RiTUALS
Rituals in the DARK SUN setting exist in a limited
form. Due to the world’s cosmology, some rituals
do not work or behave differently. Furthermore,
Athasians use rituals that might seem worthless to
ritualists of other worlds. This section presents new
rituals and discusses ways to adapt existing rituals.
ALTERING EXISTING
RITUALS
Some rituals are unsuitable for the DARK SUN
setting. A few rituals make life in Athas’s harsh
environment too forgiving. Others allow travel or
communication that is too easy. This section pro
vides an overview ofhow rituals are harder, less
useful, or unavailable on Athas.
Brew Potion and Enchant Magic Item: Water
is rare and valuable on Athas, so potions and elixirs
are made from fruit. When a ritual caster creates a
potion, an elixir, an oil, or a similar liquid, the ritual
requires edible fruit as a component. Many of the
fruits used to make potions and elixirs are grown by
nobles in vast orchards. These nobles employ schol
ars to cultivate the fruit and guards to keep these
estates safe.
Controlling Weather: Rituals that create pre
cipitation or fog are unlikely to function except
in certain locations, such as the Forest Ridge, the
Crescent Forest, and mudflats and salt marshes.
Rituals that create wind might cause dust storms in
certain terrain.
Divination: Rituals that tap the knowledge of
extraplanar entities, such as gods, instead contact
beings from the Elemental Chaos or the Gray (page
17). Such creatures are fickle and malicious, so divi
nation is risky. Characters who attempt to perform
these rituals should be aware of the risks before
undertaking one.
Food and Water: Rituals that produce food and
water are unknown on Athas. Such rituals are inap
propriate for a DARK SUN game. The people ofAthas
associate such rituals with divine or arcane magic,
and they regard them as lost knowledge. Rediscov
ering a ritual such as Traveler’s Feast could be the
subject of an entire adventure, and its discovery
could radically alter the fortunes of a community or a
city-state.
Nature: Any ritual that requires the Nature skill
might be more difficult in a defiled area. A charac
ter should be aware that the ritual might be harder
before attempting to perform it. Rituals that affect
a large area, such as Control Weather, or those that
affect a specific target, such as Animal Messenger,
might be possible without added difficulty.
Planar Travel: The focus of a DARK SUN game
is Athas, so planar travel should be rare. Attempts
to reach the Lands Within the Wind typically fail
unless the caster is near a place that allows passage
to that realm. The Gray is accessible, but it is consid
ered to be a land where dead and fiendish creatures
live, so few go there. Passing through the Gray is the
only way to reach the Astral Sea, but such travel is
risky. Reaching the Elemental Chaos is still possible.
In general, planar travel is associated with arcane
magic, so most people consider it evil. As with rituals
that create food and water, these rituals should be the
subjects of adventures and should be acquired only at
the Dungeon Master’s discretion.
Religion: Characters can’t find rituals that
require Religion and relate to the gods, because such
rituals don’t exist in the DARK SUN setting. If a Dun
geon Master wants to make such a ritual available,
the ritual can be altered to rely upon the knowledge
and power of the sorcerer-kings, using the Arcana
skill instead of Religion. These rituals might ordinar
ily be available only to templars, though adventurers
could steal them.
Teleportation Circles: Teleportation is difficult
because teleportation circles are rare and jealously
guarded. The knowledge ofhow to create and use
teleportation circles is mostly lost or forgotten. Sor
cerer-kings control some circles, and a few such sites
might exist in ancient citadels or ruined city-states.
Rediscovering a teleportation ritual or a teleportation
circle could be the subject of an adventure, though
such a discovery would make anyone in possession of
the knowledge a target of the sorcerer-kings.
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