If you're not careful, a project like D&D World of Warcraft can be a poisoned chalice. It'd be easy to fall into the trap of just rehashing the MMO that inspired it, key-jangling your audience with nostalgic-yet-empty references that ultimately ring hollow. In much the same way, the two franchises share enough DNA to be siblings – finding something new and not retreading old ground in one of the best tabletop RPGs is easier said than done.
After a few days rifling through this book, though, I'd say it's clear that the team at Wizards of the Coast have been able to thread that needle. D&D World of Warcraft manages to serve both its audiences well with compelling new challenges for one and a meaningful opportunity to explore beyond the edge of the MMO map for another. There's obviously room to improve and expand here, just like the video game it's based on. However, first impressions suggest this is sweet wine rather than toxin.
The physical version of D&D World of Warcraft is currently up for pre-order ahead of a November 17 release date, but if you have a Master Tier subscription at D&D Beyond, you can access the digital file right now.
While it's appealing enough to galavant across Azeroth on tabletop (with each continent and conflict detailed in a busy worldbuilding chapter), let's be honest: one of the real draws for this book is its classes. A grand total of 13 are introduced in the first chapter, and they act as subclasses for D&D's core class list. While many are reskinned or edited versions of existing Dungeons & Dragons builds, a few are entirely new. By and large, they work well – but from what I've seen, it's a sliding scale.
First, the good. Some really do add a compelling, shiny new toy for us to play with, and chief amongst these are the three 'Hero' classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Evoker. The implacable Death Knight got an "oh, damn" out of me as we progressed from powerful Runeforging and ghostly steeds that can pass through foes to deadly spells that will make your allies very grateful you're on their side. Meanwhile, the Demon Hunter is a force to be reckoned with long before you consider Soul Fragments that let you regain health and damage foes in one fell swoop… or start double-jumping like goddamn Super Mario.
While these Hero classes are only available from level 3 (which makes sense in-universe, what with them representing the best of the best), they're appealing no matter whether you're coming at this as a D&D player wanting something new or a WoW veteran hoping to recreate their favorite character.
At the other end of the scale are classes that feel a bit too similar to their D&D equivalent. Despite some revolving around specializations that help them avoid being lost in the shuffle (like the Hunter's emphasis on pets, the Monk's focus on Mystic Brews, or Druid's beast forms with bespoke powers), it's more an extension of something we already have rather than a completely novel approach. The Warrior is particularly thin, with just a few new Battle Master maneuvers beyond what D&D Fighters normally get.
That's not a huge problem, of course, and I may change my tune once I've dug into them some more. Nonetheless, I have a feeling some of these classes will shine brighter than others.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.gamesradar.com/tabletop-gaming/d-and-d-world-of-warcraft-is-like-mmo-loot-with-some-hits-and-misses-but-overall-it-lives-up-to-the-promise
