Does the party have a dedicated healer, because that can make a difference.
Dark Sun is an extremely interesting setting. You need a tank that doesn't rely on armor, so I would think Monk or Barbarian/Bloodrager.
If you have a dedicated healer, then generating "threat" is going to be more important than survivability. The Bloodrager is probably best with its ability to dish out big damage, while still having good health and stackable defenses.
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From your post, I'm not sure how much Psionic experience you have, as you said you were only gently familiar with Dark Sun as a setting, and I haven't touched Dark Sun since a brief touch in 2nd Ed .. but, I have a decent grasp on what Dreamscarred has done with Psionics. (Spoiler, I'm overall a fan)
Assuming you are looking for something sturdy, with reasonable access to dpr, and something that the foes might consider a serious threat,
So, my suggestions are to take a look at both Aegis and Psionic Warrior.
Aegis is a d10 full BAB chasis, that has some AMAZING level of customization. Martial with flight? check. Martial with the ability to get set a scaling buff spell of choice? +5 AC and Saves? Check. +5 insight to attack? Check. (For GM's out there starting to panic, there are some serious costs associated with the buffs listed.)
Psionic Warrior, is a d8 3/4 BAB martial type, that is the equivalent of a 6th level spellcaster, that mostly focuses on self buffs. They also have a choice of ability sets that focus how they act/react in combat. Two that stick out are Gladiator (Trip, Disarm, Etc) or Interceptor (Tankier in a more traditional sense) Both give (limited) bonus's to Perception. Add in the self buffs to the martial kit, it's worth looking at (ones referenced above are on the PsiWar list.)
A Suggested build: Half-Giant Psi War (or Aegis with customizations to be able to manifest a few powers), with a LARGE, reach weapon and imp trip, expansion (think Enlarge) and precognition, tactical (bonus to CMB).
(I'm actively running two games with 1/2 giant's with large weapons, and expansion, and while it makes me wince occasionally, it's not the most startling that the parties thrown my way. It's not every day that the party intimidates a dragon for more rounds than the combat lasts... )
Good luck with your game!
(Also, if you have any link issues with d0pfsrd, there's a random " style=" that shows up periodically.)
Dark Sun is an extremely interesting setting. You need a tank that doesn't rely on armor, so I would think Monk or Barbarian/Bloodrager.I recall that you could wear Studded, Scale, and Hide Armor. I don't see why you couldn't wear Stone Plate. I seem to recall the rule was that you couldn't wear more than 2 pieces of metal armor. And I seem to recall rules for wearing piecemeal Armor.
@ OP,
What rule set are you using? I don't normally think of Dark Sun as a Paizo property.
The problem is not that you cannot wear armour. The problem is that armour is hot, which causes you fatigue and discomfort, which means that you require more water to drink (and carry). It is a bit more hazardous to your survival in the setting.
If you have a dedicated healer, then generating "threat" is going to be more important than survivability. The Bloodrager is probably best with its ability to dish out big damage, while still having good health and stackable defenses.
Fated bloodline is great for that- it gives a luck bonus while raging to both saves and AC (lighter armor sounds like an advantage from what I hear people saying about the setting, so that is good too). This makes it exceedingly tanky, even before you consider whether to get things like superstition.
I would grab a half elf for this- they can get dual minded so they have fantastic will saves. This helps when you are dealing with the surprise round before you rage (and just telling your GM "nuh uh" for will saves, since rage itself gives you bonuses to will as well).
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As I recall ...
Metal anything is hideously expensive and rare. The standard materials are bone, hides, leather, ceramic and stone, probably exoskeletons too. Walking around with obvious metal weaponry has a good chance of resulting in more than a few attempts to murder you for the precious steel blades. Wearing metal armor, especially an entire suit, has a decent chance of attracting the high-level NPC attention that gets you summoned before the ministers of a Dragon-King. If you're really unfortunate you find yourself being interviewed by a Dragon-King or -Queen directly. Be assured that their inner circle of guards are wielding steel of their own...
Water is a must-pay-attention-to situation. I don't think create water or similar spells exist, and if they do, they're not mere 0-level spells.
Money is based on ceramics, starting with bits and going up from there. Most costs are expressed in ceramic coins that can be evenly splintered into 10 bits to handle lower-value transactions.
In the original setting almost everything has at least a smidge of psionic talent.
There are a lot of nasty critters on Athas. The halflings are no joke. Jungle-dwelling cannibals that are goblin-good at Stealth that use horrific mind-munching death beetles as sling ammunition. They often have fairly powerful psionicists in their midst. These are not the nomadic chubby cherubs of standard game worlds. These are Pathfinder goblins on steroids without the irrational phobias and generally erratic behavior. If they take you prisoner, they will eat you. If you're lucky, they'll kill you and cook your corpse. If you're not, they'll slow-roast you alive and eat as they go. Think of yourself as a live buffet for pint-sized Kuru whilst the mind-munching death beetle makes sweet love to your brain. "Half-live half-roasted hoomie, yums!"
Elves are desert runners, tall skinny things that run rather than being bothered with beasts of burden that drink so much water.
Dwarves are almost unheard of, but sterile dwarf-human crossbreeds called muls (pronounced just like mule) are common. Dwarves don't have copious amounts of body hair and beards. They're often completely bald and some groups are devout sun worshipers of the enormous red sun that dominates the sky.
Some say that they can draw power from the sun instead of the living land and foliage around you which is more common. Arcane casters are rare and in one of two philosophical approaches to powering their magic since the "mages" of Athas cannot access the typical "Inner Planes" of fundamental and elemental energies. Instead they draw upon the energy of life itself to power their magic.
The nice ones are "preservers", generally what the PCs are going to be. They take longer to cast as they draw life energy in from a far larger area in order to try to not suck dry every scrap of plant life and water in the immediate vicinity.
Then there are the more common "defilers" who couldn't give a crap what lives or dies so long as it isn't them. They suck the life force out and right quick, turning everything affected into blackened ash in a matter of seconds. Then the fireball hits you, and you burn, cooking in your own juices.
In this setting Endurance is just about a must-have. Dehydration is a serious threat and in some cases kills more characters than the monsters do. Survival is tied with Perception at "must keep at max ranks on all characters". Without it you will probably die an agonizing, pointless death. With it ... you might survive to gain a few levels.
Maybe.
The city-states are ruled by individually distinct Dragon-Kings. They are responsible for multiple acts of full-on genocide by their own hands. The reason why there are no gnomes is that one of these sickos exterminated every gnome on the planet.
They have transformed themselves as a result of their incredibly powerful defilement of life into the only known dragons on all of Athas: transformed dual-classed psionicist-wizards of immense power. Unlike run-of-the-mill defilers, Dragon-Kings draw on the life force of everything to power their spells. They can kill or maim your entire group simply by powering up their spells before they drop some gods-awful high-level spell on the lot of you.
Dragon-Kings transform in stages, each transformation requiring an exacting ritual be performed, fueled at its culmination by a massive sacrifice of life energy. Obsidian is Athas' version of onyx...
They're no slouches in physical combat either. No two Dragon-Kings or Dragon-Queens are alike, each one is a unique being. In general, you must wield enchanted metal blades to pierce their hides. You're far better off using siege engines and a lot of "screen" minions to keep them distracted. They're ancient .. some heralded the darkening of the sun.
King Hammurabi for one when he reveals his true dracoform is an immense leonine creature of gold scales and fur towering above half-giants. He has been witnessed seizing a mighty thri-kreen warrior in one claw while tearing its exoskeleton off with slow deliberation just to hear the thing scream. Then he magically defiled the corpse into gore-soaked ashen sludge before flinging a conjured spray of molten death at other enemies.
Don't mess with Dragon-Kings. In 2e the runts attained at least 20th level each in psionicist and wizard before undertaking their first, early stages of draconic metamorphosis. Thee are ten stages of dracapotheosis, each taken in turn. It is written, somewhere, that the mightiest of them all not only attained the final tenth stage of its transformation, but went one step further to become, in Pathfinder terms, a ravener with the psychic and arcane power of 30th level psionics and wizardly defiling magic in addition to its horrifying "dracolich" powers.
Undead in this setting are of two stripes: mindless animated corpses and bones are the most commoon, some use them as alternative slave labor that they don't have to feed or worry about getting all uppity and staging a revolt that has to be brutally crushed.
The other kind of undead are unique. Every intelligent undead is a unique creature with its own story. If you encounter one, be respectful or flee for your miserable lives. Hamstring the dwarf if you must to escape.
I don't know about the Pathfinder'ized version of the setting, but originally everyone was expected to make three 3rd level characters as starting characters. If one dies, one of your alts steps in. You were expected to slowly level your alts in tandem with your main character - although I don't recall the precise mechanics of it anymore.
The western mountains are said to be festooned in a vast, lush jungle.
Where water once flowed in rivers and seas all is now ash. Horrid caravan-devouring dune worms swim these ashen seas. Where it is not ash it is much more comfortable sands, vast deserts dotted here and there with precious, well-fortified watering holes and the occasional oasis.
Sometimes the various beast-headed giants can be bartered with to ferry you from one bank of an ashen river miles across to the other side. You ride in a pack. Sometimes they'll simply eat you if you look reasonably well watered, plump and juicy.
Vermin serve as domesticated animals here as they require far less water than the now-extinct mammalian beasts of burden.
Last, magic items beyond potion-fruits and scrolls are often rare. You might encounter a dozen or two non-consumable magic items in your entire career. Don't count on the Big Six even existing. Make the most of what you find. It's a life-sucking desert out there.
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You may wish to use the Athasian Pathfinder Conversion done last year.