Rods of Wonder (Player’s Resource)
Rods of Wonder is an epic fantasy supplement from the Player’s Resource series for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game published by Raging Swan Press and written by Creighton Broadhurst.
By Aaron T. Huss
Rods of Wonder is the next Player’s Resource supplement by Raging Swan Press for Pathfinder. It is designed as a quick and complete reference for player’s who wish to use a Rod of Wonder or a similar item. The stats and options herein are presented in a concise manner and full of flavor. If you want a Rod of Wonder, there’s no reason not to use this supplement.
CONTENT
Rods of Wonder may only contain six pages of in-game content, but it’s packed with what you need. This includes ways to create variant rods: Aligned, Cursed, and Lesser. There is a section of intelligent rods along with ways to make them flavorful with quirks and command words. Finally, the four different rods are detailed: Rod of Wonder, Rod of Bewilderment, Rod of Marvels, and Rod of Wonderment. Each one contains a large d100 list for the rods active in-game effect and a couple stat blocks for associated summoned animals. That may be it, but it’s really all you need.
OVERALL
It’s often hard to rate a product that is short. However, when everything you need to use the supplement is presented so simply and in a format that is extremely easy to read, the overall value of the supplement is worth way more than its length. Simply put, Raging Swan Press has made it extremely easy for you to use a Rod of Wonder by removing all the hassle.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
As with all Raging Swan Press publications, Rods of Wonder contains an easy-to-read layout and simple presentation. Due to its size, this supplement does not have much content to rate. However, it manages to do such a good job of keeping everything simple and concise while keeping each set of mechanics on a single page for quick reference and use. In a way, the layout and presentation make it more desirable to use.
Mechanics: 9 out of 10
Rods of Wonder does a fantastic job of presenting not only interesting (and sometimes humorous) effects for each detailed rod, but it does an excellent job of creating a variety of effects with a mixture of possibilities. This keeps the detailed rod from seeming boring and keeping each rod from being significantly different from one to another. The actual mechanics themselves are quite creative.
Value Add: 9 out of 10
Rods of Wonder is a very straight-forward supplement. It presents options for creating a Rod of Wonder, Bewilderment, Marvels, and Wonderment. This includes the d100 options and the intelligent rods. However, each mechanic is presented and players wishing to add different flavor or options would either need to do it on their own or use this as a launching point. In that regard, it works as a quick reference and a template to use for your own creations.
Overall: 9 out of 10
Even as a simple supplement, Rods of Wonder is a definite must have for anyone wishing to use one of these rods. Print it out and slide it into your character folder for quick reference, that’s all you’ll need to do! All the work has been done for you.
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