Rogue RP Question

Wyrmrest Accord
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So, I was devising a character concept up for a for a potential Mag’har character since I am closing in on being exalted with Honorbound when I realized something.

Of all my characters, I have never actually RP’d as a rogue and am not too sure how one goes about that. Are they just sneaky peeps? Is there magic in use to help them be sneaky peeps? Why are 50% of rogues lately pirates regardless of which faction one plays?

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I see rogues that do branch from shadow magic to just straight sneaky. A lot of the rogues are pirates now because of the Outlaw spec Imo. To be honest you can kind of do it however you want. My rogue was a mute, who made most of his money through rigged street games. You can do rogue in a TON of different ways, that’s part of the reason why I love them so much!

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Well for me personally, on this character I played Subtlety up until level 80 and then tried Outlaw and never looked back, Outlaw is just too fun. Also RP-wise in this story he fights the way the Outlaw spec plays, he focuses on his pistol and then uses hand to hand up close with his Worgen strength. He isn’t supposed to be a pirate though.

In regards to stealth I think you have several options.

  1. The Subtlety spec relies heavily on Shadow magic so it is safe to assume that these rogues actually can use Shadow magic to conceal themselves.

  2. Their stealth isn’t actually them concealing themselves, but more they are just really good at sneaking and remaining out of sight.

  3. They have some kind of technology that allows them to stealth and conceal themselves. This isn’t too far-fetched considering there have been several accounts of using potions to make oneself invisible.

  4. This is my own personal one for Dardillien here, it is definitely out there but nothing lore-breaking since Familiars and Familiar Stones exist. Anyways, He acquired a Familiar Stone from a wizard and summoned it, so it belongs to Dardillien, but before he actually summoned familiar he had a Void Elf mage infuse it with Shadow magic thus making the familiar that is summoned able to use Shadow magic. So basically Dardillen’s stealth comes from his Familiar using it’s Shadow magic to conceal him, since he has no magic affinity at all.

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Try meeting up with people from “shady” guilds. For advice, if nothing else. You’ll see them at open events. Some even have guild events accessible to non-members.

Yingsu Village is one guild I’ve heard of.

There are a few “black market” style events as well. There again, hang around, get some advice.

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First of all, don’t do the “Grew up on the streets with nothing, grizzled and bitter” rogue. It’s been done to death, and any thief worth their salt wouldn’t get far acting like that.

The key to being a rogue is being roguish. A smooth talker, a master of misdirection, the illusion of being personable. The man who thinks you’re their friend won’t notice when you pick their pocket.

But to answer the pirate question, it’s because Outlaw is a massive amount of fun.

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The best part about RPing as a rogue is doing the Batman exit and vanishing outta RP :cloud::cloud::cloud:

Otherwise rogues, along with other more martial classes like hunters, warriors and even monk are a pretty open slate and you can play them however you want. Pirates like others have said are pretty popular at the moment, not only is Outlaw spec the pirate spec this expansion you can actually get some decent pirate looking gear to compliment it. This is probably the best expansion to be a pirate so it’s gonna be popular.

Otherwise there’s the whole Shattered Hand clan and there’s a lot of opportunities with this now. You can be AU Shattered Hand, MU Shattered Hand or The Shattered Hand found with the Shadowswift Brotherhood. I don’t know the details around The Shattered Hand or the Shadowswift Brotherhood super well and if they’re an actual secret organization or not but it’s definitely something super cool to look into. I remember they made an appearance in the rogue class hall during Legion but I don’t remember if it was more than just background characters.

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But not every rogue has to be a thief. They could be an assassin-for-hire, in which case bitter and grizzled would be just fine shrug

Rogue is pretty open-ended, I think. You can be a pirate. You can be a gambler. You can be a merc or blade for hire. You can be an Azerothian James Bond-esque spy. Heck, you can be a plain old pickpocket if that’s what you want, and any kind of personality might work for rogue :slight_smile: it’s probably the least “must strictly follow these guidelines” of any class, excepting maybe hunter (my opinion).

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Rogues are anything.

Government spies. Freelance assassins. Thieves out for their own gain. Thieves out to help others. Hired goons. Spies. Saboteurs. Outcasts who lurk to survive. Opportunists who don’t like fighting fair. Crooks with nothing to lose. Nobles who found everything else too boring. Diplomats-by-day, spies-by-night.

The possibilities are endless.

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Does your character rely mostly on some combination of guile, misdirection, manipulation, and pragmatic vocation to get by and- should they ever find themselves in a fight- do they enter with the goal of ending it quick or getting the heck out of dodge?

You’ve got a rogue.

Tam here is a Rogue, and although she’s not a pirate, sneak-thief or assassin. She’s in the advertising and entertainment business and it’s hard to imagine any other class that could be a better fit for her skills.

As for why so many are pirates? Well being a privateer is more socially acceptable than being a burglar or assassin- which are the other two most common Rogue archetypes. Unlike the latter, your RP doesn’t generally involve any crimes being committed against other players. People playing moralistic, law abiding, or authoritarian characters don’t really come down on you either. Plus, having a ship of some kind gives you a lot of options for traveling and having a home away from home. Not to mention ships have crews, so it’s a natural reason to come together and arrange yourself in ranks.

There’s a reason why privateers/pirates are often romanticized as having a life of adventure- even if it’s far from the truth.

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Pretty much. In my humble opinion, any class in the game offers more guidelines than actual rules, in terms of how to RP one. Our abilities change so frequently that using only in-game abilities all the time in RP would get confusing fast.

Thus, as Enekie said, you can interpret your rogue however you want. I have one rogue, and he’s actually a Sin’dorei Spellbreaker - for the sole reason that I wanted a new class, and the rogue was close enough for me.

If you ask me, don’t try to RP a class as is. Use a class to align with your concept as closely as possible. Come up with something you want to RP, and then justify how it suits the class, not the other way around.

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In addition to what everyone else said, rogue can also work for the more cowardly, never fights fair, sneak attacks, runs away to fight another day characters too. And don’t forget poisons! My character may or may not have poisoned food to try to kill someone. :wink:

And for pirates, Outlaw is fun, like everyone said. Plus with Kul-Tiras and all the pirate themed transmog gear out there now… I play Outlaw, but my character is not a pirate.

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In all the variety of possible careers no one has mentioned Spivs. You know, the guy who sells you stuff that fell off the back of a truck, or knows a guy he can put you in touch with for some service but it’ll cost you.

Or street performers - on the surface.

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Vorenth and Enekie mentioned spies.

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Use whatever you see fit. Tech based shenanigains, shadowy deals, just real good at being unseen, take your pick.

Otherwise, they’re the same as any other character - worry about who they are, what they act like, what their attitude is, rather than how they do things. If they’re a sneaky person, are they loud and obnoxious to throw people off when they serious up? Or are they all serious, all the time?

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Aethillak here was once a rogue. Dabbling in shadow magic to make it easier to get around without being spotted but was never truly a master of it. He was more a scout than an assassin or anything of that sort. It was originally an injury that led him to drop the shield for the dual swords but ultimately he gave that up to pursue the Light.
Lots of directions you can take my friend.

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I have a rogue who has gone through three iterations as of now, nothing wrong with any of them, simply changing the character over the past 4 or 3 years.

Firat he was a Westfall Footpad, cold hearted but personable to achieve his ends, even ended up with a small guild of ‘bounty hunters’ before the first change

Next he was a Jungle Troll Pirate, charming and Jubilant but with a disregard for everyone but himself.

Now he is a Zandalari, who I think will be a failed guard/soldier who appears cowardly for never fighting fair, but only cares about winning.

A rogue can be anything as long as you realize the 'core fantasy’is someone who uses their every mean to their advantage. They may not be as strong as a warrior, or as magically gifted as a sorcerer, but they may be the most creative fighter on the field. In my opinion of course

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One day the Draenei will be able to be rogues and we’re going to dominate the mercenary/assassin worlds. No one expects a Draenei assassin. :smiling_imp:

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Mostly because the “Clop, clop, clop.” of their hooves gives them away.

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The best way to play mind games with our target. :hocho::goat::skull_and_crossbones:

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If you’re looking for specifically Maghar ideas remember that the horde answer to si:7 used to be filled with shattered hand orcs

If I’m remembering correctly

Give that orc rogue a good old hook hand and ur good to go