D&D 5E Wand of Wonder?

[MatthewJHanson]

In my experience, it's really best used for a low level party. By the time you hit 5th level and are casting fireball on your own, it's no big deal, but in the hands of a 1st level character, that 10% chance of getting fireball can be a game changer in some fights.

I game one out in a 0-level funnel (inspired by Dungeon Crawl Classics but using 5e rules) and it was a blast.

 

[Dm12345me]

This is a really fun Adventure if you want to give a Wand of Wonder to your players. It needs updating for 5E since it gives out way too many magical items. I basically just substituted all of the magical treasure for single Wand of Wander at the end in addition to some potions. My players were 5th level so I added a Stone Golem guarding the final Wizards Study and made a few of the battles harder which worked out quite well.

The Mad Manor of Astabar

 

[darjr]

Mr. Salvatore’s wand of wonder story is hilarious.

 

[toucanbuzz]

in Ad&d, it was a wand anyone could use. and there were often combats where a character had nothing else they could do.

in contrast, 5e is designed so that you can always do something.

That was my experience in the AD&D days. While not quite "nothing else" to do, there would be times (1) you ran out of spells (none of this infinite cantrip stuff), or (2) you ran up against something you couldn't affect. In those instances, trying something crazy was better than doing nothing. And, the variance could lead to some awesome stories that otherwise wouldn't have happened (so much so Dungeon Dragon Magazine ran an article creating 3 more of these).

There's no practical reason in 5E to use one, imo.

 

[Richards]

And, the variance could lead to some awesome stories that otherwise wouldn't have happened (so much so Dungeon Magazine ran an article creating 3 more of these).

It was actually Dragon Magazine #147, not Dungeon. The article was "WOW Your Players" by Richard Hunt, one of my "best friends I've never met."

Johnathan

 

[toucanbuzz]

It was actually Dragon Magazine #147, not Dungeon. The article was "WOW Your Players" by Richard Hunt, one of my "best friends I've never met."

Johnathan

Good find! I couldn't recall from memory, just remember it being cool and mentioning in the hands of a leprechaun they could pick their effect.