The Cauldron Supplier's Guidebook, Vol. 2 is the second generic fantasy PDF in an eponymous series from Top Fashion Games. Like its predecessor, it provides a list of new commodities for adventurers to acquire and sell to local spellcasters. The cover, pictures of eyes against a green background, is very similar to the other book's cover, and the interior has similar artwork in similar places, including a little sketch on the last page of a skull and potion (with appropriately threatening spiderwebs). I really like the little sketches in these two products, and I wish that he'd use more of them -- it gives the product a warmer feel than the covers, even if it is rather rough compared to other RPG art.
Layout and editing, as it is in every other product I've reviewed by Top Fashion, is a problem. However, my problems with it are the same as they've been in just about every other product (ragged right margins, paragraph and spacing issues, completely blank page), and all these products were sent to me at once. My point -- I don't know if Top Fashion will work on these issues in future products, but the fact they haven't yet should not be seen as a sign of horrific bullheadedness. There just hasn't been time.
I found the bulk of this book to be disappointing inasmuch as it's really just more of the same thing that was presented in the first book. Yes, they're part of a series, but I was hoping that I would find this one to be similar to Fantasy Holidays, Vol. 2, where I felt a marked improvement over the first volume. The items presented are different, certainly, but not different enough in my opinion to justify a second book in the series. One of the great successes of Fantasy Holidays, Vol. 2, or other sequels in the RPG world, is its use of a theme -- what makes that product different and valuable can be traced, in my opinion, to its adherence to the idea of "monstrous & wicked" holidays. This said, one thing I did like was the care taken to create a little bit more context around each of the items listed. For example, eye of centaur has the following description: "It is said that if one drinks the fluid from an eye of centaur in a tea made from basil and mint that one can see visions of their own death." That, to me, is golden. It suggests that, perhaps, centaurs have a gift for foresight and prophecy (which ties in a little bit to their mythological role, as I remember it, as teachers), which might be instinctual and unreliable or even cultural (an entire college/council of centaur seers and prophets, perhaps, could lead the race). It's little moments like this that make this PDF worthwhile to me. Unfortunately, they're not present often enough (I would say that, with maybe the exception of ghast beets, that's the only solid instance of it in this PDF).
I really do feel that Dave Woodrum has a vivid and neat imagination. When he's on his game and inspired, as I found him to be in Stupid Fantasy Laws, Vol. 1 and Fantasy Holidays, Vol. 2, he puts out solid, interesting stuff that makes me think about the minutia of my campaign world. I didn't get that feeling as much here. If you liked Cauldron Supplier's Guidebook, Vol. 1 and want more, you'll probably like this. I really wanted something else here.
Score: 2.5
