Focus Magic: Roleplaying Backstories

OMF covers some things to Consider when writing your Mage’s backstory

Intro

Hello again, guildmates, I'm doing absolutely fantastic, thank you for asking! Welcome to another edition of Focus Magic, the mage class segment for the <alea iacta est> podcast, the podcast of THE finest guild in all of World of Warcraft-dom, in my humble opinion. My name is Dahkar, known to many far and wide as OLD MAN FRANKS.

On this edition of what i hope is your favorite mage segment, I'm going to start a small series on roleplaying a mage. We're gonna start off this episode with establishing a good backstory!

The Three Keys

Remember folks, when writing a good backstory, there are three things that are absolutely key: 1) Make it readable. 2) Get the details right. 3) Make it INTERESTING.

• 1 is easy. Use proper spelling and grammar. Use paragraphs. Break up the wall of text once in a while. If your backstory is painful to try and read, no one will.

• 2 is a bit trickier, because it requires you research your lore. Luckily, you have a VERY good resource for this, and it's called WoWWiki. Use it to research the timeline of your character, and keep him within the context of the history that's already been written. Don't contradict established lore, ever. Your backstory will be dismissed quicker than a crappy American Idol contestant. If you need ideas, look up the articles for your chosen race, the articles on mages, and the history of magic. That should help you get started.

• 3 is the toughest part. You have to make something about your character interesting. This could be anything, as long as it doesn't violate rule number 2. For example, the Grimtotem clan of taurens is well known as a renegade tribe that tries to undermine the works of Cairne and the Horde. Maybe your tauren is a Grimtotem who disagrees with Magatha's secret plans and actively works against them, becoming an exile in the process. That's the case for my Tauren druid, Grothi.

I'm not going to come up with a backstory FOR you obviously, so I'm going to help out as much as I can with understanding these three key rules. Obviously, I can't help you with number 1. If you can't do this yourself, find someone who's willing to proofread your backstory and correct it for you.

Number 3's pretty tricky to help out with as well, that's up to you and your creative mind. I've no doubt you're capable of coming up with an interesting character, but where I CAN help is with fitting it in to the confines of established WoW Lore.

Lore for the Races we have as Mages

When WoW debuted, there were only 4 races per side, and of the Horde's 4, only Trolls and Undead could be mages. With the advent of Burning Crusade, we now have a third option in the Blood Elves. Let's talk about the basis for why each of these races can be this class.

Pre-WoW, mages as a class were pretty much an Alliance thing. In Warcraft 2, the Alliance could train mages as their sides advanced spellcaster unit. In Warcraft 3, the Alliance not only had the basic "Sorceress" unit, an elf, but also had the Human Archmage hero unit. Mages amongst the Horde were all but unheard of.

The Forsaken

The events of Warcraft 3's storyline changed that. The Forsaken are primarily composed of free-willed and free-minded undead who were once human citizens of Lordaeron and the other human nations of the eastern Kingdoms. That would have included a great number of mages and Archmages, and these mages did not lose their Arcane knowledge in undeath. Or if they did, when Sylvanas freed them and they regained their minds, it probably returned. That explains how the Undead can be mages, but what about the Trolls?

The Darkspear Trolls

Trolls have never demonstrated the kind of knowledge, capability for learning, or mental discipline that mastering Arcane Magic requires in ANY Warcraft game to this point. The trolls in Warcraft 3 are a different species than the ones in 2, but they still seem regulated to roles which would demonstrate a primitive and savage society not condusive to accepting magic, in the form of headhunters, witch doctors, and bat riders.

However, just because it's never been DEMONSTRATED does not mean it's not there, and Blizzard capitalized on this when they developed the in game lore for Troll mages. The "official" story is that after the Horde emigrated to Kalimdor, they battled the Alliance forces they encountered there, and during the fighting, many trolls captured spellbooks and other Arcana from dead Alliance mages, and demonstrated a crafty understanding of it when they had time to study their spoils. These trolls formed the foundation of the Horde's newest group of mages. It's not unreasonable to assume that after the Forsaken allied themselves with the Horde that some Forsaken mages took it upon themselves to instruct the nascent trolls in a greater understanding of magic. However it happened exactly, the trolls have, perhaps surprisingly, proved that they have just as strong a capability in the Arcane Arts as their Forsaken (and later Blood Elvish) brethren.

The Sin’dorei

Blood Elves need no explanation. The Blood Elves' origins and entire history are BATHED in Arcane Magic. They were among the first mages in the Eastern Kingdoms and taught the humans how to manipulate it. They're some of the finest mages in the world.

A Few Things to Consider

So you've made yourself a mage, and you're interested in making a backstory for him. Here's a few things you should consider, depending on your chosen race.

How does your Forsaken Feel?

If you're a Forsaken, does your character posess his memories from life? What human nation was he a part of in life? The likely answer there is Dalaran, but maybe your character was from somewhere else. Who did he study under? Where did he fall in combat, only to be raised into unlife?

Ask yourself how your character feels about his chosen field of study. Does he seek to understand magic more? Is knowledge of the Arcane an end goal in itself? Or does he only seek to use the power to accomplish other goals, such as gaining revenge upon the Scourge (or maybe someone or something else!). How does he feel about other mages from his own race, and the others? Are troll mages savage primitive brutes to be laughed at, or does this race young to the ways of magic intrigue him? Remember that as a former human, ingrained prejudice is likely, especially if he was from Dalaran. Blood Elves are a bit trickier. Depending on when he died, your mage could remember the elves as knowledgable allies worthy of respect, or (if he witnessed the Elves become Blood Elves) could consider them dangerous and untrustworthy. Keep these sorts of things in mind

They’ve got Magic in their Blood. Or rather, they used to

If your mage is a Blood Elf, congratulations. Your position in Blood Elf society and culture is highly regarded, and no change of politics is likely to alter that (as is the case for the Blood Knights and the Farstriders) . Your race was born in magic and existed saturated in magic for most of it's existence, and those who can manipulate it are always worthy of respect and honor. All the same, Blood Elf mages are strictly trained and much is expected of them. You probably dealt with a lot of pressure when you were an apprentice, and maybe your character expects a lot ouf of himself as a result, sometimes...too much.

Also remember that your Blood Elf very likely was around when the Sunwell was corrupted/destroyed, and thus feels the pain of that constant source of magic being abruptly withdrawn. What was he doing when that happened? Also think about his reasons for remaining behind when Kael'thas lead a good portion of your people to Outland. Except for very rare circumstances, it's almost certain you did not journey to Outland with him. Those that did would have ended up in service to Illidan or a member of the Scryers, and again with rare exceptions, you are not one of them. If you can work such a past into your backstory in a way that does not violate lore, good for you, but it's highly unlikely.

Blood Elves generally are very self centered individuals, and as perhaps the oldest race to master magic in Azeroth, it's understandable that they'd consider themselves superior to other mages. How does your Blood Elf see his peers in the Horde? Does he understand that the Forsaken are as much victims of the Scourge as he? Does he see perhaps some old colleagues from the Second and Third wars, colleagues he respected, and still does? Or can he not look past the rotting shell, a symbol of all that he hates? The same can be said of the trolls. Blood Elves HATE Forest trolls, the brutes were responsible for much damage to Quel'thalas in the Second War. And now your Blood elf mage has not only trolls for allies, but trolls who study the high art of magic as well! Granted, these trolls are blue-skinned, and seem a degree well more intelligent than the Forest trolls, but can your Blood Elf accept that?

Trolls be flippin out, mon. MAGIC STYLE!

Finally, if your mage is a troll, he's VERY young in the ways of magic compared to Forsaken and Blood Elf mages. Forsaken mages would have, as humans, studied magic for many generations. Blood Elf mages are absolutely ancient. Your Troll has, at the absolute most, been a mage for 5-10 years. It's understandable that he wouldn't have the deepest understanding of it, especially given that prior to this, he was probably just another warrior or maybe a witch doctor before the Darkspear tribe joined the Horde. That's not to say he's unintelligent, just very inexperienced. Magic is a difficult concept enough to master, so by virtue of the fact that he exists, your troll mage is probably very clever and picks up new concepts quickly. Was he one of the first troll mages? Was he there, picking up spellbooks and scrolls during the battles of the third war? If so, it's likely your troll mage spends some time teaching apprentices, and would have sought out knowledgable masters or the Arcane among his Forsaken (and later Blood Elf) allies to increase his own knowledge. Did he encounter prejudice from them, or did he find acceptance on his own merits? You've had to learn a LOT, and fast. If you're high level, and doing high end raid content, chances are you're a very exceptional mage. You've mastered magic in a very short amount of time and are using it on par with Forsaken and Blood elves who've had ages to do so. Maybe that meets with respect, and maybe jealousy.

Greenskin Mages in Cataclysm? Hrmmm…

So that's some stuff to consider for your mage's backstory. When Cataclysm hits us, we will have two new choices for mage races in the form of the Orcs and the Goblins. So far we have absolutley NO idea as to what sort of lore will define those, but it should be very interesting and I look forward to covering it in a future episode of Focus Magic.

Outtro

That's it for this week's segment guildmates. Have fun developing your backstory! If you'd like me to take a look at it and help you out, I'm happy to do so. Just contact me on the AIE Forums, or find my information on the AIE Wiki. Questions or ideas for topics for this segment are thoroughly appreciated as well! As always this has been Dahkar, aka OLD MAN FRANKS, reminding you to help control the gnome population: Roll a Troll today!!