World of Warcraft®

(TD:DR at the conclusion)
Before I start I’d like to say that this post is but my humble opinion. It’s my philosophy that has enabled me to interpret role-playing death and healing given the limitations of game mechanics and should not be taken as law. Take from it what you will, and if you don’t agree, that’s fine too. We’re all entitled to our own views :)

Death:
Danger is an integral part of the RP experience. It creates (the good kind of) drama and opportunities for character development. It is important to keep this “risk” element in RP, so as to not trivialise the experience. For example, there is a certain character of the realm in which I RP that is notorious for her death plots. When I first encountered her I thought “Wow, this person really takes their RP seriously, I’m impressed.” My character attended her funeral and mourned for her, and spoke about it to others, and then began the process of moving on with her life. But no! The character came back, resurrected. “Fair enough,” I thought, “it’s a fantasy game, that can happen.” Now let’s skip ahead about a year. Since I first met this character she’s “died” about... 9 times? I’ll admit I lost count because I basically stopped caring. Someone would tell me, “Did you hear XXXX has died?” and my gut reaction would be to shrug and say “Again? Don’t worry, she’ll be back next week.” It’s hard to keep believing in the reality of death when it keeps getting defied again and again. So my first recommendation would be: Don’t overuse death. I know it’s fun to have people talk about your character and sit in on your eulogy, but after a while it will lose its impact.

Game Mechanics:
I find this to be a huge problem, and I shy away from those who insist on using game mechanics in their RP. Game mechanics exist for a very good reason, but in my personal opinion they should be a starting point, not the be all and end all. A huge example of this is the stealthed rogue in the flat open plain in broad daylight. He says “You can’t see me, I’m stealthed.” Like hell I can’t, it’s bright and you’re not hiding behind anything. Instead consider the rogue who walks flat against the wall and keeps to the shadows. That I can believe. Or if you insist, consider using magic items such as an invisibility cloak if you must be invisible in broad daylight.

This carries through to death and healing. Why for instance, (SPOILER: Durnholde) when Blackmoore decapitates Taretha didn’t Thrall just cast Ancestral Spirit on her to rez her? He is a Shaman after all... Well, because that would have trivialised the whole event. The moment was poignant, and it shaped Thrall’s character. He wouldn’t have developed into the person he is today if he could have just returned her to life.

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Limitations:
Alright, we don’t want to do away with healing and resurrections completely, they are part of the fantasy genre and a significant part of our characters and our world. But I do suggest considering some limitations on your god-like power. You don’t want to become a Mary-Sue! Imagine a scenario where you guild/clan/tribe is fighting a rival clan. If you have healers on both sides it just turns into a complete stalemate. How can you win, by fighting, when the effects of your fighting efforts are completely nullified? There is no risk to the characters, so there is no reason to be afraid for your life, or even to care for that matter. A good portion of the RP impetus has been simply removed.

So here are the things that I find work for me, feel free to add to the list:
Mana - I dislike calling it “mana” but I do imagine that healing and resurrecting requires a great deal of energy and concentration on the part of the healer. I imagine that such a great expenditure would have them sweating and swaying on their feet after not too long, and they certainly can’t keep it up indefinitely. This can offset your awesome healing powers to make them more realistic.
Reagents- Restoring atrocious wounds or bringing a friend back from the dead is no easy feat. Perhaps it takes some rare and expensive materials to perform such a ritual. You could involve your entire guild/RP troupe on a quest to acquire the materials to restore your dead friend. Gryphonheart is great for this.
Time- Perhaps your character must perform their spells within a certain number of minutes of the spirit leaving the body-without distraction I might add. I can imagine that this could create a very interesting and exciting sequence where the healer must immediately devote their full attention to a fallen comrade while their allies protect them in the heat of battle.
Body Parts- The heart and the head are often attributed special significance in mythology over other organs as though they perhaps hold the “soul” aspect of a person. Perhaps your healer must have a specific part or even the entire body to complete a resurrection. Enemies could use this against you by deliberately taking the head of your fallen comrades. It makes for interesting roleplay.

I’m certain there are other ways to further define your character’s abilities and I would love to hear other ideas on the subject :)

Scars:
We like scars, they can add character and can imply that a significant event has happened to the character. Perhaps Johnny Half-face was disfigured by his arch-nemesis and has been itching to repay the favour. On the other hand, how do we rationalise scars with instant magical healing? I’ll explain my own perspective, take from it what you will.

I imagine that healing helps the body to recover using its own healing power. By this I mean, the green light flowing into your veins isn’t replacing your muscles, but rather assisting your body in its own normal (but sped up) healing process. Now, scars might occur in this way if the body has already healed itself up to a certain point. You cannot heal what has already healed, so to speak.

Additionally scars could be a healing limitation. Say, my shaman can heal your grievous wounds, but his methods are rough and you will be left with scars due to the method that he used to heal you.

I am currently paying my first scarred character. I imagine that the reason she has these scars is that her wounds were simply so great, that it took all of the healer’s skill just to save her life. Making her pretty again was just beyond their capabilities at that point.

Conclusion:
We come to the end of my ramblings! Thanks to those who stuck through it and also to those who have ideas to share. In summary:
*The element of danger creates possibilities and excitement. Overpowered healing and overuse of death can trivialise experiences.
*Game mechanics exist for a reason, but please don’t assume that you must have X ability because you are X class. I think as roleplayers we can be more creative.
*Limitations to our healing and resurrections can make for more believable and less Mary Sue characters.

Lots of love for this community, Tiponi Darkmane x

I approve.

Also on the note of scars, there may be some who are simply a little less... willing than others to allow someone to assail their body with magic, especially when they have little to no understanding of such.

That is almost exactly why Slaye here is covered in them. And, as a Warrior, she gets hurt. A lot. But part of the job is to simply shrug it off and keep going. It also lends a bit of realism to your RP when you don't see to your wounds immediately. You simply may not have time.

Thank you for the excellent post, Darkmane. This is very much how I approach healing in RP as well, down to the part about mana. My orc shaman tends to become exhausted quickly when she is expected to heal, as she has the ability to heal but it is not her chosen path. (In other words, she's Enhancement.)

As for scars, since it is such an interesting topic: both my shaman tend to leave them, partly because see scars in a fairly positive light--proof of great deeds--and partly because it would take a great deal of effort on their parts to prevent a scar, as they simply speed up the body's natural healing.

When my orc was healed after severe injuries by a blood elf paladin, however, there was no scarring--something I'm willing to accept because the Light is not -natural- healing per se, and also because the healer mainly worked with blood elves in Silvermoon (who, tending to be rather vain, would not want scars at all!).

The concept of a magical healer effectively trivialises the danger of battle. Traditionally, soldiers who are veterans of many battles are a grizzled, scarred lot, because those who actualy fought on the field tended not to walk away. Wars are ugly, injuries are usually horrific and rarely non-life threatening. Ever seen a guy who'd been hit by a sword? People tend to die from that even these days with advanced medical science. A belly wound will kill you unless you're extremely lucky or happen to have a trauma surgeon present when it happened.

Magical heals should definately be limited. In the Wheel of Time, one of the best high fantasy series around, healing wounds with the Power deplete not only the channeler's stamina but also the energy of the patient. If a wound is too grave or the person too far gone, healing will only exhaust the person trying to heal them. Also, they can only work with what the body has left, you can heal the stump where a leg used to be, but you can't give them back their leg- for example.

Mana is a lazy explanation for a caster's ability, too. Game mechanics require a blue bar to show you when your character's knackered and can't nuke any more, but think for a moment about where the healer gets this ability from? Does it come from the light in the form of a miraculous recovery? Are they manipulating arcane energy to weld flesh back together and fuse bones? How much can your character invoke of this mystical power before they can't draw any more or risk damaging themselves- or cheesing off their benevolent deity.

People talk a lot about game mechanics ruining RP, but I disagree. If I play a mage, sure, she can conjure dancing lights and ghostly sounds and all sorts of stuff. As a frost mage, I imagine she can even use her magical prowess to create all sorts of effects using ice. Frosting up a floor to make it slippery, icing over a window to stop people looking in. Hell, with a lot of effort I don't see why she can't build an igloo, but she'll be jiggered straight after. On the other hand, game mechanics offer a good guildeline on how far to take your character's abilities.

If your paladin can recall the departed spirit of the dead back into the body, what else can they do? If a corpse has been pulverised by a blackpowder explosion, can the paladin also re-create the body? I'd say no. A druid, maybe, because that would invoke more of a natural rebirth. How about if the spirit doesn't much want to come back? Maybe they're having fun partying with all the dead heroes of the alliance and dying once was unpleasant enough thankyouverymuch. Can the paladin forcibly shove the spirit back into the body? Again, I think no.

Don't forget the Forsaken!

An undead priest is incapable of weilding the light.

01/02/2011 4:18 AMPosted by Tessele

An undead priest is incapable of weilding the light.

Why not?

There is no alternate explanation as to the source of an undead priests power. As best I can tell, the only priests that don't call on the light are the troll and night elf ones.

I heard it suggested somewhere, I don't recall where, that the light was painful to the sentient undead, and that using light-based heals on forsaken or death knight characters essentially worked by using it to cauterize their wounds, and that being an undead priest was an extremely painful experience.

Re: Ask CDev #1 Answers - Round 1 | 2010-06-30 09:47| Bornakk

;Q: Can you please explain how "light" works? The lore states that undead are physically incapable of using the light, much like the Broken, but then we have Forsaken players casting healing spells, and Sir Zeliek in Naxxramas using pseudo-paladin abilities.

A: Without spoiling too much, we can tell you that wielding the Light is a matter of having willpower or faith in one's own ability to do it. That's why there are evil paladins (for example, the Scarlet Crusade and Arthas before he took up Frostmourne). For the undead (and Forsaken), this requires such a great deal of willpower that it is exceedingly rare, especially since it is self-destructive. When undead channel the Light, it feels (to them) as if their entire bodies are being consumed in righteous fire. Forsaken healed by the Light (whether the healer is Forsaken or not) are effectively cauterized by the effect: sure, the wound is healed, but the healing effect is cripplingly painful. Thus, Forsaken priests are beings of unwavering willpower; Forsaken (and death knight) tanks suffer nobly when they have priest and paladin healers in the group; and Sir Zeliek REALLY hates himself.

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Limitations: Time- Perhaps your character must perform their spells within a certain number of minutes of the spirit leaving the body-without distraction I might add. I can imagine that this could create a very interesting and exciting sequence where the healer must immediately devote their full attention to a fallen comrade while their allies protect them in the heat of battle.

I am a big fan of the time restraint on resurrections. It's my belief that the longer one waits to rez someone, the harder and more complicated it is. I powerful priest might be able to bring someone back right as they died, since they are "almost alive" at that point, but if you wait a week, or even a few hours, you are probably going to need a few magical reagents.

Body Parts- The heart and the head are often attributed special significance in mythology over other organs as though they perhaps hold the “soul” aspect of a person. Perhaps your healer must have a specific part or even the entire body to complete a resurrection. Enemies could use this against you by deliberately taking the head of your fallen comrades. It makes for interesting roleplay.

I’m certain there are other ways to further define your character’s abilities and I would love to hear other ideas on the subject :)

also agree with the body parts idea. and to refer to the character's abilities, my priest can pretty much heal anything. she could take a body that was turned into dust and reverse it to becoming a perfectly healthy, living body. only, the catch there is that while her magic is very powerful at curing physical wounds, bringing back the person themselves is something she cannot do. so the friends are left with a comotose body and would need to figure out a way to force the character's soul back into their body.

Scars:
We like scars, they can add character and can imply that a significant event has happened to the character. Perhaps Johnny Half-face was disfigured by his arch-nemesis and has been itching to repay the favour. On the other hand, how do we rationalise scars with instant magical healing?

Well, it is of my own opinion (also remember reading about it somewhere), that permanent scars do not stay because they are unhealable, but because they are emotionally scarring as well. so, while most scars fade in time, any wound that is tied to a powerfully emotional experience will remain regardless of healing methods used. the scars will only fade when the victim has let go of those emotions or memories.

As to the question of forsaken, they can infact still use the light but is incredibly painful for them do so and are only capable of it through the sheer force of will which all forsaken must possess to overcome the influence of the litch king in the first place. The only races that do not use the holy light are the tauren, who use the light of the sun, the night elves who use the light of the moon, the trolls who use the power of the loa.

I would imagine that healing in the druid or shaman manner would leave scars. In essence it is speeding up the biological process. How else would nature heal? Light however, that would require a vastly different scheme. I mean the thing is, to resurrect someone is playing"god" so to speak. The light may simply not grant you the power to do so.

i look at scars this way. in the movie ninja assassin the main character got hacked up a lot however focusing his chi he was able to knit his flesh back together ie. shamanistic or druidic healing but this left scarring. in the manga Bleach the character Orihimi can reverse the damage by turning back time to heal amputations even death if the wound was not super tramatic ie bleeding out vs. having a hole blown through you, sort of like the light.

with mana i like the mechanics D&D used with a sorceror can use a certien number of rank X spells per day. once these spells in his/her spell book were cast the mage then needed to sit and study (drink) to regain the ability to cast them again. which added a lot of balance to a very powerful class however scrolls were a 1 time cast but were used outside of the mages standard spell book.

those are my thoughts

An added thought that adds even more to the reagents/body parts concept is the Warcraft III hero resurrection lore. Outside of the Paladin mass resurrection which was very literally a miracle (complete with angelic being flying overhead), regulars were simply allowed to die. Heroes could only be recalled after a long ritual that included the reclamation of their old wargear and the creation of a new body. Even with all of this, they required infusions of power from a sacred/obscene Altar to be returned. In-game, this process could take a full day-night cycle to complete for powerful heroes, and that almost assumes that the replacement body was already there. True resurrection was hard.

My personal interpretation of in-game "death" and "rebirth" is that it is near-death rather than true death. Resurrection spells are rapid, massive infusions of holy or natural energies or the binding of the spirit to the body (soulstone). Corpse runs are merely the character's light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel near-death experience before they return to consciousness. Obviously this doesn't explain the skeletons, and the only reason that whatever you were fighting wouldn't finish you is because your group was still fighting them or you woke up incredibly fast, but it still fits the canonical resurrections.

Here is something I wrote a while ago.

When you die, your spirit is separated from your body.

Your spirit is what binds you to the living world, what makes your body alive. Therefore, as long as your spirit is separated from it, you are considered "dead".

There are various ways to permanently die in Warcraft;

• Your body is no longer functional
  Either it has grown too old, or it is too greatly wounded. In the latter case, it is possible to heal the body and bring the spirit back into it (ressurection). Otherwise, necromancy can reanimate the corpse, but it has its limits.


• Your spirit is unable reach your body
  Just like demons, having your spirit casted into the Twisting Nether might have you dead for a while. It is very unlikely that you will find your way back from there! However, it is still possible to be summoned back to your body by someone else (a warlock).


• Your spirit has been imprisoned
  A number of artifacts are known to trap spirits within them. Usually, to free the spirits, the object must be destroyed. The Frostmourne is a well-known example.

A spirit can also choose to not come back to its body; whether it has been unbearably tortured when it was alive, or the complete opposite, it has achieved its destiny. Whichever the case may be, the time has come for it to rest in peace.

Source: http://ravenholdt.us/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1755&start=18

I have multiple RP characters on my server and had thought about "killing" one off and setting a strict set of guidelines for bringing them back to life.

For example, the "ritual" to bring them back has to happen within one week of the death (I can play one of my other characters for the week!) and there has to be an extensive list of "regents" that my friends would have to collect from all over and not just purchased from the AH. Real world items that would have to be farmed, like black pearls, light feathers, Mageroyal and whatnot. Stuff that would be rather easy for them to gather, along with one item that would be harder, such as obtaining the trinket "smoking heart of the mountain" - so they would have to find an enchanter and work to get them to the black iron forge to make it!

That way, bringing the character back to life isn't just pushing a button. They have to "work" to make it happen, and have a deadline to get it done by.

There actually was a fantasy world series in which death operates very much like the way it does in your average MMORG.

It was the Riverworld series by Phillip Jose Farmer. The RiverWorld is a gigantic planet several times the surface are of the Earth dominated by one incredibly long and curving River, populated by people who've died on Earth itself. Death is but a (painful) interruption as those killed on the Riverworld are reborn in new bodies and sent back. (and to make everything simple, everyone is reborn with the knowledge of Esperanto :)

The books are as follows

To Your Scattered Bodies Go (1971)
The Fabulous Riverboat (1971)
The Dark Design (1977)
The Magic Labyrinth (1980)
Gods of Riverworld (1983)


SyFy Channel did two adaptations on the Riverworld but at best they were only lip-service to the concepts of the original book. For example, the main hero of the first book is turned into a rather nasty villain in the TV adaptation. I highly recommend the books however.

Good read. Intelligent thoughts and thoughtful suggestions. Thanks!

01/02/2011 10:26 AMPosted by Hazekiller

Enemies could use this against you by deliberately taking the head of your fallen comrades. It makes for interesting roleplay.

I actually saw this done once. A blood elf hunter was assassinated, and they took her head to keep her from being raised. I can live with raising people from the dead if it is done quickly and their body is more or less whole.

Oh my! What excellent additions! I shall have to address you all individually.

@Slaye: That's a great point to consider! A character that does not trust healers or perhaps is untrusting of other characters in general may be unlikely to seek healing for minor wounds. Surely such a character would end up more grizzled than others over such a long period of time.

@Gyll: Excellent points there, I particularly like the idea that Blood Elves, and to a lesser degree other stereotypically vain races, are preferentially skilled in the art of hiding scars. I may have to steal that idea at some point >.>

@Pdoink: Great ideas there. I love the Wheel of Time actually, and I can't believe I forgot about that detail. The idea that healing takes strength from the patient as well as the healer is a great one. A particularly wounded patient may not have the strength to fight, despite the skill of the healer. I also loved your "benevolent deity" reference. I giggled. Does a Night Elf priestess annoy Elune by constantly begging her attention? It's an amusing thought.

@Tessele: Have you done the newest Forsaken quests since the Shattering? The priest trainer explains in poetry:
A Forsaken priest is a curious beast, her path an unusual course.
Her shadowy rites cannot come from the Light, so she seeks a more sinister source.
I think the idea is that her power indeed comes from her own will, but that's just my interpretation.

@Hazekiller: I find your idea of the link between emotional scarring and physical scarring to be very interesting. I'm going to keep thinking about that ><

@Teriel: I agree with you, I imagine the "green" healing of druids and shaman to be speeding up the natural processes of the body. As for the "gold" healing of priests and paladins, well I suppose that depends of the race as has been discussed above. Tiponi Darkmane's healing power comes from "The Light of An'she" which she interprets as coming indirectly from the Earthmother, but could really be coming from the traditional "Light"

@Damiskus: Turning back time to heal wounds is an interesting idea, but I think I would be loathe to use it myself. It could just cause so many problems and be overpowered in its own right. Time-travel is a dangerous mechanic and is difficult to do properly. I do like your reference to the old D&D spellcasting system. That brings back memories! Perhaps your character can only cast Healing Wave once per day. Again this relies very heavily on game mechanics, but some prefer it that way. My concern was that even only being able to cast a rez once a day, is still a bit much in the scheme of things.

@Nightmane: I very much like your thought on tying the spirit in with the healing process. I think this would work very well with spiritually minded characters like the Tauren. Perhaps you cannot resurrect my character because she in finally in the arms of the Earthmother and at peace. She does not wish to return.


Thank you all for the amazing input. You have helped me further define my own ideas of death and healing and I hope my post has helped you as well :)
Tiponi Darkmane x

01/02/2011 1:25 PMPosted by Teriel

I would imagine that healing in the druid or shaman manner would leave scars. In essence it is speeding up the biological process. How else would nature heal?

By acting like a salve or plant based medicine...

There's very strong plant connotations to druid healing. No animal body connotations that I can see.