House Rules:
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House Rules:
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Pterrans are reptiloids with light brown, scaly skin who grow to be about 6 feet tall. A pterran stands upright in the humanoid configuration, though his two arms end in three-fingered, talon-clawed hands with opposable thumbs, and his two legs end in three-toed feet. A finlike growth juts from the back of a pterran's head, and he has a short tail and two shoulder stubs— remnants of wings that vanished generations ago.
All player character pterrans come from two villages in the Hinterlands, Pterran Vale and Lost Scale. They revere the world of Athas as their Earth Mother, believing themselves to be her first, best children. They see the recent earthquake and aftershocks as the Earth Mother's call to action, and now the bravest of these beings have left their homes to aid Athas in her time of need.
Pterrans are a wary, subdued race at first sight, but when others earn a pterran's trust, they see an open, caring, friendly individual. In particular, a pterran engages in many celebrations throughout the day. Each celebration gives thanks to the Earth Mother and reinforces a pterran's beliefs and faith.
In initial role-playing situations, a pterran character should be unfamiliar with the customs and practices of the societies of the Tyr Region. However, these pterrans aren't primitive by any definition of the word. They'll look upon differences with curiosity and a willingness to learn, as long as the custom doesn't harm the Earth Mother or her works.
A pterran PC must select a "Life Path" to follow. In one respect, a Life Path is little more than another term for class; in the role-playing aspect, however, Life Path signifies a pterran's deep devotion to a chosen way of life. The main Life Paths are the Path of the Warrior (fighters, gladiators, or rangers), the Path of the Druid, and the Path of the Psionicist. Lesser Life Paths allow pterrans to become thieves, traders, or multi class characters.
Civilized pterrans have a natural Armor Class of 8. They usually employ weapons, but they can attack with their claws in dire situations (two attacks in a round, 1 d4 points of damage for each successful strike). They live to a maximum age of 50 years, and their base move.
Many pterrans develop a weaker version of send thoughts, costing 1 psp per round, but functioning only with line of sight, and only between reptiles (or non-reptiles using reptile mind, of course). This gift leads pterrans to think non-linearly, and their written communications look more like petroglyphs—a two-dimensional representation with no beginning or end.
Pterrans receive 1% of their next level jump for role-playing their culture (periodic daily celebrations, respect for Mother Earth, etc.); 1% for role-play of their life-path.
Pterrans have 30 points to spend. Up to 5 points can be saved for spending in the traits and disadvantages stage of character creation. The points may be spent of the following characteristics:
 | 10 Bonus hit point: The Pterrran gains one addition hp per die. |
| 5* Bite attack d6 damage—can be used in combination with natural claw attacks. |
| 5 Hearing defense. Pterran gets a +4 bonus against any sound attacks. |
| 5 Life path bonus: +10% to all experience gained to a greater life path (Warrior, Druid, or Psionicist). |
| 15 Telepathic resistance: This character automatically gets the cannibalism and ejection disciplines, which operate automatically regardless of the psionicist’s wishes or consciousness. The psionicist cannot gain any other psionic powers. Note that these abilities, like others, can be disabled by mindwipe or mind thrust. |
| 5 Path wild talent selection: non-psionicists posses wild talents that suits their life path. |
| 5 Earth Mother’s vigilance. When standing on open ground or stone (first floor only), the PC can only be surprised on a 1 in 10. |
| 5* Natural attacks. Claws (d4/d4) without 2-weapon penalty. |
| 5 Stealth: In scrubland, the pterran’s natural coloration gives victims a -2 penalty to surprise. |
| 5* Tough hide: AC 8, non-cumulative with other physical armor (except shields). |
| 5* Send images: The pterran receives a weaker version of the telepathic devotion send thoughts, in addition to any other psionics that he might posses. The power costs only 1 psp per round, but only works on reptiles or pterrans within line of sight. Words or sounds cannot be sent, but flash images. (If a PC is abusing this power, the DM should hand the player a notepad and allow her 30 seconds to sketch the image that her character wishes to send). Full mental contact is not required. |
| 10* Earth Mother’s favor: The Pterran Druid is immune to channeling fatigue, even when not on her guarded lands. |
| 5* Mammal Telepath. The pterran psionicist receives the bonus discipline mammal mind. (If the pterran psionicist possesses the mammal mind and send images discipline, she can employ both together to send images to mammals.) |
| 5* PtuPtop Handler. When the pterran psionicist learns the Telempathic projection discipline, she can befriend a PtuPtop, the great bat-eared amphibaena snake (pictured on the second Dark-Sun Box-set) once every 5 levels. Not one more than one PtuPtop can be befriended at once. (PtuPtop: HD 10 +10, Poison type D, AC 6, lvl 3 metabolic psionic powers, MAC 6, MTHACO 17.) |
| 5 Attack bonus: +1 to attack with any pterran-created weapon. |
| 10* Pterrax Mount: Warriors get a pterrax mount, automatic airborne-flying proficiency with a +1 bonus per 2 levels (up to a 19 check) and a slight telepathic link with the mount. |
| 5 Weapons making: The warrior knows how to make a spear, atlatl, bolas, and all other weapons used by pterrans. |
