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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: What's your story?
by Adam Parkinson 
Jul 27th 2010 at 8:00AM
I have a confession: I am not a roleplayer, yet I feel the need to create a backstory for every single one of my characters, from the mighty main to the lowly banker alt who sits comfortably in Stormwind. I do not really know why. Maybe it is the storyteller in me, the sheer boredom, or the 60 ounces or so of various energy drinks that keep me up at night, but I begin to imagine the details of my characters, even going so far as to create a web of connections between them, as if when I'm not playing, they are banded together, battling side by side as brothers and sisters in arms.
A main example is my main and all the human alts I play on. There are only two at the moment, but a third shall arise, of the wolfish variety, come Cataclysm. Their story? All of them are brothers, my death knight being the eldest, a once-accomplished paladin who fell during the purging of Stratholme, being one of the very few against it. My main warrior is the middle child who was the least likely to accomplish anything of the three brothers but fought nonetheless as part of the Stormwind guard, before becoming a mercenary for hire. The newest addition will be a worgen rogue, the long-presumed-dead, sickly little brother who was astute in the arcane and was taken under tutelage of a sorcerer in Gilneas before being infected as a worgen. He will return instead as a quick and nimble character, one of the few worgen who likes his new form.
Heck, I have even made a blood elf paladin that is a half-brother of the humans. Don't even get me started on the draenei brothers.
So, tell me readers, what's your story? Even if you don't roleplay online (or only dabble in it), do your characters have stories? Untold love stories or rivalries? Is your bank alt the head of a powerful mercenary corporation that your characters work for? Are your characters connected, or merely single entities that have never and will never cross each other's paths?
Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for Breakfast Topics via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours! Filed under: Breakfast Topics, RP, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Eisengel Jul 27th 2010 2:00PM
Adam, you can destroy your inhibitions. They have foreseen this. It is your destiny! Join me, and together, we can fully enjoy the game as RP-side and player! Come with me. It is the only way.
nicole.talucci Jul 27th 2010 2:16PM
In short: My main, Rhemington, had lost his true (and secret love) in the third war. Rhemington survived by the skin of his teeth and vowed his life to the light, becoming a renowned paladin, dedicating his life to the light, because the heart is too easily broken.
Flash-forward to present day: Lhacrimosa, the fallen paladin, and Rhemington's lost love, breaks the Lich king's control and goes searching for lost love. Lhacrimosa and Rhemington meet once more but Lhacrimosa's DK state rocks Rhemington's world. They continue to play a strange love/hate game as Rhemington struggles to come to grips with his lost love being a DK.
My druid has found comfort, after years of adventuring and slaying of all kinds of baddies, in the inn at Stormwind where she is attempting to write a book but spends most of her time with my bank character, gossiping about the auction house attendants.
BridgitKiido Jul 27th 2010 2:48PM
There was once a pair of Night Elven sisters. The older one joined the Sentinels; the younger became a Priestess of Elune (my main). The older sister had a secret crush on one of the druids - it can't really be said whether that's why she went or not, but she went with members of the Cenarian Circle to the Plaguelands, to protect them as they tried to heal the land. She was killed while patrolling a distance away from the chapel by a raid of Scourge, and was raised as a Death Knight (ironically, currently level 62).
When the priestess learned of her sister's death, she fell into a depression and had a crisis of faith. Believing that it would help her to recover, Lady Tyrande suggested that she join Admiral Odesyus' ship and travel for a while. So she did, but she was injured when the Venture Co. struck. Thus, she was the Injured Night Elf Priestess who was found by the Draenei, and she eventually befriended a young shaman (my primary alt) who felt the most connected to the earth and who was fascinated by the inventions of the races of Azeroth.
Eventually, she returned to Stormwind with the Alliance Naval Command, and she stayed there for a while, met Bolvar Fordragon, and gained great respect for him, even after King Wrynn returned. One day after the Knights of the Ebon Blade were formed and half of them aligned themselves with the Alliance, she found a familiar face near the docks... her sister, now a Death Knight. They never separated again, but though the older sister believed that she had been forsaken by Elune, the younger's faith was instead restored and in fact bolstered, for Elune had surely been the one to ensure that her sister would keep her mind, at least, and would be able to return, even if she was unable to interfere in the world enough to protect her from harm completely.
The two of them went with the Alliance to Northrend to fight Arthas, and participated in the Battle of Angathar, though they escaped before the Forsaken Plague could kill them. The priestess, though distraught to learn of Bolvar's fate, agreed to take his shield back to Stormwind, though her sister decided to stay behind in Northrend. Thus, the priestess participated in the Battle for the Undercity, and she is now rather pissed off at Varian Wrynn. After all, Highlord Fordragon had been working toward working with the Horde for a common cause, and Wrynn decided to completely ignore and destroy everything his friend had worked toward.
With Arthas' defeat, the death knight decided to return to native Night Elven lands and at least make herself useful by protecting them - come the Cataclysm, she will be at the front lines in Ashenvale, fighting to keep the Horde from taking Astranaar. The priestess, meanwhile, decided to return to Darnassus, and when the Cataclysm happens will be helping the Worgen refugees, eventually befriending a Worgen Druid (my future alt), an older Gilnean woman who is a bit set in her ways and whose relatively recent change has taken much getting used to.
/tl;dr
alpha5099 Jul 27th 2010 2:52PM
I usually don't have very detailed backstories for my characters, but I definitely consider them while playing them. I don't think I could spend so much time playing a character without filling in a little of their backstory.
My draenei shaman was once a devotee of the light, but never felt a true connection. He embraced Nobundo's teachings, but what family he still had after the genocide were embarrassed by his decision (I have a draenei paladin I've played a little, I consider him my shaman's older brother).
Meanwhile, my human prot warrior is pretty much just a straight up merc. He's in it for the money. While my draenei shaman seeks out quests and works to get exalted with many people, the warrior doesn't care unless there's something in it for him. The only quests he did in Northrend were ones that lead to good equipment for leveling, and he spent most of his time in instances.
I've also been toying around with some rough backstories for my Cataclysm alts. The two I have the most developed are my two goblins, a shaman and a hunter. The shaman works is an environmental consultant for her cartel's businesses; she's out surveying post-Cataclysm Azeroth, finding where the worst damage and biggest changes are, and most importantly, where the Bilgewater Cartel can make the most money.
The hunter, on the other hand, will be a simple big game hunter. He'll have a big boy crush on Hemet Nesingwary, and any questing he'll do will be to get a little income to finance his true passion. I'll be scouring the land for the best looking pets, and although I've already put a lot of effort into pet and mount collecting on my shaman, I can imagine my hunter will join in that fun as well.
slythwolf Jul 27th 2010 3:26PM
Backstories are actually the hardest for me, even when I RP, but my characters do have personalities.
Hazma Jul 27th 2010 3:55PM
I think the most I've gotten to by now is with my belf paladin.
I'm decking her out in everything Argent Dawn/Crusade-related (except the Scourge Invasion tabard. That honor goes to my shaman.) so I've got this Crusader mindset. Like, if you can break away from the horde and go chill with Tirion, that's what I already would have done.
I suppose being an "Argent Champion" is good enough for now. :]
Desuka Jul 27th 2010 4:06PM
I LOVE creating stories for my characters. It wasn't intentional at first... one day I realized that I had background info and personalities and interactions for each of my characters, just from thinking about it while playing. I find now that this is one of the most fun aspects of the game for me. Whatever story I've been thinking of most tends to be the character I'm most interested in playing.
Edymnion Jul 27th 2010 4:40PM
Only one I've given any backstory to, like so many others, my Forsaken Death Knight.
Its not even a backstory really, its more like a one liner. "Dammit, every time I die I wake up looking at Arthas!"
Edymnion Jul 27th 2010 4:42PM
I do have one small RP thing I plan on doing come Cataclysm though.
My main is a female orc rogue with long black hair. Since Cataclysm is supposed to be about 10 years after the fall of Arthas, I'm going to change her hair color to be a little grayer.
Not like anybody ever sees her hair anymore (even me), its just something I feel like I need to do.
red_rag_Rogue Jul 27th 2010 5:41PM
I made a Troll DeafNight on a friends server so i could have a epic mount and before i knew it he was a death dealing, death rider, Of Doom. He became the looming evil of DuskWood, skin as dark as ash, masked by a black cloth, Axe held above his victim, he cut many a innocent travelers down in cold blood. haunting, and creeping, through the cemetery he walked with the walking dead. breathing frigid live into the forgotten horrors.
Some were smart, ran for their life, like helpless mice. He channeled dark magic and summoned an even darker steed, one with talons and rough hide. chasing them down the air around his prey, frozen, he approached with glee, cackling as they cower. eyes open, radiating blue. never blinking, sometimes blinking. Screams could be heard from redridge mountains. Some times a hero would come, to bring justice to the people. Some would hunt the monster deep in the forest, at the top of raven hill. some would face him, beheading him.
But every night. the dark rider would return, hungry. for new bold blood awaiting adventures, only to meet their demise.
Matt Jul 27th 2010 5:41PM
My characters back story is as follows. My main is a dwarf Warrior and I have an alt who is a dwarf hunter. They are brothers (surprise surprise) and they recently discovered that their father that they thought was dead has joined their guild as a death Knight! What a small world! They thought their father was killed by their fathers best friend who summoned a demon to kill him and this dwarf is a warlock! When Cataclsym comes out, this dwarf Warlock shall be created and then I will create more of his back story.
Gotta find a way to fit a worgen in there though... :P
JBcani Jul 27th 2010 5:58PM
I too have a story for my characters, My Paladin and Death Knight are twins, the Death Knight having died as a Priest. Their father is a warrior who never approved of all the "holy light" nonsense but having a son that is now a death knight, he now misses the the fancy dresses his used-to-be priest son wore.
Aurellie Jul 27th 2010 6:30PM
@Abbadon: that is a good idea, thank you. I miss my tauren ever since I turned her into a nelf so I could join my friends' guild as a druid. Bringing her back as a DK would go a long way toward making it better :)
Nipah Jul 27th 2010 6:30PM
Nipah was an elder of his old tribe, the Splintertusk tribe. However, when he found on that the other elders plotted to sacrifice the tribe in order to raise an elder god, he was forced to slay the lot of them. When the tribe found out about his actions, they exiled him from the tribe without accepting so much as a word in protest (the Splintertusk tribe has since died off, with only a handful of members still alive, most of them now brothers and sisters of the Darkspear).
He then spent a great deal of time wandering around, barely surviving before passing out and being found by a Darkspear scouting party. After being nursed back to life by the Darkspear shaman, he pledged his allegiance to Sen'jin and now proudly champions any cause the Darkspear approve of.
The only other fleshed out story is for my Forsaken Warrior, Tetri.
She was a sergeant in the army of Lordaeron, married to a Paladin of the Silver Hand. However, while battling the Scourge menace in one of the many skirmishes, she was brought down by Arthas and resurrected as a mindless undead. Forced to battle her own people for months as a puppet, she only gained her free will again after forcibly killing her beloved at the behest of the Lich King. Taking up his shield and sword, she then swore vengeance against Arthas and the undead Scourge, and carved a path through the minions, only to once again fall to Arthas' blade. She was saved from being killed (again) by her old unit, and after parting ways ("Tetri and Lordaeron are no more, we shall not meet again."), she settled in the ruins of her kingdom, believing that by following Sylvanas, her revenge against the fallen Paladin Arthas will more quickly come to fruition.
I have a vague idea that my Forsaken Rogue was previously a corrupted nobleman (and secret member of SI:7) of Stormwind, who was murdered and resurrected while on "business" in Lordaeron. When he gained his free will along with the rest of the soon to be named Forsaken, he forsook his name and now goes by the cruel nickname he had as a child: Gingivitis. Yes... I have an RP character named after a gum disease.
deepred Jul 27th 2010 9:13PM
Playing mostly on PvE servers, I'm only a casual RPer. My toons still have personalities, though.
My main, Kurenaikamen, is a fury-spec nelf warrior who was inspired to take up the blade by Lady Jaina's refugees in the wake of the Battle of Mt Hyjal, who told her of the feats of Lothar and the heroes of the Alliance Expedition. The ways of the blade, coupled with her ladette tomboy tendencies, naturally got her offside with her mother, a Sister of Elune.
Her "evil" twin sister Kurokamen fell during the Retaking of Andorhal and was risen as a death knight. She was somehow last seen hobnobbing around Booty Bay.
Shirokko, the draenei mage, found the going a bit tough and decided to remain in Stormwind making potions. On the other hand, her sister Mizunaa, a paladin, is hoping to follow Kurenaikamen in taking on the Lich King. In contrast to Kurenaikamen's tomboyishness, Mizunaa is more "prim & proper" by comparison. That doesn't stop her from choosing to wear some of the more "interesting" plate sets though...
Dea ex Machina Jul 28th 2010 2:58AM
My main, a forsaken rogue, doesn't remember being alive all that well. (Although the rogue trainers are pretty sure that when she was growing up she must have been part of a well known gang of child pickpockets that worked the markets in Lordaeron. They recognize the style.) She's perfectly fine with being vague on the details. The forsaken she knows who do remember their lives all seem to be so damn GRIM about it. What's so great about being human? This is the only life she knows, and it's not half bad. Stabbing things, stealing stuff, what more could a girl want? And she loves the Undercity fiercely. Greatest city in the world. All the decent architects and city planners were killed in the plague, it's the only explanation.
My nelf druid is madly in love with my tauren druid. There's no way that can end well.
StClair Jul 28th 2010 1:01PM
I'm a roleplayer from way back, and all of my characters have stories.
There's the Stormwind noble's daughter who was expected to take a priestess' vows, but chose to serve the Light as a paladin instead. The orc warrior and master smith who retired at level 70 to live among his father's people in Nagrand. The Second War veteran who left a home and family in Lordaeron and followed his prince to the shores of frozen Northrend, only to be betrayed and later raised as a death knight. The (female) night elf druid who had to overcome millennia of rigid gender roles to answer the call of the wild. The Forsaken sword-for-hire who was a cold-hearted bastard even before the plague found him at Corin's Crossing. And the gnome rogue who contacted them all, whose family didn't make it out of Gnomeregan; she hides a lot of survivor's guilt and other things under her cheerful manner, and has been dedicated to the retaking of the city for years now.
Cigan Jul 28th 2010 3:41PM
My main is a Forsaken Discipline priest. She has only recently begun tentatively experimenting with the shadow and she isn't really sure she likes it very much.
She was long devoted to the light as a human, and when the plague came and turned her she was not prepared. The light did not save her, because it could not. Her devotion was not strong enough, not pure enough. So when she rose from the grave and summoned her first holy smite to destroy the scourge that were encroaching on the small forsaken settlement she awoke within she knew her path. The holy light burned her veins, it scorched her insides and filled her with righteous pain and fire. This was the only path. It took great will and discipline to withstand the pain of wielding the holy light, and so she is a child of discipline instead of a pure instrument of divinity.
As she traveled through Azeroth and Outland her conviction only grew, but unfortunately the frozen wastes of Northrend held much more pain for her than the light could ever inflict. She traversed the terrors of the frozen north and eventually found herself within Ice Crown. She watched the warping of the light by the Scarlet Onslaught, and saw how much farther they had taken their zealotry than in Azeroth. She watched the humans shun the horde in a time when they most needed them, and she watched in abject horror as her beloved city was almost stolen from her.
While she wields the light proudly she has now touched the comfort of shadow. She realizes that good and evil are nothing more than what sentient beings make them. While once she believed in the light, now she knows that the light wells from her, and even as it can be corrupted but remain strong welling from an evil source of faith so too can shadow be a source of purity and hope if wielded to the correct purpose. Her faith has turned from the light and moved to a stalwart belief in herself. The one belief that truly is the source of all heroism and zealotry.
As the Dark lady falls to her less desirable nature in Cataclysm we will see how her faithful servant Methandrela follows.
Aruhgulah Jul 28th 2010 6:01PM
Humans are story-telling beings. All of us. We love stories, we listen to stories, we tell stories, we play stories, we mold our lives around story patterns -- even if you think you *don't*, you do. Even the most anti-RP l33t raider is a storyteller (ask them about the first time they downed Arthas -- you'll get a story).
Natural to create a background about what you perceive as "you"? A walking, talking avatar that personifies you in a world with other walking, talking, interactive avatars? Hell ya.
My dwarf pally is an orphan, born of a warrior mother who died shortly after in battle, raised somewhat by a scholarly father obsessed with dragons (and who supposedly was eaten by one of those dragons) and her grandparents. She hates dragons, will go out of her way to hunt them down and kill them.