The Void can be quite… Meta, as they can offer you many truths that may come to pass, so for an example, as part of an event you are going to be ambushed, would your Ren’dorei act surprised or would they know of what it is to come?
It’s something I struggle with, when it comes to RP, especially when there is no GM with a /roll 20 as a guide.
If you’re fed many “truths” that may or may not come to pass, would it be a surprise that some of it does not?
I feel like it would be the event’s DM that would make the call if the character would know. Surely the whispers withold info, even with telling the character many things.
Does it have to be whispers? I imagine my void elf can “see” possibilities. Images superimposed on reality just before something happens. It may not even be useful- in fact, it could cause disadvantage if they can’t tell what’s real or not. It means she has to stop, and really observe and figure out what she’s seeing before she makes a move. Sometimes it can be to her advantage, sometimes it’s most definitely not, and the very hesitation could have it’s own consequences.
With the ambush scenario, perhaps you recognize that this place would be a good spot for an ambush, but the whispers/visions are throwing so many possibilities at you that it’s hard to tell if there is an ambush, where it’s coming from, or what form it would take. Is it an attack from above? Behind? Nothing there at all? It could cause you to freeze with indecision, or take off running to escape- and you run directly into the “real” ambush, thinking that whatever it was you thought you saw was behind you.
If there is no GM leading the scenario, you could create your own list of reactions, and roll for yourself to see what response your character has. If there is someone leading the game, give them the list and have you roll.
Sunken into the sea of stars, you drown in every glittering facet. Drown, drown, drown, drown-- Unless you drink it. The black wine stirs the mind to what may be. Sift truth from truths. Pluck apart the many threads.
Now this:
A thousand blades pressed to flesh, yet they do not cut.
A mask of leaves hides a face marred by hate.
Fangs on the wind draw blood from the blind.
<Gets shot with an arrow from a bandit hiding in a bush while laying on the grass.>
Ah. The pieces arrange themselves in my mind.
Also, ouch.
Meta? You really used that word here. That is so annoying. You don’t have to roleplay the void whispers in.
It’s like you can hear the whispers chuckling at you. I think they know they’re being bratty.
Not a velf or RP-er for that matter, however in the short stories I’ve written involving my void-tainted priestess, I’ve made the whispers into sort of its own entity while being a small extension of her own character. Sorta like the little devil/angel characters that would appear on characters’ shoulders in old cartoons.
In order to cut down on bloat, instead of the whispers speaking solely in cryptic riddles or incessantly about everything, I keep it restrained - the Void knows all (both real and not real), but does not speak all. Instead, it uses is pseudo-omniscience to taunt, intimidate, and induce dismay in order to drive its victim/follower into a chaotic, emotional state where logic is replaced by instinct or despair.
For example, instead of saying something about an ambush, either blatantly and openly (“they have you surrounded”) or cryptically (“countless eyes watch the figure from behind nature’s bounty”), it takes a more subtle, subversive approach (“you cannot defeat them”).
Of course, RP may function differently than in writing FF, so take the advice with a grain of salt. That said, I hope it helps you!
It’s like what I say about rping a Dragon. Both are literally nothing you’d ever want to come out as.
Saying to your friends, colleagues, and neighbors that you frequently get voices in your head driving you to consume the very existence of the universe or to drive everything to madness and decay isn’t exactly a good way to build trust.
It’s actually something that calls for more patience and restraint than attention craving roleplayers are used to having.
While I get where you’re coming from, isn’t that kind of known about the void elves? Like, that’s their thing?
I know I still get that snide comment from that priest NPC when I walk into the Cathedral. I don’t think it’s really a secret that void elves have to deal with void influences.
I had thought in general is was known that void elves have to deal with the Void, and that’s one of the sources of their power.
I get your point about that dragon, or being an eredar*, or something like that. But I don’t think those are on the same level, any more than it would be the same as a worgen (in human form) RPing that they smelled someone nearby.
The average ignoramus does not have the same kind of knowledge as a game fan.
If you mean the general population and such of Stormwind, for example?
I suppose they probably don’t know about the specifics of what it means to be infused with Void, or the ramifications on one’s psyche, or what kind of impact that has on magic, or anything like that. Sure.
But I’m pretty sure most people in Stormwind know that the void elves are associated on some level with the void. The hair tendrils are probably a give away. And the void elf NPCs aren’t exactly subtle about it, either; possibly, I’m trying to remember if this was an NPC or a player who said something like “Whispers guide you”, or “Resist the whispers” or something.
I guess my stance is that freaking out because you found out a void elf heard ‘whispers’ would be like freaking out because you found out a worgen could pinpoint people by scent.
We probably disagree on that, I guess.
You’d start the freaking out when said void elf walked into the room with those weird glowing purple tentacles on their heads. A void elf simply radiates a sense of wrongness just by being there.
And again, most people in Stormwind are down home salt of the earth… You know the type… morons.
That’s…that’s not actually what ‘salt of the earth’ means…
Still, I wager you’re underestimating what the people of Stormwind - and Azeroth, in general - are used to dealing with. You’ve got purple people the size of Shaq who are somehow as limber as agile as Jackie Chan walking around the city, sharing a bag of chips with a werewolf who might teleport a short distance to grab a coin before it falls into a canal. This is because he wanted to use that coin to purchase something from a vendor run by a seven foot tall humanoid with horns and hooves, and slightly glowing tattoos. They have to sometime raise their voice because the mounted aerial patrol is swooping by on a gryphon. This is because of a disturbance at the place that has a memorial from when a giant dragon stood on top of the parapets outside the city before breaking the world.
I mean, I get where you’re coming from. I just think you’re underestimating the capacity of the average Azerothian to handle “strange”. I mean, they don’t even need an exhaustive dive into the history of their city to know that. They could have literally just looked outside a couple of times.
Kind of, but in canon a good portion of Azeroth was walking around hearing whispers, seeing weird stuff, carrying around weapons with eyeballs on them and wearing armor that was quite literally void corrupted, so I mean… When the King’s hearing/seeing things and so is everyone else and entire zones are crawling with eyeballs and tentacles for a span of months, I think it becomes less “OMGOMGWHATISTHATKILLITREEEEEE” and more like “…oh. hey.”
Anxiety.
/10char
honestly. I don’t have Void Whispers. Just a regular everyday Archmage.
If it were up to me I’d RP the void whispers in such a way that makes them seem more like gut feelings or de ja vu. Though I’m not all that up on the background of void elves.