Dungeons & Dragons: World of Warcraft is less than a month away, and one of the designers behind it has opened up about how the MMO was turned into a tabletop game. James Wyatt, a principal game designer at Wizards of the Coast, sat down with IGN at New York Comic Con for an interview published today (October 17th). He talked about how the World of Warcraft classes work in D&D, how the dungeons were picked, the separate Icecrown Citadel adventure, and whether he wants to make a second book.
The biggest takeaway is that the book plays like D&D set in Azeroth. Some fans had worried it would lean too hard into combat and scripted dungeons, and Wyatt said that is close to the opposite of what the team wanted. "The beauty of D&D is that when you walk into Shadowfang Keep, you can talk to anybody you meet, you can interact with anything you can see," he said, adding that a Dungeon Master can improvise in ways no developer can program into a video game.
Check out the official reveal trailer for the book below:
A Great Big Toolbox
Wyatt said the seven dungeons in the book get a light touch. Each one comes with a map and the bosses players are expected to run into, while everything in between is left to improv, with tables to roll on if the group wants a fight. He described the book as "a great big toolbox," with character options, monsters, dungeons, and guidelines for building a campaign.
The dungeons were chosen with a few things in mind. The book opens with a section on the six major conflicts that have driven most of WoW's expansions, and Wyatt said every dungeon ties into those themes. He also looked at a popularity ranking on a wiki to see which dungeons fans love most, then cut a much bigger list down to what fit the page count and the different level ranges.
When asked if players could talk Arthas out of his plans or steal the Helm of Domination, Wyatt kept it simple. "Theoretically. You can certainly try," he said. "And that's again the beauty of it, that you can talk to anybody."
Classes, Specs, And Arthas
For the classes, Wyatt said he went for paraphrase instead of translation. He went through each class's abilities and talent trees, then looked for things D&D already had and spots where new spells, feats, or Battle Master maneuvers could capture the most iconic parts of each spec. "Talents are really fiddly in WoW and D&D mechanics are not that fiddly," he said, joking that nobody told him being a writer would involve so many spreadsheets.
That makes the classes a little broader than they are in the MMO. A D&D Paladin is both a healer and a tank no matter what, and a Priest can wear more than cloth armor. Wyatt pointed out that the lore already works this way: "They keep saying Anduin is a priest and there he is in plate armor with his sword." The new Devourer Demon Hunter spec from Midnight also made it in. Wyatt said he made one as soon as he got into the beta, then added new spells to the Demon Hunter's existing Havoc and Vengeance setup.
As for the Lich King, he is challenge rating 25, while D&D characters cap out at level 20. Wyatt said the fight is built to capture the feeling of the raid encounter, with plenty that will feel familiar, instead of copying every mechanic.
Icecrown Citadel And Reputation
Onyxia's Lair is the only raid in the main book, but Icecrown Citadel is getting its own release. The Icecrown Citadel Adventure Map Pack comes with five double-sided poster maps of the boss fights, plus a code for a digital adventure. Wyatt also said the book's tools let groups adapt any dungeon they want, recalling that he ran Blackfathom Deeps 20 years ago by downloading the map and making up stats for nagas.
The book uses D&D's optional renown rules for WoW's reputation system, but without the grind. In the Icecrown adventure, players earn renown with the Ashen Verdict as they go, getting their rings upgraded and collecting pieces of Shadowmourne along the way. Wyatt said he planned it so players reach 50 renown "just about the time you kill the Lich King." Chromie also wrote the book's introduction and left little notes throughout, which Wyatt said gives readers permission to ignore canon and make their own timeline.
Wyatt Wants A Second Book
Wyatt made it clear he would love to come back for more. "I keep saying that if I get to do another World of Warcraft book, I might postpone my retirement a little bit in order to work on it," he said. He admitted the book does not spend much time on The War Within and Midnight, and that there is almost nothing about Xal'atath in it. "Would've loved to give her a stat block, but she didn't sort of make the cut," he said. He is already keeping a list for a possible follow-up, and said adding Forever's new elven lineage could make a good D&D Beyond drop down the line.
What Is In The Book
Wizards of the Coast announced the book at Gen Con back in July as the first D&D Universes Beyond release, made together with Blizzard Entertainment. It covers all 13 WoW classes with 9 new and reworked subclasses and over 40 specializations, 16 species including the Dracthyr, Draenei, Earthen, Forsaken, Pandaren, Tauren, Vulpera, and Worgen, more than 60 spells, over 25 magic items including mounts, 50+ monsters, 30 dungeon boss stat blocks, and over 20 factions with renown rewards. The dungeons are Azjol-Nerub, Blackfathom Deeps, Deadmines, Dire Maul, Onyxia's Lair, Scarlet Monastery, and Shadowfang Keep. The book releases next month (November 17th), with early access at local game stores starting November 3rd. The Icecrown Citadel Adventure Map Pack sells separately for $29.99 and covers levels 16 to 20.
Are you planning to recreate your WoW main for the tabletop, or are you more excited to finally take a D&D party through Icecrown Citadel?
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