29 March 2023 , 19:00
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Wizards of the Coast has unexpectedly announced a brand new Minecraft D&D DLC, which will be available on the Minecraft Marketplace in Spring 2023.
In this new Minecraft DLC, players are thrust into the world of D&D, choosing between one of four classes to explore iconic Dungeons and Dragons locations, including Candlekeep and Icewind Dale, and battle iconic creatures like mimics, beholders, and mindflayers. Not only is the game fully voice-acted - a first for a Minecraft licensed DLC - but it's also got many new features built from the ground up.
The Minecraft D&D DLC will be available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Mac, Linux and mobile devices.
Custom Combat System
The game is pitched as an Action RPG, meaning the standard Minecraft combat just wouldn't cut it. Mojang has redesigned things specifically for this new DLC, which features abilities specific to your class on the Hotbar.
Mojang have build a multi-tab menu from the ground up, fitting for an Action-RPG (Wizards of the Coast)As you progress through the game, you unlock new abilities and skills, as well as improve the ones you already have - their damage might increase, or their cooldowns might shorten. Not only that, but you can loot new gear from enemies and chests which affects your stats in typical RPG fashion. Better gear means better stats, and better stats make you better in combat.
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Minecraft veterans need not worry about relearning too much though, since combat still happens in real-time - it's likely combat encounters will feel a lot like they do in the base game, just with more magic and spells.
What else is new?
It's an RPG - and that calls for a brand new multi-tab menu, built by Mojang from the ground up. It lets you browse your spells, stats, quest log, inventory, glossary, and more - something that has never been seen in a Minecraft DLC to date. There's also a dynamic music system, which gradually fades the audio from one track to another as you move between locations or enter and exit combat.
The game features a lot of D&D mechanics, including character stats to match the ones in the Tabletop RPG, and dice rolls which occur during exploration and conversations. Your stats will make these dice rolls easier, but it's almost always possible to fail them - with varied consequences.
The game features dice rolls that affect the outcome of certain actions (Wizards of the Coast)The game features custom assets specific to the DLC, as well as characters based on monster races from the world of Dungeons and Dragons which are unique to this game. Mojang and Wizards of the Coast are trying to bring something for everyone - for youngsters who are not familiar with the D&D world, it's still a brand new Minecraft story-driven experience, set in a fantasy world with a new Action-RPG spin.
For fans of D&D, there's a tonne of callbacks into the D&D world, including locations they will know, races they will recognise, and enemies they will have experienced before in a tabletop setting.