Mystic Eye said:
I don't comment on the quality of other publishers products, bias and all that. I did just pick up WAR yesterday but I have not read it yet. There is a full review of it at Gamewyrd.com
This may impact your buying descision on this product.
I normally don't comment on reviews, but I'm rather unhappy with this one. I wrote the bulk of chapter 2, and while I'm more than happy to accept negative comments, in this case I don't think the reviewer gave the book more than a casual skim.
First, the reviewer derides the inclusion of the footman prestige class, noting "A humble footman is, it seems, worthy of becoming a prestige class. When has being one of the masses counted as belonging to a prestige group?"
Had he read that class's description, he would have seen that the *gnomish* footman is a small warrior trained to fight in close quarters with taller comrades. It's a prestige class designed for gnome and halfling fighters. I can't understand how he could have made such a comment unless he didn't bother to read the prestige class description and its abilities. While footman is not the most colorful name in the world (it's a play on the class's role, fighting at the foot of another warrior) the reviewer's reaction to it leads me to believe he simple noted the class's name before moving on to the next section.
Second inaccuracy from the review:
"The contents here range from uninspired to entirely out of place. Power shot or power throw, are two sample feats. I think there must now be over a hundred different minute variations on Cleave."
While Power Shot is a ranged Cleave variant (and one that I am quite happy with) Power Throw has nothing to do with Cleave. It is a feat that allows you to pick up a grappled opponent and throw him, with rules for resolving attacks made by throwing an opponent at an enemy. I really don't see how that could possibly be construed as a variation on Cleave. Again, I fail to see how he could make such an error unless he didn't read the Power Throw description. Power Throw doesn't even include Cleave as a prereq. I can only assume that the reviewer read Power Shot and assumed that Power Throw was the same thing applied to thrown weapons.
It isn't.
I'm more than happy to take my lumps for what a reviewer sees as a product's shortcomings. However, I believe that a review is unworthy of publication in any format when the author clearly has not bothered to thoroghly read the book. I don't care if a review is a glowing endorsement or a decanter of endless vitriol, so long as the review takes the time to actually read the book through.
As for WAR's overall quality, it's an AEG sourcebook, so it probably focuses more on background information and commentary than mechanics. I haven't read it (apart from the sections I wrote) and I wouldn't know the mass combat rules if they sat down next to me on the subway, so I cannot comment on their quality or utility.
Thanks.
- Mearls
