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.

How our Death Knight Story Played out as an Event:

I know it's pretty abrupt to switch to an out of character entry when previously I was speaking about our Death Knight story arc in-character, but we punctuated the story with an incredible guild event and I just had to share. For those of you who were wondering what happened after my last in-character post: I did what is commonly referred to in fiction as 'babysitting' my character, Genavie was okay since reinforcements arrived. The Scythe confronted the Death Knights, but they were able to spirit themselves away to Acherus while twirling their mustaches. It was good-times.

That's where our guild event picked up. Our two Death Knights had gone rogue and were spotted heading North from Acherus into the Ghost Lands - they were on the run and without a plan, so the Scythe gathered in Brill and rode out to confront them. It was a great way to get our guild name out there since a lot of leveling deaders saw us all in-character and preparing to ride out. We had a few spectators follow us down through the Plaguelands too. The ride there felt very epic; there was something awesome about seeing so many Forsaken riding together on their dreadsteeds.

Recent Events!

I've decided to overhaul the literature on the website for my guild, and that means I don't have as much creative energies for my blog. So I decided to talk a little about some of the last events I've had with my guild, since that's a shade easier than a typical entry I do. I get the impression that talking about the events my guild has hosted is the internet equivalent of showing people photos of your grand kids while you tell boring stories about them; but we've had some pretty amazing events recently and I'm just bursting to write about it. The (great?) thing about these events is that I didn't host a single one of them, they were all organized and carried out by my officers or other members.

In-character Icecrown Citadel

Wrath of the Lich King had some massive plot points for the Forsaken, and as I've said before, the death of the Lich King is something that effected every Forsaken character at the time. I was blown away by how kind and considerate my guildmates were when it came to sign ups for this. A few of them offered to step aside when we had too many people to take, even though they had expressed a lot of excitement about the event. One member in particular gave up his spot for someone who had been having trouble getting in game due to real life circumstances, and I thought it was very touching.

Open Forsaken Event this Friday - Fishing for Recruits!

The stars have finally aligned correctly and once again my guild, the Scythe of Sylvanas, will be hosting a public Forsaken roleplay event on Wymrest Accord - US this Friday. Details are below, or you could read my post on our realm forums.

The expected turn out and scale for this event is much smaller than when we did our Deathknell thing, but we're hoping that allows for a more intimate roleplay setting so we can get to know everyone's characters better. We'll be showcasing a lot of characters we have that are roleplayed with a lighter touch, so expect a little silliness. See you there!


Who: The Scythe of Sylvanas, and any Forsaken characters that are interested in the Scythe, in-character or out.

What: In-character fishing lessons, followed by a contest with secret prizes. No fishing skill required to participate, we're supplying the poles and lures.

Where: We will be meeting in Brill, and then moving to Sillwater Pond nearby.

When: This Friday, April 15th at 7:00pm server time.

Why: Nothing (that's his name), an avid Forsaken fishermen has requested to teach members of the Scythe about fishing and host a small tournament of sorts. The Executor didn't approve, but Genavie was able to coerce him into allowing it by suggesting they use it as a platform for recruiting some of the new Val'kyr risen. They also think it might be helpful for the Kor'korn to observe the Forsaken doing something harmless for once.

The Val'Kyr: Part Two

So in my last entry I talked about the Val'kyr. More specifically; what they are, where they've come from, and how they fit into the current story of the Forsaken. Now I'd like to talk a little about what our Forsaken characters might think of them.

So we know that Val'kyr are solving one of the plights of the Forsaken in that they're enabling them to bolster their numbers. Not all of our characters have the scope and  perspective that we do as players, however, and it's entirely possible your character could view the Val'lkyr in a negative light for one of many reasons. Keep in mind though that Sylvanas has ordered the use of the Val'kyr, so a character questioning them will be questioning Sylvanas, to certain degree. But this fact also gives us a great opportunity to weigh our character's thoughts on the Scourge, and how that measures up against their loyalty to the Dark Lady.

The Val'kyr - Part One

Sometimes I think we, as Forsaken roleplayers, don't know how lucky we are. We got so much to work with when Wrath of the Lich King came out: The Forsaken finally marched against the one responsible for the hideous twist of fate that bound them all together - the Lich King. This was something that reverberated with every Forsaken character, as they had to consider not only having an active role in the fight against the Lich King, when he was still alive, but also what was next for them once he was defeated; especially since many of them had sworn vengeance on him the moment they broke free of his control and would now be looking for a new purpose.

There was also the Wrathgate cinematic (and for that matter the entire Wrathgate event) where characters who were first introduced in the Warcraft RTS games, or at the end of the Burning Crusade, turned traitor and took over the Undercity. And then we got to fight to take it back! There were lasting consequences that came with these events, not only in terms of the treatment of the Foresaken in the Horde but also in terms of permanent changes to the game world (in the form of different guards, but still). We also got to test our final strain of the plague, which was now far more evolved than those little green vials the Apothecary quest givers in Tarren Mill gave us to kill Murlocs with. In all, the face of Forsaken relations with the rest of the Horde was forever changed. And in turn, the Horde relations with the Alliance.

My Forsaken Guild Disbands

I try not to make posts that are too emotional on my blog, but I can say without shame that I cried when my guild disbanded last night. We will be picking up the pieces and starting with a new theme and a new guild, below is a copy of the post I made to my realm forums with all the details.

Leading the Scythe has been the most fun I've ever had in this game since I created my account in December of 2004, but we've reached our end, and it was an amazing run. The guild has been slowly cannibalizing itself from the inside out with internal drama and conflicts for weeks now. The last nail in the coffin was our differing views on the lack of chairs in Brill, and how to go about fixing it. Some of us wanted to bring in new chairs, some of us wanted to move on to somewhere with more chair opportunities, and more of us wanted to make our own chairs from leftover abomination flesh and tiger blood.

Myself and my officers will be taking the day to distribute materials from the guild bank, back up the art and stories on our website, and notify our guild founder via e-mail. Those of us that have remained with the Scythe after this implosion will be reforming a new roleplaying guild with a different focus.

Forsaken Creation: Pick and Choose your Senses and Emotions

I just wanted to talk a little about emotions and senses, when it comes to the Forsaken. I've spoken before on how Forsaken roleplay is easy to pick up, but also offers a level of complexity and depth that appeals to seasoned roleplayers; and this really expands on that.

Everyone has a different approach to character creation. Some people have to plan everything out on paper beforehand, others start with a blank slate and jump right in without any solid ideas – creating the character spontaneously though organic roleplay. Many of us are somewhere in the middle. But what about when you're considering a Forsaken character?

The Forsaken are defined by the fact that they're dead and incomplete. A lot of roleplayers expand on that by taking away parts of them, physically or emotionally.

A lack of physical senses is common in Forsaken roleplay. After all, we're talking about a race of corpses that are missing jaws and eyes on their character models, who make jokes about being colour blind, and, in the starting zone, there's that guy freaking out about how his hands are different. (He's my favourite.)

A lack of emotion is common too. We have Forsaken NPCS left and right telling us that their feelings aren't the same, or that they're missing their emotions entirely. My favourite example is Dalar Dawnweaver, a former Mage of Dalaran and quest giver in the Sepulchre who asks players to kill twelve Dalaran affiliated Humans, saying the reasons he wants them dead “range from hatred to anger to betrayal” but assures us that they are all legitimate gripes.

Awesome GM Response

It's petty to gloat, especially over video games, but I couldn't resist posting this gem I got today. I know the Warcraft roleplaying community is easily discouraged and often feels abandoned by Blizzard on their own servers; so it's good to see that there are some game masters out there looking out for us and polishing their ban hammers. 

For the record, I don't have a problem with names that are non-fantasy on a roleplaying server, or non-roleplayers as long as they're respectful. However, if you're running your mouth off in trade about how stupid you think roleplaying is, when you rolled a character on a server specifically designated for that purpose, and you're named after one of my favourite comic book characters, then I feel a slap on the wrist from a game master is well deserved. 

I censored his name because I was still able to look this guy up on the armoury and see his guild, but when I clicked on the link it told me the character could not be found. I'll take that as a good sign. 

Deathknell was a Huge Success, Thank-You!

So the Deathknell event was amazing, my guild and I were so happy to get a chance to roleplay with you guys. We had about fifty people show up, and we went for two hours not including the hour of set up we did beforehand. The time flew by, I couldn't believe it when I checked my clock. I adore this event because it manages to accomplish so much; we gave out a lot of free items, let people see the roleplay in our guild, and try out the Forsaken to see how much fun they can be. It was so cool to look over the zone and see all those corpses shambling everywhere, it made for a great in-character atmosphere.

I was astonished by the organization of my guildmates and how well they communicated with each other in the midst of all the madness. There was huge throngs of people at the high points of the evening, with and so many people posting it was very hard to keep track of everything. They had their quests planed days in advance, their macros made, and were great about directing players to each other and making sure no one missed out on anything.

The people we had join us were awesome as well. I saw a lot of high level Forsaken that came to roleplay along with some awesome characters people made just for the event. Everyone was very respectful and we only had two non-Forsaken crash the party, but they left when they were asked. We also got some glowing compliments afterwards; more than once someone told us that it was the best event they had seen since coming to the server. More after the break.

Hosting a Public Forsaken Roleplay Event Tomorrow

Who: My Forsaken Roleplaying Guild, The Scythe of Sylvanas.
What: We're roleplaying being quest givers and handing out free gear, bags and gold as rewards.
When: 7:00pm PST, and continuing late into the night.
Where: Deathknell, the Forsaken starting zone on Wyrmrest Accord. If you a roll a new undead character, you'll see us and loads of other people.
Why: We're not seeing much Forsaken roleplay outside of our guild on Wyrmrest these days, so we'd like to offer people the opportunity to try it out.

If you can't make it, or don't have an interest in making a character but would still like to watch I'm going to be hosting a live stream of the event here. I'll be answering questions from the chat channel during the stream, so if you've ever wanted to know anything about my guild, the blog, or Forsaken lore this is a great opportunity.

In-Character Details:

The Scythe of Sylvanas - a unit on the fringes of the Forsaken military that specializes in training and unglamorous 'odd jobs' - has decided to share some of the wealth from their coffers and offer equipment, bags and gold to those recently risen by the Val'kyr. Not wanting to appear too charitable, they have decided to give their spoils to the freshly risen in exchange for the completion of various small tasks; tasks like: having the newly risen demonstrate their abilities on the nearby training dummies, escorting members of the Scythe down steep hills, dissecting the mindless, swearing oaths to the Dark Lady, ect. This also gives the members of the Scythe the opportunity to spread a few recruitment flyers around and to keep an eye out for promising recruits.

More information after the break, hope to see you there!

Possibilities for Forsaken Death Knights

I've had Death Knights running through my head all week. We've just recruited two to my guild, and after one of them joined and got all set up, someone told him 'hey, you got approved as Death Knight. That's awesome.' I didn't realize why they were putting the inflection on the word  Death Knight right away, but soon after it hit me: that Forsaken Death Knights would be trickier than your average Orc or Human Ebon Knight.

I should note that I'm only talking about playable Death Knights, the third generation ones raised in Archeus.

So, what makes Forsaken Death Knights so different? The double dead factor. They've died and been risen in service of the Lich King twice now. The life and death cycle of a Forsaken Death Knight goes something like this:

Alive > Dead > Scourge > Free willed Forsaken > Dead again > Death Knight.

Forsaken Death Knights have a bit of a trade off. As you can see, they have a lot of potential for layering and an obvious level of depth due to their multiple lives and times serving the Lich King. If you're a sucker for long character histories and old characters than Forsaken Death Knights are perfect. The problem is that some roleplayers struggle with their personality because they're just so dead.

The Undercity and You: A History Lesson

Before I jump right into the history, I just want to say: I'm a huge advocate of taking your environment into consideration when you roleplay, especially since your location does not have to simply be a “where” it can also be a “how” and a “why”. After all, your character probably has a reason for going to the places they do, even if it's something as simple as: “I was deep in thought and my feet lead me here.” Having a reason for your character to be where they are is important for three reasons:

1. It gives you a premise for any roleplay you find. 

A Goblin in the Barrens might be picking up odd jobs, they might be there to trade, or they might be there to draw a picture of a zhevra because they find stripes beautiful. Having a reason for being where you are opens the door to more roleplay with random strangers since that type of random roleplay starts with conversation, and your reason for being where you are gives you a great place to start.

2. It tells other people you're experienced. 

Newer roleplayers tend to put their characters in certain places because they think it looks cool. However, this can sometimes leave your character seeming out of place especially in cases where there is sufficient lore to indicate that your race, faction or class would not typically be in that location. In those cases an experienced roleplayer would probably have a very good reason to be where they are. By showing your character is where they are for a reason, you're showing other people you're an experienced roleplayer and it encourages them to approach you.

3. It reminds you to interact with your environment, which adds realism to your character.

Roleplaying in WoW is (with some exceptions, I'm sure) predominantly written, and in good writing characters can be even further developed by the way they interact with their environment. For example, thanks to weather effects our Forsaken characters can seek shelter as the skies darken in Tirisfal and have our empty eye sockets fill with rain water when we look up. By knowing why your characters are where they are, it keeps you conscious of your environment and reminds us to respond to the things around us which, in turn, makes our characters feel more real.

With all that being said, there are many places in the Warcraft universe that are rife with lore and roleplay potential that are often ignored – or, at the very least, not actively engaged - by people in their roleplay. The Undercity is a prime example of such a location; it has a deep history, and is a really unique place to roleplay. You can read all about it after the break.

Part of the Reason I Love Forsaken

I roleplay almost exclusively Forsaken, but before I found my niche with them I flirted with the Alliance. I had played Horde exclusively on PvP servers since release, but I when I was looking at the character creation screen for my first RP server I found the Alliance reminded me of the Dungeons and Dragons races I was so familiar with.

The more I engaged in Alliance roleplay the more accurate that observation felt since - with it's taverns, Elves, Humans and Dwarfs - it does wind up feeling a lot like Dungeons and Dragons, or classic medieval roleplay.  The Horde - with it's Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren - feels a lot more distinctly Warcraft.

Don't take the previous statement in the wrong way.  I definitely had fun learning the ropes with my Human, Light-loving Priestess. And I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Night Elves after spending a lot of time with my Kaldorei Huntress, who was obsessed with the loss of her immortality and convinced she could feel her body dying with each breath. However, now that I've had a seven month long taste of Forsaken roleplay, I don't think I could ever go back.

Genavie's Theme Song

I was given a theme song for Genavie as a Christmas gift this year by my good friend Taylor Goodson. He's previously been featured on WoW Insider for his Warcraft music, so I'm totally blown away by his generosity. I'm a bit of a music noob so I don't have anything interesting to say about it other than I love it; fortunately Taylor is a lot more articulate than I. Read what he had to say about the piece after the break.

Out of Character Event

To celebrate our last day in Azeroth before it was changed forever I led and planed an event for my super serious heavy roleplay guild that was entirely out of character. I know dedicating a night to specifically not roleplaying in an roleplay guild sounds ridiculous; but I wanted to do something really flashy and out of the ordinary which has two problems if attempted in character:

1. The Forsaken aren't really outrageous and flashy.
2. Our characters didn't know shattering was happening tomorrow, so the justification for doing something out of the ordinary just wasn't there. I mean, yeah, we could have had a normal event like a training drill or something, but that's hardly memorable on the scale that I was looking for.

So I bit the bullet and scheduled our first and last entirely out of character event, and in the end I'm glad I did it. I kept the details entirely secret and told my members only to meet at the Undercity bank at seven server time with some empty bag space.

OOC: A Realm of Possiblies

I constantly see threads on my realm forums from people looking to potentially transfer that want information on the server that's easily obtainable via google. Their frequency is alarming, as is the fact that people would rather make an entire thread and wait on replies that are subject to opinion and trolling rather than just getting the hard facts right away. Now, don't get me wrong. Forums are all about discussion, and if you have a question about the server that promotes it like: "Is there a lot of Dwarf roleplay here? What kind Dwarf characters do you see being roleplayed and what do you think of them?" Then all the power to you.

If you want to find out more about the roleplay on a roleplay server your best bet is always just roll a character on that realm, run to a major city with any roleplay mods you use enabled and have a look around. You want the make the most of your investment, so finding out for yourself is guaranteed to be better than just waiting on people to tell you if they think a server is worth the twenty five bucks or not. Sadly, most of the posts I see are like the example I posted after the break.