Even in World of Warcraft, soldiers want to relax sometimes. They hide from duty – and play an extended round of Pen&Paper.
NPCs in World of Warcraft also sometimes get fed up with the daily grind and want to escape their duty as guards. At least that’s the case for the cadets in Boralus, the capital of Kul Tiras. They hide in the maze, which has various underground chambers, one of which is almost completely overgrown with plants.
In the chamber below, the five recruits are standing around a table with a map, one is reading from a large book. Obviously, they are playing a round of Pen & Paper, as they repeatedly say explicit lines:
- “I already told you that the bard is not a class!”
- “No, the tree is not vulnerable to fire attacks.”
- “Stop opposing the quest giver!”
- “Can the guard see me looting this corpse?”
- “I… um… misplaced it. Can I please get another copy?”
- “It would be easier to heal you if you weren’t standing in the fire the whole time.”
- “I take the candle.”
- “Don’t spill your beer over my character sheet!”
- “Thanks, I promise I will make it this time!”
- “I cast Frostbolt into the darkness!”
All these lines are clear and explicit references to a Pen & Paper session, presumably the original Dungeons & Dragons.
D&D was a template for Warcraft: World of Warcraft is largely based on the ruleset of Dungeons & Dragons anyway. For example, the names of many abilities and talents are still inspired by the Pen & Paper rulebook. This can easily be seen in that Warcraft itself published a P&P rulebook that was based on D&D. It was about time for an obvious reference in the game.
Moreover, this little scene gives incentives for funny moments in roleplay. Because now I can not only play a character in the RP, but also a character who plays a role-playing game within the role play and plays another character… yes, it gets confusing.
What do you think of this little Easter egg?
