JoeGKushner
Adventurer
The Alliance & Horde Compendium expands the player options in the world of Warcraft with new races, PrCs, feats and even mass combat. This updates the Warcraft setting to after the expansion pack, The Frozen Throne.
New races include the Naga, Blood Elf, Furblog and Pandaren among others. The good news is that each race has background information, appearance, region, affiliation and racial traits. The bad news is the information is repeated latter on. For example, under Naga, we find out that they were crushed to the bottom of the ocean after summoning great magics and that their only real allies on the surface are the blood elves. Reading about the naga latter reveals some details after those bits of background are repeated.
Also important to those who felt that the core Warcraft book was light is the introduction of several prestige classes that I'd consider 'core' for the Warcraft setting like the Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Necromancer, Warmage and Windrider. Others like the Primal and Marksman are important, but not quite so important as the previous ones.
The prestige classes are broken up into two columns of text with background information, requirements, and all skills and abilities. Unfortunately, the formatting is a little generous in its use of white space. Between pages 26, 29, 32, 37, and 42, I feel like I'm missing another three whole pages of text. Surely some more background details or even examples could've been used to fill that blank space?
Still, that's a relatively minor complaint. The important thing is you can now play a demon hunter, an individual who blinds himself to gain extraordinary sense and a blade capable of hunting demons or a death knight who gains a rune sword that grows in power as he grows in strength. I find that these weapons which are tied to the character and are part of his background, are useful in making each character unique and less reliant on outside items.
Only one new skill is introduced, Military Commander, as a profession. This is meant for the unit combat described latter in the book. More useful are the new feats. Several of these are tied into unit combat or even siege combat. For example, Exotic Weapon Profiency Siege Weapons and the various Siege Weapons feats, are all meant for those who attack castles or use such weapons in the field. Because siege weapons are so used in the RTS, I can understand them being included here.
The commander feats range in giving your allies bonuses to saving throws to combat bonuses. Others are great for those who want more out of their bow use. For example, Ranged Cleave, Ranged Disarm and Ranged Sunder, all make bow masters much more deadly. Those who uses knives shouldn't feel too left out as they now have Ricochet Shot, which lets you bounce a thrown weapon onto another target within 5 feet of the original.
Many of these feats have a high fantasy feel to them and might be inappropriate for low powered games. Many of them seem a tad too powerful depending on game play, but will help capture that heroic feel of Warcraft. Some may be too powerful for almost any game like Stand at Deaths' Door. Here, when your hit points drop below 20, you get a damage bonus equal to 20 minus your current number of hit points. Powerful stuff there.
Now new rules in terms of races, feats and prestige classes is all good and useful, but what about the non-mechanical stuff? The section Choosing Sides updates the setting to the events of the Frozen Throne. Lots of repeated information here as each race looks at recent events through its own eyes. If I read about how Arthus has become the single most powerful entity alive one more time I would've screamed. A quick timeline of events might've sufficed for it.
Those other races introduced here are detailed as to where they fit in terms of alliance, horde or independent. Many of the newcomers here are independent like the naga, blood elves and pandaren. Others are updated like the jungle trolls, a pack of jungle trolls who were saved by Thrall and his orcs and now work for the horde. Good reading for those who enjoy the Warcraft world and want some more details on the background of events.
The last section talks about using Cry Havoc's engine with Warcraft. Now I really enjoyed that book and use it for smaller combats as opposed to Fields of Blood. I also use it when I have units that aren't all of one creature type. However, much like the book from which it's drawn, immediate use is limited as there are no example units. Now perhaps some of the rules could've been trimmed here as it does note, “please see Skip Williams's Cry Havoc.” Without the units, this section of the book is going to take a long time to get some use as the GM now has to calculate all of the unit combat statistics and put units together. Mind numbing numbers crunching is how best I put it when making my own units for my Forgotten Realms campaign. I don't see it getting any easier here. Heck, the book They don't even include a blank unit sheet to make your units with.
I'm really hoping that we'll see a bonus download with sample units and perhaps even some material to use this with Eden's Fields of Blood, since it has a realm management system that can be used to mirror the RTS Warcraft game.
One of my complaints about some White Wolf books, especially their Creature Collection books, is that the art isn't up to their standards. No fear of that account here. The art here is some of the best I've seen in a role playing game. The full page chapter breaks might be a little too much but the illustrations between chapters are great. The interior art includes David Griffith, Samwise Didier and R&M, among others, who do a great job of illustrating the entire book. I'd say that there is no substandard art here. Layout is standard two column and is crisp and clean, but sometimes too clean as white space could've been worked out more. Pirce is a little high for a 128 page book which was originally going to be a 144 page book for $2 more.
The Alliance & Horde Compendium is not good for the person thinking that they'll be able to use it to instantly to recreate unit combat in d20 using Cry Havoc but does provide you the tools you need to eventually do such yourself. The Alliance & Horde Compendium is perfect for those who felt that the original book left out too many vital prestige classes. It's great for those who want the extra races and material from the Frozen Throne.
Reviewer's Note: For those seeking information on what Cry Havoc is about, my D20 Magazine Review should prove useful.
Cry Havoc Review
New races include the Naga, Blood Elf, Furblog and Pandaren among others. The good news is that each race has background information, appearance, region, affiliation and racial traits. The bad news is the information is repeated latter on. For example, under Naga, we find out that they were crushed to the bottom of the ocean after summoning great magics and that their only real allies on the surface are the blood elves. Reading about the naga latter reveals some details after those bits of background are repeated.
Also important to those who felt that the core Warcraft book was light is the introduction of several prestige classes that I'd consider 'core' for the Warcraft setting like the Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Necromancer, Warmage and Windrider. Others like the Primal and Marksman are important, but not quite so important as the previous ones.
The prestige classes are broken up into two columns of text with background information, requirements, and all skills and abilities. Unfortunately, the formatting is a little generous in its use of white space. Between pages 26, 29, 32, 37, and 42, I feel like I'm missing another three whole pages of text. Surely some more background details or even examples could've been used to fill that blank space?
Still, that's a relatively minor complaint. The important thing is you can now play a demon hunter, an individual who blinds himself to gain extraordinary sense and a blade capable of hunting demons or a death knight who gains a rune sword that grows in power as he grows in strength. I find that these weapons which are tied to the character and are part of his background, are useful in making each character unique and less reliant on outside items.
Only one new skill is introduced, Military Commander, as a profession. This is meant for the unit combat described latter in the book. More useful are the new feats. Several of these are tied into unit combat or even siege combat. For example, Exotic Weapon Profiency Siege Weapons and the various Siege Weapons feats, are all meant for those who attack castles or use such weapons in the field. Because siege weapons are so used in the RTS, I can understand them being included here.
The commander feats range in giving your allies bonuses to saving throws to combat bonuses. Others are great for those who want more out of their bow use. For example, Ranged Cleave, Ranged Disarm and Ranged Sunder, all make bow masters much more deadly. Those who uses knives shouldn't feel too left out as they now have Ricochet Shot, which lets you bounce a thrown weapon onto another target within 5 feet of the original.
Many of these feats have a high fantasy feel to them and might be inappropriate for low powered games. Many of them seem a tad too powerful depending on game play, but will help capture that heroic feel of Warcraft. Some may be too powerful for almost any game like Stand at Deaths' Door. Here, when your hit points drop below 20, you get a damage bonus equal to 20 minus your current number of hit points. Powerful stuff there.
Now new rules in terms of races, feats and prestige classes is all good and useful, but what about the non-mechanical stuff? The section Choosing Sides updates the setting to the events of the Frozen Throne. Lots of repeated information here as each race looks at recent events through its own eyes. If I read about how Arthus has become the single most powerful entity alive one more time I would've screamed. A quick timeline of events might've sufficed for it.
Those other races introduced here are detailed as to where they fit in terms of alliance, horde or independent. Many of the newcomers here are independent like the naga, blood elves and pandaren. Others are updated like the jungle trolls, a pack of jungle trolls who were saved by Thrall and his orcs and now work for the horde. Good reading for those who enjoy the Warcraft world and want some more details on the background of events.
The last section talks about using Cry Havoc's engine with Warcraft. Now I really enjoyed that book and use it for smaller combats as opposed to Fields of Blood. I also use it when I have units that aren't all of one creature type. However, much like the book from which it's drawn, immediate use is limited as there are no example units. Now perhaps some of the rules could've been trimmed here as it does note, “please see Skip Williams's Cry Havoc.” Without the units, this section of the book is going to take a long time to get some use as the GM now has to calculate all of the unit combat statistics and put units together. Mind numbing numbers crunching is how best I put it when making my own units for my Forgotten Realms campaign. I don't see it getting any easier here. Heck, the book They don't even include a blank unit sheet to make your units with.
I'm really hoping that we'll see a bonus download with sample units and perhaps even some material to use this with Eden's Fields of Blood, since it has a realm management system that can be used to mirror the RTS Warcraft game.
One of my complaints about some White Wolf books, especially their Creature Collection books, is that the art isn't up to their standards. No fear of that account here. The art here is some of the best I've seen in a role playing game. The full page chapter breaks might be a little too much but the illustrations between chapters are great. The interior art includes David Griffith, Samwise Didier and R&M, among others, who do a great job of illustrating the entire book. I'd say that there is no substandard art here. Layout is standard two column and is crisp and clean, but sometimes too clean as white space could've been worked out more. Pirce is a little high for a 128 page book which was originally going to be a 144 page book for $2 more.
The Alliance & Horde Compendium is not good for the person thinking that they'll be able to use it to instantly to recreate unit combat in d20 using Cry Havoc but does provide you the tools you need to eventually do such yourself. The Alliance & Horde Compendium is perfect for those who felt that the original book left out too many vital prestige classes. It's great for those who want the extra races and material from the Frozen Throne.
Reviewer's Note: For those seeking information on what Cry Havoc is about, my D20 Magazine Review should prove useful.
Cry Havoc Review
