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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cooper" data-source="post: 2134219" data-attributes="member: 24255">SandstormBy Bruce Cordell, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, and JD WikerWizards of the Coast product number 177390000224 pages, $34.95Sandstorm is the second in WotC's new series of D&D books focusing on different environments.  As you might guess from the name, this time it's an exploration into the world of the desert, or, perhaps more accurate, the wasteland.The cover follows Frostburn's example by featuring a painting of an adventurer battling one of the creatures featured within; this time it's a desert raider fighting what might be easily mistaken as a giant scorpion, but (as we'll find out in the Monsters chapter) is actually a "chekryan."  On the back, we have two "iconic" D&D characters - this time it's Ember the female human monk, looking even more masculine-faced than ever, and Krusk the male half-orc barbarian - rushing to join the battle going on over on the front.  Cover artist Ben Thompson does a really nice job on the overall color scheme, and I really like his smoke and fire effects and the details on the pyramids in the background, but Ember's body seems out of proportion and the "cave" that the chekryan's crawling out of really looks fake.  I also question the use of the chekryan as the best choice for the "cover monster" - its scorpionlike build certainly gets across the "desert flavor," but its half-upright stance and hemispherical bug-eyes just make it look like a poorly-rendered scorpion.  I think just having a regular old Large monstrous scorpion would have done the job a lot better.As for the interior artwork, this time we have 17 artists providing 67 full-color illustrations, 7 monochrome beginning-of-chapter pieces, and 14 color maps, plus four full-color miniatures tiles in the back.  The artwork is for the most part well done, but I was a bit disappointed that not all of the new creatures in the Monsters chapter got their own illustrations.  Okay, I can agree with the decision to save the money for illustrations of mundane animals like camels, or of scorpion swarms, but there are two new types of sphinx that would have benefited from an illustration (especially the saurosphinx, which is described as having a "reptilian face" - that could mean anything from an iguana to a gecko to a snake!), and I wouldn't have minded seeing the brine ooze or the giant termites, either.  I should also point out that, unlike Frostburn, there are no full-page paintings in Sandstorm.  Still, the artwork in this book is above-average, and most of the monster illustrations stayed very close to their written descriptions, which always pleases me.  (However, some of the artists took some liberties of their own: I was particularly surprised to see the sand hunters - basically, reptilian-looking pack dogs - each sporting two pairs of ears on their heads!  That was never mentioned in the creature's description!  Also, whoever did the picture of the atlatl on page 97, they seem to have put the leather wrist-strap on the wrong end.) Sandstorm is laid out as follows: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Introduction: One page devoted to a quick explanation of how to use the waste in your game, and a breakdown of the chapters that follow</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Waste: The formation of a waste, various waste environments (wilderness, dungeon/cavern complexes, extraplanar wastes), natural and supernatural waste hazards, and wilderness/dungeon waste terrain</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Races, Classes, and Feats: Two new PC races (the asherati and the bhuka), the "standard" (Player's Handbook) races and classes you might find living in a waste, and 24 new feats, plus 16 touchstone sites (places of power that you can attune yourself to with the appropriate feat, gaining additional - but temporary - powers for yourself)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prestige Classes: 6 new prestige classes (ashworm dragoon, lord of tides, sand shaper, scion of Tem-Et-Nu, scorpion heritor, and walker in the waste)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Equipment: 17 new weapons, 4 types of armor, 20 pieces of adventuring gear, 3 desert mounts, and 6 desert vehicles</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Magic: Drift magic (tapping the magic of dust and sand, which requires a feat), plus 6 new cleric domains (Nobility, Repose, Rune, Sand, Summer, and Thirst), 68 new spells, 2 new psionic powers, and 4 epic spells, followed by 3 armor and shield special abilities, 3 weapon special abilities, a new magic weapon, 3 rings, a rod, 4 staffs, 32 wondrous items, 3 intelligent items, and a special material</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Monsters: 65 new monsters of the desert wastelands, 4 of them templates</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Adventure Sites: 3 mini-adventures for PCs of levels 5, 7, and 7-8</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Appendix - Encounter Tables: 5 pages of random encounter tables, broken down by Encounter Level</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Miniatures Tiles: Four tiles, each a 5x7 grid, of places you might find in a waste (jagged wasteland, mummy's crypt, oasis, sun temple)</li> </ul>It's also worth mentioning that although Sandstorm has no index in the back, the Table of Contents at the beginning of the book is very thorough and will probably be all that you need to locate specific material within.The proofreading and editing jobs were pretty well done, with only a few errors making it through: several instances of there being an extra word in a sentence, headers off-kilter in a table, incorrect indentation in the feats table (making it erroneously appear that Sand Dancer is a prerequisite for Sand Spinner, and that the Sand Camouflage's prerequisite is Rattlesnake Strike instead of Sandskimmer), improper alphabetization of metamagic feats (rather sad, as there are only two!), misuse of an apostrophe denoting possessiveness, a closing parenthesis with no corresponding opening parenthesis, a comma at the end of a superscript asterisk, a few misspelled words ("crearures" instead of "creatures," "dessicration" instead of "desiccation"), numerous instances of "desiccation," "desiccated," "desiccating," and similar words spelled with a double "s" and single "c" (I was surprised at the number of times this error popped up throughout the book), one instance of unneeded pluralization ("A crocosphinxes pounces on its opponents..."), nonstandardized punctuation in monster stat blocks (a few had periods at the end of their Skills and Feats entries), a mix-up between crossbow bolts and arrows in a creature's description, an "8" missing from one of the maps, and the worst offender, a creature description that starts off (and I quote) ".0bumps, and it has a thick, heavy tail."  I'm really not sure how that last one got through editing!  Still, for the most part, everything was at least comprehensible, so while the above errors were irritating, they're not likely to prevent you from easily using the material in the book.As for the material itself, I have to say I was impressed with Sandstorm much more so than I was with Frostburn.  For one thing, there seemed to be much less "filler" material in this book than there was in the first.  The supernatural hazards seemed much more plausible (even in a fantasy game) and better thought out, whereas many of the ones in Frostburn struck me as having been slapped together without a whole lot of effort.  There are only two-thirds as many new spells in Sandstorm as there are in Frostburn, but these all seem like they were created from scratch around a solid concept rather than "translated to the new environment" from existing spells in the Player's Handbook.  I also like the effort they went to expanding an idea to its logical limit; after having created the Touchstone feat, they came up with 16 different locations that you can use this new feat with, each one granting a different set of abilities.  I really see that as "going above and beyond the call of duty."  I guess my point here is that rather than throwing a whole ton of skeletal ideas into the toolbox, they weren't afraid to cut down on their number so they could beef up the usefulness of those that they did add to the toolbox.  (Boy, I'm mixing metaphors terribly here, aren't I?  Who keeps meat and bones in a toolbox?)I noticed a couple of changes in the way they present prestige classes.  First of all, they stopped adding the relevant ability after the class skills; I'm not sure if this was a space-saving idea or they just figured that everybody knows which abilities each skill is based on by now.  More importantly, they added sections describing how to play each prestige class, what skills and feats you might think about taking as you advance in level, how members of the prestige class fit into the world, and even bardic lore/knowledge check sections on what is commonly known (or mostly unknown) about the prestige class in question.  While some might suspect this to be "filler" material, I see it as another example of the "beefing up" of the material to make it more usable.However, my biggest disappointment with Sandstorm was - anybody willing to take a guess? - the monster stats.  Wizards of the Coast said half a year or so ago that they were hiring on some extra help to go over the monster stats in their books with a fine-toothed comb, to weed out the worst of the errors that have been making it to their printed products.  Well, I'm not sure just exactly when this extra help is supposed to kick in, but judging from Sandstorm the cavalry hasn't arrived just yet.  (Or at least I hope it hasn't; if it has, I'd suggest they might want some new cavalry!)  In any case, I recommend making the following changes: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 76, Niski, Large viper animal companion: Initiative should be +8, not +7 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative).  Fort should be +5, not +4 (+4 as a 5-HD animal, +1 Con).  Will should be +2, not +3 (+1 as a 5-HD  animal, +1 Wis).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 81, Osrutek the First, male human wizard 6/sand shaper 8: AC should be 11, not 13 (and 19 with mage armor and shield spells active, not 21), as all he's got is a +1 Dex modifier.  Special Qualities weren't alphabetized, and since he has 6 levels as a wizard, shouldn't he have a familiar (or explain why he doesn't)?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 89, Anekhet, male goblin rogue 5/scorpion heritor 5: Initiative should be +9, not +8 (+5 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative).  Flat-footed AC should be 24, not 19 (he keeps his +5 Dex bonus due to Uncanny Dodge).  Fort should be +6, not +4 (+1 as a 5th-level rogue, +4 as a 5th-level scorpion heritor, +1 Con).  Ref should be +10, not +12 (+4 as a 5th-level rogue, +1 as a 5th-level scorpion heritor, +5 Dex).  Will should be +3, not +4 (+1 as a 5th-level rogue, +1 as a 5th-level scorpion heritor, +1 Wis), although the +7 vs. mind-affecting spells is still correct due to a +4 bonus from his Scorpion's Resolve feat.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 93, Abesukh Habah, female asherati druid 5/walker in the waste 9: Speed should be 30 ft., not 20 ft. (asherati base speed is 30 ft., and she's only wearing studded leather armor).  Ditto with her burrow speed.  She should cast spells as a 13th-level druid, not a 14th-level druid, as the 1st level of walker in the waste does not grant a level in an existing spellcasting class (so she has 5 levels as a druid, plus 8 more levels as a 9th-level walker in the waste).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 94, Salt Mummy: Grapple attacks should be at +14, not +13 (+6 BAB, +8 Str).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 139, Asherati: Fort save for body lamp dazzling effect should be  DC 9, not DC 11 (10 + 1/2HD + Cha mod, or 10 + 0 - 1 = 9).  Skills should include Hide and Move Silently, since asheratis gain racial bonuses to those skills.  Alignment is listed as "usually neutral," but the information on page 38 (the PC racial information section) says that asheratis are usually chaotic good.  Finally, it gives a +2 natural armor bonus in the AC listing, but again, the PC racial information on page 38 says it's only a +1 natural armor bonus.  Since all of the asherati NPC stats go with the +1 bonus, I'm guessing that's correct.  So, in that case, this entry's AC should be 16, not 17, and flat-footed AC should be 15, not 16.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 140, Ashworm: As a 3-HD magical beast (with good Fort/Ref saves), Fort should be +6, not +4 (+3 as a 3-HD magical beast, +3 Con).  Will should be +2, not +4 (+1 as a 3-HD magical beast, +1 Wis).  Advancement line has 6-HD ashworms as being both Large and Huge.  (as an aside, it's pretty cool that they took the "thunderherder" variant from older editions of the AD&D game and made it into the ashworm.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 142, Chekryan: 40 ft. does not equal 6 squares!  Its speed should either be "40 ft. (8 squares)" or "30 ft. (6 squares)," but I have no way of knowing which is correct.  Pick one, I guess.  (Large monstrous scorpions move at 50 ft., so 40 ft. for a Large chekryan - who's built very much like a scorpion - isn't unbelievable.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 147, Desert Devil (Araton): The Full Attack line implies that he should have the Two Weapon Fighting feat (as a bonus feat).  If this is true, then all that needs to be changed (beyond giving him the bonus feat) is that the second scimitar's damage should be 1d6+1/18-20 instead of 1d6+2/18-20.  (He should only get half of his Strength bonus with his off-hand weapon.)  Otherwise, Full Attack should be Scimitar +5 melee (1d6+2/18-20) and scimitar +1 melee (1d6+1/18-20).  (Personally, I vote giving him the bonus feat.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 148, Diprotodon: First of all, this technically shouldn't be listed under "Dinosaur," as it's a prehistoric marsupial.  That quibble aside, it has 9 HD, yet its Advancement starts at 12-18 HD.  What happened to 10-11 HD?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 149, Dire Hippopotamus: Since its bite is its only attack, it should get to use 1.5 times its Strength bonus.  Thus, bite damage should be 2d8+18/19-20, not 2d8+12/19-20.  Also, there's no Treasure listed; presumably it's "None."  (I was also saddened that there was no illustration of the dire hippo.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 150, Dire Jackal: Since its bite is its only attack, it should get to use 1.5 times its Strength bonus.  Thus, bite damage should be 1d6+7, not 1d6+5.  Also, there's no Treasure listed; presumably it's "None."</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">pp. 152-153, Sand Dragon: Wyrm advancement should be 34-35 HD, not 35-36 HD.  Reflex save for the young adult's breath weapon should be DC 20, not DC 23 (10 + 1/2HD + Con modifier = 10 + 7 + 3 = 20).  Reflex saves for a great wyrm's breath weapon should be DC 35, not DC 36 (10 + 18 + 7).  An ancient sand dragon's AC (and flat-footed AC) should be 39, not 38 (-2 size, +31 natural).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">pp. 155-157, Dry Lich, Asherati Cleric 5/Walker in the Waste 10: Why mention the "drowning if submerged in water" rule (an asherati racial trait) when the NPC is undead?  Surely it doesn't need to breath!  Likewise with the rule about the amount of water it must drink daily.  (Apparently somebody just got "copy-and-paste" happy and wasn't thinking too hard about the specifics of the NPC involved.)  Light crossbow attacks should be at +9 ranged, not +8 (+8 BAB, +1 masterwork bonus).  Light crossbow damage should be 1d8+1/19-20, not 1d8/19-20 (they're +1 crossbow bolts).  Finally, its possessions include a 250 gp "eye ointment" - what's that all about?  There's no 250 gp "eye ointment" that I could see in Sandstorm at all.  (There is a "blackeye" alchemical substance that reduces sun glare, but a vial only costs 1 gp.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 158, Dune Hag: Claw attacks should be at +9 melee, not +10 (+5 BAB, +5 Str, -1 size).  Bite attacks should be at +4 melee, not +5 (+5 BAB, +5 Str, -1 size, -5 for a secondary attack).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 159, Dunewinder: Advancement reads "13-18 HD (Huge); 17-36 HD (Gargantuan)" - surely that should be 13-18 and 19-36 or else 13-17 and 18-36.  (My guess is the former.)  It's unlikely that they're related to the remorhaz (as described), given that remorhazes have legs.  Also, the description of the dunewinder says it lacks a "wide maw," yet the illustration shows it with one.  (Plus, its bite damage is 2d8+12 and it has Improved Grab based on its bite!  For once, it sounds like the illustration is correct and the text is wrong!)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 160, Dustblight: For some reason, the "Full Attack" line is just labeled "Attack" (as is the "Attack" line, making it somewhat confusing and easy to misread in the heat of battle).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 161, Dustform Giant Banded Lizard: Attack should be Bite +16 melee (2d8+11), instead of Claw +16 melee (2d6+11), although the listed slam attack is also an option.  (The giant banded lizard's primary attack is a bite, not a claw.)  Ditto with the Full Attack line (bite or slams first, then claw).  Since the template says not to recalculate saves, Fort/Ref/Will should be +13/+3/+3 (from the original creature's ability scores) or +13/+2/+3 (with the -2 Dex penalty from the original creature's stats), not +10/+4/+5.  No Treasure is listed; presumably it's "None."  Breath weapon Reflex save should be DC 12, not DC 13 (10 + 5 - 3).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 163, Forlorn Husk: Why are forlorn husks always neutral?  Seems like maybe neutral evil would be more appropriate, considering that they're undead creatures that sneak into camps and houses to attack sleeping victims, sucking their body fluids and leaving behind desiccated corpses.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 164, Giant Banded Lizard: No Treasure is listed; presumably it's "None."  Also, this is the creature whose description begins "0.bumps, and it has a thick, heavy tail."  Strangeness.  (Incidentally, I'd be willing to bet the inspiration for this creature is from the old sci-fi B-movie, "The Giant Gila Monster.")</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 166, Ironthorn: HD should be 9d8+66, not 9d8+63 (it gets +3 hp from the Toughness feat).  Thus, average hit points should be 106, not 103.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 167, Werecrocodile, Human Form: Spear attacks should be at +3 ranged, not +4 (+3 BAB, no Dex modifier).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 167, Werecrocodile, Crocodile Form: Con should be 19, not 17.  (A crocodile has Con 17, so it has a +6 Con bonus.  When added to the werecrocodile human form's Con 13, it becomes Con 19.  This is even spelled out on page 177 of the Monster Manual, where the werecrocodile is being used as a hypothetical example!)  Thus, Fort should be +9, not +8.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 167, Werecrocodile, Hybrid Form: The same errors were made here as in the werecrocodile's crocodile form, above.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 171, Marrusault: 20 ft. does not equal 6 squares; its speed should be "20 ft. (4 squares)" - it is, after all, in full plate armor with a base speed of 30 ft.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">pp. 173-174, Marruspawn Abomination: Under Full attack, bite attacks should be at +30 melee, not +34 (+20 BAB, +12 Str, -2 for a secondary attack with the Multiattack feat).  Also, why doesn't is speak Marru?  You'd think it would know the language of the race that not only created it, but that it is a part of.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 176, Sulfur Mephit: Breath weapon Fortitude save should be DC 13, not DC 12, if it includes a +1 racial bonus like it says it does.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 177, Mirage Mullah, 5th-level Human Fighter: Scimitar damage should be 1d6+4/18-20, not 1d6+2/18-20 (+1 Str, +1 magic weapon bonus, +2 Weapon Specialization).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 178, Lava Ooze: HD should be 8d10+56, not 8d10+84 (it has a +7 Con bonus).  Average hit points should be 100, not 128.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 179, Porcupine Cactus: Initiative should be -2, not -5 (a Dex 7 carries a -2 Dex penalty).  Flat-footed AC should be 14, not 13 (+1 size, -2 Dex, +5 natural).  Also, I'm not entirely convinced that a plant with no Strength score can grapple, but apparently shriekers (from the Monster Manual can, and these guys have the same BAB/Grapple listings as shriekers do.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">pp. 188-189, Threskisphinx: Rake attacks should be at +14 melee, not +11 (+10 BAB, -1 size, +5 Str).  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 190, Wasteland Troll: Fort should be +13, not +14 (+6 as an 8-HD giant, +7 Con).  Ref should be +2, not +4 (+2 as an 8-HD giant, +0 Dex).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 191, Waste Crawler (Anhydrut): 30 ft. does not equal 10 squares!  I'm guessing that should be 30 ft. (6 squares) instead of 50 ft. (10 squares), which is the other possibility.  The Feats entries aren't alphabetized.  Finally, I'll just point out that it can cast a global warming spell once a century - that's got to be a first!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 198, Soldier Termite: Poison Fortitude save should be DC 12, not DC 14 (10 + 1 + 1).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">p. 215, Mummy Guard, Warrior 1: With 9 HD, he should have 4 feats, not just 3.</li> </ul>Obviously, this is once again not WotC's best efforts when it comes to stat blocks.  Granted, I'll admit that many of these errors are only off by a bit, and may very well have little or no impact to most gaming sessions.  However, I still stick by my belief that if there are specific rules for monster statistics, those rules should be followed, and especially by the industry leader.That said, though, there is much to like about Sandstorm.  The prestige classes, while fewer in number than those found in Frostburn, are equally well thought out and fill several niches.  I especially like the way even the prestige classes are intertwined with the rest of the material in the book; the walker in the waste, for example, culminates in the character becoming a dry lich, one of the new monster templates in the Monsters chapter, and create sand golems, another new monster presented in Sandstorm.  Walkers in the waste are also part of the Dusty Conclave, which is present as one of the 16 touchstone sites allowing a PC (with the appropriate feat) to gain extra power once properly attuned to the site.  Sand shapers are also pretty cool, crafting all sorts of items out of malleable sand (which nicely ties in with several of the new spells, like sandform - allowing you to turn your body into mobile sand, like the Sandman from Spider-Man comics or the mummy from the recent Brendan Fraser "Mummy" movies - and one of the new special substances, a psychoreactive soil).Of the two new races, I liked the asherati better than the bhuka, but then the former is a bald, humanlike race that can actually "swim" through the sand and live underneath the dunes, whereas the bhuka are just an offshoot of the goblin race built for desert survival.Sandstorm finishes up with three short adventures and a series of Random Encounter Tables.  I would have preferred a wider spread of levels in the adventures, but the story lines are well-done (I especially like the surprise behind the Basin of Deadly Dust, which I won't spoil for anyone reading this review) and the maps are easy to read.  The necropolis of Harrax is a location ripe for many nights of gaming, and even the ubiquitous Mummy's Tomb looks to be good for a short night's adventure.  The Random Encounter Tables take up much less space than their counterparts in Frostburn, but then there isn't a whole lot of different "terrain" to cover - it's all pretty much just "the waste."  I did like the way they streamlined the material while still allowing for monsters from other books (the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II), for those who have those books and would like the variety offered.Taken as a whole, despite the large list of monster stat errors I found while reading through Sandstorm, I feel that this is a worthy entry in the new "terrain" series.  I give it a "4 (Good)," and look forward to the next book in the series (Stormwrack, focusing on aquatic adventuring).Of course, I also hope that WotC's "stat block cavalry" is in place by then....</blockquote>

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