DK RP question

Khaydan-wyrmrest-accord · September 1, 2019, 9:51pm

Hi folks,

Also posted this in the World End tavern, but was wondering if long time DK player might answer a few questions

I just wanted to throw myself in a bit of DK RP as the class seems interesting for retail currently.

However, there is a few things I wish to clarify.

I understand that it is different if as a DK you were “made” during the Lich King period ( the Ebon Blade ) and if you were “made” as part of the Class Hall campaign in Legion.

So hare are a few questions to see if you guys can help me a bit RPing the best character possible !

The endless hunger, the desire to kill and inflict pain constantly, does it just apply to Arthas’ DKs? My guess would be yes since he is the one that programmed it in them.
Are Legion DK less “emotionless” ? From what I understand from the class campaign, they chose to be resurrected to serve against the Legion. They nearly volunteered to Nazgrim.
Arthas DK are pretty much “evil” from what I understand. Would this be any different for Legion DKs?

Choosing to pick a Legion DK would be currently the best choice to fit my character backstory as he died with an unfinished redemption arc that he could pursue when resurrected. However, I understand that DK were made with the fact that they came from Wotlk and might be difficult to translate to Legion.

My other problem is that since I am just creating the character now, it would be difficult to explain what he has done all those years since WOTLK, but if he came from legion it’s only a few months ago so it’s easier to explain RP wise.

Thanks in advance for the help

Velskud-duskwood · September 2, 2019, 2:37am

Maybe i can help a bit, as far as PC DKs, we were rezzed by the LK and whilest under his influence. We felt physical pain if we didnt inflict it but that ended when he lost control over us at lights hope chapel. While other characters have a full range of emotions the DK has almost none but does have free will. Case in point was sir zeliek he still was able to wield the light because of his personal convictions even while under the control of Kel’thuzud. and as far as the time gap just use his personal beliefs as justification

Bhorum-maelstrom · September 4, 2019, 4:36pm

The DKs raised during legion have free will, retain their memory from life, and are more concerned with keeping Bolvar in check than feasting on the living now that the Legion threat has ended.

In the Deathlord’s place, I can’t imagine Mograine allowing and encouraging DKs to revert to their baser instincts when they have to continue proving to the world thry aren’t a threat. Their very existence is a closely kept secret on both sides.

Lasontra-dalaran · September 6, 2019, 6:21am

Here’s my personal take, having played a Lich DK from back when it was first released… I see the original DK’s as being almost like zombies… they move, they think, but they didn’t have free will, they didn’t have “feelings”, the Lich King, as evil, selfish and cold (pun intended) a creature as ever existed, literally was in their minds, controlling them. There is one quest in the beginning of the story line (A Special Surprise) where you (the DK) are ordered to kill some prisoners and it turns out an old friend is one of them. You end up having to kill the friend, but as a player, this is the point where you start to feel like your character is beginning to break away from the Lich King’s domination and starting to recover a tiny bit of their old “humanity”. The Legion DK’s never go through that. Also, keep in mind that the Lich King DK’s were considered by EVERYONE to be the scourge of the world until they broke free of the Lich King’s domination and are eventually (on the Alliance side) accepted by the Stormwind King as an ally. Again, the newer Legion DK’s never went through that.

Basically, the Lich King Dk’s had no choice about being a DK and couldn’t “do what’s right” until they finally broke the LK domaination at the Chapel of Light, whereas the Legion DK’s more or less chose to serve in order to help save the world. (You really see this in the Legion:Four Horsemen quests - each one is raised from the dead, but they each “agree” (for different, personal reasons) to serve, to help save the world. With the Lich King DK’s, there was never any question of agreement or choice - it was never a consideration that you wouldn’t do exactly what he wanted you to do.) I can’t see how that wouldn’t affect the two groups differently and if you are going to role play, you need to keep this firmly in mind.

Also, since we’re talking about role playing, you can pretty much ignore the whole “Lich King” or “Legion” death knight question; you need to decide if your character’s storyline has them became a DK before or after the battle at Chapel of Light when the Ebon Blades threw off the original Lich King’s domination - because technically, as far as the death knight storyline goes, there would have been both types of DK during the WotLK expansion timeline (those who had no choice to serve, and those who came later and did have a choice).

Quincinatus-wyrmrest-accord · September 7, 2019, 2:43am

Hello. I’ve been an RP officer at a DK centered RP guild for a long time. Here’s the basic lowdown on your questions:

We don’t have hard confirmation on the hunger to inflict suffering, but we also know that all undead are addicted to some vice. The safer and more likely bet is that they still have the addiction–the powers that resurrect death knights all come from procedures instituted by the Lich King and, in some cases, power still bestowed by the Frozen Throne.
Similarly, because of the relationship between an undead’s soul and their body, they feel lots of things to a diminished extent (at least positive emotions, potentially even certain physical sensations if I recall). Them ‘lacking’ emotion isn’t by choice, or because they’re bad people. Now, this doesn’t mean they feel no emotion.
Death knights are/were evil at least when they were controlled by Arthas. After that, they don’t have to be. But they do have to manage the hunger somehow. If the Legion dks have it, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason why they wouldn’t have it, they have the same issue, but DKs are not necessarily evil people. Just undead, and all that implies.

Look up/do the Thassarian questline in Northrend. Thassarian really opened the door for us to see death knights as decent or interesting people while still being undead as we know them.

The options are endless. People can pretend to be funny, happy, or cordial, while not actually feeling like it. People can be sad, but not “edgy.” People can struggle with addictions and vices while not being “evil” while in their better minds. There’s lots of room here. But as far as we know, the addiction is a fact, the difficulty with emotion is definitely a fact.

The Wowpedia articles on Undeath and death knights have pretty comprehensive sections on their psychology, with sources. Go take a look at those.

But, at the end of the day, a lot of people RPing in WoW aren’t too big into the “telling people how to play pretend” thing anymore. If you don’t like the psychological minutiae of death knights, there are other people out there who won’t care. If you want a character that’s accurate to the stated facts of the universe, then you need them, but that’s up to you. I, personally, don’t find these facts particularly constraining or unwieldy or difficult in making/writing/RPing interesting characters. You don’t have to be an edgelord. But, DKs do “have to be” a little bit sad, at the very least.

Hope that helps.

Mance-spirestone · September 9, 2019, 6:21am

I love my UHDK lore and RP man. I want to form a sub-faction of the KEB called the Wraiths of Wrynn who will even kill fellow brothers and sisters in death if they support Sylvanas. We are the Wraiths of Wrynn, Lordaeron’s Dusk Riders, and the Lion’s Dark Horsemen! FTA!

Greyloren-silver-hand · September 9, 2019, 3:48pm

Something I remember reading a few years back regarding why DKs like to hurt people. You guys can tell me if this is a real thing or not.

The reason why DKs don’t look like other undead, is because we maintain our looks as long as we are hurting and killing. This was something the Lich King programmed into us.

If this is true, you can play this card several ways. On one end you can be all “being a ‘hero’ is OK because all this adventuring allows me to not fall apart and justifiably kill things.” On the other end you can go crazy murder spree because of your Azshara-like vanity.