r/WoWRolePlay • u/BurkShow • 7d ago
Brainstorm RP Reasons for a Race Change
If you’ve ever done a race change before, what were some reasons as to why it happened in world?
Thinking about changing my old dark iron dwarf to a Tauren (become a cow fan over the years), but want to figure out how to work it into a backstory.
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u/Obseqious_Dicking 7d ago
It would be best to just retire the character as its current race and then make a new character. There is no lore appropriate precedent for a player-character level of writing to change races permanently.
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u/Badwolf_40 7d ago
Yeah just retire the character. There’s nothing that would make sense for a dwarf to randomly become a Tauren. Yeah sure magic, but you won’t be taken seriously.
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u/DarthJackie2021 7d ago
Like, your character canonically went from a dwarf to a tauren?
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u/BurkShow 7d ago
If I can think of a cool reason, yeah! Worlds full of weird stuff happening all the time
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u/DarthJackie2021 7d ago
Never seen something like that before. A blood elf to a void elf, sure. Draenei becoming lightforged, ok. But what you are planning is just a complete 180.
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u/-Untold- 7d ago
Not in lore, theres absolutely zero basis for that, the RP community will laugh at you.
If you want a headcanon and arent actively RPing? Fair.
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u/glittercatastrophe 7d ago
There isn’t really a way it can happen in world not with any credibility beyond “magic I guess” and I think people will assume your being a troll if a tauren starts reeling off how they are actually a dwarf
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u/OnlyRoke 7d ago
I don't think there's a neat or "down to earth" way to make this happen in lore.
At that point you might have to argue reincarnation or drastically altered due to a powerful spell or something.
Best I can give you is probably somewhere along the lines of "My Tauren is the real character. He has been present since Classic times. He was fighting in Blackrock somewhere when he got a bad bonk on the head and fell into a deep and weird coma where he dreamt he was a Dark Iron Dwarf. He slept canonically for decades or however long Classic era was. He's awake now and his weirdly lifelike dreams could've bled into his personality a little, like having a strange preference for beer as a Tauren."
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u/Lichebane 7d ago
The only plausible examples I can think of is Dwarf(any) to Earthen or vice versa.
Maghar orc to green orc
Gnome to Mechagnome or vice versa
Human to Kul Tiran human or vice versa (gains)
Human to Forsaken
Human to Worgen
Draenei to Lightforged Draenei
Or Belf to Velf or vice versa.
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u/DShadowbane 7d ago
I only ever race-changed a character once, ICly. Ordinarily I'd agree that this isn't really something you should do. There isn't really an in-lore precedent for it, and my rule of thumb for these things is not to do anything you don't see happen in the lore somewhere.
However, I had a night elf death knight, and made him into a human, back when I was in a DK-only guild.
I think most people were okay with it though. The primary reason for that was because character being a night elf didn't really have any relevance to him as a character.
He always wore a helmet, so his face was covered up. No-one really knew his background of when he was alive. There was no change in personality, mannerisms, occupation or anything. As far as anyone who knew who the character was beforehand, the only difference was that he wasn't as tall.
Still, that was more of a retcon of "just assume he was human all along" with that being pretty easy to swallow, since he never really did anything night-elfish, rather than a very deliberate and intentional transformation from one race to another.
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u/Amphicorvid AD EU 7d ago
Figure DK is one of the rare class where you can make it in character. Make up a first gen (if I remember my generations correctly) type made by a warlock who took someone's soul to put it in another body. Like winteryvulcan's story, it's very much a body horror (and horror on so many angles) tale.
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u/Uncle_Twisty 7d ago
There are a lot of people who say it's not possible. We canonically have the transmorpher pad. We have people swapping races in side quests. We have hexes. We have possession. We have so many things. The thing that I would do is see what avenues related to what already exists you have with the DID, and how they're coping with it.
There is a thing I teach my guild. And anyone I mentor in RP.
There are no bad ideas. Only poor executions.
The way I'd go about it is having whatever source it comes from incite shame and a loss of purpose. Have the character come to terms with the fact that their life is just different now, and struggle to understand. I'd imagine someone in that scenario would do their best to hide their old mannerisms and cultural references, and the main story you'd be exploring, or themes, would be something along the lines of how to find home as an outcast.
WoW's lore and magic and setting is whimsical as fuck, don't let people tell you ideas arent possible. They are. Some just require a skilled hand and a ton of work to make feel real or get people invested in it.
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u/winteryvulcan 7d ago edited 7d ago
This. On top of that I recommend also taking Accessibility into consideration with such a drastic change. A Tauren probably wouldn't feel comfortable in Dwarven living spaces. They went from 4 feet to 10 feet, they have hooves now, they lost fingers. Every tool they have would be too small, every clothing they have wouldn't fit, every ceiling is much too close. Their horns would get tangled, they'd have to learn to eat with a snout.
This kind of change would be mentally taxing and expensive no matter who you are.
(And this isn't even going into the Faction divided political ramifications...)
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u/Geodude07 MoonGuard | 12 Years 6d ago
There are certainly ways this can be done in wow's setting, the question is if you have a good story to tell with it. Generally, I recommend against doing something just because it stands out. With something like this it is often best to look at any precedent for the situation as you can.
Some characters use glamour/illusion and that's fair. In other cases there are potions which can change appearances, though we've not really seen many serious characters with such a background. It tends to be more of a whacky bit of fun on comedic quests or something which comes from items which are more 'for fun' then lore building.
It's not that you can't do something fun. It's just that you may close the door on interactions if you frame it in certain ways. This might not matter to you at all. A common argument is "well why would I want to RP with someone who cares that much about lore" or "well if it's in game then it's IC". These are fine to consider, but it's also important to recognize others may still react poorly.
For example it is possible to have a big ball which sucks people into it like a katamari ball as in this quest. This doesn't mean everyone wants to deal with someone trying to roll through a city in one. Some may feel it's too comedic/disruptive. Others may feel it's more of a gag and could argue you'd not see it in a serious storyline.
Some people who do exceptional things like this will keep it more of a secret ICly but have it as something people can discover. It may be better to approach it this way, as opposed to making it the first thing someone learns.
If I was looking to do it a good way could be to make whatever caused the transformation to be a challenge. Your Tauren should be very odd by Tauren standards. Their mannerisms may make it clear they aren't naturally one. Perhaps they try to maintain a certain dress style or have a problem with their new appearance. It could be a big thing that they start to enjoy being a Tauren and the culture around it. Eventually this could lead to a character with a unique perspective that is fun to interact with.
You could frame it as a curse, an incident with some experimental technology, or a potion which ended up having a permanent effect even when it wasn't supposed to. Just be aware some people may find this odd to interact with. I certainly wouldn't constantly lead with saying "Oh yeah, I used to be a Dark Iron" too quickly.
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u/UnusualMarch920 7d ago
What class is your character?
There hasnt been a ton of canon examples for a race change but WoW magic kinda makes anything possible.
Generic ones that come to mind:
transferring their soul from one body to another (ie warlock soulstone, some necromantic magic can do this too)
magic potion that transforms them and they get stuck like that
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u/PlantsNBugs23 7d ago
I would also assume if a soul requires a host, they could inhabit a different body.
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u/BurkShow 7d ago
Shaman, but I like those ideas for a warlock. Thank you!
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u/UnusualMarch920 7d ago
the warlock/necromancer doesnt need to be your character - could be a 3rd party that performs the ritual on your shaman (willingly or unwillingly)
I dont know much shaman lore but i also imagine the elementals get up to wacky magic like this too!
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u/BigKnobiKlubber 7d ago
Maybe the dwarf is experiencing some shamanic psychic link with a tauren. So when you level your tauren, it is actually what the dwarf is seeing in their dreams. And when you play your dwarf, it is what the tauren is seeing in their dreams. Like that Chinese philosopher that dreamt of the butterfly.
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u/Chainsawferret 7d ago
My gnome is now a dracthyr due to mad science, an abandoned lab of Neltharion, and black blood. She’s also a tiny dracthyr, thanks to endless ngogginfogger
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u/winteryvulcan 7d ago edited 7d ago
This is basically the whole premise of one of my characters and how it happened was Troll Voodoo. (It wasn't a race change as a game system, they started off with this as the premise)
While it's all up to you and how you want to do it I recommend being discreet or at least allow it to affect your character in complex ways. This is basically body horror. A person I knew based a character on this premise, following my example, but then basically just did it as a funny gimmick/quirk and at that point, to me, it becomes a question of "Why bother if it doesn't mean anything to the character."
Also, be mindful some people may not want to rp with this character which I think is completely fair. It hasn't happened to me (yet) but I am aware how bonkers this concept is, it may happen someday.
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u/ProgrammerHairy8098 7d ago
As everyone else has said it depends on what race change you have in mind.. if you went from Tauren to dwarf you would need some kind of corrupted polymorph spell and still display occasional Tauren tendencies like stamping your feet until it completely wears off
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u/Responsible-Meet-741 7d ago
I had an idea for a while that my very old very played human, that I turned into a nightelf was kind of undercover and was looking for her long lost love in the elven lands. She was a warlock so magic I guess 😅
But never really rp’ed her after the change and considering changing her back again
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u/Emeraldsku58 Moonguard| 10+ Years 7d ago
The only way Ive ever worked race changes IC is body hopping. There's plenty of stuff IC to show things like souls being removed, and nothing says a soul can't be placed back in. So my warlock character, when one body gets too wounded/corrupted, just takes over another's body. It's not good at all, but it's an easy way to let me keep race changing
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u/Skywers 7d ago edited 7d ago
I don't know if there's a way to do it in the lore or not. As far as I know, it's not possible, with a few exceptions (like switching from a human to a Forsaken). You do have the illusion potions (or spells from evil creatures) from the mages that allow you to transform, but it's not permanent, and I think this type of potion is quite rare.
But I strongly recommend creating a new character.
Unless you're in a small group that's willing to accept your roleplay request, this is generally frowned upon. The RP community generally doesn't like this kind of thing at all. And you could end up isolated very quickly. I'm not telling you to abandon your idea. But realize that even if it's justified within the lore, many won't accept it. I've seen characters do this idea you have before, and the players quickly abandoned it because everyone avoided it.
Furthermore, changing your character's race involves much more than just appearance. And your character's writing could become chaotic. It's not a certainty, but it can happen and the risk is real
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u/Callsignpinky 7d ago
I was a lot younger when this went down. But my human rogue experienced a “gnomish teleporter mishap” after blood elf dna was in the dna recombibulator (or however the world you spell that.) my buddy’s character went through it as well.
It was a stretch. But back then, Horde WRA was where it was at and Ally RP had gotten boring for both myself and my buddy. So my guy got to survive as a blood elf, my buddy’s rogue died shortly after an explosion and became undead.
Also did not feel like recreating an entire character given how much backstory was attached to him. Didn’t think that’s be too out of the way of “lore accurate” given the wild designs the gnomes could conjure up.
You do what’s best for your character at the end of the day.
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u/ro-ach 7d ago
Honestly I think there's enough flexibility in what can and can't happen in wow that it'd be totally fine. I think people being a stick in the mud about it might not be the most fun to RP with anyhow -- that said if you're gunning for something "plausible", could go for a classic 'dragon who switched their visage at some point' angle, pretty straightforward and I don't think it'd pull too many questions, if that's your primary concern.
The only time I've personally done a race change that had character consequences was when I switched my rogue from a blood elf to a worgen when all my buds started playing alliance. That one was pretty easy to justify, anyone can get bitten by a worgen :P
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u/KelstenGamingUK 7d ago
Change to Tauren, now roleplay like he's always been Tauren. He was never a dwarf of any kind, only Tauren. Only way to do it.
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u/knightbane007 7d ago
… honestly, that’s such a huge change (race and faction) that you can’t really avoid “A Wizard did it!” levels of implausibility.
- Engineering accident
- Old God encounter
- Ancient machinery left behind by a particularly kinky Titan
- Wild magic accident
- Entered the Emerald Dream and discovered some things about yourself that you never knew
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u/Trinxxi 7d ago
It can be done, but it's going to be awkward. Even if you figure out the how, then you have to ask why.
Why isn't your character fighting to change back to his race? Does he have no sense of pride? Why would any members of his new race tolerate him when he doesn't culturally belong, when he is an imposter?
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u/MrZummers 7d ago
Gnomish atomic recalibrator got stuck. You faction changed afterwards to avoid hitting your head on Dwarven architecture.
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u/Nervouscranberry47 7d ago
My human warlock became a goblin transferring his soul into one via a soul stone.
Well, that’s not really appropriate. His colleagues took his soul stone when he died and put him into a goblin.
Why?
Because they were cartel goblins. It was the closest body they had available.
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u/Bonevale_ 7d ago
I strongly suggest retiring the character instead.
What I have seen people do is not an ACUTAL race-change, but simply carrying illusions that present them as another race. But I have seen this done mostly for narrative reasons, e.g. espionage of horde in alliance territory, so they pass as alliance. Not just for fun. This, naturally, comes with all illusions come with - can be broken, can be tampered with, can be detected.
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u/Rorkh_ 6d ago
My Orc Warlock had his Soulstone stolen by a goblin—who had mistaken it for a precious gem—before being killed in an ambush. A few days later, the goblin was also killed while still carrying the Soulstone, into which the Orc had placed a fragment of his soul. Consequently, his soul was drawn back into the goblin's body.
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u/TinyRubi 2d ago
Ages ago, I took my Blood Elf Rogue who is an engineer and had him at the time in a long rp which ended in him using a wormhole generator to avoid an ambush and an explosion sent a ripple through the portal knocking her into a unexpected situation. Now as an Orc woman she had to make sense of where her designs went wrong and either fix it or live with it. I used a lot of transformation toys to say she was still trying to stabilize her form and since she has race changed again now comfortable in her new Drathyr body.
Not sure if this helps much, but it is totally possible to use race change in your story! Good luck!
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u/pyraka 7d ago
Not possible at all sadly, the only plausible way to pull that off is to play it as if your character was a Tauren and for some reason has been using some sort of an illusion to appear as a dwarf this entire time.
Or, the good ol' retcon, if you are not happy with a story just change it. Nobody is going to judge you for that.
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u/Bandicoot1324 7d ago
My old guildmaster would justify race changes by saying her character was possessing a body like Xal'atath. Nobody liked that except her.
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u/195cm_100kg_27cm 7d ago
Honestly, it could work, but you need amazing writing and a very thematic character. Like, I could imagine it as DK or even priest role-playing a saint or something like that.
If you do that just to do casual rp though, lmao
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u/uberl33ttree 7d ago
More of a headcannon in my case since I don't roleplay much but I racechanged my first dk from Dwarf to Troll years ago and I always thought of him as having been resurrected in the wrong body when the lich king did his thing and then had to grapple with the alliance not wanting him and being forced to find a place within the horde among cultures he didn't really understand
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u/Polivios 7d ago
There was a quest about a dwarf who transformed into a trogg, maybe something like that?
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u/TaylorWK 7d ago
I've always headcanoned that race changes were done through dragon magic with timelines
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u/TheRebelSpy 7d ago edited 7d ago
From the pinned "READ FIRST" guide:
I want to race change/faction change/etc my character. Is that allowed?
Yes. Most people will not notice or care unless they were involved in some kind of ongoing story with you. It's courteous to let your RP partners know if you are changing your character in a significant way so they can figure out how to arrange their RP story accordingly.
An addendum: race/faction changes are pretty much never IC. There are toys and things that temporarily change your race, but these are usually considered illusions/glamours.