Unofficial Playable Furbolg Discussion Thread

Fenelon-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 4:59am

Unofficial Playable Furbolg Discussion Thread

This thread is for the discussion of the furbolg as a playable race, as well as furbolg in general and all the things that they may come with if they become playable. This may include customization, lore, mounts, heritage, emotes, main city, hunter pets or anything else that might come up.

It does not matter to me if they are added as an Allied Race or a Core race, I just want to see them added to the game. If you too would like to see them added or you just want to humor me or you’re just here to say what you think on it in general: I welcome you.

I have arranged this thread into several sections that you can see below.

Content:

Furbolg Overview
Ursoc and Ursol
Furbolg Culture
Furbolg Tribes
Furbolg Story Lore: Then and Now
Which Faction: Why and How
Racial Crest and Tabard
Racial Leaders
Racial Capital
The Model
Customization Options Overview
Potential Classes
Racials and Language
Potential Mounts
Heritage Armor
Important Emotes
Acknowledgements
Other threads of Note

Furbolg Overview

Furbolgs are a large ancient race of bear-men who live in the northern regions of Kalimdor, in the continent of Northrend, and in the Broken Isles. Strong and spiritual, devoted followers of Ursoc and Ursol, they are tied to the balance of nature around them. Though they have no special love for war or murder, several tribes have fallen to multiple forms of corruption, including but not limited to the Burning Legion and the Old Gods.

The furbolg tribes of Kalimdor’s northern regions were traditional allies of the night elves. Concerned by the once peaceful race’s conditions, the night elves attempted to help the furbolg settle their tensions, but the mighty bear-men retreated further into their own territories and fell deeper into the corruptions spreading amongst them. Few tribes remain tolerant of outsiders, the most notable and well known being the Timbermaw. The tribes of the Grizzly Hills, namely the Frostpaw and the Redfang, struggle to recover from the corruption of Yogg-Saron.

Meanwhile the Stillpine tribe of the Azuremyst Isle met with and became allied to the draenei, rumor abounds of an uncorrupted tribe of furbolg, the Barkskin, in the caves beneath Mount Hyjal, and the night elves have had some success cleansing the corruption from both the Blackwood tribe of Darkshore and the Thistlefur of Ashenvale.

Ursoc and Ursol

Furbolg worship the Twin Bear Wild Gods Ursoc and Ursol. Patrons of those who favor the balance of nature and the living beasts of the wild. Furbolg rank among their most loyal followers, those who follow Ursol become shaman, while the others who follow Ursoc tend to become hunters or warriors. Druids of the Claw also follow the teachings of Ursoc and Ursol.

During the War of the Ancients both Ursoc and Ursol were killed defending the land from countless Legion forces. Later they would be resurrected, but in Ursoc’s case he would become corrupted by the remaining energies of the fallen world tree Vordassil, falling into madness and would be killed again by adventurers. Ursol seems to have avoided this fate.

This would not be the end of Ursoc’s woes however, as he’d again be taken by Xavius’ corruption in the Emerald Nightmare and once again felled, sending his spirit to Adrenwealde where, with the drought in full swing, the grove containing his wildseed and his own anima would be culled in an effort to stave off the deaths of others destroying his spirit forever. Ursoc is survived by his children Kodian and Orsonn who dwell in the Grizzly Hills.

The last time we’ve seen Ursol was during Legion assisting the player druid by testing them to see if they were worthy of his brothers famous Titansteel Claws, the Claws of Ursoc.

In life Urosc and Ursol were staunch defenders of the world, and determined to uphold balance and peace. The furbolg follow their teachings to this day, favoring peaceful and simple spiritual lives in the wooded lands they dwell in.

Furbolg Culture

Furbolg culture venerates nature and the Wild Gods, particularly Ursoc and Ursol, who may have created the race that predated the furbolg. This reverence of nature and closeness with it lends the furbolg to a peaceful existence tending to the forests they live in. However when incensed the furbolg can be powerful fighters and furious defenders of their homes.
Their homes tend to be made from large fallen trees, with leather used for awnings, and glowing honeycombs used as lights. Furbolg tend to wear little, even in wartime, many wearing little more than a loincloth.
Furbolg often use ceremonial beads, shells and feathers as adornments for both chieftains and shaman. Furbolg see little difference between shamanism and druidism and often call both Shaman.

Corrupted Tribes Vs. Uncorrupted Tribes

Any talk of furbolg culture needs to go over the differences to corrupted and uncorrupted furbolg. From the Third War onward the furbolg have become considerably more insular and as a result of their culture of balance and harmony with nature, have found themselves easily corrupted by hostile forces, falling to rage and violence.
Most notably the saytr have often been involved in furbolg corruption, but the Void has also been implicated and even simple encroachment on the forest and their lands can lead to some fury from furbolg. The Horde also may or may not have been involved in corrupting a furbolg tribe, the Thistlefur, but there are conflicting stories. Either the furbolg stole their charms and were corrupted by them or the trolls tricked them into taking the charms and got corrupted.

Most of the tribes we encounter are corrupted in some way, and a few are cleansed of their corruption through quests.

Uncorrupted furbolg by contrast tend to be helpful for us and try to cleanse or restore their tribes or Wild Gods. They are peaceful servants of nature.

For the purposes of this thread I mostly focus on the Stillpine, Barkskin, Blackwood and Thistlefur furbolg as I think they are the most likely to join together to make a playable faction. However other tribes are also uncorrupted. Such as the Timbermaw, Blackmaw, Grizzlewealde, Smolderhide and the Wildlands. The Redfang and Frostpaw may or may not have recovered from their corruption as well.

Corrupted tribes are sometimes cleansed according to quest text but not always clearly represented in lore like the Thistlefur, Frostpaw and Redfang. Other corrupted tribes include the Bloodtooth, Bristlelimb, Deadwood, Felwood, Foulweald, Gnarlpine and Winterfall furbolg.

Furbolg Tribes
In this section I’d like to include links (under a spoiler) to the posts I’ve made about various tribes as I make them. Feel free to jump ahead to any you find interesting.

Furbolg Tribe Posts

Furbolg Story Lore: Then and Now

Furbolg have a long history despite their relative obscurity these days. Much of their race was chased out of Northrend before The Sundering, would participate in the first Legion Invasion then later fight alongside the night elves, Alliance and Horde during the Third War.

More recently the various tribes of the furbolg have been in strife facing several types of corruption and varied attempts to heal. War in northern Kalimdor has been unkind to them and only a few tribes remain uncorrupted and even they are reclusive.

However not all furbolg push away outsiders. The Stillpine allied with the draenei and the Timbermaw accept outsiders who prove their worth to them.

Rumor also abounds of a tribe of furbolg living within the Barrow Deeps beneath Mount Hyjal however they are not confirmed in game in any way.

Full History

The furbolg story starts long ago with a race known as the jalgar, whom the furbolg would descend from. The jalgar warred with the Dragonflayer vrykul but when the Dragonflayers gained the upper hand by learning to ride Proto-Drakes the jalgar were pushed south into the central forests of Kalimdor. Brann Bronzebeard believes that the furbolg were descended from the Wild God Ursoc, which if true suggests that Ursoc is the progenitor of the jalgar and later the furbolg.

During the War of the Ancients the furbolg would join with the Rebel night elves, earthen and tauren against the Burning Legion and Aszhara’s followers. It would be during these battles that the night Elves, tauren and furbolg would find some kinship, however time would separate the furbolg from the tauren leaving them allied with the Night Elves until after the Third War.

When the Third War reached Kalimdor it would not be long before the furbolg would find themselves facing an old enemy. The Legion returned and corrupted parts of the forest, while the Horde pushed north in search of lumber. Both events would put the furbolg at odds with the Horde, either through the destruction of their land or the corruption from the Legion. Even the night elves would engage the furbolg here and there. However at the Battle for Mount Hyjal the Barkskin tribe would assist the Night Elves, Alliance and the Horde in their battle against Archimonde.

After the war the majority of the furbolg tribes would succumb either to the Legions affects on the forests, the Horde’s continued push into Ashenvale, or their own distrust of outsiders. Some tribes would stave off corruption, but even these became insular and refused help for the most part. The Timbermaw Tribe in northern Felwood (and also into Moonglade and Winterspring) would remain distrustful however would accept the assistance of adventurers who proved their worth to their tribe.

With the help of adventurers some furbolg tribes would also later be cleansed (at least partially) of their corruption. The night elves sent young adventurers to help cleanse both the Blackwood Tribe in Darkshore, and the Thistlefur Tribe in Ashenvale. It should also be noted that some individual members of tribes would remain uncorrupted while their tribes fell to madness.

When the draenei crashed on Azuremyst Isle they would meet with and eventually ally the Stillpine tribe of furbolg and assist them against their rivals the Bristlefur tribe.

Later when the Horde and Alliance traveled to Northrend to deal with the Lich King, adventurers would encounter several tribes of furbolg in the Grizzly Hills, the ancestral home of all furbolg (as well as the jalgar). It is here that the only furbolg city exists built into the stump of the fallen world tree Vordrassil. Vordrassil had to be destroyed due to the corruption of Yogg-Saron seeping into its roots. It is actually from this tree that the Emerald Dream was able to be affected by the Old Gods most notably N’zoth, to create the Emerald Nightmare. This corruption had affected the furbolg who lived in the area causing several tribes to become hostile murderous and crazed.
With Yogg-Saron’s death and the help of an adventurer or two, Vordrassil was supposedly cleansed of corruption and the furbolg there have in theory calmed considerably. However we have not seen the results in game.

We would later see more furbolg in the Broken Isles, in Val’sharah, where as before most of them would be affected by some of Xavius’ saytr. The player would clear their barrows of the saytr and the Nightmares corruption and these furbolg would mostly return to their peaceful ways.

During the War of Thorns we briefly saw the Blackwood furbolg attacked by the Horde and then later saved by the player character and the night elves. However their home would be used as a staging ground for the Horde throughout the war. I think the Blackwood furbolg are still alive but had to retreat from their homes, but I do not have confirmation on that. As with many things with Darkshore during BfA all we are certain of is that the night elves won that conflict. The fallout will have to be confirmed later.

Which Faction: Why and How

While there could be some arguments for the furbolg to go to the Horde, the above information strongly tells me that they would likely go Alliance.

I think this mostly because the night elves have long been their allies and while relations have suffered since the Third War, the Horde has mostly engaged in hostility with the furbolg seeing them as being in the way or a nuisance, and in one case may have actively corrupted a tribe. Adding to the slant to the Alliance is that there is already a tribe fully allied with the Alliance through the draenei. The Stillpine even have a shaman trainer on the Exodar teaching young draenei shaman.

I also can’t think of a reason for why the Barkskin tribe of furbolg, supposedly beneath Mount Hyjal, would not remain allied with the night elves should they still exist. That however is mostly speculative as they’ve never appeared outside of WCIII. With the Night Elves supposedly having returned to Nordrassil after the battle for Darkshore though I think if they are there and if the furbolg were to become playable this tribe would be a prime candidate to bring into the fold.

So how do I see it going?

I can think of a few options which will mostly revolve around the few uncorrupted furbolg tribes; the Stillpine, Barkskin, Blackwood and Thistlefur. The Timebermaw will not be included as I believe strongly that they will remain neutral and willing to work with both the Horde and the Alliance. And it should be noted that, once again, there is no canon information about the Barkskin after the Third War.

Option 1) Depending on how the Redfang and Frostpaw tribes are dealing with their corruption, either the united Stillpine, Barkskin, Blackwood and Thistlefur ally with them and join together in Grizzlemaw, likely taking in several of the other tribes of the region that were supposedly uncorrupted as well. Or they take the city by force. Evicting the two warring tribes.
This would allow for the already established and well known furbolg city in the world to be owned by the playable furbolg, as well as remaining close to both the shrine to Ursol and the children of Ursoc who live in the region. As it is their ancestral home I like this idea, however I don’t think this is immensely likely. Grizzlemaw is far from any real Alliance holdings and the tribes are not likely to make the journey without assistance. Further the Stillpine are supposedly doing very well with the draenei on Azuremyst isle.

Option 2) With the night elves return to Mount Hyjal the Barkskin furbolg reveal themselves and their own city within the mountain. Making good on their ancient alliance with the night elves they call for other tribes to join them. The Blackwood and Thistlefur, finding their own homes destroyed by the Hordes assaults, join them. The Stillpine remain where they are on Azuremyst isle however they send envoys to “join” the Barkskin, Blackwood and Thistlefur.

Option 3) The Stillpine being rather content to work with the draenei are the player faction of furbolg. They beat back, cleanse and reincorporate the Bristlelimb.

Option 3a) The Stillpine are the player faction of furbolg with the Blackwood and Thistlefur joining them there as their own homes are destroyed more or less. These allied tribes beat back, cleanse and reincorporate the Bristlelimb.

Option 3b) The Stillpine are the player faction of furbolg with the Blackwood and Thistlefur joining them there as their own homes are destroyed more or less. The Barkskin reveal themselves and also join the Stillpine on Azuremyst Isle. These allied tribes beat back, cleanse and reincorporate the Bristlelimb.

Option 4) The Stillpine, Blackwood, Thistlefur and a reincorporated Bristlelimb realize that working alone has been disastrous to their tribes and work together to build a new home in Darkshore or Azuremyst Isle.

Option 4a) The Stillpine, Blackwood, Thistlefur and a reincorporated Bristlelimb realize that working alone has been disastrous to their tribes and work together to build a new home in Darkshore or Azuremyst Isle. The Barkskin reveal themselves and join them.

Option 5) As the night elves (and worgen?) rebuild a new home on Mount Hyjal (or wherever else) their allied furbolg tribes join them leaving their old homes behind, the Barkskin reveal themselves and join with their old allies. The Barkskin, Thistlefur and Blackwood tribes live with the night elves and the Stillpine send their own people to assist.

These are just the options I’ve been able to come up with, and I welcome any other thoughts or ideas anyone may have. Please feel free to share them!

Racial Crest and Tabard

Lancelot was kind enough to make a crest for the Furbolg, however I’m still working on a Tabard for them.

By Lancelot

This crest is made from several existing crests so I do not think that this is what Blizzard would actually give us but it brings the idea of what a racial crest for the furbolg could look like.

Like I said I’m still trying to get a tabard together. I imagine it would probably be a forest green in color, with a brown or gold lining, adorned with an image of one of their bear totems such as this:

Like with how the furbolg might join I welcome any ideas or thoughts on both the racial crest and a potential tabard. Please, again, feel free to share any ideas you have.

Racial Leaders

The furbolg have gone through a great deal of conflict over the last few years and many of their leaders have been slain. Further its hard to be sure exactly what tribes or how they would join as a playable faction. Thus its hard to nail down one leader or even significant candidates.
I have a short list however of ideas.

Tur Ragepaw: Tur is a member of the Timbermaw who would not likely join the playable faction directly, remaining neutral as they always have, however Tur himself is a special situation. Tur was the furbolg who assisted players in cleansing Ursoc both in the Grizzly Hills and later in the Emerald Nightmare. Its less clear if he canonically survived but I could see him as a powerful Shaman (Hes a druid really) being able to galvanize several tribes into a playable faction.

High Chief Stillpine: High Chief Stillpine is the leader of the Stillpine furbolg, already allied with the draenei and the Alliance, they would be a prime candidate to lead a furbolg council or faction. Perhaps with the assistance of more furbolg tribes they can even cleanse the Bristlelimb tribe and bring their rivals into the fold.

Vear Darksnout: Players assist Vear in removing the troll charms that were driving the Thistlefur furbolg mad, and is the only named member of their tribe known to exist. They could be a potential candidate for leadership as a member of a council or its High Chieftain of a united furbolg faction.

Blackwood Leader: During the battle for Darkshore, the Blackwood tribe would see its leaders saved and then later attempt to retake their hold. Two would die in the attempt and another would be put down corrupted by dark magics. Blizzard has stated that the Blackwood furbolg are still alive however, so a new leader could rise up and become either a member of a furbolg council or High Cheiftain. It should be noted that the Blackwood furbolg are labeled as crippled.

Barkskin Leader: The Barkskin tribe have not actually shown up canonically in the lore since the Third War. Rumor (player made mostly) abound that they are just hiding beneath Mount Hyjal in a large Barrow City or Hold. With such leeway with their story available Blizzard could easily have the Barkskin leader unite several other tribes and bring forth a player faction.

These are the best ideas I have at the moment. With how the Furbolg have been treated and trying to keep the Timbermaw as a neutral party its hard to find a good leader for them. I welcome any thoughts on this matter please feel free to share!

Racial Capital

The capital for the fubolg is also not entirely a clear cut concept. Depending on how they join it could shift wildly from one spot to another. Grizzlemaw city is the only currently known city of furbolg in the world, however with the open book that is the Barkskin tribe they could easily have another city beneath Mount Hyjal or hidden away in some small mountain valley.
Or the furbolg could join together to build their own hold or city elsewhere. Or they could join with their allies, the night elves or the draenei and find their home among them.

I welcome any ideas or concepts that others might have for this. Please once again feel free to share any ideas you have.

The Model

With Dragon Flight the furbolg are getting a new model update and while it doesn’t include a female model yet, the update is a massive upgrade for furbolg as a whole. It also appears that it will be retroactive, though this is still unconfirmed.

To that end I will post some screenshots here of the new models alongside Lance and Somands mockups prior to Dragonflights announcement of a new furbolg model.

There is still a long ways to go to get furbolg playable so they will need a further model update by Blizzard but this is an amazing step in the right direction I think.

As before and as I mentioned just a second ago I am keeping Lance’s mockups here based on the following picture-

This picture. (If anyone knows who made this by the way let me know.)

By Unknown

But I will now also include a few pictures of the new furbolg model here and any that Somand and Lance might work into armor for the classes down below in the class section.

So…

Behold! The furbolg! (Their new updated model and then Lances mockups based on the pandaren)

Lance’s mockups based on the Pandaren and MT Druid form mix.

By Lancelot

Using the pandaren skeleton as the base and in this case using the werebear form head and some other assets Lancelot was able to make a very awesome and well done looking model edit to convey the concepts that a playable furbolg could bring to bear. (Get it? Its Lance’s joke technically I missed it…)

Here are some closer views of the males and then the females.

Male

By Lancelot

By Lancelot

Female

By Lancelot

By Lancelot

Customization Options Overview

As you can see in the pictures above, several types of options for customization can be possible with the furbolg and Lance was kind enough to present several options with these mockups.

Options include:

Face
Fur Colors
Hair Colors
Hair
Sideburns
Full Beards
Partial Beards
Eye Colors
Claw Colors
Tattoos
Scars
Shoulder Markings
War Paint
Leather Colors
Leather Adornments
Jewelry such as Feathers, Bones and Beads.
Nose and Lip Color
Leaves like the night elves
And more

With the models above as a guide I’m confident that Blizzard could easily make the furbolg into an amazing Allied Race (Or Core race if they want to go that route.)

Full props to Lancelot for his mockups here!

Any suggestions for customization options are welcome.

Potential Classes

The Classes of the furbolg are at first fairly clear cut from what we have in game however looking around at the lore and talking with a few folks in a couple discords as well as perusing those who have come before me in the Playable Furbolg train I’ve come up with some options that may not be entirely obvious.

Somand was kind enough to make this character creation screen page to give us an idea of what it might look like.

By Somand

Just imagine your furbolg ready to go here…

For classes I’ve decided to split into four categories. For Sure, Very Possible, Less Likely and Other.

For Sure Classes
Warrior

By Lancelot

Warrior is a for sure class. We see plenty of warrior furbolg throughout their tribes and this is also a class that is given default to every race (Except the Blood Elves in TBC but we’re ignoring that). Warriors follow the teachings of Ursoc and defend their lands ferociously from any who would harm them.

Hunter

By Lancelot

Starting Pet: Wasp or Elk

Hunter is another class we see plenty of among their number in game currently. Its also a class that is basically given to every race. I imagine that the Hunter for furbolg would get a Wasp or Elk however this will depend greatly on where they settle. Hunters also follow Ursoc and are likely literal hunters bringing in food for the tribe.

Shaman

By Lancelot

By Somand

Shaman are a common class we see in game right now. The furbolg have a strong connection to nature and the spirits of the elements and in fact do not see a great deal of difference between shamanism and druidism. For them its all part of the same thing. Shaman follow the teachings of Ursol and focus on the balance of nature and the world through the elements.

Druid

By Lancelot

Druid is another class we see though generally only among the uncorrupted furbolg. Furbolg don’t see much of a difference between shamanism and druidism and so call both shaman. Druids follow the teachings of Ursol or Ursoc and focus on the balance of nature and the world through the spirits of nature.

Rogue

By Lancelot

Rogues while not immensely common have been seen among their number. They would probably fall into place as scouts more than assassins as the furbolg tend to be direct and “honorable” at least among the uncorrupted furbolg. I would think that they would venerate Ursoc more so than Ursol.
Blizzard has recently indicated that all races should have mage, rogue and priests.

Priest

By Lancelot

Priests are in an odd spot. On the one hand you could make them follow the same path as the Troll priests where its more a priest of the Wild Gods/Loa. Or because the Stillpine have now long been allied with the draenei they could have had members of their tribe take up the tenants of the Light or even follow concepts of the Soulbinders.
Blizzard has recently decided that all races should have mage, rogue and priest so this one has by default become a for sure race, despite the furbolg not having any currently.

Mage

Mage seems like an odd choice as we don’t see any arcane caster among them, however I think its possible that they could learn from either the night elves or the draenei. Furbolg following the teachings of Ursol would likely use arcane magic to help control the flow of magic through their homes finding a balance of the arcane with the world around them. Blizzard has recently indicated that all races will have mage, priest and rogues.

Monk

By Lancelot

Monks are not a for sure class with every race (for some reason) however I think the furbolg’s connection with shamanism would make them easy to train and work with the concepts of the monk class. I don’t see any good reason that they would not be able to become monks. Likely monks among the furbolg would venerate Ursol and try to bring balance wherever they wandered.

Death Knight

By Lancelot

The Death Knight class is now given to all races, however furbolg would be a good candidate to be a death knight even without that as they’ve existed in Northrend longer than the Scourge has. It would be childs play to write them into even the old Arthas storyline.

Very Possible Classes
Warlock

By Lancelot

Warlock may seem like a really odd choice for a race often corrupted by the fel and driven insane. But bear with me. Get it… bear… nevermind.
Warlocks master the fel and control demons, and with so much fel being used against the furbolg I think it is entirely possible that some may have found a way to master it and use it rather than fall to it. These few furbolg could join with the player faction to help ward off the corruption from their kin. Possibly with their knowledge of the fel they could even find alternative ways to help the corrupted furbolg tribes and bring them into the fold.
As such I’m putting this on the possible list.

Less Likely Classes
Paladin

Paladins are definitely not among their current number however because of the Stillpine’s alliance with the draenei I think it is worth adding this one to their list. Also it would be nice to have another paladin on the Alliance. Further if they do add night elven paladins following Elune, its entirely plausible that the furbolg could follow a similar path.
I put this one as unlikely all things considered but still possible.

The Other Class
Demon Hunter

I do not foresee furbolg being demon hunters as things are currently. However if they do expand the class I suspect all races would be added to it. Furbolg would likely be drawn to it for the same reasons any night elf or blood elf was. To destroy demons. They’ve caused more than enough harm to the furbolg that I don’t see this as an unlikely reason.

Any suggestions about any of these or additions to the list are welcome.

Racials and Language

Furbolg as a people don’t seem to have any easily usable abilities or skills for racials however I have come up with a few based on their lore. Any ideas or concepts you have for furbolg racials would be welcome.

Strength of Ursoc -Grab your opponent and throw them over your shoulder stunning them for 1 sec and placing them behind you.
Wisdom of Ursol - Your mana regenerates slightly faster
Ceremonial Beads - Faster Jewel crafting and once per day can use any pearl or feather in place of a gemstone or ore.
Natural Soul - Minor nature resistance.

Furbolg speak Ursine, often labeled as Furbolg in game, and would also speak Common.

In the lore however they often learn Darnassian or even orcish.

Potential Mounts

This was an entertaining one. On the one hand a bear seems a fitting and obvious choice, not to mention the potential for a “We Bear Bears” joke. However in every region where furbolg exist we also find Elk. For me a bear just seems lazy and a little odd for a bear to ride into battle in general especially when we take into account that they worship Ursoc and Ursol. So I think the Elk is a better fit. Lancelot worked out this concept with the Elk and then mocked it up for me.

Its legs have been strengthened to make it look more like it was capable of carrying a tauren sized bear into combat and some appropriate feathers and adornments were added. There is also a furbolg totem on the back there. All in all a very nice mount option for the furbolg.

Other suggestions are welcome.

Heritage Armor

Heritage armor is hard to really sus out. Most furbolg, in fact literally almost all of them, wear nothing more than a loin cloth. I’d like to imagine that like most heritage armors it would apply to most body slots and not just be a loin cloth.
So my thoughts go to the tauren heritage set, where we see a lot of the skin beneath but have appropriate themed parts on their bodies without adding too much.

Furbolg should follow a similar concept. Themes should be taken from their homes and totems and go from there.

Any suggestions about this are welcome.

Important Emotes

I figure we should talk about emotes at some point. /dance, /silly and /flirt seem like the most entertaining to work with. Honestly I haven’t really thought super hard about this so I’m open to suggestions and would love to hear what everyone has in mind. I’ll also look around and see what I can come up with.

/Dance

Lancelot has suggested this wonderful dance for furbolg.

/Silly

Suggested by Drede:

“I’m feeling a little corrupted. You may have to kill me and 14 of my friends later.”

Suggested by Somand:

“You’re going down, I’m yelling Timber!.. Maw.”
“What trees are we looking at now? Still pine?”
“I don’t hate the Horde. They have those tasty looking friends from Vol’dun.”

Suggested by Lancelot:

“I smell something… What? A picnic basket? No, why do you ask?”

Suggested by Fenelon:

“Why does everyone want me to say pic-a-nic?”

/Flirt

Lancelot came up with:

“When I look at you, I can bear ly contain myself.”
“You’re as sweet as honey.”
…
Get it?
Honey? Because bears?
…
No?
…
OK.

Somand came up with:

“Let me bear my soul to you.”

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank several people who helped me with this thread. First I’d like to thank Nadezhdha and Zurogrusel who provided the framework for this thread. (I used the Sethrak thread as a basis.)

I’d also like to thank Lancelot for making the models for me and going above and beyond providing customizations while they were at it and making both the racial crest and mount for me as well! Oh! Did I mention he put armor on the model for the class section too?! His work alone made this whole thread possible. I cannot thank him enough.

I’d also like to thank Somand who has also provided mock ups here, and been very helpful (along with Lance) in editing and coming up with class reasons and other tidbits here and there.

I’d also like to thank Bagzak. Its his determination and his zeal for both Ogres and Saurok that has given me the will to make a thread like this. Without his example I wouldn’t have even considered it.

Thank you to all of you.

Other Threads of Note
Here I will include a list of Allied Race and Customization threads. They are arranged Alphabetically for convenience.

Several Other Threads of Note

Archive of Pictures:
https://imgur.com/gallery/5vqFyLo

Lannisterian-tichondrius · February 11, 2022, 5:05am

I’m kinda not overly enthusiastic to the addition of new races Blizzard seems to have such issues with giving the races we have a decent round of customizations, so I kinda more or less support races being tied into customization if they can like Kelfin comes to mind as an example to be wrapped in customization in my opinion.

I feel like Furbolg hit that unique mark for its own race though, imo kinda like Ogres, definitely stands on its own and unique, that’s just my two cents though but I think it would be nice to be added for the Alliance!

Also a very nicely detailed thread wow

Bagzak-rexxar · February 11, 2022, 5:08am

Add one more support for Alliance Furbolgs!

I’ll type more later when I can, but Furbolgs would make for a great Alliance race and would add some much needed variety in there.

Will help to support seeing them on the Alliance side of that character creation screen!

Heretodie-emerald-dream · February 11, 2022, 5:14am

/pass

Astealoth-area-52 · February 11, 2022, 5:39am

Mark Jacobs beat Blizz to it by 20 years

`https://camelotherald.fandom.com/wiki/Firbolg

Avarie-farstriders · February 11, 2022, 5:43am

I welcome our Furbolg allies! Hopefully they become a reality!

Fallynn-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 6:02am

I might bearly be around anymore, but I really support the addition of Furbolg. In fact, with updates, I would probably play one, especially if they could be druids. The only thing barring me from playing pandaren is lack of druids, anyhow (though if I ever return, I might make a DK).

All of that said, Furbolg would be a welcome addition and bring something really interesting to the Alliance.

Drede-cairne · February 11, 2022, 6:23am

Great Concept.

Nice idea using the Pandaren model as a base.

Annorah-thrall · February 11, 2022, 6:25am

Yes, I fully support this.

Emerril-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 11:45am

Well thought out. Lance did a great job.

Lancelot-lightnings-blade · February 11, 2022, 2:12pm

Throwing my support in for the Furbolg race.
Also, aww shucks all that praise is making me blush. Glad I was able to help you out.

Missed opportunity for “the concepts that a playable furbolg could bring to… bear.”

Somand-proudmoore · February 11, 2022, 2:35pm

Throwing my support in as well. The mockups really sell it for me, and the OP is beautifully crafted.

Also,

Bagzak-rexxar · February 11, 2022, 4:58pm

Now that I have some time to type some stuff out, I’ll expand some of my thoughts.

Furbolgs would make for a pretty great choice for Alliance. It is not only fitting, but would add some much needed variety to the Alliance in general. It also helps that they’ve been part of Warcraft since at least Warcraft 3.

I do think they would bring a lot to the game as a playable race, even with Pandaren playable. They have completely different cultures, personalities, and likely would have slightly different class selections. I’m hoping people will be able to see that as opposed to saying we don’t need them because we have Pandaren. I mean, we have Blood Elves and Night Elves who are completely different despite beings Elves, along with several other races that are different despite being part of the same race. Hopefully, this won’t be something people try to argue in the future.

Furthermore, it’s good to see some Alliance race request megathreads pop up. We need more awesome and reasonable Alliance requests like Furbolgs to go with Horde race requests. Gotta keep it in balance!

I’ll be supporting playable Alliance Furbolgs as best as I can. Hopefully, they’ll be considered in the near future. Especially since an old world revamp has been heavily rumored for quite awhile. It would be a good time to introduce them as a playable race, in my opinion!

Playable Alliance Furbolgs are quite the bear necessity for the game! Hopefully, we’ll see them on the Alliance side of that character creation screen someday!

Naughtymoon-proudmoore · February 11, 2022, 5:02pm

I legit logged in just to show you some love on this thread, well done dearie and I will continue to support this thread from here on out.

Rorrand-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 5:38pm

I think those model concepts could use a bit more tweaking. I’m not sure basing the furbolg on the pandaren model/skeleton quite reaches the feel I’m looking for.

That being said, you put a lot of effort into this thread, and I 100% the coming of our bear overlords. Furbolgs are one of the most badass races in WoW and deserve more of our love.

Fenelon-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 5:49pm

I agree.

These are not a simple customization situation.

It’s one reason I didn’t frame them as a Allied Race or a Core race but more mentioned they’d got either.

There’s so much potential in a properly done and prepared Furbolg race.

Thank you!

I figure the more thourough the better.

I can’t wait!

Oh no. The level ten and two more random level tens have passed!

That’s fine, not everyone needs to like Furbolg.

I appreciate the bump!

Those ain’t wows Furbolg and lose much of the cool factor.

Besides I don’t think similar races between games is a bad thing. It’s neat to see the different fantasy races in different settings and places. Imo anyways.

I hope so! It’s a very Alliance option and I’d love to be a big ole bear man trouncing my enemies.

I see what you did there.

Right?

A little love to their model and they quickly make an impression.

Druid would 100% be a class for Furbolg. Uncorrupted ones are often druids in fact.

Thank you.

I’m not the one who originally came up with the idea (though I don’t know who was) but using the Pandaren model really makes them pop!

Thank you again to Lancelot for making these models.

Thank you!

Thanks! And old gods Lancelot is amazing!

Thanks and you deserve all the praise!

Those models make the thread!

… I… I’m going to go do some unrelated editing…

Thank you!

And yeah those models are amazing. They make the Furbolg go from kinda kooky to awesome.

I agree. The Alliance would feel more diverse with bear men walking around Stormwind.

Anyone who thinks Pandaren meet the bill of someone wants Furbolg isn’t paying great attention.

Even there old lore connection, which was tenuous at best, is no longer canon as far as I can tell.

I agree. It feels like the Alliance race requests have been sparse.

Even if you count the Sethrak thread which has been widely neutral focusing more on getting the Sethrak playable than on which fraction there’s very few.

And what few there are have dropped off a lot.

I think the Ethereals and Arakkoa threads are more Alliance focused though.

But both have Horde supporters who have valid arguments for those races too.

Furbolg feels far more Alliance than they do Horde.

In a world revamp I hope Blizzard considers this old race. It would undoubtedly be the best time to add them.

I see what you did there.

Here’s hoping!

Mmm I like the honey pot addition… I’m stealing that.

Thank you!

What are your concerns?

They really are. They’re also very underrated and very much deserve more!

Bear with it!

Bagzak-rexxar · February 11, 2022, 7:32pm

Based on my own personal preference, I think the following races are what I’d like to see as playable Alliance races currently:

Ankoan/Jinyu
Arakkoa
Ethereal
Furbolg
Sethrak

Saberon could go either or for me as well.

Thinking about potential classes for Furbolg, I was leaning towards a male Furbolg Elemental Shaman or possibly a Druid of some sort. I’ll have to think on it some more, of course, but seems like that would be what I’d currently go for.

Fastrada-sisters-of-elune · February 11, 2022, 7:33pm

I’m game, I’ve always wanted to see these dudes playable. I also like your rationale for Furbolg Warlocks!

Fenelon-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 8:10pm

Works for me.

Sethrak I’m good with neutral or horde or alliance but I do have a slight Alliance to neutral bias… cause I normally play Alliance.

Saberon could also go either way for me but I see the value pairing them with Arakkoa.

I’d have a druid most like. That seems really like the main one I’d play.

Then again I could get behind a shaman real easy.

If Paladin does make it to their list I’ll have one for sure. A Stillpine furbolg that joined the Vindicators and now fights for the Light is an interesting story to me.

And I’d absolutely have a warlock. Who would work with said paladin.

Thanks!

And yeah I like the idea that furbolg would conquer the corruption of the fel in some cases and then use it to fight back against it. And knowledge of how it works can only be helpful to clear the corruption from their kin.

Bear with it!

Fenelon-wyrmrest-accord · February 11, 2022, 10:28pm

A gentle update as Lancelot has a provided some more class mock ups and Somand presented us with a creation screen!

By Somand

By Lancelot

Thank you both of you!