Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game

Rating:
Summary: The info seems outdated
Review: Admittedly when I heard about a Warcraft setting being made I was skeptical. Having not had much experience with White Wolf/ Sword and Sorcery, never having been a Vampire player, I didn't know what to think. Yet I had seen Ravenloft and others so I had hope.
Though some minor errors and small quibbles exist, the Warcraft setting is a thoroughly enjoyable source book. A wealth of information is given on the basic aspects needed to start and understand a Warcraft campaign, short of monsters of course.
The modified classes are simply changed but in a manner that makes for a fairly different experience, and the prestiges are for once actually worth aiming for.
The influence of Blizzard on the setting is very apparent and something to be thankful for, though some changes are given for the most part it truly carries the feel of the Warcraft world game players have come to enjoy.
Definately a good addition to anyones dnd Library.

Rating:
Summary: Good for fans of either...
Review: At first I was uncertain about this book, but I was pleasantly surprisd. Unlike the diablo rpg conversions which tried too hard to force the computer game into an rpg form and ended up with a barely playable copy of the computer game, Warcraft takes the Warcraft setting and adapts it for d20 wonderfully.

Instead of seeming forced, this book provides an excellent system that fans of either d20 or Warcraft should appreciate, without detracting from the quality of either game.

Rating:
Summary: For the theme info alone.
Review: I am not a person who enjoys Tabletop Roleplaying. I bought this book because I wanted more indepth information on the races and cultures of Warcraft, and I wasn't dissapointed.
BUT, I have noticed some inconsistencies between this Books History of Azeroth, and the history presented to us in the Warcraft PC games manuels. For example, this RPG handbook tells us that Orgrim Doomhammer was Warchief at the time of the First War, when in fact an orc named Blackhand was the Warchief. <Though Blackhand was a pawn of the Shadowcouncil.>

Rating:
Summary: For the theme info alone.
Review: I am not a person who enjoys Tabletop Roleplaying. I bought this book because I wanted more indepth information on the races and cultures of Warcraft, and I wasn't dissapointed.
BUT, I have noticed some inconsistencies between this Books History of Azeroth, and the history presented to us in the Warcraft PC games manuels. For example, this RPG handbook tells us that Orgrim Doomhammer was Warchief at the time of the First War, when in fact an orc named Blackhand was the Warchief.

Rating:
Summary: Much Better Than Expected
Review: I ordered this book with high hopes, but at the same time, I had a nagging feeling that it might not be all it could. However, when I recieved it, I was most pleasantly surprised
Lets start with the classes. This is not your traditional D20 D&D game, I could tell that from the getgo when it did away completely with Bards, Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Monks, and Rangers. The Core classes available to players are the standard Fighter, Barbarian, Wizard, Sorceror, and Rogue...with an additional Three new classes added. These are the Healer - A new version of the cleric with more sphere restrictions - The Scout - Personally I feel this class is what rangers should have been - and the Tinker - An inventor skilled at using a variety of odd gadgets. Why are these class changes a big deal? Because WarCraft D20 puts emphasis on Prestige classes like no other D20 D&D game I've ever seen.
This is a game where Prestige classes are used properly, there's more reason to work at a prestige class, in many cases it's essential to do so. For Example, Wizards and Sorcerors don't have access to the Necromancy and Conjuration spheres, to get these spells, they need to take the corresponding magic-user prestige class that'd give them access. Paladins are now a prestige class as well, which is something many of us have always felt it should be - afterall, that's the sort of thing that you grow into, you shouldn't start as a Paladin. Some of the prestige classes included in this book are the Druid of the Wild, Shaman, Mounted Warrior, Paladin, and a slew of others. Each prestige class is nicely built and one can tell they didn't simply throw these together, a fault that many D&D suppliments have suffered from.
The races in the book are quite colorful, and have much more flavor than your traditional D&D races - at least that's how I felt. Orcs, Goblins, Tauren, Night Elves, High Elves, Humans, Half-Orcs, and Half-Elves are all included, each of them appearing genuinely interesting and fun to play.
As for the setting, it's quite nice, and has all of the flair of the WarCraft world. The only major downfall of the book that I've been able to find is that the maps aren't all that great - This is why I gave it a 4 star rating. I'm hoping one of the upcoming releases for this campaign gives us better maps of Azeroth. The artwork however is splendid, and some of it will be familiar to those veterans of the RTS games.
Overall I'd say this book is worth a buy if you're a fan of WarCraft or if you'd like a new - and unique - D&D setting to play in. There's an abundance of new material in here that makes the purchase worthwhile - the invention rules alone are worth it. Lets put it this way. After I bought the book I had a desire to immediatly begin working on a campaign to run, but I was worried I wouldn't be able to find anyone who'd want to play in the setting of a video game series. However, once I gave my gaming group a chance to flip through the pages, several of them were demanding that I run a game sometime soon. This isn't a shoddy tossed together joke of a campaign like the Diablo books, this is a solid, well thought out, colorful world, that is quite easily one of the best D&D settings out there right now.

Rating:
Summary: Much Better Than Expected
Review: I ordered this book with high hopes, but at the same time, I had a nagging feeling that it might not be all it could. However, when I recieved it, I was most pleasantly surprised
Lets start with the classes. This is not your traditional D20 D&D game, I could tell that from the getgo when it did away completely with Bards, Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Monks, and Rangers. The Core classes available to players are the standard Fighter, Barbarian, Wizard, Sorceror, and Rogue...with an additional Three new classes added. These are the Healer - A new version of the cleric with more sphere restrictions - The Scout - Personally I feel this class is what rangers should have been - and the Tinker - An inventor skilled at using a variety of odd gadgets. Why are these class changes a big deal? Because WarCraft D20 puts emphasis on Prestige classes like no other D20 D&D game I've ever seen.
This is a game where Prestige classes are used properly, there's more reason to work at a prestige class, in many cases it's essential to do so. For Example, Wizards and Sorcerors don't have access to the Necromancy and Conjuration spheres, to get these spells, they need to take the corresponding magic-user prestige class that'd give them access. Paladins are now a prestige class as well, which is something many of us have always felt it should be - afterall, that's the sort of thing that you grow into, you shouldn't start as a Paladin. Some of the prestige classes included in this book are the Druid of the Wild, Shaman, Mounted Warrior, Paladin, and a slew of others. Each prestige class is nicely built and one can tell they didn't simply throw these together, a fault that many D&D suppliments have suffered from.
The races in the book are quite colorful, and have much more flavor than your traditional D&D races - at least that's how I felt. Orcs, Goblins, Tauren, Night Elves, High Elves, Humans, Half-Orcs, and Half-Elves are all included, each of them appearing genuinely interesting and fun to play.
As for the setting, it's quite nice, and has all of the flair of the WarCraft world. The only major downfall of the book that I've been able to find is that the maps aren't all that great - This is why I gave it a 4 star rating. I'm hoping one of the upcoming releases for this campaign gives us better maps of Azeroth. The artwork however is splendid, and some of it will be familiar to those veterans of the RTS games.
Overall I'd say this book is worth a buy if you're a fan of WarCraft or if you'd like a new - and unique - D&D setting to play in. There's an abundance of new material in here that makes the purchase worthwhile - the invention rules alone are worth it. Lets put it this way. After I bought the book I had a desire to immediatly begin working on a campaign to run, but I was worried I wouldn't be able to find anyone who'd want to play in the setting of a video game series. However, once I gave my gaming group a chance to flip through the pages, several of them were demanding that I run a game sometime soon. This isn't a shoddy tossed together joke of a campaign like the Diablo books, this is a solid, well thought out, colorful world, that is quite easily one of the best D&D settings out there right now.

Rating:
Summary: For the Theme Info alone....
Review: This book is great even for those like myself who don't enjoy playing Live Action Roleplaying Games. The info on the world of Warcraft and its cultures and races is more than enough for me.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting RPG
Review: This RPG setting is sure to be a favorite of every Warcraft fan.

It provides a lot of lore information, and it was made with Blizzard's input so it is "cannon". The races and classes are all pretty interesting, and there are plenty of new feats and spells. I previously played Forgotten Realms, but got tired of the setting because it lacked "color." I'd definitely say the Warcraft RPG has "color," and that's what counts.

My two complaints: The tinker's technology creation abilities are way way too open to exploitation as they currently stand. I'd advise a DM to carefully lay out for his players what they can and can't create to avoid unbalancing a campaign.

Also, I wish this book had more information. For example, the necromancer prestige class, the blood elf race, and the gnome race are three very important parts of the Warcraft universe but they were not included in this book. Instead they can be found in the Alliance and Horde Compendium. You pretty much need this book, the A&HC, and the Warcraft Monster Manual to run a campaign.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting RPG
Review: This RPG setting is sure to be a favorite of every Warcraft fan.

It provides a lot of lore information, and it was made with Blizzard's input so it is "cannon". The races and classes are all pretty interesting, and there are plenty of new feats and spells. I previously played Forgotten Realms, but got tired of the setting because it lacked "color." I'd definitely say the Warcraft RPG has "color," and that's what counts.

My two complaints: The tinker's technology creation abilities are way way too open to exploitation as they currently stand. I'd advise a DM to carefully lay out for his players what they can and can't create to avoid unbalancing a campaign.

Also, I wish this book had more information. For example, the necromancer prestige class, the blood elf race, and the gnome race are three very important parts of the Warcraft universe but they were not included in this book. Instead they can be found in the Alliance and Horde Compendium. You pretty much need this book, the A&HC, and the Warcraft Monster Manual to run a campaign.

Rating:
Summary: The info seems outdated
Review: When reading the book it seems that there was very little teamwork with blizzard and the writers of this book.
Everything relates to WC3 and TFT during its release date but any new info after that time isnt in the book and sometimes disprooves what the book has to say. the only reason i bought this book is for WC lore. Luckily half the book has history on many of the places in Azeroth, hopefully Blizzards history and this books history match up.