Considering it’s Warcraft, you’d expect most of our characters to have scars of some kind, if mental or physical. But I’m talking physical here (but you can mention mental ones if you like).
So, how many scars does your character have? One? Ten? Too many to count? Any that really stick out, or have a great story to them?
Let’s talk!
Physically Des here has a few scars, some small, some a bit larger, but mostly on his body. He was lucky that most blows seem to have missed his face ( and he hasn’t been wearing a helmet for nothing).
Of the ones that stand out, there’s a long jagged one, very well-healed and mostly noticable due to simply paler skin, on his chest. It runs from somewhat above his navel to below his throat, and he has a twin of it on his back. He gained it during the fighting on Argus when he was snuck upon by a Pit Lord, who promptly ran him through from behind. Only due to talented healers being nearby did he survive that.
He used to be mentally scarred from that aswell, to the point of having nightmares. To not have to face these nightmares, he took to wandering Stormwind at night and being a wandering drunk. Only through meeting a very special person that listened to him and gave him herbs that granted sweet dreams when blended into a tea, did he manage to overcome this phase. But at times he still sees that Pit Lord, Morgantoth, in his mind.
The only other mental scarring is his fear of being pounced upon by goblins. But, after being a prisoner of the Bilgewater Batallion twice during the Fourth War ( after they shot and robbed him), that fear is not so irrational I think.
After tangling with the Scourge multiple times since the Highlord first led the Argent Crusade in to Northrend, Ghormisa has picked up quite a lot of scars in battle. A large one is visible on her right cheek.
Troll so not many, a few she intentionally didn’t let heal fully and one that was caused by a weapon designed to harm trolls so that’s really the only noticeable one. There’s some sort of mark visible from when her fingers and much much later arm was severed but can’t recall if the specifics from memory.
Oh and there’s a fell (fel?) burn going straight down one arm with an intentional voodoo related scar on it.
How common would scars even be when we have magic healers? Seems that unless the wound is inflicted by something tainted, evil or cursed there would be no reason for a persistent scar. Sure you can pretend to be in your little “herbalist RP low magic bubble” but magic is around you aplenty in the world.
I think it is silly to keep a scar, especially in visible places or that hinder you. Anyone that has a scar in real life can relate with the inconveniences it can give. (Like temperature or movement causing flare ups in pain)
I’d be mildly infuriated if the mage on my team with a scar, refused to get it treated, would fail a spell because a very treatable scar flared up causing an important spell to fizzle. That’s cringe convenient Hollywood writing for the sake of fake suspension.
I think that might depend on healing processes or even the systems of how healing works. You say magic healers, but who’s to say magic healing does not have its own downsides? We see scars in-game even though the player characters go through the most incredible forms of healing there is. So, there’s at least in-game representation of persistent and ugly scars. Some things don’t seem fully reversible, such as eye blindness. Surely, magic healing should be able to undo cataracts, right?
But, perhaps a bit more relevant to your comment, Nerathion also has several scars, many of them obtained through battles and whatnot and what he doesn’t really pay much attention to. However, due to the fringe zealot group he’s been part of, one of the initiation rites was intentional scarring of one of the palms, which is one of his more notable ones. His other palm has a similar-in-method (and inspired from) scarring, but that’s more like a blood ritual/pact with his loved one.
And probably the most notable and visible scarring is on Nerathion’s back, where he was executed(*?) by Rotgarde and saved from actual death by a Shaman during the Legacy of the Saurok RP-PvP event. I even wrote a story on AA about it. And because it was this drastic so to speak, I also decided those wounds on the back would not be able to ‘fully heal’ no matter the magical healing type. 
That being said, I don’t know how much of an inconvenience scars would pose in-game. I’d expect those to be treatable to some extent and most of it is simply aesthetics. After all, with all the scarring options we have in game and presented in game, there are no downsides to having them.
I like this topic! Darbakh’s build means most of his scars are on his forearms, the tops of this hands, and the sides of his head. They’re light and mostly smoothed over because his preferred method of healing is cauterization.
Anyone need some healing, by the way?
My Vulpera has a great deal many of scars, even a blinded eye, the life of a pirate is not an easy one, especially for a Captain in the Bilgerats, someone’s gotta show the rest of the landlubbers how we roll!
I am my scars.
Considering the number of important characters in the setting with scars and the widespread availability of scars and blind eyes as character customisation options, I think it’s safe to say that persistent scars do exist in the setting. There are even characters with impaired mobility such as Eraleshk and Drek’Thar, so it’s clear that magical healing isn’t enough to solve every problem.
As for this character, he’s got a significant collection of unpleasant burn scars across most of his body. Some are due to caustic slime, others are due to arcane damage, some are caused by fel fire and a few are even caused by ordinary flames.
A combination of misfortune, inexperience and bravery/stupidity has led to him acquiring more scars than most of the veterans that he fights beside. Thankfully, high pain tolerance and magical healing from his comrades allow him to fight without being hindered by his scars.
As a pirate, eyepatch is obligatory
But does that inconvenience you in any way? When you bend over, does the stretching of the skin make you grit from pain?
I feel most characters just play with scars for the “cool factor” without any downside to them. Something to write in their TRP to draw attention. Which is probably my main gripe. I see so many rangers with just 1 eye. How can they even be proficient when they no longer have perception of depth?
Probably a little tangent from a blind eye but another silly thing is warriors with glasses.
Which is weird in itself as weakness was always seen as dishonourable for Orcs. But now Orcs are basically neutered humans with healthcare.
The kind of depth perception you get from two eyes is mainly needed when something is flying towards your face. Try closing your eye and looking around. You can still pretty accurately judge distance, simply because your brain knows how to interpret the context clues. Besides, closing one eye to aim better is like, the oldest trick in the book.
Depends a lot on the orcs, innit. Drek’thar was always blind, if I remember correctly, and yet he was one of the most respected members of his clan due to his wisdom. Grommash won his greatest feat of honour whilst at his physical weakest, if the Lords of War cinematic is to be believed.
As for scars, this character doesn’t really have any, as it’s not really an RP character (yet). But, my DK has a large jagged scar through his gut, and his right hand is stitched on.
While I think that simply removing all scars would be the most ‘practical’ thing to do (if it is indeed an easily accessible feat in WoW) it’s not necessarily the choice with the most narrative weight. In a world that’s defined by its warcraft–heh–I feel like it’s an important characterisation for many OCs that they’re visibly marked by that fact.
Having scars that itch or are painful or are in some other way an obstacle is something that I’d consider a benefit to roleplay.
Also, the rule of cool is a 100% valid reason for aesthetic choices. You slay, one-eyed rangers.
Edit: Look at Rastakhan. Sis is the ruler of a (once-)mighty empire and he’s got a scar running through one blind eye.
Magic is not a cure-all for injury, it’s more powerful than just chugging a potion, yeah, but if it could TRULY mend all injuries there’d be significantly less casualties from the multitude of wars in WoW.
Probably the only REAL magic that can mend a scar would be time magic, but that’ll just cheapen the impact of it all
Even then why bother getting twisted over someone having scars/impairments in a magical, fantasy world.
If we all looked like pristine Ken dolls with 0 blemishes then it’d be hella boring.
In the case of orcs etc, scars are a proof of prowess. Battles won, grievous wounds survived, and so on.
So you’re simultaneously displeased by people whose characters have scars that physically impair them, and by people whose characters have scars which are mostly superficial with no severe impact on their physical ability.
Seems like the only thing which would make you happy would involve injured characters having all of the wounds healed with no lingering consequences, not even aesthetic damage. Other people have already pointed out that this cheapens conflict, as it limits the outcomes to “character comes out alive with no consequences” and “character dies, end of story.”
Besides, scars are great for starting conversations, recording your character’s story and commemorating events in their past. Even ones which are purely aesthetic can be used to make a character more interesting to play by giving you another tool to work with.
A fun thread, Vaxir!
During the days of Consumer’s coming to power as a warlock and the many years of conflict that followed she’s been stabbed, slashed, burned, battered blue and so on. However, due to being imbued with the Void she bears no physical scars any longer.
Her mental scars, however? That’s a list!
The cost of the powers bestowed upon her are her memories, predominantly those of her childhood and family. She retains tatters of images yet most faces and voices are lost to her. Terrified at the idea that she may lose the memory of her husband and son, there are few acts she wouldn’t commit to safeguard them.
She believes that the whispers of the Void have taken on the very voices of her lost husband and son, their presence evermore weighing on her conscience. They voice the truths she seeks to reject.
Consumer is haunted by many deaths. She’s lost her loved ones, any friends she had (be they old or new) and sometimes even had a hand in their demise. During the days of banishment from Quel’Thalas she killed people for money (like any good adventurer) which at the time she told herself was a necessity and that she only killed the wicked. In truth, she knows all too well when she conveniently overlooked the signs that indicated otherwise.
As a warlock from the Outlands, the continuous use of fel left Consumer’s soul irreversibly damaged. It allowed her to persist in a hostile world at a terrible cost that cannot be mended.
At the core, Consumer is a civilian plunged into the horrors of war who managed to survive where better people perished before her eyes. Haunted by her past actions and those who died she desperately tries to maintain the appearance of control.
She wants to truly love her people, her once-home and to make the realm a safer place for the meek. However, she is a woman of many fears and despite all she might say to convince herself otherwise, she grows more destitute with every loss suffered.
I feel inadequate to answer due to not having large-scale scarring myself IRL. I only have a faded scar on the back of one hand and it has never posed problems, so that’s also my frame of reference.
I think for as much as you argued for lack of scars due to magic in the setting, we can argue for magic making those downsides from scars obsolete.
Which is perhaps why Drek’Thar being the first (I think?) wheelchair-user in WoW was sort of… impactful? Especially after I think in Vanilla where there was a quest about another orc wanting to be mercy-killed for being physically disabled in some way. Having such an important / memorable character decide on a wheelchair instead doesn’t really feel like ‘Orcs are now neutered humans with healthcare’ to me. That sentence reads very strangely off-putting to me, sorry.
And even such, I’d say would have implications. Would a Bronze Dragon really want to mess with timelines just to fix a scar? Would a healer really want to pour a lot of their energy into something that’s ultimately just cosmetic, after handing you scar after-care products or whatever to mitigate previously mentioned ‘downsides’ to having a scar.
Honestly, I feel like there’s probably some form of IRL factors playing into the severity of your responses. I don’t really feel like this is a big deal? If someone wants to make their characters super edgy + cool and give them an eyepatch and a thousand scars, but also have them be a really strong character despite lacking an eye and whatever else? Go for it. It’s Warcraft - you literally have Forsaken doing equally powerful things and they’re like… mostly skin and bones. (I know there’s probably some shadow magic holding it all together, but still!)
It’s a super high-fantasy setting, to the point I wouldn’t even really bat an eye on a blind ranger who uses some form of magic to locate their enemies instead of actual sight.
To be fair, I doubt the Bronze Dragonflight would go out of their way to scold a mage using chronomancy to reverse away some scarring. They have much bigger fish to fry, they’re not going to chase up every minor bit of timeywimey tomfoolery.
If the mage tries to alter the timeline in a meaningful way, that’s when they get involved.