Hi, I’m a new roleplayer but I’ve been friends with roleplayers for a long time and wanted to give it a genuine shot cause it seems like a lot of fun!!
I’ve always been a bit confounded by roleplay and never able to truly get into it despite multiple attempts so I figured I’d try a new approach and sort’ve just ask advice here on the forums!
If anyone feels up to it I’d really like to hear some general advice or know-how that might make it easier to sort’ve adapt and join in on the fun! I’m looking to roleplay as a human squire so any paladin tips in particular would be hugely appreciated!
Welcome to the best way to enjoy World of Warcraft!
My first point of advice would be to check out this thread:
There really is no better place to get you up to speed on everything in regards to RPing, including terms, types of RP, useful addons, and so forth.
Beyond that, I’ve got no advice specific to paladin or squire RP, but I will say this: Be ready to hang around Stormwind City a lot, reading TRP profiles and looking for people who seem like they’ll either fit in well with paladin squire RP, or who just seem like interesting characters for your character to intersect with. Approach them, either with an IC introduction or with an OOC message about what you’re looking for in RP.
You may need to set some basics up about your character first: Which kingdom are they from? What family do they have? What is their relationship like with their family? If they aren’t a resident of Stormwind, why are they in Stormwind? When they aren’t training as a paladin, what are they doing? How do they feel about having Man’ari, Dark Irons, Death Knights, Demon Hunters, and other more “problematic” people officially welcomed into the Alliance? How do they feel about the Horde? Once you have a decent idea who your character is, you’ll find it easier to get into casual conversations and stay in character and to interact with others.
My advice is to keep things simple for starters and let the connections and relationships grow organically through RP. This has been my method in the last few months and I’ve gained about a half-dozen RP contacts that have really clicked, both with Dloin and with each other. But, I’m also an RP veteran so I already had a very strong idea of who Dloin was and what sort of characters would work with him.
Finally, if you’re using TRP (which you should), mark your profile as new to RP, and look for profiles with the green flag - this indicates people who are veteran RPers and are willing to help newbies learn the ropes.
And finally for real, Dloin is a blacksmith who has forged weapons for paladins in the past, and he’s currently involved in a relationship with a paladin and has worked closely with paladins over the years. He himself has a lot of baggage with the Light, but I’m always looking for new contacts. Feel free to reach out in game we can set something up!
As the previous poster mentioned, getting the Addon ‘Total Rp 3’, is a MASSIVE quality of life booster.
As for ‘getting into’ Rp, the ‘hardest’ part admittedly is finding a flow and fantasy that mixes with your style, Are you a Zealot extremist that wants to purge anything ‘not’ imbued with the Light? Or are you a Stalwart defender who wields the Light to defend his people as an unmovable bulwark?
It’s alot like DnD if you’ve ever sat down and had a campaign in that, You make your own ‘History’, Who your character is, Where they’re from, Do they enjoy Hammers or Swords? Do they eat the cherry first or last when eating Ice Cream? it’s building how people can see ‘them’, There isn’t really a ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’ way and the more experience you have in doing it, the easier it becomes.
Just to throw a little wisdom nugget out there, keep your backgrounds simple at first. If you try to go too hard with your story you might miss out on some fun here and there. I’ve seen it happen too often where people try to make this epic saga right out the gate and eventually hit a wall, or just burn out too quickly.
Woah, thank you so much for the reply!! That guide is taking me a while to chew through but its definitely been super helpful for me getting a better grasp on the whole thing.
And of course I’d love to meet Dloin at some point. In my mind so far the Squire just has some clunky hand-me-down tools and an old rusty breastplate.
I love paladins. I haven’t played in a few years (and I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff) but I think a good jumping-off point for developing your paladin’s understanding of the Light and their duty to it is to read this little blurb about the Three Virtues:
There’s actually a little more elaboration on the fandom(.)com version of the Church of the Holy Light page, but that website runs so poorly I don’t even wanna open it right now.
I like WoW paladins because all you really need to do to keep wielding the Light is to believe that you’re Totally Correct & Just in what you’re doing, which is why Arthas could still wield it when he was culling Stratholme. You can do a lot with that concept, and it’s a lot less restrictive (I think) than the D&D style of Lawful Good paladins and their strict code. Of course, you should still have some sort of personal code, but yeah. It’s great!
Don’t be afraid to get a little esoteric with it, re: the Light and what it means to be a paladin. WoW paladins are wonderfully diverse in how they behave, what they represent, and how they apply their teachings to the state of the world around them. Different people will have different ideas and opinions about the Light, both IC and OOC, so there’s always something to keep the juices flowing when it comes to theological concepts.