White Wolf Publishing will publish a role-playing game based on EverQuest, the world's largest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game).  Sony Online Entertainment created EverQuest, which has over 410,000 players worldwide and such a detailed and alluring fantasy world that fans and critics alike have dubbed the time-consuming game, in which players are able to fashion and gradually increase the powers of their online alter egos, 'EverCrack' for its addictive powers.  White Wolf's Sword & Sorcery Studio is in the process of turning EverQuest's highly detailed world of Norrath with its 15 character classes, 14 races, and countless monsters into a d20 compatible roleplaying game via a series of hardcover volumes that will appear in July, August, and October.  The addition of the Everquest RPG to its growing stable of d20 releases is a key part of the publisher's attempt to grab the major share of the d20 market (see 'White Wolf Mounts d20 Offensive')

 

The Player's Handbook, the first book in the EverQuest Roleplaying Game, includes all the information needed to build a character in its 304 pages.  The Player's Handbook will appear in July, followed by a 224-page compendium of the Monsters of Norrath in August.  The 256-page Game Master's Guide follows in October with a campaign setting sourcebook (The City of Freeport) and a supplemental adventure (Befallen) due out in November and December respectively.

 

The nearly half million folks who play EverQuest online will be able to convert their characters easily so they can participate in the off-line conventional roleplaying game, which will open up new avenues of play for EverQuest veterans.  But the main audience for White Wolf's EverQuest RPG could well be veteran pen and paper fantasy role-players who are eager for new campaigns in a rich and highly detailed fantasy setting.