Sandstorm Art Gallery


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Man, this is good stuff. I'm looking forward to this book. Frostburn had me interested, and I'm sure I'll get it someday, but the campaign I really want to build is one like this. I've lived in the northern wastes (Wisconsin) and I respect the cold. Like it in fact. But the desert puts fear in me. Which is fun. :)
 


Klaus said:
The jackal I can uderstand, but what are a puma and a tortoise doing in a book about deserts?
Pumas are opportunists who live(d) in many different kinds of environments, including the American Southwestern desert.
Klaus said:
And why is it "puma" when the default word for that kind of creature in the MM is "leopard"?
Not sure what you mean. I mean, you know that a puma and a leopard are two different animals, right? That's a bit like asking "why horse when the default word for that kind of creature in the MM is donkey?"
 

OH, and anyone else think that the crawling apocalypse is what Cthulhu would look like if R'lyeh came up, sat in the sun for a long time, and completely dried up? I save a lot of those WotC art gallery picks on my hard drive; that one go the filename of mummycthulhu.jpg.
 

Yes, I know that Puma/Cougar/Mountain Lion (puma concolor) is a different animal than the Leopard (panthera pardus) and the jaguar (panthera onca). That doesn't change the fact that the MM states (under leopard) "The statistics presented here can describe any feline of similar size, such as jaguars, panthers and mountain lions".

As for the horse/donkey analogy you made, it would be more accurate to say (referring to a hypotethical Dire Burro) "why burro when the default word for that kind of creature in the MM is donkey?". :)
 

Klaus said:
Yes, I know that Puma/Cougar/Mountain Lion (puma concolor) is a different animal than the Leopard (panthera pardus) and the jaguar (panthera onca). That doesn't change the fact that the MM states (under leopard) "The statistics presented here can describe any feline of similar size, such as jaguars, panthers and mountain lions".
It can, but when they get the chance, it's always nice to be more specific. Didn't they say the same thing about hyenas under the wolf entry, at least in the 3e MM? I think hyenas have since been statted out as well.
Klaus said:
As for the horse/donkey analogy you made, it would be more accurate to say (referring to a hypotethical Dire Burro) "why burro when the default word for that kind of creature in the MM is donkey?". :)
Perhaps. Burro and donkey are literally just the Spanish (and Portuguese?) and English words for the same animal, though, so I think there's still a distinction. In fact, if anything, the burro/donkey is more closely related to the horse (both belong to the genus Equus) than the puma is to the leopard, though. Although I agree that from a D&D stats standpoint, there's not really room for a whole lot of variation; both are similar sized, similar in build, have similar hunting habits and similar lifestyles. Maybe the leopard gets a better bonus to its hide checks due to its rosette-patterned fur?
 

Wonder if they'll give a black panther a +4 racial bonus to Hide checks in shadowy areas, as opposed to tall undergrowth... :)

And yes, the hyena was included under "wolf" in 3e, but seems to have graduated into its own stats in 3.5. The reason, though, I don't know. Gnolls and their pet hyenas, maybe?

Oh, as for the burro, yes it is also Portuguese for donkey.
 

Klaus said:
Oh, as for the burro, yes it is also Portuguese for donkey.
As an aside, when I was in Argentina and describing to people what we ate in Texas, we always got laughs out of burritos (little donkeys) and tacos (the heel of your shoe.) :lol: There were a few other interesting regional dialect differences, but Eric's grandmother wouldn't appreciate some of them. :D
 

Klaus said:
And yes, the hyena was included under "wolf" in 3e, but seems to have graduated into its own stats in 3.5. The reason, though, I don't know. Gnolls and their pet hyenas, maybe?

Yes, and summonable monsters.

"Fiendish Hyena (Animal)" is shorter than "Fiendish Hyena (use Wolf (Animal) statistics)"...
 

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