01-13-2009, 03:05 PM
I was actually asked this question in a PM, but I'm going to answer it publicly because it's not the first time I've seen it asked or mentioned. Someone wanted to know if, for example, someone could take the Death Knight class and turn it into a different concept, like a Necromancer or a Frost Battlemage.
I actually had to think about this one for a while, because it's not easy to answer. After a while though, I came up with something I'm comfortable with as far as an answer goes.
If you're going to make your own take on a character's class, it needs to work within the scope of the class you have chosen. For example, if you roll a Mage, you could call yourself an "Enchanter" or "Sorcerer" or any number of Mage-related professions, because they are all connected and simply minor variations of each other. The leap of logic from, say, a Death Knight to a "Frost Battlemage", however, is much larger. Death Knights in particular I'm tempted to say this shouldn't happen much, if any at all, because DKs are by their nature already special enough that we don't need people playing a DK but saying they're something else! However, I'll flat-out state this and make it a rule regardless of special applications and whatever we GMs can be talked into: if your character is a DK, then he/she MUST be either undead or in that quasi-dead limbo state that the rest of the DKs are in. The glowing blue eyes and evil voice aren't going to go away just because you call yourself a Dark Knight, Frost Battlemage, or whatever else.
Keep in mind that all requests for these sorts of things (beyond minor variations, like Enchanter vs. Mage) are Special requests, and you should run your idea past a GM first.
The other topic, seemingly unrelated, is the concept of character "minions" for DKs and Warlocks. Something I thought about, and while I haven't seen it directly discussed, I have heard people (even some of my fellow GMs) discuss the idea. There are three such concepts that, to me, make the most sense:
A Warlock's Succubus.
A Warlock's Felguard.
A Death Knight's Ghoul.
These should be fairly obvious. Not only are Succubi and Felguards the most humanoid of the demons a Warlock can summon, they are also the two that have been proven to have the ability to disguise themselves as other races. Similarly, ghouls are undead that aren't TOO different from other strands, and while there are physical differences you can use your imagination, particularly in the case of non-human ghouls.
Now, are these allowed? I'm going to say that these are another use of a "Special" profile, and again should be passed through a GM first. I do like the concepts, but playing a demon or a ghoul is very different from playing a character who has complete control over his/her own actions, which bound demons and ghouls do not.
Comments? Concerns? Questions? Post below.
I actually had to think about this one for a while, because it's not easy to answer. After a while though, I came up with something I'm comfortable with as far as an answer goes.
If you're going to make your own take on a character's class, it needs to work within the scope of the class you have chosen. For example, if you roll a Mage, you could call yourself an "Enchanter" or "Sorcerer" or any number of Mage-related professions, because they are all connected and simply minor variations of each other. The leap of logic from, say, a Death Knight to a "Frost Battlemage", however, is much larger. Death Knights in particular I'm tempted to say this shouldn't happen much, if any at all, because DKs are by their nature already special enough that we don't need people playing a DK but saying they're something else! However, I'll flat-out state this and make it a rule regardless of special applications and whatever we GMs can be talked into: if your character is a DK, then he/she MUST be either undead or in that quasi-dead limbo state that the rest of the DKs are in. The glowing blue eyes and evil voice aren't going to go away just because you call yourself a Dark Knight, Frost Battlemage, or whatever else.
Keep in mind that all requests for these sorts of things (beyond minor variations, like Enchanter vs. Mage) are Special requests, and you should run your idea past a GM first.
The other topic, seemingly unrelated, is the concept of character "minions" for DKs and Warlocks. Something I thought about, and while I haven't seen it directly discussed, I have heard people (even some of my fellow GMs) discuss the idea. There are three such concepts that, to me, make the most sense:
A Warlock's Succubus.
A Warlock's Felguard.
A Death Knight's Ghoul.
These should be fairly obvious. Not only are Succubi and Felguards the most humanoid of the demons a Warlock can summon, they are also the two that have been proven to have the ability to disguise themselves as other races. Similarly, ghouls are undead that aren't TOO different from other strands, and while there are physical differences you can use your imagination, particularly in the case of non-human ghouls.
Now, are these allowed? I'm going to say that these are another use of a "Special" profile, and again should be passed through a GM first. I do like the concepts, but playing a demon or a ghoul is very different from playing a character who has complete control over his/her own actions, which bound demons and ghouls do not.
Comments? Concerns? Questions? Post below.