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Rating: 
Summary: Good System Easy Learn
Review: Before I get into this I need to state that the ONLY reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because the book doesn't go into GMing enough IMO. It doesn't go into how a good GM is orgnized or how to make good quests or any of that. Because of this you need a good (and probably experienced) GM if you are going to get into the game enough to love it before you quit because of frustration with a new incompetant GM. If you are going to be a new GM and have never been in charge before then I would recomend that you pick up the 3e. D&D DM book and read the sections pretaining specifically to how to make quests, how to make rulings, and how to keep orgnized.Other then that one point I cannot express enough what a wonderful system this is. It is much easier to learn then every other pen and paper RPG I have seen yet. It goes into detail where detail is required and moves on when the point is made. There are MANY races to play and unlike D&D it doesn't get bogged down in too many details on the races. It gives the benifits and harms of each race as well as a breif outline of what they are like. No name outlines, no complicated benifits or harms (for the most part), and most of all the format is clean looking and keeps things down to as few words as possible without making things over simplified.
Rating:
Summary: Good System Easy Learn
Review: Before I get into this I need to state that the ONLY reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because the book doesn't go into GMing enough IMO. It doesn't go into how a good GM is orgnized or how to make good quests or any of that. Because of this you need a good (and probably experienced) GM if you are going to get into the game enough to love it before you quit because of frustration with a new incompetant GM. If you are going to be a new GM and have never been in charge before then I would recomend that you pick up the 3e. D&D DM book and read the sections pretaining specifically to how to make quests, how to make rulings, and how to keep orgnized. Other then that one point I cannot express enough what a wonderful system this is. It is much easier to learn then every other pen and paper RPG I have seen yet. It goes into detail where detail is required and moves on when the point is made. There are MANY races to play and unlike D&D it doesn't get bogged down in too many details on the races. It gives the benifits and harms of each race as well as a breif outline of what they are like. No name outlines, no complicated benifits or harms (for the most part), and most of all the format is clean looking and keeps things down to as few words as possible without making things over simplified.
Rating:
Summary: Good RP if it is your thing
Review: If you don't like the whole Furry thing at all then you will not like this product (just felt like I needed to say that first). As you may have guessed from the title this is an Anthropomorphic setting. For those of you who don't know what that means then let me tell you. Anthropomorphic deals with animals that have human like traits (intelegent, walk on two legs instead of all fours. Those sorts of things).
A second thing that I would warn people who are new to P&P style RPG's is that this really needs to go more into how to DM (another reviewer already went into it so I will leave it there).
I have played a lot of D20 systems and the system used gets around a lot of the set backs in them. Basically, for most everything you do there are multipule dice that you roll (how many and what size depends on your skill) and the highest result determines what happens. Another thing is that all dice rolls will be opposed. Sometimes your opposition is as simple as the difficulty dice (determined by how hard what you are trying to do is) while other times it is rolling against someone elses skill dice.
There are many races and a large selection of careers. There is a ready made world that tells you the basics of the world and lets you fill in the rest as you wish (there are more details about the world on the company's web page if you want to go DL them).
The biggest problem with the book is that from time to time I find problems with spelling or orgnization. For example, I have looked at the book cover to cover because there are refrences made to guns in the book, yet no information other than that about guns.
Rating:
Summary: A complex, yet entertaining RPG
Review: Okay, let's get something straight here. If you're not into the whole furry thing, your opinion of this game may vary. If you hate the whole area (too much Doug Winger?), I suggest you avoid this game. That said, Jadeclaw is nonetheless one of the more entertaining RPGs I've played in recent years. The setting is Zhongguo, a rich nation based heavily on medieval China and populated with anthropomorphic creatures. Using the same ruleset from the Ironclaw RPG, Jadeclaw fails to streamline a clunky system, yet pulls out plenty of new tricks to keep the game entertaining. The dice system's flaws really show in combat - you roll to-hit, and your opponent rolls defense. If you get the higher score, you have the chance to do damage -- but your opponent gets to roll a Resolve check to prevent the damage. The endless chain of dice rolls, coupled with the bonuses and penalties applied to them, makes combat go even slower than it does in the typical RPG session. Nonetheless, the variety shown here is impressive. Nearly 30 different races can be chosen, each one built from a system that, despite the difficulty of combat, makes it quite easy to add new races that were not listed. Also a wonderful feature are the martial arts: easy-to-purchase Gifts that can do anything from let you parry twice with a sword to leap over your opponent's head and attack him from behind. And that's just the basic ones! The introductory adventure that comes with the game leaves something to be desired, although it's not too difficult to link it into an overarching storyline. However, the lack of supplemental adventures all but demands a talented GM. Overall, Jadeclaw is a game that, although difficult to learn, is different enough to capture your attention and good enough to keep you entertained.
Rating:
Summary: A complex, yet entertaining RPG
Review: Okay, let's get something straight here. If you're not into the whole furry thing, your opinion of this game may vary. If you hate the whole area (too much Doug Winger?), I suggest you avoid this game. That said, Jadeclaw is nonetheless one of the more entertaining RPGs I've played in recent years. The setting is Zhongguo, a rich nation based heavily on medieval China and populated with anthropomorphic creatures. Using the same ruleset from the Ironclaw RPG, Jadeclaw fails to streamline a clunky system, yet pulls out plenty of new tricks to keep the game entertaining. The dice system's flaws really show in combat - you roll to-hit, and your opponent rolls defense. If you get the higher score, you have the chance to do damage -- but your opponent gets to roll a Resolve check to prevent the damage. The endless chain of dice rolls, coupled with the bonuses and penalties applied to them, makes combat go even slower than it does in the typical RPG session. Nonetheless, the variety shown here is impressive. Nearly 30 different races can be chosen, each one built from a system that, despite the difficulty of combat, makes it quite easy to add new races that were not listed. Also a wonderful feature are the martial arts: easy-to-purchase Gifts that can do anything from let you parry twice with a sword to leap over your opponent's head and attack him from behind. And that's just the basic ones! The introductory adventure that comes with the game leaves something to be desired, although it's not too difficult to link it into an overarching storyline. However, the lack of supplemental adventures all but demands a talented GM. Overall, Jadeclaw is a game that, although difficult to learn, is different enough to capture your attention and good enough to keep you entertained.
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