When it comes to roleplaying deathknights are arguably the hardest class to play well. Why? Because deathknights face a hell lot of unique problems which i will list here to adress them:
1. Generation:
There are 3 - 4 canon Generations of deathknights.
The first generation was created by Guldahn by merging the souls of dead orcish warlocks into the bodies of fallen Stormwind knights.
This Generation is seen as the weakest as they were basicly still warlocks and didnt know how to fight in melee, didnt wear plate armor but cloth and so on. If you want to play as one of these you ARE a warlock, and an orc in mind in a human body - which makes the game a bit complicated as you cant join the horde as human. Also you would actually wear cloth and avoid melee and game mechanic doesnt give you access to warlock skills though IC you would ofc. have them.
And since all that happened in the second war, you will be comparatively old and have participated in the first war and likely the destruction of the draenei.
These deathknights are indeed evil as they gave themselves willingly to demons in their lust for power and accepted undeath readily. Teron Gorefiend is the best known of this generation.
The second generation of deathknights were all humans that were corrupted over time by the influence of runic weapons - the best known is Arthas Menethil but there were others as well.
These deathknights never really died and are in a state between life and death so technically they are not undead but still living yet they share a lot of - though not all - benefits of undeath.
Their power is bound to their runic weapons that also stores their soul - destroy the weapon and the deathknight is destroyed. take the weapon away and his powers are severly weakened
Playing as a second generation deathknight means you served the Scourge willingly and are likely loyal to it. Why exactly you are is up to you - the scourge is not all about killing and destruction dont forget the Lich King is Nerzhul the greatest enemy of Sargeras and the purpose of the scourge is to ultimately destroy the burning legion so you could have been a paladin viewing this route as necessary evil for the greater good.
But dont get me wrong - while your motives may be noble in the end, the road changes you a lot. You will be cold hearted, cruel and uncaring.
The third generation is what you are by standard of the game. The third generation deathknights were fallen heroes of the third war that were raised by the scourge as death knights.
The third generation DKs are all undead, just like the first, but they were raised by very capable necromancers making this generation officially the strongest of all.
The third generation DKs dont depend as much on runic weapons as the second does (though they enhance their abilities) the way they were raised enhanced their physical abilities - they are stronger, faster and more agile than in life - and have all benefits of undeath like endless endurance, no need to breath, eat, sleep, immunity to illness and (most) poisons etc. while they also have ways to counter the downsides of undeath - rotting away is not a big issue for a DK as hygiene (and likely blood and frost magic) can halt the decay completly. They will still be ery vulnerable to holy powers though ;)
Also the third generation was raised as shock troops - meaning the standards werent too high (but still there)
While the first generation consists only of orcish warlocks and the second only of human paladins, the third generation is open to all races and classes - in theory though the scourge had way more humans and helfs avalaiable for turning into DKs than nelfs, tauren ior even draenei or worgen - those would be really really rare and likely belong to the 4th generation.
Classwise a deathknight was still expected to do his duties - without remorse, conscience, fear or compassion. He had to be a good melee fighter and experienced with weapons.
So the scourge prefered Paladins and warriors over all others and these were most likely to be turned. Spellcasters would preferably become liches and not DKs while others were more usefull as banshees or similiar so your DK most likely was a paladin or warrior in his former life. (Though there can be exceptions just have an explanation ready why you were chosen to become a deathknight if you didnt know how to handle a weapon)
Deathknights that werent strong enough, rebelled or showed weakness like fear or remorse were destroyed - while again it is theoretically possible that you hid your feelings all the way perfectly, its very unlikely.
The third generation also has inbuilt loyality check - they need to inflict pain and suffering to others and need to sustain themselves with other beings life force.
That means, while you dont have the urge to drink, eat or sleep you do have the urge to kill, you need to kill to survive - not killing over some time will cause you terrible unbearable pain and drive you mad and finally end your unlife if you dont kill anything.
Also they went through brainwash and psychological training - it doesnt matter who you WERE in life, you ARE something different now.
Years and even decades of training, bloodshed and brainwash dont go unnoticed and will affect you heavily.
While deathknights of the third generation still do have emotions and as seen in NPCs they are even able to love and be compassionate, the horrors they have seen and suffered will have severe effects. Take a soldier with PTSD. Now square that and multiply it with 100. Thats your deathknight. Deep Depression, outbursts of rage and a focus on violence and agression is pretty normal, add the urge to kill and you are a ticking bomb, and you know it. One reason DKs are usually solitary is that they usually are a danger to their company.
Depending on which race and class you were before, these effects will likely drive you into suicide (Draenei, Tauren, Nightelf) and end your pathetic unlife unless you have a very good explanation ready.
humans, dwarfs, orcs and trolls may be able to bear that better though the former will have quite some faith issues cause of the holy light thing and the latter cause of the ancestor thing - orcs and trolls dislike undead a lot.
gnomes, forsaken, worgen and goblins do have a better standing there as they can more easily see the benefits of being a DK over the problems it causes.
A belf is a topic in itself. A belf in general may not be so opposed to the idea of having gained power and a second chance for eternal life BUT remember that the scourge and indeed the DKs devestated the Helfen society so destroying everything you cared for will leave its marks like you murdered your own family.
The fourth generation consists of deathknights raised after the Lich kings fall - To raise a deathknight a good necromancer is all you need. So while the fourth generation is arguably significantly weaker than the third as they didnt have access to the same ressources and knowledge for raising and not the training, everything is possible here and pretty much any concept can work here, it also doesnt have to have the inbuilt killer instinct.
However they also didnt have the Training which means that its very very unlikely that they posess rune magic (as rune magic is only known to the vrykhul who shared it only with the scourge and its the only magic for that you dont need to have an innate magic ability, besides rune magic is very different from other forms of magic and a puzzle to mages) and would be limited to their former live abilities.
So the fourth generation allows for a lot more variation in personality and character concept, you could indeed have been raised by the ebon blade to carry on your duties beyond death.
Also these deathknights didnt have the scourges rigorous brainwash and training, that allows for far more freedom in your choices.
Undead or Undying?
This issue is kinda important for deeper roleplay. The problem is, according to lore 1st 3rd and 4th generation DKs are undead but the gamemechanic doesnt account for that and treats you (for balance) as if you were living. Ofc Lore > gamemechanic in my oppinion but its not the way all people see it.
So one way to approach this is to state your DK is undying - that means he is basicly still a living being that must breathe, does know fatigue, hunger and thirst but also has access to bodily functions like digestion, procreation, bodytemperature etc.
Also an undying DK is still closer to mortals in terms of personality - they never actually died and awoke undead, they never lost abilities that are important to a lot of living beings like enjoying food, drink, sex and the possibility to have a family etc. so while their runic weapons will corrupt them and leave marks they are closer to their humanity than undead DKs.
Unliving DKs share a lot of benefits of being alive while they dont have access to a lot of benefits of undeath - but they also dont have to worry about decay.
And they got some powerups from their magical state like enhanced combat capabilities, new magical powers and while poison and wounds do still affect them (see Arthas VS Sylvannas) they have a much higher resistance than mortals. They share the sides of both worlds but none of them to full extend. Like they dont rot but age and look quite ugly at some point.
Technically only the second generation DKs are undying but since all it takes is being corrupted by a runic weapon, the actual age and heritage of your DK is pretty much up to you.
If you choose this approach you should be aware that you became a DK willingly and that you posess one of the runic weapons known - while frostmourne is taken a few others are free.
And even though most DKs will be of 3rd Gen i just want to remind you that your character is influenced a lot by the actual generation he represents. 3rd Gen being the most powerfull but also most ****ed up, the fourth being the weakest but granting much more roleplay freedom as you wont have gone through all that "evil stuff" and the second Generation allows for kinda romance, i mean in real life there are people who love abusive, cholceric partners who show how inferior they are and thats kinda what your DK boils down to. Love...sure why not. Romance? No. Very very unlikely
Can there be exceptions?
Ah now it gets interesting. The thing is, becoming a deathknight is ultimately a magical process.
Magic doesnt effect everyone in the same ways and the way of becoming a DK is different as well and if raised, the outcome depends a lot on the skill and will of the necromancer.
So if you were neither raised by Guldhan nor by the Scourge nor corrupted by rune weapons...you could really just be anything.
There are necromancers out there that aint evil, just as there are warlocks that aint evil, and there are mages out there who know just enough about necromancy, and there are beings that can create DKs just as well - i am pretty sure deathwing knows how to, and the Titans ultimately know it as well.
So depending on who raised you for what purpose you really can make up your character.
All deathknights usually keep all of their former personalities (though they may be changed through training and the experience of becoming undead aor corrupted) so in theory you could just be a normal person that was granted power and eternal life.
theoretically just any character concept is possible but prepare for ****storms as most players have quite fixed ideas how a deathknight has to be - and indeed deathknights that are not cold hearted, blunted, cruel killers are a rare exception - yet it is possible. Just have a good explanation ready.
Also it is possible that you have memory loss of what happened during your scourge time - its a bit overused but also would explain why your character wasnt affected too much - yet the very power gained and being undead is indeed something that will affect you anyway ;)
Besides memory loss also means ability loss. if you forgot how to use runes you cant use them.
Powers of a deathknight:
What a deathknight can do is indeed a roleplaying issue.
You gotta remember what deathknights are - they are melee powerhouses aided by rune magic enhanced with unnatural strength...and all the abilities and knowledges of their living days.
A deathknight (except undying) is physically superior to the living - he is stronger, faster and more agile, he has unlimited endurance, doesnt need to eat, drink or sleep, has a way higher pain tolerance and his body can take a hell lot more of a beating - anything that doesnt destroy his brain will be survived while a living being can bleed to death - no problem for a DK or die from various injuries to organs. Also severed sinews of muscles wont stop a DK from using the wounded body part - even skeletons can fight after all. So damaging and incapacitating a UNDEAD DK is very hard and very significantly harder than doing so with a mortal (or undying)
So taking down a DK is really hard just for their physical abilties but there is also psychological advantages:
As being undead and the training of the 3rd gen. DKs are immune to fear or charming effects, and most psychological tricks wont work on them. As they dont care much for the living taking hostages wont help you either.
And of course you should not forget that you were someone BEFORE you became a deathknight and the abilities of your former live are (for the most part) still at your disposal.
While neither nature nor the light will respond to a deathknight anymore (so priests, paladins and druids and shamans loose their powers) a death knight can totally be able to access magic like a mage does or summon demons and wield fel magic like a warlock or be a sneaky backstabber like a rogue. While most deathknights will have come from warriors and paladins not all did. And those who were warriors are really fearsome melees aided with the whole DK enhancements and rune magic - a DK is not simply a DK he is a warrior / warlock / mage / rogue / hunter AND a DK. Multiclassing.
But wait there is more:
- DKs are the only ones who can wear saronite armor without becoming an old gods slave or corrupted. Saronite armor in lore is almost indestructible and able to repell magic attacks. So saronite armor makes you pretty much invincible
- DKs do have access to rune magic - a form of magic that is as complex as shamanic or arcane magic, meaning, if you know the runes for a spell you can use it. So a DK is not limited to his ingame abilities he could indeed hurl fireballs or levitate if you have reason to know the runes needed for that. Lorewise runemagic can do the same that shamanic magic can do, even healing (without blood)
- DKs did have access to scourge teachers (3rd Gen) meaning you could arguably be a mediocre necromancer, cryomancer, bloodmage...while it will not have been the focus of your training it is possible that you learned that stuff to some extent.
- Age & Experience: Depending on how your DK was created he can already be a hundred years old and have a hell lot of experience and knowledge
So are DKs inbalanced? Yes. They are supposed to be after all they are not normal people like a cityguard they are elite troops enhanced by magic.
But then again if you go for lore rather than gamemechanics, warlocks can destroy whole worlds and shamans can change the landscape completly turning desserts into jungle and stormwind into a nice underwater funpark and mages are also just limited by imagination.
It boils down to how you play. Keep in mind, a fun roleplay is fun for everyone and most players dont like being pwned over and over again and people dont play with egoistic powergamers that make them feel bad.
While in theory a deathknight is supposed to be superior to just any warrior, rogue and hunter and with his saronite armor will be pretty much unstoppable for casters as well, a deathknight doesnt have to show off. And he doesnt have to wear saronite armor.
And of course he is very vulnerable to holy magic which makes paladins more than equal opponents for DKs. Indeed a Paladin can totally own a DK as Light really hurts you badly, saronite armor or not. While the paladin will be inferior in melee he is likely to win. You still stand a chance though but the advantages are with the paladin.
A priest may also be quite successfull dealing with you at least to some extend.
But in general yes DKs are very strong and one DK should be able to easily dispatch 10 cityguards on his own. Yet - why should he do that?
Purpose of a DK:
Ah now it gets interesting.
Actually it depends a lot on your choices so far.
Does your DK suffer from what he is? If so, why doesnt he just kill himself? Why do you continue to "unlive" on?
That is of course a very personal decicion - the standard answer is "to defeat the scourge once and for all"
Ok that is an approach, the purpose of revenge on the scourge, but that will bind you to northend and a few areas where scourge activities remain. So you will need a very good reason to travel elsewhere.
You could also pledge yourself to undo the destruction that you have caused before you go to rest, so you could say help repairing villages and farms though its very questionable that anyone would actually want your help. Just cause the leader(s) said to accept DKs from the Ebon Blade doesnt mean all take it to the heart and does for sure not mean they like or trust you.
Depending on your race they will even be outright hostile towards you making approaching such villages pretty much impossible.
You could of course try to serve the greater good with your new powers, something former paladins and orcs would most likely do.
There is a threat? You fight it. Scourge, Burning Legion, Crazy Cultists - you try to save lives by killing those threatening them and serve your people by eleminating threads for them.
Patriotism is a difficult point - on the one hand, diving into the alliance - horde conflict is a great idea for a deathknight as he can easily sate his hunger for killing and in a way that is socially acceptable and become a hero...yet its questionable how much you still care for your faction or race. they surely dont care about you.
By becoming a deathknight you joined a new faction, the Ebon Blade and that is neutral and consicting of all races. That is your family, your people, your faction now. What has been before is pretty unimportant.
You could also just turn evil (if you werent already) and serve as antagonist in the RP. After all power corrupts, and hell, do you have lots of it.
You could also be evil but hide it. Undermining the living from within and actually serving the scourge as kind of underground agent.
Another approach would be to be a sole wanderer trying to avoid others and be the occasional "random wilderness encounter" that is a wise depressive hero or something yet that ofc wont make for lots of RP.
You could also pledge yourself to a new master - maybe the titans pantheon (or the legion^^) and act accordingly.
Or act as diplomat for the Ebon Blade as kind of ambassador - showing people and proving the world that being a DK doesnt mean you are a heartless monster and try to carve out a place for DKs in the world. Tolerance, Peace and equal rights for deathknights! Dont judge us just because we have different skin color and like to be intimate with animated corpses :D
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Roleplaying a deathknight
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Psychological stuff:
You are not a mindless ghoul! Deathknights kept their abilities, knowledges and personalities from their previous lives however, they were altered by your negative experiences (which usually happens its called Trauma)
As already said, by far most deathknights will have suffered multiple severe Trauma and that does change a person.
The Problem when creating a deathknight is, that you dont just start with a character.
You have a character that already underwent a hell lot of personal development and very unpleasing such (ignoring 1st and 4th gen)
You were likely turned into the opposite of what you once have been and destroyed that you held dear, you will have lost everything and you will have in addition to that, lost all hope because you can NEVER regain what you have lost.
You achieved the opposite of your goals and anihilated your dreams, likely even killed your loved ones.
Or you become a death knight on free will like Riverdane - but that you would likely be loyal to the scourge and have been quite sinister before.
In addition you will have slaughtered hundreds of people, not only combatants but also civilists, you cut down people where they stood no matter if the one you killed with lust was a veteran saisoned warrior or a 5 year old girl.
You will have commited heinous crimes and dastadly deeds. Now you have to deal with that.
And then of course, for 3rd Gen DKs you will have had special training by the scourge. You will have tortured people to a slow and gruesome death and enjoyed it, you learned how to animate corpses, spread disease, use blood of others, summon unholy beings and taint the land, corrupt the people.
You will have had years of training that beat compassion, fear, care and love out of you and aided your negative emotions - hate, rage, fury, bloodlust to become strong.
Whenever you showed a slight sign of remorse you were severly punished, whenever you showed fury and enjoyment in killing and torturing you were rewarded. That sticks.
And of course you will have witnessed the most gruesome acts on a daily bases.
You see living beings as nourishment and raw materials for cool stuff. Humanoid beings are not more to you than cows and pigs are to mortals. they are at best cattle, more likely mortals are vermin for you.
After all their flesh does make food for your ghouls and their bones are usefull for crafting and their skin can be used as leather or parchment.
The death of a human is not more to you than the death of a fly or spider is to a human.
You dont care for the living more than the living care for grass and bushes. (and no you are not a druid)
Maybe you can get yourself to view the living as beings worth studying, like labrats or more sinister like a necromancer would view them.
Maybe, if you are very compassionate, you see in them potential slaves and pets, but then again a ghoul does always obey every command and do your bidding, and of course wont die after a short lifespan but humans also keep cats so why not have your human (or elf, or orc etc.) pet.
But by no means are those weak squishy breathers equal.
You are superior - you are immortal, powerfull, and so high above those mortal needs and fears.
You are not ruled by emotions like the mortals are and can adhear to pure intellect. You are not restrained by pathetic remorse or restricting honor, fear doesnt bother you and conscience is such a hinderance to the living.
You may dislike what you have become and stick to a rigid philosophy in order not to turn evil or depressive but at the heart you know...you are something better than them. Power feels so good, and after all, can something that feels so good be bad?
The corruption in the third and second generation is there and will have effects on even the holiest of paladins. It doesnt mean you turn into an autistic psychopathic sociopath but there are influences and tendencies that you can not simply ignore.
Also if you made the quests in northend you may know that DKs that broke free from the LK are haunted and tortured by shadow beings. While they pose no real threat to you, they whisper to you, mock you, nourish your depression, lead you into darkness. The Lich King kept those corrupting whispers at bay but now they are loose. While you dont have to become a crazy maniac who suspects everyone to be evil, there will be influences, voices that tell you that this guy over there looks at you...and waits for his opportunity to destroy you for good...and that girls smile is false, she doesnt want to be your friend, she wants to lead you into a trap...
So again DKs dont HAVE to be of the 3rd or 2nd generation and the first and 4th generation are not or much lesser affected by those things but most DKs will have to deal with that stuff and no one goes through all this without changes in personality.
Look at who Arthas has been and what he became. A holy beacon of light full of love and compassion he has once been, arguably the nicest guy around in history and what becoming a DK did to him, turning his greatest virtues into his greatest sins.
Again being evil is not necessary but you will need to find ways to cope with all of that.
Races:
Yay ^^ That is another huge topic.
Keep in mind your deathknight didnt come from nowhere. He has a past - and this past and who he was is affected by his race and culture.
And it does affect who he is now and how he deals with being a DK.
i want to hint at my race guide here on the board for a general idea about the mindset of different races - those mindests will continue after death. An orc DK will care a lot more about honor and strength than a Dwarfen DK will, a Tauren will be much worse affected by the taint than a human and a female Nightelf DK will still think in generall, that females are stronger and more worthy than males while a Bloodelf DK will think the other way round and care more for silvermoon than for archerus.
the culture you were raised in affects you in a loooot of ways, from how you think and speak to your values and tools for dealing with being a DK. So here i go into DK specific stuff
Night Elfs:
Night Elf DKs are hard to justify. First the scourge and the Nightelfs didnt have too many fights so the number of Nelf DKs is comparatively small to start with.
Then the nightelfs value the circles of life and nature - a deathknight is an outright crime against everything they believe in.
Every step you take taints the land you love, every day you continue to exist you harm what you swore to protect, every power you use, violates your very soul. You are an abomination, a being that must not exist and should be dead, rest, like all life has to end.
A Nelf DK is very likely to commit suicide as soon as possible.
You are disgusted by yourself, hate yourself...and so do your people. Actaully walking into a nightelf settlement is suicide for they will do their best to stop you from spreading any more taint and put you down as fast as possible. Even if you somehow manage not to hate yourself, your people will hate you.
If you have been a druid this will even be more severe as in addition you lost all your druidic powers and purpose.
it is your druidic and nelfish duty to stop yourself.
An approach would be total memory loss or becoming insane or just outright evil.
Yet remember, memory loss also means ability loss. If you dont recall the last 5 years you wont have access to skills you aqquired in that time frame. So no rune magic for...uhm...who were you again?
Tauren:
Pretty much the same problems apply with the Tauren. Though it may not be as extreme. With a hell lot of effort you may convince your people (and yourself) that you are kind of a spirit walker, and there for a greater purpose, but then again there werent many Tauren DKs in the first place.
They may forgive you your deeds against the earthmother (though likely you wont forgive yourself) but they will not tolerate you in pure lands. As tainted being you belong to already tainted lands and if you want to do your people and ancestors a favor, you keep away from them and fight corruption and evil in their lands not in those untainted.
Draenei:
Debatable. It really depends. Draenei, even though being the closest beings to the light (except Naaru whom they have strong ties with) are totally capable of being extremely evil - after all the legion also consists of quite a lot of Draenei. Actually 2/3 of the population chose to become evil so you may be one of those traitors who just enjoy being an *******, repeating the crime of Kiljaden and Archimonde.
You also may just suffer memory loss or become crazy.
However a "good" Draenei will too, seek its own destruction upon becoming a DK.
As DK you are the opposite of what you should be, you are expelled from your own race and the Naaru, your connections to the light are lost forever and since you are very vulnerable to the light you wouldnt be able to be near them anyway.
And the lost connection affects your abilties - lorewise "gift of the naaru" wouldnt be accessable to you anymore and heroic presence would actually also be lost.
So you lost everyting without hope and are alone in the world, an abomination - dead Draenei should rest with the dead in Auchindaun and not bother the living.
Not commiting suicide as such Draenei is difficult. You could pull it off if you see the fight against the scourge or the Legion as justification to be what you are, a neccesary evil, and you would make the Ebon Blade your new race and family. Yet it is hard to pull of in a believable fashion.
Also the problem is - how the hell did you become a DK in the first place? You crashed on an island with no scourge even in a huge radius around. And the time frame is also after the worst fights. So Draenei DK are really really really rare.
Bloodelf
Bloodelfs are a good choice in terms of...the scourge really had a hell lot of Helfen corpses to reanimate. But Bloodelfs will likely be more depressed than any other DK race. You destroyed your own race and anihilated literally everything you ever cared about. Recovering from that is a huge issue.
On the bright side you learned rune magic and posess magical knowledge that no one in silvermoon has which, in the belfen magocrathy would indeed give you a high social standing and a hell lot of power and attention...but if you were ever to go to silvermoon it is likely you will draw a hell lot of attention...unwanted one. Even if you manage to forgive your deeds, silvermoon is full of families you destroyed and you will be seen as scourge and hated by everyone. You can expect outright hostility.
Orc
Pulling off an Orc DK is...well problematic.
As orc you will have been enslaved and abused 3 times in a row - by the legion, the humans and the scourge. Who wouldnt freak out there?
Then your race hates warlocks and foul magic. And you are a being of foul magic wielding foul magic. And your are no honorably fallen hero, you will not take your place among the ancestors, you are an abomination that lost connection to the ancestors...again.
And you will never have honor again...and as covered in my orc guide this is a fate far worse than death for an orc.
Great...at least the DK stuff comes with power. Power you will use to get your revenge...
An orc can be depressive even suicidal as the events after the second war showed, but its more likely you will rage out and use the goddamn power you received to kick the goddamn *** of the scourge with their own goddamn might.
Or you take the Nerzhul approach and accept what you are now - the deathbringer. Death incarnate. And you will do whatever it takes to fight those worse than you - the legion. Even if it means rejoining the scourge again.
And while the honor part really blows it for you, dont forget that orcs likely will suffer much less from the DK training, experiences and the urge to kill as for being raised an orc, they are already familiar with it. So while killing torturing and bloodlust are already familiar and wont have too much impact on you, doing this without honor will be all the more of a problem.
And there are also the Guldhan type Orcs that crave for personal power and dont care about honor who may enjoy being a DK.
Troll:
A troll DK is not that problematic actually. The trollish religion is sinister from the start and necromancy and foul magic are respected.
Becoming a DK may even be seen as the Loahs blessing upon you, granting you power and eternal life to fight the enemies of your tribe.
While you will still have the changes from living do undead, you wont be affected nearly as much than any other race by the DK thing - after all troll society always has been quite gruesome and dark. While the darkspear tribe slowly steps away from that, it is still a part of your heritage and just recently they stopped cannibalism but not because they thought eating humans or other trolls is bad but because Thrall forbade it in order not to provoke the alliance. Its hard to discuss peace treaties with someone who is eating your wife infront of you.
Human:
It really really depends a hell lot on your former live. Humans are the most diverse race on azeroth so its really up to you. A staunch follower of the light will have way more problems accepting being a DK than a sinister warlock and a defender of stormwind may approach that differently than a survivor of lordaeron.
There really isnt much to say about.
Just one thing - not all people of Alterac are traitors. If you actually read the book on the scond war, only their king betrayed the alliance. His son opposed him and most people of alterac had no idea of the betreyal at all. So yes, playing a citizen of Alterac in the alliance is perfectly legal.
Dwarf
Argh! Cant taste any ale dammit! Baahh why cant i eat that dishy! AND MY BEARD STOPPED GROWING! RAAAAHHH
While the culture of dwarfs may be more likely to kinda accept deathknights as tools of war, basicly similiar to the humans or orcs, the personal loss of the DK will have effects. You were robbed all the joys of your life.
You can not get drunk anymore, ale and food taste like ash and who knows what crimes you commited.
So for a dwarf the DK thing will in addition to the usual problems include that there is absolutely no joy in being a DK for him.
Gnome
While i actually doubt the scourge would raise gnomes as DKs instead of liches...gnome society may be more open to DKs than most. After all DKs offer a lot of insight into undeath, the scourge, rune magic and functions of the body and studying them can lead to quite some very innovative inventions.
While i doubt a DK will be cared about or really heartfelt welcome, gnomes are more likely to accept becoming a DK or having a DK in their capital.
Forsaken
Its a bit hard to explain how you can become twice damned. Undeadundead ? Sounds weird. Also to be destroyed (killed) as forsaken you would have to be turned to ashes or take severe brain damage...and raising that as anything again is quite a feat, how you make a deathknight out of completly annihilated remains is beyond me but hey, its magic.
Besides a forsaken is already rotten to some degree and while becoming a DK may prevent the worst its really not the best idea to make an already rotten being into a DK, fresh ones are better.
Also from a lore view, the forsaken were no DKs when they were still in the scourge and after that they rebelled. Getting turned into scourge AGAIN is surely a severe blow to ones sanity. Oh the humiliation...
Also how do you raise something that is double dead? And how many forsaken did the scourge have access to raise in the first place?
However it seemingly does work out somehow though i doubt the number of forsaken DKs is bigger than those of nelfs.
I mean even if they are turned once more, which is already doubtfull for many reasons, upon being freed again...will you ever be able look into the mirror? I guess those guys would be really fed up with existing.
Also it is debatable how other forsaken would look at you. On the one hand you may indeed find not only forgivness but actually be treated as if it never happened. if one race forgives becoming an undead, than its the undead. Also your knowledge of the scourge, undeadundeath rune magic and the insight you had into necromancy and unholy magic are very valuable for the forsaken so you may indeed be welcomed as a hero.
Then again who knows what you did while being a DK. And who knows if you aint suspected to be a scourge spy, or worse. You may actually be viewed as extremely weak willed for falling twice and be made fun of.
Yet its not the worst race you can choose as a DK.
RP wise if there is such thing as love for the undead a DK is most likely to find such in the forsaken.
Goblin:
Immortality, great magical and physical power...for a few years of service? Hell yeah thats a good deal, the Lich king really sucks at making bargains and how much money i safe on food now...
You are one hell of a lucky cutpurse. Not only (should) there be only very few goblin DKs (again they didnt really confront the scourge) they are physically not really your first choice for raising a DK
The goblins, being more interested in influence power and money than any other may indeed see becoming a DK as a huge improvement.
Their morale standard always has been low anyway, and the deal is good. Who cares about the killing part, you are immortal and awesome.
Goblins will be less effected than most races by the troublesome training and killing stuff (along with the forsaken and trolls)
Indeed you yourself and the other goblins will see the positive sides of being a DK first. Finding yourself a well paid job should not be a problem. Hell you could take over a good company or start one - ghouls are after all obedient and hard workers that dont even want to be paid. while every goblin tries to get on your good side with presents and respect. However you may still end up in a crisis...for what are you doing all of this exactly? The joys of life are after all, forevver robbed from you and no matter what luxury surrounds you, no matter how expensive your food and drinks are...you will never again be able to enjoy it
Worgen:
Ya that one is problematic. First of all its very questionable how you became a DK as you would have needed to be outside of Gilneas for the whole time meaning you didnt actually take place in the whole becoming Worgen thing in the first place. A possibility is to have been a follower of Argural, but those DKs should be very rare indeed. Overall the same applies as for humans, though you may feel doubly damned being an undead werewolf and such...
Pandaren:
While not possible by gamemechanic theoretically a Pandaren could be a DK of the 4th generation which would leave a hell lot of stuff open so its hard to say how it will affect your character or how your race will react towards you.
But in general the living are food for you and usually people dont react too well to things that could eat them
Speccs
Indeed this does make a difference you should consider as well.
A frost DK deals with very different powers and energies than an unholy DK.
While being a DK is already equal to being an unholy disgusting horrendous abomination that must be destroyed for some races, being unholy specc on top just makes it worse.
While all DKs need to drain life to live on, blood DKs engulf in it.
While all undead are cold to the touch, only frost DKs are literally freezing.
So the choice of your specc does not only have gamemechanical consequences but also roleplaying consequences.
A deathknight using unholy specc is indeed beyond hope of redemption and doesnt even seek it.
An unholy DK accepted that he is evil and blossoms in being evil. They may serve well as antagonists but they are by no means social. They prefer unholy creatures and undead even more over the living and have all the company they may want.
Besides they spread taint and disease where they treat and no one wants a pestilent harbinger of illness near them, just imagine the living peoples...discomfort when sitting next to someone who has flu. Now imagine how they would feel sitting next to someone whos sheer presence infects them with an incurable deadly disease. Its like risking to get canceraidsbola.
And he smells like rotting flesh and rotten eggs, not to mention vermin loves him. Dont mind the maggots in your food they are from those lovely ghoul bellydancers your special undead friend loves so much. And eat your food fast before it rotts away under that nice unholys presence oh and expect food poisoning. a lot.
Do you really want someone like that near you?
And what drives a DK to embrace the most unholy stuff that made them what they are in the first place? Raising the dead like he was raised?
While an army of ghouls is of strategical value and good canonfodder...which commander would agree to use such foul practises and defile the brave soldiers that died in battle?
Unholy specc is really just for evil characters.
Bloodspecc is a bit better. At least it can be used to benefit others. While a DK healer isnt the best at least he CAN provide something for others than himself.
And while he aint really a nice guy he aint as diabolic as the unholy guy. And of course he does care for the living...dead blood isnt usefull after all.
Also the methods he uses aint that disgusting and he can take a beating and hey, he steals the lifeforce from enemies...in a sense weapons of mortals do the same.
So while a blood DK surely is creepy its more likely people will see him as a usefull tool and less like a threat to themselves.
Also former paladins may want to go with blood as the ability to shield from harm and heal may remind them of their past.
Frost is cool. Chill out man its just freezingly cold.
Na seriously, being around a frost DK does have a lot of problems. Your drinks freeze, you are cold basicly all the time and starting a fire while he is around is a bit of a problem. And dont start to pee when he is near you. Icycles
Also Frost DKs are likely the most cold hearted of them all who care the least for company or the living.
Like the ice they embrace, they are meant for loneliness. They are on their own and prefer it that way.
Their emotions are not dead but frost DKs more likely than others give a crap about emotions maybe except bad ones like rage and fury and ice cold hatred, and they are chilling to the bone with icecold calculation and eery self control.
Like the ice they love so much, they kill life where they go not caring about the damage they cause to their surroundings as long as it serves their own ends.
Did someone say Antihero?
In theory it is IC quite possible to have multiple speccs at the same time - however its a bit unlikely.
Like in real life you would usually try to master one thing instead of doing 3 things half assed. It just gets you further. While 3 speccs are more versatile, mastery of 1 makes you stronger than being a novice to 3.
Also using 3 speccs is kinda split personality. After all the powers you use, become a part of you.
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Other stuff:
Again i want to point out that your former life is very important not only for your view on the world, values, tolerance etc. but also on how you deal with being a deathknight, how much you actually lost and how severe the events were for you and of course influence your personality.
While there are orcs that dont care about honor even they cant help respect it and even if you go against your society you will still be influenced - as you are trying to be against those things ;)
Same goes for classes - again a warlock will feel being a deathknight quite differently than a paladin or druid would.
Having said that:
No you aint pretending to be normal.
1. everyone will easily get within seconds what you are - echoing voice, radiant blue eyes, your eerie presence (sent of blood, unnatural cold, stink of pestilence and decay...) your very pale sickend looks if you aint already decomposed to some degree, will tell everyone what you are.
2. your best beat to not be attacked is to actually point out you are from the Ebon Blade. Varian & Thrall agreed to treat Ebon Blade DKs in their territory with special status as kinda diplomats.
3. You just so horrible know that you aint normal and never will be again that you cant possibly lie so hard to yourself. Its like pretending to be a squirrel.
You are an Ebon Knight. Whatever allegiances you may have had in your prior life, these days are gone. You are not really welcome anywhere else and nowhere else will you find people who understand you or care for you.
The Ebon Blade is your home and family now no matter where you came from. Your best friends are Tauren, Orcs, Humans and Nelfs, so **** Horde and Alliance quarrels.
There are real evils out there that must be stopped and cant be reasoned with. The fight Horde vs Alliance is a pitiful war that weakens he entire world.
You are a Ebon Blade Knight by faction and indeed "Race" as having suffered all that you did changed you as it did the others (only applies to 3rd and 4th Gen)
You feel wrong - even if you heal someone with bloodmagic it wont feel right or soothing like holy or natural healing. It will do the job but feel very strange, maybe painfull, maybe just not right. and there may be sideeffect.
Your Ghoul is not a pet, even in unholy specc. Its a dumb rotten meatball with no intelligence on its own which can make handling it very difficult. On the plus side, it will do anything you say - exactly - without hesitation. So beware of sarcasm and taking things literally.
Also summoning your Ghoul is an outright offense to most races. Doing so in a settlement is very likely a good reason to ban you from there. After all Ghouls aint only disgusting they eat meat. and they dont care if it still breathes or walks on 2 legs.
And it may be raised from someone they knew as well...
The problem of not having to walk...
Yes a mount is a great thing to have. Unless you are a deathknight near civilisation.
Most mounts will just not be ridable by a deathknight, they will do everything to escape him or die of a heartstroke if they cant.
A deathknight is worse than a predator it is death itself.
So no living mount will accept a deathknight rider.
Undead mounts however are prohibited in pretty much any area where living people dwell as...well an undead horse and indeed a unead dragon will be quite an offense to the living and make them much worse than just uncomfortable.
Ok you are a deathknight what do you care about that? You should, as the Ebon Blade relies on good ties with Horde and Alliance so you should respect their rules in their lands or your behaviour might get alliance and horde united to wipe out the Ebon Blade.
So one possible approach are mystical mounts that are neither "living" nor "undead" like ashes of alar (phoenix) or to some extend the star horse.
Tyraels charger is a clear no - its a horse of light and that is exactly what you would never ride, just like you IRL would not try to ride a chainsaw.
And the mundane...
Can DKs have Sex? Well in theory if they hadnt had their genitals rotting away yes. Some frost magic will make anything stiff and with some lube even the driest hole is usable. BUT the question is, if a DK does have any interest in Sex, its also questionable if he/she can still orgasm or has any other benefits from it or is even able to enjoy it in any way - most likely they aint. Its also questionaible who would be so crazy to even try to have sex with a DK maybe except forsaken and other DKs. After all unholies are filthy as hell, and frost could freeze you inside them oO
Not to mention they are really cold bodies they are after all corpses. and you thought cold feed were bad.
And death knights - undead - can definitely not procreate they are infertile and their bodies dont produce semen or release eggs so forget it.
Indeed its questionable if deathknghts bodies produce any kind of liquid so no drooling. on the bright side you also dont have digestion so mo peeing or pooping - but if you eat and drink it has to get out somehow...happy puking everyone.
Do DKs blink? Well they can of course and it would help protect the eye or clean it so why not
They may also still breathe - out of habit. That you dont need to doesnt mean you wont do it.
Does DK hair grow? By canon - no it doesnt Your body does not produce new cells so nails, hair etc. wont grow though i am pretty sure there are some magicks avalaiable to help with those problems.
Do DKs sleep?
Well they CAN but dont have to so why would you? Imagine you would not need any sleep at all. Wouldnt it be cooler to do something else than lying around unconsious for 8 hours?
Do DKs feel tactile sensations?
Well while its staited they are resistant to pain it looks like they are not immune to pain. which would be quite bad in combat as being immune to pain would also mean you couldnt feel your armor, weapon, the force your opponent uses or any damage which would be a huge drawback.
Do DKs have emotions? As stated - YES they do. However they deal with them differently and they cultivated some emotions at the cost of others and they are simply cold and calculating. As said there are even DKs in the game that feel love and compassion but its not the standard. Depression is more likely. But most likely your favorite emotions are fury and hate.
Also emotions may be triggered by quite different things. while a mortal may enjoy the sight of cute rabbits you would feel joy in ripping those furthings apart and spreading their insides on the ground.
While compassion to a mortal may be like actually helping someone in need with great effort your compassion may go as far as not to kill someone or if you are heaving a great day not acting like the superior superhuman being you are.
As said it is POSSIBLE for a DK to fall in love - however i really dont see how that would be anything else than a very rare exception and even then the love is almost bound to fail.
Dont forget you are a danger to all around you and if you really love someone the best you can do for them is staying away from them.
But i want a cheerfull nice happy guy who everyone admires and loves to have around!
- then dont play a death knight. seriously death knights are the worst choice you could make. And even if you play a 4th gen DK who was neither forced to do anything bad nor had to watch suffering or inflict it, who has no need to kill...you are still undead using unholy powers and feed from the life energies of others.
While fourth gen DKs can be significantly nicer and social than others being a DK in itself will make most people despise hate or at least fear you which limits social possibilities a lot and even if you do your best to help people your very presence still is tainting the land and corrupting them.
Really even warlocks are more fun to have around.
So finally - making a DK work in an RP is difficult. You cant just walk into an inn and have idle chatter, you cant just approach a party and be welcomed. Indeed if you want to pull that off you need a group that is somehow FORCED to work with you or they wont.
So either you lead an expedition to destroy scourge in northend as kind of "local scout" or you find other reasons why you are important for the group, so important that your downsides dont count as much as the benefits.
Or you play as DK only group that can work quite well.
Also keep in mind that RP beyond "die abomination!" *fight* is only possible with very open minded characters or such races. dont try to befriend a night elf druid...
Also you wont just be welcomed in a town without a fckn good reason and even then you will get a hell lot of stares.
And all that is why i believe DKs to be the most difficult characters to roleplay. I hope this helps.
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Can I just say, if you are going to RP as a DK I'd pick a class a paladin can play, since DK's are meant to be raised paladins, so Human, Dwarf, Draenei, Belf and Tauren (Cata).
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Gotta disagree on that one. That is totally not true.since DK's are meant to be raised paladins
The first generation of DK where without exception warlocks
the second generation of Dks were the paladins you think of
the third generation of DKs you actually play gamemechanic wise are PREFERABLY warriors, paladins and warlocks in that order as the scourge wanted shocktroops that could rule in melee and not be restrained by remorse, conscience or holding back making former paladins a bad choice.
And as DKs were raised as shocktroops the standards were low so literally anything could be a DK.
Also on a battlefield are simply way more warriors than paladins so alone for that a hell lot more DKs of the third gen will have been warriors and not paladins.
And the forth generation DKs can really be just anything there are no official rules for those at all.
Also a former paladin is less likely to continue his existance once he broke free of the Lich Kings bond and will have way more troubles being a DK. Unlike the second, the third generation wasnt corrupted beforehand and didnt choose to become DKs.
So from a psychological view warriors and warlocks are way more likely to find purpose in their new existance than paladins
Finally race wise i would advise to play races that actually fought the scourge.
So humans and bloodelfs are the most likely to become deathknights as humans and belfs simply lost the most troops to the scourge by far.
After human and belf i would count dwarf, orc, troll for the same reason.
Tauren actually are pretty "rare" lorewise compared to other people just like the draenei were few so those 2 races are quite unlikely to become DKs in the first place as they are so few to begin with.
And Draenei crashed AFTER the big war with the scourge (WC3) so chances are they never met scourge unless traveling to northend.
Besides that tauren and draenei (and nelfs) are, cause of their mindest, very unlikely to make it as DKs.
All those races see undeath as far worse fate than death, as abomination against everything they believed in, a twisted horror that is the opposite of what it should be, doing the opposite of what they were supposed to to in life.
You are a walking violation of everything you believed in.
While possible to pull of, being a Draenei, Tauren or Nelf DK needs a hell lot of explanation
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Excuse me if it has already been said, the thread is enormous and I couldn't search for that specific part on my mobile.. It should be taken into consideration that most 3rd generation DKs that are now Blood Elves for game mechanic purposes,, were actually High Elves at the time of death. This could bring in an additional side to the storyline of such DKs..
Most undead elves of which we surely know were Blood Elves, both culturally and physiologically, are the San'layn..
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good point and true. Yet the actual lore difference between high elfs and blood elfs after the destruction of the sunwell are almost non existant. they look the same, feed on magick...the main difference would be that one side stays true to the alliance the other changes to the horde and of course, that blood elfs are more likely to embrace their DK side than high elfs who are more carefull with unholy foul magic.
However i agree that being a high elf DK who actually stayed high elf is a great story hook.
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Actually, there is quite the difference between Blood and High elves. Not just the culture, but the thirst for magic too. Before the reignition of the sunwell, high elves suppressed that addiction ehile blood elves fed it by draining energies from other, often living sources. That practice is now mostly gone, but that's irrelevant.
The difference between HE and BE Deathknights is also dependant on this addiction or its absence. High elven DKs never had that addiction because most of them died before the Sunwells pollution and destruction. Blood elven DKs, again in the case of the Darkfallen, had the magical addiction transfered into undeath with them. Except they now crave not the magical energies of their enemies, but their very life essence.
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The thing is after the sunwell was destroyed all helfs (and belfs) had to feed from magic. Helfs today also are addicted but you can argue they do their best not to fall victim to it while belfs...dont really care.
Helfs that died before the destruction of the sunwell may indeed not know this addiction at all as, as undead DKs, they dont need to feed on mana energy so they never were addicted. But as third gen DK they got that need to kill and drain life implanted so they have an addiction that is even worse.
Belf DKs may not need to feed on Magick anymore (though they theoretically still could) but got the other addiction.
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Thank you for this amazing thread, I love it. Wish there would be more rp on Molten.
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Ok dude,but tell me this..
Let's say this for example,some paladin,knight of silver hand,lawful good guy
he brake out of lich king control killed lich king,get his revange and in later life he try to help
the needy much as he can,to protect good and to have faith in the light (despite that hes dk,as
human he can still worship the holy light)
Can he (in lore part of view,not in playble) became a paladin again,and once again start using
light as energy resource,yeah i know that he is death and kind-a cold and etc.
but is there a small part of possibilitie to walk in the path of ligh once agin?
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Well if you ask if it is in theory somehow with the slightest possibility possible...yes.
But its more likely that Sargeras will become the holy light itself.
In theory the light could somehow revive the deathknight and make sort of a Jesus thing with rebirth as living being...magic is finally just limited by imagination and the Titans and the light should by lore be able to do such things.
HOWEVER i would extremely doubt that would ever happen because...
1. DKs are hurt by the light. Badly. The sheer presence of a paladin or holy ground weakens a DK and makes him suffer, he simply couldnt stand to be near light so their options are limited
2. The light seemingly never ever interferred in the happenings of creation directly, at most it granted a vision so someone obtained power - so not the light itself but another paladin or priest would have to do it and such a powerfull one has yet never existed
3. A paladin DK of 1. gen is unthinkable and second gen are so corrupted they are evil so we talk about 3rd gen. 3rd Gen DKs NEED to kill and NEED to bring pain and suffering just like mortals need to eat and breathe. So whatever you try to redeem yourself your sins grow larger each day.
You got brainwashed and experienced so much suffering each day...this will leave a mark and make you cold hearted. Not cruel, not evil but you really will never be able to look upon the misfortunes of humans the same way ever again so you can never again be as passionate as you were.
Even if 4th gen every step you take taints, every word you speak corrupts. You are undead and the light cant reach you without destroying you.
4. While you can TRY to walk to path of light you never really will. You suck the life out of your surroundings. While you may want to help its highly questionable if anyone wants your help or even can stand you to be near them.
Besides that your very powers are from a very dark source - if you want to do good you cant do anything more than a simple worker can do. No healings no miracles, no big protection from evil because each time you use your powers you use dark and evil forces and in turn nourish your own defilment
5. Thats why i said, Nelfs, Draenei and Tauren are unlikely to make it as DKs. if you are still a good paladin with trust in the light the thing you would actually do is kill yourself and end your dark existance. It is what your worldview commands you to do it is what you deem the best idea.
If you stay a DK you are already corrupted beyond redemption. A really faithfull paladin/dk would, like nelf tauren and draenei, kill himself and hope that the light will at least take his soul.
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Actually, it is very possible for a DK to wield the Light as evidenced by Sir Zeliek. Should I paladin's conviction in the Light in life been EXTREMELY big, they may keep their command over it in the afterlife as well. Plus, it's not said anywhere that you actually need to be alive to use the Light.
Sure, it'll be quite masochistic as already stated an undead experiences quite the pain when it comes into contact with the Light, but possible nontheless. Just like Forsaken Holy Priests..
While it is true that 3rd Gen DKs need to inflict pain, nothing stops them from doing so with the Holy Light. It's not like the Light reacts to the purpose of your actions, only your conviction in their necessity. If anything the Scarlet Crusade/Onslaught proved that unusual combinations are possible, in the case where you can see Scarlet Crusade Death Knights.
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The part is "can he become paladin again" and that for me means, a breathing priest/warrior whos sheer presence inspires others and speaks for the light.
Maybe i misunaderstood the question. As seen in Belf Paladins you dont need any faith to use the POWERS of the light and you can indeed use them for whatever end you desire.
But being a paladin for me is not a question of wielding the light but the whole character concept behind it, compassion, love, being the morale high standard guy etc.
And after all a DK suffered through, after all he has done and needs to continue to do he can never be a paladin again.
However i agree that he could somehow wield the light - and if its by capturing a naaru ^^
Also the "walk the path of the light" which is a quite strict and complex code of morale and afaik just being a DK already violates that and using its powers definitely does.
Rightous killing without taking joy in it is something a DK also wont achieve - you will take joy in it and that is pretty much the nogo for a paladin
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Well ok i understand he can never walk a path of light again,but he can walk a path of generaly good guy who do the best he can to serve his people
with dark power i mean killing the bad guys fighting fire with fire,Somehow like Ghost Raider,right?
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