Wizards Presents: Classes and Races (Dungeons & Dragons) Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wizards Presents: Classes and Races (Dungeons & Dragons)
Book Review: Interesting Insight
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoyed this preview book. For those of you looking for rules and "crunchy" content this book doesn't contain much. But for an intersting insight into RPG conceptual design and the thought process that goes into creating a new game this is an excellent resource.
The artwork is excellent and gives a nice peek at some of the strong visual foundations that will carry the new edition. In addition the book allows a nice "behind the scenes" look at what the design team didn't like about 3rd edition and is shooting for with 4th edition.
Overall I would say that this book, along with Wizards Presents: World's & Monsters, are a great start to begin the transition from 3rd edition to 4th. I would highly recommend both.
Book Review: A Great Preview!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm really not sure what some of these reviewers were expecting. This book is exactly what it is advertised as- a 4th Edition Preview. The book itself even says: "So, take this book as what it is - a snapshot of the 4th Edition design and development process at this point in time (August 2007)."
Every thing from the development of the evolving mechanics to new core races are revealed, as well as new and better takes on the classic races in the D&D game. This is a highly recommended book for those considering checking out the new edition and even more recommended for those nay-sayers who are down-talking 4th Edition but don't really know what they are talking about. One more thing: Evil Paladins. ;)
Book Review: It offers what is say it offers - just a teaser, not rules
Summary: 1 Stars
This book covers the philosophy behind aspects of D&D 4th ed. Without providing any details, it is like a 96 page (1) description of the design process plus a (2) high-level discussion of what several of the rule changes will be like. Given that there are almost no rules listed in the book it is useful only as a teaser and has no use in playing the game; reader reviews of the actual core rule books (once they come out) would provide similar content as was detailed. Book Review: Absolutely unnecessary waste of money
Summary: 1 Stars
Much of the info in this book is already free on forums and sites across the web. If it isn't, it should be! Tell me one other industry that charges the end user for promotional material. It's a ludicrous notion and I encourage all gamers to think about just how ridiculous it is for WOTC to ask the gamers to buy a piece of promotional marketing. This should be free and readily downloadable.
Sometimes I wonder if WOTC's marketing department sets a goal to royally p*** off their base to the point that they have driven droves of hard core gamers to other more reasonable products from manufacturers that consider their gamers wallets before simply trying to make a quick buck.
Book Review: An Interesting Behind-the-Scenes Perspective on D&D 4e
Summary: 3 Stars
"Wizards Presents: Races and Classes" was a solid preview to the long-anticipated 4th edition of the D&D RPG. On the one hand, the various articles read like blog entries--and they very well may be. This information could have been, and perhaps should have been, distributed for free on the Wizards of the Coast web site. On the other hand, being a long time RPG player (25+ years) who started with red-box D&D, I was eager to see the changes that the WotC team were making to the game, and importantly this book explains those changes from the *designers'* perspectives, giving rationales for what they changed and why. This behind-the-scenes perspective was captivating, and after reading it I was far more favorably disposed to giving D&D 4e a try.