Editing Tarek (section)

==Playing Tareks?==
The two Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendixes featured a fair number of races that, realistically, would have made sense as additions to the roster of playable critters for the setting. After all, if [[aarakocra]], [[pterran]]s, [[thri-kreen]] and [[half-giant]]s are all valid options, then why not a [[Amazon|Villichi]], [[Nikaal]], [[Brohg]] or [[Tari]]? Unfortunately, coming out towards the tail end of AD&D's lifespan, Dark Sun never got any kind of expansion focused on new races, so this potential went unchecked.

Luckily, though, this was now the era of the internet, and AD&D fans of all settings were nothing if not resourceful! Enter "The Complete Book of Athasian Humanoids", a Dark Sun followup to the Complete Book of Humanoids that adapts the most intelligent and civilized (for a given value of both definitions) of Athas' humanoids to playable races - and the Tarek was amongst them. Here, the Tarek ha the following profile:
::Ability Score Minimum/Maximum: Strength 10/20, Dexterity 5/20, Constitution 10/20, Intelligence 5/20, Wisdom 5/20, Charisma 5/19
::Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution, -1 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
:::Note: A tarek treats their Charisma score as 2 points higher when interacting with other tareks.
::Racial Class/Level Limits: [[Fighter]] Unlimited, [[Gladiator]] 14, [[Ranger]] 10, [[Cleric]] 12, [[Thief]] 12, [[Psion]]icist Unlimited
:::Racial Thieving Skill Adjustments: -5% Open Locks, +5% Climb Walls, -5% Bribe Officials
::Natural Armor Class: 7
::Movement: 12
::Special Advantages:
:::Natural Weapons: A tarek can punch twice per round, doing 1d4 damage per punch.
:::Iron Willed: A tarek gains Iron Will as a bonus nonweapon proficiency and automatically succeeds on Iron Will checks.
:::Deathless Warrior: A tarek can continue to fight without penalty after reaching 0 hit points, dying only when it reaches -10 hit points.
:::Tarek Coordination: When multiple tareks fight the same foe, all tareks gain a -1 bonus to [[THAC0]] for each tarek after the first.
::Disadvantages:
:::Musk: The strong scent of a tarek can be detected from 15 feet away.
:::Racial Enmity: Tareks ''despise'' elves, [[gith]] and [[jozhal]]s, and will not work with them. Realistically, this should also include [[wizard]]s of all stripes.
:::Roleplaying Disadvantage: Tareks are a naturally aggressive race, and this aggression should be considered when playing in-character. Additionally, remember that tareks are well-known as raiders and bandits, so even on Athas, that might cause problems, even if ''everyone'' does it!

When those same madlads updated [[Dark Sun]] to [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]], their 3e Dark Sun [[Monster Manual]], "Terrors of Athas", naturally featured a tarek PC racial writeup:
::Ability Score Modifiers: +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -4 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Base Speed: 30 feet
::Darkvision: 30 feet
::Racial Weapon Familiarity: The Handfork and Heartpick are Martial Weapons for a tarek.
::Bonus Feat: Teamwork.
::Ferocity: A tarkek suffers no combat penalties if fighting whilst disabled or dying.
::+3 Natural Armor Bonus.
::+4 racial bonus to Intimidate checks.
::-2 racial penalty on Diploomacy, Disguise, Gather Information and Perform checks.
::Musky: -4 racial penalty on Hide checks if searcher is within 30 feet.
::Natural Weapons: Slam (1d4)
::[[Favored Class]]: [[Fighter]]
::[[Level Adjustment]]: +2

[[Category: Monsters]] [[Category: Dark Sun]] [[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]]