiency rank for unarmed attacks increases to expert. Its proficiency ranks for saving throws and Perception increase to master. Increase its Dexterity modifier by 1 and its Intelligence modifier by 2. Its unarmed attack damage increases from two dice to three dice, and it increases its additional damage with unarmed attacks from 2 to 4 or from 3 to 6. Each specialization grants additional benefits. Most animal companions can have only one specialization.

Ambusher: In your companion’s natural environment, it can use a Sneak action even if it’s currently observed. Its proficiency rank in Stealth increases to expert (or master if it was already an expert from its type), and its Dexterity modifier increases by 1. Its proficiency rank for unarmored defense increases to expert.

Bully: Your companion terrorizes foes with dominance displays and pushes them around the battlefield.

Its proficiency ranks for Athletics and Intimidation increase to expert (or master if it was already expert from its type), its Strength modifier increases by 1, and its Charisma modifier increases by 3

Daredevil: Your companion joins the fray with graceful leaps and dives. It gains the deny advantage ability, so it isn’t flat footed to hidden, undetected, or flanking creatures unless such a creature’s level is greater than yours. Its proficiency rank in Acrobatics increases to master, and its Dexterity modifier increases by 1. Its proficiency rank in unarmored defense increases to expert.

Racer: Your companion races. It gains a +10-foot status bonus to its Speed, swim Speed, or fly Speed (your choice). Its proficiency in Fortitude saves increases to legendary, and its Constitution modifier increases by 1.

Shade: (shadow wizard) Your companion's physical form is made, in whole or in part, of shadow. It gains darkvision, resistance 5 to all damage except force, and in areas of dim light or darkness, it can Step 10 feet instead of 5 feet. Its proficiency rank in unarmored defense increases to expert.

Steadfast Strider: Your companion ignores natural difficult terrain and greater difficult terrain from sediment or stone and can move across quicksand, mud, sand, and similar surfaces as if they were solid. It gains a +2 status bonus to saving throws and DCs to prevent being Shoved or Tripped. Its Strength modifier increases by 1 and its proficiency for barding increases to expert. This specialization can only be selected by jabali-touched companions.

Tracker: Your companion is an incredible tracker. It can move at full Speed while following tracks. Its proficiency rank in Survival increases to expert (or master if it was already an expert from its type), and its Wisdom modifier increases by 1.

Wildfire Scorcher: Your companion gains resistance to fire equal to your level. Any creature that attempts to Grapple or Grab your companion, hits your companion with a melee unarmed attack, or hits your companion with a melee weapon Strike while adjacent to your companion takes 2d6 fire damage. Its Dexterity modifier increases by 1 and its proficiency rank increases to legendary for Reflex saves and to expert for unarmored defense. This specialization can only be selected by ifrit-touched companions.

Wind Chaser: Your companion gains a +20-foot status bonus to its Speed or fly Speed (your choice if it has both). Its proficiency in Acrobatics increases to master and its Dexterity modifier increases by 1. Its proficiency rank increases to legendary for Reflex saves and to expert for unarmored defense. This specialization can only be selected by jaathoomi-touched companions.

Wrecker: Your companion smashes things. Its unarmed attacks ignore half an object’s Hardness. Its Athletics proficiency increases to master, and its Strength modifier increases by 1.

Familiars

Familiars are mystically bonded creatures tied to your magic. Most familiars were originally animals, though the ritual of becoming a familiar makes them something more. You gain the Pet general feat (page 259), except that your pet has special abilities. Common choices for familiars include bats, cats, foxes, ravens, and snakes. Some familiars are different, usually described in the ability that granted you a familiar; for example, a druid’s leshy familiar has the plant or fungus trait instead of animal. A familiar is different from a basic pet in the following ways

Modifiers and AC

For Perception, Acrobatics, and Stealth, you can have your familiar use your spellcasting attribute modifier + your level instead of 3 + your level if it’s higher.

Communication

Your familiar can communicate empathically with you as long as it’s within 1 mile of you, sharing emotions. It doesn’t understand or speak languages normally, but it can gain speech from a familiar ability.

Selecting Familiar and Master Abilities

Instead of choosing two abilities only when you gain your familiar as you do with a normal pet, you can choose the two abilities each day during your daily preparations. You can choose from familiar abilities and master abilities. You can choose the pet abilities from the feat as familiar abilities as well. You can’t swap out abilities that are innate to your familiar. For example, you couldn’t choose not to give a raven familiar flying.

Familiar Abilities

Accompanist: Your familiar helps you perform. Whenever you attempt a Performance check, if your familiar is nearby and can act, it accompanies you with chirps, claps, or its own miniature instrument. This grants you a +1 circumstance bonus, or +2 if you're a master in Performance.

Alchemical Gut: Your familiar can act as a bomb coagulant alembic by swallowing the bomb to be affected, which takes two Interact actions from it and one from you. Your familiar regurgitates the concentrated item 1 minute later. If your familiar tries to distill a bomb that's level is higher than your own —1, it instead takes damage as though it were successfully struck with the bomb.

Ambassador: Your familiar knows how to act cute or focused on cue, helping you make a good impression. Despite being a minion, your familiar gains 1 reaction at the start of its turns, which it can use only to Aid you on a Diplomacy check to Make an Impression (it still has to prepare to help you as normal for the Aid reaction, which requires it to participate throughout the activity). It automatically succeeds at its check to Aid you with those skills or automatically critically succeeds if you're a master of the skill in question.

Amphibious: It gains a swim Speed of 25 feet (or Speed of 25 feet if it already has a swim Speed).Burrower: It gains a burrow Speed of 5 feet, allowing it to dig Tiny holes.

Burrower: It gains a burrow Speed of 5 feet, allowing it to dig Tiny holes.

Climber: It gains a climb Speed of 25 feet. Damage Avoidance: Choose one type of save. It takes no damage when it rolls a success on that type of save; this doesn’t prevent effects other than damage.

Damage Avoidance: Choose one type of save. It takes no damage when it rolls a success on that type of save; this doesn't prevent effects other than damage.

Darkeater: This ability is for a shadow familiar. Your familiar naturally recovers in the shadows. After spending 10 consecutive minutes in an area of dim light or darkness, your familiar recovers a number of Hit Points equal to half your level.

Darkvision: It gains darkvision.

Fast Movement: Increase one of the familiar’s Speeds from 25 feet to 40 feet.

Flier: It gains a fly Speed of 25 feet.

Focused Rejuvenation: When you Refocus, you generate magical energy that heals your familiar. Your familiar regains 1 Hit Point per level whenever you Refocus.

Gills: Your familiar grows a set of gills, allowing it to breathe water in addition to air.

Greater Resistance: Your familiar increases the resistance it gains from its resistance familiar ability to 3 + half your level. Your familiar must have the resistance ability to select this.

Independent: In an encounter, if you don't Command your familiar, it still gains 1 action each round. Typically, you still decide how it spends that action, but the GM might determine that your familiar chooses its own tactics rather than performing your preferred action. This doesn't work with valet or similar abilities that require a command, if you're capable of riding your familiar, or similar situations.

Kinspeech: It can understand and speak with animals of the same species. To select this, your familiar must be an animal, it must have the speech ability, and you must be at least 6th level.

Lab Assistant: It can use your Quick Alchemy action. You must have Quick Alchemy, and your familiar must be in your space. This has the same cost and requirement as if you used it. It must have the manual dexterity ability to select this.

Manual Dexterity: It can use up to two of its limbs as if they were hands to perform manipulate actions.

Master's Form: Your familiar can change shape as a single action, transforming into a humanoid of your ancestry with the same age, gender, and build of its true form, though it always maintains a clearly unnatural remnant of its nature, such as a cat's eyes or a serpent's tongue. This form is always the same each time it uses this ability. This otherwise uses the effects of humanoid form, except the change is purely cosmetic. It only appears humanoid and gains no new capabilities. Your familiar must have the manual dexterity and speech abilities to select this.

Partner in Crime: Your familiar is your criminal associate. Despite being a minion, your familiar gains 1 reaction at the start of its turns, which it can use only to Aid you on a Deception or Thievery skill check (it still has to prepare to help you as normal for the Aid reaction). It automatically succeeds at its check to Aid you with those skills or automatically critically succeeds if you're a master of the skill in question.

Plant Form: Your plant familiar can change shape as a single action, transforming into a Tiny plant of a type roughly similar to the familiar's nature. This otherwise uses the effects of one with plants. You must have a familiar with the plant trait, such as a leshy, to select this ability.

Poison Reservoir: Your homunculus familiar has a reservoir for poison, allowing it to apply an injury poison to an adjacent ally's exposed weapon with a single Interact action. You must supply the poison and instill it into this reservoir using two consecutive Interact actions. You must have a homunculus familiar to select this ability.

Resistance: Choose two of the following: acid, cold, electricity, fire, poison, or sonic. Your familiar gains resistance equal to half your level against the chosen damage types.

Scent: It gains scent (imprecise, 30 feet).

Second Opinion: Your familiar is your academic confidant. Despite being a minion, your familiar gains 1 reaction at the start of its turns, which it can use only to Aid you on a Recall Knowledge skill check for a skill in which it has the skilled familiar ability (it still has to prepare to help you as normal for the Aid reaction).

It automatically succeeds at its check to Aid you with those skills or automatically critically succeeds if you're a master of the skill in question. Your familiar must have the skilled ability to select this.

Shadow Step: This ability is for a shadow familiar. A shadow wizard, however, can select this ability for any kind of familiar. Your familiar gains the Shadow Step action. You must be at least 7th level to select this familiar ability for your familiar.

Shadow Step

(shadow, teleportation) The familiar is in dim light or darkness. The familiar teleports itself up to 30 feet. The destination must be in dim light or darkness and must bewithin your familiar's line of sight and line of effect. This action has the trait matching your tradition of magic, or occult if you aren't a spellcaster.

Skilled: Choose a skill other than Acrobatics or Stealth. Your familiar's modifier for that skill is equal to your level plus your key spellcasting ability modifier, rather than just your level. You can select this ability repeatedly, choosing a different skill each time.

Snoop: Your familiar keeps its eyes and ears open, ready to relay every snippet of gossip it catches, helping you gather information. Despite being a minion, your familiar gains 1 reaction at the start of its turns, which it can use only to Aid you on a Diplomacy check to Gather Information (it still has to prepare to help you as normal for the Aid reaction, which requires it to participate throughout the activity). It automatically succeeds at its check to Aid you with those skills or automatically critically succeeds if you're a master of the skill in question.

Speech: It understands and speaks a language you know.

Spellcasting: Choose a spell in your repertoire or that you prepared today that is at least 5 ranks lower than your highest rank spell slot. Your familiar can Cast that Spell once per day using your magical tradition, spell attack modifier, and spell DC. If the spell has a drawback that affects the caster, both you and your familiar are affected. You must be able to cast 6th-rank spells using spell slots to select this ability.

Threat Display: Your familiar helps you convey wordless threats through body language. Whenever you attempt an Intimidation check to Demoralize a creature, if your familiar is within 30 feet of your target and can act, it accompanies you with snarls, hisses, or raising its hackles. If it can do so, you don't take the normal –4 penalty on the Intimidation check if your target doesn't understand the language you're speaking.

Toolbearer: Your familiar can carry a set of tools of up to light Bulk. So long as your familiar is adjacent to you, you can draw and replace the tools as part of the action that uses them as if you were wearing them. Your familiar must have the manual dexterity ability to select this.

Touch Telepathy: Your familiar can telepathically communicate with you via touch. If it also has the speech ability, it can telepathically communicate via touch with any creature if they share a language.

Tough: Your familiar's maximum Hit Points increase by 2 per level.

Tremorsense: Your familiar is keenly aware of any vibrations traveling through a surface. It gains imprecise tremorsense with a range of 30 feet.

Valet: You can command your familiar to deliver you items more efficiently. Your familiar doesn't use its 2 actions immediately upon your command. Instead, up to twice before the end of your turn, you can have your familiar Interact to retrieve an item of light or negligible Bulk you are wearing and place it into one of your free hands. The familiar can't use this ability to retrieve stowed items. If the familiar has a different number of actions, it can retrieve one item for each action it has when commanded this way.

Wavesense: Your familiar can sense vibrations in the water or silt. It gains imprecise wavesense with a range of 30 feet.

Master Abilities

Master abilities primarily affect you or the magic that passes between you and your familiar.

Absorb Familiar: Your familiar can transform into a mark you carry on your flesh, typically seeming like a birthmark, tattoo, or gem that vaguely resembles its normal form. When transformed, the familiar can’t act except to turn back into a familiar. It isn’t affected by area effects and must be targeted separately to affect it, which requires knowledge that it’s a creature. This means you and your allies can heal or assist the familiar while most enemies stay unaware of its true nature. Creatures must attempt a DC 20 Perception check to Seek to realize a it is actually a familiar. Your familiar can still communicate its feelings empathically. Transforming the familiar between forms is a 1-minute activity that has the concentrate trait.

Cantrip Connection: You can prepare an additional cantrip or, if you have a repertoire, designate a cantrip to add to your repertoire every time you select this ability; you can retrain it but can’t otherwise change it. You must be able to prepare cantrips or add them to your repertoire to select this.

Extra Reagents: Your familiar grows extra infused reagents on or in its body. You gain an additional batch of infused reagents. You must have the infused reagents ability to select this ability.

Familiar Focus: Once per day, your familiar can use 2 actions with the concentrate trait to restore 1 Focus Point to your focus pool, up to your usual maximum. You must have a focus pool to select this.

Innate Surge: Once per day, you can draw upon your familiar's innate magic to replenish your own. You can cast one innate spell gained from an ancestry feat that you have already cast today. You must still Cast the Spell and meet the spell's other requirements.

Lifelink: If your familiar would be reduced to 0 HP by damage, as a reaction with the concentrate trait, you can take the damage. If you do, you take all the damage and your familiar takes none. However, special effects that would occur due to that damage (such as snake venom) still apply to your familiar.

Recall Familiar: You can summon your familiar to your side. Once per day, you can use a 3-action activity, which has the concentrate trait, to teleport your familiar to your space. Your familiar must be within 1 mile or the attempt to summon it fails. This is a conjuration and teleport effect.

Restorative Familiar: Once per day, your familiar can use 2 actions with the concentrate trait to give up some of its animating energy and heal you. It must be in your space to do so. You restore a number of Hit Points equal to 1d8 times half your level (minimum 1d8).

Share Senses: Once every 10 minutes, you can use a single action with the concentrate trait to project your senses into your familiar. When you do, you lose all sensory information from your own body, but can sense through your familiar's body for up to 1 minute. You can Dismiss this effect.

Spell Battery: You gain one additional spell slot at least 3 ranks lower than your highest-rank spell slot; you must be able to cast 4th-rank spells using spell slots to select this master ability.

Spell Delivery: If your familiar is in your space, you can cast a spell with a range of touch, transfer its power to your familiar, and command the familiar to deliver the spell. If you do, the familiar uses its 2 actions for the round to move to a target of your choice and touch that target. If it doesn’t reach the target to touch it this turn, the spell has no effect.

Tattoo Transformation: Your familiar can transform into a tattoo you carry on your flesh. When transformed into a tattoo, the familiar looks like a colorful and stylized version of itself and can't act except to turn back into a familiar. It isn't affected by area effects and must be targeted separately to affect it, which requires knowledge that it's a creature. This means you and your allies can heal or assist the familiar while most enemies stay unaware of its true nature. Creatures must attempt a DC 20 Perception check to Seek to realize a tattoo is actually a familiar (which few foes will try). Your familiar can still communicate its feelings empathically. Transforming into a tattoo or back to familiar form is a 1-minute activity that has the concentrate trait.

Archetypes

Beyond your class and general feats, you can expand your character concept by choosing an archetype. Are you more heavily armored than your peers from the sentinel archetype? Are you a gladiator, experienced in fighting in the arena? Perhaps you’re a medic, tending to the fallen. These are just a few possibilities archetypes offer.

Applying an archetype requires you to select archetype feats instead of class feats. Start by finding the archetype that best fits your character concept and select the archetype’s dedication feat using one of your class feat choices. Once you have the dedication feat, you can select any feat from that archetype in place of a class feat as long as you meet its prerequisites. The archetype feat you select is still subject to any selection restrictions on the class feat it replaces. For example, if you gained an ability at 6th level that granted you a 4th level class feat with the dwarf trait, you could swap out that class feat only for an archetype feat of 4th level or lower with the dwarf trait. Archetype feats you gain in place of a class feat are called archetype class feats.

Occasionally, an archetype feat works like a skill feat instead of a class feat. These archetype feats have the skill trait, and you select them in place of a skill feat, otherwise following the same rules above. These are not archetype class feats (for instance, to determine the number of Hit Points you gain from the Fighter Resiliency archetype feat).

Each archetype’s dedication feat represents a certain portion of your character’s time and focus, so once you select a dedication feat for an archetype, you must satisfy its requirements before you can gain another dedication feat. Typically, you satisfy an archetype dedication feat by gaining a certain number of feats from the archetype’s list. You cannot retrain a dedication feat as long as you have any other feats from that archetype.

Sometimes an archetype feat lets you gain another feat, such as the alchemist’s basic concoction. You must always meet the prerequisites of the feat you gain in this way.

Two special kinds of archetypes are designated by the class and multiclass traits. The archetypes in this book are all multiclass archetypes.

Additional Feats

Some archetypes allow other feats beyond those in their entry. These are typically class feats, such as fighter feats that represent certain combat styles. The list of additional feats includes the feat’s name, its level, and the page number where it appears. You can take the feat as an archetype feat of that level, meaning it counts toward the number of feats required by the archetype’s dedication feat. When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn’t have that class trait.

Multiclass Archetypes

Archetypes with the multiclass trait represent diversifying your training into another class’s specialties. You can’t select a multiclass archetype’s dedication feat if you are a member of the class of the same name (for instance, a swashbuckler can’t select the Swashbuckler Dedication feat).

Spellcasting Archetypes

Some archetypes grant you a substantial degree of spellcasting, albeit delayed compared to a character from a spellcasting class. A spellcasting archetype allows you to use scrolls, staves, and wands in the same way that a member of a spellcasting class can.

Spellcasting archetypes always grant the ability to cast cantrips in their dedication, and then they have a basic spellcasting feat, an expert spellcasting feat, and a master spellcasting feat. These feats share their name with the archetype; for instance, the witch’s master spellcasting feat is called Master Witch Spellcasting. All spell slots you gain from spellcasting archetypes are subject to the restrictions within the archetype. For instance, the eldritch archer archetype allows you to pick a spell list when you take its dedication feat. If you pick arcane spells, the archetype then grants you spell slots you can use only to cast arcane spells from your eldritch archer repertoire, even if you are a sorcerer with occult spells in your sorcerer repertoire.

Basic Spellcasting Feat: Usually available at 4th level, these feats grant a 1st-rank spell slot. At 6th level, they grant you a 2nd-rank spell slot, and if you have a spell repertoire, you can select one spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. At 8th level, they grant you a 3rd-rank spell slot. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the “basic spellcasting benefits.”

Expert Spellcasting Feat: Typically taken at 12th level, these feats make you an expert in spell attack rolls and DCs of the appropriate magical tradition and grant you a 4th-rank spell slot. If you have a spell repertoire, you can select a second spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. At 14th level, they grant you a 5th-rank spell slot, and at 16th level, they grant you a 6th-rank spell slot. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the “expert spellcasting benefits.”

Master Spellcasting Feat: Usually found at 18th level, these feats make you a master in spell attack rolls and DCs of the appropriate magical tradition and grant you a 7th-rank spell slot. If you have a spell repertoire, you can select a third spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. At 20th level, they grant you an 8th-rank spell slot. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the “master spellcasting benefits.”

Bounded Spellcasting Archetype

Some archetypes, such as the psychic warrior multiclass archetypes, grant you spellcasting abilities based on the way psychic warriors cast spells, albeit delayed compared to a character from those classes. In this book, this archetypes is a bounded spellcasting archetypes, but future books might introduce bounded spellcasting archetypes that aren’t multiclass archetypes. A bounded spellcasting archetype allows you to use scrolls, staves, and wands in the same way that a member of a spellcasting class can, and the basic bounded spellcasting feat counts as having a spellcasting class feature.

Bounded spellcasting archetypes always have a basic bounded spellcasting feat, an expert bounded spellcasting feat, and a master bounded spellcasting feat. These feats share their name with the archetype. For instance, the psychic warrior’s master spellcasting feat is called Master Psychic Warrior Spellcasting. All spell slots you gain from bounded spellcasting archetypes have restrictions depending on the archetype.

Basic Bounded Spellcasting Feat: Usually gained at 6th level, these feats give you a 1st-rank spell slot and a 2nd-rank spell slot from that magical tradition. If you have a spell repertoire, you can select one spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the “basic bounded spellcasting benefits.” At 10th level, you replace your 1st-rank spell slot with a 3rd-rank spell slot.

Expert Bounded Spellcasting Feat: Usually taken at 12th level, these feats make you an expert in spell attack rolls and DCs of the appropriate magical tradition. You gain an additional 3rd-rank spell slot. If you have a spell repertoire, you can select a second spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. At 14th level, you replace your spell slots with two 4th-rank spell slots and one 5th-rank spell slot, and at 16th level, you replace your spell slots with two 5th-rank spell slots and one 6th-rank spell slot. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the “expert bounded spellcasting benefits.”

Master Bounded Spellcasting Feat: Usually taken at 18th level, these feats make you a master in spell attack rolls and DCs of the appropriate magical tradition and grant you an additional 6th-rank spell slot. At 20th level, they replace your two 5th-rank spell slots with two 7th-rank spell slots. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the “master bounded spellcasting benefits.”

Alchemical Archetypes

Some archetypes give you abilities to use alchemy in a similar manner to an alchemist and say that you get the basic alchemy benefits.

This means you get the Alchemical Crafting feat, infused reagents (a pool of reagents usable to make alchemical items), and advanced alchemy (allowing you to make alchemical items during your daily preparations without the normal cost or time expenditure). The individual archetype might impose special restrictions or benefits or adjust the number of reagents you get or your advanced alchemy level. The rules for these are in the Core Rulebook: Alchemical Crafting on page 258, and rules for infused reagents and advanced alchemy are on page 72.

If you gain infused reagents from more than one source, you use the highest number of reagents to determine your pool rather than adding them together. For instance, at 2nd level an alchemist with a +4 Intelligence modifier would normally get six batches of infused reagents per day from the class, and a character with the Herbalist Dedication feat would normally get two batches. A character who is both an alchemist and an herbalist has six batches—the higher number from alchemist—but is able to use them for abilities in the class or the archetype. Your advanced alchemy level always depends on which ability you’re using. In the example above, the herbalist’s advanced alchemy level for their herbalist abilities is 1st, though it’s 2nd for alchemist abilities.

Temporary Items

Several archetypes allow you to prepare temporary items. Much like the infused items created by alchemists, these temporary items last only a short time before becoming useless. Examples include temporary scrolls created by the scroll trickster and temporary weapons, armor, or adventuring gear created by the scrounger.

Temporary items are clearly not up to the same quality as other items, so they typically can’t be sold. If an ability doesn’t list how long a temporary item lasts, the item lasts until the next time you make your daily preparations. Any effect created by a temporary item also ends at that time if it hasn’t already (unless it’s a permanent effect).

Champion

You have sworn a solemn oath to your deity, who has granted you champion powers to aid you in your cause.

Multiclass Champion Characters

The champion archetype greatly improves defenses, particularly armor.

It’s a great way for a character to gain armor proficiency or a powerful defensive reaction.

Champion Dedication
FEAT 2

Strength +2, Charisma +2

Choose an element or sorcerer-king and cause as you would if you were a champion. You become trained in light, medium, and heavy armor. You become trained in Religion and your power’s associated skill; for each of these skills in which you were already trained, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You become trained in champion class DC.

You are bound by your power’s anathema and must follow the champion’s code and edict requirements for your cause. You don’t gain any other abilities from your choice of power or cause.

Basic Devotion
FEAT 4

Champion Dedication

You gain a 1st- or 2nd-level champion feat.

Champion's Devotion
FEAT 4

Champion Dedication

You embody an aspect of your element or sorcerer-king. Choose one of its domains. You gain the domain's initial domain spell as a devotion spell.

Champion Resiliency
FEAT 4

Champion Dedication, class granting no more Hit Points per level than 8 + your Constitution modifier

You gain 3 additional Hit Points for each champion archetype class feat you have. As you continue selecting champion archetype class feats, you continue to gain additional Hit Points in this way.

Advanced Devotion
FEAT 6

Basic Devotion

You gain one champion feat. For the purpose of meeting its prerequisites, your champion level is equal to half your character level.

Special You can select this feat more than once. Each time you select it, you gain another champion feat.

Champion's Reaction
FEAT 6

Champion Dedication

You can use the champion’s reaction associated with your cause.

Elemental Ally
FEAT 6

Champion Dedication

You gain an elemental ally of your choice (page 141).

Diverse Armor Expert
FEAT 14

Champion Dedication, expert in unarmored defense or one or more types of armor

Your proficiency ranks for light armor, medium armor, heavy armor, and unarmored defense increase to expert.

Kineticist

You have, intentionally or accidentally, awoken a gateway to elemental power inside yourself and can now channel that power to devastating effect, adding an elemental arsenal to your abilities.

Multiclass Kineticist Characters

Kineticist is a great fit for characters with high Constitution who want to add some magical blasting to their repertoire without managing the complexity of spell slots. Kineticist impulses can also provide damage types that are useful against certain creatures and special utility abilities such as better movement or battlefield control.

Champions looking to diversify their capabilities, barbarians with the Moment of Clarity feat, and particularly stout druids might all find suitable options.

kineticist Dedication
FEAT 2

Constitution +2

You become trained in kineticist class DC and impulse attack rolls. Choose one element to be your kinetic element (air, earth, fire, or water). You gain a kinetic aura and the Channel Elements action, though you don’t get to use an Elemental Blast or stance impulse when you take that action. You gain the Elemental Blast action. Your Elemental Blast does not automatically gain additional damage dice every four levels, instead requiring you to take the Improved Elemental Blast feat.

Base Kinesis
FEAT 4

Kineticist Dedication

You gain the Base Kinesis impulse. For the purposes of determining when the range and Bulk improvements of the action occur, your kineticist level is equal to half your level (for example, Base Kinesis for a 10th level character with this feat would have a range of 45 feet and could affect 1 Bulk of their chosen element).

Through The Gate
FEAT 4

Kineticist Dedication

You gain a 1st- or 2nd-level kineticist feat of your choice. Your options include impulse feats for your kinetic element, as normal for a kineticist.

Advanced Element Control
FEAT 6

Through the Gate

You gain one kineticist feat. For the purpose of meeting its prerequisites, your kineticist level is equal to half your level. Your options include impulse feats for your kinetic element, as normal for a kineticist.

Special You can select this feat more than once. Each time you select it, you gain another kineticist feat.

Improved Elemental Blast
FEAT 8

Kineticist Dedication

The power of your elemental blast improves. The damage of your elemental blast increases by one die.

Special You can take Improved Elemental Blast a second time at 14th level to increase your Elemental Blast to three damage die, and a third time at 18th level to increase your Elemental Blast to four damage die

Add Element
FEAT 10

Advanced Element Control

Choose a second kinetic element to add to the one you already have. You gain an impulse feat for that element. For the purpose of meeting its prerequisites, your kineticist level is equal to half your level. If you gain more kineticist feats, you can select hybrid impulses that have both your elements, as normal for a kineticist.

Expert Kinetic Control
FEAT 12

Kineticist Dedication

You become an expert in kineticist class DC and impulse attack rolls.

Psychic Warrior

You’ve mixed physical combat with psionics.

Multiclass Psychic Warrior Characters

If your character wants to dabble in the power of a psychic warrior, you can take the following multiclass archetype to do so.

Psychic Warrior Dedication
FEAT 2

Constitution +2

You cast spells like a psychic warrior, gaining a spell repertoire with four common cantrips of your choice. You gain the Cast a Spell activity. You can prepare two cantrips each day from your spell repertoire. Each time you gain a spell slot of a new rank from the psychic warrior archetype, add a spell of that rank or lower to your spell repertoire. You’re trained in occult spell attack rolls and spell DCs.

Your key spellcasting ability for psychic warrior archetype spells is Intelligence, and they are occult psychic warrior spells. You become trained in Occult; if you were already trained in Occult, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You become trained in simple weapons.

Basic Martial Magic
FEAT 4

Psychic Warrior Dedication

You gain a 1st- or 2nd-level psychic warrior feat of your choice.

Hybrid Study Spell
FEAT 4

Psychic Warrior Dedication

Gain the conflux spell from a hybrid study of your choice (page 200). If you don’t already have one, you gain a focus pool of 1 Focus Point, which you can Refocus by performing a physical regimen. You don’t gain any of the hybrid study’s other benefits.

Psystriker
FEAT 4

Psychic Warrior Dedication

You gain the magus’s Psystrike activity. You can recharge it only as an activity that takes 1 minute. This restriction applies even if you gain another ability that recharges Psystrike.

Advanced Martial Magic
FEAT 6

Basic Martial Magic

You gain one psychic warrior feat. For the purpose of meeting its prerequisites, your psychic warrior level is equal to half your character level.

Special You can select this feat more than once. Each time you select it, you gain another psychic warrior feat.

Basic Psychic Warrior Spellcasting
FEAT 6

Psychic Warrior Dedication

You gain the basic bounded spellcasting benefits (page 236).

Expert Psychic Warrior Spellcasting
FEAT 12

Basic Psychic Warrior Spellcasting, master in occult

You gain the expert bounded spellcasting benefits (page 236).

Master Psychic Warrior Spellcasting
FEAT 18

Expert Psychic Warrior Spellcasting, legendary in occult

You gain the master bounded spellcasting benefits (page 236).

Acrobat

You have trained your body to perform incredible, seemingly superhuman feats of grace. You move in ways that leave your opponents caught off guard and fumbling for a response, turning every fight into performance art

Acrobat Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Acrobatics

You become an expert in Acrobatics. At 7th level, you become a master in Acrobatics, and at 15th level, you become legendary in Acrobatics. Whenever you critically succeed at an Acrobatics check to Tumble Through an enemy’s space, you don’t treat the enemy’s space as difficult terrain.

Alter Ego

A highly guarded castle in the middle of an extravagant ball, the headquarters of a city’s infamous thieves’ guild, the locked room in the back of a cultist hideout—all perfect targets for you to use your expertise at blending in. Rather than skulking through the shadows, you use your training and latent supernatural abilities to become a mirror, playing on the perceptions of others and taking on whatever role necessary to get in and out of your destination before anyone has a chance to think something is amiss.

Performing an alter ego means going unregarded. Passing as just a face in the crowd is crucial, and accolades come as the gratitude from your leaders or coin from your clients, rather than the awed adoration from a crowd.

This arrangement might suit you fine, as you thrive in a job well done and on the thrill of walking flagrantly past your duped adversaries. Or it might become pent up, until you can’t resist a dramatic reveal or a signature calling card that shows you were there. One final word before speeding away from the castle, a gloating message left behind, or some other sign reveals your skill—usually too late for your victims to do anything about it.

Alter Ego Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Deception and Stealth

You make yourself into a living mirror, becoming a double of someone unremarkable, and you slip into exactly the role that can get you past security or into a sensitive facility. You become an expert in Deception. You gain the Assume a Role activity.
Assume a Role (concentrate) Requirements You’ve spent at least 1 hour studying a creature whose role you intend to copy and have done so within the last 3 days. This could include meeting and learning from someone in that role, tailing and spying on
someone, using magic to observe them at work, or some other method, as long as you have a visual source of information;
Effect You quickly and accurately learn how to do mundane jobs or at least copy the movements enough to appear as if you do. A chosen role can take many forms—from cook, cleaner, or librarian to cult member, priest, or duke—but it’s always a role and never a specific individual.
You perform the Impersonate activity to pass as a member of the role you observed and gain a +1 circumstance bonus to any Deception checks you attempt in your impersonation. This takes the normal amount of time it takes you to Impersonate. You also choose one Lore skill relevant to that role (such as Farming Lore for a farmer). While in your role, you gain a +1 circumstance
bonus to checks for that Lore skill, and if you’re untrained in it, you can use your level as your proficiency bonus. You stop
assuming the role after 24 hours, if you start studying for a new role, or if you choose to.
Special You can’t select another dedication feat until you’ve gained two other feats from the alter ego archetype.

Animal Trainer

You have befriended an animal to serve as an able assistant and loyal guardian.

Animal Trainer Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Nature

You gain the services of a young animal companion that travels with you and obeys simple commands as best as it can. This trained animal is trained in Performance instead of the skill listed for its type.

Archaeologist

Adventurers raid tombs for material gain, but true archaeologists treasure the knowledge gained from such sites.

You might accomplish your goals with scholarly learning, by training to overcome the tricks and traps set by ancient peoples and rivals, through magical training, or even with a bit of inexplicable luck.

Archaeologist Dedication
FEAT 2

trained Perception; trained in Society, and Thievery

You are a student of peoples and their histories and are in constant pursuit of knowledge and artifacts from the past. You become an expert in Society and Thievery, and you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Recall Knowledge about ancient history, peoples, and cultures.

Archer

Bows of all types are powerful weapons. Generals and hunters alike recognize the power in dealing death from long distances, and from behind cover. Those dedicated to the bow—from mysterious cloaked strangers to heartless snipers—are often viewed with a mixture of respect and fear. Like any weapon adept, the archer's skill is forged through experience and constant practice. A true archer becomes one with the bow and is able to accomplish with that weapon things that most would consider impossible, or at least nearly magical.

Archer Dedication
FEAT 2

You become trained in all simple and martial weapons in the bow weapon group. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in certain weapons, you also gain that proficiency rank in all simple and martial weapons in the bow weapon group. If you are at least an expert in the bow you are using, you gain access to the critical specialization effect with that bow.

Assassin

Targeted killing through stealth and subterfuge is the expertise of an assassin. While assassins are skilled in ending lives and many are evil, some live by a moral code, preying on the wicked, the cruel, or those who revel in unchecked aggression or power.

Assassin Dedication
FEAT 2

Alchemical Crafting; trained in Crafting, Deception, and Stealth

You've trained to assassinate your foes, and you do so with tenacity and precision. You gain the Mark for Death activity.

Mark for Death

You can see and hear the creature you intend to mark; You designate a single creature as your mark. This lasts until the mark dies or you use Mark for Death again.

You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks to Seek your mark and on Deception checks to Feint against your mark. Your agile and finesse weapons and unarmed attacks gain the backstabber and deadly d6 weapon traits when you're attacking your mark. If the weapon or unarmed attack already has the deadly trait, increase the size of the deadly damage die by one step instead of giving it deadly d6.

Bastion

Some say that a good offense is the best defense, but you find such boasting smacks of overconfidence. In your experience, the best defense is a good, solid shield between you and your enemies. You've focused your training on how best to use a shield to protect yourself and those around you.

Bastion Dedication
FEAT 2

Shield Block

You are particularly skilled at using a shield in combat. You gain the Reactive Shield fighter feat (Core Rulebook 145). This fulfills any prerequisites requiring Reactive Shield as normal.

Beastmaster

You attract the loyalty of animals, and as your powers increase you can command more of them, briefly inhabit their body to perceive what they perceive, and even communicate with them over vast distances. Your animals may see you as a beloved parent, teacher, and mentor, or they may consider you a poor, defenseless cub that needs protection. Regardless, they will fight for you and alongside you, even sacrificing their lives for you if necessary.

Beastmaster Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Nature

You gain the service of a young animal companion that travels with you and obeys your commands. The rules for animal companions appear on page 214 of the Core Rulebook. Contrary to the usual rules for animal companions, this feat can grant you a second animal companion. If you ever have more than one animal companion, you gain the Call Companion action.

Call Companion

(Exploration) You spend 1 minute calling for a different animal companion, switching your active companion for another of your animal companions.

Certain beastmaster feats give you primal focus spells. The rules for focus spells appear on page 300 of the Core Rulebook. When you gain your first beastmaster focus spell, you become trained in primal spell attack rolls and spell DCs, and your spellcasting ability for these spells is Charisma. Feats that grant beastmaster focus spells tell you to increase the number of Focus Points in your pool, but if you don’t already have a focus pool, you instead get a focus pool with 1 Focus Point. You can Refocus by grooming, feeding, playing with, or otherwise tending to an animal companion.

Blessed One

Through luck or deed, heritage, or heroics, you carry the blessing of an element.

This blessing manifests as the ability to heal wounds and remove harmful conditions and exists independent of worship. You might offer thanks daily to the element whose power you wield, or you might carry these blessings reluctantly, seeking to avoid responsibility or even acting to defy the elements’ influence on you. You might wear an elemental focus of your element, or you might give little thought and even less reverence to the source of your powers. However, you feel about these gifts, there can be no doubt that you wield a special power.

Blessed One Dedication
DEDICATION FEAT 2

You are touched by an element and gifted with the ability to alleviate the suffering of others. You gain the lay on hands devotion spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell. This feat grants a focus pool of 1 Focus Point that you can recover using the Refocus activity (Core Rulebook 300). You can Refocus by meditating, whether you reflect on the deity granting the blessing or not, allowing your blessing to refill your focus pool. Your devotion spells from the blessed one archetype are divine spells

Bounty Hunter

Whether for coin, glory, or justice, you know how to track, defeat, and capture dangerous individuals. You're accustomed to perusing wanted posters, searching up on leads, and pursuing villains to hell and back.

Bounty Hunter Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Survival

When focused on finding your quarry, you’re relentless. You gain the Hunt Prey action Core Rulebook 168). You can use Hunt Prey to designate only a creature that you’ve seen, heard about, or learned about through some other means, such as a bounty board or wanted poster. In addition to the other benefits of Hunt Prey, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks to Gather Information regarding your prey.

If you already have Hunt Prey, you become an expert in Survival and gain the circumstance bonus to Gather Information about your prey; you can still designate a creature you’re tracking during exploration, in addition to the conditions above.

Butterfly Blade

You've trained in one of the oldest traditions of espionage, intimidation, and combat mastery. You use your skills to learn about your enemies and cut them down with your mastery of the butterfly sword.

Butterfly Blade Dedication
FEAT 4

trained in butterfly swords

You become trained in Deception and Stealth; if you were already trained, you become an expert instead. Whenever your proficiency rank in any weapon increases to expert or beyond, you also gain that new proficiency rank with butterfly swords. You gain access to butterfly swords.

Captivator

Others find you inherently fascinating. You have a facility with words that draws others in, and you've always found it easy to sway others to your point of view. This ability has grown to the point where you're capable of innate psionics. You can bend others' wills to your own by weaving alluring enchantments and compelling illusions.

Captivators come from all areas of the world and all walks of life. A farmhand with the right gifts, sent to the market every week to hawk their latest crop, could find themself on the path to becoming a captivator. An urchin who relies on the sympathy of others just to survive may become a captivator out of necessity, and a noble, immersed in a deadly game of luxury and influence, might have trained to be a captivator since birth. Regardless of background, most captivators use their abilities to advance their station in life, make things easier for themselves, or befriend those who can help them achieve their goals.

Some captivators use their gifts and skills to bring people together. They might turn a would-be tavern brawl into a night of sharing drinks and telling stories. They might offer encouragement to those facing depression or doubt. They excel at ending conflict peacefully and efficiently, leaving everyone around them happier. When faced with violence, they use their psionics to quickly subdue or enthrall enemies while minimizing harm to their companions.

Other captivators manipulate others to achieve status, wealth, and power. They have no qualms about deceiving someone or using their psionics to cause harm. These captivators are dangerous tricksters whose enchantments and illusions make them seem harmless, unimportant, or friendly. The slick politician, the devious con artist, the cunning courtier—these are all roles that these captivators can easily assume.

Captivator Dedication
FEAT 4

Charisma +2; trained Deception or Diplomacy

Your ability to captivate others borders on the preternatural. You are seldom at a loss in social situations, and you can create minor enchantments or illusions. Choose Deception or Diplomacy. You become trained in that skill or become an expert if you were already trained.

Choose two cantrips from the occult list; each cantrip must be from either the enchantment or illusion school. You gain access to the Cast a Spell activity and can cast these spells as occult innate spells. You're trained in occult spell attack rolls and spell DCs. If you have a hand free, you can usually replace material components with somatic components, so you don't need to use a spell component pouch. Your key spellcasting ability for these spells is Charisma.

Cavalier

You are a skilled and dedicated warrior of the battlefield who specializes in fighting astride a powerful animal companion that serves as your mount.

You and your mount are an unparalleled team, moving with shared intent to become a powerful force on the battlefield. You might wield a banner in the name of a greater organization, a liege, or an ideal you uphold, or you might fight solely to further enrich your own prestige, reputation, and coffers.

Cavalier Dedication
FEAT 2

trained Nature or Society

You gain a young animal companion that serves as your mount. You can choose from animal companions with the mount special ability, as well as any additional options from your pledge, as determined by your GM. You must choose an animal companion that's at least one size larger than you, but if the animal usually starts as Small, you can begin with a Medium version of that animal (changing no statistics other than its size).

Celebrity

You're a special personality... and you know it. You're not merely comfortable in the spotlight, you crave it. While the traditional celebrity is a musician or another type of performer, you could be known for any occupation.

Celebrity Dedication
FEAT 2

The more people you have looking at you, the more content you are, and you take every opportunity to show up others when their performances are less than perfect. You gain the Upstage reaction. In addition, when you Earn Income, if the level of the task is higher than your level, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your check to Earn Income.

Upstage

A foe attempts a skill check and doesn't get a critical success; After your foe has tried their best, you show everyone how it's really done. Attempt a check using the same skill that triggered this reaction.

You gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls, Perception checks, saving throws, and skill checks until the end of your next turn.

As critical success, except you gain the benefits only if the triggering creature failed their skill check.

Corpse Tender

You tend to mindless undead, such as the zombie farmhands and farm animals.

Corpse Tender Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Religion

You have a connection to mindless undead that allows you to communicate your intentions to them on a rudimentary level.

You can use Diplomacy to Make an Impression on mindless undead and to make very simple Requests of them; their mindless trait doesn't grant immunity to these mental effects. Most mindless undead are likely hostile toward you by default and must be kept at a safe distance to give you time to Make an Impression.

You become trained in Diplomacy; if already trained, you instead become trained in another skill of your choice.

Curse Maelstrom

Some folks are ridden with bad luck: the rations they were counting on turn out to be spoiled, the ship they were hoping to catch sinks in the harbor, or the new home they bought is destroyed by a rampaging golem. Most know that they are cursed, feeling an emptiness in their soul that weighs upon them, gnawing at their confidence and shrouding their ambitions. Sometimes, these curse maelstroms learn to control and channel their curse; you are one such unfortunate soul.

You have a powerful curse living deep within you. You might have been able to restrain your curse for the most part, but it flares up occasionally and tempts you with the power to curse your foes, should you allow it to exert itself. Why should you be the only one who has to endure a cursed life when others have so clearly earned such woe?

Living with a curse every day, you become intimately familiar with the workings of curses, getting a sense of when bad luck is about to befall those around you. You might try to avoid further bad fortune—which rarely pans out as you'd like—or you could come to terms with your lot in life and regard your curse as something akin to an old friend. Either way, fate cares little.

Misery loves company, so your curse can even be a beacon for more misfortune. You might have multiple curses all tied to you, all fighting to make your life as hellish as possible.

Curse Maelstrom Dedication
FEAT 2

You are cursed or have previously been cursed.

A horrible curse has left a lingering stain on your soul, and its effects continue to plague you even if the curse's other effects have ended. You can choose to suppress it, but if you instead let it manifest, you can channel its power in your favor. During an encounter, when you succeed at a check, the GM can offer to have you roll again, taking the second result. This is a misfortune effect. If you do so, you enter a curse maelstrom state. If the misfortune effect is somehow canceled or negated (by a fortune effect, for example), you don't enter a curse maelstrom state.

In addition, the curse is jealous of its place within your soul and gladly lashes out whenever others dare to usurp that position, granting you its power without the usual price. If a foe places a misfortune effect on your roll and the effect applies to your roll, you enter a curse maelstrom state, and if you fail a saving throw against a foe's curse effect and are affected by the curse, you also enter a curse maelstrom state. No matter the source, you can only enter a curse maelstrom state during an encounter, and if you don't end the state on your own, it ends at the end of the encounter. Once it ends, you can't enter a curse maelstrom state again for 1 minute.

While in a curse maelstrom state, you can't benefit from fortune effects, and they also don't cancel misfortune effects on you; they simply have no effect. While in this state, all creatures other than you within a 10-foot emanation take a –1 status penalty to all saving throws and skill checks due to the storm of bad luck swirling out of your body. You gain the Expel Maelstrom action, which you can use to focus the brunt of your curses onto an unlucky target.

Expel Maelstrom

(curse, occult) RequirementsYou are in a curse
maelstrom state; Effect You expel the maelstrom from your body,
sending the energy to reside in one unlucky creature within 60 feet. Your curse maelstrom state ends. The result depends on
the creature's Will save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected, and the curse's energy dissipates harmlessly.
Success The creature comes to house the maelstrom's wrath within it. It takes a –1 status penalty to all saving throws and skill checks for 1 minute.
Failure The maelstrom strikes deep into the creature's soul. It takes a –2 status penalty to all saving throws and skill
checks for 10 minutes.
Critical Failure The maelstrom pitches the creature into a single fit of utter misfortune before burrowing into its soul. As failure, but the creature also must roll twice and take the lower result on its next saving throw or skill check; this is a misfortune effect.

Dandy

You are a genteel master of style, culture, and decorum, aware of even the subtlest rules of etiquette. Whether you were born into status, acquired it later in life, or merely pretend to possess it, you look and act your part to manicured perfection.

Dandy Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Diplomacy

You are a consummate student of dignity, etiquette, and fashion. You can use the Diplomacy skill to perform the special downtime activity Influence Rumor, spending at least one day of downtime to manipulate the course, tone, or content of a rumor to your benefit. The difficulty of Influencing a Rumor is determined by the GM based on the size of the community, the relative perceptiveness of the inhabitants, and the agency of other rumormongers, but it typically starts with at least DC 15 for a small village and increases to at least DC 20 for a town, at least DC 30 for a city, and at least DC 40 for a metropolis.

You become trained in Deception and Society; if you were already trained, you become an expert instead.

Dual-Weapon Warrior

You're able to effortlessly fight with multiple weapons simultaneously, weaving your weapons together into a storm of quick attacks. To you, continual offense is the best form of defense, and you leave little room for your foes to avoid your whirlwind of weapons.

Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication
FEAT 2

You’re exceptional in your use of two weapons. You gain the Double Slice fighter feat (Core Rulebook 144). This serves as Double Slice for the purpose of meeting prerequisites.

Duelist

All across Athas, students are trained by weapon masters with their blades to master one-on-one combat. These weapon masters show deep troves of information detailing hundreds of combat techniques, battle stances, and honorable rules of engagement. Those who are trained by such masters might train in formalized duels—and that's certainly the more genteel route to take. However, others assert that there's no better place to try out dueling techniques than in the life-and-death struggles common to an adventurer's life.

Duelist Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in light armor and simple weapons

You are always ready to draw your weapon and begin a duel, no matter the circumstances. You gain the Quick Draw ranger feat, enabling you to both draw and attack with a weapon as 1 action. This serves as Quick Draw for the purpose of meeting prerequisites.

Elementalist

You revere the four elements—air, earth, fire, and water—as the building blocks of creation and the source of all life. You believe that by balancing, mixing, and rearranging these four elements, magic is made. This belief has led you to eschew traditional magical theories and divisions, and you instead focus on harnessing, manipulating, and shaping the four elements. You cast spells drawn from multiple traditions and can use the four elements to alter and empower your spells, making them manifest and mixing them in unique ways. Most elementalists embrace the four elements equally as a mystical quaternity, and they strengthen their connection to one of these elements each day to protect themselves from harm. Others, notably wizard elementalists, feel a stronger connection to a singular element that they hone to great heights, utilizing the other three elements to support and augment their favored element.

Elementalist Dedication
FEAT 2

elemental magic

Each day when you make your daily preparations, you can attune yourself to one element of your choice from your elemental philosophy. You gain resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1 resistance) against damage dealt by effects with your attuned elemental trait. This attunement lasts until you next make your daily preparations.

Familiar Master

From the wise critic perched on the wizard's shoulder to the crafty snake that serves a templar for their own reasons, the ghastly homunculus in the alchemist's lab to the clever z'tal that picks the lock of the thief's cell, familiars have always served. Whether through rigorous training or a preternatural connection, yours serves better than most.

Familiar Master Dedication
FEAT 2

You have forged a mystical bond with a creature. This might have involved complex rituals and invocations, such as meditating under the moon until something crept out of the forest. Or maybe you just did each other a good turn, such as rescuing the beast from a trap or a foe, and then being rescued in turn. Whatever the details, you are now comrades until the end. You gain a familiar. If you already have a familiar, you gain the Enhanced Familiar feat.

Firebrand Braggart

You travel the Tyr region drawing attention to yourself, making great shows of your exploits, and proclaiming your great deeds.

Firebrand Braggart Dedication
FEAT 4

Charisma +2

Your Firebrand training has taught you that achieving something is more satisfying if you boast about it first. You declare a boast about a particular skill action, such as Balance, Demoralize, or Recall Knowledge. The first time you attempt this action within the next minute in a context the GM deems both suitably challenging and meaningful, you must roll twice and use the lower result. If you succeed at this check, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to checks to attempt the same action for 10 minutes. If you fail this check or don’t attempt the action within 1 minute, you instead take a –1 circumstance penalty on checks to attempt the same action for 1 hour.

If the chosen action can be used with multiple skills, such as Identify Magic or Recall Knowledge, you must specify which skill you are using for that particular action, such as using Arcana to Identify Magic, and your bonus or penalty after the boast applies only to checks using that skill for that action. Once you declare a boast about a particular action, you cannot declare a boast about the same action until the next time you make daily preparations, regardless of whether you succeed or fail at the check.

Typically, a challenging task is one with at least a standard DC for your level, though the difficulty may be higher depending on the situation. A meaningful context is one where the action’s success or failure is relevant to the pursuit of your goals, rather than a boast you made simply to gain a bonus later.

Flexible Spellcaster

You've learned how to cast spells flexibly, blending the best elements of spontaneous and prepared spellcasting at the cost of casting fewer spells each day.

Flexible Spellcaster Dedication
FEAT 2

flexible spell preparation

You now have four cantrips per day instead of three. At 4th level, you have five cantrips per day instead of four.

Folklorist

Folklorists are welcome across the Tyr Region for the entertaining stories they tell and the counsel they impart. However, those who take the art of storytelling to the next level can produce psionic effects based on their understanding of stories and their firm belief that life conforms to the contours of these tales. While many such folklorists are benevolent, terms like hero and villain are notoriously relative, changing to fit the perspective of the storyteller.

Folklorist Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Performance

You are a master archivist and entertainer, capable of pulling wisdom from the tales you tell and weaving your allies and enemies into a powerful narrative. You gain the Spin Tale action.
Spin Tale

(auditory, linguistic) Frequency once every 10 minutes; Effect You tell a story, designating one of your allies (but not
yourself) as the hero of the story, and one enemy as the villain; both must be within 60 feet. The hero gains a +1 status bonus to attack rolls and saving throws against the villain until the start of your next turn. If you Spin a Tale on your next turn, the story
continues for another round, for a maximum of 10 rounds. While the tale continues, minor, crude illusions spring into being in your space; these are occult illusion effects that have no mechanical impact other than illustrating your tale.

Game Hunter

Game hunters find, follow, and slay game animals, then honor their fallen rivals by securing and preserving a trophy of the kill. Many game hunters show a reverential respect for their prey bordering on the sacred. The finest game hunters engage only in a fair chase, strive for painless kills, and use every part of the animal's carcass.

Game Hunter Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Survival

You are skilled at tracking big game animals and similar creatures. You gain the Hunt Prey action, but you can designate only animals, beasts, and dragons as prey. In addition to the other benefits of Hunt Prey, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks against your hunted prey.

When you succeed at a Strike against your hunted prey while it's flat-footed, it must attempt a Fortitude save against your class DC. On a failure, the prey's Speeds are each reduced by 10 feet for 1 round; on a critical failure, the duration of this effect is 1 minute. The prey is then temporarily immune to this effect for 10 minutes.

If you already have Hunt Prey, you become an expert in Survival. You apply the Stealth bonus and the Speed reduction only when your prey is an animal, beast, or drake.

Gang Enforcer

You've become a powerful gang enforcer. This archetype is the same as Golden League Xun.

Gang Enforcer Dedication
FEAT 8

master in Underworld Lore.

You are a gang enforcer, aiding the organization. You gain expert proficiency in two of the following skills (or in two other skills of your choice in which you're trained, if you were already an expert in the listed skills): Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, or Stealth. In addition, if you use Underworld Lore to Earn Income or Recall Knowledge, when you get a success, you get a critical success instead.

Geomancer

You know how to draw power from the land around you, no matter the terrain, by attuning your magic to match its mystical properties.

You might be a druid with an elemental focus (such as the flame, stone, or wave orders) or a naturalist with a touch of magic at your disposal. You could concentrate on a single type of terrain to wring every last drop of power from it or choose to wander the land to experience every type of terrain possible.

Geomancer Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Nature; ability to cast spells from spell slots; at least one spell with the air, cold, earth, fire, plant, or water trait

You feel a deep connection to the world no matter where you are, a phenomenon known as “terrain attunement.” When you expend a spell slot to cast a spell with a trait that corresponds to the type of terrain you are currently in (as listed below), you gain the terrain attunement effect for that type of terrain. The GM might determine an attunement applies as long as it's prevalent enough around you. For instance, you might be in aquatic terrain on a riverbank or on a boat. Similarly, one place might count as multiple types of terrain, such as a mountain in the far north being both arctic and mountain. In this case, you choose only one terrain attunement effect, even if the spell has traits that would apply to each terrain type.

Certain terrain attunements affect your enemies instead of you. If they do, when you cast the spell, you apply the listed effect to all enemies who are either adjacent to you, in the area of the spell, or targeted by the spell. These enemies receive the listed saving throw against your spell DC to attempt to avoid the effect. Aquatic (water) You ride the currents of water. If you're in the water, you gain a swim Speed equal to your land Speed. If you're on a surface, temporary waves of water follow your movements, allowing you to use your swim Speed—if you have one—as your land Speed.

Desert (fire) The scorching heat of the desert dehydrates your foes. Enemies must attempt a Fortitude save. On a failure, they're fatigued until they drink water or another potable liquid.
Forest (plant) Branches and vines reach out to get in your foes' way. Enemies must attempt a Reflex save. On a failure, they become clumsy 1 for 1 round (clumsy 2 on a critical failure).
Mountain (earth) The rugged endurance of the mountain protects you from harm. You gain resistance to physical damage (except adamantine) equal to the spell rank for 1 round.
Plains (plant) The growing fields and pulsing vitality of the plains provide you vigor. You gain temporary Hit Points equal to the spell rank for 1 round.
Sky (air) A gust of wind carries you aloft. You can Fly up to 10 feet. If you're in the air at the end of the turn and don't have a fly Speed, you fall.
Swamp (plant) Your magic draws in noxious swamp gas to fumigate your foes. Affected foes take persistent poison damage equal to half the spell's rank (minimum 1 damage) with a basic Fortitude save.
Underground (earth) The endless darkness of the cavern depths opens up its secrets to your senses. For 1 round, you gain darkvision as well as imprecise tremorsense out to 15 feet.

Ghost Hunter

Ghosts have a wide range of capabilities and features— no two ghosts are exactly alike, as the nature of their abilities depends as much upon who they were in life as on how they died. Haunts, the spectral phenomena remaining in a site of death or powerful emotions, are related to but distinct from ghosts.

The ghost hunter knows that ghosts and haunts share many features. By focusing on these similarities, they can track down, confront, and defeat all manner of unquiet souls, helping them to find peace and move on to dissolve in the Gray.

Ghost Hunter Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Occultism or Religion

You have focused your training on hunting and defeating ghosts, spirits, and all manner of haunts. Pick Spirit Lore or Haunt Lore; you become trained in this skill. If you were already trained in both skills, you become trained in a new Lore skill of your choice.

Choose two cantrips from the occult spell list. Each cantrip must have the divination, enchantment, or necromancy trait. You can cast these spells as innate occult spells. You gain access to the Cast a Spell activity if you didn't have it already. You're trained in occult spell attack rolls and spell DCs. You can usually replace material components with somatic components, so you don't need a spell component pouch. Your key spellcasting ability for these spells is Charisma.

Gladiator

The roar of the crowd and thrill of competitive combat drive you to become the best—and the fame isn't bad either.

If there are sapient creatures observing a combat encounter, and these onlookers are neither engaged in the combat themselves nor allied or affiliated with either side, the combatants have spectators. The GM is the final arbiter.

Gladiator Dedication
FEAT 2

Impressive Performance

You know how to turn combat into a form of entertainment. You become trained in Gladiatorial Lore; if already trained in Gladiatorial Lore, you instead become trained in another Lore skill of your choice.

At the start of a combat encounter, if you have spectators, you gain a number of temporary HP equal to your character level for 1 minute and you can roll Performance for your initiative.

Hallowed Necromancer

It's quite common for mages of all sorts to study necromancy—the surprisingly diverse school holds the secrets of vitality and void energy, as well as life and death. Many tap into these powers with no consideration of the morality of their use. For these unscrupulous magic users, it's simply another avenue in their never-ending pursuit of power, and the abilities learned are turned to the caster's personal ends, whatever they may be.

Others choose a different path. Through spiritual study and introspection, they have come to recognize the evil intrinsic in the existence of undead, the fundamental wrongness of using the universal energy of death to create an appearance of life. To combat this evil, these casters learn to conduct vitality energy and direct it to great effect against the undead they encounter. They may also engage in ongoing study to learn of the nature of life, death, and undeath, and the precise relationship between each state. These scholars and mages are commonly known as hallowed necromancers—a slightly misrepresentative name, as many of them don't use religious methods, but a frequently used shorthand regardless.

The exact origin of hallowed necromancers' abilities may vary from one to the next. Some are granted their gifts directly by a sympathetic elemental lord, while others might use their knowledge of religion and the planes to learn such abilities on their own. Though rarer, it's even possible these practitioners might discover they possess an intuitive understanding and control over abilities that manifest spontaneously as their capabilities grow. Despite this variance, all share a fundamental understanding that undeath is an aberration to be quickly remedied.

Though the majority of hallowed necromancers have similar goals and are willing to work together, they tend not to form their own organizations. More often, these necromancers attach themselves to existing groups and use their powers in support of those groups' causes. Otherwise, they plan and carry out their own personal vendettas against the forces of undeath, often enlisting the help of trusted friends and allies.

Hallowed Necromancer Dedication
FEAT 2

expert in Religion; able to cast spells using spell slots, able to cast at least one necromancy spell

You've studied techniques allowing you to blend so-called hallowed necromancy into your own spellcasting to bolster the living and destroy the undead. You gain the hallowed ground focus spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell. This feat grants a focus pool of 1 Focus Point that you can recover using the Refocus activity. You can Refocus by meditating or praying to connect yourself to conduits of vitality energy. Focus spells from the hallowed necromancer archetype have the same tradition as your spell slots.

Casting spells that create, heal, or otherwise aid or promote undead is anathema to you, as is cooperation with undead. Using void energy isn't anathema, as it serves a natural purpose, but twisting that void energy for creation is blasphemous to you. If you perform acts that are anathema to your principles, you lose access to all feats from this archetype. These abilities can be regained only with an atone ritual.

Herbalist

The plants around you can provide more remedies than the finest hospital or temple, and you are skilled in their use.

Herbalist Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Nature; Natural Medicine

You can create remedies and other herbal products. You gain the basic alchemy benefits, though they apply only for herbal items: alchemical items with the healing trait, plus antidote and antiplague. You gain batches of infused reagents per day equal to your level or half your level if you didn't make your daily preparations in the wilderness. Your advanced alchemy level for creating these is 1 and doesn't increase on its own. You become an expert in Nature and can use Nature instead of Crafting to Craft herbal items. You don't need to be trained in Crafting or have the Alchemical Crafting feat to do so, and you can use healer's tools instead of alchemist's tools.

Horizon Walker

Many long for the open road, but you prefer the trackless wild. You can find safe passage through the most inhospitable terrain in the world—salt flats, deserts, and similar environs are where you're comfortable. Your talents open untrod paths for you and help guide others through the wilderness.

Horizon Walker Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Survival

You've mastered travel within a specific type of terrain. You gain the Favored Terrain feat. When in your favored terrain, you gain a +10-foot circumstance bonus to your travel Speed. When other creatures Follow the Expert with you as a guide in your favored terrain, they gain both the ability to ignore non-magical difficult terrain for the purpose of their travel Speed and the bonus to travel Speed.

Juggler

You’re a skilled performer, with impressive balance and coordination that help you greatly in battle.

Juggler Dedication
FEAT 2

Dexterity +2

You become trained in Performance; if you were already trained in Performance, you instead become trained in a skill of your choice. You also gain the Juggle skill feat, even if you don’t meet its prerequisites.

Linguist

Whether you study to further your own ambitions or simply out of fascination with the intricacies of language, your way with words is unparalleled.

Linguist Dedication
FEAT 2

you speak at least three languages

You have studied languages and their development. You become trained in Society; if you were already trained in Society, you instead become an expert in Society. You gain the Multilingual skill feat twice.

Loremaster

Knowledge is power, and you labor in pursuit of that power. No matter the situation, you can usually procure some tidbit of knowledge to inform your actions. You specialize in secrets, both uncovering them and hiding them away, and your command of the written word borders on the supernatural. As you discover deeper secrets of lore, you might develop a power over knowledge that becomes outright magical, allowing you to understand and disguise information even more effectively.

Loremaster Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in at least one skill to Decipher Writing

You've compiled a vast repository of information that touches on nearly every subject. You are trained in Loremaster Lore, a special Lore skill that can be used only to Recall Knowledge, but on any topic. If you have legendary proficiency in a skill used to Decipher Writing, you gain expert proficiency in Loremaster Lore, but you can't increase your proficiency rank in Loremaster Lore by any other means. You can take feats in the loremaster's additional feats entry even if you don't meet the enigma muse prerequisite.

Marshal

Marshals are leaders, first and foremost. Marshals can come from any class or background, though they all share a willingness to sacrifice their own glory for the greater good of the team. Some marshals lead from the front, sword and shield raised, while others may call instructions and encouragements from the rear while providing allied spellcasters with skilled support.

Regardless of their preferred method of combat, marshals' ability to bring the best out in every ally is a valuable addition to any group.

Marshal Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in martial weapons; trained in Diplomacy or Intimidation

You've combined your social skills and combat training to become a talented combat leader. Choose Diplomacy or Intimidation. You become trained in that skill or become an expert if you were already trained in it.

In addition, you're surrounded by a marshal's aura in a 10-foot emanation. Your aura has the emotion, mental, and visual traits and grants you and allies within the aura a +1 status bonus to saving throws against fear.

Mauler

You shove your way through legions of foes, knock enemies on all sides to the ground, and deal massive blows to anyone or anything that comes near.

Mauler Dedication
FEAT 2

Strength +2

You specialize in weapons that require two hands. You become trained in all simple and martial melee weapons that require two hands to wield or have the two-hand trait. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in weapons, you also gain that proficiency rank in these weapons. If you are at least an expert in such a weapon, you gain access to the critical specialization effect with that weapon.

Medic

You've studied countless techniques for providing medical aid, making you a peerless doctor and healer.

Medic Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Medicine; Battle Medicine

You become an expert in Medicine. When you succeed with Battle Medicine or Treat Wounds, the target regains 5 additional HP at DC 20, 10 HP at DC 30, or 15 HP at DC 40. Once per day, you can use Battle Medicine on a creature that's temporarily immune. If you're a master in Medicine, you can do so once per hour.

Mind Smith

“The mind makes it real.” Though uttered in many parts of Athas, nowhere is this more literal than perhaps among mind smiths—those with a mysterious mental talent that allows them to manifest their mind into a physical object. Some gain this power through magical training from an ancestor or mentor, while others earn it as a gift or reward from some greater being, or by inexplicable chance.

Whatever the source, you have mastered the ability to form a mental image into a corporeal figment solid enough to affect the physical world. You trained the power to aid you in battle by shaping itself into a potent weapon, bound by only the reaches of your own imagination.

Mind Smith Dedication
FEAT 2

You've learned to imagine a shape in your mind, to envision it so strongly it takes form in the material world. You gain a single melee weapon of your choosing, called a mind weapon. Your mind weapon is a martial melee weapon. The overall shape and design of your mind weapon can be of your choosing, but it has one of the following four basic statistics:

A one-handed weapon that deals 1d4 damage and has the agile and finesse traits
A one-handed weapon that deals 1d6 damage and has the finesse trait
A one-handed weapon that deals d8 damage
A two-handed weapon that deals 1d10 damage and has the reach trait

Each day during your daily preparations, you can decide if you want your weapon to deal bludgeoning damage and be in the club weapon group, deal piercing damage and be in the spear weapon group, or deal slashing damage and be in the sword weapon group. Your mind weapon is an extension of your mind—it has no Hardness, and any ability that would damage your mind weapon instead damages you directly, pushing back against the weapon's corporeal form and becoming mental damage of the same amount the weapon would have taken.

You can project your mind weapon using an Interact action, just as you would draw any other weapon. Only you can hold, carry, or wield your mind weapon; if held by another person, it quickly disappears from their hand, reforming in your mind for you to project again. If you're disarmed of your mind weapon, it dematerializes, but you can draw it again with an Interact action starting at the beginning of your next turn.

Upon creating your mind weapon, you also learn to use a mind smith's keepsake: an object of light Bulk, such as a bracelet or figurine, that you wear or keep on your person and inscribe with weapon runes. Your keepsake can't be a magic item, nor can it have any significant monetary value beyond the value of any runes you inscribe on it. You can buy and inscribe fundamental runes and weapon property runes onto your keepsake in the same way you would for a regular weapon, and you can move runes to and from your keepsake to other weapons or runestones for the usual cost. Any runes inscribed on the keepsake apply to your mind weapon when you create it.

If your keepsake is ever lost or destroyed, you can spend 1 week of downtime imprinting a new object with your weapon's mental properties, though this new keepsake won't have any of the runes that were inscribed on the prior keepsake.

Oozemorph

You have suffered from the deadly touch of an ooze or other amorphous creature, like a gibbering mouther or a tyrian slime, and have come away changed. Alternatively, you might have been exposed to some alchemical accident involving experiments with oozes, such as those performed in the city of Nibenay. Parts of your body occasionally liquefy and threaten to slough off, and only through force of will can you keep your natural form intact. Your affliction is plainly supernatural in origin and distressingly permanent.

Oozemorph Dedication
FEAT 2

You are plagued by sporadic anatomical rearrangements, which grant you insights into other creatures with unusual anatomies. You become trained in Occultism and Ooze Lore; if you were already trained, you become an expert instead. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Reflex saves to avoid being Engulfed by creatures, and to checks to Escape after being Engulfed.

As you develop more abilities based on your amorphous affliction, you become increasingly off-putting to mundane creatures. You take a penalty to Diplomacy checks against animals and humanoids. This penalty is equal to your number of class feats from the oozemorph archetype, to a maximum of –4 for four or more feats.

Pirate

You live a life of freedom, taking by force and intimidation all that you desire.

You may be a privateer, raiding and plundering on behalf of a particular nation or another authority, or you may answer to no one but your own capricious whims. Either way, you rely on intimidation, wits, and combat prowess to take what you want from those you deem less deserving.

Pirates have much in common with swashbucklers, and many pirates have the swashbuckler class or archetype. Much like a swashbuckler's daring deeds, classic pirate maneuvers are often showy feats intended to impress, intimidate, and gain panache. For example, if you have the panache class feature and your Acrobatics check for a Boarding Assault exceeds the very hard DC for your level, you would gain panache.

Pirate Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Intimidation

As a pirate, you sail the seas in search of enemy ships to plunder. You become trained in Sailing Lore or become an expert in it if you were already trained. You ignore the effects of difficult terrain or uneven ground caused by a ship's movement. Additionally, you gain the Boarding Assault action.
Boarding Assault

(Flourish) Effect Either Stride twice or
attempt an Acrobatics check (DC determined by the GM, but
usually DC 20) to swing on a rope up to twice your Speed. If you boarded or disembarked from a boat or similar vehicle during
this movement, you can make a melee Strike that deals one
additional weapon damage die.

Poisoner

People are so delightfully fragile when exposed to the glories of nature. The bite of a certain serpent makes the blood congeal to jelly. A particular stone, suitably powdered, causes hallucinations and delirium. The sap of a tree inflicts such pain that death seems preferable. You are a student of such dark wonders, making you a dangerous foe indeed.

Poisoner Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Crafting

You make a point of always having a few toxins near at hand—you never know when some arsenic or the like might prove useful. You gain the basic alchemy benefits, though they can be used only for alchemical poisons. You gain batches of infused reagents per day equal to your level. Your advanced alchemy level for creating these is 1 and doesn't increase on its own.

Provocator

The provocator is a gladiator who mixes brilliant performance with mastery of weapons.

Provocator Dedication
FEAT 10

Strength +2; Charisma +2

For you, fighting is as much about style as skill. You become trained in simple weapons, martial weapons, and one advanced weapon of your choice. When you critically succeed at an attack roll using your chosen advanced weapon, you also apply the critical specialization of that weapon. You become an expert in Performance and your choice of either Acrobatics or Athletics. If you were an expert in all three of these skills, you instead become an expert in a skill of your choice.

Psychic Duelist

The mental landscape of the psychic duel rises to meet your steps and reshapes at your touch. You understand the binary mindscape links two minds, making its foundation only as strong as the wills of those involved. Two psychic castles in a siege—patch every loose brick in your walls and single out every flaw in your foe's defenses.

Psychic Duelist Dedication
FEAT 4

trained in Occultism; you have been in a psychic duel

Through experience and in-depth visualizations of mental battles, you've grown adept at psychic duels. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your initiative rolls for psychic duels. Each time you enter a psychic duel, choose one of the following benefits for the duration of that duel.

Mind Mace You gain a status bonus to mental damage with spells you cast equal to the spell's rank.
Psychic Fist You can use your standard ability modifier for Strike damage instead of your highest mental modifier, and you can use your full AC instead of using your Will DC in place of your AC.

Reanimator

Most cultures revere the bodies of the deceased, laying to rest the mortal remains of their companions according to tradition formed generations before. Such customs assume a common conclusion: once the spirit that inhabited it has gone on to the Gray, the empty shell of a corpse has no purpose beyond its eventual return to the elements that formed it. You know differently. As the vessels that once housed immortal souls, corpses hold great power and potential, perfect construction materials for creations of unsurpassed wonder.

As a reanimator, you have chosen to focus your study of the necromantic arts on the transformation of dead flesh into innumerable varieties of undead, from the lowliest shuffling corpses and brittle skeletons to abominations of ghastly splendor barely conceived of by only the most fanatical—or brilliant— mortal minds.

Reanimator Dedication
FEAT 2

able to cast animate dead with a spell slot

You have dedicated your studies to the art of raising and commanding undead. If you're a spontaneous spellcaster with animate dead in your repertoire, it becomes a signature spell in addition to your usual signature spells. If you're a prepared spellcaster with animate dead in your spells known, spellbook, or the like, you can spend 10 minutes contemplating undeath to replace one of the spells you've prepared in your spell slots with an animate dead spell of the same rank.

In addition, if you're able to target the mostly intact remains of an appropriate type of dead creature when casting animate dead, the undead you animate gains a +1 status bonus to attack rolls, AC, saving throws, and skill checks for the duration of animate dead.

Ritualist

While some learn the art of ritual casting through rigorous study, other gifted individuals may find that a combination of natural talent and luck gives them surprising skill at performing rituals, whether they want that power or not.

Ritualist Dedication
FEAT 4

expert in Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion

You have begun to master the difficult art of casting rituals. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to all primary checks to perform a ritual. You learn two uncommon rituals with a rank no higher than half your level; you must meet all prerequisites for casting the ritual to choose it. At 8th level and every 4 levels thereafter, you learn another uncommon ritual with a rank no higher than half your level and for which you meet the prerequisites. You can cast these as the primary caster, but you can't teach them to anyone else or allow someone else to serve as primary caster unless they know the ritual as well.

Scout

You're an expert in espionage and reconnaissance, able to skulk silently through the wilderness to gather intelligence, sneak through enemy lines to report to your comrades, or suddenly and decisively strike your foes. Your skills ease the difficulty of travel for you and your companions and keep you all on guard when you're approaching danger.

Scout Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Stealth and Survival

You are a highly skilled scout, capable of providing your allies a timely warning of any danger. You gain the Scout's Warning ranger feat. When you're using the Scout exploration activity, you grant your allies a +2 circumstance bonus to their initiative rolls instead of a +1 circumstance bonus.

Sentinel

Armor offers solid, reassuring protection in combat, and as someone who faces danger on a regular basis, you have made it your business to get the most out of your defenses. You stand solid on any battlefield, encased in the sturdiest armor you can find. When danger threatens, your solid defenses will safely get you, and possibly your companions, home again. As a sentinel, you might be a member of an order of knights or bodyguards that trained you how best to take advantage of heavy armor.

On the other hand, you might just be an adventurer who took one too many scrapes and decided that enough was enough, so you trained yourself to wear the heaviest plate you could get your hands on. Some witches or sorcerers have chosen to follow the path of the sentinel to increase their survivability.

Sentinel Dedication
FEAT 2

You have trained carefully to maximize the protective qualities of your armor. You become trained in light armor and medium armor. If you already were trained in light armor and medium armor, you gain training in heavy armor as well. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in any type of armor (but not unarmored defense), you also gain that proficiency in the armor types granted to you by this feat. If you are at least 13th level and you have a class feature that grants you expert proficiency in unarmored defense, you also become an expert in the armor types granted to you by this feat.

Shadowdancer

Shadow has always been the cousin of fear. Within the darkness, monsters dwell, plans are hatched, and enemies strike with fang and dagger and dark magic. But some embrace the Black, gain power from it, and dance within its shifting dark.

A true shadowdancer is a creature who flits on the edge of light and darkness. Moving amid the inky blackness, shadowdancers are spies, assassins, infiltrators, and emissaries. Some shadowdancers use their relationship with the Black for good, while others embrace the primordial night, its terror, and its betrayal.

Regardless of the reason why someone embraces the shadows, the shadows embrace that person in turn, gradually transforming them into something inky, nebulous, and mysterious.

Shadowdancer Dedication
FEAT 8

expert in Performance and master in Stealth

You dedicate yourself to the shadows. Your coloring becomes gray and gloomy, your senses adjust to the darkness, and you can sneak through darkness with ease. You gain greater darkvision.

You also gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Stealth checks when you are within dim light or darkness.

Sixth Pillar

The Sixth Pillar follows a tradition that blends martial arts with magic. Traditionally, this is a way to better focus and harness innate magic, but it can be used by anyone who can cast spells.

Sixth Pillar Dedication
FEAT 10

Dexterity +2; expert in Acrobatics; ability to cast spells

You use your physical discipline to channel your magic.

If your proficiency rank in unarmed attacks is at least expert, your proficiency rank in spell attacks increases to expert. Likewise, if your proficiency rank in spell attacks is at least expert, your proficiency rank in unarmed attacks improves to expert. You become an expert in Athletics, or in another trained skill if you were already expert in Athletics.

Sleepwalker

Many think of mental realms and mindscapes as rare and elaborate constructions, forgetting that everyone creates their own mental realm when they sleep, one where even the strangest occurrences seem perfectly normal. Anything is possible inside these dreamscapes, but few sapient creatures have the will and insight to take control and truly explore their unconscious mind.

Sleepwalkers dedicate themselves to unlocking the secrets of the sleeping mind, taking control of their dreams, and walking through the slumbering vistas of others. Some are nefarious manipulators, whispering to the slumbering for personal gain. Others use their powers for good, seeking evildoers and those who corrupt dreams to nightmares. As their power grows, a sleepwalker's appearance gradually becomes slightly indistinct, as though they were blurred around the edges, and those who encounter them find it difficult to recall exact details about their appearance.

Sleepwalker Dedication
FEAT 4

expert in Occultism

You've learned to manipulate states of consciousness, beginning with your own. You can send yourself into a half-awake, daydreaming state and gain the Daydream Trance action.
Daydream Trance

(mental, occult) You fall into a half-
sleeping trance. This lasts for 1 minute or until you fall
unconscious, whichever comes first. You can voluntarily end your trance by taking a single action, which has a concentrate trait, and succeeding at a Will save against your own class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher. Once your trance ends, you can't enter a Daydream Trance again for 1 minute. While you're in your trance, you gain the following effects:
• You gain a +1 status bonus to Will saves. This bonus
increases to +2 against mental effects. If you're legendary in Occultism, the bonus against mental effects increases to +3.
• You take a –1 penalty to Perception checks and initiative
rolls.

Snarecrafter

You're able to take ordinary materials and use them to create deadly snares, special traps that you can rig up quickly when the situation demands. While traps might grant you less brute force to apply in a fair fight than weapons would, you rarely allow your fights to be fair.

Instead, when a battle takes place at a location of your choice, you have a major advantage thanks to your well-placed snares. Once your foes come to realize that you may have trapped any location on the battlefield, their fear of walking into another trap can help you corral them toward the waiting blades of your allies, or even make them too paranoid to move at all, locking them in place.

Snarecrafter Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Crafting; Snare Crafting

You've learned to create a limited number of snares at no cost. Each day during your daily preparations, you can prepare four snares from your formula book for quick deployment; if they normally take 1 minute to Craft, you can Craft them with 3 Interact actions. The number of snares increases to six if you're a master in Crafting and eight if you're legendary. Snares prepared in this way don't cost you any resources to Craft.

Soul Warden

You consider yourself a shepherd of spirits who ensures the cycle of souls progresses unimpeded. Although you're unable to safeguard the cycle of souls in its entirety, you strive to ensure each soul's time on the Material Plane proceeds without incident. You work to free souls from imprisonment, prevent necromancers from animating the dead, and destroy undead so their souls rejoin the cycle.

While most who hunt undead do so out of fear, vengeance, or a desire to protect the lives of others, you take a more measured and far less emotional approach; you destroy undead so their souls can continue their journey to the Gray, thus ensuring the continuation of existence.

Soul Warden Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Occultism or Religion

You can take 10 minutes to emblazon a symbol of power—a spiraling comet that represents the winding path a soul takes through its existence—upon a shield, tabard, banner, or other prominent object that your wear or wield. The symbol doesn't fade until 1 year has passed, but if you emblazon the symbol again, any symbol you previously emblazoned and any symbol already emblazoned on that item instantly disappears. The item becomes a religious symbol and can be used as a divine focus while emblazoned.

Whenever an undead creature or captive soul is within 100 feet of this object, the spiral glows, shedding dim blue light in a 10-foot radius. If the creature is hiding or the soul is hidden, it must succeed at a Stealth check against your Perception DC to fool the sigil and prevent the spiral from glowing.

In addition, you can cast vitality lash as a divine innate cantrip at will. As normal, a cantrip is automatically heightened to half your level rounded up. You gain access to the Cast a Spell activity if you didn't have it already. You're trained in divine spell attack rolls and spell DCs. Your key spellcasting ability for these spells is Wisdom.

When you have at least two other feats from this archetype, the spiral glows with bright light in a 10-foot radius (and dim light for the next 10 feet). Feats that require a creature or object to be in the light of your spiral function whether it's in the bright or dim light.

Staff Acrobat

You can perform amazing acts in and out of combat when you have a spear, staff, or polearm.

Staff Acrobat Dedication
FEAT 2

Dexterity +3; trained in Acrobatics and Athletics; trained with at least one of the following weapons: staff, bo staff, halfling sling staff, or any weapon in the spear or polearm group (referred to in this archetype as “your staff”).

When you High Jump, Leap, or Long Jump while wielding your staff, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to any Athletics check required and add 5 feet to the distance you can Leap vertically and horizontally. You can Shove and Trip even if you don’t have a free hand, provided you are wielding your staff. Finally, when you roll a success on a check to Balance while wielding your staff, you get a critical success instead.

Swordmaster

Those trained to master the sword learn so to survive, defend others, and defeat their enemies. The swordmaster embodies these skills, focusing on practicality and ignoring ideals or methods that interfere with their ability to overcome any challenge.

Swordmaster Dedication
FEAT 6

Strength+2, Dexterity +2, or Constitution +2

Your Swords training taught you to never lose hold of your weapon. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Reflex DC when foes attempt to Disarm you. If you have the Deft Cooperation feat and critically succeed on a check to Aid an ally’s attack roll or skill check, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus from Deft Cooperation (instead of a +1 bonus) the first time you attempt an attack roll or attempt a skill check where the bonus would apply.

Undead Master

Not everyone with an interest in the undead raises a vast army of faceless, disposable minions. You prefer to cultivate a more personal relationship with a small number of undead companions, personalized to your needs and expectations. Those companions with minds trust you implicitly; those without are extensions of your will. Perhaps they see you as a teacher or caretaker, shepherding them on the path to peace and passing on, or perhaps they are your protectors, bound to aid you by negotiation and magical spells. Whatever the case, they will fight for and alongside you without question, throwing themselves into danger without hesitation if it will provide a means to your desired end.

This archetype works well for a necromancer capable of raising undead but isn't exclusive to them. You could be a warrior who befriended an undead, an evil champion granted an undead companion by your deity, or an undead bloodline sorcerer undead are drawn to. The additional feats below are found in the beastmaster archetype. Whenever one of these additional feats refers to an animal companion, as an undead master, you apply it to your undead companion instead.

Undead Master Dedication
FEAT 2

You gain the services of an undead companion that travels with you and obeys your commands. The rules for undead companions are under Undead Companions and utilize those for animal companions.

Contrary to the usual rules for companions, as an undead master it's possible for you to have more than one undead companion at a time. However, only one of those companions, your “active companion,” follows you during exploration and encounters; the rest are reduced to an “inactive” state that can be easily tucked into an inventory or stored in a nearby crypt.

Call Companion

(Exploration) You spend 1 minute calling for a different animal companion, switching your active companion for another of your animal companions.

Undead Slayer

Anywhere undead prey upon the living, some brave souls make it their mission to destroy the monsters. Many adventurers are skilled at dispatching undead, but you go a step further. You study them, learn their weaknesses, and master the tools to end them quickly and cleanly. An undead slayer doesn't simply kill monsters; they become what even monsters fear. Leave it to others to be a shield—you become the blade that strikes evil at its heart. You can identify the common types of undead by sight. You drill and practice with the special gear necessary to destroy some of the more complicated undead, like T’liz; train in their strengths and weaknesses; and learn how to create safe houses to stash your arsenal and hide from undead.

Undead Slayer Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Religion

Your training has prepared you to recognize most undead on sight. You become trained in two Lore skills, each about a specific type of undead, or become an expert if you were already trained. You gain the Slayer's Identification free action.

Slayer's Identification

You roll initiative and can observe a creature you know is undead; You attempt to Recall Knowledge to identify the undead creature with a +1 circumstance bonus. If you're a master in the skill you're using to Recall Knowledge, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus instead.

Weapon Improviser

As far as you're concerned, the best weapon to wield is the one that your opponents never see coming. By knowing how to fight effectively with whatever's at hand, you ensure that you're never caught unarmed, and you often get the drop on opponents who mistakenly think they've caught you off guard.

Whether you're smashing someone over the head with a bar stool, tossing a mug of ale in their face to blind them, or stabbing your foes with a broken bottle, you can find weapons anywhere and employ them creatively whenever a fight breaks out. Because you fight with disposable weapons, you don't need to be as careful with your weapons as other warriors do, and you can break them when needed to win a fight without feeling any regrets later.

Weapon Improviser Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in all martial weapons

You don't take the normal –2 penalty to attack rolls with improvised weapons. Additionally, whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency with any weapon, you also gain that proficiency with improvised weapons.

Wrestler

Wrestlers are athletes who pit their strength and skill against powerful foes. Specializing in a variety of grabs, holds, and strikes, wrestlers are dangerous opponents whose techniques can leave a foe broken and defeated without taking their life.

The wrestling tradition is common all over Athas. Gladiators and other warriors who fight for entertainment use wrestling techniques in combat. The discipline's focus on grappling is also useful in non-gladiatorial matches, as many foes are unable to contend with an opponent's hold. Grappling is particularly effective against spellcasters, who have a difficult time completing the somatic components of their spells while grabbed.

Wrestler Dedication
FEAT 2

trained in Athletics; trained in unarmed attacks, and unarmored defense

Your training in the wrestling arts has made you particularly adept at moving, striking, and grappling while unencumbered. You become an expert in Athletics and gain the Titan Wrestler skill feat. You don't take the –2 circumstance penalty for making a lethal attack with your nonlethal unarmed attacks. In addition, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Fortitude DC when resisting an opponent's attempts to Grapple you or Swallow you Whole.

Dark Sun Archetypes

On Athas there exists unique archetypes that are only available in Dark Sun. Be it the Dark Sun Martial Artist, Living Vessel, Elemental, or even a Dragon.

Avangion

Having mastered both psionics and arcane magic, some of Athas' most powerful preservers seek out the mysteries of a metamorphosis, to change themselves into strange beings of gossamer wings and light. As avangions, they can combine their mastery of the Way and arcane arts into psionic enchantments that some say counters dragon magic. Others say that the avangions bring a healing power, and that they come not to fight, but to return life to dying lands. Most sages have never heard of avangions, and would probably call them myth.

Avangion Dedication
FEAT 12

master in Arcana and Crafting; Basic Psychic Spellcasting, living creature, ability to cast 6th-rank or higher spells from spell slots, completed ritual to become an avangion.

Avangions are incredibly powerful individuals who have mastered both arcane magic and psionics. In their quests for power, these individuals have chosen to undergo a metamorphosis, changing them into a celestial avangion. Avangions command powerful magic capable of countering defiling magic and restoring Athas to its previous glory.

You gain the celstial trait and are surrounded by a halo of light and goodness at all times as well as your skin glitters in the sunlight. Your halo sheds light with the effects of a divine light cantrip. A cantrip is heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up. You can suppress or reestablish the halo with a single action, which has the concentrate trait. Your eyes turn silver, and you gain Dark Vision. Finally, you gain the Celestial Wings action.

Celestial Wings

(Avangion, Divine, Polymorph) once per day With effort, you can call forth magical wings from your back. These wings remain for 10 minutes. You gain a fly Speed equal to your Speed while you've manifested your wings.

Aura of Righteousness
FEAT 14

Avangion Dedication

Your righteous aura dampens evil's might. You and all allies in the avangions halo of light gain unholy resistance 5.

Avangion Metamorphosis I
FEAT 14

Avangion Dedication; completed 7th-rank preserver metamorphosis ritual

At the next stage of the avangion metamorphosis the avangion’s skin takes on a metallic glow similar to its eyes, and any hair they have turns pure white. Their body becomes frail and the avangion's maximum HP is reduced by its level. However, the avangion becomes resistant to damage and gains resistance 1 to all damage except unholy or void damage. This resistance increases to 2 if the source is non-magical.

At 16th level, the resistance increases to 2, or 4 if the source is non-magical. At 18th level, the resistance increases to 3, or 5 if the source is non-magical.

Avangion Metamorphosis II
FEAT 16

Avangion Metamorphosis I; completed 8th-rank preserver metamorphosis ritual

At the next stage of the avangion metamorphosis any concealment of the avangions true form is lost at this stage. As enormous gossamer wings sprout from the back and shoulders. The wings themselves are filmy and nearly transparent. You gain the Celestial Wings at all times, rather than just once per day for 10 minutes.

Aura of unbreakable virtue
FEAT 20

Avangion Dedication

You are a paragon of all that is good, your overwhelming aura causing evildoers to cower. All unholy creatures within your halo of light take a –1 status penalty to checks and DCs that target you or your allies. This penalty is –2 against dragons. You can choose to suppress or resume this aura as an action, which has the concentrate trait.

Avangion Metamorphosis III
FEAT 20

Avangion Metamorphosis II; completed 9th-rank preserver metamorphosis ritual

At the next stage of the avangion metamorphosis the avangion's true form becomes increasingly vague. All hair has vanished at this point and webs of filmy winglike material forms between the arms, torso, and thier fingers and toes. Their wings further extend granting them a +10-foot status bonus to fly Speed.

The avangionn's magic cloaks themselves in a permanent illusory disguise of 2nd-rank. To all those that view the avangion they look as a celestial version of their ancestry. All enemies of the avangion must attempt a Will save when they see the avangion.

The target disbelieves the illusion and is unaffected.

For 1 round, the target is stupefied 2 and takes a –2 status penalty to any checks it makes to determine the effects of reactions.

For 1 minute, the target is stupefied 2 and can't use reactions.

As failure, and all spaces are difficult terrain for the target.

Dragon

Athasian dragons are a species of reptiles native to Athas that are created when a powerful wizard uses their powers to absorb enough magic from the natural world or from captured slaves to evolve into a new form. The process takes several stages, the first being the larval dragon, the form the wizard evolves into when they complete the initial ceremony of transformation. The new dragon then progresses through a series of stages, fueled by defiler magic all the way, till they are transformed into a full-fledged dragon.

Dragon Dedication
FEAT 12

master in Arcana and Crafting; Basic Psychic Spellcasting, living creature, ability to cast 6th-rank or higher spells from spell slots, completed ritual to become a dragon.

Dragons are incredibly powerful individuals who have mastered both arcane magic and psionics. In their quests for power, these individuals have chosen to undergo a metamorphosis, changing them into reptilian dragons. Dragons command terrible magic capable of draining the life-force of both man and beast, leaving only withered skulls behind.

You gain the dragon trait. Your skin becomes scaly giving you fire resistance equal to half your level and environmental heat effects are one step less extreme. Your fingers elongate into sharp claws. You have a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d4 slashing damage and has the agile and finesse traits in the brawling weapon group. Finally, your eyes turn reptilian, and you gain Dark Vision.

During the Dragon Metamorphosis you crafted a perfect obsidian sphere and swallowed it whole. You gain the Dragon Magic action.

Dragon Magic

(dragon, wizard) Once per round living creatures within 10 feet prior to casting a spell Athasian dragons can choose to power their spells with energy from living creatures rather than plants. Prior to casting a spell, you can strip the life energy of living creatures within 10 feet. Any creature in the area of the defiling must make a fortitude saving throw vs your spell casting DC or take 1d4 void damage per spell rank (cantrips inflict 1 point of void damage) and become sickened 1. On a critical failure they take double damage and become sickened 2.

The act of defiling empowers you with magic. If your next action is to cast a cantrip or a spell, reduce the number of actions to cast it by 1 (minimum 1 action). Dragon magic also improves with additional defiling feats.

Dragon Metamorphosis I
FEAT 14

Dragon Dedication; completed 7th-rank defiler metamorphosis ritual

At the next stage of the dragon metamorphosis your face elongates into a snout, and you gain a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage and is in the brawling group. Your scales harden and provide a +3 item bonus to AC with a Dex cap of +2. This uses your unarmored profiency and you can inscribe runes directly into your scales. If you were armor of any kind, your runes don't function. Finally, you gain a Dragon Breath action.

Dragon Breath

(arcane, dragon) Once every 1d4 rounds You channel your draconic power into a gout of super-heated sand that manifests as a 30-foot cone, dealing 6d4 fire damage and 6d4 piercing damage. Each creature in the area must attempt a reflex saving throw against the higher of your class DC or spell DC. You can't use this ability again for 1d4 rounds.

At every 2 levels thereafter, the damage increases by 2d4.

Dragon Metamorphosis II
FEAT 16

Dragon Metamorphosis I; completed 8th-rank defiler metamorphosis ritual

At the next stage of the dragon metamorphosis your dragon magic infuses your body with energy. You permanently gain the effects of enlarge, becoming Large, increasing your reach to 10 feet, becoming clumsy 1, and gaining a +2 status bonus to melee damage. and gain wings. You gain a fly speed equal to your speed.

Dragon Senses
FEAT 16

Dragon Dedication

Your dragon magic empowers your senses with magic. Magic enhances your sense of smell. You gain imprecise scent with a range of 30 feet. You gain further improvements to your sight as dragon magic heightens your vision. You gain the effects of see the unseen at all times.

Frightful Aura
FEAT 18

Dragon Dedication; master in intimidation

You're surrounded by a palpable sense of menace and power that's terrifying to behold. The aura is a 15-foot emanation. An enemy that enters or ends its turn in the aura must attempt a Will save against the higher of your spell DC or class DC.

The creature is unaffected and temporarily immune to your Frightful Aura for 1 minute

The creature is frightened 1.

The creature is frightened 2.

Dragon Metamorphosis III
FEAT 20

Dragon Metamorphosis II; completed 9th-rank defiler metamorphosis ritual

This is the final stage of the Dragon Metamorphosis. You permanently gain the effects of a 4th-rank enlarge, becoming huge, increasing your reach to 15 feet, and gaining +4 status bonus to melee damage. Finally, you become resistance to just about every kind of energy. You gain resistance 5 to acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, mental, poison, sonic, vitality, and void damage.

Elemental

There are several ways for a mortal to consume a primordial spark but continuing to become an elemental takes concentrated effort. A mortal might be born with an elemental spark, gifted one, or they could gain one by consuming the power of an elemental. Once acquired, one must spend a great deal of time contemplating and understanding the spark to unlock its full potential.

The process of attaining elemental mastery is dangerous. The slightest slip in control can cause devastation on a massive scale.

Elemental Dedication
FEAT 12

master in Religion; Basic Psychic Spellcasting, living creature, ability to cast 4th-rank or higher divine spells from spell slots, completed elemental metamorphosis ritual.

Elemental Characters are born when a humanoid absorbs a spark of the elemental planes. These forces are the purest building blocks of creation, and a fostered spark quickly grows to an all-consuming flame. Mastering the elements requires unlearning the limitations of mortality, a process that spurs rapid transformation.

You gain the elemental trait and are attuned to the element you worship: air, earth, fire, magma, silt, sun, or water. You gain resistance equal to half your level against damage dealt by effects with your elemental trait. In addition, you gain the Naari, Oread, Sylph, or Undine trait and can choose ancestry feats from those versatile heritages.

Disciple of the Elements
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication

You gain an appropriate focus spell for your element: lightning form for rain, magma field for Magma, silt web for Silt, sunlight burst for sun, unfolding wind blitz for Air, unblinking flame emblem for Fire, unbreakable wave barrier for Water, or untwisting iron augmentation for earth.

Elemental Spells
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication

The elemental planes provide in depth knowledge about the elements, teaching you secrets of the primal energy beyond other spellcasters of your tradition. Add cantrip: ignition*, 1st:chilling spray*, 2nd: acid arrow*, 3rd: elemental absorption, 4th: mountain resilience, 5th: howling blizzard*, 6th: elemental confluence, 7th: spell turning, 8th: prismatic wall, 9th: wrathful storm to your spell list. You can thus potentially learn these spells even if they aren't normally on your tradition's spell list.

Depending on the element that influenced you, you changed the marked spells damage based on your element. If your element is air, you buffet your foes with powerful winds; if it's earth, you toss huge chunks of rock; if it's fire, you incinerate your foes with flame; and if it's water, you inundate your foes with torrents of water. For fire, magma, or sun, all marked spells deal fire damage.

For Air, Earth, or Water elements, they deal bludgeoning damage. For rain they deal lightning damage and for silt they deal unholy damage. You replace any existing elemental traits with the trait of the element you chose.

Burning Spell
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication: Fire, Magma, or Sun Elemental

You enhance your spell with elemental fire, causing it to set the target on fire. If the next action you use is to Cast a non-cantrip Spell that deals damage at a single target, the spell deals additional persistent fire damage equal to the spell rank, in addition to its other effects. This has no effect if the spell already deals persistent fire damage. The spell gains the fire trait.

Current Spell
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication: Air, Rain, or Water Elemental

As you use your magic to manipulate air, rain, or water, you divert some of its currents to form a barrier around you. If your next action is to Cast a Spell with the air, rain, or water trait, until the start of your next turn, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to AC or a +2 circumstance bonus against ranged attacks.

This effect has the air, rain, or water trait, or both, depending on the traits of the spell you cast. You also gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all saves against effects with the air trait, rain trait, water trait, or all until the start of your next turn, depending on the spell's traits.

Rockslide Spell
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication: Earth Elemental

You enhance your spell with elemental earth, causing chunks of stone to litter the ground. If the next action you use is to Cast a non-cantrip Spell that affects an area, a number of 5-foot squares in the area equal to the spell rank become difficult terrain for 1 round. These squares must be on the ground, and the entire area of difficult terrain must be contiguous. The spell gains the earth trait.

Void Spell
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication: Silt Elemental

You perform complex manipulations to make the energy from your spells so powerful that your enemies remain vulnerable to it afterward. If your next action is to Cast a Spell that deals void damage, you can select one target that was damaged to gain weakness 10 to the void damage type until the end of your next turn. This has no effect on creatures with resistance or immunity to void damage.

Wind-Tossed Spell
FEAT 14

Elemental Dedication: Air or Rain Elemental

You enhance your spell with elemental air or rain, using the wind to find your target and carry your magic around cover. If the next action you use is to Cast a Spell that requires a spell attack roll, you ignore the target's concealed condition and any cover they have from you. The spell gains the air or rain trait.

Scintillating Spell
FEAT 16

Elemental Dedication: Sun Elemental

Your spells become a radiant display of light and color. If your next action is to Cast a Spell that doesn't have the darkness trait, has no duration, and requires creatures to attempt a Reflex save, the spell explodes in a spray of scintillating lights, in addition to its other effects. Each creature that failed its Reflex save against the spell is dazzled for 1 round, and those who critically failed are instead blinded for 1 round.

Elemental Form
FEAT 18

Elemental Dedication

You can transform into an elemental. Once per day, you can cast elemental form as a 7th-rank primal innate spell, but you can only choose the elemental form of your type.

Kaisharga

Kaishargas are extremely powerful undead. They voluntarily embraced this existence through a complicated ritual in order to prolong their life and increase their power. They come from all classes: fighters, wizards, gladiators, psions, and even evil clerics.

Gaunt, skeletal beings, kaishargas gain incredible powers through undeath. Their eyes burn with green fire of hatred for the living, and their connection to the Gray gives their skin a grayish tint. Kaishargas dress as they did in life.

A kaisharga’s transformation gives it great strength and agility, as well as deep cunning and wisdom. The defiler becoming or creating a kaisharga must be able to cast 6th-rank arcane spells.

Kaisharga Dedication
FEAT 12

expert in Crafting; living creature, ability to cast 6th-rank or higher spells from spell slots, completed ritual to become a kaisharga and created a tree of death.

After years of study and careful planning, you finally created a tree of death and successfully performed a ritual to transform yourself or another into a kaisharga. Now, neither death nor time can prevent you from pursuing your studies and achieving your grand ambitions. You gain the undead trait and the basic undead benefits. Your undead craving is for knowledge.

Special You can't select another dedication feat until you have gained two other feats from the kaisharga archetype.

With the dawning of a new era comes the need for a new seat of power, and what better way to show your coming master your devotion than by sacrificing your entire being for their use? You presented yourself before their altar and they answered your call, flooding your body with their power and granting you the gift of their original form. Or maybe you were abducted in the dark, on a night that the moon refused to shine, when you were taken to a profane location where a mysterious cult bound you to their master against your will. Now you have powers you didn't before and you have new features that scare (and maybe, in a small dark part of your heart, thrill) you.

You might have even become a living vessel through a strange bargain. For instance, perhaps at the brink of death, you received an offer from an entity to spare your life in exchange for inhabiting you. Or you might have offered yourself to the entity in exchange for saving a loved one, for riches, or to fulfill a lifelong dream.

Beings of any alignment can inhabit a living vessel. Part of being a living vessel is learning more about your entity and finding what assuages them best and what their ultimate plans might be for your body and the world. Few vessels can fully dictate the terms of the arrangement, but the fact that you give the entity a corporeal form does give you some amount of leverage. Use it wisely.

Living Vessel Dedication
FEAT 2

Whether willingly or not, you've become a vessel for a being of unimaginable power. You and your GM should work together to determine the being's nature and decide how much you know and how much remains a mystery to you for now. Some decisions might influence your options later. You might need to decide whether the entity is an elemental, for instance, to know if you qualify for later feats.

You need to spend at least an hour each day assuaging the entity within you, or you take a –1 penalty to Will saves for 24 hours. The process of assuaging the entity is determined together between you and the GM. It might be as simple as meditating with the entity to learn more about them, but it might be as extreme as committing gruesome, unspeakable sacrifices to keep their unknowable blessings. After a full week of failing to assuage your entity, you become doomed 1, and you can't remove or ameliorate the condition until you allow your entity to take full possession of your body for 24 hours, during which time it pursues its own agenda.

You also gain the Entity's Resurgence reaction, allowing you to unleash your entity in lieu of falling unconscious, though at the risk of letting it enact its will.

Entity's Resurgence Trigger You would be reduced to 0 Hit Points but not immediately killed; Effect Instead of letting you fall unconscious; your entity takes control. You remain at 1 Hit Point and gain temporary Hit Points equal to your level + your key attribute modifier that last for 1 minute. However, the entity is in control for 1 minute or until you fall unconscious, whichever comes first.

While the entity is in control, you gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls, and the GM usually controls your character, roleplaying the entity. The GM might decide to have you roleplay the entity instead, but they retain final say over any decisions you make. No matter the entity's nature, the entity is sure to wreak vengeance upon the foe who jeopardized the life of their vessel—even an evil entity won't change allegiances or ignore danger except in the most extreme circumstances.

Special You can't select another dedication feat until you've gained two other feats from the living vessel archetype.

Entity's Strike
FEAT 4

Living Vessel Dedication

The more you try to force your body to stay yours, the more it warps to channel the energy flowing through you. Whether your shadow has a mind of its own, develop a claw like that of some undead spirit sharing your soul, or feel a tentacle rip out of you from the elemental that imprinted itself on your soul, the entity within you refuses to be contained. You gain an unarmed attack of your choice with its type determined by your entity.

It deals 1d6 damage of a damage type appropriate for the unarmed attack (such as bludgeoning for the tentacle). This unarmed attack is in the brawling weapon group and has the agile, finesse, and magical traits.

Tap Vitality
FEAT 6

once per hour

Living Vessel Dedication

You tap into the entity's life force to heal your wounds, though at the cost of the entity's personality bleeding into your own. You recover a number of Hit Points equal to four times your level. Each time you use Tap Vitality, you begin to bleed more and more of the entity's personality and instincts into your own until the next time you spend an hour or more assuaging the entity, bringing your mind back under your own control.

Special This action has the tradition trait appropriate to your entity, typically divine for an elemental, arcane for an entity from the Black or undead spirit from the Gray, or primal for a spirit of the land.

Elemental Constriction
FEAT 8

Living Vessel Dedication; your entity is an elemental

You have a foe grabbed or restrained.

The elemental inhabiting your body is a being with alien motivations, and when you hold a foe close, tendrils and tentacles unfurl from your body to crush your foe and strike it with elemental energy. Your grabbed or restrained foe takes bludgeoning damage equal to your level and elemental (fire, cold, electricity, acid, or additional bludgeoning) damage equal to your highest mental attribute modifier.

The creature attempts a basic Reflex save that applies to both types of damage and uses the higher of your class DC or spell DC.

Exude Undead Corruption
FEAT 8

Living Vessel Dedication; your entity is an undead spirit

Most of the changes from the undead within you have harmed you so far, but you've found a way to expel some of the corruption within you to harm others. Until the beginning of your next turn, you and your weapons are covered in unholy energy or another similar manifestation of the undead corruption; your melee Strikes deal an additional 1d6 unholy damage, and each time a creature hits you with a melee unarmed attack or otherwise touches you, it takes 1d6 unholy damage.

At 14th level, the unholy damage increases to 2d6, and at 20th level, the unholy damage increases to 3d6.

Shadow's Trickery
FEAT 8

once per hour

Living Vessel Dedication; your entity is from the Black

You connect with the shadow entity within yourself to wrap a target in shadows. This has the effects of penumbral disguise.

Vessel's From
FEAT 16

once per day

Living Vessel Dedication

You symbiotically combine your form with that of the entity within you, taking a powerful hybrid form to temporarily boost your abilities in combat while maintaining control. For 1 minute, you gain the following effects.

If you were Medium or smaller, you become Large, and your reach increases to 10 feet.
You gain a +2 status bonus to attack and damage rolls and a +1 status bonus on saving throws against spells. If you use Entity's Resurgence, the status bonuses to attack and damage rolls increase to +3 during the time that the two effects overlap.
If you have the Entity's Strike feat, the unarmed attack you gained from that feat increases its damage die from 1d6 to 1d8.
You gain 40 temporary Hit Points.
You gain a fly Speed equal to your Speed.

Martial Artist

You have trained in the martial arts, making your unarmed strikes lethal. You seek neither mysticism nor enlightenment, and you don't view this training as some greater path to wisdom. Yours is the way of the fist striking flesh, the hand turning aside the blade, and the devastating kick taking your enemy down. Your training is focused and practical, and since you have turned every part of your body into a weapon, you never find yourself without one. While you might have learned your techniques in a dojo or school focused on training the body, you might just as easily have learned them in street brawls and bar fights, combining instincts with intense athleticism for a deadly combination.

Martial Artist Dedication

You are unarmored.

As long as your Speed is at least 20 feet while in Kirre Stance, you can Step 10 feet.

Mountain Stance
FEAT 4

Martial Artist Dedication

You are unarmored and touching the ground.

You enter the stance of an implacable mountain—a technique first discovered by dwarven monks—allowing you to strike with the weight of an avalanche. The only Strikes you can make are falling stone unarmed attacks. These deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage; are in the brawling group; and have the forceful, nonlethal, and unarmed traits.

While in Mountain Stance, you gain a +4 item bonus to AC and a +2 circumstance bonus to any defenses against being Shoved or Tripped. However, you have a Dexterity modifier cap to your AC of +0, meaning you don't add your Dexterity to your AC, and your Speeds are all reduced by 5 feet. The item bonus to AC from Mountain Stance is cumulative with armor potency runes on your explorer's clothing, mage armor, and bracers of armor.

Stumbling Stance
FEAT 4

Martial Artist Dedication; trained in Deception

You enter a seemingly unfocused stance that mimics the movements of the inebriated—bobbing, weaving, leaving false openings, and distracting your enemies from your true movements. While in this stance, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Deception checks to Feint. The only Strikes you can make are stumbling swing unarmed attacks. These deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage; are in the brawling group; and have the agile, backstabber, finesse, nonlethal, and unarmed traits. If an enemy hits you with a melee Strike while in this stance, it becomes off-guard against the next stumbling swing Strike you make against it before the end of your next turn.

Follow-Up Strike
FEAT 6

Martial Artist Dedication

Your last action was a missed Strike with a melee unarmed attack.

You have trained to use all parts of your body as a weapon, and when you miss with an attack, you can usually continue the attack with a different body part and still deal damage.

Make another Strike with a melee unarmed attack, using the same multiple attack penalty as for the missed Strike, if any.

Dagorran Drag
FEAT 8

Dagorran Stance

You are in Dagorran Stance

You rip your enemy off their feet. Make a dagorran jaw Strike. Your dagorran jaw gains the fatal d12 trait for this Strike, and if the attack succeeds, you knock the target prone.

Drake Roar
FEAT 8

Drake Stance

You are in Drake Stance

Your first attack that hits a frightened creature after you roar and before the end of your next turn gains a +4 circumstance bonus to damage.

After you use Drake Roar, you can’t use it again for 1d4 rounds. Its effects end immediately if you leave Drake Stance. Creatures in the area of your roar are then temporarily immune for 1 minute.

Erdlu Flutter
FEAT 8

Erdlu Stance

You are targeted with a melee attack by an attacker you can see.

You are in Erdlu Stance

You interpose your arm between yourself and your opponent.

Your circumstance bonus to AC from Erdlu Stance increases to +3 against the triggering attack. If the attack misses you, you can immediately make an erdlu wing Strike against the attacker at a –2 penalty, even if the attacker isn’t within your reach.

Feylaar Pound
FEAT 8

expert in Intimidation; Feylaar Stance

You are in Feylaar Stance

Special If you have this feat, while you are in Feylaar Stance, you gain a climb Speed of 15 feet.

Grievous Blow
FEAT 8

Martial Artist dedication

You know how to deliver focused, powerful blows that bypass your enemies' resistances. Make an unarmed melee Strike. This counts as two attacks when calculating your multiple attack penalty. If this Strike hits, you deal two extra weapon damage dice. If you are at least 18th level, increase this to three extra weapon damage dice.

This attack also ignores an amount of resistance to physical damage, or to a specific physical damage type, equal to your level.

Kirre Slash
FEAT 8

Kirre Stance

You are in Kirre Stance

Mountain Stronghold
FEAT 8

Mountain Stance

You are in Mountain Stance

You focus on your connection to the earth and call upon the mountain to block attacks against you. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the beginning of your next turn.

Special If you have this feat, the Dexterity modifier cap to your AC while you’re in Mountain Stance increases from +0 to +1.

Stumbling Feint
FEAT 8

expert in Deception; Stumbling Stance

You are in Stumbling Stance

You lash out confusingly with what seems to be a weak move but instead allows you to unleash a dangerous flurry of blows upon your unsuspecting foe. When you use Flurry of Blows, you can attempt a check to Feint as a free action just before the first Strike. On a success, instead of making the target off-guard against your next attack, they become off-guard against both attacks from the Flurry of Blows.

Path of Iron
FEAT 14

once per minute

Martial Artist Dedication

With a burst of effort, you weave a path through your enemies, striking each in turn as you move past them. You Stride; this movement doesn't trigger reactions. You can Strike up to three times at any point during your movement, each against a different enemy. Each attack counts toward your multiple attack penalty, but your multiple attack penalty doesn't increase until you have made all your attacks.

Mountain Quake
FEAT 16

Mountain Stronghold

You are in Mountain Stance

You stomp, shaking the earth beneath you. Creatures on the ground within a 20-foot emanation take damage equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 0), with a basic Fortitude save against your class DC. On a failure, they also fall prone. After you use this action, you can't use it again for 1d4 rounds.

Special If you have this feat, the Dexterity modifier cap to your AC while using Mountain Stance increases from +1 to +2.

Mekillot Lord

You are one of the brave individuals that have trained a Drik, Inix, Mekillot, or Slimahacc from birth. Collectively this group is known as mekillot lords but often are called Drik, Inix, Mekillot, or Slimahacc Lords.

They often ride these enormous creatures into battle. Astride these mighty steeds, Mekillot lords lead their followings, and they defend their people from enemies and other perils of the desert wastes.

You're one of these rare individuals, a true Mekillot Lord. You've captured or befriended one of the megafauna of the desert and tamed it. This heroic deed is best done as part of an adventure, but if that isn't possible, work with your GM to determine the details of how you managed to make one of these tremendous creatures your companion. You now ride this fantastic beast into battle, fighting from atop its back.

Mekillot Lord Dedication
FEAT 4

Ride

You've undertaken the ultimate challenge of the Mekillot Lords and tamed a megafauna. You gain a megafauna you tamed as a young animal companion. Your megafauna animal companion must be a megafauna appropriate to Athas; Drik, Inix, Mekillot, or Slimahacc. While an animal companion usually starts as Small, you can begin with a Medium version of that animal (changing no statistics other than its size).

Contrary to the usual rules for animal companions, this feat can give you a second animal companion. If you have more than one animal companion, you can adventure with only one of them at a time. You can switch between them like a beastmaster does. You gain the Call Companion action, as the beastmaster archetype, and you follow all the other rules found in the Call Companion sidebar.

Quick Mount
FEAT 4

Mekillot Lord Dedication; expert in Nature

You are adjacent to a creature that is at least one size larger than you and is willing to be your mount.

You and your mount can spring into action at a moment's notice. You Mount the creature and Command an Animal to issue it an order of your choice.

Wild Empathy
FEAT 4

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You have a connection to the creatures of the natural world that allows you to communicate with them on a rudimentary level. You can use Diplomacy to Make an Impression on animals and to make very simple Requests of them. In most cases, wild animals will give you time to make your case.

Companion's Cry
FEAT 6

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You can urge your companion to do its utmost. You can spend 2 actions to Command an Animal instead of 1 when commanding your animal companion. If you do, your animal companion uses an additional action.

Mammoth Charge
FEAT 6

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You are riding your megafauna companion.

You Command an Animal to order your megafauna companion to Stride twice. At any point during this movement, you can make a melee Strike against one enemy within reach.

Mature Megafauna Companion
FEAT 6

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You've raised your megafauna companion to be a more powerful force on the battlefield than most of its kind. The companion you gained through the Mekillot Lord Dedication feat becomes a mature animal companion, granting it additional capabilities. During an encounter, even if you don't use the Command an Animal action, your megafauna animal companion can still use 1 action on your turn to Stride or Strike.

Megafauna Veterinarian
FEAT 6

Mekillot Lord Dedication; expert in Nature

By heeding the wise advice of elders in your following— and aided by your own experience—you've learned how to provide medical care to the megafauna of the Mekillot Lord followings. You can attempt a Nature check instead of a Medicine check for any of Medicine's trained and untrained uses, provided the subject of your medical care is a megafauna. If you're attempting an action that requires a particular proficiency rank in Medicine (such as Treat Wounds), use your proficiency rank in Nature instead. If the subject of your care is your megafauna and you roll a success on your check, you get a critical success instead.

Speech of the Mekillot Lords
FEAT 7

Mekillot Lord Dedication; master in Diplomacy and Intimidation

You've learned how to communicate with your megafauna. You can ask questions of, receive answers from, use the Diplomacy skill with, and Coerce megafauna. In most cases, megafauna will hear you out.

Incredible Megafauna Companion
FEAT 8

Mekillot Lord Dedication; Mature Megafauna Companion

Under your care and training, your megafauna companion has realized its innate potential. Your companion becomes an indomitable or savage animal companion (your choice), gaining additional abilities determined by the type of companion.

Stalwart Mind
FEAT 8

once per day

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You fail a Will save.

When necessary to avoid a magical compulsion or curse, you can be as stubborn as your megafauna companion. Attempt a new Will save against the triggering effect.

Staggering Blow
FEAT 10

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You're riding a megafauna companion that has a melee Strike.

You've trained your megafauna companion to stagger its enemies, impeding their ability to fight back. You Command an Animal to order your megafauna companion to spend both its actions making a single, powerful Strike. The attack deals an extra die of weapon damage, and if the attack hits and deals damage, the target is slowed 1 until the end of its next turn.

Unbreakable Bond
FEAT 10

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You and your megafauna companion are bound together; as long as you live, it's much harder for your companion to die. If your megafauna companion gains the dying condition, it automatically succeeds at the recovery check to stabilize at 0 Hit Points on its turn. Additionally, your megafauna companion only dies at dying 5 rather than dying 4. Finally, the first time each day your megafauna companion would reach dying 5 and die, as long as you're still alive, your companion's dying value decreases to 0 instead.

Gigantic Megafauna Companion
FEAT 12

Mekillot Lord Dedication

The mekillots and other megafauna ridden by your people are larger than any ordinary beast. Your megafauna companion increases in size to Huge but doesn't otherwise change its statistics.

Trampling Charge
FEAT 12

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You are riding a mount that has a melee Strike using its legs (claw, talons, hoof, etc.).

You urge your mount forward, trampling enemies in your path. You command your mount to Stride up to its Speed (or to Burrow, Climb, Fly, or Swim, if it has the corresponding movement type), moving through the spaces of any foes in your path up to one size smaller than your mount. Your mount deals damage equal to the melee Strike using its legs to each creature whose space you move through, subject to a basic Reflex save against your mount's Athletics DC. On a critical failure, the creature also becomes off-guard until the end of your next turn. You can damage a given creature only once during this movement.

Specialized Megafauna Companion
FEAT 14

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You are riding a mount that has a melee Strike using its legs (claw, talons, hoof, etc.).

You've trained your mekillot or other megafauna companion to perform in unusual or extreme situations, granting it abilities far beyond others of its kind. Your megafauna gains your choice of the bully, racer, tracker, or wrecker specialization.

Special You can select this feat up to three times. Each time, add a different specialization of the ones listed above to your megafauna companion. Your megafauna can't have more than three specializations.

Legendary Rider
FEAT 20

Mekillot Lord Dedication

You and your mount move like one being, effortlessly reading each other's signals. Whenever you are riding your mount, you are quickened; you can use the extra action only to command your mount using the Command an Animal skill action.

Morg

A morg is a powerful undead similar to a kaisharga or t'liz but with one critical difference: a morg cannot bring himself into the eternity of undeath. The process of creating a morg is extremely complex and requires that the subject be dead before it commences.

Morg’s desiccated; near-mummified features and brown-gray pallor mark them as noticeably dead. Their bodies often appear emaciated but not skeletal, for the mummification process leeches most of the liquids from the body, replacing them with spiced unguents and balms. The result is a smooth-skinned, sweet-smelling corpse, with flesh tight but not shriveled around the bones.

Morg Dedication
FEAT 2

you are dead and were mummified by ritualistic means

Through foul rituals, your body was mummified, and you've risen as an undead morg. You gain the mummy and undead traits, as well as basic undead benefits.

Many effects that harm the living are far less effective against your desiccated form. You gain the Toughness feat, but also light blindness.

Your tongue elongates; you gain a tongue unarmed attack that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage. It is in the brawling group and has the disarm, grapple, trip, and unarmed traits.

You gain the leech life action.

Leech Life

(divine) A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within your reach You grasp that creature and leech its life essence. This requires an Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed, and automatically succeeds for any of the other conditions. If you succeed, the creature becomes drained 1, and you gain temporary HP equal to the target's level that last for 10 minutes. You also become satiated for 1 hour. Further uses against the target don't increase the drained condition or grant you more temporary HP.

Grave Mummification

You've learned to harness the supernatural magic that animates you, imbuing your most powerful attacks with a terrible curse. When you critically hit with a tongue Strike, void energy binds to it; this is a curse and a disease. The creature takes 2d6 persistent void damage. While the creature has this persistent damage, it's also stupefied 1. The persistent damage increases to 3d6 at 14th level and 4d6 at 20th level. This is a critical specialization effect.

Desiccating Inhalation
FEAT 12

once per hour

Morg Dedication

You draw in the moisture from nearby creatures, draining them dry to heal your wounds. Creatures in a 30-foot cone take 6d8 void damage, with a basic Reflex save against the higher of your class DC or spell DC. A creature that critically fails this saving throw is also drained 1. As long as at least one creature was damaged by your Desiccating Inhalation, you regain HP equal to your level.

At 14th level and every 2 levels thereafter, the damage increases by 1d8.

Greater Despair
FEAT 12

Morg's Despair

You increase the frequency of Morg's Despair to once per 10 minutes instead of once per hour. A creature that critically fails its Will saving throw is paralyzed for 1 round instead of frightened 2. Morg's Despair gains the incapacitation trait.

Necromant

Necromants are wizards who have somehow become tied to the plane known as the Gray, which they tap into to power their spells.

Necromants are either undead wizards who have developed the ability to cast spells where there is no life, such as in the Obsidian Plains, or they can be living creatures seeking to unravel the mysteries of death and find answers to questions that only the ancient dead know.

Some necromants seek out powerful intelligent undead to learn the secrets to becoming undead, or to increase their already impressive powers. Others might yet have other sinister reasons for their preoccupation with death.

Necromant Dedication
FEAT 2

ability to cast arcane spells

You've sacrificed a piece of your soul, allowing the powers of the Gray into your being, and changing the nature of your magic. You can no longer cast spells with the vitality trait; if an ability, such as a class feature or ancestry feat, would automatically grant you a spell with the vitality trait, you don't gain that spell.

You gain the call of the grave domain spell that is powered by the Gray. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell. This feat grants a focus pool of 1 Focus Point that you can recover using the Refocus activity. You can Refocus by meditating to siphon power from the Gray and refill your focus pool. Your domain spells from the necromant archetype are arcane and you may defile the Gray when casting.

Familiar
FEAT 4

Necromant Dedication

You gain the services of an undead companion that travels with you and obeys your commands. The rules for undead companions are under Undead Companions and utilize those for animal companions.

Undeath Spells
FEAT 4

Necromant Dedication

The dead in the Gray whisper to you, teaching you secrets of the grave beyond other spellcasters of your tradition. Add gray plague, wails of the damned, talking corpse, pernicious poltergeist, possession, rip the spirit, and spirit blast to your spell list. You can thus potentially learn these spells even if they aren't normally on your tradition's spell list.

Disciple of Death
FEAT 6

Necromant Dedication

You've delved deeper into the mysteries of the Gray and become blessed with magical power that allows you to leech life energy from other creatures. You gain the drain life domain spell.

Enhanced Familiar
FEAT 6

Necromant Dedication; a familiar

You infuse your familiar with additional magical energy. You can select four familiar or master abilities each day, instead of two.

Special (Wizard) If your arcane thesis is improved familiar attunement, your familiar's base number of familiar abilities, before adding any extra abilities from the arcane thesis, is four.

Gray Spell
FEAT 8

Necromant Dedication

You attach a piece of the Gray to a spell to empower it with void energy. If the next action you take is to Cast a Spell that has the void trait, choose one creature affected by the spell. The wounds caused by your spell are difficult to heal. The DC to Treat these Wounds using Medicine increases by 5, and magically or alchemically healing these wounds requires a counteract check against your spell DC. Succeeding at any of these removes the disease. The effect also ends if the creature is healed to full Hit Points by any means. If the chosen creature is your enemy, it's affected only if your spell attack roll succeeded or if it failed its saving throw.

This spell is powered by the Gray and any defiling pulls additional power from the Gray.

Gray Magic
FEAT 10

Necromant Dedication

The gray speaks to you and imparts a means to create and rule undead. You learn a reanimator focus spell of your choice: malignant sustenance or grasping grave If you don't already have one, you gain a focus pool of 1 Focus Point, which you can Refocus by meditating and the powers of undeath.

As with your other Necromant spells these reanimator spells are powered by the gray and when defiling with these spells it pulls energy from the Gray.

Necromantic Reservoir
FEAT 10

Necromant Dedication

The Gray speaks to you, providing knowledge of spells and a reservoir of magical power. Your necromantic reservoir contains a single spell of each spell rank at least 2 ranks lower than the highest-rank spell you can cast from your spell slots. This spell must come from your spell list, you must have access to it, and it must require a spell attack roll or a saving throw. These spells don't need to be prepared and aren't in your repertoire.

These additional spells are powered from the Gray. An arcane spell caster can defile as normal when casting these spells with no effect to plant life around the spell caster.

Regardless of the way in which you cast spells; you can spontaneously cast a spell from your necromantic reservoir by using one of your spell slots of the same rank. If you're a prepared spellcaster, you lose the spell you prepared in that slot.

Spells cast from your necromantic reservoir gain the void trait. If the spell requires an attack roll, use the lower of the target's AC or their Fortitude DC. If the spell requires a saving throw, the target uses their Fortitude saving throw or the spell's normal saving throw, whichever is lower. Each time a creature fails its saving throw against a spell cast from your reservoir, a small piece of your flesh dies.

If you have more than one source of spells you can cast with spell slots, such as if you're a spellcaster with a multiclass archetype, your necromantic reservoir spells are always arcane.

Additional Gray Magic
FEAT 12

Necromant Dedication; Necromantic Reservoir

Choose an additional reanimator focus spell you haven't already selected from Gray Magic.

Secrets of the Gray
FEAT 12

Necromant Dedication; Necromantic Reservoir

The Gray's voice grows ever clearer; it whispers secrets of true power to you and shields your flesh from harm. Your necromantic reservoir gains an additional spell 1 rank below the highest rank spell you can cast, in addition to the spells it already contains for all the ranks below that.

As Necromantic Reservoir this additional spell is powered from the Gray. An arcane spell caster can defile as normal when casting this spell, with no effect to plant life around the caster.

In addition, the dead flesh generated by casting necromantic spells protects your body against harmful damage, but you also become innately weaker. Your maximum HP is reduced by your level. You gain resistance 1 to all damage except for holy, vitality, and any damage done by a weapon with the disrupting rune. This resistance increases to 2 if the source is non-magical.

At 14th level, the resistance increases to 2, or 4 if the source is non-magical. At 16th level, the resistance increases to 3, or 5 if the source is non-magical.

Gray Power
FEAT 14

Necromant Dedication

You have learned to focus the power of the Gray to animate the dead. You can cast animate dead as an innate arcane spell once per day at 6th-rank with a duration of 10 minutes. At 16th level, you heighten animate dead to 7th-rank. At 18th level, you can heighten it to 8th-rank. Finally, at 20th level you can heighten animate dead to 9th-rank.

Enhanced Gray Casting
FEAT 18

Necromant Dedication

Your connection to the Gray has strengthen to the point you can now fully power your arcane spellcasting directly from this plane.

If you want to, you can cast any arcane spell without any effect from defiling. If you do so, you can cast arcane spells while in lifeless environments, such as the obsidian plains. Powering your arcane spellcasting through the Gray allows you to defile with no destruction to plant life.

Ruvoka

Ruvoka are elemental creatures that are created when a powerful druid uses psychic power to transform into a creature with affinity to one elemental plane. They travel the planes easily, even the Astral Plane, but on Athas they are bound to certain locations.

Ruvoka Dedication
FEAT 12

expert in Nature and Crafting; Basic Psychic Spellcasting, living creature, ability to cast 6th-rank or higher spells from spell slots, completed ritual to become an elemental character.

Some of the most devoted druids in Athas's choose to undergoe a ritual to metamorphosis into a ruvoka. This ritual greatly increases their bond with one element they are aligned to.

You gain the elemental trait and you are attuned to an element of your choice; air, earth, fire, or water. You gain resistance equal to half your level against damage dealt by effects with your elemental trait. Ruvoka also gain the feat Domain Initiate for the element they select.

Summon Elemental
FEAT 14

Ruvoka Dedication

You can summon an elemental ally. Once per day, you can cast summon elemental as a 6th-rank primal innate spell, but the elemental summoned must be of the same element as you choose with Ruvoka Dedication.

You have a powerful connection to an elemental plane, granting you the ability to travel to and from the elemental plane aligned with your Ruvoka Dedication. You gain interplanar teleport as an primal innate spell. You can cast it twice per week. This can be used only to travel to the elemental plane or from the elemental plane to the Material Plane. Due to your unique connection to this plane, your body serves as the focus, and you don't require a tuning fork.

Shadow Wizard

The world is full of shadows, but each living creature possesses a form of inner light to ward against that ever-present darkness… all except shadow wizards.

By trading away that piece of their spirit, shadow wizards have removed a limiter, allowing them to gain magical power rooted in the darkness; however, this trade also exposes them to otherworldly whispers from the realm of the Black.

Shadow Wizard Dedication
FEAT 2

ability to cast arcane spells

You've sacrificed a piece of your spirit, allowing the powers of the Black into your being, and changing the nature of your magic. You can no longer cast spells that have the light trait; if an ability, such as a class feature or ancestry feat, would automatically grant you a light spell, such as the Domain Initiate feat granting you the dazzling flash spell, you don't gain that spell.

You gain the cloak of shadow domain spell that is powered by the Black. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell. This feat grants a focus pool of 1 Focus Point that you can recover using the Refocus activity. You can Refocus by meditating to siphon power from the Black and refill your focus pool. Your domain spells from the shadow wizard archetype are arcane and you may defile the Black when casting.

Familiar
FEAT 4

Shadow Wizard Dedication

You make a pact with a creature that serves you and assists your spellcasting. You gain a familiar.

Shadow Spells
FEAT 4

Shadow Wizard Dedication

Hidden darkness whispers to you, teaching you secrets of shadow beyond other spellcasters of your tradition. Add replicate, shadow army, shadow blast, shadow projectile, shadow raid, shadow siphon, and umbral journey to your spell list. You can thus potentially learn these spells even if they aren't normally on your tradition's spell list.

Disciple of Shade
FEAT 6

Shadow Wizard Dedication

You've delved deeper into the mysteries of the Black and become blessed with magical power that increases your skills in the arts of deception and persuasion. You gain the inscrutable mask domain spell.

Enhanced Familiar
FEAT 6

Shadow Wizard Dedication; a familiar

You infuse your familiar with additional magical energy. You can select four familiar or master abilities each day, instead of two.

Special (Wizard) If your arcane thesis is improved familiar attunement, your familiar's base number of familiar abilities, before adding any extra abilities from the arcane thesis, is four.

Shadow Spell
FEAT 8

Shadow Wizard Dedication

You attach a piece of the Black to a spell to cloud the senses and cause mischief. If the next action you take is to Cast a Spell that has the shadow trait, choose one creature affected by the spell. This creature either gains a +2 status bonus to Stealth or takes a –2 status penalty to Perception (your choice). This lasts for 1 round. This choice and the effect occur after resolving any checks for the spell's initial effects. If the chosen creature is your enemy, it's affected only if your spell attack roll succeeded or if it failed its saving throw.

This spell is powered by the Black and any defiling pulls additional power from the Black.

The effects of Shadow Spell end if you use Shadow Spell again.

Shadow Reservoir
FEAT 10

Shadow Wizard Dedication

The Black speaks to you, providing knowledge of spells and a reservoir of magical power. Your shadow reservoir contains a single spell of each spell rank at least 2 levels lower than the highest rank spell you can cast from your spell slots. This spell must come from your spell list, you must have access to it, and it must require a spell attack roll or a saving throw. These spells don't need to be prepared and aren't in your repertoire.

These additional spells are powered from the Black. An arcane spell caster can defile as normal when casting these spells with no effect to plant life around the spell caster.

Regardless of the way in which you cast spells; you can spontaneously cast a spell from your shadow reservoir by using one of your spell slots of the same rank. If you're a prepared spellcaster, you lose the spell you prepared in that slot.

Spells cast from your shadow reservoir gain the shadow trait and affected creatures might be able to disbelieve them. If the spell requires an attack roll, use the lower of the target's AC or their Will DC.

If the spell requires a saving throw, the target uses their Will saving throw or the spell's normal saving throw, whichever is lower. Each time a creature fails its saving throw against a spell cast from your reservoir, you gain a small tattoo inked on your flesh out of pure shadow stuff.

If you have more than one source of spells you can cast with spell slots, such as if you're a spellcaster with a multiclass archetype, your shadow reservoir spells are always arcane.

Secrets of Shadow
FEAT 12

Shadow Wizard Dedication; Shadow Reservoir

The Black's voice grows ever clearer; it whispers secrets of true power to you and shields your flesh from harm. Your shadow reservoir gains an additional spell 1 rank below the highest rank spell you can cast, in addition to the spells it already contains for all the ranks below that.

As Shadow Reservoir this additional spell is powered from the Black. An arcane spell caster can defile as normal when casting this spell, with no effect to plant life around the caster.

In addition, the tattoos generated by casting shadow spells protect your body against harmful energies. You gain void resistance equal to the highest rank of spell you can cast from spell slots; if you have void healing (or are otherwise harmed by vitality damage and not void damage), you instead gain vitality resistance in the same amount.

Shadow Magic
FEAT 12

Shadow Wizard Dedication

You gain the ability to fuse and play with shadows by using focus spells specific to shadowdancers. You learn a shadowdancer focus spell of your choice: dance of darkness or shadow jump. If you don't already have one, you gain a focus pool of 1 Focus Point, which you can Refocus by meditating within an area of dim light or darkness.

As with your other Shadow Wizard spells these shadowdancer spells are powered by the Black and you may defile as normal.

Shadowdancer focus spells are arcane spells.

Additional Shadow Magic
FEAT 14

Shadow Wizard Dedication; Shadow Magic

Choose an additional shadowdancer focus spell you haven't already selected from Shadow Magic.

Shadow Illusion
FEAT 14

Shadow Wizard Dedication; Shadow Magic

With an artful eye, you shape shadows into illusory forms. You gain the shadow illusion focus spell.

You become an expert in arcane spell attack rolls and DCs if not already.

Unending Emptiness
FEAT 14

Shadow Wizard Dedication; focus pool

You pool the power of shadow within your eyes, gaining the ability to gather darkness into a turbulent orb of crushing emptiness within your line of sight. You gain the darklight domain spell.

Shadow Power
FEAT 16

Shadow Wizard Dedication; Shadow Magic

You can focus the shadows into a powerful blast. You can cast shadow blast as an innate arcane spell once per day. Its rank is always 1 rank lower than the rank of your shadowdancer focus spells. You become an expert in arcane spell attack rolls and DCs if not already.

Enhanced Shadow Casting
FEAT 18

Shadow Wizard Dedication

Your connection to the Black has strengthen to the point you can now fully power your arcane spellcasting directly from this plane. If you want to, you can cast any arcane spell without any effect from defiling. If you do so, you can cast arcane spells while in lifeless environments, such as the obsidian plains. Powering your arcane spellcasting through the Black allows you to defile with no destruction to plant life.

T'liz

T’Liz are undead defilers whose spirits have outlived their bodies. They are extremely powerful undead who seek magical knowledge and power above all else and exist as such to continue their study of magic. They seldom associate with the living except when mortals provide suitable pawns.

Because they appear much as they did in life, t’liz can move freely among the living. Their only unusual features are their skin, which is extremely pale, and their weight, which often diminishes until they become no greater than average in build. T’Liz must anoint themselves with numerous oils and substances that prevent their bodies from deteriorating. They must also feast upon the life energy of the living to sustain their own energies.

T’Liz may be detected in a number of ways. They cast no reflection or shadow and they move in complete silence.

T'liz Dedication
FEAT 14

expert in Crafting; living creature, ability to cast 6th-rank or higher spells from spell slots, completed ritual to become a T'liz and crafted T'liz Oil.

After years of study and careful planning, you have finally forged a pact with a dishonored spirit. This spirit permanently infuses the caster with the energy needed to become a T'liz. Now, neither death nor time can prevent you from pursuing your studies and achieving your grand ambitions. You gain the undead trait and the basic undead benefits, and you hunger for the life force of the living. You also gain the leech life action.

Leech Life

Replenishing Consumption
FEAT 16

T'liz Dedication

When you devour life energy and satiate your hunger, you also recover from some of your wounds, your necrotized flesh knits back together almost immediately as soon as you begin draining life force. Once every 10 minutes, when you Leech Life, you regain 1d6 Hit Points for every 2 levels you have, rounded up.

Grave Strength
FEAT 16

T'liz Dedication

The life force you've consumed over the course of your existence as a T'liz has made you stronger, gifting you with strange insights from the minds of the sapient creatures you've devoured and bringing you closer to a state of undead perfection. You gain the advanced undead benefits. In addition, you gain a +5-foot status bonus to your Speed while you're satiated.

Frightful Aura
FEAT 18

T'liz Dedication; master in intimidation

The creature is unaffected and temporarily immune to your Frightful Aura for 1 minute

The creature is frightened 1.

The creature is frightened 2.

Glutton for Life
FEAT 18

T'liz Dedication

You have developed a capacity to store more life force within your gaunt body to leave yourself satiated longer. If you Leech Life while satiated, you become fully satiated. You stay fully satiated for 3 hours, after which you become satiated for 1 hour.

If you're fully satiated when an ability would end your satiation, you cease being fully satiated but remain satiated. If you have Grave Strength, you gain a +10-foot status bonus to your Speed when fully satiated instead of a +5-foot status bonus for being satiated.

Improved Life Leech
FEAT 20

Glutton for Life

Gorging on life force after you are satiated fortifies you, making you hardy enough to withstand more punishment. When you become fully satiated, you gain an amount of temporary Hit Points equal to 10 + your level.

Feats

All kinds of experiences and training can shape your character beyond what you learn by advancing in your class. Abilities that require a degree of training but can be learned by anyone—not only members of certain ancestries or classes—are called general feats.

1st Level

All of the Animal
FEAT 1

trained in Survival

You know how to make the best and most efficient use of a hunted animal's carcass. Choose a Large or larger corpse of an animal that died within the past day. While using Survival to Subsist near the carcass, you always receive enough food for yourself and one additional Medium creature, using up the meat from the carcass to do so. Since you're using all of the animal, others can't use the carcass's meat for any other purpose, including their own use of All of the Animal.

Different Worlds
FEAT 1

ability to select ancestry feats from multiple ancestries

Your separate experiences in different societies have evolved into entirely separate lives. Create a second identity for yourself with a different name, history, and background. This identity must correspond to one of the ancestries whose ancestry feats you can select. You gain the trained proficiency rank in the Lore skill from the second background you chose (but you don’t gain any of the background’s other benefits), and you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to Deception checks when making a statement that would be true of your second identity or when disguising yourself as your second identity.

Forager
FEAT 1

trained in Survival

While using Survival to Subsist, you add +5 to your Subsist checks. Additionally, if the player character is not Fatigued, then you may reattempt the check on any result less than a Success. On a critical success, you can take care of an additional creature.

Each time your proficiency rank in Survival increases, double the number of additional creatures you can take care of on a critical success (two if you’re an expert, 4 if you're a master, or 8 if you're legendary). You can choose to care for half the number of additional creatures and provide a comfortable living instead of subsistence living.

Multiple smaller creatures or creatures with significantly smaller appetites than a human are counted as a single creature for this feat, and larger creatures or those with significantly greater appetites each count as multiple creatures. The GM determines how much a non-human creature needs to eat.

Literacy
FEAT 1

You learn to read and write associated with the languages you know. The ability to read has been outlawed for thousands of years by the sorcerer‐kings. All characters in a Dark Sun campaign start without the ability to read or write unless their background provides this feat.

Medical Researcher
FEAT 1

trained in Medicine

You have learned not only how to apply medicines with your medical skills but how to craft them as well. When you Craft healer's kits, vaccines, addiction suppressants, antidotes, antiplagues, elixirs of life, or other non-magical medical or healing items, you can use Medicine instead of Crafting.

Secret Speech
FEAT 1

trained in Deception

Choose a secret society (such as the Veiled Alliance). You’ve learned that society’s secret cant or jargon, enabling you to share hidden messages when signing or speaking with others who’ve also learned it. If an observer succeeds at a Perception check against your Deception DC when you do this, they realize you are passing a message but fail to discern its content, unless they subsequently succeed at a Society check against your Deception DC. On a critical success, they learn not only the message, but also who you’re passing the message to.

Special You can take this feat multiple times. You learn the secret speech of a different society each time.

Silt Marauder
FEAT 1

trained in Athletics

You’ve learned to fight in silt. You are not off-guard while in silt, and you don’t take the usual penalties for using a bludgeoning or slashing melee weapon in silt.

Tame Animal
FEAT 1

trained in Nature

Animals born and raised far from humanoid settlements rarely get along with two-legged beings, whom they assume to be dangerous predators. In spite of this, you know how to approach and entreat a wild animal so that it's more receptive to your presence and requests.

To use this feat, choose a wild animal that isn't actively hostile to you, and which isn't confined to an area smaller than its Speed in diameter (animals held in place or trapped are typically too scared to be tamed). Attempt a Nature check against a DC determined by the GM; this is usually the animal's Will DC, but circumstances might adjust the precise DC. This attempt usually takes an hour, but you can perform it in 10 minutes if you have expert proficiency in Nature, 1 minute if you have master proficiency, or as a three-action activity if you have legendary proficiency.

You form a friendly bond with the animal. As long as it isn't starving, the animal won't attack you or creatures obviously allied with you, even if they're creatures the animal would normally prey upon. This effect is permanent.

As critical success, but the effect lasts for 1 month. If you or an ally teach the animal a basic action during that time with the Train Animal skill feat, the effect is permanent.

You fail to make any kind of meaningful impression on the animal.

Failure The animal does its best to attack you and is immune to Tame Animal for 1 month.

2nd Level

Eye of the Sorcerer-King
FEAT 2

expert in Arcana; Arcane Sense

you worship a sorcerer-monarch

You open an incandescent third eye upon your forehead. The eye can remain open for 1 minute, and you can close it before then with a single action with the concentrate trait. It can remain open for 2 minutes if you’re a master in Arcana, or 5 minutes if you’re legendary. While the eye is open, you gain the following benefits: you gain the effects of the detect magic arcane innate spell from your Arcane Sense at the start of each of your turns without needing to cast the spell; you gain darkvision; you gain a +2 status bonus to Perception checks to Seek undetected and hidden creatures and to your Perception DC against Hide and Sneak. After your third eye closes, you are dazzled for an amount of time equal to how long you had it open.

Eyes of the City
FEAT 2

trained in Diplomacy or Society

You can track down targets with the help of locals. You can use Diplomacy or Society, whichever you're trained in, to Track creatures in settlements. You chat with locals to help follow the trail of creatures you Track. At the GM's discretion, there might not be enough people to speak with to keep following the trail.

Fleeing Diversion
FEAT 2

expert in Deception

You are quick to capitalize on your distractions. If you critically
succeed at your check to Create a Distraction against the majority of the creatures (at least half of the creatures) whose attention you're trying to divert, you can use your reaction to immediately Hide, Sneak, or Step. As normal, you are only hidden to creatures against which you succeed on your check to Create a Diversion, even if you manage to Hide or Sneak away.

Half-Truths
FEAT 2

expert in Deception and Diplomacy

You are able to weave your words in such a way that you never use actual lies, but still mislead people to certain conclusions. You can attempt to make a Request of a creature using Deception instead of Diplomacy. You can attempt to Lie to a creature using Diplomacy instead of Deception. If you fail your check to Lie, the creature realizes that you were twisting words to fool them without outright lying.

Predict Weather
FEAT 2

trained in Survival

By observing often subtle indicators in the environment, you may try to predict the day's weather. Spend 10 minutes outdoors then attempt a DC 20 Survival check. (This check is reduced to DC 15 if you have a commanding view of the region, but increases to 30 if conditions are poor, such as attempting to predict weather with impaired visibility).

Once you make an attempt to Predict the Weather, you cannot attempt to do so again for 24 hours.

You accurately predict the day's precipitation, temperature, and wind. You learn if a weather event will occur in the region within the next 24 hours, and if so, what the event is and approximately when it will occur. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Survival checks made to prepare for this weather event.

You accurately predict the day's precipitation, temperature, and wind. You learn if a weather event will occur in the region during the next 24 hours, but not what that event will be or when it will take place. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Survival checks made to prepare for this weather event.

You come to a dramatically wrong conclusion. The GM provides information to you as though you had received a critical success, including the specifics of a weather event that will not occur that day (instead, a different event—or no event—may occur).

Triumphant Boast
FEAT 2

expert in Performance

You relate a loud and impressive tale of your triumph over a formidable foe. When you Perform, choose a single target within 30 feet of you and compare the result of your Performance check to that observer's Will DC. If you're a master in Performance, you can choose up to four targets, and if you're legendary, you can choose any number of targets. If you succeed, any attempt made by you to Demoralize that creature within the next 24 hours gains a +1 circumstance bonus. If your Charisma score is 20 or higher and you're a master in Performance, this bonus increases to +2. Once a creature is boasted at in this manner, it becomes temporarily immune to further Triumphant Boasts for 24 hours.

Tweak Appearances
FEAT 2

expert in Crafting

You spend 1 minute making quick adjustments to someone’s clothing and appearance, causing their words to carry more weight with an audience of your choice.

While speaking to that audience, the target gains a +1 item bonus to Diplomacy and Performance checks. If you have master proficiency in Crafting, the bonus increases to +2; if you have legendary proficiency in Crafting, the bonus increases to +3. This bonus lasts until this ability is used on the target again, the situation they were prepared for ends, or they next change their outfit.

Wilderness Spotter
FEAT 2

expert in Survival

Select one type of terrain from the following list: aquatic, arctic, desert, forest, mountain, plains, sky, swamp, or underground.

You can use Survival in place of Perception to roll initiative when in the selected terrain in a natural location (not a structure) even if you weren’t tracking or otherwise using Survival before the encounter. You can also use Survival instead of Perception to notice traps in natural locations in the chosen terrain; if you find a snare in this way, you can also use Survival instead of Thievery to Disable the Device.

Special You can select this feat more than once. Each time you select it, the feat applies to a new type of terrain.

4th Level

Ambush Tactics
FEAT 4

trained in Lore about a specific terrain

You've made a study of the best practices for laying ambushes in terrains you've spent time learning about, be it the best way to ambush foes or the best methods of reacting to surprise attacks in those terrains. In any combat during which an enemy rolls Stealth to determine initiative, you can choose to roll initiative using a Lore check that's appropriate for the encounter's terrain, if you're trained in the appropriate Lore skill.

That's Not Natural
FEAT 4

expert in Survival

Your mastery at surviving in the wild has given you a sort of sixth-sense when it comes to noticing creatures that aren't part of the natural order. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all initiative checks made at the start of a battle in which at least one of your enemies is an aberration, mutant, or undead, or if one of your enemies is from a plane other than the Material Plane, as long as the battle takes place in a wilderness region. In wilderness regions, you also increase your Perception DC by 1 against these types of creatures for the purposes of resolving their Stealth checks. If you're master in Survival, this circumstance bonus increases to +2.

If you know the commune with nature ritual, you can use Survival as a primary or secondary check to resolve that ritual—if you do so, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus.

Veiled Alliance Cognitive Crossover
FEAT 4

Member of the Veiled Alliance

You gain no information from a Recall Knowledge check (usually because you failed the secret check) using one of the two skills you chose for this feat.

The veiled alliance teaches its members that an agile mind can glean clues leading to the truth, even from the most unlikely of sources. You immediately reattempt the triggering check using the other chosen skill.

Special When you gain this feat, choose two of the following skills: Arcana, Crafting, Lore (any one), Medicine, Nature, Occultism, Religion, or Society.

6th Level

Say That Again
FEAT 6

expert in Athletics

An opponent gets a critical failure when attempting to Demoralize you or Lie to you.

The world is full of obnoxious weasels who think they can pull one over on you—put them in their place! When an adjacent creature attempts to Lie to you or to Demoralize you and gets a critical failure on the roll, you can use your reaction to make a Shove attempt against that opponent. If combat results, you can roll Intimidation for your initiative check.

7th Level

Magical Crafting
FEAT 7

master in Crafting

You can Craft magic items, though some have other requirements. When you select this feat, you gain formulas for four common magic items of 4th level or lower.

12th Level

Too Angry to Die
FEAT 12

master in Intimidation

you stand up from prone after waking up from being unconscious

You refuse to yield the battle, even after you've been knocked off your feet and nearly killed. For you, such a brush with death is less something to fear and more a thing to become infuriated by. As you stand up, you roar in defiance and can attempt to Demoralize a foe.

Equipment

IN A WORLD WHERE SURVIVAL ALWAYS HANGS in the balance, gear can be crucial. As you make your way across the Athasian wilds, your items help to keep thirst, starvation, sand, salt, and the blazing sun at bay. You need a good weapon and effective armor to fight off predators. A hardy mount can shorten your trip or, if you're desperate, serve as extra provisions. Your traveling gear will make sure you won't get lost, get eaten, or fall prey to the multitude of raiders that roam the deserts.

To understand commerce and the availability of equipment on Athas, one must understand that Athas is a metal-poor world. Nearly bereft of metals, all items - including armor and weapons - are made from substitute materials, such as bone, obsidian, or wood. The scarcity of metal has forced the people to rely on barter and different materials, such as ceramic, to use as currency. It has also hampered industrial and economic development as well; farms, mills, and workshops rarely have quality tools to produce everyday products. This chapter details the mundane and exotic merchandise that adventurers commonly find useful in the face of the threats that the world of Athas presents.

Monetary Systems

Wealth appears in many forms in the world of Athas. Coins, gemstones, trade goods, art objects, animals, and property can reflect your character's financial well-being. Societies on Athas exchange goods and services in three ways: coins, barter, and service. Nomads usually trade in common goods, bartering for what they need. Free citizens, members of the nobility and merchants prefer coinage, though deals in services are not uncommon. Many an adventurer has provided mercenary work at a merchant house's trading caravan, only to be offered food, water, and some shade to rest during the long trip.

Athasian Coinage

Ceramic coins marked in various denominations are the most common form of money in civilized areas of Athas. Each city state strikes its own coins, sculpting, glazing, firing, and treating them in specific ways to discourage forgery. The typical ceramic coin—or bit, as it’s sometimes called— weighs approximately one-sixth of an ounce and is equivalent in value to a metal coin type: copper bit, silver bit, or gold bit

(For convenience, this book uses the standard Pathfinder Core Rulebook abbreviations of cp for copper piece, sp for silver piece, and gp for gold piece; just remember that these denominations refer to ceramic, not metal, coins.) Ceramic coins equivalent to platinum pieces are simply gold bits marked with a higher value. Talented criminals can make good profits counterfeiting ceramic coins, but if they are caught, the penalties are severe and usually affect the counterfeiter’s entire family.

Sorcerer-kings back their cities’ ceramic coins with royal wealth and carefully regulate the currency as a means of controlling the population. In merchant emporiums, travelers can exchange the coins of one city-state for those of another for a fee of 5 percent. In practice, few people bother swapping their currency, since most merchants accept coins of any city (though the templars might start cracking down on that custom).

Metal coins exist on Athas, having been found in ancient treasure troves and circulated now and then. Very old coins attract unwanted attention unless the owner pays “taxes” to the right templars and nobles. In addition, merchant houses and minters who serve the sorcerer kings strike small amounts of metal coins, which have the normal value. Real coinage is a necessary guarantee against the possibility of a monarch abruptly devaluing the ceramic currency or banning the coins of an enemy city. Real coins are also useful for dune traders who deal with villagers or tribes in the wastes, where ceramic coins are just pretty clay chips Merchant houses prize metal coinage and exchange local ceramic currency for it at full value, but city officials watch these transactions closely. Only merchant houses, nobles, or travelers who deal with such individuals can trade large amounts of ceramic coins for metal equivalents (or vice versa) without arousing suspicion.

Barter

Barter is the exchange of goods for other goods - no coins change hands. By its very nature, barter is an age-old ceremony of negotiation. Characters who often venture out in the deserts encounter tribes and nomads who usually deal in this type of trade - a herdsman or a hunter would rather own a few waterskins than a handful of coins. Thri-kreen always resort to bartering since they have little use of coins.

When your character enters a barter, you compare the costs of the items to be exchanged and then match the quantities until they are approximately even. For example, Kyuln's tribe wishes to exchange its crop of rice for barrels of water. On Athas, rice is worth 5 copper pieces per pound, and each barrel of water is worth 25 cp. Kyuln's tribe would have to trade 5 pounds worth of rice to the merchant in exchange for one barrel of water.

Selling Treasure

Opportunities abound to find treasure, equipment, weapons, armor, and more in your adventures. Normally, you can sell your treasures and trinkets when you return to a city or other settlement, provided that you can find buyers, and merchants interested in your loot.

Arms, Armor, and Other Equipment. As a general rule, undamaged weapons, armor, and other equipment fetch half their cost when sold in a market.

Gems, Jewelry, and Art Objects. These items retain their full value in the marketplace, and you can either trade them in for coin or use them as currency for other transactions. For exceptionally valuable treasures, the DM might require you to find a buyer, per the rules for selling a magic item.

Trade Goods. Outside the city-states, many people conduct transactions through barter. Like gems and art objects, trade goods - bars of iron, bags of rice, livestock and so on - retain their full value in the market and can be used as currency.

Armor

Armor increases your character’s defenses, but some medium or heavy armor can hamper movement. If you want to increase your character’s defense beyond the protection your armor provides, they can use a shield. Armor protects your character only while they’re wearing it.

On Athas, an armorer might spend an entire career without accumulating a sufficient quantity of metal to create a suit of armor. Even if a windfall of metal were to be found, the techniques for forging such armor have largely been lost to the ages. Were these challenges overcome and the armor constructed, Athas’s intense heat would leave the crafter with few interested buyers. For these reasons, Athasian crafters turn to more lightweight materials, such as bone, chitin, leather, and wood, when assembling protective gear.

Armor Class

Your Armor Class (AC) measures how well you can defend against attacks. When a creature attacks you, your Armor Class is the DC for that attack roll.

Armor Class = 10 + Dexterity modifier (up to your armor’s Dex Cap) + proficiency bonus + armor’s item bonus to AC + other bonuses + penalties

Use your proficiency bonus for the category (light, medium, or heavy) or the specific type of armor you’re wearing. If you’re not wearing armor, use your proficiency in unarmored defense.

Donning and Removing Armor

Getting in and out of armor is time consuming—so make sure you’re wearing it when you need it! Donning and removing armor are both activities involving many Interact actions. It takes 1 minute to don light armor, 5 minutes to don medium or heavy armor, and 1 minute to remove any armor.

Armor Statistics

Table 6–1: Unarmored Defense provides the statistics for the various forms of protection without wearing armor. Table 6–2: Armor provides the statistics for suits of armor that can be purchased and worn, organized by category. The columns in both tables provide the following statistics.

AC BONUS

This number is the item bonus you add for the armor when determining Armor Class.

DEXTERITY MODIFIER CAP [DEX CAP]

This number is the maximum amount of your Dexterity modifier that can apply to your AC while you are wearing a given suit of armor. For example, if you have a Dexterity modifier of +4 and you are wearing a suit of half plate, you apply only a +1 bonus from your Dexterity modifier to your AC while wearing that armor

CHECK PENALTY

While wearing your armor, you take this penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks, except for those that have the attack trait. If you meet the armor’s Strength threshold (see Strength below), you don’t take this penalty.

SPEED PENALTY

While wearing a suit of armor, you take the penalty listed in this entry to your Speed, as well as to any other movement types you have, such as a climb Speed or swim Speed, to a minimum Speed of 5 feet. If you meet the armor’s Strength threshold (see below), you reduce the penalty by 5 feet.

STRENGTH

This entry indicates the Strength modifier at which you are strong enough to overcome some of the armor’s penalties. If your Strength modifier is equal to or greater than this value, you no longer take the armor’s check penalty, and you decrease the Speed penalty by 5 feet (to no penalty if the penalty was –5 feet, or to a –5-foot penalty if the penalty was –10 feet).

BULK

This entry gives the armor’s Bulk, assuming you’re wearing the armor and distributing its weight across your body. A suit of armor that’s carried usually has 1 more Bulk than what’s listed here (or 1 Bulk total for armor of light Bulk). An armor’s Bulk is increased or decreased if it’s sized for creatures that aren’t Small or Medium in size.

GROUP

Each type of clothing and armor belongs to an armor group, which classifies it with similar types of armor. Some abilities reference armor groups, typically to grant armor specialization effects.

ARMOR TRAITS

The traits for each suit of armor appear in this entry. Armor can have the following traits.

Adjusted: The equipment comes with an adjustment described in its entry. This adjustment is built into the equipment permanently, meaning the equipment can’t have another adjustment added, nor can it be swapped out for a different adjustment. If the adjustment alters the item’s base statistics, such as adding the noisy trait, that’s reflected in the equipment’s table entry.

Bulwark: The armor covers you so completely that it provides benefits against some damaging effects. On Reflex saves to avoid a damaging effect, such as a fireball, you add a +3 modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier.

Comfort: The armor is so comfortable that you can rest normally while wearing it.

Flexible: The armor is flexible enough that it doesn’t hinder most actions. You don’t apply its check penalty to Acrobatics or Athletics checks.

Hindering: This armor is so heavy and bulky it slows you down no matter what. You take a –5 penalty to all your Speeds (to a minimum of a 5-foot Speed). This is separate from and in addition to the armor’s Speed penalty and affects you even if your Strength or an ability lets you reduce or ignore the armor’s Speed penalty.

Laminar: The armor is made up of layered sections, so when it breaks, it isn’t as much of a problem. The status penalty to AC if this armor is broken is –1 for broken medium armor, –2 for broken heavy armor, or no penalty for broken light armor.

Noisy: This armor is loud and likely to alert others to your presence. The armor’s check penalty applies to Stealth checks even if you meet the required Strength score.

ARMOR SPECILIZATION EFFECTS

Certain class features can grant you additional benefits with certain armors. This is called an armor specialization effect. The exact effect depends on which armor group your armor belongs to, as listed below. Only medium and heavy armors have armor specialization effects.

Chain: The armor is so flexible it can bend with a critical hit and absorb some of the blow. Reduce the damage from critical hits by either 4 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 6 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor. This can’t reduce the damage to less than the damage rolled for the hit before doubling for a critical hit.

Composite: The numerous overlapping pieces of this armor protect you from piercing attacks. You gain resistance to piercing damage equal to 1 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 2 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

Leather: The thick second skin of the armor disperses blunt force to reduce bludgeoning damage. You gain resistance to bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 2 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

Plate: The sturdy plate provides no purchase for a cutting edge. You gain resistance to slashing damage equal to 1 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 2 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

Skeletal: Armor made from the bone or exoskeleton of creatures as diverse as bears, insects, and coral, skeletal armor protects vital points from precision damage. You gain resistance to precision damage equal to 3 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 5 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

Wood: Wood armor is generally flexible and light, but it can splinter as it breaks, throwing off shards and fragments that damage foes who deal you critical blows. If a foe critically hits you with a melee unarmed attack or critically hits you with any melee attack while adjacent to you, it takes piercing damage equal to 3 + the armor’s potency rune value for medium armor, or 5 + the armor’s potency rune value for heavy armor.

Armor Descriptions

Each type of armor is described in more detail below.

Breastplate. This breastplate is made from pieces of shell taken from large beasts such as from ankhegs or braxats. The pieces of shell are then carved to shape and affixed to a sturdy leather cuirass.

Bone Armor: In places where wood is hard to come by armor has been fashioned from slats and strips of bone or horn, along with whole bones or horns. Bone armor is usually woven together with strong cord, forming a suit like a breastplate. This suit is worn over heavy clothing or a surcoat like padded armor.

Buckle Armor: Tyrian style once led famous adventurers to wear clothing with an unusual number of buckles, pouches, and straps. This fashion birthed a trend that led to “buckle armor,” a colloquial name for chic armor with spacious tool storage. Buckle armor comes with the storage armor adjustment.

Ceramic Plate: Ceramic plate alleviates the need for metallurgy and smithing, instead relying on ceramic firing, glazing, and strong cord work with a backing of leather and thick canvas. Ceramic plate is colorful and artistic and is built with the armor latches armor adjustment.

Chitin Armor. This armor is skillfully made by interlocking hexagonal bits of chitin (usually carved from a kank’ s carapace). Chitin armor is the Athasian equivalent to the Core Rulebook’s chain shirt armor.

TABLE 6-1: UNARMORED DEFENSE

Unarmored	Price	AC Bonus	Dex Cap	Check Penalty	Speed Penalty	Strength	Bulk	Group	Armor Traits
Explorer's clothing	1 sp	+0	+5	—	—	—	L	Cloth	Comfort
Gi	2 sp	+0	+5	—	—	—	L	Cloth	Comfort

TABLE 6-2: ARMOR

Light Armor	Price	AC Bonus	Dex Cap	Check Penalty	Speed Penalty	Strength	Bulk	Group	Armor Traits
Buckle armor	4 gp	+2	+3	-1	—	+1	1	Leather	Adjusted storage, noisy
Chitin Armor	5 gp	+2	+3	-1	—	+1	1	Chain	Flexible, noisy
Leaf weave	4 gp	+1	+4	-1	—	+0	1	Wood	Laminar
Leather lamellar	3 gp	+1	+4	-1	—	+0	1	Composite	Laminar
Leather	2 gp	+1	+4	-1	—	+0	1	Leather	—
Padded armor	2 sp	+1	+3	—	—	+0	L	Cloth	Comfort
Quilted armor	3 sp	+2	+2	-1	—	+1	L	Cloth	Comfort
Studded leather	3 gp	+2	+3	-1	—	+1	1	Leather	—
Wood armor	5 gp	+2	+3	-1	—	+1	1	Wood	Laminar

Medium Armor	Price	AC Bonus	Dex Cap	Check Penalty	Speed Penalty	Strength	Bulk	Group	Armor Traits
Bone armor	5 gp	+3	+2	-2	-5 ft.	+2	2	Skeletal	Laminar
Breastplate	8 gp	+4	+1	-2	-5 ft.	+3	2	Plate	—
Ceramic plate	6 gp	+3	+2	-2	-5 ft.	+2	2	Plate	Adjusted armor latches, noisy
Hide	2 gp	+3	+2	-2	-5 ft.	+2	2	Leather	—
Lamellar breastplate	7 gp	+4	+1	-2	-5 ft.	+3	2	Composite	Hindering, Laminar
Scale mail	4 gp	+3	+2	-2	-5 ft.	+2	2	Composite	—
Shell armor	6 gp	+4	+1	-2	-5 ft.	+3	2	Chain	Flexible, noisy
Wooden breastplate	6 gp	+3	+2	-2	-5 ft.	+2	2	Wood	—

Heavy Armor	Price	AC Bonus	Dex Cap	Check Penalty	Speed Penalty	Strength	Bulk	Group	Armor Traits
Full plate (level 2)	30 gp	+6	+0	-3	-10 ft.	+4	4	Plate	Bulwark
Half plate (level 1)	18 gp	+5	+1	-3	-10 ft.	+3	3	Plate	—
Lamellar armor (level 2)	35 gp	+6	+0	-3	-10 ft.	+4	5	Composite	Bulwark, laminar
Splint mail (level 1)	13 gp	+5	+1	-3	-10 ft.	+3	3	Composite	—

Explorer’s Clothing: Adventurers who don’t wear armor travel in durable clothing. Though it’s not armor and uses your unarmored defense proficiency, it still has a Dex Cap and can grant an item bonus to AC if etched with potency runes (as described on page 581).

Full plate. Plate mail consists of interlocking plates that encase nearly the entire body in a carapace of chitin. It is costly and heavy, and the wearer often requires help to don it correctly, but it provides some of the best defense armor can supply. A suit of this armor comes with an undercoat of padded armor and a pair of gauntlets.

Gi: Also called martial arts suits or practice clothes, gi are outfits of tough cloth built for comfort and unrestricted movement—ideal for practicing martial arts. They have reinforced stitching resistant to strenuous use.

Half plate. Half plate consists of most of the upper body plates used in full plate, with lighter or sparser chitin plate protection for the arms and legs. This provides some of the protection of full plate with greater flexibility and speed.

A suit of this armor comes with an undercoat of padded armor and a pair of gauntlets.

Hide. This crude armor is usually fashioned from the dense hides of mekillots or braxats.

Lamellar Armor: Larger plates of leather, horn, shell, or wood are laced together to make up a suit of heavy lamellar. The custom-fitted and often highly decorative suit covers most of the body. Rounding out the suit are a tiered helmet and fearsome mask, often depicting a fiendish or monstrous creature.

Lamellar Breastplate: Small plates of leather, horn, shell, or wood are laced together to form a protective coat making up lamellar breastplates. Leather bracers and greaves provide some measure of defense for the limbs.

Leaf Weave: Specialized crafters, often from Gulg, create leaf weave out of sturdy leaves from ancient agafari trees. Such leaves, when treated properly, have the strength of leather, and other tough plant materials hold the leaves together to form the armor. Such suits are popular among those who wish to avoid materials taken from slain beasts. As a material, leaf weave has the same statistics as thin wood.

Leather Lamellar: Leather lamellar is a composite armor made of small rectangular pieces of lacquered leather laced together with high-quality cord. It’s typically worn with an undershirt.

Leather. Perhaps the most common type of armor used on Athas, leather armor is usually made of carru leather, stiffened in oil.

Padded. Padded armor consists of quilted layers of cloth and batting. Many Athasian warriors don padded armor woven from giant hair.

Quilted Armor: Quilted armor is built in a long coat intended for defensive use without other armor. Quilted armor protects the upper body and legs, differentiating it further from the typical padded undercoat. This armor is frequently made in stylish colors or patterns to facilitate use as protective outerwear or a military uniform.

Scale mail. This armor is crafted by affixing the hide of a scaled creature like an erdlu or inix over a sturdy leather backing to form a heavy coat and leggings or greaves.

Shell Armor. Shell armor is made by weaving giant’s hair around the shells of various small creatures such as an aprig. Shell armor is the Athasian equivalent to the Core Rulebook’s chain mail armor

Splint mail. This type of armor is shell armor reinforced with flexible, interlocking chitin plates, typically located on the wearer’s torso, upper arms, and legs. A suit of this armor comes with an undercoat of padded armor (see above) and a pair of gauntlets.

Studded leather. Made from tough but flexible leather, studded leather is reinforced with close-set rivets or spikes made of bone or chitin.

Wood Armor. Made of small wooden plates or longer slats, typically vertical, joined with sinew or cord and painted with decorations. Wood armor traditionally comes with a fearsome wooden helm carved in the shape of a mighty creature.

Wooden Breastplate: A suit of carved and tempered wood, a wooden breastplate resembles a metal breastplate in shape and function. Such suits can be carved from large pieces of wood, but they most often come from agafari trees.

Metal Armor

Though exceptionally rare and expensive, suits of bronze, iron, or even steel armor can still be found in old ruins or crafted by legendary artisans.

While metal armor provides superior protection and durability, it is also cumbersome and potentially deadly in the extreme heat of the Athasian sun. Wearing armor constructed of metal has the following benefits and drawbacks.

Cost

Metal is crafted with the rules for Crafting with Precious Materials. Low-grade metal is 100 gp per Bulk.

Armor Latches
ITEM 1

applied to armor —

This armor is easily doffed. A set of armor with armor latches gains the noisy trait; you can’t add latches to armor that already possesses the noisy trait. You can remove a set of armor with armor latches with a 3-action activity, which has the manipulate trait. This doesn’t affect the time it takes to don the armor.

Storage
ITEM 1

applied to armor or unarmored defense clothing L

The storage adjustment fits the armor or clothing with belts, buckles, pouches, and loops for holding and storing tools. Countless fasteners make the armor as jangly as chain mail. While wearing armor with this adjustment, you can wear up to 3 Bulk of tools instead of the usual 2. However, the armor acquires the noisy trait. If it already has the noisy trait, increase its penalty to Stealth checks by 1.

Table 6-3: Damaging Armor

Material	Hardness	HP	BT
Bone (bone armor, breastplate, chitin armor, full plate, half plate, lamellar armor, lamellar breastplate, scale mail, shell armor, splint mail)	6	24	12
Cloth (explorer's clothing, gi, padded armor, quilted armor)	1	4	2
Leather (buckle armor, hide, leather, leather lamellar, studded leather)	4	16	8
Stone (ceramic plate)	7	24	12
Thin Wood (leaf weave)	3	12	6
Wood (wood armor, wooden breastplate)	5	20	10

Your armor’s statistics are based on the material it’s predominantly made from.

Shields

A shield can increase your character’s defense beyond the protection their armor provides. Your character must be wielding a shield in one hand to make use of it, and it grants its bonus to AC only if they use an action to Raise a Shield. This action grants the shield’s bonus to AC as a circumstance bonus until their next turn starts. A shield’s Speed penalty applies whenever your character is holding the shield, whether they have raised it or not

Raise a Shield is the action most commonly used with shields. Most shields must be held in one hand, so you can’t hold anything with that hand and Raise a Shield, and you lose its benefits if that hand is no longer free. A buckler, however, doesn’t take up your hand, so you can Raise a Shield with a buckler if the hand is free (or, at the GM’s discretion, if it’s holding a simple, lightweight object that’s not a weapon).

When you have a tower shield raised, you can use the Take Cover action (page 471) to increase the circumstance bonus to AC to +4. This lasts until the shield is no longer raised, or until any of the normal conditions that end Take Cover, whichever comes first. If you would provide lesser cover against an attack, having your tower shield raised provides standard cover against it (and other creatures can Take Cover as normal using the cover from your shield).

If you have access to the Shield Block reaction (from your class or from a feat), you can use it while Raising your Shield to reduce the damage you take by an amount equal to the shield’s Hardness. Both you and the shield then take any remaining damage.

Shield Statistics

Shields have statistics that follow the same rules as armor: Price and Bulk. Their other statistics are described here.

AC Bonus

A shield grants a circumstance bonus to AC, but only when the shield is raised. This requires using the Raise a Shield action.

Hardness

Whenever a shield takes damage, the amount of damage it takes is reduced by this amount. This number is particularly relevant for shields because of the Shield Block feat (page 266).

HP (BT)

This column lists the shield’s Hit Points (HP) and Broken Threshold (BT).

These measure how much damage the shield can take before it’s destroyed (its total HP) and how much it can take before being broken and unusable (its BT). These matter primarily for the Shield Block reaction.

Speed Penalty

A shield's Speed penalty applies whenever your character is holding the shield, whether they have raised it or not.

Shield Traits

Unlike in the Core Rulebook, many of the new shields have traits.

Deflecting: This shield is designed to block or divert certain types of attacks or weapons. Increase the shield’s Hardness against the listed type of attack by 2.

Foldaway: This shield can collapse into a smaller form, which is attached to a gauntlet for stability and easy travel.

Hefty: A hefty shield is so heavy that raising it takes more effort. Raising a Shield with the hefty trait is a 2-action activity unless your Strength modifier equals or exceeds the number with the trait.

Integrated: This shield has been created to include a weapon in its construction, which works like an attached weapon but can’t be removed from the shield.

Launching: A mechanism within this shield can shoot projectiles, functioning as a ranged weapon.

Shield Throw: A shield with this trait is designed to be thrown as a ranged attack.

Attacking with a Shield

A shield can be used as a martial weapon for attacks, using the statistics listed for a shield bash. The shield bash is an option only for shields that weren’t designed to be used as weapons. A shield can’t have runes added to it. You can also buy and attach a shield boss or shield spikes to a shield to make it a more practical weapon. These work like other weapons and can even be etched with runes.

Shield Descriptions

Each type of shield is described in more detail below.

Table 6-4: Shields

Shield	Price	AC Bonus*	Speed Penalty	Bulk	Hardness	HP (BT)	Shield Traits
Buckler	1 gp	+1	—	L	3	6 (3)	—
Chitin shield	2 gp	+2	—	1	4	16 (8)	—
Dart shield	8 gp	+1	—	1	3	12 (6)	Launching dart
Fortress shield	20 gp	+3/+4**	-10 ft.	5	6	24 (12)	Hefty +2
Gauntlet buckler	5 gp	+1	—	1	3	6 (3)	Foldaway
Heavy rondache	4 gp	+1	—	1	5	24 (12)	—
Hide shield	2 gp	+2	—	1	4	20 (10)	Deflecting bludgeoning
Meteor shield	4 gp	+2	—	1	4	16 (8)	Shield throw 30 ft.
Razor disc	5 gp	+1	—	1	4	16 (8)	Integrated 1d6 S, shield throw 20 ft.
Salvo shield	6 gp	+2	—	1	4	16 (8)	Deflecting physical ranged
Swordstealer shield	6 gp	+2	—	1	4	16 (8)	Deflecting slashing
Tortoise blade	3 gp	+1	—	1	3	10 (5)	Integrated 1d6 S (versatile P)
Tower shield	10 gp	+2/+4**	-5 ft.	4	5	20 (10)	—
Wooden shield	1 gp	+2	—	1	3	12 (6)	—

* Gaining a shield’s circumstance bonus to AC requires using the Raise a Shield action.

** Getting the higher bonus for this shield requires using the Take Cover action while the shield is raised.

Buckler: This very small shield is a favorite of duelists and quick, lightly armored warriors. It’s typically made of chitin, shell, or bone and strapped to your forearm. You can Raise a Shield with your buckler as long as you have that hand free or are holding a light object that’s not a weapon in that hand.

Chitin Shield: Like wooden shields, chitin shields come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Though more expensive than wooden shields, they are much more durable.

Dart Shield: This wooden shield features a spring-loaded device on its surface that can fire darts with powerful force. A small mechanism within the shield allows you to fire a dart even while actively holding the shield or blocking with it.

Fortress Shield: Also known as portable walls, these thick and heavy shields are slightly larger than tower shields. Like tower shields, they’re typically made from wood reinforced with stone.

Gauntlet Buckler: This buckler-sized shield is segmented, allowing it to collapse into a housing bound to a gauntlet for easy storage. A small catch enables you to expand the shield quickly in battle when you’re in need of defense.

Heavy Rondache: Similar in size to a buckler, this chitin shield is intended to absorb as many blows as possible instead of deflecting attacks. It features multiple layers of chitin and is reinforced with additional wood.

Hide Shield: Hide shields come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Specialized tanning techniques combined with tough hides from creatures such as mekillot result in these particularly tough shields. The hardened hide of the shield still has enough flexibility to diminish the impact of battering and pummeling attacks.

Meteor Shield: Meteor shields are specifically designed Index with throwing in mind. A meteor shield is made from thin chitin and has quick-release straps, allowing for easy, long-distance throws.

Razor Disc: Several small blades line the outside edge of this chitin shield. This specialized throwing shield is common among warriors in Gulg, where its blades can cut down foliage as it flies.

Salvo Shield: This specialized chitin shield features an outer layer of angled wooden plates, which help deflect or redirect incoming ranged projectiles but don’t offer any additional protection against melee weapons.

Swordstealer Shield: This specialized chitin shield features several wide bone hooks along its surface. These hooks help catch swords and other blades, reducing the impact of their incoming attacks.

Tortoise Blade: The tortoise blade consists of a foot‐long dagger mounted to the center of a shell. The tortoise blade is strapped over the wearer’s hand, preventing them from holding anything but the tortoise blade.

Tower Shield: These massive shields can be used to provide cover to nearly the entire body. Due to their size, they are typically made of wood reinforced with bone or chitin.

Wooden Shield: Though they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, the protection offered by wooden shields comes from the stoutness of their materials. While wooden shields are less expensive than chitin shields, they break more easily.

Weapons

Most characters on Athas carry weapons, ranging from mighty warhammers to graceful bows to even simple clubs. Details on how you calculate the bonuses, modifiers, and penalties for attack rolls and damage rolls are summarized below, followed by the rules for weapons and dozens of weapon choices.

Attack Rolls

When making an attack roll, determine the result by rolling 1d20 and adding your attack modifier for the weapon or unarmed attack you’re using. Modifiers for melee and ranged attacks are calculated differently.

Melee attack modifier = Strength modifier (or optionally Dexterity for a finesse weapon) + proficiency bonus + other bonuses + penalties

Ranged attack modifier = Dexterity modifier + proficiency bonus + other bonuses + penalties

Bonuses, and penalties apply to these rolls just like with other types of checks.

Multiple attack penalty

If you use an action with the attack trait more than once on the same turn, your attacks after the first take a penalty called a multiple attack penalty. Your second attack takes a –5 penalty, and any subsequent attacks take a –10 penalty.

The multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to attacks you make when it isn’t your turn (such as attacks made as part of a reaction). You can use a weapon with the agile trait to reduce your multiple attack penalty.

Damage Rolls

When the result of your attack roll with a weapon or unarmed attack equals or exceeds your target’s AC, you hit your target! Roll the weapon or unarmed attack’s damage die and add the relevant modifiers, bonuses, and penalties to determine the amount of damage you deal. Calculate a damage roll as follows.

Melee damage roll = damage die of weapon or unarmed attack + Strength modifier + bonuses + penalties

Ranged damage roll = damage die of weapon + Strength modifier for thrown weapons + bonuses + penalties

Ranged weapons don’t normally add an attribute modifier to the damage roll, though weapons with the propulsive trait add half your Strength modifier (or your full modifier if it is a negative number), and thrown weapons add your full Strength modifier.

Characters with devastating attacks add one or more weapon damage dice to your damage roll. These extra dice are the same die size as the weapon’s damage die. At higher levels, most characters also gain extra damage from weapon specialization.

Critical Hits

When you make an attack and succeed with a natural 20 (the number on the die is 20), or if the result of your attack exceeds the target’s AC by 10, you achieve a critical success (also known as a critical hit).

If you critically succeed at a Strike, your attack deals double damage. Other attacks, such as spell attack rolls and some uses of the Athletics skill, describe the specific effects that occur when their outcomes are critical successes.

Unarmed Attacks

Almost all characters start out trained in unarmed attacks. You can Strike with your fist or another body part, calculating your attack and damage rolls in the same way you would with a weapon. Unarmed attacks can belong to a weapon group, and they might have weapon traits. However, unarmed attacks aren’t weapons, and effects and abilities that work with weapons never work with unarmed attacks unless they specifically say so.

Certain ancestry feats, class features, and spells give access to special, more powerful unarmed attacks. Details for those unarmed attacks are provided in the abilities that grant them.

Improvised Weapons

If you attack with something that wasn’t built to be a weapon, such as a chair or a vase, you’re making an attack with an improvised weapon. Improvised weapons are simple weapons. You take a –2 item penalty to attack rolls with an improvised weapon. The GM determines the amount and type of damage the attack deals, if any, as well as any weapon traits the improvised weapon should have.

Weapon Statistics

The tables on pages 247–248 list the statistics for various melee and ranged weapons that you can purchase. The tables present the following statistics. All weapons listed in this chapter have an item level of 0.

Damage

This entry lists the weapon’s damage die and the type of damage it deals: B for bludgeoning, P for piercing, or S for slashing.

Damage Dice

Each weapon lists the damage die used for its damage roll. A standard weapon deals one die of damage, but a magical striking rune can increase the number of dice rolled, as can some special actions and spells. These additional dice use the same die size as the weapon or unarmed attack’s normal damage die.

Counting Damage Dice

Effects based on a weapon’s number of damage dice include only the weapon’s damage die plus any extra dice from a striking rune. They don’t count extra dice from abilities, critical specialization effects, property runes, weapon traits, or the like.

Increasing Die Size

When an effect calls on you to increase the size of your weapon damage dice, instead of using its normal weapon damage dice, use the next larger die, as listed below (so if you were using a d4, you’d use a d6, and so on). If you are already using a d12, the size is already at its maximum. You can’t increase your weapon damage die size more than once.

1d4 ➞ 1d6 ➞ 1d8 ➞ 1d10 ➞ 1d12

Range

Ranged and thrown weapons have a range increment. Attacks with these weapons work normally up to that distance. Attack rolls beyond a weapon’s range increment take a –2 penalty for each additional multiple of that increment between you and the target. Attacks beyond the sixth range increment are impossible. For example, a shortbow takes no penalty against a target up to 60 feet away, a –2 penalty against a target beyond 60 feet but up to 120 feet away, and a –4 penalty against a target beyond 120 feet but up to 180 feet away, and so on, up to 360 feet.

Reload

While all weapons need some amount of time to get into position, many ranged weapons also need to be loaded and reloaded. This entry indicates how many Interact actions it takes to reload such weapons. This can be 0 if drawing ammunition and firing the weapon are part of the same action. If an item takes 2 or more actions to reload, the GM determines whether they must be performed together as an activity, or you can spend some of those actions during one turn and the rest during your next turn.

An item with an entry of “—” must be drawn to be thrown, which usually takes an Interact action just like drawing any other weapon. Reloading a ranged weapon and drawing a thrown weapon both require a free hand. Switching your grip to free a hand and then to place your hands in the grip necessary to wield the weapon are both included in the actions you spend to reload a weapon.

Bulk

This entry gives the weapon’s Bulk. A weapon’s Bulk is increased or decreased if it’s sized for creatures that aren’t Small or Medium size.

Hands

Some weapons require one hand to wield, and others require two. A few items, such as a longbow, list 1+ for its Hands entry. You can hold a weapon with a 1+ entry in one hand, but the process of shooting it requires using a second to retrieve, nock, and loose an arrow. This means you can do things with your free hand while holding the bow without changing your grip, but the other hand must be free when you shoot. To properly wield a 1+ weapon, you must hold it in one hand and also have a hand free.

Weapons requiring two hands typically deal more damage. Some one-handed weapons have the two-hand trait, causing them to deal a different size of weapon damage die when used in two hands. In addition, some abilities require you to wield a weapon in two hands. You meet this requirement while holding the weapon in two hands, even if it doesn’t require two hands or have the two-hand trait.

Group

A weapon or unarmed attack’s group classifies it with similar weapons. Groups affect some abilities and what the weapon does on a critical hit if you have access to that weapon or unarmed attack’s critical specialization effects.

Weapon Traits

The traits a weapon or unarmed attack has are listed in this entry. Any trait that refers to a “weapon” can also apply to an unarmed attack that has that trait.

Ammunition

Some entries in the ranged weapons tables are followed by an entry for the type of ammunition that weapon launches. The damage die is determined by the weapon, not the ammunition. Because that and other relevant statistics vary by weapon, ammunition entries list only the name, quantity, Price, and Bulk. Using ammunition destroys it.

Inferior Material and Athasian Weapons

Metal is rare on Athas, and many weapons ordinarily crafted using metal components are extremely expensive.

Unworked iron is worth 100 gp per pound on average, but can cost much, much more in some places.

Table 6-5: ATHASIAN MELEE WEAPONS

Simple Weapons	Price	Damage	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Club	0	1d6 b	1	1	Club	Thrown 10 ft.
Dagger	2 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Knife	Agile, finesse, thrown 10 ft., versatile S
Gauntlet	2 sp	1d4 B	L	1	Brawling	Agile, free-hand
Light mace	4 sp	1d4 B	L	1	Club	Agile, finesse, shove
Longspear	5 sp	1d8 P	2	2	Spear	Reach
Mace	1 gp	1d6 B	1	1	Club	Shove
Morningstar	1 gp	1d6 B	1	1	Club	Versatile P
Puchik	3 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Knife	Agile, deadly d6, gladiator, monk
Sickle	2 sp	1d4 S	L	1	Knife	Agile, finesse, trip
Spear	1 sp	1d6 P	1	1	Spear	Monk, thrown 20 ft.
Staff	0	1d4 B	1	1	Club	Monk, two-hand d8
Quabone	5 sp	1d4 B	L	1	Club	Agile, finesse, nonlethal, versatile S

Uncommon Simple Weapons	Price	Damage	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Singing Sticks	1 sp	1d4 B	L	1	Brawling	Agile, finesse, gladiator, monk, parry, twin
Talid	3 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Brawling	Agile, free-hand, gladiator, versatile S
Tonfa	5 sp	1d4 B	L	1	Club	Agile, finesse, nonlethal, parry
Widow's Knife	4 sp	1d4 S	L	1	Knife	Agile, finesse, injection

Worked metal is even more expensive, as craftsmen who actually know how to craft metal items are rare at best. Most metal weapons are items dating back to the Green Age or have been crafted from the meager resources of Tyr’s iron mines.

Due to the rarity of metal, weapons and other items constructed primarily from must be crafted using the Crafting with Precious Materials rules. Low-grade metal costs 100 gp per Bulk.

For example, 10 low-grade metal‐tip arrows cost 10 gp. Due to the extremely high cost of metal weaponry, most weapons from the Core Rulebook are constructed from inferior, but functional, materials instead on Athas. Most common are bone and stone such as flint or obsidian, but treated wood is sometimes used as well. Weapons constructed from inferior materials, such as bone longsword or an axe with a head made from stone, suffer a –1 penalty to attack and damage rolls and gain additional traits based on the material type. This penalty cannot reduce damage dealt below 1. These weapons cost the normal listed price in the Core Rulebook.

The following weapon groups can be constructed from non‐metal materials without penalty: bows (and arrows), clubs, darts, flails, knifes, shields, slings (and bullets), spears, and whips. These weapon groups gain the material traits based on their construction.

Furthermore, due to the rarity of metal, Athas has its share of unique weapons designed to be constructed from non–metal materials;

as such, they do not suffer from the inferior materials penalties but gain the weapon traits for the material used.

Table 6-6: Damaging Weapons

Material	Hardness	HP	BT	Weapons Allowed	Traits
Wood	3	12	6	Bows, Clubs, Flails, Knifes, Spears	flaw, lightweight
Bone	4	16	8	All	flaw, lightweight
Stone	4	16	8	All	fatal, flaw, weighty

Your weapon’s statistics are based on the material it’s predominantly made from.

Weapon Traits

These weapons include the following traits, in addition to any described in the Core Rulebook.

Fatal: All Stone weapons include the fatal trait with a die size one higher than the base weapon. If the weapon already includes the fatal trait, increase the die size by one.

Flaw: A player can choose to reroll a critical miss or on a critical hit can choose to do max damage, if a player chooses this effect the weapon takes 1d6 damage and reduces max hitpoints by 1.

Inferior: Weapons constructed from inferior materials, such as bone longsword or an axe with a head made from stone, suffer a –1 penalty to attack and damage rolls.

Table 6-7: ATHASIAN MELEE WEAPONS

Martial Weapons	Price	Damage	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Alak	9 sp	1d6 P	1	1	Flail	Disarm, grapple, trip
Bastard Sword	4 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Sword	Inferior, two-hand d12
Battle axe	1 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Axe	Inferior, sweep
Datchi Club	1 gp	1d10 B	2	2	Club	Backswing, reach, shove
Forearm Axe	1 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Axe	Free-hand, gladiator, sweep
Falchion	3 gp	1d10 S	2	2	Sword	Forceful, inferior, sweep
Flail	8 sp	1d6 B	1	1	Flail	Disarm, sweep, trip
Glaive	1 gp	1d8 S	2	2	Polearm	Deadly d8, forceful, inferior, reach
Gouge	8 sp	1d10 P	2	2	Polearm	Inferior, reach, shove
Greataxe	2 gp	1d12 S	2	2	Axe	Inferior, sweep
Greatclub	1 gp	1d10 B	2	2	Club	Backswing, shove
Guisarme	2 gp	1d10 S	2	2	Polearm	Fatal d10, inferior, sweep
Halberd	2 gp	1d10 P	2	2	Polearm	Inferior, reach, versatile S
Hatchet	4 sp	1d6 S	L	1	Axe	Agile, inferior, sweep, thrown 10 ft.
Impaler	1 gp	1d6 P	1	1	Pick	Fatal d10, inferior, sweep
Lance	1 gp	1d8 P	2	2	Spear	Deadly d8, jousting d6, reach
Light hammer	3 sp	1d6 B	L	1	Hammer	Agile, inferior, thrown 20 ft.
Light pick	4 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Pick	Agile, fatal d8, inferior
Longsword	1 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Sword	Inferior, versatile P
Main-gauche	5 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Knife	Agile, disarm, finesse, parry, versatile S
Maul	3 gp	1d12 B	2	2	Hammer	Inferior, shove
Pick	7 sp	1d6 P	1	1	Pick	Fatal d10, inferior
Ranseur	2 gp	1d10 P	2	2	Polearm	Disarm, inferior, reach
Sap	1 sp	1d6 B	L	1	Club	Agile, nonlethal
Scimitar	1 gp	1d6 S	1	1	Sword	Forceful, inferior, sweep
Scythe	2 gp	1d10 S	2	2	Polearm	Deadly d10, inferior, trip
Shield bash	—	1d4 B	—	1	Shield	—
Shield boss	5 sp	1d6 B	—	1	Shield	Attached to shield
Shield spikes	5 sp	1d6 P	—	1	Shield	Attached to shield
Shortsword	9 sp	1d6 P	L	1	Sword	Agile, finesse, inferior, versatile S
Trident	1 gp	1d8 P	1	1	Spear	Thrown 20 ft.
War flail	2 gp	1d10 B	2	2	Flail	Disarm, inferior, sweep, trip
Warhammer	1 gp	1d8 B	1	1	Hammer	Inferior, shove
Whip	1 sp	1d4 S	1	1	Flail	Disarm, finesse, nonlethal, reach, trip

Lightweight: These weapon’s Bulk is reduced by 1 (or to light Bulk if its normal Bulk is 1, with no effect on an item that normally has light Bulk). This trait does not apply to bows or clubs.

Weighty: These weapon's Bulk is increased by 1 (or to 1 Bulk if its normal Bulk is L).

Table 6-8: ATHASIAN MELEE WEAPONS

Uncommon Martial Weapons	Price	Damage	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Bard's Friend	9 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Knife	Agile, backstabber, deadly d8, finesse
Carrikal	2 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Axe	Forceful, gladiator, sweep
Elven curve blade	4 gp	1d8 S	2	2	Sword	Elf, finesse, forceful
Garrote, Bard's	4 gp	1d4 S	L	1	Brawling	Agile, backstabber, deadly d8, finesse, grapple
Handfork	7 sp	1d6 P	L	1	Knife	Agile, disarm, tarek
Heartpick	1 gp	1d8 P	1	1	Pick	Fatal 1d10, tarek, trip
Kama	1 gp	1d6 S	L	1	Knife	Agile, monk, trip
Khakkara	2 gp	1d6 B	1	1	Club	Monk, shove, two-hand d10, versatile P
Khopesh	2 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Sword	Inferior, trip
Ko•	5 sp	1d4 S	L	1	Knife	Agile, deadly d8, finesse, kreen, versatile P
Kukri	6 sp	1d6 S	L	1	Knife	Agile, finesse, trip
Lotulis	3 gp	1d8 S	2	2	Spear	Agile, backswing, finesse, gladiator, sweep
Macuahuitl, Small	1 gp	1d4 B	L	1	Club	Draji, fatal d8, versatile S
Macuahuitl	2 gp	1d6 B	1	1	Club	Draji, fatal d10, versatile S
Macuahuitl, Great	5 gp	1d8 B	2	2	Club	Draji, fatal d12, versatile S
Master's Whip	5 sp	1d4 S	L	1	Flail	Disarm, finesse, reach, trip
Mekillot Sap	5 sp	1d6 B	1	2	Club	Backswing, nonlethal, reach, trip
Nunchaku	2 sp	1d6 B	L	1	Club	Backswing, disarm, finesse, monk
Sai	6 sp	1d4 P	L	1	Knife	Agile, disarm, finesse, monk, versatile B
Skyhammer	3 gp	1d8 B	2	2	Flail	Backswing, disarm, reach, trip
Slodak	5 sp	1d6 P	L	1	Sword	Agile, finesse, lizardfolk, versatile S
Spear, Double-tipped	3 gp	1d6 P	1	2	Spear	Agile, finesse, gladiator, thrown 20 ft.
Spiked chain	3 gp	1d8 S	1	2	Flail	Disarm, finesse, inferior, trip
Temple sword	2 gp	1d8 S	1	1	Sword	Inferior, monk, trip
Thanak	1 gp	1d6 S	1	1	Sword	Agile, finesse, lizardfolk
Tkaesali	1 gp	1d8 S	2	2	Polearm	Deadly d8, lizardfolk, reach, sweep, trip
Weighted Pike	4 gp	1d8 P	2	2	Polearm	Reach, shove, versatile B
Wrist Razor	2 sp	1d4 S	L	1	Brawling	Agile, deadly d8, disarm, finesse, free-hand, monk

Melee Weapon
Descriptions

Each of the weapons listed in Table 6–5 and 6-6 are detailed below.

Alak: An alak consists of a 2‐foot long shaft of bone or wood, with four serrated bones tied to the sharp end, like the four prongs of a grappling hook.

Alhulak: The alhulak consists of an alak tied to a 5‐foot long leather cord, which wraps around your wrist at the other end.

Bard's Friend: This weapon is crafted with several
obsidian blades and wooden prongs, which are fastened to a handle.

Several small spikes jut out from where the knuckles hold the weapon.

Cahulak: A cahulak consists of two alaks (see above)
joined by a 5‐foot rope.

Carrikal: The sharpened jawbone of a large creature is
lashed to a haft. The jagged edges are sharpened, forming a sort of battleaxe with two forward‐facing heads.

Table 6-9: ATHASIAN MELEE WEAPONS

Uncommon Advanced Weapons	Price	Damage	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Alhulak	1 gp	1d6 P	1	2	Flail	Finesse, gladiator, grapple, reach, sweep, trip
Cahulaks	2 gp	1d6 P	2	2	Flail	Agile, finesse, gladiator, grapple, reach, sweep, trip
Chatkcha	5 sp	1d4 S	L	1	Knife	Finesse, kreen, recovery, thrown 30 feet
Crusher	2 gp	1d10 B	2	2	Polearm	Deadly d10, forceful, reach
Dragon's paw	2 gp	1d8 P	2	2	Spear	Agile, backswing, gladiator, parry, sweep
Dwarven waraxe	3 gp	1d8 S	2	1	Axe	Dwarf, inferior, sweep, two-hand d12
Gythka	1 gp	1d8 S	2	2	Spear	Agile, backswing, finesse, kreen, reach, sweep
Kyorkcha	8 sp	1d6 S	L	1	Knife	Finesse, kreen, rare, recovery, thrown 30 feet
Lajav	2 gp	1d6 B	2	2	Polearm	Grapple, kreen, reach
Trikal	2 gp	1d8 P	2	2	Polearm	Deadly d8, gladiator, reach, trip, versatile S

Chatkcha: This thri-kreen throwing weapon is used primarily for hunting small game. It is a lightweight, three bladed weapon.

Crusher: The crusher is made from a large stone or metal weight, mounted at the end of a 15‐foot long shaft of springy wood. The weight is whipped back and forth.

Datchi Club: This weapon, generally found in the arenas, is made by affixing a 4‐5 foot length of dried insect hive or roots to a three‐foot long shaft. Teeth, claws, or obsidian shards are embedded into the head of the weapon.

Dragon's Paw: Popular in the arenas, the dragon’s paw consists of a five or six‐foot long pole, with a blade on either end. A basket guards your hands from attack.

Forearm Axe:: Strapped to the forearm like a buckler, the forearm axe resembles a double‐headed battleaxe, with the wearer’s arm serving as the haft of the axe.

Garrote, Bard's: This giant hair is thin and hard to see, making it perfect for an ambush. The wielder wraps the giant hair around a vulnerable spot, such as the neck, and twists it to inflict potentially fatal lacerations.

Gouge: Worn in an over‐the‐shoulder harness, the gouge is commonly found in the Nibenese infantry. A wide blade of bone, obsidian or chitin is mounted to a three‐foot long shaft of wood.

Gythka: This thri-kreen polearm has wicked, curved blades at either end. The weapon's thick shaft allows it to be wielded similarly to a quarterstaff.

Handfork: The handfork, most popular among tareks, is a slicing weapon with a handle‐grip and obsidian blades that join above the knuckles in an “M” shape.

Heartpick: The name of this weapon expresses its simple intent. Usually made of bone, the heartpick is a hammer like weapon with a serrated pick on the front, and a heavy, flat head on the back.

Impaler: Like many Athasian weapons, the impaler was developed for the arenas. Two blades are mounted parallel to the end of a four‐foot long shaft, forming a bladed ‘T’. The impaler is swung horizontally or vertically with great force.

Khopesh: This curved sickle sword has a pointed tip, allowing it to be swung like a handaxe or thrust like a short sword. The tip of a khopesh is usually hooked so it can be used to disarm an opponent's shield or weapon.

Ko•: The Ko• combines a jagged blade that has been carved from a roughly oval stone. This exotic weapon of kreen manufacture is typically used in matching pairs. The ko• is designed to pierce chitin, shells, and tough skin.

Kyorkcha: The kyorkcha is a more dangerous variant of the chatkcha. This tohr‐kreen weapon consists of a curved blade, much like a boomerang, with several protrusions along the edge, as well as jutting spikes near each end.

Lajav: The lajav is a kreen weapon designed to capture opponents. It incorporates two flattened bones, joined in a hinge about two feet from the end. The result looks something like a nutcracker and is used roughly in the same crushing way.

Lotulis: Two barbed, crescent shaped blades adorn either end of the lotulis, a double weapon once popular in the arena of Tyr.

Macahuitl: A macahuitl is a sword painstakingly crafted using a core of solid wood, with small, sharp shards of obsidian embedded into the wood to form an edge on two opposite sides of the weapon. These weapons are swung like the scimitar, though macahuitls tend to require more maintenance.

Table 6-10: ATHASIAN RANGED WEAPONS

Simple Weapons	Price	Damage	Range	Reload	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Atlatl	2 sp	1d6 P	60 ft.	1	1	1	Dart	Propulsive
Blowgun	1 sp	1	P	20 ft.	1	L	1	Dart
10 blowgun darts	5 cp				L
Bola	5 sp	1d6 B	20 ft.	—	L	1	Sling	Nonlethal, ranged trip, thrown
Crossbow	3 gp	1d8 P	120 ft.	1	1	2	Crossbow	—
10 bolts	1 sp				L
Dart	1 cp	1d4 P	20 ft.	—	L	1	Dart	Agile, thrown
Hand crossbow	3 gp	1d6 P	60 ft.	1	L	1	Crossbow	—
10 bolts	1 sp				L
Heavy crossbow	4 gp	1d10 P	120 ft.	2	2	2	Crossbow	—
10 bolts	1 sp				L
Javelin	1 sp	1d6 P	30 ft.	—	L	1	Dart	Thrown
Sling	0	1d6 B	50 ft.	1	L	1	Sling	Propulsive
10 sling bullets	1 cp				L

Uncommon Simple Weapons	Price	Damage	Range	Reload	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Pelota	2 sp	1d4 P	10 ft.	0	L	1	Sling	Concussive, propulsive, thrown
Pelota, Hinged	4 sp	1d4 P	10 ft.	0	L	1	Sling	Concussive, propulsive, thrown, varies

Martial Weapons	Price	Damage	Range	Reload	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Alchemical bomb	Varies	Varies	20 ft.	—	L	1	Bomb	Varies
Arbalest	12 gp	1d10 P	110 ft.	1	2	2	Crossbow	Backstabber
10 bolts	1 sp				L
Bola	5 sp	1d6 B	20 ft.	—	L	1	Sling	Nonlethal, ranged trip, thrown
Composite longbow	20 gp	1d8 P	100 ft.	0	2	1+	Bow	Deadly d10, propulsive, volley 30 ft.
10 arrows	1 sp				L
Composite shortbow	14 gp	1d6 P	60 ft.	0	1	1+	Bow	Deadly d10, propulsive
10 arrows	1 sp				L
Longbow	6 gp	1d8 P	100 ft.	0	2	1+	Bow	Deadly d10, volley 30 ft.
10 arrows	1 sp				L
Shortbow	3 gp	1d6 P	60 ft.	0	1	1+	Bow	Deadly d10
10 arrows	1 sp				L

Uncommon Martial Weapons	Price	Damage	Range	Reload	Bulk	Hands	Group	Weapon Traits
Dejada	3 gp	1d8 P	30 ft.	1	L	1+	Sling	Concussive, gladiator, propulsive
Splashbow	5 gp	1d8 P	60 ft.	2	2	2	Bow	Concussive
Shuriken	1 cp	1d4 P	20 ft.	0	—	1	Dart	Agile, monk, thrown

The macahuitl is especially popular among the Draji, who seem to be the only ones who can easily pronounce this weapon’s Draji name (“ma‐ka‐wheet‐luh”). Non‐Draji simply refer to it as the “obsidian sword” or the “Draji sword.”

Master's Whip: The master’s whip is usually braided from giant hair or leather, and has shards of chitin, obsidian or bone braided into the end of the whip.

Mekillot Sap: The mekillot sap is a soft but tough large leather bag filled with fine gravel or sand, stitched together with giant’s hair, and tied to the end of a five‐foot rope. The throwing sap is swung overhead with both hands.

Puchik: A bone or obsidian punching dagger.

Quabone: Four jawbones are fastened around a central haft, at right angles to one another. The quabone is often used in the arenas.

Singing Stick: A singing stick is a carefully crafted and polished club, often used in pairs. Singing sticks draw their name from the characteristic whistling sound they make when used.

Skyhammer: The sky hammer consists of a 10‐foot length of rope with a large hammer‐like object at one end. Its rope is coiled and swung around the body two‐handedly until enough momentum is gained to hurl the hammer at a target.

Slodak: The slodak is a wooden short sword, carved from young hardwood trees and treated with a mixture of tree sap and id fiend blood. This treatment renders the blade of the weapon extremely strong, making it a deadly weapon.

Spear, Double-Tipped: A long shaft ending with a metal
spike on both ends and can be thrown.

Talid: The talid, also known as the gladiator’s gauntlet, is made of stiff leather with metal, chitin, or bone plating on the hand cover and all along the forearm. Spikes protrude from each of the knuckles and along the back of the hand. A sharp blade runs along the thumb and there is a 6‐inch spike on the elbow.

Thanak: The thanak is a chopping weapon of pterran
manufacture resembling a jagged sword or sawblade. It consists of a pair of hardwood strips bound together, with a row of pterrax teeth protruding from between them along one edge of the weapon particularly capable of slicing through muscle and sinew.

Tkaesali: This polearm, commonly used by the nikaal, consists of long wooden haft topped with a circular, jagged blade.

Tonfa: The tonfa is a stick with a short handle and is popular among street‐patrolling Nibenese templars and their guards.

Trikal: Three blades project radially from the business end of a six‐foot long haft. A series of sharp serrated edges line the shaft below the foot‐long blades, while the far end of the weapon is weighted, in order to balance the weapon.

Weighted Pike: A solid head, generally stone or baked
ceramic, is mounted on the end of a spear or a pike.

Widow's Knife: Named for a similar-looking harvesting tool used in the verdant belts, this weapon has a wide blade on one end of a wood or an ivory handle. Hidden within the handle are two spring-loaded prongs. A thumb latch on the handle releases the prongs.

Wrist Razor: Several shards of obsidian or bone are fastened to a strip of leather or other binding material or are lashed onto the forearm of the wielder.

Ranged Weapon
Descriptions

Each of the weapons listed in Table 6–7 is detailed below.

Atlatl: The atlatl, sometimes called a “staff‐sling,” is a javelin‐throwing device that is swung over the shoulder, using both hands.

Dejada: The dejada allows the wielder to throw pelota (see the pelota description for details).

Pelota: Popular in arena games and increasingly popular in the street games of some city‐states, pelota are hollow leaden spheres with small holes that cause the sphere to whistle as it flies through the air. The surface of most pelota is studded with obsidian shards.

Pelota, Hinged: To the careless eye a hinged pelota looks like an ordinary pelota without obsidian spikes. Hinged pelota can be twisted open like a small jar. Bards and assassins often use this feature to insert a splash‐globe—a thin crystal sphere that contains acid, injury poison, contact poison, alchemical fire, or some other liquid. When the pelota strikes, the globe breaks, spilling the liquid through the holes of the pelota. Like pelota, hinged pelota can be thrown with a dejada. Hinged pelotas are also used as ammunition for the splashbow.

Splashbow: This exotic weapon looks like a misshapen crossbow, only three feet long from bow to handle, but with a horizontal bow nearly five feet wide. Rather than bolts, the splashbow fires hinged pelotas, which can be filled with splash–globes of alchemical fire, contact poison, acids, or other interesting liquids. Splash–globes burst on impact, spraying their contents like a thrown grenade.

Spells

To make your mark on the world, you’ll need to have the right equipment, including armor, weapons, and other gear. This chapter presents the various equipment that you can purchase during character creation. You can usually find these items for sale in most cities and other large settlements.

Spell Descriptions

Ancient Dust
Cantrip 1

divine, primal

15-foot cone

Fortitude

You cough up a cloud of silt, echoing the dust from the sea of silt. Each creature in the area takes void damage equal to your spellcasting modifier and 1 persistent void damage depending on its Fortitude save.

The creature is unaffected.

The creature takes half damage and no persistent damage.

The creature takes full damage and persistent damage.

The creature takes double damage and double the persistent damage.

The initial negative damage increases by 1d6, and
the persistent damage increases by 1.

Conductive Weapon
Spell 1

arcane, divine, primal

touch; 1 weapon that is unattended or is wielded by you or a willing ally

1 minute

You channel powerful electric current through a weapon, zapping anyone the item hits. The target becomes a +1 shock weapon. If any target of an attack with the weapon is wearing metal armor or is primarily made of metal, the electricity damage die from the shock rune is 1d12.

Gray Plague
SPELL 5

divine, occult

touch; 1 creature

Fortitude

Your touch afflicts the target with Gray plague, which siphons fragments of their soul away to empower the Gray. The effect is based on the target's Fortitude save.

Gray Plague (disease) Level 9; The target can’t recover from the drained condition from Gray plague until the disease is cured; Stage 1 drained 1 (1 day); Stage 2 drained increases by 2 (1 day).

The target is unaffected.

The target takes 2 void damage per spell rank, and takes a –2 status penalty to saves against Gray plague for 1 day or until the target contracts it, whichever comes first

The target is afflicted with Gray plague at stage 1.

The target is afflicted with Gray plague at stage 2.

Magma Shield
Cantrip 1

divine, primal

until the start of your next turn

basic Reflex

You summon a layer of magma to keep you from harm. This cantrip functions as the shield spell, except it has Hardness 2 and 4 Hit Points. If this shield breaks, provided the breaker is within 5 feet, they must succeed at a basic Reflex save or take 1d4 fire damage from the magma pieces.

The shield has Hardness 4 and 8 Hit Points, and
the damage increases to 1d4 + your spellcasting attribute
modifier.

The shield has Hardness 7 and 16 Hit Points, and the damage increases to 2d4 + your spellcasting attribute
modifier.

The shield has Hardness 10 and 24 Hit Points, and the damage increases to 3d4 + your spellcasting attribute
modifier.

The shield has Hardness 12 and 32 Hit Points, and the damage increases to 4d4 + your spellcasting attribute
modifier.

Obsidian Shards
Cantrip 1

arcane, divine, occult, primal

60 feet1 creature

You shape three shards out of a piece of obsidian in your possession and send them flying in a tight group toward one target. Make a spell attack roll against your target’s AC. The shards deal 3d4 piercing damage and might cause bleeding. The obsidian returns to you after the attack.

The target takes double damage and 1 persistent bleed damage.

The target takes full damage.

You send one additional needle, increasing the regular damage by 1d4 and increasing the persistent bleed damage on a critical hit by 1.

Ray of Sunlight
Cantrip 1

divine, primal

120 feet

1 creature

You blast a ray of sunlight. Make a spell attack roll. The ray deals fire damage equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier.

The target takes double damage and is Dazzled for 1 round.

the target takes normal damage.

The damage increases by 1d4.

Rousing Splash
Cantrip 1

divine, primal

60 feet

1 creature

You cause a splash of cold water to descend on an ally’s head, granting some temporary vigor. The target gains 1d4 temporary Hit Points, which last for 1 minute. The target is then temporarily immune to the temporary Hit Points from rousing splash for 10 minutes. The target can also attempt an immediate flat check to recover from a single source of persistent acid or fire damage, with the DC reduction from appropriate assistance.

The amount of temporary Hit Points granted increases by 1d4.

Wall of Magma
SPELL 5

arcane, primal

120 feet

1 minute

You raise a wall of magma that burns creatures passing through it. You create either a 5-foot-thick wall of magma in a straight line up to 60 feet long and 10 feet high, or a 5-foot-thick, 10-foot-radius ring of magma with the same height. The wall stands vertically in either form; if you wish, the wall can be of a shorter length or height. Everything on each side of the wall is concealed from creatures on the opposite side. The wall is greater difficult terrain and any creature that crosses the wall or is occupying the wall's area at the start of its turn takes 5d6 fire damage.

Focus Spells

Some classes gain special spells that they cast using Focus Points instead of spell slots. These focus spells are listed below, organized by class.

Champion

Litany of Depravity
FOCUS 7

30 feet;1 enemy creature

1 round

Your litany calls into question the morals your foe claims to hold dear. The target gains weakness 7 to mental damage, then becomes temporarily immune to all your litanies for 1 minute.

The weakness increases by 1.

Litany of Righteousness
FOCUS 7

30 feet;1 enemy creature

1 round

Your litany denounces an opponent, rendering it susceptible to the powers of your element. The target gains weakness 7 to your element type. The target then becomes temporarily immune to all of your litanies for 1 minute.

The weakness increases by 1.

Druid

Apex Companion
FOCUS 7

30 feet;1 animal companion in your service

1 minute

You focus on the energies of all members of your animal companion’s species, transforming your animal companion into its apex battle form. Your animal companion gains the following statistics and abilities while in its apex form.

Your animal companion becomes Huge, and its attacks have 15-foot reach. It must have enough space to expand into or the spell is lost.
30 temporary Hit Points.
Darkvision.
Your animal companion’s attack’s damage dice increase by one step, and its attack gains the deadly d12 trait.
+10-foot status bonus to its Speeds.
Ignores difficult terrain and greater difficult terrain.

Elemental

Lightning Form
FOCUS 7

line up to 120 feet

basic reflex

You transform into a bolt of lightning and move up to 120 feet in a line. The lightning deals 18d6 electricity damage to all foes, with a basic Reflex save, but the lightning flows harmlessly around your allies. The movement prevents any reactions, except those that would counteract the spell's magic.

The electricity damage increases by 1d6.

Magma Field
FOCUS 7

ground within a 60-foot emanation

sustained up to 1 minute

The ground within the area transforms into a field of magma that assault and impede your foes. Enemies in the area when you Cast the Spell take 6d8 fire damage, with a basic Reflex save and deals 3d8 fire damage to any enemy that ends its turn in the area while the spell is sustained. The first time each round you Sustain the Spell, you can select one of the following effects to occur in the area.

Ensnare The magma clumps around your foes, attempting to hold them in place. A foe within the area (or flying at most 20 feet above the area) must attempt a Reflex save. On a failure, it takes a –10-foot circumstance penalty to all Speeds for 1 round, and on a critical failure, it is immobilized for 1 round unless it Escapes.
Impede The magma twists and writhes, making the entire area difficult terrain.
Wall A wall of magma appears in the area, lasting for 1 round.

In addition, once per round you can direct the magma to grab any target in the area (or flying up to 20 feet above the area) that you can see by using a single action, which has the concentrate and manipulate traits. Make a spell attack roll. On a success, the target takes 4d6 fire damage, 3d12 bludgeoning damage and takes a –10-foot circumstance penalty to all Speeds for 1 round; on a critical success, the target is immobilized for 1 round unless it Escapes.

Silt Web
FOCUS 7

30-foot burst;

Fortitude

Grasping tendrils of silt surges from you, dealing 14d4 void damage. Each creature in the area must attempt a Fortitude save.

The creature is unaffected.

The creature takes half damage and is enfeebled 1 for 1 round.

The creature takes full damage and is enfeebled 2 for 1 round.

The creature takes double damage and is stunned 1, enfeebled 2 for 1 round, and immobilized for 1 round or until it Escapes, whichever comes first.

The void damage increases by 2d4

Sunlight Burst
FOCUS 7

500 feet;60-foot burst

Reflex

A globe of burning daylight explodes in the area, dealing 8d10 fire damage to creatures in the area, plus 8d4 additional holy damage to creatures. Each creature in the area must attempt a Reflex save.

If the globe overlaps with an area of magical darkness or affects a creature affected by magical darkness, sunlight burst attempts to counteract the darkness effect.

The creature is unaffected.

The creature takes half damage.

The creature takes full damage.

The creature takes double damage and becomes blinded by the daylight for an unlimited duration.

The fire damage increases by 1d10 and the holy damage against creatures increases by 1d4.

Unblinking Flame Emblem
FOCUS 7

Your last action was a successful Strike against an enemy.

3 rounds

You emblazon the target with a fiery sigil that projects your sight and your flame onto them, allowing you and your allies to track their movements and making it easier to hit them. Attack rolls against the target gain a +1 status bonus, and successful Strikes against the target deal 1d6 fire damage, and 1d10 persistent fire damage on a critical hit. However, you're off-guard against other enemies, as the information from the emblem distracts you. The emblem takes your full attention; if you use unblinking flame emblem again before the original duration expires, the new casting replaces the previous casting.

The fire damage increases to 1d8, and the persistent fire damage on a critical hit increases to 1d12.

Unbreaking Wave Barrier
FOCUS 7

5-foot emanation

Fortitude;sustained up to 1 minute

You create a protective circle around yourself that repels your foes. You gain a +1 status bonus to AC. Any creature other than you within the area, or attempting to move into the area, must attempt a Fortitude saving throw; a creature needs to attempt the Fortitude saving throw only once each round. If a creature pushed by unbreaking wave barrier would be pushed into a solid barrier or another creature, it stops at that point and takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage for every additional 5 feet it would've been pushed. On subsequent rounds, the first time you Sustain this Spell each round, you can increase the radius of the barrier by 5 feet.

The creature is unaffected.

The creature isn't pushed, but the space within the barrier is difficult terrain for it.

The creature is pushed 10 feet, and the space within the barrier is difficult terrain for it.

The creature is pushed 20 feet and knocked prone, and the space within the barrier is difficult terrain for it.

Unfolding Wind Blitz
FOCUS 7

You move so quickly that you soar through the air, and nothing can react to you. Fly up to twice your Speed. This movement doesn't trigger reactions. At any point along the way, you can make Strikes against up to three different targets within range. You increase your multiple attack penalty for these attacks only after completing all of the attacks.

Untwisting Iron Augmentation
FOCUS 7

1 minute

Your attacks are treated as cold iron and silver, they gain the earth trait, and they gain a +1 status bonus to damage rolls per damage die.

Your attacks are also treated as adamantine.

Oracle

Flash of Brilliance
FOCUS 1

30 feet;1 object exuding light

Reflex

You cause a light source within range, such as an object imbued with the light spell, a torch, or a sunrod, to burst with light. All creatures within a 20-foot burst of the target must attempt a Fortitude save. After the spell is cast, the spell extinguishes non-magical light automatically and attempts to counteract magical light.

The target is unaffected.

1 minute

You call upon the mountain within, and you become its avatar as rock formations form on your skin, giving you the appearance of a living mountain. You gain resistance 10 to physical damage and become immune to precision damage. You grow Large in size and don't need to breathe. You can't cast spells, activate items, or use actions that have the attack or manipulate trait, except those granted by this spell. You gain the following actions:

Fist +22 fist, Damage 3d12 bludgeoning

Trample Your size or smaller, fist, spell DC. If you move in a straight line, you can Stride up to triple your speed.

Your grow Huge in size, and your fists have 10-foot reach with an attack modifier of +28 and deal an additional damage die.

Your grow Gargantuan in size, and your fists have 15-foot reach with an attack modifier of +33.

Rainbow Blade
FOCUS 1

1 minute;1 weapon that has your active light spell as the target

The target weapon’s bright light shimmers with all colors across the spectrum of light. The weapon deals additional fire damage equal to the weapon damage die and on a critical hit causes the target of the Strike to be dazzled for 1 round. Once during the duration, the wielder can choose to empower a single Strike, giving it additional effects. After this Strike is made, the light spell is extinguished and this spell ends.

The target is blinded for 1 round and dazzled for 1 minute.

The target is blinded for 1 round.

You are blinded for 1 round.

Raise Mountain
FOCUS 3

15-foot cone

1 minute

You stomp with all the weight of your mystery and the mountain rises from your stomp. Each square in the area raises 5 feet higher than the previous square, creating a rocky and uneven stair step formation with a height equal to the length of the cone. The area becomes difficult terrain and uneven ground.

If a creature occupies the space where you cast this spell, it is carried upward atop the formation. The creature can attempt a Reflex save (DC equal to the caster's spell DC); on a success, the creature can either attempt to Grab an Edge or move into an adjacent unoccupied square. If the rocky formations would rise higher than the ceiling, it firmly abuts the ceiling but does not rise any higher.

A creature caught between the formation and a ceiling takes no damage (subject to GM discretion, such as is in the case of stalactites or other hazards) but becomes immobilized. The creature can attempt an Escape check to free itself, but it must thereafter Grab an Edge, Climb down, or fall from the top of the pillar. The Grab an Edge and Escape DCs are the same as the Reflex save.

The cone length increases by 5 feet.

Rolling Rubble
FOCUS 1

20 feet

You bring the rocky mountain beneath your feet to propel you forward. You move up to 20 feet, the rubble moving beneath your feet as it propels you to your destination, avoiding difficult terrain. You must end your movement on an unoccupied space where you have solid footing.
Every square you pass through becomes difficult terrain. This movement isn't a Stride, but you measure the distance in a similar way, and it still triggers reactions caused by movement. You can't transport anyone else with you.

Increase the distance you move by 5 feet.

Sheets of Ice To
FOCUS 1

10-foot cone or longer

basic Reflex

You throw a sheet of ice that stretches from your fingers. You deal 1d8 cold damage in a 10-foot cone. Creatures in the area must attempt a basic Reflex save. The ground in the area is covered in ice for 1 round, becoming difficult terrain and uneven ground.

(somatic, verbal) The cone is 10 feet long

(material, somatic, verbal) The cone is 20 feet long.
Two Rounds The cone is 30 feet long. If you spend 3 actions casting the spell, you can avoid finishing the spell and spend another 3 actions on your next turn to empower the spell even further. If you choose to do so, the damage dealt by this spell increases by 1d8, and the ice in the area lasts an additional round.

The initial damage, as well as the additional damage for the 2-round casting time, each increase by 1d8, and the number of rounds the ice lasts increases by 1 for the initial and the 2-round casting.

Psychic Warrior

Cascade Countermeasure
FOCUS 3

You're benefiting from Psionic Cascade

until the Psionic Cascade stance ends

You quickly adjust your Arcane Cascade to offer magical protection. You gain resistance 5 against damage from spells. As normal, using Psionic Cascade again means you’ve ended the stance, and the spell ends.

The resistance increases by 5.

Dimensional Assault
FOCUS 1

half your Speed

You tumble through space, making a short dimensional hop to better position yourself for an attack. Teleport to any square in range that’s within reach of a creature, and then make a melee Strike against one creature within your reach.

Force Fang
FOCUS 1

varies;1 creature

You briefly turn your attack into pure force to bypass your opponent’s defenses. Choose a target within your reach, or within the reach of a melee weapon you’re wielding. If you can use Psystrike with a ranged weapon (with the starlit span hybrid study, for example), you can target a creature in the first range increment of your ranged weapon. For an instant, you transform your weapon or unarmed attack into a spike of pure force, replacing all its normal statistics and abilities. The force fang automatically deals 1d4+1 force damage to the target.

The damage increases by 1d4+1.

Hasted Assault
FOCUS 7

1 minute

You call upon your magic to speed up your attacks. You gain the quickened condition and can use the extra action each round for only Strike actions.

Runic Impression
FOCUS 4

touch;you or one weapon you're wielding

1 minute

Your unarmed attacks or weapon gain the benefits of a weapon rune you choose when you cast this spell: corrosive, flaming, frost, ghost touch, returning, shock, or thundering. If you cast runic impression on a weapon, this spell ends if you cease holding the weapon.
If this spell would give a weapon more property runes than its normal maximum, one of the existing property runes (you choose) is suppressed until the spell ends. For unarmed attacks, if this spell would give you more property runes than you could have from handwraps of mighty blows, one of the existing property runes is similarly suppressed.

Add keen to the list of runes you can choose as well as the greater types of corrosive, flaming, frost, shock, and thundering.

Shielding Strike
FOCUS 1

As you attack a foe, warding magic transforms your momentum into action and lifts your shield. Make a melee Strike. You can then either Raise your Shield if you’re wielding one or cast shield if you have the spell.

Shooting Star
FOCUS 1

You’re wielding a ranged weapon or a thrown weapon.

You let loose a projectile that flies true and leaves the blazing trail of a meteor behind it. Make a ranged Strike, ignoring the target’s concealment and reducing the target’s cover by one degree for this Strike only (greater to standard, standard to lesser, and lesser to none).

If the Strike hits, the meteor trail hangs in the air. This gives the benefits of concealment negation and cover reduction to any attacks made against the creature (by anyone) until the start of your next turn.

Spinning Staff
FOCUS 1

You’re wielding a staff.

You spin your staff with a twirling flourish, attacking two foes and transforming the momentum into psychic energy to charge for your next Psystrike. Make a melee Strike with your staff against one foe and then a second melee Strike with your staff against a different foe. Your multiple attack penalty applies to both of these attacks as normal.

Thunderous Strike
FOCUS 1

You’re wielding a melee weapon in two hands.

You swing your massive weapon, creating a wave of sonic vibrations that topples creatures. Make a melee Strike with your two-handed weapon. Each creature in a 15-foot cone from you must attempt a basic Fortitude save against your spell DC or take 2 sonic damage. On a critical failure, the creature is knocked prone. The target of your Strike must be within the cone, or the effect fails.

The damage increases by 1.

Ritual Spells

A ritual is an esoteric and complex spell that anyone can cast. It takes much longer to cast a ritual than a normal spell, but rituals can have more powerful effects.

Atonement
RITUAL 4

1 day; rare incense and offerings worth a total value of 20 gp × the target’s level; 1, must be the ritual’s target

Nature or Religion (expert); Nature or Religion (whichever is used for the primary check)

10 feet; another creature of up to 8th level who is a defiler

You attempt to help a truly penitent defiler atone for its misdeeds, typically an action that is anathema to the prime elements or spirits of the land. If the creature isn’t truly penitent, the outcome is always a critical failure. This ritual uses Nature if the target is a druid, and Religion in all other cases.

The creature receives absolution for its misdeeds, allowing it to remove the defiling taint it currently has. Before the atonement is complete, the creature must perform a special quest or other task chosen by your element or spirit of the land, typically planting new vegetation. If completed during downtime, this task should take no less than 1 month. The caster resets the DC modifier to 0 due to previous defiling.

As critical success, but the creature does not reset the DC modifier.

The creature does not receive absolution and must continue to meditate and redress its misdeeds. Any future atonement rituals for defiling cost half as much and gain a +4 circumstance bonus to primary and secondary checks.

The creature offends your element or spirit of the land and is permanently unable to atone for defiling. The creature will always be fealt as a defiler even if it's addiction level is 0.

Increase the maximum target level by 2 and the base cost by 20 gp.

Defiler Metamorphosis
RITUAL 6

1 day; a specially constructed ziggurat costing no less than 50,0000 gp; 1

Arcana (master), Crafting (master); Crafting

touch;1 creature

This spell transforms an arcane caster into the first stage of the Athasian Dragon species. The caster’s type becomes dragon; he loses all previous types, and gains all advantages of the new type. The caster no longer can die of old age, and no longer suffers penalties to attributes for aging. The caster gains the ability to comprehend and speak any language of creatures that he interacts with, as the spell truespeech. This spell must be cast as a defiler spell and is a prerequisite for Dragon Dedication and the additional Dragon Metamorphosis feats.

The metamorphosis succeeds and you become clumsy 1, drained 1, doomed 1, and enfeebled 1 for 1 week; these conditions can't be removed or reduced by any means until the week has passed.

As critical success, but each condition value is 2.

The metamorphosis fails.

You die. Casters killed this way frequently return as undead.

In addition to the constructed ziggurat, 100 sentient creatures must be sacrificed using dragon magic.

The ziggurat must cost no less than 100,000 gp, 500 sentient creatures must be sacrificed using dragon magic.

In addition to the constructed ziggurat, 1000 sentient creatures must be sacrificed using dragon magic. The ritual requires Aracana (legendary) and Crafting (legendary).

Elemental Metamorphosis
RITUAL 6

1 day; stones and gems worth 2,000 gp; a bound elemental of at least 9th level; 3

Nature or Religion (master); Diplomacy, Occultism, Religion

touch;1 creature

This spell transforms a divine or primal caster into an elemental character. The caster’s type becomes elemental, and gains all advantages of the new type. The caster can no longer die of old age, and no longer suffers penalties to attributes for aging. This spell is a prerequisite for Elemental Dedication.

The character spends the day conversing with the bound elemental in primordial learning its name, history, and motivations. At the end of the ritual the elemental transfers its primordial spark to the character completing the transformation.

The metamorphosis succeeds and you become clumsy 1, drained 1, doomed 1, and enfeebled 1 for 1 week; these conditions can't be removed or reduced by any means until the week has passed.

As critical success, but each condition value is 2.

The metamorphosis fails to bind your spirit to the elemental.

You die along with the bound elemental. Casters killed this way frequently return as undead.

1 day; a planar bound dishonored spirit. T'liz oil worth 2000gp; 1

Arcana (master); Crafting

touch;1 creature

By means of this ritual, a caster must create a pact with a dishonored spirit. This process is dangerous, for most spirits refuse to aid the supplicant until he answers its challenge to single combat.

The pact stipulates that the wizard gives up his soul, which is sucked into the Gray and added to the spirit’s, allowing it to grow stronger. The spirit gains influence in the Gray, remains separate and more powerful than its neighbors, and fends off dissolution longer.

Once the pact is agreed upon, the caster must open a portal to the gray to connect the patron spirit's void energy to Athas. Once connected the caster must die from void damage. This can occur from spells such as enervation. This would normally prove fatal to the target, but the transformation ritual leaves the casters body animated by energy supplied by the spirit from the gray, combined with his own force of identity. The caster expels his soul to the Gray and becomes a t'liz.

The transformation succeeds and you become clumsy 1, drained 1, doomed 1, and enfeebled 1 for 1 week; these conditions can't be removed or reduced by any means until the week has passed.

As critical success, but each condition value is 2.

You die.

You die and your soul is consumed by the grey.

Tree of Life
RITUAL 5

1 day; a living sapling less than one year old effected by a successful Plant Growth, 10000 gp of gold wire wrapped around the sappling; 1

Nature (master); Farming Lore or Survival

touch;1 living sapling

By means of this ritual, a caster can enchant a living sapling to become a magical tree of life. The sapling must have already sprouted from the ground, though the caster can transplant such a sapling before starting the ritual. Any tree less than one year old will suffice; this spell cannot be cast on an older tree.

The sappling grows into a full size tree and resists defiling once the ritual is completed.

The ritual creates a tree of life and the sappling grows to full size in a week. Any defiling during this time destorys the tree of life.

The ritual has no effect.

The sappling is destroyed along with the gold wire.

Treasure

Characters acquire treasure from the glittering hordes of their foes, as rewards for defending the innocent, and as favors from the grand personalities they treat with. As they progress through their adventures and improve their station in the world, characters collect ever more fabulous items from enchanted armor and weapons to spell-infused staves.

Materials

Most items are made from readily available materials—usually leather, bone, wood, or stone—but some weapons and armor are made from more exotic materials, giving them unique properties and other advantages. Weapons made from precious materials are better able to harm certain creatures, and armor of these materials provides enhanced protection.

Most materials are metals; they can be used to make metal weapons and armor. The GM is the final arbiter of what items can be made using a material. An item can be made with no more than one precious material, and only an expert in Crafting can create it. Some rare and exotic materials require master or even legendary proficiency.

A material’s Price depends on how hard it is to work, its scarcity, and its purity; most items made with precious materials use an alloy, blend, or coating rather than using the material in its purest form. The three grades of purity for precious materials are low-grade, standard-grade, and high-grade. Regardless of a precious material’s purity, an item made from it gains the full effects of the precious material but creating higher-level items and more powerful magic runes with precious material requires greater purity.

Some precious materials are available only at certain grades. For instance, dwarf metal and agafari wood can’t be low-grade. Items made of materials with a lower grade than expected for the item’s level, or of a higher grade than necessary, will mention the precious material’s grade.

Crafting with Precious Materials

Only an expert crafter can create a low-grade item, only a master can create a standard-grade item, and only a legendary crafter can create a high-grade item. In addition, to Craft with a precious material, your character level must be equal to or greater than that of the material.

Low-grade items can be used in the creation of magic items of up to 8th level, and they can hold runes of up to 8th level. Standard-grade items can be used to create magic items of up to 15th level and can hold runes of up to 15th level.

High-grade items use the purest form of the precious material and can be used to Craft magic items of any level holding any runes. Using purer forms of common materials is so relatively inexpensive that the Price is included in any magic item.

When you Craft an item that incorporates a precious material, your initial raw materials for the item must include that material; at least 10% of the investment must be of the material for low-grade, at least 25% for standard-grade, and all of it for high-grade. For instance, a low-grade silver object of 1 Bulk costs 20 gp. Of the 10 gp of raw materials you provide when you start to Craft the item, at least 1 gp must be silver. The raw materials you spend to complete the item don’t have to consist of the precious material, though the GM might rule otherwise in certain cases.

After creating an item with a precious material, you can use Craft to improve its grade, paying the Price difference and providing a sufficient amount of the precious material.

Agafari Wood
MATERIAL 8+

A tree of the Crescent Forest, agafari wood is extremely hard and is the next best thing to metal. The wood is used to make weapons and shields and is a major trade good of Nibenay. The tree's bark has a bluish tint. At the top of the tree, which can be over 100 feet tall, the boughs spread out in great, sweeping fans. The enormous heart-shaped leaves are the color of turquoise. These large trees can actually be hollowed out without killing the tree.

agafari branch 50 gp L

agafari lumber 500 gp 1

standard-grade agafari object 8 35 gp per Bulk

high-grade agafari object 16 6,000 gp per Bulk

Agafari Wood Items	Hardness	HP	BT
Thin Items
Standard-grade	7	28	14
High-grade	10	40	20
Items
Standard-grade	11	44	22
High-grade	14	56	28
Structures
Standard-grade	18	72	36
High-grade	28	112	56

Dasl
MATERIAL 2+

Dasl is a special kind of crystalline material created by thri-kreen and often used to manufacture their weapons. An item made from dasl is treated as if it was made from iron and is not considered to be made from inferior materials. However, for purposes of harming creatures with damage reduction, a dasl weapon is not treated as being made from metal.

dasl chunk 10 gp L

dasl ingot 100 gp 1

low-grade dasl object 2 20 gp per Bulk

standard-grade dasl object 7 250 gp per Bulk

high-grade dasl object 15 4,500 gp per Bulk

Dasl Items	Hardness	HP	BT
Thin Items
Low-grade	5	20	10
Standard-grade	7	28	14
High-grade	10	40	20

Dwarf Steel
MATERIAL 8+

Mined from rocks that fell from the heavens, dwarf steel is one of the hardest metals known. It has a shiny, black appearance, and it is prized for its amazing resiliency and ability to hold an incredibly sharp edge.

dwarf steel chunk 10,000 gp L

dwarf steel ingot 100,000 gp 1

standard-grade dwarf steel object 8 14,250 gp per Bulk

high-grade dwarf steel object 16 120,000 gp per Bulk

Dwarf Metal Items	Hardness	HP	BT
Thin Items
Standard-grade	10	40	20
High-grade	13	52	26
Items
Standard-grade	14	56	28
High-grade	17	68	34
Structures
Standard-grade	28	112	56
High-grade	34	136	68

Metal
MATERIAL 2+

Athas is metal scarce. Most metal items have been recovered from ancient ruins. Currently the main iron mine is located in Tyr with iron being shipped across the tablelands.

metal chunk 50 gp L

metal ingot 500 gp 1

low-grade metal object 2 100 gp per Bulk

standard-grade metal object 7 1,250 gp per Bulk

high-grade metal object 15 22,500 gp per Bulk

Metal Items	Hardness	HP	BT
Thin Items
Low-grade	5	20	10
Standard-grade	7	28	14
High-grade	10	40	20
Items
Low-grade	9	36	18
Standard-grade	11	44	22
High-grade	14	56	28
Structures
Low-grade	18	72	36
Standard-grade	22	88	44
High-grade	28	112	56

Definitions: (a)"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) "Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.

Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying, or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title, and interest in and to that Product Identity.
Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.
Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Dark Sun
Pathfinder 2E

This document has been inspired by the

Created by Shawn Bowman

Cover Art: Wayne Reynolds

Dark Sun Campaign Guide Pathfinder 2e GM Binder Search

WWW.GMBINDER.COM

This document was lovingly created using GM Binder.

If you would like to support the GM Binder developers, consider joining our Patreon community.

Your Level	Cantrips	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1	5	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	5	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	5	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
8	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
9	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
10	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
11	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
12	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
13	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
14	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
15	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
16	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
17	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
18	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
19	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
20	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2

Your Level	Cantrips	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1	5	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	5	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	5	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
8	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
9	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
10	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
11	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
12	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
13	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
14	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
15	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
16	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
17	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
18	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
19	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
20	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2

Dark Sun Campaign Guide Pathfinder 2e

By Shawn Bowman

Credits

Optional Rules

Copyrighted Content

Free action

One-Action Activity

Two-Action Activity

Three-Action Activity

Reaction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction 4

2 World of Athas 7

3 Ancestries27

4 Backgrounds123

5 Classes 139

6 Feats 277

7 Equipment 273

8 Spells 293

9 Treasure 302

Introduction

Ten Things to Know

1. Dark Sun is Different from Traditional pathfinder

2. Tone and Attitude.

3. A Burnt World.

4. A World Without Metal.

5. The Will and The Way.

6. A World Without Gods.

7. Planar Insulation.

8. The Struggle For Survival.

9. The Seven City‐states.

10. New Races and Classes

The World of Athas

Tyr Region

TyrCity-State

City-State Lore

City-State Dialect

UrikCity-State

BalicCity-State

RaamCity-State

NibenayCity-State

GulgCity-State

DrajCity-State

The Tablelands

AltarukCity 12

Grak's PoolVillage 4

Hidden VillageVillage 6

KemalokCity 13

Kra-HnurClient Village 6

WalisClient Village 5

The Ivory Triangle

CromlinTrading Village 10

Fort FyraTrading Fortress 7

Fort HarbethTrading Fortress 9

Fort InixMerchant Fortress 6

LosthomeVillage 4

Outpost 19Village 7

Salt ViewVillage 6

Estuary of the Forked Tongue

LedopolusTown 10

Road of Kings

KetClient Village 8

MaklaClient Village 8

Hinterlands

Pterran ValeVillage 9

Lost ScaleVillage 7

Forest Ridge

OgoVillage 6

Planes of Dark sun

Planar Traits

Enhanced and Impeded Magic

Scope Trait

Gravity Traits

Time Traits

Planar Essence Traits

Planar Stat Blocks

Inner Sphere Planes

Material PlanePlane

Plane of AirPlane

Plane of EarthPlane

1 Introduction
4

2 World of Athas
7

3 Ancestries
27

4 Backgrounds
123

5 Classes
139

6 Feats
277

7 Equipment
273

8 Spells
293

9 Treasure
302

1. Dark Sun is Different from
Traditional pathfinder

Tyr
City-State

Urik
City-State

Balic
City-State

Raam
City-State

Nibenay
City-State

Gulg
City-State

Draj
City-State

Altaruk
City 12

Grak's Pool
Village 4

Hidden Village
Village 6

Kemalok
City 13

Kra-Hnur
Client Village 6

Walis
Client Village 5

Cromlin
Trading Village 10

Fort Fyra
Trading Fortress 7

Fort Harbeth
Trading Fortress 9

Fort Inix
Merchant Fortress 6

Losthome
Village 4

Outpost 19
Village 7

Salt View
Village 6

Ledopolus
Town 10

Ket
Client Village 8

Makla
Client Village 8

Pterran Vale
Village 9

Lost Scale
Village 7

Ogo
Village 6

Material Plane
Plane

Plane of Air
Plane

Plane of Earth
Plane

Plane of Fire
Plane

Plane of Magma
Plane

Plane of Rain
Plane

Plane of Silt
Plane

Plane of Sun
Plane

Plane of Water
Plane

The Astral
Plane

The Black
Plane

The Gray
Plane

Your Level	Cantrips	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1	5	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	5	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	5	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	5	—	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
8	5	—	*	2	2	—	—	—	—	—
9	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
10	5	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—	—
11	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
12	5	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—	—
13	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
14	5	—	—	—	*	—	2	2	—	—
15	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
16	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	2	2	—
17	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
18	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
19	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2
20	5	—	—	—	*	—	—	—	2	2