Wizards of the Coast has revealed new details about its official crossover book, Dungeons & Dragons: World of Warcraft, a 256-page gameplay expansion arriving November 17, 2026. Developed with Blizzard Entertainment, the book was reviewed by the WoW team to ensure the lore reflects the game as it stands today.
The release taps into high nostalgia for Azeroth, with Blizzard's WoW Forever, a reimagined take on classic WoW, currently in beta ahead of its November 4 launch. The designers say that same nostalgia ran through the making of the book.
Seven iconic dungeons rebuilt
The headline feature is a set of seven World of Warcraft dungeons rebuilt for tabletop play: Azjol-Nerub, Blackfathom Deeps, Deadmines, Dire Maul, Onyxia's Lair, Scarlet Monastery and Shadowfang Keep.
Players expecting a straight copy of the game should think again. Many WoW dungeons are essentially long corridors, which works when the fun is in combat but falls flat in D&D. So the dungeons have been expanded with secret passages, alternative routes and ways to sneak up on bosses.
The Deadmines now includes tunnels taken from the area beneath Moonbrook, complete with undead miners still working long after death. Dire Maul keeps its famous ogre tribute run, where players trick their way to becoming king of the ogres and are showered with treasure. Bosses also won't respawn. Leave a dungeon halfway through and something new will have moved in by the time you return.
No mana bars and no corpse runs
The book is very much D&D set in Azeroth rather than WoW on paper. There is no mana system, no endless loot grinding and no spirit healers. Death works exactly as it does in normal D&D.
Raids have been reworked for smaller groups too, on the basis that getting five friends around a table is hard enough without trying to find 40. The designers even joked that the perfect time to play is Tuesday morning, while the WoW servers are down for maintenance.
The jawless warlock who threw his arm
The Shadowfang Keep dungeon was playtested at Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California, with staff from across the company, some of whom had never played D&D before.
One first-timer playing an undead warlock decided he couldn't cast a spell because he had no lower jaw to speak the words. So he pulled off his own arm and threw it at the boss instead. That session convinced the team that boss fights needed far more attention, leading to "mythic" bosses that change their abilities and refill their health when knocked down, much like the multi-phase fights WoW players know well.
Dragons, demons and the Lich King
The bestiary ranges from tiny Fel Imps all the way up to the Lich King. WoW's dragons share colours with D&D's but work very differently. Blue dragons, for instance, breathe a "spell freeze" that shuts down magic as well as freezing enemies.
The demons of the Burning Legion wield fel fire that burns the body and corrupts the mind, while the hulking, stitched-together Abomination brings a reeking aura that damages anyone standing nearby. Fan favourites including Sylvanas, Illidan, Jaina Proudmoore and Arthas all get stats, with their raid mechanics simplified for the table. Players frozen by Jaina can discover that fire damage thaws them out.
Professions, reputation and pets
The book also adapts WoW's gathering and crafting professions, letting skilled blacksmiths forge magic items without being spellcasters. More than 20 factions offer reputation rewards from Friendly up to Exalted, and the dragon Aspects can effectively grant a wish to players they favour. And yes, there are pets.
Content runs up to the Midnight expansion, including the new Haranir species and the Devourer Demon Hunter. The book is designed to work for newcomers as well as veterans, with the team saying some players have started playing WoW after first discovering Azeroth around the table. Translations into German, French, Italian and Spanish are planned.
