The Wandslinger’s Guide for Eberron by Christopher Walz and Travis Legge puts the fun in carrying wands. Of course, that’s not to say it’s normally boring. But this guide helps a player in Khorvaire add some engaging elements to their characters. Using Keith Baker’s The Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron, Walz and Legge have taken the opportunity to modify the “wandslinger” with some additional mechanics and flavor. The end result is an inspired supplement that you’ll want to consider if you ever decide to play a wand-toting character.
The Wandslinger’s Guide for Eberron
Writer: Christopher Walz & Travis Legge (edited by Walz & Saylor Ashman)
Publisher: DMs Guild
Cost: $1.45
Product Length: 15 pages
If you use a wand as an arcane focus then you can potentially be a wandslinger. It doesn’t matter if you’re a wizard, a fighter, or a rogue. All that matters is the wand and the focus. The authors of this supplement have given us three subclasses, new feats, an interesting character named Chantal Thiel, available wands, and even a simple sample NPC. This is a short supplement but its powerful. Dynamite often comes in small packages.
Originality
I’ve already summarized this guide’s contents now I’ll summarize why those contents are original beyond telling you “the subclasses are unique!” They are unique. But unique and useful are not synonymous. These subclasses give some great features to the fighter, rogue, and wizard classes without completely redefining them. They serve as a means for characters to specialize within their classes and add a little flair.
The wandwright, Chantal Thiel, is intriguing and could easily serve as a recurring minor NPC for a campaign that uses wandslingers in any capacity. Her wands and services provide a depth and inclusion that will mean the wandslingers will feel as integrated into the game as any other character. The same goes for the wands that are included. Again, these are inspired creations by this team.
Writing
If I’ve learned anything recently it’s that technical writing can be just as challenging as fiction writing. Maybe more challenging. I guess one could classify this as both fiction and technical writing since it’s a guide to fictional setting. Nonetheless, the writing conveys a lot of crunchy details without making the reader wish they had advantage. That is no small task.
Production
Nearly everything that Travis Legge is involved in is immaculate in production. Even when complimentary stock images are used, as they are in this supplement, his work is generally clean, functional, and beautiful. Proof positive that production quality is tied closer to a good eye than it is to flashy and unique art. If I were to nitpick it would be that sometimes the heading formats made it a little hard to easily scan through the document to find the delineation between one section and the next.
Design
Nuance over novelty. That’s the best way to describe the design for Wandslinger’s Guide. Nothing is completely redesigned which means it’s easy to pick it up and run with it. You could create a character from this resource and give it to a player to run and they should be comfortable with it within minutes. It won’t break your game and neither are the added mechanics inconsequential. I love that these authors practically created an ecosystem of wandslinging.
Final Thoughts
I think by now it’s clear that I really enjoyed this guide so I won’t belabor the point in my closing paragraph. One thing I will point out that I haven’t yet is that The Wandslinger’s Guide for Eberron communicates what I would imagine the natural progression of any of these classes to look like if they wanted to suddenly use wands. Obviously, the authors created these all but these creations don’t feel contrived or forced. A wand duelist rogue makes sense as does a wand warrior or the School of Wandcraft. It goes back to the ecosystem I mentioned regarding design.
4.6 stars
