What to do after the zombie apocalypse
Ah, zombie apocalypse. We hardly knew you. Your sudden departure leaves a lot of us confused, even if Blizzard swears it was all on purpose and according to plan.
Regardless, the zombie plague seems to be over for now. We talked last week about how you could roleplay your sudden transformation into the undead brain muncher. Now, let's take a bit to talk about how your survivors are going to be feeling about this mess.
Remorse. If you acknowlege that you died, came back as a zombie, died as a zombie, and came back yet again as a humanoid race, then you should probably acknowledge that you did some pretty horrible things. It's one thing to think, "My God, I ate the neighbor's cat," but there's a whole level of horror involved with "My God, I ate the neighbor!"
This also supplies that most beloved motivation for roleplayers everywhere -- angst. You can be horrified ("I ate the neighbor!"), angsty ("And I liked it!"), and perhaps even be corrupted ("I'd do it again!"). If the memory of your wanton deeds aren't enough to sustain your remorseful roleplay, you can look to further naughty urges to supply more angst.
Grief. Who died? Pull out the roster of supporting cast, and let your character feel the pain of having lost loved ones. Maybe a family member died, or comrade-in-arms. (You probably want to avoid using a PC as the McGuffin of your pain. If they come back to life later, there's going to be some uncomfortable questions.)
A new, driving passion! After witnessing the horror of the scourge first-hand, your character takes up arms against a sea of undead. Now would be a great time to enlist in the Argent Dawn. With the world event supplying material rewards for eradicating the Scourge invasion, now's a great time to roleplay your new, vengeful passion. Speaking of which ...
Revenge. After dealing with the shock and horror, if you decide to eschew organized groups like the Argent Dawn, now might be when your character gathers intelligence on the enemy. Then, Punisher-style, kill them all. Tenris in Karazhan's going to require a group. But the Scourge invasion bosses in the lower level isntances? Many folks can solo them. Use Alex's guide as a checklist and roleplay out your vigilante storyline on these bosses.
Shock and Insanity. Ziggurats hover threateningly over the face of Azeroth. New Scourge threats linger everywhere. If your character isn't the adventuring type, then it's reasonable to assume they're going to be a little shaky right now. It's not every day you watch as your girlfriend turns into a slavering brain-eater. Shock, horror, and even some Cthulu-esque insanity is due for the spectators.
Ultimately, events like these are what we make of them. It's one of the few truly dynamic events in which we all get to take part. And just like it's changing the gameplay of WoW forever, we can hopefully treasure it and let it change the way we roleplay and tell stories. It's only going to happen once, and we should enjoy it while we can.
