Sandstorm- any questions?

Furry · Mar 18, 2005

I'm currently playing a Druid, how happy am I going to be with the spells? Are we talking absurd power here?

Antara · Mar 18, 2005

Can you provide some details about Summer domain?
Are there any other domains?

Eremite · Mar 18, 2005

JoeGKushner said:
Can you expand a little on the touchstones and on the psionics? You mentioned that there's at least one new power in the psionic scorpion so I'm betting that there are probably a few (maybe four-five) if previous books are any indication.

Touchstones:

There are 15 touchstone sites. My favourite is probably the blue dragon graveyard where the higher level ability is being able to breathe lightning.

Psionics:

There are two powers: the one already mentioned and psychic scimitar which is similar to the spiritual weapon spell but also allows you to deliver touch powers at a distance.

And yeah for WoTC listening to fans about the repeated information on PrCs!

Absolutely! And the editing is pretty good, too, although that judgement is still pending a John Cooper review of the stat blocks.

Furry said:
I'm currently playing a Druid, how happy am I going to be with the spells? Are we talking absurd power here?

Well, druids rock anyway... and they still rock. Yes, there are some good spells in here.

What's possibly more interesting for evil druids is advancing as a Walker in the Waste and then becoming a dry lich. After all, you have to love a druid that can create sand golems and salt mummies and can only be killed by destroying each of his five canopic jars....

Antara said:
Can you provide some details about Summer domain?
Are there any other domains?

Summer domain:

You have one level of heat protection (see Frostburn for what this means) and a +2 to Wis-based checks during summer.

1: Impede Sun's Brilliance (saves carrying a poofy parasol)
2: Sunstroke (I like this spell)
3: Protection from Dessication
4: Skin of the Cactus (natural armour, thorns, resistance to dehydration)
5: Unearthly Heat (the highest level of heat)
6: Sunbeam (PHB)
7: Control Weather (PHB)
8: Sunburst (PHB)
9: Storm of Vengeance (PHB)

Other new domains:

Sand
Thirst

Reprinted "new" domains:

Nobility
Repose
Rune

I haven't mentioned the Epic spells yet but there are four:

- Beast of a Thousand Legs: the beast is a series of tornadoes sweeping through a two-mile-radius area
- Dire Drought: the opposite of dire winter (see ELH)
- Global Warming: Bruce gets to inflict his politics on us both as an Epic spell and also in some of the introductory comments

- Volcano: what's not to like about this one?

Vecna · Mar 19, 2005

Eremite said:
After all, you have to love a druid that can create sand golems and salt mummies and can only be killed by destroying each of his five canopic jars....

Destroy FIVE canopy jars?!?!?

Well, this is clearly the reason to give the Dry Lich a LA +5!
Does the Walker in the Waste gets full spellcasting progression too?

Eremite · Mar 19, 2005

Vecna said:
Destroy FIVE canopy jars?!?!? Well, this is clearly the reason to give the Dry Lich a LA +5!

Agreed. Interestingly, there are a couple of comments about needing to destroy all five but nothing to indicate what happens if, say, four of the five are destroyed. Anyway, between this and the swarm-thingie template in Libris Mortis I think I may have my uber-mummy as inspired by the two Mummy movies...!

Does the Walker in the Waste gets full spellcasting progression too?

8/10. It drops a level at 1st and 10th.

Vecna · Mar 19, 2005

Eremite said:
Agreed. Interestingly, there are a couple of comments about needing to destroy all five but nothing to indicate what happens if, say, four of the five are destroyed. Anyway, between this and the swarm-thingie template in Libris Mortis I think I may have my uber-mummy as inspired by the two Mummy movies...!

Is there any way to recreate the destroyed canopies?
Can the canopies be placed on different Planes?
Where does the Dry Lich reappear if destroyed?

Which types of creatures can become Dry Lich? Humanoid only?
(I'm planning an Illithid Dry Lich... could it be legal?)

Milkman Dan · Mar 19, 2005

My PC is a cleric from a nomadic desert tribe. I'm curious as to whether there are any feats he could pick up, particularly divine feats. I know about Light of Aurifar, any others? Are there PrCs that provide divine spellcasting progression?

Eremite · Mar 19, 2005

Vecna said:
Is there any way to recreate the destroyed canopies?
Can the canopies be placed on different Planes?
Where does the Dry Lich reappear if destroyed?

As intimated above, the rules for this aspect of the template are curiously absent. It simply states that a dry lich resurrects 1d6 weeks after its apparent destruction.

Which types of creatures can become Dry Lich? Humanoid only?
(I'm planning an Illithid Dry Lich... could it be legal?)

It simply states that any living creature is eligible for the template. Something else I should point out, though: it also states that an existing dry lich is required to assist with the transformation.

Milkman Dan said:
My PC is a cleric from a nomadic desert tribe. I'm curious as to whether there are any feats he could pick up, particularly divine feats. I know about Light of Aurifar, any others? Are there PrCs that provide divine spellcasting progression?

PrCs? The Lord of Tides is a possibility, the Scion of Tem-Et-Nu only gets 5/10 progression and the Walker in Waste, as written, requires access to either the Sand or Thirst domains if the spellcaster is a cleric.

Feats? Priest of the Waste lets you spontaneously cast a list of spells helpful when travelling in a desert environment.

Shemeska · Mar 19, 2005

Of the planar touchstones in the book, what planes are they on just out of curiousity. And do they mentioned Set's domain on Stygia in Baator?

(Planar touchstones, as a concept, I thought their implimentation was wretched originally, but I'll hold judgement till I read the book. Overall the reviews have been very positive, so I'll probably snag a copy this week).

Eremite · Mar 19, 2005

Shemeska said:
Of the planar touchstones in the book, what planes are they on just out of curiousity. And do they mentioned Set's domain on Stygia in Baator?

Actually, they're not planar touchstones, rather they are all touchstones for the campaign world-proper.

There is bugger-all about the deities (see an earlier post that covers this) and Set in this book is CE again, as per D&DG. Baator, therefore, is unlikely to be his official home plane.