Specific RP Guide

[OrkarIsber]

Race specific roleplaying:

Before i start you should know, that ALL races of WoW are based upon real life cultures. Tauren have very much in common with the indogenous north american people like the Cherokee and in all cases where WoW lore doesnt explain stuff, its totally ok to take from sources belonging to the reflecting culture to fill holes in the plot. So a short list of which race reflects which culture:

Human - the medieval european cultures. Kings and Queens, noble houses, the idealised knights, the church of light (christianity). Humans resemble the medieval kingdoms of europe.
Dwarf - dwarfs are based on biased "mountainfolk" like the scotts / celts in medieval or antique times tough they use rifles. So they are used to clans but have a "high king" to rule several clans, they drink a lot and are fun.
Gnomes - reflect the "nerds" of today - very scientific people, highly educated in technical lore, shun religion, very logical beings, futuristic.
Nightelf - amazon culture (greek) Nature is important, but temples and buildings of stone are made. Nature is protected, men are viewed as inferior, matriarchal society.
Draenei - sort of jews. They are guided by the god of light, have to flee each place, were often hunted but are indeed very caring people.

Orc - the ancient germanic tribes, very close to nature, always struggle to survive, warlike, all about honor and strength, no place for weakness. Savage but quick to learn and very adaptable.
Tauren - native north american tribes. All about individual development, nature, spirits and harmony as well as peace but ready to defend what they love with fierce warfare.
Troll - various south american cultures and island people. Like the Maya etc. "human" sacrifice is known and accepted to calm the gods but they are a highly evolved culture.
Undead - Gothic culture (not time, the modern subculture) revere everything that has to do with darkness, death and pain. May range from brutal sadists to very depressive masochists or "dont care at all" type.
Bloodelf - the barock / romantic epoch. Highly educated society, wealthy, arrogant, all about nobility, fashion - maybe resembles late medieval france or italy.

Orcs:

Orcs may be the most alien race for us modern people as the people they are based on are far away in time and the world since then changed a LOT. So really getting into the orcish mind may be difficult for a beginner in roleplay, as orcs dont know many concepts we adapted so readily like good and evil, enemy and friend, mine and yours. The idea of property was very different to them as was hierarchy and all other stuff we take for granted. On the other hand they lived some concepts that are extremely alien and likely disturbing to us, like selfmutilation, bloodsacrifice and a strict code of honor, were honor was worth far more then life. So i take my time to explain the orcs with a lot of details as orcs maybe the most customizable race there is and orcs have the biggest backgroundstory of all races, as they were in the very first Warcraft game and many books were written about orcish characters.
Also remember that this guide is written from an orcish view for orcish players. EACH race in WoW has advantages and drawbacks in roleplay, each has some serious strengths for playing it and each race can be a lot of fun to play, tough some races better suit a character then others. If you want to play a viking like noble savage, orcs may fit much better then gnomes and if you want to play a noble of high education, a bloodelf will be a far better choice then a troll. Just for information - yes the "real" vikings resemble the orcs well in many ways to people often have a completly wrong picture in their head regarding to orcs and vikings alike - did you know that vikings were the cleanliest people of their time? The best educated? That women had no where else as much rights? that vikings valued knowledge over stength? And the most shocking - being drunk was considered a huge humiliation and mead on average had just 1 - 2% alcohol in it? And that meat was considered bad food and they valued cheese as very good food? And maybe the most surprising - that a "vikingr" one who plundered was a criminal and most "vikings" were actually armed farmers, fishers and merchants? And like that, the picture of orcs usually has completly nothing to do with how orcs really are portrayed in lore so lets start:

General stuff:

First of all, drop all biases. "The" Orc is non existant at all. Orcs vary a lot not only from faction to faction but also from clan to clan and individual to individual. What one clan may be all about, another clan may simple not care at all for. So realise, that orcs are very different. First of all there are many FACTIONS of orcs - the typical player orc is an orc of the "New Horde" faction, serving under Thrall and stands for peace and harmony with nature and the elements, wants to live in peace and follow its ways of living without interference. But there is also the "True Horde" (aka Dark Horde) faction under command of Rend Blackhand, which unites various orcish clans, forrest trolls and Ogers for whom the second war has never ended and who still fight the humans with fervor and wont stop until they conquered all human nations. They are very warlike.
And there is the "Felhorde" faction which unites various felorc clans who serve the burning legion without question and have the only goal of conquering land and enslave other races.
But thats not enough, there are also those orcs who serve Illidan in outland and try to crush the legion and rebuild the orcish way of life on draenor, under command of Zuluhead the Whacked from dragonmaw clan.
And of course, there still is the shadowcouncilfaction lead by the stormreaver clan who try to rebuild the horde as it was in the first war.
You think thats it? Wrong. There is also the cultist faction of orcs, who worship and follow Nerzhul (so to speak, still) and want to be raised as deathknights serving the one true orcleader in eternity, crushing the legion for what they have done to their people.
And finally, we have the burning blade faction, which is sort of "felhorde light" they are willing to serve the legion but only in exchange for power, payed soldiers so to say and they wont fall for demonblood like the felhode (which also includes the twisted bloodelf guys) And to add spice, all these factions are at war with each other, each one claiming to be the one real horde and the others are either powerhungry honorless fools, bloodthristy barbarians, cowardly weaklings, traitors, slaves or something like that, depending on where you stand. Thralls new horde is often seen as a bunch of sissys who are weak and cowardly and the humans dogs, while a new Horde orc may view the felhode in exactly the same way with demons.
Oh i forgot the Maghar, who are basicly another faction of orcs, who preserved the "ancient" orcish ways, tough over time they allied with thralls new horde.

So you see, there are many sorts of "orc" - and we didnt even talk about clans! While the average player will most likely be a frostwolf or warsong orc, its totally possible that he comes from any clan, and since orc clans raise and fall very often you can even create your very own clan your character comes from, and you can create clanspecific behaviour, worldviews, honorcodes, quirks and stuff. No other race grants that much freedom in charactercreation. Still you should keep in mind, that all orcs share some stuff and im not talking about tusks. While the "demonic taint" is only unknown to the maghar, the various clans have very different ways of dealing with it and while all orcs are all about honor, the view of what is honorable may be very different from one clan to the other. Remember - maghar are a FACTION not a clan - they were made up by sick orcs of ALL clans who were infected with the red pox. So in theory each clan can be present in the maghar if you want to play an uncorrupted orc. But be ready to explain your greenish skincolor then

Names:

Orcish names consist of 2 parts - a first name, and a last name. The first name is given at birth to the liking of the parents, the last name is EARNED later in life. While orcs may share their firstname, the lastname is UNIQUE and always only worn by one single orc at a time. If a lastname passes on, the former wielder must be dead. The lastname does not require any blood relation between former and current wielder like it was with Garrosh Hellscream who was named after his fathers great deeds, Grommash Hellscream but can be with 2 completly unrelated Orcs as well as with "Slagfury" where the wielder of that powerfull weapon took its name as hist last name and the wielders often were not related to each other but rather killed each other.
A lastname can be granted by either possession of a great artifact (slagfury, doomhammer) or by a great deed done (wolfmane, destroyer) or by a physical feat (deadeye, metallfist) or a special behaviour (spinebreaker, blooddrinker). usually a last name is earned and given in a great ceremony so all know the name. While some orcs keep both names (Rend Blackhand, Killrog Deadeye, Neeru Fireblade, Orgrim Doomhammer etc.) its common to powerfull orcs, to drop their firstname and are only to be known with their lastname (Nerzhul, Ghuldan, Jubeithos, Drekthar...) As human example, great conquerors of mankind are often only known with their first or lastname - julius cesar was actually named Caius and Julius was his familyname. (and Cesar a title meaning "emperor")
An exception is Thrall, as Thrall is a HUMAN name given to him and simply means "Slave". Thralls real firstname is Goel and his lastname would likely be Doomhammer (as he inherited weapon, armor and warchief rank from Orgrim, besides Orgrim taught him a lot about orcs), but for unknown reasons he stayed with Thrall.
For Orcs its rather difficult to keep track of ancestry lines as the children usually bear completly different lastnames then their parents and 2 orcs with the same lastname may not be related at all. Just to add, marriage does not change the lastname, each partner keeps his earned lastname. Passing on a lastname to the next generation (if not an artifact) is often seen as an insult and humiliation as it, like in Garroshs case, simply means that the child did not do any great deeds and is simply overshadowed by his parent.

Genderroles:

In orchish society, genderroles are non existant. The same is expceted from both genders and both genders can achieve the same and there is respect to both. A male warrior would never question or doubt a female commander or treat her in any other way then a male commander. On the other hand, women do not expect any special treatment and may be offended and feel insulted if treated "nicely" or "carying". Indeed, an understanding warm hearted man who cares for her emotions may be outright disgusting to her and a man helping her carying may make her to force a duell for the insult. While no female warchief has existed so far (actually there only have been 3 so far anyway) its totally possible for a female orc to become warchief or anything else. (Like the leader of the maghar and sort of their warchief is greatmother Geyah)
Both genders are expected to hunt, to fight, to care for children, show responsibility, hunt for honor and so on. Women are comrades and partners in every aspect and while physical differences are obvious, both genders are treated the same way, have the same rights and duties. A macho flirting to an orcish woman with disrespect may very likely get his arm broken or his balls crunched. While a male with too much respect may simply be ignored.

Partnership: Sort of a subpoint. Orcs usually take one single partner for their whole life. Cheating is complelty untolerated and would be equal to suicide as the sentence is death. They are highly loyal to each other and usually die fighting side by side, care for each other (but not too much so no one gets soft) and do everything together. before picking a partner tough, many orcs may simply follow their "urges" and have sex with whoever plays along tough unwanted pregnancy automaticly leads to a partnership being formed, as duty demands it.

Lifestyle:

Orcs like it rough. In every aspect. Orcs are all about strength and toughness and in order not to soften up, live a harsh and difficult life on purpose. They SEEK wastelands to live in and feel most comfortable in hostile, barren lands like desserts, icy glaciers, showy mountains or places that are inhabited by extremely dangerous creatures. An ingame message of a female orc to her superior says "We found the perfect land. Water is very scarce and we have to fight for the rare watersupplys with alliance and beasts alike. The dessert is extremely hot and rocky and dragons roam the wild. Who ever gets weak will die in hours and i would not like it any other way."
Therefore, orcs usually shun comfort that is not necessary. While they do sleep in beds, they are usually made of wood and stone and rough leather and their houses are more for storing stuff then actually living inside them.

- Dressing:
They wear what is practical and usefull and dont care about looks. Tough in special female orcs tend to wear "light" sexy armor to attract partners if they have none. On the other hand, also male orcs are known to roam the land in pants, sometimes. But in both cases that may more likely have a religious background of valor, strength and fearlessness rather then a sexual background.

- Food:
Orcs are carnivores. While orcs CAN digest plants, they usually would rather eat dirt. They dont care about taste or cooking skills and prefer their meat either raw or burned. they dont add spices or sauce and prefer "rough" red meat over white meat or fish.

- Racism:
Orcs are not "born" racists but as orc its quite easy to become one. While orcs ususally respect and honor ALL forms of life, they, through experience and preconseption, have often quite racist believes about other races. (like all do) While there are quite some orcs who shun racism and try to unite all races in peace (like Thrall) others are highly racist (like Grommash) Racism is quite a difficult topic as orc, as on the one hand your leaders are for peace and equality between the races, on the other hand you experience a lot of hatred and bias from other races (in special alliance). While your religion tells you to honor all creatures and spirits, regardless of origin, a lot of races simply rape all you believe in and disgrace the spirits.
While you, at one side, feel ashamed for your races past (the enslavement under the burning legion and demonic taint) you, on the other side, cant help but to feel superior. After all, most of the most powerfull creatues in the WoWverse are orc - Nerzhul the Lichking and likely the most powerfull being next to Sargeras: Orc. Guldan the creator of deathknights and the very first warlock who crushed entire worlds: Orc. Broxxigar the very first being in the whole cosmos to ever wound Sargeras: Orc. Thrall the (later) one who killed Deathwing: Orc. Grommash Hellscream, the first being to actually KILL a demigod: Orc. Nekros Skullcrusher, the one who made Alextraza and the whole red dragonflight his slaves: Orc. Zuluhead wo enslaved the Netherdrakes: Orc And not to forget the Legion put a lot of effort into recruiting the Orcs as Sargeras himself was sure, only with help of the orcs could he conquer Azeroth. And would it not have been for the orcs, he would have succeeded. And dont forget the most powerfull rogue ever, Garona Halforcen - as the name suggest, half orc and the other race wasnt worth mentioning, seemingly. And there is the maybe most badass character in Wowverse Rexxar who is, like all Moknathal - half orc (and half oger)
While Orcs usually get well along with Tauren and Trolls, those races may still be too "weak" to count as equals among orcs. And all the other races are inferior anyway with exception of the humans. Humans, as hated as they may be, are respected for their strength in orcish society and may be, next to Tauren and Trolls, the only race Orcs can really respect.
That doesnt mean you could not have friendships with other, or even Alliance races - just because some of your people are racist it doesnt mean you have to be. Indeed you can find honor and strength in any creature if you look for it. Its just harder to find in some beings then in others. And then remember, that orcs grow up and are entertained with tales about great deeds from mighty orcs....what did other races achieve anyway? Also keep in mind that you likely havent heard about Guldan or Nerzhul cause their tales are tales of shame but you may have heard glorified versions of Orgrim Doomhammer who wiped out the shadowcouncil...and while you may have heard tales about Cairne Bloodhoofs great battles against the centaur or Senjins fights against the murlocs, it pales compared to the tale of Broxxigar who singlehandly killed a thousand demons...

Religion:

Orcs are a very faithfull, spiritual, religious people. Very rare and exiled is the orc, who does not honor the spirits of his ancestors or the elements. Outcast is the orc, who does not seek harmony with nature and his surroundings, and mocked is the orc, who doesnt seek wisdom.
For an orc, the spirits are holy, and to be revered. Orcs are animists, that means, for an orc, EVERYTHING has a spirit, a soul. May it be a sentinet being like orc or human, may it be animal, plant, item (sword, armor, spoon) or rock. Each thing in existance has a spirit and demands respect.
Orcs also believe, that the visible "physical" world is bound to and penetrated by the spiritual world. Spirits are very real beings that actually engage in mortal affairs and can be beneficial or malign to living beings. For an orc, death is not the end but a door into another reality, another life. The ancestral spirits may be called for protection, advise or even direct help and they may cause harm to the orc and his people if not respected. Same goes for all other spirits. An orc may kill a deer to eat, but he will honor and thank its spirit.
For orcs, the spirit world is just as real as the physical world and spirits may enter and act in the physical world.
Orcs have a very strong bond to their ancestors and often live like they would still be there (and they are) by speaking with them, giving them pieces of food on a plate and keeping a free place for them in ceremonies etc.
But they also are very connected to the spirits of the elements, as the elements rule all things on the physical world.
Orcs try to live in harmony with their surroundings, never taking more then they need to and thanking those who gave their life for them (including cut trees)
An orc will not lightly take life, but he also wont hold back a single second if he deems int necesarry to take.

- Ritual and ceremony:
Orcs do not have many ceremonies tied to a certain time or date, the only one known is the ceremony at mount oshugun to honor the ancestors. But they do have a lot of ceremonies on demand, like the ceremony of giving name, the ceremony of adulthood, ceremonys for reaching rank and status, marriages, ceremonies for a good hunt, a glorious battle, victory, help from the spirits and so on.
Rituals usually include thanking the spirits and sacrificing food to them but may also include blood sacrifice and selfmutilation. A example, on achieving adulthood and therefore acceptance in the clan, the "bleeding hollow" orcs pluck out one of their eyes and the "shattered hand" orcs crush their passive hand. The "black tooth grin" orcs take a lighter approach and smash out one of their front teeth. While by far not all clans include such practises, they are respected and never laughed at.

- The role of shamans:
Spiritual leaders of any sort (druid, priest) are respected by orcs in general but shamans are truly revered. An orc shaman is already a superstar just because he actually is a shaman. Only a few orcs have the qualities to become shamans in the first place, and even less have the abilities to really reach that goal and even less survive the tests. A shaman is considered an enigma, a very wise and extremely powerfull and may be envyed, revered or even feared. After all they can heal wounds and resurrect dead, change the weather, throw lightning and lava at their foes, talk to spirits, see the future and far away places and are decent and very fierce warriors. Even without his magic an enhancement shaman would be a very dangerous foe and with his magic he equals a demigod.
Shamans are usually welcomed everywhere and while they are not the worldly leaders of the orcs, their advice is never ignored nor are their words taken lightly. Indeed they are often sought by clanchiefs and average people alike and many are ready to take a long and hard jorney just to hear his words of wisdom.
Shamans are healers, guides, friends and parentlike figures, ideals to look up to and to protect with the own life. Shamans lead ceremonies and speak to the spirits on behalf of their community but they are NOT priests who follow dogma. They encourage their people to think on their own, and help them comunicating with the spirits rather then just telling the answer. They do not encourage dogma but rather help in the personal ascension of each individual.

Philosophy:

Orcs usually grow up fast and tend to have a lot of children, so orcish population grows very fast and the duells to death after an insult are sort of birthcontrol as otherwise, orcs would barely find enough ressources to feed all of them. Therefore orcs are quick to kill and used to pain and dont hesitate to take extreme measures, if they see it fitting. They wont see death as something to be taken lightly tough.
Orcish philosophy is pragmatic, survivaloriented and may be quite alien to players. Orcs are ALL ABOUT strength, honor and wisdom.

- Strength:
in every aspect is respected and expected - prowess in combat is much revered as intellect and intelligence. Indeed, strength to an orc does more mean a strong will, an unshakeable soul and a clear mind rather then physical strength and muscles. While of course, physical strength is respected, mental strength is revered. (Thats why shamans are considered much more important than warriors and why the physicly weaker women are treated as equals) So even a warrior will seek wisdom and knowledge and try to learn a lot about the world.
Strength influences the whole way of orcish lifestyle. To stay strong, orcs put their bodies under dangerous and harsh conditions, to gain strength, they complete tests that are often lifethreatening. To become strong they learn and travel, to improve strength, they battle giant beasts and fearsome enemies. They strife to overcome their own fears and weaknesses and want to become stronger with each passing day. As a result, weakness is considered a grave liablity and will not only lead to mockery and loose of honor but will very likely lead to the worst fate for an orc - exile. So even if badly hurt, depressed and stressed no orc will show any signs of pain or tears as long as possible. Indeed not even the partner (wife, husband) may ever see the other cry. Maybe in SPECIAL the partner wont. Weakness is the worst humiliation for an orc and may ecen be a deathsentence. Upon birth, the newbourn child is hold by a shaman over a river and examined. If the child is welcomed by the spirits and looks healthy and strong, its given to the parents who proclaim it as theirs. If the child looks frail or sick or does not have the blessing of the spirits, its drowned. "You should have been drowned" is one of the worst insults known to an orc.

- Honor:
Honor is what orcish society is all about. All orcs, regardless of clan or faction, prize honor over everything else. They strife to bring honor first to their clan, then their faction (horde) and last to themselves (nevertheless any deed done for the clan will also bring personal honor) They value honor more then life. An orc would rather die then loose honor. Killing an orc who lost honor or is about to loose honor is viewed as an act of mercy. Ingame, i was asked what i (in character) would do if my son joined the fel horde. For an orc there is only be one answer - kill him. And the reason would be - LOVE. A loving parent would never let his child loose honor or be a slave, he would rather kill it himself then watching his offspring suffer a loss of honor.
Honor is what rules orcish society in every aspect - personal honor decides which status you have, which military or religious rank you gain, how you are treated by others, which partners you can choose and much more. Honor is the "orcish currency" and a person of honor may indeed be welcomed in any inn and eat and drink as he likes without paying a single copper. A weaponsmith may deem it such an honor that this person wields HIS weapons, that he may craft legendary weapons without charging the hero a single coin.
Hospitality is the greatest honor an orc can bestow upon another - its the reason orcs and tauren became unsewering allies, as the tauren welcomed the orcs, who were complete strangers, in their lands and offered them shelter, guide and food without wanting anything in return. Therefore the orcs are bound by honor and duty to help the tauren as good as they possibly can.
A woman of honor may have difficulties finding a partner, as lesser men would not dare to romance her, she may be so highly respected, that most men would refuse to sleep with her, out of sheer respect of her accomplishments.
What is deemed honorfull is usually very different from clan to clan in detail, but there are quite some general ideals that increase honor in all orcish clans: Prowess in battle, all forms of mental, physical and emotional strength, knowledge, wisdom, travels (seeing the world), slaying fierce enemies and beasts, hunting skills, mastery of proffessions (more then any other: Blacksmithing, followed by leatherworking), mastery of weapons, valor in battle, known tales and skills as bard, victories in tournaments and contests, having a equally or higher "honored" partner, children that have high honor, pupils that reach high honor, showing no signs of fear or pain, hard work, victory over own weaknesses (even a whiny sissy may become respected and honored for overcoming these traits) military tactics, victories and keeping up the moralcode (but that one really may differ a LOT between clans. One clan may think its good to enslave and abuse conquered beings, while others may deem that most unhonorable. One clan may approve of an orc never getting married and conquering many beds, another clan may deem that immature and weak. Once clan may approve of diplomacy and peace treaties, others may deem that a grave weakness and cowardly behaviour and so on)

- Wisdom:
Wisdom is sought by all orcs, regardless of gender, age, profession or class. Being wise is highly valued, tough the ways of accomplishing wisdom are many - some orcs travel a lot, others interact a lot with other species, some try to find wisdom in the art of battle, others commune with spirits, some even study and read books. But all orcs seek to increase their wisdom - after all, when they grow old, wisdom will be the only thing that makes them valuable for the clan and an orc without value to his people is a dead orc - either by being exiled or suicide. Not beeing needed is the worst form of existance for an orc. The Maghar, when they were sick, were treated as being already dead and some orc stated that "they are of no more use and should die quickly" and another that "they are no orcs anymore" and indeed, wisdom was te only thing that made some maghar survive.

- Money:
Orcs have little use for money themselves and prefer to exchange wares instead of accumulating wealth or coins. Orcs only use money to interact with other races. Inside orcish society your currency is honor and duty. If you have high honor, others will simply give you what you want and need freely but in return you are honorbound to repay them in any way, may it be with wares, protection, help or entertainment or any other sort of repaying. Accumulating wealth is not considered honorable and usually no path an orc would follow as ways to earn money often are ways that lead to a loss of honor (greed itself is pretty much a huge blow to ones honor) If you give someone a present and he accepts it, you can expect that he will repay you, but its likely in some way you didnt expect. If the gap in honor is huge, you should not expect any sort of payback in return, as the sheer honor of helping the hero is considered payment enough. Of course, that you are actually deemed worthy to do something for the hero increases your personal honor and is therefore worth more then any form of payment.

- Posessions:
While orcs have sort of an understanding of "yours and mine" its by far less solid then we modern people know it. Orcs dont take things for granted or belonging to only them. Physical things like food, shelter, clothing and all sorts of stuff does not belong to a single orc but all living creatures. Its given by the spirits and belongs to the spirits so all things, including magical powers, are BORROWED and cant be seen as a posession or a right to keep them. You have to give them back anyway and they are meant for being shared.
While Armor and weapons are usually meant for a single person (and crafted to their physical traits for fitting) orcs share usually about everything. Even houses are rather granted by society - they are built together and given to those who need them most, respectively, the elder or families. The clanchief is usually in charge of granting orcs posessions of the clan. Orcs work as clan and not as individuals. An orc builds a house for the clan, not for himself, and if the clan decides he needs it most, he will get it.
Therefore greed, corruption and abuse are usually prevented. Quarrels over posession are often also not present and thievery isnt really a way to accumulate stuff. Often altruistic giving away to others may get you much more "wealth" then egoistic horting of treasures.

- Good and evil:
While its hard to imagine the burning legion as not being evil, if you really want to portrait an orc well, you have to leave behind the concept of good and evil completly. There is no evil creature and there is no good creature. The world is not black and white, it is colorfull and knows a lot of shades. Good and evil are mere "human" names based on personal evolvement but no generally fitting statemants or truths or even laws. A lion that hunts a zebra is evil from view of the zebra. For its children, the lion is good and the lion himself may just not care at all about it as its his nature to do so. Sho who is right? No one and all. Good and evil depend on your involvement but are never general laws or forces. Elemental spirits can be malign and they can be beneficial for the orc and his clan, the very same spirit may be both at the same time. But orcs would never call a being evil. or good. In nature everything is hin harmony and everything has its place. Without death, life would not be possible. Without shadow, light would kill, without night, day would have no meaning. Without fire life could not exist. Without malign forces, beings would become weak and corrupted themselves. Without the burning legion and the scourge, peace between the races would never be achievable. While orcs sure have enemies and beings they hate, they would not term them evil or themselves good. In special orcs know, how fine the line betweed those words is as, by their very nature, they are torn between honor and corruption and it is this struggle, that causes some orcs to fall so deep, but is also the cause why some orcs raise so high. Without challenge, no improvement. Without barriers, no growth. Orcs have a natural understanding of this and as a result, they do not excuse for their actions, never. On the other side, they never want an excuse from someone else. An orc thinks that a being always does, what it, from its viewpoint, at the current moment, the best thing to do. Excusing for something that you think is / thought was right, is a weakness, and therefore never done and never expected. Orcs are not resentful - as shown in the past they have no problems to ally themselves with their former enemies (like with the bloodelfs) if circumstances change.

Society:

As i said orcish society is all about honor gain, and the ammount of honor you have influences almost every aspect in your life as orc - social status, rank, wealth, love, "insurance" in case of illness or getting old, how your kids are treated and so on. Orcish society is on one side quite hierarchical on the other hand quite open. That means, while social rankings do exist, they have (above peon) very little influence in actual interaction with each other. While highlord Saurafang surely earns a lot of respect and is revered, it doesnt mean he would be snobistic or arrogant, indeed he will drink with his men as if he was a mere soldier and his men, while revering him, may still make jokes with him and tease him with his quirks. While Thrall is warchief, he still is very close to his people and loves to stay close to them as friend. Conqueror Krenna may be feared by her men, but they are still bound in friendship with each other. The ranks would be:

Slave: A slave is usually a non orc of any (usually hostile) race, tough orcish slaves are known (orcs who lost their honor as example). Slaves are used as working class who do all the unhonorable but necessary stuff like cleaning, mining, lumberjacking and such stuff. They are deemed unworthy beings and usually wont get any attention besides instructioning them. Orcs of the new horde will NOT abuse slaves as abusing the weak is seen as weakness and therefore results in a lack of honor. Slavery is not forbidden, tough not encouraged at all.

Peon: A peon is little above a slave and always orc. Peons usually do the work if slaves arent avalaiable and if there are slaves, they oversee them and do the slightly more honorfull work (like actual lumberjacking and not sharpening the tools) A peon is considered a "non orc" and a lesser "subrace" - anyone who wasnt able to accumulate honor until adulthood or didnt pass (but survive) the test of adulthood is a peon. Though peonship is not without hope - through work you become stronger, more mature, maybe even wiser. You can serve the clan and with hard work, may earn your status as clansmember. Until then, peons, while rarely treated bad, are often overlooked or ignored and more treated like pets then sentinent beings.

Child: Until the test of adulthood is taken, an orc, no matter his age, is considered a child and as such, has little responsibilites or dutys besides doing what its told and listening to its elders, but also has little rights. Its basicly as with our modern children, just the educational methods may seem quite rough as they are raised with weapontraining, hunting and such stuff and their test do adulthood usually involves hunting down and killing a rather dangerous animal that could kill the child. In days of old, on Draenor, orcish children hunted talbuk, nowadays they hunt boars, scorpions or kodo instead (for the new horde)

"Lower class": The lower class orcs are usually adult orcs, that follow a profession that is not considered honorable and therefore looked down at by society. This includes rogues, warlocks, whores, merchants and the like, though warlocks are viewed as lower then dirt and rogues are only slightly above. While they are tolerated, they are barely ever shown hospitality and usually have a bad standing inside the clan. Thats why some clanlike organisations for those professions formed and take members from all other clans who follow their profession. They are not to be mistaken for criminals. Criminals who do damage the clan are usually enslaved, exiled or killed.

Clansmember: The average tribesmember. Thats most likely, you. Hunters, warriors, fishermen, farmers, tailors, leatherworkers, blacksmiths, innkeepers, bards - you name it. Clansmembers are fully accepted individuals with many rights. They have a right to speak on their own behalf to the chief and may vote on various topics. While the chief formally doesnt have to agree with majority descicions, he usually does. The Clansmembers work for the clan and for their honor and try to have a good orcish life.

"Upper class": The upper class clansmembers are usually elders who became wise with the years, have accumulated a lot of honor or did some heroic feats. They have even more rights then normal clansmembers and are usually taken very seriously with what they say, besides they are often offered special protection and help. Shamans are automaticly treated as upper class members.

Leadership: The leadership usually consists of a chief and a shaman. While the chief holds the worldly power and has the last word on every topic, the leading shaman of the tribe acts as his advisor and it happened quite often, that the chief was more a figur that was controlled by the shaman. Usually a chief is expected tp respect the shamans views and to colaborate with the spirits, but his main interest should always be the clan as a whole and so he is free to decide whatever he wants, no matter what the shamans think of it. The chief is very often a former clansmember who was, through heroic deeds and accumulation of honor, considered "special" and worthy to lead the clan. A chief is in most cases elected by the upper class members or a council of shamans, but some clans are known to pass the title of chief to the one who is able to defeat the present chief in combat. Thats how Rexxar accidently became chief of a clan without ever wanting that position (though to be fair, you have to say it was a clan of ogers who adapted the orcish clansystem in the second war)

Usually this would be the end of the road. But in times of grave danger for the entire race, a clan overlapping structure is born. We know this phenomenon as "Horde"

Inside a horde, military ranks are given (that usually would not be needed) and the clan social standing becomes much less important. While no peon would be accepted as warrior, its possible that a lower class clansmember takes the lead over an upper class member. Chiefs usually stay in charge of their own clans as military generals but serve under approved leaders - highlords. And the "big boss" is known as "warchief" and has the last word on everything and is usually the chieftain of the most powerfull clan.
In times of war, shaman become less important and have to rise in military ranks like everyone else by following orders, showing valor and do heroic deeds in combat. Tough many shaman do never engage in the military system, and stay advisors, healers and scryers, as civilists.

A special note on society are wolves. Wolves are companions of orcs since the oldest days and in all hordes and clans. The wolf is usually considered a fellow warrior, a comrade, not a pet or mount. They are highly respected and orcs take good care of them. They hunt together, fight together and defend each other. The orcs bond with wolfs may be the closest bond the race has with others. For an orc, his wolf companion(s) is / are family

Stuff you should know as orc:

Nerzul: Once, the highest ranked shaman. Was deceived by demons and tricked into mobilising the orcs into slaughtering the Draenei. When he realised his deeds he turned against the legion but it was too late. Was later tortured by demons and made into the Lichking. His newest vessel (posessed body) is that of Arthas Menethil.

Guldan: The one who actually is to blame for the fall of the orcs. He pacted with demons, tricked the orcs into becoming demonic slaves, used the unknowing Blackhand as puppet to lead the orcs into the arms of the legion. Was the very first and most powerfull warlock ever, got killed by Orgrim Doomhammer.

Blackhand the Destroyer: The original warchief of the first horde ever formed. Chief of Blackrock clan, very fierce warrior., who crushed the human kingdoms in the first war and conquered stormwind. Deeper knowledge: ended up being a puppet for Guldan

Orgrim Doomhammer: Singlehandly wiped out most of the shadow council, after learning about their evil schemes and their fault in leading the orcs from the ancient ways of shamanism into the wretched warlock magic. He also killed Blackhand and became the second warchief who fell in battle when freeing captured orcs together with thrall war at Hammerfall by a lance that was rammed in his back.

Thrall (Goel Doomhammer): Well i guess you all pretty much know about thrall. His parents were murdered when he was a little child, he was taken prisoner by humans, raised as gladiator at durnholde, escaped, freed the captured orcs from the second war, learned shamanism from Drekthar and founded the new Horde.

Saurafang the elder: Highlord of the Horde, second in command and pretty much the military leader of the Horde, a fierce warrior and brother to Broxxigar

Broxxigar: timetraveller who fought in the war of the ancient, killed a thousand demons and was the first being in the cosmos that ever wounded Sargeras.

Grommash Hellscream: As chief of the Warsong clan stationed at the dark portal to defend it, was overwhelmed by alliance forces and later befriended and tought Thrall. Became tainted and pacted with the legion but redeemed himself and freed all orcs from their demonic bond to the Pit Lord Mannoroth, when he killed him. Died after the battle from his wounds.

Garona Halforcen: Rogue. She was responsible for killing Medivh who was at that time, posessed by Sargeras.

Oshugun - the holy mountain where the spirits of the ancestors gather.

Words and Phrases:

Aka Magosh = "Be blessed" (A greeting)
Bin mog gtazag cha "I will protect you" - use with care as, adressed to another orc who is able to fight, may be taken as insult
Dabu "i obey"
Daemon "Twisted soul" adressses to all servants of the Legion
Dranosh "Heart of Draenor" - often means mount oshugun
Garmak "Anguish"
Gol Kosh "By my axe!" used to swear an oath. Never said lightly as duty binds you to your word. Orcs usually dont say stuff for lightly at all, as they are bound to stand to their word, but such oath will result in complete loss of honor if broken.
Grommash "Giant heart" - a name
Kagh "Run"
Laktuk "Suffering"
Logosh "Ghostwolf"
Lok Narash "To weapons"
Lok Regar "Ready for orders"
Loktar "Victory" - a greeting used in combat and a warcry
Loktar Ogar "Victory or death" a warcry and oath to fight until victory or death. Never said lightly as retreat is no more option then.
Lokamon - A traditional song used to start to romance a woman
Lok Narad "Legend" - a great hero who will never be forgotten.
Maghar "Uncorrupted" adresses to be few Orcs that were never touched by fel energy and are therefore still brown skinned
Nagrand "Land of Winds"
Moknathal "Sons of Nathal" - Halforc, half ogre
Oshugun "Mountain of Spirits"
Swobu "As you command"
Thromka "Well met" - common greeting
Trkhsk "bloodshed"
Zugzug "okay"

The orcish soul:

One of the most important themes as Orc of the new Horde, or the Illidari and to some extend the Dark Horde, is that of sin and redemption. While the Maghar are completly unaffected by this theme, as they never got tainted, and the Felorcs never accepted redemption, this is a very strong theme for other orcs, in special orcs of the new Horde. For an orc, the worst thing that could ever happen was their enslavement under demons, they lost all their honor, they lost all their freedom, all their value. They lost everything that made them orc and they commited huge sins in their own religion and as result, were left by their ancestors and the elemental spirits. They lost everything they value and were driven, by demonic urges, to do disgusting things. The humiliation of being controlled by urges instead of free will is unbearable to an orc, and after they were freed from their sorry state, most orcs became completly apathic, some commited suicide, some simply denied to eat or drink. They did not want to live anymore and lost all strength.
If you play an orc, you most likely experienced this apathic, lethargic state of complete despair and depression. You did not even have the strength to end your dishonored humiliated life and readily took the humiliation by humans as punishment. Then the light came - an Orc with strength who gave you the most important thing - hope...hope that all you lost could be regained. He showed you, that the elemental spirits and the ancestors are ready to forgive you, that your honor can be restored. There are no words to express what an orc must have felt then. Thrall was more then Jesus to christians, he was much more then their savior, for orcs. Imagine the orcish mind: You lost your honor, your selfcontrol....you dont even deserve death. Some may have thought, that undeath as eternal servant of the scourge would have been a fitting end for them, would in not mean further depravement.
And then this man came and showed you - the spirits have not left you forever. They are still willing to help you. For an orc, this feeling may be the only accepted reason to shed tears and cry. That is so much mercy and honor shown to you, you dont deserve it at all, you should have been tortured to death or forever left alone, exiled to rott, but the spirits, they actually forgive you and you dont deserve it.
The showing of such hospitality can not be put in words, it must have shaken every orcs soul to the deepest core. After receiving such mercy, the heart of an orc just can answer with one thing - unquestioned loyality to death and beyond. Honor and duty bind you forever as you can never repay such honor. All you can do is do your very best and give everything you can without hesitation, in hope that this unpayable debt at least somewhat lifted.
Thrall did much more then saving your life and your soul, he gives you a chance to restore your honor. For an orc, no greater hospitality could be existant and he will do his very best to take the chance.
Try to imagine what this means to an orc. If your eyes get wet and your heart cries when reading this, you got the right feeling, or better said, a little glimpse of what it must feel to an orc.
You were the most depraved, honorless, controlled, weakest being in the universe and the spirits still ar ready to give you a chance you never deserve and tough you can never repay for your crimes, you are forgiven and offered a new chance. This theme of redemption should be present in your orc character. It does not mean that he is crying all time and running around the world kissing every leaf, but it should show in a unquestioned loyality to Thrall and a sense of duty that by far surpasses all mortal capabilities of unterstanding. You would readily give your life, your soul and your honor for Thrall and the Horde. You will do all that is asked from you without hesitation and you will help, thank and sacrifice to the spirits wherever you can. At least if your orc is somewhat religious which he should be.
This redemption after your deepest fall is a great theme to roleplay as it encourages you to give your best at every moment and be as honorable as you possibly could be. Of course, orcs are individuals and everyone will deal differently with this debt, but this theme should really be present in an orc. Barely 5 years have passed since then, so while not being completly fresh and the shock may have lost some impact, it still affects you and likely will until your death.
Grommash Hellscream is more than your superhero - he showed you, that an orc, even while under demonic command and taint, can rise and free himself, shatter the shackles and fight back. From all the orcs in history, Grommash, to you, is the most awesome, the most badass of all.
Respect and honor of heroes is a special topic for an orc, and you will very likely defend the honor of Thrall and Grommash as it was your own. So if someone insults them you likely will raise your axe and fight.
While this mentality may sound limiting, and it sort of is, it also grants a lot of possibilities and great experiences. How much your orc cares about that is up to you tough. There are also those orcs, who would again join the legion for power, the are those Orcs who dont accept this pitty insult of mercy from Thrall and spit on it. There are also those orcs, who cant bear the memory of what their race did and simply forget it, start a new life without the ballast from earlier times. There are those orcs, who are still very young and were born after all that happened. There are the orcs, who feel no obligation to pay back a hospitality that should never have been granted..its up to you to decide.
But whatever descission you make, never forget, that this theme does affect your character in some way. And even if you try to forget everything, in silent hours your heart may mourn and your conscience adress you to do something to pay back...you are an orc after all and if you dont rise to take the chance, you should better be dead. It really should be a huge inner conflict in your character and adds a lot of emotion and debth to this rather tough and cold race.

Bloodelfs:

The Bloodelfs are the most commonly badly played race in WoW RPG. The reasons are many and i will try to make clear, why the most common ways to portray a belf are just "wrong" and unfitting.

Drama & Tragedy:

Belfs are arguably the most dramatic race in WoW. They had it all and they lost it all. And that in just 5 years! Wealth, status, family, friends, long life, no hunger, no thirst...paradise lost.
No matter how old the Belf you play is, these events WILL have had inpact on you, and left severe traumas. Elder Elves usually are even more affected by it, but you will be a scared, traumated soul.
Therefore, Belfs are NOT happy. A happy laughing elf who has a good time is insane and will be taken to the next asylum for treatment. Even a smile on a belfs face should be rare and need some heroic effort to show up. Why?
- You likely lost most of the people you knew just a few years ago. 90% of the High Elven population DIED in the war with the scourge. So chances are high, you are the only survivor of your family and dont have any friends left. Your soul likely is torn between mourning & pain and lust for revenge / anger.
- Belfs age very slowly and can become centuries old. Therefore they are quite traditional and like a steady society - and that was completly shaken. You were forced to deal with a lot of grave events in an extremely short ammount of time. Chances are, you still will need some decades just to realise how much really happened, and even more to learn how to deal with it.
- You are forced to adapt to a new world that you find disgusting, frightening and likely you simply hate. Not only that you have to ally with races that are just kilometers below you, you also have to feed on magical energy and kill former friends to survive, you also lost most of your power, all of your glory, all of your wealth and likely most of your status (in special if you play a noble)

Being Belf is a grim business. They lived very isolated for millenias, which makes the recent changes all the more difficult. Your society is completly shaken - your king died, your prince betrayed you, the nobility is to a high degree simply gone and you are ruled by some guys without royal blood. It could not have gotten any worse.

Its very likely that your Belf evolved some derangements as answer to Trauma. That does not have to be outright insanity, but chances are good, that you are either very depressive and maybe even suicidal, or extremely aggressive, quick to anger and outright cruel and cold hearted. The pain you have inside you is too much to bear or even feel. if you havent lost the ability to feel as protection from the pain, that is.

Oh and dont forget you are addicted to magic energies and have to carefully walk the path between hunger, pain and selfcontrol on the one hand, and pleasure, addiction and insanity on the other. if you fail, you will become a wretched, a sorry being that should be dead as it just lives to eat more mana...This daily and harsh struggle against your own urges and wishes also adds to the grim atmosphere of being a belf.

Society:

Have no illusions. Belfs are NOT nice and fun people. Indeed they are the closest thing to WW2 Dictatorships there is in WoW. The streets are roamed by arcane Guardians, beings without emotions or heart that will, without hesitation, eleminate any threat (political as well!) with the most extreme measures.
As belf, you can NOT openly speak against the nobility or the rulership, mages or farstriders. Freedom of speech is NOT known to belfs. Any oppossition will be crushed, quite literally. If you are against Lorthemars reign, you have to discuss that far away from silvermoon, or you likely will be captured and brainwashed with magic or killed.
Belfs are likely to be fanatic towards either Kaelthas or Lorthemar and wont hesitate to kill each other. So you really got to be carefull what you say and to whom you say it.

In Belf society most power is held my mages. Have no illusions - if you play anything else then a mage, you very likely wield no power at all in belfen society. Magistrates are the ones who are in charge and do everything to keep belfs in line. Violators will be brainwashed or executed.
The Farstriders (Hunters as class) are the only class that hold a little bit of power, but basicly are the mages pawns and soldiers. All other classes are simply rabble, low lives, bums.
While you can argue, that Paladins with their order do hold power, they actually do not and act on command of the mages and farstriders. Besides, belfen Paladins arent viewed as holy, after all they did little more then consume a being of light to gain their powers.

Indeed a free willed belfen rogue will very likely feel much safer and comfortable in Senjin than in Silvermoon.

To add, Belfen Society is feudal patriarchal - meaning, usually the nobles hold all power and can do what they want and women are treated as second class citizens. A noble woman may still hold power over common men, but for people of her own status she is little more then a pet. A common belfen woman is more like cattle, expected to do everything a man asks from her and never to raise her voice or express her oppinion.
While there ARE women in charge, they are rather rare and need to put quite heroic effort into achieving position - besides often being from very noble houses they are often also very well versed mages. Sylvanas Windstrider was from one of the highest noble families in Belfen society.

Genderroles:

While women can in theory learn any profession and, if noble, even achieve some higher position, the belfs are far from equality. Like in medieval europe, women are viewed as second class citizens, something in between a low life and an animal. Roleplaying as a female belf can therefore be quite frustrating, as most of your achievements will simply be portrayed as someone elses while you are treated quite badly and have to do all the dirty work. Unless you play a belfen female noble mage. While still being treated that way from males of your status and higher ups, you still have a lot of people beneath you, who you can command and on whom you can pass on your anger and frustration.
Males have it a lot easier to achieve power and status in Belfen society. But unless they are mages themselves, they likely do not achieve any real power or prestige.

Lifestyle:

Belfs are learned aristocrats. Even the common belfs are highly educated and have very good manners. They love all sort of luxury they can have, from the best possible food, to the most elegant dresses, to the finest bows and the most valuable jewelry.

- Dressing:
Elegant, noble. Just compare to medieval paris or venice. The more expensive and pompous the better. It doesnt matter if you can barely breath or walk in it, as long as it looks good. Belfs usually spend a lot of money on good dressing and rare jewelry. Tailors are NOT revered tough as they are just common workers. Tailoring and Jewelcrafting may tough be a good way to earn a fortune.

- Food:
Belfs love tasty food. Sweets of all sorts, cakes and stuff are as welcome as the finest meals. Decadence as much as possible. A good cook can make some very influential friends.

- Racism:
Basicly a Belfs second nature. Belfs have very high standards and usually only other belfs can reach those. They view every other race - including the quite learned and wise nightelf or the also very skilled human mages - as savage, primitive and uneducated. Millenia of isolation did not make this any better. Chances are you never seen a member of another race before, unless you studied magic in Dalaran with some humans and gnomes. In that case, you may even have befriended some of those wild beasts - pretty much like Paris Hilton would befriend an indogenous african. "oh look i gave him some bread oh is that thing cute? IHHHH it touched me, kill it"
Seriously, getting along with others really isnt a belfs strong point. Never has been, but the recent events even made it worse. You lost almost everything - who could understand your pain? No one, besides other belfs maybe. Who could possibly be a nice person to chat with? A Tauren? ***** please....
Belfs are in a very difficult situation - their former allys betrayed them and the humans racism lead to a lot of dead belfs, the dwarves and gnomes helped the humans instead of them, the nelfs are ancient enemies of old where grudges still linger and...da horde? How deep have we fallen...stinking Tauren and orcs who are dumb as bread...rotting corpses as allys? Oh by the sun...what happened. Oh and i forgot the TROLLS!
TROLLS! We are at war with them since milennia! They EAT us...a troll ate my daughter! - ok while Belfs never have been at war with the Darkspear, they still will have a lot of biases towards them and distrust them a lot.

The Draenei are likely the only race, the belfs have no biases against and are rather neutral towards them. On the other hand, Draenei just showed up. The Draenei on the other hand very likely dislike or even hate the Belfs for enslaving Muru and stealing his powers, besides belfs are very tainted by the fel energys. Remember, that goes for a silvermoon belf. A Kaelthas belf or scryer will think quite differently here.

Undead are a topic in itself. On the one hand, undead are former scourge, the bastard over there may have killed your wife and eaten her corpse. Then again that banshee over there could have been your sister. They are extremely disgusting, but on the other hand they are the only "learned" people in the horde with their mages and alchemists, some may even be former friends from dalaran. Their queen once was a highelf, just as you were and both of you transformed into something new. Since undead lost even more then you, you may feel some sympathy for them. But you could also just outright hate them for what they did as members of the scourge - belfs, unlike orcs, are usually quite resentfull - their quarrel with the nelfs is 10k years old and they still are grumpy with them.

Religion:

Belfs are about as religious as humans. While religion does not affect their daily life and descissions as heavily as it is with orcs or tauren, but they still can be touchy here. Belfs believe in the powers of the sun and the light and worship a male sungod (opposed to the nightelfs worship of the moongodess Elune)
They once revered the light pretty much like humans did, but have recently become much darker and tend to worship arcane power more then the light.

Philosophy:

Belfs value arcane knowledge and power above everything else. Magic is their food, their power, their essence. People who can control this stuff are highly respected. (Fun Fact - the belf Farstriders are the reason why hunters pre Cata used Mana instead of focus) They are often fanatic and grim.

- Money:
while belfs strife for power and influence most, money can sometimes be a tool to gain both. While the search for money is not encouraged, a rich person is respected. After all money buys you all the luxurys in life.

Class Specific:

- Mages:
Mages are THE rulers of belfen society. Even the lowest mage has a lot of belfs under his command and is vastly influential in society. But mages are also extremely arrogant and play with very powerfull magic which, quite often, leads to desaster. Nonetheless they still are quite bold and laugh at magic users of other races who do not dare to approach to magic as they do

- Hunters:
Farstriders are sort of the army, the enforcers and policemen of belfen society and while holding little power on their own, are still respected. But there are also hunters with no affiliation to the Farstriers who, in most cases, are hermits that live in the woods, far away from the walls of silvermoon.

- Deathknights:
You shouldnt enter silvermoon, really. Most belfs will see in you a depraved, corrupted thing that helped destroy silvermoon and defiling the sunwell. You are likely outright hated by most belfs and other members of the horde wont be fond of you either. Chances are your only friends will be other deathknights, if you can drop racial biases.

- Priests:
Priests of the belfs are either humble, holy worshippers if the light who desparetly try to bring the belfs back to the light (and will fail) or they are, like paladins, absorbers of holy energy and therefore sort of mages, thus powerhungry and most likely specialise in shadow.

- Paladins:
A belf paladin is neither holy, nor honorbound. Indeed, they willingly accept the torture and impisonment of a pure being of holy light to drain their powers from it, slowly killing the innocent creature. While they may not be sadistic or "evil" they still are a lot different from human or dwarven paladins.

- Warlocks:
While not treated with respect as true mages, their field of research is still deemed ressourceful and of value. They may just be mages who delved too far into arcane magic tough...

High Elfs:

The other approach. High elfs pretty much offer a lot softer approach to belfs. While still being feudal and patriarchal, High elfs are in all means "softer" then belfs. Helfs also suffer from the losses (maybe even worse as they watch their former friends slipping into the hands of corruption and madness) and also need magical energys to feed on but they still uphold the glory of days past, when elfs had some sense of responsiblity and honor.
Helfs are even much rarer then belfs, so the very few helfs that are still alive are likely people you know to some degree or even spent most of your live with. You will likely be from a faraway outpost that was spared by the scourgeattacks like in the hinterlands or be a lucky survivor.
Helfs are usually former farstriders and therefore hunters. Other classes are in theory possible but should be really rare as a noble would not give up all his power and wealth for an ideal.

Helfs may see each other as brother and sister and while patriarchal thinking still is in their heads, they likely will have a less dramatic approach to it (maybe like in late 19th century in europe)

Helf classes also differentiate a lot. Helf Paladins ARE holy and blessed warriors of honor. They did never consume Murus energys but rather, like human and dwarfen paladins, became sanctified by the light. Same for their priests. Helf Mages are a very difficult matter but possible. They tend to have a very cautious apporach to magic and may therefore never become powerfull. They also do not delve into arcane magic but rather frost or fire who are more natural.

You also dont have to worry that you are recognised on sight. While the WoW game did make optical differences between helfs and belfs (helfs having blue eyes and light skin) in lore, they look alike. So if you dress black and red you may pass as belf, tough sensitive belfs likely will notice, that you dont feed from fel energys.

When playing a helf, there are many things to consider:

- You WILL NOT be tolerated in silvermoon. If any belf finds out that you are a helf, you will very likely have to run for your life.
- You will barely be accepted in the horde as well, as Helfs usually stick to the alliance and are therefore considered an enemy. While belfs would kill you on sight, you can still expect a less hostile, though very distrusting approach from other horde members and you will have to prove yourself
- you need a good explanation why you didnt stay with the alliance and also didnt stay with your people. A often used approach to this is, that Sylvannas Windrunner was once your superior (as helfen Rangergeneral) and you pledged undying allegiance to her. After all, she herself still considers her a helf and may be very welcoming towards you.

Things you should know as helf/belf:

- You were once the noble class of nelfen society, who serverd unter queen azshara and helped defeating her and stoping the invasion of the burning legion - roughly 10k years ago. Since you couldnt give up magic, you were banished from nelfen lands, crossed the ocean under king dathremar sunstrider (who reached 10k years of age) fought the amani forresttrolls, beat them and built silvermoon and eversong.
- without you, humans would still be neandertallike primitive nomads. It was helfs who showed humans how to build structures, how to farm, how to craft weapons and finally, how to use magic.
- it was your race, that helped the humans in the second war and saved their sorry asses from the assoult of the red dragonflight.
- in the third war it was your race, who defended the humans against the scourge until you were almost wiped out while the humans fled. It was you, who still followed the humans to fight scourge and finally you have been betryed and decimated by humans under the racist Garrithos, who tried to hunt down and execute the last helfs there were.
- until 5 years ago you were helfs. The heavy losses your race endured lead to the renaming into bloodelfs and the leave from the alliance. Just recently your race pledged allegiance to the horde but is still not treated as equal, since you, until very recently, have been enemies of the horde.
- in ancient times you were nightelfs and therefore nightactive. Dathremar sunstrider was the first helf to walk the day and your king and religious leader who passed down the lore of the sungod. Your people later became dayactive and slept during the night.

Language:
You speak thalassian which is a dialect of darnassian. While not a completly different language, you still wont understand darnassian (pretty much like an english wouldnt understand a german tough both languages share a lot and have the same roots)

Al diel shala = Safe Travels
Anar alah - By the light
belore = sun
Anaria shola = Speak your business
Anda = father
Anu belore delana = may the sun guide you
Baladash, Malanore = Greetings traveller.
basha no falor talah = Taste the chill of death!
Dalah surfal = My love
Doral anadiel? = How fare you?
Minda = mother
Ronae = peacefull
Selama ashal anore = Justice for our people (Warcry)
Shindo Sindorei = Glory to the bloodelfs
Shorel aran = goodbye
Sinu Amanore = Nice to see you
Vendel o eranu = help ne forget

Kaldorei = "Starborne" - Nightelfs
Queldorei = Highborne - High Elfs
Sindorei = Bloodborne - Bloodelfs

[OrkarIsber]

Class specific:

efore we start this topic, some things must be said and considered in general

1. Class & Race: While all classes have more or less the same abilities per race, they may have a completly different approach to them and specialise in different fields. As example - even tough Elfen, Tauren, Orc and Troll Hunters CAN use rifles, they never would. Dwarfs can use bows but never would. Orc Hunters are supposed to be beastmasters as the orcish connection to animals and nature makes this the most likely way, while trolls would specialice in shooting and elfs in survival. Dwarfs may learn all 3 branches but wont master any of them. While Draenei, Tauren, Orc and Troll shamans all work with the Elements, they use very different ways to actually use their magic. Trolls focus on Loas who control elements while Orcs focus on the elemental spirits and Tauren on ancestors. While Elfen Warriors fight just like Orcish do, their style is extremely different. Orcs are very likely fury oriented while Elfs would be protection. While orcs would wield heavy 2 handed weapons, elfs would prefer elegant weapons like a sabre.
And so on - so remember, that your race may limit or affect your class in various ways you should be aware off. Exceptions are possible but should be properly explained. As example a belf beastmaster is very unlikely...in fact Farstriders arent known to even have pets at all.

2. Gamemechanic vs Lore: Very often both come into conflict. Lore is in most cases the prefered solution as its much more realistic and adds more flavor to the game. As example - a warrior may be able to charge 20 meters into the air and hit a Mage standing atop of a church while the warrior was on the ground but in Lore, Warriors are bound to the laws of phsics and cant simply charge up a building or tree (or through a wall - wood may be ok but stone - no)
If some feat sounds very unrealistic and does not appear in lore, it wont work in RPGs. On the other side, there are things possible in Lore that dont appear in the Game. As example, druids in Lore, who draw their power from the emerald dream, can shapeshift in ANY creature or plant that is natural in Azeroth. So they can shapeshift in a rat, a fish, a Kodo, a Lichbloom etc. but not into an Elek or Terrokartree as those creatures are foreign to Azeroth and dont appear in the emerald dream. Usually, where magic is not at work, the laws of physics appeal. So you cant jump down a high building without injury and falling into water from 100 meters may still result in death or severe injuries.

3. Possibilities & Limitations:
If you choose a class, keep in mind, that classes are NOT balanced RPG wise. Shamans and Mages can in theory pull off any trick you can imagine, while warriors, rogues or hunters are completly bound to real world physics as they dont posess any magic ability, while casters have much more freedom. But before you react, consider that magic is limited to actual ability of the caster. While a shaman may in theory raise a vulcano out of nowhere, that only happened once in lore and was done by a warlock. While a shaman could in theory, create a lake or turn a desert into a lush agrden or errect mountains, that will never happen. A shaman is bound to the philosophy of only asking for barest needs and he has to convince the spirits to aid him - while surely spirits will aid him in finding water for survival, they wont just errect a mountain cause the shaman wants to have a nice view.
While druids, in theory, could make the Trees move aside, they would never cause such a disharmony in the balance of nature. While mages, in theory, could cause a Tsunami to wash away coastal cities, the mana and mastery level needed for that surpasses all possible feats of a mortal.
Minor miracles are, depending on situation, acceptable as rainfall in the desert if the shaman is dying of thirst for example.
A priest is also limited - a priest can EITHER use healing, cleansing and supportive spells (buffs) OR cast damaging spells, curses and poisons - depending on the god he serves. HE CAN NOT HAVE BOTH. So a shadowpriest is unable to heal and a holy priest is unable to cause magical damage (but he may fight with a weapon)
Paladins are much more versatile as they are basicly fully trained priests who later learned how to fight. So a paladin may actually learn shadowspells instead of healing spells, bringing him closer to being a deathknight.
Then again, shadowmagic is more used for trollpriests and forsaken as human, draenei and elf priests use the power of the holy light.

4. Of classes and prestigeclasses:
In RPG version of WoW there are a lot of "prestigeclasses" avalaiable for experienced characters that do not exist in the PC game. As example, shamans do not split up in Elemental, Enhancement or Restoration but in the "basic" shaman who uses all 3 branches on a minor level, the farseer who is more of a scryer and divinator - which doesnt work in the PC game at all with serious meleefighting abilities (like enhancement just quite a bit stronger as he can see invisible and stealthed enemies and stun them with earthquakes and having a pet or even more) a battleshaman who is basicly enhancement?? - just an awesome melee fighter or a spiritwalker who is basicly everything he wants to be as he can let any spirit of any ancestor take control over his body, so the spiritwalker may call upon a great warrior and suddenly use highest level warriorskills or call upon a hunter spirit and use a bow with greatest skill etc. and also posesses sort of a damagereduction vs physicval damage as he can partially step into the spiritworld, makins his body etheral and therefore resistant or even immune to poison, illness and physical damage. Magical damage will apply normally tough.

How to roleplay a shaman

First, get in contact with your races connection to shamanism.

Tauren were the original and first users of shamanism on Azeroth and their shamanistic culture dates back tenthousands of years. They have a deep inherited connection to the land and the elements just from being Tauren, so becoming a shaman is relatively easy for them, if they are chosen by the elements. They have hundreds of shamanistic ancestors who they can call for advise, help and lecture. The typical "prestigeclass" for Tauren is the spiritwalker, one who lives more in the world of spirits than in the realm of mortals. They usually have white fur (it turns white by the burden of a dozen lives) and are eerily wise - after all spiritwalkers carry the wisdom and pain of many lives with them, as many as they can handle without breaking. The Tauren shaman is more feared then revered and his presence causes quite some uneasyness within other Tauren, after all he is many and a direct link to the dead who guide him. The Tauren shaman specialises in the calling of ancestors for help, using their power as his own rather then actually working with the raw elements. A tauren spiritwalker may invoke the spirit of a mighty warrior and suddenly have extreme skill with many weapons or call upon a hunter and have an incredible aim with the bow. He may also call upon a leatherworker and craft legendary armor. While the spiritwalker IS able to commune with the elemental spirits and has some power over the elements, they are quite minor as his focus lies elsewhere. So the Elemental or Enhancement path dont really suit a Tauren shaman, wo would rather be restoration or a mix of all 3, never achieving mastery in any. The Taurenskilltree doesnt exist ingame sadly, but can be made up. The Spiritwalker posesses most wisdom of all shamans, as he can acess the knowledge of many lives and is very calm, as death is not unknown to him. He is also able to sort of shift into the spirit realm, making his body etheral and therefore he can, like a ghost, slip through walls and is immune to physical damage, poisons and illnesses.
While the Spiritwalker is loyal to his tribe and works on behalf of the community, he is often a hermit who lives more among the spirits then between his people - and they appreciate that.

Trolls learned shamanism very recently. The troll shamans have at best 5 years of experience in shamanism as the trolls learned shamanism from the orcs and didnt know shamanism before that. But the trolls knew something similiar - voodoo. Most troll shamans are former witchdoctors who didnt really drop their voodoo magic to learn shamanism, but rather mixed those 2. A troll shaman knows and uses the Loas, the trolls animal spirit gods / guides and comuning with them isnt new to him. He may also stick to voodoo rituals and darker paths, and simply adds the elemental spirits to his Loas or may even see them as Loas. The troll path of shamanism is sort of a mix between Voodoo magic and shamanism. Therefore, troll shamans are usually enhancement or restoration with little or no acess to the elemental powers (like chain lightning or lava burst)
But trolls may, similiar to warlocks, use curses and illnesses on their enemies.

Orcs were the original and first user of shamanism on Draenor and like the tauren, their shamanistic heritage dates back tenthousands of years. Orcs have a natural affinity to the elements themselves, and while orcs honor their ancestors, their connection to them is not nearly as close as the connections that Tauren shamans share with their ancestors. The spiritwalker path is not for orcs and while orcs can call on their ancestors for guide and advise, they often prefer to learn directly from the elements. Orc shamans have the closest connection to the elemental spirits themselves. Orc shamans are therefore elemental or enhancement, but not restoration. Orcs know a lot of elemental spirits by name and have close friendships with them, taking the matters of the elements as important as those of their own people. They are the mediators between the elements themselves and ask for help for their own people some times and the elements gladly grant the help as a shamans work, for the elements, is very important.
The orcish prestige classes of shamans are the farseers and the battleshamans.
The farseers are sort of elemental shamans with scrying and divination skills - they can see the future and very distant places, they can see the spirits and other things, normal mortals cant see at all. They use very powerfull elemental forces combined with decent fighting skills and guidance from the spirits - as example, Drekthar and Thrall are farseers who can cause earthquakes that lay waste to cities, summon lava and lightning while fighting with fury (Drekhtar with dualwielding) AND they have pets (wolves - no not spirit wolves, real living ones) While farseers are actually more concerned with non military matters, they are still very powerfull enemies in combat. Farseers are the more common orcish class.
And then there are the battleshamans, who call upon the elements to enhance their combat abilites. Battleshamans are rare and related to the enhancement tree though that one is a joke for a true battleshaman. Battleshamans as example use the windelement to enhance their movement speed to incredible limits (300% speed in warcraft, which is faster then epic flying mounts) or guide their thrown weapons directly at the critical spots and even use the wind to fly for short distances. The power of water allows them to heal wounds the moment they are appearing and allows them to deepreeze enemies in the place, while the earthelement grants them stonelike skin (which should be equal to plate armour) and resistance (cant be stunned nor knocked down) and the power of fire grants their weapons 100% armorpenetration (they count as firedamage instead of physical) as well as inflicting damage to attackers. Battleshamans are real melee powerhouses and werent implemented as they would completly destroy balance - while a farseer is not meant to surpass a warrior in melee, a battleshaman is supposed to be the by far strongest melee class, at the cost of ranged attacks and no healing abilites besides for himself. Battleshamans were always very rare among the orcs tough, as most orcish shamans become farseers - believe it or not, orcs were originally a very peacefull people and therefore the need for battleshamans was almost non existant.

That said, depending on your choice, it should already be clear on how to play your shaman - not all shamans are very wise, tough they are supposed to be intelligent and cunning. Not all shamans talk to the same spirits - indeed its much more likely that a shaman has a natural affinity on one element and stays with that rather then evolving the powers of all elements.
A shaman usually is calm and peacefull but doesnt have to be and so on.

[OrkarIsber]

could a mod rename this to race guide? Thx =)

[kolex333]

Nice Guide,yeah blood elves blood knights are not same paladins as humans or dwarfs and they used to drain power of naru muru to use paladin powers but after sunwell was re-build some of them change thier ways and start worship light...
One of them is my paladin he is good guy who like to help other,he is not racist,but can be badass sometime