Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game [Hardcover]

Arthaus (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Arthaus (July 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588460711
• ISBN-13: 978-1588460714
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,223,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Than Expected, August 10, 2003

By 

Tristan M Danner (St Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game (Hardcover)

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for fans of either..., September 30, 2003

By 

Wilder "nizkateth" (ME, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game (Hardcover)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alleviating fears, January 16, 2004

By 

S. Crofford "Crofford the Younger" (BC Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game (Hardcover)

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.