[Nolan]

Now, before people start saying, "it's okay to RP a death knight, they're part of the lore and the game." I want to make sure that it's know that I realize this. It's not what's bothering me actually.

What's bothering me is what makes a death knight. How do they have any power without the will of the Lich King and the Helm of Domination? Are they just a fad that Blizzard keeps around because they keep subscriptions or is there a real reason that we (me as a death knight) exist in Azeroth after the fall of Arthas?

I'm just confused about it really. Not to mention how people of Azeroth still tend to react towards these dark figures, some of which are directly responsible for the loss of many family members. Especially in the Alliance among the humans and draenei who revere the Light so much.

[Tinox]

Not all necromantic power derives directly from the Lich King. The Cult of the Damned are still making trouble in Northrend. While Death Knights were given their powers by the Lich King, there's no reason I see that they're dependent on him. In fact, I expect if that were the case they would've lost their powers when they broke free from their link to the Lich King.

If you're talking about their purpose, they don't really have one. As far as I can tell, most of them tried to serve under their initial faction simply because that's what they know how to do, but their main drive was to take revenge on Arthas and they're a bit without direction now that it's over.

[Nolan]

I was under the impression that these cults, such as the Twilight's Hammer, the Damned, the Burning Blade, are all but destroyed in each successive assault on the enemy stronghold, save for disparate cells outside their home range. It makes me wonder if we'll be seeing any insurgent forces into the Dark Portal such as the Burning Blade!

It just feels like they were a flavor of the year used to attract people to the game and now they're just another rank and file. I love Death Knights a lot but since each and everyone of the DK players are partly members of the Knights of the Ebon Blade in Acherus, there certainly seems to be a lot of stagnation on their story at the moment. I would have loved to see them take New Avalon as their home city where they could at least take the part as the dark half of the "emergency force".

By "emergency force" I mean an organisation similar to the Argent Crusade stationed not too far away. This is at least how I think things should be. If anything I'd like to see a dual-faction guild set up called <Knights of the Ebon Blade> or <Ebon Crusade> stationed in New Avalon as neutral ground. To me, this is how it should be anyway since the Lich King is indeed safely entombed once more in ice.

In my opinion at least, even though the lore is contradictory, these Death Knights aren't really tied to their home faction beyond their species and prior affiliation. Even Thaurissan and Koltira are still friends despite their allegiance to Wrynn and Lorthemar respectively. I see the Death Knights as I see Paladins. More of a tertiary faction in their own right, neutral, arbitrary and a safeguard against the coming Burning Legion.

[Tirien]

I'm trying my hand at DK RP and the spin I took on it is based off of something I recall reading, somewhere, that not all DKs are dead and that some are still alive, just infused with so much dark/necromantic magic that there's really no going back.

As far as their fuel, I believe it's all from (or a vast majority from) their Rune Blade which , iirc, houses souls just like Frostmourne. In either case, the Lich King/Any other being with significant access to fel/shadow/necro magic makes the initial 'turn' then provides a way for the vessel to sustain their power. In this case, for DKs, its their Rune Blade which nags at them constantly for more souls, more death, and more suffering.

Faction wise, I see it more as a way for DKs to not be Kill On Sight. They're free to go about as they want, finding purpose and all of that, just they are bound by 'something' (honor, for example) to at least consider backing up whoever the Ebon Blade is backing up.

[Draxonicar]

I'm trying my hand at DK RP and the spin I took on it is based off of something I recall reading, somewhere, that not all DKs are dead and that some are still alive, just infused with so much dark/necromantic magic that there's really no going back.

death knights from acherus are very much dead. second generation dks like arthas and other fallen paladins gave up their souls to a runeblade so they skipped the being an actual corpse part, although they're still soulless creatures they can't really be called completely undead since they never actually died per se. they don't exactly look that healthy though

@op: a third gen dks power is derived from his vampiric runeblade (or rune weapon if you're a filthy mace user i guess)

third generation death knights were not made for longevity what with the whole expendable-shock-troops-to-kill-tirion bit so they have to continually inflict agony on sentient life or they suffer the pain themselves and go batshit insane and in general are less powerful individually than the older ones like arthas, gorefiend, rivendare etc (this is also what allows them to be playable characters since they 1. have motivation to go kill fucking virmen for stupid panda people and 2. aren't way more powerful than every other class)

being cut off from arthas doesn't make dks lose their powers for the same reason forsaken didnt all drop dead (heh) when he kicked the bucket, they've already been imbued with his power.

[Resileaf]

For the record, although Arthas is dead and the majority of the Scourge are destroyed, Kel'thuzad and parts of the cult are still very active. His philactery was never found in Naxx 2.0, so he's still very much alive and kicking... Err, undead and floating.

[Kiraleen]

In this case, for DKs, its their Rune Blade which nags at them constantly for more souls, more death, and more suffering.

So runeblades work for credit collection agencies?

[Draxonicar]

The nagging for pain and suffering is an inborn trait of being a third generation death knight. third generation death knights are capable of making their own rune weapons using a runeforge, something the previous generations could not do (1st gen used a truncheon made of their own heart, 2nd had to be gifted a unique blade by the lich king)

in the dk starter zone your character suffers from the wracking pains even before making your first runeblade, which you then use to kill a fellow initiate to sate the agony.

[LEGION]

...which you then use to kill a fellow initiate to sate the agony.

Dude, it wasn't me! I was just doing what the quest ordered me to do.

[Cerestal]

I'm pretty sure death knights aren't supposed to be all that common (along with, say, warlocks) within the Alliance and Horde, which makes the game mechanics of being 1/11th of the playerbase throw lore out a little. From what I've seen, death knights have generally been accepted within the Alliance as of Cataclysm though.

There's often issues I find when RPing w/ a death knight - but usually they just think they're invincible. Guys - you're a warrior with a fancy weapon and some diseases, not a heroic raid boss.

Also,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOA-eEAX9es