Questions about Druid and Nelf RP

Argent Dawn
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Hello, I’ve decided to (so many years overdue) finally give Night elf RP a shot, and while I’d like to think I know a good bit of the lore, I don’t feel as sure about the druid part, so maybe someone can help me out here :hugs:

  1. Do druids also worship Elune and do the lunar abilities “come from her”?
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  2. I want my druid to have started her training after the Third War when the more traditional gender roles were dissolved, but she is still a century old so I was thinking if she started out as a priest, but then I wondered if it would be frown upon to change path that way?
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  3. A general question that I was wondering about, the Night warrior look, how do you pull that off IC? You who use it, was your character there when Tyrande went through the ritual? I don’t plan on using it for this druid but am curious how people think around it.
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    Edit: 4. Came to think of one more, you who RP druids (of any race) can your character shapeshift to all the forms or are they so to say specialized in one? Is either more or less “correct” than the other?

Thanks :slight_smile:

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yes

no

The generally accepted explanation is that it’s something one can accept if they’ve got a huuuuge vengeance :bone:r and are fighting to avenge Teldrassil.

The specifics are, universally, left vague.

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Thanks, quite clear answers there :smile:

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There’s different totems that druids generally follow (Talon, Claw, Branch, Moon etc.) that are usually tied to the specific forms they specialised in.

However, there are also “master shapeshifter” NPCs that seem to have mastered several forms, though don’t seem quite skilled when it comes to spellcasting, mending and so on. Generally, there should always be a drawback to your character, especially when they haven’t been treading this path for a long time.

Even in the OOC speccs, these drawbacks are felt. Though you as the hero and player can use all kinds of forms (for obvious gameplay reasons), you still have feral druids that mostly hang out in cat and bear form. Their healing is weak, they have less spells and so on. The same goes for the other speccs.

Generally in-game, NPCs of each totem are only seen in their specialised forms (talons in owl/crow; claw in bear/cat; branch in tree form and so on). Most RP chars are based on such NPCs so I’d generally go with that instead of the [allrounder player character druid] and Broll / Malfurion tier characters.

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In essence, yes. Druid spells work through requests and favours - we see it countless times in novels. Assuming lore is consistent, the usage of lunar magic probably works the same way.

The moon and stars (and sun, technically!) are very much part of nature. Druids draw from their surroundings, and lunar magic is probably done in the same way: through a mixture of prayers and pleas to Elune.

I don’t see why it would be, provided your priestess has logical reasons to change ways!

I wrote a bit about this in my night elf lore compilation.

From the following quote, it is evident your character does not need to be present when Tyrande performs the ritual for black eyes:

"At the warfront all the NPCs that are Night Elves actually have the darkened eyes. So theres definitely a sense that in proximity, fighting on behalf of the dark element of Elune, under the darkened moon, thats what happens. (…) “But I think in the story sense, that any night elf that is fighting on behalf of Elune in that confrontation, their eyes would be darkening.

– Story and Lore Developer Live Stream - timestamp: 00:52:58

They merely need to fight under the darkened moon (of Darkshore, presumably) on behalf of Elune’s “dark element”.

Stirrer mostly covered this, but druids essentially pledge themselves to one path (organisations?) - druids of the Talon, druids of the Claw, druids of the Antler, and so on. Essentially, this means they pay reverence to certain Wild Gods; the Talon pay reverence to Aviana, the Claws pay reverence to the Twin Bears, yada-yada.

We see proof of this both in-game and in the novels. In the comics, Broll Bearmantle shifts into a stormcrow, a bear, and a seal (to my knowledge). Nothing suggests they’re stuck to one form.

There’s no reason for anyone to take issue with you using multiple shapeshift forms, but as Stirrer says, the focus is often on one - as such, it is nice to depict weaknesses in other forms. Maybe your druid isn’t so used to moving around in Cat form, for example, because they’re a Talon druid. They can be specialized, but they do not need to be.

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Thanks Stirrer and Mythundis :slight_smile: I’ve always liked the Talon branch, scouting as a bird :grin: but I just read about Druids of the Moon (though they seem only be present in Legion) but I will be balance specced, so that seemed the most fitting :open_mouth:

I got stuck on another thing when writing my background. If all the druids were sleeping for generations except for crises, does that mean it’s not possible to have a druid father for a 100-200 year old character? Since, there wasn’t a crisis 100-200 years ago :stuck_out_tongue: or is that something you don’t take so hard into account

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Very cool pick and yeah it’s quite a recent addition that is supposed to represent the balance specc. Unfortunately we have like no specific lore for them, which also means you have a bit of freedom with that. One idea that might inspire you a bit could be studying the stars/formations. I also like the pick for your char since she was a priestess before, which would ofc make it easier for her to call upon Elune (also moonkin lore is quite cool).

I think you definitely can. Though relatively rare because duty is smth serious, I do imagine they also opted out for personal crisis or commitments (such as raising children). Don’t forget night elves age as humans, which means they are fully grown at 20 or so and just sort of stay young. 20 years is a blink of an eye in the life of a night elf, so taking a break to raise their children isn’t so bad, I think.

It’s a nice aspect to have when it comes to working out the background story of the family, though, and how it influenced them (father gone a lot; threat of losing him to the nightmare and so on; his conflict of family - duty). It’s something that can add depth.

Edit: Since you like the scouting idea / talon idea, I think since moonkin are birdlike creatures, your druid could easily have also learned at least enough to shapeshift into an owl or crow! As said, drawbacks and weaknesses are nice, so perhaps her mastery over the wind might be shaky / not comparable to real Talons.

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Thanks again :relaxed:

I actually thought of that connection :smiley: cool that you did that too

That’s a cool idea, I like it

Think I’m starting to puzzle this together :grin: at 2AM, wow it’s time to sleep

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I mean… Isn’t Nelf society matriarchal in nature? Or just outright negating such things?

Also. About it being frowned upon… Nah?

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I recall there was some lore towards the beginning of WoW that druids in Kaldorei society were male predominately, if not exclusively until post third war.

Not sure if that’s since been retconned or if I’m mis remembering.

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I believe they just couldn’t join the Cenarion Circle, which explains their low number. There have been female druids before that, as evidenced by the Bear druid in Val’sharah.

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Some of the original concept art and text involved patriarchal males with a telepathic link to their harem of women, if I’m remembering correctly.

I wish Blizzard had stuck with that. Can you get your uncle on it?

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I’ll see what I can do :crossed_fingers:

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Not sure you can apply the customs for the druids in Val’sharah to Kalimdor though since they haven’t been mentioned being in contact with each other for a long time afaik, and it was after the Third War the traditional gender roles were dissolved in our known Night elven society. Sure there might have been some willing to teach a female druidism before but I’m not looking to be a special case :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’m sure there’d be other examples if you look hard enough. But yeah, I agree that it’s best just left alone. Your concept is the best way to go about it.

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What about the female Archdruid is evidence that she was a druid previously to the Third War? Elerethe Renferal also is an Archdruid that existed since Classic. We don‘t really know when they went Archdruid, and Blizzard isn‘t exactly afraid to give v recently trained individuals supposedly high power level ranks (see non pandaren masters at MoP launch and countless other cases)

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I remember it being implied she had been a druid for a very long time. I can’t give you the details right now, though.

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Edit: 4. Came to think of one more, you who RP druids (of any race) can your character shapeshift to all the forms or are they so to say specialized in one? Is either more or less “correct” than the other?

For my own, she’s definitely never going to be a master in this area. Allonia didn’t train in druidism until right after Gilneas fell, and I’ve always considered shapeshifting to take some extra skill. She’ll never be able to learn more than one max.

It’s all up to individual decision in the end though, I won’t go tell someone who handles it differently that they’re wrong.

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I’ll go with raven form and balance focused and hope it works :grin:

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It’s my personal preference that my druid is capable of shifting into most forms, but isn’t a proficient user of any but his specialisation (cat).

I also have my druid believe that overuse of his forms, particularly when they aren’t necessary to what he’s trying to accomplish, is wasteful. With that in mind, he’s conservative with how he wields his magic.

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