Do you allow non-canonical races?

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

Possibly.

First, what are the non-playable races in ESO.

- Ayleid
- Chimer
- Ehlnofey
- Goblins
- Harpies
- Kothringi
- Lamia
- Maormer
- Minotaur
- Nedes
- Nereids
- Dark Seducers
- Dremora
- Golden Saints
- Reiklings
- Riekr
- Spiderkith
- Spriggans
- Xivilai
- Dwemer

....and likely more, but there's a base idea.


There are races in Tamriel that are non-playable races for a reason. If you are able to effectively advocate a strong, and believable character as one of those races, chances are good we may accept it and see how it pans out.

How does one achieve such advocacy? Be prepared to work a little more than someone with a regular, playable race.

Before you even consider sending in an application, or live RP with us, we will need the following to begin to take your character into consideration.

FIRST: A full Character Concept. Include WHY you want to play that race. What's a day in the life of a free-walking <non-canonical character of choice> going to be like? How would it be different from one of the many playable races? When I see this character, will I think yep, totally <NCCOC> or huh <NCCOC> in name only?

That will be taken to the guild and discussed. If it passes, we will then require the following:

- A reasonably well done history. Including why this character decided to go against societal norms and set out into the world as an adventurer, dealing with men and mer around Tamriel and beyond. What kind of upbringing did they have, that shaped them. What of their family? Where did they come from? Major life events?

- Personality features.

- Merits and Flaws. (Be prepared to go into detail how they potentially came upon such merits/flaws.) Ex: If your character is mute, how did it happen?

- Nature and Demeanor

- Their current profession (class). Include how you play this class to accurately reflect your character. Be aware some abilities that might be 'best' for damage or healing or tanking, may not be racially viable for the type of character race you want to play. (Yes, we go into that much detail.)

- Character Description. Also, describe what have you done to ensure your character looks like the race you want to play, cosmetically speaking. Include any pets/mounts etc that help facilitate your vision.

- Character Diary. This is already part of the Application Process. However, we are highlighting, that you will need to create seven entries (must be different days) before you can expect to engage in any long role-plays with us. We want to see that you know your character's inner mind, and can accurately express them. We wish to also see what they do each day, and how they take on life as being such a misfit, while questing and such.  We also want to see how you handle being active on the site. 

All these things will help us (and possibly yourself) to understand your character (better), making them more believable and real. It will also help us find things that we feel may not work, and will require further discussion and or clarification.

If there is anything you do not wish posted publically, simply EMAIL it to us, instead.

Some of the above information we require will be on the application form too. Should you make it that far in the application process, you will not need to fill out the duplicate areas you have already addressed.

We are here to help foster role-play and make it flourish. At the same time, we try to adhere to lore as much as possible, and work within the boundaries of what ESO has presented to us. With some creative license here and there, of course, on occasion.

But Kat, why can't I just jump right in with RP with someone right away? Why do I have to go through all this?? I'm judging YOU, just as much as you are judging me, you know!

Good. Judge away. Know that we take role-play seriously. We also respect our characters, the characters in the guild, you, and your character, to NOT just jump into RP right away without knowing more. We are not only 'judging' you, we are also judging your character. The one that isn't a playable race for a reason.

There is no such thing as a 'short' RP session. Shortest you could possibly pull off, having bare-bones quality, would maybe MAYBE be an hour. Two hours, certainly. That is a good chunk of Real-Life time for many of us. Time we can't get back.

If we were to jump into a RP with a non-canonical character right away, we could be walking our characters/members into a train wreck.

You can't get much more wild card, than a non-playable race character being played. Not even taking into consideration the RP ability of the person involved. That's not even where I am coming from.

I am coming from the angle, that this strange, snowflake character, could have been created from the magical urine of a daedric prince in your mind, able to do fantastical feats!

We wouldn't know that, or how impossible that would be, unless we had information beforehand. So, here our lore friendly character would come, meeting up with yours... And who knows what would happen. Nothing good. Trust me.

Then both of us would be walking away with horrible tastes in our mouths, as we had both been expecting quality role-play going in.

We need to make sure, that you are on the same page as we are, before we begin the dance.

[@sylverdubs]

I’d also add that some races are either extinct because of war or other cataclysms or culturally evolved into the standard races we use today (breton, nords, altmer etc).

Dwemer for sure, Ayleids and Chimer too, I believe. There might be a case to be made about playing an “extinct” race but there needs to be a well crafted, plausible reason.

[Cillian]

I agree with all the above. By all means, if you play a thrilling, engaging character as a non-playable race, and can make it semi-pass in game, I'll likely enjoy the RP. BUT. It is considerably more work, and will be viewed with a small dose of skepticism until proven otherwise.