A review copy of “The Monster of Wonderia” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.

Designed by: Anthony Joyce

The Monster of Wonderia is part of the Spotlight series for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight Adventurer’s League season. The 20-page module is designed for 3rd level parties (with scaling adjustments for 1st-4th level). Unsurprisingly, this role-playing heavy story is set in a Feywild domain, and it’s not exactly your typical D&D adventure.

Wonderia is a Feywild domain that resembles an illustrated children’s book. It’s populated by child-like fey called Wonderfey, who are full of imagination and curiosity. Ever so often, some Wonderfey are invited to the forbidden mountain, never to return.

To start the adventure, the player characters are simply whisked away to Wonderia, a land of wondrous sights and no actual danger. They meet a group of Wonderfey that suspiciously match their own appearance and personality.

There’s a major twist they’ll soon discover: these Wonderfey are actually the manifestations of their own personalities, before being born into the world. Time works a bit differently in Wonderia, allowing the PCs to interact with their child-selves.

The other twist is that the PCs will get a chance to impart their learned experiences, desires, and evolved personality quirks onto their younger selves. Functionally, this acts as a respec or character editor for the PC!

“Respec” is a term used in video game RPGs where you change your mind on skill point progression, usually at a cost. Examples for a D&D respec include changing class, alignment, race, background, or gender.

wonderia

To unlock this respec (and escape Wonderia), the PCs accompany the Wonderfey to the mountain and meet Abuelita Yvelise, a kind, grandmotherly storm giant, and the Archfey of Wonderia (and apparently based on the designer’s own grandma, which is adorable).

From there the Wonderfey and the PCs are invited to leap inside her Bag of Holding, where they’ll transition back to the material plane. Before they can cross over, they’ll need to survive an onslaught of emotional anxiety from a group of boggles. Should they persevere, either by emotional support or good old fashioned D&D combat, the PCs can imprint any change upon their younger selves before returning home, forever altered.

Unlocking a respec through a role-playing heavy adventure is a neat idea, and a clever reward for interacting with your younger self.

Unfortunately there’s not much else going on. Wonderia seems like an interesting setting, bolstered by colorful, crayon-drawn children’s book illustrations on every other page (credited as Allison from Little World Art). But players are never given a chance to explore or interact with anything outside of the Wonderfey and Yvelise.

After appearing in the domain and meeting the Wonderfey, they teleport the PCs directly to Abuelita Yvelise. She then invites everyone into her Bag of Holding (an admittedly awesome location for a battle — including a full color battle map!) for the final confrontation.

There’s plenty of role-playing opportunities throughout these events, but zero chance for exploration and only one optional combat encounter, should the PCs decide to fight the boggles (and subsequently spawning redcaps) instead of reassuring their Wonderfey (a simple skill check).

Some players will relish the chance to explore their own characters in this unique time-displaced setting. For others, this is a hard pass.

I certainly understand the need for streamlined brevity in Adventurer’s League modules, but Wonderia feels egregiously short and underdeveloped. A few encounters along the way to grandmother’s house, or a series of trials for the Wonderfey to endure at the end would have alleviated my concerns.

Pros:

  • Provides a chance for players to alter or even reboot their characters.
  • Fun children’s book illustrations depict the whimsical Feywild domain.
  • Bag of Holding is a fun location for a battle — and a gorgeous battle map by Czepeku.

Cons:

  • Too short and linear; Wonderia is mostly wasted.

The Verdict: Far from your typical D&D adventure, The Monster of Wonderia is a feel-good children’s story full of important role-playing opportunities, but severely lacking in exploration and combat.

A review copy of “The Monster of Wonderia” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.