RP Inside the Kirin Tor: 'There are specialists for everything, I suppose'

Dalaran remains one of the shining jewels of Azeroth. Many players make their homes in this glittering city in the sky. Horde and Alliance players alike have traditionally enjoyed the hospitality of the historically neutral Kirin Tor, who were content to cloister themselves to focus on matters of magic and learning.

But Jaina Proudmoore's politics have pulled the Kirin Tor into alignment with the Alliance. The peaceful face of Dalaran is no more. The Kirin Tor have ejected the Sunreavers from its ranks and the city itself, throwing them into the Violet Hold or killing them outright (though some managed to escaped to Silvermoon).

Roleplaying behind this volatile facade is one of WoW's most unique concept guilds, Moon Guard's Magus Senate of Dalaran. Comprised almost entirely of mages and other magic users, the guild turns magic to reflect upon arcane politics and the fireworks of world battle.

Main characterBaelheit, human arcane mage
Guild Magus Senate of Dalaran
Realm Moon Guard (US-RP)

WoW Insider: What an incredible membership roster -- mage after mage, a Mirror Image! Does The Magus Senate accept non-mage characters? What are the limitations of its membership?

Baelheit: What classes we'd allow was always up for some debate, especially when creating the guild. Ultimately, we decided that while mages were obviously our top priority, we decided to let an applicant's roleplay ability determine if they were right for the guild. We've had warlocks, a few priests and even some paladins who roleplayed as guards.

Out of those non-mage members, I'd say about 25% are alts and 75% are genuine characters. The majority of our non-mages are warlocks, and they are all in character and participating. Those who are alts of other characters are always in our OOC rank.

How does the group's focus affect the kind of storylines you become involved in?

We have a lot of background to draw from when roleplaying as the Kirin Tor. We've been able to expand upon pre-existing lore and fashion our own events. Many of our non-PvP-related events are D&D-based. Other events we get invited to or server-wide affairs often involve us for our expertise in magic or the more obscure elements of roleplay. There are specialists for everything, I suppose.

How much of WoW's PvE and PvP content does the guild pursue as a group?

PvP and PvE is a bit of a hard element for us in the Magus Senate to face when it comes to our balance of classes. It's almost 10 mages to every non-mage. Guild heroics are easy enough to manage, perhaps with some members placing their other range of characters -- melee, healers and the like -- as alts in the guild to aid us.

What have you found to be the primary limitation of bringing nothing but magic users to the table?

Well, I can tell you it isn't getting a portal. Mages are a powerful class, mind you, but we can be slightly lacking in the defensive department. So our only deficiencies are a matter of gameplay mechanics. In terms of roleplaying, there's really nothing to lose. I think it adds consistency that we keep our main focus on the mages that compose the Kirin Tor, and I'd hate to see that lost.

Does the group's roleplay focus have an effect on how you approach game content? For example, are there certain PvE storylines or content you avoid because it's contrary to with the mission of the guild?

It can, at times. A popular thing to do is to in-character traverse a dangerous area such as a scenario or the Isle of Thunder and be able to add real description to how we would personally handle anything Azeroth could throw at us.

One must always be careful on a roleplaying server, however. The world doesn't change because we say it does, and we are always careful never to enact something that would contradict lore or another roleplayers ability to do so.

Any thoughts on the new politics of the Kirin Tor? Has the anti-Silvermoon sentiment affected relations with other guilds you roleplay with frequently?

That's an interesting question you posed there. In Patch 5.1 and 5.2, we and the server as a whole enjoyed a large compilation of roleplaying events that had us waging war around Dalaran with the Dominion of the Sun guilds on Moon Guard as well as the Sunguard. Both are blood-elf-themed roleplay guilds.

There is a small bit of a difference between member's opinions in the Magus Senate, between being glad the elves are gone or wishing they had not been expelled. Personally, Baelheit believes expelling the Sunreavers was a critical mistake. They were citizens of Dalaran and therefore under his protection, and he feels like he failed them, as well as Jaina Proudmoore cutting out one-third of her own forces.

Tell us about any particular Kirin Tor-flavored traditions you follow as a guild.

Our longest-standing tradition are our weekly senate sessions. It's a chance for us to act like the sort of senate that we roleplay as. We gather in The Violet Citadel and let speakers address the floor, debate courses of action, hear proposals. It captures the essence of The Kirin Tor that most of us joined to experience, feeling like a real citizen of Dalaran and knowing that every voice can be heard.

What activities might be included in a typical week for the guild?

Our schedule is pretty crammed -- no less than four or five events per week, usually: roleplaying, RP PvP, or maybe guild achievement runs. We have some smaller, one-night events or large, storyline-driven events that will usually occur weekly or on the same days to provide consistency. These events are recorded for posterity on the guild website.

What's the coolest thing you never get tired of in game related to being a mage?

Would you believe it's the roleplaying gear? Your character's appearance is half the roleplay, after all, and we've all gone to great lengths to craft Violet RP sets for ourselves.

Also, Ancient Portal: Dalaran. Never trust a smiling mage after a raid.

Ouch, heh. And what about the most tired old thing related to mages that you're sick of newbies or others saying or doing in game?

Probably restocking the guild bank! We get a lot of newbies around here and all of them seem to think we're all colorblind! We have a dress code around here, so we've got to make sure we've got Violet Robes and tabards aplenty for everyone.

Read about the other devoted class- and race-exclusive concept guilds profiled on 15 Minutes of Fame.

"I never thought of playing

WoW like that!" -- and neither did we, until we talked with Game of Thrones' Hodor (Kristian Nairn) ... a blind ex-serviceman and the guildmates who keep him raiding as a regular ... and a 70-year-old grandma who tops her raid's DPS charts as its legendary-wielding GM. Send your nominations to lisa@wowinsider.com.