For an upcoming campaign I'll be running, I put together an entire price list for everything on Athas. As sources for putting these prices together, I used all of the 4e books, the d20 SRD, and some older 2e Dark Sun material, such as the expanded campaign setting book, and the Dune Trader book.
Part of my goal with putting this material together was to accentuate the rarity of metal on Athas. To this end, I broke down the pricing of weapons and armor so as to reflect the higher cost of metal items. I have also included a full price guide to all trade goods, including their supply and demand in the various city states. This will be useful for players who wish to engage in any dune trading.
It is suggested that you use this material in a "low-loot", fixed-enhancement campaign. If you instead use the traditional treasure parcel system, after only a few levels, your players will have so much wealth that the price of almost everything but magic items won't have much meaning to them.
I have broken everything down into 3 PDF files. They are set up to be printed on 8.5" x 11" paper in landscape format.
Dark Sun Price Guide - Weapons
Dark Sun Price Guide - Armor, Gear, Food, and Lodging
Dark Sun Price Guide - Trade Goods, Mounts, Vehicles, and Services
The following is a FAQ to explain some of things in these price guides...
GENERAL
Q: Why is everything priced in gold pieces? Isn't metal rare on Athas?
A: Prices are still listed in gp, however this is an abstraction so that you can compare prices to other 4e material and make use of pre-made adventures without having to do a math conversion each time. You should explain to your players that their characters aren't actually using gold pieces, but are instead using ceramic pieces that on Athas hold the same value as a gp would in another world.
Q: What if I want to put gold in as a treasure?
A: The value of gold, silver, and copper by pound on Athas is listed in the Trade Goods table.
WEAPONS
Q. What do the "source" abbreviations mean for each weapon?
A. PHB = Player's Handbook, DSCS = Dark Sun Campaign Setting, AV = Adventurer's Vault, EPG = Eberron Player's Guide, Dragon # = Dragon Issue Number
Q: Why did you include Eberron weapons?
A: There is no reason why the Eberron weapons need to be specific to only Eberron. Their design is simple enough that similar weapons could have been developed on other worlds. Eberron specific names have been changed, however. For example, the Talenta Sharrash has been renamed as simply Sharrash. By the same token, the Talenta Boomerang and the Xen'drik Boomerang have been renamed Light Boomerang and Heavy Boomerang respectively.
Q: Why are not all weapons available in a non-metal form?
A: Part of my goal was to place a focus on the lack of metal in Athas. By restricting which type of weapons can be found in a non-metal form, it makes metal weapons more significant to the players.
Q: How did you decide which weapons cannot be found in a non-metal form?
A: If a weapon is traditionally made almost entirely of metal, and if its effectiveness relies significantly on having a long, sharp edge, then I generally chose to only make it available as a metal weapon. This means that many of the heavy blades and more advanced axes are only available in metal.
Q: What is a Macuahuitl? It doesn't have a source listed.
A: This is a new weapon that I have added. The Macuahuitl was an Aztec wooden sword with obsidian blades along the edges. According to Spanish conquistador reports, a Macuahuitl was able to sever a horse's head in only a few swings. I have added this weapon so as to provide a non-metal 1-handed heavy blade. (Note: On page 50 of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, the female gladiator pictured is wielding a Macuahuitl in her left hand.)
Q: What is a Dachi Club? It doesn't have a source listed.
A: The Dachi Club is a weapon from 2e Dark Sun that for some reason wasn't included in the 4e version. I have added it here for purists.
Q: Why does the Heavy Boomerang/Xen'drik Boomerang have High Crit as a property? It doesn't have that in the Eberron Player's Guide.
A: The Dark Sun Campaign Guide introduced a new throwable, returning weapon called the Chatkcha. This weapon has identical stats to the Xen'drik Boomerang, except that it is Military instead of Superior, and it weighs less. Thus the Chatkcha makes the Xen'drik Boomerang completely obsolete. I gave the Heavy Boomerang/Xen'drik Boomerang the High Crit property so as to give it some measure of distinction from the Chatkcha.
Q: How did you determine the price of metal weapons?
A: I broke all the weapons down into three categories based on what percentage of a weapon would be made of metal. For metal weapons that only have a small amount of metal in their overall composition, their price is 10x that on their non-metal counterpart. For metal weapons that have a moderate amount of metal in their overall composition, their price is 50x that on their non-metal counterpart. And for metal weapons that have a very large amount of metal in their overall composition, their price is 100x that on their non-metal counterpart.
Q: Why do a few metal weapons have different stats than their non-metal counterpart?
A: Throughout all of 4e there are a small number of weapons that traditionally would not be made of metal, and at the same time, if these weapons were to be made of metal, virtually the entire weapon would have to be converted to metal. In these situations, I assumed that the standard 4e stats would be for a non-metal version of the weapon, and that a transformation of such a weapon from fully non-metal to fully metal should be reflected in the stats. The weapons effected by this decision are: Net, Bola, Chatkcha, the Boomerangs, and the Crossbows. The difference in stats for the metal version is typically a slight increase in damage and a slightly longer range.
Q: What should the price be if my players want to buy a metal magic weapon?
A: In the case of magic weapons, the cost of the weapon is normally included in the enhancement cost, however for metal weapons, this should not be the case. For a metal magic weapon, the player should pay the price of both the metal weapon and the enhancement.
ARMOR
Q: Why do you have prices listed for masterwork armor, and how did you determine these prices?
A: In a low loot, fixed-enhancement game, a DM may decide to give players non-magical masterwork armor. The price I have listed is the same as if the player purchased a straight Magic suit of that specific masterwork armor with that armor's minimum allowed enhancement. This should provide a fair, balanced price for low loot, fixed-enhancement games.
Q: Why are the heavy armors broken up into non-metal and metal types?
A: Like with weapons, I have made an effort to accentuate the difference between non-metal and metal items. In my opinion, on Athas, a suit of full metal plate should be something that really stands out. To this end, I have called non-metal chainmail armor “bonemail”, I have called non-metal scale armor “beastscale”, and I have called non-metal plate armor “chitin shell”. I have also given these non-metal armors slightly different stats than their metal versions so as to differentiate them.
Q: How did you come up with the names for the various non-metal masterwork bonemail, beastscale, and chitin shell armors?
A: The Dark Sun Campaign Guide provided a list of suggested names, however I felt some of their names were unfocused. For bonemail armors, I chose a number of creatures which would conceivably have bones. My assumption for bonemail is that a large bone, such as a femur would be cut into rings and the rings would be fitted together to make mail. For beastscale, I chose a number of reptilian creatures, with the assumption that the scales would be stitched together to make the armor. For chitin shell, I chose a number of insect-like creatures, with the assumptions that whole pieces of the creature's exoskeleton would serve as the armor's structure. In all cases, I chose creatures of high level to use as the names for the various masterwork armors.
Q: What's up with the prices for the metal masterwork armor?
A: Like with metal magic weapons, the cost of the metal armor must be payed in addition to the normal enhancement cost.
Q: Why do you have Broy priced at 2 sp per gallon? In the Dark Sun Campaign Guide its only 2 cp.
A: I felt the price given in the Dark Sun Campaign Guide just didn't make sense. Clearly Broy is supposed to be the Athasian replacement for Ale, however in all the other 4e settings, Ale is 2 sp per gallon. I see no reason why Athas's alcoholic beverage of choice should cost 1/10th the price of the typical alcohol in other worlds. (Note: True Ale on Athas costs 3 sp due to the rarity of water.)
Q: Why do you list the Standard Adventurer’s Kit as only costing 10 gp? Shouldn't it cost 15 gp?
A: The Standard Adventurer's Kit on Athas does not contain trail rations, thus the reduction in price. Instead you should use Survival Days for tracking a character's food and water needs.
TRADE GOODS
Q: Where did you get all the trade good information from?
A: Much of this is taken from the 2e Dune Trader book, however the prices have been converted to a scale that is inline with typical 4e prices. The sparse amount of information given about exports in the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Guide has also been integrated into this table.
Q: What does “Supply” and “Demand” indicated in this table?
A: If a trade good is listed as “Supply” for a specific city, then it means that the value of that good in that city is typically 10%-25% below the base cost. If a trade good is listed as “Demand” for a specific city, then it means that the value of that good in that city is typically 10%-25% above the base cost. If a trade goods is listed with “-”, it means that trade in that particular good is balanced, and the value is neither higher nor lower than the base cost.
Q: Does that mean players can sell trade goods at full price (adjusting for supply and demand) and not the normal 20% like they do with most other items?
A: Yes, trade goods can be sold at full price just like gems and ritual components. However, this is made under the assumption that the players are keeping the trade goods in like-new condition. Trade goods that aren't properly cared for, or that take damage during transport might not retain their value.
