Races of Athas

Aarakocra

+2 DEX, -2 CON
Movement: 20
Flight: 60’ (Cannot attack unless it is a charge)
May take the Fly-By Attack feat. Treat this feat as Spring Attack, only for flight.
Blunt weapons cause an extra 1d6 damage to Aarakocra.
Talons may be used to attack “unarmed”, though this damage is not subdual. Damage is 1d3.
-2 to attack rolls in enclosed area’s. This includes anything from taverns to dungeons, unless such
a place gives enough room to allow for flight.
Preferred Class: Ranger

Dwarf

While performing any acts related to his focus, a dwarf receives a +1 bonus to all saving
throws and a +2 bonus to all skill checks.
Gains the Great Fortitude feat for free.
Everything else is as in the PHB.

Elf

Natural resistance to heat and cold. They gain the benefits of always having the Endure Elements
spell on themselves. This is an extraordinary ability.
Movement: 30’ +1’ per point of DEX over 10.

Elf Run
Roll Equal to Days before penalties begin
Failure/No Preperation 1
 10 2
 12 3
 14 4
 16 5
 18 6
 20 7

The number under the “Roll Equal to” column is the DC that the elf must pass on a CON
check. Add the elf’s CON bonus to the d20 roll to determine what DC you made.

Use the rules in the PHB for everything else.

Half Elf
+2 racial bonus to all Wilderness Lore checks.
+2 racial bonus to all Animal Empathy checks. This skill may be taken by the half elf even if his
class does not normally allow it, and it may also be used untrained.

Use the rules in the PHB for everything else.

Half Giant

+2 STR, +2 CON, -2 INT, -2 WIS, -2 CHA

Movement: 40
Half Giants do more damage when striking with melee weapons. When wielding a weapon with
two hands they double their STR bonus to damage. When wielding a weapon one handed they
add 50% of their STR bonus to damage. Off-Hand attacks use their normal STR bonus to
damage.
Half Giants are Large sized and therefore suffer penalties from attacking and being attacked by
creatures smaller than them.
Preferred Class: Gladiator

Halfling

Use the rules in the PHB.

Human

Use the rules in the PHB.

Mul

+2 STR, -2 INT, -2 CHA

Movement: 30
Low-Light Vision
Muls gain the Endurance feat for free.
+1 racial bonus to saves against poisons.
+1 racial bonus to saves against spells and spell-like effects.
Mul Exertion Table
Exertion Time before requiring rest
Heavy Labor 24+CON (hours)
Medium Labor 36+CON (hours)
Light Labor 48+CON (Hours)
Normal Activity CON (days)
Preferred Class: Gladiator

Pterran

+2 WIS, -2 CHA
Movement: 30
Low-Light Vision
Pterran’s have very tough scales to protect them from harm. Therefore they have a +2 natural
bonus to AC.
Claws may be used to attack “unarmed”, though this damage is not subdual. Damage is 1d4.
Can Speak with Animals, as the spell, once per day. This only works when speaking to reptilian
animals. This is a spell-like ability.
+2 racial bonus to Ride: Pterrax.
Preferred Class: Fighter

Thri-Kreen

+2 DEX, -2 INT
Movement: 30
Immunity to spells that affect humanoids such as Charm and Hold Person.
+5 natural bonus to AC.
+2 racial bonus to the Jump skill.
At 7th level the Thri-Kreen gains the Deflect Arrows feat for free. This does not stack in any way
if he already has the feat already.
Free Exotic proficiency in the Chaktcha or Gythka (choose one) at level 5.
Thri-Kreen may use all four arms and their bite to attack. Doing this is considered a full-attack
action and does provoke an attack of opportunity. Each attack past the first suffers a –5
cumulative penalty to the attack roll, just as normal attacks do, though you are not required to
have multiple attacks normally to use this action and two-weapon fighting penalties are not
applied here either. Do not add STR bonus to attack rolls when making a bite attack. The bite is
used at the thri-kreens highest attack bonus when attacking in this manner. The first claw may
have the STR bonus added into damage. The second claw may have 50% of the STR bonus to
damage added in. All other attacks, including the bite gain no benefit from STR to damage.
Claws deal 1d3 damage and the bite deals 1d4 damage. In addition to this, a successful bite
attack delivers a toxic poison that can paralyze it’s victims. This poison requires a fortitude save
against DC 12. Failure results in the victim being paralyzed for 2d4 rounds. This poison,
regardless if it was effective or not, can be used up to three times per day.
Thri-Kreen are Large sized and therefore suffer penalties from attacking and being attacked by
creatures smaller than them.
Preferred Class: Fighter

Class Modifications in Athas

Bard

Bards do not have arcane spellcasting abilities in Athas.

Bards gain a +1 inherent bonus to saving throws vs. Poison. This bonus increases to +2 at level
3, +3 at level 5, +4 at level 7 and +5 at level 9.
Poison Use: Bards never risk accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a
weapon.
Bards are trained at creating poisons. The cost for creating poison is equal to 50cp multiplied by
the DC of the poison to be made. Add an amount of ceramic to the cost for each die of damage to
be dealt (50cp per d2, 100cp per d4, 200cp per d6. This cost applies to the damage dealt from
initial and secondary damage). 1d3 doses may be made per day. The cost is assuming that
sometimes you make a good amount of poison and sometimes you need to waste some. The bard
must make an INT check (1d20+INT bonus) equal or greater than the DC of the poison he is
trying to make. Use the Poisons in the DMG as a reference to the types of poisons a bard could
make.

Gladiator

Use the rules for Barbarians in the PHB. There are no barbarians in Athas. Also, Gladiators may
choose a free Exotic Weapon proficiency.

Cleric

Clerics in Athas are all worshippers of the elements. Each cleric chooses his primary element of
Worship. When this is chosen, it is chosen as one of the four elemental domains listed in the
PHB. Clerics may NEVER cast any spells that belong to another elemental type. Since Athasian
clerics only get to choose one domain instead of two they may “double-up” the benefits of it. The
granted power does not change, but the spells that the cleric automatically has memorized are
doubled.

Psionicist

Use the rules for Sorcerers as Psionicists. Since their power comes from within, this makes the
most sense since the official psionic rules are not released yet. There are no true sorcerers in
Athas, instead they are psionicists.

All PC’s (other than psionicists) may roll 1d3 to determine the amount of wild talents they
have. Wild talents are 0-level spells from either Sorcerer/Wizard or Cleric. These abilities may
each be used once per day. The DM may roll randomly for the abilities or allow the players to
choose them. If the same power is rolled a second or third time, it increases the number of times
it may be used per day.

Wizards

Preservers and Defilers are all Wizards of some type. Use the rules for defiling magic
destruction found in the Dark Sun box set. Instead of defilers causing an initiative penalty to
those around him when casting spells (since 3rd edition doesn’t roll for initiative every round
anymore) they now cause subdual damage equal to the level of the spell they cast.

Athasian Feats
Heat Protection
This is now a feat. It works just as in the Dark Sun box set.
 Athasian Skills
Armor Optimization
This works as the proficiency does in the Dark Sun box set, however to be effective a character
must make a roll against a DC of 14. Making this check provides the character with a +1 bonus
to his armor for the combat. Use of this skill is a free action but may not be attempted until the
character has had a chance to act (ie, not surprised or flat-footed).

Somatic Concealment
This is just another use of the Concentration skill. In order to hide your somatic gestures the
character must pass a Concentration check with a DC of 10+spell level.

Athasian Weapons and Armor

Bone weapons suffer a –1 penalty to damage rolls.
Wooden weapons suffer a –2 penalty to damage rolls.
Obdidian/Stone weapons suffer a –2 penalty to damage and suffer damage equal to the damage
dealt on a successful critical hit.

Armor made of unusual materials also have their penalties.

Bone armors may only be used to replace the various form of “plate mail” armor. Such armor has
a –1 penalty to the AC.
Wooden armors may be used for any plate or chain type armors, but suffer a –2 penalty to AC.
Obsidian and Stone armors are too heavy to wear.

Wearing metal armor can cause some severe problems when in the intense heat of Athas.
Anytime you exert yourself in metal armor when you are out in the Athasian sun you suffer a
cumulative –1 to attack rolls for each round you are fighting. After a number of rounds of such
exertion equal to your level plus CON bonus you will collapse, being unable to exert yourself
until you rest for at least an hour. During this time you will be required to drink half you daily
allotment of water (this is in addition to the normal allotment you need) or you will pass out and
remain unconscious until you either die of dehydration or are given the water that you require.