Warlock: D&D Game Expands Darkon with New Monsters and Magic

Ever wondered what it's like to dive into the darkest corners of Dungeons & Dragons without rolling a single die? Well, get ready, because Warlock from Invoke Studios is about to take you there.

Announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live, Warlock is a third-person single-player adventure that puts you directly in control of Kaatri, a protagonist who's not afraid to get her hands dirty. Set beyond the Mists of Darkon, you'll make a pact with the warlock Taasha to wield sinister magic, and it sounds like the developers were given a surprising amount of creative freedom to expand the D&D universe.

In a chat with GameSpot, Invoke's general manager Dominic Guay and VP Jeff Hattem shared some exciting details. "We're building on the franchise, we're expanding it," they said. "We're going to the Domains of Dread, which is one of the darker fantasy corners of D&D. And the monster manual is filled with a whole bunch of monsters to choose from, and we're expanding on that as well. The magical spells as well, we're taking what's built into D&D and expanding. We're creating some new stuff as well for players and reimagining some older spells from previous editions."

Unlike Baldur's Gate 3, which relied on dice rolls and turn-based combat, Warlock gives you direct control over Kaatri as she wields both magic and melee weapons. It's a straight-up action experience, but that doesn't mean it's shallow. The team emphasized that magic is at the core of the Warlock class, and they wanted to let players express their creativity with it. "Being expressive and creative with magic is really fun when you can manipulate the elements, the world, and find an advantage over monsters because of the systems that you can impact," they explained.

So, what about the tone? If you watched the gameplay reveal with that Tool track in the background, you might have guessed it's dark. And you'd be right. "It is definitely a dark fantasy game, but it's got moments of levity and brightness and color as well," Guay and Hattem said. "We're going into Darkon, which is a huge world, an open world to explore, and it's got a varied biome of elements to explore. There's a whole wide cast of characters that have different personalities and contrasts. Just look at Tasha, she's like very chaotic and exuberant, and then you go into Darkon, there are more dark fantasy characters. So, I think there's a lot, and there's a wide range of tones, I would say, for players. It's not just one note."

Warlock is aiming to be both an entry point for newcomers and a treat for D&D veterans. Kaatri is designed as a point-of-view character to help you get familiar with the world, while veterans will spot Easter eggs and references throughout. "I think like if you want a fully realized adventure that you can play in the setting of DnD, and see some of the spells that you really like, some of the monsters that you're familiar with, realized into an action-adventure, this is the game for you," they concluded.

Scheduled for a 2027 release, Warlock features the voices of Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as Kaatri and Maggie Robertson, who previously played Orin the Red in Baldur's Gate 3. Are you ready to step into the Domains of Dread? Let us know what you think!