Ok, so, we got this whole article telling you how WotC would have you re-create characters from World of Warcraft in D&D. Some of these are slam-dunks - I think a Retribution Paladin is a one-to-one equivalent of an Oath of Vengenace Paladin. Some are... controversial to say the least (truly, I think that WoW's Shamans live more comfortably under the umbrella of D&D Druids).
But I get it: there's a desire to make the systems fit together as best as possible.
However, as I've mentioned, I think one of the really fun possibilities for a WoW/D&D crossover is to make characters in Azeroth that you couldn't currently make in WoW.
On the simplest level, this would be doing something like making a Gnome Paladin or an Orc Druid - race/class combinations that you can't do in WoW (over time, they've become far more liberal with what races can play what classes, and at this point, I believe that Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, Monks, Mages, Priests, Warlocks, and possibly Death Knights are all available to every playable race).
But I'm sort of more curious about how you could go far outside the box.
So, let's go through the various classes and talk about classes and subclasses not mentioned in the book would fit into Azeroth.
Artificers (all subclasses):
WoW has never been strict about medieval, pre-industrial aesthetics. While the high-tech Gnomish culture, or the greasy industrial Goblin culture, or the far-future spacefaring Draenei culture are all pretty clear touchstones for technology on Azeroth, even more traditional medieval fantasy cultures, like the humans of Stormwind, have things like Harvest Golems that assist in their agriculture, which are basically like big bulky scarecrow robots (these basically always go berserk, forcing you to fight them).
The Alchemist and Cartographer subclasses (has anyone actually played a Cartographer) can easily fit in even when eschewing such industrial aesthetics, though there's truly no need to do so in an Azeroth campaign. Meanwhile, Re-Animators will fit very nicely among the Forsaken culture, who really own all the necromantic experimentation and spooky vibes - the Forsaken capital city of Undercity (or, in more recent years, the reclaimed actual Lordaeron City under which the Undercity was constructed) is guarded by Abominations, which are basically big, powerful flesh golems.
Barbarians:
We did see the Berserker called out as a potential path to evoke a Fury Warrior if you didn't want a Champion Fighter (a multiclass of the two would also work great). But I think that the primal power of the Barbarian can apply to tons of WoW cultures, fitting in quite well with much of the Horde, but also potentially among the Titanforged races (dwarves, gnomes, humans, and all their derivatives). Indeed, humans' primal ancestral connection might harken back to their vrykul ancestors, who were constructed by the Titans to act as warriors. Wildheart Barbarians might makes sense in cultures with strong druidic traditions (though Night Elves, at least, historically had more Fighter or Ranger-like warriors in the Sentinels). Zealots could also work great for cultures with a strong religious tradition, such as the Draenei (especially Lightforged Draenei) or humans. Azeroth also has, in fact, several World Trees. The Haranir in particular (made playable just this year with the release of Midnight) come from an underground land where the roots of all the world trees intersect, so this would be a slam-dunk for them (I believe Haranir can be Shamans, so this might not be as off-label as it seems).
Bards:
There is no playable Bard class in WoW, but there are certainly performers. I don't know that there's any real deep lore to look into, but some possibilities are to consider the metal band Elite Tauren Chieftain (a band that some of the old-school Blizzard developers play in and have in-game characters to represent them). What little guidance I have here is that the Blood Elves do have a strong musical tradition (the core of their homeland is "Eversong Woods" and the Earthen of Khaz Algar have a tradition of theater similar to ancient Greece. Goblins, in their broad 20th-century-America vibes, have rock stars and such. I do think a Lore Bard might be a member of one of the major archaeological societies - the Alliance's Explorer's League or the Horde's Reliquary, or their joint project, the Dragonscale Expedition.
Cleric:
The Light is one of the most widespread religious faiths in Azeroth, common among humans, blood elves, dwarves, and draenei, so the Light domain is certainly a reasonable option. I think this would also work great for Tauren worshippers of An'she, the sun spirit, or Night Elves who worship Elune, the moon goddess. War Domain might be a way to reflavor something like an Orc Shaman who focuses more on battlefield glory. Trickery Domain, I will admit, doesn't really spark any clear connections, though there are some Troll Loa who might have priests that rely on trickery. The Grave Domain could work great if you wanted to be a priest of Bwonsamdi, the patron deity of the Darkspear Trolls (the primary playable Trolls) and who actually worked his way to the top of the pantheon of the Zandalari Trolls as well (he could also work as a Trickery deity, actually). Arcana Domain probably works best for Gnome Clerics, who tend to treat their priestly healing powers more as medical intervention.
Druid:
Circle of the Moon is obviously covered quite well, as is Circle of the Stars. Circle of the Land, again, works great for a healer Druid, and I also think could be an alternative if you want to play a Shaman who actually focuses on spellcasting. Circle of the Sea fits quite well with the Kul Tiran (a human nation) Tidespeakers, who commune with the Tidemother (who is totally not secretly the evil Naga queen Azshara. Nope, nothing Lovecraftian about their ancient tradition entreating a deep-sea goddess) to guide Kul Tiras' peerless ships through stormy waters.
Fighter:
Eldritch Knights could come in a few forms: there's plenty of traditions of arcane magic where you could imagine the Kirin Tor, for example, training guards and soldiers to help protect vulnerable mages. But I think there's another deeper cut here: Orcish Blademasters, who traditionally were part of the Burning Blade clan, and used magic to enhance their weapons and also literally used the Mirror Image spell to confound their foes. Psi Warriors are a tougher nut to crack: there's not a ton of "psychic"-themed stuff in WoW outside of perhaps the Old Gods. Perhaps you're a reformed member of Twilight's Hammer (or its later incarnation as Twilight's Blade)? Going in a very different direction, maybe your psychic powers are linked to the Worldsoul, and Azeroth herself has imbued you with these gifts. And then... Bannerets can... just kind of be... like, Soldiers?
Monk:
The Warrior of Shadow might actually work pretty well with the Shado-Pan, the elite monastic order in Pandaria that safeguards the land from the insidious Sha. Meanwhile, the Warrior of Elements could be an alternate interpretation of the Shaman tradition (particularly Enhancement Shamans). The Warrior of Mystic Arts, likewise, would work in any culture with an arcane tradition, which is basically all of them.
Paladin:
The Oath of Ancients actually fits quite nicely with some of Azeroth's oldest cultures, such as the Zandalari Trolls or the Night Elves. Indeed, Night Elves are soon going to (finally) get to play as Paladin in an upcoming WoW patch, but certainly a Paladin devoted to Elune or the various animal deities they literally refer to as Ancients would likely go Oath of the Ancients, likewise the Trolls who derive their strength from the Loa (Loa and Ancients are basically the same kind of being, just with the different cultures using different names for them and having different specific Wild Gods they worship). As for Oath of Glory... I don't know that there's any specific culture this would work best for. Plenty of cultures have arenas and pit fighting (though Trolls probably have the most extensive gladiatorial tradition). Noble Genies is a real stretch - Genies are not nearly as ubiquitous in Azeroth as they are in traditional D&D settings, where they're actually just a specific species of powerful air elementals. They're mainly found in southern Kalimdor, near the deserts of Uldum, so you might find some of these amongst the goblins of Gadgetzan or the human Wastewander peoples. That said, if you reskinned this to make the "Noble Genies" instead Azeroth's four Elemental Lords, this could work in any culture with a shamanic tradition.
Ranger:
Gloomstalkers can fit into a few different possibilities: the Night Elves make use of darkness to fight their foes. Alternatively, you could use this to represent the Dark Ranger, a tradition created by Forsaken "Banshee Queen" Sylvanas Windrunner originally when she was part of the Scourge. Honestly, yeah, forget the Night Elves. Gloomstalkers can be what you use for a Dark Ranger. Fey Wanderers are tougher - there isn't a ton of "Fey" in Azeroth (the only beings we've ever seen referred to explicitly as Fae are in the Shadowland afterlife of Ardenweald). But if we treated the various Wild Gods and beings related to them like the Keepers of the Grove and Dryads (which are basically the male and female versions of the same species, which is sort of "deer centaur,") strongly tied to Night Elf culture, this could fit in quite well among Night Elves. Hollow Wardens, to me, fit best with Kul Tirans, and specifically the witch-haunted woods and mountains of Drustvar (a region within Kul Tiras). Both Drustvar and the Worgen/Human kingdom of Gilneas have pretty good spooky-but-not-undead vibes, so I could imagine Hollow Wardens being a tradition (even if a taboo one) amongst both nations (notably, Kul Tiras was founded by explorers from Gilneas, so it would make sense for them to share traditions like this). Winter Wardens might simply be from cultures in cold regions - if you're a human from Northrend, or perhaps one of the Earthen there.
Rogue:
Arcane Tricksters, once again, might just fit into any culture with an Arcane tradition. Maybe it developed in the Underbelly of Dalaran, the complex sewers of the city that served as a bit of a black market for this magocratic metropolis (and which got lifted with the rest of the city when it took off into the air). Thieves... could be from anywhere. Now... Scion of the Three is one that is so Forgotten-Realms-specific that I think you'd really need to figure out a way to re-flavor them. Perhaps you replace Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal with, like... Kil'jaeden, Archimonde, and... perhaps Mannoroth (feels more appropriate to promote that Pit Lord than to have Sargeras counted as an equal to the two Eredar lords). Alternatively, you could make the "three" be the three Old Gods who were still alive when WoW launched, meaning C'thun, Yogg-Saron, and N'zoth.
Sorcerer:
So: Aberrant Sorcerers are almost certainly touched in some way by the Old Gods or the Void. Among Void Elves, this is a pretty straightforward option, but anyone could easily have been mutated by the Old Gods and granted aberrant powers (I guess the least likely are Draenei and Orcs, who aren't from a world that has much of an Old God infestation - though there were some hints that there might have been some Old God influence on Draenor way back in the day). Clockwork Sorcerers could easily be influenced by the Titans, who originally created the ancestors of Dwarves, Humans, and Gnomes (and possibly more) as constructed automata that later gained free will and transformed from stone and metal into beings of flesh (notably, the Earthen, who will be playable, are the form the dwarves originally took,) so they might be imbued with Titan magic. Wild Magic is harder to pin down, but honestly, despite Arcane magic being the magic of "order," it often results in a lot of bizarre things happening, so any kind of magical accident could easily imbue you with such powers. Spellfire Sorcery is a bit more FR-specific, though I could possibly see this being a weird manifestation of the Holy Light in any light-worshipping culture. Shadow Sorcery could be someone imbued with either the power of the Void (not unlike Aberrant Sorcerers) or it could be the power of undeath, with some encounter with the Undead Scourge or even direct connections with the Shadowlands.
Warlock:
Ok, let's talk patrons: Great Old Ones, you've very easily got the Old Gods, or alternately, the Void Lords. Bam, done. Archfey, I think you're best off looking into the Wild Gods, which could include the Ancients worshipped by the Night Elves, Loa worshipped by the Trolls (who vary a bit more, certainly with some animal gods but also more humanoid Loa like Bwonsamdi and Mueh'zala) or the August Celestials, revered by the Pandaren. For Celestial Patrons, the obvious ones would be the Naaru, who are revered in Draenei culture particularly, and are crystalline and honestly quite alien beings made of Holy light (who have a nasty propensity for turning into void beings.) An alternative, though, could be the Titans or, more likely, the Titanforged Keepers, such as Odyn, Thorim, or Freya, whom I think could reasonably be represented by the Empyrean stat block. Undead patrons could, of course, include the Lich King or various actual liches like Kel'thuzad or possibly the one friendly Lich, Amal'thuzad (who's part of the Ebon Blade). If you wanted to push for more otherworldly options for your Otherworldly Patron, powerful beings from the Shadowlands might work here, like The Primus or Prince Renethal (the latter being more or less a friendly vampire, the current leader of the Ven'thyr - you could go with the villainous Sire Denathrius if you prefer the drama). Now, Vestige options could include a good number of fallen deities, good and evil: Ursoc, the bear ancient, died and was denied rebirth, or we've got the various slain Old Gods (Y'shaarj being the one that died like, a million years ago). Technically, the Titans other than Sargeras spent a very long time kinda-sorta dead before they were able to reconstitute themselves. The T-Rex Loa of Kings, Rezan, dies in Battle for Azeroth. Basically, I don't think you'll have that much of a problem finding a good patron (while I'm sticking to 5.5 subclasses, Azshara would make a pitch-perfect Fathomless patron).
Wizard:
Here, it's kind of silly: I mean, Mages are meant to represent all manner of arcane scholars. It's just a matter of WoW's game mechanics that has them all focus on blasting foes with magical energy. So, I'd say, broadly, that every Wizard subclass can just fit in with whatever arcane tradition. The exception here is Necromancers, which I think would be considered taboo in most cultures, with the exception of the Forsaken. Necromancers might be former members of the Cult of the Damned (the living, cult wing of the Undead Scourge). I mentioned earlier the idea of Eldritch Knights as a way to represent Orcish Blademasters, though I also think Bladesingers could be a way to do this.
Ok, now, this was all off the top of the dome, so I'm sure I must have skipped some 5.5 subclass (College of the Moon, that's the one. Er, just have them be a Night Elf). But if you're not feeling inspired by the options presented, I think these are some suggestions on how you could take alternative class options to Azeroth.
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