At the same page where the Dark Sun Campaign Setting recommends the use of the Fixed Enhancement Bonus rules, it also suggests a reduction on the number of magic items awarded. It suggests you should remove parcel 1 and 4 (which are the least and most powerful magic items) of the treasure given per level. This way, at each level, the party would receive about 2 magic items. The book also says you could replace one of them for a Boon or something nonphysical but with magic effects once in a while.
But for some people even then there would be too many magic items for Athas. For others it’s too few treasure to give to their players. An option, which I have been designing, is to give fantastic items suited to the world of Dark Sun that have magic proprieties similar to magic items, but that are not traditional magic items as we know it. They could be handed out in the place of the removed parcels or even as the remaining parcels to reflect how rare magic items on Athas are.
Elemental Stones and Psionic Crystals
As it is known, in Athas all creatures had to adapt and evolve to survive. Only the strongest survived in this brutal world. What would happen fs the material the world is made of passed through the same process? Dark Sun’s world suffered the influence of powerful forces for thousands of years. Powerful Primordials, corrupting Defilers, ever-present Primal Spirits, and Psionic creatures shaped Athas throughout the ages.
What if some stone or crystal was affected by such forces? Maybe some rock formation near an area where the Primordial influence is stronger has fiery proprieties, lighting sparks jump from it or it carries the raw chaotic energy from the Elemental Chaos. A type of crystal that only appear in a remote place could have psionic proprieties and could make the use of psionic powers easier and deadlier when used as implements.
The amount of arcane energy spent on the fields where ancient and great battles were fought, such as the Cleansing Wars, could imbue the land around it with some latent powers.
But to be able to use those fantastic items, their owners could need to learn how to channel its energies through them. Maybe the best way to accommodate this into the game would be through Skill Challenges, in which the characters would begin feeling the energy inside the objects, discovering its powers, and then finding out how to use those powers. Another possibility is to require the heroes to get to a milestone to be able to use the item. That’s because they are not traditional magic items, only people with special powers, such as the characters, could fully use them to their potential. Which means that those objects in the hands of others that can’t harness its powers are ordinary items, but in the hands of heroes they can accomplish fantastic deeds.
Putting such items in place of traditional magic items makes the former even rarer without leaving the players with empty bags. Giving them such kind of treasure is also good because you reward them with an item with strong ties to the forces that shaped Dark Sun.
Spirit Bound items
Another possibility to introduce items with magic proprieties are the Spirit Bound items. Primal Power classes have strong ties with the world’s spirits, being them elementals, animals or ancestors. Athas is influenced by those forces in a very strong way. Why not making such influence in the form of objects that have spirit guardians? Or maybe a bone weapon made from the skeleton of a great beast of legendary strength, which its spirit permeates the weapon?
This could happen naturally and the spirit would imbue its bones, giving them fantastic proprieties. Or a shaman or a druid could summon powerful spirits through a ritual and ask for their help by imbuing the items with their powers. If the druid or the shaman were of an evil alignment they could even imprison the spirit into the objects. Such rituals could be similar to the Enchant Magic Items ritual but it would have a primitive twist, more suitable to the Dark Sun setting.
As with the Elemental Stones and Psionic Crystals, to be able to use Spirit Bound items their owners need to learn how to harness its power. The spirits do not manifest for everyone (maybe the spirits that are trapped in an item are forced to), the characters may need to prove themselves worth of the spirit’s powers. Again a Skill Challenge is a good way to put this in the game. The heroes could have to spend a Healing Surge to share their energies with the spirits to connect with them, or maybe they would need to reach a milestone to prove they are worth of the spirit’s protection.
Defiled items
Another idea I had was objects that were corrupted by great amount of defiling magic. Those items were created accidentally by Defilers where a lot of arcane magic was cast, where the world was shattered by it, and in the process a few objects or materials absorbed this energy and were corrupted by it. Maybe some kind of crystal or stone was imbued by this corrupting magic and now hungers for more, and help those who can harness it.
Implements made of such materials would be highly valued by Defilers but quite useless in the hands of a Preserver. They could even by semi-intelligent items which try to convince their users to use defiling magic, corrupting Preservers.
To be able to seduce and even corrupt the heroes, those items would not need to be activated through Skill Challenges, Healing Surges or milestones. They would be similar to the traditional magic items and their powers could be felt and used more easily. On the other hand, their true intentions and their hunger for vital energy would only be revealed with time, when the characters see the life force being sucked out around them. Some characters could be able to identify the true nature of those items with a hard DC arcane check.
Primal Life items
On the opposite side of the Defiled items, the Primal Life items would be objects made of organic material, mostly wood from ancient primeval trees. Those items would possess a raw vital energy, almost magical, that would be ideal for Preservers and heroes from the Primal Power source. They allow characters to reach and channel life force without destroying it or corrupting it.
Those items have similarities with the Spirit Bound items and Elemental Stones, but they have a stronger tie with the vital energy of plants, seas and the planet itself. The objects would be almost a living being. But what would happen with it if a Defiler used it? Maybe the first time he would use it with the defiling magic he could score a critical hit and the item would crumb to ashes right away, or he would simple not be able to use it.
As stated above, such items could also be used as implements for Primal Power classes. Its link with the life force of the world is suited for those classes.
As with Defiled Items, Primal Life items do not need to be activated. They have magical proprieties automatically, but they are extremely rare, maybe even rarer than traditional magic items, since forests are scarce in Athas and forests with such primeval energy are even rarer.
Conclusion
Those were just few ideas I has on how to introduce items that work like magic items without making magic items less rarer. Athas is a planet where the traditional magic sword is quite rare, but a sword made of Crimson Obsidian (An sword made of obsidian imbued with fire elemental powers) could be found more often. Those items would work just as traditional magic items (some of them could require some tasks to activate them), but they would have a more Athasian feeling.
To insert those items in the game all you need to do is replace the names of the items with a name more suited to Athas (like Crimson Obsidian Sword, Psionic Crystal Orb, Totem of the great Jah’kar). Not all items are easily converted, but you can still reward the players with more traditional magic items.
In time I will put all this information on a PDF file that could be easily downloaded and would have a few examples of those fantastic items. At least, that’s the plan for now.
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