Continuing the home brew binge for my upcoming 5e Dark Sun game, here's my best attempt at some classic Athasian backgrounds. Critiques welcome.
Templar
Templars are the hand-picked enforcers of the sorcerer-king's will in the city-states. Called nganga in Gulg, praetors in Balic, or simply templars anywhere, templars are the friendly local face behind that boot you're licking. Most slaves and freeborn despise the privileged templars as oppressors, but few dare oppose them in the open. Often given magical powers,knowledge or weapons by their sorcerer-kings, their word is also literally law. No one bats any eye at a templar killing a would-be assassin outright; attacking a templar is akin to insulting the sorcerer-monarch, and the punishment for insulting the sorcerer-monarch is death. Templars often leave the city-state on missions ranging from diplomacy to espionage. Others leave to pursue their own personal goals... or because circumstances forced them to abandon their cushy position in order to save their own skin.
Templars everywhere are overwhelmingly human, but since sorcerer-kings hand-pick their templars, non-human templars are technically possible.
Skill Proficiencies: Literacy, Intimidation
Languages: Draconic (Balic, Nibenay, Tyr, Urik), Abyssal (Raam, Draj) or Sylvan (Gulg), plus choice of one other.
Equipment: A leather pouch of 100 gold ceramics, ceremonial vestments, fine clothes, a diplomat's pack, a badge of office appropriate to your city-state (tattoo needles or a feather headdress in Gulg, a silver signet ring in Nibenay, etc.)
Feature: The Law: You have the right to detain free citizens and impose small fees and fines while within the confines of your city-state. Templars are given great latitude in enforcing their sorcerer-king's will, and corruption is common and even expected. Be aware that there are political ramifications to abusing your authority, so some discretion is necessary. While templars are free to have their own private accommodations, they are also generally provided with a small semi-private office, a bed in a barracks-like templar compound, and free meals at the expense of their host city-state.
Variant Templar: Ex-Templar
Templars can very quickly become ex-templars in the volatile political environments of Tyr, Raam and Balic. There are two types of ex-templars; dead ones, and those on the run. Luckily you're smart enough to fall into the latter category. Although you do not enjoy the political heft and amenities of a full templar, you did manage to make some arrangements before your fall from power. You managed to steal or embezzle 1,000 gold ceramics worth of mundane equipment (add 1,000 gold to your starting wealth, effectively), as well as a useful uncommon magical item (you begin the game with one consumable magic item, such as a potion or scroll, chosen for you at the DM's discretion).
Athasian Bard
"Bard" is widely understood to be a euphemism on Athas. An individual bard could be a spy par excellence, a secret preserver or defiler, or a brutally efficient assassin, but whatever he is, he is more than the simple itinerant entertainer he claims to be. Bards are prized as agents of espionage due to their ability to travel freely between city-states and gain access to potentially well-protected people through the pretext of delivering a performance of some kind. A "bard" on Athas may not even be a particularly good msician or actor; those actually dedicated to the art might find the Entertainer background a better fit. An Athasian bard is specifically some one who is masquerading as a performer, using at as cover for their abilities in assassination, magic, or both. In some city-states, such as Nibenay, a bard's skill in assassination are openly acknowledged and considered a separate and equally beautiful art form, like music or painting.
Skill Proficiencies: Performance, Sleight of Hand
Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument and poisoner's kit.
Equipment: A musical instrument you're proficient in, a poisoner's kit, a set of traveler's clothes, a work of art you created or co-created (this could be sheet music from a song, a small sculpture or a piece of pottery, or even a trophy from a kill), three daggers, a dose of basic poison, and a leather pouch containing 5 gold ceramics.
Feature: In Demand: Your skills as a performer and assassin are always in demand, and with a few days' worth of work you can usually find a wealthy patron in a city-state to support your arts (such as a merchant house trader, noble or wealthy templar). Even if you can't find (or aren't interested in) steady employment, you can earn up to 5 gold ceramics a day busking in a population center with at least 1,000 people.
Former Slave
Slavery is common Athas, a major trade and something the average person is not likely to find unusual or evil. There are plenty who oppose it, however, and plenty who are strong enough enough to throw off the yolk themselves. Some slaves manage, whether through hard work or blind luck, to buy themselves out of their bondage. Some city-states have a culture of indentured servitude where it is assumed that a person will not remain a slave forever. A few are gifted their freedom by kind-hearted masters on their deathbed... or at least that's what the dearly departed's will says (there in that addendum at the very bottom, the one in fresh ink). Most former slaves, however, are actually escapees, men and women who decided they would rather die free in the cruel sands of the waste than live out their lives as the cringing living chattel of the a sorcerer-king.
Skills Proficiencies: Stealth, Athletics
Tool Proficiency: Any two tool proficiencies of your choice, or any tool proficiency of your choice and one martial weapon proficiency.
Equipment: This space intentionally left blank.
Feature: Inside Knowledge: You worked as a slave for a major organization in the Tyr Region, such as a noble house, a great merchant house, or the military forces of a sorcerer-king. You have a great deal of knowledge about your former owners, including important individuals within the organization, common combat tactics among their field operatives, and even the layout of important holdings or compounds.
Veiled Alliance
Preserving magic is greatly misunderstood by the common populace of Athas, with most not even aware of its existence. Most mistake it for defiling, and treat it with the requisite level of revulsion and fear. Those few who are aware of preserving magic in Athas usually disregard it as weak and ineffective, or else actively attempt to stamp it out, viewing it as a threat to their own power. A rare few actively study the art of preserving, eschewing defiling magic and seeking to carefully throttle their spells in order to prevent damage to the environment around them. An organization known as the Veiled Alliance has sprung up to facilitate communication between practicing preservers. Part terrorist cell and part secret society, the Vield Alliance protects its own and strikes out defilers when the opportunity arises. Their goals are to advance the cause of preserving magic and undo the damage done to Athas by the defilers and sorcerer-kings, but their hold in some city-states is so tenuous that many cells spend all their time just trying to evade detection and stay alive.
Skills Proficiencies: Arcana, Stealth
Languages: Draconic, choice of any other
Equipment: A traveler or scholar's pack (your choice), traveler's clothes, one common consumable magic item (such a potion or scroll) awarded at the DM's discretion, a simple weapon of your choice, a pouch of 20 gold ceramics.
Feature: Secret Network: Your contacts in the Veiled Alliance can deliver magical materials to you (like arcane focuses or common material components), even in foreign city-states, provide shelter to you for a brief time, deliver messages or small objects on your behalf, and perform other minor favors that won't personally put them at risk of detection or capture. Similarly, Veiled Alliance members will ask similar minor tasks of you. While you do not personally know many Veiled Alliance members, you can recognize them through a variety of secret code words, pass phrases, secret handshakes, and the like. You know of at least three "safe havens" outside the city-states that serve as common meeting places for Veiled Alliance members and their allies (like a specific cave or ruin). These areas aren't guaranteed to be safe, but are generally well-hidden and often more comfortable than the surrounding wastes.
Templar
Templars are the hand-picked enforcers of the sorcerer-king's will in the city-states. Called nganga in Gulg, praetors in Balic, or simply templars anywhere, templars are the friendly local face behind that boot you're licking. Most slaves and freeborn despise the privileged templars as oppressors, but few dare oppose them in the open. Often given magical powers,knowledge or weapons by their sorcerer-kings, their word is also literally law. No one bats any eye at a templar killing a would-be assassin outright; attacking a templar is akin to insulting the sorcerer-monarch, and the punishment for insulting the sorcerer-monarch is death. Templars often leave the city-state on missions ranging from diplomacy to espionage. Others leave to pursue their own personal goals... or because circumstances forced them to abandon their cushy position in order to save their own skin.
Templars everywhere are overwhelmingly human, but since sorcerer-kings hand-pick their templars, non-human templars are technically possible.
Skill Proficiencies: Literacy, Intimidation
Languages: Draconic (Balic, Nibenay, Tyr, Urik), Abyssal (Raam, Draj) or Sylvan (Gulg), plus choice of one other.
Equipment: A leather pouch of 100 gold ceramics, ceremonial vestments, fine clothes, a diplomat's pack, a badge of office appropriate to your city-state (tattoo needles or a feather headdress in Gulg, a silver signet ring in Nibenay, etc.)
Feature: The Law: You have the right to detain free citizens and impose small fees and fines while within the confines of your city-state. Templars are given great latitude in enforcing their sorcerer-king's will, and corruption is common and even expected. Be aware that there are political ramifications to abusing your authority, so some discretion is necessary. While templars are free to have their own private accommodations, they are also generally provided with a small semi-private office, a bed in a barracks-like templar compound, and free meals at the expense of their host city-state.
Variant Templar: Ex-Templar
Templars can very quickly become ex-templars in the volatile political environments of Tyr, Raam and Balic. There are two types of ex-templars; dead ones, and those on the run. Luckily you're smart enough to fall into the latter category. Although you do not enjoy the political heft and amenities of a full templar, you did manage to make some arrangements before your fall from power. You managed to steal or embezzle 1,000 gold ceramics worth of mundane equipment (add 1,000 gold to your starting wealth, effectively), as well as a useful uncommon magical item (you begin the game with one consumable magic item, such as a potion or scroll, chosen for you at the DM's discretion).
Athasian Bard
"Bard" is widely understood to be a euphemism on Athas. An individual bard could be a spy par excellence, a secret preserver or defiler, or a brutally efficient assassin, but whatever he is, he is more than the simple itinerant entertainer he claims to be. Bards are prized as agents of espionage due to their ability to travel freely between city-states and gain access to potentially well-protected people through the pretext of delivering a performance of some kind. A "bard" on Athas may not even be a particularly good msician or actor; those actually dedicated to the art might find the Entertainer background a better fit. An Athasian bard is specifically some one who is masquerading as a performer, using at as cover for their abilities in assassination, magic, or both. In some city-states, such as Nibenay, a bard's skill in assassination are openly acknowledged and considered a separate and equally beautiful art form, like music or painting.
Skill Proficiencies: Performance, Sleight of Hand
Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument and poisoner's kit.
Equipment: A musical instrument you're proficient in, a poisoner's kit, a set of traveler's clothes, a work of art you created or co-created (this could be sheet music from a song, a small sculpture or a piece of pottery, or even a trophy from a kill), three daggers, a dose of basic poison, and a leather pouch containing 5 gold ceramics.
Feature: In Demand: Your skills as a performer and assassin are always in demand, and with a few days' worth of work you can usually find a wealthy patron in a city-state to support your arts (such as a merchant house trader, noble or wealthy templar). Even if you can't find (or aren't interested in) steady employment, you can earn up to 5 gold ceramics a day busking in a population center with at least 1,000 people.
Former Slave
Slavery is common Athas, a major trade and something the average person is not likely to find unusual or evil. There are plenty who oppose it, however, and plenty who are strong enough enough to throw off the yolk themselves. Some slaves manage, whether through hard work or blind luck, to buy themselves out of their bondage. Some city-states have a culture of indentured servitude where it is assumed that a person will not remain a slave forever. A few are gifted their freedom by kind-hearted masters on their deathbed... or at least that's what the dearly departed's will says (there in that addendum at the very bottom, the one in fresh ink). Most former slaves, however, are actually escapees, men and women who decided they would rather die free in the cruel sands of the waste than live out their lives as the cringing living chattel of the a sorcerer-king.
Skills Proficiencies: Stealth, Athletics
Tool Proficiency: Any two tool proficiencies of your choice, or any tool proficiency of your choice and one martial weapon proficiency.
Equipment: This space intentionally left blank.
Feature: Inside Knowledge: You worked as a slave for a major organization in the Tyr Region, such as a noble house, a great merchant house, or the military forces of a sorcerer-king. You have a great deal of knowledge about your former owners, including important individuals within the organization, common combat tactics among their field operatives, and even the layout of important holdings or compounds.
Veiled Alliance
Preserving magic is greatly misunderstood by the common populace of Athas, with most not even aware of its existence. Most mistake it for defiling, and treat it with the requisite level of revulsion and fear. Those few who are aware of preserving magic in Athas usually disregard it as weak and ineffective, or else actively attempt to stamp it out, viewing it as a threat to their own power. A rare few actively study the art of preserving, eschewing defiling magic and seeking to carefully throttle their spells in order to prevent damage to the environment around them. An organization known as the Veiled Alliance has sprung up to facilitate communication between practicing preservers. Part terrorist cell and part secret society, the Vield Alliance protects its own and strikes out defilers when the opportunity arises. Their goals are to advance the cause of preserving magic and undo the damage done to Athas by the defilers and sorcerer-kings, but their hold in some city-states is so tenuous that many cells spend all their time just trying to evade detection and stay alive.
Skills Proficiencies: Arcana, Stealth
Languages: Draconic, choice of any other
Equipment: A traveler or scholar's pack (your choice), traveler's clothes, one common consumable magic item (such a potion or scroll) awarded at the DM's discretion, a simple weapon of your choice, a pouch of 20 gold ceramics.
Feature: Secret Network: Your contacts in the Veiled Alliance can deliver magical materials to you (like arcane focuses or common material components), even in foreign city-states, provide shelter to you for a brief time, deliver messages or small objects on your behalf, and perform other minor favors that won't personally put them at risk of detection or capture. Similarly, Veiled Alliance members will ask similar minor tasks of you. While you do not personally know many Veiled Alliance members, you can recognize them through a variety of secret code words, pass phrases, secret handshakes, and the like. You know of at least three "safe havens" outside the city-states that serve as common meeting places for Veiled Alliance members and their allies (like a specific cave or ruin). These areas aren't guaranteed to be safe, but are generally well-hidden and often more comfortable than the surrounding wastes.
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