All eight are covered by the D&D World of Warcraft Sourcebook — five as remapped Player's Handbook species, and Forsaken, Tauren and troll as new ones.
❌ Not Available
The Exotic Exception
The short version, best to worst for a Year 29 campaign:
Species
Why
1
Worgen
Already loose in Silverpine Forest and Duskwood. Play a victim of Archmage Arugal, not a Gilnean. Costs the setting nothing.
2
Pandaren
One traveller from a place nobody can find. No homeland on the map, no contradiction possible.
3
Mechagnome
Reskin as a Gnomeregan survivor rebuilt in mechanical parts. Delete Mechagon entirely.
4
Draenei
Only as a single castaway who came through the Dark Portal fifteen years ago. Heavy retcon.
5
Earthen
Canon-legal, but it costs the campaign a reveal I want to keep. Ask me; I will probably say no.
—
Vulpera, dracthyr, haranir
No. Nothing to hang them on in 2004.
High Elves — A Narrow Exception
A handful of High Elves remain Alliance-loyal at launch and are visible in game — Allerian Stronghold's forebears, the Silvermoon delegation in Stormwind City, Dalaran survivors in the Kirin Tor. Not a playable option in 2004, but the most defensible import if a player wants one, and it does not count against the exotic budget above.
Use Elf (High Elf lineage) from the 2024 PHB. Prestidigitation, Misty Step, and a levelled spell — mechanically the most magical of the elf lineages, which is exactly right.
Choosing a Class To Go With It
Each species suits some classes for reasons rooted in its history, not its stat block. Classes of Azeroth is the hub, with a page for every one of the thirteen — what the class means in Year 29, what a level 1 of it actually looks like, every WoW spec mapped to a 2024 subclass, and specific species pairings worth stealing.