World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Garrisons detailed

Warlords of Draenor, the upcoming fifth expansion to massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft, will allow players to leave a "permanent impact on the world" with a Garrison, Blizzard announced.

A Garrison will act as the player's personal fortress. In addition to controlling its layout and appearance, players will also recruit and manage its staff. Followers, or recruitable characters, can be sent on missions to improve the Garrison and earn loot. Each follower has a character level and traits that will affect how he or she performs on missions. Players will pull in followers by completing missions or paying enough gold.

A player's Garrison will be built out of individual pieces, or buildings, such as stables, farms or armories. Each building can be upgraded to improve the look, size and recruiting potential of a player's Garrison.

"Your Garrison will be woven deeply into the storyline of Warlords of Draenor, beginning when your faction leader commissions you to establish a beachhead on this alien world — but the ultimate fate of your personal fortress on Draenor is entirely up to you," the post reads.

For a more detailed look at how Garrisons work, check out the full post.

Blizzard announced Warlords of Draenor during BlizzCon 2013. You can follow along with all our coverage through our StoryStream.