I think translating vampire lore from other media to fit into the framework of wow lore can be a lot of fun - especially when it comes to nomenclature - as long as itâs not overdone to the point of the framework no longer being used whatsoever.
For example, when I came up with the name for my Sanâlayn I made a list of fictional vampire names together with blood elf/high elf prefixes and suffixes, such as thel, thal, etc etc and mish-mashed them all together.
One of the worst things I know is when I bump into someone whose name doesnât fit their character whatsoever. Immediately takes me out of the fantasy and ruins the immersion.
Well I am sorry my name isnât Sir Gab Teapotter of Darrowtree Gilneans.
Probably, I assume a lot of people translate the vampire into wow wholesale
to rp the archetype instead of how they are portrayed and always have been in the setting.
Dreadlords the big bat humanoid with non of the classic vampire weaknesses.
to sanâlayn for the more modern sexy vampire lord but still clearly undead look, still with non of the classic weaknesses
to the vrykul who sleeps in a coffin, is not weak to stake through heart and whos vampire minions can walk around in daylight.
to finally the venthyr in shadowlands with some of the weaknesses and all the style of modern day sexy vampires.
I donât think thereâs anything in Warcraft that really feels like an equivalent to either medieval fantasy vampires or modern day vampire kind of characters; Iâd honestly just recommend playing one of the Vampire: the Masquerade tabletop games for all vampire rp enthusiasts (5th ed is very cool, and Dark Ages works for a medieval setting well!), hell, the 2nd edition of WFRP has a sourcebook for vampires thatâs pretty okay to play with
Just to make sure, these are genuine recommendations for getting something conductive to roleplaying vampires (5e VtM especially!) - you could do it in ESO, MMO-wise, but the nature of MMO RP often doesnât feel very conductive towards roleplaying (or at least getting to show/display in your story) the aspects that make vampires an interesting concept
for those looking for mmo rp, ESO would be a close second to VtM tabletop as it has vampires that are exactly what people seem to want from WoW vampires but exist in a place where you dont need massively complex reasons to be one, be in a normal city etc etc
I just so happened to have edited my post to mention it hehe, I think itâs the best bet MMO-wise, but the inherent traits and aspects of vampire characters that make them interesting to me are still v. difficult to play out in the context of an MMO RP setting/community, at least for a prolonged amount of time (which I imagine is what most people want to do)
I found V rising to be a fun vampire game for fantasy vamps. Dont know if it has dedicated roleplay servers, but it does feel fun as a power fantasy to play+asthetics.
I just noticed yeah and I agree, the MMO does show a side of a previously unseen vampiric strain and too its credit, shows more variety in vampire clans than prior games did (The Hollowfang Khajiit vampires ) it rarely gets to the meat of their story and lore, even with a vampire themed expansion. Which is a shame because spend any time at all reading their UESP page and they are quite fascinating
imagine being a vampire without a carriage of the damnedâŚsmh
On the plus side it does let you have a cool castle, gothic statues, a coffin, servants, blood prisons, shapeshifting, magic and tons of other fun things.
Itâs a very fun game, they are still developing it; though I donât know if thereâs much of a roleplaying community around it and my experience is people pick up the game when an update is out but numbers tend to drop off after a while.
That is what the Sanâlayn are. Death knights are cursed with a need to inflict pain, more baseline undead like the Forsaken are cursed with a desire for humanoid flesh, and the Sanâlayn a desire for blood.
Iâve dipped my toes into vampyr RP now and then, and itâs mostly been fine. No OOC whispers condemning the concept, and only a couple of âMain Character Syndromeâ RPers desperately wanting to add my bloodsucker to their list of slain beasties.
(Disclaimer: I have no trouble with consequences befalling monstrous characters, but when youâre obviously being TRP scanned and literally landed upon by their flying mount after a single minute online, you know somethingâs not kosher.)
Obviously, itâs a very niche slice of RP, and I wouldnât ever recommend maining such a character for RPing purposes. Itâs a nice bit of spice on occasion, but the nature of the beast is such that cordial IC interactions are predictably rare.
And you do run across of the V:tM copy-paste types now and then as well, but in my experience theyâre happy to learn and adopt actual lore into their RP. In their defense, vampyr lore is somewhat obscure unless you actively go looking for it.
Canât think of a better of way to replicate the âtraditionalâ Gothic, medieval-esque style Vampire than roleplaying a Forsaken aligned Blood DK.
Got everything you need right there.
⌠except the drinking of blood. I suppose you could include it as character quirk. Something to do with savouring the suffering they have to inflict?
They are no more vampyr than the blood-thane in Stormheim, and neither of truly vampire for they lack the weakness of typical vampire.
the vampire aesthetic is spread out over a multitude of different creatures.
we have at least 4 different groups ranging from demons, to undead to creatures from the realm of death who am not sure count as undead or something else.
and we have another 5th version if you count the old scholomance boss who drinks blood and turns into a gargoyle.
the actual part that matters in-so far as wows setting cares is defined by the trait of draining life
Sanâlayn is a vampire archetype, but they are not vampire in the same way Dracula is a vampire.
Tomorrow blizzard could add a Gnoll in a cape that turns into a bat and hates the sun called Gnollcula and it would be yet another take on the vampire archetype but overall just a vampyr no different from the blood thane in legion and the venthyr in shadowlands.
who are both arguably vampires but ever so different.
) it rarely gets to the meat of their story and lore, even with a vampire themed expansion. Which is a shame because spend any time at all reading their UESP page and they are quite fascinating