Warcraft RPG

The Warcraft RPG may refer to both the game-book series Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game and its successor series World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game. Even though World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game replaced the previous series, both games are still referred to as the Warcraft RPG by many for simplicity's sake. World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game is also at times referred to as either the World of Warcraft RPG or WoW RPG.http://www.warcraftrpg.com/index.php?line=intro Both series are d20-based pen-and-paper RPGs from White Wolf Publishing released under their Sword & Sorcery imprint.
In 2005, White Wolf updated the rules from the previous game giving the new series the name World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game. This was done in order to tie in with the success of the World of Warcraft MMORPG and to use the Open Gaming License.A New Edition"The WoW RPG core book updates the rules from the previous Warcraft RPG game. Why, you might ask, did we make a change?Quite simply, we could not miss the opportunity to update, improve, and evolve the game in conjunction with the release of Blizzard's World of Warcraft MMORPG. More importantly, we took the significant step this time of going the OGL route so that we could freely explore and express all the facets of the Warcraft computer games in the pen-and-paper version. The end result is a game that faithfully honors the core concepts presented in the original Warcraft RPG and comes closer to the vision of the Warcraft universe as developed by Blizzard." A conversion document was released seperately explaining how to convert material from the previous game into the new system. The document also notes incompatible material that was replaced or eliminated in the new system.
==Books==
The following sortable table has a default order based on the order the books were published.
For the chronological order of where the books fit in the game world timeline, see Timeline (RPG Books Chronology).
Nine books have been listed by Blizzard as part of the Warcraft, later World of Warcraft, tabletop role-playing games. While they have been recommended on the WoW website as providing "a wealth of information about Warcraft lore". Community Manager "Bashiok" later stated that these books sometimes diverge from the established canon of lore in the Warcraft video games, though some ideas originating in the RPG books have made their way into the official Warcraft canon.
TITLE 	Date	SKU 	ISBN
Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game 	2003	17200	1-58846-071-1
Manual of Monsters 	2003	17201	1-58846-070-3
Alliance & Horde Compendium 	2003	17202	1-58846-063-0
Magic & Mayhem 	2004	17203	1-58846-954-9
Lands of Conflict 	2004	17204	1-58846-960-3
Shadows & Light 	2004	17205	1-58846-973-5
World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game	2005	17210	1-58846-781-3
More Magic and Mayhem 	2005	17211	1-58846-945-X
Lands of Mystery 	2005	17206	1-58846-784-8
Alliance Player's Guide 	2006	17207	1-58846-773-2
Horde Player's Guide 	2006	17208	1-58846-772-4
Monster Guide 	2007	17212	1-58846-936-0
Dark Factions 	2008	17213	1-58846-446-6
:Note that has not yet been used by White Wolf Publishing.
==PDF-only material==
*World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game Character Sheet
*World of Warcraft RPG Conversion Document
*World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game Preview
*Bones of Ironforge
*Lands of Mystery Extra Web Bonuses
*Lands of Mystery Extra: Blue Dragonspawn Stats
*Monster Guide Web Supplement
==Official source of lore==
Chris Metzen was in charge of the lore and used the books to expand upon things in his view of the World of Warcraft. Many things do not show up in the MMORPG due to limitations of the game's scale and other gameplay mechanics. These limitations make the game incapable of showing everything. Metzen's personal view is that the history of Azeroth is not found in just one source, but includes the RPGs, novels, comics, manuals, and games.
 "" - Chris Metzen, World of Warcraft, Behind the Scenes DVD. 
For example, in this interview, Metzen discusses a little bit about on how he uses the RPG to explain things within the World of Warcraft MMORPG.Insider Interview — with Chris Metzen: Gnomes and Trolls as Playable Races
BI: How do the Gnomes fit back into Warcraft lore? They were notably absent from Warcraft III. Where have they been?
 Metzen: 
Furthermore, Metzen discusses the RPG as an expansion to Warcraft lore within several foreword letters within the RPG as well.
From his introduction letter to Manual of Monsters:Manual of Monsters, Introduction
 - Chris Metzen (co-author), Creative Director, Blizzard Entertainment, 7/07/03 
In rebuttal to a poster that claimed that the RPG was not official, Eyonix had this to say: 
<Blockquote> </blockquote>
<Blockquote> - Eyonix</blockquote>
On the World of Warcraft official website, the Warcraft RPG is said to be an important part into getting to know more about Warcraft lore. In the "History of Warcraft" section:
 ""
In the second Ask CDev Q&A, Blizzard stated that the RPG books are not considered canon:
Many of the creatures and some of the lore expand beyond what appears in the computer game. 
Most of the books are placed chronologically before World of Warcraft, and authors in-universe such as Brann Bronzebeard cover many alternate legends believed by the people of Azeroth. Many of the books are located at earlier points in the timeline, and the culture, population factors, and other historical events have taken place or changed since the point in time that they cover. 
Many cultures have changed since the period of time when the RPG books take place, and even between the events of the books. Some cultures mentioned no longer exist at the time of World of Warcraft, and some cultures existed thousands of years before or during the War of the Ancients. Some material first introduced in the RPG was expanded upon later in other sources such as novels and manga.
==Trivia==
* Sourcebooks created for the "Dungeons & Dragons® Warcraft® the Roleplaying Game" were listed under the "Warcraft® the Roleplaying Game" on the front covers, but listed as being part of the "Dungeons & Dragons® Warcraft® the Roleplaying Game" on the back covers.
*The Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack is almost identical to the Northrend from the RPG.
*The Battle for Azeroth expansion pack incorporates noticeably more material from the RPG than the other expansions: Boralus, Tandred Proudmoore, the surname Waycrest, and Queen Azshara having octopus tentacles instead of a typical naga tail all originated in the RPG. The Nazjatar zone also take cues from the RPG Eye area.
==References==
==External links==
* Official site for World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game (no longer online, archived here)
* Wizards of the Coast: The d20 system and the Open Gaming License
* New forum for the Warcraft d20 universe
* World of Warcraft forum at The Piazza (a forum for discussing the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons)
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