Seans last blog post..Sean’s fiction. Also, contest!

The important, first rule I would pose is whether or not the relationship is logical and would make sense for the character. The second is that it has to be more than simply a ploy to draw attention to yourself; especially disobeying this rule is a surefire way to annoy a lot of people very fast. You would be surprised what you can get away with if it is presented in a very logical fashion and is clearly much more than a way of saying “look at how awesome I am!”

Take, for instance, a Draenei. For most races, it would be outlandish to suggest that they are familiar with, much less have spoken to a Naaru; with most humans you run the real risk of either creating a Sue or coming up with a story that makes no sense. However, if your character is, say, Exalted with the Sha’tari, it isn’t unreasonable to suggest they have been around the Naaru to some extent or perhaps even spoken to one. This is especially true for Draenei: They were guided by the Naaru for a very long time, and as such especially for an older Draenei it isn’t implausible that they might have spoken with a lesser Naaru, like Ge’ras, Ve’ru or O’ros. Given the nature of the Naaru it isn’t implausible either that they remember said character and perhaps feel some measure of benevolence towards them.

The same could be said for having a brush with a lore character in a major questline, as long as you don’t hog that story arc to yourself; it’s perfectly fair to say your character was there when Bolvar and his army were betrayed at the Wrath Gate, owing to it being a major questline that nearly everyone participated in. On the same note, however, it’s a grave mistake to say you were the only PC there; half of the adventurers around you probably were there too, have their own horror stories and near-death experiences from the battle, and so on. Another example is the case of Thorim, where in Ulduar he apparently goes so far as to recognize the characters in the raid as among those who helped him out in the mountains. Your character obviously had a role that shouldn’t be discounted completely, although Threnn’s rule should be followed here; the NPC probably remembers and maybe even has a liking for your character, but it is obvious who the dominant personality in the relationship is.

The same goes for factions naturally. If your character is an Argent Champion it almost wouldn’t make sense to not incorporate that into your character. This does not mean you run anything within the Argent Dawn or Argent Crusade, it only means you are a well-respected member and logically implies your contributions to the Crusade are well-honored by them. You could likely count yourself a member, assuming you’re willing to play out that part to its full and not just when convenient. The simple rule to always keep in mind during moments like this is to a) make sense, and b) don’t be a self-centered, attention seeking jerk about it.

All of this, naturally, has to be understood in the context of what your character does. The fact is that a max-level character in Northrend fighting to survive against Scourge legions, the Iron Army and the Blue Dragonflight is already facing some fairly extraordinary things. It doesn’t make sense for you to go off and fight Malygos and then try to pass your character off as being completely normal. Your character has seen things that would make the average person spending his life in Stormwind, Westfall or Lakeshire run away in terror. The one qualifier is, everybody else up in Northrend has had to live through terrifying stuff too. You’ve fought alongside dragons in game? On the surface level that sounds incredibly Mary-Sue to someone who is sticking around in the regions about Stormwind all day, but in Northrend that not only happens, it happens often.

I never thought this went too mary-sueish because Vranesh isn’t a major NPC and we haven’t exactly made much of his personality than what you see him wandering around the city, being a boor and sneering at the farstriders.

Itanya Blades last blog post..Whirlwind Tour for mounts

I think that’s a really important distinction – the NPCs in question were really important to your characters, but your characters are not really important to them. In fact, that could be the litmus test for any such interaction, since that’s usually where people cross the line into Mary-Sue-Ism