Roleplay Possibilities for Val'kyr Made Forsaken vs Third War Forsaken

I've often spoke of how the Val'kyr serving Sylvanas was a major lore addition for us Forsaken roleplayers. I've written quite a bit about the Val'kyr, but the big thing to take away from their role in Cataclysm (I think) is that we now have two different flavours of Forsaken. But what are the strengths and weaknesses of each in roleplay? If you're rolling a new Forsaken character, should you give them a long history and make them one of the old Forsaken, or pick up a Val'kyr risen and go? Let's compare the two in terms of background and history:

Old Forsaken: You have the option of having lengthy background, if you're a lore nut; or, if you're not very well versed in the lore, there can still be some major Scourge involvement in your past. To be clear, when I say 'major Scourge involvement' I mean that you may have been present at many major events in the  Scourge's history, not that you were a major figure in the scourge. In fact, I would council against claiming to be a major figure in the scourge since that is something that is difficult to justify and may not go over well with other roleplayers. Also, while you can have a lot of depth and length to your story by playing an old Forsaken; not wanting a long, in-depth story doesn't mean you shouldn't play an old Forsaken – you can always go the amnesia route.


Just how lengthy of a background can one of the old Forsaken have? Since some of the first Scourge necromancers rose entire graveyards filled with soldiers, many of whom died in the old wars (and in other ways too, I imagine), it is possible that a non-Val'kyr risen Forsaken could have died as far back as the second war. As I suggested above, playing one of these old-school Forsaken enables you to have a character who is a product of some of the major events of the third war. For instance, you can play a character that was one of the first batch of Scourge freed from the Lich King's influence while Arthas battled Illidan in Northrend. Your character could have fought to re-take the Undercity from the Scourge along with Slyvanas and the very first Forsaken.

How would having such a history influence your character? Consider what it was like for them to be a prisoner in their own body and to be forced to do what they did while they were under Scourge influence; consider how they dealt with those actions after being freed from the scourge. Even something as simple as where your character was when they were finally freed can greatly influence everything they do afterwards.

Not many races have the opportunity to layer their history in the detail and depth that an old Forsaken can and often that level of freedom can feel daunting; because of this it may be beneficial to keep things simple. Before Cataclysm, my big tip to new Forsaken roleplayers was to consider the degree to which their character's time as both Human and Scourge influenced them. Basically, did their character identify more with the Humans or the Scourge or neither? That is still useful advice for someone deciding to play an old Forsaken but who is stumped on where to start their character's story. Deciding who your character identifies with and then deciding why is often enough to get you on your way to creating a fairly decent background.

If it's something you're interested in then playing a non-Val'kyr made character can allow you emphasize the common Forsaken sentiment of never wanting the Alliance to re-take Lordaeron. A sentiment that arises from the fact that many of the old Forsaken were from Lordaeron originally and still consider it to be their true home.

While all old Forsaken were part of the scourge and pressed into service under the Lich King, and while many of them were soldiers in life, one of the most engaging things about bout roleplaying old Forsaken is the fact that many of them were not soldiers and were, instead, simple citizens. The scourge were pretty indiscriminate in who they raised and as a result you don't have to roleplay your character as having been a solider if you don't want to; your character could have been a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker. Don't get me wrong, this is World of Warcraft, and war-made Forsaken fit in well, but I've found there's an awesome appeal in the 'sign-maker gone zombie-Warlock bent on vengeance against the living' type of character.

Now that you've decided the 'who' of your character – who they were in life, who they were in death, who they identify with now – it's time to look at the 'where'. In this regard the unexpected circumstances of an old Forsaken coming into existence can be a lot of fun when you're writing a background for them. I've seen some people get very creative with it. Two memorable characters I can recall were both 'trapped' when they made the transition from mindless Scourge ghoul to free-willed Forsaken. One was a zombie that got stuck in a plagued grain silo and was left there for ages with his newly found mind, and another was pinned under a large pile of bodies - she became fast friends with a cockroach who never left her side afterwards. Keep in mind that where you were when you went from being Scourge to being Forsaken is a pretty major event in an old Forsaken's existence and often comes up in the roleplay, so it's usually a good idea to really flesh out the details here.

The guidelines for old Forsaken backgrounds are: Scourge Necromancy and / or plague involved death during the Third war, eventual freedom from the Scourge, and origins in a location the Scourge actually  attacked, likely Lordaeron or the lands now known as the Plaguelands. Your character does not necessarily need to be born in those areas; however, they do need to have either died there or to have been there when the plague broke out (for instance, maybe they were just visiting when they died).

New Forsaken: Val'kyr risen backgrounds are simpler, which is why I always recommend them to players who didn't get a chance to enjoy any of the original RTS games from Blizzard. Old Forsaken backstories can fall into the trap of becoming a little too similar to Slyvanas's which can end up feeling flat and unoriginal, or they can fall into the trap of feeling too much like a retelling of the events that shaped the Forsaken and that feels less like an interesting character backstory than a lore-based history lesson. Val'kyr made histories, on the other hand, have fewer and less treacherous pitfalls; they're also considerably simpler, and easier to just pick up and go: Valkyr risen are just dead Humans.

Dead Humans, no exceptions. This is made known to us through quest dialogue in-game. (Including but not limited to the quest 'Lessons in Fear'.) It's also an important plot point underlying each and every one of the Silverpine quests. There's a reason you have Worgen offering Humans a chance to drink their blood and Alliance forces sending in non-Human troops; it's so that they too won't be raised by the Val'kyr.

A Val'yr risen can be a Gilnean slain by the Forsaken, which is an option Scourge made Forsaken don't have. Before the shattering no one had gone into or come out of Gilneas for twenty years. The Forsaken have only been around for ten years. Humans from Lordaeron that were fleeing from the Scourge and the plague ran to the gates of Gilneas and were left to die, so it's possible some old Forsaken have hard feelings towards any Gilneans in their ranks. Also, any Forsaken speaking with a Gilnean accent would be a dead giveaway they're Val'kyr made.

Just because I've said I recommend a Val'kyr risen backstory to less experienced Forsaken roleplayers doesn't mean I think they're for noobs. They can have a great deal of depth and complexity to them, and just like the Scourge-made, they can have really interesting origins. Our source on where the Forsaken are getting bodies to raise comes from Death Guard Saltian, during the quest 'Recruitment'. He says: “We've been shipping in dead bodies from Silverpine, Hillsbrad... hell, anywhere we can get them from.” I've said this before, but this leaves the door wide open for us roleplayers.

Another interesting thing to note is that not many Val'kyr risen are making the cut. In Tirisfal, where you can see them being raised, many new Forsaken kill themselves, or go insane and run off (only to be cut down later as part of a quest). At the end of the quest 'Assault on the Rotbrain Encampment' we are told: “Being born again under the power of a val'kyr is a strenuous process.  Many don't survive the shock, turning into zombies or ghouls.” This means that as a functioning Val'kyr made, your character is kind of a rarity.

I think one of the most unique things Val'kyr made Forsaken have is that they are very recently made ex-Alliance. Scourge made Forsaken were Humans when Orcs were in internment camps, but being Val'kyr made means you don't have to look to the story of Warcraft before the MMO came out. You could have been a typical Human who used to hang out in Stormwind with High Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and the rest of the Alliance before your death. The current events of Warcraft's story, from a non-Horde perspective would be fresh with your character; you may even have been alive long enough to have heard of the fall of the Lich King in Northrend. In fact, if you are having trouble thinking of a central motivation for your character consider their newness; their sudden shift from being a living member of the Alliance, to dieing, to being risen on the other side of the war as a member of the horde and especially as a member of the Forsaken. The sheer speed with which all those things would have happened should give you plenty of ways to motivate and grow your character.

Guidelines for Val'kyr made Forsaken are: Dying as a Human and having your body shipped to Deathknell to be raised (most likely you died somewhere in the Northern part of the Eastern Kingdoms). Not going insane or killing yourself upon being risen.