Sand Domain
The Sand Domain is published D&D 3.5e material from Sandstorm. It allows a priest to shape sand into temporary objects and grants a spell progression built around desert travel, abrasive storms, living sand and imprisonment.
At a Glance
| Divine Sphere | Sand, deserts, abrasive wind, glass, living dunes and desert transformation |
|---|---|
| Published Rules | D&D 3.5e supplemental domain |
| Source | Sandstorm |
| Source Deity | Zoser |
| Campaign Patron | Apep |
| Other Editions | No official same-named Pathfinder 1e, D&D 5e/2014 or 5.5e/2024 domain is presented here |
Edition Applicability
The mechanics below are the published D&D 3.5e Sand Domain. The previous page credited a secondary repost; the original rules source is Sandstorm. The second-level domain spell is Black Sand, correcting the old page’s White Sand entry.
Sand Domain — D&D 3.5e
Rules status: published D&D 3.5e supplemental domain.
Granted Power — Shape Sand
Once per day, you can shape up to 8 cubic feet of sand into one or more solid objects. You may create a number of objects up to your Wisdom bonus, provided their total volume remains within the limit. Creation uses a special Wisdom check: d20 + your Wisdom modifier + half your Cleric level, against a DC based on the object’s size and complexity.
| Item Complexity | DC Modifier |
|---|---|
| Fine details | +2 |
| Functioning tool | +2 |
| Functioning armour or weapon | +5 |
| Multiple parts | +5 |
| Masterwork version | +10 |
| Moving parts | +10 |
Each attempt takes a number of minutes equal to the final DC. You may take 10 or take 20. Created objects last 1 minute per Cleric level, are nonmagical, radiate faint transmutation magic and have hardness 5.
Sand Domain Spells
| 1st | Waste Strider |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Black Sand |
| 3rd | Haboob |
| 4th | Blast of Sand |
| 5th | Flaywind Burst |
| 6th | Awaken Sand |
| 7th | Vitrify |
| 8th | Desert Binding |
| 9th | Summon Desert Ally IX |
How the Sand Domain Plays
The granted power is unusually practical: it creates temporary tools, weapons, armour or other solid objects from local sand. The spell list then turns the environment itself into a weapon, progressing from movement and hazardous black sand to sandstorms, vitrification, imprisonment and the summoning of desert creatures.
Apep and the Sand Domain
The published Sandstorm entry names Zoser as its source deity. The current campaign directory assigns the domain to Apep. That is a campaign assignment rather than a claim about the original sourcebook.
What Are Sand Priests Doing Now?
They are reading dune movement as omens, recovering structures swallowed by deserts, shaping temporary equipment for expeditions and investigating stretches of black sand or glass that suggest supernatural heat, death magic or buried power.
Related Domains and Character Options
Rules Sources and Licensing
The granted power, object-complexity modifiers and nine-spell progression follow the Sand Domain in Sandstorm, a D&D 3.5e supplemental source. The page no longer relies on a secondary repost for its rules attribution.
Keep this reference growing
If this page helped with your reading or game, you can support its upkeep or explore the curated books.
Explore the Bookshop — epics, classics and stories behind imagined worlds.