RP Handguide A helping hand

EU; Argent Dawn

Macroxenic@gmail.com

Last updated the;

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Malveera

This bunch of documents, if not a guide, covers the very basics of the abstract ability to ‘roleplay’ in the universe of World of Warcraft. I dare say this Handguide will never truly be complete, since it will continuously run outdated and be updated by yours truly – also this will not be an advanced guide, only a basic.

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Table of ContentsPrologue................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction to RP..................................................................................................................................................................................4

Addons................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

GHI.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Tongues............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

MRP................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

TRP2........................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Your character....................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Basic knowledge................................................................................................................................................................................7

The basic charactersheet..............................................................................................................................................................7

A small background...........................................................................................................................................................................7

Personality........................................................................................................................................................................................8

Roleplaying Outfit.............................................................................................................................................................................8

Example with Malveera.....................................................................................................................................................................8

General knowledge and lifespans..........................................................................................................................................................9

Lifespan chart....................................................................................................................................................................................9

Azerothian Timeline........................................................................................................................................................................10

A choice in rumors..........................................................................................................................................................................11

Racial traits.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Simple titles..................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Draenei.......................................................................................................................................................................................11

Night Elves.................................................................................................................................................................................. 11

Humans...................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Blood Elves.................................................................................................................................................................................11

Orcs............................................................................................................................................................................................ 11

Trolls...........................................................................................................................................................................................12

Goblins.......................................................................................................................................................................................12

Worgen.......................................................................................................................................................................................12

Gnomes......................................................................................................................................................................................12

Dwarfs........................................................................................................................................................................................ 12

Tauren........................................................................................................................................................................................12

Forsaken.....................................................................................................................................................................................12

Assets and Attributes......................................................................................................................................................................12

Draenei.......................................................................................................................................................................................12

Night Elves.................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Humans...................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

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Blood Elves.................................................................................................................................................................................12

Orcs............................................................................................................................................................................................ 13

Trolls...........................................................................................................................................................................................13

Goblins.......................................................................................................................................................................................13

Worgen.......................................................................................................................................................................................13

Gnomes......................................................................................................................................................................................13

Dwarfs........................................................................................................................................................................................ 13

Tauren........................................................................................................................................................................................13

Forsaken.....................................................................................................................................................................................13

Religions............................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Descriptions of the Faiths................................................................................................................................................................14

The Loa Gods..............................................................................................................................................................................14

The Holy Light.............................................................................................................................................................................14

The Moon goddess.....................................................................................................................................................................15

The Earthmother........................................................................................................................................................................17

The Titans...................................................................................................................................................................................17

The Naaru................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Why choose a religion?...................................................................................................................................................................19

IC-channels........................................................................................................................................................................................... 20

The channels...................................................................................................................................................................................20

The language and how to use it......................................................................................................................................................20

IC-channels rules........................................................................................................................................................................21

How to use the IC-channels.............................................................................................................................................................22

Emotes................................................................................................................................................................................................. 24

What in the world is emoting..........................................................................................................................................................24

Simple is good enough....................................................................................................................................................................24

Attempts in emotes.........................................................................................................................................................................24

Godemote/Metagame.........................................................................................................................................................................25

What is Godemoting?......................................................................................................................................................................25

Metagaming....................................................................................................................................................................................25

So, how do you avoid it over distances...........................................................................................................................................26

Thank you for reading!.........................................................................................................................................................................26

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Prologue

Hello my dear reader, and thanks for coming here. As far as I can sense, you’re either here, because you’re new to the whole aspect of roleplaying, or you’re just simply curious and want to learn more. That’s where this handguide comes into the picture with all sorts of helpful tips and tricks, if not examples and different things to take into account.

I’ve written this guide once before, but it was sadly lost, when I had a fallout with a former guild, whom decided to delete it – even though it was a great help to their community. It was sad to see, so here I am writing it once more. I can’t write exactly the same thing, as I wrote back then, because I’ve probably forgotten a few things, if not learned a few new. Just make sure, that you know, this is built upon assumptions and ideas along with a couple written lines from Blizzard’s own lore-gallery.

As I mentioned in the small noticebox on first page, this is to be continuously updated, when it becomes outdated, or simply by feedback or other kinds of propaganda.

If you want to leave feedback, I prefer constructive criticism – don’t just come barging in with the comment “Hurrdurr, this sucks, learn your stuff!” Actually give me an idea of what’s wrong, and how you know of it. Then, when you’ve considered that, either give me a poke on either of my characters (Argent Dawn; Chilana, Malveera, Zheenra, Azayah) or simply write an email to the following address; Macroxenic@gmail.com

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Introduction to RP

Many people don’t know exactly what RP is, so I’ll break it into small segments and bits to make it easier and better to understand. RP is the abbreviation of “RolePlaying”, which in this case means to act out the character you sit behind all day long – or… some people sit there all day. RP is not just one thing; it’s not just one aspect. True, Roleplaying is an overall word for anything you can do within this certain aspect of the game, but you can still break it down into bits and pieces. That said, do you remember, when you last put on some gear and ran into the forest, pretending you were… let’s say, a barbarian? No? How about playing cops and robbers as kid? I doubt you haven’t ever done such – it’s considered roleplaying. You act out a character in your head. So, in fact, you already got a bit of experience with this aspect of the community.

Roleplaying is something we do, because we like it. The world is full of possibilities, so why not seize the chance and do something? Azeroth is a world within a fascinating story, which we’ve chosen to oblige ourselves with. It’s fun and entertaining, provides us something to do instead of farming and destroying our gear in dungeons, raids or PvP.

There’s nothing more than enthusiasm and fun needed to join any RP-session somewhere in the world of Azeroth. Of course, you need gear, which suits your character, a personality to your character and that’s about it! And for all the new players, who don’t know exactly how to RP at all; it’s very simple. The moment you engage in RP there’s only few rules you need to know and understand, and I will explain them briefly and more advanced later;

Before we start talking about this, there’re only a few abbreviations I need to make clear.

IC means In Character, which is the act of being your character – in said character’s mindset.

OOC means Out of Character, which is when you’re NOT roleplaying – typically in trade/generalchat.

It’s preferred, if you stay IC all the time, when you’re in the IC-channels. No smileys. No abbreviations. Common English.

When we’ve get this covered, we can wrap this chapter up and continue towards the next category I wish to come across.

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Addons

There are several addons here and there, which can help you along with RP, make it easier or simply pimp your character a bit. Here is going to be several listings of said addons and a brief description written by their scripter.

GHI

“GHI is revolutionary in the sense of Roleplaying AddOns in World of Warcraft. Not only does it directly promote your creativity beyond belief, but the only thing holding you back from expanding your enjoyment with GHI is your very own imagination.

The AddOn itself might not seem like a lot at first, because the user interface has been made so simple that everyone can use it. It features a little blue bag, and once you see it on your interface, you are a single click away from a world of possibilities.

We will supply you a few examples of what GHI can do for you, but what really counts, is what you can do with it, not what we tell you, you can. Write a book, a note, a loveletter perhaps a poem, and keep it within your bag or trade it to other users of GHI. Create birthday presents, tools, food, drinks, weapons, banners – everything!”

Tongues

“What it does;

It allows languages, dialects, effects on outgoing messages.

It allows filters on incoming and outgoing messages. It has Lore-style Interpreters. It provides the ability to Mass Translate for: targetted player, translators (people added to the user's

translator list),party,guild, raid, officer, battleground, raid warning/alert. Auto-translation of other Tongues users' say, yell, party, guild, officer, raid, battleground and raid

warning/alert messages. Uses Blizzard languages when it can (ie Orcs speaking Gutterspeak will not be understood by Undead unless

the listener has Tongues, Undead speaking Gutterspeak will be understood if both they listener have Tongues.)

Provide a quick select for picking which language to speak. (So you don't have to open up the menu every time.)

Automatic Language learning (different languages have different difficulties for difficult factions, races, and classes.)

Allows you to speak for controlable pets with /petspeak or /ps”

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MRP

“MyRolePlay is a roleplaying UI AddOn for World of Warcraft, developed by Etarna at moonshyne.org. It lets you make

a roleplaying “profile” about your character that other users of MyRolePlay (and other compatible “MSP” RP AddOns) can see in the tooltip and a more detailed window. It’s fast, light, and powerful.

Spot other roleplayers at a glance, see which RP AddOns they are using, and get a quick overview of their character in the tooltip!

Change your character’s name; add a last name—or whatever you wish!

Mark your preferred style of roleplaying (casual, full–time, beginner, or a custom style…), or your status (in character, out of character, being a storyteller…)

Exercise your creativity further—describe your character’s appearance! Eye colour, height, weight…

Give people a taste of your character’s story, if you wish—add biographical information like their age, hometown, birthplace, and maybe even some tidbits of history to make people hungry to discover more by interacting with your character and roleplaying with you? Or hide others’ biography, if you prefer to discover that kind of thing through interaction. “

TRP2

“This addon adds a great amount of roleplay features such as :

- Characters and pets informations (names, titles, story, description, temper ...)- Item creation and inventory management- Document creation (Books, contracts, letters...)- Buff/debuff creation (called States)- Quest creation- And many more!”

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Your character

And now comes the more lovely and descriptive chapters of the guide. How come you RP, but know nothing about your character? Let’s change that! If you got problems making a background-story for your character, flaws and talents, looks and origin, just look through this, and I’ll run you through the basics of creating a character from scratch. The character is yours anyhow, no one has to command you around or decide what your character has to be like!

Basic knowledgeFollow this small skeleton/sheet/whatever you want to call it, and you’ve already gotten the very basics of your character settled down. It’s a must that you know these things, because it’s the common things to know about your character.

The basic charactersheet

Name: N/A

Age: N/A

Family: N/A

Birthplace: N/A

Height: N/A

Build: N/A

Other: N/A

A small background

Now that you got the basics covered, let’s get on with the more advanced stuff. You might not be a writer like I am, but you should still be able to come up with a small background-story, it’s easy, if you really care for your character.

Where are you from?

Why are you here?

What changed when you got here?

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Personality

The most important thing about a character is the personality and feelings it emits. If you’ve ever heard of, or played, Dragon Age, then consider a character in this game without a personality a Tranquil. Completely cold. So, a bit of pointers for the newcomers;

Are you calm or energetic? Silent or loud? Brutal or kind? Stupid or smart? Honest or deceiving?

The possibilities are endless; it’s just for you to seize the opportunity.

Roleplaying Outfit

The outfit you choose to put onto your character needs to follow a small set of rules;

The armor/clothing should fit your characters personality, if not job. Shouldn’t be overdimensioned, but it’s a minor detail.

Example with Malveera

Name: Stormcaller Malveera

Age: Above 16.000 years old

Family: Family died at the Oshu’gun crashsite on impact, no further knowledge is available about this character’s family. Sad incident.

Birthplace: Born on Argus

Height: Somewhere between 7’4” and 7’9”

Build: Athletic and wartorn

Other: Malveera has over several thousand years trained as a shamaness.

Malveera had always been interested in the arts of shamanism, and when she was learned said talents by the orcs 600 years ago, she found herself bound to the elements as well. Since then she has been adventurous and curious, which also managed to save her skin during the slaughtering of 75% of her kin on Draenor. Since the escape from Draenor, she’s found herself bound to repair the balance of the elements – which still is her main task. On her travels, she has found several friends and considered to become a gladiator – or at least to figure what it’s like.

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General knowledge and lifespans

Lifespan chart

The following tablet has been taken straight from Wowpedia.org’s lorepage, since I can’t be arsed making one to compete with a perfectly well-made Lifespan chart.

Race; Adulthood Middle Age Old Venerable Maximum LifespanDwarf 40 125 188 250 252-450Troll 17 30 47 69 70-79Forsaken None None None None Some go mindlessGoblin 15 35 70 85 (rare) 75-93 (extremely rare)Gnome 40 100 150 200 203-500High-elf 25-75 175 263 350 1000-2000Human 15 35 53 80 85-130Worgen 15 35 53 80 85-130Night Elf 110-300 500 650 700 Several thousandOrc 18-20 40 65 80 82-100 (rarely above 75)Tauren 15-50 75 95 110 114-150

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Azerothian TimelineI’m not sure about the mind of exactly you, the reader, but I can’t remember whenever any of the major events have happened, but in the moments I do, I’ve written it down. By any event, here’s the Azerothian Timeline partly stolen from the internet and partly written on my own.

-10,000 War of the Ancients Trilogy (novels by Richard A. Knaak)

The Well of Eternity The Demon Soul The Sundering

-9,000 The World Tree and the Emerald Dream-7,300 Exile of the High Elves-6,800 The Founding of Quel'Thalas-2,800 Arathor and the Troll Wars-2,700 The Guardians of Tirisfal-2,500 Ironforge - the Awakening of the Dwarves1,200 The Seven Kingdoms-823 Aegwynn and the Dragon Hunt-230 War of the Three Hammers-45 The Last Guardian— Kil'jaeden and the Shadow Pact— Rise of the Horde-1 Rise of the Horde (novel by Christie Golden)0 Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (PC game)— The Last Guardian (novel by Jeff Grubb)6 Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness (PC game)8 Warcraft 2X: Beyond the Dark Portal (PC game)10 Day of the Dragon (novel by Richard A. Knaak)18 Lord of the Clans (novel by Christie Golden)19 Of Blood and Honor (novel by Chris Metzen)20 Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (PC game)21 Warcraft 3X: The Frozen Throne (PC game)23 The Sunwell Trilogy (manga by Richard A. Knaak & Jae-Hwan Kim)

Dragon Hunt Shadows of Ice Ghostlands

24 Cycle of Hatred (novel by Keith R. A. DeCandido)25 World of Warcraft (PC game)26 World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC game)27 World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC game)28 World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (PC game)29 World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC game)

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A choice in rumors

You’re not the only one, who doesn’t know everything in Azeroth. What you don’t know OOCly, you might not know ICly. For instance – I know hella lot of lore OOCly, but some of my characters don’t know JACK of half the stuff I know. It’s all a matter of choices – do you want your character to be well-informed or hid beneath a stone the last couple of years? It’s entirely up to you.

Hell, I even ran into a girl, who hadn’t seen a draenei before, and thus I asked why she hadn’t. Her reason was simple. She’d lived in a cave with her family the last couple of years, thus having not been in contact with the world of Azeroth as we know it today.

Your time to choose which events you want your character to believe in and not.

Want to believe in Deathwing’s death, in case you haven’t seen his jaw dangling in Stormwind?

How about Illidan? Do you believe the ‘Great’ Illidan has died at Maiev’s hand?

Arthas died with Lich King – do you believe in it, even though the Scourge still remains?

How about Netharion? Onyxia? Malygos? Archimonde, Kil’Jaeden and all the other lords and evils?

Racial traits

Simple titles

Some titles remain the same and have been so for generations within the certain race’s hundreds of different personas. Whereas not many call them by their most common titles anymore, here’s a list of them – at least the ones I can remember.

DraeneiThe Draenei have in many years been known as either Anchorites(within the priesthood) or Vindicators (as paladin)

Night ElvesThe Night Elves are most commonly known with their new outbreak of Archdruids, Priestesses of Elune and Sentinels.

HumansThe Human-society is basically what the community now runs the names off – Priest, Paladin, Knight and so on.

Blood ElvesThe Blood Elves are a people cast out by the Allies, who run off the titles; Blood Knight, Felweaver, Ranger and more.

OrcsThe Orcish people have a simple system for ranks and titles themselves; Warlord, Blade Master, Beast Master, etc etc.

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TrollsThe Darkspear Trolls are a weirdly organized society, but in any way – Headhunter, Witchdoctor.

GoblinsThe greedy, deceiving goblins have for years been around to steal your gold – Archeology, Merchant, Antagonist.

WorgenThe noble worgen have just recently joined the Alliance, once more their friends – Noble, Rebel, Magister.

GnomesThe small and annoying, yet brilliant gnomes are the inventors of the Alliance – Tinkerer, Inventor, Engineer.

DwarfsThe proud and drunken dwarfs will forever be seen as the drunks they are – Mountaineer, Mountain King.

TaurenUnder the Earthmother’s embrace, peace and tranquil follows Tauren – Shaman, Hunter, Chief.

ForsakenResurrected by the Dark Lady, the forsaken have gotten their mind back – Darkcaster, Apothecary, Deathguard.

Assets and Attributes

The very assets and attributes to the selective races is a core understanding of the race and what it’s been living with for ages. Take an example for the racial abilities in-game. Night Elves; Shadowmeld. Draenei; Gift of the Naaru.

I can explain the different races, as I see them. I can’t promise that anyone would be able to understand said attribute and abilities ICly. Anyway, without further ado, here’s a list of said things.

DraeneiThe Draenei have for years and years, and endless bloody years, been living among crystals and high faith to the Naaru. They have been granted the Naaru’s blessings to heal minor wounds. They have been near, if not studied, the crystals on Argus, not to mention their gear and armor is usually socketed with gemstones, either for sturdiness or plain looks.

Night ElvesThe Night Elven people have lived within the tree-covered landscapes for several generations. Their knowledge of the woods gives them the knowledge to blend into their surroundings, making it harder to spot them. Their athletic builds have also contributed to their agility and endurance, being able to avoid certain blows easier.

HumansIn all the years the Human Empire has stood proudly on Eastern Kingdoms, they have propositioned peace among allies. Yet their cockiness, and at times prude personality, has led to a willpower so great, and a mind so secluded, that they can easily go from squadron to every man for himself. Yet, there are still some, who attribute as ambassadors.

Blood ElvesThe only problem with the Blood Elves is either their dwindling fel- or arcane-addiction. Yet, their bodies has, throughout the years, absorbed the magic, making them a bit more resistant to it, not to mention their skills within

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enchanting has been empowered by such change. Not to mention, they can focus enough to make an arcane-balance falter.

OrcsThe wartorn Orcish people have for centuries lived under the heavily dangerous areas, abundant to weather and aggressive creatures. Their will is strong, and they know it. Few still have a small amount of the haze of the bloodthirsty culture they’re known for, many of them able to throw themselves into a fury so reveling, that it increases their strength and hazes their mind briefly.

TrollsThe trolls have been savages for far longer, than you could imagine. Yet the one exception is the Darkspear. They have lived in exile and under primal proportions for as long as any orc can remember. They have a replenishing tissue, which makes it easier for them to heal their wounds naturally. Along with that, their sight is incredible, making them true masters of bows and throwing-knives.

GoblinsThe goblins have been exiled, neutral and profitable for many, many years. They can prop any deal. They gamble their way out of anything. Black Market-kinda guys. Their knowledge of explosives has increased as they’ve mined kaja’mite ores, both giving them cunning and intelligence beyond their usual attributes.

WorgenThe worgen have lived peacefully as Gilneans for the last many years. The worgen-‘curse’ was not to be stopped by their wall however, which sent the Gilnean people into the same fate – turning into worgen. Helped along by the Night Elven people, their mind and free will returned enough for them to change between their forms at will.

GnomesThe spirit of gnomes is simply unshakable. Their curious mind has led to brilliance and creativity beyond simple knowledge. They are small enough to get their nimble and small bodies out of even the most cunning traps, which always comes in handy, should one attempt to kidnap said gnome.

DwarfsDwarfs are explorers and adventurers, their own kind of curiosity driving them to guilds; fx Explorer’s League. They have lived within mountains and cold, snowy areas for long. The structure of their bodies keep them warm, while keeping them safe as their skin has toughened.

TaurenThe Tauren live in the gaze of the Earthmother and dedicate their time on her faith. Living in the nature has made it easier for them to identify and gather herbs faster than several other races. Along with their dedication they’ve made an exceptionally good endurance.

ForsakenOnce under the grasp of the Lich King, the Forsaken have united under the rule of the Dark Lady as their queen. Their bodies are thrashed and beaten, not needing as much oxygen as any other being – able to ‘breathe’ under water. Their states of mind make it easier for them to shake off charms and fears.

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Religions

Descriptions of the Faiths

The following descriptions have been taken straight from wowpedia and judged by me, whether it sounds truthful or not. If you have another opinion, or simply want to add something, follow the feedback form at the prologue. This said however, it is only the basic knowledge of each and every Faith, that I know of.

The Loa Gods“Loas are the ancient spirits of those who had transcended death that can grant wondrous boons or inflict terrible punishments to trolls, and all trolls are blessed with some regeneration by them.

All trolls worship a pantheon of primal forces; a sacred animal represents each aspect of the pantheon.

The trolls draw power for their voodoo magics by performing rituals and invoking the Primal Gods, Old Gods, forest spirits, and ancestral spirits: their Loa spirits and gods.

Loa spirits are more powerful than the elementals, but not as powerful as gods. Supposedly, these spirits are mighty entities that grant the faithful extraordinary powers. By calling

upon these voodoo spirits, the shadow hunter gains special blessings with which he can combat darkness and help those in need. The abilities granted vary according to the Loa the shadow hunter calls upon. Almost any being who has died and transcended death can be worshiped as a loa, including Forsaken shadow ascendants.

The shadow hunters' faith and communion with the Loa gods grants them shadow and healing magic, and other abilities. Shadow Hunters learn magic that hinders enemies and aids allies, gaining a unique mix of spells that delve into the more occult aspects of the Loa. The trolls of Zul'Aman worship primal beings they call the Forest Gods…”

The Holy Light“The Light, referred to as the Holy Light by some cultures, is a non-theistic religious form of philosophy with adherents among the Alliance and some members of the Horde. The organization closest related to the Light is the Church of the Holy Light. The followers of the Holy Light do not worship any gods. Instead, it is a philosophy, training its followers to seek perfection within themselves. It is

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very much an active practice of virtue rather than a passive worship. Those who follow it closely gain spiritual awareness and guidance, allowing them to lead others.

The Holy Light teaches that there is a connection between the self and the universe. This connection manifests as what we feel through both senses and emotions. When a person is moved, through seeing something breathtaking or feeling love for another, that emotion connects him to the universe. Experiencing the emotion ensures that he exists, as something within him felt the emotions or processed the sensual awareness. Because he exists, so must the universe that gave him that feeling. From there, he can act upon the universe, causing more changes to create feeling in others. Thus, the followers of Holy Light seek to make the world a better place by being true to their own emotions.

The next step in recognizing this connection between the self and the universe is developing the goodness within and without. If one wishes for happiness, one must work to better the universe to make others happy. Experiencing the glory and beauty of the world will in turn tap into the inner beauty and glory within one's soul. However, giving in to greed, despair, and unhappiness will only darken the universe. The Holy Light is the glory of the universe reflected upon the soul and mirrored back onto itself.

Holy Light practitioners consist mainly of humans and draenei. There were once many high elves and dwarves practicing the philosophy, but their numbers have dwindled in recent years. As high elves traveled further into the darkness of their arcane magic addiction, they fell from the Holy Light. The dwarves have replaced the Light with the study of their progenitors, the titans. The night elves are too new to the Alliance and too entrenched in their own worship of Elune and the other Ancients to consider the Holy Light in large numbers.

Among the Horde races the worship of the Holy Light is far less widespread. The blood elves' newly restored Sunwell is now a source of holy power as well as arcane, and the blood elves still train priests. The newly inducted goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel also have a priesthood that appears to worship the Light, though it is hard to reconcile the typical mercantile ethics of the goblins with the tenets of the Light. The Forsaken have their own religion, the Forgotten Shadow, which is based on a distorted version of the Light. Among other Horde races the worship of the Holy Light is practically unheard of, save perhaps for a few isolated individuals, one notable example among them being the Darkspear troll priest, Zabra Hexx.

Members of the Church of Light follow a philosophy called the three virtues.”

The Moon goddess

“Elune (or Mu'sha, as called by the tauren) is the major deity worshipped by the night elves. She is associated with the larger of Azeroth's two moons, the White Lady, and is widely considered to be the mother of Cenarius, the forest lord and patron god of all druids. Elune is one of the few true deities of Azeroth. She nurtured and sheltered the earliest living beings of the world as they awaited the first dawn, giving them the chance to thrive and to grow into the present myriad of life, along with all the possibilities and promises that it entails.

In tauren mythology, Elune is revered as the left eye of the Earthmother, though she is not worshipped as a sentient deity by the tauren. Strongly associated with healing, tranquility and harmony, the moon goddess Elune has been revered by the night elves and several other races since the earliest ages in Azeroth's history. However, the Mother Moon is not a goddess who advocates peace at all costs. Indeed, one of Elune's aspects is the Night Warrior, who is said to lift the souls of the valiant fallen from the battlefield and set them riding as newborn stars across the eternal nightsky.

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Long before the Great Sundering came to pass, a well-organized priesthood had devoted itself to the service of Elune. Known as the Sisterhood of Elune, this ancient night elven order remains in existence to this day and, as their name implies, entrance to its upper echelons is available exclusively to women, on the belief that Elune's deepest mysteries can only be understood by a woman's heart. The war chants of the Sisters can call down the Night Warrior's wrath to smite their foes, and their prayers to the Mother Moon can nurture even the gravely wounded back to health.

Recorded night elven history shows that formal worship of Elune dates back at least 14,000 years. However, it is certain that the moon goddess was being revered through more primitive and decentralized methods long before this. The first known center of devotion to Elune was established by the Sisters of Elune within the ancient kaldorei capital Zin-Azshari. The Sisterhood at one point relocated this temple to the city of Suramar after it became evident Queen Azshara and the Highborne increasingly distanced themselves from the tenets of the moon goddess. After Suramar itself had fallen to the onslaught of the Burning Legion, Elune became a profound source of hope and humility to all night elves

as they witnessed the Ancient Guardians of Azeroth rally under the blazing moon to come to the defense of a world being put to the flame over their civilization's mistakes.

In the era between the War of the Ancients and the Third War, a period known as the Long Vigil, devotion to Elune had essentially become universal among the kaldorei but was practiced without centralized places of worship, much like in ages past. The Sisters of Elune have recently founded a new temple for the moon goddess however, the first of its kind since the complex at Suramar itself: the Temple of the Moon within the night elven capital city of Darnassus. Elune's chosen, Tyrande Whisperwind, resides here both as high priestess and as head of the kaldorei government, and by her side stand many priestesses (and for the first time, several male night elven priests) ready to venture out and soothe a war-weary Azeroth with the Mother Moon's healing light.

Elune's aspect known as the Mother Moon emphasizes tranquility and harmony to allow for the greatest nurturing of Azeroth's creatures. However, Elune does not advocate pacifism in the face of threats to her harmony and tranquility; novices in the Sisters of Elune are trained extensively in tactics and combat under the moon goddess' aspect of the Night Warrior. Elune expects devotion from her priestesses, but never demands they give her every waking moment — the Mother Moon is experienced by her daughters as a nurturing, loving matriarch whose expectations are not oppressive in nature. Whereas Elune is the center of reverence for the Sisters of Elune and the sentinels, the night elven druids have devoted themselves to the teachings of Elune's only child; the demigod Cenarius. As such, there exists a deep and intimate link between the spirituality of the kaldorei druids and priestesses, on which their entire society has been based for over ten thousand years.”

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The Earthmother

“The Earth Mother is a being worshiped by tauren, Wildhammer dwarves and Pandaren.

The Earth Mother is the tauren ideal of all the spirits of nature. She is the benevolent goddess of the tauren, who believe that the deity is responsible for all the natural beauty of the world. They see her smiling face in the sky, the stones, the sands, and the seas.

Tauren mythology describes her as the creator of the land, and the tauren. The sun (An'she) and moon (Mu'sha) are her eyes. She lives in the rivers, trees, plains and mountains of Azeroth. She is the embodiment of nature. All lesser nature spirits come from the Earth Mother, and return to her upon death. The Earth Mother represents all the animistic forces of nature. River-spirits, sea-spirits, tree-spirits, rock-spirits, and animal spirits all reflect one facet of the Earth Mother.

In a sense, tauren see the Earth Mother as a sort of universal consciousness. While individual spirits represent a particular location, animal or object, such as the spirit of a single tree or the spirit of a valley, the Earth Mother represents the land. She is everywhere life and nature is. The only spirits separate from the Earth Mother are the spirits of sentient creatures. Tauren ancestor spirits live in harmony with the Earth Mother, but are not part of her.

Tauren religion teaches to respect and love the Earth Mother by treating her body, the land, and her children, the plants and animals of the world, with respect. Tauren disrupt the natural balance of the land as little as possible. They take only what they need from the land and eschew mass logging and mining. They respect the animals they hunt and never wastefully discard animal carcasses.

The shaman and priests of the Wildhammer dwarves entertain the people on cold nights with myths of nature and the Earth Mother. Priests of the Earth Mother can gain access to the Animal, Elements and Spirits domains. The Earth Mother is regarded in tauren culture the same way Elune is in Kal'dorei culture. Both are meant to be the stabilizing factor in the shifting lives of their respective peoples. The Earth Mother, kept in this spiritual way, is far more capable of fulfilling her role in the non-physical form that she appears to take.”

The Titans“The titans, also known as the makers, the travelers (to the trolls), or the Great Ones (to the Oracles), are a race of extremely powerful, majestic creatures, akin to gods. These metallic giants travel across the cosmos bringing order to worlds. Many believe them to simply be a progenitor race.

Though the exact origins of the chaotic universe remain uncertain, it is clear that a race of powerful beings arose to bring stability to the various worlds and ensure a safe future for the beings that would follow in their footsteps: The Titans, colossal, metallic-skinned gods from the far reaches of the cosmos, explored the newborn universe and set to work on the worlds they encountered. They shaped the worlds by raising mighty mountains and dredging out vast seas. They breathed skies and raging atmospheres into being. It was all part of their unfathomable, far-sighted plan to

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create order out of chaos. They even empowered primitive races to tend to their works and maintain the integrity of their respective worlds.

Ruled by an elite sect known as the Pantheon, the Titans brought order to a hundred million worlds scattered throughout the Great Dark Beyond during the first ages of creation. The benevolent Pantheon, which sought to safeguard these structured worlds, was ever vigilant against the threat of attack from the vile extra-dimensional entities of the Twisting Nether. Unable to conceive of evil or wickedness in any form, the Titans struggled to find a way to end the demons' constant threat. Over time, demonic entities made their way into the Titans' worlds from the Twisting Nether, and the Pantheon elected its greatest warrior, Sargeras, to act as its first line of defense. A noble giant of molten bronze, Sargeras carried out his duties for countless millennia, seeking out and destroying these demons wherever he could find them. As doubt and despair overwhelmed Sargeras' senses, he lost all faith not only in his mission, but also in the Titans' vision of an ordered universe. Eventually he came to believe that the concept of order itself was folly, and that chaos and depravity were the only absolutes within the dark, lonely universe. His fellow Titans tried to persuade him of his error and calm his raging emotions, but he disregarded their more optimistic beliefs as self-serving delusions. Storming from their ranks forever, Sargeras set out to find his own place in the universe. Although the Pantheon was sorrowful at his departure, the Titans could never have predicted just how far their lost brother would go.”

The Naaru“The naaru are a dimension-traveling race of sentient energy beings, with a deep affinity for the Holy Light of Creation that empowers the paladins of Azeroth. The naaru blessed the draenei with this power in an effort to help them in their struggle. They are bent on stopping the Burning Legion.

When Sargeras and the Burning Legion came to the world of Argus and began corrupting the eredar race, Velen, an eredar leader, prayed for help. The naaru appeared, offering to take Velen and any other like-minded eredar to safety. Velen and his faction accepted and began to call themselves draenei ("Exiled Ones"). The draenei hastily escaped Argus aboard the Dimensional Ship provided for them by the naaru.

During the draenei's journey, the enigmatic naaru race blessed them with Light-given knowledge and power. The naaru explained that there were other forces in the cosmos that would stand against the Burning Legion. One day the naaru would forge them into a single unstoppable army of the Light. Deeply affected by the naaru's words, the draenei vowed to honor the Light and uphold the naaru's altruistic ideals.

Due to the interests of the Legion, and later certain Azerothians in Outland, the naaru moved Tempest Keep to Outland for a more direct observation. The Keep was stormed by the Blood Elves, but the sin'dorei found only the naaru M'uru within the ship.

In Sunwell Plateau, Velen describes M'uru's essence as "bathed by the light of Creation — just as it was at the Dawn." This may indicate M'uru (and other naaru) were born at the dawn of creation.

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Some players have expressed suspicion of the perceived perfection and altruism of the naaru. Some believe that the naaru have ulterior motives, or there is an undiscovered faction of "dark" naaru. As D'ore himself says,

"Without the void, the Light cannot exist."

This could be taken to mean that if these Naaru are pure light and good, then there must be a polar opposite - that is, naaru or another race who are as much darkness and evil as the ones we have encountered so far are good and pure. It should be noted that although D'ore is currently a darkened naaru, he appears to maintain good intentions.

But there is also the possibility that his quote is simply referencing the dualistic nature of the Void/Light dichotomy, that both these forces are defined by their opposition to each other.

M'uru, now a darkened naaru, is now a boss in Sunwell Plateau. It is not clear if he is now "evil" or simply a darkened naaru whose weakened state has been exploited by Kil'jaeden or Kael'thas. After the raid gets him to 0%, he transforms into a void god named Entropius.

Though Blizzard has addressed the confusion.

Q: What is the nature of the Void state of the Naaru? For a being of the Light, turning into such a dark being seems like a heavy weakness. Sucking in souls and causing destruction simply because of a loss in strength greatly diminishes their saintly image. Though, this might be a reason they don't act in combat very much, as turning on your army due to fatigue wouldn't be good for morale.

A:Because three cases of this "cycle" have been demonstrated in Nagrand, Auchindoun, and Sunwell Plateau (K'ure, D'ore, and M'uru, respectively), players may have received the wrong impression with regard to the magnitude and rarity of these events: it is EXCEEDINGLY rare for a naaru to fall into a void state, and even rarer for a fallen naaru to be brought back into the Light. A naaru's fall into the void represents a catastrophic loss for the naaru and for the forces of the Light, and it is the saddest, most heart-wrenching event for the naaru to witness. Conversely, a naaru being reborn into the Light brings renewed hope and sense of purpose to every naaru; if energy beings could weep tears of joy, this would do it.”

Why choose a religion?

So, why exactly would you choose a religion in Azeroth? Well, I can tell you one thing. Morale comes from faith, faith comes from believing, and in what state wouldn’t religion contain ‘believing’? This makes sense in my head, I don’t know about yours. By any event though, I got explanations for you.

1) When haven’t you seen a Night Elf believe in Elune?2) Most Tauren, if not all, believe in the Earthmother.3) Every troll believes in the Loa.4) Stereotypes are stereotypes…

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IC-channels

Now, that you’re well into your character’s story and more, why not get to the actual roleplaying rules. You’ve waited for this, and it has taken way too long for me to write the first few chapters for you to read and learn from. So, here you might wonder what exactly I mean with the chapter-title in itself, so here’s the deal. We got IC-channels and OOC-channels in World of Warcraft. And then there are translation-channels, but that’s a whole other story. So, let’s start this chapter out, and have some fun with all the channels involved!

The channels

As I briefly mentioned above, we got 3 different kinds of channel-types. The one called IC-channels, which is for everything that happens in character, the one called OOC-channels, which is primarily for Out Of Character-things, and the last one called translation-channels, which is a channel to translate between Horde and Alliance.

The IC-channels;

/say /yell /emote /whisper (within limits)

The OOC-channels;

/guild /party /1 /2 /3 /raid /whisper (outside the limits)

The translation-channels;

Real-ID whispers

I will explain the rules within the different channels and how to use it effectively in a tiny bit.

The language and how to use it

I shouldn’t have to explain this really, because it hangs tight with everything else we’ve talked about so far, but I’ll have to do it anyhow, since it’s a necessity, that I make sure you’re understanding the few simple rules within the

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roleplaying-society; we can’t have them chasing you off with pitchforks, now can we? Now, don’t worry, it’s only in certain cases they’ll chase you like a horde of angry penguins.

IC-channels rules

Common EnglishYes, it’s a must. Anything you write must be common English. No exceptions. And yes, that means no leetspeak as well! The moment you do leetspeak, you’re doomed as roleplayer.

Few typosOkay, for some people it’s impossible not to make typos, but at least give it a try before you start roleplaying! It can become really annoying, if every roleplayer has to decipher every word in a sentence you’ve just written.

Correct yourselfBeware not, if you did a typo and you can see it, you can correct yourself in multiple ways; either with brackets or simply directly into chat. I recommend the brackets for newcomers in RP.

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How to use the IC-channels

/sayBasically, this is where everything your character says will be. There are rare occasions, where you can emote something out in this channel as well.

/yellWe all know how loud a yell is. And if you don’t, then please don’t use this channel. A yell is not just raising your voice, a yell is shouting, and shouting pretty high.

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/emoteNow, this simple command is… unknown to most players, when they start. They have no idea it exists, which I find pretty hard to believe, but I’ll give a small consensus of how it works.

The name will ALWAYS replace /e(the abbreviation). So, just consider /e as your name.

For example /e can run faster than anyone in the world! will come out as;

/whisper (in RP)It’s as simple as it sounds. But it should always be accompanied with an emote saying, that you’re in fact whispering said person. And yes, he has to be in range! Doesn’t work, if he’s in the other end of town.

Other than that simply have fun doing what you’re doing! Step up to the RP, have fun with it, that’s what it’s all about! Sure, you might encounter elitist jerks, but still you’re around. You’re learning how to RP, you’re improving just by reading this guide. Keep that in mind, you’re as good as him, not the opposite.

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Emotes

What in the world is emoting“An emote is an entry into a text-based chat client that indicates an action taking place.” ~Wikipedia

That was the short version from Wikipedia, but what exactly is an emote apart from that? It’s feelings and actions, true, and World of Warcraft isn’t the first MMORPG to have said commandsystem implemented. Many do.

Just by doing the /laugh or /confused is emoting in itself, since it’s pre-scripted emotes done by Blizzard, which will come out as “You laugh out loud.” and “You’re hopelessly confused.”

Now, as for the channels, there’re also different kinds of emoting, some good, some bad; whereas I will only explain the first one in this chapter, and the 2 others in the next. Here’s the different kinds that stand out;

Attempt-emoting Poweremoting/Godemoting Metagaming

Simple is good enough

The problem doesn’t lie within the fact, that you write short emotes. Sometimes I do the same, yet I do long emotes, whenever I can, because I’m taught to do so by yours truly. If you’re not good enough to do any long, perfect emotes, without making it confusing, a simple, short emote will be enough to satisfy even the most hardcore roleplayer – unless, say, they’re jerks. Again, don’t let people give you criticism without being constructive.

Attempts in emotes

Or Attempt-emoting, if you look at above 3 kinds of emoting. It sounds simpler than it is, because I still see many people about, who have yet to figure this art of emoting out. So, here’s the very core of the art; attempt your actions!

Of course, you don’t have to attempt anything, and it can be in any form in fact. I’ll run you through it.

Attempts are used for anything you do against another character, creature or things. It can be anything from combat-situations and cooking to healing and lockpicking. The second you don’t use attempts, it’s considered godemoting by many, since you’re forcing an action onto a character.

By any event though, here are a few examples of proper use, if you want to be the proper roleplayer within the world of Azeroth;

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Godemote/Metagame

I don’t know, if you’re common with the mentioning of godemoting, metagaming and poweremoting, so in this case – I’ll explain them for you in as few details as possible. Even though it’s almost the same as proper emoting, it’s not and will be frowned upon by the whole RP-community.

What is Godemoting?

Many people ask me that question, when I tell them to turn down the godemoting a nudge. The problem lays in the fact, that godemoting is basically how to ‘force an action unto another character’. For example, if you don’t attempt to hit someone in a barfight, but simply type out, that you hit said person.

“Power-emoting or god-emoting is an act of forcing the result of one's actions on another character, typically without the other player's consent and not giving the other character a chance to do anything about the emote. For instance, "Player1 kills Player2", "Player1 hits Player2" and "Player1 steals X gold from Player2" are all power-emotes.

Power-emoting is heavily frowned upon in most roleplaying communities, since it takes the freedom of action away from the player being emoted on. The typical solution for this issue is to emote attempts instead of finished actions. For example, typing "Player1 tries to stab Player2 in the chest with his sword" will give Player2 a chance to dodge or parry the blow.

Some standard in-game emotes, such as /spit or /slap, can be considered power-emotes.” ~Wowwiki

Metagaming

“In role-playing games, metagaming can be defined as any out of character action made by a player's character which makes use of knowledge that the character is not meant to be aware of.

Examples of metagaming include:

Adjusting a character's actions based on foreknowledge of the long-term intentions of the gamemaster. Gaining knowledge from Out-Of Character. Using knowledge from a previously played or dead character.

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Using certain types of attack or defense based on the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent that the player's character is unaware of.

Acting on any knowledge that the character is not aware of (such as creating gunpowder in a Dark Ages or Middle Ages setting).

Adjusting a character's behavior towards other player characters based on real-life relationships with other players.

Using knowledge of the game's mechanics to gain an advantage in the game by having the character do something incompatible with that character's personality.

Traditionally, metagaming is generally frowned upon in role-playing communities, as it upsets the suspension of disbelief and affects game balance. However, some narrativist indie role-playing games deliberately support metagaming in "Director stance" and encourage shared storytelling among players.” ~Wikipedia

Wikipedia just about covers it, but to make it easier to understand…

Metagaming in World of Warcraft is basically when you use your own knowledge to share with your character. Even more simplified than that; Using OOC-knowledge ICly is bad mojo.

So, how do you avoid it over distances

Simple as it sounds – a list of things that can make it easier to communicate over distances;

Letters through the mailbox A gnomish device A bird/owl A Gryphoncourier A traveling mage Might be others, your imagination counts here!

Use said things and you can communicate with people over distances without making it metagaming.

Thank you for reading!