I’m making a horde shaman and picking from the OG races orc and tauren. Sorry to troll lovers out there. They are cool shamans, bit I just know the race doesn’t feel fitted to me.
I was hoping anyone could give me any guideance on how shamanism is on each culture.
Example of this would be draenei find balance between the light and the elements to an extent
I do find it hard to see orcs as a shaman even though i can think of thrall, drek’thar, reghar earthfury and Nerzhul (even though it was long ago). Still Orcs seem very brutish to me, shafted into a warriors role in my mind. Anyone able to give me some clarity to see an orc shaman in better context?
Taurens, all I can think of is Muln Earthfury and Magatha Grimtotem.
Even though tauren look like they make great sense for shamans, I see little lore chacters for tauren.
They seem to have the most upright respect for it but their quest lines always give off the great hunt vibes. Warriors and hunters that worship the ansetral spirits and the balance of the world.
Again any clairty would help.
Thank you in advance to anyone willing to take there time and help out.
I understand your predicament - Shaman was the very last of the classes that I made an RP character with, because I was uncertain of how they “work”.
I’m afraid I don’t have a ready answer for you, but I recommend doing what I did; search the worldwide web of wisdom for (‘race’) shaman lore, including ‘shaman RP/roleplay’ on YouTube. After some reading and watching, I felt a lot more confident in shaman RP.
Funny enough i did this shortly after making this and to put it quite practically
Taurens would represent resto, orc enhancement and troll elemental as the common vibe on their communities. Yet all could still be any.
At least thats what i grapsed. Since the horde formed tauren helped rekindle shamanism and make it a big part of horde culture, although thrall was the one to teach it back to the orcs.
Trolls shared their wisdom on (which at the time they were more witch doctors) and in return the orc and tauren shared with their views on shamanism.
Also prehaps younger shamans would prehaps be portratied as enhancement and elder shamans as elemental/ resto as with time comes trust to borrow more power when asked.
Also although orcs rekindled releationships with the elements they still find it hard to speak to ansertral spirits.
Not sure if this is due to being on an alien world or because of things that went on with warlocks.
Races have different approaches to shamanism, incorporating different aspects of their cultures to how they interact with the elements. Some are actually quite interesting!
Tauren are for the most part in my opinion represented as animists. This means that as your stereotypical fantasy Native Americans, they believe that everything around them has a soul: the rocks, the land they step on, the rivers, the animals… it’s not specifically restricted to actual elementals, but rather the belief that the land they tread upon is the Earthmother herself, or at least the Earthmother specifically gave all of it life.
For Goblins, they are more concerned with a sort of business approach to the Elements. Elemental Lords can be bargained with for their favor, be it in the form of offerings, promises, deals and so on. In this case, Goblin shamans essentially “haggle” with the Elements to get the best deal they can with them for their services, and Goblin shamans are likely the least spiritual of all shamans.
Orcs to me seem to treat the Elements much as they would venerated Ancestors. They’re figures whose respect must be earned and maintained, and they speak and commune directly with them.
Troll shamans are a complicated beast. They seem to have developed primarily from the tradition of Witch Doctors, worship of the Loa, and the use of hexes. It seems a bit of a darker twist on shamanism, and also they’re less inclined to ask for the favor of the elements, but rather get the same effects through Loa, who then grant them these powers through their own connection to these elements? I’m not 100% sure on this, to be fair.