D&D: World of Warcraft Is a Love Letter to Tabletop, Not an MMO Clone

Ever wondered what it would be like to sit around a table with friends and explore Azeroth as a pen-and-paper adventure? Dungeons & Dragons: World of Warcraft is almost here, and it's shaping up to be a massive expansion for the tabletop game. But will it feel like the MMO or a traditional D&D game? We caught up with Wizards of the Coast principal game designer James Wyatt at New York Comic Con to find out.

Wyatt made it clear that this isn't about cramming WoW's complex mechanics into D&D. Instead, it's a D&D game set on Azeroth. "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. The dungeons are given a light touch—here's the map, here are the bosses—but what happens in between is up to your imagination and your DM.

For WoW players curious about D&D, Wyatt sees this as a fantastic on-ramp. "If you have that foundation of here's the WoW species, here's the WoW classes, you know the kind of character you want to make right away," he explained. The book includes a brief "What is D&D?" intro and points newcomers to D&D Beyond for resources.

Don't expect every WoW dungeon to make the cut. Wyatt said they selected dungeons that tie into the six conflicts of Azeroth, a central theme of the expansion. They also considered popularity rankings and what would work for different character levels. As for raids, Icecrown Citadel is getting a digital download adventure and a separate map pack with five double-sided poster maps for boss fights. But Wyatt encourages players to adapt any dungeon they want using the tools in the book—he himself ran Blackfathom Deeps 20 years ago with homemade stats.

Some fans worried the expansion would be too combat-focused, but Wyatt laughs that off. "That's kind of the opposite of what we were going for," he said. The possibilities open up tremendously because you have a DM who can improvise, unlike a programmed game. You can roll on tables for encounters or just explore the environment in ways you can't in the MMO.

One of Wyatt's favorite stories from a Blizzard playtest sums it up: a Forsaken Warlock with no lower jaw tried to cast a spell, it backfired, and he tore off his own arm and threw it at a monster. "That's Dungeons & Dragons in a nutshell," Wyatt said. "It's not 'What buttons do I have to press?' It's 'What can I imagine and how do I do that?'"

So whether you're a seasoned adventurer or a WoW fan ready to roll some dice, this expansion looks like it'll have plenty to offer. What do you think? Will you be picking it up?