I made this guide to give players a guideline that they can follow for roleplaying a Sand Troll. This guide is in no way obligated to be followed but just a hopefully helpful tool for players. Sources used are WoWwiki, WoWpedia.
Ancient history
Several thousand years prior to the War of the Ancients, the Sandfury tribe (then known as the Razorbranch tribe) was originally part of the Gurubashi Empire. The Great Sundering split the jungle trolls’ territory, which left the Sandfury in the middle of the desert of Tanaris. The capital of the Sandfury is the troll city of Zul’Farrak, but they have few other remaining settlements - Tanaris has long since reclaimed them, leaving it dotted with buried ruins. The trolls have been forced to give up the majority of Tanaris to outsiders, and are thus fierce to defend what remains theirs.
Elemental Unrest
The Sandfury allied with the Twilight’s Hammer shortly prior to the Cataclysm. Under the leadership of Hydromancer Kulratha, they attempted to summon Kai’ju Gahz’rilla for the Twilight cult. This alliance did not appear to last long after that.
Traveler(book)
Zathra is a mercenary hired by the Hidden to track down the compass owned by Greydon Thorne, and later by his son Aramar Thorne. Chief Ukorz Sandscalp is revealed to still be alive.
Pandaria
The Sandfury, now calling themselves the Farraki, allied with Zul’s Zandalari trolls during their invasion of Pandaria. A large number of sand trolls can be found on the Isle of Thunder and inside the Throne of Thunder.
Draenor
A single sand troll, Defector Dazgo(rare spawn,possibly deceased), apparently joined the Iron Horde on Draenor.
Battle for Azeroth
Once again referred to as the Sandfury, they can be found at Tal’farrak in Zuldazar.
General Jakra’zet(Deceased) is a sand troll on the Zanchuli Council, the leading council of the Zandalari. He earned his place after the Horde crushed his people to dust, and so he does not like the Horde. General Jakra’zet in Vol’dun commands a large host of Sandfury that betrays Rastakhan. Though they are ultimately defeated, their actions lead to the freeing of Mythrax, and later, the destruction of the final seal of G’huun. Despite this, not all Sandfury followed Jakra’zet in his betrayal. After Rastakhan is slain in the Battle of Dazar’alor, Sandfury warriors make up the procession that mourns him. Here, they are neutral to the Horde, fighting back only if attacked first.
Shadowlands
There is no official lore about Sand Trolls in Shadowlands(as far as i have seen), however given the fact that their cosmetic appearance is now available to the player, i imagine that their standing with the Horde is at least neutral. Based on how the Zandalari joined the Horde and that the Sand Trolls are allied with the Zandalari. However not everyone will be pleased with your presence or you with theirs.
Culture
To survive the harsh desert lands the Farraki trolls learned the secrets of blood magic - drinking blood allowed them to access the darkest voodoo powers. They also practice necromancy upon their own dead, allowing their ancestors to help the tribe survive in their harsh desert environment. When you need every troll you have to help out to get by, having one of them die is a big problem, which is why the Farraki learned to raise the dead with voodoo. Farraki zombies are imbued with the darkest of mojo.
The powerful loa Bwonsamdi watches over the spirits of the Darkspear trolls, but many of the Farraki tribe’s fallen members are offered no such protection after death. These tortured spirits obey Zum’rah, a cruel witch doctor who uses his dark magic to force the city’s dead into unending service.
Sand trolls are frequently cannibalistic, though not always.
Troll language
When speaking orcish, common or any other language, trolls often sound as Caribbean and African person would speaking English. However, when speaking their own, native language of Zandali, the accent is not necessary but likely varying between the various subgroups, tribes, and empires.
It is unknown how much their tusks, especially those of male trolls, affect their pronunciation and/or accent, especially for dire trolls whose tusks are much larger than most.
Troll names
Trolls, both male and female, often have names with Zandali suffixes and/or prefixes, sometimes consisting entirely of both. They also do not normally have family names as seen by the majority of trolls lacking one, however, there are exceptions, of which some adopt the name of their tribe as their surname.
Example single names: Djunta, Zujin, Rakhan.
Example titled names: Zintu the Fierce.
Example tribe based names: Zula of the Sandfury.
Faith
The sand trolls have worshiped a monstrous hydra called Gahz’rilla for thousands of years. Ever wary of the beast’s icy wrath, the trolls will only rouse Gahz’rilla when they have plentiful sacrifices to sate the ravenous creature’s appetite. Within Zul’Farrak, the legendary hydra is a common motif in architecture and ornamentation. The ornamentation modeled after the hydra demigod is Gahz’ridian (as coined by Marvon Rivetseeker).
Like most other troll cultures, the sand trolls worship the loa: a complex pantheon of primal, often animalistic spirits and gods. It is unknown to what extent the sand trolls retain the Gurubashi pantheon, but they are known to worship at least three loa: Eraka no Kimbul, Ueetay no Mueh’zala(imprisoned by Bwonsamdi) and Elortha no Shadra(Killed by her priestess).
Appearance
Sand trolls have coarse, cracked skin tending toward brown and gold colors, (with some sand trolls being an orange-gold) bearing only a rough resemblance to their jungle troll ancestors. Sand trolls also have thinner manes of hair than their brethren. Unlike most other trolls, whose tusks are of an ivory (lighter, sometimes darker) color, the tusks of sand trolls vary between dark gray to black.
Sand trolls have brown and striking blue eyes. Sul the Sandcrawler has white or silvery eyes. Undead sand trolls instead have golden eyes.
The height of males average between 210/215 cm, while the females height averages between 180/190 cm.
The weight of males trolls average on 90Kg. While the females don’t like to talk about their weight. Joke!, they weigh 80Kg on average.
Classes
Here a few suggestions for the class you might be interested in roleplaying and what you could possibly do with it.
Warrior
Every tribe needs their warrior. Brutal and armed fighters that protect the tribe without magic or tricks. These are the types that rely on their strength and skill in close combat. It is also assumed that the term “Headhunter” could refer to a Troll fighter that has killed many others, and traditionally keep their enemies’ heads as gruesome trophies.
Suggested RP class: Headhunter, Guardian, Warrior, Skirmisher, Axethrower.
Rogue
Trolls are expert scouts, after generations of living in these dangerous regions, it is not unlikely that these Scouts have been modified into assassins to kill Trolls of importance or any other enemy. Sand trolls know for living in desert area like Tanaris which are filled with scorpions and snakes, it is not uncommon for the rogue to use the venom there creatures provide against their targets.
Suggested RP class: Assasin, Wastewalker, Skirmisher.
Hunter
Trolls are well-developed to hunting game in their homelands, camouflaging themselves in the sands to stalk their prey. Some Hunters even prove themselves worthy enough to become shadowhunters.
Suggested RP class: Hunter, Hideskinner, Scout, Tracker, Shadowhunter, Headhunter.
Suggested Hunter pets: Scorpion, Snake, Basilisk, Roc, Aqiri, Hyena.
Mage
Trolls traditionally practice strange magics in their tribal communities, and their tribal mages, possibly referred to as more arcane-based Witch Doctors, may use tiki and hexes to polymorph foes and warp elements around them.
Suggested RP class: Mage, Hexer.
Priest
The standard Troll religion is worship of Loa, that represent the cycle of nature. Troll Priests use ancient chants and blessings to keep their respective tribes safe and protected from the evil shadows of the spirit-realm.
Suggested RP class: Priest of (pick a Loa), Shadowcaster.
Druid
Druidism is primarily limited to the Darkspear, as it was only recently taken up by them and its founders were a part of that tribe. Troll sorcerers living on the Echo Isles who worshipped the Loa claimed that they had been contacted by these powerful nature spirits in their dreams. Some say this may have been a budding link between the Troll race and the Emerald Dream. They then developed their connections with nature, using ancient magics to take on the forms of animals. They then lived like this through Zalazane’s domination of the Echo Isles, remaining hidden, until the Darkspear reclaimed their old home. This was when Zen’Tabra, the leader of the shapechangers, decided to share this new magic with the rest of the tribe. However over the years it may have been possible for Trolls from other tribes to have taken on the art of shapeshifting.
Suggested RP class: Shapeshifter, Druid.
Death Knight
Traditionally all death knights were risen by the Lich King or his forces, however for Sand Trolls it works differently. Being a reclusive people they rely on what ever Sand Trolls they have, even those that died. Witch Doctors are capable of raising the dead and keep them as zombies/undead for the benefit of the tribe. Playing a Death Knight Sand Troll will be a highly unlikely possibility due to how small the chance is that one actually ever came in contact with the Lich King or his forces. So you will most likely be a zombie/undead risen by a Witch Doctor in your own tribe. The other option is to use the unholy spec and play as a necromancer or the blood spec as a Blood Drinker.
Suggested RP class: Zombie/Undead, Necromancer, Blood Drinker.
Warlock
Troll Warlocks are very different to the reclusive summoners of civilized society. They employ agonizing hexes and voodoo, a source of magic shunned by many troll tribes.
Suggested RP class: Hexer, Witch Doctor, Soul Eater, Shadowcaster.
Shaman
Living in tribal communities, Troll society has been lead by Shamanism for thousands of years. Their primitive lifestyle allows the Trolls to connect with the elements, and these wise elders are typically referred to as Witch Docters. They use their knowledge of the elemental spirits to soothe the souls of allies, and inflict enemies with primal hexes and tiki magics. The spell Hex originated from the Trolls.
Suggested RP class: Hexer, Witch Doctor, Shaman, Sand Conjurer.
Recommended Mounts: Scorpion, Hyena, Vulture, Basilisk.
Known Tribes
Sandfury / Farraki tribe, their home is in Tanaris.
Sandscalp tribe, these Trolls travel the waters and visit islands to ransack the place.
If you think of anything that you would like to see in this guide that could possibly add to the quality, then please leave a comment on this post. Thank you all for taking the time to read.