Azerothian Prostheses?

[teh_jhun]

So, I've got a draenei hunter that survived through the Exodar crash unscathed, but I was thinking... Considering the magnitude of the event, surviving unscathed would be miraculous, so I decided a bit of wounding was in order and figured maybe a lost limb or two. Which leads me to my point...

Comments

[lurkythespork]

Well, there is precedent for grafting mechanical things onto one's body; Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle comes to mind.

I don't know that arcane golemcraft is a good idea; as you explained yourself, it's unstable in the hands of someone not an expert.

Grafting undead bits would entail necromancy, which is illegal for anyone not a DK--not to mention the immune reaction your character's body would have. Transplants are always tricky, even with modern medicine.

JC would be a very interesting approach...but I'm not sure. A friend of mine tried to explain IC how the cuts work--something to do with resonance and energy patterns; it was all very technobabbly and actually kind of impressive.

I might just point you two at each other. You're on MG; I'll tell her to keep an eye out for you, if that's okay with you.

[teh_jhun]

Certainly. The hunter in question is named Hanada, if you wanna pass that along.

Did your friend's explanation have anything to do with leyline patterns and such? 'Cuz I remember reading something about something like that on WoWWiki... except I can't remember the exact page.

[lurkythespork]

I don't remember, honestly; it was complicated.

[arachnogeek]

I'd say engineering is the way to go. It is, in the Warcraft universe, quite believable. Even more so for the fact that you've taken into account the disadvantages, which can be huge jumping-off points for RP.

I think a fairly clever engineer would be able to make at least a false hand with ratcheting joints. See: Inspector Kemp of Young Frankenstein

A really clever engineer would be able to do more. But then you get into gnome or goblin engineering, both of which have their own... quirks.

[dwarfofmystery]

I don't think weight is a factor in Azeroth. I doubt a mechanical arm would add much when one can wear 600lbs of plate and pick up two swords the size of their own body in one hand and swing it about accurately and effectively while doing the same in the other hand.

Alchemy. If you can brew a potion to turn you into a dragon, I think they can regrow a limb. I mean, it adds wing limbs.

Temporarily mind you. But you could always keep a buncha vials ready to go if you have an upcoming piano recital or marathon to run.

[teh_jhun]

Wow. I hadn't even considered alchemy. And on the topic of growing limbs, a druid could probably even grow themselves their very own treant arm a la Dellyn Goblinslayer. I somehow forgot to toss that into the original post.

[lurkythespork]

Ah, Blizz. You did everyone an enormous disservice when you declared everything in-game to be perfectly canon.

A shapeshifting potion to grant someone a temporary new arm could have hilarious repercussions--or some serious Body Horror. That could be fun.

[golden_shisa]

Are Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle and a few types of demons like the mo'arg the only canon examples of mechanical limbs? The concept obviously exists, but there isn't much information about how it is done.

My best guess for a realistic-seeming artificial limb in this setting is one that is gnome-made. Judging from current gnomish inventions, it would not very agile or natural looking, but with some limited grabbing power. Possibly malfunctions from time to time, as gnomish tech is wont to do. (Avoid goblin prosthetics at all times...you don't want to know what happens when they go bad.)

[teh_jhun]

According to a quest I stumbled across on Wowwiki, the ironically-named Golem Lord Argelmach was apparently a convincing-enough robot/golem/whatever to fool a gnome until his head was handed over, and apparently able to replicate his flesh-and-blood predecessor's signature well enough to fool the guy who killed him.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Rise_of_the_Machines

[lurkythespork]

I hesitate to recommend Wowwiki to anyone, after I picked up an extremely nasty virus on that site.

Here's the Wowpedia entry.

[teh_jhun]

I wasn't even aware of Wowpedia's existence. Thanks, Lurky.

[lilith_queen]

I have a belf mage that makes prothestic limbs! Hers are a fine-tuned mix of really good woodworking, a bit of metal, and so many enchantments that the joints have been known to vent sparks on occasion. Oh, and also anyone with one is very strongly cautioned to stay out of anti-magic zones. Being wood, there's a risk of them breaking as well.

[teh_jhun]

Ah, anti-magic zones. Bane of amputees across Azeroth.

[necrosister]

My elf hunter actually went the #5 route for his arm. He kind of... bargained with some shady types in Northrend for it. His reasoning was that it was, as you said, much more like a natural arm, and that mechanical ones were too heavy and slow, not ideal for stringing arrows.

He does, of course, keep it a secret and avoids magical healing whenever possible like an undead creature might. Being that he's actually alive, the undead graft IS killing him slowly. So yay for advantages vs. disadvantages!