A ssurran, which looks like a lizard persion with tan scales, standing on a desert ridge and armed with a bone pick.

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I believe this entry confirms that different monster entries in the Catalog are written by different authors, because its description of Athasian lizardfolk is as even-handed and respectful as the one for muls was racist, and they’re not even playable by default!

The Lore

As mentioned above, ssurrans are Athasian lizardfolk. They’re as adapted to the desert wastes as their relatives from other worlds are to swamps. Like all other humanoids in Athas, their daily goal is survival.

Ssurrans (also known as “sandscale lizardfolk”) organize in nomadic tribes made up of several family groups and a number of reptilian beasts that serve the usual purposes from hauling cargo to helping in fights. They hunt, forage, and sometimes raid while on the move.

Ssurran raids on settled communities are downright merciful when compared to most others described so far. They allow the inhabitants to flee and only kill those who try to fight back. Then they steal every usable good they can carry and move away, taking care to erase their tracks and lay some false trails to deter pursuers.

The Numbers

Ssurrans are Medium Natural Humanoids with the Reptile and Lizardfolk tags. They have a ground speed of 6 with Earth Walk, and speak Draconic. While this entry only has two stat blocks, it does outright say that you can take any standard lizardfolk from other books and replace Swamp Walk with Earth Walk to get a sandscale version. You can also apply one of the monster themes found in the back half of the book (and which we’ll see eventually).

Ssurran Shaman

Sandscales have a long tradition of worshipping the sun and related primal spirits. A shaman’s duties also include preserving their tribe’s oral history and culture.

Your typical ssurran shaman is a Level 3 Controller with 47 HP. They fight with a Spear that damages and pushes 1 square on a hit, and can cast at-will Sun Curses (ranged 5 vs. Reflex) that deal fire damage and daze for a turn. Their Treacherous Spirit spell (ranged 5 vs. Will, recharge on a miss) dominates the target (save ends).

Despite their low-level, ssurran shamans are pretty dangerous and are likely to be an unfortunate PC party’s first introduction to the Dazed and Dominated conditions.

Ssurran Hunter

These make up the bulk of any ssurran scout, hunting, or raiding party. They’re Level 4 Minion Skirmishers that fight with picks that deal a little extra damage to enemies granting Combat Advantage. If an enemy hits one of their adjacent allies, the hunter can use Sidestep as a reaction to shift 1 square.

Encounters and Final Impressions

Ssurran tribes tend to stick together. Lone lizardfolk will either be outcasts, or the last survivors of their tribes. Sometimes, slavers kidnap their young for sale as “exotic merchandise”, so they might be found among enslaved guards or gladiators.

I really like the way they were described in the book - my text here is barely paraphrased. Simply by describing these lizardfolk as people, it already allows me to imagine a bunch of situations where they’re potential oposition but where things can still be solved by means other than murder. They also make great potential allies in many other scenarios, because even when a group of ssurrans is not nice there will likely be someone much worse nearby.