New to RP - Please help my character make sense (Undead Monk)

Lore Role-playing
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Hi guys, I’m completely new to RP in WoW, and I’m not really looking for it to be my focus moving forward (but if I do end up loving it, it could be).

While I’m not looking to hardcore RP everything I do, it is important to me that my character at least makes sense, which is why I’ve come for help.

To summarise, here is what I’m hoping to piece together:

  • An Undead monk (former human) who was a monk before death
  • After dedicating and sacrificing so much of their life for the Alliance, they wanted to return to human civilisation after being “risen”
  • Humans are repulsed by his presence, and banish him, attempting to kill him as he flees
  • The monk remembers the kindness shown to him by Horde races (likely Tauren, due to their compassion and sympathy towards the Undead)
  • The monk, now hurt and betrayed, aligns with the Horde

My understanding is that “Chi” is largely about a living spirit from within, which Undead would not have. However, it does state that Chi is found within the monk, and those around them. I’m hoping it could be viable for a monk to solely rely on and use the chi of those living around them (which I suppose would rid them of their powers when completely alone)

I’m not sure how much the Undead remember about their previous life, but I would like for my character to remember most of it, such as his family, his loyalty to the Alliance etc
How would I go about fitting this into my story?

To summarise:
A very loyal and dedicated human monk, and is turned away from the land and people he once loved. Finding unity in the Horde, the undead monk taps into the training from his former life, to use the Chi of the living, to keep his body healthy and strong

If you have any tips for the story, or solutions for glaring issues with it, please do let me know.
THIS IS A FIRST DRAFT - I am looking to build on this, so that I can enjoy my Undead monk in game without feeling silly :slight_smile:

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Hello! While I am not very well versed in the lore of the Forsaken, I do know a thing or two!

This is easily done, the Forsaken have been raising undead from vanilla (in small numbers) to Battle for Azeroth (in greater numbers)! They started mass-raising undead after Cataclysm because the Nine (a group of powerful val’kyr) aligned with the Horde through Sylvanas Windrunner.

Your monk could’ve died and risen at any point really, or be a former Scourge that broke free after the death of the Lich King, or the destruction of the Helm of Domination!

The other four points are basicly exactly as you state, in general the living are repulsed by the undead and usually do not allow the undead to return to their civilisation. Even Calia Menethil (a Lightforged undead), Derek Proudmoore (Prince of Kul Tiras), and Thoran Trollbane (former King of Stromgarde) have been pushed into joining the Forsaken or Ebon Blade because living society has no place for them.

The only real glaring issue I can see is how you think of “Chi” (or Spirit), it has nothing to do with one bieng alive or not, but it really is just the power of one’s Inner Spirit and undead do have an Inner Spirit! It is inperfectable reattached to their body, but it is a spirit nonetheless. A perk of using Chi is that it does not hurt undead the same way the Light would too!

You can decide how much your character remembers about their previous life. Like Sylvanas there are undead that remember everything with perfect clarity, including the way they died and how they were risen. There are also undead who could not handle the stress and pain of dying and bieng risen and lose their memories and anything in between!

Alas, the undead in general and Forsaken in specific suffer from decaying corpses, this is not something that one can stop. Even death knights of the Ebon Blade have rotting bodies.

The Forsaken have a, as far as I know, thriving limb replacement market where if you lose an arm, you can have a new one reattached but that could mean your new arm lacks the specifics of your old arm. (IE it’s not as good in certain movements, might be stronger, might be weaker etc).

Hope this helps and if anyone more versed in Forsaken lore could chime in and point out any errors I have made please do!

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Excellent points raised (no pun intended…) by the shady gnome here.

I don’t know where I have it from, but if I find a source, I will post it:

I believe the “healing” or ‘repair’ of undead are part replacing limbs, and part necromancy / dark magic.

I tend to RP my undead (both Forsaken and death knights) as getting most of their “healthcare” - especially the cosmetic kind - done off-screen, by some mysterious, secretive, pricey practitioner of dark magic.

I wanted a Forsaken monk myself, a while ago, to have that healing/tanking versatility as an undead, but I scrapped it because I couldn’t justify all that unarmed hand and foot combat with such a ‘fragile’ body.

However, with a transmog showing sufficient padding/protection… :smiley: :+1:

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Thank you guys (both of you), I really appreciate the input and feedback :slight_smile:

I’m feeling more confident about the RP of my character now

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Excellent advice in here, but I have a challenge mode to suggest…

Use your character’s limitations. Some of his joints may not be as limber as they once were; you could have a fun RP arc with your character re-learning his old moves.

Conversely, his undead body might be more “bendy” that his living one…imagine him dislocating his elbow to punch someone behind him.

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