This is to 2x Charisma what On Your Own (3) is to On Your Own (6), though at a 4xp discount. If you have to buy Relic Hunter that makes it even less worth it, since the total xp cost would be 5xp vs 6xp .

The discount on play usually would only breakeven its own play cost, unless you're playing a lot of disposable survivor creatures. Calling in Favors can double-dip on the discount.

You can get this on top of Charisma, though very few decks actually want to be this ally heavy and have all the allies in play simultaneously. Even disposable survivor allies don't stay in play for long

Few Sled Dog decks want to play even more allies due to the action/resource intensive nature of sled dogs, so the extra slot over 1x Charisma may be wasted, and it adds less reliability and more action/card tax in an already strained build.

This decent enabler for thematic decks running Raven, Cat, and/or Dog (Patrice and Yorick comes to mind), although even many such decks would be a lot more reliable with Charisma unless they desperately need the saved XP, or are just running that many allies.

Ok, i saw a lot of people doing this mistake, so: This card is unique, you cant have two of them! Relic hunter won't work, nothing can help you! You can't have 4 dogs in 2 accesory slots. Stop publishing reviews/decks with 2 RoAs. Thanks

We can now convert an arcane slot into a couple of allies to hold our spells. But is this good? I would not say so.

To make the combo reasonable reliable and consistent, you need two copies of the Tarot, and two of Rod, for a total of 8 XP. (And the second Rod will always just be to commit, because it's unique.) Twice Charisma to get both cats into play along another ally cost 2 XP less and save 4 deck slots. It's also much more reliable, thanks to the permanent keyword. It's also a bummer, that the Rod takes an accessory slot, which is quite a competitive slot for , hence make the Hierophant necessary for the extra arcane/ accessory slot.

Or you could just take Relic Hunter, instead of the Tarot. 3 XP, 2 deckslots (and likely 3 resources and a play action) cheaper, more reliable, less flexible in the use of your natural arcane slots, and definitely less fun. But probably still not that great? As a 4 XP permanent, like Miskatonic Archaeology Funding, the Rod would sure be a fun option for Familiar Spirit, which could work in some decks.

Rod of Animalism seems niche, and it is. It has two core flaws that make it challenging to play:

1) It's hard for it to pay for itself since you need to get it into play before you play your creatures. If you're playing enough creature allies to want it, odds are high that you end up drawing the creatures before you get the rod.

2) It's always in constant competition with Charisma. Yes, charisma costs two more xp for half as many ally slots, but it's a permanent, which guarantees you reliability, frees up a slot in your deck, takes no action to draw, resources to play, or actions to play. Those are all incredibly significant advantages for Charisma.

There are, however, a handful of investigators that can make it work.

William Yorick can make use of it in a creature-recursion deck making use of his ability to recycle cheap assets to let him search for clues with Mysterious Raven, evade with the Stray Cat, and kill enemies to keep endlessly recycling with the Guard Dog. In a Yorick creature deck, you're much more likely to be playing your allies over and over again, and having 0-cost items in your discard is incredibly valuable for Yorick. You are still likely better off with Charisma, so it's important to note that you are likely only aiming for the rod if you have other allies you are excited to play with Yorick, and there are plenty of amazing allies he has access to. Imagine a Yorick deck with Pete Sylvester as a horror soak in his main ally slot, a Mysterious Raven that can be endlessly recycled for testless, actionless clues with the raven's downside fully mitigated by Pete's endless resolve, that still has space for a beat cop or a story ally. Comboing Pete with the raven essentially means that Yorick has an ability that says "play Evidence for free every time you kill an enemy".

Daniela Reyes can make this card work for two reasons: she already has 3 incredible allies that she really wants to play with in Aquinnah, Pete Sylvester, and Jessica Hyde, which would already take two charismas to make work. At the same time, many of the available creature allies are uniquely good for her. Two guard dogs are absolutely essential for Daniela, as they work seamlessly with her ability. The Black Cat is an incredible soak card, and Daniela loves soak as her main strategy is to be punched in the face repeatedly. Lastly, Miss Doyle is notable as Augur mitigates Daniela's 1 book. Of these creatures, only the guard dogs are essential, but being able to play the dogs alongside those 3 major allies is quite strong.

Charlie Kane loves allies, and will already be including double charismas as one of his first upgrades. Six allies is lovely, but eight is even better, and there are two creatures that work particularly well in Charlie in Miss Doyle (whose accompanying cat does not take up an ally slot) and the Black Cat, which has two question marks on it and thus can be a +3 in any stat you like for a skill test every turn. In a Charlie deck, the rod is probably never going to pay for itself; it's really just a way of getting even more allies. Just remember: sled dogs are and have always been a trap.

Here's hoping they eventually create a Rod of Animalism(4) that becomes a permanent, Miskatonic Archeology Funding style, which would dramatically improve this card and make it a viable alternative to charisma for anyone who wants to include a few creatures in their deck instead of just for a handful of investigators.