Changes: Dark Factions

Dark Factions
Artist(s)	Various
Pages	224
Publication date	April 16, 2008

Revision as of 20:21, 9 April 2008

Dark Factions is a source book for the World of Warcraft RPG. The book is supposed to be released in June 2008.

Book description

Crush the Alliance AND Horde!

Naga and satyrs stir in dark places. Goblins invent crazy devices. The Atal’ai summon a bloodthirsty god. Azeroth is home to more than just the Alliance and Horde.

Discover eight new races and fifteen factions. New game elements — classes, spells, technological devices, and the like — further enhance these characters.

Contains eight new races, including naga, pandaren and satyrs.
Contains nine prestige classes, including the brewmaster, death knight, and naga anomaly.
Includes variant classes, racial iconic classes, and creature classes, allowing you to play just the sort of character you want.
Brims with new feats, spells, magic items, technological devices, and other abilities and items to decimate your opponents.
Contains information on the fifteen factions unaffiliated with the Alliance or Horde, including their leaders and strategies, narrated by famed dwarven explorer Brann Bronzebeard.
Includes two adventures to challenge heroes of any affiliation.

Dark Factions is a supplement for the World of Warcraft Roleplaying game.

ISBN: 978-1-58846-446-0[1]

Announcement

From Next WoW RPG Book: Dark Factions on the White Wolf forums:

Hi, guys!

The time seems right to announce the book following the Horde Player's Guide. The next book is called Dark Factions. It's similar to the Alliance and Horde Player's Guides, but for independent races and factions. You'll see things like naga, pandaren, satyrs, the Argent Dawn, the Cult of the Damned, the Farstriders, and such. More info to come. I think I'm giving an online interview this Wednesday evening (through Blizzplanet.com); you're welcome to come and ask questions about Dark Factions if you like.

Thanks!
_________________
Luke Johnson
WoW RPG Developer

http://www.lukejohnson.com, 06 Nov 2006

Update

This product will be in stock on Wednesday 30 April, 2008.^[1]

Interview

From...

BlizzPlanet Luke Johnson Q&A: World of Warcraft RPG: Horde Player Guide:

Dark Factions is unofficially subtitled the "Independent Player's Guide", because it's like the Alliance and Horde Player's Guides, but for independent factions and races...One of the races we cover is the pandaren. You'll see the pandaren written up as a new race, as well as at least one racial iconic class for them: the Wardancer. There's also a couple prestige classes designed with pandaren in mind. A Pandaren prestidge class is the Brewmaster, based on the hero unit in Warcraft 3. The other one is called the Pandaren Transcendent. Here's a quote:
"These are the pandaren's ultimate heroes: Spiritual avatars capable of summoning vast storms of lighting, smashing mountains with their terrible fists, and breathing winds into existence."
By the way, I should mention that Dark Factions isn't quite set in stone; everything I mention about it could, theoretically, change.-Luke Johnson, 2006-11-08

Introduction 4
Chapter 1: New Races 6
Dragonspawn 6
Dwarf, Dark Iron 8
Murloc 10
Naga 12
Pandaren 15
Quilboar 17
Satyr 19
Tuskarr 21
Vital Statistics 24
Chapter 2: Class Options 25
Equipment 25
Variant Classes 26
Aquatic Druid 26
Druid of the Nightmare 26
Martial Enchanter 27
Dark Inscriber 27
Arcane Alchemist 28
Elementalist 29
Contender 30
Lone Wolf Runemaster 31
Dungeoneer 31
Aquatic shaman 32
Shadowmage 32
Racial Iconic Classes 32
Goblin Tinker 33
Naga Mage 34
Priestess of the Tides 34
Pandaren Wardancer 35
Quilboar Thornweaver 35
Satyr Hellcaller 37
Creature Classes 38
Dragon 39
Flamewaker 41
Nerubian 43
Sea Giant 46
Vital Statistics 48
Feats 50
Chapter 3: Prestige Classes 54
Brewmaster 54
Death Knight 57
Dragonsworn 60
High Divinist 63
Naga Anomaly 66
Pandaren Transcendent 69
Scarlet Battle Mage XX
Scarlet Inquisitor XX
Subversive XX
Vindicator 81

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Chapter 4: Magic 84
Independent Faiths 86
Azshara 86
Hakkar the Soulflayer 86
The Old Gods 88
Xavius 88
The Pantheon of the Zandalar Tribe 89
The Cult of the Damned 89
Spells 89
Arcanist Spell List 89
Mage Spell List 90
Necromancer Spell List 90
Healer Spell List 90
Druid Spell List 90
Priest Spell List 90
New Healer Domains 90
Spell Descriptions 91
Magic Items 95
Armor 95
Rod 95
Wondrous Items 96
Set Items 98
Chapter 5: Technology 100
Races and Technology 100
Tech-Mods 101
Steam Armor Enhancements 103
Technological Devices 104
Chapter 6: History and Culture 112
Dark Iron Dwarf History 112
Dark Iron Dwarf Culture 113
Goblin History 114
Goblin Culture 115
Naga History 118
Naga Culture 119
Quilboar History 120
Quilboar Culture 121
Satyr History 121
Satyr Culture 122
Tuskarr History 122
Tuskarr Culture 123

Template:Column

Chapter 7: The Factions 124
The Argent Dawn 124
The Atal’ai and Hakkari 127
The Cenarion Circle 129
The Cult of the Damned 131
The Dark Horde 133
The Darkmoon Faire 136
The Defias Brotherhood 139
The Dragonflights 142
The Earthen Ring 148
The Explorers’ League 150
The Farstriders 152
The Scarlet Crusade 154
The Syndicate 158
The Thorium Brotherhood 160
The Twilight’s Hammer 162
The Zandalar Tribe 166
Chapter 8: Dark Warriors 169
Argent Dawn Forces 169
Atal’ai and Hakkari Forces 170
Cenarion Circle Forces 171
Cult of the Damned Forces 171
Dark Horde Forces 172
Dark Iron Dwarf Forces 173
Darkmoon Faire Forces 173
Defias Brotherhood Forces 174
Dragon Forces 175
Dragonspawn Forces 175
Earthen Ring Forces 177
Explorers’ League Forces 177
Farstrider Forces 178
Goblin Forces 178
Murloc Forces 180
Naga Forces 180
Pandaren Forces 181
Quilboar Forces 183
Satyr Forces 183
Scarlet Crusade Forces 184
Syndicate Forces 185
Thorium Brotherhood Forces 186
Tuskarr Forces 187
Twilight’s Hammer Forces 187
Zandalar Forces 188
Chapter 9: Creatures 190
Arachnathid 190
Clockwerk Goblin 192
Couatl 193
Dragon, Chromatic 194
Dragon Turtle 196
Hobgoblin 197
Makrura Prawn 198
Mur’gul 199
Nerubian 202
Pandaren 204
Snap Dragon 205
Spiderling Swarm 206
Tube Wyrm 207
Tuskarr 207

Template:Column

Chapter 10: Adventures 209
Goldknuckle 209
The Lost Idol 217
Index of Tables
Table 1–1: Racial Ability Modifiers 6
Table 1–2: The Wyrmkin 8
Table 1–3: The Dark Iron Dwarf 10
Table 1–4: The Murloc 12
Table 1–5: The Naga 15
Table 1–6: The Pandaren 17
Table 1–7: The Quilboar 19
Table 1–8: The Satyr 21
Table 1–9: The Tuskarr 23
Table 1–10: Random Starting Ages 24
Table 1–11: Aging Effects 24
Table 1–12: Random Height and Weight 24
Table 2–1: Weapons 25
Table 2–2: The Red Dragon Whelp 41
Table 2–3: The Flamewaker 43
Table 2–4: The Nerubian 46
Table 2–5: The Sea Giant 48
Table 2–6: Random Starting Ages for Creature Classes 48
Table 2–7: Aging Effects for Creature Classes 49
Table 2–8: Random Height and Weight for Creature Classes 49
Table 2–9: Feats 50
Table 3–1: The Brewmaster (Brw) 56
Table 3–2: The Brewmaster’s Drunken Style 56
Table 3–3: The Death Knight (Dkn) 59
Table 3–4: The Dragonsworn (Dgs) 62
Table 3–5: High Divinist (Hdv) 65
Table 3–6: The Naga Anomaly (Nga) 69
Table 3–7: The Pandaren Transcendent (Pat) 71
Table 3–8: The Scarlet Battle Mage (Sbm) XX
Table 3–9: The Scarlet Inquisitor (Siq) XX
Table 3–10: The Subversive (Sbv) XX
Table 3–11: Subversive Spells XX
Table 3–12: The Vindicator (Vin) 82
Table 4–1: New Magic Armor 95
Table 4–2: New Rod 95
Table 4–3: New Wondrous Items 96
Table 5–1: New Tech-Mods 102
Table 5–2: New Steam Armor Enhancements 103
Table 5–3: New Technological Devices 104
Table 9–1: The Mur’gul 201

A history of delays

First announced; 06 Nov 2006
World of Warcraft: Dark Factions Copyright 2006, Blizzard Entertainment.Template:Cite
World of Warcraft: Dark Factions Copyright 2007, Blizzard Entertainment.Template:Cite
World of Warcraft: Dark Factions Copyright 2008, Blizzard Entertainment.Template:Cite

Until the recent announcement regarding the upcoming release, rumors have been circulating that the World of Warcraft RPG, White Wolf/Arthaus line, may have been canceled due to poor sales and other factors. Dark Factions has been pushed back multiple times, and no new information has been released by the editor and authors for several months following the book's first announcement. This has led many to speculate that the book may have actually been canceled, and some of the artwork has been leaked to the internet before the release of the book, which has been interpreted as evidence of the cancellation. Some believe that the artists released it, in order to get their artwork to the public any way they could, as it would not see publishing.[3]

The book may have been on extended hold in preparation for the release of Wrath of the Lich King. This is especially interesting since the official release date has been set to June 2008, but a recent comment by Mike Chaney, a veteran author currently working for White Wolf on other projects, seems to indicate that all work on the book has already been completed.

From the White Wolf Forums:

Dark Factions is currently at press and is coming out shortly, although I can't recall what the official release date is....I'm still having problems remembering that its now 2008 as it all just kinda blurs together these days.

From the White Wolf Forums:

Hey guys!
So, after a long, looooooong wait, we have a release date for Dark Factions! It will be in stores in June of this year: a real, live, hard-bound book.
I don't know about you, but this makes me happy.
Hopefully I'll remember to post some previews and such as the release approaches.

- Luke Johnson, 2008-01-23