Raiding Tribes

"'Raiding tribes take what they want by force. They tend to be lead by former slaves willing to do what it takes to remain free. While slave tribes tend to abhor allowing others to stay in captivity, raiders will often take slaves and sell them to others. There is no negotiating with them.' ―Wanderer’s Chronicle"

Others living in the wastes beyond the city-states engage in very hostile approaches to earning a living. These groups become raiding tribes, procuring what they need to survive by pillaging caravans, poaching herds, and plundering weak villages. Cutthroats, thieves, murderers, and raiders hide in the desolate salt flats or among the canyons of the rocky badlands, emerging only long enough to strike before running back to their hole with whatever spoils they can carry.

Although raiders may be scoundrels and cutthroats, they are not fools. They do not prey upon those who stand a chance of fighting back and winning. Tribes numbering no more than one or two dozen prey upon hermits and small parties of travelers. On the other hand, the tribes that plunder caravans number in the hundreds and those that loot villages have as many as a thousand members.

Most raiders make their homes in some forlorn place, such as rocky badlands or a secret oasis in the middle of a salt plain. Of course, the raiders are attempting to hide their location, but the isolation of their villages also makes it difficult and expensive to send a force to destroy them. This tactic works all too well; I can count on my fingers the number of raiding tribes that I know to have been destroyed in retribution for their thievery.

Usually, the raiding tribes pick their leaders through a hierarchy of violence. The most deadly (often a defiler) is the leader. Invariably, he chooses the most dangerous and toughest tribe members as his assistants, ensuring their loyalty through special rewards and treatment. The other members of the tribe are kept in line through the threat of force. If the leader is a wizard, he will seldom tolerate the presence of another wizard in his tribe. If the leader is not a wizard, one of his assistants is usually a defiler who jealously guards his position in the tribe.

Raiding Tribes on Athas
"“They are a scourge, and should be wiped out. They ride in, their leader with his foolish iron helm, and terrorize honest traders, taking what they will. It costs more to avoid the area, but we make up for it with less cargo lost.' ―Merchant Kelʹlich of House Vorr about the Black Sands Raiders"

Raiding tribes are the result of a brutal, unrelenting world that rewards carelessness with quick death and they are an important addition to set the gritty and dangerous tone of Dark Sun. Even when used in smaller groups, raiders are brutal and merciless, being able to instill the PCs with a healthy respect for them.

Organization
Self-styled warlords command each raiding tribe, but most are nothing more than bullies leading by ruthless example. They hold their position through violence and treachery with the help of well-rewarded guards―and sometimes even potent defilers. Their tribes vary in size from a dozen individuals to several hundred, depending on the territory they work and from whom they usually steal.

NPC Reactions
Raiders are an intimidating presence among Athasians, serving as constant reminders of Athas’ harshness and cruelty. They are universally feared by the general populace and hated by the templars and the merchants.