You sit bolt upright in your bed, or sleeping roll, or hammock, or just the cold hard ground you sleep on because you’re a murder hobo. You’ve had horrible dreams of a cinematic where the most powerful character in Northrend got chumped by a woman with dark swirls on her outfit and a makeup palette that came right from the Hot Topic bargain shelf. So what do you do? Do you warn all your friends of the coming disaster and the giant hole that’s been torn through reality, leading to eternal damnation?
Well, here’s where it gets sticky. We all love to plan for future events that will affect our RP, it helps us be prepared! However, sometimes it can cross the realm from ominous premonition into metagaming that takes people out of the experience altogether. So we can all have fun, I thought I’d take a moment and explain my thoughts on how to handle visions in World of Warcraft without becoming too knowledgeable.
Quick aside: Metagaming is a term that refers to using out of character knowledge to frame a story or justify decisions. If you know your character can’t die because of mechanics, and decide to do something that would get your character killed, that’s metagaming. It’s also metagaming to assume you have knowledge of events your character wasn’t there for, and make decisions based on those events. It’s not a cardinal sin, but it can frustrate other players and diminish the strength of the story if used too much.
For the purposes of this guide, we will cover a few key concepts that can turn a shamanic vision experience from game breaking to story enriching! Without further ado, my Visions of the Future: RP Etiquette Guide.
-VISIONS ARE CRYPTIC
It’s very rare for a vision or premonition to be specific or read like a story book. Looking at the history of visions in every religious mythos for millennia, we see most visions rely pretty heavily on symbolism and interpretation. If you have a vision about upcoming events, you won’t be watching the cinematic trailer in your dreams, you’d be seeing vague shapes and metaphors taking shape, maybe at most a single powerful image of mind breaking implication.
You will likely see a weathered old dog sitting at the gates of a looming mansion, the dog is manged and beyond saving, but its teeth gleam in the dark. This is a dangerous creature despite its evident age and rot. Even though it is cold, you cannot see its breath. The dog will stare blankly into the distance as a single lonely cat walks up to the gates of the mansion, with dark swirls inhabiting the shadows at its feet. The swirls slowly envelop that old dog but it stands resolute. Even though the cat is small and weak, power beyond its body is present.
You look up and see the mansion is floating off the ground, and its spires are pointing straight down to the dog and cat. You see, however briefly, the very image of the Spire of the Damned pointing to the Frozen Throne, and nothing else.
Of course this isn’t the only vision you can have, but it’s a strong example of something you can work with. Put in all the symbolism! Dogs are loyal creatures and dangerous even in old age, and infallibly loyal to a cause even if it means their destruction. All matches Bolvar. Just use the symbolism, and make sure that it’s subtle enough it’s hard to really tell. Use direct images sparingly at best. You can also have nightmares, remembering the Frozen Throne when your hero saw Bolvar suspended above the Frozen Throne in chains, screaming in torment, but this time the chains are dark and swirling with purple energy. Go wild, just make it subtle. You don’t know what’s coming, but you can get an idea.
-VISIONS ARE RARE
Visions usually only appear to people who are tuned to the coming disaster in some way or the other, their minds have to be open and receptive to the subtlest hintings of nature itself. Many billions would never see a thing, but a priest of Bwonsamdi who has been secluded in prayer for several days about the nature of death would probably be primed and ready to see such an image.
Maybe you are a Gilnean knight who has somehow evaded the curse of the worgen, yet your mind is racked with the trauma of the wars you’ve seen over these past many years. You cling to a magical sword that was blessed by a friend, a shadow priest who had died to the Forsaken, and their last breath imbued it with brilliant light and deep shadows which would destroy the undead that brought this plight.
In fear of a world where the Forsaken still survive, and Sylvanas runs free, you turn to the sword for a source of comfort, you fall asleep with the sword in its scabbard and hugged close to your chest. You dream of the dog and cat from earlier and see that image of the spire in the sky.
Some key elements here are preparedness, an avenue of witness, and obscurity. Unless your character is somehow deeply connected in some way to the event by their history or their motivations or themes, you will have no idea what’s going on or what’s to come.
-NOTHING IS WRITTEN IN STONE
Visions have the potential to be flat out wrong, and many people would call you a quack for doomsaying, like those Legion morons who wore the end is coming boards in the pre-patch events. Keep in mind the flippancy of visions and the fact you are not an authority in most cases, no one has any reason to heed your words, and in many cases, you might be entirely alone in your nebulous and vague knowledge.
Edit: I forgot to write a conclusion! Well here it is. Ultimately, sometimes what you don’t know is more meaningful plot wise than what you do know! All your knowledge can defeat the narrative tension of a story, but you can still play with visions of the future. I just recommend you get creative with it!
