New to WoW rp and would like a little help

Wyrmrest Accord
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Hello everyone. I am new to World of Warcraft RP and have a few questions.

  1. Are there any critically important parts of lore I should research or know on this server. I understand that all lore is important just wondering if there is anything extra on this server I should know.

  2. I have looked all over and not found any information on how long Vulpera live. What is the average life expectancy? I was guessing about the same as a human so think of having Kitsunrei be around 30 but just want to make sure this works. I don’t want him to be a kid nor do I want him to be an old man.

  3. How do you all do the emote chat? What I mean is I see a lot of people do something like. So and so looks around for a second scanning the room before responding “Sure I will help you. Follow me.” All at the same time instead of doing an emote then a separate chat. Sorry I hope I explained that. I don’t know what it is called.

  4. How important is transmog? Is there anything wrong with using heritage armor? I don’t plan to us anything super lore heavy like the artifacts. You can see my transmog I have on now for a good idea of what I was planing on using.

Lastly I would like a little help with my backstory.

Here is what I am working on. I am trying to come up with a way for Kitsunrei to be working on becoming a monk even though his people as far as I know have not had much contact with the Pandaren.

I was think he would have been a slave most of his life. I wanted to have him be one of the slaves working under Overseer Nerzet and her Faithless in Zul,Ahjin. I thought I could have him be set free by a Pandaren monk who then was poisoned by one of the Faithless blades wile fighting to escape and die shortly after. I thought this would give Kitsunrei a reason to want to learn more about the Pandaren who set him free and lead him to becoming a monk. I also think I could be a cool reason for him to chose to become an alchemist. Kind of a wanting to make sure nothing like that happens again sort of thing.

If you took the time to read all of this thank you. And thank you for any help you might be able to give. I am sorry if this has all been asked 100 times.

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I’mma let you finish Kunbo, but…

  1. Vulpera were on their own island, largely isolated in a desert until very recently. All a Vulpera character needs to know is scant Vulpera lore and maybe read up on some Zandalari history. Make learning more about the world and it’s lore a part of your character’s story!

  2. When in doubt, all races are assumed to age like humans. Most people avoid exact numbers in the profiles and just go with “adult” or “young adult” or “middle aged”.

  3. You emote by posting /e, followed by the action and text in quotes. So /e smiles and waves. "Hello!" For example. You’ll want to download the Emotesplitter addon so you can circumvent the chatbox’s usual character limit.

  4. With transmog, you should try to be somewhat mindful to the character/situation. Like nobody’s going to judge you in terms of style, but if you show up to a fancy dinner party in full plate and a pair of giant battle axes or battle wearing a leotard, you’ll definitely be a curiosity.

As far as your background? It looks great actually. As you actually play the character, keep in mind that this background might change a bit. Your character will develop other traits: likes and dislikes, favorite foods, things that annoy them, etc. Embrace the opportunity to meet new people and try new things and try not to focus as much about your character’s constructed past.

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For lore, I highly recommend Wowpedia!

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Wowpedia
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Thank you. I really like the Idea of learning about the world and lore a part of his story. That helps me a lot. I really did not think about not giving him a hard number for age that makes it a little easy. Lol I just tried the emote you gave me and that is exactly what I was talking about. Thank you for the help.

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  1. As a rule of thumb you don’t really need to know anything more than your character knows - think about how much you know about human history vs. what a professional historian would. From that you can take the general guideline that lore relating to your character’s race & home region are most important, followed by class & other parts of Azeroth they have been directly involved with.

  2. Just as above with regards to lore - think about how accurately you can determine a stranger’s age irl. Or an elephant’s for that matter. Many of us don’t put exact numbers in out profiles. “Adult, Mature, Elderly, …”.

  3. there are a whole lot of slash ( / ) commands. you can find a list at wowpedia amongst other places. What you are seeing is the custom " /emote " command. just type /emote plus whatever you want to say the character is doing. you can even use quotes within that emote, so that your character is doing something and saying something. You can also insert actions into a Say (chat post) by bracketing part of it with *. Whatever is between the two * will read as if you had done a custom emote.

  4. It’s entirely up to you. Depends on your roleplay style & how you want to portray your character. Some of us spend a whole lot of time & gold working on custom mogs for every occasion. Others get one look they’re happy with and leave it at that. The look on your profile looks great imho. I wouldn’t find it out of place on a battlefield or in a tavern.

As to your backstory - sounds reasonable to me. Keep in mind that up until the last century or two the Wandering Isle Pandaren were still in contact with the rest of Azeroth. There’s enough wiggle room within the bounds of lore to suppose that their monks trained people or helped established monastic traditions. There are also plenty of RPers who also have worked out for themselves reasonable justifications for monk-like traditions in other cultures.

A couple of personal comments on designing characters in general.

It’s helpful to leave yourself room to adjust/fill-in your character’s story as you interact with people. Part of the fun is not knowing things about your character, then discovering them as you play. At first, you really only to have clearly defined whatever people would learn about your character when they are getting to know them.

Also, you’re going to occasionally encounter people who will tell you in minute detail everything that is wrong with your character - from the way you spell their name on up. To the more open-minded that’s considered rude and arrogant. As long as you don’t try force someone else to believe silly things - such as that you are the Warchief for example - it’s up to you how you portray your character.

IRL we don’t all understand the past in the same way or believe the same things about our own & other cultures - so there’s no reason to expect anything else in our imaginary playground of a world. Keep an open-mind about others’ characters and you’ll find open-minded people to have fun sharing your character with.

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:smiley: great minds think alike. Perfect for our new friend that they hear the same suggestions from different people.

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Everyone’s got your points just fine to me, so I’ll give something you either didn’t think to ask for or already know, and mention the artifacts. The most important part of rp, is that it’s cooperative writing. Two independent main characters from different stories, in which they are equally important in the joining of their respective stories.

And, artifact appearances are perfectly fine to use, as long as you don’t rp it as the artifact. Either a replica, or just using it because it’s a pretty weapon and looks close enough to something you want your character using.

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Awesome. I think I have been putting to much time into my back story and hearing from you and Tamanii really helps me to step back a little. I have not wanted to start RPing until I had my backstory 100% but now I think I will lighten up on that a bit. Thank you all for taking the time to help me out and for all the advise.

And thank you Mistwight for link. I am a fan of Wowpedia.

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Tamanii got it mostly covered but I like to add 2cent

  1. There is no sever lore per say. It all game lore however you are a no body, so take that what you will. Meaning you did not kill Lich King, Deathwing and N’zoth. You may have heard of them.
    You playing a Vulpera so the Cata still happen as there were a few Zul Trolls npc talking about it so you may know about the Earthquakes but not what cause them or Deathwing.

  2. If anything fails, go with Adult.

  3. /e or /me. What Tama said.

  4. So transmog. Hmm. So it very on what you doing but let just talk about everyday mog. For me i don’t care what other people are wearing, unless they are nude or savage looking “not couunting druids”. I however, while like to look like a adventurer, I don’t want to over do it with flaming armor and a over size weapon.
    Rare do people comment on your gear.

4.5. Side comment on mounts. Rare will you use a mount in rp but can happen. As a Human even ooc, I like Horses and Gryphons. You can use a Dragon but idk, up to you. Just keep that in mind too.

No comment on backstory other then; It good to have it open ended. As your adventure it never ending :slight_smile: .

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Thanks for the reply. Yeah I was a little hazy on the artifact weapons. I did not mean to come off as if they are bad to use. I just am not a fan of heavy lore one of a kind items in my transmog. This is something I do even on non rp servers. I would never think of telling someone else they where wrong for enjoying them. Thank you for your time and advise.

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So when I first got into WoW RP I was not as well versed in the lore then as I was now. So do not feel bad. And don’t LET people make you feel bad over that. Nobody goes into anything knowing 100% of it all- and I still don’t know everything about it!! So what I did is, find something you are particular passionate about in WoW Lore and start there, from there you’ll find how things connect, you’ll read that, and you’ll learn more. Read the quests, pay attention to dialogue and text because every little bit is a nugget of wonder.

But here are my tips for you!:

Since you’re on a vulpera, I assume you’re interested in Horde lore too. The novels have a lot of valuable information and they are a joy to read. They remind you have just how big this unvierse is. Not everything is instant. People are not snapping their fingers all the time to make things appear or just portaling everywhere. There is a true weight to the universe, and when you RP with that in mind - that there are consequences and hardships- it creates a fun way to figure out things.
BUT the books I recommend are - Rise of the Horde, The Last Guardian, Tides of Darknessm Beyond the Dark Portal.
These are a great read, and pave the way of how Early Horde was formed, how they got to Azeroth , young khadgar and more. I loved them, and they are so wonderful!!

From there you’ll find yourself researching, understanding, and getting to know this universe at your own pace. There are many other books as well, I recommend reading Before the Storm too, as it was the book directly before BFA (Plus theres many fun mini stories online with little lore tidbits that help expand the universe).

  • As for Vulpera, I think doing human ages is a good start. And him being 30 sounds fine!! The lact of vulpera lore is what sort of worried me about them being an allied race, but I think there is still alot you could do. Research desert life. What sort of foods and plants that can exist and ESPECIALLY research fennec foxes and what makes them special and how that can translate to a humanoid version of them. But one thing is for sure (and i’m seeing this happen already) , please try and stay away from words like g/ypsy, that’s actually not a kind word (I ask no one derail this thread by trying to start an argument on this, the OP can do the research themselves and come to their own conclusion)

  • For Emoting, you type /e. So wheny ou do that it’ll show your name and whatever you typed so example:
    /e takes a drink from his canteen
    would show up as
    Gotosh takes a sip from his canteen.
    There are addons that can help with emoting, but since you are new I simply suggest addons like TRP3, Listener and CrossRP. As you get to know this universe you’ll find more addons that you might like to enhance your experience!

  • Transmog is a fun way to show a lot about your character. Perhaps their lifestyle, desires, profession and what have you. There is nothing wrong with using your heritage armor! It’s there for a reason, yeah? Just be aware, other people also have this armor , and sometimes it can make you blend in with others. But Transmog can be fun (and hey, I even keep armor that isnt my armor type simply for RP so I can throw it on in an RP setting if it fits whatever I’m doing)

But as for your backstory, I think thats a great start!!! Him seeing the power and grace of his Horde ally, a pandaren monk, is a great way for him to get it into his head that there is something more out there he could study. He might not of known what it was at the time… but maybe his energy really connected to him, something felt right about it. Maybe he sketched a special symbol that he kept in his memory like a symbol representing one of the Celestials and upon joining the Horde could begin his hunt into figuring out what that meant. There’s many possiblities!!!

So don’t be afraid by just having an idea at the beginning and building off of it. You will grown and learn as you adventure with your character and they will change and become a character all on their own through experiences !

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I had not even gave any thought to mounts. I would probably look funny riding in on a dragon as a tiny Vulpera. I would really like to thank all of you for taking the time to help me out. This will be a cool place for me to come back to and look at as I am getting into RP on this server.

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You’ll want to be careful about using dragons as mounts! While we might have them as mounts mechanically, dragons are people who can talk and hold immense power. If you start petting and treating a dragon like a large animal, it would cause some unrest in people seeing a well respected being of a mighty Dragonflight be petted and patted like a horse.

Doesn’t mean he can’t make a dragon friend later on in his journies though! Just know thats a whole new character you’ll likely have to flesh out.

I suggest perhaps a local animal, something native, or something he grew up with in Vol’dun. He could of also obtained something along the way through Zandalar or into Durotar!

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You know I have a few of the books you named from my trips to Blizzcon but have never sat down to read them. I might need to pull them out and have a read.

Do you mind if i snag your idea of the sketch of a symbol? I like that. I plan on Kitsunrie being very interested in Pandaren lore. I also like the idea that he is a novice monk who has not found a master to train under.

Thanks again for the help.

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Absolutely!! I’m glad I could help :smiley: !! I think him not knowing much/being without a master is a great starting point. It lets you grow, explore and let him fail and experience new trials and make his journey worth while!!

But yes I whole heartedly recommend those books. The ones I listed are best read in that order was well. Rise of the Horde being first, then The Last Guardian, Tides of Darkness and Beyond the Dark Portal.

I also read Lord of the Clans after that and man…that is such a fave.

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Thank you. And thanks again everyone for the help.

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If you’re curious about Warcraft lore, they recently started doing the Warcraft Chronicle series (currently there are 3 volumes) that basically summarize and tidy up much of the lore. (What I mean by tidying up is that the lore has gone through some changes over the years as they have added new details, and now wish to tie some things in together that were added much later so that it all fits together a bit better.) They are very helpful with catching one up to speed on Azeroth’s history fairly quickly, and might also give you an idea of what aspects of the lore interest you the most! I also recommend Nobbel87’s videos on YouTube.

What’s also nice about roleplay is that it’s an opportunity to learn lore by having your character ask in-character any questions you might have out of character. Stormwind University, for instance, hosts neutral (meaning both factions can attend - just come with a few Elixir of Tongues potions from the vendor in Dalaran Sewers in Legion, so that you can understand everybody!) lecture events that can teach people bits of lore, and you can ask the staff questions after they’re done teaching.

It’s a very fun way of learning the lore as you go via roleplay, and if you make any mistakes about the lore, it can always be explained by your character just having a misunderstanding or remembering something incorrectly. Plenty of people in real life don’t know things that should be common knowledge, or at the very least misunderstand the details. It’s completely realistic to imagine this is equally common for roleplay characters. Nobody’s perfect, after all!

Don’t worry if you don’t have the details totally sorted out before engaging in roleplay. Honestly, it can be a good thing to go in with only a loose idea of who your character is, and to learn about them as you interact with others. After all, you might run into a group or guild you really, really like and have a great interest in having your character join them because they have a cool idea for a community, but if who your character is has already been rigidly planned out ahead of time and winds up being a difficult match, you might end up dealing with the headache of trying to justify how you’d go about getting them in there.

I’ve run into that problem in the past, and it’s since made me learn to not over-plan characters too much and just see what happens naturally. You can always add in extra neat details about your character’s past as you go along and get inspiration for what “fits” the character they are becoming, and say that it is a detail about them that either hadn’t come up until the right time in roleplay or was a detail that they never shared with anyone they’ve encountered before for one reason or another. Maybe they needed to earn that person’s trust first, maybe they were nervous about what others might think, etc. Even the backstory doesn’t have to be fully fleshed out ahead of time, really!

I like your starting backstory idea so far! It’s definitely something you can continue to shape as you go along! There are also plenty of Pandaren and monk roleplayers around that you can have your character learn from and hang out with as he continues to learn about Pandaren culture and the ways of the monk.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and approach as many people as you can ICly! A good way of meeting people’s characters is to check out the many events posted on the forums, if you can attend them. I’ve had very good experiences, and people are generally very patient and more than willing to help a learner. Your character and their story will grow naturally as you meet people who shape their life, but the first step is to take the chance of saying hello and seeing what happens from there!

Also, welcome to the community! I hope to see you around in the future!

Edit: And on an OOC note in regards to roleplay advice: I think to some extent, we all worry more than we need to about potential rejection or “messing up”. I haven’t met many roleplayers, myself included, who don’t put a lot of pressure on themselves to make a great impression. We’re all a little bit paranoid of that one awkward/negative experience out of dozens of positive ones, and many people unfortunately will make themselves so afraid of rejection that they ultimately stop roleplaying much at all anymore. Nothing makes me sadder than when people isolate themselves like that. It always happens with the kindest people, too.

Like everything else, roleplay just takes practice to get better at and everyone makes mistakes, but most mistakes aren’t as bad or unforgivable as we sometimes tell ourselves that they are. You’ll always find folks out there who enjoy your company, and they would be missing out if they never got to meet you! :slight_smile:

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Hi Nazgorak and thanks for your reply. I love Nobble’s videos. I just got done watching one before I saw your reply. Him and Inquisitor Aura are 2 people I have been watching for a long time.

The Stormwind University sounds like a lot of fun. and I saw an event for the lunar festival I plan to join. I never really thought that over planing might keep me from doing something I might want later but that is a great point. I think I have my backstory hashed out to a point that it should be open ended enough for what ever comes up.

I think rejection is the thing I fear the most having not tried RP in a game like this. in D&D I know all the people I play with. Most of them I grew up with and have been playing the game with for 20+ years. Its a little scary to think of RPing with someone I have never met before.

Thanks for the encouragement. The people that have replied here have really helped me feel at ease jumping into the game.

(I am including the full backstory that I have put into TRP for anyone who is interested.)

Kitsunrei spent a good portion of his younger years as a slave to the Faithless. When the Horde came to Vul’dun he was working in Zul,Ahjin under Overseer Nerzet and her Faithless. He was set free by a Pandaren who was looking for information on the Sulthis’ keystone. After a bad encounter with the Overseer and her lackeys, Kitsunrei and his new friend escaped to the dunes of Vul’dun.

Kitsunrei tried his best to tend to his new friend’s wounds but was unsuccessful in curing him of the poison that had seeped into the pandaren’s blood. His new friend died a few days after their escape.

The few days they did spend together Kit was fascinated with the stories his new friend told about his home in Pandaria and even made a sketch of a symbol the Pandaren kept drawing in the air. He is not sure what it means but plans to find out.

Kitsunrei has decided to devote his life to the same art his pandaren friend used to defend himself and Kit in their escape. He does not know where to start only that he will learn more in Pandaria.

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I really like that spring board backstory for the beginning of his adventures! It sounds like a great place to start!

And I know what you mean about roleplay anxiety with strangers. I used to have a bad habit of not engaging in much RP without friends around to make me feel a little more confident, but it’s taking some practice to just give roleplay opportunities a shot regardless of whether or not people I know can join me. Don’t feel bad - you’re definitely not the only one who gets nervous like that. I’ll bet that most people you’ll encounter will be just as nervous at first as you are!

If you’re nervous about approaching groups, try looking around for somebody who seems to be by themself, and just go up to them and introduce yourself! It’ll probably make their day. A good ice breaker for strangers tends to be asking friendly questions about how they’re doing, what brings them there, what’s going on, etc. If you don’t know what to talk about, asking questions ICly can get conversations going naturally since it often gets characters to bring up interesting topics, and you can go from there!

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A secret about being shy or anxious about getting started in RP - go to public events. the SWU events mentioned, the things Gotosh’s guild hosts, the market nights & holiday celebrations. In a big crowd it’s easy to be quiet and just watch. Find someone to whisper with questions. After you’ve been to more than a couple events you’ll start to notice some of the same enjoyable faces keep showing up. There’s your entry into finding people you want to rp with regularly.

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